On a whim, Rarity runs off to see Zecora about a certain variety of tea. En route she happens across Aengus Meagher, a Pokémon trainer with questionable morals who has hit his wall, unable to defeat Bruno of the Indigo League's Elite Four. Aengus is on a journey, traveling far from his home region on a quest to find something, anything that could help him overcome this stumbling block. Somehow he slips into Equestria for a few minutes, and out in the Everfree happens across a certain white unicorn, and, well...
Rarity gets caught.
These are their adventures.
So...the new tag thing complicates how I’m gonna put this out there. The story doesn’t start needing a Dark tag, but it will grow Dark as it goes on. There are at least two other “tags” that will spoil major plot points later on, and thus are left off.
Not your typical Pony-Pokémon crossover, although you will get exactly what it says on the tin. Some chapters are more about the comedy, others about the drama, though most will have some of each. Sex tag for innuendo.
Now with suggested music for a given section; look for the itty-bitty hyperlinked text. Most of these tracks are from the Pokémon series and side games, appropriate to where they are (but not all of them...sometimes I was looking for a certain vibe I couldn't find in the OSTs); it's just what I thought would fit best in a given area.
Names chosen were based off of common given and family names of selected nationalities in combinations where I know no one personally with either. Any likeness to any person, real or in a different fictional story, is purely coincidental (hooray, C.Y.A. disclaimers).
Rarity sat at the dining room table in Twilight’s Castle with a steaming cup of tea in front of her. Twilight was across the table with the same, stirring in a scoop of sugar. Rarity looked at the cup, hoisted it with her telekinesis, and daintily took a sip. Her eyes shot open wide, dilating as they gaze upon the reddish brown liquid in the mug. She took it with both hooves and took a very long sip as her eyes rolled back in her head in a little too happy a reaction for just tea. Twilight chuckled as she took a sip of her own, and nodded in satisfaction.
“Mmm, Twilight, this is simply divine. Where did you get such a rich blend?” Rarity crooned as she took another long sip.
Twilight grinned, looking at her own teacup for a moment. It noiselessly returned to its saucer as the princess said, “Zecora. She grows her own tea leaves out in the Everfree Forest somewhere, and processes them. This isn’t even a blend; it’s straight oolong tea.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Oolong? Never heard of it. Sounds exotic.”
Twilight finished a long sip of her own before meeting Rarity’s gaze again. “That’s...not the right word for it at all. Tea is tea; different varieties are just handled differently according to Zecora. She said making black tea requires fully fermenting the tea leaves, green tea is not fermented a bit, and oolong is about halfway between. I don’t know where she learned all of this, but she’s traveled further than any of us.”
Rarity nodded and sipped again. “Given how far she is from her homeland, one can assume she learned this along the way. But still, it’s a shame this oolong isn’t available in the shops. I’d happily purchase a reasonable stock to keep on hoof.”
“She doesn’t keep a large enough supply to sell it even as a local brand,” Twilight said. “Even if she did, there’s too many other brands of tea, let alone blends. Just for the bergamot blend that Earl What’s-His-Face claims he devised first, there has to be at least eight brands of tea here in Ponyville. I don’t know if any of the larger companies even handle oolong teas.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose you do have a point, there,” Rarity murmured, finishing her cup. Her face suddenly lit up. “Maybe I should give her a visit! Yes, I’m afraid I’ve been a terrible friend to her, and I shan’t do that any longer!”
Twilight’s expression was bemused and skeptical. “A terrible friend.”
“Yes, darling, it pains me to realise how awful I’ve been! I must rectify the situation!” Rarity declared with a flourish as she set the cup down and stood up.
“Like fainting when you learned her stripes were her natural coat, and calling her homeland’s decor ‘creepy’?” Twilight nudged.
“Precisely! I have to make up for that!”
Twilight sighed, “Ah yes, nothing going and asking for tea to mend the fence.”
Rarity was nearly to the door already. “Indubitably! I’m glad you think so too, Twilight! Nothing says ‘friendship’ like sharing food and drink, I say! Ta-ta!”
Rarity shut the door behind her softly. Her footfalls were nearly a canter through the hall. Twilight groaned, burying her face into her hooves and shaking her head.
The Everfree Forest was surprisingly quiet for just after noon. Rarity didn’t pay it much mind as she trod along the path. She hummed to herself, occasionally pausing wherever the undergrowth had shifted enough to mask the old route. All-in-all, she made good time for following a forest trail she had trod only the one time, over two years ago.
Upon coming to a meadow with tall grass, a familiar sweet scent wafted up her nostrils. She took a deep sniff and scrunched her eyebrows. “Hmmm....”
Rarity turned to the right, still sniffing the air. As the taller grass parted, she looked up to see a bipedal creature. It looked to Rarity to be male…, if for no other reason, that it wasn’t pretty, smelled that nice, nor carried itself with the feminine grace and poise she had come to expect from all creatures great and small. It lacked much fur on its face, though there was a clump on its chin of the same fiery orange as on top of its head, both well brushed and cut fairly short. It wore clothes, a jacket of green and white with black accents, blue pants, and black boots. To Rarity’s best guess, its expression was one of surprise, keen interest, and palpable anticipation. As she looked it over, she noticed the jar of honey poured on the ground at its feet.
Rarity scrunched her eyebrows at the source of the aroma she had followed. Her gaze shifted between its face and the spill as she said, “Um, forgive me, darling, but I don’t know who or what you are, but it seems to me pouring honey on the ground is—”
A sploching sound, and Rarity gasped in shock. The creature had thrown mud on her. It actually bent down, grabbed a fistful of mud, and chucked it into her pristine, just shampooed at the spa not even two hours ago, white coat. Anger seeped into her words, “Sir, if I have in some way offended you, I apologize, but throwing mud is—”
Another splot, and her cutie mark on her left flank was covered. Rarity made no effort to hide her mounting rage. “What in the name of Celestia is—”
The third caught her in her open mouth. The rich, earthy flavour did not follow oolong tea very well at all. Rarity’s right eyelid twitched as both eyes went bloodshot, nostrils flaring, jaw clenching, cheeks flushing. The creature stifled a laugh. Rarity roared in rage as she stomped the ground in front of her. Quickly the whatever-it-is pulled out a mesh net bag. He shook its opening toward his open right hand. One ball came out, lower half white, upper half camo, with a button on the front. He frowned that there was only the one, but pressed its button and threw it at the unicorn. Rarity opened her eyes just in time to see it hit her in the chest. It bounced off, popped open, and emitted green rays that surrounded Rarity, dragging her along and turning her into specks of light.
Rarity suddenly found herself staring at the interior of a round wall. There appeared to be a slight gap, thinner than a coin, which ran perfectly horizontally around the round room. “What...how...no!”
She threw herself against the wall. The whole place shook, and the gap widened for a split second. Emboldened, she did so again, to the same result. She wound up, and used her magic to throw herself at the crack with all the force her legs could muster, but it was the same. She heard a click.
“Come on, Rarity! You can do this!” she reassured herself without much confidence, but ample amounts of growing frustration.
She slammed into the wall harder that time than any of the previous three, but nothing budged. The room didn’t rock at all, nor did the gap flex or shift in the slightest. She growled, and gave it another go, to no avail. Wincing, she stood up and rubbed at her right shoulder. A mare’s voice, sounding artificially pleasant and of a sterilized politeness, echoed, “Welcome, Rarity, to young Mr. Aengus Meagher’s team of Pokémon.”
Rarity blinked quickly as the voice stopped. Flustered, angry, but mostly confused, she started, “Pokey-mon? What in the world is—”
“We are thrilled that—” the voice began.
Rarity screamed over the recording, “Does everything in the world have to interrupt me after the word ‘is’ today!?”
She stomped angrily, grumbling inaudibly to herself as she paced, ignoring the mare over the P.A. After a minute of neglecting the speech, it abruptly ended, followed by a sense of massive acceleration, as if she and this room were covering the distance between Ponyville and The Crystal Empire every second but without being thrown into the back wall. Rarity looked around and saw what looked like a rough straw bed and a trough materialise in a series of green sparks. Some edible-smelling slop lay in the trough. Then the fast movement seemed to slow.
Rarity stood agape. She blinked hard for a moment, and muttered, “What’s going on...??”
Decor of a tropical feel began taking shape on the walls, as did the bed sheets. Beside the trough coalesced a manger with hay. To its left formed a panel of some kind with plenty of buttons. The sense movement was quite slow at that point, and the mare’s voice said, “Now deposited in PC Box 4. Have a pleasant stay.”
Rarity snapped, “What in the hoof does that mean? ‘PC box?’ Exactly what is—”
“New friend!!” a chorus of voices shouted in unison as a dozen and a half images appeared on the wall, of strange creatures that Rarity had never seen before. As they began barraging her with questions, the alabaster unicorn’s mind gave out, and with some overly dramatic wobbling, she fell to the floor, out cold.
Aengus picked up the Safari Ball with a chuckle. He looked at it with a satisfied grin. Just as it went poof off to the PC, a chime sounded, and a woman’s voice over an unseen P.A. announced, “You’ve run out of Safari Balls. Your Safari game is over.”
Aengus grimaced at this unfortunate truth. Before he could move, an Abra appeared next to him. In a flash he found himself back in Pastoria City, at the gate to The Great Marsh. He looked around to reorient himself, and shook his head. Aengus’s voice carried a hint of an Irish accent. “How do they do that?”
“We hope you had an enjoyable Safari game, sir,” said the closest attendant with a bow.
“Indeed I did. Thank you,” Aengus replied with a genuine smile.
He stepped out of the building. A boy in his late teens was waiting, dressed in a white jacket with three thin red stripes going down the sleeves, black trousers, red leather boots, and a white ball cap with something black embroidered above the bill. By the face, just about anyone would logically assume he was Aengus’s younger brother. His hair was a light brown instead of red, though his eyes were the same piercing, icy blue. He walked up to Aengus, grinning while saying, “You look pleased.”
“That went very well,” Aengus chuckled.
“Oh? Do tell,” the younger urged.
Aengus waved him toward the Pokémon Centre to their right. The two stepped in and immediately headed for the blue computer, firing it up. Behind the desk stood an attendant nurse who did not turn to see as the boys walked to her left, but faced the door, staring blindly into space. They thumbed through a few screens, but stopped on the one labeled “BOX 4” at the top. Aengus smiled and said, “Well, Paddy, what do you think?”
Paddy flipped through the dossier screens, muttering to himself, “Yanma...Tropius, not bad, not bad...Croagunk, cool...Skorupi, very nice….”
He stopped at a picture of a white unicorn with a curly purple mane. Paddy stood agape, scratching at his chin. Aengus said, “Found a Carnivine twice, but they weren’t cooperating. Spent seven balls between them, too, and as you can see, no Carnivine to show for it. And by all accounts, a Bibarel makes for a good HM slave. That’ll free up four spots for worthier moves on my travel party.”
“Where did the idol send you?” Paddy asked bluntly.
Aengus frowned. “No idea. Could’ve been Hoenn, could’ve been Alola, or some region we’ve never heard of. I don’t know. Just not home, here, nor one of the places we’ve visited.”
Paddy tapped on the screen, switching a numbered bar graph to a few blocks of text. “‘Rarity.’ You bring back a new species of Pokémon, and somehow it, too, has a whimsical name. Hmm, Fairy-type; haven’t seen a new one of those since we were in Kalos. But not a bad moveset to start: Telekinesis, Horn Attack, Baby-Doll Eyes, and Power Gem. Few know that last one.”
“Serious nature...‘Somewhat Vain,’ nice to be warned...what’s this? ‘Prissy?’ Never heard of that ability,” Aengus mused. Both his eyebrows raised. “Ups Sp. Atk. upon taking physical damage, and Evasion from special. Whoa.”
A young lady, seemingly sixteen years old at most, wearing an orange pullover, tight brown slacks, and green boots and belt came into the Pokémon Centre, and handed her six balls to the attendant nurse. Paddy rocked his head from side to side. “Could I borrow the idol?”
Aengus laughed. He took a Pokéball off of his belt and pushed its button. A Rapidash appeared. In a bag on the stallion’s side was a golden figure of an equestrian head, with three gemstones in its mane. Two were bright blue, but the third was all-but blackened with no shine. Handing it to Paddy, Aengus said, “Alright little bro, give this to your Zebstrika. The spot is in the far back-right of the marsh.”
As Paddy summoned his Zebstrika from a Dusk Ball, the young woman gave it a strange look. She interrupted them, “Excuse me, but I’ve never seen that kind of Pokémon before. What is it, and where did you find it?”
“He’s a right-powerful Zebstrika, he is,” Paddy said proudly. “Found him along Route 7 in Unova.”
“Oh...Unova. That explains a bit,” she said thoughtfully as she received her Pokéballs back from the nurse. “Is that where you’re from?”
Aengus spoke up. “No, lass, we’re from Goldenrod City, in Johto.”
“Wow!” she exclaimed most-impressed. “You boys on a world tour or something?”
All three laughed. As Paddy shook his head in amusement, Aengus answered, “Wish we had the time to stop everywhere. We’ve been to Kanto, Kalos, Unova, and now here, but we’ve got to head home so that my brother here can get to university before fall semester begins.”
“If you must,” she said with a coy grin. “Books weren’t my thing. Battling is.”
Paddy shook his head. “You sound just like him.”
She smiled as she started toward the door, saying, “Speaking of battling, this gym isn’t gonna defeat itself. Maybe I’ll see you again before you leave.”
Paddy stared as she stepped out. Aengus snapped his fingers in front of his face, causing Paddy to jump. Aengus chuckled, “I know, lots of cute girls around this region. Try to not be so obvious.”
“As if you weren’t thinking it too,” Paddy grumbled.
“No, I was thinking sometimes gyms do defeat themselves,” Aengus quipped, returning his Rapidash to its ball. Giving Paddy a knowing smirk, he said, “You, dear brother, had your eyes on one thing and one thing alone as she walked away. And judging from her saunter, she appreciated the compliment.”
“Oh, get off my case,” protested Paddy, putting away his Zebstrika as well.
“Then, get out to the marsh. I’ll wait here,” Aengus said, thumbing around on the screen. “I’ve some thinking to do. This...Rarity, is interesting.”
“I can see that,” Paddy said, starting for the door.
Aengus smiled. “Hope you can find another. This one can talk.”
Paddy stopped and turned toward his brother. Aengus nodded slowly and deliberately. Paddy pursed his lips, then headed out. Aengus returned his attention to the PC screen, and Rarity’s dossier on it. He muttered to himself, “And if you’re half as good as I’m hoping, I’ll finally put Bruno away, and take my rightful place atop of it all….”
Rarity came to. She rubbed at the aching on the side of her head where she hit. There was indistinct whispering nearby. As her eyes came back into focus, she squawked and jumped up. She was still in the odd round room with no exit. She grumbled, “Oh, horsefeathers, that wasn’t a dream??”
“Ah, you’re awake!” exclaimed a colt-ish high voice.
Rarity turned and saw a number of moving pictures on the wall. She blinked slowly, and cautiously made her way over to them. There were twenty of these pictures, four rows of five, each of a different strange creature. Rarity stood agape as she came to a stop by the panel. She shut her mouth, pursed her lips, and opened up as if it speak...inhaled, and closed her mouth again. Looking across the images, none of them look like a pony, or anything with which she was familiar. Frowning, she said, “I am sorry, erm, dears, but I have no idea who or what spoke. Or...what any of you are.”
Twenty voices answered in unison. Rarity stumbled back a step at the volume. She looked across the score of faces. She griped, “One at a time, now, please!”
The wall of faces had varying reactions between confusion, aggravation, timidity, impatience, and unevenly distributed points in-between. Rarity pointed at the upper left corner, and demanded, “You there! What are you?”
A gruff-looking, green, red, and white hawk-like thing was there, and spoke in a similar voice, “I’m a Hawlucha!”
“A...what now?”
“Hawlucha,” the Hawlucha answered with overt impatience. “Fighting-Flying type.”
Rarity shook her head. “Type? Huh?”
Hawlucha grouched, “That’s what kind of Pokémon I am! Geez! Aengus got a stupid one this time, obviously!”
Some murmured in assent, while others sounded annoyed. Rarity irritably beatboxed, “Mm-ppuh-kktch! Stupid!?”
Hawlucha nodded quickly with a condescending smirk. Rarity snarled, “Excuse you, Mr. No-Sense-Of-Fashion, with your over-the-nose hood, garish eyeholes, standing there like you can’t decide if you want a fight or a hug, so quick to jump to conclusions! I have no idea where I am, or what’s going on, or how to get out of this mess and get home! I don’t know what to make of being trapped in here, and never heard of anything of the like happening to anypony else! You, on the other hoof, are intricately familiar with the goings-on around here, and assumed I was already on the same page as you! Forgive my ignorance of this place, and I’ll forgive your insolence!”
“Whatever,” Hawlucha muttered, and his image flickered and disappeared.
Rarity grumbled and glared at the now-empty spot on the wall. After a moment, the same high voice as before said, “Don’t mind him. Hawlucha’s always been like that.”
A snobby yet suave stallion’s voice said, “I’m absolutely certain Aengus keeps him around in case there’s some fool trainer who wants to trade for one.”
“Um, I see...how about I introduce myself, and then I get the rest of your names?” Rarity suggested. “My name is Rarity. I’m the owner and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville, Canterlot Carousel in Canterlot, and Rarity For You in Manehatten, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.”
The snobby one answered in more amiable tones, albeit still snooty. “Chic garments, did you say? That would simply be marvelous. I believe you and I will be quite close, Rarity, my dear.”
“Ooh-h-h!! Good to know somepony, uh, or something, has excellent taste!” Rarity cooed. “May I get your name, sir, and which of these pictures is yours?”
“Furfrou,” said the voice. “On your display, I should be second from the right, second row.”
Rarity turned. There was what looked a large black dog, a poodle-Afghan hound mix that seemed a bit shiny. He looked particularly well-groomed and pleased with himself, giving Rarity a wide, winning but cocky grin. A smattering of soft grumbles came from the others. Rarity looked to the other screens in confusion. “Is there something wrong I should know about?”
Some other green-faced figure, this one looking like it had a white mane, or hair, or something to that effect, said, “Oh nothing, just that he’s pompous as all hell because he’s a shiny Pokémon.”
Rarity’s head jerked back and her pupils contracted to pinpricks at the mild profanity. She shook her head, and asked, “So what if he’s ‘shiny?’ Maybe he just does a fine job at simple personal hygiene, and takes good care of his, dare I say, impeccable coat?”
“Not helping,” grumbled the green one.
Furfrou’s smile broadened has he bowed graciously. “Oh, you are most kind to have noticed, and have an excellent eye for detail, Mademoiselle Rarity! I think I’ve found the best friend a Pokémon could ask for!”
Rarity scrunched her eyebrows, “There’s that word again, ‘pokey-mon.’ What in the world does that mean?”
“WHAT!!?!”
Rarity fell back upon her haunches at the number of decibels roaring from the wall for the second time in as many minutes. She rubbed her right ear, shook her head rapidly, and slowly returned to all fours. Every face in the nineteen pictures stared in incredulous shock. Rarity looked across them all, and firmly declared, “Look, I said I don’t know where I am, or what's going on. I’m just a pony from the Kingdom of Equestria, who got trapped by some...thing that stands on its hind legs. Is that what happened to you, uh, folks?”
Several nodded. The one who spoke first after Rarity awoke said, “I was hatched, and there was Aengus.”
The rest of them murmured in agreement. Rarity asked, “I guess this ‘Aengus’ is the thing that stands on two feet? Which one are you, dear?”
It answered, “Raichu. I’m in the bottom-left corner. And yes, that young man’s name is Aengus.”
Rarity looked there. There seemed to be some strange mouse-like face, bright bronze in colour, with long black ears that curled at the end, and yellow spots on its cheeks. Rarity squealed, “Oh, you are just adorable! So you’re one of those ‘pokey-mon’ things, right?”
Raichu grimaced. “We all are. You too.”
“Excuse me, but I am not. I’m a pony who’s not from here,” Rarity insisted.
“A pony Pokémon, the same as I’m a mouse Pokémon. Let me ask you this, then,” said Raichu, quickly cutting off Rarity before she could retort. “If you’re not a Pokémon, then what are you doing in a Pokéball?”
“That’s what this prison is? A ‘pokey-ball?’” asked Rarity, staring at the roundness of the ceiling.
“It’s not a prison unless you make it one,” said Raichu. “You’re in a Safari Pokéball, or just a ‘Safari Ball’ for short. You should have a fun tropical feel for your room, Poképuffs, and Pokébed.”
“Does everything around here have ‘pokey’ in front of it?” Rarity huffed.
Raichu scratched his chin for a moment, then said, “I guess? But my question remains.”
“As I said, this is all new to me,” Rarity grumbled. “I had never seen the kind of creature that this ‘Aengus’ is before he attacked and captured me, nor this ‘pokey-ball’ prison-thing. Neither have I ever heard of a ‘pokey-mon’ before today.”
“Maybe she is a Pokémon, or maybe she isn’t,” said some mare’s voice. “If this is all new to you, I have to ask, do they love to battle where you come from?”
Rarity’s face and voice turned to shock and horror. “No! That’s a horrible thing to love! Why would anything enjoy that!?”
The same voice said, “Well, that settles it. She’s not truly a Pokémon, if she finds battle abhorrent.”
“Finally! Thank you!” Rarity exclaimed. “Which one are you?”
“Excadrill,” she answered. “One space to the right of Raichu.”
Rarity saw an armoured mole’s face, but with much larger eyes than any mole she’s ever seen. She looked across the others, and said, “Perhaps it would be easier, and save time, if we simply just went down the line of who’s who.”
Raichu said, “Aengus didn’t give any of us nicknames. He never does; even his Feraligatr, who he loves dearly, is just ‘Feraligatr.’ Just how he is.”
“I see,” said Rarity sadly. “Introductions then, please.”
Rarity started pointing at the new top-left space, worked her way to the right, and at each new row started on the left again. They answered as she pointed to them:
Rarity bowed courteously. “Pleased to make your acquaintances. So there are twenty-two of us held by this ‘Aengus’ character, being made to do what?”
“Oh, there are definitely more than 22,” said Raichu.
Shaking her head, Roserade muttered, “Oh my are there more than two dozen.”
Rarity cocked her head to the left and scrunched her eyebrows slightly. “That many? Then, why aren’t the others here talking? Are they unfriendly?”
Raichu sighed, his ears drooping a little bit. He murmured, “That’s not it at all. Pokémon in the same box can easily communicate with each other, as can the six on the active team, but getting messages between boxes or to the team is nearly impossible. I’ve been around Aengus long enough to know how he organizes the boxes. We’re in Box 4. Box 1 is where he keeps his A-Team, their alternates, and those he uses purely for traveling around where certain common obstacles present themselves. Box 2 is kinda the second-stringers, in case something bad happens to those out front, or if he’s somewhere where there’s an overabundance of the same type of Pokémon, like a gym or something similar. Box 3...the rejects, that he hasn’t successfully traded, but still thinks he can get a good deal on them. Anything he knows won’t get him an acceptable trade promptly is released, dumped off somewhere in the wild, and are rarely if ever seen again. And we’re in Box 4...awaiting judgment. Been here for seven years, and I don’t know why he hasn’t made up his mind.”
Rarity nickered angrily. With a snort she fumed, “So he thinks we’re his slaves, to do whatever he wants!?”
“Battle,” said Raichu. “We battle as Aengus trained us to. We rather enjoy it; maybe you will too once you get into the swing of things.”
Rarity grumbled, “I suppose I should get used to the idea of eating wild berries and grasses, since I’m a fashionista, not a warrior. Still would rather get home….”
Furfrou said, “Who’s to say if you fight well? You may surprise yourself.”
Rarity pursed her lips, shaking her head. “I just don’t understand this. What’s he trying to accomplish, conscripting innocent woodland creatures into a private army? He sounds like the kind of terrible beast from legends we ponies have back in Equestria.”
“Not actually from the woodland,” Excadrill muttered, holding up an armoured paw.
“Same, a desert tomb definitely isn’t a forest,” said Confagrigus.
The room shuddered. As Rarity looked around, Raichu shouted, “Looks like you’re heading out to the main party! Maybe you can get some answers there!”
Furfrou called out, “Bonne chance, Rarity!”
The nineteen pictures quickly disappeared before Rarity could do anything more to respond than inhale. The same disembodied voice from before said, “Departing to active party.”
A sense of acceleration came and went in a blink. Rarity scratched her chin, staring at the panel before her. “Okay, Rarity, use your wits. You can figure out how to operate this...whatever it is. Has to be the thing the others used to talk to me, I hope.”
Rarity fiddled around with buttons and levers, each marked with letters from an unfamiliar alphabet. A projected image shone on the wall, one that had the look of a map, a blinking red dot in one of its purple squares, some numbers, and more of the strange script. As she pondered the scene, five images like before popped up in a single row. A jolly baritone voice called, “Welcome to the team, rook!”
Rarity looked across the images. She said, “‘Rook?’ I’m a pony, not a raven.”
The image on the left was a laughing blue crocodile, and there was the sound of only one laughing. Rarity frowned as it said, “Means ‘rookie,’ rook. You’re new! How’re you feeling?”
“Lost, confused, and angry,” said Rarity flatly. “From what I heard from the others in the box, this Aengus character captures other species and forces them into battle for whatever his purposes are, and I want nothing to do with it!”
The blue gator gave her a confused look. “You’re an odd one.”
“I presume you’re the ‘Feraligatr’ the others spoke of?” Rarity asked, biting back on the venom.
“I am,” he said. “Don’t be mad, be happy; there’s plenty of butts that need kicking, and it looks like you’ve got the hind legs for the job! Though, you might want to cover your own; it looks like a sizable target....”
“What do you think you’re staring at!? And it is not the humongous thing you're implying!!” Rarity exploded as Feraligatr snickered.
“Not I, but somebody else is. Say hi, Rapidash!” Feraligatr said cheekily.
“For the love of...why do you always do that crap!? Just for once I wish you wouldn’t start such trouble with the newbies!!” grouched a stallion’s voice.
Rarity looked over one screen, and her eyes dilated as her mouth parted. There was a fine unicorn stallion, pale yellow-orange coat, red eyes, and a flowing, flaming mane. His features were well-chiseled, but had a kindness behind the annoyed look at his partner. Rarity caught herself looking over those pecs, delts, and so on, each rippling rock-hard and sporting some bulged veins. Rarity breathed a pair of syllables, shaking the words in a similar voice to Fluttershy: “Oh...my....”
“Think she’s taking a shine to you, old friend!” laughed Feraligatr.
Rapidash smiled warmly, shaking his head with a shrug. “Well, she’s also easy on the eyes, so...I don’t mind??”
Rarity giggled nervously, and stammered, “Well, I would say—and—you also—don’t mind if—that’d be—that’s to say—I—did it just get hot in here?”
Rapidash facehoofed while the other four laughed. Feraligatr said, “Hey! No fraternizing between team members!”
Rapidash gave him a disbelieving look as Rarity’s cheeks burned crimson. Feraligatr just guffawed. An awkward silence from the others ended when one said, “How about introductions? I’m Golem, and am part of the travel team.”
“Hi, Golem,” said Rarity unsure of herself, staring at the picture of a tan, carnivorous face stuck on a ball of rough, dark brown stone, looking like a few poorly-shaped clay pieces haphazardly slapped together. “I am Rarity. Um, how are you, dear?”
“Between amused and annoyed,” Golem answered bluntly with a half-hearted smirk.
Rarity could not tell whether Golem was male or female, at least not from voice alone. Golem’s mannerisms gave her the same confusion. She asked, “What do you mean by ‘travel party?’”
Golem said, “There are obstacles along the way that we deal with, but the moves that do aren’t necessarily good for battle. I know Strength, Rock Climb, and Rock Smash, but that’s not much variety.”
Rarity shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Honestly, neither does anybody else, man or ‘mon,” said Feraligatr. “They’ve more than enough money to provide well-paved roads between towns, but they leave greenbrier growing across bottlenecks on the way, or huge boulders that call for using the move Strength, or caves. They still go through frickin’ caves between towns. Not tunnels, caves! Why, oh why, the caves!?”
Rapidash nickered, though there were hints of snickering. A bird in one picture said, “It’s his pet peeve. Nearly everything else under the sun is a joke to him, but not caves. I, frankly, don’t get it. If anymon should be peachy-keen, it should be him. I mean, he’s a Water-type, for Mew’s sake! I have a significant type disadvantage in caves, and so does Rapidash, but he’s good to go.”
“Um…,” Rarity said with a wide-eyed, vacant stare.
“Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I’m Pidgeot,” said the bird. “I, too, am part of the travel team.”
Rarity frowned. “You’re the second thing who spoke of ‘types,’ and assumed I knew what the hay that means. If you could explain these ‘types,’ that would be much appreciated.”
“I got this,” said the creature in the last picture, with a raspy alto. It looked like a blue Chinese dragon. Rarity quailed and shrank, dinner plate-eyed, jaw not exactly shaking or quivering, but going up and down much further and slightly slower, as if she were searching for something to say in vain. The dragon shut its eyes and shook its head. “Sorry, I have that effect on others. I’m Gyarados, and am the third member of the travel squad.”
“He-e-ey,” Rarity flinched.
“So then! Types: every Pokémom has one or two types, no more, no less,” Gyarados began, while Feraligatr mimed her. The others rolled their eyes or shook their heads at the starter’s antics. “For example, Feraligatr over there, he who must be childish at every opportunity, is a Water-type. I, however, am a Water/Flying-type. But that system of types isn’t just some person’s desire to pigeonhole us all. Our moves also fall into different types, the same types as we. The reason that matters is because a given type of move is more effective against certain types, but not so much against others. Since we’re talking about caves, Water-type moves are super effective against Ground-, Rock-, and Fire-type Pokémon; the first two of those three are plentiful in caves. Water-type Pokémon, however, are vulnerable to Grass- and Electric-type moves.”
Rarity stood there with glazed eyes and overwhelmed face. She muttered “What kind of place did that thing drag me to?”
“How about you ask Aengus directly?” Feraligatr said in a more serious tone.
Rarity saw Feraligatr, then the other four, all look upward and off to the left. She looked around the room, but couldn’t find what they saw. She heard a click. Then she found herself disappearing in a cascade of green sparks.
As the world became whole again, Rarity found herself in front of the same bipedal figure as before. Sapphire and icy blue eyes met the others’ gaze. Rarity’s lips pulled into a tight, long frown as she stepped forward.
Rarity did not return Aengus’s smile. She pointed a hoof at him and snapped, “Oh, now you want to be friendly since you’ve no mud to throw, I get it!”
The women at the long counter suddenly turned at Rarity’s words, each taking to their own style of standing agape. Rarity acknowledged them with no more than a flick of the ear. Aengus smirked and shook his head. With a sigh he said, “It’s just how the Safari Game works. I didn’t expect you to understand, neither did I think you could answer in human speech. You’re remarkable.”
“Good for you to notice; now let me go home,” Rarity chuffed.
“You are home. You’re with your trainer,” Aengus said flatly.
“Buck off,” she answered curtly, and turned to leave. Rarity then got a look of the room. There were gates along a long counter that went almost the full length of the wider side of the room, with uniformed women standing behind the gates, each standing slack-jawed with their eyes bugging out. Some blue device stood in a corner, just outside the counter at the far end of the room. Two clocks were in the room, one over the blue thing, the other just to her left. They were slightly off-sync; the close one read 3:35, and the other 3:34. As she strode away, she heard that click again. She felt the tug of the sparks, and after a moment found herself back in the round room.
Rarity vented, “Why, that loathsome son of a—”
She was cut off as the sparks dragged her back out into this large chamber with the long counter, right where she appeared last time. She growled something that didn't quite resolve into syllables. Aengus chastised, “That sounded most-impolite. You’ll learn some respect, lass, one way or another.”
“Respect!? You have the audacity to say I disrespected you?! Who in the hoof do you think you’re fooling!?” Rarity shrieked. Her horn powered up.
Aengus clicked the button on the front of the ball, and Rarity disappeared into it again. She grumbled indistinctly and stomped. Glaring around, she scoffed, then muttered, “Settle down, Rarity. You can figure this out. That ruffian is much cooler-headed than the diamond dogs, so...can’t frazzle him so easily. And he has this blasted ball, which he’ll clearly throw me back in whenever he wants...that won’t let me talk his ear off, or run for it. Has to be something I can do.”
A moment later, he brought her back out. He authoritatively barked, “One way or another, Rarity. I would rather have liked to be friends, but since that’s not what you want, I’ll play the slave driver. It’s your choice, but either way you’re with me now.”
“So you admit you enslaved all those creatures then!” Rarity cried. “Why!?”
Aengus frowned and shook his head. “You’re the first to call Pokémon ‘enslaved.’ I can appreciate your concern, but I assure you all the Pokémon I train are well-cared for, and live much longer with me than what they would have in the wild. Nor do they consider themselves enslaved. I’ve seen the joy on their faces; I know they’re not being forced into something they hate. Given your confusion, there must not be many, if any, trainers in your home region. As for the why, that is simple. Like many others, I train Pokémon for competition.”
Rarity huffed, “You mean, battle?”
“Naturally,” said Aengus. “It’s what man and Pokémon have done together for the longest time. Now I don’t mean battles in wars; it’s more of a sport, like boxing.”
“A sport,” Rarity said irritably.
“Yes. I am a contender for the championship of the Indigo League. Trainers bring their best-prepared Pokémon, and must face the Elite Four, and then the League Champion, with little more than a brief respite between. The championship is awarded to the trainer whose team can overcome such a challenge,” Aengus explained. “You, lass, have great potential, and I choose you to join the team for my championship contention.”
Rarity blinked in confusion. “You want me to be a champion boxer?? I can’t. I knock out dresses, not other ponies! I design fashion, and now you want me to throw punches?”
Aengus shook his head. “Not necessarily punches, though you could if you wanted to. I reckon your horn would be better-suited for Pokémon battles.”
Shooting him a sideways glance, Rarity slowly and bluntly declared, “I am not okay with hurting others needlessly, certainly not for sport.”
“That’s nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over; Pokémon moves don’t cause any real hurt, despite the impressive displays,” Aengus explained. He pursed his lips for a moment, then continued, “Well...almost never. The instances are few and far between, literally years, if not decades, between such incidents. Injuries are quite the...well, rarity.”
She returned his cheeky grin with a glare and snort, nostrils flaring. “And if I refuse?”
“I seriously doubt that you will,” said Aengus with a hint of a wicked smirk. “You will be put into battle. I’ve already shown you that you cannot run from me. So, your other option is to ignore my commands, and thus stand there, and let the other Pokémon beat the tar out of you. You expect me to believe that’s your plan?”
“Well...um,” Rarity began.
“Exactly,” said Aengus with hard eyes.
“But...I’m not a Pokémon. I’m just a pony from Ponyville, in the kingdom of Equestria,” she protested.
“Excuse me,” said a demure feminine voice. Rarity and Aengus both turned to see one of the attendants from behind the long counter made her way over to them.
Aengus frowned. “Is there something I can help you with?”
The attendant said, “I’ve never seen or heard of a talking Pokémon before.”
Rarity indignantly wheeled around at Aengus. “Ha! I told you I’m no Pokémon!”
“Yet you were caught by a Pokéball,” said Aengus. “Please, explain.”
Rarity scoffed. “Look, nopony’s ever seen a creature that looks like you anywhere in the world until you came along, and now I find myself where there’s you...things everywhere!”
The attendant held up a hand. She looked between the two, and asked, “Where did you catch her?”
“That’s the secret, isn’t it?” Aengus teased.
“The Everfree Forest is where he detained me against my will!” Rarity snapped. The other attendants tried their best to not be caught looking over their way.
The nearby attendant stumbled back a step, blinking, then staring at Rarity. She looked over at Aengus, then back to Rarity. “Where’s that?”
“Just south of Ponyville. Where am I?” Rarity returned.
“You are in the upstairs room of Pastoria City’s Pokémon Centre,” said the attendant with a bow.
“...Pastoria City? Never heard of it.”
Shaking his head, Aengus replied, “I’ve never heard of Equestria, lass. Think that makes us even.”
“So...how did you find her? I think she has a right to know.” the attendant asked again.
Rarity nodded in a condescending, irritated way. “Quite right, darling. How did you get to Equestria?”
“There you are! It worked, Aengus! The idol opened the portal, and I’m pretty sure that was a completely different world!” shouted a high tenor voice.
The three turned to see Paddy just at the top of the stairs with an enormous smile on his face. Aengus grimaced at his brother’s joyful announcement. Rarity slowly shifted her gaze from the younger brother to the older. Everything in her face, posture, and voice screamed of growing rage. “A completely different world, and you let some other thing like you into mine!?”
Aengus began, “That ‘other thing’ is my little brother, and while this isn’t what you wanted, we both could benefit from this time together.”
Rarity frowned. After a moment of hard staring, she rotated a hoof at Aengus. Paddy said, “Not very friendly, I see.”
“Shut your noise.”
Rarity scoffed, “Are you going to explain yourself, or is this about to be a Pinkie Pie-worthy guessing game?”
“I assume that must be some impetuous and silly acquaintance of yours, but no guessing games,” Aengus said bluntly. “You said you’re a fashionista by trade. I don’t know what’s trendy in your homeland, but I doubt it’s the same as here, if for no other reason that you walk on four legs, and we on two. If you help me reach my goal, I’ll keep you outside the ball while I travel, and you can take notes on the styles you see here. Once I am champion, I’ll return you to your world. What say you?”
Rarity nickered. “How long will that be?”
“Given time to return home, two weeks, three tops,” Aengus said.
“Hmm…,” Rarity murmured.
Paddy said, “That is pretty generous of him.”
Rarity shut her eyes. “Very well. Since I see no other way to get home, I shall assist you in your quest, darling, but I’ll need a sewing machine, bolts of fabric, rolls of trim, spools of thread, and other accents as needed.”
Paddy snickered, “Think she would’ve fit in better in Kalos.”
Aengus blinked in a stunned, mostly vacant expression. “That’s quite a bit of stuff….”
“When one is at the top of her craft, darling, one needs the equipment and supplies necessary to work wonders,” Rarity smiled haughtily.
“Do you always say ‘darling’ so much?” Aengus asked.
“Yes, I do, and yes, I like it,” Rarity replied indignantly.
Aengus stepped toward Rarity slowly. “If it makes you happy, then why not?”
Rarity began backing off. “What are you doing?”
“Just checking something. Hold still.”
“What are you checking?” Rarity demanded, although she did stop.
Aengus said nothing as he put a hand on the side of Rarity’s head, just behind her ear. She gave him a dubious stare. He met her gaze, and gently gave her a warm smile. Her face remained unchanged, until a sudden blissful look wormed its way across her eyes and lips. He was scratching. Rarity cooed, “Ooh….”
Rarity leaned into Aengus’s hand. He chuckled as his left hand joined his right in alleviating any itch Rarity had forgotten she had. She leaned, shifted, and stretched, taking in the wonderful effects of hands that hooves simply could not hope to duplicate. The attendant giggled happily as Rarity arched her back into Aengus’s work in a very catlike way. He smiled and shook his head as she closed her eyes as the scratching came back up to between her ears.
“Oh my Celestia, that was simply divine,” oozed her voice.
Aengus smiled. “As I said, I’d rather be friends. And I think you do too. I will take care of you while you’re here, and hope you can find new ways to practice your trade during our time together. We can both grow from this.”
“I see, yes. Well, since you’ve a championship to win in order to secure my return, I say we set right down to business. Lead on,” Rarity said.
“Very good,” said Paddy with a nod.
Rarity raised an eyebrow, and asked, “What is your name, dear? I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, beyond your relation to Aengus.”
“The name’s Paddy,” he said.
“Ah. And I am Rarity. Good to meet you,” she replied. She looked between the brothers, and said, “I dare say, I’ve never heard names even close to yours before.”
“Nor have I heard of somebody named for a quality,” Paddy answered. “But both our given names are exceedingly common in our parents’ homeland.”
“Aye. Seems everyone there knows at least three Aenguses and two Paddies,” said Aengus, shaking his head.
Rarity simply shrugged. She pursed her lips for a moment, then pressed, “I just can’t figure this out, Aengus; why did you throw mud instead of asking me?”
Aengus frowned slightly. “Sorry about that; I thought you were a new and rare variety of Pokémon.”
“Why mud?”
Aengus sighed uncomfortably. “The Safari Game is a small area where one can catch Pokémon not normally seen, but catching them there has...different circumstances. This region's Safari Zone, called ‘The Great Marsh,’ gives those who partake the option of throwing mud, bait, or a Safari Ball.”
Rarity muttered, “Ah yes, mudslinging. You made politicians of every stripe proud.”
“Watch it,” growled Aengus.
“Do go on, dear.”
“Anyways,” Aengus said, not fully biting back on his annoyance, “this is the only Safari where we threw mud. Every other one it was rocks.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but throwing rocks at me would simply have gotten you hurt,” Rarity said, with all faux-joviality fading from her voice on the last two syllables.
Aengus rolled his eyes. “Funny you say that, since weakening wild Pokémon is how they’re caught most of the time.”
Rarity snarled angrily, walking up on Aengus. Paddy interjected, “Why don’t you two calm down a bit?”
“Oh, should I indeed?” Rarity glared back a Paddy. “What comes in the food in those balls, that after beating them up, or throwing muds or rocks at these creatures that they become so attached? Have either of you ever thought about how you treat them!?”
“What are you on about?” Aengus asked.
Rarity flapped her lips angrily with a hard exhale. Looking back and forth at the brothers, she grumped, “You’ve shown them they are to fight for you in exchange for a healthy portion of food, and a bed. Do they like you simply because they consistently have a dry place to sleep, and need not spend all day everyday looking for a bite? You yourself did say they live longer in your captivity than in the wild; you also said they like to battle. Do they really, or have they been conditioned into enjoying a bagarre? An empty belly is a powerful motivator to behave quite unlike one’s self, if I do say so.”
Aengus and Paddy both looked surprised and in thought. Rarity looked at one brother, then the other, and back, and saw the attendant a bit slumped in posture and expression, her eyes begging for forgiveness. Rarity pressed, “I see neither of you gave it a moment’s thought until now, have you?”
Aengus frowned, while Paddy just uncomfortably scratched at the back of his head. Rarity nickered again, and started for the stairs, saying, “Well, boys, it’ll give you something to think about on the road. No sense in dillydallying; if we’re to help Aengus become champion, we should be off, yes?”
Aengus said, “The boat leaves for home in four days. We have some time to wrap up things here in Sinnoh. Speaking of, Paddy, did you wrap up while with the lass from earlier?”
Paddy glared at Aengus while the older brother laughed. The attendant blushed with a hand over her mouth. With an eyebrow raised, Rarity gazed between them for a moment in confusion. Paddy spat, “No, the little tart was being all saucy because she was trying to get Zeb, thank you!”
“Ah,” snickered Aengus.
Rarity cautiously asked, “What does it mean to ‘wrap up’ like that?”
The attendant tapped her on the shoulder, and began to whisper in her ear. After a moment, Rarity’s mouth fell open as her eyes shrunk to pinpricks. Scandalized, she gasped deeply and scolded, “Aengus! You should be ashamed of yourself, suggesting that!”
“Why?”
Rarity sputtered, “Wha...why? Why!? Aengus, you...every...that’s...have you no decency?! Your brother’s not full-grown yet, and you suggest he...did that?!”
Aengus rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, you’re of those who cling to the old-fashioned notion that one is to wait for marriage?”
“Darling, that’s just how it’s done!” Rarity protested. “A true gentleman has the restraint to save himself for his bride, and a lady looks forward to her groom carrying her across the threshold! It’s just being proper!”
Paddy had been walking over to the blue machine during that exchange. He said, “Nuptial notions aside, brother, I used the idol as I said, rather than chase a skirt. Came across two of them while I was through the portal, too.”
Rarity grouched, “I suppose you dragged both of them into this world, too?”
“Just one,” said Paddy. “I was trying to capture the one, but the other jumped in front of the ball. I threw another, but it fired a beam out of its horn and broke the ball. The one I wanted fled after that.”
Rarity grumbled, “You’d better let him or her go back to Equestria when I leave.”
Paddy just looked at her a moment, then turned back to the machine. He put one such ball in a slot, and it disappeared, then was replaced by another. Paddy picked up the ball and pressed the button on the front. The sparks came as it opened, and coalescing in front of Rarity was, to her, an all-too recognizable figure, with an all-too recognizable outfit. A second later, the lower soprano voice cackled, “Ha ha! There is no trap inescapable to the Great and Powerful—”
“Trixie!?” Rarity shrieked.
Trixie turned, raising the brim of her hat so that her amethyst eyes looked into Rarity’s sapphire. She sneered, “Well, well. Fancy meeting you here, Rarity.”
Twilight sighed, and drained her cup of tea, promptly pouring a replacement. She stared at the stack of completed paperwork with a slow blink and sagging eyelids, the bags underneath surfacing. The incomplete stack was two centimetres tops. Twilight took the next bit, four pages, and began reading. Spike hummed happily as he came into the royal office. Twilight did not look up, until a whump sounded next to her. There stood an extra half-metre of neatly-stacked papers. Spike’s humming had not slowed. Twilight blinked at the additional things to process, and quietly whimpered to herself, blank-faced.
Twilight jerked fully awake as Starlight Glimmer rushed into the office with tears streaming down her face. Twilight’s mouth parted slightly as she raised an eyebrow at her sobbing student. She said, “What happened? I thought you were working on a new show routine with Trixie.”
“We were,” Starlight moaned. “But some strange creature came and attacked us, and it took Trixie away!”
“What!?”
“It threw some ball at me, but Trixie jumped in the way, and she disappeared into the ball! It used some magic as the ball opened and drug her inside after turning her into a bunch of green specks of light!” Starlight cried.
Twilight stood up, and tapped on her chin for a moment as she grimaced. She pulled her student into a hug. Unhappily she asked, “What kind of creature was it?”
Starlight choked on another sob. “Bipedal,” Starlight began, her breathing still fragmented.
“Not many things walk on two legs,” said Twilight.
“I know,” Starlight said. “But it stood upright, wore clothing, had hands and fingers like Spike—”
“Little, if any, fur on its face, but did it have some in the top of its head, like an extra-wide mane?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah,” Starlight said in surprise, drying her tears. “What was that thing?”
“A human,” grumbled Twilight. She turned toward the other door and yelled, “Spike! Get a blank scroll and my traveling quill!”
They started for the door through which Starlight entered as she asked, “What’s a human?”
“Remember me talking about that world through the mirror?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah…?”
“Those are humans.”
Starlight pursed her lips as Spike came into the room. She said, “Huh. Wait, didn’t you say you transform through the portal?”
Twilight nodded and frowned. “Yes, exactly. That’s what makes this disconcerting.”
“Are we going back to Canterlot High!?” Spike asked excitedly.
Twilight shook her head. As Spike deflated, she said, “Sorry. Starlight, you said you two were practicing in the Everfree Forest, right?”
“Yeah.”
Spike grumbled, “Do I really have to go? I’m not in the mood for Trixie’s antics.”
“Rarity went out to see Zecora. She may also be in danger.”
Spike snatched up a scroll and the quill. He bolted for the door, shouting, “Come on, Twilight, Starlight! There isn’t a moment to lose!”
Twilight shook her head with a sighing snicker as Starlight cracked a sad grin.
In a meadow, a sunbeam faded and reappeared as cumulus clouds passed overhead. Starlight Glimmer emerged from a rough foot trail, followed by Spike and then Twilight Sparkle. Starlight ran out into the clearing a short distance and stopped, looking around. She said, “It was right around in here, in this meadow.”
Twilight’s horn lit up. She began walking slowly towards a bit of tall grass, saying, “There’s some staining of the local magical energy over here.”
“You can detect that?” Starlight asked, stopping in her tracks.
Twilight nodded. “I see we’ll work on divination spells for your next magic lesson. You’re set on evocation and abjuration already.”
Starlight resumed searching the ground. Spike followed his finger with his eyes as he slowly walked around. Twilight peered into the tall grass. There she found the spilled jar of honey. She lifted it up, turning over its lid and the stamp on the bottom. A twig snapped somewhere nearby. Two horns charged for heavy attack magic and a little dragon put up his dukes, all three ready to square up with whatever made the noise. An equine shape pushed past the brush.
“Zecora! Glad it’s just you,” sighed Twilight as she deenergized her readied spell.
As both Starlight and Spike eased up, Zecora walked toward Twilight with a raised eyebrow. She asked, “Twilight, my dear friend, whatever do you mean? Is there a danger in the woods unseen?”
Twilight levitated the jar and its lid again. She continued looking over the inscription and embossed letters as she said, “There has been something here, and it left this jar.”
Spike asked, “How does a jar of honey tell you that?”
Twilight floated the lid over to her number one assistant, and said, “Have a look. Do you know of those places, or those other two alphabets? I do not.”
Spike took the lid and turned it a few times. “Let’s see...‘packaged in Floaroma Town, Sinnoh Region.’ Nope, never heard of either one. I guess these other symbols mean the same thing in some other language.”
“Let me see that,” Starlight interjected, snatching the lid in her aquamarine aura. She turned it over once, murmuring, “Yeah, there are two other languages on here. Much fewer symbols...one syllable per sound, you think?”
“And from a pictographic alphabet, both of them,” said Twilight.
“Thought so,” Starlight answered. “They don’t appear similar to any recognized alphabet.”
“Saw that too,” Twilight responded.
Zecora came up to them. “Let me see these letters so bizarre; many a moon I have traveled, so very far.”
Starlight floated the lid to Zecora. She scrutinized the unknown text for a moment, turning the lid within Starlight’s aura. She frowned, shaking her head and saying, “Sorry, Twilight, these words you show are from a language I do not know.”
Starlight resumed policing the ground, and said, “Visitor from far away is looking more and more likely. Why would anypony, or anything, intentionally spill honey on the ground?”
“Starlight,” Spike began, “what are you looking for? You’ve been staring at the ground since we got here.”
Starlight said, “That ball. I didn’t see which way the broken halves went.”
“There are other hoof prints here,” said Twilight. “I hope Rarity made it to your house okay, Zecora.”
Zecora cocked her head to one side. “Rarity, my guest? No. Last I saw her was moons ago.”
Spike stopped in his tracks, his hands falling to his side. His head slowly dropped to him staring at the ground. Zecora patted him on the shoulder, and gave him a side hug. Twilight began casting a spell, intently staring at something in the mud. She said, “Looks like we begin the magic lesson now, Starlight. Divination magic perceives what one ordinarily cannot, such as events too far to see or hear, the future, and what another is thinking and feeling. Right now, I am casting a clairvoyance and clairaudience spell, set to here, twenty minutes before you would have ran from this meadow.”
The others watched as a rectangle appeared before Twilight, one of the meadow. She said, “Okay, so you and Trixie are coming.”
“How do you know?” Starlight asked.
“Because you two are talking...why?” Twilight answered.
Starlight frowned. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Me neither,” added Spike.
“Oh,” said Twilight emptily. Her eyes widened for a moment, then her face went into her hoof. “Oh shoot, I know what I did wrong. Didn’t set both spells into the projection.”
“Don’t worry about it; Trixie wanted the trick to remain secret anyway,” Starlight sighed.
As the scene played out, Starlight narrated mostly in short, noncommittal sentences, pointedly leaving out any detail regarding the trick, despite it just being the two of them standing there talking and looking over a scroll while pointing at different sections on the parchment. Several minutes passed, including some laughing between the two, a small hug, then Trixie rolled up the scroll and tucked it under her hat. She and Starlight stood several paces apart, nodded at each other, then both horns started to glow. Suddenly a flash of light pierced the meadow, and an elliptical, shimming pane of a weird blue-white appeared. A figure stepped through, a young adult human male, wearing a white jacket with red accents, black trousers, red leather boots, and a white ball cap with a black circular symbol of sorts.
Spike gasped, “Just like those things at Canterlot High!”
Twilight tilted her head to one side as she said, “Different skin tone, though.”
The human appeared far too pleased with himself. Starlight and Trixie regarded this man suspiciously with their eyes as they shifted their weight back and to one side, as if preparing to turn and run. His mouth moved, to which Twilight’s face instantly slacked in horror. The man pulled a ball out of a bag and threw it at Starlight. Trixie shoved her aside and leapt in the way. The ball hit Trixie in the neck, and it popped open, dragging Trixie’s form into it as she melted away into a cascade of green sparks. Starlight hyperventilated, both in the image and in the flesh. All eyes were on the ball, which shook once, twice, thrice, and then was still. A sniffle echoed. Spike turned to look and saw tears rolling down Starlight’s face. In the projection, the human picked up the ball, with moving lips again. Twilight’s own lips curled in disgust while her eyes narrowed with nostrils flaring. Then the human quickly withdrew a second ball from the bag and threw it at Starlight again. She intercepted this ball with a quick horn blast, shattering its hinge. The two halves tumbled into tufts of weeds as Starlight turn and fled as fast as her legs could carry her before she disappeared into a flash of phthalo green light. The human threw his fist down and spun around with a stomp, putting his hands on his hips with a countenance laden with disappointment. With head shaking and moving mouth, he stood there for a moment. He looked at the ball that hit Trixie, and smiled, waggling his tongue silently in the image. The human then stepped back through the glowing ellipse, which flashed once and was gone. Twilight’s ears flattened as she glowered at the projection, which she dispelled.
“Just let it out, Starlight,” Spike said soothingly, stroking her mane.
Starlight sniffled as the tears began anew. “Should have tried to do some more....”
“It is good that for Starlight your concern is shown,” said Zecora sadly as she dug through the weeds. “But Rarity’s fate to us is still unknown.”
“A slaver,” spat Twilight. “That human’s a slaver! He came to Equestria to snatch up anypony he could! That’s what he was saying after you left, that he didn’t get the one he wanted, but he’d put Trixie to ‘good use!’”
“But...how do you know for sure, Twilight?” Spike asked in disbelief. “Is it because of that weird ball?”
Twilight grouched, “His tone of voice left no doubt.”
“A weird ball, that much is clear. But both its halves are right here,” said Zecora, carrying the two parts of the broken ball.
Twilight’s horn charged up, and a wafting miasma enveloped the Pokéball halves. The pieces bobbed and floated around within the spell’s confines at a lazy pace. Spike, Starlight, and Zecora all watched and waited with bated breath. Twilight murmured, “Hmm...now that is fascinating….”
Spike asked, “What is?”
“This ball uses an energy I’ve never seen before, but what I can tell you is that magic can also power it. An active flow of energy through the ball creates a self-contained pocket dimension, complete with necessary living conditions, which induces amiable thoughts and feelings towards the ball’s holder. While a creature can easily be captured by the ball’s energy and pocket dimension, or ‘magic jar’ as I’ve heard it called in spellcraft, it doesn’t necessarily have the strength to contain what it captured unless it has given up, submitting its will to whatever threw the ball,” explained Twilight, trailing off and still in thought.
Starlight protested, “There’s no way Trixie would’ve thrown in the towel that easily!”
“I know,” said Twilight. “But it appears to me that other creatures imbued with that same kind of energy have an easier time escaping the magic jar than us ponies. Trixie didn’t give up; she was overwhelmed. She just couldn’t break out. I’ll need to get this back to the lab for a more thorough analysis.”
“I see what you mean, that I need to work on divination,” breathed Starlight in awe. “And we need to find a way to pry open that portal! We have to save Trixie! I can’t just leave her!”
“Of course,” said Twilight sadly. “But we need to know where he took Trixie and how to get there before any rescue can be attempted. Carefully dig up the soil and burnt mosses by where it was; those we’ll also need to get back to the lab. It’s the only way we can learn how to recreate the way to wherever they came.”
Zecora helped Starlight with the scorched flora and dirt. Twilight carefully set the two halves of the ball in her saddlebags. Spike looked around the meadow and sighed, his eyes resting on the glop of spilled honey. Ants had already formed a parade to and from the sticky sweet stuff. A well-rounded divot in the mud caught his gaze. Spike gave the mark a long, hard look. He said, “Uh, Twilight? I might have something.”
Twilight walked over to him. Spike pointed at the small indentation. A spell charged, and Twilight swept the area with a magenta ray. She said, “I have a bad feeling about what we’re about to see.”
Another screen popped up, courtesy of Twilight’s spellcasting. For a moment, it was just an empty meadow. Then the portal opened. Another human, this one with orange hair on his head and chin, came through. He looked around several times, then took the messenger bag off his shoulder, rooting around in it on the ground. He withdrew a jar of honey. Putting the bag back on, he opened the jar and poured the honey on the ground.
“What a waste…,” muttered Spike.
Twilight shushed him. They all watched as Rarity approached, the mud thrown, the ball next, and his sudden teleportation out with the portal slamming shut after he disappeared. Zecora gasped, putting a hoof over her mouth. Starlight’s posture slumped as she murmured, “They got Rarity, too...we have two to save....”
Twilight’s lower lip quivered as her eyes went bloodshot. Flames flickered and danced along her mane. Starlight looked down, sighing long and low, and shaking her head. Zecora closed her eyes, softly and prayerfully speaking in another language. Spike expressed his sadness and frustration at this revelation in epic fashion.
“And you have no sense of colour coordination whatsoever!!”
“At least the Great and Powerful Trixie helps the many smile, and at a reasonable price!!”
Rarity and Trixie stood a few lengths apart, bellowing at each other, still in the upstairs of the Pokémon Centre. A small crowd had gathered. Aengus and Paddy had both pulled up chairs, and had drinks. All three attendants from behind the long counter had foregone any pretense of doing their job and stood among the gathered.
“Just because you can’t scrape enough bits together with your traveling ‘act’ to afford formal attire doesn’t mean I overcharge!!” Rarity snapped, with an unladylike gob of spit flying up and out, and lazily splatting roughly halfway between the two.
“Hardly out of the price range of the Great and Powerful Trixie, but most of Ponyville, well, that’s another matter! Speaking of scraping bits together, how did you ever manage to open a second, let alone third storefront with so little foot traffic?!” retorted Trixie with teeth bared. “There are better-crafted, more fashionable dresses with decent prices at Barnyard Bargains! Everypony’s been talking about it....”
Veins in Rarity’s eyes bulged, as did those in her forehead as she angrily and deeply gasped. “That mass-produced, yesteryear trash, better!? You clearly have NO fashion sense, as if the hat and cape weren’t a dead giveaway!” hollered Rarity hoarsely.
“A dead giveaway, like Spike’s obvious feelings for you, and how you stomp all over his affection?!” returned Trixie with a savage smile. “You’ve been using and abusing him for years! Makes you either oblivious to the Nth degree, or an absolute bitch, pardon my Prench!”
Rarity gasped as her nostrils flared. “I suppose you would be an expert at being such a mare, wouldn’t you!? And your bold-faced lies, accusing me of mistreating my dear Spikey-Wikey!! I would never do such a thing, unlike you!”
Trixie sneered again, and spoke at a regular volume. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Rarity snarled what sounded like they were supposed to be syllables and words, but did not resolve into any. She caught a glimpse if the brothers out of the corner of her eye, and wheeled around at them. “And what are you two staring at?!!”
“Oh, do go on; we’ve been learning plenty,” said Paddy. Aengus nodded as he took another sip through his straw. Rarity stomped and scoffed loudly in response.
Trixie mockingly laughed, “Trixie has grown bored, and will take her leave.”
Paddy said, “We will in a moment.”
“You are nopony’s boss,” Trixie smarted off as she joined the crowd heading down the stairs, as it seemed the show was over.
Pulling out the corresponding Safari Ball, Paddy smirked as it clicked. “Guess again.”
Trixie’s shriek at being dragged into the ball was cut off quickly as she disappeared in specks of green light. Rarity fumed, “Serves her right, too. Paddy, be a dear, and keep her in there for as long as possible.”
A popcorn vendor with a full tray had just pushed through the crowd to the top of the stairs, and looked at everybody else leaving. He sighed, hanging his head, and muttered, “Man, and I rushed to ready enough for everyone, too....”
Paddy stood up and started towards him. “I wouldn’t mind some for the road, and...wait, let me see this.”
The vendor showed his selection of popcorn, caramel corn, and kettle corn balls. Paddy sniffed at the kettle corn, smiled, and said, “I’ll take the whole lot, sir.”
“Oh? Oh! Very good, sir!” the vendor said as an enormous smile broke across his face.
Paddy pulled out his wallet as Rarity stood there, still smoldering, but settling. Aengus came up beside her, and began scratching and rubbing at her neck. Her irritation began sloughing off as her eyes rolled back blissfully. He said, “All of that yelling and screaming, over her messing with your mane and outfit years ago? That wasn’t worth all the hullabaloo, and there are certainly worse things than temporarily green hair, or brown stripes on a dress. You’ll give yourself an ulcer like this, you will.”
Rarity cooed, “Oh my Celestia, how are you so good at this? You’re a na-a-a-aagggh, ow, ooh....”
“So that’s where you carry your stress, got it,” said Aengus as he worked at something at the base of Rarity’s neck and onto her withers. Her legs seemed a bit like putty. She opened her eyes to see Paddy take the entire contents of a vendor’s tray, one with a neck strap as if he were peddling amidst a crowd at a sporting venue, and tuck all those delicious treats into a black leather satchel with red accents...but as bag after bag, ball after ball, went into his satchel, it barely showed any sort of bulge, nor did Paddy show any signs of burden.
Rarity’s head jerked back as she said, “What kind of magic messenger bag does your brother have, that he can fit so much inside? How can something be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?”
Aengus gave Rarity’s back muscles one last squeeze and stood up as he said, “We have no idea. The professors give bags like these to the new Pokémon trainers without telling them about that. Sooner or later we all figure out they can carry far more than what should be physically possible without weighing us down. Take mine, for example. You don’t like Pokéballs, I know, but you have some idea of how much one weighs. Guess how many I’ve got in here.”
Rarity gave an ambivalent shrug. Aengus knelt down and opened his bag in front of her, beckoning her to look in. Rarity’s lower left eyelid twitched involuntarily as her jaw fell open. She saw rows and rows and rows of the things, all neatly organized and segregated by exterior colour pattern. Aengus said, “Pokéballs, Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Premiere Balls, Luxury Balls, Net Balls, Timer Balls, Quick Balls, Dusk Balls, and so the list goes. Tallied up, I’m carrying well over two-thousand of them, but the bag seems to weigh no more than ten kilos. Only one Master Ball, but I’m saving that if I should find something truly legendary.”
“That’s...unbelievable,” Rarity blurted airily.
“Sure seems that way at first, but I’ve gotten used to the idea. Back home in Johto, there are some who say all the timbers, planks, and iron fasteners for Cianwood City were carried there from Ecruteak City in a single trip, but in only one trainer’s bag,” said Aengus with a slight roll of the eyes. “I think it’s an absurd tale.”
Paddy came over to them. Everybody else had cleared out except the three attendants, who had returned to their posts...each having resumed the glazed-eye look of monotonous doldrums from day after day standing behind the counter with nigh unto nothing to do, under the strain of unanswered hopes and prayers for a little human contact, against the soul-crushing reality that what they just saw would far-and-away be the highlight of their entire career manning the counters to the Union Room, and it was all downhill from here. Paddy gave them a short glance, then looked his brother in the eye. “No reason to stick around here.”
Aengus nodded. The three descended the stairs and left the building. It was nearing sunset. Rarity took in the sight, and a deep breath. Salt was in the air, as was something more boggy. The ocean peeked back at her from the southeast, between the buildings. There were other creatures like Aengus and Paddy around, of different ages and builds, but they for the most part stood in one spot for a few seconds, then took a single step. These people looked straight ahead at nothing in particular, showing no reaction to anyone who was, or anything that happened, around them at all. Rarity stared in confusion as a few turned at perfect right angles along exact cardinal directions. She took a long look at a muscular man who was barefoot, wearing a white karate gi, black belt, and red headband. She looked over at Paddy then back at the man. “Are the reds only an accent colour for your stallions, or whatever you call the adult males of your kind? Both of you in white and black, with only a touch of warm colour.”
“It’s ‘man’ for one, but ‘men’ for more,” Aengus said.
Paddy said, “That’s a martial artist, a man who studies and practices unarmed combat. I couldn’t tell you which martial art though; there are many. His uniform looks a bit...stereotypical, almost like a caricature. For me, I’ll be going to begin my studies at university shortly after returning to Johto, and these are our official colours, black and white, with red as the tertiary.”
Rarity looked over Paddy more closely, and said, “Darling, that’s vermilion, not red. Same colour family, and close cousins, yes, but definitely not the same.”
Paddy grumbled, “Picky, picky, picky; they’re both red....”
“One has to be picky to set the trends,” replied Rarity with a self-important lift of her chin. She watched the karate man step due west and stand there for a moment, then stepped one pace south, snapping between the directions sharply. Rarity asked, “Why is he doing that?”
“What? The pointless wandering, step by individual step?” Aengus asked with a frown.
“Yes.”
“I have no idea,” sighed Aengus. “I set out on my Pokémon adventure almost eleven years ago. I was eleven years old. Even then I noticed many towns have this very strange behaviour, walking around one step at a time in one of four directions, then waiting there for nothing in particular, rinse and repeat. Only in Kalos did they behave like normal people.”
“I see,” Rarity drifted off. She examined the buildings then, and her eyebrows scrunched again. She walked forward and peered around the side, then looked back at Aengus in confusion, but with hint of comprehension. She ran toward a nearby, box-like house. She pursed her lips, and started back toward Aengus and Paddy. She said, “Did you also notice they put every entry door on the south-facing side?”
“Sure did,” Aengus answered. “Why that’s a thing is anyone’s guess. It makes no sense, but there it is.”
Rarity stared at him incredulously, slowly shaking her head. “Surely you can see how bizarre a place this is, yes?”
Aengus muttered, “Gee, Rarity, whadiya’ want me to do? Get a circular saw and start chopping out new doorways?”
Rarity looked around a saw a younger-looking thing nearby, one that had a filly’s feminine charm, dressed in green. She walked up to this juvenile human and began, “Pardon me, miss, but where is—”
“Some Trainers deliberately prevent their Pokémon from evolving,” said the girl in a bright voice. “They wait until the Pokémon levels up and learns certain moves.”
Rarity glared at her a moment, then walked away, muttering, “Still interrupting me after ‘is.’ Of all the nerve....”
Rarity saw a woman dressed in a beige sundress and pink cropped vest, carrying a pink umbrella. She strode toward this person as well, saying, “Ma’am, I am in desperate need of a sewing supply store. Where might I find the closest one?”
The lady answered, “Someone gave me a berry, so I planted it and grew some more. Then, I took the Berries and cooked them into Poffins. All the work is worth it when I see how happy they make my Pokémon!”
This human resumed her random, single-step wandering with the occasional ninety-degree turn. Rarity blinked a few times, then her face and voice soured. “Thank you so very much for the polite, not-at-all on topic answer, you walking discredit to the females of your species!”
Rarity went back toward the girl in green, who did the same unpredictable step-by-step chaotic walking path. “Let’s try this again without any interruptions, darling. I need supplies. Where can I buy fabric and thread?”
“Some Trainers deliberately prevent their Pokémon from evolving,” said the girl in an equally bright voice as before. “They wait until the Pokémon levels up and learns certain moves.”
Giving up, Rarity closed her eyes and trudged back towards Aengus and Paddy. Both brothers shook their heads; Aengus’s face expressed commiseration, while Paddy’s resembled an annoyed parent whose child had just poured all the flour on the kitchen floor and was playing in it. Aengus lamented, “Now you see what we have to put up with every bloody day.”
Rarity gawked at the man, and griped, “That hurt...that was actually painful, talking to those two! My mind is actually cramping from what they said! I sincerely hope and pray this isn’t what everypony talks like! Or I suppose ‘everyone’ would be better-fitting in this case.”
Paddy sighed, “It’s not everyone we come across, but it sure is the bulk of them.”
“The future of your species looks rather bleak,” Rarity said curtly.
Aengus nodded. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
Paddy took a step from his brother, toward the south, then looked back and said, “Well, Aengus, you said you’re planning on getting that last badge, right? I have something else to do in the meantime. I’ll be in Solaceon Town.”
Aengus did not look amused one bit. “Really? Solaceon? You’re not really going to—”
“Yes, I am,” interrupted Paddy pointedly. “And if you were wise, dear brother, you’d do the same thing. You want every advantage you can get, especially for that one fight.”
“Yeah, I know; why do you think we’re way out here in Sinnoh?” Aengus retorted.
Paddy voice softened in tone more than in volume. “Look, Aengus, I know what this means to you, and what it’ll mean for mom, but you have to be more patient. You’re sick of the waiting, yes, but it won’t delay you that much, and it’s the only way you’ll maximize her results. Going on two years; what’s one more week?”
“I appreciate you want to help, Paddy, I really do,” said Aengus, easing off the irritation. “And yes, the results from the last time you suggested...that, were great. But that was way longer than just a week; that took nearly four months. I don’t have that kind of patience. Not anymore. Besides, I’m confident in her.”
“I’m telling you,” Paddy insisted. “It’ll be worth putting in the time.”
Aengus shook his head. “Maybe when we get back to Johto, I’ll think about it then.”
Paddy grimaced. He resumed walking along as he said, “If you insist. I’ll see you in Solaceon in, what, the day after tomorrow?”
“Sounds about right,” Aengus said. “Good luck; hopefully it won’t take you long.”
“You too.”
Paddy turned the corner westward and was out of sight. Rarity looked up at Aengus and asked, “Care to explain what all that was about?”
“You’d be happier not knowing,” said Aengus with a slightly uncomfortable and disturbed look on his face. “Much happier.”
“Uh...huh....”
“Never you mind that; there’s something I’d like you to put on for now,” Aengus said in a much more amiable voice.
Rarity raised her eyebrows in interest. “Oh, you do, do you? Since I very much doubt you have a pony’s formal attire in your bag, I presume you have a chic accessory?”
Aengus snickered a moment, and shook his head. “No, not chic at all; this is something purely pragmatic. It’ll help you quite a bit.”
Rarity gave him a doubtful, sideways glance as he rummaged in his satchel. After a moment he pulled out a black framework helmet, but not an ordinary one. This one had half a dozen glowing balls about the size of a shooter marble on its top, and what looked like earpieces that would set behind Rarity’s eyes. Her ears could easily fit in the wide gaps between the metallic slats. Her mane, however, might suffer. Rarity gave the thing one look and her ears flattened. She quipped, “Suppose you could find something a little more garish?”
Aengus smirked. “I warned you it wasn’t fashionable.”
“You said ‘not chic at all;’ that could be a plain, single-colour, unadorned cotton shirt. You didn’t say ‘it looks heinous.’ There’s a tremendous difference,” Rarity nearly whined.
“Well...it looks heinous. Put it on,” said Aengus.
Rarity grumbled, “You can’t possibly be serious.”
“This thing is called an ‘Experience Share.’ This will help you learn from battles others partake in, as if you were in the fight yourself,” Aengus explained as he adjusted the headset. He carefully helped her ears between the metal bars as he continued, “I doubt your one-upping of Trixie covered every bout you’ve been in, but it doesn’t sound to me like fights in Equestria much resemble a Pokémon battle. You’d do well to learn from Feraligatr, Rapidash, and the others.”
The lower edge rested against Rarity’s horn as he tightened the device. Rarity sighed, “Fine, I suppose it’ll help with your championship matches.”
“Yes,” Aengus answered, slowing the rate he tightened the fitting cinch. “Now tell me if it hurts from over-tightening; it needs to stay put, not cause pain.”
“It already hurts,” Rarity grumped.
“I meant physically, not your pride.”
“My horn. It hurts against my horn.”
“Oh.”
After a minor adjustment, Aengus stood up straight. He said, “You’re right; it doesn’t look good at all. But it wasn’t built with looks in mind; as I said, it’s functional, not sporty. Shall we be off?”
Aengus started eastward. Rarity walked beside him, asking, “Where are we going?”
“We’ll be going to the Gym in Sunyshore City in the morning,” said Aengus. “For tonight, we’ll stop at Hotel Grand Lake, which is along the way. It is the only five-star accommodation in the region.”
“Ooh!” squealed Rarity. “A five-star hotel, you say? The only in the area? Aengus, darling, I’m thrilled you booked such a place! Lead on!”
Aengus snickered as they walked through the gateway building, ignoring the people in there, each vacantly staring at the wall. Upon emerging, they found themselves in a wide block of tall grass. They were partway across the acre before something rustled nearby. Both turned to see an otter-like creature with burnt orange fur, blue flaps on its forelimbs, a circular yellow flap of skin around its neck, and two tails crawl out from behind a thick tuft of pampas grass. It growled at the two of them.
“Ah, a Buizel,” said Aengus thoughtfully. “Not really worth capturing...tell you what, you’re up. Rarity, let’s see what you have.”
“What I have?” Rarity asked. “Darling, are you asking me to fight this innocent animal?”
Aengus frowned, “It’s not as innocent as you think it is. But yes.”
Rarity hesitantly stepped forward. She sputtered, “Okay, so...wha...how do you want me to go about this?”
“Use your horn.”
“You want me to ram this little guy with my horn? Aengus, it’s used for magic, not skewering!” Rarity protested.
Aengus scoffed, “Then blast him! Use your Horn Attack!”
Rarity complained, “This hardly seems like—”
The Buizel suddenly shot forward at Rarity, covered in water which seemed to come from nowhere that splashed twice on its way before slamming into her side. She yelped and was driven back a step. Wincing, Rarity looked at her tail, now drenched and hanging in the coastal dirt, quickly coating it in wet sand. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at the Buizel, with her horn charging. “It...is...on!”
The wild Buizel carefully backed up and edged around to its left as sparks flew off of Rarity’s horn. Aengus raised an eyebrow. Keeping her horn trained on the Buizel, she snarled, “Take this, you ruffian!”
A bolt of blue magic erupted from her horn. The wild Buizel’s eyes widened, but could do no more than that before the spell landed true. It sailed backwards, slashing through the tall grass until it smacked into a tree and flopped onto the ground. It reached briefly with a paw before it collapsed, fainting. Rarity continued to point her horn at the KO’ed Pokémon, until Aengus said, “Well done, Rarity! That was a nice shot. I like it.”
Rarity eased up. She looked back at him, then at the Buizel, and asked, “Is this how it goes around here, that wild animals attack all the time?”
“That would be wild Pokémon for ya’,” Aengus grimaced. “They seem to like tall grass the best, or caves. You’d be surprised just how big a creature can hide out here.”
They continued onward, talking about Pokémon species, evolving, and types, and move effectiveness. Rarity quickly picked up on what was “super effective” against what else, though she did express some confusion a few times. The thought of “Bug-type” moves working well on evil things did not compute in her mind, but she stashed the information just the same. Rarity took a moment to mutter about a seaside shack also having a south-facing door, questioning the wisdom of this, especially during spring tide. A less-than-romantic walk down the beach as dusk took hold, and Rarity looked up to see the front gate of the hotel. One thing had itched at her mind from earlier.
“Something that doesn’t make sense to me,” she began, “is if there are so many Water- and Flying-type Pokémon out there, and if there but two strong Ground-type attacks, why would you leave something like that Raichu in the waiting box for years? He said he’s been there for seven years, and it sounds like, with evolving twice, he should be a strong addition to the team.”
Aengus sighed uncomfortably. “You can understand the speech of Pokémon, and can talk to others in the PC boxes, then?”
Rarity galloped up the steps, looking back at Aengus. He followed at an unhurried walk, and led her through the lobby building, up some more stairs, to the left, and to his cabin. He unlocked the door and in they went. As Aengus flicked on the light, Rarity resumed, “This is simply divine, darling! You chose well! But seriously, if this is where we’re staying for the night, can we take this thing off my head?”
Aengus smiled and loosened the tightening mechanism. As he removed it, he said, “There. Better?”
“Absolutely!” Rarity beamed. She took in the room for a moment, then resumed her serious tone. “You still haven’t explained yourself, dear. Why would you leave Raichu in the box like that?”
Aengus frowned. “Was hoping you forgot about that...the thing about Pokémon is that not all species are equal. Even among those that evolve twice, some are stronger than others, while there are some that don’t evolve at all who are stronger than end-evolution species. There are also a few unique individual Pokémon, collectively called ‘Legendary Pokémon,’ that are stronger than nearly any others.”
Rarity said, “I’m following.”
“Raichu, as a species, isn’t a bad Pokémon. They really aren’t too shabby; hell, they’re better than most. The problem is that once you start reaching higher levels of competition, like where I’m at, they really aren’t good, either,” Aengus explained.
“So a Raichu is a so-so fighter,” Rarity said, unamused.
“Ultimately, and unfortunately, yes,” said Aengus. “The Raichu you saw in there was carefully bred and trained. It’s the strongest Raichu you could hope to find. But in battle, he still was stomped flat by middle-of-the-road, maybe even subpar, Pokémon of a stronger species, even without having a type disadvantage. I remember that battle: an old buddy of mine from way back when sent out his Arcanine, a Fire-type, and it crushed that Raichu, even though it wasn’t that good an Arcanine. If this Raichu was sent in against species as strong as Tyranitar or Dragonite, it’d be over even quicker.”
“Then why does he wait in the ‘to be decided’ box?”
Aengus explained, “He’s the measuring stick. Pokémon with comparable levels of battle experience who are statistically stronger can be on the team, those equal or less, not so much. His moves, also, limit him. It’s just not that diverse, despite the breeding and training. And so, there he stays.”
Rarity glared at him. “That’s downright cold of you. He’s a living creature with thoughts and feelings of his own, not a bunch of notes and numbers on a page!”
“Cold, yes,” Aengus answered, his icy blue eyes showing ice in another way. “But that’s one of the realities of competitive battling. A trainer has to be a certain level of cold. You can’t let emotional attachment sway your decisions about your team. He is still useful, albeit in a less than glorious capacity. To be the best, you need to have the best. And there are better Electric-types; I have a well-trained Eelektross, and Paddy has a Zebstrika. Ampharos, Luxray, and Electivire also are statistically stronger than a Raichu with solid move sets. Jolteon and Magnezone are stronger too, but what they can learn...just isn’t up to snuff as far as I’m concerned.”
Rarity shook her head at him. She barked, “Then maybe you should simply comprise your entire team of these Dragonites and such!”
“Too little diversity,” Aengus countered. “And too many glaring weaknesses. One well-bred and trained Machamp could undo an entire squad of them.”
“Really.”
“Let’s give you a little quiz, to see if you remember your type defenses. Two of these Pokémon, Dragonite and Salamence, are Dragon/Flying type,” Aengus led in expectantly.
“They would be weak against Ice—doubly weak against ice,” Rarity answered in thought.
“Good,” he answered. “Another of them is Garchomp, a Dragon/Ground type.”
Rarity paused a moment, then said, “That’s also doubly weak against Ice.”
Aengus smiled. “Correct. Tyranitar is Rock/Dark.”
Rarity thought, and said, “Let me see...Rock is vulnerable to Water, Grass, Ground, Fighting, and Steel while Dark is vulnerable to Bug, which still makes no sense to me, Fairy, and...Fighting! It’s doubly weak against Fighting-type attacks!”
“Yes. Hydreigon also is one of those high-power species, but it is Dark/Dragon,” Aengus said with a nod.
Rarity’s eyes rotated in their sockets toward the ceiling. After a pause, she said, “Especially weak to Fairy-type attacks.”
Aengus nodded, and gestured lightly with an open palm. “What is it simply vulnerable to, but not especially?”
“Fighting, Ice, Dragon, and the nonsensical Bug,” Rarity said, grumbling on the last bit.
“One more,” said Aengus. “Metagross is one I’ve not seen, but I’ve read up on them. They’re Steel/Psychic types that are found only in Hoenn, and are rarely seen even there.”
Rarity’s fading patience etched itself across her growing frown. “Those types cover the other’s weaknesses, except Fire and Ground.”
“Excellent!” beamed Aengus. He continued, still sounding pleased with her, but also himself, “The seventh and last of those top-tier Pokémon that I know of is Goodra, which is a straight Dragon-type. As I said earlier, a Machamp can take out any of these easily. It’s a Fighting-type, and one of the mightiest of its type. While I have yet to see any Fighting-type use a single Fairy-type move, Machamp can learn many of the high-end Fighting-type attacks...and with special breeding and training, it may also know Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and/or Earthquake.”
“That’s all well and good, darling,” Rarity irritably began, “but really, what are the odds you’ll face a Machamp?”
Aengus’s eyes narrowed as he turned toward the nearby window. He growled, “It will happen. Bruno...Bruno always has one, the strongest of his crew each and every time....”
Rarity edged toward his left side. “You’ve got some venom in your voice when you say that name. Who is this person?”
Aengus glowered out the window. “Bruno...he is a member of the Indigo League’s Elite Four. With all the changes in personnel at the League, I believe he’s now the last one before the Champion. I’ve challenged for the Championship seven times, each time, making some wise adjustments to my lineup, and all seven times, Bruno’s team defeated mine. He’s cunning, thorough, and patient. Bruno’s a master of Fighting-type Pokémon. My first attempt was with a team that simply wasn’t strong enough. My second team was better, but again, he didn’t need to do anything in particular apart from directly attacking. After that, I’ve had more diverse groups, ones meant to handle all kinds of squads while trying to minimize weaknesses. But Bruno’s team had some adjustments of his own, namely using moves that targeted the types Fighting-types are weak against! Then I adjusted to come at him sideways, using Pokémon that had access to Fighting’s weaknesses; he was ready and waiting for that, too! Nothing I’ve ever done has worked, has been enough!”
Aengus clenched his fists as he scowled into the night. He took a deep breath, then slowly looked into Rarity’s eyes. His expression was one of hope. “But you, Rarity, you would be something he couldn’t see coming. By Pokémon standards, you’re effectively a Fairy-type, and with a strong ‘special attack.’ Most Fighting-types don’t have the best ‘Special Defense,’ which puts you in a strong position. You are the best hope I’ve ever had.”
Rarity blinked at him. She tried to speak, but all that left her wide-open mouth was an unenunciated, airy “...uhh....” She looked away and shook her head slowly. When she looked back at him, she said, “I guess then, from what you said earlier, I’m ‘statistically stronger’ than little Raichu.”
“You are.”
Rarity took her turn at the window, nickering. None of the constellations looked familiar. She caught his gaze and asked, “I’m still wondering, darling, why do you wish to be champion so badly? I’ve seen it in your eyes; there’s something more at work than just a pugilist’s dream.”
Aengus chuckled, easing up. “All of us trainers start off wanting to know more about Pokémon, or just spend time with our new friend, meaning whichever Pokémon we received to start our adventure. Some want to see as many different species as they can. Some want to develop a special bond. Many of us get it in our heads that we want to be the very best, like no one ever was. I was one of those, and if I’m honest with myself, I still am. It didn’t help that shortly before I was old enough to begin training, I saw three different boys only a few years older than me each in turn conquer the Elite Four and the Champion, just from setting out on their own first adventure. I knew I could do it too. The ‘pugilist’s dream,’ as you put it...and you are right; that is not all.”
“I can see how a few of your peers just ahead of you in age could fuel that ambition, that you’d want to too,” said Rarity, following him as he headed toward the desk.
Aengus reached into his inside jacket pocket and set down a small locked case. He turned back toward Rarity and said, “Let me show you something that may help explain.”
“Yes?” Rarity answered in intrigue. Aengus gently laid his hands on her face, so that her eyes filled the area between his index fingers and thumbs. She said, “Um, what peculiar thing will your hands do now?”
Aengus closed his eyes, breathing deeply and slowly. He murmured, “I can see it...your youth...things you used to know how to do, but almost forgot. Yes...yes...that is something to remember. Think of your earliest school days. Think of the charcoal pegasus colt you call ‘Thunderlane.’ Think of recess, and how you two liked to wrestle. Think on it, and remember...how to Play Rough!”
He let go suddenly and Rarity’s head jerked back as she took a series of sharp, short, deep gasps. She shot him an alarmed stare. “How did you do that!? I hadn’t thought about those days in years!”
“Some call me a ‘Move Reminder,’” said Aengus as he turned back to the small metallic case. As he began to open it, he continued, “I can look into a Pokémon’s mind and past, and remind them of a move they used to know. In your case, you now can use ‘Play Rough’ again. When others ask me to remind their Pokémon of moves they forgot, I am happy to do so, for a Heart Scale in exchange.”
In the case there were iridescent scales shaped like hearts. Many of them were mounted on a chain, or a few hooks. Aengus continued, “My mother loves Heart Scale jewelry, and for her I gather as many as I can, most of them by being a Move Reminder.”
His face turned somber as he pulled out some small tools. “She gave up everything for Paddy and me. Jobs, places to live, went without dinner more than a few nights so that he and I could get a bite...that is why I want to be champion. My mom deserves better than what she’s gotten. I’ve sent most of the money I’ve made from battles back to her, even enough to put Paddy through university. The pension from holding the title would be more than enough to ensure she will be comfortable and not need to work for the rest of her days.”
Aengus set to carving a pattern into a scale, one that matched a different scale already mounted on an earring hook. Rarity breathed, “Aengus...these are fabulous...! You have a real gift with them! They are beautiful by themselves, too. Hmm, maybe if...and that could go with—yes! Idea-a-a!!”
“Idea?”
“Aengus, darling, do you have a pencil and sketchbook? Or at least some paper?” Rarity asked.
Aengus gave her a confused face, and said, “Yeah. Um, here you go?”
Rarity levitated the pencil and paper over to another part of the room. Aengus stood up quickly. “Wait a minute....”
“Do be fast, dear. I am entering The Zone!” Rarity declared excitedly as she began drawing the basic shape of a mare.
Aengus laid his hands on her face as before, but only for a moment. He took a step back in shock. “Five...??”
Rarity set the pencil down. “‘Five?’ Five what?”
“You know five moves,” Aengus said breathlessly. “Normally Pokémon can know up to four, but you know five!”
“I told you before, I’m a pony, not a Pokémon,” Rarity grumbled as she resumed drawing, outlining the shape of an evening dress.
Aengus grabbed his bag and started into it. “There’s something we have to do!”
“Can it wait for morning? I’m in The Zone, as it were,” Rarity answered without even looking up. Her horn twinkled a bit more, and some different colours lit the page while the extra glow held.
“Really, I must know,” Aengus insisted.
Rarity snapped, “If it can wait ‘til morning, it waits ‘til morning. Do not interrupt inspiration when it comes.”
“Seriously, I think—”
“Wait ‘til morning!!” Rarity barked. She glared imperiously for a moment, then gave him a pleased smile as she resumed drawing. Aengus scratched the side of his head, then shrugged, and returned to his work at the desk.
The night was growing old as select bodily functions abruptly yanked Aengus from the soft arms of slumber. As he started for the bathroom, he saw Rarity was still toiling over the paper, though it wasn’t the same sheet. She had the start of at least five different dresses, each along the way between everyday casual and black tie affair, and had started on a style of suit for ponies. Her mane, eyelids, ears, shoulders, and tail all drooped heavily. The pencil still moved, and its shavings sat in a neat pile.
“You’re still at this?” Aengus muttered groggily.
“Almost done,” said Rarity. “Follow inspiration through to its end. That’s how to set the trends and earn the business.”
Aengus blinked, and rubbed his forehead. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Feeling like I ought to sleep,” Rarity yawned.
“Then, get some sleep. I woke for the loo,” Aengus answered as he plodded into the bathroom.
The door closed. Rarity made a few final scratches with the pencil, and dropped it. She looked at the second bed, crawled onto it, and conked out before her head reached the pillow. A few moments passed before a flush sounded. Aengus emerged, clumsily making his way back to his bed. He looked over at Rarity, cracked a small closed-mouth grin, and flopped out of the waking world.
Rarity’s closed eyes twitched as the first sunbeams located the lower splits in the Venetian blinds and tantalizingly frolicked upon her face. She turned her head away with a groan. The sun continued its slow rise. The carpet and most of Rarity had a full set of a horizontally-slatted sunrise. She scoffed as she sat up. “Oh, what I’d do for my sleeping mask....”
Rarity slid off the bed. She wandered toward the door, and stepped outside. Aengus was sitting there, watching the sunrise, sipping on a steaming mug of black coffee. He looked over as she approached. “Morning.”
“Morning,” Rarity muttered. She yawned, long and shamelessly. Smacking her lips, she looked at the sunrise. The two sat there in silence for a few minutes. She scratched at her eyes, and examined her surroundings. A road followed the coast to the east, where there was a city in the distance. To the north lay plenty of woodland, though there was a small, circular lake with a circular island in its centre. Rarity blinked at it, squinting. She asked, “Isn’t the name of this place ‘Hotel Grand Lake?’”
Aengus nodded. “Yeah. Best resort in Sinnoh.”
“I can see that,” Rarity answered. “But which lake? I certainly hope they don’t mean that one, over there?”
Aengus didn’t even turn. “That’d be the one. It’s the only lake for miles and miles. ‘Lake Valor,’ though clearly whoever named the lake couldn’t spell worth a darn. What kind of idiot can’t remember the ‘u’ in a word like ‘valour,’ really?”
Rarity shook her head in aggravation. “So the hotel is named for a look at a tiny lake, way over there,” she said, gesturing with a hoof. Then she pointed the other way, continuing, “But the ocean is right here, and there’s a beachfront entrance...but they were more enchanted by the view of that lake, which can only partially be seen through the trees, and only from here on the highest hill among these cabins....”
“Maybe it was the same idiot,” Aengus mused, taking another sip of his coffee.
Rarity facehoofed as she grumbled, “That is simply décevant....”
“Yeah,” said Aengus. He drained the remaining coffee, then stood up. “Well, Rarity, it’s morning now. Time to try something, and get you back in your favourite little bonnet.”
Rarity groaned as Aengus pulled the Exp. Share out of his bag. After it was back on her head and properly adjusted, Rarity huffed and pouted with crossed forelimbs while Aengus went back to rummaging in his bag. He pulled out a small box that had a very thin, flat circular thing inside if it; Rarity had barely feigned an amiable look before his eyes found her. She looked at the device, then back up at him. “What in the hoof is that thing? It...gives me pause.”
“It’s called a ‘Technical Machine.’ This thing can teach a Pokémon a move instantly, often something it would not otherwise learn,” Aengus explained. “I’m glad they make sturdier ones these days; they used to break after a single use.”
Rarity flapped her lips in annoyance. “Trying to see how many moves I can know at a time, I see.”
“That and which ones,” Aengus answered.
“How long will this take?” Rarity grumbled.
“Hopefully not long.”
Rarity’s stomach had audibly roared three times and the sun showed it was at least 9am before Aengus and gone through the whole collection. Much to Aengus’s delight and Rarity’s surprise, she did not appear to have any limit on the number of moves she could know. Every time he went through his bag, Rarity’s face soured and she tried to scratch at her forehead, but could not get her hooves between the metal slats...but she put on a nice face, or at least a non-irritated one, whenever his eyes turned back toward her. On top of the five moves she already knew, she came out of the morning now knowing Calm Mind, Taunt, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Hyper Beam, Light Screen, Safeguard, Frustration, Return, Reflect, Double Team, Torment, Flame Charge, Attract, Round, Echoed Voice, Energy Ball, Embargo, Retaliate, Flash, Psych Up, Swagger, Substitute, Wild Charge, Dazzling Gleam, and Confide. None of the HMs taught her anything.
Rarity complained, “Can I please get some breakfast already!?”
“There’s grass all over,” said Aengus. “Weird. Couldn’t learn Toxic or Hidden Power...no doubts that you’re not a Pokémon now....”
“Do I look like an uncouth, feral beast to you!?” Rarity snapped. “I am refined, elegant, civilised, and have a discerning palate. Annnd, I smell a fine restaurant is near; let us go post-haste!”
“Rarity—” Aengus began with concern, but Rarity rushed down the stairs, telekinetically dragging Aengus by the hand and knocking him off-balance.
“None of that; I shan’t take ‘no’ for an answer!” Rarity merrily replied, finding the restaurant’s ornate entrance. She opened the door, stepped in, then promptly rushed back out, looking a little green around the gills. She shrieked, “They’re eating flesh!! Why are they eating flesh!?!”
Aengus shook his now-released hand with a pained grimace. He sighed, “You wouldn’t let me warn you. We’re omnivores. Both meat and plants, though even for us, a healthier diet is mostly to the plant side.”
Rather than listen attentively, Rarity had rushed alongside the building, and was doubled over with the dry heaves. Aengus rubbed his forehead at the sight, his expression a heterogeneous mix of surprise, concern, embarrassment, and nausea. On her third empty retch, Aengus mumbled to himself, “I suppose this is a more effective protest than a picket line....”
Rarity breathed deeply and quickly. She stood up beside an open window. Looking in for a second, she snatched an unused place setting with her magic, pulled the napkin out the window and wiped off her mouth. She threw it haphazardly back onto its original table as she turned toward Aengus. She accusingly snarled, “‘Omnivore,’ huh? Eat everything? On how many ponies have you dined?”
“None. Thank you,” Aengus answered with civil indignation. “I was tricked into having horse meat once, because Paddy wouldn’t say what he made for supper that night. Honestly, at first I thought he had just screwed up making beef.”
“Horse?” Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Texture’s funny and the flavour is a bit off,” said Paddy. “Not again, and won’t have a pony, either. I prefer chicken and fish.”
“What’s a horse?” Rarity asked.
“The pony doesn’t know what a horse is...?” Aengus muttered under his breath, looking away. He sighed, and turned back to her. “A horse is like a pony, but much bigger. For example, Rapidash.”
A click of a Pokéball, and a flaming unicorn horse appeared. Rarity’s lower left eyelid twitched as she gawked agape. Aengus scratched his facial fuzz, and said, “That can’t be a healthy tic you’re developing with your eye.”
The two equines stared at the other in surprise. They spoke in unison. “You’re huge!” “You’re tiny!”
Aengus watched as the two moved past the shock. Rarity started, “Well, um...yeah. You’re a...my Celestia, you’re enormous! You even dwarf Big Mac!”
Rapidash shook his head as horses do. He sighed, “So much for a chance at a little love in my life right now....”
Rarity scoffed, “Why, I...what’s that supposed to mean? Rapidash, darling, we just met face-to-face, and you’re already willing to write me off like that?! We’ve hardly said hello!”
“Look, Rarity, you’re a beautiful mare. Really you are,” Rapidash said. “But I am not a nanophiliac. This just isn’t gonna work, no matter how much Feraligatr and the others are pushing for this.”
Rarity stared at him for a moment. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to react to that, whether I should be disappointed, offended, or...whatever.”
A click, and Rapidash disappeared in rosy pink sparks. Aengus said, “Before you start screaming at anyone else again....”
“Did you hear him? The nerve!” Rarity grumped.
“I understood you just fine,” Aengus said. “But with him, like every other time a Pokémon speaks, all I heard was it saying its name over and over.”
Rarity groaned indistinctly. Shaking her head, she started toward the city in the distance. Aengus followed with a shrug as she grouched, “After all of that, my mood and appetite are both shot. Let’s just get a move on.”
Aengus and Rarity started down Route 222 at a relaxed pace. The trip took them close to four hours, including dealing with wild Pokémon, and ten trainers. Rarity watched on as under Aengus’s direction, Feraligatr and Rapidash shredded Pokémon after Pokémon that challenged their team, occasionally including Gyarados, Golem, or Pidgeot on the action. Through the device on her head, Rarity gained an understanding of footwork, positioning, and subtle feints to create openings, but not much in terms of evasion, blocking, or stoic resolve. Aengus’s team simply ran circles around the competition. Rarity found, much to her delight, she didn’t necessarily have to watch the fight to learn from it with the thing on her head. Hunger pangs had returned before the end of the first hour of the morning’s trek. She found and gobbled down four berry bushes that sat in a row while Aengus directed Feraligatr against some blonde floozy (as near as Rarity could tell) who had some similarly lecherous-looking rabbit-woman-thing. Shortly after that, Rarity had the idea of feigning crying in an attempt to disrupt an opponent, thinking she could pull off some Fake Tears very well. Over the course of the morning and early afternoon, Rarity noticed a look on Aengus’s face after defeating other trainers, a sort of cocky, dark grin, almost as if he were taking some savage joy in pulverizing these others so thoroughly. Biting her tongue on the obvious questions, Rarity followed along as they entered a gate building to the city, and into town.
Rarity looked across the lofted blue walkways and the craggy outcroppings on which sat the buildings. A Pokémon Centre was close. Aengus slowly walked forward, also taking in the scene. As he turned to the north, he pointed at something for a second, then hurried in that general direction. Rarity followed suit, admiring the lighthouse as they went. The two ascended a staircase onto the blue catwalks and turned west. A distinctively shaped building lay ahead.
Rarity nudged Aengus. “Darling, are you sure this is the Gym you were talking about? And why are we going to a gym right now? I think we had a sufficient workout walking all the way out here. I don’t understand. Is there some magic in the weights you lift here that does more to make somepony, or someone, healthy?”
Aengus explained, “A fitness gym and a Pokémon Gym are certainly not the same. A Pokémon Gym focuses on training Pokémon, having them workout in battle. ‘Gym’ might not be the correct term, but it’s what Leagues have called them since olden times. Each region has eight of them, and they all answer to their region’s League. A trainer that challenges a Gym faces off with the trainers inside, eventually facing the Gym Leader. Defeating the leader earns the certification of that Gym, in the form of a Badge.”
“This world of yours becomes more and more convoluted with everything new I learn,” Rarity muttered.
Aengus shrugged as they stopped in front of Sunyshore’s Gym. Aengus looked closely at the sign in front of the building, and nodded happily. He started back the way he came as he said, “An Electric-type Gym. Will need to make some adjustments to the party lineup.”
He rushed them back to the Pokémon Centre. Rarity noticed that both outside and inside, it looked perfectly identical to the one in Pastoria, except maybe for some weathering. She had to return to the ball long enough for the machine to heal the team. After that, Aengus stopped at the blue computer. As he shifted Pokéballs to and from the receiving/sending pod, Rarity overheard Aengus say to one of the balls, “Sorry, old friend. It’s the worst place for you to be. I’ll come get you afterwards.”
Aengus started for the door. As they headed back toward the gym, Rarity asked, “When you said you needed to adjust the lineup, what did you change it to?”
“You and Rapidash are still here. Joining the two of you for this challenge are Rhyperior, Krookodile, Flygon, and we’re gonna give Excadrill a chance to prove herself,” Aengus said.
They returned to the Gym entrance. The doors opened as they approached. Aengus gestured inward. “Ladies first.”
Rarity curtsied as best as she could with the Exp. Share on her head and no dress. She entered, then he entered, and the door closed behind them.
Rarity slowly walked forward, her head on the proverbial swivel. A man with glasses stood beside a pair of statues of some kind. He looked Aengus in the eye and said, “Hey there! How’s it going, Champ-to-be?”
The man continued talking to Aengus, but Rarity didn’t pay any further attention. The floor was garish, an eye-searing lemon-lime chevron pattern. Bolts of electricity jumped between electrodes nearby. A gap lay between the platforms with gears in the in-between, each with walkways on them at that. These horizontal gears were large enough to fit a small locomotive on them. Some person stood on the other side. Rarity peered carefully over the edge of the platform at the machinery work below, and the solenoid under the arcing electrodes. While she tried to discern the machinery, Aengus called out, “Rarity! Let’s do this!”
She followed Aengus out onto the walkway, and around the corner as the walkway turned ninety degrees to the right. At the next vertex was a green circle, large and unavoidable. As they stepped onto it, the gears suddenly moved a quarter turn. Rarity exclaimed some surprised non-word yelp. She slammed against the railing. As she rubbed her flank as if she expected a bruise, Aengus began, “Geez, that’s a hazard. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Rarity sighed, still tending to the site of impact.
Aengus stroked her neck with an encouraging pat. “Let’s step on these centre button-panel-switch-things together. I don’t want either of us losing our balance again.”
Rarity nodded. The now-turned path led back onto the first platform, but the first walkway had turned, and now faced the other direction. They followed it onto another gear with also had they green centre. Aengus squeezed over so that Rarity could step on it at the same time. Both braced against the railings, and stepped down. After the turn, the first walkway had rotated so that they could reach the other side, of the same painful pattern. Rarity sighed as she looked at the floor’s flagrant colouration.
There was a young girl here, who was challenging Aengus to a Pokémon battle. She sent out a chipper-looking white and blue squirrel, which was dispatched in one blow by Aengus’s Flygon, before the squirrel could even move. Rarity just blinked. The girl looked disappointed but not overwhelmed by the quick defeat, while Aengus gave her a slight nod and nothing more. They walked through the door.
Rarity sighed as more gears met her gaze, though this time there were a pair of vertical ones. She muttered, “There has to be a better way to train Pokémon than this.”
“Than this place? Yeah. And there’s tremendous power consumption here, too,” said Aengus, shaking his head. “Every gym I’ve come to has some puzzle that goes with it, but it’s never anything challenging. I don’t know if the gym leaders just don’t know how to build one with any difficulty, or if they intentionally dumb it down for younger trainers. Either way, it’s gears this time, clearly. At least it’s not catapults again.”
“These floors are hideous,” Rarity griped. “Who dared paint them with overly bright colours, and from the same colour family to boot? I think some of the adolescent fillies liked such colours when I was quite little, years before my sister was born. Sure am glad fashion made the obvious sensible move away from that.”
Aengus smirked at her commentary as he led Rarity across the gear on the right, which did not have a button at its centre, but a split path. Stepping back onto a solid platform, they were approached by a skinny man with long blonde hair and an electric guitar. Strumming his axe, he sang...something, but Rarity couldn’t figure out what. Some of the harder, grungier types of rock and roll were simply too...well, grungy, in every sense of the word, for Rarity’s taste. A dirty man in dirty clothes, singing dirty words in a dirty voice to dirty notes...to her, all of it was dégoûtant, gritty, grimy, unclean, unfit, and unappealing. Absolutely no elegance, no grace, no wit, and no charm whatsoever. Rarity stood in wonder why anypony, or anyone, could find that enjoyable as Aengus sent out Rhyperior, who was a big boy indeed. The guitar man countered first with some iron ball with attached magnets and a single eye, followed by two blue and black large cats of some kind, one after the other. Rarity had come to expect things like the ground shaking when a Ground-type is in a fight, and didn’t pay it much mind as her thoughts drifted around. At least Rhyperior was slower, and through the gauche device upon her head she learned a little about blocking and dodging attacks for once. She considered how much better she Sings than that man as the second such cat fell.
Barely acknowledging his vanquished opponent, Aengus climbed the stairs there. A large vertical gear was in front of them, looking as though it had a walkway on it, but was turned perpendicular to the floor. Rarity looked at him and said, “Darling, I believe we took a wrong turn.”
“Not quite,” Aengus answered. “I saw this is a dead end at the moment, but it’s higher up. The height gives me a clearer perspective on how to navigate this room.”
“Ah.”
They looked out on the four horizontal gears, with banistered walkways on them. One had a green button like before. Two had blue ones. Aengus rubbed his chin for a moment, then said, “Just a little time consuming, but that’s all. I’m assuming the difference between the blue and the green are the direction they rotate. We start on the gear next to this one we just went over, and that’ll open the vertical gear’s path on the far side of the room. Follow those stairs down, deal with the kid standing over there, get to the green button, come back across this gear, and take the vertical one we’re next to, and head to the next room. You follow?”
Rarity pursed her lips for a moment, and said, “I...think so. Let’s just hope the gears turn in the right direction.”
The two set off as Aengus suggested, and upon reaching the blue button, they noticed the gears turned in the opposite direction from convenient. Rarity stepped on the blue button a second time before Aengus could do so in unison, and her back end swung around and slammed him against the railing. With an oof he sputtered and dropped to one knee. Rarity gasped, “Darling, I’m so sorry! Are you hurt? I meant no harm at all!”
“Gimme a moment,” puffed Aengus, feeling at his midsection with his hands. After a moment he wheezed, “Damn, you’re heavy....”
Rarity glared at him a moment. “I express my concern for your well-being, and you insinuate I’m fat!? How dare you!! You might not know ponies’ physiques as well as your kind’s, but I’ll have you know I’m slender and fit!”
“That’s not what I said,” Aengus grumbled as he pushed himself to his feet. “I said you’re heavy. Ponies are much bigger and heavier than humans; even if you’re the star of your county, you’re still gonna be heavier than me by a bunch. Stop jumping to conclusions.”
“Still,” growled Rarity.
They completed the turn and got off the gear. Aengus had surmised correctly, and they followed the vertical gear’s path across. A kid there started a battle with Aengus, sending out what looked like the same ball with magnets as before, except there were three of them stuck together. Aengus’s Krookodile KO’ed it in one shot as well. The boy blinked in a stupefied fashion as Aengus merely strode by. The next gear had but the blue button, and it did not turn against the quicker way, nor did the green button on the next gear. They passed the guitar man from before, still making his noise. They crossed the gear and came to a little girl dressed up like a Pikachu. Aengus made no attempt to go around. She sent out four Pikachus, and Aengus sent a different one of the four he switched in for the gym against each of them. Only Flygon moved before its opponent, but of the other three, only Excadrill dodged their opponents’ attack. All four Pikachus fell from a single hit, and Aengus carried on without a hint of reaction, and walked through the door to the third room.
The final room was much bigger, and had red centre-gear buttons along with blue and green. Aengus led Rarity onto the first gear and turned right at the centre, heading onto the second gear, triggered the first red button. Instead of stopping at a right angle, the gears rotated 180 degrees. They stepped off and were approached by another guitarist who looked much too similar to the other in the last room for Rarity’s tastes. Fortunately his style of play was more of standard rock and roll rather than that...stuff from earlier. Rarity paused as the guitarist sent out a Raichu. As Aengus deployed Flygon, Rarity began, “Um, Aengus??”
Aengus said over his shoulder, “Not the same one. There are many Raichus in the world.”
“Oh.”
Flygon barely moved before this other Raichu and delivered a knock-out strike. Aengus moved on. Following the rotated gear, Aengus and Rarity had to go left, to another red-centred gear. Back on solid but poorly-coloured ground, they encountered a teenaged girl who wanted a go. She battled with a strange bee-patterned bipedal thing that Rarity watched get thrashed by Excadrill, and then a Raichu that got a shot off but missed before similarly falling. As they went up the stairs, Aengus said to himself, “Looks like I’ve found the better pair of the four.”
Rarity inserted, “Excadrill and Flygon, you mean?”
Aengus nodded. “Obviously. They are doing rather well at proving themselves.”
“Is there a reason you ignore them once you’ve won the battle?” Rarity asked.
“They’re warm-ups,” said Aengus. “Nothing more. They ultimately don’t matter.”
Rarity scoffed, “Hardly a fitting attitude for a champion.”
“You see that man in the back? The one in the middle?” Aengus said, pointing. After Rarity nodded, he continued, “That one matters. Everybody else standing here are simply training in his Gym, trying to become strong enough to challenge him, but know they are not there yet. They are trying his philosophy at battling, using similar Pokémon. Then somebody like me comes along, gives them all a good wallop, and hopefully they learn something. Usually they don’t. They’ll continue using those Pokémon and battling other challengers to the Gym, rather than switch up their group to handle Ground-types. So yes, what you said earlier still stands: this isn’t the best way to train Pokémon, and does a half-arsed job with trainers.”
Another guitarist met them, one who liked to play loud chords and melodies very, very quickly, although it was in a Major key and not the grunge from the first. Rarity flattened her ears at his performance. Flygon came back out and handily bested two more large cats like the ones earlier. As they moved on, Aengus commented, “I see you’re not into power metal.”
“No darling. Not one whit.”
They stepped out onto the gears once more. Following their rotations, Aengus led Rarity around the corners, under an arcing solenoid, and to a blue button that Aengus over-rotated. He quickly stepped on and off the button several times until he could follow the path to the platform beside the central-back one. Rarity stumbled forward, bracing herself against the handrails. Aengus looked back from the yellow and green flooring and asked, “Too quick?”
“Yes, you did that too quickly,” Rarity muttered, blinking hard. “Feels like this spinning room is sinking deep into that mess down there.”
Aengus grimaced. “Stay with me, lass. Lean against me if you must.”
And as such, Aengus helped Rarity onward, where a nearly-a-man boy faced off with Aengus and his team. Excadrill went to fight this time, and eluded the punch of one of those upright yellow-and-black things, and then totaled another of the three-in-one iron ball opponents. Aengus did not even look the youth in the eye as he moved on, still helping Rarity with the dizziness. He placed his hand between her eyes. She asked, “What are you doing?”
“Forcing your eyes to see separate things. It helps us; maybe it’ll help you,” he answered.
Rarity noticed he was correct. The uneasiness faded. As they started across the vertical gears’ “bridge,” Aengus looked around briefly. He pointed at the red button they stepped on first, and moved onward. He commented, “You know your face is different from every pony, horse, and zebra I’ve ever seen, or saw pictures of.”
“Oh?”
“You have binocular vision,” Aengus explained. “Both of your eyes face forward, and, frankly, are huge. The horses, etc., of this world have eyes on the sides of their head, and are comparatively small.”
“Why does that matter?” Rarity asked as they descended some stairs.
“It’s an odd trait for a grazer. Herbivores usually have eyes on the sides of their heads, almost as if they were scanning a wider area in case a hunter came along. But animals that eat meat have both eyes facing front, in spite of the hullabaloo you made about them serving it at that restaurant,” Aengus answered.
As they stepped on the red button again, Rarity replied, “Why would they have both eyes facing front? Wouldn’t they have a better chance of spotting prey if they were looking all around at once?”
“Maybe?” Aengus unconvincingly replied. “It probably has something to do with hunting. I’m guessing it helps them see how far away something is.”
“Sounds like you also had some higher education,” Rarity said.
Aengus shook his head as they started back across the gear bridge. “Nah, it’s just something I noticed after eleven years of being out training Pokémon and looking for more in the wild. See the same thing over and over, and even an unintelligent person figures things out after awhile. Sailors, back in the day of wind-powered ships, were the first to notice the world was round and not flat, and precious few of them knew how to read or do basic mathematics.”
Rarity gave him a disbelieving look. “And how did they come to that conclusion?”
“Ports they left sank below the horizon, rather than just get smaller and smaller,” Aengus said as they started across the gears again. He smiled as he looked up. “Yep, got it. Told you this wasn’t too hard. And this is the most difficult gym in Sinnoh. I found the ones back in Johto more confusing, but I was only eleven years old back then.”
“And what purpose would my ‘huge eyes’ serve?” Rarity asked, biting back on the venom.
Aengus shrugged. “I have no idea. They’re cute, though.”
Rarity smiled contentedly at that assessment. They quickly came to the last platform. A man with short blonde hair and blue eyes was there, wearing black trousers and a medium blue coat. Aengus took something out of his bag and applied it to four of the Pokéballs at his belt. As he stepped forward, the man spoke. “Ah, so you are my latest challenger. I am Volkner. Been awhile since the last one came, and that was over quickly. I hope you brought something thrilling, because I’m growing bored of this.”
“Fear not,” Aengus said with a cocky grin. “No boredom will come to you presently. This isn’t a group you can simply push over.”
“Words I’ve heard before, or others to a similar end. Truly, I hope this will be a fun battle. It’s been awhile...,” Volkner sighed. He reached behind his back, and tossed up a Pokéball, ordering, “Jolteon, go!”
A yellow cat-like creature with black eyes, spiky fur, and a white mane came out, though its mannerisms were much more dog-like. Aengus looked at Rarity. “You want this one?”
“Uh...sure?” Rarity half-heartedly answered.
“Then, go get ‘im, Rarity!” Aengus cheered. As she stepped forward, Aengus whispered, “Watch its tail. He’ll probably strike from there to begin.”
Volkner gave Rarity a puzzled look. She began to charge her horn, staring intently at the Jolteon. Aengus smirked, and shouted, “Rarity, use Sing!”
“You want me to sing? Now??” she asked perplexed, staring back at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, Rarity, now would be a good time.”
Volkner rolled his eyes at their exchange. “Jolteon...Iron Tail.”
Rarity yelped as the speed with which Jolteon closed and swung its tail. She gasped in pain as the move struck home. She took a few deep breaths, and muttered to herself, “Sing, huh? Fine, whatever.”
Rarity of thought something she sand with The Ponytones, but figured the tune probably wouldn’t work without the rest of the quartet. Then she remembered an opera her parents took her to as a birthday present, one that was an early spark in her love of fashion. The older Prench garb always stuck out in her mind, especially the haute couture styles. She remembered an aria and began to sing it, sounding rather similar to the Habanera piece from Carmen. Within two lines, Jolteon’s eyes were closed and it was softly snoring, still on its feet. Rarity noticed and muttered, “How rude....”
Volkner barked, “Jolteon! Snap out of it, and use Charge Beam!”
“He fell asleep during your song? How rude indeed,” Aengus said with faux-irritation. “Go show him how you feel about that! Use Play Rough!”
Jolteon continued to softly snore. Snorting, Rarity rocked her head from side to side, getting two pops leftward and three from the right. She then dashed in and kicked up a dust cloud. Numerous punches and kicks sounded from within. As the dust settled, Rarity had her teeth bared, and Jolteon toppled over. In a pinkish flash he returned to his Pokéball.
Volkner blinked in shock. As he reached behind him for the next, Aengus said, “Rarity, step back. I’m sending in Excadrill.”
“Go, Raichu!” Volkner shouted.
Rarity hobbled back to Aengus’s side as Excadrill materialized from her ball. A Raichu appeared across from her. Sparks flew off the yellow dots on its cheeks. Excadrill looked back at Rarity and shot her a grin. Rarity returned it with an encouraging nod. Volkner blinked quickly again, studying Excadrill’s features. He muttered, “Another Pokémon I’ve never seen before....”
“Excadrill, use Drill Run!” Aengus shouted with glee.
“Raichu, Focus Blast!” Volkner answered.
A ball of some kind of power formed between Raichu’s hands, and shot forward at Excadrill. She leaned to her right and let it sail by. Excadrill launched herself at Raichu, spinning. Raichu hunched down, looking to leap away once Excadrill was too close to turn, but mistimed the dodge. Raichu grunted, sounding of having the wind knocked out of him, as he tumbled backwards into an uncontrolled reverse somersault and stopped face-down on the heinous floor. It, too, faded away into its Pokéball.
A bead of sweat formed on Volkner’s forehead. Sounding of forced courage, he yelled, “Luxray, your turn!”
