The Alpha and the Omega - Epilogue Pt. I

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K6N35…>

O-T and F-T Sonic and Tails, with a little aid from Raikou, stopped pushing the Tornado and came to a stop, the red biplane sitting next to Yoshi’s kart under a tree on the grass in a small clearing not far from a paved path. They stepped back and looked at the plane for a moment before looking around. Aside from the path, they were surrounded by trees and grass, but even from where they and the rest of the group were standing, they could see tall buildings past the tree line no matter which direction they looked that, despite their cold exterior, seemed to be full of life compared to the two cities that had served as a battleground.

“Empire City. Nice out-of-the-way choice, bud,” F-T Sonic complimented after a moment, his hands on his hips as he continued looking around.

Everyone turned and looked over as Raikou asked, ~What do you mean by that, Sonic? This ‘Empire City’ seems quite large from here; it doesn’t exactly seem ‘out-of-the-way’ to me.~

F-T Tails answered, “Well, what he means is that the continent Empire City is on didn’t have a Gaia Temple on it, so it wasn’t really a major stop during our world adventure to stop Dark Gaia and repair the planet. If it weren’t for the fact that we got word that Dark Gaia’s minions and Eggman’s robots were targeting it, we might not have needed to stop here during that time at all.”

Raikou wanted to inquire further, but Entei came over and said, ~I do not like being here. There may be trees and grass here, but we are clearly surrounded by intact buildings, buildings that likely house humans. This location may be one of the least affected in your world by this crisis, but I would hardly call it safe.~

Raikou looked over at Entei at that, but F-T Sonic held up his hands as he replied, “Relax, big guy, we’re fine here. It’s daytime here and we’re in the middle of Meridian Park. I think that’s what its name is, anyway…”

F-T Tails glanced at him for a moment before continuing, “Part of the reason you don’t have to worry is because this park is so big. It’s roughly 2.5 miles long and half a mile wide, or 843 acres of land.”

Applejack and the other ponies were wide-eyed at that, the orange mare saying, “Whoa Nelly! That’s more acres than even Sweet Apple Acres!”

F-T Tails nodded, “Yeah, you could probably fit part of another major city here.”

Suicune asked, ~What’s the other part of the reason we don’t have to worry about the humans that live here?~

F-T Sonic answered, “Well, basically the fact that you’re hanging around us.”

The Aurora Pokémon tilted her head, ~Are you saying that if they see us near you two, they’ll just let us be? Forgive me, but I don’t think that will happen.~ As if to put the blue hedgehog’s words to the test, everyone began to hear loud music and turned to look. On the paved path, they saw that the source of the music was a teenaged human male walking along the path. He was wearing a black tank top and shorts, and had a white skull cap on his head. His right arm and hand were supporting a jambox on his shoulder and he was moving his left hand in an erratic manner, his steps bouncy as he moved along to his music.

For a minute, it seemed like he was too caught up in the loud music to be paying attention to his surroundings, but as he passed in front of the group, he came to a stop as his right eye shifted to the side and he caught sight of everyone. His jambox still rested on his shoulder, still playing the loud music as he turned to look at Yoshi, the Pokémon, and the Equestrians, both Sonics and Tails stepping forward after a moment. The teenager’s eyes shifted  to them and after several seconds, he held up his left hand, his fingers curled inwards save for his pinky and thumb, which were both sticking out. He waggled the hand a bit questioningly and both Sonics and Tails by holding up their hands the same way. The teenager nodded after a moment and let his hand drop, turning back to the path and resuming his walk in the park.

“Wow. Looks like you weren’t kidding, Sonic,” Lucario said as he continued to watch the teenager walk.

“Yeah, he didn’t even look all that surprised when he saw us! He must’ve realized that we’re awesome and there was nothing to worry about!” Rainbow added.

F-T Tails spoke up, “I could give you several reasons why I believe the way he reacted was due to that loud, obnoxious music he’s listening to… but I’m guessing you don’t want to hear them.”

