Twilight stared in blank surprise at the cute little foal standing on the table. It was undeniably Sunset Shimmer, after all, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen her friend in pony form, but Twilight couldn’t even begin to fathom why she looked so much younger than before.
“Shimmy! Shim shim, shimmy?!” Sunset shouted.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, utterly perplexed, “I… um… what?”
Sakura cleared her throat and gestured to the old man wearing the lab coat, “Miss Sparkle, this is Professor Oak. He’s been looking after your Pokémon.”
“Oh, right! Um, thank you,” Twilight said, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
Professor Oak smiled brightly, “It was my pleasure! I’m just glad to see that you’re both alright, is it true you both fell in the ocean?”
“Something like that,” Twilight replied. She glanced over at Sunset, wringing her hands together, “I don’t want to be rude, but… do you mind if I have a quick chat with my, er, Pokémon? In private?”
Professor Oak nodded, “Of course, by all means. I’ve got some paperwork to work on in the meantime. I’ll be at that computer over there, just come and get me when you’re done.”
Twilight murmured in agreement as the Professor wandered over to a computer in the corner, the teenage girl following at his heels.
“I really should be getting home, too,” Sakura said. “You look after yourself, alright?”
Twilight smiled at her, “You too. And thank you, for everything.” She waved as Sakura turned and left, then turned back to Sunset. The little filly watched impatiently as Twilight stepped over to the table and crouched, bringing herself down to Sunset’s eye level, “Hey, Sunset. Are you okay?”
“Shim! Shimmy, shim!” Sunset replied, gesticulating with her forelegs.
Confused yet again, and feeling more than a little trepidation, Twilight asked softly, “Uh… Sunset? Can you understand me?” Sunset heaved a heavy, if somewhat cutesy, sigh, and nodded slowly. “Oh, thank goodness!” Twilight burst out, sagging with relief. “I was starting to worry that you had turned into an actual animal of some sort. But, if you can understand me, then why can’t I understand you?”
Sunset sat and shrugged, “Shim shimmy.”
Twilight groaned and straightened up, “Why did this happen? Do you remember anything about how we got here?” Sunset shook her head. “What about how to get back?” Another shake. “Me neither. Well. At least my parents think we’re on a research expedition, so we should have plenty of time to figure out a way home before they start worrying.”
“Shimmy.”
Twilight smirked reflexively, “Is that a request, or…?” Sunset just gave her a bemused glare in response, prompting an awkward giggle, “Right, sorry. Not the time. Hmmm. Do you think maybe I’m still human because that’s what I am originally, while you’re a pony because that’s what you were originally? That wouldn’t explain why you’re suddenly so young, though.”
Sunset folded her forelegs, “Shim, shim shimmy shim shim.”
Twilight let out another groan, “This is ridiculous, we have to find some way for you to communicate with me!”
“Shim,” Sunset said, nodding in agreement. Looking idly around the room, she tapped a hoof to her chin in obvious thought, then her ears perked up as she got an idea. “Shim shimmy!”
“What? What is it?” Twilight asked eagerly, squatting back down again.
Sunset stood once more and held out a foreleg, looking up at Twilight while she slowly and deliberately traced letters with her hoof.
“Writing! Of course!” Twilight glanced quickly around the room before hurrying towards another table. She returned moments later with a pen and a sheet of paper, which she placed in front of Sunset, “Here you go!”
“Shimmy!” Sunset grinned and a faint glow emanated from her horn as she powered up her magic, with a similar glow surrounding the pen. Her grin faded as the pen refused to budge, becoming a grimace as she struggled, before, finally, the pen started to slowly rise into the air. Puffing out her cheeks, Sunset managed to hold the pen shakily for a few seconds, but couldn’t even get the nib to the paper before her magic gave out.
Twilight’s shoulders slumped at the failure, “I guess your magic doesn’t work properly here. Or maybe its affected by the same process that turned you into a little foal?”
Sunset glared at the pen as if it had offered her a grievous insult. Lunging forward, she snatched it up in her mouth and awkwardly tried to write with it clamped between her teeth. Sadly, the end result was nothing more than an illegible scrawl. Upon seeing this, Sunset spat the pen out and sat down with a frustrated grumble, “Shim. Shim, shimmy.”
“It’s okay, we’ll figure something out,” Twilight assured her. “In the meantime, why don’t we speak to Professor Oak and see if we can get any clues as to where we are, or how we can get home?” Sunset let out a dejected sigh, then nodded once and stood back up. It was at this point that Twilight noticed another, relatively mild, problem, “Um, should I pick you up, or…?”
