My Little Pokemon

by Alabenson

A Forest of First-Times

“Alright Charmander, let’s run through this one more time; Smokescreen! Ember! Ember! Smokescreen! Tail Whip! Scratch!” As Twilight rapidly barked out instructions her Charmander performed each attack without hesitation. “Good job,” Twilight said as Charmander finished the well-rehearsed routine. “It looks like you’ve gotten a lot stronger already.” Walking across the forest clearing where she and her friends had set up their campsite, Twilight fanned away the smoke that Charmander had spewed out to reveal that the dead tree it had been practicing on was now covered in deep gouges and scorch marks.

“Sheesh, Twilight, you’re really taking this whole training thing seriously,” Rainbow Dash remarked as she watched from their campsite.

“Yes, well if we ever want to get back home to Equestria then we’re going to have to somehow complete this gym battle challenge. And if all of these Gym leaders are as powerful as that Ferris was then we’ll need to do everything we can to prepare,” Twilight added.

“Yeah, actually I’ve been thinking about that,” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly. “I know Discord is supposed to be reformed and all, and it’s not like I think he’d do something seriously evil to anypony…”

“But…?” Twilight asked.

“But he’s still, y’know, Discord! What if none of this has anything to do with getting home and Discord’s just sitting back laughing at us?”

“I’ve thought about that, and I won’t say it just a possibility, but I don’t think that’s case,” Twilight replied thoughtfully. “Besides, even if Discord was lying about everything it’s not as though we have all that many options. At the very least the more we can learn about this world the better. If we’re lucky we might even run into some of our other friends.” As she spoke, Twilight walked over to her Charmander and scratched its head, causing it to let out a contented sigh. “So, unless we find a better option I think going along with Discord’s advice is the best thing we can do.”

Rainbow Dash blinked several times before responding. “Ok, so we’ve been turned into shaved monkeys and dumped into a world full of little creatures with freaky powers, but hearing you say following Discord’s advice is the best thing to do is the officially the weirdest thing that’s happened so far.”

“Admittedly it’s not really something I ever expected to say myself, but here we are,” Twilight said with a shrug. “By the way, I don’t think I’ve really seen you do all that much training with Tank Jr. Shouldn’t you be working to get him ready for these gym battles?”

“I, uh, I’ve been training Tank Jr. too,” Rainbow Dash protested. “It’s just I’ve…been doing it at night, while you’re asleep. Y’know, getting Tank Jr. used to fighting in the dark in case something happens during a fight and he can’t see.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight said skeptically. “Well, alright then. In any case, I’m going to see if I can find where Spike went off to. He said he was going off to train after breakfast, but I haven’t seen him since.”

“Alright, I’ll just keep an eye on the campsite while you’re gone. Maybe I’ll even get a little training in,” Rainbow Dash added with a nervous laugh. Twilight nodded and started to make her way into the forest, pausing and turning to give Rainbow Dash a worried look before vanishing into the forest. Once Twilight was safely out of right, Rainbow Dash sat back down and took out Tank Jr.’s Poke ball. Staring into the ball’s dull finish, Rainbow Dash thought back to her disastrous attempt at a gym challenge. Tears began to well up in Rainbow Dash’s eyes as she recalled Tank Jr.’s cries of pain, a direct result of her own carelessness. “Darn it!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she slammed her fist into the log. “You deserve a better trainer than a screw up like me.”

*********

“Spike? Spike” Can you hear me?” Twilight called out as she trudged through the forest. There was no response, however, just the sound of a breeze rustling the leaves above her head. “Where in Equestria could Spike have run off to? I told him not to wander off too far away from the campsite.” Letting out a grunt of frustration Twilight leaned back against a nearby tree and pondered out loud about what to do next. “At least this place seems safer than the Everfree Forest, so Spike should be fine. I just hope he hasn’t gotten lost in here.”

