Pokémon Red and Purple

by Universal Librarian

Chapter 12 - Youngster

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Elaine asked.

Trace shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna go and check out the gym. I know I can't challenge the leader yet, but if he's there, I might at least be able to get a look inside."

"Alright, well, good luck," Elaine replied.

"And you, see you all later!' Trace waved enthusiastically as he headed back into town. "Good luck, Twilight!"

Twilight waved back half-heartedly. "Don't you want to go and see the gym as well?" She asked, glancing at Elaine.

Elaine shook her head. "Nah, that gym leader is hardly ever there. He only accepts challenges from trainers who've managed to get all of the other gym badges, and even then you have to book a challenge and his aides let you know when he's back." She gestured to the path ahead. "Come on, we'd better get going if we want to get through Viridian Forest by sundown."

As one, the group turned and followed the path out of town. Most of the Pokémon had returned to their Poké-balls, with only Sunset and Pikachu actually wanting to walk under their own power.

The way ahead was very similar to Route 1. A simple path wound its way between swathes of long grass, with thickly clustered trees lining either side of the Route. The occasional Trainer could be seen wandering around, either searching for Pokémon in the grass, or simply chatting casually with each other.

"This should take us right up to Viridian Forest," Elaine explained. "It should extend right the way up to Pewter City on the other side, then."

"Is it dangerous?" Twilight asked.

"It can be," Elaine replied. "There's a lot of poison types in there, and a fair few of them are pretty territorial."

Twilight grimaced, glad that she at least had a bunch of antidotes. "How far is it to Pewter City?"

"A fair distance," Elaine admitted. "Add in the wild Pokémon and a couple of Trainer battles, and it might be a push to make it before sundown."

That didn't sound particularly appealing to Twilight, but she supposed that she didn't have much choice other than to trust Elaine's judgement. "Do Trainers regularly battle each other out in public?" She asked, wondering how other people dealt with such disruption.

"Not so much in towns or cities, but the Routes between them are usually fair game," Elaine replied. "Trainer battles in built-up areas are generally restricted to official Gyms or authorised venues."

"Oh, that's not so bad," Twilight said with relief. With her main concerns allayed, or at least put off for the moment, Twilight tried to focus on the peaceful scenery around her. Several Pidgeys and other bird Pokémon were flying around between the trees, and the grass rustled as other Pokémon went about their daily lives within.

Glancing down, Twilight was glad to see that Sunset was looking around with interest as well. She had feared that her friend would be despondent after everything that had happened to her, and the way people were treating her, but it seemed that she was doing fine. Either that, or Sunset was just very good at hiding her feelings.

"Heya, are you two Trainers?" A high-pitched voice called out. Twilight looked around to see a young boy, no older than eight or nine, holding out a Poké-ball proudly. "Want a match?"

"Sure thing, kid!" Elaine grinned and held out an arm. "Let's go, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu leapt from Elaine's arm and landed in an aggressive pose, sparks flying from her cheeks.

The youngster grimaced and took a step back. "No way, not against a Pikachu! I've only got a Pidgey, he's weak against Electric types, it's not a fair match! What about that Ponyta?"

"Shim?" Sunset said in a curious tone.

"She's not a Ponyta," Elaine told him. "This little one's a unique Pokémon!"

"Whoa!" The kid grinned widely up at Twilight. "Can I have a match against her? Can I, can I?!"

Twilight glanced warily down at Sunset, who looked like she had just bitten down on a fresh lemon. "I'm not sure that she-"

"Shim," Sunset said firmly. She took a deep breath, then strode purposefully towards the kid. "Shim, shimmy."

"You want to fight?" Twilight asked in surprise. Sunset just nodded. "Um, okay? I guess you know what you're doing."

The boy whooped and opened his Poké-ball, releasing a Pidgey into the sky. The bird Pokémon soared around until it came to rest on the ground in front of the boy, spreading its wings to make itself look bigger and more impressive. "Pidgey!"

Sunset just sighed and brushed a stray lock of her mane out of her face, then took up an aggressive pose. "Shimmy."

The two Pokémon stared each other down silently, neither making a move. After a few seconds, the boy suddenly shouted, "Go, Pidgey! Sand Attack!"

With a loud cry, the Pidgey flapped its wings hard and kicked up a cloud of dust, making Sunset cover her eyes with a hoof. "Now, Quick Attack!"

"Look out!" Twilight yelled. Her warning came too late. The Pidgey hurtled forward at incredible speed and slammed into Sunset's side before she could react, knocking her off her feet and making Twilight wince.

"Get her again, same move!" The youngster exclaimed excitedly. Twilight cringed as the Pidgey attacked again. A split-second before impact Sunset disappeared in a flash of light, avoiding the attack by a hair’s breadth. “Whoa, she can use Teleport?! Be careful, Pidgey!”

The Pidgey hovered in place, looking around in an attempt to find Sunset. All of a sudden, the boy let out a loud yelp as Sunset charged out from behind him. “Over here, Pidgey!”

To its credit, the Pidgey swooped around and gained altitude as it turned, making itself a harder target than if it had just turned on the spot. Sunset skidded to a halt and teleported just as the bird Pokémon let loose another Sand Attack. Twilight and the Pidgey both looked around for her again, but the youngster shouted out, “There! In the dust!” Twilight’s stomach dropped as she spotted the distinctive glow of Sunset’s horn in the middle of the dust cloud. “Get her, Pidgey, Quick Attack!”

The Pidgey rocketed into the cloud at a horrendous speed, only to suddenly be launched back out of it with a loud wham and crash to the ground in a heap. When the dust cleared, Sunset was standing in a typical bucking pose, a triumphant look on her face.

