Catching Magic
"Morning, guys, I'll get..." A pause. "Is she sleeping on a cloud?"
"Yup."
"...But I thought you were the one with the magic?"
"All ponies have some kind of magic. Unicorns can just use it at will."
"...So Pegasi can manipulate clouds?"
"And Earth Ponies are good at taking care of crops and such."
"Makes sense," Henry said, as he grabbed the cooking items. "I guess."
"Well, ah'm gonna miss mah poor apple farm," Applejack sighed.
"Are there others to take care of it?" Henry asked, getting thankful affirmation. He paused his cooking as a thought came to mind. "Uhh... you don't eat meat, do you?"
"Meat? Gross," Rainbow Dash cut in, giving a face. "What, you eat it?"
"Yup."
The girls gave him a look of disbelief and disgust and, in Fluttershy's case, horror.
"Humans are omnivores, as are many Pokémon," Henry explained calmly. "There are some of us that don't eat meat, but the vast majority of us do. It's just a part of how we survive, just as you survive by not eating meat."
"I don' mean any offense, but tha's disgusting," Applejack commented. Henry laughed politely.
"I suppose it is," He grinned, as he gestured to the small pile of berries he was cutting up. "But that's why I keep berries on hand."
"Hey, what's this one?" Dash asked, looking at a bright red one. Henry just grinned as she took a bite – and immediantly regretted it, gasping loudly at the shockingly spicy fruit. "OW! HOT HOT HOT HOT!"
"That, Dash, is a Tamato Berry," Henry laughed, along with the other girls and his team. "Spiciest berry there is. Here, this should help."
Dash eagerly grabbed the banana-like berry, and immediantly took a bite. The sweetness of it was nice against her burning tongue, and she scarfed it down. It helped some, but not as much as she'd have liked. She was offered a blue one, and when she took a bite, the mix of flavors overwhelmed the strong spice and made her grimace, but she finished it anyway – and found her tongue was feeling much better, even as it throbbed slightly.
"That suuuucked..." She sighed, glad that the burning sensation was gone. She carefully ignored the her friends' laughter. "That was as bad as the rainbows back at the factory."
Henry paused in his cooking, blinking at this statement, "You have rainbow factories?"
"Yup."
"...Weird," The human said with a chuckle as he shook his head, before turning to his team as soon as he finished setting up the breakfast. "Alright, guys, come and get it!"
The meal was nothing more than bowls of berries. Dash, having had her fill of Oran Berry and Nanab Berry – as Henry said they were called – and that torturous bite of the spicy one. After several minutes, the group of Pokémon were finished and once the dishes were taken care of, the man turned to his team and started his routine of returning them to their Pokéballs. The ponies gaped at what they witnessed as he did so. How did such large creatures fit into such small spheres?
"Our technology is pretty highly advanced," Henry stated when Fluttershy wondered if they were alright. He explained this calmly, understanding that the girls didn't know of it. "If it wasn't safe to use Pokéballs on Pokémon, their production would've stopped a long time ago, so don't worry."
Fluttershy nodded, grateful that the creatures were unharmed.
"My team and I are headed to my hometown for our next badge right now, so why don't you come along and see what it is that we have for our cities?"
"How far away is it?" Twilight asked.
"About a day's walk, so it's not that far. Less if we run about half the time."
"I'm not that athletic," The librarian said sheepishly.
"No, but Dash is, and from what they've said of you, you're really good at magic."
"Jus' where are ya goin' with this, sugarcube?"
"Can't Dash get more clouds, and with Twilight's magic, can't you just ride on one and keep up or something?"
Twilight blinked at this. It would be a good idea. Plus, she, Fluttershy, and Rainbow could take turns pushing the cloud, herself using nothing but magic. The spell for walking on clouds lasted about 24 hours, so the travel speed would be increased for the rest of the day. After a few minutes, that is exactly what was going on, the two non-pegasi ponies riding atop a cloud that Rainbow Dash volunteered to pull, Twilight making a magical link between said Pegasus and the soft, fluffy stuff beneath her hooves. She decided that, with the magic making sure they would be safe on the cloud, she would get in some more sleep and lay down to do so.
"Didn' sleep well, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, I had this odd dream of riding something through the clouds," Twilight said with a frown.
"Was... everything alright?" Fluttershy asked gently. The unicorn smiled gently.
"I think so, but it kept me from sleeping well, so I'll sleep while we ride."
After a few moments, the lavender unicorn was asleep, and resting comfortably. RD gave a soft snort.
"Worrying over a dream? Seems a bit silly to me," She scoffed.