Rainbow shrugged, “Yeah, not really.”

Suicune turned to Sonic, ~So it would appear you were right.~ She then addressed everyone, ~No doubt it will take Dialga and Palkia some time to repair the damage done to time and space, so unless we receive word that we have to move or someone comes along that decides to raise a stir, I suggest we remain here for the time being.~

Shining asked, “So Dialga and Palkia will contact us when they’re all done?”

Suicune answered, ~Perhaps not them, but naturally someone will travel here and let us know. We will have to return to our world after all. And of course, the displaced ones will have to return to their proper worlds or times.~ She glanced over at Riolu at that; she did not know when he came from, but she knew Lucario did not want his past self to know too much about his own future.

Rainbow flapped her wings to hover as she placed her hooves behind her head. “So what should we do while we’re waiting? We’ve got a whole undestroyed city around us!” she said.

Lucario spoke, “I don’t think we should leave this park. That… person’s reaction is probably not representative of how other people in this city would react to us. Some might be as easygoing, but I doubt all of them are.”

Rainbow groaned and asked, “So what are we supposed to do instead? Just sit here?”

Everyone heard a rumble a moment later followed by Spike groaned. They turned to look at the baby dragon to see him clutching his stomach with his claws. “Those gems earlier were delicious, but with all the running around we’ve been doing, I’m starving now…” he complained.

“Hm. Come ta think of it, Ah could go fer a little somethin’ mahself,” Applejack said.

“Me too, actually,” Shining admitted. He  looked over at Yoshi, Link, and Greninja. Yoshi seemed excited to hear food being talked about, Link’s knees were bent as the boy crouched down and held both hands to his stomach, and Greninja didn’t look like he was leaning one way or the other.

Lucario slid his Treasure Bag off and set it down on the ground, kneeling down next to it as he said, “Let’s see what I packed in here.” He opened it and began looking through it, raising one eye a moment later. “Hm. This is nowhere near full. Some of the supplies I packed must’ve gotten washed away earlier,” he grunted.

“Pika Pikachu?” Pikachu asked.

“Looks like all the apples are still here, but we lost most of the berries. There’s not much left, certainly not enough for everyone,” Lucario answered.

O-T Tails looked up at his future self, “I guess we’re going to have to find some more food if we all want to eat, huh?” The older two-tailed fox nodded in agreement.

Suddenly they all heard a voice call, “Corndogs! Fresh corndogs here!” Everyone looked at the paved path and saw a man pushing a white cart in front of him. The vendor stopped and stared at the gathering on the grass for a moment before turning back to the path and continuing on, calling, “Corndogs! Get your corndogs here!”

Shining looked intrigued as he watched the vendor walk away. “Corndogs?” He turned to F-T Sonic and asked, “What are corndogs?”

The blue hedgehog replied, “Well, there’s no corn in them, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Twilight looked at him and asked, “Then why are they called corndogs?”

Sonic shrugged, “I guess ‘cause they come on a stick. You know, kind of like…”

Twilight nodded as she said, “Oh, like corn on the cob. Right.”

Applejack snorted, “Pft. Ya don’t need sticks to eat corn on the cob. You just pick it up by the ends and hold it between yer hooves while you’re eatin’.”

F-T Sonic spoke, “Hm. Well, I know a few good eating spots around the city. I can go get some stuff and bring it back here.” He glanced over at Rarity and saw that the white mare was trying to get her mane back to its normal appearance with her hooves. He stared for a moment before turning to Twilight and asking, “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to have a brush or something she could borrow, would you, Twilight? I know where there’s a mirror here in the park.”

Rarity halted her meager efforts at that, turning and trotting over to the older blue hedgehog while saying, “A mirror?! Where?! You must show me! Take me there!” She was up in his face by the time she finished and she turned away to look at Twilight as she said, “Twilight, please tell me you have a brush for emergencies like this!” The lavender unicorn stared at her silently for a moment before using her magic to make a brush appear out of thin air that Rarity eagerly took with her own magic. “Excellent. Thank you, darling. Now please show me to this mirror,” she stated while starting to walk and tug F-T Sonic with some of her magic.

