A short while later, the pink-white creature came back into Twilight’s room, tugging another figure by a lab coat. This had to be one of this dimension’s humans, Twilight decided. Yes, the proportions of his body were a bit different from those of her friends from Canterlot High and his skin color was far more muted, but even with those trivial distinctions his species was obvious enough.
The princess was, to a degree, pleased with the revelation that she was in human hands. She liked the species as a whole, and in particular their extremely efficient manner of digitally storing enormous amounts of data. With any luck this dimension’s humans would have something of that nature. They might not have been ponies, but she knew roughly where she stood, which was something.
The old man walked over to her bed and loomed high over her, smiling faintly.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Professor Oak. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
So this man was the professor? Good. That should make gathering data far easier. Twilight would have returned his greeting, had she been able to move anything but her eyes. As it was, all she could do was roll them around in their sockets to show that she was awake.
“Yes…” Oak winced. “That’ll be the paralytics. Apologies for any inconvenience, but it’s standard practice to give a dose to severely injured Pokemon in hospital setting, particularly freshly-caught ones. A wounded Pokemon blindly lashing out in pain and fury can pose a severe risk to medical staff and other patients alike, you know.”
A Pokemon? What was that? Something worth learning about, the princess supposed. Twilight assumed that she was one now, though her physical form was unchanged. After transforming into a human twice in Canterlot High’s dimension, it seemed entirely plausible. A species change could also explain the non-functionality of her spells despite the continued presence of her inner reserves of power.
“Anyway… we had planned for the paralytic to be mostly worn off by the time you woke up, but it seems we underestimated the necessary dose of anesthetic. We haven’t treated a Pokemon of your species before, you see.”
Well, of course not. That at least explained why her body was so unresponsive. Good to know that it wasn’t due to some permanent crippling.
“Now, we can move your treatment schedule forward a bit and administer a counteragent to purge the paralytic from your body right now, but we will require you to remain in bed for some time and refrain from lashing out or attempting to escape.”
Fair enough, Twilight decided. She didn’t feel much like getting up at the moment anyway.
“If you can understand me and consent to those terms, please look up, then down, then back at me.”
Without hesitating, Twilight did so. Professor Oak smiled.
“Well that’s a relief. I’ve seen some Pokemon who had to be sedated virtually all the time for their safety and that of others,” he paused, hand over chin. “You know, I think I’ll have to tell you the story of the rampaging shiny Cottonee sometime.”
“That was a nightmare,” the pink creature commented.
“Blissey here will administer the counteragent,” he gestured at his pink sidekick. “As soon as she’s ready.”
“You got it, boss,” Blissey answered with a rather comical attempt at a salute, before walking back out the door.
“It should start taking effect within a few minutes,” Oak explained while they waited. “Full motor control should resume inside an hour. If you don’t mind, once it does I’d enjoy having a little chat with you.”
Twilight did not mind. Not one little bit.
Back in Laverre, introductions were ongoing.
“Ash, Serena,” Clemont said. “This man is Lysandre, founder and owner of Lysandre Labs, the company famous for creating the Holo Caster and advancing the march of science throughout the Kalos region! And that’s not all! He’s also famous for his charity work and passion for building a better world!”
“Oh, wow,” Ash said.
“You two know each other?” Serena asked.
“Oh yes,” Clemont answered. “You see, Lysandre Labs is based in Lumiose City. And I’m the Gym Leader there, after all. I couldn’t possibly ignore such a prominent and inspirational figure in our community!”
“You flatter me unduly,” Lysandre said, looking a little embarrassed. “I’m just one man with a dream, after all.”
“One man with a dream and the genius to see it done,” Clemont countered. “I’ve always admired your work.”
“Yet you’ve turned down all my invitations to come and work for my company. We could use a young man of your prodigious talent.”
“Gee, thanks,” Clemont scratched the back of his head. “But I don’t think I’m cut out for working at a corporation – even yours. Unfettered science has always been my one true passion!”
“I can respect that,” Lysandre nodded. “But the offer remains open, should you ever change your mind.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“Yes,” Lysandre said. “Now where were we? Ah yes, introductions,” he looked over at Serena and offered his hand. “You’re Serena, are you not?”
“I am,” she took it and shook.