"I don't know," Henry said. "That book I lent her has stuff on legendary Pokémon that can control what a person dreams. So clearly, dreams are important."
"Whatever. How fast of a runner are you, anyway?"
"Probably not as fast as you, seeing as I'm stuck to the ground and don't have wings. But my shoes help speed me up."
"Your shoes?" Applejack asked, unsure and wanting to see this.
Henry smirked as he looked down the trail. Suddenly realizing that he'd been leading them to it all this time they'd been talking, the girls that were awake watched carefully. The human launched forth, grinning as a hissing sound was heard from his shoes – before he rocketed forward with the sound of a powerful fan. The ponies froze and stared, before Dash went after him. Thankful for Twilight's spells made to sustain themselves this time and keep them safe, AJ and Fluttershy held onto the cloud for safety as they caught up to Henry, whom had paused to let them catch up.
"What're with them shoes?" AJ called to him.
"They're Running Shoes," He explained. "They're made to suck in air, compress it, and blow it out with power at the bottom. It makes me go faster than normal. Neat, huh?"
"That was cool!" Dash agreed eagerly.
"I guess. Now can we go?"
There was a series of nods, the mares on the cloud settled in for the ride, and watched as the scenery flew by.
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Henry finally slowed down after a while, Rainbow Dash having kept up easily. The human and ponies chatted as they went.
"And this, girls, is Petalburg City," Henry said with a straight face. "The first place I want to stop by is the school. Careful, though. Considering you aren't human, people will assume you're Pokémon of some sort, and that since you're with me, you're on my team or something."
"Even though we're not?" Twilight asked.
"Humans like to make assumptions... what should we do in the meantime, if you girls don't want to do that?"
"I have an invisibility spell I could cast on us. It'll last until the evening."
"Going invisible and stalking the town? Yes!" Dash cheered with a hoof-pump.
"I... I hope we don't scare anypony..."
"Well, considering the ghosts that sometimes go through the town, I doubt you'll be that much of a surprise if you're invisible."
Twilight scoffed, "Ghosts aren't real."
"Maybe not in your world," Henry grinned. "Here, they are very real. They can also be very dangerous, so keep an eye out."
He said this as he led the way, the unicorn having casted the spell. Dash was still fine with dragging the now-invisible cloud behind her, and stayed close to the human, whom seemed to know the town better than he had originally let on.
"How well do you know this place?" Dash asked him. She noticed that nobody else was paying enough attention to hear her, and if they did, they assumed it was a Pokémon of some sort.
"...It's my hometown," He answered with a tone of finality that screamed he didn't want to talk about it. He was walking towards a building with an odd image engraved at its entrance, but when he spotted the sign, he gave a disappointed sigh. "The gym's closed until next week? Great... guess we could stop by the school, give us something to do today."
The ponies glanced at each other, who in their right mind would willingly go to school when they didn't have to? Twilight not included. The young man easily ignored the looks, leading the way to the nearby building. It was a lot bigger than the little school house back in Ponyville, that was for sure.
"How... sugar cube, how many o' ya does this thing hold?" Applejack asked from her perch on the cloud.
"At the very least? Two thousand. And that's considered a small population for this school."
The ponies stared, gaping openly. Not that Henry could see it, but he smirked anyway, knowing from the shocked silence how surprised they were. After a few moments, Dash noticed that they were being left behind, and quickly caught up, following closely as the human went in and left the door open long enough for them to do the same.
"Must be class time," Henry mused, entering the office immediantly. After a few moments, he was back with a badge attatched to his chest. "And now to visit!"
The ponies followed, and were amused when he quietly opened the door to a class where a teacher was lecturing on... something more advanced than what even Twilight knew on Pokémon. The moment she finished, Henry grinned and spoke up.
"And that's how the world was made!" He said, clapping jokingly and making the class and teacher jump in surprise, before laughing. Although a small group of them scowled at him, which he easily dismissed.
"Welcome back, Henry," The teacher, her badge naming her as Ms. June, said with a smile. "Have you finally decided to return to attending school?"
"Not all that necessary to attend a school for entering the league when I'm going for the badges," Henry smirked.
"You're a trainer now?" A teen exclaimed with a surprised grin.
"Yup," Henry said, pulling out his trainer card and showing it. "Official as of a few months ago."
"How many badges do you have, then, Henry?" The teacher asked.
"Four, as of two weeks ago," His grin widened at the way the class stared, Ms. June giving her congrats. "I shouldn't interrupt your class for too long, I'll visit the other teachers."
