Sci-Twi and Sunset get transported to the world of Pokémon. The problem? One of them's a Pokémon...
Through a mysterious incident, Sci-Twi and Sunset Shimmer are transported to the world of Pokémon. Unfortunately, while Sci-Twi arrives as a human, Sunset is transformed into a Pokémon.
Working together as a Trainer and her Pokémon, the two must journey through the realm of Kanto in an attempt to find their way home and, in the process, learn as much as they can about this strange new world.
Lightning flashed as Twilight Sparkle fell through the night sky. Buffeted by howling wind and torrential rain, she could barely hear herself scream over the sound of the tempest that raged all around her.
A flicker of red and amber out of the corner of her eye told her where Sunset was. She reached for the geode in her headband, in a desperate attempt to save herself and her dear friend by ponying up, but a powerful gust of wind flipped her around and disrupting her focus.
There was an almighty crash of thunder, and another flash of sheet lightning lit up the sky. Twilight barely had time to register a shadowy figure hovering above, silhouetted by the sudden brightness, before she plunged into icy water. The cold shock drove all thought from her mind even as it made her gasp reflexively, briny ocean water filling her mouth.
Twilight choked as panic took over, but the more she tried to breathe the more water was sucked into her lungs. Her lungs screaming for respite, she made one last, futile effort to breach the surface, kicking as hard as she could. Finally, her strength sapped by cold and lack of oxygen, her struggles slowly ceased.
The last thing to flash through Twilight’s mind as she sank was an image of her friends and family, before the darkness claimed her.
Twilight snapped awake.
She was disoriented at first, her surroundings bright but blurry. It took several moments for her to realize that she was warmly tucked up in a comfortable bed, and a few moments longer to realize that her vision was blurry because her glasses were missing.
“H-hello?” she called out tentatively.
“Oh, good, you’re awake!”
Twilight raised her head to try and see who had replied, but she couldn’t make out much more than colour; pale peach skin and light brown hair. “Who’s there?”
The person, a woman, stepped closer and held something out to her, “Here you go, dear, these may help a little.”
“Thank you.” Twilight felt a spark of relief as she took her glasses and put them on, bringing the world around her into sharp focus. She was in a cosy little bedroom, with morning light coming in from a nearby window. The woman who had been helping her was young, she couldn’t have been any older than her early twenties.
“My name’s Sakura,” the woman said softly. “What’s yours?”
“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”
Sakura looked at her curiously, “That’s an unusual name. Pretty, though.” Twilight couldn’t help but blush slightly at the compliment. Sakura smiled as she filled a glass of water from a jug and held it out, “Can you remember what happened to you?”
“Not really,” Twilight admitted as she reached for the glass, “the last thing I rememb-AH?!”
“What is it? What’s the matter?” Sakura asked anxiously.
Twilight just stared in shock at her arm. Her skin had changed from its usual purple to a shade of pale peach, not unlike Sakura’s. At least her hair was still normal, at least, as far as she could tell from the loose strands that were hanging in front of her face.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Sakura asked, her face a picture of concern.
Twilight managed to force an apologetic smile onto her face, “I-I’m fine. Sorry, I think I’m still a little out of it.”
Sakura smiled and shook her head, “It’s alright. You had a very rough time last night. You gave us all quite a scare, climbing out of the sea clutching your little friend like that. Do you remember how you got here?”
Twilight frowned. Her memories of the previous night were blurry, but she was sure she hadn’t gotten herself out of the water. It took a few moments for the rest of Sakura’s sentence to percolate into her brain. “Little frie-?” Twilight gasped as realization struck, “Sunset! Where is she? Is she hurt?”
“She’s fine,” Sakura replied firmly, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You don’t need to worry, we left your Pokémon in the care of Professor Oak, he’ll take good care of her.”
Twilight gave her a blank look, “My what?”
Sunset Shimmer groaned as she slowly came to. Fully intending to go back to sleep, she shifted slightly and tried to pull her blanket a little tighter around herself, but she couldn’t quite get a good grip on it. She tried a few more times but met with little success. It was as if her fingers just didn’t want to work at all. Come to think of it, she couldn’t actually feel her fingers.
That was enough to get Sunset to open her eyes and raise her head. Lifting her hand out from under the blanket, she blinked in surprise as she saw that it was, in fact, a hoof. “I’m a pony again?” she half-whispered to herself. Glancing around, she saw that she was in a large bed that seemed to be made out of incredibly thick plastic, with large transparent walls rising above her on all sides. It reminded her of nothing so much as the little cots used in hospitals for newborn babies. “Is this Equestria?”
Shrugging off the blanket and standing up, she was about to attempt to climb over one of the walls when she noticed something was off. Her legs felt way shorter than they should. Giving herself a once-over, she gasped as she came to a startling conclusion, “”I’m a filly?! Why am I a filly again?!”
Rising onto her hind legs and pressing herself against the plastic side, Sunset tried to get a look at where she was, but there was very little to see. Her bed seemed to be in tucked into the corner an absolutely massive room. A huge heater stood next to it, radiating a heat that was somehow incredibly intense and yet oddly soothing at the same time. Glancing up, she saw a pair of heat lamps hanging over her, both of them switched on and blazing.
Sunset briefly wondered how she could have slept under those things without dehydrating or getting horrible burns, but she pushed that from her mind and focused on a more pressing concern. “Twilight? Twilight, where are you?” she called out. “Twilight? Anyone?!”
Her mouth snapped shut as loud footsteps rang out, quickly coming closer. Sunset’s mouth dropped open and terror gripped her heart as a giant human strode through the door.
The giant resembled an old man, but one that towered over Sunset. She barely came up to his knees. He had light grey hair, almost white, with pale peach-colored skin, and was wearing a white lab coat over a red shirt and beige pants.
“Well, hello there,” the giant said in a surprisingly kindly voice. “It’s good to see you up and about, after what happened to you last night. Fire types such as yourself really don’t belong in the ocean.”
Sunset just gaped up at him, a hundred different questions running through her head. Where am I? Where’s Twilight? What happened? Why am I a filly again? Why am I a pony and you’re a human? For that matter, why is everything so huge?! Or am I just really small and everything else is normal-sized? Can something please start making sense soon?!
Before Sunset could articulate an actual question for him, the giant approached much faster than she’d expected and dropped to his knees next to her bed, prompting her to back up away from him until her rump bumped into one of the plastic walls.
Seeing her reaction, the giant raised his hands in a placating manner and spoke softly, “It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Professor Oak. I’ve been looking after you since you were brought in last night. And don’t worry,” he added quickly, “your friend is safe and sound as well. As soon as I can give you a clean bill of health, I’ll take you to see her. I promise.”
That brought a little sigh of relief from Sunset. She still had a million questions but, for now, she was willing to just go with the flow until she could find Twilight and try to figure out exactly what was going on, “Okay. What do you need?”
Professor Oak beamed at her, “That’s the spirit! Now then, I’d like to run some simple tests on you, so I’m going to have to pick you up, alright? Let me just…” Sunset tried not to flinch as he reached out with a hand, holding it a few inches away from her for a few seconds before slowly bringing it in to gently stroke her shoulder. “Warm to the touch, but not hot enough to burn, thankfully! Can’t be too careful with you fire types!” Professor Oak chuckled softly. “Right then, let’s get you out of that old incubator, shall we?”
Reaching in with his other arm as well, Professor Oak slipped his hands under Sunset’s shoulders and lifted her from the bed. He shifted her around as he stood and settled her in the crook of his arm, carrying her like a little puppy or kitten. “There, that’s not so bad now, is it?”
Sunset had to admit that it was somewhat soothing, not that she’d ever admit that to anyone. Something about the old professor’s manner and bearing just seemed to put her at ease. “Let’s just get this over with,” she muttered in a vain attempt at salvaging some pride and dignity.
Professor Oak switched the heater and lamps off before leaving the room. Sunset looked around hesitantly as she was carried through what appeared to be some sort of laboratory. Fortunately it looked less like the forbidding lair of some evil mad scientist and more like the work-space of an eccentric college professor.
“Ah! Elaine, Trace, you’re still here?” Professor Oak called out suddenly.
“Sure are, Professor!”
“We wanted to see if that Pokémon was okay!”
“Well, alright. Just make sure to give her some space, she’s had quite a rough ordeal.” The Professor shifted Sunset again and gently placed her on a table, then stood aside to let two other people take a look at her. “Here you are!”
They were a boy and a girl, with a similar skin color to the old man. The two of them seemed to be in their mid-teens, and both were carrying a very strange looking animal each. The boy had spiky brown hair and was wearing a fitted black t-shirt with green pants, and he had some sort of fluffy-looking dog perched on his head. The girl had long brown hair largely tied back in a ponytail, with a black and white t-shirt and two-tone green and red shorts. She was carrying something that resembled a bizarre little yellow mouse in her arms.
“Awww, she’s so cute!” the girl said quietly, bending down to get a closer look. “What sort of Pokémon is she?”
“I have no idea, Elaine,” Professor Oak replied as he pottered about, gathering some simple medical tools. “I’ve never seen anything like her before in my life.”
“I’ve got no idea what a Poky-mon is, but my name is Sunset,” Sunset said firmly, slightly annoyed at being treated like some sort of zoo animal. “Maybe if you stopped gawping and tried talking to me you’d learn a few things.”
“They can’t understand you,” the dog said brightly.
Sunset blinked in surprise, “Wait, what do you mean?”
“Humans can’t understand Pokémon speech. Don’t ask why, I don’t have a clue.” The dog tilted its head curiously, “Shouldn’t you already know that, since you have a trainer and all?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow, “Trainer? I don’t have a trainer, and can someone please explain to me what a Pokémon is?”
The mouse and the dog shared an amazed look. “Well, you are, silly,” the mouse said in a high-pitched, feminine voice. “The three of us are.”
Sunset just stared at them in confusion, but before she could respond the Professor came back over bearing a stethoscope, “It seems you’re getting on quite well with Eevee and Pikachu, that’s good to see.” He smiled and turned to the two youngsters, “Now then, I’ve got to run a couple of quick tests just to make sure she’s healthy. Would you like to stay and watch?”
The boy, Trace, yawned and shook his head, the little dog grinning as his ride moved, “Nah. I’m gonna go and get a head start on finding some rare Pokémon of my own. Later!”
Professor Oak waved goodbye and turned to Elaine, “And what about you?”
“I’m staying,” Elaine replied as the yellow mouse nodded.
“Alright then,” Professor Oak nodded and popped the stethoscope’s ear-tips into his ears. “Of course, this is the first time I’ve ever encountered a Pokémon like this before, so I’m afraid a lot of this is mostly going to be guesswork. Still, it’s worth doing, even if only so we can start forming a frame of reference for future tests.” He leaned closer to Sunset and held out the stethoscope, “Let’s start with your breathing and heart rate, shall we?”
Out of any alternative options, Sunset decided to just put up with the examination, and the unrelated observers, with as much patience as she could muster, though it was particularly frustrating that neither of the humans could understand her.
“Hmm, the heart seems fine. Your heart rate is a little fast, perhaps, but that’s understandable given your current situation,” Professor Oak mumbled, mostly to himself. “Breathing sounds normal for a Pokémon of your size and type. Nothing out of the ordinary. Good.”
Sunset heaved a heavy sigh as the Professor straightened up and removed the stethoscope. Pokémon. There was that odd word again, and she still had no idea what it meant, other than the fact that, apparently, she was one of them.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” the yellow mouse asked suddenly. Sunset looked up at her and shook her head. “Huh. You must have come from pretty far away. I’m a Pikachu,” she gestured up at Elaine with a paw, “and this here is my new trainer. What’s your name?”
“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset replied automatically.
“Hey, cool name,” Pikachu said brightly.
Sunset gave her a tentative smile, “Um, thanks?”
She was spared from any more conversation by Professor Oak, who was smearing some sort of gel on a thermometer, “Next, I’d like to check your temperature. This may feel a little odd at first, but please just try to bear with it.” Sunset rolled her eyes and opened her mouth expectantly. Seeing this, the Professor let out a quiet laugh, “My, you’re a clever one, aren’t you? Sadly, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick, or should I say Pokémon?”
Sunset gave him a puzzled look. Realization hit like a thunderbolt as he suddenly lifted her tail. “Nope! No way!” she yelled as she span around, trying to yank her tail out of his grip and get her rump as far away from that thermometer as physically possible.
Professor Oak grimaced, trying to gently pull her back around, “Come on, now. Hold still. It’ll all be over soon.”
“Not a chance in Tartarus!” Sunset snapped. She gave a cry of triumph as she managed to pull her tail from his grasp, then backed as far away as she could while keeping her horn trained on him. Oak reached for her again and she powered up her magic, intending to fire a shot at the thermometer, but nothing happened save for a faint glow that surrounded her horn. “Huh? What’s going on? Why won't it work?”
“Oh, that’s unusual,” Professor Oak said absently. He admired her stubby little horn for a moment before reaching for her tail again, only to whip his hand back with a yelp as Sunset snapped at his fingers with her teeth.
“Try that again, I dare you,” Sunset growled.
