route_1065 | Rising up, back in Ponyville~

Entry tags:

Rising up, back in Ponyville~

Who: Twilight Sparkle (

3_butterflies)
Where: Route 38, less than a day from Ecruteak.
When: Saturday, May 19th
Summary: Fluttershy has decided to start actively raising her Pokemon to defend herself and her friends. Twilight's decided this means she needs some serious training in battling, and who better to give it than herself?
Rating: G to maybe PG for combat.
Log:

"Alright, so. First things first."

Twilight looked around the area they'd reached. Fairly wild, plenty of tall grass for wild Pokemon to hide in, Ecruteak still in view if they tuned in its direction and strained their eyes a bit... Yep, this was perfect.

"Have you decided which of your Pokemon you want to start your training with? We can switch out depending on what we run into, but it's a good idea to have one you really want to focus on for a while."

She settled her gaze on her friend, hoping that Fluttershy was really ready for this. She'd definitely seemed determined after she'd woken up from her trip back home, but Twilight just wasn't sure this was really the right thing for sweet little Fluttershy to be doing.

Still, she'd agreed and she wouldn't back out now. Her Dragonair gave a little squeal of encouragement behind her.

"For example, I'm sticking with Spike today, since he's been so energetic recently. I think he might be about to evolve."

Patting her starter affectionately, she waited for Fluttershy to decide which Pokemon she was going to lead with.

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Fluttershy had all six Pokeballs in her hands, looking at them nervously. She was in fact terrified to start this training routine, but she was still determined to give it a try. If that year back at Ponyville had taught her anything, it was that hiding and crying did absolutely nothing for nopony.

"W-well... Um..." She looked from one ball to the other, imagining each of her precious Pokemon injured horribly in the line of battle. Granted, each image was spun wildly out of proportion. "... Capella the Chansey's wants to help out more... B-But One the Nidorino is highest in level... B-But Celest the Togepi still hasn't evolved... B-But Scoots the Butterfree needs the exercise... B-But Cream the Flaafy and Ladybird the Ledian are used to fighting from their previous owners..."

... Yeah, this wasn't going to be an easy day. She looked back and forth between Spike and her balls, trying to figure in size and experience. But as she fumbled and mumbled in her guesses, one ball dropped out of her hands and opened itself up on the ground. It turned out to be Chansey, chirping happily as she greeted twilight and Spike.

She just waited, calm as a rock and with as much patience as she could muster, waiting for Fluttershy to finish cycling through her Pokemon. Twilight had come into this knowing full well that Shy was going to start off being... somewhat difficult about this. Not deliberately, of course, but just because she was so inexperienced.

It seemed, however, that sheer luck was going to make the decision for them. As the ball slid out of her hands and popped open, Twilight raised an eyebrow at Capella, who beamed at her and Spike. The Dragonair gave a little call and wriggled back and forth in his version of a wave.

"Well... do you want to go with her?" she asked Fluttershy, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Twilight's question was paused for the moment as Fluttershy began to scramble, returning her Pokeballs to her belts and apologizing profusely to her Chansey. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to drop you! You can go back in if you want, we don't have to do this!"

Thankfully, it appeared that Capella had as much patience as Twilight - no doubt because she once belonged to the saint-like Princess Celestia. She lightly pat her owner's hands, cooing softly, as if to say "It's all right, dear, we can do this."

Fluttershy exhaled softly, trying to relax. "Okay... we'll go with her for now. She... wants to do this."

"You're going to find that most of them do." Twilight answered, patting her friend's shoulder reassuringly. "In fact, consider that your first lesson. They want to be out there, in the thick of things, fighting to protect their trainer. There are a few exceptions, but most Pokemon are like knights that way."

She turned her eyes back to Capella, who was just standing there at the ready, and gave a quick nod. "Alright, now Chanseys are very good defensively, so I think the best plan is for her to support Spike. That's good, it'll make for a great way to introduce you to double battles. We'll figure out how best to cover for each other, and work from there. Sound good?"

Spike made a little cry as if agreeing with his trainer, and turned his attention towards the tall grass. Someone looked to be in a hurry.

