//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash! I Choose You! // Story: Escape to Realms // by Flutterwhy4 //------------------------------// Escape to Realms Chapter 6: Rainbow Dash! I Choose You! By Flutterwhy4 “Well how long have you been a… human?” Fluttershy asks, her eyes brimming with concern. “I don’t know, forever I guess.” “Forever!??” the four ponies shout in unison. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that. “But darling, we’ve seen you in Ponyville for so long,” Rarity pauses, “how can you have been a human all this time?” “I don’t know.” I lie; of course I know. Things are clear to me now. I am a human, I’ve been a human my whole life. This place, while I may not comprehend its exact nature, is a monument to my human childhood. I look down on the ponies and I see they’re all waiting for me to continue. What is there to say? What can I say? I blank out for a minute. Do I tell them? So yeah guys, I’m a human and you’re all just characters on a cartoon I watch; your whole life isn’t real. I can’t. An angry nerve sparks inside me and suddenly my mind is scrambling to defend my friends from my own thoughts. What is real anyway? They’re real to me. How do I know that their world isn’t the one that’s real? “Uhh, Token?” Applejack chimes, forcing the hornets’ nest of thoughts from my head. “Huh? Oh, sorry. This has all been really strange for me, I’m just a little preoccupied.” “Oh, we understand, don’t we girls?” Fluttershy says, taking off into the air and wrapping a hoof around my shoulder. I smile weakly. I can always count on her to diffuse an awkward moment. “Mmhmm.” “Yes indeedy!” “Of course.” “Ooh! But if you’re a human maybe there are even more ponies in Ponyville who are really super-sneaky humans in disguise!” Pinkie Pie says pouncing and stalking low to the ground as if to impersonate a cat burglar or something. “Maybe Carrottop! No-no wait! Cheerilee always seemed kinda humany to me!” “I wouldn’t worry about it Pinkie, I think I’m the only one.” I say with a giggle. “Yes, we should focus on getting out of this dreadful place.” Rarity’s words knock the breath out of me. “Dreadful!?? This place is amazing!” I fire back, a bit more viciously than I’d intended. Rarity has her head drawn back as far as it will go, her face is somewhere between shocked and hurt. “I’m sorry, I should’ve said something. This… well, I don’t know exactly where this is, but these are memories, for me… from my childhood.” I say, pointing from door to door. “Oh, I-” “Don’t apologize, you didn’t know. It’s just, I’ve kind of dreamed of an opportunity like this and it’s, I don’t know… precious.” I find myself rubbing my hands together nevously while I speak. I look up from my fidgeting digits and everypony looks as though they’ve lost a friend. “Hey now, I didn’t mean- I mean… we’ll find a way home, I just wouldn’t mind staying here a little longer.” Their expressions pick up a little, but I still feel compelled to talk. “Tell you guys what, we still haven’t found Twilight or Rainbow Dash, why don’t we take a walk and look for them?” There’s a pause while the friends look to one another. “Sounds like a plan Token.” Applejack speaks for the group. Just like that, we start down the vibrant pathway towards no particular destination. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “Oh my gosh!! The WCW! And –Ohhhhh! Pogs!! Pogs were sooooo long ago! No way!! Is that? It is! It’s Bowser’s castle!!” I’m brimming with nostalgia, rushing from door to door and swinging them open eager for my next dose of nineties joy. My voice is high and breathy; in fact my whole body feels light as air. I want to wrap myself in this place, to curl up in it and forever nurse from the teat of my most cherished memories. “Is he gunna be like this the whole time?” Applejack asks to nopony in particular. The annoyance in her voice doesn’t faze me one bit. Each door brings me back to a point in my life when I felt like I understood things and knew that everything would always be fine. Being a kid, the world my oyster, my parents there to lift me up when I fall down. More than that, I’m overwhelmed by a connection to these pinches of pop-culture. These are things that came together to define me and shape me into who I am. I pull upon another door and see myself, no more than four-years-old sitting in a room bathed in the glow of a television that’s familiar yet distant: a wood-paneled behemoth with low-definition screen under glass bubble. I just stare in awe, absorbing every last detail from the stained pink carpet to the square of red light on the front of my game console. My tiny