Professor Oak regarded her warily for a few seconds, then gave up and put the thermometer down, “I think maybe we should forget about getting your temperature for now.”
“Good idea, old guy,” Pikachu giggled. “She looks miffed.”
Sunset scowled up at her, “Wouldn’t you be if someone tried to shove something up your a-”
“Professor Oak?” a voice called out suddenly. Sunset turned to see a young woman approaching nervously.
“Ah, Sakura,” Professor Oak smiled genially at her. “Is everything alright?”
Sakura nodded, “Yes, Professor. I was just-”
“Sunset?”
Sunset’s jaw dropped open as a girl entered the lab behind Sakura. Her skin was pale, just like every other human around here so far, but there was no mistaking that hair. “Twilight?!”
Twilight stared in blank surprise at the cute little foal standing on the table. It was undeniably Sunset Shimmer, after all, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen her friend in pony form, but Twilight couldn’t even begin to fathom why she looked so much younger than before.
“Shimmy! Shim shim, shimmy?!” Sunset shouted.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, utterly perplexed, “I… um… what?”
Sakura cleared her throat and gestured to the old man wearing the lab coat, “Miss Sparkle, this is Professor Oak. He’s been looking after your Pokémon.”
“Oh, right! Um, thank you,” Twilight said, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
Professor Oak smiled brightly, “It was my pleasure! I’m just glad to see that you’re both alright, is it true you both fell in the ocean?”
“Something like that,” Twilight replied. She glanced over at Sunset, wringing her hands together, “I don’t want to be rude, but… do you mind if I have a quick chat with my, er, Pokémon? In private?”
Professor Oak nodded, “Of course, by all means. I’ve got some paperwork to work on in the meantime. I’ll be at that computer over there, just come and get me when you’re done.”
Twilight murmured in agreement as the Professor wandered over to a computer in the corner, the teenage girl following at his heels.
“I really should be getting home, too,” Sakura said. “You look after yourself, alright?”
Twilight smiled at her, “You too. And thank you, for everything.” She waved as Sakura turned and left, then turned back to Sunset. The little filly watched impatiently as Twilight stepped over to the table and crouched, bringing herself down to Sunset’s eye level, “Hey, Sunset. Are you okay?”
“Shim! Shimmy, shim!” Sunset replied, gesticulating with her forelegs.
Confused yet again, and feeling more than a little trepidation, Twilight asked softly, “Uh… Sunset? Can you understand me?” Sunset heaved a heavy, if somewhat cutesy, sigh, and nodded slowly. “Oh, thank goodness!” Twilight burst out, sagging with relief. “I was starting to worry that you had turned into an actual animal of some sort. But, if you can understand me, then why can’t I understand you?”
Sunset sat and shrugged, “Shim shimmy.”
Twilight groaned and straightened up, “Why did this happen? Do you remember anything about how we got here?” Sunset shook her head. “What about how to get back?” Another shake. “Me neither. Well. At least my parents think we’re on a research expedition, so we should have plenty of time to figure out a way home before they start worrying.”
“Shimmy.”
Twilight smirked reflexively, “Is that a request, or…?” Sunset just gave her a bemused glare in response, prompting an awkward giggle, “Right, sorry. Not the time. Hmmm. Do you think maybe I’m still human because that’s what I am originally, while you’re a pony because that’s what you were originally? That wouldn’t explain why you’re suddenly so young, though.”
Sunset folded her forelegs, “Shim, shim shimmy shim shim.”
Twilight let out another groan, “This is ridiculous, we have to find some way for you to communicate with me!”
“Shim,” Sunset said, nodding in agreement. Looking idly around the room, she tapped a hoof to her chin in obvious thought, then her ears perked up as she got an idea. “Shim shimmy!”
“What? What is it?” Twilight asked eagerly, squatting back down again.
Sunset stood once more and held out a foreleg, looking up at Twilight while she slowly and deliberately traced letters with her hoof.
“Writing! Of course!” Twilight glanced quickly around the room before hurrying towards another table. She returned moments later with a pen and a sheet of paper, which she placed in front of Sunset, “Here you go!”
“Shimmy!” Sunset grinned and a faint glow emanated from her horn as she powered up her magic, with a similar glow surrounding the pen. Her grin faded as the pen refused to budge, becoming a grimace as she struggled, before, finally, the pen started to slowly rise into the air. Puffing out her cheeks, Sunset managed to hold the pen shakily for a few seconds, but couldn’t even get the nib to the paper before her magic gave out.
Twilight’s shoulders slumped at the failure, “I guess your magic doesn’t work properly here. Or maybe its affected by the same process that turned you into a little foal?”
Sunset glared at the pen as if it had offered her a grievous insult. Lunging forward, she snatched it up in her mouth and awkwardly tried to write with it clamped between her teeth. Sadly, the end result was nothing more than an illegible scrawl. Upon seeing this, Sunset spat the pen out and sat down with a frustrated grumble, “Shim. Shim, shimmy.”
“It’s okay, we’ll figure something out,” Twilight assured her. “In the meantime, why don’t we speak to Professor Oak and see if we can get any clues as to where we are, or how we can get home?” Sunset let out a dejected sigh, then nodded once and stood back up. It was at this point that Twilight noticed another, relatively mild, problem, “Um, should I pick you up, or…?”
Sunset held a hoof up for a moment, as if to say ‘one second’, and stepped over to the edge of the table. She looked down at the floor, apparently considering something, then suddenly her horn lit up. There was a flash and a crack as Sunset disappeared into thin air, and another a split-second later as she reappeared on the floor.
Twilight stared at her in stunned disbelief, “Wha- you can teleport?!”
Sunset grinned widely and trotted in place, clearly pleased with her success. “Shim shimmy shim shim! Shimmy shim shim shimmy!” Taking a moment to collect herself, she stopped trotting and strode off towards the Professor, triumph etched all over her face. Following along behind, Twilight couldn’t help but notice that little filly Sunset, marching along purposefully with her stubby little legs and squishy-looking frame, was completely and utterly adorable.
The girl with Professor Oak looked up as Twilight and Sunset approached. “Oh, are you all done?” she asked, getting the Professor’s attention.
Twilight tilted her head noncommittally, “Um, kinda? We actually have a few questions about, well everything. Oh, I’m Twilight, by the way.”
“I’m Elaine, and this little one is Pikachu,” she replied, holding up her funny yellow mouse.
“Pika!”
“So, what’s your Pokémon called?” Elaine asked.
Twilight rubbed her neck awkwardly, “Er… well, that’s actually what we wanted to ask you about.” She took a quick breath and looked at Professor Oak, “What exactly is a Pokémon?”
The two looked at her in blank surprise. “How can you not know what a Pokémon is?!” Elaine asked incredulously.
Twilight bit her lip, not entirely certain how to go about explaining herself, “Well, you see, there weren’t any Pokémon where we came from, so…”
Professor Oak frowned at that. “No Pokémon? But what about this little one?” he asked and gestured to Sunset.
“She certainly is,” Professor Oak replied, still frowning curiously. “How peculiar, I didn’t think there was anywhere on the planet where you wouldn’t be able to find Pokémon.”
“It’s from, er, pretty far away,” Twilight admitted.
“If that’s the case, then how on earth did you end up here in Pallet Town?” Professor Oak asked.
“We were on a research expedition in an, er, exotic location,” Twilight explained, the other two listening with rapt attention. “We were investigating an old castle when a strange storm struck. The next thing I know, we were both falling through the sky and we landed in the ocean.”
Elaine’s eyes widened in surprise, “How is that even possible?”
“There’s something else,” Twilight continued, twiddling her fingers. “When we arrived here, while we were falling, I think I saw someone floating in the sky.” She sighed and shook her head, “It could have just been my imagination. The storm was throwing us around, and I only really saw an outline. It was probably just a trick of the light, but…”
Professor Oak hummed and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. After a moment he spoke, “Some Pokémon are capable of teleporting large distances.” Twilight glanced sidelong at Sunset at that, “Alakazam is the first that springs to mind, and they’re humanoid in shape, too, but I can’t think of a Pokémon that would be capable of something like this, not unless they were uncommonly powerful. Perhaps one of the legendary Pokémon? But that begs the question as to why?”
He let out a quiet breath and stood. “I’ll make some enquiries in the scientific community, see if anyone had heard or seen something that might explain what happened. In the meantime, you are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you’d like.”
Twilight smiled gratefully, “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Elaine tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully, “Hang on, why doesn’t she just go out and look for it?” Twilight and Professor Oak both gave her curious looks. “Think about it, If a legendary Pokémon really did do this, you aren’t going to find it by sitting around in a lab.”
“Elaine does have a point,” Professor Oak conceded. “Rare Pokémon tend to avoid towns and other densely populated areas. Well, usually,” he added, with a glance at Sunset.
“She can come with me!” Elaine cried excitedly. “I’d love to have a friend to talk to on my journey!”
“You’re going somewhere?” Twilight asked.
Elaine nodded enthusiastically, “Yep, I’m leaving to try and become a Pokémon Master!”
“A what, now?”
“Shimmy shim?”
Professor Oak chuckled a little at the pair’s confusion, then turned away and gestured for them to follow him, “Come with me, I’ll explain.”
Twilight and Sunset shared a look, shrugged, and followed the Professor out of his lab, Elaine and her Pikachu tagging along in their wake. Leaving through the back door, the Professor showed them into a small garden area filled with long grass and ringed with white picket fencing. Several small birds were perched on the fence, while the grass rustled constantly with the movement of small animals. Twilight gasped as a small brown creature popped its head up out of the ground, looked around for a moment, then disappeared again.
“That was a Diglett, a type of Pokémon,” Professor Oak explained, seeing the look of wonder on Twilight’s face. He flung out an arm, indicating the birds and other creatures in the garden, “We humans live alongside Pokémon as friends. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. As for myself, I study Pokémon as a profession. Pokémon can be found in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and can be found almost all over the world. Each of them also has what we call a type. For example; there are Ground-types, like that little Diglett, Normal-Types, like the Rattata that are scurrying around in there somewhere, and then you have dual types, like those Pidgeys. They’re both Normal- and Flying- types.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. It all sounded so… simplified.
“Shim!” Sunset called out suddenly. As soon as she had the others attention, she used a hoof to point from herself, to the garden, then back again. “Shimmy shim shim shimmy?”
“I think Sunset wants to know what type she is,” Twilight said.
Professor Oak looked down at her with interest, “This little one, you said her name was Sunset?” Twilight nodded. “Well, Sunset here is particularly fascinating. She’s a dual type. A combination of Fire and Fairy, to be precise. In all my years as a researcher I've never seen or heard of such a combination. I'll have to check with some of my colleagues, but I believe her type is something that's completely unique!”
“Shimmy?” Sunset turned and twisted on the spot, checking herself over. After a few moments she apparently gave up and sat down, arching an eyebrow as she looked up at the Professor, “Shim shimmy shim?”
“What does she want?” Elaine asked.
“I think she wants to know how you can tell,” Twilight suggested, getting a nod from Sunset.
“Oh, that’s simple enough,” Professor Oak replied. “Us researchers have a few simple tests that can determine the specific types of different Pokémon, I even helped to invent one or two of them.”
“I’m a Pokémon trainer,” Elaine added. “I only got my first Pokémon today,” she paused and stroked Pikachu’s head affectionately, getting a delighted coo in return, “but I’ll be leaving soon to catch more, and try to become a Pokémon Master.”
Professor Oak nodded, “Elaine is going on a journey to visit and challenge every Pokémon gym in the Kanto league, a quest that will take her across the length and breadth of the region. Going with her would give you the opportunity to seek out answers for yourself, while I do what research I can from here. In fact, if a Pokémon truly is responsible for your predicament, they may even try to seek you out, and will be more likely to do so if you’re not cooped up in the middle of a town, even a small one like Pallet Town.”
“So, what do you think? Do you want to come exploring with me?” Elaine asked eagerly.
Twilight took a step back, more than a little divided. Her curious nature was screaming at her to get out and study this whole new world and its strange creatures, but it wasn’t only her decision to make. “What do you think, Sunset? We were on a research expedition, after all?”
Sunset cocked her head from side to side as she considered. Finally, she nodded, “Shim!”
“Excellent!” Elaine cried.
“Very well,” Professor Oak said brightly. “In that case, I’ll provide you with a cell phone so we can contact each other if we learn anything new.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea! Thank you!” Twilight replied.
Professor Oak waved a hand dismissively, “Oh, please, it’s the least I can do. Although, there is one thing I’d like to request, before you go.”
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
Professor Oak smiled down at Sunset once more, “You see, as I said earlier, Sunset here is a very unique specimen. Would you mind if I finish running a few tests on her?”
Sunset instantly flicked her tail down over her rump protectively. "Shim!"
Following along behind Twilight and Elaine, Sunset blinked in the bright sunshine as she emerged from the lab’s front door and stepped out into Pallet Town. Looking around, she saw that it was a quaint little place, with a mix of paved roads and dirt paths leading through the buildings. Wide open fields could just about be seen out beyond the limits of the town.
Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Sunset felt herself begin to relax a little. Professor Oak’s tests hadn’t been so bad, She’d still flat out refused to have her internal temperature taken, though. The Professor had warned that a doctor would need to know her standard internal temperature if she got ill, so they could calibrate their oral thermometers to account for her fire, but she couldn’t currently breathe fire, so she figured she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
“So… um, where do we go from here?” Twilight asked.
Elaine pointed down one of the roads, “This way. We’ll go up Route 1 first and head to Viridian City, to the North.”
“Is it far?” Sunset asked, then slapped a hoof to her face as she remembered that asking a human was pointless.
Fortunately, Twilight seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “How far away is Viridian City?”
“Not far, just a couple of hours’ walk,” Elaine replied, taking the lead down the street, “We just have to head up through Route 1. We can always stop for a break on the way, if you need to.”
“That… will probably be a good idea. I’m not exactly athletically gifted,” Twilight admitted shyly, before looking down at Sunset, “What about you, Sunset, are you going to be alright with walking?”
“I’ll be fine,” Sunset replied with a confident nod. She had to maintain a gentle trot to keep up with their pace, but it was nothing too strenuous.
Twilight didn’t look convinced, but she let it slide, “If you’re sure.”
“If she gets tired, you can always put her in a Pokéball,” Elaine said.
“What’s a Pokéball?” Sunset and Twilight asked in unison.
Elaine stuck a hand in her pocket and pulled out a small object, holding it out for Twilight to see. It was a little orb, around the size of a ping-pong ball, half red and half white, with a little button in the middle. Elaine pressed the little button and, to Twilight and Sunset’s astonishment, the ball suddenly increased in size to around that of a baseball. “This is a Pokéball. We use them for catching and storing Pokémon.”
Sunset cocked her head to the side and stared at it, “How does that work? How would a pony, er, Pokémon, my size fit in something that small?”
Elaine just looked down at her with mild confusion.
“Er… I think Sunset’s trying to ask how it works?” Twilight supplied.
Suppressing a groan, Sunset nodded curtly. She needed to figure out a proper way of communicating, and fast.
Elaine hummed thoughtfully, blissfully unaware of Sunset’s discomfort. “I’m not sure about the details, but essentially it converts any Pokémon it touches into some kind of energy and stores it digitally. Then, when you let them out, it turns them back to normal.”
“That’s incredible!” Twilight cried. “Do you mind if we try it out?”
“Sure!” Elaine replied. “Pikachu doesn’t like being in a Pokéball, but I’d be happy to let your Shimmy use one if you want?”
Sunset stopped dead in the street, “Hey, woah, hold on a second. First up, what the heck is a Shimmy? And second,” she narrowed her eyes at Twilight, “what do you mean, ‘try it out’? Are you seriously expecting me to just let you put me in that thing?” The two humans just stared at her in confusion, prompting Sunset to slap a hoof to her face.
“Do… you want to try the Pokéball?” Twilight asked tentatively.
Sunset heaved a sigh. “You know what? Fine. Whatever.” She stepped towards Elaine and sat on the floor, resigned to her fate for now. “So, how do we do this?”
“I think she’s okay with it,” Elaine said brightly, holding the ball out to Twilight. “Here, all you have to do is touch her with the little button in the middle.”
“That seems easy enough,” Twilight replied. She squatted down and held out the Pokéball, pointing the button at Sunset, “Okay, Sunset. I’ll leave it to you.”
Sunset just stared at it warily, suddenly regretting her irritated rashness. “Uh, what do you think Pikachu?” she asked, trying to buy herself a little more time.
Pikachu glanced down from her perch on Elaine’s shoulder and shrugged, “Eh, its not my kinda thing. I’ve heard that most Pokémon kinda enjoy it though.”
“Right, because that doesn’t sound like a euphemism at all,” Sunset muttered sarcastically.
Pikachu smirked, evidently having heard her, “You know, I’ve heard that some Pokémon actually kinda enjoy having their temperature taken with that kind of therm-”
“Okay! Trying out the Pokéball now!” Sunset jabbed the button with a hoof before Pikachu could finish her sentence. The ball snapped open with a pop, and Sunset’s vision flashed red for a brief instant as she felt a tremor run through her entire body, leaving an odd prickling sensation in its wake. When the sensation passed, Sunset found herself curled up into a ball. Fighting the initial urge to try and struggle, she took a deep breathe in and slowly let it out, before trying to get her bearings.
Faint pink light suffused the empty space around her, somehow holding her close and enveloping her in comforting warmth. It felt like being wrapped up in bed on a winter’s day, with a thick blanket covering her entire body. All she could hear was her own heartbeat, strong and steady, and somehow amplified so that it echoed through the floating space. Even the smell was comforting, something warm and homely that she couldn’t quite identify.
‘Woah, that was amazing!’
Sunset’s ears pricked at the sound of Twilight’s voice. Listening closely, she found that she could hear everything that was happening outside, though the noise was faint and slightly muffled. She could even vaguely sense that the Pokéball was moving, though she couldn’t tell how fast or in what direction.
Listening to the rhythmic thumping of her own heart, combined with the sound of carefree voices in the background and the comforting warmth that held her in a gentle embrace, Sunset was put in mind of that moment when you first wake up in the morning, drifting on the border between wakefulness and sleep.
Click.
The sharp sound cut through the soft atmosphere, then the whole world flashed red before the warmth and the tender embrace were both gone, replaced with a hard floor and a cool breeze.
Sunset blinked and looked around, confused by the sudden change in environment. She was lying on a dirt track, with grass verges on either side. Looking back, she saw Twilight and Elaine looking at her with mild concern and, a little further back, a couple of small buildings at what must have been the edge of Pallet Town. “What the…?”
Pikachu giggled at her. “Hold up, did you actually fall asleep in there? Are you a Snorlax or something?”
“I don’t know what that is, but shut up,” Sunset grumbled as she tottered to her feet, still a little addled from her impromptu nap.
Twilight crouched down next to her. “Sunset? Are you okay? How was it” she asked softly.
Sunset sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly and nodded. “Phew! I’m fine, just a little… wow.” She eyed the Pokéball still clutched in Twilight’s hand warily. She quietly resolved never to let herself be put in one of those again. It was hard enough getting herself out of bed in the mornings, getting out of that thing voluntarily would be almost impossible.
Twilight noticed her look. “Do you want to go back in there?” she asked in surprise, clearly misinterpreting.
“Not a chance," Sunset replied with a determined shake of her head.
Seeing that her friend was alright, Twilight’s expression shifted almost instantly from concern to eager curiosity. “So, how was it in there? How did it feel being digitized like that? Was it comfortable? Could you feel anything while you were being stored digitally? What about sight, could you see anything? Hear anything?”
Sunset just gave her a flat look and pointed at her throat. “Try asking that when I can actually reply in a way you’ll understand.”
Twilight sighed heavily, “Awww. We need to find a way for you to communicate, you have to tell me what that was like!”
“Right, sure, that’s the main reason.” With a huff and a roll of her eyes, Sunset turned to face the way ahead. The path stretched on past a set of white picket fencing before it came to an abrupt end amongst a wide thicket of long grass.
“Okay, this is Route 1,” Elaine called out. She threw her arm forward, pointing dramatically, “Next stop, Viridian City!”
Twilight looked around with interest as they took their first steps onto Route 1. Pressing through the long grass she could see that, while there wasn’t a true road or path of any kind, there was still a distinct grassy passageway lined with trees and bushes. Several Pidgeys, just like the ones in Professor Oak’s garden, could be seen flapping about in the trees.
“How many different kinds of Pokémon are there?” Twilight asked.
Elaine shrugged. “I’m not sure. I know there’s something like a hundred and fifty or so in Kanto alone, but around here you’ll only find Rattatas, Pidgeys, Bellsprouts and Oddishes. We might even see some of their evolved forms, if we’re lucky.”
Twilight frowned at her. “Evolved forms? What do you mean?”
“Ah, right, you wouldn’t know.” Elaine threw her an apologetic glance. “Sorry. Basically, when a Pokémon matures enough or reaches a certain set of conditions they go through what we call an evolution. Take those Pidgeys, for example. Eventually, a few of them will evolve into Pidgetto’s, and some of them might even evolve further into Pidgeot’s.”
Twilight raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Uh… you know that’s not how evolution works, right?”
“It does with Pokémon, at least, with most of them” Elaine replied. “Most of those that do evolve do so when they’ve matured enough or gotten strong enough, but some, like Pikachu, would need to be exposed to a Thunder Stone or something to evolve. N-not that I’d do that to you!” she added quickly after seeing the sour look on Pikachu’s face.
“Does it happen instantaneously?” Twilight asked. Elaine nodded, prompting a thoughtful frown. “It sounds more like a transformation than an evolution,” she muttered, more to herself than anything.
“I guess so,” Elaine admitted. “You’d have to ask Professor Oak or another scientist if you want a better explanation, I’m not really sure of the specifics.” She hummed and tapped her chin as a thought occurred to her. “Hmmm, maybe we should see if we can go and visit Bill?”
“Bill?” Twilight asked.
“He’s a famous Pokémaniac,” Elaine replied. “I’ve heard he gets up to all kinds of crazy experiments, and he’s supposed to have an amazing collection of rare and exotic Pokémon. I bet he’d love to see your little Shimmy!”
“Shim shimmy shim Shimmy,” Sunset muttered. She scuffed the dirt with her hooves, then held one up to her face, frowning as if annoyed at the mud.
Twilight resisted the sudden urge to bend down and scratch her between the ears only with great difficulty. “It’s okay, Sunset. We’ll get you somewhere clean soon.”
Elaine smiled as she watched the two. “You’re really close with your Shimmy.” She reached up and stroked Pikachu’s head affectionately. “I hope me and Pikachu can get that close, right, Pikachu?”
“Pika!”
“Shimmy! Shim!” Sunset called suddenly. The others turned to see what she wanted, only to gasp in surprise when they saw that she had scratched a message in the dirt.
I FIGURED IT OUT.
“Wait, she can write?!” Elaine cried in amazement.
Twilight grinned. “Of course! Sunset, you’re a genius! Now we don’t have to worry about communicating! Oh, wait, what about when we’re in a town or city? I can’t imagine people would be happy with you digging up their gardens or something.”
Sunset just scratched out a single word in response. CHALK.
“That works!” Twilight glanced at Elaine eagerly. “Do you think we can buy chalk in Viridian City?”
Elaine just looked at her in bemusement. “Chalk? I mean… sure, probably, but…” She looked from Twilight to Sunset, struggling to wrap her head around what she was seeing. “She can write?!”
“Well, yeah,” Twilight replied as Sunset nodded. “Can’t other Pokémon?” Elaine just shook her head slowly. “Oh. Well, I guess Sunset is something of a special case.”
Sunset beamed proudly. She was still beaming when something burst out of the grass and slammed into her side.
Sunset cried out in shock and pain as something knocked her clean off her hooves. She looked up to see, to her surprise, a purple and white rat, standing in an aggressive pose and baring its large teeth at her.
“Sunset! Are you alright?!” Twilight called anxiously.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Sunset grumbled as she clambered to her feet, glaring at the rat. “Hey! What gives?!”
“This is my territory!” the rat snarled. “If you want to pass through, you’re gonna have to go through me!”
“She’s not alone!” Sunset kept her eyes on the rat as Pikachu dove off Elaine’s shoulder and landed next to her.
“Yeah, get that Rattata, Pikachu! Use Thundershock!” Elaine shouted.
“You got it!” Pikachu Unfortunately, the sparks of electricity that suddenly crackled out from the red dots on Pikachu’s cheeks caused Sunset to skip away with a yelp of fright.
“Huh? What’s wrong?” Pikachu asked.
“You cheeks are sparking!” Sunset cried in alarm.
Pikachu cocked her head at the little pony. “Well… yeah? I’m an Electric type?”
“What, are you battery operated or someth- whoa!” Sunset barely managed to jump aside as the rat charged at her once more. Furious at the unprovoked attacks, she stomped in front of Pikachu and lowered her horn at the rat. “You know what? Fine. Bring it on, you annoying little rodent.”
“Sunset, be careful!” Twilight warned.
“I’ll be fine,” Sunset growled, not taking her eyes off the Rattata.
“You think you’re tough do ya?” the rat snarled.
Sunset grinned maliciously. “Tougher than a scrawny little runt like you.”
“Oh, now you’re gonna get it!” Just as she’d planned, the rat fell for her taunt and darted at her again. At the last second, Sunset span around on her fore-hooves and bucked as hard as she could. The impact sent the rat sailing through the air to land with a satisfying thump several yards away. Shaking its head to clear it, the Rattata took one look at Sunset’s vengeful smirk, scrambled to its feet and shot away back into the long grass at top speed.
Sunset drew herself up and gave a triumphant nod, satisfied that the Rattata wouldn't be back. She was about to turn back to the others when she heard rapid footsteps and Twilight dropped to her knees next to her. “Sunset! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sunset replied, inspecting her side. It was hardly the worst thing she’d ever been hit by, but it still felt like it was going to leave a nasty bruise. Seeing Twilight still looking at her anxiously, she sighed and scratched out, I’M OKAY.
