What kind of Pokémon are you?
Luna wasn’t angry.
Nay, angry was for ponies far calmer than Luna.
Luna was absolutely livid!
She’d woken up some short minutes ago and already knew something was off. For starters, she was not in fact, in her luxurious cloud bed with Somnambulan silk sheets. The lovely enchantment above her bed that depicted her night sky. All of it was replaced by the wide outdoors and her sister’s infernal ball of eye-searing light beating down on her.
Luna was outside, in the grass and dirt, sleeping like some… some common beast!
And then things got really weird. When she’d woken up to stretch her limbs, she’d found that said limbs were significantly shorter.
She was a moon-damned filly! Borderline foal even.
This was the fault of one of two individuals. Either this was one of her sister’s more elaborate pranks, or the second and much more likely suspect…
“When I get my hooves on Discord, I will hang him from the throne room ceiling by his own entrails,” the petite moon pony muttered as she waded through the ridiculously tall grass. Did this place not have a groundskeeper? Even if this was the wild, natural herbivores should keep the grass manageable no?
“Okay Luna, just… keep calm and get back to Canterlot,” she muttered to herself. Placing one hoof in front of the other she--
Did that patch of grass just move!? Luna’s careful gait soon became a panicked run. She could hear voices ahead. Thanks the gods, she could find some ponies, get some help and--
That was her last thought before a metal sphere collided with her face, and her world fell to darkness.
***
Red stretched and yawned as he sat up. Okay! Today was finally the day. He’d get to go out and begin his Pokémon journey. He’d spent weeks going over his choices and the pros and cons of each starter. In the end, he still couldn’t decide.
“Red?” his mother called from downstairs. “Are you ready to go yet? Professor Oak isn’t going to wait all day dear.”
“Yeah I know!” he called back as he picked up his backpack. It held all the necessary camping essentials and whatnot. He’d need his Pokédex to prove he was a registered Trainer before he could buy things like Pokeballs and such.
Heading downstairs, he had breakfast with his mother and bid her goodbye. Hopefully the next time he came back here, it’d be as the Pokémon Champion. Taking a deep breath and heading outside, this was the start of his amazing journey!
…
“Professor Oak isn’t home,” Red deadpanned as he looked at the closed doors to the lab. A kid that often hung around said lab nodded.
“Yeah, I saw him take off a little while ago. Sorry Red.”
“Dangit,” Red sighed as he started heading home. He paused as he looked up the street, towards the exit of the town. More often than not, if someone wanted to go to Viridian City, they either stocked up on Repels first, or had one of the local trainer’s escort them. This far out in the sticks, their routes weren’t paved and were thick with wild Pokémon. Thankfully, local trainer’s kept the more powerful ones at bay.
“I could just… take a look?” Red murmured to himself as he headed for the gate. Route 1 was just a few feet away now. A little bit closer and maybe he’d get to see a wild Pokémon…
“Hey, don’t go out into the tall grass!” a voice called, making Red freeze in place. An older man walked up behind him, patting Red on the head. “That’s dangerous you know. Wild Pokémon could leap out at a moment’s notice.”
“Oh uh, hi Professor Oak,” Red said. Craaaap, he was so busted. “Nice day huh?”
“Indeed it is,” the elder man chuckled. “So, how about we get you set up so you can actually head out through here hm?” He winked and looked up as the tall grass rustled. No sooner had a blue shape emerged from the grass, Oak’s arm flicked and lobbed a Pokéball, years of honed reflexes on display.
The ball snapped shut, capturing whatever it was inside. Problem is, both males didn't actually see what Oak caught.
***
Luna was panicking. Her head kind of hurt and she found herself in some kind of black abyss. She couldn’t sense anything and it very much reminded her of her prior imprisonment. She started to hyperventilate as she glanced rapidly around.
“No… nonononono!” Luna yelled into the abyss. “I will NOT BE CONTAINED AGAIN!” She started to run, she didn’t know where but she seemed to be able to move in this abyss and by gods she would find a way out.
***
Oak and Red could only watch as the Pokéball started to literally spaz out. It spun, twitched and bounced, before spinning out like an irate Sandshrew using Rapid Spin and bolted, heading in the direction of Oak’s lab. They looked at one another for a moment, both in equal states of confusion before giving chase.
