Chapter 1: A Promise is a Promise
“Oh, come on,” Flora muttered to herself, floating across the forest floor. “There’s got to be some around here somewhere.”
The Floette stretched down, maintaining a firm grip on the yellow flower that she took everywhere. Sweeping her pale hand through the undergrowth of trees, she was growing more disappointed each time her hand pulled up nothing but dirt. She’d been searching for hours and tried every place in the forest she could think of, yet still nothing.
A rustling of leaves made Flora stop and scan her surroundings, gripping her flower like a weapon. Tense seconds went by with nothing moving save Flora’s scanning eyes and barely-controlled breathing. A big sigh for one as small as her escaped her lips when she finally realised she was alone. Flora had never been this close to the forest’s northern borders before; everyone else back in the village warned her it was too dangerous.
Maybe they were right, she thought as a frigid northern breeze sifted through the trees. She looked back towards the south, knowing it’d be so much easier and probably smarter to just go home and try tomorrow morning. But a conversation from the previous day resurfaced, steeling her resolve.
“A promise is a promise.” Psyching herself up, she took hold of her flower and floated further north through the trees, her eyes scanning the forest floor as well as every nook and tree base. After a few minutes, another frigid gust nearly blew her over. Steadying herself against a tree, Flora looked up ahead.
Immediately she wished she had gone back to the village.
There, off in the distance and under a seemingly perpetual blanket of snow clouds, stood Snowbelle City. The former human city was surrounded by a large chain fence topped with sharpened razor wire. Beneath the fence’s outer side was a large ditch, and searchlights prowled across the perimeter like hungry Houndooms.
But most of all were the flags, especially the one softly fluttering from the tallest building in the centre of town; A red background bordered by two black bars on the side and a Y symbol with frayed edges and a crown adorned the centre.
All the determination Flora had before evaporated. Now she understood the warnings from the village elders. Glancing around nervously, she slowly started easing back into the woods, praying to Arceus that she wouldn’t be noticed.
Then, the city exploded in a crescendo of noise.
Ducking behind the tree’s roots, Flora looked back to see the searchlights wildly swaying across the city borders as a klaxon alarm blared. Flora thought she could see large silhouettes atop the closest buildings, but then a searchlight stopped moving around and focussed on the fence, wordlessly urging the figures into action. One look made her realise why.
There, emerging from a hole dug beneath the fence, were two humans – a woman and her daughter it seemed – and a Sandshrew. The humans were dirty, wearing basic grey prison clothes with a metal band secured firmly to their ankles, broken chains dangling off of it. The three broke into a sprint, running for the forest as fast as their legs would carry them. The young girl tripped, forcing the woman to turn back for her before something crashed into the ground behind them, throwing up a cloud of powdery snow.
Flora gasped in terror at the sight. Stepping forward from the cloud were two Abomasnows, each wearing a dark red shoulder pauldron. The first one to emerge roared, charging forward as it’s fist glowed green. The mother cradled her child, fear locking her in place. But the strike missed when the Sandshrew slashed at the face of the soldier, the blow landing just beside the humans. With a yell at the mother, the Sandshrew turned back and lunged at the Abomasnow, while the mother took the opportunity to run for the forest.
Despite every shred of logic and fear telling her she needed to leave and fast, Flora floated in place, begging the woman to run faster. She was heading in her general direction, and as she grew closer Flora swore she could see the smears on her face, the knots in her haphazardly lengthened hair and the fear in her eyes.
“Come on,” Flora whispered, subconsciously drifting away from the tree and waving her flower to get their attention. “Over here!” The woman, panicked, saw the waving yellow flower and redoubled her efforts.
Only to fall backwards, the girl falling from her grasp as the second Abomasnow yanked her back by her blonde hair. Flora’s mouth opened in horror as the large Pokémon raised its free hand, a large spear of ice appearing in the air above it. The woman’s eyes filled with terror, the girl getting up and pounding on the soldier to release her to no avail. Flora had moved a few feet into the open, not knowing what to do but trying anyway. Her help wasn’t needed, though, as the Sandshrew, now bloodied with an eye swelled shut, leapt up and attacked. The Abomasnow let go of the woman, dodging the glowing purple claws of the smaller Pokémon.
As they fought, the woman quickly scooped up the girl and ran, soon reaching the forest. As they reached her, Flora quickly fell in beside the two as they kept running further into the forest. Only once the borders of the forest were out of sight did they stop to catch their breath, the woman letting the girl down before collapsing to her knees.
“Are… Are you okay?” Flora finally asked. She knew it was a stupid question, but she didn’t know how else to start a conversation with this human.
“I’ll… be alright.” She panted in reply, looking up at the Floette with nothing but gratitude. “Thank you.”
“Oh, well, I didn’t do anything.” Flora bashfully smiled, putting a hand behind her head.
The woman shook her head. “No, you gave us a path forward.” She then pulled something that looked like a dark playing card from her pocket and gave it to the girl. “Can you look after this for Mummy?” The girl looked at the card before giving her mother a pleading look. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe, I promise. One way or another, I’ll protect you, so can you be a brave girl and do this for me?” Eventually the girl nodded before being encompassed in a hug. “That’s my girl.”
