To Be A Master

by Someguy458

(2) — A Wild Ketchum Appeared!

Twilight and the others pondered over their situation. There they were, in a foreign world, transformed into foreign bodies. Not to mention that a human and a 'Pikachu' had discovered them, and from the looks of it, they weren't going to leave without a fight.

Rainbow Dash, despite all of this, gladly accepted the offer.

She stretched her tiny wings, then took off upwards as fast as she could. After rising about twenty feet into the air, she began a dive-bomb, aimed straight at Pikachu.

The human kid called out, "Dodge it, Pikachu, and retaliate with Thunderbolt!"

An instant before Rainbow's attack made contact, Pikachu jumped out of her path, and cried out, "Pika—CHU!" A large burst of electricity shot out of the rodent and hit Rainbow Dash, dealing double damage and paralyzing her. The sight made everyone witnessing it freeze in shock and fear.

"Alright, we got it right where we want it!" The kid cheered, grabbing a strange spherical device from his belt and winding up a throw. "Go, Pokéb—"

"WAIT!"

The kid froze. "Uh... Did you hear that, Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded frantically, "Pi Pika, Chu Pi!" He pointed to the rest of the group, most of whom were still frozen.

Except for Fluttershy.

Fluttershy had instinctively leapt between Rainbow Dash and the kid, spreading her wings in a defensive manner. "That's enough; you leave Rainbow Dash alone!"

The boy's jaw dropped. "Wha— you can talk!?"

Fluttershy stood her ground. "I don't know who you think you are, but I will not stand by and let my friends get hurt!"

The first one to break out of their stunned stupor was Rarity; she squirmed forward to join Fluttershy and added, "Neither shall I!"

Spike immediately joined his crush. "Yeah, what she said!"

Applejack waddled over and took up a defensive stance. "If ya wanna git Rainbow Dash, yer gonna hafta git past us!"

Twilight and Pinkie both quickly joined them, and together, they stood their ground against the boy.

Said boy, however, was staring as though he'd seen a ghost. "I-I-I'm sorry, I thought– how can you all– what's going– ughhh," he stuttered, before promptly fainting.

The seven Equestrians blinked in surprise. "I think we may have overdone it just a bit," Twilight remarked.

"Pika," Pikachu nodded in agreement.

---

About thirty minutes later, the kid was conscious again. "Ugh... Pikachu, I just had the strangest dream; there were a bunch of talking Pokémon, and–"

Then he froze as he caught sight of the eight figures looking down at him. Panicking, he scrambled backwards and blurted, "P-please forgive me! I didn't know you could talk; I—"

Fluttershy stepped forward and held up a wing in a shushing manner. "Shh, calm down. We didn't mean to scare you; we were just protecting our friend."

The kid relaxed a little bit. "If I'd've known you could talk, I wouldn't have attacked in the first place."

Rainbow, her paralysis having worn off while he was unconscious, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yeah, why did you attack us?"

He rubbed the back of his head nervously and explained, "Because I thought you were just normal Pokémon, and I wanted to catch you."

The entire group asked simultaneously, "Pokémon?"

The boy blinked. "You don't know what Pokémon are?"

Twilight shook her head. "We aren't exactly from around here."

"Well, I'll say!" The kid chuckled. "I'm Ash, by the way. And this is Pikachu."

"Pika," the electric rodent nodded.

The seven introduced themselves in turn.

Ash scratched his head, shrugging off their peculiar names. "So, if you're not from around here, and you don't know what Pokémon are, then where did you even come from?"

Twilight grimaced, dreading this moment. "Well, you see, —"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Pinkie Pie that butted in this time, but rather Rainbow Dash. "We're from another dimension, where we live in a land called 'Equestria'. Twilight here modified a mirror she has, turning it into a portal that we used to get here. When we went through, we found ourselves turned into these 'Pokémon' things, and then you showed up."

The other Elements of Harmony stared at Dashie, surprised that she'd summarized it so eloquently.

Ash gaped for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, stranger things have certainly happened to me before..."

Twilight did a double-take. "Really? You believe us, just like that?"

He nodded, "Being friends involves giving the benefit of the doubt. Besides, the least I can do to make up for attacking is to trust you."

Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right..."

Ash took the opportunity to stand up. "Well, if you're not familiar with those bodies, then what're you back in your world?"

AJ answered, "Most of us are Ponies."

Ash scratched his head. "Ponies? You mean, like Ponyta?"

Twilight blinked, then looked down at herself when he pointed. "Well, sorta."

Spike chimed in, "I'm the only one of us who isn't a pony; instead, I'm a fire-breathing dragon!"

Ash smirked, "You mean like Charizard?"

Spike blinked. "Who?"

In response, Ash pulled another one of those spherical devices from his belt and tossed it into the air. At the peak of its arc, it opened up and a white energy came out, coalescing until it parted to reveal a HUGE dragon (it was actually only 5' 7", but it seemed huge in comparison to Twilight and the others).

Spike gawked, "Holy guacamole!"

Charizard opened one of its eyes and smirked cockily, as if to say 'Yep, I know I'm awesome'. Rainbow Dash certainly knew that look.

Twilight, however, was more interested in the ball that Charizard came out of. "How'd you do that?"

Ash re-caught the spherical device, and held it up. "Oh, this is is a Pokéball. It allows trainers to catch and contain Pokémon."

The Princess stared at it, awestruck.

AJ pointed at Charizard and asked, "Who's the big guy?"

