My Little Pokémon: Grander World

by Amarvax

Unyielding Spirit

Galar. Wild Area. Afternoon.

"Oh..." Falling over while feeling the shock of 100,000 Volts from Pikachu were Hunter J's men who had the sole objective to occupy Ash and the others. And they certainly succeeded. Occupying them long enough for J to do her work. They were the perfect meat shields in this instance. The last grunt would fall flat on his face while another rolled down a hill.

"Worked like a charm..." One of the electrocuted grunts said as this was the whole point. Getting hurt was worth it since it kept them all away from Sci-Twi. The snowstorm raged on. It wasn't as bad as before but it was still harsh and if it wasn't for Sunset Shimmer's Pokemon, they might have frozen over.

"That's all of them..." Sunset Shimmer sighed, feeling slightly exhausted. "What was up with that though? First a snowstorm and now this?"

"At least it's over. Return, Altaria." Rainbow Dash groaned before returning her Altaria. Sunset Shimmer had three of her Fire-Types just to keep herself and everyone warm from this altered weather that was done by Hunter J's Protean Vambrace.

"Twilight? What about Twilight!" Ash immediately focused on what truly mattered. Once that vicious snowstorm came about, he lost Sci-Twi in the chaos and soon found himself facing off against Hunter J's men. "She's not with J, is she?"

"Pikachu..."

"Look over there!" Pinkie Pie would point in the distance, being the first to spot someone. A bright blaze in the middle of this snowstorm was approaching, lighting a path while also melting the snow that was nearby. Flaming hoofsteps were even left behind as only one Pokemon was responsible for this.

"Rapidash!" Ash wouldn't have to search for Sci-Twi. Instead, Sci-Twi would come to him. Or rather, Rapidash would bring her over. In the distance, Alpha Rapidash could be seen galloping in the distance, having Sci-Twi, Alpha Pikachu and a petrified Alpha Heracross on her back. Some relief came to them after seeing their friends but they weren't exactly in the best conditions right now.

Heracross had been turned to stone while Sci-Twi ended up fainting from nearly crashing at such a high height. The only one conscious was Alpha Pikachu. She ran up the Hammerlocke Hills but with caution since she was carrying delicate passengers. Once she was up the hill, the Fire Horse Pokemon would gently place them all down. Alpha Pikachu felt a bit perplexed but he would recover.

"Twilight! Heracross!" Ash rushed over to the downed duo, nearly slipping on the ice. An unconscious Twilight Sparkle would be kept warm by Rapidash's presence as all the snow would start melting away. Seeing Heracross in this state confirmed to them that Hunter J encountered them. But as a caveat, Heracross was not taken away. "Rapidash. Are all your friends alright too?"

"Rapidash." Rapidash nodded in confirmation. Heracross was the only Alpha Pokemon that was turned to stone. By checking Sci-Twi's pockets, the other Poke Balls were still there with only Heracross' being empty. Now it was all a matter of getting Twilight somewhere comfortable to rest. Not all of the Wild Area had been hit by the snowstorm thankfully but there wasn't anything comfortable to rest at.

As for Hunter J, Ash had to wonder where she was right now. She failed to retrieve Heracross after all and her men were only here to distract her. There was only one possibility. She was focused on finding Alpha Pokemon.

---

Indeed, she was still on the hunt for this Alpha Pokemon. Much like Sunset Shimmer's suggestion, J would focus on areas that were solitary and had fewer Pokemon around since Alpha Pokemon were so territorial. But while looking for Alpha Lopunny, she would think back to her encounter with Sci-Twi and how it turned out.

"I didn't quite break her spirit like I wanted. But now, she'll learn twice than to mess with me." J said to herself. She was banking on Sci-Twi hesitating to battle J again. At least, that was the main expectation.

Hunter J arrived at the Lake of Outrage. Another subarea in the Wild Area. A small lake that isolates a large bluff and a small cove from the rest of the Wild Area. Much like the few areas here, this place was untouched by the snowstorm J had created. Right as she arrived there, she would receive a call. Straight from her visor, she had her own way of communicating without using a Rotomphone or even an Xtransceiver. It was from her men and their report of what happened with Ash. This was straight from the airship as not all of them went out there to occupy the Alola Champion.

"Boss. They've kept him and his group occupied long enough. But it looks like that girl is back with them."

"Good work occupying him. Retrieve the others while I try and retrieve Lopunny."

"But I think you should hear this...I think one of them has a Mew as a partner." He revealed a shocking revelation that Hunter J did not expect. The existence of Mew was here. Specifically, the Mew that Pinkie Pie had.

"The Mythical Pokemon Mew?!" J gasped. "That's even better than an Alpha Pokemon..." J hit the jackpot. Despite how much she hated Ash's friends, they had something valuable. From Sci-Twi's Alpha Pokemon and now recently, Mew. "Hmm...Don't engage with them. I'll finish up here and we'll leave and talk about it later."

