My Little Pokemon

by Alabenson

At the Mountains of Malcontents

“Ugh, how far away is this place again?” Rainbow Dash groaned as she trudged along the path behind Twilight and Spike.

“According to Terra, Drakefang Monastery was built on the tallest portion of the island’s central mountain, so our first goal is to make it to the base of the mountain itself,” Twilight replied. “Once we make it there, we’ll be able to follow a road that winds through the caves inside the mountain itself.”

“So, we need to through more caves, too?” Rainbow Dash moaned.

“Don’t worry, this won’t be anything like the caves we fell into before,” Twilight assured her. “These will be man-made tunnels that were built to permit access to the summit. They do cut through natural caverns in a few places, but as long as you stay on the main path it should be fairly easy to avoid getting lost if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“And you know this how exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Terra gave Twilight a few brochures about the part of the island we’re heading to,” Spike said.

Seemingly satisfied with this explanation, Rainbow Dash quieted down for a few minutes before speaking up again. “So, how long before we get to the base of the mountain?”

“At the rate we’re going, we should make it there by around sunset tonight. I figure we can camp at the base tonight and then start heading up the mountain itself first thing in the morning.” The group walked in silence for a few more minutes before Twilight spoke up again. “Rainbow, is there something wrong? It seems like you’ve been on edge ever since we left Mesa Town.”

“I don’t know, I think that it’s just that walking through this stupid valley’s been getting to me. It almost feels as though the walls are gonna close in on me or something. Not that I’m afraid or anything,” Rainbow Dash added quickly. “It’s just that it feels really uncomfortable for some reason.”

“Hmm, that’s odd, you never had any issues with claustrophobia back in Equestria. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you don’t have wings as a human?” Twilight mused.

Rainbow Dash grumbled something unintelligible under her breath. “Can we just hurry up and keep moving already? The sooner we get out of this valley the better.”

*********

True to Twilight’s guess, the group reached the sparse forest at the base of the mountain just as the sun started to dip below the horizon. As Spike got a campfire burning the trio settled in, all in much better spirits. “Sorry I was such a grump earlier today,” Rainbow Dash said. “I think you may be right about the whole ‘no wings’ thing. I’ve sort of gotten used to it for the most part, but it just feels wrong when I’m boxed in and know I can’t fly out.”

“That’s alright, to be honest I’m still not totally used to not being able to use magic in this form and this isn’t even the first time I’ve been a human,” Twilight said.

“Canterlot High was nice and everything, but I definitely prefer this place,” Spike added. “At least here I don’t have to worry about fleas.”

“Huh? Oh, right, ‘cause you turned into a dog when you went there,” Rainbow said after a moment’s confusion. “I forgot you told us about that. So, how come you didn’t turn into a Pokémon or something when you came here?”

“I dunno, I’ve never really understood the whole ‘multiple universes’ thing. Discord tried bringing some of that into our Ogres and Oubliettes game and it just made my head hurt,” Spike said. “You know those funhouse mirrors where they’ve got two mirrors reflecting off each other so it looks like there’s infinite ‘you’s’? Well, imagine that you’re all of those reflections at the same time, only each reflection is a different you.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash finally managed after spending several minutes staring blankly ticked by.

“Yeah, I lived through it and that’s still my reaction. Anyway, since we’ve got everything pretty much set up here, I’m going to try and see if I can find any berries before it gets too dark,” Spike said as he stood up.

“Cool, let me know if you find any more of those big yellow ones. That really bailed me out during that gym battle,” Rainbow Dash called out before turning back to Twilight. “Man, that battle was epic, and that was just for my first badge. Can you imagine what these gyms will be like once we get a few more badges?” Rainbow Dash quieted for a moment as a though occurred to her. “I wonder if Tank Jr. will do that transformation thing again?”

“From what I understand, he should eventually go through one more of those transformations into this.” Twilight said as she handed Rainbow Dash her Pokédex.

“Wait, seriously? That’s what Tank Jr. is going to grow into?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously as she looked at the image displayed on the Pokédex’s screen.

