Barreling Bulls
Camerupt was blasted once more, knocked back into a wall but its rage never yielded. It grunted, trying to shake off its injury, but its body was covered in others just like it. Still, it stood back up with a roar that echoed through the dark cavern. The grunts stepped back, the torches in their hands trembling as they illuminated the fire-type.
Sunset just stared at it, annoyed.
“Quite frankly, I don’t know what you have to be upset about. You’re not the one who has to come here and clean up this mess.” She commented as it got ready to fire another attack. She snapped her fingers, Rotom fired another Hydro Pump. “Do you have any idea how much damage you caused? Of course you don’t. You can’t think of anything but destruction.”
The impact combined with the type advantage in the move left another injury on the monster’s hide.
She stood unflinching in front of those weak grunts.
“That’s why you need a capable trainer to command you. This kind of destruction is random, disgusting, useless. You lack direction, lack purpose.”
Smoke blew out of Camerupt’s snout, partially obscuring it in the cave. It was getting ready to charge.
“Again, on its leg.” Before Camerupt could take its first step, the high-powered blast of water hit its leg, causing it to kneel. Something bubbled from its humps.
“Aim for its back this time.”
As Camerupt stood up, Rotom shot another Hydro Pump at the humps on its back and its eyes widened. The water sprayed all over it and steam went everywhere. Sunset knew that it focused on wide-ranged attacks, and in an enclosed space like this, could be deadly. Still, she smiled.
“Trust me, stick with me and the sky will be the limit to your chaos.”
“I don’t see why we had to take this detour.” Rarity whined as Applejack stepped ahead.
“It might’ve been nice if we had this option from the start.” Twilight commented.
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Rainbow grinned. “Applejack said she had something important that she needed help with, that the fate of her family rests on this task!”
Twilight sighed. One of the neighbouring towns was meant to have a gym she could challenge. She supposed that coming this way had given her more of a chance to research the local Pokemon but she had got attacked by that rogue Luxray. Besides, it WAS just a detour, and if it was important to the farm girl then she supposed it couldn’t hurt. She glanced back to Rainbow, she was still supporting Thunderlane, with Rumble going behind them, a worried look on his face. His elder brother was doing his best to walk so as not to worry the young boy, but he could only do so much. They were out in the wilderness, so he’d just have to go on with them.
But out of the forest there was another patch of land before they’d get to Appleloosa and she really didn’t want to have another surprise attack, so having this truck here could be a welcome rest.
The fate of her family, huh? Must’ve been really important.
Applejack for her part was going round to the back of the truck, and flung the cargo doors open with a smile. Twilight and the rest stared at… a tree. Any slack she might’ve given the farmer was gone.
“Your family depends on one tree.” She said it out loud and it sounded even dumber. She slowly looked to AJ who was actually quite proud, though for whatever reason Twilight could not discern. “You… Know you have more, right?”
“...She didn’t mean that.” AJ cooed to the tree like it was a child, and the group was dumbfounded. She then looked at them with her hands on her hips. “Come on, ya can’t just make an orchard outta one little tree. The family’s been sending over a bunch to our family ‘round these parts, but they keep disappearing. How are we supposed to start farms if the trees never even make it to the dang town?! Mac and Granny are busy enough back at home without me, so this is the least I can do.”
Well, at least they weren’t in a desert. Twilight supposed it was one way to the next town. She stared at the tree with Spike, who was climbing in to get a closer look, probably for an apple.
“Spike, get out of th-” Before she finished, he ducked. Something smacked Twilight and she fell back. She rubbed her face as she looked up. A cluster of pink bounced around. This was, surprisingly, not Pinkie pulling some sort of prank on her, for this cluster was actually a collection of small pink objects, each one had a face with a varying expression. They were eggs, some clean, some cracked. They shook threateningly.
Twilight had dropped a fair few items. Some balls, her Pokedex, some potions were strewn both in and out of the truck. She was red in the face from both her frustration and from the mark the Pokemon had left, but she still had one left. Gritting her teeth, she pointed at the pink Pokemon.
“I have had it! Hoothoot, Peck!” The flying-type leapt up from her bag and flew towards the Pokemon, pecking every single egg that made it up. It was knocked this way and that, and as Hoothoot was about to deliver one more, but its beak came in contact with a wall of light. Twilight recognised the move.
“So it knows Reflect as well. Fine, Confusion. Throw it out!” Hoothoot lifted the injured Pokemon up. From the damage it received, it must’ve been a grass-type, but that didn’t matter. Hoothoot spun round, throwing it out of the truck. It didn’t get very far, the Confusion wasn’t that effective on it, but it landed on something and it was gone. The empty Pokeball that had sucked the attacker inside shut. It shook for a moment, before a red light beeped on the opening mechanism. Twilight was surprised, not having thought about catching it, but sighed. She supposed it was for the best. Pinkie and Rainbow were snickering to themselves, she shot them a look and they pretended to be staring somewhere else.