When they finally caught up, the ball had apparently gone inside the lab, and was now nestled on top of one of the tables there.
“Goodness me, it’s quite the lively one isn’t it?” Oak chuckled, pausing to catch his breath. “Well, that was quite the adventure for one day. Now,” he dusted his hands off and looked at Red. “Let’s get you your starting Pokémon hm?”
“Sounds good to me,” Red smiled. He’d been waiting for this moment for so long and now it was time. He approached the table that held a half-dozen Pokéballs and reached for one…
Let. me. OUT!
Before the weird one from earlier twitched violently and shot off of the table, smacking him in the chest. The ball then snapped open, the Pokémon contained within materializing on the table.
“Aha! So you chose… er…?” Oak blinked as he and Red stared at the Pokémon. It appeared to be a tiny equine, like Ponyta. Only it was small, maybe about the size of a Bulbasaur? It had a soft, teal-blue mane and tail. A coat that was a deep, darker blue. On its head sat a short, stubby horn and it’s back was adorned with little flickering wings.
“What kind of Pokémon are you?” Red wondered as he looked at it. It was really cute though. It’s eyes flickered open and looked around in confusion.
***
Luna was, confused. Whatever she did had gotten her out of that abyss and she’d been so relieved and thankful that she hadn’t noticed her surroundings at first. By the time she did take stock of her current situation…
“Where, am I?” Luna asked aloud. She looked around the room she found herself in. It was massive, maybe. It was hard to gauge in her smaller form. Though it wasn’t familiar. She saw odd machines, kind of like the ones friend Twilight kept in her basement. Tall (to her) shelves of books and-
“WHAT IN BLAZES!” she yelped and flared her tiny wings as she saw two giants looming over her. They appeared to be massive, furless bipeds. And both appeared to be almost as surprised as her. Well, maybe. Their expressions were hard to read.
***
“WOONA!” the tiny pony shouted and flared her tiny wings. It seemed to be attempting to be threatening, but it was really kind of adorable.
“Woona?” Red repeated. “Professor? What kind of Pokémon is that? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Nor have I,” Oak agreed as he looked over the Woona on his table. “Have we discovered a new Pokémon? How marvelous.” Ooh, he could only imagine the excitement of the other professors when he told them. Discovering a new species was always a delight. First that ‘Meltan’ creature Professor Willow first discovered, now this? What a time to be alive.
***
W-What did they call her? How did they know that insufferable, foalish nickname of hers!? Her cheeks tinted pink with righteous indignation. “You foul curs! I swear if you are in leagues with that damnable spirit! I shall see to it personally you share his grim fate!”
***
“Woona! WooWooonaaa! Nanana! Woona!”
“Huh, it’s really talkative huh?” Red chuckled as he reached out to pet its head, only to have it snap at his fingers. “Or maybe just really mad?”
“Hmm,” Oak mused. “Hey Red, how about you take this Woona as your starting Pokémon? That way, we could get some excellent data.”
“Huh?” Red blinked and looked at the little thing. A completely unknown Pokémon, and Oak was letting him take it!? “Oh heck yes! This’ll be amazing!”
“Heeeeey!” Another voice called out as someone new ran into the room. A short, somewhat lanky young boy named Trace. “Hey Red! I heard you were here and… wooow! What’s that!?” he exclaimed, running over to the table.
***
Luna had no idea what the two giants were talking about. What the hells was a ‘Pokémon’ and why did they seem to think she was one? Before she could ponder too deeply, a third, louder voice chimed out and she suddenly had another giant rush over, shoving his big, stupid head right in her face.
Her reaction was something she deemed valid and at an acceptable level.
She shrieked, her horn lighting up as she lifted him off of the ground and tossed him. The giant yelped as he crashed into one of the bookshelves, many of the tomes knocking free and landing on him.
“Humph! Serves thee right!” Luna huffed, folding her forehooves.
***
“Whoa! Was that… Confusion? Or maybe Psychic?” Red asked as Oak wrote this down.
“Perhaps?” the old man nodded. “Perhaps it’s a Psychic type, or one of its types. Given the wings… maybe also Flying?” He scratched his chin as he took out a small, red metal book and typed in some details. “Nonetheless, we’ll add data as we go along.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Red nodded as he turned his head. “Hey, you okay Trace?”