Ash reached into his pocket and procured another device, then pointed it at Charizard. After a moment, the device opened up and began to recite: <<Charizard, the Flame Pokémon, and the final Evolution of Charmander. Its wings can carry this Pokémon close to an altitude of 4,600 feet. It blows out fire at very high temperatures.>>

The entire group "Ooh"ed at this.

Twilight pointed at the device. "And that?"

Ash smiled. "My Pokédex. Professor Oak gave it to me a while ago; it contains all the known data on the known species of Pokémon."

Fluttershy oogled at it. "How many is that?"

He put a finger to his chin in thought. "Last I heard, it was somewhere around 890."

Everyone's jaws dropped. "How do you keep track of it all!?" Fluttershy gaped.

The boy held up the Pokédex with a knowing smirk.

Then Twilight asked, "Does it know anything about what we've become?"

Ash nodded, "Of course! Here, let me."

He pointed it at Twilight, and a moment later, it read: <<Ponyta, Galarian Form. The Unique Horn Pokémon. This Pokémon will look into your eyes and read the contents of your heart. If it finds evil there, it promptly hides away.>>

Twilight blinked. "Really?" She studied Ash's face closely, then gasped. "Oh wow, it's true! And might I say, you're one of the noblest humans I've ever met!"

Ash flustered. "Gee, thanks!"

He next pointed his device to Fluttershy, and it returned: <<Swablu. The Cotton Bird Pokémon. Since Swablu looks like a cumulus cloud, foes can have a hard time finding it. For some reason, it likes to land on people's heads softly and act like it's a hat.>>

Fluttershy looked at herself and remarked, "I suppose I do look rather cloud-like."

Next, Pinkie's turn. <<Swirlix. The Cotton Candy Pokémon. The sweet smell of cotton candy perfumes Swirlix's fluffy fur. This Pokémon spits out sticky string to tangle up its enemies.>>

Pinkie gasped, then spat out a string of sticky substance, just like the Pokédex had said. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she no doubt began to think about the possibilities this gave her.

Now, Rainbow Dash. <<Rufflet. The Eaglet Pokémon. A combative Pokémon, it's ready to pick a fight with anyone, no matter how strong. Soon after its hatching, it will challenge its parent to a fight in order to gain their acceptance.>>

AJ snickered, "That's definitely Dash."

Rainbow Dash beamed, "Sure is!" AJ face-palmed.

Rarity came next. <<Sewaddle. The Sewing Pokémon. This Pokémon makes clothes for itself. It chews up leaves and sews them with sticky thread extruded from its mouth. It is a popular mascot for fashion designers.>>

Rarity gasped. "Oh, I see! That's actually rather fitting, now that I know that."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "You like fashion, huh?"

She smirked. "Darling, 'like' doesn't begin to describe it."

They all shared a small chuckle at that.

Spike's turn, now. <<Charmander. The Lizard Pokémon. From the time it is born, a flame burns at the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame were to go out.>>

Everyone blinked. "Did I hear that correctly?" Rarity asked.

Spike self-consciously looked back at his tail, at the flame that was apparently his life force. "That's... Wow..."

AJ stepped forward. "Hopefully, mah description'll lighten the mood."

Ash visibly grimaced. "Well, uh, maybe we shouldn't..."

She raised an eyebrow from under the skull she wore. "How bad can it be?"

He sighed, relenting. <<Cubone. The Lonely Pokémon. It wears its mother's skull on its head, so no one knows what its bare face looks like. However, it's clear that it's always crying.>>

Everyone stared at Applejack, who was absolutely mortified at just the thought.

Then Twilight piped up, "But that wouldn't make sense; she didn't bring... Wait a second! AJ, you came through the portal wearing your hat, right?"

She nodded.

"Your hat must've become the skull instead!"

Everyone sighed in immense relief, their existential crisis having been narrowly averted.

Well, except for Spike; he was still staring at the flame at the end of his tail.

Comments

[Dark Feather]

Nice doge whit the hat.

[Nitro Indigo]

Well that was quick.

This chapter feels rushed. The battle in particular feels too short; how does Rainbow feel about being attacked?

A pet peeve of mine is "what the hay is a Pokémon?" exposition because it's rarely interesting and grinds the pacing to a screeching halt. The scene just ends abruptly with no hints at what's to come.

[Lex the Pikachu]

They should still be able to understand Pikachu for being pokemon themselves.

Ok, so this isn't Gen1 Ash, since you said he was aware of 860 different pokemon, then is this Gen7 or 8 Ash?

[Someguy458]

10691482
Actually, I've had this story on the back burner since January (at the very latest).

But yeah, I can see your point. The battle was meant to show just how out-of-their-element they are, but I suppose it could've lasted a bit longer.

[Someguy458]

10692752
My logic for them not being able to understand Pokéspeak is that, since they can still speak English (or Equish, or whatever), they can't understand Pokéspeak. Except for Fluttershy.

And this is meant to be between Gen 7 and Gen 8 (to where he's heard of the Galar Region, but hasn't yet visited).

[Lex the Pikachu]

10692758
Ok, oh and a pokemon is released from its ball in white light, and recalled in red light

[Krowthepony]

Well put keep going

[Krowthepony]

There r 898 pokemon last I checked

[Someguy458]

10693746

"It's somewhere around 890."

[Krowthepony]

10697965
https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokedex/ check it out I watched the first episode that ever came out in 1998 I am an og for pokemon I check the pokedex often

[Someguy458]

10697988
What I meant was "I know that, and Ash (roughly) knows that, too."

[Krowthepony]

10698142
Ok waiting for next chapter keep the good work up

[RainbowRaptorDash1]

Keep going! It’s interesting me already! I LOVE IT!!!