“I know, it’s –”

“Awesome! Oh man, look at those cannons coming out of his shell. I’ll bet Tank Jr. could kick all sorts of hindquarters with those!” Rainbow Dash said with obvious glee.

“Don’t you find any of this just a little strange?” Twilight asked.

“What, do you mean the whole ‘trapped in another world where I’m a hairless monkey-thing and everything revolves around having superpowered animals fight each other’? I mean, yeah, this whole place is seriously bonkers, but it’s actually a really fun kind of bonkers once you get used to it, and my whole life has been kind of nuts for years so I’m just used to it at this point,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Actually, I was just talking about how Pokémon can transform into completely new beings. Normal creatures can’t just change forms like that,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, well normal creatures don’t shoot lightning or water or fire or whatever,” Rainbow Dash countered. “Unless they’re dragons or something, anyway. Besides, what about when you changed into an alicorn? It’s kind of like that, isn’t it?”

Before an incensed Twilight could expound on the myriad ways in which her alicorn transformation was nothing like a Pokémon evolution the bushes just outside their campsite began to shake. Moments later an odd pair of individuals, a tall muscular man and a much shorter woman, both dressed in matching all-black outfits, stumbled out of the underbrush and into the light of the camp fire.

“Yarr, look what we have here, Sandy. A pair of lost souls all by their lonesome,” the man leered as she approached Twilight and Rainbow Dash, only for the woman to grab his ear and viciously yank him back.

“Would you knock that stupid marauding pirate shtick off for one minute?” Sandy snarled in frustration before addressing Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “Sorry if we startled you, my partner, King, here is a bit of a moron.” Sandy cruelly twisted King’s ear to emphasize her point. “Anyway, we still have some business up the road to take care of, so we’ll just leave you two kids be. Come on, King, let’s get going.” With that, Sandy dragged King back into the underbrush.

“Well, that was…random,” Twilight finally said after a few seconds of awkward silence passed. “What do you think that was – hey! Where are you going?”

“Duh, I’m gonna follow those two to see what those two are up to,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I mean, come on, it’s obvious those guys are up to no good. They practically had ‘evil minion’ written all over them.”

“It just looked like the letter ‘R’ to me,” Twilight said wryly.

“Hah ha, very funny. Now, are you gonna come with me or not?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I probably should to keep things from getting out of hand. But what if Spike comes back while we’re gone?” Twilight said. “He might get worried if we’ve gone off somewhere when he gets back.”

“So write him a quick note or something. Just don’t take too long, I don’t want to let those two get too far away,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

Twilight frowned as she quickly jotted down a note letting Spike know what was going on. “Hopefully Spike’s berry hunt is going a lot smoother than this.”

*********

The Iapapa berry. Renowned for being exceptionally juicy and quite sour, this berry is known to have potent medicinal properties.

“Nice, I bet these will really help during Twilight’s next gym battle,” Spike said as he quickly picked several of the large pear-shaped fruits. After packing several of them away in his bag, however, Spike’s curiosity got the better of him and he took a bite of one, only to immediately scrunch up his face. “Oh jeez, they weren’t kidding when they said these things were sour! How do Pokémon eat this stuff?”

In spite of this bit of minor unpleasantness, Spike had to admit that his berry hunt had yielded surprisingly bountiful results. Granted, Spike had never heard of any of the colorful fruits he had come across before, but according to his Pokédex each had its own curative properties. “It’s starting to get pretty dark, I should probably head back pretty soon.” Spike said to himself. “I’ll just check one more bunch of bushes before I quit for the night.” As Spike clambered over to the last nearby tangle of bushes that he had yet to investigate, however, a loud cry rang out through the air.

“BAGON!” This was immediately followed by the sound of something impacting the ground with an audible thump. Wasting no time, Spike immediately rushed over to investigate the source of the sound. Spike soon found himself at the edge of a nearby clearing, in the center of which lay a blue, bipedal, reptilian Pokémon sporting a series of helmet-like bony ridges on its head.