“...Golden,” the boy groaned as he extracted himself from the pile of books. “So uh, what was that?”
“That would be called, ‘don’t startle the unknown Pokémon’,” Red laughed as he looked back at the Woona. “You’re a strong lil thing huh?”
***
Luna looked up at the giant. Okay, so for some reason. She could understand them, but the reverse didn’t appear to be true. Also, aside from what she assumed was telekinesis, she didn’t seem capable of any other spells. She tried teleporting, casting sleep and none of which even got her horn to light up. Also, now that she was a bit calmer, she noticed that these giants appeared to be similar to the ‘humans’ that inhabited Sunset Shimmer’s world. Though they looked different than the one’s she’d seen in Twilight and Starlight’s dreams.
No matter, if they assumed her to be one of these ‘Pokémon’ creatures, she’d assume them to be human. So there!
‘This could be bothersome,’ she thought as she looked at the trio of giants. ‘Okay Luna. You’re not lucid dreaming, nor do you appear to be trapped in somepony else's. These human giants don’t ‘seem’ to be dangerous. Perhaps I should play along for a while, until I can get a better understanding of my surroundings.’
She looked at the human identified as ‘Red’ and pondered. Given physical appearance and height, Luna determined him to be a human colt. Perhaps a little after the standard age of gaining a Cutie Mark?
***
Meanwhile, Trace had recovered and had made his way over to the table to pick up one of the other Pokéballs. “Hey Professor? Can I have this one?” he asked excitedly.
“Hrm? Oh yes of course,” the old man nodded as he typed away some letters of correspondence to a few colleges.
Trace grinned as he called out his new partner, an adorable Eevee. She yawned and licked her lips sleepily as she turned her head and looked at Luna.
They stared at one another for a few solid minutes, before simultaneous words left their lips.
“What the hell are you?”
***
“Okay so… let me get this straight,” Luna said as she and the Eevee sat outside the lab, looking over a bed of flowers. “You Pokémon partner up with humans to fight gladiatorial matches for honor and glory?” That.. actually sounded awesome! Luna was rather upset when she found out Celestia outlawed the gladiator arenas a few centuries after her exile.
“I think you're overstating it,” Eevee sighed and shook her head. This Pokémon was really weird. Was she dropped as an egg or something? “Battling is how we grow and evolve.”
“Hrrm, well as long as I can find a way home to Equestria,” Luna said and closed her eyes. “I suppose I'll have to go along for now. My powers are weakened and I do not know this world.” She looked up, most disconcerting was her loss of connection to the moon. It left her feeling, empty inside. Like she'd lost a piece of herself.
“If you say so,” Eevee sighed. Magical princess from another dimension? This weirdo watched waaay too much tv.
From the lab, the two trainers emerged. Trace picked his Eevee and put her on his head. “Well I'm off. Wanna meet up later?”
“I guess,” Red said as he took out Luna’s Pokéball. The moment he did though? A blue aura snared it and hurled the ball as far as it could go, landing in a distant body of water with a small ‘plunk’.
“....Okay, so that's a no to Pokéballs then?” Red blinked, looking at his empty palm.
Luna snorted and nodded. She would not go back into one of those horrid things. Red wondered why a shiver went down his spine. It could be the teal-eyes glare he was getting from the tiny equine Pokémon.
“Okay, sooo…” Red looked down at her. “Do you want to get going Woona?”
“STOP CALLING ME WOONA!!”
***
Now that she wasn’t running about in a perpetual state of confusion and anger, Luna could properly admire the scenic route to the next human settlement. Even better was that her human guide could be used as a useful perch to secure a vantage point.
“My head isn’t…” Red sighed as Luna tapped his noggin, refusing to budge. “Oh nevermind.” He waded into a patch of tall grass. As he neared the end of it, a small purple rat leapt out, baring its sizeable fangs at them.
“A Rattata!” Red exclaimed as he looked up. “Okay Woona, you’re up. It’s time to battle!”
Luna looked down at the human. Was… was he serious? He wished to use her vast alicorn might.
Against an oversized rodent.
“You cannot be serious,” she deadpanned and looked at the Rattata. “You cannot be serious. Go on, off with you. Shoo!”
