Building a Better World: Origins

by Warrior_Princess

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Comedy, Other, Romance, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 92316

when their world is on the brink of armageddon the peoples of Equus are moved to Earth

An alternate timeline event to the original story , A New World A New Way, in which the ponies and other races of Equus are sent to Earth.
The princesses will have their work cut out for them when the humans discover the new pokemon and what they can do.
Can the power of friendship push through the barriers between pokemon and humans?
Find the balance.

Published 2014-10-31 15:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2015-10-31 02:03:04 UTC

Prologue

Prologue

   He had been so close. I had been watching the boy for months now. He had not been quiet about his quest so his exploits had gained the attention of many a mortal. Eventually even my Legendaries were following him. The boy had sought to free me from my prison.

   In a vain attempt to battle and capture me obviously,but the insult of being challenged by a brat barely out of his teens would be a small price to pay for my freedom.

   He had been so close! Until that damb cult got involved. Team Eternity.As I think about them the space around my body heats and vibrates in response to my anger. They seek not to control powerful pokemon,or to increase their own status in the world. No they have a more down to earth goal.

   THEY SEEK TO MAKE THE WORLD UNCHANGING AND TO FOREVER ENSLAVE MY POKEMON AS THEIR PETS AND SERVANTS! THEY AIM TO TRAP MY LEGENDARIES WITHIN THEIR HELL SPAWNED FOREVER BALLS! IF I EVER GET OUT OF HERE I WILL PERSONALLY ROOT THEM OUT OF EVEN THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL ITSELF! THERE WILL BE NOWHERE TO HIDE FROM MY WRATH!

   In space just beyond the Earth's outer atmosphere a distortion of space,time and antimatter warped the empty void for a moment so brief it went completely undetected.

   Twilight Sparkle's key levitated to its lock on the crystal chest.The six mares, Spike, and Discord watched as the last hope for Equestria was about to be unleashed.

   Just as the key was about to reach the lock it was pulled away by a firey red aura. It flew over their heads and into the hand of Lord Tirek. They all gasped as the villain examined the key.

  "So this is some great secret weapon is it? " he held it up close for a better look. He was going to snap it in two, but stopped when he caught the rainbow gleam of magic.

   Tirek opened his mouth to eat the magic. At first it seemed not to work, but then a thin wisp of multicolored light flowed from the key. When its magic was consumed the key crumbled to dust.

   Tirek laughed, and laughed again at the looks on their faces. "What? Don't you have anymore last lines of defense? " Pinkie shook her head. "No? " Tirek arched his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Too bad. " he fired a magic blast at them.

   They all jumped out of the way, but Pinkie Pie's nose had twitched and itched making her sneeze. The blast was on a direct path to her. When she looked she saw nothing but red. She blinked.

  "Oof! " She had expected searing pain, or at least the smell of burning hair. Instead she got the wind knocked out of her, and was thrown sideways across the cave floor. Following that was the sound of a small explosion.

   Standing wobbly to her hooves Pinkie found herself several yards away from where she had been. In her place, slumped against the crystal chest was Discord with a large burn on his side.

  "OhmygoshDiscordjustsavedmylife! " Her face pulled back from the g-forces as she rushed to his side.

   The others were only slightly shocked by the sight of her hugging and kissing the draconequus. He had just saved her life after all.

   Fluttershy smiled and tapped her on the flank. "Uh, Pinkie Pie, I think that maybe, if you don't mind, that I should check to see if he's okay. "

  "Oh, allow me. " Discord was levitated up to Tirek for inspection. The evil centaur looked Discord up and down, then roughly poked a finger into his victim's wound.

   Discord barely managed a weak groan "ooh" , but it was enough to pain the hearts of the six mares. Tirek was disappointed, and tossed Discord over his shoulder.

   Discord landed in a heap, his bat wing dislodging and fluttering of by itself. His left eye slowly opened. In place of his normal red and yellow eye was a swirling pattern of six different colors.

   Applejack threw rocks at Tirek shouting the whole time. "Ya dirty rotten no good low down scoundrel son of a..." The next rock was blasted from her hoof.

   Looking down on them with disdain Lord Tirek motioned for them to move away from the chest. "Stand aside and you will be allowed to live. " he walked forward with a charged blast ready.

   They couldn't actually do anything to stop him, and a with shame on their faces they backed away.  He leaned down, opened his mouth and inhaled. Magic from the keys, locks, chest, and tree flowed in a multicolored light. As Tirek ate the tree began to lose its lustrous glow.

   Something zipped in front of Tirek's face briefly interrupting the flow of magic. He did not seem to notice. Twilight however noticed a thread thin stream of magic running along the cave floor. Following it with her eyes she was led to Discord's bat wing trying to reattach itself.

   She nudged Rarity, and Fluttershy and jerked her head in Discord's direction. They got the message and sneaked their way to him. Twilight then showed the others what was happening, and motioned for them to help her distract Tirek.

   Before any of them could do anything else Pinkie Pie was suddenly on a unicycle wearing a clown hat and juggling rubber chickens. Tirek squinted an eye open and quickly snapped it shut before he could lose concentration.

  "Pinkie Pie? " Rainbow Dash asked. "Where did you get that stuff? " She would normally not ask so as to avoid a headache, but this was a distraction.

  "I've got party supplies stashed all over Equestria. " She threw all three rubber chickens into the air, and balanced on the seat of her unicycle. "How else do you think I restock, and reload my party cannon so fast? " She shrugged, and lost balance.

   Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle watched as the unicycle flew off behind her. It bounced off the cave wall, flew into the air, and hit the rubber chickens. The objects seemed to target the centaur, and with a smack smack smack wirrr the chickens hit him in the face one after the other as the unicycle spun around on his horn.

   Tirek's eyes snapped open. Rainbow Dash fell over with genuine uncontrolled laughter. Applejack held her breath to keep from giggling only to release it as one loud HA. Tirek closed his eyes and covered his ears so he could concentrate on draining the tree.

   Twilight tried, and failed to calculate the odds of that happening. Leave it to Pinkie to still be random and unexplainable after having the magic drained from her. She just stood there and watched the unicycle continue to spin on his horn.

   Tirek was losing patience with these annoying ponies, but he had to concentrate on draining the tree. It was taking a long time. Suddenly the flow of magic increased in speed, though he thought it felt odd.

   Rarity had missed the comedy due to her and Fluttershy struggling to catch Discord's wild wing. They were slapped, whacked, spanked, tripped, and even had their manes ruffled.

   Rarity finally lost her temper, and tackled it out of the air. She landed on Fluttershy and pinned the wing between them.

  "Oh, I'm sorry, I know he isn't doing this on purpose. " Fluttershy said causing Rarity to roll her eyes.

   They each grabbed the wing in their teeth and brought it to Discord. As they got closer to him Discord's wing started to struggle. It slipped from Rarity's grasp and double slapped her on both cheeks.

   While her friend was stunned from the attack, Fluttershy had managed to get closer. The bat wing was random, erratic, and chaotic. A pony would have to be as strong as Big Macintosh to keep control of it, but Fluttershy could be strong when she needed to be.

   Now she needed to be strong. She held the wing in her hooves above the shoulder joint. It pulled hard enough to lift her off her hind hooves.

  "No! " she stared, and summoned her hidden strength. "For my friends. For the princesses. " she thought to herself.

  "For him! " she said aloud. Rarity raised a brow at that but stayed quiet.

   There was an audible click, and a small starburst flash of white as the wing was reconnected. The magic flowing into Discord spiraled, and increased in speed.

   He was healed. He levitated into the air, spread his arms wide with claws upturned, and grinned. When he opened his eyes Rarity, and even Fluttershy backed up. His eyes were swirling vortexes of HIS magic. Chaos.

  "Oh, the irony of chaos fueled by harmony. " he thought to himself.

   Discord floated along the top of the cave, coming up quietly behind Tirek. The centaur was now larger than any dragon that Discord had ever seen. The Tree of Harmony had nearly been drained.

   Discord hovered near Tirek's horns, took note of the unicycle still hanging from one, and tapped a talon on his chin. "I don't know what this will do to Equestria, but Tirek won't stop with just part of the planet that's for sure. " he nodded having finished the thought.

   He grabbed the unicycle, and raised it over his head. He shook it once, twice, three times tuning it into a sledgehammer, giant oversized mallet, and finally a tiny little bell hammer. As several mares face hoofed at his choice of weapon he wrapped his snake like coils around Tirek's head blinding him, trapping his hands, and more importantly cutting off the magic.

   He had a time of it but held on as Tirek spun shook, and bucked. He raised his tiny hammer and brought it down on Tirek's head. BONG! Repeatedly. BONG BONG BONG BONGITY BONG BONG BONG! Each strike released more and more of Tirek's magic which Discord then drained into himself.

   Everypony else was cheering Discord on except for Twilight. She looked only at the Tree of Harmony. As the last of its lustrous glow faded, and its magic was depleted she remembered the visions that Zecora's potion had given her on the night of the plunder vines.

  (Princess Celestia stood before the Tree of Harmony with Princess Luna. Celestia told her sister "The Tree of Harmony possesses powerful magic. As long as that magic remains Equestria is safe. ")

  "Oh no! " Twilight's ears drooped. "Girls! " she yelled and ran around in panic. "We have to help Discord finish off Tirek so he can put the magic back into the Tree of Harmony before something bad happens because it can only protect Equestria if it has its magic and it's empty now which is bad, really bad, really bad, really really really bad! "

   Applejack bit onto Twilight's tail, careful not to hurt her, but stopping the panicked mare. "Calm down Twi." she let go and pointed with her own tail. "Discord has it handled. "

   The farm mare would not have given Discord credit for anything other than trouble just and hour ago, but she had just seen him display the elements of kindness, and loyalty in him. "Ya just saved one of my kin ya big trouble maker, and I won't ever forget it. " she promised silently.

   Discord stood tall over the defeated Tirek who had reverted to his weakened form. "I'm in possession of all the magic in Equestria. " he spoke aloud. Holding out his talon and paw he formed a small star.

   Twilight was impressed by his control over the magic. "Uh, Discord? " she waved to him. "Could you put back the tree's magic now? "

  "Oh, I'm sorry princess, but the tree is dead. " he was completely calm, and just played with his star.

  "WHAT! " Twilight looked back to tree. She was horrified. The Tree of Harmony was gray, and cracked with pieces falling off.

   Spike finally decided it was safe to stop hiding. Normally he would be right there beside the mares if he could help it, but honestly this time he was just plain terrified. He got worried when he saw Twilight. Her face was somewhere between a rage shift and her crazy overreaction face.

   The others looked almost as bad. Under normal circumstances he would avoid taking to Discord, but with how the mares were acting it seemed safer.

   Given that, and the fact that the Tree of Harmony looked (well he had never seen it before but it looked) bad, Spike chose to talk to someone he had very good, and recent reasons to fear.

  "Um, Discord, do you think you could rescue the princesses, and maybe send this, " he gestured to Tirek "back to Tartarus. "

  "Of course Spike. " Discord snapped his claws, and the princesses appeared.

   Celestia stood between her sister on her left, and her niece on her right. She took in the scene before her. Twilight and her friends were in near hysterics, Tirek was thankful defeated, and Discord appears to have all the magic in Equestria. WHAT!

   Luna felt her sister tense up, and decided to speak before she could explode. "Hello everypony, did we miss something? "

   They stopped freaking out, but couldn't seem to answer. Except for one. Pinkie Pie had vanished after Discord beat Tirek. Now she returns, pulling a rather large wooden crate by a single rope she held with her tail. After placing the crate in front of Tirek (who suddenly found his hooves chained) she faced the princesses and explained.

  "Discord trapped us in a cage and let Tirek eat our magic then got his magic eaten too and then Tirek had a big battle with Twilight but he cheated and used us as bait so she traded her magic for us Discord included. After that Tirek followed us to the Tree of Harmony and tried to blast us after he ate the magic from Twilight's key and everyone jumped out of the way but I sneezed and would have been hit if Discord hadn't pushed me out of the way. " she inhaled for a five count.

  "So Discord got hit instead and he was hurt really bad and I said OHMYGOSHDISCORDJUSTSAVEDMYLIFE so I hugged him and kissed him " Celestia shared a raised eyebrow with Luna "but he was unconscious so he didn't notice. Then Tirek was a big meanie and poked Discord in his burn before tossing him over his shoulder. Then he started draining the magic from the tree but what Tirek didn't realize was that part of his magic was still chaos cause you can't just get rid of chaos so Discord was powered up a tiny bit. " another inhale.

   At this point the royal sisters were simply flabbergasted. Cadence made the very wise decision to stop listening, and go comfort her sister-in-law.

  "So it was up to us to distract Tirek while Discord recovered which is how I ended up hitting him in the face with rubber chickens. " Pinkie Pie smiled proudly. "Oh hang on I'm forgetting something important. " she tapped her chin in thought.

   She held her thinking pose for quite a while. Everypony knew it was no use talking since she would just interrupt them. Rainbow Dash however lots patience, and said "...

  "Oh! Now I remember. " Rainbow Dash face hoofed. "The tree is dead. " she pointed a pink hoof at it.

   Discord watched the scene play out, but his mind was elsewhere. He knew there was no stopping what would happen. His chaotic mind was powerful enough to see into other universes under normal conditions. Now he could see into multiple,versions of the past, present, and future of multiple universes.

   Celestia approached him, and he felt bad because she had been weeping. All of her little ponies were in danger, and he knew he was partly responsible.

  "Would you mind opening a gateway to Tartarus so we can lock away the filth. " she practically growled as she spoke of the centaur.

   Without speaking Discord grabbed at the wall behind Tirek, and pulled open an actual door. Celestia was about to turn around, and buck Tirek back to prison but was stopped by Pinkie Pie.

  "Wait! " Pinkie pulled a cord on the crate making the sides fall away revealing "Use this. " a gigantic party cannon pointing directly at Tirek.

   Nopony moved as they tried to figure out if it was even small enough to fit in the box it came in. It didn't look it. Tirek however had a different problem.

   The centaur was desperately trying to release the chains from his hooves, but they were enchanted or else just to strong for his weakened arms. "Damb ponies. " he muttered. He fell flat on his face. He hadn't tripped, his chains had pulled his hooves out from under him. He glared at Discord, and was met with a sneer.

   The silent unanimous decision was made that this time the bigger the party cannon the better.

   Pinkie Pie walked to the best spot in the cave to see the show. She wished she had pillows or something for everyone to sit on, but no sharp rocks under your plot would have to do. Reaching into her mane she pulled out a remote control with a single red button. "First pony to reach me gets to do the honors. "

   One moment of hesitation. Followed by a short stampede.

   Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Luna all watch jealously as Spike holds his claw over the control.

  "So, Tirek, " Spike cocked an eyebrow "any last words? "

   The evil centaur stood straighter, raised his head high, and said "I BOOM! which is how he got a mouth full of confetti and glitter. As he flying back to Tartarus he heard the small dragon shout "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of a party cannon exploding in your face! "

   Celestia wished she could laugh at that, but the situation remained the same. Getting her little ponies attention "While it would normally be a cause for celebration that our enemy has been defeated, I am afraid that Tirek has left a permanent scar on our world. "

   Six friends, a young dragon, and a princess listened carefully as the royal sisters explained. "The Tree of Harmony was just one of many powerful artifacts placed at key points around Equus. " Luna continued "These artifacts served the purpose of absorbing negative magic, and putting out positive magic. "

   Celestia spoke "They are all connected, no matter how far apart by ley lines. " She stopped them from interrupting, and continued. "Ley lines are alignments of numerous key points across the globe. One ley line alone would circle Equus either vertically or horizontally. "

  "One by itself can provide enough magical energy to perform certain high level spells. " Luna explained. "Where two meet however is a place of very powerful near limitless magic. "

   One young mare figured it out. "So if these artifacts absorb and contain negative magic, "Twilight added up the information "and they are all connected by ley lines then that means that all that negative energy that the tree had absorbed over the centuries would have to go somewhere. "

  "Yes Twilight, so what would happen if that energy went into the ley lines? " Celestia waited for her former student to solve the problem.

  "Well, if that much negative energy were to simply explode outward it could deviate an area the size of the Everfree." Twilight did not like where her mind was taking her. "So if it spread through the ley lines to the other artifacts it could flood them with bad magic and break them, releasing what they had absorbed. "

   Rarity shuttered as she imagined that "I'm hardly an expert when it comes to the laws of physics, but if all these artifacts were to break and release their bad magic into these ley lines, would that not be bad for the planet? "

  "Indeed," Luna had a single tear in her eye "our world will become uninhabitable, and nopony will survive."

In godly hooves

In godly hooves

   In space, just beyond Earth's atmosphere a ripple formed in the forces of time, space, and antimatter. This had been happening on and off for weeks. Having finally sensed the disturbances the creation trio was ready. It was unknown what would come out if a rift was torn open, or if it would simply become a black hole. That they could handle. It was just a simple combination of their powers. In fact they were quite confident that they could handle anything that happened.

   Except for what actually did happen. A hole opened to reveal the Alpha Pokemon. Closing the void behind him Arceus drifted toward his sons. he told them.

   The three dragons actually whooped with joy. He cut off their questions with a wave of his hoof. Arceus teleported into the Earth's lower atmosphere and sent out a telepathic call

   In the Hall of Legends Arceus made his entrance, and was greeted by a chorus of applause and cheers of joy. His daughters, and granddaughter all swarmed him. Wishing he could continue the moment, but knowing he must hurry Arceus broke up the hug.

   he announced.

   Mew wanted to continue the hug, but backed off.

   The only one not to have a strong reaction was Mewtwo, though he did uncross his arms, and look more attentive.

   He showed them images of the different races of Equus during the current crisis. An older buffalo with his young daughter trying to take shelter from a strong storm. A group of bull headed bipedal creatures were bracing support beams under a cracked roof. Swarms of four legged bugs were flying around, some carrying young that couldn't fly others grouped around green pods. An underwater city cratered with volcanic vents. A great massive dragon plunged its head into an equally massive treasure hoard, and pulled out two very small eggs held gently in its teeth just before a rock slide demolished the hoard.

   A whimper from Celebi got his attention, and seeing her ready to cry for the unfortunate souls Arceus quickly banished the images.

   Having their attention Arceus continued.

   Giratina was suspicious.

   Arceus chuckled at his son's protectiveness. he told Giratina. He called forth a plate, and harnessed its power. When the power came forth his hooves, horn, and ring all turned white with a rainbow gleam.

   Now the Legendaries were stunned. The creation brothers had told them that they would be receiving new pokemon, but an entire new type? It was unheard of.

   <I know that this only raises more questions, but we must act now before it is too late. Their world is doomed to a fated destiny, and there is no reversing it. The bargain is that we will give them a new world to call home, and those who are willing shall try to bring pokemon closer to living as they were meant to.

   Mew floated up to his eye level and said

   Celestia had passed the point of simple anger. She had already went through the other stages of grief, though she had skipped passed denial, and circled back to anger. Now she was pissed. That god said we would be saved, that all intelligent life on Equus would be rescued, and yet where is he? she thought to herself. Her anger could be considered misplaced if she was not using her magic to levitate the city of Canterlot. The city had separated from its mountain hours ago after the first several quakes, and now there was nowhere safe to set it down. Along with levitating the city Celestia was trying to maintain the atmosphere. If she didn't the sun would beat down relentlessly, and the air would slowly seep away.

   Discord was busy trying to contain as much chaos magic as possible. Twilight was trying her best to help the pegasi to control the weather. Cadence had been casting healing spells and stasis spells everywhere she saw injured ponies or the start of a new disaster. Shining Armor had cast a massively powerful shield spell that cut off the Crystal City from the bad magic, but required all of his concentration leaving him completely immobilized.

   Princess Luna had it just as bad as her sister. She had been tasked with holding the sun and moon in perfect position completely immobilized. This served the double purpose of spreading light all over the planet as well as restricting the gravitational forces of both heavenly spheres.

   Unfortunately for Luna she had a third burden. In the back of her mind there was a malevolent voice. "It wouldn't take much you know."

   From before her banishment Luna had spent years warding off the shadows that the voice belongs to. It had finally overwhelmed her on one fateful summer day. After a thousand years she had been freed from the darkness by Twilight and the others. For a week. At the first whisper in her mind she had gone to her sister, and together they had worked to create barriers to protect her from it.