hands clutch a brick of grey plastic, the sharp edges wearing into my palms. The careful ministrations of my young thumbs guide a mass of pixels on-screen through a maze of certain doom. Watching myself, I think about the lifelong passion for gaming that’s been nurtured over my life. I think about the friends I’ve made through mutual love of the corded controller. I wouldn’t be the person I am today were in not for seeds sown such as these. I close the door slowly, turning the handle beforehand so as to stifle any sound coming from a lock that doesn’t exist on the floating door in space. I release a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I turn to my little pony friends. They’re all four talking amongst themselves behind me. They chatter about things that seem mundane to me: the slight transparency of the road, the things they have to do back in Ponyville, their separate experiences with me, etc. I can’t blame them for not sharing my reverence, these aren’t their memories. The things that made them who they are are unique to each of them, as are mine to me. Another door. I open it and jump at the sight of a creepy clown smoking a cigar. The frilly, red-nosed joker leans into me menacingly, unblinking, unmoving. His eyes glow like embers and his comically toothy, green smile sends a shiver down my spine. I slam the door shut and throw my weight against it. “What is it Token?” Fluttershy asks. “Whuddja see? Huh? Huh?” Pinkie pries. Rarity and Applejack pay little heed and continue their conversation as if my antics are simply expected by now. My chest is rising and falling from the adrenaline, but my lips curl into a smile. “Are You Afraid of the Dark.” I spit between breaths. “Oh, terribly!” Fluttershy answers, hiding behind her pink mane. “No, no, Are You Afraid of the Dark was a tv show from when I was a kid.” “Oh.” Fluttershy says, turning her red face away slightly. “It was a show about kids telling spooky campfire stories.” I leave the door and keep walking as I explain. Pinkie and Fluttershy hang at my side listening to my nostalgic anecdote. Rarity and Applejack are leading the pack now as we march down the road. “There was one episode about a kid who steals the red nose from a clown dummy inside a fun house, but the spirit of the clown gets angry with the boy and haunts him.” With just a brief synopsis I have a certain pink pony in my face practically begging me to tell her what happens. I glance to my left at Fluttershy, who I can tell is torn between not wanting to disappoint her friend and not wanting to hear another word of scary clowns and haunted carnivals. She’s a sight that warms my heart, perhaps more than any of these doors ever could. I reach down and dip my fingers into her mane. She recoils slightly, but I continue. My digits grip lightly behind her downturned ear and I gently begin to scratch her. I’m not sure of the customs, whether this should be awkward or not, but I don’t even care, it feels right and she hasn’t done anything to stop me. “Would you mind if I finish the story for Pinkie, Fluttershy?” I ask her, still scratching her. “Okay.” Her words are almost a whisper. I can feel the yellow pegasus melting under my touch and it makes me smile. Favor returned. With permission, I return to Pinkie Pie and begin to regale her with all I can remember from the story of a TV show I haven’t seen in ages. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “…and when the boy opens the smoky microwave to get his dinner, what does he find but a plate of cigar butts!” I build my story to a crescendo and both ponies gasp, Fluttershy now listening willingly even though she’s visibly spooked. “T-t-then what happens?” the timid pony asks. “Well, the boy is a mess at this point. He’s never been so scared and sorry in his life! So he grabs the nose and heads down to the fun house after hours. He wades through the eerie dark chambers of the attraction with his would-be trophy in hand. He's dripping with fear as he finally reaches the room with the clown dummy. He knows it’s behind the big red door and he’s having second-thoughts about coming back, but when he tries to go back the way he came he finds he’s trapped! The big red door swings open on its own and instead of the noseless clown dummy, the boy is greeted with a wall of fog and angry strobing light.” “Oh wow, this is goooood!” Pinkie Pie chimes in. “So the boy swallows his fear and apologizes for what he did. He reaches into the paper bag he brought to retrieve the red-nose which he places just inches behind the threshold of the door. Then he pulls out a box of cigars and sets them inside as