Rarity breathed hard, nursing her side where Jolteon’s tail struck. Her fur was slightly reddened. As she looked up at Aengus, a dark grin was taking over his face. She said, “I think you’re enjoying this a little too much.”
“Maybe I am. If so, I don’t care,” he answered.
A blue and black large cat coalesced on the battleground, larger and with a fuller mane than such cats Rarity saw from earlier opponents. Volkner hollered, “Use Fire Fang, Luxray!”
Aengus grinned. “Excadrill, same song, second verse.”
Excadrill moved first, the same as last time, and to the same result. Luxray had fainted from the blow, and returned to its Pokéball. Volkner blanched. He stood wide-eyed, twitching in his hands slightly. Aengus lazily blinked as he just stood there, very relaxed. Volkner squeaked, “This is it...my trump card!”
“You don’t sound especially confident, sir,” Aengus answered cockily.
“Electivire!!” Volkner shrieked.
A large bipedal yellow and black...thing came out, sporting what looked like a pair of long, thin black tentacles coming out of its back with red tips. It flexed its arms threateningly and jumped around in a simian sort of way.
Aengus shook his head. “Excadrill, one more time.”
“Use Fire Punch now, Electivire!!” Volkner screamed.
The huge thing closed ground on Excadrill and threw a flaming punch which connected. Excadrill staggered back a few steps, blinked hard a few times, and shook her head. Then she dove forward in the same spin as before. And again, the attempt to dodge did not execute at the correct time, leaving an enormous creature toppling and disappearing in a smattering of rosy sparks. Volkner stood dumbfounded.
Excadrill walked back to Aengus, who smiled broadly at her. He scratched her back, to which she arched and closed her eyes with a contented sound. With a hug he said, “You did great, lass. Welcome to my A-Team. You’ve earned it.”
Volkner slowly walked over to them as Excadrill returned to her ball. He murmured in disbelief, “You’ve got me beat...the way your Pokémon fought was...unbelievable. I’ve never seen such strength, and you had four more you didn’t even show.”
“Thank you very much,” said Aengus earnestly. “You did not look like you were enjoying yourself.”
Volkner chuckled nervously. “Honestly...no. Your team is terrifying. You’ve given me something to work towards, a level I must reach. I’ll train harder than ever!”
“A noble goal,” Aengus answered. “And the correct way to achieve it. I wish you luck, and the perseverance to get there.”
“You’ve earned this! Your eighth badge!” Volkner said. Aengus snickered for a moment. Volkner asked, “Why’s that funny?”
“Eighth? No. Fortieth,” Aengus answered.
“Forty!?”
Aengus pulled a hard-backed wallet out. As he opened it, a flap rolled out with its own hard backing behind five panels. Four had eight ornate pins attached, and the bottom had seven. Aengus pointed at them in descending as he said, “Johto...Kanto...Kalos...Unova...and now Sinnoh.”
“Wow....”
“Glad I could impress,” Aengus grinned as he attached the Beacon Badge to the lower-right spot on the fifth flap.
As Aengus put all that stuff away, Volkner asked, “So...which Pokémon League will you challenge?”
“While I’m considered a contender for the Indigo League’s championship, I legally cannot challenge any other League,” Aengus answered. “And so I will be headed home shortly.”
“Not going to Hoenn or Alola?” asked Volkner with a raised eyebrow.
“No time,” Aengus answered. “Besides, if what I’ve heard is correct, Alola hasn’t set their League up yet.”
Volkner pressed, “But you’re just a contender for the championship at the Indigo League, but not its Champion, nor one of its Elite Four?”
“That is correct. I intend to make my challenge shortly.”
“The Indigo League is that tough??” Volkner asked in astonishment.
“Yeah,” said Aengus, slowly nodding. “It is the oldest of the Leagues, after all, and the most prestigious.”
“So I’ve heard. Since you’ve been through so many Gyms, it’s fair to guess you already having the TM for Charge Beam?” Volkner asked.
“Sure do.”
Volkner shook his head with an overwhelmed grin. “Wow. Then let me say, good luck at the Plateau, and safe journey home.”
Aengus bowed graciously, and led Rarity back out the front door of the Gym.
After a quick stop at the Pokémon Centre for healing, and switching back to his travel team, Aengus led Rarity back down Route 222 as the late afternoon sun sank in the western sky. The going was quicker without stopping to battle every trainer they happened across, as most of them were the same folks from that morning, but the hotel was still a long ways away. Rarity asked, “That Jolteon-character, why did it hurt so much when it hit me? That weasel from last night wasn’t so bad.”
Aengus looked at her for a moment, then continued gazing forward. “A Jolteon is much stronger than a Buizel, even with physical attacks. More to the point, you’re considered a Fairy-type in this world. The move Iron Tail is a Steel-type move, and one of the Fairy-type’s weaknesses, remember?”
“And the other is Poison-type attacks; I did not forget,” Rarity answered. After a pause, she continued, “So what is the plan for now, darling?”
“We hit the hay early, and set out early,” Aengus said. “The ship leaves in the morning two days from tomorrow, and we’ll need to be in Snowpoint City by then. We’ve a lot of ground to cover. Paddy’s in Solaceon Town, which leaves us two ways to get there: we take the south route through Pastoria and Hearthome Cities, or we head north and go through Veilstone City instead. From the hotel it’ll be quicker to get there by way of Veilstone, so that’s what we’re gonna do. Then we meet up with Paddy, and the lot of us head north. Depending on the time we make, we may spend the night at Celestic Town, or have a night of camping in the caves of Mt. Coronet. Then we press through the cold of those northern routes on the way to Snowpoint City. We spend our last night in Sinnoh there, and get on the ship the morning after and head for home.”
“What is he doing there, anyway?” Rarity asked. “You’ve been quick to avoid talking about that.”
“And I still am,” Aengus replied. “If you want, you can ask him about it tomorrow. I don’t much feel like being chewed out right now, and would much rather you do your yelling at him instead of me.”
Rarity nickered. “I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”
“You should.”
The two pressed onward, and were back at the hotel shortly before sundown. A reasonable night’s sleep later, Aengus and Rarity set off northward, toward Veilstone City just after daybreak.
Spike grumbled and stretched as the morning sun poked at his eyes. With a huff he stood up, smacked his lips together a few times, and trudged out of the room and down the hall. The light was on in the largest guest suite. Sweetie Bell and her parents had stayed there since Twilight gave them the bad news about Rarity, as Twilight insisted on taking them in until Rarity could be brought home. A smaller suite was across the hall, and sat prepared for another guest. Spike passed Sweetie Bell as she shuffled out the suite’s door; they absent-mindedly waved at each other in their partially awake state. As Spike passed Twilight’s room, he briefly peered in and blinked. The bedsheets were still slightly messy, and untouched. Again. For the second night. He sighed, shaking his head as he continued down the hall toward the basement stairs.
Minutes later, he opened the door to the lab. Twilight’s mane had frizzed something fierce, and maybe a little scary. Her horn was ablaze as she walked between three printing apparatuses, each of which ticked off another line now and then. Several lab benches held small items in ongoing spells, namely the soil, scorched moss, and the broken Safari Ball. The bags under Twilight’s eyes had grown huge, yet there was still focus and drive in her gaze. Spike ambled over to her, and said, “If you were waiting for the break of day, it’s already come and gone again. You need to sleep sometime, Twilight!”
Twilight didn’t even look up as she answered, “I’m so close, Spike! I have to finish this analysis so that we can follow Rarity’s and Trixie’s ponynappers! I can sleep once I have this analysis complete so that we can save Rarity and Trixie! I can’t stop now!”
Spike shot Twilight a wide-eyed look, equal parts deeply concerned and annoyed disbelief. “Twilight...can you hear how quickly you’re repeating yourself, and your own tone of voice? You’re wiped out. You can’t keep doing this. You are going to collapse, and soon.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take over?” Starlight stood at the door, levitating a mug of coffee. As she walked over, Twilight looked at her student. She promptly took the coffee from Starlight’s levitation spell. Starlight scoffed, “Hey!”
But Twilight was already halfway through the mug. She finished it off, and said, “Thank you, Starlight, very much. I needed that.”
“That was mine,” Starlight grumbled, still huffing.
“Oh. Oops,” Twilight mumbled. After a moment, she looked at a clock. She levitated a scroll with the Crystal Empire’s official insignia, stared Starlight in the face, and said, “Could you head to the train station? Sunburst should be arriving in about ten minutes.”
Starlight’s face lit up. “Really?? He actually came!?”
As Starlight dashed out the door, Twilight smiled to herself, shaking her head. She strode over to one of the printing stations, and sighed in relief as she read the most-recently added line. “Good, that’s one....”
The broken Safari Ball fell as the aura surrounding it disappeared. Twilight stumbled toward the bench with the soil.
Starlight ran onto the platform at a full canter as the train hissed, coming to a complete stop. The berth car’s door opened as the conductor called out where they were and where the train stopped next, but Starlight paid him no attention; her eyes darted among the passengers stepping off. There weren’t many on the early train, lending Sunburst to disembark in no time at all. Starlight took off and all-but tackled her half-awake friend, hugging the wind out of him.
“Ow, that actually hurt, Starlight,” Sunburst wheezed as she let go. “I’m delighted to see you too, of course, but...ow.”
“Sorry; just got a little carried away,” Starlight sheepishly answered.
Sunburst rubbed his side with his hoof and adjusted his glasses with his magic in unison. He held up a letter emblazoned with Twilight’s cutie mark. “It’s okay, but I really think we should get down to business. If Princess Twilight hadn’t personally sent me this, I would’ve attributed this talk of other-worldly abductions as modern science fiction.”
“What about abductions!?” snapped an aging unicorn stallion in a black top hat and black cape with red lining, wheeling about and advancing on the pair. His was a coat somewhere between cobalt and steel blues, with bright green eyes and grayed-out periwinkle mane and long thin mustache. He had exited the train just before Sunburst.
Sunburst scrunched his eyebrows, “I shouldn’t discuss the—wait, you look familiar. Have I seen you—yes, I believe I have! You wouldn’t happen to be Presto Lulamoon, The Terrific & Astounding, would you? I saw one of your performances a good ten years ago. That show was spectacular!”
“I’m not here for a show, young sir!” was his retort.
Starlight tapped at her chin, murmuring, “Lulamoon...ah. Trixie’s dad. So that’s who the other—”
Presto whirled around at her. “If you have information about Trixie, you’re going to give it to me right now!”
Starlight’s shoulders slumped as she looked the provoked stallion in the face. Presto had nearly forced his nose into hers in a most-unfriendly manner. Her eyes lowered as she sniffled. “Mr. Lulamoon, some creature came at us through a portal from another world. It threw something at me, but Trixie shoved me out of the way. It—” Starlight broke down into sobs. “It captured her in that small ball, a-a-and took her away! She gave herself up to ke-e-ep me safe! I’m so sorry, sir!!”
Starlight stood there, crying on the platform. Sunburst chewed on his lip, shrinking back with a face full of uncertainty. Presto sighed sadly, but put a hoof around her. He gently said, “You must be Starlight Glimmer. Trixie’s written at length about you in her letters. You’re about the only one she’d do that for. Thanks for being such a good friend to my daughter; it means so much to me to know she has somepony she can count on.”
The trio left the station as the train moved on. Starlight asked Presto about Trixie, and heard the stories only her dad could tell: Trixie’s first trick, her studying sleight of hoof, the elation that the family trade would go on, and the first time he could not follow how she performed an illusion. Sunburst offered very few words during the exchange. Twenty minutes or so later, they arrived at Twilight’s Castle.
Cookie Crumbles and Sweetie Bell both had busied themselves with tidying in the kitchen, to which Starlight’s head jerked backwards. Before she could say anything, the three heard some strained grunting from behind, and then made way as Magnum and Spike carried a keeled-over Princess Twilight Sparkle out from the lab and up the stairs, toward the hall that led to her room. Presto muttered, “Not her most-flattering expression....”
“She’s been awake for two days, Mr. Lulamoon, analysing every bit of data she retrieved, so that we can follow them to their home dimension,” Starlight answered, both quickly and defensively.
“And that’s where I come in,” Sunburst inserted. “Assuming her scans are complete, I’ll take the data and devise how to reopen the portal.”
Presto gave him an unamused look as he condescended, “And...you’re up to the task. Got it.”
“Um, yes, I am, Mr. Lulamoon,” Sunburst hesitated. “I serve Her Excellency Princess Cadance as the Crystaller and her magic consultant, and came here to help resolve this matter at Her Highness’s behest.”
Starlight nodded emphatically as Sunburst spoke. Presto closed his mouth, then tipped his hat as he said, “Ah, so you are a professional after all. I will help you, then.”
Sunburst frowned. “Um, I appreciate the offer, naturally, but I have to ask, how knowledgeable are you of conjuration magic and astral mechanics?”
“Well...,” Presto trailed off, his thought not fully formed.
“Okay, so you can’t help with writing the spell to open the portal to this other world,” Sunburst said flatly. “Maybe you could help with the casting and maintenance of the portal, then. How many gigajoules is your horn’s output?”
Presto blinked at Sunburst blankly. Sunburst frowned again. “I see. I am sorry, but I’m afraid there’s not much you can do to help me.”
Presto deflated. Starlight swiftly suggested, “Maybe you could help out with the others, use your talents to keep morale up? One of their family was also abducted.”
“So Trixie wasn’t the only one,” Presto snorted irritably.
Starlight shook her head. “No. Nor was she the first. Two different perpetrators, two different victims, but the same crime at the same place done by creatures of the same species under nearly identical circumstances, approximately fifteen minutes apart.”
Presto stared at her a moment before asking, “Why? What do these creatures want with ponies?”
“Twilight thinks they enslaved Trixie and Rarity, the other pony who was abducted,” Starlight said sadly. “Why us, and what purpose, we have no idea. We need to get into that world before we can hope to find out anything more.”
Presto glared at the floor. He looked up at Sunburst and hissed, “You do whatever you need to, to bring them home or start us on the road to bringing them home. Don’t hesitate to ask if you think there’s anything I can do to help. You hear me?”
“Of course. I, uhh...need to get to work,” Sunburst said.
Starlight led Sunburst away from the parlour and downstairs into Twilight’s laboratory. The three lab benches appeared mostly clean, although the specimens and the print-outs still sat there. Sunburst started at the bench with the moss, perusing the data readout at speed. Starlight began with the same for the soil. She did not make anywhere near the kind of progress that Sunburst did. After a few minutes, she set the paper down, sat down, and rubbed at her temples. Sunburst was still going through the moss’s data at the same rate, with the same posture and the same intrigued expression. Starlight blinked at him, then forcibly blinked between eyes shut and wide open, holding each for a little under a second several times each. She shook her head slowly and massaged her temples some more. Sunburst had nearly finished the first set of data when he asked, “You said she was at this for two days straight, without sleep?”
Starlight nodded, then noticed Sunburst hadn’t looked up. She said, “About forty hours on end, yeah. I don’t know how she stays awake so long.”
“Her Highness is a very talented spellcaster indeed,” answered Sunburst as he set down the first print-off. As he adjusted his glasses, he continued, “And I can see she, too, knows astral mechanics very well. She knew to examine an object from that other world, something directly touched by the portal, and a living thing struck by the portal’s released energy. Her analysis is very thorough; none of the common variables of astral travel will catch us by surprise. This will be much easier than expected. Between the three, I can determine exactly where we need to go, and how to write the portal creation spell.”
Starlight shook her head again. “I can’t make heads or tails of what all this says.”
“I can. While it’s still amazing you traveled through time with your magic, crossing dimensions is a whole other animal. Don’t feel bad, Starlight. There are precious few who understand astral mechanics,” Sunburst answered as he finished the first data set. As he began on the one by the Safari Ball, he said, “But I’ll need you to test the spell. There aren’t any other unicorns in a hundred leagues who have enough raw power to open the portal, Princess Twilight is in desperate need of rest, and the other princesses are all busy.”
Hours passed. Sunburst had read through each of the data results three times apiece before he began writing the spell, and often referenced different points on each data set while he laid out the diagram. In the middle of him writing, Starlight joined the others upstairs for a time, and watched Presto perform. She could see exactly where Trixie learned her flair for showponyship and some of her style, especially for tricks that required the power of suggestion. But Presto’s show was very different from Trixie’s: while Trixie used a stage and performed large-scale tricks, Presto was a master of close-up magic. In the middle of his routine, he actually performed the old cups-and-balls shtick so brilliantly nopony had the first clue how he did it, just that his horn was unpowered, and he used clear glass cups to boot. The grown-up ponies laughed at Sweetie Bell asking how he did his act, and Presto reciting the old line, “A good magician never tells his tricks.”
Elevenses had just passed when Sunburst emerged from the lab with a just-finished scroll in his satchel. He and Starlight departed for the Everfree Forest. En route, Starlight asked, “Hey Sunburst, earlier when you said something about ‘common astral variables,’ what were you talking about?”
Sunburst grinned. “I see you want the good news first. Those variables are remarkably similar between our world and this other. Specifically, that means we won’t have to worry about transmogrification across the portal, the flow of time is nearly perfectly identical, the atmosphere there is breathable, we won’t have any significant changes in gravity, length of days, chemistry, use of magic, cognitive ability, size, entropy, background radiation, metabolism, or memory, and the other world is astrally stable, which means we won’t have to worry about the other end of the portal bouncing to different places each time the spell is cast. I wouldn’t have known all of that if Princess Twilight’s examination hadn’t been so exhaustive.”
Starlight nodded. She grimaced, and asked, “Since you said ‘good news,’ what’s the bad?”
“The minor bit of bad news is that we’ll have to be at the same place to use the spell. Without analysis of the other world, moving where the portal forms will unpredictably change where it comes out on the other side; it’s not like we’re using something with fixed ends, such as that mirror,” said Sunburst.
“And the rest of it?”
Sunburst sighed. “The bigger bit of bad news is that with you using the spell, the portal will be open for only a few minutes. We’ll barely have a chance to look around. If it were one of the princesses casting, we’d have much more time, like a few hours.”
“You mentioned the time spell; you know I matched Twilight blow-for-blow during that mishap. I’d say that makes me about as strong as she is,” Starlight chuffed.
“You’re really not,” Sunburst timidly began. As Starlight scowled in disbelief at this remark, he said, “It’s just the truth of it, Starlight; you shouldn’t get offended. While you did match Princess Twilight blow-for-blow as you said, you weren’t repeatedly using that time spell. Not only did it take three specific beings to the same point in time, it took them to the same place as well. Casting a spell like that is a tremendous power drain, and she used it over, and over, and over. You used the spell only once.”
Starlight grumbled, “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose I can’t argue the point. Speaking of Twilight, how long do you think she needs to rest before she’s ready to use the spell herself?”
“Assuming everything is A-OK, Her Highness should wait for tomorrow night at the very earliest, likely the day after,” Sunburst answered.
Frowning, Starlight said, “She really doesn’t like it when ponies use her honourific. She’d rather just be ‘Twilight’ to everypony.”
“Sorry, force of habit.”
They arrived at the meadow. Starlight led Sunburst over toward where the portal was, and found the remaining mosses were still burnt. Sunburst unfurled the scroll, which rolled out much further than for what Starlight had braced herself. Half an hour of reading and rereading the spell, Starlight stood upright and gave Sunburst a nod. He stood behind her and slightly to her left as her horn powered up to a piercing glow. Rather than the spell forming into a ray, the magic swirled in a series of tiny specks of light. With point after point leaving her horn, the spell looked like a collection of spinning tendrils tracing an oval. A moment of this passed, and then all the little “strings” broke loose. The ellipse was there, exactly as it had been two days prior.
Sunburst urged, “Let’s hurry. We don’t have long, three minutes tops, likely only two, or less.”
The two leapt into the ellipse. Without much of any time to look at the strange colours between worlds, Starlight and Sunburst landed in The Great Marsh of Pastoria with a dull splotching thud. Both of them groaned in the brown brackish mess than now covered them. They struggled to their feet. Starlight grumbled, “Yuck. We have to lay down planks or stones or something so that nopony else ends up in this...ick.”
“We really don’t have time for that. But on the bright side, the spell works perfectly,” Sunburst said, sticking his tongue out at the mud. He looked up and commented, “I hear the sea. The smell was a clue we’re close, but close enough to hear it? A few hundred metres at most.”
A delighted gasp snatched both of their attentions. They turned to see a human girl, no older than twelve and slightly tanned, standing there, in tall black rubber boots, yellow slacks, a white top and a purple windbreaker. She had a lean, athletic build, and the sort of face that warned of a future filled with breaking boys’ hearts. Her brown hair was in an evenly-done single French braid, and her brown eyes and expression screamed that she was doing her darnedest to not squeal happily at the top of her lungs. She euphorically squeaked, “Ponies...!! Oh my God, they’re so cute!!”
Starlight took a defensive stance as she growled, “Be on your guard! She’s coming for us!”
“You can’t be serious,” Sunburst answered incredulously. “She looks like she just saw a litter of kittens, not like she means to enslave.”
“You have got to be on my team!” the girl cheered as she threw a Safari Ball.
Starlight yelled, “Look out!”
Firing a teal ray, Starlight shot down the Safari Ball, shattering it into more than six pieces. The sudden look of shock, sadness, and even a bit of betrayal on the girl’s face would have reduced her father to tears. Sunburst simply looked stunned. He breathed, “...unbelievable.”
“You will not enslave me!!” Starlight barked. She then telekinetically grabbed the girl’s bag of Safari Balls and yanked it off her hip, continuing, “You will not enslave anything else!!”
Baring her teeth, Starlight rapidly fired into the bag as the girl screamed, horrified. Twenty-six shots, twenty-six shattered balls. The girl’s eyes glistened as the corners of her mouth turned down, her lower lip quivering, and her shaking hands moving toward her face. As she started sniffling and sobbing, a chime sounded somewhere, followed by a serene mare’s voice. “You’ve run out of Safari Balls. Your Safari game is over.”
A small yellow creature suddenly appeared with a small pop, and then disappeared the same way along with the girl as her waterworks really began. Starlight’s mouth had fallen open in livid shock. Sunburst shook his head, and saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see a human boy of about the same age as that girl, with a dark brown complexion, and well-kempt coarse black hair kept short, and wearing the same kind of boots, pre-damaged blue jeans, and a red and blue thick-striped shirt standing there, throwing another of those balls at an oversized, floating Venus flytrap. It hit the strange plant, which faded away in a shower of green sparks. A few seconds later, the boy jumped with a jubilant fist pump and indistinct but triumphant whoop. Sunburst blurted, “...this is sick and twisted....”
“A game!? This is a bucking game to these...things!?!” Starlight ejaculated. The boy turned and saw Starlight and Sunburst, appearing highly interested as he raised both eyebrows and pursed his lips. Starlight fired a shot into the mud at his feet, snarling, “Don’t you even try it...!!”
The boy’s wide-eyed face was more than alarmed as he put both hands up with fingers spread wide and backed away. Sunburst muttered in exasperation, “They stuff random monsters into these pocket dimensions?? Why would they do that? What could this hostile ownership possibly gain for them?”
Starlight, however, appeared primed and ready to kill something. She shot at every thrown Safari Ball she could see, even at some a good fifty metres away. The safari-goers hastily retreated out of Starlight’s range or behind cover, most of them looking shocked, others angry, and sadness from others still. She fumed, “Making a game out of enslaving everything in sight, and getting their foals in on this too?! What in the hoof is wrong with these humans!?”
Sunburst looked over in time to see the portal waiver slightly. “Starlight,” he began, “let’s just go. There’s nothing more we can do here right now, and the portal will collapse in a moment.”
Sighing, Starlight nodded sadly, looking very tired all of a sudden. She levitated both of them out of the mud and through the portal, which disappeared in a burst of light eight seconds later.
“Seems like a nice enough little hamlet. Looks like my friend Applejack would love the local fashion,” Rarity said with an unappreciative snort.
Aengus said, “If you say so.”
The two stood on a small rise just north of Solaceon Town minutes past high noon. Folks in down-home country duds and cowboy hats milled about. A strange hill with a few cave openings sat just past the trees to their left. A building with a wide fenced-in area was on the right of the main thoroughfare, or muddy road as Rarity saw it. There were a few other houses, and the usual amenities for Pokémon and their trainers seen around Sinnoh. Past the village, poking above the thin woods was a tower, one incongruous to the local architecture.
Rarity grumbled, “I still would like to have spent some time in that department store, and I’m still waiting for an answer.”
“I told you before we arrived that we’d have little more than a pit stop at Veilstone, and Paddy can explain himself if he wants to,” Aengus answered. He then knelt down in front of her. “Now hold still a moment; I believe you no longer need this headgear.”
“Thank Celestia,” Rarity muttered with a relieved sigh.
As Aengus finished loosening the Experience Share and removed it, Rarity took a rather pleased deep breath, and began adjusting her coif with her magic. Aengus opened his bag, put the odd headset inside, and then pulled out a small off-white ellipsoid. He said, “I want you to keep this with you for awhile.”
Rarity gave it a sideways glance. “You...want me to keep an egg? Surely you don’t mean for me to incubate the little dear, do you?”
“Not at all,” Aengus snickered. “This is a Lucky Egg. You’ll learn from your experiences more quickly with it.”
“Ah. I see.”
“I’m also putting you on point,” Aengus said.
Rarity’s lips tightened at those words. She paused, and said, “You mean, I’m out front, doing the fighting.”
“Precisely.”
Rarity sighed and shook her head. The two began down the small hill. As they neared the town limits, she asked, “Where do you think he’s at?”
Aengus looked to his right, at the fenced-in area. As he looked across the different Pokémon there, he said, “Let’s try this building first.”
They walked toward the entrance, again, on the south-facing side of the building, in a rectangular alcove between the building and its fence. An old man stood there, giving them both a courteous nod. Rarity looked up at the sign. She blurted, “‘Daycare?’ Why would Paddy stop at a daycare?”
Aengus sighed. “How many times must I say he can explain himself for himself?”
“Pphhht. Fine.”
Heading inside, they saw a quaint lobby, one of the blue computers, and an old lady behind a counter. Paddy was not there. The crone said, “I’m the Daycare Lady. We can raise your Pokémon for you.”
“Actually, I was looking for my brother. I thought he may have come here,” Aengus interrupted.
“And you were right,” Paddy interrupted in turn. Aengus and Rarity turned toward the door and saw him enter, this time in mostly black from head to toe with red trim on his jacket, pants, and a logo of some kind on his black ball cap. The same logo was on his jacket above the left chest pocket, but in white there. This time, his boots were black. Paddy was folding up a bike and putting it in his bag as he continued, “I saw you two going in, but you were out of shouting range.”
Aengus chuckled and shook his head. “Met your goal, I take it?”
“Naturally,” said Paddy with a satisfied smile. “Took about as long as expected, too.”
Rarity gave Paddy a slight frown, head tilted down a touch, and eyes narrowed. “Aengus has been dodgy about what you’ve been doing, just that I wouldn’t like it. And that was only implied, not flat-out said. What were you doing?”
“Left a pair of my Pokémon here. The Daycare couples in every region do a great job of raising them and bringing them up stronger while one’s away training others,” Paddy said earnestly.
“If you meant Trixie, she’s a pony like me, not a Pokémon,” Rarity growled. “And if they ‘raise’ them while one’s away, what were you doing that wasn’t here?”
Paddy shrugged. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, but suffice it to say, it’ll do me a world of good. But I doubt you’ll even notice.”
Aengus facepalmed at his brother. Rarity nickered and said, “I would like to know what you did to my fellow pony.”
“Geez, I thought you two didn’t get on well at all,” Paddy said with a dismissive hand gesture. “I said not to worry. Now if you’ll pardon me, I need to pay these good folks for their kind services.”
Paddy walked up to the counter. Aengus stood there shaking his head and chewing on his lower lip as Rarity walked back over to him, grumbling, “What is it about younger siblings acting spoiled? My sister gives me the same kind of flippant attitude every now and then.”
As the Daycare Lady asked for a hundred Pokébucks for Zebstrika’s time there, Aengus said, “Maybe it’s because they get more attention, since they’re the closest removed from being a wee babe? I don’t know. I just know that I had to be the responsible one, and took the fall whenever he was out of line. It was always, ‘you’re the older brother; you should know better than to let him do that!’ whenever he broke something or other such rot. Or when I tried being more strict and held his arms down, you know, to keep him from doing stupid things like grabbing a hot burner on the stove, I got it again: ‘you have no right to restrain your brother like that!’ Bloody aggravating, I tell you.”
“Hear, hear. Preaching to the choir, sir,” Rarity said approvingly with a firm nod. The Daycare Lady lead Zebstrika out; the ball of red yarn in his mane drew a raised eyebrow from Rarity. The lady charged seventeen-hundred for Trixie. As she heard the other pony’s name, Rarity turned and started for the counter. She said, “And why was she so much more expensive? I know Trixie can be a hooffull, but seriously?”
Paddy said, “If a Pokémon in their care—”
“Pony,” Rarity inserted.
“—grows in strength more quickly than another does,” Paddy said without missing a beat, “they charge more for that Pokémon than—”
“Pony!”
“—the one that grew little,” he finished, and gave Rarity a condescending half-grin before turning back toward the door behind the counter. Zebstrika also looked that direction. Rarity muttered something indistinct under her breath that had the air of something profane.
Beyond the door, the Daycare Lady’s voice said in grandmotherly tones, “Oh, dearie, you have to be careful when you roughhouse some. I’m sure it’s in your nature to, well, horse around, but don’t overdo it. Easy does it now.”
“She’s hurt?” Rarity’s face instantly switched from biting back obscenities to genuine worry as she looked around the counter’s gate.
As the Daycare Lady led Trixie out from the yard, Rarity couldn’t help but notice her gait was off. Trixie had a bit of a wobble to her hind legs, but a sleepy grin on her face, very different from her usual smug demeanor. The Daycare Lady lifted the gate and Trixie ambled forward unevenly. With a wince and stumble, Trixie looked up at Zebstrika. She nuzzled him, with a blush and a smile. Zebstrika returned the affection with a sated grin of his own. Trixie looked him in the eye, still blushing, but she winced and stumbled again as she stepped toward Paddy. Rarity asked with concern, “Are you okay? What happened to you?”
“Something great and powerful...,” sighed Trixie happily, a tired smile taking over her face.
“Great and powerful?” Rarity echoed, giving Trixie a hard, unamused tight-lipped stare. Rarity’s eyes widened with a slight gasp as she murmured, “Trixie, you didn’t...!”
Still smiling to herself, Trixie met Rarity’s eyes and said, “Guess the gals at school weren’t kidding: ‘Once you’ve had stripes, nothing else feels right.’”
Rarity’s eyes appeared...larger, as if they forcibly widened their own sockets as their lids went poof and were gone; the only hint her eyelids still existed somewhere were Rarity’s well-mascaraed eyelashes poking out at the top and bottom of each eye. At the same time, Rarity let out a gasp, long and in her lower register, with her jaw slightly apart and opening more. As the overly long gasp dragged on for a moment, Aengus rubbed his forehead nervously and muttered, “This is gonna be bad....”
“TRIXIE!!! YOU OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF, DOING THAT IN FRONT OF OTHERS!! THIS IS A DAYCARE FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE!!!” Rarity screamed, loud enough to force everyone and everything else present to cover their ears.
Lowering her hooves, Trixie’s smug smirk returned as she brushed at her chest. She snidely asked, “Jealous?”
“J...j...jea...JEALOUS!!?” Rarity sputtered. “Why in the hoof would I be JEALOUS of...of...your immodesty, of all things?!?”
Trixie mockingly laughed. “Oh please, Rarity. Immodesty? Surely even you couldn’t forget that The Great and Powerful Trixie just loves a good captive audience, and oh were they captivated by her...performance. A showpony, putting on a show...who would have ever guessed? That one little Pachirisu kept excusing herself to behind the bushes for several minutes at a time.”
Rarity’s jaw seemed to unhinge and hang unnaturally low. Zebstrika’s face flushed as he pointedly looked away, tapping at the ground. Aengus and Paddy both stood agape themselves, somewhere between aghast and stunned. Trixie sneered and chuckled in her pompous sort of way. Aengus blurted, “This is just getting weird....”
“Aye,” Paddy said sheepishly.
Aengus shook his head while Rarity failed to form syllables. He looked over at his brother and said, “Good to know you’re not enjoying this.”
“Seriously, brother?” Paddy grumbled, giving Aengus the annoyed, incredulous look younger siblings often give their big brothers and sisters when they think something is obvious. Rarity was still searching for something to say. Paddy pursed his lips, and demanded, “What kind of person gets off on seeing, hearing, or reading about horses humping?”
“You...did that...in front of...why...what...,” Rarity cobbled together.
“And as to your jealousy, isn’t it obvious? I can bed a real stallion,” Trixie asked as she sidled up alongside of Zebstrika, who had gotten past his embarrassment and nuzzled her. She enjoyed his tenderness for a moment, then she pointed a hoof at Rarity threateningly as she barked, “While the best you could do is ‘your precious wittle Spikey-Wikey;’ isn’t that right?”
Rarity’s upper lip curled as her teeth clenched. She snapped, “One, I did not, could not, and would not do that to a child! And two, I, unlike you, turn every head in Ponyville, and nearly half of them in Canterlot!!”
“Yet you can’t get a single one of them to ask you on a date, let alone more. That is just pathetic,” Trixie countered, dropping to her lower register on and slowing down the last word, before resuming her trademarked smirk.
Rarity snarked, “Oh, forgive my good looks for being too intimidating for most boys to dare approach! And when I give my future husband wilder nights than he could imagine, night after night, we’ll have the decency to do it behind closed doors, instead of out in the open at a daycare, you licentious howler!”
Trixie snorted, “Sure you will. And, just so you know, despite what it says on the sign, this is no ‘daycare.’ It’s—”
“This has gone on quite long enough, thank you,” Paddy chided as Trixie suddenly vanished, replaced by retreating green specks of light. Zebstrika’s shoulders slumped slightly as he looked at where she was. Then he, too, disappeared in a similar means, but light blue instead of green. Paddy turned to Aengus and said, “And I’ll thank you to not let your Pokémon cause an Uproar outside of battle.”
“She doesn’t know—” Aengus began as he walked up to Rarity, his words coming to a screeching halt as he placed a hand on her head. He paused a moment, both eyebrows raised, and continued, “Huh. She does now.”
Paddy started for the computer. “I sure hope that didn’t replace anything you wanted to keep.”
“I’ve got it under control,” Aengus said smoothly as he followed his brother.
“Naturally; I would expect nothing less from you, Aengus,” Paddy answered. Rarity did not follow, but headed towards and stood by the door with an insistent expression. Paddy continued tapping on the screen, putting Pokéballs into the slot and receiving others, and he said, “Just have to make a few adjustments.”
Aengus watched his brother for a moment, then sighed, “Yeah, I figured that was your next move.”
“Obviously. Perfect set, and time to start fresh,” Paddy answered.
“Just putting that on her from here?” Aengus asked with a small frown.
“Quicker and easier this way,” said Paddy as he simply nodded. Another moment passed. Rarity audibly cleared her throat, but neither brother turned. A pause, and then Paddy muttered to himself, “Now, to—”
“You’re not really gonna—” Aengus interjected.
“Sure am,” Paddy interrupted back, tapping a point on the screen with a minor flourish.
Aengus scoffed irritably and shook his head. As he put his hands on his hips, he grumped, “You’re a real piece of work, Paddy, you know that?”
“Yes, I learned it well from you,” Paddy said with a small grin.
“Ahem,” Rarity faux-coughed. “Aren’t you quite done yet? I thought we had a boat to catch, and a race northward to get there in time.”
“Hold your horses, you,” Paddy said, grinning to himself.
“Not funny.”
“I’m making some party adjustments,” Paddy said with some worn-down patience. “It’ll only be a moment longer.”
“‘Adjustments’ is what you’re calling it now?” Aengus said accusingly.
Paddy stopped and gave his brother a disapproving stare. His voice was about the same. “Are you seriously starting to emotionally attach to her? You were the one who warned me against becoming too fond of any given Pokémon because of how dramatically it can weaken one’s team, or don’t you remember my Sunkern?”
“I tell you, she has a kind of diversity in her moves the likes of which no one’s ever seen,” Aengus said with forced civility.
“And I’m telling you, dear brother,” Paddy began in about the same fashion, “that you know just as well as I do that while moveset diversity is a boon, as are specific approaches against opponents, both of those are all for naught if that Pokémon of yours—”
“PONY!!!”
“—cannot overcome statistical deficiencies, like actually doing something with its attacks, or...taking a hit without then finding herself in dire straits,” Paddy finished.
“You saw her dossier; you can’t make-believe she doesn’t pack a punch,” Aengus fired back.
“What good is a canon if it doesn’t get a chance to fire?” Paddy countered. Aengus sighed and looked down. Paddy resumed, “Ah, so you did notice. What’s your contingency plan for physical sweepers, even subpar ones...such as, say...a Crobat?”
“I remember their teams, Paddy,” Aengus said. “She’ll get the job done.”
Paddy put his hands up. “Hey, I’m just trying to help. But she’s right; we should head out before it gets any later.”
“Finally,” Rarity grumbled. They all left the building and turned northward. Paddy went out in front as they headed up that little rise. Rarity asked, “Darling, what was he on about, ‘physical sweeper’ and all that?”
Aengus grimaced. “Styles of Pokémon, and specialties. A ‘physical sweeper’ is a fast-moving Pokémon with strong physical attacks, used to strike down an opponent before they get off a move or two. He’s concerned you’re not nimble enough to handle how quickly a sweeper strikes, and also that you lack the fortitude to withstand their attacks.”
“Are his fears warranted?” Rarity asked, rolling her eyes.
“Unfortunately yes,” Aengus answered sadly. Rarity shot his a displeased look as he continued, “Sorry; it’s just the way it is. Your speed is above average, but nowhere near what sweepers have. But I still want you on the team. Why I do is because the last two in the run for Champion are Bruno, who uses Fighting-types, and Karen the current champion, a Dark-type master. You can target both of them, and outrun most of their crew.”
Rarity nodded. Then she looked up at Aengus and said, “I thought you said you’ve never gotten past Bruno. How do you know what this Karen has?”
“I watched somebody else make their challenge,” Aengus said with a small grin. “That pompous sodding bugger had Psychic-types for half of his team and two Ghosts, which helped him against Will, Koga, and Bruno, but you remember what Dark-type moves are super effective against, right?”
Rarity sighed as if to sympathise. “Yeah. Psychic- and Ghost-types. This...‘sodding bugger,’ as you so artfully put it, really set himself up for failure, didn’t he?”
Aengus nodded. “Karen sent each of her Pokémon for some time on the field, as if she were just giving them a chance to stretch their legs. Six knockouts to none. It was brutal. It’s too bad, too; I was hoping to see what the then-champion Lance used.”
“Oh. Did Karen defeat him and take his place?” Rarity asked.
Aengus shook his head. “He left of his own accord, off to join the new ‘World Elite Four.’”
Rarity raised an eyebrow in interest. “Safe to assume this is a League to sit above every regional League?”
“Yep,” said Aengus. “Saw bills posted for it while we were in Kalos, and again in Unova. Heck, there’s one such bill hung on that sign right there, to your right...yes, that.”
“The rain’s made this illegible, dear,” Rarity said, looking back at Aengus a bit annoyed.
Aengus shrugged, and continued, “I shouldn’t be surprised; it’s probably been there for close to half a year by now. As I was saying, we were in Virbank City in Unova when we got a letter from mom, telling us that Lance had moved on to the World Elite Four. There were a few other names she mentioned that I don’t recall clearly right now; I think she mentioned a ‘Steven Stone,’ or some name like that. I can’t remember the other two, but the World Champion...I said the night before that three boys a few years older than me challenged and won the Indigo League when they set out on their first adventure, and that’s part of why I’m still going for it. The World Champion was the first of those three, Blue Oak.”
Rarity pulled her lips taut and shook her head. “His actual name is ‘Blue?’ What were his parents thinking?”
“Who knows?”
Rarity snorted, “Just as long as he wasn’t dethroned by a kid name ‘Red,’ or something equally absurd.”
“Actually...,” Aengus snickered.
Rarity’s expression fell as she facehoofed. “Oh my Celestia....”
“Anyways, that opened a slot in the Indigo League’s Elite Four, and as usual, a Gym Leader stepped up to take the spot. Actually made me happy that Volkner was an Electric specialist, because that made the gym a practical warm-up mentally to deal with the newest member of the Elite Four,” Aengus said.
“Am I about to hear another needlessly whimsical name?” Rarity quipped with a dull expression.
Aengus forced a closed-mouth grin as he closed his eyes for a moment, sighing through his nose. “Well, when I met him, he was Lieutenant Surge.”
Rarity hung her head. “Luna save us....”
“When I went through his Gym, it sounded like he was about due for promotion to Captain. That was long enough ago he has to have made Major by now, maybe even Lieutenant Colonel,” said Aengus, stifling a laugh.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but ‘Captain Surge’ and ‘Major Surge’ sound equally cheesy, like something out of a half-bit comic book,” Rarity said flatly.
Aengus simply shrugged. They made their way north, through some extra tall grass, and turned west when the route became extra-foggy. Pidgeot dealt with the fog almost immediately. They encountered a little over a dozen trainers on their way, most of whom Rarity did not find difficult. The one Probopass both disgusted Rarity and left her seeing stars. When a pair of skilled young trainers wanted a two-on-two battle near nightfall, Paddy sent out a pink cat-like creature with a forked tail, purple eyes, and a red gem set in its forehead to fight alongside Rarity. This thing struck much faster than she could, sending such a harsh psychic wave that she felt it push on her too, and saw it leave a rippling distortion. A few stones needed another two minutes before they fell back to the ground. As they moved on, Rarity nudged Aengus and asked, “That was a sweeper that Paddy sent out, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Aengus answered. “Espeon is a special sweeper, not a physical sweeper. It’s not perfect, especially if there are Steel-types against it, but in many situations it’s pretty strong. Of course, Paddy keeps counters against Steel-type foes on-hand and will switch out if needed.”
On they went in the failing light. Dusk had long passed when they arrived at Celestic Town, and the stars were bountiful. They started toward a bed and breakfast. An elderly couple stopped and gave Rarity a suspicious look. She met their gaze sideways, and asked, “Is there something wrong?”
“And she talks, too,” said the man. “I wonder if it’s the same one.”
“‘Same one’ what?”
“Were you at The Great Marsh this morning?” he asked.
Aengus answered, “We’ve not been there in days. Why?”
“Word’s gotten around that there were a pair of unique pony-Pokémon in The Great Marsh this morning that came through what looked like a ‘shimmering mirror.’ Ones that could speak,” the old lady said. “Witnesses say they were both unicorns, and one of the two started firing blue-green blasts out of its horn at people, and their Pokéballs, before they retreated back through this gateway. You wouldn’t happen to have any information about it, would you?”
“Sorry, I don’t,” Rarity said defensively.
“How did you hear about that?” Aengus asked with scrunched eyebrows.
The old man flipped open a newspaper, and pointed at the front-page headline. Rarity could not read their alphabet, but Aengus took the paper and perused the article. After a moment, he said, “Rarity, would you know a pony with a pale pink coat, blue eyes, and a dark purple mane with an aquamarine streak in it?”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Starlight Glimmer! She’s Trixie’s best friend, and probably came looking for her! She’d want to know!”
“Okay, then would you also know a...never mind,” said Aengus, who looked up and saw Rarity had already taken off toward the bed and breakfast.
She ran in and down the hall after Paddy, who had already opened the door to his own room. Rarity shouted, “Paddy, dear! I need to talk to Trixie right away!”
“I’m really not in the mood for another argument between you two,” he said, and took a step in.
“Please!” Rarity pressed. “It’s about her best friend! She was seen at The Great Marsh this morning!”
Paddy stopped and turned. “Really? They came through from the other side?”
Rarity nodded, “According to the newspaper, yes they did, but left just before the portal shut.”
Paddy walked back out into the hall. “I’ll get my own copy. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Darling, I still need to talk to her,” Rarity urged.
Paddy sighed. “I appreciate that you’re concerned for Trixie, really I am, but she’s exhausted. She has been all day, and is already asleep. I don’t imagine waking her now is the best plan, especially if they’re already gone. Her best friend, you said?”
“Yes. Starlight Glimmer.”
“Starlight Glimmer. Got it,” said Paddy. “I’ll let her know when she wakes up.”
The rest of the night was uneventful. Aengus got a room with two beds, though they weren’t as soft as the nice ones at Hotel Grand Lake, but not bad. The three arose, breakfasted, and were back on the move just after dawn, dressed in thicker clothing. Rarity sulked that practicality trumped fashion, not to mention a lack of selection at the general store. When it came to adding extra furs sized for a pony, all they could offer her were a few down comforters and half a cow hide. Rarity settled on the thick red blanket, though she called it carmine, and tied it around her neck like a foal’s “cape.” They headed west...starting up the side of the ever-present Mt. Coronet.
Rarity pulled the red comforter around her tighter as she continued to look for what she could make into a sewing needle, or at least use as one. Aengus and Paddy were just ahead of her. They all descended the rough staircase in the cave into a much colder room, covered in a dense fog. Aengus summoned his Pidgeot to deal with it while Paddy called for a weird miniature hot air balloon for the same reason. The fog disappeared nearly immediately. Water lapped against stones nearby. As a wild Golbat swooped at Paddy, Rarity walked up to Aengus. She shivered as she said, “How did it get so cold, darling? I thought it was summertime.”
“It is, but Mt. Coronet is always cold, and its icy winds sweep down the north face into the forest beyond. The name ‘Snowpoint City’ is quite apt,” said Aengus, while behind him Paddy’s Espeon blasted the wild Golbat with a vicious psychic wave, rending its wings right off. The maimed Golbat fell into the water, where nearly immediately a dorsal fin cut the surface for a brief moment. Aengus slowly turned away from that scene with a nauseated face and muttered, “Again. He’s at it again.”
Rarity’s face began twitching rhythmically, most pronouncedly her lower left eyelid. She somehow blanched in spite of her natural colour, turning a whiter shade of pale before looking a little green in the face. She murmured, “Why would he??”
“That was unintentional; she just got a solid critical hit, amplified by the structure of this room that managed to hit perfectly on the shoulder joint. I doubt we could’ve pulled that off intentionally,” said Paddy as he looked back at Aengus and Rarity. He shrugged and added, “Not that I really mind. I’ll just have to wait a few more before the next time.”
Rarity covered her mouth as her torso wavered and cheeks bulged. Aengus scoffed, “You oughta be horse-whipped!”
“For what? Doing my duty to help wild Pokémon?” Paddy said, looking miffed at his brother.
“‘Help!?!’ Your Espeon killed that thing!!” Rarity squawked.
“Well...almost correct. Pokémon moves can’t kill other Pokémon, but on rare occasions they can cause serious harm if something goes wrong, like this. She didn’t strike a fatal blow, but she did doom it to die; that fin told me it was a Gyarados’s breakfast. Feeding isn’t exactly a Pokémon move, so...,” Paddy said, trailing off as he looked at the water. Aengus spat at the ground while Rarity’s body lurched. A very small burp left her lips, to which she covered her mouth as her cheeks turned a little pink. Paddy held up a hand in front of Aengus and continued, “But yes, this helps. Certain evolutionary lines of Pokémon aren’t just overpopulated, they are drastically overpopulated. Zubat and Golbat are one of those lines, and the worst of them.”
“Your excuse is population control!?” Aengus barked.
“Not an excuse, but a duty,” Paddy said defiantly. “You forgot, I’ve been a Pokémon Ranger every summer since they started their program in Johto.”
Aengus muttered to himself, “Ah yes, I nearly forgot your summertime obsession with Grass-types.”
“Your ‘duty,’” Rarity said full of questioning doubt, looking Paddy right in the eye.
Paddy started toward her at a slow pace as his Espeon returned to the ball. “Have you ever seen what happens to a farm when there’s a Rattata/Raticate infestation? It’s damn ugly. Scores of acres of grain disappear overnight. Livestock run out of feed minutes after it’s put in storage. You can open a barn door and watch as a carpet of them two layers deep scurry away. There are so many they literally crawl all over each other in their frantic escape, and are more than happy to Bite each other so that they can get into a safe hiding place before another does. They knock each other out, and unconscious Pokémon block their intended escape routes. Then comes the frantic clawing and gnawing on the knocked out ones, which hardly qualifies as a Pokémon move, either. The barn devolves into a bloodbath in less than a minute now that they’ve foregone proper Pokémon moves. Even the ‘winner’ is so bloodied that it, too, is dying. That gives somebody the task of removing tonnes of their dead bodies, not figurative tonnes, but the actual unit of weight. Within a fortnight there are just as many as there were before, but the bloodstains remain. Now, imagine that many Rattatas not at a farm, but just out in the wild. What do you think that does to the food supply for everything else?”
Paddy stopped within arm’s reach of Rarity while she just glared at him. He paused a moment, then continued, “I can tell you exactly what happens, because it happened my first summer as a Ranger. That was five years ago, on Route 32. They ate everything. I mean, everything. It was so bad we had to fall back to the Ruins of Alph for two nights for our own safety, and it was a week and a half later before the outbreak had been finished off. But it was terrible. We had to nurse half-starved Mareeps, and Spearows, and Woopers, and so on, back to health. Not all of them made it. A baby Aipom died in my lap while I was trying to bottle-feed it. Its mother had withered away, unable to eat enough to produce milk and keep itself at a healthy weight, because the Rattatas ate everything. Then there’s the Rattatas themselves. Since Pokémon moves cannot kill, it fell to us after making them faint. Do it as quickly and painlessly as possible. So very many times. We don’t like to think about it, let alone say it aloud.”
“Sorry you have such a dreadful memory, but shouldn’t the Rangers have let the predators have a field day when that sort of thing is going on?” Rarity grumbled.
“You would like to think so, wouldn’t you? But no, it doesn’t happen like that. Ekans don’t need to eat that often. And along Route 32, its only other native natural predator is like hen’s teeth now. They’re nearly extinct in the wild period,” Paddy said irritably.
Aengus rolled his eyes. “Would you get off the stage.”
Paddy said, “Seriously.”
“Yeah? What is this supposedly rare Pokémon?”
Paddy snorted. “Along Route 32, Totodile.” Aengus jerked his head back in surprise and disbelief. Paddy nodded at him slowly. Looking between the brothers, Rarity frowned. Paddy resumed, “And it’s the same problem in every region. Certain Pokémon lines are given to children who become trainers, taken from the wild in such numbers long ago that these days, trading and gifts to new trainers are the only realistic way to find them now. And as a direct result, every region has a least one ever-present small mammalian Normal-type Pokémon that no longer has enough predators in the wild, and what’s worse, they’re not even worth bothering to train. Thankfully there’s only been the one here in Sinnoh. But back home in Johto, you’ll see two of them. Kalos has five. Zubat/Golbat, and Tentacool/Tentacruel, are bloody everywhere.”
“You make it sound like these evolutionary lines live all across their regions,” Aengus said, scratching Rarity behind the ears.
“They are, but you don’t come across them much where they’re still prey,” Paddy said. “Ever notice, brother, how you almost never see Rattatas or Sentrets around Blackthorn City? There they have Lickitung and Skarmory hunting them; there they have to be careful so as to not get caught. Elsewhere, there’s no such danger.”
“And Rangers keep the populations down where their native predators are gone?” Aengus said unconvinced.
Paddy continued down the path. Aengus and Rarity followed as Paddy said, “As I said, we don’t talk about it often, even amongst ourselves, because it’s not a happy job. Every few females, don’t just make it faint, but kill it as I said, quickly and painlessly, so that it can’t reproduce. It’s not so much with the males, since any one of them can impregnate many. Keep the numbers from getting out of hand. Keep the wild Pokémon safe from starvation. And when an outbreak does happen, extermination. It’s the only way to keep people and Pokémon safe when it happens, and nature too, obviously. Nature must be maintained at all times.”
Aengus muttered, “A Chikorita, hunting? Gimme a break.”
Paddy chuckled. “Those were my exact words when I was told the first time. Only saw it happen once, and boy did he look ashamed of himself when he realised we saw the whole thing. Haven’t looked at them the same since. Haven’t looked at Sentrets the same either for the same reason.”
They turned to the right and ascended some stairs. Aengus and Rarity looked at each other in shared irritation. Rarity muttered, “So you cull the packs of Rattatas and Raticates, Zubats and Golbats, Tentacools and Tentacruels, and what else? Just want to know when I should look away. I don’t want to see my breakfast twice in one morning.”
Paddy scoffed. He shook his head, waiting at the top of the stairs for them. As they rounded the corner to the left, he said, “Sentret/Furret, Zigzagoon/Linoone, Bidoof/Bibarel even though Bibarel is a good HM slave, Patrat/Watchog, and Bunnelby/Diggersby. If I ever make it to Alola and meet up with Rangers there, I’m sure there’ll be something new for me to deal with.”
Rarity sighed, giving a flat, annoyed expression towards whatever lay ahead of her. The trio reached the end of the tunnel and stepped outside. Wind swept down the mountain from the south. Rarity exclaimed a nonword noise as she pulled the comforter around her tighter. The snow was deep all the way up and down the north face of Mt. Coronet and continued to fall. Rarity sank past her knees on the first step. She whimpered, “Cold...cold....”
Paddy laughed, “Oy, where’s your bloody stamina?”
“Easy for you to say, Mr. Fully-Dressed!” Rarity snapped. “Why don’t you try it with just a blanket around your shoulders!?”
Rarity grouched to herself things that no one else could hear as Paddy continued to chuckle. She looked around and saw people further up the mountainside; they were sliding down the snow with a plank of wood strapped to each of their feet. She looked at Aengus for a moment, then back at these people as they continued their descent. She asked, “What the heck am I looking at?”
Aengus said, “It’s called ‘skiing.’ Some folks find a thrill zipping down snowy mountains at breakneck speeds. The crazy ones do that through trees and over rocks, and so on.”
“Huh,” said Rarity. Her face perked up for a moment, then she rolled her eyes. “Oh, right. When I think about it, there was that one stallion at Starlight’s village who did something like that. What’s his name, ‘Double Diamond’ I think? Sounds right, at least.”
Aengus sighed, “No wonder Paddy is convinced you’re all different Pokémon. Your names are just as quaint as theirs are.”
Rarity nickered and rolled her eyes again. “Why are all the skiing people dressed in nearly identical clothes?”
“I assume it’s just practical wear for skiing,” Aengus said.
“Well, that style certainly doesn’t pop,” Rarity said with a shiver. She telekinetically pulled the comforter tighter around her backside. “Maybe I can draw up something that’s both functional and sporty, once we’re indoors.”
“We’ve a long ways to go.”
They continued on. As they started down the gully, the snow suddenly deepened. Rarity found herself nearly up to her neck with a yelp. She clamped up, eyes opened wide with pinprick pupils, ears flattened, mouth tightly shut, and shivering like mad. Aengus stopped, looked back, and started toward her. Just above a whisper and near the absolute top of her vocal range she squeaked, “Eeeeeiiaaaaaaah...!!”
She began to hyperventilate, unable to advance. Paddy had stopped and turned to see her like that. Aengus reached her, knelt down, and asked, “Are you okay? What happened?”
In the same voice and volume as before, she barely got out, “We’ve a small patch between our hind legs that has no fur, and oh it’s cold there...!”
Aengus sighed, long and low. He rubbed the side of her face and said, “Do you want back inside your ball?”
Rarity blinked for the first time since sinking into the deep snow. She started to shake her head, then Aengus said, “Rarity, listen to me. There’s snow this deep in many places between here and Snowpoint. You said you wanted to see the styles we have...well, you’ve seen about all you’re gonna see out here until we reach town. It’s all gonna be ski suits with ski masks, parkas, heavy gloves, ushankas, down-stuffed coats, waterproofed boots, toboggans, chest-high snow pants, and thick scarves. Everything out here is pragmatic with no hint of high fashion. You’re not gonna see a lady walking around here with her hands in an ermine muff, wearing a well-trimmed multi-layered dress, velvet cape with fur lining, and a bedecked wide-brimmed chic hat. I know you don’t like the Pokéball, but I think it’s the best thing for you right now.”
He held up her Safari Ball. She met his gaze as he asked, “Are you okay with this plan?”
Staring vacantly into the snow ahead, she weakly nodded. Aengus pressed the button and Rarity slipped away in a barrage of points of green light.
Rarity collapsed onto the floor of the round room. She took a number of deep breaths, and pushed herself back to standing, shaking off the comforter. She sighed, “That’s much better. At least this thing is at a comfortable temperature.”
“Hey, look who finally showed her lovely face! Where’ve you been?”
Rarity turned and saw Feraligatr’s smarmy grin on the wall. Pictures of Gyarados, Pidgeot, and Golem were to the right of his. Rarity shook off the melting and already melted snow from her fur and started toward the images on the wall. She said, “Hello again.”
“I’m serious; where’ve you been? We know Aengus has you in the active party, but you’ve not been in your ball,” Feraligatr pressed.
“Well, it sounds like you answered your own question,” Rarity said as she looked around the room. She grumbled, then asked, “Don’t these Pokéballs have a place for a lady to relieve herself, or to bathe? I would like to handle both matters without prying eyes.”
Feraligatr laughed. “Don’t worry; I don’t think Rapidash is looking for you right now.”
In his picture, Golem closed his eyes and clenched his fists for a few seconds. As his eyes opened, he grumbled, “Dude, knock it off. That’s not cool.”
“What?? I just don’t think he should throw in the towel so quickly,” Feraligatr said flatly. “You saw how upset he was after talking to her face-to-face.”
Rarity flushed a little, but pressed, “This is not helping me find the little filly’s room!”
“That’s easy; just type it in,” Pidgeot said with an encouraging nod.
“Uh...,” Rarity uttered, staring at the symbols before her.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you know how to spell it?” Pidgeot asked with his head cocked to the right.
Rarity looked at the strange letters, then up at Pidgeot’s image, then back to the strange letters. She said, “I don’t know what language I’m looking at, dear, much less how to spell anything in it! Which one’s the ‘B?’ Or an ‘R’ or ‘T’ would also do just fine; I know a few synonyms.”
“Oh! A language barrier. I get it,” said Feraligatr. “Okay, type these symbols in this order, left to right.”
Beneath Feraligatr popped up a trio of the unknown letters:
トイレ
Rarity took a good minute to track the three down on the array of buttons. A whirring noise whispered behind her, and she turned to see a wall with a door manifest from green light. She ran to the door, opened it with her magic, and shouted back to the wall, “One moment, please!”
A few moments and a flush later, she emerged, walking much slower and with visible relief on her face. She sighed contentedly. As she returned to the pictures, Feraligatr chuckled, “Better?”
“Oh my Celestia, yes. Thank you, darling,” Rarity said.
Feraligatr put his hands up in front of his chest as his eyes widened and breathing sped up. “Whoa, throttle back there, missy! We’re not in the same egg group, and all I did was show you how to get a bathroom! Most of all, Rapidash is a dear old friend; I would never do him dirty like that!”
“Huh?” Rarity said, taken aback. “You didn’t think I meant you and I should be a couple, did you? I don’t fancy you like that.”
Feraligatr let out a long sigh and took a few deep breaths. Rarity looked at the other pictures and saw similar relief from the other three. “Okay...okay, good. You really shouldn’t call anymon ‘darling’ if they’re not your dearest one. Everymon’ll be confused.”
Rarity grimaced. “I didn’t realise the word is such a big deal here. I’m used to addressing everypony I call friend ‘darling,’ though I should probably say ‘everyone’ to include ponies, humans, and Pokémon.”
“It’s okay,” said Feraligatr. “It’s not like we’re gonna go find a Daycare together or something.”
As Feraligatr guffawed, Rarity saw Golem facepalm, Pidgeot hang and shake his head, and Gyarados frown with a harsh sigh. Rarity grumbled, “Speaking of daycares, did you hear what Trixie did? I can’t believe her.”
“Trixie?” Gyarados asked.
Rarity said, “Yeah, Trixie. Aengus let Paddy get into Equestria, and he caught an aggravating mare named Trixie.”
“She’s also a non-Pokémon pony, like you are?” asked Pidgeot.
Rarity nodded. “Paddy decided to leave her there with his Zebstrika, and she...of all the worst things she could’ve done, this is thee...worst...possible...THING!”
The four Pokémon stared at her glassy eyes for a moment, wondering why she zoomed in on herself in chunks. An awkward silence followed for a good moment or two. Gyarados sheepishly bit her lower lip while her eyes darted back and forth. Golem tentatively asked, “Did she refuse to lay any eggs or something?”
The left side of Rarity’s face scrunched together while her right eyebrow raised and head cocked. She said, “Lay an egg?? Trixie may be a little panicky in the face of danger, but she’s not that kind of chicken. Ponies don’t lay eggs.”
Golem said, “Huh. I could see what that would be a problem.”
“No, eggs have nothing to do with it, dar—sorry, habit,” said Rarity. “No she...I’m sorry, I’m trying to find a polite way to say this, but...she...she let him mount her!! In front of others! I simply cannot even....”
Feraligatr gave Rarity a long look while the other three Pokémon appeared seriously underwhelmed. Rarity’s own face shifted from being scandalised to confused. “Why do all of you look like this isn’t a problem? Don’t you know how shameful it is?”
Feraligatr blankly said, “No....”
“Wha…‘no??’ What do you mean, ‘no!?’” Rarity squawked.
“Don’t you know what a Daycare’s for?” Feraligatr asked incredulously.
“Yes, I do. It’s a safe place working parents can leave their foals while they’re out earning a living,” said Rarity in blunt and annoyed overtones. She saw four stunned, vacant expressions looking back at her. “A place they are cared for during the day?”
Feraligatr’s head slowly turned and backed off, giving Rarity a semi-sideways glance. Golem’s eyes widened. Pidgeot and Gyarados both appeared frozen in place. Feraligatr hesitated, and asked, “When you say ‘foals,’ you’re...not really putting children in a Daycare, are you?”
“But of course...why?”
Four exclamations of disgust boomed from the screens. Gyarados moved off-screen and retched. Feraligatr barked, “What the hell, Rarity!?”
Pidgeot muttered, “That’s just sick....”
Golem spat, “Oh my Arceus!”
Rarity shot them all an unamused, disbelieving glare. She snipped, “What in the world is wrong with that?”
Gyarados curtly said, “Look, let’s just drop talk of Daycares altogether, before this devolves any further. You were saying a bit ago that you wanted a hot bath? Here’s what you press.”
As a few symbols appeared on the screen, Gyarados turned away and started to go. Rarity called out, “I meant no offense, and while I’m still not sure what all of you found appalling, I apologise for upsetting you.”
“I said drop it!” Gyarados yelled as she continued away.
Pidgeot asked, “Where are you going?”
Gyarados looked back long enough to answer. “I’m getting up to splash my face to clear my head, and to find a mop to clean this mess.”
Gyarados’s screen disappeared. Rarity looked down guiltily. After a silent moment, she began pushing the symbols Gyarados indicated to her. Feraligatr said, “I wouldn’t right now if I were you.”
Rarity stopped and looked down again. “Did she give me the wrong symbols?”
“Nah, those are all in the right order,” said Feraligatr. “We’re still out on frigid Route 216, and at any moment, there could be—”
A flash of red lights and an alarm interrupted him. Rarity looked up at them as he continued, “...that. You’re on point; you’re going to battle. Have fun!”
About a minute later, Rarity coalesced inside the ball again, shivering. As she reoriented herself, she saw Feraligatr’s laughing face on the wall. All the other screens had closed. He snickered, “And that’s why you don’t want to take a bath right now! Your fur would be soaked clear down to the skin, and then you’re suddenly outside in the freezing cold and snow. You’d be a Rarity-popsicle for sure. I wonder, would that be marshmallow-flavoured?”
Rarity glared at him, to which he nearly buckled with laughter. She grumbled to herself, “Why am I getting that in this world, too?”
Feraligatr’s laughing slowed. As his tone normalised, he said, “Just couldn’t pass it up, sorry. What was out there, anyway?”
“Aengus called it a ‘Snover,’ and asked me to use Flame Charge against it. The little thing fainted right away,” Rarity said. “Does that give you something else to mock?”
“I was going to ask if you needed any more help with the replicator,” Feraligatr said. His cheeky grin returned. “But, if you’re in the mood for mockery, I’d be happy to oblige!”
Rarity sighed. “I can’t imagine any garments I make in here could be taken into the outside world.”
“Eh, I’m not into clothing. But I’ve still had a mouthful of food when Aengus has brought me out for battle on a number of occasions,” Feraligatr said.
“Ooh! It may work after all! I simply must try!” Rarity squealed in delight. “I shall need your assistance.”
Aengus and Paddy arrived in Snowpoint City ten minutes before midnight. Both of them stumbled in and out of the Pokémon Centre, long enough for the nurse to heal them and leave. They went to a hotel near the port, got their own rooms, and said their goodnights. Aengus closed the door behind him, blinking slowly. He retrieved the Safari Ball off his belt and pushed the button. He gasped as Rarity coalesced. She did not have her red comforter. Instead she wore watertight boots, a pseudo-military long coat with attached capelet, and an all-white bearskin hat with neither chinstrap nor plume on the side. The coat and boots were white with purple faux-fur trim, and evocative of a World War I Russian infantryman’s winter uniform. The hat bore her cutie mark, embroidered with silk thread. She posed a few times, showing off its details, and how the lines accented her figure. She smiled coyly and asked, “Do you like?”
Aengus blinked in surprise. He paused, then said, “Yeah...yeah, it’s great! That looks amazing on you. Very nice. But how did you get the material?”
Rarity curtsied. “Feraligatr showed me how to use the replicator machine in there. I don’t know if the outfit will fade away outside the ball, but it gave me some practice.”
“I couldn’t tell you,” Aengus said with a yawn. “But it’s late, and the ship departs early enough. I am knackered.”
Aengus flopped upon one of the beds and was out. He had not changed out of his thick traveling outfit, nor had reached the pillow. Rarity snickered. She carefully removed her work, hanging it up upon the coat rack attached to the wall. She climbed under the covers, and was asleep in minutes.
The sun had barely crested over the eastern waters when Aengus, Paddy, and Rarity stepped out of the hotel. Her outfit from the night before was gone; she had only a long pink scarf and matching earmuffs. Both brothers were in near-identical black winter wear. The line at the dock had already formed, and the gangplank was being lowered at that time. Rarity smiled with dilated pupils as she looked upon the luxurious cruise liner. Paddy got in line first.
A uniformed man beside the gangplank shouted through a bullhorn, “Good morning! Thank you for traveling with Blue Horizons, Voyage 84 from Snowpoint City in Sinnoh to Olivine City in Johto aboard the S.S. Sakura! I am Commander Tanaka, the ship’s First Officer. Please have your ticket ready, and your Pokémon out, when you prepare to board. As it is on every Blue Horizons vessel, we ask you bring no more than five Pokémon with you, and none that weigh over a hundred and fifteen kilos. You are free to battle as much as you’d like within the designated areas, but please refrain from the moves Hurricane, Twister, Surf, Magnitude, and Earthquake. The gangplank will be raised once it is 7:50am, or all passengers are aboard, whichever comes first. Thank you for your patience in line and boarding orderly, so that we may be underway as soon as possible. Once again, thank you for traveling with Blue Horizons!”
The surge of flashing lights made Rarity blink, from so many Pokémon coming from their Pokéballs all at once. A few people got out of line and sprinted toward the Pokémon Centre. Something patted her on the shoulder. Rarity looked up and saw Feraligatr’s cheeky grin up close. Excadrill stood just behind him. She looked thrilled, and excitedly gave Rarity a hoofbump. On the other side of Aengus was some other Pokémon she hadn’t seen before. It looked like its purple and green face sat on a pinwheel coming out of a rock that floated barely above solid ground. And there, on the other side of Feraligatr, was Rapidash. He stared straight ahead proudly. Rarity kept her eyes on him. His closer eye drifted until it met hers. She smiled at him with some pleading in her face, but he hurriedly turned his entire head away, angrily swishing his tail. Rarity’s smile faltered and she looked downward for a moment.
Rarity took a look at what Paddy brought with him. Espeon was right in front of her. On the other side of Paddy stood a bipedal blue frog, which looked like it was wearing its own tongue as a scarf. Front and centre of his crew was some navy blue oversized badger with no stripes on its back, and a fiery mane...Rarity thought it looked like it was wearing a brick red vest. To the badger’s left was the biggest stag beetle Rarity had ever seen, even though it was a beige-tan in colour. And posted on Paddy’s right hip was Trixie in her hat and cape.
Aengus nudged Rarity and said, “I think you should make peace with her. She’s the only other one from your homeland around.”
Rarity grumbled, “I know, and you’re right. I’ll try.”
“Just don’t get too close, or they’ll think you’re cutting in line. I really don’t feel like waiting another hour to get aboard.”
The alabaster unicorn took a step forward, sighed to herself, and began, “Hey, uh, Trixie?”
Trixie’s head lifted slightly, but did not turn back. Rarity said, “Can we start over? Meaning, wipe the slate clean on both sides, and be friends?”
A slight swivel of the hat showed she had turned her head some, but not enough to make eye contact. Rarity continued, “We’re the only two Equestrians here. We should stick together whenever we can.”
Trixie still refused eye contact, but raised a hoof in an obscene gesture as she said, “Whatever, Rarity.”
“Why you...!!” Rarity grouched, and advanced on Trixie, who had already resumed looking forward. Before she got more than two steps, she felt two hands grab in the crook where her hind legs met her abdomen. She looked back as she was pulled to see it was Feraligatr who had snatched her. He shook his head no with a firm look into her eyes. Aengus sighed and shook his head too. “Go figure.”
“Knew in my gut she’d say something like that. It’s impossible to get through to her,” Rarity grumbled as she took her place at Aengus’s side.
Aengus muttered to himself, “True, but not for the reasons you’re thinking.”
They stood in line for twenty-two minutes before Aengus’s ticket was punched, and they climbed aboard. Rarity had quite lost interest in Trixie as she looked around at the amenities on the deck alone: shuffleboard, two levels of swimming pools, swim-up bar, volleyball net, basketball court, and that’s just what she could see from there. Aengus whispered to her, “It’ll be much warmer by this afternoon, once we’re away from the winds off Mt. Coronet. The voyage takes five days.”
“Aengus, this is simply divine. First-class accommodations, service, activities,” Rarity began as her nose began to twitch. “And I smell h’ordeuvres-s-s!”
Rarity led Aengus inside, where they both partook of food before heading to their shared suite with Paddy. The other passengers came aboard one-by-one, and the S.S. Sakura set out at 7:58am, two minutes ahead of schedule.
11 - Nothing Says "Luxury Cruise" Like A Double Battle
Rarity sprawled in the poolside chaise with her belly up and a contented sigh. Midday had come and gone, and Snowpoint City was far behind them. Aengus had been absolutely right; the air was much, much warmer two hours out from port; several hours more had passed since then. Nary a cloud blocked the warm sunbeams from her. With only a small table between them, Aengus sat to her right, under a dark blue patio umbrella, completely in the shade. He was reading something on a handheld electronic device. After the weather turned pleasant, he had changed into a dark green polo shirt, khaki shorts, and leather sandals. They were by the peanut-shaped lower-level pool, almost in the starboard-side nook of the peanut. Some parents yelled at their kids for running beside the pool, or swimming in the deep end, but just the same, all was well. Aengus chuckled as she lightly pulled her mane’s front most curl out of her face. A pale green drink in a Collins glass sat on her side of the table; an azure cocktail umbrella rested beside her beverage. A passing stewardess placed next to him something nearly black in a pint glass that sported an embossed harp, a drink that had a centimetre and a half head atop it. He smiled appreciatively and gave her a generous tip. Rarity looked over as Aengus had already tipped the glass back, and drained it in one slow, steady go. He set the pint down with a soft but sated sigh, the glass empty but for some foam. She said, “I thought you said you were going to enjoy that, not bolt it down.”
“Aye, I did enjoy it quite thoroughly,” Aengus answered with a contented smile. “Exactly how dad taught me to drink a stout.”
Rarity took a dainty sip of her drink, then asked, “A stout? I thought you said it was a Guin—”
“Shh!” Aengus interrupted. “Don’t say that in front of the readers; that brand’s not supposed to exist in this world!”
“Sorry, I forgot,” Rarity said sheepishly, looking downward.
“Anyways,” Aengus said, “I thought you wanted to see what the peoples of my world wore? I’ve seen people aboard wearing what looks to me like a traditional outfit from a different culture.”
Rarity shrugged. “They’re not going anywhere just yet; after all that snow from yesterday and this morning, the sun feels niiiice.” Aengus snorted and shook his head. Rarity continued, “Besides, out here all I’ve seen are swimsuits, some more tasteless than others.”
“There certainly have been some spectacular views, and a few terrible ones,” Aengus snickered.
“I see some things remain constant across worlds,” Rarity said with a huff. She closed her eyes and let the sun continue to warm her. A few quiet moments passed with only the sound of children playing somewhere near and the occasional Wingull or some non-Pokémon gull flying overhead or begging food off of somebody with a snack. As she lay there happily soaking up the sun, a shadow came over her face. She opened her eyes to see a young human woman, somewhere around legal adulthood, standing over her.
Unlike Aengus, her skin was a rich brown colour. Her eyes were a slightly darker brown, and her long black hair lay straight, dancing in the breeze. The eyeliner was masterfully executed, thick enough to be seen but no more than that, accenting the edges of her eyes. Dangling from her hair was a charm which lay on her forehead. This jewel was a gold anthropomorphic elephant with micro-ruby eyes, situated as if it were sitting cross-legged on the floor, in a biconvex frame of miniature pearls. Her face was lovely, and bore a friendly smile, one that did nothing to hide a sense of wonder. Rarity sat up, and with dilating eyes murmured, “Ooh...!”
Rarity looked this person up and down. She was a slender woman, wearing a tight dress of sorts. This vibrant orange dress appeared to wrap around her as one long cloth, like someone had simply taken fabric from a bolt and wore it as such, yet its elegance betrayed any notion of it being an unsewn garment. The bright orange brocade bore a subtle elephantine pattern, and its edges were a thick indigo stripe with a green and gold paisley pattern. The woman had four gold bangles on each arm, and large hoop earrings. Rarity broke into a wide grin as she cooed, “My word, your ensemble is gorgeous! I’ve never seen anything of the like! What kind of jewelry is that in your hair?”
The woman’s accent was a bouncy, musical sort with a mostly-even meter. “It is called a ‘tikka.’ You are most-kind, but I’m surprised you can talk. Never before have I met a Pokémon who can.”
Aengus sighed as he put down the device and looked over at them, while Rarity grumbled, “Forgive me, ma’am, but I am no Pokémon. I am just a pony, far from my homeland, fulfilling my end of a business arrangement with this gentleman here.”
“The rumours are true: a Pokémon that is convinced it isn’t a Pokémon,” she said to herself.
Aengus sighed again, and hung his head. With forced civility, Rarity answered, “Please try to understand, not everything that isn’t human is a Pokémon. I assure you my homeland is filled with ponies like me, each intelligent and capable of speech, thought, ambition, and holding an occupation. We form friendships, rivalries, fall in love, marry, and hold funerals for our departed friends and family. We have our own culture, our own dress, architecture, art, music, history, currency, trade guilds, and folklore. We built our own cities, towns, farms, roads, bridges, and railways. Surely you do not see any Starlies, or Kadabras, or Machokes, or any Pokémon performing these tasks of their own accord or for their own purposes, do you?”
“Well, no...,” she trailed off.
“And we have our own names,” Rarity continued. “And these are not nicknames given to us by a trainer, but legitimate, legal names our parents give us that are registered in our census. My father’s name is Magnum, my mother Cookie Crumbles, my little sister is Sweetie Belle, and my five closest friends are Fluttershy, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. As for myself, my given name is Rarity. What is yours?”
The woman blinked in confusion a few times, then said, “Rajni.”
Rarity nodded cordially. “Good to meet you, Rajni. I presume you have an occupation, yes? Me, I design fashion, creating spectacular garments that are chic, unique, and magnifique. I am the owner and proprietor of three shops in three different cities, serving as many ponies there as myself and those in my employ possibly, making Equestria all the more glamourous! I even was chosen to design and make the wedding dress of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
Aengus said, “Wow. You never brought up that much before.”
“You had not asked, darling, and it would have been most unladylike to broach the subject,” Rarity answered.
“But you just did so now,” pointed out Rajni.
“Ms. Rajni, I would not have, if it were not for being mistaken for a Pokémon yet again. I do not understand why I must constantly defend my autonomy to everyone and everything, apart from Aengus here,” Rarity said indignantly.
Rajni said, “If I may, Miss Rarity, you are not human, but show intellect markedly above that of a common animal. You also clearly possess powers no human has or could hope to touch, yet you have a kindness to you above the mere affection from a pet. To us, that looks like a Pokémon.”
Rarity frowned. “Is there no room for distinction between other intelligent species, such as mine, and Pokémon? Must one be human to be an individual?”
“Let me ask you this then. How much did you pay for your ticket?” Rajni asked. Aengus winced. When Rarity hesitated, Rajni continued, “Ah, so if you are not a Pokémon, then you are a stowaway. Shall I fetch the ensign?”
Aengus sighed, “This is the unfortunate truth of the matter, Rarity. For all intents and purposes, while you’re here, you’ll be considered a Pokémon.”
“My identity is illegal? Tell me, in this world, am I even allowed to possess money, let alone use it?” Rarity growled through gritted teeth. “What other rights are afforded to humans, but nothing else?”
“Pretty much all of them,” Aengus answered.
“So glad to know I came to where prejudice rules.”
Rajni said, “You said you two had a business arrangement. If you don’t mind my asking, what is it?”
“She can research our peoples’ fashion and clothing designs in exchange for her assisting me with becoming the Indigo League Champion,” Aengus said.
“Pokémon battles, then? More and more it sounds like you are a Pokémon after all,” Rajni said.
Rarity growled irritably. She began to try to get inside this woman’s head, and understand what made her tick. She couldn’t think of anything at first, then it began to click, almost like she had an Extrasensory way of telling that this woman wanted a go with her.
Aengus grumbled, “Ma’am, you’re upsetting her intentionally. Knock it off and please leave.”
“I came by because I heard there were two unusual pony Pokémon aboard, and wondered how strong they are. I am also a traveling trainer, to answer your earlier question about my occupation,” Rajni said with a confident smile. “My younger sister is with me on this trip; she, too, is skilled at Pokémon battling. What say you to a double battle?”
“A chance to kick her flank and make her shut up? I’m in!” Rarity exclaimed, standing up.
“All right then,” said Aengus.
Aengus, Rarity, Rajni, and a mid-teens girl in a similar dress to Rajni entered the battle hall. Rajni’s sister was in an olive green sari with a dark red outer stripe. Both double courts were open, but all six single courts were occupied. Aengus spotted Paddy in the middle row, with the bipedal frog in play. Today Paddy had on a red shirt with his university’s logo in the middle, black cargo shorts, black athletic shoes and socks, but no hat. As they approached, Paddy’s frog opened its mouth and sprayed a thick, high-pressure stream of water into his opponent’s sand-covered hippopotamus, which fainted. A green light surrounded Paddy as he clenched a triumphant fist over his head.
Aengus said, “Just going to do this all day?”
“Yeah! It’s been going great! Maybe you should...,” Paddy trailed off as he saw Rajni. The two stared at each other for a moment. Paddy smiled first. Rajni returned it, with a bite to her lower lip. Rajni’s little sister looked between them for a moment, then tittered with a hand over her mouth.
Rajni raspily whispered, “Doyel, control yourself.”
Doyel answered with the same accent as her sister, “You should take your own advice! I know that look!”
“Shut it, you!”
Aengus interjected, “Let’s go take a double battle court; it doesn’t look like there’s any queue.”
As they started that way, Rajni walked beside Paddy. She said, “Your brother didn’t mention you’re a university man.”
Aengus rubbed at something on his forehead as he shut his eyes. Paddy smiled broadly, “Yes, I’ll be studying under Professor Elm once we reach Johto. New Bark Town may be a tiny hamlet, but it’ll have to be home for awhile.”
“Sounds lonely,” Rajni said. Rarity shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Terribly,” Paddy answered. Aengus and Doyel exchanged pained looks.
“Maybe somebody could help keep you company?” Rajni asked with a coy smile.
Aengus interrupted, “We’ll hold the court, Paddy; go heal your Pokémon.”
Paddy gave Rajni a grin as he started for the station. Doyel stood beside Aengus and muttered, “Those two don’t know how to flirt. That was tacky.”
“Aye. Just painful,” Aengus responded.
Rarity whispered, “I think I’ve read less cheesy lines in a cheap romance novel.”
The three of them quietly chuckled to themselves as they staked out corners. Aengus stood across from Rajni, and Paddy took his spot across from Doyel. A light flashed at the edges of the court. Paddy said, “Sure is nice, being out here and getting away from League rules every once in awhile. They’d never let this fly; they’d demand we all pick three instead of letting it be a ten-on-ten.”
Aengus tossed up a Pokéball, shouting, “Go, Excadrill!”
Paddy hollered, “Greninja, you’re up!”
Excadrill and the blue frog appeared. On the other side, Rajni yelled, “Oranguru, I choose you!”
Doyel shouted, “Passimian, let’s do this!”
A white orangutan and a large black and white lemur appeared. Aengus and Paddy looked at each other nervously. Aengus asked, “What are those?”
“Never seen them before,” Paddy answered.
Doyel called out, “What’s wrong, boys? Haven’t been to Akala Island?”
“Where’s that?” Paddy asked.
“Alola!” Doyel answered with a smile. She had braces.
“This just got complicated,” Aengus muttered. “Have you an inkling of their types?”
“Not yet. May as well hit ‘em both and test them,” Paddy answered. He then yelled, “Greninja, use Blizzard!”
“Excadrill, use Drill Run!”
“Oranguru, Instruct!”
“Bulk Up, Passimian!”
The frog moved first. Rarity marveled at how the court contained the freezing winds and snow from affecting anything outside of it. The two opponent Pokémon reeled slightly, but nothing too bad. Excadrill moved next, slamming into the ape holding a purple fan. It winced, but not badly. The lemur flexed its muscles in a primal display. As the orangutan waved its fan at the lemur, the lemur did it again.
“That eliminates a few things,” Aengus said. “Excadrill, Metal Claw!”
“Aye. I have an idea,” said Paddy. “Dark Pulse!”
“Again, Instruct!”
“Use Close Combat, Passimian!”
Greninja struck first again, firing a black wave across the field. Rarity ducked at first, before realising it did not affect her. The lemur just brushed it off, as did Excadrill. The orangutan, however, looked badly hurt, but still up. Excadrill slashed at the orangutan, but it slipped to the left and dodged the attack. Then the lemur bum rushed Greninja with a flurry of punches. The frog toppled over, and disappeared in a shower of pink sparks. As Oranguru waved its fan again, Passimian charged Excadrill in an identical fashion, and she fell over out cold too. As Excadrill fainted form disappeared in an array of pale blue points of light, Aengus snapped, “Fighting and Psychic.”
“I noticed,” growled Paddy. “Espeon!”
“Go, Rapidash!”
The lavender cat and Rapidash appeared from their red Pokéballs. Doyel and Rajni exchanged excited smiles. Rajni said, “Use Quash, Oranguru!”
“Passimian, use Brutal Swing!”
“Megahorn, Rapidash!”
“Espeon...Psychic.”
Espeon’s terrifying speed and power played out again as reality bent around her forehead’s red jewel. The distortion in light manifested around Passimian, then burst. Passimian sailed through the air swiftly, flying over all three pairs of single match courts and slamming into the far wall in a little under a second. It disappeared as Doyel stood frozen in place, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Every other trainer and Pokémon, even those in battle on the single courts, stopped what they were doing and stood stunned, all eyes upon the double battle in progress. Rarity blurted, “Goodness gracious!”
Espeon turned toward her. Rarity found herself mystified, unable to turn away from that soul-piercing stare...those violet eyes with white pupils beckoned her inward. She could not move, could not blink, and could not speak. The world had faded away. Only those eyes, those violet eyes, existed, pulling at her very spirit. Rarity shook herself back to reality when she realized Espeon was actually purring about her work. Espeon seemed to smile at Rarity for a moment, then looked back toward the battle, at which point the world suddenly resumed.
Rapidash galloped at Oranguru, lowering its horn. Oranguru tried to dodge to the right, but Rapidash was ready, and turned his head accordingly. The orangutan collapsed and disappeared.
Aengus’s dark smile returned. Paddy looked at Rajni, who simply reached for another Pokéball. She shouted, “Muk, you’re up!”
Doyel yelled, “Mightyena, go!”
Aengus and Paddy looked confused again as the next two Pokémon came. This Muk wasn’t purple. This Muk was multicoloured, and it also lacked the distinctive terrible smell.
“Why is it tutti-fruity?” Paddy asked.
“Maybe we should go to Alola, you and I, have a nice stay at a resort, and you can see all the regional variants!” Rajni called in kittenish tones, with matching smile.
Doyel grumbled, “You sure are laying it on thick.”
“It’d be the perfect vacation for him!”
“Espeon, again!”
“Rapidash, again!”
“Muk, use Minimize!”
“Mightyena! Sucker Punch the cat!”
As Espeon locked eyes on the Muk, Mightyena suddenly appeared in front of her, decking her in the chest. Espeon staggered backwards with the wind knocked out of her, and she toppled. Paddy growled as she returned to her ball. Before Mightyena could return to its side of the field, Rapidash lowered his horn into it, making it keel over. The many-coloured pile of goo, though, appeared to shrink.
Paddy shouted, “Pinsir! Your turn!”
“Banette! Let’s party!” yelled Doyel.
A zipper-mouthed super-creepy puppet, as far as Rarity was concerned, appeared in front of the teenager while Paddy’s huge stag beetle came out. A crowd had started to gather as Aengus shook his head disconnectedly. “Mightyena we remembered from Kalos, but what’s this thing? More Alolan nonsense?”
Doyel shook her head. “Nope! Haven’t you been to Hoenn, if you’ve been to both Sinnoh and Kalos?”
“Ran out of time, unfortunately,” Aengus said. He picked up his volume as he ordered, “Rapidash, use Flare Blitz!”
“Pinsir, Stone Edge!”
“Confuse Ray, Banette!”
“Muk, one more time!”
Rapidash coated himself in fire as he rushed at the sticky, gooey mess, but could not connect. The stag beetle dramatically threw its arms forward, to which a gigantic stone spike erupted out of the bamboo floor...that was over a steel hull...on the sea...with thousands of metres of water between it and the benthic zone seafloor. Rarity cocked her head to one side as the observation came to her. But the creepy puppet had taken a single step forward, evading the spike completely. Banette unzipped its mouth and released a strange ray of light onto Rapidash, who seemed to toddle some and stare vacantly at nothing in particular. And the pile of ooze shrank some more.
“Get it together, Rapidash! Try it again!”
“Come on, Pinsir! You can hit him with that!”
“Use Phantom Force, Banette!”
“Muk, use Poison Fang!”
Rapidash reeled. As the flames surrounding him, he tripped and fell flat on his face. Aengus facepalmed. Rarity called out, “Rapidash, darling, what happened?”
Rapidash’s voice was all over the place, in terms of both pitch and syllable length, as it stumbled back to Aengus. “Oh Rarity, if only you were a little bigger, then we could have such tenderness. If only.”
The other three Pokémon looked at them in surprise for a brief moment as Rarity was stuck between fighting tears and fighting the urge to slap him. Then Pinsir tried the spike again, but to the same effect. Banette chuckled, then faded completely out of sight while standing in place. Muk moved in at Pinsir. A dance of footwork vs. sloshing ensued as Pinsir attempted to dodge against Muk feinting its attack, before latching onto Pinsir’s left side with a chomp. Pinsir breathed heavily, and looked a little purple.
“This isn’t good,” Aengus muttered.
Paddy frowned. “I know that. These two are used to fighting in double battles together, and their parties reflect it.”
“Come on, old buddy, you can do it! Try again!” Aengus yelled.
“Pinsir, use X-Scissor!”
Doyel said nothing.
“Again, Muk! Again!”
Rapidash coated himself in fire and ran at the pile of goo. An impact sounded. Aengus let out a small whoop as Rapidash came back to him. Pinsir’s huge mandibles slashed at the pile as well, but nothing sounded. Banette reappeared, all over Rapidash. As the thuds ended, Rapidash shook his head, but did not look well. Muk ran up on him and bit as he did before. For a moment the steed had the same violet glow as Pinsir, before that glow disappeared as Rapidash fainted. Rarity choked up for a moment, but held it together.
“Spiritomb, you’re next!”
The purple pinwheel on a cracked rock showed up in front of Aengus. There was little other sound from the room. Rarity looked around and saw the crowd had thickened. She could hear another battle on the other side of the masses, but only one other.
“Taunt him, Spiritomb!”
“Pinsir, one more time!”
“Use Dazzling Gleam, Banette!”
“Muk, use Acid Armour!”
Pinsir slashed again, and again, to no avail. Rarity looked at Spiritomb, but was surprised when Banette moved next instead, creating a blindingly bright flash that hammered into Spiritomb. The face on the pinwheel twitched, then disappeared. Spiritomb returned to its ball in a series of yellow sparks. Aengus’s face glared, and was about the colour of soured milk. A purple rectangle flashed over Muk once and was gone. Pinsir’s glow faded as he also toppled over.
Paddy grouched, “Not liking these new faces, brother.”
“Makes two of us,” Aengus answered. “Feraligatr! Let’s do this!”
“Typhlosion, we’re on!”
Feraligatr and the huge badger appeared. Doyel looked at Paddy’s Typhlosion and said, “It’s got an Assault Vest!”
“I see it,” answered Rajni.
Rarity muttered to herself, “Come on, boys, you can do it.”
“Typholsion, use Bulldoze!”
“Feraligatr, Superpower!”
“Banette, let’s use Z-Curse!”
“Muk, Poison Fang!”
Typholsion reared up, and ran forward, stomping all over the Muk. The tutti-frutti Pokémon splattered around from Typhlosion’s attack, and each of its droplets, blobs, splash patterns, and the main pile were all still. Muk disappeared back into its Pokéball as Paddy cheered and the crowd went, “Ooh!”
“Yes!” Rarity cried out.
Feraligatr swung like mad at the Banette, but all its attacks seemed to pass right through it. Aengus yelled, “Ghost-type!”
“I think you have him next round!” Paddy answer. Banette smirked. The Pokémon and Doyel began to do a little dance in unison. Paddy looked to his brother for a moment, then asked, “What are we looking at?”
Rajni said with a flirty grin, “This is something else we’ll have to do together in Alola! This is a Z-move!”
What looked like a giant nail appeared over Typhlosion, and appeared to press into him, but no blood came. It seems like it was hurting for a moment.
Rajni shouted, “Okay, Pyukumuku! You’re up!”
Rarity could not figure out what came from the Pokéball. The thing was a black ellipsoid with magenta fins sticking out. Aengus and Paddy looked just as confused.
“Typhlosion, Bulldoze!”
“Crunch, Feraligatr!”
“Use Confuse Ray, Banette!”
“Pyukumuku, use Counter!”
Typholsion ran right over the black critter, stomping on it a few times, but it didn’t look all that injured...not from what Rarity could tell, anyway. Feraligatr ran in and snapped his huge jaws onto Banette, which dropped immediately. The crowd sounded torn as to whom they wanted to win. Pyukumuku swung back at Typhlosion, which connected, but it was difficult to tell if had any strength behind its attack. The illusion of the giant nail returned, and Typhlosion looked worse than before.
Doyel grimaced, and yelled, “Shiinotic, your turn!”
A purple mushroom appeared, with what looked like a simple face drawn on its stem, with wispy arms and fingers. It ambled forward as Aengus muttered, “They certainly seem bent on keeping us in the dark.”
Paddy said, “Looks like it’s a Grass-type. I got this. Typhlosion, Blast Burn!”
“Feraligatr, use Iron Tail!”
“Pyukumuku, Pain Split!”
“Use Spotlight, Shiinotic!”
A spotlight appeared on Pyukumuku. Typhlosion emitted a huge amount of fire all around, right into Pyukumuku. Paddy said, “I told you to...oh. A redirecting move. Charming.”
Pyukumuku didn’t look fazed at all. Feraligatr slammed its tail down on it hard as his tail turned to a cast-iron black colour, but again, Pyukumuku shrugged it off. Paddy said, “Water.”
Aengus nodded as Pyukumuku glowed grey for a moment, an aura that also surrounded Feraligatr during the same few seconds. Typhlosion’s nail returned, and he collapsed.
Paddy snarled, “Trixie! Show them what you’ve got!”
A particular showmare appears out of a bunch of rosy pink sparks. She tossed her cape and hat aside as she cackled. Rarity rolled her eyes, but the crowd cheered, to which Trixie graciously bowed.
“Feraligatr, use Superpower!”
“Trixie, Psychic!”
“Pyukumuku, Counter!”
“Use Toxic, Shiinotic!”
A harsh wave distorted light around Trixie and then Pyukumuku. It was knocked into the air for a moment, but fell right back down. Feraligatr pounded away at it for a moment, but seemed to wind himself in the process. The black splat still sat there, but seemed to have been splatted a little more. Pyukumuku leapt up and whacked Feraligatr in the face, enough that he tottered for a moment before righting himself. A purple glow left Shiinotic, and surrounded Feraligatr. He glowed once, then fell down. The crowd gasped, “Oh!”
Aengus wiped away a tear as he bared his teeth. He pulled his face together, turned to Rarity, and nodded. The crowd went nuts again. Paddy muttered, “I can’t believe we’re both on our last one.”
“These two are in for an unpleasant surprise,” Aengus growled. “Rarity, use Wild Charge!”
“Oh! I get it,” said Paddy. “Trixie, Aerial Ace!”
“Light Screen, Shiinotic!”
“Pyukumuku, use Recover!”
Rarity gritted her teeth, and ran at the black ellipsoid. She felt the lightning charge around her as she reached a canter and trampled Pyukumuku. She winced at the impact, but saw Pyukumuku return to its ball. She smiled to herself as the crowd cheered.
Trixie zipped in, slashing with her horn in a swallow-tail pattern. Shiinotic spun in the air as it disappeared into sparks, to the roar of the crowd. Trixie trotted back over, eyes closed and smirking. Rarity said, “We got this.”
Trixie sneered, and said, “Trixie agrees.”
Doyel stood agape for a moment, as did Rajni. The little sister said, “That wasn’t how that was supposed to go at all. I’m on my last one!”
“Yeah. Gotta watch out for these ponies,” Rajni said. “Go, Breloom!”
Doyel hollered, “Come on, Graveler! Don’t let me down!”
The Pokémon which Rajni sent out looked like a mushroom had mated with a kangaroo. This creature was green and tan, with rosy short arms and long toenails. Graveler also looked weird. It wasn’t a solid mass of taupe. This Graveler had thick black eyebrows, black spikes on its forearms, and large nodules of pyrite all-throughout...though taupe was the rest of its body. Paddy asked, “Is this another weird variant from Alola?”
“It sure is!” Doyel answered. “It’s not even fully the same type!”
Aengus raised his eyebrows. “So noted. Thank you.”
Rajni scoffed, “Why would you tell them that!?”
“Don’t you want to make him happy?” she teased back.
Rajni looked over and met Paddy’s gaze. He smiled at her confidently, to which she chuckled to herself and shook her head.
“Energy Ball, Rarity!”
“Trixie, use Air Cutter!”
“Spore, Breloom! Use Spore!”
“Graveler, Thunder Punch!”
Rarity pointed her horn at Graveler and charged it up. While the aura on her horn remained the same blue it always was, a whirling green sphere coalesced at the point. It shot into Graveler, which forced it back a step. Trixie whipped her charged horn toward the Breloom. A wave of energy whipped outward, but the kangashroom leapt aside. It then shook its head, and a cloud of spores flew at Trixie. She started to doze off, still standing. Graveler then marched up to it, wrapped its fist in lightning, and punched Trixie. She rolled over, but somehow ended up back on her feet...still sleeping. Rarity muttered, “How did that happen?”
“Trixie, snap out of it and use Moonblast!”
“Flame Charge the shroom, Rarity!”
“Again, Breloom! Get the other one!”
“You too, Graveler! Get her with Stone Edge!”
Rarity concentrated as she began to run at the Breloom. The flames appeared around her, and at a canter, Breloom could not evade in time. It brushed itself off and stepped back to the line. Breloom shook its head again, and the spore cloud rushed at Rarity, enveloping her. Paddy sadly said, “I think they got us, Aengus.”
Aengus shook his head in frustration. But Rarity’s eyes remained open...then she sneezed. And again. And a third time. Amid the fourth sneeze, the spore cloud faded. One more sneeze, and she shook her head. She looked around, blushed a little, and said, “My Celestia! Pardon me.”
The entire crowd murmured in surprise. The four trainers in the court stared at Rarity wide-eyed, as did Breloom and Graveler. Rajni barked in shock, “It hit her, and she’s not asleep!?”
Aengus just blinked. Paddy muttered, “And that’s not her Ability either...huh.”
Doyel said, “What is she??”
Rarity smiled, curtsied, and said, “I am an Equestrian pony, and my name is Rarity.”
Graveler frowned, and gestured imperiously. Rarity looked downward, and jumped to her left, just in time to avoid the spike. The crowd roared to life in an exuberant cheer.
Aengus yelled, “Excellent work! Do it again!”
“Come on, Trixie! Look alive and give me a Moonblast!”
“Drain Punch, Breloom! Don’t let her get you!”
“Graveler, use Gyro Ball!”
Looking at the kangashroom, Rarity started to run at him. She could see in his eyes the fear and anger that his Spore did not conk her out, and his determination to let her have it. She closed ground, and saw him leading with his left foot. Rarity smiled to herself as the flames surrounded her once more, veering to the left, squarely into his attempt to dodge. As she returned to Aengus’s side, Breloom staggered one way, then the other, and back, before he toppled and fainted. The crowd cheered again, much louder, but Trixie did not stir. Graveler started spinning around and around, then lurched at Rarity. She crouched, and correctly timed her evading jump again. With some cheers, the crowd began chanting, “Rarity! Rarity! Rarity!”
Aengus laughed out loud. Paddy was also grinning from ear to ear, but the sisters looked like they were in complete denial. They gave each other a long, hard look, then turned back to the battlefield. Rajni shouted, “I’ve still got one more! Flygon!”
As the oversized bug-like dragon appeared, Aengus whooped, “Yes!! I know this one! Rarity, Ice Beam!”
“Alright, Trixie! Up and at ‘em! Moonblast!”
“Flygon, use Dragon Claw!”
“You can do it, Graveler! Thunder Punch!”
Flygon zoomed at Rarity, but she just stood there. As it slashed with his claws, she still stood there. And she looked unaffected. Aengus and Rarity shared a smile as Flygon cocked its head to one side, its arm still at the end of its slash. Rajni shrieked, “She’s a Fairy!!?”
Rarity looked Flygon in the eye. “Hi.”
Shards of ice and snow in a thin, solid ray erupted out of her horn at point-blank range. Flygon staggered back, looking like it was barely standing. Trixie laughed, “Ha ha! Nothing like a good nap!”
Another cheer from the crowd, and Trixie’s horn glowed. It appeared Luna’s moon appeared over the court, and shone its beams upon Trixie. A small white ball ambled out of her horn, squarely hitting Flygon in the chest. It toppled and fell over. Rajni slowly dropped to her knees as the crowd screamed and hollered its joy. Graveler rushed, but Rarity mistimed the dodge this time. The punch sent her tumbling a few times. She took a moment to get her wind back, and stood up again. Doyel stared wide-eyed at the two ponies advancing on her Graveler.
Aengus teasingly said, “And I have one more bombshell left for you!”
Paddy chuckled, “Oh?”
“Go on, call your moves,” Aengus said with a triumphant smile.
Doyel screamed, “Graveler, use Gyro Ball!”
Paddy said, “Well, Trixie, how about Psychic?”
“Rarity...,” Aengus began. He stopped, chuckled, and then finished, “...Play Rough.”
“WHAT!!?!” Rajni and Doyel squawked in unison.
Rarity popped her neck, and charged Graveler, kicking up a dust cloud that sounded of numerous punches and kicks within. All around the gathered people were exclamations of surprise, much of it delighted. As the dust settled, there stood Rarity, and Graveler fell down. He disappeared in rosy sparks back into his Pokéball. Rarity dramatically pushed a curl out of her face, and looked across the crowd.
Cheers boomed the room, making the walls shake. The brothers emphatically embraced, laughing together. Trixie tapped Rarity on the shoulder. Rarity pulled her into a tight hug with her eyes closed, laughing. Trixie snickered some, and patted her on the shoulders with a small hug in return. They let go, and Rarity looked Trixie in the eye. She raised an eyebrow, and said, “Huh. It looks great on you! I didn’t know you wanted to accessorize! Let me know if you want a hoof with it!”
Trixie laughed mockingly. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need for accessories! She looks stupendous just as she is!”
The crowd had started to disperse. Rarity gave Trixie a quizzical look. “What are you talking about? Clearly you’ve...,” she trailed off, motioning around her face.
“What is Trixie talking about? More like, what are you talking about?” Trixie countered.
Rarity frowned. As Aengus, Paddy, Rajni, and Doyel walked up to them, Rarity’s horn glowed again, with a spell ray sweeping over Trixie. Rajni squawked again. “And she can use Extrasensory outside of battle!?”
Paddy shook his head incredulously. “That’s six...brother, how many moves does she know...??”
Aengus chuckled. “Almost three dozen.”
The other three trainers stood agape for a moment. Rajni shook her head, but smiled at Paddy. “We should do this again sometime.”
“Of course! But when, and would you want to mix the teams up, or just have singles?” Paddy asked with a cheeky grin. Aengus and Doyel both rolled their eyes at their siblings.
Rajni pondered for a moment, then said, “Saturday evening work for you?”
“Looks like Saturday night’s all right for fighting. Let’s do it!” Paddy grinned.
Rarity, still frowning at Trixie, irritably said, “Wait just a darn minute....”
Trixie disappeared, called back to her ball in a shower of pink specks of light. Paddy began, “Before you two get into another argument—”
“Where is she!?” Rarity snapped, advancing on Paddy. “Where’s Trixie?!”
Paddy gave her a funny look as he backed up. He pointed at the ball and said, “Um, right here?”
“Not that imposter! Where’s the real Trixie!?! Tell me!!” she shouted. Her eyes had narrowed, and every hint of joy from her posture and voice were gone, overwritten by seething rage.
“What’s gotten into you?” Paddy asked.
“Tell me!”
“Busted...,” Aengus said matter-of-factly, giving his brother the I-told-you-so look.
Paddy stopped. Rarity stood in front of him with the same, bared-teeth glare. He snorted, “And just what has you so convinced this is a so-called impostor?”
“Because,” Rarity spat, “the real Trixie doesn’t have green eyes.”
The western skies beyond Mt. Coronet reddened as the sun sank toward the horizon. Safari-goers in The Great Marsh busily ran down the Pokémon they sought, or at least the ones they could find...some to their delight at catching something rare, others to their frustration at encountering yet another Wooper or Bibarel. Trainers hurried all around the place, except near the back corner of Area 2. Some watched this corner eagerly; most kept their distance. The newspaper reports about the two talking pony-Pokémon who showed up for all of two minutes a few days prior still buzzed about their heads. The commissioner left signs up near the corner in question:
In the event of another gateway opening and more dangerous pony Pokémon emerging, please retire from your game immediately. We will provide you with a full refund and you get to keep any Pokémon you caught. Your safety is of utmost importance to us.
A teenage couple stood near the sign nearest the Quick Tram. The young lady held a small box of chocolates, and took a bite of a savoy truffle. The young man regaled her with bravado of how he would not flinch before such a Pokémon, and would try to catch it anyway, pantomiming his would-be heroics. She giggled often during his boasting, shaking her head with a grin on her face once he finished. As they started back toward the tram, a flash of light made them turn back around.
There was the gateway, freshly reopened. Instantly a pony emerged, flapping its wings. A semitransparent magenta hemisphere covered the portal and its surrounding area as this pony hovered. The teenagers could not tell if it was a mare or a stallion. All they could see was that it had a lavender coat, wings, a horn in the middle of its forehead, and it was wearing armour. Its spangenhelm appeared to have a crown attached, and was an off-gold in colour, with sleek curves, tight fit, holes for the ears and horn, and close-fitting chain mail of the same material around the neck and back of the head. The armour also appeared to be of an identical alloy, but of interlocking bands that wove together along the pony’s sides.
After a moment, a series of burly-looking pegasi came through, each carrying a large cubic stone. One by one they all set down their blocks in the muck beneath the portal and went back; the teenagers could not determine if they saw the same ones multiple times. In under two minutes they had a rectangular platform under the gateway, at least thirty metres on its long side. As the last of these returned, a little over a score of other armoured ponies came through, some with wings, some with horns, some with neither. Many of them had spears. Some were in golden armour, others in blue. All of them looked quite stern and intent, forming a perimeter around the portal. All except the first wore a crested barbute made for a pony’s head instead of a human’s, complete with ear holes, and horn holes for those who had them. Seven of the ponies did not fall in, but started their way as the magenta sphere evaporated. At the front was the first one they saw. Flanking this one were two that looked different from the rest. One was also a lavender colour, but lacked wings; it appeared to levitate in a phthalo green aura. The second had wings, a sky blue coat, and a prismatic tail, but no horn. The other four looked like winged uniformed soldiers, with no distinctive markings to separate them; each had a spear.
As the boy reached toward his bag of Safari Balls, four spears pointed towards him as the light blue one spoke in a raspy alto, “Just don’t. It will not work, and what comes next would not go well for you.”
The self-levitating one had a mezzo-soprano voice. She growled, “Throw that ball, and take a guess who’ll reach you first: whatever god you plea to for mercy, or me.”
“Settle down, both of you,” spoke the one wearing the crown, clearly female as well. She looked between the two teenagers, and asked, “Who is in charge around here, and where can he or she be found?”
The girl hesitantly pointed toward a building a ways to the south. With a curt nod from the centre one, seven ponies flew toward the entrance building, much quicker than it looked possible.
Moments later, Twilight touched down before a brick building with an open-ended hallway downstairs, and a rotunda for a second floor. Rainbow Dash, Starlight, and four of Celestia’s guards landed in formation. Twilight looked over at Starlight for a moment and said, “So far, it’s not been the hostile environment you described. I think they were afraid of us, not belligerently ready to capture.”
“There aren’t as many now as there were when Sunburst and I came last time,” Starlight said.
Rainbow Dash pounded on her chest plate as she said, “I don’t care how many of them there are! I’m ready to kick some flank!”
“Remember, Dash, we’re here to save Rarity and Trixie, not start a fight,” Twilight admonished. “I hope it doesn’t come to ‘flank-kicking;’ that will not spread friendship.”
“If they wanted friendship, there would have been no ponynapping. Of course we try it diplomatically, but if that doesn’t work...,” said Starlight grimly.
Dash said, “I agree with Starlight; they didn’t come looking for friendship. I still don’t think your usual methods will work with these ‘humans,’ Twi. They clearly only respond to force. You’ll have to be firm, and to-the-point. If they won’t listen, I’ll make them listen.”
“You will do no such thing,” Twilight said curtly. She sighed through her nose, then continued, “I don’t like it, but you’re right. I can’t give them any reason to think I’m a pushover. I have to be resolute. Steadfast. Determined. Assertive, but not aggressive.”
Dash said, “Let’s get going before you rattle off the entire thesaurus entry.”
She and Starlight laughed while Twilight grumbled to herself. The guardsponies remained as stoic as ever. All seven entered the building. The clamour of people trying to get their promised refunds fell silent as they entered. Twilight looked across their faces, and saw fear, not aggression. A smattering a frightened whimpering popped up. Twilight asked, “Who is in charge here?”
“I am,” answered a gravelly baritone. Rounding a corner was a tall, barrel-chested middle-aged man. He wore half-calf steel-toed boots, thick khaki work pants, tan button-down shirt, dark brown vest, and a bolo tie with an oval clasp sporting polished turquoise. He was a deeply tanned, clean-shaven man with graying black hair in a well-trimmed business cut. A pair of heavy work gloves stuck out from the right-front pocket of his trousers, and in his left hand was a clipboard with a full legal pad attached. He eyed the seven ponies suspiciously with a frown. “What do you want?”
“I am here to negotiate cessation of hostilities between our worlds, and I want my abducted subjects returned,” Twilight answered firmly.
The man gave her a hard look. “Who are you, exactly?”
Twilight met his gaze without blinking. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”
“Roger Davidson, Commissioner and Warden of The Great Marsh, Your Highness,” said the man. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about, nor am I apt to believe your claims of my people abducting yours. Especially so after the trouble one of yours caused here three days ago, and this show of force you have now.”
Twilight said sharply, “The abductions took place five days ago, when two of your subjects pried opened a portal to Equestria, and forcefully took two of my subjects into this world against their wills! We had not seen such magic, but after two days’ analysis, we recreated the portal your people used. But those who checked the portal’s accuracy were attacked almost immediately upon setting hoof here! Your people didn’t wait to assault mine, thus did Starlight fend them off for her own safety!”
A murmur passed through the crowd. Davidson’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “What do you mean, ‘attacked?’ How?”
Starlight stepped forward and said, “One of your people threw one of those enslavement balls at me, just the same as that other did when he came through to Equestria!”
“Somebody threw a Safari Ball at you? They probably just mistook you for a rare Pokémon, miss,” said Davidson, just a touch flippant.
Starlight smarted off, “Oh, I should tell you not to try your ‘Safari Balls’ on us now; our armour has been enchanted to protect us from such capture.”
“What’s a Pokémon? And why do your people enslave them?” asked Twilight.
“We don’t enslave them; we train them!” shouted somebody in the crowd. The others voiced their agreements.
Davidson scoffed, “Pokémon are creatures that inhabit this world, who we befriend and train as companions, teammates, and competitors. They come in many shapes and sizes: some huge, some tiny, some like animals, some like men, some like plants, some like earthen materials, some like nothing in the natural world, and every point in-between.”
Twilight’s face soured. “Then why did your subjects come looking for them in our world?”
“Who knows? Look, it sounds like you need to talk to someone from the League, and I don’t have any ‘subjects.’ I’m in charge of The Great Marsh, not the whole town or beyond. If they’re not here, they’re not in my jurisdiction,” Davidson grumbled.
Dash frowned. “Your ‘jurisdiction’ is just this?”
Davidson scowled in return. “I hardly think of it as ‘just this.’ Managing the conservation efforts of a Pokémon and Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a natural environment, yet still allowing trainers to catch Pokémon, and financially balancing it all...it’s a big job.”
“While I certainly appreciate conservation of natural habitats, we’re no closer to finding our friends. I give my word that when we leave, we will leave no trace of us being here,” said Twilight.
Davidson nodded. “Thank you for that.”
A lady in the crowd said, “Excuse me, Your Highness? You said it was five days ago?”
Twilight turned to this person. She was demure, dressed in an attendant’s uniform, and shrank at all the eyes on her. Twilight said, “Five days ago, that’s right. Do you have any information?”
The lady squeaked, “Y-y-you wouldn’t happen to be looking for ponies named ‘Rarity’ and ‘Trixie,’ would you?”
Starlight shot forward to this lady, putting both her forehooves on the attendant’s shoulder. The attendant was wide-eyed in alarm; Starlight was wide-eyed in pleading. Twilight and Dash came up to her quickly as well, both keenly interested with looks of expectant relief. Starlight almost shouted, “You saw them!? Are they okay?! What happened?”
“Yes, I believe they’re okay. One was white with a curly mane, the other was blue and wore a cape and hat,” the attendant said quietly.
Someone else in the crowd said, “That’s right! It was upstairs in the Pokémon Centre! They were screaming at each other over what happened in the past! And there were some petty insults, too.”
Others in the crowd murmured in agreement, and a few chuckled. A tear slipped from Starlight’s eye as she begged, “Please tell me you know where they are!”
The attendant swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see which way their trainers went.”
Yet another person in the crowd chimed in, “I think I did. The red-haired man left town to the east, and the other went west.”
Twilight grumbled to herself as the crowd continued its smattering of indistinct comments. She shook her head, and returned toward the assembled guards. An outcry of surprise made her look up. Floating in from the northern entry was a very small light blue humanoid creature with a pear-shaped torso and two identical long tails. Its head was mostly a darker blue than the rest of its body, and it had a red oval inset over its sixth chakra. A similar red spot lay near the end of its tails. Its ochre eyes locked onto Twilight’s face in intrigue, lazily blinking as it slowly floated toward her. Twilight cocked her head to the left, and said, “Uh...hello?”
Davidson blurted, “Azelf...?”
“‘Azelf?’” Twilight asked.
“It’s a legendary Pokémon, said to inhabit Lake Valor...just over the hills east-by-northeast of here,” he answered in disbelief.
Azelf floated but a few centimetres from Twilight, still with its captivated gaze transfixed on the princess. It gingerly reached out with its left paw, and set it down on the end of Twilight’s nose. The crowd murmured yet again as Azelf floated there, touching Twilight. Starlight walked up to them, looking over the Pokémon with a curious face. Rainbow Dash shrugged. Davidson said in awe, “Azelf is said to be the being of willpower. That you got its attention, enough that it came to investigate...that’s something else.”
“Forget the ponies, that’s a Legendary!” shouted some tenor. There at the entryway stood the teenage couple from the sign; all eyes had looked up in time to see the boy throw a ball at Azelf.
“No!!” screamed Starlight. Her horn charged nearly instantly as she shot down the light blue and yellow Pokéball. In a flash she snatched a spear from one of the guards and rocketed toward the boy. He barely had time to inhale before she tackled him. His girlfriend shrieked and dropped her remaining three chocolates. Slamming his back to the ground with her left forehoof, Starlight wound up with the spear in her right, pounding it downward point-first. But the spearhead shattered; it broke upon a magenta shield, shaped like a round centre-boss targe, which appeared over the boy’s face in the nick of time.
“STARLIGHT GLIMMER!!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs, sounding like an angry parent rather than a disappointed mentor.
Starlight scowled at the broken spear, tossed it aside, and reared up. Before she could bring her hooves down, Rainbow Dash seized her in an aerial sprint, dragging her off of him. As they skidded to a stop, Dash pinned Starlight to the ground, hollering, “What the hell is wrong with you!?”