Twilight sagged with relief. “That’s good.”
Elaine chuckled nervously. “Sorry. I… uh… probably should have warned you about this. Some wild Pokémon can get pretty territorial with each other. In some places it’s not unheard of for them to even attack people.”
“Could have done with that information a little sooner,” Sunset huffed.
“Ah, quit whining,” Pikachu shot, scampering over to her side and patting her on the shoulder. “You handled yourself well for a Pokémon that’s never been in a fight before.”
Deciding not to mention that she had been in fights before, just not as a Pokémon, Sunset flicked her mane aside and scratched out a new message in the dirt. SHOULD WE KEEP GOING?
“That’s up to you,” Twilight replied. “Are you okay to keep going? Or do you want to rest?”
“I’ve got a potion, if she needs it,” Elaine put in.
“I don’t know what that is, but I’m okay, seriously,” Sunset replied with a shake of her head. “Come on, let’s get moving.” Suiting action to words, she set off again at a gentle trot, though she did make sure to keep herself safely ensconced between Elaine and Twilight, just in case.
Sunset yawned as she sprawled out on the blanket. They had been walking for almost an hour before Elaine had asked if they wanted to take a break. Thankfully, the group hadn't been accosted by any more wild Pokémon in that time. Even better, Elaine had proven herself to be very well prepared for her journey, having packed plenty of sandwiches, several bottles of water, and a nice big picnic blanket for everyone to sit on.
It hadn't taken long for Twilight to start peppering Elaine with more questions about the world they were in. Sunset had listened at first, but her attention had soon drifted, and she had stretched herself out to sunbathe while she had the chance. Strangely, the warmth of the sun made both her horn and her cutie mark tingle. It was an unusual sensation, but quite pleasant all the same.
Less pleasant was the building pressure in her bladder. Eventually, she decided that she would have to swallow her pride and just find a bush to go behind. Clambering to her feet, she waved to get Twilight's attention and scratched a note in the dirt. BACK IN A SECOND.
"Back… but where are you going?" Twilight blushed slightly at Sunset's written response. "Oh, um, okay. Just don't go too far."
"I still think it's crazy that she can write," Elaine said quietly.
"You and me both, sister," Pikachu put in.
Sunset just poked her tongue out and trotted off to the side of the path, looking for a suitably sized tree or a bush. She kept a wary eye out, but she wasn't too bothered about getting attacked. If something did try to target her, she would simply teleport back to the others.
Not far off the path, Sunset found a nice wide tree with plenty of foliage around the bottom. She glanced around in all directions, then, satisfied that she was alone, trotted up to the base of the tree.
"You." Sunset whipped around, almost losing control of her bladder in her shock. A pink fairy-like creature, barely larger than Sunset herself, hovered an inch off the ground only a few feet away. It had a round head that rose up to a point and two narrow antennae, tiny three-fingered hands, translucent wings that sprouted from its back, and sparkling green eyes ringed with black.
"W-what do you want?" Sunset asked warily, wondering where exactly the Pokémon had appeared from. To her astonishment, the creature lowered itself to the ground and bowed its head.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault." The Pokémon's voice had a beautiful, almost musical quality, but it quavered as it spoke, as if it were on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry you were brought into this, but there was no other way."
Sunset stared at the little Pokémon in shock. "No other… what are you talking about?"
The Pokémon looked up at her sadly. "I cannot say, not yet. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I am begging you. Please, you must become stronger. Both of you must."
"Both of us?" Sunset glanced back towards Twilight and the others. "What are you- huh?" When she turned back around, the Pokémon was gone. She looked around curiously, even checking up in the trees, but the visitor was nowhere to be seen. "What the heck was that about?"
"I really need to pick up more notebooks," Twilight sighed. She had originally brought several with her, but all of them had been utterly ruined by her impromptu dip in the sea upon arrival in this world.
"You should be able to pick some up in Viridian City," Elaine consoled her.
"I suppose," Twilight replied sadly, fruitlessly trying to switch her phone on again. It hadn't handled the sea water any better than the paper had. Still, she supposed she should count herself lucky that it hadn't fallen out of her pocket and gotten lost at sea. That and the fact that she had survived, of course. "It's just annoying having so many new things to learn and no way of recording all of it."
Elaine raised an eyebrow at her. "You really like learning, don't you?"
"Are you kidding? This is fascinating!" Twilight exclaimed. "I have a whole world's worth of knowledge to pick up, and the fact that Sunset is now, er, I mean, since Sunset's a Pokémon, it's even more important for me to learn everything I can!"
"Huh…?" Elaine gave her a suspicious look, evidently curious about her accidental slip-up, but, thankfully, she was distracted by Sunset coming back to the group. "Oh, hey, your Shimmy's back."
Twilight looked around and smiled when she spotted her friend plodding towards them. "Hey, the- huh? Sunset? What's wrong?" Sunset didn't reply at first. She had a look of deep contemplation on her face, and didn't seem to be paying much attention to her surroundings. "Sunset? Sunset Shimmer this is Twilight Sparkle, please respond."
Sunset blinked and looked up, looking for all the world as if she had forgotten that the others were there. "Shim shimmy shim shim, shim shimmy shimmy shim shim shimmy, shim shim shimmy shim sh-"
"Uh, Sunset? You do remember I can't understand you right now, right?" Twilight interrupted.
Sunny slapped a hoof to her face, then set about scratching out a note in the dirt.
WEIRD POKÉMON APPEARED. SAID SORRY THEN DISAPPEARED.
Twilight frowned as she read. "Uh…"
"What Pokémon was it?" Elaine asked.
Sunset shrugged. "Shimmy shim shim?"
"Sunset hasn't really seen any other Pokémon before today, either," Twilight put in, prompting a nod from Sunset.
"Wait, really?" Elaine's eyes widened in surprise. "You've never seen another Pokémon either?" Sunset shook her head. "Wow. What region were you from again?"
Twilight and Sunset shared a blank look. "Uh, we were in a place called Equestria."
"Equestria?" Elaine thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Nah, never heard of it." With a casual shrug she clambered to her feet and started repacking her backpack. "Maybe you can tell me about it while we walk? If you're okay to get moving again, that is?"
Both Twilight and Sunset were eager to continue on, so the group worked together to tidy up their little picnic and set off towards Viridian City. They saw several wild Pokémon as they walked, including a few more Rattatas, but none of them came anywhere near the four.
Twilight pondered what Sunset had told them as she walked. Having a strange Pokémon turn up and apologize to Sunset when she was alone was either fantastically random, or something deeper was going on than she had originally suspected. Unfortunately, unless the Pokémon came back at some point there was no real way of telling.
"Hold up a second." Twilight almost walked into Elaine's outstretched arm when she stopped suddenly. Curious as to why they were stopping, she peeked around Elaine and saw something rustling through the long grass on the side of the path.
A moment later, a truly bizarre creature emerged from the grass. It looked like a walking plant; with roots in place of feet, leaves instead of arms and a yellow bell-shaped head.
"It's a Bellsprout!" Elaine crouched down and held a hand out to it. "Hey there, little one. Are you looking for a trainer?" The Bellsprout paused as it spotted the group, then flared its leaves and tipped its head back in an apparent defiance. "Okay, here we go!"
Twilight watched curiously as Elaine straightened up and pulled a Pokéball out of her pocket. She pressed the button to enlarge it, then, to Twilight's utter astonishment, hurled it directly at the Bellsprout. The ball struck the little Pokémon on its head and popped open; turning the Bellsprout red and sucking it inside before snapping shut and dropping to the floor.
"Come on… come on…" Elaine muttered as the ball wobbled slightly. After a moment the ball fell still and she pumped a fist into the air, crying out excitedly, "Alright! I caught a Bellsprout!"
Blank shock was all that registered in Twilight's mind. "Did you… but… did you just capture a wild animal?!"
"Shim shimmy?" Sunset added.
"Well, yeah?" Elaine answered with a raised eyebrow, as if capturing wild creatures was perfectly normal. She opened her mouth to ask something else, then slapped herself in the forehead. "Right, of course! Never heard of Pokémon before, of course you wouldn't get it. I guess I'd better explain a few things."
Sunset glared up at Elaine as they continued on their way, shocked and appalled that she had captured a wild animal apparently on a whim.
Elaine hummed loudly. "How do I explain this? Basically, Pokémon trainers like me, we catch and train Pokémon."
"Never would have guessed that," Sunset deadpanned.
"A lot of that involves catching wild Pokémon from different places," Elaine continued obliviously. "I guess that might seem strange to an outsider, but don't worry, if.a Pokémon doesn't want to get caught, it's pretty easy for most of them to get away. They can even break out of a Pokéball if they try. Don't get me wrong, you do get some bad trainers out there, and there are people who catch Pokémon against their will, but most of the time the Pokémon we catch aren't really against the idea of being caught."
Sunset huffed quietly. "How can you expect us to believe that?"
"It's true," Pikachu put in from her perch on Elaine's shoulder. "Heck, the only reason I wandered all the way down here from the forest was because I was looking for a trainer I liked the look of."
"Really?" Sunset looked up at her incredulously. "Why would you want that, though?"
Pikachu shrugged. "For me, it was a bunch of reasons. No more struggling to find food, no more sleeping outside in the cold or rain, and no more worrying about getting on the wrong side of a Beedrill swarm." She shivered at an apparent bad memory. "Anyway, like boss-lady says, if we don't want to get caught, we don't get caught. If that Bellsprout was really upset we would've known about it, trust me."
Sunset made a mental note to ask the Bellsprout herself what it thought about this as soon as she got a chance. Before she could ask anything else, Elaine pointed ahead to a building at the end of the path. "That's where we're going next," she said brightly.
"What is it?" Twilight asked.
Elaine smiled and reached up to scratch Pikachu between the ears. "The entrance to Viridian City."
"My word, things really seem to be getting out of hand." Professor Oak frowned as he watched one of the tv screens in his lab, his personal cellphone pressed against his ear.
Professor Elm, a close friend and former student of his, was on the other end of the line. "I know, I can hardly believe everything that's happening! Did you really not hear anything about any of it?"
"I'm afraid I was distracted by the new Pokémon that I told you about." Professor Oak sighed heavily and turned away from the tv, heading towards his office.
Over the course of last night, while the professor was taking care of Miss Sparkle's little Pokémon, a whole host of large-scale disruptions had occurred across the world.
First of all a Jirachi had apparently appeared in a Galarian government facility, sending the region's ecosystem protection agency into a meltdown. Next, there had been some sort of terrorist attack on the Aether Foundation in Alola. Thousands of Gothitelle's, Xatu's, and other far-seeing Pokémon of that ilk all over the world were suddenly becoming extremely agitated for no apparent reason, the implications of which Professor Oak didn't even want to contemplate, and finally, as if all of that wasn't enough, there had been a colossal explosion atop the summit of Mount Coronet in the Sinnoh region, utterly destroying large parts of the mountain.
"Do you think that new Pokémon and her partner are connected to everything else in some way?" Professor Elm asked.
"I have no idea." Professor Oak hummed and admitted, "However, given the timing, it seems likely."
"I'm going to go one step further and say it's almost certain, especially when you add in what's going on with the Celebi," Professor Elm put in.
Professor Oak paused with his hand on the office door. "Celebi? What do you mean?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Professor Elm asked in surprise. Professor Oak sighed and tried not to get annoyed at his friend's scatterbrained nature as Elm apologized profusely, "I'm so sorry, I thought I had told you already! Anyway, as I was saying… what was I saying? Oh, yes! The Celebi! Right, well, there have only been two or three plausible sightings over the last five years or so."
"That's normal, isn't it?" Professor Oak asked.
"It is, which makes the last few days particularly unusual," Professor Elm replied. "There have been over a hundred verified sightings over the last three days, most of them involving multiple Celebi at once. I've got three of them flitting around in my lab as we speak!"
"What?!" Professor Oak cried. "I… I thought Celebi was an extremely reclusive Pokémon?!"
"So did I!" Professor Elm cried in response.
Gathering his wits, Professor Oak opened his office door and stepped through, only to stop dead as he saw what was waiting inside. "Erm… you say there are three Celebi in your lab at the moment?"
"Yes, they appear to be looking for something, though I have no idea what."
Professor Oak nodded. "May I ask what colour they are?"
"Green, just as all of the sightings suggest." Professor Elm's tone rose curiously as he asked, "Why?"
"Because there appears to be one sat on my desk waiting for me, only this one is pink," Professor Oak replied, staring at the little Pokémon sitting comfortably on the edge of his desk. As he watched, the Pokémon smiled and waved for him to enter. "I… er… I think my visitor wishes to speak to me, er…" His eyes widened as the Celebi nodded. "I'll call you back."
"O-of course!" Professor Elm spluttered. "Call me back when you're done, and tell me everything!"
Professor Oak absently ended the call and slipped the cell phone into his pocket, not taking his eyes off the Pokémon. "So… erm… can I help you?"
The little Pokémon nodded again. "I certainly hope that you can."
Professor Oak stumbled back in amazement. "You can talk?!"
