A New World, A New Chance

by Element6147

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Romance, Adventure, Crossover, Human
Length: 5012

After a battle with the Champion Cynthia, a Pokémon Trainer and his long-time team are thrust into Equestria by Arceus, the God Pokémon. Why did this happen? Is it a chance to find a way to beat her? Or be with his Gardevoir perhaps?

Pre-A/N: Look, I know Zeusdemigod131's main characters are a Trainer-turned-Gallade and his Gardevoir. I'm not trying to copy or usurp him, if you will. I'm not original; I only want to contribute like everyone else. I also know I'm an amateur writer and this is my first fic I've posted anywhere (okay, not really, I had one pure pony fic a couple months back I unpublished because of its unpopularity and one scathing review. I was also unhappy with how it turned out). I'm a little more confident with this one, but honestly, I'm not expecting much. This story also begins with at the same time as the latest chapter because I hate to be left behind. Now for the actual description.

Venn is a powerful Trainer with powerful Pokémon. That's saying a lot since he's only had four of them since he began. With his trusted team of his Eevee, Darwin, Whiteblaze, his Arcanine, Yami, his Absol, and his beloved shiny Gardevior, Grace, he's been stopping Team Rocket all over the world, defeated all the Gym Leaders and all the Champions of each of the six regions. All, that is, except, Cynthia. Undefeated by each of the Elite Four below her, Cynthia has been Venn's greatest challenge, and he's challenged her a record 19 times. Now, it's time for his 20th. 20th time's the charm, right? Maybe. How will Arceus' actions and this world of ponies and magic change his fate? Will he be able to be with his Gardevoir? Will he ever beat Cynthia? Stay tuned to find out!

Side story to zeusdemigod131's A New World, a New Way. (Begins during Chapter 61 of main story)

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-09 21:22:06 UTC

Unexpected Search

I’m a pretty famous Pokémon Trainer.  I’m not openly celebrated or anything like that, but I’m famous enough to be recognized and offered things at restaurants and hangouts when I went to certain cities around the world, most notably in the Kanto Region.  Why?  Well, I have a knack – no, a drive – to deal with criminals.  I just can’t stand by and watch people or Pokémon be hurt.  It’s that drive that led me on a one-Trainer crusade against Team Rocket.  In fact, it was Team Rocket that “got” me my first Pokémon, an Eevee I call Darwin.  I left Pallet Town determined not to follow the crowd and get a starter Pokémon from Professor Oak after taking a few Pokéballs and a Great Ball from my dad’s room and somehow made it to Pewter City unharmed.  While resting in the Pokémon Center, I heard a rumor of a laboratory that seemingly just sprang up nearby.  I watched the news a lot before starting my journey, and from the reports learned that Team Rocket often worked out of labs and nondescript buildings, so I decided to check this new lab out.  When I found the lab, I spotted two Rocket Grunts carrying a small cage with the aforementioned Eevee inside.  He locked eyes with me, and I just knew I had to save him.

It took over a week for me to learn the patrols around the exterior of the lab, and found that the security inside was much more lax.  To find the Eevee, I only had to listen for his cries, as well as the cries as many other Pokémon.  I found the Rocket scientists trying every method imaginable to force these Pokémon to evolve, with the Eevee being used as a base.  Against my better judgment, I ran into the experiment area, freeing the Pokémon and scooping the Eevee into my arms.  With Team Rocket on my tail, I bolted out the back doors, and the various captured Pokémon scattered while I nearly ended up going off a cliff.  Granted, the cliff was short, but there were jagged rocks at the bottom.  If they didn’t kill me, I’d at least maim myself pretty spectacularly.

