> Guardians of the Evolutions
>  by Aguion12 - GotA
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Start of the Journey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It’s a beautiful day outside...” An eighteen-years-old girl muttered as she stared at the sky of the region of Equestria, or Equus, through her bedroom’s window. “The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming.” Fairy sighed contently and closed her eyes. “On days like these, girls like me-”

“FAIRY, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY PIXEL ART?!” An angry voice roared through the entire house.

A smirk played on her lips. “Should be burning in hell.” She finished with a chuckle. ‘Perfect timing as always, Lighty.’

Fairy left the window and calmly walked towards her sister’s bedroom, where a blonde woman, slightly older than Fairy, what almost ripping her hair off as she stared at her computer’s screen. She was wearing a pink blouse with a yellow star in the center and black shorts; and while the younger sibling couldn’t see it, she could easily make out her sister’s dark pink eyes wide in fury. Fairy tilted her head to the side, peaking at the screen, and stifled a laugh. She took a moment to recompose herself before answering. “Yes, dear sister?”

Lightning turned to her sister with pure rage in her eyes and pointed to the screen. Minecraft was running on the computer, and she was playing on the map she created solely for pixel art building. The game was showing a very impressive Kratos pixel art brandishing his blade, frowning in concentration like he was about to fight a god. The weird thing was that Kratos had a poorly built mustache on his face and a monocle over his left eye.

And a dick tattoo, just because.

“Explain.” Lightning hissed. Fairy couldn’t hold it anymore and exploded with laughter, making her sister growl. “Dammit Fairy, do you know how much time I spent on this?!”

Fairy slowly calmed herself and wiped her eyes before turning back to the Blonde girl. “Too much. Come on, not even I spend this much time on the computer when I’m playing. Go outside, free-run, battle someone, do fucking anything. I can correct the PA in five minutes and have a backup file before I made the prank.” Fairy waved her hand dismissively. “No harm done besides your roar of anger.”

Lightning opened her mouth to argue but found herself sinking on her seat and sighing. “Just… fuck you.” She muttered, fighting off a smile.

Fairy giggled again until her Xtranceiver suddenly beeped. The pink-haired girl curiously looked at her watch-like computer and read the message that was sent to her.



	‘I need your help with something.
Meet me in the lab in fifteen minutes.

Professor Moon Dancer.’



Fairy frowned. “Well, Prof’s calling. See you later, Sis.” She said as she stepped out of her sister’s room and into hers, making a beeline towards the mirror and the nearby drawer. She looked herself in the mirror; her pink hair was untied and cascaded down her back, stopping just after her shoulder line, she was wearing her pale pink strapless sports bra, with a slightly darker pink heart on the middle, holding her breasts up as well as her open white jacket and pink pants. She grabbed a lab coat inside the drawer and ran to her bed, holding up a large pinkish white purse with a long chain for a strap and stuffed the lab coat inside before running out of the house and towards the Lab.

She was the assistant of Professor Moon Dancer, and every day she helped the older woman with just about everything there was to do around the lab, but mostly helped with building machines that were the result of Moon Dancer’s research, as she had a better hand for that than the Professor had.

But sometimes she regretted staying to help the Professor instead of going to her journey, and every time this happened she punched herself in the face, painfully remembering herself that she was did the right thing and that the Professor’s research was something that would change the world if they achieved it.

Clearing her thoughts, she avoided a Zigzagoon running down the street and focused on her path to her workplace.





A green-haired nineteen-years-old boy hummed a happy tune as he cleaned the Gym’s arena after a challenger well… challenged his sister, and Ponyville’s Psychic Gym Leader, Twilight Sparkle. He chuckled as he remembered the fight; thought he could just knock out every Pokémon of hers with his Zorua, and got his butt handed to him.

People often forget that Medicham is both Fighting and Psychic.

Currently, Twilight was on the Library, studying her psychic powers and whatnot as usual. Having studied under Celestia, principal of the Pokémon School of Canterlot as well as member of the Elite Four, made her a girl of the studying type, who tries to understand and explain everything that happens around her scientifically.

Spike was content in just being her loyal assistant, but just like Fairy he sometimes found himself wondering what would have happened if he had left for his journey when he was ten.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Spike finished his cleaning and wandered inside his house, in search of something else to do. He stopped on his bedroom, staring at his computer, and shrugged his shoulders. Playing for the rest of the day was an option.

“Spiiike?” A voice called out from the living room just as Spike turned on the machine, making the boy sigh in disappointment and slight frustration.

“What is it, Twilight?” He shouted to his sister, not wanting to leave his beloved computer just yet.

“Would you come here, please?” Twilight called again, making the boy groan and stand up, walking towards his sister.

“Yes?” He said as he entered the living room and plopped down on the sofa, making his sister giggle. Twilight was wearing a white shirt under a purple vest, as well as black jeans.

“Moon Dancer called us, she said it was important.” The Gym Leader said. “She asked all the gym leaders to go there to her lab, and also asked for you to come with me. The others are already there, as Aguion asked them to visit him for… something.”

The boy chuckled slightly. “Didn’t he say something about a round of drinks for every Leader since the Gym Challenge just started? If I remembered correctly, you were the only one to turn down the offer.”

Twilight’s mouth made an ‘o’ and she blushed slightly. “Hehe, I forgot about that.” She shook her head. “Anyways, make sure you’re prepared, I’ll ask Alakazam to teleport us there.”

Spike nodded and looked down at himself. He was wearing a purple t-shirt with an emerald blaze on the center, as well as black denim pants. He shrugged, thinking he looked good enough. “Let’s go, I doubt we’ll be there for long.”

The psychic nodded and let out her Pokémon. “Teleport us to Moon Dancer’s Lab, if you may.” Alakazam nodded and teleported the trio to the requested destination.





“Moon Dancer?” Fairy called her friend and Equus local Professor as she opened the Lab’s door. The girl started to walk towards the back of the lab where many of the Pokémon gathered when she heard footsteps coming closer and stopped herself.

Professor Moon Dancer walked inside the room and smiled as she saw Fairy standing in there, in the process of putting on her coat. The Professor had purple eyes and a red hair with two streaks of different shades of purple on it; the funny thing was that her bangs were bound upwards. She was wearing a lab coat. “I’m glad you came, Fairy. And just in time too.” She said. A small Aipom walked behind the Professor, and waved with a smile when he saw Fairy.

The girl smiled at the Long Tail Pokémon before turning to the woman in front of her. “What did you want to talk to me?”

Moon Dancer gestured for her to follow and walked towards a door. Fairy raised an eyebrow, but followed her nonetheless. The moment they stepped into the room, Fairy was greeted with the sight of a large library containing books about almost everything, as well as nine figures sitting around a table in the middle of the room.

The figures looked at them and smiled – and waved in the case of three of them – which caused Fairy to smile back as she took her seat next the head of the table.

“Hey Fairy.” Spike greeted, lifting a closed fist towards the girl.

“Hey asshole.” Fairy replied cheekily and bumped her fist into his, making the boy and two more to chuckle slightly.

“All right, Professor Moon Dancer, why did you call us here?” Twilight asked. 

“Yeah, you call us here and then make us wait. What’s the deal?” Rainbow Dash, the Flying Gym Leader or Cloudsdale, demanded in a slightly irritated tone. She was wearing a white shirt with a multicolored thunderbolt in it, as well as a small denim jacket and pink skirt.

“Come on, Dashie! She must have something fun to tell us! Ohh, maybe she’s planning a party to celebrate the start of the League Season?!” Pinkie Pie, the Fairy Gym Leader of Las Pegasus, exclaimed excitedly. She was wearing a sky blue shirt and a pink skirt with a blue balloon etched on it.

“Calm down, now.” Professor Moon Dancer said. “I called you all here because I’d like to show you my newest accomplishment in my field of study. As you know, all Professors choose a field of study for them, and I chose Pokémon Communication and Speech Patterns. My dream and objective is finding a way for humans to understand better their Pokémon, and I may be realizing it.” Fairy smiled faintly, remembering how she helped create the device herself.

“Now wait a sec. Are ya’ll sayin’ you found a way t’ understand Pokémon?!” Applejack, the Grass Gym Leader of Appleloosa, shouted in surprise. She was wearing a Stetson as well as a striped shirt and jeans overalls.

“Maybe.” The Professor nodded. “It works with all Pokémon here at the lab, but I can’t be certain it works with every species of Pokémon.”

“What do you need us to do?” Spike asked what all were wondering.

“I need you to test it for me. Since eight of you are gym leaders, you’ll be able to get in contact many different Pokémon, and test the dispositive for me. And you two…” She looked at Fairy and the boy. “I need you to test this on the field.”

Fairy’s eyes widened as she said that. “Wait, you’re asking us to ‘go on a journey’, as the kids say?” Spike had just about the same reaction.

Moon Dancer nodded. “Yes. Fairy, when you were little, you wanted to become a trainer badly, but you threw everything out of the window when you discovered what my research was about and pleaded for me to let you help. For the past nine years you stayed here in Canterlot, even after most of your family went on their own journeys so you could assist me.” She said truthfully before smiling. “I want you to go have the adventure I know you’re waiting for, and this way you’ll also help me, so you have no excuses to stay here.”

“Yeah sis, you’re a great help for the Professor, but you should have your adventure too!” Aguion, Electric Gym Leader of Canterlot and Fairy's brother, exclaimed from the other end of the table. He had yellow hair just like his twin, Lightning, and wore a yellow sleeveless shit and blue jeans. “You should have left for it the moment I turned into Canterlot’s Gym Leader.”

Moon Dancer turned to Spike. “And you are a similar case, Spike. You stayed to assist your sister when she was named Ponyville’s Gym Leader, instead of going for your journey. I already talked with Twilight, and she agrees with me in this matter.”

Fairy and Spike found themselves speechless, the Professor’s words playing inside their minds. They turned to each other and smiled; simultaneously, they stood up and turned to the Professor.

“I accept your request, Professor Moon Dancer.” Spike said confidently with a nod.

“Eh, why the hell not?” Fairy shrugged, internally jumping with joy. “Hey, maybe we can even take on one of the challenges while we do that.” She mused.

“Take on the gym challenge, huh? Yeah, why not?” Spike smiled.

“That’s great, Spike. Fairy. I’ll be waiting for both you on my Gym.” Fluttershy, the Normal Gym Leader of the Rainbow Falls, said with a timid smile. She wore a yellow blouse and grey jeans, and had a butterfly-shaped pink and blue clip on her hair.

“Same.” Starlight Glimmer, the Ice Gym Leader of the Crystal Empire, agreed. She wore a teal blouse and a purple skirt with a four-pointed blue star surrounded by blue energy.

“I’m eager to see what kinds of Pokémon you’ll bring when you challenge me, Spikey.” Rarity, the Water Gym Leader of Manehattan, commented. She had a beautifully made purple hair and was wearing a beautiful white dress with a few diamond-shaped marks near the bottom hem.

“They won’t be as cool as mine, that’s for sure.” Rainbow boasted with a confident smirk, ignoring Aguion smiling at her with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll capture a Electric-type or two.” Fairy snickered.

“Just watch out for the falling rocks when I challenge you.” Spike laughed.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms with a huff, muttering about the ‘uncool duo’, causing chuckles to spread around the group.

“It seems you already have your future planned.” Moon Dancer chuckled. “Don’t forget to write down all Pokémon the device can translate. Do that and you’re free to do as you please.” At our nod, she started to walk out of the room. “Come with me. Let’s get your starters.” Spike and Fairy looked at each other and quickly did as she asked, Spike almost jumping over the table to do so and Fairy in the process of taking off her lab coat and stuffing it inside her purse. The eight Equus Gym Leaders shook their heads in amusement before following the trio.

The group stepped on the Lab’s backyard, where multiple Pokémon of various species could be seen, and went towards the sector where the Pokémon for new trainers were. “As you know, Equus has a large quantity of biomes, and so is perfect for Pokémon from almost all around world to live here.” Moon Dancer explained. “Because of that, instead of receiving one of three Pokémon of different types, the new trainers are brought here to choose one of the Pokémon of multiple species that live here. It gives the trainers a wide range of options, and also prevents trainers to be forced to choose a Pokémon with a type they do not like.” Most of the group nodded. As Gym Leaders, they need Pokémon of a single type, and so some of them never had a Water, Grass or Fire-type Pokémon.

A rustle caught the attention of the group, and the same second they turned to investigate a brown blur shot and tackled Fairy, making the group gasp, only to be relieved when they heard Fairy’s laugh. The girl had impacted the floor, but the display of affection that the furry brown-and-cream-colored creature on top of her showed, the pain quickly subsided and she hugged the tiny Pokémon.

Spike laughed as he recognized the Pokémon that Fairy took care at the Lab. Fairy slowly sat up, holding the Eevee close to her chest. “You two know each other?” Fluttershy asked, petting the Eevee’s head.

Fairy nodded. “Yeah, when she was moved to here a few months ago along with her brother, I helped them settle in, and in turn she helped me a lot with the research here; Spike helped a bit when he visited, though he got closer to her brother rather than her.” She patted the head of the Evolution Pokémon. “Speaking of him, where is he?”

The Eevee released an “Eev!” and pointed to a direction with a front paw. From a bush that was on the path the Eevee pointed, another Eevee emerged, walking more calmly than his twin. The male Eevee had a smile on his face and extended his paw to Fairy, who shook with a smile.

The male turned to Spike and smiled as he walked towards the boy; Spike matched his expression and lowered himself to a knee so the Eevee could jump to him, and he held the male Evolution Pokémon close, laughing when he almost fell backwards because of the half-Tackle.

Fairy and the Eevee she was holding looked at the boys and nodded, before Fairy’s face lit up and she lowered the Eevee to the ground, confusing the Pokémon. The Eevee turned to the girl, who looked back with a soft stare. “Hey, Eevee. Look, Spike and I are both leaving soon to test the Professor’s translator as well as taking on the Gym Challenge and… I want you to be my companion.”  The girl said, making the Eevee’s eyes widen. The Pokémon was ready to agree and jump to hug Fairy, but stopped and nervously turned to her brother and talked to him for a moment, her ears dropping.

The male Eevee and Spike both observed the scene, Spike not needing a translator to understand what was going on. “Hey, I’m also going with her, and I need a Pokémon too y’know? I wasn’t sure what I’d choose, but I’d appreciate if you came with me.” The boy told the Eevee he was holding. “That way you two don’t need to be separated, and it’ll be better if I start with a Pokémon I already know from my visits.” Both Pokémon stared at him and as one they jumped to hug they new trainers’ necks, making both teenagers laugh.

The adults watched the scene with fond smiles in their faces, even Rainbow Dash found her mouth curling upwards slightly. “Interesting. Most new trainers that come here together often try to counter the other’s choice. I remember a duo of trainers that came here a few years back; one of them picked a Budew just to counter his friend’s Wooper.” Moon Dancer commented with a stifled laugh as she remembered that day. “But I agree, the four of you already know each other very well, and I don’t doubt for a second that you’ll make a good team.”

Both new trainers stood up, leaving their not-official Pokémon on the ground. “Alright Eevee-” She stopped herself when she saw both Eevee turn their heads to her. “Ok, that’s going to be a problem.” She admitted. “Hey, would you be ok if I gave you a nickname? It’ll be quite chaotic otherwise.” The two Pokémon looked at each other and then nodded to their respective trainers. “Looks like he want one too, Spike.”

The Professor quietly walked away from the group while the teenagers thought of the names they wanted to give their Pokémon. A few moments later she returned with a case in her hands, and cleared her throat loudly, catching everyone’s attention. “I believe this is going to help you.” She opened the case, revealing eleven objects stored within. “We failed to make the device Pokédex-compatible – it always clashed with the Dex’s drive – but because it’s a really small circuit, we could turn them into these accessories for you to use. There’s also one for me, of course.”