The bookworm rubbed her face, picking up the ball and heading to the front of the truck. She needed her rest anyway. The group crowded into the driving area. Twilight found herself squashed between them all, the door barely closing from the numbers. The car drove along the set path, and they were off.
Twilight sighed. She couldn’t even see out the window or enjoy the view that much, pressed into the back with the driver, the group, PLUS Thunderlane and Rumble, but she didn’t care. She’d had quite the busy day, and could use some rest. Putting some earplugs in, she leaned back as much as she could and began to drift off.
“Well ain’t this nice? A beautiful forest, a comfy ride, and friends to enjoy it with.” Applejack sighed, smiling. She couldn’t quite see the town yet, but she knew they were close. The farmer had never minded being in close proximity much. Her family was a close bunch anyway. Her family… She stopped smiling. Applejack wondered how they were doing. Was Mac getting on alright by himself? Applebloom was still growing up, was she learning new things? Even Granny’s rambling…
She shook her head, trying to distract herself. This cargo, it always went missing right before it arrived. She guessed if you wanted something done right you did it yourself.
“Couldn’t we at least sit somewhere a little less crowded?” Rarity complained.
“Hmm…” Applejack thought for a moment. “Well I guess ya could sit in the back with ol’ Bloomberg.”
“You want me to sleep with… The tree?” Rarity looked to Applejack as if the farmer had just said she wanted to burn down a fashion store.
“Sure. If yer lucky an apple will fall straight on yer face on this road. It’s pretty bumpy.”
“That’s not funny.”
“What isn’t?”
As the two of them spoke, the ground got clearer. The trees cleared away, and they could see a town on the horizon. Applejack smiled. As did Rarity, as it meant she could get off this bus. Fluttershy also had some discomfort but kept quiet about it. Twilight by this time was asleep. Rainbow was only half-asleep, but she was getting there, mostly stopped by Pinkie who was bouncing in her seat, humming a happy tune. The partygoer stopped as she saw something else.
A bunch of Pokemon along the fields. Mostly ground-types like Numel, Graveller and Rhyhorn, but there were others that stuck to large groups, and these weren’t ground-types. At least, they didn’t look like it to the farmer. Their bulky bodies were covered with brown fur, their eyes yellow with black markings around the sides with large horns on both sides of their heads, but their most notable feature was the fur that these horns stuck out of, big dark afros. Applejack recognised this as a herd of Bouffalant. Some different ones were strewn along the field, but the main one was the normal-type bull species. They got closer, running right by the truck, Pinkie staring out at them with a smile. In her seat she was high up, staring down at the bovines.
“I feel… BIG!” Pinkie looked out at the Pokemon charging through. “Grrrrrr!” She made the meanest face she could think of, before snickering. She roared even louder. “I’m a big mean monster coming to eeeeaaaat yooouuuu! Juuust kidding!! I’m not a monster! Or… Am I? ROOOAAAA- AHH!” Pinkie yelped as the truck rocked a little. “What? I can do other sounds, like an Arbok or a Gourgeist or a PrimeaaaAH!” She wobbled once more, she would’ve fallen off her chair if it hadn’t been for the seatbelt. “Tough crowd.” She rubbed her head, but they were bumped once more. Rainbow stirred.
“What in tarnation-“ Applejack’s eyes widened. “Quit bargin’ ya dang bulls! Scram!” Predictably, they didn’t listen. She grit her teeth and got out a Pokeball. “Rollout!” She sent Phanpy out. It instantly went into a ball, bouncing between the different Pokemon, hitting them and knocking many of them down. But not enough.
As Rainbow was stirring, she saw something move: A shadow getting above the truck. She was the closest to the door. She tried opening the door, but had to close it when the rocking combined with the packed truck made the others viable to fall out. Instead, she climbed out the window, getting on the hood. What was on the cargo wasn’t a Pokemon, it was a girl. Her skin was tan, her poncho a slightly lighter shade of brown than her skin. She wore a white and purple headband that held long black-tipped feathers at the side of her head.
“Hey! What do you think you’re-“ Before Rainbow could even finish, the girl leapt down between the truck and the cargo. Rainbow grit her teeth. She slid down.
The strange girl was at the bottom, reaching down to something, before noticing something in the corner of her eye. A Taillow shooting towards her. She leapt up, before looking up to see Rainbow leaping down at her in the narrow space.
“Hey! Get out of here or I’ll make you!” The new girl was surprisingly acrobatic. Sure, both the rainbow-haired girl and her flying-type were fast but they clearly weren’t good in small spaces. With each swoop Taillow was getting closer. She then looked to Rainbow, who was also getting closer. The feathered girl decided to close the distance herself, Taillow right behind her.
“Darn it, st-“ Before Rainbow could finish, the feathered girl was right in front of her. The next moment, she wasn’t, but a Taillow who couldn’t stop its own momentum crashed into its trainer.
The feathered girl, who had ducked below at the right time, used that moment of distraction. She undid the latch and the truck came loose. She whistled and all of a sudden, the hordes of Pokemon changed their position. She leapt down on a Bouffalant with fabric on its horn and they took off. For a moment the group was relieved, until Applejack noticed that their load was lighter.
