The Cutie Mark Crusaders decide to get some pokemon for themselves and earn their pokemon trainer cutie marks!
After hearing about a teleporter that can send them back to the dimension Rainbow Dash was rescued from, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decide it is time for them to earn their cutie marks as Pokemon trainers.
(This is a story that has only the Cutie Mark Crusader chapters (the side I write) of the story "The Pokemon Crusaders" The author gave me permission to upload this as a separate story, the ending will be different than the original since this is a "what-if" version of the original.)
“We are going to sneak into the teleporter? Are you crazy?!” Scootaloo simply giggled as Sweetie Belle said this quite loudly.
Apple Bloom clamped her hoof over Sweetie Belle‘s mouth before speaking in a rough whisper. “Quiet down Sweetie Belle, or else they will hear us!”
“Mmfphh!” Sweetie Belle gave up speaking and just nodded as her snout was then released. “So… how do we sneak in? Twilight will most probably have it locked down tight.”
“Just leave that to me.” Scootaloo reached in her saddlebag and pulled out what looked to be like a lockpick… a lockpick?!
“We’re going to pick the lock?!” Once again Apple Bloom clamped her hoof on Sweetie Belle’s mouth but this time she dived into the bushes with her as Spike looked out the window. After a few minutes of struggling the unicorn broke free of her mouth restraint and gave Applebloom one of her glares before looking at Scootaloo. “How did you even learn to do such a thing Scootaloo?”
“When you are a fan of watching theater you pick up a few things here and there.” Scootaloo simply shrugged as she put her lockpick back in her saddlebag. “So Apple Bloom, when do we start going for our cutie marks as Pokemon Trainers?”
“As soon as everypony is asleep, except for us of course.” Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded their heads before all three of them ran away from the area.
Night time was the usual quiet version of the normally bustling town of Ponyville. The last few of the open doors closed shut with a few clangs being heard shortly after, and a few clicks signaled the lights inside turning off. Sweetie Belle was inside her room, a small butterfly nightlight made by Fluttershy being the only illumination the room got, packing her saddlebags for a few things that she knew would be needed for the trip. A first-aid kit filled with band-aids, bandage wraps, disinfectant, and even a few nurse equipment such as a stethoscope and a head light were amongst the things in her saddlebag. Knowing how improperly prepared the other two fillies might have been, she also took care to pack a few packages and cans of food for the trip... a can-opener was also amongst them.
"Okay... so that is pretty much everything we might need for the trip." She stretched out her back before walking over to her drawer and pulling out a black spy outfit. Pinkie Pie had made her and the other two fillies this outfit when they tried getting their super spy cutie marks, what a disaster THAT turned out to be. After putting the outfit on she threw her saddle bags over her body and climbed out the window. Getting outside the boutique should have been the easy part but she lost her footing and fell into a bush nearby with a loud thump. She slowly climbed out the bushes and shook off the leaves on her body. "Now I just have to meet up with the others." She quickly galloped towards the backyard of Twilight's Library.
After asking permission from Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith, Apple Bloom was in the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders packing up what she thought she would need. Inside the saddle bag was a few bottles of water and even a bottle or two of the Apple Family's Sweet Apple Cider. "We shouldn't need to pack food, there would obviously be food in that pokemon world for us!" She zipped up her saddle bag and fixed it to her back as she jumped out the clubhouse, she too was wearing the super spy outfit Pinkie Pie had made for her.
Scootaloo was seen in the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders fiddling with her lockpick when she suddenly snapped to reality. "Pokemon. Cutie Mark. Forgot!" She quickly sat up and checked her own saddle bag to see if she had everything. Inside there was a Daring Do book she borrowed from Twilight that she decided to return that night along with a red and white hat that had a grey letter S in front of it and the Cutie Mark Crusader Capes. "Now that everything is packed..." She took the hat out the bag and placed it on her head. "It's time to rock and roll!" She then galloped to Twilight's Library.
After only a few minutes Scootaloo managed to reach the back of Twilight's Library and met up with the other two crusaders. "So what's the plan Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom nodded her head before she began speaking. "First we are going to let Scootaloo use her lockpicking skills to get us inside the treehouse."
Scootaloo smiled as she hoof pumped the air. "Aww yeah!" Sweetie Belle instantly covered Scootaloo's mouth with her hoof after that outburst.
"Afterwards we are going to use our super spy abilities to sneak to the teleporter while Sweetie Belle uses her levitation spell to snag the bag of Pokeballs next to it." She then looked at Sweetie Belle with a glare. "Don't screw up the spell this time... remember what happened when ya tried levitating me? Ah still get headaches now and then!"
Sweetie Belle only smiled nervously. "I've been practicing a lot, don't worry."
"Okay girls now that we have a plan, it's time go act." After Apple Bloom said this, she and the other two Crusaders put on their black masks and galloped towards the front of Twilight's Library. "Scootaloo go for it."
The orange filly nodded her head and proceeded to pick the lock. Once she heard a click she signaled with her hoof for the other two to follow her. "This is so exciting."
As soon as the three fillies stepped into the Library however, a purple aura surrounded them and teleported them to their clubhouse in Sweet Apple Acres. "What just happened?!" A frustrated Scootaloo shouted at the top of her lungs.
Sweetie Belle looked around then sighed. "Girls... I think Twilight hexed her Library the same way Rarity hexed her boutique..."
"Well ain't that swell! How the hay are we going to get to that portal now?!" After saying this, Scootaloo fell flat on her back with a grunt.
Apple Bloom simply smiled and stood up. "Then it's settled girls, we will have to sneak into the transporter when the Library is open!"
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle simply stared at Apple Bloom in shock before the unicorn of the pair spoke. "Do you know how impossible you sound right now?"
Apple Bloom only giggled before responding. "Don't worry about it! We will just wait for her to use the bathroom or something and then we can sneak into the teleporter." She looked at the sighing fillies nodding their heads and smiled even bigger. "Let's go to bed and try again tomorrow."
Celestia's sun shone brightly on Ponyville as Sweetie Belle woke up from her bed. "I guess it's time to see Twilight at the Library... I really hope Apple Bloom knows what she's doing...:" She got her saddlebag of supplies and put on her Cutie Mark Crusader cape before hopping down the stairs.
"Sweetie Belle darling, do be careful today." Rarity spoke in a gentle tone while her face was concentrated on the fabric she was sewing. "Keep out of danger as well!"
Hearing that last part made Sweetie Belle smile nervously unbeknownst to Rarity. "Sure thing sis!" She then ran out the Boutique and sighed once she got far enough away. "Sorry sis..." She shook her head as she began her trot to Twilight's Library. "I wonder if the other two are there yet?"
Scootaloo had woken up from her sleeping spot in the clubhouse with a yawn, she often enjoyed staying there from time to time. She ruffled her mane a bit to have it fall just how she likes it before putting her Cutie Mark Crusader cape on. "This is going to be so awesome! I am going to get the coolest pokemon ever and impress Rainbow Dash!" She could barely contain her excitement as she put her saddle bag on and leaped out the window landing on the floor with a thud. "Ow..." She got up and started galloping full speed to Twilight's library. "I wonder what kinds of pokemon I will find?"
Apple Bloom was finishing up her chores in the house which consisted of doing the dishes, making her bed, and taking out the trash. "Applejack, ah'm going over to Twilight's now!"
Applejack practically yelled her response from the kitchen where she was at. "Okay then, tell Twilight ah will be around later ta see if her tele-mathingy is done!"
"Sure thing! Ah will let her know!" Apple Bloom then ran out the house and galloped towards the library.
Sweetie Belle looked up from her laying spot in the grass and smiled when she saw her two best friends walking towards her. "Hey girls!" She stood up and waved to the two fillies approaching.
Apple Bloom waved back with a big grin. "Howdy Sweetie Belle!"
Scootaloo waved as well and also with a big grin on her face. "Hiya!"
"Ah hope ya'll are ready because today is where we get our Pokemon Catching Cutie Marks!" Apple Bloom jumped up very excited.
All three of them looked to each other before shouting in unison. "Cutie Mark Crusaders: Pokemon Trainers!" After they said this Scootaloo knocked on the door more than a few times.
Twilight stepped outside rubbing her eyes. "Oh hiya girls, what brings you here?" She yawned deeply before continuing to speak. "And why so early?"
"Well we were wondering if you could tell us about the teleporter thingy." Sweetie Belle looked up at a now shocked Twilight. "Uh... Rarity told me a little about it and I was curious."