Bagon, the Rock Head Pokémon. The bony plates on this Pokémon’s head are as strong as steel, allowing it to shatter boulders by headbutting them. Bagon have been observed frequently leaping from cliffs or other high points, though the reason for this behavior is not fully understood.

“Huh, that’s kinda weird. Why would anycreature want to keep jumping off cliffs?” Spike wondered out loud.

Alerted to Spike’s presence by the sound of his voice, the Bagon leapt to its feet and took a defensive pose as it glared in Spike’s direction.

“Hey, take it easy, I don’t want to fight you anything. I just heard something crash and I was checking to see what it was,” Spike said as he cautiously walked into the clearing. Moving closer, Spike could see that the Bagon looked rather battered and the ground beneath its feet was covered in shallow indentations. “I’m gonna guess you’ve been jumping off someplace high into this clearing a lot,” Spike said, eliciting a snort from the Bagon. “Well, here, I have something that might make you feel a little better at least.” As Spike spoke, he crouched down and pulled out one of the berries he had gathered and offered it to the Bagon.

The Bagon initially held its ground, but after a moment it began sniffing at the air and slowly stumbled towards the proffered treat. Once the Bagon came within about a foot from Spike’s hand it paused before quickly snatching the fruit and greedily devouring it.

“Man, you must have really been hungry. My name’s Spike, by the way,” Spike said as he sat down next to the Bagon. As Spike sat his gaze drifted upwards, where he noticed a particularly sturdy tree branch extending out into the clearing roughly a dozen feet in the air. “So…is that branch where you were jumping from? What’s the deal with that, anyway?”

Spike’s question initially earned him a glare of annoyance from the Bagon before it let out a sigh and stood up. The Bagon then pointed to itself before stretching out its arm and pointing up at the sky. As Spike watched the Bagon closely he noticed an odd look in its eyes, a mixture of longing and wonderment.

“You want to be able to fly, don’t you?” Spike asked, to which the Bagon nodded vigorously. “Yeah, I guess I can sympathize with you wanting to fly, but wouldn’t it be kind of difficult to fly when you don’t have any wings?”

This observation seemed to anger the Bagon, who immediately began stamping its feet and insistently pointing to itself and then up to the sky.

“Hey, calm down,” Spike said as he filled through the information on Bagon in his Pokédex, hoping to find an explanation there. “Let’s see, evolutions…Shellgon. Yeesh, you’d have an even harder time getting off the ground as that than you do now. It looks like you have one more evolution after that, though – whoa.” Spike was momentarily taken aback as he looked at the image being displayed of Bagon’s final form.

Salamence, the Dragon Pokémon. This Pokémon spends the majority of its time aloft and is believed to have one of the fastest flight speeds of any known Pokémon.

“Now I get it, you can’t wait to grow up so you can fly,” Spike said, earning a nod from Bagon. “Yeah, I know how that feels.”

Before Spike had a chance to elaborate, however, the sounds of something crashing through the underbrush began echoing from the woods on the other side of the clearing. Moments later, a monstrous red and blue, draconic Pokémon covered in jagged scales and spines lumbered out of the forest and into the open. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Spike quickly backed away as the Pokémon headed straight for the Bagon, which moved to interpose itself between the two. As Spike watched, the two Pokémon appeared to argue with each other, the larger newcomer occasionally gesturing irritably at Spike.

Druddigon, the Cave Pokémon. The red hide on Druddigon’s head is harder than stone, allowing it to race through narrow caves without injury. It typically invades tunnels dug by other Pokémon in search of prey.

“Gee, sounds like a great guy,” Spike muttered before turning his attention back to the arguing Pokémon. While Spike couldn’t understand a word of what was being said, there was something about the exchange that uncomfortably reminded Spike of his past interactions with Garble. Suddenly, without any warning (at least as far as Spike could perceive) the Druddigon swiped at Bagon with its claws, knocking the smaller Pokémon to the ground. “Hey! Leave him alone!” Spike yelled as he rushed over, pulling out his Bulbasaur’s Poké Ball as he did so. “If you want to hurt him then you’re gonna have to go through us to do it!”