Every one of the humans looked at the case and immediately recognized what would be their translators. Fairy picked a pink heart pendant hung by a silver chain and put it around my neck. Spike grabbed a thick black leather bracelet with a green blaze on it, similar to the one in his shirt, and put it on his left wrist. Aguion, Starlight, Applejack, Twilight and Moon Dancer grabbed pendants similar to Fairy’s, two crossed swords with a lightning in the middle, a purple four-pointed star releasing a blue mist, a red apple, a purple six-pointed star and a purple crescent moon with a pink star in the middle respectively. Pinkie and Rarity both grabbed earrings and put on their left ears, a blue balloon and a teal diamond. Finally, Rainbow grabbed a bracelet similar to Spike’s but with a multicolored lightning on it.

“Awesome!” Rainbow and Pinkie shouted.

“I must say, those translators are rather fashionable.” Rarity said in a slightly impressed tone, looking herself in a hand mirror she always carries with her. Twilight, Starlight and Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, they look good on you.”

“I have to agree.”

They turned back to the two Evolution Pokémon and Fairy smiled. “Good to hear your voice again.” Since she made the machine, she could test it on the twins a few days before.

“Thanks!” The female exclaimed, wagging her tail back and forth while her twin only nodded.

“So… what do you want to be called? I have no idea what to call you.” Fairy admitted to her Eevee.

“I think I’ll call you Shade.” Spike told his to own.

“I like the sound of that.” The newly named Shade said with a faint smile.

“Now I want to call you Shine for some reason.” Fairy mused.

“Well… what about Prism?” The female Eevee suggested meekly.

Fairy raised an eyebrow. "Why Prism?"

The Eevee shrugged. "Reasons."

Fairy snorted but smiled with a nod. "Sure. I kind of like it."

Prism nodded eagerly, jumping around her new trainer chanting “I have a trainer!” over and over enthusiastically, causing the others present to chuckle in amusement.

“Your siblings already gave me the necessary data to register the two of you as trainers when I grabbed the translators. Now, you can have this-” Moon Dancer said as she fished two Pokédexes from her coat’s pocket, one pink and another green. “And this.” She also handed the teenagers six Pokéballs each as they grabbed their Dexes.

Storing five minimized Pokéballs on their pockets, Fairy and Spike pressed the button on the last ones, causing them to expand. They both turned to the two Eevee, and lowered the ‘balls to their level. Both Eevee tapped the Pokéballs, and turned into red energy as they entered the capsule; the Pokéballs not even having the chance to shake before they released a ‘ding’ to signalize the Pokémon were successfully caught.

The teenagers stared at the Pokéballs for a few moments before smiling brightly and releasing their new Pokémon. “Wow, trippy.” Prism commented and blinked her eyes.

“You said it.” Shade agreed, wobbling in place slightly.

“It’s like that for the first few times.” The Professor’s Aipom said as he walked up to them from the lab. He then turned to the Professor. “There’s a guy with glasses looking for you.”

“Thank you, Aipom.” Moon Dancer nodded to her Pokémon before turning to the trainers and gym leaders. “I must go, but I look forward for your discoveries. And please, keep track of all the Pokémon you talk to.” With that, she left.

“Speaking of which, how does these things work?” Starlight Glimmer asked in curiosity. “It isn’t even connected to our ears.”

Pinkie gasped loudly. “It can’t be… it’s magic!”

“Close enough.” Fairy giggled and looked at Starlight. “I helped build the machine. A year or so ago, the Professor managed to talk with a trainer from Unova that had a Lucario that could use aura to translate his words. The Lucario and the Professor studied for quite some time, trying to create a way to do that artificially. After some time, they discovered a way of building a machine that ‘enchanted’ an object to change the wearer’s aura enough to understand Pokémon language. She ‘enchanted’ a chip that’s inside the ornaments.” She tapped the heart pendant. Starlight nodded in understanding.

“Well, now that this is over, it’s better if we return to our cities. I have my work and studies to do.” Twilight said, making half of the group roll their eyes. The Psychic Leader continued, oblivious to the gesture. “I’ll teleport Spike here so the two of you can start your journey together. In the meantime, Fairy, it’d be better if you prepared yourself for the journey.”

Everyone nodded and congratulated the new trainers before leaving, the only ones still in the lab being Twilight, Spike, Fairy and the Eevee twins. “Alakazam.” She released her Pokémon again. “Teleport me and Spike to the Gym, please.” Alakazam nodded and prepared for the jump while Spike returned Shade and waved good-bye. In a flash of Psychic-typed energy, they were gone.

“Well, better go home and prepare ourselves as well.” Fairy said and scooped Prism up. “Let’s go.”





Fairy opened the door to her house, and walked towards her room, almost walking into her sibling on the way. “Oooh, who’s this cutie?” Lightning gushed when she took sight of Prism.

“That’s Prism, my new Pokémon.” Fairy said, lifting Prism slightly. “We’re going to take on the Gym Challenge together along with Spike and Shade – his own Eevee; as well as testing the new translating device Professor Moon Dancer created.”

Lightning nodded. “Good for you. Unfortunately my journey wasn’t one of the best. I prefer to stay at home and help at the school anyways. Hey, maybe you’ll find Amber and Scarlett.”

Fairy nodded. Her sisters Amber and Scarlett went on their journeys years before, strangely starting in Hoenn instead of Equus; Amber because it was the best place to start competing at contests, and Scarlett because she really wanted a few Pokémon that are more easily found there than at Equus. Now though, after going through multiple other regions and visiting only between Contest and League Seasons, they were finally having their journey through Equus. “Maybe. Better prepare for my journey.”

Lightning nodded and stepped aside for Fairy to walk towards her bedroom. “Ok, gonna need a few clothes, swim gear, towel, food, brushes, scissors, charger, notebook, pencils, laptop…” She trailed off as she walked around the room, ditching her lab coat and gathering everything she thought she would need while Prism watched from her bed. A few minutes later, she was ready for her journey. “Huh, lighter than I thought it’d be.” She hummed as she walked out of her room, Prism following her closely.

The moment she stepped outside, she found Spike, Shade, Twilight, Alakazam, Aguion, Moon Dancer and Lightning waiting for her. “We came here to say good-bye.” Aguion answered the unasked question.

Fairy smiled fondly and walked to the group. “See you two when we challenge you, I guess.” She told the Gym leaders before turning to Lightning and Moon Dancer. “I promise I’ll visit when I return to challenge my brother.” Her sister and the Professor nodded and she turned to Spike. “I guess we’re partners for now on.”

The boy nodded with a smile. “You said that as if that’s a bad thing. Good bye, guys. We’ll visit.” He told the others before turning and walking away, Fairy and their Pokémon following closely.

“So, what are we going to do? We need to get stronger if we want to challenge the Gyms. We’ll need to capture a few Pokémon too, and test the translators with every species we encounter along the way.” Fairy noted.

Spike thought for a moment. “I suggest we train for a bit and get more Pokémon before challenging Applejack’s Gym in Appleloosa.”

“Why hers?” Shade asked, walking beside his trainer.

“Good idea. She’s a Grass Gym Leader; we wouldn’t be in either advantage nor disadvantage. Well, unless she has a Pokémon like a Trevenant or a Breloom.” Fairy nodded.

“Makes sense. Still, let’s try to find a Flying-type or a Fire-type Pokémon. That way we’ll have someone with us that has some advantage.” Prism agreed. “Hey, why don’t you look us up on your Pokédexes? Just to see our entry and moves.”

Fairy and Spike stopped and pulled out their Pokédexes, pointing them at the Eevee twins to see their information and moves.

“Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Current studies show it can evolve into an incredible total of eight different species of Pokémon.
Gender: Female
Ability: Adaptability
Moves: Tackle, Flail, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, Shadow Ball.”
“Gender: Male
Ability: Anticipation
Moves: Detect, Quick Attack, Sand Attack, Growl, Bite.”

“Huh, looks like we won’t need to look out for Trevenant after all.” Fairy mused. “How did you learn Shadow Ball?”

“A good Pokémon from another trainer taught me.” Prism answered.

“So you can learn TM moves without the TM, if you have someone to teach you it? Interesting.” Spike said.

“We can find Flying-types on the plains near Ponyville while we go to Appleloosa. And a few good Grass-types near the orchards of both cities. Maybe a few Normal-types too.” Fairy noted.

“Sounds like a plan.” Spike said with a nod and a smile, happy they were finally starting their journey with a Pokémon they liked and also with a good childhood friend.

‘The Equestrian League better prepare, because our train is coming with no brakes at all.’
> Plain Surprises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fairy and Spike slowly walked down a road that crossed the plains between Mt. Canterlot and White Tail Woods, and after the forest was Ponyville; where they’d take a day to see the city and then go to Appleloosa. The plain was filled with beautiful flowers scattered here and there, and they could also see a few lone trees and some Pokémon playing around; however they felt they should get a bit nearer to Ponyville before trying to capture a Pokémon, so they’d be close to a Pokécenter to cure their Pokémon in case they did not have enough potions.

Prism and Shade were walking beside them while eagerly looking around. The trainers never felt they needed to recall their Pokémon, and the twins never complained about being outside the whole time; and they were enjoying each other’s company, so that was a plus. “Hey, how Ponyville looks like?” Prism asked suddenly.

Spike fell silent for a moment before answering. “Well, it’s smaller than Canterlot, but bigger than Appleloosa. And the residents are really close to each other; it’s one of those cities where everyone knows each other and can count on anyone to help them if they need.”

“That sounds nice.” Shade commented.

Spike and Fairy nodded. “It is. I used to live there when I was a kid, but I moved to Canterlot along with my family when I was eight. There I met Professor Moon Dancer, and a few months before I turned ten I asked if I could help her with her research. When I proved I was useful, she let me.” Fairy said. “Spike and I are childhood friends actually. And since Twilight visits Moon Dancer rather regularly, he always came with her to see me.”

“Why did you move?” Prism asked, smiling at a Jumpluff that waved to her. Fairy heard the Jumpluff shout “Hi!” and made a mental note to add it to the list of Pokémon she can understand with the help of her pendant.

“My brother replaced the Gym Leader there, and Lightning got a job on the Trainer School. When she’s not building pixel arts or defeating bosses at RPGs, she teaches abut berries and what you can do with them, and also about the challenges that happen in Equus, like the Regional Conference, the Grand Festival, the many races, etc.” Fairy explained. 

“Ah.” Prism nodded in understanding.

As they walked, they failed to notice a small figure observing them for a distance. The figure tilted its head to the side and decided to follow the group, curious.

Spike looked up to the sky and frowned. “The sun is starting to set.” He observed.

Fairy tapped her Xtransceiver, and the hour was displayed on the screen. “It’s almost five o’clock. We can walk some more, but we can stop and prepare for the night if you want.”

“We should find a tree. Then we can prepare our things there and we’ll be protected from the morning sun under the shade if we rest on the right side.” Shade suggested. Unfortunately, both Fairy and Spike forgot to buy a tent, and promised to buy one when they reached Ponyville.

“Good idea.” Spike nodded in agreement.

The group quickly found a large tree near the road, and decided to stop there and wait for the morning to come. They put down their bags, prepared their sleeping bags beside each other, grabbed a few sticks and dry grass that were around to make a small campfire and started to chat, waiting for the night to fall.

The figure from before quietly found a place for itself on top of the tree, where it could see the strange group from above.





Fairy groaned and slowly opened her eyes as she woke up. She half expected her eyes to be assaulted by the glaring sun above, but was pleasantly surprised when she noticed that their little plan had worked; both she, Spike and the twins were under the shade of the tree instead of under the sun’s rays.

She stood up and stretched before looking around, finally noticing that Spike and Shade weren’t with her and Prism. The girl looked around and spotted the boys chatting near a portable stove where Spike was making scrambled eggs and bacon for both humans. Fairy smiled and gently shook Prism awake, the Eevee opening her eyes before releasing a cute yawn.

Blinking, she shifted her gaze to her twin and his trainer, and smiled before quickly making her wait to the foo- I mean, the duo, causing Fairy to chuckle in amusement.

“Good morning.” The two girls said to the boys, getting their attention.

“Morning to you too.” Spike said back with a smile and Shade simply nodded his head. “It’s almost ready, and there’s PokéChow in my backpack.”

“Great. Come on, Prism; let’s get yours and your brother’s food.” Fairy nodded to her Pokémon, who nodded back and both of them walked towards Spike’s backpack to grab the PokéChow and two bowls for them. The girl put a reasonable amount in both bowls and carried both to Spike, who was already putting the bacon and eggs in two plates.

When everyone had their plate and were ready to eat, they were startled by a loud cracking sound followed by a yelp, making them turn to whatever made the sound; though they didn’t expect to see an orange and red multi-tailed fox swearing to herself.

“Freaking branch can’t even support my weight for a night.” The Vulpix muttered quietly, rubbing her head to alleviate the pain the fall had inflicted on her.

“Yeah, they don’t make branches like they used to.” Fairy joked before looking at the Fox Pokémon in concern. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fi-” The Pokémon started only to yelp and jump in fright when she realized who was talking to her before darting behind the tree.

“Whoa, calm down! I’m not going to hurt you.” Fairy said with a chuckle. The Vulpix looked at Fairy from her hiding spot just to hide again a second later, making Fairy giggle at the shy Pokémon.

Instead of calling for Vulpix, Fairy walked to Spike’s bag and grabbed another bowl the boy brought with him in case of emergencies and put some Chow there before setting it on the ground a bit near the others. “There’s some food here for you, if you want.” She stated calmly before returning to her own breakfast.

Vulpix peered from the side of the tree and saw that the humans and their Pokémon were eating normally, like there was nothing out of place aside from the extra bowl on the ground. She slowly but surely started to walk out of her hiding place and towards the Chow the human girl prepared for her. She noticed the human with pink hair looked at her from the corner of her eye, but didn’t make any move to try and capture the Fox Pokémon.

Vulpix came to the conclusion that they weren’t bad people, and walked to the bowl a bit faster, stopping inches from it when she noticed the group was looking at her, but still kept forwards and reached the bowl. She eyed it suspiciously for a moment before taking a tentative nibble, making her go wide eyed and smile as she chew the food.

“Nice of you for joining us.” Spike chuckled, slightly surprising the Fire-type but thankfully not making her flee.

“I didn’t expect to see a Vulpix so early in our travels. They and Ninetales are both on my ‘Best Fire-types’ list.” Fairy mused as she finished her meal a few seconds before the others, smiling and giggling at the Vulpix who was stuffing her mouth full. “I’m Fairy, by the way.”

“I’m Spike.” The boy nodded, taking hold of both the plates and the Eevee’s bowls, putting them into a plastic sack and putting them near his backpack, along with the frying pans he used and the portable stove, waiting for Vulpix to finish her meal.

“I’m Prism, and this is Shade!” The female Eevee shouted in excitement, wrapping a forepaw around her brother’s neck.

“Hey.” Shade grunted, tapping Prism’s paw for her to release him.

The Vulpix looked at them and swallowed. “Um… Hi.” The Fire-type said quietly, gaining a few smiles and nods.

“A shy one, huh?” Prism giggled along with the others. “Well, it was a pleasure, Vulpix, but we have to get going. We want to reach Ponyville today.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Spike said with an agreeing nod and took Vulpix bowl just after she finished eating, putting it into the sack along with the others.

Vulpix blinked in surprise. She already knew the humans somehow could talk to their Pokémon, as she observed the previous night as they talked, but what really surprised her was another thing entirely. ‘They’re… not going to try and capture me?’