"So I am guessing she told you two and you were excited as well to come?" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both nodded making Twilight sigh. "Very well then." She stepped aside to let the three fillies pass.
Sweetie Belle took note of where the bag of pokeballs were before speaking up. "What are those?"
Twilight looked over at the sack of pokeballs and levitated one of them over to Sweetie Belle. "These are called pokeballs, they are what trainers use to catch pokemon." She made the Pokeball's button click against Scootaloo making her jump up and instinctively run to the other side of the room. "Ha ha ha! Rarity almost had the same reaction." She placed the pokeball back into the bag and zipped it up.
"So what about the teleporter? Where is it? Where is it?" Apple Bloom hopped up and down excitedly making Twilight frown slightly. "It is in the locked room behind me, for obvious reasons I can't show you because it is still too dangerous for you three to go alone let alone at all."
Apple Bloom only frowned as she turned to the other two who giggled lightly amongst themselves.
"The teleporter is a device I have been working on for quite a while now ever since me and Pinkie Pie brought Rainbow Dash back from that Pokemon world. It will allow us to return there so we can get pokemon of our own."
The three fillies looked at each other before looking at Twilight, they had heard an explanation like this the other day when they eavesdropped on the mane six shortly after Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie PIe returned from saving Rainbow Dash.
"So girls do you have any other questions?" Twilight looked at the three fillies who shook their heads. Suddenly a loud grumble was heard from their stomachs. "I am guessing you skipped breakfast?" The three fillies looked to each other and nodded their heads. "I will go make some breakfast then." Once Twilight was inside the kitchen she closed the door causing the fillies to talk amongst themselves.
"So girls, are ya'll ready to go for it?" Apple Bloom looked at the faces of her friends who nodded their heads. "Then let's do this." Sweetie Belle walked over to the bag and used her levitation spell to shakily carry it. "Hurry up Scootaloo..."
Scootaloo was busy picking the lock of the locked door that held the teleporter. "Just gimmie... one.. sec, there!" The lock clicked open as the three fillies walked inside and saw the machine. "Whoa... it looks awesome!" The teleporter indeed looked a lot like a telephone booth and Scootaloo instinctively looked at Apple Bloom with a confused look. "Are you sure this is it?"
Apple Bloom saw Scootaloo's gaze and smiled. "That's what she said!"
Sweetie Belle opened the door and walked in followed by the three fillies. "Let's go!" She pulled down on a lever and the telephone booth sprang to life as it started glowing with a purple aura. The bodies of the three fillies started to mold making their bones crack and extended emitting loud cries from the trio. "I am going to give you a beating Applebloom!"
"How the hay was ah supposed to know this would happen?!" Apple Bloom said through grunts.
Eventually the morphing stopped as the telephone booth made a loud explosion as it disappeared. Twilight ran into the room when she heard the explosion and gasped. "Oh no, oh no no no!" She then rushed out and called out to Spike. "SPIKE!!!!"
A small explosion of wind disrupted the normally peaceful woods of the Unova region as a blue telephone booth machine appeared right smack dab in the middle. A few grunts from inside were heard until eventually three little girls came tumbling out in a big heap. Each of them groaned in both pain and annoyance as they got off of each other and laid down on the grass. Each of the girls had different colored hairstyles. One had red hair with a pink bow on the back, the other had light purpleish hair that was dishiveled, and the other had short, bubbley hair with a mix of white and pink colors.
On their bodies, they each wore a dark blue dress with gold lining on the inside, on the top right of their chest was the Cutie Mark Crusader symbol of a filly on it's hind legs with it's fore hooves in the air.The white and pink haired girl was the first to sit up with a painful groan as she looked around. The next to wake up was the purple haired girl and lastly the red headed girl. The red head was the first to speak up. "What the hay happened? Did it work?"
The girl with the two-toned hair spoke up next. "I think it worked Apple Bloom, I think we are in Unova."
This time it was the purpleish haired girl to speak. "No way! That's awesome Sweetie Belle! Let's get to catching!" She went to stand up but when she did her legs wobbled and eventually buckled making her land face first on the grass. Once Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle saw what happened they rushed over.
"Scootaloo, are you okay?" Sweetie Belle had a concerned look on her face.
Scootaloo sat up and rubbed her head in pain. "Yeah i'm fine..."
"Uh girls? What the hay happened to ya'll?!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both took a good look at each other and screamed as they both fell back and away from each other. "Why do ya'll look like that?"
Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom with a glare in her eyes. "How should I know?! This was your dumb idea!"
"Ya didn't think it was dumb a few minutes ago!"
Sweetie Belle crawled in between the two arguing girls and shoved them back. "Twilight's machine must have malfunctioned and made us actual humans instead of holograms."
"It must have malfunctioned when Apple Bloom's big head hit that button!"
"Nu-uh! It was your big flank that smacked the lever up!"
Sweetie Belle just about had enough of the bickering which is why she raised her voice. "Girls sto-!" She was cut off by a growl nearby. "Uh... what was that?" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other and both shrugged before the growl came again making all three of them hug each other in fear.
"It doesn't sound friendly..." Scootaloo was slowly growing more and more panicked as the growls got louder.
"What do ya'll think we should do?" Apple Bloom asked in hopes of getting a good answer.
"This was your fault to begin with! You figure something out!" Scootaloo retorted making Apple Bloom frown.
The bushes in front of them rustled as a bipedal red and black dinosaur-like creature emerged baring it's teeth. It looked at the girls menacingly for invading his turf. "Krookodile!"
All three of the girls screamed in fear as the Krookodile charged them when suddenly a bright blue ball shot out of the bushes and slammed into the Krookodile making it stumble a bit.. A blue pokemon with black ears and paws jumped out of the bushes. It had a red ragged scarf around it's neck flapping in the wind. It launched another focus blast at the Krookodile who growled in anger with it's attention fully on the pokemon.
Krookodile ran at Riolu with it's claws raised only to get hit with an ice punch to it's stomach. The Krookodile stumbled back and fell to one knee in shock. It was now confused as to how a simple Riolu could hold it's own against him.
The Riolu smirked before it ran towards the Krookodile and leaped at it sending a well aimed Force Palm into the beast 's chest paralyzing it. After landing on the ground and making sure the Krookodile was immobile, the Riolu looked at the three terrified girls and nudged its head as if beckoning them to follow.
The three girls looked at each other before they made an attempt to stand up, only to fall forward on their hands and knees. Scootaloo groaned in annoyance. "This is impossible! How the hay are we going to follow it? Crawl?!"
Apple Bloom then sighed as she shook her head. "Come on girls, would you rather stay and be eaten by that monster?" She pointed at the Krookodile who was trying it's best to move its limbs... slowly.
"Doesn't look so scary to me anymore..." Scootaloo crossed her arms and looked away, only to get a glare from Sweetie Belle.
"Scootaloo..." Sweetie Belle retorted. "Can we please just get out of here?"
"Fine..." Scootaloo sighed as the three girls stood up, put their backpacks on, and once more, with each other's support, followed the Riolu while Sweetie Belle managed to grabbed the bag of Pokeballs with her hands. The now amused Riolu then led them into the forest as the girls fumbled putting on their saddle bags turned backpacks.
It only took half an hour before Riolu grew annoyed by the bickering and whining of Sweetie Belle and Apple bloom.
"I told you we shouldn't have done this!" Sweetie Belle cried.
"Nopony told ya to come with us!" Apple Bloom retorted.
"Somepony had to look out for you if you got hurt!"
"Girls..." Scootaloo said clearly annoyed.
"Then why the hay are ya complaining?!"
"Because you assured me that the human thing was a hologram and WOULDN'T change our bodies completely!"
"Girls!" Scootaloo was now getting mad.
"How was ah suppose to know this would happen? I only went off of what ah heard!"
"GIRLS!!" This sudden outburst from Scootaloo startled the Riolu in front a bit to the point where it turned around with a raised eyebrow. The two bickering girls also jumped from the outburst completely stopping their argument. "I really don't think arguing with ourselves is going to get us anywhere, can we just agree to disagree and move on?" The two girls thought for a few seconds before nodding their heads.
"About time you girls stopped bickering... it was getting annoying. Thanks by the way miss purple hair."
Scootaloo and the other two looked around before Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Wh-who said that?"
"Down here..."
All three of them looked down at the Riolu who was looking at them with curious eyes. "You can talk?! But how? You aren't moving your mouth!" Scootaloo was startled by the Riolu which caused her to say this.
