My Little Pokemon

by Alabenson

Searching High and Lombre

“So anyway, that’s why I’m not allowed anywhere near the Galar League anymore,” Derek said, causing Pinkie Pie to burst into a fit of laughter. “Ever since then they’ve gotten really uptight about letting non-native species into the region. Or anyone with mega stones, for that matter.”

“At least it doesn’t sound like anyone was hurt,” Fluttershy said as she continued to paddle her kayak alongside Derek’s Lapras. As the group had journeyed further south the swamp had gradually given way to tangles of mangrove trees, the canopies of which allowed far more light to filter through. With the murk of the swamp further and further behind, the mood of the group seemed to brighten as well. “So, what should we do once we get to Aquarius City?”

“Pretty much anything we want,” Derek replied. “Aquarius City is one of the major gateways into the Javik region along with Mercury, so it’s a pretty big city. Aquarius is a bit more tourist focused, though, so its got a much more relaxed vibe. It’ll be a good place to stay while you tow wait for some of your friends to show up. Once we get clear of these mangroves we’ll want to start heading west along the coastline, that should take us straight there.”

“Ooh, do you think we’ll meet any new Pokémon along the way,” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

“More than likely,” Derek replied. “You get all sorts of Pokémon living these mangroves and along the coast. Honestly, I’d be a little surprised if we didn’t run into something before we even clear the forest –” At that exact moment, a toddler-sized blue and green Pokémon with a large lily pad on its head splashed out of the water and clambered up onto the bow of Pinkie Pie’s kayak. “Such as that Lombre, for, example. Not exactly the Pokémon I was expecting to run into, they’re usually nocturnal, but that’s Pokémon for you.”

“Hi there! My name’s Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie Pie eagerly greeted the Lombre as she leaned forward out of her kayak’s seat, causing it to rock unsteadily.

“Lombre,” came the Lombre’s laconic response as it tried to stay flat on its stomach to prevent the boat from capsizing.

“Um, Pinkie, maybe you should sit back down before your kayak tips over,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, alright,” Pinkie Pie replied, momentarily dejected, before immediately perking back up again. “Hey, Fluttershy, you can talk to him, right? What’s this little guy got to say?”

“Lombre,” the Lombre added.

“No, she’s always like that, but she is very nice,” Fluttershy said.

“Lombre. Lombre,” the Lombre replied as it seemed to relax a little.

“I’m sure that’s fine, take all the time you need,” Fluttershy said before turning to Pinkie Pie. “Mister Lombre’s just tired and needs to rest for a bit.”

“Hey, Fluttershy, is there something the matter?” Derek asked as he maneuvered Isla closer to Fluttershy’s kayak.

“Well…you said that Lombre are usually nocturnal, right?” Fluttershy said softly so as not to be overheard. “That might be the cause of it, it’s just that Lombre seems a little, I guess on edge would be the best way to put it. It’s not that it seems like it’s afraid of people I’ve seen that enough times to know when that’s an issue with a creature, it just seems like something’s made Lombre very tense.”

Before Derek could reply, the sounds of people yelling angrily could be heard echoing through the trees. The Lombre immediately lifted its head in alarm at this and promptly rolled off of Pinkie Pie’s kayak into the water. Less than a minute later, several canoes carrying an assortment of angry-looking individuals paddled into view. “Hey! Have any of you three seen a Lombre lurking around out here?”

“No, I can’t say that we have,” Derek replied quickly as he subtly motioned for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to remain silent. “Why, were you hoping to catch one? If so, I know a breeder back in Faunaville that could –”

“We don’t want any more of those things around here, we’ve already got enough trouble with the one that’s already here!” one of the other men crammed into the boat yelled out.

“That’s enough, Gary, it doesn’t sound like these folks have seen the rotten little pest, and there’s no point taking things out on them!” The first man yelled before turning back to address the trio. “Sorry about that, but we’re all a bit on edge right now over this situation. If you want, you can come with us back to our village and I’ll explain everything.” As angry murmurs began to erupt from among the others the man turned around. “Look, I don’t like the idea of calling off the hunt for today anymore than the rest of you, but if that thing’s gotten this far into the mangroves then we’ll never fit it. Best to head back, post some guards and try again if it shows its face.”