The Druddigon glanced back and forth between Spike, his Bulbasaur, and the Bagon for several seconds before bursting out in a fit of derisive laughter. As the Druddigon’s laughter slowly died, an evil grin formed across its features and it began menacingly approaching Spike and his Bulbasaur. Suddenly, a bright blue-white bean of energy blasted seemingly out of nowhere and struck the Druddigon in the side, sending it tumbling to the ground. Spike immediately turned to see that the Bagon had pulled itself to its feet and was staring daggers at the Druddigon.

“Holy guacamole, did you do that? Man, that was awe –” Spike didn’t even have time to finish expressing his amazement when the Druddigon rushed by him and snatched Bagon up in its jaws before slamming it back down to the ground. Spike looked on, his expression rapidly shifting from horror to cold rage, before turning down to address his Pokémon. “Bulbasaur, Leech Seed.”

With its back turned to Spike and his Bulbasaur, the Druddigon had no hope of dodging the seed that Bulbasaur launched from its bulb. The moment the seed struck the small of the Druddigon’s back, a multitude of green vines sprung forth and tightly wrapped themselves around Druddigon’s body. Enraged, the Druddigon spun around and locked eyes with Bulbasaur, its anger-contorted features seemed to twist and warp the shadows surrounding it.

“He definitely looks angry,” Spike said, the sight of the Druddigon having left his legs feeling like rubber. Moreover, a quick glance down revealed that Bulbasaur wasn’t faring much better. “Okay, pull it together. We need to figure out some way of actually beating this thing,” Spike said, as much to himself as to his Bulbasaur. Even as he spoke, however, Spike could see the Druddigon grinding its claws together as they took on a sinister glow. “Yeah, I think for starters we should keep as far away from that as possible. So, how about…Razor Leaf!” Bulbasaur immediately sprang into action as it sent a spiral of leaves spinning out from the base of its bulb towards its opponent.

Unfortunately, Bulbasaur’s attack seemed to have little effect on the Druddigon, most of the leaves just bouncing harmlessly off its thick hide. The assault did, however, succeed in further enraging the Pokémon, which charged at Bulbasaur and swiped at it with its claws.

“Oh no, Bulbasaur!” Spike wailed as he watched Bulbasaur tumble to the ground from the force of the blow. Without time to think of an actual plan, Spike proceeded to blurt out the first idea that came to mind. “Quick, try using your Tackle attack!” Pulling itself to its feet, Bulbasaur gave itself a quick shake to clear its head before launching itself forward and slamming directly into Druddigon’s midsection.

Unfortunately, it became quickly apparent that Spike had made a grave tactical error. Though it appeared winded by Bulbasaur’s attack, the Druddigon was rapidly able to recover and grab at Bulbasaur before it could get away. Worse still, the Druddigon proceeded to bite down into Bulbasaur’s shoulder while Spike looked on helplessly.

Just as it appeared all was lost the, the fire in the Druddigon’s eyes seemed to go out as it allowed Bulbasaur to drop from its jaws. Before Bulbasaur even struck the ground the Druddigon teetered unsteadily on its feet until finally collapsing unconscious to the ground. For several seconds, a dumbfounded Spike stared at the beaten Druddigon, trying to work out what had just happened until finally a pained groan from his Bulbasaur refocused his attention. “Sorry, I guess I got a little distracted there. Good thing I restocked our medicines while we were in Mesa Town, huh? Here, let me just – whoa, what’s going on with your bulb?” To Spike’s astonishment, the bulb on Bulbasaur’s back was steadily pulsing with green light. As Spike watched, the pulsing increased in speed until Bulbasaur’s form was completely engulfed in the glow. Bulbasaur’s outline then began to expand and grow until finally the flow subsided, revealing that Bulbasaur had transformed into a much larger Pokémon. Aside from its increased size, Bulbasaur’s new form looked strikingly similar to how it had looked before, with the exception of the fact that the bulb on its back had sprouted into a flower surrounded by broad leaves.