Fairy wrapped her sleeping bag and stuffed it in her purse before noticing the Fox Pokémon’s perplexed face, making her chuckle slightly, guessing what the Pokémon was thinking. “Since I can understand Pokémon because of the pendant I’m using, I decided that I’ll only capture Pokémon that are certain they want to come with me, and the only way for that is by gaining their trust first. I don’t want to take away a member of a family, after all. I may be an asshole, but not that much of an asshole.” She joked, winking at the Vulpix who giggled slightly. “That’s one of the reasons I chose Prism as my partner, actually. We know each for months.”

“I’m on the same boat as her, actually.” Spike said as her rummaged through his own bag, making sure he was leaving nothing behind. “So no, we’re not capturing you against your will. But, if you do want to come with us we won’t complain.” He pointed out with a shrug.

“Ok, I’m good to go.” Fairy said as she put her purse’s strap around her neck, and noticed that Spike also had his on his back. “Bye, Vulpix.” She said with a wave to the small Fire-type before walking away with Spike and the Eevee following her.

Vulpix looked at them as they slowly became smaller and smaller in her vision, before looking at her surroundings; she lived on that flowery plain for most of her life, after she left her mom so she could grow stronger alone. Sighing out, she looked down to the ground, Fairy and Spike’s words echoing through her mind.

She stood there for a few moments before nodding with finality and running towards the group of nice trainers that where kind enough to give her food and that thought about the Pokémon first, preferring to have Pokémon that trusted and were certain they’d go with them.

And she’d be damned if she wasn’t one of those Pokémon.





The teenagers walked through the road once more, already feeling that they were near White Tail Woods and Ponyville, when they found another person walking the road in the other direction, going to Canterlot. She had icy blue hair and was using a shirt of the same color, with ‘Hail’ written at the front, and grey denim pants.

The girl looked at them and smiled. “Hey! You two coming from Canterlot?” She asked, stopping in front of the group.

“Yep. I’m Fairy, and this’ Prism.” Fairy replied, bending to hold Prism on her arms, who waved happily to the girl.

“I’m Spike, this is Shade.” The boy and the Eevee nodded.

The girl nodded. “I’m Icicle Star. My sister Lupine and I are taking on the Gym challenge, and I told her to go ahead while my Pokémon rested after our latest Gym battle in Ponyville.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “Oh! I remember you! You used a Delibird against Twilight’s Medicham and won.”

Icicle blinked. “Yeah, actually. How did you- wait, aren’t you the Gym Leader’s assistant?” She asked.

Spike grinned. “And her brother too. She and Professor Moon Dancer convinced me into taking the Gym Challenge myself while I helped the Professor into testing a device for her.”

“Cool!” Icicle said with a smile. “Wait, you’re coming down from Canterlot, which means you haven’t had your first battle yet, right? What about we have one before I go?”

Spike shook his head. “No thanks. If you managed to defeat Twilight that means you’re way too strong for us.”

“Aw…” Icicle slumped before turning to Fairy. “You?”

Fairy opened her mouth to reply when she heard a rustle from nearby. Automatically she turned to investigate, and had to stifle a laugh. “Your tails are showing.” She called out.

Vulpix yelped and quickly pulled her tails closer to her body. “Crap…” She muttered before sighing and walking out of her hiding spot. “Hey…”

“Oooh, what a cute little one!” Icicle gushed and jumped towards the Vulpix, who yelped in fright again and bolted to hide behind Fairy with her ears lowered. Icicle immediately cringed and stood up. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you…” She then blinked when she noticed the Vulpix hiding spot of choice. “She’s yours?”

Fairy giggled and kneeled down to pet Vulpix’s head. “No, I met her earlier today.” Vulpix purred under the girl’s touch. “So, why did you follow us? Do you want to come with us?”

Vulpix opened he mouth and eyes to respond, but hesitated and bit her lip. Was that what she really wanted? “I… don’t know…” She muttered.

Fairy continued to pet her with a calm smile. “It’s alright, just think about it ok?” She stood up after receiving a nod form the Fox Pokémon. She looked at Icicle and blinked, an idea forming in her mind. “Hey Icicle, do you have a Pokémon that isn’t so strong for Vulpix to battle?” She asked, gaining the attention of both the girl and the Pokémon. “I think it’ll help her make her mind about coming with us.” She explained before turning to Vulpix. “What do you say?”

Vulpix tilted her head to the right, thinking it over before nodding. “Sure.”

Fairy smiled brightly. “Great! Icicle?”

Icicle nodded. “Sure, I captured one recently and he doesn’t have much experience with battling.”

Spike nodded and walked out of the road while the girls distanced themselves from one another. “Alright, this will be a one on one battle; the first Pokémon to be knocked out loses.”

“Alright Snorunt, I choose you!” Icicle smiled, throwing a Pokéball high into the air. The ‘ball opened and released a wave of white energy, which turned into a little black Pokémon with a yellow cloak that covered his entire body, forming a pyramid of circular base with blue eyes, legs, arms and a big mouth.

“Let’s do this!” The Snow Hat Pokémon shouted.

“Vulpix, show them what you got!” Fairy called with a grin and Vulpix jumped in front of her.

“Alright!” She shouted as well.

“By the way, what you got?” Fairy asked sheepishly, almost causing the Pokémon to faceplant.

“Ember, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Feint Attack and Confuse Ray.” The Pokémon listed.

“Ok.” The girl nodded before turning to her opponent. “Your move.”

“If you insist. Ice Shard!” Icicle commanded. Snorunt jumped high and spun when he reached his highest point, creating multiple shards of ice that he hurled at Vulpix.

“Dodge!” Fairy shouted when she saw the attack coming. Vulpix quickly jumped to the right and started to run as the Icicles embedded themselves in the road behind her. “Now use Quick Attack!” Vulpix nodded and bolted towards Snorunt, leaving white energy in her wake; the Fox Pokémon shoulder-slammed the Snow Hat Pokémon, sending him tumbling back a few feet.

Snorunt grunted in pain as he stood up and glared at Vulpix. “Icy Wind!” His trainer shouted and he blew a gust of frozen air, making Vulpix slide on the road and grit her teeth.

“Hold on tight!” Fairy shouted as she desperately tried to come up with a solution for Vulpix predicament. “Aha! Confuse Ray!” Vulpix widened her eyes before glaring at Snorunt, a sphere of light appearing between her eyes and darting forwards, spinning rapidly around the Ice-type and confusing him.

“Snorunt, no!” Icicle shouted in worry. “Quick, Double Team!” Snorunt tried to shake himself to clear his head, but only managed to trip and fall to the floor. “Try Bite!” Snorunt jumped to his feet and tried to attack Vulpix, but because of the confusion he stumbled more than he ran, and Vulpix easily jumped out of the way with a command from Fairy.

“Good! Use Ember!” The pink-haired girl commanded, and Vulpix smiled at her before releasing a barrage of embers at the Ice-type, making him cry out in pain and sending him high into the air. Snorunt impacted the floor with a thud and weakly stood up because of the Fire-typed attack that dealt super-effective damage on him. “Finish it with Feint Attack!” Vulpix ran towards Snorunt with a shadowy aura forming around her, decided in winning the battle.

“Snorunt, dodge!” Icicle cried out and Snorunt happily complied, jumping to his left to evade the attack. Vulpix smirked and disappeared into thin air, making Icicle and her Pokémon gasp. “What?! Where is she?!” The answer came a second later, with Vulpix dropping her invisibility, but maintaining her Dark-typed aura, and jump-kicking Snorunt with both her hind paws. Snorunt yelped a last time before falling to the floor with swirls replacing his eyes.

“Snorunt is unable to fight! The winner is Vulpix and Fairy!” Spike announced, causing the girl and Pokémon to cheer.

“You did a good job, Snorunt. Now rest.” Icicle said with a smile as she returned her knocked-out Pokémon. “I must say, Fairy, for a beginner you know how to fight.” She commented, walking to the other girl.

Fairy laughed sheepishly. “I always liked Pokémon, and I never miss any league when they’re transmitted on TV.” She shrugged. “Guess I learned a thing or another. But I’m sure you’d have defeated us if you had used a Pokémon you trained some more.”

Icicle nodded. “Yeah, Delibird would have had an easier time; he’s way faster than Snorunt.”

Fairy nodded and looked at Vulpix, who was blushing with all the praise Prism was throwing at her. “So, Vulpix?” She called out, gaining the Fire-type’s attention. “Did you like the battle?”

Vulpix looked at the girl and stopped to think. Yeah, she did like the battle; jumping out of the way of attacks, throwing her own, and Fairy’s commands that helped her a lot, she had completely forgotten about her Confuse Ray when she was being blown back by the Icy Wind, for example. She smiled and looked up. “Yeah, I did. A lot, actually.” She said.

Fairy nodded. “So… would you like to come with me? The first Gym I’m going to fight is a Grass-type; you’d help me a lot.” She asked again. Vulpix looked down again, but quickly looked back up and nodded with certainty, making Fairy smile. “Well, since I gave a name to Prism, I think I’m going to do that to all my Pokémon, if they want.”

Vulpix nodded. “Sure!”

Fairy took a Pokéball and held it in front of the Fox Pokémon. “Then welcome to the team, Flare.” Vulpix’s smile grew and she practically used the ‘ball to learn Headbutt, turning into red energy and being sucked inside the capsule, the Pokéball didn’t even shake before stopping with a ‘ding’. Fairy stared at the Pokéball that now held Flare and a smile slowly came to her face.

She quickly stood up and threw the ball a few inches in the air before catching it with her left hand and twirled, coming to a stop by thrusting her hand holding the ‘ball forwards and holding the other in front of her face in a ‘V’ and winking. All that while saying “Alright! I caught a Vulpix!” To complete the scene, Prism jumped on her shoulder and thrust her right paw upwards with a “Yeah!”

Spike and Shade facepalmed while Icicle stifled a laugh. “You two are going to keep doing that, aren’t you?” Shade mumbled with his paw still on his face.

“Yes. Yes we are.” Fairy and Prism said together, high-fiving.

Icicle shook her head, unable to contain her giggles anymore. “I hope we see each other again. Now I have to challenge Canterlot’s gym and get my third badge!” She shouted confidently.

Fairy nodded. “Good luck against my brother; Delibird is going to be at a disadvantage against him and his Electric-type Pokémon, but maybe you can use him against Emolga.” She warned.

Icicle nodded in thanks. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Vulpix, come on out!” Fairy shouted and released her newest Pokémon. The Fox Pokémon looked at her with a smile.

“Well, see you all someday! I need to get going.” Icicle said with a wave while walking towards Mt. Canterlot. She suddenly stopped and turned to shout at the group. “And White Tail Woods has a lot of Flying-types!”

The group nodded in thanks and waved to her. “See ya!” “See you someday!” They shouted their goodbyes and Fairy turned to Flare. “So, you’re walking or you rather stay in the Pokéball?” Flare tilted her head to the side. “Some Pokémon would rather walk than stay in the ‘balls. I’m giving you the choice, but I’ll need to return you when we reach the city so we won’t crowd the walkway.”

Flare released an ‘ah’. “I think I’ll stay in the Pokéball. The battle tired me out.”

Fairy nodded in understanding. She moved to grab Flare’s Pokéball, she thought twice and pulled out her Pokédex and a potion instead so she could scan the Vulpix; pointing the ‘Dex at the Fire-type, the device beeped before telling the Pokémon’s info. Fairy listened to the machine-like voice as she sprayed the potion on her Pokémon.

“Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. Inside Vulpix's body burns a flame that never goes out. During the daytime, when the temperatures rise, this Pokémon releases flames from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot.
Gender: Female
Ability: Flash Fire
Moves: Quick Attack, Ember, Confuse Ray, Feint Attack, Tail Whip, Flare Blitz.”

Flare’s eyes bulged. “Wait, Flare Blitz?! I honestly didn’t know I had this one.”

Fairy shook off her own shock and looked at the Pokémon. “It’s probably your Egg Move. From what I heard from a few Pokémon on the Lab when we were first testing the translating devices, a lot of Pokémon didn’t know their Egg Moves until they either activated on accident or someone told them they knew.” Shade nodded in confirmation, remembering that he only discovered he could use Detect many months after hatching. “Heh, now your name is kind of ironic.” The girl commented, causing Vulpix to giggle and nod in understanding. “We’ll call you for lunch later, for now return.” Fairy held Flare’s Pokéball and a beam shot from the ‘ball, returning the Fox Pokémon.

Spike tapped Fairy in the shoulder while Shade sat on his backpack with his head forepaws on the boy’s shoulder. “Let’s go, it’ll be better if we reach White Tail Woods before lunchtime; that way we’ll reach Ponyville before sundown and we can sleep at the Pokécenter.” He suggested.

“Good idea.” Fairy nodded in agreement before holding Prism on her arms, who was trying – and failing – to keep on the girl’s shoulders.

With that, the group walked towards the forest and the city beyond it, trying to guess what is going to happen with them as their journey continues.

“Dibs on the next Pokémon.” Spike said quickly.

“Dammit!”
> The Bird and the Spider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“If I had any regrets from deciding to stick with you guys, they’re long gone by now.” Flare mumbled after swallowing a mouthful of PokéChow. 

Fairy and Prism giggled. “Buried under tons of food?” the trainer asked her Vulpix before taking the last bite of her own meal.

“Yep.”

“Hey guys, hurry up ok? I want to get to Ponyville soon.” Spike called, already packing up.

“Why? I mean, we’re not exactly on a hurry, as long as we get there today then it’s fine, and White Tail Woods isn’t very big on this side; the northwestern part, though...” Fairy asked her travelling companion, standing up and walking to her purse. “Then again, I really want to start training you two.” She mused.

“Why wait?” Prism asked her trainer.

“Mostly so we can spend a day or three on the same spot for training, something we can’t do now because both of us are dumbasses and forgot our tents.” The girl pointed out.

“That and we’ll probably find some Pokémon on the way to town. I really want something to fight Applejack with, and Gym battles are always three on three.” Spike explained. “Sure, there are some Leaders who do two on two battles when the challenger has only two Pokémon, and Applejack is one of them, but I don’t want to need that. If what Icicle told us was right, then I want a Spearow or something; there must be a few Bug-types here in this forest as well.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” The female Eevee said with a curt nod.

“Alright, everyone ready?” The boy asked to the rest of the group. Flare nodded and walked to Fairy’s side, Prism jumped to her trainer’s shoulder, finally managing to keep herself there, and Shade mimicked his sister’s actions with his own trainer. “Then let’s go.”

They walked calmly through the woods, paying attention to their surroundings as they made small talk. Fairy and Spike were mainly catching up with what happened to them the last few days while Flare and Prism talked about the Eevee’s life on the lab. Shade sometimes joined the two female’s conversation to tell his point of view of a certain event, but most of the time he just kept silent and looked around, trying to spot something interesting.

“Hey, are you two sure this is the right way?” The male Eevee asked with a frown. “Not that I doubt your sense of direction, but I still want to make sure.”

“it’s ok, and I think we are. It’s kind of hard to tell from here.” Spike frowned before turning to Fairy. “Could you try from a higher point-of-view, please?”

Fairy smirked and threw her purse to Spike. “Sure.” She walked towards a nearby tree and inspected it, Prism quickly jumping down. Without the extra cargo, Fairy quickly started to climb, like it was something natural to her.

Flare stared at the tree for a moment before tilting her head to the side. “Huh. That happened.”

 “Our trainer is cool, huh?” Prism asked her fellow fox.

Spike chuckled. “Yeah, before Fairy learned how to operate and build the machines she spent a lot of time with the Pokémon on the lab. She used to play a lot with them, and picked up a few things during the years; some by ‘accident’, some because she asked them to teach her.” He shook his head with a smile. “Seriously, I think the only thing she didn’t learn from them was actual Moves.”