"Running away to hide your fake badges, eh?" A voice called from the back of the room, making Henry freeze. From the tension in his muscles and the looks the person got, the ponies could easily tell how insulting such a statement was.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked slowly, turning to look with cold eyes to the three in the back. "Something of our hard work being faked?"
"Yeah, I doubt you actually won them!" Sneered the one, his goons agreeing with nods and harsh looks on their faces.
"Stop this at once, Yuka!" Ms. June said, and was about to go on a tirade of brow-beating before the trainer stopped her.
"Wait, teach," Henry said. "If you think you're so good, Yuka, let's put that to the test. You three against me, three one-on-one matches in a row."
"What, later? Fine with us."
"Actually, with Ms. June's permission, I was hoping for now," Henry replied.
"It would certainly be a good example of how battles go after you experience them outside of school," She agreed with a nod.
In no less than five minutes, Yuka and his two goons, Kelra and Thume, all with only one Pokéball, prepared for battle against Henry.
"What's going to happen?" Twilight asked Henry carefully, who smirked.
"Just wait and see," He replied. "This is one of the main events of this world." He turned back to the other three, the teacher acting judge and the rest of the class at the sidelines. "Since I'm the one that challenged you, I'll choose my Pokémon first. Deal?"
"Then pick it already, loser!" Yuka scoffed. "We'll pick who goes first on our side afterwards!"
Henry grinned, grabbing a ball off his belt. He tossed it up once, caught it on the button, and as it enlargened, tossed it up again; catching it a second time, he threw it to the battlefield.
"First choice – Blaziken!"
The class stared – when did Henry have a Blaziken? The three on the other side just scoffed, before sending Kelra forward, who let out a Marshtomp.
"You think your team can win against the best battlers of the school?" Kelra taunted, as the fight began at the teacher's call. "Marshtomp, water gun!"
Even as Henry started to speak, Blaziken was already moving, "Dodge!"
With practiced ease, the fire-/fighting-type avoided the blast of high-pressured water.
"Double Kick!"
Once again, as soon as the first couple of syllables were registered, Blaziken was already in motion. Marshtomp didn't stand a chance – he was quickly pummeled multiple times by the powerful muscles in Blaziken's legs.
"Follow through, Sky Uppercut!"
With a slash straight to the chin, the water-/ground-type was shot into the air. Kelra was shocked at how fast the opponent was moving, shocked into silence and uncertainty of what to do next.
"Finisher – Double Kick again!"
Leaping up after Marshtomp, Blaziken was quick to smash him with multiple kicks once more, slamming him straight into the battlefield and leaving quite the dent – and leaving him unconscious. She, however, landed with ease.
"So... cool!"
Henry grinned over his shoulder to where he heard Dash's gasp of surprise at Blaziken's show of power. Said Pokémon came over.
"Good work, you got yourself a fan," He chuckled to her, making her grin, before turning to the other three. "C'mon, who's next? Don't tell me you're doubting yourselves now – because we're still going! Next is Mightyena!"
With a growl and a look of sheer ferocity, the dark-type landed with ease on the battlefield, ready to go all out. Thume was pushed forward, and let out a Butterfree.
"You got lucky with that fire beating water, but that won't happen again!" Thume taunted.
"Is that so? Well, have you noticed that Butterfree doesn't seem as confident as you?" Henry said, pointing out the truth. With the menacing look on Mightyena's face, it wasn't all that surprising – just before the second round began. "Mightyena – Flamethrower!"
With a deep breath and the sound of something hot roaring up his throat, the wolf-like creature opened his maw – and the four ponies jumped in shock as flames erupted from it and hit the Butterfree dead-on. The poor bug was just barely hovering there, smoking from the massive damage, before collapsing to the ground. A one-shot take-down.
"Good work, bud," Henry said, scratching at his Pokémon's ears. Said creature groaned at the pleasing sensation, leaning into it with a lop-sided grin. "Well, Yuka? You're up."
Yuka growled as he watched Henry release a one of the most beautiful Pokémon he'd ever seen – a Milotic.
"Since when did you have that? And in that case, where'd you get the other two?" Yuka demanded with a start. "You only had a Torchic when you left!"
"That's what happens when you go travelling, Yuka," Henry smirked. "You make friends. Now are we starting or not, coward?"
Yuka growled and let out a Grovyle. Said Pokémon tensed, ready for battle, but across the field, the trainer's eyes narrowed at the condition on the grass-type.
"...I don't like the condition he's in, Yuka," Henry said coldly, Milotic noticing it soon after this was said. "Surely you haven't been neglecting him, have you? Because that's worthy of an arrest by the police."