“Now that we’re all acquainted, back to the reason I came,” he turned his gaze back to Ash. “I happened to be in Laverre Gym to witness your battle, and I came away impressed with the bond you share with your Pokemon – especially that Pikachu there. It was your first Pokemon, was it not?”
“Pika,” Pikachu nodded.
“Wow, that’s pretty good,” Ash said. “How did you know?”
“I have an eye for these things,” Lysandre answered, putting a fist over his heart and looking upwards. “My dream… my passion… my reason for existence to make this world of ours a truly beautiful place. And nothing is more beautiful than the bonds between people and the Pokemon that they train!” he glanced back down at Ash. “So you might say that I’ve trained myself to notice such tight bonds when they come along.”
“Thanks!” Ash clenched his own fist. “Pikachu and I are best buddies forever, right?”
“Pikachu!” the little yellow Pokemon pumped his fist.
“There are two types of people in this world, Ash Ketchum: those who give, and those who take. Unfortunately, there are many who seek to elevate themselves in life by taking from others, making this world a dark and ugly place.”
“I’ll say,” said Ash, thinking of a certain trio.
Lysandre clenched his fist. “They’re filth!” he barked with suprising vehemence. “Scum of the earth who do nothing but drag it down! In this beautiful but limited world we have, to selfishly take and take and take without giving back… it’s unforgivable!”
“Whoa,” the group took a slight step back from the tall man.
Lysandre glanced at them, then relaxed his hand and face. “Did I go off again?” he asked. “My apologies. My blood tends to get a little stirred up if I think about certain topics too much. Don’t worry though. I can see,” he smiled warmly, “that you are the type of people who give rather than take. So let me make it up to you.”
“Oh, there’s nothing to make up for,” Clemont assured him. “Your anger at bad guys just shows how devoted you are to improving the world.”
“But there is,” Lysandre insisted. “I’ve taken up quite a bit of your celebration time simply so you could listen to me rant,” he stroked his beard briefly. “Tell me, are you planning on staying in Laverre?”
“Well, we were kinda thinking of heading towards Anistar City soon,” Ash answered.
“For your seventh gym badge, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Let me tell you what. If you’re willing to put off leaving the city for a few days, I can see to it that you’re put up in one of the local hotels,” Lysandre smiled. “Better than camping in the wilderness or sleeping in a Pokemon Center, I’d think. Take a few days off and reward your Pokemon and yourselves for a hard-earned victory. My treat.”
“Wow, really?”
“Of course,” he nodded.
“Thanks, but you don’t really need to do that,” Serena said.
“Yeah, we’re used to roughing it a bit,” Ash added. “No need to bother yourself about us.”
“Oh, it’s no bother at all. If you won’t take it as an apology for taking up your time, then consider it my way of rewarding your contributions to the world in my own small way. You and your Pokemon help make the world a little more beautiful every day. It’s only fair that you should get something in return.”
Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie looked at each other, then huddled up. A few seconds of hurried whispered discussion took place among them. Then, suddenly, it was over and they turned back to Lysandre.
“We talked about it,” Ash declared. “And we’ve decided we’re in!”
“Excellent,” Lysandre smiled. “Excellent.”
“Are you… are you being serious?” Professor Oak asked.
Twilight nodded.
It had been almost an hour since the paralytic’s grip had slackened, and then fallen away. Twilight had begun talking almost as soon as her jaw began working, only to find out that all Oak or other humans could hear when she spoke aloud was her own name and parts of it being repeated ad infinitum. Apparently, this was true for all species of Pokemon, which at least confirmed her hypothesis of species transformation.
Oak had brought in what looked to be a tall, thin, and frail humanoid in white dress. She had introduced herself as Gardevoir, and explained that she was capable of direct telepathic communication with human and, hence, translation. A useful skill. Twilight wondered if she could learn to do it.
With Gardevoir translating, Twilight had opted to lay most of her cards on the table. She didn’t have enough knowledge to fake being a denizen of this world even if she had wanted to, so she didn’t try. Instead, she told Professor Oak exactly what she was: an alicorn princess from another dimension, stranded here by accident and looking for a way home. She told the story of her journey through the dark forest and the devil beasts’ – she learned that they were called Houndoom, which she felt to be a totally appropriate designation – attack. She’d told him that she needed help to survive in a world like this one, and asked politely for assistance. The one thing that she hadn’t done was reveal the likely presence of Celestia and Luna in this world. She wasn’t ready to trust this stranger quite that much.
