My Little Pokemon

by Alabenson

Battle Fever

“Ooh, and what kind of Pokémon is that over there?” Pinkie Pie asked eagerly.

“Pinkie…that’s a rock. Just an ordinary, non-Pokémon rock. Exactly like the last dozen or so other rocks you’ve pointed out so far today,” Derek said in an utterly defeated tone. The path to the next settlement was leading the group over plains of dark stone, and both Pinkie and Fluttershy were eager to see what new Pokémon they’d encounter on the way. In Pinkie’s case, she may have been a bit too excited.

“What about that over there? That’s definitely not a rock, is it a Pokémon?”

“No, that would be a piece of driftwood,” Derek said. “And, before you ask, no, as far as we know there aren’t any Pokémon that pretend to be driftwood. You can find ones that look like just about everything else, but no driftwood.”

“Drat. Oh well, we’ve gotta see some new Pokémon eventually, right Fluttershy?”

“Hmm? Oh, right…I guess? What was the question?” Fluttershy asked as she seemed to just realize that Pinkie Pie was talking to her.

“Hey, Fluttershy, are you alright? You’ve been awfully quiet ever since we left Ferrum Village. Even quieter than usual, I mean. Is something bothering you?” Derek asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ve just been thinking about my last gym battle and how it all felt,” Fluttershy said. “At the time, everything was happening so fast that I let myself get swept up in it all, but when Pinkie and I got back to the Pokémon center I realized how badly Quilava and Croagunk were hurt. Even if they’re alright with it, is it really alright for me to let my Pokémon get into battles like that?”

“The short answer would be; yes,” Derek replied. “Trust me, Pokémon have ways of letting their trainers know when they feel like they’re being pushed too far, and in your case they have the option of just talking to you instead of playing the world’s angriest game of charades.”

“Ooh, cha-rage! My sister Limestone loves that game! She used to play it with me all the time when we did our chores back at the rock farm,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“…Anyway, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be ready to pull your Pokémon back if they start taking things too far on their own, but I wouldn’t get too worked up about one gym battle. And, if you’re really that concerned, you could always talk to your Pokémon and see how they feel about everything,” Derek added.

“Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” Fluttershy admitted. “I know they’ve told me before that they want to battle, but maybe I just need to hear it from them one more time to put me at ease.”

“Sounds like a plan. If you think you’ll need some privacy, I can take Pinkie and—” Derek looked around as he realized that Pinkie Pie had somehow vanished from sight. “Alright, new plan. I’m going to go look for Pinkie while you talk to your Pokémon. I swear, I’m seriously thinking about putting a bell on her or something.”

“On no, we tried that once, actually,” Fluttershy said with a shudder. “It…didn’t end all that well.” Derek stared at Fluttershy for several moments as he tried to first determine if she was joking, and then decide if he wanted to ask for an explanation. Eventually, Derek quietly concluded that he was happier not knowing and headed off in search of Pinkie Pie. Once she was alone, Fluttering took a deep breath before setting her Ralts on the ground and taking out her Poké Balls. “Could you all please come out for a moment? I have something that I need to talk to you about for a bit.” In a flash, all three Poké Balls opened in unison and Ralts was joined by Quilava, Croagunk and Wimpod, who all looked expectantly at Fluttershy. “I wanted to talk with you all, especially Quilava and Croagunk, about how things have been, and particularly how our last gym battle went.”

“Quilava Quil,” Quilava grumbled as it looked down at the ground.

“Oh no, that’s not what I meant at all! If anycreature should apologize for how things went, it’s me,” Fluttershy said quickly, prompting a chorus of disagreement from her Pokémon. “That’s all very kind of you to say, but the fact of the matter is you both got very hurt during the battle, and if I had been a better trainer, than maybe—” Fluttershy found herself abruptly cut off as her Pokémon all vehemently voiced their objections to what she was about to say, which Croagunk quickly taking the lead.

“Croa Croa Croagunk!”

“But, I barely did anything, you and Quilava were the ones who did all the fighting,” Fluttershy protested. “All I did was shout instructions from the sidelines.”

“Quilava?”

“Alright, I suppose I did help you spot that Hawlucha when it was moving too fast for you to keep track of, but—”

“Croagunk!”

“But – I mean, yes, using our Z-move was how we were able to win in the end, but…” Fluttershy let out a defeated sigh. “Alright, maybe I did help a little during the battle, but that doesn’t change the fact that I wasn’t able to do enough to keep you both from getting hurt.” Fluttershy’s words seemed to have a little more impact this time as her Pokémon appeared to quietly consider what she was saying. The conclusion that they drew from this, however, wasn’t exactly what Fluttershy was expecting.