“I thought you wanted to kick some flank; why are you stopping me then?” Starlight grumbled, then teleported out from under Dash. As she rematerialised near the boy, she suddenly found herself trapped in crystal...the same spell she used during her time crisis. Twilight’s spell ray had also forced her back a good eight metres. The princess walked slowly up to Starlight, nostrils flared, eyes glaring, and ears flattened.
Twilight spat, “You are going back to the castle, and you will stay there until you learn how to control your temper. Rather than dole out punishment when you showed remorse, I took you as my student of friendship; if I have reason to suspect you’re reverting back to your old self, we will revisit that decision. Is that clear?”
“But—” began Starlight, and was immediately cut off.
“Yes or no; is that clear?!”
Starlight’s shoulders slumped and her eyes closed as she slowly nodded. Twilight released the spell. Still scolding, but softer and gentler, Twilight said, “Now go apologise, and hope and pray your overreacting didn’t wreck any friendships we could have had here.”
The girl helped her boyfriend to his feet, looking quite worried. His pants had a large wet spot that had spread radially from between his legs. Starlight’s eyes were on the ground as she trudged towards him. As she approached, he edged away from her. She began, “I’m sorry; I was—”
“Just stay away from me!” he shouted with his voice breaking as he turned to run. He whimpered as he pushed through the crowd and out the south exit, with his girlfriend running after him. One of the last three chocolates lay crushed from his sudden departure, oozing white crème upon the dirt. A whiff of peppermint followed a moment later.
Twilight sighed discontentedly as that guard retrieved what was left of his weapon. Starlight hung her head and departed toward the portal. Twilight said, “Starlight....”
Starlight looked at her mentor with wounded hope. Twilight hesitated, then sadly said, “I know you don’t want to see anything subjected to slavery, but trying to spear that human? Way too far. I know you’re better than that. You know you’re better than that. That was insanity, what you did. I still can’t believe you tried to kill him. There can’t be any more of that, ever. We need to have a very serious talk when this is all over.”
Starlight nodded weakly. Twilight continued, “Head home. Tell Sunburst I need him out here immediately.”
Starlight sniffled as she levitated herself over the marshland. Twilight watched her go for a moment, and sighed again. Dash frowned as she rubbed Twilight on the withers. Davidson approached as Twilight looked at Dash and asked, “What am I gonna do with her?”
“Uh, not bring her out here again?” Dash suggested, both her face and voice blunt about it.
Twilight looked around. The guards were behind Davidson; one watched their rear. She said unhappily, “Looks like she scared off Azelf. We were just starting to communicate.”
“Actually, Azelf zipped away when he, she, it, whatever saw that Quick Ball coming at its face,” said Davidson. He was not pleased. “I don’t like you ponies being here. I don’t like it at all. You’re dangerous.”
Twilight said, “I’m not making excuses for what she did, nor am I letting her return to this place.”
“Good,” barked Davidson. “From what I just saw I know we can’t force you to leave, but I want you gone as soon as possible.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t,” Davidson continued. “That was some crazy energy you threw around there, and from what I can see, you have plenty more where that came from. You watch yourself and how much of it you use. We don’t need any more surprise visitors.”
Twilight frowned. “I’ll be very selective who all I take and send on searches.”
Davidson glowered. “I’m not talking about you ponies. I’m talking about other legendary Pokémon showing up. Azelf is almost never seen away from Lake Valor, yet your presence alone got its attention enough for it to come here. That’s shocking; I’ve never heard of the like happening until now. At least Azelf is a pretty calm Pokémon. So are the other two who occupy the lakes, Mesprit and Uxie. Other legendary Pokémon, though, aren’t so nice, and some of those others are much, much stronger than the Lake Trio. You keep throwing power like that around, and I’ll bet the farm that sooner or later one of them big boys will come here, trying to ascertain who is this powerful being that they’ve never sensed before. We can’t have that, either one of us.”
“Maybe all this wouldn’t be necessary if you had just watched what other humans did in your marsh!” growled Rainbow Dash.
Davidson retorted, “Nothing close to that had ever happened before; there was no way to have predicted it. Regardless, here we are. Rumour has it after the last incident, high-ranking members of the World League took interest and are already on their way. What just happened here assured they will come. And sure I hope they can speed up your search.”
“That would be a great deal of help,” Twilight said curtly.
“Glad we have an understanding,” said Davidson. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I now have a ton of paperwork that cannot wait until tomorrow, thanks to you and your friend.”
Davidson turned on his heel and left. The guards let him pass, carefully watching his movements. Twilight growled to herself. The remaining six ponies returned to the portal. Twilight said nothing on the return trip, even though Dash kept looking at her. The guards who stayed behind were setting up a command post. As they landed, Twilight ambled toward the woods at the edge of the marsh. Dash walked up to her and said, “Penny.”
Twilight gave her a confused face. “What?”
“For your thoughts.”
Suspiring, Twilight lamented, “I failed. That was my first failure as the Princess of Friendship, and I don’t want another. I cannot hope to ever have good relations with this world after how things went this afternoon. I...I thought she could handle her anger. I thought she had grown enough. But I was wrong. Now, we can expect trouble the whole way.”
Twilight stopped to see Dash looking over her head with an intense gaze. After a moment, Dash frowned and said, “Sorry, thought I saw something or somepony in the woods.”
“It’s okay; I’d rather not have any surprises like any of those ‘Pokémon’ that Roger Davidson hinted at,” said Twilight. She shook her head again, and scoffed, “Forty hours of continuous intense magic, by the end of it I was trying and wanting just to stay awake so that the spell didn’t fizzle, and we get here to find out that wasn’t the worst of it, but just the start?”
Dash nodded and nickered. She stared off into the trees for a moment again, then said, “You know Rarity would do that and more, had it been us instead.”
“I know,” said Twilight. As the soldier ponies put the legs on a table, Twilight turned back toward the canopy tent. Dash followed while Twilight began, “There’s nothing to gain from delaying any longer, but we’ll need a map of the area before we can begin effective, organized searches. Owl Eyes, Dusk Breeze, I need you two to—”
Past the tree line, the princess’s words were no longer distinct. There, carefully watching from behind a shrub was an equine figure about fourteen hands tall, almost like a yearling colt in appearance. He was off-white, with indigo hooves, and sky blue tail and long fur around his neck and chest, though it left a diamond-shaped patch on his chest of the off-white fur. He didn’t exactly have a mane; scarlet fluff came off his head in a way that looked far more like a human with a bushy hairdo than an equine mane. From the top of his head stuck up three tufts of different colours, one was pear green, the next about the shade of a ripe orange peel, and the third was cerulean. A long, thick horn of cobalt blue protruded from his forehead; it seemed to have grown in four chunks, leaving a trio of saw tooth-like edges on its top.
“Hmm...,” murmured this figure, staring intently at Twilight.
He closed his eyes, then took a deep breath and held it. He stood there, resolutely holding himself in the upright pose. Slowly he exhaled, and turned his head to the southeast. He said to himself, “Over the ocean? That means....”
He looked north...perhaps north-northwest, and said under his breath, “That one’s close, or at least close enough. But the other....”
He looked back southeast for a second, then carefully picked his way north, staying hidden from the marsh as the sun set. As the edge of the marsh turned west, so did he. He looked back toward the portal and command post for a moment. Seeing it fully obscured by foliage, he began to run, and reached a cantering speed far faster than any normal pony or horse could dream of achieving. Over dead logs, creeks, briar patches, and boulders he bounded, racing onward toward the west. He slowed as he heard what sounded like three different roars, each trying to drown out the other two, echo from atop Mt. Coronet.
Westward he pressed harder, muttering to himself, “Gotta get her back before all the others get here...can’t let this place become a warzone....”
Rarity leaned on the starboard railing near the stern of the SS Sakura next to one of the poolside tables, with its associated chair tipped over and shunted aside several metres. She stared out into the deep dark of the night over the ocean with a square-bodied bottle in her telekinetic grip. Her mane was a flattened, frizzy, tangled mess, and her tail wasn’t much better. On the northern horizon was the glow, shape, and shadow of Hotel Grand Lake. A ways left of that were some dancing lights against the sky in the shape of Twilight’s cutie mark. Rarity pressed the bottle to her lips and took its last few gulps of the amber liquid. After sucking on air, she set the emptied bottle on the table next to another empty bottle, and opened a third. She briefly looked over the yellow label with its red seal, shrugged, and took another gulp. As her eyes looked back at Twilight’s projection of her cutie mark, Rarity slurred her words with marked gaps between her sentences. “Daahling, I see it. I see you thairre. I’m over here, Twilight! I’m over here.”
She smacked her lips together a few times, and lazily blinked. A passing elderly couple gave her the stink eye, but walked along. She continued staring northward, oblivious to their passing and derision. Rarity continued in the same tone, “Do you wanna come play? I’m sure we’ll have a fun battle! I doubt we’ll hold long, but maybe you can join our team! What kind of ball would you like to be in? I heard there’s a ‘Luxury Ball.’ Why couldn’t I get in one of those?”
“I thought I heard you,” said a girlish voice. Rarity turned and saw Doyel standing there with her hands on her hips and shaking her head. She had a small purse over her left shoulder that was a near-perfect match to her sari.
“Heya,” Rarity began as Doyel walked up to her, still with lapses in her grammar. “How you doing, daahling? Come to see thisss Pokémon get ‘ossified,’ as my trainer likes to say?”
Doyel frowned at the change in identity. She said, “Please not this again, Rarity...you’re not a Pokémon.”
“But I ammm,” Rarity said, taking another sip. “I am a Pokémon. You heard Paddy; you were right thairre! How can I argue against that?”
“Because you’re not one! You know too many moves to be a Pokémon! You yourself said earlier you’re an ‘Equestrian pony;’ that’s no Pokémon anyone’s ever heard of,” Doyel protested. She began walking up to Rarity, but stopped as her eyes drifted toward the empties on the table. “How many have you...whoa. Dang...you’re totally hammered, aren’t you?”
Rarity had a small burp. She looked out over the water again, and said, “Still doesn’t...doesn’t...what’s the damn word...counter! It doesn’t counter his point.”
“So he bred the original Trixie with his Zebstrika, and got a number of eggs from them! So what?!” Doyel grouched, throwing her hands in the air.
“Viable offspring!” Rarity yelled as she stumbled. Righting her balance, she unevenly continued, “You can’t get offspring that can breed again if you cross species, except with us Pokémon!”
Doyel scoffed, “I still maintain my point from earlier: Pokémon cross-species breed all the time; who’s to say they can’t mix with an Equestrian pony?”
Rarity toddled again. “The eggs, Doyel. The eggs. She would have been knocked up if we weren’t Pokémon; she instead laid eggs. You saw his photos of all those...those...blank flanks! Dammit, how the hell did that bitch get laid before me?”
“Yeah, his little ‘Twixies.’ Pokémon eggs always hatch as the mother species’ bottom-most stage of evolution,” Doyel muttered, with her fingers in air quotes where expected. “Even though he got a ‘Twixie’ to evolve into a so-called ‘Trixie,’ it still doesn’t refute my point.”
“There’s no doubt the father is a Pokémon, but the whore, I mean, mother? If we weren’t Pokémon, she’d be pregnant...that is, if we could cross-breed at all. She would not lay eggs. That’s what I can’t get around,” Rarity sighed, taking another gulp.
Doyel scoffed and marched up to Rarity. She barked, “Holy cow, girl, you’re driving me nuts! Give me that!”
Rarity irritably beatboxed as Doyel snatched the bottle, “Tch-mm-puh-kaa! What do you think you’re doing? You can’t have that!”
“International waters; there are no drinking age laws here. And I hear it takes the edge off,” Doyel said flatly as she raised the bottle. She took two swallows before reeling and almost throwing up. With her tongue out and her face revolted, she exclaimed, “Eeeuuggh!! Baap re baap, that’s nasty! What is this??”
“The barman called it ‘tequila,’” Rarity said, resuming telekinetic hold of the bottle.
Doyel spat over the railing and into the ocean. She reached into her purse, pulled out some gum, and popped it in her mouth as she said, “I don’t know how you stand the taste.”
Rarity took another gulp and said, “It’s...I don’t know. It is pretty bad. But I stopped caring halfway through the first bottle.”
“Ach! You’re all-but legless, I see,” said Aengus as he walked up. “You’ll be in bits in the morning, you will.”
“So what? Everything, everything I thought I knew was a lie. Just coming to grips that I’m a Pokémon,” Rarity grumbled as she raised the bottle again, but Aengus grabbed it before it reached her lips.
“No. You’ve already had too much,” he ordered firmly. Rarity looked up at him with tears welling up in her eyes. He continued, “And no, you’re not a Pokémon. You’re...well, something completely different. I may be reaching, but it looks to me that your magic is close enough to a Pokémon’s energy that the balls can’t tell the difference.”
Rarity began, “But—”
“Stop,” Aengus said. “I’ve heard enough of this argument for one day, or even for the whole year. Right now, to bed with ye.”
“Okay...just...just put me back in the ball,” Rarity sighed.
“No,” said Aengus. “You’ll just use the replicator you talked about in there to hit more bottles. Back to the suite, and go to bed.”
“But Paddy will be there,” Rarity began.
“Not there. He’s with Rajni right now,” Doyel said, rolling her eyes. “Asked me to put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door on my way out.”
Rarity dismissively waved a hoof. Aengus rolled his eyes too. “I was wondering what you were doing out this late; it’ll be dawn in a few hours.”
Rarity said, “I guess he—”
“Bed!” Aengus cut her off. Rarity’s head drooped as she staggered away in a not-at-all straight line. As the pony stumbled through the doorway, Doyel and Aengus looked at each other. Aengus turned toward the ship’s aft, watching the churning water below. He grumbled, “He really got to her, put it in her head she’s something she isn’t. I didn’t think she actually believed him, until now.”
Doyel said, “If you don’t mind me saying so, your brother’s an asshole.”
Aengus sighed and nodded. He turned to her with a saddened smirk and said, “Coming from the lass that pushed for them to get together?”
“That was before I got to know him at all,” Doyel retorted.
“Ah,” Aengus said. “And I can’t disagree with you, sad to say. He’s been a right foul git since he was accepted at university, and he’s steadily gotten worse.”
“I believe you. Then he and my sister thought on the day they met they should go and...can’t believe her. At least he bought her dinner first,” she quipped.
“Well then, will miracles never cease,” Aengus said sardonically.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering,” Doyel began, “where is the original Trixie?”
“Released,” said Aengus. “Paddy dumped her off before even setting foot out of the Sinnoh Daycare.”
Doyel’s face shone a glimmer of hope. “Does that mean she’s home in Equestria?”
Aengus shook his head in aggravation. Doyel scowled at the water below in response as he lamented, “Were it that simple, lass. Were it that simple. I’ve had no hand in any of the PokéComputer networks, and have no idea where they release unwanted Pokémon back into the wild, just that it’s not that close to where the release order came from. She’s somewhere in Sinnoh, but I can’t guess where.”
“Why haven’t you told Rarity that!?” scoffed Doyel.
“Paddy needs to own up to what he’s done; I shouldn’t have to rat him out. I keep expecting he’s man enough, because he’s done so before with his peers,” Aengus grumbled. “But today made it clear he never respected Rarity, and never will. He just sees her as another Pokémon, admittedly smarter than most, maybe even sentient, but nonetheless just a Pokémon in his eyes. He barely considers Pokémon above common animals, let alone on the same level as people.”
“But he’s going to university, to study Pokémon, with that attitude? Really?” Doyel grouched with a snort, eyes demanding explanation.
Aengus nodded in concession. “You’re right. Really says where he stands, doesn’t it? Guess it looks like he’s not man enough. Guess it falls to me after all. I’ll have to talk to her about it later, once Paddy has left for his studies. Mom might call him ‘a bleeding thick’ for how he’s behaved, but that bleedin’ thick is our flesh-and-blood. I can’t let Rarity beat the ever-lovin’ shite out of m’ own brother over this, or possibly kill him. That’s my job.”
Doyel snorted and shook her head. “He doesn’t really love any of his Pokémon, does he?”
Aengus said, “Indeed, but he sure gets angry, and quickly, if they screw up.”
Doyel also watched the water below. “Seems you’ve been angry yourself.”
“Perceptive, aren’t you?” Aengus said. He sighed as he watched the ocean’s horizon. “I’ve been mad, all right. I was mad the day they took my dad away, mad the land of my birth is still ruled by a foreign king, mad at all the times me and mine got the short end of the stick, mad that it seems every time I try to help my family somebody else throws it back in my face how hard up we’ve been, and lately, mad at how Paddy’s carrying himself. Getting tired of being angry all the time. I know I can be a better person than I’ve been, and it’s been eating at me as of late.”
“Rarity, right?”
“Aye. That little pony has a way with people. You wouldn’t think it of somebody as prissy and snooty as she can get, especially when it comes to finery, but she’s selfless. She’s designing outfits for some of my Pokémon, just because. And she took my measurements this morning so she can make a ‘dapper suit’ for me once she has the material. Gave up what she wanted to try at lunch to a stranger because it was the last one and he wanted it too. Did it with a smile on her face, a genuine smile,” Aengus said.
“Wow,” breathed Doyel.
“Helped a mother who had three little rascals who wouldn’t listen. Hugged the one that just wanted to be held while she brushed the older boy’s hair, so that their mum could redress the youngest,” Aengus said, shaking his head.
“Redress?”
“Haven’t been around many toddlers, have you?” Aengus asked with a knowing grin.
Doyel facepalmed. “Oh. That phase.”
Aengus said, “And Rarity refused compensation for it.”
“Huh. She really is something,” Doyel said.
Aengus said, “That she is. Makes me feel terrible that I caught her and trained her to do something completely against her nature.”
Doyel said, “Sounds to me like you should apologise to her once she’s sober, and tell her the truth. All of it, both your part, and Paddy’s. If just seeing what she does and how she behaves is enough to make you want to be a better man, she ought to know, and deserves to know. And then be that better person. If you feel yourself getting angry or doing something you ought not, ask yourself what would she do instead, and do it.”
“Yeah,” said Aengus. He turned for the door. “I should check on her, and make sure she actually went to bed and not back to the pub. I’ll try to do what you said.”
Doyel huffed and crossed her arms. “You’ll only ‘try’ to be a better person?”
“I meant, try to apologise,” said Aengus as he looked back for a brief moment. “It’s a bit harder for men.”
The LED in the door turned green as Aengus removed his card key. The suite was dark as he opened the door. Aengus turned left and went into his room. He flipped on a single lamp and left the other four dark. Rarity had passed out on the closer of the two queen-sized beds. In her hooves was another bottle of tequila with a quarter of it already consumed. Aengus blinked at the scene and blurted, “Damn, you really can hold your liquor.”
Aengus took the tequila and locked it in the cabinet. He picked up his satchel from between the beds and opened the main pouch. After a moment of digging, he pulled out a peachy-coloured spray bottle with a white nozzle and trigger. He pointed it at her and pulled the trigger, covering her in a clear mist. She seemed to glow green for a moment, and the clear mist faded away. He shook his head at Rarity. Aengus sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently petting her along her neck before settling on scratching her behind the ears, he whispered, “That should prevent any real harm from drinking that much, but waking up will still be unkind. I’ll try to be quiet and keep the blinds shut, and maybe find something to dull the coming headache.”
Aengus looked over at the closet. Getting up, he opened it and pulled out two spare blankets. He unfolded them both and laid them over Rarity. Gently he lifted her head and slid one of the pillows underneath. He sat down next to her as before, tucking the blankets under her nose. Aengus cracked a fatherly smile as he stroked her across the top of her head. He said, “I still can’t believe he convinced you that you’re a Pokémon. We’ll just have to get that out of your head, and make you right as rain again, lass. Whether by stroke of luck, stroke of genius, or good old-fashioned perseverance, we’ll get you out of this funk. I promise.”
Rarity gasped breathlessly as she was shoved back several metres as the tickling flames faded away. The crowd watching the match murmured in shock and fear. Across from Aengus and Rarity hovered a large white and grey moth with six red wings. Behind it stood an older man with long, unnaturally red hair, wearing a yellowish off-white poncho with red and orange edging along the arm holes, charcoal grey collar and front stripe, flanked by orange. He had pants of the same colour ripped off below the knee, and black sandals. Around his neck was a chain of full-sized Pokéballs. He stood with a neutral expression as Rarity took a series of deep breaths. She looked up at Aengus and muttered, “That smarts...Aengus, we’re in trouble here.”
“I noticed,” Aengus said. “He’s a master, and has been a master for decades; that much is clear.”
“Do you think we can still win?” Rarity asked.
Aengus shook his head. “Not likely. You’re hurting too much, and he still has one more Pokémon we haven’t seen. Of course, we’re gonna try anyway. And he revealed what this one’s secondary type is. Use Power Gem!”
Aengus and his opponent both stared at Rarity as the crowd fell silent. The moth fainted. The old man’s mouth fell open as he blinked. Eyebrows raised on either side of the battlefield. Aengus scratched his head and said, “I haven’t seen her do it like that before.”
“I was about to ask,” began his opponent, “is this a regional variant or something? It’s clearly not a Z-move. Heck, it looked normal the first time she used Power Gem.”
“As I said, it’s new to me, too. She’s been full of surprises from the beginning. But, I thought Z-moves were an Alolan thing only,” Aengus said.
His opponent answered, “Well, to my knowledge, that’s where they first found those crystals, but rumour has it they’re starting to be unearthed elsewhere.”
Rarity walked over to Aengus and huffed, “Since we’re taking a break and all....”
“Hey!” Aengus protested as Rarity unzipped his satchel and began rooting around in it. He forcibly removed her forehoof from his bag with an annoyed frown, and zipped it back closed. Aengus then shifted the satchel from her reach.
Rarity grumbled, “What? Is it unreasonable to be peckish in the early morning, or after some physical activity in the early morning, or battling on an empty stomach, in the early morning?”
“Sorry that the galley’s closed when we’re this close to docking,” Aengus said with overt irritation.
“Darling, I’m famished! We Pokémon love battling, naturally, but a roaring belly cuts into the pleasure! Surely you’ve felt this before, yes? And I dare say that...what’s wrong?” Rarity said with a change in tone from objecting to concerned.
Aengus’s right hand had drifted up to his face and stayed there upon the word “Pokémon” leaving Rarity’s mouth, exactly the same as it had for the last three and a half days from such stimuli. Today was day five of the voyage, maybe a half-hour before sunrise, and not much longer than that until they were due to dock in Olivine City. Aengus’s patience with Rarity calling herself a Pokémon during that time was wearing dangerously thin. He sighed, “Still not a Pokémon...wondering how much I can take of you thinking that....”
“Escavalier, let’s win this!” shouted the other trainer.
Emerging from the Pokéball was a levitating blue beetle of some kind wearing armour. It had an armet helmet with the visor up and an oversized red crest, bulky pauldrons, striped lances in both of its “hands,” and an armoured rolled-up sleeping bag around its abdomen, or at least, that’s what it looked like to Rarity. Dangling near its face was what sort of looked like a berry, but nothing like any with which she was familiar: it was a rosy red, and had the parallel linear indents like a ripe pumpkin.
Rarity snorted and slapped dust back from under her front hooves. Aengus shouted, “I recognise this guy! Use Flame Charge!”
The other yelled, “Smart Strike, Escavalier!”
Rarity called fire to surround her. She started to run as Escavalier chomped down on its berry. At a full canter, Rarity trampled over Escavalier. She returned to Aengus’s side as Escavalier staggered, and reeled, and shook its head. It blinked hard, breathing heavily, while the crowd oohed in surprise with a hint of disappointment. Red crosshairs shone in front of Rarity, followed by a bright point of light between the tips of Escavalier’s lances. The bug then shot forward at an alarmingly fast rate...too fast for Rarity to react. Escavalier’s attack landed true. Rarity staggered backwards wincing. Gasping, her forelimbs slowly buckled, and she tottered onto the ground. A second later she disappeared in a flow of green sparks.
The crowd let out a disappointed “aww.” Aengus’s shoulders slumped as he stared vacantly at some point on the floor, not terribly far in front of him. His opponent walked up with a congratulatory smile. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, son. Very few trainers have mastered an all-out assault style like you have; most prefer taking a few moments to set up a favourable field of play. Ending it quickly before such momentum can be established? I respect that approach. And if I may be so honest, no one has pressed me that hard since a girl with a high ponytail wearing a ball cap came and proved herself Unova’s new champion over me...name was Hilda, if I remember right. The champion’s throne has changed hands several times since.”
Aengus’s gaze and eyebrows raised. “You were the Unova champion? Who are you? I never got your name, sir.”
“I am Alder, and yes, I was the Unova Region Champion for many years,” Alder answered. “After some time wandering, I returned to the League, now as one of the World Elite Four. And you nearly beat me.”
Aengus opened his satchel and pulled out a yellow octahedron. As he pressed it to the Safari Ball on his belt, he said, “Are you serious? How close was I?”
Alder fiddled with one of his Pokéballs as Rarity emerged from her own, holding her head. She muttered, “Ow, what a headache...what happened?”
“We lost,” Aengus lamented. Rarity sighed and pouted some, pawing at the ground as she looked down. She rubbed her temples again, but Aengus handed her a carrot and a candy bar in a green wrapper. As she tucked into the food, he continued, “Turns out this is Alder of the World Elite Four. He says we almost beat him.”
The crowd was dissipating. Alder held a ball in front of Aengus. He said, “This is how close you were, young man.”
Aengus’s eyes bugged out of his head for a second, then he stomped in frustration as he stood up straight with lips pulled taut. He grumbled, “Aahh! Dammit! That close!? That’s worse than not knowing!”
Rarity tried rearing up to look at the ball in Alder’s hand, but he was putting it away. She asked, “Wait, how close were we? You can’t just tease a lady like that, darling! Do tell!”
“Escavalier held on by the skin of his teeth, thanks to the Occa Berry,” Alder said with a suppressed grin. “If you don’t mind my suggesting it, maybe she should hold something like a Muscle Band, Wise Glasses, or in particular here, an Expert Belt.”
Aengus nodded as he said, “She’s currently holding a Lucky Egg.”
Alder looked at Aengus in a mild shock. “She’s still in training??”
“Yeah. Never have I seen such potential,” Aengus said with a nod.
“I see that. Nor have I ever heard of one Pokémon knowing so many moves,” said Alder.
A boatswain’s whistle called across the P.A. system for all hands. Silence fell over the battle room. Then a man spoke over the loudspeaker, “Good morning! This is Commander Tanaka. We will be pulling into port in thirty minutes. We ask all passengers to return to their cabins at this time, gather up all personal belongings, and prepare to debark. It has been our pleasure to serve each and every one of you on Blue Horizons Voyage 84 from Snowpoint City in Sinnoh to Olivine City in Johto. We look forward to serving you again during your next voyage, and thank you once again for choosing Blue Horizons!”
Folks shuffled from the room at a quicker pace. Aengus said, “Sir, I ask the favour of a rematch sometime!”
“Yes indeed; I’m looking forward to it, young man!” Alder answered. “See you around!”
Alder headed for the exit on the other side of the room as the one Aengus and Rarity chose. Five more minutes had passed before they had returned to the suite, where Paddy was already fully packed and ready to go.
The sun had barely crested the eastern horizon as the SS Sakura’s tie lines were thrown from the deck to the stone wharf. Within five minutes passengers shuffled down the gangplank, with Aengus and Paddy toward the back of the pack. As they started down, Paddy said, “Gosh, it’s been awhile. Nice to finally be home!”
“So different from the lad who wanted nothing but to get away when we first set out,” Aengus teased.
“Close to eight months away from home will do that to a fella,” Paddy said. He unzipped a side pocket on his satchel and pulled out some electronic device that had a wrist strap. It was blue and white, and bigger than the average chalkboard eraser. As he put it on, he said, “May as well get the Pokégear out. I’ll have to get used to wearing one again.”
Aengus grunted in approval as he dug out his own. Powering on the device, he strapped it to his wrist as they walked down the gangplank. They reached the bottom. Aengus sighed happily, taking a step onto the wharf. A second step, and his Pokégear buzzed, just as Rarity was inhaling to speak. He hit a few buttons and it slid open. Aengus raised the device to beside his face and ear as he said, “Hello?”
Paddy and Rarity watched him as very quickly his expression and posture changed from surprise and confusion, to a mix of irritation, shock, defeat, and disbelief. He grumbled, “Hi Joey.”
Paddy facepalmed while a few debarking passengers in earshot sympathetically winced. Paddy muttered, “For pity’s sake...that didn’t take long....”
Aengus forced a fake smile as he said, “Yes, Joey, you have a spectacular Rattata. None like it.”
“Who’s Joey?” Rarity asked.
“Not somebody you ever want to know. He will never shut up about his stupid Rattata, nor leave you alone,” Paddy urged.
Aengus said, “Look, we literally just got off the boat after being gone for the better part of the year. I’d like to see my mother before the day’s over.”
Rarity frowned. “It can’t be that bad.”
Paddy petted her on the top of her head while grimacing. “It really is that bad. Setting out to Kalos, we joked about how great it’d be to not hear from him for awhile. Looks like it wasn’t a joke in the end.”
“Okay, Joey, I can’t promise we’ll make it, but I’ll be sure to oblige if we’re in the area. I gotta go. Bye,” said Aengus. He stared at the lapping waters for a moment and groaned in frustration. Shaking his head, he bleated, “Gimme three steps. Three steps to get off the damn boat and let any remaining homesickness melt away, but nooo-o-o, that’s too much....”
Another old man coming off the gangplank shot the trio a funny look, especially at Aengus’s vacant glare at the seawater. Paddy looked him in the eye and said, “Joey.”
The old man nodded sadly and patted Aengus on the shoulder before going on his way. Other passengers passed by them mournfully as whispers of “Joey” trickled back up the gangplank. Rarity shook her head as this unfolded, muttering, “You were serious...this is folie....”
“Do you always default to French when you want to emphasise something?” Paddy asked.
“You mean ‘Prench,’ and yes,” Rarity answered. She saw the blank, disbelieving look from Paddy. She continued, “Named for the elegant country of Prance? The very masters of the fine arts of cuisine, fashion, painting, dance, and music?”
Paddy blinked twice, but his expression did not change. He said, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to that.”
Rarity looked back and said, “We’re impeding others from getting off the ship.”
They started away. Aengus whispered in Rarity’s ear, “Joey’s usually on Route 30. We’ll have to go through there on the way to the League. If he’s there...this is not something I’ll say for a battle with any other trainer...if Joey wants a rematch, I want you to hit for distance.”
Rarity blinked, though one eye was markedly wider than the other. As they made their way down the wharf, Paddy said, “If the ‘Prench’ Pokémon of your world are like the French people of this one, then I’ll say no one’s foolish enough to argue the point about cuisine or high fashion. But painting’s too diverse to claim the best all falls in one country, and the French, while good, certainly aren’t ‘the very masters’ of song and dance.”
Rarity gave him a disapproving look. “Is that so? If not the Prench, then who?”
“The Irish,” said both brothers in unison.
Rarity looked between the two as her expression asked for elaboration. Aengus said, “If mom’s up to it, we’ll show you when we get home.”
“Brother, we haven’t touched our instruments since we set out,” Paddy said with a light of air of disappointment.
Aengus stopped in his tracks. Paddy and Rarity both took two more steps before noticing. They looked back and saw Aengus stood looking very worried. Feebly he murmured, “Mom’s gonna kill us....”
“Maybe you should’ve listened when I said we should pack them, before we left?” Paddy said, with enough I-told-you-so dripping from his words and face that Rarity easily could have taken a knife and spread it on toast for her and all of her friends, both close and casual.
Aengus looked around after they passed through a boathouse on the pier, across the buildings. “Where’s a music store when you need one?”
“One, it’s too late to practice and expect it to make a difference, Mr. Tin Whistle. And two, what about me? It’s not like the music stores around Johto have many fiddles,” Paddy griped.
Aengus sighed. Looking around the town, he said, “I suppose there’s nothing for it now. Not using Fly. I’d like to take her through Ecruteak.”
“Meh.”
Rarity beheld the town. Olivine City seemed much like other port towns near rough shoals. There was a lighthouse, square flags hanging on lines between two poles, a marketplace, and a number of craft coming, going, loading, and unloading, while every vessel avoided the choppier waters east of the wharfs. Children ran playing, some with their parents running after them. The key difference was that, again, all the entry doors were on the south-facing side of the buildings, except the one on the pier, which had doors on both ends; there was also the pointless meandering on the part of random people.
Shortly after a quick healing and party swap stop at the Pokémon Centre, Rarity watched four larger teenage boys cornering a boy of about ten. Paddy started their way as Pokémon were sent out and the younger kid started crying. The younger kid had a Pidgey; the first two older boys deployed a Poliwhirl and a Flaaffy. When they taunted about how he was weak and unprepared, and they were going to mangle him in a double battle, Paddy threw one of his balls and yelled, “It’s not a double battle unless it starts two-on-two! Come on, little man, I’ll be your partner!”
Espeon emerged from the ball. Aengus shouted, “Paddy, no! Sending her in against opponents that much weaker than you is no different than what they were about to do to him!”
“Whatever, man! You don’t know what you’re talking about! He doesn’t stand a chance against me! I beat the Gym!” mouthed off the first bully. He whipped open his trainer case, which had a single badge: an iron octagon. He continued, “Yeah! What’re you gonna do, buddy! What’re you gonna do! I got your number!”
Paddy reached for his own as he said, “That’s pretty impressive, that you got the Mineral Badge.” He flipped it open and continued, “But you have a ways to go to catch up with me.”
“Sixteen!?” the bully shouted.
“Yes,” Paddy answered. “Eight from Johto, eight from Kanto. You and your chums together are no threat.”
The little boy laughed with a whoop. He cheered, “Wow! Thanks for helping me, mister!”
“Sure thing, little man,” Paddy said with a smile. His face hardened as he turned to the bullies. “I’ll give you this one chance to withdraw. Leave him be, and give me no cause to return and track you lot down.”
The bullies looked between each other for a moment or two, called back their Pokémon, and ambled off. Paddy and the kid exchanged Pokégear numbers, should the bullies come again. The trio departed north out of the city.
Passing under the last banner of square flags, Rarity said, “I’m surprised, Paddy, about those hooligans and how you dealt with them.”
Paddy snapped, “Surprised I would help a bullied kid? Why don’t you take your thinly-veiled accusations and shove ‘em up your arse?”
Rarity was taken aback. She gingerly said, “I did not mean any accusation at all, darling! I apologise I came across as such.”
Paddy sighed sharply through his nose. With a scowl he said, “Want to know what that was about? Ask your trainer about him and his friend Yoshinori from when we were kids, and why I’d want to keep it from happening to anybody else.”
Aengus grumbled, “Yoshi...wow. Dredging up dirt from so long ago? I haven’t seen or heard from him in a good fifteen years. I had forgotten about him until just now. I can’t believe you remember those days, let alone still holding bitterness.”
“What did you do?” Rarity said with a harsh frown.
“Stupid things. Things I’m not proud of, but certain he’ll embellish,” said Aengus, shaking his head. “As I said, I haven’t thought about those things in years. I was...what, six years old at the time? And doing the sort of thing older brothers do.”
Scoffing, Paddy interjected, “Bollocks! You two took things way too far! Both mom and his mom had to stop you two more than once!”
Rarity began tuning out the bickering; she felt no need to learn yet another iteration of how older brothers harangue the younger ones. Unlike Sinnoh, trainers along this wilderness trail did not approach for battle. She observed the look of recognition from most of them, and definitely some fear. The lack of battles and the weather made the morning jaunt enjoyable. The air was temperate with a gentle wind, the sort of warmth expected of a summer winding down and autumn drawing near; this sort of day would have been perfect for a stroll with Sweetie Belle back home, not one for a catalogue of wrongs a decade and a half old. One complaint that drew Rarity’s attention was Paddy’s claiming they knocked an active hornet nest out of a tree near him, to which Aengus apologised profusely. Rarity tuned this out for a different reason as a shudder twitched its way down her back. A couple hours had passed, and Rarity trudged on in a stupor, growing tired of a seemingly endless list of grievances Paddy had about Aengus and this “Yoshinori” kid from way back when. They were passing a dairy farm when the road turned eastward; it was not until then that frustrations had finally slowed and whittled down. Rarity silently wondered why boys were so terrible to each other in early childhood, and in adolescence the girls took over that disreputable spot, uncertain why humans and “Pokémon like her” just couldn’t be decent to each other. Just the same, Paddy had not been this long-winded before. She thought of how useful it might be to Chatter endlessly in the face of a patient threat. A little while later, they came to one of the city gate buildings.
Upon passing through, Rarity gasped in awe. In every direction was picturesque architecture, completely foreign to anything she had ever seen before. The late Muromachi-period roofs, wall designs, and apparel caught her in a wide-eyed stare with a smile curling her lips. She murmured, “This is gorgeous....”
They walked forward, and found an open area, where Rarity continued looking at anything and everything around her. Aengus chuckled while Paddy smiled and shook his head. Geishas walked past in elaborate red brocade kimonos, to Rarity’s impassioned gaze. Men in an intense debate went by in their black montsukis, neutral-coloured hakamas, and tabi footwear. Aengus knelt down and rummaged through his satchel. Paddy said, “You had Ecruteak in mind from the beginning when she said she designed fashion, didn’t you?”
“Absolutely,” Aengus answered, pulling out a sketch pad and a set of coloured pencils. He offered them to Rarity with a smile and said, “I see it on your face, the gears turning in your head about how to apply this to Equestrian fashion. Go on. Sketch what you see, make it happen. This is who you are, Rarity: the brilliant and generous fashionista, not a Pokémon.”
Paddy sighed, “Still running from the truth....”
Rarity took the materials in her telekinetics and immediately began the outline of a mare lightly, and then the basic shape of a formal robe. Childlike wonder remained plastered across her face as she rapidly sketched away. Aengus looked back at his brother and said, “I’m still unconvinced. Pokémon genetics is peculiar to say the least, and the way she is...it’s nothing like the Pokémon we’ve raised until now. And there’s still the lingering question of her number of moves, and that she picks them up at random moments and stimuli. You know she used a strange but potent variation on Power Gem this morning?”
Paddy shrugged, “I heard such a rumour.”
“And there’s that she’s known over three dozen moves for two days. Heck, she just picked up her thirty-eighth on the way here,” Aengus said.
Paddy cocked his head to the left. “We didn’t have a single battle on Routes 39 or 38, nor did you reach into your bag for anything once.”
“I know,” Aengus said.
“What else has she picked up since our double battle on the ship?” asked Paddy.
“Covet, Sweet Kiss, and now Chatter,” Aengus said. “She’s rapidly approaching ten times as many moves as a Pokémon with no sign of stopping. Not a single instance of any Pokémon knowing five, and look at her.”
Paddy scolded, “Facing a disheartening truth is never as harmful as believing a comforting lie.”
“I really wish you’d listen to your own advice,” Aengus said. “You’d think by now it’d—”
A scream overhead made all three look up. People around began to shout in surprise, some delightedly, some fearfully. Circling and descending was a large avian Pokémon. It was mostly red, with black feet, a large bill, golden tail feathers, white underbelly, a green ring around its red neck, and a green and white stripe along the tips of its flight feathers. As it neared the ground, it tilted its head, showing a tall golden crest, and black patches around its red eyes. Rarity looked at Aengus as he started to reach into his bag, stop, shake his head, and withdraw his hand.
The large bird Pokémon hovered a few feet above the paved plaza as what seemed like the entire populace of Ecruteak City had gathered. Photograph cameras with zoom lenses, Pokégear sets, smartphones, and a few old camcorders were out, pointed at the Pokémon bird. Paddy searched his bag, the sound of which tugged at Rarity’s attention. As he pulled out a purple Pokéball with two large pink spots and a white M just above the button, Aengus grabbed him by the wrist. Paddy scrunched his eyebrows at his brother. Aengus slowly and firmly shook his head; Paddy frowned and nodded in response, putting the Pokéball back in his bag.
Muttering through the crowd repeated the name “Ho-Oh.” Rarity looked around at the people saying this name, then back at the red bird. Ho-Oh flapped quickly and landed, folding its wings back. Exclamations resounded among those gathered, along with innumerable shutters clicking, some physical, and some digital. Rarity stopped examining the crowd when Ho-Oh started her way, waddling in a starling-like gait. Intrigue etched Rarity’s face. Murmurs in the crowd resumed when Ho-Oh halted in front of Rarity, easily in hooves’ reach. Their gazes met.
With a courtly bow, Aengus stepped forward. He walked up and stood with his head beside Ho-Oh’s. He whispered, but not soft enough for Rarity not to hear, “Please help her.”
Aengus backed up. Ho-Oh looked at him and gave a slight nod. Aengus bowed again as before, and backed up to stand beside his brother. Ho-Oh returned its eyes to Rarity, who raised an eyebrow. Tentatively she said, “Um, good morning?”
Ho-Oh cocked its head to the left. Rarity’s eyes flicked to the crowd, and then back to Ho-Oh. Anticipation lay heavy in the air, enough to burden Rarity’s psyche, along with the many pairs of eyes upon her. Another unduly long moment passed. Then Ho-Oh answered in a parrot-like voice, but words of plain human speech, to the gasp of the gathered. “Good morning...but who, and what, are you, miss?”
Shutters snapped away as Rarity’s head jerked back in response to Ho-Oh’s question. She looked back at Aengus for a brief second before facing the question and the Pokémon who asked it. She stammered, “Well, y-y-you see, I...I’m a...I-I am not a regular Pokémon, sir, ma’am...whichever you’d rather. I’m from—”
“No,” Ho-Oh interrupted.
Rarity met its gaze, awaiting further explanation. Ho-Oh watched her without a word. A silent moment passed, interrupted by a young woman of Japanese descent moving in with her camera and zoom lens. She wore a white kimono, one with golden cranes in its brocade. Her hair was tied in a multi-tiered bun, sporting a trio of blue-purple five-petal flowers above her left eye. Taking a picture, she did not hesitate to check her camera’s screen. With a broad smile, she silently but emphatically celebrated the shot. She bowed to Ho-Oh and retreated to the crowd; there she showed it to her friends and possibly potential suitors, each sharing her joy at her captured image. Rarity’s eyes and ears flicked toward her as she took the picture, and a few times again as those around her quietly and inaudibly cheered the photo. Ho-Oh remained stoically fixated on Rarity, ignoring the photographer. More awkward silence ensued. Rarity mustered an answer. “What do you mean by ‘no,’ dear? That doesn’t leave much to go on.”
“You are no Pokémon,” Ho-Oh answered. “Your power is not the same as ours.”
“Really??” asked Paddy as Rarity melodramatically took a long, deep sigh of relief with her eyes closed. He pulled a Pokéball from his belt and clicked its button. As the green-eyed Trixie materialised, he asked, “So, since this one’s mother was one like her, and father was a Pokémon, is she a hybrid?”
Ho-Oh shot Paddy a dirty look, but gave him a tiny nod. Paddy pursed his lips, then continued, “So, does that mean that—”
Ho-Oh locked both eyes on him as it growled; its beak opened slightly with a small sphere of blue fire spinning there, almost as if the flame was a berry in its bill. Alarm rang through the crowd. Paddy instantly stopped talking as he put his hands up as if to surrender, taking a step back. As he returned the green-eyed Trixie to her ball, he looked at Aengus and quietly said, “I’ll be damned. I was certain they were, too. Weird. Maybe Professor Elm has some answers.”
Aengus said, “It’ll be something for you to ask when your classes begin. Oh, and brother?”
“Yes?” Paddy responded, watching as Ho-Oh put away the miniature fireball and resumed looking into Rarity’s eyes.
“Look at me,” Aengus said.
Paddy turned toward Aengus. “What issOOORFFF…!!”
Paddy crumpled to a knee with a hand on the ground; Aengus had punched him, a haymaker to the solar plexus. An “ooh” smattered across the first few rows of the crowd. As Paddy struggled to get his wind back, Aengus leaned over him and barked, “That’s for convincing her of a lie when you damn-well knew better! You deserve much worse than that, but I’ll her decide what to do with you!”
Rarity turned and said in disapproving tones, “Aengus, darling, I appreciate the gallantry, but—”
“Focus,” said Ho-Oh.
Facing Ho-Oh again, she stopped with confusion. Rarity looked Ho-Oh up and down, frowning slightly. She flatly said, “You...really don’t trust humans, do you?”
“No. And neither should you. They despise what they do not understand. They repay kindness with hostility, favours with aggression, and peace with violence. I have seen it all before, right over there,” Ho-Oh said as it tipped its beak toward the scaffolding around repair efforts on the charred ruin of a pagoda. The crowd murmured, much of it saddened with guilt mixed in, though a few sounded angry. It continued, “The majority of humans are puppets of their chosen leader, either incapable or unwilling to think for themselves. Or if no leader is chosen, a crowd follows what the first willing to act does. It made me sad the first time, over there, but seeing it play out again, and again, and again, it now makes me angry. I look for the few who can rise above, in the hopes they can straighten out humanity and guide them down a better path. As it stands, too often the many are steered wrong, to the determent and abuse their own kind, and to Pokémon. Perhaps to you as well, for as I said, you are no Pokémon.”
Rarity began, “Well, I’m glad to hear from you that what I thought I knew was not balderdash. Never doubting myself again, but—”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Ho-Oh interrupted. “Who, and what, are you?”
Rarity blinked a few times before answering, “My name is Rarity, and I’m an Equestrian Pony, not originally from this world. I have a business arrangement with my friend Aengus here.”
Ho-Oh nodded. “For your sake I hope you will not be betrayed by your business partner. He is human, after all.”
Aengus frowned, but said nothing. Rarity nickered, then said, “May I ask why you wanted to know what I am?”
“Your power,” Ho-Oh said. “Until very recently, I had never felt anything of the like. It’s the same kind of power like what I sense far east of here.”
Rarity asked, “Do you mean my magic?”
“If that’s what you call it, yes,” said Ho-Oh.
“I guess you sensed it when the portal opened, then,” Rarity said in thought.
Ho-Oh clicked its beak a few times, then said, “I felt the wind of another world from that place in the east four times, but that is not what I referred to. I meant, there is a being there of great power, one of the same type as your ‘magic.’ Such is that individual’s power that beings like me can sense it, all this distance away. I was curious when I felt it so close, and came to see what it was.”
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t studied magical origins and theory all that much. Fashion is my forte,” Rarity answered. “That’s what I stand to gain from our arrangement, a different perspective of fashion and how I may apply these new styles to further my craft and business.”
“Just so long as what the human gains is not from misusing you, that is fine,” Ho-Oh said. “Do you have an inkling as to who could wield that much of your ‘magic,’ that it can be felt so far away?”
Rarity nodded. “I’m positive it’s my friend, Twilight; she could explain Equestrian magic much more thoroughly than I.”
A man in the crowd held up a newspaper, and said, “You mean ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle,’ right? You said your name is Rarity?”
“Yes, to both,” Rarity said. As she eyed the newspaper held aloft, she continued, “...dare I ask what they claimed in the story?”
The man stepped forward, bowing to Ho-Oh when he emerged from the crowd. He was also of Japanese heritage, but wore a crisp black business suit. He pointed to the front page headline. Below that was a picture of the command post in The Great Marsh, with a number of royal guard ponies, a few crystal guards, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight; all-told there were at least thirty-five, and every last one of them wore armour including Fluttershy. There were also a few Pokémon there all gathered around Fluttershy: a trio of floating blue-bodied things with long tails but different coloured heads, and a white hedgehog with a green back and a large pink flower behind each eye. The man said, “Princess Twilight Sparkle has made a muster point and staging ground in The Great Marsh of Sinnoh’s Pastoria City, and reportedly is looking for two of her subjects she claimed were abducted, one named ‘Rarity,’ and the other named ‘Trixie Lulamoon.’”
Aengus turned to Paddy with a disciplinary expression. He chastised, “You need to go set this right, brother.”
“I have no such obligation,” Paddy said defiantly. “You made an accord with Rarity; I did not. Nor did I make one with Trixie.”
“That doesn’t change what you did,” Aengus said.
Ho-Oh grunted, silencing everybody else. “I’ve considered going to see what this power was; it is good I have a name first. My counterpart has already left to investigate two days thence, bringing his birds with him.”
“Counterpart?” asked Rarity.
Ho-Oh gave her a long look, and said, “Lugia, lord and guardian of the seas.”
The man with the newspaper muttered, “Thought that was Kyogre’s job....”
Ho-Oh sharply turned its head towards this man with a glare. The man immediately fell prostrate and quickly said, “I’m sorry! My name is Daiki Hasegawa, and I am here from Lilycove City in Hoenn for business. Kyogre’s a legendary Pokémon of Hoenn! I meant no offense!”
A moment passed with bated breath from those gathered as Ho-Oh continued eyeing Mr. Hasegawa with contempt. He remained in his submissive state and pose throughout. Ho-Oh growled, “Then I hope for this ‘Kyogre’s’ sake it does not happen across Lugia out there. Your region would not happen to have anything in my domain, claiming to be lord and guardian of the skies, does it?”
Feebly Mr. Hasegawa squeaked, “Rayquaza is something to that effect, but—”
“This will not do,” interrupted Ho-Oh. It let out a hawk-like scream, forcing many to cover their ears.
Mr. Hasegawa pleaded, “Please, there’s no reason for a fight over the skies! Rayquaza acts alone to keep us all safe from natural disaster!”
Ho-Oh asked, “What kind of lord has no serfs?”
Surprised gasps and shouts echoed at different points across the crowd, where they quickly parted. Rarity looked around as the people made way in three different sections of the crowd. From each opening came an enormous dog-like Pokémon, each of them taller than any of the humans there. From behind Rarity came a brown dog with metallic anklets, a cloud-like mane coming off the back of its neck, some kind of off-white triangular wing-esque plates on its back, and a red, yellow, and gray facemask that looked like a many-pointed star with a mustache. From Rarity’s left was a yellow dog with tiger-like stripes, a kinked tail, a purple cloud on its back, sabretooth canines, and a facemask of powder blue and charcoal grey. From behind Ho-Oh was a leaner cerulean dog with angular white patches, a violet cloud on its back as well, a split tail that looked like they waved beside its body, and a headdress shaped like an oblong hexagon a touch darker than its coat. They gathered around Ho-Oh, and turned towards the people, as if they were on guard detail. The sound of camera shutters was deafening for a few seconds.
“We will go meet with your friend, and make sure no pretender to the skies claims it is lord of something it is not,” Ho-Oh said. It began to flutter and lift off the ground.
Rarity shouted, “Please, Ho-Oh, tell Twilight for me that I’m almost done here!”
Ho-Oh looked at Aengus. He bowed, and said, “Evening after tomorrow, at the latest. Then we’ll start in their direction.”
With a nod and a hawk-like scream, Ho-Oh turned and flew off toward the east. The three dogs followed along, leaping over the crowd altogether. Swiftly they disappeared into the trees, and Ho-Oh faded in the distance.
With that the cameras fell silent, and individual conversations started up all over the gathered. Rarity heard several of the younger people mention a “status update” and a “PokéBook,” or...something phonetically similar to that. She did not feel a need to invest any emotional energy in giving a hoot about it, nor did she have much left after what all Ho-Oh said. She would have liked to bawl out Paddy for persuading her into believing she was a Pokémon, but thought Aengus overdid the payback. Louder than other thoughts was the anticipation of Twilight receiving word from her for the first time since Aengus brought her to this world.
The crowd withered away. A number of young women and a few young men decided to stick around and talk to Rarity about fashion, and why their outfit was more ideal than others for a new line. Within three such elaborations, Rarity picked up on that the women were simply trying to flaunt what money they spent rather than truly show good taste, and mostly at the other women rather than to Rarity to boot. Fortunately the menfolk were direct, describing what outfits were considered casual, labour-appropriate, business-appropriate, a lord’s court-appropriate, and their equivalent of black tie. Fifteen minutes with the men proved far more useful than forty-five with twice as many women. Regardless of how she went about any garments inspired here, she noted that she would need custom-woven fabric, far more complex than any bolt she had done herself or ordered from anypony.
Once the group had moved on, Rarity found Aengus and Paddy had been arguing, but neither one was much inclined to talk about what. Both brothers appeared mostly-over whatever the subject was, but as they departed to the south, Rarity discerned Paddy was still markedly angrier than Aengus over the matter, wearing a dark look. After a quick lunch, they walked through an upright religious gate to leave Ecruteak City.
The path was split and flanked by heavy woodland. Trainers here had the same avoidant reactions as the others did on the way to Ecruteak. As they passed a lone tree with a pair a twin teenage girls, Rarity glanced over at the brothers, and noticed a similar expression from them both. She asked, “What’s on your minds?”
Aengus and Paddy chuckled. As they both looked at her, Paddy spoke first. “The next town is home, Goldenrod City. It’s kinda surreal, finally coming back after so long. How long is the longest you’ve been away from your parents?”
Rarity thought for a moment. “Maybe two weeks? Usually we see each other several times a week, since my sister is a minor, but prefers to stay at my place than with my parents. Their house is about a ten-minute walk from mine. Why? How long has it been for you two before this trip?”
Paddy said, “About two weeks for me too, before now, was the longest I had gone without seeing mom.”
Aengus said, “Just shy of a month, and that was easily nine or ten years ago, my first time going into Kanto.”
“And you said on the ship it’s been eight months since you two set out!?” Rarity squawked. “I don’t think I could handle that! I share about everything with my mom, and dad’s always called me ‘daddy’s little filly,’ even after my sister was born!”
Both brothers sighed and looked down. Aengus lamented, “It’s...been far, far longer since we’ve seen dad.”
“Yeah,” Paddy mumbled emptily, shaking his head.
“What happened?” Rarity asked with genuine concern.
Their hesitation was pronounced and palpable. With a growl Aengus said, “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Our parents’ homeland, and our birthplace, is under the rule of a foreign king. The overwhelming majority of our fellow countrymen do not care for that in the least,” grouched Paddy, venom in his voice rising. “There’s no reason for it, either. Just the descendants of a dead dickwad bastard who just steal from our brethren because they can, when they already have plenty to begin with. And the only reason they do is because their ancestors attacked ours with no warning, no provocation, nothing, and thus caught our ancestors off-guard.”
Aengus scoffed, “Suffice it to say, some of our countrymen fight violently against their rule.”
Rarity frowned. Looking both of them in the eye, she said, “So, when you say he was at the wrong place at the wrong time....”
“A bomb went off, and he wasn’t far from it. Not so close to be seriously hurt, but close enough they blamed him, and took him away. Mom said dad had only deposited his paycheck on his way home from work when it happened. Come midwinter, it’ll be sixteen years,” Aengus spat angrily.
“So I barely have any memories of my dad,” seethed Paddy. “What I recall is mostly feelings, happy ones. Dad playing with us, telling stories, singing songs. I missed the best part of childhood because of them, their prejudice, their bullying, and them being too stupid to see the man didn’t know how to build a bomb because he never sought how, nor that he could have delivered the damn thing because he was at work! They ignored testimony and written proof from his manager that he was at work when it had to be dropped off! So they threw him in prison for nothing, and they knew it!!”
Paddy stood fuming. Had it been a cold day, fog may have billowed off his forehead. The brothers looked down and saw tears leaking out of Rarity’s eyes silently. Paddy stopped first, knelt down, and pulled her into an embrace, which Aengus joined. She felt them both shaking, twitching with rage about their father’s fate. It boggled her, that one country would subjugate another for generations, or how anybody or anything could knowingly and willingly imprison an innocent man just because of his lineage. For her it came together, the dark smiles when winning a Pokémon match, how rough the two of them were towards the beginning of their adventure, the treatment of Trixie...constant anger, due to being so wronged at such young ages without any reason why, let alone one a young child could understand. Rarity had the thought that maybe their lashing out at others was in some way them getting back at this foreign overlord. She could not fathom the pain of never seeing her dad, of missing out on those memories.
She clung tightly to them as her sobs surfaced, blubbering, “I’m so sorry, you two, that you had to go through tha-a-at!”
The shaking began easing on both sides. One hand began scratching her behind the ears; another facing the other way petted her up and down her neck and back. Aengus whispered, “It’s not your fault, lass. There’s nothing you could have done.”
Paddy said, “It’s not fair, but we’ve learned to live with it.”
They stayed like that for a number of minutes before Rarity regained her composure. With her breathing back under control, she said, “Maybe you two should come to Equestria for a little while. Help get some of that anger out, and be the change you want to see in the world.”
“I’m about to attend university,” Paddy sighed.
“And after winning, I’ll have a huge amount of responsibilities to attend to,” said Aengus. “Otherwise I’d love to.”
Rarity sighed sadly. The brothers let go and they continued into a series of narrower paths, enough they had to proceed single file. Quite a number of minutes passed in strained silence. Rarity broke the reticent walking. “I hope you know you can talk to me about anything, darling.”
Aengus nodded and said, “I know. I just don’t like thinking about that, let alone talking. It...the whole thing makes me see red, sometimes literally. It’s why I hadn’t mentioned it before. You don’t think I was hiding something, do you?”
“No, well...not without reason, I should say,” Rarity said. “That kind of subject is nothing to talk about lightly, or before you’re ready to. I’ll not bring it up.”
“I appreciate it.”
Emerging from the tight quarters, the came to an East-West route wide enough to fit them all and a few more abreast. Aengus led them westward. They descended a few stairs, and came to a fork in the path. Aengus pointed them south, but Paddy stopped there. He said, “You don’t want to go through the National Park?”
“Not today; I don’t feel like being suckered into yet another bug-catching contest,” Aengus said flatly.
Paddy sighed and shook his head. “Shoot, I forgot about those. Yeah, it’s Tuesday, isn’t it?”
They walked down a narrower, not even gravel path, to a bramble in the way. Paddy sent out his weird hot air balloon Pokémon, and it left the greenbrier in tiny windblown bits. They proceeded on through the tall grass beyond and both were slowed for only a few seconds by wild Pokémon: Aengus dealt with a Drowzee, and Paddy handled a female Nidoran. Rarity commented afterward, “That was much easier than expected. Are they really that much weaker here than what we saw in Sinnoh?”
Aengus said, “Around here, yes. Someplace else we’ll be going tomorrow, not at all.”
“That soon after coming home you intend to make your championship challenge?” Rarity asked disapprovingly. “No time to catch up with your mother?”
“That’s just the timing of things. Tomorrow we take Paddy to begin his studies under Professor Elm, and continue on toward the League. Then I hope to have some time to take it easy, at least for a bit,” Aengus said. “It’ll be nary more than ‘a bit,’ too. Seems the champion has plenty of work to maintain the League and the peace around the region.”
The path here was well-paved, leading to the National Park’s front entrance. Trainers here had the same reactions as before, even from a police officer. They began south, but Rarity paused for a step. Something dimmed the sky just above the horizon in place, mostly in rectangular blocks of different heights, though some came to a point. Rarity asked, “Um, Aengus...those aren't buildings, are they?”
“Sure are,” he said. “Goldenrod is easily the biggest city in Johto. Has more people living here than Cianwood, Violet, and Olivine Cities put together, and Violet and Olivine place second and third. Plenty of folks living together in a small space, thus the buildings. Why? Aren’t there skyscrapers in Equestria?”
Rarity said, “There are, but not so many, or so tall. Baltimare has a number of them, Manehatten has plenty, but not like this! It’s like whoever owns the land outside the city refused to build normal neighbourhoods, or sell acreage to someone who would. Even those buildings on the edge are enormous!”
“Yep. That is about all I clearly remember about Goldenrod's urban planning, the intentional lack of suburbs,” said Paddy.
Aengus grew a smile and a far-off look in his eye. “Still nice to be home. Come on. I bet mom’s waiting impatiently.”
The brothers’ pace quickened. After a walk they reached the city gate and entered. Many folks waved at Aengus, or Paddy, or both, at their approach. Some shook their hands, or embraced them as old friends, wishing for some small talk and to find a time to catch up on the last several months. One pair said they married while the brothers were away, kissing each other while looking Aengus in the eye. He shook his head as they parted from the newlyweds, muttering, “She never did get it, that not even once was I interested in her.”
Rarity nodded and said, “People are strange.”
Shortly afterwards they came to that avenue’s first intersection with a significant thoroughfare. Looking around, Paddy grumbled, “Cracks in the road in the same place, but a little wider. Official city clocks are still off-sync. Still no ground-breaking on the port they said would be done last fall. I see the mayor is still the fine, productive public servant he was when we left.”
Rarity looked across the way and saw a clock that read 3:35. The one kitty-cornered from it said 3:34, but only for a moment. As they started to cross the road, Rarity almost tripped as her hoof briefly caught in one of the cracks. Aengus pulled her along when she tried to inspect the damage in the middle of the road. Once freed up, she looked down and let loose a melodramatic, overly-long, mortified inhaling gasp. There was an abrasion on the hoof, almost two centimetres in length and less than half a centimetre tall at its widest point. Her eyes welled up as her jaw started to quake. Paddy muttered, “Really? Like, really-really?”
Rarity cried, “My perfect hooficure, ruined!” And she sobbed.
Aengus looked at Paddy and mouthed, “Really.”
As her mascara started to run, Paddy condescendingly asked, “Do we need to find you a farrier?”
Choking back the tears briefly, she asked, “What’s that?”
Discontentedly Aengus said, “A workman who shoes horses and ponies.”
Rarity bemoaned, “The closest I can get to a proper hooficure in this world is a shoeing for layponies!? Of all the worst possible—”
“Stop,” interrupted Aengus with irritated urgency. “You’re drawing a crowd again.”
Rarity stifled her sobs again and saw many had stopped to see what’s the fuss, while many others slowed and looked on as they went by. Aengus pressed them onward before the crowd thickened any further. As they slipped away and out of earshot, Paddy growled to himself, “The ‘worst possible’ thing? Is it the leading world economic superpower deciding a new leader, but having to pick between a thinned-skinned impulsive psychopath with an itchy trigger finger, and a morally-bankrupt career politician who’s gotten away with treason twice...both of whom would tank the international economy in their own separate unique ways? Nope, not that at all; it’s actually a slightly damaged pedi, one that no one can notice unless they’re right over it...she needs a shrink. That kind of crap reminds me of histrionic personality disorder.”
“I don’t know what all of that’s supposed to mean, but I don’t like that tone,” Rarity grumbled.
“Anyways,” Paddy shifted, “what tripped you is yet another fine example of the city’s tax revenue hard at not working. I don’t know how the mayor and city council keep getting reelected.”
“I couldn’t tell you. Mayor Mare back home has run unopposed for so long, we were flabbergasted when somepony else threw his hat into the ring,” Rarity said.
Aengus said, “It doesn’t sound to me like your hometown had the idiocy we’ve seen here. I doubt this ‘Mayor Mare’ would have stood by idly if a terrorist group came, right?”
“She would act, yes,” said Rarity cautiously. “...I don’t like that lead-in.”
Aengus nodded. “Our brilliant mayor, social and political genius that he is, did not. He did nothing about a group called Team Rocket that took over the radio tower. No police, no guard, nothing. A young trainer, specifically a boy named Ethan, infiltrated the tower and broke their hold.”
“My goodness! How incompetent a syndicate they were, that a lone child could stop their efforts!” Rarity exclaimed.
“And to the same effect, how incompetent a leader could allow such a group to take over, unable to break through?” Aengus said. “I had mentioned there were three trainers just older than me that inspired me to pursue the championship. Ethan was the third of those three.”
A nostalgic grin edged its way across his face as they continued down the thoroughfare. Many girls and young women watched Rarity go by with a squee and smile. They turned east when they came to the next major crossing route. They navigated around a few tall buildings and ended up approaching one of them. Rarity said, “How about that? A door that’s not on the south-facing side of a building? What’s this world coming to?”
Paddy raised an eyebrow at her while Aengus snickered. The trio entered the apartment high rise. While certainly not the lap of luxury, management clearly didn’t accept applications from just anyone. Aengus led them down a short hall, around a corner, and to a pair of elevators. The right set of doors opened immediately upon pressing the call button.
Seven floors later, they arrived at a similar hallway. Aengus led them down past five sets of doors before taking keys out of his pocket. As he opened the door, he called out, “Mom? We’re back!”
A woman in an apron and a simple dress, sporting shoulder-length brown hair heavily streaked with grey came around the corner at full speed. She nearly tackled Aengus and Paddy into a bone-crushing hug. Rarity couldn’t help but smile as she saw a few tears drop from her as she took in a deep sigh of relief. Paddy murmured, “Missed you, mom.”
They held each other as such for a few moments before she let go. She looked them over with a smile. Her eyes were the same soul-piercing blue as both of her sons. Giving them both a kiss on the cheek, she spoke with a much thicker accent. “Me lads, so good ye bof’re home ‘gin!”
“Absolutely,” said Aengus.
She caught a glimpse of Rarity, and looked the unicorn in the eye. She then turned to Aengus and scolded, “Aengus Connor Joseph Meagher! Din’ae tell ye not te let ye Pokémon out indoors!?”
“Forgive me, ma’am, but I am no Pokémon. My name is Rarity, and I am traveling with Aengus on business. How do you do?” Rarity answered, holding her posture and voice in a rather posh way.
Mrs. Meagher stood up straight, furrowing her brow at Rarity. After a moment, she said, “Huh. How diya’ do? Business partner, ye say? What business?”
“Fashion. I design and sew stupendous garments, each one chic, unique, and magnifique,” Rarity said with a smile.
“Are you sure she’s not a Pokémon?” asked a male voice nearby. Aengus, Paddy, and Rarity all turned and saw two men in lab coats. One was older with gray hair, and the other had light brown hair and glasses.
Paddy gave them a baffled look. “Professors Elm and Oak?? Wha...um, what brings you two by?”
“Yeah, why does it seem like every time I get back from somewhere, one of the two of you are here?” Aengus asked with some blunt suspicion.
Professor Elm said, “I wanted to make sure my pupil returned in one piece.”
“And I heard you two went abroad and caught many different species of Pokémon. I’m curious what all you found, and how well your Pokémon were received abroad,” said Professor Oak. After looking Rarity over, including walking in a circle around her (to which she flattened her ears), he continued, “She said she’s not a Pokémon, but she looks and carries herself like one.”
“And she clearly has some power at her beck and call, too,” said Professor Elm. “But she says she’s not a Pokémon; do you believe she is?”
“She’s not,” said Aengus. “And if that’s not enough for you, ask just about anybody who was in Ecruteak City this morning. She had a nice little chat in plain speech with Ho-Oh, right there in the city’s central plaza, with a crowd gathered around taping the whole thing. Ho-Oh said she’s not a Pokémon because her power is of a different variety.”
Both professors stood a little straighter with intensely interested expressions. Mrs. Meagher just shrugged. Oak muttered, “Fascinating.”
“I made the same mistake, too, sir,” said Paddy, looking straight at Professor Elm. “If I hadn’t heard it like that, I’d probably still think she’s a Pokémon.”
“Huh. I’d like to discuss this further at the lab,” said Professor Elm. He beckoned the brothers toward the next room, with Rarity in tow. Mrs. Meagher took a deep breath with a hand over her mouth, seen by Rarity but not by her sons. Elm continued, “There’s something else for you two, too.”
“Hmmm?” Aengus responded.
They passed through an archway. A television was on with some kind of sporting event, but clicked off. A man stood up. He was slightly above average height, with red hair and short beard, both heavily greyed. His clothing was unremarkable, but those icy blue eyes....
Aengus put his hands over his mouth and dropped to his knees, breaking down into tears. Paddy, too, instantly started to cry, as he squawked out, “Daddy...?!”
The man there also choked on sobs as he said, “Aengus, Pádraig...my boys...!”
The three rushed together, without discernable words, collapsing onto the floor with the brothers on top. Mrs. Meagher joined them, with just as much in happy tears as the others. Rarity felt her own loosen and slip out. Elm said, “He just got here three days ago. The, uh...to use his word, ‘Limeys’ finally accepted his innocence. We’ve helped him begin to adjust to life here.”
“I suppose we should see ourselves out at this point,” Oak said. With a handshake and a pat on the back, Oak led Elm out as the reunited family managed to get back on their feet. Rarity brushed away a few more tears; the last of her mascara was gone. Aengus motioned her over, and soon she was in the middle of a teary group hug.
Mrs. Meagher said, “Now our fam’lee’s all here...nothin’ can eva’ split us ‘gin.”
Twilight stood over the “battle map,” as Dash had come to call it. They had acquired a proper map of the Sinnoh Region, enlarged it, and had filled in local climes and topography. She traced a hoof along the contours of the eastern slopes of Mt. Coronet, between the steep drop-off and Route 212. She sighed, shaking her head and tapping that part of the map. A giggle nearby drew her mind away. Twilight looked up to see Fluttershy giving Mesprit a belly rub, to which the pink-headed Pokémon sprawled on that patch of dry ground.
Shaking her head but with a grin this time, Twilight was pleased her instincts were correct. Fluttershy was just as good with Pokémon as she was with ordinary animals. Twenty-eight distinct species from The Great Marsh had stopped by to garner whatever favours they could from Fluttershy before returning to their normal feral lifestyles. Certain “legendary” or “mythical” Pokémon had come and stayed, though by and large spending their time around Fluttershy. Azelf had returned to Twilight about an hour after she sent Starlight home, mostly watching Twilight with occasionally laying a paw on her muzzle, until Fluttershy arrived through the portal. From then forward, Azelf paid attention to Twilight only if she was near Fluttershy. Mesprit showed up about two hours after Fluttershy did, and Uxie an hour after that. A flying dog-like creature with ears shaped like caribou antlers came the morning after, but it transformed into a hedgehog when it nuzzled against Fluttershy. This one called itself “Shaymin.” Two more came the day after that, looking like mother and daughter cerulean Pokémon with bag-like bodies, overly long paddle-shaped arms, huge noggins, and some kind of antennae coming off of said huge noggins...self-identifying as “Manaphy” and “Phione.” Just before that midnight, something unusual came, something with a blue back, ochre underside, and magenta crescents for arms, and more crescents on its head. Twilight did all she could to not roll her eyes at its name of “Cresselia.” Last night in the wee hours came the last one so far. This one was mostly black with broad masculine shoulders, buff-looking arms, a wasp-waist, what almost looked like a miniskirt, and no legs. “Darkrai” is what Cresselia called it, glowering that it, too, came by.
While Pokémon had no trouble finding them, their search thus far had not gone well at all. The better part of a week gone, and the regiment had all of one sighting betwixt every search performed. A three-pony squad north of The Great Marsh saw Trixie at a great distance, under harassment from local trainers. She had fended off their Pokémon, and seriously injured one of the trainers with a two-leg rear kick to the chest; the other trainer fled. She disappeared into the woods, to the chagrin of that search party. They had no idea what became of her after that, as though she had gone to ground. Twilight took some relief that at least Trixie was away from her “trainer,” but that did add the complication of every other one of them in Sinnoh. The wounded trainer, an early- to mid-twenties blonde-haired man named Barry, was hospitalised, and stabilised, but did not look as though he would take a full deep breath for a long while yet. That was during their second full day in Sinnoh. Twilight frowned, not only about the injury, but also with Trixie in hiding: she may employ any number of spells to avoid detection, even canceling or muddying divination magic, and those would not impede any physical means and magician’s tricks to remain hidden. Violence like that did not suggest happy things about Trixie’s smoke bomb supply.
Rarity, however, was just plain gone. There was no trace of her to be found, and the denizens of Sinnoh weren’t particularly talkative, at least, to the ponies. There was no divination spell with the sort of range she needed. When not talking to Azelf on that first night, Twilight had at length discussed with Sunburst how to boost the range. He had an idea, but needed to send for something from the Crystal Empire’s library. In the meantime, Twilight found sending Princess Luna’s guard into towns to be far more effective than expected; their ears picked up the muttering and hushed whispers behind closed doors. Those findings were the only hint of what became of Rarity. The last anyone had seen was them heading toward distant Snowpoint City. That northernmost municipality would require a lengthy expedition, or perhaps setting up a fort northwest of Mt. Coronet. She wasn’t keen on the idea; the thought of Rarity or Trixie happily sticking around in frigid areas was laughable. Twilight needed a few more mission results before she could adequately determine which Lunar Guards to send and eavesdrop on the people there.
Twilight, of course, was not about to give up. Using the “battle map” she had plotted out a well-organised combing of the Sinnoh Region, expanding radially. All told, she had a good three hundred ponies out on search patterns at any given time. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie should be finishing up their pattern along and just off of Route 214. Seven minutes into their half-hour return window, and she had to force herself to not prance. Something about their search tickled at her horn...she had heard of some ponies temporarily gaining some indistinct foresight after using bunches of divination magic, but hadn’t given the rumour any thought until now. She hoped they bore good news, but the tickling wasn’t leaving her that impression.
Some humans approached, one woman and two young men. The woman was on the left, in black from head to toe with fur cuffs, and black bows in her long straight blonde hair. The man on the right had short brown hair and wore a red jacket, red ball cap with a white Pokéball pattern, and blue jeans. Centred was a man with spiky strawberry blonde hair, a blue coat zipped up, and pressed dark blue trousers. All three of them had six Pokéballs in reach and view. The woman was angry, while the man in blue’s face was concerned and pensive, and the last one just looked curious.
Nine guards met them ready for combat while the others charged up their horns or drew their spears. One of those nine barked, “Halt! This is a serious operation, not a tourist attraction! Unless you have legitimate business with Her Highness, leave now!”
A magenta glowed passed over all of their Pokéballs while the man in the centre said, “The name’s Blue Oak; I’m the World Champion. We’re not looking for trouble, just for answers, and to see if we can in some way help.”
“Sergeant, let them through,” said Twilight.
Spears returned to a non-aggressive position as the nine parted. The three humans stepped onto the stone platform. Blue gave a courtly bow and said, “Good evening, Your Highness.”
The other man bowed as well, though the woman crossed her arms. Twilight nodded and said, “Good evening. Roger Davidson hinted you may be coming. Who else is with you?”
Blue gestured to the woman. “This is Cynthia. She is the Champion of the Sinnoh Region, where we are now. You might say she’s effectively the region’s governor.”
Cynthia did not successfully mask her displeasure. “Hello.”
Blue looked back at the other man with a knowing grin. “And this is my lifelong friend Red, the only living trainer named a ‘Pokémon Grand Master.’”
Red smiled and bowed again, but said nothing. Twilight acknowledged him, then asked Blue, “The only? Why isn’t he the World Champion then?”
“He doesn’t want it,” said Blue. “He’d rather be out roaming the world in search of new and different Pokémon than fulfill all the administrative duties that go with being Champion.”
Twilight cracked a grin. “I can relate to that. But you said you were here to help; I appreciate any help you can give. I don’t like occupying space like this.”
“Then why don’t you stop, and let us handle it?” Cynthia scoffed.
“Cynthia...,” began Blue.
“Sir, I’ve had it with this! There are literally hundreds of these pony soldiers all over my region! It’s like we’ve been conquered! I don’t know how many children and parents I’ve had to reassure that it’ll be okay when I have no idea if or when this will be done! There are young trainers who were scared to even have Pokémon because of them! Not even Team Galactic terrified Sinnoh as much as these ponies have! I’ve had enough! I’m the Sinnoh Champion; I have to protect my region!” Cynthia yelled. Mesprit looked up from the belly rub with concern, beginning their way. Azelf and Uxie followed suit.
Blue was not pleased at her outburst. “You said you’d be fine before we left.”
“That was before a bunch of spears were pointed at me!” Cynthia answered.
Twilight sighed, “I’m sorry this became necessary, but our missing citizens must come home.”
“You can go home first, and I’ll send you!” Cynthia shouted as she reached for one of her Pokéballs. Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, Shaymin, and Manaphy rushed forward, waving their hands and shaking their heads no. Twilight’s horn charged up. Cynthia threw the ball anyway. “Go, Garchomp!”
The aura around Twilight’s horn brightened as Garchomp emerged with a roar. Cresselia and Darkrai joined the others around Cynthia, Red, and Blue as Shaymin switched to its Sky Forme. All those Pokémon began tugging the three trainers to the side with urgency chiseled into their expressions. Red went willingly, as did Blue after some initial resistance. Blue looked at Manaphy’s yanking on his left arm with its head-tentacles, and murmured, “Um, hi there? Why’re we going over here?”
Cynthia began, “Garchomp, use—”
Azelf, Uxie, and Shaymin yanked Cynthia out of the way in time, but barely. Before she could finish her command, a blue-white ray lanced from Twilight’s horn at Garchomp. Several metres in front of Garchomp the spell burst in a crashing array of ice shards, swirling mist, and frigid air. Downrange from the blast in a somewhat conic shape were hardened masses of ice, most of them like an obtuse wedge pointed away from Twilight, all over of thick frozen carpet, in a thirty-degree spread over twenty-five metres. Garchomp had returned to her ball very quickly, having fainted.
“Whoa...she’s not even fazed, too,” Blue breathed, unable to blink.
Red picked himself up and walked over to the new ice...“sculpture.” He tapped on it with his hand, then foot, and stood up on it, giving it a stomp. Red looked closely at where his foot impacted, but only a smudge of The Great Marsh’s mud remained there. Turning to Blue, he nodded with an overwhelmed grimace.
Cynthia had hyperventilated some, but was coming down from it. She looked at the Pokémon who drug her away from the attack and unintentionally to the ground. Her right foot lay about five centimetres from the frozen mass. All three of the Pokémon returned her gaze with worried expressions. With a sigh, she petted them, and softly said, “Thanks, guys.”
“Buddy, what was that move? Never seen one like it,” Blue said in amazement, looking at Red. Red shook his head with a shrug, still with an overwhelmed face.
Sounds of a falling tree whispered from beyond the edge of the marsh. Twilight said sadly, “I don’t like violence. My goal is to spread friendship across Equestria and beyond, and now to new worlds, but I will defend myself if I’m attacked.”
“So I gathered,” said Blue, still in disbelief. Getting back to his feet, he continued in a more matter-of-fact tone, “Look, something’s not adding up for me. News spread quickly of your arrival, and that you’re looking for a ‘Rarity’ and a ‘Trixie Lulamoon.’ I don’t know how a trainer crossed into your world or took any of your subjects, but I have to ask, is it really worth all of this for two of your citizens? I can point to any of this world’s metropolises, and honestly say they lose more than two people every day to automobile accidents alone.”
More crashing timber echoed, but a little louder. Twilight said, “Both Rarity and Trixie are national heroes in Equestria. They have both alleviated disaster, though Rarity’s done it a few more times. Speaking of her, she’s one of my closest and dearest friends. Now let me put it to you this way: say something somehow managed to abduct both of your boon companions there. Would you stand by idly, or would you mount a rescue?”
Tree-smashing noises were unmistakably getting closer. Blue looked over toward the source of the sounds for a moment, then back to Twilight as he said, “Well, when you put it like that, that’s different. I saw the video online of them arguing. With your battalion running all over Sinnoh, have you learned anything that would help us help you?”
Several trees at the edge of The Great Marsh fell down into the mud hard enough to cause a hefty splash and splintering sound. They all looked and saw a large bipedal creature come through, along the lines of an allosaurus, but with a much smaller head, longer neck, and more substantial arms. It was a mostly-pale pink creature with some purple and white accents, and semi-metallic parts that looked like armour from a mecha anime around the shoulders and back. At around fifty metres away, eye colour and voice were both indistinct. Cynthia blinked, and blurted, “Palkia...??”
Palkia looked over at them, then faced back the direction it came, roaring. It continued vocalizing, but the words still could not be discerned from each other at that distance. Palkia gestured toward the command post with both hands, even though it continued looking back the direction it came. After a second, another two large Pokémon, both taller than Palkia, came out of the smashed path. The first was mostly grey, with black wings and accent lines, golden fixtures around its head and six legs, and red claws on the underwing and striping on its neck. The other was the tallest of the three, and at first blush was a brachiosaur that had a parasaurolophus head slapped on it instead, albeit with a much thicker back-of-head crest. This quadruped was mostly a cobalt blue with powder blue accent stripes. It had longer forelegs than hind legs, similarly stylised white plating on its chest to Palkia’s bits on the shoulder and a plated sail perpendicular to its spine just over the hips. Blue pursed his lips and said, “Huh.”
“Giratina and Dialga too!?” Cynthia squawked.
Dialga looked over at the command post as well, then nodded at Palkia. Giratina simply stared. All three looked back, though Palkia was the most vocal of them. Something shorter and thinner came out next, all white, except a broken gold ring jutting out from its midsection. All the other Pokémon nearby stopped what they were doing and bowed to it, face in the mud, unmoving. Blue walked over to Cynthia, keeping his eyes on this gathering but minding the ice beneath his feet. As he leaned over her shoulder, he asked, “Is that Arceus?”
Weakly she answered, “Uh-huh...what’s going on here??”
Palkia spoke at length at Arceus with hands that could not sit still. It made a chopping motion in unison with both hands, pointed toward Twilight and the others, shook a finger pointed straight up, shook both hands with palms facing upward, smacked the back of one hand’s fingers into the palm of the other five times rapidly, and pointed at Twilight and them again. From time-to-time throughout unclear roaring, Dialga would nod, sometimes emphatically. Giratina just stared. As Palkia gestured at them yet again, Blue muttered, “Well, he’s certainly got a lot to say.”
Palkia continued on in much of the same style as before when the portal flashed brightly and out stepped Sunburst. He stopped at the sound of roaring, and turned to face it. Twilight started his way as Sunburst stopped moving altogether, glasses sliding down his muzzle at a lazy pace. He adjusted his glasses as he looked on agape at Palkia’s highly animated tirade. Twilight said, “Sunburst! I trust you have good news?”
“Um, yes. Yes I do, I think,” said Sunburst, shaking himself. As he telekinetically took a book out of his saddlebags, brush at the close edge of the marsh rustled. Applejack stepped out, with an emotionally worn-out countenance. Rainbow Dash followed right behind with the same look. Pinkie emerged last, right on Dash’s heels, but looked bewildered and stupefied. Sunburst blinked at them and said, “Twilight, your friends, uh...look like they have news.”
Applejack scoffed, “That’s puttin’ it mildly, mister.”
“I just don’t know what to say,” said Pinkie, shaking her head. “I’d usually throw a party, but the thought of that just feels wrong.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. Worriedly she rushed to them and said, “What happened? If it’s enough Pinkie doesn’t want to party because of it, that’s troubling.”
Dash flatly said, “You might want to sit down, Twi.”
Rainbow Dash used her left wing to reach into her saddlebag. Blue, Red, and Cynthia drew in a little closer. She pulled out a Pokéball, one whose black top sported a yellow “H.” She nudged the button with her other wing and it opened. Yellow sparks coalesced into a small equine form, no bigger than a foal about to attend his or her very first day of school. This little filly had golden eyes. But her coat, mane, and tail were of colours and shape that should belong to just one magician.
Twilight fell back into a sitting position, jaw hanging as low as her body could physically allow while Dash went toward the portal. Sunburst exhaled long and low, squeezing his lungs emptier than usual. The little filly looked up at Twilight in wonder, lightly reaching toward the princess. Applejack nickered, and said, “Yeah, Ah ‘spect Trixie’s pa ain’t gonna be real pleased ‘bout this.”
“But how is the bigger question,” Twilight muttered.
“Bigga ques-chun?” echoed the filly.
Twilight blinked, and cautiously asked, “What’s your name, little one?”
“Twixie!” answered the filly, thoroughly pleased with herself. Applejack looked at Twixie, then at the ball whence she came...reared up, and brought her hooves down on it hard. The Ultra Ball went to bits.
Cynthia frowned and gritted her teeth as the crushed ball's last sparks flew and died. “Did you kidnap her from a trainer!?”
“Ma’am, Ah hardly think any o’ y’all got room t’ talk ‘bout abduction after the way Rarity ‘n’ Trixie went missin’,” Applejack retorted sharply. Cynthia huffed, crossed her arms, and looked away, but said nothing.
Twilight sighed, further burdened by such an answer from one so small. Her horn lit up, making Twixie levitate. The filly squealed happily as the princess looked over at Blue. Twilight said, “You said you wanted to help; here’s the perfect chance to start. This little filly looks like Trixie as a foal, except her eyes are the wrong colour. How did this happen?”
The portal flashed again. Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash coming back through leading Spike, and was saying, “...is something you won’t believe. Heck, AJ, Pinks, and I were totally blown away when we saw this.”
Spike stopped in his tracks right there, both eyes locked on Twixie. She said, “Hi!”
Spike gasped, “Whoa, dude...that’s just weird.”
As Twilight’s horn powered down and returned Twixie to the ground, she grumbled, “She’s a hybrid?? Half-pony, half-Pokémon, and has both Equestrian magic and a Pokémon’s energy...but there’s still no way she should be this big already! It’s early enough Trixie shouldn’t even know she’s pregnant yet, let alone have a school-aged foal!”
“Shoot, what was that guy’s name...not Oak, not Birch, or Rowan, Juniper, or Sycamore...um...Maple, Ash, Pine, Cherry, Apple, Hickory, Beech, Elm...Elm! Professor Elm is a specialist when it comes to Pokémon breeding and eggs,” said Blue.
Dash said, “Uh, hey guy? Ponies don’t lay eggs.”
Blue said, “Ponies don’t, but Pokémon do. We know they do because we’ve hatched Pokémon, but somehow no one has ever seen a Pokémon lay an egg, even on camera. Still, the eggs are there.”
“Hey guy, ponies don’t lay eggs!” Dash said again, louder and grumpier. “Unless Pokémon are the only species ever that the male makes the egg, your egg theory is fried!”
“I don’t know, miss. Pokémon seem to hatch fully grown for a given species, but why is beyond me. And it doesn’t seem to matter how big they are after hatching, either; all the eggs they hatch from are all about the same size,” said Blue, gesturing with his hands to indicate a box about one and a half times the size of a grapefruit, “from a tiny little Joltik to a lengthy Onix. Professor Elm’s the expert. I suppose you could ask the Daycare man about it.”
Dash gave him a horrified look. She slowly said, “You’re...not saying they...did that at a daycare, are you??”
“Did...what now?” asked Spike.
Twilight sighed, “I’ll tell you when you’re old enough to understand.”
“It’s not what they originally built Pokémon Daycares for, but it’s what trainers use them for,” said Blue, shaking his head. “Send in a male and a female, ride your bike back and forth a few times, and they get an egg. Hatch the egg, see if the new Pokémon is worthy of being on the team. If so, great. If not, breed them again, rinse and repeat until a satisfactory Pokémon is born.”
Pinkie said in a sly voice, “Ah. They’re into those kinds of parties.”
“What parties?” asked Spike like a child who’s unhappy with being treated like a child.
“Pahtie!” chimed in Twixie.
“The kind of party without cake, but plenty of chocolate syrup, and whipped cream, maybe honey, and some ice cubes. O-o-o-oh, the ice cubes...,” Pinkie answered, growing entirely too happy by the end of it. Twilight had covered Spike’s ears. Blue looked around uncomfortably while Red rolled his eyes. Cynthia appeared unsure how to react.
“Consarnit, Pinkie, why would you say that around children!?” Applejack snapped.
Dash rubbed at her forehead with her eyes closed. “Pass the brain bleach, please.”
Sunburst hurriedly said, “Let’s move on...! Twilight, I brought the spell booster.”
“‘Spell booster?’ What’s that mean?” asked Cynthia.
Twilight looked back at her a moment before reading over the page to which Sunburst had opened the book. “I know spells that help me look for things, but they don’t have a wide enough range. Sunburst brought a book that shows me how...ooh! That’s a great find! I should be able to cover the globe!”
Azelf, Mesprit, Uxie, Shaymin, Cresselia, and Darkrai shot worried looks between each other. Blue asked, “Cover the globe with what?”
Happily Twilight closed the book and powered up her horn, saying, “Detect Equestrian magic all across your world! That should allow me to find Rarity, Trixie, and however many of these hybrids there are all in one-fell swoop!”
All the legendary and mythical Pokémon near the command post immediately flew to Twilight, motioning for her to stop. Darkrai said, “Don’t do it. If you do, the nightmare will truly begin.”
“Sorry, it can’t be avoided. I have to find them,” said Twilight.
A magenta ring enclosed on Twilight’s horn, then a beam shot into the sky. From there a thin ring flew outward, into the distance, and below the horizon. The Pokémon around her all facepalmed, nearly in unison. Palkia’s ranting suddenly stopped; he, Dialga, Giratina, and Arceus all stared at her in shock...well, Giratina with as much expression as it could show.
Twilight closed her eyes, and slowed her breathing. She murmured, “Now to wait for the data to come in...Spike, send your notes in triplicate, to my lab, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.”
Spike finished scrawling a sentence, rolled up the scroll, and headed for the portal, saying, “You got it!”
A red-haired mop-top small equine Pokémon with a cream-coloured coat, pale blue mane and tail, and a huge blue horn ran as fast as he could over the mountains. Southeast of him loomed the Mt. Moon massif. He then suddenly stopped with a shocked and scared gasp, and looked up. A thin magenta line passed overhead. He shook a little as he watched it, gulping air in rapid deep breaths. After a moment of this, he screamed at the top of his lungs, “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!!?!”
He stomped angrily on the ground, cracking the rock. With a grumble he took off again, muttering to himself, “Dammit, Twilight Sparkle, I was already short enough on time; why did you go and make it worse?”
Over the last hour Rarity had been seeing exactly what the brothers meant about their kinsmen excelling at song and dance. Their family was quite good indeed, yet they claimed they were nowhere near professional play. Paddy was right; their mother noticed immediately from their playing that they had not practiced, even though Rarity thought it sounded lovely from the beginning. What amused her more than anything else was that their father, in spite of being away for all those years, also could tell immediately the boys had not been practicing their instruments.
At the insistence of their dad, Aengus and Paddy had both brought out some of their Pokémon: Aengus had out Feraligatr, and Paddy had Typhlosion and Espeon. They had played a number of songs, with Aengus on the flute, Paddy on the violin, their father on the bodhrán drum, and their mother on an acoustic bass guitar. Rarity found herself enamoured of the “pastoral feel” of the musical style. She also wanted to dance, but knew better than to try with the family already doing so with considerable coordination between them in spite of never playing together before now. Their father was singing the end of the refrain, smiling and nuzzling up against his giggling wife, “No maid I’ve seen like the fair cailín that I met in the County Down!”
As they began the next verse, Rarity looked out the window in time to see a thin magenta line pass overhead quickly. She walked toward the window and looked out. As she pondered what looked suspiciously like the colour of Twilight’s magic, she felt something pawing at her side. She looked down and saw Espeon right there, looking her full in the face with those hypnotic purple eyes. Rarity blinked at her. Feraligatr and Typhlosion also had come to the window. Espeon sat there a moment, then head-bunted Rarity like a cat does, and asked aloud, “What was that?”
Rarity shrugged and shook her head. Espeon purred and rubbed up against Rarity’s legs, and continued in sweet tones, “Don’t give me that, you little horse-faced bitch! I know you know what that was!”
“Aw, look! They’re chums now! Din’ae tell ye’, Maggie?” chortled Mr. Meagher. Rarity stared at Espeon, mortified. Espeon continued to look her in the eye in return with its mesmerising gaze. Feraligatr and Typhlosion exchanged concerned glances, while Aengus and Paddy looked at each other with subtle shakes of the head.
“Um...,” Rarity began, losing the entire sentence in those purple eyes.
Paddy picked up Espeon as one would a Maine Coon at the large end of the breed’s spectrum, petting her. She purred as he said as one does talking to a pet, “C’mere, you. Are you playing nice?”
“About as nice as your mother’s face, so no,” Espeon answered, nuzzling Paddy and purring. She looked back at Rarity. Lost in those violet eyes, Rarity heard Espeon’s voice echoing in her skull, despite her mouth remaining shut, “Bint, don’t think you’re getting out of this so easily! I will have an answer from you!”
Paddy gave his brother the sort of look a parent gets when they want to apologise to somebody over what their kid did, and are still upset with the child. Typhlosion leaned to Rarity’s ear and whispered, “Don’t take it personally; she’s always like that to everymon, and to Paddy half the time, too.”
“By the way, did you feel that too? That wave of energy?” Feraligatr asked.
Rarity whispered to them, “No, but I saw it. I have no doubt that was my friend Twilight, looking for me.”
Typhlosion cocked her head to the left, and whispered, “Whatever that was, it sure got my attention.”
Twilight’s spell continued passing around the globe, edging towards meeting on the far side of the world. Everywhere, upper echelon Pokémon perked up and cast their eyes in the direction of Sinnoh as the wave came overhead. There weren’t all that many from common Pokémon, but plenty of trainers in battle saw both Pokémon turn and look that way in unison. Numerous wild unique individuals, though, stopped what they were doing, many starting their way toward Sinnoh, and consequently The Great Marsh; there were nearly thirty of them, from several different regions.
“...which makes all the difference. I’m a Master myself, but that whole spiel? No one else can make that claim,” concluded Blue. Under his breath he muttered, “At least, not yet can I say so. I’m almost there.”
“Whoa,” breathed Rainbow Dash. “No wonder he’s the only Grand Master, if you gotta do all that and study that much!”
Blue was talking to AJ, Dash, and Pinkie about training Pokémon. Red had joined Fluttershy in settling the frayed nerves of Azelf and company. Cynthia stood before Arceus and his entourage, searching for something to say; the last thing the Alpha Pokémon said left her speechless and feeling mighty guilty. Sunburst and Spike had both departed. Twixie fell asleep forty-five minutes ago. Two hours had passed, and still Twilight stood there, taking in data from her spell. Not until then did she finally open her eyes with a deep breath. Fluttershy was the closest and flittered to her. “Did you find them?”
“I don’t know,” started Twilight. “I detected twelve more sources of Equestrian magic than what I accounted for with those out on searches and us here. Two of them are far, far away.”
“Oh my. I hope it at least helps,” Fluttershy offered.
“In some ways yes, but Trixie’s hiding,” said Twilight. “North of here there’s a muddled reading, but it covers a large enough area we could be searching in there for days, not knowing if she’s in the trees, on the ground, or in a cave or some such. I’ll have to redo the checklist and search patterns.”
A flash from the portal heralded Spike’s return. His face was anxious. Just behind him came Starlight Glimmer with a guilty expression. Twilight growled, “I told you to stay home!”
Spike offered her a scroll and timidly said, “Uh, Twilight, you might want to read this before you say anything.”
Twilight frowned as she took the scroll in her magic. Unfurling it, Spike and Starlight stood aside with nervous tension as Twilight’s other friends gathered to read over her shoulder:
Dear Princess Twilight,
While we are pleased at your efforts and persistence, news of this “Twixie” is most disturbing. The fact that there could be many of them is unacceptable. My sister and I have been in conference over this finding, and we agree this is theft of Equestrian magic. Due to some deeply troubling and perilous extenuating circumstances surrounding this finding, all of the Equestrian magic must be returned to our world, willingly or not. Inform General Merry Weather their orders are now to locate and confiscate every “Twixie” in that world, and should they exist, every Rarity lookalike as well. All levels of force escalation are authorised.
We need to know how this “Twixie” came to be, along with however many others there are. I am revoking your grounding of Starlight Glimmer, and sending her and Rainbow Dash to this so-called “Daycare” to investigate. Have them take two volunteers with them from among the soldiers.
I will be arriving tomorrow at sundown. At that time you are to return to your laboratory with this “Twixie,” and find a means to separate the pony from the Pokémon. I will assume command of the rescue operation during that time. While we do not wish harm upon this “Twixie,” the recovery of Equestrian magic takes priority, even over the safety or life of the hybrid. We understand this is harsh, and arguably cruel, but not half as cruel as what suffering they already inflicted, nor what is to come if you should fail. Again, preserve its life if you can find a way to do so, but if there is no other way to return Equestrian magic, we will assure you receive proper counseling.
Godspeed.
Princess Luna
Thunderstruck, Twilight rolled up the scroll. She muttered, “It just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?”
“What’s the letter?” asked Blue. He and Cynthia stood expectantly.
Twilight muttered, “Correspondence from my royal peers.”
Cynthia snidely said, “That much is obvious. Dealing with an uppity baron who just simply has to have a new castle?”
“Well, don’t y’all have suspicious minds,” Applejack barked. “If it concerned y’all, she’d tell ya’.”
Arceus and his entourage approached. Twilight sighed, “Do me a favour. Inform every trainer that if they caught a ‘Twixie,’ they’ll need to turn it in to us. I’m trying to prevent a war from breaking out right now.”
“Strong words,” Blue growled. A cry overhead made them all turn. Four things flew over them, circled back, and three of them settled in a tree just outside the command post, with the last one landing in front of it. Blue blinked at them and spoke sounding stunned. “The legendaries just keep coming...how many are gonna show up before this is all said and done? These guys are a long way from home!”
Cynthia said, “I don’t know them.”
Pointing at each in turn, starting with the one that landed and now was walking toward them, Blue said, “Lugia...Moltres...Zapdos...Articuno. Hey Red, do you still have gramps’ old Pokédex? I think he’d like all of this.”
Starlight had stepped away from that conversation after getting a nod from Twilight. Dash flitted to her side, looked at the soldiers, and said, “We’re going on a dangerous recon assignment from Princess Luna herself, to find out how they made this ‘Twixie!’ I need two volunteers!”
Every soldier stepped forward. Starlight whispered in Dash’s ear, “A ‘dangerous recon assignment?’ How dangerous can a daycare get?”
“We’re about to find out,” said Dash. She looked among the soldiers, and pointed at two pegasi. “Okay, you two then, since all of you want to come! Let’s go! We fly!”
Starlight self-levitated as Dash swiftly led them into the skies. Her aura thinned and became more raindrop-shaped as they accelerated. As they left The Great Marsh behind, Starlight asked, “Do you even know where we’re going?”
Dash said, “The Battle Map says the ‘Pokémon Daycare’ is in Solaceon Town, which is almost due north of Pastoria City and The Great Marsh.”
“How likely is a daycare to be open at night?” urged Starlight.
Dash shrugged and said, “Hey, Princess Luna wants to find out how it happened. That doesn’t mean we wait for business hours.”
“I think it’d be easier when we can ask them face-to-face,” said Starlight.
“The humans aren’t talking to us,” said Dash. “Besides, I somehow doubt this is the sort of thing they do when some random person could just walk in on them. I certainly don’t want to be walked in on, like, ever.”
“Point taken.”
The four surfed the wind further inland as the moon crested the eastern horizon.
A strange being surfaced in the middle of the ocean. No land was visible along any horizon. It slowly floated upward, until it was completely out of reach of the swells. This thing stood taller than most people who do not professionally play basketball. The creature was mostly gray in colour, with a somewhat feline face, ears shaped like a castle battlements’ merlon, wide at the hips, three fingers and toes on each hand and foot, a redundant neck that attached at the back of the head but markedly curved, well-defined pectoral muscles, and a purple tail that as long as it was tall. It muttered, “Hmph. Something wants to flaunt to the world its strength...I’ll show whatever it is what true strength looks like.”
It looked at its hands. In each was a spherical rock that looked strikingly like a cat’s eye marble, neither any bigger than an average cherry. They looked identical, except the one in its left hand had a blue stripe in the middle while the one in the right hand had a white stripe there. The remaining stripe on each was an orchid-lavender colour. The creature looked between the two several times, closed its fists, and said to itself, “Hmm...why not both?”
Laughing malevolently, the being then aerially dashed forward, levitating across the water at great speed.
Aengus, Paddy, and Rarity were already passing through Violet City before most folks had left their homes for work. The weather was markedly crisper than expected for this long before the equinox, but she found the slight fog invigorating and easy on the lungs. Given how early the brothers liked to get their days started, Rarity mused herself at how much better off she was with Aengus than Rainbow Dash, despite her pegasus friend’s kick-butt attitude and behaviour. Headed out of town to the east, Aengus bought a copy of the daily news. He snorted, “Seems your friend can’t stay off the front page.”
Rarity said, “It was like that for the first two weeks after her coronation.”
“Sounds like how it goes about everywhere, when crowns are laid on heads,” said Aengus with a nod.
“Brother, I think you mean ‘are lain,’ not ‘are laid.’ ‘Lay vs. lie’ and all that rot,” Paddy said, looking up from his Pokégear. Pointing at the screen, he emphasised, “More to the point, you know they have journalism online, right?”
Rarity muttered, “At least Pinkie’s not here; that filly can’t keep ‘lay’ and ‘lie’ straight to save her life.”
“Yes, but there’s poor reception between New Bark Town and the Plateau,” said Aengus, disregarding both Paddy’s correction and Rarity’s comment. “What are they saying about Twilight?”
Reading off of his Pokégear, Paddy said, “They don’t start the article about her, but about who all, shall we say, is coming to dinner. The number of unique Pokémon there is really starting to pile up. As of last night, they have eleven legendaries and five mythicals there, with more inbound. Reports are coming from all over the globe of such Pokémon heading in the general direction of Sinnoh. There’s a storm off the Hoenn coast headed that way, with a very sharp dividing line between it and unbearable sunlight. Perfectly straight, too.”
“Why in the world would a storm act so peculiar?” Rarity asked. “That’s not any sort of weather pattern I’d arrange. More importantly, will it hit us here?”
Paddy looked through the article and said, “Sunlight and moonlight might be a little brighter in a few days, but only for a few hours; it looks like that’s the most it’ll do to Johto. An opinion ventured by World Elite Four member Steven Stone suggests it’s Groudon and Kyogre on the move. Guess it and Lugia are indeed gonna meet. Oh wow! Mew’s been sighted for the first time in thirteen years, and this time not so far away as Guyana.”
“What website are you on?” asked Aengus.
“PNN.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow, “Wait, how could you get anything from PNN here? This isn’t Equestria, and what is a ‘website,’ anyway?”
Paddy stared at her blankly for a moment. Then his face eased with a sigh of comprehension. He said, “I presume your PNN is the ‘Pony News Network?’ Similar name here, except swap ‘Pony’ for ‘Pokémon.’ As for a website, that’s more difficult to explain. There are servers that—”
“What do waiters and waitresses have to do with this at all?” Rarity interjected.
Paddy blinked slowly. Aengus said, “Short version of what he’s trying to say: a website is like a small book you can look at if you have the right device and are in the right place. The one he looked at is maintained by journalists, and updated whenever they have an important news story to share.”
“Okay...,” Rarity trailed off.
“Every bit of the news surrounding your friend is odd,” said Paddy, scrolling through the article. “It says ‘World Champion Blue Oak and Grand Master Red are both staying in Pastoria City, in conference with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Oak told reporters that at least one of the supposed abductees “may have been bred” with a Pokémon. He offered at 25,000 Pokébuck bounty on “any such hybrid brought to me here in Pastoria City.” Grand Master Red declined comment.’”
Paddy shifted uncomfortably under his brother’s judgmental gaze. Rarity growled, “And that green-eyed Trixie?”
“She warrants further study. Of the Pokémon professors in the world, Professor Elm is the best one to ask what’s going on with her,” said Paddy. He raised an eyebrow. “Aengus, you’ll want to hear this. ‘Numerous reports from Ecruteak City give the location of one of the supposed abductees, “Rarity.” Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh and “Rarity” were seen and recorded conversing in the city’s central plaza. This “Rarity” is supposedly being trained as a Pokémon, but Ho-Oh said she is no Pokémon at all. With the trainer in question reportedly heading toward the Indigo Plateau, we reached out to Indigo League Champion Karen about her thoughts on the matter. She said, “We would be pleased to welcome any such otherworldly visitor to the League, whether they come as a tourist, spectator, trainer, or combatant.”’ Looks like your one fear is allayed.”
Aengus breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, good.”
Paddy continued, “Ooh. ‘Other League Champions, however, did not share this open-armed welcome. Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia released this statement: “As these ponies are neither people nor Pokémon, they may not in any way, shape, or form participate nor spectate in any official League function. Any trainer found with such a pony on their team in any official League match with be summarily stripped of their trainer status and barred from purchasing a Pokéball ever again.”’ Damn, wonder who pissed in her soup? ‘Wallace, the Hoenn League Champion, said, “I see no reason we should willingly allow such destructive, gauche beings into our midst.” Kalos League Champion Diantha’s statement read, “With Team Flare’s attempt to annihilate all Pokémon still fresh in our minds, we cannot permit such a danger as these ponies into Kalos.” Unova League Champion Cheren, however, was more amiable in his statement, “If a pony wishes to participate in the Unova League, they may do so, but under the same requirements and guidelines as every other trainer.” Both the Alola and Orange Pokémon Leagues stated they have not made an official decision about the ponies. The Ranger Unions could not be reached for comment.’”
Rarity frowned. She looked up at Aengus and said, “Darling, does that mean you have to turn in that badge from Sunyshore?”
Aengus shook his head. “No; if they try to make that claim, I’ll point out it’s ex post facto, and that’ll be the end of that.”
“I was about to suggest that,” said Paddy.
Aengus stopped and knelt beside Rarity. Putting an arm around her, he said with concern, “It’s about to be bad over in Sinnoh. I know we said we’d get you back to Equestria as soon as possible after I’m champion, but I have concerns about going there with things as they are. There are too many legendary and mythical Pokémon there right now. There’s going to be conflict between some of them, especially those that have similar claims of domain. If Lugia and this Kyogre start having it out, the seas will be way too rough for any ship to sail there. If Ho-Oh and Rayquaza do the same, flight will also be a no-go. From the sounds of its name, I presume ‘Groudon’ has something to do with the ground. Why that’s trouble is because of a figure we heard of in Unova. Folks at the Abundant Shrine spoke of a ‘Landorus.’ If we have that conflict too, I doubt we could get there at all, until at least one pair is done lockin’ horns. But if you really want to, we’ll still try.”
Rarity nodded with a sad smile. Looking around, she said, “Twilight can be stubborn. She’s not as bad as my friend Applejack, but once she has her mind set on something, that’s the end of it. If that news story is accurate, then Ho-Oh is right, and all those unique Pokémon are going to see her. She’s here to find me. If I don’t go back, it’ll just keep getting worse.”
Aengus forced a grin as he scratched her behind the ears. With a short sigh, he said dejectedly, “Okay, we’ll go. But I hope we can still get a ship.”
“What happens if we can’t get a ship or fly?” Rarity asked.
“You go by land, of course,” said Paddy with concern, shaking his head with a hand where many men find a bald spot. Under his breath he finished, “And pray that my namesake and the Fourteen lend you as much aide as they possibly can, especially Christopher and Eustace.”
Aengus briefly nodded at his brother with worry, then looked at Rarity and said, “They’ve started building a route between the end of Route 25 in Kanto, and Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh. But they’ve done little more than break ground on ‘Route 200,’ last I knew.”
“I’ve been through the wilderness before. It’s not as fashionable as I’d like, nor would I have the wardrobe I’d like to have with me...nor do I really have it at all,” said Rarity, muttering the last part under her breath before continuing in at a normal volume, “...but I see no reason we shan’t do so now.”
Paddy shook his hands parallel to the ground. “There’s a reason we stay on the routes.”
“And that reason is why there are such weaker Pokémon through here,” said Aengus. “All aspiring young trainers need to go see the Professor before they can begin their own Pokémon journey. That means all of them here in Johto must go to New Bark Town, and they’re escorted by a strong trainer for the young ones’ safety. I had such an escort, Paddy had one, and years later I was the escort on four different trips. All of the more dangerous Pokémon have been stomped down by these escorting trainers, and in greater degrees the closer we get to the Professor’s lab. It’s the same thing in other regions”
“Okay...??”
Aengus continued, “If both air and sea block the way to Sinnoh, the last option is over land. We’re talking about going where there are no routes at all, and traveling through it for a long, long ways. Precious few trainers ever venture out there. Most of those that do are rangers, and usually not for very long. That means there hasn’t been any kind of filtering out of the strong, aggressive Pokémon throughout the exact place we’d traverse.”
Rarity scoffed, “Why do you always have some doom and gloom to share?”
Aengus ignored her comment. “It’ll be extremely dangerous. While the common lines will appear, we won’t be seeing Pidgeys, or Pidgeottos. We’ll be seeing Pidgeots, we’ll be seeing Alakazams, Vileplumes, Victreebels, Roserades, Luxrays, Poliwraths, and so on. And from what I’ve read, we may be seeing them by the dozen out there, or worse. The thought of Staraptor worries me.”
Rarity shot him a disbelieving look. “Being a little melodramatic? Coming from me, that really means something.”
Aengus’s face was unchanged. Paddy said, “Have you ever seen a large group of starlings before? Get enough of them together, and they start acting like a school of fish, but in the air.”
Aengus bluntly said, “Starly and its line show the same behaviours as ordinary starlings once an arseload of them band together. But out there, we’re not gonna see Starly, or Staravia. They will all be Staraptors, and in greater numbers as we get closer to their native Sinnoh. The last thing we need is an entire murmuration of Staraptors bearing down on us; if that happens, all of us will die. At least a thousand of them at once? Even if a move like Blizzard, Surf, or Air Slash drops ninety-five percent of them, and even if all those left are still significantly weaker, there are still a not-exaggerating fifty-plus of them coming at you right now. How many volleys of Aerial Ace, or Takedown, or Close Combat do you think any given Pokémon could endure, especially when one attack comes on another’s heels? Think you can withstand fifty-plus strikes in rapid succession? You won’t have long to stand there wondering how much you can take; none of us would live to tell the tale.”
“I thought you two made it clear that Pokémon moves can’t kill,” Rarity said as she suddenly stopped, watching them both with highly suspicious eyes.
“That’s true. Pokémon moves can’t kill,” Paddy began while Aengus raised an eyebrow at the emphasis of the word “Pokémon.”
“So...that means...,” Rarity trailed off, rotating a hoof expectantly.
Paddy continued, “They can knock us all out, though. Eating, however, isn’t a Pokémon move, and if their meal isn’t moving, they can just eat. Do you think any of us will live through being masticated, swallowed, and digested?”
Rarity stared without blinking nor moving. After a moment she slowly said, “Then we better hurry up.”
The brothers nodded at her. The continued along the fairly straight route with its stairways. Paddy looked at his Pokégear for a moment, and said, “Sure is strange how all the legendaries and mythicals are drawn to Princess Twilight, all of them gathering there...heh. Gathering...are they drawn to The Gathering? I suppose they’re about to fight for The Prize. I’d love to hear Arceus holler ‘There can be only one!’”
Aengus facepalmed. Unamused, Rarity said, “Darling, we’re not in a crossover with that, too.”
Paddy frowned and snapped his fingers in disappointed. “Nuts.”
The route came to a dead end with a narrow cave opening that faced to the south. Southward there was another route. As Paddy summoned the hot air balloon Pokémon to slash out the overgrown brush, Aengus stopped and turned as two trainers nearby threw down Pokéballs. He nudged his brother, and all three of them took a moment. The further away of was a mid-teens girl with blonde hair in an orange sports bra and matching volleyball shorts, black shoes, and black fingerless fighting gloves. Across from her was a large barrel-chested man with a thick beard, outdoorsman clothing from head to toe, a camping backpack, and a hiking stick. Before the girl appeared an anthropomorphic blue dog with black markings around its face, hands, legs, shoulders, and waist, a tan torso, and a spike from the back of its hands and the centre of its chest. The man’s Pokémon was a Golem, like the one Rarity saw on the screen in her Safari Ball, but it looked much bigger face-to-face.
“Lucario against a Golem? This shouldn’t take long,” said Aengus. Paddy nodded.
The girl yelled, “Lucario, use Bone Rush!”
“Golem, Earthquake!” answered the man.
Before either Pokémon moved, the girl gave her left boob a pinch. Rarity scoffed indignantly at the sight. Whirling light emanated from the pinch and from her Lucario. Aengus’s head dropped a few centimeters as he gave her a slightly narrow-eyed, slightly agape stare of disbelief and incredulity. He muttered, “Of all the ways to wear one’s Key Stone...why like that?? Why would you ever think that’s a good idea?!”
The light surrounding Lucario hardened into a brown stone sphere, which quickly cracked and shattered, revealing Lucario slightly altered. Red adorned the ends of his dangling headdress, hands and feet, as more spikes and black markings emerged, along with a foofy tail of the same tan colour. Paddy shook his head in a tight-lipped frown, just as shocked as his brother. He said, “I don’t think she’s old enough to have had that done legally.”
“Bet she’ll regret it before she’s thirty,” said Aengus.
As Paddy nodded and Lucario threw bones at Golem, Rarity asked, “What did she do, apart from that salacious display?”
Aengus began whispering into her ear as the man’s Golem fainted. She gasped deeply with wide, mortified eyes while the hiker deployed a bipedal red insectoid Pokémon with small membranous wings. Rarity squeaked and scrunched, clamping her back legs together and shrinking. Her face was of the horrified shock and pain of she were a child who was at the pediatrician, and on her third of seven vaccines for the day. While the trainers gave their orders, Rarity squawked, “Why would you do that!? I can’t imagine willingly doing something so douloureux! Not to mention uncouth!”
Aengus sighed, shook his head, and shrugged, all in unison. An identical strange light from a moment ago surrounded the red insect and the hiker’s belt buckle, and after a moment it emerged about two hands taller. The pincers on its arms now looked like pinking shears to Rarity. This didn’t seem to matter much as the Lucario’s foot suddenly was engulfed in flames as it leveled a side kick squarely into the insect’s belly. A moment later the red insect was back in its ball, out cold. The hiker yelled, “Go, Tyranitar!”
A lumbering, bulky sage green theropod appeared, with a blue rhombus on its belly. Sand began whipping around the battleground as Paddy leaned next to Aengus and said, “Should’ve mega-evolved this one instead of the Scizor.”
Aengus answered, “He might not have any Tyranitarite. That stuff isn’t exactly in every Pokémart.”
The hiker yelled, “Tyranitar, use Earthquake!”
“Lucario, use Aura Sphere!” answered the girl.
“And that’ll end it,” said Aengus. Lucario stepped forward, cupped its front paws against each other, and suddenly thrust them forward, palms toward Tyranitar. A blue-white orb lanced from Lucario’s hand into the rhombus on Tyranitar, knocking it back a step and keeling it over.
Rarity raised an eyebrow as the sand disappeared. She said, “I’m gonna talk to her.”
“No, Rarity,” said Aengus.
Rarity said, “I’m not going to mother her over her body modification choices, if that’s why you’re worried.”
“I wonder what her sensei has to say about it...of all the things, giving yourself a painful break point right there on your chest. It’s gotta feel great taking one there during a match...what could she have been thinking?” Paddy grumbled to Aengus.
“Life lesson for you, little bro: stop trying to understand girls. It cannot be done,” said Aengus matter-of-factly.
