After agreeing to help Oak with his latest invention, Red gets sucked into Equestria and now he has to work out how to return home. And being mute isn't going to help.
Red awoke in the bed, and stood up. Checking the stats of his Pokémon, he was satisfied to see they were fully healed. Walking down the steps, he left his simply furnished room and entered the main part of his house. His mother stood at the table, she turned to face him, giving him a sweet smile.
“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Red said nothing in reply, and his mother continued speaking after a pause.
“Oh that reminds me, Professor Oak wanted to see you, I expect you want to go see him right away. But don’t go on another adventure without at least calling me okay dear? I like to know where you are.” After she smiled, she turned and went back to staring at the table. Red turned and gently strolled toward the door. She had stared at that table for over two years. Gently opening the door, he took a moment to let his eyes adjust and gaze around the area, making note of the quaint and little town of Pallet as people trudged around in boredom.
“…” Turning, Red walked down the dirt path toward the laboratory, ignoring the grass out of the town and the water. The scenery never changed, he never changed. Walking into the lab, he paused. As he gazed to the many machines cropped around the room, he noticed two assistants that always seemed to be doing nothing.
“Ah, there you are Red; you've come right on time.” Red walked up to the middle of the room, and met with Professor Oak. He was a tall person, with gray hair and a white lab coat and a pleasant smile always on his face.
“Now I need your help to test this latest Pokémon storage system I’ve been working on. We've been testing it with freshly caught Pokémon, and we would like to test it further with something other than Rattata.” Red didn’t answer, gazing to the device on the table and the pc in the corner with the device for receiving Pokémon beside it. It had probably been taken out so they could see the results immediately.
“So Red, will you agree to test this new device?” Red turned back toward the professor, and gave a single nod. Oak smiled, walking over to the table and motioning to the device.
“Ok well put on this watch, we’re calling it the Pc Automatic Storage System. Or ‘Pass’ for short.” Red walked over to the table and gazed down at the watch on the table. It had a small screen on it with the menu’s that were on the larger pc screens, one such currently in the other corner of the room. There were a few buttons to move around the menu’s, and had a red wristband to hold the device to the holders arm. Red picked up the device, and put it on his arm.
“Excellent, ok now press the down and up arrow buttons to navigate the menu. Red is cancel, blue is enter, and to access your current party is yellow. You also have the left and right arrows for moving around the boxes.” Red quickly familiarised himself with navigating around the menu’s, gazing at his Pokémon boxes with all his Pokémon inside.
“Ok, now if you go to the deposit menu a small compartment should open-like that!” Red had moved his hand away from his body as a small round cup appeared from one side of the Pass. He could easily see it was Pokéball sized. A menu had popped open saying ‘press ok to continue.’
“Now put a Pokéball in there, and click the 'enter' button.” Red glanced to his Pokémon, and decided on grabbing the one that contained his Ponyta. Putting it into the slot, it fitted snugly, he pressed the ok button and saw a light envelop the ball and it teleported to the machine on the other side of the room.
“Excellent, let me go and get the assistants.” Oak walked past Red and out of sight behind some machines, Red returned to gazing at the device. Picking up the Pokéball that contained the mother of the Ponyta, a beautiful Rapidash, he slotted it into the compartment after clicking on the ‘move’ option. Dragging his Rapidash icon over the Ponta icon, he expected the Pokéballs to switch and he would receive his Ponyta and the Rapidash would be stored.
“No we haven’t tested the moving function yet!” Oak’s voice sounded far away as a crackling sounded around him. Suddenly his machine beeped, and he glanced down at the screen. The 'enter' button had gotten stuck, and the two pony Pokémon were transferring between the cup on his hand, and the machine near the pc at light speed.
“Red, get rid of the machine!” Red watched as the screen beeped again, and suddenly something began to shape in the space in front of him. At first it was like a slow motion of the two Pokéballs running between the two spots, but in the space of the arc they made, downward toward the machine and upward toward his Pass, and slowly something began to form in the space between. Red tried to remove the device; however it was latched clean to his arm.
“Oh no, it’s bonded to his skin…” Red turned away from the rapidly growing oval to gaze toward Professor Oak, who was holding onto the computers as a wind began to pick up and drag papers into the slowly growing void. Their eyes met; and Oak gave Red the sorriest gaze he could muster with papers flying in front of his vision. Red turned to look at the portal, noticing how it began to draw the watch away from the edge and toward the centre, the machine on the other side was included. Red had enough time for one more reaction before he was swallowed into the portal.
“…” was all Red said, before vanishing into the darkness. The portal closed after him, it’s medium to his world gone.
Red awoke to a bright sunlight, and sat up and rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache and a small bump. Blinking his eyes a few times, he gazed around his current landscape.
“…”Red was surrounded by bright cottage houses, a small garden to his left with a fountain in the middle, and an ever growing crowd of Ponytas. Red noticed all the different colours of Ponyta and different shapes, different body parts even, and knew something was different. There were these flying Ponyta, some normal Ponyta, and some Ponyta that looked more like Rapidash then Ponyta, except for the size. Red decided he needed a name for these new Pokémon, and quickly decided some on the spot. There was the normal Ponyta, the Flyingta, and the Rapida
“Let me through, Lyra don’t you dare get any closer!” A purple Rapida with wings exited the crowd, pulling a mint green Rapida back with purple magic, Psychic was most likely. The purple one gently approached him, measuring his threat level. Red gazed closer to his feet, and saw all the papers from his world and the machine lying around him. He glanced to the Pass, and saw it was functioning normally, however he couldn’t use the move button anymore, it seeming to have vanished off the interface.
“Hello?” Red turned his gaze on the purple Rapida, who had stopped a decent distance away. Red sighed, and stood up, brushing himself off. His eyes rose as they all gasped at him, not realising how tall he was. The Mint green Rapida was staring goggle eyed at him.
“Excuse me, can you understand me?” Red turned his gaze to the purple Rapida, and gave a single nod. The Rapida frowned, her head tilting. Red could see this Pokémon was intelligent, and considered capturing it. It was friendly enough; surely it would be a good addition to the team after he levelled it up a bit?
“Uh, what’s what ball thing?” The Rapida gazed at him suspiciously as he took out a blank Pokéball and prepared to toss it. The purple had only a single moment to dodge the flying projectile, and as it hit her in the head it bounced off and a red light enveloped the Rapida. Red watched as the ball rocked once, twice, thrice, and split open in a burst of purple magic. The Rapida was now angry at him.
“…”Red was suddenly bound in the purple Psychic from earlier, and could no longer move. The Rapida glared at him, her hair in a mess after the brief stint in the Pokéball. Red had learned his lesson; he would need to weaken her next time.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, now who and what the hell are you?”
“Don’t you know what that is Twilight” spoke the mint green Rapida, the purple Rapida turned and glared at the approaching mint green one, braving the might of the purple one. Red didn’t move, still trapped in the psychic.
“It’s a human!” The mint green one gazed to Red, her eyes open in joy and wonderment, exited to see him for some reason. The purple one rolled her eyes and dismissed that option.
“Humans are mythology, and they don’t look like that in the books.” Red watched the mint green Rapida shrug, and pull out some sort of book and give it to the purple one, who quickly skimmed it before resting on a page and frowning and turning her gaze to Red. The Rapidash seemed to be studying him, before she gently relaxed the magic.
“Are you a human?” the purple one asked. Red paused, and gave a single nod. Confused looks were directed at him, and the magic holding him in place weakened even further as the purple one got distracted. Red began to slowly reach for one of his Pokémon…
“Hi there, I’m Lyra and my god it is great to see you!” Turning his gaze on the Rapida named Lyra; he remembered how the purple Rapida had called herself Twilight. Red decided calling them by that name would reduce confusion, his expression didn’t change.
“Ok, well it says here humans can speak our language, so why can’t he speak then Lyra?” Twilight's words caused Lyra to frown, perplexed, and the two went into a heated discussion of if he was or was not a human. Red’s hand gently clasped around his Pokéball. Gently pressing the button, a gentle click gained the two mares attention. The psychic around him tightened, but it was already too late to stop the red light escaping from the Pokéball, and a Pokémon began to form where the arc of light hit the ground. After a moment, the light vanished, and the Pokémon was revealed.
“Blastoise” spoke the turtle, small openings in it's shell appearing that had pipes coming out of them. He easily dwarfed the Ponyta’s. As he turned his gaze down to his ensnared trainer, he frowned in the direction of the purple Rapida called Twilight ,that had his trainer captured.
“Eep” her magic faded, her ears falling down as she felt fear course through her body. Whatever this thing was, it meant business. Red fell to the floor, and stood up, brushing himself off for the second time that day. He then glanced to his Pokémon. A silent look passed between them, and they turned their gazes toward the purple Rapida and the rapidly vanishing crowd.
“Uhh, Lyra what is that thing?” Twilight's words broke Lyra out of her frozen state at sight of the monster, and she glanced to Twilight.
“I-I wish I knew, but I think you s-should run.” At Lyra's suggestion, Twilight took a step back, wishing her friends were here and not at their homes. Blastoise looked at the Rapida, and at how he loomed over her and then over to his trainer. Red’s eyes were the same as they always were, and he held up a hand, his palm closing so two fingers were all that was open in the hand. Blastoise nodded, message received.
“Blasto-“Red turned as a loud call interrupted the air, and something covered in dust made a mad dash for him. Skidding to a stop, the fierce and proud gaze of his Ponyta met his eyes. The silence grew louder as something passed between them, Red turning to his Blastoise. He pulled out the Pokéball he belonged to, and tossed it gently at Blastoise's head. Blastoise returned to his ball. Pausing, Red returned the ball to its slot on his belt, before turning to leave with his Ponyta.
“W-Wait,” Red stopped and slowly turned toward the two Rapida’s, the mint green one having spoken. The one named Twilight was shaking, but she shook herself out of her stupor before turning her eyes to look between Red and Lyra.
“Can I come with you please?” Twilight’s mouth fell open; Lyra must be crazy to want to go with such a dangerous thing. Red ignored the Twilight one, and took a moment to debate the question. After a brief moment, he gave a single nod and turned around. Walking over to Ponyta, he gently stroked her, waiting for the mint green one to start following. With one simple movement, he hoisted himself onto Ponyta, who shifted under his weight, and then settled.
“Uh, thanks mister.” Red looked to that Lyra Pokémon, and then leaned forward as Ponyta reared up, and let out a cry before starting to canter toward their destination. The mint green one kept up easily, and as the houses went by Red spared a glance back at the purple one, before she vanished as they rounded a corner. As the houses began to get less and less often, the town ended in a huge forest that loomed over everything. An oppressive feeling began to hover around Red as they entered, the Lyra one hesitating a moment before committing and following once more.
“We-We should not be in the Everfree…” Gazing to the Rapida, Red could sense an innate fear of this place emanating from her. Red could understand why, the entire forest buzzed with an anger at them intruding inside it, but Ponyta blazed onward, her fiery mane brushing past leaves, leaving them only slightly warmer than before. Eventually, the trees thinned out, and they appeared in a small clearing, where a badly injured Rapidash layed.
“…” Ponyta slowly came to a stop and Red leapt off, walking over to his Rapidash to assess the damage. She was badly hurt, close to fainting. This called for one of his stronger potions. Fishing through his bag, the Pokémon named Lyra gazed on curiously as he pulled out a small spray bottle before putting his bag back on his back. Gently parting the flames of Rapidash’s mane, he sprayed on her neck, body, and face along with any areas openly bleeding. Rapidash breathed a big sigh, and slipped into a peaceful sleep.
“Whoa that’s amazing.” Red turned his gaze to the Pokémon named Lyra as she watched the Full Restore quickly heal his Pokémon back to full health. Red gently rubbed Rapidash’s belly, bringing her awake and their eyes met. Stepping back as Rapidash stood up, she shook herself and gazed around the immediate area, used to waking up in unfamiliar places (a by-product of being in a Pokéball.)
“So…What now?” Red glanced down at the mint green-at Lyra and then around the area and reached for Rapidash and Ponyta’s Pokéballs, only to notice they were missing. Lyra blinked in surprise as the blank faced Red broke into a frown. It vanished a moment later, and he glanced to the Pass on his hand and noticed he still had Ponyta and Rapidash in the box. Remembering something, he pulled out his phone device and glanced to the only number on his phone, his mother, and to the single bar of charge left on his phone, before dialling the number.
“Hello, is that you Red? You must be calling because you’ve gone on some sort of adventure, thank you for giving me a call before vanishing to places unknown. Have fun and be safe. ~Click~” Red put his phone away, and went through the contents of his bag, before closing it and looking to Rapidash, who walked over. Jumping onto her back, he locked gazes with Ponyta, who reared and gave a call of agreement. Lyra blinked, and frowned in confusion, but as the group began to head into the forest she followed as well, lost both mentally and probably physically.
Eventually they arrived at the edge of the forest, and the group slowed to a halt in sight of the town. Hopping off Rapidash, Red glanced to the sky, more importantly to the slowly setting sun. Lyra followed his gaze, and it took her a moment to realise what he was probably concerned about.
“Uh, I have a house you can stay at if you want…” Red blinked, and turned his gaze to Lyra, and gave a single nod. Lyra smiled at him, and began heading toward the town followed by a human and two Pokémon.
“Hold on a second Lyra, don’t go any further!” The party turned to greet the six Ponyta, two Flyingta, two Rapida, and two normal Ponyta. Red recognised the Rapida called Twilight from earlier; she was wearing some sort of crown while the other wore necklaces.
“We have been ordered by Celestia to hold the human right here until she can arrive, right after sunset.” Lyra frowned, and huffed at the setback, and glanced to Red.
“You ok to wait? I’m sure Celestia will be fine with you staying in my house.” Red paused, and then nodded once and picked a bit of the ground to sit down on, Ponyta and Rapidash coming to lie beside him. Turning his head to the sky, he watched the sun set and the moon rise and stars begin to come out.
“There she is” spoke the Twilight Pokémon, pointing to a rapidly growing speck in the distance. Red wasn’t able to pick any features out until the moment she began to slow dow, landing. She looked like a Rapidash, but with wings and a rainbow fire as a mane. Her coat was also a pure white. She greeted her student first, before their eyes met. Red could sense a quiet pride and peace about this Rapidash, but there was also a fierce fire that could be brought into existence in a heartbeat. Strong, this Pokémon was obviously a legendary.
“I am Princess Celestia, who are you human?” Red gazed at the legendary Pokémon Celestia, and blinked once. Red would catch her one day, but not today.
“See princess? He understands us, but he doesn’t reply to anything we say.” Twilight's words cause Lyra some irritation, and she stomps her hoof in the dirt, gaining the attention of the other Ponyta variants.
“That’s not true, he replied fine to me!” Twilight snorted at Lyra's words, taking a step forward and pointing to Red. Red yawned; it was starting to get late.
“If that’s true Lyra, then tell us what his name is!” As Twilight commanded her, Lyra turned to the human, hiding a roll of her eyes. He raised his head to meet her gaze.
“Excuse me, but what’s your name?” Red paused at Lyra's question, silent for a long time. Twilight had actually opened her mouth to say ‘I told you so’ when he moved. Pulling off his cap, Red shook his head to rid himself of the hat hair and pointed to it, meeting Lyra’s eyes as he did so. Twilight glanced between them as he put his hat back on and gave another yawn. Lyra then turned to look to the very curious Twilight.
“Uhm, well his name is either hat or Red.” Twilight rolled her eyes, like either of those were a name. As all Ponyta’s turned to face him and ask him more questions, they noticed that this human was apparently asleep. Red was using Ponyta and Rapidash as makeshift pillow and blankets. Used to being outside of a night when it became time for sleep, all three were used to sleeping where they fell.
“I think he might be tired” a pink Ponyta said, speaking the obvious.
“Make it faster gramps! I’m not letting Red get the jump on a new area for Pokémon capturing. Oh and to ensure he’s safe of course.” Oak was building a new Pass, hoping to try and find a way to get into contact with Red. He had been halfway through it until his grandson Blue had come in and made him jump, causing him to have to start over.
“I am doing it as fast as I can; just make sure you give that phone to Red.” Blue rolled his eyes; Red would not be getting one up on him.
“I doubt that mute idiot can get far without me standing in front so he has a shadow to stand in.” Oak ignored his grandson, and continued building the second Pass.
“Hat? Viser? Frisbee?” spoke a voice nearby, Red ignored it.
“None of these are working; ok fine I’ll try it. Red, is anypony in there?” Red opened his eyes, meeting the face of the purple one who jumped back as his normal gaze scared her. Only a few minutes had passed since he had closed his eyes. Red carefully sat up, careful not to disturb the sleeping Pokémon, turning his gaze back to the group. The five Ponytas were mulling around, there if Twilight needed them. Lyra stood nearby, and the legendary Pokémon was over to the side.
“Um Twilight, I really need to go, I’ve got a train to catch if I want to make it to Canterlot by morning…” This Rapida was white, but had purple hair and looked uncomfortable. The legendary Rapidash with wings glanced to the white Rapida, and gave a gentle smile.
“I can give you a lift if you like.” The white Rapida spluttered a thanks to the legendary. Twilight rolled her eyes, turning back to him. Meerly blinking in response, he earned a frustrated look from the purple one.
“So you name is Red?” Red gave a single nod, and turned to glance to the sky, more importantly the stars. Twilight and Lyra followed his gaze, glanced back at him and followed it again, once again confused.
“Twilight, you said something about him being a threat?” Twilight turned to the legendary Rapidash with wings.
“Well, he is but in a non-threatening way?” Twilight glanced to him, confused. The legendary one sighed, and walked forward, leaning her head down to gaze at him better. Red’s Rapidash stirred, and he glanced down at it, before returning his eyes to the legendary.
“Has he done any damage?” Twilight opened her mouth to reply, closed it and actually thought about the question.
“Well, he tried to trap me in some weird ball but other than my hair getting ruffled it didn’t leave me with any everlasting effects. But he did bring out this huge monster and almost attacked me with it.” Red glanced to Lyra, who was glancing between him and that Twilight Pokémon, debating who to support.
“Twilight, I believe we should give this human the benefit of the doubt before doing anything to him. I will return in a week, however if you contact me by a letter I can arrive within five minutes.” Twilight gasped, her hoof coming up in her surprise.
“But Celestia!” The legendary flared her wings, light seeming to radiate out of nowhere, and Twilight lowered her head, and Celestia spoke gently as she folded her wings, the light fading once more.
“Besides, I’m sure Twilight sparkle can handle one human.” Twilight submitted to Celestia, and Red simply gazed on the scene. The white Rapida from earlier stood up, and walked over to the Celestia Pokémon, who’s horn began to glow. Twilight waved the two goodbye as Celestia teleported, and then turned back to him.
Lyra interrupted, “can we go to my house now?” Twilight blinked, and gave a small sheepish smile. Red stood up, brushing himself off and gently waking his two Pokémon from their slumber. They grumbled, but stood up and all three waited for Lyra to lead them where they were going. Lyra grinned, and motioned for him to follow. Red did as instructed; leaving the other six Ponyta’s to stand there in the slowly darkening street.
“So here it is; my humble home.” Lyra had stopped in front of a house in the street as they walked down. After opening the door, Red bent down and stooped low so to fit through the door, he then glanced to his Pokémon, who looked indoors before finding a patch of the garden outside to rest for the night. Red glanced outside, waiting until they were comfortable before returning his head inside.
“Well ah, that’s the lounge room, kitchens through there. The bathroom and beds are upstairs. And that’s about it. Make yourself comfortable I’ll go set up your room for the night.” Red watched Lyra trot up the wooden stairs, and gazed at the light blue walls and wooden floor before heading towards the lounge room and gazing around it. It was decently furnished, a couch and some books along with a small table. The kitchen was white instead of the same colour the other two rooms were in.
“It’s not much bit its home” Lyra spoke from behind him, he turned to face her. She smiled, glancing left and right nervously. Red could sense a question coming.
“So uhm, do you mind if I ask you a favour?” Red didn’t answer, knowing she would continue talking. Lyra glanced downward and then gazed at him beggingly.
“I’ve never seen a human before and I was wondering if I could see what, well what hands are like…” Red watched her face turn to the floor, expecting him to say no. Raising her eyes, she saw him gazing at her, and the ever solid nod that accompanied his yeses follow. Her eyes sparkled with happiness, and she gently grabbed his hand and began going up and down it, taking in the different features of hands. After a few moments she released his hand, and sighed in fulfilment.
“Thanks, I didn’t think I’d live to see one.” As Lyra fell silent, Red stifled a yawn and glanced out the window on one side of the wall in the lounge room to the night outside. Lyra took the hint, and started walking toward the staircase.
“Oh silly me, you must be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.” Walking up the stairs slowly so as not to trip over the fact they were smaller than normal stairs, he followed Lyra up and around the banister and past a corridor that led to an open door where a very strange toilet stood. One room had a closed door, and as they passed that they came to a second room, made up of a simple bed and a small table with a lamp on it. Red coughed as Lyra opened a window, and a breeze blew the dust around the room.
“Sorry about the dust, I haven’t had guests in a while. It’s normally only Bon Bon and she never stays the night.” Red walked over to the window, and gazed across the landscape, taking in how the world stayed bright, even when shrouded in darkness.
“Beautiful isn’t it, the night?” Lyra glanced to him, and he gave a single nod. Lyra glanced away, and walked away from the window, heading for the door.
“I’ll see you in the morning, goodnight…Red.” Red turned his head to see her close the door. After a moment, he headed to the bed and sat down, before moving into a sleeping position. The bed was far too short for him however, and after a few minutes of trying to get comfortable he sat up and yawned once more. Standing up he walked out of his room and down the stairs to the garden where his Pokémon slept. Closing the door behind him as he left the house, he went and joined his Pokémon in their slumber under the stars, missing a mint green shape peering at him from her window.
“Red wake up, we’ve got big problems!” Red’s eyed opened, meeting the gaze of Lyra who blinked once as she began dragging him to a crouch before he finally stood up straight, and stretched. Ponyta and Rapidash stood up too, getting ready for the new day. Red glanced to the sky, seeing it was only shortly after dawn. The next thing he noticed was the fire spreading around town in the form of flaming projectiles.
“Twilight’s fighting a pack of fire-breathing Chimera at the edge of the Everfree. They tried to attack Fluttershy.” Red turned his gaze on Lyra, and then turned to Rapidash who bent down and let him onto her back. Within moments they were running through the village. Those who weren’t fleeing in panic could only blink as a fiery blur passed with some kind of creature deposited on its back. They arrived quickly, and Red quickly summarised the scene.
“…” Red jumped off Rapidash, who moved to the side as he took in the pack of creatures attacking the Pokémon Twilight. Red noted how each over her four friends took turns to take on the beasts.
“Without Rarity we can’t use the elements Twi, we’re losing here!” Red glanced to the orange Ponyta who talked, and saw her slip and fall. Red saw time slow down, his Pokéball flying into the air at the exact moment the chimera began to make flames. Twilight was too busy fighting to do more than merely widen her eyes as her friend was in the line of fire, literally. The ball flew true, and a red light flew out of it, it coming to a stop mid air. The shape formed, a bright flash of red light gaining all eyes on the shape that formed in front of the orange Ponyta, soaking the fire like it was water.
“Blastoise” spoke the Pokémon, all eyes turned to the Pokéball as it flew back to his hand, where he returned it to its slot. Blastoise didn’t waste time opening its mouth and firing an explosive amount of water right in the face of the chimera, sending it flying over the forest. It glanced to Red, and Red held up one single finger, and Blastoise nodded. Suddenly the air filled with moisture, and suddenly a wall of water began to rise, separating the Ponyta’s from the chimeras as the wind whipped up, and blowing Red’s hair. The chimeras tried to breach the water with flame, but they were fighting a losing battle.