Sunset held a hoof up for a moment, as if to say ‘one second’, and stepped over to the edge of the table. She looked down at the floor, apparently considering something, then suddenly her horn lit up. There was a flash and a crack as Sunset disappeared into thin air, and another a split-second later as she reappeared on the floor.
Twilight stared at her in stunned disbelief, “Wha- you can teleport?!”
Sunset grinned widely and trotted in place, clearly pleased with her success. “Shim shimmy shim shim! Shimmy shim shim shimmy!” Taking a moment to collect herself, she stopped trotting and strode off towards the Professor, triumph etched all over her face. Following along behind, Twilight couldn’t help but notice that little filly Sunset, marching along purposefully with her stubby little legs and squishy-looking frame, was completely and utterly adorable.
The girl with Professor Oak looked up as Twilight and Sunset approached. “Oh, are you all done?” she asked, getting the Professor’s attention.
Twilight tilted her head noncommittally, “Um, kinda? We actually have a few questions about, well everything. Oh, I’m Twilight, by the way.”
“I’m Elaine, and this little one is Pikachu,” she replied, holding up her funny yellow mouse.
“Pika!”
“So, what’s your Pokémon called?” Elaine asked.
Twilight rubbed her neck awkwardly, “Er… well, that’s actually what we wanted to ask you about.” She took a quick breath and looked at Professor Oak, “What exactly is a Pokémon?”
The two looked at her in blank surprise. “How can you not know what a Pokémon is?!” Elaine asked incredulously.
Twilight bit her lip, not entirely certain how to go about explaining herself, “Well, you see, there weren’t any Pokémon where we came from, so…”
Professor Oak frowned at that. “No Pokémon? But what about this little one?” he asked and gestured to Sunset.
“Sunset’s kinda… unique,” Twilight told him. Sunset herself nodded vigorously.
“She certainly is,” Professor Oak replied, still frowning curiously. “How peculiar, I didn’t think there was anywhere on the planet where you wouldn’t be able to find Pokémon.”
“It’s from, er, pretty far away,” Twilight admitted.
“If that’s the case, then how on earth did you end up here in Pallet Town?” Professor Oak asked.
“We were on a research expedition in an, er, exotic location,” Twilight explained, the other two listening with rapt attention. “We were investigating an old castle when a strange storm struck. The next thing I know, we were both falling through the sky and we landed in the ocean.”
Elaine’s eyes widened in surprise, “How is that even possible?”
“There’s something else,” Twilight continued, twiddling her fingers. “When we arrived here, while we were falling, I think I saw someone floating in the sky.” She sighed and shook her head, “It could have just been my imagination. The storm was throwing us around, and I only really saw an outline. It was probably just a trick of the light, but…”
Professor Oak hummed and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. After a moment he spoke, “Some Pokémon are capable of teleporting large distances.” Twilight glanced sidelong at Sunset at that, “Alakazam is the first that springs to mind, and they’re humanoid in shape, too, but I can’t think of a Pokémon that would be capable of something like this, not unless they were uncommonly powerful. Perhaps one of the legendary Pokémon? But that begs the question as to why?”
He let out a quiet breath and stood. “I’ll make some enquiries in the scientific community, see if anyone had heard or seen something that might explain what happened. In the meantime, you are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you’d like.”
Twilight smiled gratefully, “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Elaine tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully, “Hang on, why doesn’t she just go out and look for it?” Twilight and Professor Oak both gave her curious looks. “Think about it, If a legendary Pokémon really did do this, you aren’t going to find it by sitting around in a lab.”
“Elaine does have a point,” Professor Oak conceded. “Rare Pokémon tend to avoid towns and other densely populated areas. Well, usually,” he added, with a glance at Sunset.
“She can come with me!” Elaine cried excitedly. “I’d love to have a friend to talk to on my journey!”
“You’re going somewhere?” Twilight asked.
Elaine nodded enthusiastically, “Yep, I’m leaving to try and become a Pokémon Master!”
“A what, now?”
“Shimmy shim?”
Professor Oak chuckled a little at the pair’s confusion, then turned away and gestured for them to follow him, “Come with me, I’ll explain.”
Twilight and Sunset shared a look, shrugged, and followed the Professor out of his lab, Elaine and her Pikachu tagging along in their wake. Leaving through the back door, the Professor showed them into a small garden area filled with long grass and ringed with white picket fencing. Several small birds were perched on the fence, while the grass rustled constantly with the movement of small animals. Twilight gasped as a small brown creature popped its head up out of the ground, looked around for a moment, then disappeared again.