A snapping twig made Flora and the humans flinch, the three quickly looking for the cause of the noise. Flora, gripping her flower tightly, didn’t see anything but trees. But then she heard something else; a weird, shifting sound.
“Run-ARGH!”
Flora turned back and nearly screamed.
The woman had pushed her daughter forward mere moments before being struck from behind. Looking back, Flora saw the wooden, terrifying form of a Trevenant emerging from a pool of shadows behind the woman, its claw raised upwards and lightly coated in human blood.
The scream of the woman rattling through the terror quickly consuming her mind, Flora quickly swung her flower in an arc, the action summoning a gust of sparkling wind the buffeted the ghost Pokémon back. She then tugged at the girl’s shoulder, but she shook Flora off, running to her mother before being stopped with a gaze.
“I promise I’ll find you,” the woman bellowed. “Now go!” Tears in her eyes, the girl didn’t argue before turning to join Flora in fleeing further into the woods.
“After them!” Flora heard the Trevenant below behind them. “They have the item.” Then came a sound that filled Flora with another wave of fear.
The sound of a flame igniting.
The two ducked beneath a fallen tree just before it exploded in a burst of blue flame. Flora looked back to see a second Trevenant chasing after them, readying another azure fireball.
“Lucky. Lucky. Lucky!” Flora chanted to herself, a response coming in a shimmering light around herself and the girl for a moment as they kept running. Despite twisting and turning through the woods, the booming explosions were a sign their pursuer wouldn’t give up so easily.
Which made it all the more concerning when, coming to a small clearing, the sounds stopped. Flora stopped, turning to place the girl between herself and an actual tree. All while she was scanning the tree line, her flower shook in her grip. Despite being more than capable of battling as any Pokémon, Flora knew she would be outclassed in a fight like this. Looking back behind her she saw the girl bent over, hugging her knees and incapable of holding back her tears any longer.
“H-Hey, don’t cry.” Flora said, trying to calm the young human. “I’ll get you out of here, I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, bug.”
Flora spun to find the voice, but instead got an up-close look at a wooden claw wreathed in shadows flying at her face. The impact sent the tiny Pokémon flying into another tree, collapsing on the ground and losing grasp of her flower. She shook her head, trying to clear the stars in her vision, but horror crept back into her consciousness when she looked up. There, the Trevenant held the girl high off the ground, its claw clamped down around her neck. She scraped and pounded but there was little chance of him letting go.
No, she silently pleaded. Arceus… Someone, anyone. Please, help us! Flora watched on as the Trevenant raised its other arm, readying another Shadow Claw.
“Please help us!” Flora screamed.
A bright light sparked in the centre of the clearing, answering her plea.
\ \_(-o-)_/ /
You had to make things difficult one last time, didn’t you Discord?
Celestia shook off the impact of the teleport spell. Despite being asleep beforehand, it was clear she wouldn’t get the calm awakening she was hoping for in this new land. Looking up, however, questions instantly multiplied. To her left lay a small… creature, somewhat similar to a Breezie in stature, whilst to her right a living tree seemed to be strangling a smaller, bipedal creature. Celestia quickly recognised it as a human from Twilight’s reports of her time at Canterlot High.
She also realised the severity of the situation she had just intruded upon.
“Ahem,” Celestia composed herself. “Greetings. Is there a problem here?”
“There won’t be a problem if you leave now, freak.” The living tree shot back, levelling a hostile gaze from it’s single, glowing eye.
Celestia turned to face this being, reminiscent of Timberwolves. “I’m sorry, but I find that hard to accept with you strangling someone. Perhaps if you could put her down and we could discuss this-”
Celestia never got to finish, as the tree launched a blue fireball at her, creating a large explosion. Smoke billowed around her, but when Celestia stepped through the smoke unsinged, the tree noticed and quickly turned, releasing the girl and giving the princess its full attention.
“I don’t wish to fight you,” Celestia spoke calmly. “I only wish to understand what’s happening.”
“What’s happened is you’ve stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong,” the tree shouted back, though from the tone of what sounded like a male voice was that he was unnerved. “Now, stay out of my business before I end you.” Celestia noticed the girl run over to the smaller creature, checking to see if it was okay. She also saw the tree noticed this too, quickly glancing to his right before focussing back on herself.
“I don’t wish to start a fight with the first group I’ve met,” she said, deliberately stepping between the human girl and the tree. “But I will not allow you to harm these two any further than it appears you already have.”
“Then die!”
With a roar, the tree lunged at her with a claw swirling in shadows. But shock somehow manifested itself onto his wooden features when his attack was halted by a sphere of translucent, golden light. Celestia’s horn still glowing, she flung her head upwards, shattering the barrier and flinging the tree back a few feet. She watched it get up, not moving a muscle herself. Thrusting its arms at her, a storm of seemingly razor sharp leaves flew from the clusters on each of its wrists. In response, Celestia alighted her horn once more; this time stopping the leaves mid-air before they could make contact. Seeing the surprise on the creature’s face, Celestia then added more power to her spell, igniting the still suspended leaves in a blanket of orange flames. At this the girl and her companion watched on in silent awe, while the tree stepped back in fear.