Unfortunately for me, a shout from a Rocket Grunt startled me enough to let go of the Eevee and sent the little guy tumbling down towards the rocks.  I then decided to be stupid and dove off the cliff after him.  Miraculously, I managed to avoid serious injury as the rocks played Ping-Pong with me, but as I sat up, I didn’t see the Eevee.  I heard shifting stones and looked to my right as the Eevee popped his head out of a pile of Evolution Stones, as well as (oddly enough) a piece of a Mossy Rock and an Icy Shard.  I knew Eevee had unstable DNA, and that their DNA reacted with Evolution Stones, so I shuddered to think what would happen to this one, or at least I was curious to see what he would evolve into, depending on which stone he’d touched first.  Then, as I expected, the Eevee began to evolve after he leaped out of the pile and into my lap.  But something was strange.  The silvery-white glow of the evolution had morphed into a Vaporeon, but then he changed into a Leafeon, then Espeon, then Flareon.  He then reverted back into an Eevee, showing no sign of pain or any other abnormalities.  I looked back up the cliff and saw that the Rockets had given up, left me and the Eevee for dead.

“Vee?” he cried inquisitively.

“Yeah, I’m fine, kid,” I patted the Pokémon’s head.  He licked my hand reassuringly and I chuckled.  “I said I’m fine.  Thanks, though.”

After that rescue, I asked that Eevee, Darwin, to be my first Pokémon.  He happily agreed, and I took him inside my one Great Ball.

That was when I was twelve.  Eight years later, I had caught only three more Pokémon; a Ralts, a Growlithe, and an Absol.  They stuck with me through thick and thin, and the Ralts, who I named Grace, evolved into Kirlia and then Gardevoir.  I used a Fire Stone on my Growlithe, Whiteblaze a month after Grace made her final evolution.  We had dealt big blows to the Team Rocket crime syndicate worldwide and beaten the Gyms in all the regions and challenged and defeated all of the Elite Fours and Champions.  Yes, every Champion except one: Cynthia.  Perhaps the greatest Champion of all Champions, undefeated by each of the Elite Four below her, or anyone, really.  I believed with my skill in leading my four friends to victory, I could beat Cynthia’s team in its entirety.  I was very wrong.  I had Grace Teleport me to the Undella Town Pokémon Center from Humilau City after hearing Caitlin allowed Cynthia to use a summer home she had there.  Before this, I had challenged Cynthia 19 times.  This of course, would be the 20th.

I quickly went to the house and knocked on the door.  When the door opened, I was able to witness something not many people would get to see in their lifetime: Cynthia and the two most attractive female Unova Gym Leaders in their bathing suits.  I won’t bore you with the details of the bathing suits’ appearances (one was a bikini).

“Venn!  What a surprise to see you here!” Cynthia beamed at me.  “I thought you were over in Kalos.”

“I was.  I just got here to Unova two weeks ago.” I tried not to let my eyes flicker between Cynthia, Skyla, and Elesa.  She looked at my ball sash and frowned for a moment before bringing her smile back to her lips.

“You didn’t catch more Pokémon while you were there?” she asked.

“There’s no rule that says you have to have six Pokémon,” I smirked at her.  “I like to keep things simple.”

“You sure don’t think simple when you battle,” she smiled back.  “And since you were obviously looking for me, that means you want to challenge me again.  And right when I was going to relax, too.”

“You’re seriously going to battle him again, Cynthia?” Elesa asked, walking closer to us.  She smiled at me.  The woman gave me one of my harder battles five years ago, and it was that battle that caused Grace to evolve.  “What is this, the 15th time?”

“20th.” Cynthia corrected her.  She stretched and leaned back.  “But I guess a beach battle is just as good as playing on the beach.  Are you ready?”

“Always.” I nodded.

“Great!” she exclaimed.  She looked back into the house.  “Skyla, get my ball sash, would you?”

“Hey!  Number 20!  This should be fun!” Skyla ran to the back of the house and came back with a stylish Pokéball sash which she gave to the Sinnoh Champion.

As we walked out to the beach, heads turned.  There was no way three beautiful women could walk onto a beach and not get noticed.  We found a spot where our Pokémon’s attacks wouldn’t pose a danger to the other beach patrons.

“A full battle, like normal?” Cynthia asked.  I saw the fire in her eyes.  Despite her wanting to relax, she would be serious.

“You know it.” I tossed Darwin’s Pokéball out; I’d switched him to an Ultra Ball since the feel was better and he seemed to be more comfortable.

“You’re starting with Darwin, hm?” The light in the Champion’s eyes danced with amusement.  “I’ve seen his evolution talent each time we battled.  You won’t surprise me again.  I’ll give you the first move.”