She looked out the window, and saw her cargo was gone. The cowgirl was filled with shock. But that shock soon turned into rage. Twilight was rubbing her head. She’d absolutely no idea what had been happening, waking up to the truck rumbling, and had been desperately trying to carry herself back into the waking world, but by the time she was fully awake, it seemed to be subsiding. She was struck with a feeling of relief that it was over, only to groan as she heard Applejack shout a whirlwind of country profanities.
The car slowed down and she rubbed her head, hoping she could massage the headache out of her temple. The purple-haired girl looked around the window, then to everyone in the driver’s seat. Her face paled.
“Wait… Where’s Spike?”
There was always something going on with these girls. It could never just be peaceful, could it?
He’d been in the cargo with the tree the whole time. Twilight had been too tired to give any substantial protests. There weren’t any seatbelts, after all! She understood why he did it, however. The truck itself was packed with noisy rambunctious girls conversing and laughing.
Even so, she considered it a dumb decision. On top of not having a seatbelt, there wasn’t any seat at all. Just… A tree. Who would want a tree for a bed, anyway?!
Needless to say Twilight was unhappy getting off that truck, but she didn’t waste much time stepping off, but nearly jumped back when she saw the smiling face in front of her and fell back. A pale-yellow shirt with a brown sleeveless jacket to match his Stetson, with worn denims on his legs. He was saddled atop a grey quadruped with a body that was hard as stone.
“Howdy!” He chirped. “So nice to see all of ya! Y’all must be friends of cousin Applejack, and any friend of hers is a friend of mine! Speaking of which!” He ran over to Applejack, giving her a big hug. The farm girl, despite her mood, was not one to turn down a family hug, nor could she resist her cousin’s infectious attitude.
“How are y’all doin’? Ya don’t look too good, we should grab you a bite to eat! Got plenty to eat in the town!”
“Braeburn!” Applejack stopped him, right as he was about to list every minute building that was there. “Not that we don’t wanna hear but-”
“Oh, that reminds me! Your family sent their regards, along with a little somethin’ for ya!” He patted his cousin’s shoulder.
“They did?” Applejack’s voice softened for a moment. A small smile made its way to her face.
“Yeah! They miss ya real bad.” He smiled. He reached behind him, taking a small red box out and handing it to his cousin. “Now what are we waitin’ for? I gotta drop ol’ Rhyhorn off! The pen is on the way to the orchard, oh I can’t wait to show ya that!” He raised the reins in anticipation.
“That’s what we wanted to speak to you about! The tree is gone!”
“What?” Braeburn stopped.
“It was attacked by a buncha Bouffalant.”
He sighed. “So even you couldn’t stop them.”
“This place seemed perfect… But when our town was really gettin’ established, we got a visitor from the next town over. A gym leader. He wanted us to take our orchard down. I couldn’t tell ya my surprise! Of course, we couldn’t do that, and he told us that things were gonna get tough from here. Since then, it’s been one thing after another! Bouffalant take new trees out before they even arrive, Gligar are invadin’ the trees we DO have.” His fingers reached under his hat, rubbing his head.
“If he had it his way, this here town wouldn’t even exist.”
“This town is still so new; we don’t even have a mayor yet. Everythin’ and everyone depends on that orchard in one way or another, but they just want us to move it.” He then looked more determined. “He doesn’t own this land. We belong here as much as anyone. If only it were just the trees, too. Houses and pens break suddenly. Pokemon showing up, while our own disappear. Even my own Rhyhorn… This little guy here is just another from the pen.” He sighed, giving them a small smile. “Sorry for bringin’ y’all’s mood down like this. Why don’t ya go and look around the town, hm?”
Twilight walked off instantly after his explanation into the nearest shop she could see, the bell ringing as she opened the door.
“Why, is that the sound of a customer I hear near? Come right on in dear!”
Twilight walked forward and put money on the counter. “Coffee!” She said, before slinking onto the counter, her head resting against it. “Guh… Please.”
“Why, what a prodigious choice! There’s not a bean too lean for a valued customer!” A peppy showman’s voice spoke, before she could hear the pouring of water, the grinding of beans and the whirring of a machine. “You’ve got a strong work ethic, I can tell! Working your waking moments, throwing yourself into things! The guys and gals in this town work hard, so they need something just as strong as they! And you’re not from around here, are you? Travelling is just as strenuous!”
“Mhm…” Twilight nodded idly. Soon, a cup was slid over to her.
“One cup, madam! Keep those open eyes staring at starry skies!” Another similar but slightly different voice spoke, but she didn’t care much. At least, not until she looked up.
“Thanks, I really needed th-” She went silent. Her hand was frozen on the hot cup as she stared up. The two redheads behind the counter stared back at her. The first clean-shaven man was at the counter, while the moustachioed doppelganger behind him was midway through cleaning a cup. All three of them had their mouths agape.
“Twi? What’re ya-“ Applejack stopped mid-sentence. She had entered, the others following behind.