Fluttershy timidly nodded, trying to take deep breaths in an effort to relax herself. Since she was such an avid talker to Pokemon, she knew full well their enjoyment of battle. It had just been so difficult to understand! "Like knights... like Shining Armor... o-okay! So... she'll defend Spike! ... If she wants to. Do you want to?"

Capella nodded, though this was difficult to tell since she lacked a neck. She happily walked up beside Spike, getting into place should the need for defenses come. She was more patient when it came to fight, willing to take her time. As for Fluttershy, she was staring at the grass, a mix of eagerness to see what adorable creature would come out and fear of what battle would inevitably come."Oooh, I hope whatever's out there isn't too hard..."

It was still odd to hear her friend reference her beloved brother, but she was more than happy for the decent comparison. She nodded and decided to add another familiar reference to the mix. "Right. Think of them as with my brother's urge to protect, and Rainbow's sense of competition, and it should help you understand why they'd want to do things like this a bit better."

Turning back to the grass, she said off-handedly: "Don't worry, Shy. I'm sure whatever comes out of there, we can take it on together-"

She was interrupted as two Pokemon leaped out at them. Twilight fell into her battle position, but she wasn't especially worried. Standing before them was a Meowth and a Paras. "These two, eh? They're pretty common around here. Alright, Fluttershy, this is it! Follow my lead, okay? Spike, Dragon Rush the Meowth!"

Eagerly, the serpent-like dragon raised his head and let out a battle cry as he charged straight at the unfortunate cat. The Meowth had only a split-second to recognize what was going on before the full force of Spike barreled down on it. It was overwhelmed in an instant, but Spike was left open to the Paras.

Fluttershy silently nodded to Twilight's continued enthusiasm, bur was genuinely startled at the arrival of the new Pokemon. She gasped, and then gave a quiet little squeal. "Ooooh, they're so cute! A kitty cat and a big bug! They're absolutely adorable!" But as soon as Twilight ushered the battle calls, she was smacked back to reality. These were her enemies, not new friends.

The Paras was equally surprised, but the way it was shaking its mushrooms, it looked ready to launch an attack using its spores. Fluttershy began to fidget, trying to remember Capella's attacks that were used for defense. "Um, um... if you want, could you, maybe, use Light Screen?"

Capella raised its chubby little arms, and a soft glow began to emanate in front of her. The light began to cover both her and Spike, giving them an odd sort of protection in a veil-like pattern.

"Good call!" Twilight encouraged her. "Paras are better with special attacks than physical ones, so that should help keep Spike safe!"

Unfortunately, the Paras was electing to attack with neither, instead using the Stun Spore technique. Twilight narrowed her eyes as she saw it coming. "Spike, try to avoid it!"

But it was too late. The spores had already settled on the hapless Dragonair, and Spike was beginning to show the telltale signs of paralysis. "Darn it! Try to shake it off!"

Fluttershy beamed from the praise, and even gave a merry clap to see that it was, so far, effective. "That's wonderful, Capella! Keep it up!"

But then the paralysis took effect, and it wouldn't be long before Meowth was ready to spring back into action. With Spike unable to move, their defenses were wide open - they were going to get hurt! "Oh, no, no, no! Ah, um, ... C-Capella, you've got to protect Spike! Use... use... use Egg bomb! If you want to!"

Capella dug into her pouch, pulling out one of her spare eggs, and tossed it into the air! It then fell back down just as quickly, exploding on impact when it fell on Meowth. Fluttershy visibly winced to see the Pokemon injured, almost whining, but she swallowed hard, trying to stand up straight.

"I know it's hard, Shy." Twilight seemed to be completely focused on the battle, but her words made it clear she was paying attention to her friend's plight. "But remember. They attacked us for a reason. They want to show off their strength. They want to fight."

She focused her gaze on the Paras. "And we'll give them what they want. Spike! Dragon Rage! Take down that Paras!"

Managing to fight through the paralysis, Spike leaned back and roared in fury before unleashing his attack, blue flames crashing down on the bug. The Paras let out a pained skree under the force before staggering back and collapsing. Down? Or out? It was hard to tell.