"Yes, boss!" He would hang up as J needed a new plan after hearing about Mew. She would have to leave eventually as the Protean Vambrace was still recharging. It was by far her most powerful weapon. Even more so than her arm cannon.

"As soon as I catch that Lopunny." J sighed. "Just where is that rabbit?"

"Lopun!" J would receive an answer via the cry of a Lopunny. Her eyes would turn to where she heard the direction of that cry, quickly preparing her arm cannon. That is if she was fast enough to find Alpha Lopunny. The moment she turned around, any sight of the Rabbit Pokemon was non-existent. She could've sworn the moment she turned her head a brown blur could be seen. It definitely wasn't her eyes playing tricks on her.

"Where did it go?!" Or rather, unbeknownst to J at the moment, Lopunny just wasn't within Ground-Level. Instead, the Normal-Type was currently in the skies.

A powerful leap had led to Alpha Lopunny reaching a stellar height. The Lopunny Species already had powerful legs that allowed them to jump at great heights and for an Alpha Lopunny, that was elevated to a whole new level.

Alpha Lopunny reached a height that gave it a ton of air-time to the point where it anyone could see it as flight or even levitation. The shadow of Lopunny was even hard to see because of this mighty leap. It might as well be invisible. Hunter J had no sight of Lopunny at all as the Alpha Pokemon even managed to gain some amazing distance because of this, reaching an area that would take a few minutes to reach in a few seconds.

After that, Alpha Lopunny would leap away once more and Hunter J would never see these strong and swift movements either.

---

Hours passed and Sci-Twi was brought next to a train station was thankfully exempt from the snowstorm. She would recover from the warmth of Rapidash, gaining consciousness once more.

As for Heracross. Not all was lost. After all, there was a way to free Pokemon that were turned to stone by J's Arm Cannon. Hidden Power was the answer. But even with this fact, once she woke up, Sci-Twi didn't exactly have a bright smile on her face. Sure, Heracross would be alright, but the battle from before was something she couldn't forget.

"Slurpuff." One of Pinkie Pie's Slurpuff would do the honour of freeing Heracross from his prison.

"Thanks a bunch, Slurpuff. Return." Pinkie thanked one of her Slurpuff for freeing Heracross, returning the Fairy-Type promptly. Having a lot of Pokemon of the same species can have its benefits with different moves to cycle through and this was one of them.

"So that's what happened, Professor Oak." Meanwhile, Ash spoke with Professor Oak on the PC, catching him up on what he's learned so far.

"I see. I knew the Pokemon Hunter was a problem but goodness." Oak replied. "All of that at her disposal spells horrible news for any Pokemon that comes her way. I've read up on Hunter J and she seems to have received an upgrade after her disappearance many years."

"Yeah. She's got more than when we encountered her a few times ways back in the Sinnoh Region," said Ash, recalling how his encounters with J went. She was still a threat there even with minimal gadgets. But now, she had more options up her sleeve. And unbeknownst to Ash and Pikachu, Team Plasma was mainly to thank for one of these upgrades.

"And it's so unfair too!" Rainbow Dash roared out. "She doesn't even battle fairly too. Using something like that just to get an advantage is lame!"

"Yeah! So lame!" Pinkie Pie greatly agreed. They've become so adjusted to the natural rules of Pokemon Battling that J's tactics were just outrageous.

"What can we do about it though? That's how she operates." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. She knew that it was impossible to really argue against it since that's how J and others like her did things. And it certainly wasn't going to change even with how awful and unfair it can be.

"But still. That's proof Twilight could've definitely beaten her! Right, Professor Oak?!" Rainbow Dash zipped over, believing that Twilight could've won that battle had J not used so many cheap tricks.

"Well, yes. Generally, the one who has the skills to win by battling and nothing else is the better trainer." Oak agreed. "Gadgets aren't usually used in Pokemon Battles aside from a few exceptions. I'm afraid that Pokemon Hunter will keep throwing cheap things at you when you run into her again. Perhaps this Alpha Pokemon search is too dangerous and-"

"It's fine you guys..." Just then, Sci-Twi finally spoke, grabbing everyone's attention. "You don't have to bring up the danger about this. I chose to do it myself. I knew there were going to be risks." Indeed. Twilight was the one who came up with the idea to catch every Alpha Pokemon. "I already knew how dangerous J would be once I first met her. And I promised I'd never let her get the best of me and I'd stop her. But...I didn't win against her." Knowing that she lost to J, Sci-Twi would start tearing up, taking off her glasses to let the tears flow smoothly.

"But you were at a disadvantage though." Rainbow Dash begged to differ. "It wasn't your fault that you lost, Twilight. Plus, you got away with Heracross still around, right?"

"Heracross." Alpha Heracross walked over to comfort his trainer.

"I know that. But it still...it's still so horrible! I hate it!" Sci-Twi wasn't oblivious to it at all. It's the fact that she lost to J that saddens her. Whether fair or not, a loss was a loss and it could've been an even greater loss had it not been for Alpha Rapidash coming to the rescue.