Darwin and I stood ready as she sent out her Glaceon.

“We’ll match that!  Darwin, evolve into Glaceon and use Iron Tail!”

I lost that battle.  In fact, she floored me.  I had taken out her Spiritomb and Lucario, but then her Milotic ended it.  To thank me for a good battle, or maybe because she felt sorry for me losing to her so many times, she bought me ice cream.  We sat on a bench just off the beach, half-watching Elesa and Skyla play together.

“Whiteblaze has gotten much stronger,” she said as she licked her vanilla cone.  “A far cry from that Growlithe we rescued from that Team Rocket facility in Johto.  I still think that silver-white coat of his is beautiful.  Who’d of thought Team Rocket could actually do something good while doing something so horrible?”

“Please, I don’t want to remember that place.” I told her darkly.  “Just thinking about what Grace went through before we saved her…” I shuddered.

“Hm… you’ve been pretty overprotective of her lately.” she said, ignoring the mood I’d set.  “I remember the 16th time we battled, you wouldn’t take your eyes off her.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were a–”

“I know what it makes me look like.” I interrupted her.  “I thought you said you weren’t against Poképhilia.”

“Mm… I try not to take a stance on it since I have a lot of clout…” Cynthia tapped her chin in thought.  “But privately, I’m more for it than against it.  I won’t stand in the way of love.  Call me a romantic.  There was one young man I met who’s in a similar situation.  He’s been chased around and generally disliked by a lot of people for his relationship with his own Gardevoir.  I hear he even once tried to marry her, but his mother called the police on him.  I wonder where he is now…”

We sat in silence for a while more, licking away at our cones.  All of a sudden, I felt groggy.

“Hey, do you…” The last thing I remember before my head hit the bench is a voice I’ve heard only once.

“Rest now my children, for when you awake, a whole new world shall be your home!”

I’ve only been knocked out by surprise once, and that was Team Rocket’s doing.  There was no way Cynthia would have drugged me because she’s not like that.  But I was no longer on a bench, from what I could tell.  I could no longer smell the pleasant salty air of the beach, nor feel the intense heat from the sun.  That was replaced by a dewy scent of grass and a much less intense heat.  I opened my eyes and slowly got to my feet.  Inwardly, I thanked Arceus that I wasn’t tied up.  Then I began a self-physical to make sure I wasn’t hurt.  It was at that time I discovered my body, or rather, my new body.  My arms looked like light blue tonfas and my legs were white.  I felt my head; it was round with spikes on the sides of my face.  I looked down and discovered a dark orange horn sticking out a little from my chest.  Only then did I come to the realization that I looked like a Gallade, but my colors were off.  Another fact came to me two seconds after.  My ball sash was missing.  So here I was, in whatever forest this was, looking like a strangely colored Gallade, the sun dappling the forest floor.  I heard unfamiliar voices, distressed, scared, and also curious.

“A Gallade!” I turned to see an Absol walking out of the brush.  “Finally, a Pokémon with some honor.” She stopped, looking over me while beginning to walk around me like a curious Skitty.  “You’re one of those… I think the humans call you ‘shiny’; a ‘shiny Pokémon’, which I can understand since you sparkle sometimes, but all the same – can you help me find my Trainer?”

“How can I understand you?” I asked her.  At least I assumed it was female.  Only a few Pokémon had visual differences between males and females, and Absol wasn’t one of them, though this one certainly sounded female.  “I know I look like a shiny Gallade, but I’m a human.  What’s going on?”

“I don’t know if you’ve taken a look at yourself lately, but you’re a Gallade if I ever saw one.” the Absol cocked her head to one side.  “As for the ‘understanding you’ part, we’re both Pokémon.  I have no idea what happened, I woke up here same as you.  I know you’re confused, but I’ll ask you again: Will you help me find my Trainer?  We can help each other figure things out.”

“I guess I don’t have a choice.” I nodded.  “No one else has approached me, and I guess going with a trained Pokémon is better than going out on my own.  Do you know your Trainer’s name?”

“His name is Venn.” she answered.  We started walking east; it was the only way to go.  “I’m kind of like his raiding partner and bodyguard.  We have a habit of looking for Team Rocket and I defend him when things get rough.  You sound a lot like him.  He calls me ‘Yami’.  I like it.”