Blastoise used Surf. Its super effective
“Blastoise!” Suddenly the water folded in on itself, and a wave formed, pushing the chimeras into the forest, by at least a few miles. Blastoise walked over to his trainer, who simply gazed up at his Pokémon, and gave a single nod. Pulling out his Pokéball, Blastoise returned to his ball, and Red finally noticed the agape mouths of nearly every Ponyta and Rapidash hybrid. Red merely blinked, and turned and headed back towards Lyra’s house, a shocked mint green Rapida following meekly behind him.
"How did you just DO THAT?! I mean, you just took out that ball thing like a total awesome pony with sunglasses!, except you didn't have sunglasses; but then you were all like 'asta la vista Chimeras.' " As they sat in the living room of Lyra’s, who was fawning over his victory over the chimeras, Red just sat there. The doorbell chimed, Lyra quickly got up and went to answer it; giving Red a break in the one sided conversation. The door closed after some muffled talk and Lyra and Twilight walked into the room, Red turned his gaze, greeting them with his trademark stare.
“Talk, was that what you were going to do to me back then?” Red knew when she was referring to, and shook his head. Twilight blinked, as if expecting him to say yes like he normally did. Lyra was peeking over his shoulder at his bag. She flinched when she noticed his gaze.
“Can, Can I see what is inside?” Red saw her hopeful gaze, and pulled his backpack off his back and held it out for the Pokémon to go through. Lyra saw the many pockets, and nodded to herself as she noted she would have to ensure she didn’t mix up the pockets. Lyra opened up his TM compartment first, and frowned at the small discs with words like HM1 and TM42 on them, before putting them back in her pocket. Red returned his gaze to Twilight as Lyra began looking in his berry pocket, sniffing the berries before putting them back.
“So what were you going to do to me?” Pausing in her task of opening his main compartment, Lyra glanced to him as if curious about the answer as well. Red paused, and after glancing between them both, he closed his eyes; thinking. Twilight and Lyra raised an eyebrow, curious as to the different behavior of the normally stoic Red. Opening his eyes, he motioned for Lyra to give him his backpack, and turned it around to the hidden pocket on the back section, covered by his back most of the time, he pulled out a small leather bound notebook and flipped to a certain page before turning around to show them.
“…”Noticing Red's lack of commentary, the two leaned forward, taking in the page. On it was a crude picture of his Blastoise, some numbers that meant nothing to the two Rapida and four words with a number next to each of them. The first one was labelled surf, the second one bite, the third one hydro pump, and the fourth one rain dance.
“Oh so that’s what those fingers you put up before your turtle thing attacked meant. Wait you were going to bite me?” Red closed the book and slipped it back into its pocket before handing the bag back over to Lyra, before turning to Twilight and waiting for her to continue.
“I don’t know what those things in those balls are, but I’m a PONY, well technically I’m a unicorn, well was a unicorn I’m an Alicorn now, but still.” Red blinked, this Pokémon was called a pony? More importantly, her evolution strain was called an Alicorn. Red glanced out the window, and pointed to a Ponyta and Rapida walking by the house, which caused Twilight to frown.
“That-That’s an earth pony, and a unicorn...” Red then glanced to the sky, and pointed to the Flyingta moving some clouds. He assumed it was a new move he didn’t know about. His hand pointed to one with a rainbow mane in particular, who was working faster than the others.
“Those are Pegasus ponies, and that one is a good friend of mine named Rainbow Dash. You met her the other night?” Red nodded once, twice, three times, putting the information away for use at a later date. Pony, close to Ponyta but not quite the same species. Then there was that legendary pony that had had both wings and a horn, similar to the Twilight Pokémon. Red could tell she was a lower level ‘Alicorn’ compared to the white one.
“Hey what’s this thing, what happens if I press this butto-“Red turned as Lyra clicked the button on a blank Pokéball, and was sucked inside. The Twilight one rushed over, trying to get it to open as it shook once, twice, thrice, and was still. Twilight grew concerned when Lyra didn’t come out, and glared accusingly at Red. Red leaned forward and gently took the Pokéball from Twilight, and chucked it, the ball split open, and a dizzy Lyra flew out and stumbled around before shaking her head and standing up properly. Red went to click her Pokeball onto his chain, then hesitated. Deciding against it, he merely put it on the table for both the ponies to see.
“What is that thing?” Lyra cautiously approached the ball, feeling somewhat connected to it for some reason. Twilight continued glaring at Red, which he ignored. Red didn’t have any way to explain how a Pokéball worked for them, so he merely stared at them, blank faced. Eventually,they sighed and gave up trying to get answers. Lyra braved touching the ball, and soon enough picked it up and deposited it on a desk over to one side and out of the way. She also gave Red back his backpack, done braving the dangers of his bag for today.
“I don’t know why Celestia says to give you the benefit of the doubt, but know one thing Red.” Red turned his gaze to meet Twilights glare. Taken aback by the fact he hadn’t even flinched, she hesitated, before continuing full force.
“If you ever do anything to harm Ponyville, harm Equestria, even if indirectly, I will find a way to banish you to a place you will never be coming back from.” Red took her threat, and replied with a single nod. Twilight seemed satisfied he knew the risks, and stepped back.
“I know one thing, we don’t need the populace freaking out over a human being here, so you’ll have to stay inside until I can calm them down enough to let you walk around in public. So for now-“Red blinked as Twilight was suddenly cut off by a very loud sound. If he had to describe it, it was like a lightning strike had happened just outside the house. Instantly he was standing, Pokéball in his hand. Twilight and Lyra were looking at him, and toward the door.
“Uh, Red do you mind going first?” Red nodded once at Lyra, before walking toward the door and opening it. There was a growing crowd of ponies, and his Rapidash and Ponyta were instantly alert, standing up to follow him as he left the house and made his way toward the commotion just down the street.
“What are you staring at?” Red recognised the voice of his rival Blue instantly, and returned the pokéball he was holding to its place on his belt. Twilight frowned at him, and then looked to the crowd who had just noticed his appearance and was parting to let him through. Some of them ran away outright, while others slowly backed away. Red didn’t notice any of this; his eyes were on the orange haired individual giving all the ponies mulling around him a glare, causing even more to run off in fright. Standing up, he turned and noticed Red walking to him.
“Well well well; I was wondering when you would show up. Thought you could get one up on me for a new type of Pokémon did you?” Red noticed the Pass on Blue’s hand, and then glanced upward as Blue began speaking again.
“Why I bet you’ve caught nearly every type here, and were going to parade them around in front going 'I've got something you cant have.' Well, not today Red, I’m going to catch these new Pokémon and train them better than you ever could.” With that, Blue pulled out a blank Pokéball and prepared to throw it at the nearest pony, a small unicorn standing next to a cross eyed Pegasus. Red was quick to intercept, putting a hand on Blue’s arm, causing Blue to turn and narrow his eyes at him.
“What’s your problem?” Blue wrenched his arm out of Red’s grip, and then actually looked at where he was. He noticed Twilight first, and the glowing horn that was probably an attack ready to be released.
“Let me guess, I need to weaken them first? Got it, let me just release my good old friend and-“ Lyra trotted over and spoke directly to Red.
“Um, Red who is this human?” Red and Blue both turned their eyes on Lyra, Red with his normal stare and Blue with a glare. Lyra flinched under Blue’s gaze, and trained her eyes on Red.
“You don’t know me? I’m Blue, the best Pokémon trainer the world has ever seen. And I'm going to capture each and every type of these new Pokemon and beat Red into the ground with their might.” Blue stood up proudly, and Twilight’s spell vanished hesitantly. Whatever Lyra was doing seemed to be getting Blue less focused on ‘catching’ and more on talking.
“So uh Blue? Why is it you are here? How did you even get here?” Lyra hesitantly met Blue’s cocky gaze as he studied her. Red simply stood there, silent and blank as always.
“I’m here to give this bozo some gift from the Professor, and I came here the same way he did-using a defective Pass.” Lyra blinked, and glanced backward to Twilight, who was slowly approaching the group. Most of the crowd had cleared out when Blue had threatened to ‘catch’ them. Red automatically caught the thing Blue tossed him, before glancing downward at what it was. It was a simple phone, but this one was apparently solar powered so it wouldn’t run out of charge.
“Ok Blue, you’re going to answer a few questions for me and-“ Blue cut Twilight off mid sentence, causing her to also stop mid stride.
"Hmmm nope, not doing that, if you want answers ask Mr. Silent over there." Twilight glanced to Red, and then trained a glare on Blue.
“He doesn’t talk, how are we supposed to get those kind of answers out of him?” Blue yawned, pulling out a Pokéball and tossing it into the air. A Pidgeot glided out, coming to land, Blue hopped on. The remaining crowd fled at the sight of the flying monster, over twice the size of them. Twilight back peddled and Lyra took a step back, glanced to Red, and then stood her ground.
“Not my problem missy, Red, my numbers on there if gramps wants me for something. Don’t call me just to talk; my time is way too valuable for you. Smell ya later.” Twilight made to run after him, but as Pidgeot took to the sky a whirlwind picked up, and before anyone could do more than stand in place, Blue had headed into the Everfree. Twilight gritted her teeth and walked over to Red, directing her frustration at him,
“Red, is your friend there always like that?” Red glanced in the direction of the forest, where a silhouette could be seen gliding into the forest and nodded once. Lyra followed his gaze, and snorted at Blue.
“No offence, but he seems to be kinda a jerk.” Red replied with another nod. Twilight growled, frustrated the one human they had found that could talk wasn’t going to; she instead turned her gaze at the device on his arm. Gazing it over, she could tell it was no technology she knew how to work, and remembered the machine she had found lying next to Red when he had appeared and glanced around the scene, spotting a similar one on the ground near where Blue appeared. Levitating it up, she examined it and realised she had no idea if it was broken or not.
“So this Pass on your arm is what brought you here?” Red nodded once, still gazing in the direction of the Everfree. He felt something touch his waist, and glanced down to see Lyra trying to undo his Pokémon belt. With one swift movement, he took a step back, and Lyra’s eyes rose to meet his as he shook his head.
“Sorry, I should’ve asked first.” The sky was suddenly shrouded in shade, and Red glanced up so see that the Pegasi had finished doing whatever it was they were doing with the clouds. Lyra shifted, and glanced to the ground, sensing she had passed some invisible line.
“Uh, is there a reason you don’t like people touching that belt?” Turning to gaze down at her again, Red blinked once, and he frowned. Lyra, completely caught off guard took a step back, Twilight who had been watching this exchange widened her eyes at the suddenly display of emotion. It was gone a moment later, and Red nodded before turning to gaze back at the Everfree.
“Uh, sorry Red I didn’t mean to cause any problems…” Red didn’t answer or move; and Lyra could sense he was thinking deeply about something, but she didn’t understand the problem. What would make Red, who seemed to be scared of nothing, so tense? Suddenly the device in Red’s hand vibrated, and he pulled it up to his ear to take the call.
“…” Red listened to the Professor talk, knowing that he would continue talking on the phone in a moment. Twilight and Lyra tilted their heads, confused as to what Red was doing.
“All systems seem to be working. That's good to hear. You’re probably wondering why I sent Blue. Well, I needed someone with a Ponyta and Rapidash, and Blue volenteered. I’ve figured out a way for you to return to our world, but there’s a problem with the frequency. Don't worry, we’ll figure it out. At least now we know how it all works.
“It’s just a problem finding the exact frequency and using it instead of a Pokémon in the transferal. If we can do that, then we may be able to reverse the polarity infuser and drag everything that was taken into that world and bring it back here. Of course, this isn’t the kind of thing that we can test since this is a one time only event, but I’m pretty sure that my calculations are correct.
“Well I’ve talked enough; I’ll contact you if I have any news. I’ve managed to contact this nice company that is interested in pictures of the alternate world. They’ve agreed to fund me in return for Blue recording some of the natural flora and fauna in his Pokédex. The head of the company, some guy named Giov middlename Anni. Weird name I know. It must be a doctor thing.
“I’m sorry red, you’re probably too busy to really listen to this conversation, so I’ll wrap it up here. I’ll call you soon with good news. ~Click~” Red put his phone away, and frowned. Lyra blinked, and glanced to Twilight.
“Uhm Red is something wrong?” Red blinked, his face returning to normal. Bringing his head around so he could see her, he shook his head. Hearing some flapping, all three glanced up to see a pony with a rainbow mane glide down and land, giving Red a cautious look.
“Uhh Twilight, you sure look comfortable with the new thing.” Twilight blinked, and realised she had relaxed to some extent around Red, and glanced toward him and thought about it for a moment. If she had to say why, it might be because he seemed to meekly follow every direction she gave him, even if it was a question. She blinked, and turned a glare on her friend.
“He’s not a new thing Rainbow Dash, granted he’s different but he’s obviously able to understand us. But he obviously isn’t some animal that is going to attack-outright…” Twilight realised she had just echoed something similar to what the princess had said earlier. Red watched the exchange, and merely blinked in response. Lyra seemed to be trying to understand him, but then settled for making faces and seeing if he would react.
“Lyra what the heck are you doing?” Twilight turned on the mint pony, who stopped mid expression; mouth pulled open and glanced to Twilight. Putting her feet down, her mouth returned to normal and she pointed to Red, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Check it out, he’s like Celestia’s guards, doesn’t flinch nor anything.” Rainbow Dash trained a curious and evil look on Red, he blinked in response.
“Oh reeeeeellly now?” Rainbow Dash cautiously approached Red from the side, still wary of the human for obvious reasons. Bringing a hoof out and gently tapping Red’s foot, who glanced down at the pony, Rainbow Dash‘s mane and tail jumped upright in fright and she jumped back a few steps. Lyra tapped his foot on the other side, catching his gaze and running back a few steps giggling as he turned to face her.
“Huh, well Celestia’s guards wouldn’t turn to face me if I tapped their foot, but still he’s pretty close.” Red glanced to the left as the rainbow one tapped him again, and then right as Lyra tapped him on the other side. Twilight watched this for a minute, and was half tempted to join in toying with the blank faced Red, but she liked her legs. After a few minutes, the two got bored and began discussing new ways to get Red to glance at them when a voice interrupted them.
“No messing with Red, that’s my job and I’m sure as hell not sharing my shadow with any more nerdtards.” Both Lyra and Dash breathed simultaneous awws as Red stopped paying attention to them to face the incoming form of Blue, holding a single Pokéball.
“You would not believe the Pokémon in there, I’m surprised you haven’t caught any Red, or are you too busy playing with your new friends?” Blue snorted, as if he considered the answer obvious. Twilight stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted.
“I’m surprised you haven’t got them caught in your fury yet, it’s bright enough to light up the entire forest Red, you need to relax more, accept the fact-“Blue walked over and put his arm around Red’s shoulder, waving a hand to encompass the sky. “-That I will always be better then you, and relax in the shadow of my awesomeness.” Twilight, Lyra, and Rainbow Dash blinked, Red said nothing.
“Wait angry, how can you tell?” Lyra was the first to speak, and Blue was all too happy to please her.
“You can’t? Why just look at Red’s face, it’s the face of someone about to explode into a rage over just not being on par with me.” All three ponies glanced to Red’s completely normal face, he blinked.
“Uuh, yeah ok, listen Blue you keep saying this Pokémon word, what does it mean?” Blue and Red blinked, Blue showing shock.
“You mean you don’t know what a Pokémon is? What kinda messed up area is this?” Blue took his arm off Red and took a few steps back to get some space, and pulled out a Pokéball.
“We’re Pokémon trainers, we capture Pokémon and train them until they are better than they were and then use them for battling, me being better then Red of course.” Lyra had to force herself not to roll her eyes, mimicking Red’s blank expression as she listened to Blue.
Twilight tilted her head “but we’re not Pokémon, and both you and Red have tried to capture us.” Blue blinked, his eyes actually focusing on Twilight.
“Could you repeat that? I’m afraid there’s awesomeness clogging up my ears.” Twilight tilted her head, and repeated what she had just said. Blue took a step back, and laughed.
“Nice try, but there’s no such thing as ‘not a Pokémon;’ you’re either human or Pokémon, and you’re obviously not human.” Lyra blinked and glanced to Red, who was frowning the more Blue talked. Twilight shook her head, and glanced between Blue and Red.
“I don’t know what rules apply from wherever you came from, but here there’s no such thing as a Pokémon here.” Blue leapt back as if Twilight had just tried to sting him with something, Red frowned more.
“No such thing! That’s impossible missy you’re just trying to get out of being captured. Well it’s not going to work because I-“Blue felt a hand stop him from going to his bag where the blank Pokéballs were kept, and locked eyes with Red. They stood like that for a moment, before Blue shoved Red away, and snorted.
“Not Pokémon, unbelievable I’ll prove this once and for all.” Blue fished out a device Red recognised as a Pokédex, used for storing data about Pokémon. Red had one in his bag too, but he hadn’t used it yet. Blue put his device on ‘speak’ mode and everyone listened in as it scanned Twilight.
“ERR0R: 404 NOT FOUND” Blue hit it a few times until the message vanished and tried it on Red’s Ponta, and frowned as the information came up easily. Turning back to Twilight, he got the same error, and he put it away and snorted.
“Smell ya later Red.” Blue fished out his Pidgeot, and took to the skies, scaring a group of Pegasi. Red watched him go, and turned back to gazing at the three ponies near him. Lyra was as usual the first one to speak.
“So you thought we were these Pokémon things? Wait your monster from before; it obviously knew what was going on around it. It wasn’t just something with no real…brain inside.” Red nodded, turning away as she went into the question she really wanted to ask.
“So you capture smart creatures, and train them to fight? Doesn’t that sound, I dunno WRONG to you?” Red’s frown had yet to vanish, and as Lyra spoke, his back turned to her, he flinched in response. Then in one swift movement Rapidash was by his side and he was on her as she galloped into the distance, quickly out of sight of the three ponies.
“Did he just…flinch?” Twilight glanced to Lyra, whose face was passing easily for 1st place Red impression. Her expression returned, a frown deepening.
“Is it just me, or did he actually avoid answering the question?” Lyra turned to glance to Rainbow Dash as she spoke up; not having known Red long enough to know flinching was something he hadn’t done yet. Lyra returned her gaze to the direction he had fled.
“He knows, I don’t know why he doesn’t do anything about it but he knows.”
He sat on the outskirts of the Everfree forest, just past a cottage where a yellow pegasi resided. The wind blew through his black hair, as his hat was off and on the ground beside him. The trees gazed on the strange human, their eyes silently accusing him. Animals that came to the edge of the trees would sniff in his direction, then decide against attacking him. There seemed to be a strange air around the red-eyed male, and interrupting him didn’t seem wise.
The wind blew against his hair once more, carrying a different scene with it. The forest noticed this, and its leaves gently caressed its tree trunks in preparation for its thirsts to be quenched. He sat on the hill, oblivious to the forests’ lusts, lying comfortably on the soft grass. Jacket blowing in the breeze, he was almost as still as a statue.
The wind blew again, much stronger this time, demanding the human’s attention. He continued to ignore it without a second thought. His companion behind him raised her face to glance to the sky before curling back into a makeshift oval to nap. The grass beneath them blew in the wind with brief outcroppings of rocks refusing to submit to it. A small rumble filled the sky, and finally the human was broken out of his musings.
Red glanced up as a stray gust angrily slapped him in the face. He quickly grabbed his hat as the wind threatened to pull it out of his reach. He shifted position with his hands behind his back to support his body and his upright leg falling into a straight position as he gazed upwards at the sky. There were no strange creatures in the sky; there was only nature.
The wind spoke angrily. It had warned him to take cover, and now he would pay for ignoring its cries. The forest chuckled at him, leaves shifting to embrace the sky’s gift to the ground. He noticed the world still, then looked up and found that the first drops were beginning to fall. His companion raised her head, her fire burning brighter to battle the elements. He closed his eyes again as the pinpricks of reality started to hit his face.
The rain fell slowly at first, but began to get torrential as the clouds stretched out and decided on a game plan. He knew his companion would be fine despite the fury of the sky, though, as they had faced worse rains before. Placing his red cap back on his head, he leaned forward, staring at the forest once more. The water began cascading down the brim of his cap, leeching into the fabric.
Red was used to the elements showing their emotions; daring him to defy them, or to try to capture them as he did numerous other creatures. He wasn’t stupid, though, and always paid nature the same respect as he did his own Pokémon. How could you even capture an element, anyway? Well, to be fair, humans had already captured the elements. Water, fire, grass, electricity; they captured the elements and forced them to obey their whims, either to profit or to bask in the limelight.
He briefly considered releasing his Pokémon, but then remembered where he was and knew that they would not survive there. Even if he did release them, all it would take was a strong trainer or a master ball for them to be confined again. It was how his world worked, and he had never questioned it. The rain changed direction, and Red tilted slightly from the gale winds, feeling the cold begin to affect him. If he didn’t move into cover, he was likely to get a cold.
He felt no real inclination to move, however, and had no desire to drag himself into the cover of the leaves of the forest. It was only when he glanced behind him and saw his companion shiver that he realized he was making his Pokémon suffer. His companion raised her head, and her prideful nature showed she would not give in to such tame weather. They sat there, drenched in rain, wind changing direction, and thunder growling in the sky.
Red’s mind flew through recent events like how an assistant browses through a cabinet of folders. The rain poured down sharply as its thunder raged. As he watched, however, he noticed when the gale sprung up, the wind almost went sideways. The trees gratefully drank whatever hit them, though, and didn’t fuss about whether the rain was horizontal or diagonal.
Standing up, he pulled out his Pokéballs one at a time, then released the Pokémon inside. They trained their gazes on the weather, then on their trainer. The rain cut out any cries they gave in greeting, and they all stood there, some more comfortable than others. One by one, Red put their Pokéballs on the ground, and stepped back. For his companion, he put a blank Pokéball as a temporary replacement.
Their eyes focused on the Pokéballs, understanding the gravity of the situation; a chance at freedom. The rain continued on furiously. Blastoise was the first one to pick up his Pokéball, gazing at it seriously before the others followed suit. The gale blew, the rain howled, the trees chuckled, and they stood there in the middle of it all.
“Blastoise,” even over the symphony of sound, Red heard his Pokémon clearly.
A single claw was held out, his Pokéball clasped gently inside it. One by one, his Pokémon nodded, and all agreed to serve him. All but one, that is. Turning to his companion and the smaller daughter she had birthed, she took the Pokéball and smashed it under one hoof, gazing at him.
Red nodded and Rapidash smiled as her mane glowed pure white, banishing the cold from Red’s limbs for a moment. Rapidash knew that she could not be released right that moment, but she would serve Red until the time came that he was able to, or if he decided to go back on the deal. The wind blew a little gentler, the rain settled into a steady downpour, and the trees gently laughed.
Returning his Pokémon to their Pokéballs, he put them back on his belt. He turned in the direction of the town and started walking with a Ponyta and a Rapidash following behind. All three ignored the rain, wind, and trees. Seemingly etched on Red’s face was a peaceful half smile, hidden by the rain to all those but the two Pokémon in attendance. By the time they returned to town, however, it was gone.
And Red had caught a cold.
~Knock~knock~knock~
Three solid knocks sounded on Lyra’s door. She quickly went to it with a worried look on her face, but it fell when she was greeted by a purple mare. The torrential rain made gazing to see if there was anypony on the streets virtually impossible. Lyra let Twilight in before the two made their way to the living room. Twilight glanced out the window, seeing that Lyra had it open in case she spotted the human, and sighed.
“Lyra, if he was going to come back, he would have done so by now” Lyra shook her head rapidly, spilling the tea as she brought it over to the table.