“I did try to learn a few-” Fairy called from above before jumping down to them. The moment she impacted the floor she threw herself forwards into a roll before stopping on a knee. “But Lucario said my Aura wasn’t strong enough to power the Moves, or else I’d be throwing Aura Spheres like there’s no tomorrow.” She shrugged her shoulders as she stood up.

“That’s… a slightly scaring sight.” Spike admitted.

Fairy rolled her eyes. “Anyways, I’m pretty sure we are on the right path, but I found some locals up ahead, if you want to ask them.” She held her pendant up. “Besides, they’re a Flying and a Bug.”

They walked towards the place Fairy said she found the Pokémon from the forest, and a short time after that they could hear their voices. “-can’t believe it fled.” One of them said.

“It’s not my fault your web is so weak.” The other replied.

The group peeked through a bush and found a brown and cream-colored bird and a green spider with six yellow and dark green-colored legs looking at a ripped spider web. ‘Probably a trap set up by the Spinarak to catch their prey.’ Spike and Fairy thought.

The Spinarak turned to glare at her Pidgey companion. “It’s not weak, it just isn’t foolproof. It was probably a Weedle, and it ripped the web to escape; or a Wurple. If it was a Caterpie, it wouldn’t have escaped.”

“Whatever, but we have nothing to eat now.” The Pidgey sighed.

Prism took that moment to step out of the bush, the others from the group following her. ”Excuse me, but could you tell us the way to Ponyville?” The Eevee asked.

Both wild Pokémon jumped from the sudden voice, but quickly recomposed themselves. They turned to face the newcomer, and the Pidgey narrowed her eyes slightly at the sight of the humans. “Yeah, it’s that way.” She pointed a wing to a certain direction, the same they were already walking towards.

“So I was right, then; thank you.” Fairy nodded. “Hey, what happened?” She pointed to the web.

“Intelligent and/or resourceful prey happened.” The Spinarak sighed, shaking her head. “Now we’ll need to follow this moron’s plan to find food.”

“Hey!” The Tiny Bird Pokémon shouted. “I’ll have you know my plans aren’t all that bad!”

The String Spit Pokémon deadpanned. “Last time we followed a plan of yours, we wandered inside Beedrill’s territory.” Everyone winced. “And after managing to flee from the Beedrill, you attacked the first Caterpie that appeared in front of us, which led to their parent – who were fluttering no more than four meters away – to throw us across the forest with Confusion. So hell yeah your plans are bad!”

Fairy pursed her lips. “I don’t know if I should feel bad, but I really want to laugh right now.” She mused. “Actually, I have another thing to ask.”

“Which is…?” The Pidgey trailed off.

“Well, we’re travelling around Equus to see if these things can translate Pokéspeech, which seems to be working-” She said while pointing to her pendant and Spike’s bracelet; both Pokémon blinked when they realized the humans could understand them the whole time. “-and to take on the Gym Challenge. The next Gym is Grass; Spike here needs a Pokémon with Type advantage and I need another to complete three so I can challenge the Leader without her having to go easy on me.” The girl smirked. “I’m sure you already worked out my request.”

“No.” The Normal/Flying-Type said firmly.

“We have food.” Spike offered.

“Still n-” “Sure thing.” The Bug/Poison interrupted her friend.

“What the hell?!” The Pidgey screeched.

“Think for a moment, okay? We can’t grow stronger if all our foes only know Tackle, and we’d probably live better with them than in this shithole; it could be fun, even. What are holding you back? The flock that doesn’t give a single shit for its members? Wasn’t that the reason you started hunting with me in the first place?” The Spinarak countered.

Pidgey stood still for a moment before sighing. “Alright… but if you two really want us in your team, you’ll need to be able to actually catch us.”

Fairy and Spike looked at each other before smirking and nodding. “So, a double battle?” The boy asked, receiving a nod from the wild Pokémon. “Alright then, let’s get ready.”

Both sides put a few feet of distance from each other before the wilds entered their battle stances, the Spinarak clicking her mandibles together and the Pidgey flying above her partner. Fairy turned to her Vulpix. “You’ll just watch this time, okay?” Flare nodded and the girl called her starter.  “Alright Prism, show them what you got!”

“Let’s go!” The Eevee cried out happily and took her own stance.

“Are you and all your Pokémon going to do that every time?” Spike sweatdropped.

“Yep.”

“Figures…” Spike sighed, paused to think for a moment before sighing once again. “Screw it. Shade, battle cry!” He called for his own starter while ignoring Fairy’s grin.

“Let’s do this.” The male Eevee said calmly, walking to the battleground and taking a stance similar to his sister’s, but with the paws in the reverse order. While Prism was crouched with her right forepaw slightly forwards and left hind paw a bit back, Shade had his left forepaw forwards and right hind paw back.

“You need to be a bit more enthusiastic, Shade.” Prism told her brother.

“No thank you, that’s your job; mine is keeping you from killing yourself.” Shade snarked.

“Ready?” The Pidgey called;  when the group nodded, she smirked. “Then go!” She shouted and immediately surged forwards in a Quick Attack aimed at Prism.

“Quick Attack, intercept her!” Spike called. Shade jumped in front of Prism and impacted Pidgey before she reached his sister. The bird kept flapping her wings to push the male Eevee back, but he grounded his paws and refused to move an inch. “Bite!” Shade pushed the Pidgey with all his strength and tried to bite her, his mouth clacking with Dark-typed energy, but the Pidgey pulled up at the right time and managed to escape.

“Tackle the Spinarak!” Fairy suddenly shouted and her Eevee took off with speed that rivaled a Quick Attack, crossing the field in seconds and making the Spinarak cancel the Poison Sting she was preparing in favor to use String Shot from her rear, pulling herself to a branch. However, Prism jumped to the side, to a tree, and jumped again to gain more altitude, slamming on the String Spit Pokémon and sending her back down.

The Pidgey saw her ally in distress and fired off a Gust to force Prism back a few feet. Spike saw his opportunity. “Quick Attack again! Use a tree like Prism did!” Shade nodded and ran towards a slightly bent tree and sped off, leaving a trail of white energy behind him. He ran to a branch and jumped towards the Flying-type, but the Pidgey noticed his approach and dodged at the last second. She returned the attack with a Tackle which sent him back to solid ground, the impact kicking off a cloud of dust that block the vision for a few seconds.

Spinarak shook her head and launched another String Shot, pulling herself upwards so she would have a clear vision of her targets. She located Shade and shot a volley of Poison Stings. “Dodge!” Spike shouted. Shade jumped back and evaded the line of fire, running away from the rain of purple needles. Pidgey took that moment to appear in front of him a few feet away with a Quick Attack, speeding to impact the Eevee.

“Detect and then Bite!” “Stop the Spinarak with Shadow Ball!” Spike and Fairy shouted respectively. Prism quickly gathered Ghost energy in a ball in front of her mouth and fired at the Poison-type, impacting her and launching her off the tree; at the same time Shade’s eyes flashed for a second and he jumped over his attacker, twisting himself mid-air and clamping his mouth shut on her wing at the same time he fell on top of her, making the Pidgey cry out in pain and crash.

“Son of a- you’re going to pay for that!” She grunted and threw a Sand Attack at close range, causing Shade to yelp and release her, stepping back to rub his eyes. The Pidgey used the distraction to fire a Gust, launching the Normal-type into a tree. 

“Heh. You hit quite hard.” He grunted and stood up with a grin. "This is getting pretty fun.” The Flying-type couldn’t help but grin back before surging forwards with another Quick Attack.

“Detect!” Spike called out. Shade pressed himself against the tree and jumped upwards at the last moment, and kicking the tree to be launched over the Tiny Bird Pokémon. She squawked and tried to change course, but was unable to and slammed the tree beak-first. Shade winced at the sound of the impact.

“Tackle!” Fairy called and Prism ran towards the Spinarak, slamming into her and sending the Bug-type flying near her brother. The String Spit Pokémon saw her opportunity and shot a string that wrapped around Shade, and started to use Absorb.

Shade grunted in pain and tried to escape the attack, but his strength was being steadily sapped by the Spinarak. “Bite the string and throw her off!” He gladly obeyed his trainer’s command and bit down on the string, spinning the Bug-type around himself and threw her at her comrade, and she slammed on the Pidgey with a squeak.

“That’s it! No more playing around!” The Pidgey screeched as she stood up and glared at the Eevee twins. She quickly sped off with another Quick Attack, aiming for the one with less ways to hurt her; Prism held her ground with a grin.

“Keep dodging and hit her with Tail Whip, lower her defense!”  Fairy called. Prism’s grin grew and she jumped out of the way with incredible speed, whipping her tail around and hitting her opponent with it. Pidgey turned around and tried again, obtaining the same results. They kept at this for a while and Fairy turned to Spike. “Keep the Spinarak occupied, we got the Pidgey.”

Spike nodded and turned to the battle. “Quick Attack the Spinarak!” Shade ran towards the String Spit Pokémon to try and attack her, but she had another idea and fired a String Shot on his paws; the Eevee gasped as his forelegs were bind together and fell forwards, rolling a few feet. “Dodge! Now!” He quickly tore the string and jumped to his feet in time to evade a spider web that had electricity coursing through it.

The Eevee furrowed his brows. “Electroweb? Huh.”

“We trained our egg moves together.” The Spinarak shrugged.

“Really? What’s hers?” He nodded to the Pidgey, who was getting pissed at the Catch the Eevee game she was ‘playing’ with Prism.

“You’ll see eventually.”  She chuckled. “Your trainer will be even more determined to catch her then.”

“Must be good then.” Shade nodded.

“Bite!” Spike shouted and Shade turned back to the Spinarak, mouth covered in shadows once again, and she jumped out of the way before wrapping the Eevee with silk in a Constrict. “Shade!” The boy gasped as the Eevee cried out in pain.

Fairy took a quick look at the other battle and called her Pokémon. “Enough, Prism! Attack Spinarak with a Shadow Ball!” The Eevee dodged her enemy one more time, gracefully twirling in the air before quickly firing a sphere of darkness at the Bug-type, sending her flying into a tree. The Spinarak shot her String Shot into a tree and pulled herself to safety, as one more hit would probably knock her out.

“Take this!” The Pidgey cried out and flew up high before doing a corkscrew and flying towards the female Eevee. Halfway through the tackle, she smirked and blue flames lit around her, making her opponents go wide-eyed.

“Brave Bird?!” Spike gasped.

“Let her close in!” Fairy called, an idea forming in her mind. Prism gulped and took a steading breath as she lowered herself into her battle stance. The Pidgey kept approaching, speed steadily increasing; when the Flying-type was just a few feet away Fairy made her move. “Jump and Synchronoise!” She roared. Her Eevee automatically jumped over her attacker and fired off a wave of discordant sound that impacted all Normal-types in the area, including her brother.

Both of them winced as the attack hit them, but Pidgey went wide eyed as her flight path changed, straight down. She gasped and desperately tried to correct her course, but wasn’t able to and ended up Brave Birding the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and cracking the local she impacted.

“Quick Attack the Spinarak!” Spike called and Shade shrugged off his pain, running to the tree that the Spinarak was hiding herself. He jumped on a tree and kicked to a low hanging branch before jumping to another, until he reached the Bug-type and shoulder-slammed her down to the ground.

Fairy took out her empty Pokéball and nodded to Spike. “You called dibs.” Spike nodded gratefully and took another empty Pokéball, eyeing the dust cloud concealing the Pidgey. “Figures.” She rolled her eyes.

Both of them pulled their arms back before throwing the ’balls straight to the Pokémon they were aiming for, both Pokéballs impacting their targets at the same time. They opened and sucked in the Pokémon before clamping shut and falling to the ground. Both of them eyed the ‘ball as they shook multiple times for a few seconds, until the finally went still and ding’ed to signal a successful capture.

Everyone present let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding and smiled and giggled, and the humans walked to the ‘balls that held their respective Pokémon. They bent down to grab the Pokéballs and Fairy smiled. “Alright! I caught a Spinarak!” She said with her little dance, Prism jumping to her shoulder with her “Yeah!”

Spike and Shade groaned and Flare snickered. “That was cute!” She giggled.

“Don’t encourage her.” Spike admonished the Vulpix.

“Spi~ike.” “Sha~ade.”

“Aw, hell no.” Both of them sighed.

“Do it.” Fairy and Prism told them with a wide grin.

“No.” The boys replied flatly.

“Do it.”

“No.”

“Do it.”

“No.”

“Do it!”

“No!”

“Do it!”

“FINE!” They both roared. Spike sighed. “Just, give me a moment to think of something that isn’t too ridiculous.” He stopped for a second before nodding. He put his left hand on his pocket and spun the ‘ball on his index finger, he then threw it upwards with the same finger and caught it with a simple movement of his hand, with the Pokéball pointing its button straight forwards. While he did that, Shade jumped on his shoulder, eyed the ‘ball and nodded with closed eyes when his trainer caught the capsule. “Alright then, I caught a Pidgey!”

The girls applauded them. “Not bad.” Fairy praised.

“Just don’t get used to it.” Spike said.

“Aw, you probably will be doing it on your own in a few months.” Fairy said with a smirk. She shook her head and held the Bug-type’s Pokéball forwards. “Alright, come on out.” The capsule opened and the bright light that came out formed the battered Bug-type, who looked at the human curiously. She nodded when she saw Fairy taking out a potion from her purse. “Come on, Prism. I’ll put a bit just to make it stop hurting, and then we’ll go to the Pokécenter to cure both of you completely there.”She took out her Pokédex with the potion and clicked the scan, setting it down to spray her potion on them.

Spike nodded and let the Pidgey out so he could do the same. “Good idea.” 

“Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon. The web spun by Spinarak can be considered its second nervous system. It is said that this Pokémon can determine what kind of prey is touching its web just by the tiny vibrations it feels through the web's strands.
Gender: Female
Ability: Swarm
Moves: String Shot, Electroweb, Absorb, Constrict, Poison Sting.”

“Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings.
Gender: Female
Ability: Keen Eye
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Sand Attack, Gust, Brave Bird.”

He examined both his Pokémon as he sprayed the potion on them, wincing a little as he inspected the Pidgey’s wounds. “Looks like Brave Birding the floor is as much of a good idea as it sounds.”

The Flying-type deadpanned. “No shit.”

The boy snorted. “You guys swear a lot more than I was expecting.”

She shrugged. “It’s amusing when you call someone ‘son of a bitch’ ad they think you’re saying ‘hello’.”

“Fair enough.” He admitted. “So, looks like everyone here is getting a nickname. You want one?”

“I’ll call you Silk. It’s simple, makes sense and sounds good.” Fairy told the Spinarak.

Silk nodded. “Yeah, I like it.”

The Pidgey looked at her friend and sighed. “Whatever. Go ahead.”

“Breeze?” He asked.

“Are you calling me weak?” She narrowed her eyes.

“No, but it’ll make your foe underestimate you until they get Brave Birded by a freaking Pidgeot.” He grinned.

She looked at him for a moment before smirking. “Alright, I can go for that. And it isn’t bad sounding, either.”

“Alright! Let’s get to Ponyville!” Fairy told them and turned to her Pokémon. “I’ll put you two on your ‘balls for now okay, I’ll let you out as soon as I can.”

“Same.” Spike nodded. Both of them aimed their Pokéballs at the Pokémon and returned them. “Let’s go?” He asked Fairy as she returned Flare as well.

“Yep.” She said with a nod, and both of them ran towards town.
> The Results of Training!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shopkeeper sat on his chair behind the counter, looking around the empty store. “Freaking slow days.” He grumbled with a sigh, slumping. He suddenly jolted up as the bell jingled, and turned to look at the pair who just entered his store. “Welcome to the Ponyville Pokémart, how can I help you?” He said cheerfully. Finally a client! Though he raised an eyebrow when he noted that the girl had an Eevee and a Spinarak in either shoulder, and a dozing Vulpix on top of her head, while the boy carried another Eevee and a Pidgey on his own shoulders.