Ivysaur, the Seed Pokémon. As the bulb on its back has now sprouted, the increased weight no prevents Ivysaur from standing on its hind legs. The budding flower draws energy from sunlight as it prepares to bloom.

As Spike listened to his Pokédex read off Ivysaur’s entry, his newly evolved Pokémon collapsed to the ground, reminding Spike that he had more immediate concerns. “Hang in there, buddy, I’m coming! And, once I’m finished with you, I think I should see what I can do for Bagon, too,” Spike added as he fished a potion out of his bag.

A few minutes and a number of bottles of medicine later both Ivysaur and Bagon looked healthy as ever. “Thanks for the help back there, little guy. I don’t think we’d have been able to beat that jerk without it,” Spike said as he recalled his Ivysaur back to its Poké Ball. “Anyway, I should probably start heading back to my friend’s camp, I don’t want them to start worrying about me or anything. Take care of yourself, alright?” As Spike turned to leave, however, he felt something tug on his leg and looked down to see Bagon griping his pant leg and looking at him expectantly. “What’s the matter? You know I’ve got to get back to my friends, right?”

Still holding on to Spike’s pant leg, the Bagon began gesturing to itself and then to Spike with its free hand.

“Hold on, are you trying to say that you want to come with me? Are you sure that’s what you really want?” Spike asked.

The Bagon nodded before pointing at Spike, then at Ivysaur’s Poké Ball and then to itself with a determined expression.

“Wait, I think I get it. You saw how Ivysaur evolved, and you think that if you come with me I’ll be able to help you evolve the same way. Well, if that’s really what you want…” Spike said as he pulled out a Poké Ball.

The Bagon’s eyes lit up with delight as it jumped up and snatched the ball out of Spike’s hand before tapping the ball against its forehead. Immediately, the Bagon was engulfed in red light and pulled into the ball, which wiggled about on the ground for a few seconds before coming to rest and emitting a chime signaling a successful capture.

“Man, wait until Twilight and Rainbow Dash hear about this,” Spike said as he picked up the Poké Ball. “I bet their night hasn’t been nearly this exciting.”

*********

“I really don’t think this was a good idea,” Twilight said in a loud whisper as she and Rainbow Dash snuck through the sparse underbrush. “We don’t even know if those two are actually planning on doing anything wrong.”

“Oh come on, you have to admit that big guy was obviously a total creep and the girl didn’t seem that much better. Besides, who sneaks around at night wearing an all-black uniform? I mean, Caballeron’s goons are more subtle than that for Celestia’s sake,” Rainbow Dash said.

“They weren’t exactly being terribly sneaky,” Twilight retorted. “If anything, we’re the ones who’re sneaking around in the middle of the night.”

“Ssh!” Rainbow Dash suddenly hissed. “I think I hear something up ahead.” Crouching low, Rainbow Dash slowly slunk through the bushes towards a nearby clearing. Sure enough, as the pair moved closer, they could start to make out voices coming from up ahead.

“-don’t see why we couldn’t of pillaged those brat’s camp. It ain’t as though we’re short o’ time or anythin’.”

“Would you think things through for once in your miserable life? One, we have no idea who those two were. For all you know you were about to waltz into the Keystone Spa disaster all over again.”

“Arr, or they could’ve been an easy score while we were waitin’ fer yer supply wagon.”

“And if we could’ve taken them down without any issue than they probably didn’t have anything worth grabbing to begin with. I don’t care how bored you are, I’m not letting you blow the biggest potential score we’ve had a shot at in months for a few Rattata.”

“I think ye be overstatin’ how great yer plan is.”

“Oh really? Every month some old man takes a wagon down from that stupid monastery at the top of the mountain, loads it up with all the supplies they need for the month, and then hauls it back. That’s one old man guarding pretty much everything a gym would need for a solid month. We could resell the stuff easy, keep a portion for ourselves and still turn in the biggest score anyone’s been able to pull off on this island since we started operating here. And I am not going to risk the biggest, easiest win we could ask for just because you want to play pirate!”