“Well, what do you two think?” Derek asked as he looked back at Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

“Actually, I think we should go with them and figure out what’s going on,” Fluttershy replied. “Whatever these people think that Lombre did, its obviously got them very upset and I feel like we should try and get to the bottom of it before somecreature gets hurt.”

“I’m with Fluttershy, it’s no good for everybody to be all yelly and angry and stuff,” Pinkie Pie added.

“Fair enough. Alright, lead the way, mister…”

“Carter. Anyway, just give us a minute to turn around and we’ll lead you back to our village.”

“Hold on, did you say your village?” Derek asked. “I didn’t know there was a settlement around here.”

“Well, its not exactly much of a settlement,” Carter laughed. “You see, were pearl divers and we live right on the water near the pearl beds. There’s a huge Shellder colony right offshore nearby, and for some reason whenever a Shellder develops a pearl that gets too big they like to spit them out in roughly the same spot. Normally, we could just dive down and scoop those pearls right up, but lately some rogue Lombre has been making a complete mess of our whole operation. The Shellder are getting scared off, our equipment’s been trashed and its even been making off with our hauls. If we don’t figure out some way of stopping it from causing trouble our whole village will be ruined.”

“But, how do you know the Lombre is the one doing all that? Couldn’t there be some other explanation?” Fluttershy asked.

Carter shook his head. “We’ve spotted the Lombre running off after a bunch of the incidents, and last night a couple of travelers caught it red-handed.”

Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie fell quiet as they absorbed this information. “Lombre do have a reputation for being mischievous,” Derek said, sensing his companions’ disquiet. “Usually, though, that doesn’t go further than playing pranks on fisherman. I’ve never heard of one causing this kind of trouble you’re describing.”

“Well, I guess we’re just lucky, then aren’t we?” Carter snapped back as the group finally emerged from the mangroves out onto the open water next to the coastline. Turning south, the group only needed to follow along the coastline for a few minutes before Carter’s village came into view. Situated a few dozen yards out into the water, most of the ‘village’ appeared to consist of barges and houseboats lashed together in a haphazard manner. The only structure that looked relatively permanent was a large wooden structure which had been built atop a series of wooden pilings rising up above the waterline. “That big building is basically a combination meeting hall and storeroom. Normally we’d be keeping it locked up tight, but these days there’s not much point.”

“Would you mind if we took a look around there for a bit?” Derek suddenly asked. “If the Lombre’s been raiding the place then there’s a good chance we might be able to find a clue inside that could help you track it down. Or, at the very least we might be able to help you figure out a way to keep it from getting back in.”

Carter shrugged in response. “If you think you can help then you’re welcome to try. We’ll take all the help we can get at this point.”

As Carter waved the trio over towards the building, Fluttershy maneuvered her kayak closer to Derek. “Are you sure we should really help these people find that Lombre? It really didn’t seem like it was the sort of creature to cause this kind of trouble.”

“Which is why I ant to get a good look at those storerooms,” Derek replied. “Something about this whole business feels fishy to me. With any luck, once we can take a closer look at this storeroom we can find some clues as to what’s really going on.”

“You don’t think somebody’s been framing that poor Pokémon, do you?” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Who could be mean enough to do something like that?”

*********

“Dude, this is the most awesome idea you’ve ever had!” Femur said happily as he allowed the handful of stolen pearls to fall through his fingers.

“I know, right? The boss is gonna flip when he finds out we swiped all this loot for him without anybody even suspectin’ us. He’s gonna have to admit we’re the hardest boneheads in the team after this,” Ribcage crowed. “The best part is that those loser divers are all blamin’ that dumb little fer everythin’, when it was tryin’ to stop us.”

“Hey, I was just thinking about that thing, and I think I may have an idea on how to really up our game. Check this; all those divers are out hunting that Lombre because they think its been the one messing with them, right? I bet if we caught that thing then they’d give as a sweet reward for saving them from it. Then we could give the boss the pearls and the Lombre and prove that we really are the baddest, maddest, raddest grunts there is!” Femur said.

“My man,” Ribcage replied in awe. “That plan is full epic! Just one thing, though. How’re we supposed to find that Lombre to catch it? Those divers may be a bunch of uncool doofuses, but they seemed pretty serious about catchin’ it themselves, and they couldn’t even find it.”