The pink-haired girl of the pair turned to him and smiled, the Eevee on her shoulder waving a hello. “We’re looking for a big tent and some supplies.” She stated, walking closer.

The shopkeeper nodded his head to the other side of the store. “Tents are that way.”

“Thanks.” Both the boy and the girl said, walking towards where they were pointed to.

Prism jumped off from her trainer’s shoulder and padded towards the tents, staring at them. “You’re buying this, right?”

“And some more, yeah.” Spike nodded. “Looks like there are three types, though.”

Fairy looked at the options and tilted her head. “So either we buy a small for each of us, a medium for both, even if it get a bit cramped, or a big and actually have some space to stretch.”

Flare yawned before jumping to the floor, looking at the human duo. “Wait, you’re going to share a tent? Isn’t that… intimate or something?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Fairy said off-handedly.

“Every time we visit each other we sleep on the same bed; ever since we were kids, really.” Spike shrugged. “It won’t be so different.”

Shade snorted, shaking his head with a grin. “No wonder your brother teases you so much, Fairy.”

“Hush you.” Fairy playfully glowered. “And no, he does that because I did the same thing about him and Niner.”

“Let’s take the big one.” Spike decided. “More space, we can sleep with our Pokémon if they wish to, and it’s cheaper than two medium-sized tents.” He took the selected tent and nodded to the rest of the store. Fairy nodded and they both searched for the rest of the items they needed.





A few hours later, the duo was walking out of town with their Pokémon in tow, ready to tackle the road towards Appleloosa. “Alright, now that we’re here we’ll start training, right?” Flare mused.

“Yep. Though I thought we would spend some more time in Ponyville.” Fairy confirmed.

“Eh, we don’t really have anything to do here for now.” Spike shrugged. “Let’s walk a bit more and then start.”

“While we’re still traveling, why don’t you explain the league for us?” Silk offered from Fairy’s shoulder, Flare and Breeze nodding in agreement.

“Sure thing.” Fairy smiled. “The Rainbow League is a tournament that happens every two years, where the best Pokémon trainers of the region of Equus compete against each other. To qualify for it, you need to defeat eight of the eighteen different gyms of the region and collect their badges; in each gym you need to fight a three-on-three battle, knocking out every Pokémon of the Gym Leader. After the tournament, the champion will have the right to challenge the Elite Four, and if they win, the Regional Champion.”

“Why does it happen every two years instead of every year?” Flare asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Because our region is very big, and even when you try to gather the nearest badge, you will still spend nine to eleven months depending on where you start.” Spike explained. “And since a lot of trainers have a specific list of gyms they want to beat – like us – it almost always takes more than a year. We’re tackling the Grass, Flying, Normal, Fairy, Ice, Water, Electric and Psychic. On that order.”

Fairy nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’re ready for the Grass gym; Flying won’t be that hard despite Rainbow’s boastings, as will Normal. After that we’ll probably have Pokémon with type advantage.” Her eyes lit up. “Speaking of Pokémon… pattern?”

Spike furrowed his brows. “What?”

“You know, a team of Pokémon with a certain color, type or habitat…” Fairy clarified. “I’ll try and capture a Pokémon for each type, like I used to say back when we were kids.” She pointed to her two vixens and her spider. “Already covered Fire, bug and whatever the fuck Prism is going to turn into-”

Prism rolled her eyes. “I’m called Prism and my brother is Shade, everyone already knows we’re evolving into Espeon and Umbreon.”

“-Psychic then, so I only need fifteen more.” The girl concluded without missing a beat.

Spike stared at her for a moment.”… You still have that list, don’t you?”

Fairy took a small notepad and opened it, the words ‘Favorite Pokémon for Each Type’ written on the first page. “Yep. Think about it, we’ll always have at least two Pokémon with type advantage! And it won’t be as much work as some other people who catch everything in sight; we’ll be able to give a lot of attention to everyone!”

Spike went silent for a while and then sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

“Can we see it?” Prism asked, sniffing the notepad.

Fairy laughed. “Alright, but only the types you already cover, that way you won’t have spoilers of which Pokémon I’ll be searching for.” She shuffled through the pages of her list, stopping on Fire first.

Flare blushed when she saw ‘Ninetales’ written in big red letters. “So, Ninetales, Delphox, Houndoom and…” She blinked. “Quilava? Why not Typhlosion?”

“Quilava is cute, Typhlosion not so much. That happens with a lot of Pokémon on my list actually.” Fairy responded easily.

“That and you’re traumatized by that ‘Quilava is Mourning’ creepypasta.” Spike snickered, remembering the day he found Fairy crying on her bed, only to slap her upside the head with a deadpan when he found the reason why she was crying in the first place.

“That shit is at the same time horribly scary and extremely sad.” Fairy said drily. “That poor Quilava…” Spike chuckled as Fairy shuffled the pages again.

Silk smiled when she saw ‘Ariados’ written first on the Bug page. “Ariados, Galvantula, Armaldo and Volcarona. Aren’t humans supposed to be scared of spiders?”

“A few, not me.” Her trained smirked. Shuffle shuffle.

Prism blinked. “Espeon and Lugia. Why?”

“Fairy and Psychic are the types I hate the most, which is ironic since my nickname is Fairy and my favorite Pokémon is a Psychic-type.” Fairy grunted. “No matter how many times I look at the Pokémon of those types, I just can’t make myself like more than two or so.” She turned to her companion’s Pokémon. “If you care, Pidgeot’s here too; not sure about Umbreon since I already have Espeon written down.” Shade and Breeze shrugged.

For the next hour they walked as far as they could, making small talk, joking around and talking about their lives before they left to their newer Pokémon. At some point Fairy pulled her phone and put a few songs, loud enough for them to hear but not to scare nearby Pokémon.

“As the masses came
like a shadow through this land
and laid siege to all we ever had, yeah
I stood strong, I was honor bound
I stand defiant, I stand ever proud
I am the chosen
I am the guardian, the guardian…”

While Fairy sung, her vixens bobbed their heads to it while Breeze was all out head-banging, much to the amusement of Silk and Shade.

“Alright, let’s stop for now and train for a bit.” Spike called out with a chuckle, stepping out of the road and setting his backpack down near one of the few trees around the group.

“Aww…” Fairy and the other girls pouted. The trainer sighed as she put her purse near Spike’s bag. “Well, time to train.” Prism and Breeze perked up at this. “First we need to set a routine. We need to train you all at more than just your moves; we need to make you physically fit as well.”

Spike nodded in agreement. “Let’s start with a few laps, then reaction training and then we’ll train your moves.”

Silk sweatdropped. “I’m… not sure the laps are going to work with me.”

Fairy hummed. “Well, I plan on having a speed-focused team, so there must be a way of correcting that.” She crossed her arms and frowned for a minute, until she suddenly smiled and snapped her fingers. “Got it! Why don’t you train running small distances and then use String Shot to cross larger ones? You’re right that being a Spinarak you won’t be as fast as Prism or Flare, but when you evolve you’ll be able to keep up with them easily; especially with Agility. Run a few laps around those two trees here and the train moving from one to the other with you String Shot without falling.” She pointed to the tree their bags were set at and the nearest other tree, and the little spider nodded, already moving for it. “Flare and Prism, you two are going to train together; Flare, you’ll train your base speed by trying to keep up with Prism, then you’ll try to teach her Quick Attack and train it together to the point you’ll be able to use it on reflex.”

“Got it!” Prism saluted before zipping away. “Let’s go Flare!”

“Ah crap.” Flare muttered when she saw the speed Prism was moving, knowing that her training was trying to keep up with that and then making the Eevee faster.

“Suddenly the idea of a speed-based team doesn’t seem too farfetched, even if it’s going to be hell finding a Rock-type like that.” Spike mused before turning to his own Pokémon. “Shade, go with your sister and Flare, that training should be good for you too. Breeze, fly around the two trees for as long as you can without slowing down much.” Both Normal-types nodded and went for their exercises.

Fairy and Spike both sat on the grass, observing their Pokémon train. Fairy turned to Spike with a smile. “So, are we going to keep walking a bit and then stop at the afternoons to train, or we’ll stay here for a week or so for a more intensive training and then go to Appleloosa?”

“… Staying to train would be a good idea,” Spike conceded. “But this place isn’t a good place for that. No river, no berry trees…”

“Fair enough.” Fairy nodded, standing up. “Well, I’m joining them. It’s been a while since I had a good parkour run, and I can see a good route for it.”

Spike watched her go as she looked at a certain set of trees that were close to each other before taking off, kicking off one of the trees and landing on a branch, almost immediately jumping to another nearby with a somersault, holding to it and swinging herself up. Spike smiled as she nailed the trick seemingly without an effort. “Ah, screw it.” He chuckled and stood up, thinking on what sort of training he could do himself.





The five Pokémon stood side by side, eyes closed as they focused on their internal energy. Their trainers stood at a safe distance, holding their respective Pokédexes at ready, prepared to scan the move they would try.

During the last two weeks the group kept walking until they found a river with a few berry trees at walking distance, and decided to stop and have some more intensive training. On their training the four girls and Shade focused on both their bodies – Fairy’s Pokémon mainly on speed, while Spike’s trained their defense a bit more – as well on expanding their move pool.

Because of that, by the end of the training all the Pokémon had learned around three moves each, though their progress on mastering t]said moves vary. Prism mastered Quick Attack easily, as Fairy hoped, but also learned Iron Tail and Swift; mastering Iron tail was hard work, but Swift was coming along swimmingly. Flare took to Flare Blitz and Fire Spin like a fish to water, and she was close to mastering Payback, though Iron Tail was giving her a few problems as well. Silk easily mastered Pin Missile and Toxic, her typing helping her a lot, but Night Shade was hell on the little spider.

On Spike’s side, Shade mastered Iron Tail extremely quickly to Prism and Flare’s rage, and Façade was coming along well; Toxic was a bit harder, but not nearly as much as Iron Tail to the vixens. Much to the boy’s amusement, Breeze also mastered Steel Wing quickly, but Twister and U-turn were still giving her a hard time.

On their last day on that location, however, Fairy had the idea of teaching them a move that was much simpler than the other and would possibly teach them a move of a new type. Speaking of which…

Five sets of eyes snapped open, staring at the boulders they labeled as targets. Five sets of spheres blazed to life, each one taking a different color; Prism’s was violet, Flare’s was black, Silk’s was a glittery pink, Shade’s was green and Breeze’s was brown.

“Hidden Power!” They shouted as one and fired their combined attack, reducing the boulder to rubble in an instant and creating a huge dust cloud.

The human pair coughed as the dust began to settle, and Fairy groaned. “My hair’s going to be a bitch to clean… oh well.” She sighed and her, and Spike’s Pokémon gathered in front of her. “Alright, we got it. Let’s see…” She trailed off, blinking at the information her Pokédex was displaying. “Huh, look at that. Prism’s Hidden Power is Dragon-typed-” “Fuck yeah!” “-Flare’s is Dark-typed-” “Between Payback and Feint Attack, that’s pretty useless…” “-and Silk’s is Fairy-typed.” “Huh. Neat.”

Spike’s looked at his own Pokédex. “Seems like Shade’s is Grass-typed and Breeze’s is Fighting-typed.”

“Oh, come on!” Breeze groaned. “Prism and Silk got Dragon and Fairy and I get fucking Fighting-type. That’s bullshit.” Fairy and Spike shrugged helplessly.

“Sorry if that’s disappointing, but we can’t do anything about that.” Fairy said.

“I know, just… damn it.”

“So… I guess it’s time to go?” Prism asked, nodding towards Appleloosa’s general direction.

“Yeah, that would be best.” Spike agreed. “Let’s get our things and get going.” Spike agreed. With a nod, all seven started to store everything on their camp.

An hour later, Fairy and Spike strolled down the road, this time with only the Eevee twins out. The trip was made in relative silence, appreciating the nature of the Summer Plains around them while they could, knowing they had to cross the Sandstorm Desert in a few days. While they were walking though, they noticed a pair of adults – Fairy guessed twenty-three or around that age – coming from the other direction, going towards Ponyville; both pairs kept walking like they hadn’t noticed each other, or just didn’t care.

When they were a few feet apart however, both pairs stopped abruptly, eyeing each other. The new boy had a pretty obvious preference for dark colors – his hair was black and spiked, and his eyes a dark shade of gray; he was wearing black jeans and a hoodie, with a grey shirt under it, a dark silhouette of a Garchomp printed on it. He eyed the duo with indifference, but Spike noted a small shine of friendlessness on his eyes, immediately knowing that even if the boy acted distant, he wouldn’t push him away.

The girl was completely different – she had a long and wavy silver hair that reached her hips, and her silvery eyes held a sliver of nervousness, but also the same shine of friendlessness. She was wearing a dark blue jeans and a sky blue blouse with the left sleeve hanging on her arm, the shirt seeming to be held only by the right sleeve and her… impressive bust.

Fairy looked at the girl, and then looked down. She returned her gaze up with a pout.

The others present followed Fairy’s gaze. The girl blushed and jumped behind the boy, who had a look of amusement on his face while Spike sighed, slapping his partner upside the head. He turned an apologetic look to the girl. “Sorry about that. You know how some people say that only men are perverted? She’s the exception to the rule.”

“Metta.” Fairy countered, rubbing her head.

“One of the exceptions.” Spike corrected himself with a sweatdrop.

“I-It’s okay, I’m used to that. It’s just that I’m used to being stared by boys.” The girl sighed in embarrassment.

“Bisexuality is OP.” Fairy chimed, ducking under Spike’s hand as he tried to slap her again.

“Shut up.” Spíke warned.

The girl giggled slightly before introducing herself. “My name is Sapphyra. This here is Soul.” She tilted her head to the boy, who nodded in greeting. “We are travelling through Equus at the moment; He’s taking the Gym Challenge, but I’m more interested on Contests.”

“I’m Spike, and this here is Shade.” He introduced himself, petting the Eevee on his shoulder.

“I’m Fairy, the sleepy-head here is Prism.” She said, scratching her Eevee on her chin, who had been sleeping on her shoulder until she ducked.

“She was sleeping?” Shade asked. “So that’s why it’s been so quiet.”

“Hush.” Prism mumbled sleepily.

“So, Contests?” Fairy asked. “I might try participating on one, but I doubt I’ll stop my Gym Challenge; gotta kick my brother’s ass on his own game after all.” She said with a chuckle.

Sapphyra nodded. “Yes, I’ve always been interested in contests, even as a child. I still battle every now and then, but I’m not interested enough to the point of trying my luck on the League.” She rubbed the back of her head. “I’m not really good at battling.”

“That’s why we’re travelling together; aside from the fact we’ve been friends since childhood.” Soul shrugged, speaking up for the first time. “I’m helping you with your battling and you help me raise my Pokémon a little better.”

Fairy grinned slyly. “That, and you two are probably ban-” She was cut off by Spike as he beaned her again.

“Seriously, shut up.” He growled, shooting another apologetic grin Sapphyra’s way.

“I-It’s alright.” She stuttered with a wide blush on her face.

“She’s not wrong, anyways.” Soul shrugged noncommittally.

“Soul!”

Fairy burst out laughing, clapping her hands together as applause for Soul. “Hoh-oh-oh-ly shit, buddy I already like you.” She stated, pointing a finger gun at the boy with a wink. Soul smirked back. She suddenly perked up. “Hey, how about a battle? We’ve been training around here for a while, but we haven’t met anyone aside from you two, and we still haven’t used two of our Pokémon in battle.”

Sapphyra and Soul looked at each other and smiled. “Sure.” Sapphyra finally said, reaching for her Pokéball along with Soul. “Dratini, take the stage!” “Gabite, time to battle!”