“No, he’ll come back. He has nowhere else to go. Besides, he wouldn’t leave without a goodbye” the mint mare responded confidently.
Twilight assumed that Lyra was in denial, and seriously doubted that Red was dumb enough to go for a walk out in the rain.
“I’m sorry, Lyra, but he wouldn’t come back in this kind of weather” Twilight told her friend.
Lyra’s ears drooped as she sighed in defeat, “You’re right. I guess I just feel a little…guilty”
Her sad tone baffled Twilight more than her words.
“Why do you feel guilty? He was obviously in the wrong and didn’t want to admit it” Twilight reasoned.
Lyra shook her head, flailing her front legs in dismay, “No, you see, Red didn’t know. I mean we don’t know how his life was, or what kinda world he comes from. Maybe…maybe he hadn’t considered the fact that what he was doing was wrong. You know, like how some creatures eat meat. That’s how they were raised, and they don’t know any better”
Twilight seriously doubted this, but sighed and went over to comfort Lyra, “Look, Lyra, no matter what his world was like, he’s in this one now. The same rules don’t apply”
Lyra raised her head, stifling a cry as she nodded. A knock sounded at the door, and Lyra tried to stand up to get it.
Twilight gently pushed Lyra back into her seat, “It’s just Rainbow Dash. I asked her to look for him”
Lyra sunk back into the chair, and shook her head in reply, “Did you see how he reacted when I tried to touch his belt? It’s like I was trying to take away his lifeline…”
Twilight frowned, and gently forced Lyra to look at her. The knock was heard again, “What do you mean; all he said was not to touch it”
Lyra’s eyes filled with tears again, “You didn’t see it? For a moment, he looked worried. I wasn’t sure, but I’m positive now.”
Twilight let Lyra’s head go, who returned to looking at the floor, musing to herself.
“A lifeline…” Twilight muttered to herself.
Suddenly, the knock was heard again, and Twilight growled, leaving Lyra to go to answer it. Rainbow Dash was so impatient sometimes. She paused to glance back at Lyra, who seemed to have stopped crying.
“Try having some tea” Twilight suggested.
Lyra obeyed silently. Turning, she took one step out of the living room and into the corridor before the door exploded as a hoof kicked it in with as much strength as it could muster. Both ponies jumped in fright, not realizing what had happened. Rapidash cried out in concern as Red left her on the porch and leaned against the wall as he made his way out of the rain.
“Red!” exclaimed Lyra, jumping up in joy and coming to stand beside Twilight before she noticed that something was wrong.
He was breathing heavily, and his face was covered in sweat. Both saw the moment his eyes glazed over, and he began to fall.
“Hold on,” grunted Twilight, her horn flickering to life to stop the human mid fall.
Her head bent under strain, but she gritted her teeth and gently levitated the ton of bricks onto the couch before both ponies walked over to examine him.
Red was breathing heavily and seemed to be focusing on something the two ponies couldn’t see. He went to reach for his Pokéballs, and Lyra’s eyes widened as he tossed one weakly in front of him. A small yellow mouse rabbit jumped onto the back part of the couch. It had two red cheeks and a zigzag tail.
“Pikachu?” it questioned.
Twilight glanced to Lyra, who darted for the belt as Red went to reach for another Pokéball, “I don’t know what’s going on, but we have to take away the belt or he’ll summon something too big to fit in my house!”
Twilight quickly came to help, and soon they had the belt off. Lyra saw Red reach for his belt, only to find air. Her ears flopped down as his breathing increased and he groped around for something to grab onto in an almost panicked desperation. Pikachu was quick on the scene, quicker than Lyra ever could be, and landed on Red before he went too far. His hands went to Pikachu, recognizing the shape instantly, and he relaxed.
“Is he going to be ok?” Lyra turned to Twilight who ensured that Red was calm before beginning to list the things that she would need to take care of him before heading to the broken door.
“He’ll be fine. It’s just a cold. He’s acting like he’s never had one before” Twilight rolled her eyes and Lyra followed her to the door.
“Wait, what can I do to help?” Twilight paused, and thought for a moment before motioning to the kitchen.
“Wet a dish towel or something to keep his forehead cool. I’ll be back as soon as I get some medical supplies. Try to dry his wet clothes, too” Twilight quickly explained as she headed for the door.
Before Lyra could ask Twilight anything, she was gone. Lyra quickly wet a dishcloth and draped it over the space between Red’s hair and eyes, making sure to put his hat on the table next to him. With that done and nothing else to do, the worried pony gazed to the mouse called Pikachu.
“Uh, hello?” Lyra made a hesitant wave, which the Pikachu returned.
Lyra blinked, taking a step back. Red’s breathing was still labored and the wet rag was warming up too quickly. Lyra didn’t have any ice to cool it down, either.
Lyra sighed, “You seem to have perfect timing, don’t you, Red?”
Suddenly, she blinked, and her gaze fell upon the clothes on his male body as her mint green face slowly turned red.
Her eyes widened, "Wait…did Twilight just ask me to take his clothes off?"
Floating, no on something long; was that a Pokémon? Something coming toward, no, away, fire water no it was bird. Release Pikachu, no it was grass. Fire fire; where were the Pokémon, no they wouldn’t fall off. Gone gone; naked unable to fight back, coming closer fire ice lightning, no way to fight back. Rocket grunt, Rattata coming, super fang; no was that a-hyper beam from a gyarados, spash no surf from magikarp. After me, punish me, no Pokémon to save myself, no…No friends left to rely on.
Something on his chest, wailord no no, Pikachu; his Pikachu was there for him, always there, never leaving. Thunder, Pokémon fainted, throw a ball, capture, log data, go home to bed and sleep. Pikachu sleeping beside, cool air on my face.
Red awoke from his slumber, promptly noticing his Pikachu gently resting on his chest. He blinked a few times before realizing that all he was wearing was a pair of pants. Glancing to the table next to him, he found both his belt and cap waiting patiently for him. On the opposite side of the table was a small chair, where a mint Poké-where a mint pony laid on the seat.
Lyra snored softly with a bit of droll dribbling from her lip as she opened and closed her mouth, seemingly eating something. She was sitting upright on her rear, something normal ponies didn’t do.
Red carefully nudged his Pikachu awake. The electric Pokémon let out a small yawn before giving him a slightly relieved smile. He quickly jumped onto the back of the couch, allowing Red to sit up in a more comfortable position.
Cautiously sitting up, Red looked around for his shirt and jacket. He saw them laid out on the ground near the table across the room, next to Lyra’s pokéball. He frowned slightly, but quickly shook it off as he stood up, stretching slightly before going to retrieve his items.
He first grabbed his Pokémon, as they were the most important. Secondly, he grabbed his shirt and jacket and quickly slipped them on. Finally, he walked over to his hat, sliding it over his head, and breathed in deeply. He pulled out a pokéball and glanced at Pikachu, whose ears drooped as he gave Red the puppy-dog stare. Pikachu smiled and hopped back onto the warm couch as Red put the pokéball back on his belt.
It was then that Red noticed the feeling of eyes on him. He turned and met the curious gaze of Lyra, who jumped when their eyes locked.
She swallowed hard, “So, uh, welcome back, Red. Sorry about, er, having to take your shirt off. I had to get the wet clothes off you and-OH, uh, don’t worry, I didn’t touch your bottom half. And s-sorry for taking your Pokémon away from you. We didn’t w-want you to summon something that could destroy half my house and-”
Red cut her off by pulling the mare out of the seat and giving her a large hug. She sucked in a breath as all of her thoughts were cut off, and realized what Red was doing.
She could feel his strength. Not his, though, but rather the undying trust of the creatures on his belt. She could feel the crushing responsibility put on him every time he risked their lives in battle. She could feel the knowledge that they would never let him down, and that he was completely confident in all of their abilities. She blinked when she realized that she was a part of all this too, as she was now technically his Pokémon as well.
He released Lyra before walking over to the couch. Pikachu saw him coming and jumped onto the back of the couch, giving him room to sit. He lay on the couch with his face turned upward and pulled the blanket around him. His Pikachu jumped down and rested near his legs, curling up into a ball. The two peacefully drifted off into sleep.
Blinking, Lyra reeled from the shock of the sudden display of emotion. Did he do it because she was a friend or his Pokémon, or was there some other reason that she hadn’t-
The mint mare snapped out of her trance and noticed that somepony had been knocking at the door for the past five minutes, “LYRA! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”
She flinched in response to the angry voice of the purple alicorn at the door, and scrambled to open the door.
“Has he woken up yet, Lyra? I need to ask him to help me with something. It’s quite impor-“ Twilight’s voice cut off mid rant as she saw that Red had all his clothes back on and had changed positions.
Lyra strode over, taking up Twilight’s vision as she stepped between them, “Yeah, but he went back to sleep after he put his stuff back on”
Twilight growled and tried to trot around Lyra, who hesitated before standing in Twilight’s way, “What’s so important that you have to wake him up? He must still be tired”
Twilight growled, her eyes training on the mint mare, “Because, if you haven’t noticed, his backpack is missing”
Red jolted awake, up on his feet before either of the mares could blink. He was out the door with Pikachu on his tail before the two had a moment to process the action. It was five seconds before they blinked and were able to dash after him.
“Red! What are you doing? Surely there’s no reason to panic-” Lyra cut herself off as Red gazed seriously at her.
He gently woke Rapidash, who greeted him cheerfully. Once she took notice of her trainer’s stern gaze, however, she went straight to business. Red turned his eyes to the Pass, pulling it out and browsing through the menus with practice ease before selecting something and hitting the ‘withdraw’ button.
As the Pokéball appeared, Red quickly picked it up and tossed it in the air, bringing out a small dog-like Pokémon. It had a cream-colored underside, tail, and puff of hair on top of its head, but was mainly orange in color with arrow markings along its leg and back. It glanced around, then to Red, greeting its trainer with a pleased whimper.
Red bent down to pat his Growlithe before pulling off his cap and showing it to his Pokémon. Smelling the cap, Growlithe stuck his nose in the air and began sniffing furiously before howling loudly as it captured the scent. Red and Pikachu hopped onto Rapidash, and before the two mares could ask another question, the trainer and his two Pokémon chased the Growlithe who would lead them to the bag.
“Ooh! Girls, look at this one!” Scootaloo squealed as she placed a disc in her mouth.
She jerked stiff for a moment as strange images and figures ran across her eyes before she relaxed and looked to her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Scootaloo opened her mouth wide and released a massive flame, gaining oohs and aahs from her two friends. Applebloom was next, picking the next disc from the pile and placing it in her mouth.
“RRROOOOOOARRRR-hihihi” she rumbled before breaking out into giggles.
They had found this strange bag lying in the street. It was filled with magical goodies and they couldn’t resist trying a few.
They had tried the berries, but discovered that they were gross before Scoot had found a pocket with shiny discs in them.
They wouldn’t fit in any of their disc players, so Scoot tried biting one, wondering if it was edible.
Once they were bored of the discs, they moved onto the next compartment. Inside, they hit the motherload, finding over 99 small blue candies somehow crammed into the main pocket. They each took one and unwrapped them quickly, opening their mouths to eat them…
…before a monster burst into the tree house.
“AAAAHHHH” The three girls dropped their candy and fled through the back entrance. Red walked over and began picking up his items, tossing the two opened rare candies to Rapidash who ate them happily. Seeing his supplies a lot worse for wear, Red put his backpack on his back and jumped down the hole that the three fillies had escaped through, finding them cowering down in fear.
They opened their mouths to scream, but saw Twilight and Lyra running towards them and decided that running for their lives was the better option. Diving behind the adults, they began babbling about a monster as Red walked out from under the house.
Twilight rolled her eyes, “That’s not monster, he’s a human named Red”
The three fillies stopped shaking in fright and tilted their heads in confusion. Cautiously peeking out, they noticed that the ‘monster’ was walking casually toward them, not seeming interested in the three fillies at all.
Twilight smiled, “I see you found your bag, Red. Did they cause any lasting damage?”
The three young girls shrank under the monster’s gaze as he loomed over them. He turned to Twilight and shook his head.
Twilight sighed, then turned her cross gaze to the three fillies, “You three are in a lot of trouble. What were you thinking, just going into somepony’s bag and looking through their stuff?”
The three fillies glanced to the floor with their faces drooped, “We’re sorry”
Twilight glanced to Red with a questioning gaze. Red shook his head once, causing Twilight to smile before turning back to the three fillies, her face cross once more.
“I’ll talk to your sisters to make sure they are fine with it, but your punishment will be extremely severe” Twilight warned as the three fillies looked to each other, bracing for impact.
Twilight smiled, “You’ll be giving Miss Cheerilee an extra credit project on why Red isn’t a monster”
The three groaned at first, but quickly realized that they would be getting out with no massive repercussions.
“Sure we’ll be”-Twilight prepared her ears-“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: MONSTER HUNTERS!”
They paused and frowned, “Wait, that doesn’t sound right…”
Twilight rolled her eyes as the fillies skipped back to their clubhouse. Red petted Growlithe and returned it to its ball, placing it on his belt. With that done, they all headed back toward Lyra’s house.
As they walked, Red turned his gaze to meet every pony they passed who glanced at him. Most ran away at the sight of him, but some returned his gaze with a glare of their own, showing him that they were not afraid to protect their town. After some time, Red stopped meeting their gazes and looked forward.
It was then that something pink tackled him.
It’s super effective!
He fell to the road with a neutral look on his face. He soon realized the source of the tackling was a pink ‘earth pony’ whom Red recognized as one of the necklace ponies from the day he had seen the legendary white one.
She smiled brightly, “Hi Twilight! Hi Lyra! Is this your human!? Oh! Oh! Can I throw him a biiig welcoming party!?”
The pink one hopped off Red’s chest. Red tried to stand up, but was quickly faced with the pink one gazing at him yet again.
“Pinkie Pie, I don’t think-“Twilight was easily drowned out as Red’s ears filled with the sound of the pony named Pinkie.
“It’ll be short notice, but I can do it! Bring him to my house in an hour, please!” Pinkie chirped as she once more got off Red.
He tried to stand up and was once again held down by the party pony, “Actually, I have a much much much MUCH better idea! I bet you don’t even know what a party is, so I’ll set the party up around you! That way, you can see all the things that make a party extra FUN”
Pinkie bounced off his chest once more, conjuring a cannon and blowing colored confetti over Red. Red tried to stand up again only to be held down against his will once more.
The party pony pulled out two invitations from one of her nonexistent pockets, “Twilight, Lyra, you’re both invited to the WELCOME HUMAN THINGIE TO EQUESTRIA party. We’ll see you in an hour!”
Suddenly, Red’s hand was grasped by a pink hoof, and he was being dragged across the ground. Lyra tried to hold back the laughter as Red merely blinked in indifference.
Twilight held her head in her foreleg, “I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well”
She blinked, then noticed that Red’s Pokémon had been left behind.
“I don’t think Red’s Pokémon can defeat Pinkie, so they must’ve decided not to interfere,” Lyra managed before she fell to the ground with laughter.
Twilight rolled her eyes, then gazed after Red.
Pinkie Pie used confusion against ally Red It’s not very effective. Red used “…” It’s not very effective Lyra used LOL Lyra has fainted
The three fillies crowded around the single candy that Red missed while cleaning up, “So, who should have it, Girls?”
Glancing between one other, it was decided almost telepathically.
“Scoot” Sweetie Belle chirped.
“Scoot” Applebloom grinned.
“Apple- Wait, what?” Scoot spoke before the candy was shoved in her mouth by her friends.
Her eyes widened as she felt the effect, “Woooooooaaah”
Bouncing around the room, Pinkie talked joyfully about what she would be using to decorate, “So I see you really like the color red! Ooh! Maybe we should make it a whole theme! Yeah, I can just imagine it-”
Red was sitting on a seat at a table off to the side while she began setting up pink and red streamers. Once she was done with that, she dashed behind the counter of the candy-colored store, pulling out some fresh cupcakes from the stove.
She put them on the cooling rack and took a deep whiff, all the while letting the handsome aroma spread around the room.
She glanced at Red, but frowned at his facial expression. Why wasn’t he smiling? It wasn’t the first time that she had noticed; he had only shown mild interest in the cake she was frosting earlier with blue and red artsy frosting.
Pinkie had forced the Cakes on paid leave for their first vacation in several years and was left to run the store while they were gone. She didn’t mind running the store; it was nice to talk to customers and she enjoyed making ponies happy by selling them sweets. The one thing that she DIDN’T like was meeting ponies who looked as if they had never cracked a smile in their entire life. Red would give Pinkie a polite nod whenever she cracked a joke or asked him a question, but wouldn’t say anything or even show emotion at all.
Chopping up some light snacks for the more weight-minded guests, she gazed around the brightly-colored room,
“Something’s missing…something important…”
Indeed, something WAS missing. She went through a mental checklist of what she needed for the perfect party.
Decorations? Check. Sweets? Check. Red’s smile? Pending. Music? On its way.
She scratched her head in confusion until the something popped into her head like an explosion of color. Red’s friend! The other human! She couldn’t very well have a human thingy party without him, could she?
Putting some batter in the oven, she bounced over to Red, dragged him into the kitchen, and pointed at the oven, “Take, them out when they’re ready, please! I’ll be right back~”
And with that, Pinkie bounced out of the house, leaving a human who had never touched a stove before in his life in the kitchen. Red gazed at the muffins as they began to rise. They slowly browned and, after a few moments, he grabbed the oven mit, pulled them out, and placed them on the bench.
“…”
He gently stuck one with a knife, causing it to collapse in on itself. Red put them back in the oven and continued waiting. After a while longer, he tried again, only to achieve the same result. Putting them back in, he glanced to the door, then back to the muffins.
Browner…browner…browner…almost black…on fire.
Red took them out quickly and dumped the flaming contents in the sink. He took a minute or two to work out how to turn on the sink, then figured it out and dowsed the flames as best he could. He gazed at the black rocks that had once been muffins before turning off the water after he had made completely sure that they were no longer on fire. After a moment or two, he grabbed the knife and poked a muffin again, causing it to collapse in on itself.
His eye twitched and he glared at the muffins with ever-growing hate.
Pinkie bounced back into the store cheerfully, “I’m baaack~”
She had expected to see a smiling face, but was instead greeted by the smell of burnt cupcakes and burning gas. She scrambled over to the stove and weaved in front of Red to turn the oven off.
Shooting Red a nasty look, she pulled him down to her eye level, “What, you can’t cook either?”
Red shook his head and received a glare from the pink earth pony. Sighing, she separated the black mess from the pan.
After cleaning it off, she filled it with batter once again and stuck it back in the oven, forcing Red to bow down so that he could see inside.
“When the cupcakes are…a color like…that,” she took them out, “THAT’S when you use the knife”
She gently touched one of them with her hoof, causing it to press down slightly, then spring back up in response.
She put them with the other cupcakes to cool, then pointed to Red, “See? Now YOU try”
Red blinked, then glanced to door as someone walked in. It was, of course, Blue, who looked like something (Which shall remain anonymous and pink) had dragged him across the ground for at least a few miles.
“Hey, Red, were you abducted by the pink one too? What does she want?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Pinkie jumped up, still glaring at Red, before turning to Blue and smiling, “You’ve been invited to the ‘WELCOME HUMAN THINGIES’ PARTY! Take a seat! The festivities will start soon!”
Blue frowned, but obeyed the pink pony without objection.
With that, Pinkie returned to glaring at Red, “Now. You. Red”
Red glanced at the batter, then at the oven. He walked out of the room and sat next to Blue in silent defiance. Pinkie stood absolutely still for a moment, before turning and gazing at the two with one eye twitching.
Blue glanced between the two and raised an eyebrow at Red, “Yo, what’s got her hair in knots?”
After a moment or two of tension, Blue sighed and made his way to the door, “I’ll be heading out, then, smell ya-”
His voice cut off and his eyes widened when he saw the pink pony in front of him, who coincidentally hadn’t dropped the knife that she had been working with. He noticed a thinly-veiled coat of insanity behind her light blue eyes.
Her eye twitched, “I told you to sit down and wait for the festivities”
Blue turned around and quickly sat back at his spot next to Red. He glanced at Red and slowly reached for a Pokéball, only to be greeted by a knife in between his hand and his belt that told him he wouldn’t be summoning any Pokémon any time soon.
The party pony returned to her usual cheery business, “Well it’s okay if ya don’t wanna cook, Red, I’ll do all the cooking and you just enjoy the party, mmk?”
Red gave a single nod and watched as she set out food on plates and blew up balloons. She finished after a little while with five minutes to spare. Admiring her work, she noticed Blue watching her nervously and Red STILL not showing an ounce of emotion. Her ear twitched a little, but she ignored it and went to open the door to let in party guests. Twilight was the first one there, as usual, followed by Lyra. They immediately saw Red and Blue sitting in one corner of the room and decided to walk over to them.
Lyra noticed Blue’s slightly wary gaze and turned to the host, “Pinkie, what did you do to him?”
Her eyes were trained on Red, and her gaze was narrowed as if she was trying to catch something that she could only just see.
Pinkie tilted her head and giggled, “What do you mean? I tried to show Red how to cook and I told Blue to wait there until the party started. Red didn’t really like cooking, so I decided to finish it off so that we can all enjoy the party!”
Lyra peered at Pinkie, as if debating something, before relaxing with a smile. Twilight glanced between the two a few times, then shrugged.
Twilight turned to Red, “Well, your Pokémon came. They’re outside, Red”
She had expected him to jump up instantly, but noticed that all he did was slowly stand up and open the door. Pikachu was the only Pokémon to come in, who immediately glared at Blue before jumping on Red’s shoulder. Blue rolled his eyes and waited for the ‘party’ to be over so that he could leave.
Various party-goers began to roll in, two ponies, one playing the cello and one on a DJ booth, began to thrum the building with music. Lyra was on the dance floor, dancing to the unique combination of culture and beat that made the two musicians known for their skills. Twilight was talking with her friends at a table, laughing and joking with Pinkie in the center of it all. In the food section, Blue was trying and succeeding in drinking one of the ponies under the table.
He laughed with alcohol-burdened breath, “This is nothing! I’ve drunk worse spirits at the *hic* grand arenas I was invited to so I could *hic* beat up those losers”
A purple mare with grapes on her flank growled and drunk another cup, slamming it onto the table loudly, “Oh yeah!? Well Iva-Iva, *hic* I’ve *hic* evenz drunkenz celeztia underz the table!”
Blue snorted, not caring who this Celestia was, meeting Berry Punch drink for drink. While he waited for her to drink her next cup, he pointed to himself proudly.
Blue smirked, “My grand*hic*father-gramps invented a device to help make Pokémon more likely to trust trainers when first being *hic*captured! I had to *hic* go to all his congratulatory dinners and *hic* once got drunk when I was a kid”
Lyra stopped dancing, having heard this over the symphony of sound, and made her way to Blue.
Berry gulped down her drink, making half way through her glass before passing out. Blue held up his hands in victory, before noticing the mint mare trotting over to him.
Lyra fluttered her eyes, bringing Blue under her control immediately, “Wow you must be a strong trainer to be the grandson of the guy who made that device, maybe even the best”
She paused, waiting to see if her words had the desired effect. Red couldn’t hear them over the noise, and was watching the musicians with mild interest.
“I am to be sure! Well if I tell the *hic* truth Red’s beaten me once or twice. But just you wait; one day I’ll defeat him and regain my title!” Blue rambled as he raised his arm in victory, gaining Red’s attention.
Lyra didn’t notice him stand up and make his way through the crowd.
“So tell me, Blue, what exactly does this machine do to the Pokémon captured inside those balls?” Lyra asked with another flutter of her eyes, faking wonder and admiration.