   She had had to remove those barriers to ensure that she had enough magical strength for the task at hoof. "All it would take is to let go. " The voice continued speaking. "All it would take is to let go of the sun and the moon. "

   In her mindscape the speaker walked up behind her. The dark alicorn draped a wing over her and leaned down to whisper almost intimately in her ear. "You could take all of this wild magic for yourself, become a queen, a goddess to rule all of Equus, and then they will love you."

   Princess Luna knew the words were illogical, but in her heart they made sense. She would be loved. No! She would resist. She would push back. She would attack!

   "Oh, please." Nightmare Moon rolled her draconic eyes. Extending her ethereal mane and tail into tendrils of smoke she wrapped them around her 'twin'.

   Luna was paralyzed. Not with fear but with longing. She knew perfectly well that the ponies of Equestria still praised Celestia over her. The only exceptions being close friends like the six young ones... What were their names? "Do I not have any friends?" Luna tried to remember but all she found were memories of ponies ignoring her, shunning her, running away from her, and always glorifying and even worshipping her sister.

   Nightmare Moon grinned down at Luna. "I've been patient long enough." She lifted the smaller princess in her ethereal mane and tail. "I've grown tired of hearing your thoughts as you whine and complain about not being more popular." She smiled evily as Luna was nearly engulfed by her astral mist. "What kind of attitude is that for an immortal?" As the mist creeped up her neck Luna's control began to slip. In the real world the sun and moon began to move. The mist creeped higher. "This will be...

A golden light cut through the darkness of her mindscape freeing Luna from the evil influence of Nightmare Moon. The evil alicorn screamed in protest as she was blasted back to the deepest reaches of Luna's mind. Arceus placed a seal on Luna's subconscious mind.

   "Thank you, Arceus is it." Back in the real world Luna was once more holding the sun and moon in place. She was visibly struggling to control the magic now that her strength had been sapped by resisting her darker side.

   Luna decided it was a good idea to pass out in the hooves of the godly stallion.

Mew and Luna

Mew and Luna

   They had finally done it. The citizens of Equus were safe. Now it was just a matter of giving them the power to protect themselves, and placing them around Earth.

   Arceus spoke.

   Giggling all the way she joined her father in the sky above a mountain forest. She made a physical three dimensional model of the Equestrian pony DNA, and started adding in the necessary traits.

   Arceus was simply standing (floating) back, and letting Mew do the work she loves, but rarely gets to do. <Okay so the ponies are already a bit like eevee, but backwards because they start as one of the three forms, and have the potential to evolve into the combined alicorn form, but I'll have to put some kind of evolutiona

evolutionary  block to prevent that from happening too much cause it's supposed to be a very rare and very special thing and that's why there's only four of them.> She paused as if taking a breath, but was stopped from continuing when Arceus placed a hoof over her mouth.

   Mew blinked. she asked him.

   he laughed. He removed his hoof.

   Mew was a bit disappointed.

   He gave her a quick nuzzle.

   Mew thought about that for a moment before nodding. She suddenly realized how powerful that would make them.

   His eyes brightened in what could be a smile for a being with no mouth.

   She looked around at the multitude of flying pokemon that had gathered around them.

   After she said that a magicarp fell down from above. Godly father, and daughter watched it fall.

   Arceus opened a portal to the Hall of Legends. Mew grabbed the model DNA helix in her psychic power, flew through the portal, and dashed off to her room. Arceus looked at the gathered pokemon before leaving. He noticed new and old injuries as well as signs of illness, and malnutrition.

   He summoned the mind plate. With that he released a powerful heal pulse that covered the entire area.

   On the ground below a certain magicarp laying in a small crater had swirly eyes. The fish pokemon was then hit with a strong heal pulse. It blinked its eyes a few times before making a rather intense expression. It started to flop around, and after a minute with a shout of defiance the magicarp slammed its tail down.

Thoom!

   The flying types all scattered from the noise in time to avoid being tackled by the seemingly rocket propelled fish. Magicarp sailed through the sky, almost reaching the clouds, and eventually disappeared in a Team Rocket like fashion.

   This had been witnessed by the alpha pokemon, and he now sweat dropped because of it. Arceus stepped through and closed the portal.

   Later in her room (which looks like it belongs to a genius twelve year old geneticist who likes beanie babies)  Mew was relaxing with a bowl of mixed pokeblock. It had taken her literally all day to do it, but she had done it. Ponies were now pokemon, and the DNA was perfectly balanced, and stabilised. Mew levitated another pokeblock to her mouth without seeing what kind it was.

   She made the appropriate face for having the equivalent of several lemons in her mouth.

   Princess Luna had been searching for the Legendary Mew so she could ask about these genetic changes. Her sister was more interested in the political side of things. The night princess knew it was important, after all an entire world's population had just became homeless, but she found little interest in politics. And from what Luna understood there would be little to do about it unless they could convince the humans to treat pokemon as equals.

   She found the door right where she was told it would be. "I see what those swordsmen meant by 'you can't miss it'." It was pink with girly flowers, and had 'scientist at work' written on it in multicolored crayon. Luna hated it.

   She almost turned to walk away, but stopped when she heard a crash from inside the room. In an instant Luna kicked the door open, and rushed in expecting some enemy to be attacking the Legendary.

   What she found was a small pink cat like thing that looked to be choking on something it ate. Luna is not the most girly princess (that would be Cadence) but she could not resist the creature's cuteness. "I have you small one!" Luna flew up behind the pink thing, and gave it a quick slap on the back.

   "Gulp!" Mew swallowed the unchewed pokeblock. Mew gave Luna a small wave, and smiled as she introduced herself.

   "Oh!" Princess Luna bowed respectfully. <Forgive me Lady Mew, but I had thought you were someone's pet."

   Mew tilted her head sideways with one ear cocked down.

   The princess did a good job at not giggling at the cute expression, but only just. "I apologise of course, but you are much smaller than the other Legendaries I have met, and you resemble some kind of cat." Luna sheepishly waited for the Legendary to get mad.

   Mew just giggled.

   "You are not angry for being compared to an animal?"

   Mew shook her head. she booped Luna on the nose

   Luna blinked at the invasion of personal space. "Well allow me to introduce myself properly." Standing straight, and spreading her wings she said "I am Princess Luna, mistress of the night, guardian of dreams, and co-ruler of..." she deflated at the sudden realization "formerly of Equestria." she corrected herself.

   Mew ignored personal space again, and hugged Luna.

   "Yes, and now they are all homeless, and will be treated as second class citizens, and even pets by the humans."

   Mew flew over to her holographic display of the new species DNA helix and switched it to show an earth pony using hyper beam.

   "Yes, capturing." Luna's eyes went from sad to cold and hard In record time. "That is something we will have to deal with sooner rather than later."

   Mew felt a chill go down her spine at the princess' words, and got the feeling that sooner would not be soon enough. Mew needed a distraction. she held up a diagram.

   "Um?" Luna studied the information, but was unsure of what she was seeing. "What is this?"

   Mew explained.

   "Ah, yes this is what I was seeking from you." Luna grabbed the chart in her magic. She studied it from top to bottom, pausing each time she read about dragons, psychics, and fairies. She was not too worried about poison as there were simple spells for that.

   "Well then, I have only one question for you at this time." Luna set the paper down, and looked Mew in the eye. She asked "How do I learn what moves I can do?"

The Big Facehoof

   "What about speech?" asked Princess Celestia. "Will we be able to communicate with the humans?"

   Arceus answered a little cryptically.

   Celestia just looked at him blankly before picking up a teacup with her magic and saying "I thought you promised to stop doing that so often." She took a sip. "Or do I have to call Pinkie Pie back again?"

   Arceus flinched. The pokemon god shook his head to banish an unpleasant memory involving the pink party pony mare. <What I meant is that you will speak the language of pokemon, humans call it pokespeak.

   "I see." tea finished Celestia set her cup down. "Well as tough as that will be for my little ponies the Unicorns should still be able to cast translation spells."

   Arceus arched a brow, and bowed his head slightly to let her know she should think about that.

   Celestia's face scrunched up at his expression because it was the same one Blue Blood used whenever he flirted with mares. Then she thought about what he had said. She smiled "Ah, so pokemon can now cast the translation spell."

   Further conversation was cut off by the sound of a muffled explosion, and a tremor that shook the walls of the Hall of Legends. "What was that?" Celestia jumped up from her seat. "Are we under attack?"

   Arceus laughed. He thought about that, and then realized how easily the humans can be underestimated.

   Before she could agree she had been teleported to the outside of the temple. What she saw put her on guard immediately. A  large crater with a ring of blown back trees around it, and several trees within that had been reduced to shattered logs. The crater itself was less than ten yards from the clearing where the temple was located.

   "Huzzah!" Celestia looked up to see her sister flying alongside a pink pokemon. "Did you see Celestia?" Luna was smiling like a certain pink earth pony mare. In other words she was smiling like a mad mare.

   Mew flew down to her father, and explained to his questioning look She looked back to the crater.

   Arceus nodded.

   "Celestia, let Mew see what moves you can do." Luna was still smiling, though more normally now. The night alicorn landed beside her sister, and raised a hoof proudly. "It is amazing what pokemon can do without magic Celestia." Luna pointed at herself, and continued. "I have already learned the moves shadow ball, dark void, and moon blast."

   Princess Celestia knew that for whatever reason she would have a severe headache before the day was over. "Luna, we are not here to participate in battles, but to bring about a political revolution." she said, then quickly added "Peacefully if possible."

   Luna pouted, and muttered something about her sister being a party pooper. Elsewhere, though they were miles apart Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich both suddenly shivered in horror.

   Arceus said.

   Luna perked up a little. Celestia gave Arceus a look that simply said , don't encourage her. "And why would I want to do that?" Celestia asked him.

   <Remember that battling is a bit part of both human, and pokemon culture." Arceus reached out with his cosmic powers and created three windows in the air before them.

   In the first window was an average trainer working with two of her pokemon. A sandshrew, and a pidgey. "Pidgey use gust, Sandshrew dodge it with dig." the trainer told her team members.

   They followed her instructions exactly, and even had fun doing it. "Can't catch me." the sandshrew taunted. "Oh yeah!?" the pidgey flapped its wings, and sent a gust attack at the ground type. The attack missed as Sandshrew used dig. "Pidgey, send a gust into the hole." the trainer ordered. The flying type didn't waste any time, and sent a series of gusts straight down the tunnel. "I've got you now, take that, and that and that and that!" Pidgey yelled.

   Suddenly the sandshrew was propelled out of the ground at a higher than normal speed than it should have been able to achieve on its own. A strong wind carried the grounder like an air powered rocket. The grin on its face was one of terror not amusement.

   "Rollout!" yelled the equally surprised trainer. Sandshrew did the move in midair, and was pushed faster by the wind to become a cannon ball. Straight at Pidgey. "Pidgey use quick attack!" the trainer said as quickly as possible.

   Pidgey started the attack, but was hit before it had a chance to move. Both pokemon fell to the ground. Sandshrew completed the rollout, and landed on top of Pidgey.

   "Quick attack didn't work?" the trainer was wide eyed. She then realized that both of her team members needed healing, and rushed to them with medical spray.

   She pushed Sandshrew off Pidgey, and gave the flying type a good once over. Pidgey gave a small shriek at the sting of the medicine, and jumped up only to then chirp happily at the girl. "You did good Pidgey, nice job." the girl smiled at her friend.

   Sandshrew refused to be unrolled, and could only be given a light spray of medicine. The girl tried her best to get her friend to open up but to no avail. "Come on buddy, unroll already." the trainer hugged her friend close to her. "Your okay aren't you?" Her eyes watered, and a few tears fell onto Sandshrew's back.

   The ground type pokemon was suddenly engulfed by a bright light. Sandshrew grew larger as the glow increased. Beams of light shot off of its body as its shape changed, and spikes grew from its armor.

   "Your evolving!" the girl watched in awe as she continued to hug her friend who was now almost too big to hold.

   The glow faded to reveal the new evolved pokemon. "Sandslash!" the pokemon shouted its new name in triumph.

   "Alright!" the trainer jumped up, and shouted "Sandshrew evolved into Sandslash, yahoo!" She fist pumped.

   Sandslash gleefully tackled the girl to the ground with a hug. "Hey! Watch out, don't hurt our trainer!" Pidgey yelled from above.

   The second window showed a group of various fighting type pokemon in an old warehouse. They were standing in a circle around a makeshift fighting ring. In the ring were just two.

   In one corner stood a hitmonlee wearing a chain with an iron weight for a buckle. The hitmonlee took off the belt, and held it up like it was the most valuable thing in existence. The champion.

   In the other corner standing on the turnbuckle with its wings/arms crossed was the challenger. Hawlucha. The wrestler pokemon had finally found a place where fighting types could just do what they do without having to worry about trainers. Now Hawlucha was challenging the champion for the title.

   A bell rang. Hawlucha took the first move. Launching itself from the top rope Hawlucha flew straight at its opponent, but turned at the last second. Hitmonlee saw the trick, and used a lightning fast rolling kick to sent

Hawlucha into the ropes.

   Hawlucha grabbed onto the top rope, flipped over, and pulled it tight. On the rebound Hawlucha flipped again, and added a sideways spin. Hitmonlee was distracted by the spin, but knew a hit was coming, and braced itself. Hawlucha delivered an incredibly fast karate chop to the champion's head. Only to have itself be slammed.

   The champion had learned long ago to study non fighting type moves. With its opponent grounded Hitmonlee raised a leg high, and delivered a powerful stomp. Hitmonlee then stumbled back into the ropes as it finally started to feel the pain from the chop to the head.

   Hawlucha jumped up from the mat, and applied a scissor hold on Hitmonlee. The wrestler pokemon flipped itself backwards, and threw the champ with a hurrincurana right into the middle of the ring. Hawlucha leapt to the top turnbuckle then flipped sideways onto the ropes, and struck its signature pose before launching itself up high into the air. Every pokemon that had seen Hawlucha fight knew what was coming. Or they thought they did.

   As Hawlucha's flight reached its peak the flying fighter spun itself. Hawlucha started a karate chop, but refocused the energy into its arm. Hitmonlee saw the difference immediately, but couldn't dodge without knowing what kind of attack it was, or where it would hit. So the champ crossed its arms in front of its face, and braced for impact.

   As Hawlucha descended it shouted out ,and named the attack. "Flying clothesline!" Using its left arm to knock Hitmonlee's arms out of the way Hawlucha slammed the newly created attack into the opponent's face. The sound was like a thunder clap as Hawlucha's arm connected with its target. Hitmonlee's head snapped back, and its feet left the ground. Hawlucha sailed past, but couldn't stop because of its momentum. Hitmonlee backflipped, and spun around before landing face down, and Hawlucha fell out of the ring onto the concrete floor.

   Hawlucha stood up holding a hand to its injured chest. The flyer was about to climb back into the ring when it was stopped by a machop. The machop just pointed into the ring where the champion stood holding the belt. Hitmonlee called Hawlucha forward. When the challenger stepped up nomon knew what would happen. The champion could claim the new move illegal, and have the Hawlucha banned, or just declare the match a draw because of their injuries.

   Hawlucha stood before the champion, and waited. Hitmonlee raised the belt with both hands, and respectfully hung it around Hawlucha's neck. Hitmonlee stepped back, and bowed to the champion. The other pokemon all cheered their approval, and chanted "Haw-lu-cha! Haw-lu-cha! Haw-lu-cha!"

   In the third window was a grand stage as beautiful as the ballroom of Canterlot castle. Celestia was confused about how such a beautiful sight could be associated with such a brutal practice. Until it started.

   Two coordinators in elaborate attire were guiding their pokemon partners through an amazingly intricate routine. The man wore a tuxedo with a cape, top hat, and opera mask all decorated with silver thread patterns. The woman wore a ball gown that was a gorgeous rose petal pink with red lace trim, long ivory white gloves that complemented her tanned skin, and her hair was done up in a delicate swirl of blue with small white feathers like she wore the sky itself as a part of her.

   The pokemon, a persian and delcaty were dancing across the stage in a beautiful display of skill, and ability. A power gem artfully dodged, and countered with a blizzard. Agility allowed the persian to cartwheel over the attack while using swift.

   Delcatty could not avoid the hit, and took it full on. They were losing points, and running out of time. "Alright my lovely friend." the woman said "Use rain dance then shoot blizzard straight up." Delcatty trusted her trainer and knew the routine well. Pretty soon a hail of ice pellets were barraging the stage.

   "Now Persian, protect, and roar." said the man dramatically. Persian shielded himself from the ice, and let loose a powerful roar that actually threw the ice back up. The ice pellets collided from above, and below shattering on contact resulting in a spectacular shower of ice crystals that swirled, and billowed at the persian's roaring command.

   The buzzer sounded, and time was up. The winners were the man, and persian. Awards were presented, bows were taken, and a rose was given by the man to his opponent.

   "Why thank you Phantom." she took the flower from him, and gave it a delicate sniff. "Congratulations to you, and Persian, your victory is well deserved."

   Persian stepped forward, and spoke to Delcatty. "We gave an amazing performance this day my lady, and I hope to meet you on the stage again if fate may allow it."

   "Oh, yes, thank you kind sir." Delcatty blushed. "I hope to see you again some day too."

   Arceus closed the windows, and looked to Celestia before speaking. Arceus opened one more window, and showed her a man. he closed the window.

   "Yes I think I do." Celestia sighed. "I still don't like the idea of any creature being forced to fight purely for the entertainment of others though." she shook her head.

   the alpha pokemon closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

   "Probably something like this." Princess Celestia closed her eyes, and took a deep slow breath. She thought back to the few times that something had ever caused her to become truly angry. There were only a hoof full of times, and amazingly Discord had nothing to do with any of them.

   Focusing on the most recent memory Celestia summoned an anger that was not directed outward at anypony else, but at herself. She remembered how she had actually laughed at her sister when Luna had first claimed their subjects did not love her.

"If I had done something to reassure her that first time." Celestia thought to herself. But I didn't, and it is all my fault that she...

   The Alicorn Princess of the sun opened her eyes, now golden orbs of mystical flames, and growled "Rage...

   "Ah!" Luna jumped away from her.

   "...shift." Celestia exploded in an aura of burning magic in the form of golden fire. The longer she held the spell the more power it took from her anger.

   The heat was reaching such a level that Arceus had to summon the Draco Plate to keep from feeling it.

   Without speaking Celestia shapes the fire into a ball above her horn. Throwing it    with her magic Celestia sent it soaring into the sky. When it was just a shining speck in the blue it exploded. For one second the sky was ruled by two solar spheres. The light was too bright to see without protection. The weather went from mild spring to the middle of summer. Then the empty space where the blaze had consumed all the air refilled in a tornado like wind.

   Mew made a mental note to personally rescue any ponies she found in a bad situation before the Princesses found out. She had just seen what one could do, and that wasn't even the scary one. She didn't want to know what they would do together to anyone that earned their wrath.

   Arceus asked Celestia.

   "No spell, just magical manipulation of heat, and light." Celestia felt a little dizzy after the expense of energy. "Rage shift is a spell though, and now I assume a move to amplify attack power."

   he told her.

   "Yes, maybe later though." Celestia sighed again. "Very well Arceus, I understand that strong battlers are well respected by both humans, and pokemon, and that the strongest are very influential.

   "So I shall consider involving myself publicly in some way." She caught sight of Luna making a pouty face. "And you are always free to make your own choices sister."

   Luna smirked at Celestia, but thanked her with a neck hug. "I shall try not to embarrass you Tia." she joked.

   After all the stress, and tears of the last few days Celestia actually laughed. "Oh, I am sure you will find someway to do so." she teased back.

   Mew said. She pointed to Celestia "You with that solar ball or whatever you want to call it." She pointed to Luna Mew absently tried to snap her fingers, not realizing that she was just wiggling them. She was trying to think of a name that accurately described how it must feel to get hit with that nightmarishly powerful moon blast. Snap! she shouted proudly.

   The sudden silence did not go unnoticed by the slightly absent minded Mew. <Uhh, did... Did I say something or um...

   Arceus wanted to facehoof, but the part of his brain that should be receiving the signal to do so had stopped working. So the command to facehoof traveled to the closest recipient. In another reality another Arceus facehoofed.

   "You," Luna began with her teeth clenched. "have said nothing to your knowledge Lady Mew.

   "Forgive me Celestia, Lord Arceus, but I must take my leave." Luna walked off before taking to the air. Luna flew in a random direction. She was simply looking for something to distract her. As she flew she began to sing.