"It is called telepathy, many psychic pokemon can use it but choose not to. I am one of the few who do... you aren't from around here are you?" Riolu said while crossing his arms across his chest.
Apple Bloom looked at the other two before speaking. "Wh- what? Of course we are!"
"What town are you girls from? Also why are you alone?" Riolu raised an eyebrow after saying this.
Apple Bloom was about to speak when Scootaloo spoke up instead. "We actually aren't from around here, we came from another-!" Her mouth was muffled by Sweetie Belle's hands.
"Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said annoyed before she suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth instead.
Riolu looked at the purple haired girl with interest. "Scootaloo? That name is most unusual... I am actually not surprised, you'd be surprised by how much we pokemon actually know that humans do not."
Sweetie Belle slowly lowered her hands and continued to speak. "So... you believe us saying we are from another dimension?"
Riolu's eyes became wide hearing this."Then the rumors are true... there was a Rainbow Dash here after all!"
"Well since the cat's outta the bag..." Apple Bloom walked up to Riolu and smiled. "Ma name's Apple Bloom! Those two are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!" She pointed to the two girls who both smiled as well.
"We come from the same universe as Rainbow Dash! I am even the president of her fan club!" Scootaloo beamed with pride saying this.
"A fan club?... Well that is interesting. She must be pretty amazing."
"Yeah! She is the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria!" Scootaloo responded.
"Pegasus? Equestria? Is she a pony in your universe?"
"We are all ponies back in Equestria, that teleportation machine made us humans even though it should have been holograms..." Sweetie Belle shot a glare at Apple Bloom who raised her hands defensively in surrender.
"Okay I see what's going on now, no worries your secret is safe with me." He winked as he started to move again making the girls follow him. "We are almost at the town, you should think up some names."
"Here we are girls, welcome to Mistralton!" Riolu used his arms to gesture at the town that was in front of them.
"Huh... doesn't look all that different from ponyville." Scootaloo said with a raised eyebrow before getting elbowed in the side lightly by Apple Bloom. "What?"
"Scootaloo be polite!" Sweetie Belle said before looking back at Riolu. "Can you show us around?"
"Well..." Riolu rubbed his left arm with his right hand and shuffled his feet. "I haven't actually been here myself before so... I wouldn't know where star- AHHHHH!!" Riolu felt himself get lifted off the ground making him panic.
"Relax Riolu! We will show you around as well then!" Scootaloo smiled as she set Riolu down on her shoulders.
"Wah! I'm gonna fall, i'm gonna fall!" The pokemon flailed it's arms about before latching them on to Scootaloo's head.
The crusaders simply laughed as they walked into the town while Sweetie Belle picked up the dropped pokeball bag.
"So the red building is the Pokemon Center and the Blue building is the PokeMart?" Sweetie Belle asked quizzically.
"That is correct! You heal your pokemon at the center and you buy supplies at the market." Riolu smiled at Sweetie Belle who returned it with her own smile.
"So when can we start catching pokemon? I want to get my Pokemon Catching Cutie Mark for catching the strongest pokemon out there!" Scootaloo beamed nearly making Riolu lose his balance on her shoulders.
"You need a pokemon first!" Sweetie Belle retorted.
"I could be your pokemon!" Riolu responded making Scootaloo look up with a smile.
"Really? That's awesome!" Scootaloo yelled happily once again making Riolu almost lose balance.
Apple Bloom was about to respond when suddenly a guy with beige hair and a beige beard walked up to them with a smile. "I'm sorry but I couldn't help but overhear that you girls are looking for the strongest pokemon in existence?"
Apple Bloom looked at him and smiled. "Of course! We want our pokemon catching cut- mfffph!!" Sweetie Belle had managed to cover Apple Bloom mouth without giving the guy any hints.
"Yes we are mister, do you know of any?" Sweetie Belle looked up at the guy with a smile making him laugh.
"Well of course I know! By the way you can call me Cedric Juniper." The guy replied before looking at the girls with a grin.
"My name is Amber!" Apple Bloom blurted out, much to Sweetie Belle's surprise since she thought Apple Bloom would be the one to ruin the whole thing.
Sweetie Belle then cleared her throat and replied. "My name is Samantha!"
Scootaloo then took Riolu off her head and held him in her arms making him chuckle. "My name is Daisy! This is my pokemon Skeeter!"
Riolu looked up at Scootaloo with a raised eyebrow in both confusion and appreciation. He was honored to be nicknamed but he was alos confused as to why that name above any else.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both raised their eyebrows at Scootaloo's choice of name before Cedric laughed again. "Nice to meet you girls! Now let me tell you about the legend of Kyurem!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The crusaders and even Riolu were wide-eyed as Cedric finished telling them of the Legendary Kyurem. "I have here a map that shows you exactly where in the chasm you have to be to find him." He handed 'Samantha' the map before waving at them. "I must be on my way now, more discoveries are to be amde by this journeyman!" With that being said he walked off and out of sight.
"Alright girls! It's time for us to go pokemon hunting!" Apple Bloom shouted happily.
All three of them took deep breaths as they shouted in unison. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: POKEMON TRAINERS!!!!"
Riolu covered his ears just in time to avoid going deaf as the crusaders walked out of town getting weird looks from the people nearby.
"I don't know, Apple Bloom... that cave sounds dangerous." Scootaloo was imagining all the scary Pokémon that could be in Chargestone Cave as Apple Bloom facepalmed herself.
Apple Bloom looked at the map again and said, "Okay fine! We'll go to the north where the Celestial Tower is." Scootaloo sighed in relief.
"Why are you so scared anyway, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, making Scootaloo growl.
"I'm not scared! I'm just.. concerned for your safety!"
"Chicken..." Apple Bloom jokingly replied.
"I'm not a chicken!" Scootaloo stomped one foot on the ground before Riolu, nicknamed Skeeter, stepped in.
"Enough, girls! Can we just please move on?" The three girls nodded as Skeeter sighed rubbing his temples. "What did I get myself into?" He sighed as he tightened the red scarf around his neck.
A few minutes had passed when Sweetie Belle decided to speak up. "Hey Scootaloo... if Riolu is your Pokémon..."
"Skeeter!" Scootaloo cut in.
"Sorry, if Skeeter is your Pokémon now... where is his Pokéball?" Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow as she looked at the Riolu.
Scootaloo giggled lightly before pulling out her trainer hat and putting it on. "She makes a good point Skeeter, I have to catch you to make you officially my Pokémon."
"Okay, but do you have any other Pokémon to battle me with?" Skeeter questioned getting a confused look from the girl.
"No... does that mean I can't catch you?" Scootaloo sounded defeated when she said this.
"Not really, just throw a Pokéball at me and see if it works." Skeeter smiled as he leaped out of Scootaloo's arms and stood in front of her.
Scootaloo took out a Pokéball and turned her hat around. She then took the position of a pitcher and shouted. "Pokéball, go!" She threw the Pokéball at Skeeter, but, instead of it opening to catch him, the back of the ball smacked Skeeter in the face making him recoil in pain.
"Ouch!" Skeeter rubbed his nose as Scootaloo sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry... I threw it wrong." She then sighed as she took another and struck the same pose. Her trainer hat was still backwards on her head, she once again shouted. "Pokéball, go!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Skeeter waved his arms in front of him, afraid it would smack him in the face again, but this time the button of the ball clicked on his head and sucked him in. The ball shook for a few moments, but soon stopped and made a small pinging noise.
Scootaloo beamed with happiness as she picked up the Pokéball and twirled around before holding it forward. "Yes! I caught Riolu!"
The other two crusaders jumped and yelled. "Yahoo!"
"Skeeter, come on out!" She tossed the Pokéball into the air, causing it to open and let out Skeeter.
Skeeter on the other hand was still in his arms up, scared face, position before he stood erect and looked around. "Oh... guess it worked this time."
Scootaloo ran up to Skeeter and lifted him in her arms again. "Now you are officially mine!" Just then the realization hit her. "Hey girls did I get my cutie mark?!"
Apple Bloom slightly lifted up Scootaloo's dress to examine her upper thigh but sighed shaking her head. "Nope, sorry."
Scootaloo sighed in disappointment. "Aw man."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle just giggled as they started walking forward. "Come on Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle called out.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming..." Scootaloo sighed before she started to follow the girls.
It only took an hour before Scootaloo started complaining about being lost. "Face it Sweetie Belle, you read the map wrong."
"No I didn't! It says that the tower is right over that hill!"
