Chapter Eighteen: Task

"The cop took my laser rifle," I said, solemnly. I was kind of attached to that rifle for some reason. After all, it had been my only weapon. I'd have to find a new one.

"Who were those criminals? Why did they kidnap us?" Twilight asked. Her wounds were pretty much gone, she was again operating at full capacity.

"Yeah, what gives?" Rainbow added.

"Well, they gave you their introduction speech, I'm sure, and I told you who Team Rocket was, didn't I? That's three of its more persistent members. Jessie, James, and Meowth. They never succeed at what they do in the end, and this case was no exception, right, Rainbow?"

"Yeah, that silly balloon of theirs didn't stand a chance!"

"Thanks for saving us. I don't want to know what would've happened if you didn't!" Spike added.

"I've never been in a desert before," I said, changing the subject. Unova's desert wasn't very big, and most of its road construction that had been present during the game was complete. Not a bad thing, as it meant that at least most of the sand was swirling gently in small wisps rather than under our feet. Walking on sand wasn't a favorite thing of mine. After all, as soon as you touch a grain of sand, it's everywhere. Or so it seemed. The walk went quickly, and at the end of the route, a man, dressed in what I recognized to be a Ranger uniform, beckoned to me. I walked over with my companions.

"I've got this egg..." he began, retrieving a rather large, generic Pokémon egg, off-white with black spots.

"And?"

"I was wondering if you would take it."

"Why in the world would you stop me? I haven't done anything to deserve an egg, and besides, these aren't Pokémon," I said, gesturing to my companions.

"They aren't? Where are they from?"

"A different universe. What's the egg of?"

"That's... strange. I know just as much as you do about the species of Pokémon it is, I was hoping some trainer could raise it. I don't really train Pokémon myself."

"I see. What do you think, Fluttershy?" I turned to my quiet, yellow ally.

"Well... it's an egg. We can't really care for it properly out here," she said softly, almost as if trying not to be audible to the Ranger.

"Nonsense, Pokémon eggs are known to hatch in almost any circumstance or conditions, without harm," the Ranger explained. He was slightly preturbed by the use of speech by my companion. "Here, I insist. I have a feeling you'll take good care of it."

He handed the egg to me, and I took it.

"Here, I'll carry it," Fluttershy offered, opening her saddlebag. I placed the egg carefully inside. What could it be?

"Uh, thank you, I guess. I have to ask you again, why did you give me this egg?"

"I know a good trainer when I see one," he replied simply, and walked away.

"What did he mean by that?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know where he got that idea," I replied, "he thinks I'm a good leader, or something."

"He's not wrong, you know," Twilight said.

"No, no, I'm not a good leader."

"Umm... But you've led us well so far," Fluttershy reasoned.

"I let you get kidnapped, that's how well I've led you. Anyway, let's keep going."

"Gee, I wonder what's in that egg. I was an egg once, I don't remember what it was like," Spike said, absent-mindedly.

"We'll just have to wait to find out, won't we?" Twilight asked.

"Indeed, let's get out of this desert," I suggested. We went through the route gate into Nimbasa City.

"This city's a bit bigger than Castelia," I began, "maybe we can find some information here."

I waved over a passing resident. "Hey, do you know of any peculiar people that have come through here over the last few weeks?" I asked him.

"No," he said simply, and kept walking.

"That didn't work," I said, mostly to myself.

"Do we have any leads at all?" Twilight asked. I thought of something. A new trainer had recently taken up the mantle of champion of the Unova Pokémon League. Could this be the person we were looking for?

"Only one. The Pokémon League champion was recently replaced by another person, a girl. But that's a difficult place to start; the Pokémon League requires that we go through Victory Road, and we'd have to travel through the rest of Unova to get there."

I noticed something in the corner of my eye. A Dragonite was flying overhead. I looked up, shielding my eyes from the sun to get a good look at the creature. A person was riding on its back. It landed right beside us, and the person got off. She started walking toward us. She was clad in a light jacket with a T-shirt underneath and jeans, and had six Poké balls on her belt. She also carried a satchel. She looked to be a few years older than me. She was obviously a trainer, but something about her was... different.

"Well, maybe we won't have to look after all," Spike said.

"Yeah."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see another one of you ponies," the girl said, gesturing at the numerous ponies in front of her, "what in the world are you four Equestrian beings doing here? I thought I'd seen the last of you four weeks ago!"

"Hello, I'm Zach. These ponies, dragon, and I are here to rescue you. You seem to have come to us, though."

"Rescue me? How did you-"

"It's a long story. In short, I can get you home if you want me to."

"I can't go home now. There's still so much I can do here! I love Pokémon, even more now that I'm part of it. It's always been a dream of mine to be a part of it. Besides, I've got to stop Team Plasma, and Team Rocket right now. I'm Elise, by the way."

"What about your family? Do you miss them?" Fluttershy asked her.

"Yeah, every day, and now that I've got the opportunity to go back home, I'm busy."

"So, if we helped you out, you'll come with us?" She scratched her head for a moment.

"Gee, I don't know. Are you sure you can help? You don't have any Pokémon."

"Well, no, but ponies are about as powerful, right?" I turned to my companions. Fluttershy shook her head, Spike shrugged, Rainbow nodded, and Twilight brought her hoof to her chin to think about it.

"Doesn't matter. We're still capable of helping you. What do you need?"

"Hotspots of Rocket and Plasma activity have been appearing all over Unova, it seems as though they're working together to make a comeback. We've got to disperse them. It's fun, I've already cleared most of Unova!"

"Yeah, fun... Give us the closest location."

"Right here in Nimbasa, but I don't really know where. Here, I'll lend you one of my Pokémon, in case you need the help. Serperior, you're up!" She threw one of her Poké balls, releasing a large, elegant, snake-like grass-type Pokémon, final evolution of Snivy. She handed me the Poké ball. "Take good care of him. I take it you know enough about Pokémon to command him, right?"

"Yeah, I'm a big fan, myself. Are you sure he'll obey me? I don't have any badges."

"Oh, don't be silly. He'll do whatever I tell him to do, and that, right now, is to listen to what you have to say. Got that, Serperior?" The creature nodded, and hissed a little. "He knows a lot of moves, like Leaf Blade, Giga Drain and Solar Beam. He's a handful in a fight, don't be afraid to use him."

"What have you been doing since you got to Unova?"

"I've done a lot of things! I even became League champion!"

"Alright, Elise. We'll look for this hotspot for you. Come back in about three hours, I think we can do this in that time."

"Good luck, Zach! And don't you run away with Serperior! I'll find you!" she said, half-serious. She really was rather cheerful, it was still a game to her. She mounted her Dragonite, and flew off, heading south.

Now, how were we going to find this hideout, hotspot, or whatever it was?

"Serperior, do you like being Elise's Pokémon?" Fluttershy asked, in her soft tone she often used to communicate with animals. Serperior nodded. "That's good." Fluttershy didn't understand the whole trainer-Pokémon mechanic, what with the recreational battling and bonds of friendship resulting from these battles. In a way, my own relationship with the ponies was like this. We fought together against common foes and became friends.

"Okay, Serperior. Can you lead us anywhere?" It was merely a hunch. The Pokémon hissed, and began slithering around, sniffing the air. It hissed again, and began to lead us in another direction. Seeing a real Pokémon was something rather astounding to me, especially ones like this one and Dragonite. As much as they fascinated me, we had tasks to accomplish, and it was time to do just that. I wondered what our mystery egg contained.