The Meowth was staggering as well. Perhaps now was a good chance for recovery. With that in mind, Fluttershy sucked in a breath, and with small bits of bravery, pointed to Spike. "Capella, if you can! Please use Refresh on Spike to cure him... if you'd like to, that is!"

Capella wobbled in closer to her fighting companion, sharing a familiar glow once again. This was a warmer and softer glow, using her healing powers to remove all traces of paralysis from the Dragoniar. It left Capella vulnerable for attack and possibly gave the opponents a chance to recover, but Fluttershy and Capella were healers at heart. "Oh good, now he's all better..."

"Excellent!" As soon as the status was purged, Twilight began grinning almost maniacally. "Now, Spike, hit that Paras with a Dragon Tail! Don't give it a chance to paralyze you or Capella again!"

Spike eagerly obeyed, smashing its tail into the Paras as it tried to rise. The impact was so intense that the bug was actually sent tumbling out of sight. Twilight turned to the Meowth.

"And then there was one..."

Fluttershy held herself as Spike knocked the bug away, but she kept telling herself that the poor creature would be all right. Victory was almost in their grasp, and it was Capella's turn. She took another heavy gulp, skittish again. "If you'd like... can you use Double-slap, just this one last time...?""

Capella picked up Meowth by the scruff of its neck, and after a far too kind smile, began smacking it across the face back and forth in rapid succession. It was almost funny in a morbid sort of way, and when the cat had given up fighting back, Capella laid a few more into him and then unceremoniously dropped him back into the grass. Then she happily chirped at her friends as if she hadn't just beat the living snot out of a small kitty.

Fluttershy blinked a few times to make sure she had seen correctly."...Um... does this mean we won?"

Okay, she couldn't help it. The sight of Capella, that cute egg-shaped blob of pink, beating that poor Meowth to the brink of unconsciousness made her laugh. It was just so... ridiculous.

She quickly schooled herself back to calmness though, and gave Fluttershy an approving smile. "We did! What do you think, aren't you proud of how your Pokemon did? I know I am."

She patted Spike on the head as he came over to her, the Dragonair gleeful at both the victory and his trainer's approval.

It took another few seconds for the victory to sink in. When it did, she let out an ecstatic giggle, and almost tripped over her feet in order to get to Capella. "We did it! We really did it! Oh, you were so wonderful, Capella! Thank you so much!"

Capella caught her trainer before she could fall, and the two gave each other a tight embrace. One would think they'd just defeated a Gym Leader, they were so happy! "I-I was so worried, but I believed in you, and you did it! And you're barely hurt, too! I feel so... so wonderful!"

Twilight watched the two flail around with an indulgent smile on her face, happy for them and for the fact that Fluttershy's training was off to such a great start. Their glee was infectious, and Spike started calling out how happy he was for them too.

"Yes, Spike, I know. They did wonderfully. I didn't even have to get a paralyze heal for you." Twilight patted his neck before turning back to Shy. "So, you did it! You won your first real battle. What do you think? What did you learn?"

Oh, right, this was more than just encouragement. It was time to learn, too! Fluttershy untangled herself from Capella, smoothed down her clothes, and stood up straight, trying to be a diligent student. "I-I learned, um... the bigger a Pokemon is, the more power it can have, and... even if your status is changed, you can still try to fight, and... sometimes, a good defense is a good offense!" She was making most of it up off the top of her head, but she still felt they were very important lessons.

Capella chuckled, but kept her eyes on the grass. She was ready to fight again if any other challengers came, and one could never tell with tall grass.

Twilight nodded in response, restraining the urge to chuckle at Fluttershy's earnestness. It was a good thing she was taking this so seriously after all. "Good, good, those are all useful. Though you shouldn't underestimate a small Pokemon either. Some of them can be powerhouses. So then, now that you've had your first taste... let's go!"

And with a grin, she led the way off into the tall grass, to actively search for new Pokemon.