"Over the hill, over the hill!"
"Don't copy me Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle spat out.
"Hey! That wasn't me!" Scootaloo said defensively.
"Then who-" Sweetie Belle was soon cut off.
"Girls, look!" Apple Bloom pointed to a strange bird-looking Pokémon that was hopping on the tree branch nearby. It had a yellow chest, blue wings, a green underbelly, and a head shaped like a music note.
"Girls, look; girls, look!" The Chatot responded, making Apple Bloom raise her eyebrow.
"Are ya copying me?" Apple Bloom growled.
"Are ya copying me? Are ya copying me?" The Chatot then whistled, making Apple Bloom yell in frustration.
"Stop that!" Apple Bloom yelled.
"Stop that!" The Chatot responded, making Sweetie Belle roll on the ground laughing.
"That's not funny, Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom looked at the laughing Sweetie Belle, then back at the Chatot who was now flying towards the laughing girl.
"Chatot finally made girl laugh, Chatot call her friend!" Sweetie Belle slowly went from laughing, to giggling, to silence as she looked at Chatot with a smile.
"A friend? You mean you want to be my friend?" The Chatot nodded it's head before landing on Sweetie Belle's shoulder and nuzzling her cheek making her giggle. "Well, okay then! As of now, you are my Pokémon!"
"Your Pokémon, your Pokémon!" The Chatot flapped it's wings happily as it said this.
"Apple Bloom, quick, give me a Pokéball!" Apple Bloom reluctantly took a Pokéball from the bag and handed it to Sweetie Belle, who lightly tapped it against Chatot's head, making it get sucked in. The ball shook a few times, but soon stopped and released a bunch of sparks and a metallic ping.
Sweetie Belle smiled as she held the Pokéball against her chest. "Yes! I caught Chatot!" She held the Pokéball out in front of her with a wink.
"Hey! That's my line!" Scootaloo shouted, making Sweetie Belle giggle.
"Sorry, I just had to do it." Sweetie Belle replied.
"So the dictionary got a chatterbox to go with it, how ironic." Apple Bloom said with slight annoyance.
"Hey! Quit calling me that!" Sweetie Belle yelled.
Skeeter just sighed, having now accepted his fate of forever being a part of this interesting bunch.
"So Skeeter... what attacks can you do anyway?" Scootaloo looked at the Riolu in her arms who was also looking up at her.
"Well... I know Ice Punch, Focus Blast, Low Kick, and Force Palm." Skeeter smiled after saying this, pleased that he had more moves than the average Riolu.
"Sweet! With moves like that, we can't lose!" Both Scootaloo and Skeeter smiled at each other, making Apple Bloom sigh with envy.
As the three girls walked on, eventually Apple Bloom stopped them and pointed to a tall tower nearby. "Look! Ah'll bet there are a ton of powerful Pokémon in there!" The other two girls nodded as they quickened their pace.
“The map says this is the Celestial Tower, and whoever rings the bell on top can make a wish!” Sweetie Belle said with excitement in her voice as she closed the map and put it in her bag.
“Well, what are we waiting for, girls? Let’s go up and ring that bell!” Scootaloo said with enthusiasm.
The three girls cheered as they ran forward to the tower where they would make their ultimate wish.
Once they got to the tower, they stopped frozen in their tracks. "So... who wants to go in first? Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked, making Scootaloo shake her head vigorously.
"Quit being such chickens, girls! Don't ya want your Pokémon Trainer Cutie Marks?" The other two girls nodded before following Apple Bloom inside. Once inside, they were met by an eerie tune that seemed highly out of place.
"Wh- What's that scary music playing?" Sweetie Belle asked as she held on to Scootaloo, who in turn tightened her grip on the now suffocating Skeeter.
"Grip... too tight... can't breath... dying..." Skeeter was trying his best to telepathically tell the girls but they were too frozen in fear from the music. "Vision... fading... too late... it's too late..." Skeeter then passed out once Scootaloo noticed what she was doing.
"Oh my gosh!" Scootaloo released her grip on Skeeter who quickly gasped for air and glared up at her. "I'm sooo sorry, Skeeter!"
"It's fine, just warn me next time." Skeeter responded, making Scootaloo giggle nervously.
"Well girls, the Pokémon aren't gonna catch themselves." Apple Bloom said nervously as all three of them gulped. After a few minutes they finally walked in, making the door slam behind them. Scootaloo quickly ran back and started banging on the door.
"Hey open up! Don't lock us in here!!" Scootaloo pleaded as Skeeter simply sighed standing next to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle took another look at the information on the tower in her book and sighed. “It seems this place is also a tourist trap, so there’s a chance the ghost Pokémon are toying with us...”
“Well it ain’t funny!” Apple Bloom responded as a few creepy laughs were emitted around the room.
“Come on girls! Let’s just get to the top and ring that bell!” Scootaloo yelled as they ran up the stairs. A dark figure floated right behind them slowly.
After going up numerous flights of stairs, the crusaders each fell against one another at the very top. All three of them were tired from non-stop running.
“Why... were there... so many... floors?!” Scootaloo said in frustration.
“There shouldn’t have been... that many... must have been... another prank...” Sweetie Belle responded, obviously out of breath.
“Well... let’s ring that bell... and get our... wish...” Apple Bloom stated as she slowly stood up.
Just then, an eerie voice had called out instantly freezing up the crusaders in their place. “Elgyem.”
"Is that a Pokémon?" Scootaloo asked timidly.
"It appears there is an Elgyem nearby." Sweetie Belle said as she flipped through a few pages of her Pokémon Encyclopedia.
"Where did you get that book anyway? Ah don’t remember you having that in Equestria," Apple Bloom asked with a raised eyebrow.
"While you both were arguing where to go I went and got this book from the library, they were generous enough to give it to me free of charge!"
"Smart girl." Skeeter smiled as once again they hear the same voice.
"Elgyem!" A small, green figure swooped down past the girls making them shriek with fear.
"This time it's my turn to get a Pokémon!" Apple Bloom took a Pokéball out the bag and threw it at the figure looming in front of them. However, instead of catching it, the ball was blasted back by Elgyem's Psychic, smacking Apple Bloom in the face. "Ow!" She held her face in pain as Sweetie Belle laughed.
"You have to battle it first to weaken it! Chatot, come on out!" Sweetie Belle took her Pokéball from the side pocket of the bag and tossed it releasing the parrot Pokémon. "Chatot, use Wing Attack!"
Chatot looked at Elgyem and flew up high before making it's wings glow. "Chatot!" It then swooped down and flew right past the Elgyem, striking it down to the ground. It then circled around the Elgyem who was struggling to get back up.
"Chatot, use Chatter!" Chatot then started to blab away worse than Pinkie Pie, annoying everyone in the room, including the crusaders and Skeeter, into submission.
"Shut that bird up!!" Scootaloo yelled, making Chatot change it's choice of words.
"Scootaloo is a chicken, bawk bawk bawk chicken chicken, scared little chicken!"
"Hey!!" Scootaloo yelled, making Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom crack up.
Elgyem couldn't take the annoyance anymore, so it floated down to the Pokéball Apple Bloom had thrown, groaning, "El... gyem..." After only a few seconds it tapped the ball once to enlarge it, and then again to open it and get sucked in. The ball shook a few times, then stopped and pinged.
Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she saw what just happened. "No way! Did I just? Did I really?" She was repeating this process for awhile before Skeeter jumped up and slapped her across the face. "Ow!... Thanks I needed that." She then walked over to the Pokéball and picked it up with a smile. "I CAUGHT ELGYEM! YEE-HAW!!" Her outburst echoed throughout the tower making a bunch of eerie voices return their response.
Scootaloo quickly spoke up to the others. "Let's ring that bell and get out of here!" The other two nodded as they ran to the bell and rung it.
“Please oh please, great Celestial Tower Bell of hope... grant our wish of giving us our cutie marks as Pokémon trainers!” Sweetie Belle called up to it. The other two girls both agreed, so they waited for a few seconds.
“Nothing is happening... did it work?” Scootaloo asked.
“It had to have worked! It probably takes time, or maybe we have to leave first.” Sweetie Belle responded.
The three girls then went back down the stairs and tried to open the door, but found that it was still locked. “What do we do now? We are locked in!” Apple Bloom said obviously panicked.
"Stand back girls, I'll blast it open!" The three girls stood back as Skeeter charged up a Focus Blast and tossed it at the door. Instead of blasting it open though, the door swung open and the Focus Blast crashed into a tree outside of the tower. "Huh... I didn’t see that coming." He shook his head as he and the three girls ran out.