Before Lucario could be returned to its ball, Rarity said, “Wait a moment, darling! I would like to see that again, please!”
The battle girl said with dilating eyes, “...what?”
“That last move, dear. That ‘Aura Sphere.’ I would like to see it again, please,” said Rarity with a sparkly-eyed grin.
The girl quietly squeed to herself, and cheerfully said, “Oh my goodness, you’re just too cute! I don’t mind! Lucario, hit that rock with Aura Sphere!”
As the stone was reduced to a dust cloud, Paddy asked his brother, “What is she up to?”
Rarity rocked her head side to side, pursing her lips. The girl asked, “Another time?”
Rarity nodded. Aengus said, “Is she learning this move? Her pool’s already huge, but this would definitely be a welcome addition.”
Pointing at another boulder, the girl shouted, “Do it again!”
Another rock reverted to uncemented sediment. Rarity’s horn powered up for a moment, but she shook her head and released the charge. She said, “One more time, and I think I’ll have it.”
Deciding on a dead branch on a tree, splinters sprayed from there further into the woods as the move connected cleanly. The girl asked, “You think you have it then?”
Rarity pursed her lips and charged her horn. Her eyes lasered in on a discolouration on the outcrop’s face, near the Dark Cave’s entrance. The blue-white sphere formed, and fired from her horn perfectly, leaving a beach ball-sized hole in the sandstone. Rarity beamed, “Yes, I believe I do! Thank you very much, young miss!”
The girl giggled, “Glad I could help.”
Rarity looked intensely at Lucario, then at his trainer. Her eyes perked up. “Oo-o-oh!! Aengus, darling, would you be a dear and fetch me my sketchpad and pencils, please? I have inspiration, and it shan’t be wasted!”
Aengus chuckled as he retrieved the pad and the pencils from his bag. The trio turned south. Rarity paid little attention to where she was going, trusting Aengus to steer her away from trouble, which he did. She sketched away, figuring what she thought to herself to be functional but sporty formalwear for martial artists, and matching outfits for whatever beau or belle may be on her or his arm.
An indeterminate amount of time later, some tenor yelled, “Aengus! Good you came!”
Rarity looked up to see another young man about Aengus’s age standing there in a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and a blue ball cap. Aengus forced a smile and cheer into his voice. “Hello, Joey.”
Joey started walking toward Aengus. Paddy tiptoed behind Joey and slinked further down the route as Joey continued, “I have a surprise for you! I traded over the web, and guess what? I got an Alolan Rattata! And it’s also in the top percentage of Rattata! How cool is that!?”
Rarity’s lips tightened. Aengus pushed out the words, “That’s great, Joey. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks man!” Joey cheered obliviously. “You gotta check this new guy out! Ready!?”
Aengus stifled a sigh. He looked at Rarity, took the pad and pencils, and said, “Remember what I said to do, right?”
Rarity sighed through her nose. “Yeah, and I see why now.”
Joey giggled to himself, much too happily, as he threw a Pokéball. Out came a Raticate. Rarity stepped forward. Aengus said, “Aura Sphere, if you would.”
Joey whooped, “Use Hyper Fang!”
Rarity forced a heavier charge into her horn before firing the pulse. The burnt orange rodent before her attempted to dodge, but the shot changed direction, launching the top percentage Raticate over the trees. A trail of pink sparks whipped back to Joey. He frowned, then threw another Pokéball. This Raticate had black fur, and its cheek pouches filled. Joey giggled as before, just more so.
Rarity scowled, but Joey either didn’t notice or didn’t care. She looked back at Aengus and said, “Again?”
“Yes please.”
“Sucker Punch!”
Rarity remembered what this looked like. As she charged her horn, she waited. When Joey’s Pokémon suddenly lurched forward, she dodged the attack right on cue, and then fired her horn at point blank range. The Alolan Raticate went nearly straight up into the air a long ways and out of sight, seemingly becoming a twinkle against a cloud after a moment. Pink sparks returned to the ground a moment later.
“Blasting off again?” said Joey in disappointment. He then perked up again. “She’s something else, huh? Is she also in the top percentage like my Rattatas?”
She busied herself in the sketches of evening gowns and the occasional tuxedo or other suit so as not to hear anything else about a “top percentage Rattata” or whatever. Before long they were moving again. Rarity’s mind drifted again to the music and dance from Aengus and his family, trying to remember his mother’s dancing costume. Something about that yellow dress tugged at her, like she could perform as well if she had more practice. At the very least she’d like to see how well the best of the best did. Rarity had looked up when they turned eastward to find they had entered a small city, and were already on their way out of it.
Aengus said, “Don’t worry about Cherrygrove City; there’s not much here.”
With that, Rarity continued detailing colours and subtleties in her outfits’ designs. Time continued to pass unheralded and generally ignored as they walked on. Rarity grinned to herself, pleased that her use of telekinesis had improved as much as it did over her time here. It was not so much that she was manipulating two objects, as it was two separate objects doing two separate things. She had sewn a great many times using precise movements with her magic, but she had not been telekinetically controlling something else at the same time. Thoughts wandered, thinking about other unicorns in Ponyville that she knew. Many knew a great deal of magic, even mastery over numerous spells, but such fine telekinetic control over multiple objects...few had that. Of course Twilight was one of them. Rarity had numerous times seen the finesse and elegance in Twilight’s use of magic. How long had Twilight been a master of telekinesis as Rarity was with her dress designs right now? She knew before she ascended, Twilight would sometimes reshelf the entire Golden Oaks Library in one go, levitating every volume in circulation at the same time, and then putting them away one by one, in the correct order to boot. Could she, Rarity, have had that level of control as well? Hard to say; she had other pursuits that Twilight, talented mare that she was, could not even begin to attempt. This fashion she designed, the very cause of those tangential thoughts, was the big one. Nopony came close to her.
Aengus had stopped again. Rarity found herself in a tiny hamlet. The brothers were talking outside the largest building there, one to the north. She approached as she heard Aengus say, “Still no, huh?”
“Nothing to be gained by it,” said Paddy. Professor Elm stepped out of the south-facing door and gave Paddy a nod. With a sigh, he looked at his brother and said, “Well, here I go. Good luck, brother.”
Aengus gave him a hug. “You too. I should be back shortly with good news. Got a good feeling about this, which is different from the other times I made my challenge.”
Patting his brother on the back, Paddy said, “Glad to hear that. And good to know mom and dad will have nothing to worry about, one way or the other. Go show them your stuff.”
“You too,” said Aengus as he let go. Paddy smiled at Aengus before Professor Elm led him inside.
Rarity followed Aengus over to a lake with minimal shoreline at the town’s eastern edge. With a click of a Pokéball, Gyarados appeared, settling into the water. Rarity froze for a moment, looking at the size of the blue Chinese dragon. From the screens she could tell Gyarados was big, but wasn’t ready for her to be that big. Aengus patted Rarity on the back, which somehow began calming her down as he sidled up beside Gyarados and the water’s edge. He stopped and looked to his companion. With a gentlemanly bow, Aengus took Rarity by the hoof as he helped her onto Gyarados’s back. Despite the size, Rarity found Gyarados swam very smoothly, having no difficulty keeping an even pace for her and Aengus to maintain steady footing. Rarity continued embellishing her dress designs, including light touches within the fabric that most ponies would miss, but the critics would notice and rave about her play with light and dark. She grinned at how like life it was to weave the perfect fabric, that a single black thread in the loom’s warp could make all the difference in the world for the better, if in exactly the right place. One strand off, and not only would the effect would be lost, the whole thing would look shoddy at best.
They made landfall after a short time. Aengus said, “And with that, we’ve passed into the Kanto region.”
Aengus led her to a small cave with large waterfalls. She put the sketchpad back into his bag as they took off on Gyarados again. On their way up the first waterfall, Rarity said, “Aengus, darling, do speak up. You’ve been pensive most of the day, and I dare say brooding after dropping off your brother with the professor. What’s on your mind?”
“He should have told you everything,” Aengus said sadly. “Everything that happened that he saw. Everything that he did. He’s old enough to man up when it’s time to be honest about what he’s done, especially if the other person will be upset.”
Rarity shook her head discontentedly. “I have the feeling you’re about to start telling me things that he was supposed to, but saw ‘nothing to be gained by it,’ right?”
“So you heard that.”
“Yes.’”
“I see it comes to me ratting him out in the end,” Aengus sighed.
Rarity looked around. Scrunching her eyebrows, she asked, “Wait, we’re in a cave, and have been through tall grass; why haven’t we seen any wild Pokémon?”
Aengus held up an empty aerosol can with a pale yellow label. “Max Repels. You’ve been busy sketching away; I didn’t want you to be interrupted. Certainly not by piddly little Pokémon.”
“Thanks. Good that we’ll not have to deal with trifles,” said Rarity. Her face hardened some as she said, “So, what unhappy news do you have for me? Let’s start with Trixie.”
“Okay.”
“Where is she?”
“Lost and abandoned,” Aengus said. “He released her before we even left the daycare, moving the one Twixie of the ten he kept into his active party and equipping it with an Experience Share. He specifically used the PC to move the item onto that Twixie, keeping her out of your sight at all times, so that he wouldn’t tip you off that something had happened. But for the real Trixie’s whereabouts, I have no idea. Those PCs release such Pokémon in hidden places. She could be anywhere in Sinnoh.”
Rarity growled. Spitting in the water as they started down the other waterfall, she grouched, “The why did you suggest I make friends with the green-eyed Trixie before we boarded the ship?”
“Two reasons,” began Aengus. “First, I wasn’t sure if you could tell the difference between her and the original. And you didn’t until you saw her eyes. The other is because I was curious if that ‘Trixie’ was more pony, or more Pokémon. When I heard her say ‘Trixie, Trixie!’ to you, my suspicions had been confirmed: she’s more Pokémon.”
“I suppose he also released the other nine ‘Twixies’ into the wild too, didn’t he?” Rarity barked.
“He did.”
Rarity all-but roared. She raised a foot and nearly stomped, stopping herself when she remembered they were on Gyarados’s back and that was no offense she wished to commit. She asked, “Why would he do that? Why didn’t he just keep a hold of them until you’re champion, so that we could all return at once?”
Aengus sighed again. “That was the problem with him. He never made any promises of returning anything to Equestria. He was so convinced you two were Pokémon that he never gave you a thought as your own ethnic group, with your own history, culture, cuisine, art, song, and so on. I hadn’t given it any thought at first, until you started talking as much as you did.”
“I still can’t believe him,” Rarity huffed. “The way he used Trixie? Just left her as...as a...come on Rarity, what’s the word...?”
“A broodmare?” Aengus offered.
Rarity’s lip involuntarily curled in disgust. “Why do you people have such a word!?!”
Aengus said, “Since the dawn of civilisation, humans have bred animals to various purposes. Horses, being big and strong, were bred for work.”
“You say ‘bred,’ as in, breeding?” Rarity said in nauseated tones.
“Yeah,” said Aengus. “Pick two possible parents with favourable traits, put them in the same stall while she’s in heat, and then there should be a foal on the way that’ll grow up into the better horse you want.”
Rarity actually did barf this time, mostly missing Gyarados. The dragon-like Pokémon sighed, and sank lower into the water to rinse herself off. Aengus helped Rarity back onto dry land and out of the cave, where they quickly took to the water again for a very short distance, passed through some tall grass, and then Gyarados used Surf yet again. Once Rarity had finished purging her gut, she said, “That is possibly the vilest thing I’ve ever heard! And he arranged for Trixie to be so abused...my Celestia. Never imagined I’d ever feel sorry for her. Wait, how did she birth ten foals so quickly?!”
“Pokémon don’t have live births; they hatch. Fathers pass moves, but mothers retain the species, which is why he used Zebstrika instead of a Ditto,” said Aengus. He sprayed another can, then continued, “As for how Trixie laid eggs, I have no idea. No one’s ever seen a Pokémon lay an egg, but the eggs have been found countless times. At a daycare, eggs are taken when found and given to the Pokémon’s trainer. Whenever you find Trixie, you’ll have to ask her how that happened.”
“I will,” said Rarity. She thought for a moment, and said, “Would Trixie even know she’s a mom?”
“She might not, if she doesn’t know what became of those eggs,” said Aengus.
The two rode in silence for a ways. As Gyarados led them across a whirlpool with no sign of trouble, Rarity asked, “So he kept just the one, and abandoned the other nine. But why? He’s too calculating to be flippant or hasty with such decisions.”
“Remember how I said not all Pokémon species are equal?” Aengus asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Not all individuals of a given species are equal, either,” Aengus said sadly. They came to some land connected to a wooden bridge, and hopped off of Gyarados. As she returned to her ball and they started across the bridge, Aengus said, “It’s like each Pokémon has its own...individual values, for lack of a better term, that affect how good they are statistically.”
“Like little Raichu,” Rarity said with some venom.
Aengus sighed and hung his head. “Yeah. Like him. I had said before that he’s as strong a Raichu as you could hope to find; that’s because these ‘individual values,’ for him, are perfect across the board. He may actually be stronger than a Raichu is supposed to be.”
“How can you tell?” asked Rarity.
“There are a few trainers out there that can tell what these ‘individual values’ are. They’ve been dubbed ‘judges,’ but there aren’t very many of them. We found a judge in Johto, at a sort of Pokémon battle-themed park called the ‘Battle Frontier.’ Idiotic name, yes, but that’s how it goes,” said Aengus.
“And this ‘judge’ said Raichu’s perfect,” said Rarity with a bit of bitterness. They started up a small rise and across another wooden bridge, this one much higher off the water. She shook her head again and said, “I suppose another of these ‘judges’ looked at green-eyed Trixie and said she was perfect, too?”
Aengus said, “Obviously so. I never found a ‘judge’ in Sinnoh, but clearly Paddy did. It helps when either parent had a perfect set as well, like his Zebstrika has, or at least a few perfect. If I had to guess, Trixie had at least two of her ‘individual values’ perfect. For Paddy, that’s not enough. Most of Paddy’s Pokémon have perfect ‘individual values.’ That boy is an excellent, excellent Pokémon breeder. Every Pokémon you’ve seen him with was bred, even that Typhlosion. He picked Cyndaquil when he started his journey, which after two evolutions becomes Typhlosion, but he wanted a stronger one. So he bred it, until he got one that was perfect, and released the very Pokémon that started him on his journey.”
The bridge turned north. Rarity grumbled, “And he never stopped to think they may have thoughts and feelings of their own.”
Aengus nodded sadly. “Until you came along, I didn’t know they were as intelligent as they are. I’m afraid I’ve also been guilty of that, and may have been the one who instilled it in him. I wish I could apologise to the Pokémon whose trust I betrayed like that, but I have no idea where any of them are now, or if they’re even alive.”
Rarity gave an overwhelmed sigh, looking down. She said, “I just...can’t think about all of it right now. Can I have the sketchpad back? I’d like to clear my head.”
Aengus nodded. He stopped and opened his bag, giving Rarity her dress designs and coloured pencils. Rarity buried herself in the design work, determining fabrics to be used, what material for any beadwork, which ones warranted sequins or a slip (or no slip if a mare wanted certain attention from her husband), what stitches to use, and so on, all while trying to balance that against the shops’ budgets. Rarity For You easily brought in the most money of her three stores, but it also cost the most to run, and had the most persnickety customers. A bad design or two, and she could find the entire year in the red real fast.
Time again slipped past her unnoticed as Aengus led her through the trees and tall grass, repelling the wild Pokémon away. Shadows told her by now it was well-after noon. The trees bit by bit disappeared as they continued going uphill, as did the costs of a few of these dresses. She may need small contract work with an available seamstress, one who could obey an NDA without any real temptation, so that she would have time to search for the necessary gemstones. With Sapphire Shores doubtlessly going to go on tour again by spring, she would need a hefty supply for that order alone. She didn’t want to repeat the same frantic search that lead to the trouble with the diamond dogs. All of that was just for Rarity For You. While rent was stiff, it came with the blessing of not having property tax, like her two Carousel Boutiques have. That would also need to be paid in a timely fashion.
Somewhere around there she thought she heard somebody or somepony calling her name. She looked up, but there was no one there. Gazing about gave her the same story. She looked up at Aengus and asked, “Did somebody call for me?”
“I didn’t hear anything,” he said. “It’s just as well you’re looking up now; we’re almost to the reception gate.”
Ahead, nestled in the valley, was a red building with a yellow awning, built such that one could not go around it without expert rock climbing skills and gear. They had it built such that rainwater runoff from the surrounding rocks would drain away normally without eroding the building itself. Rarity thought she heard her name again, and tried looking up around the cliffs ahead, but couldn’t see anyone or anything. Shrugging, she followed Aengus inside.
Rarity was met by broad taupe and brown tiles with a tan grout, opulently set with malachite running beside the wall. The walls were a fine-grained limestone, well-polished, with recessed lighting and evenly-sized alcoves. A policeman checked Aengus’s badge case from behind a counter. At an intersection was a Pokéball design etched in the floor. Door jambs were painted the same red as the building’s exterior. A sudden cool, damp breeze rushed over Rarity from straight ahead. Aengus said, “To the right is the route to Viridian City. Left, access to Mt. Silver, which few may enter. I am one of those few. Straight ahead, Victory Road, and at the end of it, the Indigo Plateau.”
Aengus led her straight through the intersection. Another breeze blew past them. Rarity said, “Straight, then. What’s in there?”
“Strong wild Pokémon, and stronger trainers. Every time I’ve been through here, it’s always a different group, which shouldn’t be surprising at all. These guys are going to be tough, since they are all vying for the championship,” said Aengus.
Rarity nodded. “I am prepared for battle, darling.”
Grinning, Aengus said, “Right. We’re going in!”
The two stepped over the threshold, into the treacherous gauntlet.
Over the Pokémon League Reception Gate, looking down from the mountainside, angrily stomped a small cream-coloured equine-like Pokémon with a scarlet afro, powder blue tail, mane, and chest fluff, and a large blue horn. Shaking his head, he muttered, “Guess she was too far away to hear me.”
With a sigh, he looked around him, and begin picking his way back upward. He said, “Since that’s the way it is, I’ll wait for them where they’ll come out.”
Almost immediately upon entering Victory Road, the cavern turned pitch black. The glow of the reception gate’s entryway was dim, even though they had not traveled more than twenty paces from it. Rarity could not see the floor, but for a cave, it seemed surprisingly level. And dry. The dry part of it registered more heavily with her. She wasn’t a relation of the Pies, but even from her gem-seeking expeditions she knew a cave like this should have had water to cut it into existence. She would need her sight if she were to confirm her suspicions and find tool markings. An ordinary light spell wasn’t doing much. Aengus said, “Use Flash instead. I believe it has more kick in places like this.”
Rarity nodded, despite that no one could see it. Quickly the light swirled outward, and the inside of Victory Road was plainly visible. There were places they could hop down, but climbing back up it was not feasible with hooves. A rope bridge with rickety support posts and partially dry rotted planks hung directly overhead. The walls were smooth, sloping up at fifteen degrees or so short of plumb, while the floor did not have the tool marks Rarity suspected. The mix of sandstone, greywacke, and limestone surfaces all appeared fairly fresh.
“This was recently hewn,” said Rarity, continuing to look around. In the distance she saw a ladder passing through a hole in the ceiling, but its bottom was on an upper ledge. She pointed toward it.
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Aengus said with a nod at that ladder. “I’ve made it a point to go through Victory Road each time I’ve made my challenge, despite that since my first time, I could have Pidgeot use Fly to bypass this place. Seems they switch it up every now and then. This will be the fifth different rendition of Victory Road I’ll pass through before reaching the Plateau.”
Movement caught Rarity’s eye. In different places she saw more humans, but none of them near each other. Some were adolescents in red jackets and shoes, with black trousers on the boys and black volleyball shorts on the girls. A different pair, seemingly a couple, also wore red and black, but red vests and kepi caps, with shirt and trousers in black, and ropes at their sides. One young man wore a karate gi. A large man with a large beard wore a camping backpack and carried a tall walking stick. A young woman in a white robe and purple capris had her Pokéballs levitating around her. Near that ladder was a woman with a long scarf and a long dark coat, looking to be in her mid-thirties. Rarity looked up at him until he met her gaze, and she said, “Looks like you’re not the only one who thinks you can be champion.”
Aengus nodded. “That’s how it goes. Some of these folks are probably employed by the League, here checking on Trainers and making sure no one is hurt, or hopelessly lost. Likely what those two Rangers are doing here. Let’s see...yeah. Usual crowd: ace trainers and veterans, with a few others thrown in there for flavouring. A handful of black belts, hikers, psychics, maybe a dragon tamer or two on the floors above, but not much more than that. It’s possible there are a few other specialists in here too, but mostly ace trainers and veterans.”
Rarity gave him an odd look and asked, “Does everything get pigeonholed in this world?”
“Seems like,” Aengus said with a snort. “This ‘pigeonholing,’ though, has more to do with how a person trains their Pokémon. Specialists stick with few types, usually only one. Those that have demonstrated a good deal of skill with diverse teams are ace trainers. Veterans are the same, just with more experience.”
“Safe to say you’re considered a veteran, darling?” Rarity mused.
“Yeah,” Aengus said. “Though some might just say ‘Trainer,’ since I don’t feel compelled to dress the same as the other veterans.”
“It’s the pony!!” some teenaged boy angrily shouted at the top of his lungs. Aengus and Rarity looked up to see one of the boys in a red jacket standing on the bridge, pointing down at them. “They really did come here!”
Many of the other trainers stopped what they were doing, looked over, and began their way slowly. Rarity pressed closer to Aengus and tried not to whimper, “Why...why are they approaching us like that? I can’t think of anything we did to offend them!”
“Me neither, but that, uh...doesn’t appear to matter much right now,” Aengus said sheepishly as eight of them approached in an arc, most of them ace trainers, led by a mid-thirties woman.
“Aengus?” asked some lower baritone among those trainers.
Aengus looked over, and a huge smile broke over his face. He cheered, “Devontae! Been too damn long!”
A young man, close to Aengus’s age and of a muscular build, stepped out from the opposing line, laughing happily at the sight of Aengus. He had much, much darker skin than the others there, and fuller lips. His hair tightly curled and was kept short, though it seemed to have a wave-like pattern on top of his head. He wore an armless hoodie, undershirt, unlaced work boots, and jeans so low there was no question about the blue plaid pattern of his underwear, but what caught Rarity's attention was that the hoodie and jeans were a perfectly matched butter yellow, while the undershirt, belt, and boots all were an untouched black, as though he wore all these clothes for the first time today. Aengus met this Devontae with an elaborate handshake and a hug.
The slightly older woman barked, “What are you doing!? We won’t allow the pony through, or you either if you stand with them!”
Devontae turned to stand beside Aengus against the other seven. Rarity immediately noticed how different the inflections in his voice were as he yelled back, “To hell with that, and to hell with you! Grew up with this guy! Never turned my back on him then, not doing it now!”
The sound of seven Pokéballs opening echoed across the chamber. Rarity recognized most of the species in front of her. Aengus muttered, “Of course the veteran has a Tyranitar. Hmm, a Skarmory, Ampharos, Glaceon, Venomoth, Blastoise, and a Togekiss. Nothing like no common weakness to complicate matters.”
“Do any of those learn Wide Guard?” asked Devontae.
Aengus grinned. “No. They don’t.”
Rarity’s horn began to charge as Devontae said, “Just like old times, huh?”
“If we weren’t seriously outnumbered, we were taking it easy that day, right?” Aengus chuckled. He then turned to Rarity and quietly said, “Do you think you can manage that storm of gemstones again?”
Rarity bit her lip and looked around nervously. She sheepishly said, “I can try?”
Devontae threw a ball and out came an Arcanine. He looked at Aengus and joked, “You can have a heart-to-heart with the pony later!”
“Cheeky,” chuckled Aengus. Then his face and voice hardened. “Now, Rarity!”
“Use Heat Wave, Arcanine!”
“Earthquake!”
“Ice Shard!”
“Aura Sphere!”
“Hydro Cannon!”
“Bug Buzz!”
“Stealth Rock!”
“Thunder!”
The Glaceon fired a series of semi-sharp bits of ice at Rarity. She grumbled and winced from the barrage, but concentrated on the charge in her horn. Devontae’s Arcanine roared, emitting a red-hot gas that quickly swept over the numerous trainers’ Pokémon. Skarmory looked to be in the worst shape after that, but Glaceon and Venomoth appeared to be hurting worse than the others as well. Tyranitar and Blastoise seemed unfazed.
The magic in Rarity’s horn came to a point, and she stood up straight and proud as she cast the spell. A barrage of sapphires, emeralds, rubies, topaz, aquamarine, and onyx, with only a few diamonds here and there, erupted from the floor en masse. Skarmory, Venomoth, and Glaceon all fainted, and Togekiss did not look far behind. Blastoise did not seem to like that near as much as the Heat Wave. The other trainers murmured in shock, while Devontae laughed in shock with a whoop. Tyranitar just looked confused, and said, “Where did you learn that?”
“That’s my little secret, Tyranitar,” said Rarity as she brushed a curl out of her face with a devious yet somewhat flirty grin, looking into his eyes. “My little secret.”
“She can speak to Pokémon too!?” squawked the leading veteran.
“Darling, you need only use your ears,” Rarity said, trying to prevent a condescending laugh and falling short on the last syllables. She then looked the woman up and down, and shook her head, saying, “But please at least use your eyes! That outfit, it’s...it’s...let’s call it ‘anachronistic.’ We have to find you some better habillement than that!”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she scowled. A blue white sphere grew in front of Togekiss, and fired straight at Rarity. She gave a slight ooph as it struck, but frowned slightly as she brushed her coat on her chest back to an even lay. Water jetted from both guns on Blastoise’s back, hosing down Rarity and driving her back several metres. As Aengus helped her back to her feet, he asked, “‘Anachronistic?’”
“‘Out-of-style’ wasn’t strong enough,” Rarity said flatly as she shook the dazed feeling from her head. “But why are they all attacking just me?”
“Maybe it’s because you’re a bitch!” yelled the veteran.
Rarity scoffed and started to retort, but could not form syllables as the ground began to shake as Tyranitar stomped a foot. By the time it was done, Arcanine did not look well, and the opposing Ampharos simply keeled over. The dancing sand scratched at her and Arcanine, but both stayed up, as did the Togekiss across from them. More Pokémon came from the other opposing trainers, a Primeape, a Tauros, a Lickilicky, and a Slowking. Rarity shook the water off of her as Aengus said, “That Tyranitar will be trouble, especially for Arcanine. Hit it with an Aura Sphere.”
Rarity nodded as Devontae yelled, “Thunder Fang, boy!”
“Tyranitar, one more time!”
“Extrasensory!”
“Just hold tight, Blastoise! I’ll stay by your side while you recoup from using that move!”
“Power Whip!”
“Stomping Tantrum!”
“Iron Head!”
“Heal Pulse!”
The sounds of Pokéballs opening was deafening for a moment, immediately followed by a firm and angry “Enough!!”
On the surrounding rocks and walkways and behind both battle lines there were easily another dozen and a half trainers...likely more. Most of them were in the red vests and hats with black underneath. Most of the rest wore police uniforms. A policewoman, middle-aged and without the hat, stepped forward from the others who showed up, behind Aengus. On her epaulettes were a pair of parallel silver bars, with two very thin connecting slats. Hers was a similar skin tone to Devontae, but her grey-streaked hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She slowly walked forward, meeting everyone’s gaze with her glower. Nervousness lay on the nine trainers’ faces. As she neared them, Rarity started, “My apologies for my part of this, but I can assure you—”
“I didn’t ask you a damn thing, pony!” snapped the policewoman with an unforgiving glare.
Rarity shrank and her ears flattened, her eyes wide with fear. Devontae shifted nervously, and said, “Captain, Ma’am, it’s—”
“Or you, mister!”
Devontae took a step back, putting his hands up. The police captain continued her slow walk towards the thirty-something in the middle of the opposing line. Pokémon returned to their balls, including Arcanine. The captain stopped in front of the veteran trainer and said, “You’re coming with me. And don’t even try to feign innocence; we heard you as you came through the reception gate!”
The veteran met her gaze, then started to walk away. The captain ran and tackled her on the hum, quickly applying the handcuffs. Several uniformed men rushed to assist nigh unto instantly. Rarity breathed, “Oh my goodness!”
As the men hauled the veteran out of there, the captain stood up, and turned as she yelled, “Let me make this clear! This is not happening again! All o’ y’all been in League matches enough to know the rules! Don’t try it, don’t even think about it! Or you’ll be coming with me, too! I got a few officers with not a lot of inmates to watch! They get pretty bored, coming to work, day after day with nothing to do! You mess up, they’ll have something to do! You, on the other hand, won’t have much to do at all! You’ll get to decide if it’s better staring blindly into space, or at the bars, or the tiny window, or doing pushups, or whatever for a year! Do you get that!? If I hear of another melee happening, you’ll lose at least a year of your life to me!”
As the captain straightened out her back after yelling, an uneasy silence filled the cavern. She looked around at everyone again, and waited a moment before shouting, “Any questions!?”
Water dripped somewhere, but no other answer came. Taking the time to meet all of them in the eye again, she said, “Good! Now get moving!”
The other trainers began wandering off, some relieved they weren’t the ones in trouble, some with a glare at Rarity, and the others with slight hesitation before being on their way. Rarity said, “I’m glad they came when they did. I think I see why the rules are that at most it can be three-on-three.”
Devontae said, “Rumour has it in Alola there’s free-for-alls.”
“But this isn’t Alola, so it doesn’t matter here what they do there,” said the captain as she started past them. She looked at Rarity with a scowl. “Just because the Champion is okay with you being here doesn’t mean the rest of us are. You’d best watch yourself. I can’t drop everything all the time to save your ass, pony!”
Rarity scoffed, halfway between surprised and indignant. Aengus said, “She will be fine, ma’am, if I have anything to say about it. We’re just finishing our business together before we part ways and she goes back to her own world.”
“Then you best make sure you two get it done quickly,” the captain growled. “And don’t give me any reason, any reason at all, to keep either of you. If I catch either of you with a toe or hoof out of line, it’s gonna be a long, long time before you can leave.”
She gave them one last glare before continuing away with the other officers and rangers. Aengus shook his head, then looked at Devontae and said, “I suppose you also have a problem with her?”
“Nah, what’s-her-face made it sound like them ponies mean to take over the world,” Devontae explained. “But she doesn’t sound like a conqueror. Hell, you saying she means to go home soon is proof enough for me. No hard feelings, right?”
“None here,” said Aengus with a slight grin, shaking his head some more.
Rarity nickered, “You changed sides so quickly then; why should I believe you won’t do it again?”
Devontae said, “‘Cuz this is my dude, right here. Look, we both grew up poor, east side of inner Goldenrod. Didn’t have a damn thing but each other. Got each other out of tight spaces, shared food whenever one or the other of us had empty pantries, and so on. We both took to training Pokémon to keep bread on the table, and watched each other’s back then the same as we did before.”
“What about that ‘Yoshinori’ kid Paddy mentioned?” Rarity asked.
“Damn, man, that kid got us into trouble all the time, especially you,” Devontae griped, giving Aengus a quick look. “Nothin’ but bad news from him. Was better for us all when his parents moved him away. Heard he ended up in Celadon, but I didn’t see him while I was there.”
“I’m happy you finally got over to Kanto and got the other eight,” said Aengus as they started on their way again.
Devontae nodded. “Yeah, as you know, mama wasn’t doing too good. Had to take care of her, until she passed. If she had just quit smoking....”
“I’m sorry, man,” said Aengus, putting an arm around him.
“It ain’t your fault; it was them three packs a day,” Devontae said.
“Are your brothers okay?”
“Yeah. It was hard, still is, even after six months, but we’re doing all right. Guess her whipping our asses worked; not one of us is on the street. Jacob’s a carpenter, Deshaun is a ship mechanic in Olivine, and Freddie’s an apprentice itamae in Ecruteak now, and loving it. A very promising apprentice, last I heard,” said Devontae, brightening as he spoke.
“That’s great news!” Aengus said happily. “He ate so much of that stuff I’m surprised he didn’t wrap himself in seaweed.”
The two laughed. Rarity shot them a puzzling look, asking, “Why would you wrap anything in seaweed? That sounds unpalatable at best.”
Devontae gave Aengus a surprised but disapproving stare. “You haven’t taken her to try any of the fine cuisine we have here?”
“We just got back to Johto yesterday,” Aengus protested. “Oh, speaking of great news, I’ve got the best!”
“Well, don’t leave me hanging.”
“Dad’s home.”
Devontae gasped with delight as his face lit up. He pulled Aengus into a crushing hug with thrilled laughter, nearly shouting, “That’s awesome! ‘Bout damn time that I finally get to meet this man!”
Rarity cocked her head to one side. As Devontae let go, Aengus caught her gaze. He asked, “What’s on your mind?”
“I was just remembering something, what you said earlier about Raichu,” Rarity said. “You mentioned a friend and an Arcanine, like your friend’s Pokémon. Was that the same one?”
Aengus nodded, his face halfway between surprised and impressed. “I forgot I mentioned that.”
“Good to know you’re finally using the little dude,” Devontae grinned. “I swear Raichus ain’t supposed to be that strong.”
“Well...,” Aengus began, hanging his head slightly.
Devontae sucked his teeth and grouched, “Still not?? But still keeping him around? Come on, brah...you counted him out wrong.”
They rounded a corner. Rarity looked forward just in time for something very hard to hit her in the nose, enough that a flash of white filled her vision for a second. She yelped, staggering backwards and holding her muzzle where it struck. Aengus snarled as Rarity whimpered, still with her eyes closed. He looked down at Rarity as Devontae picked up the thrown object. Nearby some teen girl screamed, “Get out of here, pony!!”
“Ah, hell nah! Bitch, you threw a full can of hair spray at her in ambush!? You are so gonna get it!!” snapped Devontae, reaching for his Pokéballs.
Aengus said in worry, “Let me see how bad it is.”
Rarity wiped her nose as she opened her eyes, still whimpering. Then she nearly shrieked. Where she wiped, her hoof was red. Blood red. Tears continued leaking out as she growled, half from pain, half from anger. The girl, in one of those red jackets with the short black shorts, cockily yelled back, “Am I? Because she’s not a person, and she’s not a Pokémon, I didn’t break a single law!”
“That does it,” Rarity growled.
“Wait...,” urged Aengus.
“No,” snapped Rarity. “She wants to start trouble, she’ll get trouble.”
Rarity marched out as Devontae recalled Arcanine, even though he had just deployed it. Aengus warned, “I think she cracked your nose bone, Rarity.”
Rarity only snarled in response.
“Go, Yanmega!” yelled the girl. A huge dragonfly emerged from her mostly blue Pokéball.
Aengus began, “Rarity, use—”
“I got this,” growled Rarity.
The girl mocked, “Do you indeed? Let’s see about that! Yanmega, use—aaie...!!”
A beam fired out of Rarity’s horn...at the girl. She struck the ace trainer in the nose, knocking her down. As the girl sat up, starting to cry, her nose was also bleeding quickly from both nostrils. Yanmega flew over to its trainer, buzzing near her nose, and gently nuzzled the girl on the cheek. It then turned to Rarity and demanded, “Why!?”
“She gave me a little ‘gift;’ I simply returned the favour, as the generous pony that I am,” snarked Rarity.
“Tit for tat?” Devontae mumbled to himself.
Rarity smirked at Devontae with a wince. “Doesn’t sound like I’m breaking any laws either; since I’m neither human nor Pokémon, I don’t believe there are any on the books about my kind.”
Aengus laid a hand on her withers, and knelt beside her. He urged, “I think you should return to your ball for now, and not participate in any battles if it can be avoided. This is getting out of control, and I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.”
Rarity nodded sadly. With a click and a flash of green light, she found herself back in the round room. Four pictures of familiar faces immediately appeared on the wall, minus Rapidash. Feraligatr started, “Well, look who—oh my.”
“What happened!? Are you okay?” exploded Gyarados.
Rapidash’s picture appeared. Full of alarm he asked, “She’s hurt?? Oh...oh no.”
Pidgeot slowly and sadly asked, “Who did what to you?”
Rarity wiped more of the blood from her nose. “Ow, geez. Apparently some trainers hate me just because I’m a pony. One hit me with a metal can as we rounded a corner. Just waited there for us to come.”
“That’s not okay, and they have no right to attack you,” said Rapidash, sounding more like a fellow consoling his girlfriend than anything else. “How bad is it, dear?”
“Aengus thinks it may have cracked a bone, darling,” Rarity said, grabbing a tissue and sopping up what she could.
Rapidash flushed some in his picture while the other four looked between each other. Pidgeot suggested, “I think we should step aside and let them talk?”
“Yeah, let’s,” said Gyarados.
The other four screens clicked off and disappeared. Rapidash’s frame expanded to fill most of the wall. Rarity smiled coyly as some pink crept into her cheeks. “I’m your ‘dear’ now?”
Rapidash flushed deeply as he stammered, “Well, it’s a-a-a-a, um, i-i-i-it kinda just...I dunno.”
“It’s okay; I like it, very much,” said Rarity with a contented smile. “I had hoped to hear it from you.”
Buzzing through Rapidash’s projection, Golem’s voice yelled, “Feraligatr, you stop eavesdropping on them right now!”
Rarity and Rapidash shared incredulous looks. After a moment they sighed almost in unison. Rapidash muttered, “That guy, I tell you what.”
Rarity shook her head. “Always the joker, but at least he means well.”
“You like it when I called you ‘dear,’ huh?” Rapidash asked shyly.
Rarity blushed again. After a beat she answered, “Yes. Yes I did.”
Rapidash blushed in turn. “We-e-ell, um...well, I-I-I, uh....”
Rarity said, “It’s okay, darling. Let’s just take it slow and easy.”
“Okay, dear.”
A whirling sound was accompanied by a flash of green light, and Rarity found the Experience Share back on her head. She scoffed, “How rude....”
Rapidash frowned. “That thing never looked good on anymon.”
“Heinous,” spat Rarity. She put her hooves in little quotes as she sardonically grumbled, “But it’s ‘purely pragmatic.’ I’ll give him that point, at least.”
“Do you know how to use the replicator?” asked Rapidash.
“Yes, but I don’t know what language this is,” Rarity said.
“Let me type a few things in here, so you can get cleaned up. I don’t think you want dried blood on your coat,” said Rapidash as he punched away at the buttons in front of him.
Rarity nodded. Symbols appeared on the screen in rows. She began typing them in as she said, “It’s a shame we never had the chance to talk like this sooner. I’d like to know you better.”
“There’s not much to know,” said Rapidash. “I was just a Ponyta on Route 22 when Aengus found and caught me, and I’ve been with him since. I don’t remember much of anything before I evolved. But Aengus saw to that pretty quickly; that much I recall. He was much younger and smaller back then, very much still just a boy. But in the decade since, lots of traveling, battling, and training, challenging the Elite Four every now and then, but always being stopped by Bruno. And here we go again, but Aengus seems more confident this time.”
“Sounds dreadfully boring,” said Rarity as some moist pads materialised.
As she started wiping below her nose, Rapidash said, “Sure was at times. What about you? You’re from another world; I’m sure you have stories to tell.”
Rarity chuckled, “I have quite a few....”
Over the next several hours, Rarity told a sizable chunk of her life story’s most noteworthy events. While Rarity averaged a higher number of “darlings” per thousand words than usual, Rapidash had not said “dear” more than a hooffull of times throughout. Rapidash asked many questions about her life before Aengus came along, her occupation, living outside a Pokéball, cutie marks, and her friends, showing intense interest about Equestria. Occasionally they were interrupted when Rapidash was sent to battle. A few times he returned looking worn out; once he had fainted. After being Revived, he muttered something about “strong bugs” before the conversation resumed as it had been going prior to that. Not long afterwards, Feraligatr’s picture appeared on the wall and said, “We’re almost out.”
Almost immediately after the words left his lips, Rarity found herself back in the cave. Devontae was still there. There was a dim light up ahead that was mostly trapezoidal in shape, tall enough for a human to walk through, but not wide enough for them to go two at a time. Aengus loosened and removed the Experience Share, to which Rarity sighed in relief. He then pulled a thin strip of black cloth out of his bag. Rarity asked, “What do you want me to wear now?”
“This is an ‘Expert Belt.’ Attacks you use that strike an opponent’s weakness will hit harder while you wear it,” said Aengus.
Rarity levitated the Expert Belt in her magic. She looked up at Aengus and asked, “Does it have to be worn like a belt to work?”
“No, why?”
Rarity wrapped it around her neck, tying it off such that the belt looked more like a chic narrow scarf. She looked up at them and said, “There. Much more fashionable.”
Aengus chuckled some while Devontae shrugged. Aengus said, “Well, now that the kid is behind us, I think we’re good.”
“Why is there a child in here?” asked Rarity.
“That child is a damn good Pokémon trainer, that’s why. He was one of those bug-catching types, back there a little ways,” said Devontae. He shook his head with an overwhelmed grimace, and said, “Never thought Bug-type Pokémon were all that strong, until he sent them out.”
“He had a stubbornly-tough Shuckle, a Yanmega, a Scizor, a Heracross, the strongest Venomoth I’ve ever seen, and mega-evolved his Pinsir,” said Aengus, shaking his head. “That kid’s team was the mightiest one we faced in Victory Road.”
Rarity scrunched her forehead. “Mega-evolved?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask earlier today when you saw it,” said Aengus. “Remember that Lucario who showed you Aura Sphere?”
“Yeah. That was it ‘mega-evolving,’ I presume?”
“Correct. To do so, a Pokémon needs the right kind of stone, the trainer needs a key stone, and there has to be a powerful bond between the two,” Aengus explained.
“Do you have one such key stone?” Rarity asked.
Aengus pulled out a pocket watch, chained to a belt loop. On the covering plate Rarity saw a small, well-polished semi-prismatic stone, with a reticulating recurved pattern etched into its broad face. Aengus said, “Naturally.”
As they started toward the exit, Devontae asked, “Which one of us challenges them first? Do you want the first crack at them?”
Aengus grinned. “If you’re offering. I guess you’ll watch from the spectator balcony?”
“Of course. Gotta get some intel,” Devontae laughed.
Rarity squinted as they emerged from Victory Road. Even with the sun setting and being in her Pokéball beforehand, the light felt glaring and painful after the unnatural dark. Eyes watering, she wiped her face downward. Before them was a large and foreboding red building with a golden roof, a pair of archways between them and the front door (not surprisingly on the south-facing side), and trees flanking the path. Devontae laughed and pumped a fist in the air, cheering, “Finally! Knew I’d get here someday!”
Aengus took a deep breath. “We’ll get a moment to rest as they process the paperwork. Are you ready?”
“Absolutely!” Rarity beamed. “As much as I’ve enjoyed our time together, darling, and all the great research, I would dearly like to sleep in my own home, and where everything's at a size that’s just right for me. Nor did I forget how I got here,” she finished on a sterner note.
A coltish voice sounded behind them. They all turned, and descending the outcrop with Victory Road’s north exit a small equine creature. He had a thick puff of scarlet fur on his head, an off-white coat that had powder blue around its neck and chest, and matching tail. His hooves were a dark blue, and his thick, overly long horn was about the same shade. Three tufts stuck out of his scarlet hair, one of them lime green, the second orange, and the third pale blue. The figure approached them as Rarity said, “Um, hello? I believe you have me at a disadvantage.”
“Never you mind that; we need to leave now,” urged this other.
Devontae sheepishly offered, “I, guess I should go first?”
Aengus said in a similar tone, “Yeah...yeah, you probably should. I don’t know how long this’ll take.”
Devontae headed inside, looking back at this newcomer for a moment. Rarity said, “Forgive me, but I have no idea who you are, why I suddenly need to leave with you, or where you plan on taking me.”
The other said, “Call me Keldeo. The situation around the portal is deteriorating. You and all of your friends need to return to your world before anything else shows up.”
“Did Twilight send you?” Rarity asked.
“No, she didn’t. I listened to her and some other named ‘Rainbow Dash’ talking about looking for you. Now will you stop asking questions and come along? It’s a five-day run, but with a little luck we can whittle down that time considerably,” Keldeo urged with waning patience.
Rarity frowned. “Please, can you wait for just a little while? I have business to conclude with Aengus presently. I appreciate that you want to help me get home, and will gladly accept the offer afterward. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“No,” said Keldeo. “The longer you wait, the less likely you are to head home.”
“Hey, you said it’s a ‘five-day run;’ why can’t it wait for maybe an hour? I heard there could be a fight for control of the sea and sky. Is an hour really going to make a difference with that?” Rarity asked.
“With them, no. With him, yes,” said Keldeo, pointing a hoof at Aengus.
“What ever do you mean?” Rarity scoffed.
Keldeo sighed and said, “That’s a Pokémon League building.”
“Yes, I know,” said Rarity. “My part of the bargain is to help him become champion.”
“And if he becomes champion, you might not be leaving that building until he’s dethroned,” Keldeo growled. “That could be years from now.”
Rarity shook her head, “No, he agreed that once he’s champion, he will return—”
“You can’t trust a human!!” Keldeo snapped, baring his teeth for a moment.
Rarity jolted back at the outburst, blinking. She looked up at Aengus, then back at Keldeo, and then back to Aengus, asking, “Are you listening to this little guy?”
Aengus shook his head. “All I’m hearing is it saying ‘Keldeo’ over and over, other than when he called your name at first. If I recall, he’s a mythical Pokémon from Unova, but that’s several regions away.”
“That part is true,” said Keldeo. “But just because I can use human speech doesn’t mean I will. They can’t be trusted.”
“Why can’t he be trusted?” Rarity demanded. Aengus gave Keldeo a surprised and disapproving look.
“He’s human.”
Rarity grumbled, “Prejudiced much?”
“Everything he’s done is so typical of a human, thinking they’re the best thing there ever was, and entitled to whatever they want. And it was the same with how you’ve been treated. The guy breaks into your world, abducts you, and gets you to fight for him with what trifle in return?” Keldeo asked accusingly. “And if he succeeds, what obligation does he have to keep his word? And if he should fail, what then?”
Rarity paused, cocking her head to one side. She looked back at Aengus for a second, before echoing, “If he should fail?”
“Yes. What happens then? What will come to pass if you cannot carry out your end of the bargain?” Keldeo pressed.
Rarity pursed her lips for a moment, then slowly said, “Then we regroup, switch up strategies and try again, I would like to think.”
Aengus nodded with a confident grin, scratching her behind the ears. Keldeo frowned. “I don’t buy that for a minute. I’ve seen this before. Come on.”
Keldeo took Rarity by a forelimb and started pulling her away from Aengus. She cried out, “Whoa, I said I’m going to keep my end of the bargain, and you don’t need to be so hoofsy!”
“We need to go now!” Keldeo insisted, tugging harder.
Aengus wrapped his arms around her and tugged back, but Keldeo was strong enough to keep pulling them both away. Rarity growled, “Let go of me! We’ll go then, but not before!”
Keldeo growled back, “There won’t be a then! He won’t let that happen!”
Rarity looked back at Aengus, then at the Pokéballs on his belt. Giving her forelimb a slight twist, she slipped from Keldeo’s grasp. At the same time, she flicked her tail, smacking the button at the front of her ball. It cracked open, and she disappeared in a shower of green sparks.
Keldeo rolled over, and stood up. Seeing her gone, he stomped hard enough to fracture the stone beneath him, cracks spreading in five directions from his front hooves as he screamed, “Arceus-dammit!!”
Aengus shook he his head at Keldeo with an expression as if he meant to ask what’s the matter with you. Keldeo hunched into a battle-ready position, gritting his teeth. Aengus frowned and said, “I don’t know what all you said to her, but I will keep my word. We will head back to Sinnoh after this and get her home, one way or another. And she is right about what happens if we somehow lose this thing. You need to cool your jets. It won’t be long.”
With a careful regard of Keldeo, Aengus turned and headed inside the League building. Keldeo hung his head and closed his eyes, muttering, “No, you won’t. But are you lying to me, or to yourself?”
He shook his head again, and continued, “Flirting with disaster by not coming, Rarity. Now there’s no way to get you back before the savage one arrives.”
Keldeo looked up at the sun lowering in the sky, and at Mt. Silver looming below it. He said to himself, “I know your next move, human, but I don’t know where it is in this region. Don’t think it’s back there, so....”
Keldeo ran forward and began descending into Johto on the western side of the plateau.
Back in the round room, Rarity breathed heavily for a moment. Feraligatr’s image appeared first, quickly followed by Rapidash. Feraligatr asked, “Did something go wrong?”
“Yeah,” said Rarity. “Some ruffian Pokémon named ‘Keldeo’ tried to pull me away from Aengus, literally tugging on my front leg! I hope he didn’t dislocate my shoulder.”
Feraligatr blinked at her. He said, “Huh. That’s...weird, to say the least. Guess everymon loves you.” A cheeky grin broke over his face as he finished, “Right, Rapidash?”
Rapidash turned beet red as Feraligatr doubled over in laughter. Rarity felt her own cheeks burning for a moment, then a green light shone around her and on both screens. She felt the ache throughout her muzzle and the throb in her shoulder joint both fade to nothing. Rarity said, “We really could use that machine in Equestria.”
The mare’s voice of the P.A. sounded over the speakers, “Changing party members.”
Feraligatr grinned. “Battle time.”
Three more screens popped up. Excadrill was the only one Rarity recognized. Beside her picture was something purple with a malevolent grin and red eyes that were yellow where they should have been white, above which its head looked like a permanently-attached spiny steeple cap of the same purple. At the end was a dragon’s head of cerulean with cherry red marking atop its head, and off-white countershading. Rapidash said, “Excadrill, Mismagius, Salamence, good to see all of you again. The Elite Four await.”
The purple thing spoke first, in an eerie, distorted alto, “Likewise, Rapidash, Feraligatr. Ah! The pony is here. I’m Mismagius.”
“And I’m Salamence,” said the dragon in a gravelly contrabass. “How do you do?”
Rarity cordially bowed and said, “I am well now, thank you. My name is Rarity. How do you do?”
Salamence nodded in turn, and Mismagius flashed a delighted, but still somewhat unsettling, smile. Excadrill tittered, “Elite Four matches!? How exciting!”
“It’s what we’ve been training for,” said Feraligatr. He grimaced a moment, then said, “And she’s out of the ball again. See you soon, Rarity!”
Rarity materialised in an opulent lobby. There were several different areas with folks behind a counter, and a large, heavily decorated central doorway with a guard and turnstile. Aengus led Rarity over to a lady at the nearest counter to that. As she flipped through different papers, Devontae emerged from the turnstile, shaking his head in disappointment. Rarity called, “Devontae, what happened?”
He ambled over to them, complaining, “Friggin’ Will, man. That dude’s tough, even if he dresses weird.”
Aengus said, “They’re all tough. These are some of the most-skilled trainers in the world, and are arguably the best of both Johto and Kanto.”
“I saw that,” said Devontae. “I had no idea a Xatu is that strong a Pokémon.”
“Only in Will’s hands,” said Aengus. “Everybody else, not so much.”
Devontae said, “Well, I’m heading upstairs to watch. Good luck, man. Knock ‘em dead!”
They parted with the same elaborate handshake and hug. As Devontae started up the nearby staircase, the lady behind the counter said, “Mr. Meagher? Everything’s in order and you are free to begin your challenge. Be advised, though, because you went around the world and brought such Pokémon with you, the Elite Four and Champion’s Pokémon lineups have been altered to counter that new-found diversity. Good luck!”
Aengus’s shoulders slumped at the news as he started for the turnstile. He muttered, “So much for feeling confident...now it’s like every time before now.”
“Don’t doubt yourself now,” said Rarity. “We’ll win this!”
Aengus gave her a sad smile as they passed through the turnstile, up the stairs, and through the archway. The shuttered door closed and locked behind them.
As Aengus and Rarity proceeded down the corridor, she kept looking at him with concern. Shortly before the upcoming doorway, she said, “Darling, you’re much too tense to be thinking clearly. We’re almost done, as it were.”
“Not quite,” said Aengus, shaking his head.
“No?”
Stopping, Aengus said, “It’s not just the challenge that’s on my mind. We still have to get you back to Pastoria. I’m trying to devise what’s the best solution of getting from Point A to Point B in a timely fashion.”
“Okay, how would we go by air? I haven’t seen any dirigibles in your skies,” Rarity said.
“It may be possible to yoke up enough Pokémon that levitate, or Flying-types that don’t use wings, and make an aerial carriage. A few supposedly have Pokémon that can use the HM move Fly to go between regions, but that’s highly suspect.”
Rarity grumpily said, “That doesn’t sound feasible, so much so that I’m at a loss as to why you suggested it at all, darling.”
Aengus sighed. “You’re right; I shouldn’t have thought about going by air. By land is, as anyone could imagine, the long way. Assuming the skies are safe, Fly can take us straight to Cerulean City swiftly, and then comes the trouble. On a normal route, that distance between the end of Route 25 and Twinleaf Town would take at least two full days at a stiff pace and limited sleep. Over rough terrain, that easily doubles...maybe more. Add regiments of super-feral Pokémon, and assuming we live, there’s no way that’s taking under a week and a half.”
“There’s still the ship,” Rarity said hopefully. “Other than your brother convincing me of that falsehood, the voyage was simply divine.”
Aengus punched up something on his PokéGear as he said, “That’s out.”
Rarity scoffed, “Darling, I wasn’t planning on touching the tequila again!”
“That’s not why,” said Aengus. “After you put yourself back in your ball, I checked the weather. It’s...not good. At all.”
He held the screen to where Rarity could see it. South of Johto and Kanto was a Category-V typhoon, except part of it was missing. It looked as though along its north-northwest side someone had used a razor guided by a straightedge, and sliced off a good twenty percent of the storm. Its projected route brought the storm’s eye right into Pastoria City in Sinnoh. Rarity tottered backwards melodramatically, and Aengus caught her with an annoyed, chastising countenance. She murmured, “Why does your kind allow storms to grow huge? Your weatherponies, or whatever human analog you have, are slouching off on the job.”
“That’s Kyogre’s doing, and the firm line is where his power is in conflict with Groudon’s,” Aengus said as though he was trying to bring a silly preschooler back to reality. “If we could just control the weather, we would. But as it stands, all ships coming to or leaving port in Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh have been ordered to harbour or to reroute. This is far, far more than a small craft warning; a storm like that could snap a frigate like a toothpick, turn a sloop to pulp, or make a cruiseliner’s next port-of-call the bottom of Davy Jones’s Locker.”
Rarity frowned. She pursed her lips briefly and said, “Perhaps we should worry about that bridge when we come to it? We have a task at hoof here.”
“Aye,” Aengus sighed. “You’re right, again. ‘The Lightning American’ awaits, if he still calls himself that.”
“Do I even want to know what an ‘American’ is? You haven’t had many happy explanations,” Rarity sighed.
Aengus snorted a snicker. “Then we’ll skip it; it’d take too long and there’s only so many times I care to see you roll your eyes in a given day. Devontae was an American.”
Rarity rolled her eyes at the eye-roll comment. They stepped inside the chamber. Aengus laughed aloud at the changes in decor: the room was in standard US Army block-like camouflage in green and brown, though the lines of the battlefield remained white. Numerous cathodes, electrodes, and other displays of arcing electricity lined the sides of the room. At the far end, in front of a barred door, stood a very tall and broad man in a green Class A uniform. He wore a peaked cap, a thick assortment of awarded ribbons over his left chest pocket, black tie, well-polished black shoes, and four dangling medals. Only the medal on the right caught Rarity’s eye, because it looked like a gilded Pokéball with a lightning bolt embroidered in the medal’s white ribbon.
As Aengus approached, he bowed, and saluted, rotating his arm at the elbow and stood there with the palm facing outward, tip of his index finger at the end of his eyebrow. The soldier returned the salute, but brought his hand straight to the eyebrow’s tip, with his palm facing the ground. Both of them ended the salute by bringing their hands to their sides swiftly. With a grin Aengus said, “Congratulations on your promotion, sir.”
“Much appreciated, young man! I am Lieutenant Colonel Surge, of the Elite Four!” he answered loudly. “Have to be tough to make it this far! I like that in a young man! With a little training, you could be a fine soldier, yourself!”
Aengus bowed in a much more European fashion than Asian. “Thank you, sir.”
Surge looked at Rarity. He continued bellowing, “Now you, however, I don’t think you’d make it long in combat! Not with your puny power and freshly-shampooed snow-white coat! Pretty purple curls have no place on a battlefield! That eyeliner won’t do! You need real camo! Where’s your war face!? You can’t wander around all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when you’re dodging bullets or shelling an enemy fortification!”
Rarity blinked in unease, at a loss for words. She leaned a little closer to Aengus and muttered, “I...think I’m afraid of Americans.”
“You’re damn right you are!” Surge resumed. “Anyone with any sense knows better than to mess with the US Army!”
“I see you haven’t change at all since I last saw you, about ten years ago. That was at your Gym in Vermilion,” Aengus said with a grin.
Surge grinned too. “I suppose you remember when it comes to Electric-type Pokémon, I’m still number one! They saved me during the war, and a few times since!”
“Aye, I do remember,” said Aengus.
Surge cocked his head to one side, and said, “Hey, I think I remember you! You were just a tyke then, but that look on your face when you won! You looked far too pleased with yourself with that vicious smile! That’s what I like to see in a soldier! You really should enlist, now that you’re old enough!”
Aengus reached for a Pokéball as he said, “Never ruled out that possibility. Maybe I will once I have certain affairs set in order!”
“Good man! That’s the spirit!” Surge cheered. “Come, show me what you caught in your world travels! I’ll show you what I caught in mine!”
Aengus threw the Pokéball and yelled, “Excadrill, let’s go!”
Surge threw a ball of his own, shouting, “To arms, Heliolisk!”
“Starting with a Kalos Pokémon,” Aengus muttered to himself. Excadrill looked back at Rarity, giving a thumb’s up and a grin. Rarity returned the smile as Aengus yelled, “Excadrill, use Earthquake!”
“Rain Dance, Heliolisk!” Surge answered.
Heliolisk flared its saurian collar, as it made an indiscernible shriek. Rarity felt the drops hitting her...indoors...with a complete ceiling overhead...and another floor and then a full roof above that. She growled irritably. As her curls slowly began to unfurl, she grouched at Aengus, “What’s the point of it doing that?”
“In terms of Pokémon battles, rain does two things,” said Aengus as the ground took to shaking viciously. “First, the move Thunder, which is a high-power special attack with comparatively low accuracy, will not miss while it’s raining.”
“But Excadrill’s part Ground-type.”
“Aye, but that brings me to point two,” Aengus continued as Heliolisk toppled over and disappeared back into its Pokéball. “Rain also powers up Water-type moves.”
Rarity frowned. “How many Pokémon are dual Water- and Electric-type?”
“I can think of only a variant form of Rotom, and one evolutionary line,” said Aengus with palpable frustration.
Surge yelled, “Lanturn, go!”
“...not surprised,” grumbled Aengus, shaking his head.
A blue angler fish with a yellow lower tail fin, yellow mask around the eyes, and a cheerful smile as opposed to a natural world angler’s threatening maw of spiky teeth, popped out. Rarity grimaced and said, “Looks like she could be my friend, if she weren’t our opponent. How far away did he have to go to bring her here?”
“Fishing on the Routes we took after New Bark Town,” Aengus said flatly. He looked over at Surge and said, “I suppose this would have been on your team, had I not ventured from Johto?”
“Right you are! Lanturn, use Hydro Pump!” Surge shouted.
Aengus patted Excadrill on the back and said, “You’ll probably only get one shot, so make it count. I believe in you. Earthquake!”
The ground trembled again under Excadrill’s command. Lanturn was bounced, knocked around, and rolled over, but managed to right herself with a woozy expression. She shook her head with eyes that looked out of focus for a moment. As she opened her mouth, a blast of water issued from her gullet. Excadrill had not sidestepped in time. She tottered, and fell onto her back, fainting. She returned to her ball as Aengus sighed through his nose. He began reaching for one of his Pokéballs, stopped, and moved his hand down one more slot on his belt. Throwing that ball, he called out, “Mismagius, it’s time to fight!”
The purple ghost from the screen coalesced with an eerie, disturbing noise. It broke into a peculiar, W-shaped smile. Surge raised an eyebrow, but otherwise showed no reaction. He ordered, “Lanturn, use Thunder!”
“And it’s not gonna miss because of this rain?” Rarity said with a shiver. She had a fully-wet mane, no hints of curls to be found.
Aengus still ignored the Pokémon-induced weather as he nodded. He said, “Magical Leaf, if you please.”
Glowing leaves surrounded Mismagius, then darted forward. They turned, ducked, bobbed, and weaved with Lanturn’s every attempt to dodge them. She had fainted and disappeared in pink sparkles before the last leaves struck. Surge threw another ball. “Manectric, go!”
A cerulean dog-like creature appeared, with royal yellow tufts on its front feet, around its thighs, and its head except all but the top of its muzzle. Aengus said, “Use Mystical Fire!”
“Thunder Wave, boy!” Surge answered. He also turned the Pokéball medal around and gave it a pinch. The spinning light from earlier that day, when the shameless girl went and did something in public that would have made her father hit the roof, as Rarity remembered it, was here as well.
Aengus blurted, “On your officially awarded medal??”
“And this is how I earned it, too!” Surge fired back.
As the sphere around Manectric broke apart and faded from view, Rarity pursed her lips off to one side of her face at the sight. Manectric now looked as though someone dressed him in some brass plates that came well above his back, connecting in a blade-like shape, extending all the way over his head to the base of his tail, with a fully-attached, single piece gorget, and horn-like projections that served as ear protection. Manectric roared again in its mega form. Rarity muttered, “Does every Pokémon that ‘mega-evolves’ come out with an even more ridiculous appearance? This look is neither functional nor sporty.”
“Not everything can be, as you like to say, ‘chic, unique, and magnifique,’” Aengus poked with a half-grin and head shake.
“While both true and a crying shame, that doesn’t mean the beast needs a glamour faux pas and impractical armour each and every time this ‘mega evolution’ takes place,” said Rarity aghast. Fidgety yellow light left Manectric and settled over Mismagius in uneven waves. Mismagius twitched as some electricity arced across it. Rarity nudged Aengus and asked, “What just happened?”
“Paralysis,” Aengus grouched.
Rarity looked underneath Mismagius, then back up at her trainer. “Um, Aengus, darling? She doesn’t have any legs. How can you be paralysed if you don’t have any legs?”
“Status effect; I didn’t mean she’s now a paraplegic. It likely will interfere with her ability to fight,” Aengus grumbled. His tone became encouraging as he turned toward Mismagius. “You can get through this! Use Shadow Ball!”
Rarity shook the water off her back as Surge yelled, “Manectric, use Thunder!”
Manectric roared at the ceiling. Flashes appeared among the would-be clouds, coming together as a large, harsh lightning bolt that made Rarity see spots and cover her ears. Mismagius twitched again, but could not do anything more. Aengus muttered, “This is bad.”
The rain stopped. Rarity looked upward and silently thanked whatever saint in Aengus’s family’s religion had domain over the weather, if there was one such entity. She shook off again, splashing Aengus the whole time. He shot her a sideways glance with a scowl, but nothing more. Surge triumphantly shouted, “Snarl, Manectric!”
Aengus said, “Gimme a Shadow Ball! Come on!”
Manectric growled and bared his teeth at Mismagius, much louder than expected. As the distorted air swept over Mismagius, she shook, then collapsed onto the floor. She returned to her ball in a series of dark spots with purple edges. Rarity saw Aengus’s growing frustration and said, “It’s even at two apiece.”
“That can swing quickly either way when trainers this skilled with Pokémon this strong meet,” said Aengus with narrowed eyes. “Better make it go my way. Salamence!”
The dragon emerged from the Pokéball with a cocky glare at Manectric. Surge returned it with a cocky, dubious glare of his own. He hollered, “Thunder again!”
Aengus reached into his pocket as he said, “Salamence, use Dragon Claw!”
Rarity gasped in understanding as Aengus rubbed the stone on his pocket watch, and flicked it open. The same light returned, covering Aengus and Salamence. When it was done, Salamence’s wings were gone, replaced by a large red circle with a smaller circle removed from the anterior quarter of it. His countershading had turned red as well, and it looked like his front legs were held in a canister for a microwavable prepackaged pastry meal.
“My earlier comment stands,” scoffed Rarity, looking particularly unladylike in how her face turned unamused and dismissive at Salamence’s new form.
“Well, it does make him stronger and faster,” Aengus said with a shrug. Despite this, Manectric called the lightning before Salamence could strike. The bolt hit Salamence in the tail. A grunt was about all the more acknowledgement he gave as he swooped in and tore at Manectric with a rear-claw rake. While he was forced back a step, Manectric was not bleeding from the blow. Salamence hovered back to Aengus. Surge yelled, “Again, Manectric!”
“Yeah, again, Salamence,” said Aengus with a knowing grin.
Salamence tightened his focus on Manectric’s every tiny movement, muscle twitch, and where he gazed. As Manectric lifted its head to roar, Salamence jolted forward and to the left, eluding the Thunder attack. Manectric, however, jumped aside too soon to dodge, affording Salamence more than enough time to adjust his attack vector. Both rear claws grazed the length of Manectric’s blade-like back, and he keeled over.
“Vikavolt, take him down!” cried Surge, sounding like a soldier who mentally was still in a trench somewhere.
Out of the teal Pokéball with a net pattern on its top emerged an oversized blue scarab with excessively long mandibles. Sparks danced along the yellow outsides of its jaw. It appeared to have a crystal in one of its claws, shaped like a somewhat flattened octahedron. Rarity tapped at her chin, trying to remember if that meant it fell into a tetragonal, orthorhombic, or cubic crystal system, but without any of the Pie sisters there to confirm an answer, she had to stop. The question itched in the back of her mind anyway.
“New species. Oh well; keep it up, Salamence!” Aengus said with a smile, but not nearly as dark as the one he had at the Sunyshore Gym.
Surge had a sinister smile of his own. “Vikavolt, time for a little Gigavolt Havoc!”
“Gigavolt what?” blurted Aengus as Salamence charged. The rear claws connected again, leaving Vikavolt staggering and struggling to stay upright. It started to collapse, but pushed itself back into a standing position, as if sheer force of willpower alone kept Vikavolt from fainting from the blow. It looked back at Surge as if to smile.
“Damn!” shouted a voice overhead. Rarity looked up and saw Devontae in the spectator section with a hand on his hip and shaking his head in disappointment.
Rarity uttered a befuddled, “Huh...??”
In front of her, she saw a battle-hardened, decorated, foreign war veteran soldier, wearing the lofty rank of Lieutenant Colonel, dressed in his Class A uniform, dancing like a six-year old. Some strange yellow light surrounded him, then cloaked Vikavolt. The light coalesced between its mandibles in the form of a growing static charge. Vikavolt fired the charge in an arcing pulse that zipped at Salamence. The dragon could not dodge; he twitched and toppled as it struck, and disappeared back into its ball.
Aengus grumbled, “Has everyone else been to Alola or something?”
“You should go sometime, once you have enough leave saved up to make it worth your while!” Surge said with a grin.
“Orthorhombic! That’s what it is!” Rarity said triumphantly with a self-satisfied smile, completely out of the blue.
Aengus shot her a baffled look. After a pause he asked, “What are you on about, and where did that come from?”
Patting her cutie mark, Rarity said, “Since my special talent is finding gemstones, I take interest in crystals I see. I had a hard time telling what system Vikavolt’s crystal fell into, but with three different lengths on...each...I’ve totally lost you, haven’t I?”
Aengus’s blank stare affirmed this. He and Surge shrugged at each other. In rolling her eyes, Rarity noticed above her that Devontae had done so as well. Rarity scoffed and stomped, pouting slightly. Surge said, “Now that that’s done....”
“Right, Rapidash, let’s go!” shouted Aengus. Rarity’s eyes dilated at the name. The flaming horse appeared. He looked back at Rarity with a smile...that ran away from his face as his eyes found hers. He turned toward his opponent, looking down emotionally. Rarity stood on the brink of tears with a quivering lower jaw. Aengus ordered, “Poison Jab, Rapidash!”
Surge’s face contorted. “Vikavolt, use Guillotine!”
“Use WHAT!?!” Rarity shrieked in horror. Rapidash lowered his horn as he started at Vikavolt. Eyes welling up, Rarity desperately and quietly whimpered, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, please no, don’t let it get you, please...!”
Purple mist flowed around Rapidash’s horn. He rammed Vikavolt solidly, driving his horn between its eyes. Vikavolt flew into the back wall, leaving a crack. It then disappeared back into its specialised Pokéball. Aengus looked down at her and said, “That move would just make him faint, not behead him.”
Rarity eased, releasing a long breath about as dramatically as she could for not speaking nor doing much with her forelimbs. Surge frowned, and yelled, “Come on, Magnezone!”
Aengus continued looking Rarity in the eye as he raised an eyebrow with an amused, knowing smirk worming across his face. As a strange floating mechanical thing with three eyes, its central eye far larger than the others, appeared before Surge, Aengus teased, “Oy lass, diya’ intend to make him your fella?”
Rarity flushed deeply as she stared at the ground. Pawing at a line between a brown and green part of the floor, she pitifully squeaked, “...maybe.”
“I want to, but every time I see you face-to-face, you look too much like a filly. It’s tearing me up,” lamented Rapidash. A tear ran down Rarity’s face.
Surged shouted, “Magnezone, use Tri Attack!”
Aengus said, “Flare Blitz, Rapidash.”
There was a mechanical snicker. Magnezone said, “I thought I was here for a battle. Are you here for one too, or do you want to keep going with your soap opera?”
“To hell with you!” Rapidash snarled, coating himself in fire and going from standing still to a racehorse gallop in a single step. Magnezone had time only to let its central eye widen before Rapidash trampled it. Magnezone just lay there still as a stone before fading back into its Pokéball.
“Oh, my last one!? We never give up!” Surge said in shock. He threw the ball as he hollered, “Come, my old friend! Raichu!”
“Damn right he did!” Surge proclaimed proudly. “My platoon and I were just arriving in the combat zone in...well, that’s classified, but the ‘130 had a sudden power failure. Raichu strapped himself into the circuitry, and restored power before we crashed. We all arrived safely and unharmed, thanks to him!”
Raichu nodded cordially. Aengus returned the nod, and said, “Well done, little guy! I have nothing but respect for veterans, but I’m afraid you stand between us and the championship. Rapidash, use Megahorn!”
“Thunder Wave, Raichu!” Surge yelled.
Raichu threw his cigarette aside as it hit Rapidash with the twitchy yellow light, just like what hit Mismagius earlier in the battle. Rarity whimpered a little as the sparks jumped across Rapidash’s back. With a tremor Rapidash ran down Raichu with his horn. Raichu stumbled back, threw the ties of his headband back behind his head, and marched back to his spot in front of Surge. The soldier yelled, “It’s not over yet! Raichu, use Double Team!”
Aengus said, “You can do it, buddy. A Poison Jab should be enough.”
Raichu flexed, and dashed, making it look as though there were three of him for a moment. Rarity said, “I thought he said ‘Double Team,’ not ‘Triple Team.’”
Aengus sighed. “There are misnomers all over. Why do they call it a ‘Gym?’ Why does ‘Grass-type’ include Pokémon that are more like trees, shrubs, flowers, cacti, and seaweed? Do I need to keep going?”
Rarity snickered briefly. “Point taken.”
Rapidash couldn’t move for the arcing electricity across him. His eyes were still vacant for a moment after it ended. Rarity sighed with worry, looking at Rapidash full of concern. He did not seem to notice, but instead was trying to focus and work through it. Surge yelled, “Use Thunderbolt, Raichu!”
Aengus stood next to Rapidash’s head and said, “Pull through this, boy. If not for me, then for your girl. Use Poison Jab!”
Rarity blushed and looked down, more from sadness than embarrassment. Rapidash looked over at Rarity, undoubtedly searching for something to say that would not land him in hot water. All he came up with was, “I really wish I could speak in human from time to time.”
The arcing on his back struck just before Raichu’s Thunderbolt did. He shook his head, eyes slightly glazed. He began to run with eyes out of focus. His ears kept turning slightly. Raichu began moving around, looking like there were three of him again. Rapidash was nearly to the three images when both of his ears flicked in the same direction, and he veered his horn into the rightmost image. A thud, and just the one Raichu rolled in reverse somersaults before skidding to a stop, disappearing back into his ball.
Rarity cheered, and heard Devontae above do the same. She jumped and wrapped her hooves around Rapidash laughing. When he did not return the affection, she looked up at his face. Rapidash looked dumbfounded, that he honestly did not know what he should do right then and there. She nuzzled against his neck briefly, interrupted by the static arcing across him, including into her forelimbs and the soft tip of her nose. She yipped as she let go, holding her nose with a mostly numb foreleg. Aengus returned Rapidash to his ball as Surge said, “Argh! You got me! Truly you are very strong, young man!”
“Thank you,” said Aengus. “You’re still superb with your favourite type.”
The door behind Surge opened. He stood aside as he said, “But it wasn’t enough today! Go forward like lightning! Your next opponent awaits!”
After Aengus and Rarity walked through the door, it closed and barred behind them. Aengus stopped, grabbing multiple things from his bag and applying them to the Pokéballs on his belt. Rarity said, “I suppose now would be the time to use those curative sprays.”
“Typically they’re called ‘healing items,’ but your description isn’t wrong,” said Aengus. After setting down a few yellow octahedrons from using them, he continued, “If the rumours are true, I’m glad I got the chance to battle him one more time.”
“You mean, the colonel’s leaving?” Rarity asked.
Aengus said, “Yeah. The rumours are he’s to return to his home country and begin instructing their military about Pokémon use. I’d like to think they knew years ago that he was knowledgeable enough to instruct others, but who knows what makes Americans tick, really? Maybe if Devontae can do well at matches here at the League, he could replace Surge. It’s how Will replaced Lorelei when she left the Elite Four.”
“What’s his specialty? From what you’ve said, it sounds like you must have one to be a member of The Elite Four,” Rarity said.
Aengus put away his mess as he said, “Fire. He’s actually much better than Blaine, the former Gym Leader while the Gym was at Cinnabar Island. Well, that was while there still was a town on what was Cinnabar Island; the island was a dormant volcano. It’s no longer dormant.”
Rarity blinked with her face pulled taut and her eyes wide. “Oh. Oh dear. Was it bad?”
Aengus nodded. “You’d think they’d be wise enough to move the town after it erupted the first time. Nope. The second eruption four years later shattered what remained above water. They...unfortunately, never found anyone’s body.”
Rarity covered her mouth with a hoof, but otherwise looked about the same. “That’s horrible!”
Aengus continued, “That’s putting it mildly. Blaine moved his Gym over to the Seafoam Islands after the first eruption, but after he retired, people thought it was absurd to have a Fire-type Gym in the coldest place in the Kanto region. It was moved to Lavender Town...well, Lavender City at this point. Morty moved his Ghost-type Gym to Lavender City when the space became available, and...shoot, what’s her name...Racquel, maybe? Well, whoever that girl is took over the Ecruteak Gym, and made it a Fairy-type. Long story short, a Fire-type specialist would be a good addition.”
Rarity nodded as they continued down the hallway. “So he has his own Rapidash.”
Aengus said, “If he does, it’s not with him. He showed me his team along Victory Road. He’s currently using an Arcanine, Houndoom, Flareon, Magmortar, Typhlosion, and Charizard.”
“And he lost to a Psychic-type specialist who ‘dresses weird?’ Am I about to be subjected to a fashion nightmare?” Rarity asked like one does when anticipating aggravation.
“See for yourself,” said Aengus as they stepped through the door, which slammed closed behind them.
20 - Meanwhile, An Investigation Turns Disturbing....
Starlight Glimmer knocked on the trunk of the tree, looking straight up towards where she heard Rainbow Danger Dash whimpering pathetically five metres above her. She said, “Dash? Please come down.”
Dash rocked herself, hugging her knees. She frantically murmured, “Can’t go down; the clown will eat me. Can’t go down; the clown will eat me! Can’t go down; the clown will eat me...!”
Starlight shook her head. "The Mr. Mime is gone, Dash....”
Rainbow stopped rocking. Carefully she unrolled herself back into a normal standing posture on the thick branch, looking down fearfully. She spread her wings, and slowly descended as she watched for anything and everything that could possibly be behind a bush or some such. Dash touched down in front of Starlight, and breathed a sigh of relief. She and Starlight started away from the tree when the two soldiers who joined them stepped out from behind another tree, one saying, “Ma’am!”
Rainbow screamed and was airborne instantly. Starlight and the two soldiers facehoofed in unison. The other asked, “There was another one?? How many of those stupid things are there around here?”
“I haven’t kept count, Cloud-Skipper, but there’s plenty,” Starlight grumbled, sounding of being let down. She looked them both in the eye and asked, “Is it me, or does it seem like the wild Pokémon are getting stronger the further we get from that official route?”
Before either could respond, Dash yelled, “Dammit, Gale, don’t sneak up on somepony like that!!”
“Sorry,” offered Gale half-sheepishly, half-stifling snickering.
“It’s not funny!” Rainbow barked. Gale barely held in the laughter while Cloud-Skipper’s face tried not to smile. Dash scoffed while hovering, not showing any indication she meant to land anytime soon.
Starlight pressed, “You were trying to say something?”
“Yes, milady,” Gale said. “We found the fence, but the barrier’s on this side too.”
“Naturally; you won’t want only three walls in your barracks and let anything and everything in and out where the fourth should be, right?” Starlight answered.
“True,” answered Gale.
Dash took a deep breath, then said, “Now that we’re doing what we should’ve done in the first place, maybe we can make progress?”
“You know it was the right thing to try talking it out first,” Starlight sighed, her face falling.
“You said we should do that just to keep Twilight from reaming you again,” Dash retorted with an I-told-you-so slathered across her face. “And we wasted the day waiting for them to finally talk to us, only to get a bunch non-answers! But hey, at least we didn’t upset our favourite egghead, right?”
Starlight’s eyes narrowed. “I suppose Roseluck and Blossomforth would just love to tell everypony how scared you are of clowns.”
Rainbow Dash gasped in shock and anger. “Okay, that’s just low!”
“So were your implications about Twilight,” growled Starlight.
Dash’s lips pulled taut as she nodded slowly. She muttered, “Fine, I’m sorry.”
“Let’s just get in there, get the job done, and get out. I don’t like being out here in Feral Clown Country, either,” Starlight said, following Gale through the underbrush.
They came upon a fence line almost immediately. Across the enclosed pasture were the Daycare building and the rest of Solaceon Town. Starlight tapped at the air above the fence, which rippled noiselessly each time she touched the invisible barrier. Dash flitted upward, dragging a hoof along the barrier for twenty-five metres; at that height it stopped. Smiling, she whipped herself around and turned, diving downward over the fence. Quickly she slammed into the barrier’s ceiling panel with a grunt and gritted teeth, eyes shut. Dash stayed balanced on her face and neck for a few seconds before her tail end thudded down onto the barrier. Starlight winced. Backwards Rainbow slid, whence she came. As she picked her head up and blinked, she fell over the side. Dash exclaimed indistinctively as she flapped hard, slowing her momentum to a hover a metre or just less than before flopping into the carpet of last autumn’s leaves. She spat as she landed, rotating her right shoulder with a small “ow.”
“I was expecting that. If there are bird-like Pokémon in the ‘daycare,’ they’ll need a ceiling,” said Cloud-Skipper.
Rainbow huffed, “Then how does the grass stay green? You can’t expect me to believe they water all those acres with a hose and sprinklers! They’d have to spend so much of their time keeping it green!”
“Nor do I see a barn to hold the kind of big, big sprinkler systems used on farms in the drier parts of southern Equestria,” said Starlight, looking up and down the fenced-off meadow. Her eyes lit up. “Lemme check something.”
She took a few steps toward a rotten, broken-off dead tree and fired up her horn. Water came out of the partially hollowed trunk, along with the muck, wood pulp, and mosquito larvae already residing in that stagnant high pool. Starlight held the liquid and its natural additives as her phthalo green telekinesis took the shape of a simple cup. Cloud-Skipper nodded with an approving grin. “Clever. I see why Her Highness took you as her apprentice.”
“Um, thanks, I think?” Starlight answered uncomfortably. “Sorry, I’m still not used to getting compliments.”
Cloud-Skipper waved it off while he, Gale, and Rainbow Dash all took two steps back from Starlight. Tipping the telekinetic cup forward, she threw the contents into the barrier. All the water passed through unaffected, though it appeared some of it hit something invisible beyond the selective force field. The wood pulp bits and muck both slowly oozed down the invisible barrier, leaving a ripple in its wake. Each of the mosquito larvae, however, bounced off with some force. Starlight smiled in self-satisfaction. “Exactly as I thought! Fluids are unaffected.”
Dash frowned, and complained, “That’s great and all that you figured that out, but how exactly does that help us get past the barrier?”
“I know a spell,” said Starlight. “It’ll transmogrify us into water for about ten seconds, since there’s four of us here, but we can still control which direction we move. I’ll cast it, we’ll slip past the barrier, and form back into our normal selves on the other side!”
Gale said, “Hopefully we won’t be becoming our own selves again right on top of, or underneath as it may be, some Pokémon. That could get awkward.”
“The place is totally empty! I don’t see anypony, anyone, or anything in there,” said Dash.
“Me neither, but did you see how the water looked like it hit something?” Gale said. “The barrier may make whatever’s in there invisible to those outside.”
“Touché. Well, whenever you’re ready, Starlight,” said Rainbow with a nod. The other three gathered around Starlight Glimmer as she powered up her horn. The spell ray was not much of a ray; it looked and acted more like a wet noodle gravitating outward. The four suddenly splashed into puddles the colours of their coats. Each of them flowed like a miniature stream apiece under the fence. Seconds later they coalesced back into pony form.
Eyes widened upon regaining their senses. The clearing was not quiet anymore now that they were inside the barrier, and in a way that would not earn a TV-Y10 rating. Dash turned pale, Gale’s mouth fell open, Starlight covered her mouth with both forehooves, and Cloud-Skipper suddenly had a nosebleed. They stood there in shock, unable to move, unable to look away, and unable to form coherent thoughts. Starlight blurted something that was lost to all the noise. Gale slowly said, “That’s, uh...exactly what they’re doing here. Holy crap....”
“Everything’s out in plain sight doing...that...??” Starlight gasped, horrified and mortified.
Sheepishly, Cloud-Skipper muttered, “Can we build a room around these two fiery unicorns??”
Dash gulped, “And another for the shock-rats behind us, too....”
“Drop in the bucket and nothing more,” Gale uttered breathlessly. Still unblinking, she looked to her left, squawked, and leaned away, pressing into Dash. Three notches past “aghast,” her words trembled, “Those aren’t even the same species...!”
A beat later, Cloud-Skipper twitched as he gazed about. He mumbled, “Over there they seem to think ‘the more, the merrier’...goodness gracious....”
“When that Blue Oak guy said this happens...at a daycare...he didn’t say there’s this much...uh...,” Rainbow’ trailed off, quaking in both voice and body. They all looked down for a number of seconds, not adding to the cacophony of bliss. Each of them exchanged appalled and embarrassed looks. Dash murmured, “I am not okay.”
“Me neither,” Starlight said emptily. Gale and Cloud-Skipper nodded. Starlight continued, “My Celestia, just when you think they can’t make this world any sicker...really wish the diplomacy worked. Let’s just find something that’s not already, uh…‘tied up,’ get the info, and get the you-know-what outta here.”
They had barely moved when the two Rapidashes noticed them, in spite of their current activity. Sounding as if everything was perfectly normal and hunky-dory, and without even moving from where he was or what he was doing, the male said, “Oh, hello. When did you four get here?”
None of them answered at first. After a delay, Cloud-Skipper said, “A moment ago...we’ll ask somepony who’s not busy.”
“Ask what?” said the female, speaking with a slight twang. The agape reaction from the four drew a look of understanding from the couple. She continued, “Ah, I see it’s your first Daycare trip for all o’ y’all. It’s nothing you need armour for; you’ll get used to this.”
They nodded involuntarily. The male said, “Well, you should probably get to the egg-making; you’ll be stuck here awhile until you do. It’s just how it goes. Is there something we can help you with, even if it’s just a few pointers?”
The two Pikachus’ voices let everything nearby know they had completed what they set out to do. Dash deeply flushed, twitching slightly as she adamantly stared at the ground. There were some lovely blades of grass. Her ears had flattened, but not angrily. Somehow she managed to get out, “Um, yeah, we’re just...uh, trying to find something out right now, and it’s...been difficult, to say the least.”
The male Rapidash answered, “I believe we’ve all been there. Just a little bit of information can be so hard to get, and trying and failing to get it just pounds and pounds you relentlessly. It’s so frustrating you could stand up and spit. Maybe we could you help get that load off and find some release?”
Dash’s blushing had gone all the way up and across her ears and down her neck. Still staring at the grass, but with even wider eyes, she squeaked, “I need an adult.”
“You are an adult,” answered the female Rapidash in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s the eggs,” Starlight interceded for Dash. “We’ve, uh, never seen one up close and personal. How long does it take before they’re laid?”
The male looked disappointed at them. “Oh geez, no-mon went over the Pidgeots and the Beedrills with you four? Just watch closely, and—”
“That part we understand!” Starlight hastily threw out there, waving her hooves emphatically. “Just, confused about how soon they’re laid.”
“Oh, there’s no laying eggs like we’re farm chickens or something. The eggs just go poof and they appear after a moment. We don’t know how they get there, but one of us always ends up holding it,” said the female. She lifted her muzzle toward the Pikachus, who at this point were cuddled up close with a few smooches, nuzzling, and sighing contentedly. “They should be getting one presently.”
The four maintained eye contact so as not to look at anything else happening. Starlight said, “And the eggs hatch how quickly?”
“Shouldn’t take too long. Just let your trainer ride around on a bicycle with it for awhile, and it should hatch within the hour,” answered the female. Her eyes flicked back to the Pikachus for a second. “Ah! And their egg is here.”
Starlight, Dash, Gale, and Cloud-Skipper turned and saw a white egg with green spots in the grips of one of the Pikachus; the other held a glowing yellow ball that looked like there was some kind of lens flare in its centre. Gale asked, “That fast?”
“That fast. Never takes long.”
The male added, “And it always hatches into what the mother is. Ours will hatch into a Ponyta that can evolve into a Rapidash like us, theirs will be a Pichu which later will be a Pikachu and then Raichu, and for you four, it’ll be a smaller version of whichever one of you is the mom. Sorry guy, your little ones won’t look like you at all,” directing the last bit at Cloud-Skipper.
Cloud-Skipper forced some words. “An egg from us would hatch a school-aged foal?”
“If that’s what you evolved from, yes,” said the male. “If you didn’t or don’t evolve, it’ll hatch looking just about identical to the mother.”
Starlight asked, “And that’s how it always goes?”
“Sure is. You four enjoy yourselves; or if you’re uncomfortable egg-making with each other, there are groups who always would enjoy some new blood joining them,” said the female, with her face and voice turning a bit strained and higher in pitch at the end. Her breathing began to deepen and hasten, with her words continuing to climb into her upper register as she managed to say, “Now if you’ll excuse us please, we’d like not to be disturbed for the next part.”
Redness crept back into Starlight’s cheeks as she quickly said, “No prob; that was all we needed. Bye!”
Starlight snatched up Rainbow Dash, Gale, and Cloud-Skipper in her telekinetic grip and rushed toward the fence as fast as her magic could take them. She turned them all to liquid in stride and continued pulling them until they were past the fence and coalescing back into ponies. Starlight Glimmer continued running for a moment after her body was solid again. There she stopped, took a deep breath, and screamed nothing in particular at the top of her lungs, a booming cry of horror, disgust, and mental innocence lost. Dash joined her. Gale’s torso lurched and she lost her dinner into some greenbrier. Cloud-Skipper walked a few steps away and sat down, head in hoof, shaking. Half a minute of this later, Starlight took some gulping breaths, and screamed words this time, “What is wrong with these humans!?!! What in the name of Celestia was all that!!?”
“I don’t know what in the blue-flying hell we just saw, but that’s no goddamn daycare!!” Dash screamed back.
“I noticed!!!”
“I’d rather face all those Mr. Mimes than go back in there!!”
“I don’t want to think about having foals ever again!!”
Starlight and Dash continued breathing heavily for a few moments, regaining control of their lungs bit by bit. Gale half-whimpered, half-grumbled uneasily. Cloud-Skipper’s voice shook as he said, “Let’s just get back to base camp, and ask Her Highness for a few nights off. Maybe also a therapist for each of us.”
Starlight’s horn powered up and they disappeared in a green flash.
Twilight Sparkle signed off on numerous documents, some about the financial cost of their searching for Rarity and Trixie, some were leave requests, and so the list went. Cresselia sat with her. Cynthia had joined Fluttershy in giving Palkia a belly rub while the Spatial Pokémon sprawled happily to let them. Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie watched the general and colonels taking reports, giving orders, and moving figures around the ‘battle map.’ Arceus was mid-sermon in human speech about loyalty and friendship, especially between humans and Pokémon, holding the rapt attention of Shaymin, Celebi, Latios, Latias, Victini, Manaphy, Phione, Darkrai, Lugia, the three birds, the three dogs, several of every species native to The Great Marsh, Red, and two and a half dozen other trainers, mostly academics. A large quadrupedal ruddy red Pokémon with a metallic face, ankles, and toenails emerged from the woodland, walked over, and sat down in the back row to listen to Arceus. Dialga and Giratina took up sentry positions around the congregation. Overhead slowly soared Ho-Oh and a long green Pokémon that looked like a Chinese dragon with rocket-like fins, and geometric markings in red, black, and yellow connected by straight lines. The two were debating something intensely, though there was no sign of malice from either one, and out of earshot. Applejack and Pinkie Pie played the role of “big sisters” to the eight Twixies that had been gathered, leading them in games, songs, and stories.
A green flash got Twilight’s attention. She smiled to see Starlight, Dash, and the two soldiers that joined them had returned. Her smile disappeared when she saw their shattered looks and shaky legs. She dropped her quill and ran to her student, asking, “Are you okay!? What happened?”
Starlight forced herself to blink as she slowly looked at Twilight and said, “That is no daycare.”
“It’s the most wrong place in either world,” Dash said, still shuddering.
“I’ve heard from the Daycare Man of Hoenn that they get kinda lively at night,” said Blue, as he stepped out from behind Palkia with a soapy sponge in hand.
Starlight face shifted, as though the last her of sanity had just slipped into the Aether, never to return, and with equally off-balance intonations said, “‘Lively...?’ You want to use the word ‘lively’ for what we just saw? Oh, ‘lively’ it was, and ‘lively’ it doubtlessly still is. What kind of ‘lively’ description would you like? There are so many things that fit under ‘lively,’ such as ‘depraved,’ ‘shameless,’ and ‘degenerate,’ just as a ‘lively’ few that come to mind. What do you think, Twilight? Does ‘everything in sight humping like there’s no tomorrow’ fall under ‘lively?’”
“Starlight!” Twilight admonished angrily. “Pull yourself together! This is no time for hyperbole!”
“She’s telling the unvarnished truth, Twi,” Dash said, face and voice both overwrought.
Twilight stared agape at Dash in utter disbelief. Her eyes found Gale and Cloud-Skipper, who both nodded as they sat there feeling disturbed. Applejack and Pinkie Pie both ran to Rainbow Dash, giving consoling hugs. The Twixies followed suit. Getting up to splash her face, Twilight went to the closest wash bin. As she did so, the portal flashed. In that moment the moon shone all the brighter, clearer, fuller, happier, and all-around more beautiful. Arceus stopped mid-sentence and stared expectantly. Through the portal came a tall alicorn with a dark blue coat, black splotch on her flank, teal eyes, and flowing mane of the night sky. Her cutie mark was a white crescent moon. She wore a black tiara on her head, and full plate barding of a matching colour. Everypony there except Twilight immediately bowed prostrate. Twilight just walked up to her and with a deeply troubled sigh, let her head bury itself into the other’s chest.
Keldeo stopped running after jumping over a narrow gorge, suddenly making a full stop as the moon suddenly became brighter and more beautiful in the sky. He turned back to the east at the truly picturesque moon, not in awe, but truly alarmed and even terrified. He squawked, “Who the—” and used a word that made the nearby Skamories gasp, and a Donphan cover a Phanpy’s ears while glaring at Keldeo “—is that!?!”
He stood aghast and breathless. Shaking his head, he muttered to himself, “Good grief, and I thought Twilight had some serious power. If Twilight’s a princess, is this the queen?”
Keldeo continued standing there for a moment with the moonlight gleaming off of Mt. Silver to the south. He glared at the lights of a small city, nestled in a carved-out valley west-northwest of him. With a sigh and scoff, he continued running atop the cliff face and talking under his breath. “If there was anymon left who didn’t know something’s going on in Sinnoh, they do now.”
One of the night guards shouted, “All hail Princess Luna!”
The guards and soldiers all responded in unison. The Twixies started the princesses’ direction as they all went, “Oooooh!”
Luna looked unsure of herself while she patted Twilight on the back, asking, “What happened?”
“Feel like I’ve been...thunderstruck. Like, literally pounded by lightning bolts, one after another,” Twilight sighed.
Luna frowned as she saw the collective overwhelmed looks from Starlight and Dash. She said, “The truth was terrible, I see. I figured as much.”
“If I may be so bold, Your Majesty, you did not figure nearly enough,” said Starlight with a slight twitch. “It was...hedonism, point-in-fact. It’s too much to want to say aloud. I’ll write it down, and after seeing that, the four of us may need somepony to talk to professionally.”
Luna curled her upper lip in disgust. Cresselia floated over to her. Looking upon the Pokémon, Luna eased, her eyes brightening immediately as a smile came to her face. She amiably said, “Hello there. Feels to me like we are kindred spirits?”
Cresselia sidled up against Luna and nuzzled. Luna giggled happily. With a grin Twilight said, “This is Cresselia. She does have a tie to the moon, and is said to banish nightmares.”
Luna smiled at the Pokémon for a moment, then turned back to Starlight. She petted Cresselia using her wing as she said, “Very well. Do you remember which one is the psychiatrists’ tent?”
Starlight thought a moment, and said with some minor uncertainty, “Take a right once through the portal, and third tent on the left?”
“Good. Do get that written up before Lights Out; I’ll need the info as soon as possible,” said Luna in a concerned but firm voice.
Arceus started their direction as Starlight nodded and said, “I’ll do what I can.”
“If she’s one for stopping nightmares, you four should return here for the night,” said Luna. Turning to Cresselia, she asked, “Can you do me this favour, please?”
Cresselia nodded. Starlight smiled sadly and patted Cresselia on the back, who followed her to the portal. She then led Dash, Gale, and Cloud-Skipper on through, but Cresselia stayed behind. As it dimmed back to baseline, Luna turned to Twilight and said, “I believe you have work to do now, too.”
“Of course,” said Twilight with a hard frown. “I still don’t like these extremes, Luna. It’s unforgivable.”
Luna sighed, “We must apologise. The...extenuating circumstances, left sister and I out of sorts, even while that letter was drafted. Thus did we make a grave error out of fear, and give that unjust order. Pay it no further mind. Take the time you need to do this right.”
Relief washed over Twilight’s face and posture. She closed her eyes and nodded as what sounded like a mewing kitten echoed nearby. She asked of Luna, “What are these ‘extenuating circumstances,’ anyway?”
“Privileged information, for royal ears only,” Luna curtly answered, eyeing Blue and Red approaching and the eight Twixies at their feet.
Twilight nickered in frustration. Looking at the Twixies’ expression of curiosity and wonder, she then perked up and called out, “Little ones! Are you ready to go meet your grandpa?”
Eight little fillies cheered, but not in unison, “Grandpa!? Yaaay!!”
“What’s unforgivable?” demanded Blue.
Luna gave him a sideways glance, and coldly answered, “As it was just said, you do not need to know, impudent human.”
Blue’s eyes narrowed. Red waved him down, signaling with one hand parallel to the ground. Something mewed again, but still unseen. Blue grumbled, “Fine, buddy, since you insist. But I want you to know that I, Blue Oak, am the World Champion, which places this world’s safety in my hands and my number one concern.”
“Then know this, World Champion,” Luna fired back, “I am the Princess of the Night, and the moon is my plaything.”
Red raised an eyebrow. Blue sputtered, “What?”
“The moon,” Luna said much slower as her horn powered up, “is my plaything.”
“What kind of threat is that? It’s so absurdly unbelievable, it’s not even threatening,” Blue scoffed with a dismissive hand gesture.
“How about a Figure-8, then?” Luna said with a piercing stare. She looked up; he followed suit, then screamed in shock. The moon had very quickly traced the shape of a number eight, stopping right back where it started. Brackish tidewaters all around The Great Marsh shifted as the moon moved.
“Oh, snap...,” blurted Red with wide eyes.
“The moon is my plaything,” Luna reiterated firmer than before. “Your world is already on thin ice with me. Do nothing I’d find upsetting.”
Blue rubbed at his temple as the Twixies all oohed at Twilight. They giggled as Twilight turned to look over her left shoulder, then her right. Twilight sighed as her face showed waning patience, calling out, “I know you’re back there; I can feel the air currents changing as you move.”
From behind her head, a pair of small pink paws grabbed the tips of Twilight’s ears, and started flapping them up and down like a depiction of bird wings. The eight Twixies roared with laughter, several of them rolling on the ground or pounding a hoof. Twilight whined, “Please stop.”
“Mew....”
Twilight felt two paws on her head. After a moment an upside-down pink head came into view with playful blue eyes. The paws left her head as this creature floated backwards. It was still upside down. It had a catlike face, ears, body, and hind legs. Its front legs were much shorter, and its tail was easily twice as long as the rest of its body. It righted itself as it mewed again.
Red approached this Pokémon in awe and a giddy, boyish delight. Blue followed in the same way. With a smile he said, “Wow. So I get to meet Mew after all, huh, buddy?”
Red clapped Blue on the shoulder with an approving nod. Behind them stood Arceus. Mew floated in front of the Alpha Pokémon and mewed again. Arceus nodded. Mew then crossed its arms, cocked its left hip out, and gave Arceus a playful, knowing grin. Arceus returned with an expression as if to say come on, man. The two stayed like that for a good fifteen seconds. Both Pokémon snickered in unison. Arceus then held open his forelegs, and Mew zipped in for a hug. The two nuzzled closer and closer together in their embrace.
Cynthia raised her eyebrows and said, “Wow. Didn’t know those two were old friends.”
“Old friends?” Luna said questioningly. “Ma’am, it looks to me like they’re old flames.”
The sunroof showed the dark of night’s approach as Aengus and Rarity entered the second battle chamber. Most of the tiling was a rosy lavender, with a soft magenta grout. Walls were black, lined with silvery pillars. Overhead was a long sunroof. The marked battlefield was again in white, though the Pokéball pattern this time was lapis blue above and royal purple below.
Looking across the room, Rarity scratched her chin with a drawn-out “Hmmm.”
There stood a thin man in a close-fitting black Victorian-era double-breasted vest, gold chains linking the two halves, a white ruffle cravat, plum purple pants and shirt, well-shined black square-toed dress shoes, and a broad black mask. His mauve hair lay straight, parted just enough to keep the vast majority of it out of his face. He began, “Good evening! You have done well to have advanced this far! Allow me to introduce my...self...um, hello?”
While the man was talking, Rarity had walked away from Aengus and up to this fellow. She pursed her lips pensively, slowly walking around him, looking him up and down. Without stopping her examination, she asked, “You are Will, are you not? Please hold still.”
“I...am, but what are you doing?” Will responded, now only turning his head to follow her. “If the journalists can be trusted, I presume you are Miss Rarity, correct?”
“Correct, despite trusting those newspapers,” said Rarity, still examining him thoroughly. “The articles I’ve seen are anti-pony, very subtle in their delivery, but the slant is definitely there.”
Will nodded. “So you suspect the same thing as I do. Let me pass on some information to you that we here at The Indigo League learned from the World Champion himself, but wasn’t released to the press.”
Rarity’s ear perked up. “Do go on, sir.”
“Your friend, Princess Twilight, detected there were ten Pony-Pokémon hybrids,” Will said.
Aengus nodded. “Yes, me brother said the ninth egg to hatch was the one he wanted.”
Will paused with a long look at Aengus, frowning. His face eased as he turned back to Rarity and continued, “After Oak put that bounty out on the ‘Twixies,’ seven trainers approached him about it before noon, each one cashing in with confirmation from Her Highness. Another of your friend’s inner circle had captured another. Since Padraíg undoubtedly still has the one he meant to breed, there’s only one left unaccounted for.”
Rarity cocked her head to one side, “Is there a reason to gather up Trixie’s, erm...progeny? I do not see whatever is the matter.”
“Oak did not say in his e-mail, but left the strong impression retrieving them all was quite serious, and to be done at once. I was hoping you would know,” Will said with a hint of disappointment.
“My apologies, but I have not met this Mr. Oak,” said Rarity. “About your other question, what I’m doing, is my profession and passion. I design and sew elegant dresses in the three shops I own and operate, a rising star of the fashion world, if I do say so myself. Only occasionally do I feel the urge to create formalwear for stallions, but when I do, they are dapper...dashing, even attirant. Trust a lady to know what a lady wants to see. And I see here garments that flow excellently with your figure, complimenting you quite handsomely. I had not thought of pairing plum against a mauve coiffure, but they are distant-enough purples to work together. A lady at the masquerade should be delighted to be on your arm, dressed as you are.”
Will clasped his hands together and bowed graciously. With a smile he said, “Most kind. I appreciate your keen eye that so many challengers lack.”
“About all I would change would be to add white lace cuffs to the shirt, matching the pattern of your cravat. Perhaps a town coat and top hat for while you’re outdoors,” Rarity said with a satisfied grin. She stared at the vest again, and pursed her lips. Raising an eyebrow, she continued, “I have to ask, darling, what fibre is your vest? I do not recognize it at all. I would like to think a black wool tweed would be best there.”
Will grimaced slightly as he said, “The vest is a, um, fine polyester blend made with—”
“Polyester!? C’mon, man!” groaned Devontae from the spectator section beside the sun roof.
“—made with cashmere and merino, giving it both durability and a soft texture,” Will finished after a delay, frowning upward.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Merino wool and cashmere I’m familiar with, certainly have used both before, but what’s polyester?”
“Synthetic,” said Aengus. “It’s a plastic.”
Rarity’s face looked like she had just been force-fed a three-day old, microwave reheated dogpile. She burst, “Plastic!? You’re wearing plastic?! Why would you do this?! What in the name of haute couture were you thinking!?”
“Somebody of your fashion sense and knowledge ought to know how easily cashmere is damaged,” Will answered displeased.
“Which is why you should wear wool tweed, like I said! Even angora would be preferable!” Rarity fired back.
“And run around as a fluff ball?! Now which one of us has poor taste!?” Will yelled.
Aengus shouted, “Oy! We’re not here to bicker over fabric, and you two will be here half the night quibbling away before we even send out our first Pokémon! Can we do what we came here to do!?”
Both of them shut up. After a moment Will smirked at Aengus and said, “Very well, as you wish. After that outburst, losing against her is not an option!”
Aengus threw a Pokéball, hollering, “Come, Mismagius! It’s your time to shine!”
“Bronzong, I choose you!” Will yelled.
A dark teal floating droid appeared from Will’s ball, with paddle-like arms, and red eyes near its base. Mismagius snickered unsettlingly as it looked across at its opponent. Rarity looked it over and said to Aengus, “I see it’s part Steel-type.”
“Sure is,” Aengus said. “Ran into them in Mt. Coronet. Not easily dropped, especially with Abilities that cover one weakness or the other.”
Rarity tapped her chin and mused, “Steel’s defense covers Psychic’s weaknesses against Bug and Dark, and Psychic covers weakness against Fighting, but Fire and Ground are still available, right?”
“Exactly. Its ability is either Levitating or Heatproof, and most of those I encountered had Levitating,” said Aengus. His eyes darkened as he ordered, “Mismagius, use Mystical Fire!”
“Bronzong, use Feint Attack!” Will answered.
“Crap, I forgot they learned that move!” Aengus scoffed, punching himself in the thigh. Fire gathered around Mismagius and shot forward. Bronzong was pushed back, but only for a moment. Aengus grumbled, “...figures.”
“So...Ground attacks it is,” Rarity muttered with a slight frown. Bronzong began floating in a circle and appeared to fade away. A moment later came a smacking sound as it reappeared, leaving Mismagius looking not very well at all. Rarity frowned as Mismagius wiped at its face with one of its dangling tendrils as she said, “This is off to a bad start.”
“Yeah. Yeah it is,” grumbled Aengus. “And guess what type Mismagius cannot learn a single thing from. Guess this will do little more than weaken it. Use Shadow Ball!”
“Again, Bronzong!”
Rarity sighed as the dark undulating spheroid came together in front of Mismagius, and slammed into Bronzong. While the impact was not useless, none there were surprised it was not enough to knock out its target. The expected riposte came exactly as it did the round before, sending Mismagius back into her ball. Rarity nickered as Aengus reached for another Pokéball. He yelled, “Excadrill, you’re up!”
She came forth from the Pokéball with a fierce smile, looking straight at the machine-Pokémon-thing across from her. Excadrill bounded on the balls of her feet as Aengus ordered, “Use Earthquake!”
Will winced, then shouted, “Confuse Ray, Bronzong!”
With a punch and stomp, Excadrill induced the floor and ground underneath them all to shake, rattle, and roll. Bronzong had toppled and vanished in a parade of pink shards of light. Will sighed through his nose, shaking his head. Excadrill looked back at Rarity with a giddy grin and a thumbs-up, or medial claw as it turned out. Returning the smile, Rarity cheered, “Good job! Keep it going!”
Will yelled, “Sigilyph, go!”
A green, black, and white ball with black forks for hands, blue eyes in its middle, a black eyestalk jutting out of its top, and wings and tail with fork tines instead of feathers in yellow, pale blue, and red flapped and hovered there. Rarity carefully looked over this creature that looked like it had been lifted from a Navajo woven blanket, or rather somebody’s attempt to recreate the style. Aengus sighed, “Knew I should have had her learn a Rock-type attack. Oh well. Use Metal Claw!”
“Ice Beam!”
A thin, cyan ray fired out of Sigilyph’s body, cleanly hitting Excadrill. She was forced back a step, but quickly tore into Sigilyph’s central body. Despite the obvious gouging, there was no blood, or even a mark on Sigilyph. It faltered in its hovering briefly, but nothing more. Rarity muttered under her breath, “Thanks goodness that didn’t leave a gaping wound. I don’t want to see dinner again.”
“Just gonna be small blow for small blow, huh?” Aengus grumbled. He shook his head, and yelled, “Again!”
“Yes, again!” answered Will.
The scene continued playing out just like that, blows exchanged with Sigilyph striking first. For four rounds, this sequence repeated itself, to the irritation of both trainers. Both Pokémon stood a bit wearier after each attack taken, neither seeming any hardier than the other. Boredom carved itself deeper into Rarity’s expression, and patience waned on the parts of Aengus and Will. In the fifth such round, Excadrill fainted, simply because Sigilyph moved first. However, it looked like it was not far behind her at all.
Aengus called out, “Go, Rapidash!”
Rarity smiled as she saw her intended beau materialise. He looked back at her, but was not nearly as upset as he was when he saw her against Surge. A hint of pink crept into Rarity’s cheek and she uttered an almost inaudible squee as Rapidash said to her, “Hey you.”
Will ordered, “Sigilyph, use Air Slash!”
Aengus countered, “Use Poison Jab, Rapidash!”
Rapidash ran forward as a dense purple fog enveloped his horn. Before Sigilyph registered his approach, Rapidash was upon it and stabbing away with the purple glow. Sigilyph dropped to the floor, departing back to its Pokéball. Returning to his position, Rapidash caught Rarity looking right at him. She risked a small smile. He looked away quickly, biting his lip with a small grin and some minor blushing of his own. As he faced forward, Rarity’s face broke into the widest smile she had shown or shone in donkey’s years, to borrow a phrase from Aengus.
Will threw his next ball. “Slowbro, let’s do this!”
Coming from the ball was not a Slowbro. Rarity’s face scrunched with wide eyes, unable to break her gaze but partially turning her head anyway. It appeared human-like, wearing the world’s worst red mumu, tight only around its unshapely bust where yellow fully framed each “breast.” This thing had a purple face and hands, no neck whatsoever, and white sleeves. Both elbows were exaggerated, as if they had two instances of bursitis apiece, both of which had been rotated a quarter turn in opposite directions. Lipstick had been applied with a caulk gun. And how that long blonde hair fell could not look flattering on anyone, anypony, or anymon.
Aengus raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you threw the wrong ball, chum!”
Will looked over the balls on his belt, muttering, “How did I get these out of order? I don’t think I’ve ever done this before....”
“Please tell me this is a Pokémon,” Rarity said, shaking her head with a curled lip. “Does...this one’s appearance seem off to you two? Seriously, darling, whether a Pokémon or not, you need to work on that look! Right now, the outfit and presentation makes me think of...of a...come on, Rarity, use a word that shows proper etiquette....”
“Just say it! She look like a ho!” Devontae yelled from above, preferring colloquial grammar over correct.
Rarity turned toward the spectator seats with a wide-eyed, open mouth expression. She scolded, “Devontae! You should be ashamed of yourself for being so uncouth! The least you could say is something more polite, like ‘call girl,’ or ‘streetwalker!’”
“Well, she look like a ho! Why sugarcoat it?” Devontae asked, holding both his palms facing upward.
Rarity bit down on a budding comment, and turned back toward the match. Will was shaking his head irritably. He said, “Well, since you’re here, Jynx, use Perish Song!”
“Flare Blitz!” Aengus yelled.
Rapidash coated himself in fire as he took off. Jynx had poised herself to sing to a crowd, lifting an arm. Rapidash did not care and trampled her without a second thought. Jynx returned to her ball in the usual way, to which Rarity breathed easier. Rapidash nodded at her with a shrug as he retook his position.
“Let’s try this again!” Will yelled as he randomly grabbed one of the three balls he had left. And it still was not Slowbro. This time it was a semi-anthropomorphic upside-down squid, with purple tentacles for hair, a rosy-pink beak, and its two large tentacles now serving as hands and arms. Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “Fine. Malamar it is.”
A knowing smile took over Aengus’s face. With a slightly sinister glint in his eye, he commanded, “Rapidash...Megahorn this thing.”
Will shouted, “Malamar, use Superpower!”
Rapidash again lowered his horn and ran at his opponent, this time sans purple mist. Malamar had tightened up to start wailing on Rapidash, but the horn connected. Rapidash had already turned to stand at his post as Malamar sailed into the back of the room, turning into the yellow sparks there. While he did not look at Rarity this time, Rapidash stood a bit taller than usual, chest puffed out, and a look of confidence. Rarity quietly said, “Keep it going, honey.”
Redness came into Rapidash’s cheeks for a beat. Will threw another of the balls, saying, “Either way, I’ve got what I want now!”
Yet again, it was not Slowbro. There was a green-face bird that looked very much like a child’s toy. It had a long yellow bill that hooked only at the very end, and white wings with pink and black accents that it folded in front of itself instead of the usual on the back posture. It appeared to have a black bishop’s collar, but within its plumage. Something a bit like pink eyes sat embedded on its chest. Its actual eyes appeared slightly glazed over, and staring at something far, far away.
Aengus nodded with an annoyed smirk. “You and those Xatus. Just was a question of when, wasn’t it?”
“Naturally,” said Will with a triumphant smile. He then bellowed, “Xatu, use Shattered Psyche!”
Aengus rolled his eyes as his shoulders slumped. He muttered, “Sounds like another friggin’ Z-move. Why is it bloody everyone suddenly got them all at once? If these crystals have been around for so long, why is it only now people get it, and everyone at that? You’d think it’d take some time for those skills to disseminate, and for rings to be manufactured.”
Nervously Rarity murmured, “Hold on strong, honey....”
Aengus whispered to Rapidash, “Buddy, you’re gonna need a critical hit this time. Wild Charge. Go.”
Arcing electricity surrounded Rapidash as he sprinted, leaving a trail of static sparks in his wake. He slammed into Xatu, who rocked back and forth like a punch-me-clown, the whole time staring blindly into space, eyes unmoving, but righted itself. Rarity said, “A tad unsettling. What’s wrong with its eyes?”
“Xatu sees the future with his right eye, and the past with the left,” Will said smugly.
“But neither sees the present,” Rarity retorted as Will danced, though his movements were far more graceful than Surge’s.
Yellow light gathered around Xatu, which erupted into a tutti-frutti pastel mist that blocked out everything else. Rapidash was knocked skyward, smacking into a series of unseen obstacles like a pinball unable to escape the bumpers. Then he did seemingly get away, only to hit a wall that broke the mist away like a smashed window. Rapidash staggered. As he fell onto his side, he weakly said, “Win this one for me, dear....”
Rarity’s eyes hardened; all hints of being misty erased instantly at his words when he disappeared into his Pokéball. Rarity stepped forward, taking his place in front of Aengus. He raised an eyebrow. Overhead Devontae laughed in surprise and delight, exclaiming, “Ooh, this’s gonna be good!”
“So, you want this one?” Aengus asked firmly.
Rarity didn’t even look back as she answered with the same fervor, “Yes.”
Aengus’s dark smile returned, as did his tone of voice. “Then, use Blizzard!”
Will’s face began to look concerned...maybe even worried. He said, “Confuse Ray, Xatu!”
Rarity’s horn was already charged. Will had barely gotten the last syllable out before the room was suddenly fill with wind and snow. When it cleared a few seconds later, all got but a brief glimpse of Xatu face down on the floor before it zipped back to its ball. Aengus smirked and said, “Let me guess...Slowbro?”
“But of course,” said Will as he deployed his last Pokémon. He sneered, “Is this what you were expecting!?”
“This is NOT a game of ‘Voltorb Flip!!’” Aengus snapped as Slowbro materialised, in all its pink “glory.”
Rarity shot Slowbro a puzzled look, especially at the shell seemingly munching on its tail. She looked at Aengus, then Will, and asked, “Is it slow physically, or mentally?”
“Both,” answered Aengus, Will, and Devontae in unison.
“I see,” quipped Rarity as she rolled her eyes.
Aengus ordered, “Rarity, use Shadow Ball!”
