Helix and Hooves: Trainers of the Future

by The Kelduo

Chapter 8: Unbreakable Courage

Milo's curiosity was piqued when I had mentioned that two of my friends wanted to spar in the stadium. "Is that so? One of the staff members at my gym mentioned two beings wanting to use the stadium for a match. By any chance, was one of them tall and green with sideways-pointing horns?"

Surprised by his accurate guess, I answered, "You're spot-on, Milo. You know her?"

Milo shrugged. "Not really. It's just that, as a Grass-type user, I read up on various Grass-type Pokemon. If the Pokemon you speak of is around, would you mind having her come down here to the battlefield? I want to make sure she's the Pokemon I think the staff was talking about."

"I'd be glad to." I turned to the audience. "You heard him! Virizion, come on down!"

The Rotom that were currently focusing their lens on me turned to the section of the audience that I was looking at, causing three people to show up on the jumbotron: The green Sword of Justice, Virizion, was in the middle; to the right of her was Keldeo; and to the left of her was the Doctor. The Rotom followed Virizion as she leapt down to the arena.

It took a moment for the Doctor to put two and two together. "...Wait a minute, I was sitting right next to Virizion and I didn't even know it?! Incredible!"

Overhearing the Doctor's sudden epiphany, Virizion turned to him and smiled. "That's right. Sometimes it helps if you pay closer attention to your surroundings, you know."

Milo looked at Virizion in awe. "So my hunch was right... The Grassland Pokemon is one of Helix's two friends who'll be battling here! It's such an honor to meet you, Virizion!"

"The honor is mine, Milo," Virizion answered. "It's not every day that I get to meet a Gym Leader from the Galar region, after all."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie popped up in front of Virizion. "Why'd you mention the Galar region specifically? Have you met Gym Leaders from other regions?"

Virizion smiled. "I have, actually. You see, back in the Unova region, Pummel Fist proved his worth and managed to capture me and the other Swords of Justice. As his allies, we were able to meet some of the Unovan Gym Leaders, such as Marlon."

"No way!" Rainbow Dash flew down to the arena. "You actually helped him take on the Unova Gym Challenge? Awesome! Did you get to help him fight the Champion?"

"I certainly did, alongside Cobalion, Terrakion, and Keldeo. Let me tell you, Champion Iris was a difficult foe. She came at us with some powerful Dragon-type Pokemon outfitted with a variety of moves to cover their weaknesses and scope out the opposing team's weak points."

"Yeah, she was tough." Keldeo jumped down from his seat. "But you forgot about one of the most dangerous opponents we fought in Unova, and it isn't Kyurem."

"Oh, right." Virizion had an uneasy look on her face. "Cynthia..."

"Cynthia?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Who's that?"

My non-pony friends and I gasped in shock. Harsh memories flooded back to my mind as I explained who Cynthia is. "She's the former Champion of the Sinnoh region, and could easily be the most powerful Champion anyone has ever faced. Pummel only beat her because his Pokemon were greatly over-leveled."

"Why's she so hard to beat? It isn't like she has some kind of legendary Pokemon on her team."

"That may be so," Virizion replied, "but she does have a Garchomp and a Spiritomb. Spiritomb's only weakness is Fairy-type moves, and it is immune to Normal-, Fighting-, and Psychic-type moves. It wasn't until recently that the Fairy type was discovered, so for a long time nothing was super-effective against Spiritomb. Additionally, Spiritomb can raise its evasion with Double Team, put your Pokemon to sleep with Hypnosis, and sap your Pokemon's health while it's asleep with Dream Eater. As for Garchomp, it is equipped with four very powerful moves that can defeat most Pokemon in one hit, two of which have a high critical-hit rate. Cynthia's other Pokemon are also dangerous."

Rainbow Dash seemed partially concerned. "I didn't really get some of what you said, but I think I understand what you're trying to say. You're telling me that Cynthia is a super strong Pokemon Trainer that could possibly kick even Leon's butt if she had a Dynamax Band, right?"

I nodded. "Yup. So if she ever asks you if you want to have a battle with her..."

"Then I'd better make a break for it. I may be the most awesome Pegasus alive, but I don't think I'm anywhere near as good as Cynthia."

"Yeah, that's your best bet."

"Sounds like Cynthia would give a pony like Button Mash a really hard time," Pinkie said.

"Button Mash, you say?" Virizion asked. "Considering the name, Button must be the kind of pony who has an affinity for games. But why do you mention him specifically?"