Once outside, the doors closed again and the three girls celebrated. "Now we all have a Pokémon!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as she cuddled her Pokéball affectionately.
"Come on Sweetie Belle! Where are we heading to next?" Scootaloo had been jumping up and down excitedly, much to Sweetie Belle's dismay.
"It seems like Twist Mountain is a great spot for Ice Pokemon!" Sweetie Belle said happily as she handed the town map to Scootaloo. "We should head there!"
The crusaders squealed with delight as the poor Riolu held it's ears down. "Can you girls warn me before you do that... please?"
"Sorry Skeeter." Scootaloo giggled as she started following Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "So, how long do you think it'll be before we get there?"
Skeeter thought for a few seconds before he responded. "If we keep up the pace we have now i'd say maybe an hour or two."
"Aww that long? Ain't there any faster way of traveling?" Apple Bloom pouted as Sweetie Belle spoke up.
"Well... Chatot is a flying type but he currently doesn't know how to fly." Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked at her pokeball.
"Come on girls, let's get going or it'll be longer." Skeeter stated as they all started walking again. Little did they know however, they were being stalked by a small black pokemon. .................................................................................................................................................................
As they continued to trek through the woods, they eventually came upon a road and decided to follow it, according to the map.
“So… if we keep going up this trail then we should come up to the mountain in about forty-five minutes.” Skeeter pointed out from his perch on top of Scootaloo’s head.
“Aw yeah!” Scootaloo nearly shouted. “Once we get there I am going to catch the best Ice Pokemon ever!”
“With me to help there is no one we can’t beat!” Skeeter had shouted as well. Apparently Scootaloo was rubbing off on him.
Sweetie Belle looked in her Poke Encyclopedia until she found Riolu. “It says here that Riolu is weak to psychic and flying…” She then suddenly had a realization. “Hey Apple Bloom, don’t we have those types?”
Apple Bloom thought for a few seconds before responding. “Yeah we do! Doesn’t that mean we have an advantage over Riolu?”
Sweetie Belle nodded her head. “That’s what it looks like.”
“Hey! You can’t measure Skeeter’s worth based on what a book says, he’s awesome!”
Skeeter looked down at Scootaloo from on top of her head and smiled, he has never been complimented in such a way before.
“Hey hey, I was just pointing out what it says in the book. No need to be so defensive.” Sweetie Belle held her hands out in front of her defensively in case Scootaloo tried anything.
“Girls now is not the time for fighting amongst ourselves.” Skeeter sighed after he had said this.
“Skeeter is right, we shouldn’t be fighting each other… we should let our pokemon fight instead!” At that point she reached towards her pocket and sent out her pokemon. “Come on out Elliot!”
“Elgyem!” The pokemon shouted as it came out of it’s ball, it then looked at it’s own with it’s head tilted.
“Yeah, your name is Elliot now! I had a hard time saying your name so I figured why not make my own name like Scootaloo did for Riolu?” Apple Bloom smiled as she hugged her Elgyem.
“Makes sense to me!” Sweetie Belle agreed, now reaching for her own pokeball. “Come on out Polly!” She then tossed her pokeball into the air and out popped Chatot.
“Chatot free! Who Chatot fight?” It shouted happily before tackling into Sweetie Belle, affectionately nuzzling her.
“Hee hee, hey cut that out!” Sweetie Belle pleaded making the bird pokemon stop it’s nuzzling and instead rested on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder.
Scootaloo simply facepalmed at the same time Skeeter facepalmed. “Well if that’s what you both want, then let’s make this a free-for-all!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“We are going to win!” Skeeter excitedly added.
As soon as the girls were ready to bark their orders to the pokemon, three figures stepped out from behind the bushes. “Or maybe you’d prefer a real pokemon battle against us adults?”
The three girls turned their heads towards the disturbance, only to be face to face with three guys. One had long red hair, red eyes, a red hat on backwards, a red jacket with red jeans and red shoes. Another had parted blonde hair with a blue schoolboy outfit you’d normally see in high maintenance schools, and blue shoes. The third one had black hair tied into a ponytail, green eyes, a green vest, white shirt, green shorts, and green shoes.
“Who they hay are you three?” Apple Bloom finally decided to say.
The guy with red hair spoke up first. “My name is Brick.”
The second guy with blonde hair gave a half smile before speaking up next. “Mine is Boomer.”
The third guy with black hair crossed his arms and huffed. “I’m Butch.”
Scootaloo simply tilted her head slightly confused. “Aren’t you three from that cartoon show… what was the name again?” Scootaloo looked over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle who both shook their heads, neither of them remembered either.
“Enough talk! Let’s battle!” Butch eventually shouted as he gripped his pokeball. “Come on out Ferroseed!” He then tossed it into the air and a pokemon that looks like a steel egg with green spikes came out.
“Ferroseed!” It shouted with vigor.
“Me next!” Boomer happily stated as he too threw his pokeball. “Frillish it’s all you!”
A blue and white pokemon came out the pokeball with jellfish-like arms and legs. A frillish design could be seen between the head and the body. “Frillish!”
“Aww he’s so cute!” Boomer excitedly hugged his pokemon and began cuddling it.
Brick simply sighed as he slapped the back of Boomer’s head, receiving a yelp from him in response. “Quit fooling around Boomer!”
“Ow! You didn’t have to be so rough…” Boomer stated, rubbing the back of his head painfully, with Frillish gently stroking his cheek in a comforting manner.
Butch on the other hand was cracking up at this. “That outta teach ya!”
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and even Skeeter had to tilt their heads in slight confusion at the scene. Eventually, the sound of brick’s voice snapped them from their confused stupor.
“Litwick, let’s burn them to the ground!” Brick threw his pokeball into the air after saying this, and out popped a small, whitish candle with a face.
“Litwick!” The pokemon cried, as it stared at it’s trainer’s opponents with an evil sneer.
The girls just looked at each other before squealing in excitement as they all shouted. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS POKEMON BATTLERS!”
The sudden yell of the trio was enough to make the three boys howl in pain. Butch was the first to speak up however. “WHAT THE HELL?!”
Brick was the next one to talk. “That was enough to be considered a screech attack!”
Boomer was shaking his head as he tried to regain his hearing. “What? Consider a preach rabbit?”
Brick sighed as he, once again, slapped the back of Boomer’s head, a yelp being the response given. “Enough!” Brick shouted.
The crusader’s pokemon were now in front and ready to fight. Scootaloo was the first one to take action. “Skeeter, use Force Palm on that Ferroseed!”
Skeeter nodded and quickly dashed forward, raising it’s hand as it glowed.
“Ferroseed use protect!” Butch shouted.
“Ferro!” A shield surrounded the Ferroseed causing Skeeter to bounce off of it and land on it’s back.
“Frillish, use Water Gun on that Chatot!” Boomer happily stated as he extended a fist forward.
“Frillish.” The Frillish opened it’s mouth and shot a water gun at CHatot.
Sweetie Belle saw this and yelled, “Dodge it Chatot!”
The bird pokemon flapped it’s wings and flew up to evade the attack.
“Now counter with Wing Attack!” Sweetie Belle continued.
Chatot’s wings glowed as it swooped down on the Frillish for a direct hit, causing the Frillish to stagger back.
“Litwick, use Ember on Elgyem!” Brick shouted.
“Wick!” The fire on top of Litwick’s head burned fiercely as it fired a small fireball at Elgyem.
Apple Bloom, using her knowledge of Pinkie’s battle, smirked as she talked, “Elgyem, dodge and counter with Confusion!”
Elgyem jumped up to avoid the flame before thrusting it’s arms forward to send a shockwave to Litwick.
The Litwick took the full force and was now wobbling left and right confused.
“Darn it!” Brick snarled.
“Ferroseed use tackle on Riolu.” Butch beckoned as the seed pokemon ran full force towards Riolu.
“Skeeter dodge and use focus blast!” Scootaloo cried out.
“On it!” Skeeter then jumped back to avoid the tackle and launched a blue ball of energy at the Ferroseed.
Butch just smirked as he snapped his fingers. “Protect!”
Ferroseed looked at the ball and cast a barrier around itself, bouncing the ball back at the riolu with full force.
Skeeter gasped as the focus blast hit him and slammed him against a nearby tree.
“Skeeter no!” Scootaloo then ran over to the injured Riolu, getting the attention of the crusaders and, unfortunately, their pokemon.