   Here in this new world can we find a new way

   I hope we can because we can't leave we're here to stay

   All I want is to just live my life

   So full of peace and free of strife

   But I have a deep dark fear that something bad still grows near

   This god of all things has sworn to me that I am now and forever free

   Yet I can still feel her in my soul and I shake with fear like a foal

   How in this new world can I find a new way

   To keep my dark hunter's black wings at bay

   What have I done to deserve this punishment

   Why must I suffer everlasting torment

   Just give me harmony and peace

   Grant me that I beg you please

Keldeo used run away

Keldeo used run away

   Keldeo was running. Why was he running? Well it could have something to do with him being late to show some of the newcomers around the Hall of Legends. Which he had been asked to do by Lord Arceus himself. So Keldeo was running very quickly. As a result of running very quickly he was not able to stop very quickly. Which was bad for him as three young fillies were about to cross his path.

   "Oh! I'm late!" he said. "I'm late, I'm late!" Keldeo knew that Arceus would forgive him, but the other Legendaries would not be so kind. Oh, the pranks, and teasing he would have to endure. And the other swordsmen, forget about it. Keldeo ran faster.

   A bright flash suddenly filled his vision. He blinked and remembered too late that he was still running. He tried stopping himself but through momentum alone he didn't, and skidded along on his hooves.

   Then he heard a sweet nearly bell like voice say "I told you girls I could learn to teleport." directly in front of him.

   "Crap! Aqua jet!" Keldeo yelled just for the chance that whoever was there would hear him, and move out of the way. The move was the only one he knew that could help him at the moment. The powerful streams of water enveloped his hooves, and sent him into the air.

   "Ah!" one voice yelled. "Yikes!" yelled another. "Huh?" said the first voice.

"Oh, crud." he thought. "Please don't be three little kids."

   When the aqua jet had pushed him maybe a foot off the ground he felt his right front hoof hit something hard. The water then bounced off something that definitely was not the floor. He then heard someone sputtering, and coughing as they were drenched.

   Keldeo continued on a few more yards, and landed slowly as his vision started to clear. He looked over his shoulder, and saw to his shame a small young filly on her back. Her white coat, and purple mane and tail all soaked, and odd sparks coming from her horn.

   "Oh pokeballs." he cursed himself. Keldeo started trotting toward her. "Are you okay miss?"

   Two other fillies jumped in front of him, and glared angrily. The yellow one with the red mane, and pink bow looked like she would body slam him. The orange one with the wings actually had what looked like steam puffing from her nostrils. "What the hay did ya do that for?" the yellow one growled in a country accent, and stomped her hoof at him. "Yeah, you big jerk!" the orange one yelled, and started pawing the ground, getting ready to change.

   Keldeo would have found this adorable if he hadn't felt like such a big jerk. In fact he wished he was a ghost type so he could disappear, and escape them. But there was something he had something he needed to do first. "I apologise for what has happened, but I think we should find out if your friend is hurt." he pointed behind them.

   They blinked, and then looked back to the unicorn filly who was now standing, and giving them a deadpan look. "Thanks for checking on me." her voice did not go well with sarcasm, but they seemed to get it. Then her horn sparked, and conducted a mild electric shock over her still wet coat. "AhhhHh!" She was unharmed by the shock, but she shook rapidly for a moment.

   "Sweetie Belle!" they ran to her. "Are ya all right?" "What's up with your magic?" "Ya ain't hurt bad are ya?" "That shaking thing with the sparks was cool!" The other two looked at the orange one like she was crazy. "What?" she asked innocently.

   "Ahem." they looked at the stallion that had done the water magic. "Sorry for bumping into you like that Miss Sweetie Belle, I was running because I was late for a very important date, and then this bright flash blinded me, and I think you know the rest." Keldeo hung his head sheepishly. "Sorry again."

   "Oh, uh?" Scootaloo spoke nervously. "Yeah, strange thing huh?"

   Keldeo became a little suspicious as they shifted on their hooves, and looked sideways at each other. "Hold on." He raised a brow. "You were the bright flash weren't you?"

   They all nodded. "I teleported." Sweetie Belle told him. "I'm not supposed to do it yet cause Twilight says it's dangerous if you don't concentrate." They all suddenly looked at him with big adorable eyes, and said "You won't tell will you?"

"Pokeballs." he thought cursed himself. There was no escape. He knew he should tell this Twilight, but those eyes were just too...

   "Applebloom?" "Scootaloo?" "Sweetie Belle?" Keldeo turned to the three mares walking into the hall. He paid no attention to the other two. Only the unicorn. A beautiful light gray coat with a light and dark purple mane and tail, both kept in an elegant sweeping curl.

   "Hello." he said simply.

   "Oh my." Rarity giggled. "Hello yourself." she batted her eyelashes at the young stallion.

   Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the crusaders just rolled their eyes.

   Sweetie Belle's horn started sparking again. "Ouch!" She rubbed her horn, and forehead. "I think I'm getting a migraine." she complained.

   Rarity snapped out of it, and looked at her sister. "Sweetie Belle! What has happened to you?" She started fussing over her little sister's dripping wet mane.

   Before he knew it Keldeo was telling her everything. Unfortunately for him he was distracted, and didn't do a very good job of explaining. He also had a cocky grin on his face the whole time.

   Rarity's eye twitched. "You." Her lips pulled back in a snarl. "Tried." Several hairs in her mane popped out of place. "To." She started towards him. "Drown! My! Sister!" Her horn lit up.

   Keldeo felt two very important parts of him retract into his body.

   Arceus was walking through the palace with Princess Celestia. They had explained to Mew about what she had said, and Mew had immediately teared up, and flew off to apologize to Luna.

   Celestia's head was already pounding, but that would be easily fixed if she could just get some peace and quiet.

   Arceus announced.

   The princess looked ahead, and saw a colt running to them. He was running very fast. There was a very fearful look on his face, and he appeared to be running away from something. Keldeo sped past the two immortal leaders at a speed that would put a rapidash to shame. "Crap, crap, crap, crap..." he said with each hoof beat.

   Arceus said just before he felt the stir of power. Looking back he was reminded of just what it was that Hell hath no fury like.

   Rarity was surrounded by her magic as it swirled, and created a tornado like wind tunnel that propelled her through the air. Her eyes were blazed pure white with the righteous fury of an overprotective big sister. "Get back here you cowardly ruffian so I can smash you!" she screamed like a wailing banshee signaling some poor soul's impending doom.

   After Rarity had blown past Celestia held a wing to her temple, and said "I've got a migraine."

the humans of the story

   In the dead of night on a lonely stretch of road that cuts through a forest stands a man. The man wears a long black trench coat, and dark sunglasses. Everything else about the man looked very normal. He was caucasian, kept his hair cut short military style, and generally looked like he could blend in to a crowd if he tried. He knew he had a few scars that would stand out as signs of his job, but they were few and far between. Thankfully none of those scars were on his face, unless you count a small cut in his left ear.

   Normally he would curse the sunglasses which, despite how cool they made him look, always restricted his vision at night. Given his current situation however he was glad to have them. They were keeping the other people present from seeing how his eyes had gone wide with fear.

   In his line of work you got used to odd, stressful, and dangerous situations. The last time he had felt any kind of real fear was a couple of years ago when he got eaten by a Gyaradose. This was something else

entirely, and it was ridiculously overkill. He had been contacted to meet a new client in this location. He had expected an eccentric millionaire or some shady business man. Not this.

   Gym Leaders, Frontier Brains, Elite Four members, and Champions. They had him surrounded. Their pokemon were out and ready.

   His team as usual when on the job were already out of their pokeballs. Shredder was with him on the road while the rest were positioning themselves around the area.

Okay time to strategize. Weiss thought. Xavier, what do we got, what do they want, and how did they get past you?

I can answer that. a female voice responded to his thoughts.

...Okay not the time to strategize. Weiss looked around at the many faces around him, recognising about half of them, but not seeing the one he really did not want to see. Who are you, and why isn't Xavier blocking you?

In order of the questions asked, the telepathic voice was starting to sound familiar. What you have is what you see. Gym Leaders, Frontier Brains, Elite Fours, and Champions. What we want is to talk, and maybe hire you. Weiss relaxed at that, but signaled for the others to stay on guard. We got past Xavier because even a Metagross must yield to a group of high level Psychic types working together.

   A woman was suddenly standing in front of him. She had a pale complexion, dark green hair, and pink eyes. She was thin, and stood almost straight like a model holding a slight pose. Her clothes were simple, a pinkish red top that showed off her shoulders and flat belly, a wide black belt with a light gray diamond shaped buckle white pants, and shoes that matched her top. It was her bracelets that threw off the look. They were thick wide black block like things with glowing green panels.

   Shredder the Bisharp had her sword at the woman's throat in as much time as it took to blink. The woman glanced calmly at the Dark type. "Hello Shredder, it has been a few years." she spoke with her voice. Looking back to Weiss she asked "Your last two questions should have their answers by now, seeing as I do not remember erasing your memories of our last encounter."

   Weiss would like to think he chose his next words carefully, but he could not help the little bit of attitude that slipped through. "Yes, I remember the Psychic witch of Safron City." She wouldn't turn him into a doll for that right? "Hello Sabrina."

*flashback*

   Checkmate has infiltrated the Safron City Gym. They have been contracted to spy on the Gym's Leader, Sabrina. It was the worst mistake of their careers.

   Rouge, Titiania, and Simon were stopped almost immediately by a Delfox, Bronzong, and to the Driller's embarrassment a Psyduck. Roll was occupied by a Meticham. Char, Pancha, and Edge had not even made it into the building, and were being forcibly entertained by a trio of (to the Dragon's extreme displeasure) Mr. Mime.

   Pancha whistled and clapped for the entertainment, ignoring the death glares from her teammates. Edge was blind, but still managed to glare more intensely, but still she was ignored.

   Turning her head away from the bird Edge spoke to Char. "How are you locked up? Don't you have a double advantage against them?"

   "Indeed a Bug/Steel type does beat a Psychic/Fairy type." at this the Red Comet tapped a claw on the invisible box around them. "Unfortunately that advantage does not extend to Mr Mime's special ability."

   "At least tell me the performance is as bad as I think it is." Edge growled.

   "Oh, yes absolutely horrid." Char yawned. "And boring."

   The two mimes that had been acting stopped and looked at him. The one on top of their box that was keeping them contained jumped down. All three advanced on his corner of the box.

   Elsewhere inside the Gym Weiss had given up on actually spying, and was now just trying to navigate the labyrinth like compound. He looked over his shoulder at the three members of his team that had talked him into taking this job. "You fucking people." Shredder, and Frogadier had the decency to drop their heads in shame.

   Weiss looked ahead of him at the approaching four way stop in the darkened hall. He continued on into a rant. "I'm a Dark type Psychics can't touch me. Apparently they don't have to touch you Shredder. They just have to magnetize the walls and floor because your made of metal!" The Bisharp did not respond so he moved on to his next target. "Some ninja." Frogadier sweat dropped. "You somehow managed to set off over half a dozen booby traps. You haven't fallen for a booby trap since before you evolved!"

   Stepping onto the large square tile at the crossway the human mercenary turned around, and waited. Shredder and Frogadier kept their heads down and stood to the side allowing Weiss to zero in on the third pokemon. The Metagross known as Xavier had made the final argument that had convinced Weiss to take the job. "So what's your excuse Mr 'I want to test this human's Psychic abilities, and I can most assuredly handle her' ?" Weiss said his quote of Xavier's words in a purposely poor imitation of the pokemon's voice. To which Xavier responded flatly "I was wrong." Weiss facepalmbed.

   Coming to a stop over the same large tile that they were standing on Xavier decided to return to the floor. The moment his four feet touched down the floor lit up with a blue light. They all looked at the floor.

   "Why is the floor glowing?" Shredder asked wearily drawing her long sword.

   "Best estimation is that we are about to be teleported via technology similar to that found in a pokeball transporter." Xavier informed them. "I advise that we...

   ...never mind." they had already been teleported before he could finish speaking.

   Looking around they found themselves on one end of the Gym's battlefield. They looked to the other end, and saw her. Sitting in an elegantly carved wooden chair fit for a queen's throne. Wearing a red and black suit with gold buttons along the lapel, and sleeves that hung very wide and low over her hands like on a kimono. She just sat there, her unusual pink eyes not blinking as she stared at them.

   The mercenaries were at a loss for words, so they just stood there, and waited. They continued waiting. After what felt like half an hour to Weiss she finally spoke. "I wonder how much longer you are to continue being so rude. Introduce yourselves."

   "Ah, haha, yes, sorry about that." Weiss rubbed a hand on the back of his head, and put on his best I'm a dope face. He looked back, saw that Frogadier was gone, and introduced the others. "This is Xavier, and this is Shredder." he pointed to them in turn and Shredder bowed. Turning back around Weiss held a hand to his chest and smiled.

   "So tell me Mr Weiss, " she paused to let it sink in that he had not said his name yet. "Why are you here?"

Are we supposed to be surprised that you know his name? Xavier thought to her. How many times have we communicated with each other, and you most assuredly have surveillance devices hidden throughout the Gym.

   "Your team is good enough at what they do that they need very little direction for planning or adapting to changes to the plan." Sabrina stood and started walking towards them. "Total verbal communications since your telepathic link was shut down, twenty-six, not counting the mole. Total number of telepathic communications since you got on the grounds, three, apparently to avoid attracting my attention. Before that you stopped ten yards outside my property, and spent fifteen minutes thirty two seconds making last minute plans." She stopped ten feet from them. "Not once in all of that did anyone refer to him by name." She looked at Xavier and said "Do I really need to explain how useless cameras and microphones would be?"

... No that will not be necessary. The shiny Metagross gave no visible reaction only because his face was not capable of many expressions. However that does not prove that you truly possess the Psychic abilities that you are rumored to.

   Weiss facepalmbed. "You did not just challenge her to prove herself." He looked at Shredder. "Tell me he didn't."

   "He did." the female Bisharp replied.

My point is that with the abundance of strong Psychic type pokemon at your Gym they could easily have spied on us for you. Xavier squinted his eyes at Sabrina as if daring her to dispute him.

   Her response was an amused chuckle as she found herself genuinely intrigued by this Metagross who had just about thrown away his team's mission in favor of satisfying his' curiosity about her. "Perhaps I'll show off later." Sabrina said, then raised an eyebrow at Xavier. "If I'm in the proper mood."

   Xavier blinked twice, and stayed silent.

   Sabrina looked back to the other human. "So Mr Weiss, as long as your still here why don't you tell me why you decided to break into my home in the middle of the night." Her voice was perfectly calm and her face was a mask of simple curiosity. But the Psychic energy rolling off of her was like cold fury.

   Weiss slumped his shoulders, and sighed. "Ahh,crap." The mercenary rubbed his forehead with his left hand, letting the movement distract Sabrina while he palmed an exploding smoke bomb in his right. "Okay, here's the thing, I can't tell you that not because it's classified but because Xavier put a memory block on us that actually prevents us from thinking about why we're here."

   "Clever." she deadpanned.

   "Yes, it was, and I think we can leave now." Shredder kept her sword ready and stepped forward with the blade low enough to keep it from? Being a threat but angled just right to let her make a quick upward slice. "The door?"

   "You can either remove the mental block now, or we can battle to decide wether or not you walk out of my Gym with it intact." The Psychic woman still looked and sounded perfectly calm, but the energy coming from her was now causing the air around her to wave and vibrate ever so slightly.

   Shredder smirked. "You know I'm a Dark type right?" she whipped the sword up leveling the blade with the human woman's face, her arms pulled back and ready to thrust. "I can leave whenever I want."

   The tip of the blade was only an inch or two from Sabrina's face. A full extension of Shredder's arms would push the weapon clean through her head. Sabrina continued to ignore the Sword Blade Pokemon. "I wish you would reconsider the coarse of action you are about to take as it is unnecessary, however I have already foreseen it, and no matter what I do your choice will be the same." She closed her eyes.

   "Well considering that we are a guild of mercenaries for hire with a reputation for getting the job done right the first time or your money back, we tend to be a bit stubborn."with that he threw the smoke bomb, aiming at her face.

   Sabrina caught the projectile with her Psychic power. She opened her eyes, and looked at Weiss incredulously. "A smoke bomb?" she asked. "Seriously that may have caught me off guard but...

   Shredder swiped her sword, cutting the small orb. A brief flash proceeded the smoke which, despite the explosive's size, blacked out enough space to blind all of them. Shredder then whipped her sword around, and smacked the flat of the blade against the woman's head.

   Frogadier had been keeping out of sight off to one side of the battle field. The ninja had to wait for just the right moment to strike. When the woman was blind, and struck senseless it was time. She was distracted, and disoriented. A Water Pulse to the back finished the job and sent her to the floor.

   The block on Xavier's mental links vanished, allowing him to reconnect with the others. Time to go.

Right you are. Weiss thought to everyone. Wrap it up people.

About time! Char snapped at him. These mimes have been slapping me like it's their favorite pass time!

Giga Drill!" Simon's mental shout transferred to a verbal one that could be heard through the walls followed by a tremor in the walls and floor.

   Roll the Lopunny suddenly lashed out with her ears, bell clapping the sides of her opponent's head. She then attacked with a flurry of blows, alternating from Fire Punch to Ice Punch to Thunder Punch, and repeating again and again until she drove the Meticham through a wall.

   The wall behind Weiss exploded in a shower of debris, and one unconscious Meticham. Weiss managed to not be hit by any of the rubble, only to be knocked down by the beaten pokemon. "You fucking people." he muttered before standing up.

   The smoke screen finally cleared away revealing that Roll had somehow found her way to Shredder, and was hugging the other female. Shredder's face was red from embarrassment. "Damb it woman we're on the job!" she told the Lopunny who was hugging her very closely.

   "Alright girls, save it for later." Weiss teased them. "Xavier, take that block off so we can remember why we're here."

   Xavier said nothing as he worked his craft. He could have sworn that there was something still buzzing on the psychic level, but he chalked it up to just the mere proximity of so many Psychic pokemon. He reestablished their standard translation link and spoke with his deep voice "Mental block removed." he announced monotonously.

   "And there it is." Weiss went over his memories, and the plans involved. "Alright people, we verify if she has powers." Xavier gave an affirmative. "We gather intel on her team, though I think most of the ones we encountered were here just for the occasion..." a pokemon teleported in front of him "...crap."

   The Alakazam standing before him was not happy. Fool! it said. Weiss found himself the target of a Psychic attack as he was flung through the hole that Roll made in the wall. Alakazam spun and delivered a Focus Punch to Shredder's face, the Dark/Steel type taking quadruple damage from the Fighting attack.

   Roll combined a powerful jump with a double Fire Punch to become a blazing spear. Her target, the Alakazam deflected her with its power, and sent her on a collision coarse with Xavier. The Steel type had to focus on stopping her or his weakness to fire would put him out of the fight.

   Alakazam found his feet stuck to the floor by some of Frogadier's Frubbles. The ninja jumped at the Psychic from behind with a blade of compressed water raised for a Cut. Alakazam teleported out of the way, and used another Psychic to slam the ninja frog into his own trap. His own Frubbles were not as effective against Frogadier so he broke free. Only to hear the enemy say "Thunder Wave." and Frogadier felt the electricity zap through his body paralyzing him.

   The Psi Pokemon turned his gaze on Roll, and Xavier. The mercenary Lopunny was crouched on her teammate's head. Her ears arched up as power surged through them. Each of them formed an energy orb, Roll's between her ears, Xavier's on the X on his face. "Hyper Beam!" they yelled together.

   As the powerful twin attacks got closer, Alakazam didn't move. The Hyper Beams were within a foot of hitting their target when they were moved by a blue energy field. Alakazam was using a Psychic to send the beams flying off harmlessly behind him. The explosion of the two Hyper Beams was ignored.

   Alakazam was about to speak when he was alerted by a sudden swift noise. He teleported out of the way just as Shredder brought her sword down. Reappearing behind her, Alakazam already had a Focus Punch ready. His glowing fist connected with the back of her head, and down she went.

   Roll watched as her mate fell to the ground. Shredder's body was limp, her eyes glazed over, and there was a significant dent where the blow struck her helm. The Bisharp landed with a dull hollow thud that rang like an old church bell, and did not move.