As the pair finished their argument, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight with a smug grin plastered across her face. “So, still think those two aren’t up to no good?”

“Alight, I admit you were right,” Twilight replied, keeping her voice low in an effort to avoid detection. “What we need now is a plan for how best to – Gyaah!” Before Twilight could even finish her sentence, Rainbow Dash grabbed her arm and pulled her into the clearing.

“Hold it right there! If you want to rob some old guy then you’re gonna have to get through us first!” Rainbow Dash declared angrily; her heroic entrance only slightly undercut by Twilight nearly losing her balance the moment Rainbow Dash let her go.

Sandy and King both stared blankly at the two girls before Sandy smacked her hand to her face in aggravation. “Of course, they got suspicious and followed us. You see what you did, you oversized lump? Now we have to take them down quickly or the whole plan is ruined.”

“Yarr, ye be needin’ to look on the bright side. Once we’ve keelhauled these two we’ll have some extra Pokémon to give to the boss on top of the booty from the wagon,” King replied with an evil grin as he pulled out a Poké Ball. “Corphish, get ready to battle!”

“Ugh, you’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you? Well, it’s not as though we have a choice at this point. Nidorino, go!” Sandy yelled.

“Aw yeah, time for some gold old-fashioned bad guy pounding,” Rainbow Dash said, grinning maniacally as she looked at her opponents. “Dibs on the spiky purple rabbit thing!” With a flick of her wrist, Rainbow Dash tossed out a Poké Ball, unleashing her Trapinch.

“Well, it’s not like we have much of a choice at this point,” Twilight muttered to herself. “And besides, you’re right about one thing. We can’t just stand by and do nothing while these criminals rob that wagon. Go, Charmander!”

Sandy chuckled to herself as she looked at her two opponents Pokémon. “A Trapinch and a Charmander, huh? Well, not exactly a couple of Rattata, but nothing we needed to worry about, either. We’ll be able to put you brats down with plenty of time to spare. Nidorino, show this punk why don’t mess with Team Rocket! Use Horn Attack!” Letting out a roar, the Nidorino lowered its head and charged. Trapinch was just barely able to twist out of the way enough to avoid being skewered by the attack, instead merely being knocked to the ground as the Nidorino ran past.

Rainbow Dash, however, didn’t look worried in the slightest. To the contrary, Rainbow Dash was still smiling broadly as ever as she rolled up her sleeve to reveal her Z-ring. “I gotta say, I was kinda hoping that I’d get a chance to try this out. So, get ready to see what me and Trapinch can do when we go all out!” Even as Rainbow Dash spoke she had already begun the series of movements Terra had taught her after obtaining her first badge. “Take this! Tectonic Rage!” As Rainbow Dash completed the last of her movements, slapping her hand to the ground, a torrent of golden light arced from her to her Trapinch. Almost simultaneously, the ground around her Trapinch erupted into the air as Trapinch disappeared underground. A split second later, the earth beneath Nidorino split open, causing it to plummet into the abyss below, only to be violently thrown back out moments later as Trapinch rocketed back out. The battered, twitching Nidorino landed on its back several feet away, clearly in no shape to continue battling.

“Stupid Alolan cheap trick,” Sandy growled as she was forced to recall her Nidorino. “King! I could use some help here!”

“Yarr, don’t tell me some little girl was too much fer ye,” King laughed. “Don’t ye worry, though, Corphish and I can pick up yer slack.” As King spoke, his Corphish idly brushed off a few stray cinders from its shell as it leered at Charmander. The unfortunate Fire-type hadn’t fared nearly as well as Trapinch had, Corphish’s attacks having left it soaking wet and barely able to remain standing.

“This is why I didn’t want to just rush into things like this,” Twilight said as she raised Charmander’s Poké Ball. “There’s no use complaining about it now, though. Charmander, ret –”

“Belay that order, missy! Me Corphish and I ain’t through with yer little lizard yet,” King yelled as he pulled out what vaguely looked like a t-shirt cannon of some kind and fired it at Twilight. Before Twilight could respond she found herself knocked to the ground and entangled in a net.