“YOU AGAIN?!”
Just about everyone in the cafe said those two words, a circle of arms pointing at each other.
“What a catastrophic calamity!” Flim groaned.
“What the heck are ya doin’ here?!” Applejack demanded.
“They are here to destroy our way of life once more!”
“Not this time!” The non-moustached fellow pulled an attachment from his coffee machine. “I have a steamer and I’m not afraid to use it!”
“Answer the question!” Pinkie insisted, her eyes narrow as she stood behind Applejack, her face scrunched with suspicion.
“Hmph! How dare you, miss! First you run us out, then you invade our steady Cafe venture?! Preposterous I say!”
“Couldn’t agree more, brother!”
“Oh, come on! After everything you put Pinkie’s family through, you can’t possibly pretend to be victims.” Rarity folded her arms.
“Hmph! Well not like it matters. We’ve got new work, a new business! So unless one of you buys something we’ve no interest in any of you!” Flam stuck his tongue out.
“Didn’t I just get something?” Twilight held her disposable cup up.
“Well… I suppose you technically did.” Flim said through a strained voice, before sighing and putting his salesman smile back on. “Well young misses! We might’ve heard through the applevine that the ones you’re looking for aren’t just some Pokemon crashing against the first thing they see. Why, it’s a whole town conspiring against this place. Why, I even heard they might have something big planned.”
“And what might that be?” Applejack asked.
“How should we know? We are just the coffee brothers.” Flim smiled.
“Perhaps call us next week when we’re the ‘walkie talkie and radio’ brothers.” Flam waved his hand, and they both shrugged.
“Fine, whatever. Let’s go Twi… Where’s Twilight?” She looked around. Twilight wasn’t there anymore. Now that Applejack thought about it, she hadn’t seen Rainbow in a while either.
Twilight panted as she walked further from the town. As if sitting in a stuffed truck wasn’t bad enough, now she was on her own who-knows-where wiping the taste of bad coffee out her mouth. She was still tired, nearly finished with her water, but she had to find him. Whatever was happening, she didn’t want her little brother in the middle of it. Even with that rest, her legs still ached. Thunderlane, despite being injured, was the object of envy right now, in the town with HIS brother. But she couldn’t worry about that now.
“Twilight?” She stopped, looking around. The bookworm had heard a voice, but she was so tired she couldn’t tell where or who it was from. Looking around, she tried to pinpoint where exactly it had come from.
“Twilight!” She stared at a rock. The lavender girl was left blinking. Had the noise come from the stone? Rubbing her eyes, she walked over to it. All of a sudden, she was grabbed and pulled to the other side of the rock. She looked up to see Rainbow’s face.
“Whu… Rainbow? Why are you-”
“Shhhh! They’ll hear you!”
“Who?”
“Them!” She spoke with a hushed tone, pointing to a few Bouffalant that appeared to be idly grazing.
“...Those are Pokemon, Rainbow.”
“The same ones that took Spike away?” Rainbow folded her arms. Twilight said nothing, she would give Rainbow that.
“That girl has, like, armies of Pokemon wrapped around her finger. For all we know they could be sentries, spotting any trespasser!” The athletic girl flung her arms out.
“Rainbow, spotting them for what? There’s no town in sight. Plus, how would she even be controlling them? Most trainers can only handle six at best, and even then…” She clenched her Dusk Ball.
“You might’ve been napping, but I saw it. That girl has some way of controlling them! Who even knows what she’s doing with that sort of power!”
“M-Maybe, but doesn’t it seem a little…” Twilight stopped. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s 1 or 100. I’m not leaving here without him.”
“Yeah… Uh, you sure you can do this? You’re not looking too good.” Rainbow stared at the tired Twilight.
“Tired? Me?? Hahahaha, who says I’m tired?!”
“Uh… No one.” Rainbow blinked. “Maaaaaaybe you should go back.”
“I’m not leaving him!” Twilight proclaimed, before walking two steps and tripping on a stone. Rainbow knelt and rolled the bookworm on her back. She coughed up sand and sighed. “I remember when he was small, he’d follow me everywhere. He asked these small questions and I’d answer every time, almost like he was my student.” She softly chuckled, leaning against the boulder. “He always seemed so fragile, like a gust of wind could knock him over and shatter him. There are so many things that could do that without a second thought. We haven’t even scratched the surface. I don’t want the dark to take my brother from me. But… I don’t know if I can help him, but I still have to. Nobody else will. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
“...Yeah.” Rainbow whispered, before grinning as she pulled Twilight up. “But that just means we have to be careful, covert!”
“Hoot!”
“See? Your partner agrees with me.”
“Hoot! Hoot!” Her Hoothoot, which had been resting in her bag for shade, was now flying up above the rock.
“O-Okay, quiet down-”
“Hoot!”
“Twilight, can you do something?! That bird’s gonna blow our cover!” Rainbow said through gritted teeth. Twilight nodded, frantically looking through her bag for her Pokeball. Rainbow looked back up, hoping that the two Bouffalant hadn’t seen her, but said Bouffalant were gone. She blinked, looking around. “Huh? Where did-” She turned around. The two normal types were right behind them. As were many others. They were surrounded before they knew it.