“I offer you this one last chance; cease fighting and perhaps we can work out a solution. Together.” The tree looked at her for a moment or two before fleeing back into the woods that surrounded them all. Celestia sighed, snuffing out the flames before softening her expression and turning to the two before her. “Are you two alright?”
The two merely continued staring in awe, and for a moment Celestia feared they too would run in terror at this new arrival. Instead, the human girl, tears streaming down her face, ran to Celestia and hugged her tightly. Recognising this as fear, Celestia slowly sat down and wrapped her wings around the crying child.
“There, there,” she shushed. “It’s all over now. You’re safe.” At this, the girl looked up in shock at Celestia before breaking into more sobs, burying her face into Celestia’s chest.
“Um,” a new voice spoke up, and Celestia looked over to see the small creature hover closer, now holding a yellow flower just taller than itself. “T-Thank you miss. If, if you hadn’t shown up…”
“The battle’s over,” Celestia silenced the creature’s fears before looking over both her and the girl. “You can relax now.”
The creature breathed a sigh of relief. “Sorry, my name’s Flora. What’s yours?”
“My name is Celestia. A pleasure to meet you.” The princess then looked down to the human, who was settling down now. “And what might your name be?” The girl went to speak, but no sound escaped her lips. A hand touched her throat before breaking from Celestia’s embrace and knelt down, drawing lines in the sand.
“Your name’s Summer?” Flora asked, to which the girl nodded. “And you can’t speak?” At this, a shake of the head.
The name made Celestia start taking notice of Summer’s features. Namely, how similar they were to someone else she knows. Summer had fair skin, teal eyes and a messy tangle of red hair, with a splash of yellow in the swirling fringe before her face.
“If I may,” Celestia stood, facing Flora. “Why was that tree attacking you?”
“Well…” Flora dithered, but one look at Celestia’s reassuring face she gained more confidence. “She and her mother escaped from Snowbelle City. Her mother gave her something before telling us to run, and that Trevenant was trying to get her back, I think.” Summer pulled something from her dull clothes to show Celetsia; looking like a card of sorts.
“And where is her mother now?” Celestia asked, though the two looking down gave the princess her answer. Understanding, she trotted over to Summer’s side and placed a reassuring wing around the young girl’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. But don’t worry; I’ll protect you, I promise.” Looking wide eyed at Celestia again, a small smile finally emerged as she hugged the princess once more.
“Flora,” Celestia asked. “Is there somewhere we can rest safely? If she escaped and was pursued, I feel as though it’d be best not to linger.”
“Oh, uh, okay.” Flora responded before hovering around a little, thinking. “Well, we could head back to the village. I mean, I’ll probably get into heaps of trouble bringing you two there, but any where’s better than here, right?”
Celestia nodded. “I’ll explained what happened. Thank you, Flora.”
“Right then,” Flora perked up, looking around their surroundings intently before drifting off towards one edge of the clearing. “I’m pretty sure it’s this way. I’ll know for certain when we get closer. Come on.” With that, she slipped through the trees. Smiling, Celestia stood and gently levitated Summer onto her back.
“Hold on tight now,” Summer nodded and did so as Celestia set off at a gallop after Flora through the forest.
Well, no turning back now.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
1,039 users online
1,914,967 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This looks good. The young girl gets a talking, winged and tall Rapidash. Not bad for a first pokemon!
Okay.... Yeah, I can get behind this... your writing is actually pretty good, no glaring spelling or grammatical errors. This feels like as much of a pokemon fanfic as it is an MLP fanfic, but since I like both, I'm really not going to complain. I'm interested in the backstory of this pokemon universe. I assume it's in the future of the pokemon world, since there's normal technology, and Snowbelle City is, y'know, a giant prison fortress of evil thing, instead of a place with, like, 5 houses. Did the Player Character go mad with the power of Yveltal, and take over the world? Did some shady criminal organization take over? Was Sycamore actually an evil mastermind, harnessing the power of Mega Evolution????? THE QUESTIONS INTENSIFY.
8178942
Wouldn't Flora be her first pokemon, so Celestia is her second? :-)
Is Flora a Pokemon?
8179374 Yes. A floette.
8179251 Neither Flora nor Celestia have been caught, and I'm pretty sure Summer doesn't actually think of them as her Pokémon. Not yet, anyway.
8179611
Along with 2 other fics of the same author, one MLP/Star Wars crossover and especially one MLP/W40k crossover...
I know it's art, but with that much hair it looks like she could tie herself around one of the towers on her castle
i feel bad because im pretty sure the sandshrew dies along with the mother
Celestia, the balance pokemon. Type unknown. Where this powerful and mythical Pokemon went is unknown, but it has been said she appears when the world becomes unbalanced. Those who encounter her should be wary, as the few eyewitnesses report overwhelming power in battle.