“Don’t even worry, I’ve already got you covered there. You see, I was watching that village earlier to see if they had anything else worth swiping and guess who I saw rolling up there? That bunch of uncool goody-two shoe losers who keep busting up our flow,” Femur said.

“Uh, dude, isn’t that kinda a bad thing?” Ribcage replied,

“No, man, see I’ve got a plan that’ll make those wannabes work for us for a change. All we’ve got to do is this…”

*********

“So, here we are at the scene of the crim,” Pinkie Pie said as she blew a few bubbles out of her pipe and adjusted her deerstalker hat as it slipped down over her eyes. “Now all we have to do is find some clues to point us to the real culprit!”

“Part of me wants to ask where she got the hat and pipe, but another part tells me I probably shouldn’t ask too many questions about that,” Derek said as he and Fluttershy watched Pinkie Pie begin carefully examining every inch of the space the divers had set aside for storage.

“You should probably listen to that second part,” Fluttershy agreed. “Pinkie is right about one thing, though. We really need to find some clues as to what’s really been going on around here.”

“Well, I will admit it does look like someone or something ransacked this place,” Derek said. “Carter didn’t mention the thief taking anything else besides the pearls, did he?”

“I don’t think so,” Fluttershy said. “And I can’t think of a reason why a Pokémon would even want to steal something like that. Setting aside that stealing something that isn’t yours isn’t a very nice thing to do at all, a Pokémon wouldn’t even have any use for pearls.”

“Ah ha!” Pinkie Pie cried out, grabbing her friend’s attention. “I’ve found the clue that will break this case wide open, like a pinata full of yummy, yummy candy.” Fluttershy and Derek were forced to wait in suspense as to hear what it was that Pinkie Pie had uncovered as her mind was temporarily occupied by thoughts of candy. “Sorry, where was I? Oh right, I figured out where the no-good meanie who framed that Lombre got in here. You see that window up there? Its not locked or anything, so I bet whoever was responsible climbed through there to get in here, and that thing’s way too high for Lombre to get into.”

“Well, I agree that somebody could have climbed up through there into the storeroom and I can’t really see a Lombre pulling that off,” Derek said as he inspected the window Pinkie Pie had pointed out. “But, that doesn’t really prove the Lombre didn’t do anything, it just shows how someone else could have. For instance, there’s still the question of the witnesses that say they saw Lombre running out of here.”

“I’ve been wondering about that, too,” Fluttershy said. “Carter said that it was a couple of travelers who saw it. Do you think they might still be somewhere here in the village? Maybe we could ask one of them to give us more details on what exactly they saw.”

“It’s kinda funny when you think about it,” Pinkie Pie said. “If whoever they were hadn’t seen Lombre then I bet those pearl divers wouldn’t even think it was responsible for any of this. That was pretty lucky for whoever did do this if you ask me. Otherwise, everybody would probably be trying to track down the actual culprits and not Lombre.”

A moment of silence passed as Pinkie Pie’s words sank in before both Derek and Fluttershy slapped their foreheads in unison. “Pinkie, you’re a genius!” Derek said.

“I am?”

“Whoever it was that told the villagers that they saw Lombre robbing this place was probably the actual culprit,” Derek said. “Framing Lombre meant they’d be free to get away with everything while the villagers were too busy trying to chase Lombre off to stop them.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened as she let out a gasp of shock and horror. “That…that’s one of the meanest things I’ve ever heard. That’d be even meaner than eating all of somepony’s jelly beans except the black licorice ones!”

“…Sure, let’s go with that. Anyway, if that is the case then the next question is what do we do about it?” Derek asked.

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do! We’re going to find that Lombre and help it prove its innocence,” Pinkie Pie declared.

“Setting aside the fact that we don’t really have any evidence that could prove the Lombre didn’t actually steal anything, how do you even plan to find the Lombre in the first place?” Derek asked.

Pinkie Pie’s hair deflated slightly at this until Fluttershy suddenly spoke up. “I think the best place to start looking would be back in the mangroves where we first met it. Even though it was being chased by those villagers, Lombre was still comfortable with coming up to us, and I thing that may have been because it was close enough to its home that it knew it could escape if it wanted to.”