“All right, I’ll show you! Geez, don’t get your mane in a mohawk, Rarity,” the blue hedgehog said as he pulled ahead of her, everyone watching as they walked away.

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDvn4B…>

Soon…

F-T Sonic raised the chili dog in his left hand up as O-T Sonic did the same with the chili dog in his right hand, both bumping the back of their hands and dogs together in a toast of sorts before taking their first bite. They and everyone else were enjoying a nice post-victory meal, all of them currently sitting at or around one of the picnic tables nearby as they ate the food that F-T Sonic had picked up. They had popcakes, pizza slices, cookies, grapes, salads, kebabs… And of course, Rarity’s mane and tail were back to their usual flowing appearance, the fashionista able to enjoy having Spike feed her grapes now that she was happy with her appearance again.

“Mmm! This food is pretty good,” Rainbow said as she enjoyed a pizza slice with her popcake.

~It surprisingly is. I still think you could stand to add a little something more to what you’re eating, Rainbow,~ Suicune communicated while gingerly eating a salad.

“Nah, I’m good. I’m more of a get up and go pony, so I sometimes get through a day on quick eats and sugar-filled treats. This is more my kind of meal,” the cyan pegasus replied.

“Well, I get by super just eating the treats at Sugarcube Corner! Any kind of meal is great for me, but those are by far my favorite!” Pinkie piped up.

~Hm. The cyan one is clearly active, so her diet shouldn’t do her much harm. I’m not so sure about you though, pink one. Hopefully you have similar habits, because otherwise…” Raikou said, trailing off at the end.

Twilight spoke, “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Pinkie, Raikou. She takes great care of herself.” Pinkie beamed proudly at that.

F-T Tails looked at F-T Sonic and asked, “Where’d you get this pizza, Sonic?”

The blue hedgehog replied, “Eh, I had to leave the park to find a couple things. Bumped into Wentos while I was getting stuff, got a few things from him as well.” He looked over at Suicune and noticed she had not touched her hamburger. “What’s the matter, Suicune? Not interested in that anymore?” he asked.

The Aurora Pokémon answered, ~No, I’m sure it’s good. It’s just that… I haven’t sampled cooked food often, and what I have had hasn’t been palatable.~

Spike said as he took a bite of his burger, “Mmm! Put it behind you! This is great! The sear on this is perfect!”

Entei spoke up as he eyed the meat on his burger, ~Is this what you and humans call a sear, little one? This hasn’t been cooked properly! It’s not black enough! Do humans know anything about fine cooking?~

Suicune turned back to F-T Sonic at that and said, ~He has provided most of the cooked food that I’ve eaten. He apparently likes it, but I don’t enjoy eating something that’s almost as black as charcoal.~

The blue hedgehog nodded, “Hm, good point.”

Lucario and Pikachu looked over at Link and Yoshi, the latter using his long tongue to eat up the fruits and berries, especially the ones they had had in the Treasure Bag, while the former was happily tearing into his kebabs, oblivious to anyone who might have been watching him. Lucario looked down at his partner and smiled, “Those two would fit right in with the other Guild members, don’t you think?” Pikachu laughed while nodding in reply.

Twilight looked at the Aura Pokémon curiously, “What do you mean by that?”

He answered, “Well, let’s just say it’s probably a good thing that the Guild is on the edge of town. Dinner there can be quite the spectacle; once they’re given the signal, everyone starts devouring their food and the whole hall fills with the sound of eating. I’m sure the ‘mons in town would be complaining if they had to listen to that every night.”

Pinkie threw some berries and a regular apple in her mouth, swallowing everything before saying, “Mmm! This stuff is really good and energizing! It makes sense why you guys carry this stuff around with you!” She extended her long tongue out of her mouth and slid the end of it under a particularly big apple. Before she could slurp up her prize, Yoshi’s tongue shot out and wrapped around the other side of it. Both tongues pulled, leaving the fruit hanging in the air at the end of both tongues.