“TRAITOR!” Rainbow yelled at Twilight’s partner, who flew off into the herd. The Bouffalant advanced.
“Wait!” Familiar voice said, they could hear someone small pushing through the crowd of normal types. When he finally made it through the wall of muscle and fluff, he panted, as if he had been underwater. On his head perched Hoothoot, calm as ever.
“Spuh…” Twilight couldn’t even finish her sentence before she crashed.
“Mmm… Huh?” Twilight slowly blinked, the first thing she saw was a window on the ceiling showing the night sky, filled with stars uncovered by the lack of light pollution that was usually rife in big cities. Her first thought was how beautiful it was, while her second was where the heck she even was? Rubbing her head, she sat up and looked around. She seemed to be in some sort of house, but there was nobody inside. She made her way to the door, stumbling a few times. There was a light through the door, yet it was night? The bookworm flung the door open.
She was near a campfire, with both houses and tents all around. It was an open area, where people were walking around and talking to each other, most of them were accompanied by a Bouffalant but there were some with other Pokemon like Numel, were the two she recognised, Rainbow and Spike.
“Finally! How am I supposed to be awesome if I’m worrying about you, huh?” The athletic girl folded her arms.
“What happened?” Twilight rubbed her head.
“The heat made you pass out. We had to stay here so they could look at you.” Spike explained. “Don’t worry though, these guys were cool about it.”
“I doubt the ones kidnapping you were ‘cool’ about anything.”
“Eh, they were just after the tree. They didn’t know I was here.” He explained. “Their business isn’t with me, or you, or any of us.” He explained. “This is a moving town. They’re kinda like nomads, except they take their home with them, and the Pokemon help them out!”
“The moving Bouffalant Village… I’ve heard of it.” Twilight muttered, walking over to Spike and giving him a big hug. Putting it on a map was pointless, since the travellers never settled, always going to a different part of the hot south.
Twilight sighed, falling back. It had been a long day. Typical wasn’t it that now it was night, and she wasn’t as tired. Fine, wouldn’t be the first all-nighter she pulled. But in a way, this was perfect, if this was the moving village then her objective, the next gym leader, was here.
“They’re really interesting! Most of them don’t even use Pokeballs. They travel all over the desert and see all sorts of things and collect all sorts of gemstones too. I’ve got a few more for my collection. Between here and Pinkie’s farm, it’s been a blast!”
Another approached the group. A familiar tanned girl with copper hair, the feathers in her hair shuddering in the wind.
“Are you doing ok Spike?” She asked. “I wanted to say sorry again for what happened.”
“Oh uh, it’s fine Little Strongheart. I’m as good as ever!”
“Alright, but just Strongheart is fine. You’re smaller than I am.” She chuckled a little.
Quick to change the subject, Spike turned to the others. “Uh, girls, Strongheart. Strongheart, girls.”
“Hello there.” She smiled. Twilight, who had not actually seen this girl, simply waved, but Rainbow was shocked.
“You!” The two of them both pointed at each other.
“Still have a headache, girls!” Twilight groaned. Immediately, Rainbow was in the blonde girl’s face.
“Oh, so this whole town is in on it, huh?!” Rainbow clenched her fist.
“We didn’t mean to hurt anyone! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone!” The feather-headed girl insisted.
“Didn’t mind hurting me or Taillow!” Rainbow grabbed Strongheart by the poncho.
“I mean, technically you hurt yourself.” Strongheart pushed her fingers together embarrassed, but Rainbow glared further. “U-Usually I unhook it without anyone seeing me, I didn’t expect anyone to actually chase!”
“You think I’m gonna listen to you?! You and your minions over there rammed into us and stole!”
“They are not my minions, they’re allies!” Strongheart proclaimed, her hand on the Bouffalant next to her. “We didn’t want to hurt anyone; I didn’t want to hurt anyone!”
“Tell that to the truck you nearly tipped over!”
“This place is suffering because of what they do! Maybe they were a little rough, but they have less space to move, to live. Do you have any idea what that’s like? Every day they get more restless.”
“Please hold on.” Twilight walked up, rubbing her head. “Where’s the gym leader, Thunderhooves? I-I’m taking the gym challenge, so I need to face him.”
Strongheart frowned, looking down. “I’m sorry, he isn’t accepting requests for battles right now. He’s going through a rough time… Maybe you should meet him.”
The group moved closer to the large campfire. At the centre was a large figure. Easily over 6 feet. Twilight figured he’d even tower over her brother.His expression was solemn. He wore simple clothes with a grey shirt and trousers, but there were a few items of note he had on his person, he had a coat lined with dark fur, along with a cyan necklace a shade darker than Rainbow’s clothing. He was an older gentleman with long hair and brown skin, but by the looks of him his age would do nothing to diminish the strength he obviously possessed.