“Okay, that’s not an unreasonable conclusion,” Derek conceded. “But I still don’t see how finding the Lombre is going to help you prove that it didn’t do any of this.”

“That’s where Fluttershy comes in! Fluttershy can talk to Pokémon, remember? That means that Fluttershy can ask the Lombre what really happened, and if it saw who was really responsible then we can catch them and prove Lombre didn’t do anything wrong,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Well, at the very least it sounds like you’ve come up with more a plan than I have, so I’m all for it,” Derek concluded after a moment’s though. “Fluttershy, this whole thing is going to rely on you, so what do you think?”

“If there’s a chance to help a creature who’s in trouble than you can count me in too!” Fluttershy replied firmly.

“I guess that settles it, then. That said, I think I’m going to stay behind while the two of you go out to look for the Lombre,” Derek said.

“Aw, but how come?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Two reasons. The first is that Lombre is probably going to be more than a little leery of big groups of humans, so you plan might work a little better if there are fewer of us out there. Second, while you’re out trying to find Lombre I’m going to see what I can do to get the villagers to calm down a little and listen to the possibility that the Lombre isn’t the culprit they’re looking for. It won’t do anyone any good if finding the Lombre just means leading and angry mob straight to it.”

“Mmhm, mmhm, makes sense,” Pinkie Pie said as she nodded her head in agreement. “Alrighty then, what are we waiting for? Let’s get out there and prove that cute little critter isn’t a no-good, pearl-stealing meanie-pants! There’s no possible way this plan can go wrong!”

*********

“Wow, I really did not expect things to go wrong that quickly,” Pinkie Pie said as she clung to the branch of one of the mangrove trees, several large and vicious green and black fish circling the ruins of what was left of her kayak beneath her. “Fluttershy, any luck asking these fishies to not eat me?”

“I don’t think they actually want to eat you; they’re just upset because they think we trespassed in their territory,” Fluttershy called out from her kayak several yards away. Just then, there was a sickening crunch as something yanked Fluttershy’s paddle under the water. As Fluttershy pulled it back out, revealing that the pole now ended in a jagged stump, one of the fish-like Pokémon surfaced nearby and snarled angrily.

“Basculin!”

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry, I was a little mistaken. It seems they’re angry about our trespassing, and because of that they do want to eat you,” Fluttershy said apologetically.

“But I don’t want to be fish food!” Pinkie Pie wailed as the branch she was hanging off of creaked ominously. “Can’t I just apologize? It’s not like I mean to trespass or anything.”

“Hold on, I’ll see,” Fluttershy replied as Pinkie Pie promptly broke out in a fit of giggles over the perceived pun. “Excuse me, I understand that you’re all very upset with my friend and I, and we’re very sorry to have bothered you. If you could just let my friend go and not eat her, we’d – Hey!” Much to Fluttershy’s chagrin, her pleas for calm fell on deaf ears (or the piscine equivalent) as several of the Basculin began leaping out of the water towards Pinkie Pie. “Alright, busters, I have tried to be as polite and understanding about this as possible, but if you’re not going to listen to reason then I have no choice by to give you the Stare!” Leaning forward, Fluttershy glared at the Basculin with an intensity that in the past had reduced even full-grown dragons to tears.

The Basculin, however, seemed wholly unimpressed with Fluttershy’s efforts, one even going so far as to take a sizable bite out of the side of her kayak. “Fluttershy! I don’t think it’s working,” Pinkie Pie yelled as one of the Basculin snapped in jaws mere inches from her rump.

“I noticed, they must be too aggressive for my Stare to get through to them,” Fluttershy said.

As the two friends frantically tried to come with a new plan, the branch Pinkie Pie was clinging to creaked and sagged further, leaving Pinkie Pie perilously close to the water. Sensing an opportunity, one of the Basculin leapt clear of the water towards Pinkie. Thankfully, the Basculin was blasted by a red beam of light coming from further into the forest, causing it to awkwardly flop back into the water.

“Whoa, what was that?” Pinkie Pie asked. As if to answer her question, a gigantic lily pad floated out from between the mangrove trees, which then lifted up to reveal a vaguely amphibian visage.