Both Pinkie and Yoshi glared at each other for a moment before they began having a tug-of-war for the fruit. For a moment, it seemed like Pinkie was going to win, but Yoshi suddenly leaned back and pulled both the apple and Pinkie into his mouth! Almost everyone stared in alarm for a moment as Yoshi’s stomach bulged and then shrank as he deposited an egg behind him. It shook wildly for a few seconds before it broke apart, Pinkie seeming no worse for the wear as she stood up on her hind legs and yelled at Yoshi, “Hey, no fair!” The green dinosaur ignored her, simply putting his hands on his cheeks in bliss as he enjoyed the apple’s lasting flavor.

Link had stopped eating as he looked over at the two and was suddenly startled out of his reverie by a wet feeling scraping across his cheek. He turned to his right and saw that Greninja had snatched up a piece of fruit that had ended up on his cheek, the tip of the frog’s tongue going over his ‘scarf’ and dropping it in his mouth. The boy smiled softly and made his way over to the Ninja Pokémon. Greninja watched him come closer, a neutral look on his face the whole time. He then tensed up and gave a happy croak when Link cautiously raised his hand to the frog’s tongue-scarf and began rubbing it, closing his eyes in pleasure.

“Is he actually enjoying that?” Riolu asked as he looked on.

“Of course he is. It’s not surprising that you don’t know that yet,” Lucario said.

~I would hope that it was only now that you learn just how sensitive a Greninja’s tongue can be,~ Entei half-joked.

Raikou looked at Suicune, ~Considering the way that we know anything about humans, it’s nice to see that they’re good in their natural form too.~

Suicune replied, ~Well, the ones we’ve seen so far have been good to us, even if their vernacular is a bit… unusual.~ She turned to F-T Tails and asked, ~What exactly is a ‘selfie’, Tails?~

The older fox groaned, “Please tell me you’re not going to take that word back with you…”

As they kept talking, F-T Sonic glanced over at Fluttershy. With how much she loved animals, he would’ve guessed she’d be intently observing what Link was doing and trying to learn all that she could, but as he looked at her, he saw that she was instead looking at him with a worried expression that she tried to cover up as she quickly looked away. At this, he knew immediately she was still thinking about what had happened earlier before everything that had happened today had gone from a fiasco to a complete crisis. He didn’t know what happened after her, her friends, Shining, and Tails had left the train without him, but he could guess she was blaming herself for how she handled the Eggman Nega attack.

Before he could try to reassure her, he felt a push on his shoulder and heard F-T Tails call, “Hey Sonic, are you listening?”

The older blue hedgehog shook his head and looked at the fox to his left, asking, “Huh? Sorry, I was… thinking about something. What’d you say, Tails?”

The older of the two foxes replied, “I was saying that, while we were waiting for you to get back, Lucario went and talked to Greninja about how he changed back on the mountain.”

F-T Sonic looked at the Aura Pokémon and asked, “Oh? What did he tell you?”

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RRGIn…>

Lucario answered, “He said that, essentially, it’s a form change that hasn’t been seen for a very long time back where he comes from. It’s some sort of unique Ability that only manifests itself when his feelings synchronize with someone else’s. I thought it was something like that since I could feel it in the air and see it with my Aura. It seems his ‘Trainer’, his partner if I understood him right, is the one he normally shares such a strong bond with.”

Cadance added, “From what Lucario was translating earlier, it sounds like he generally synchronizes with anyone that’s as courageous and selfless as he is.”

Rainbow spoke up, “Is that what triggers it? I was too busy sitting in one of the trees here earlier to pay attention. If that’s what it is, then he could’ve syn… synth… He could’ve connected with any of us back there, couldn’t he? We were all being amazing like we always are, especially me.” She spread her wings and flapped her way over to Link and Greninja, wrapping a foreleg around the latter’s shoulder as she asked, “You probably teamed up with me, didn’t you? That’s how great we are together: we aren’t even aware of it when it happens because we’re so busy being awesome all the time.”