“This land… It’s become damaged. Foreign Pokemon invade while the indigineous ones get pushed out. It’s all the fault of those newcomers! First, they came here, where I could at least watch over them, but they won’t listen to a thing I say!” Thunderhooves grimaced. “This land doesn’t belong to them, it’s the Pokemon that use and travel through here. Even as a gym leader, I cannot claim ownership of these plains. Yet they believe they can simply do as they please. This land has been disturbed by those who do not understand it, invasive species appear while the native ones disappear, even…” His expression turned to one of sadness. “Even my own partner has vanished.” His sad expression turned to one of anger. “Diplomacy has got us little and lost us much. If nobody else will fight for this land, then we will. We owe it to them!”
Twilight listened silently. She understood what they were getting at, newcomers callously destroying land in pursuit of their own needs, pushing out Pokemon that are essential to that area. She sighed. It seemed her gym battle would have to wait; he didn’t seem to be in a state to hand out badges.
For a moment, Rainbow didn’t say anything, just thinking it over. No space to move, to run.
“Do you get it now Rainbow? Twilight? They aren’t bad people; they’re just thinking of-”
“Get it?” She turned to look at them. “What I get is that these guys were just trying to help their friends and got punished!” No space to move, to run, to even do anything. These guys and their Pokemon couldn’t fly, what could they do? It was time to talk to the town.
The next morning, the group at Appleloosa were all packed. While Twilight had rushed forward, the others had stayed behind to gather more intel and devise a plan, but none of the townsfolk had much to say outside of venting their own frustration. There was another reason. Applejack was worried that they might try something the moment she left, like a herd of Bouffalant running through without warning. Once she’d calmed down enough to decide that the town was doing fine enough for her to go out without any surprises, she was off with the others. She would not let her family come to harm.
“What blistering heat! Wouldn’t you agree brother?”
“Oh, I wish I could agree, but with the Flim Flam Protector Brella, you can shield from the toughest conditions rain or shine!”
“Oh of course, how could I forget?!” The two salesmen laughed. “Yes, this treacherous landscape is almost as breezy as the breeze from this brolly-”
“Must you two go on?” Rarity groaned. It had barely even been 15 minutes. She had got her beauty sleep, so why was she feeling bags forming under her eyes?
“Oh, come on!” Flam put his free hand on his hip. “You already dragged us out here! You mean to tell us that we can’t even speak?”
“About the jist, yup.” Applejack rolled her eyes. The farmer didn’t really want to rely on them, but it was necessary. Most of the townsfolk seldom went beyond the orchard and these two travelling salesmen knew this place like the back of their hands, so they were the best bet for finding Spike, Twilight and Rainbow. ’If they were lucky, that thief of a girl, too. It hadn’t taken much, the group’s not-so-subtle hinting that it was only fair after all the stress they put Pinkie’s family through and an even-less-subtle growl from Lairon. “All ya need to do is lead, no sales pitches needed.”
Braeburn put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a hopeful smile.
“I’m sure we’ll find your friends. We won’t let anyone hurt em. If they’re with you, then they’re family, and apples protect their family.”
Of course. Applejack knew that better than anyone. Apples helped each other and protected each other, but she could do neither while travelling. She wasn’t happy to hear about the attacks on the town, but if it had to happen, she was glad it was happening at a time when she was passing through. She’d do her part, even if she had to put up with those two.
That being said she didn’t expect those two to keep their mouths shut for long, which would mean another reprimand. Who knew how long they’d be out here f-
“Yay, I found them!” Pinkie gasped as she jumped up on a rock, waving her hands around. She seemed especially happy as she ran over to Twilight, Rainbow and Spike, her arms wrapping around the athlete first. Applejack thought the party girl might just be happy to not spend more time with the two salesmen than was needed.
Likewise, the rest of the group rushed forward, greeting their friends with relieved looks.
“We’re so glad you’re okay Spikey!” Rarity wrapped the boy in a hug that left him babbling like a buffoon, and Fluttershy checked him for heatstroke.
“We’re happy all of ya are okay.” Applejack let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding the whole trip.
Twilight leaned against a rock, having more or less gotten enough sleep to function.
“How did you get him back??” Pinkie leaned forward, looking between the two girls. “Was it tough? How many of them did you have to fight?”
“Didn’t fight any.” Rainbow smiled, choosing to omit the part where she was caught.
“What do ya mean?” Applejack paused. She could see someone peeking from behind a rock and frowned. She walked past the group before they could stop her and saw one Strongheart letting out an ‘eep’ as she was caught by the farmer.
“There ya are.” Applejack’s look hardened as she got a Pokeball out.
“Wait!” Rainbow got between the two. “She just wants to talk!”
Applejack stopped, she didn’t open the Pokeball but her hard expression remained.
“What about?”
“Well.” Rainbow smiled, dragging the two back to the rest of the group, bringing Strongheart directly to Braeburn. “They want to explain why the trees need to be moved off this land.”
Braeburn had a cautiously optimistic look on his face. “That would be a good thing to kn-”
“Funny, since he can explain how important those trees are to this town.”