“Geeze, Twilight, I’m not lost, I’m right here,” a voice said, startling Twilight into practically leaping into the air.

“Gah! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Twilight yelped as she fought to catch her breath.

“You’ve really got to start paying more attention to what’s going on around you, Twilight. Anyway, what’s going on? I thought you and Rainbow were training back at our campsite.”

“I was, at least. To be honest, though, I’m not so sure about Rainbow Dash. Speaking of Rainbow Dash, is it just me, or does she just not seem like herself recently?”

“I think she still feels bad about what happened when she challenged that Ferris guy,” Spike replied. “She did really get her rump handed to her after all. Not to mention the way he chewed her out afterwards.”

Twilight nodded sadly before suddenly looking up as a though struck her. “Actually, speaking of that gym battle, there’s something about it that’s been bugging me. Right at the beginning Ferris said that their battle was going to be two versus two. But, we only received one Pokémon each, so there must be some way for us to somehow add additional Pokémon to our teams.”

“Well yeah, you have to catch them,” Spike nonchalantly replied.

“What? What do you mean just ‘catch them’? How?” Twilight asked.

“Easy, you just need to use the spare Poke balls they gave us in our welcome kit. That’s what I was doing this morning, catching a new Pokémon.” As Spike spoke he pulled out a Poke ball. “Come on out and say hi, Peewee!” Spike then tossed the Poke ball into the air where it split open, unleashing a burst of red light that quickly coalesced into a small bird. It stood about a foot tall with red-orange plumage on its head and light grey on the rest of its body.

“Fletchling,” the Pokémon chirped cheerfully as it looked up at Twilight.

“Spike, are you sure it’s alright to just go out and catch a Pokémon in the wild like that?” Twilight asked nervously as she eyed the tiny robin Pokémon hopping about on the ground.

“Yeah, at least the Pokédex said so. According to it a lot of wild Pokémon want to get caught by trainer. Something about wanting a trainer to help them get stronger or something.”

“I don’t know, Spike. There’s something about the idea of catching a Pokémon so that it can fight for you that just doesn’t seem right to me,” Twilight said.

“Come on, Twilight, Pokémon aren’t like the animals we’re used to back in Equestria,” Spike countered. “Besides, they wouldn’t have given these extra balls if we weren’t supposed to use them, would they?”

Twilight tried to think of a counter to Spike’s logic, but found nothing came to her. “Ok then, so all I have to do is find a wild Pokémon and then what? Just toss one of the spare Poke balls I have at it?”

“Well, you’re supposed to battle it a little first to prove you’re good enough that it would want you to train it, but pretty much, yeah,” Spike said.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Twilight leaned back against her tree. “Terrific, so all I have to do is track down some wild Pokémon, assault it until it can’t resist and then toss a Poke ball at it and hope it decides it wants me to train it. Well, I guess the first step would be to actually find a – Spike, what in Equestria’s the matter?” Twilight asked a she noticed Spike nervously backing away from her.

“Uh, Twilight? You might wanna look up,” Spike replied as he continued to put distance between himself and Twilight.

Curious, Twilight tilted her head back and found herself staring into a pair of yellow eyes scant inches away from her face. “Veni?” the creature said in something between a hiss and a chirp.

Twilight, the Princess of Friendship and a veteran of numerous encounters with beings of incredible malevolence and power, reacted in the only way appropriate to the situation. Namely, screaming in terror and stumbling away from the tree while wildly flailing her arms about. “WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME?”

“Venipede,” the Pokémon repeated as it scuttled down to the base of the tree. It appeared to be a bloated, foot-long red pill bug-like creature and much to Twilight’s displeasure it seemed to have taken an interest in her.

Venipede, the centipede Pokémon. It uses its feelers to track prey by sensing vibrations in the air. It can then inject venom with its bite that is sufficiently potent to incapacitate much larger creatures.