The little rat Pokémon blinked and bared his fangs again. “Oi, you wanna go luv! Comeon! l’ll shag ye mum!!”
“...Charming,” Luna deadpanned as she hopped down from Red’s head, giving her tiny wings a light flitter as she landed. “So, allow me to clarify, I am to simply defeat this simple creature in combat, without killing it?” With a sigh, she looked at the Rattata. “...How droll.”
“Oh that’s it!” The Rattata charged forwards with a Tackle attack, body-checking the tiny alicorn as she was sent tumbling across the ground. “Ahahaha! How do ya like THEM Leppa Berries ya blue-faced twa-AH!”
Luna stood up, her horn glowing as she lifted the Rattata off of the ground. “Thee dareth striketh me? Thee insignificant rodent!”
“Um… use, Confusion, I guess?” Red blinked as Luna sent the poor Rattata rocketing over the fence bordering the route. “Um… good job?”
“Humph, what a fool,” Luna snorted and shook her mane. She looked at the stunned human and climbed her way back up onto his head. “Well? Let us carry on. We’ve no time to waste. I still seek a way home after all.”
“Catching new Pokémon just got a looooot harder,” Red sighed as he resumed his trek.
***
The rest of the walk to Viridian City was a dull one. A few Rattata showed up… and learned to fly when Woona tossed them away and out of sight. She really didn’t like Rattata huh? He gave a small sigh as he reached Viridian, pausing at the entrance to the city. This journey had started out… strange. Not only did he have a Pokémon that nobody knew anything about, but she didn’t seem to listen much to him either.
Well, part of the journey was to get your Pokémon to bond with you right? He just had to figure out how to go about that. Every Pokémon was as unique as every human. No two had the same personality, the same thoughts and memories. But Woona was a complete unknown.
“Okay, let’s get to the Pokémon Center and rest up. Then figure out where to go from here.” Red said as he walked towards the building with the bright red roof.
Luna in the meantime, was busy looking around at the town. It was very different to anything in Equestria. The architecture was rather unique, at least for her. It had the similar, alien feel that Manehattan did.
She wasn’t fond of that city. Everything was far too tall and far too loud. And the ponies within far too rude. Ponyville was much more like how things used to be. Even after having come back from the moon, to find their old home in ruins. Their new home an overly-opulent mountainside structure. And many of the settlements advanced to the point of being unrecognizable.
And now she was in some other place, even more unrecognizable than home. Luna took in a sharp breath as her body shuddered, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the human whose head she was riding on.
“Hey? Everything okay up there?” he asked, looking upwards.
The little filly nodded her head. It’s not like she could communicate her melancholy to him anyway. She looked back at him, now thoughtful for a different reason. He had gone out of his way to take care of her, make sure she wasn’t braving this world alone.
Being alone, that was likely her biggest fear.
The glass doors to the Pokémon Center slid open, the warm sun making way for the cooler indoors. It made Luna’s fur prickle as she looked around. Interesting, did they possess some kind of cooling runes or somesuch?
Aside from humans, she also saw a variety of strange creatures. Much like that Eevee or that purple vermin. Were these all Pokémon? How were they so… varied? Luna couldn’t believe her eyes, the only thing snapping her out of her introspection was the human lifting her off of her head and placing her on a countertop.
“My goodness,” an adult female in a pink and white nurse’s outfit. “I’ve never seen this Pokémon before.”
“Yeah, Professor Oak and I found it near Pallet Town,” Red said with a nod. “We’re not even sure what type it is.”
“Hmm, I’ll run some tests, see if we can’t narrow it down for you,” Joy said to him as she pet Luna’s mane, making the pony bat her hand away with a hoof. “Heehee, she’s very cute.”
“Yup, doesn’t listen to a word I say however,” Red sighed and shook his head. “Okay, I’ll leave her in your care Nurse Joy. I need to call Professor Oak and let him know how things are.
Luna watched as the young colt walked away. Hm? He was leaving her here with this medic? She was not injured. Well, the place where that insufferable vermin tackled her felt a bit bruised, but t’was nothing compared to the glorious battles of the past. She suddenly yelped as she felt herself get lifted off of the counter and placed on some kind of cart. One of those creatures-- Pokémon-- was pushing said cart. A large, egg-shaped thing covered in light pink fur.