“Lombre.”

“Fluttershy! Look! It’s Lombre, he came her to save – Eek!” In her excitement, Pinkie Pie had started to gesture wildly towards the Lombre, nearly losing her grip on her branch in the process. “He must have come to save us from these angry fishies.”

“Lombre.” The assembled Basculin quickly turned their attention to this new interloper, though none of them seemed all that eager to be the first to approach it. Taking advantage of the situation, Lombre moved through the water until it had positioned itself between the Basculin and the tree Pinkie was hanging from. A few tense seconds ticked by as Lombre and the Basculin stared at each other in silence, until finally the Basculin retreated back into the forest.

“Well how do you like that? We came out her to help you, but you wound up saving us first,” Pinkie Pie said as she looked down at the Lombre from her perch.

“Lombre?”

“We know about the problems you’ve been having with the villagers, and we think we may have a way to prove to everyone that you’re not the one who’s been causing all the trouble,” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, if you can come back to the village with us, then Fluttershy here can help you explain what’s actually been going on,” Pinkie Pie added.

“Yo yo yo, that plan of yours sounds pretty nice, but now we’re here to put it on ice,” an irritatingly familiar voice suddenly yelled out.

“Get ready to cry, get ready to rage, here comes ya boys Femur and Ribcage!”

“Oh for Celestia’s sake,” Fluttershy groaned as a ramshackle boat carrying the two grunts floated into view. “Don’t you two have anything better to do besides follow us around causing trouble?”

“Guess this bonehead’s gonna have to burst yer bubble, ‘cause there ain’t nothin’ cooler than causin’ trouble,” Ribcage replied.

“Now, that said, this time you two can just step aside. We’re here for that ‘mon, its coming with us for a ride,” Femur added.

“What are you two no good meanie mean-pantses planning on doing to Lombre?” Pinkie Pie demanded.

“Check it, that Lombre’s been kickin’ up one major fuss, so once we drag it back to that village it’ll be one sweet payday for us,” Ribcage replied with a smug grin.

“Hey, Lombre didn’t do any of that, it was somebody –” Pinkie Pie’s eyes suddenly widened and she let out a loud gasp as something in her mind clicked into place. “You! You two were the ones who’ve been stealing things and causing problems for everyone, weren’t you?”

“Causin’ trouble is what grunts like us do best, but we ain’t sayin’ nothin’ else, so you can give it a rest,” Ribcage said defensively. “Course we got you covered if you need help with that. Get ready for a beatin’ courtesy of Zubat!”

“Yeah boy, we’re going to knock you out, so get ready to rumble with my main ‘mon Bellsprout!” Femur added as he tossed out his own Poké Ball as well.

“You can make as may rhymes as you want, we’re still not going to let you hurt that Lombre. Right, Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie yelled.

“That’s right! Croagunk, we need your help!” As Fluttershy’s Croagunk materialized on the front of her kayak, however, its weight caused the front of the kayak to dip dangerously into the water. “Oh my, um, Croagunk, maybe you should move a little closer towards the center? Oh dear…” Fluttershy desperately leaned back as she tried to rebalance the vessel, while Croagunk dropped to all fours and crawled towards her.

“Hah, looks like those boats of yours were a bad bet, now your defense is just all wet,” Femur laughed.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’ve still got this! Go Toothy!” Moments later, Pinkie Pie’s Totodile was in the water, cheerfully doing the backstroke as its trainer hung upside-down overhead. “Okay Toothy, we need to stop these baddies from hurting that nice Lombre, alight? So, give that bat a Bite!”

“Ya must be trippin’, ain’t gonna lie. How’s that dumb gator gonna get my Zubat when its up in the –” Before Ribcage could finish his sentence, Toothy launched itself out of the water and snapped its jaws tight onto Zubat’s midsection. Miraculously, Zubat was able to frantically beat its wings hard enough to keep both it and Toothy aloft, but only just barely. “Oh, this ain’t lookin’ good, but…something something wood? Dude, could you help me out her or something?”