It was almost too easy; Blue was so drunk that he would have believed a princess controlled the movements of the moon.
“It’s real simple real *hic* When first used the Pokéballs release some kind of *hic* toxin that makes the Pokémon trust the trainer inexcusably for at least week or two. Heard some talks about Pokémon becoming disobedient after that. Never had problem *hic* myself; the compound is made based off this move called Attract”
Lyra blinked, “Toxin? So what effect does it normally come off as?”
Lyra saw Blue down another cup and sway, “Heard they tested it on humans. Apparently some of the paired groups are still married today, still suffering from the after effects of what they called ‘love potion A’ *hic*”
Lyra’s eyes widened and she stepped back in shock, “A LOVE POTION!?”
The musicians stopped mid-song, the dancers turned to face them, and all ponies turned toward Lyra, “Love potion, that’s why I- No that can’t be why would he- Unless he-”
Taking a step back her hoof touched the body of somepony behind her. She turned around to apologize but, to her horror, was instead greeted by Red gazing at Blue.
“What’s wrong, *hic* Red, afraid to let your pony friend find out that you’ve been secretly making her fall head over heels with ya you sly *hic* bastard?” Blue laughed.
Lyra’s eyes widened, her gaze falling onto Red’s, “Is this true, Red?”
Red didn’t look at her at first, but his gaze trailed down to her after a moment, and something unexpected happened. Red’s face broke out into blazing fury, and he punched Blue with all the strength of his Pokémon, smashing the table to pieces.
The ponies in the room were slow to react as silence echoed for a second before all the ponies bar Lyra, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the other two Red had yet to meet were left behind as a wall of screaming ponies exited the house.
He walked over the broken table, grabbing Blue by the scruff and dragging him outside into the street where he could call out his Pokémon. Twilight walked over to Lyra, bending down so she could see Lyra’s eyes.
“Lyra?” she spoke as the mare blinked once, not responding.
Twilight gently went to put a hoof on her friend who flinched, coming out of her semi-comatose state. She turned her eyes to Twilight, and her face scrunched up in tears. Twilight jumped as Lyra leapt into her arms and began sobbing openly. It wasn’t until the sound of something outside that Lyra raised her head and separated from Twilight.
“Lyra, we have to stop Red” Twilight said as Lyra turned to face her.
She wiped her face before putting on the mask that Red wore so well. The group ran outside, narrowly avoiding a chunk of flying debris.
Blue threw out Pokémon after Pokémon, but Red would mercilessly defeat them, switching Pokémon so fast Blue was having trouble even keeping himself from getting caught in the powerful blasts of energy. Finally, his final Pokémon was down. He returned it and gazed at Red. Red left his Blastoise on the field, grabbing Blue by the Scruff and dragging him in front of his Pokémon. Once he held out three fingers, however, Blastoise hesitated and glanced to his trainer. Red met Blastoise’s gaze, and the Pokémon reluctantly nodded.
“No, Red! Please stop! L-Look, I’m sorry! I’m drunk and I wasn’t thinking!” Blue begged as Blastoise picked him up and held him out in front of him, opening his mouth and preparing to fire a Hydro Pump.
Once again, the Pokémon hesitated, gazing at Red and waiting for the signal.
Blue flailed about in the Pokémon’s strong arms, “Red, please! That will KILL ME. Don’t you understand!? You’re going to kill me over a stupid mistake! I’m sorry!”
Red’s eyes showed no mercy. Blue closed his eyes and turned away.
“Wait!” a voice shouted. All three then turned to look at the mint pony, who had her eyes only on Red.
With one simple movement, she shook her head. Blastoise returned his gaze to Red, who stood stock still for a moment before blinking and returning his gaze to his Pokémon and shaking his head. Blastoise put Blue down, and everypony breathed a sigh of relief.
“Red, I-” Blue stopped mid-sentence as Red gazed to him.
He didn’t stop looking even as he returned Blastoise to the ball. It wasn’t until Red turned, leapt onto his Rapidash, and vanished into the distance that Blue was allowed to blink. Lyra watched him go, then walked over to Blue and helped him to his feet.
Blue thanked her quietly, then turned and walked in the opposite direction of Red, heading for the forest where he could heal his Pokémon and recover his shattered pride. He hiccupped once on the way there.
Twilight swallowed hard, “Lyra, would Red really have-”
Lyra turned to gaze at Twilight, her face serious, “No, but he wouldn’t have let Blue off that easy if I hadn’t said something”
Without another word, Lyra turned and headed after Red.
Red sat on the couch, eyes closed with darkness all around him. He was vacant of any outward emotion, even as he opened his eyes and glanced to where Lyra’s Pokéball sat. Walking into the kitchen, he began searching, and soon found what he was looking for. In a drawer were some handyman repair tools for fix-it-yourself jobs, and off to one side was a hammer.
Taking the hammer, Red walked over to the Pokéball.
“…”
Gazing at it intently, he held off for a few moments, hesitating. Finally, he lifted his hand, preparing to swing. A sound of something tapping on the floor behind him stopped him, however.
“Don’t do it, Red. It was my fault for getting caught in it in the first place” Lyra said as she approached his still form and leaned against his solid, strong legs.
“I don’t mind, Red, honestly. It’s just nice to know that it wasn’t my imagination” She admitted.
This time, Lyra was the one who surprised herself. Standing up on her back hooves, she waved her front legs rapidly as she gained balance, then leaned forward and wrapped them around Red. She closed her eyes, feeling him stiffen, and then relax. The hammer dropped to the floor, and Red stood there, only his arm having moved. Leaning back, she swiveled and landed back on all hooves again and turned to Red.
“Red, I’ve got a question” She asked seriously.
Red was slow to move, but eventually gazed at her, vacant of any emotion to all but the trained eye.
She took in a deep breath, then continued, “Teach me to be your Pokémon”
Red stared at Lyra who waited for him to answer. Lyra had asked a question, but had ended with a demand. Red blinked in response as Lyra glanced toward the door, feeling slightly awkward now that she had said it outloud.
Lyra felt stupid and cursed herself for not reading the mood better, “I’m sorry…you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, of course”
She noticed that Red was thinking deeply about something. When they had first met, Lyra wouldn’t have seen the tiny signs that separated the look he had on now from what was ‘normal,’ but after a while she had picked up a thing or two about him.
Red’s mouth opened for a moment, then closed for no apparent reason shortly after. Before Lyra had time to ponder that, Red nodded in acceptance of her question.
She smiled briefly, then mimicked Red’s Pokémon in seriousness, “Alright, uh, where do we start?”
Red pulled his backpack off and brought out his notebook, flipping to a blank page. It took Lyra a few moments before she realized that Red wanted her to fill it out, but, truth be told, she didn’t really know how.
After a few moments of silence, she finally asked, “Uh…what do you what me to do?”
Without a response, Red headed for the door with notebook in hand. Lyra, unsure of where she would be going, followed him regardless. Lyra had expected him to take Rapidash, but he instead left her and her daughter to sleep and walked out onto the street. Ponies looked to him nervously, as he did have a history of violence. The crowds began to thin, however, and Lyra eventually realized that they were heading out of town
Red didn’t stop walking even when the town vanished around a curve and they had passed a small hill with rocks. It wasn’t until they made their way to a large field with plenty of room near the outskirts of Everfree forest that he had finally stopped.
Lyra nearly ran into him, but, as she turned to walk around and stand level with him, her eyes narrowed, “Is that Blue?”
Lyra glanced to Red nervously, concerned about his intentions with the other human. She couldn’t read his gaze, this time, so she was in the right to be worried.
As they walked over, Lyra noticed that Blue was slotting a Pokéball onto his belt. When he looked up and saw the two, his face fell for a moment before returning to normal.
He raised an eyebrow, “I wasn’t expecting you to come all the way out here, Red. Something you need?”
Lyra could sense that something was off about Blue. He wasn’t cracking any jokes or snide comments about how he was better than Red.
Red responded to Blue by pulling out a notepad and facing the blank page to Blue, whose eyes widened slightly in realization. Lyra tilted her head in confusion at the exchange, but didn’t interrupt.
Blue trained his eyes on Red seriously, “Are you absolutely sure you want me to do this?”
Red nodded in reply without hesitation. They shared a long look, before Blue began closing the distance between the two and they were eye to eye with one another. Lyra could feel that something was passing through the air as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Slowly, a cocky smile began to form on Blue’s face as he threw a hand over Red’s shoulder and pointed to the open field.
He started to walk away, pulling out a Pokéball and pointing it to Red once he was a good distance away, “No matter what you say, Red, you can never defeat me! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!”
Blue quickly ran his free hand around his belt to make sure all his Pokémon were present, “I’ll use six, how many will you use?”
Lyra’s stomach did a backflip as she saw Red point to her after holding up a single finger.
She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to ask him if he was serious, but then remembered what she had demanded of him earlier, “Ok, Red…I’ll give it a try…”
The pony-turned-Pokémon took a few shaky steps to stand in front of him, glancing back worriedly. Once she locked eyes with him, however, her worries ebbed away. Red was confident in her; so confident that he pledged to defeat Blue with just her. He believed in her so much that she felt like she could tackle anything. Take on a hydra? She’d rip it to bits with Red guiding her.
Her face was filled to the brim with confidence as she turned back to her opponent. The smile she had on her face, however, quickly vanished when Blue released his first Pokémon.
“Go, Poliwrath!” Blue yelled out as the massive creature jumped out.
It was blue in appearance, being coin-shaped with two beefy arms and black swirl on its chest.
“Use water gun!” Blue commanded his Pokémon before it started charging toward Lyra.
After considering the various attack methods and possible ‘moves’ that she had, she decided it would be best to run away.
Her heart sank and she skidded to a halt when she ran right towards the Everfree forest.
She wasn’t a fighter, so she didn’t really know what to do, “Please don’t hurt me, Pokémon thing!”
She raised her hooves in front of her face and braced for impact, but noticed after a while that no attack came. Poliwrath was standing in front of her, looking as if it was contemplating its next move carefully.
Lyra used Attract Harmony activated Poliwrath is now confused
Lyra slowly stood up in confusion. Where was all the water?
Poliwrath is confused Poliwrath used water gun
Before she could react, she was slammed into a tree with a strong blast of water. Her hair flew back by force, but by some miracle she was still standing. Dripping wet and freezing, she growled in anger.
Lyra used growl Poliwrath’s attack fell
Lyra’s horn flared up in anger as she used her magic to lift up the Pokémon. She struggled under its weight, but managed to get it in the air before dropping it onto the ground.
Lyra used telekinesis Harmony activated Poliwrath is now paralyzed
Poliwrath fell, slightly winded and shook off the confusion it was previously in. It waited for Blue to give it orders, flinching now and then at something wrong with its system.
Blue frowned, “Poliwrath, return! A psychic type, eh? Hmmm…this should do it. Go, Dragonite!”
Lyra’s eyes widened as she shook in her hooves at the sight of a massive dragon creature. She had no other way to describe the orange thing. It was a dragon that was coming to attack her, and she was doomed.
Blue grabbed a disc from his pocket and gave it to his Dragonite to eat, “Here, this should do it. Dragonite, use twister!”
Lyra cried out in fright and pain as she was sucked into a massive tornado. Rocks flew all around her, beating her from all sides and causing bruises everywhere. She fell to the ground and looked to Red. Standing up, she realized that she didn’t feel quite as bad as she thought that she would. It had hurt, but it was more the fact that the entire situation was completely INSANE that made it worse.
Dragonite used Twister It’s normally effective
Blue returned his Dragonite and took out a third Pokéball, “Alright, this should be the last one”
Lyra stumbled over a bit, before finally managing to cast her shaky gaze on Red, and-
“Jynx, use confusion” she heard before she was slapped by an unknown telekinetic force collapsing on the ground once again. Pulling herself up, the world around her swam and swirled.
Jynx used confusion It’s not very effective Lyra is confused
Lyra couldn’t take much more punishment. Red was trusting her to fight and win, but she was getting her flank handed to her. Tears began to streak down her face as she tried to fight the swirling world around her. A voice sounded, but she couldn’t hear what it said. Suddenly, she stopped swaying and smiled. She knew what to do
Lyra is confused Lyra used Sing
Opening her mouth, she began to sing the tune she would play on her Lyre if she hadn’t left it at home. It was a sad and peaceful tune that reached the Pokémon’s heart.
Harmony activated Jynx is now confused Jynx is confused Jynx used Powder snow
She snapped out of her daze and started to shiver. It was colder than normal. It got colder, and colder, and colder until Lyra couldn’t feel her horn. Lyra felt the moment become too much, and was grateful when was finally greeted by the black void of unconsciousness.
It’s super effective Lyra fainted
Blue sighed and rubbed his head, calling back his Pokémon, “The creatures here aren’t exactly Pokémon, you know, and it’s obvious why”
Red closed his notebook and walked over to Lyra. With practiced ease, he pulled out a revive and a full restore and used them in quick succession. Lyra was back in pristine condition, soon enough, but wasn’t fully awake yet.
Blue walked over to look at Red’s drawing of her in his notebook, “Nice job; you really captured her expression of confidence. Makes her look like a real Pokémon”
He smirked and glanced to Red, who gave no outward reaction. Lyra stirred, but was still sleeping.
“You’re not going to tell her, are you?” Blue sighed and spoke a few curse words under his breath at Red's shake of the head.
He rolled his eyes, “Alright, but it’s your train wreck”
The two lapsed into silence, waiting for Lyra to wake up. Blue seemed content to just stand there; not berating Red about how much more awesome he was like he did when others were around.
He broke the awkward silence that always followed Red, “If it makes any consolation, I would have done the same thing if I was you and you were me. The difference is that I wouldn’t have held back”
Blue looked into the gently swaying forest, “You think too much, Red. Just DO for a change. You know, like when you went to the top of that mountain for no reason and stood at the top for the sake of it”
He paused cautiously as the pony started to wake up, then decided that it was time to wrap things up, “I know, I know, the world doesn’t need two Blues. Even I can imagine how bad that would be. Just…try to smile on the outside a little more, like the old Red”
Lyra’s eyes flicked open and she groan. She wasn’t sure why she felt completely fine considering that she was just blasted by water, sucked into a tornado, and frozen.
“Tch! I’m not sticking around any longer than I have to with you losers. Smell ya later, Red” Blue said as he called out his Pidgeot and flew away without another word.
Red helped Lyra up, who yawned slightly and stretched her muscles.
She watched him fly off in silent annoyance, “Once a jerk always a jerk I guess. Now tell me; why did I have to go through that?”
Red held up his notebook, and showed that the blank page had been replaced by a drawn picture of her and some notes he had made. Lyra wanted to complain about how Red put her through that, but at the same time she felt that she finally knew what being a Pokémon meant. Still, she was starting to dread the results of her demand, and what it entitled her to be put through.
She was both amazed and confused at the little numbers he had written down alongside his notes. Everything had been done in pencil so that it could be easily edited.
Lyra frowned, “But what’s this third move, solar beam?”
Red held out a disc, indicating that she should eat it. Lyra grimaced, but swallowed the disc whole and waited for the effects as she recovered from the taste. Out of nowhere, she realized exactly what solar beam was and how to use it. She took a deep breath, amazed at the information stored and given to Pokémon via those strange disc things. Turning back to gaze at the page, she took in her picture.
“Is that me? I look so…confident” Lyra gaped as she stared at the picture.
Lyra couldn’t believe that she would ever look that confident, but realized that it wasn’t what she thought she looked like, but rather what Red thought she looked like. She blushed, impressed that Red thought so highly of her, but quickly got over it.
It was then that the revelation hit her like a ton of bricks, “Wait, am I officially your Pokémon now?”
Rainbow Dash snoozed quietly on a cloud over Ponyville. She was going to get up in a few hours to practice some moves, but for the time being her only objective was to sleep.
Her eye twitched when she heard Scootaloo, “Look, Rainbow Dash, I’m flying!”
She liked Scootaloo quite a bit, but found that she didn’t understand personal space.
Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively in the direction of the sound, “Yeah yeah, nice work, Kid”
As the silence thickened, Rainbow slowly drifted back off into sleep, until…
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, letting out a yawn as she scanned the ground for a little orange spot. Rainbow scratched her head when she noticed that the filly wasn’t there.
“I could’ve sworn I heard her…” Rainbow whispered before she noticed somepony hovering behind her.
She spun around and gasped in shock at what she saw. The mare’s bright orange coat shined in the sunlight, and her dazzling hair seemed to radiate light, forcing Rainbow to squint. Her hair had grown, resembling Rainbow’s more than her old self’s, and her tail seemed luminous and slightly hypnotic in its beauty. What struck Rainbow the most, however, was that Scootaloo looked about twice as old as she had been before, and that her wings were fully grown and developed. Despite all these changes, however, the filly still had a blank flank, oddly enough.
“What do you think Rainbow Dash!? Now we can fly together like proper sisters. Isn’t this great!?” the mare asked Rainbow hopefully.
Rainbow finally blinked after what seemed like an eternity, “Uh, you look great, Kid, but how’d you grow up so fast?” Scootaloo flinched slightly when she heard ‘kid,’ but she decided to touch on that later.
She motioned to the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse with a smile, “Red’s candy! He took away the other two, but he didn’t see the last one!”
Rainbow fought back a shudder at the kind of candy that could do that much to a filly, “Uh, that’s great and all, Kid, but-”
Scootaloo cut her off quickly, “Don’t call me kid anymore. I’m a grown mare now”
The two locked eyes, showing Rainbow what was making her so uneasy. Her purple eyes normally held the depth of her childish innocence, but now held a stern look of power and confidence. Now that the little filly mastered flight, she wanted more. Much, much more. She wanted power over all else, and she seemed like she would do anything to achieve it.
Rainbow sighed and rubbed her temples, worried for her little sister’s mental state, “Look, Scootaloo, it’s great that you can fly and all, but I don’t think you can-”
Scootaloo interrupted again, “Don’t worry, Dash, I can handle myself just fine. I am a grown mare now, after all”
Before Rainbow could speak again, Scootaloo continued, “Besides, if one of those candies did this to me, imagine what two or three or ten could do to me! I could become faster than you, even during one of your Sonic Rainbooms!”
Rainbow nervously took to the sky without a word, approaching her sister slowly and cautiously.
Scootaloo backed up furiously in response, “What, you want to stop me from becoming the best I can be!?”
“Nothing like that, Scoot,” Rainbow said as she reached a hoof out to try to reconnect herself with Scootaloo, “I just think that the easy way might not be the right way”
Despite this, she watched in terror as the bond the two had molded for so long snapped in front of her.
Rainbow could only watch numbly as the filly she once knew knocked her hoof away angrily, “My name is Scootaloo. I’ve tried and tried and tried some more to fly, but it just didn’t happen! I’m through doing things the right way and getting no results!”
Scootaloo glared at Rainbow with hatred, “I guess big sisters have never liked being eclipsed by their little sisters. Maybe that’s why Luna was banished. I don’t wanna see your stupid face in front of me ever again! We’re done here, ‘Sister’”
Rainbow made a grab for her, but it was too late; she had already sped off into the clouds and vanished without a trace.
Red and Lyra walked down the street, noticing a strangled air around the town. Right before Lyra was about to comment on it, however, both Twilight and Rainbow made a beeline toward them, signifying that there was a problem.
“Red, watch out!” Twilight yelled as Rainbow made and move to grab Red by the collar.
He made no attempt to resist the mare, who hovered in the air in front of his face so as to be eye level.
“What did you do to Scootaloo!?” Rainbow yelled as she shook him back and forth angrily.
Lyra tilted her head, “Uh, I think you’re going to have to be a little more specific, Rainbow”
Rainbow glanced to Lyra before returning her gaze to Red’s, “YOU gave Scootaloo some kind of candy that made her grow! Now she’s completely off her rocker!”
Red blinked, then looked to Lyra with a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
Lyra cleared her throat, “I think he says either ‘oh crap’ or ‘this is not good,’ take your pick”
She seemed proud of her translation skills, but quickly frowned as what she said seeped in.
Twilight opened her eyes in disbelief, “Oh crap…”
Rainbow released Red, who quickly swung his backpack around and hastily counted all of his rare candies. His eyes narrowed and he swallowed hard, which the three took as confirmation of Lyra’s translation from earlier.
After a moment of silence, Rainbow spoke up, “Alright, then, have a problem on our hooves. How do we reverse it?”
Red turned to her and shook his head silently, confusing her. Lyra and Twilight threw each other worried glances as Red put his backpack on again.
“There’s…there’s no way to reverse it?” Twilight whispered her question, afraid of the answer.
Red nodded as he avoided eye contact.
“No way to reverse it!? How could you bring anything here that would do…THAT without knowing how to reverse it!?” Rainbow screamed at him.
Before he could be scolded more, his body stiffened, and he clamped his grip on his bag as an unseen force swooped in and attempted to wrench his bag from his grasp.
“Scootaloo! What are you doing!?” Rainbow screamed as she watched in horror at the orange blur that was Scootaloo was forced to a sudden halt.
Red’s grip was strong, and his stance immediately took one that would give the most resistance. Even so, he was being dragged by his feet by the mare who was pulling with all her might to take his bag. The backpack, tired of being pulled and not used to that amount of abuse, made a unanimous decision. The handle that Red desperately held onto was ripped clean off.
The three ponies had already dived for Scootaloo, but were too slow as the bag and the pegasus rocketed down the street before crashing into a house. Red was the first to recover, glancing at the tatters of fabric in his hand and giving a whistle. He quickly helped Lyra up, and Twilight and Rainbow were already making dashes for the bag.
Rainbow was easily the fastest, being halfway there in the first second, but Scootaloo was faster, grabbing all of the blue candies in the bag and stuffing them into her mouth, wrappers and all.
Rainbow tackled Scootaloo to the ground and squeezed her cheeks in an attempt to push some of the candies out, “Spit those out right now or else!”
Scootaloo glared at her defiantly and kicked her off as several half-dissolved candies were pushed out of her mouth. Twilight and Lyra held her down and squeezed her cheeks as well with their magic, releasing even more of the candies.
“No!” came Rainbow’s strangled cry as she saw in horror that they hadn’t gotten nearly enough of them out.
The mare began to swallow them, but Red tickled her throat and caused her to cough out the remaining candies that she had yet to swallow into Red’s face, who ignored it. Suddenly, Scootaloo kicked all of them off with unseen strength, and got back onto all fours.
They all took a step back from the mare-turned-monster with awe. The candies that she had gotten down her throat started to take effect immediately, and Scootaloo began to shine more than before. Lyra looked to Red and became sick with worry.
They were blinded momentarily from a bright flash of light, then immediately looked around for any signs of Scootaloo. Far above, a bird too high up to pick out any features soared on the wind. A shrill cry toward the front of the group sparked their attention, and they all looked forwards at the form in front of them. Its shrill sound began to grow in volume, before light erupted once more and the creature approached.
She was covered in solid gold armor from her hooves to her head that seemed to shimmer with an ethereal light. The front of her wings held a layer where the bone and joint were protected from harm, and her powerful muscles bulged under the orange fire that was her body. Her mane, a billowing blaze of hair, blew and twisted erratically in a nonexistent breeze.
She looked ready for battle, and her eyes spoke of her displeasure with the group in front of her. Rainbow, Twilight, and Lyra were struck speechless at the young filly who now dwarfed them in size and was closer to the height of one of the princesses at that point. The three mares looked on, completely awestruck, while Red merely gazed at the sight with mild interest.
“Scootaloo?” Rainbow managed to say, her voice barely a whisper.