“Now Litwick! Get the Chatot with Ember!” Litwick snickered as it shot out the biggest Ember it could, hitting the Chatot from behind and burning it’s wings causing it to fall to the floor unconscious.
“Ferroseed get Elgyem with tackle!” Butch shouted.
“Frillish, follow up that tackle with a water gun!” Boomer continued.
Ferroseed jumped and spun in a circle as it slammed itself into the Elgyem. Before the Elgyem could recover however, the water gun hit it directly and sent it crashing down and unable to fight.
Each of the girls returned their pokemon to their respective pokeballs with a growl. Scootaloo, however, did not.
Skeeter was currently struggling to regain consciousness as Brick and the others laughed in triumph.
That is what Riolu felt around him as he opened his eyes. Everywhere he looked was nothing but complete darkness. He didn;t even know if his eyes were open or not. “Where… am I?”
“Riolu…” A mysterious voice echoed.
“Huh? Who’s there?” Riolu tried his best to look around, but with the area being so black, and his body floating in complete nothingness, it was hard to tell up from down.
“Riolu… my descendant…” The mysterious voice replied.
“Dad? Is that you?” He tried to desperately find the direction the voice was coming from, but with nothing to see it was nearly impossible.
At that point however two white lights appeared and took the shape of a Lucario and a human next to him. “No, it is someone far older than him. However, you are not destined to lose here… you must remember who your ancestor was.” The human light replied while fixing the purplish pointed hat upon his head. “You are descended from he who saved the World Tree.”
Riolu looked over at the Lucario which nodded it’s head. “That’s… my ancestor?”
Another voice could be heard slightly, it sounded like a distressed female.
Lucario then walked over to Riolu. “Your partner is calling for you… heed her call, and win this fight.” Lucario then placed his palm on Riolu’s chest. “The aura is with you!” With a flash of light Riolu was covered with a bluish aura.
Scootaloo gently hugged Skeeter, close to sobbing, “Skeeter… don’t give up! I believe in you!” She then looked at Skeeter with a frown. “I love you Skeeter…”
Skeeter’s eyes suddenly shot open from this, but they were both pure white. His body floated up a few feet before he was covered in a bluish energy. All three girls, and even the guys, watched in wonder as the small Riolu started growing. After only a few seconds the white glow disappeared and Lucario landed on one knee on the floor. He had four black dreads on the back of his head, was taller, and he now had spikes where the white spots were before.
“No way!” The three boys cried.
Skeeter, who was now a Lucario, turned to Scootaloo and kneeled with a smile. “I love you too.” He then stood up and faced the three pokemon who were now slightly cowering in fear, but not as much as the three boys. “Get that Lucario!” Brick shouted, causing all three of their pokemon to go after Lucario.
Lucario simply put both palms together as a blue ball of energy appeared. He then fired it as Ferroseed, causing it to slam into Butch. He then saw Litwick and quickly slashed his hand, now covered with a ghostly glow, downwards sending Litwick down to the ground and out for the count. He jumped up to avoid Frillish’s water gun, made it’s eyes glow white to signal he was using foresight, then came down with a double kick to quickly end Frillish.
The three, now scared, boys quickly recalled their pokemon and ran away as Lucario gave out a war cry.
Scootaloo walked up to Lucario and looked at eye level with him. “Skeeter?”
Lucario then turned around, bent down, and lifted Scootaloo onto his shoulders. “I believe it is your turn to ride piggy back!” He chuckled lightly as Scootaloo held on, at first terrified, but then giggling after.
“You evolved! How awesome is this? Rainbow Dash better watch out now!”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simply laughed as they watched Scootaloo and Lucario celebrate their victory. “Come on girls, next stop is Twist Mountain!”
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and even Lucario, cheered upon hearing this as they began walking on their way.
On top of a hill from a distance, a deer-like pokemon was observing them with a slight smirk.
"Sweetie Belle we've been walking forever!" Scootaloo was once again complaining. The girls had been walking for longer than Sweetie Belle had predicted.
Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked at the map before responding, "It says we are going the right wa- uh oh..."
"What is it?" Skeeter asked curiously.
"Let me see that!" Apple Bloom said as she took the map from Sweetie Belle. She started trailing her finger along the path they were on and gasped, "You read the map upside down, we were walking backwards!"
Scootaloo's jaw dropped, "WHAT?!" She turned around and glared at Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle raised her hands up defensively as a nervous chuckle escaped her lips, "I'm sorry girls!"
"You had one job Sweetie Belle, one job!" Scootaloo then yelled.
"I said I was sorry!" Sweetie Belle retorted defensively.
"Girls stop it!" Skeeter finally said, "There is no point in fighting, I say we should just set up camp and rest for the night."
The girls looked up to the sky and realized it was now night time. With a sigh, they all agreed that what Skeeter said was for the best. They each took off their back packs and started rummaging through them. It was at that point they realized that no one packed a tent.
"What do we do now?" Scootaloo groaned in annoyance.
"Did any of you pack sleeping bags?" Skeeter asked curiously.
The girls looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.
"At least the soil here is softer than other areas... we will just have to use the ground then." Skeeter crossed his arms and nodded his head as he said this, a look of disapproval showing on the girls' faces.
"So then it's just like the time we went on that camping trip with Rainbow Dash and our sisters!" Sweetie Belle said happily. Unfortunately, the thought of that night brought the memories of her sister to the surface of her mind. "I'm starting to miss my sister..."
Apple Bloom sighed sadly since, she too, missed her sister, "Ah wonder if they noticed we are missing yet? Do ya'll think they came looking fer us?" She asked, somewhat hopefully.
Scootaloo sighed as she shook her head before looking at the girls, "Come on girls! The faster we get our pokemon trainer cutie marks, the faster we can go home and show it off to those two bullies!" She was now hopping up and down happily once she said this, her wings buzzing happily. The image of a shocked Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon was enough motivation for her to continue.
Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom perked up after hearing this, a smile forming on their lips.
"Yeah! We can show off our pokemon to them as well, that will make them stop picking on us for sure!" Apple Bloom looked at the pocket on her backpack she had her pokeball in with a smile.
"We may even be the new popular kids in school!" Sweetie Belle happily chipped in, her pokeball already in her hand.
Skeeter chuckled happily, glad that the girls were being positive again, "Well, while you two were having a nice chat, I decided to make you some beds for you to use." He had finished the last of the make-shift leaf beds and smiled.
Scootaloo grinned big, before running up to Skeeter and hugging him. "You are the best pokemon ever!"
Skeeter could not stop the blush that formed on his cheeks from that, thankful that his blue fur covered most of it, "We should get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Yeah! Maybe I can get Chatot to sing us a lullaby?" Sweetie Belle tossed her pokeball into the air, causing a ed beam to shoot out from it and form into the musical note pokemon.
"Chatot!' It said happily, before flying on Sweetie Belle's shoulder.
Sweetie Belle giggled happily from this, gently petting Chatot on the head. "Hey Chatot, think you can sing us a lullaby? As in... are you able to use sing?" She asked hopefully.
The Chatot nodded it's head as the girls laid on their leaf beds, Skeeter laying down next to Scootaloo. Once it saw the girls were comfortable, Chatot opened it's mouth and started to sing.
All three of the girls, and Skeeter, went wide-eyed at this. After a few seconds, however, their eyelids started to get heavy.
"We've been..." Scootaloo began, but could not finish, since she fell asleep.
The other three fell asleep shortly after, leaving Chatot to snuggle against Sweetie Belle as it too fell asleep after it was finished.
Rays of light shone down on top of the group of adventurers, stirring them from their sleep. With a yawn, the three of them sat up and rubbed the sleep from their eyes.
"Wow... look out Fluttershy, you have been beat in the ways of the lullaby." Sweetie Belle said as she stretched.
"Yeah, that must be the power of sing. Ah guess it works on more than just pokemon." Apple Bloom chipped in.
"Hey Skeeter, wake up." Scootaloo nudged her sleeping pokemon, being rewarded with a groan of annoyance, "Come on you sleepyhead, get up!" She nudged a bit more, causing Skeeter to open his eyes.
"Heh, sing has more of a lasting effect on pokemon. That's why I had to be woken up, in case you were wondering." Skeeter replied as he stood up and stretched.
Sweetie Belle had already taken out the map, and was currently scanning for any shortcuts to the mountain. It did not take long for her to sigh in defeat. "It seems we have to keep going the same way. There are no shortcuts to Twist Mountain."