Strongheart looked up at him. “Well… That would be useful inf-”
“They’re messing everything up around here!”
“They’re messin’ things up? We ain’t the ones attackin’ trucks or ruinin’ pens! My family and this town worked hard on this place! Why does it need to be changed?!” Applejack clenched her fists, her and Rainbow getting in each other’s faces.
“Hold on!” Twilight raised her arms, pushing between the two. “It was an honest mistake, right? Let’s just go back to town, ok? We can explain and talk there, and they can talk things through.” The bookworm nervously suggested. Those two might’ve been heated, but the ones actually involved seemed fine, so her best bet of getting through this was diffusing. Applejack and Rainbow folded their arms, looking away from each other.
“Is it… Always like this?” She looked at Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy, who nodded at varying speeds. Sighing, she walked back with the rest of them.
The group walked back, Flim and Flam quietly leading the way.
The others looked at Strongheart as she passed. They hadn’t seen her directly but recognised the clothing she wore, the belligerent Thunderhooves having stormed his way through the town with demands a fair few times, so the idea that she might be trouble crossed their minds, though they were confused what she was doing with Braeburn and the newcomers.
Strongheart herself was looking back at them and all around the area. She had never actually been into the town before, only Thunderhooves and a few others had.
“Braeburn?” Silverstar approached, that same uncertainty in his eyes. “Uhh… Everythin’ alright?”
Braeburn paused for a moment. “I think we need to sit down somewhere.”
They all found themselves back in the brother’s cafe, each of them taking a seat. The Appleloosans had coffees of some sort. Twilight, now rejuvenated, was drinking tea, adjusting her pose while sitting like she was trying to imitate someone, but that someone wasn’t there. Rarity was doing something similar, except she was trying more to look like the talk of the town than simply intelligent. Pinkie munched on an apple pie that she shared with Strongheart, who took to it instantly.
“Uhh… So.” Braeburn cleared his throat and Strongheart looked up, pie crumbs on her face.
“Right.” She wiped her mouth, chuckling a little. “W-Well, you didn’t know about the trees, it was an honest mistake. Maybe… You’d be able to move them?”
“Well… Where? It’s kinda the only flatland around here.”
“What if you moved the town?” Strongheart asked, and they were flabbergasted.
“Move the t… Are ya mad, girl?” Silverstar ran his hands through his hair.
“Even if we did that, where? West of us is a desert, and there’s already an orchard in use up north. This is the only flatland we can use.” Braeburn asked, and Strongheart looked at the floor.
“Well things can’t just stay as they are.” She insisted. “The Pokemon are getting restless! We see changes every day! It’s moving faster than we can believe. If we don’t fix this soon, it’ll come crashing down on this place.”
“Is that a threat?” Silver’s gaze hardened.
“N-No, it-”
“Deary me, it seems like the poor girl is having trouble articulating her concerns.” Flim interjected. Strongheart looked down, nodding.
“Unfortunate, but she is just a child, after all.” Flam noted. Strong heart looked down.
“Well… What about some?” Strongheart suggested.
Braeburn paused. “How much would that be?” He asked.
“That place is kind of part of their route. If we can make it wide enough for them to pass through?” She suggested, both hope and anxiety clear in her voice.
The two, Braeburn especially; were thinking this through.
“That’s still might be a lotta trees… I Dunno, maybe-“
“If there’s a problem, I can bring Thunderhooves over, he’d explain it better than me.” Strongheart suggested. They had dealt with the gym leader before, and the apprehension was written on their faces.
Still, they relented.
“Fine.” Silver groaned, though he wasn’t looking forward to it. He was the closest thing to a mayor the town had yet, and while his hat was certainly in that ring, he worried about the trouble it would be worth managing a conflict like this. He was sure to lose his hair early.
“Why, what a cornucopia of compromise!”
“Put the tunes on with our Flam Jam Radio! Sure to raise the roof or mellow any fell-“
They were out of there as the brothers went on. Strongheart ran off out of town to head home.
Applejack watched with folded arms, becoming more relaxed as the situation dawned in her mind, ending with her leaning against the wall, a relieved sigh making its way from her lips.
They waited a long time, when they were starting to set things up. It was a long journey from one town to the nex and Strongheart was going, presumably on foot, but she knew her way.
Applejack was leaning against the orchard fence at the time. She sighed, stretching out. Eevee was on her shoulder, looking around.
“Sight to behold, ain’t it?” Applejack smiled and Eevee looked to its trainer. “You ain’t actually seen our farm in Ponyville, have ya?”
Eevee shook its head.
“Well, lemme tell ya. This orchard, like the one at home, is the pride and joy of our family. We depend on it, and it depends on us. That means it’s our duty to protect it.”
Eevee slowly looked around, like it was trying to commit each individual tree to memory, it even seemed determined to do so. Applejack found it cute, patting Eevee on the head.
Looking up, Applejack saw some movement. With a swift motion, she kicked the tree and something fell down. A Gligar. She sent Eevee to attack it, getting all the ones she could now see. Applejack ran after it, before almost slipping on a patch of dead branches and moss. She steadied herself and sighed.
