Twilight shivered as she was returned to the ball. The inside of the ball was so plain and boring. Completely white and perfectly spherical. There was nothing good about it at all! In fact, hearing the faint murmurs of the humans and the other 'Pokémon' through the white walls of the ball was just teasing her with thoughts of freedom.
But seeing Rainbow get captured and Pinkie attack Sammy had pushed her over the edge. She was getting out now whether the humans approved or not. Twilight found what she could only guess was the edge of the ball and her horn began to glow. A black circle suddenly appeared in the wall and Twilight jumped back in shock. She hadn't started the spell. So what was this?
Twilight cowered back as a delicate yellow and white snout poked through the hole, quickly followed by a full, yellow fox head with enormous orange fur erupting from their ears. The fox spotted her and suddenly laughed.
"Don't worry, Dawn, I'm not gonna hurt you." Their voice was deep and reassuring, calming Twilight almost instantly, although most of her caution returned as she noticed the scar across the fox's right eye.
"M-my name's n-not Dawn!" the alicorn stated defiantly. This was the second time somebody had called her 'Dawn'.
"Oh, right, sorry. I guess you don't like nicknames? Jolt was the same at first, but, hey, she's got a Sassy nature." The fox stepped into the ball, revealing a yellow body with black legs and a large fluffy tail tipped with orange. A long twig was sticking out of the fur on the tail.
"Jolt? Nature?" Twilight stood properly, her thirst for knowledge overpowering her cautiousness.
"Oh, right. Jolt's the Pikachu that weakened you so Sammy could catch you. Every Pokémon has a nature, and each one gives you a boost or reduction in one of your stats." The fox explained. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Scorch, a Braixen."
"Um… I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."
"Hmm… Nah, I'm still just gonna call you Dawn. But if you really prefer your species name then you could probably convince Blaze to call you it." Scorch grinned as the black portal closed behind him.
"Blaze?"
"Sammy's Arcanine." Scorch sighed. "Look, you seem to not know much about any Pokémon, so let's start off with your first Pokélesson!"
"Um… Maybe I should-" Twilight was cut off as the black portal appeared again and Scorch grabbed the pony the forelegs, dragging her through it. When she opened her eyes again she was in another white sphere, only this time is was decorated. There were multiple pillows covering the floor and a single larger one shaped like an egg.
Scorch was sitting on the egg cushion, watching Twilight patiently. The alicorn hesitantly lay on a deep purple cushion near the egg-shaped one.
"Ok! Let's start off with the teams. I'll save the best for last, so… Chrisy has a team of Piplup, who is really childish and kind of immature, so just try not to upset him; Pichu, who is the youngest member but actually extremely smart for his age; Meloetta, who is… very dramatic… just, don't get on her bad side; Garchomp, he's extremely competitive and easily angered; Espeon, who is… kind of odd… she never talks and tends to stay away from the rest of the team. Chrisy also has Pidgeotto, who is the fastest member and, despite the obvious characteristic of them being competitive, is actually really kind. It's like he wants to live up to Abba or something." Scorch smiled at the look of confusion on Twilight's face. "You keeping up, Dawn?"
"It's Twilight." The alicorn growled.
"Sorry, sorry. Next up is Katie's team. She has Servine, who mostly keeps to himself; Pachirisu, who's essentially a cheerleader, she always makes everyone smile; Skitty, who is very kind and she's just really, really nice…" Scorch bit his lip before continuing. "There's also Goodra, he's pretty cool, a little bit of a role model for the others; Vaporeon, who cares more about her appearance then anything; and Starly, who is her team's resident baby."
Twilight nodded slightly, forcing the Braixen's words to stay in her mind until they were imprinted there.
"Best is last, as always, with Sammy's team. There's me; Jolt, a Pikachu, who is rather snobby sometimes, but usually she's pretty nice; Tricki, a Zorua, who is very bubbly and always happy, she's pretty cute too; Blaze the Arcanine, who is a bit of a father figure to some of us; Pinkamena, a Sylveon, who is rather optimistic and always manages to keep the team's spirits high; and Arrow the Talonflame, who is pretty solitary most of the time, but he's also really protective. Aaand… That's it! Unless you count the Pokemon Sammy keeps in her bag all the time because they're too overpowered." Scorch finished before grinning evilly. "But I don't."
"Okay…" Twilight took a deep breath and massaged her temples. "What's next?"
"Hmm. I hadn't thought this far ahead." Scorch tapped his chin with the twig in his tail. "I guess… Since it's such a big deal, battling?"
"Battling?" Twilight's eyes widened.