   Having seen what could very well be the death of her love the Lopunny known as Roll, Bishop of Checkmate started to weep. Still on top of Xavier she dropped to her knees, her ears drooped, and her body shook with emotion.

   Alakazam looked on in shock at the fallen Bisharp. He hadn't thought he had hit her that hard. He took a step forward with the intention of at least trying to heal her.

   A tan rocket suddenly impacted with the hard packed earth that made up the battlefield floor in front of him. The dust hung in the air for only a moment before it cleared away to reveal Roll. She stood in a crater wide enough to span her ears from tip to tip. Her eyes transformed into two balls of fire with sparks of electricity in them.

   Taking a peek in her head was the only warning Alakazam would get as before she stopped thinking entirely the only thought in her mind was Die now. Alakazam attempted to put her down with some telepathic manipulation, but her mindscape erupted in a blazing inferno of two of the most powerful emotions that touch the hearts of mortals. Love, and anger.

   The shock of having a non-psychic project their emotions like that, and so strongly distracted him long enough for him to suddenly find her ears wrapped around his head.

   Xavier, watching from a safe distance, decided to record the effects of combining Retaliate with Uproar.

   Roll whipped her body back then foreword and down, creating a recoil effect that drove the Psychic's skull into the floor. Releasing his head her ears reflexively reached up to snare one of his legs as he was now upside down. Roll whipped her ears around in a circle, then slammed him down hard enough to make him bounce. With him already in the air she continued the combo slamming him into the ground again and again and again and again and again. She then released him, letting him fly up high into the  air. Roll jumped after him, and nailed him in the gut with a High Jump Kicked.

   She landed on the ground in a crouch, followed shortly by her victim. He did not move. Roll quickly dashed over to her still unmoving mate, slowing down almost to a near stop as she got closer.

   Kneeling down beside Shredder, Roll gently rolled her over face up. Lopunny prodded Bisharp with a gentle paw. There was no response. Roll trembled, pulled her lover's head into her lap, and cried.

   Someone, she didn't know who, spoke to her. "Roll." She did not respond. "Roll." someone tried again. Still she just quietly sobbed. "Roll, I'm not dead."

   "Yes you are!" Roll yelled and then broke down into the most obnoxious sad sounding tear shooting ear cringing crying imaginable.

   "Woman, think about what you just said."

   Roll did as she was told. Then she stopped crying, and looked down to see a bruised and slightly dented Shredder smiling at her. "Hey." she greeted her Lopunny lover. Roll's immediate reaction was to clamp her body to Shredder's and cover her face in kisses. "Gah! Okay I'm happy too but get off before someone sees us!" One round of applause later, and Shredder was standing, her face blazing red from embarrassment as Weiss and the rest of Checkmate had seen the entire display.

   Pancha the Hawlucha, and Rouge the Roserade walked over to the defeated Alakazam. "Poor mon, he was just trying to protect his human." Rouge took pity on him, and gave him a dose of Aromatherapy. "It won't do much, but he'll feel better when he wakes up." Pancha poked him with a claw and gave a low whistle. "Hey Xavier what the hell happened to make you go loco on this hombre?"

   His answer was to replay what had happened in their heads. "According to how the League calculates damage, the Alakazam took a total of 1740 damage." The others all sweat dropped. "Though I suspect he was using a defensive move to lessen that. Even so he should be out for some time."

   Alakazam suddenly grabbed Pancha's hand. She let out a string of what the others could only assume were swear words. "You must leave!" he struggled to stay conscious. "Leave now before she gets you!" he passed out. Pancha was creeped out and yanked her hand away. Rouge looked around slightly worried. "Um, dears? Who was he talking about?"

ME Everyone turned to see Sabrina rise from the floor. She did not stand, she levitated off the ground, her limbs slack, her hair flowing around freely. When she was vertical and a full foot off the ground she rotated to face Weiss. Sabrina was grinning like a Gengar, and her eyes were solid luminous blue. Hello play things, I'm in your heads

   Nothing grabbed Weiss, and pulled him forward, at least it felt like nothing, but there he was having his face dragged across the Gym floor. Nothing slammed him into the wall. Nothing used him as a human shield. Nothing swung him like a bat, and sent several of his teammates flying.

   "Shadow Punch!" Shredder ran full on, counting on her Dark typing to protect her. The Queen of Checkmate was very surprised to find herself lifted off the ground by nothing. She did not like being lifted off the ground by nothing. She did not like being thrown across the Gym, and slammed into a wall by nothing.

   "Leave her alone!" Roll ran full speed at the Psychic woman with an Ice Punch.

You would make a lovely doll with that thought reality began to warp.

   Weiss, Xavier, Simon, Frogadier, and Edge all watched in horror as Roll was transmutated into a six inch doll.

All my dollies a young girl's voice exclaimed joyously. One after another the pokemon were all transmutated into miniature stuffed versions of themselves. Only Weiss was spared the same fate.

   Weiss was dragged on his knees in front of Sabrina. She put her fingers to his forehead like she was going to pull his head open. "Lets see what there is to read." she spoke for real. Then she made a motion with her hands like she was in fact pulling his head in two. And that is exactly what it felt like to him. As Weiss screamed in pain, Sabrina looked through the book that his memories had manifested as. She saw something. "Latias?"

   Something large, and invisible crashed through the roof and rammed into Sabrina. She had only enough time to raise her arms in defense. A sharp crack was heard as she flew back from the momentum of the blow.

   Everyone was normal. No one was a doll, and his head was not split open. Weiss looked at the invisible being that had saved him and greeted her. "Th-thanks." He held a hand to his head. "That was not fun."

   Turning visible, the Legendary Latias revealed herself. Her red and white body, streamlined and jet like hovered above the ground as she flew close to him. "I could feel everything through our connection." she told him.

   Weiss cursed himself for causing her pain. He looked away from her. His eyes eventually found Sabrina. When she levitated back to a vertical position he and everyone else stopped moving.

   Sabrina brought her hands up to her face, letting her sleeves fall away from her hands. Underneath were two big black cuffs with broken green panels that looked like they should be glowing. "You broke my power restraint cuffs. They keep my power under control." She revealed her eyes that were now glowing red.

   Weiss forcibly brought his flashback to a screeching halt. None of them had enjoyed that day. It had been embarrassing, humiliating, and damb scary.

   They were able to leave on fairly civil terms. Weiss left immediately for his employer and told the man everything, and that Sabrina now knew who he was. As he left Weiss saw Giovanni pour a drink with a shaking hand.

   Still in the middle of the road Weiss gave the order to stand down. Shredder backed off and put her sword away.

   "You know what?" Sabrina smirked "your cute when you're being smart."

   "... Thanks." he found it quite intimidating that someone who could turn him into a hand sized doll found him attractive. Then he thought about it. "Hey! I'm not ugly! "

   She just laughed. "Well this has been fun, I think I'll go teas Xavier now." She teleported away.

   "She seems happy...for once." Shredder said, more creeped out that the woman had actually smiled than anything else.

   "Yeah," a man said as he stepped forward. He was younger than Weiss by a few years, but he carried with him an air of experience like no other human. "She's been getting out more lately, and I think she's making up for lost time."

   Weiss smiled at the Kanto champion. Very few people could be called a friend of the mercenary, but this was one of them. Weiss would never degrade the man's reputation by claiming so in public. That's how you could tell that the Checkmate mercenaries truly liked you. They stayed far away.

   "Good to see you Red." The two men shook hands. "Back at you Weiss." A Pikachu leaped out from behind Red, and landed on Shredder's shoulder. The electric mouse gave a happy chirp in hello, and got a scratch behind the ears.

   Weiss took off his stupid sunglasses. "So, I'm here for a job?"he asked.

   Red exhaled slowly, and pulled out an envelope. "Yeah, I wish it wasn't necessary, but until the world gets fixed, or finds a new balance you will always have a job." He gave Weiss the envelope. "Protection for this trainer. We got wind that this new Team that's popping up has an open contract on his life."

   "The reason for the show of force." Weiss guessed.

   "We couldn't be sure you hadn't taken the job already." Red answered and shrugged.

Weiss looked over the information. He smiled, and passed the papers to Shredder who in turn smiled as well. "We almost took a contract to kill this guy." Weiss told them. "Would have been a real life Romeo and Juliet death scene, except in this version the loving couple continue to live on after death without anyone knowing."

   "Glad to hear it." the Champion smiled. "All you have to do is keep him alive, and deliver him to the Kanto League Tournament."

   "Ha!" Weiss knew it was easier said than done. "He gets the badges, and you have my work that he'll get there, or your money back!"

   "Payment awaits you at the tournament."

   As they all parted ways Weiss looked at the young man in the photo and smirked. "You've got a lot of friends in high places Gene Phillips."

Prepare for trouble

Prepare for trouble

   Luna woke a little before dawn. She usually did not sleep so long, but she had decided to continue guarding the dreamers from more nightmares. Normally she would take naps throughout the day, and only go into a dream trance for part of the night, allowing her to know what was going on around her, and to rule the kingdom while Celestia slept. Having finally gotten a full night of sleep in a really long time (her time on the moon does not count) she felt incredibly well rested.

   Luna got up, and stretched her neck, back, and wings setting off a series of cracks, pops, and snaps accompanied by a moan of contented pleasure. All of which was followed by a powerful wall shaking yawn. Using her magic Luna summoned a pot of coffee. Without bothering with a cup she sipped from the pot...and grimaced at the bitter flavor of the plain black coffee. Luna eyed her drink before again using her magic to add milk, sugar, and hazelnut. When she sipped again the results were much more enjoyable.

"Lady Mew?" Luna looked around a bit before remembering that her new friend was a psychic. "Ah, telepathy." Continuing with her drink Luna carried on the mental conversation. Good morning Mew, any progress with the typing of the other races?

Oh, and what would that be?

twenty minutes later

   ... And overall the only pokemon from any type both old, and new to this world capable of using Magic special moves are those that have the ability to focus whatever mystical energy they have into the spell.>

   Mew finished her lecture, and turned back from the work that she had been pointing out the details to with a stick to find something unexpected. Princess Luna, still awake, and paying attention. Mew received a nod.

   Luna levitated her newly refilled steaming pot and simply stated "Coffee."

   Mew blinked. she then reached out with both paws and asked

   Luna almost gave in to the cuteness, but she resisted. "Have you had coffee before?" she asked while keeping a hoof extended between them.

   <...yyyes. Yes I have.>

   "You liar." Luna deadpanned.

   Mew's eyes doubled in size.

   "Well..." Luna slapped herself, and shook her head. "No! No coffee for you. Especially not this brew."

   "Wait," Luna raised a brow at Mew. "Was that a move?"

   Mew said a little too quickly. Then she remembered why she had wanted to talk to Luna. she facepawed.

   Luna giggled at her friend's antics. "So what was it this time?"

   "I suppose that monster has troubled you all before?" Luna was not surprised that someone had felt what had happened in the dream realm. There were a lot of powerful ppsychics in the Legendaries.

   Mew's blunt statement, and the serious tone with which she spoke kept Luna from interinterrupting.

   Luna was quiet for a moment before she exhaled, and hung her head. "To be honest that is a relief as it means that I shall not have to fend off a dream demon on a nightly basis." She stood up straight again. "I have had to do that before, and it is tiring."

   Mew made a few shooing gestures with her tail.

   "Yes, an apology is owed, and tis no better time than now." Luna set down her coffee pot as she spoke, and walked out of her room.

   Mew watched the Princess go. Finding herself alone she teleported her work back to her lab. Instead of leaving however she eyed the pot of coffee. Using her Psychic Mew levitated a small bubble of coffee to her mouth.

   Princess Luna found her way to Lord Darkrai's private chambers quickly enough. It was fairly easy to find the only other dark dream walker in the temple by way of tracking his aura. He answered the door when she knocked, and nearly slammed it back into her muzzle.

   Darkrai was not sure he had heard her correctly. "I am sorry for what happened last night, I lost my temper and would like to make amends."

   His answer to her apology only made her feel worse.

   "There must be something that I can do." Luna suddenly had an idea. "May we speak in private?"

   Darkrai shrugged, and moved to let her into his room.

   After the door closed a shadowy figure materialized in the darker parts of the hall. This individual was the most infamous prankster of the Legendaries, and woe be to any who becomes her target. Hm, to ship, or not to ship? Hoopa tapped her chin in thought. Definitely ship.

   A few miles outside of the Kanto region border a young man and his pokemon partner were running away from some very angry women. The young man held his old wizard's hat on his head with one hand as his Guardevoir led him forward by the other.

Tell me Gene, exactly how is it that we get into these situations? They were communicating through her telepathy so that Gene would not have to waist his breath talking while running.

I'm never really sure how this happens, but hey it could be worse.

   She looked at him and nearly stumbled. She considered using her telepathy to give him a mental slap in the face, but decided that it was not worth it at the moment. How could it possibly be worse? We're being chased by three, count them, three Officer Jennys who are no longer using Growlithes because they upgraded to Magnemite, which I happen to have a disadvantage to, and there is still at least five miles to the border.

   Gene just grinned, and pushed the white hat further back from his blue eyes, revealing some of his blonde hair. Well, I could have *not** spent the last thirty minutes of running for my life while holding your so soft and lovely hand. No matter how many Steel types they have they still have to actually catch us first, and you're too good at what you do to let that happen.* He saw her smile and blush out of the corner of his eye, and continued. Also it's only five more miles, and last I checked my beautiful fairy princess could teleport that distance easily.

   Grinning widely she squeezed his hand, and got ready to Teleport the both of them five miles up the road.

Don't call me that.

   Unfortunately for them they heard three simultaneous shouts of "Magnemite use Thunderbolt now!"

   A quick glance back showed that Guardevoir that the triple attack was pinpointed on Gene. Knowing that she couldn't teleport in time she shoved him out of the way, and took the hit for him. Gene stumbled to the side of the dirt road, and took a hard fall on his right arm. His eyes widened in fear as his beloved was engulfed by a field of electricity. "Belle!"

   "Oh, no!" a Jenny gasped. "Magnemite, stop attacking!"

   The Electric attack was stopped. standing on the road were three very confused Magnemite, three very shocked Jennys, and one very happy Gene. There was also one very pissed off Guardevoir with a slightly sadistic smile on her face. I used Light Screen. she informed them. So thanks for the power boost.

   Gene walked up to her grinning from ear to ear. "Belle," she looked to him. "Use Psychic." Her eyes started to glow.

   "Do you want to hear a joke?" Twilight Sparkle sheepishly asked the Legendary colt pokemon standing on the other side of the bookshelf. She had managed to find her way to the Legendaries' library, and started to drool at the number of ancient tomes that had not been seen by mortal eyes in thousands of years. Then she had bumped into a young stallion by the name of Keldeo.

   In his haste to get away from Rarity he had not noticed when she had given up the hunt. So Keldeo had spent the entire night running, ducking, dodging, and sneaking his way to safety. So of course it was his luck that he ran into another mare, literally. He had turned a corner around one of the many shelves in the library, and effectively tackled her to the ground.

   They laid there on the floor with their muzzles touching, their lips pressed together. Both of them had been too embarrassed to move, or even think. It had been his, her, and their first kiss.

A few awkward minutes of alternating silence and conversation later they were simply walking through the library, each of them trying to find something to talk about.

A joke Twilight? she asked herself. You don't know any jokes. Well you know one, but nopony ever laughs at it except for Pinkie Pie, but only because she knows it's a joke, while everyone else just looks at you while they try to figure out the big words in it, and they miss the punch line!

   "Sure." his answer froze Twilight in her steps. Eep! I can't remember how to tell it!

   "Twilight?" Keldeo thought she might have left, and his voice carried a touch of worry in it. "Are you still there?"

   "Oh, yes I'm here, I just need to remember how the joke goes." Twilight facehoofed in embarrassment because she of all ponies could not remember something.

   "That's alright, take your time." Keldeo exhaled in relief.

   Twilight tapped her right hoof against her head as she tried to remember. This is so embarrassing, how could I forget something as simple as this. Think! Finally she remembered.

   "Okay so here it goes. There is this great detective Sherlock Hooves and his friend Doctor Trotson." Twilight explained. "Sherlock Hooves, and Doctor Trotson decided to go camping. After dinner, and a bottle of wine they laid down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later Hooves woke and nudged his friend.  "Trotson, look up at the sky, and tell me what you see." Trotson replied "I see millions of stars."    "What does that tell you?" Trotson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies, and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that the planet Stalliurn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that Faust is all powerful, and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you Hooves?" Hooves was silent for a minute, then he spoke. "Trotson, you idiot. Somepony has stolen our tent!""

   The slight moment of silence lasted for about half a second, but it still caused some anxiety for Twilight. Then Keldeo laughed out loud. "Some great detective." Keldeo laughed for a full minute. "Stolen our tent, haha!"

   They both came face to face as they came around the end of the bookcase. They both glanced away. "Uh, would you like to do something later?" Keldeo nervously asked her. "Like at lunch time maybe?"

   "Yes!" Twilight shrieked unexpectedly. "I, .. I mean um, yes that would be nice."

   "Great." Keldeo smiled, then he yawned. "Ex-excuse me, but I stayed up all night so I'm going to go take a nap now." he yawned again, and bid her farewell.

   After he left Twilight say down on her haunches, and exhaled a soft sigh. Her blushed face was held in a dreamy expression. Then she started to think, and her expression changed to one of alarm. "Did I just get asked out on a date!?"

   Twilight Sparkle, alicorn, princess, Element of Harmony, ran the data through her computer like brain, and came to a single possible answer. She had been asked out on a date, and she had said yes. Twilight could think of only one way for a mature mare like herself to react. She freaked out, and started teleporting around the Hall of Legends at random shouting for her sister-in-law Cadence, her friends, and her mentor Celestia.

   Three little trouble makers were on the move, and looking for adventure. They are Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and together they are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Currently they were sneaking out of the Hall of Legends because as big and awesome as it was, it was, to their young minds, very boring.

   "Ya figure that between our sisters, their friends, the princesses, and a castle full of gods they would know better than to let us get bored." stated Applebloom.

   "Yeah yeah," Scootaloo paid no attention to her friend. "Hey, Sweetie Belle, teleport us to outside the castle."

   "What? After what happened yesterday?" Sweetie Belle gasped.

   Scootaloo blew a half hearted raspberry in response. "So your sister tried to kill somepony. That wasn't our fault anyway, he should have explained himself better instead of making goo goo eyes at her." She spun a hoof around her ear, and crossed her eyes to emphasize her point.

   "Well he ain't gonna be makin goo goo eyes at her any time soon." Applebloom predicted. "Not with the memory of her flying after him with murder in her eyes."

   "Exactly," Scootaloo exclaimed. "Totally not our fault."

   Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom both shared a look of confusion as they tried to figure out how Keldeo not explaining himself properly made yesterday not their fault. "Too much influence from Pinkie Pie?" Sweetie Belle guessed. "Eyup." confirmed Applebloom.

   "Come on Sweetie Belle, teleport us outside so we can try to get our, um," Scootaloo rubbed her chin. "New world adventurers cutie marks? Yeah that's it!"

   "So what would a cutie mark for that look like?" Applebloom wondered.

   "Lets stop wondering and start finding out." Scootaloo nudged Sweetie Belle. "Teleport us already. Who's gonna know?"

   Unseen by the crusaders Twilight teleported behind them. In the Royal Voice she yelled "Celestia!" and teleported away.

   "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!' all three of them screamed, and they held each other close. Slowly they turned to look for the source of the voice, but saw nothing. "D-D-Do you think it was a g-ghost?" Sweetie Belle stuttered. "I'm not afraid of any ghost." said Scootaloo nervously. "There ain't no such thing as ghosts." Applebloom told them.

   A shrill high pitched scream suddenly reached their ears. It was the most fear filled shriek they had ever heard, and they collectively came to a single conclusion about the origin of the scream. "Ghost!" Sweetie Belle instinctively teleported the three of them.

a few moments earlier

   Mewtwo was having a rather nice day so far. Groudon, and Kyoger had reset their battle score, which meant that they were taking a break. This was a good thing as they had taken to asking him to referee. His mother was busy with the new pokemon, so he did not have to worry about her conspiring with Cresselia to hook him up with somemon. So all in all a very nice day so far.