Greninja glanced at her for a second after she finished speaking and then quickly brought his webbed hands together in front of him with a “Gre!” A moment later, he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a surprised Rainbow with nothing to wrap her leg around.

“He’s gone!” Pinkie exclaimed in shock. She then looked off to the side and flatly said, “Oh no, wait, he’s on that tree branch.” Everyone looked over at the tree and saw that Greninja was indeed on one of its branches, his webbed feet on the side of it with his toes on top as he hung upside-down with his arms crossed. He raised himself up a second later and turned before sitting with his back against the tree’s trunk, his arms still crossed.

Applejack let out a chuckle before saying, “Ah think that’s his way of sayin’ ‘no’, Rainbow.”

Lucario nodded, “I agree, Applejack.” He turned to Rainbow, “I’m sorry, Rainbow, but Link is the one he shares a special bond with, not you.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, a bit annoyed at that. She pointed to Link with a hoof as she spoke, “What, him? The kid that’s quieter than Fluttershy usually is? I mean, we all saw the weird mask he used and the glowing mark he has, but how do you know that he’s the one? What makes him so different from the rest of us?”

Lucario started, “I know it’s him because I sensed his and Greninja’s Auras merging together before Greninja changed. And you probably didn’t notice the way Link reeled in pain despite not getting hit by anything when Greninja was delivering the meteorite to Rayquaza…”

Rainbow interjected, “No, but I was able to hear him grunting, and if you remember, we were all busy fighting then! Plus I noticed the way your Aura thing seemed to get brighter and stronger the more damage you took! I can recall every time I noticed a change in it!”

Lucario was struck silent for a moment before he continued, “Okay, but my point is still valid: they had become so connected that they could feel each other’s pain. As for what makes him so different, I wouldn’t know. I would say it’s as much a mystery as that mark he bears.”

Before Rainbow could say anything back, Entei huffed at her, ~I hope you, and by extension those you surround yourself with, are not normally this petty.~

Raikou looked over at him and said, ~Be that as it may, Entei, you have to admit that this form change that that Greninja is capable of is highly unusual. Like Lucario said, it’s not exactly a common thing from wherever he comes from, and we’ve been watching over the Pokémon in our world wherever we go. I know I’ve never heard of anything like this before; have you?~

Entei somewhat conceded, ~No… But if it’s something that only humans can bring out, then there should be pockets of other ‘mons, or at the very least Greninjas, that are capable of exhibiting it there as well.~

Shining spoke up, “It was pretty amazing. Too bad there was no chance to really step back and see how it started and really appreciate the change. I’m sure that would’ve made it a little easier to understand, don’t you, Twily?” He looked over at his sister as he finished talking, the lavender unicorn nodding agreement.

O-T Tails said, “That would be pretty cool, but in order for it to happen again, wouldn’t Greninja need to be in some sort of… I don’t know, tense situation?”

F-T Tails nodded, “Probably, and that’s unlikely to happen since there’s nothing serious going on here. The only way we might be able to do it now would be to create a situation, and there’s no way we can do that here.”

Suicune held a paw to her muzzle. ~Actually… there might be,~ she communicated after a moment, catching everyone’s attention.

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncUoJm…>

Soon…

“So… I don’t really want to be that mare, but I’m not really sure what all of this… is,” Twilight said, mainly to Entei and Raikou as they seemed to be the only ones who might know what was going on. The group had moved away from the picnic area back into the clearing after Suicune had explained her idea to Lucario, the Aura Pokémon dragging his Bone Rush staff through the grass and dirt to make lines that formed two rectangles standing on their sides connected to the sides of a larger square while Suicune moved around the perimeter of the area, creating some sort of invisible barrier. F-T Sonic stood in one of the rectangles across from Rainbow and Link while the rest of the group was spread out away from the battlefield, Raikou and Entei in front of them and off to the sides as well.