well, just to show that there’s no hard feelings. A few seconds go by which I’m sure must’ve felt like an eternity to him, but finally the door closes and the exit swings open. Having learned his lesson, the boy goes through the door and takes off running away from the haunted attraction, the wild, cackling laughter of the clown echoing in the night air behind him.” “Wowee, that’s a great story! I’ll have to tell that one on Nightmare Night this year!” Pinkie says, bouncing up and down beside me. “Go right ahead.” I say. I try to comfort a pale Fluttershy, but have little luck. Feelings of guilt wash over me for frightening her, but I know inside that she’ll be okay. “Hey! You haven’t checked any of your memory door thingies in a while.” Pinkie Pie states the obvious. “Yeah, well it’s hard to tell a story when you’re opening doors.” I respond. I just keep walking, happy to be surrounded by friendly listeners. “Well, aren’t you done with the story now?” I hadn’t really thought about going back to my nostalgic activities, but it dawns on me that Pinkie is right. I might as well. It is still fun after all and I may not have this opportunity forever. I glance at the pink pony and she’s looking back at me encouragingly. I think she understands more than anypony else. With a nod I race ahead and take a quick survey. One door stands out to me, not visually, but my intuition draws me towards it. I reach for the handle and pull with a twist. The door swings open, like countless before it, but this time is different. I fall to my knees at the sight of a colorful world, almost Equestrian in picturesque perfection. A sky of brilliant blue and yellow compliments distant green rolling peaks. Lush forests frame a verdant expanse of sword-like grasses. To the untrained eye it would seem nothing more than a pleasing landscape, but I know better; this is a world I’ve yearned to be a part of for more than a decade. Staggering to my feet once more, I find myself drawn hypnotically to the new world like a moth to a lantern. My feet begin to move of their own volition. “Whoa! Hold up there pardner!” Applejack shouts. The other ponies echo her sentiments, but I keep moving. I can smell the grasses and feel a warm breeze on my face. Suddenly there’s a pressure on my wrist and my right hand sails rearward, holding me in place. I look back with panic to see myself tethered to the orange farm pony by way of a length of rope deftly lassoed around my arm. “Guys! Follow me, I know where I’m going!” I say, hoping I can convince them. “But Token!” Fluttershy says. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for Twilight and Rainbow Dash?” Rarity scolds. “Yes, and we’ve been walking on this path for an hour and we haven’t seen a single trace of them.” The four ponies give me a skeptical look. “C’mon, call it a hunch.” They seem to hem and haw for a moment. I take the opportunity to loosen the lasso and pull my wrist free. “Are you sure this is about finding our friends and not about fulfilling some long-gone childhood fantasy?” Rarity nags me with question that’s clearly on everypony’s mind. “Well… that’s certainly a benefit, but you have to trust me. It’s intuition. This place is full of [i/]my memories right? We’re not finding our friends running around out here which means they’re probably behind one or more of these doors somewhere… and if that’s the case what better place to start looking than in the strongest memories I have?” I plead my case, hoping they’ll understand. The logic is infallible in my head and my gut feeling is even stronger. “Well, I suppose that does make sense.” Rarity concedes. “It is pretty.” Fluttershy remarks, looking through the door at the grassy expanse. “I reckon it might be nice to have a change of scenery.” Applejack says with a sigh. “Then it’s settled!” Pinkie Pie hollers while bouncing through the open doorway. The realization of what I’m about to do overwhelms me with joy. On the verge of hopping after the pink pony, instead I keep my cool and stroll through, three ponies in tow. The warm wind feels good as it tussles my hair. Blades of long grass that nearly envelop the four ponies come up to my hips. The fresh scent of summer foliage hangs in the air. Wild rattata scurry along rustling the foliage in their wake, leaving a tell-tale sign of their presence. I look skyward. A flock of spearow glide by on a mission to find new nesting grounds. It’s so perfect. “Lookie! There’s a path!” Pinkie Pie interrupts my reverie with her observation. There does appear to be a path that cuts through towards a distant town. There’s even a signpost. I race over to see what it