   As he passed Keldeo on his way, Mewtwo happened to catch a stray thought from the colt. Mewtwo frowned as Keldeo thought about gathering local foods for a picnic with the young princess. He knew that Keldeo had always been a wild pokemon, and could fend for himself, but... Carefully, and without being noticed Mewtwo telepathically gave him the idea of asking Shaymin, Cresselia, and Verizion to pack the lunch for him.

   Mewtwo watched the colt for a moment. After Keldeo had gone the Psychic chuckled to himself. My good deed for the week. When he continued on his way Mewtwo paid little attention, and bumped into someone. Ah, my apologies.

   The light gray unicorn stallion had  blonde hair, a more athletic build than most, and a mark that resembles a star or a compass. He immediately stuck his nose up in the air, and walked on saying "Hmph! Next time watch where you are going you mangey flearidden feline abomination."

   Mewtwo's eye twitched. A moment later a shrill high pitched girlish scream filled the Hall of Legends.

elsewhere

   Sn oddly costumed man was lounging in his apartment, and watching tv. He lazily raised the remote, and changed the channel. Click, the tv blared the cartoon's theme song. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Swuritles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles, heroes in a half shell Squirtle power. Click another cartoon. "Spinarak-Man, Spinarak-Man, does whatever a Spinarak can. Click, "I want to be the very best. Click. "Sponge Bo-bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang!

   The cheap tv sparked and died from its gunshot wounds. "I hate that show!" said the man as he tossed the still loaded gun over his shoulder. The handgun landed just right to make it shoot off its final round which destroyed his fish tank. Goldeen did not appreciate her new spot on the floor. "If I ever get my hands on the guy who made that show I'll carve him up like a turkey dinner!" he stood up and viciously attacked his couch. "Then I'll shoot him full of holes!" he reached for his gun. "Huh? Oh, yeah." He pulled out a new gun, and put it in the holster. He then drew the gun, and unloaded the clip into his furniture.

   Before he could grab the dynamite his phone rang. It was an email. -Gene Phillips. Dead. Soon as possible.- the price tag on this job made him jaw drop.

elsewhere

   There was something different about the sun this morning. It was not anything that could be seen, but it was still there. If the young woman watching the sunrise had to guess, she would honestly say that it was magic. She didn't know it yet but that was it exactly.

   Shaking her head to clear the thoughts away, she started to break camp. It was nothing more than a simple tent and sleeping bag, but it was high quality, and made to last. After that she made breakfast for her, and her pokemon. Granola bars and juice for her, pokeblock and distilled mineral water for her team. Nothing but the best for her and her's.

   "Come on out." she held up four pokeballs. From within the spheres came her partners. Rapidash, Zebstrika, Dewgong, and Pidgeot. "Breakfast time." As the pokemon said their good mornings, and ate their meals (each bowl of pokeblock specifically blended for the individual) the girl looked over a map. Planning a journey was easy, making it fun and exciting was harder. The rewards of a hard journey however, were worth it. She smiled as she remembered how she had met each member of her team.

   A wild Ponyta separated from its family, with a pack of hungry Growlithes on its tail. She had come from out of nowhere, admittedly by accident, and knocked the fire horse out of the way just before all of the pokemon went over a hidden ledge with water at the bottom. The pained yelps of the canines had been too much, and she and the Ponyta had worked together to save them. Now there was a wild pack of Growlithes out there that saw them both as family.

   A pesky thieving Pidgey that kept stealing her food. She, and Ponyta had chased that bird across an entire town multiple times. They only caught up to it when a pokemon hunter caught it with a net gun. The net was electrified. The hunter said that a local gang was going to enjoy having the Pidgey that stole from them for dinner. A Fire Spin, and a brick to the jaw had solved that problem. After that the Flying pokemon had refused to leave her side.

   Ponyta had finally evolved into Rapidash, and the young woman who was his trainer was beginning to have feelings for him. They were traveling through Unova when they came across a Blitzle that made fast friends with Rapidash. It followed them for days, and whenever the older Fire type was not looking, would stare at him with big adoring eyes and a slight blush. An encounter with Team Plasma left them stranded in a severe thunderstorm with no shelter, and the Blitzle had stayed with them the whole night keeping them safe by taking each bolt of lightning that threatened them. The next day the Electric type was revealed to have evolved into a Zebstrika. The two horse pokemon began racing, dueling, and training together. They were inseparable, and as she found out mating, sort of. She was still a little heart broken, but seeing as they were both males...she decided to be happy for them.

   As for Dewgong. Imagine riding on the sea lion's back as it glides through the freezing arctic water, dodging around, diving under, and flying over ice floats at top speed as a tidal wave threatened to crash down, and swallow you whole. That was her favorite.

   "Hehe." she smirked, and sipped her juice. "Kanto Grand Festival, get ready for the Fire Thunder Boom."

   Arceus and Princess Celestia had once again been going over the details of how they would reveal the Ponies to the world, and they were once again interrupted. This time it was Twilight having another one of her near breakdowns. Though the reason for this one brought such happiness to Celestia that her mane shown with a brilliant heavenly light. Her student was going on her first date!

  Celestia was able to calm Twilight down enough to get her to go find Cadence. She felt as if nothing could take this moment away. Then Arceus did it.

   Celestia sighed. "No, I will tell her eventually, just...not yet."

   "Yes, but she has yet to get used to being royalty, and I wish for her to get used to this new world now before I bring that to her attention." She really did not want to talk about this.

   "Lord Arceus." Celestia spoke stiffly. "We are not talking about this, and you will say nothing to her." she turned away from him.

   his eyes twinkled mischievously.

   Celestia turned back around on him with tears in her eyes. "Do you really think I want to be the one to tell her that she must now live on while her loved ones age and die?" She was not yelling as that would require being angry. No she was sad because of the memories that the conversation had brought up. "I remember every single one of my family and my friends from my thousands of years, and I always will. They were not immortal like your family Arceus. I have lost the most precious thing one could have more than once."

   Arceus realized what she meant, and he felt as guilty as if he had taken them from her himself.

   "I don't want to be the one to tell her, but I am the one who shall do it, no one else." She turned away and wiped her eyes with her wing tips. The tears were gone for now, but the memories would stay with her until she let herself remember them. There were many fond memories yes, but at the moment all she could think about were those that she had lost. She felt somepony embrace her in a neck hug. Without thinking about it she returned the gesture by wrapping her wings around him, and she let the tears flow.

   Mesprit floated in through the door. Her question was answered by the sight of her father pulled into a very tight and intimate hug with a female who's face was pressed into his neck. Mesprit turned around, and floated back out the door.

   Celestia let it out. The grief that she felt for all of her friends throughout the centuries. The grief she felt for every member of her family that had passed. Her heart ached for those close few that she had loved. Then there were those that she had watched over their whole lives, very few of them there were, but she had seen them grow, age, and die.

   Her responsibilities as a princess were a constant burden, and so she rarely allowed herself anymore personal time than a few minutes each day. Then there were the near constant crises that always sprang up which demanded her attention. Not to mention Discord being permanently free now. Bottom line, this was the first time she had been able to think about all those she had lost in a long time.

   So she cried for them all now, and after a few minutes she was done. With tears still in her eyes she slowed her breathing to calm herself. "Thank you Arceus I,"Princess Celestia suddenly realized that she had her muzzle pressed into a stallion's neck, and that she had him trapped in an intimately close embrace, and they had been like that for several minutes. "Forgive me." she withdrew from him in embarrassment. "I did not mean to do that."

   Arceus sighed.

   "I meant about the hugging." Celestia's face was literally glowing red.

   the god finished with a deadpan.

   "...ponyfeathers." Celestia wiped her face to clean the tears off. "So what now? Continue with the meeting?"

   he thought for a moment.

   "You know what?" Celestia laughed, and shook her head. "I think we can stop using our formal titles with each other considering that I just spent five minutes crying into your shoulder."

   Arceus laughed as well.

   "Why'd you teleport us out here Sweetie Belle?"

   "Scootaloo, you're the one that wanted her to teleport us."

   Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "I only meant for her to teleport us outside the castle, not to drop us in the middle of nowhere."

   "Girls." Sweetie Belle tried.

   "Well ya didn't say that." Applebloom argued.

   "I did so!" Scootaloo argued back.

   "Ya did not!"

   "Did to!"

   "Girls! " Sweetie Belle shrieked at them. "You've already tried getting your cutie marks in arguing! Right now we're lost, and I don't know about the two of you but I'm a little scared! So can we please just find someone to help us?"

   Scootaloo and Applebloom ducked their heads, and flattened their ears. They weren't shamed or embarrassed as this kind of thing happened quite often with them. They were in mild pain as she had a very strong voice.

   "Okay Sweetie Belle, we're sorry." Applebloom bumped Scootaloo. "Right?"

   "Huh? Oh, yeah sorry." Scootaloo rubbed her ear.

   Thanks, and sorry for yelling."

   "That's okay." Applebloom told her as she hugged the other filly. "Now come on, the only way we'll find someone is if we start walking."

   Together the girls set out looking' for somepony to help them. They walked for about an hour, following a dirt road. A few pokemon were seen in the distance, but nothing ever came close to them.

   "Ugh, how much further?" Scootaloo was tired, and bored.

   "Now how the hay are we supposed to know that?" Applebloom asked. "We don't know where we are."

   Scootaloo opened her mouth to argue, but closed it. "I'm too tired to argue."

   "If we just follow this road a little longer I'm sure we will find someone." Sweetie Belle said cheerfully.

   "Ya mean like them things?" Applebloom pointed at two creatures that she had never seen before. The two bipedal creatures were seated on the grass beside the road, eating lunch.

   "Applebloom!" Sweetie Belle scolded her. "That is not polite. They are not things, they are clearly intelligent because they are wearing clothes, and eating and drinking from dishes like civilized ponies." She approached the two bipeds with a bright smile. "Hello, my name is Sweetie Belle, would you be able to help us find our way back to where we belong?"

   The woman looked to the man, and asked "Butch, have you ever seen pokemon like these before?"

   "Never seen or heard of anything like them before Cassidy." he finished his sandwich. "How much do you think they're worth?"

   "Not much now, but after they get trained up who knows." she set her drink down and reached into a bag. What she pulled out was a weapon similar to a net gun. Cassidy quickly aimed and fired at the three fillies. An energy sphere shot out, and caught all three, then solidified into a glass ball.

   The girls all screamed in alarm. Applebloom tried bucking the glass only to have her hoof meet an electric shock. Scootaloo yelled at the humans to let them go.

   "Hm, well they've got some unique looks." Cassidy mused. "We'll phone the boss about them, but if he's not interested we'll just sell them to the highest bidder."

   "Sell us! We are not animals for you to sell in some dumb store! Let us go!" Scootaloo was about to continue when Sweetie Belle pointed out what was happening.

   "We're being foalnapped!"

   Applebloom and Scootaloo both started screaming. Butch, and Cassidy got to work, and loaded the containment sphere onto their vehicle. It was a state of the art top of the line hovercraft, with a little something extra. Once they were all loaded up the Team Rocket duo piloted their craft ip above the tree tops. Then far in the distance the crusaders saw what they needed. The Hall of Legends. Butch and Cassidy paid no attention.

   "Maybe if we yell loud enough someone will hear us." Sweetie Belle suggested. The other two started shouting again, but it was barely louder than before, and the temple was a long way away. "Seriously girls? That is not how you scream for help." They thought about that, then smiled. Applebloom and Scootaloo ducked down, and covered their ears. Sweetie Belle faced the Hall of Legends, took the deepest breath she could, and screamed.

   Butch and Cassidy squealed in pain as their ears were assaulted by what was quite possibly the loudest, and most powerful sound they had ever heard. The hovercraft rattled, and shook like it was going to die. The glass sphere that had withstood a kick from Applebloom cracked. This went on for longer than was seemingly possible, until she ran out of breath.

   "Ow, I think I strained something." Sweetie Belle's voice was rough, and sore.

   "Look!" Scootaloo pointed at the temple.

   From the Hall of Legends came a rainbow colored streak of light. It arched up high into the sky. When it reached the highest point in its trajectory the rainbow changed direction, and dived straight at the hovercraft at just short of the speed of sound.

Chapter 9

   Arceus was by himself, having left Celestia to herself as well. He just knew that by now half the Legendaries had heard about what Mesprit had seen, and he was dreading the fallout, especially after Mew found out. Currently he was in his chambers going over the details of his newest idea. He could do it himself of course, but he had a habit of overlooking small details, and the other Legendaries would do a more thorough. The fact that this plan would give the Equusians a new home made it even more important to not skip the details.

   As he paused in contemplation Arceus noticed a psychic pressure that had been building. It was Mew's power, so Arceus just assumed that his daughter was getting ready to make the changes to the DNA of the Equusian races. Turning back to his own work he picked out several spots that would be a good place to deposit them.

   The psychic energy suddenly burst forth, but there was something off about it. Leaving his work where it was Arceus teleported to his daughter's lab.

   <...oh.> Arceus saw Mew's lab in a state of disaster. It looked like a Hurricane had been used. Papers were scattered all over the place, her stuffed animals had all had their parts mixed and matched, and there were several empty coffee pots setting at random around the room. <... Mew. Daughter where are you?>

   He sensed her presence a little further on, and approached. She was hovering upside down, tilted slightly to her left, facing away from him with her tail down in front of her face like she was holding something with it. She was humming a song.

   Arceus spoke slowly.

   she shouted excitedly and spun around. Her left eye was twitching, the right staying wide open, her ears were cocked at different angles, and she was smiling just like a certain peppy pink party pony mare. She then drank the entire pot of coffee.

   Mew giggled. her entire body twitched.

   Arceus sweat dropped, and teleported any nearby coffee as well as anything with caffeine far far away. He could just remove any trace of the drug himself, but she would then snap back from hyper to not hyper, which could effect her Psychic abilities.

   She vibrated for a moment.

   <...how about I tell you a story instead? Would you like that?>

   Still upside down Mew latched herself onto his head, and looked him in the eyes, somehow looking into both his eyes at the same time.

   He thought for a moment.

   Arceus sweat dropped again. He didn't know where she had learned that. She had even did the proper motions, though she had thankfully not produced an actual cupcake from nowhere.

   I had just watched the human boy get put out of commission by Team Eternity. I was angry, so very angry that my power actually managed to bend the walls of my prison for only a moment. I tried again and again multiple times as the days passed, using my anger as fuel for my strength, but it was no good.

   I felt a little better after my tantrum, and decided to get my mind off the current situation and onto other things for a while. So I cast my gaze elsewhere across the multiverse. A number of dimensional viewing screens appear before me, each displaying something different.

   <Hmm, let's see here. Oh, dragons! Well that looks interes- Wait did that human with the ax just kill a dragon and eat it's soul? No thanks! Next. ... Walking dead humans eating living humans? How did that even...I mean who in their right mind...never mind. I'll have to have Giratina do something about that.

Are we a cartoon there? Yes, that is a cartoon of us. Nice theme song I suppose, could use different lyrics. Oh well, moving on. The multiverse is a confusing thing, even to a god, some things just happen. No, no, no, hm interesting but no. Hm? What's this? Is that a human writing a story about me watching a human write a story about me watching a human, OH! NO! No, not going into a reality loop.>

   Eventually I found my way to the ponies world. I watched as Princess Twilight battled Tirek. She did her people great honor in combat, but he cheated.

   In need of more information about this place, and it's ponies I have the screens show me the history of their world. One screen showed me the general history while another displayed the ponies interactions with other races.

The last two screens show the princesses, the elements of harmony, and the six ponies that now stay in the temple with us. In the span of only a few moments I have seen all that they have done.

  I then noticed that the pink one was staring at me from her side of the screen. She reached into her mane, pulled out a cupcake, and held it out to me. Just as I'm getting tempted to reach through the screen for it ,which I knew wouldn't work anyway, she suddenly rushed off after her friends. Spinning in the air for a moment before falling, the pastry landed upside down in the dirt.

   I watched helplessly as their last hope for saving their world was destroyed. I watched Tirek try to actually kill one of them. I cheered as Discord ambushed Tirek and took his power. Then I was saddened by the revelation that their world was now doomed without the crystal tree.

   After they re-banished the centaur they got together and attempted to come up with an idea that could save them.

Equestria third person pov

   "Maybe Discord can do something!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

   Everyone looked to him, except for Pinkie Pie who just stared off into space. They all leaned towards him as if anticipating him to say "Got you!" and fix everything.

   Discord just shook his head, and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry everypony, but even with all the magic in Equestria I'm not powerful enough to stop it. Not even all the magic on Equus would be enough."

   Pinkie chose that moment to giggle. Everypony looked at her like she was, well in her case like she was normal, but given the current circumstances they were actually worried for once. Rarity leaned in to whisper in Twilight's ear "She's finally lost it hasn't she."

   Before she could answer Twilight was cut off by Rainbow Dash. "Uh, Pinkie, were you talking to someone?" Rainbow Dash had come to the life changing decision to just go with it when Pinkie was involved months ago, and she now had a suspicion that something big was about to go down.

   "Yeppers, I was talking to the watcher in the window. He's sort of like a pony but not really a pony cause he doesn't have a mouth but I didn't notice that earlier cause Tirek had my magic but now I have my magic back. See." she pointed a hoof at her flank where her cutie mark had indeed reappeared.

   Everypony else paused and looked at their own flanks to find them still blank.

   "Now hold on an apple pickin minute. How the hay does Pinkie Pie have her cutie mark back, but the rest of us don't?" Applejack demanded.

   Everyone looked at Twilight, then Celestia, then finally Discord. "Oh you want me to explain it?" he pointed at himself in slight confusion. They all nodded. "Uh, okay." He snapped up a giant microscope, and placed it perfectly over Pinkie to better ponder the peculiar problem that had presented itself to the perplexed ponies. He then looked through the other end of the device to see what he could see.

   "Well it seems that miss Pie here is naturally attuned to chaos more so than regular ponies, but she somehow balances it out with harmony." Discord told them all.

   Twilight blinked. "Wait...seriously?"

   Discord rolled his eyes. "Well how am I supposed to know? I'm not a scientist." He managed to sound insulted by the idea of such an accusation. "But what I can tell you is that she really is seeing someone through the wall."

   They all looked confused. "What wall?" Twilight asked.

   "Oh, you know, the wall." he was teasing her now.

   "Cut the manure Discord!" Rainbow got in his face. "Tell us what you're talking about!"

   "I'll give you a clue, or two."  Discord shrunk the microscope to normal size and threw it over his shoulder making it vanish.

   In a lab on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier Dr Banner found the microscope he was looking for when it smashed into the wall next to him. Turning, he found only Tony and Thor. "Okay." he held up the broken microscope. "Who did it?" They both pointed at each other and said "Him."

   "You see I currently possess all the magic in Equestria, which means that all the magic in Equestria is chaos magic." Discord explained, and they all seemed to understand. "That much chaos can't be kept in one place however, not even by me, so it's been cycling in and out of me this whole time. That means that even though it's not doing anything you are currently surrounded by chaos."

   This made the others nervous, but the princesses, and especially Twilight started to get what he was saying.

   Discord continued. "Now, Pinkie, for whatever reason, is highly sensitive to chaos, and has displayed a potential for manipulating it even if she doesn't properly know how."

   "So..." Twilight wasn't sure where Discord was going with this, but if he was acting like his normal self then he must have found a way for them to save everyone. "What you're saying is that Pinkie can somehow save the day."

  Discord snapped his claws, and bell sounded. "We have a winner! You see while I can't see what she can, probably due to some other magic, Pinkie has naturally developed a way of letting her ignore certain laws of reality. That means that if she were magically powerful enough she could go to this creature and use him as an anchor to pull the rest of us into his world."

    They were all silent for a moment, before one of them had a rather strong reaction. "Are you insane? We are not giving all of the magic in Equestria to Pinkie Pie! We are not going to break the universe! How could you even think that that was a good idea? Do you want everything to suddenly be made of candy and chocolate? Because that is exactly what she would do right before she ate it all!

   When Twilight stopped yelling at him his face was turned around backwards on his head. He quickly corrected his anatomy. "Well I can't do it because my chaos is just close enough to the particular brand of power that the thing on the other side of the wall uses that I'm being blocked, and we don't have enough time to find something else to save us, but she can ignore the power that is blocking me."

   It several minutes for all of them to be convinced that it was their only answer. So Discord reversed the spell that let him eat the magic, and fed it to Pinkie. Nothing happened for a few moments. Then she spontaneously sprouted two wings and a horn. Twilight's reaction was to start begging Celestia and Luna not to make Pinkie Pie a princess. The party pony then grew to Celestia's size, and her mane and tail started flowing lilke an enormous mass of streamers. Her form then began to glow.