“Disable, Slowbro!” Will responded. He pushed aside his bangs, revealing a keystone set into his mask, situated over his sixth chakra. Giving it a push, Will stood up straight. He gestured at Slowbro in a gameshow host sort of way as the whirling light came. When the ball broke, Slowbro was now almost entirely engulfed by the shell.
Rarity charged her horn up and sighed. “My comment about ‘Mega Evolutions’ still stands.”
The dark orb fired from Rarity’s horn and caught Slowbro between the eyes, knocking it as close to flat on his back as one could be once engulfed in an oversized whelk shell. As he telekinetically raised himself back to an upright posture, Aengus said, “Did I argue against you? And take it easy. Good shot, yes, but there’s no need to look like you’re trying to kill something.”
“Even if she were, we Psychics don’t give up,” Will said. “That’s what makes us so formidable!”
Aengus frowned as a purple lightning pulse made a twitching spheroid around Rarity. Looking at Will, Aengus said, “Do you ever change what you say? Surely you must be getting tired of it by now.”
Will just shrugged. Rarity said, “Something feels...odd.”
“He just disabled you from using Shadow Ball for a few rounds,” said Aengus. “It’ll wear off in a moment.”
“I presume the new and larger shell augments his physical defenses substantially, but doesn’t do much for special defenses?” Rarity asked with a mischievous grin. Aengus responded with an impressed nod.
“Clever girl...,” Will mused, rubbing at a non-existent beard.
“Energy Ball?” Rarity suggested.
“Yes indeed,” Aengus laughed.
Scowling, Will yelled, “Slowbro, use Surf!”
The blue aura around Rarity’s horn fed into a green ball, which took off at Slowbro. This one cleanly struck Slowbro’s centre of mass, knocking him down again. As he got up, water filled the room, running over Rarity with a three-metre swell. As the water cleared, she growled to herself, drenched to the bone. Her mane and tail both were flat as they could get, dragging along the floor. She looked at Aengus and asked, “One more?”
“That should do it,” Aengus said with a nod.
Will screamed, “We never give up! Slowbro, use Psychic, and make it count!”
“No chance!” Rarity yelled back. The ball at the tip of her horn was already complete, and thus she sent it on its way. The shot came in much faster this time, knocking Slowbro down yet again, but not before sending him over Will’s head. As he slid to a stop, his arms and tail went slack, and he disappeared back into his ball. Devontae cheered from the seats as Rarity dramatically pushed her wet mane out of her face with a flourish.
Will’s face and posture slumped, most notably at the shoulders. Shaking his head, he breathed, “I...I can’t...believe it....”
“Yes, that did just happen, sir,” Aengus said with a dark smile.
Something made the room a little brighter. Rarity looked around, eventually turning her eyes upward. With a small gasp, she said, “Luna??”
Aengus said, “I hope there’s an explanation that follows.”
“The moon just got brighter, and to me it looks clearer, maybe even perfect,” Rarity said with a smile.
Aengus and Will both looked up. Will uttered a simple, “Huh.”
“So it is,” said Aengus. He turned back to Rarity and asked, “Who’s Luna?”
“Princess Luna is the Princess of the Night, and shares head-of-state duties with her sister, Princess Celestia,” said Rarity with some pride.
Will asked, “How many princesses do you have, where’s the king and queen if those two are head-of-state, and how does Princess Twilight stand in all of this?”
“I don’t think we’ve had a king or queen in our history at all, when I think about it. But princesses, there are five. Flurry’s an infant. Twilight’s the next strongest after her, then Cadance, then the royal sisters. Celestia is the stronger sister, but not by much. And before you ask, there are lesser princes, but the princesses are who’s in charge,” said Rarity.
Aengus raised an eyebrow. “So...the Kingdom of Equestria...is really just the Principality of Equestria?”
Rarity exhaled with an unladylike expression and flapping of her lips. She flatly said, “Whatever. Equestria’s home, and that’s what matters to me. Don’t we have a challenge to be getting on with?”
Will nodded. Speaking in goadingly knowing tones, he said, “You do. I won’t change my course, and I expect you won’t either. Go on. Continue squaring off with the might and ferocity of the Elite Four! Bruno’s waiting for you, Aengus....”
Aengus growled at the mention of that name, glowering at Will’s sneer. He hurriedly marched out of the room into the connecting hallway. Still in a snit he pulled out the necessary healing items and a few berries from his satchel, applying them to the appropriate balls without a word. Rarity quietly pondered how it was that this Bruno could be that good a trainer, that even with a focus around a specific type, he was Aengus’s stumbling block, the one hurdle he could never jump over. So much of his hopes rested on her little shoulders. And fulfilling those hopes was the ticket home that she had agreed to. They had to succeed.
Luna’s coming here did not bode well. Rarity knew the pain Luna experienced in Nightmare form. She knew that once she’s enraged, there was little chance of stopping her, even for Celestia. An enraged Luna could easily start and wage a war victoriously. Rarity knew she could win the day here so much faster if she had that kind of strength and drive. She truly wished she had Luna’s power, that she could blast through just about anything immediately, under the light of her perfect moon. But she was no alicorn; she was just Rarity. Luna could just take the moon and blast an opponent. Musing on this, Rarity considered what a Moonblast might look like, and kept it in mind for later, should the need arise.
Having finished healing his team, Aengus stood up. He handed Rarity a can of lemonade and said, “Here. This will help you feel better after being drenched.”
Rarity nodded and took a long draught. Her lips immediately puckered as she barely squeaked out, “Did they add more lemon and remove some sugar? My goodness, that’s sour....”
“Let the lemon do its job,” Aengus said as he slowly started down the hall. Rarity took another sip to the same reaction. He just snorted in response, and said, “We still have Koga before Bruno.”
Rarity added, “And Karen after that.”
“Precisely. That’s why I don’t want you in this next fight if it can be avoided,” said Aengus.
“Come again?”
Aengus sighed. He laid a hand on her head, and absentmindedly began scratching behind her ears again. He said, “Koga is the world’s finest Poison-type specialist. There are none above him. His tactics are at least as much psychological as they are physical. Since you’re effectively a Fairy-type, Koga’s about as dangerous to you as they come. That’s why I don’t want you in the fight.”
“Ah. I see,” said Rarity, not even trying to mask her disappointment.
“It’s to keep you in tip-top shape for Bruno and Karen,” Aengus said. “Both of them are weak against Fairy-type moves, and...wait, did you really just learn another move?”
“I think so?” Rarity offered sheepishly.
He rolled his eyes with a slight grin. “You amaze me, Rarity. I’ll be sad when you have to head home.”
Rarity smiled with a coy shift of her posture away from him, but still meeting his gaze. She said, “We’ll worry about that when we get there. Let’s take care of Koga.”
“Aye, let’s,” said Aengus as he pushed open the door to the next room.
The third battle chamber again had its field marked in white, albeit subdued. No sunroof meant no moonlight, and all the artificial light sources were recessed, indirect, and dim. Tree foliage in the room had a bluish hue. Ground-level flora included poison ivy, belladonna, several varieties of hemlock, and some white mushroom. Rarity was no mycologist, but the skirt-like thing on the mushroom’s stalk made it look like an “amanita,” or something phonetically similar that Sweetie Belle prattled about after doing her homework one evening. Flagstones of a dull lavender made up the battlefield. Aengus said, “Destroying angels and everything. Certainly likes to flaunt his poison.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by ‘destroying angels?’ I don’t see anything heavenly in here at all.”
Aengus pointed and said, “See those white mushrooms? Those are called ‘destroying angels,’ and aren’t just poisonous, but deadly poisonous.”
“Oh,” said Rarity. “Thought I remember it as an amanita.”
“A variety of amanita, yes.”
“How do you know this?” Rarity asked.
“Grew up dirt poor, remember? Had to go into the woods and find enough to supplement what mom bought at the grocers. You learn quickly what plants and mushrooms are edible and which ones are poisonous like that,” Aengus said sadly.
A rough low tenor/high baritone called out, “Back again, Aengus?”
An aging ninja had appeared in the middle of the room, wearing no head cover at all. His short, spiky hair was grey-white, and frown lines creased his face. He wore a black gi with armoured kneepads, elbow pads, and shin guards. A red capelet fell over his right shoulder.
Aengus smiled at the ninja. “Sure am, Koga. I’m surprised you remembered me. Will didn’t.”
Koga nodded with a closed-mouth grin. “Will is an excellent trainer, with powerful Pokémon, yes, but he himself is not a warrior. I am.”
“So it’s safe to presume what you’re wearing isn't just a personal style, but the style of your...army? Guild? My apologies; I’ve had no sort of interaction with...uh, fighters of your sort,” Rarity said somewhat sheepish.
Cracking a slight grin while narrowing his eyes a touch, Koga replied, “‘Clan’ is the word you’re looking for, Rarity.”
She curtsied and said, “Clan, then. Good to make your acquaintance, Mr. Koga.”
“Charmed,” he answered, not exactly in a charmed tone. “And just ‘Koga’ will do. Quite the impression you make: Legendary Pokémon wanting to talk to you, Mythical Pokémon tracking you down across multiple regions to talk to you. Looks to me like some consider you a threat.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Me? A threat? Whatever do you mean?”
Koga’s expression and voice were stern as he crossed his arms. “Ho-Oh came to talk to you, others watching be damned, when his distrust of people is well-known. Keldeo tried to physically drag you away from your trainer, or whatever relationship you wish to say you have with Aengus. In case you could not tell, both are quite unusual, for both of those Pokémon. Perhaps this has something to do with your ilk’s encampment in The Great Marsh, and the host of the world’s strongest Pokémon all there keeping close tabs? I can’t blame them; I’d be doing the same, what with an army knocking on the door. With the number of you ponies coming and going through that portal on a daily basis, I surmise your friend, the princess, has a force of at least twenty-five hundred more soldiers encamped on the other side. Likely five-thousand-plus. And she herself already showed Cynthia that her best Pokémon have no chance against her in combat.”
“What’re you tryin’ to say, brah?!” Devontae demanded from the spectator seats above.
Aengus frowned. “And how did you know about Keldeo?”
“I was there, outside, watching and listening, not ten feet from you, Aengus,” Koga answered smugly.
“Where?” Rarity spluttered, bafflement riddling her face and voice.
“Ninjutsu, the art of stealth, is my trade, little pony,” Koga sneered. “Even wearing a red cape, you did not see me. Only a few have mastered the ways, including my daughter. But I am the keeper of the ways.”
Rarity tightened her lips before saying, “So I gathered.”
“For your question, Devontae,” Koga began, looking up. “It’s quite simple, what that spells: invasion. Sure, all the platitudes say they’re here for Rarity and this elusive ‘Trixie,’ but this song and dance in all its variations has been recorded in the annuls of history time and again.”
“We certainly are not!” Rarity protested.
Looking at her sideways, Koga pressed, “And how can you tell, being separated from the rest of your kind?”
“Koga, sir, it’s obvious there’s little either of you can do to convince the other. We intend to return her after earning the championship,” Aengus said bluntly. “I’d rather get on with it than continue the accusatory guesswork.”
Koga grunted. Throwing a ball, he yelled, “So be it! Go, Scolipede!”
“Excadrill, let’s go!” Aengus answered. An oversized magenta centipede appeared across from Excadrill. With a snort, Aengus commented, “Two from Unova to start, eh?”
Shaking his head with a frown, Koga muttered, “So it would seem. Use Toxic Spikes!”
Scolipede hurled a cereal box’s worth of purple caltrops around the feet of Excadrill that seemed to disappear there almost immediately. Excadrill lunged forward, slashing her left foreclaw in a swallow-tailed strike. Scolipede reeled and staggered, backing up a few steps. Breathing hard, it shook its head and stepped back to the line.
Aengus grinned, and ordered, “One more, Excadrill, and that should do it!”
“Steamroller, Scolipede!” Koga answered.
Rarity looked up at Aengus and said, “I see this time you started off with the advantage.”
A grin crossed Aengus’s face as Scolipede curled up and rolled over Excadrill. She didn’t seem much bothered by the attack. As she repeated her move from the first round, Aengus answered, “Sure did. Nice being on the other side of it for once.”
Scolipede fainted, gracelessly tipping over with a thud. Koga threw another ball, yelling, “Dragalge, you’re up next!”
“Seriously?” Aengus replied with an eyebrow up. “You know it’s too slow against an Excadrill, right? Use Earthquake!”
“Dragalge, use Hydro Pump!” Koga ordered, not even looking at Aengus when he spoke.
Koga’s Pokémon looked nearly identical to some faux-pony marine life Rarity had seen in pictures, namely the muddy sea dragon, though it was a colour family off in places. In one leafy “paw” was a well-shined bear’s claw. She could never forget that species. She designed, sewed, and wore a costume of one for her first Nightmare Night after getting her cutie mark. To this day her design was rated as the best youth-designed Nightmare Night costume across Equestria. Rarity could not help but to chuckle at the memory. Aengus looked down at her as Excadrill made the floor dance, and asked, “What’s so funny?”
“Just remembering something from when I was a filly,” Rarity said with a smile. “But now’s not the time for nostalgia, I dare say.”
Dragalge flopped onto the now-still floor, fading into pale blue sparks that disappeared into a Pokéball. Rarity and Excadrill exchanged a hoof-/claw-bump as Aengus replied, “True. Stay focused.”
Koga snarled, “Since you don’t want slow, how about something fast!? Crobat, your turn!”
Once freed from its ball, a large, dark purple, sleek bat hovered before Koga. Both of its feet had been swapped out for another set of wings. Aengus shook his head. “Even after all those years, and with everything new available, some still remain in your lineup, huh? Paddy would just hate this.”
“Hate what? Apart from the, uh...obvious mutation, what’s wrong with this bat?” Rarity asked.
Aengus sighed, “Remember when he rambled about Zubat and Golbat?”
“Yes...is this the final form?”
Aengus nodded. He muttered under his breath before bellowing, “Definitely should’ve had her learn a Rock-type attack. Well...use Metal Claw!”
Sneering, Koga answered, “Crobat, use Confuse Ray!”
“Ray” was not at all an apt word for Crobat’s action. This did not look the same as when she saw this move used on the SS Sakura. A ball of light half the size of a golf ball danced out of Crobat’s mouth, moving in an uneven wave pattern with an exaggerated magnitude until it caught Excadrill. Her eyes immediately went out of focus. Charging, Excadrill moved to strike Crobat with her right front claw raised. She jumped and slashed, catching herself in the belly and missed Crobat by a sixty degree angle, whom had not even attempted to dodge. As Excadrill staggered back to her place in front of Aengus, Rarity said, “This again?”
“Remember me saying his attacks were also psychological? Koga’s known to terrorise young challengers who don’t know how to handle their Pokémon whittle their own selves down,” Aengus explained.
Koga ordered, “Fly, Crobat!”
“Looks like it already is,” Rarity commented sardonically.
Frowning, Aengus said, “Guess it doesn’t matter which move. Metal Claw, I guess.”
Crobat flew up high, to in front of Devontae’s seat in the spectator section. He looked over the Pokémon and said, “Look, we’re not supposed to feed the animals, okay? My popcorn.”
“What’s it doing up there?” Rarity asked as Excadrill lunged forward and slashed, only to find her target was way out of reach.
Aengus said, “The move ‘Fly’ is a two-turn attack. First turn, get some height. Second turn, drop onto the opponent from above. So let’s get it this time! Metal Claw again!”
Almost as if that was its cue, Crobat tucked its wings into a fast dive, popping Excadrill on its descent. Excadrill staggered, went to strike, and flopped. She somehow managed to throw her legs upward with the graceless attempt to attack, landing on the crown of her head. Excadrill did not appear to remember anything at all for a moment.
“One more time!” Koga yelled.
“Geez,” grumbled Aengus. “Slow knockouts are the worst. You see it coming long before it arrives, but there’s not much that can be done to stop it...Metal Claw. Puh.”
The next two rounds played out about the same as the previous two, except Excadrill faceplanted when going to strike a target that was no longer there. And she also fainted after Crobat dropped upon her. Devontae had no commentary for Crobat this time; he instead opted for a cross-armed mothering look of imminent scolding and/or paddling as he set his bucket of popcorn behind him.
Aengus threw his next ball. “Rapidash, you can get this one!”
Rarity smiled. When Rapidash appeared and found her gaze, he winked at her. She tittered briefly, earning a raised eyebrow from Koga. Rapidash winced as one of the purple caltrops appeared underneath as he set his foot down. He looked...violet. Aengus shouted, “Rapidash, use Wild Charge!”
“Uh, no. Crobat, Confuse Ray!” Koga answered.
The weird light shone again, striking Rapidash. His balance wavered. He shook his head rapidly, then took off at a full canter, electricity jumping off of him. Crobat hunkered down just above the ground, poised to suddenly jut to one side or the other. As Rapidash neared, Crobat flitted upward quickly, but to no avail: Rapidash had jumped. Crobat bounded and skidded across the floor before disappearing into a series of pink sparks. Rapidash’s gaze was off-balance as he returned to his spot before Aengus. Once there, Rarity strode up to him. She wait for both his eyes to be on her, then she nuzzled him, rubbing her muzzle against his. He closed his eyes and returned the gesture, to a delighted gasp from Rarity.
Koga, however, watched both of them intently, one finger upon the end of his nose, tapping thoughtfully once every few seconds. His hand stilled as a malignant grin wormed across his face with angrily happy eyes. He stood up straight, and threw his next Pokéball. “Salazzle, I have a job for you!”
From the ball came a feminine dark lizard, somewhat crocodilian in the snout, but with very smooth scales. Above she was nearly black, and below a medium-dark grey. Pink markings on her chest and sides just above the hip traced letter-like shapes. Countershading on the tail was the same pink. Two much smaller tails jutted from above her main tail. Her face was slathered with an up-to-no-good smirk, maybe even lascivious. Both of her eyes locked on Rapidash as she licked her lips. Rarity glared at her, snapping, “You better get that thought out of your head right now, missy!”
Koga chuckled darkly. He ordered, “Salazzle, use Attract!”
Aengus’s eyes widened. He quickly said, “Rarity, whatever happens, remember it’s just because of a Pokémon move; it won’t last longer than this battle. Okay?”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at him. “O...kay??”
“It won’t be real. Keep your head on straight,” he pressed. Turning to Rapidash, Aengus said, “Another from Alola, I guess. Try Flare Blitz.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t want to hurt little old me, would you?” Salazzle cooed, standing up on two legs, and turning away coyly. She blew a kiss with a wink, and, facing away, lifted her tail ever so slightly. “You big, strong hunk...!”
A pink hue overtook Rapidash’s pupils. He stood there swaying back and forth a little, bearing a stupefied, besotted smile. He would not budge as he nickered at Salazzle a little too happily. Rarity’s face fell as tears started welling up. She sniffled, “But...but Rapidash....”
Salazzle turned toward Rarity and said, “Best get used to it, chica. Males always jump ship when a better female shows interest. Always.”
A vicious, sneering smile shone from Koga. Devontae yelled, “Uncool, brah!”
Koga openly laughed, and said, “Young man, you ought to know by now that as long as you’re not attacking the trainer, all’s fair in love and Pokémon battles!”
Rarity quietly sobbed to herself. She moaned, “Rapidash...."
Aengus sharply said, “I told you it’s not real! It’s just the effect of that move!”
“Oh, honey, you know it’s real, ‘cuz I’m hot-blooded!” Salazzle countered. “And like so many others, your man wants me over you!”
Rarity’s jaw quivered as she glared at Salazzle. Aengus declared, “I don’t know what she’s telling you, but she lies! Don’t listen! Rapidash, try Wild Charge!”
“Salazzle, use Venoshock!” Koga shouted.
Rolling her hips, Salazzle slowly sauntered up to Rapidash, who was still swaying. Glowing magenta orbs gathered, swirled, and danced around Rapidash, and all rushed into him as Salazzle lustfully said, “Tell me how much you want me, you naughty boy...!”
Rapidash breathed a long, low droning that should have been a comprehensible syllable, but failed to be. Salazzle cupped her hand under Rapidash’s snout, pressing their faces together cheek-to-cheek. Still holding them together, she turned both of their eyes toward Rarity and cheerfully said, “Aren’t we just adorable together? Rapidash and I make such a cute couple! So much cuter than you could hope to be with him. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
Rapidash absentmindedly nodded. Rarity broke down, mascara running all down her face. Rarity wanted to pound that lizard, just pummel her senseless. Being rejected by Trender Hoof hurt, but paled in comparison. Never had she ever dreamed of feeling this way. The word “heartbroken” finally was something real, something that made sense, and was understood. As much as it hurt, she was angry. She felt fury. She felt rage. Pummeling Salazzle might not have been enough to sate Rarity. She knew no Ground-type attacks, but she could imagine one. She could see the shaking ground suddenly burst under Salazzle a few times, and make her feel that pain. Still crying, but with a livid glower, she imagined it, pretended, yearned, that she could take such an Earth Power and teach that lizard to find her own male companion, and get her claws off of Rapidash.
Salazzle started back for her spot in front of Koga, dragging a finger along the underside of Rapidash’s muzzle, who looked barely conscious. She arched her back toward him as she went, saying, “Just a moment, lover.”
Rarity snarled. She started scraping at the ground with her front hooves, tears still flowing freely. Devontae worriedly called out, “Uh, Aengus? I think you should get her out of there.”
Aengus grabbed Rarity by the shoulders. Giving her a shake, he said, “Listen to me! It’s just what the move ‘Attract’ does! It won’t last past this battle! Keep it together!”
Salazzle retorted in a sing-song voice, “He’s a big fibber! Your heart is chopped liver!” She chortled, then continued abusively, “Even if I don’t see him again, he’ll be wishing you were me!”
Rarity’s entire body convulsed as she gritted her teeth. Veins bulged on her forehead, legs, and eyeballs. She could not speak. Nothing but broken hisses and grunts escaped her throat. A mist shot from her nose as she exhaled, not steam, but a few ice microcrystals wafted before melting again. Koga ordered, “One more Venoshock, Salazzle!”
“Rapidash, buddy, don’t let your girlfriend down! Wild Charge!” Aengus shouted. He then turned to Rarity. His head jerked back, and cautiously he said, “Calm down, Rarity. She’s just trying to get to you. It’s not real!”
Salazzle goadingly laughed as she strutted toward Rapidash, licking her lips and rubbing herself up and down her sides, sighing contentedly. Gently she held Rapidash’s head with both hands, looked at Rarity, and taunted, “Let me show how real it is!”
“Is she really gonna...?” Devontae began in disgust.
Salazzle leaned in for a kiss, leading with her tongue. Koga stared wide-eyed, with two blinks as his right fingertips found their way to his mouth. Aengus simply glared with flaring nostrils. Rarity’s tears had been replaced with falling ice as the magenta orbs appeared again. Salazzle opened her eyes in the middle of her making out with the entranced Rapidash, hers looking straight into Rarity’s. As she broke the kiss, Salazzle licked Rapidash’s lips as she leaned away. He keeled over, disappearing into his Pokéball. With a wink at where he was, Salazzle cooed, “Dream of me, lover.”
Salazzle shook her hips slowly as she returned to her place in front of Koga. As Aengus reached for his next Pokéball, Rarity pointed a trembling hoof at him, barking, “No! I got this!!”
Devontae hollered, “Brah! She gonna go HAM! Get her outta there!!”
“She wants to fight this badly, then she can fight,” Aengus said with a dark grin. Rarity’s horn had already powered up.
Salazzle sneered, “I bet he’s already dreaming he’s bedding me! I bet he’s all—” and she dropped her front legs to bring her shoulders near the ground, straightened her back legs, and kicked her tail over her back. Bumping her hips backwards repeatedly, she faux-moaned, “Oh, Salazzle! I think I love you, Salazzle! Oh yes, yes, YES!!”
“Ew...,” Aengus blurted with an upturned, scrunched nose at the tone. Koga blinked rapidly as his mouth parted, his upper lip curling and his face blanching.
“You...,” Rarity growled as a secondary aura surrounded her horn, spurting blue sparks every which way. For a split-second, her pupils partially contracted into cat-like slits.
“Yes, me,” Salazzle answered. “Even if you get lucky with him, it’ll be me he’s imagining the whole while!”
Devontae pounded on the railing, yelling, “Aengus! She’s gonna lose her shit!!”
Koga grimaced uncomfortably and said, “Too far, Salazzle. Just use Flamethrower.”
Rarity screamed, “YOU—” and used a word that made Aengus’s and Devontae’s jaws both drop “—WHORE!!!”
She incomprehensibly roared as the ground burst all over, most of it under Salazzle, but close enough to Koga and Aengus from them both to fall back a number of steps. Salazzle was juggled by the bursting ground, spun around and tossed about like a toddler’s rag doll. She screamed out, not in ecstasy, or bogus excitement, but agony. Only unbridled pain. One last burst from below, and Salazzle tumbled back to the floor. Devontae blurted in a stunned, overwhelmed tone of voice, “Jesus....”
Salazzle could not move much, let alone stand up. A red splat came from her coughing. She lay on her side, twitching all over in no pattern whatsoever, staring vacantly with rapid, broken, small breaths. Blood oozed from her mouth in a slow, steady trickle. Despite the obvious defeat, Salazzle’s ball was not taking her back in. She murmured, “So thirsty...so...cold....”
Rarity approached. She looked different, although the furious shake to her remained. Her coat seemed a pale pastel blue. Both her mane and tail were no longer purple, but a cerulean and indigo, the specific shades seen in glacial ice. A freezing mist billowed behind her. Hoarfrost manifested around her feet with every step, slow to melt away. Aengus, Koga, and Devontae all stood in shock as Rarity continued her slow march up to Salazzle. Standing over her, Rarity looked down her nose upon her defeated opponent, her eyes viper-like in shape. Salazzle could not raise her head, but still twitched with blood coming out of her mouth at its unvarying, unhurried pace. Her pink markings, including the underside of her tail, were losing colour and quickly. Rarity coldly said, “What’s wrong? Out of smart comments?”
Salazzle’s glazed-over eye looked toward Rarity. A hidden door in the side of the room opened. Out rushed three men wearing teal surgical masks and gowns, two women dressed as nurses pushing a gurney with surgical equipment, and two Blisseys. Both of these Pokémon wore nurse’s caps. One carried an IV stand, and the other brought a clear plastic box holding quite a number of IV bags; many of them were blood. Rarity did not look over or acknowledge them in any way as she continued even icier, “Was that as good for you as it was for me?”
“Rarity...that’s enough. Go calm down,” Aengus said softly. His voice seemed hollow, disquieted, and disappointed. A click from her Pokéball, and Rarity suddenly found herself back in the round room.
Rarity muttered angrily and inaudibly to herself, pacing back and forth with the occasional louder syllable, or stomp; her eyes, however, had returned back to normal with round pupils, albeit livid. Hoarfrost became a rough, thin sheet of ice once she laid down enough layers. Feraligatr, Mismagius, and Salamence anxiously looked on from their pictures on the wall. After a moment, Feraligatr timidly offered, “You, uh...gonna be okay there, champ?”
Salamence looked upward, and said, “Duty calls.”
His picture disappeared. Rarity seemed not to notice as she continued as if she was uninterrupted, still fuming words to herself. Feraligatr and Mismagius looked at each other nervously. A moment later, Feraligatr sheepishly joshed, “There’s...something wrong with your mother? Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but—”
“Feraligatr, this is hardly the time for such nonsense!” Mismagius protested. “Rarity, what’s wrong?”
“Seriously, this is worrisome. Never seen anything of the like out of you,” Feraligatr said earnestly. “A joke to break the tension getting no response whatsoever is odd, and the ice is not a good addition. Mega Evolved Pokémon return as their regular selves, which tells me something else happened.”
Rarity still continued as she was. Another long awkward silence passed. Mismagius sadly said, “There’s nothing we can do to help you if you won’t talk, Rarity.”
The icy mist began to fade as her colouration slowly returned to normal. But she still paced a moment before huffing, “That little bitch. She got what she deserved.”
“Cussing is also a bad addition,” Feraligatr said with an uneasy grimace.
Mismagius frowned and said, “The world is overrun with little bitches. Which one did what?”
“That Pokémon Koga had, that Salazzle, trying to take Rapidash from me!” Rarity exploded.
“Trying to take him away...how? Did she use the move ‘Attract?’” Mismagius asked.
“Well, yes, but—”
“That’s it, then,” Mismagius interrupted. “I hate that move. I was at the receiving end once, and found myself fawning over a damn Jigglypuff! A Jigglypuff!! You know how idiotic they look? There’s nothing cute about them! What’s worse is that consciously, I knew I didn’t care for him at all, even emotionally I didn’t want a thing to do with him. Yet there I was, swaying back and forth like a twit over his stupid teal eyes.”
“Be that as it may, that doesn’t excuse her salacious remarks, or that she Prench kissed him in front of me! Stuck her tongue into his mouth before her lips reached him!” Rarity exploded again.
“Yuck,” said Mismagius queasily. “He’s gonna want mouthwash.”
“I should like to hope so!” Rarity said curtly.
“You said it’s Koga out there, right?” Feraligatr asked.
“Yes, why?”
Feraligatr shook his head. “He likes to mess with his opponents’ emotions, especially Pokémon.”
Salamence’s face appeared, looking quite pale with a streak of anger. Very flatly he asked, “Why, Rarity?”
Rarity cocked her head to one side as she asked, “Why...what?”
“Dude, really?” Feraligatr interjected. “You close a battle victoriously against one of the Elite Four, and you don’t tell us about it?”
“Fine,” grouched Salamence. “Mega Evolved, one-shotted a Mega Beedrill with Zen Headbutt, then one-shotted a Muk with Zen Headbutt as well. Satisfied?”
“And you got back in a snit too. Just what’s Koga doing out there?” Feraligatr asked.
“Not him. Her. Rarity,” Salamence pressed.
Mismagius said, “She was just explaining to us how some Pokémon Koga used tried to take Rapidash away from her, but she didn’t know how the move Attract works.”
“A broken heart is no justification!!” Salamence yelled.
Feraligatr slowly turned. Suspiciously he said, “That tone worries me. When you said this Salazzle ‘got what she deserved,’ what did you do?”
Rarity frowned, taking a step back. She said, “I let her have it. Popped her good.”
“You did way more than ‘pop her good,’ Rarity!” Salamence spat.
“Not that we’re gonna find out more right now,” Feraligatr grumbled as a light flashed over Rarity’s head.
A moment later Rarity found herself back in the regular world. There stood Aengus, tending to his in-ball Pokémon with the array of healing items he kept on-hand. With a sigh she stood beside him, and said, “I apologise for my outburst earlier.”
Aengus turned and gave her a long hard look. Still silent, he resumed healing the rest of his party. Her ears flattened as her face and shoulders drooped. After another moment, she sadly asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
“Keep your head on straight, like I said,” Aengus snapped as he stood up. “I had concerns, wondering if I could keep my own emotions in check, but it seems the one I was hoping to keep me levelheaded was the one that needed to be watched. I should have tried to do some more to warn you about that move, but the point remains, what you did was way too much.”
“You’re right,” Rarity sighed as she turned back. “I should go apologise to Koga.”
“No!” Aengus urged, pulling her away from the door to the previous room. “Don’t get near Koga ever again, for your own safety.”
Rarity shot him a perplexed face. She stood there, mulling it over for the better part of a half-minute. Then her eyes widened as she gasped. Still with fully-opened, unblinking eyes, she softly pleaded, “How bad did I hurt her?”
Aengus frowned. He hesitated, then said, “If you want, we’ll talk about it later, but right now I need you focus on the task at-hand, or ‘at-hoof’ if you’d rather.”
“Um....”
Aengus knelt down and held Rarity close. He said, “If it happens again, it happens. Don’t worry about it, because it happens from time to time. Don’t try to repeat it, obviously, but if it happens again, shake it off. Stay focused on the win. We’re almost done here.”
“Yes, of course,” she said, almost as a knee-jerk.
A worry sank deeply into her gut at the lack of direct answers about what occurred. There were not many possibilities here. One filled her with dread and guilt. But she had to bring her mind back into focus. Aengus stood up and led her down the hall. As they neared the door, he asked, “Are you going to be okay?”
“Whether I am or not, it’s a little late now,” Rarity answered. “You have a monkey to get off of your back.”
“Yeah,” he said grabbing the doorknob. “Hope you’re ready...Bruno....”
Devontae opened the door to the spectator seats above Bruno’s chamber. Vents above the main chamber prevented the seating from becoming part of a convection oven. He descended some stairs to the first row of seats. Looking up, he gasped; an alto voice said, “Have a seat, Devontae.”
Sitting there was a tall and slender woman nearing middle age. Hers was a pale complexion. She wore a yellow tank with an azure shrug, white capris, matching azure flats, and an ornamental belt. Her hair was just past shoulder length, pale blue with thick grey streaks in three places. She bore a satisfied grin as she patted the A13 seat beside her.
He pursed his lips, shrugged, and said, “Uh...okay.”
Taking his newly assigned seat, Devontae stared down at the scene below. Aengus had not arrived yet. Bruno sat in the middle of the room, intently watching something on a small TV. A sigh left Devontae half-heartedly. He shot the woman next to him a sideways glance, then resumed looking forward at the nothing-at-all happening below. A crowd cheering whispered from the tiny television set, quickly followed by a collective groan of disappointment. Devontae shrugged, and set the bucket of popcorn in his lap, absentmindedly munching on a few kernels. Without even looking over, this woman reached over and grabbed some popcorn. Devontae looked down at the hand in his food, then at its owner, then back at the hand, furrowing his brow. Taking a bite, she happily sighed, “Oh, good. I was hoping you got extra butter.”
“What the...what...what??” Devontae sputtered, moving the popcorn out of her reach.
The woman looked him over with an amused grin. She asked, “You do know who I am, right?”
“Um...Karen, the Champion, yes?” Devontae answered hesitantly.
“That’s right.”
Devontae’s eyes darted between arbitrary points around her that pointedly were not any part of Karen as he muttered, “I, uh, thought you had longer hair?”
With a chuckle Karen said, “I did, but it was too much of a pain to keep dealing with every morning.”
A crunching behind them made Devontae turn. There stood Koga, eating some of his popcorn as well. He commented, “I concede the point. It is better with extra butter.”
Devontae sat agape, his head cocked slightly to the left, his left eye partially squinted, and his right wide open. Karen took her index finger under Devontae’s chin, and closed his mouth. She looked up at Koga and said, “Empty bellies never help anything. Sit down. Have a bite.”
“Too old for this kind of junk food,” Koga grumbled as he sat down on the other side of Devontae.
Devontae looked at Koga up close. He blinked, then turned and looked back at Karen, and then to Koga again. Then he stared straight ahead, unblinking, and shrinking at the shoulder. Karen took another handful of the popcorn and ate them a few at a time. Koga sighed through his nose, and grunted, looking down at Bruno. She swallowed the last of that handful, leaned forward to look around Devontae, and asked, “Are you going to be okay?”
Koga did not turn, but frowned as he softly said, “In time.”
“It’s good you’re being honest about this,” answered another man’s voice behind them. Devontae twisted around, and his face faltered. Taking the seats behind them were Will and Surge. Devontae blinked twice, with a lengthy gap between, before just facing forward again. As he sat, Will continued, “You know I’d call you out if you lied.”
“Hey, could you pass the popcorn?” Surge asked with a smile. With a tiny whimper, Devontae forced a tight-lipped grin, despite his eyes going wide, holding the bucket aloft. Surge took it with both hands and swiftly tucked in. After a few chomps, and without swallowing, Surge joyfully commented, “Ooh! Extra butter!”
Will said, “No thanks. Nothing but fat and empty carbs.”
“Delicious fat and empty carbs,” Surge corrected him, chomping on some more.
“If you say so,” Will quipped, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
Koga grumbled, “So great we spent all that money to have these seats installed when they’re almost never used. I think this is the most we’ve had up here at once.”
Devontae folded his hands in his lap and did not move anything except his eyes. A moment passed, with no sound except Surge eating Devontae’s popcorn, and the occasional noise from Bruno’s TV. A moment later, Surge said, “This isn’t making him feel at ease at all. May as well start before he winds himself up any tighter.”
“Ah hell...,” Devontae uttered under his breath.
“Do you know why we’re all here talking to you right now?” Karen asked bluntly.
Devontae opened his mouth as if he had something to say, stopped, tapped his chin a moment, and said, “Just a guess, really. It’s about what happened a few minutes ago, between Rarity and that ‘Salazzle’ Pokémon?”
“Right again, though that’s not all,” said Karen.
Devontae exhaled hard, long, and low, emptying his lungs as much as humanly possible. He shook his head, took a deep breath, and rationalised to them, “I tried to tell him she was losin’ it. She’s had a shitty day, got her nose busted by some young female throwing a full can of hairspray at her face, then...that.”
“She is not the victim!!” Koga snapped, glaring shurikens at Devontae.
“Look, brah, even you said Salazzle took things too far,” Devontae countered. “What the hell was all that? ‘Attract’ doesn’t have all that other crap attached to it!”
Calmly, Karen clasped Devontae on the shoulder and said, “She followed her orders. The ‘job’ for Salazzle was to mess with Aengus’s head, or Rarity’s. She showed herself as the more vulnerable of the two, making herself an easy mark. And Rarity definitely reacted, much too strongly.”
“The rest leaves questions of legal procedure,” Will said.
“Then where do I fit into this?” Devontae asked with a slight frown.
Surge said, “Your orders are to keep close tabs on the young Mr. Meagher, and the pony. Anything unusual or suspicious, we need to know immediately. If she’s a spy, scout, or vanguard, we must counter the threat.”
Devontae grouched, “Hey, she didn’t come here on her own! Aengus—”
“We know what he claims!” Koga barked. “Many of us don’t buy it!”
“And that is why we need you to monitor both brothers. Padraíg’s hybrid worries me more than Rarity does. If the hybrid indeed got the best of both worlds, none of us here could stop her,” Will said irritably. “Whose side is this hybrid on? Does she consider herself more pony, or Pokémon? More to the point, what happens if, in realising her power, she turns on Padraíg? She’ll make short work of the rest of his team.”
“And that begs the question if Princess Twilight could defeat this hybrid,” said Surge.
Devontae said, “He just arrived at university today, keeping his so-called ‘Trixie’ with him.”
“And he, Professor Elm, and Professor Oak all got straight to work,” said Karen. “My informants tell me Professor Rowan is on his way to New Bark Town, as are both Professors Juniper from Unova. That’s an awful lot of examination for one being to sit through. How many creatures are willing long-term lab rats?”
Sighing and shaking his head, Devontae muttered, “The curious, the ignorant, the desperate, and the well-paid.”
“Yes, precisely. So you understand, then, the unlikelihood of her willingness to stay,” said Surge.
“Yes, but, you said there was more,” Devontae said with uncertainty.
Karen nodded slowly. Will leaned forward and said, “Has it become evident to you that none of us are getting any younger?”
Devontae half-heartedly shrugged. “Grow old or die young. Life isn’t kind in the options it gives.”
Karen said, “While true, that’s neither here nor there. Point is, look at us. Go on, take a moment.” She paused while Devontae did as he was told. “Bruno, Will, and I have spent most of our adult lives here. So did Lance. I think that’s part of why he was so gung-ho to head for the World Elite Four. It might also explain why Lorelei left when she did. While it’s nice to have the title ‘Champion,’ it comes with a poignant boredom. Since Lance departed, I’ve not had a single battle. None. No one has made it to me.”
Devontae’s eyebrows shot up. Koga said, “Aengus’s battle was the thirteenth I’ve had since Karen became Champion. He will be Bruno’s third opponent in that time.”
Devontae exclaimed, “But that was eight months ago!”
“We’re intricately familiar with that fact,” said Will. “At least one challenger has come every week, though it’s usually two or three. The most we saw in a single week? Six. But less than ten percent of them made it past the good colonel, here.”
Surge grinned and said, “Of those I lost to, you were the only type specialist. The only. And that includes the four Ground-type specialists I sent packing.”
Pursing his lips, Devontae nodded slowly. He mused, “Sounds like y’all are building up to offering a spot in the Elite Four, if I tattle on Aengus and Paddy.”
“Perceptive,” said Koga with a nod.
Devontae said, “Have to be, growin’ up in the inner city.”
Karen pointed around, saying, “Everyone here, all of us, including Bruno, have a criminal past.”
Devontae hesitated, then answered, “You do?”
Surge answered, “Yeah. You too. Nice attempt to deflect, but not enough.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Devontae said quickly, crossing his arms.
Karen snickered. With a small grin she said, “Oh, we know about the burglaries and heists, and how quick you are to point to your nine Not Guilty verdicts. But we also know you got away cleanly from a few. That bank job was something.”
Sweat beaded on Devontae’s forehead. “Still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Had a Flareon use Dig to get under the Goldenrod First Savings Bank’s safe, then with carefully controlled uses of Ember melted away at the safe’s bottom, clear out the drawers overhead, then use Dig again to fill the dirt back in behind you? That was brilliant. Giovanni would’ve loved to have had you back then,” said Surge.
Will cut Devontae off before he could deny anything else, saying, “As I said when I got here, I know when people are lying. You knew perfectly well what we’re talking about. You’d fit in well here.”
Karen said, “Not that this is something you can just decide on the spot. We’ll give you some time to mull it over, but don’t wait long.”
Devontae’s shoulders slumped as he sighed an overwhelmed sigh. He scratched at his goatee, then asked, “When do you want an answer?”
“Before I begin some time off. I’ll be on leave the day after tomorrow,” said Koga.
Surge and Will looked at each other for a moment. Then Surge shrugged, to which Will put his hands out as if he were pushing a large box while looking away. Devontae studied Koga’s face carefully. Koga returned the gaze with a steely expression, unwavering and unblinking. Devontae frowned, but still looked Koga in the eye. Guardedly and slowly, he answered with even syllables, “I’ll have your answer by then.”
Below, a blast of hot air rushed over Rarity as Aengus opened the door. Rarity took in the view. Diamond-plate steel made up the floor. A considerable drop was on either side of a thin causeway leading to the battlefield. Rarity carefully peered over the edge, but very briefly. Some molten and bubbling red-hot stuff lay below. Rarity hurried and stuck close to Aengus until they reached the battlefield. An anatomy lesson of human musculature sat in the middle of the field, concentrating on a small television.
Looking at the screen, Aengus raised an eyebrow and asked, “They’re still not done??”
The man looked at him and nodded. As Rarity walked up to the technological moving picture box, this man said, “They’ve run through the whole of both bullpens, and iced down and relaxed their starters, who’re back on the mound.”
Aengus patted Rarity on the back and said, “A baseball game between overpaid men, representing Celadon City for one team and Slateport City for the other.”
Rarity was unsure what to make of what she saw. She did not understand this was a game that had gone on for way, way, way too many extra innings, nor that the home team was down by two runs. All she saw was sudden interest on Aengus’s part. Rarity gazed on the symbols and numbers at the bottom of the screen, and then the people seemingly scattered almost at random around a field of dirt and peculiar-looking grass. Out of ideas, she turned to ask the enormous human man sitting cross-legged on the floor.
The man’s eyes turned in their sockets toward her for a brief second. No answer came. A moment later, Aengus snarked, “Gee, Bruno, the least you could do is give her a response.” Turning to Rarity, he said, “Twenty-fifth inning, which means the score’s been tied at the end of each inning since the ninth. Six runs to four, with Celadon City looking to extend their lead.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Sounds dreadfully boring.”
Bruno tucked the TV under a panel in the floor. He stood up with some flexing of his many muscles across his broad and tall frame. With a quick look at both of them, he walked over to his side of the field. Bruno loudly called out, “You are not here for pleasantries, Aengus! Neither is the pony! Her power, show it to me!”
Aengus took his remark with a dark smile. “If that’s what you want, you’ll need to work for it! Salamence, it’s show time!”
“Pangoro, let’s go!” Bruno yelled back.
An angry panda bear with a bamboo sprout sticking out of its mouth materialized in front of Bruno. It roared and flexed at Salamence. Rarity looked up at Aengus with some alarm. He was glaring, a livid scowl of defiance and revenge with gritted teeth. Bruno stared back with his own hardened expression. Above, Devontae muttered, “Thought the hate was one-sided, since Aengus could never beat him.”
Koga said, “He sent me a note before I got here, saying he would give it his all for Salazzle.”
Devontae nodded, pulling his expression tight with slightly widened eyes. Karen said, “Word of such events passes between us very quickly.”
“Pangoro, use Crunch!” Bruno ordered.
Aengus sneered as he pulled out his pocket watch, ordering, “Fly, Salamence!”
After the spinning lights and the ball breaking open, Salamence took off toward the ceiling. And the Pangoro lunged forward and took a big bite out of the air in front of Aengus, Koga muttered, “Look at her, standing there like nothing just happened.”
“She might not know,” suggested Devontae. “I bet Aengus told her to stay focused and not worry about what all went down, especially since he put her back in her ball so quickly.”
Karen added, “Or she could be a downright ruthless bitch. Heaven knows we have plenty of those in our world. With these ponies’ emotions so surprisingly human-like, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have their own such women, or mares I suppose would be the correct term.”
“She’d have to be pretty stupid to not figure it out on her own,” Koga scoffed.
“Sure seems that’s the way it is too often with the pretty ones: thick as a brick,” Will sighed.
Devontae listed to his left, dropping his left cheek into his left hand, setting his left elbow on the armrest. He muttered to himself, “This must be what it’s like to root for the visiting team.”
“Crunch, again!” Bruno ordered. Salamence turned and dove right onto Pangoro’s head. Pangoro staggered backward, both of its paws over its face. It shook its head, rubbed between its eyes, and then dashed forward leading with its jaws. Biting down on Salamence’s neck, Pangoro could not get a good grip with its mouth. It let go, and wobbled back to its spot before Bruno.
“Use Dragon Claw, Salamence!” Aengus yelled.
Bruno ordered, “Pangoro, use Aerial Ace!”
Rarity looked at Salamence’s mega-evolved form, with its legs tucked inside the carton-like structure, then back at Aengus. She raised an eyebrow, looked back at Salamence, and asked, “With what claws? They’re stuffed so tightly in its...whatever you want to call that thing...that they’re stuck.”
Salamence zipped forward, raking Pangoro with its unbound rear claws. As it fainted, Aengus smirked, “That’s how.”
“Fine, I get it...,” Rarity grumbled.
Bruno threw a ball with a wicked smile, hollering, “Steelix, let’s go!”
Karen smiled and said, “This ought to put a dent in Aengus’s team.”
“So certain?” Devontae asked.
“Bruno’s had an affinity for Onix and Steelix since he was young,” Will said. “That one there may be the mightiest Steelix in the world.”
Rarity looked up in horror as an enormous ironclad snake with a few fin-like projections appeared, roaring specifically at her. It continued glaring a moment longer. Aengus muttered, “Some things never change.”
“Steelix, use Ice Fang!” Bruno yelled.
“Crap...!” Rarity groaned.
“Fire Fang, Salamence!” Aengus answered.
Bruno turned his left wrist over, facing the palm upward. A multicoloured crystal sat on the wristband, which he pressed on with his thumb. The whirling light came, as did the ball around Steelix. Once both were gone, an even more enormous metal snake had come. Its head looked like it belonged on the end of a titan’s shovel, with protruding serrations along its lower mandible. Iron shards circled around its “neck” in small groups, evenly spaced, floating a metre and a half from its body. The fins were now crystalline, and every other segment now had cerulean hollow hexagons on a field of charcoal grey. Salamence did not seem to care, and raced forward, teeth at the ready. Fire erupted upon biting down. Steelix winced some when he took the hit, but showed no further indication of being struck. However, his counterattack nearly engulfed Salamence’s right side, making huge ice shards. He could barely remain airborne after that hit, looking like he could pass out at any moment.
“Again, Salamence!” Aengus yelled in frustration.
Bruno simply patted Steelix’s closest segment and nodded with a grunt. Steelix moved forward, arching itself up in a posture stolen from cobras as Salamence approached, albeit without a “hood” flaring out. He turned his neck to the left as Salamence tried to bite again. The countering frosty bite came right on cue from there, dropping Salamence back into his ball right away.
Rarity suggested, “This absurd-looking mega form bolsters its Defense considerably, yes?”
Aengus’s eyes lit up before a dark grin resumed. He said, “You’re right, but it does nothing help its special defense! Mismagius, you’re up!”
Upon emerging, Mismagius looked up at the colossal Pokémon across from her. She grouched, “And exactly what am I supposed to do against that?”
Aengus yelled, “Mismagius, use Mystical Fire!”
“Oh yeah, there is that, isn’t there?” Mismagius wistfully said to no one.
Bruno commanded, “Steelix, use Crunch!”
Strange flames surrounded and leapt from Mismagius, hitting Steelix all over. As it ended, he shivered, then struck like a cobra he had been mimicking. Mismagius was engulfed by Steelix’s mouth. A second later, the sparks slipped between his teeth on their way back to the ball.
Rarity frowned, and grumbled, “Didn’t work worth a hoot.”
“It’s whittling it down, but I shouldn’t have to throw this many at just the one!” Aengus grouched. “Excadrill, get ‘im!”
Bruno continued his stoic yet hostile stare as Excadrill emerged. Her eyes widened at her opponent, pulling the left corner of her mouth down and away for a moment. She grimaced uneasily at Rarity, then took a deep breath. Bruno yelled, “Steelix, use Earthquake!”
The floor underneath them twitched, tremored, and undulated as the two Pokémon used the same attack against each other. Loose plates in the floor rattled loudly. Aengus and Bruno struggled to remain standing, while Rarity copied Starlight’s self-levitating trick. Devontae was forced to wait before he could enjoy another handful of his popcorn, quickly placing the bucket’s shoddy paperboard lid. As the ground settled down, Steelix was breathing deeply and hanging his head. Excadrill had fainted.
“Tough old cuss, that one,” said Surge.
Aengus threw another ball, frustration and anger etching his face. He hollered, “Go Rapidash! Take this bastard out!”
Rarity’s shoulders dropped as he came out. Forcing herself to smile, she looked up at him. Rapidash looked back at her, looking hurt. He raised a hoof toward her, but markedly before he could touch, Bruno yelled, “Steelix, another Earthquake!”
“Rapidash, Flare Blitz!” Aengus countered.
Turning back to the battlefield, Rapidash said firmly, “Don’t think for a second she or the move ‘Attract’ could have changed how I feel about you.”
Rarity squawked when she tried to verbally respond, watching him run full speed at Steelix as the fire enveloped him. Tears escaped her again. As he ran over his opponent, Steelix twitched once, and collapsed to the floor enough to make the room shake with a reverberating thoom. Rarity had not looked up in time to see his return. She felt a peck on the end of her nose. Looking up, she saw Rapidash standing majestically with a small smile. She inhaled deeply with a huge smile taking over her face. Before she could return any kind of affection, Aengus waved a hand between them and said, “Hardly the time, you two! Stay focused! I’ll give you two a moment before facing Karen, but we gotta win this first!”
Disappointment saturated Rapidash. Rarity nodded sadly as Bruno threw a ball and yelled, “Machamp, I choose you!”
Aengus frowned as he stared across at the light grey four-armed wrestler Pokémon. He muttered, “His strongest...well, it had to happen eventually. Use Poison Jab!”
“Cross Chop, Machamp!” Bruno answered.
Purple surrounded Rapidash’s horn as he ran at Machamp, poking away as his target seemed none too concerned about attempting to dodge. Before Rapidash could turn to go after his attack, Machamp struck with a knife hand chop from all four hands in unison, both the upper arms hitting at a forty-five degree downward strike, and both lower coming across horizontally. Rapidash grunted as he fell to the floor quickly under the strike, disappearing back into his ball.
Koga chuckled, “Everyone loves a good critical hit.”
“Unless you’re at the receiving end,” Karen added.
Aengus growled while Rarity looked around with a forlorn expression. Surge muttered, “My God, she lays it on thick....”
“Feraligatr!!” Aengus screamed as he threw the last ball on his belt other than Rarity’s empty one. Bruno remained as hardened as before as Feraligatr appeared. He looked back at Aengus, trying to smile as best he could, then looked at Rarity most concerned.
“The fight goes poorly, I see,” Feraligatr sighed. “This one’s already in your hooves.”
“Feraligatr, use Hydro Cannon!” Aengus demanded with fury in his eyes.
“Thunder Punch, Machamp!” Bruno answered.
Feraligatr opened his mouth, from which erupted a tremendous blast of water. Machamp barely got out of the way in time. Bruno, however, was not as lucky. With a cross block in front of his face, he slid a good four metres before stopping. Leftover water slopped against the wall and flowed back, draining over the side of the pit. A hissing sound echoed from below, along with a sudden drop in brightness. Devontae looked down toward the sound, but could not see past the balcony. He muttered under his breath, “So many better ways to mine obsidian than that.”
Karen scoffed, “We crossover only one thing at a time! Get that Minecraft reference out of here!”
Devontae complained, “Hey, it’s my first fic! Cut me some slack!”
“Damn O.C.’s,” Will commented, to much nodding from Koga and Surge.
Machamp ran forward with his dukes up. Feraligatr attempted to bob and weave, finding himself outmatched in the game of footwork and position against Machamp. A few jabs came from Machamp, but were not close enough to Feraligatr’s body to warrant the reactions he gave to the minor punches. Then immediately after a jab came the haymaker to the belly, a feint with the upper left fist followed up by an electrically charged punch from the lower left fist, lifting Feraligatr off the ground. He crash-landed six metres later, disappearing into pink sparks at once.
Smiling, Koga commented, “Everybody loves back-to-back critical hits, too!”
“Still not if you’re at the receiving end,” Karen snickered.
Devontae leaned all the way forward in his seat, an actual instance of someone only sitting on the edge. Wringing his hands, he murmured, “Come on, Rarity; show ‘em what you got....”
Tears welled up in Aengus’s eyes, still looking at where Feraligatr returned to his ball. Scratching them out of his eyeballs, he yelled, “Rarity!”
She exhaled hard, narrowing her eyes as she stepped up before Aengus. Across the way, Machamp beat his fists together with a hungry grin. Bruno’s face remained fixed, though his eyes belied the anger within. Rarity said, “Just me against four? Rainbow Dash would be loving this.”
“Machamp, use Ice Punch!” Bruno called out expectantly.
Aengus snarled, “Rarity, use Moonblast!”
Rarity had already charged her horn. She whispered, “Princess Luna, lend me your strength.”
Outside the windows, the moon seemed brighter. A ray came through the ceiling as if it were transparent, enveloped Rarity, and departed through her horn. Machamp’s eyes widened just before it hit, launching him into the far wall. Bruno shot her a wide-eyed, but angry stare as Machamp broke into a flurry of yellow sparks. Devontae clenched a fist with a grin, saying to himself, “Keep it going, girl.”
Bruno watched Rarity suspiciously. She returned his gaze with a firm poker face, evening out her breathing. He frowned, took another Pokéball and yelled, “Breloom, you can do it!”
Another kangashroom like the one from the SS Sakura coalesced in front of Bruno. Aengus said, “Grass and Fighting...not many with that combo...wait, Flying! Common weakness of Flying! Rarity, use Chatter!”
She looked back at him and asked, “Chatter? About what?”
“Anything!” Aengus answered, darkness overrunning his face.
Bruno said, “Breloom, use Mach Punch!”
The kangashroom zipped forward and punched Rarity in the chest. She yipped, but mostly from surprise by her tone. She growled for a moment, then forced a badly faked smile, and prattled in a faux-chipper voice, “Being a big sister is wanting to both hug and strangle your little sister at the same time! I love Sweetie Belle dearly, but that little filly can be such a ditz! Have you ever met anypony who tried to serve burned orange juice at breakfast? Seriously! My sweet little sister somehow managed to burn the orange juice! She didn’t even have it near a heat source that morning, yet she still served me a glass a char to wash down the char on my plate! Why would you do that!? Surely my sister could see the similarities, and the lack of colour at all, or so I would have thought before she tried to give me ash to eat! What kind of crash diet is that, anyway? Oh, I get it now! The nerve of her, implying I overeat! Never have I ever been called ‘fat’ like that, trying to say I needed to stop eating altogether to lose weight! And I dare say the insult was quite out of place, thank you! My trim and slender figure turns the heads of every stallion in Ponyville! I think she’s just jealous, because—”
“Stop; you got ‘im!” Aengus interrupted. Rarity halted her word torrent to see the kangashroom disappear in a cascade of pink sparks.
“No way...,” breathed Karen. Surge also sat agape.
Devontae fidgeted, both of his hands balled up and both thumbs resting against his chin. He sibilantly murmured, “Don’t let up! Keep the ball rolling!”
Bruno growled as Aengus sneered. Rarity stood poised for battle, with an unfocused aura about her horn. Bruno roared, “Kommo-o! Take out the pony!”
From the black and yellow Pokéball came a thin grey dragon. Many of its scales on its head and back were oversized, looking like round brass plates, or red or gray plates with brass rims. The end of its tail resembled a four-flanged mace, but with rounded striking surfaces. While it stood on its hind legs, its lanky arms were so long they nearly touched the ground. Laughing, Surge cheered, “Oh yeah! Pseudo-legendary time! Meet the big boy from Alola!”
“That won’t be enough,” said Will. “She’s got the type advantage.”
Aengus scratched at his chin with an amused expression. He said, “Is this what I think it is? Is it? Did you really find a Dragon/Fighting-type Pokémon!? Really!? Rarity, Moonblast this poor sod!”
“You got it, Aengus!” Rarity answered, a triumphant smirk slowly showing on her face.
Bruno yelled, “Clanging Scales, Kommo-o!”
Rarity took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the light through the ceiling came to her again. She opened her eyes to fire, finding the centre of Kommo-o’s chest with the beam. The dragon also found its way to the back wall as Machamp did moments before, and, too, returned to its ball in the same sort spark display.
Devontae jumped up, holding both fists over his head with straightened arms, shouting, “Yeeeaahh!!”
Karen stood up and began walking away. She said, “Looks like I finally get a battle. I’m headed to my chamber to make ready.”
“One more, Rarity! One more!” Aengus cheered full of palpable anticipation.
Bruno screamed, “Conkeldurr!! Fight as hard as you can until you faint!”
From the last ball came a large humanoid thing supporting its weight on a pair of broken-off concrete pillars. It appeared to have a red clown nose, small grey beard and hair, and excessively well-defined veins all over its body. Rarity noticed on its hip a small claw, just like the one the Dragalge had.
Bruno ordered, “Ice Punch!”
“Do it, Rarity!” Aengus said triumphantly.
“Indubitably!” Rarity answered as the light passed through the ceiling again. The ray formed, and lanced straight into Conkeldurr. He staggered back, gasping, dropping to a knee, straining, grunting, groaning...pushing himself back upright. He was out of breath, and wobbly, but he turned and gave Bruno a smile. Rarity could have sworn she saw a heart float out of the top of his head.
“Damn!” Devontae scoffed loudly.
Will smiled and said, “That’s the power of a close bond.”
Conkeldurr rushed forward, wrapping a fist in ice. Rarity jumped aside too soon, to which Conkeldurr adjusted his aim. Groaning and blinking rapidly, Rarity staggered back several steps. She shook her head, growled to herself, and stepped back to the line.
Bruno’s eyes lit up as he hollered, “Ah, you’re a Fairy! Conkeldurr, use Poison Jab!”
Aengus gritted his teeth as he barked, “Give him something he can’t dodge! Aura Sphere!”
As Rarity fired up her horn, she saw that claw on Conkeldurr’s belt flash white. He then twitched once, and suddenly was upon her, punching away with fists bathed in purple.
Her entire body felt it like was being pinched all over, inside and out, and she wobbled backwards. She tried with all her might to maintain focus, to fire off the attack, but she lost her grip on the magic. She began to topple over.
“Merde...,” she airlessly murmured as her vision greyed, tunneled, and went dark.
24 - Meanwhile, Presto Gets the Shock of His Life....
The portal flashed once, forming Princess Twilight Sparkle and eight little fillies, each an identical cornflower blue with near-white mane and tail, but all sporting different coloured eyes from the other seven. Every single Twixie oohed at the sights around them. Pointed right at them from all sides were several ballistae, some mounted on two-story platforms, some at ground level, and a third as many springalds. All of them were loaded and cocked, the ballistae with bolts, and the springalds with chemical or magical splashing projectiles. Beyond that stood of a sea of tents. Those nearby were the high-lofted canopy types. One had portable stoves; another had medical gear. A few had cords of thick lumber, large steel fasteners and fixtures, huge spools of rope, and stagecoach-sized blocks of stone carved into rectangular prisms. Past these larger tents were the massive rows of tents for two soldiers.
Twilight led the Twixies from the focus of potential carnage to a marked path between the heavy weapons and the large tents. A middle-aged unicorn mare in heavy armour and fancy epaulettes marched up to Twilight with a salute. Twilight returned it and said, “Good evening, General Lancer. Just...just how much else has gone up in the last week?”
“Your Highness, by order of Princess Luna, we have tripled infantry, sky squadrons, and magic teams,” General Lancer answered.
Twilight’s mouth fell open while her eyes narrowed. She barked, “We do not need seventy-five hundred soldiers here! Nor such heavy fortifying around the portal!”
Lancer suppressed a smile as she said, “Easiest way to hold a bottleneck is with overwhelming firepower. Princess Luna agrees.”
Pointing at the canopy tent with the lumber and large metal parts, Twilight demanded, “And why do we have so many trebuchets waiting to be built?!”
“Expeditionary campaigns, including city sieges, are not off the table. We stand at the ready to move in and take ground and towns, if needed,” said Lancer, puffing up her chest some.
Twilight facehoofed. “We’re not looking to start a war! We’re just trying to rescue Rarity and Trixie, and then part ways with this other world forevermore! There’s no reason to scar their land!”
“I agree, Your Highness. We’re not looking to start a war. But if they are, we will finish it,” Lancer answered smoothly. Twilight sighed, and without looking, telekinetically pulled three of the Twixies off of the nearby springald. She then did the same with a fourth before that hybrid put any real force onto the firing lever. Lancer scooped up two more that were headed for the ballista closer to her. The general grumbled, “And this is why we don’t let foals in forts.”
“Twilight!” called out a boyish soprano. Running up to them was Spike. The Twixies collectively groaned in disappointment as Twilight and Lancer took them away from the heavy weaponry. Spike blinked at the eight little fillies who all stopped their thrashing and whining one by one as they saw him. Many of them blinked. A few stared. All had their mouths rounded and slightly open. Almost cascading they closed ground on the little dragon, quickly resulting in a little flailing dragon full of little dragon exclamations as they tugged at his cheeks, fins, and scales, poking and prodding, each with an ooh.
Giggling, Twilight said, “I think they like you!”
“Well, I don’t like how they’re showing me that!” Spike complained as they drug him to the ground, still nudging inquisitively.
General Lancer said, “Your Highness, shall I summon some assistance?”
“No, but thank you. It’s easier with them piled up,” said Twilight as she walked over to the beleaguered Spike. With a magenta flash, Twilight, Spike, and all eight Twixies disappeared, rematerialising in the castle foyer.
“Wha-aaahh!! What in the world!?” Sweetie Belle shrieked startled, the tip of her left-front hoof stuck under the pile. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both could not halt their momentum, ramming Sweetie Belle.
Levitating the stack of hybrids and one dragon, Twilight ran for the downstairs, shouting, “Sorry, Sweetie Belle! I have to get right to work!”
The door slammed behind them. Sweetie Belle blinked a few times, then motioned her front hooves toward the kitchen. She stepped in, quickly followed by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. All three sat at the table. Sweetie grumbled, “With as much as Twilight teleports around, you’d think she’d leave a marker, or some warning to others where she’s about to show up!”
“Twahlaht did,” Apple Bloom insisted. “Dinnae ya’ see th’ circle? Th’ one etched inta’ th’ floor?”
“Anyways,” Scootaloo pressed, “like I was trying to say before Twilight returned, I still think it’s a terrible idea. We’ll never get through!”
Sweetie protested, “Yes we can, and yes we will! I can’t do nothing for my sister! How would you feel if you were in my hooves? Say, if it were Rainbow Dash that had been captured instead, what would you do? Or Applejack?”
“Well, Ah can’t really argue, when ya’ put it lahke that...,” Apple Bloom sighed.
“Yes, thank you!” Sweetie Belle said.
“I don’t know...it still sounds like a really, really bad idea,” Scootaloo said slowly.
“Think about it like this,” Sweetie began. “You know I love you guys like sisters, right, because we’re pretty much sisters?”
“Awe, Sweetah Belle, that’s so nahce! Ah love you both lahke sisters, too!” Apple Bloom squealed happily, pulling the other two into a bone-crushing hug.
Scootaloo stammered breathlessly, “I, uh, well yeah! Didn’t that...uh, didn’t it, ow, owww, go without saying?”
Apple Bloom let go, to the gasping and rubbing of ribs of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. After getting her wind back, Sweetie continued, “So if you two may as well be my sisters, and Rarity clearly is my sister, then Rarity may as well be your sister, too!”
Scootaloo looked between her friends a moment, then cocked her head to the right as she grouched, “What are you, a genealogist?”
“She’s got a point,” Apple Bloom said unenthusiastically.
Scootaloo said, “No she doesn’t! How did she come up with that?”
“Transitive Property,” Sweetie Belle answered proudly, standing up straight. Noticing her friends’ collective confused looks, she asked, “From the math lesson last week? Didn’t you two pay attention to Miss Cheerilee?”
Apple Bloom’s raised eyebrow left the question if she had private lessons from her sister, or if it ran in the family. Scootaloo grumbled, “I don’t care if it’s the next-door neighbour’s property! There are literally hundreds of soldiers by the portal!”
“Thousands,” Spike corrected her as he walked past the door without even slowing down, let alone stopping. “There are thousands of soldiers there.”
“There you go! Thousands!” Scootaloo answered.
“But I won’t give up on my sister!” Sweetie protested with a stomp.
Apple Bloom nudged Scootaloo and slyly said, “If not for Rarity, then let’s do it for the Crusaders! Ah saw at least half a dozen little Trixies there, and ain’t a one had a Cutie Mark!”
Scootaloo’s eyes widened as her mouth parted a slight grin, “A whole new world of ponies that don’t know their calling...? And we could set them all on their paths?”
“It’s our calling as Crusaders!” Apple Bloom cheered.
“Okay, that convinced me,” said Scootaloo. “But how are we gonna slip past all those troops?”
Sweetie began, “We could—”
“Wait, how could you have a guess without lookin’ at the camp?” interrupted Apple Bloom. “Ah say we do some scoutin’, then come up with a plan.”
“Then we can go Crusading where no Crusader ever dreamed we could!” Scootaloo said happily.
“Let’s do this, girls!” said Apple Bloom.
With a three-way high hoof, the others responded, “Yeah!”
The Crusaders dashed out of the kitchen and down the hall, out the castle’s front door. They did not turn and see Spike standing just outside the kitchen, face in hand, shaking his head slowly.
Twilight growled to herself as eight pony-Pokémon hybrids ran about, playing haphazardly around the lab. Several things had already found their way to the floor. Beakers of numerous sizes, an alembic, and three Erlenmeyer flasks had already been shattered. Twilight sighed to herself, “And this is why we don’t let foals in labs.”
As the door opened, Spike voice carried through. “Are you sure?”
Presto Lulamoon started through the door, but was looking behind him. “I’m quite certain I don’t want to know. But I have to, for my little Trixie. Someday, when you become a parent, you will understand. It’s something that can’t—”
“Grandpa!?” called out eight fillies in unified delight.
“...gr...gr...gran...pa...??” Presto echoed in broken breaths, eyes widening as he slowly turned.
“Yaaayy!!!” the Twixies screamed happily as they bum-rushed the stupefied Presto. He did naught but stand with a quaking jaw and twitching lower eyelids. They tackled him. Beneath the whooping and hugging lay an old stallion on his side, mystified and dumbfounded, with a body that would not go and a mind that would not stop. Eight nearly picture-perfect copies of his daughter before her first day of school showered him with fondest greetings, adorations, and laying out their hopes for him to provide playtime, stories of mother, and snacks. The voice was right, the build was right, as was the coat, mane, and tail, but the eyes were wrong; so it went for all eight of them. Eyes of ruby, eyes of gold, eyes of sapphire, aquamarine, turquoise, silver, yellow topaz, and almandine garnet, but no eyes of amethyst.
Presto’s motor control returned. With shaky effort he pushed himself back to his feet, and shaky voice asked, “How...could this have happened?”
“I don’t know yet,” said Twilight. “The team that investigated returned so horrified they could barely speak, even Starlight. She said she would write it down, but was too traumatised to say aloud. I hope to hear within the hour.”
“I believe that makes three of us,” said a stately voice in an upper alto range. The Twixies all oohed as a majestic white alicorn stepped through the door, with a flowing quadra-coloured mane, and golden regalia inset with deep purple. Presto immediately dropped to a prostrate grovel while the Twixies all watched transfixed and awestruck. Smiling, she said, “Good evening, little ones. I am Princess Celestia.”
Eight fillies clamoured for attention and hugs from the princess. She chuckled as she granted them their sought affection, until Twilight cleared her throat, not more than a length and a half away. “Celestia.”
“Ah, my faithful student! Good evening, Twilight! I trust you are well?” Princess Celestia responded amiably.
Twilight bit back on the bile. “A word alone, please.”
“But of course. If you all would excuse me, Mr. Lulamoon, little ones,” Celestia responded in the same tones as before. Princess Twilight led Princess Celestia to a side chamber with an opaque door. A table sat in the middle with illuminating crystals in a pair of overhead lights. Filing cabinets lined the walls. As the door closed behind them, Celestia began, “So, my dear Twilight, what is—”
Twilight reared up, shoving her forehooves into Celestia’s chest and slamming her against the wall. Through gritted teeth Twilight barked, “What the hell were you thinking!? Asking me to take the lives of foals!!?”
Agape and wide-eyed, Celestia blinked for a moment. Then her shoulders slumped as her face faltered and her gaze dropped. Softly and sadly Celestia said, “...there’s no good answer I can give.”
“Why don’t you tell me something I don’t know!?” Twilight growled, seething. Tears of rage began flowing from her eyes. “I can’t believe you! I can’t believe such a thought could ever cross your mind!! What ‘extenuating circumstances’ could possibly warrant such cruelty?! Are the few missing bits of our world’s magic so crucial we should forget who are for them!?”
Celestia offered no resistance as her chin and eyes dropped, staring downward. “...my sister and I have no excuse for what we said.”
“Nopony’s asking for an excuse!! I deserve to know what could possibly have gone through your heads!!” Twilight shrieked, striking Celestia across the face on “possibly.”
“Unnggh...!” Celestia yelped upon being hit. Her eyes started watering as she blinked, finding herself knocked down into a semi-sitting position, but with her back still to the wall. She murmured, “...let it out, Twilight...let it all out....”
Twilight struck Celestia again, and again, yelling, “Why!? What happened to the friendship lessons?! What happened to the kind and wonderful mentor!? Does that pony still exist!?! Who are you!!? Why would you ask me to do such a thing?!! WHHHYYY!?!”
Twilight dropped to her knees, too lightheaded to stand in the seemingly spinning room. Sinking deep into Celestia’s shoulder, she sobbed uncontrollably. Celestia winced and whispered, “Twilight....”
“Where’s the mare who taught me everything, the pony who I loved more than my own mom??” Twilight blubbered.
Celestia wrapped her forelimbs around Twilight, who continued to cry. Nose and mouth both bloodied, Celestia blinked hard. Twilight returned the embrace, crying even harder. Celestia whispered, “Just let it out, Twi...let it out.”
Celestia rocked Twilight side to side as she wailed, holding her as a mother would her own foal.
An hour and a half had passed before Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia emerged from the data hard copy archive room. Spike, Presto, and Sunburst had brought down cots, blankets, and pillows. All eight Twixies were asleep, as was Spike. The mess in the lab had been cleaned up. Presto and Sunburst sat beside a lab bench, with an unfurled scroll in front of them. Both of them appeared uneasy, though Presto smoldered. As they neared, Sunburst spoke, “Hey, uh, Your Highnesses. Starlight sent her report through Spike, what was that, about forty minutes ago? Forty-five, maybe?”
Presto’s voice was hollow and emotionally spent, “Don’t think that really matters much, when it arrived. That it did does. Have a read, Your Highness, Your Majesty. I just hope you haven’t eaten recently. It’s...pretty awful, what they did to my daughter.”
Twilight levitated the scroll over to her and Celestia. A few minutes passed. Celestia turned a little green in the face while Twilight blanched. They set the scroll down on the bench. Celestia shook her head, and said, “Used as breeding stock...unbelievable. All of that for just one perfect specimen?”
“And was...violated at least ten times to get there?” Twilight spat in disgust.
Presto said, “The most detestable part of it all is how many more times it could have taken. I would have liked grandchildren, yes, but...not like this.”
Twilight said, “And there’s still one that we don’t know where it is, just that it’s alive. Last one’s still with its ‘trainer.’”
“I’m happy that this ‘Blue Oak’ told us what’s going on. He really had nothing to gain by volunteering that much information,” said Sunburst.
Twilight said, “Avoiding a war falls under ‘something to gain,’ if you ask me. But yes, it did fill in the holes. Speaking of holes, we still need to get those last two.”
Presto shook his head as he said, “These ‘Twixies’ certainly act similar to how Trixie did at that age. I’d recognise that fearless curiosity anywhere. The more Trixie saw her sire’s and grandsire’s magic tricks, the more she tried to figure them out, along with everything else going on around her. She always hated it whenever somepony had one over her.”
“I presume we need to retrieve the last of them due to Clover’s Law of Magical Osmosis and Marelin’s Shifting Balance Theorem?” Sunburst asked absentmindedly, rubbing at his goatee.
Twilight nodded. “Those and the Sixth Law of Magical Stability.”
“Oh. Right. That one so rarely comes up,” Sunburst mused.
“So do the other two,” Twilight muttered under her breath.
Celestia frowned as she said, “There’s the more pressing matter of...let me just say I know of a hooffull of creatures that live in the Aether, creatures we do not want to get their attention by having an osmotic flow of magic and whatever power these ‘Pokémon’ have. Such a lingering flow between Equestria and the Pokémon world would most certainly get their attention before long. That’s the last thing either world needs. Should they pay us a visit, any lone one of them would make Tirek’s magic-stealing campaign look like a foal’s game of make-believe, and then turn around and do the same to the other world.”
A fitful silence ensued. Presto and Sunburst both stared without blinking. Twilight sighed fearfully, and asked, “The aforementioned ‘extenuating circumstances?’”
Celestia nodded. A pregnant silence followed while the two stallions exchanged confused looks. A moment later, Presto asked, “So what do we do?”
“Separate the pony from the Pokémon,” Celestia answered. “I have a solid idea on how to do just that; it was my purpose in coming today. Twilight, I do hope you have entropic jars on-hoof?”
“No magical lab is complete without them, for safety if nothing else,” Twilight said, furrowing her brow.
“How many, and what capacity?”
“There’s ten here, each rated at thirty-two kilo-Clovers,” Twilight said with an eyes-shut smile.
Sunburst’s mouth fell open. “Good grief, Your Highness! Even one of those is more than enough for an R&D lab! What in the world were you planning to do or try!?”
Twilight blushed and grimaced. Celestia spoke up before Twilight could respond, “No need to be ashamed over precautions, especially from your taste in experiments. Yours is no disgrace. Let’s just hope the ten jars are enough. Get some sleep, everypony. The hour grows late, and these little fillies have a serious decision to make in the morning.”
“Why not now, Your Majesty?” Presto asked.
“Two reasons,” Celestia began. “First, I think it’d be foolish for me to try my idea without checking it first. And second, we should not rouse sleeping foals and ask them to make a major life-changing decision. We wait until they are breakfasted.”
The following morning, Presto led the eight fillies back to the lab from the kitchen. Twilight and Celestia stood by a lab bench as they entered in an expected disorderly manner. Celestia smiled and shook her head as Sunburst and Presto moved to keep them in line. Spike stood at the door, his apron splashed with orange juice and milk, some of which had started curdling, with bits of cereal, toast, and biscuit batter unevenly distributed on his person. Closing the door behind them, he grouched to himself, “And this is why we don’t let foals in kitchens.”
Twilight said, “One thing you said last night about the ‘extenuating circumstances’ doesn’t add up.”
“Sure are badgering my sister’s choice of words,” Celestia snorted. “What’s confusing you?”
“If such a flow of energy between two worlds would quickly get their attention, why have these magic-eaters not come already?” Twilight asked. “There is a flow between Equestria and the world of Canterlot High.”
Celestia nodded and pleasantly said, “That is easily explained, my dear Twilight. Picture it like this: you’re in a yarn shop. Equestria is but one skein in a display bin of red yarn, and the end of our skein is touching an adjacent skein in the same bin. How likely are shop patrons to notice this, especially from across the store?”
“Patrons would have to be specifically looking for loose strands and standing over us to have any chance at all of spotting it,” said Twilight.
“Yes, exactly. Now imagine that end of our skein is instead touching a skein of blue and white marled yarn across the aisle, and that skein’s end is touching us,” Celestia said as the Twixies started down the stairs to the main level.
Twilight’s eyes lit up as she raised her chin. “Ah. That makes it pretty clear.”
The chaotic procession of Twixies had stopped in front of the princesses. Presto and Sunburst flanked their rears, vigilantly watching. Celestia took a step forward and cheerfully said, “Good morning, little ones!”
Sounding of a kindergarten class, they answered, “Good morning, Princess Celestia.”
Celestia began, “By now I’m sure each of you has learned that you are children of two worlds: your father is from the world of Pokémon where you were born, and your mother is from this world, Equestria. Each world has gifted you with a power, an ability to do great and powerful things.”
Presto winced at this choice of words, while Twilight pulled her lips taut, applying great effort to not roll her eyes. The Twixies, however, all cooed, “Ooooh!”
“Unfortunately,” Celestia resumed, “the reality is that you must pick one or the other, for there are forces at work beyond our control which insist that you cannot have both. I am sorry that this is how it must be; this is not what I would have chosen for all of you. It is not fair, it is not right, but it is how it is.”
Celestia paused a moment, giving the Twixies a chance to wordlessly look among each other. Celestia continued, “Princess Twilight and I will set you on whichever path you desire. Choose wisely, for once you decide, the other way is forever closed. What say you? Would you choose to be a Pokémon, and live in a world of adventure and competition where only the best can succeed, but friends are few and almost none, if any at all, know their families? Or would you choose to be a pony, and live in the close-knit bonds of love with family, friends, and community, but adventure is truly rare? Take a moment and think about what you want.”
A silent pause. The Twixie with golden eyes looked up and said, “I want to stay with grandpa!”
The others joined in, clamouring about “grandpa” over and over, voices shouting over each other. Presto took a sharp, jagged breath as a small grin curled his lips, looking downward.
Celestia suppressed a smile as she said, “Then it shall be so. Princess Twilight, let us begin.”
Late afternoon had come and was going when the portal flashed in The Great Marsh, while the rains just tumbled down. Twilight appeared alone, carrying a pair of large black jars with silver runes lining their lids and sides. She looked around, and with a grunt, catalogued new faces.
Dialga and Palkia looked to be playing some kind of two-on-two sport, but were partnered with something else. Dialga’s teammate was a large black draconic biped with red eyes, armour plates extending over its hands and past its fingertips, and a conic drill for a tail. Palkia’s companion had a similar body shape, but was white with blue eyes, covered with fur, but had no arms distinct from its wings, and a semi-mechanical tail as well. Both of them were shorter than Palkia by at least a metre, though Dialga’s partner was the shorter of the two. Other legendary Pokémon, as well as many denizens of The Great Marsh and the human researchers, had gathered as spectators, flanking the game but not directly behind either team. The sport looked like a strange cross between volleyball and football, played with a “ball” made from a downed tree detached from its thick, lower trunk, but no net. A series of stones marked the field of play, including a middle line. Mud coated all four players. Just outside the field of play at the central line stood a large, thin black stag with a blue neck and head, and multiple multi-coloured antlers. It made a sharp motion at the middle of the field. Dialga then smacked the tree with its neck like a baton. The white dragon-like thing dove and knocked the tree upward with its tail, to which Palkia jumped and hit it with clasped hands over his head. The black dragon dove for the tree, but got little more than his fingertips on the “ball” as it smacked the mud and rolled over the out-of-bounds line. Palkia and his teammate high-fived, then both crouched into a ready position as Dialga fetched the tree. The stag emphatically gestured toward Palkia and his teammate. Some of the Pokémon in the audience cheered while others groaned. The researchers continued taking notes.
Not far away, Princess Luna slowly walked with Arceus in discussion. Mew sat on Arceus’s back, while behind them floated Darkrai and Cresselia. With them was a new face, an oversized indigo bat with golden blades at the ends of its wings and tail, bone-white along the muscled part of its wings, and rosy-red eyes. Luna spoke to this new Pokémon about as much as she spoke directly to Arceus.
Giratina stared at some man-shaped Pokémon, brick red and teal, with tendrils twisting around. Neither one spoke a word, but the stare went on and on.
Flying a good ways up was Rayquaza and Ho-Oh, beside what at that distance appeared to be a dark red capital “Y.”
Under the canopy were Red and Blue, at the battle map. Blue spoke indistinctly as Red tapped on the map about halfway between Solaceon Town and Veilstone City as the crow flies. Sitting on Red’s shoulder was a small Pokémon, a bleached white tiny humanoid with a smile on its belly, and a star-like golden headdress with cerulean tags dangling off the tips, and a golden cape.
Blue looked up and walked over, saying, “Princess Twilight! The...situation has taken a...serious turn.”
“It was all pretty serious before. What happened?” Twilight asked as she set down the jars.
“Rarity, she...,” Blue trailed off. He pursed his lips, then said, “It may be quicker to just show you the video.”
Blue pulled out his PokéGear, and cued a clip of the battle between Aengus and Koga. Twilight watched on as Salazzle came out, and the pursuant insanity. She gasped in alarm at Rarity’s choice of shout at Salazzle, as well as what followed. Twilight twitched in shock as the rest of the battle played out after Rarity had been put back in her ball. The battle ended, and a doctor emerged from the side door. He walked over to the trainers, and spoke. Twilight heard him, and screamed. On the screen Aengus’s head fell into his hands while Koga shook all over, clenching his fists and stopping just short of striking Aengus, while Twilight continued screaming in horror. The doctor patted the teary-eyed Koga on the shoulder and walked away, clawing the tears from his own eyes as he removed his surgical mask. Blue shut off the screen as tears overtook Twilight’s face. She collapsed, murmuring, “Why, Rarity...?? Why would you do that?? How could you do that??”
Blue sighed through his nose as he slowly nodded. Applejack and Pinkie Pie ran to Twilight, hugging her. Pinkie’s mane had fallen flat before Twilight had arrived. AJ said, “Ah know, Twahlaht. Ah know. Ah can’t believe it either.”
Pinkie pulled them both in close, nearing sobbing. Blue knelt down beside them and asked, “Well, Your Highness, what do you want to do about this? This can’t be ignored.”
“I...don’t know...I need to think about it,” Twilight answered breathlessly.
“You may not need to think about it at all, depending on what Koga does,” Blue answered. “You may need to extradite her.”
Twilight, AJ, and Pinkie all gasped as their eyes shrunk to pinpricks. They looked between each other, unable to blink or breathe. A moment passed before Applejack, barely above a whisper, said, “Surely...surely you can’t really mean....”
“I’m sorry, but the facts are indisputable,” said Blue sadly.
“If her extradition is demanded, then I demand you extradite both Meagher brothers!” snapped Luna. She and the Pokémon with her all stood at the edge of the tent. “None of this would have happened if they had not abducted two of my citizens!”
“But the—” Twilight began, but was immediately cut off by a sharp gesture from Luna.
Blue frowned. “Look, I’m not saying what they did was okay at all, but in all fairness—”
“They, too, must go,” said Arceus plainly. Blue looked over at the Alpha Pokémon dumbfounded as he continued, “Justice demands if one guilty party is to be held accountable for their wrongdoings, so must all others involved.”
Mew nodded, as did Blue. He tapped at his PokéGear again while he spoke. “As I said, it remains to be seen. Right now, while I have both of you here, I think you need to see this, too.”
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight Glimmer had joined them. Luna asked, “What is it now?”
“The Indigo League, early this morning, crowned a new champion. His victory parade is to begin shortly in his hometown,” said Blue. He held out the screen for the others to see. “As such, I’ve already informed him that as his region’s new champion, he’ll need to come see me. But that’s not what you’ll find interesting. There’s his team.”
Luna’s eyes widened at one figure in the picture, then she growled. “Bring him. Now.”
A loud splash got everyone’s attention. Floating nearby was a large, blue Pokémon somewhat like a whale with broad front flippers, and red lines across its body. Its yellow eyes focused forward as Lugia lifted off from those watching the game, hovering in front of this newcomer. The rain increased. Fascinated, Blue said, “So then. Kyogre and Lugia...what will you two do?”
All eyes were on the two that grunted, growled, and yipped at each other. Tension lay heavy in the air. None could tell what was being said, or how, or to what end. A minute passed. Then the red parts of Kyogre turned pale yellow as its blue parts darkened. The rain accelerated.
“Crap!” shouted Blue as both Pokémon roared angrily at the other.
A focused burst of wind shot from Lugia into Kyogre, while Kyogre drew up a huge amount of water. Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos took off, holding position near Lugia as they, too, roared and powered themselves up.
Rarity’s eyes slowly opened with a grunt. A few sensations came to her quickly. The first was the blazing headache. Next was how stiff she felt. Third was a strong sense of bladder pressure! oh goddess, the bladder pressure...! Rarity forced life into the dead weight of her legs as she stood up and rushed out the bedroom door. She crashed into the abnormally close wall in such a narrow hallway. Shaking her head exacerbated the headache, but jarred her mind alert enough to remember this was Aengus’s parents’ apartment. To the left she went, hurriedly slamming the door behind her. With some struggle and careful edging of her lower half, Rarity managed to situate herself for the impending bodily function, albeit seated in a way that would doubtlessly make that crazed Lyra Heartstrings smile much too broadly. Outside the door, she heard Devontae’s voice called out, “She’s up, brah! And had to use it.”
Aengus’s voice followed. “Had to use...what? Oh. Right. One of these days I’ll remember that’s what you mean when you say ‘use it.’”
Rarity paid them no mind after that. Despite the tight fit between the wall and the vanity, and what she was doing, the feeling of physical release was magnificent. Truly stupendous. She sighed in relief, not in the least bit ladylike, nor did she care one iota about her tone. It was as if her body was rewarding her for taking care of business, a well-received reward that called for a moment to bask in its undignified glory. Finishing up, she muttered, “Thanks Celestia...my goodness....”
A quick wash up, and Rarity emerged. She squeezed through the hallway and out to the living room. Aengus sat in a papasan chair while Devontae had the middle couch cushion. Today Aengus wore a green zipped-up hoodie with white stripes atop the sleeves, blue jeans, and brown leather hiking boots. Devontae wore a hoodie and trainer pants of a strong, masculine navy blue, again of perfectly matched shades. The hoodie’s sleeves were a corn-yellow, as were his basketball shoes and athletic headband, also with an exact colour match. Around his neck were two gold chain necklaces. The longer chain had a fist-sized gold pendant of a cross with a shroud draped across it, the shroud studded with amethyst and the cross mimicking weathered wood with some letters etched at the top, but she could not read what exactly at that distance. Aengus looked her over, solace coming over him as he cracked a sad grin and shook his head. Devontae jokingly said, “Don’t you think you and the bathroom should’ve at least gone to dinner first?”
Rarity blinked and yawned, shaking her head. Once done, she grumbled, “Quit being disgusting!”
“Sorry, it was right there,” Devontae said.
Aengus got up and poured a tall glass of something purple, offering it to Rarity. She quickly drank it down, shoulders lowering in relief. His voice maintained a serious tone as he spoke. “You’ve been unconscious since that Conkeldurr lucked out with that Quick Claw. Been nearly a full day.”
Rarity nickered and rolled her eyes. “That’s what it was? We lost because of some item?”
“One that doesn’t fire with any consistency either,” Aengus grouched. “A spit of bad luck...still can’t believe that.”
After another long gulp, Rarity said, “I’m still feeling stiff from that move, darling. Does Poison Jab do this often to others?”
Aengus scrunched his eyebrows. Devontae looked at her, then Aengus, then back to Rarity. Aengus stood and walked over to her, cautiously saying, “No...never heard of that.”
Devontae scratched his chin, musing, “I suppose this explains what went down with—”
“We’ll get to that later,” Aengus said with unusually sharp and quick words. Devontae held his hands up in surrender. Aengus sighed, easing up. “Sorry. Just needing to stay focused. Now that I know what they have, a few adjustments to the team should land the victory. First off, Mismagius was slapped around without much contribution.”
Rarity said, “While I agree with that assessment, I don’t know what you would replace her with.”
“I do have a Chandelure, one that a Judge told me was ‘Outstanding.’ Solid attacking move set, too: Overheat, Nightshade, Energy Ball, and Confuse Ray,” Aengus reported.
“Replacing one Ghost-type with another, then,” Devontae said. “Why Chandelure in particular? Does it have a defensive subtype advantage, improved stats, why that one?”
Grinning, Aengus answered, “More forceful Special Attack, and statistically stronger on the whole. Subtype is Fire.”
Devontae’s ears and face perked up. “I am interested to meet this species.”
“What is this drink, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Something for dehydrated infants,” Aengus began. “We’ve found it also helps against hangovers. Given it was a Poison-type move that knocked you out, I thought this would help.”
“It certainly has. Thank you very much,” Rarity said, feeling like the drink whittled away at her headache. “Back to the task at hoof, you often voiced regretting not teaching Excadrill a Rock-type attack during your challenge.”
“Aye, and for this I think I know what to replace,” Aengus began. “I saw a distinct lack of Fairy-type Pokémon. While she loses the one same-type attack bonus for it, Metal Claw should be the one to go for the time being. Stone Edge should prove worthwhile.”
Devontae frowned. “Low accuracy. That seems to be the common thread with Rock-type attacks.”
“Most of the strongest moves have a drawback or two, that being a frequent theme. Wide Lens it is,” Aengus said. He raised an eyebrow. “Huh. I was expecting party adjustments to take a whole lot longer.”
“You could always switch out your Pokémon mid-battle, if one’s struggling,” said Devontae. “I don’t think I’ve seen you do that once.”
“Aengus! Why dinnae tell y’ mum y’ taught Padraíg so well?” Mrs. Meagher called out cheerfully. The three turned as she burst through the door with a broad smile and a tear in her eyes.
Raising an eyebrow, Aengus answered, “Um, not directly, mum. Maybe he learned by example...what brings this up? Was there a tournament among university kids or some such?”
“Ach, son! Why so coy? Y’ brother’s th’ new Champion!” Mrs. Meagher whooped.
Aengus became stiff and unblinking, his face stupefied. Rarity plopped into a sitting position. She stared agape at the news, before looking at Aengus, then Devontae, then back to Aengus. Devontae scratched at the side of his head. After a moment, he asked, “Ma’am, is this a joke? Paddy, crowned Champion?”
“He gave Karen a right-good wallopin’! And t’ think ‘twere you we thought woulda’ win it all!” Mrs. Meagher continued in the same tones.
Rarity managed to close her mouth and blink. She looked over at Aengus, who still had not moved. She asked, “I thought he was at school?”
Mrs. Meagher nodded. “Aye, he is, but no classes t’day, so he challenged ‘em at dawn!”
Looking at her eldest son, Mrs. Meagher slowly walked up to Aengus. He continued sitting there like a statue. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, to which he gasped and blinked. Rarity frowned and chided, “Back with us now?”
Aengus shook his head, and asked, “Is this for real, mum?”
“Aye, he’s by the Global Terminal buildin’, gettin’ ready f’ his Victory Parade,” Mrs. Meagher answered.
Aengus jumped out of the chair, running for the apartment door, calling, “Rarity!”
Rarity and Devontae both followed him out the door.
Ten minutes later they came to the large plaza with twin fountains in front of a tall building with an enormous antenna, built on a wharf over waters too shallow for ocean liners and container ships. Paddy spoke with some lady with a headset. Today he had on black shoes and trousers, a red windbreaker with that same insignia in white over the left side of the chest, and a black ball cap with the same design in white. The winds were strong, as were the tumultuous waves that smacked against the side of the wharf. Overhead was nary a cloud in the sky, horizon-to-horizon in all directions, and the sun streamed in coldly. Some men set up temporary walls with long feet, braced against the wind. Behind one such wall stood Typhlosion, Greninja, Pinsir, Espeon, a huge teal and taupe man-shaped automation, and green-eyed Trixie, wearing her mother’s hat and cape. She noticed Aengus, Devontae, and Rarity approaching, and sneered at Rarity. Once close, Aengus yelled, “Paddy!!”
Paddy turned. The lady there walked away, typing something into her PokéGear. With a smile Paddy said, “Ah, dear brother! So good of you to come! And Devontae, huh. Haven’t seen you in years. Been working out, I see.”
“While you’ve been stealing your brother’s thunder,” Devontae shot back with a frown.
Paddy shrugged. “Not exactly. He kinda fell short of the mark, again, so I thought—”
“You thought what!?” Aengus snapped, as he clicked all the balls on his belt, summoning the rest of his team. Feraligatr was on Aengus’s left, Rarity on his right, and Rapidash to her right. Pokémon on both sides quickly formed opposed melee lines.
“Oh my. Touchy,” Paddy chuckled. “After not hearing anything about a new champion, I thought I should try my luck on a day like today, when I don’t have any classes.”
Aengus growled, “Even though I’ve been working for this for years?!”
“And still didn’t make it. One of us had to secure mom that pension and financial security, right? That was what you’ve touted all these years, right?” Paddy answered pointedly.
A gust of wind pressed clothes, hairdos, manes, and tails toward the mainland for a moment. Rarity said, “I don’t think it was your place, though. You have your education to pursue; you should have let Aengus seek the Championship without butting in.”
Paddy gave Rarity a short glare before turning back to Aengus. “As I was saying, mom and dad need not worry about money anymore. So...why are you upset?”
Aengus snarled, “Even though this was my dream!”
Paddy growled back, “Yes! Did you ever think about how what you were doing had an effect on me!? Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, I’d like to be known as something other than ‘Aengus’s little brother?’ Did that thought occur to you even once!?”
“You are known as yourself, not attached to me!” Aengus roared. “You’re a university student! The only one ever in our extended family!”
“Yeah, and I got to hear how ‘Aengus’s little brother is going to university’ among the town’s small talk!” Paddy retorted. “At least they all now know I’m the better trainer!”
A wave splashed those closest to the water. Devontae said, “Look, brah, why do you need to prove it so much?”
“To get it through his head,” Paddy said. “To end his haughty banter, stop him looking down his nose at me day in and day out, like he was some aristocrat and I but a peasant. And to keep him from spouting how great he is all the time. That’s the worst part of it all.”
“Yet you tried so rarely to catch new Pokémon. You didn’t even try to reach for a Pokéball against a Blitzle or a Zebstrika until you had seen at least a dozen of them!” Aengus said.
“Fifteen of them, to be precise,” Paddy smirked.
“Exactly how does that make you a better trainer?” Aengus asked abusively. A wind-breaking wall lurched toward the building after another wave struck. Worker men pushed it back.
“Why should I bother with ones that aren’t any good?” Paddy asked in turn. “What’s the point in catching a Pokémon if it can’t compete?”
“Actually, I do,” Paddy said. “You knew why I took Trixie to the Solaceon Daycare. And you ought to know why I suggested you do the same with Rarity.”
“Perfection, I know,” Aengus said, rolling his eyes.
“Yes, but you didn’t listen,” Paddy said, gesturing with an open palm facing upward. “Were she a Pokémon, I would have told you she has decent potential overall.”
“Wait, what??” Devontae interjected, his eyes widening.
Paddy continued, “That’s my judgment, and it is final!”
Aengus stared in disbelief. “...you can’t be serious.”
“Incidentally, dear brother,” Paddy continued, far too pleased with himself. “I will tell you her best potential lies in her physical Attack, and her Special Defense. Those can’t be beat.”
“Unbelievable,” Aengus blurted, shaking his head slowly as the wind seemingly eased, from another temporary wall going up.
“But...her vitality...it’s pretty dismal, you know? And how does she make it through battle with this kind of physical Defense?” Paddy finished.
Aengus frowned as he took a step forward. “How long have you been able to do this?”
“Since I was nine,” Paddy said flatly. “Remember that Sunkern? Did you think maybe there’s a reason I liked it so much? If you—”
Rarity interrupted, “I don’t much appreciate your talking about me as if I were not here.”
Paddy glowered at her. With the same sour face, he turned to Aengus and said, “Not comfortable with her around. And I can’t believe you still want her on your team.”
Rarity scoffed, “Why, you inconsiderate—!” She growled what could have been words, and should have been words, but were not. A crashing wave did not assist in her vocal coherency.
“Why don’t you get her out of here before she kills something else?” Paddy said flatly, maintaining eye contact with Aengus.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “I kill it with fashion, and my chic designs, but those aren’t here.”
“Did you forget about Koga’s Salazzle?” Paddy turned toward her.
With a wave striking the wharf behind her, Rarity spat, “She got what she had coming. You don’t need to exaggerate.”
Paddy’s mouth fell open as his eyes widened. His Pokémon looked between themselves, horrified. Green-eyed Trixie bared her teeth at Rarity, scraping at the ground with her front hooves. Paddy barked, “‘Got what she had coming!?’ What the hell!?! You think your jealousy justifies murder!?”
Rarity had her turn for a horrified reaction. Scandalised, she yelled, “What!! ‘Murder!?’ You’ve really got some gall, accusing me of that! I’ve never dreamed I’d ever be so slandered ever in my life!! Seriously, Aengus, where did he come up—”
Rarity stopped when she saw the long, sad look at Aengus’s face. He looked down at the ground with a defeated expression. Paddy’s Typhlosion sidled close to Paddy, grabbing him by the windbreaker and tugging him closer, looking up at him with a wide-eyed shakiness. Rarity’s eyebrows rumpled closer together as Paddy scratched his Typhlosion behind the ears, and whispered, “Don’t fear the reaper, little lady. I won’t let her get you, too.”
Rarity leaned downward, looking up until Aengus’s gaze met hers. She spoke with concern in her voice, “Aengus, you need to set your brother straight on this.”
Paddy scowled at Aengus. Disbelief and disappointment marinated his words. “She didn’t know?” He paused, then continued in the same tones, “You didn’t tell her? Why not? This is hardly the time, place, or way for her to find out.”
Rarity pawed at Aengus side, pleading, “Aengus...Aengus, this isn’t funny....”
Aengus stared at the wharf underfoot as a large wave splashed hard, sending water up to their feet. He quietly said, “I know. No one’s laughing.”
Rarity’s shoulders sank as her breathing accelerated. She looked around wide-eyed and she desperately begged, “Aengus...please tell me...tell me it’s just a misunderstanding...that she just fainted....”
Rapidash looked away, a hollow expression overtaking him. Aengus spoke barely loud enough to be heard. “You were so focused on the task of winning the championship, both after the battle with Koga and when you finally woke up. I was waiting until we were on the way back to Pastoria, somewhere quiet, to break it gently. I’m sorry; I should’ve said something sooner.”
Rarity involuntarily backed up, ridden with deep gasping fast breaths, leaving her chest rapidly rising and falling. She shook as her eyes darted everywhere, held as wide as she could physically open them. She sputtered, “But...but...there’s no...it’s impossible...she couldn’t have...there’s no way that...you...you said Pokémon moves can’t kill...!”
“You’re right. Pokémon moves can’t kill,” Paddy said. “But, as you’ve so often pointed out, you’re not a Pokémon.”
“What’re you getting at?” Devontae demanded.
Rarity laid herself down on the wharf, both of her forehooves on her head while she whimpered in terror to herself, still tremouring and not blinking. The tears had begun. Paddy said, “We should’ve figured this out sooner. She doesn’t know a single Pokémon move because she’s not a Pokémon. Sure, she knows plenty of spells that resemble Pokémon moves, but proper ones? None at all.”
Aengus demanded, “You gotta be kidding!”
“That shotgun-blast of gems from the floor, on the ship here? Against Alder’s Volcarona? Thinking about that, after Ho-Oh set me straight, raised my suspicions about how she could know so many ‘moves,’ since that’s a huge deviation from Power Gem,” Paddy said. “When I said something to Professor Elm, he quickly rang up Professor Kukui of Alola, and sent him the video. Since Pokémon attacks are Professor Kukui’s specialty, he could instantly tell what she did was no Pokémon move. He was the one that pointed out to us how her horn glows every single time she does anything in battle. So no. She doesn’t know a single Pokémon move. It does explain why she appears to know so many, though, and how she seemingly learned them at random intervals.”
Aengus stared vacantly at Paddy. Lost for words, he murmured, “Oh...I, uh...guess that explains a few things....”
“We should have just gotten right back on the ship and taken her home as soon as Ho-Oh eliminated any doubt,” Paddy said sadly, shaking his head. “Although there was no conceivable way to foresee it at the time, the madness going on in Sinnoh is our fault. We may end up paying dearly for what we’ve done, and we’d deserve it, too.”
“But...but..,” Rarity sputtered on the ground, still hyperventilating.
Paddy turned to her with a glare. “The gathering of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, paired with the numerous military pony patrols, have left the residents of Sinnoh terrified, many unwilling to come out of their doors! Rumours from abroad whisper of armies mobilising, preparing to preempt invasion! And here, you ponies have injured every single Pokémon you have faced in battle. All of them!”
Aengus shook his head agape. “What in the hell...?”
“They found a Buizel with a bad concussion just east of Pastoria City within an hour of us leaving. Volkner’s Jolteon has a sprained ankle from her version of Play Rough. Rajni’s Pyukumuku and Breloom are both slow to respond to anything now, and her Flygon had to be treated for frostbite. Speaking of frostbite, Princess Twilight Sparkle gave that to Cynthia’s Garchomp, as well as need for braces on both ankles and its neck. Do I need to keep going?”
Rarity pawed at Rapidash’s side, pleading, “Rapidash...please...please don’t—”
He twisted himself out of her reach and took a step away, muttering, “I want nothing to do with a killer.”
Rarity sobbed as the waves roared. Paddy sighed in relief and said, “Good, good, at least he’s safe.”
Aengus held his arms up and shook his head. “Wha...??”
“I rather like that Rapidash of yours, Aengus. I’m glad he’s not in a bad situation,” Paddy answered. Windsocks behind him pulled taut and horizontal for a brief second.
“‘Bad situation!?’ Have you no end to your tirade?!” Aengus demanded.
“Eventually,” Paddy answered. He walked over to Rarity and knelt down in front of her. She looked up from her crying to see him tapping at his PokéGear. He said, “About Salazzle, I think you need to see exactly what you did to her.”
On the screen popped up a medical report in a semi-pictographic alphabet. Rarity blinked, still shaking, and shook her head. Aengus said, “She doesn’t know the language, Paddy.”
“Fine, I’ll translate,” Paddy scoffed. “‘From an unknown attack resembling the move Earth Power, Salazzle suffered massive injuries that led to her passing away from internal bleeding. Every rib was broken, eight of them in two places. Her left femur suffered a greenstick fracture, nearly splitting the bone in two lengthwise. Salazzle also had a ruptured liver. Primary source of internal blood loss was from a seven millimetre rupture of the ascending vena cava at the L1 vertebrae. Salazzle lost consciousness two minutes after the injury and suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest thirty seconds later. She was pronounced dead three minutes later when a PET scan was negative.’ That’s what you did. You killed her.”
Rarity cried harder, but managed to get out, “But...I never meant that! I didn’t mean to....”
“You didn’t mean to kill her? Is that a bandage which makes everything all better? Does that mend Koga’s broken heart over his dear friend’s death? Do you think that makes a difference at all? It doesn’t!” Paddy snapped back.
“I...I...,” Rarity began, but could get no further.
“Don’t even. And don’t deny you meant to hurt her. I saw a recording of the battle, and heard it in your voice! You wanted her to suffer, didn’t you?” Paddy demanded. With closed eyes, Rarity mournfully nodded as her sobs got louder. Paddy stood up as he said, “Well, there you have it. In a flurry of passion, you lashed out with intent to harm and Salazzle ended up dead from it. That, point in fact, is murder.”
Rarity gasped breathlessly as her eyes shot open, pupils all-but invisible. Still hyperventilating, her breaths became ragged and broken. She continued laying on the wharf as another large wave crashed, mostly drenching her. Wispily she breathed, “I’m...I’m a...a....”
“A murderer. You are a murderer, Rarity, and that’s a fact. One you’ll have to deal with the rest of your days, whether you escape Koga or not,” Paddy said firmly and sans forgiveness. Rarity passed out, without her signature melodramatics.
Aengus waited for another wave’s crashing to quiet down, then snapped, “What do you want from her?”
“Honestly, I don’t know, now that she knows the truth. She’s left me in a bit of a predicament, since these kinds of decisions fall to the Champion. I’m open to realistic suggestions,” Paddy answered. Frowning, Paddy knelt back down, and pulled a stoppered test tube out of his inside coat pocket. Within was a white powder, browning toward the bottom. He unstoppered the tube and wafted it around Rarity’s nose. As Rarity came to, he sarcastically muttered, “Never hurts to go unprepared.”
Rarity blinked, then her eyes shot open as she looked at Paddy. The hyperventilating resumed. Aengus growled, “So you thought she should be emotionally shattered? Wondering how much she can take? What’s that gonna accomplish? Oh, right! This shows how you’re the better trainer!”
“No, that I beat Bruno without having one of my Pokémon knocked out does! You’re, what, naught and eight against him?” Paddy smile contemptuously. “That’s pretty pathetic. I didn’t think he was that big a challenge.”
Aengus shook and glowered while Paddy patted green-eyed Trixie on the back. Aengus growled, “You....”
“Yes, me; little brother’s now on top,” Paddy mocked. “What’s it like to suddenly find yourself playing second fiddle?”
Devontae shook his head and said, “Brah, quit it. You’re acting like a shithead.”
“Call it what you will. I’m just glad he finally gets it, that he was never better than me with Pokémon!” Paddy said triumphantly. As Aengus balled up his fists, Paddy taunted, “What’s the matter, dear brother? Don’t like it? Wanna do something about it?”
Devontae stepped toward Aengus and said, “He’s just being a dick, brah! Don’t let him get to you!”
“Seriously, if he backs away now, it’ll always itch at him, that he chickened out when he thought he could prove me wrong. So what are you waiting for?” Paddy continued abusively. Sneering, he demanded, “Come on, you nancy!”
“Ah, hell nah!” Devontae spat with a snarling expression.
“Feraligatr!!!” Aengus screamed, his face all screwed up. Both lines of Pokémon backed up as Feraligatr and Greninja stepped forward. Feraligatr’s face bore the same anger as Aengus’s, while Greninja dropped into a three-point ready stance, focused on Feraligatr. Paddy openly laughed a savage laugh as he took his position.
At the end of the wharf, standing on the roof of a luxurious high-rise condominium building stood Keldeo. He watched as the brothers prepared themselves to fight, though his eyes stayed on Rarity. He said to himself, “Not long now, Rarity. Not long now.”
“Girl, you gotta get outta the way!” Devontae urged as he tugged on Rarity by wrapping his arms around her neck and right front leg. Still laying down on the wharf, she gave him a sad face, but nothing more in acknowledgement. She did not move much, despite the rough waves sloshing upon the wharf.
“Doesn’t really matter what happens to me now,” Rarity said emotionlessly, though her breathing was coming back under control. “I can’t be forgiven for...that.”
Feraligatr roared again, bellowing as loud as he could as he flexed his arms and legs, wide-mouthed with a death glare. Greninja showed no reaction. Paddy was still chuckling even as Aengus seethed, frothing slightly. Devontae let go, then grabbed her by her hind legs, right where they met her torso. He gained ground no better there, even as she squawked with some embarrassment. With a fatigued huff, he looked over at Paddy and said, “Tell me this: if you suspected things were weird like that, why didn’t you speak up, brah? You left your own brother in the dark for what!? Petty revenge over sibling rivalry?!”
“Not like he’s exactly been forthright with his thoughts, you know,” Paddy yawned. “Besides, it never hurts to see some mirror-deep female taken down.”
Rarity barely showed any reaction, though Devontae began to make some headway. With a huff, Aengus spoke at a normal volume. “So that’s what this is about. You’re still not over Yukei.”
Veins bulged on Paddy’s hands and forehead while the winds gusted again, forcing those standing to brace against it. He shrieked, “How dare you bring her up!! Now, of all times!!”
Successful in getting Rarity back to the line with the others, Devontae scrubbed his brow with his headband as he muttered, “Hardly seems like the time to dredge up the past, really, if it weren’t for that outburst. Looks like he hit it right on the nose....”
“Aye. Definitely not over her. And definitely should have said something before our first date,” said Aengus with a pointed glare. “I had no idea.”
“Then you should’ve dropped it as soon as you found out!!” Paddy snapped.
“By that point my own feelings had set root,” Aengus said with a slight frown. Then his face twisted into a darker grin than his usual, and he abusively continued, “Not that my feelings were the only thing of mine to set root in her.”
“Why you...!!” Paddy screamed.
In the same tones, Aengus jabbed, “Oh, sure, she was a little clumsy and awkward the first couple of times, but she did get pretty darn good in the sack!”
“SHUT UP!!!” Paddy hollered, his face contorted with rage, pointing furiously at Feraligatr. Greninja and green-eyed Trixie stayed put while the rest of his team returned to their balls.
“Gotcha,” Aengus whispered to himself, goading his brother with his smile, and returning all of his except Feraligatr and Rarity. The winds seemed to ease again as the working men put up another barrier.
“Crunch, Feraligatr!” Aengus ordered, far calmer than he sounded a moment ago.
Greninja stood up straight for a moment as Feraligatr appeared to bend in impossible ways. Scowling, green-eyed Trixie watched the battle in front of her, occasionally looking toward Rarity. Devontae nudged at Rarity, saying, “Girl, you may still have to fight! Pull yourself together!”
“No!” Rarity protested, standing up and facing Devontae. Behind her Feraligatr clamped down hard on Greninja with his jaws while she continued, “I can’t! Never again! I can’t risk that again!”
“Use Dark Pulse!!” Paddy shrieked.
“Keep speaking first,” Aengus whispered to himself. He then yelled, “Superpower, Feraligatr!”
“What happened with Koga was unusual. Hell, that was friggin’ weird, the crap surrounding that moment and everything leading up to it,” Devontae said while a black circle radiated from Greninja. Feraligatr rushed in as an answer, pounding away at Greninja. Green-eyed Trixie watched on silently, the same scowl adorning her face.
Rarity closed her eyes as she hung her head. She said in defeated tones, “That makes no difference, darling.”
Paddy looked at Greninja’s hard breath and shaking its head, then poised itself as it was before. He shouted, “Greninja, switch out!”
As Greninja disappeared into a white Pokéball, Aengus pursed his lips. Most of the balls on Paddy’s belt were white. Only one was a Safari Ball, and he did not grab it. While he had clicked the button, he had not thrown the ball yet. Aengus said irritably, “Since that’s how you want to play it...Crunch.”
“Wrong answer!” Paddy sneered as Typhlosion appeared. A huge wave slammed into the wharf, splashing and spraying everyone there. Those preparing the parade had stopped work and watched the battle.
As Feraligatr bit down on Typhlosion, Devontae said, “But it does. You went to battle on false information.”
Aengus yelled, “Feraligatr, Hydro Cannon!”
Paddy shouted, “Typhlosion, Wild Charge!”
Typhlosion barreled headlong at Feraligatr as the sparks surrounded him. Devontae continued, “You went ahead with the plan, understanding that these battles are normal and despite the crazy shows of power, ability, flashing lights, smoke clouds, and all that bull, nothing would be hurt, right, girl?”
Typhlosion hit cleanly, and Feraligatr toppled over, disappearing back in a stream of pink speckles. Aengus snarled some as a tear leaked from his eye while Rarity nodded to Devontae. Aengus threw another ball and yelled, “Rapidash! You’re up!”
Rarity started to turn, but Devontae took her by the head and made her look at him. She did not see Rapidash gaze her way, and slump his shoulders and ears when she did not meet his eyes. Devontae continued, “Not the case, is it?”
“Rapidash, use Poison Jab!”
“Earthquake, Typhlosion!”
Rapidash nickered in fury as he turned and rushed Typhlosion with a head full of steam, his horn bathed in violet. On impact, Typhlosion was knocked to the ground and rolled over twice before getting back up, and rocked the wharf. The last wave’s sloshed water bounced all around them. Rarity sighed, “Even with that, it still doesn’t change it’s my fault!”
Typhlosion had a purple hue as he and Rapidash retook their positions, neither of them looking particularly healthy. Devontae urged, “Nah, it means you got sucka’ed into it!”
“Typhlosion, use Extrasensory!”
“Rapidash, Wild Charge!”
“What do you mean? ‘Suckered?’” Rarity asked as Rapidash barreled at Typhlosion, coated in arcing static. Typhlosion was again knocked down, but was much slower to rise. He actually was still on all fours when Rapidash’s image was bent to the left, then right, then left again. A flurry of sparks, and Rapidash disappeared. A gasp later, Typhlosion dropped to the deck, and faded away as well.
“Excadrill!”
“Pinsir!”
The oversized taupe stag beetle stood across from Excadrill as Devontae said, “He knew things were going on, and didn’t say a word. He said so himself, remember?”
“Pinsir, Close Combat!”
“Use Stone Edge, Excadrill!”
Paddy pulled a sleeve back to show his wristwatch, one that had a keystone inset above the twelve. With a push, Pinsir glowed, and emerged from the strange ball with wings spread, and larger spikes on its mandibles. As it charged Excadrill with a flurry of punches, Devontae continued, “Your new style of Power Gem...that should have been a clue for us all, and he noticed, but said nothing!”
Excadrill pushed herself back to standing with a heart coming out of her head, seemingly. With a commanding gesture, a stone spike lanced from the ground into Pinsir. Flopping to the ground, Pinsir zipped away in rosy red sparks to its white ball. Frowning, Paddy said, “Very well, Greninja, round two.”
Aengus reached into his bag and pulled out one of the sprays as Rarity said, “Why, though? Why would he do that?”
“Greninja, use Hydro Cannon!”