The Celebi giggled at his reaction. "I can indeed. A good friend of mine taught me, long ago." The little one's voice was high-pitched yet soft, bringing to mind wind chimes or the gentle ring of a crystal glass. "Also you are correct, I am a Celebi, although I believe I am what some of you humans call a 'shiny' Pokémon." Celebi tucked it's hands into it's lap and bowed slowly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Keres."
"Professor Oak," the professor replied on reflex. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that Keres didn't seem to be in perfect condition; the Celebi's eyes were bloodshot, with dark bags underneath them. "Erm, can I get you anything? If you're tired I have a suitable bed you can use, or I can get you a glass of wa-"
"It's quite alright." Keres smiled warmly, if a little sadly. "Kind and observant, the old stories about you really are true. I appreciate the offer, but I am afraid that, ironically, I do not have the time." The Celebi gestured to Professor Oak's pc, which was currently displaying all of the information about the new Pokémon that he had compiled. "I know I'm imposing, but I wish to ask you to provide a little more help for the two who appeared on your doorstep last night."
Professor Oak blinked in surprise. "You mean Twilight Sparkle and her Pokémon, er… I believe she named it Sunset?"
"Hm, interesting names," Keres said thoughtfully, then waved a hand and dismissed the thought. "Anyway, the two of them are going to require currency on their journey."
"Ah, I knew I had forgotten something!" Professor Oak shook his head and sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't think my budget will stretch enough to cover travel expenses for the two of them at the moment. I could look i to gett-"
"You misunderstand," Keres said quickly. "I do not expect you to pay for them, I have already made arrangements for covering their expenses. All I want you to do is contact your assistant in Viridian City so that he can meet them and transfer the necessary details."
Professor Oak stared blankly at the little Pokémon. "I… well, I can certainly arrange that, but how did you know that I had an assistant in Viridian City on an errand? And, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so invested in these two?"
Keres visibly slumped. "Let's just say, I rearranged a few dominos and made sure the right Butterfree flapped its wings at the right time." Straightening up, the Celebi looked up at Professor Oak with a pleading expression. "Will you do me this favour?"
Professor Oak found himself nodding. There was no way he could refuse such a request. "Of course. I'll contact my assistant immediately. What details do you need me to transfer?"
"You'll receive a telephone call with everything you need to know," Keres replied. "Specifically, in about 3… 2… 1…"
"Professor Oak?" The professor turned to see one of his aides looking in, clutching the lab's main phone. "I've got someone on the phone, they say they need to speak to you urgently."
"I, er, one moment." Professor Oak held up a finger and looked back at Keres, but the Pokémon was nowhere to be seen. He stood there, blinking dumbly at the empty space where the Celebi had been, then turned back to his aide. "Who is it?"
Sunset eyed the building ahead curiously. It was a large square construction with clean white walls. The clustered trees on either side of the path closed in until they met the building, forming a natural bottleneck to funnel travellers inside.
Inside was a small rest area, with seats for weary travellers and an information desk attended to by a kindly old woman. Elaine nodded cordially to the woman and carried on through a door on the other side, holding it open for the others. "Here we go, welcome to Viridian City!"
An urban sprawl stretched out in front of the group; hundreds of shops and houses and two-storey tenement blocks. Despite the number of buildings in immediate view it quickly became apparent that none of them were taller than a storey or two, which explained why the group hadn't spotted anything over the tops of the trees.
"This is bigger than I was expecting," Sunset mumbled.
Twilight glanced quickly down at her before turning her attention to the city. "Where should we go first?"
"This way," Elaine said as she took the lead. "We'll go to the Pokémon Center first to make sure that your Shimmy is okay, and then we'll hit the Mart. We can figure out where to go from there."
Both Twilight and Sunset looked around with interest as they walked. The people they passed seemed ordinary enough, but the creatures, Elaine assured them that they were all different varieties of Pokémon, drew their attention like moths to a flame; a floating iron ball with magnets poking out in each side of it, a pair of large dogs with flaming orange fur, even a heavily muscled four-armed humanoid that stomped along carrying a teetering pile of boxes.
After a short walk Sunset spotted a large building with white walls and a red roof. It had a stylised depiction of a Pokéball above the doors.
"That's the Pokémon Center," Elaine said brightly, pointing towards the same building. "You'll find one in most towns. If your Pokémon ever get themselves sick or injured, the Pokémon Center will heal them up for you free of charge."
"That's handy," Twilight and Sunset said in unison, though Elaine's words made Sunset realize a rather pressing problem. What are we going to do about money? A quick glance at Twilight's expression showed that the same thought had occurred to her, too. "Er, Elaine…?" Twilight began.
"Excuse me, miss?" The group turned to see a young man approaching them. He was wearing a long white lab-coat and a thick pair of oversized spectacles. "A-are you Miss Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight glanced at Elaine curiously, getting a confused shrug in return. "That's me. Er, can I help you?"
"Yes. Or, well, actually I think I'm here to help you." The man cleared his throat and held out a hand. "My name's Clive, I'm one of Professor Oak's aides."
"Hey, I remember you now!" Elaine cried, then smiled and rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just, y'know, you're always off running errands and stuff."
Clive sighed and nodded. "Yes, I do seem to be away from Pallet Town a lot. In fact, I was actually running an errand for the Professor here in Viridian City when he gave me a call and asked me to help out Miss Sparkle when she arrived."
"What did he ask you to help me with?" Twilight asked.
"Currency," Clive replied, immediately getting everyone's full attention. "Luckily for you, he's found a large company that's willing to sponsor your travels through Kanto. We just have to go to the bank to finalize a few details, then we'll pop along to the local Mart to pick up a couple of essentials."
Sunset just stared at him in surprise.
"How did he manage to find a company to sponsor you?!" Elaine asked incredulously.
"He didn't say," Clive told her, then looked back at Twilight. "Shall we go to the bank now, or is there something else you need to do first?"
Twilight looked down at Sunset. "What do you think? Do you want to go to the Pokémon Center first?"
Sunset hummed and touched her side tentatively. It was sore, but it would be fine for now. "Nah, I'm good." She trotted up to Clive and looked back at the others. "Let's go see what sort of sponsorship we're getting."
"I guess she's okay!" Twilight smiled and nodded to Clive. "Okay, let's go!"
Clive led the group quickly through Viridian City. Or, at least, as quickly as he could without forcing Sunset to break out into anything faster than a canter. Fortunately, the bank was only a couple of streets away.
When the group arrived Clive found a waiting staff member who, rather than directing them to a counter, immediately whisked Clive, Twilight and Sunset into a side room and asked them to wait while she fetched her superior. Elaine was told to wait in the foyer with Pikachu.
Sunset looked around the room warily as they waited. It had three comfy-looking faux-leather chairs, with a round glass coffee table in the middle of them. It all seemed unassuming enough, but something still felt off to Sunset.
After a short wait the door opened and an older man stepped in. He had close-cropped white hair, and was wearing a tailored suit that was clearly cut from high quality material by a very skilled tailor. A leather briefcase dangled loosely from one hand. "Miss Sparkle, I presume?"
"That's right," Twilight replied.
"I see." He glanced at Clive. "And you must be Professor Oak's assistant. We'd heard that you would be coming." The old man held out a hand for Twilight to shake. "My name is William Peltzer. I am the manager of this particular bank. Please, take a seat."
Twilight, Clive and Mr Peltzer settled themselves into the available chairs, but Sunset was left standing on the floor. Unwilling to miss any of the conversation, and slightly miffed at being ignored by both Clive and the bank manager, Sunset trotted over to Twilight's chair and tried to hop up next to her. Unfortunately, she misjudged the jump and only managed to get her front end up. She teetered on the edge of the chair for one heart-stopping second, then slipped off and landed on her back with a thud.
"Sunset! Are you okay?!" Twilight asked in shock. She leaned down to check on her, but Sunset had already rolled onto her hooves with an embarrassed huff.
"That didn't go as planned," Sunset muttered, glad that at least Pikachu hadn't seen that. She was just considering the merits of teleporting herself up onto the chair or the table when Twilight reached down, picked her up like a puppy and plonked her on her lap.
"There you go!" Twilight said brightly. Several shame-fueled retorts flashed across Sunset's mind, but she held back on them for now. As much as she hated to admit it, her current diminutive form and inability to effectively communicate meant that she was going to have to put up with certain… indignities.
Seeing that they were settled, Mr Peltzer placed his briefcase on the table and leaned back, steepling his fingers. "Now then, Miss Sparkle, I believe that you are here to assume control of a certain bank account?"
"I, um, I'm not really sure," Twilight replied. "I only learned that a company wanted to sponsor us a few minutes ago. I don't even know why they're sponsoring us."
Mr Peltzer nodded curtly. "Yes, I was told that that might be the case." He sighed and opened the briefcase just enough to slide a single sheet of paper out before closing it again. "Our bank recently received a request from a very prominent organisation to open a separate account for a person or persons unknown. It is only within the last twenty minutes that we actually received your name." He fixed Twilight with a suspicious look. "As you can imagine, this is all very irregular."
"Is that even legal?" Clive asked.
The banker gave him a flat glare before turning back to Twilight. "The answer to that is yes. While the method of setting up this account is unusual, I assure you it is entirely legal."
Twilight and Sunset both let out a breath. "That's a relief," Sunset muttered.
"Just out of curiosity, which company is sponsoring us?" Twilight asked.
"You weren't told?" Mr Peltzer asked. He frowned as Twilight and Sunset both shook their heads. "Hmm, that's unusual. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm not actually at liberty to tell you. I've been asked not to share any information about the account beyond how to use it."
"That's suspicious," Sunset said quietly. She listened carefully as Mr Peltzer explained how to use the account and access it correctly, then froze as she felt something stroke her back. It started between her shoulders and gently ran down her spine to just above her rump, then repeated the process over and over again.
Sunset's brain stalls momentarily. She slowly turned her head, only to see the betrayal in action. Sunset couldn't believe it at first; after all, there was no way that Twilight was so absent-minded or downright rude as to actually dare to pet her. Even so, there she was; casually stroking Sunset while listening to Mr Peltzer, as if the girl-turned-Pokémon was a puppy.
A small part of Sunset's mind registered the fact that she was actually quite enjoying being petted, but that was swiftly overshadowed by the fury that the rest of her felt at the sheer indignity of it. She was not a mere animal, no matter how soft and fluffy she was.
A number of different ways to end this indignity flashed across Sunset's mind, but she quickly settled on something short and sharp. Twilight loved learning, so Sunset decided to teach her something about hooves. They were tough, surprisingly sharp around the edges, and particularly unpleasant, as Sunset aptly demonstrated, when smacked against the sensitive little pressure point just below the kneecap.
Twilight yelped and instinctively kicked out with her leg, prompting Clive and Mr Peltzer to stare at her in shock. "Sunset! What the heck was that for?!" Sunset just glared at the hand still resting on her back. "Oh. Um, sorry. I wasn't thinking," Twilight said sheepishly as she took her hand away.
Mr Peltzer let out a short bark of laughter. "You've got quite a wilful Pokémon there, Miss Sparkle." Sunset switched her glare to him instead, but he ignored her entirely. "Anyway, shall we continue?"
Sunset trotted along behind Twilight and Elaine in something of a daze, torn between irritation at being treated like an animal and shock at the sheer size of the account that they had been given. There were a frankly alarming number of zeros in it.
The rest of the meeting had largely been a discussion of what Twilight was not allowed to do with the money; no purchasing property or motor vehicles, no using it for investments, and no using it to start up her own business. Now more than ever the two were curious as to what company would be willing to throw large amounts of money at complete strangers, but they still had absolutely no idea who was behind it.
Once the meeting was over Twilight and Sunset had reunited with Elaine and Pikachu and quickly told them what had happened. Clive had taken his leave shortly after, saying that he needed to get back to Pallet Town.
Now that the bank was out of the way, Twilight decided to go back to the original plan of getting Sunset checked over at the Pokémon Center. Sunset herself didn't mind so much. One of the downsides of being stuck in such a tiny body again, aside from apparently having to be wary of attempted pettings, was that all of the walking around she had been doing was wearing her out pretty quickly.
As they turned onto the street with the Pokémon Center Sunset spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A short way down a dark alleyway was some kind of Pokémon; a strange humanoid creature with a face that vaguely resembled that of a fox and, bizarrely, a spoon clasped in each hand. The creature appeared to be watching her intently. Further along the street was a heavily built man clad in all black, subtly staring at the group from under his cap. The moment he noticed her attention, the man turned and walked quickly away from them, disappearing around a corner. Sunset frowned and glanced back at the odd Pokémon, only to see that it had vanished without a trace. "What the heck is going on?"
"Sunset? Are you coming?" Twilight asked.
"Huh?" Sunset looked up at her and realized that they were standing right in front of the Pokémon Center. "Oh, right. Yeah."
The doors of the Center slid open automatically as the group approached, revealing a spacious lobby with plenty of seating for trainers and a wide semi-circular counter opposite the entrance. Behind the counter was a woman with a kind face and soft pink hair, wearing a matching pink dress under a nurse's apron.
"That's Nurse Joy, she'll take care of your Pokémon if they ever get hurt," Elaine explained.