Rainbow flinched at the power and authority in the monster’s eyes as it looked to her, “Scootalord is what you will call me”
The statement was spoken at room volume, yet it struck Rainbow visibly as she flinched, bowing her head under the threat so viable in the air. Rainbow would never admit it, but she was afraid of Scootaloo. Twilight took a step forward, drawing Scootaloo’s attention, who flared her wings in warning.
Twilight met the warning with her own, flaring her wings in response and standing firmly in defiance, “Scootaloo, stop this folly! You may have grown, but you are NOT a different pony, let alone a lord of this realm”
The ground shook beneath Scootaloo as she took a step forward. Twilight’s wings held her steady as she gazed evenly at Scootaloo, who approached Twilight without fear. She stopped half a wing’s length away from the alicorn and brought her wing around in front of her. Before Twilight had time to react, Scootaloo’s wing whipped forward at sonic speed, hitting Twilight with enough force to send her flying into a house.
“Twilight!” Rainbow yelled as she turned to run to her friend.
Scootaloo appeared in her way, wings flared in warning, “Bow to me”
It was not a question, but a demand. Rainbow fought her innate desire to do as Scootaloo said and forced her gaze into Scootaloo’s eyes defiantly.
“So be it” was all Scootaloo said in reply before she smacked Rainbow into the house as she did Twilight.
Lyra watched in horror as Scootaloo began walking toward her and started shaking in her hooves. She would come over and-
Scootaloo passed Lyra, not even giving her a glance as she stood in front of Red and looked down on him, “You have proven your usefulness, if not ineptitude, Human, so I shall give you one chance. Join me”
The two locked eyes, but Red’s betrayed no emotion. Lyra managed to shake herself out of her stupor, then turned her gaze to watch the battle of wills. Lyra couldn’t even hope to see all the pieces, but there was a big game of chess between their eyes. It wasn’t until Scootaloo pointed it out that she even noticed.
“Those monsters you carry cannot help you-” Scootaloo said as Red reached for his belt only to find that it wasn’t there, “-as they are no longer your property, Human”
Red’s gaze shifted to the belt that Scootaloo held in her hoof, as if it was something of worthless value. His eyes narrowed; the threat was clear.
Scootaloo’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, “I ask you one last time; will you join me?”
Red’s gaze went back and forth between his belt and Scootaloo. Lyra saw that he was going to take the deal if it meant that he could have his Pokémon back.
“…Red…” Lyra whispered in desperation.
Scootaloo trained her gaze forward, not looking at the mare that whispered to Red. Red’s eyes turned and their eyes met before he returned it to Scootaloo. He shook his head and the answer was clear.
Scootaloo’s eyes twitched in anger that he dared to defy her, and her wings flared as she leaped back, “Then maybe it would be best that I REDUCE YOU TO CINDERS!”
Lyra cried out in fright, trying to move to protect Red as the fire formed in Scootaloo’s mouth (How the filly had learned to do THAT, she didn’t know), but her legs were frozen in place. She realized that she lacked a certain key factor for being Red’s Pokémon. She couldn’t put her life on the line to protect her trainer, despite how much she cared for him.
Tears formed in her eyes as she glanced upward to grab one final look in his eyes. Despite his predicament, she still saw the same look of absolute confidence that he always wore. In fact, it almost looked like he was smirking…
The fire flew toward Red, but never met its target as a pony with a mane of fire leapt in front of him and absorbed the flames as if they were nothing.
Scootaloo used Flamethrower Rapidash intercepted! It’s not very effective
“W-what!?” Scootaloo stuttered, obviously shocked at the sight of the flaming pony that was almost the same size as her, if not a little smaller.
It took her a few moments to remember that it had been with Red the day that he had taken back his bag. How had he called her!? Lyra was quicker to figure it out. She smiled and remembered that Red had whistled earlier.
“You will pay for your transgressions” rumbled Scootaloo, flaring her wings and preparing to take flight.
Red’s gaze followed her as she took to the sky, his Pokémon still in her hoof. It was then, as she was above the houses, that the bird in the sky made its move. It paused, then began a steep dive. Closer and closer, it quickly made a beeline toward the rising pegasus, who didn’t notice the shape as it grew larger and larger in size. Red saw it and began shuffling Lyra out of the way. She didn’t understand why until a few moments later when the shape became clear and Scootaloo noticed it.
The Pidgeot glided past Scootaloo at breakneck speed, and was just close enough for its passenger to lean over and take the belt that Scootaloo held so casually in her hoof. The bird pulled up and came to land, sliding across the ground a few meters away as it slowed to a halt, crying out in victory.
Blue smirked at Red as he leapt off of Pidgeot, tossing the belt to Red as he walked over, “Yo Red, I think you lost something. Do I get a reward for bringing it back?”
Red caught it and put it on, taking out a Pokéball and gazing at Scootaloo, who cried out in anger, flames spurting from her mouth, “YOU WILL BOTH PAY!”
Scootaloo continued to climb, and Red immediately noticed that she was beginning to conform to a very specific attack.
“Daaamn, how’d she learn Sky Attack?” Blue commented as Scootaloo was cloaked in a harsh light, flying closer to the sun and slowly glowing brighter the farther away she went.
Blue glanced to Red and held out a single Pokéball, “After my catching spree, I’ve only got one spare one. The Pokémon- Er creatures around this area are all level 5. There wasn’t much use in training weaklings like that, so I let ‘em go. Didn’t get any of my balls back, though. What about you?”
Red dug around in his bag and held up two. They had three tries to catch her.
Blue nodded in response, “I’ve got better luck than you, so I’ll go first. You’re bringing out Charizard, right?”
Red nodded, pulling out a Pokéball and releasing the Pokémon inside. It was orange besides its stomach and had two horns protruding from its head. The end of its tail had a small fire burning on its tip. It roared a challenge, which was met by Scootaloo who continued to climb higher.
“Wait!” Lyra spoke up, “Let me come!”
Blue rolled his eyes and hopped onto his Pidgeot, “Pass. A grass type like you would only be burned up”
Lyra glanced to Red, who nodded in confirmation. She looked around rapidly, desperately trying to find something to talk him out of going.
“Why not take the blue one?” she offered as Blue rolled his eyes, accompanying a groan this time.
He frowned, “Blastoise can’t fly”
Lyra blinked and shifted her gaze downward. Red paused, then walked toward Charizard, leaping onto his back. Lyra gazed at him and gave a short wave of goodbye. He put two fingers to his hat and saluted, confusing her.
“But-” Lyra spoke before Blue interrupted her.
“Relax! You’re forgetting something important, Wannabe pokemon!” Blue chuckled as he and his Pidgeot shared a look.
Lyra raised her head and frowned at Blue, “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
Blue laughed as his Pidgeot flared its wings and got ready to follow Red’s Charizard into the sky, “Nothing can beat Red and Blue”
The sky was clear of all but a few clouds, bright and crackling with the energy about to be released by a Pegasus who had abused Rare Candy’s. This was not a battle she would could win under normal conditions, however she was fortunate enough to be needed. If not for the fact crashing into the ground from this height would probably seriously injure her, if not kill, she would already be defeated.. Red and Blue all quickly deduced this in a matter of seconds, and their eyes met, Blue doing the talking.
“Ok, so weak attacks only; we want to try and weaken it without killing it. We don’t have time to get someone with false swipe so I will say this once. Are you absolutely sure a fall would kill her?” Red didn’t bother nodding; Blue knew his answer just by looking at him. Blue brushed his hair back and groaned once.
“You owe me for this Red, one battle for old time’s sake. One day I will win, but for now let’s focus on our impatient guest.” Their eyes turned upward, their Pokémon rising in a gradual circle toward her. Scootaloo was crackling with energy, the attack was imminent.
“We’ll only have one shot at this; let’s hope luck is on our side.” With the casual chat finished, the two clutched tighter on their Pokémon. Charizard roared, Pidgeot screed, and they fell into perfect sync. The two Pokémon rose, Scootaloo finished charging, Red’s hand clenched tighter around his Pokémon, Blue’s eyes narrowed, and everything stilled. Two Pokémon waited on the ground, not having Pokéballs in this world yet. Three, Red reiterated; Lyra was one too.
“DIE YOU FURLESS FREAKS OF NATURE!” The entire sky rattled under Scootaloo’s cry, and she began to dive. The battle began.
Scootaloo dived for Red, but Red was expecting this and Charizard merely tilted to the left, the pony flying harmlessly by. Red and Blue now had the upper hand, and both began diving toward Scootaloo as she skidded to a halt. Her wings flared, and a single flap took her out of their reach, but they quickly curved upward and turned their dive into an ascent.
Blue was first, throwing a Pokéball in front of him, releasing the Pokémon on his chest and clutching it as soon as it materialised. It was small and brown and had large bunny-like ears, and it was called Eevee. Eevee was quick to take scope of the situation, and curled her tail around Blue’s neck tightly. Blue waited until he was sure she wouldn’t fall, before letting go and holding on once more. Eevee was now able to watch his back.
Red was ahead of him, keeping Scootaloo from turning around and attacking them without exposing herself to attack. Blue whistled, and Red began to prepare to swap places, Scootaloo saw her chance. Flaring her wings, she spun in place and was now facing Charizard. Opening her mouth she cried loudly, and flames erupted from her mouth. Charizard flared his wings in return, halting his rise and met her challenge with hotter flames.
Blue was quick to retaliate, beginning a drill peck from the side. Scootaloo broke off, rising up and out of the flames and the attack. Blue rode through the flames, but Charizard had already weakened them so he flew through harmlessly. Scootaloo tried to launch an attack at the now exposed Blue but Red easily intercepted her, throwing the pegasus a tailspin.
Blue quickly began flying upward to gain height, Red coming around to flank from the side, his hand reaching for a Pokéball. Scootaloo roared in fury, and attacked Charizard with a gust of wind, throwing the Pokémon off aim and causing him to merely bump into her sideways. She growled in response, and kicked him away, hard. Missing hitting the dragon, her foot instead connected with Red.
Red grunted, losing his grip. His Pokéball slipped and fell first, before he too followed. Charizard would have followed immediately, but Scootaloo wasn’t letting him save the human, and began to assault the dragon on all sides. Charizard was not amused, and would have likely destroyed Scootaloo had Blue not dive bombed the Pegasus. Blue kept Scootaloo busy, Charizard roared, flipping into a dive and making a beeline for Red.
Red wasn’t worried about himself; he was worried if he would catch the Pokéball in time. Five, his hand inched closer to it. Four, his fingers brushed it, sending it a back out of reach. Three, he brought his hand back so it wouldn’t touch when it just got in reach. Two, he reached out once more, hand grasping the Pokéball with a protective strength. One, Red tilted his body straight down, making him fall faster but also ensuring he would be in the right position.
Charizard swooped under him, he grabbed on, and hugged his Pokémon as Charizard jerked them into a sharp arc, bringing them back up to the battle but causing Charizard some serious wing ache. Red knew Charizard was fine for the moment; he brought the Pokéball around and gently released his Pikachu on his chest. Mimicking Blue’s Eevee, Pikachu was ready. Red brought out a burn heal, spraying the bottle lightly on the wings, and Charizard was once again ready for battle.
Blue dived past them, and Charizard roared, diving after the form pursuing him. Charizard crested just above the houses, so close he could almost open his mouth and bite down on Scootaloo’s tail. However Charizard was more than likely going to try fire-breath, or he would if he didn’t have his trainer with him.
Blue’s Pidgeot darted left, and then feigned right before turning and darting around Scootaloo as she tried to stay tailing. Blue fell in with Red, and glanced to Pikachu. They were ready. In hindsight they should have had their Pokémon out and ready, but old habits of only having one out die hard.
Scootaloo saw they had a plan, and rose into the air. Flying rapidly towards the sun, faster than earlier, Blue and Red followed, never losing pace. Every time she tried to gain a speed advantage they were one step faster.
“How fast can you miserable monsters be?” Scootaloo shouted over the wind.
“I am ultimate!!” Blue smirked, and Suddenly Scootaloo was surrounded.
“We’re level 90-100; do you really think a level 40-60 could hope to defeat us? Oh please, don’t make me laugh.” Blue was so confident, it enraged her. She kicked toward him but the Eevee locked eyes with her. Suddenly she had trouble moving, managing to force her wings to move so she could stay aloft but no more. She turned, maybe she could escape under and-
Red just looked at her, and she knew there was no chance of escape there. No she would not allow them to trap her, she was SCOOTALORD! This cannot be this-
“Face it ‘Scootalord,’ this battle was over before it began.” Blue’s attitude, Red’s lack of it, she couldn’t take this insult. She was so angry she just wanted to-
Suddenly she began glowing, and they vanished from her sight, she cried out in blind fury, fire erupting from her every pore. She puffed, she felt considerably weaker, but there was no way they could have avoided that…
Red’s Charizard stood in front of Pidgeot, sucking in the flames greedily to feed his own. Scootaloo blinked, she was outclassed but she would not admit it! If she continued fighting they would never-
“How about I make you a little bet ‘Scootalord.’” Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed at Blue, who was smirking so confidently. She wanted to kill the human, rip off his smirk, and stick it in a trophy room. Blue saw she wasn’t going to answer, and his grin grew.
“See this little guy that Red here is holding? He’s level 5; Red was training him for some reason. I bet one attack from him is all it takes to kill you.” Scootaloo laughed, a level 5, defeat her? They had said she was at least a 40.
“What do I get out of it?” Blue smirk grew, and he motioned to his chest.
“Us,” Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed, suspicious. But the deal was too good to pass up; she smirked and spread her arms wide, wings spreading to produce a huge target.
“Hit me with your best shot then, pathetic humans.” Pikachu bumbled up and stood on Charizard’s head. It was really a pathetic creature, dumb and stupid enough to oppose her. It began to spark with electricity, and that’s when Scootaloo began to doubt. The Sparks grew, and suddenly the Pokémon arced the lighting across the sky.
“How pathetic, giving up your lives for an attack that didn’t even get aimed at me.” Scootaloo began to laugh loudly, thunder crackling behind her, wait, thunder?
The sky as she gazed upward was suddenly filled with clouds, and very angry clouds. Lightning was only a minor hazard to Pegasi, but it had never caused her major harm before.
“Oh Red, what’s that? This Pikachu isn’t level 5?” Scootaloo turned on them, and Blue chuckled sheepishly.
“My mistake ‘Scootalord,’ its 50 not 5, I did always forget those zeroes in kindergarten.” Suddenly the dread in her slammed through her skull, and she glanced to the sky. She had only enough time to widen her eyes before-
CRACK
Red watched the Thunder attack his Pikachu had sent hit Scootaloo. Her whole body jerked still, and she fainted. She began to fall out of the sky. Blue was first, immediately throwing his first ball, ceasing the fall before continuing. It shook once, and released her. Red tried next, both matching the halting descent. Again the ball released. Pulling out the last ball, Red threw it and watched.
Once
Twice
Thrice
Cli-TSSSSSS
The body flew out, and continue descending toward the ground. Blue swore, and he glanced to Red. They exchanged glances, a battle waging between them. As usual, Red won.
“Ok fine, I’ll use mine!” Blue pulled out a legendary ball with a 100% catch rate. Normally used for Legendaries, it could be used on anything, and anyone. Rumours said that once a human had been caught with this. Blue tossed it, and his aim was true. With just a few meters to spare Red caught the ball and pulled out of their rapid descent. Landing, both Pokémon skidded to a stop before letting their owners off. Standing on the ground, the two thanked their Pokémon before returning them to their balls.
Turning around, Blue never expected to see a crowd. He prepared a scowl, but stopped when they were looking not at him, but at the ball Red was holding. Red turned to him, and placed the Pokéball in his hand before walking away from the crowd.
Blue never expected them to begin cheering for him.
Red stood atop the mountain, silence around him. The cold ripped at his exposed body, threatening to freeze him to death if he stayed. Red didn’t move.
The snow around him slowly began to pile against his legs, and the wind began to pick up. The storm intensified, and for a brief moment a precarious balance was toppled and the snow in front of him toppled off the cliff. In front of his eyes, he gazed down at the land, blurred by the snowstorm around him.
Red gazed outward, his face in a permanent frown, a statue in his mind. His hat threatened to be torn from his head, his eyes unfocused as he stared into the distance. In his hand, he grasped a Pokéball, his lifeline should he ever fall. But he wouldn’t, he never did.
Red breathed in the icy air, feeling it pass through him, and for a brief moment he felt something other than the disquiet in his heart. He would stand, and he would get cold. He was not going to move, not yet. It was not time to move down into the cave, where he could call his Pokémon and huddle for warmth until tomorrow.
Red waited, eyes watching the world move without him. He watched his actions fade into legend, to be eventually forgotten. He saw a new generation spring up, and the same mistakes be repeated. He gazed upon the new champion, fresh faced and full of pride at their accomplishment. He saw them head for the area beyond, returning to defeat the Elite Four once more to prove their worth.
Red heard footsteps behind him, and felt his heart stir. For a brief moment, a smile flittered onto his face, his mind remembering his journey up to the same point. He turned, pulling his hat down and peering at the trainer before him. They glared at him, determined to defeat the legend he was. They released their Pokémon, and the battle begun.
Pokémon after Pokémon, they were evenly matched. His attacks were devastating, and executed with planning moves in advance. The trainer struggled to keep up fighting to overcome their awe for him. Normally they failed.
But this time, they won.
Red returned his last Pokémon, giving the money to the victor in silence. Their eyes met, and he turned. Facing the edge of the mountain, he released a Pokémon, healing them with a max revive. The trainer watched as he jumped onto his Pokémon, and vanished into the night.
Red opened his eyes as sunlight hit his face, stifling a yawn and sitting up on the couch. On the couch the ponies normally sat on rested Blue as he snored quietly, Eevee resting on his stomach. Red stood up and picked up the master ball he had left on the table, taking it outside. His light footsteps did not wake the Rapidash and Ponyta as they rested in the garden.
As he walked he noticed the few ponies around, and realised how early it was. They shivered in the slight breeze, the morning chilly compared to normal. Red did not feel the cold as much as they did, this chill was nothing compared to the mountain.
Heading out of town, he found the clearing he had trained Lyra in, and paused. For a brief moment, all was silent around him. The wind picked up, and he breathed in the cold air. Feeling himself be brought back to a past he cared not to remember, Red picked up a different Pokéball and tossed it, letting out Blastoise.
Tossing the master ball he released the pony Pokémon named Scootaloo. She turned on Red, and made a move to attack him. But Blastoise was quicker, easily pinning the pegasus. Red slowly walked up to the pegasus, and looked her squarely in the eyes.
“I’ll kill you! You filthy monkey!” Her screams went unanswered, far away from anyone that could hear her. Red waited as she began to expend her energy by struggling and shouting at him. Eventually she stopped, gasping for breath, and settled for merely glaring at him. Taking a few steps back, he motioned for Blastoise to release her as he threw out another Pokémon.
Scootaloo quickly dived at Red, but was quickly halted as Pikachu hit her full force. Grunting, the pegasus stood up again, ready to fight back. Facing off against the Pikachu, Scootaloo was well aware she was outmatched. However, as Red pulled out the remaining rare candies, and held them in full view, her gaze trailed to him.
Red slotted the rare candies in the item slot, and deposited them in his box. As they vanished an anguished cry came from Scootaloo, and she dived once more for Red. However she was easily knocked aside once more.
“I need them! Give them to me!” Scootaloo's desperation was almost painful to hear. Every time she tried to take to the sky, Blastoise would pin her down. And if she tried to attack Red, Pikachu would jump in. Out of options, Scootaloo looked to Red beggingly.
Red began walking towards Scootaloo, who flinched in surprise, and considered attacking. However as she saw the two Pokémon crowd her, she knew if she did it would be the last thing she did. Red paused right in front of her, and she realised that they were almost equal in height. As their eyes met, Scootaloo tried to understand the person in front of her, and failed.
Red raised a hand, and rested it gently on the mare’s head. Scootaloo’s eyes widened in shock, and she nearly moved back to avoid the touch. But as Red’s hand met her head, she felt the desire for power drain from her, and bowed her head. The anger that had come from that desire ebbed, and Scootaloo felt herself begin to return to normal
However, Scootaloo understood one thing had changed due to her idiocy. Not only had she missed her childhood, but she was also now a fully grown mare with a blank flank. She couldn’t hang with her friends anymore, and there was a danger if she stayed with any ponies she might accidentally use the new skills she acquired from it.
The armour on her vanished, and Red removed his hand. Scootaloo raised her head, and frowned at the human. Why was his touch the key to removing the lust for more of the accursed candies? She opened her mouth to ask, but paused when she saw some ponies crest over the hill, heading for them. Her heart gave a pang as she saw Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom was with the group.
“Hey Red, that Twilight ordered me to bring these three to you, because she knows I can get the job done better than you.” Blue watched the three dash toward Red, following at a slower pace. They all paused a few feet from Red, cautious to approach Scootaloo
“Dash…I’m so sorry” apologised Scootaloo, hanging her head. All three rushed to comfort her, speaking of how they didn’t care. Red and Blue watched the exchange as Scootaloo promised to still come on cutie mark hunts. They both pondered what that was, but decided not to ask.
“Red, Blue, can I ask a question?” Both turn to see Lyra and Twilight walking toward them. Seeing Scootaloo, Twilight bit her lip in concern, turning to Red.
“Why is Scootaloo back to her old self? Not that I’m not pleased she is, but I need to know how.” Twilight watched as Red and Blue glanced to each other, and Blue gave a sigh.
“I will only explain this once. The rare candies have an addictive quality, but by the time our world realised this, they were already in mass production. So they made a countermeasure which would help make Pokémon more…agreeable and less addicted.” Blue glanced to the three as they admired Scootaloo, who gave a hesitant smile.
“Basically a gentle bump on the head normally calms down a Pokémon after eating one. However in large doses it becomes harder to…control. That’s why they make them very rare and hard to get, because larger doses has catastrophic results.” Blue rubbed his forehead, and glanced to Red. Lyra noticed that for a brief moment, Blue seemed almost concerned.
Twilight pressed on, “so you’re saying this candy is made to make these Pokémon easier to grow at the cost of being able to control them?” Blue glanced to the sky, avoiding meeting Twilight’s eyes. Glancing to Red again, he turned back and gave a nod.
“Yeah, but only lame people use them. I don’t need rare candies to beat Red after all.” Blue attempted to end the conversation, but Twilight interrupted him as she pressed further.
“So basically the Pokémon have a choice of becoming addicted to something made to make your lives easier, or being controlled by you humans? Do you realise how wrong that sounds?” Twilight watched as both Red and Blue glance away from her, and narrowed her eyes. Neither one made a move to answer her.
“You won’t even answer me will you. Is it because you consider me lower than you because I’m a pony and not a human!?” Blue glanced toward Scootaloo as all four turned to look at them, and then turned his gaze on Red. Following his gaze, Twilight and Lyra tried to comprehend what was going on between these two.
Red closed his eyes for a moment, and then pulled out a Pokéball. Tossing it into the air, he began to run, startling all ponies as Charizard swopped down and he vanished into the Everfree. Twilight cried out in anger, how dare he simply run from the problem! She turned on Blue, and immediately froze before she could speak. Blue was looking as Red flew away, his eyes full of concern. As soon as he realised she was watching, he blinked in shock and tried to put on a smirk again, but gave up when it failed.
“Blue, I want answers! You’ve caused enough damage to Equestria!” Twilight’s voice was full of anger, even as she tried to comprehend Blue having more than the emotions that made him a jerk. Blue glanced up at the sky, in the direction of Red, and sighed.
“Ok, but send those four away. I’d rather not tell more than necessary.” Blue seemed uncomfortable, his voice unusually quiet. Twilight motioned to Rainbow Dash, and told her to take the other three back to town. Rainbow Dash frowned, but did as she was asked, and soon it was just Twilight, Blue, and Lyra in the clearing.