“Yami?  You’re Yami, aren’t you?” I stopped and she turned around and looked at me.

“Venn?” she gasped.  “I mean, you sound like him, but you’re…”

I could only smile sheepishly.

“Well, I, uh…” Yami began stammering and then gave me an awkward one-paw salute.  “It’s good to see you again, Venn.  I, uh, guess I’m lucky I found you?”

“So all that stoic stuff was an act this whole time?” I laughed.  “I’ve never seen you act quote-unquote ‘normal’.  I’m surprised you managed to keep it up for so long.”

“But I – you caught me after I helped you on a raid!  I thought you wanted a soldier.” She looked up at me with apologetic eyes.

“Did I ever say that?” I asked.  “Yami, I thought Absol lived in the mountains.  I found it interesting to find one at such a low altitude.  Plus I liked your commanding style when we were evacuating those Pokémon; it was like I already caught you.”

“I was planning on leaving before you asked me to battle you and Darwin.” Yami said.  “I honestly never imagined we’d meet each other like we did.  But, I have always wanted a Trainer.  It’s really late to say it, but thank you for becoming my Trainer.  I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”

“That’s Whiteblaze’s line.” I chuckled.  “…I hope those three are alright.  I’m worried about Grace.”

“I am too.” Yami nodded.  “She’s never been on her own before, right?  Those experiments… Whiteblaze should have an idea of what to do; he might even be looking for us, but that Gardevoir… without a ‘master’ to give her orders, she’s –”

“Don’t say it.” I snapped at her.  She jumped, making me realize I spoken more harshly than I’d intended.  Or it possibly could have been because my arms were glowing purple.

“Hey, you know Psycho Cut – of course you do, it’s your species’ signature move.”

“How do I turn it off?” I asked her, my tone changing to one of fear.

“Just calm down,” she told me with a sigh.  “It’s going to take a while for you to get used to this.  Take a deep breath and let it out.”

I did as she told me and my arms returned to their light blue color.

“I know you’re scared, Venn, but I’m a Dark-type – not exactly the one to teach you.  I can teach you some basic things, so that you won’t activate a move randomly.  When we find Grace, have her teach you everything else.”

“I will,” I nodded.  “But only if she makes the decision to do it herself.”

Yami frowned.  “You know that won’t happen.  What those monsters did to her is too ingrained.”

“We’ve made progress,” I shot back quickly.  “I know I’m beginning to see the real her.  Do you remember the last battle at the Battle Chateau?  She wanted to fight; I wasn’t planning on using her at all.  But she told me with her powers that she was ‘the best choice’.”

“But that doesn’t–” the Absol began.

“She made a suggestion, Yami,” I interrupted her.  “Brainwashed ‘servants’ don’t do that.”

Yami glanced at me again before looking forward once more as we continued.

“You might be right, but there’s no guarantee she’ll get any better than that.”

It hurt to admit it, but she was right.  In all my time of trying to break Grace from her brainwashing, there had been very little progress, and that was counting the times where she thought for herself without realizing it.  At any rate, our first priority, other than finding our friends, was figuring out what the hell had happened to us.

“Any idea as to where we are, Yami?” I asked as nonchalantly as possible.

“No clue,” Yami quickly answered.  “All these scents are new to me, and everything I’m picking up from this forest with my blade is… for lack of a better word, chaotic.  But I also sense order, so something’s going right somewhere.  Even so, it feels like something bad is going to happen at any moment.  It’s making my head hurt.”

“Do you remember anything?” I ventured.

“No more than you.” Yami shook her head.  “Last thing I remember is listening to you talking to Cynthia.  Then I heard two thumps and a second later, I was out too.”

“Two?” If Gallades had eyebrows, I raised one.

“One was distinctly softer than the other,” Yami explained.  “Whatever happened, Cynthia’s probably here, too.”

“Great, so we have two objectives; find our team and then find Cynthia – having her with us might help make sense of…” I looked down at my arms.  “…whatever this is.” As we talked, we had managed to exit the forest.  “Now, where do we start looking?”