Both Dragon-types appeared on the road, Gabite roaring a challenge and Dratini slithering in a circle before eyeing her opponents with curiosity. Fairy whistled. “Nice. They seem strong.”

“Gabite here steamrolled the Fire-type Gym.” Soul pointed out, making his Pokémon puff his chest out in pride. “Sure, he almost lost on the last Pokémon, but his evolution saved him.”

“Fire-type? That’s Niner’s Gym!” Fairy blinked before laughing uproariously. “Holy crap she must’ve been pissed!”

Spike chuckled as well. “Congratulations, the Courage Badge isn’t the easiest one to get, even at advantage.” The young adult nodded in appreciation. Spike sighed. “Well, I don’t think we’ll win this one but eh.” He narrowed his eyes, hurling his Pokéball upwards. “Breeze, battle cry!”

The capsule twirled in the air before opening, releasing a flash of with that revealed the female bird. “The skies are my domain!” She cried out, circling from above before settling in front of her trainer.

“Nice.” Fairy complimented, juggling her own Pokéball before hurling it. “Silk, show’em what you got!”

Like before, the sphere opened in a flash of light before revealing the creature contained inside, this time being the little Spinarak. “This is going to be-“ She cut herself off, finally noticing her opponents. “… Hard, apparently.” She finished lamely.

“Three outta ten, need a new one.” Prism called out.

“Shut up, I’m not exactly good at this.” Silk growled.

“Ready?” Soul asked.

Fairy opened her purse and took a small ball from inside, holding it up. “Ready.” She nodded, letting the sphere fall.

The four trainers tensed as they watched the ball fall, minds racing as they came up with strategies for the fight. Soul and Sapphyra both decided that they would go easy from the start, as the opponents clearly were inexperienced, while Fairy and Spike both knew they had to find a way of being at advantage against those two.

The sphere bounced.

“Set your arena!” Fairy barked, an idea coming to mind. Silk nodded and jumped high, firing String Shots seemingly at random.

“Stop her!” Sapphyra called out, and her Dratini immediately darted forwards, preparing a Flamethrower to burn the strings.

“Breeze, use Gust!” The Pidgey beat her wings hard, unleashing a blast of wind strong enough to knock Dratini to the side, staggering her and stopping the attack. “Now use Steel Wing!” Dratini only had time to open her eyes before a silver wing impacted her across the face.

Soul growled, berating himself for not being quick enough to shout his command. “Gabite, Dragon Rage!” Gabite sucked a breath before firing a compressed sphere of Dragon energy, the attack impacting Silk before she could move out of the way. “ Now follow with Dual Chop!” The Dragon/Ground-type shot forwards with his fins glowing purple, ready for the double strike.

Too bad Fairy wouldn’t let him. “Constrict, bind him!” Gabite’s eyes widened as multiple strings of web spun around him and pulled his arms against his torso, causing his attack to dissipate. “Absorb now!” The strands glowed green as it started to sap the Pokémon’s energy.

“Ice Beam, free Gabite!” Sapphyra called for her Pokémon. Dratini shook her head from the earlier impact and gathered energy in her maw again, this time she finished the attack and fired a frigid beam at Silk.

Silk turned an eye towards the incoming beam and quickly shot a String Shot from her rear, pulling her out of the move’s impact area, detaching herself from the strings on her mouth. “Nice!” Her trainer praised. “Now use String Shot, just touch him!” Silk clicked her pincers in confusion but complied, connecting herself and the Dragon-type before he could free himself. “Now use Toxic! Carry it through the string!” Silk’s eyes shone in understanding and did as she was asked, the string quickly becoming purple with poison and poisoning Gabite before he could do anything.

Soul nodded. “Impressive combo.” Fairy grinned in response. “But don’t get overconfident! Dragon Claw!” Gabite tore through his bindings at last and shot towards the Spinarak.

“Evade and Pin Missile!” Fairy called out before turning to Spike. “The Toxic is going to take the Gabite out fast, and Silk is quick enough to evade everything he got. That Dratini’s  Flamethrower is a problem, however.”

“Breeze is agile; she can evade the beams if she pays attention.” Spike informed her and turned to the fight. “Alright, let’s stop playing around! Twister!”

Sapphyra’s eyes widened. “Counter it!”

“Finally!” Breeze grinned as she gathered the draconic winds around her wings, flapping them hard to unleash the move; Dratini did the same, and her own Twister clashed with the bird’s.

It wasn’t much of a contest.

“Motherfu-” Breeze yelped as the winds impacted her, sending her into a stumble that she almost couldn’t control in time, stopping a feet from the floor. “Alright, then.”

“Freaking stab.” Spike sighed. “Get close, use Steel Wing!”

“Brutal Swing!” Sapphyra commanded. Both females darted towards each other and started a physical battle, silvery wings impacting a tail coated with Dark energy strong enough to create small shockwaves.

“Dragon Breath, hit her!” Soul shouted. He was getting worried; the poison in Gabite was acting fast, and the Pokémon was receiving a lot of damage from it. “Sapphyra, I need your help.”

“A bit busy.” She grimaced. “The Pidgey is much stronger than I thought, and most of the long-range attacks I have won’t hit.” She sighed, turning to her boyfriend. “Let’s hit them with everything?” Soul nodded.

Silk used her String Shot again to get out of the way and fired her Hidden Power at Fairy’s command, but Gabite jumped back, regrouping with Dratini. The smaller Dragon-type looked at her partner with worry, but received a reassuring grin. Fairy frowned. “I don’t like this.”

“Any ideas? They’re close to each other now.”  Spike asked.

Fairy was silent for a moment, observing the couple whispering to each other and knowing that she had to take the opportunity but didn’t have anything that hit strong enough- Her eyes widened as an idea came to mind. “Jump as high as you can and hook Breeze with your String Shot!” Silk nodded and jumped high, linking herself and her old friend with a strand of silk. “Spin her around you!” Breeze yelped in surprise as she was spun in a circle around the airborne Silk. Soul and Sapphyra looked at it in confusion, but Spike smirked as he caught on. “Now slingshot her!” The string cut, and Breeze found herself flung at the dragon pair.

“Brave Bird!” Spike added quickly.  Breeze’s look of confusion immediately turned into a feral grin as her body ignited in blue blazes, her strongest move ready to strike.

Soul and Sapphyra looked at each other and nodded. Turning to the fight, they shouted their command. “Draco Storm!” Gabite and Dratini nodded in understanding, the bigger dragon gathering purple flames in his maw while the smaller one spun draconic wind around herself, firing her Twister just as her partner used Dragon Breath. Both moves impacted each other and turned into a spinning vortex of draconic blazes, engulfing Breeze and exploding violently.

“Breeze!” Spike, Fairy and Silk cried out in worry together, observing as Breeze’s unconscious form fell from the cloud of smoke.

“Dragon Rage!” “Flamethrower!” Soul and Sapphyra shouted together again, the double move quickly striking Silk while they were distracted and taking her out as well.

“Silk and Breeze are unable to continue; the winners are Gabite and Dratini. The victory goes to Soul and Sapphyra.” Shade announced from his trainer’s shoulder. The teenagers sighed.

“That went about as well as I expected.” Fairy commented dryly.

“I actually expected worse.” Spike admitted, pulling his medical supplies as the others did the same. “I mean, Dragon-types are really hard to take down, and one of them is an evolved form.”

“We could have won if they hadn’t teamed up like that.” Breeze huffed.

“It was a double battle, Breeze, they’re supposed to team up.” Fairy pointed out, inspecting Silk’s injuries.

“So you can talk to Pokémon.” Soul stated, applying an antidote on his Gabite.

“It’s my pendant and his bracelet; Moon Dancer’s whole research is about Pokémon communication.” Fairy explained, holding said accessory up. “We’re testing it for her, along with the Elite Four and Gym Leaders. I think she’s going to give it to a few trainers she knows and trusts but I’m not certain.”

“Cool.”

Sapphyra took her Xtransceiver out and smiled. “Hey, could you give us your numbers? I’d like to talk to you again, see if we’re in the same town and all.”

“Sure.” Fairy smiled and put both of their numbers on Sapphyra and Soul’s Xtranceivers, and Sapphyra did the same with the younger’s ; Spike’s Xtranceiver was new as he bought them on their visit to Ponyville.

The group had sat down and chatted for a while, Fairy releasing Flare as Sapphyra was curious about the third ‘ball on her and the pink-haired girl finally managing to make the quiet Dragon-types to speak so she could be sure the devices were working. After a few minutes, however, the y parted ways and walked towards their destinies with promises to keep in touch.

“Alright, now I’m sure we’re ready for Applejack.” Fairy nodded confidently.

“I think I’ll visit the Badlands before the battle, though. I need a third Pokémon and a fire-type is perfect for it.” Spike mused.

“What are we waiting for, then?” Fairy shouted, changing her steps into a sprint in a second. Spike shook his head in exasperation and started to run as well; luckily the Sandstorm Desert was fairly small compared to others around the world, and it shouldn’t take more than a day to cross.
> Duel on the Scorched Lan- Ooh, Shiny!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Appleloosa, here we are!” Fairy shouted happily as she and her friends – Breeze, Silk and Flare were in their Pokéballs – entered the city.

“Nice place.” Prism whistled as she watched the city. The whole place was created many years ago like those towns in ‘Old West movies’, and the local townsfolk loved it so much that it kept like that even after the industrialization of the region; they still had things like cellphone towers and all, but they were disguised to keep the theme.

Spike chuckled as he watched the locals walk in old West clothes, or at least with cowboy hats and boots. “Remember when we visited the place for the first time? We pestered our parents until the bought us local clothes.”

“Oh I remember alright, Ah was th’ one who helped you choose.” A voice sounded from their right, prompting the group to turn and face a grinning Applejack. “Hello ya’ll!”

“Hey AJ!” Spike shouted, waving the woman over. She chuckled and walked to them, shaking their hands firmly. “How’s the Gym?”

“It’s still too early in the season, so there haven’t been many challengers yet.” She told them with a chuckle. “What about you, how’s the journey goin’?”

“Fairy caught a Pokémon on early the second day from Canterlot to Ponyville, and we both caught one each on Whitetail Woods. After that we stopped just a few miles outside of Ponyville towards here and trained for a few weeks.” Spike shrugged. “We made a list with the order in which we’ll tackle the Gyms, and we agreed it would be better to go against you first.”

Her eyes twinkled as she smirked. “If ya think I’ll go too easy on you just because ya’ll are newbies an’ mah friends you’re mistaken.”

“We would be insulted if you did.” Fairy said, matching her expression as she tried to butt heads with the older woman.

Considering that she’s small for her age and that Applejack is one of the tallest Gym Leaders on the region of Equus, it didn’t quite work.

“Alright! Do ya’ll wan’ tah have your challenge today or…?” She asked the pair.

“Sorry Applejack, but we’ve been traveling for quite a while. How about in a few days? I still need to capture a third Pokémon for my challenge. I know you do two Pokémon challenges when the trainer only has two Pokémon, but I don’t want to resort to that.” Spike said, rolling his shoulders.

“Alright.” She conceded with a smile. “Why don’t you two stay with us at th’ farm? Ya’ll are practically family, we would be happy to have ya’ll with us for as long as you need it.”

“Are you sure? We don’t want to impose or anything.” The boy asked.

“Screw that, let’s go!” Fairy grinned as she began to pull Spike and Applejack towards the apple farm. “It’s been years since I ate one of Granny Smith’s pies and I want one now!”

Her friends looked at each other amusedly.





Apple Bloom wiped her forehead as she walked back into the barn after doing her chores on the orchard, her sister’s Gogoat pulling the apple-loaded cart just behind her. “Thanks for th’ help, Gogoat!” She smiled at the large Grass-type and he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

Suddenly, a green and yellow blur passed behind her and jumped over the cart, taking many of the apples with it as it sped off in the distance, causing the girl to gasp in surprise and stare at the little thing as it passed; she saw it trip and drop the fruits, but it jumped back to its feet and his behind a bush before the girl could see much more than its shape and colors, and took the apples with one of its moves. Bloom’s face soon grew angry and she gritted her teeth. “Darnation, it did it again!” She growled.

“Goooh.” Gogoat rumbled quietly at the girl for her to calm down.

Apple Bloom drew a deep breath before grumbling unhappily. “Darn critter…” She mumbled.

“Gogoat!” The goat suddenly shouted with a smile as a three figures approached from the distance, though it was more focused on the tallest one.

Apple Bloom spun around and waved when she recognized the group. “AJ! Spike! Fairy!” She shouted.

Fairy smiled and waved as she saw the younger girl. She was wearing a yellow blouse and jeans, along with her trademark giant pink bow on her head. “Hey Apple Bloom! It’s nice to see you, girl!”

“Ah say th’ same!” She grinned, clasping hands with the teenager, both girls snapping their fingers on the same hand as they did. “Ah can’t believe that you’re finally a trainer! Took you long enough if ya ask me!” She laughed.

“Hahah, what about you, you’re almost a year behind already.” Fairy raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but that was b’cause ah wanted tah start mah journey with th’ other girls.” She rolled her eyes. “Scoots’ finally old enough to have her own Pokémon, and me, Sweetie, Babs and Gabby decided tah wait her since Sweetie also only turned fourteen a few months ago.”

“Good friends stick together after all.” Spike chuckled, remembering that his sister, AJ, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity had all gone on their journeys together, meeting Starlight in the middle of it, and also Aguion and his own group which was much bigger, including the Gym Leaders Niner Blaze, Lobis, Metta, Bella and Moonlight.

“And ya’ll know it!” Applejack laughed, remembering her own journey days. “Anyways, is dinner ready? Those two are practically starvin’ if their bellies hav’ any say on it!” As if on cue, the pair’s stomachs growled, causing both Apples to laugh.

“Granny must b’ finishin’ it.” The youngest of the group replied, grinning when she heard a cowbell being rung loudly. “Told ya!”

“Food!” Fairy shouted in glee as she dashed inside the house, Spike and Applejack quickly following her in a quick jog. Apple Bloom stood there for a moment as she looked towards where the little thief from earlier went before following the others with a frustrated sigh.





“Still as good as ever, Granny.” Fairy sighed after swallowing a bite of her pie.

“Yup.” Both Spike and Big Mac – who had arrived just a few moemnts after Fairy dashed in – agreed. Mac sent a small glare towards the grinning boy for trying to steal his catchphrase before both chuckled.

The small Pokémon, from both trainers and the family, who were eating on the other side of the room sent their own compliments, to which Granny only heard them chirping their names with smiles on their faces.

Granny Smith chuckled as well for a moment. “Glad tah hear Ah’m not getting’ rusty.”

Applejack turned her head to look at her sister, who was eaing her pie with an annoyed expression. “Is everythin’ alright, sugarcube?”

Apple Bloom looked at her sister, then around the table to discover that they were paying attention to her now. She sighed. “No, that darn critter stole the apples again.”

Applejack snorted. “That so? Why dah ya care so much about it anyways? We have enough apples this season that a few missin’ isn’t that much of a problem.”

“It’s th’ principle of th’ thing!” She shouted with a frustrated groan. “Ah’ve been tryin’ tah capture that little thief for months and Ah’ve never even seen it properly!”

Fairy and Spike looked at the exchange with confused expressions before turning to the elder of the family. “Context?” Fairy asked.

“Ah few months ago, two or so, a Pokémon appeared in th’ orchard.” Granny explained. “At first it didn’t do much; heck, we would never even had noticed it if it wasn’t for th’ fact that we saw this blur passing aroun’ th’ trees multiple times. But some weeks back it started tah steal fruits and berries from the carts, and while we produce enough tah last a long while, little Apple Bloom took it personally.”

“Of course Ah did!” She shouted angrily. “Every day since then that thing has been stealin’ from the fruits an’ berries Ah harvest as if it’s been focusin’ me!”