   "Hey look I'm all shiny and sparkly!" the glow intensified until POP! The others all gasped as Pinkie burst into a shower of sparkling light.

   "...did we just kill her?" Rainbow Dash asked with her ears drooped and her tail tucked down.

  "Nah, I'm good."

   Everyone blinked, and looked to the left. There was Pinkie Pie, and she was perfectly fine, and not an all powerful alicorn, and she was eating a box of doughnuts.

   "So...did you fix everything?" Twilight asked, though she was unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

   "Well not me but Arceus was really nice and-

   Mew interrupted her father. she pointed at him accusingly.

   Arceus hoped not to let anyone find out about this.

   Mew crossed her arms and huffed, her tail twitching at random to show that she was still hyper.

   he shook his head in irritation.

   I looked all over in her world but she was simply not there.

   "No I'm right here."

   I calmly looked to my right and saw that she was indeed standing next to me. I then returned to searching for ger in her world...and then I realized what had just happened. I jumped away from her in a very ungodly manner, and tripped on my own hooves.

   She just laughed. "You screamed like a filly!"

   Thankfully I did not take too long to recover.

   "Umm." she looked a little worried. "One second." she walked over to a damb gaping hole in my prison wall, and closed it.

   "So we could talk silly." She actually said that with a straight face.

   I really couldn't think of a proper way to respond.

   "Yep." She smiled again. "See, with the tree of harmony dead thousands of I don't know how many thousands of years of bad magic is now destroying our planet. I've already checked, and that is what is going to happen." She then became sad, and for some reason I felt myself getting sad too. "So your going to turn us into' pokemon!"

   I blinked. Her new cheerfulness was so random that it took me a minute to catch up to what she had said.

   "Because silly." She tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around to see her behind me. I whipped my head around so fast that I caused a miniature sonic boom. I looked back behind me again, and she was still there. <How the hell did-

   I used my power to remove the pie from my face. Where she got it from I don't know.

   "As Rarity would say "A lady's ears are not to be soiled by such vulgar language.""

   "Looky looky here." She zipped (that is the only word that fits) over to a screen, and pointed at the scene it displayed. "These pokemon are being treated like pets. You don't like it, they don't like it, and you can bet your pretty pink plates that Celestia won't like it."

   "Ummhmm." She bounced in place for a moment, which was an odd sight since she was still almost my hight. This made me suspicious so I checked my plates. They were pink! Completely pink! I stopped her from telling me by saying I don't want to know.

   At this point I was determined to keep my eyes on her no matter what.

   "Well," she rubbed her chin before answering. "The humans will just call us pokemon anyway, and we'll need a way to protect ourselves, and those pokeballs are made to be able to catch anything that isn't human which means that a human seeing a pony for the first time would pretty much just have their pokemon attack the pony that couldn't defend itself and then they would start training them to fight so it only makes sense for us to be pokemon anyway, and why are you staring at me like that, are you flirting with me?"

   I backed away from her.

   "Oh good." she exhaled in relief. "Cause I already like somepony."

   I guessed. She gasped. "How did you know?"

   After that we spent five minutes taking about random things. Just do the same yourself and you'll understand what I mean. We negotiated about what to do, and it was decided that she would give me all of the magic that she had so that I could create a new plate to augment my power, and I would save every living thing on Equus. I then asked her to promise not to tell anyone about what had happened when we met. She said that she would have to tell Celestia, but that she would just get Celestia to also promise not to tell anyone. I then had to promise her that the Equusians would all be given a safe new home, and that I would give the humans a chance to ,as she put it, be nice, before I unleashed my cosmic might upon them.

   Arceus finished his story.

   Mew just stared at him with a deadpan expression.

   he just looked at her blankly.

   Mew rubbed her eyes. she yawned, not the move, but a regular yawn.

   Arceus nuzzled his daughter, and left her alone. As he walked through the halls of the temple he became aware of something on his back. He looked over his shoulder and flinched.

   Pinkie Pie smiled at him from her perch on his ring. "She didn't believe you did she."

Make it double part 1

Diving down from the sky at nearly mach one Rainbow Dash looked like little more than a simple rainbow. The force of her strike when she turned around and bucked both hind hooves into the nose of the hovercraft said differently.

   Butch and Cassidy had no idea what hit them. There was a loud impact followed immediately by their hovercraft tilting forward, and driving nose first into the ground.

   The holding sphere that the crusaders were trapped in was catapulted off of the back of the craft. The three fillies screamed as they sailed through the air. Rainbow Dash sped after them and caught the sphere, and streaked back to the ground where she skidded to a halt.

   "Are you three okay?" Rainbow Dash asked them as she started poking the sphere with a hoof.

   "We are now, but those people were trying to foalnap us." Scootaloo told her. Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and growled.

   In the hovercraft Butch and Cassidy recovered from the short trip, and raised the vehicle up off the ground. Cassidy saw the bigger pokemon trying to break the other three out of the sphere. "Not happening." she said, and then pressed some buttons which activated the weapon systems.

   A panel opened up on the side of the hovercraft, and a small rocket launcher moved into place. Butch adjusted the trajectory, and aimed the rocket, and Cassidy fired the weapon.

   Rainbow Dash heard the rocket take off before the girls had fully registered the threat and started yelling. She looked back in time to see the rocket already less than ten yards away. Without speaking or thinking she pushed the sphere sending the crusaders rolling one way, and then jumped as hard and fast as she could.

   The rocket was actually just a low grade concussive bomb that would just knock you down and leave you stunned. It detonated so close to them however that they were all sent flying, and crashing along the ground.

   Rainbow Dash slowly climbed to her hooves, and tried to steady herself as her body felt the aftereffects of the explosion. Her ears were ringing, her vision was blurry, and her head was killing her. As her vision began to clear she looked around for the girls. She found the remains of the glass sphere where it had broken against a tree. The crusaders looked mostly okay except for scrapes and bruises. Applebloom would need a new bow, and Sweetie Belle seriously needed her mane restyled, but they were both fine. Scootaloo gingerly touched her muzzle, and winced as the small cut on her nose bled and throbbed with pain.

   Rainbow Dash's nostrils flared with anger. Her new pokemon DNA responded to her emotions causing electricity to shoot from her mane and tail. She looked to the ones responsible for the attack, and readied for a charge.

   Inside the hovercraft Butch and Cassidy slightly sweat dropped. "The big one is glaring at us." Cassidy said.

   "You don't think it can break in do you?" Butch asked.

   Cassidy laughed. "Please, this thing is impervious. It's like a tank on air. Even the,glass is shatter proof."

   Rainbow Dash burst into motion, her body shrouded itself in electrical energy, and in less than a second she slammed her front hooves into the metal armor of the hovercraft.

   Butch and Cassidy shook uncontrollably as the electricity shot through them. "Buuut weee forrrgooot tooo turrrn ooon the ennnergyyy shiiield!" they both yelled.

   The hovercraft was pushed back several feet by her Volt Tackle, and was left with char marks from the electricity. Rainbow' Dash looped around back from rebounding off of the vehicle's nose, aimed her next attack at the windshield. She timed her Comet Punches with her words as she yelled. "Don't ever touch my sister!" With each word she landed five punches.

   Scootaloo heard this, and it made her so happy to hear Rainbow call her her sister that when she smiled she squeaked.

   Being hit at rocket speed twenty-five times in the time it took to speak five words the shatterproof glass shattered from the vibrations. Glass shards exploded into the the cockpit. The glass went everywhere, it got into the controls, and into their suits and hair. Luckily for Butch and Cassidy the pieces that hit them were too small to do anything more than give them mild scratches.

   Rainbow Dash flew back to the crusaders, and pulled Scootaloo into hug. "Are you okay Scoots?"

   "Yeah, I'm okay." Scootaloo returned the hug, and finally felt like she had a family.

   "Miss Rainbow Dash..." Sweetie Belle started to say something, but trailed off.

   Rainbow looked at her, and saw that both Sweetie and Applebloom were backing slowly away from her. They were staring at something behind her, their eyes gone wide. She looked back herself, and saw why, though she wasn't scared she understood why the girls were.

   Cassidy was glaring at them with eyes filled with fury, and tiny drips of blood starting to flow from the scratches on her face. "You ruined my face!" she screamed. "You're going to regret that! Butch, activate mechanization!"

   "With pleasure." Butch flipped several switches, and then pushed a button labelled MECHA.

   Rainbow Dash decided that being a little afraid might not be so bad. The hovercraft came apart like a puzzle, and reshaped into a robot that stood as tall as the trees.

   Twilight Sparkle teleported onto the scene with Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. They saw the crusaders being 'helpful' by distracting the robot with insults, taunts, and thrown rocks. They saw the giant robot try to grab them only to get bucked by Rainbow Dash.

   "I said get out of here!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the fillies.

   "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled.

   Rainbow Dash looked away from the robot as she heard her friend shout. Butch and Cassidy swung a massive metal fist at the pegasus, and connected with a lucky punch. A blue streak shot through the sky as Rainbow Dash was knocked away. The others gasped in shock.

   "Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo screamed, and ran after her surrogate big sister.

   "Not so fast!" Cassidy called out. She slammed the controls, and the mech gave chase after the small pegasus. It was too fast and caught up to her, and made to grab her. But its hand hit an invisible shield. "What?!" Cassidy looked around and saw the source of the problem. "The purple one! Butch, target it."

   "On it." Butch controlled the weapons, and turned the left arm of the mech to aim its rocket launchers at the group of new pokemon.

   "Gah!" Twilight made a protective shield as fast as she could. Just in time to keep them all safe from the barrage of explosives. The strain was obvious on her face as multiple rockets continuously detonated against the force field.

   Scootaloo ran as fast as she could to try and get to the cover of the trees.

   "Stupid little beast!" Cassidy screamed in frustration and gave chase once more. The mech caught up just as fast as before, but this time nothing stopped its robotic hand from slamming into the ground around Scootaloo.

   Everything stopped. The rockets stopped firing. Twilight dropped her shield. The ponies stared at the mechanical hand.

   "Ha!" Cassidy fist pumped and pushed a button on her console. A sound like a vacuum sucking up dirt came from the arm, and then Scootaloo popped up in another glass sphere on the shoulder of the robot.

   "Uh... I'm okay apparently." she told everyone.

   All the other ponies sighed in relief.

   "Lets get out of here while we're ahead." Butch grumbled. He was about to convert the robot back to hovercraft mode when he noticed Cassidy staring at something in the sky. He looked too, and sweatdropped.

   In the sky was a spark of rainbow colored light that was getting bigger and brighter by the second. The two humans kept watching it. The spark grew even brighter as it got closer. In the center of the rainbow light a shape could be seen. Cassidy had a suspicion that she hoped she was wrong about. Flipping a switch the woman activated a view screen that slid down in front of her and Butch to amplify what they could see.

   Rainbow Dash was at the center of the spark, her mane lit up with electricity that was shaded by a blue energy, her pupils contracted to leave her eyes mostly red from her irises, and a mach cone of pure multicolored energy surrounded her as she dived at the humans.

   Needless to say Butch and Cassidy freaked. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" they both screamed in terror. They both started pushing buttons, filpping switches, anything else that would fire weapons. Rockets, lasers, electrified nets, and multiple types of darts all flew at the very angry pegasus.

   Rainbow Dash saw the projectiles from over a mile away and pulled a maneuver to loop past them. To anyone else it would look like she had vanished and reappeared behind the barrage of weapon's fire. She then accelerated like she had reached a higher gear, and if anyone could see her wings clearly, they would see them moving so fast that miniature shockwaves were being generated by her Extreme Speed.

   Butch and Cassidy hugged each other as they screamed. "AAAAHHHH!"

   Rainbow Dash plowed into the robot's upper body, piercing through its armored shell like it was cardboard and...

BOOOOOOOOMMMM

   Hours later after receiving such a large power boost from the Jenny's, and leaving both them and their pokemon with swirling eyes, Belle had decided to be a little romantic. She took Gene in her Psychic power, and levitated both of them high up over the treetops. And they flew over the forests of Kanto while holding each other's hands.

   They performed several midair flips and rolls and loops. They pulled each other into a close embrace, and kissed.

   Which is why neither of them noticed a small adorable orange projectile before it hit them. It slammed into Gene's back knocking him into Belle causing her to be pushed away from him and lose concentration. Belle released her Psychic, and everyone began to plummet to the ground.

   While Gene was screaming he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A very small pokemon that looked like an orange ponyta with a purple tail and mane. It was unconscious. Knowing that the fall would most likely kill both of them, and that he would not be able to call out Draco in time Gene did the only thing he could think of. Swinging his body into a sideways roll Gene was able to get within range of the little pokemon, grabbed it, and rolled over with his back to the ground with the little one held to his chest.

   Gene closed his eyes, and waited.

   He waited some more. Then he noticed that he was no longer falling. Gene opened his eyes to find an angel smiling down at him.

   "You know you're really sexy when you're being heroic." Belle told him. She then lowered everyone to the ground safely.

   "Umm, ow." the little pokemon groaned as it started to wake up.

   After lowering them to the ground Belle took the little one from Gene. She then knelt down and gently placed her burden on the ground with the head in her lap.

   "Does it need a heal potion?" Gene asked.

   "Probably, but let me see something first." Belle told him.

   Belle placed her hands on either side of the little one's head, and her eyes glew slightly. Starting as far back as the memories would go Belle saw everything. Scootaloo as a baby foal in Cloudsdale with her parents, though she didn't remember them in detail she definitely remembered her mother having an black mane and yellow coat. A malfunction at the weather factory caused a storm that blew Scootaloo from her home, and Scootaloo then desperately trying to fly but hitting a tree back first hurting her wings. Being put in an orphanage.

   Belle teared up a little at the memories. But she continued on.

   Scootaloo seeing Rainbow Dash do stunts for the first time. Meeting her friends and starting their club. Trying, and failing to pretend that she was not scared whenever it was dark or storming.

   Belle smiled at Scootaloo's happy life.

   Then came Tirek. Belle saw how the demon looked to Scootaloo and almost flinched away from her in fear. She saw the sky begin to fade into an enormous storm. She saw the land crack open, and smelled the sulfur of burning magma. Then she saw them. Scootaloo had witnessed the Legendaries saving her people from extinction.

   "Arceus!" Belle gasped aloud.

   "What's wrong!?" Gene asked her.

   Rather than tell him Belle showed him. Gene gulped when he realized that a very small, vulnerable, and possibly injured someone who basically had the god of pokemon as a protector was now in his care. It was a very intimidating thought.

   "What do we do now?" he asked Belle.

   "She'll wake up soon." Belle thought for a moment. "I'm going to share my memories with her so when she's awake she won't completely freak out."

   Belle showed Scootaloo when she had first met Gene, him rescuing her from a Hypno and her becoming his Pokemon, the day of their seven year anniversary when they proclaimed their feelings of love together, the day they met Cynthia, Iris, and Shauntal and the time they spent with them, the wedding the rangers interrupted, and the conclusion that Gene's mom turned them in.

   Scootaloo repeatedly opened and closed her eyes. She lay there with her head in Belle's lap and stared blankly up at her. "... How do I know you again?" she asked.

   "You crashed into us. Are you okay?" Belle said before she started using her psychic senses to check Scootaloo for injuries. Nothing serious, just some muscle fatigue in her wings from trying to fly while she was rocketing through the sky.

   "Yeah I'm okay." she sat up and looked at Gene. "Did you really scream like a little girl when Belle first talked to you with her mind?"

   "Did you really have to show her that?" Gene complained. Belle answered with a giggle.

   "Do either of you know where my friends are?" Scootaloo asked.

   "Sorry, but you were unconscious for your trip just now so I couldn't see which way you actually came from." Belle told her.

   "Oh..." Scootaloo hung her head and sighed.

   "Hey, you can stay with us for now, and we'll help you look for them." Gene offered.

   "Uh, thanks, but I only just met you and-

   The sky had been getting darker as a storm moved slowly in. Somehow the storm suddenly sped up and let loose a crack of thunder directly over them.

   "Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Scootaloo said from underneath Belle's gown.

   Far up above standing on the clouds was a being whose body was comprised of parts from multiple animals. He tapped his one cloven hoof on the storm cloud he stood upon and hummed in thought.

   "The weather here is over sensitive to chaos." he said.

   He wiggled the toes of his lizard foot and a spark of electricity shot through the clouds. A moment later and the dark clouds burst into a full blown rain storm. Discord sighed in mild disappointment.

   "I don't want to offend Arceus by sending his world into a storm of chaos and destruction." Discord said as he pulled off his goat beard in thought. "Except as a joke of course. I'll just take a vacation then." A second beard then grew back in place of the first one, and the other turned into an umbrella which he used to float away.

   Gene was able to find an abandoned house that they were able to take shelter in. He decided to let everyone out of their pokeballs. "Everyone, this is Scootaloo." he told them.

   Scootaloo looked at the new pokemon and recognised them from Belle's memories. Fang the Houndoom was impressive and cool. Draco the Flygon was a Dragon so he was automatically cool. Mage the Mismagius was a ghost so she was scary but still cool. River the Dragonair was less impressive to Scootaloo, and for some reason was twitching as she looked at the pegasus. Scootaloo finally turned to look at Webber and-

   "Ahhh! Giant spider!" Scootaloo screamed and ran away from him, and straight into River's coils.

   "Oh my gosh you're so adorable!" exclaimed River as she couldn't resist any longer and wrapped the little pegasus up in a snakey hug.

   "I am not adorable." Scootaloo grumbled from within the inescapable hug.

Late afternoon on one of many dirt roads that run through the Kanto region between small towns walked Gene, Belle, and Scootaloo. The rain had not been too bad, but it had left lots of puddles which the young pegasus filly was only too happy to splash in.

   It was an incredibly normal, peaceful, and beautiful day. The sun was shining through wispy clouds, the wind was little more than a gentle breeze, and various Flying and Bug pokemon could be seen moving through the trees in the distance.

   "You know," Gene spoke up "if this were a movie, or a book then right about now would be when something dramatic suddenly happens."

    Belle looked ahead and deadpanned. "You just had to say something didn't you." She pointed at the figure that was now standing in the middle of the road.

  It was a female lopunny. She was quite a lovely one too, far more beautiful than most of her kind.  She simply stood there, and waited for them to approach. Gene and Belle not wanting to be rude walked closer, and finally stopped a few feet away.

   "Um, hello. Can we get by please?" Gene politely asked. They could have just walked around, but the lopunny was literally standing in the middle of the road with two large mud puddles on either side of her.

   The lopunny crossed her arms and smirked. "Sorry handsome, but I can't do that."

   Belle scanned the lopunny's mind, and immediately went on guard. The lopunny had her mind shielded by a much stronger Psychic than her. "Stay away from my mate." Belle said.

   The lopunny blinked. Then she clutched her stomach as she started laughing. "No haha no need to haha hehehe w worry princess." she stopped to catch her breath. "Trust me he is definitely not my type."

   Belle relaxed slightly, but stepped closer to Gene. Scootaloo was hiding behind Gene's legs, and trying not to be seen. Gene was just feeling a little insulted because of the definitely.

   "Yeah I wouldn't touch him with a twenty foot pole." she gave them a cocky grin.

   "You sure?" Weiss asked after Xavier told him the news. "Alright then. Shredder, Greninja, you two go on ahead and break up the fight that Roll just started."

   "What has she done this time?" Shredder asked.

   "Xavier didn't say." Weiss said. "Though he did seem slightly amused by something."

   Xavier being amused by something was enough to make them all pause. After a moment the ninja and the sword blade pokemon hurried on ahead.

   After they travelled the last five miles between their team and the target they slowed down to a jog so they would not startle anyone. They exited the trees to stand beside the muddy road to find a very unexpected sight.

   In the middle of the muddy road a lopunny was grappling with a gardevoir. They were both covered in mud and their limbs kept slipping and sliding all over each other as they each tried to get a grip on the other's body. The gardevoir managed to get her legs up between her and the lopunny on top of her, and kicked several times. The Psychic's legs didn't have enough strength to do any actual damage, but she did pump her thighs quite a few times, driving her feet into the lopunny's stomach with each thrust. The lopunny stumbled back and slipped in the mud and fell on her butt. Getting a paw full of mud the lopunny flung it at the other pokemon's eyes. The gardevoir caught it in her Psychic power and sent it right back at her opponent's eyes.