“I would suggest staying put, but my natural disaster senses say that’s a bad idea.” Yami looked back at the forest.  “Scared, confused Pokémon, some unknown monsters, and some calming yet terrifying auras don’t exactly scream safe.”

“Can you sense anything else?” I asked her.

“No, I’m not a Psychic-type.” Yami answered a bit harshly.  She seemed to realize that and changed her tone.  “I only sense danger and disaster.  It’d be nice if I could know Future Sight, or at least Psychic.” She shook her head.  “Let’s just keep going.  When we’re near a part of the team, I’ll be able to pinpoint them.”

“Gotcha,” I nodded.  “Uh, you’re more experienced with wild areas than I am.  You lead.”

“Aw, do you want me to hold your hand?” the Disaster Pokémon teased.

“You’re also much chattier than before.” I commented as I fell behind her.

Yami only laughed and bounded ahead. “We’re never going to find your girlfriend if you’re that slow!”

“Grace is not my girlfriend!” Not yet. I took off after her. “Let’s find Whiteblaze!  Then we’ll both be moving faster.”

“Heh.  If we know the big guy, he’ll be protecting someone somewhere,” She was silent for a few seconds.  “With any luck, Grace’ll be with him.  It’ll be difficult to find him in all this chaos, but wherever he is, order’s being restored.  I’ll see if I can sense that.” Her horn flashed white once.  I knew what that meant.  “There!  He’s near some city.”

“How’d you lock onto him so quickly?” I asked her as we started to turn towards whatever city we were headed to.  “I thought you said we had to be near him.”

“Fire-types have a really distinct signature, and I don’t think anyone’s but Moltres and Entei’s are more powerful than his,” she explained.  “For whatever reason, his power’s radiating; at 82%, I’d say.  But he never goes over 50 unless you tell him to or…”

“He’s mad.” I finished for her.

“Yeah.” Yami nodded.  “We know he won’t hurt anyone, but that stubbornness of his has gotten him into trouble before.  I wonder who pissed him off.”

“Whoever it is, the locals have gotta be freaking out.” I gave her a nod in return.  “Let’s go.”

It took us about five days to reach the outskirts of the city, but each day, Whiteblaze and whoever or whatever he was fighting clashed, and always at the same time.  Yami said the level of chaos around them never increased or decreased, so she figured no one was interfering.  The constant fighting also meant that the two were fighting one-on-one in a duel-like scenario.  During the first fight, they must have agreed to meet again at the same time for who knows how long and battle again.  Whiteblaze was an honorable Pokémon, so whoever challenged him had to have really impressed him.  And upset him.  What we didn’t expect, however, was that Darwin was sitting there, watching them when we finally found their battle area, which couldn’t have been more than five miles out from the city.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could just make out what seemed to be multicolored Ponyta also watching the action on the outskirts.  For the moment, I paid them no mind as I turned my attention back the current situation

“Dar, what the heck?!” I exclaimed as Yami and I ran to him.  I looked out to the two fighters.  One was, of course Whiteblaze, his coat glistening with sweat and one of his low-powered Flamethrower attacks waiting in his mouth.  The other was a Lucario in an odd stance, its paws in a defensive position.  Darwin tossed a Leppa Berry up and caught it in his mouth.  Where the heck did the Leppa Berry come from?  “Why are you just watching this?”

“It’s fun,” he replied simply.  “Oh, and that Lucario has Grace somewhere and he won’t tell Whiteblaze where.”

“That’s why they’ve been fighting these past few days?” Yami asked the Eevee, nudging him to his feet.  “I knew someone pissed the big guy off.”

“No, no, this is part of their agreement.” Darwin said after he managed to get on my shoulder.

“What.” Yami and I fixed him with half-lidded eyes.

“It’s best two out of three,” Darwin explained as Whiteblaze and the Lucario collided in simultaneous Extreme Speed attacks.  “If Whiteblaze wins, he gets to take Grace.  If that Lucario wins, he doesn’t.  They’ve tied so far.  I’ve gotta say, this guy’s really been giving Whiteblaze a run for his money, for a Fighting/Steel-type.  He also keeps using his aura attacks in a weird way.  You should really see how he uses Force Palm.”

“And did it ever occur to you to, oh, I don’t know, stop them?” I hissed.