“Ok Blue, it’s time to talk.” Twilight sat down, motioning for Blue to do the same, he obeyed willingly. Lyra glanced between the two, before sitting down as well. She knew she should be speaking right now, but she was having trouble reading her own emotions, let alone Red’s. And Blue’s sudden change into someone with actual emotions confused her.
“Before I begin, I want you both to understand that we come from a different world. Me and Red grew up with an entirely different set of rules.” Blue’s voice was quiet, and as he spoke his voice carried a seriousness to it that only one person had ever heard before. He closed his eyes, and gave a sigh.
“In our world, catching Pokémon is like getting desert after dinner. You didn’t need to have it, but those who did enjoyed it. Some kept a Pokémon as a companion, some a pet, and people like me and Red used them for battles.
“If a Pokémon fainted, you simply took them to the nearest town to get them healed. They would get right back up, never looking at you as if it was your fault, they were the one’s that had failed. They are, our treasured companions. Without them, we can’t even walk through tall grass.
“When we first started out, I was always in front of Red, first to do everything. I was…arrogant, but that was how it was. Red never minded my bragging, in fact every time I came to rematch him, see if I could defeat him now I was stronger, he welcomed the challenge.
“And then…Team Rocket happened.”
“Team rocket was a band of thugs using Pokémon for evil deeds. They used their Pokémon to get money and power, so of course Red aimed to put a stop to them. He took them on more or less alone, defeating me on his way to defeat the head, a guy named Giovanni. He won of course. But, something Giovanni said to Red…Affected him…
“The next time I saw Red, he had changed drastically. He seemed hesitant to send out his Pokémon, and his cocky smile had vanished. I asked him why he was so out of it, I was winning the battle for once. He replied that he didn’t want to use his Pokémon, he didn’t want to be like Team rocket.
“Red still battled, and eventually became champion. But after some time, I noticed he had vanished from Pallet Town, and I couldn’t find him anywhere for a rematch. Eventually I found him at the top of a mountain, staring of into the distance. He battled me, and I lost. I didn’t go back there.
“I’m not sure how much time passed before I saw Red again. It was after some new trainer had come and won the champion title. All I know is when Red finally came down that mountain, he seemed to be slightly more like his old self.” Blue paused, opening his eyes and gazing at the grass.
“Red…Is still fighting to figure out if he wants to continue to battle, despite the fact he would be using his Pokémon, his companions, even if they willingly consented to it. I don’t know if he ever will figure out where he stands on the line.
“Red can’t resist a battle to this day, and I think he will eventually decide to accept how the world is and finally be able to move forward and return to the old Red. But I’m not blind to the fact Red is still unsure if he can ignore such a conflicting moral, being the ‘good guy’ he is.”
“And that’s basically the story, and why you must never bring it up again.” Blue stood up, and brushed himself off. He glanced to the ponies and gave a smirk.
“Now if you excuse me, I’m going to use this moment to score a win against Red while he’s down.” He called out his Pidgeot, turning his back to the two ponies.
“Then again, it’s Red. He’s never down when it’s a Pokémon battle.”
Looking down at the pool in front of him, Red blinked as his reflection met his gaze. Standing up from the crouch he had been in, he gazed at his surroundings. The trees tried to block out the sunlight, but a gentle fluttering of light made it’s way through the dense canopy. Nearby, a waterfall cascaded down a cliff, the river leading off down a small slope.
A shape glided down, and the flash of a familiar red light caught his attention. Red turned to see it was Blue, and he seemed to be trying to hold onto a fake smile. Returning his Pidgeot, he quickly stored and withdrew some Pokémon using the Pass, changing his team before taking one of the Pokémon in his hand. Their eyes met, and Red reached for his own Pokémon. They sent out their Pokémon, and the battle began.
Growlithe met its evolution, eyes narrowing as it took in the opponent before it and his master. Arcanine met the gaze, strong limbs and a fully realised potential ready to back it up. Growlithe glanced to his master, who had eyes only for the opponent. At the signal, chaos would erupt in the clearing. Growlithe had a tough battle ahead of him.
They shifted, both Pokémon howled a challenge, and the battle began. Growlithe dodged to the side as teeth gnashed at his side, sliding backwards as fire began spewing from his mouth. Arcanine absorbed the blow, shrugging it off with mere indifference. Growlithe dived, their teeth met, claws raking against each others fur.
They leapt apart, panting and ignoring the pain from their wounds. Growlithe had injured his leg, but Arcanine had got a deep gash through it’s belly. They roared, and dived at each other once more. Growlithe dodged a claw raking towards him, skidding around Arcanine sideways and attempting to bite the exposed neck. Arcanine side stepped, and Growlithe met only air.
Flamethrower met Flamethrower, pushing both back as their forces met. Growlithe and Arcanine were evenly matched, but eventually the evolution’s extra strength won out and the fireball swallowed Growlithe. His fur slightly singed, Growlithe gave Arcanine a glare, before diving into the ground. Arcanine flinched, looking around for Growlithe before remembering the move.
It was too late, Growlithe leapt out from underneath, biting down hard on Arcanine. A gasp of pain escaped Arcanine, before she tried to attack Growlithe before he moved. Growlithe couldn’t move away, and as Arcanine bit into him, he cried out in pain as tooth met bone. Growlithe leapt away, gasping for breath and wincing in pain. Arcanine smiled, and simply layed down and went to sleep.
Growlithe watched as Arcanine’s injuries healed, and quickly began attacking. Growlithe threw everything at Arcanine, knowing he had a short window of opportunity to make up the damage. Four hits, five, and Arcanine awoke with a vengeance. Their flamethrowers met once more, Growlithe dodging to the side of it and firing a small burst. Arcanine growled, her fur singing.
Growlithe was badly wounded, and close to fainting. He knew he had at least one good attack left, and he had best make it count. Arcanine was in a similar position, knowing if he took the brunt of an attack he might go down too. They crouched, tails raising in defiance, and slammed into each other full force.
When the dust settled, one of the Pokémon was left standing. Red and Blue prepared their Pokéballs, and Blue scowled as Growlithe became visible. The Pokémon was standing weakly on it’s legs, but looking immensely proud. Arcanine, collapsed on the ground, looked Growlithe in the eyes, before closing them and fainting. Growlithe was the victor.
Growlithe walked over to Red. Red healed Growlithe, and then returned his Pokémon to the Pokéball. Pulling out a second Pokéball, Red watched Blue return his Arcanine and pick out his second Pokémon. Blue smirked, and met Red’s gaze. Red grabbed the tip of his hat, and casually pulled it down further on his head.
“Humph,” replied Blue, his smirk growing larger. Blue threw his Pokémon out, Red following suit. A splash sounded as one of the Pokémon entered the water, the second roared a challenge, his flame burning brighter. The orange Pokémon flared its wings as a blue head emerged from the water, standing straight up and using only it’s tail to stay upright in the water.
Charizard faced Gyarados, and Blue smirked as he realised he had the type advantage. Red wouldn’t switch now that both were on the field. Gyarados roared, and Charizard flared its wings, taking off of the ground as a hidden power hit the area he had been at. Charizard recognised the colour, it was a ground type.
Charizard turned to face Gyarados, and quickly began drumming a tune on his belly. His muscles tightened, and he entered a state where he would be able to take hits better, and attack stronger. Gyarados raised its head to the sky, and its mouth began to fill with water.
Charizard dodged the torrential flow of water, but Gyarados tilted its head, and Charizard was swallowed up by the blast, his tail snuffing out like a light. As he fell to the ground, he absorbed damage from the fall, before finally his tail flared back to life and he leaped back to his feet, smashing the ground and collecting an arm full of rocks.
Gyarados shook off the hydro pump, but would still take a moment to be able to attack. Charizard rocketed into the sky, diving down from above at Gyarados, dropping the rocks and pilling up. The rocks fell true and Gyarados roared out in pain. Charizard avoided an all out attack, seeing Gyarados fall and hit the ground hard, Charizard dive bombed the ground, sending out a shockwave. It knocked Gyarados back into the water, where it rose once more and gave a roar.
Their attacks bounced off each other, neither giving an inch, Charizard was fighting to the last breath. Suddenly, after launching another all out attack, Gyarados simply collapsed, and fainted. Charizard landed, panting for breath. He slowly walked up the Gyarados, and saw a multitude of small injuries that had eventually added up. That all out attack was like a double edged sword.
Red watched Blue return Gyarados, and called Charizard over to heal his injuries. Blue sighed, and pulled out his third Pokémon. Red watched as the ball arched through the sky, releasing the Pokémon before flying back to Blue. He then turned all his attention on the Pokémon as it began to form.
Before it had even fully formed, the Pokémon launched into a body slam at Charizard, knocking the Pokémon off guard. It’s orange dragon-like body and bug antenna left no doubt this was Dragonite. Charizard jumped into the air, followed quickly by Dragonite. A beam of ice shot from Dragonite’s mouth, but Charizard met it with a flamethrower, throwing water down on the trainers like rain.
Charizard dive down at Dragonite, who met Charizard head on. Both recoiled from the attack, before quickly launching into their respective long-range attacks again. Dragonite curled a fist, energy beginning to glow around it, Charizard flared his wings, leaping up but not quick enough to avoid the punch delivered straight at his stomach. They both landed, Charizard momentarily winded.
Dragonite charged at Charizard, who in turn slammed his feet into the ground. Dragonite stumbled, and wasn’t quick enough to avoid the flamethrower as it blackened his scales. Charizard launched straight into a body slam, and both Pokémon fell to the dust, roaring a challenge. Tooth met claw, fire met ice, and Dragonite charged an attack on it’s antenna before firing it into the sky. The two Pokémon separated as a lightning bolt struck the place they had been not long ago.
Charizard’s eyes narrowed as Dragonite gave a cry of anger, and began charging up another thunder. Charizard charged at Dragonite as more and more shots began to fire into the sky. The two trainers quickly moved to the edges of the clearing as the sky broke out into tense rumbling. Charizard took the moment Dragonite was distracted to bite down on the neck, Dragonite firing off shot after shot into the sky. And for a brief moment, everything was silent.
Red and Blue covered their eyes as the clearing suddenly lit up, covering their ears shortly after as the sound of thunder surrounded them. It was deafening, and the image of light was still seared behind their closed eyelids. After the afterimages faded, the two turned to look at their Pokémon. Dragonite was standing in the one section of the ground not blackened by the attack. Nearby, Charizard shook off the soot covering it, revealing it’s scales had been turned pitch black by the attack. After a moment, it collapsed in the soot.
The two trainers walked over to their Pokémon, stepping through the blackened ground. Red revived his charizard before returning it to the Pokéball. Blue healed his Dragonite, and turned to look at Red. Red closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, picking up a Pokéball and gently pressing it against his forehead. A stray breeze washed by, blowing most of the soot into the sky and towards the forest.
Red opened his eyes, and threw the Pokéball, sending out his Pokémon. Blue and Dragonite tensed, waiting for the shape to from before making any action. Growlithe growled a challenge, fur bristling as it savoured it’s second fight of the day. Dragonite looked down at the Pokémon, and began to laugh. Growlithe took the moment Dragonite was distracted to bite down on the neck, earning a satisfying roar of pain.
Leaping back as claws tried to rip him off, Growlithe eyes his opponent seriously. Dragonite had just insulted Growlithe pride, and that made this fight personal. Dragonite rubbed his neck, and narrowed his eyes. Facing Growlithe, Dragonite started taking the fight seriously.
Dragonite charged at Growlithe, however before he could hit him head on Growlithe had already dodged, aiming a bite at Dragonite’s foot. Dragonite tripped, rolling onto his back and using his wings to propel himself upward and into the sky before landing back on his feet. Growlithe had already launched another bite, this time latching into his hand. Dragonite aimed a punch at Growlithe, but instead paused as he seemed to vanish.
Glancing around wildly, Dragonite looked for Growlithe, unaware the Pokémon was behind him. A slam directly onto his spine made him cry out in pain, he turned and aimed an ice beam at Growlithe. Growlithe met it with a flamethrower, their force mixed, but Growlithe’s fire was stronger. Dragonite was knocked back, sliding on his feet so as not to fall over again.
Dragonite eyes Growlithe, before noticing he had vanished into a hole in the ground. Dragonite leapt to the sky just as a hole opened underneath him, and aimed an ice beam at Growlithe. It hit, sending Growlithe flying back, one leg frozen. Growlithe thawed it with a fire attack, before launching a flamethrower at Dragonite in the sky. Dragonite fired off a thunder as the attack hit, growling as Growlithe dodged it.
Landing, Dragonite charged at Growlithe, but was once again too slow to catch the Pokémon. Suddenly, Dragonite felt something bite his tail, he turned wildly to find nothing there. Instead something was biting his foot, he glanced down to find nothing there. Dragonite cried out in pain as something ripped into his neck from behind.
Growlithe danced around Dragonite as the confused Pokémon tried to locate him. His bites were doing their desired damage, and eventually Dragonite was panting in pain. Growlithe leapt back, letting Dragonite catch sight of him. Dragonite, confused and weakened from the attacks, launched into another body slam, and right into the flamethrower waiting for him. He fell to the ground, and Growlithe howled in victory.
Blue returned Dragonite as Red healed Growlithe. Blue looked to Red as he gently ruffled Growlithe’s hair, and wondered what was hidden under the hat brim. Picking his next Pokémon, he waited for Red to finish. Red stood up, Growlithe taking his place in front of Red. Blue smiled, and tossed out his Pokémon.
Pidgeot soared into the sky, hovering out of reach of Growlithe, looking down. Growlithe shifted his weight, and waited. Pidgeot turned and presented its read end, and fired. Growlithe, slow from the realisation of what Pidgeot was doing, was slow to dodge, receiving the package full force. Coughing, Growlithe shook off most of the effects, but felt the remaining eating into his skin. Each moment would mean more energy would be taken away.
Pidgeot dived, wings hardening as it curved upward, cresting just above the ground. Growlithe jumped, dodging the wings, hardened like steel, as Pidgeot missed. Growlithe leapt for Pidgeot, but wasn’t fast enough and missed. Firing off a Flamethrower, Growlithe managed to singe Pidgeot’s feathers slightly. Pidgeot landed, flaring its wings and using the damaged ground as weapons as it caused two tornadoes to form with two gusts of its wings, sending them straight at Growlithe.
Growlithe dug under the ground, avoiding the attack. Resurfacing, it was too slow to dodge a steel wing, taking it in the body, wincing. Pain laced through its side as the toxins hurt him further. Growlithe launched a flamethrower at Pidgeot, who didn’t dodge it. Satisfied to have hit Pidgeot, Growlithe wasn’t fast enough to dodge as Pidgeot hit Growlithe full force, returning the attack from earlier with interest.
Growlithe winces as toxic hurt him again, and body slammed Pidgeot as it was now in close quarters. Pidgeot was launched back, and flinched as Growlithe took the moment to bite down on a wing, hard. Pidgeot cried out in pain, knowing it wouldn’t be able to fly now. Growlithe slammed into Pidgeot again, who couldn’t resist.
Both Pokémon were panting now, Pidgeot unable to attack with a wing out of commission. Growlithe prepared to deliver the final blow. Suddenly Growlithe howled in pain, and fainted. The toxic had ended the battle.
“Pidgeot needs to be taken to a Pokémon centre, let’s call that round a draw.” Red nodded, Blue returning his wounded Pidgeot with a solemn glance at Red. It happened occasionally, Pokémon getting injuries that couldn’t be healed by potions. They could heal almost anything with potions, just not broken bones. And…Certain other things…
Blue deposited Pidgeot in the box, and both grabbed a new Pokémon. Throwing them out, two small Pokémon, around the size of a dog, greeted them. One was a yellow mouse with a zigzag tail and bright red cheeks. The other was a brown, long eared, fluffy dog like creature. The yellow Pikachu eyed the brown Eevee, and both shared an innocent smile.
Suddenly both dived at each other, Eevee aiming her head as Pikachu bit down. The blow knocked against Pikachu’s teeth, and both recoiled in pain before quickly leaping back together. Teeth met bone, growls resounded around the clearing. Both Pokémon fought ferociously, before Pikachu started emitting electricity and Eevee jumped back.
Eevee suddenly struck a pose, and fluttered her eyes, Pikachu blushed. Eevee gently walked up to Pikachu, and then slammed her head right on Pikachu’s own. Pikachu flinched, and couldn’t attack back as he was slammed into by Eevee. Pikachu struggled to resist the urge to let Eevee have her way with him, even as the attacks sent pain coursing through his body. Eventually Pikachu threw up a bolt at the sky, before falling under the throes of Eevee.
Eevee, so preoccupied with beating Pikachu, didn’t notice the bolt as it flew down, and hit her, causing her fur to sit straight up, and her to freeze in place. Pikachu shakily got to his feet, and his cheeks sparked weakly, as if he didn’t have it in him to hurt Eevee. The bolt hit, and it shook Eevee out of her shocked stupor. She dived at Pikachu, her mouth open as she growled, face alight with ferocity. Pikachu became surrounded by green orbs, which were absorbed into him. Eevee dived backward as the orbs suddenly sprung outward, hitting her and causing her fur to catch alight.
Eevee gave a final cry of pain, before collapsing. Pikachu walked over and gently touched Eevee, tears forming at the sight of his new love before the attract wore off. Pikachu blinked, shaking his head and glaring at Eevee. He hated it when female Pokémon did that. Pikachu turned to head back to Red, and failed to notice Eevee stand up, eyes unfocused.
Eevee leapt at Pikachu, putting her remaining energy into a headbutt, which hit. Pikachu’s eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground, knocked unconscious. Eevee stumbled over to Blue as Red returned Pikachu. Eevee was quickly healed back to full health, and she turned, ready for the next fight.
Red clenched the Pokéball, and threw it onto the field. A familiar blue turtle appeared, calling the name Blastoise. Eevee took one look at it and gave a small shudder, but prepared to fight the big Pokémon. Eevee would have to rely on her speed and swiftness if she was to win. Blue frowned, and gritted his teeth.
Blastoise looked down at Eevee, weighing her evenly as she decided tried to bite into his leg. Her teeth barely made a mark, and he barely felt it. Eevee then tried to leap for his face, aiming for less armoured parts. Eventually she leapt up Blastoise’s back, and bit at the back of his neck. Blastoise grunted, and pulled Eevee away from his back, bringing her around to gaze at her. Blastoise seemed to be debating if he should attack.
Eevee bit Blastoise’s finger, and landed on all feet as she was dropped. Climbing back up Blastoise, she tried to bite his neck again, dodging his hand as he made a grab for her. Blastoise growled, starting to get annoyed. Eevee was obviously outmatched, but she continued trying to defeat him. Eventually he managed to grab Eevee once more by the scruff, and glanced to Red.
Red didn’t notice Blastoise looking at him, seeming to be focused on something at his feet. Blastoise turned back to Eevee, preparing to give it a very light jab. Blastoise paused as Eevee struck a pose, and suddenly realised he could hurt her. Blastoise wanted to take her on a moonlight swim. Walking toward the pool, he dived in, and hovered below the water’s surface, gazing at Eevee. Closing his eyes, he gave Eevee a gentle hug, failing to notice the panic in her eyes.
“Red, call off Blastoise, I’ll give this round to you.” Blue glanced to Red, his eyes flicking to the two Pokémon with concern. He couldn’t use his Pokéball with Blastoise blocking his view of Eevee. Turning back to Red, his eyes narrowed as he saw Red wasn’t even paying attention. He quickly jogged over, his worry growing with every moment.
“Red, call off Blastoise, return him. I give up this round, please hurry up.” Blue shook Red, who gazed up blankly at him. Blue pointed to the river, forcing Red to turn his head and look.
“Seriously Red, call off Blastoise, this isn’t funny anymore.” Blue blinked in shock as Red merely shook his head, gazing morbidly at the water.
Blue blinked at Red, horror on his face. Knowing he didn’t have much time, he formed a fist and swung it at Red with as much power as he could muster. Red fell to the ground, and blinked up at Blue.
“I can’t believe you. Are you really so pathetic you can’t even call off your Pokémon when they get a little overzealous? Are you so blind that you can’t even see what you have right in front of you? Why are you so determined to pick black or white Red? Our world isn’t like that and you have got to stop beating yourself up over it. Not only does it make your Pokémon’s lives harder, but if affects everyone you meet! Your Pokémon are trying their hardest to protect you but who is going to protect them from themselves?!”
Blue watched as Red’s mouth opened, seeing light shine in Red’s eyes as Red’s hand went to his bruised cheek. For a brief moment, it was almost as if they had been transported back in time. Back to a time when it had been Blue lying on the ground, shocked at Red’s harsh words. However, it was gone so fast, Blue could almost have sworn it had never happened.
Blue turned away in disgust, throwing out his Dragonite, who quickly dived in the water, separating Blastoise and Eevee. Dragonite grasped Eevee in his claw and rocketed out of the water. Gently laying her down, Blue was relieved to see she was still breathing. Eevee coughed and spluttered, shivering and quaking in fright. Blue picked her up and gently wrapped his jacket around her, rubbing her back to help gat warmth back into her body. He walked towards the town, not even bothering to look at Red.
Blue opened the door of the mint pony’s house, was her name Lyra? Rubbing his forehead, he didn’t notice the bright and colourful decorations until he had turned and looked into the lounge room. Blinking himself back to reality, he was greeted by two sheepish ponies, and one pink monster. Blue was tacked to the ground, he grunted in response.
“Pinkie Pie, I told you to stop bowling people over.” Blue glared at the purple mare over the pink monster. Her name was Twilight, or dork, he could never tell. Better call her dork just in case. The pink menace, Blue supposed he should call her Pinke Pie, got off, allowing Blue to get up.
“Thanks…Twilight” he replied grudgingly. Blue knew getting the pony mad would only cause him pink, loud pain. Twilight smiled, before it vanished and she glanced away. Lyra scratched the back of her head, glancing away too.
“Uhh, how’s-“ Blue cut Lyra off, heading for the couch and leaping onto it.
“At this moment, I could care less where that loser is, let alone how he is.” Blue closed his eyes, ignoring the pointed glances. Eventually the pink one, Pinkie, began shaking him. He opened his eyes, glaring at her.
“Look, we are going to have this party for you, Red or no Red. So come and have some cider, and eat some cake.” Pinkie’s mention of cider cause Blue to sit up and scour the room for it. Setting his eyes on the bottle, he picked it up and chugged down half before slamming it down on the table, wiping the liquid from his lips. Blue instantly felt a lot better.
“It’s been a long day, pass that over.” Lyra and Twilight poured themselves a cup, taking a few sips. Pinkie went to slice up the cake. Blue looked at them, letting the alcohol wash through his system.
“Did I tell youse of the time I cheated against Red?” He chuckled, remembering back to the days when it had been much simpler. There wasn’t any doubt getting in between the battling, it was just two rivals, beating at each other with their Pokémon as their swords.
“Yeah yeah. You bragged about it at the last party. If I recall you planted some explosives that your Pokémon knew about but Red didn’t.” Lyra shrugged off his attempt at conversation, giving a hiccup. Twilight looked to her, knowing one more cup and Lyra would be knocked out for the night. She took another sip of her drink, letting the liquid dull her senses.
“Yeah, he was so furious that I was desper-er-stupid enough to think cheating would be necessary to win against him. He even threw a Pokéball at me.” Blue laughed at the memory, his hand rubbing the back of his head. Lyra chucked, imagining a furious Red, before frowning as she realised the only furious Red she had seen was that time he had almost killed Blue.