Pinkie shrugged. "I just had a hunch that Cynthia'd give Button Mash some bad memories. Speaking of..." Completely ignoring personal space, she got right in Virizion's face, muzzle to nose. "I need you to Pinkie Promise that if you ever visit Equestria, you will NEVER bring up Cynthia if you happen to talk with Button Mash!"

"I'm sorry, but..." Virizion lifted her front right hoof. "...I don't have fingers, only hooves. How then could I make a pinkie promise?"

Pinkie got out of Virizion's personal space with a perplexed look. "What does that have to do with a Pinkie Promise?"

"Oh, I think I see the problem," Keldeo said. "Pinkie Pie, I believe you made Virizion think of a different kind of pinkie promise, one that is exclusive to humans. Humans execute a pinkie promise by interlocking their little fingers, which are also known as pinky fingers or pinkies. This kind of pinkie promise is certainly less strict than your Pinkie Promise, but it is still a promise. And Virizion, you and the other Swords of Justice never did visit Equestria, right?"

"Correct. I suppose we must have missed out on some important information?"

"Yeah, you did. One of the things you missed out on was what a Pinkie Promise is. That's a very special kind of promise that Pinkie Pie invented, and it's vital that you keep a Pinkie Promise. If you ever break a Pinkie Promise..." Keldeo turned very serious. "Pinkie Pie will hunt. You. Down."

Virizion flinched from the intensity with which Keldeo spoke the last few words, but otherwise stayed calm. "Understood. Pinkie Pie, will you teach me how to properly execute a Pinkie Promise?"

Pinkie answered, "Sure thing! Here's how it goes..." She began by crossing her front hooves in front of her chest. "Cross my heart..." She then flapped her hooves like wings. "Hope to fly..." Finally, she took a cupcake out of nowhere and stuck it in her eye, which thankfully was closed. "Stick a cupcake in my eye! Got that?"

"I believe so. Now I can properly Pinkie Promise that I will never mention Cynthia around Button Mash." Virizion went through the motions, but without the cupcake. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Congratulations!" Pinkie took a party cannon out of her mane and fired it at Virizion, covering her in confetti. "You've perfected the Pinkie Promise!"

"Here, let me help you with that." Keldeo washed away the confetti on Virizion with a low-power Hydro Pump, and I used Leafage to blow the confetti out of the stadium.

"Thank you, Keldeo. You too, Helix." Virizion walked to the east side of the arena. "Without further ado, shall we get started?"

"Sounds good." Keldeo turned to me, Milo, and the ponies. "You guys can take a seat in the stands if you want to watch." I took Virizion's former seat while Milo sat in Keldeo's seat. Pinkie and Rainbow returned to their seats. Keldeo put his saddlebag down next to Dan before walking to the west side of the arena. "Whenever you're ready, Dan!"

Dan nodded. "Let the duel between Keldeo and Virizion commence!"

Virizion leaped high into the air, where she used Magical Leaf to send an onslaught of leaves towards Keldeo.

"Classic Virizion," Keldeo chuckled. He cloaked his tail in water before using it to swat away the leaves. Predicting where Virizion would land, Keldeo fired a high-pressure Hydro Pump in the trajectory of Virizion's path, successfully hitting its target. "Turns out target practice with Greninja really paid off!"

"My skills have also improved since we last met. Let's see how you handle this!" The black blaze running from Virizion's nose to the top of her head glowed bright blue, and she charged towards Keldeo. However, Keldeo swung his horn and fired blades of air at Virizion, sending her backwards several meters. "You learned Air Slash? That's quite impressive!"

Keldeo sent a short wave of water along the ground. "Same goes to you learning Zen Headbutt!"

Virizion jumped over the wave and engaged Keldeo in sword-to-sword combat. "But this is only the beginning of our duel. I'm nowhere close to using my most powerful attacks."

"You do remember that I surpassed you and the other Swords of Justice, right? If you want to beat me, you'll have no choice but to use your strongest attacks!" Keldeo pushed Virizion back with a critical hit from his Secret Sword before charging a Focus Blast in his mouth.

"Everyone has their weak points, and I always aim for those first before resorting to powerful moves." Virizion's horns glowed light green as she stabbed the charging Focus Blast with her right horn, forcing it into Keldeo's mouth.

Milo visibly cringed. "Ouch, that's quite a devious way to use Leaf Blade!"