As the group approached the counter Nurse Joy smiled and called out, "Hello, and welcome to our Pokémon Center. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. How can I help you today?"
Elaine deposited a Pokéball on the counter. "Pikachu here could probably use a rest, and I've got a new Bellsprout that I'd like you to give a once-over, if that's alright?"
"Of course," Nurse Joy replied brightly. "Anything else?"
Twilight glanced down at Sunset. "Er… we should probably get you checked out too after that Rattata attacked you."
Sunset nodded, lit up her horn, and teleported herself onto the counter, earning a surprised yelp from Elaine. "She can teleport?! That's amazing!"
"Oh, my..." Nurse Joy crouched to get to Sunset's eye level, inspecting her curiously. "You must be the Shimmy that Professor Oak told us about. You're an impressive little lady, aren't you?"
"Professor Oak told you about her?" Twilight asked.
"He called us about an hour ago to tell us that you might be dropping by," Nurse Joy replied. "The Professor often sends us details on new Pokémon. After all, the more we know about a Pokémon the better we can look after them if they get sick or injured." She straightened and looked down at Sunset wryly. "Unfortunately, Professor Oak was unable to get a reading on your internal body temperature."
Cold dread seized Sunset, and she whipped her tail instinctively over her rump as she realized what was coming next.
"Ah, you already know how we get that. You really are a smart one." Nurse Joy crouched again and gave Sunset a sympathetic look. "I know it's unpleasant, but since you're a Fire type we'll need an accurate internal temperature so we can calibrate our thermometers to account for your flame. Even if you can't breathe fire yet, it's quite likely that your mouth is a few degrees hotter than the rest of you, and a few degrees difference could mean a world of difference if you ever get a fever." Nurse Joy's eyes flicked up at Twilight. "Would it make you more comfortable if your trainer came through to the back with us and held you while we take your temperature?"
Sunset shook her head wildly, desperately hoping that her sudden blush wasn't actually as incandescent as it felt.
"Alright then." Nurse Joy gently lifted Sunset under like a puppy and cradled her against her shoulder. "That's it, you'll be alright." She glanced at Elaine and said, "I'll send Chansey out in a moment to collect Pikachu and Bellsprout. See you soon!"
As the Nurse carried her into the back room Sunset refused to look back at the others, desperately clinging to whatever scraps of dignity she could muster as she was brought ever closer to her doom.
Not far away, in a woodland clearing just outside Viridian City, Keres sat and considered how things were going. The Cascade had finally finished; the required pieces had all been acquired and sufficiently prepared, and the pair of wild cards had been set loose in the world with all the help that Keres could muster. Only time would tell how useful they would be. What was left of it, anyway.
Unfortunately, it appeared that certain other parties were already taking an interest in the two new arrivals, including one that Keres had never anticipated. The little Celebi was going to have to tread very carefully from now on.
With a sigh, Keres fluttered into the air and looked up at their companion, the dampener that Keres had conjured barely containing the incredible power of the massive Pokémon. "We should leave. Palkia and Dialga are almost certainly going to be after us for this, and there are a few things that I want to get done before they catch up to us."
"As you wish," came the reply.
A moment later there was a loud crack as Keres teleported the two away.
Twilight chatted quietly with Elaine as they waited for the Pokémon to be returned. Elaine was growing intensely curious about the two visitors and where they had come from, especially now that an apparently large company had taken an interest in them, but Twilight just didn't know what to tell her.
A little voice in her head, that sounded suspiciously like Applejack, kept prodding her to just tell the truth, but Twilight had no idea how Elaine would react. Being treated like a lunatic wasn't high on Twilight's list of things to do at this moment in time. Then again, having someone around who knew what was going on would probably make getting home a little easier.
As Twilight was mulling over what to tell Elaine she was distracted by the sight of Nurse Joy returning from the back rooms, carrying Sunset in her arms. "All done! She's feeling a little down in the dumps at the moment, but with a little rest and some tlc she should be right as rain in no time."
Twilight couldn't help but wince as the nurse gently placed Sunset on the countertop. She looked miserable. "Uh, Sunset? Are you okay?"
Sunset just grunted and teleported down to the floor. Nurse Joy sighed and dipped her head to Twilight. "I do apologize. I tried to handle her as little as possible since she didn't seem to like it, but for the sake of her health this procedure was absolutely necessary."
"It's okay," Twilight replied, glancing worriedly at Sunset nonetheless.
Nurse Joy smiled and placed a Pokéball on the counter in front of Elaine. "And here is your Bellsprout. You don't need to worry, she's a picture of health!"
"Excellent, thanks!" Elaine slipped the Pokéball into her pocket and turned to Twilight. "Do you reckon we should go and check out the mart like Clive suggested?"
"Oh, okay." Twilight glanced down at Sunset. "Er, what do you think? Are you okay to walk there?"
Sunset looked over at the door, then sat and held her forelegs up in a clear invitation to pick her up while obviously trying not to scowl. Twilight had to bite her lip to stop herself fawning over how adorable Sunset looked with her little legs held out for a cuddle, especially given that that was not going to make the person-turned-Pokémon feel any better about her situation.
Keeping her expression carefully neutral, Twilight bent down, slipped her hands under Sunset's forelegs and picked her up, gently shifting her around until she had Sunset cradled in her arms like a puppy. "Okay. Is this, er, comfy enough for you?" Sunset just rolled her eyes and pointed a hoof at the door. "Alright, let's go!"
Elaine took the lead once again as the group set off. It didn't take long for them to find the Mart, a small store just around the corner from the Pokémon Center.
The store was full of things that Twilight had never seen before. It reminded her strongly of a pet supply store, only one geared towards Pokémon. The shelves were stocked with all sorts of odd toys and tools for looking after various Pokémon, along with bags of feed and medicines for minor ailments.
Before Twilight could start shopping, however, there was something she had to do first. Leaving Elaine to browse, she headed straight to the cashier and told him that she had a package waiting, handing over the details that Clive had given her at the bank.
"Oh, so you're the one getting all of this stuff!" The cashier cried loudly. "I've been wondering what all this was about. Okay, here we go." Twilight blinked in surprise as he pulled a rucksack out from under the counter. "First of all we've got the backpack for you. It's got plenty of pockets and space for all of your Trainer essentials."
Twilight couldn't help but stare mutely as the cashier opened the bag and started pulling things out, lining them up on the counter. "As requested, we've got ten of your standard Pokéballs here. Next we've got two of our basic Potions for starting Trainers." He pulled out a pair of thick white and purple spray bottles and placed them next to the Pokéballs. "We've also got a set of antidotes."
A set of yellow spray bottles joined the rest of the equipment; two with labels depicting a stylized purple skull with a line through it and three with labels depicting a stylized caterpillar with a little stinger on its head. "These first two are general antidotes, but these last three are specialized for neutralizing the poison of the specific Pokémon you'll find in the Viridian Forest."
"Wait, poison?!" Twilight yelped.
"Shimmy?!" Sunset piped up.
The cashier gave her a blank look. "Well, yeah? You know, from the Weedles and Beedrills?"
"Uh…" Twilight looked around for Elaine, but she was busy checking out little clothes for Pikachu.
"You're pretty new to being a trainer, aren't you?" The cashier asked.
Twilight smiled shyly. "Is it that obvious?"
"Heh, don't worry about it, I'm sure the other trainers will help you out." The cashier packed the things back into the backpack and pulled one more small box from beneath the counter. "This is the last item." He pushed the box towards her, and she realized that it was a brand new smartphone. "All of the instructions are included in the box, and the details of your network plan are in this letter." The cashier placed an envelope on top of the phone. "And this completes your order. Was there anything else I could help you with?"
Twilight just stared in shock at the phone, letter, and bagful of goodies sitting in front of her. "Uh… no. I'm good, thanks!" She gently set Sunset on the floor, pulled the backpack on, slipped the letter into a pocket, tucked the phone box under her arm and picked Sunset back up. Thanking the cashier again, Twilight let Elaine know that she would wait outside and hurried out.
Finding a nearby bench, Twilight set Sunset and the backpack down before sitting herself and inspecting the phone's box. "This is crazy, isn't it?"
"Shimmy!" Sunset replied with a fervent nod.
"Ah, that reminds me! Should we get you some chalk first?" Twilight asked. Sunset shook her head and pointed insistently at the phone. "Alright, let's get this set up first."
First of all, Twilight opened the envelope. To her surprise, when she pulled the letter out a second smaller envelope fell out, too. She stared at the two in surprise, then set the smaller envelope aside and unfolded the letter. "Dear, Traveller, please find enclosed a micro-sim for the smartphone we have provided for you. Once you have finished setting up the phone please call the first number in your contacts list immediately. Yours sincerely, L."
Sunset raised an eyebrow curiously. "Shim shimmy shim?"
"That's all there is," Twilight replied, checking the back of the letter just in case.
Setting the letter aside, Twilight turned her attention to the smartphone. After a little difficulty opening the box, largely due to well-applied cellotape, she finally managed to get a look at her new toy. It didn't look like anything special; just a simple black smartphone with a small brand logo at the bottom that she didn't recognize.
Surprisingly, the phone was already charged and switched on without any issues once Twilight had inserted the micro-sim. It ran through several diagnostic and setup routines before finally settling on a home screen with a picture of a galaxy or a nebula in the background. The apps were mostly exactly what Twilight would have expected from a smartphone back home. Ordinarily, she would have spent a while excitedly searching through the few apps that she didn't recognize to see exactly what they did, but first she had a call to make.
"I guess we'd better see who sent all of this and what they want," Twilight said quietly as she brought up the first number in her contacts, rather expectedly named 'L', though she was strangely hesitant to actually call them.
"Shimmy!" Sunset put in, raising a hoof encouragingly.
Twilight smiled and, with a deep breath, pressed the call button. It rang for barely two seconds before being answered. Unfortunately, rather than a person on the other end, a jaunty little tune started playing. "And, I'm on hold. Typical."
"Shim! Shimmy!" Sunset said insistently, pointing a hoof at her ear.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Hang on I'll put it on speakerphone-"
"Do not put it on speakerphone," a deep, heavily distorted voice said sternly, all trace of the jolly hold music gone.
"H-hello?" Twilight said shakily. "I'm Twilight Sparkle and, er, my friend Sunset is here, too. We're the people you sent the phone to?"
"If that is true, then you have already met our mutual acquaintance."
"Mutual acquaintance?" Twilight frowned. "Do you mean Professor Oak?"
"No."
Sunset patted Twilight's arm to get her attention, then mimed a series of letters in the air.
"Pink… pink fa… pink fairy?" Twilight said uncertainly. "Oh! You mean the weird Pokémon that apologized to Sunset on Route 1?"
"That seems likely, though Keres is no Fairy type," the voice replied.
"Um, what's with all the secrecy, if you don't mind me asking?" Twilight asked.
"It is necessary to protect all of us. Do you have anyone you can travel with that you can trust?"
Twilight glanced over at the Pokémon mart where Elaine was still shopping. "I think so? We're traveling with one of Professor Oak's friends, a Pokémon trainer named Elaine."
"Good. Do not travel alone under any circumstances. If you need to move between towns and Elaine cannot join you, contact me. I, or one of my associates, will provide an escort for you. I'll stress this again; Do. Not. Travel. Alone."
Twilight couldn't suppress a shiver at the voice's forceful tone. "What do you mean? Are wild Pokémon really that dangerous?"
"It is not the Pokémon that worry me, it is the people that wish to control them. We have spoken too long already. I will make arrangements to meet you in person as soon as possible, but I'm afraid that that will take some time. Once again, do not travel alone, or your very lives may be forfeit. Until next time, Miss Sparkle, Miss Shimmer. Good luck."
Twilight couldn't help but look around warily after the creepy voice's warning. Every alleyway seemed to hold hidden dangers and every person or Pokémon that wandered past felt like a potential threat.
"Hey, how's it going?" Twilight and Sunset both jumped out of their skins as Elaine called out to them. "Whoa, what's gotten into you two?"
"I-it's nothing," Twilight replied. "What are we doing now?"
Elaine looked at them curiously, but shrugged and let it slide. "I'd kinda like to go and see Victory Road. Why don't we go and fetch your chalk, first, then we can head over to Victory Road and get some food on the way back?"
"It's a path to a place called the Indigo Plateau." Elaine pointed down the road. "Trainers make their way there once they've beaten every gym in the Kanto League, to challenge the Elite Four and become a Pokémon Champion. It's been my dream to go there since I was a kid."
Twilight looked at her curiously. "Professor Oak mentioned the Kanto League earlier, what is it?"
Elaine smiled and gestured for Twilight to follow. "Come on, I'll tell you as we walk."
"Okay." Twilight stood and held her arms out to Sunset. "Do you want another lift?"
"Shimmy!" Sunset shook her head and hopped to the ground.
"Fair enough." Twilight tried to put the phone call to the back of her mind as she and Sunset fell into step alongside Elaine and Pikachu. "So… the Kanto League?"
Elaine pulled a Pokéball out of her pocket and held it up. You know how Pokémon trainers catch and train Pokémon? Well, the Pokémon Leagues is a way for trainers and their Pokémon to battle each other to see who is the strongest. Whoever can beat all of the gyms and the Elite Four is officially recognised as a Pokémon Master."