Oh dear, there was still more to do? "O-Oh... um... okay... r-right behind you..." So much for only hoping for one fight. She gulped hard, and timidly began to follow her friend with slow, and steady steps. Capella chirped in encouragement, following the pony-humans. There were shuffles in the grass already, and Fluttershy yelped in response, ducking to hide behind Twilight almost immediately.

Twilight turned to face whatever new Pokemon was about to show itself. "Get ready, there's no telling what-"

A small, black crow jumped out and cawed at them. "... Oh, a Murkrow! They're supposed to be pretty common around here, but I haven't actually seen one before. Neat."

It turned out that Fluttershy was also completely new to this kind of creature. How could you tell?

"Oh my goodness! What an adorable birdie!" Maybe by the way she bowled past both Twilight and Capella to get a better and closer look at the equally startled bird. "Loook at those feathers! And it's like you're wearing a little hat! And such beautiful eyes! You're absolutely gorgeous, there's no doubt about it!"

Well, that was a surprise. Twilight staggered a bit as Fluttershy rushed past her and Capella, boggling at her sudden change in attitude. Okay, the bird was pretty cute, but had she so suddenly forgot why they were out here?

"Fluttershy, be careful!" She called. "It's still a wild-"

She was interrupted by the Murkrow's partner leaping out to attack her. She cursed. "Blast it! Spike, Dragon Tail!"

The Dragonair's mighty tail once again knocked aside a fearsome enemy... to be specific, a Rattata.

"... Do these things ever stop showing up?"

Flutterhsy yelped at the sudden presence of Rattata, suddenly remembering why they were here and what they needed to do. "Oh, dear! I'm so sorry!"

The Murkrow rolled her eyes, unimpressed. But now that she had a challenge, she was looking forward to these very strange humans. Fluttershy found herself behind Spike, Capella, and Twilight, frightened all over again. "We need to defend them again! Light Screen again, protect him again!"

Capella smiled kindly, rather used to her trainer's odd antics. Once again, she raised her arms, creating the familiar glow once more to protect her partner.

"Spike, turn your attention to the Murkrow! The Rattata's irrelevant!"

The overgrown rat probably wasn't happy to hear that, but as it was currently trying to haul itself back onto all fours from the crack of Spike's tail, it didn't really have much of a say. The Murkrow cawed as Spike turned his attention to it.

"Dragon Rush!"

It was possible that the poor bird gulped before Spike crashed into her.

The Rattata was irrelevant? Then who should Flutterhsy focus her attention on? She looked all around, desperate for answers. Attack, or defend? Murkrow, or Rattata? She was so deeply confused, but in an odd way, had one clear answer. Those beautiful eyes, those glossy feathers, the little hat...

Rather suddenly, Fluttershy dug into her bag and extracted a Pokeball. "I... I want it!"

Capella, thankfully smarter than her trainer, was helping with the Rattata situation by using Pound - technically by just sitting on the poor thing.

"Wait, you what?" Twilight asked, turning in confusion to Fluttershy... before realizing what she meant. "Oh! You want to capture the Murkrow? Alright, then... Spike, hold it in place for her! Use Wrap!"

And the Dragonair, of course, did precisely that, winding itself around the hapless bird to hold it in place for Fluttershy while Capella basically held the poor Rattata down.

To no one's surprise, Fluttershy hadn't caught too many Pokemon in battle. Usually her friendliness and ways with animals just had Pokemon following her, or she inherited them when friends left this world. So she was very nervous as she watched Spike hold the bird in place. still, it was worth a try.

"I... I can do this... please come with me!"She then gave a very, very weak toss of the Pokeball, bonking Murkrow right on the head.

Weak the toss might have been, but the effect was the same when it touched the wild Pokemon as if she'd thrown it like a fastball. It popped open, the Murkrow slid inside in a rush of energy, and it fell through Spike's coils to the ground. Now, all they could do was hope it didn't pop open as the Murkrow tried to force its way out.

Wiggle. Wiggle.

Wiggle... Wiggle... Wiggle...

Click!