Without looking back, Raikou explained, ~Lucario is tracing right now to show where the participants may stand and where the battlefield is located, and Suicune is using a variation of her Mirror Coat to ensure that no stray attacks cause any damage to this park or anywhere else. They may bounce a bit, but they will not do any harm, especially not to you since she has already protected this spot.~

Shining started, “So, uh, this fight…”

Suicune, as she walked behind the group still working on the Mirror Coat barrier, corrected without breaking stride, ~Not a fight, Shining Armor. It is a battle. There’s a difference.~

Shining shrugged, “Okay, battle. This battle is going to help Greninja change?”

Raikou nodded, ~Yes. Once Lucario is done, he will stand with Sonic to complete the setup. Do you see it now?~

Shining wasn’t quite sure what he was getting at, but Cadance soon said, “I think I do. Greninja will be on Link and Rainbow’s side and Pikachu will be on Sonic and Lucario’s side. Link is supposed to be the one who triggered the change while Rainbow thinks she’s the one who did it. I’m not sure how Lucario fits in, but Sonic shares some of Greninja’s personality, so maybe he can cause it as well, even if he is on the other side.”

Entei communicated, ~That is correct.~ Suicune soon walked over to the edge of the square and faced the completed field while Lucario joined Sonic in his box. Entei glanced at Pikachu and Greninja and said, ~To your positions, both of you.~ They both nodded and stood up, making their way over to the square.

As Pikachu got down on all fours in front of Lucario and Sonic and Greninja stood in front of Rainbow and Link, Fluttershy looked over at Entei and nervously asked, “Um, are you sure this is okay? With them?”

Entei simply replied, ~Yes. They both agreed to do this. Greninja seemed especially eager to be a part of this demonstration. He must be used to battling a lot. And this battle will not be like the ones you have seen; it will not go to the point of exhaustion.~

Cadance said, “I have to admit, I find it amazing that this is one way that you all become closer to one another. Back home, most of what could be compared to battling tends to involve the fate of Equestria.”

Raikou communicated back, ~Understandable. Now that you have a chance to properly sit back and observe, you may come to understand its appeal better.~

Twilight murmured, “Hmm, I wish I’d brought a quill and something to write on. I’d sure like to take some notes.”

Applejack glanced from the unicorn to F-T Tails and noticed he had his radar out. “You wanna take notes too, Tails?” she asked.

The fox absently answered, “Hm? No, I was just curious about the readings around here. They seem to be steady. No time-space anomalies or anything of the like.”

O-T Tails looked at the older fox in awe. “Wow. It’s amazing that you made something that sophisticated out of spare Badnik parts. I hope what I know and what I’ve learned helps me get to your level soon,” he said, F-T Tails looking up and smiling at him. The silence of the moment was broken by a snort, both foxes and everyone else in the group turning to see that it had come from Yoshi, the green dinosaur seemingly having been put to a snooze by his full belly, his head tilted slightly forward.

Suicune spoke, catching everyone’s attention, ~This practice battle between Pikachu of Team Defenders and Greninja from parts unknown will begin momentarily. Lucario and Sonic will serve as Pikachu’s partners while Link and Rainbow Dash will serve as Greninja’s. Partners may encourage and support in any way that falls under the rules, which brings us to the first rule.~ She turned her head and glared at Rainbow, ~Partners are to remain INSIDE of their box for the duration of the battle!~

Everyone looked over at the cyan pegasus and saw that she was hovering halfway over the line. “Aw, come on! You said we could help! Why are you making that a rule?” Rainbow complained.

Suicune calmly, though with a hint of irritation in her voice, answered, ~This is a battle between Pokémon. Last time I checked, you did not identify yourself as a Pokémon, therefore you do not belong on this field.~

Rainbow gestured back at the rectangle with a hoof as she said, “Come on, you can’t expect us to stay in these boxes when there’s fighting action going on!”