“It’s hard guessing what goes through that jacked-up head of his,” Devontae sighed. Aengus finished spraying Excadrill when another wave struck the low wharf. Trucks came to Goldenrod’s waterfront, where men began placing sandbags. Greninja opened its mouth, a heavy blast of water bursting forth from his maw that forced Excadrill back and off the wharf. Her sparks came to her ball a moment later. Greninja took a number of deep breaths, both hands on his knees.
“Chandelure!”
A cast iron chandelier, stylised from centuries past, appeared with purple flames on each arm, and out of the glass ball-like head in a central mounting. Devontae looked it over with a slight grin, “I have got to get me one of these...!”
“Chandelure, Energy Ball!”
Greninja stayed about the same, gasping for air. As the green ball coalesced and fired, Devontae continued, “Why he did all that, though, could be that girl they talked about, Miss Kikuchi.”
Greninja stumbled, still breathing hard, but looking barely conscious. Rough waves had begun striking with increasing frequency. Aengus yelled, “Again, Chandelure!”
“Greninja, withdraw!” Paddy countered, holding up his ball again. Throwing a different one, he called out, “Golurk, it’s your turn!”
Green-eyed Trixie rolled her eyes with a huff. From the ball came the automation from earlier. The verdant orb was just beginning to grow in front of Chandelure as Rarity asked, “This ‘Yukei’ person? I can safely presume, darling, that she was a quite fetching young lady, Paddy was smitten with her, but she did not return his affections, yes?”
Chandelure’s Energy Ball struck Golurk in the centre of the chest, driving it back a step. Aengus ordered, “Chandelure, use Night Shade!”
“Fool! Shadow Ball would’ve been wiser!” Paddy barked with a victorious, evil grin. “Use Earthquake!”
An illusion of Chandelure appeared over Golurk and seemed to crush and distort it briefly, as though it were bread dough in the hand. The wharf tremoured under Golurk’s punching it while Devontae answered, “Yeah. On a scale from one to ten, she was a daaaammn! You would’ve liked her, too. Very stylish clothes, often a week ahead of the trends.”
Chandelure broke into a cascade of yellow sparks, jetting to his black and yellow ball. Aengus growled, “Salamence! Let’s do this!”
“Shadow Punch, Golurk!”
“Salamence, use Dragon Claw!”
Aengus pulled out his pocket watch, sending Salamence into the strange ball and emerging with the canister-like attachment. While this was happening, Devontae continued, “Half the boys in Paddy’s class were in love with her, but Paddy...he had it bad, and I mean bad. But as much as he wanted her, Yukei wanted somebody else, the only kid any of them had ever seen with natural red hair.”
Salamence scathed Golurk with its rear claws in the middle of a hard banking turn, making it faint and forcibly leave the battle. Another large wave crashed against the side of the Global Terminal building, breaking some of the lower windows. Throwing another ball, Paddy yelled, “Espeon!”
The malignant feline with the hypnotic purple eyes manifested. Rarity felt something glaring through her soul with an undying hatred. Rarity looked back to Espeon’s entrancing gaze, venomous as it was, finding her quickly. Espeon snarked, “Miserable wretch, what I’d do for a knife so I could cut you open and strangle you with your own entrails, you—” and used a most-impolite and derogatory against women single-syllable word starting with a hard K sound, offensive enough to make Salamence gasp, “-faced whore!”
Green-eyed Trixie openly laughed and nodded. Rarity scoffed indignantly, “You’re the one making graphic death threats and profane insults like that, but I’m the ‘miserable wretch?’ Really now?!”
Espeon growled, “Well, is that any reason to get all pissed off like that? Don’t get mad; you look fat when you’re mad!”
“‘I look—,’ what does that even...why...ooohh!!” Rarity sputtered, flushing a bright carmine in the cheeks and up to her ears.
“Chubby...chubby, chubby pony,” Espeon goaded, purring to herself.
“Focus!!” shouted both Paddy and Devontae, the latter taking Rarity by the snout and turning her back toward him.
“Salamence, use Dragon Claw!”
Snorting, Paddy answered, “Espeon, just Yawn.”
And Espeon did just that, yawning with her jaw opened to the degree generally reserved for snakes. Groggily Salamence flew forward and thrashed at her with his rear claws, making her tumble backwards. She shook her head as she stood up. Devontae cupped his hands around Rarity’s eyes, negating her peripheral vision as he said, “As I was saying, she and Aengus dated for awhile, while Paddy didn’t say a word about how he felt until they had been together for months. I think she left for business school in Rustboro City, but that’s not important right now. What is, though, is how he’s not dealt with it.”
“Again, Salamence!”
“Well, Espeon, how about Future Sight? Let’s do that,” Paddy said.
Espeon seemed to grumble inaudibly as reality warped in front of the red crystal on her head. Salamence cruised in as he had done twice already in the last minute and a half, nailing Espeon and knocking her out. As he returned to his place before Aengus, he fell asleep...still aloft and reacting to eddies in the air...but asleep and softly snoring. Devontae finished up, “You remind him of Yukei, especially with Aengus nearby, even though it’s obviously not that kind of relationship between you two. It’s like he’s getting back at her, but through you.”
“Greninja! Round three!” Paddy called out, throwing that ball again.
Rarity blinked in confusion as Aengus yelled, “Salamence, buddy, come to and use Fire Fang!”
“Greninja...Blizzard.”
Freezing winds kicked up as Rarity angrily asked, “You’re saying he withheld the information that because I’m a pony not a Pokémon, I could harm Pokémon...as a way of getting back at Aengus for dating a girl who jilted him!?”
Salamence fainted. Devontae said, “Yeah, it’s sure looking that way. I wouldn’t have thought so, if not for how he reacted to Aengus mentioning Yukei’s name. Choosing to not say anything the same way Aengus didn’t say anything then. He could have spoken up, and should have, but actively chose not to. He admitted he knew. Even I can see that judging from how long there was between dropping him off at Professor Elm’s lab and Aengus beginning his challenge...talking about other Pokémon being injured, he knew before the challenge started. There had to have been plenty of time. But he said nothing, and set you up to fail. He could have sent Aengus a message and warned him, but he didn’t. He just let it all go down, and let you take the fall. Paddy allowed you to get blood on your hooves, all to get back at his brother.”
Rarity bared her teeth as she slowly turned toward Paddy. Aengus glared as well, while Devontae cast him a distrustful look. Paddy shrugged and dismissively said, “If that’s how you want to look at it...whatever.”
For a split-second, Rarity’s pupils partially contracted, turning more like a slit seen on the eyes of cats and pit vipers. She started toward Paddy. Greninja gasped. He sprung up, jumping over Paddy in a single bound, and cowered behind his trainer, only a few webbed toes holding Paddy at the right shoulder and left side visible, while fearfully peering over Paddy’s left shoulder. A mist billowed behind Rarity. She snarled, “Besmirch me over a girl from years ago...since you’ve already got blood on my hooves, why not yours, too?”
“You...will...not...,” Green-eyed Trixie growled as she stepped between Rarity and Paddy, baring her teeth as well. She hunkered down, scraping at the wharf below with her front right hoof with a snort.
Rarity’s eyes flicked into a cat-like slit again for another brief moment. She barked, “Out of the way, half-breed.”
“Not happening,” answered green-eyed Trixie. “You want at him, you gotta get through Trixie.”
Aengus furrowed his brow. “Wait a sec...did she....?”
Rarity said coldly, “Last warning, you fake. Step aside.”
Green-eyed Trixie took a step toward Rarity. After a pause, she said, “You wanna fight? Let’s fight. Just you and Trixie. No trainer orders, no items, one-on-one...think you can handle it?”
Rarity snorted, “No trainer involvement...I’m fine with that.”
“Are you sure?” Paddy asked cautiously. Green-eyed Trixie looked back at Paddy and nodded. With a sigh, he said, “Okay then...be careful. She’s not stable.”
“Nopony asked you!” Rarity growled. Telekinetically she picked up a rock off the wharf and flung it at Paddy hard. He ducked in time, but Greninja did not. He tottered limply, then fell flat onto his back, and was dismissed back into his Pokéball.
“Enough of this!” snapped green-eyed Trixie. Rarity leapt back before green-eyed Trixie’s kicking could hit. Nickering, almost whinnying, the two circled each other with eyes locked in death glares. Aengus, Devontae, and Paddy all backed off quite a number of steps. Paddy whipped out his PokéGear, tapping away as the two combatants moved, keeping both of them on the screen. Both horns were glowing. Suddenly the light green aura around green-eyed Trixie’s horn flashed brightly, washing out all vision into a sea of painful white. As it faded, she gasped: flames were surrounding Rarity, and she was almost on top of her. Green-eyed Trixie slid in the wash from the last wave, but did not appear too dinged up from the attack.
Rarity roared, “Give it up! You are neither pony nor Pokémon, and lack the strength of either!”
“Or, did Trixie get the best of both worlds?” sneered green-eyed Trixie. “She thinks she did....”
Using her telekinesis, green-eyed Trixie took off her mother’s hat and tossed it to Paddy. Then she undid the clasp on her mother’s cape, and let the wind carry it to her trainer.
Then she spread her wings.
Rarity gasped in shock and disbelief. Then her face twisted into rage as she shouted, “What the hell is this!?”
“She did evolve again,” Aengus said bitterly. “Explains why she kept saying ‘Lulamoon’ instead of ‘Trixie.’”
“Darn tootin’,” Paddy said proudly. “Why do you think I told you, back in Pastoria, that you ought to get yourself a perfect one? I could see it then there was potential to evolve once more, but neither Trixie nor Rarity have it. Perfected, and with a certain push, yes. This one, right here, is why I didn’t lose a Pokémon against Bruno or Karen! Look at her! Lulamoon’s magnificent! She’s actually statistically stronger than the pseudo-legendaries!”
“I don’t give a damn about any of that!” Rarity snarled. “She’s a faux-Alicorn, phony as a three-bit coin, fake as a Suri Polomare original design. One I intend to take back with me so that Princess Celestia, a real Alicorn, can decide what to do with this...abomination!”
“Funny thing, you might get to do just that,” Paddy said. “Her offspring don’t have that extra energy source, what I presume is your ‘Equestrian magic’ or whatever. Two generations away, and it’s purely a Pokémon then. I’ve released several such Twixies, and will do some more. Might just have introduced a new species to Johto. The speciation of Pokémon is fascinating; I think that may be my specialty.”
Devontae’s face scrunched as he stood up straight with his head jolting back a bit. He asked, “So, that’s how new species of Pokémon appear? Mating with some other creature?”
“It sure looks that way,” Paddy said with some delight. Then disgust overtook his tone as he continued, “It...does have some rather icky implications about how we got Jynx..., and Mr. Mime....”
“Whatever,” Rarity huffed as her horn powered up again. “Just looking at this freak makes me sick!”
“This ‘freak’ can hammer you like a tiger,” green-eyed Trixie sneered as the circling resumed.
“A paper tiger, I bet,” Rarity quipped, rolling her eyes. “Is that the best trick you’ve got? Throwing aside a hat and cape? You’re an even less impressive a magician than your mother!”
Laughing, green-eyed Trixie answered, “Oh, the new-and-improved Trixie has some tricks, all right....”
“And she has a signature move,” Paddy chuckled. “Looks like she’s gonna....”
Right then, energy burst around Rarity as beams of light and smoke came from nowhere, making dancing lights up in the sky, on the nearby buildings, and across the ground, with green-eyed Trixie in the middle of a spotlight. Further lyrics were inaudible to Rarity amidst the bursting. Exactly whence the electronic backbeat came was indeterminable. Gritting her teeth, Rarity held tight, and began charging her horn when it sounded near completion.
“Catchy, but strange,” Devontae muttered. Aengus nodded absentmindedly.
Splotches clouded Rarity’s vision as the illumination dimmed to natural levels. She shot her magic into the ocean. On impact it began to freeze, which she hoisted and threw. The irregularly-shaped shard of ice was the size of a locomotive as it flew at green-eyed Trixie. She flitted upward, fighting the sudden gusts, but easily dodged the ice as it smacked the wharf once and splashed in the water on the other side.
“See, that’s the sort of thing that proves why you should have listened to me. Rarity has greater base potential in combat than Trixie did, and I’m sure it’d be the same with any next gen and third stage Pokémon you get from her,” Paddy said, still busily typing away at something on his PokéGear while intently pointing it toward the battle.
Green-eyed Trixie’s horn was powered and ready when she touched back down. Winds ravaged Rarity, spinning and striking around, turning her mane and tail into rat nests. Her vision dimmed. Rarity could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, and that Aengus and Paddy were talking, but it was muffled and distant to the point she could not hope to figure out what they were saying. Her legs wobbled. But she stayed upright, and the magic in her horn held right where it was. She had green-eyed Trixie in her sights as her pupils narrowed into the snake-like slits again. A spray of cold wind and ice erupted from her horn, slamming into green-eyed Trixie. Forming from the blast were a series of shards and edges, in less than a half-pipe. The ice there was nowhere near as thick as what Twilight left from the same spell, but was still nothing to casually dismiss. Green-eyed Trixie shook her head and staggered for a moment from the strike.
Rarity charged at green-eyed Trixie, electricity surrounding her in jarring amounts. Green-eyed Trixie, however, fired something into the wharf. It shook for a moment, then bursts of ground popped Rarity from below three times before the shaking stopped. Rarity’s electricity faded as she gasped breathlessly and fell over, returning to her ball in a storm of green sparks.
“Satisfied? Have I driven the point home yet, dear brother?” Paddy sneered.
Aengus growled, “Yeah...but I don’t think you meant to ‘drive home’ all the things you did. You need help, little brother. Serious help.”
Paddy shrugged and haughtily replied, “They say there’s a thin line that separates genius from madness. Perhaps I have one foot on either side?”
“You’re not the brother I took out on that tour,” Aengus said sadly, shaking his head.
“No. I guess I’m not,” Paddy answered. “Or, maybe I am, and you didn’t have the wits to see it, hmm?”
Aengus looked away, muttering, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I hope you’re happy,” Devontae spat.
“Happy? No, not quite,” Paddy said curtly. “I didn’t face him at his full strength. Aengus can do better. He knows he can do better than this performance he just had. And he knows how he can forge himself a stronger team, with stronger members. Don’t try to deny that, now. Go on. Do what you should have done the first time. You know you have the talent and experience, that you should have been champion long ago. I want to face you at your best, if not for me, then for yourself.”
Aengus glared at Paddy then stormed off. Devontae shook his head and followed suit. Paddy turned and saw Professor Elm walking up to him. With a smile he said, “Professor! Good afternoon. I admit you were correct about Lulamoon’s strength. Her performance during that challenge, and even now, proved it. Got some excellent data for analysis, too.”
“Good to know,” said Professor Elm with sharp displeasure in his voice, a pointed glare from his eyes, and a hard frown upon his face. “Before we get into that, and the meat and potatoes of Pokémon research, I see now what we must first go over and have you thoroughly study...is ethics in research.”
Paddy blinked silently for a moment. Crestfallen, Paddy answered, “Yes, Professor.”
“We will begin the subject in the morning. Don’t be late,” Professor Elm said as he turned to go. “But for tonight, enjoy your victory parade and evening.”
Paddy sighed in frustration and worry at his teacher’s words and implications. He turned to see his parents. He began, “Mom, dad, I—”
Mr. Meagher slapped him fully across the face with all his strength. Glaring, he seethed, “Afte’ ev’rythin’ ye’ brother’s done f’ ye’, keepin’ t’ roof ove’ ye’ head, fillin’ t’ larde’, payin’ f’ ye’ schoolin’, and this, this is how ye’ repay ‘im!?”
Paddy blinked a few times, but stood stupefied. His mom had tears in her eyes as she shook her head angrily. Mr. Meagher finished, “I’m ashamed t’ call ye’ me son.”
Paddy hung his head, every last vestige of joy erased. Mr. Meagher turned on his heel and marched off quite furious, with his wife in a similar state. Throughout his victory parade, and the party afterward, and the adoration of many young trainers and young women, Paddy could not even pretend to smile, unable to shake his father’s words from echoing in his mind.
Nighttime was the very last time of the day Rarity wanted to find herself in the Everfree forest, but it could not be helped; there she was, without any clear reason as to why, even in her own mind. She cantered down the path, breathing hard, looking all around and occasionally behind her. Creatures chattering and goading with laughter were on all sides, though there were few glowing eyes. A disembodied voice echoed nearby, “Rarity...he still loves me, Rarity...you can’t change that....”
Rarity very suddenly stopped. In she gasped, “Salazzle!?”
Ears turning in all directions, Rarity waited. No answer came. She looked left, then right, then down the hill, and up at the trees. Somewhere along the path ahead she heard Salazzle chortling, and said, “Oh Rapidash, it’s beautiful! Wait, is this ring...that sort of ring??”
“No...!” Rarity squawked to herself and bolted onward.
Salazzle tittered like a school filly from the same indeterminate point ahead. Rushing, Rarity leapt over a downed log and charged along a path that was straighter than any she had seen in the forest before. Somewhere ahead she heard Rapidash cooing, “Yes, my dearest. It is.”
A mixture of heartbroken and angry tears flowed as she galloped onward, pressing hard for what looked like a clearing down the trail. Squealing happily, Salazzle hollered, “Yes...yes!! Oh Rapidash, I love you!”
“And I love you too, Salazzle,” he answered.
Rarity reached a meadow where she found the two sharing a romantic, endearing kiss. A gold band with a princess-cut diamond the size of an apple rode on Salazzle’s left paw. Rarity flopped onto the ground, sobbing. Rapidash and Salazzle broke their kiss and looked over at Rarity, both snickering. Salazzle chuckled, “What did I tell you? He’s mine, and always will be!”
“You...!” Rarity roared, leaping back to her feet and charging at the lovers. But despite the ground she covered at the speed she did, they never seemed any nearer.
“Don’t mind her, my love,” Rapidash said sweetly.
Salazzle turned around and laid down, throwing her tail over her back. She dreamily sighed, “Yes, of course. I believe we were almost here.”
And Rarity screeched in fury and heartache at what followed, redoubling her efforts to reach them, but to no avail. The scenery around her and the forest floor below continued to be left behind, but Rapidash and Salazzle still remained several lengths away. Rarity powered up her horn, and let the ground beneath them undulate and spray dirt. The two were forced apart. Salazzle was tossed and blasted, gashing her skin and shattering her new ring. She did not stick the landing. As Salazzle collapsed and bled, Rarity suddenly closed ground. Shrieking, she stomped on Salazzle’s head and neck, over and over and over. Rarity looked down as she attempted to catch her breath. Salazzle’s skull and neck were crushed and broken, leaving a red mess all over Rarity’s hooves and forelegs. She gasped in horror at all the blood staining her white coat. With ragged breaths, she turned and ran for a sink that was not there a moment ago, mounted on a forebodingly-shaped beech. She turned on the water and with her magic scrubbed away with the soap and washrag, turning it red as well, but the blood on her hooves would not go away. She opened a cabinet that just appeared in the tree trunk, pulling out a green-backed sponge, floor cleaner concentrate, scouring powder, rubbing alcohol, acetone, toluene, and redschist powder, trying them all in turn, but the blood remained where it was. Her breathing became increasingly frantic as each cleaning agent failed as badly as the one before it. Somewhere Salazzle’s voice whispered, “And he’s still mine....”
“You’re so mean, Rarity! So selfish,” Rapidash grouched. Rarity turned around to find him lying there where Salazzle was. His head lay a metre away from his neck, with a growing crimson puddle between the two. He continued, “You did this to me....”
“No...! No, Rapidash, please don’t! Darling, I would never hurt you!” Rarity begged.
“Can it, you little liar!” yelled Paddy.
Rarity found him behind her all of a sudden, pointing accusingly at her while baring his teeth. Rarity began, “But—”
“Selfish, cruel murderer! Care only about yourself! Not a bit generous!” Paddy interjected loudly.
Tears welled up in her eyes as her ears and shoulders both slumped. “No! I’m—”
Other voices took up the call. “Selfish! Selfish!”
The word pounded at her from all sides, some from familiar throats, others from strangers, but few from an actual physically-present being. Covering her head and eventually closing her eyes, Rarity yelled back, “No...no I’m not...stop calling me that! Stop it, please! Stop! Stop it!! I said ‘stop!’ Stop it!! Stop!! Shut up!! Shut up!! Shut uuuppppp!!!”
The voices suddenly cut out. Rarity cautiously uncovered her head, and looked around her. Then she looked up at Paddy, pompously glaring down at her in indignation. He smiled at her abusively, and whispered, “Selfish bitch.”
Rarity shrieked and roared, jumping to her feet and right at him. She lowered her head, driving her horn through his belly. Thrashing her neck to the right, she threw his bleeding, crumpling form to the side. She pointed at his body angrily as she growled, “I’ve had enough of—”
Rarity stopped abruptly. Her voice was deeper than usual, punctuated with malice. Furthermore, her leg, while still covered in blood, was dark, a near-black charcoal grey where it should have been alabaster. She ran to the mirror above the sink, conveniently showing up now. Staring back at her was a black unicorn with a bigger purple mane bearing a white streak, and pale blue gemstone-like eyes, ones with slit-shaped pupils. This mare in the mirror grinned malevolently, and guffawed with vitriol. Rarity screamed out in terror.
With a gasp Rarity woke and sat up in unison, finding herself in the round room, thrashing around as she look frenziedly over everything around her. She was on the edge of hyperventilating again. Her coat was drenched with sweat; the wet patch on the floor covered an unevenly shaped two-thirds of the room, with short white hairs smeared all over it. Rarity looked closely at her forehooves. Both were a pristine white. Rarity sobbed twice before heading straight into wailing as she buried her face into her forelegs. She bemoaned, “What is happening to me?! This isn’t me; it’s not who I am, what I do...I’m losing myself! I’m losing who I am! How do I get me back!?”
She cried for a moment. Picking her head up, she saw her mascara on her hooves. Bawling, she whimpered, “I wanna go home...I just want to be me again. Design my fashion lines, run my stores, solve friendship problems when the map calls...just...be Rarity. I can’t do this...I can’t anymore.”
“Back with us now? You had us worried.”
Rarity looked to the wall. Feraligatr, Rapidash, and Chandelure watched her, each in their own ways of showing concern. Feraligatr continued, “We kept checking on you, since you were right back out not long after waking up. I think you spent all of half an hour awake yesterday. After the fight with Paddy, you’ve been restlessly sleeping. But that got worse as time went on. You were yelling and crying in your sleep, and thrashing all over the place by the end of it all. Went on for almost forty-five minutes. Never heard of anymon having that intense a nightmare before.”
Rarity’s gaze drooped, as did her head. She murmured, “I am a nightmare...or I very nearly became one...again. Not meaning a particularly bad dream, but something much worse. Before any of you ask, I shan’t trouble you with all the ghastly details. I...I can’t lose myself again. Not after what happened last time. And I’ve already done too much here.”
Chandelure asked, “What do you mean, ‘too much?’ I heard the bad news, but what are you getting at?”
Rarity sighed. “My time in Pokémon battles is over, because of the...egh...'bad news.’ I can never fight again. I...I just can’t. Once was too much.”
Feraligatr said sadly, “Rarity...we need you. You’re the best fighter I’ve ever seen, even after how much you protested the thought at first.”
“Perhaps, then, I am simply too excellent at it, because none of you have slain an opponent,” Rarity said bitterly. She sat and rubbed at her left temple with her one free hoof, not meeting any of their eyes.
Rapidash suddenly looked upward, and his screen disappeared. Feraligatr scrunched his face, then appeared to tap at something. Parting his mouth, he lightly gasped as he lifted his head. He said to himself, “Ah, I see. That explains what Aengus is doing, dropping us to four team members, and so on.”
“That explains...what, now?” Rarity asked.
“Where we are, about why Rapidash suddenly was called out. It’s not for battle,” Feraligatr said. Then his face and tone shifted to a smug, mischievous smile. “I think you’re out next, and you’re gonna have a great time!”
Chandelure looked upward as its arm-esque limbs dropped, grouching, “What is it with you and that shit-eating grin?”
Pleased she had not eaten yet today, Rarity exclaimed, “My goodness! I’ve never heard such an undignified term!”
A light shined over her head as Feraligatr chuckled, “You’re about to hear much worse.”
Rarity suddenly found herself in a small building with a gated counter, with an old woman on the other side of it. She opened the gate with a doting, grandmotherly smile, and said, “Come along, dearie. We’ll take good care of you.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. She looked around and found Aengus somewhat behind her. He nodded with a sad smile, eyes mostly at the ground. He quietly said, “It’s okay, Rarity. It won’t be for long.”
She blinked in confusion. She gazed at the closed door behind the old woman, then back at Aengus. “Darling, what is going on? What is this place?”
Aengus knelt down and pulled her into a hug. She hesitated before returning the embrace. His chest twitched with a sniffle. Guiltily he said, “Please...just be quick about it. I’m...I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Aengus, why are you crying?” Rarity asked in genuine concern.
He let go and stood up. Raking the tears from his eyes, he started for the other door quickly, murmuring, “I’m sorry, Rarity...I can’t ask for your forgiveness...but I’m sorry.”
Aengus closed the door behind him before Rarity could answer. Standing agape, she looked at the old woman again, then at the door. An improperly-formed syllable slipped out quietly, followed by more silent staring. She then looked to the old woman and asked, “Ma’am, I am dreadfully confused. What in the world is going on here?”
The old woman smile again as before, and said, “Your trainer has left you here with us for a little while. We’ll raise you until he returns. Your friend Rapidash is waiting, and I’m sure we have other new friends for you to play with as well.”
“Rapidash is waiting for me?!” Rarity said with her eyes lighting up. She came along quickly, to the happy chuckle of the old woman. Rarity followed her through the door into the back, and found a quiet and picturesque meadow under a late morning sun. Playground equipment was off to the right, with numerous Pokémon laughing and playing like schoolchildren. She and the old woman had to quickly take a step back to avoid a Pikachu, a round blue mouse, and a pink ball with a curly-cue and round teal eyes as they giggled and ran past at full speed; a moment later came an orange dragonfly, also laughing away. Further along was a line of trees with some shrubbery at their bases, through a break in said trees walked Rapidash. Rarity ran after him, doing her best to avoid too many questions from the Pokémon about what kind she was, her type, and declining two games of tag and a one of hide-and-seek. One asked about her “egg group,” which she ignored.
She passed through the trees. Here was a mostly-open field. Some thick shrubs stood in places, as did a shed and a barn, both with hay. Rapidash was not far, slowly plodding along, looking everything over with careful attention to the fence. Rarity started his way, but stopped. Tentatively she called, “Rapidash? Darling?”
He halted. After a moment he turned toward her, but said nothing. There was a ball of red yarn dangling off his mane. Carefully she took a few more steps toward him, asking, “Are...you still upset with me?”
He still did not speak, but his ears flattened as his shoulders slumped, looking at the ground a moment in tired sadness before returning her gaze. She looked across the field again, asking, “What is this place?”
“The Daycare,” he answered, sounding emotionally wounded.
She was almost to him when she asked, “What...a ‘daycare?’ ‘Daycare??’ Why would we be in a daycare? We’re both grown!”
He said nothing again. She looked him full in the face, gazing right into his red eyes. She watched as they dilated slightly as his breathing eased and his body relaxed. Rarity looked across the field again, saying, “Still, it’s a nice enough place. I swear I can hear others out there, but I don’t see—”
She had turned back to him to suddenly find his lips pressed against hers.
Rarity’s eyes shot open with a gasp through the nose, despite his eyes being closed. Hers shut a second later as she leaned into the kiss. Her heart pounded in her chest, reverberating in her ears. His hoof cradled the side of her head. A long, slow contented sigh oozed out of her nose. Here she had a moment in which she could stay permanently, the quiet euphoria of a long-sought wish fulfilled not exactly in the way she imagined, but perhaps better. Rapidash was no prince, but then again, bachelors among royalty hardly were good ponies from her experience. She sensed no trying to show off, or of somepony making a conquest out of her. For her, this simply felt right.
They broke. Dilated eyes stared affectionately in both directions. Nuzzling him, Rarity asked, “Oh, my love, why did we ever wait?”
“We were never alone until now,” Rapidash sighed contentedly, returning her affection in kind.
He placed one of her forehooves on his chest. Through this hoof she felt plain and simply that hers was not the only heart going a mile a minute at present. Rarity tittered a little, gazing back into his eyes. She said, “Kiss me again.”
Rapidash held her head again as they picked up where they left off. Her own hoof cupped the side of his face as well as unbridled joy washed over her. Rarity felt a rush of goosebumps start from her chest, up her neck and back down, and out through her legs. Something knocked at her teeth. Her mouth had a visitor, a guest welcomed gladly, albeit in surprise. Parting her teeth, the visiting tongue met the resident. The lightest of taps, tip to tip, began a slow, gentle dance. The guest led, tracing a circuit around the other near its end. Her breathing deepened, as did his. The dancing pair rubbed side against side. Sliding across its partner’s bottom, the visitor reciprocated on the other side, as if to maintain symmetry. A subtle lick to the bottom of the resident, and then the guest embraced its host, pushing against and sliding toward and away with tempered desired and measured vigor. The host took the lead and continued the samba outdoors as both mouths opened, holding contact at the upper lip. Hers skated deliberately across his, tracing a circle anticlockwise. The dancers pressed together tip to tip, and lightly tapped to close.
Rapidash kissed her cheek, repeating small pecks as he worked his way down her jaw. Just past the mandible bone he stopped and nibbled, a quick series of tiny bites as if his teeth were chattering from the cold. Rarity inhaled sharply through her nose; a shiver ran down her spine and down to her knees. The mixture of signals in her brain gave rise to a naughty joy, leaving her wondering why pain is so close to pleasure, and what made the two once intertwined so nice. Her breaths shortened some, but remained deep. His forehoof was in her mane. Wrapping his hoof up in her curls, he continued nibbling, until her gave her mane a short, sharp tug. She gasped as her eyes quickly opened, both out of focus. Her body tensed. Epinephrine pulsed in her bloodstream. She did not know the words at that moment to describe how she was feeling; all she knew for sure was that it was good. But somewhere in her mind prodded how this was too soon: maybe this behaviour would have been fine on the third or fourth date, but definitely not the first kiss. She whispered, “Rapidash, love, let’s not go too fast. We simply must maaaaakkke—o-o-ohh my goodness....”
Rapidash had abandoned the nibbles and pressed his lips against her skin and sucked. She twitched in growing physical delectation. Unconsciously Rarity wrapped her closer forehoof around his neck and head, pulling him closer. The feeling was nothing she had ever dreamed she could feel. Sensations and emotions, both alien prior to now, demanded she toss aside any propriety. A schism between body and mind arose, with her heart caught in the crossfire. On the one hoof, she had always been pure in her relations with stallions, firm her belief that such matters were meant only for a married couple. On the other, the need for a stallion’s touch from him burned at her, especially in places that were off-limits to any non-husband stallion.
Rapidash still said nothing as he worked upward, kissing and nibbling on his way up to her ear. With a deep gasp, Rarity’s eyes closed again. Her breaths turned ragged, still pressing his head to his work. She craned her neck with her mouth slightly parted, leaning into his ministrations. The waves of goosebumps rushed one after another, pounding like surf against stone, eroding her mind’s defenses one by one. Despite the cries of her body, her mind still held control of her mouth, as she pleaded, “Baby, we’re no-o-ot married yet; we ca-a-aaaaaan’t—sweet Celestia, don’t stop...!!”
In unison with a sharp tug at her mane, Rapidash drove his tongue into her ear, as if he were trying to reach her eardrum. He also took the entirety of her ear into his mouth, and sucked away in control bursts, carefully yet enticingly. Similarly, his tongue took a tour around the inside of her ear, exploring and sliding over, across, and through every curve, bump, recess, divot, bulge, and edge. Rarity felt as though the world around her shrank, that anything away from her, and her beaux, were inconsequential.
Still without words, Rapidash nudged her head around and began to do the same to her other side. Rarity’s mind was awash. The speed of this desire’s growth and escalation would have been alarming to her, had she been in a normal state of mind. As it stood, she was fresh out of damns to give. Not even a heat cycle hit her like this, or anywhere close. If she were honest with herself, this was not a total surprise. She could not, in truth, deny she had some flights of fancy to such an effect. Idle fantasies of making love to him had been her last thoughts before sleep on at least one night that she could recall. But she never thought of it as anything more than the silly daydreams of a lonely mare. The very notion that such a rendezvous might actually occur had been dismissed as soon as it came, since it seemed laughable she could be in the Pokémon world long enough to forge a long-term relationship, let alone to tie the knot. But there she was. She felt her logical arguments and promises to herself crumbling under the pressure of her yearning. Failure to self-control appeared imminent, even to her. She whimpered, “Can you a-at least take me to di-i-iinnner first? Then we’ll ha-aaave—aaaaAAAAHH—RIGHT THERE!!”
Rapidash had begun to rub his horn against hers. Her scream had been not much more than a whisper. Twitches jolted through her as the goosebumps simply took hold, erecting every last follicle. Rarity tried to breathe, but could not stop holding her breath. Frozen in place, she felt herself slipping away, and could not find the strength to care. She felt a hairbreadth from nirvana, a physical euphoria the like of which she could never have imagined before today. Any crush she experienced in the past, regardless of how strong she thought it was at the time, proved paltry against what she felt now. She wanted him. She needed him.
Rapidash halted as Rarity pulled up, looking him in the face with husky breaths and hungry eyes. His countenance conveyed the same back. They lunged for each other, grabbing the other by the face with both forehooves as lips met with fully opened mouths. Two tongues met each other halfway, not in a tender dance, but all-out wrestling, caution thrown to the wind. They reared up, balanced against each other despite her wobbly hindquarters. Moans passed from one throat to the other. She needed this; she needed him. She needed him to complete her, to give Rarity her last missing part and make her whole. She wanted it now. She wanted to hear him call out her name in tones that could not be fully duplicated any other way. She intended to make his senses forget there was anything else but her, to bring all she could bear and make him lose himself at least as much as he had done for her.
They broke apart, both gasping heavily as they returned to all-fours, eyes dilated as far as they went with neither concussion nor drugs. She struggled to maintain her balance. Hurriedly and with a shaky voice, she said, “We need a priest...right now...right this second!!”
Rapidash looked across the field for a moment, then started toward some tall bushes. He looked back at her for a moment, and motioned toward the bushes with naughty eyes. As he started to step behind them, Rarity called out in the same tones, “Honey, as much as I want you to thoroughly ravish me this very moment, and oh do I ever, I know I’ll regret it if we’re not married! Is there somepony, or somemon, anybody, that can officiate!?”
Motion to her left caught her eye. She turned to see an old, grizzled-looking male Pikachu walking up to her. Over his shoulder was a small satchel, into which he reached. He pulled out a pack of human-sized cigarettes, offering her one. She waved it away with a disgusted expression. Shrugging, he took it himself, lighting it with some arcing electricity between his paws. He took a long draught, exhaled the smoke, and then spoke with such a gravelly voice that he had to have been smoking nearly all of his life. “Most enjoy one after they’re done. You look like you’re so pent up that may as well have been a romp.”
“I don’t smoke, thank you,” Rarity said quickly. “Look, I need to...I’ll just cut to the chase. I need a priest or somebody else who can officiate a wedding right now! Do you know who can do that? Can you do that?”
“We got no priests here. It comes to a pretty straightforward question, lady,” Pikachu said. “Do you want to—” Rarity scoffed in scandalized tones at his choice of verb “—him, or not?”
Rarity stammered, “Uhh...I, um....”
Pikachu sniffed the air, trying to peer behind her before pointedly looking into her eyes. Rarity blushed furiously and stared at the ground. He said, “Let me rephrase that. Do you admit you want to—” Rarity exclaimed a non-word as she stared at him incredulously “—him, or not?”
“Language! And kindly do not imply I’m a hussy, or some other lady of questionable repute,” Rarity scolded.
“Quit dodging the question,” Pikachu countered.
“I...,” Rarity began, then frowned. “Fine. Yes. Yes I do. There. Happy?”
Pikachu took another draught, and spoke as the smoke flowed from his nose and mouth, “Then, why don’t you?”
“Because we need to be married first!” Rarity protested, still squirming as she looked at the bushes where Rapidash went.
“Are you bloody serious? Why are you here, of all places, if you want to be married first?” Pikachu asked bluntly with a face full of incredulity.
Rarity grouched in exasperation, “That’s just how it’s done! It’s being proper!”
Pikachu rolled his eyes. “‘Proper?’ Lady, do you know what this place is?”
He gestured out toward the field. Rarity’s eyes went wide, for they most definitely were not alone. “Wha...wha-what!!? Have they no shame, out in broad daylight, not even trying to have a little modesty?! I thought this was a daycare!!”
“Exactly,” said Pikachu. “The daycare man and lady provide a safe place for Pokémon to make eggs, at their trainer’s discretion. It’s about the only reason anymon is ever left here. That includes you, too, since you were dropped off with your...male companion.”
“You mean to tell me they made a den specifically for brazen debauchery, but labeled it a ‘daycare!?’” Rarity all-but screeched.
Pikachu was in the middle of another draught. Once he exhaled, he said, “Take it easy there, lady. You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
“How can you possibly be so calm with such depravity right there!?” Rarity demanded.
Pikachu waved at those in the field dismissively. “This is nothing. Like most mornings, it’s pretty chill out there right now. After the sun goes down, well...not-so-chill, then. That’s when things get lively around here.”
“But those playing in the front!” Rarity said firmly. “You can’t expect me to actually believe those Pokémon playing a foal’s game of tag or hide-and-seek would act so...so crude, do you?”
“Wait for nightfall; then you’ll see what I mean,” Pikachu said with a knowing smirk. “Looks to me like you would not believe the kinks that Jigglypuff is into, the very one playing tag near the house right now. Hell, she took most of us by surprise, but damn it’s hot, seeing her do her thing.”
“Euggh...! What is wrong with you!?” Rarity demanded. She huffed, and glared at no one at all, muttering, “I can’t believe Aengus would put me here. What could he possibly...wait. You said something about eggs, didn’t you?”
“Now you’ve got it! So what are you waiting for? Get to the egg-making!” Pikachu urged.
Aengus stopped on his bike, resting his weight on his left leg. He looked over to his right at the Daycare building, then down at the ground. Miserably he said to himself, “I really shouldn’t have done that. I should just get her out, and start for Sinnoh.”
Ahead of him in the distance was Goldenrod City’s skyline. Looking it over sadly, he continued, “But Paddy’s not gonna give up his hybrid. Even if he does, he has another one just waiting to replace it. No, you have to do this, you have to have an answer to that thing, even though this feels wrong.”
He gave the building one last look before continuing onward. He murmured once away from any others, “Come on, Rarity. What are you waiting for?”
Rarity fell to a sitting position. A terrible sadness had moved in, filling her face, posture, and voice, “He...wants an egg from me? Because I came up short?”
“Usually how it goes, sweetheart,” Pikachu said condescendingly. “Most trainers just love their Pokémon no matter what, but we rarely see those here.”
“He’s...trying to breed me...just like how Paddy did Trixie...,” Rarity said in disbelief.
“Sure is; that’s those competitive types for ya’,” Pikachu continued, knocking ash from the end of his cigarette. “They’ll breed the ever-livin’ shit outta us, until they get the exact perfect one they want and like. Everymon else, they don’t care about them. Those other Pokémon are nothing more than stepping stones to their perfect fighter. Sometimes we see multiple generations in here before they’re done. Seen that happen here a few times, that the mother’s here one day, and the daughter the next.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffled, “He...doesn’t like me? Because I’m not ‘perfect?’ But...but we did so much together....”
“Sorry to say it, sweet cheeks, but you finally understand,” Pikachu said flatly. “May as well get it over with. At least he’s the guy you want to jump, right?”
Rarity’s upper lip twitched. Tears fell from her eyes, but she was glaring. She growled, “I shan’t give him a thing. He’ll just have to take me home.”
Pikachu sighed. Shaking his head, he took the last possible draught off his cigarette and flicked the butt somewhere into the brush. Forgoing grammar, he chastised, “Lady, playing the waitin’ game don’t work. Keep on telling him no all night, waiting for the break of day and tell him no again, all through the next day, day after day, over and over, and your trainer still ain’t gonna come for you until he gets that egg. I’ve seen that play out before time and again, too: a couple of Pokémon here not wanting to make eggs for whatever reason, and their trainers just keep going back and forth outside on their bicycles until they finally cave and make an egg. Hundreds of times it’s happened. Longest time was a Hitmonchan and a Machoke, and she would not let that Hitmonchan get near her for a month. Took another six weeks after that before she finally let him make an egg with her.”
“I don’t believe you. That can’t possibly be the truth! It just can’t!” Rarity sputtered.
Pikachu sighed and said, “But it is, lady. I was there. I saw the whole thing unfold. And the whole time, their trainer would just ride back and forth, waiting on that egg, stopping only to eat, sleep, and relieve himself. Think he lost fifteen kilos, riding his bike like that.”
Rarity shook her head slowly. “Two and a half months, waiting?”
“Sure was. If this ‘Aengus’ is the one I think he is, then you’d better believe he’d do it without a second thought,” Pikachu said, scratching his chin. “You’re not the first pair he’s left here, or second, and so on. Can’t forget that one time. He worked it for a while, and took the multiple generations I spoke of, all for him to get the one he wanted. You know what he got? A hell of a Pichu, stronger than any I’ve seen. Stronger than any Pichu should be, too. That little guy has to be a Raichu by now...maybe the strongest one there ever was. That was...seven years ago, I think? See one that much stronger than it should be, and you ain’t gonna forget it.”
Rarity scarcely paid him any attention, or a cry of ecstasy close-ish. She quietly said to herself, “They were right...Ho-Oh and Keldeo were right. I should’ve listened to them...why, Aengus??”
Pikachu rolled his eyes and said, “Look, lady, you said you want to get home?” Rarity nodded sadly. Pointing toward the bushes with Rapidash, Pikachu said, “Your ticket’s waiting right over there. Go get it.”
The ancient Pikachu walked on. Rarity sighed. Equally sad and angry, she muttered, “I have to do...that? Be that degenerate, that far beneath myself, just to get home? That’s about as far from fabulous as it gets. Aengus, I could so kick you right now....”
Aengus was nearing Goldenrod’s city limits when he stopped his bicycle, turned and started the other way. He grouched, “Stupid. Never should have put her in there. Never should have let Paddy get to you. She deserves better than this, better than me.”
A moment later he stopped again. Shaking his head, he muttered, “But then who will take Paddy down? What’ll he do to the whole region, if he’s willing to stab his own flesh and blood in the back? No. He has to be stopped, for all our sakes.”
Aengus turned himself around again, taking off into Goldenrod. He whispered to himself, “Please, Rarity, don’t let me down.”
“Is this penance for...Salazzle?” Rarity asked herself bitterly. “Give up my maidenhead out of wedlock, to make a life to replace the one I took, and never know my own foal?”
There was no one and nothing nearby, resulting in no answer. Across the field she saw the other pairs taking great delight in what they were doing, yet Rarity’s face spoke volumes of how betrayed she felt. She muttered angrily, “Just get it over with, Rarity. Shouldn’t take long. I’m sorry, mom...looks like I can’t keep that promise after all.”
Rarity sighed, looking at Rapidash’s bushes. She frowned for a moment, then held her head up high. She walked slowly, showing the elegance and grace she had barely remembered during her journey. She bore defiance in her expression, posture, and gait, as if she was a deposed queen on her way to her own execution. She had no joy. It was but a few metres, but it may as well have been from there to Canterlot. She did not count the steps, nor look around. She just went at her unhurried pace.
Minutes later, she rounded the edge of the bushes. It was a cozy nook, with a picnic blanket thrown down and spread evenly. Rapidash smiled when she arrived, asking, “Hey. What kept you?”
Rarity hesitated. “There’s no one to officiate. I...I don’t know. I—”
Rapidash cut her off by planting a kiss on her lips, which they held for a good half-minute. As the broke apart, Rarity opened her eyes to see his still closed. His forehoof cupped her face gently as his mouth started toward her ear. Instead of feeling a nibble, Rarity heard a harsh whisper. “We gotta bust outta here.”
The barn door very slowly swung open. A cloaked, equine quadruped stepped inside with an orchid glow about its feet, moving in very deliberate bursts of speed. Its hooded overcoat, a rough-cut and poorly-stitched hooded cloak from brown burlap, covered the pony enough to mask gender, coat, and mane. Nearly immediately it was behind hay bales. No noise came from its footsteps. Cows in the barn mooed irritably at this newcomer’s presence. The creature did not appear again until it was nearly at some shelves of fresh carrots. An aura of the same colour the one around its hooves surrounded many bundles, hoisting them and shoving them all into a heavily weathered blue and black duffle bag. This pony ducked out of sight again, not appearing for nearly two minutes. Two heifers sounded their protest as the pony reappeared by a bushel of apples. These, too, went into the bag, as did a ten-gallon metal can, fully disappearing into the same bag which was one-quarter of that size. The pony stopped by a mirror long enough to check the reflection. Pulling the hood back, this mare brushed the dust off her cornflower blue coat, adjusted her nearly white mane into its trademarked shape, and looked at her amethyst eyes.
Trixie rolled her eyes at the annoyed mooing, then pulled her hood back up and ran as carefully as earlier toward the exit. Before she reached the door, it fully opened, revealing a lavender unicorn mare wearing some sort of banded armour the colour of brass standing there. The newly-arrived pony had a carefully-styled violet mane and tail sporting a teal streak. Both of their faces lit up with gasps, tears welling up instantly.
“Starlight!?” Trixie sobbed.
Starlight Glimmer choked on her tears briefly before managing to say, “Hey, Trixie. I’m...I’m so happy you’re safe!!”
No further words came before the two ran into each other’s weepy-eyed embrace. Three other mares approached, each smiling. Two were earth ponies, one pink with a curly magenta mane and tail, the other orange with a Stetson hat. The third was a pegasus, cyan with a prismatic mane and tail.
Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. “Finally! Where have you been hiding? Do you have any idea how much we’ve been searching for you?”
Trixie said nothing, but buried her face in Starlight’s neck. Sobbing continued from the two reunited best friends. Applejack said, “Take it easy, Dash. She’s been through too much already. Still though, colour me impressed, that Twahlahght nailed where and when!”
A buzzing boom and whistle rattled nearby, startling Trixie to the point of shrieking. Confetti drifted downward as Pinkie Pie tittered. She said, “Sorry, I just can’t resist! It’s the perfect time for a party!”
Trixie tried to slow her breathing, though her coat still stood on end. Applejack grouched, “Consarnit Pinkie!! We told you four times to leave it behind! If they didn’t know we were here already, they do now!”
“Sorry,” Pinkie feebly offered. “It’s...it’s just the perfect moment to party! Best friends back together again, after a forced time apart?”
Pinkie reached behind herself and pulled out a silver platter with five masterfully-decorated red velvet cupcakes: piped cream cheese icing with grooves twisting into a perfect curl, red sugar sprinkles, a strawberry cross-section stuck into the icing, and three red currants in front of the strawberry slice. Rainbow Dash wiped some drool from her chin as she breathed, “Wow, Pinkie...when did you find the time to do all this?”
Pinkie chuckled to herself. Her tongue extended much further than anypony else’s tongue could hope to as she bore a cupcake from its wax paper wrapper, leaving very few crumbs behind, and chomped down on the confection. With her mouth full she cheerfully said, “Now that is a secret!”
Taking a cupcake, Starlight sighed, “We should have counted on Pinkie being Pinkie. But why are you here, Trix? It’s not...I hope this isn’t what it looks like.”
Trixie stared almost straight down, shrinking back and toying at the straw with a hoof. Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched on with sadness and disappointment, but each took a cupcake. Trixie murmured, “It’s...uh, not entirely what you see here....”
“Looks to me like yer robbin’ a barn!” Applejack scolded.
Saying nothing, Trixie closed her eyes and turned away. Starlight walked up to her and pulled her into a side hug. When Trixie did not acknowledge, Starlight bitterly said, “What a horrible world this is, that it turned you into a thief, and Rarity into a...into a...a....”
“Don’t say it. Please,” Pinkie begged. “I can’t stand to think about it.”
Trixie still said nothing, but did hug Starlight back. After a moment, Starlight said, “Well, everypony, there’s no reason for us to stay here. Gimme a moment, and I’ll teleport us back.”
“Wait! I can’t,” said Trixie suddenly. When the other four stared at her in bafflement, she continued, “There’s...a complication. Something that means you absolutely, positively, must be able to guarantee safe passage. Something Trixie cannot abandon.”
Starlight blinked a moment, finished her cupcake, and then cautiously said, “Teleportation is about as safe a passage as it comes, but what’s this thing?”
Trixie frowned. Avoiding meeting anypony’s gaze, she evasively answered, “It’s...not right here, but where I’ve been hiding. That, uh, complication...Trixie can hardly believe it’s even possible, but—”
A loud bang, and some of the wood of the barn shattering, interrupted Trixie and gave all five of them a start. Applejack and Dash both dropped their partially-eaten cupcakes. Two adult male humans were there. One had some kind of metallic object in his hand. Part of it was in his fist. The rest was a rectangular prism, sporting a fin at the end, and a circular hole from which issued some wafting smoke. The other had a complement of six Pokéballs, and threw one, shouting, “Go, Empoleon!”
An odd penguin appeared. He had a trident latched onto its face, and an overly long white ruffle cravat. The armed human grouched, “I knew it! I damn-well knew it was one of you ponies pillaging my harvest!”
Rainbow Dash looked at the man with the Pokémon. Both of them gasped with eyes widening as they stood agape at each other. Dash narrowed her eyes into a glare as she snarled with bared teeth, snapping, “You again?! Don’t you think you’ve caused enough trouble?!”
“You’re one to talk, Miss Honourary-Member-of-Team-Rocket! Nothing but thieves, all of your kind! The only difference is what you steal!” he shot back. “Some of you steal food, others steal Pokémon, and one of you stole control of the moon! How long will it be before your ponies steal our money, our houses, jobs, children, and lives?!”
Starlight rolled her eyes. She dismissively sighed, “Ah yes, the good ol’ scarecrow fallacy. Set up your straw pony and then knock her down.”
The man with the metal object discharged the weapon again, spraying dirt at Trixie’s feet. She quickly began to hyperventilate and back up, nearly screaming. The man raised his arm, pointing the weapon at Trixie’s face, saying, “You’re out of warning shots. Return what you stole from me, or I’ll make your brain a splattered mess.”
“Two can play at that game,” growled Starlight, her horn suddenly charging up as a teal-ish crystalline barrier materialised around her. It grew and covered Trixie as well as Starlight continued, “I’ll give you vae victis if that’s what you want!”
Gesturing around at everyone there, Applejack said, “Hey, y’all calm down! This is getting out of hoof in a real hurry!”
“Yeah,” Pinkie said sadly, looking at the dropped cupcakes. “I thought it was party-time, not fighty-time.”
“Sorry you two, but it’s too late to talk them down!” Dash yelled as she swooped in at Empoleon, turning upward with a raised forehoof to his chin, as if she were trying to uppercut the sky. Empoleon somersaulted through the air four times before returning to his Pokéball.
“Well, it surely is now, that you’ve gone and done that!” Applejack grumbled, moving in on the trainer.
Starlight looked over at Trixie in time to see her pulling a pickaxe out of her bag with her telekinesis, already wearing a hardhat. Trixie was still hyperventilating as she hit the ground with the pickaxe, conjuring a perfectly circular pitch black spot into which she jumped and disappeared. The spot immediately sealed itself up behind her. Starlight squawked, “How did that happen??”
“Guess she’s not getting this,” Pinkie sighed, and devoured the last cupcake.
“So now one of you has stolen an Explorer Kit, too?!” barked the trainer. He turned toward Rainbow Dash and snarled, “And I see you mean to steal another of my Pokémon, don’t you!?”
Rainbow yelled back, “What the hay are you talking about? That wasn’t a Pokémon; that was a pony!”
“No, she was a Pokémon, and you stole her! And I know she’s a Pokémon because all she ever said was ‘Twixie,’ while you lot speak in full sentences! I could’ve gotten twenty-five grand from the World Champ for her, but you took her from me!” he shouted, throwing another ball. “Come on, Toxicroak!”
A bipedal frog appeared, with skin of a dull indigo, and its middle fingers and toes of red, and its red vocal sac inflated. This Pokémon positioned itself between Applejack and its trainer, cutting off any easy approach angle. Pinkie blinked in confusion with a vacant stare. She murmured to herself, “Combo coming...tingly hooves...itchy nose...pinchy knee...that’s a new one...what’s—no! Dashie, look out!!” finishing by yelling in horror.
The man with the weapon pointed it elsewhere as Starlight demanded, “Put it down, now!!”
Pinkie zipped in and shoved Dash to the ground. Two more loud bangs cut Dash off before she could ask why. A Pokémon, two men, and three ponies all turned as Pinkie gasped and looked down. Two holes were punched through her armour over her chest, and both were turning red fast. She sputtered, “Wha...what the...??”
“Pinks!?!” Dash cried out in alarm as Pinkie toppled over, both of her forehooves over the holes. The platter clanged and rolled into a heifer’s stall.
“Pinkie??” Applejack blurted, eyes wide. Then she glared, ducked past Toxicroak, and applebucked the trainer across the barn in a single blow. He slammed into one of the barn’s support poles. The man landed on his knees and fell forward, still breathing but not moving. Toxicroak hurried to its trainer, covering the human with its body as it stared back at Applejack guardedly. She ran to join Dash beside Pinkie.
Telekinetically Starlight grabbed a shovel and beat the weapon out of the man’s hands to the sound of something splintering. He fell onto his bottom, then tried and failed to clutch his hands. The shovel’s handle was undamaged, and she threw it out of the barn. Then she picked the weapon up with her magic, turning it over. The weapon discharged as her spell tugged on the trigger, but its projectile was also caught in her magic. The bullet spun in midair, surrounded by phthalo green in Starlight’s meticulous gaze. The man tried to backpedal from a sitting position, but both of his wrists gave out. Starlight growled, “A chemical explosion to force a small dart into unbelievable speed, tipped with a point the same angle as a bodkin arrow! You meant to pierce our armour and kill us! You came here with truly deadly intent! Premeditated murder!! ”
“Dashie...it hurts, Dashie...it hurts so bad...,” Pinkie whimpered in agony. Dash and AJ hurried in removing the damaged armour. Dash shook once the cuirass was off.
AJ sighed in fear, half-heartedly offering with poor grammar, “Ooh, that ain’t no splinter....”
Rainbow pled, “No...no-no-no-no-no-no!! Hold on, Pinkie, please!!”
“Dash, we gotta stop the bleedin’!” AJ insisted, opening a med kit and removing white cloth bandages.
Starlight slammed the disarmed man to the ground by stomping on his chest with one forehoof, and held him there. She forcefully pressed the pistol to the man’s head, at the bridge of his nose. Tears started down his face. He sputtered, “No, please! Mercy! My wife and daughter can’t get by without me!”
“‘Mercy,’ you mean, like the mercy you showed the only one of us who wasn’t fighting you assholes!?” Starlight roared. “And what makes your family so much more important than hers, huh?! You don’t think there isn’t somepony counting on her, too?!”
The man’s breaths were broken, and he still had not blinked. Starlight pressed the weapon harder to his head as both AJ and Dash applied both forehooves to their white cloth bandages over Pinkie’s wounds. Rainbow yelled, “Do it, Starlight! Take him out!”
“NO!! You can’t!!” Applejack hollered. “Be the bigger pony!”
Airily Pinkie mumbled, “Oh. That’s...that’s what the new combo means. ‘Friend in mortal danger.’”
Toxicroak held his trainer close to his chest, still watching with a terrified glare and held his breath. The other man sobbed uncontrollably. Starlight’s upper lip curled as her eyes narrowed again. Applejack shouted, “Please, Starlaht, put the weapon down! You’re better than this!”
“There’s nothing wrong with avenging a friend! Heck, I’d say there’s honour in it! Let ‘im have it!” Dash countered.
The man tried to speak, but the blubbering made his words incomprehensible. His pants became drenched where the legs joined with a familiar, unpleasant odor. Starlight grouched, “Oh, now you get the gravity of the situation, don’t you, you stupid bastard!”
“That’s right!” Dash agreed. “Give that bastard what he has coming!”
“No! Let the poor bastard live; he’s learned his lesson!” Applejack countered.
Pinkie wistfully and quietly said, “Glad we all agree he’s a bastard....”
“Ah hell, she’s goin’ inta’ shock!” Applejack said worriedly. “Pinkie ain’t hardly a farm critter, but let me see if there’s an adrenaline shot in that there bag!”
Applejack rooted around in the medical kit. As she removed an elongated box, she said, “Now, calm down, there. She ain’t gone. She’s jes’ gettin’ sleepy.”
Dash disregarded Applejack’s words. As the box opened to reveal a syringe, Dash turned and shrieked, “Starlight! Do it! Do it now! Do it for Pinkie!!”
“Don’t you dare! You’ll never be okay with yourself again if you do! And you know that’s not what Pinkie would want!” Applejack retorted, jabbing the needle into Pinkie’s neck and driving the plunger.
Starlight’s face screwed up. Glaring into the man’s bloodshot, weepy eyes, she took a deep breath, held it, and heard Pinkie quietly say, “Starlight...no...please don’t....”
Dash sobbed as Applejack removed the syringe. Starlight sighed, and asked, “Are you sure, Pinkie? This man tried to kill you for no reason at all.”
“A funeral is...the worst party ever, Starlight. Let’s not make them throw one of those,” Pinkie barely got out. Dash clung to her, tremouring all over.
Applejack pressed, “Starlaht, we gotta get ‘er to a surgeon raht quick! There ain’t another shot, and this one ain’t gonna hold long!”
Starlight glared at the man, and with a final shove and growl, she took the weapon out of his face. Toxicroak finally let go of his held breath. The man sobbed, “I’m sorry...for what it’s worth, I’m sorry!”
“‘Tain’t much, but it’ll hafta do,” Applejack quipped.
Starlight rushed toward the others, but looked back at the man and said, “I’m still taking this...thing. You can’t be trusted with it, and our doctors will need to know exactly what hit her.”
Toxicroak still held his unconscious trainer close, stroking his hair and repeatedly sighing in relief. Starlight powered up her horn, and the four ponies disappeared in a flash.
Tension lay thick in the camp. Mew floated near the portal, looking toward the sea with a stern, apprehensive, and even a little angry expression. Most of the other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon were close, also watching that direction, though they were a distance behind Mew. Arceus stood close. Next to him was some anthropomorphic purple beetle with red eyes, and a cannon mounted over its head. Twilight, Luna, Red, Blue, and Cynthia were all gathered around a monitor with a report. Scientists and other academics set up, or were in the middle of setting up, hides and blinds among the shrubs, with cameras, microphones, and unidentified equipment at the ready. One had an Alakazam and a Golem working together to construct a military pillbox bunker.
Starlight’s signature teal flashed, immediately followed by her screaming louder than others thought she could, “MEDDDIIIICCCC!!!!”
Fifteen ponies rushed to where they rematerialised. Twilight looked up, and shuddered. She could not speak, and could barely breathe. She teleported to Pinkie’s side, arriving a split second before Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash had not stopped crying. Applejack looked close to breaking down. Fluttershy shrieked as a start to her panicked wailing and sobbing. Still shuddering midair, and with both forehooves over her mouth, Twilight managed to squeak out, “What...happened??”
Starlight levitated the handgun over to Twilight, saying, “A human used this weapon. He meant to attack Rainbow Dash, but Pinkie shoved her out of the way.”
Luna, Red, and Blue had come over by then. Blue said, “Looks like a .38 caliber pistol. They haven’t made this model in...I don’t know. Man, this is old...older than any of us here, without a doubt.”
Luna rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, “I wouldn’t count on that.”
“Indeed,” Arceus said quietly, standing right next to her.
Mew pointed at Latios, Latias, and Xerneas with its right paw, and then to Pinkie with its left. All three of those Pokémon quickly started her direction as Twilight ordered, “Somepony go get Zecora, now!!”
Applejack stopped a medic from filling a syringe, saying, “She jes’ had an adrenaline shot.”
Starlight sobbed a little to herself, and whimpered, “I’m sorry...I can’t do anything right here! Should’ve tried to do some more, but I just stood there!”
Applejack gave her a hug, and said, “It’s not yer fault. Don’t blame yerself.”
Latios and Latias hovered over them while the medics set an IV into Pinkie’s elbow, took her vitals, and braced her neck and legs with her laying on a spine board. Starlight tried to bite back on the tears, having limited success. The world distorted in front of the two Pokémons’ faces. From Pinkie’s wounds came bits of metal, broken and twisted. As more and more such chunks came free, Blue sighed with some relief. “At least whoever it was didn’t load the gun with FMJs. She’d probably be dead by now.”
A sort of pulse emanated from between Xerneas’s antlers, ending at Pinkie’s wounds. They started to close up, though Pinkie had fallen unconscious. Latios and Latias joined Xerneas in the effort while the medics hoisted her onto a gurney. After a minute, the three of them stopped. Pinkie was still breathing unassisted. While Latios and Latias departed quickly, Xerneas said to Pinkie’s friends, “That should be the worst of it, but she still requires serious medical attention.”
The medics wheeled Pinkie toward and through the portal as Xerneas returned to his spot waiting. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all followed. Starlight began to follow, but Luna tapped on the back with a wing. Gently she said, “You can go after you give your report. I’m sorry, but we need that information immediately.”
“Yes, of course,” said Starlight with forlorn eyes and sad nodding. She followed Princess Luna to the battle map, where the others waited. Starlight looked at her mentor and said, “You were spot-on, Twilight. We saw her. She was there, right when you said she’d be.”
Twilight nodded with some pride. Cynthia muttered, “Guess your food theft theory was sound after all.”
“Why isn’t Trixie with you?” asked Twilight, her pleased face falling away.
Starlight sighed and said, “When the fighting started, she fled. She somehow disappeared into the ground by hitting it with a pickaxe. One of the humans there said something about an ‘Explorer Kit’ when she got away.”
“So she’s in the Underground?” Cynthia asked irritably. She waved dismissively at the lines on the map as she snarked, “Goes a long way to explain why all your patrols always came back with nothing.”
“I meant, why didn’t you just teleport with her as soon as she was found?” Twilight pressed.
Starlight nodded with a slightly suppressed grin. “She said she couldn’t. Said she had a ‘complication’ back where she was hiding, and would need ‘safe passage’ to get here.”
Twilight’s eyebrows raised in unison, “A ‘complication’ that requires ‘safe passage,’ then? I do hope that means what I think it means.”
“Me too.”
Twilight turned to Cynthia and said, “We’ll need to get down there.”
“Look, I already told you we don’t have any extra Explorer Kits just laying around!” Cynthia grouched.
Red held up a hand as he walked around the map. As he started rummaging through his bag, Blue stopped him and said, “I don’t think this will work. How exactly do you expect them to enter this Trixie’s Secret Base if she has the entrance closed, which is almost doubtlessly the case?”
Red gave Blue a hard look as he pulled out a hard hat with a pickaxe and shovel linked to it. He continued his imperious stare as he handed it to Twilight, then tapped her horn with only his index finger. She withheld a chuckle and said, “Thank you, sir.”
“Shouldn’t I get the kit?” Starlight asked. “Trixie’s my best friend, and she and Twilight...don’t have the friendliest history.”
Twilight sighed, “Not arguing that point, but you’re not skilled with divination spells, and I am. We should both go.”
Starlight sighed. Looking between Red, Blue, and Cynthia, she asked in exhaustion, “Is there another kit we can borrow?”
Red nodded. The others waited in anticipation. A moment later, he gave Blue a sharp tap to the shoulder, then pointed at Starlight. Blue rolled his eyes and sighed, grumbling, “Fine, since you’re that certain....”
Blue looked through his bag briefly before handing such a set to Starlight huffily. Appreciatively she said, “Thanks. We’ll return these once we’re done.”
“Good, I was about to say so,” Blue said with a frown.
Starlight looked around the camp, and at the scientists taking cover in particular. She asked, “Um, so, what changed in the maybe half-hour we were out?”
Mew looked back over its shoulder for a brief second, then said, “Mew...Two....”
Twilight pursed her lips and said, “A particularly brutal and savage Pokémon called ‘Mewtwo’ is coming, and should arrive in about two hours. According to the others, he is very, very strong, and very quick to violence. I don’t know all the details, but it sounds like Mewtwo is artificial.”
Blue said, “We don’t have time to give you the full story. Suffice it to say, Mewtwo has left a wake of destruction on his way here.”
“Which is why I warned you about the coming nightmare!” Darkrai snapped bitterly at Twilight. Her ears drooped as he continued, “Your magic is nothing we’ve ever seen or felt before, and you showed the whole world it’s right here! Why do you think so many of us came?! We had to know if you were friend or foe, and guess who’s definitely gonna call you foe?!”
“I...I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Twilight said sadly.
Darkrai turned away, huffing, “A little late for that now.”
Blue shook his head and said, “Both the Ame-kohs and the Febs lost an entire carrier group apiece, and we don’t know how many other craft were—what?!”
Red had shoved Blue disdainfully while shaking his head; his expression had turned to an angry one at Blue’s naming who lost naval vessels. Red forcefully and emphatically made sweeping motions with his hands. Cynthia gently said, “That’s not a very nice way to talk about them.”
“Anyways,” Blue continued with a roll of his eyes, “Mewtwo is destroying everything in his path, and is coming here for whatever reason. Connecting where he destroyed those flotillas and the time between is how we figured out his ETA, Starlight. Like Darkrai said, he’s probably trying to find out what the source of power here is, the same as the other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.”
“You’re saying we’d better hurry,” said Twilight, unamused.
“Yes.”
Twilight looked over at Starlight and asked, “You said she just hit the ground with the pickaxe, right?”
“That’s right,” Starlight answer, withdrawing the pickaxe from Blue’s Explorer Kit and donning the hard hat.
“Wait!” said Cynthia. “You’ll return from the Underground exactly where you entered! Even if you find her, she’ll pop back out at that farm, whether you or not you all hold hands—hooves, whatever—on your way out. You’d better return to where you found her.”
Twilight nodded. She said to Starlight, “Take us there, since you know its precise location.”
The two departed in a burst of phthalo green light.
Back at the barn, Twilight and Starlight emerged from the teleport. Twilight took in her surroundings. A woman and an adolescent girl were helping the man back to the house. Toxicroak was dragging his trainer back from the barn, and froze in terror at the sight of them. The hurt man barked at Starlight, “Haven’t you done enough?!”
Twilight said, “Sir, we are simply retrieving my lost citizen. Since she’d resurface here either way, I thought this the most prudent place to start.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled. “Just hurry up and get the hell off my property, and out of my life!”
“Wonderful people, here,” Twilight muttered to herself.
“Yeah, well...you’ve been fortunate to have mostly dealt with Red and Blue,” said Starlight. “These humans seem to think they’re inherently better than any other species.”
“They make some bad company,” Twilight said, shaking her head.
Starlight nodded, “I can’t deny that. Personally, I’ve had enough of all the Pokémon, too.”
Twilight pulled the pickaxe from her borrowed Explorer Kit. Putting on the hard hat, she said, “Agreed. Let’s just go find Trixie. I, too, will be happy to leave this world far behind and return to our own permanently.”
Starlight lifted her set’s pickaxe, and said, “Right. We’re going in!”
The two struck the ground in unison, jumped into identical black spots, and were gone from sight as the holes closed behind them.
Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer descended slowly with flailing feet and landed. As their vision cleared up, they found themselves in a tunnel of a thick sandstone deposit. The tunnel was wide enough to fit five abreast with breathing room. However, the ceiling was too low to allow any aerial mobility; even Rainbow Dash or Spitfire would struggle to stay aloft without knocking themselves against the low overhead. Wooden support beams were evenly spaced. They appeared at a four-way intersection.
“Wow. Uniform in every direction,” Twilight said, looking around.
“Yeah, I see that. Hopefully this ‘underground’ isn’t too big,” said Starlight. “What does your divination magic say?”
Twilight’s horn powered up, but a pinging noise sounded as a thin expanding circle issued from her horn. She scrunched her face, raising an eyebrow. “Wha...my magic doesn’t work normally down here! All I can sense is a vague something, and at that, only within about seven lengths!”
Starlight grumbled, “Crud. Now what?”
“There’s nothing right here. With the tunnel looking the same in every direction, I don’t know where to begin!” Twilight said in exasperation, looking around fervently.
“She went that way,” Starlight said, pointing to the south.
Twilight took a breath and said like a condescending mother, “Now Starlight, I know you want to find her. But you shouldn’t let your imagination run away with you and act on false hope.”
“Twilight...,” Starlight began.
As her horn lit up again, Twilight kept going, “I’ve already begun analysing this strange field that disrupts divination magic.”
“Twilight,” Starlight urged.
Still ignoring her, Twilight continued, “Until we have proof, we cannot proceed with any real chance of locating Trixie.”
“Twilight!” Starlight shouted in exasperation.
Twilight shook her head in surprise, but her horn still held the small charge it had. She blinked several times with her mouth slightly parted. Shutting her jaw, she cocked her head to the left and raised her left eyebrow, saying, “Is...why are you shouting, Starlight?”
Pointing downward, Starlight condescendingly grumbled, “She left hoofprints.”
Twilight looked down. Among the sandstone was a thin interbedded deposit of shale that was noncontiguous, but had been marked by pony hoofprints. These were too small to be a horse, and spaced in a way that could only come from a pony at a full canter. Twilight blushed and shrank back, muttering, “Oh. I...oh. Wow. I’m sorry for doubting you, Starlight.”
Starlight frowned, but said calmly, “It’s fine, but there’s no point in staying here.”
The two trotted after the hoofprints, following the prints along their last-seen trajectory through the gaps where the shale bed was gone. They passed multiple intersections, turned west, headed north a bit later, and followed Trixie’s trail through a thin pass. A few steps out into the wide corridor, a large billow of fire leapt all around Twilight, as though there was an oversized blowtorch under her. A woman voice over an unseen P.A. system announced, “Twilight Sparkle triggered a Trap!”
Twilight yelped and jumped straight up, even though the fire was semitransparent. A similar disembodied voice nearby said, “Oops! Fire Trap! Blow the Trap away!”
“Twilight!?!” Starlight shrieked in terror.
Still with her horn charged, Twilight furled her brow, looked at the fire surrounding her, then calmly said to Starlight, “It...doesn’t hurt. It’s like it’s not even there, except that it’s not letting me move at all.”
Starlight forced deep breaths to slow her lungs to a normal speed. She looked the flames up and down, and said, “Uh, Twilight? Is it me, or does this fire look a little funny? It’s kinda boxy.”
Twilight pursed her lips a moment, then nodded. “You’re right. It’s pixelated. But why?”
“‘Pixelated?’ Never heard that word before,” Starlight said.
“I’m not surprised,” Twilight answered. “I hadn’t heard the word before going to Canterlot High. When that world’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash played something called a ‘video game’ there, there was this kind of boxiness to what was on the screen...though not this pronounced. This is pretty severe.”
“You’re getting yourself into sidebars again.”
Twilight grimaced. “Oh. Sorry. Heh heh. Anyways, I asked Pinkie why it looked so, and she said all video games are pixelated to some degree. It comes from old television screens having miniature lights on them, called pixels, that change colour and brightness to create—”
“Twilight! Now’s not the time!” Starlight yelled, her face vexed. “That voice from...wherever it came said to ‘blow the trap out!’ So, blow the trap out!”
“How? This isn’t exactly a birthday candle,” Twilight quipped. Starlight shrugged with gritted teeth and annoyed eyes. She walked up and blew as if it were a birthday candle anyway, despite the funky flame standing twice Twilight’s height. She huffed and puffed at the flame to no noticeable effect whatsoever while Twilight rolled her eyes. She muttered under her breath, “Listening never was one of your strong points....”
“Well, what do you suggest!?” Starlight barked.
Twilight tapped her chin for a moment, then her face lit up. She flapped her wings hard, repeatedly. The flames shrank, then returned to their overblown height, hitting no points in-between the two sizes. She flapped faster. The pixelated fire shrank, then disappeared. A strange music box chimed nearby as the woman over the P.A. said, “Twilight Sparkle escaped the Trap.”
Starlight looked all around her, but could not find the music box, nor the P.A. speakers. She grumbled, “This is the strangest place I’ve ever been to. And I’ve seen plenty of strange places.”
“It’s certainly up the list for me,” Twilight snorted. “A pixelated illusion of a fire that keeps one from moving? That’s just bizarre. Who thought of such a thing?”
Starlight rolled her eyes. “I seriously doubt we’ll find a plaque with all the architects’ and miners’ names, or a list of whoever all donated money to carve out these tunnels.”
Twilight continued grumbling unfazed. “Why the pixellation? Did we stumble into a video game or something? It’s rubbish to even entertain such an impossibility.”
“Let’s just get going before something else weird happens,” Starlight sighed.
Twilight further powered up her horn, but it was to the same effect. From the pinging noise, a silver speck shined on the floor behind Starlight, and two golden sparkles shone on the wall. As the expanding circle disappeared, so did the flecks of light. As her horn resumed the soft glow from earlier, Twilight said, “I think there’s something behind you.”
Starlight turned around, and saw nothing. She snarked, “Oh, yes, the dangerous, dangerous air is gonna pounce me! So many perils await from the lightly wafting dust! Let me just scoop this up with my hooves, and—”
“Starlight Glimmer disengaged a Trap!” said the woman over the unseen speakers. Starlight looked down to see some square device in her hooves, red with a thick arrow pointing east.
Twilight talked over the other voice that had started, “Do you know a one-centimetre levitation spell? Running on such a puff of air would keep us from triggering these traps.”
Starlight looked over the square in her hooves. She muttered, “I do, but...what is this thing?”
“Some kind of weird tech. It held me in place when—oh! I get it!” Twilight said with a sudden smile. “Hologram projection. That’s why it looked like there was a fire around me, but I couldn’t feel it. And while that was going on, it just halted my momentum.”
“A ‘hologram,’” echoed Starlight questioningly with a hint of irritation.
Twilight said, “It’s like an illusion spell, except it’s done by technological means.”
“Whatever. Why they made such a contraption is beyond me,” Starlight muttered with waning patience. “I’m not carrying it around.”
Starlight dropped the object behind her and the two took off again, this time levitating barely above the floor. After another minute of following the interspersed shale bed, they ran out of visible hoofprints. Twilight and Starlight stood at a four-way intersection with no shale to follow in any direction. Twilight sighed, “Oh. I was afraid this would happen.”
“Is there something we can do to leave a marker here or something?” Starlight asked, looking between the different paths. “We can’t just quit now!”
Twilight squinted as she looked down the corridor. She said, “It looks like there’s a human male standing there a little ways ahead, at the next intersection. Let’s go ask him.”
The two hurried along the longer stretch without the tunnel meeting another, stopping at the large, bearded, barrel-chested man. Starlight said, “Excuse me, sir, but have you seen a blue pony run by here?”
“Starlight Glimmer talked with someone,” announced the woman over the P.A.
“You’ve got a Sphere or two? If so, I’ll trade you something,” the man answered.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “You...want us to trade you a ‘sphere’ for information??”
“We, uh, don’t have a sphere with us,” Starlight sadly admitted.
The man answered, “I’ll be seeing you, then!”
As Twilight and Starlight ambled away, Starlight muttered, “What a weird thing to ask for. Spheres?”
Twilight shrugged and quipped, “Some ponies juggle geese.”
Starlight paused, then said, “Also weird, but seriously, who hunts spheres as a living?”
“Uh, Starlight? This is the world where they trap wild animals in hoof-sized balls, or spheres if you would rather, and make them duke it out for money and fame,” Twilight said snidely. “You shouldn’t expect anything here to make sense.”
“It just doesn’t look like a good spot to find the stupid things, if you ask me,” Starlight said. “I mean, if he’s gonna be a sphere hunter, why is he hanging out underground? A sporting goods store would serve him better, or a pool hall. Or hey! Why not get those enslavement balls, and buy ‘em by the crate? Or how about he really goes to the extreme? Why doesn’t he, I dunno, fly some mechanical thing, since they like those machines around here, and go around the world and delve into old ruins to find them? Have him and his two closest buddies do the away missions while his relations run the vessel. I mean, really. It’s just asinine, no matter how you spend your days looking for them.”
“Eh,” Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes. “It’d be more marketable to have a trio of adolescent girls do the ground-based legwork than three burly guys. And have them stomp out a revived threat from a thousand years ago.”
Starlight stopped, her entire mouth curled in incredulity as her eyes squinted from the same. Twilight turned and looked at her. Mouthing moving silently, Starlight’s larynx took a break. She gestured, despite no words leaving her lips. A moment of this later, Starlight inhaled deeply, and squawked, “What in the world, Twilight?!!”
Twilight snickered and said, “You said something absurd, thus did I do the same as a reflection for you. Besides, marketing firms like to use the young and beautiful for adverts, especially girls.”
Starlight slowly shook her head, before waving dismissively at Twilight. She grumbled, “Just forget it. Let’s find this guy his damn sphere or two.”
“Language,” Twilight urged motheringly. Her horn flared up for a moment, resulting in the same pinging and circle as before. As the glow slacked back to the soft and steady one Twilight had been holding, a gold sparkle shone on the wall. They walked over toward where it was as Twilight said, “Wonder what that was about.”
As the stood in front of that point, Starlight said, “The wall is bulging slightly.”
“Hmm,” Twilight hummed, tapping her chin.
“What do you think? Should we dig here?” Starlight said.
“Well...it’s worth a shot,” said Twilight with suppressed hesitancy. “Hopefully this won’t end up as a ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ moment.”
As she got out her pickaxe and shovel, the woman on the P.A. announced, “Twilight Sparkle is digging for Treasure!”
Twilight’s shovel clanged against the stone, to no effect. The noise came from Twilight’s horn again. Some disembodied voice nearby, just like the one earlier, said, “Something pinged in the wall! 4 confirmed!”
“Fine. Pickaxe it is,” Twilight grouched. She looked at the hammer that also came with the kit, then at the tan and brown chunk of wall in front of her. Pursing her lips, she telekinetically took the pickaxe and smacked a random spot in the tan area. Beige rock appeared behind where she struck, while the surrounding parts cracked. She hit again, and again, exposing more beige underneath. On the fourth strike, something not-beige was there. There was a green crystal with a bit of yellow on it. Carefully Twilight picked away at the surrounding rock, until this crystal had everything over it removed. It was the colour of an emerald, but with a lightning bolt upon it. She pulled it out with her telekinesis, then hit somewhere else. Here was something yellow. A moment of careful strikes later, she removed a yellow octahedral crystal, one with four instances of twinning. Two pickaxe strokes later was something brown and curled. Soon Twilight freed a petrified crinoid. Something else had also been revealed from that excavation. Two more pickaxe strokes, and she freed an opalescent heart.
The nearby voice said, “Everything was dug up! A Heart Scale was obtained. A Root Fossil was obtained. A Max Revive was obtained. A Thunderstone was obtained.”
“No spheres, though,” Twilight said with a frown. “But it was kinda fun. I wouldn’t mind doing this for a little while. I like guessing what I’ll find!”
“Twiliiight...!” Starlight whined with petulant impatience. “Trixie, remember?!”
Twilight blushed and nodded. “Sorry. Let’s keep looking.”
A few moments later, Twilight and Starlight were both catching their breath after each finished another dig. As Twilight wicked the sweat from her brow, she grouched, “One. One sphere after ten digs. Everything dug up each time, too. Far from perfect.”
An adolescent human male was passing by, stopped, and glared at her. He snapped, “And you’re complaining!? Everybody else is up to their ears in them spheres, trying to find something more useful, but you’re not satisfied because one sphere mussed up your perfect record!? You know what? Screw you, pony! Screw you! Screw! You!”
He stormed off, shaking his head and throwing his hands in the air in frustration. Starlight quietly seethed, “That’s what we’re looking for, buddy. We’re trying to find the effing things so we can get some info.”
Twilight set her pickaxe down, but the soft glow continued. She panted, “I’m gonna try one more time. If that doesn’t do it, we’ll have to hope this ‘Pale Sphere, Size 17’ is worth enough to that man.”
Blowing off the woman over the P.A., Twilight found another twinkling on the rock and went for it. The voice nearby said, “Something pinged in the wall! 2 confirmed!”
The wall here was nearly completely tan. Three hits, and something dark presented itself. Picking it out, Twilight sighed, “This is, what, our fifth Moonstone?”
“Sixth,” Starlight corrected her. “I got two in my last dig.”
Twilight muttered through her efforts, “Well, if that, uh...pleasant young man could be trusted, we hit the motherlode, when we just wanted what everypony else, or rather, everybody else, usually digs up.”
Then Twilight exposed something bright red. Peeling away the rock, she exposed a chunk of some red thing, shaped like it started off as a kite shield, but since has had its edges heavily rounded. The nearby voice said, “Everything was dug up! A Moonstone was obtained. You obtained a Red Sphere, Size 20!”
Twilight looked at the red thingamabob. She barked, “This is not a sphere! It’s not even close! While the so-called ‘Pale Sphere’ isn’t either, it at least could pass for one at a distance!”
Starlight scoffed, “Weren’t you the one who a few minutes ago said we shouldn’t expect things to make sense in this world?”
Giving up, Twilight closed her eyes instead of arguing the point. She mumbled, “You’re right. I guess it can’t be helped. Let’s go see that person.”
They meandered back toward that man, Twilight's horn still glowing quietly. As they neared him, Twilight slowed down and stopped, her face most-pensive. Starlight turned around. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “What is it?”
Twilight pursed her lips, then said, “Go on and talk to him. I’ve got something on my mind.”
Receiving the red “sphere,” Starlight gave Twilight a long look. A harsh quiet followed. Starlight slowly said, “Okay then. I’ll...I’ll just get that info.” Starlight looked at Twilight a moment as she continued forward, then, simply looked at the large human. She stood in front of the man and said, “We got a couple of spheres for you. Now please tell us what we need to know.”
The woman over the P.A. announced the same as before, “Starlight Glimmer talked with someone.”
The man said, “You’ve got a Sphere or two? If so, I’ll trade you something.”
Starlight paused at how his pitch, inflection, and pacing had all changed none in the interim. She held up the two spheres in her telekinesis and said, “Yes...trade spheres for information. Which way did a blue pony go?”
The man said nothing, but showed her five of the technological squares, much like the “trap” she had inadvertently “disengaged” earlier. Starlight blinked several times, then gritted her teeth as the corners of her mouth turned downward. She snarled, “You mean to tell me...that after we busted our flanks digging...trying to find these spheres...so we could trade you that for information...all you are is a merchant, who doesn’t know what I was asking, and these ‘spheres’ are your goddamn currency!?”
The man said nothing, but still had the same serene grin on his face, nonplussed at her ranting. She threw both spheres and caught him in the face. Whirling around and stomping as she departed, she heard him say the same as before, “I’ll be seeing you, then!”
Starlight groaned and growled, not even trying to form syllables. She marched back to Twilight, whose horn pinged with that radiating circle every few seconds while she was talking to herself. As Starlight neared, she could discern Twilight’s words. “No...adjust the waveform to compensate for...no, closer, but...reduce it by forty-five hertz, and...no, that’s too big a drop....”
Starlight took a deep breath and asked, “What are you doing?”
“The same thing I’ve been doing since almost immediately after we arrived,” said Twilight. “Trying to isolate the field harmonics that reduces my divination magic to a short-range ping.”
“That’s why your horn’s been glowing?” Starlight asked. Disappointment overtook her expression and voice. “I thought you’d have it perfectly on the first go. Why’s the math fuzzy?”
“The exact conversion rate between Equestrian magic and the tech that made the field isn’t clear,” said Twilight. “I’ve narrowed it down to a small range, but even with that, the gap that follows when you have a logarithm’s base directly impacted by the substitution rule in double integrals via that change in value is substantial. The—”
“I got it! You have to finish testing!” Starlight hastily interrupted. Caught between impressed at skill and turned off by boasting, she said, “Geez, you can do unnecessarily complicated math in your head like that?”
“Energy conversion between two worlds is always a mess,” Twilight answered as another ping left her horn. “Wish it wasn’t so, but at least I’ve had some practice.”
“...I’ll take your word for it,” Starlight said flippantly. Twilight’s horn charged, and instead of the circle with its ping, a wispy trail lead down the corridor, back towards where they were digging. Starlight’s eyebrows raised. “I hope that’s a good sign.”
“I’m picking up good vibrations!” Twilight cheered, filling up with excitation.
“Well, don’t just stand there! Let’s roll!” Starlight insisted with a smile.
The two ponies galloped down the corridor, around a corner, took a right, and continued on, following the blue-grey wispy line. Another corner later, and they found themselves charging northward down a long straightaway with no intersection tunnels, not even the thin ones. Once it came to an intersection, the line continued north, and again through the second intersection, but it turned left at the third. Starting west, they quickly found the trail turned north again, into one of the thin tunnels where Starlight had to follow Twilight. They had little room to turn themselves around where they found the trail stopping against the east wall. With some effort, and her backside scraping against the rock for a moment, Twilight turned herself around.
“Looks like this is the spot,” said Twilight.
“Good,” said Starlight. She looked over the pickaxe and hammer in the kit, and commented, “I doubt these will get the job done before we’re both old and grey.”
Twilight smiled, “Wasn’t about to suggest that.”
Starlight’s eyebrows perked up as a cheeky smirk came to her face. “Combined pulses of Chalcitis’s Mine-Maker?”
Twilight nodded with an anticipatory grin as she pulled a pair of safety goggles from the kit and put them on, along with a dust mask. “That should take out even the most stubborn wall.”
“Count me in,” beamed Starlight as she donned the eye and breathing protection from her borrowed kit.
Hard hats placed themselves atop both heads from their respective wearers’ magic. Princess and student charged up their horns. Two dots appeared on the wall, one of Twilight’s magenta, and the other of Starlight’s phthalo green. As the two adjusted where their horns pointed, so did the dots. They fine-tuned their aim so that the dots overlapped, centred where the blue-grey wisp led them. A faint glow of their respective barriers shone in front of them both.
A bright pulse erupted from both Twilight and Starlight, slamming into the wall where the projected dots overlapped. Instantly the wall went to pieces, spraying bits of rock sized everywhere between clay grains to baseball-sized misshapen shards. Mystical barriers lit up like noiseless magenta and teal fireworks, shining brightly through a rapidly expanding and rushing brownish cloud. As the cloud began to settle, a fireball exploded from where they blasted the wall, quickly followed by a second, then a third. Twilight and Starlight were forced backwards, hooves sliding against the stone floor.
As a shriek accompanied a fourth, Starlight muttered, “Had warmer welcomes.”
They started forward, but had to brace themselves against a lightning burst. Starlight’s barrier wavered briefly, but she reinforced it. Soon broken chunks of stone the size of barrels launched from the opening, knocking both of them around even with the magical shields up. Twilight yelled, “Trixie! Calm down! It’s—”
Another fireball cut her off. More lightning followed suit. Starlight winced, then advanced. Indiscernible screeching issued, along with more thrown stones and a burst of ice. Twilight continued to advance with Starlight behind her. Two more fireballs came in. Starlight begrudgingly said, “Perhaps dealing with the wall like that was hasty.”
“Yeah, should’ve thought that one through. Just never had the chance to try that spell before,” Twilight sighed, beginning to make way against the heavy fire coming from the opening.
A few words came through from Trixie amid the blasting, nestled deeply between enraged and terrified, “You will not—”
And another fireball erupted. Twilight’s barrier held firm as she pressed forward, entering a small cavern room. There were several large boulders in here, along with a small table with chairs, and a sidebar-like furnishing with a small computer sporting a pennant flag. Trixie stood there with an overcharged horn, tears streaking her face, gritted teeth, and a bloodshot death glare in her eyes. Upon seeing Twilight, her face eased, and her horn’s charge eased off, exposing that it was glowing orange-yellow from heat, and indeed smoldered and singed her coat around her horn. Starlight stepped out from behind Twilight, and jokingly said, “Happy to see you too, Trix.”
Trixie dropped to the floor and sobbed. Starlight rushed over to her as Twilight raised an eyebrow, frowning with empathetic sadness. Here she saw a mare that was not at all as she remembered. Trixie lay here without her pride, without her swagger, broken and crushed, laying there defeated, hapless, and miserable, undone by the goings-on endured in the past two weeks or so. Twilight hesitated, then joined Starlight in consoling Trixie. Minutes passed before Trixie settled. Twilight softly said, “Come on, Trixie. Let’s go home. Your father, Presto, is waiting at the castle.”
Waterworks resumed as Trixie squawked, “Daddy’s there!?”
Another several minutes later, as Trixie calmed down again, Starlight said, “Hey. Let’s get out of here.”
“You said you needed guaranteed safe passage?” asked Twilight. “I can do that. And we entered the Underground about where you did, so we can teleport immediately.”
“Okay...okay, good,” Trixie said, nodding slowly. She turned to Starlight and pled, “Starlight...please don’t freak out at this. I still can’t believe this is possible.”
Twilight nodded to Starlight, who returned the gesture, then said to Trixie, “So...what’s this impossible thing?”
Trixie turned toward the table by the boulders, and gently commanded, “Zauber...come out. It’s okay.”
Slowly around the side of a boulder peered a small foal, staring in distrust and apprehension. As the head came fully into view, the foal clearly was a colt, a deeper cornflower blue with an off-white mane and tail. And those eyes...there was no mistaking the lineage. Every colour, the shape of his head, face, and body, and even the underlying cockiness swimming just below his suspicion, the little guy was a dead-ringer for his mother.
Twilight whispered to herself, “And there we are.”
“‘There we are’...what?” Trixie asked.
Zauber stayed partway out from behind the boulder, watching on uneasily. Twilight said, “Number ten. The last of the hybrids.”
Trixie looked away briefly and nervously asked, “Ten?”
“Your ten eggs that hatched into pony-Pokémon hybrids?” Twilight asked.
A bead a sweat rolled down the side of Trixie’s face. “Um...eggs??”
Twilight sighed with a sad, guilty expression. “From...that time, in the daycare, when...the unspeakable happened to you, against your will?”
Sweat drops on Trixie’s face were fruitful and multiplied. “Oh...that. Yeah. It, uh, was horrible. Miserable. It’s not like that’s something Trixie would want to experience again anytime soon, or that she thought it was the greatest and most powerful exhilaration she ever felt, more than she dreamed she could and would jump back there in a heartbeat or something like that. Yeah, it’s...it’s a bad thing. Yeah.” Starlight cast Trixie a sideways glance as she heard the claim. Seeing Twilight about to speak again, Trixie pressed, “How did you know there were ten? And what do you mean the ‘last’ of them?”
Twilight said, “I cast a world-covering divination spell, looking for Equestrian magic, and found ten more sources than what there should have been. Eight of them we had rounded up, with some help of the humans here. That Paddy fellow who put you through that horrible experience still has one, and this little guy makes ten.”
“Mama, who are they, and what are they talking about?” Zauber asked, still half-hidden.
Trixie smiled back at Zauber, and sweetly said, “These are friends from mama’s homeland, Honey-Pumpkin. This is Starlight Glimmer, the best friend mama has ever had, and that other one is...is Twilight Sparkle. She’s a princess, and...well, she’s a princess. Let’s leave it at that.”
Twilight scoffed as Starlight said, “We’re here to get you two home. I hope we didn’t freak you out too much, little guy.”
“Right, like the wall exploding is part of the day-to-day humdrum!” Zauber snapped, stepping out. “Why did you blow up the wall? And how did you make it all go out from us? You could’ve just knocked.”
Trixie sighed and said, “Not really. The door seals up tight, remember?”
Zauber walked into his mother’s awaiting embrace. After a moment he said, “That still doesn’t explain how the detritus exploded at them and not us.”
Twilight raised her eyebrows as a delighted smile broke over her face. “Ooh, he’s a smart one! Part of the effect of Chalcitis’s Mine-Maker is material excavated in the way exits perpendicular to the face whence it comes, to prevent material loss in case of an unseen cavern, lava tube, or other subterranean structure.”
“Maximise ore recovery while minimising risk? Makes economic sense,” said Zauber.
“He has a bright tomorrow ahead,” Twilight beamed. “Are you ready to come to Equestria, your mother’s homeland?”
“So it’s finally time to leave, then, mama?” Zauber asked.
“It is.”
“Good. Let’s be off,” he said.
As they started out, Starlight sidled alongside of Trixie. Before she could speak, Trixie pulled her close and raspily whispered in her ear, “Yes, I know you noticed I lied about my time in the daycare. But that is the story I will tell: Trixie was subjected to the unspeakable. Don’t say anything about the ruse to Twilight. And don’t you dare say anything to the contrary around Trixie’s father. Okay?”
Starlight hesitated, and answered, “O...kay, then, Trix...sure thing. If it means that much to you.”
The four left the smaller room, each of the adults pulling out their Explorer Kits. Trixie held tight onto Zauber as they all spun upward. A moment later they all popped out of the ground at the barn where Pinkie had taken two for the team. Twilight’s horn was already charged as their spins halted, and they immediately disappeared in a magenta flash. Coalescing back at The Great Marsh, shots were ringing out. A number of human men had gathered with firearms, and shot at the encampment. Their bullets, shotgun slugs, and buckshot pinged against the unicorns’ barriers. Others were engaged with Pokémon. A pegasus soldier staggered and struggled to stand after a Magnezone doled out a Thunderbolt. A different pegasus took a spear and skewered a multicoloured monkey with fire for its hairdo, which collapsed spitting blood. Trixie began to hyperventilate, while Zauber merely scoffed. Twilight stood agape while Starlight hollered, “Get to the portal! Do it! Do it now!”
By the portal they met Princess Luna, who appeared nonplussed at the battle going on in front of her. Looking across the friendly lines, Twilight gasped. Both Red and Blue had their Pokémon engaged against the other humans. Hearing some scared sobbing, Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie all turned, and each nearly yelped. There in a bound cage sat Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, each terrified and clinging to each other. Twilight squawked, “Princess Luna!! Why are they here!?!”
“Ask them,” said Luna coolly. “Go on. Ask the bold ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ what less-than-brilliant plan they cooked up.”
Starlight barked, “What did you girls do!?”
Sweetie blubbered, “W-w-w-wee-e just wa-anted to help Rarity ge-et hoooome!”
Twilight gawked at them incredulously. “And a military encampment wasn’t enough to dissuade you!?”
“Sorry, Twahlahght,” Applebloom sniffled. Behind them the human line was retreating. “We...we really ploughed the neighbour’s field this time....”
Zauber frowned. “Is that even a saying?”
Starlight whispered, “It’s an ‘Apple-ism,’ little guy. Their whole family says things nopony else does.”
“Or use completely the wrong one...,” Trixie muttered under her breath. Her son scrunched his eyebrows at the comment, questioning his mother with his eyes.
Twilight sighed, “Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash will all have a field day with you three for this. I’ll leave it in their hooves. Now come on.”
“No.”
Twilight blinked, stunned like she had never felt stunned before at Luna’s firm response. She sputtered, “No, what? No...why??”
“That shall be their punishment for their transgression,” Luna spat bitterly. “When asked why, they said they were brave enough, and strong enough, to face what this world could throw at them, so they shall stay. Five minutes later this skirmish began, and they learned how wrong they were. We’ve received reports that other patrols have been attacked as well. I have kept these three out of harm’s way, and shall continue to do so until we all leave here, when they shall return.”
Twilight broke her just-set record for feeling stunned, standing there stupefied with a slight twitch. Starlight all-but-shrieked, “But that ‘Mewtwo’ thing will be here in...not very long!”
“Thirty-five to forty-five minutes, or something close to that, Starlight,” Luna corrected her calmly.
“Why are you doing this?” Twilight demanded, her face and voice laden with disappointment as in recovering from the shock she took a step forward.
Luna sighed and shook her head. She walked up to Twilight, and spoke quietly enough the three fillies could not hear her, “While I could say they’re too reckless, or that they need to learn from their mistakes by seeing them through to the end, the truth is they’re safer with me than they are in the brig in the Everfree.”
Twilight snapped, “What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“Those are three little fillies!” Luna hissed. “Twilight, do you know why we allow mares to serve as officers in the army and navy, but not as common enlisted soldiers or sailors?”
Twilight tapped her chin, then her eyes widened with horror. She breathed, “No...! That’s happened among our ponies!?”
Luna said to Trixie, “Cover his ears. He is too young to hear this.” Zauber pouted, but complied willingly with his mother’s hooves and Starlight’s muffling spell. Luna continued, “It sure has, Twilight Sparkle, over, and over, and over. At Basic Training, at specialised trainings, field camps, routine drills, and so on. Just because a pony is a good soldier doesn’t mean he is also a good pony. There are too many unsavoury appetites in the armies of the world, unfortunately including ours. I’ll not risk a pigheaded sergeant or two, or three, see them locked up where they could have their ways with them, taking advantage of young ones too small to defend themselves against grown war-stallions.”
“You could just send them home with repercussions to follow at a later date,” said Twilight irritably.
“That’s not how it works in a military camp. Surely your brother explained that to you?” Luna countered.
“Then just send them home, on your orders.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Twilight, they trespassed into an active military operation without identification, permission, clearance, or orders, and they knew better than that. They actively planned out their approach. I cannot in good conscience pardon them. And neither can you. To do so would show partiality, a permanent label we royals can ill-afford.”
Twilight nodded sadly, as one does when an unpleasant point cannot be refuted. She quietly asked, “How did they slip past so many soldiers?”
Scootaloo looked down as she murmured, “Applebloom whipped up an extended invisibility potion for each of us.”
“And then they did not realise the portal flashes every time something steps through. They were caught on this side nearly instantaneously,” Luna said.
Twilight sighed, “I see. Honestly, we shouldn’t linger. I have work to do at the castle, and really it shouldn’t wait.”
“Yes, of course. Oh, and Trixie?” Luna said. Trixie looked up to see the Princess of the Night pull her into a tight, warm embrace. She blinked, stupefied that Princess Luna would do such a thing, before timidly returning the hug. Luna quietly but with earnest cheer said, “I am so happy, and so relieved, to see you are alive and well, and returning home. We have all been very worried about you.”
“Th-thank you, Princess Luna,” said Trixie, bowing low.
Twilight and Starlight led Trixie and Zauber to the portal, and sent them through after Starlight and before Twilight. Upon returning to the Everfree Encampment, Twilight found Trixie quaking with fear, looking around at the siege weapons pointed at the portal. Zauber dismissively said, “Gee, you make it look like you expect something dangerous or whatever to come through.”
“Zauber, knock it off!” Trixie ordered as only a mother could.
Twilight powered up her horn and the three teleported to the Castle of Friendship’s foyer. As Twilight and Starlight led Trixie and Zauber for the basement lab door, Zauber looked on around him. With a slight grin he said, “Nice digs.”
“Uh, thanks?” Twilight answered, her tone belying her uncertainty of whether or not the colt was sincere. She opened the door and led them in. Princess Celestia was still there, watching. As they began down the stairs, her voice took a serious tone as she said, “You have a decision to make, Zauber.”
“Yes?”
“You are a foal of two worlds. Half of you is Equestrian, the other, Pokémon. This, unfortunately, presents a conflict,” Twilight said sadly.
Zauber scoffed, “You’re about to make me decide which half I am to embrace, and which to discard.”
“...yes. I’m sorry,” Twilight said, closing her eyes.
Zauber grumped, “No.”
“No??”
“I refuse,” Zauber said. “I see no reason I should be made to relinquish half of my identity.”
Princess Celestia spoke up. “Our deepest apologies, my little colt, but it’s for the safety of both worlds.”
Zauber looked over at Princess Celestia as he descended the stairs to the lab floor with an eyebrow raised. He stopped in front of her with his mouth slightly parted, then bowed. Politely he said, “You are stronger than the others, but carry yourself with dignified grace. I can only presume you are the Queen.”
Celestia chuckled, and said, “No, I am not my mother. I am Princess Celestia. There has not been a king or queen in Equestria since my parents.”
Zauber’s head jolted back. “We...live in a principality, then?”
“Kingdom, Principality, Duchy, Commonwealth, it makes little difference what title technically applies,” Celestia answered with a shrug. “Ours is a land of peace and friendship, raising our hooves to build one another up and rush to each other’s defence.”
“That’s all well and good, Your Highness,” Zauber said defiantly, “but what exactly does that have to do with coercing me into deciding what half of me shall remain?”
Celestia hesitated. Zauber noticed and smirked half-triumphantly, half-goadingly. Twilight inserted, “You’re not...really thinking of telling him the whole truth, are you?”
“Showing him, not telling,” Celestia answered unhappily. “Despite his age, both physical and apparent.”
Only a comically-stunned Pinkie’s jaw could have hung lower. Twilight scoffed, “Celestia, he’s just a foal!”
“And a foal more stubborn than most. He’s already made up his mind; nothing short of showing him all of that will convince him,” Celestia said.
“What you say is right, Your Highness,” Zauber smirked.
Twilight muttered under her breath, “What is with these two today...??”
Starlight stepped forward. “Then, may the rest of us see as well?”
Celestia sighed, closing her eyes. A moment later, she opened them, much firmer in her expression and tone as she answered, “So be it. Let me show you what Princess Luna and I scryed!”
Celestia’s horn powered up, and the lab around them disappeared, leaving each of them in a mostly-transparent state. Around them all was black, but for points of light like the night sky. The star field turned and flowed, rushing towards one in particular as Celestia narrated, “The Farsight spell, with special tinkering Starswirl himself wrote, bolstered by an intricate magic circle, cast by the both of us, is how we saw this far and this accurately.”
The scene overtook the one point of light and switched to an aerial view of dense woodland, made of very, very tall trees. Their viewpoint lazily drifted to the right. There was an ocean beyond the forest, taking up the horizon. One especially tall tree had some artificial structure built on it. The scene started panning and quickly zooming its direction as Celestia said, “We do not know what they call themselves, nor their motivations. But this much is clear: if a link is left between the two worlds for too long, they will find us. And such a theft of Equestrian magic will surely leave an overt link.”
Through the wall they went. The scene now was a dim room with three-dimensional projected images from different ring-like structures. The largest by far of these projections was in the middle of the room. This one was mostly dark blue, blobbish, with brighter points scattered almost at random around its interior. There were humans in the room...well, not quite human. The general body shape was nearly identical, but for a few unmistakable differences. They were markedly shorter, about three-quarters the height of an average adult human male, sleeker, and with much longer and more pointed ears, rigid enough to hold shape. These ears pointed mostly backwards, with their tips past the back side of the skull. Their faces appeared to be that of adolescent humans who should never be in want of suitors, except the skin showed some aging, and most of these people had crow’s feet and some laugh lines. Men outnumbered the women by about three to two. Most of them had lean builds, fair to medium complexions, eyes of brown, blue, or green, and particularly shiny light brown to dark brown hair worn long. Each wore a light blue robe of some kind, except one woman, who wore dark blue. Unlike the others, she had a petite build, stood maybe twelve and a half hands, pale complexion, violet eyes, and fiery red hair worn in long curly pigtails. Each busied themselves with computer-like devices, except the one in dark blue, who kept talking to others. Twilight asked, “Is this an astral cartography lab?”
“It seems so,” answered Celestia as the scene continued. On the large projection, red pulses jumped back and forth between two non-adjacent bright points. The one in dark blue looked, triumphantly pumped both fists, and began issuing orders. The language was indiscernible, and sounded as though their throats produced two sounds at once. The tone, though, was jovial with a sense of urgency. Their smiles showed mouths full of strictly-carnivorous teeth. Celestia said, “This is how they’d find us. Stolen Equestrian magic and the energy from Pokémon, jumping back and forth between our respective planes of existence, trying to return to their origin. That would give them something worth taking. They would send one of their number to scout each world. When that happens, our days are numbered.”
The scene zoomed in on one of the two indicated brighter points quickly, as Celestia said, “And this is what will happen if one such scout comes. Where and when it’s ideal for them, they’ll open a portal to their world, and...”
They saw Canterlot, or rather, what was left of it. Many of those short human-like creatures swarmed in military uniforms of hunter green long coats, black boots, trousers, gambeson under the coats, gloves, and berets. All the enemy soldiers were women, each quite young, or at least appeared so judging from the humans they had encountered. Their hair was not nearly as shiny as those in the lab, except the higher-ranking ones. Most of them had polearms or bows. All the officers carried one-and-a-half handed swords. Dead Equestrian soldiers and civilians lay everywhere, but the enemy appeared to have not lost a single one of their army...until in the image Twilight showed up. As she cut through the enemy line, she found the woman in dark blue from the previous scene. Twilight rushed with an overcharged horn. She fired a ray at the woman, who slapped it aside as though it were nothing. Then with a commanding gesture, a paper-thin wave erupted from her right hand at Twilight. Twilight’s barrier shattered immediately and off went her head. Twilight, the one watching the scene, shrieked as with the woman flicked her wrist, causing the Twilight in the image’s severed head to burst in a bloody explosion as her body went up in flames. A high school-aged Flurry Heart blasted at this woman on the wing, but to no avail. A yellow beam lanced from the woman’s left hand into Flurry Heart as though her barrier did not exist, and she went stiff. She crashed to the ground, shattering like a ceramic figurine whose shards twinkled away into tiny flecks of light and disappeared completely. Cadance screamed and charged on foot, but was slashed through the throat by a sword-carrying officer long before she reached the woman in blue. She lay dying beside her struck-down husband. Celestia sadly said, “...we would not last long against them.”
The scene turned to a different point in the battle, where a male of these creatures walked wearing purple vestments with equilateral triangle-themed embroidery in silver, black boots, a black miter with silver ornamentation, no gloves, and a black priest’s stole with red and gold embroidery. In his left hand he walked with a pitch black staff, topped with a blade-like hollow-centred equilateral triangle made from well-polished silver pointing upward. He walked at a leisurely pace while nearby, Lyra Heartstrings battled and held off two of their infantry. This priestly fellow took his free hand and flexed his bicep while clenching his fist. A huge disembodied hand erupted from the ground and grabbed Lyra, crushing her into goo. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both armed and armoured for battle, rushed him together. He dodged Celestia and knocked Luna to the ground with his staff. As Luna got back to her feet, he pointed his staff at Celestia, and a white aura surrounded him. The glow quickly condensed into the hollow triangle, then it shot a sphere that spiraled into Celestia. She disappeared, like her body was erased in one clean swipe of a squeegee starting at her head and ending with her tail, completely gone without a trace. Luna screamed and charged. He stabbed his staff into the ground, and flicked his hands toward her, fingers upward and palms forward, producing a purple pulse. This struck Luna in the centre of her chest, and she simply detonated, bits of her landing all over the place. Celestia sadly and wearily said, “We would not even have a prayer.”
The scene zoomed back, showing all of Equestria. Smoke rose from every city, town, village, and farmstead. Nowhere where ponies lived was there not ruin. As the view continued panning backwards, they could see it was not just Equestria. Celestia explained, “They would wipe us out, and every trace of our existence except our libraries. They’ll move out all the books and then destroy the buildings. And then they’ll do the same to the rest of the world. Every sentient species, annihilated. And then they would eradicate every selectively bred plant and animal, down to the last shaft of wheat.”
The scene turned away from the world and rushed through another star field as Celestia said, “And they would not stop with us.”
Soon the found themselves looking upon what once was an elegant city with a unique metal-beam tower at its centre. Now most of it was a smoldering ruin as the same soldiers massacred Pokémon, trainers, and ordinary people without a second thought. One soldier, however, wore a waistcoat instead of the long coat, and hers was not green, but red, such a red that even Rarity would just call it “red.” She had a very dark complexion, jet black hair, and soul-piercing teal eyes. From her horse she carved anyone and anymon unfortunate enough to be in sword’s reach with a single swipe, including a mega-evolved Steelix. The woman in dark blue was here, too, still with her pigtails, standing on the lifeless body of the slashed-to-ribbons Arceus. With a harsh swipe of her arm, a row of buildings at least two-hundred metres away collapsed into piles of rubble. As the view zoomed away, Celestia said, “They would do the same to the Pokémon world, except they would send every species of Pokémon into extinction. And then they will use our world and the Pokémon world as muster points to attack and conquer the surrounding planes of existence in the same fashion.”
The scene returned to the astral cartography lab, but this time, there were no red pulses jumping around the large projection. Celestia said, “But if we sever all connections between our two worlds, only Equestrians in Equestria, and only Pokémon and their things in their world, this race of destroyers will not find either of us. We will both be safe.”
The scene faded, resuming normal reality around them. Zauber was sobbing, clinging tightly to Trixie, who herself was shaking terribly and breathing heavily, holding her foal close and stroking his back. Twilight, too, was hyperventilating. Starlight, however, looked deeply disturbed, but no further than that. Celestia looked at Twilight, then Trixie, then Starlight, and said, “I see you don’t know the veritas spell, but Twilight and Trixie both cast one.”
Zauber cried, “Mama...mama say it’s not true! Please say it’s not true!”
“Honey-Pumpkin,” Trixie began with a terrified, trembling voice, “mama would be lying if she did.”
Zauber bawled. Trixie teetered on the verge of tears herself, rocking him slowly. Starlight quickly pulled them both into a hug. Twilight took physical comfort from Celestia, who swiftly welcomed and returned the embrace. Celestia’s horn powered up, and a yellow light shone all around. Each of the other four eased and calmed down fairly quickly. Soothingly she said, “Allay your fears, my little ponies, for we will not allow them to find us.”
“That first letter, the one where you and Luna told me to separate the pony from the Pokémon at any cost...I thought you two were angry, and said ‘extenuating circumstances’ as a cover,” Twilight said with a much more normal voice, though the disturbed tones leaked through. “But those...I wish they weren’t real. I see now that order was out of fear, and calling it ‘extenuating circumstances’ was to prevent me from feeling the same.”
“You felt the same terror we did. And in our terror, Luna and I wrote some rash words in a foolish attempt to see that terror prevented,” Celestia corrected her. As Zauber’s sobbing slowed and ceased, she turned to him. Gently she said, “You have a decision to make, young stallion.”
“You’re not taking me away from mama!” he yelled.
Trixie kissed her son on the forehead and said, “Honey-Pumpkin, nopony will take you away from me. Be my little pony, and let go of the Pokémon half of you.”
Zauber nodded and wiped away another tear. He let go of Trixie, and turned to Celestia. Firmly he said, “Make me a pony.”
“Everypony else needs to step back,” Twilight said as Celestia levitated one of the entropic jars to just in front of Zauber. The others did as they were told. Both princesses fired up their horns, etching a circle in the floor around Zauber. Twilight said, “This process doesn’t take very long, now that we got the hang of it.”
Twilight and Celestia worked at Zauber for three and a half minutes. Markings on the entropic jar glowed once as the lid was set. As the spell released, Zauber took a deep breath. There was a brightness to his eyes that was not there before the spell. He ran into his mother’s awaiting hug. The lab door opened. Presto stood at the entrance. Waterworks started on both sides as his and Trixie’s eyes met. She squawked something unintelligible and ran, meeting him halfway. A good minute or two passed. Presto quietly said, “It’s okay, my little bunny-in-a-hat. Daddy’s gotcha, and that’s what matters. Save the story for another time.”
As the tears got under control, a little filly’s voice asked, “Mama?”
Trixie looked up to see an inquisitive little face, just like hers when she was a wee lass, except the eye colour was different. Seven others had the same face down to a T, each with different coloured eyes. Then smiles brought across their faces as eight little fillies in almost-unison cheered, “Mama!? Yaaaay!!”
Trixie found herself buried under a pile of affection as Zauber came to join his sisters.
An indeterminate amount of time later, Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie emerged from a teleport at the Everfree Encampment. They started toward the ballistae as Starlight said, “You really don’t have to do this.”
“Trixie respectfully disagrees. My case is solid, and Princess Celestia agreed emphatically. Besides, I would dearly love to give that guy a piece of my mind, and maybe a piece of my hooves, too,” Trixie spat.
“Yes, this ‘Padraíg Seamus Gideon Meagher.’ How would you describe him?” Twilight asked.
Trixie sighed and said, “Trixie did not have many interactions with her so-called ‘trainer.’ From what I did see, he’s very intelligent, driven, unyielding, and has a poor sense of humour.”
“That’s not a good starting combo,” Starlight muttered. “Seriously, how can you be sure the last ‘Twixie’ will respond to you like the others did, especially after all the handling done by this Padraíg fellow?”
“There’s no way to know for sure, but I have to try,” Trixie said, shaking her head with a frown. “It doesn’t matter that’s she’s been around Paddy all this time, or a champion fighter, or that she’s a phony Alicorn, or any of that! None of that changes that she’s my daughter. I have to try.”
“Maternal instincts really kick in quick, huh?” Twilight asked.
Trixie grunted and half-heartedly smirked. “You have no idea.”
They rounded the corner and walked past the ballistae and a springald. The portal was not there. In its place stood General Merry Weather. Twilight trotted in quickly and demanded, “Report.”
The general saluted and stated, “Princess Luna ordered me back and closed the portal behind me. He’s there.”
“Mewtwo?” Twilight asked.
The general nodded. “And the worry was well-founded.”
Starlight frowned and muttered, “Let me guess, Princess Luna ordered it not to be reopened until she did so herself.”
“Affirmative,” Merry Weather answered.
Twilight sighed, and looked back at the other two. “Well, girls, I suppose we should check on Pinkie Pie.”
“She’s sleeping, Twi,” Rainbow Dash called from behind them. She, Applejack, and Fluttershy joined them. “Zecora really, really knows her stuff. Pinkie should be back to bouncing everywhere by this time next week!”
“Um, where’s the portal?” Fluttershy asked as Twilight took the longest sigh of relief in her life.
Starlight said, “Princess Luna closed it, ordering that it was not to be reopened until she did so herself.”
“Well, looky here!” Applejack said brightly. “We joined literally thousands of soldiers on hundreds of patrols ev’ry day, trahin’ to fish you outta that pigsty of a world they got, and here yer fixin’ to go raht back!”
“She has her reasons,” Starlight swiftly said, stepping between Trixie and Applejack.
“Now, now, Starlahght, no hard feelin’s meant. Jes’ a neighbourly thing, pokin’ fun,” Applejack said with a touch of apology.
“It’s okay, Starlight,” Trixie said. She looked at AJ and asked, “Were there really that many looking and patrolling, just for me?”
“Ee-yup,” Applejack said. “Day and night, all over that Sinnoh-place. Us too, out there from day one.”
“Your sister, too,” Trixie muttered under her breath.