"Yay!" Fluttershy once again ran with the pace of a Rapidash to try and collect the ball - but, as the logic of Johto dictated, since she already had six on her belt, this Pokeball suddenly vanished, off to be held in her PC. So Fluttershy wound up tripping and falling into the grass, no doubt startling any other hidden Pokemon. She gave a little yelped, but then sat up, and instead of crying or looking upset, she was smiling proudly. "We did it!"

"Congratulations! And a brand new Pokemon to add to your collection too! I'm so happy for you, Fluttershy!"

The poor, abused Rattata decided at this time that it had had enough, and managed to squirm out from under the Chansey and scamper off. Twilight paid it no mind, she was so excited for her friend's achievement.

"Hey, was that... was that the first Pokemon you actually caught?"

Capella shrugged it off, glad to have the nuisance gone. She stood up, keeping her eyes on the grass once more. There would probably be a clamor in the wild once the other Pokemon knew that now four Pokemon had been defeated by these territory invaders.

Twilight began to stand up and dusted off her clothes. "Well... I've used Pokeballs before... but they usually came up to me, wanting to come along... or I got them when others left... so... so maybe it was...?"

"Either way, that was great! I guess I should have anticipated you'd like it."

She giggled a bit as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, maybe we can find you a Tauros or a Miltank, too!"

The Pokemon that had been alerted by the fights so far probably would have something to say about them hunting up anything specific, though... at least for a while.

Fluttershy shared the excitement, giggling as she remembered the images of the powerful bull-like Pokemon. "Oh, they're so cute too! And the Miltank here make milk too! It's really delicious! And the Tauros look just like Iron Will..." She held up her fingers to her head, trying to imitate the horns. She kept up the ridiculous look even as the question was lobbed back."What about you? Are there any Pokemon you want?"

She giggled again at both Fluttershy's enthusiasm and the way she looked. She couldn't help it, it was too dang cute!

"Actually, yes. There's one Pokemon in particular I've been looking for around here for a couple weeks. Here, let me show you..."

She pulled out her Dex and brought up the page for a Magnemite. "See this? It's an electric/steel type called a Magnemite. They're basically living magnets. At their highest evolutions they even start to look like some sort of science fiction spaceship!"

Fluttershy leaned over to get a better look. she thought she had seen it maybe once or twice during her stay in Johto, and so nodded in affirmation. "Oooh, I see... they really do look like magnets... so, like that one over there?"

She then pointed to the left, where, of course, a Magnemite had just been buzzing around for the past couple of seconds, minding its own business. My little pony, coincidence is magic.

Twilight's jaw dropped.

"I've... been searching for one of those for nearly three weeks now. And you just... found one out of the blue. Fluttershy, you are officially my lucky charm."

She stared at the floating magnet for a few more moments before shaking her head to collect herself. "Alright, now that I've found it this one's not getting away. Spike, get ready!"

Twilight beamed at the compliment, a little clueless to how difficult the search had been but happy to have been of service. "I'm so happy for you! Do you still want me to help out...?" So far it seemed like only the one Pokemon was out, and she didn't know if it would be fair for two to gang up on one.

Capella wobbled up next to her trainer, ready to jump in and aide if given the command.

"Keep an eye out for any others that might get in the way, would you?" Twilight suggested. "I'm going to be pretty focused. Spike! Let's soften it up with Dragon Rage!"

The eager Dragonair fired the blast, and the Magnemite seemed pretty unhappy about it, narrowing its eye and bobbing up and down at them. It shot out a Thundershock at Spike, who seemed only mildly perturbed by this.

Fluttershy then turned around very quickly, determined to do what her friend needed. "Okay... I'll keep both eyes out! ... And with Capella, it'll be four eyes! No one's going to interrupt this battle!" It would also help Fluttershy avoid actually looking at fighting animals, which still was a great concern to her. Never the less, she kept looking around for any signs of additional threats, and Capella copied her every movement.

"Thank you, Shy. Spike, don't let up! Hit it with a Twister!"

The dragon called out in agreement, and reared up on his tail, whirling around a bit before hurling the resulting mini-whirlwind at the hapless giant magnet. Trapped in the battering winds, the Magnemite let out a loud, yet almost robotic sound of anger, and retaliated by blasting Spike with a Supersonic wave.