If her brother was here, he’d probably tell her to take things one at a time. She missed him, she missed all of them, wanting to give her sister the biggest hug, but she was out here, and she’d make them proud. It was in front of her, her duty to protect and she would.
As she watched the bat Pokemon scurry away, she saw another, onto of its apples in hand. She was about to command another attack when she felt the ground shake.
Confusion and worry overtook her as she looked around, and ran back up towards the town.
“What in the blazes is happeni-“ She saw the faces of the townspeople turned in many directions. She followed one of their gazes and her eyes widened.
Bouffalant charged straight towards the town, getting closer every second. Not one, not ten, not even fifty. She wouldn’t be surprised if every one of them was coming right at them.
“TAKE COVER!” Applejack yelled, and immediately everyone was snapped out of their stupor, straight to panic. They scrambled into their homes. Applejack threw two Pokeballs, sending Phanpy and Lairon out.
It wasn’t long before they were overwhelmed. Phanpy was knocked back mid-rollout while Lairon was butting heads with as many as it could.
“KEEP GOING, LAIRON!” She half-ordered, half-pleaded. “Please!” She heard a roar and turned around, more coming from more directions. Lairon sent an Iron Head forward, but when one took Revenge on Lairon, the steel-type was knocked to its side. Applejack ran towards her Pokemon. Most were too angry to even focus on one thing, ramming their bodies into anything they could see, and one saw the vulnerable Lairon. She ran in front of the Pokemon, in a vain attempt to shield it and stepped back as the vengeful bull charged at them, the purple fabric on its horn blowing as its body glowed with a red fighting aura. Applejack braced herself.
Suddenly, it fell. The raging bull cried out in frustration. It was shaking its head, like it was trying to get something out. She saw that its face and hair were covered in sand. Applejack looked down, and saw a Sandile she recognised. As the Bouffalant got up, it saw a yellow powder glimmer around it. In front of it was Shroomish. It tried charging again but it was more sluggish this time.
“APPLEJACK!” The farmhand turned to see the familiar cry of Pinkie, who ran towards APplejack and her Pokemon.
“Pinkie!” AJ was relieved her friend wasn’t hurt.
“The heck is going on?!”
“An attack! We gotta find the others!” She said that, but there were too many of them to get through. Right now, there were a fair few blocking the street. “Dangit! How the heck are we gonna-“
“Confetti!” Pinkie smiled.
“What?” Applejack was incredibly confused, but before she could ask another question Pinkie grabbed the farmer’s ankle and raised it up, placing Shroomish on Applejack’s foot.
The next thing the Bouffalant knew, a grass-type was slammed in its face, releasing a cloud of yellow spores on impact.
Above them, they could see something. The townspeople had made it to their roofs, and those that had Pokeballs threw them up, raining attacks down but that just made the Bouffalant hit the houses even harder.
In the distance a Bouffalant was knocked in the air, followed by more. Groups of Rhyhorn were charging through the berserk bulls, knocking past them. Riding on one was Braeburn. He stopped when he made it to the girls, the rock-types with him.
“You girls alright?” Braeburn asked.
“Just fine! Did you see anyone else?!” Applejack was worried about if any others were caught out in the street.
“Haven’t yet, just about to!” He raised an arm, pointing at the largest Bouffalant crowd. “Up and at ‘em, boys!” He led his herd through the streets. Even though he wasn’t riding his Rhyhorn, his handling of this one seemed to be no worse for wear. He charged forward on a random one, leading the others with a swift expertise.
Applejack ran through the town, looking where she could. “Girls? Y’all ok??” She looked around, getting close to the orchard, before seeing a familiar face lying on the ground. Fluttershy had her arms sprawled out and wasn’t moving. The farm girl rushed over to her friend.
“Fluttershy?! Say something!” Applejack’s initial panic died down when she heard Fluttershy stir. Breathing a sigh of relief, Applejack supported her friend. By now many of the bulls were defeated but the town was half wrecked. But she’d run through a good portion of the town, everywhere except-
Applejack leaned Fluttershy against a wall, sitting the shy girl down and headed for the orchard.
Looking down at it, she could see a bit of damage. Some of the Bouffalant must have made it to the trees, but they hadn’t got too far before they were dealt with. She allowed herself to be hopeful. Then, she got closer. Branches slashed and torn off their trees. Some had even been toppled over, but those that hadn't had their fruit bitten and destroyed. In the trees she could see a long white feather with a black tip. She grabbed it and looked around, walking out of the orchard. She looked up at the ledge to see Twilight and Rainbow, along with Strongheart, her headband blowing in a light wind. AJ looked down at the feathers in her hand and became filled with anger.
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Why isn't Zapdos in the picture?
It's been 2 years since the last chapter.
Also, I like the approach to moves Legends Arceus takes, the trainer having the ability to cycle moves Pokemon know in and out whenever they aren't in a combat scenario. I haven't seen anyone talking about that just yet.