"I sense... deja vu..." Keldeo gasped as he choked on the Focus Blast, which exploded while it was stuck in his throat. "Oh... that really--" The next thing he knew, Virizion was using her horns to sap Keldeo's health via Giga Drain. In an effort to get himself some breathing room, Keldeo turned around and kicked Virizion away using his hind legs. He turned back and looked at her in rage. "This... was supposed to prepare me for the Grass-type Gym... not the apocalypse! Why didn't you give me a chance to recover after you almost suffocated me by shoving my Focus Blast down my throat?! And before you say anything about me surpassing you, that doesn't give you an excuse to whale away on me while I'm suffocating! I'm your friend!"

Taken by surprise, Virizion stammered, "Oh, uh, I'm very sorry, I guess I just got a little too ahead of myself in the battle. I wanted you to be prepared for anything Milo might throw at you, but..."

Keldeo calmed down some, but he was still very upset. "I understand that, but this is a friendly battle, not a battle between good and evil where we're fighting for our lives. You need to learn to show mercy during friendly battles. That's because if you show no mercy..." His gaze became fiercer as a massive amount of water came in from outside the stadium and formed an enormous wave on which Keldeo stood. "...you get no mercy!"

The Doctor gasped at the amazing sight. "Great whickering stallions! Nopony told me Keldeo could use magic!"

I looked at the Doctor in confusion. "Magic? What're you talking about? He clearly just..." I took a closer look at Keldeo's horn. It was glowing, but not orange like when he uses Secret Sword. Rather, it was glowing light blue! "Wait, Keldeo's horn doesn't glow that color normally. Could that mean..."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Yep! During the battle with Tirek, Keldeo learned how to use magic. Now he can control water, and he's got a sweet cutie mark too!"

I took a moment to think about what I had just been told. Keldeo had somehow learned how to use magic and earned his cutie mark possibly due to his newfound abilities, and his specialty was water. "When Keldeo had used his magic before in our Galarian adventure to create a literal water bed and mentioned magic while talking about his book, I never really gave it much thought, but now that I know he can use water magic..." I smirked in anticipation. "Oh, this fight just got a whole lot more interesting."

"You're coming at me with Surf? I'll evaporate your chances of beating me with that!" Virizion cried out to the skies, "I call upon the power of nature! Let the sun glow ever brighter with the power of Sunny Day!" The sun's heat intensified as a response to Virizion's exclamation.

The wave became much shorter, but Keldeo smirked. "There's a lot you don't know about me and the new skills I picked up." Keldeo's horn glowed light blue again, and the wave grew back to its original size. "You're pretty smart, using the sun to break apart the water molecules, but I have full control over water! I can just bring the water molecules right back together! And now it's time for my next move. It'll hit you so fast you won't see it coming!"

Knowing she wouldn't be able to outmaneuver the attack, Virizion took the Surf head-on. "A powerful attack indeed, but my type advantage--"

"Will be nullified!" As the wave enveloped Virizion, Keldeo fired a light blue laser at the wave, turning it into rock-solid ice and trapping Virizion within it. Jumping off of the ice block, Keldeo chuckled. "I knew that attack would leave you frozen in shock!"

Although the ice rendered Virizion's communication organs useless, they were already obsolete; the Swords of Justice speak through telepathy. "That is an impressive feat you pulled off, Keldeo. I hadn't the slightest idea that you'd learned Ice Beam." Her body began to glow light green. "But I still have some fight in me!"

Keldeo watched as Virizion broke free of her icy prison using her Sacred Sword. "Good, because I'm not through either!" He used his magic to grab the leftover shards of ice and surround Virizion with them. "Here goes!" At the same time as he sent the ice shards towards Virizion, he fired a Focus Blast above her.

"You're only helping me out by doing that!" Virizion jumped skyward to dodge the ice shards, and she faced the oncoming Focus Blast with a smirk. Then, to everyone's surprise, she used the Focus Blast as a footstool to jump even higher. "Are you ready? This is my most powerful move yet!" Virizion absorbed the intense sunlight, and the blaze on her head glowed brighter and brighter. Suddenly, she fired a massive beam of energy towards Keldeo.

While Keldeo guarded against the beam with his Secret Sword, the ponies were especially awestruck. The Doctor exclaimed, "Harnessing the power of sunlight to fire some kind of solar beam? That's the kind of trick that would make Princess Celestia proud!"

"Except for one thing..." Rainbow Dash replied. "Here in the future, Celestia and Luna stepped down from the throne. Now Twilight's ascended to the throne, making her the most awesome princess ever!"

The Doctor facehoofed. "Drat, I forgot about one of the worst consequences of time travel: spoilers."

Once the Solarbeam ceased, Keldeo was still standing. "Man, you've gotten much stronger! I'd better do something about that." Keldeo's horn glowed light blue, and thunderclouds covered up the sun to rain on Virizion's parade. "Let's see you unleash a solar attack now!"