"Spike!" The Dragonair reeled back, wobbling in place for a moment, before his head drooped, looking back and forth in confusion.

Fluttershy heard the panicked cry, and was forced to look back to the battle. Oh no, Spike was confused! That meant there was a chance to hurt himself! But this was a one n one battle, did Fluttershy have any right to interfere...?

"Capella!" Rules or not, there was no way she could just allow a Pokemon to be in danger, especially when it belonged to her dear friend. "Please, use Refresh, before Spike can hurt himself!"

Capella chirped, more than happy to be of service. She moved to lightly tap Spike behind the head, again sharing the warm, healing glow to change his status.

Twilight hadn't been expecting that, but she wasn't about to turn down the backup. Turning to Fluttershy, she opened her mouth to thank her-

But it seemed the other wild Pokemon were going to take exception to a two-on-one fight. With an angry cry, a Raticate leaped out of the grass to launch its Hyper Fang attack at Capella.

"Oh no! Spike, Dragon Rush the Raticate! The Twister will hold the Magnemite for now!"

Spike bobbed his head in agreement and charged down the giant rat, knocking it back, though it stayed on its feet. The Magnemite, meanwhile, stayed battered by the winds, unable to get a proper lock on either opponent.

Things had been going so well, but now it was falling apart at the seams, all because Fluttershy couldn't keep to herself. She gave a shriek of fear when Capella was under attack, almost backing up. Capella looked embarrassed that it had been caught off guard. She then shook her large head, stepping forward and holding out its stubby arms. This was not going to interfere with the capture if she had anything to say about it!

As always, Fluttershy could easily understand her Pokemon, and after a gulp, she stood firm. "D-Don't worry about us! We can take care of ourselves! You handle Magnemite, and we'll get rid of this! Capella, use double-slap!" Capella growled, and made a grab for the rat, intending to lay another smack-down.

Twilight was very much unsure about backing down and letting Fluttershy and her Chansey take on a fully-evolved Pokemon, but... evolved or not, it was still just a Raticate. She had to have confidence in her friend. With a sharp nod, she turned back to her target and pulled out a ball.

"Alright, I think it's weak enough... Spike, hold position! I'm gonna try it!"

Narrowing her eyes, she pulled back her arm, took aim, and let the ball fly.

Capella wasn't going to give the Raticate any more mercy than she had the Meowth, and soon the sound of stone slaps filled the air. Fluttershy kept her eyes on this battle and this battle only - if she got distracted by Spike again, that could just get them into more trouble. She needed to have faith in her friends, and believe they would be all right. She heard the toss of the Pokeball, and held her breath. "You can do it... you can do it..."

Twilight just waited as the ball took the Magnemite into it, and dropped to the ground.

One wiggle... She clenched her teeth. Two... She wrang her hands together. Three... she took a cautious step forward.

Ping!

And with a cheer of victory, she ran forward and claimed it. "Yes yes yes yes yes!" She crowed, jumping up and down. "My very own Magnemite! Oh this is great, I-"

Mid-self-congratulations, she promptly remembered Fluttershy was still fighting, and turned to check on her friend. "Shy! Are you and Capella alright?"

How had Capella wound up sitting on Raticate was anybody's guess, but it looked like another victory. Celestia has raised Capella well before leaving, so Fluttershy's worries were practically gone. she heard Twilight's cries of victory, and turned around at once to congratulate her. "That's wonderful! You both did it! Ooooh, this has been such a great day!"

Once again, Twilight couldn't help but laugh at Capella's method of subduing her opponents.

"It has, hasn't it? Things are turning out pretty well." Glancing at the ball that now held her new Pokemon, she tossed it up and down a couple times, thinking over names. "I think I'll call this one... Tesla. After the famous inventor."

Turning back to Fluttershy as she shrunk the ball down and put it on her belt, she gave her a questioning smile. "So, are you feeling a bit better about this whole thing?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rising up, back in Ponyville~

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