“It’s…” Oak hesitated. “Quite a lot to take in. Of course, extraterrestrial Pokemon are not unknown, but something like this…” he shook his head. “I’ve never seen or even heard of anything like it.”
“Do you believe me?” Twilight asked.
Once he’d heard Gardevoir’s translation, Professor Oak scratched his chin, looked at Twilight, and then nodded. “You know, I think I do. Call me crazy, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen something impossible. That whole Celebi business really has a way of opening one’s mind to new wonders,” he sighed, looking wistful. “So, I suppose the question becomes: what now?”
“Well…” Twilight considered. “Could you bring me some… books?”
Good To know Samuel still remembers Celebi.
Oh twilight, never change.
Well, that's a bit of good news for Twilight at least. But it looks like she and her counterparts might not meet up for a while yet, since she's holding back that bit of info about them. Nice Lysandre rant, by the way. Does he do that in the anime I have to wonder, or just in the game? Great chapter!
6200747 THIS
Pretty sure up near the beginning of the chapter it should be 'a' professor not 'the' professor.
Then just before the last "Team Twerp" scene starts Oak's dialogue seems to be missing a word or two.
And then two months later, Twi stop reading and remembers she should be looking for Celestia and Luna.s
6200747
Indeed. It makes sense when the guy saying 'I don't believe it!' is an average Joe, but when you've encountered as many Legendary and mysterious Pokemon as Prof. Oak this response is far more natural. The fact that she is a completely unique and undiscovered species helps.
In this chapter: sensible Professor and pony behaving sensibly, I like that.
And the fact she was caught by Ash "has met every Legendary" Ketchum.
books!
I just realized, and I don't know if this has been commented on before, but Celestia and Luna kind of control the sun and moon back home. So...isn't there an apocalypse going on back in Equestria that puts everything on a clock?
Wut
6200934 In the Realizations chapter it was mentioned Celestia set up a "redundant contingency system for moving the sun and managing the nation" after the plunder seed incident. Basically, a quick way to say "don't worry, Equus won't be in danger if the Princesses don't appear before dinner."
Of course twilight would ask for books. It's only natural.
'Ave you decided to update more? If so, that's REALLY good, 'cause for a while, there were NONE. AT. ALL.
Also, a really great story!
SO MANY SHINIES I WANT ONE!!!!!!
But really? Rampaging cottonees? How does a cottonee rampage?
"Twilight Twi Twi Twilight! Light Twi Lightwi Light Light!"
6200815
6201012 Of course, if it involves having unicorns move the sun, they are on a clock, it's just a much longer one. After a few years doing that burns the unicorns out. (according to the journal of the two sisters)
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6201021 Disarming Voice
(Thank Celestia)
little chat, little word, little tea, perhaps?
"my true passion" I think
a little
I can see,” he smiled warmly, “that you
Lysander's rant was very much in the Pokemon style. So much so that I was visualizing it in text boxes over his head and hearing a little ding noise after every sentence. (next, next, next...)
6201125 Well, they could have Discord do it, though I'm not so sure how well that'd turn out
I should have known Twilight would ask for books...
6201125 That'd work well enough for now. That means that if the Princesses take, say, a month to return to Equus there'd still be a Equestria to return to and there shouldn't be any unicorn burnouts yet.
6201456 In an emergency like it's now? Probably won't be perfect (the sun raising and setting on different places in the sky every day, may have some days longer and other shorter) but I think Discord would work well enough; he's redeemed by the time this fic is set after all. However, if Celestia's scenario happens to be true (Discord looking for Celestia on Fluttershy's request) then he might not have the time to take care of the movement of Equestria's sun and moon.
6201023 This made me giggle far more than it had any right to.
6200774
It could be he makes a distinction between taking "lay hold of (something) with one's hands; reach for and hold." and receiving "be given, presented with, or paid (something)." in that receiving something given is OK but to take |in his mind| is greed, reaching for and grabbing up whatever you can. So in his ideal world everyone gets what they are given and nothing more, but because everyone gives everyone gets everything they need. An rather nice image i think, shame he`s a raving looney.