"I've got something else I'd rather use." Virizion summoned many leaves, which floated around her. "Think you can handle Leaf Storm?"

Keldeo casually laughed. "Not a chance!"

Keldeo's joyful tone of voice confused Virizion. "Oh? Are you not concerned about getting hit by Leaf Storm?"

Keldeo shook his head. "I'd be more concerned about what's above you."

"Huh? What do you..." Virizion looked up, and she saw electricity building up inside the thunderclouds. She looked back at Keldeo with resignation in her voice and facial expression. "Oh. Well played, Keldeo. Well played." A wicked bolt of lightning struck Virizion directly, causing her to collapse.

Dan raised his right arm towards Keldeo. "Virizion is unable to battle, which means Keldeo is the winner!"

Milo came down from his seat and ran over to Virizion. "Oh dear, you sure took a beating! I think I've got something that'll help you." He took out a medicinal herb from his pocket. "Here, try this. It's bitter, but it'll restore your strength."

Virizion opened her eyes and saw the herb. "A Revival Herb... I will gladly accept its strength." She eagerly consumed it, and she had no negative reactions to its taste. She slowly got to her hooves. "I feel much better. Thank you, Milo."

Milo rubbed the back of his head. "Happy to help. Although, I'm quite surprised that you didn't seem to dislike the taste of the Revival Herb."

Virizion chuckled. "I'm not only a Grass-type, but I am a legendary Pokemon who has traveled through many places to save innocent lives. To me, a Revival Herb is comparable to a leaf of spearmint."

"Ah, good point. I forgot that you were one of the trio of legendary Pokemon who helped innocent Pokemon to safety during the war that caused a forest fire in Unova's Moor of Icirrus. Not to mention that you assisted Keldeo's Trainer in the Unovan Gym Challenge!"

"Cobalion, Terrakion, and I are all fierce warriors," Virizion said as her expression became one of amusement, "yet Keldeo was able to surpass all three of us! I even had the type advantage, and Keldeo still defeated me. I know he gained some new powers thanks to his adventures in Equestria, but I am still baffled that I was beaten."

After eating a Sitrus Berry that Milo gave him, Keldeo walked over to Virizion. "Well, if you want to get even stronger, I suggest you work with Milo for a while. He should be able to draw out your hidden potential, because he is the Grass-type Gym Leader of Galar."

"Are you sure?" Virizion asked. "Milo can't Dynamax me, because he isn't the one who has my Poke Ball."

Milo comforted Virizion, stroking her head. "You don't have to Dynamax to be strong. You just have to believe in yourself. If there's an obstacle that seems too great to conquer, just tap into your inner courage like you always do when you face a powerful opponent. And when it gets too tough for you to handle alone, know that you can always take a break. I don't like to push my Pokemon too far. So what do you say?" Milo smiled warmly. "Want to join me so we can become stronger together?"

Virizion gave it some thought. "That does sound inviting, and you do excel at using Grass-types... But I'm afraid I won't be content unless I am allowed to compete with strong opponents. This is only the first Gym in the Galar region that Trainers will take on."

"You make a good point, but there's something you should know about Gym Leaders. If you'll excuse me..." Milo left the field for a short while. When he returned, he had a container holding some Poke Balls. "One thing most people don't know about Gym Leaders is that they use different Pokemon depending on the strength of their challenger." He looked up at me in the audience. "Helix, Doctor Hooves, you two didn't have any Gym Badges when you challenged me, so I only used Gossifleur and Eldegoss to take you on." With that, he put the Poke Balls holding Gossifleur and Eldegoss in the two remaining slots in the container. "And Helix, I know you said you went through the Island Challenge in Alola, but that's different; besides, you were starting fresh with a team of Pokemon you recently caught here in Galar. Now Pummel, on the other hand..." All eyes turned to Pummel as Milo took out six Poke Balls from the container. "It's pretty clear that you've beaten Gyms across the world, seeing as you had so many Gym Badges. You'd better watch out when you reach me, because I'll come at you with several strong Pokemon, including a Pokemon that can Gigantamax!"

This made Pummel start to sweat. "Uh, Keldeo, that'll mean the rest of my team would be too weak, and you'll be at a disadvantage. You sure you can take on even his Gigantamax Pokemon?"

Keldeo nodded. "Virizion was tough, but that's because I was holding back. If Milo's Grass-types put me on the ropes, I can just put them on ice. And if that fails, we've still got one more trick up our sleeve before I have to resort to Dynamaxing."