“You deserved it you dummy, you shouldn’t have cheated in the first place.” Lyra glanced to Twilight as she nodded agreement, Pinkie bringing over a slice of cake for everyone.
“Yeah yeah, I get it alright? I’m not stupid.” Blue ignored the piece of cake, grabbing the cider and drowning the rest of the bottle.
“Just a jerk,” nodded Lyra. Blue nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, just a-hey that was an insult!” Blue glared at all three ponies as they laughed at him. Lyra returned the glare, poking her cup into him.
“I still dun get how you’re so relaxed when you enslave creatures and make em fight eachother.” Lyra took another sip of her cider.
“Yeah, well you do it too.” Blue watched Lyra spray cider onto the empty chair next to him.
“What?! We do not!” Lyra turned on Blue, who rolled his eyes and motioned to the window where a pony was walking their dog.
“Then what do you call that outside? Sure it’s not fighting, but it’s the exact same thing.” Blue watched as all three ponies gaped at him, as if not realising the similarities until he had said it.
“What?” Blue raised an eyebrow, taking Twilight’s drink and drowning it while she was recovering.
“But but, but it’s different!” Twilight spluttered, trying to think of one logical point that would prove it.
“How so?” Blue gazed evenly at Twilight as she struggled to find an answer, before she bowed her head.
“E-Even so that does not explain why you allow them to fight each other. We don’t make our pets fight each other.” Lyra poked Blue in the chest to affirm her point, and he shrugged.
“It’s how our world works. I don’t question how yours has flying ponies and magic.” Blue sat up straighter, a dangerous glint growing in his eyes. Lyra met the stare.
“Then change it, stop this trend from continuing!” Lyra’s stare turned into a glare at Blue’s next words.
“No.” Blue didn’t add excuses as to why, he simply said no.
“Why?” Lyra’s next question cause a sigh to escape Blue as he rolled his eyes.
“Because I’m a Pokémon trainer. Without Pokémon to train what else would I do with my life? It’s my calling, my thing, my goal. Throwing doubts into the mix only causes problems with how my world works. Red has to realise this too.” Blue put down the drink, facing Lyra with an even gaze. Lyra didn’t shrink from Blue’s challenge.
“So that Red can become like you? A self imposed Jerk who only cares about winning?” Lyra glared at Blue, noticing the flinch and softening of the eyes as he turned away, and glanced at the ground.
“No, so he can become like the old Red. A proud and strong rival who was unbeatable no matter the odds stacked against him.” Blue sighed, looking at his hands before resting his head in them. Lyra, taken aback, took some time to answer.
“Tell me about the old Red.” Lyra watched as Blue raised his head, and glanced to the three in the room and sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back.
“Red was…as much an enigma as he is today. However instead of a cold and lifeless stare, there would be an unspoken challenge. If you met those eyes, your fate was sealed.” Blue, opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling.
“What do you mean fate was sealed?” Lyra tilted her head, trying to see Red the way Blue saw him, but struggled to bridge that unspoken gap. Blue tilted his head, locking eyes with Lyra.
“When he looked at you, there was no doubt a battle would take place. Pokémon after Pokémon, Red would beat them all with so much ease, he made it look easy. When Red looked at you, you didn’t think, you didn’t hesitate, you reached for your Pokémon, and the battle began.” Blue raised his eyes back to the ceiling, mouth downturned.
“How did you meet Red?” Lyra wanted to hear more of Red’s past, captivated by the man Blue described.
“We lived in the same town, and naturally evolved into rivals. He never once lost a fight even then.” Blue lowered his head, looking out the window as the ponies passed by.
“You talk as if you really miss that Red.” Lyra turned her head to look out the window as well, not seeing Blue flinch at her words.
“Nah, why look to the past you know? Besides, that jerk getting weaker is a good thing, it means he will be easier to defeat. Not that I couldn’t defeat him before.” Blue’s words sounded hollow, even to himself.
“Blue, why do you follow Red whenever he goes somewhere? You followed him to that—boss guy’s hideout, and to here, there has to be a reason.” Lyra turned her head, her frown deepening. Blue glanced in the other direction, and gave a shaky laugh.
“I’m not going to let Red one up me in anything you hear? Why would I let him get the chance to see a new area, maybe catch some brand new Pokémon, without giving myself a chance to go there too?” Blue turned back, holding a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. Lyra looked into his eyes evenly.
“But that’s not the real reason, is it.” Lyra stated it, and she saw Blue stand up and point a finger at her.
“Hey, it is so the truth! I don’t have to explain myself to some two-bit love-struck pony from another dimension!” Blue glared down at Lyra, as if trying to appear intimidating. Lyra didn’t even react, and eventually Blue lowered his hand and sat back down.
“So what’s the real reason?” Lyra asked again, and watched as Blue looked to her, a sudden desperation in his eyes.
“What is the sky without the earth? What is light without dark? What is up without down? What is black without white? What is life without death? What is front without back? What is beginning without end? What is before without after? What is best without worst? What is-“ Blue paused, and returned his eyes to the ground, his voice a bare whisper.
“What is Blue, without Red.” Blue covered his face with his hands, leaning on his knees. Lyra looked at him, and couldn’t reply. She hadn’t met someone like Blue before, and she didn’t know how to respond to the situation.
“Without Red, I’m just Blue. And I regret my childish decision back then as I pay for it now.” Blue shook his head while it was in his hands. Lyra reached out a hoof, as if to comfort him, before retracting it hesitantly.
“What childish decision?” Lyra watched as Blue raised his head, looking up from her to the door, Lyra followed his gaze, and her eyes widened at the sight of Red.
“In anger, I told his enemy where he could hit him hardest.” Blue looked to the Masterball clasped in Red’s hand, not gazing upward at his face. Lyra’s voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked down to her as she spoke.
“Why? What could make you so angry, that you would tell his enemies how to hurt him?” Lyra’s wide eyed and innocent stare probably hurt Blue more than it helped, but she had to know. Blue raised his gaze back to the ball in Red’s hand, and Lyra followed his gaze.
Lyra stood up and looked to Red, walking over and raising her head to see into his eyes. Realising there was something different in them, Lyra gives a shaky smile, and Twilight walks over to join her.
“Listen Red, Blue told us about what happened…” Lyra glanced to Twilight, who nodded, opening her mouth to continue.
“We’re not entirely innocent here either, we keep creatures as pets. And we understand where you are coming from now. But we have to apologise.” Twilight shook her head, motioning to the window.
“Our world isn’t yours, and we know nothing about your world, we didn’t grow up in it. It’s not our place to say what is wrong or right, it’s defined by the rules of your world.” Twilight and Lyra looked to Red, both noticing there was a slightly different air about him. Red gave a nod, and they smiled in relief, they had patched things up. Blue stood up to say something, however he paused when Pinkie Pie came in, waving her arms and shouting.
“Nonononono! No! No poopy sappy sad stories at my party. We’re gunna forget all the tipsy whipsy confusing stuff and have fun okay?” Pinkie Pie glared at both Red and Blue, and both gave a nod. Twilight glanced to Lyra as she sighed.
“I’ll go grab the stronger stuff.” Lyra opened a cupboard, picking out a few bottles of her secret ‘berry punch’ supplies. All five sat down on the couches, Red and Blue sharing a glance. Blue watched as the bottle was placed on the table, and Twilight quickly poured a cup for each of them. Blue drowned his quickly, and everyone else taking a sip.
“The guests are here,” whispered Pinkie Pie, motioning for the ponies to enter through the broken door. Ponies began muddling around the room, eating cake and sipping cider. Blue accidentally released Eevee, and decided to release Arcanine shortly after. As Pinkie Pie went to get them saucers of cider, Red released Pikachu and Growlithe. The pokemon greeted each other, excited by the commotion around them.
The pokemon were in a corner, seeming to be having a discussion of their own. They were currently playing a game of strip poker with a mare dressed in a coat. A few ponies were cheering each time the pokemon won, Pikachu winning someone’s sunglasses and poker hat from a rainbow haired pony. Growlithe and Arcanine were laying on a wooly jumper, which another white mare with a diamond cutie mark was desperately trying to win back.
Pinkie Pie handed out cake and cider with ease, no one ever having to look around to find the nearest bottle. However, one time she had slipped in a puddle of something and had lost an entire cake in the face of her orange friend, who was quick to help her up. Pinkie quickly went to get cleaned up, before returning to her duty as self proclaimed party queen.
However the party faded into the background as the three talked, Red sitting next to Blue and listening in quietly, while Lyra and Twilight talked from the other couch. Taking a sip of his cider, he leaned back and a ghost of a smile flittered onto his face.
“Oh my god Red, is that a smile? Please tell me it’s not the apocalypse.” Blue mocked horror, leaning into Red and smirking at him.
“Careful Red, someone might think you have actual emotions.” Pushing into Red, Blue smirked further as Red’s smile didn’t fade, even as he put down the cider and glanced to Blue. Then, very casually, Red pushed Blue to the other side of the couch, and the smile was gone.
“Awww, why so serious? It’s a party, relax a bit mr ‘primary colour.’ Or is that too abstract for you to understand?” Blue chuckled, and Red picked his drink back up and took another sip. Blue slammed his cup down and pointed to the four around him.
“Drinking contest, right now, no backing out.” Blue poured his next cup, and motioned for Red and the others to drink theirs down. Red glanced to Lyra and Twilight. Pinkie Pie giggled, and appeared with five more bottles. Blue smirked, Twilight smiled sheepishly, Lyra looked determined, Red blinked. All the guests turned, grabbing their own drinks, willing to participate.
“Bring it on,” challenged Twilight, sculling her drink and wiping the drops from her mouth. Red followed suit, drinking it down slowly, but easily. Lyra drained her second cup of cider hesitantly, and instantly blacked out. Blue raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off.
Drink after drink the three prevailed. As other ponies lost their last meal to the ground and left for the night, they continued. Pinkie Pie, seeing they weren’t stopping anytime soon, escorted the still conscious guests out of the room, leaving the unconscious ones there.
Blue drowned another cup, swaying slightly and looking plastered. He glanced to Red and noticed how calm and quiet he was. In fact, Red didn’t even look drunk. Twilight noticed this, and pointed a hoof at Red.
“How many ciderz have you drunken?” Twilight pointed an accusing hoof at Red, Blue smirked, finishing his cup and looking to Red. Red casually sipped his cider, looking at Blue as if he hadn’t even taken a single sip. He placed his drink down and held up 4 fingers.
“Four cups?” Twilight swayed, giving a hiccup. Red shook his head and pointed to one of the bottles. Twilight blinked in shock, and even Blue was surprised at the amount.
“Four bottles? But how in the hell do you lt’s-it-l” Twilight stopped, and put her drink down as she stood up. Turning to face the couch, she promptly threw up on it before passing out right on top. Blue grimaced, and glanced to Red. The challenge was down to just the two, but Blue was quickly losing steam.
“You-You know Red I dun thin I’ve ever beaten you once, evan-even at this.” Blue drowned another drink, standing up and spewing onto the table, wiping his mouth with his hand before wiping it on the couch, and sitting back down. Red put his drink down, he didn’t need to drink anymore. Blue gently grabbed onto Red’s shoulder, and locked eyes with him.
“D-Dun go back to that you you were earlier, the moody one with no idea if the world is bla-black or white. Tha-The world aint like tha’ and you need to focus on doin wh-wha you do besth Red.” Blue leaned back against the couch, his eyes looking into Red’s.
“T-The world needs ya to be Red. I need you to be Red. You’re the one person I have yet to defeat, you’re my drive Red. Without you, I have no reason to push myself to my limits, no reason to go on battling, no reason to live.” Blue’s eyes closed, and his head fell to the couch.
Red watched Blue fall into a drunken sleep, and glanced toward the cup he had remaining. Watching the liquid roll around the cup as he tilted it, he closed his eyes, Leaning down so the tip of the cup rested against his forehead, a small smile lit up his face.
“...”
Suddenly Red flinched and glanced over to where the pokemon were. Taking one look, he quickly stood up, and walked out of the house. Red decided he would sleep with Rapidash tonight.
Warning, this chapter contains obscene amounts of ship.
Lyra opened her eyes, giving a yawn as she was gently shaken awake by Red. Wiping the weariness from her eyes, she saw everyone stirring from a long and hangover-induced sleep. Blue was the last to rise, sitting up and immediately opening a leftover bottle.
“The best cure for booze, is more booze, never forget that Red.” Blue drunk the entire bottle, wiping his mouth and sighing in happiness. Everyone turned as a white mare with Purple hair walked in.
“Hey Rarity, is there something wrong?” Lyra glanced to Twilight as she spoke, and gathered they were good friends. Rarity was well known around town as a fashion diva, which Lyra avoided like the plague.
“Yes dear, that dashing Blue human is in such dreadful attire, I must take him to be properly clothed at once.” Rarity grabbed Blue in a strangle hold and dragged him out the door, Lyra chucking as she knew how much he must be hating that.
“Noooooooo,” Blue’s anguished cry swept though the town. Lyra turned to Red as he stood up, giving a yawn.
“I’m going to go sit on that random hill outside of the town. Later Lyra.” Red gave Lyra a gentle smile before walking out the door, completely missing Lyra’s gaping mouth.
“R-Red can’t talk!” Lyra turned as a voice spoke behind her, seeing Red’s Pikachu and Blue’s Eevee locked in a kiss. Pikachu separated and glared at her.
“Do you mind? I’m trying to score here.”
“AAAAH” Lyra jerked awake as a hand reached for her, seeing it was Red she gripped him on the shoulders and shouted in his face.
“Please tell me you’re mute! I can’t bear hearing you speak again.” Lyra nearly collapsed in relief as Red merely blinked at her.
“Sounds like someone’s betrothed had a nightmare.” Lyra glanced to Blue, who was in a suit, and realised not only was she in a wedding dress at an altar, but Red was leaning down to put a ring on her horn.
“Do you Lyra Heartstrings, take this human, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“AAAAHHHH” Lyra jerked awake, quickly checking she was in her home and not on a wedding stand, breathing a sigh of relief she wiped the sweat away from her forehead with her hand.
“Wait, hand?!” Lyra glanced down in wonder, surprised to see she was in fact 100% human. As the sound of hoof-steps echoed, she raised her head to see a red pony with a cap walk in, followed closely by a blue pony.
“R-Red?” Lyra stuttered a question, seeing them look to her. Blue raised an eyebrow, and poked Red in the ribs.
“What’s up with the human? Is that normal?”
“AAAH-I give up!” Lyra leapt to her hooves and sobbed open on her living room carpet as Twilight, Red, and Blue blinked at her.
“The phrase is ‘go fish’ Lyra.” Twilight leaned over to look at the cards that had been thrown everywhere as she had gotten up, looking for any cards she shared.
“Please tell me I’m awake, I can’t stand another dream where I’m marrying Red or Red’s a pony or-“ Lyra cut herself off as the three eyed her. She gave a sheepish smile as they advanced on her.
“I’M NOT CRAZY! Let me out!” Lyra shouted from the bars of her new room in the local asylum. The nurse had decided to put a record player in the room outside, and it was playing a single track over and over again.
“This used to be a fun house!” Sung her neighbour, a mare who looked more like a dog than a pony.
“Let me out…” Lyra fell to the floor, closing her eyes and curling up into a ball.
“AAhhh!” Lyra jerked awake and glanced around the dark corridor. She was completely alone. Curious, she walked down the corridor and saw a room separated by a strange glass mirror. In the room was a large doll shaped like a human. It had a crude smiley face painted on it, and was staring at Red who was watching the puppet from inside.
Lyra opened her mouth to greet him, blinking, and her cheerful greeting turned to horror as she saw Red lying on the floor, dead. And now the puppet was looking at her. She backed away, heading for the door, turning to open and close it, she glanced through a small viewing mirror to see the glass had been smashed, the puppet now standing outside of the small room, looking at her.
Backing away, she headed for the next door, blinking once and widening her eyes to see the puppet poised at the door, staring at her. She began to back through the doors, watching as the puppet got closer and closer. Suddenly, she tripped, closing her eyes, and knowing what was coming.
“AAAH….*hah* *hah*” Lyra sat up, taking a few deep breaths before looking around. She was in her room in a double bed. Glancing to the other side, she saw it was occupied. Before she could move, Red rose, giving a yawn, clothed in bright pink pyjamas. Lyra blushed and looked away.
“What’s wrong?” Lyra glanced to the door as Blue walked in, carrying food and dressed in a monkey suit. Blue bowed, holding out a plate of breakfast. Red reached over and grabbed a piece of toast. Lyra glanced at the area around her and gave a weary sigh.
“It’s….Close enough…”
Celestia walked into Luna’s royal chambers, a loud laughing coming from behind the reinforced doors.
“Luna, please tell me you haven’t been watching people’s dreams again.” Celestia brought over a cup of coffee, which Luna drunk down greedily.
“I’m sorry Tia, but this one was too good to pass up. One of the ponies in Ponyville who is a friend of that human that came here is having one of those ‘dreams within dreams’ again.” Luna looked into the television, hooked up to her magic to broadcast dreams like channels. Celestia sighed, walking out the door.
“I’ll go get the popcorn.” Celestia paused as Luna shouted something at her from the couch.
Blue was the first to wake up, giving a yawn and heading into the kitchen and raiding it for some coffee. Sitting back down on the couch with his coffee, he then turned his eyes upon the mess around him.
The memories of last night were blurry at best, and he noticed the one part of the couch not covered in ick where Red had been sitting. On the other couch rested Lyra and that purple unicorn. He frowned, had he gotten the creature’s name? It wasn’t important.
Turning his head, he saw movement near the pile of Pokémon, and blinked as he watched two eggs cradled between the two sets of Pokémon, as if they were babies, rolled gently into view. Turning his head once more, he saw Red walk in and meet his eyes.
“So…Who get’s the eggs?” Blue put down his coffee on the ick-encrusted table and walked toward his Pokémon, returning them, Red copying the action. They both picked up the eggs and gazed at them. Blue looked to Red and sighed.
“I really don’t want to explain this to those ponies. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve never even heard of an egg.” Blue looked down at the Growlithe egg, before he pointed to the second egg.
“You can keep that one, you haven’t gotten an Eevee yet.” Blue waited for Red to put the egg in his bag, before looking to the Growlithe egg in his hand.
“Good morning,” spoke a voice from the couch as Twilight sat up, rubbing her eyes. The two looked to her as her eyes spotted the egg in Blue’s hand, and she blinked in confusion.
“An egg? What’s it from?” Twilight frowned as Blue glanced to Red, before snorting and shifting the egg to his second hand.
“A Pokémon egg.” Blue replied simply, looking to where Lyra was starting to stir. Twilight blinked, and frowned as she stood up and came over, gently tapping the egg with a hoof. Blue stepped back, but eventually let her inspect it.
“Where did it come from?” Twilight’s curiosity was piqued when she saw Blue wince, once more looking to Red.
“We-ah-Don’t know where it came from.” Blue eventually answered, avoiding Twilight’s eyes. Twilight frowned, sensing more to the story than that, but she let it drop. All three turned as Lyra jerked awake, and groaned, holding her head as a headache rushed to greet her.
“I’m feeling pain, maybe I’m awake this time.” Lyra’s mumble was barely coherent, her eyes going to Blue’s coffee as she picks it up and drinks the remaining liquid, giving a groan as she puts it back down. Turning to look to them, she pulls a smile to her face.
“Good morning, what’s that?” Lyra pointed to the egg, and the two humans looked to Twilight, shouldering the explanation on her instantly.
“It’s a Pokémon egg.” Twilight glared at the two, but let it go. Even with her magic deadening the pain, she still had a hangover. Glancing to the two, she was surprised by how sober they looked.
“Uh, ok, what are you going to do with it?” Watching the three look to the egg, Lyra gave a yawn and stood up. The dream was still hanging on the fridges, but as she began interacting with he world around her, it began to fade from memory.
“Probably keep them in our bags until they hatch, like normal, why do you ask?” Blue gave a yawn, and looked mournfully to his coffee. Twilight rolled her eyes and went to make them all a batch, knowing Blue wasn’t going to go and do it himself. Lyra glanced at them, before glancing to the ground, and gave a shaky smile.
“Maybe I could have it?” Lyra waited, looking down at the floor, but eventually she raised her head to see them looking at each other.
“No.” Blue growled at Red, pointing to the egg.
“We can’t leave a Pokémon here. Do you want to damage the ecosystem?” Red raised an eyebrow, and pointed to the window as Scootaloo flew by, by coincidence of course. Blue’s glare deepened, and he poked Red in the chest.
“That’s different, she grew up here, not a Pokémon.” Blue put the egg in his bag and stormed toward the door.
“Besides, it’s potential would be wasted in a backwater world like this one.” Blue paused at the door to glance to Red once more, before snorting and turned to leave. However, he paused when Red stepped toward him, and grabbed the egg before stepping back. Blue’s eyes narrowed.
“Give me back the egg.” Blue warned Red, taking a step toward him. However, Red didn’t seem to even notice, and briskly walked toward the door. Blue made a move to grab Red, however Red effortlessly dodged the hand, moving out the door and leaping onto Rapidash quickly. Blue smirked, grabbing out a Pokéball and heading for the door.
“Challenge accepted.” Blue walked out the door, tossing his ball and releasing his Dragonite, and jumping onto it. Lyra dashed outside, looking at the two as they gazed at each other, and noticed the air around them still. Red pulled down his cap, and Blue smirked, and for a brief moment, all was silent. And then it was shattered in an instant as Red seemed to vanish, Dragonite giving a roar and taking off after him. It only took a split second, and they were gone from view. Lyra blinked, and galloped full throttle after them.
Inside the house, Twilight placed the coffee down and sighed, shaking her head. Not only had all three vanished, but she hadn’t had a chance to tell them the news.
“Celestia will be here soon, oh boy.”
Rapidash dodged out of the way as Dragonite dive bombed them, her flame burning brightly in response to the excitement. Ponies barely noticed the blur, only realising something had passed when the slipstream knocked them off their feet. When two Pegasi in the air noticed this, the dived down, sensing the unspoken challenge in the air, they both smirked, and joined Lyra as she followed behind them, the gap slowly growing larger.
“Hey Lyra, what’s the commotion?” The mare with the rainbow mane called Rainbow Dash was the first to comment, her beaming smile filling her face as the challenge in the air sung to her nature. Lyra glanced to Dash, before returning to focusing on the running, slipping up would cause her to loose them.
“She’s not answering Dash, let’s try catching up to what’s up there.” The purple Pegasi, recently reformed, was easily keeping up. However she didn’t have the same love for competition as her idol, and was still getting used to her newfound abilities now the Rare Candies had worn off. The two increased their speed, catching up to the two Pokémon with only minor trouble.
“What’s going on!” Scootaloo’s voice shouted through the wind gusting around them. Blue glanced to her and answered back fairly quickly.
“Red’s got my egg! I’m trying to get it back!” Blue picked up speed, and Dragonite dived for Rapidash once more. Leaping over a building, Dragonite swerved to avoid it, losing valuable speed.
“Can we play?” Rainbow Dash grinned at Blue, even flipping to fly backwards to show her overconfidence. Blue smirked and gestured for her to go ahead.
“If you think you have a chance, go ahead.” Blue watched the two Pegasi speed up, and slowed slightly so he could watch them. Both trainer and Pokémon waited for the perfect moment to intercept.
Rapidash sensed the form to her right and leapt to the side as Rainbow Dash made a dive for the egg. Leaping back the other way, she avoided Scootaloo, leaping over Dash and heading down a side street.
Seeing the street ended in a dead end, the two sped up to try and catch Rapidash when she slowed to maneuver. However to their surprise, she leapt at the wall, catapulting into the air, and sailing past them harmlessly.