“You know how Blaze gets when he’s been challenged.” Darwin shrugged.  “I tried earlier, but he gave me that look.”

I rolled my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.  Or where my nose would be if I was human.  “I’m going to–”

“Don’t.” Yami told me firmly.  “Whiteblaze would be ticked at you for a bit if you stopped them, and that’s not what we need right now.” She turned her gaze to the battle.  “Besides, I just sensed disaster for that Lucario.  This is over.  We have Grace.”

Yami and I returned to watching the battle as well.  She was right; Whiteblaze used Flame Wheel, and as it enveloped him, he launched forward with Extreme Speed – his own Flame Charge.  The fire turned blue, another side effect of the experimenting on him, letting us know his power had peaked at the limit he’d set for himself.  A giant blue ball of fire ran circles around the Lucario and slammed into him three times.  Whiteblaze reappeared at his original position as the Arcanine he was as the Lucario fell to its knees.  He then walked to the Lucario and put a paw on his shoulder.  To anyone else, it would have looked like a touching gesture of respect, but his Intimidate ability was somehow made more intimidating with his striking blue eyes.

“I still say these battles were unnecessary.” he told the Lucario.  To be honest, I expected the deep, rumbling voice.  A noble Pokémon should have the potential to sound powerful.  Especially if it’s known as the Legendary Pokémon.  “Your battle style is unorthodox.  I’ve never seen your kind use your aura moves in the way you have.  But that is unimportant right now.  Take me to Grace.  Now.”

“Do what he says.” Yami affirmed to the Lucario.  Whiteblaze gasped as he saw us.  “That’s right, you have four of us against you now.”

“Venn!” The Arcanine bowed.  “I was looking for you with Darwin.”

“I had to evolve into Espeon a lot to lead us here.” Darwin said as he hopped off my shoulder.  “I turned into a female three times!  Three!  I hate turning into a girl.”

“’Cause your voice gets an octave higher?” Yami chuckled.  Darwin looked at her and then gained the half-lidded look Yami and I had minutes earlier.

“You found Venn?”

“Yep.”

“You were spoke normally to him?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Ha.”

“Shut up, half-pint.”

“Luverin, Caserin, let’s move it!” I called to my Pokémon.  “Grace is waiting!”

The Lucario led us into the city, which we learned was called Canterlot.  We came to a small well-kept house, but before we went in, I looked down the road to where the Ponyta had fled.

“Hey, those Ponyta…” I began, observing the creatures.  “Are they the, uh, sapient beings that call this world home?”

“They’re called ponies,” the Lucario said suddenly.  The rest of us blinked.  He hadn’t spoken much since Whiteblaze beat him.  “There are three races: earth ponies, the ones who look like regular ponies; Pegasi, the ones with wings; and the unicorns, the ones that look like Rapidash.”

“But they’re interacting with the Pokémon here,” I observed.  A good number of Pokémon were around the strange Ponyta, helping them out with tasks - some even seemed to be acting like trained Pokémon, as if they'd found a home with these creatures.  “Aren’t they afraid?  I know I'd be if weird creatures suddenly appeared in my backyard.”

“They were.  But Lord Arceus made a big worldwide speech, and the rulers of this country are supporting him.” the Lucario told us.  “It sounds like this world is becoming like Earth.  Didn’t you hear the announcement?”

“No,” I said slowly.  “Yami and I only woke up a few days ago.”

“A few days ago, Venn?” Whiteblaze asked.  “Darwin and I woke when there was a lot more chaos.  Everyone was frightened.  If Lord Arceus brought us all here at the same time, why did we wake up at different times?”

“Search me,” Yami shrugged.  “I care enough to worship our Lord, but I also fear him enough to not question what he chooses to do.”

Right when we stepped in the door, I was caught in an embrace that could have only come from one Pokémon.  My beautiful, shiny Gardevoir.

“Master!  I have to apologize for being taken.  I…” It was at that point we both realized I still wasn’t a human.  Then I began to suffer a massive, crushing headache.  “You have my master’s aura, but you are not my master.  I will only ask once:  Where.  Is.  My.  Master?”