“Croagunk, Croa croa Croagunk!”

“Train even harder?” Fluttershy replied in alarm. “That wasn’t really what I was—”

“Quilava.”

“Well, I mean, I guess you could look at it that way. Training harder would mean any more battles would probably be easier for us to handle, but—”

“Wimpod!”

“You too, Wimpod? I don’t really know if you’re quite ready to start battling just yet, but if you really want to start training with Quilava and Croagunk, then I suppose it’s—”

“Ralts!”

“No!” Fluttershy snapped, perhaps more harshly than she had intended, shocking her Pokémon into sudden silence. Seeing their stunned expressions, Fluttershy took a few deep breaths to clam herself down before kneeling down. “I’m sorry, Ralts, but you’re just much too young for me to let you start getting into battles like Quilava and Croagunk do. Maybe when you’re a little older we could start training, but right now it’s just too soon.”

Ralts initially seemed dejected by this response, but then Croagunk patted it on the back. “Croa, Croagunk.”

“There, you see? Croagunk’s absolutely right, if you’re really interested in battling, then for now you should watch Croagunk and the others train so you can learn all about it safely,” Fluttershy said, grateful Croagunk had provided her with a way of putting off that particular issue for at least a bit longer.

“Croagunk croa croa.”

“Right, and we can get started training right away so we can all be ready for our next gym battle – wait, what?” Fluttershy rapidly felt her control over the situation slip through her fingers as her Pokémon all voiced their approval of this plan. “I suppose…I mean, if you all really want to, then it wouldn’t hurt to train for a little while, at least. Just not for too long, since we don’t want Pinkie or Derek to worry about us. And you should be careful not to be too rouch with each other. I don’t want any of you to get hurt and I’m not really sure how long it will be before we get to the next town. And…” Fluttershy continued her litany of gentle warnings, but by that point her Pokémon had largely stopped listening to what she was saying as they went off to train against each other.

*********

“How the heck does Pinkie Pie manage to keep disappearing like this?” Derek muttered as he clambered over the stony ground. “And why is it so hard to find her whenever I’m actually looking for her? With how loud she is normally, you’d think I’d just be able to follow her voice—” At that very moment, the sounds of excited cheering suddenly filled the air. “Kind of like that, actually.” Wasting no time, Derek quickly followed the sound of his friend’s voice until he found Pinkie Pie happily hugging a bored-looking woman in a simple cyan dress. “Uh, Pinkie, do you know her, or are you just hugging random strangers for fun now?”

“Hugging random strangers is fun, but this isn’t a stranger. This is my big sister Maud!”

“Hey,” Maud said as she peered over Pinkie Pie’s shoulder at Derek.

“Maud, this is my friend Derek. He’s been showing me and Fluttershy all around the island while we go on our Pokémon adventure! It’s been really fun, we’ve seen all sorts of Pokémon and done a ton of exciting stuff and fought bad guys and I’ve even been to a couple of gyms!”

“Gyms? Wait, are you saying you’ve been challenging some of the gyms?” Maud said.

“Yeah! It was kind of scary at first, but once I understood that my Pokémon were alright with it, it got really exciting!” Pinkie Pie explained happily. “So, how have you been? Have you seen anything interesting rocks? Have you got a Pokémon? What kind is it?” Pinkie Pie would likely have continued asking questions at an ever-increasing pace had Maud not put her hand over Pinkie’s mouth, muffling the stream of endless chatter.

“I’ve been fine. I’m working with one of the gym leaders studying the island’s rocks,” Maud said. “It’s been nice. I didn’t have much chance to study igneous rock formations in Equestria.”

“If you’re studying geology, then I’m guessing the gym leader you’re working with is Professor Amber,” Derek said as Pinkie continued babbling into Maud’s hand, while Maud nodded her had in affirmation.

“She’s been nice. I don’t often meet someone who’s as interested in rocks as I am, and I’ve learned a lot about Pokémon from her. Especially Rock-types,” Maud said as Pinkie Pie finally managed to wriggle free.

“Ooh, so does that mean you do have a Pokémon? Show me show me show me!” Pinkie exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement.

“Okay,” Maud said as she took out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. “Pebble, come out and meet my sister.” Pinkie Pie eagerly leaned forward as Maud’s Poké Ball released its occupant, only to be forced to leap back as the massive Onix uncurled itself.