Suicune, the irritation in her voice growing, responded, ~It’s BATTLING action, and yes I do. If that’s too hard for you, I can ask someone else to take your spot.~ She glanced over at the rest of the group as she said, ~Someone like Applejack, perhaps.~

At that, Rainbow backed up into the rectangle and dropped down onto the ground as she groaned, “Ugh, fine!”

Suicune said, ~I’m glad we understand each other. And just so you know, that still stands. If you continue trying to cross the line, someone else will stand in for you and you will get to sit in the corner until the battle is over… in a block of ice.~ Rainbow looked stricken at that, but Suicune looked away as she returned to her explanation, ~As for the battlers themselves, there will be no restrictions on what moves may be used, however I will be watching you both closely. If an attack might breach the perimeter or you start to go too far, I will step in and end the battle. Pay attention to your own limits as your partners will be watching out for you as well.~

As she continued to explain the rules, Applejack said, “Huh, Ah guess there is a difference between battlin’ and fightin’. One’s got a whole bunch of rules ta put limits on it and the other… doesn’t.”

Rarity commented, “I suppose that the occasional fisticuff isn’t such a bad thing, but I still think there’s a thin line between the two. I mean, some of your competitions with Rainbow Dash have certainly gone that way, Applejack. One moment you’re competing as you should be, the next you’re literally at each others’ throats. This feels very much like the latter; how could anyone enjoy watching that?”

Her question was seemingly answered a moment later. “Go, Pikachu! You’re stronger than that ninja frog! Show him whose boss!” Riolu called, the younger Pokémon still a bit annoyed that a random Lucario was picked to be his best friend’s partner instead of him. A sweat drop ran down the side of Pikachu’s face at that while Lucario held a paw over his eyes as he wondered if he really was such a loudmouth prior to his evolution.

Pinkie piped up, “You wish! Pikachu may be a real shocker, but there’s a reason Rainbow Dash and Greninja are together: they both rigorously train!” She then cheered, “Go ninja, go ninja go ninja!” Spike looked like he wanted to cheer as well, but he caught himself as he glanced in Twilight’s direction, the unicorn noticing as he looked away when she looked over at him. The baby dragon felt himself get pulled by magic a moment later followed by a foreleg wrapping around him. He looked up and saw Twilight giving him a smile, a smile that he returned as he snuggled up against her, seeing now that she held nothing against him.

After she finished laying out the rules, Suicune asked, “Challengers, ready?” Both Pikachu and Greninja gave affirmative grunts in response. “Partners, set?” she continued, getting nods from both sides. After a moment, both of her streamer-like tails raised up slightly as she said, “Begin!”

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw8Kno…>

Pikachu was the first to move with Greninja quickly following, both beginning with a Quick Attack. They both shot at each other, going along each other’s side several times before backing off. As Greninja came to a stop afterwards, he glanced back over his shoulder and saw that Pikachu was readying a Thunderbolt, the mouse’s cheeks already sparking with electricity. He leapt up out of the way when the hundred-thousand volts came at him, the attack hitting the ground and fizzling out.

As he landed, Greninja turned towards Pikachu and brought his webbed hands together, creating and throwing several Water Shurikens. The yellow mouse responded by using Agility, dodging around the spinning stars and making his way towards the Ninja Pokémon. As he got closer, he suddenly leapt up and came to a stop in midair as he seemed to build up energy, soon launching forward and hitting Greninja with a Skull Bash attack. Despite getting hit hard, the frog quickly recovered and grabbed the yellow mouse before he could land, lashing at him with his long tongue several times before throwing him onto his back.

“Yeah, that’s it, Greninja! Show him what you’ve got!” Rainbow cheered, the Ninja Pokémon standing up straight and glancing back as he waved his right hand.

Lucario grunted, “Hm. I might be surprised if we didn’t already know what he’s capable of.” He then called to Pikachu, “Don’t give in, Pikachu! Keep up the pressure!” The yellow mouse flipped over onto his paws at that, ready to continue.

As the two Pokémon continued battling, F-T Sonic glanced at Lucario and asked, “Hey, uh, you mind telling me why we have to stand in these spots, Lucario? You might have mentioned that to Suicune, but I don’t remember you telling the rest of us.”