“Whoa! Pidgey, retaliate with Gust!” The boy raised a clenched fist as he waited for his Pokémon to attack, only to look around in confusion as it didn’t. “Huh? Pidgey?” The unfortunate bird Pokémon was sitting on the ground where it had landed with its feathers ruffled, looking a little worse for wear. “Oh, no way! A one-hit wonder?! Alright, Pidgey, return!” The boy held out his Pokéball and the Pidgey was sucked inside in a flash of red light. “Aw, shoot. I guess I’d better get back to the Pokémon Centre. Your Pokémon is really strong, Miss!”

“Right, uh, thanks?” Twilight replied, a little shocked at how casually the kid was taking his Pokémon’s defeat. He grinned and waved as he walked back to Viridian City, prompting her to wave back weakly.

Elaine chuckled and patted her on the back. “Don’t worry, a quick trip to the Pokémon Centre and that Pidgey will be fine. Come on, Viridian Forest isn’t far.”

Comments

[Jest]

And with the yearly update done, we big you all good day. See you in 2023.

[shadow wolf1573]

nice. see you all in a year

[Thought Prism]

Yo, you didn't abandon this? Nice! I forgot how amusing it was watching the ever-serious Sunset saying 'Shimmy' over and over.

[Universal Librarian]

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Don't tempt me

[Herald of Opera]

Because Pidgey is Normal/Flying, it doesn't outright resist Fighting-Type attacks. Double Kick won't be outright super-effective, but it's a pretty beefy attack for this point in the game and unevolved mons tend to be less specialized in their niches. Starters tend to have slightly higher stats and level than other early-game stuff too (obtained at level 5 with the first route being level 2-4).

[Emtu]

11398470
I don't think that was Double Kick; Double Kick is two separate hits. Maybe Sunset gets unique attacks as well (for instance, that could be Buck, equivalent to Scratch or Tackle, but for mons with hooves) or she doesn't even get actual moves?

[The Voice in the Water]

One…two…three… Shimmer Kick!

[Herald of Opera]

11398546
Dude can't even pull off a proper divekick and he has the gall to call himself the greatest Kamen Rider?

[random reader]

I bet trainers here aren't used to pokemon fighting on their own, without help from the trainer. If trainers are always feeding the information to their pokemon, then the pokemon is never going to learn how to fight on their own. In education, we call this "learned helplessness". Then again, maybe that's the whole point...

[Jlan]

11398495
Double Kick and all other multi-hit attacks only hit once if the first shot knocks the target out, so that's also what could have happened. Though we won't know for sure until the author reveals whether that was a move or just Sunset doing what horses do when attacked.

[The Voice in the Water]

11398641
Yea, truth be told, Kabuto was my least favorite Heisei rider, mostly because Tendou was insufferable. I prefered Faiz, Hibiki and Decade. At least in Decade's case, yea, he was an ass, but he was a charming one, rather than a giant prick. And he could lose.

[Chrome Masquerade]

“Oh, no way! A one-hit wonder?! Alright, Pidgey, return!” The boy held out his Pokéball and the Pidgey was sucked inside in a flash of red light. “Aw, shoot. I guess I’d better get back to the Pokémon Centre. Your Pokémon is really strong, Miss!”

That's a good attitude.

[redandready45]

Shimmy is best Poke Pony!

[Anon E Moose]

Shimmy said "buck it" and then did so

[luckyboys121]

Good to see an update, and glad to see Sunset's battle went well. Eager to see what happens next (but of course patient too so however long it takes so be it )

[Auram Potentia]

i'm amazed noone thought that L was that one dude from pokemon black/white whitch is where my mind ended up at.

[Cyrus Colter]

it could have been Mega Kick.

I will provide no context, if you can figure it out, good for you.

[Herald of Opera]

11399136
Again, only Looker makes sense. Incidentally, his name in the original Japanese is the English word "handsome" so the double entendre actually works in the other direction. Clearly the localization made the better choice.

11399150
That's Normal-Type, but it's also ridiculously more powerful than attacks are supposed to be at this point in the game. Of course it would one-shot if it was that.

[Glutbier]

Nice that it continues! I'm looking forward to more

[Manr]

Pokemon scarlet and violet does not look like what they advertise well it's already too late I already pre-ordered it... lol

[Wilddog88]

11399377
If it is based off of Spain that country is mostly desert. Except for the costal mountains and a few oasis’s

[FanOfMostEverything]

Good to see more of this, and that Sunset’s acquitting herself well in combat. She probably welcomes the stress relief. Looking forward to more, especially as the forest looms ahead…

[StormDancer]

Curse you, Universal Librarian, curse you!

I couldn't remember which pokemon/MLP crossover this was, so I had to read it again.

You're a monster, releasing an update like this. How could you? These stories are lighthearted and fun and cute and full of the warm-fuzzies and you've released a new little morsel and now I will have to wait for another update before I can be despondent about the lack of ANOTHER new update.

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...
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moar plz?

[Opponent]

It's still alive \o/

[AngelaCA]

More Please 🙏🥰

[PonyofEntropy]

Just read. Enjoyed this story. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Herald of Opera]

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11398458
So, uh... we're kinda running out of time before these jokes turn out to age like milk. Just saying.

[shadow wolf1573]

11724469
We still got time. I say we give the author til the end of the week. Than the joke is bad

[Herald of Opera]

11398456
11398458
Okay, it's 2024 now so we can definitely say this was a mistake.

[shadow wolf1573]

11789898
Yep

[sinewystatue382]

i do hope this will be updated soon as i don't want it to be left to rot away