Twilight stared at her in appalled surprise. "You make your Pokémon fight each other?"
"We don't make them do anything," Elaine countered. "Well, good trainers don't, anyway. You do get the odd scumbag who forces Pokémon to do things they don't want to," she admitted. "Thankfully, there's laws against that sort of thing, and it's usually pretty easy to tell if a Pokémon is being mistreated. They don't really tend to hide their feelings much."
"You mean there's Pokémon that want to fight like that?" Twilight asked.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed.
Elaine shook her head. "It's not just about fighting, though for some people it is, it's about testing your strength and the strength of the bond between Pokémon and Trainer. That, and some Pokémon tend to be hyperactive or aggressive little twerps, and regulated battles are a safe and legal outlet for their energy."
"Right… safe…" Twilight somehow doubted that that was entirely true, but there wasn't much she could say to refute it at the moment. She'd have to wait and see with her own eyes.
Sunset frowned, considering Elaine's words as she walked. No matter what the wannabe Trainer said, having Pokémon fight for entertainment or as some sort of bizarre job didn't sound ethical in the slightest.
"Why the long face?"
Sunset glanced sideways to see Pikachu scampering along beside her. "How long have you been waiting to use that joke?"
"Pretty much since I met you," Pikachu replied shamelessly.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "I'm just having trouble believing that these Pokémon fights are as safe and ethical as she says they are."
"I can't say one way or another," Pikachu replied. "I've only been with Elaine for like a day, so I guess we'll have to find out together. I think it's pretty cool, though. I'm looking forward to testing my strength against other trained Pokémon."
"That makes one of us," Sunset muttered.
"Hey, if you don't want to fight, then you don't have to. It's pretty simple," Pikachu said flatly.
Sunset certainly hoped that that was the case. While the phone call had basically told her that violence was an inevitable occurrence in this world, she'd rather avoid it as much as she could.
"Okay, we should be able to get some chalk just in here," Elaine said suddenly, pointing to a small art supply store.
A few minutes later, the group left the supply store with several thick sticks of chalk stores in a tin inside Twilight's backpack. There was no way that Sunset would be able to write with them normally, but it would be easy enough to simply cover a hoof in chalk and write on a sidewalk like that.
With the chalk acquired, Elaine took the lead again as they made their way through the streets of Viridian City. Now that she was paying more attention to the people around them, Sunset noticed that an awful lot of them seemed to be looking her way. She hoped it was just because she was, apparently, a Pokémon that none of them had ever seen before.
Eventually, the group reached the edge of Viridian City. Paved sidewalks and tarmacked roads gave way to a dusty path that meandered through an area of open woodland.
"This is the way to Victory Road," Elaine said cheerfully. "I've never been here before, but I hear that there's a whole bunch of Nidorans around here. Let's see if we can catch some!" Twilight shrugged uneasily, a sentiment that Sunset shared, but before anyone could reply Elaine gasped and stopped abruptly. "I almost forgot!" She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a Pokéball. "Alright, it's time to get to know each other, Bellsprout!"
The Pokéball burst open and Bellsprout appeared in a flash of red light. The little Pokémon glanced around curiously before looking up at Elaine, who crouched to see it better. "Hey there, little guy," Elaine said softly.
The Bellsprout ruffled its leaves and bobbed its head. "'Sup."
"Do you want to walk around with us so we can get to know each other a little better?" Elaine asked.
The Bellsprout nodded. "Sure."
"Okay!" Elaine clapped and straightened up, then set off along the path, Bellsprout and Pikachu following in her wake.
Sunset and Twilight shared a surprised look before setting off after them. Sunset subtly watched the Bellsprout as she walked. It waddled along on its roots, seemingly perfectly happy with its new life.
"Hey, I'm Pikachu!" Pikachu said brightly.
"Bellsprout," came the flat reply.
Pikachu giggled and turned to Sunset. "Don't worry about him. Bellsprouts never talk much. Still, it'll be nice to have another Pokémon friend to travel with."
"Yep," Bellsprout agreed.
Sunset tilted her head curiously. "Are you really fine with being a Trainer's Pokémon?"
"Yep, 's why I stopped," Bellsprout replied.
"I told you," Pikachu smirked. "Lot's of Pokémon prefer joining a Trainer than surviving in the wild."
Sunset nodded in surprise. She wasn't a hundred percent convinced, but so far she hadn't seen any evidence of a Pokémon not being happy with a Trainer.
"Hey, I was right! There's some Nidorans!" Elaine called out.
Looking ahead, Sunset saw several rabbit-like Pokémon chewing on grass: some purple and small, others pale blue-grey and bulky. They all chattered amongst themselves as they ate.
"Aww, they're so cute!" Twilight cooed.
One of the Nidorans looked up at that moment and spotted the small group approaching. "Heads up, Trainer people!" Most of the Nidorans scattered instantly, leaving behind only a single pair: one purple and one blue-grey.
"A male and a female, perfect!" Elaine whipped a Pokéball out of her pocket and readied it.
"Are you sure about this?" The blue one, Sunset suspected it was the female, asked.
"Yep!" The purple Nidoran pawed the ground and grinned. "Let's see if these trained turds and their keepers are good enough to serve me!"
Elaine held a hand out in front of the group protectively. "Stay back, Bellsprout, Shimmy, looks like we have a feisty one."
The male Nidoran snorted. "Like I'd pick a fight with weaklings, now show me what you've got!" He made to charge, then tripped as a Pokéball smacked him in the forehead. "Huh?"
There was a flash of red, and the Nidoran was sucked into the Pokéball. The ball rolled around on the floor, its light flashing wildly, then finally it fell still.
"Alright, I caught him!" Elaine shouted ecstatically.
The female Nidoran, surprisingly, just rolled its eyes. "I told that idiot he was going to bite off more than he can chew?" She shook her head, then looked up at Elaine. "Well? Are you taking me too, or what?"
"Oh, do you want to come as well?" Elaine tilted her head to the side, thinking, then glanced at Twilight. "Hey, why don't you try catching this one? That way we'll have one each!"
"Me?!" Twilight yelped. "I can't catch a Pokémon, I don't know the first thing about being a Pokémon Trainer!"
Elaine raised an eyebrow and gestured to Sunset. "Uh, you already have a Pokémon. Besides, it'll be easy. I'll teach you anything you don't know."
"I'm fine with it," the female Nidoran said in a bored tone. "It'll be more interesting than going back to the clutch alone, anyway."
"Are you sure?" Sunset asked.
The Nidoran nodded. "Sure. I haven't seen a Pokémon like you in this area before, so I'm guessing I'll at least be able to travel to new and interesting places with you guys. Just don't expect me to throw myself at your Trainer's feet in worship every time she gives me food."
"Wouldn't dream of it, so long as you don't think for an instant that I actually belong to her. I'm my own person." Sunset scribbled in the dirt that the Nidoran was happy to be caught.
Twilight read the words several times, as if hoping that they would suddenly gather a different meaning if she just looked hard enough, but finally sighed heavily. "Okay." She pulled a Pokéball out of her pocket and frowned at it. "First I press this bu-wah!" The ball nearly slipped out of Twilight's grip as it grew in size.
"Wow, you really are new at this," Elaine muttered. "Now remember, when you throw it, you have to try and hit the Pokémon with the little button, otherwise it won't work."
"O...kay…" Twilight hummed and squinted at the Nidoran, reaching back with her arm as she took aim. A memory of her dismal performance in the physical aspects of the Friendship Games suddenly had Sunset fearing that the Nidoran was about to receive a concussion, but before she could say anything Twilight hurled the ball with a grunt of effort.
It landed about three feet short, and two feet off to the right.
Sunset slapped a hoof to her forehead.
The Nidoran stared at the ball in blank shock. "Uh, what?" She looked up at Twilight. "Are you for real?"
"Wow. You suck," Elaine said flatly.
"It was my first try!" Twilight said defensively. She retrieved the ball, got back into her starting position, and tried again.
The second attempt was even worse.
"No wonder she's never caught a Pokémon before," Pikachu said quietly. "Seriously, how bad at aiming is she? At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if she managed to miss the hole when taking a sh-"
"Hey! She's not that bad!" Sunset snapped. "Her talents just lie in other areas."
The Nidoran shook her head. "This is just sad. Hold on." She picked up the ball and walked over to Twilight, dropping it at her feet. "Look, just do it from here and get this over with, before I feel even more sorry for you."
"A Pokémon having to help a Trainer capture it, now that's something you don't see every day," Pikachu mumbled.
"Heh, 's funny," Bellsprout added.
Twilight picked the ball up, blushing furiously, and touched the button to the Nidoran's nose. There was a flash of light, and the Pokémon was stored safely in the ball. "Yay, I caught a Pokémon," she said dully.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure the next one will be easier," Elaine said bracingly. "Anyway, now that I think about it, I should really be registering these Pokémon in the Pokédex."
Twilight looked up curiously as Elaine pulled a little red object out of her pocket. "The what?"
Twilight stared longingly at the little sliver of pure heaven in her hands. It was perfect, an electronic encyclopaedia, a repository of otherworldly knowledge about otherworldly creatures.
"Uh, Twilight? Are you there?" Elaine waved her hand in front of Twilight's face, snapping her from her trance. "Ah, good, I thought you were having a stroke or something."
"What? No, I'm just…" Twilight held the Pokédex up with a grin. "How could I not be excited by this?"
Elaine raised an eyebrow. "It's just a Pokédex? I'll message Professor Oak and see if he can send you one if you'd like?"
"Yes please! I'd like! I'd very much like!" Twilight cried ecstatically.
Taken aback by the sudden outburst, Elaine took a deliberate step back. "O...kay… I'll message him now. In the meantime, why don't you just have a read through that one while we walk?"
"I can? Yay!" Twilight immediately set to flicking through the entries on the Pokédex, beginning with one for Pidgeys.
"Hey, it's you guys!" Twilight dragged her eyes from the Pokédex and looked up to see a young man, roughly Elaine's age, coming towards them, smiling and waving.
"Hi, Trace, what are you doing here?" Elaine called.
Trace sighed and shuffled over to them, looking dejected. "I tried to go and get a look at Victory Road, but there's some sort of construction going on, you can't get anywhere near."
Elaine slumped her shoulders at that. "Awww, that's not cool. I wanted to get a look at the place before we set off to Pewter City."
"Yeah, not happening," Trace said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head as he shifted his gaze to Twilight. "So you're the owner of the little Shimmy. I heard that you climbed out of the sea in the middle of the night, what the heck happened to you?"
Twilight shrugged. "I have no idea. One minute we were on a research expedition, the next I was waking up in Sakura's house."
"Eesh, that's rough," Trace said with a grimace. "I meant ending up in the ocean is one thing, but waking up in Sakura's home?" He shivered. "That's just horrible."
"Don't be ridiculous, Sakura is lovely," Elaine said firmly.
Twilight and Sunset shared a curious look. "What's wrong with Sakura?"
"There's nothing wrong with her," Elaine huffed. "Trace is just being weird."
"Hey, I'm not the one who's weird!" Trace retorted. "I told you, I saw her eyes go funny that one time!"
Elaine rolled her eyes and glanced at Twilight. "Trace found her going for a walk one evening a little while ago. He saw some stupid trick of the light, and now he swears that she's possessed by a ghost Pokémon or something."
"She must be!" Trace insisted.
"Whatever." Elaine shrugged and turned away. "Well, if Victory Road is closed off, we may as well head back into town. If we don't take too long getting food, we might even be able to reach Pewter City before dark."
"Hey, before we go..." Trace grinned and pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket. "Look's like we've both got some new Pokémon, how about a match?"
Elaine perked up immediately. "A match? That's a great idea!"
"Pika!" Pikachu added.
Grinning widely, Elaine turned to Bellsprout. "What about you, are you in?"
Bellsprout nodded once. "Sprout."
"What about you?" Trace asked Twilight. "Fancy a round?"
Twilight shook her head vehemently. "No, thank you!"
"Twilight isn't really into the whole battling thing," Elaine explained in response to Trace's curious look. "Why don't we show her how it's done, first?"
Trace shrugged. "Fine by me, let's see how you've grown!"
As the two Trainers squared off, Twilight felt something nudging her leg. Looking down, she noticed that Sunset had written a short message in the dirt.
MUST GET STRONGER.
"What?" Confused by Sunset's sudden desire to fight, Twilight was distracted as Trace released a Pokémon from it's ball.
"Go, Eevee!" There was a flash of light, and all of a sudden the cutest little dog that Twilight had ever seen was standing proudly on the ground. It had a big bushy tail, and an incredibly fluffy girdle of hair around its chest.
Elaine pointed at the Eevee and grinned. "Okay, Pikachu, let's show them what we've got!"
"Pika!" Pikachu dove off Elaine's shoulder and stood ready on all fours, sparks flying from the dots on her cheeks.
A little uncomfortable being so close to the action, Twilight backed away several paces, just in case. She had no idea what to expect as the two Pokémon squared off against each other.