The Aura Pokémon replied, “I have a feeling we need to be close to the battle to trigger Greninja’s transformation. This team set-up seems like the best way to bring that out; we all agreed to it.”

F-T Sonic said, “Yeah, but… it just seems odd since we’re basically acting as a cheering squad here, something we could do just as well sitting with everyone.” A cheer rose up from the sideline a moment later as if to prove his point. “We’re watching, but that’s about it. It’s not like we’re telling them what they should be doing, which would make this spot make a little more sense if we were.”

Lucario looked at him for a moment before looking back at the battlefield, a thoughtful look on his face. Suicune hadn’t questioned him when he suggested that the two boxes be added onto the sides of the field and he didn’t think of it much at the time, but now that he took a minute to look at it, he did have to wonder why he did it. Was it something he was used to from… before? Pikachu had been a bit confused by it, but Greninja, despite not being part of the conversation, seemed like he had seen it before during the tracing process. Were Trainers similar to partners? He didn’t know, and the only one that might…

He was drawn out of his introspective by a loud yell from the sideline. Looking up, he saw that Pikachu had managed to hit Greninja with an Iron Tail, knocking the frog back. He looked over at the others and guessed that it had been a surprising move since everyone looked surprised. Well, almost everyone; he noticed that Fluttershy still had a worried look on her face as she watched. He also noticed F-T Sonic was looking at her instead of focusing on the battle, meaning they both had been distracted for a short time.

Shaking his head to banish the thoughts, the Aura Pokémon held a hand to his chin as he went back to observing the battle. Greninja surprised Pikachu from behind with a Shadow Sneak, kicking the yellow mouse away. After recovering from the hard landing, the Mouse Pokémon looked back to see Greninja coming at him with a Night Slash and countered with another Iron Tail attack, quickly swinging his glowing tail to block the purple energy sword in his right hand. After the last swipe, Pikachu managed to catapult himself over Greninja, landing on the grass behind the Ninja Pokémon as he stumbled slightly. Seeing an opening and feeling a sense of familiarity, Lucario called, “Shock him, Pikachu!” At that, Pikachu quickly charged up and released a Thunderbolt as Greninja was turning around, catching him off-guard.

The attack lasted for several seconds; when it ended, Greninja let out a groan as his body shook, sparks coming off of him as he tried to stay upright. Pikachu smiled at this, as did Lucario. “Paralysis,” the Aura Pokémon said.

Both Rainbow and Link looked worried for Greninja as he didn’t seem to be able to move much. “Come on, Greninja, don’t give up!” Rainbow cried. Link gave a shout as well, but there were no words in it.

Lucario called to the two, finally causing F-T Sonic to look back to the battle, “This battle might still be able to continue, but Greninja’s in a bad spot now. That paralysis won’t wear off…” Before he could finish, Greninja’s eyes shot open and he glared in Lucario’s direction, causing the Aura Pokémon to stop speaking. Mustering up all of his strength, Greninja brought his arms up and around in front of them and, with a shout, thrust them out, causing the sparks to fly off of his body. As he brought them back down, it seemed that he no longer had any problems moving. “What?!” Lucario exclaimed, Pikachu looking surprised as well.

“You were saying?” Rainbow called, feeling confident now that Greninja was able to keep going.

On the sideline, Shining said, “Greninja shook off the effects of that Electric attack fast, even with the Type disadvantage.”

Twilight uttered, “I really should be checking my saddlebags for a quill and paper, but… this is really exciting to watch!”

Spike nodded, “I know, right?” With the exception of Yoshi (who was STILL asleep) and Fluttershy, everyone else seemed to agree with them.

Lucario continued to stare at Greninja in shock. “How did he recover that fast? I’ve never seen anyone shake off a Status Effect that quickly…” Looking past Greninja, he noticed that Link had the same look on his face as the Ninja Pokémon. “They’re both… Is it about to happen?” he wondered.