“That was a Diglett, a type of Pokémon,” Professor Oak explained, seeing the look of wonder on Twilight’s face. He flung out an arm, indicating the birds and other creatures in the garden, “We humans live alongside Pokémon as friends. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. As for myself, I study Pokémon as a profession. Pokémon can be found in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and can be found almost all over the world. Each of them also has what we call a type. For example; there are Ground-types, like that little Diglett, Normal-Types, like the Rattata that are scurrying around in there somewhere, and then you have dual types, like those Pidgeys. They’re both Normal- and Flying- types.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. It all sounded so… simplified.
“Shim!” Sunset called out suddenly. As soon as she had the others attention, she used a hoof to point from herself, to the garden, then back again. “Shimmy shim shim shimmy?”
“I think Sunset wants to know what type she is,” Twilight said.
Professor Oak looked down at her with interest, “This little one, you said her name was Sunset?” Twilight nodded. “Well, Sunset here is particularly fascinating. She’s a dual type. A combination of Fire and Fairy, to be precise. In all my years as a researcher I've never seen or heard of such a combination. I'll have to check with some of my colleagues, but I believe her type is something that's completely unique!”
“Shimmy?” Sunset turned and twisted on the spot, checking herself over. After a few moments she apparently gave up and sat down, arching an eyebrow as she looked up at the Professor, “Shim shimmy shim?”
“What does she want?” Elaine asked.
“I think she wants to know how you can tell,” Twilight suggested, getting a nod from Sunset.
“Oh, that’s simple enough,” Professor Oak replied. “Us researchers have a few simple tests that can determine the specific types of different Pokémon, I even helped to invent one or two of them.”
“I’m a Pokémon trainer,” Elaine added. “I only got my first Pokémon today,” she paused and stroked Pikachu’s head affectionately, getting a delighted coo in return, “but I’ll be leaving soon to catch more, and try to become a Pokémon Master.”
Professor Oak nodded, “Elaine is going on a journey to visit and challenge every Pokémon gym in the Kanto league, a quest that will take her across the length and breadth of the region. Going with her would give you the opportunity to seek out answers for yourself, while I do what research I can from here. In fact, if a Pokémon truly is responsible for your predicament, they may even try to seek you out, and will be more likely to do so if you’re not cooped up in the middle of a town, even a small one like Pallet Town.”
“So, what do you think? Do you want to come exploring with me?” Elaine asked eagerly.
Twilight took a step back, more than a little divided. Her curious nature was screaming at her to get out and study this whole new world and its strange creatures, but it wasn’t only her decision to make. “What do you think, Sunset? We were on a research expedition, after all?”
Sunset cocked her head from side to side as she considered. Finally, she nodded, “Shim!”
“Excellent!” Elaine cried.
“Very well,” Professor Oak said brightly. “In that case, I’ll provide you with a cell phone so we can contact each other if we learn anything new.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea! Thank you!” Twilight replied.
Professor Oak waved a hand dismissively, “Oh, please, it’s the least I can do. Although, there is one thing I’d like to request, before you go.”
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
Professor Oak smiled down at Sunset once more, “You see, as I said earlier, Sunset here is a very unique specimen. Would you mind if I finish running a few tests on her?”
Sunset instantly flicked her tail down over her rump protectively. "Shim!"
I can actually hear this xD
Sunset’s dialogue is giving me flashbacks of Mary Poppins and I haven’t seen that film since the early nineties.
Would that work better as a ‘we’.
NOOOO! WEAPONIZED ADORABLENESS! KHAJIIT'S ONE WEAKNESS! AAAAAGGGHH!
Khajiit cannot wait to see what the future holds.
Adorable filly Sunset who only communicates in high pitched “Shimy, Shim, shim” noises? *diabetes intensifies*
I hope Sunset evolution chain is filly sunset - adult sunset - Alicorn sunset
This is really great, I can't wait to see Elaine catch a new Pokémon from Sunset's viewpoint!
SO CUTE! SO AWESOME! CAN'T WAIT FOR MORE!
I was thinking. This story needs an update. Then an hour later it updates. I have the power to tell the future. Also will the Pokedex be able to tell twilight the moves shimmy has or no because she's not a "Pokemon" I mean. The Dex is used to register new Pokemon so maybe she will get an entry? All I know is the moves she will have are this
Teleport
Ember
Dazzling gleam
Psychic
These moves are low level and will make sense with her ponyself and Pokemon self.
Her stats will most likely be
Hp average
Attack below average
Defense below average
Special attack perfect
Special defense above average
Speed above average
Nature sassy
Entry
Shimmy the magic pony Pokemon. Shimmy is unknown
I say sassy cause after looking at sunsets mindset. I feel she's a sassy teen. Or maybe some other nature. Writer tell me if my idea is close or not. Or if my stats are completely wrong for what you have planned for her.