“What ‘bout Applebloom!?” Applejack said with sudden fierceness.
“She didn’t tell you? Wait, of course she didn’t tell you. She’s the little sister,” Trixie said ambivalently. “Apparently she and her two little friends made an invisibility potion to slip past the guards here, only to get caught by Princess Luna as soon as they stepped through the portal.”
Applejack’s face turned a magnificent puce before moving on to a deadly scarlet. She threw her hat down, stomped around as tears of fury leaked from her eyes, her body shaking with her lower jaw most pronouncedly so. Rainbow Dash burst, “Why, when I get my hooves on Scootaloo, she’s so gonna get it!!”
There was no indication that Applejack would halt her livid pacing anytime soon. Twilight cautiously asked, “Applejack...are you gonna be okay?”
No answer. The same behaviours continued. Fluttershy meekly offered, “I think she’s too mad to speak.”
Twilight interjected, “Look, girls, we all have reason to go, and two of you just got another, but right now, we can’t. We’ll just have to wait.”
A blustery day was upon Azalea Town as Devontae emerged from the south-facing door of the northwestern-most house in town. Today he wore a yellow hoodie with green sleeves bearing a logo likely belonging to a sports team somewhere, green and yellow basketball warm-up pants, a yellow baseball hat with the same logo, and yellow high tops, all hues matching perfectly. Behind him was an older gentleman wearing a cerulean gi with a white belt. They shook hands as Devontae said, “Thanks again, Kurt. Sorry I hadn’t been by sooner to get them.”
“I’m still surprised you wanted these Heavy Balls at all,” Kurt said. “I thought you’re a Fire-type specialist?”
“I am, but an in-and-out understanding of those Rock- and Ground-types that so threaten my team will help me overcome them,” Devontae answered.
Kurt nodded. “Fair answer.”
A Flying-type Pokémon with a rider landed in front of the Pokémon Centre. Devontae turned in time to see the trainer slip into the trees, heading north, with the Pokémon following. The flyer was a Crobat, and disappeared as skillfully as its trainer did. Not a sound came from the footsteps or wingbeats, nor could either be seen in the forest. Devontae muttered, “That’s kinda weird.”
“Yeah, I wonder what he’s up to. Not often you see him away from the League,” Kurt said.
“Who?”
“That was Koga.”
Devontae turned fully toward Kurt as his face shifted to worry with widened eyes. “Koga!? Seriously?!”
Kurt frowned. “It is...why is that a problem?”
“No time to explain!” Devontae yelled as he turned, took a few steps in haste, and threw a Pokéball. A Charizard materialized. Devontae ordered, “Fly, buddy! Get us to Goldenrod now!”
Swiftly climbing onto Charizard’s back, Devontae patted his Pokémon. Instantly they were airborne and heading north by northwest. Devontae tapped at his PokéGear. Instantly Aengus’s face appeared on the screen. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Calling me on the wing?”
“Aengus, buddy, are you still in Goldenrod?” Devontae pressed.
Aengus raised an eyebrow and slowly said, “North of town a short ways on Route 35. What’s the matter?”
“Is Rarity with you?” Devontae continued pressing.
Aengus hung his head as his shoulders drooped. He murmured, “No. She’s...at the Daycare. I’ve been having second thoughts about that decision. I really should get her out of there.”
“You’re goddamn right you should!!” Devontae barked. “Even if it weren’t for the coming trouble! I’m en route to Goldenrod. Meet me at the Centre pronto!”
“What ‘coming trouble?’” Aengus asked.
“Koga just landed at Azalea and is cuttin’ across woodland! For such an old m—” Devontae used a word that would have earned an admonishment from Rarity “—that man can really move!”
Aengus blanched and his eyes shot all the way open. His breathing accelerated rapidly. He got out, “I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”
Rarity stood with her mouth slightly parted, her left eye squinted, and her right eye wide. Blinking, she echoed, “You...want to break out of here?”
“I thought that’s what I said. It’s certainly what I meant,” Rapidash grumbled with growing impatience.
“Rapidash, my love, not that I object to the affection, but why didn’t you simply say so?” Rarity asked, shaking her head slightly.
Rapidash sighed and looked down. He softly answered, “Well...there’s that old Pikachu that’s always walking around. He’s the last ‘mon I want to hear us talking about that.”
Rarity’s face fell to a silent grumble. She paused, then growled, “You mean to say all of that was just a distraction!? A diversion to keep them off our backs?!”
Rapidash opened his mouth to answer, but was knocked aside as Rarity slapped him full across the face. He rubbed at his throbbing jaw as he looked back, seeing her eyes full of tears of rage and a quivering jaw. Softly he said, “You didn’t let me say it’s also because I’ve wanted to do that with you.”
Rarity’s angry crying melted into sad tears. As she quietly sobbed, she squeaked, “I...I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just...after this betrayal from Aengus, I just was afraid you were untrue too.”
Rapidash winced and rubbed his jaw again. He held her close, and let her cry into his shoulder. Rubbing her back, he softly said, “That was the tipping point, his putting us in here. I’ve been traveling with Aengus for about ten years. He’s not the nicest person, and certainly can become a slave driver. But when you came along, he began to change, and change for the better. He was turning into a good man, the like we’ve never seen from him in all this time. And then he and Paddy have it out with his half-breed pony-Pokémon thing…call it a ‘ponymon’ if you’d like, and after that thing alone thrashes us, Aengus gets the thought to get one of his own with no regard to what you’re feeling or what you want, or even what you two agreed to. He just fell right back into the atrocious person he was before you came along. Knowing what I know of him, he probably thought you’d appreciate that he put you in here with me and not something else from the Field group. But it’s too much. The homeland you spoke of sounds wonderful, especially compared to here. I...I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t.”
Rarity hiccupped once in her sobbing, then asked, “You...want to come back to Equestria with me? Not just to visit, but permanently?”
Rapidash nodded. “I hope you’d like me to, too.”
“But of course! I see no reason not to! And unless the princesses know something we don’t, I can’t imagine they’d object to you becoming an Equestrian citizen,” Rarity said happily.
“Then, I’d love to be with you, for as long as you’d have me!” said Rapidash as his eyes lit up.
“Yes!!” Rarity cried. “Come with me, my love! Let us go home together!”
Rapidash snorted a chuckle, and said, “I’m glad you’re enthusiastic, but we do need to get out of here before we do anything else.”
Rarity laughed sheepishly and murmured, “Oh. Right. That. Depending on how tall the fence is, we may just hop over it.”
“There’s some kind of invisible barrier above the planks and posts; I already checked. I think we should check the fence and barrier for weaknesses. There may be a breakpoint somewhere, a spot that needs maintenance that they haven’t found. You check one way around the perimeter, and I’ll check the other,” Rapidash said.
Rarity nodded with a grin, “Smashing plan! We should begin right away!”
“There may be smashing involved,” Rapidash said with a grin of his own.
Rarity suddenly frowned. With a sigh she asked, “But how can we check the fence without the old Pikachu or anypony—anymon else, catching on to us?”
“Well, you could strut as you walk the fence line like you’re in afterglow,” Rapidash suggested, rocking his head from side to side.
Rarity sighed, “Darling, I hardly know what that feels like, or how a mare, er, ‘struts’ like that.”
Rapidash shrugged. “Act like you feel sexy. You really are, to be truthful.”
Rarity blushed and felt some heat from down below again. “Why, thank you, love. You’re not so bad yourself.”
Then it was Rapidash’s turn for pink cheeks. “Thanks. But back to the matter at hoof, you can pull that off, right?”
“I...don’t know,” said Rarity in thought. “I’ve never thought about it, let alone tried to make that impression.”
Rapidash frowned, looking down. The two stood there a moment in uncertainty. Then Rapidash looked up brightly. Quickly his smile turned slyer. He flirted, “Who says you have to fake it?”
“Darling, we can’t! We’re not married yet!” Rarity protested while her body squirmed in protest to her mind’s decision.
“I wasn’t saying we do ‘the deed;’ it’d make an egg, anyway. Sending one to Aengus is about the last thing we need,” Rapidash said as he sidled alongside of her, then started backing up. “But there’s something so many ‘abstinent’ couples have done that isn’t ‘the deed,’ you’d still be saving that for marriage, and I confess I’ve dwelt on thoughts of doing this to and with you, too....”
“Rapidash, my love, while I admit there is a...certain appeal to the thought, we really shouldn’t do—” Rarity began in protest, suddenly stopping a split-second after she felt him lift her tail. In that instant both her eyes shot open and out of focus as she faced forward, while her mouth fell open making a sudden sharp gasp. Her back arched. Her jaw and neck kept her head moving as though she were about to throw up, if not for the overt euphoria. Involuntarily she held her breath for a moment. Her front legs nearly buckled. Slowly her neck lowered as she murmured, “—oh my Celestia...!!”
Devontae landed outside the Goldenrod Pokémon Centre. He quickly put Charizard away and ran inside. Standing in the centre of the Centre’s lower floor was Aengus. Devontae rushed toward him. Aengus made no move to defend himself as Devontae clocked him in the face. He fell to the ground, wincing and blinking quickly. Everybody else stopped and stared in shock. Devontae curtly said, “I’m glad you know you deserved that!”
“Wasn’t gonna argue that point at all,” Aengus answered as Devontae helped him back to his feet. “Since that’s taken care of, let’s move!”
The two ran out of the Centre, jumped on their bikes, and raced southward.
With a sated smile and naughty eyes, Rarity sauntered along the fence, occasionally looking at the Pokémon in the Daycare. A soft glow surrounded her horn. She swayed her hips markedly as she walked along, letting her tail swing side to side. Nearly every male Pokémon stopped dead in his tracks and stared agape. A Hitmonlee dropped the ball it was holding. A Togetic’s wings snapped open and taut. Even the grizzled old Pikachu’s cigarette fell from his mouth. Others had more overt physical responses. Rarity sighed contentedly as she caught the eyes of a Dragonite, who instantly had a serious nosebleed. Most of the female Pokémon glared at their male counterparts, some with hands on their hips, some tapping feet irritably, some both. Most of the rest glared at Rarity. Some of them stared as lustfully at her as the males did.
Rarity reached a corner and turned, having seen no points along the fence that needed maintenance. She continued as she had before. Quickly she found a Hitmonchan with the same staring as all the other males, except he was bold enough to start her way. He did not make much progress, as the Electabuzz that was nearby very quickly jumped up and spun him around. Grabbing him by the head, Electabuzz kept his face pointed toward herself and downward as she huskily said, “Eyes on me, boy. And only me.”
A few moments passed before she stepped into the trees. Soon she came upon an oversized yellow snapdragon and a green sauropod with a pink flower for a mane that somehow were making it work. She could not determine which one was which gender, and certain this would be nothing she would speak of ever. The snapdragon called out, “Hey, do you wanna join in?”
“Yeah! A group makes it great!” the sauropod added.
Rarity hesitated, as neither had even slowed down. She muttered to herself, “Stay in character, Rarity,” before replying, “Not right now, my dears! Perhaps later?”
“Sure!” they both answered and continued as they were as if they had no interruption.
She did not encounter another Pokémon for two minutes. Near a collection of bushes at the base of some trees between two hillocks, a familiar face stood on the other side of the fence. She dropped the act as she called out in surprise, “Keldeo??”
Keldeo had been pointedly examining the fence. He looked up as she called his name. Meeting her gaze, he started her way and sighed, shaking his head. As he stood in hoof’s reach were it not for the barrier, he said, “Well, well, well. Right where I thought I’d find you.”
Rarity hung her head and said, “My sincerest apologies. You were right about him, and I did not listen.”
Keldeo nodded sadly. Looking up and down the fence, he said, “Well, there’s nothing for it now. We have to spring you from this place.”
“I’ve been checking the fence and the barrier for weak points,” Rarity said. “So far, I’ve found none.”
“And I came the other way, doing the same. No dice. Looks like it’ll just have to be forced,” Keldeo grumbled.
“What’s wrong? Do you doubt we can do that?” Rarity said.
Keldeo grimaced, and looked up and down the fence. He said, “At other Daycares, where some have wanted to escape, I’ve seen three Pokémon work together to try to break through. The humans in charge stopped them before they succeeded. We may have enough force, but enough time...not so much.”
Rarity said, “Rapidash also wants out.”
Keldeo’s eyebrows raised. “Now that is some much-needed serendipity. The three of us together might break through before they come to stop us, since you’re not a Pokémon and have another power source. Plus, Rapidashes are known for their speed over land. If he can carry you, that’ll greatly hasten returning you to Pastoria. Where is he?”
“Checking the fence, coming along the opposite direction from me.”
“Good,” Keldeo sighed with relief. “You’re about halfway around the perimeter. He shouldn’t be long.”
Aengus and Devontae ran inside the Daycare building, dropping their bikes just outside of the door. As they came to the counter, the old lady said, “Calm down there, you two! There’s no running inside! Didn’t the professor tell you there’s a time and place for everything? But not now, about those running shoes!”
“Sorry, ma’am, but I left a Rapidash and Rarity here?” Aengus said hurriedly. “How quickly can you get them back out?”
The Daycare Lady started, “Just a moment, and—” She suddenly stopped. “Wait a minute...where did they go?”
Devontae scoffed, “Ah, shit! Whadiya’ mean, ‘where did they go?’”
“They left where they were staying at, and...what’s that?” she muttered.
Devontae leaned over the counter and looked at the monitor. He looked at Aengus and said, “Hey brah, don’t that look like that ‘Keldeo’ we saw at the League?”
“What!?” Aengus yelled. He jumped over the counter and stared at the image from the security camera. The next camera showed Rapidash walking along the fence, checking it now and then. He looked at Devontae, then back to the screens, almost shouting, “Are they seriously plotting to bust out?!”
“Looks like,” Devontae answered flatly.
On another screen a man zipped between trees outside the fence. After jumping two screens, he was seen no more. The red capelet, however, was unmistakable. Aengus breathed, “Koga....”
“C’mon, brah! We gotta get them outta there!” Devontae yelled.
Aengus and Devontae ignored the Daycare Lady’s demands to not head into the yard as they rushed through the back door.
Rapidash stopped suddenly as his gaze met Keldeo’s. He frowned, looking between him and Rarity, demanding, “Who’s this?”
“My name is Keldeo,” he answered. “Since I reached The Great Marsh and heard Princess Twilight Sparkle and some of the other ponies talking about how much effort they would put into finding Rarity here, I’ve taken it upon myself to help bring her back before tensions rise too high. While the pony-Pokémon relations are smooth, some of the Legendary Pokémon who have gathered by the portal are already butting heads. And then there’s human-pony relations to worry about. I’d like to avoid total war, in whatever form it may take, and worry we’re already too late.”
“We can get there ourselves, thank you,” Rapidash snapped.
Rarity took him by the hoof, and kissed him on the lips. She said, “Darling, you have no reason to feel jealous. You are who has my heart, not him. Besides, you’re a grown stallion, and he’s just a colt.”
Keldeo lashed back, “Filly, I am old enough to be your great-grandsire’s great-grandsire!! I am not a child!!”
Rarity’s and Rapidash’s heads both jolted back. They looked at each other agape, then turned to him as Rapidash asked, “You’re...how old??”
“A hundred and thirty-three.”
Rarity blinked and said, “You don’t look a day over a year and a half.”
“Whatever,” Keldeo grouched. “Look, I came to be your guide through the wilderness, since I’ve traveled this way many times. Rapidash, I heard from Rarity you also want out.”
Rapidash eased off of his jealousy. “Yes.”
“Then, we should all hit this fencepost right here,” Keldeo said, tapping one. “There’s no significant difference in their repair along the entire fence, and of those close, this one is the most beat-up. If we can snap one post, that should break the barrier in the immediate area, and then you both can hop the posts and follow me.”
“Sounds good,” Rapidash said.
“Since you run so much faster than she does, it’d be best if she rode on your back,” Keldeo said.
Rapidash nodded. Rarity charged her horn and said, “We strike on three. Ready?”
Keldeo said, “Let’s do it.”
“One, two, three!”
Rapidash struck the post with a Flare Blitz while Rarity fired a concussive blast. Keldeo had a unique slashing attack. Part of the post had given way, but there was plenty left. Rapidash asked, “I’ve never seen a move like that before! What was that?”
“That’s my move; only I know it. It’s my ‘Secret Sword,’” Keldeo answered.
Rapidash pursed his lips and nodded most impressed. He said, “Secret indeed.”
“Yes,” said Keldeo. “Learned it from my uncles, long before either of your great-great-grandparents were even thought of.”
“Let’s give it another go!” Rarity called out. “One, two, three!”
The trio struck again with the same attacks, dislodging a few chunks and leaving a few small tongues of fire lapping at the wood. A third combined strike, and they had undeniable progress. Two hits later, the post snapped. Two metres to either side of the post wavered.
Rarity turned back to see Aengus and Devontae running for them at full speed. Rapidash said softly, “Oh no...no, no, no, no. Not now...!”
Devontae hollered, “Rarity! You gotta come back!”
Snorting a puff of icy mist, Rarity barked, “Why!? So you can force motherhood upon me and use my descendants as soldiers in your little army?! Absolutely not!!”
“Rarity, let’s go...!” Keldeo urged.
“You’re in danger!” Aengus yelled as they neared and stopped.
“Koga’s coming for you! He’s close!” Devontae shouted.
Rarity rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, the old man who couldn’t last long at the League. What’s the matter?”
Devontae wide-armed slapped Aengus across the face and screamed at him, “What the hell!? Why didn’t you tell her!? Do you tell her anything?!”
As Aengus reeled, Rarity raised an eyebrow, and asked, “Didn’t tell me what?!”
Keldeo scoffed in human speech, “We don’t have time for this crap!”
“Koga swore vengeance after Salazzle died! He’s coming for you, and he’s close by!” Devontae shouted.
Rarity’s ears fell, as did her expression. Her eyes widened and her breathing quickened. A twitch ticked below her left eye. Keldeo softly and slowly asked, “You...actually killed in a battle??”
Aengus’s eyes focused on something in a bush to the south, then he dove and screamed, “Look out!!”
Extending his left hand, he landed with a flop to Rarity’s left. He pushed himself up and looked down at his left hand. A blowgun dart had stuck into his middle finger near the tip. The finger had already turned ghostly white and the discolouration was working into his hand. He struggled to stay sitting and he murmured, “Oh no....”
Slapping the two Pokéballs on his belt, Feraligatr and Chandelure appeared. Feraligatr looked down and screamed, “NOOOO!!!!”
Aengus’s breathing had already become laboured. Chandelure very suddenly shifted to her right, then suddenly fell to the ground as her flames disappeared, her body as stiff as the cast iron it resembled. Her eyes were dark, and a blowgun dart stood up from her face. Aengus quickly reached up with his right hand in front of Rarity’s neck. As he did, he yelped when a four-point shuriken pierced through his hand. Rarity screamed, “You coward!!”
Her horn charged, and a wave of fire consumed the nearby shrubs. As they did, Koga stood as the bush burned away from around him, kunais and shurikens in hand. He quickly hurled them at Rarity, which struck her magical shield she erected in the nick of time and bounced off. Feraligatr fell to his knees, and cradled Aengus. Real tears began down the crocodilian’s face. The sound of six Pokéballs opening rang loudly. Rarity turned to see around Devontae were an Arcanine, a Houndoom, a Magmortar, a Flareon, a Charizard, and a Typhlosion. Raspily Aengus called, “Rarity....”
She looked him in the eye as the colour left his face. He managed to say, “...run.”
Koga deployed five Pokéballs, each with a Crobat. Keldeo yelled in plain human speech, “Let’s go! Let his sacrifice be an act of honour!”
Rapidash hoisted Rarity up and put her on his back, her front-right hoof knocking off the ball of red yarn. She yelled, “Aengus...!!”
“After them!” Koga screamed. The five Crobats started after Rarity as Rapidash leapt the fence and took off.
“Aaeeennggguussss!!!” Rarity screamed in the distance as she, Keldeo, Rapidash, and the five Crobats disappeared into the woods at high speed. Koga drew his last ball and flew out on a sixth Crobat.
Devontae slid on his knees to Aengus’s side as Feraligatr rocked him. The shuriken slid out of Aengus’s hand. Devontae sobbed, “No...! No, no, no!! Dammit all!!”
With a terribly shaking hand, Aengus gave Devontae a tiny key. Breathlessly he whispered, “Treat them better than I did.”
“Your PC key...?? You can’t give up! You just can’t!” Devontae cried.
Aengus began, “Father, I have sinned...many times...please forgive....”
A gurgling sigh left his throat, and he was limp and still. Feraligatr screamed. He bawled, wailed, and wept, holding Aengus’s lifeless body close, still rocking him, tears cascading down his face. Devontae threw his arms around Aengus as well, also crying. Devontae’s team of Pokémon had knelt or laid down, each of them with tears. Those boarded at the Daycare had all gathered around behind them, as well as the Daycare Lady, and the grizzled old Pikachu. The Daycare Lady stood wide-eyed with both hands over her mouth. The old Pikachu stepped forward, put a paw over his heart and knelt, bowing his head. The other Pokémon there followed suit, one-by-one, until they all were kneeling or laying down with bowed heads, paying respects to the trainer who gave up his life to save one whom he trained.
With a sigh and wiping at his eyes, Devontae stood up. Softly he quoted, “Greater love hath no man than this.”
Devontae pounded a fist over his heart twice, and held up his index and middle finger spread to Aengus’s body. “Until we meet again, up above.”
He turned to go, but Feraligatr tugged at his hoodie. Feraligatr had closed Aengus’s eyes. Devontae clawed away more tears, steadied his breathing, and asked, “You wanna come with me?”
Feraligatr nodded. As Devontae turned to his six, Feraligatr started rummaging in Aengus’s bag. Flareon stepped forward. Devontae asked, “You really cool with steppin’ out?”
Flareon nodded. With a click he returned to his ball, which disappeared in cascading sparks. Devontae turned to see Feraligatr hand over his own ball, and a sketchpad. As he clicked the ball onto his belt, he started looking at the sketchpad. He found drawings of equines in different attire, mostly dresses, but all expertly sketched with fine detail. Devontae closed the pad and looked at Feraligatr. “This was supposed to go with Rarity, wasn’t it?”
Feraligatr nodded. Devontae said, “We gotta get this to her! All her time here would be for nothin’ without this! Sinnoh’s northeast of Kanto, right?”
Another nod. The Daycare Lady stepped forward and said, “Go. Finish your friend’s business in his stead. The cameras will have captured everything the police need.”
“Thank you ma’am,” Devontae answered with an appreciative sigh. He returned Feraligatr to his ball as he summoned Charizard and flew out.
Devontae dismounted outside the Goldenrod Pokémon Centre, staring downward. He choked back on tears as he started north, turning east some minutes later at the next major thoroughfare. Following a path etched forever in his mind from countless repetitions, he entered one particular apartment building, and up he went to the eighth floor. On the elevator, he called out Feraligatr, who still had a tear-streaked face. The Pokémon looked up at him. Devontae said, “I thought you’d want to be out for this talk.”
Feraligatr nodded sadly and looked down as his eyes’ leaking picked up. The elevator dinged. Out they stepped, trudging past five doors before stopping. Devontae reached out, but broke down before he could start knocking. Feraligatr, too, sobbed, as Devontae managed to rap on the door twice. A moment later, Mrs. Meagher opened it up. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, “Devontae?? What’s the matter, laddie?”
Wiping his eyes, Devontae solemnly began, “I...you might want to sit down, ma’am...I’ve got some bad news....”
Keldeo dashed up a small rise with Rapidash right behind him. Both were moving at rates unsafe for such uneven terrain. Rarity clung to Rapidash’s back while her mascara ran down her face from her tears. Rapidash, too, was misty-eyed. Behind them zipped five Crobats, not slowed whatsoever by the terrain as they flew over branches and brush, around trees and rocks, and under the forest canopy. The trio continued down the other side of the hill with their pursuers gaining ground. Keldeo yelled back, “Rarity! Get yourself together, will you!? This is hardly the time to bawl your eyes out!”
“But Aengus—” Rarity began.
“It’ll be us next!” Keldeo hollered, interrupting. “You two can have a moment for your grief if we can get them off our tail for a few minutes! But it cannot happen if your sobs give away our position!”
Rarity charged up her horn. Amid the crying she discharged ice blasts, over and over. Several times she struck one or more of Crobats, but it did little but delay them a few seconds; her gemstone swarm amounted to a rinse and repeat. Rarity’s sobs stopped as she blinked. She turned and shouted to Keldeo, “They are much stronger this time, than the Crobat we faced at the League!”
“Isn’t that just friggin’ spectacular!” Keldeo grumped as sarcastically as he could. “Just like his great-grandfather, kept his true A-team hidden!”
Rapidash’s ears perked up. “How would you know that?”
“Not the time! The Ruins of Alph are coming up! We can lose them there!” Keldeo answered.
Rapidash muttered, “Hope you like Unown, babe.”
They burst through an east-west line of trees into a rectangular clearing, full of decrepit adobe buildings with south-facing doors; some were sealed. As Keldeo started for the closest one, leaping over a small ledge, Rarity asked, “What kind of Pokémon is that?”
“Weirdly shaped, like some foreign alphabet,” Rapidash said. “Pathetically weak on their own, but get a large group of them together, and some pretty strange powers emerge.”
“We might see one, but that should be it!” Keldeo answered as they rushed inside. Keldeo pulled Rapidash toward the right-side corner as soon as they both were inside. He harshly whispered, “On my signal.”
Three Crobats swooped in. One had turned toward the trio, but could not halt its movements anywhere near enough to keep from crashing. As it tumbled down in a daze, a fourth hovered at the entrance. Keldeo yelled, “Now!”
Keldeo and Rapidash charged through the door, knocking the fourth Crobat’s left wings into the doorjamb, who as such could not remain airborne. As it tumbled down, Keldeo turned back, firing two hard blasts of water into each close corner of the adobe building. The mud bricks gave way, knocking the building over. The Crobat at the entrance struggled at the bricks on its wings, edging millimetre by millimetre towards freedom. Muffled profanity grumbled under the debris as slow upheaval started among the bricks. Keldeo turned around to see Rapidash had come to a dead stop: the fifth Crobat blocked forward progress. Keldeo walked up beside him. Crobat sneered, “You want through? Come get some!”
Keldeo turned to Rarity and said, “You give the orders. Rapidash is used to that, and I struggle against flyers. Especially these guys. Just don’t ask for my Secret Sword; it’s not worth much against a Crobat.”
Rarity laughed nervously. She spurted, “I’m the trainer now!? What am I supposed to do?!”
“Deal with a Poison/Flying-type, three-on-one, where the one is much stronger than any of the three alone,” Keldeo said flatly. “I know Hydro Pump, Secret Sword, Work Up, and Stone Edge.”
“Orders?” Rapidash asked. The Crobat’s eyes kept darting between them.
Rarity heaved an overwhelmed sigh. Then with a huff her expression hardened, as did her voice. “Keldeo, Work Up! Rapidash, Wild Charge! I have something for him, too....”
Crobat zipped in at Rapidash, slashing with both wings in a downward x-pattern with purple bubbles trailing behind. Rapidash slammed against the ground and bounced once. With effort he pushed himself back to standing, though his eyes were out of focus for a moment. Keldeo twitched and glowed yellow as a red haze briefly appeared over his back. Rapidash shook his head, then cantered at Crobat with sparks surrounding him. Crobat crouched in the air as he hovered, and dodged to the left. Rapidash had jumped straight at where he was, missing his mark. Rarity, however had an overcharged horn ready to go, and cast the frigid attack she used against green-eyed Trixie, similarly leaving a near-halfpipe of ice tendrils and shards. Crobat shook it off and eyed them again.
“Keldeo, Stone Edge! Rapidash, try it again!” Rarity ordered.
She had barely finished speaking when Crobat launched himself at her. In the nick of time she erected a shield before he hit with the same attack, leaving her magical barrier gashed and bent inward, driving her back a couple of metres, but still holding. Keldeo stomped, and a spike monolith came up from the ground, jabbing Crobat from below. He grunted, and again as Rapidash’s attack struck true.
Rarity clenched her teeth. Her eyes flicked to Keldeo briefly, and firmly said, “You owe me a few answers once we’re away from these things!”
A brick rolled down the debris pile, and part of a purple wing stuck out. Keldeo hastily answered, “Better make sure we’re away first! Those others are starting to get out!”
Rarity grumbled to herself, “Never dreamed I’d learn so much evocation magic. Desperate times, and all that jazz.”
Crobat sneered, “My associates are nearly free! Give up now, and we shall ease your passing painlessly! If not, well...we’ll have some nifty little games to try!”
“I’ll destroy you!” Rarity cried suddenly. “Again, you two!”
“Uh-huh,” Crobat said dismissively as he flew up high. Rarity’s horn grew a secondary aura, spitting sparks.
Keldeo’s rock spike was nowhere near high enough to hit the Crobat. Rapidash made a valiant leap, but could not jump above the lower branches, while Crobat hovered above the canopy. Rarity fired a ray into the ground, which cracked and shook slightly. Her horn retained its charge. Crobat grunted in disappointment. Another several bricks rolled from the pile as Crobat tucked into a dive.
Keldeo pressed, “Uh, Rarity?! Orders??”
“Stand back!” she answered.
Crobat screamed toward Keldeo, who backed up, looking upward. Less than a second before impact, a quartz javelin as large as a freight cart erupted from the soil in front of Keldeo, slamming into and shattering against Crobat while Rarity hollered in effort. Crobat’s forward momentum had reduced to zero. He hung in the air briefly before gravity took over, and he collapsed to the dirt. Crobat disintegrated into a string of pink sparks that rocketed away to the east-by-northeast and out of sight.
Keldeo started for the trees, yelling, “Hurry!”
Rarity and Rapidash were right behind. More bricks tumbled away as the Crobat at the door’s remains wiggled loose and popped back into the air. A moment later a landslide of broken adobe rolling down the pile as one, two, three more Crobats pulled themselves free. The trio ducked into the woodland as the four Crobats left resumed their pursuit. Barely any distance into the forest, they hopped off a cut bank from a small run. Keldeo ducked beneath a fallen tree and some tall undergrowth along the point bar. Rapidash slid in behind him. Rarity cringed, and with eyes forcibly close tight and clenched frown, she joined them. All three sank some in the soft, wet sediment, dampening their bellies. She muttered, “Ugh! So filthy...!”
“Shut it...!” Keldeo harshly whispered. The four Crobat zoomed overhead almost in unison with him. Rarity started to move a moment later, but Keldeo motioned for her to stop. They remained there a minute longer. As Rarity let out a little whimper, Keldeo scoffed, “Fine! We’ll get out! For the love of Mew!”
They saw no trace of the Crobats. Rarity nearly shrieked as she looked down. Much was brown, or greyish, or somewhere in-between. Sobbing, she lamented, “My beautiful, perfect white coat! Ruined!!”
Keldeo facehoofed. Rapidash soothingly consoling, “Dear, it’ll wash out! Look, there’s a stream right here, and—”
“Just look at it!! It’s no cleaner!!” Rarity blubbered.
Keldeo rolled his eyes. “It’s what you signed up for, buddy boy! You want the gorgeous girl with an immaculate coif, and perfect look, you’d best be ready for high maintenance. I don’t envy you at all. Now let’s get outta here. We have to go east. Hopefully we can cross Route 32 unnoticed. If you could carry her again?”
Rarity scoffed several times as Keldeo spoke, but offered no counter. She growled to herself as she climbed back onto Rapidash’s back. He said, “Sweetheart, please calm down. It’s not worth all this.”
Rarity sighed. Giving him a kiss on the forehead, she answered, “It’s not you I’m upset with, darling. It’s...the situation really, and my coat. And some of his...choice comments.”
Keldeo scoffed, “Buck up, buttercup! There’ll be more dirt, filth, and grime before we’re done! You’re not a resident of Kalos; this isn’t gonna kill you.”
Keldeo led them over a rise. Once down the hill, he stopped at the tree line. Peering carefully both ways, he motioned forward, and Rapidash rushed behind him and to another line of trees. Ten minutes later of up and down hills, over fallen trees, briers, streams, and around a stone outcropping, Keldeo came to a stop in a small meadow. There were a few broken Pokéballs here. There he said, “Okay, I believe we’ve lost them. You said you had questions?”
“I said you owed me some answers,” Rarity corrected him as she climbed off of Rapidash and started toward some clear water. “You said you’re much older than us. You also mentioned how Koga kept his best hidden like his great-grandfather, nor were you much fazed by his actions at the Daycare. And you know a strong Rock-type attack, despite being a Water/Fighting-type; it’s incongruous. I’m no simpleton, Keldeo. Koga’s great-grandfather was your trainer, wasn’t he?”
Keldeo looked down, but said nothing. Rapidash’s eyes widened. Rarity frowned as she scrubbed with her magic, and continued, “I think I can safely surmise your trainer also died, and something shortly afterwards shattered your trust of humans.”
Keldeo snorted. He looked over at her and said, “Aren’t you surprisingly quick?”
“Have to be, in my profession,” Rarity began, checking herself over. “Predict market trends based on observations while out on the town, enough to take a cold reading of a customer just coming in the door, so that one or two vague adjectives later I can pull the exact, perfect dress she wanted off the rack?”
“Still had to be lucky, to get such the necessary breaks to hit the big time,” Keldeo quipped with a small grin.
“One must be good, before any such luck can come,” Rarity said self-satisfied. She stepped out from the water, wet, but with all the muddy discolouration gone. She sighed with relief as she looked over her legs. Her eyes then shifted to less-than-amused as she caught Keldeo's gaze. “But that hardly is an answer that you owe me.”
Sighing, Keldeo began, “You surmised correctly. Over a century ago I met Koga’s great-grandfather, back while his family still lived in the Unova Region. I was still very young. Koga’s family were martial artists back then, too, and his great-grandfather specialised with Fighting-types. He had also found my uncles. Nicknamed me ‘d’Artagnan,’ too, after a book character he liked, he said. But one night there was a fire in the village, with a little girl trapped inside a house. He covered himself and ran in to save the girl. But the house collapsed, and neither one got out. I never saw him again. All his Pokémon, me included, passed to his son, who at the time had barely begun the journey from boyhood to manhood. He swore that he would learn to be faster, so that he could save others where his father simply had not been fast enough and let no one die. Rather than learn his family’s wushu from his grandfather, he instead studied ninjitsu.”
Rapidash raised his head, opening his mouth with a soft “ah” in understanding. He said, “And so they’ve been ninjas since.”
“Hai. Something in him changed during his training. His noble goals fell by the wayside, in favour of perfecting his stealth, and increasingly vicious attacks. He also started preferring Poison-type Pokémon instead of Fighting-type,” Keldeo said sadly. “As a final test from his master to prove himself, he had to carry out an assassination contract professionally, and stay hidden while wearing some bright red. He succeeded brilliantly, but showed no emotional response to his taking another life, no distress, no guilt, nothing. Not even elation at his success. Just a cold, confident satisfaction. My uncles and I had enough. Since this was before they had those ‘PC Boxes’ I’ve heard about, our departure was much easier.”
“That’s what destroyed your trust of humans?” Rarity asked.
Keldeo said, “That was the start. I tried to interact with people again, thinking Koga’s grandfather was just one bad egg and nothing more. But then I began to see he was far from alone, and even part of the majority. You’ve not been in the world long, so let me sum this up for you nice and cleanly. All their lives, humans are two-faced creatures. The common good is of no importance to them on the whole. Few hesitate before backstabbing each other to get ahead or to keep from falling behind, but backstab they will. They’ll say one thing to one group, and another to another. Put three of them in a room, and between them there’ll be six opinions on any given topic. Even their children, seemingly so sweet, so innocent and pure, with such noble goals...some want to end world hunger, others to solve world political messes and prevent all future wars...such wonderful thoughts they have. And yet...get a group of them together at play, and you will hear the meanest, the most cruel and vile, deplorable, horrid things said to each other each and every day. Just as one example among many, one boy who said he wanted to find a permanent cure to a terrible disease they have called ‘cancer,’ minutes later, told another boy his breath was so bad it was why there were crop failures all over the country, that the gods didn’t want to send rain because his breath would then poison the fish, and even that people oceans and continents away who had never seen or heard of other humans with their skin colour are upturning their nose at the smell.”
Rarity stood blinking and agape, totally aghast. Keldeo nodded slowly while Rapidash slowly let out a hard exhale. No words came for half a minute. Suddenly, a bang rang out, and a Pokéball shot from a pipe in the rock face. It slammed against a tree and shattered. Appearing from the pinkish sparks was a large brown bird with a white trailing edge to its wings, a spiky red crest, a long thin neck, and a long thin bill appeared. It called out in a whistling, high-pitched chipper voice that turned confused, “Sally! Where shall we Fly to this...Sally? Sa-a-ally! Where are you, Sally?”
Keldeo gestured toward this newcomer. “And this is another prime example.”
“Who is this?” Rarity asked.
Rapidash answered, “It’s a Fearow, but I don’t know her, nor this ‘Sally’ she’s calling for.”
“Sally? Where am I? Sally?” Fearow asked, looking all around in total bafflement. She caught sight of the three of them. Fluttering over their way and hovering there, she asked, “Hey, do you know what’s going on? Sally said she had to make a quick change, but...where is she? Where am I?”
Keldeo sighed uncomfortably. He said sadly, “Fearow...you’re in the wild. Route 32 is the closest route to here, but that’s a good twenty miles west of where we are.”
“The...the wild?” Fearow echoed in disbelief. “How could I already be so far from where I was?! That doesn’t make any sense!”
“Why don’t you start over? Tell me about yourself, so that I can help you,” Keldeo said.
Fearow brightened up. “Okay! I’m Fearow! Sally’s my trainer, and we’ve been together for...I don’t know! She’s only twelve, but gosh, it feels like it’s been forever! And it’s been great! I’m one of her first Pokémon! I’ve led the charge and won her several Gym Badges! We’re very close; she loves me dearly and I love her, too!”
Keldeo pursed his lips as he looked down. Almost as a lament he asked, “What was going on before you found yourself here?”
Fearow raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“I’m...trying,” Keldeo said earnestly. “Please, what was going on?”
Fearow said, “Well, Sally was rock climbing outside Cianwood City. She said she heard there was something special there, something I think she called ‘Pidgeotite.’”
Keldeo choked back a sob, though a tear escaped him. Fearow stopped and landed. Keldeo softly said, “Please continue.”
With concern, Fearow slowly said, “It sounds like your heart’s breaking.”
“...that’s because it is,” Keldeo answered. “Sally found the Pidgeotite, and returned to the Pokémon Centre where she wanted to make that ‘quick change,’ right?”
“Yeah...,” Fearow answered in confusion.
“She also had been training a Pidgey, or Pidgeotto, which had recently become a Pidgeot, right?” Keldeo asked.
“I’m getting a bad feeling about how quickly you’re putting this together,” Fearow answered cautiously.
More tears ran down Keldeo’s face as he looked at the ground. Mournfully he said, “I’m sorry, Fearow. I’m so sorry.”
“Wha...wha...why are you sorry?” Fearow said as her tears welled up.
Keldeo looked her in the eye. His own were already getting puffy. “You already know in your heart what’s going on, why you’re in the wild.”
Fearow’s breathing instantly was deeper, faster, and more ragged. Her tears went from a handful to a stream just like that. She begged, “No...! It can’t...she couldn’t...she...she wouldn’t!! Not to her beloved Fearow!! Sally would never!!”
“She did,” Keldeo said as his tears picked up. “She released you. Sally doesn’t want you anymore, because she replaced you with Pidgeot.”
Fearow closed her eyes, taking a very deep breath. Then she wailed. Rarity could not help but cry herself, seeing Fearow’s emotional agony, the heartbreak of betrayal hitting so close to home. She went over to Fearow and offered a hug, which Fearow gladly took. She cried with Fearow, and Keldeo cried with Fearow, and Rapidash tried his best but could not keep his eyes dry either. Fearow’s cries were the hardest of the four. No one bothered to keep track of the time as their emotions expressed themselves.
While Rapidash was the first to calm, Keldeo had words before he did. “I hate seeing this. I lost track of how often it’s happened, that I find a recently-released Pokémon who’s lost and desperately trying to deny what’s happened. It kills me every time. When my trainer died, I felt shattered. I mourned for many months. But this, to have worked so close for so long, and suddenly be cast aside as though I were nothing? I don’t know how humans can do that. I can’t imagine what that feels like for those Pokémon.”
“‘Two-faced,’ I see,” Rapidash said in disgust. “I’m now seeing what you meant. So Aengus wasn’t the only one.”
Keldeo nodded slowly. Rarity sighed sadly, “Home’s looking better and better all the time.”
“That’s why I came,” Keldeo said. He looked over at Fearow, and gently asked, “I understand if you’re not feeling up to it, but may we ask a favour?”
Fearow sighed, “I...I don’t know. I just...I guess it depends on what.”
“Rarity here isn’t from this world. She’s trying to get home,” Keldeo began. “A distortion in Sinnoh is the only way to send her back. I’m not asking you to take us there, but even as far as New Bark Town would be a help.”
Fearow wiped at her tears with her wings. She bit back on another sob, and said, “We never went to Sinnoh. But if...if it helps keep her from feeling pain like this, then I’ll Fly you guys as far as Cerulean.”
Keldeo bowed deeply. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.”
Kneeling down and spreading her wings, Fearow said, “Hop on, and hold on. This won’t take long.”
Apprehensively, Rarity did as she was told, only after Keldeo and Rapidash had already climbed on, ultimately sharing Rapidash’s back with Keldeo. Rarity whispered, “I think we’re a little big for her like this.”
“No you’re not.”
With one flap Fearow was airborne, and rocketing across the skies at blinding speeds. Rarity exclaimed a non-syllable scream while Rapidash kept his head down. Rarity’s horn lit up and despite her own grip, her telekinetic aura surrounded her and most of Rapidash. Keldeo just laughed. As the ground below tore past at a blur, Fearow said, “I think I’d like to come with you, since there’s not much point in sticking around here.”
“Sure. Once Rarity’s back home, I can take you to a place in Kalos I think you’d like, a place where there are others like you,” Keldeo said.
A moment later, they touched down in a town with well-manicured flower beds and hedgerows, flagstone walkways and cast iron lampposts. Before Rarity could take in the scene, Keldeo urged, “Come on, before we draw any more attention!”
He led them a short distance east, hopping up a small drop off beside a Pokémon Gym. People stared as a pony and three Pokémon ran along the pathway northward, turning right at a fence, and then left before a few lampposts. In front of them was a long bridge, painted gold. Rarity hopped on Rapidash’s back and he, Keldeo, and Fearow charged northward. Almost halfway across, they nearly ran over a blonde-haired, green-eyed preteen girl dressed all in white, and would have too had her Ivysaur not pulled her aside in time. Rarity shouted an apology, to which the girl just stared with a rounded mouth.
The sound of Pokéballs opening caught their ears and they slowed to a stop at the far end of the bridge. Two Crobats. More Pokéballs opening, and there was another behind, one to the left, and one to the right. An aged man in a ninja uniform and a red capelet seemed to stand out of the fence to the right, as though he had appeared in a puff a smoke, without the smoke. Rarity gasped, “Koga....”
Sneering, Koga obnoxiously said, “All-too-obvious, to come this way.”
“Get over yourself!” Keldeo yelled in plain human speech.
“Ah, Keldeo...it’s terribly sad you’ve been away from your family for so long,” Koga began with open arms to him. “Grandfather spoke of you often, always hoping you’d come home, right up to the day he died. Do you know how much he missed you, how much he loved you?”
Keldeo’s face softened, with a sadness behind his eyes. He calmly but somberly answered, “He was not the man his father was.”
“Indeed, he was a different man. Great-grandfather, along with you, kept the bad in check, thus keeping the good safe. Grandfather, though, took many bad things and bad people out of the world, so that good could flourish,” Koga said. When Keldeo looked downward, a sad smile came to Koga. He continued, “I know it’s not how you did so then, but we would be serving the same goal: defeat that which is evil, harmful, in any form it takes.”
Keldeo looked up. Koga stretched out an open hand in friendship and kinship, saying, “Surely you, too, can see how much harm the ponies cause, have caused, and will continue to. Please, come home. We’ve missed you.”
Keldeo sighed with closed eyes. Then he looked up and spat at Koga’s feet. “I said, ‘get over yourself!’”
Koga’s face fell in disappointment. Shaking his head, he said, “Hmph. How the good have fallen. Not so much justice in that sword anymore, I see.”
Rarity tapped at the side of her head, then just held a hoof there. “Come on, Rarity...think...there has to be a way out of this....”
“No. You must answer for what you’ve done,” Koga said curtly. A sneer return to his face. “There’s someone I think you should meet.”
He threw a Pokéball. From it coalesced a reptilian figure, a grey lizard that made Rarity deeply gasp. A Salazzle. Rarity barely managed, “Wha...wh...??”
Koga’s eyes hardened as he barked, “The white one, Salazzle! That’s who killed your daughter!”
This older Salazzle snarled and roared, baring teeth and flexing as fire erupted around her for a moment. Koga snatched shurikens from his belt, holding three between his fingers on each hand. Crobats on all sides began closing in, with the old Salazzle out front. Rarity twitched, biting her hoof in terror. As she turned about, Keldeo sharply gasped as he looked eastward. Rapidash asked, “What is it now!?”
Keldeo shook. Softly he said, “The savage one...he’s arrived....”
The man in the karate gi dropped to the ground, his neck twisted around one hundred-eighty degrees. Laughing maniacally levitated Mewtwo a few centimetres off the ground. He whirled around at the sound of a Pokéball opening. There stood a young girl, the same young girl who attempted to catch Starlight Glimmer during a Safari Game, who had deployed a many-coloured monkey with fire coming out of its head. With a shaking voice she yelled, “Infernape, use Flare Blitz!”
Mewtwo grunted. With a swipe of his hand, rosy red rings emanated from his waist. Immediately crystalline shards of the same colour appeared all around Infernape, pounding into him. He stood there with a vacant expression, not moving. Snickering evilly, Mewtwo floated his way over at a lazy pace. The girl’s eyes flicked between Mewtwo and her Infernape. With the lightest of touches, Mewtwo put a finger to Infernape’s nose. Slowly he toppled backwards, still not moving, nor returning to his ball. The girl hyperventilated, shaking all over as she began to cry. Mewtwo telekinetically hoisted her off the ground by pointing his finger. As she began to scream, he pulled back on his one hand while punching with the other, psychically yanking her hard into his fist. The blow crushed her, piercing her chest with Mewtwo’s fist emerging from her back. She twitched once and was still. He withdrew his hand and unceremoniously dropped her there on the ground. He stared a moment at her large, stylish purse, still strapped to her shoulder. Taking it off of her with telekinesis, he muttered to himself, “Always wondered what all they kept in these things.”
He raised an eyebrow as he opened the pouch. Soon he dug both hands inside, spending several minutes looking over all the things. Eventually he withdrew both hands; one held an orange technical machine. Still with an eyebrow raised, he tapped a finger on it several times. Then he held up his other hand. A commanding thrust of his palm later, a burst of fire jetted forward, striking a building and sending spurts of flames in five different directions. He nodded appreciatively. Dropping that back in the bag, another popped out to his hand, this one pale blue. This time from his hand launched a thin beam of ice. He said to himself, “I could get used to this...I wonder....”
Quickly different coloured technical machines popped in and out of the bag. With each that came to his right hand, his left discharged a different blast: a jet of fire, a green ball, a dark purple ball, a white ball, lightning, a thick lightning bolt out of the sky, rocks falling out of the sky, the ground tremouring, a windy blast of snow and ice, a particularly wide white ray, and a yellow beam out of the sky, before he was satisfied, all rapidly after the previous. He gripped one of the pale blue technical machines briefly, then called several berries which he swiftly ate. Chuckling, he then summoned a wrapped candy bar.
Mewtwo approached the entryway to The Great Marsh, eating chocolate, with a chic black purse over his shoulder. Stopping about fifteen paces away, he stopped, eyeing the building while cheeing up and swallowing what chocolate was in his mouth. Then Mewtwo commandingly slapped with his right hand, and the building crumbled with a bang. All its debris was thrown harshly and haphazardly toward the left. He bit down on the last of that candy bar, then called a bottle of soda out of the purse. Approaching the shattered building’s remaining foundation, he looked at the garbage and recycling receptacles. He dropped the chocolate wrapper in the trash, promptly chugged the soda, and dropped the bottle in the recycling bin’s glass slot. Looking back, Mewtwo telekinetically dragged the dead girl from nearly two hundred metres away over to him, and stuffed her in the garbage can as well. Starting forward, he crossed over the threshold, stopped, hung his head, and snapped his fingers. He then pointed back at the dead karate man, dragging his corpse over. He would not fit in the trash can. Very carefully Mewtwo balanced the dead body on the garbage can, as one does when one does not feel like taking out the trash just yet.
Mewtwo crossed the wrecked foundation, laughing psychotically, then said, “Come, introduce me to your new friends...big sister....”
Noise of splintering wood, shattering rock, and smashing masonry thudded across The Great Marsh. The numerous Pokémon scholars and experts hurried toward their hastily-made fortifications while Red and Blue gave each other a long look with a nervous sigh. Watching the three incarcerated fillies closely, Princess Luna scoffed, “So he comes.”
“Please, Your Majesty, we will serve whatever punishment you deem worthy, but let us escape this world before he gets here!” Scootaloo pleaded.
Luna looked down. After a moment, she turned toward one of her soldiers. “General Merry Weather, return to Equestria, and wait for Princess Twilight. I will close the portal behind you. Inform Her Highness and her companions they are not to reopen the portal; I will do so once the danger has passed.”
“By your order, Your Majesty!” she answered, immediately departing. A periwinkle glow encompassed Luna’s horn, and with a flash, the portal disappeared to the sound of breaking metal.
Luna turned toward the Cutie Mark Crusaders. With a sigh, her magical cage evaporated. She said, “Young ones, if you were to have left with the general, you would have been arrested immediately for trespassing on an active military operation. Or, they may have used the ballistae instead. The latter would be a quick and painful death, the other would leave your bodies alive, but before it would be done, you would be naught but an empty husk with a soul shattered from the horrors that would await you there. Nay, your best chances are here, finding a suitable hiding place with excellent cover.”
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo promptly crouched behind the princess. Luna facehoofed. “I am not a suitable hiding place....”
Sweetie Belle feebly started, “But you said we should go somewhere with ‘excellent cover,’ and, well, behind you provides—”
“DO NOT MAKE ME CHANGE MY MIND!!” came forth the Royal Canterlot Voice with a snort.
The trio winced and cowered with closed eyes and covered ears. As they blinked hard, Apple Bloom huffed, “Geez, Sweetie Belle! Whah would you go ‘n’ suggest the princess has a fat a—”
“There he is!!” Scootaloo interrupted with a yelp.
To the south, at least a hundred metres away, a figure levitated between the trees. This tall being approached with crossed arms and a very long tail whipping like that of an angry cat. Strung over one shoulder was a large but particularly stylish black purse. Latios and Latias looked at each other, and with a mutual snarl, took to the air. They closed ground on Mewtwo hurriedly. Mewtwo snarled back, and with a roar and a commanding gesture, summoned a vast amount of icy wind with billowing snow and mist. As Latios and Latias both dropped into the mud, breathing but otherwise not moving, Blue grumbled, “And he has a trainer’s bag...great.”
Grunting irritably, Genesect started towards the snickering Mewtwo. Purse open, an orange disk leapt to the awaiting left hand. And a fireball shot from his right. Genesect had no chance to dodge as the fire struck, breaking into five offshoots. He, too, fell face down in the mud. Red’s Pikachu tugged at his pant leg with both paws, shaking his head fearfully. Frowning, Red nodded slowly. A click of his Pokéball gave Pikachu release from an unwanted battle.
The fury in the sea suddenly halted. Mewtwo looked back briefly, then returned his gaze to find Darkrai nearly upon him. He disappeared in a purple spark, coloured as though it were a black light, just as Darkrai was about to strike. Darkrai stopped and spun around, head turning every which way, before looking up. There, inbound, was a hotly glowing blue sphere that caught Darkrai in the face. He splashed much more forcefully into the swamp muck. Mewtwo cackled. As Lunala took off, Princess Luna hollered, “No, wait!”
Lunala did not even look back. She charged headlong. Sneering, Mewtwo called an indigo-violet technical machine from the purse, gripped it briefly, and dropped it back in. He cupped his hands behind himself, guffawing at his approaching opponent. A deathly purple sphere, crackling viciously, grew between his palms at considerable speed. Lunala spread her wings firm, holding position midair. Cyan lights gathered at evenly-spaced points along her wings’ circumference. As they began to coalesce at Lunala’s middle, Mewtwo thrust his arms, hurling the sphere at her at an alarming rate. The lights had not fully come together when Mewtwo’s attack struck home. She went limp, drifting down to The Great Marsh like a leaf of paper dropped off of an upper balcony, or the eighth story overlook of a major shopping mall’s atrium.
“Enough!!” screamed Arceus, halting Dialga and Palkia in their tracks. Other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon turned to listen as well. “There’s nothing to be gained from senseless violence like this!”
“Says you,” Mewtwo sassed back. A stone spike jutted through the muck and up to tree height, knocking Ho-Oh upward off his branch, who then tumbled into the mud like those before him. Arceus whirled back toward Mewtwo, to see him drop a brown disk back into the purse. With a shrug Mewtwo continued, “I think it’s delightful.”
Arceus began his direction, snapping, “Shut up! You’re not helping anymon, yourself least of all!”
“Then why don’t you try and stop me, hmm? Or should the pony do it?” Mewtwo taunted. Zapdos wearily flapped himself back into view from the south, battle-worn, still sopping wet, gasping breathlessly, and alone. With a disappointed and insultingly dismissive wave, Mewtwo turned from Zapdos and sneered at the approaching Legendary Dogs. Calling out a tan technical machine, Mewtwo’s forceful gesture stirred the ground into a violent quake. Luna had telekinetically lifted the Cutie Mark Crusaders not a second too soon, herself hovering in the process. Entei, Raikou, and Heatran keeled over immediately, while Suicune backed away slowly. Jirachi appeared barely conscious. Dialga, Reshiram, and Zekrom all were forced back a step, wincing, shaking their heads, or both. As Arceus snarled in response, Mewtwo openly guffawed. He mocked at him, “Come then! What kind of ‘god’ stands by idly while his followers are dropped like dung? Words of that long-dead guy, Epicurus, come to mind.”
Blue’s head jolted back. He shot a quick look at Red and asked, “Since when has he been reading human philosophy??”
Mewtwo ignored the comment. With a widening upturned curl of the lip, he lambasted, “Or perhaps this newcomer has proven too much? Paltry and feeble before this equine visitor?”
“Those two are gonna fight, aren’t they?” Sweetie Belle asked with a sea green glow about her horn.
Luna huffed, “That was a foregone conclusion the moment we knew he was coming.”
“But I can feel it; I can see how it’ll begin,” said Sweetie contemplatively.
“Quick to avoid talking about yourself, and what you’ve done,” Arceus said with a frown. “How many died on those ships? Oh yes, we heard about that. There was, what, ten vessels in both of the flotillas you sank? For no reason?”
“Going along, minding my own business, and then being shot at? You call that no reason?” Mewtwo countered. “I don’t know why they got all super-touchy about personal space! There had to be a good fifty metres, likely more, between me and their cute little boats, me not even moving towards them, and they had a total conniption! Rinse and repeat two days later!”
Arceus chastised, “Way too far.”
“‘Way too far’ to protect one’s self from unprovoked lethal force? You saying that makes you either a liar, or an idiot. I’m guessing both,” Mewtwo said, rolling his eyes. “I see you’re dodging the question, ‘great creator’.’”
As the sunlight grew harsh, Arceus growled, “Princess Luna is here as my guest, until both of their missing citizens, taken by two humans, are safely returned.”
“Your guest, only because you can’t force her out,” Mewtwo snorted. Those Legendary and Mythical Pokémon still conscious started slowly encircling Mewtwo. He turned to Luna, accusingly asking, “Was it you who threw the gauntlet at us all by sending the magenta wave across the whole world? And thought it fun, threatening every living thing around the globe by showing you could crash the moon into us?!”
Luna frowned. “That with the moon was a simple demonstration and nothing more. If you felt threatened by it, that’s entirely on you.”
“And they call me the recklessly violent one,” Mewtwo answered sarcastically. While Luna bared her teeth, he turned to Arceus and pressed, “Yet you could do nothing to stop her! I think it’s clear, oh Pokémon ‘god,’ that her whipping the moon around proved too much for your ‘divine’ providence to handle!”
“That was corrected,” Arceus barked.
“With more than just a little bit of his help,” Luna said with a scowl.
“We’ll see about that in a few centuries, yes?” Mewtwo returned, eyeing them both. Gripping a pale blue disk again, the same blast of ice and snow came as before. Zapdos, Rayquaza, and Yveltal all dropped out of the sky while Shaymin simply fell down on the ground. The sun returned to normal luminosity as a giant red Pokémon collapsed into the muck at the edge of the trees. Luna erected a magical shield around herself and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but they drifted some from the area attack. Mew did the Pokémon equivalent. Red and Blue both appeared dazed. Of the Pokémon around Arceus, only Mew and Palkia did not appear that worn down; those attempting to encircle Mewtwo had too many breaks in their lines and stopped. Mesprit floated beside Arceus, emitting points of cyan light, and then collapsed. As the light surrounded Arceus with him glowing green, Mewtwo scoffed, “What does a ‘god’ need with another’s healing move?”
“What does a Pokémon need with a trainer’s bag, and a trainer’s items?!” Arceus retorted. “For somemon so strong, you sure rely heavily on things you should never have had!”
Mewtwo grunted. He popped a pair of orange berries into his mouth from the purse, and took it off, placing it on a tree stump. Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened. As Mewtwo spoke disdainfully, she murmured along with him, matching pace and emphasis, “I could give a damn, Arceus. Really, I could. But I want you to know, that I beat you...without any crutches.”
Dark spaces surrounded Mewtwo, spiraling upward and out of view. “So let’s go!!”
Arceus walked out from the others. Mew gasped, reaching for him with forlorn eyes. Sweetie Belle continued with Arceus’s words that same as she did with Mewtwo. “So be it, Mewtwo. So be it.”
Suddenly Arceus was upon Mewtwo, hitting three times before dropping back. With a snarl Mewtwo gestured harshly, firing a shower of golden stars that Arceus could not avoid. In both cases the raw volume of mud and muck thrown from such close proximity to that degree of force easily could have filled a small house. Luna’s barrier had kept her, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Red, Blue, Cynthia, and Mew all clean. Pony soldiers hurried to keep Pokémon and the other humans out of the blast range. Cynthia gasped, “Holy crap...!”
Arceus zipped toward Mewtwo a second time, but he was ready. With a quick sidestep, Mewtwo cupped his palms and hurled them forward, striking Arceus in the face at point blank range with the blue energy sphere. Arceus remained standing as he slid across the mud, the splash from which coated an entire tree and half of the one next to it. Sounding like an afterthought, Luna mused, “Maybe I should have made an exception to the law and sent you three home.”
“It’s why I asked!” cried Scootaloo. “This is nuts!”
“A little late, Ah think,” Apple Bloom muttered. With a commanding swipe of his hands, Mewtwo called the rosy red glow and circles, which reconvened as the gemstone-like photonic shards ramming themselves into Arceus from all sides. He yelped, then called a golden orb in front of his forehead that shot into the sky. Lances of golden light rained down all over Mewtwo, who shook his head in response. Mud had been thrown back, exposing bedded siltstone a metre and a half down before the damp earth slowly flowed back into the gaping bowled-out chunk. Such was the force that Luna’s barrier broke at its edges, splashing Red and Cynthia. Loudly, Apple Bloom blurted, “Shit...!!”
Luna growled. Digging through a knapsack with her telekinesis, she located a bar of soap and shoved it into Apple Bloom’s mouth. As she tried to spit it out, Luna’s magic held it in place. A muffled protest sounded through the soap, but Luna shook her head no. Stunned, Blue blinked his wide eyes, emptily saying, “That...was Psystrike...and Judgment...in the same round??”
Cynthia whistled, shaking her head with an overwhelmed face. She quietly said, “Yeah…I believe so.”
Mewtwo fired off another of the blue spheres, which drove Arceus back, stumbling in the mud for a brief moment. Sweetie Belle’s horn was aglow while balls of cyan light swirled around Arceus for a moment. She said, “Um....”
Blue shook his head with disappointment. “He’s spamming Aura Sphere now? What subtle creativity to his battle plan.”
“So you’re learning divination magic,” Luna began, looking at Sweetie Belle. “With your talent in helping others find their talents, that will be most-useful in quickening your searches.”
“It’s not that,” said Sweetie Belle.
Cynthia looked over at her and asked, “Then, what is it, child?”
“Isn’t he the Pokémon god?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking back at the fight. “Is what Mewtwo said true?”
“They say he created this region, and several of the Legendary Pokémon here. So, I’d say yes,” Cynthia answered confidently.
Not-so-confidently, and absolutely worried, Sweetie Belle responded, “Then why is he losing!?”
“What!?” Cynthia shrieked, whirling back to the battle in time to see another pulse of Aura Sphere knock Arceus to the ground. He slid fifteen metres through the mud before he could start to get back on his feet. Mew screamed in horror, long and loud. Cynthia’s breaths shortened and sharpened as both of her hands unconsciously leapt to the top of her head, heels of her palms just above her eyebrows. Tears started down her face as she murmured, “No...!!”
Arceus surrounded himself with the cyan lights again, only to immediately be hit with another Aura Sphere. He was slower to get up. Red’s hands covered his mouth while Blue’s fingers interlocked on the back of his head. Calling the golden sphere again, Arceus used Judgment. But Mewtwo looked to the sky in time, and zipped just out of the blast before the blow landed, striking swamp muck into a tall splash instead. Mewtwo laughed savagely despite being covered in mud from the attack.
Sweetie Belle gasped with wide eyes as the glow on her horn faded away.
Arceus shot forward, striking Mewtwo three times like he did earlier. Mewtwo fell to one knee, then lashed out with another Aura Sphere. Those he had battered into subconsciousness appeared to awaken and look over as the attack struck true. Arceus was knocked into the air. Were it not for Mew shrieking in terror, the whole of The Great Swamp would have been as silent as outer space while they stared agape, dumbfounded, and in absolute disbelief at what just happened. Her horrified scream echoed shrilly off the dirtied trees as Arceus bounced on the mud once, slid across the surface, and slowed to a stop. His lungs worked, but otherwise he lay motionless.
Mewtwo chuckled, calling his purse back to his shoulder. Then he threw his head back and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, so loud those back in the main part of town could hear him, a cackle of evil triumph. Mewtwo continued to chortle defiantly as all the Pokémon in The Great Marsh slowly crawled, flitted, or walked over in a distressed, astonished hush. Opening the purse, Mewtwo called out a thick blue bottle with a white spraying nozzle. He covered himself with the mist from the bottle while Mew floated over to Arceus’s unconscious body, crying hysterically. She pawed at him, and whined, “Arceus....”
A dark chuckle made her look up. Mewtwo loomed over them both. He reached down and took Arceus’s knocked out form by the throat, hoisting him into the air. Looking around at the various Pokémon, Mewtwo threateningly and commandingly roared, “WHO IS YOUR GOD NOW!?!”
Fear and rage filled Mew’s eyes as she glared at Mewtwo. Smirking, he taunted, “Go on. Kiss your boyfriend goodbye! I wanna see you actually do it!”
Shaking with fury, Mew held her position as her tears rolled in a steady stream. Mewtwo cackled, and raised his other hand. Snidely he said, “Very well. Don’t say I didn’t give you the chance!”
A powder blue bolt struck Mewtwo in the head, knocking him back and forcing him to drop Arceus. Mew telekinetically lifted Arceus and flew off as Mewtwo whirled about. There, at the tent, stood Princess Luna with a charged horn. Rage was in her eyes and her face. She menacingly said, “I don’t think so.”
“Well, well, well,” snickered Mewtwo. “I was wondering when you’d act.”
“Arceus is my friend. I won’t let you kill him!” Luna growled. “By whatever means necessary!”
“Really? Is this really happening?” Mewtwo said with delight and a malignant smile. “‘Cuz I can’t tell you how much I’ve been itching for this!”
Luna used her magic to remove her tiara, baldric, and ornamental shoes. Floating them over, she said, “Scootaloo, hold onto these for a few minutes.”
Blinking but otherwise frozen, Scootaloo stared helplessly at the regalia sitting before her. She shook her head, then with sigh, scooped up the royal articles. Apple Bloom finally spat the soap out, and said, “Ah’m worried, girls. He don’t seem like the kahnd that’d fahght fair.”
“Of course he won’t!” grouched Scootaloo. “But what can we do about it?”
Blue walked over to them and motioned them further from the edge of the thick stone blocks. He urged, “Girls, this would be the time to do what the Princess said. Hide.”
“We can’t hahde now!” Apple Bloom protested.
Scoffing, Blue urged, “Don’t give me that! Do as you’re told!”
“Seriously, we can’t! There’s nowhere to hide!” Scootaloo retorted.
Blue looked around, and blanched. Luna’s barrier had kept the mud from hitting them, but also had given it no place to recede. The back side of the tent had a wall of mud not quite a half metre from its stakes. Across the marsh was tattered land and displaced earth. One of the scientist teams crawled out of the top of their pill box, coated head to toe, after their Golem broke open a hole. Blue muttered something under his breath, to which Sweetie Belle levitated the bar of soap toward his face.
“Stand down,” Luna ordered. “I’ve seen how you move and attack, your tactics and your power. You are not a match for me.”
“Then let me show you true power!” Mewtwo yelled back, opening the purse. A pair of small stones popped out, one into each hand. Both looked like a cat’s eye marble about the size of a cherry, with a blue stripe on one as the only visible difference betwixt the two.
“Didn’t think this one through, did you?!” taunted Cynthia. “Two big problems with that plan! One, only one Mega Evolution at a time! And two, you don’t have a Key Stone!”
Mewtwo guffawed defiantly. “Are you sure about that?!”
Cynthia squinted as Mewtwo pointed at the purse. Then she gasped. The closing clasp had mounted upon it a prismatic stone, green at one end and violet at the other. She squawked, “WHAT!?!”
Mewtwo pressed the stone. Light radiated from the clasp, with four rays coming out from the Key Stone, rotating quickly. But the Key Stone was not alone, for the same light enveloped both of his hands. Cackling, he raised both fists above his head triumphantly as the light hardened into a rock-like sphere around him. It expanded, cracked, and broke open.
Mewtwo stood a touch shorter, though his body was markedly changed. What had been grey still was, but now had a light pink hue. His legs had thickened a wee bit, proportionally longer below the knee with his toes now purple. Yet his legs remained sleek and toned. So too had his arms thickened slightly with defined musculature, but nothing bulging. Like his toes, his fingers had turned a matching purple. His tail curled over at the end, but otherwise looked no different. His torso and abdomen, though, had a distinctive feminine curve to them, with wide birthing hips, and two side-by-side identical bulges on the chest that were undeniably womanly. Wrapped around these bulges and up over the clavicle was looked like a cropped cuirass in the same purple as his tail, fingers, and toes. Both shoulders bore the same sleek muscles, which with everything below reflected the build of a female professional softball pitcher. A second redundant neck manifested. His horns stuck up in triangles that screamed of cat ears while his nose had become more pointed. Both irises had turned blood red, and etched with hate. A few dark purple sparks dripped from his fingertips.
Mewtwo’s voice had moved up just over two octaves, its malevolence turning from a violent destroyer’s baritone to a silky femme fatale’s mezzo-soprano, but with no less malice, “Like what you see? I still wanna play; do you? Come and get me!”
Cynthia blinked. “He’s a she?”
“I think that—well, frankly, we shouldn’t be surprised,” Blue said. “He...she was taken from Mew’s genes, after all.”
Red nodded with sheepish grimace to his friend’s words. Looking between Red and Blue, Cynthia asked, “But...how??”
“I’d ask Professor Sycamore if he were here. I have no idea,” Blue answered, shaking his head with an overwhelmed expression. “Triggering both X and Y variants on Mewtwonite? I can’t believe this...what are we even looking at?”
“Omega Mewtwo,” said Red quietly, with his hands on either side of his face.
Charging her horn, Sweetie Belle squinted and stuck out her tongue. Suddenly a bright pop flashed at the end of her horn, dissipating into smoke. Soot lay on her horn as she tottered and mumbled, “...too much power....”
“Sweetie Belle!?” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom screeched in fear and alarm as Sweetie Belle toppled over. Shaking her garnered no reaction. She lay on the stone blocks, out cold with a wince on her face.
Luna snarled, “I don’t care what form you take! This ends here and now!”
“Oh, will it now?” Omega Mewtwo answered with an off-balance laugh. “Come and get me! Come, and I’ll make you my bitch, in all the ways!”
Luna snorted and lowered her head, scratching at the ground in preparation to charge. She growled, “The only thing I’m giving you is your own ass!”
“Prove it,” sneered Omega Mewtwo.
Wringing his hands nervously, Red murmured, “Come on, Luna....”
Both roaring, princess and Pokémon rushed at each other.
No one saw who struck the first blow, nor what. No one had more than a guess. All that was certain was that the swamp muck dispersed into a three-metre wave, coating the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Cynthia, Blue, and Red. Scootaloo shook her head, then rushed to wipe the mud from around Sweetie Belle’s mouth. She and Apple Bloom moved her unconscious body further back as the blows rang out and the mud fell back to its normal height. There was a crater now, a blast mark left from the initial strikes between the Princess of the Night and the most savage of all Pokémon. Blue wiped his face and ears off, unable to discern the shouting between the combatants, except that it did not sound of mere grunting, growling, nor bitter mid-fight trash talk. Blue looked over at Red as he too dug the last of the mud from his ears and asked, “Buddy, do you have any idea, any at all, how in the hell did he...she, do that? Sorry, got so used to calling Mewtwo a ‘he.’”
Red threw his hands up in exasperation, shaking his head with a frustrated, impatient, and a touch disbelieving glower. Sighing, Blue tapped at his PokéGear, holding it up toward the vicious duel. Cynthia asked, “What’s the point in recording this now? You should have done so when she double-Mega Evolved!”
“By the time any of us knew she could pull that off, it was a little late to film,” Blue answered. “Despite that, I’m giving Professor Sycamore a live feed; hopefully he can make heads or tails of the absurdity.”
Cynthia nodded with a worried frown. She looked between Blue and the fight, and said, “I guess you’re right. Hey, is it me, or are they talking right now?”
“Ah hear it too,” said Applebloom as the battle came closer, both combatants entangled with the other.
“You tell me why!” Omega Mewtwo demanded, having thrown out every trace of seductress from her voice. “You have no vested interest in what happens here, you have no real reason to care; what could you possibly hope to gain from intervening where your overly long nose doesn’t belong!?”
Luna grunted as she parried another attack, barking, “What is wrong with you!? How can you not understand the preventing murder needs no justification?!”
Cupping her hands and discharging an Aura Sphere, Omega Mewtwo yowled like a tomcat meeting and attacking another tom on his turf. A quick spell, and her attack impacted harmlessly against Luna’s shield. Both were off the ground. Omega Mewtwo grouched, “Preventing being murdered yourself, true; preventing another’s when it’s none of your business, false! Furthermore, I suppose the idea of something else rejecting one’s claim of dominion would be a foreign concept to a princess, wouldn’t it!? Thinking everything you do and say for your subjects is in their best interest, when any sensibly being would know it bloody damn well isn’t that way all the time, or even at all!”
In the middle of her tirade, Red reached into his trainer’s bag, pulled out a purple Pokéball with a white ‘M’ on it, and threw it at Omega Mewtwo as they neared. But she stuttered her forward momentum, letting the ball sail on past her. Such was Red’s throw that it continued onward tens of metres and bonked the barely-awake Genesect on the heel, who disappear in a violet flash. As the ball shook three times and clicked, Omega Mewtwo flipped Red the bird as she continued ranting at Luna without missing more than a couple of seconds, “How do you know what’s good and right? How does Arceus know!? Do either of you actually have the first clue?”
Red threw another such ball, just as hard and accurately. Disappearing in a flash of dark purple before it arrived, Omega Mewtwo reappeared over Princess Luna with a hand in the bag. She shot an undulating green sphere from her free hand as Red’s Pokéball flew on past where its intended target no longer was, and many metres later hit a Bidoof that had stuck its head out from the underbrush at precisely the wrong moment. As the ball clicked, Red whimpered in pathetic disappointment at his catch. Luna winced but little more from that attack while Cynthia sighed, “Oh man...that blows....”
“Tough break, my friend,” Blue said like one giving condolences at a funeral.
As her opponent limboed under an arc of pale blue lightning from her horn, Luna retorted, “I know what makes a deed good and right, because it is benevolent! Helping others! Protecting those in danger! These are basics that any being can understand are good!”
“You’re gonna give me the dry heaves! Is it really the ‘basics’ of what is good, or is it just your instincts talking?” Omega Mewtwo retorted, reaching behind herself with the heels of both her palms touching. “Looks to me like this ‘good’ and ‘right’ you speak of are based on your instincts and nothing more!”
Blue shook his head incredulously. He looked at Red briefly as he cynically muttered, “Are they seriously discussing the origins of morality and ethics in the middle of a battle? One that may decide the fate of both our world and theirs?”
Red nodded with a shrug and a confused grimace. Scootaloo shook her head and grumbled, “Some ponies juggle geese; different ways for different individuals, some weirder than others.”
“Or just ridiculous...who’s to guess what’s the norm for beings this powerful?” Cynthia muttered under her breath.
“Then why do the human religions emphasise being good unto one another?! Not just one, but all of them?!” demanded Luna, deflecting an Aura Sphere which slammed into a tree’s base, shattering said tree into uneven shards, leaving in its place a perfectly semispherical crater a metre and a half deep and three across.
Omega Mewtwo snapped, “Two animals, a herding social herbivore, and a social long-distance diurnal hunter, both having instincts to cooperate and work together? Who would have ever seen that coming?!”
“Well, well! Even you admit that both plant-eater and meat-eater have the same notion of good and evil!” Luna returned, charging her horn up to a secondary aura.
“Quick to ignore both of your species are social!” Omega Mewtwo shouted, clenching her teeth as the lightning from Luna’s horn connected. Shaking her head once, she flew at Luna as she continued, “One works together to bring in food, the other does the same to keep from becoming food! Both of you are simply following instincts!”
“Maybe we simply have instincts that lead us to what’s good and right, or in the humans’ case, righteous!” Luna retorted, despite her shield crumbling under a harsh blast of Psystrike.
“Oh, please! Don’t tell me you’re serious!” Omega Mewtwo answered, actually belly laughing. “All these ‘gods’ the humans have each purport these similar ideas, similar decrees, commands, edicts, statutes, and whatever, all pertaining to altruism and togetherness, how one’s to do the things that are better for the group, avoid strife and schisms, and stick with that specific group, because it is somehow better than all others...while all these others also believe that same tired line about their own selves as well! Isn’t that just precious?”
Luna lunged at Omega Mewtwo horn-first, but missed on the thrust. Mewtwo flung a barrage of golden stars, missing badly as Luna knocked her attacking hand upward and nowhere near her. Then Luna kneed Omega Mewtwo in the gut with her right hind leg, earning a grunt, and then a sneer. Cynthia muttered, “Blocking and deflecting both Aura Sphere and Swift?? What is she? Not a Pokémon, I know, but what?!”
“She is The Princess of the Nahght!” Apple Bloom answered proudly.
Omega Mewtwo’s stars hit home this time as she snidely continued, “Meanwhile, much like any other hunter species, they believe themselves fit to stand above every other living thing simply because they eat everything else! All these views, laws, and precepts from these ‘gods’ fit perfectly with basic human instincts, but not those of a wild tiger, or that of a vole, bat, shark, hornet, cow, shrike, or any other animal at all!”
Luna interrupted her monologue with feinting by rearing up, but blasting with the horn instead of slamming downward with both front feet. Omega Mewtwo crashed through one tree and into a second, breaking through the large side limbs in the first and delivering a greenstick fracture to the second’s main trunk. She reached into her bag, grabbing a thick spray bottle with a white nozzle and a cerulean fluid. While she sprayed herself off, Blue threw a Pokéball identical to the ones Red had thrown. Casually tossing it aside, Omega Mewtwo’s spray bottle intercepted the ball, which took in said bottle in a dazzling display of purple light. Red sighed in disappointment. Stomping angrily, Blue scoffed, “Gimme a break!! How does that even work!?”
Patting Blue on the shoulder, Red shook his head. Cynthia closed her eyes. She took the index and middle fingers of her right hand, and rubbed her forehead with them between her eyebrows, softly and sadly saying, “Congratulations, sir, you just caught an empty Max Potion.”
“Every last one of their ‘gods’ is set up as their specific groups’ Alpha, sitting there telling these humans their primitive, feral, primordial instincts from surviving before civilisation are precisely in line with how these ‘gods’ would have them behave! How lucky is that?!” fired Omega Mewtwo as she burst back into the air at Princess Luna, clutching a purple disk with one hand and charging darker energies with the other.
Luna slowed her flight to almost a stationary hover, carefully eyeing the charged attack pointed her direction. As a spherical shield enveloped her, she yelled back, “Idiot! You don’t see that social behaviour among most Pokémon, yet they have that same overwhelming need of friendship!”
“Did you ever consider that maybe, just maybe, those that were good to humans were fruitful and multiplied under their care, flooding the gene pool with such hardwired attitudes?” Omega Mewtwo answered, firing her shot off. The dark-coloured blast collided with Luna’s shield head-on, which spiderwebbed briefly before the cracks had spread too far. Luna missed a wingbeat with the wind knocked out of her upon taking the hit. Still closing, Omega Mewtwo continued, “Keeping those that behaved like they did, getting them loads of progeny, and killing off those that were ‘too dangerous’ for human lives?”
Luna scoffed and shot a barrage of ice shards, barking, “You make it sound like they alter the entire planet to suit their desires!”
Rolling her eyes and also away from the magical riposte, Omega Mewtwo countered, “Look at their large cities, and you tell me! They sure as hell do!” Holding a brick red disk, she chopped at Luna with a knife-hand. Luna slid to the left, narrowly evading the strike. Then she popped Omega Mewtwo with a quick one-two punch to the face from her front hooves. Before her head had stopped, Omega Mewtwo sharply gestured at Luna. The numerous gemstones appeared on all sides again. While her shot of Psystrike hammered at Luna, Omega Mewtwo sneered, “They made the world how they wanted it, and they made their gods how they wanted them: a quick justification for all that they did so that no one would question them, and on top of that, used their ‘gods’ to explain away any natural process they didn’t understand! Just to give them some feeling of security in an unsure world! Pathetic, isn’t it?”
“Whatever! Now you’re gonna tell me it’s your place to see to it they feel insecure, aren’t you?” Luna said with hate-laced sarcasm, shooting a pulsating blue sphere from her horn. While Omega Mewtwo dodged it, the sphere burst into a ten metre globe of electricity.
“Now you’re getting it!” beamed Omega Mewtwo once the arcing sparks stopped. With a brown disk in one paw, she pointed at the ground, then at Luna. A rocky spire burst out of the mud at an alarming speed. Luna exclaimed something not suitable for children’s ears, but could not fully get out of the way in time. The spike gashed Luna’s side, just above her hind legs. As Luna yelped and bled, Omega Mewtwo put the disk away and shouted, “I was created solely for battle; all my instincts revolve around it! Somebody, somemon, or something throws any challenge, any at all, I know to destroy them! That is what I see as good and right, what I know to do without any instruction! And I can’t give the world what’s good and right if there’s no world, because of a reckless moon crashing or two! The only difference between you and me, or the humans and me, is that I don’t pretend I answer to some higher ‘good,’ or established code of morals, or ‘god!’”
Luna spat as she charged up a shield and worked at closing the wound with a spell. She seethed, “So you admit you’re evil to the core!”
“I could say the same about you! All the coddling and insistence on ruling weak underlings who you mollified with polite falsehoods, encouraging others to forego using their own strength, that’s what I call evil!” fired back Omega Mewtwo, floating around Luna. She intently looked over Luna’s shield as she called out a topical roll-on medicine in a golden-orange applicator. Cynthia and Blue both gasped while Red resumed wringing his hands.
“What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked them, looking between them and the fighters in a standoff.
While Omega Mewtwo applied the medicine as if it were deodorant, Cynthia fearfully squeaked, “That’s a Dire Hit...!”
Luna landed, lowering her shield as she readied her magic to attack. Omega Mewtwo demanded, “And so we’ve gone around the circle! How do you know what’s good and right, and not just your social-creature instincts talking?!”
Once Luna hesitated, both in word and action, Omega Mewtwo disappeared in a flash of deep purple sparks. Whirling around, no one was there. Luna looked up in time to see Omega Mewtwo emerge from her teleport, sickly purple disk in her right hand, while punching away at an unbelievable rate with her left clothed in a violet light. But Omega Mewtwo aimed at Luna’s left wing, blow after blow connect at the same point halfway before the fold, roaring with effort. A deafening snap resounded off the trees before the multistrike attack concluded, to which Luna shrieked in pain. She blasted Omega Mewtwo in the face with her lightning as a knee-jerk reaction while she hollered, gasping and screaming like a toddler who just learned the hard way that pulling a can of green beans off of the kitchen counter feels real bad on the toes. Scootaloo swooned and Apple Bloom vomited upon seeing the wound, while Cynthia looked like she was but a step behind Scootaloo. Blue covered his eyes and turned away, but Red stood still, unblinking in vacant shock. Luna’s left wing hung and bled from a severe compound fracture, exposing a lengthy amount of bone. She continued to scream in agony as Omega Mewtwo reeled backwards, holding her own face. Letting go, blood came from her eyes. She reached forward at nothing in particular, grasping at the air. A moment later she summoned a futuristic beige medicinal spray bottle containing a grass stain green liquid. She sprayed herself down, focusing on her face while Luna telekinetically set her own bone and vocalised loudly exactly how unpleasant the experience felt with a series of non-words and very strong profanity.
Setting a magical bandage, Luna could not raise a shield before Omega Mewtwo was back on her, gripping an orange technical machine in her left hand and launching a fireball from her right not even a metre from Luna’s face. As the fire struck and spurred off in five directions, Omega Mewtwo snarled, “That’s what I thought! You have no answer! Your sense of ‘good and right’ was created in your own image just the same as humans’ sense of ‘good and right,’ not to mention their ‘gods,’ were created in their own image! Not the other way around!”
“No...!” Blue gasped, biting back on a sob as Luna cried out again. Scootaloo came to, waking up on the edge of tears.
There was no fur left on the left side of Luna’s face. Her eye had swollen shut from the second degree burns. Ignoring Luna’s puny attack, Omega Mewtwo took a tan technical machine again and exclaimed, “Ah, not sanguine anymore, I see! Tell you what: for shits and giggles, let’s pretend for a moment that they have a real ‘god,’ who did in fact give them these orders! Then how does this ‘god’ know what is ‘good and right,’ hmm? Is it so because this ‘god’ said it is? That’s totally arbitrary!”
The ground heaved, buckled, and shook like a paint mixer. Scootaloo’s wings buzzed, but everyone else was tossed about. As the earth settled, Luna fell to a kneeling position, out of breath and shaking in the legs. Sweetie Belle groaned as her eyes fluttered open. While Apple Bloom scooped her into a hug, she mumbled, “Is...it over?”
Trying not to cry and failing, Scootaloo answered, “Almost...the fight goes poorly.”
“Thus on a divine whim, the laws of good and evil can be shifted up to and including fully reversed for any reason, any at all, including none!” Omega Mewtwo sneered. Luna breathed heavily, though her horn held an aura. Snatching a yellow disk from the bag, Omega Mewtwo goaded, “Get on your knees and please that ‘god’ with your mouth, every bit of your body as needed, and everything else he-she-it-whatever wants, in the desperate hope this ‘god’ doesn’t change its mind!”
A wide thunderbolt came from the sky, but hit the ground a metre and a half behind Luna. The exhaustion in her one open eye was plain at distance, as it was in her crouch’s posture. Sweetie Belle roused herself a bit more, but murmured, “No...you can’t...not like that....”
Omega Mewtwo leapt high into the air, pulling out the sickly purple technical machine once again. As she balled up her fists, dropping toward Luna, she hollered, “Or perhaps this ‘god’ did not determine what is ‘right and good,’ yes? What then? What kind of ‘god’ must answer to something else!? Let me give you a chance to ask!”
Suddenly Luna jumped into a bicycle kick, her hind leg flashing a golden glow and finding Omega Mewtwo’s chin.
“YES!!” Red cheered in a short but loud shout.
“Damn the humans’ gods..." Luna snarled, driving a front hoof into Omega Mewtwo’s belly, causing her to bounce.
Cynthia blurted, “...get ’er...!”
“...damn spirituality..." growled Luna as she whirled about, reared up, and nailed Omega Mewtwo again in the chin, this time with a fully extended double hind leg kick, driving her enemy into an outcropped rock.
“Holy crap...!” Scootaloo breathed.
“...and DAMN YOU!!” roared Luna. She skewered Omega Mewtwo upon her horn as her adversary ricocheted off the rock, and with a whirl of her neck, threw her enemy into the half-broken tree from earlier, continuing, “I don’t give a flying feather about any of it! I care about protecting my little ponies, keeping all my subjects safe, whether you like it or not, whether I live to tell about it or not! And I have had enough of you!”
Sweetie Belle stood wide-eyed and tremouring. She whimpered, “No...not like this...Luna, don’t do it...!”
Omega Mewtwo had already sprayed herself off with another Max Potion, and immediately churned out another Psystrike. As Luna staggered and dropped to her knees, Omega Mewtwo laughed darkly, “Right, apathy: the first port-of-call for those who have lost an argument so completely and thoroughly! And indeed you have had enough of me, but I can keep on taking more and more of you! You cannot endure; but I do! I’ll just hit you with Psystrike after Psystrike until you collapse, which at this point...won’t be long!”
“You...you can’t...,” Sweetie Belle said feebly as she wobbled and nearly fell over again.
Apple Bloom caught her friend. She asked, “What? What can’t she do?”
Slowly standing, a secondary and tertiary aura surrounded Luna’s horn. Omega Mewtwo thrust her hands forward for another Aura Sphere, but the attack fizzled as it reached Luna, doing nothing. A fourth and fifth layer of her aura manifested while her eyes appeared as glowing white orbs, devoid of irises and pupils. Luna’s voice echoed as she softly said, “‘Psystrike,’ ‘Aura Sphere,’ ‘Judgment,’ whatever...you Pokémon sure like to name your moves, don’t you?”
Spitting sparks, Luna’s horn also emitted harsh rays of light. A high-pitched droning, like a ringing in one’s ears, sounded across the marsh as Luna lazily left the ground. A shot of Psystrike proved equally useless as the Aura Sphere did a moment earlier. Sweetie Belle sighed sadly as the sky turned dark, “...too late.”
“Then call this ‘The Lunar Cry!’” Luna screamed at the top of her lungs.
Omega Mewtwo looked up to find the moon in plain sight, despite it being near midday. At its bottom appeared a gathering of sorts, like water running down the side and coming together there, preparing to drip. This “teardrop” enlarged, then broke off. As it did so, the “tear” fogged, like it was out of focus, or now nebulous. Then came the first meteorite impact, and a second. Omega Mewtwo gasped in fear as the sky filled with incoming meteors, raining down on her position. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to take cover; there were too many. Sweetie Belle attempted to erect a shield as the meteor swarm fell upon The Great Marsh, to a deafening shriek of the planet under bombardment.
Apple Bloom was the first to awake. Dust clouds still covered the marsh like a thick brown fog. She coughed and blew her nose, ejecting chunks of brown mucus. Red was the next to come around, followed quickly by Scootaloo and Cynthia. Blue got up next. The sounds of the pony soldiers somewhere in the dust mumbled, leaving it unclear where they were, or who they were helping, only that they were rescuing either people or Pokémon. Nearby they heard a sob. With some fumbling through the brown haze, Apple Bloom stumbled into Sweetie Belle, still on her side, crying, and refusing to get up. She murmured, “Why? Why that? There were still other ways...why didn’t you just break the bag? She couldn’t have healed herself then....”
A figure approached in the fog. Battered, bruised, bloodied, burned in places, limping, and dragging a broken wing, came the alicorn. She was short of breath, but bore a frown and a hardened glint in her uninjured eye. Eyes lighting up in awe and excitement, Scootaloo cheered, “Princess Luna! That...was...amazing!! You were awesome out there! I knew you were—”
A quick shake of Luna’s head cut short the praise. Expression unchanged, she hobbled over to Red and Blue. Luna twisted slightly, and off her back slid Mewtwo, heavily wounded, a crimsoned mess, no longer Mega Evolved at any level, but still breathing. In a low and angry voice, Luna looked Blue in the eye and growled, “It’s your world. You decide what to do with its worst criminal.”
Groaning, Mewtwo’s eyes fluttered open briefly. With a click of a Pokéball, Red summoned his Pikachu, then lightly tossed another of the purple balls at Mewtwo. Three shakes and a click later, Red sighed a deep sigh of relief, as did Cynthia. She asked him, “How many more of those do you have?”
Red held up his left thumb and all the fingers on his right hand. Then, lowering his hands, he looked at Blue, then at Luna as she turned to go, then back at Blue. He shook his head with a frown. Blue nodded slowly in strong agreement. He then softly said, “You realise that means you, right?”
Luna looked back at him. While she stopped, she had not fully turned back to him as she flatly asked, “What?”
“You weaponised the moon!” Blue said angrily. “You’re willing to go for broke and literally flatten anything!”
Now Princess Luna turned fully toward Blue, and began limping his way. She irritably countered, “You saw what she was doing, how quick she would kill...she has been stopped, and no one died. What’s the problem?”
Scoffing, Blue snapped, “What of the marsh?! This was a protected area, the last of an untouched habitat of its kind! This place was preserved for all living things that would dwell here! What will become of those species now? I hate to see what this’ll look like once, literally, the dust settles! And what if the battle had been in town, huh?!”
Glowering, Luna half-heartedly offered, “Sorry about the collateral, but the danger is passed. You could show some gratitude that everypony, and everyone else, is alive!”
“There were still other ways, Princess!” Blue snapped. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gasped in unison as they looked at Sweetie Belle, then back at Blue as he went on, “Why didn’t you just break the bag!? She couldn’t have healed herself then!!”
In stunned tones, Apple Bloom stammered, “S...so what you said...that...that was what you foresaw? That we’re...really, really in trouble?”
Sweetie Belle sighed and slowly stood up. Sadly she said, “We’re not just ‘in trouble.’”
“You’re not welcome here anymore,” Blue said firmly. “You have two days to be packed up and get the hell off our world.”
“Or what?!” Luna demanded.
Blue turned to leave and said, “I’m not getting into a pissing contest with you.”
Red and Cynthia turned to join him. Luna barked, “We’re not leaving without Rarity.”
“Then, for all of your sake’s, I hope she gets here in the next two days,” Blue snapped with a glare, then walked away into the haze.
Luna stomped once with a grunt. She winced as her broken wing bumped into the cubic stone blocks, then called out, “Colonel Cirrus!”
A heavily built mottled grey pegasus in golden armour flew over to her. He saluted, then spoke in a clear but harsh lower tenor, “Your Majesty! Colonel Cirrus reporting as ordered!”
Luna sighed sadly, then said, “I am about to reopen the portal. Take these three fillies to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle. They are to stay there, until my sister and I have decided the best course of action regarding what they’ve done.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all shrank at these words, ears flattening. Cirrus bowed, and curtly said, “By your order, Your Majesty!”
Luna’s horn flashed. A moment of the bright light, and the portal reappeared, far quicker than when Starlight had cast the spell. With no hint of hesitation Twilight appeared as she jumped through. One look at Princess Luna, and she screamed. Immediate reactions ensued from the others who followed: Starlight blanched and walked away with a terrible shaking to her, Trixie passed out, Rainbow Dash froze in place wide-eyed, Applejack closed her eyes and took off her hat, and Fluttershy instantly began to administer medical attention with “oh my goodness” rapidly and repeatedly coming out of her mouth.
Princess Luna kept her briefing concise, opting to press on Twilight about what she decided to do with the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the interim. The dust in the air was lighter, but still not settled. While Twilight agreed with the basic points and the principle decision, she objected to the three fillies spending time in the dungeons or for them to do excessive cleaning, if for nothing else, Spike had mastered the cleaning process and extra fillies would slow him down. With Celestia staying at the castle, and Luna all-but guaranteed to be bedridden for the foreseeable future, the two should have ample time to discuss and finalise suitable consequences. They occasionally had to stop, and Rainbow Dash had a one-sided screaming match with Scootaloo. However, all that could be heard of Apple Bloom was tears somewhere nearby. As Colonel Cirrus led the three to and through the portal, Sweetie Belle went to ask Twilight about the magic she was learning, citing she had little to no control of this way of magic. Twilight assured her it would be discussed, just not right then.
When Luna started for the portal, Mew returned. Luna stopped at her approach, raising an eyebrow. She did not look like she was in any mood to joke around or play anytime soon. Luna opened her mouth to speak and was swiftly interrupted, “You need to know what they’re talking about doing, but let me make this clear before we begin: I’m doing this because you saved Arceus’s life and for nothing else.”
Luna said sadly, “I thought we’re friends.”
“Were friends, past tense,” Mew answered bitterly. “Weaponising the moon? That’s not okay.”
“I’m sorry; how many times must I apologise for something that did not hurt any of us?” Luna grumbled.
“Just because none of us were hurt doesn’t mean it didn’t come close for a great many,” Mew grouched. “And they would have died. It’s a wonder she didn’t.”
Luna sighed, “I think I’ve got it by now to not do that again.”
“We shall see.”
Luna waited while Mew just glared at her. A moment passed before Luna asked, “Am I to guess what it is?”
Grunting, Mew answered, “Any of yours still here after the two days are over is to have a considerable bounty on their heads, dead or alive.”
Luna just rolled her eyes. “Is that it really? Good thing ours can handle themselves.”
“That’s not the only thing!” Mew barked, silencing Luna. Another awkward moment passed before Mew continued, “I don’t know the details about this thing myself.”
Luna sighed, “Well, tell me what you know. I need to see a trauma surgeon immediately.”
“As you wish,” Mew muttered irritably. “They spoke of it as the very last resort, but just the same, are either of you familiar with something they all called ‘a nuke?’”
“Sorera o korosu!!” Koga snarled, throwing the shurikens in his left hand at Rarity, who managed a shield in the nick of time.
The old Salazzle charged in while the Crobats simply manoeuvred to keep any of Rarity’s team from escaping. Keldeo growled while rolling his eyes, “Ah yes, the good old ‘join us or die’ shtick. Cute you left off the whole ‘or’ bit of that, you rat-ass bastard!”
“I should have known, from what grandfather said. You always were the gentle protector, never willing to delve into the world to root evil out of its dens. Such a shame, the number of tragedies that could have been prevented, were you just willing to take the fight to the oppressive!” Koga growled as he surveyed Rarity’s protective barrier. He looked over at Salazzle, busily feinting, bobbing, and weaving to unearth a breaking point in the unicorn’s melee defenses while her flames tickled the shield. He yelled, “Salazzle, she’s learned how to defend against normal Pokémon moves! Improvise something new, something unexpected!”
“Wha...??” Rapidash blurted, his head jolting backwards. “Can...can a trainer even give such an order?! Is that legal!?”
Keldeo spat, “Since when did he play by the rules? Besides, this isn’t exactly a League-sanctioned battle, is it? Normal rules wouldn’t apply.”
Salazzle paused a moment, tapping her chin. As Rarity fired a beam at her, Salazzle slid to her left, crouched, rolled into a forward somersault, and leapt through Rarity’s shield. Rarity barely sounded the start of a squawk as Salazzle snatched her by the muzzle as she slammed Rarity to the ground back-first, having rolled herself over Rarity and used her angular momentum to throw the pony down. Salazzle clenched Rarity’s mouth shut, digging her claws into her nose and lower jaw past the point of drawing blood as she slammed Rarity’s head against the ground repeatedly, snarling and glaring with undying rage. With each hit Rarity yelped, muffled through her forcibly closed mouth. A hard blast of water knocked the old Salazzle off of Rarity after the fifth head-on-earth hit. Rarity struggled back to her feet, staggering and off-balance with out-of-focus eyes. Fearow’s voice quaked with fear as she asked, “What’s going on?! Who is this trainer, and why does he have such a problem with her?”
Rapidash stood in front of the stumbling Rarity, gritting his teeth and scraping at the ground with his front right hoof. Keldeo came to join him as he barked to Fearow, “We’ll explain once we’re out of this mess!”
“We’d better get out of this mess...,” Rapidash grumbled softly as the old Salazzle popped back to her feet with a savage roar.
“Get me out of here,” Rarity muttered, her voice sounding distant. Her horn began to charge heavily as she kept repeating herself, growing louder and more forceful, “Get me out of here...get me out of here. Get me out of here! Get me out of here!! Get me outta here!!”
Rarity’s magical charge burst droned a high-pitched whine, then burst. Blue light formed a breaking sphere around her and her companions, who all disappeared. Koga shrieked, “Find them!!”
Rarity, Rapidash, Keldeo, and Fearow popped out of a blue ball of magic with a bursting sound, each of them disoriented with carbon scoring on their bodies. Rarity had the most, especially on her horn. She fell down, and showed no coordination as she tried to get back to her feet. She groaned, “My head....”
Keldeo shook out his head while Fearow gasped, “What in the name of Arceus was that!?”
“Shh...!” Keldeo urged, crawling forward. They had appeared under some small young trees atop a hill, or something that looked like a hill from where they were. There was little vegetation here, as if it had been rocky for a very long time. Keldeo peered down, keeping himself hunkered against the ground. He backed up still on his belly, and harshly whispered, “That was a teleport spell?”
“I...I’ve never used one before; I don’t know how,” Rarity answered airily, still not sounding like herself. Blood dripped from the punctures on the bottom side of her jaw. She almost toppled again, and barely audibly said, “Feels like I’m gonna throw up...it’s so loud here. Why is everything so loud?”
“Great,” Keldeo muttered. “That’s about the last thing we needed. Really wish we had something to bandage her with...Rapidash, keep her awake while we run; her falling asleep now would be bad for her.”
Rapidash frowned, but nodded with an unhappy grunt. Fearow looked back as Rapidash gingerly helped Rarity onto his back, then turned to Keldeo and asked, “So, she teleported us?”
“Yes, but only about twenty metres. Those Crobats could easily hear and find us,” Keldeo whispered. “Stay low to the ground, and follow me. Don’t make a sound.”
Keldeo led them into the brush while Rapidash carried Rarity, doing his best to keep anything and everything away from her head. Occasionally Keldeo looked down into the ravine below, at its maze of shrubs and the trainers bustling about with each other. After about ten minutes of this crawling, everyone and everything around in unison stopped what they were doing and looked up. The moon rapidly moved around out of the Eastern sky, positioning itself a little below the sun. A sort of haze issued below it, teardrop in shape. Once it fully detached, that part of the sky brightened, then came the meteors. Meteor after meteor, to the point of nearly appearing as a solid line, fired themselves to somewhere to the east-by-northeast. Fifteen seconds later, the meteors ended, and the moon exited to the west just as quickly as it arrived. While so many other stood stupefied, Keldeo raspily urged, “This is our chance! Descend the sides of the ravine, and we cross Route 25!”
The four rushed down the sharp rocky hillside. Trainers stopped and discussed with themselves what the heck that was, even those in battle. Wild Pokémon did the same, and even still did the Pokémon who seconds earlier were slugging it out in varying degrees of hotheadedness. Quickly but quietly Keldeo lead them across Route 25 about fifty metres west of a house there, and up the other side. They all looked back once atop the hill. No one and no-mon appeared like they would stop their discussions anytime soon. Rarity airily asked no one in particular, “Was that Princess Luna’s doing?? Why would she be here?”
“Don’t know, but I’d love it if she’d stop monkeying with the moon!” Keldeo hissed. Once they were hidden atop the rise, Keldeo whispered, “Let’s move!”
Keldeo broke into a full sprint headed east-northeast with a curve northward, with Fearow right behind him. Rapidash took a moment, but before long was up to speed with them. Soon they neared trees, but with a very clear and clean-cut line where they were not. In their place was a fair bit of torn-up ground, a road cut under construction, and numerous large metal machines painted yellow with black lettering. Several temporary living trailers were there as well, one with a banner that read “Connecting Kanto and Sinnoh: Route 200 is a go!” Nearby were large men and larger Pokémon, each slowly returning to work. Among the workmen were Steelixes, Machamps, Golems, and Rhyperiors, there was one, and only one, Alakazam. No women or female Pokémon were in sight. Two of the workmen and the Alakazam had a white hard hat while everyone and everymon else wore orange ones. Rarity gazed down from Rapidash’s back at the construction site below, and muttered, “My jaw hurts....”
Rapidash answered in fatherly tones, “Yes, dear, I’m sure it does, but I think there’s not much we can do about that right now.”
“Do they have a first aid kit?” Rarity asked, still sounding out of it. “In Equestria, we simply must have one on-hoof by law...is it so here?”
Keldeo said, “Sorry, I don’t know human laws.”
Rapidash snorted, then turned and started down the hill. Fearow squawked, “Are you nuts!? We’ll be caught!”
“She needs help!” he snapped back.
Keldeo sighed and shook his head as he came to a stop, looking down the side of the road cut. “Let him go. No stopping a fool in love.”
Rapidash walked into the construction site with his head held high and a stern face while the blood dripped slowly from Rarity’s wounded jaw. People and Pokémon both stopped just as they were returning to their duties as he strode through. Many blinked. Some made caring or snide remarks under their breaths, each pointing out the obvious in his own way. The Alakazam looked Rapidash in the eye, then pointed one of his spoons at one of the trailers. With a nod, Rapidash started that direction. A bearded man near the trailer’s door offered a sad smile and opened the door. Rapidash struggled with the steps, and fitting through the door, needing to duck his head. Inside was a man with a red hard hat, and plenty of gear expected of a first responder. His eyes widened when he saw Rarity and her bloodied muzzle. He asked, “What...happened?”
Rapidash began to answer, but stopped when the man sighed and muttered, “Really, really wish I had a Pokémon language translator. Some professor oughta get on that.”
He put on some blue latex gloves before he closely examined her muzzle. Looking at her eyes, he saw one was contracted and the other dilated. He asked, “Can you speak?”
She hesitated, and answered, “I can.”
“What did this to you? This doesn’t look like any Pokémon attack I’m familiar with,” the man said as he grabbed a sponge and some dark orange-yellow solution, and thus began to clean out Rarity’s wounds.
“Sorry,” offered Rarity insincerely before continuing, “And his Salazzle, whom he told to ‘improvise.’”
“Huh. There aren’t many of those in this part of the world,” the man answered. “Looks like she did improvise, too; I think you have a concussion. You need to rest.”
“But—” Rarity began.
The man sighed with a small, unhappy smile. “Look, you’ve been in the news over the last several days. Everyone knows who you are, Rarity, and that you’re not from this world. Just the same, you need to rest to keep this from getting worse. Where’s your trainer? We all know it’s not this Rapidash.”
Rarity blinked hard and hung her head. She lamented, “He’s dead, killed by that lunatic.”
The man gasped, staring all around him. Rapidash, once the man looked at him expectantly, nodded sadly and looked away, trying not to cry. The man took off his hard hat, sighing long and low, and shook his head. He stared at the floor for a moment, then asked, “This was very recent, like just before the moon acting up, wasn’t it?”
Rapidash nodded while Rarity appeared to shake some fogginess from her head before softly and distantly saying, “Yeah, I...I think it was then...I can’t remember it clearly.”
Walking over to the cabinets and drawers, he opened several and pulled up a number of items, saying, “Given how I saw no beginning of scabbing or even slowing of your bleeding, I had already figured as much. And it means your attacker is still nearby, and you still have plenty of ground to cover. While I don’t like it, and can’t stop you, I don’t doubt you’ll keep on the move; these will help with the headache, disrupted senses, and nausea. You’ll have to hold the gauze in place below your jaw, and put this antiseptic ointment on it first. Make sure you get plenty of water, and if possible, stay under shade. And you, Rapidash, try to give her a steady a ride as you can.”
Relief washed over Rapidash’s face while Rarity just stared. She took the items in her telekinesis as she thanked the man, albeit absentmindedly for both, and they left. Rapidash took her out of the construction site and back up the steep rock face, to about the same reaction as their arrival. Keldeo snorted as they returned. “That went better than expected.”
“Most humans aren’t like Koga or his grandsire. Most of them just try to do what’s best as well as they understand it, and to the best of their ability,” Rapidash spat in return. He looked down and away, muttering to himself, “Makes me wonder how much of all this madness could’ve been avoided if the humans and ponies had just talked....”
“Few words more useless than ‘could’ve,’ ‘should’ve,’ and ‘would’ve,’ Rapidash,” Keldeo scolded. He shook his head as he sighed while Rarity attempted to apply the ointment to the gauze. Fearow lent a wing in stabilising the items in her telekinesis. Snorting again, Keldeo snidely offered, “Let me guess: she’s concussed.”
“Would’ve taken a moron to not notice,” Rapidash answered, rolling his eyes. “If you can, find a path that’s shaded, flat, and with as few turns as possible.”
With a scoff and eye-roll, Keldeo spat, “Anything else, Your Highness?”
“Please, not so loud...,” Rarity moaned in muffled agony.
Keldeo scrunched his mouth in irritation as he looked away. He motioned forward as he took off, muttering something mostly inaudible, but heavily profane. Rapidash and Fearow exchanged worried and uncomfortable grimaces. With a nervous laugh, Fearow asked, “So...can you guys catch me up on what’s up with that Koga guy?”
Time passed as Keldeo and Rapidash explained their stories leading up to now, the trouble with Koga, and how Rarity inspired him to vengeance. Aengus’s lack of explanation, and that both brothers had led her into the battle scene on false pretenses, quelled Fearow’s sudden desire to abandon Rarity to her fate. All the while, Rarity hung on the edge of sleep or subconsciousness, scarcely aware of the passing pastoral scene, two instances of a magenta wave crossing the breadth of the sky, nor even the day’s seconds, minutes, and hours.
Devontae dismounted his Charizard outside the Cerulean City Pokémon Centre just as Koga came around the corner. They both gasped with widening eyes at the sight of the other. Then Devontae pointed a finger as he gritted his teeth, snarling at the top of his lungs, “Murderer!!”
Everyone stopped and turned, including a few policemen. A pair of young twin girls, no more than six years old, stood and stared, eyes flicking between the two of them. A redheaded woman in her late twenties, sporting the figure of a world-class swimmer and the latest high-tech racing swimwear, slowly walked over while the policemen talked into their radios. The green-eyed blonde girl in white with her hair in a ponytail cowered behind her Ivysaur, who had assumed a battle-ready stance. Stepping in front of them both, the redheaded swimmer bluntly asked, “What’s going on?!”
“You heard me!” Devontae insisted, still glaring at Koga. “This mo-o-o—” he drew out the syllable as his eyes flicked to the twins for a moment, “—o-onkey-faced loser murdered m’ best friend!!”
The crowd gasped. Koga’s face hardened with a frown, and shouted back, “That is the biggest pile of shi-i—” he also noticed the young girls, “—i-ifty malarkey I’ve heard! Me? A member of the Elite Four, tarnishing my honour and that of my colleagues?! Can you believe that, Misty?”
“Freeze!!” yelled the policemen as they drew their firearms, hammers cocking with a click apiece. Devontae instinctively put his hands on his head and knelt down while Koga gave them a disbelieving look. Misty raised her hands and slowly backed away as the officers closed in. One in the back, wearing the mirrored sunglasses, said into his radio, “I do not have a copy. Please repeat.”
Over the radio, a woman’s voice answered, “There is a 10-28 on Master Koga for a 1-01 just south of Goldenrod. Bring him now.”
The police clipped his radio to his shoulder strap, and withdrew a pair of handcuffs. Angrily he began, “Master Koga...I am sorry, but there is a warrant for your arrest, for murder. On the ground, now!”
Koga slowly laid down with his belly on the ground. Devontae took a few steps back, savagely shouting with no regard of proper grammar, “Gettin’ what ya’ damn well deserve! Hope you like th’ ham slice!! Yeah! Gonna get the runs!! And you gonna deserve it! Hope you can’t stop sneezin’ neither! Get ‘em at once!! Change them drawers, day in, day out!”
As the police started to apply the handcuffs, a burst of smoke filled the area, clouding everyone’s vision. Some coughed. Before it cleared, Devontae heard Koga’s voice from right over his shoulder, “May both sides of your pillow be hot.”
Devontae whirled around, throwing a punch, but hit nothing but smoke. A gust forced some dissipation. As it cleared, two of the police officers were cuffed together. Devontae looked up to see Koga flying away to the east, and well out of range. He screamed some non-word in frustration, stomping angrily. That same policeman radioed in, “We got a 10-13, eastbound and airborne! Repeat, 10-13, eastbound and airborne!”
“Acknowledged. Officers in the area, free up and pursue,” answered the lady. Two of the policemen there jumped on the back of a Pidgeot, one wearing a blue light bar, and took off after him. Police lights and a siren rang out from the Pokémon as it tore after Koga.
Another officer patted Devontae on the shoulder. Kindly yet firmly, he said, “Don’t worry, son. We’ll give your friend the justice he deserves. We’ll get ‘im. Since he’s already ran over regional boundaries, this case will be escalated, and every department in every town in every region will be looking for him. He can’t hide. Did you already give a statement in Goldenrod?”
“Yes, sir,” Devontae said earnestly, unfolding a piece of paper, an official-looking form. Pointing at a specific box, he continued, “There’s the case number, and statement number.”
Jotting it down, the policeman said, “Got it. Thank you, son. As I said, don’t worry. He’s good, yes, but we’re better. He can’t hide for long.”
“I hope so, sir,” Devontae answered. “I apologise, but I have to finish doing something for my friend, something he couldn’t finish because of Koga.”
The policeman nodded, and offered a handshake, “Yes, of course. Good luck. And please, contact any of us if you find out anything, or see him.”
“I will, sir,” Devontae answered with a nod.
An encouraging pat on the shoulder, or at least seemed like it meant to be encouraging, was how the policeman bid Devontae adieu. Devontae rushed inside the Pokémon Centre, running to the PC. He switched keys amid his fumbling around the screens, then ran out the door, making a bee-line for the PokéMart. There he spent what seemed to most to be an inordinate amount of time at the vending machine, purchasing more bottles of water than what the machine should have been able to hold, let alone fit in his trainer’s bag, before purchasing more at the counter. He dashed out the door and leapt onto his bike, taking off nearly at full speed. He headed out of town to the north, across the bridge of Route 24 and turned east onto Route 25. Swerving around other trainers and ignoring challenges for battles, Devontae pressed forward as if he was in the last leg of a race and behind on his split time by a few seconds.
Route 25 dead-ended atop a small rise with steep sides to the sea below. Devontae stopped there, looking across the water, and put his bike away. He summoned Feraligatr from his Pokéball, and called an encased disk from his bag. Feraligatr raised an eyebrow at the machine in his new trainer’s hand. Devontae began, “Aengus said you don’t like HMs. It’s just for now, and...wait...the hell was he thinkin’? No support moves?? Nah, brah, that gotta go. Superpower? Hell nah. That undercuts ya’. We’ll get it right when we get back.”
Feraligatr nodded sadly, but did not resist when Devontae touched it to his muzzle. Putting the disk away, Devontae then clicked on the other balls, summoning his Charizard, a Noctowl, a familiar-looking Pidgeot, a familiar-looking Gyarados, and a Lapras. Feraligatr looked over at Pidgeot and Gyarados, all of whom upon meeting each other’s gaze were on the verge of tears. The three took a moment for a group hug with quiet sobbing, while the other three patted them and stifled tears of their own. Devontae did the same for them, and gave them the time they needed to settle their emotions.
“We finishin’ somethin’ for Aengus,” Devontae began, looking across the six Pokémon and disregarding the expected contraction. Feraligatr, Pidgeot, and Gyarados nodded emphatically, while the other three simply waited for elaboration. With an overwhelmed and disbelieving chuckle, Devontae broke into a nervous grin and said with the same vernacular, “We doin’ somethin’ batshit crazy.”
Twilight Sparkle stood at the battle map, drawing lines with a magical pen. It was dusk in Sinnoh. Earth pony and unicorn soldiers were departing through the portal one after another, except one particularly gruff contingent who held it protected on all sides. As several of them carried out some of the tables and weapon stands, Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer approached her, with half a dozen armoured pegasi behind them. Trixie stood close to the portal, but came over when she saw Starlight there.
Twilight began handing out lathed wooden rods that bore a green aura among the pegasi, and a particularly tall such rod to Trixie. She said, “Thank you all for volunteering. I had hoped to get underway before dark, but this enchantment was not an easy one to weave. Rarity’s on the move, and going at a pretty stiff clip, likely helped by some Pokémon she’s befriended. Her last known location was in undeveloped territory between the Kanto and Sinnoh regions, about a tenth of the way across, but that was hours ago. I can only assume she has progressed further by now. With the time we’ve been given to clear out of this world before a bounty is put on all of our heads, we will meet her partway. The rods you all have are for point-to-point teleportation. Since it’s too far for even me to teleport unaided, the rods will create a precise exit and reentry point for me; even leagues away I can teleport both you and the rod back to the reentry rod. Starlight, Trixie, your job will be to keep the reentry rod powered at all times, so that I can target it from the other side of the Sinnoh Region.”
“You got it,” said Starlight.
“The rest of us will fan out over southwestern Sinnoh and into the wilds beyond in search of Rarity. Once we fly over Sandgem Town, we are to make our aerial presence obvious, and in a way that Rarity can recognise from the ground. She knows how to send up a signal; I expect she will know to do so upon realising it’s us. Once any of us have made confirmed contact with Rarity, there’s a button on the bottom of the rod that’ll cause the others to flash blue. Hold your position when you see that,” explained Twilight.
The others nodded. Seeing this, Twilight continued, “We will break into waves, in case of some inexplicable bad luck, Rarity missed one of us on the first pass. Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot will take the lead wave. Soarin’, Sky Commodore Stormrider, and Misty Fly will be the second wave. General Merry Weather and I will be the final. Any questions?”