says, grass bending under my weight and motion. I can hear that the group is following me as I approach the sign. ROUTE 1 PALLET TOWN – VERIDIAN CITY I squeal with delight as I read the words. “Havin’ fun Token?” Applejack asks mockingly. “Ahem, we should go this way.” I try to act focused as I point towards the small city up the path. With no resistance we’re all five heading in the direction of Veridian City. “So where are we? What super special fun memory of yours is this?” Pinkie asks. It’s a question I’ve been waiting for. I run out ahead of the group and turn around raising my arms. “Welcome to the world of Pokémon!” I shout in my best Professor Oak imitation. Four eyes just stare blankly back at me. Right, they wouldn’t get it. Dropping the shtick, I continue. “This is Pokémon! It was a game from when I was about ten-years-old… well, it was a video game, and a TV show, and a card game, but mostly it was pure awesome!!” I turn around and encourage the others to follow me as I talk. They’re all listening quietly while I explain the phenomenon that was Pokémon. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Veridian City is almost upon us and even I would admit my rambling gushing praise of all things Pokémon has grown entirely tedious and unnecessary. One glance at the ponies confirms my suspicions. Applejack and Rarity look on the edge of breakdown, Pinkie’s eyes are spinning in her head and Fluttershy has stopped listening completely in favor of hovering above the group and surveying the fauna. “Whoops. Sorry, I guess I’m getting a little carried away.” The farm pony shoots me a ‘you think?’ look and I smile weakly back at her. I glance to Rarity in time to see her eyes go wide and her head rear back. “Rainbow Dash!!” she shouts. Up ahead, sure enough is a cyan blue pegasus following behind a human with short, spiked, dark-brown hair wearing a black kimono. “Let’s go!” I shout before breaking into a sprint. As I approach, I can see Dash’s wings are tied down to her sides by means of several loops of thick-gauge rope. Her blue neck is marred by a black collar chained to a bit in her mouth. She’s tethered to a golem, a rock-type Pokémon, by means of a ten foot leash held by the stony behemoth’s jagged hand. The golem is following the man in the kimono obediently. “Hey you!” The man looks up and so does Rainbow Dash. The rainbow-maned pony instantly perks up her sullen face at the sight of her friends racing behind me. “Yes?” he responds indignantly. I come to a stop in front of him and the ponies group around their cyan friend, showering her with greetings. The golem tugs Dash away and glares menacingly at Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack. “What are you doing with that pony?” I demand an answer. “She’s my newest pet, I found her and caught her fair and square.” the man replies defensively. “You don’t own her!” bellows Applejack, her face twisted with anger. Dash kicks the ground as if she’s tried that line before. I wave dismissively at the ponies hoping they’ll let me do the talking in this encounter. “Well, she belongs to me so if you’ll kindly return her, I’d be so grateful.” “What?” the man raises his eyebrow. “I lost her… and now you found her for me, so if you’ll hand her over I’ll be on my way.” “Lost her huh? You gunna give me a reward or somethin’?” his response catches me off-guard. “Well, I- uhh… I don’t have anything to give you.” I stammer. “What a scam. Do you even have any proof she's yours?” “Ummm…” I struggle to find an answer. Rainbow Dash tries to say something but it comes out garbled through the bit in her mouth. “She just does!” Applejack hollers again. I don’t try to stop her this time. “Sorry, that’s not good enough.” He starts to walk away. “Besides, you’ve got four of them, how many do you need?” I start to panic briefly. Do I try and steal her? My thought process doesn’t last long as I spot a belt around the man’s waist with familiar round orbs of red and white. “Hey! How about we battle for her!” The man stops in his tracks and casts a skeptical look over his shoulder. “You’re a Pokémon trainer?” he asks. “You bet I am!” I can hear the four unrestricted ponies murmuring amongst themselves in shock. “Okay,” He spins in place, his kimono swirling like a cape, “and if I win I get to choose one of your ponies to take for myself?” I hesitate for a moment, but agree to his terms. I don’t even look to see the equines’ reaction to our wager, but I can only imagine. “Then we have a deal, but I must warn you, I’m on my way to the Indigo Plateau so you’d better bring your best! Now where are your Pokémon?” “Well,” Oh shoot! I