I also how that shimmy evolves. Like
Shimmy
Sunset
Sunset shimmer
my heart, my heart, so much cuteness
9776173
Fixed!
9776220
Sunset is going to have to figure out her moves the hard way, starting with her first taste of battling wild Pokémon next chapter!
But yes, sassy definitely suits her.
9776201
As far as evolution goes, no-one will know until it happens. That's assuming that she does, or how many times...
9776223
Watch out for thermometers as well as needles.
Will this be structured like the anime?
9776248
Something tells me the first step will be "I have to do WHAT?!?". Because c'mon, who in their right mind finds it reasonable to go around the country beating up small (and not so small) critters and their owners for fun and profit?
Her reaction to evolving will also likely be on the same level of "what.", Because that's not how evolution works, that's not how any of that would work!
And yeah, definitely sassy
9776261
How do you mean?
9776262
Just wait for her reaction to Poké balls!
9776274
A character with a Pikachu challenges gyms, accompanied by other characters with their own goals.
9776276
To an extent, there's going to be a couple of twists thrown in though.
Next chapter, Twi and Shimmy will be acquainted with the 'How To Catch a Pokeman And No, You may Not Skip It' tutorial.
XD love the reaction of her
Well, this is cute. Normally I'm not much into Pokemon these days, but this has caught my interest. It helps that its got two of my favorite characters staring, and Sunny gets hit with the ridiculously cute critter trope.
9776278
Like the main characters having more than three brain-cells? Because that would be a very welcome change. Though, it'd be different if we're talking about the Origins OVA protagonist. Red actually has a brain, and knows how to use it.
9776290
Funnily enough, the tutorial was actually skippable way back in Gen 1. They just never gave you the option to say "no" ever again.
Fraz, Frazzle Fraz Fraz Fraz, Frazzle. Frazzle Fraz Fraz? Frazzle Frazzle Fraz, Frazzle.
Frazzle, Fraz Fraz Frazzle Fraz!
9776173
Oh good, I'm not the only one. Shim-Shimmery Shim-Shimmery Shim-Shim, Shimmer...
9776313
That's going to be stuck in my head now...
This is really cute.
Aaaah so adorable!
I know the mysterious figure is probably Mewtwo but I can't help but want it to be Necrozma instead, since that's a mon that usually has a lot to do with dimensional shenanigans.
9776274
Sunset will obviously be like Ash’s Pikachu und stays clear of any kind of Pokéball. However, Sunset was never actually captured before, so she can be considered a “wild Pokémon”. I am kind of curious to see how it would go if she ends up in a Pokéball for the first time, accident or not. Most Pokefics go with: “the inside of a Pokeball is a creepy black space” trope.
9776201 Don't forget Sunset may not exactly evolve like a normal Pokemon. I mean her evolution may be similar to Eevee's or by some other method.
9776317
shimmy has learned sing
edit: also coincidentally the music for the area between pallet town and viridian fits almost perfectly
Sunset may not know Kinesis, but she does know Teleport. I can only imagine how she feels about that. Sure, she's got one of the hardest spells known to unicornkind down pat, but communication with Twilight will be largely one way until she refines her abilities. To say nothing of her lack of thumbs.
Her typing is certainly interesting. Can't wait to see her reaction the first time she no-sells a Dragon attack.
Also, great work on the organic inclusion of Oak's classic introduction to Pokémon.
Let the journey begin! Twilight's probably going to be full of questions.
9776386
The Ultra Recon Squad will probably be very interested in these two...
9776396
For the inside of a pokeball, what this guy says makes more sense to me:
Typo:
its
9776506
Fixed!
If you have one Poke Pencil strapped to one Poke hoof, you can hunt and hammer keys, mechanical or touchscreen, faster than Hawking could type. Or if Sunset is intelligent enough, use the Morse app and use an erasure on the end of the hoof to press the touch screen, button?
Trick is, you dont strap the pencil to the leg to protrude beyond the hoof, you end up pushing. To get decent tapping, you strap the pencil accross the hoof and move it as if you are shaking hands.
At least until Shimmer gets Confusion, then Psychic, which is the speed and accuracy Telekinesis etc?
Its a pity that the only Gen 1, Kanto Pokemon that can have the ability Pickup, is Meowth, which is blocked due to Team Rocket and so forced scarcity? Or are both Meowths and Pikachus available in the extended Viridian forest in this setup. Or extended National Dex pokemon if any of the rest of the world is already known?
9776305
I'll be trying to write Twilight and Sunset in character as well as I possibly can, so expect Twilight to be abnormally bright with the occasional lapse of common sense, while Sunset stays sharp except when she's half-asleep or angry.