Fairy thought for a moment. “Hey AB, what does it looks like?”

Spike smirked. “Looking for a new addition for your team?”

“If bloom here doesn’t mind me capturing it, maybe.” She shrugged.

“As long it’s gone, Ah don’t mind.” She replied quickly. “Anyways, it looks like a little snake, but it had somethin’ wide on its tail. Th’ only other detail Ah got is that its body is either a dark green or a greenish blue, some yellow, an’ the belly was… Ah think Sweetie would call it beige or somethin’ like that. But I’ve never seen a Pokém- why are ya starin’ at me like that?”

Fairy was staring at the girl incredulously; just like Prism and Shade who had both had jumped to the girl’s shoulders and were looking at the youngest Apple in surprise. “Do… do you think it’s her?” Prism asked hopefully.

Shade nodded slowly. “The chances are slim, but…”

“I dunno, I don’t think she would do something like this. Unless...” Fairy mumbled quietly to the Eevee siblings.

Applejack looked between the three of them for a moment before raising a single eyebrow. “Context?” She asked just like Fairy did earlier, earning a snort of amusement from the girl.

“You already know this, but the Professor let anyone get their Pokémon at any day as long as they talk with her first so she can be sure to be on the lab or to put various trainers on the same day.” The others nodded. “That’s what happened a few months ago; a trainer wanted to get her first Pokémon at the lab, and her chosen Pokémon was a good friend of ours, a small and mischievous Snivy that loved to mess around with us and prank just about anyone. We warned the trainer of it, but she wanted our friend because of one single fact: she was a shiny.”

The Apple’s eyes widened, as did the Pokémon who were never in the lab. Spike’s eyes widened as well, but for a different reason. “I remember her! She was one of the Pokémon who were there with us when we used the prototype of the translator; the one that had to be carried around like a purse or a backpack.”

Fairy nodded. “Exactly. The description you said fits her; a shiny Snivy has a dark greenish blue body with yellow leaves and markings and a cream-colored underside, and you know how the body of a Snivy looks.” She reclined on her chair with a frown. “If this is her, then she either A) was too much for her trainer to handle and was released, B) escaped her trainer, or C) they came to an agreement that ended up with Snivy released once again.”

“Optimistic much?” Spike asked good-naturedly as his Eevee jumped to his shoulder.

“I’d put my money on the first, really, but I like to have a good option.” She laughed before turning to Apple Bloom with a smile. “I’ll help you find your thief tomorrow, and if it’s Snivy, then I’ll take her with me.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “An’ if it’s another Pokémon I’ll bring one of AJ’s spare Pokéballs to capture; we can see what we’ll do with it later.”

They finished their food and talked some more, but they soon went to bed, each with their own excuse for being eager for the next day.





Spike yawned again as he walked through the road towards his destiny: a place called Scorched Lands. The place is basically a rocky terrain with a few patches of berry trees here and there, where many Rock, Ground and Fire-type Pokémon live – Fire more so than others, which was  Spike’s objective.

“I need a third Pokémon, and a second Pokémon with type advantage is just what the doctor ordered.” He told his Eevee, who was easily keeping up with him at his side. “I have faith that you and Breeze can handle AJ’s team – as long as she’s using the rookies I mean; the real team of a Gym Leader is always made of monsters no matter what type they are.”

Shade snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but yeah I can see that.”

The young man smiled apologetically at his partner. “Sorry, buddy.”

“Why did we have to come so early, though?” Shade yawned. “I don’t mind waking up at eight or so, but six is pushing it.”

Spike chuckled sheepishly. He had asked AJ to wake him up early for them to go, but he forgot just how early a farmworker wakes up. “Sorry. I wanted to wake up before Fairy so we could go search it on our own as a team; we don’t really do things just us all that much.” Shade smiled at his trainer before both of them turned forwards, finally seeing the rocky floor of the Scorched Lands.





“Alright! Operation: Catch the Thief is in action!” Apple Bloom declared confidently as she, Gogoat, Fairy and her team stood in the section of the orchard where the mysterious ‘blur Pokémon’ is seen the most.

Fairy smirked. “Do you want us to do the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Thief Catchers, yay!’ thing?”

“Wha- no! Me an’ th’ girls haven’t done that in ever since we were nine!” Bloom shouted with a heavy blush.

“Shame, it was so cute!” Fairy laughed, making Gogoat smile and her Pokémon to tilt their heads in confusion.

“Hey, what is this Cutie Mark Whatever?” Prism asked for them all.

“Later.” Fairy waved them off, nodding at the other girl who was watching the exchange in curiosity. “Alright, do you have your Pokéball with you?”

“Right here.” The red-haired girl said, pulling out an Ultraball. “Ah just hope it works. AJ didn’t give me all that many.” She only gave her three, in fact.

“Good.” Fairy nodded before turning to the Grass-type of their group. “Keep her safe, alright? You know how much of a magnet for trouble she is, and I’m the one saying.”

The goat chuckled. “Understood, Fairy.” He said in a deep voice.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Bloom shouted in excitement, completely ignoring Fairy’s joke, as she ran in one direction with her sister’s starter Pokémon.

Fairy watched her go with a smile. After a few seconds of standing in place, she abruptly turned towards one of the trees. “It’s been a while!” She said with a smile as she looked towards a clump of leaves on a branch, from where a shiny Snivy stepped out with a grin just as big.

“Looks like I still can’t sneak up on you, Fairy.” The Grass-type chuckled.

“I’m the one who trained both you and Prism on you agility, jackass, not to mention that my brother trains Electric-types; I can keep up with your movements easily.” The pink-haired deadpanned.

“Point made.” Snivy shrugged before smirking. “So, Operation: Catch the Thief?”

“She’s pretty pissed that you’ve been stealing from her. I know you’re just kidding around, but she doesn’t.” Fairy smiled. “So when she described the little punk, I had a feeling and decided to help her, on the condition that I could capture it if I was right and ‘it’ was you.”

Snivy nodded. “I see… well, if you really want to capture me, you’re going to have to catch me first!” She grinned.

Fairy grinned back at the challenge. “That’s the idea!”

Snivy’s eyes widened and she immediately jumped from her branch to another just in time to evade an Electroweb, courtesy of Silk who sneaked behind the grass serpent while she was being distracted by the trainer. “Nice try!” She laughed before darting off.

“Shit!” Fairy cursed before following her target. “Let’s go!” She shouted to her Pokémon just as her Spinarak used String Shot to reach her shoulder.





Spike squinted, trying to localize a Fire-typed Pokémon in the distance from where he stood atop from a rock. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose when he didn’t see anything, and just hoped that either one of his partners were having better luck than him.

Speaking of which.

Shade tiredly walked back to his trainer and simply slumped on the floor, exhausted. “Sorry Spike, but I didn’t find anyone.” He mumbled only loud enough for his trainer to hear.

Spike sighed once again and sat on the rock, petting his friend’s head. “It’s alright. Maybe we came here too early, or maybe the Fire-types live on another side of the Scorched Lands.”

“If they do, I found an exception.” Breeze called from above with a smirk, gaining her friend’s attention. “Come on, she’s this way!” She shouted and turned to fly back from where she saw the Pokémon. Spike and Shade looked at each other before jumping form their resting spot and dashing after the Flying-type.

A few minutes later the two sole guys of their group – and it seemed that it will be like that for a while – finally caught up with Breeze, finding her perched on a rock formation and observing a Pokémon train with interest clear in her eyes. Spike panted for breath for a moment and looked at the Pokémon before his eyes widened. ‘As Fairy would say, jack-fucking-pot!’

A few feet away, a Combusken was pummeling a boulder with a move Spike recognized as Night Slash, which looked like two dark purple daggers held by the chick’s claws.

Spike straightened himself as Shade jumped on his shoulder, and he walked out of his cover to a certain distance from the Fire/Fighting-type. The same moment he stopped, the Combusken relaxed and let her move fall before turning to face him.

They stood still, staring at each other’s eyes, the world around them seeming to fade. The Combusken smiled. “Heh, I knew something big was going to happen today.” She chuckled. “You know, I met a few other trainers before, and they didn’t exactly give me time to prepare for battle.”

Spike shrugged. “It’s more fun this way.”

Combusken’s eyes widened slightly for a fraction of a second, but as fast it happened, it was gone. “The two of us think alike, then.” She grinned. “Maybe you’ll be the one to finally dominate me, but you’ll have to defeat me first!”

Spike’s eyebrow twitched at the ‘domination’ part, and he felt that if he captured her his life would be even more interesting than it already is. Shaking the feeling aside, he matched her expression. “Challenge accepted! Breeze, battle cry!”

“The skies are my domain!” Breeze shrieked as she circled her opponent at great speeds before stopping between her trainer and her foe.

Combusken faltered slightly. “A Pidgey? Really? That’s the best you’ve got?”

Breeze’s eye twitched angrily, but Spike chuckled a bit. “Calm down, Breeze, you’re going to prove her wrong soon enough.” In reality Spike was slightly worried. Pidgey may not be a very strong Pokémon normally, but the way the Combusken dismissed her wasn’t she underestimating Breeze, the way she was eyeing his Pidgey calculatingly was enough proof of that; no, she was genuinely hoping for more, for him to throw in a Kadabra or similar. For a Pokémon stronger than her.

For a challenge.

Spike knew that Fighting-typed Pokémon were prideful and often reckless, but he also knew that she was strong. He feared that he’s biting more than he can chew. He could only hope that Breeze was ready for it, because as much as he is confident in Shade, he also knew the Eevee stood no chance.

“Quick Attack!” He shouted, and Breeze shot off like a rocket towards her opponent, who stood he ground for a moment before jumping over the Pidgey, firing an Ember as she did so. Spike and Fairy, however, had trained their Pokémon to dodge attacks without command if possible, and so Breeze made a quick curve to avoid the flames. “Gust!” Breeze turned and beat her wings at a fast rate, producing a powerful gust of wind that blew the Combusken back a few feet.

“Ow, that was actually pretty strong.” She muttered. “Looks like I’ll have to use my ‘serious’ strategy after all.” She straightened herself and used Fire Spin, the line of fire swiftly sliding across the floor until it was under the bird before turning into the fire tornado, but the trainer warned the Pidgey of it and she cancelled her own attack in favor of avoiding the opposing move. ‘They’re actually a pretty good team.’ She mused, dashing towards the Flying-type with Quick Attack, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to use it later without showing them her strategy.

Spike watched the chick approach. “Dodge it and use Twister!” At the last moment Breeze swooped away from Combusken and circled her, draconic winds dancing around her wings before she unleashed it on the groundbound avian. Combusken grunted in pain as she was sent away for the second time that day and flipped herself in mid-air so she fell on her feet. “Quick Attack into Steel Wing, go!” Breeze sped towards the Fire-type once again, but just before she could impact her she let the energy of the Quick Attack fall – but not the speed – and rammed into her with Steel Wing.

“Gah!” Combusken cried out in pain as she was sent tumbling. “Shit, that hurts.”

“Lead’ did say I’d prove you wrong.” Breeze smirked.

The chick smirked back. “Yeah, and you did. You’re much stronger than I thought.” She stood up and brushed her legs. “However I was fighting on the ‘Easy’ difficulty…” She narrowed her eyes and lifted a hand. “… Let’s see if you can handle ‘Normal’.” She snapped her claws and three swords of light circled her for a moment before disappearing.

“Fuck.” Spike growled. “Keep your distance and alternate between Gust and Twister while I think of something!” Breeze nodded in understanding before beating her wings harder to go higher, dodging her foe’s Brick Break as she did. “Normal is weak to Fighting while Flying is strong to it, so they cancel each other. The STAB is still in place, so it’s still dangerous.” He mumbled. “So far I’ve seen Ember, Fire Spin, Swords Dance, Quick Attack, Night Slash and Brick Break, and Combusken naturally learn Double Kick when they evolve so there’s that too.”

He watched as Breeze continued to attack the Combusken, randomly alternating between Gust and Twister to keep the Fire/Fighting-type away while said Pokémon tried her best to get close to the bird, throwing quick Night Slashes as well as a few Pecks here and there. Breeze managed to catch her off-guard by suddenly launching her Hidden Power, the spheres glowing something between orange and brown and pulsing to her heartbeat did not have as much power as he would like however, as Breeze was more of an Attack fighter, not Sp. Attack.

Combusken soon shook her surprise and jumped back, thinking on her strategy. “Gotta finish this quick…” She growled for a moment before relaxing, smiling at the trainer and Pokémon. “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been pushed this far.”

“Thanks!” Spike responded with his own smile. “We trained a lot to fight against the Grass Gym in Appleloosa for our first badge, but I only have these two, so I need another to fight; that’s why we’re here battling you.”

“First badge?” Combusken blinked in surprise. “Wow, I know the first few Gyms hold back a lot for the rookies. If that’s right then you’ll get the badge for sure!” She grinned a challenge, her whole body being engulfed in flames. “But if you really want to capture me, you’ll need to beat me when I’m fighting for real… so here I come!”  Just as she said that, the flames extinguished and she was gone, disappearing in a blur.

Spike and Breeze’s eyes widened when she did it, frantically looking around to see if they could spot her. “I can’t see her, watch out!” Spike shouted to his Pokémon.

“I can see a faint white blur, but I can’t lock on it!” Breeze shouted back nervously. Her ability was Keen Eye, which turns moves that increases evasion or decreases accuracy useless, and yet she couldn’t spot her enemy. Suddenly her breath was knocked out of her as Combusken appeared out of nowhere and lashed out with a kick, before spinning and unleashing the second attack of her Double Kick, sending the Pidgey away. “Gaah!” She cried out as she impacted the floor and rolled a few feet.

“That… is my Burst Dash technique.” The Fire/Fighting-type said, panting slightly.

Spike mulled over the name for a second before his eyes widened. “Your ability… is Speed Boost, isn’t it? You stalled the battle for long enough for it to stack. But you should have been moving faster than you were so why…?”

“I made myself move slower.” She interrupted. “That way I would surprise you with a sudden burst of speed, but you were pushing me too much, so I speed it up by using Flame Charge to raise my own speed along with my ability.”

“And then you used Quick Attack.” Spike said in understanding. “It’s a move that’s basically a slightly stronger Tackle that also doubles you speed. You were already ridiculously fast, but your Quick Attack guaranteed that you would move too fast for our eyes to see.”

“Downside: it’s something I came up a short time ago, so I’m not used to that speed yet, so it’s best if I use it for short’ bursts’ of speed; unlike I did now, that was me experimenting.” Combusken grimaced. “Not only I tire fast, I can’t see what I’m attacking. I had to wait for your bird to talk for me to lock on her.”

“I see. Thanks for the info.” Breeze coughed as she flapped her wings unsteadily for a moment before she steadied herself a few feet above ground.

“Breeze, don’t push yourself. When can come here and try again tomorrow if she agrees to a rematch.” Spike said in worry.

“And I would, really.” Combusken smiled. If they could push her that far without knowing what she could do, she was eager to see how they would fight when knowing her abilities.

“No, I can still fight!” Breeze screeched at her trainer before turning to her opponent. “As long as I am awake, I will fight… I won’t give up, not after all the training we did, not after all the effort I put into this battle.” She took a deep breath. “I will battle… UNTIL THE END!” She roared as her body was engulfed in a bright light.

The other present widened their eyes as they watched her form change; her body expanded until it were more than double its original size, her tail feathers lengthened and widened like a fan, and from the top of her head, feathers grew like a hair of sorts, covering her head and neck. The light finally faded and they could see her new figure, including the color change of her crest and tail feathers, which were a reddish pink, and red and yellow respectively. She turned her head towards the stunned Fire-type. “So bring it.”

Spike finally got over his own shock and quickly brought out his Pokédex to scan his newly evolved Pokémon.

“Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokémon. Pidgeotto claims a large are as its territory. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its living space. If its territory is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws.

Moves learned upon evolution: Aerial Ace.”

Spike closed his dex and turned to his friend with an excited grin. “Holy shit Breeze, you evolved!”

“No shit.” Breeze snarked back with her own grin. “Now come on, we have a fight to win, and I still haven’t used my strongest attack!”

“You know how dangerous Brave Bird is; we can’t spam it around.”  Spike rolled his eyes. “But we have one that we can, and we will! Aerial Ace!” Breeze smirked and disappeared from sight much like Combusken had done so earlier, and said Pokémon grimaced as it used Burst Dash in a defensive manner… only for Breeze to slam against her a second later.

Combusken flipped herself and immediately dashed around in a circle, this tie only using her boosted speed as she prepared her Night Slash daggers once again. “Get near her and use Gust!” Breeze shook her own dizziness from the impact and followed her with Aerial Ace once more, appearing behind her foe and beating her wings to create a powerful windstorm, easily two times more powerful than it was before she evolved.

Combusken was sent flying high, but steadied herself and fell to her feet before engulfing her body in flames and she dashed towards her opponent; she couldn’t raise her speed anymore, but it was still her strongest Fire-type move at the moment. Breeze was about to use Aerial Ace again to dodge, but her trainer stopped her. “Let her!” He shouted; a plan that would make Fairy proud coming into mind. Combusken crossed the distance in less than two seconds and had already jumped towards the flying-type. “Steel Wing uppercut!” Breeze’s wings had already taken the silvery sheen before Spike could even finish his command and she slammed her wing’s joined on Combusken’s chin just as she came into range, sending her flying upwards and extinguishing the fire on her body. “Get above her!” Spike shouted as he pulled a Pokéball, and Breeze obeyed his command moving above her foe with Aerial ace. ‘I need to finish this now!’ he thought as his Pokémon got in position, unknowingly mirroring his pink-haired friend.





Snivy dashed on the ground, dodging tree after tree on her path effortlessly and with a grace that would make people think that she was training for a contest. Suddenly her insticts screamed at her and she quickly side-stepped another Electroweb from her pursuers. Fairy had long since gave up on following her on ground to follow her from the branches, which normally would have been more difficult for most people, but not to the girl that had to entertain both her boss’ Aipom and the other Pokémon at the lab that loved to jump through the trees. She too didn’t show any signs of effort as she leaped, swung, wall-jumped and dashed as she chased the young shiny Grass-type.

Fairy pointed a closed fist towards Snivy, and the Spinarak perched on it fired another Electroweb in hopes of tagging and slowing the snake, but alas Snivy dodged it, as well as the Shadow Ball and Hidden Power from both vixens that followed her from the ground. “She’s good!” Flare panted.

“We trained together, and she was one of the few that could actually keep up with me without moves, but she’s always been better at dodging obstacles because of her size!” Prism agreed. If they were in an open field, the Eevee would have caught her target in a second, but the trees in the path kept her from dashing like the snake was, as her smaller stature and let her run under exposed roots and such that the other two had to either jump over or go around.

Which is exactly what happened, with Snivy bursting out of the trees and towards an open road; Fairy jumped high into the air and aimed her living web-shooter. “Toxic Thread!” Silk nodded and fired multiple poisonous purple threads in front of the shiny – Fairy still couldn’t believe that that was supposedly the hardest move that a Spinarak learns naturally, since Silk had learned it by sheer coincidence during her and Breeze’s fight against Sapphyra’s Dratini and Soul’s Gabite –, who widened her eyes and made a sharp turn to avoid it, only for Flare to appear out of nowhere and slam her tails into her.

“Guh!” Snivy groaned as she rolled on the ground.

Fairy fell on the floor and rolled with it to better absorb the impact, and used the momentum to stand up. “Well, we got you.” She said happily to the fallen shiny as she stood up.

“Looks like it.” She huffed. “But you still haven’t caught me!”

“In that case, since she was the one to tag you…” Fairy grinned. “Flare, show her what you got!”

“Alright!” The Vulpix yipped as she jumped to stand before her trainer. Prism and Silk jumped to Fairy’s shoulders to watch the battle.

“So she one of the Pokémon who caught you attention?” Snivy mused, watching the fox with narrowed eyes. “She must be quite fast then.”

“Fast no, but she’s agile as hell.” Fairy shrugged.

Snivy though back to Fairy’s differentiation between speed and agility. ‘Speed: the velocity one can move. Agility: how one can move.’ She thought. If she wasn’t quick, she could bend herself out of attacks. Thinking back that was exactly how Fairy first described both the Snivy and herself while Prism was the contrary; but the human and Snivy trained themselves in their speed while the Eevee trained herself in her agility.

“This is going to be interesting…” She mumbled. The Vulpix must have at least one powerful Fire move by now if she’s training under Fairy, and her most powerful moves were all Grass-typed aside from Slam and- “Got it.” She smiled. She would have one shot at this.

“Quick Attack!” Fairy shouted and her fox was covering the distance in a few seconds and slamming at the stunned Snivy and sending her tumbling.

“NOT FAST MY SHINY ASS!” She roared indignantly at her old friend.

“Well, she wasn’t until Prism got to her!” Fairy cackled in mirth.

“Alright, I was considering going easy on you, but fuck that noise!” She growled and lashed out with her vines, seeking to snare her Vulpix with a Wrap attack. True to Fairy’s word the Vulpix almost effortlessly dodged by jumping through the vines before they coiled around her and spinning around slamming an Iron Tail on her head at Fairy’s command.

Fairy smiled when light erupted from her opponent, Iron Tail’s secondary effect coming into play and lowering her defense. “Continue at it! Mix an Ember every once and a while!”

Flare nodded in understanding and whipped her tail in an arc to attack Snivy once again, but the grass snake parried it with her own tail move: Leaf blade. Flare blinked in surprise, and Snivy backpedaled while spinning on the opposite direction, the sudden loss of pressure on her tails making Flare stumble, resulting in her being too slow to evade the move coming from her other side and sending her flying.

“Oof!” Flare grunted as she fell and tumbled on the floor before she jumped to her paws and unleashed multiple Embers at a rapid-fire, just like Fairy had trained her to do. Snivy didn’t falter when faced by the supper effective attack and summoned multiple leaves that glowed in all colors of the rainbow, commanding them to intercept the flames.

“Oh right, her egg move is Magical Leaf.” Fairy muttered. “Change of plans, use Feint Attack!” Flare disappeared in a surge of black and reappeared at Snivy’s side, attacking her with her tails; Snivy whipped her head towards her attacker and flipped herself upside down with a spin, leaves and wind erupted from her form and keeping her aloft, not only blocking the Feint Attack but also throwing her opponent upwards. “Payback!” Flare did multiple somersaults as her body erupted in dark energy and fell on top of the spinning snake tails first, forcing her against the floor and cracking the ground slightly.

Snivy quickly shook her head and used Wrap, holding the fire fox and slamming her against the ground before unleashing a hail of purple barbs at her that exploded in poison clouds, causing Flare to cough violently. Fairy’s eyes widened as she saw her Pokémon get caught by the Toxic attack. “Flare!”

“Yes!” Snivy grinned; she knew that she couldn’t defeat the Vulpix by trading moves, but now she only needed to wait her opponent to fall. Still, she winced as she put weight on the leg that was struck by the Payback, reminding her that the task would be easier thought than done.

“I’m fine.” Flare said as she shakily stood up. “Not for long, though.” She grunted as she felt the burning sensation from the poison.

“Fairy!” Apple Bloom shouted as she ran to her friend. She turned to the two Pokémon battling and easily connected the dots. “So that’s your friend?” She asked.

“Not now. Flare’s poisoned, I need to finish this quickly.” Fairy gritted her teeth in frustration, her mind going a mile a minute. “Snivy’s defense is low, and she’s already hurt enough that – alright, I have one chance.” Fairy grunted as she pulled a special Pokéball from her purse; a Premier Ball to be exact. Both her and Spike had received one during a festival once, and they both swore to only use them on rare Pokémon, and a shiny more than qualified for that.

That was before they decided to give on being trainers themselves to help their friends and siblings instead.

“Get speed with Quick Attack!” She commanded, and her Pokémon obeyed – albeit slowly, as the poison was causing her pain and impeding her from moving too much – and dashed towards her opponent in a streak of white energy, while her opponent narrowed her eyes and spun Leaf Tornado defensively once again. ‘I have to finish this now!’ Fairy thought as her fox approached her target, unknowingly mirroring her green-haired friend.





Miles away from each other, two teens watched as their Pokémon got closer to their foes, and shouted the order for them to use their most powerful moves. “Brave Bird!” “Flare Blitz!” They roared, making their currently fighting partners smirk and their foes’ eyes to widen in terror.

Breeze’s body erupted in blue fire and impacted Combusken, who opened her beak in a silent scream, and forced her downwards at a rapid speed, violently slamming her against the ground with enough force to create a crater, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and producing a powerful shockwave that threw Spike off-balance for a second before he regained it and checked to see if Shade had fallen from his shoulder. When he saw that he was okay, he turned to the cloud of dust just as Breeze exited it, making a slow circle to watch her opponent, panting heavily and with multiple bruises on her body.

Flare’s body also erupted in flames, but hers were a powerful shade of orange that exploded from her small frame with enough heat that the two girls felt it from several feet away, just before she plowed through the leafy defense and into Snivy, who couldn’t even grunt in pain before the move exploded, creating a big smoke cloud and sending her flying back with enough strength to break the bark of the tree that she slammed against before she fell on the floor.

When both clouds that were obscuring their view dispersed, the trainers spotted their opponents lying on the ground, unmoving and with swirls on their eyes. Both pulled their respective Balls and hurled them. “Pokéball, go!” They shouted as the capsules flew through the air and impacted the fallen Pokémon, absorbing them. They fell on the ground and shook for a few seconds, until they stopped and ding’ed the successful capture with a shower of sparkles.

Fairy slowly walked two steps forwards before breaking into a run and holding the Premier Ball, and doing her usual dance, but she surprised her friends by changing her literal catchphrase. “Welcome to the family… Snivy!” Both of her vixens jumped on her shoulders and thrusted their paws upwards. “Yeah!” “We did it!” They shouted before Flare coughed violently, making her friends widen their eyes before rushing towards the Pokécenter.

Spike also lifted the Pokéball containing his new Pokémon and smiled at it. “Alright then, looks like I caught a Combusken!” He said proudly, doing his own ‘dance’ without realizing, with Shade jumping to his shoulder and nodding and Breeze hovering behind him, puffing her chest in pride. Then they realized what they just did and hung their heads. “Arceus damn it, Fairy.” Spike muttered, rubbing the head of his Flying-type, who winced in pain. Spike smiled at her. “You did a good job, girl, rest a bit and I’ll take you to the Pokécenter.” He said and returned her before turning to run towards the city.





Hours later, Fairy was helping the Apples as an apology for hurting one of their trees during the battle while she waited for Spike to return from his own Pokémon hunt – he had left a note warning her.

The boy knocked against the wood of the barn, catching the attention from the three Apples and one Stryke working inside. Fairy smiled warmly when she saw him. “Finally! I thought you got lost on the desert or something.” She chuckled, throwing an apple at him from where she was sitting on a haystack.

The boy caught it with a smile and took a bite. “Well, I did go hunting on the Scorched Lands, and then my Pokémon were hurt so we had to go to the Pokécenter.” He replied once he swallowed his bite of the fruit. “So, what happened?”

Fairy rubbed the back of her head before holding her Premier Ball up. “Flare got poisoned, so I had to use Flare Blitz to end the fight quickly, which ended up breaking the bark of one of the trees; still got her, though. You?”

He held up one of his Pokéballs as he finished his apple. “This girl here put one hell of a fight earlier. Breeze was in a pretty bad shape by the end of it and we had to go all out with Brave Bird as well.”

Fairy nodded in understanding before jumping off her seat, pulling all three of her Pokéballs currently I use; Spike nodded and threw the remains of his fruit inside a nearby thrash can before pulling his two Pokéballs in use as well, and both of them threw them upwards. “Release party!” “At ease!”

All five Pokéballs in the air opened and released the flashes of white that revealed the Pokémon in all their glory, and both Fairy and her team’s eyes widened I surprise when they saw Combusken and the evolved form of Breeze. “Ho~oly shit Breeze, the fuck he fed you?” Fairy laughed as Silk scurried towards her childhood friend.

“Told you I would evolve first.” Breeze smirked at the small spider.

“Was there any doubt?” Silk rolled her eyes playfully.

Both Spike and Shade walked towards Snivy and sat down next to her. “Hey Snivy, long time no see!” Spike smiled as his Eevee walked forwards and high-fived the Grass-type.

“You grew up a lot, huh Spike?” She grinned, looking the boy up and down.

Flare hesitantly walked towards the Fire-type, who looked at her curiously before extending a claw. “Nice to meet you.” The dual type said with a grin.

Flare brought a paw up and shook ‘hands’ with her with a shy smile. “I say the same.”

“Alright!” Fairy suddenly shouted as she pulled her Pokédex. “I was waiting for you so we could scan our new Pokémon together.” Spike nodded and pulled his own ‘dex, waving Combusken over. They pointed their devices towards their Pokémon.

“Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon. They photosynthesize by bathing their tails in sunlight. When they are not feeling well, their tails droop.

Gender: Female

Ability: Overgrow

Moves: Magical Leaf, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado, Leaf Blade, Wrap, Growth, Slam, Tackle, Toxic.

This Pokémon has the ‘Shiny’ gene. It is slightly more powerful than most of its species.”

“Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokémon. Combusken battles with the intensely hot flames it spews from its beak and with outstandingly destructive kicks. This Pokémon’s cry is very loud and distracting.

Gender: Female

Ability: Speed Boost

Moves: Ember, Flame Charge, Fire Spin, Double Kick, Brick Break, Scratch, Quick Attack, Swords Dance, Peck, Night Slash.”

Applejack whistled. “Those are some darn powerful Pokémon ya’ll hav’ here. Maybe Ah should use one of th’ Pokémon on my real team so ya’ll have an actual challenge?” She teased.

Fairy and Spike looked at each other before glaring at the farm girl. “Fuck no, those things are monsters!” They shouted together, crossing their arms in an ‘X’ and making the woman laugh.

“Alright then.” She said once she got her chuckles back in control. “When do ya want tah have th’ battle?”

Spike looked at his Combusken for a moment before replying. “In a few days; I want to train for a bit to make sure we’re ‘in synch’.” He said, ruffling the Fire/Fighting-type’s crest.

Fairy snickered at the chick’s indignant “Hey!” as she batted her trainer’s hand away and lifted her Snivy from the ground, holding her between her breasts. “Yeah, Nature and I could use the time to catch up, and maybe I could train a bit more with Flare and Silk.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Nature? You nicknamed her already?” Fairy and Nature shrugged before the young woman nodded towards Spike’s newest capture. “I rushed to the Pokécenter and after that I just kind of only released her again now.” He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before turning to his Pokémon. “So? You want a nickname?”

Combusken stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “As long as it isn’t lame, sure.”

Spike nodded before looking her up and down, trying to think of a ‘not lame’ nickname. “… Therma.” He decided after a few seconds.

She tilted her head. ”As in, thermal? …yeah, I like it.” ‘Therma’ smiled, high-fiving her trainer.

They heard Granny Smith calling for dinner and stood up. “Food!” Fairy shouted in glee as she rushed in, making Spike laugh at the feeling of déjà-vu and follow her, their Pokémon close behind. Therma and Breeze both ended up stuck when they tried to enter at the same time, and the group laughed at the two avians of the group, who just slumped in defeat and waited for Spike to return them and release them inside.