“Hey, you can’t do that!” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily as she charged at King, only to have something grab the back of her collar and yank back, tossing her to the ground.

“What’s the matter, kid? Angry because we’re cheating?” Sandy jeered as she stood over Rainbow Dash. “Well too bad, Team Rocket doesn’t play fair so that’s what you get for poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Arr, she’s right, ye know. Ye only have yerself to blame fer what’s about to happen,” King added. “Corphish finish the job with yer Vice Grip.”

Unable to free herself form the net, Twilight watched helplessly as the Corphish advanced towards her barely conscious Charmander. “Charmander, get out of there! Run, get Spike, hurray!” Twilight desperately cried out. Charmander, however, didn’t run. Instead, something deep inside Charmander seemed to snap as it suddenly looked at Corphish with an expression of pure, murderous rage.

“Char…Man…DER!” Charmander’s jaw looked as though it practically unhinged as it expelled a massive fireball that impacted Corphish with enough force to send it flying backwards.

Both King and Sandy stared dumbstruck at the now unconscious Corphish as they tried to work out what had just happened. “Yarr, I…I not be entirely sure what just happened there,” King finally stammered as he prodded his Corphish a few times with his foot before recalling it to its Poké Ball. “I hate to say it, but it be lookin’ like the winds have just been taken out of our sails.”

“Gee, you think?” Sandy growled as she started backing away from Rainbow Dash and Twilight. From the look on Sandy’s face it was clear she had just assessed the fact that now only side had Pokémon that were still conscious and said assessment didn’t bode well for her. “You kids may have trashed our plans this time, but Team Rocket doesn’t forget so you’d better watch your backs.” It was at this point that Sandy, still walking backwards, proceeded to trip on a protruding tree root and tumble backwards to the ground.

“Arr, it looks like ye might be needin’ to take a bit of yer own advice there, Sandy,” King said as he rushed over to his partner. “But ye be right about one thing, it be about time fer us to be blastin’ off.” With that, King proceeded to scoop up Sandy under his arm and run off into the night at full speed.

“Yeah, you better run!” Rainbow Dash yelled after King as she picked herself up off the ground and went over to help Twilight disentangle herself from the net. “Man, that was some crazy move Charmander pulled at the last second there. I thought I was gonna need to bail you out but then he was all like ‘BLAM’! So, what the hay kind of attack was that, anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Twilight said as she finally managed to free herself. “Charmander’s never done anything like that before. Do you think maybe it was because of the amount of emotional stress it was under?” Once Twilight was able to stand, she hurried over to Charmander, who was breathing heavily as if it were exhausted. Before Twilight could say anything to it, however, Charmander began to glow with a brilliant white light. Just as Twilight had seen with Rainbow Dash’s Squirtle, Charmander’s silhouette began to shift and expand until the glow subsided, revealing a much larger and fiercer Pokémon. It now stood over a foot taller and had a far lankier physique overall, though the most prominent change was the addition of what looked like a short horn growing out the top of its head.

“Awesome, your Charmander managed to evolve. I guess kicking that overgrown lobster’s tail must’ve given it the boost it needed,” Rainbow Dash said as she leaned down to get a better look at Charmander’s evolved form, only to have to quickly pull back as it suddenly hissed angrily at her.

“Hey!” Twilight snapped before recalling her former Charmander to its Poké Ball. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, I don’t know what’s gotten into it.”

“Charmeleon do have a bit of reputation for being temperamental, especially right after they evolve.” Twilight and Rainbow Dash both turned to see an older gentleman with a short, grey beard step into the light. “I hope I’m not intruding, but I heard a bit of a commotion from the road and thought I’d investigate. My name is Siegfried,” he added as he held out his hand to Rainbow Dash.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rainbow Dash and over there’s Twilight Sparkle. So, what’s a ‘Charmeleon’? Is that what Twilight’s Pokémon is now?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Siegfried nodded. “I’ve known quite a few trainers who’ve raised them so I’m familiar with the quirks of the breed. In any event, I’m curious, what exactly happened here that prompted it to evolve in the first place?”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash spent the next few minutes relating how they had encountered the two members of Team Rocket and how they had foiled the grunt’s plans to rob the supply wagon. “Then, after they ran off, Charmander evolved into Charmeleon and that’s when you arrived,” Twilight said.