Apple Bloom groaned in defeat before sitting down. "Well that's just great! This is going to take forever!"
"Not to mention im thirsty... and hungry." Scootaloo said as her stomach started to grumble.
No sooner than she said this, Scootaloo tripped over an object on the ground, and landed on her face, "Ow..." She slowly stood up and looked over at what made her fall. That was when she saw a larger than average egg, "Hey girls this is our lucky day! We can create a fire by hoof and cook this egg!"
Sweetie Belle had already started looking for information on what kind of egg it was by checking her encyclopedia, ignoring what Scootaloo had said until she found what she was looking for. "Wait Scootaloo, that's cannibalism!"
Scootaloo thought about those words for a few seconds before glaring at Sweetie Belle. "Oh ha ha very funny Sweetie Belle!"
"I don't mean that Scootaloo. What I meant is that egg is a pokemon egg, it has a pokemon inside it!" Sweetie Belle explained.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo raised their eyebrows as they looked at the egg. Finally, Apple Bloom spoke up, "What kind of pokemon do ya think is inside it?"
Scootaloo poked at it with her finger, before looking over at Skeeter. "Is this your egg Skeeter?"
If it was not for his blue fur, the blush on Skeeter's cheeks would have made him look as red as a tomato, "What?! That egg is not mine! She planned on waiting until we evolved to do that!"
This got the attention of all three girls now, but it was Sweetie Belle who spoke up, "She? Who are you talking about?"
Skeeter went rigid as he started to feel sweat trickling down the back of his head, "No one, now put the egg in your backpack and let's keep walking." Skeeter said, as he turned around and began walking ahead.
"I am still hungry though!" Scootaloo nearly shouted in anguish.
Sweetie Belle simply rolled her eyes as she took out two cans of fruit, and opened them with the can opener she had packed. "Eat these girls, it should hold you over until we get to the next town."
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo each took an opened can happily, before Apple Bloom had a realization, "Oh hey! Ah also packed water and some Apple Cider fer us." She opened her backpack, and pulled out a few water bottles, "Ya want one Skeeter?"
The Lucario just shook his head. "No thank you, I'm not thirsty."
"Suit yourself!" Apple Bloom replied as she shrugged her shoulders, putting away the water bottle she had taken out for him.
Once the small group had finished their breakfast, they continued their journey towards Twist Mountain.
After nearly a half hour later, the group of friends found their way at the foot of Twist Mountain. Little snow trails could be seen flowing in the wind as it blew along the mountain. They were not even on the mountain yet but they could still feel the cold creeping up on them.
"I am guessing no one brought any winter gear right?" Skeeter asked as he looked up at the tall, snow-covered mountain. He looked over towards the three girls, and sighed when they shook their heads. "Sucks for you then, I can handle the cold. In fact, I am resistant to ice types." He chuckled happily upon saying this.
"Well yippee fer you." Apple Bloom said sarcastically as they started walking up the mountain.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle each shared a glance, and a giggle, at their friend's tone as they started scaling the mountain as well.
It took only fifteen minutes before the girls were huddled together, being gently pushed along by Skeeter. "Come on girls, I think I see a cave up ahead where we can warm up!"
"But what about catching Pokemon?" Scootaloo yelled through the blistering winds.
"Would ya rather freeze before we even get the chance?!" Apple Bloom yelled in response.
"We're here girls!" Skeeter said as they all went inside the cave.
The cave itself was relatively small, stalactites hanging from the ceilings, frozen cobwebs littering various spots, it wasn't even that deep either. The back of the cave was only ten feet away from the entrance. However, the sound of breathing could be heard from the darkness of the backside of the cave.
"What do ya suppose that sound could be?" Apple Bloom asked out loud, mostly to herself.
"Let's find out!" Scootaloo said as she rushed towards the sound.
"Scootaloo wait!" Sweetie Belle yelled out, only to be ignored.
Scootaloo kept running until she came to a stop in front of a group of Cubchoos, she smiled happily as she took out one of the pokeballs from the bag. "All right!" She scanned the group of sleeping Cubchoo, and threw her pokeball at the biggest one she saw. The pokeball hit the target, and the pokeball got sucked in. Unfortunately, the pokeball broke open almost instantly, and a very angry Beartic popped out.
Scootaloo's pupils shrank when she saw her mistake. "Oops..."
"Oops? What do ya- uh-oh...' Apple Bloom asked in a scolding tone before looking up at the angry Beartic.
"Sorry Mr. Bear!" Scootaloo called out nervously.
Sweetie Belle was too busy looking for the pokemon in her encyclopedia to say much.
"Beartic!" It shouted ferociously as the group of Cubchoos woke up, and started running out of the cave in a panic. Once the Beartic saw it's cubs run out the cave, it covered itself in a red glow before rushing at Scootaloo.
"Scootaloo!" Skeeter called out as he lept in front of the Superpower attack, getting slammed against a wall and falling unconsciously after.
"Skeeter!" She rushed over to the downed Lucario, and watched as the Beartic glared at her from the entrance of the cave.
Then it raised it started stomping on the ground madly before slamming against the sides of the cave with it’s body, before running out. This disruption caused the whole cave to shake before a bunch of rocks fell in front of the entrance. They were trapped.
"Oh no..." Sweetie Belle said sadly as she dropped her book. "That was a Beartic, it's very defensive of it’s young. Like a real bear would be." She then turned to Scootaloo with a glare. "What the hay were you thinking?! Now we are trapped here!"
Scootaloo threw her hands up defensively. "I'm sorry!"
Apple Bloom tried moving one of the rocks, with no luck. "Girls, we have a bigger problem on our hands. How are we going to get out?"
Outside of the cave, on top of a cliff nearby, the silhouette of a four-legged pokemon could be seen watching the event take place.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo could be seen struggling to remove the rocks blocking the entrance, both of them grunting as they lifted the more smaller ones. Unfortunately, after the small rocks were out the way, it left only the giant ones that neither of them could move. Even Elgyem got worn out after awhile of using psychic.
Eventually Apple Bloom groaned in frustration. “This is hopeless, we are trapped and we ain’t neva’ gettin’ out!”
Scootaloo looked down sadly, twiddling her thumbs. “I’m sorry girls, I just got caught up in the excitement of a new pokemon and just… I’m sorry.”
Sweetie Belle sighed as she stopped pacing back and forth, looking at Scootaloo. “We forgive you, right Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Bloom with a raised eyebrow.
Apple Bloom had her arms crossed, glaring daggers at Scootaloo before sighing. "Ah forgive ya." She said finally.
Scootaloo smiled happily at this. "Thanks girls, i'm still sorry though."
It was at that point the girls heard a voice inside their minds.
"Girls, can you hear me? I am on the other side of the cave-in, are you okay?" It asked in a slightly panicked tone.
Sweetie Belle wasted no time in shouting. "We are okay, can you help us? Please!" She pleaded.
"Okay, just stand as far back as possible!" The voice said.
The girls stood as far back from the rocks as they could, dragging Skeeter with them.
"We're ready!" Scootaloo shouted.
After a few seconds, an explosion could be heard as dust and tiny rocks flew everywhere. Once the dust cleared, and the girls stopped coughing, they took notice of the figure at the entrance that motioned for them to follow it.
Once the girls were outside, they gasped at what they saw. In front of them stood a pokemon that resembled a unicorn from Equestria. Only this unicorn’s body shape was tall and skinny rather than the usual short a slightly pudgy, especially the red mane with two dark blue eyebrows it had that seemed to be the same length as the red hair and the purple horse shoes on its hooves. Let’s not forget the blue fur covering most of it’s neck and upper body with a matching blue tail.
Scootaloo took it upon herself to talk to it. “Thank you for saving us mister! I didn’t think anypony else from Equestria followed us. Um… what exactly are you anyway? You do not look like any unicorn I've seen.” She said before returning Skeeter to his pokeball.
“I am-” the pokemon began, only to be cut off by Apple Bloom.
“Look! He has no Cutie Mark like us!” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“Er, what’s a-” the pokemon tried to ask, only to have Sweetie Belle cut him off this time.
“You should join the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Sweetie Belle said with a sparkle to her eyes.
“But I-” Once again, the pokemon got cut off before it could finish.
“Yeah! He can get a cutie mark as a pokemon trainer like us!” Scootaloo said as she hopped up and down happily.