Twilight glance over to Spike to see him standing a safe distance away with his Pokédex out. “Wow, Twilight, that thing sounds awesome! You should try and catch it,” Spike said eagerly. Despite his enthusiasm, however, Twilight noted Spike wasn’t making any effort to move closer.

Hesitantly, Twilight turned her attention back to the Venipede, which was still sitting at the base of the tree. “I do need a second Pokémon if I want to have any chance of actually defeating a gym leader,” Twilight thought to herself. “And if this thing’s venom is that potent it would probably be extremely useful. Alright then,” Twilight said as she pulled herself to her feet. “Venipede, get ready to join Team Twilight!” Ignoring Spike’s reaction to her declaration, Twilight lobbed a Poke ball at the Venipede. The ball struck the Venipede in its hump before splitting open. The Venipede appeared to transform into red light that was sucked into the Poke ball before the ball snapped shut. A moment later, however, the ball burst back open, the red light within coalescing back into an angrily glaring Venipede.

“Twilight! You have to battle it first, remember?” Spike called out.

“Oh, right,” Twilight said as she quickly pulled out the Poke ball containing her Charmander. “Alright Venipede, if want a battle then I’ll give you a battle!” Twilight declared as she tossed Charmander’s ball into the air. “Ok Charmander, just like we practiced. Smokescreen!” Charmander obediently belched forth a thick cloud of black smoke that quickly enveloped the Venipede. However, the differences between fighting a dead tree and an actual opponent quickly became apparent as a barrage of purple needles fired out from the smoke, only narrowly missing Charmander.

“Careful Twilight, that looks like Venipede’s Poison Sting attack! Charmander’s definitely not going to want to get hit by that!” Spike cautioned.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Twilight muttered as she assessed the situation. “Ok, Charmander try using Ember!” With a cry of acknowledgement, Charmander proceeded to repeatedly snap its tail forward, sending showers of bright cinders into the smoke. While the smoke was too thick for Twilight to see into, the hiss of pain that emanated out from it confirmed to her that the embers had struck home. Moments later, Venipede burst out from the smoke and dashed at Charmander. The Venipede viciously swiped at Charmander with its tail as it went by before interposing itself between Charmander and Twilight cutting off any possible escape.

“Is it just me or is that Venipede moving a lot faster all of a sudden?” Twilight pondered before quickly shaking her head. “No, I have to stay focused. Charmander, use another Ember attack!”

Charmander swiftly whirled around, sending another stream of burning embers cascading over the Venipede. Unfortunately for Twilight, in her haste she had neglected to take into account that she was standing directly behind the Venipede.

“Gah, Charmander stop! Stop!” Twilight yelped as she frantically tried to dodge the stray cinders. Charmander ceased its assault, only for Venipede to promptly curl up into a ball and bounce up at Charmander, striking the underside of its snout.

“What in Celestia’s name is that thing doing – Charmander, look out!” Charmander leapt to the side as the Venipede rolled past it like a living bowling ball, clipping Charmander’s leg in the process. “Ok, Charmander, get ready to hit it with a Scratch attack once it comes back around!” Twilight commanded. “It’s a bit risky,” Twilight thought to herself, “but if we can time this just right Charmander should be able to use Venipede’s momentum against it.”

Just as Twilight had predicted, the Venipede soon made a sharp hairpin turn to come at Charmander again, seemingly picking up speed all the while. As the centipede Pokémon barreled forward Charmander braced itself, one claw raised as it prepared to strike its opponent. Each fraction of a second that ticked by felt like an eternity as the Venipede hurtled closer to its target. Then, just as the Venipede came close enough for Charmander to make its counter attack…the Venipede uncurled and collapsed onto the ground, uncurling at Charmander’s feet.

“Char?” Charmander said as it cautiously prodded the prone Venipede with its foot, eliciting a whimpering hiss from its foe.

“Twilight! Quick! Now’s your chance to catch it with a Poke ball!” Spike called out as he saw Twilight hesitate in confusion.