   Roll rolled back in a reverse somersault and then leaped forward to deliver a Rolling Kick, only to remember that she was supposed to protect her target not break her. She pulled back her attack. Belle took advantage of the hesitation to teleport just behind the lopunny as she landed, and reached back over her head to grab the big fluffy ears. Roll's eyes went wide as she was jerked up and flipped over backwards to land face first in the mud.

   Belle still held the ears as she raised one foot to either kick or stomp, but Roll pushed herself onto her hands and kicked her feet forward to send herself sliding underneath Belle between her legs. The lopunny came out the other side of Belle's gown with a grin and a blush.

   Off balance and being pulled forward Belle flipped over into the mud herself. Roll kicked herself up, and flipped backwards to come down on top of Belle.

   Roll pinned Belle's arms to the ground with her hands, and sat on her lap with her steel hard thighs clamped to the gardevoir's sides.

   She leaned in close face to face and said "Pinned ya!" with a very confident smile across her muzzle.

   Belle looked into Roll's eyes for a moment. Then her eyes glew blue and mud erupted around them. When the splashing stopped Roll found herself alone sitting in a puddle and covered in mud.

   Greninja did not know what to do simply because of how absurd the situation was. Here was one of his teammates, a highly trained fighter that had once tiptoed her way through a minefield at nearly her top speed...having a catfight in the mud with another female probably over something that she herself had said.

   Greninja reached over and tapped Shredder on the shoulder, and then pointed at the fighting females as if asking what they should do. When he got no response he looked to his left to find her completely still with her mouth gaped, her eyes bugged out, and a slight nose bleed. He waved a webbed three fingered hand in front of her face. No response.

   The cat fight continued when Belle dropped out of the sky with an elbow drop. Roll collapsed under her but then reached over to pull Belle into a headlock. They then began wrestling with each other in the mud again.

   "..." Greninja finally decided to put a stop to it.

   In a flash of movement the ninja was standing over them as they continued to roll around in a tangled mass of muddy arms and legs. He raised his arms, and smacked them both on their heads.

   "The hell was that for?" they both shouted at him once they were separated.

   Greninja jabbed a finger at Roll, and then pointed at Shredder. Roll stomped over to her mate mumbling under her breath the whole way. He then bowed to Belle and silently asked her with a motion of his hand to follow him back to Gene. When he stopped in front of Gene he bowed once more and handed him a note.

   The note read: Please forgive us. We are not here to fight you. Shredder will explain in a moment. I promise to keep Roll under control.

   Greninja then bowed again and returned to his friends.

   "Well okay then." Gene said. He then turned to Belle. "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

   "I'm fine." she said and crossed her arms as a grumpy look crossed her face.

   "Okay, if you're sure." Gene agreed. He then turned away from her and smiled like an idiot.

   The bisharp walked over to them. Her face was bright red and the spot where her nose would be had a few small drops of blood. She stopped in front of Gene and purposely refused to look at Belle. In a completely serious voice that was contradicted by her blush and nose bleed she spoke. "Greetings, my name is Shredder. I'm a member of the mercenary group called Checkmate. We've been contracted by a concerned group of people who have reason to believe that your life is in danger. We're here to protect you."

   "I don't need any help protecting my mate."

   Shredder looked at Belle, and her blush deepened a little. "The people who supposedly want him dead are one of the Teams. Can you protect him from an army of religiously obsessed humans that want to keep the world exactly how it is, but minus the recent changes in the laws regarding pokephilia."

   They were quiet for a moment. "Why do they want me dead?" Gene asked.

   "Team Eternity wants to prevent the world from changing, and even reverse some of the progress that civilisation has made if our sources are correct." Shredder explained. "With how much your face has been on the news before and after the laws changed it's likely that you have become a symbol to represent this change in the world. So most likely they want to make an example of you."

   "I'm still enough to deal with your playbunny!" Belle countered. "So how are you supposed to protect him if I can beat one of you?"

   Shredder's face turned even redder than it has been before and her brain seemed to be nonfunctional at the moment. Roll on the other hand reacted immediately. "What did you call me you girly waifu!?" she yelled from several yards away.

   "You stay out of this you big mean ...uh rabbit thing!"

   Shredder and Roll looked at where the voice had come from and saw the little filly for the first time. She was standing in front of Gene and Belle now, and scrunched up her face in what was an adorable attempt at a glare. A dust cloud was kicked up as Roll moved with such speed that her image blurred. When the cloud was cleared away by Belle's Psychic the lopunny was found to be holding the young pegasus up in both paws and smiling wide enough to remind the filly of Pinkie Pie.

   "Eeeeee! You are adorable!" Roll squealed with delight and hugged her. "What's your name? What are you? Do you get any bigger than this? Please tell me you can use Baby Doll Eyes."

   After struggling for a moment to take a breath while having her body compressed by arms that seemed too strong for their size, Scootaloo answered the questions. "My name is Scootaloo, I'm a pegasus, I hope so, I do not under any circumstances play with dolls, and I am not adorable!"

   Shredder facepalmed, which resulted in a loud clang as her metal hand met her face. Gene and Belle both sweatdropped.

   "Just checking but that is the same lopunny from a minute ago right?" Belle asked the bisharp.

   "...she likes kids." Shredder explained. "Look can we just wait here for the rest of our team? Weiss will explain, and hopefully not say anything to make you angry."

   They shared a telepathic conversation before answering. Gene nodded his head in agreement.

   It was another few minutes before Weiss arrived with the rest of Checkmate, though most of them stayed farther away. What he had to say was nothing that Shredder had not yet told them, with the exception of one detail.

   "Hold it!" Gene held up his hand. "I get to enter the league?"

   "Yes." the mercenary responded.

   "Okay then, just let Belle read your mind to see if you're telling the truth and we've got a deal." Gene said with a wide grin.

   "Gene! These people are crazy and you want to actually travel with them?" Belle asked incredulously. "Give me one good reason why we should go along with this."

   "Because if we have them to keep the crazy people who actually want to hurt us away, then we can focus on getting the Kanto badges. We get all the badges, we go to the Indigo Plateau. Then we win it-" he took Belle in his arms and kissed her. "-and get married right there for the world to see."

   "Okay, that's a good reason." Belle admitted with a sly grin.

   "Mazal tov!" Weiss told them with a combination of sarcasm and genuine happiness for the happy couple. "Well come on then, read my mind, just keep away from anything that has nothing to do with you."

   "Oh, Xavier already let me read him." Belle confessed. "I believe you."

   "...seriously?" Weiss glared at his tactician up in the sky.

She is a Psychic and would never trust us if we did not permit her to see our minds. So I let her peek. Xavier said in his constant monotone.

   By the next morning Scootaloo had already begun to bond with the mercenaries, and with the rest of Gene's pokemon. She had especially taken a liking to the ones that in her own words were 'The coolest...unless I compare you to Rainbow Dash' , which included Xavier and Shredder. This was not completely welcome by them.

   Her initial reaction to Xavier talking in her head was to yelp in surprise and run around the campsite for a minute or two until Belle explained that he was also a Psychic. She then asked where he was, and he answered by showing her a mental image of himself as he hovered so high up in the sky that she couldn't see him. A short introduction from Weiss later and she was talking her head off to him. After all he was a spy who happened to be a giant metal spider that could fly!

   So after swallowing some pancakes that Gene made Scootaloo spent the better part of ten minutes asking the elusive Psychic pokemon a nonstop series of questions. Just some of them included. "How do you fly without wings? Can you go into outer space? Are you really made of metal? Do you know any magic? How long have you been a spy?"

   "... you are a rather curious being aren't you? Both in body and mind. I levitate, don't fly. Almost. Yes. Magic is an element reserved for either guileful individuals or Fairy-types, which I am neither of. I am not a spy." he responded. "Does that answer your questions little creature?"

   "But you're spying on people. So how do you levitate? Can you teach me how?" she asked while giving him the big eyes.

   "That doesn't make me a spy. My mental powers allow me to do so. No." he answered and then pointed a giant claw at her. "How can you do that with your eyes?"

   Then she finally got a good look at Shredder. A walking talking sword with super powers and has her own sword, how could the filly resist. "Are you a knight? Where'd you get that sword? Can I have one? Has anyone ever tried using you as a can opener?"

   To which Shredder answered with her own questions. "... why are you orange? Why aren't you on fire? Why do you have wings? Why aren't you flying if you have them?"

   "... I'm handicapped...jerk." Scootaloo decided to avoid Shredder after that, and Shredder got a few glares from the rest of the group.

   Her response to seeing Titania, who was basically a hopping flower, was indifference, which the fairy returned in kind.

   When she met Pancha she felt a little sympathetic. "So you can't fly either huh? It's okay, you're still cool." Scootaloo told her.

   "I know niña, I know I am awesome... perdoname but who said I can't fly!?" Pancha shouted and she literally got her feathers ruffled.

   Scootaloo then asked a question of Roll. "So...Miss Shredder is your special somepony?"

   "Special some... is your world filled with those puns? And yes she is." Roll answered with a smile.

   "...But you're both girls. How does that work?"

Unless you want to have the sex talk with her, change the subject. Belle told the Lopunny telepathically.

   Roll gave an 'It is on!' expression to Belle. "You see little girl..." she then grabbed two of her teammates ,a Goodra and Vespiqueen, to explain the story of the Pidgey and the Combees, and she was quite direct with a couple of topics. She then properly answered her question. "You got all that? Good, our relationship throws all of that out the window and just focuses on how much we love each other."

   Belle, Gene, Alice who had played one half of the explanation, and Felicia who had played the other half, all stood there stunned at the graphic descriptions of what had just been said. Luckily Scootaloo had lost interest as soon as the explanation became too scientific, and had gone to pester Weiss.

   "Are you one of those ninjas I heard about? Can you teach me-" she stopped her questioning when she saw Edge and Scyla. "Excuse me while I go make plans for a dragon catching cutie mark."

Weiss answered the first part. "I am a mercenary... you gonna do what?" and then he was left feeling very, very confused.

   The rest of the morning continued like that for a while. Scootaloo would ask one of the pokemon a series of questions, and then it was almost lunch time. Weiss would have preferred to move on sooner but they still had to at least plan a route around the region, so he and Gene were doing that.

   Scootaloo had just frightened Simon by asking why he doesn't take a bath to wash off the dirt in his fur, much to the young pegasus' confusion. She then asked Greninja why his scarf looked so strange.

   Greninja looked at her. "..." the tip of the scarf moved and licked the filly.

   "... I don't know if I should freak out or say cool... I'll go with eww. Ewwww." Scootaloo shook her head back and forth, and wiped her cheek. "So you are the real ninja?"

   "..." he made a few hand signs and hit the ground, creating a huge water screen that he disappeared behind.

   "AWESOME! Not quite as cool as Rainbow Dash but close. Can you show me how to do that?" she looked around for him with big eyes.

   Greninja reappeared behind her and looked at her carefully.

   "Please." Scootaloo turned around to face him. "I'd like to be a ninja." this time instead of simply making her eyes big she actually succeeded in using Baby Doll Eyes.

   The Fairy move was highly effective against the Dark type pokemon. He used his Protein ability to change his Dark typing to Steel allowing him to resist it. After thinking about it the ninja motioned with his hand for her to follow him.

   Soon enough it was lunch time. Gene made a vegetable soup, with beef jerky on the side for any meat eaters. The mercenaries had brought their own rations so they didn't have to worry about running out of food, but they all agreed that Gene was a much better cook than any of them. Pancha went for a second bowl of soup it was so good.

   Scootaloo finished her bowl in record time and immediately took advantage of Greninja's training (he had only taught her the beginnings of a Quick Attack) to zip around and tag several of the pokemon. "Tag! You can't catch me!" she yelled at them and ran off into the woods.

   It took a moment for them all to consider it, and then they gave chase. Scootaloo's excitement all morning seemed to be contagious. From Checkmate Pancha, Felicia, Titania, and Sylla (who shouted that she would get everyone) all joined in. Of Gene's pokemon it was Fang, Mage, and River who joined the game.

   ".......seriously?" Weiss asked nobody in particular.

   The game of tag, or perhaps it was hide and seek none of them could really keep track, went on for a good hour or two with everyone tagging and getting tagged almost at random. It eventually became a contest to see who could get the most tags.

   Titania was winning because her small size was the advantage. She was feeling quite smug about it too. She had just tagged Fang, much to his surprise (and shame because his nose had told him she was in a different spot) , and now she was hiding in a bush as she waited for someone to ambush. The Fairy giggled silently to herself as she saw Scootaloo slowly making her way to another bush. She readied herself for a fast tag and run.

   Scootaloo stuck her head into the bush and threw up.

   The game didn't last long after that. Scootaloo was carried back to camp by Fang who held her in his mouth. The day had apparently been a little too exciting for her, and her earlier eating habits didn't help any.

   An Audino by the name of Doc looked her over and determined that she was okay. Doc gave her some medicine to help her sleep, and walked away muttering something about 'not getting paid to babysit' and 'billing them for the meds'.

   Weiss rubbed his forehead and sighed. "We leave in the morning." he told everyone.

   Belle was sleeping next to Gene in her own sleeping bag. Normally they would be cuddling together all snuggled up in the same tent or sleeping bag, but it felt weird to have so many people around.

   Belle was not completely asleep, and was drifting in between the worlds of wakefulness and slumber. She felt something prodding at her shoulder. She responded by mumbling something about something sexy, probably Gene.

   The prodding continued a little more insistently. Being slightly more aware of herself now Belle waved an arm at the whatever it was that was disturbing her.

   "Belle?" Scootaloo asked. "Are you awake?"

   No going back to sleep now. Belle yawned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it? Are you still feeling sick?"

   "A little but..." Scootaloo trailed off.

   "Hey what's the matter?" Belle got a better look at Scootaloo after she rubbed the sleep from her eyes again. The little filly was standing next to Belle with her ears down and big watery eyes. "Ooh, hey what's wrong?"

   "I want to go home."

   "Come here." Belle told her and held her arms out. Scootaloo climbed up into the hug. Belle just held her for a few minutes before saying anything. "Now talk to me. Why are you sad?"

   Scootaloo pressed deeper into the hug. "I miss my friends. I miss Rainbow Dash. I want to go back home where Fluttershy takes care of me when I get sick and Applejack invites me to dinner and Rarity makes me new clothes every winter." She was literally on the verge of crying.

   Belle knew all of this already from having shared her memories with Scootaloo, and she knew that if she hadn't done that then the child would have just kept all of this to herself and cried herself to sleep. "I know, I know." she told Scootaloo and nearly cried herself as she hugged her closer.

   Scootaloo pressed her face into Belle's chest. "I even miss my foster parents and I've only known them for a month."

   That broke Belle's heart. Instinctively she began to sing a lullaby that she remembered from before she met Gene. She wasn't sure, but she thought it was sung to her by her mother when she was a Ralts. When she finished Scootaloo was nearly asleep in her arms, but the little pegasus had one last thing to say.

   "Belle...will you...be my...mom..." she asked in between yawns.

   Belle clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from shouting her answer. Yes, I'd like that.

Make it double part 2

Shortly after sunrise on the third day after the destruction of Equus a Rapidash was running along a paved road, headed towards a city. The fire horse pokemon was running at its full gallop speed of over one hundred fifty miles per hour. Its hooves barely touched the ground and its flaming mane and tail stretched out behind it sparkling with excess energy.

   Riding on this Rapidash's back was a young woman. Her appearance was blurred by the fire flowing around her, but in her arms she held something wrapped in a denim jacket. She clutched it tight to her chest with one arm while she held onto the pokemon with the other.

   The pokemon's speed began to drop, and the girl knew that her friend was at his limit. Letting go of him she reached for another pokeball, and called out Zebstrika. The zebra pokemon appeared in almost full gallop alongside them, and the two equines matched their speed. Moving carefully she rose to a crouch on the Fire type's back, and with a graceful maneuver she hopped on the Electric pokemon's back.

   As the girl called back her pokemon and continued on with her Zebstrika now running in a full gallop, they passed a trio of travelers. A man, a mawile, and a lucario. The Fairy type watched with raised eyebrows as the girl disappeared from view down the road.

   "Wow, she's good." the mawile commented.

   The lucario studied the fading aura signature of the small bundle in the girl's arms. It was definitely an aura pokemon, but it was different than any she had seen before. "I'm not sure, but I think she was carrying a riolu." she finally said.

   THUNK!

   The two female pokemon both looked to see that the source of the sound was their trainer walking head first into a tree as he had kept his face buried in his map. They both stared at him for a moment as the thought of 'Really?' passed through their minds. Then the buzzing started...

   All three of them looked up in time to see the Beedrill swarm hovering above the same tree that the man had walked into. They took just enough time to scream before running away as fast as they could.

   The girl had noticed nothing and continued on, her Zebstrika going all out. They came into the city fairly quickly and the pokemon slowed down in time to stop at the Pokemon Center. Leaping off of her ride the girl ran inside and called out for help.

   "What's wrong?" asked the Nurse Joy who was sitting behind the desk.

   "I found this pokemon on my way to town." the said as she placed the bundled up pokemon on the desk for the nurse to see. "I don't know what it is and it looks seriously hurt."

   "Let's see here." Nurse Joy carefully unwrapped the jacket. A blue equine head with a mane of rainbow colors was revealed. "Oh my goodness, it doesn't look good. But we'll get this pokemon up and running around again in no time."

Wake up. Xavier told everyone in his monotone telepathy. It is time to move out.

   There was quite a bit of grumbling from the others as they were woken up so bluntly. The powerful Psychic had actively brought them out of their sleep. The only ones not complaining about being woken up were the couple of mercenaries who had been on watch, and now had to move out instead of sleeping.

   "What's the rush Xavier?" Weiss asked before letting out an impressive yawn.

Joker

   The majority of Checkmate had the same reaction of a facepalm. Simon the Excadrill was still laying on his belly and simply buried his head in the ground after saying "Nope." The Gyarados and Noivern members of the group both muttered something about having a snack, which made Gene decide to give them some space.

   "So who is this guy?" Gene asked Weiss as he started packing up his camping gear.

   "...competition, and we're not going to wait here to find out if he's after you or not." the mercenary told his charge. "Pack it up fast people, we're leaving, now!"

   "Is there anything I need to know about this guy?" Gene asked.

   "You mean other than him being a complete nut job?" Weiss sighed. "Yeah actually you should know as much as necessary about him."

   "...as much as necessary? Not as much as possible?" Gene asked.

   "I wish that I knew less about him. So trust me when I say that you don't want to know too much." Weiss warned him.

   "Okay..." Gene continued packing.

   "I occasionally had to work a few jobs with him." with that said Weiss began a flashback.

   A younger Weiss stood at a safe distance from a mine field. He was dressed in a standard combat and recon outfit in all black with lots of straps and pockets to hold his equipment. The day was bright but he still couldn't see where all the mines were. They had been standing there for nearly half an hour, and the longer they waited the more the other man got on his nerves.

   "Hey Weiss, look at me!"

   Weiss did not look. He continued to study the ground ahead in hopes of determining the best path across.

   "Hey Weiss! Hey Weiss! Hey Weiss! Hey Weiss! Weiss. Weiss. Weiss. Weiss. Weissy. Weissy. Weissy. Weissy. Wei. Wei. Wei. Wei. Double u. Double u. Double u. Double u."

   "What!? What do you want Joker!?" he finally yelled at the other man.

   "Hi." he said with a small wave. "I forgot what I was going to say."

   "... Why are you dressed like that?" Weiss asked when he noticed that Joker was wearing a white tutu, with a matching top, short baggy striped shorts, and shoes made for playing football.

   "Comedic effect."

   Having learned not to question the things Joker does already Weiss decided to ignore the odd choice in clothing and return to the task at hand. He suddenly found himself with an idea.

   "Hey Joker, I'll bet you five dollars that you can't get through this mine field without setting off any explosions."

   Joker looked Weiss in the eye with a completely serious expression. "Did you just bet five dollars on whether or not I die crossing a minefield?" he asked. "Is that really how much you think my life is worth?"

   "... Yeah." Weiss confirmed with a nod.

   "... Prepare to lose your lunch money!" Joker said. He then proceeded to prance across the minefield in a dance like fashion reminiscent of a very crude ballet that included quite a few too many pelvic thrusts. He then reached the other side completely unharmed and spiked an imaginary football into the ground. "You totally owe me five bucks!"