“Girls please!” the pokemon finally pleaded, causing the girls to silence themselves and blush in embarrassment. “My name is Keldeo and I am a pokemon that is a part of the Swords of Justice! What is Equestria? What is a cutie mark? What are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?!” He said in one breath, having had enough of the interruptions.
The girls just chuckled awkwardly, all three of them embarrassed about their display. Eventually, Sweetie Belle spoke up.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Sweetie Belle said as she kicked a hoof at the snow under her. “Anyway, hello Keldeo, my name is Sweetie Belle. These are my friends Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.” She said as she pointed to her friends. “We are ponies from another dimension named Equestria.”
Keldeo only had a look of confusion on his face upon hearing this.
“This might take a while to explain…” Scootaloo said before sighing.
-----
After the girls explained all that had happened up to that point, and telling him about cutie marks and their group, Keldeo nodded his head before sighing himself.
“That is quite a bit of stuff to take in. While dimension hopping is possible, though only Giratina can do so i think, it’s still kind of hard to believe you did it in a telephone booth.” Keldeo said.
“Well to be exact, it is actually a dimension machine… I think?” Sweetie Belle said, clearly unsure of it herself.
“Ya just gotta believe us!” Apple Bloom pleaded.
“Relax Apple Bloom, I believe you.” Keldeo began. “What I don’t get is why you three decided it was a good idea to dimension hop to an unknown world, where you could have likely been badly hurt…” He said with a slight frown, his ears drooping slightly.
“Well, Rainbow Dash had already been to this world before and she came back with these cool pokemon!” Scootaloo stated happily.
Apple Bloom took that cue to pitch in her reason. “We thought that if we could go to this world, we can also catch pokemon like she did!”
“We also figured this would be a great way to get our pokemon catching cutie marks!” Sweetie Belle added. “We’ll be the…”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS POKEMON TRAINERS!!!!” All three of the crusaders shouted.
The sudden shout caused Keldeo to step back, and lay his ears firmly against his head, wincing from such a powerful shout up close. ‘Dear Arceus, if they were pokemon then that shout would be a force to be feared in a pokemon battle!’ Keldeo thought to himself before shaking his head to clear it.
A sudden rumbling caught the attention of the group, causing them to look at the direction it came from. To their horror, they saw a giant snowball barreling down the hill towards them at an alarming speed. Due to how close it was, there was little chance for them to escape. The girls squeezed their eyes shut, expecting the worse.
Only it never came.
When the girls opened their eyes they saw a red, bulky pokemon wearing a karate gi. It had thrown itself in front of the giant snowball and stopped it in its tracks with its bare hands.
“Throh!” The pokemon shouted before pulling a fist back, and shooting it forward, punching the giant snowball to oblivion.
The jaws of all three girls fell open when they saw that, staring in shock.
“Whoa… that pokemon totally destroyed that thing! That was awesome!” Scootaloo eventually shouted happily.
“Yeah! He’s super strong!” Sweetie Belle agreed.
“Ah want to catch him!” Apple Bloom looked to her pokemon and saw it was still tired, making her frown before she returned it to its pokeball.
Scootaloo looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Uh… how will you do that? Your pokemon looks ready to take a dragon-styled nap.”
Apple Bloom thought for a few seconds before looking at Sweetie Belle. “Can ya Chatot help?”
Sweetie Belle just shook her head. “Sorry, but it has to be your pokemon that fights it. Not mine.”
A look of sadness once again showed on Apple Bloom’s face before she had an idea. “Ah can fight ‘em!”
Both of the Crusaders, along with Keldeo and Throh, looked at Apple Bloom with shock.
“I don’t think that’s how it goes though. It doesn’t say so in the encyclopedia.” Sweetie Belle pointed out.
This time it was Keldeo that spoke up. “Actually, a pokemon can do battle with a human opponent if it desires to do so. Karate Dojos do it all the time.”
This made Apple Bloom jump up and down excitedly. “Yes! Hear that Throh? Ah challenge ya to a duel. If ah win, you become my pokemon, if you win… uh… you are free to go?” She smiled sheepishly.
Throh thought about this for a few moments before looking at the fact she was a little girl. He eventually nodded his head but held up two fingers before looking to Keldeo, telling him what his response is.
Keldeo nodded, and decided to translate it for the girls. “He says that he accepts your dual but on two conditions. The first condition is that he will handicap himself by only being defensive, as to not hurt you. Secondly, if you land a single hit on him then you win.”
Apple Bloom’s smile got so wide it would have made a certain clown-faced psychopath proud. “Ya’ll hear that girls? He accepted my challenge!”
“Are you sure about this Apple Bloom? Isn’t it dangerous to do this kind of thing?” Sweetie Belle asked in concern.
“Relax, Sweetie Belle, I’m sure she will be fine.” Scootaloo reassured her. “Right, Keldeo?”
Keldeo nodded his head in response. “Scootaloo is correct, Sweetie Belle. If it makes you feel better, I will stop it if things start to go badly.”
Sweetie Belle sighed before looking at Apple Bloom. “Be safe okay?”
“Don’t worry about it! Us Apples are made of tough stuff. We can’t get hurt that easily.” Apple Bloom said confidently. “Get ready Throh. You are going to be mine soon!”
Once that was said, Throh got into a fighting stance as he observed Apple Bloom getting into hers.
Keldeo looked back and forth between the two before nodding his head. “Are you ready? Robattle! Er, I mean, begin!”
Once the signal was given Apple Bloom immediately charged at Throh, pulling back her right hand in order to throw a punch.
When Throh saw this, he he raised up his hand and pushed the punch to the side before turning and giving her back a shove with his other palm.
Apple Bloom stumbled forward a bit before stopping herself and turning to glare at Throh. She then ran at him and jumped into the air, extending her leg out for a jump kick.
Throh once again simply moved to the side to avoid it. However, this time he poked Apple Bloom’s forehead forcefully to push her away before stepping back. He then extended one palm forward in a ‘come on’ gesture.
“How in the hay am ah goin' ta hit him?!” Apple Bloom yelled in protest before sighing.
“Does that mean you are giving up Apple Bloom?” Keldeo asked.
Apple Bloom looked down at the snow and idly kicked her foot in it, taking note how easily it could be manipulated. This gave her an idea that caused her to smile. “No, an apple family member never gives up! If you knock us down, we just get back up!”
A smile spread on Keldeo’s face when Apple Bloom showed how determined she was. It reminded him of himself oddly enough.
After saying that, she once more ran towards Throh, however, this time she pulled her leg back and kicked up snow at the pokemon.
This took Throh by surprise as he covered his face to prevent the snow from getting into his eyes.
That was all Apple Bloom need to crouch down and deliver a punch into Throh’s gut, causing him to fall to one knee while clutching it in both pain and shock.
Once Throh went down, Keldeo decided to make the call. “The battle is over, Apple Bloom wins!”
“Yes ah did it! Ah won!” Apple Bloom cheered happily as she jumped up and down.
Throh slowly stood up and looked at Apple Bloom with a glare.
This caused Apple Bloom to stop celebrating as she stared at Throh nervously. “Uh… sorry for cheating? Ya never said ah couldn’t distract you.”
Throh walked up to her and simply smiled before clapping his hands. “Throh!”
Keldeo decided to translate. “Throh says that he was impressed with your determination to win, and your clever tricks. So he has agreed to be your pokemon.”
Throh nodded his head as he sat on his knees in front of Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom quickly rushed to Sweetie Belle’s bag and pulled out a pokeball before chucking it at the sitting pokemon.
The ball then began to shake.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Click!
Apple Bloom’s smile threatened to split her mouth apart as she picked up the pokeball and cradled. “Awesome! Ah caught Throh!” She shouted happily as she held the pokeball up in the air.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both ran up to Apple Bloom with smiles on their faces.
“Congratulations Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Throh and Skeeter have to battle one day!” Scootaloo insisted.
Keldeo then stepped up to the three of them. “I imagine you girls had quite the journey coming all the way up here.” He said before gesturing towards a path with his horn. “If you take this path down the mountain you will arrive in Icirrus City.”
“Thanks Keldeo!” Apple Bloom replied with a smile. “Come on girls, let’s go!” She said before she started walking down the path. “Bye Keldeo, thanks again fer the help!” She called out.
“Thanks for saving us!” Sweetie Belle said as she followed Apple Bloom,
“I hope we meet again!” Scootaloo called out before rushing to catch up with the other two girls.
Keldeo watched as they left before chuckling to himself with a smile. “Don’t worry girls, we shall meet again soon.” He said before turning around and walking out of sight.