“Oh, right.” Snapped out of her momentary daze over this turn of events, Twilight pulled out a Poke ball and lobbed it at the Venipede. The process of converting the Venipede into red light and containing it within the Poke ball repeated itself, only this time the ball only rocked back and forth half-heartedly for a second or two before coming to rest with a faint chime.

“All right Twilight! Way to go catching your first Pokémon!” Spike cheered from his vantage point.

“Thanks,” Twilight said as she inspected the part of Charmander’s leg that had been struck by Venipede. “To be honest, though, that battle was a lot more intense than I expected it would be.”

“Yeah, that Venipede really put up a heck of a fight, it’s going to make a great addition to your team.”

“No, Spike, think about it. If a wild Pokémon could put up that kind of fight on its own then just think how strong an actual gym leader’s Pokémon would be!”

“Yeah, no wonder Rainbow Dash lost like that. Anyway, we should probably get back to camp and take care of your Pokémon,” Spike added.

*********

“…and so now I have a Venipede on my team in addition to Charmander,” Twilight said as she finished recounting her encounter to Rainbow Dash.

“Sounds like you guys had one hay of a fight on you hooves – I mean hands,” Rainbow Dash quickly corrected herself. “Are you sure your Pokémon are going to be alright, though? You were pushing Charmander pretty hard already and it sounds like Venipede was in really rough shape by the time you caught it.”

Twilight nodded her head. “I probably won’t be able to train either of them seriously until we get to the next town and I can take them to a Pokémon Center. Although, Spike did tell me about a possible alternative I might try looking into tomorrow as well.”

“What do you mean ‘an alternative’?” Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously.

“Apparently there are a number of berries that grow on this island that have medicinal properties…well, when Pokémon eat them at least. Spike thinks he saw some when he was out training earlier, so tomorrow morning we’re going to investigate and see what’s actually there. Maybe you should come with us,” Twilight added hopefully. “You’ve hardly left any of our campsites since we entered the forest, I think exploring a bit would be good for you.”

Rainbow Dash, however, quickly dismissed Twilight’s suggestion. “I appreciate the offer, Twi, but I think I’ll pass. Honestly, I…haven’t been feeling all that well today. I think I might spend most of tomorrow just lying down, y’know, talking it easy.”

“Rainbow,” Twilight said after a moment’s silence. “Do you want to talk about what happened at the Mercury City Gym? Ever since you lost that battle you just haven’t been yourself and I’m starting to worry about you.”

“I’m fine, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash snapped irritably. “The Pokémon Center was able to patch Tank Jr. up, I know to take gym battles a lot more seriously and I don’t need you to keep worrying about me. Just worry about yourself and your own Pokémon I’ll be just fine.”

“Alright, if that’s really how you feel,” Twilight said, raising her hands in defeat. “But, if you change your mind and decide you want to talk about what happened, I’ll be right here for you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow Dash said as she flopped down into her sleeping bag and turned away from her friend.

*********

The nest morning found Rainbow Dash alone at the campsite once again. “Ugh, this sucks!” Rainbow Dash complained to nopony in particular. “I know I shouldn’t just give up, but his whole ‘pick yourself back up’ thing is a lot harder when somepony else can get hurt because of your screw-ups.” Letting out a sigh, Rainbow Dash pulled out Tank Jr.’s Poke ball. “Still, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to at least see what he thinks about all this.”

Moments later, Tank Jr. was gleefully hopping about the campsite, awkwardly shadowboxing. “Wow, you’ve really got a lot of pent up energy, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash said as she watched Tank Jr. caper about. “I guess you’re back to 100% after all, huh?”

“Squirtle Squirtle!” As Tank Jr. replied it scampered over to Rainbow Dash and looked up at her expectantly.