“Well, it seems as though I owe you girls quite a bit of gratitude,” Siegfried said. “You see, it was my wagon that those two reprobates were planning on robbing. As my way of saying thanks, why don’t I give the two of you a ride up to the monastery if that’s where you’re headed.”

“Really, that would be great!” Twilight said. “Although, we do have one more friend back at our camp who we would need to bring as well, if that’s alright.”

“That shouldn’t be any issue, I’ve plenty of room,” Siegfried said. “I’ll tell you what, I’ve set up my own campsite a bit closer to the main road over in that direction. Why don’t the two of you fetch your friend and gather your things together and then come and join me. Then we’ll be able to start heading up the mountain first thing tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me,” Rainbow Dash said, “I can’t wait to see Spike’s face when we tell him what happened while he was off picking berries. He really missed out on some serious excitement,”

“Honestly, I could probably do with a little less excitement, at least until we get to the monastery,” Twilight said. “I realize this isn’t exactly our first adventure, but between collapsing caves and fighting criminals I could use a bit of a break.”

“Relax, Twilight, now that we’ve got a ride getting to this place in the mountain should be a snap.” Rainbow Dash assured her friend. “I guarantee that there is nothing that you need to worry about.”

*********

Elsewhere, the Druddigon Spike had battled earlier in the evening finally stirred awake. At first the beast was confused as to why it was lying in the middle of the forest covered in dead vines, but gradually the memory of its defeat resurfaced. Growling in frustration, the Druddigon was too focused on tearing off the vines wrapped around it and muttering plans for revenge to notice the Poké Ball sailing towards its head until it was too late.

“What kind of loser leaves a Pokémon like that laid out and doesn’t capture it?” a hooded figure asked as they watched their Poké Ball thrash about until it finally came to a rest. “Whatever. The important part is that you’re mine now, and I have some big plans for you.”

Comments

[RainbowAnime]

Three evolutiom.... Awesome!

[CyberDemonSlayer]

Pokémon are basically saiyans, the ones who don’t like battling are a minority. Pokémon isn’t supposed to be edgy.

[CyberDemonSlayer]

At first it seemed like Twilight was ahead of all the others in the Pokémon training department, But she’s actually the farthest behind it seems. Unlike the other ponies it seems that she hasn’t bonded with her Pokémon at all beyond just battling with them, that’s probably why Charmeleon is so upset now.
I was really hesitant to read this story because of the new region, but I’m really glad I chose to start reading this fic, I really enjoy it.

[Alabenson]

10032616
You've hit the nail on the head as far as Twilight's biggest issue, which is something that's going to start biting her in the rear going forward.

[Xanderfox]

10032318
As I always understood Pokemon are compedative by nature, in the wild fighting is pretty much only way two pokemon can turly compete. Meaning that Pokemon Trainer Battles are actually safer for the pokemon , they can lose with out it leading crippling injury or death. A pokemon with a trainer will get medical attention and be able to become stronger for a rematch. If pokemon are going to fight each other no matter what better to move it to a controled enviorment so the participants don't suffer serious injury and cause collateral damage.

[DDDDDDDDD23]

10033727
Yeah twilight has to learn how to make friends without magic artifacts forcing her together with people or a friend acting as a go between.

[CarolMAssphault]

I get the training part, but why do you always have them catch Pokèmon in their weakest form? Why not have them catch a legendary, or an evolved Pokèmon, or something? Show some originality, man! This is no different from the other stories like this. Trainer starts, catches Pokèmon in their weakest form, then evolves them. Same old, same old. I just get tired of seeing the same thing over and over again!