"Yeah! Battling is a big deal for trainers. They capture Pokémon and then battle them to prove themselves! Some trainers are so good, they are crowned 'Gym Leaders', and they run gyms. If a trainer beats them, they get a badge. When a trainer has eight badges, they can take on the Elite Four! They're the strongest trainers in the region! If you beat them, you get to take on the champion, and if you beat them, you become the champion and are crowned 'The Strongest Trainer'. In the entire region!" Scorch grinned, eyes shining with awe. "It's always been my dream for Sammy to become the champion so that I can be in the Hall of Fame…"
Twilight blinked. "You fight for fun?"
Rainbow gave one last attempt to escape as she was trapped in the ball. She hated it! So plain, boring, and a constant reminder of what had happened to her. She had been captured by these horrid creatures and stuffed into a tiny little ball! What right did these humans have to steal her freedom?
The pegasus let out a frustrated scream as her prison refused to break beneath her stomping hooves. She finally gave in, lying down and glaring at the walls of the sphere.
"I just wanna get out of here." She sighed sadly.
The blue pony jumped to her hooves as one wall formed into a black void. She stared at it with wide eyes before approaching slowly. It didn't seem dangerous. The pegasus nervously held up a hoof and rested it on the void. It went straight through into cold air, but nothing too bad. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward into the blackness.
When she dared to open her eyes, she was inside another sphere, this one with a blanket lining the bottom. There was a few cushions atop it. In the middle, the blanket and cushions had been pulled together into a nest for a large brown bird with a mane of pink, and pink and yellow tail feathers.
"Uh, who are you?" the bird chirped, hopping to the edge of the nest.
"Who wants to know?" Rainbow answered defensively.
The bird smiled. "Pidgeotto. Nice to meet you."
"Rainbow Dash."
"Rain… Rainbow Dash… Oh, you're Chrisy's newest Pokémon!"
"Okay, look, 'Pidgeotto', I am not a Pokémon." Rainbow growled.
"I'm pretty sure you are." The bird frowned.
"No. I am not a Pokémon, or a… what did she call it? Meloetta, or a… I… don't know what else they have but I am not a Pokémon! I am a pony. A PONY."
"A pony?" Pidgeotto tilted his head, unsure.
"More specifically, a pegasus. I am not a Pokémon, despite what those stupid humans say!" Rainbow snorted. "I am a pony, I am a pegasus, I am NOT a Pokémon!"
"Okay, okay, I get it." The bird's eyes widened. "But, um, if you're not a Pokémon, how're you in a Pokéball?"
"So that's what these things are called?" The pegasus looked up at the white walls of Pidgeotto's 'Pokéball'.
"Yep."
"Well then I hate Pokéballs!" Rainbow cried, stomping her hoof.
"But why?"
"They're plain and empty and somehow too spacious and a constant reminder that I lost to those stupid humans!"
"Well, a little love in Pokémon Amie can fix the first few things. Can't do much about the last one though."
Rainbow snorted angrily, sitting back on one of the blanket corners with a thump. "How about from now on, you never say 'Poké' to me again?"
"I don't know if I can do that." Pidgeotto sighed. "I mean, I'm a Poké-"
"What did I just say?"
"Sorry, sorry." The bird frowned. "But I really can't."
"Well then I'm gonna just go back to my own Poké- Celestia damn it!"
"Who now?"
Rainbow stood, trotting to one wall of the Pokéball. "Let's see… Last time I said I wanted to leave so… I wanna go back to my ball!"
Pidgeotto pressed a wing to his beak as the pegasus looked expectantly up at the wall. "You have no power in this ball. When you closed the portal, you trapped yourself here."
"Ugh, ponyfeathers!" Rainbow exclaimed, turning and suddenly striking out at the wall with her hindlegs.
"That won't… oh, for Helix's sake. I want her to go back to her Pokéball."
The pony jumped slightly as the black void appeared again. With one last angry look at the bird, she stepped through.
Pinkie screamed in frustration, bucking hard at the walls of her cage. The white held firm, sending the force straight back up her hooves in a sharp jolt. The earth pony grunted, stumbling slightly as tears formed in her eyes.
"Let me out! I need to help my friends!" the party planner wailed angrily.
There was no response. The pink pony was left alone, tears trickling down her cheeks as she realised she might never see her friends again.
"Everypony says that there's nothing worse than being alone,
I only know it for sure now, yeah, they hit home.
I liked to think that I'd always be able to smile,
But that's a lie if I haven't seen my friends in a while."
The earth pony trotted back to the wall, gently resting her front hooves against it.
"This place is empty and shows me all I have lost,
I tried to find it all again, but at what cost?
Now I'm stuck here as well, with no way to get free,
And all of my friends, they all elude me."
The white sheen reflected her face a little, showing her her own tears.
"And now I'm all alooone,
I'm stuck on my ooown.
My friends, I'm sorry I couldn't be there,
When I do find you, we'll have so much to share.
But for now I'm all alooone,
I'm lost and on my ooown."
The pink pony sighed turning away from her reflection.
"Now I'm all alone."
Pinkie sniffed, wiping her eyes before collapsing on the ground and crying softly.