“You really still want somepony like me as your trainer, even after I messed up and got you hurt like that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Before Rainbow Dash could really process this, however, her attention was grabbed by the sudden appearance of a thick cloud of blue smoke at the edge of the forest clearing, accompanied by a familiar voice. “Princess Twilight Sparkle! Prepare yourself for the unmatched might of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Moments later a silver haired girl wearing a lavender cape covered in stars and moons along with a matching pointy hat burst out of the smoke and into the clearing. Following close behind was another girl with purple hair and a distinctive green highlight.

“I get that you want to make a big entrance, Trix, but maybe we should start checking to see if Twilight is actually in any of these clearings before you break out the smoke bombs?”

“Trixie? Starlight? You guys are here too?” Rainbow Dash asked as she leapt to her feet in astonishment.

“Rainbow Dash, is that really you?” Starlight Glimmer replied, sounding equally surprised. Before Starlight could say anything else, however, Trixie cried out in triumph.

“Hah! See, what did I tell you? That women at the Pokémon hospital said that Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were leaving the city heading east.” As Trixie spoke she began glancing around the campsite as a frown began to form across her features. “Wait, where is Twilight Sparkle anyway? Trixie followed her into the forest so she could challenge her and prove her superiority as a Pokémon trainer.”

“You wanted to prove that Twilight was the better trainer?” Rainbow Dash asked mockingly, much to Trixie’s annoyance.

“No, when I said ‘her’ I didn’t mean ‘Twilight’ her I meant Trixie – you know darn well what I meant!” Trixie snapped. “Anyway, Trixie is here to challenge Twilight Sparkle to a Pokémon battle, so where the hay is she?”

“She’s been like this ever since we heard a rumor that somepony who sounded like they could be Twilight was headed into this forest,” Starlight added apologetically. “That being said, I’m kind of curious where Twilight is myself. I was hoping she could shed some light on what we’re all doing here.”

“Well, I don’t really understand all the details, but from Twilight’s told me something magic happened and then Discord got involved,” Rainbow Dash replied.

Trixie and Starlight glanced at each other before shaking their head in unison at Rainbow’s explanation. “Of course Discord would be involved in something this ridiculous,” Trixie said in disgust.

“Come on, Trixie, Discord’s not that bad. Well, usually he’s not anyway,” Starlight added after a moment.

Trixie, meanwhile, had turned back to Rainbow Dash. “That still doesn’t answer Trixie’s most pressing question; where in Celestia’s name is Twilight Sparkle hiding?”

“Twilight’s not hiding, she and Spike just went off to look for some special berries for her Pokémon,” Rainbow Dash considered the potential ramifications of Trixie’s sudden appearance. Neither of Twilight’s Pokémon were in any condition to battle and Rainbow Dash doubted that a few berries would significantly alter that situation. “Hey, listen, right now we’re headed to this place called Aurum Town on the other side of the forest. If you really want to challenge Twilight then why don’t you wait for her there?”

“Hmm, as tempting as it would be to prove to Twilight that the Great and Powerful Trixie will always be a step ahead of her, Trixie thinks she’ll have to decline. The Great and Powerful Trixie has waited far too long for the chance to finally prove that she’s better than Twilight Sparkle at something. Trixie will simply wait for Twilight to get back from collecting berries or whatever it was you said she was doing.” With that said, Trixie marched into the clearing and sat down on an overturned log.

Inwardly, Rainbow Dash started to panic as she tried to think of a way to somehow convince Trixie to leave before Twilight and Spike returned to camp. “Y’know, Twilight probably isn’t going to get back for a while,” Rainbow Dash began as she tried a new strategy. “Are you sure you just wanna sit here waiting for her?”

“Trixie doesn’t mind. To be honest, it’s just nice to be able to sit down and rest Trixie’s feet. Trixie doesn’t know how these humans stand having to walk around on two legs all the time.”

“Yeah, I can’t really argue with you on that one,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. As Rainbow Dash tried to think of some other excuse to delay the confrontation between Trixie and Twilight, Tank Jr. waddled over to her.