don’t have any Pokémon! “…give me a few minutes.” I turn and run towards the center of town leaving the man behind me. “Hey!” Applejack screams and makes chase, galloping alongside me. “Just who in Celestia do you think you are bettin’ us like we were yur own private property?!” “You want Rainbow Dash back? This is how we do it!” Applejack begins to say something back, but I cut her off. “Please, trust me. I didn’t mean any disrespect, but I know what I’m doing.” I tell her. “Well I sure hope so ‘cause if you think that frou-frou, dress wearin’ nut is walkin’ home with me or any one of my friends you’ve-” “Applejack.” I give her a disarming stare. “Good luck.” she says, tipping her hat. I smile back. I push open the doors to the Viridian City Pokémon Center and rush inside. The building is air-conditioned and noticeably cooler than the outside. It’s also quite clean, clinical even. I make a break for the computer in the corner and boot up the machine, hoping my hunch is correct. Accessed BILL’S PC Accessed POKéMON Storage System I breathe a sigh of relief as the screen shows my old Pokémon in the box. I scroll through them, grinning with each passing name, each one a heavily trained fighting machine from my long-gone days of lunch-table Gameboy slinging. I make my withdrawal and hurry out of the building before Nurse Joy can thank me and tell me to come again. I make my way quickly back, pokéballs in hand and ready for epic battle. When I return the stage is clearly set. My opponent has taken his Golem and Rainbow Dash to one side while my pony friends wait for me a distance away on the other side of what is to be our battlefield, a grassy pitch at the corner of town. The town buzzes with whispering and people stopping to see what is about to happen. “Let’s do this!” I say with a cocky grin. “Very well then. Weezing go!” The strange man shouts, opening his pokéball and exposing a flash of white light which leaps forth and morphs into the purple, floating, poison Pokémon. Not caring about strategy and knowing full well that I’ve got this battle in the bag already, my mind is dancing joyously at the thought of what I’m about to do. The excitement comes not only from the imminent battle, but for the very act of retrieving my Pokémon. Reaching behind my back with as much flare as I can muster, I grip a pokéball all the while beginning to spin slightly in place. “Blastoise! I choose you!” I shout, lobbing the red and white ball towards the battlefield and picking up my leg in the process. Ash Ketchum would be proud. My water Pokémon appears standing proud as shrill, frantic battle music fills my head from memory. “Blastoise, use hydro pump now!” I yell, mimicking so many Saturday mornings spent in front of the television. He obeys and the cannons on his shoulders protrude from his shell and fire a deluge of water towards the purple gasbag. The attack connects and Weezing is knocked back and into the dirt from the intense pressure. “Weezing, give him your sludge attack!” His Pokémon returns to the air, a dumb, lazy look on its dual faces. It expands as if breathing in and then contracts, releasing a spew stream of dark purple ooze. “Blastoise, avoid it!” I shout but I’m too late. Weezing’s muck hits its target and I watch as Blastoise’s eyes close instinctively and he recoils backwards. When my Blastoise staggers again to a fighting stance he is covered in a layer of purple goo, save for a small spot on his face where he’s brushed it away with a claw. I think about my next move and seconds later it comes to me. “Alright, let’s give him a body slam!” I order and Blastoise begins to charge. The ground shakes with the trampling step of the shelled behemoth. He barrels towards Weezing picking up speed, yet my opponent seems totally unfazed and even arrogant. The attack hits and both Pokémon come to rest on the ground, Blastoise on top of a pained Weezing. I smile to myself and look back at my friends who are lost in the action of something they’ve never seen or dreamed of. Pinkie in particular has a trance-like look on her cute pink face. My attention is swiftly returned to the battlefield by unexpected words from my opponent. “Weezing, explosion please.” Just like that, his own Pokémon, trapped under the weight of mine, begins to glow as white as when it emerged from its ball. My ears start to ring and in a second both Weezing and Blastoise are caught in an enormous fireball. Everypony gasps and I find myself a bit confused. Trading one-for-one doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. Weezing and Blastoise lay together, almost sweetly, in a blackened pile of