Fleetfoot asked, “Your Highness, you said it’s too dark now; what’s the plan if this takes more than one day?”
“If it comes to that, we camp at Lake Verity and continue as we were until she is found, or Starlight and Trixie send us word that Rarity got past us all. Anything else?” Twilight responded. When silence answered her, she said. “To bed. We are all to be up, in armour, and fully breakfasted by first light. That is the latest we depart.”
Daybreak gouged Rarity’s eyes, or so it felt. Her headache had not improved overnight, but at least the bleeding had stopped and the nausea had passed. She got up and took a drink from the pond, before realising she was taking a drink from a pond and had no idea where she was, nor how or when she got there. Her head jolted up as her eyes darted every which way; the headache flared in response to the sudden head movement. Rapidash stepped out from behind a tall shrub where Fearow’s and Keldeo’s voices spoke at a reasonable volume. She smiled upon seeing him, and started his direction. Another pang through the forehead gave her a stumble, but she righted her gait and met him with a hug. Lifting her chin, he kissed her on the lips and said, “Morning, you.”
“Morning,” she answered with a slight blush. Rubbing just below her horn, she quietly asked, “How long was I asleep? The last thing I clearly remember is touching down in Cerulean City...it’s but a blur afterward.”
“Probably about ten hours,” said Rapidash. Rarity gasped, then winced as she held her head. Rapidash frowned and said, “Be careful, babe. You’ve got a concussion, from Koga’s old Salazzle.”
“Salazzle’s alive!? How??” Rarity burst, but held her head again.
Rapidash shook his head. “No, this is the mother of the Salazzle that...that...well, that Salazzle. She got the better of you, beat your head against the ground, and gave you a concussion before we got her off of you. Now take it easy; you don’t want any progress you made healing your head to be reversed, do you?”
“I...no. Wait, how did we get away from Koga?” Rarity suddenly asked.
Rapidash sighed. “Damn, she really did get your memory with those hits. You don’t remember teleporting us all away?”
“No...I’ve never used a teleport spell. I don’t know how,” Rarity answered in amazement.
Shaking his head, Rapidash said, “Well, my love, let’s not worry about it right now. Let’s get some food in you, and get going. We’re between Kanto and Sinnoh, and we’re starting to see more Sinnoh Pokémon now. Keldeo says there’s a wide marsh coming up, and we’re probably going to have trouble there.”
“Trouble? What kind of—wait, you would have no idea. I’m going to have to ask him, aren’t I? Really don’t feel like talking to him, after he got so upset with my standards of cleanliness,” Rarity said grumpily.
“Yeah, well, that’s just him,” Rapidash answered. As they started for the others, Rapidash stopped her again and said, “Oh, something to think about, he’s cross, but not with you. It may sound like it’s you, but Keldeo’s upset about Koga and what happened to you, not you. Okay?”
“Okay, darling,” Rarity answered.
As they rounded the shrub, they saw Keldeo and Fearow, both eating some berries. They looked up. Fearow gave them a cheeky grin and said, “Had a good night and morning, you two?”
Rapidash sighed and hung his head, shaking it slightly. Scoffing, Keldeo instead grumbled, “They’re not looking to make an egg, and even if they were just fooling around, we’d have had every Golbat, Crobat, and Noctowl in a twenty-five kilometre radius on us last night.”
Rarity scoffed, “Keldeo! How dare you insinuate we should be so crass as to brazenly do...do...that like some uncivilised, unsophisticated, base ponies! I never!”
Keldeo raised an eyebrow. “Don’t even try to pretend. You are not quiet. I heard you screaming his name on the far side of the Daycare, and outside their barriered fence at that.”
Rapidash looked away as redness crept through his cheeks. Fearow raised a wing to her beak while she flushed slightly. Fanning herself with her other wing, she exclaimed, “Dang, girl! You got a keeper for sure!”
“Why, the nerve!” Rarity protested scandalised while Rapidash did his best to disappear completely. “Even in the throes of passion a lady maintains her poise, her restraint, her—”
“Then you are no lady,” Keldeo interrupted, trying not to laugh. Fearow did not try, and tittered.
“Dear, just stop, please,” Rapidash urged, both in tone and countenance.
Rarity huffed, but said no more. She partook of the berries gathered, and whatever grasses she could find growing close by. After twenty minutes, Keldeo signaled to head out. As Rarity climbed onto Rapidash’s back, she timidly asked, “Darling...was that the truth? Am...am I really that, uh...loud...when you, uh, went and did...um, those wonderful things to, uh...to my—”
“Sweetheart,” Rapidash whispered honestly and cautiously as he turned back to her. “I want to be with you, I’m gonna stick with you as long as you’ll have me, and you’ve brought me joy like I’ve never imagined already. But dear, you, um...you’re not subtle...at all, about such things. I don’t doubt what he said, about hearing you.”
Rarity hid her face in her forelimbs as it burned scarlet. “...I could just die right now....”
They carried on at their crazy speeds for about forty-five minutes with Rarity agonising over her embarrassment and not showing her face once. She looked up as she felt Rapidash slowing to a stop. Before them was a wide marsh with tall grasses and precious few trees, most of them dead. A couple of kilometres to the right was the ocean. Off in the distance to the left were some mountains. On the horizon ahead was the indication of more forestation, and it also appeared higher in elevation. Keldeo looked back at Rarity and gestured to the terrain before them. “This, this is something I’d rather avoid, but it’d take far too long to go around. We’re talking adding days to the trip to traverse those mountains.”
“It’s a brackish marsh,” Rarity grumbled with an upturned nose.
Keldeo let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, it’s much worse than that. Being filthy by the time we’re across is a given, but even you will admit that’s the least of your concerns.”
As if to answer, a dark cloud picked up from the marsh. It undulated, flowed, twisted, and whirled as one, turning, oozing, and reconvening much like a school of fish. After half a minute or so, it settled back to the marsh.
Keldeo grumbled. “Those are Staraptors, every last one of them. That murmuration had several thousand individuals, and was by no means the biggest one I’ve seen here. Anywhere we try to cross this marsh, there are tens of thousands of them between us and the other side.”
Rarity stood aghast and agape. She felt a throb in her ears briefly. Emptily she asked, “How could they have known? Aengus and Paddy were exactly right, but how could they have known that?”
Keldeo sighed, looking at his hooves and shaking his head. “I’ve seen some biologists out this way a few times, observing and recording the murmurations. Not all of them made it home.”
“How shall we cross, then?” Rapidash asked, stuffing down a whimper.
“By not upsetting them like those few scientists,” Keldeo said sheepishly. “Sure, they’re by no means the only Pokémon in the marsh, but they also are far and away the species that makes itself known the most to any who traverse this place.”
Rapidash muttered, “I wonder what those Route 200 workers are gonna do when they get here.”
Fearow snickered, “Need a change of pants, likely.”
Keldeo asked, “What do you see, Rarity? Do you see any particular places where the ground should be stronger, or weaker, from here?”
“You’ve been here before,” Rarity countered. “Shouldn’t you know what to look for?”
“Not exactly. If there’s water underfoot, even in muddy ground, I can absorb some of the liquid and run across it without trouble,” Keldeo explained, staring at the myriad of tall grass swaying in the breeze between the meandering water channels. “Rapidash can’t. He can’t even come close to doing that. He’ll need as much solid ground as possible, and as solid of ground as can be found. That’s nothing I’ve had to worry about before.”
“Should we have taken the days-longer route?” Rarity asked. “This is just asking for trouble.”
“I’m starting to question that,” Keldeo conceded, looking away.
Rarity shook her head and sighed. “Too late now, we deal with what’s in front of us.” She stared at the scene a moment, then said, “Where streams curve, one side is higher and sturdier, and the other is lower and softer. We should jump across where the streams are as straight as possible.”
“So...,” Keldeo began, gesturing with his hooves, “sorta like this?”
Rarity blinked hard as the headache reared up again. She sighed, “Let’s...just do it. They all look about equally bad.”
“True.”
Rarity climbed back onto Rapidash’s back and down the embankment they went. Immediately the ground was softer. Rapidash said, “Dear, I’m sinking...!”
“Oh. Sorry,” said Rarity drily as she hopped down.
The going was slow. Rarity and Rapidash both struggled when Keldeo and Fearow had no issues at all. Keldeo had the thought to absorb more water as he went, dropping it all back into the streams when they crossed one. While this did firm up the ground considerably, by no stretch of the imagination did it make the soil below as firm as it was through the forest. After jumping the fourth channel, Rarity turned at the sound of a squawk to her right. On a dead tree about a length away sat a Staraptor. The bird watched on imperiously with a sour expression while Rarity blinked at it in doubt and apprehension. She felt lightheaded. She had before, but the stink of the salt marsh made matters even more so. As she shook it from her head, she felt eyes upon her. To her left were two more Staraptors. Others were flittering around amid the tall grass. Another stared at her from atop a cattail.
“Keldeo...??” Rarity began fearfully.
“Yeah...,” he answered slowly. “This isn’t a good sign.”
Staraptors thickened their groupings. Soon there were groupings of four, and then five. Chittering calls sounded between their respective clumps. Hundreds of eyes were on them at any given moment. Some tails shook out. Feathers on chests ruffled now and then. Rapidash suggested, “So, at what point, then, shall we make a mad dash for the other side?”
Groups cawed at them in unison. Keldeo raspily whispered, “If we do that, I think they’ll strike.”
“Do we really want to let them get the first move?” Fearow asked, looking around anxiously.
Seven streams had been crossed, without much of a view to guess how many remained, but they did not appear halfway yet. A Staraptor landed in front of Keldeo and cawed. He gave it a cordial nod and kept going along. The others followed suit, carefully watching as the thing suspiciously watched their hooves intently, its head jerking forward toward one once or twice, but not striking.
Rapidash harshly whispered, “Honey, on my back, please.”
Rarity hopped on as they neared the eighth stream. This had been going on for close to an hour and a half now. Shortly after hopping across, a trio of Staraptors landed in front of Keldeo. He genially bowed, but they blocked his path when he tried to walk around. Two rows of them bobbed in the waving blades of the extra tall grass to the left and the right. Keldeo asked, “Excuse us, please, we are but simple travelers who must get this young lady to Sinnoh.”
The centre of the three seemed to cackle, a broken cawing reminiscent of a fish crow. Rapidash looked down, pulling his right front hoof away from a Staraptor that lightly was touching him there with its beak. It stared up at him indignantly, then the same to Rarity. Her headache swelled again. Rapidash stepped aside again as another one lightly pecked at his foot from his left. Fearow blurted, “Um, guys...??”
Keldeo watched as the central Staraptor cawed at him again, letting its head list to the left heavily, then stood there with a vacant-eyed stare and its mouth open. Keldeo helplessly pled, “Rarity, any idea would be grand...!”
Rarity felt her balance waver again. A Staraptor landed on Rarity’s left front leg as it hung off of Rapidash. It stood in front of her face, tapping at her nose lightly as it stared into her eyes. A broken caw from this one as well, but all Rarity could do was blink as it tapped on her nose some more. A smattering of chortles echoed around the gathered Staraptors, growing more and more threatening the longer it went on. The central Staraptor in front of Keldeo snickered as it slowly waddled toward him, jerking its head back to a righted position, slightly spreading its wings. Keldeo looked back and called, “Uh, Rarity?”
He looked front with a start. That Staraptor hovered in front of him, its beak touching Keldeo between the eyes. Another fragmented caw echoed from its throat. Keldeo whimpered, “...crap....”
“Is that the town?” asked Rainbow Dash, flying next to Spitfire and Fleetfoot.
The captain checked against a map mounted to her wrist, then looked at the large city to the northwest, and the not as large city in the craggy foothills north-northeast of them, then back at the smallish town west-southwest of them. With a grin, Spitfire replied, “Yep. That’s it. Sandgem. Spread out and prepare thundercloud trails on my mark!”
Dash turned to her and said, “Yes, Ma’am, but may I do one thing first? The one thing that’ll make sure she knows it’s me up here?”
Spitfire chuckled. “Never miss a chance to showboat with permission, huh, Crash?”
“Just being pragmatic, ma’am!”
Fleetfoot belly-laughed, in spite of the high-speed flight. “‘Pragmatic?’ You, Crash??”
Rainbow offered no reply but a sour face. Spitfire rolled her eyes at them both, and said, “If you really think it’ll work. You fan to the south! Flatfoot, fan north! I’ll fly up the middle! Clipper, Dizzy, and that soldier should be smart enough to fill the gaps! Go, Crash!”
“Yes Ma’am!”
Passing over Sandgem Town, Rainbow Dash rose at a sharp angle while Spitfire and Fleetfoot continued forward. After climbing close to a kilometre, Dash tucked her wings into a fast dive, aiming straight for Twinleaf Town. A few seconds later, with three hard flaps, the air in front of her distorted, then broke, ricocheting her back toward the stars as a prismatic ring burst from the point of breaking, spreading faster than any of them could fly and maintaining altitude perfectly. A moment later Dash rejoined her captain as a rainbow streaked out from behind her.
“Now!” shouted Spitfire.
The skies over southwestern-most Sinnoh saw the strangest rainbow on record that hour, followed by a trio of linear thunderclouds clawing their way across the sky in a generally westward direction, followed by three more, though one dumped rain rather than sparking, and following up the rear was a line of cumulus clouds far too wide and chipper to be a jetliner’s trail, accompanied by a sparkling dark indigo streak with a bright purple and bright pink stripe. The people watched as the phenomenon exited Sinnoh to the south and west, over the lands between them and Kanto.
Staraptors edged closer as the cawing suddenly came from all of them. Jittering in terror, Fearow burst, “What do we do!?”
“A good, strong dose of unicorn magic right about now, please?!” Keldeo begged, forced stiffly upright and unblinking with a Staraptor’s face too close to his own to focus his vision on it effectively.
With a pained gasp, Rarity answered, “I...ow, can’t. Not with a concussion. They warned us all when we were little foals, just old enough to begin playing sports: ‘Whatever you do, do not use much magic if you have a concussion; the damage could be permanent.’”
“Possible permanent physical or mental ailments, versus certain death!?” Keldeo squawked incredulously. “Are you seriously still weighing this?!”
“It’s not that—ow!!” Rarity yipped as the Staraptor prodding at her leg went for a full peck. Her horn charged as she turned to her pesterer with an unladylike glower. “Damn you!!”
Rarity agonised verbally as a wide blue ray blasted the head of that Staraptor, leaving only a smoldering stump in its place a second later. The other Staraptors fell silent in unison, watching their comrade’s decapitated body tumble unceremoniously into the muck from Rapidash’s back. Rarity clenched her head, whimpering pathetically. Keldeo turned quickly and stomped, sending a stone spike out of the ground into the central of the three Staraptors blocking his path. The bird left the ground and flopped back to the mud out cold, but still breathing. Motioning urgently, Keldeo shouted, “Run, dammit!!”
He charged through the opening. Sparks surrounded Rapidash as he went from still to full canter with just a step, barreling through the Staraptor blocking them on the right. Fearow simply flew over the one on the left. Then those still conscious all cawed at once, a jarring shriek with the ruffling gust of several hundred birds taking off all together. Rarity moaned on the edge of tears with a series of sharp gasps, clinging to her head with her eyes clamped shut. Fearow edged near hyperventilating, and whimpered to herself, “What would Sally do, in this mess? I...I don’t know....”
“This is hardly the time to contemplate others’ choices!” Keldeo yelled as several Staraptors dove at him, slashing away with their beak with swallow-tailed strikes. While gritting his teeth through it all, after a few seconds he had bloody cuts on his sides, back, chest, and cheeks. Keldeo popped another with the stone spike, leaving that Staraptor hanging in the air as its lift petered out. In its sudden departure from the conscious world, that Staraptor barred the aerial path for others of its kind, causing a twenty-eight Staraptor pile-up. The group, however, barely looked like it had thinned at all. Keldeo grouched, “Friggin’ hate flyers....”
“Sweetheart, we need you to call upon the gemstones,” Rapidash urged. Rarity opened her eyes, wincing terribly. She yelped, and hung onto his back with deep breaths. “Please....”
Clenching her jaw, Rarity focused the power in her horn. She shrieked bloody murder as she cast the spell, firing barrage after of barrage of sharp quartz crystals out of the muck and into the conglomeration of bird Pokémon assailing them. The entire flock dropped; several were skewered. Fearow gasped at the sight, turning blue in the face and staring at Rarity in terror. Rarity, however, cried tears of physical pain, clutching her throbbing head with both forelimbs and moaning, “It hurts...darling, it hurts so bad...!”
“Hold tough, baby doll; we’re covering ground much quicker now!” Rapidash said soothingly, though worry still soaked his undertones.
Eleven streams crossed, they saw ahead of them what looked like a cloud coming out of the marsh, holding its position dead ahead of them. Slowly it began to approach while they leapt over the twelfth channel, flanked by rows of Staraptors, blocking any significant lateral movement. Keldeo looked back and yelled, “A huge wave of Staraptors is approaching...!!”
Rapidash turned toward Rarity, who still was in tears. He pressed, “Baby, we need you to cast that spell again...!”
Rarity looked up, still out of breath and holding her head. At the front of the murmuration was a large, brown Staraptor with an ill-favoured glint in its eye. The cawing began anew. Keldeo barked, “Do it! Do it, Rarity!! Do it now!!!”
Yipping in pain, Rarity flopped helplessly onto Rapidash’s back. She whimpered, “I...I’m sorry...it hurts too much....”
Rapidash sighed. Solemnly he began, “We are going to die here if you can’t use that, dear.”
“I...I know...I see them...please forgive me,” Rarity sobbed.
“Then,” Rapidash said sadly, “since this is all the further we’re getting, let me throw properness and waiting out the window. Let me say this: Rarity...I love you.”
Redness overtook her face as she sat bolt upright, both hooves moving from covering the top of her head to covering her mouth with a sharp gasp. Emotional tears rolled down her face as she squeaked, “I...love you too....”
Suddenly, a burst came out of the northeastern sky that made everything stop in their tracks or flight. A thick prismatic wave passed overhead, walloping the ground with a strange crystalline ringing noise and a low rumble. Keldeo blurted, “What in the...??”
“Rainbow Dash?!” Rarity cried with sudden hope. “Dashie, you’re close!?!”
Rapidash stared in disbelief, and absentmindedly asked, “‘Rainbow Dash?’”
“She’s one of my best friends! She’s near...she’s looking for me! Twilight and the others have to be close, too!” Rarity rejoiced, a smile finally returning to her face. She fired a beacon into the air, but it collapsed after a few seconds.
“Um, dear?” Rapidash began, gesturing toward the murmuration of Staraptors, all of which had turned their gazes back toward the four.
Rarity pulled Rapidash’s muzzle to her for a kiss. She said, “You mean it when you say you love me?”
The Staraptors began their way as the cawing resumed. Rapidash nodded slowly, sadly saying, “...yes.”
She released his muzzle as she looked at the coming wave. Her horn began to glow as she said with growing sternness, “And my friends are close, and the only way to live is to get past these birds?”
“Yeah,” answer Rapidash, his tone and shakiness to his stance both of feeling totally overwhelmed and despairing.
Blood ran from Rarity’s eyes, a steady trickle from both inside corners as the aura on her horn turned harsh. Her eyes went out of focus as she started, “Then...”
Keldeo looked back in shock as Rarity’s aura took on a second layer and the blood started from the outside corners of her eyes. “...it...”
Fearow nervously tittered, her entire face and neck had gone pale. Rarity’s ears began to bleed, too, while her horn began spitting blue sparks, and involuntarily levitating. “...is...”
The forward Staraptor screamed sadistic triumph, echoed by the rest of the murmuration as they accelerated. A tertiary aura manifest about Rarity horn; the six streams of blood running down her head thickened and ran faster as she hollered, “...ON!!!”
Rarity continued screaming as the ground below burst, hurling crystals of many different shapes, sizes, and colours at the Staraptors above. Those flanking the four broke off their coverage while Staraptor after Staraptor fell out of the murmuration, piling up on the ground. Few of those were breathing.
Rainbow Dash squinted as she looked to the west-southwest. Then her eyes lit up. “Captain, I think I see her!”
“You see her for sure, or you just think you do?” Spitfire replied.
Rainbow continued staring at the same point. “It looked like her cutie mark in a circle, projected in the sky for a few seconds!”
“Where at, Crash?”
Dash gestured towards somewhere indeterminate to others, close not far below the horizon. She said, “Right about there, in front of those mountains, where the trees look low, or maybe just grasses and not trees!”
Spitfire squinted her eyes, frowned, then yelled at Dash, “Rookie, how far away do you think that is!?”
Sheepishly, Dash grimaced and answered, “Um, I think it’s, uh, at least fifty klicks?”
“I’d say at least seventy-five, Crash!” Fleetfoot chimed in. “You really think you could see something like a cutie mark beacon at that distance? Gimme a break!”
Spitfire spat, “You can head that way to look if you want, Crash, but I’m holding my course! Don’t veer so wide that it takes everypony else to fill the hole!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Dash answered, and adjusted her trajectory a touch to the south.
With thick red streams coming from her eyes and ears, Rarity shook for a moment before falling limp onto Rapidash’s back, breathlessly murmuring, “...putain d’enfer...ma tête....”
Rapidash screamed, “Rarity!? RARITYYY!!!”
“No time for that! Move!!” Keldeo yelled as what remained of the murmuration shrieked in fury, charging headlong at them. He sidestepped the brown Staraptor’s wing attack and called another rocky spike which dropped the next inbound enemy, forcing the murmuration behind it to flow different directions around. Rapidash frantically weaved through attack attempts, his vision clouded by tears of fear. The brown Staraptor pulled a tight turn, barreling for Keldeo with the rest of the murmuration swirling just behind.
Fearow flapped higher, above the mass of unfriendly Pokémon, muttering over and over, “Sally, I don’t know what to do...Sally, what would you do...?”
The brown Staraptor glowed yellow, brighter until all definition and shading on it was no longer distinguished from one another. Keldeo looked back in time to see the attack upon him. Yelping, he crashed and tumbled through the marsh grasses, disappearing from sight as the rest of the murmuration slashed the tops of the grasses and cattails. On shaky legs, Keldeo pushed himself to his feet. He gritted his reddened teeth, both eyes bloodshot and twitching. A line the length of his right side had no fur left, exposing a puce bruise the whole way. He spat a red glob. He muttered, “Goddamn flyers....”
“We’re not getting out of here, are we?” Rapidash sighed as he stopped to help Keldeo stand upright and stable. Keldeo did not even look at Rapidash; he continued his defiant snarl at the inbound wave of many thousand Staraptors. Rapidash looked back at Rarity’s unconscious body, then the closing murmuration, and closed his eyes with a sigh and resolute frown.
A scream sounded from above them. Rapidash opened his eyes in time to see Fearow dive at the brown Staraptor, striking with her wings that for a moment appeared to be coated in iron. The brown Staraptor crashed into the muck, rolled over twice, then popped back into the air, snarling. Fearow flew after the brown Staraptor, attempting to lock talons and wrestle it to the ground. The other Staraptors moved in on them as she yelled, “Go on without me! I can’t do this without Sally!”
Rapidash began, “But—”
“Sally was my everything! She—” was all the more Fearow got out before the other Staraptors were all over her. Screeching ensued.
Keldeo started for the edge of the trees, slower to get up to speed, and slower at his injured top speed. Rapidash followed him as the shrieks halted. Turning to look, they saw the gathered Pokémon centred around the brown Staraptor, where their heads were throwing tan feathers into the air. Then up came small strips of flesh, tossed just enough to send those tidbits down their gullets. Keldeo and Rapidash turned away quickly, and hastened themselves all the more. In under a minute, only a haphazardly strewn pile of tan and white feathers and a somewhat bloodied avian skeleton with a long pink bill remained where the Staraptors had feasted. The murmuration took to the air again, pursuing Keldeo, Rapidash, and the unconscious Rarity on Rapidash’s back. Hopping over another channel, Rapidash suffered himself a quick glance behind, and fearfully called out, “They’re still hungry!!”
“I noticed!” Keldeo answered. “But they’re too late; we’re gonna make it!”
One channel and a few scores of metres remained between them and the tree line. They made the leap with no difficulty and pressed hard for the forest while the murmuration of Staraptors was gaining on them quickly. They crashed through the forest edge’s underbrush. A few seconds later, Staraptors charged in en masse. Keldeo motioned toward a run that flowed into the last channel they jumped over. The Staraptors billowed around the trees to change course and maintain their pursuit. Underbrush around the stream thickened, where Keldeo and Rapidash jumped in. But before the Staraptors began shredding the low foliage, Keldeo pulled Rapidash to a small cave entrance abutted against the stream, one that deepened inwardly. The two went in just far enough to be out of sight from the entrance. Rapidash whispered, “How long do you think before they give up?”
“To be safe, fifteen minutes,” Keldeo answered. Above them buzzed the characteristic trilling screech of a Zubat. Five descended at them, trying to box them against the wall. Keldeo hit part of the cave floor near the entrance with his Secret Sword, kicking up sand and cutting the existing rill closer to the stream. He snarled at the Zubats, “You shut your noise, or I will flood this cave!”
All five Zubats looked at each other nervously for a moment before fluttering back into the depths. Keldeo breathed a sigh of relief and fatigue. The two silently waited, watching the entrance anxiously while the noise of Staraptors echoed from outside. The cawing dwindled bit by bit, and the cave fell silent again, save for some Zubats from the dark, somewhere further inside. For a few minutes longer they waited. With a mutual nod, Keldeo and Rapidash tiptoed to the cave entrance, peering out. Where there had been cattails, several colours of hydrangeas, horsetail rush, nettles, and a great many other species of plants found in or near water, now lay a hacked-to-bits mash of green matter. Even the trees had suffered some loss of bark, cuts to their wood, and losses of their smaller branches. The scene was as though a colossus had come through with a proportionately-sized weed whacker. Not a Staraptor was left in sight. Keldeo stood out of breath, and wincing while holding his right side. He spat out a partially bloody gob, then gestured northward.
Shortly after noon, Keldeo and Rapidash happened upon a berry patch. Most of them were yellow with dark orange spots, and pear-shaped. Many of the others were blue with tiny divots all over their surface. A few others were much smaller red berries with orange bottoms. Both of them took to the yellow berries first, then the red ones. Keldeo swallowed a mouthful, looked over at Rarity with a frown, and sighed while shaking his head slowly. Rapidash irritably asked, “What?!”
Keldeo sighed again, then answered, “Can’t believe what we’re doing, going through so much trouble over that.”
“She bothers you that much, huh?” Rapidash snapped.
Keldeo was still frowning. “Your girlfriend’s a mass murderer, Rapidash! Just knocking out those Staraptors would have been more than enough; she ran them through with her crystal attack! She all-but put them on spits, readied for a rotisserie! What am I supposed to say to that? Sure, she bought us some time, but she also enraged the Staraptors! I bet you anything that if she hadn’t killed so many of them, the others wouldn’t have pursued us with such fervor! And then Fearow died for her, too! That makes two who have sacrificed their lives for her in as many days, and I can’t tell if she has any appreciation for their generosity or not! If it weren’t for trying to prevent greater trouble, I would have been content to leave her to her fate, and not gotten involved! You’ve seen her in battle. Except for her, it’s not a Pokémon battle; it’s combat. It’s war. She kills some of the best-trained Pokémon, and some of the strongest out in the wild. And she’s not even the strongest of her kind! Her power doesn’t amount to jack against either of their princesses that have been here! If that’s what their princesses are like, what’ll happen if their king stops by? A full-scale war with the ponies would be disastrous for the world; you know that, right?”
Rapidash stood back up, still carrying the unconscious Rarity. He looked Keldeo straight in the eye, and with a quietly angry expression and tone said, “You’re bitching about it, after she gave the ‘good, strong dose of unicorn magic’ that you asked of her? Do we even know if she had full control, what with the concussion and all?! Also, Rarity will be very, very sad when she learns Fearow basically committed suicide to draw them off. Aengus wasn’t looking to die when he protected her; Fearow was.”
Keldeo matched Rapidash’s expression and tone. “Be those as they may, do you deny the danger posed by the rest of her ilk?”
“I suppose I really can’t, can I?” Rapidash spat. Scowling, he growled, “So that’s all this is to you? Stopping a war before it begins?”
“Yes! That’s it exactly! There’s already been plenty of wanton destruction and loss of life on their account; let’s not give them reason to do so intentionally, even though I fear we may already be too late,” Keldeo grouched. He scoffed, then continued, “I have to remind myself that most common Pokémon have no idea what we so-called ‘Legendary’ and ‘Mythical’ Pokémon do, how much effort we put into keeping the peace and maintaining balance. Sure, sometimes we butt heads, and things go awry, but it’s nothing like these ponies. You wondered earlier how different things would be, had the ponies and the humans talked? I wonder that, too. This is absurdity, what all fell out from their lack of communication. Both saw the other do something they thought was unacceptable and were swift in thinking the other as savages, and it all went to hell. That’s the kind of crap we’re supposed to prevent, those of us who are unique. Of course, then the savage one shows up, and it all goes to hell again, but by a different route.”
Rapidash grunted, looking away as he slowly shook his head. “Whatever you say. I just want to keep her safe, get her home, and get out of this otherwise-unending charade. Been questioning why the world has such a system going for awhile, and Rarity’s only made me question it all the more. I intend to leave with her. This existence of battling...I don’t know if it really ever was fun.”
Keldeo nodded. Rapidash turned back toward him with a frown, but relented when he saw the soft, understanding smile from Keldeo, who said, “I should like to think you are right. I also should like to think that we could still become good friends, you and I. You’re wiser than most Pokémon your age.”
“Sounds like you have a caveat waiting,” Rapidash answered with an expectant smirk.
Keldeo shrugged with a similar expression. Snorting, he said, “Were you not such a sucker for a pretty face....”
Rolling his eyes, Rapidash retorted, “You can thank her for helping me come to those conclusions.”
“Well then,” Keldeo said appreciatively, “I might. Looks like she indeed has done some good in her time here.”
A loud boom and bright flash interrupted them. Through the leaves above, almost directly overhead, they saw a rainbow ring spread out to a sound likened to warping metal while the trees bowed, bent, and danced in the sudden wind. Rarity showed no reaction whatsoever as the dust blasted away from them and Rapidash hollered in alarm, “Jesus Christ!! That was right over us!!”
Keldeo shook out his head and rubbed at his ears, blinking at Rapidash. His eyes widened with a slight gasp in understanding of what was said. With sudden energy and anticipatory excitement, he quickly glanced around himself and the surrounding area. There was no one and no-mon else around. Disappointment took over the excitement just as quick as it had come. Cocking his head to the left, Keldeo asked, “‘Jesus Christ?’”
“It’s a human expression for feeling a sudden, strong emotion, especially fear, surprise, or anger,” explained Rapidash. “Aengus was quite fond of using it.”
Keldeo pulled his lips taut and looked away, raising one hoof to his forehead slowly as he closed his eyes. He sighed in disappointment as his hoof slid down his face before returning to the ground, looked Rapidash in the eye, and said matter-of-factly, “If you say so. We’re not far from Sinnoh at this point. Keep checking on her from time to time, and we’ll go at a pace that will make decent time, but should not draw any undue attention, especially with the marsh behind us. We should reach Lake Verity a little before nightfall.”
“Alright. Lead on,” Rapidash said. He looked back at Rarity. The blood had stopped running from her eyes and ears awhile ago, but there was no way to know when. Stains and scabs ran along the fur on her face where it had ran and dripped from her. Her breathing had remained at the same lazy pace since passing out. Nuzzling her as best as he could from craning his neck as far as it could go, he whispered, “Hang on, my love. We’ll be home soon.”
Keldeo had been correct on all accounts. They did not run afoul of anything out of the ordinary or their ability to handle, even yoked with an unconscious pony dangling from Rapidash’s back. They came to a clearing with tall grass on the southwestern shore of Lake Verity about fifteen minutes before dusk. Both took a moment to get a drink after setting Rarity down, obscuring her behind the trees. As they felt refreshed, a whoosh sounded above them. Both quickly slipped back to the trees as seven more went in the same way in succession. Rapidash harshly whispered, “What was that?!”
“I don’t know,” Keldeo said. “The sky’s just been weird all damn day: crackling lines of miniature storm clouds, that rainbow ring-blast-thing over and over...I just don’t get it.”
“Rarity said something when we saw the first one in the marsh,” Rapidash said. “I guess you didn’t hear her.”
Keldeo frowned and said, “No. I didn’t.”
Rapidash said, “She said it was one of her best friends, named ‘Rainbow Dash,’ that was doing that. She said it means her friends are looking for her.”
Keldeo raised both his eyebrows. “Oh! I did see the one that calls herself Rainbow Dash when I listened to the ponies before heading out. She has wings, but no horn. Rainbow mane and tail, sky blue coat. I wonder how she does that...whatever-it’s-called.”
“Do you think she saw the signal Rarity put up?” Rapidash asked.
Keldeo sighed and said, “Not likely. I doubt she would’ve done it five more times if she had.”
“We had to be close...we just had to be,” Twilight sighed miserably as she touched down on the southeastern side of Lake Verity, a short walk away from a patch of tall grass.
Dash pulled her into a side-hug with a nod and sigh, muttering, “I know, Twi. I know. I just don’t know why she didn’t answer after the first time.”
“If that was really what you saw, Crash,” Fleetfoot said snarkily, rolling her eyes as she walked by, carrying some tent poles.
“I’m telling you, Flatfoot, I did!!” Rainbow insisted angrily.
“Enough, you two!” Soarin’ ordered, setting down a stake mallet to approach. “We don’t have time for arguing among ourselves, and I certainly don’t want to hear it! You’re both professionals; act like it!!”
“Yes, sir...,” Dash said unhappily. Fleetfoot rolled her eyes and started to walk away.
“He gave you an order, Flatfoot!” Spitfire yelled, suddenly blocking Fleetfoot’s path. Still hovering, Spitfire crossed her forelimbs while Soarin’ tapped the ground as one whose patience was all-but spent. When Fleetfoot frowned and hesitated, Spitfire’s voice dropped in volume, but as much as it quieted, it became more threatening. Ignoring certain grammatical rules, she growled, “Now you listen up and you listen good. I’ve been pretty tolerant of your snide comments, backhoofed compliments, and passive-aggressive remarks, because of your talents. Your skills have been a credit to the squad. But if you cannot follow a simple order from my first officer and obey the chain-of-command like everypony else, you have no place and no right to be my second officer! Do I make myself clear!?”
“Yes, ma’am,” answered Fleetfoot, standing at attention with a few sweat drops appearing on her forehead.
“I can’t hear you.”
“Yes ma’am!!”
Prodding her in the chest, Spitfire finished, “Good. And don’t you forget it. We will not be revisiting this conversation.”
During all that, Twilight had shrunk away, appearing downright uncomfortable and uneasy with the loud discipline. She felt a tapping on her shoulder, and turned to see a small levitating Pokémon there: pale cadet blue, mostly humanoid, two long tails that ended in a three-prong blade-like shape reminiscent of a ranseur’s or partisan’s head with an embedded red gemstone, and a mostly pink head with four ear-like projections issuing from the sides, also with a red gemstone set like a third eye. Twilight sighed sadly, both accepting and returning an offered hug from this Pokémon. She said, “Thanks, Mesprit. I’m glad you don’t hate us, like so many of the humans do.”
Mesprit patted Twilight on the top of her head affectionately and nodded slowly. Then Mesprit set one paw on the tip of Twilight’s nose, holding it there for a moment. Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin’ watched on for a good minute or two, before Dash asked, “Uh, Twilight, what’s—”
“Shh,” Twilight interrupted, sounding much calmer. A moment later Mesprit took its paw from Twilight’s nose, and deeply bowed. Twilight returned the gesture. She turned to her fellow ponies and said, “Mesprit’s the ‘Being of Emotion’ in this world. She...he, not sure which, doesn’t have any animosity toward us, like so many others here do. Just was trying to remove my anxiety and worry.”
“Um, Your Highness, was that wise?” Soarin’ asked. “I heard a few of the humans talking while we were still searching for Miss Lulamoon. They said to not touch Mesprit, because you’ll lose all of your emotions if you do.”
“I’ve also heard some of the myths floating around Sinnoh. But if touching Mesprit would’ve caused a pony to lose all emotion three days later like it’s said, Fluttershy and I would both have been totally devoid of emotion last week. Nothing of the sort befell either of us,” Twilight answered. “Mesprit just wanted to help, and knew I couldn’t focus properly if I were still wrapped around the axle.”
Twilight walked over to a sandy spot beside the lake. Sweeping it with her magic, she leveled a spot, and quickly drew a complex magic circle, landing in the middle. Rainbow blinked, and said, “Twi, this doesn’t match the one Sunburst showed you.”
“That’s because it’s a different circle,” Twilight said with a self-satisfied grin. “His circle was one to boost the range, enough to cover the whole world. This circle, however, does allow some increase in how far a divination spell goes, but is much more focused on pinpointing an exact answer from such spells.”
Twilight’s horn glowed, as did the circle around her. She lifted off the ground, but not from her wings. The magenta glow sloughed off the sand sketch bit by bit, flowing up into Twilight’s tail, issuing across her body up to her horn. Then a beam fired into the sky, where it burst into an expanding ring.
Keldeo and Rapidash both gasped as they saw a magenta wave sweep across the sky over them, with well-defined curvature. Wide-eyed, Rapidash blurted, “That’s close....”
“Damn close,” Keldeo said. “I saw the other side of the ring.”
“Yeah,” Rapidash answered.
The two hunkered down behind the trees, fairly close to the unconscious Rarity. Keldeo commanded, “Keep your eyes peeled, and prepare for combat, not battle. I sure hope that was Princess Twilight doing that thing again, but if not...should anything else come for her, we take it out immediately.”
“You don’t need to tell me that,” Rapidash spat, scowling in the direction of the magenta ring’s epicentre.
Twilight gasped in shock and delight, a wide smile breaking over her face. She flitted upward, beaming and cheerfully ordering, “Everypony, with me, right now!”
While they obeyed, Rainbow asked with a smile, “How good is the good news?”
“She’s on the other side of the lake!” Twilight announced. Mesprit followed as the seven pegasi very suddenly took off, flying over the water behind their princess.
Keldeo gritted his teeth as he heard eight whooshes as before, except as they ended, a thud of something heavy against the ground followed nearby in the tall grass. Then came the footsteps. Several shadowy figures approached, indiscernible in the low light. Rapidash growled softly as they fanned into a wedge formation. A feminine voice cautiously, yet hopefully, called out, “Rarity?”
Keldeo sighed a big breath of relief. “It’s the princess. We’re in luck.”
“Good,” said Rapidash, following suit.
Keldeo stepped out of the underbrush, saying loudly, “Princess Twilight? Over here!”
A much raspier female voice demanded, “And just who are you!?”
“Name’s Keldeo,” he answered. “I’ve been helping Rarity in her escape to return to you, but she’s been hurt badly.”
“Where is she?!” shrieked the second voice, half in anger, half in panic.
A light shined from the first one to speak, originating around her horn. The glow revealed a lavender winged unicorn, and seven pegasi flanking her, three to the left and four to the right. All of them wore armour. The light spread enough to show where Rapidash had hidden himself among the trees, next to Rarity. He waved the group over, as he said, “Right here.”
While the pegasi all rushed forward, Princess Twilight disappeared and reappeared almost instantaneously, with a magenta burst at both her exit and reentry into reality, beside Rapidash. She gasped and blanched upon looking at the unconscious Rarity. The pegasus with the prismatic mane and tail arrived next, and shrieked, “NO!!! RARITYYYY!!!”
“Oh...ohhh...,” breathed another pale blue pegasus with a grey-white mane and tail while Rapidash edged closer to his marefriend, shooting guarded looks at the gathering ponies.
The princess charged her horn. As she did, her mane and tail both sparkled as they wafted gently like cloth underwater. A soft green light surrounded Rarity. She said, “There. That’ll start healing her, but it will take time.”
Among the pegasi was one, and only one, stallion. With a pronounced gap between his words, he bluntly demanded, “What happened?”
Keldeo recounted their struggles, starting with escaping Koga’s squad of high-power Crobats. When he finished, Twilight added to the green glow around Rarity as she asked with suppressed venom, “How did you break her free of that Aengus person?”
Rapidash sniffled and looked down, but said nothing. Keldeo closed his eyes, and lamented, “He...gave his life to protect her. Blocked Koga’s poisoned dart and throwing star with his own body, and died.”
Eight stunned faces stared at him, then at Rapidash as he slowly nodded, a few tears silently trickling down. The one orange pegasi sighed deeply, rubbing at the back of her head. She asked, “Where did he get the drop on her so well?”
“The Johto Daycare,” Rapidash said miserably, stroking Rarity’s mane. “Apparently Paddy got to Aengus, and got it into his head to breed her the way he had that other pony...whatever her name is, can’t remember.”
Several of them scoffed. Flames danced along the princess’s mane for a second, while Keldeo looked away in disgust. The prismatic one cussed loudly and profusely enough to make a sailor blush, with enough violent promises for a warlord to tell her to dial it back some. A long uncomfortable silence followed. Then the princess walked up to Keldeo and said, “I think you need to tell us the whole story, of when you left to find her and why.”
Keldeo said, “Of course, but can we have introductions first?”
“If you didn’t know, I’m a Rapidash,” said Rapidash.
“Rainbow Dash,” answered another with a skeptical eyebrow. Slowly she said, “You’re...awfully protective of Rarity.”
With a subdued glare, he answered, “She’s my love. Of course I’m protective!”
“Oh dear...,” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. Rainbow Dash facehoofed, and several others commented quietly among themselves. Twilight continued, “This will have to be addressed once she’s awake. I do not want to have to repeat the explanation.”
“That tone worries me,” Rapidash answered cautiously.
Twilight tersely replied, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Another tense silence hovered over the gathering. The stallion pony cleared his throat and said, “Well, since you wanted introductions, my name’s Soarin’.”
The other ponies followed suit. “Spitfire.” “Fleetfoot.” “Misty Fly.” “Stormrider.” “Merry Weather.” “And I’m Twilight Sparkle. So, Keldeo, what’s your story?”
Keldeo gave his account, starting with his sensing the other-worldly power from The Great Marsh and deciding to investigate, explaining up to him, Rarity, and Rapidash breaking out of the Daycare. Twilight extrapolated from his timetable that he felt the idol’s initial opening of the portal to Equestria. Satisfied that he had done his duty, Keldeo turned to leave, but Twilight stopped him. She said, “There’s one thing that does not make sense to me.”
“Yes?” Keldeo asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Why didn’t you talk to us before you set out to find Rarity? That would have saved us all a tremendous amount of trouble and hassle,” Twilight answered curtly.
Keldeo looked around to find eight disapproving pony faces looking back at him, and a disappointed scowl from Rapidash. He frowned, and said, “What’s with the look?”
“It doesn’t sound like you went to find her for the right reasons,” answered Rainbow Dash. “That wasn’t out of the goodness of your heart.”
Keldeo scoffed, “Preventing war isn’t out of the goodness of one’s heart!?”
“Not for those reasons,” Rapidash spat. “And also not with your attitude towards her! I don’t recall a single kind word! Always grouching about how she is, or what’s she’s been through and done about it, and so on! Saying you’d be content to abandon her to her fate, were there not such consequences hanging over your head!”
Snarling, Keldeo retorted, “Doing what’s right, even when you don’t want to, is part of justice! Part of my job! It’s what I must as one of the four Swords of Justice!”
“More like ‘Sword of Vigilantism,’” Fleetfoot grumbled, rolling her eyes.
“No kidding!” Rainbow Dash joined in.
“Yeah,” Soarin’ said.
Keldeo whirled around at Fleetfoot, barking, “Exactly what the hell is that supposed to mean!?”
Fleetfoot smirked, and haughtily answered, “Presuming your judgment and yours alone are what matter? You branded them all the same. I can understand why you have a problem with the humans, but not all of them are the terrible creatures you paint them to be. There have been many that happily offered us food, water, and a dry place to rest when we’ve been out on patrol.”
“Whatever,” Keldeo muttered as he turned to go.
A magenta rope materialised around Keldeo’s ankles, dropping him to the ground with a thud. He growled upon looking at it. With her horn twinkling, and her wings spread wide, Princess Twilight slowly walked toward him, saying, “You are not done here yet. One, you never answered my question.”
Keldeo looked expectantly at Twilight. After a pause, he demanded, “And two?”
“We’ll get there after you answer my question,” she said flatly. “Why didn’t you talk to me before you set out to find her?”
Keldeo grunted. With a frown he said, “I didn’t know if I could trust you ponies, and still am questioning it right now. Think about it from my perspective: unknown powerful creatures create a break into the world, and show a willingness to use said power for whatever reason. For the first time, there’s real magic happening in front of any of us. Never made any sense to me why you didn’t just magic them back to your side. I mean, that’s what magic does, right? It’s what you should have done from the start, right!?”
Twilight scowled. “Casting spells is not the same as granting wishes, Keldeo! I can do a great many things with my horn, but just ‘magicking’ somepony back to me isn’t feasible.”
“So what’s the point of it then!?” Keldeo spat angrily as the magenta rope fizzled away. “Why have magic if it doesn’t work like magic!?”
“Magic takes the knowledge of how energies work, the skill and control to weave it, and the power to push the desired effect into reality!” Twilight yelled. “What you’re saying is possible, but nopony has that much raw magical power at their beck and call!”
“So you’re saying you’re not good enough,” Keldeo smarted off with an eye-roll.
Twilight took a step toward him. “You need to stop. For somepony, or rather, something that claims to be a ‘Sword of Justice,’ you sure aren’t acting justly. Accusations and insults like that, assumptions about a power you don’t understand and poor conclusions that result from them, and your self-righteous reasoning. Every solution breeds new problems; the goal is to have the new problems smaller than the old. It’s for this reason that the means justify the means, not the ends. How you go about a problem is at least as important as the problem itself, since even a failed solution will bring about more issues. Can you now see what you’ve wrought in your unannounced assistance?”
Keldeo looked down, frowning and scowling as one does when one wants to argue a point but cannot. Twilight shook her head slowly, then continued, “With that, we come to Two: you have some serious soul-searching you need to do to be worthy of your title. You’re better than this; you know you’re better than this and have done better. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice: you know you’re trying to justify what you know you shouldn't have done or said. You lost your way, but you can still turn back.”
Still looking away, Keldeo bitterly and softly said, “And exactly where should I start, Your Highness?”
“Maybe go find your uncles again, the three you mentioned in your story,” said Twilight sadly. “Ultimately, I can’t tell you what to do. This is something you have to figure out for yourself.”
Keldeo bowed his head and nodded. He stood, and without another word nor look to anyone else, he walked off into the woods. All the others watched him go, continuing to look where he left for a good minute or so after he was out of sight.
Rapidash sighed, and said, “I can understand how he became so...so...crud, what’s the word?”
“I think you’re looking for ‘jaded,’” Twilight said.
“Good enough,” Rapidash said, stroking Rarity’s mane. “He’s much older than any of us, unless I’m badly mistaken. And during that long life he’s seen much too much trouble and strife, courtesy of humans.”
“Enmity with the worst of humans doesn’t matter; not talking to us first just made no sense whatsoever,” Twilight answered.
Rapidash nodded. “I wasn’t arguing that.”
“Hey, Twi,” Rainbow Dash butted in, earning a frown from Rapidash, “shouldn’t we be teleporting back to The Great Marsh right about now?”
“Not yet, for two reasons. First, that healing spell must be given time to complete. Arcane contusions easily leave permanent damage, which is why we tell foals not to cast with certain injuries. My magic is repairing that; teleporting before it finishes will assure any remaining injury is incurable. As it stands, her vision and hearing will be affected for a few days, maybe two weeks,” Twilight reported.
Rapidash raised an eyebrow, and rotated an ear. He looked across the ponies, and asked, “And the other?”
Twilight tried to not smirk. “The other is that Starlight has already depowered the return rod for the night. She’ll need to rest, same as we do.”
“So we’re sleeping here tonight?” Rainbow Dash asked, mostly but not completely masking fear and apprehension.
Soarin’ spread his wings and started toward the lake. “We left the tents over there. I’ll be back in a moment.”
“No need,” Twilight said as her horn charged. A magenta sphere burst nearby, followed by clattering wood. The General and Sky Commodore immediately began setting up one of the tents. Twilight continued, “Everypony pick of tent-mate. I got Dash.”
“Which one of us?” Rapidash asked flatly.
Twilight snorted, smiled, and shook her head almost in unison. “Her, of course. We brought an extra tent, in case we found her and could not get home overnight. Just...just don’t go and, uh...um, don’t....”
“What she saying,” Rainbow Dash began threateningly, “is don’t do anything that I’ll make you regret!!”
“Good gravy, you need to take it down a notch!” Rapidash retorted angrily.
“Clipper?” Spitfire asked with hint of a lilt, mischievous grin, and half-lidded eyes.
Soarin’ slowly walked over to his captain with a hungry stare and knowing smile, firmly saying with strong anticipatory overtones, “You know it.”
Fleetfoot just shook her head with a smile, rolling her eyes. While she and Misty Fly took the second-to-last tent, Twilight scoffed quietly. Looking Rainbow Dash in the eye, she warned, “You’d better not pick up those bad habits.”
“Don’t worry; I’m really not interested in having a coltfriend right now,” Rainbow Dash sighed, sounding like one who has grown tired of giving the same story all day.
Twilight whispered into Rainbow’s ear, eventually trailing off, “Uh, Dash, I don’t think they’re, uh, that they’re...how do I say this...Spitfire and Soarin’ aren’t dating. They’re just....”
“Casually humping?” Rainbow whispered back. “It’s no secret.”
“You absolutely don’t need to start doing that!!” Twilight whispered harshly.
“Geez, Twi, you need to loosen up,” Rainbow answered. She then snickered for a moment. “Ha! ‘Loosen.’ Should we call in Flash from the Crystal Empire? Ha ha!!”
Blazing scarlet, Twi hid her face while Stormrider and Merry Weather finished their tent and began setting up the one for Rarity and Rapidash. Misty Fly nudged Rainbow in the side hard enough to get a wince, grouching, “Too far, Crash.”
“Sorry.”
Rapidash shook his head, then cut off everypony else who drew a breath to speak, “How long until the spell completes?”
“Likely morning,” Twilight said as her blushing faded away. “She should wake up once she’s healed.”
General Merry Weather bowed and asked, “Your Highness, I meant to ask earlier, what is the plan about this Padraíg fellow, and getting that last ‘Twixie’ from him?”
“When I use my magic to search for Rarity last night, I noticed where the last Twixie was, too,” Twilight said. “They weren’t far off the coast then. They had to have docked by now. With any luck, he should be in Pastoria when we get there, answering that call Blue put out for him. For now, we all should just get some sleep.”
Sunbeams reached into the tent through the slight gap in its entry flaps. Rapidash held Rarity close, having been awake, but not by much, for the last forty-five minutes. The green glow from Twilight’s spell seemed to sink into Rarity, leaving no trace. A sudden, sharp inhale drew Rapidash’s attention and exiled his remaining fatigue. Rarity groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She smacked her lips, then closed her eyes again as she stretched out her legs. Turning her head slightly, Rarity broke into a sleepy smile as she saw Rapidash. She snuggled closer to him as she softly but happily said, “Hey you.”
“Hey,” he answered, holding her close. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been asleep for a year,” answered Rarity with a yawn. “I...can’t remember how we got here, or where here is, but if I’m with you, everything is all right.”
Rarity sighed contentedly, rubbing his forelimbs. Rapidash asked, “What do you last remember?”
Rarity turned toward him, and planted one on his lips. Then she crawled up him a little. She gave his ear a little lick, then gently nibbled near the tip. He gasped in sudden arousal. She softly giggled, then huskily whispered, “Something amazing.”
“Um, babe,” Rapidash began shakily, “We’re not exactly alone right now.”
“Forget Keldeo,” Rarity cooed amid her ministrations.
Rapidash exhaled slowly, followed by a sharp inhale. He held his breath a moment, and through a slight whimper he uttered, “Twilight’s here....”
“Twilight!!?” Rarity shrieked in welcome shock, sitting bolt upright while releasing his ear and removing her left front hoof from somewhere below his navel, assuming Pokémon have navels. It was not until then that she had noticed the tent was of green canvas, and had a stencil print of the Equestrian Royal Army. She burst out of the tent door. Hers was the second to the right in a straight line of five, evenly-spaced identical tents. There around a campfire sat several pegasi in armour. Wonderbolts. Two soldiers. And two familiar faces. All of them turned at the sound of the tent door flapping.
“RARITYYYY!!!!” screamed Rainbow Dash, dropping her coffee and flying toward Rarity, forelimbs open wide. Rarity braced her hind legs as she had learned from her battles, soaking Dash’s momentum while only sliding ten centimetres, if even that. Rainbow clenched Rarity in a tight hug, bawling on her shoulder. Rarity sniffled once before crying her eyes out too, holding her long-time friend tightly. Then they were almost tackled from the side, as Twilight joined them in both hugging and wailing in relief.
Twenty-five minutes passed before eyes had dried enough to talk. Another fifteen had passed as Rarity recounted her adventures, with Rapidash filling in the missing day and a half. Rarity sobbed for Fearow’s passing, especially for the circumstance and her mental state. The other ponies, too, slouched at the shoulder some as their eyes glistened, corners of mouths lowering. Rarity pressed up close to Rapidash, who nuzzled her amidst her tears.
Twilight breathed out hard, then asked, “After suffering the concussion, and using strong magic, I have to ask how you’re feeling, or if anything looks or sounds off.”
Rarity looked around for a second and said, “Everything’s...a bit pastel, if you understand me. And what I’m hearing sounds dulled.”
Twilight nodded. “Minor hearing obstruction and your cones aren’t sending as much info as they should? All told, pretty darn small, compared to what many others have suffered. Glad that’s all. A few days in the hospital should be enough to undo that.”
“Good,” said Rarity. “I can’t design any fashion if I can’t see colours correctly.”
Twilight smiled, but nodded unhappily. “There’s...one other thing I need to address right now.”
“I’m sorry about this, but you’ll have to leave him behind, Rarity,” Twilight said sadly.
“What?! WHY!!?” Rarity sharply demanded as her tears returned, but in anger.
Twilight started toward Rarity with a solemn expression. “Because if our two words remain in constant contact, allowing our unique energies to run between each other, we’ll get the attention of something we want to never find us. Let me show you want Princess Celestia and Princess Luna scryed.”
With that, Twilight touched her fully charged horn to Rarity’s. The vision passed via magic. Rarity shook as the spell ended, looking just ghostly. Had she been any paler, she may have been partially transparent. Rapidash just scowled and snapped, “What!? Am I not allowed to know?!”
“I don’t know the ins and outs of Pokémon energy as I do Equestrian magic,” Twilight answered. “I’m not sure if I can pass the vision to you, let alone without causing injury.”
“Is there nothing you can do? No way to bring him over safely?” Rarity asked emptily, staring vacantly at nothing in particular.
“Um, Your Highness?” Spitfire began, pointing at the rod in her possession. Its glow had returned.
Twilight cleared her throat. “Break camp; we’re returning.”
“Your Highness?” General Merry Weather said, withholding a chuckle. Twilight turned to see that the tents had already been packed back in their bags, and had been distributed among the Wonderbolts to carry.
“Is there an echo out here?” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, getting a slight nod from Fleetfoot.
“Oh. Heh heh...right,” Twilight said sheepishly. She shook her head, then ordered, “Everypony by me!”
Rapidash stepped forward. In heartache he pleaded, “Can I at least see her off?”
Twilight paused for a moment, then nodded. He joined the others as Twilight’s horn powered up. Rarity cuddled beside, and mournfully said, “I would have kept you by my side, for a long as I could imagine.”
“I know,” Rapidash answered. He looked at the glowing rods, and Twilight’s horn, and asked, “Could somemon explain to—somepony, sorry—what’s going on?”
“Point-to-point teleportation,” Twilight answered. “I can teleport myself long distances, or several a reasonable distance, but to teleport this many that far, I need a bit of assistance. These rods you see are for departure; there’s a much bigger and stronger one for our return.”
With that, they all disappeared in a magenta burst.
Upon rematerialising, Rarity found herself in the battered remains of a marshy wildlife preserve, standing on a stone block platform. A shimmering, blue-white oval was a few paces away, along with many armoured soldiers with spears drawn, all facing and pointing their weapons to her left. She turned leftward and saw Starlight Glimmer standing there, with a charged horn, glaring with her upper lip curled in disgust. Continuing to turn showed Rarity the green-eyed Trixie, captured in Starlight’s signature crystal prison, crying. Further over was the real Trixie, horn charged and parallel to the ground, pointed at Paddy, who was pressed against a tree. Through her tears, the green-eyed Trixie screamed and begged, “Mama, please don’t!!! Please!!”
Trixie’s eyes flicked to her daughter for a split second. At that moment Paddy turned to run, but Trixie fired a spell. Magic rope appeared, tying his feet. He splashed face-first into the mud. As he pushed himself up, Trixie stepped down on the back of his head with her right-front hoof, shoving his face back into the mud until his ears were just above the surface. His arms started flailing and he tried turning his head to no avail. Trixie snarled, “Every word of that was bullshit!! You put Trixie through hell, and foalnapped my daughter! Turned my sweet little girl into a killer!!”
Rarity looked around and saw two pony soldiers lying in the mud, dead. Green-eyed Trixie screeched, “MAMA, PLEASE!!!!”
“You’ve earned this!!” Trixie snapped while Paddy’s arms continued to flail.
A magenta sphere burst next to Trixie, revealing Twilight hovering. She put a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder and quietly said, “No, Trixie. Don’t stoop to his level.”
Trixie looked over at Twilight, still scowling. Then looked down at Paddy, back to Twilight, then back to Paddy. With a snarl, she shoved his head completely under and let him go. Paddy immediately pushed himself out, scraping the mud from his mouth and nose, deeply gasping and rushing air into his lungs. Starlight let the green-eyed Trixie go, who immediately rushed over to Paddy and pulled him into an embrace, still crying. As Paddy caught his breath, he said, “Come on...let’s go.”
“No. You two need to come with me,” Twilight said.
“Piss off,” Paddy said as he turned to leave.
Both he and the green-eyed Trixie found themselves in a magenta aura, off the ground, and floating in the direction of the portal. Twilight curtly retorted, “I wasn’t asking you to; I was telling you to. I’m in the midst of preventing any further disaster to both worlds, and I need her cooperation. You, however, aren’t necessary, but I thought I should extend you the courtesy of seeing what’s going on. If you don’t want to come, you can stay put while I take her. Either way, she’s coming with me.”
“And if I refuse?!” spat the green-eyed Trixie.
“You won’t,” said Twilight as she pulled the green-eyed Trixie closer with the spell, “because I’m gonna show you what we’re stopping.”
Rapidash grouched, “So she gets to see, but I don’t!?”
Twilight sighed, nodding. She looked over at Rapidash a moment, and sadly said, “She’s part pony. I can pass the vision safely.”
With that, she touched her powered horn to the green-eyed Trixie’s. A moment later, Twilight removed her horn, watching closely. The green-eyed Trixie stared expressionless, and perfectly still, but lost control of her excretory system. With a dead voice she quietly said, “Okay...I’ll come willingly.”
As all the others started toward the portal, Rapidash and Rarity looked each other in the eye, tears starting on both sides. The portal flashed once as Rapidash lamented, “So this is goodbye, isn’t it?”
Rarity buried her face into his chest and sobbed, “I don’t want to go. I want you to stay with me!”
He cried, “I know, my love. I know. But you must, if the danger is as real as you’re all convinced.”
Barely intelligible, she blubbered, “I...I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Rapidash barely got out, nuzzling her.
The green-eyed Trixie watched them, now freed from Twilight’s magic. She looked down with a sigh, and started, “Princess Twilight?”
“Is it possible to pass my pony aspect to him?” asked the green-eyed Trixie, looking over at Rarity and Rapidash, who both turned toward her.
Twilight bobbed her head in thought. “I...don’t know. We can try, if you’re sure you don’t want to live in Equestria, with your mother and siblings.”
Snorting, the green-eyed Trixie huffed, “Sorry, but I would never give up being a Pokémon. I love this life. Moreover, I’m not leaving Paddy.”
Trixie gave her daughter a long, hard look. She pressingly asked, “Are you absolutely certain about that?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I can take his Pokémon aspect, so that the two sides are preserved.”
“You think you’re gonna get a power boost from this, don’t you?” Twilight said disapprovingly. The green-eyed Trixie shrugged with faux-innocence. Twilight shook her head and said, “Yeah, you’re Trixie’s kid, all right.”
Trixie snapped, “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?”
“Forget about it; let’s just go home,” Twilight said. As a group, they all flashed and disappeared with the portal flashing with them.
All the ballistae and springalds were still pointed at the portal, earning a squawk from all those present who had not seen them before. Rarity yelped, “Twilight Sparkle! What kind of ‘friendship’ do you call these!?”
Twilight sighed, “That was on Luna’s order, not mine....”
Paddy whistled a long note, looking across the siege weapons pointed at them. He looked over at Twilight, then back at all the oversized crossbows. He said, “You ponies were just as scared of us overpowering your world as we were of you, am I right?”
“We didn’t know what to expect, as Rarity and Trixie were so effortlessly captured,” Twilight answered.
“I see,” said Paddy with a frown. “So that’s a yes.”
Twilight nodded slowly. Rapidash sighed, “If you ponies and humans had just friggin’ talked to each other...!!”
Twilight nodded in concession. “Yes, you’re right. We should have talked to them first. So much went wrong because of that.”
“Well,” Rarity said, “at least now, we can finally—yeouch!!”
Rarity craned her head back. There she saw a blowgun dart in her flank. Then her breathing began to turn rough, and her legs shook. A sinister laugh echoed as Rarity began to foam at the mouth. Rapidash yelled, “Honey...!?”
Twilight turned toward the laughter’s source. There, beside one of the springalds, seemingly out of nowhere, Koga stood up straight, blowgun in hand and a wide sneer on his face. Paddy snarled, “Koga, what the hell!?”
Koga continued his savage laugh. Rarity could not keep her balance. As she fell into Rapidash’s awaiting embrace, Koga triumphantly yelled, “Fukushuu wa watashi no monodesu!!”
“You son of a bitch! ‘Revenge is mine!?’ Haven’t you done enough already!?” Paddy snarled while Twilight rushed to Rarity, already firing off healing spells as her mane and tail floated gently.
Spitfire spat, “Kills your brother, and all you have for him is ‘you son of a bitch!?’ He’s a goddamn motherf—”
“WHAT!!?” Paddy shrieked, cutting her off. He looked at Rapidash, who looked down, nodding. Paddy’s eyes turned bloodshot and with tears of rage almost instantaneously. Hyperventilating, he sputtered, “My...you...my...!”
Koga started for the portal, but with a flick of her horn, Starlight enclosed it in her crystal. Koga snorted, “Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten in the way, maybe you shouldn’t have either!!”
Hurling kunais, Koga roared. Starlight managed a barrier, and with not a nanosecond to spare. She still maneouvred herself between him and the portal while Spitfire, Soarin’, Fleetfoot, and Misty Fly all began his way. Stormrider and Merry Weather summoned more soldiers. Green-eyed Trixie sobbed in her mother’s embrace, who also was teary-eyed. Throwing a Pokéball, Paddy screamed, “ESPEON!!!”
The strange fork-tailed cat appeared, looking around in bafflement. Koga took the Wonderbolts one-by-one, dropping Spitfire with a front kick to the chin, Soarin’ with a side kick to the chin, Fleetfoot with an elbow to the chin, and Misty Fly with a knife hand to the back of the head, each rapidly after the previous. Rapidash pleaded, “Honey-baby, hold on! Please hold on!”
Rarity feebly pawed at his jaw, barely managing, “I would have...wanted you for...all my life....”
Rapidash sobbed barely intelligibly, “Me-e-e...me too...would have made you my bride....”
Paddy pointed at Koga, specifically Koga, and yowled, “KILL HIM!!!”
Espeon snickered. “I thought you’d never ask!”
“Starlight!!” Twilight screamed. “A hoof!?”
Starlight rushed to Rarity’s side, her own eyes going misty as her breathing accelerated. She murmured, “Oh, Goddess, no!! Rarity!!”
“I need some help!!” Twilight urged as spear-wielding soldiers surrounded the area, points outward. “There’s three toxins: I recognise botulinum toxin and hydrogen cyanide, but I don’t know the third!”
Koga handsprung away from a blast from Espeon as he laughed, “What’s the matter!? Never seen plutonium? Then despite your best efforts to the contrary, she will reap what she’s sown!”
Rarity’s hearing faded, to the point she could hear only her struggling heart, and fragmented breathing. Speaking words became impossible. She could see Rapidash’s sobbing, and his jaw moving, but no words. Paddy took to punching at Koga as well, but could not land a blow. Koga silently counterattacked, punching him in the jaw, followed by a roundhouse kick to the jaw. Paddy dropped to the ground out cold, but Rarity heard nothing. She saw Espeon fire a shot of Psychic, knocking Koga into the air spinning, but no noise from the attack. Starlight stood beside Twilight, both of them in tears, as they frantically talked, hitting her over and over with green spells. But the perception of sound would not return. The strength would not return to her limbs. Teardrops falling on her face from the three around her made no tactile impression. Rainbow Dash’s obviously screaming mouth was silent, and though she could see her fur rippling from said screaming, she felt nothing.
Rarity could barely turn her head to follow as they all looked to the left. She saw Applejack and Fluttershy leading Pinkie Pie in a wheelchair. All three of them appeared to be screaming, Applejack profanely if her lip-reading was to be trusted, and Fluttershy with the most tears. Pinkie Pie’s mane fell flat, then she stood up, but bipedal instead of on all four hooves. She threw aside her hospital gown, revealing scarring on her chest and the fur shaved away from around the wounds. Pinkie took a stance similar to what Rarity had seen from the black belts in the Pokémon world with the most un-Pinkie-like snarl on her face. Koga did the same. The two charged at each other in silence from Rarity’s perspective, watching a crazy-fast exchange of punches, kicks, blocks, grapples, slips from grapples, and so on. Pinkie deflected, dodged, and caught kunais and shurikens that Koga seemed to have in endless supply. Then the two kicked the speed up a notch, making them impossible for Rarity to follow in her poisoned state. She had some idea where they were, following the gazes of Applejack, Fluttershy, and Trixie. Green-eyed Trixie’s mouth moved, to which Espeon turned toward her, bellowing something completely red in the face with angrily bulging temples, but entirely inaudible to Rarity. Twilight, Starlight, Rapidash, and Rainbow Dash all continued looking toward Rarity, but only Twilight’s and Starlight’s mouths moved, though there were tears from them all. The too-fast-to-see scrap continued for another fifteen seconds or so, before Koga stopped, looking around. Then blood burst from his neck. As he staggered forward, clutching his hemorrhaging neck, Pinkie Pie came into view with one of Koga’s kunais strapped to her hoof, standing behind where Koga was. The weapon dripped red. Koga collapsed to the ground. Throwing the kunai into the dirt, Pinkie Pie rushed forward, and pounded on Koga’s head with her hooves as how her family broke rock. She continued to strike over, and over, and over, getting a crimson splash each time after the second while tears streamed down her face. The wounds on her chest had broken open, bleeding at a slow trickle. Applejack hooked her forelimbs under Pinkie’s, dragging her away with much difficulty while Fluttershy came from the front with nonthreatening hoof gestures. After a moment of struggling, Pinkie just collapsed into a mess of tears. Rarity successfully lip-read Twilight saying to Rapidash, “It’s Pinkie being Pinkie; don’t ask.”
Rarity silently gasped. She felt her breath shortening, and her chest tightening. Her eyesight, too, was fading. She tried to talk, but could not say a word. Even the sounds of her own ragged breaths and heartbeat faded to nothing. Her vision greyed out, then darkened around the edges, until all was black.
Rarity woke to find herself somewhere purple. The ground was a dark hue, and in slats of broken finger-shaped blocks. A dead tree was close. She looked around herself, and found a chasm into nothing behind her. There was nothing in the distance, nothing below, and a distinct lack a horizon in the unending, indistinct violet. Cautiously walking forward, she called out, “Hello?”
No answer came, not even the hint of an echo. She continued onward, finding more of the strange rocks. After a moment, she said, “Where I am?”
Rarity pressed on for an indeterminate amount of time...an hour, maybe? Two? Half of one? She had no way to guess. Rarity tapped at her chin. A moment later, she deeply gasped in horror, looking all over in terror. “No...! Twilight...Twilight failed?? She couldn’t stop the poison!? She couldn’t...save my life after all....”
A tear trickled down her face as she stared at the great wide purple nothing. In despair she murmured, “I...died...I’m in the land of the dead, now as one of the dead....”
Rarity moped onward, chin barely above the purple dirt. She looked up for a moment, then muttered under her breath, “Is there anything to this place at all?”
A familiar voice answered, “Rarity....”
“Princess Luna!” Rarity joyfully cried, turning around to see the Princess of the Night. Rushing to give her sovereign a hug, she exclaimed, “I’m so glad to see you!”
“As am I, Rarity, but you must be strong,” Luna said.
Rarity sighed, nodding discontentedly. “I suppose so, this being my new place of residence...and all that rot. I did not know you also saw off the dead.”
“Nopony does that,” said Luna, looking around. She shook her head with a wide-eyed face and a long sigh. Staring off into the violet void, she declared, “You are not dead, nor do you dream. Nowhere in the dream realm have I felt this...coldness.”
“I’m not dead!?” Rarity asked with sudden energy and hope, eyes trying to discern anything.
“No, but make no mistake: your body teeters on the edge of death, Rarity, even as we speak. Venture too far into this purple abyss, and you will find the land of the dead. Then nopony can help you,” said Luna sadly. Rarity swooned onto a purple fainting couch that conveniently appeared. Luna rolled her eyes, and telekinetically shook Rarity, shouting, “Snap outta it!!”
“AHH!!” Rarity squawked, roused from her swoon. She looked at the couch, then asked, “Wait, how did I faint here if my body is in stasis?”
Luna shot her an unamused face as the couch disappeared. After a pause, Luna’s tongue clicked as she opened her mouth and said, “I...really don’t know if that’s any concern. More to the point, Koga’s dart had three poisons on it. Twilight has isolated the first two, but has never heard of the third. Nopony has, and as such, nopony knows its antidote, medicinal or magical. Twilight and Starlight are trying anything and everything they can think of, but have done little more than put you in stasis to keep you alive.”
“So am I just stuck here until either Twilight succeeds or fails?” Rarity asked with a frown. “Can I do nothing to help myself?”
Luna held a hoof to Rarity’s shoulder, and earnestly said, “The will to live is critical to any patient’s recovery. You must hold strong, lend any power you can, and focus on what’s important to you, so you can see it again.”
“Are you sure that’ll be enough?” Rarity asked despairingly.
Luna sighed. “...no. There’s no way to know.”
“What?” Rarity grouched. “Should I just make my will and testament right here and now, just to be sure?”
“Don’t talk like that!” Luna snapped. Rarity’s eyes shrank. Blinking and sighing, Luna looked away, and quietly said, “Thinking and focusing on such matters is effectively giving up already.”
“I never imagined I would ever take such a beating,” Rarity lamented with a hint of venom. “Never thought anypony, or anything, would want me dead. I always tried to be a kind and generous pony, to all I met!”
“And you have done an exemplary job of it,” said Luna with a smile. “But you are not alone, in suffering at the hands of the Pokémon, or the humans in that world.”
“None as bad as me, I would imagine,” said Rarity.
“Do not be so certain,” Luna said sagely. “Your friend, Pinkie Pie, also very nearly died at the hands of humans.”
“WHAT!? WHY?!! WHY PINKIE!?!!” Rarity hollered.
“Pinkie Pie shoved Rainbow Dash clear of what would have been a fatal attack. But Pinkie Pie is an Earth Pony, and an especially hardy one at that. Rainbow Dash is a Pegasus; tough and spectacular as she is, she simply does not have the durability of an Earth Pony. She could not and would not survive such a drastic injury as Pinkie did,” Luna explained.
Rarity asked as she shook her head, “What happened?”
“A human attacked with a strange weapon they call a ‘Deagle.’ We have no analog of it in Equestria,” Luna answered. “But it doesn’t stop with Pinkie. Thirty-seven of our soldiers will not be coming home. Over two hundred fifty have been injured. Even I, too, received some gruesome injuries courtesy of the Pokémon world, and will be months or even over a year in recovery.”
Rarity blinked in shock. “I am so sorry, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t be. Nopony else, no human, and no Pokémon could have stopped that peril,” Luna said. “But enough about me. It’s you we need to focus on. We all need you. But you have to want to survive.”
Luna’s form wavered, like an image on an old cathode television whose signal was partially disrupted. Rarity shrieked, “Princess Luna?!”
“It seems I can tarry here no longer. Visiting a comatose pony on death’s door is very different from visiting one in the dream realm,” Luna said. As she faded from view, she called out, “Focus on what’s important to you!”
“Luna!!”
She was gone. Rarity stood alone in the alien purple landscape. She sighed, shaking her head. Rarity quietly said, “What’s important to me...Rapidash, Sweetie Belle, mom, dad, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Spike, Coco, Sassy, and Sapphire Shores, to name a few...my fashion, my creativity, the smiles I see when I show my generosity...that’s who I am; that’s what’s important.”
She clamped her eyes closed. A moment later, she peeked with her left eye, and still found herself in the purple world. Scoffing, she said, “Aren’t those things important enough!? That’s what’s central to me! It’s who I am!”
Her eyes lit up. “It’s...who I am, but not what I’m to become. What will I be? I’m nearly at the very top of Equestrian fashion; that’s not much further to climb, nor would it make a big difference. What else is there? The threats to Equestria are few and far between. Rapidash and I are together...that’s it!”
Turning to the violet skies, Rarity screamed, “I WILL BE HIS BRIDE!!!”
“Uhh...,” Rarity groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She lay in a hospital bed, with most of her surrounding in the stereotypical soothing pale green. Asleep in the chairs were her parents, and Sweetie Belle. The room had no space set up for a second bed. She tried to sit up, and promptly the pins and needles feeling shot through her in waves across her entire body, especially in her legs. “Ow....”
“Rarity!!” Sweetie Belle shouted, bolting upright. With her little sister jumping in for a hug, Rarity clenched what muscles would respond to withstand the impact. Sweetie Belle sobbed, both forelimbs around Raritiy’s neck as Cookie Crumbles and Magnum both roused to tears at seeing their elder daughter awake. A family embrace ensued. Sweetie Belle cried, “I thought I’d never see you again, sis!”
“Oh, Rarity...,” sobbed Cookie Crumbles.
Magnum could not speak. Rarity nuzzled her father, then asked, “How long have I been asleep?”
“About five hours,” Sweetie Belle answered.
“Ah,” Rarity answered. “With how the last week or so has gone, I was half-expecting you to tell me two days.”
Minutes passed in a family hug. As they let go, the door opened. Twilight stood there, and she took in a rough breath, broken up by sobbing. She flew in, joining the hug, quickly followed by the rest of her fellow element bearers and Spike. Pinkie had fresh bandaging on her chest. After a series of almost unintelligible words of adoration, relief, and love, Rarity looked Twilight in the eye and said, “Luna visited my consciousness when I was in stasis. She said there were three poisons in Koga’s dart, but nopony knew the third. How did you cure it?”
“She’s right; nopony knew what that was,” Twilight said. Turning toward the door, she continued, “Fortunately, someone else did.”
Ducking through the lower archway approached a human with dark brown skin, coarse black hair and beard, and wearing mostly yellow, including a hooded sweatshirt. Rarity delightfully exclaimed, “Devontae?!”
“Yeah,” he said, grinning.
As he leaned in and gave Rarity a hug as well, Twilight said with a smile, “Thanks to his explaining what that ‘plutonium’ stuff is, I was able to devise a magical antidote! After that and everything else, you should be back in your own bed in two days!”
“Seems I didn’t get there a moment too soon, neither,” said Devontae sheepishly, scratching at the side of his beard.
With a laugh, Rarity asked, “Not that I mind in the least, but what are you doing here?”
“Came to give you somethin’ you left behind. Feraligatr insisted. Didn’t think we’d make Pastoria in one piece, either, but...we got there,” Devontae said, reaching into his bag.
As he pulled out a sketchbook, Rarity gasped, “My dress designs! I almost forgot!”
“Aengus had said you did fashion,” said Devontae. “Couldn’t let your entire time in our world be for nothin’.”
Rarity flipped through her sketches, spending more time on those with heavy Oriental influence. With a contented sigh and tone of voice, she said, “Thank you, so very much, for bringing me this.”
“Sure thing.”
Rarity raised a hoof as she asked, “You...wouldn’t happen to have Feraligatr with you? I should like to thank him as well.”
Devontae clicked a Pokéball on his belt. A familiar bipedal blue crocodilian appeared, to the alarm of everypony except Rarity. She held out her forelimbs, asking for a hug, to which he waddled over and obliged. He said, “Hey Rook. Looking a little banged up, there.”
“Still not a raven,” Rarity chuckled. “Thanks for prompting Devontae about my sketches.”
Letting go, Feraligatr said, “Spent too long working with you on that uniform on Routes 216 and 217, remember?”
“Oh yes, that place was cold. I’ll never forget that,” Rarity grumbled, shivering to herself.
A familiar male voice from the hall asked, “Can I come in now?”
Twilight said, “Yes, I believe it’s time.”
Through the door walked a very tall pony stallion. Rarity’s eyes dilated looking him over. He was a unicorn, excellent physique, cream-coloured with red eyes, a gout of fire for a cutie mark, but that mane...
“Rapidash!?” Rarity blurted.
He nodded with a smile. “Yeah, it’s me. That green-eyed Trixie was right; she did pass her pony essence. I’m gonna have to get used to these big eyes, but other than that, it’s all gravy!”
As he reached for a hug, she instead kissed him full on the mouth, in front of everyone. Gasps shot through the room, though a fair bit of laughter and clapping followed. Feraligatr laughed loudly, slapping Rapidash on the shoulder in a very masculine-congratulatory way. Rarity looking over at her parents, and firmly said, “Mom, dad, this is Rapidash. He is my love, and my intended.”
Gasps shot through the room again, but louder. Some cried tears of joy. Some just looked shocked. Many cheered. Feraligatr almost tackled Rapidash in a hug. Only Spike looked toward the floor, his shoulders slumping. Devontae spotted him, and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. He quietly said to Spike, “Gotta be tough, little man. It’s gonna suck for awhile, but it’ll be okay. I’ve been there, I know how much it sucks, but you can get through.”
Spike nodded sadly with a sigh. Twilight tapped Rarity on the shoulder and said, “Are you sure you’re not rushing things?”
“Oh, we absolutely are rushing things, darling!” Rarity answered. “But you have to understand, what we’ve been through together, and how close we both came to dying, more than once? Especially in this last week, my goodness! Besides, focusing on him is what brought me out of unconsciousness.”
Twilight sighed in defeat. “Alright then, if you’re that sure.”
Still happily punching away at Rapidash’s shoulder, Feraligatr cheered, “Now buddy, you got a real gem in her. You treat her right. If you don’t, I’m gonna find a way to get back here and beat your ass for it!” He laughed while everyone else in the room gave each other concerned looks. “But seriously, you got a great thing going here. Enjoy it for as long as you can. I’m really gonna miss you, old friend.”
Rapidash pulled Feraligatr into a hug and said, “Yeah. It’s been real. I’ll miss you, too.”
Tapping her on the shoulder, Devontae said, “Your Highness, I think I need be getting back.”
“Yes, of course. They should be about finished with removing the platform blocks,” Twilight said.
Rarity asked, “Um, Twilight, what about Paddy, and Koga?”
“Paddy already took Koga’s body back, so that his family can make preparations,” Twilight answered, shaking her head. “He also said he has to track down how Koga got his hands on that plutonium, to see what other criminal activities had been going on. But they’ve gone.”
Rarity flopped back into the pillow with a sigh of relief. Closing her eyes, she quietly rejoiced, “So at long last, it’s over. I’m home.”
“You know what that means we need?!” Pinkie nearly burst.
Twilight whispered to Devontae, “Cover your ears.”
“A PARTY!!!” Pinkie screamed, loud enough to make the ceiling tiles rattle. Devontae had been fortunate in getting his hands up in time. “For you and Trixie getting home, and you announcing your engagement!”
“Speaking of, where is Trixie?” Rarity asked.
“She and Starlight are having some quiet time with her father and foals. I don’t think we should interrupt,” Twilight said.
“Well, Pinkie,” Rarity said, turning to excited, chomping-at-the-bit friend. “Plan for me your very best, for when I’m released from here. A good soirée after surviving such an ordeal would simply be divine.” She sighed, “Just happy to finally have all that behind me.” Eyes widening, she suddenly squealed, “Ooh!! Would somepony be a dear and bring me a bolt of scarlet satin, matching thread, my pinking shears, and my best needle? I have an ideeaaaaa!”
Bruno stood in his room at the Indigo Plateau, with his Mega-Evolved Steelix. Across from him was Devontae, wearing his usual style, today in dark blue and corn yellow. Before Devontae was Feraligatr, who opened his mouth into a tremendous torrent of high-pressure water. Bruno’s Mega Steelix slid back a couple of metres before toppling over and fading back into its Pokéball.
Dropping to his knees, Feraligatr sighed a great, long sigh of relief, turning his nose upward as he closed his eyes. He held up both fists in triumph, as though a weight had finally been lifted from him as a lone tear ran down his cheek. Bruno’s shoulders slumped as he hung his head, while Devontae cheered, pointing to the ceiling, “Yeah!! Aengus, that one’s for you, my n—” using a word that earned a confused stare and blurt from Bruno, “That one’s for you!”
“And there was still one you didn’t even bring out...wow. You’ve grown into quite the trainer,” Bruno commented, looking down. “Just...two questions.”
“Yeah?” Devontae answered, raising an eyebrow.
“First, I thought he was white?” Bruno asked, looking at Devontae with a slight frown and his face turned slightly away.
Devontae grinned and shrugged, shaking his head. With a snort he said, “Well, brah, that don’t matter. Just don’t use that word, and we Gucci.”
Bruno just blinked at Devontae for a moment while Feraligatr returned to his ball.
“...right...and two...,” Bruno began, looking upward, “...what are they doing back here?”
In the spectator seats were Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie. Rarity had a gold ring around the base of her horn, and Trixie wore her trademark hat and cape. Looking up with a smile, Devontae tipped his head toward Bruno for a brief moment. Twilight stepped forward and said, “Funny, you’re the first of these ‘Elite Four’ to ask. Suffice it to say, I learned we had...shall we say...one last loose end to tie up here. One that cannot be avoided, else we would not have come again.”
Raising an eyebrow, Bruno asked, “It took you five months to notice?”
“It would have been sooner,” Twilight said with an annoyed tone and annoyed expression, slowly turning toward Trixie, “if somepony had spoken up sooner!”
“Sorry I forgot,” Trixie said defensively. “After struggling to survive, and raising a classroom’s worth of little ones, Trixie’s mind has been many other places.”
“So you say,” Bruno sighed.
He gave a proper bow to Devontae, who returned the gesture. Untangling his two chains, Devontae asked, “Is it true you’re leaving?”
“Yes,” answered Bruno. “I’m ready for something else, even if it’s just traveling.”
Devontae nodded. “Really changing up who’s here, huh?”
“Yeah. No doubt you’ve seen the trouble of leaving Paddy in charge, the state of the roads and so on,” Bruno grouched. “None of us like it; none of us want to be a party to it.”
“Yeah, brah, it’s...what could he be thinking? Cinnabar’s too damn dangerous for kids, with the active lava flows and everythin’!” Devontae said sadly, slowly nodding.
Bruno gestured toward the door with a nod. “Go. Dethrone him.”
Taking a moment to apply healing items to the Pokéballs, Devontae advanced confidently through the doors into the Champion’s chamber. The room met him with a checkerboard tile floor of polished white marble and black basalt squares, each about fifteen centimetres on a side. A series of small statues lined the front of the platform on which Paddy waited. Each statue was the shape of each Pokémon type symbol as seen on their corresponding Z-crystal, with matching colour. Paddy was dressed mainly in white with red accents, and his school’s insignia over the left side of his chest and his ball cap. As Devontae strode up the stairs, Paddy shook his head with a knowing grin. Amused, he said, “Knew it would be a matter of when, not if, you’d come. Welcome! I’ll skip my introduction.”
“Yeah, we been through too much,” Devontae answered, foregoing proper grammar yet again. “But you’s doin’ the region wrong, brah!”
“Hey, my goal was to ensure the Indigo League’s trainers, even the newbies, are the strongest anywhere,” Paddy said self-satisfied.
“Nobody likes needing multiple HMs to get through any given route except the first few!” Devontae protested. “Hell, no one likes HMs at all! At least Alola was smart and did away with them!”
“Okay...,” Paddy said questioningly.
“And that going back and forth, and back and forth between Johto and Kanto, just to get the right badges to use the HMs and make one’s way around!?” Devontae continued. “And then all the centring efforts around Saffron and Goldenrod! Then there’s your perilous challenge at the remains of Cinnabar, and—”
“I got it!” Paddy grouched. “New trainers these days lack the patience and perseverance to truly be great!”
Devontae shot him an irritated glare. “Brah, it sounds like you don’t get it one bit.”
“No, that’s not what I’m lost on,” said Paddy, looking up. “What the hell are they doing here!?”
Twilight stepped forward. “Padraíg Meagher, we are here to claim a lost artifact that you and your brother used to enter Equestria. A golden statuette in the shape of a pony’s head, with a trio of large blue zircons in its mane which blacken one by one with each use.”
“Do you mean the idol? Sorry, it stays with me. I’ll not risk anyone repeating the whole incident,” Paddy said firmly.
“Which is exactly why it should come with us; we’ll burn out its last use on our way home,” Twilight answered with equal resolve.
Paddy stood with his head down for a moment, thumb and index finger upon his chin. Looking up, he nodded and said, “Can’t argue with that logic. But, as Champion, I am obligated to defend my title first. This whole mess between our worlds happening again is not acceptable.”
Trixie’s horn had been flickering. After she nodded once with eye contact, Twilight said, “Very well. We will wait.”
Paddy also nodded, then turned to Devontae and said, “Been awhile since you and I had a match. Are you still the consummate Fire-type specialist, even after Aengus entrusted his Pokémon to you?”
“Why don’t I show you instead?” Devontae responded with a grin.
Paddy smiled. “Exactly what I wanted to hear! Been awhile since I’ve use an Indigo-only team; should be fun! Gyarados!”
“Arcanine!”
A blue Chinese dragon and a dog-tiger cross with a happy smile materialised across from each other. Trixie sighed, “Trixie never understood what Pokémon loved so much about beating up and being beaten up.”
Rarity grumbled, “Just be thankful you weren’t forced to do it.”
“I still find it amazing how you learned so much evocation magic in such a short time!” Twilight beamed, to which Starlight suppressed a giggle.
“Gyarados, use Aqua Tail!”
Frowning, Devontae ordered, “Roar, Arcanine!”
Rarity scoffed, “Umph! ‘Roar!?’ With its priority penalty, now!?”
“Damn, forgot,” muttered Devontae as Paddy rolled back the sleeve on his right arm, squeezing the keystone on his wristwatch.
As the rotating beams of light surrounded both Paddy and his Gyarados, Twilight asked, “What’s going on there?”
“They call it ‘Mega Evolution,’” Rarity said. She began to explain how that worked as the ball burst from around the Gyarados, revealing it longer with red patches along its sides, and a black belly. Rarity sighed when she looked at its new form, commenting, “Ugh. How garish.”
“Countershading need not apply, I see,” Twilight muttered.
“More about this ‘Mega Evolution,’ please,” said Starlight.
As Rarity spoke quietly, Mega Gyarados whooshed in and slammed its drenched tail at Arcanine. Crouching, Arcanine braced for the attack, and flinched toward the left. Gyarados redirected the strike at the last moment, duped by the fake dodge, and missed. Arcanine then roared terribly loud, knocking Mega Gyarados back, and into its ball. Replacing it was a Porygon-Z.
Paddy grumbled, then shouted, “Conversion Z, Porygon-Z!”
“Switch out, Arcanine!” Devontae shouted, holding up his Pokéball. As Arcanine vanished, Devontae threw another ball, shouting, “Go, Mamoswine!”
A large brown pig with a blue face and huge tusks emerged from the ball. Paddy blinked for a moment, then said, “Inherited from my brother?”
“Actually, no,” Devontae answered with a grin. “Caught her momma in the Icy Path years ago, but traded with a multi-regional traveler and expert for her daddy a couple of days after returning from Equestria.”
Paddy gave a disbelieving stare. “You’d have to be on the ship back from Sinnoh then, ‘cuz even you aren’t daredevil enough to try crossing open ocean on an uncharted route twice.”
“You’re right,” answered Devontae with a smirk. “That’s where it happened.”
“I was on that ship, too.”
“Yes, you were.”
Putting his hands on his hips and shifting his weight, Paddy demanded, “With whom?”
“Red,” answered Devontae, trying not to laugh.
“Bollocks,” muttered Paddy, rolling his eyes. When Devontae looked him in the eye and shook his head with a smile. Paddy’s head jolted back as he blurted, “Seriously??”
“Mmmhmm,” hummed Devontae, nodding slowly and on the edge of laughing.
“Whatever,” grouched Paddy as he and his Porygon-Z danced in unison. Multicoloured light flashed, along with a few white squares over Porygon-Z. Then Paddy yelled, “Porygon-Z, use Shadow Ball!”
“Stealth Rock, Mamoswine!” Devontae answered.
The same old deathly purple sphere coalesced in front of Porygon-Z, jetting into Mamoswine, who winced and was driven back a step. Then Mamoswine acted like it meant to roar, but instead a few sharp chunks of rock appeared through the floor and floated there before disappearing. Twilight asked, “What was the point of that?”
“Entry hazard,” Rarity explained. “Those stones will come back the next time Paddy sends in another Pokémon.”
Starlight asked, “You mean, those rocks will hurt Paddy’s Pokémon, just for coming out to fight?”
“Exactly.”
“Strange ambush, being jabbed by rocks just for answering the call,” muttered Starlight, shaking her head.
Rarity shook her head too. “Around here they like to say ‘all’s fair in love and Pokémon battles.’”
Paddy pointed and yelled, “Again, Porygon-Z!”
Devontae instead held up a ball. “That’s good there, Mamoswine! Come back!”
As swap of Pokéballs, and before Devontae appeared a large yellow fox with nine tails. The light in the room turned harsh. Rarity said, “The aptly named ‘Ninetails.’ Another Fire-type.”
Twilight shook her head in discontent. “You really learned about this world in a short time, and remember so much of it despite not being here for months.” Then her eyes lit up. “Hey! Maybe we could write a book on the subject! You tell me what all you know and I can analyse it, and keep it all for posterity!”
The other three laughed. Starlight snickered, “There’s no stopping Twilight from being Twilight!”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Twilight protested.
“It’s just you, darling, being the way you are. We love you for it,” Rarity said with a smile, shaking her head. “But sure, I’ll keep the book idea in mind.”
“Ninetails, use Confuse Ray!” Devontae ordered.
Frowning, Paddy said, “Discharge!”
A wiggling ball of light wandered a serpentine path from Ninetails to Porygon-Z. As it struck, Porygon-Z’s eyes lost focus. Sparks gathered around Porygon-Z, drawing together into a combine burst, but instead of flying at Ninetails, it blew up there, knocking Porygon-Z to the ground. Trixie muttered, “Trixie is very happy she was never subjected to this.”
“No, you just had ‘something great and powerful’ give you a scandalously wonderful time!” Rarity spat.
Trixie openly laughed while Ninetails facepawed. “That, coming from you? Really now?! After how you kept all of Ponyville up at night for the first two weeks of your marriage?! Did you see how many foals had to have ‘the birds and the bees’ talk before they were truly old enough? Trixie lost count!”
Porygon-Z emitted some electronic noise, one that strongly suggested dismay and disgust. Rarity growled, “I thought we agreed never to speak of that again!”
“You brought up the subject!” Trixie countered.
“Well, you are hardly in a position to criticise noise levels, aren’t you!? And while we’re all breaking promises,” Rarity snarked, “why don’t I go talk to your dad about what really went on in that Daycare, or how often your coltfriend stays with you overnight, hmm?!”
“Oversharing...,” Devontae muttered, to much nodding from Paddy.
“What? It’s hardly a secret that Rarity and Trixie are both screamers. I could swear there are some nights they’re competing with each other,” Starlight grouched, rolling her eyes.
“It’s goddamn oversharing!!” Devontae bellowed incredulously as Paddy angrily yanked his hat off his head as he spun away, dropping one arm to his side and the other hand upon its corresponding hip with an annoyed stomp.
Rarity fumed, turning red in the cheeks with the sort of face that might cause Rainbow Dash to scream if she looked angry. Trixie, however, could not shrink and hide enough, red in the cheeks from a different emotion. Horn glowing, Twilight put a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder and soothingly said, “Easy there. You know you can’t let your blood pressure get up like that right now. Just let the whole thing go.”
Rarity’s face lost its redness as she took some deep breaths. Twilight turned to Trixie. Intrigued, she lead in, “Neither you nor Starlight mentioned you have a coltfriend.”
Trixie nickered while still sloughing off the crimson from her cheeks. “Well, I do, but you don’t need to know all of Trixie’s business, do you? Is it a problem if Trixie would like some privacy with her private life?”
Twilight backed off. Devontae dismissively waved off the ponies as he sighed and shook his head. Paddy nodded sympathetically, then wiped across his forehead before putting his hat back on. He sighed as well, then ordered, “Okay, Porygon-Z, try that again.”
“Ninetails, Flamethrower!” Devontae commanded.
Ninetails flicked her tails, hurling a stream of fire at Porygon-Z. As the blaze ended, Porygon-Z fell straight down, all its detached chunks falling away. It vanished in a flash of yellow sparks. Paddy frowned, then threw another ball, yelling “Go, Espeon!”
Rarity gasped and shrunk back. The fork-tailed malignant cat appeared, staring up at the stands, barely acknowledging the rocks that poked her upon appearing. Echoing in Rarity’s mind was the purring, yet livid voice, “Oh God, it’s that high-class hooker again! Well, no, not a hooker. Prostitutes receive a fee for services rendered, while you just shag whoever, wherever, whenever, all for free, just because...isn’t that right, you overweight, ugly, ignorant, c—” and used a single-syllable crass term that made Rarity look a little sick, “-dumpster!”
A moment later, Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie all gasped in unison, then Twilight gritted her teeth in anger, Starlight flushed and covered her mouth, and Trixie nickered, “Same Espeon....”
Rarity sighed and shook her head. “She telepathically insulted you too, I see. She has quite the potty-mouth.”
“Yeah...yeah she does. Geez...,” Twilight muttered, shaking her head.
Paddy facepalmed, muttering under his breath, “I can’t take you anywhere....”
“Whose fault is that? You trained her,” Devontae said flatly. “Use Confuse Ray!”
Paddy smirked, “True, I did. She may be mean, but so is her strike! Psychic!”
The red jewel on Espeon’s brow flashed. Reality distorted around Ninetails; she then suddenly sailed across the room and slammed into the far wall. There she broke into a swarm of pink sparks, going back to her Pokéball. Rarity shook her head while the other three stood agape. Looking at her three companions, Rarity explained, “She loves to best her opponents in that fashion.”
“Is Ninetails gonna be okay!?” gasped Starlight.
“Yeah,” Rarity said underwhelmed. “They go through this all the time.”
Trixie grouched, “Really, really glad he didn’t put me through all that.”
Rarity sighed. “That was the problem: Equestrian magic and Pokémon power most certainly are not the same. Pokémon moves can’t kill other Pokémon with extremely rare exceptions. They bash each other over and over, but never really hurt each other. But my magic injured them badly, and...and...well, you know about that fight with Koga’s team. If I had only known….”
“From what your husband said, it wasn’t just one. Something like ‘Star Rapper,’ or some such,” said Starlight.
Rarity huffed, “That’s ‘Staraptor,’ and life-and-death situations are a little different, don’t you think!?”
Scribbling madly in a small notebook, Twilight gleefully exclaimed, “Why didn’t I think to write about this sooner?”
“Arcanine!” Devontae cried out, throwing a ball. The loyal-faced striped tiger-dog returned. “Use Extreme Speed!”
“Do it again, Espeon!” order Paddy.
Arcanine rushed Espeon, striking three times. Espeon rolled over once and slid past Paddy a good four metres, before pushing herself back to her feet. She shook her head once, then yowled as she distorted reality again. Arcanine flew back even faster than Ninetails did, disappearing after cracking the wall. A few chunks of drywall fell to the floor. Espeon sneered as Devontae raised an eyebrow. Grumbling under his breath, he threw another ball, yelling, “Charizard!”
An orange winged lizard halfway between a dragon and a dinosaur in appearance materialised, immediately taking off. Paddy shook his head. “Since it’s still working, keep it going, Espeon.”
“Charizard, Flamethrower!” yelled Devontae, whipping out a money clip with a keystone attached. As he pressed it, the rotating light enveloped him and Charizard. The ball burst. Charizard looked similar, but with more pointed features, spines much more pronounced in places along his spinal ridge, and blade-like flaps on his arms.
Paddy shrugged as Espeon attacked, saying, “Huh. Didn’t think you’d take the less-popular path with him.”
Mega Charizard Y held, then spat fire back. Devontae said, “Are you kiddin’? A known Fire-type specialist, maintaining harsh sunlight?”
Espeon winced, toppled over, and faded back into her ball. Paddy shook his head in aggravation, and said, “I see your point. Then, Gyarados! Let’s try this again!”
Mega Gyarados returned, looking annoyed at the rocks that appeared just as he did. Mega Charizard Y sneered, then snarled. Devontae yelled, “Solar Beam!”
“Stone Edge, Gyarados!” Paddy countered.
As the light gathered around Mega Charizard Y, Rarity explained, “This move takes a turn to charge and fire.”
“Unless it’s in harsh sunlight!” Devontae cheered. A yellow beam rained out of the sky, hammering Mega Gyarados until it faded back to its ball.
“Fine. Nidoking!” Paddy yelled.
A semi-anthropomorphic horned lizard of a deep purple manifested, barely affected by the rocks that appeared. Devontae frowned, bobbing his head. “Damn, damn, damn...too many possible move sets...oh well, return Charizard!”
“Nidoking, Swagger, no matter what comes!” Paddy yelled.
Devontae sent out his Mamoswine again. As it became confused, Paddy snorted, “Ground against its Poison-type, or Ice against its Ground-type?”
“Makes sense,” said Rarity to herself.
“Whichever!” Devontae said. “Let’s go with Ground! Earthquake!”
“Assuming she doesn’t hurt herself...and...Nidoking, Sucker Punch!” Paddy answered.
“Uh-oh,” grumbles Devontae as a purple whoosh swung by Mamoswine twice, striking on the second pass. Mamoswine shook her head, reared up, and caused a tremor under herself. Mamoswine fell down, and faded back into her ball.
Devontae frowned. Then he chucked a ball, saying, “Remember this guy?”
Feraligatr came out, roaring. Paddy snarled, “You’d send my brother’s STARTER against me!?”
“Aengus received a near-perfect Totodile to begin his journey, and the guy fits in well,” Devontae said with a smile. Pointing, he ordered, “Hydro Vortex, buddy!”
“Nidoking, Poison Jab!”
Nidoking started punching away, fist coated in purple. Feraligatr shivered at the end of it, bearing a slight violet tinge. Then he and Devontae danced in unison a moment. Feraligatr gained a strange yellow glow. Rarity muttered, “Never did a Z-Move with Aengus...well, he didn’t have the things for it, either, I suppose. Still strange, watching it from him.”
The battlefield seemed to flood like a suddenly-filled swimming pool. Then Feraligatr surged forward like a jet-propelled torpedo, ramming Nidoking. There, an all-water tornado formed around Nidoking, buffeting him every which-way. As it ended, Nidoking was already back in his ball.
“You want to do starters, do you?” Paddy growled, rotating a Pokéball in his right hand. “Then go, Typhlosion!”
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked Rarity, who was shaking his head.
Rarity sighed as the flaming badger appeared, clearly bothered by the rocks that came to harangue him. Then she said, “I’ve seen Paddy battle enough times. He likes to keep a move with each of his Pokémon that targets at least one of its weaknesses. And I’ve seen his Typhlosion out before. Since Water-type has an advantage over Fire-type, Paddy taught him Wild Charge, an Electric-type attack.”
Twilight discerned, “So...this Typhlosion has an advantage over Feraligatr?”
“He’s faster, and that same attack will pop his Charizard just as effectively!” Rarity griped.
“Exactly,” said Paddy with a smile. “Do it, Typhlosion!”
Grimacing, Devontae called, “Hold fast, buddy, and use Hydro Cannon!”
Indeed Typhlosion did move first, coating himself in lightning. Rarity held her breath as Typhlosion closed ground, and recklessly slammed into Feraligatr. Feraligatr tumbled and rolled several times. He struggled to get up, but in failing, he gave Devontae a thumb's up before breaking into sparks. Rarity quietly squawked a sob as a few tears rolled down her face.
“Charizard, take two!” Devontae yelled, bringing Mega Charizard Y back out. “Use Focus Blast!”
“That’s too inaccurate...,” grouched Rarity, facehoofing.
Paddy sneered, “Again, Typhlosion!”
Focus Blast’s accuracy was a moot point as Typhlosion struck first again, using the same move to the same effect. Devontae grunted as Mega Charizard Y fell to the floor, and vanished into his Pokéball. Starlight whispered, “Guess we now get to see what’s in his final ball.”
Paddy smirked. “Typhlosion vs. Typhlosion now, isn’t it?”
“No,” Devontae countered. “My starter didn’t have very good potential.”
Rubbing at his forehead, Paddy said, “I know exactly what that feels like.”
“Red said this one’s his species’ paragon, stronger than any of his brethren,” Devontae said as he tossed the ball up much higher than usual. “The very guy you and your brother both overlooked.”
The ball cracked open, and an unmistakable body shape came out: those curly ears, that short body with its very long tail...as it growled, “Rai....”
This one had no trace of a potbelly, but defined abs instead. Were he shaved of fur, he may very well have had a washboard belly. He was lean and toned all over, with musculature and definition visible even through his fur, at least to a point. His arms were more than stiff cylindrical attached knobs; his biceps, triceps, and forearms were obviously strong and ready. Yet despite the confident and determined look, his face remained just as adorable as the rest of his kind.
Paddy raised an eyebrow. “A physical Raichu?”
Raichu’s eyes flicked around; he eventually looked up to the spectator seats. Then he broke into a wide, kawaii smile, waving emphatically, as he cheerfully called out, “Rarity! Hii-i-i!! Good to see you outside of the box!”
Rarity immediately was a pile of tears. “Rai-i-ichu-u-u!! He’s finally go-o-ot his cha-a-ance!!” And she wailed.
Paddy raised both eyebrows this time. “What’s with her?”
Twilight stepped forward with an uneasy grimace. “See...she’s near the end of her first trimester, and her hormones—”
“Got it!” Paddy and Devontae hastily said in unison. Raichu turned back to face his opponent, all the determination returning. He put up his dukes, standing poised and set like a professional boxer.
“You can do it, Raichu!!” Rarity called out between sobbing sessions.
“Raichu, Iron Tail!” Devontae yelled, pointing.
Paddy sighed, “Just...just end it, Typhlosion. Earthquake.”
Paddy had just finished that last syllable when Raichu was already on his Typhlosion, somersaulting through the air with his tail extended, grey like iron. Typhlosion had barely turned in time to see it coming before the blow landed on top of his head. He slammed against the ground, bounced once, and returned to the ball on the stunned Paddy’s belt. Raichu zipped back to his spot in front of Devontae, leaving no image of himself between, but only sparks.
Devontae smiled broadly. “Even Red said his Pikachu, holding a Light Ball, doesn’t have the Attack stat this little guy has!”
Paddy bared his teeth as his temple bulged. He roared, “Lulamoon!!”
Green-eyed Trixie emerged from the ball, yelping quietly as the rocks dug into her. She looked different, enough so that she could not be mistaken for Trixie anymore. No longer did she have the large, Equestrian eyes, but hers were markedly smaller, much closer to an anatomically correct mundane horse. The entirety of her eyes, however, were green. She still wore a rendition of her mother’s hat and cape. Trixie turned away, sadly saying, “I can’t bear to look at her like that.”
“Lulamoon, use Tricks Up My Sleeve!” Paddy ordered.
Devontae roared, “Raichu, Thunder Wave!”
Lulamoon’s voice still sounded like Trixie as she sang, “You’d better believe I’ve got tricks up my sleeve....”
Confetti, lights, and smoke burst all around Raichu. Before they faded, a yellow pulse shot forth from the affected area, coating Lulamoon in a jagged wave of yellow light that formed half a sphere. As it ended, arcing electricity bounced across Lulamoon’s body. The smoke cleared. There, Raichu motioned toward himself to Lulamoon using one finger, as if to goad her to attack, before resuming his boxer’s stance.
“That didn’t drop him!?” Paddy ejaculated in a rage.
“Brah, what part of ‘he’s stronger than his brethren’ didn’t you understand?” laughed Devontae. “Raichu, use Swagger!”
“No mistakes this time! Earth Power, Lulamoon!” Paddy shouted.
Raichu strutted, flaunting his physique. Lulamoon grumbled about it while confusion set in. She charged her horn, blasting the ground. Three bursts shot soil upward, but nowhere near Raichu. Instead one of the bursts caught her in the chin, knocking her teeth together.
“Snap out of it, girl! Use this!” barked Paddy, reaching into his bag.
Devontae called out, “Iron Tail, Raichu! Give that Fairy-type what-for!”
As Paddy sprayed down Lulamoon, Starlight asked, “What’s he doing?”
“A spray-on medicine,” Rarity said, wiping up her tears. “That’s a ‘Full Restore.’ Basically puts Raichu back at square one.”
Trixie grumbled under her breath. However, once Paddy had used the item, Raichu landed the blow forcefully, knocking Lulamoon down and sending her tumbling. Raichu breathed a little easier as a bell on his collar, shaped like a bivavle’s shell, jingled a little. Lulamoon got up, grouching inaudibly. Paddy roared, “Enough’s enough! Earth Power!”
With a whoop, Devontae gleefully shouted, “Take her out, buddy! Volt Tackle!”
“Raaiiii...,” began Raichu as the electricity gathered around him. But Lulamoon’s horn was charged. She fired the pulse, causing the ground to burst...to no avail; Raichu had already moved. He was surrounded in blue electricity, zipping forward as said ground bursts happened behind him, screaming at the top of him lungs, “...CHHUUUUU!!!”
Raichu and his orb of cyan lightning rammed into Lulamoon, taking her five metres into the air before slamming back to the floor. Raichu tumbled off haphazardly, slow to get up, and holding his left shoulder with his right paw. Lulamoon flailed once, tried to get back on her feet, then simply passed out, returning to her ball.
Whooping, Devontae pumped both fists into the air, face up, eyes closed. He looked to Raichu, and opened his arms. Raichu ran and leapt into the awaiting hug, both laughing and crying in unison. Rarity herself was in hysteria, all mascara gone. Paddy looked disappointed, and that he could not believe what just happened, but not much more than that. He sighed, then walked over to Devontae, offering a handshake. “Congrats, you’re the new Indigo League Champion!”
Twilight had lowered herself and the other three ponies with her to the combat floor. Rarity was still crying her head off. Raichu jumped over to her, giving her a big hug next. While she was occupied there, Devontae wiped the tears from his eyes, and asked Twilight, “How’s little Spike holding on?”
Rarity interjected, “Oh, my little Spikey-Wikey has been ever so helpful, darling! He’s made sure my husband and I are never late for a checkup, that we have plenty of tea, and that we have no undue stress! His help has simply been divine!”
“Ah,” said Devontae with a forced grin. He then lowered his voice and asked, “So, he’s not taken it well at all?”
Twilight sighed, “No. His depression’s been pretty bad.”
“You gotta be there for him, brah. He needs you, now more than ever,” Devontae said with a sympathetic shake of his head.
Meanwhile, Starlight and Trixie guardedly approached Paddy. He asked in suspicion, “Are you two gonna be peaceful this time?”
“Like the last two times, it depends on you,” Starlight growled. She held up a hoof as if to receive something, and demanded, “The statuette.”
“Yes, of course,” said Paddy in defeat. He opened his trainer’s bag, and withdrew the idol. The two scorched gems seemed to smolder in the presence of the ponies as he put it on her awaiting hoof. “Hate to let it go, and hate to admit it, but she’s right.”
As they turned to go, Trixie said irritably, “That’s the most annoying thing about her: she almost always is.”
Starlight lofted the idol with her magic, saying to Twilight, “We got it!”
“Okay!” Twilight said satisfied. “Well, Mr. Champion, we should be off. We meant this to be a one-day excursion, if possible.”
“I understand,” Devontae answered. Offering a handshake/hoofshake, he said, “Take care of yourselves. I’ll never forget you.”
Accepting the offered gesture, Twilight answered, “Definitely. May peace and friendship be with you all of your days.”
“You too.”
“Girls,” Twilight called. Rarity set down Raichu and came over. Twilight opened her saddlebag. Starlight placed the idol in it as Twilight charged her horn to a high degree. In a flash they were gone.
Paddy gestured toward the door while Raichu returned to his ball. Still sounding disappointed, and even in disbelief, he asked, “With all of the Elite Four stepping out, have you given any thought to whom you’ll tap?”
“I’ve heard there are several interested parties,” Devontae said. “Misty, Brock, Sabrina, Falkner, and Clair have all said as much. And, I’ve also heard Lorelei has returned to the region.”
And the doors to The Hall of Fame closed behind them.
Twilight and her companions rematerialised in The Great Marsh, or what had been repaired of it. Roger Davidson was measuring moisture depth of the soil, which had not regained its old colour and scent. Davidson barked, “I thought we’d seen the last of you!”
Twilight started, “Sorry, Mr. Davidson, but we had to return—”
“For what!?” yelled Davidson.
When Twilight stared in timid shock, Starlight said, “To retrieve the artifact the Meagher brothers used to open the portal, so that no one can accidentally open it again.”
“Good. Just don’t let the portal hit you on the way out,” Davidson snidely answered.
“Princess Twilight! I thought that was you I felt!”
All four ponies and Mr. Davidson turned to the west. Slowly walking up to them was Keldeo. Twilight cordially nodded and said, “Ah, Keldeo! Have you been well?”
“You look like you feel much better,” Rarity said.
Keldeo stopped within a hoof’s reach. Calmly he said in plain human speech, “Yes...yes, I do. You were right, Your Highness. I had lost myself. And meeting up with my uncles helped me turn it around.”
“How did you ‘turn it around?’ What have you been doing?” asked Twilight.
Davidson had set down his tools and walked over to them. Keldeo gestured lightly as he said, “I still have a serious problem with humans that abuse their Pokémon, so that’s what I’ve been working on.”
“Hunting them down, and laying them waste?” Rarity asked with some bile.
Shaking his head, Keldeo gently said, “In honesty I’ve been tempted to do just that. But no. I’ve tipped off legal authorities where I could, usually anonymously. Other times I’ve lead a cop on the beat to where it was happening, and had a number caught in the act. A few times, especially near the beginning, I simply kicked in a door, so that the humans outside could see what was happening inside. I’d rather not go that route, but if it comes to it, I will. All of this has been much easier to pursue after Wally dethroned Blue for the World Championship. That was about a month after you guys left.”
“Wally, huh?” asked Trixie with a skeptical eyebrow.
Davidson said, “Kid from Hoenn. His heart’s in the right place, and it shows with his policies.”
“About Aengus’s age, maybe a year or two older,” said Keldeo. “But he’s right. Wally’s off to a great start.”
Rarity smiled, and asked, “No more blanket accusations, against all humans?”
“No. Not anymore,” Keldeo said.
Rarity walked up to Keldeo and pulled him into a hug. He blinked in confusion a few times, then asked, “Um...what?”
“I’m so happy you’re moving on in the right way,” Rarity said at ease. “And I forgot to thank you, for your help in getting me home.”
Keldeo then returned the hug. “I’m sorry about how I acted. I wasn’t in the right space then.”
“All is forgiven,” Rarity said earnestly. “We’ve let it go.”
“So Rapidash left with you, huh?” Keldeo said with a smile as they released each other.
“Yes, though after becoming fully pony, my husband took the legal name ‘Rapid Dash,’ to both fit in and to not discard his origins,” Rarity answered.
“Speaking of, Mrs. Dash, we need to get home,” Twilight said jokingly.
Rarity hugged Keldeo again before joining her companions as Twilight opened the saddlebag. Rarity said, “Still can’t believe even you can teleport all of us that distance!”
“This place has been burned into my mind, just as the Indigo League Building is with you. I might not have needed the return rods,” Twilight answered as she tapped the last bright blue gem. It broke, smoldering into a black mass as the portal popped open in front of them. All four stepped through, and a second later, it slammed shut.
Davidson and Keldeo caught each other staring. An awkward silence resulted. Half a minute went on by before Davidson said, “So, uh, you’re into helping other Pokémon, them that’s been abused?”
“Yeah,” said Keldeo cautiously. “That’s right.”
More awkward silence. Then Davidson said, “Well...what about them that’s had their home wrecked by two titans brawlin’?”
“You mean Omega Mewtwo and Princess Luna?” Keldeo said with a poker face.
Davidson gestured at all the craters and smashed trees around them. “Yeah, those would be they. Just look at this place!”
Keldeo took a step toward Davidson and gently, yet firmly, said, “The way Zekrom and Reshiram described it to me, Omega Mewtwo would have killed us all if Princess Luna had not been victorious. I don’t like how she did it, but still, she saved us all.”
“Suppose I’ll have to give you that,” Davidson grumbled, shaking his head.
Keldeo shrugged, doing what he could to mask his suspicion and distrust. With the start of a smile, asked, “Do you need some help?”
“Wouldn’t object, if I can find use for you,” Davidson answered, scratching his chin. “What type are you?”
“Water/Fighting.”
“Oh!” said Davidson in sudden delight. “That’s about perfect!”
Keldeo smiled genuinely, casting away his wariness piece by piece, albeit slowly. Nodding, he stood beside Davidson, and said, “Lead the way.”