“Squirtle Squirtle Squirtle!” As Tank Jr. repeated its cry in a concerned tone it began pointing at Rainbow Dash before gesturing towards Trixie.

“Hey, I think your Pokémon’s trying to tell you something,” Starlight observed mildly as she watched Tank Jr.’s performance. “It almost looks like it wants you to battle Trixie.” Tank Jr. promptly looked up at Starlight with a huge grin on its face and eagerly nodded its head.

“You’re really going to give me another chance?” Rainbow Dash asked as she knelt down to Tank Jr.’s level.

“Trixie does have to admit she wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having to wait for Twilight Sparkle to show up. How long did you say it was going to take her to get back here?”

“Oh, I’d say probably not until this evening at least,” Rainbow Dash said. “But, if you’re scared your Pokémon wouldn’t be able to handle going up against Twilight after battling me I’d totally understand…”

“Scared? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t know the meaning of the word!” Trixie yelled as she shot up from her seat. “If you really want to battle than prepare yourself to face the Great and Powerful Trixie’s Great and Powerful Fennekin!” With an exaggerated flourish, Trixie produced a Poke ball out of seemingly nowhere and flipped it into the air. Moments later, a small, orange, fox-like creature appeared in front of Trixie in a flash of light. “Well, Rainbow Dash, are you ready to face the awesome, show-stopping might of our Great and Powerful team?” Trixie asked. To Rainbow Dash’s amusement, as Trixie blustered her Fennekin mimicked its trainer’s movements in a display of synchronized grandstanding.

“Oh yeah? Well me and Tank Jr. are gonna…” Rainbow Dash’s flare of bravado quickly died on her lips as she recalled where it had gotten her last time.

“Squirtle Squirt-Squirtle!” To Rainbow Dash’s surprise, she looked down to see Tank Jr. defiantly standing in front of her and glaring at Trixie’s Fennekin.

“Y’know what? What he said!” Rainbow Dash declared, her confidence bolstered by Tank Jr.’s show of faith in her. “Alright Tank, Tackle that big-eared fox thing!”

“Hmph, Fennekin, roast that turtle with Ember!” As Tank Jr. dove headfirst towards Trixie’s Fennekin the fox Pokémon opened its mouth. A red-orange ball of fire swiftly formed in front of its mouth before detonating and showering Tank Jr. in motes of flame. The fire wasn’t enough to halt Tank Jr.’s momentum, however, and he crashed into Trixie’s Fennekin sending both Pokémon sprawling to the ground. “Alright then, if that’s the way you want to do this…Fennekin, use Tail Whip!”

“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she watched Trixie’s Fennekin swipe Tank Jr. across the face with its bushy tail. “You’re not gonna just take that, are you? Hit it with another Tackle!” Tank Jr. quickly rose and rushed at Trixie’s Fennekin yet again. Unfortunately, this time Fennekin was ready for it. As Tank Jr. charged in, Fennekin hopped up onto Tank Jr.’s head and bounded over it, leaving Tank Jr. stumbling helplessly forward.

“Hah! This is just a taste of what awaits Twilight Sparkle once she gets back,” Trixie crowed happily. “Now, Fennekin, quickly, Scratch attack!” Trixie’s Fennekin promptly rushed at Tank Jr. as it turned towards it and swiped it across its face with one of its paws.

“Alright, you wanna go like that? Fine, Tank, fit that prissy little fox with your own Tail Whip” Leaping into the air, Tank Jr. rapidly spun around, slapping Fennekin across the face hard enough for the impact to be audible. Fennekin glared back at Tank Jr. with undisguised rage as it rubbed its stinging cheek with one paw.

“Fennekin, get back! We’ll finish this from a distance,” Trixie growled. “Hit it with another Ember attack!”