“It’s – agh – me!  It’s… it’s me, Grace!  I’m Venn!  Lord Arceus turned me into a Gallade!” I only had seen Grace turn her power harmfully on someone not in a battle once.  That was when I had gotten captured by a two-man Team Rocket group.  Whiteblaze, the only other living being she listened to, led the team to where I was being held.  When they found me, she took Whiteblaze’s order to “eliminate the threat” literally.  By the time I was free and was able to stop her, she had destroyed one mind and severely damaged another.  I tried to think of what she would do to me, but my head hurt too much.

“Grace, he’s telling the truth!” Whiteblaze exclaimed.  “This was done by Lord Arceus’ will!  Release him before you do real damage!”

Grace reluctantly released me.  I say reluctantly because she glanced between Whiteblaze and myself twice before letting me go.

“Lord Arceus… changed you, Master?” She was clearly hesitant to trust me, evidenced by how she tentatively touched my right cheek.  I could feel she had the urge to pull away.  “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either,” I admitted.  “But I’m glad to have you back, Grace.  And I keep telling you not to call me ‘Master’.  I’ll tell you again: I’m your Trainer, I’m your friend, not your master.”

Grace said nothing as she processed what I’d told her for probably the millionth time.  I sighed and shook my head.

“Thank you for keeping Grace safe, Lucario,” I nodded at the Aura Pokémon.  “And we appreciate the hospitality, but we have to find someone else now.”

“Who are you looking for?” he asked.

“The Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia.” I responded.  “I want to make sense of all this, and she’s smarter than I am.  She knows a lot about Arceus, so she might know why he did this.” I turned to Grace.  “Alright, let’s find her.  Where’s Cynthia?”

Grace put her hands together and a blue outline surrounded her.  For a few minutes, her eyes glowed blue as well.  After one more minute, she stopped glowing.

“Master, she is here in the city!  The signature I’m getting is mixed with a Milotic’s, but I’m certain it’s her.” She seemed eager to redeem herself for almost tearing my mind apart.

“What happened to the hesitation, Grace?  You didn’t even recognize me.” I threw up my arms in exasperation.

“I apologize, Master,” Grace bowed.  “I wanted to show that I’m still useful despite my earlier mistake.”

I, and the rest of my team could only sigh again.  I’d said it before; this was going to take a while.

“Where is she?” I finally asked Grace.

“She’s at the castle on the mountain.” Grace replied.  “I know where she is in the castle, but the elevation is… an obstacle.  We’ll have to go on foot until I can make a clear teleportation.”

“Or, by Arcanine.” I smiled and patted Whiteblaze on the back as we walked out of the house.  I was about to return everyone except Whiteblaze to their Pokéballs, but then I remembered I didn’t have my ball sash.  “Well, everyone on, then.  Yami, try to keep in Whiteblaze’s slipstream.”

“You got it, sir.” Yami smiled and saluted.

“Right,” I waited until Darwin was in my lap and Grace was behind me.  “Alright, Whiteblaze, ride!”

Many, many startled ponies and Pokémon later, my team and I were nearing the gates of the castle.  The guards at the doors saw that we had no intent of stopping and took defensive positions.

“Grace, can we get to Cynthia’s position now?” I asked as we drew closer to the armored ponies.

“Yes, Master,” Grace nodded.  “Are we doing Plan Castle Crash?”

“Variation 3!  Let’s do it!" I smirked.  "Yami, Screech!"

Yami slid to a stop and let loose her Screech attack, causing the ponies to also stop and fold their ears down.  I had to give them credit, though.  Not two seconds after the sound hit their ears, they started to trudge forward through the sound waves again, determined to catch Yami.  They wouldn’t get the chance, because once Whiteblaze leapt toward an upper window, all five of us were gone in Grace’s Teleport.

When we reappeared in the castle, Yami had readied her Psycho Cut, Darwin bounded down and immediately formed the stars of his Swift attack.  Whiteblaze’s Flamethrower was in his mouth once again, and Grace alighted to the floor and had a blue outline around her, ready to use Psychic.

I slid off Whiteblaze and looked around for Cynthia, eventually locking onto those unmistakable barrettes and earrings of hers… on a Milotic.

“Cynthia?”