As with most commentators, yay for sensible Twilight and Oak. With the amount of crazy things both have dealt with, this is exactly what I would expect to happen.
Also +1 for Twilight's view on humans.
Well, thanks Twilight. I think we're pretty neat too. So much we've done -
... Of course that's why.
6201714 Er, not quite. See, the Journal says that any unicorn who moves the sun or the moon looses their magic afterwards - even Starswirl him-freaking-self. Turns out that the Royal Sisters' Special Talents aren't moving the sun and the moon - it's the ability to draw strength from said celestial orbs so they don't burn out their own magic. After discovering that, they are able to return magic to all the unicorns who lost it.
Basically they will be 'loosing'
twounicorns per day until the alicorns get back, at which point all can be fixed. Assuming Discord doesn't do it.Edit: Apparently the burnout time is both longer and more random. My bad.
Books!
6202194 Source, please?
6202278 The Journal of the Two Sisters. Lemme see if I can find the actual passage:
(Whoops, my two-per-day figure is indeed wrong. Sorry!)
6202270
6202397 Thanks, but you didn't say what is The Journal of the Two Sisters. At least it isn't the name of a TV episode. (I know there's an actual journal of C+L which was in their old castle in the Everfree but the way you mentioned it sounded like it was a title of something else, like a comic or a novelization)
Anyway, for purposes of this fic I'm going to believe Celestia's contingency mechanism is a safer way to move the sun and moon than in old times like you mentioned.
6200946
"FOOL! DARE you doubt the POWER of the ALMIGHTY COTTONEE?!!!"
6200934
As has been mentioned before, Celestia set up contingency plans following the governmental and ecological chaos that ensued when she and Luna were simultaneously taken during the plunderseed incident. I like to think she's caring enough not to want a repeat and smart enough to make it happen.
6202172
It's Twilight, what do you expect?
6202636 You are right in that it is a book mentioned in the show, but Hasbro also published it as an actual book you can buy and read. If you desire the Sisters' backstory, I recommend it. (Unless you like your headcanon the way it is now.)
Huh. OK so either I was correct with the bit about paralytics, or the author isn't above taking a little inspiration from the comments. Either way, neat!
Still dreading the possible nonsense regarding Luna and hoping that bullet comes up empty in the chamber.
I pictured Mr. Burns for some reason there.
Hmmm, I forgot how pleasant Lysandre could be. Shame he's fucking crazy.
Yes! Twilight is the first one to find true help after Celestia. This is really good for her. I am now rather curious, if she can read these books actually, because I think, the writing will be different.
6201633
6201013
6200740
6200815
6200925
How has no one mentioned that NO PONY CAN READ IN THIS NEW WORLD the pokemon world uses an entirely different language from equestrian!
Celestia found that out the hard way when she first went to library!
Twilight Sparkle is about to go into a depressive slump unmatched by any pony in history!
6203563 I did give me a cookie!
6203563
Twi likes to LEARN, learning a new language is no big deal for her.
6203578 it is when she can't communicate in he first place
6203573
Have all the cookies!
th00.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2013/173/2/9/the_cookie_princess_by_centchi-d6a7l6z.png
6203582
You forgot the existence of several telepathic pokemon that could help her, right? Oak has literally hundreds of pokemon, if he has Kadabra and or Alakazam willing to help, she can learn how to read and write soon.
Also, type and talk devices to exist.
6203597 well yeah if she gets help but on her own it will be complicated
well she is with the professor so she may learn eventually maybe in a few days
hmmm you don't have complains with Robo Twilight?
she sound like a dark mechanicus from 40K she is not that sheltered always trying to impress
princess Celestia couldn't allow for this result especially when she is princess of friendship.
6203563
One name : Meowth.
If he could learn how to talk and read, Twilight can do it too.
6203773 he is cataloged as a city Pokemon he grow up around all that
kind of stuff you find in them like neon sings and yes Meowth do come from a city
so compare with him is unfair he got familiarity.
6203563
I remember, all right. I was just saying how natural it is for Twilight to ask for books. Also, Books.