The rest of the characters are going to vary between super-smart and dull as ditch-water.
9776559
I'll be showing groups of different creatures in roughly the areas they would be found in the original games, with exceptions such as Mr Mime and Farfetch'd. Ones from later games may make small appearances, but I'll prefer to keep them until I've decided whether or not I'm going to do a sequel
Nice. Keep going, you've got my attention.
9776440
I don't think communication will be quite as hard as all that, actually. Booster Spice has already laid out one possible method for Sunset to overcome the "bad telekinesis" problem, but I can think of two more off the top of my head, and another that is less flexible than actually writing but has certain advantages that might make it useful.
First, there's the possibility of Sunset holding a stylus in her mouth and tapping a computer keyboard. The difference with her attempt at mouth-writing in this chapter is that it requires much less fine control to tap a computer key than to form a readable letter, so she shouldn't have nearly as much trouble doing it. Such styluses are actually made IRL for people with disabilities that prevent them from using a keyboard in the ordinary way, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to get one for Sunset, even if it doesn't fit her very well. The only real disadvantage is that it requires a computer for her to communicate with, which may be somewhat impractical in some situations they are likely to face.
Second, there's Ouija boards. Or, rather, some kind of board with letters on it that she can point to and spell out words with. Again, just pointing at a letter should not be any trouble for her, or moving around some kind of pointer or marker to indicate which letter she wants to use next, and of course getting a piece of cardboard and a Sharpie shouldn't be too much trouble. Such a device would also not require batteries and would be rather portable; the downside is that it would probably be pretty slow and requires more work on the part of the interpreter (i.e., Twilight), since they have to reassemble the letter stream into actual words and sentences.
Finally, there's Twenty Questions or something like it, i.e. Sunset using "yes/no" gestures/statements while Twilight interrogates her. This has the advantage of not needing any kind of equipment, but isn't as flexible as actually writing of course. So I would expect that they might work out some kind of similar system in the short run to give them some means of communication--in fact, they're already doing so--but they probably won't use it much once they have a real writing method in place.
9776837
There are many ways that Pokemon talk to humans in the animes, and I'm just wondering which the author might pick. The most likely to me, in the long run, is that Sunset learns telepathy. As for typing words, I don't know if the humans here would have the same written language as the Equestrian dimensions, so Twilight would have to make a custom letter board and keyboard with computer wouldn't work unless they both learn the local letter system.
9776954
Well, if Twilight can't read that's going to be more of a problem than Sunset not being able to write, so I'd say that they'd definitely need to go for "learn the local writing system" if that actually is an issue. Coming up with a custom letter board isn't really much of a problem, though, like I said all you really need is a piece of cardboard and a Sharpie or equivalent.
Telepathy might obviate these issues eventually, but I have a feeling that's a lot farther off than rigging a stylus or some kind of letter board.
9776407
Shimmy -> Sunset <-mega evolve-> Daydream
I like the way the story is developing so far, but personally, I'd replace the part where Professor Oak says that he thinks that Fire/Fairy typing is completely unique in the world, to maybe something like saying that he'd personally never seen or heard of a Fire/Fairy typing before, but he would do more research on the topic/ask other professors, or something. For all we know, such a typing could appear in the upcoming Sword and Shield games, which means this chapter would age poorly. Besides, such a statement seems oddly ignorant/narrow-minded of Professor Oak, at least in my opinion. Perhaps those aren't exactly the right words to describe it, but the way that part is worded really bothers me for some reason, sorry if it sounds like I am nitpicking. Still looking forward to seeing how Twilight and Sunset's journey will unfold.
Really enjoying this so far. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Damnit, I haven’t even read the thing yet and I already want to see that with sunset and twilight now, though preferably as girlfriends.
This should be fun regardless.
9776968
I'm betting Sunset will just learn to speak vocally. I doubt it will be even half as hard as it was for Meowth since he had no teacher, and he was trying to repeat tongue twisters, instead of just starting at the beginning with focusing on making noises with his throat, tongue, and teeth.
9777047
I've tinkered with the phrasing a little, let me know what you think!
9778660
Yeah, I think that is a bit better. I still think it is a bit unlikely that there is no Fire/Fairy type in the entire Pokemon world, but I think what you replaced it with is fine for now. Are you going to have Sunset/"Shimmy" being a unique pokemon as a plot point or something?
9778681
I am, but I'm still deciding on how major of a point it will be
9778685
Well it is your story, so do what you want. I'll just chime in now and again if I have advice. I do think that this story is off to a good start though, and I wish you the best of luck.