Trixie’s Fennekin obediently opened its mouth to form another ball of flame. As Rainbow Dash watched however, the sight of the fire triggered memories of a time she had been dragged to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory as part of a school field trip. Specifically, it reminded her of the boilers underneath the cloud generators. “Tank, quick, aim a Water Gun right into Fennekin’s fire!” Rainbow Dash yelled with a wicked grin. Tank Jr. promptly followed his trainer’s instructions, drawing in a deep breath before firing a powerful stream of water from its mouth. The water struck Fennekin square in its mouth just as it launched its own attack. While Tank Jr. was still showered with the burning cinders that escaped the jet of water, most of them burst into steam as the water collided with Fennekin.

“You think that’s funny?” Trixie screeched as she watched her waterlogged Fennekin struggle to stand itself back up. “Fennekin, hit that miserable turtle with another…wait, where in Equestria did it go?” To Trixie’s shock, most of the battlefield was now obscured by a thick cloud of steam, hiding Tank Jr. from sight.

“Kinda hard to fight what you can’t see, isn’t it?” Rainbow Dash called out mockingly from somewhere on the other side of the steam cloud.

“That’s it!” Trixie shrieked in rage. “Fennekin! Get in there and hit it with another Ember! Ember Ember Ember Ember!” Fennekin obediently leapt into the steam cloud and began wildly firing off attacks.

“I think there’s a problem with your plan,” Rainbow Dash mocked as Trixie continued to scream orders in a blind fury. “Your Pokémon might not be able to see Tank Jr. in all that steam, but we sure as hay can see that ball of fire it keeps coughing up. Nail it with another Water Gun, Tank!” Moments later, Trixie’s Fennekin was ejected from the steam cloud by a jet of water. The drenched Pokémon tumbled along the ground until it came to rest at Trixie’s feet in an unconscious heap.

“I hate to tell you this, Trix, but it looks like Rainbow Dash has won this one,” Starlight observed.

A dejected Trixie looked down at her Fennekin before taking out her Poke ball. “Fennekin, return.” As the Poke ball recalled Fennekin in a flash of red light Trixie looked back up at Rainbow Dash, the brim of her hat obscuring her face. “Clearly you are a far worthier adversary than the Great and Powerful Trixie had assumed. Rest assured, however, that the next time we meet, the Great and Powerful Trixie won’t go nearly as easy on you as she did this time. Until then!” With that, another smoke cloud enveloped Trixie and hid her from sight. Moments later the sounds of twigs snapping could be heard along with a startled yelp and a crash, as Trixie made a less than stealthy exit into the forest.

“I should probably go after her,” Starlight said. “You might have noticed, but Trixie’s been acting a lot more, well, Trixie-ish ever since we woke up on that boat. Frankly, I’m a little worried she could get herself in real trouble if I left her on her own.” As Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding, Starlight turned to chase after her friend. “Do me a favor and let Twilight and Spike know that I’m alright when they get back,” Starlight called out before disappearing into the woods.

After watching Starlight leave, Rainbow Dash turned back to Tank Jr., the turtle-like Pokémon sitting on the ground, a self-satisfied grin plastered across its features. “That…was…AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed happily. “Oh man, the way you just dove through those cinders and then when you nailed it with you Water Gun to create that steam cloud. That’s what I though this battling stuff was gonna be like.” As Rainbow Dahs finished gushing over her first victory as a trainer she knelt down next to Tank Jr. “You, you were incredible out there. Listen, I owe you an apology, first for what happened at that gym and then for not training you afterwards like I should have. But I promise from now on I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got to help make you the most awesome Pokémon this world’s ever seen! Are you with me?”

Tank Jr.’s immediate response was to leap up and tackle Rainbow Dash in a flying hug. The force of the unexpected embrace caught Rainbow Dash off guard and she was wound up knocked over by the force of the impact. For the next minute or so both trainer and Pokémon lay on the ground laughing happily at their newfound resolve to become the best they could be.

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