The two Pegasi blinked, but quickly recovered and chased after Rapidash. However, Rapidash was too focused on watching behind her to notice Dragonite heading towards them. Red dug his heels in, and Rapidash jumped instinctively, sailing over Dragonite and speeding down the square once more.
However, a magical aura snatched the egg from Red’s hand, and the chase abruptly ended as Lyra stood there with the egg in her magic, panting heavily. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Scootaloo dived at the egg, snatching it and holding it like a trophy.
Rapidash leapt up, and Red stood up to try and grab it. However Scootaloo leapt higher into the sky, and looked down at Red before sticking her tongue out.
“Yoink,” spoke Dash, taking the egg from Scootaloo and began to fly again, preparing to restart the chase battle. However, she fumbled the egg and it began to fall, sailing down. All ponies and humans and Pokémon dived for it, but none were going to make it in time.
And then Sweetie Belle walked out from behind the house, looking at her hooves.
And then the egg landed safely in her hooves.
She then looked toward the group as they fell to the ground, having dived for the egg, in a heap.
And then the egg hatched, revealing a male Growlithe who looked to Sweetie Belle and gave a cute huff of affection.
“Whelp,” started Blue, climbing out of the pile of bodies, followed by Red who seemed to not have a single hair out of place, the others following suit quickly.
“Looks like you’re the mother.” Blue brushed himself off, returning his Pokémon and giving a smirk to Red, who blinked in response. Sweetie Belle imitated Red, looking at the baby Pokémon in her hooves with mute shock.
Until the baby Growlithe gave a yawn and curled up into a small ball of fur.
Blue would remember the day that legendary pony had come down as a good day. A race with Red, a new Pokémon hatching, everything had fallen into place. The legendary had flown in and asked Twilight what she thought of Red.
“Mostly harmless, I think,” was her reply. They had been introduced to the legendary, named Celestia.
“I want to capture you and put you in my box.” Blue had spoken simply, giving the mare weird misgivings about what exactly his ‘box’ was. Eventually though, Celestia had gotten and idea of what he meant.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t.” Celestia’s voice was almost understanding, which had puzzled him at the time. Blue had growled and pointed to his belt.
“And what exactly do you mean by ‘can’t’. What’s stopping me from pulling out a ball and capturing you right now?” Blue’s outburst only seemed to make Celestia smile. Turning around, she pulled out a small ornate box, and opened it to reveal a Pokéball. Blue stepped back in shock and glanced to Red, before returning his gaze to Celestia.
“But-how!?” Blue glanced to Red, and his confusion grew as he translated from a blink that Red had no idea either.
“When the time comes, you’ll know,” was all Celestia replied with. Blue tried to get further answers out of her, but all he could get was a knowing smile. Frustrated, he had eventually stormed off, barely noticing Red following him. Blue didn't know it, but Celestia had left to return to Canterlot shortly after.
They’d found a hill and sat together for some time, and eventually Blue had started talking.
“Any news about our way home?” Blue didn’t look as Red shook his head in answer.
“I bet there’s a dozen challengers waiting to be destroyed by me back at the gym.” Blue chucked, before sighing and looking to the ground. If he was lucky, there would be one. One that would remind him of Red, maybe two if there was a budding rivalry.
The phone rang, interrupting Blue’s musings, and he looked to Red as he answered. The sound carried over to him as he listened.
“Red? Oh good, we got through. We’ve finally finished the portal, and I’ve got some good news. Mr Anni has found a way for us to keep the portal open for as long as the power holds. This means we can both come over and analyse plant samples and maybe some wildlife. We’re calibrating it to where Red came out, and we will arrive tomorrow. I will see you then! –Click-“
Blue watched Red put the device away, before standing up and looking toward the sky. Red followed suit soon after.
Looking at the sky, their eyes watched it slowly darken, neither moving an inch. As light faded from the world, and creatures began to move, neither tore their eyes away from the sky. Even as the stars came out, and a moon rose behind them, sending their shadows walking toward the forest. Even as two ponies began calling to them, before leaving them and heading home.
Red and Blue stood there, unmoving, unblinking, unwavering. The sky slowly changed above them, but as they stared at it neither seemed to be looking at the sky. It was a silent moment, signifying something no one but the two could hope to understand. And if they did, they weren’t at liberty to discuss it.
Eventually, the moment passed and both lowered their heads, and walked back to Lyra’s house to sleep until the morning.
Red and Blue sat on the couch, looking to the two ponies as they broke the news. Both took it badly.
“You’re leaving today!? You couldn’t have given us earlier notice?” Twilight looked outside, concern and worry covering her features. Not only was she about to lose two people she had only just met, and only just started to get to know, but now there was a horde coming to investigate Ponyville. Twilight knew there was little she could do about it, but it still upset her.
“No,” cried Lyra, her distress open on her face. Pushing Red back with her hooves, she shouted into his face.
“You can’t go yet, what happens to me? What happens to us? I thought we were friends!” Lyra growled as Blue pushed her off Red, and both stood up.
“You stay here, there was no us, and I believe his final answer was ‘that depends on you, but it could have been something similar.” Blue looked calmly at Lyra, who could only watch as they left her house. Twilight watched them go, before turning to Lyra.
“We can’t stop them from going home Lyra, you know that.” Twilight leaned over and gave Lyra a hug, ignoring the tears on the mare’s face.
“You have a chance to say goodbye, do you really want to squander that?” Twilight leaned away as Lyra stood back up, wiping away her tears and looking to Twilight, and shook her head.
“Let’s go.” Lyra and Twilight headed out of the house, both taking in the damage caused by the two humans being here for such a short amount of time. Both gave a sad smile to the clump of dead grass where the two pony Pokémon had rested. Walking further down the road, they found the two humans sitting on the road near where Red had appeared. Both turned to look as they approached.
“Red, I just want you to know that I’ll never forget you. Please come to visit me sometime.” Lyra’s voice broke near the end, but she held back her tears well. Red gave a stiff nod, and turned away. Before either could ask a question, Red’s phone rang and both humans stood up. Red held it to his ear, before putting it back in his bag and nodding to Blue.
“Dragonite and Charizard?” Blue questioned Red, who nodded. Both Pokémon were released, and the two ponies opened their mouth to question the action. Blue glanced to them seriously, and opened his mouth to say something as an ear splitting screech sounded, and he returned to looking ahead.
Slowly a pure white sphere became visible, slowly growing in size. The wind picked up, and slowly metal rods began to form on the edges of the white sphere, marking the sides of the door. It grew until it was roughly the size of Charizard, and then solidified. Both Pokémon growled as a shape appeared from the white portal, and looked around.
“So this is the new world. A little bright for my tastes, but I can’t be picky in my current standpoint.” It was a tall man with a black suit on, and black hair. Underneath the suit was a white shirt, and on the left of the suit was a large red R. He looked to the two trainers, fully prepared for a battle, and laughed.
“So you knew it was me who was going to be coming through the portal, how quaint. How are you Red, still battling with your morals?” As the man spoke, Red’s eyes narrowed.
“Giovanni, did you really think we’re as senile as my grandfather?” Blue spoke loudly, clouds beginning to cover the area. Twilight and Lyra took a step back, immediately gaining the attention of Giovanni.
“So these are the native populace, are they sentient?” Giovanni took a step toward them, but stopped when Charizard fired a warning shot at his feet. Giovanni smiled again, and looked to the Charizard.
“Ah yes, your ever faithful Charizard.” Giovanni pulled out a Pokéball, tossing out a pitch black Charizard. It roared, and dived directly at Red’s Charizard, and the two spiralled into the air and began to fight. Blue’s Dragonite stepped forward to block the way as Giovanni made another move to approach.
“And Blue’s Dragonite, a powerful and deadly beast.” Giovanni pulled out a second Pokéball and released a dark green Dragonite who leapt into the sky and fired an electric attack from it’s antenna. Blue’s Dragonite leapt into the air after it.
Blue and Red reached for their Pokémon, however both looked down, Blue’s eyes widening, as they realised their belts were missing. Raising their heads, they saw two Sneasel standing beside Giovanni, both holding a belt each.
“Shit,” muttered Blue, reaching for his necklace, where he kept a Pokémon, only to find it missing. Red whistled, calling Ponyta and Rapidash. Both were quick to arrive, and the two Sneasel engaged them, moving aside and taking the fighting elsewhere.
“So now that those interruptions are out of the way.” Giovanni reached into his pocket and pulled out a radio.
“You can come in now.” At Giovanni’s command, grunts disguised as lab scientists began to move in through the portal, carrying large boxes. Placing them down, they opened one and revealed that it contained Pokéballs of varying types. Giovanni pulled out a single Pokéball that was different from the rest, and turned toward the two humans.
“You know, I heard a rumour.” Giovanni approached the two, two grunts releasing two full teams of Pokémon to back him up.
“About the master ball.” Giovanni held up the ball in his hand to the two. Blue widened his eyes, and looked to Red. Red’s frown deepened.
“About it’s ability to catch anything without fail.” Giovanni paused a few steps away from them, and motioned to the grunts to capture them. Twilight and Lyra put up a good fight, but were quickly knocked out. They had no real way to fight trained Pokémon at their level. Red and Blue knew they had no chance without their Pokémon, but they tried to fight back either way. They were quickly subdued.
“And about how it applies to people, as well as Pokémon.” Blue watched as three large metal cages were brought through the portal, and as the two ponies were tossed inside. He followed soon after, and turned his gaze to Red.
“And how a trainer was once captured in one.” Red struggled to break free of the Pokémon, but eventually stopped and turned his gaze on Giovanni.
“Red!” Blue charged at the side of the cage, trying to topple it and break free. However, he cried out in pain as a grunt’s Pikachu began to send electric charges through the cage. Red watched this, and turned back to Giovanni as he hovered the ball close to Red’s face.
“You know very well how much voltage a Pikachu can muster if it so wishes. So how about I give you a choice Red?” Giovanni leaned in close, and smiled.
“You willingly get inside the Master Ball, and I won’t harm your friend and the two pets.” Giovanni glanced toward the cages and gave a nod. The Pikachu sent a charge through Blue’s cage once more. It was a much higher voltage, and Blue cried out in further pain. However, he managed to train his eyes on Red, and shout a quick word.
“Don’t!” Blue collapsed to the floor of the metal cage, and began writhing in agony. Giovanni turned his gaze back to Red, and smiled.
“Your choice Red, I am nothing but fair.” Red glanced to Blue, who was still crying out in pain, and then to the Master Ball near his face.
Red closed his eyes and leaned forward, letting the ball touch his forehead.
The next time Red opened his eyes, things looked very different. Blue and the two ponies had been bound and gagged, and the cages were about to be covered with a piece of cloth. The rockets had returned all the Pokémon and were slowly setting up a base of operation. Turning to look to Giovanni, he saw his belt being held out for him to take. Red took it, and put it back on.
“Return your Pokémon.” At his command, Red raised his head and tossed the Pokéball to return his Charizard. Blue’s Dragonite, a fierce fighter by it’s own right, could not battle against both of Giovanni’s Pokémon, and was quickly subdued. Rapidash and Ponyta stood to the side, being held off by the two Sneasel.
“Look at me.” Giovanni’s voice reached Red, and he turned to meet Giovanni’s gaze. The grunts about to cover the cages paused, watching the exchange. Blue strained his head around and looked at Red.
“Bow.” Giovanni narrowed his eyes, waiting to see the results. He needed to ensure he had complete control of Red, lest he be stabbed in the back at a later date. It was fortunate he did, because as he waited for Red to do as he commanded, he realised the action was taking longer than it should.
Red gazed at Giovanni for a long time, neither moving nor blinking. If one were to look closely, they might notice the occasional eye twitch. It was two full minutes before Red finally blinked, and Giovanni frowned in response.
“I see, so I can only control you as long as it does not conflict with your morals, that’s a shame. You’ll make a good lap dog however.” Giovanni turned and began ordering the grunts to begin preparing to invade the town.
Blue looked to the grunts as they finally pulled the curtain over them, getting one last look at Red, before lowering his head and closing his eyes.
Lyra woke up in darkness, bound and gagged. Managing to light her horn, she realised she was in some sort of cage, and let her body slump.
Twilight was too knocked out to even think about escaping.
Red looked toward the town, and his hand slowly curled into a fist.
Rapidash and Ponyta tried to push through the two Sneasel.
Giovanni smiled to himself, things were going well. He had the main contenders subdued, and Red would destroy any opposition as long as he had Blue and the two pets captive. If he was correct in his theory, it would only take a week for Red to finally accept it and become a full slave to him.
And that was when a large Charizard exploded from the sky, landing on the ground with a large explosion of dust, and gave an ear-splitting roar. On it’s back a tall cloaked figure stood, hidden under the cowl of the cloak. It leapt off the back of the Pokémon, and began making it’s way toward Giovanni.
“Who the Arceus is that?” Giovanni growled, and looked to Red. However, Red was just as perplexed as Giovanni, he had no idea who this mysterious trainer was.
“Red, go and teach that trainer not to interfere with Team Rocket.” Giovanni pointed toward the cloak figure, who slowly came to a stop. Giovanni walked a good distance away to watch the fight, confident in the abilities of Red.
Red pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it into the air, the cloaked figure doing the same. As the two Blastoise appeared, and began to fight, a frown appeared on Red’s face. Both Blastoise had the same moveset, the same attack pattern, and yet there was something strange going on.
Red was losing.
Throwing out Pokémon after Pokémon, Red’s frown slowly turned into a scowl of frustration, and he switched tactics. Each Pokémon he threw out would be met with ease, and never once did Red manage to gain the upper hand. Wind began to pick up, and the cloth over the cages began to ripple, grunts going to secure it.
Red tossed his final Pokémon, and looked at his opponent, taking in how outmatched he really was. Red was loosing, but in such a way the opponent never even seemed slightly worried. It was as if Red was looking at the next level in Pokémon training, someone who had surpassed him long ago.
As his final Pokémon was defeated, Red returned his Pokémon and gazed upon the cloaked stranger. Giovanni looked on in surprise, never expecting to see Red lose so easily. The grunts stood by, hands going to their Pokémon. The Charizard behind the cloaked man began to approach.
As the grunts sent out their Pokémon, it was obvious how outmatched they were. No attacks even seemed to dent the Charizard as it made it’s way over to the ensnared Dragonite that belonged to Blue, and casually tossed Giovanni’s Pokémon aside, helping the Dragonite up.
Giovanni turned on the cloaked stranger, and began to send out his own Pokémon. But once again, the stranger defeated them as if it was no effort at all, and approached Giovanni.
“Tch,” muttered Giovanni, looking around for a means to stop the cloaked trainer from approaching. Finding none, he straightened up and faced the cloaked stranger head on. The stranger stopped a step away, and snatched the Master Ball from Giovanni, shattering it with his hand.
“Why you,” spoke Giovanni, barely containing his anger. Behind the stranger, the Charizard watched him carefully. In an act of frustration, he dived at the cloaked stranger, only to be pushed aside as the stranger approached the cages. The grunt with the key backed into one of the cages, and reached for his now empty Pokéballs. Looking at the cloaked stranger, he flinched as a hand reached for him.
Opening his eyes, the grunt relaxed, the cloaked man had only taken the key. Realising he should probably make an attempt to get it back, the grunt opened his mouth, and closed it a moment later when the cloaked man’s Charizard passed by. The cloaked man tossed the key to Red, who caught it, and continued watching the guy.
Finally, the cloaked man walked toward Giovanni once more, who watched him approach, venom in his eyes. The stranger paused for a second time, and raised his hand, forming a fist.
The stranger decked Giovanni in the face, hard.
Giovanni fell to the ground, out before he had even hit it.
The stranger leapt back on his Charizard and looked to Red, a stray breeze picking up and blowing off his hood. Red’s eyes widened as he looked at who had saved them. Of all the trainers in the world, only one had bested him.
He wasn’t expecting the second person to best him to be…
Blue stepped out of the cage, and glanced to Red as he unlocked the other two cages, removing the binds and stepping back out.
“Red?” Blue’s voice caused Red to jump, and turn. Blue looked at Red, taking in the image of slight shock hidden behind his blank gaze, and the knocked out Giovanni.
“What happened?” Blue ignored the two ponies as they walked out, in a less coherent state then he was. Lyra was the quickest to recover, and immediately noticed the same thing Blue had.
“Who saved us Red?” As Lyra walked forward, Red looked to her, and a frown appeared on his face. Then, very slowly, and with a slight hint of confusion, he pointed to himself. The two blinked in response.
“Wait,” started Blue.
“What!?” Lyra reared up, and waved her arms in the air to emphasise her point, landing once more after she had done that. Red nodded, and glanced to the sky, in the direction the cloaked Red had flown off in.
“What do you mean you saved us?” Blue walked forward, and noticed Red shake his head.
“Wait, so you didn’t save us?” Lyra walked over to check on Twilight, who was starting to stir, commenting as she walked. Red frowned once more, and shrugged.
“So let me try and understand. You saved us, but it wasn’t you?” Blue watched Red sit down and draw a picture in the dirt. If Blue looked closely, this Red looked a little older than the one currently sitting in front of him.
“An…Older you?” Blue frowned in confusion, and sat down beside Red as he nodded. Blue tried to understand how exactly an ‘older Red’ could have saved them, but it made little sense to him.
“What about time travel?” Turning, they both saw Twilight stand up, and rub her forehead. Coming to join the two, she pointed to the grunts huddling in a small group near the portal.
“Should we-ah-be worried about them?” Watching the two glance over, Twilight frowned as they shook their heads. She didn’t know that Pokémon trainers were pretty useless without their Pokémon, or she wasn’t fully aware of it.
“What do you mean time travel?” Blue put a hand on his chin and glanced down, thinking about it.
“Well for me, and any high level unicorn, we can cast a spell to send us back, or forward, in time for a short amount of time, and only once. I don’t know how it would work for your world.” Twilight glanced to the boss human lying on the ground, and felt a smug satisfaction at the large black bruise on his face, they would have to bind him soon.
“I doubt it, there’s no way for us to travel through time. There’s a guy named Bill devising a way to trade back through and forward in time, but that’s about it, I doubt he’d make the destination changeable, probably causes big time paradox problems or some science-y stuff. I don’t think there’s any way that’s relevant.” Blue shrugged, and noticed Twilight glancing to Giovanni. Picking up the rope he had been bound in, he tied up the guy and glared at the grunts, who shrunk under his gaze. Releasing his recently required Eevee, he left her to sit on the body and rejoined the chat.
“But it’s possible isn’t it? You said this Red was older right? Maybe this Bill guy owes him a favour in the future.” Twilight watched Blue open his mouth to object, and then glanced to Red.
“Well you did save the guy from life as a Clefairy…” Blue glanced to Twilight as she raised a hoof in confirmation.
“Well there you go.” Twilight noticed the two still frowning.
“But even so, what reason would Red have to come back in time…” Blue paused, and then looked to Twilight with fake dismay.
“Without me! I deserve to go back in time too! I’m ten times as awesome!” Blue looked to Red as he gently bumped Blue in the face, and grunted.
“Red,” spoke Blue from behind Red’s hand, muffled.
“I get it, you can stop trying to kill me with your gigantic hands now.” Blue watched the hand be removed from his dashing face, and smirked at Red. Twilight watched the exchange, and looked away, a small smile forming on her face.
“So, what now?” Lyra looked to them and then to the damage caused by the group of humans that had through. Blue sighed, and stood up, grabbing Giovanni like a sack of potatoes.
“We head back, and take these people to the police, and hope that they are competent enough to have a police station.” Watching the others rise, Blue returned his Eevee.
“Alright you sad sacks of meat! Get your stuff and go back through the portal! Remember I can kick your sorry asses in my sleep!” Blue ordered the grunts to do the dirty work, and they grudgingly obeyed, knowing they were hosed. Blue paused at the portal once everything that had been brought through had been removed, and held up two fingers in the universal symbol for peace.
“Smell ya later losers!” Blue entered the portal, and was gone. Red stood up, and looked to the two ponies.
The two mares gazed at the solitary human as he gazed down at them, his expression unreadable, even to the trained eyes looking at him. The clouds overhead finally broke, releasing rain once more onto the ground. Twilight was annoyed slightly it was time for rain, and considered having a word with Rainbow Dash about the multitude of rain recently, but let it go.
Giving a sad smile to Red, she said her goodbye’s, and stepped back to let the two have their moment. Even if she considered Red her friend, she knew Lyra was much more so. The mint mare felt the rain on her face, and ignored the fact she could taste salt mixed in with the water, looking up to Red.
Red’s face was hidden in the darkness of his hat, but Lyra could see the down tilt of his mouth. Bending down, Red raised his head so he met Lyra’s eyes. Lyra watched him place a Pokéball on the ground, and take a step back. Widening her eyes, she realised Red must have taken it from the house. Looking down at it, she knew what it signified. A choice, stay or come.
Lyra's hoof trembled as she reached out to touch the ball's smooth red surface. A part of her felt a connection to it. A longing to return, to rest. In her heart she fought a battle of desire. Go, and discover a new world, one full of the beings she had come to adore. Stay, and be with her friends and family. Both ripped at her. In truth she knew that either choice would have her lose at least one friend.
She saw Bon Bon's face in her mind
Her hoof slammed down crushing the fragile plasting and circuitry. Along with part of her heart. Looking up she expected to see hurt in Red's eyes but instead she saw the opposite, love and understanding. Red reached up with one hand and rubbed behind her ear for a moment before standing up straight and tall.
His eyes shining like fire he turned to head for the portal. However he paused when Lyra dived for his legs, and began openly crying. Even if she knew it was futile, she had to try. She didn’t want to lose Red. Red was the first human she had met, and likely the last. He had taught her more about the world she lived in, and to be more open to other cultures.
Red wrapped his arms around Lyra, and waited patiently as she sobbed into his jacket. Lyra felt the world around her fade, concentrating on the feeling of having Red with her. Lyra didn’t want it to end, but she couldn’t follow him where he was going, it was not her world. She wasn’t a Pokémon, it wasn’t meant to be.
After a moment longer, Red separated and looked down at Lyra. Taking a step back, she lowered her head and tried to ignore the feeling of the world falling apart around her. Hearing him slowly step away, she raised her head and watched him step toward the portal. Watching him leave, Lyra felt all her energy and confidence leave her. It felt as if without Red as her trainer, she would forever be missing something in her life.
Suddenly, a step away from the portal, he turned and gave a small smile. Lyra felt her face break open into a hot blush, and even Twilight felt stirred by the emotion. This smile was completely different from the one before now, which seemed barely a ghost in comparison. It was as if Red was giving them a special gift, that only they would ever see.
Raising a single hand, putting his other hand into a jacket pocket, he gave a single slow movement left and right, almost a wave if it had been repeated more than once.
Lyra blinked at the slowly shrinking portal. Red and Blue had probably decided to destroy it, or turn it off. Feeling the shock of what had just happened, she felt it suddenly change into a buzzing energy. A smile appeared on her face, no it was more of a smirk.
“Oh hell no.” Lyra felt the energy in her body strengthen, suddenly confident in her decision.
“Twilight!” Lyra turned, and confronted the mare with an almost frenzied glare. Twilight took a step back, and didn’t have enough time to even think before Lyra continued.
“Tell my family, and Bon Bon, that I’m sorry.” Before Twilight could object, Lyra turned, and leapt through the portal right before it closed.
Twilight blinked at the empty space in front of her, and blinked again. It took her a few moments before she realised what Lyra had done. But she didn’t have time to ponder it, as she heard footsteps behind her.
“About time those losers left,” spoke a voice from behind her. Twilight turned, and her eyes widened in surprise.