“Ease up, bro, don’t lose your cool. I’ll save your butt once I’m done with this fool,” Femur said as he watched Fluttershy finally steady her kayak enough to refocus on the grunts. “I’ve got to keep this short, ‘cause my boy Ribcage is tripping, so I’ll just have my Bellsprout give you a Vine –” Without warning, Croagunk leapt off of Fluttershy’s kayak and landed directly in front of Femur and his Bellsprout, while wearing a wicked grin. “– Whipping?” Femur concluded sounding far less confident. As Femur gave the command, Bellsprout brought one of its vines down on Croagunk, only for Croagunk to contemptuously snatch the vine out of the air.

“We really shouldn’t drag this out any longer than we have to, so use Feint Attack!” Fluttershy yelled. Nodding its head in agreement, Croagunk viciously yanked Bellsprout’s vine, pulling the unfortunate Grass-type forward before Croagunk smashed it in the face with its free hand.

“Huh, I kind of expected that to go differently,” Femur said, dumbfounded as he recalled his Bellsprout. “As uncool as it is to admit, I think we might be beat. Let’s pack up we can and make a quick retreat.”

“Man, this is seriously lame, getting’ thrashed by these girls. Joke’s on them, though, ‘cause we’re still sailin’ away with all those pearls!” Ribcage added.

“Are you guys sure about that?” Everyone promptly turned their heads to see Derek seated atop Isla. More importantly, however, was that behind there were a number of villagers in canoes, all glaring angrily at the two grunts.

“So, you two were the ones robbing our storeroom! And then you tricked us into blaming that poor Lombre!” Carter yelled amid the angry rumblings of the other villagers.

Faced with this turn of events, Ribcage and Femur both rushed to their boat’s controls and began frantically hammering on the buttons. “Ain’t gonna lie, this has been a rout. So its time these boneheads were checkin’ out!” Ribcage said as the boat’s motor finally sputtered to life. The dilapidated engine let out a cloud of noxious black smoke as the boat lurched forward out into the water, several of the villagers’ canoes paddling after it in pursuit.

“Huh, I guess you tow had things pretty much under control,” Derek said as he watched the grunts flee off into the distance. “Although, what the heck happened to your kayak, Fluttershy?”

“We ran into a school of aggressive Pokémon that were upset with us for intruding in their territory. Pinkie Pie got the worst of it, though. Luckily she was able to climb into that tree before her kayak was completely destroyed,” Fluttershy explained.

“Oh, so that’s why Pinkie Pie’s hanging from a tree branch,” Derek said. “Honestly I’ve just stopped being surprised by that sort of thing with her.”

“That’s fair, I get a lot,” Pinkie Pie said as Derek maneuvered Isla so that Pinkie could drop onto her back. “Well, at least it looks like we were able to get those villagers to stop trying to hunt that – hey!” As Pinkie Pie spoke, the Lombre clambered up next to her. “Hiya! It looks like everyone knows that you weren’t the one causing all that mischief, so now you don’t need to worry about anyone bothering you. Oh, and thank you for saving me from the those angry fishies, that was really niece of you. So, what are you going to do now?”

“Lombre,” the Lombre replied as it continued to look up at Pinkie Pie expectantly.

“Uh huh. Uh huh. Interesting,” Pinkie Pie said as she nodded her head.

“So, what’s it saying?” Derek asked.

“I have no idea. Fluttershy, what’s Lombre saying?” Pinkie asked.

“I think Lombre wants to come with us,” Fluttershy said, causing Lombre to nod its head in affirmation.

“Really? That’s terrific!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she reached into her bag and fished out a Poké Ball, which she the proffered to Lombre. “Here you go, Lombre, welcome to Team Pinkie!”

Comments

[prism heart]

I can see it, especially once it evolves into Ludicolo.

[PhantomVaporeon]

Kinda wish there weren't such giant gaps between chapters
but I understand
I wonder who Fluttershy's next capture will be

[CyberDemonSlayer]

I wonder what trixie and starlight are up to, to bad contests don’t exist in this region as I’m sure that kind of thing would be right up Trixie and rarity’s alley, maybe even pinkie pie as well.

[Xanderfox]

Derk G-Maxed a Mega didn't he?

Also yea when Lombrea evovles he is so going to help with Pinkie.

[WanderingPony]

10270477

That arena must have looked like a Skitty shacking up with a Wailmer. It's possible, but I just can't see anything good for it in the aftermath.