Trace struck first, thrusting an arm forward as he called out, "Get her, Eevee! Use Quick Attack!"
"Pikachu, Thundershock!"
Electricity sparked and crackled from the red dots on Pikachu's cheeks.
Eevee was faster.
The little Pokémon disappeared in a flash, only to reappear just in time to slam into Pikachu from the side, walloping the poor creature clean off her feet.
Twilight gasped and reached out, shocked at how aggressive and sudden the attack had been, but Pikachu bounced and twisted, landing on all fours with a determined look on her face.
"Hit her with another Quick Attack!" Trace called.
"Jump, Pikachu!" Elaine shouted.
Pikachu leapt up into the air just as Eevee disappeared again. The little dog reappeared just a second too late, looking up as sparks flew from its opponents cheeks. "Pika!"
Eevee yelped in pain as a bolt of crackling electricity arced from Pikachu and grounded itself through the little Pokemon's body.
Shock and horror paralyzed Twilight. She felt certain that the fight was over, and that they were about to have to make a mad dash to the nearest Pokémon centre to get Eevee some emergency medical care. As such, she felt a surge of fear and outrage as Elaine called out, "Now, finish this with Tackle!"
"Dodge it, Eevee!" Trace shouted.
Somehow, incredibly, the Eevee skipped aside as Pikachu charged, as if a powerful electric shock had been merely painful rather than severely life-threatening.
The two Pokémon stared each other down, neither willing to back down, until Trace smirked and crossed his arms. "That's enough, Eevee." He raised an eyebrow at Elaine. "Not bad, you and Pikachu work well together."
"Same with you guys," Elaine said brightly.
Twilight's jaw dropped open. The two were acting as if what had just happened was something completely normal. Even the Pokémon were quite happily chatting with each other, as if they hadn't just been viciously attacking each other.
"So, what do you think?" Trace asked. "Do you want to try a match?"
"Uh…" Twilight looked down at Sunset. Her eyes were bulging out of their sockets, and her bravado from earlier had apparently evaporated as she jerkily shook her head. "You know what, I think we'll just leave that to you guys."
Trace shrugged. "Eh, suit yourself. Battling isn't for everyone. Come on, let's hit the Pokémon Center then go and get some food!"
The group had made their way back to Viridian City and, after a quick stop at the Pokémon Center, had found themselves a booth at a retro-looking burger joint. The interior was clean, and the waitress had been cheerful and friendly, taking the humans' orders with a bubbly smile.
Then she had offered to bring 'feed' for the Pokémon.
Twilight, already in the process of trying to reach down and show Sunset the menu, had been caught off guard, and therefore hadn't spoken up when Elaine and Trace had ordered a bowl for each of the Pokémon, including Sunset and the new Nidorans.
Silently stewing in what was becoming an increasingly foul mood, Sunset watched as Trace and Elaine brought out each of their Pokémon; Elaine her Bellsprout and Nidoran, Trace his Eevee, a Pidgey and a Rattata. Twilight followed suit and brought out her own Nidoran with an uneasy glance at Sunset.
"Okay, here's your Poké-pellets!" The waitress reappeared with a tray and a bright smile. Crouching down, she set several bowls full of little brown pellets coated in thick gravy on the floor. "I'll be back out with the burgers in just a second!"
"Um, c-could we have another of what I ordered as well, please?" Twilight asked quickly.
The waitress nodded. "Sure thing, I'll bring it out as soon as it's done!"
Sunset glared after her, half wishing that she could set fire to the woman's skirt with her mind.
"Are you not going to eat that?" The female Nidoran asked. She didn't bother waiting for an answer before grabbing Sunset's bowl and pulling it closer. "Mine now."
Slightly mollified by Twilight's quick last-second order, Sunset raised an eyebrow at her new companion. "Don't you want a burger or something, too?"
"No way, that human food is weird," Nidoran replied flatly.
Sunset shrugged and turned to face her next challenge.
The chair.
The darn thing was just high enough that jumping up was likely impossible. Teleporting up was obviously an option, but it took more effort than Sunset really wanted to put in, which just left grabbing Twilight's attention and being picked up.
Dignity or effort. It was a harder choice than Sunset was willing to admit.
"Do you want to come up here, or would you rather eat down there?" Twilight asked.
Sunset huffed and, deciding on laziness, held her forelegs out for Twilight to pick her up. At least Twilight was decent enough not to comment as she settled Sunset on the bench next to her.
It wasn't long before the waitress came back out, bearing a tray loaded with burgers. She placed one in front of each of the humans, hesitated, then plonked the last one down on the table in front of Sunset. "Enjoy!"
"Will do!" Trace said loudly. He set about his meal with a ravenous fervour, as if he hadn't eaten in days.
Elaine raised an eyebrow at him, then rolled her eyes before turning back to Twilight. "So, how are you finding Kanto so far? It must be weird, having so many Pokémon around."
"It's… yeah, it's weird," Twilight replied. "I imagine things are weirder for Sunset, though."
"Really?" Trace asked. "How so?"
"There weren't any Pokémon where they originally came from," Elaine explained.
"Hm?!" Trace tried to exclaim in surprise, but his mouth was already full to bursting again.
"Apart from Sunset, obviously," Elaine said sharply.
Sunset ignored them and concentrated on her food. As if this world hadn't done enough to annoy her yet, she was now having trouble with actually eating the meal in front of her. For a start, the burger was almost as big as her head. The fact that she couldn't use her magic to properly levitate the cutlery certainly didn't help.
"Do, uh… do you want me to cut it up for you?" Twilight asked.
"Please," Sunset replied with a nod and a resigned sigh.
Twilight quickly obliged, cutting the meal up into bite-sized pieces that Sunset could handle. When she was done, Sunset mumbled her thanks, remembering a second too late that Twilight wouldn't be able to understand her anyway.
As she shakily levitated a chunk of burger into her mouth, Sunset struggled to keep her temper in check. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.
In a dark alleyway, tucked away in the depths of one of Viridian City's residential areas, the Observer crouched, speaking into a small box clasping in their hand, "They are here. One young woman, and one small Pokémon. They are traveling with Priority Trainer 5 from Pallet Town. Priority Trainer 6 is present, but does not appear to be traveling with them."
'I see.' The voice seemed to reverberate through the Observer's mind. 'So, Keres did indeed choose to bring in some wild cards. Hmmm. He is getting desperate, now that he cannot cause another Dimensional Cascade without causing irreparable damage to the fabric of reality itself. This farce has gone on long enough. In all previous iterations, Priority Trainer 5 leaves Viridian City to reach Pewter City before Nightfall. Does it seem likely that the wild cards will accompany her in this iteration?'
"It is almost certain," the Observer replied.
'Good. Send a single Tracker to intercept them in Viridian Forest. Kill them.'
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Elaine asked.
Trace shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna go and check out the gym. I know I can't challenge the leader yet, but if he's there, I might at least be able to get a look inside."
"Alright, well, good luck," Elaine replied.
"And you, see you all later!' Trace waved enthusiastically as he headed back into town. "Good luck, Twilight!"
Twilight waved back half-heartedly. "Don't you want to go and see the gym as well?" She asked, glancing at Elaine.
Elaine shook her head. "Nah, that gym leader is hardly ever there. He only accepts challenges from trainers who've managed to get all of the other gym badges, and even then you have to book a challenge and his aides let you know when he's back." She gestured to the path ahead. "Come on, we'd better get going if we want to get through Viridian Forest by sundown."
As one, the group turned and followed the path out of town. Most of the Pokémon had returned to their Poké-balls, with only Sunset and Pikachu actually wanting to walk under their own power.
The way ahead was very similar to Route 1. A simple path wound its way between swathes of long grass, with thickly clustered trees lining either side of the Route. The occasional Trainer could be seen wandering around, either searching for Pokémon in the grass, or simply chatting casually with each other.
"This should take us right up to Viridian Forest," Elaine explained. "It should extend right the way up to Pewter City on the other side, then."
"Is it dangerous?" Twilight asked.
"It can be," Elaine replied. "There's a lot of poison types in there, and a fair few of them are pretty territorial."
Twilight grimaced, glad that she at least had a bunch of antidotes. "How far is it to Pewter City?"
"A fair distance," Elaine admitted. "Add in the wild Pokémon and a couple of Trainer battles, and it might be a push to make it before sundown."
That didn't sound particularly appealing to Twilight, but she supposed that she didn't have much choice other than to trust Elaine's judgement. "Do Trainers regularly battle each other out in public?" She asked, wondering how other people dealt with such disruption.
"Not so much in towns or cities, but the Routes between them are usually fair game," Elaine replied. "Trainer battles in built-up areas are generally restricted to official Gyms or authorised venues."
"Oh, that's not so bad," Twilight said with relief. With her main concerns allayed, or at least put off for the moment, Twilight tried to focus on the peaceful scenery around her. Several Pidgeys and other bird Pokémon were flying around between the trees, and the grass rustled as other Pokémon went about their daily lives within.
Glancing down, Twilight was glad to see that Sunset was looking around with interest as well. She had feared that her friend would be despondent after everything that had happened to her, and the way people were treating her, but it seemed that she was doing fine. Either that, or Sunset was just very good at hiding her feelings.
"Heya, are you two Trainers?" A high-pitched voice called out. Twilight looked around to see a young boy, no older than eight or nine, holding out a Poké-ball proudly. "Want a match?"
"Sure thing, kid!" Elaine grinned and held out an arm. "Let's go, Pikachu!"
"Pika!" Pikachu leapt from Elaine's arm and landed in an aggressive pose, sparks flying from her cheeks.
The youngster grimaced and took a step back. "No way, not against a Pikachu! I've only got a Pidgey, he's weak against Electric types, it's not a fair match! What about that Ponyta?"
"Shim?" Sunset said in a curious tone.
"She's not a Ponyta," Elaine told him. "This little one's a unique Pokémon!"
"Whoa!" The kid grinned widely up at Twilight. "Can I have a match against her? Can I, can I?!"
Twilight glanced warily down at Sunset, who looked like she had just bitten down on a fresh lemon. "I'm not sure that she-"
"Shim," Sunset said firmly. She took a deep breath, then strode purposefully towards the kid. "Shim, shimmy."
"You want to fight?" Twilight asked in surprise. Sunset just nodded. "Um, okay? I guess you know what you're doing."
The boy whooped and opened his Poké-ball, releasing a Pidgey into the sky. The bird Pokémon soared around until it came to rest on the ground in front of the boy, spreading its wings to make itself look bigger and more impressive. "Pidgey!"
Sunset just sighed and brushed a stray lock of her mane out of her face, then took up an aggressive pose. "Shimmy."
The two Pokémon stared each other down silently, neither making a move. After a few seconds, the boy suddenly shouted, "Go, Pidgey! Sand Attack!"
With a loud cry, the Pidgey flapped its wings hard and kicked up a cloud of dust, making Sunset cover her eyes with a hoof. "Now, Quick Attack!"
"Look out!" Twilight yelled. Her warning came too late. The Pidgey hurtled forward at incredible speed and slammed into Sunset's side before she could react, knocking her off her feet and making Twilight wince.
"Get her again, same move!" The youngster exclaimed excitedly. Twilight cringed as the Pidgey attacked again. A split-second before impact Sunset disappeared in a flash of light, avoiding the attack by a hair’s breadth. “Whoa, she can use Teleport?! Be careful, Pidgey!”
The Pidgey hovered in place, looking around in an attempt to find Sunset. All of a sudden, the boy let out a loud yelp as Sunset charged out from behind him. “Over here, Pidgey!”
To its credit, the Pidgey swooped around and gained altitude as it turned, making itself a harder target than if it had just turned on the spot. Sunset skidded to a halt and teleported just as the bird Pokémon let loose another Sand Attack. Twilight and the Pidgey both looked around for her again, but the youngster shouted out, “There! In the dust!” Twilight’s stomach dropped as she spotted the distinctive glow of Sunset’s horn in the middle of the dust cloud. “Get her, Pidgey, Quick Attack!”
The Pidgey rocketed into the cloud at a horrendous speed, only to suddenly be launched back out of it with a loud wham and crash to the ground in a heap. When the dust cleared, Sunset was standing in a typical bucking pose, a triumphant look on her face.
“Whoa! Pidgey, retaliate with Gust!” The boy raised a clenched fist as he waited for his Pokémon to attack, only to look around in confusion as it didn’t. “Huh? Pidgey?” The unfortunate bird Pokémon was sitting on the ground where it had landed with its feathers ruffled, looking a little worse for wear. “Oh, no way! A one-hit wonder?! Alright, Pidgey, return!” The boy held out his Pokéball and the Pidgey was sucked inside in a flash of red light. “Aw, shoot. I guess I’d better get back to the Pokémon Centre. Your Pokémon is really strong, Miss!”
“Right, uh, thanks?” Twilight replied, a little shocked at how casually the kid was taking his Pokémon’s defeat. He grinned and waved as he walked back to Viridian City, prompting her to wave back weakly.
Elaine chuckled and patted her on the back. “Don’t worry, a quick trip to the Pokémon Centre and that Pidgey will be fine. Come on, Viridian Forest isn’t far.”