Grovyle's eyes were slightly more sunken in than they should be, and his skin was of a slightly darker color than that of a healthy Grovyle's. Milotic glanced at her trainer, the two of them having a shared thought; with a nod, she gave her permission.
"And if I am, what's it to you?" Yuka snapped harshly.
"Let's make a deal," Henry said, smirking. His old rival understood almost immediantly, as did Grovyle – and Yuka smirked, agreeing to it immediantly. A moment later, the battle started.
"Leaf Blade!"
Grovyle's wrist leaves glowed and quickly formed blades, although slower than they should've been. Henry and Milotic found it to be almost too easy for the counterattack – a Twister from her tail that sent the grass-type sprawling. With a follow-through that consisted, in order, of another Twister, Wrap, and a point-blank Ice Beam, the grass-type was easily defeated considering his weakened state. The class gaped, as Henry walked forward, Blaziken already at work gently thawing the defeated Pokémon.
"You cheated! You must've! I never lose!" Yuka cried defiantly, angrily. Henry gave a bark of laughter.
"Dude, if I had cheated, not only would you not have known, it would be for a far more important battle."
"But there's no way you won against us fairly! We've been the best in the school since you left!"
"Yuka, it's time for a reality check – outside of these walls, those titles mean nothing. A gym leader, a professional trainer, would've not only beaten you with the same ease that my team and I did – but they would've reported you for neglecting to take care of Grovyle properly. Now we had a deal. Or are you going to be as cowardly as when I was still attending the school?"
"But... but how did your team react so fast, so easily? It doesn't make any sense!"
"Because we have a bond that you would never understand."
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"Trust!" Henry said with full confidence, smirking proudly at the three that surrounded him. "After all of the things we've gone through over the past few months, it would be almost impossible for us to not trust each other as much as we do."
He paused to pull back the sleeve to his gray long-sleeve coat, showing some of the black undershirt at the shoulder in the process. There, on his left arm, was a long and twisting scar that stretched from just below his wrist all the way to his elbow.
"Remember that horrible blizzard and terrible snow conditions this past winter?" He said. He noticed out of the corner of his eye his old teach gasping at where he was going. "It was just me and Torchic back then, stuck out in the wildnerness where there's no such thing as air conditioning. We were low on rations, healing items, and had trouble staying warm in the tiny cave we found – right where we found Mightyena. He was a Poochyena then, and he was fighting off a bunch of Sneasel to protect Feebas, trying to keep her alive just long enough for the blizzard to pass.
"Torchic and I jumped right into it to help – she ended up being poisoned badly. We had no choice but to stay, and I was out of antidotes. Poochyena went out to hunt down the nearest city for help. It took him three days, all of which I spent taking care of both Feebas and Torchic. By the time the helicopter was able to come for us, having had to wait for the blizzard to clear, I'd had to resort to fighting those annoyingly persistent Sneasel myself – which is where this came from. By the time they rescued us, all three of us were suffering from frostbite, severe exhaustion, malnutrition, and for me, severe blood loss. We nearly died out there, Yuka. Since then, there's been a trust between all of us that nobody could ever come close to understanding."
"Trust?" Yuka scoffed harshly, crossing his arms. "How can something so pathetic make you strong?"
"It's something that, with your attitude, you could never hope to understand," Henry replied easily. "Now keep to the deal – or I will contact the police."
Yuka scowled, and handed the Pokéball to Grovyle over to Henry, the technology acknowledging the change in ownership. The bullies stalked away as the bell rang, grabbing their bags. After the class had left, Ms. June came over.
"Thank you for teaching them a lesson in humility," She said gratefully. "And I'm sorry of what you went through. How did the news not hear of it?"
"Because I made sure that it didn't. I didn't want publicity of any sort. Anyway, I have to get this Pokémon taken care of. See you later, teach."
As he left the gym, Rainbow Dash followed, she and the girls remaining silent for a while as he led the way for a place to stay. The Grovyle's Pokéball had been sent to the storage system of the world, with said Pokémon in the device. Using his PokéNav, he sent a message along to Professor Birch, stating the incoming grass-type had been won in a bet and needed to be taken care of immediantly.
"After that chaos I think we deserved time at home," Henry said to Blaziken, having returned the other two.
"Blaze," She nodded in agreement.
"Ah didn' think ya'll went through such things, sugar cube," AJ commented from her perch on the cloud. Man, those things lasted a while.
"I don't usually talk about it," He shrugged. "Anyway, my place is a little out of town."
"Is it because you want to get away from the city?" Twilight asked.
"No, it needs the space."
"Wait, what?"
"You'll see," Henry smirked.
The girls just looked at each other, unsure of what he meant by that, but decided to wait it out for now...