fainted Pokémon. “Hey, why’dja do that?” I shout, almost hurt in my voice. “I don’t question your battling, you shouldn’t question mine.” He has a point. “Fine! Hey, I don’t think I ever caught your name!” “Haku.” “Alright Haku, I’m Token.” “Can we continue our battle or is your plan to exchange pleasantries until I fall asleep?” he says with a self-important, but playful smirk. “Well, we’ve both got two Pokémon left and I choose Zapdos!” My spinning, leg-lifting motion is less stupendous this time, but it gets the job done. The white light from my thrown pokéball condenses into a shimmering, spikey yellow bird with black-rimmed eyes. It takes off into the sky in a show of brilliance and hurtles a fearsome cry towards the ground. Crowds have formed and people gawk in awe at the spectacle of my legendary Pokémon. I’d gawk too if I were them. “Very impressive, but this is a battle not a beauty contest. Golem, show him how it’s done.” With a wave of his kimono-draped arm, his Golem is on the battlefield. Zapdos returns to a reasonable altitude and hovers awaiting my commands. How could I have been so naïve? He wanted my Blastoise out of the picture so his rock-type wouldn’t have to face a Pokémon it’s weak to. I cringe at the abysmal matchup of my electric, flying-type versus a rock, ground-type; it’s one of the worst imaginable scenarios. Still, no reason to change Pokémon into an attack, I still have my ace in the hole. “Okay Zapdos, use your drill peck!” The glorious bird dives and glances off the bulky Golem sending a tiny chip of rock flying into the air. Golem shrugs the ineffective hit off. “Golem! Rock slide!” Haku yells. His Pokémon grips at the earth and tears a boulder from beneath the grass and in a display of strength, hurls the rock into the sky, leading my Zapdos. “Quick Zapdos, dodge it!” The electric Pokémon arcs her wings and soars into a dazzling immelmann turn. The rock misses by a hair and I look to my opponent to gloat, but instead I catch Rainbow Dash staring up into the sky, rose eyes fixed on my legendary bird. I can’t read her. Whether she’s impressed by Zapdos’ moves and grace or whether it’s just longing to be in the air again or a mix of both, I’m not sure. I call out my attack and again Zapdos curls her wings back into a dive and hits the Golem with her sharp beak again. She bounces off, stunned and swoops into the air higher. Golem is annoyed, but seemingly unharmed. “Do it again Golem, use rock slide.” His orders are calm. Golem clambers across the battlefield and retrieves the boulder it just tossed, which landed heavily only yards from a family of terrified bystanders. They never showed us THAT in Pokémon. The rocky beast pauses to check aim before propelling the stone skyward like a cannon. “Zapdos, watch-“ BLAM! The boulder slams right into her underbelly and she falls limply towards the earth. Before she can hit ground, I grab my pokéball and press the button to retrieve her in a beam of red light. I knew it was inevitable; that matchup is nothing if not a losing proposition. I reach behind me and swap Zapdos for my third and final pokéball. “Well, looks like you have but one Pokémon to my two. Are you ready to give up yet?” My cocky opponent proclaims. I just stare at my last pokéball. After a moment of silence, I look up and strike my foe with a knowing smile. This battle was over before it started. He may have done better than I expected, but it still doesn’t save him here; my first two were nothing more than a warm-up. “Nothing of the sort my friend, I’m afraid I won’t be leaving here today without that pony… and I brought some Insurance to make sure that was the case.” I savor the look of confused revolt on his face as he appears visibly shaken and annoyed. “Why you! If you think you can-” I hold up my hand in as aristocratic a manner as possible, silencing him. “I choose you! Mewtwo!” The ball opens in my hand. The blinding light that emerges feels hotter and brighter than any of the others. The whiteness softens and left on the battlefield is a fetal ball of purple and grey. The psychic god begins to stand as if like a human, but on the balls of its feet. A long, smooth, purple tail, bigger at both ends than in the middle, waggles rhythmically behind him. “You summoned me?” Mewtwo speaks telepathically in a deep voice, his small mouth unmoving. “Th-that thing can talk?!?” Mewtwo ignores my opponent who is having some sort of a breakdown at the idea of a talking Pokémon. “Yes. I require your special abilities.” I reply, very businesslike and professional. Mewtwo turns and looks at Golem, then turns back to me with that unreadable