"Twilight..." Ash spoke her name, knowing how she felt. He's seen this before with most of his friends. It was best to let Twilight unleash her emotions now. Expressing sadness and even anger towards Hunter J. No one would try and stop her.

"But..." However, that's when she stood back up, wiping her tears and placing her glasses back on. "Even though I lost, I won't let it stop me from going on."

"You won't stop?" Professor Oak repeated.

"No. J wanted to break my spirit. So that I'd never try catching Alpha Pokemon ever again. Or even be involved with Pokemon at all. But I've managed to make some great friends because of Pokemon. These are some of the best moments in my life." Sci-Twi would then out a Poke Ball before then looking at Alpha Pikachu, Rapidash and Heracross. "I'll keep going. I'll catch them all and beat out J. Ash."

"Yeah?" Ash replied.

"You're a mentor for everyone back at Equestria. You're already taught me a lot to know about Pokemon. But I want you to teach me more. I'm used to learning and growing on my own. But you're the best teacher I could ever ask for when it comes to Pokemon. Help me get stronger, please. Just having Alpha Pokemon doesn't automatically make me strong enough."

"You got it." Ash fully agreed to continue helping her, especially when it came to strength. Pikachu would be there to support her as well, hopping on Ash's shoulder and giving her a thumbs-up.

"Pikachu!"

"Good call, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash zipped over, placing her arm around Twilight. "Ash is the best teacher I know! I mean, he taught me a lot of things and look at me now!"

"We'll be glad to help out as well." Sunset Shimmer offered her hand in assisting her friend.

"Hm. I see. Well, I can't stop the youth. I'm too old now to do so." Professor Oak nodded in understanding. "Good luck then. I'd say you only have one Alpha Pokemon left to catch. Unfortunately, there are no signs of Kricketune anymore from what I've learned."

"What about Lopunny? Is it still here?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Lopunny? Not sure. But it would be difficult for both sides to catch it. Some have said that they've witnessed a Flying Lopunny around the Wild Area after all. The power of an Alpha Pokemon plus the power of Lopunny's legs is a strong combination, enough to make any Lopunny fly."

"It's fine. Even if she catches Lopunny or not...I promise I'll get them all back." Sci-Twi said. "All the Alpha Pokemon she's captured. From then to now and later on."

"Dash! Rapidash!" Rapidash would suddenly interject, neighing as loud as she could to get some words in.

"What is it, Rapidash?" Sci-Twi asked.

"Oh? It seems Rapidash has something to say about that Lopunny." Oak uttered.

"Oh yeah...I did send you to roam the Wild Area freely. Did you...see Alpha Lopunny?"

"Dash! Ra! Rapidash!" Rapidash would vigorously nod her head. Indeed. She saw Alpha Lopunny. But not only did she see it, she saw what it had done and would demonstrate it with her own movements.

Rapidash had powerful legs just like Lopunny. Both are capable of delivering powerful kicks with them and can jump at great heights too. All Lopunny has to do is bounce while Rapidash uses her running speed to gain some momentum to perform stellar jumps.

"High jumps?" Ash observed Rapidash's constant jumps. "Oh, so you saw what Lopunny did! I guess you didn't get informed about which Pokemon were looking for too."

"Rapidash!"

"Thank you, Rapidash." ScI-Twi went to hug the Alpha Pokemon, expressing her gratitude for this embrace. Saving her life and sharing this was truly wonderful in the eyes of Twilight Sparkle. While Alpha Rapidash was taken aback by this hug, she did not stop. Instead, she allowed it.

"Well? Do we head back in there and try and find Alpha Lopunny again?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I won't give up. Rapidash. You can jump just as high, can't you? Please. I need your help to find Lopunny before J potentially does." Sci-Twi requested Rapidash's help.

"Dash!" Rapidash agreed to help without a second thought. This brought a smile to Twilight's face.

"What about J? What if she finds you again?" Sunset Shimmer questioned.

"If she does, we'll get in her way this time. If she's gone occupy us from reaching you, then we'll occupy her from reaching Lopunny." Ash would gladly do a reverse of what J's men had done. "We'll stay on the lookout for you Twilight."

"Pika-Pikachu!"

"You'd best hurry. It's getting rather late now." Professor Oak said. "And I'd like for you all to get some rest."

"Understood. We'll make this quick, Professor. Come on, Rapidash. Let's find ourselves Alpha Lopunny!"

"Rapidash!"

It was decided. Another shot at the Wild Area would be attempted even after everything that went down. Sci-Twi would go for it again and hopefully, avoid J at all costs. But even Hunter J was having trouble finding this Alpha Lopunny because of those powerful jumps. Professor Oak would see them off before speaking to himself.

"That girl. She would still go for it. It's all of those friends around her that she was to thank, much like her Equestrian Counterpart." Professor Oak made a slight chuckle. "She's growing into her own right now. What an Unyielding Spirit she has."

As the journey continues.

Chapter 33 End.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

I think Sci-Twi needs a tutor like Hollow to help her with difficult opponents like J.