“Whoa! That’s a really big pebble!” Pinkie yelped before turning back to Maud. “So, are you doing Pokémon battles too? Do you have any badges? Ohh, what types of badges do you have?”

“I’m not really interested in battling,” Maud said. “I have watched Professor Amber battle a few challengers, though. Like Applejack.” This last revelation elicited a gasp of elation from Pinkie Pie.

“You saw Applejack? How is she? Has she been having fun? What kind of Pokémon did she get? Did you see any of my other friends?”

“I’m guessing this Applejack is a friend of yours?” Derek asked as Pinkie’s latest barrage of questions was interrupted by her need to breathe.

“You bet! Applejack’s one of my best friends ever! I figured she and the rest of our friends would be here too somewhere,” Pinkie said. “I thought about trying to look for them when we first got here, but I just figured we’d run into everybody eventually anyway. Things always seem to work out like that, after all,” Pinkie added before turning back to Maud. “You said Applejack challenged the gym leader you’ve been staying with, right? How’d she do?”

“Applejack won,” Maud said. “She had a little trouble with the professor’s Aerodactyl at first, but she beat it eventually.”

“Yeah Applejack! Whoo!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “I wonder how many badges she’ll have by the time we meet back up? Fluttershy and I only have two badges each so far, but I bet Applejack and Rainbow Dash must have a whole bunch more.”

“You’ve got two badges already?” Maud said, the hint of surprise in her voice the most emotion Derek had seen her display thus far. “If you’re really taking on gym leaders, then I think I have something that might help you.” As Maud spoke, she set her backpack down on the ground and began rummaging through it until she pulled out an incubator. “Professor Amber got too many of these so she gave me one, but I think it might be a better fit for you,” Maud said as she handed Pinkie Pie the incubator.

“Oh Maud, are you sure? Well, don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it and raise it up to be the happiest, healthiest little Pokémon ever!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily.

Derek, meanwhile, eyed the egg Pinkie Pie had been given warily. “You said that was an egg Professor Amber ordered, right? One that she got too many of?”

“That’s right,” Maud said.

Derek looked back and forth between Maud’s impassive stare and Pinkie Pie’s gleeful expression before letting out a sigh. “Well, if that’s what I think it is then it’ll be a while before it hatches. Anyway, I should probably check in on how Fluttershy is doing with her Pokémon.”

“Yup, and once she’s ready we can get back on the road to…”

“Port Manganese,” Derek said.

“Port Manganese, where I’m gonna win my third badge!” Pinkie declared proudly.

“Alright,” Maud said before addressing Derek. “It was nice to meet you. It’s good to know that Pinkie’s found friends here that can help look out for her.” With that said, Maud climbed up onto Pebble’s head and patted it a few times, prompting it to rumble off into the distance as Derek and Pinkie watched.

“So…that was your sister, huh?” Derek said as they watched Maud ride off into the distance.

“Uh huh, she’s the best big sister ever!” Pinkie Pie replied. “Although, I’m kinda surprised she’s here. Usually, this sort of stuff is just something me and my friends do. Maud’s not really the type to go on adventures like this…ooh! But may from now on she will! That would be amazing! My big sister Maud helping me and my friends save Equestria! That would be so much better than Pinkie-Rainbow-Rari-Twi-Apple-Flutter-Maud Fun Time!”

“…I’m just going to assume that all made sense in context. Anyway, we really should probably track down Fluttershy and see how she’ doing,” Derek said. “I know Fluttershy usually has a good handle on her Pokémon, but the Croagunk and Cyndaquil lines can be a little—” A sudden shout cut through the air, followed closely by a mixture of animalistic grunting and growling. “…Rambunctious. I’d say rambunctious would probably be a good word.”

“Yup, that definitely sounds rambunctious alright. Rambunctious. Rrrrrambunctious.” Pinkie Pie giggled happily. “Hey, that’s actually a fun word to say. Rambunctious, rambunctious, rammy-rammy rambunctious, la lala la la.” Pinkie Pie skipped along as she continued singing her on the spot ode to a word she wasn’t entirely certain the meaning of as Derek followed quietly behind, lost in thought.

“So, it sounds like Pinkie and Fluttershy aren’t the only two of these ‘Equestrians’ that we should be keeping tabs on,” Derek thought to himself. “I might need to talk with A and see if there’s anything else important that his friend forgot to mention before things go completely out of control.”