“It will be fine,” she smiled, her voice light and calming. “We’re going to get you all fixed up.”
“I am uninjured, but I thank thee nonetheless.” Luna said and sighed. “May I ask where I am?”
“Such a well-spoken young one,” the Chansey giggled as she pushed the cart into one of the exam rooms.
“I am not as young as you might think,” Luna mumbled. She looked around the room, everything in it was utterly alien to her. Things made of metal with glowing glass windows. Glowing, slightly buzzing rectangles of bland, white light in the ceiling. No colour at all, just shades of white and steel. Honestly, this room felt… cold. Lifeless. There was no magic here.
“Alrighty,” the human mare walked in an smiled. “Let’s start with a physical exam okay? I’ve no idea what your normal vitals are. So we’ll record what we have for now.” Joy took out a stethoscope and placed it against Luna’s chest. She nodded as she wrote down her heart rate. “Breathing seems normal… no respiratory problems from the sounds of it.”
After setting the stethoscope aside, she noticed the Pokémon had flinched slightly. “Hmm, is your chest sore?” she asked as she prodded it lightly, getting a frown and a batting from the ‘mon’s hoof. “Slight bruising there. Maybe from a Tackle or something similar?”
Luna had to admit, this medic was perceptive. She reached for a counter next to them and picked up a spray bottle, a purple one with a white handle. “Okay sweetie, just sit still and we’ll get you all fixed up,” she said as she sprayed the wound. It stung slightly at first, making Luna wince. But the pain soon faded entirely. My my, what a wonderous potion. Was this medic also a skilled alchemist? Luna had to admit, she could use someone like that on staff at the castle.
Such idle musings that were cut off when Joy stuck a thermometer in her mouth.
Over the course of around a half hour, the nurse continued to take notes and do more tests. She was rather thorough and it left Luna mentally exhausted afterwards.
“First exam?” Chansey smiled as she placed a small, blue-hued berry the size of Luna’s hoof in front of her. “Here, this will pep you right up again.”
“Ah… my thanks,” Luna nodded as she lifted it with her magic and bit into it. Hmmm, not a bad flavour to be sure. And she could feel her fatigue washing away with each bite. “My my, this would go rather well with a good cup of coffee.”
“Alrighty, we’re all done here,’ Joy smiled and clapped her hands. “Let’s get you back to your trainer now hm?”
“Very well,” Luna said as she hopped up onto the trolley again. “Your skill is admirable Medic. Take pride in knowing you have served your Princess well.”
Chansey giggled as Joy tilted her head. “Oh, she say something funny?” the woman mused as they took Luna back out to the front desk.
***
Red was waiting on one of the nearby couches, playing with the Pokédex that Oak had given him. He looked up when Nurse Joy called his name.
“So,” he said as he approached the counter. “How’d it go?”
“Very well,” Joy smiled as she pet Luna’s mane. “She was very well behaved and seems to be the picture of health.”
“Um, ‘seems to be’?” Red repeated as Luna climbed up onto her perch, aka Red’s head.
“Well, I’ve no idea what kind of Pokémon she is, much less medical records,” Joy sighed slightly. “So I just kind of had to go off of similar-sized Pokémon. She has no obvious wounds or conditions. Also, I ran her through our scanner. It detected the energies of Dark and Psychic types in her. Though only time to tell for sure.”
“A Dark/Psychic type eh?” Red glanced up. “That’s quite a mix. Not a lot of weaknesses there.”
Luna harrumphed. “I has't v'ry little in the way of weaknesses. Thee wouldst doth well to rememb'r yond human colt.” She gave his head a light bap with her hoof. “Now come, thine Princess hungers!”
Red’s stomach chose a fine moment to loose a growl. “Well, I guess it’s lunch time,” he chuckled. “Okay Woona! Let’s eat, then explore the city for a bit.”
“This one finds the language barrier quite damnable… and how they learned my insufferable nickname is even more of a mystery.” Many questions, so many questions she had. And very little in the ways of answers. Hopefully further travels would shed some enlightenment. Well, no matter. Food first, mysteries of the universe later.
A mare had to have her priorities straight after all.