"Oh, right! How could I forget?" Pummel formed a Focus Blast in his hand, and he shaped it into a heart. "A bond so true... Our friendship will pull us through!"

"You teach me and I'll teach you..." Keldeo put his saddlebag back on. "That's Pokemon for you!"

Keldeo began to walk back to Pummel, but Virizion stopped him. "Before you go, shall we commence the oath once more?"

Keldeo shook his head. "Not this time. It's just not the same without the other Swords of Justice. Maybe I'll find them elsewhere in Galar, and we can all do it together!"

"True, we certainly should wait until the four of us reunite. Very well, then." Virizion hoof-bumped Keldeo. "I wish you good luck on your journey to defeat the self-proclaimed 'unbeatable' Leon."

As Keldeo and Pummel returned to the Gym lobby to begin their attempt, the Doctor turned to me with a quizzical expression. "By any chance, do you know what they meant by an oath?"

I began to reminisce. "The Swords of Justice oath. It is an oath recited by the Swords of Justice to declare the might of their friendship. You really ought to be there when they recite it." I began to get up from my seat. "I would love to stay and watch the rest of the matches, but I must continue my Gym Challenge. You probably should too."

"Agreed. Let's return to the entrance so we can move on to the next Gym in Hulbury!"

---

The Turffield Gym official who had escorted us back to the lobby stopped me before I could follow the Doctor to the locker room. "Challenger Helix, I offer my most sincere congratulations on defeating Gym Leader Milo! He requested that I give this to you to commemorate your victory." I received a TM that was light green in color. "TM 10 contains Magical Leaf. With that move, you can fire curious leaves that never miss their opponent. And here's something to go with it!" She gave me a uniform with a green motif. Like my new uniform, this one was also tailored to fit my species. "That's a replica of Milo's uniform. I'm sure you'd look great in it!" I put away the Grass Uniform in my locker, after which I changed into my normal getup.

After we exited the Turffield Gym, the Doctor turned to me with a small grin. "Looks like it's just you and me again, eh? The others are still waiting for their turn to tackle the Turffield Gym. Not to be impatient or anything, but I'm itching to move on to the next Gym. What say you? Shall we go through Route 5 together, just us friendly rivals?"

"That's a wonderful idea, Doctor. But first..." I walked towards the stone formations. "I would like to study these stone formations. I feel like they hide some kind of mystery."

"Well, that's because they did." The Doctor took a worn fabric out of his saddlebag. "Until I came and discovered it, that is! Helix, can you tell me what this old length of fabric is?"

I instantly recognized the fabric. "That's an Expert Belt. If you give it to a Pokemon to hold, the power of any super-effective attacks they use will increase by ten percent."

"Is that so? In that case..." The Doctor sent out his Charjabug. "I'll let you wear this Expert Belt. You have moves that cover many types, after all!"

The Expert Belt was a tad too large, so the Doctor looped it around Charjabug's body twice rather than once before tying it. "Expert Belt equipped. Now I will be able to deliver even more damage to Nessa's Water-type Pokemon with Spark if you choose to use me as your partner in the Hulbury Gym."

"Helix, can you translate?" the Doctor asked.

I nodded. "Basically, he's saying that he will deal even more damage to the Water-type Pokemon found in the Hulbury Gym."

Charjabug added, "I will also have access to more powerful moves if you evolve me with a Thunder Stone."

"Oh, and he'll have even stronger moves if you--" I did a double take. "Wait, did you just say Thunder Stone?"

"Affirmative. Galar has no places that give off electrical stimulus, so Charjabug in Galar have adapted to evolve via Thunder Stone."

I put a hand on my head in surprise. "Well, that's new. I'm used to evolving Charjabug in places that give off electrical stimulus, such as Blush Mountain in the Alola region. But apparently Galar has no electrically charged locations, so Charjabug in Galar have adapted so that they evolve by using a special item called a Thunder Stone."

"A Thunder Stone?" The Doctor put a hoof to his chin. "What a curious-sounding object. Is it some kind of stone that gives off electricity, or more like a gem reminiscent of lightning?"

"You're close, but the Thunder Stone itself doesn't necessarily have any similarities to lightning. Thunder Stones are dull green gemstones that don't bear any resemblance to lightning at first glance, but if you look closely, there is a yellow lightning bolt symbol within the gemstone. You'll know a Thunder Stone when you see it. Just... be careful what Pokemon species you use it on, you know? And try not to lose it. Evolution stones are hard to find in the Pokemon world."

"Understood. Now then..." The Doctor looked east towards our next destination with resolve in his eyes. "The Hulbury Gym beckons! Let us proceed onward to Route 5!"