poker-face. I can only sense his disappointment at such a pitiful opponent. “Well, so what if your Pokémon can talk?! I still have two Pokémon to your one and I’ll show you!” “Enough. We continue. Mewtwo, Amnesia.” I command. The genetic Pokémon stands perfectly still and closes his pointed eyes as he begins to glow in a blue aura. “Golem! We know how to deal with chumps like this, finish it off with an earthquake!” His Pokémon raises itself up and then slams its full weight into the ground below causing a tremor that no doubt the whole town can feel. The ground erupts underneath my psychic Pokémon, injuring him, but allowing shards of rock to float into his cloud of mental energy, spinning like tops. “What?!” Haku exclaims. Clearly he’s never seen a trainer's Pokémon survive a direct earthquake like that. I’m glad I could be his first. “Mewtwo, you know the rest.” The rocks hovering around him shatter, no, disintergrate and he steps forward slowly. He raises his greyish-purple three-fingered hand and Golem’s entire heavy body lifts into the air. Claws flailing and eyes wide with panic, the rock-Pokémon floats bathed in blue glow. “Hey! What do you think you’re-” Mewtwo’s fingers close together quickly and Golem’s rocky shell visibly constricts under the enormous psychic pressure. The Pokémon cries out, a low, pained growl. His eyes clench shut in an attempt to bare the pain, but it’s too great. “Stop that! Let him go! Golem!” My opponent frantically tries to get my attention, but I’m not calling the shots anymore. I stand back and watch Mewtwo’s handiwork. THUD! Golem falls to the ground, out of energy and badly hurt. My opponent rushes to his fainted Pokémon’s side and checks him over in shock. Mewtwo stands relaxed and ready for his final challenger. “You’ve seen what my Pokémon can do. Are you ready to concede do you want to watch your last Pokémon get demolished as well?” I ask in a loud voice. People all around are whispering amongst themselves. “I… I… forfeit. You win. Just... take your pony and go. Please.” Haku says, holding back tears as he calls his Golem into a pokéball for the first time since I’ve seen him. “Good decision. Mewtwo return.” Mewtwo returns to his ball and I place it behind my back before walking across the battlefield towards Rainbow Dash. When I reach her, she recoils a bit as I move to undo her bindings. “Whoa, it’s me, Token. I know I look different, but I just want to help untie you.” I say softly, almost as if I was speaking to an actual real-life horse. She looks at me in a way that makes me feel guilty, but relaxes and allows me to help. I untie her wings first, knowing that’s what is the most confining for her, and then I remove the collar and bit last. Dash spreads her wings and stretches them, making sure they still work as she remembers. “Thanks.” she says. Before I can respond she’s leaped over my head and swooped over to greet her friends as a free pony. I heave a sigh feeling a bit left out, but decide to not let it bother me. I stroll back across the pitch towards where everypony is gathered. When I walk up, a conversation is roiling; a conversation which I feel I have no part in, but I listen anyway. I kick the dirt hoping they’ll notice me, but they don’t. “I hate having my wings tied!” “I can imagine it’s quite immuring.” “Hey, remember that time I had to tie ‘em for the runnin’ of the leaves ‘cause y’all wouldn’t stop tryin’ to cheat me?” “Ha! You mean because you wouldn’t stop being a sore loser? Yeah, I remember alright!” “Hey…” I say, trying to butt in. “Hey Token.” Fluttershy responds. “So that really is him, huh?” Rainbow Dash asks. “Yes, it is indeed Token… and it’s a long story.” Rarity confirms. “Oh, cool, well thanks for rescuing me, I guess.” “You guess? What’s to guess about?” I ask, feeling a bit paranoid, but I calm down remembering a lesson I once learned. Always expect the best from your friends and never assume the worst. Rest assured that a good friend always has your best interests at heart. “Well, wasn’t that a little… mean? What you did to that man?” she asks. Fluttershy and Pinkie nod in agreement. “Mean? Nah, it’s Pokémon. That was just a friendly battle… look at what he did to my Pokémon!" I remind her, thinking of Zapdos and Blastoise. “Still, it looked like you really hurt his big rock thing.” Dash says. “Poor creature.” Fluttershy mumbles. “C’mon guys. One quick trip to a Pokémon center and they’ll all be right as rain again. That’s how it works.” They look skeptical so I offer to show them to the Pokémon center; I should be headed there anyway. The group agrees and we all start off into the heart of town.