   Weiss took a moment to process what he had just seen. After his moment he calmly walked across the minefield, being careful to step only where the other man had, and made his way to the other side unharmed. He then gave his wallet, which contained at least five hundred dollars to Joker. "Keep the change, I'm starting a tab."

   "You're kidding, right?" Gene asked as they stepped out of the trees and on to the road. "That actually happened?"

   "Yes." was Weiss' simple answer.

   "I'm not sure I want to know anything else about him." the younger man said as he shook his head in an effort to clear away the unusual image that now existed in his mind.

   "Fare enough." Weiss couldn't blame him for that. "If he is after you, you're going to get told to run. Some of us will stay with you, but just worry about running."

   "Is he really that dangerous?"

   "He once stole a contract from me that would have taken at least six of us to complete, by himself." Weiss deadpanned. "Guy doesn't really have the skills, but he can...do things."

   Weiss was sneaking through a warehouse under the cover of darkness. In the classic black trench coat, combat boots, shirt, and pants of a stealth operative he blended in with the shadows. With him were Pancha, Rouge, Titania, and the Ghost Burton. Greninja was elsewhere in the building as backup.

   The job was simple. Get in, get the item, get out, and remove anything that got in the way. The item in question was a set of documents that in the right hands would give that person control of a manufacturing company.

   He came to the door of the office that his information said the documents we're held in. With his pokemon he slowly opened the door after picking the lock. What they found was not what they expected. "Joker?"

   "Sup dawg!" Joker greeted them before he returned to rummaging through the cabinets for the documents.

   "... Why are you here?" Weiss asked him.

   "I'm working for the guy who is trying to take control of the company from the guy that you're working for." the other mercenary answered honestly and completely unconcerned about his competition knowing his business. "Hey you up for pizza later?"

   "No I don't want any pizza." Weiss told him. He then walked up behind Joker and hit a nerve cluster in his neck to leave him unconscious. "Idiot."

   As Weiss was going through the same cabinet his teammates started on the others. After a minute of searching he found it. "I've got the item, let's go."

   "BRAAAIINNNSSSS!" yelled Joker as he leaped from the floor and grabbed Weiss in a headlock from behind. "BRAAINSS!"

   "GAH!" Weiss stumbled backwards into the wall. The other man was still on his back and acting like a zombie. "The Hell Joker!? Get off!"

   "Brains." Joker said as he reached for the documents.

   "No!" Weiss yelled in defiance and held the documents away as he tried to get the other arm off of his neck.

   "Brains!" Joker yelled back. He climbed up on Weiss piggyback style and reached for the documents again.

   Weiss began running around the office and banging Joker into anything he could in an effort to dislodge him. "Get off! Get off! Get off!" he yelled each time he smacked into something.

   "Brain!" Joker leaned over and licked the side of Weiss' face.

   "Ahh!" Weiss exclaimed in disgust and threw his arms up to cover his head.

   "Brains!" Joker shouted in victory as he grabbed the documents from Weiss' hand. He then jumped off of him and flipped in the air to land in a perfect two point dismount. "Yay!"

   His victory was short lived as Weiss tackled him and pushed him out the window, being sure to grab the documents too.

   "I HATE YOU!" Weiss yelled out the window. He turned accusingly to his teammates. "And where were the four of you?"

   "We were here laughing." Pancha told him with a thumbs up.

   "....let's just go get paid." he said.

   Suddenly the door was kicked open by Joker who was wearing a jumpsuit and had a vacuum cleaner strapped to his back. "Who ya gonna call?" he shouted. Aiming his vacuum at Burton he flipped the switch to on, and a tornado like force sucked the Ghost into the machine. He then threw a jar of bugs at the floor in front of Rouge causing the Grass type to run away before they could get an appetite. He then pointed an aerosol can at Pancha and Titania, and sprayed them with the canned Stun Spore paralyzing them. He then took the vacuum cleaner off and threw it at Weiss who caught it with his chest.

   Joker picked up the documents and walked out saying "You guys are fun you know that? We should do this more often."

   A few hours later the Checkmate mercenaries were doing the walk of shame through town. They heard someone calling them and looked at the nearby pizza place. Joker was waving at them and pointing at an extra large pizza on his table.

   "Ok you are either screwing with me, or completely serious. Either way I don't want to hear anymore about this guy." Gene told Weiss.

   "I don't blame you." Weiss watched as his paycheck walked off to be beside Belle.

   Gene held hands with Belle as she levitated Scootaloo through the air like she was flying. Weiss started to think about the little pegasus and what could happen to the mission while she was with them. He didn't like what he pictured.

Xavier, one to Roll, he requested via telepathy. Roll, the kid is going to put the mission in jeopardy. First chance you get drop her off at a Pokemon Center.

Affirmative, the Lopunny thought back.

That is ill advised, Xavier warned them. The Gardevoir and the young one have imprinted on each other as mother and child. So unless you want an angry mother Psychic type whose species is known for its reputation for seeking out those who hurt their family and taking vengeance, I advise against this course of action.

Oh please, how strong do you think she is? I could beat her easy if I wasn't holding back., Roll bragged.

   Xavier sighed mentally. Roll, you do realize that if it was actually a true one on one battle without me to keep your mind shielded she would make you her puppet.

...yeah well she looks like a floozy, she thought back to Xavier only to get no response. Thinking that she had somehow won the argument Roll continued on walking with a smug look on her face.

   "What are you so happy about?" Weiss asked her. He did not understand her answer because it only came in pokemon speak. "Xavier, you ok up there? We lost our mental link."

   "NOIVERN!" the Dragoness Edge roared as she swept in low to smack her teammates out of the way. Roll and Weiss took a tumble across the ground, and Edge got slammed into the ground as Xavier fell onto her, thankfully upside down so she didn't get the spikes.

   "Xavier! Edge!" the human mercenary ran to them. "What happened? What's your status?"

Apologies. I am under the effect of Gravity, and it was all I could do to slow my descent. Are you injured Edge?, the massive Steel type asked after re-establishing the Psychic link.

   "Not injured, but I'd appreciate it If you would get off." she told him.

   "What happened Xavier?" Weiss asked as several other pokemon, Bell included, carefully moved him off of her.

   "That happened." he pointed one claw at a rapidly spinning purple object.

   The purple object landed to reveal itself as a Starmie when it stopped in front of three other Psychic types, Beyheem, Solrock, and Lunatone. Team Diamond of the Royal Flush mercenaries.

   An eerie feeling on the back of Weiss's neck told him they were being watched. He turned to find four Dark types blocking the road from that direction. The Scrafty, Liepard, Krookodile, and Weavile made up the team known as Spade.

   A crashing sound was heard from both the left and right, trees were being knocked loose from the ground and left to tilt sideways. Finally from out of the trees stepped eight pokemon, four on either side of the road. The Venusaur, Gogoat, Breloom, and Whimsicott were team Clover. The Farfetched, Miltank, Snorlax, and Porygon Z were the final team, Heart.

   Several of the mercenaries from either guild were glaring at each other, clearly having spotted their rivals. Weiss couldn't think of a way that this could be any worse, though he didn't voice his opinion because of Murphy's law. He knew that Joker usually worked alone and sent his pokemon on their own jobs, unless it was a very high profile target that he was after. So to see all of the Royal Flush mercenary guild in one place on one job, he knew that Joker wasn't far away.

   "Alright, where are you you idiot?" Weiss asked. He received a handful of popcorn to the back of his head in answer. A look over his shoulder revealed that the man himself was standing in the middle of all of Checkmate, eating popcorn, and standing right beside Gene.

   "Boo!" Joker shouted and threw another handful of popcorn at Weiss. "You never have a strong reaction to anything I do anymore. Oh my gosh that means that you've finally gotten used to me!"

   Weiss saved himself from the incoming hug by thrusting his arm out and letting Joker slam face first into his palm. He then realized that he had in fact gotten used to most of Joker's antics, so he shuddered in disgust. Joker then licked his palm and he reeled back, quickly wiped his hand on his shirt, and punched Joker in the face.

   Gene, Belle, and Scootaloo all watched as the crazy man rolled on the ground laughing at his own pain. He was dressed in rather unusual clothes for a mercenary. He was wearing a tropical shirt that he left unbuttoned with a white t-shirt underneath it, green pants with canary yellow pinstripes, and shiny black dress shoes. He was a pale pasty white man with brown hair that was swept back in an Elvis style. With a crooked nose from Weiss' punch and a wide toothy smile his laughter was a little disturbing.

   Finally stopping his laughing fit Joker flipped himself up from the ground. "Oh man, Weiss it's been so long since we've seen each other. I missed you buddy."

   Weiss brushed Joker's hand off of his shoulder. "You're on an important job aren't you?"

   "Sure am." the crazy man reached into his tropical shirt where there was no pocket and pulled out a picture. "We're looking for this guy. You seen him?"

   Weiss looked at the picture of Gene, with a big mustache drawn on his face. Weiss kept a neutral expression and silently prayed for luck, because if this worked they would be on their way. "Never seen him before."

   "Well that sucks...how about you two? Ever seen him before?" Joker asked Gene and Belle. They both looked at the photo and sweatdropped before saying that they had never seen him before. "Dambit."

   "Well it was nice seeing you Joker." Weiss said in his best sarcasm voice. He then pushed the other man in the opposite direction that they needed to go.

   "Wait a minute!" Joker was suddenly standing in front of Gene. He held the photo up next to Gene's face and studied both of them. "The guy in the picture is uglier than you."

   "....uhh, thanks..."

   "That was certainly nice of you Joker, now go away." Weiss turned him around and pushed him again.

   "...hold on a second." Joker looked at the picture and at Gene again. "Wait just a minute." he looked again. "Something ain't quite right here." he looked again. "Now hold on one moment." Joker suddenly latched onto Gene's head with one hand and had a black magic marker in the other. "Hold still while I stache you!"

   After Belle teleported the crazy person away from her mate... Gene had the exact same mustache on his face as his picture. Joker laughed at the situation. "Now I remember! I got bored and put a mustache on his picture. Silly me." he rolled his eyes and smirked at his own foolishness. "Well alrighty then, Royal Flush vs Checkmate, it's going to be a battle, battle, battle of the bands...of mercenary guilds." he then threw a random pokeball that opened and let out a frightened and angry Geodude.

   "Geo dude dude geo! Where the hell am I!?" it shouted as it instinctively went into a Rollout attack. Simon the Excadrill effortlessly caught the Rock type in one paw and threw it as far as he could.

   Weiss took out two knives and stepped closer to Gene. The other members of Checkmate got ready for the fight, they had fought against Royal Flush on numerous occasions before and knew that they were just as skilled as them, though less likely to stick so strictly to their orders and each team had at least one obvious weakness. Joker reached behind him and pulled on a cowboy style gun holster with a revolver on each hip. "Let's dance!" the nut job said.

   "Excuse me. Your pokemon is just fine now." Nurse Joy handed the pokeball to the girl who had been waiting in the lobby.

   The young blonde haired girl stopped fussing with her ponytail and turned her green eyes towards the older woman. "Why did you put it in a pokeball? I didn't catch it." She asked in confusion.

   "Well we have a Hypno who volunteered to ask her a few questions and answer any that she would have." Nurse Joy explained with a smile. "Long story short she doesn't know where she is, and she could use some help finding her family. She also said that she would like to try and repay you for your kindness when you helped her."

   The girl took the pokeball from Nurse Joy and opened it up. After a flash of red light the girl and the mare were looking at each other. Rainbow Dash saw that her helper was a bit of a mix between Rarity and Applejack. Her yellow ponytail and green eyes, her jacket looked tough but was stylized and fashionable, her white pants didn't have a spot of dirt on them while her hiking boots were filthy.

   She held out her hand and smiled at Rainbow Dash. "Hello, I'm Melissa Chapman, and I guess I'm your trainer now."

Battle Royal

  Gene wasn't complaining, not too much anyway. The guy that was trying to kill him, Joker, had decided to use an oversized wooden hammer rather than the revolvers he had in his hip holsters. Unfortunately for Weiss this was something to complain about as it meant he got knocked to the ground several times, and his black trench coat got dirty which Joker found funny.  With Joker being the only one that was actually trying to kill Gene and the pokemon members of Royal Flush just keeping the other Checkmates occupied, Weiss only had to worry about the one mad man.

   Joker swung the hammer from his left to his right aiming for the other mercenary's head. Weiss ducked underneath the swing and thrust his right hand forward to try to stab Joker's arm, but Joker let go of the handle with the hand that was aimed at and he was thrown off balance by the hammer. Spinning in a circle Joker knocked Weiss' right hand away from him with his left hand, spun on his toes and aimed the hammer at the other man's back, but Weiss saw it coming and flipped himself onto the ground, rolling face up as Joker was in the right spot he kicked him in the gut sending him falling to his back. Weiss rolled himself up onto one foot and a knee, and threw a knife at Joker. Joker blocked the knife with the handle of his hammer just before his nose got pierced.

   "Wooo! Weiss buddy, you're actually trying this time."  Joker cheered as he stood up. He grabbed the knife with his left hand and pulled it out of the hammer's handle. Twirling the knife around in his fingers he grinned wider than he had before. "People are going to need more popcorn!"

   Shredder and Roll had teamed up against two of the Grass types, Iosac the Whimsicott and Saraid the Breloom. Any other time the Fighting type would go directly for the Dark type since she has a double weakness to Fighting, but Shredder was too experienced and familiar with that strategy for it to work. So instead the the Fighting type was going up against the Lopunny and the Fairy against the Bisharp.

   Shredder's sword danced through the air as easily as if it was an actual part of her body. The Whimsicott was fast, small, and highly skilled at evasion. Shredder slashed down at the rapid little Fairy who kept blowing raspberries at her every time she missed.

   "Iosac you bastard leprechaun, hold still!" Shredder cursed as her sword cleaved into the ground. She hated fighting opponents like this, they used a different strategy each time and could switch to a different one at any moment.

   "Hehehe!

   Not having the option of increasing her speed Shredder opted to increase her attack and defense with Swords Dance and Iron Defense. She would catch him eventually, it was only a matter of staying in the fight long enough to tire him out. She saw him come around her right side and thrust out her armored hand with a Night Slash.

   Iosac pulled back just in time, the Night Slash had clipped the white fluff on his head. She may be slow to him but Shredder was still a member of queen in Checkmate, so she was NOT to be underestimated. So he used a Tailwind to boost his own speed started pelting her with Razor Leaves from every possible direction, and blowing raspberries the whole time. "

   Roll had quite the boxing match for herself. Saraid was the best hand to hand fighter in Royal Flush. The Breloom threw two left handed jabs at the Lopunny's face, only missing because her target ducked to the left. Roll came back at the Grass type with a right hook to the jaw. Saraid rolled with the punch and spun with an Iron Tail aimed at Roll's legs. But the Normal type hopped lightly over the metallic appendage, only to get a fast Mach Punch to the gut.

   After sliding backwards a few feet from the force of the blow Roll remembered one crucial fact about her opponent. Saraid had the Effect Spore ability, which meant that every physical hit she took from the Grass/Fighting type pokemon delivered a shot of poison to her system.

   Saraid taunted her adversary with a cocky grin and put her hands up in a boxer's pose. Roll Growled and cracked her knuckles, which ignited in flames as she powered up her Fire Punch. In the blink of an eye the two female brawlers were slugging it out like a pair of crazed bare knuckle boxers.

   Elsewhere across the battlefield the various members of the two rival mercenary groups had paired off and were going at it. Simon the Excadrill was locked in a stalemate wrestling match with the Dark/Ground Krookodile, and the earth trembled and shook around their feet. Titania as a Fairy type had the advantage over the other three Dark types and was dancing around them while she hit them with various Fairy type attacks. Pancha and the Farfetch'd had taken to the air and were nothing more than two blurs striking each other repeatedly while in flight.

   Among them all was a little multicolored figure dashing in between them and delivering light jabbing strikes to any of the Royal Flush pokemon that were fighting. Her green body moved fast, her red and blue flower bouquet 'hands' shooting Poison Stings at any nearby enemy, and the white petals on her head whipping to and fro as she changed direction to strike yet another target.

If I could just get close to Iosac and Saraid then I'd be able to take them out of the fight. Rouge thought to herself. She glanced at the two Grass types where they were fighting Shredder and Roll. The Whimsicott had a flat top where her teammate's sword had clipped his fluff, but Shredder was only getting slower as he hit her with more Cotton Spores. Roll was faring a little better as she landed a solid left right combination to the Breloom's face with her Fire Punch, but the poison was taking its toll as well.

   Rouge returned her attention to the task at hand, and yelped as a sun and moon appeared in front of her. Before she could get away she was knocked down by a Psychic attack and was then trapped by a Fire Spin. She jerked back from the ring of fire around her and watched the two Rock/Psychics carefully. She didn't know these two members of Royal Flush very well. All she knew was that the Solrock was named Helios and was the muscle of his team while the Lunatone was named Selene and dealt more in countering attacks.

   "Well hello." Helios greeted her as he floated just beyond the flames. "Are you from space baby? Because your thighs are out of this world."

   "...What?" she wanted to be sure she had heard him correctly.

   "How would you like to come back to my place and play? I'll be the naughty Professor and you can be the young naive trainer."

   Rouge sputtered and failed to form any actual words as her brain refused to work. But a response was given nonetheless as one of her teammates had heard these words as well.

   Simon the Driller, in a burst of strength and agility suddenly spun on his heels, grabbed his opponent's right arm in both of his massive clawed paws, and heaved. The Krookodile flew through the air (an unwelcome experience for the Ground type) and startled several of the pokemon on both sides of the battle, and rammed into the Solrock with enough momentum to keep going and crash through a few trees.

   "THAT IS NOT HOW YOU TALK TO A LADY!" Simon bellowed.

   Everyone else shrugged and went back to trying to beat each other senseless. Simon ran over to where Rouge was trapped by the still burning ring of fire and used his big claws to shovel large scoops of dirt onto the flames. They stood there for a moment, and then realized that Selene was still floating nearby.

   "... I'll go check on Helios now." wisely said the Lunatone.

   Simon watched the moon pokemon go before he spoke to Rouge. "Are you okay?"

   "Oh I'm alright Simon." she told him and blushed just a little. "Thank you for saving me."

   Simon noticed her blush and got a little concerned. "You're turning red there. Did the fire get you?"

   "What? Oh, yes just a teensy bit I think, but I will be fine." she waved him off with a red bouquet and grinned sheepishly.

   "Well if you say so. Back to the battle!" Simon turned to run back into the fray. He got about five feet before a Snorlax bellyflopped on him.

   "Oh dear! Simon are you alright?" Rouge called to him.

   The Snorlax stood up off of him and he rolled over onto his back. "Well if it isn't the rotund one." he taunted feebly as his lungs tried to recover the oxygen that had been knocked out of them. "Go take a jog."

   Gordo did not like being told to take a jog, so he stomped on the other pokemon. Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp. Then he jumped and delivered another Heavy Slam bellyflop, the Steel type move doing increased damage from the Snorlax's massive weight. It did not end there though as the enormous Normal type bent over (somehow) and started slapping his face repeatedly.

   Rouge could have left it to Simon if it was just the violence because she knew that he would look back on it as a good time battling his rival. What she could not stand however was the insulting way that Gordo was smacking him in the face, and the disgusting language that he was using. Choosing to indulge her temper Rouge cupped her bouquets at her right side and started focusing absorbed sunlight into a ball. She let the energy build up as much as possible before calling out the attack. Normally She and her teammates did not do that because it gave away the element of surprise, but she felt compelled to do it.

   "Soooooollaaaarrrrrrrrr BEAM!" she yelled as she released the pent up energy and put as much force behind it as she could.

   Gordo turned around in time to see what must have been the light of heaven itself. Then he exploded as the super charged Solar Beam hit him in the face from only six feet away. The detonation of the attack when it hit its target sent out a shockwave that knocked the other battlers nearby to the ground. The Snorlax was still standing, but he was also unconscious with his mouth slack jawed and his eyes while open were swirling.

   Simon reached up and poked Gordo's belly with a claw, and the bigger pokemon promptly fell over. Simon stood up and looked at the fallen Mon. "My rival defeated by a single attack from my teammate." He threw an arm around her in a bro-hug. "I knew you had it in you! Just as I knew we would be the closest of friends from the day we first worked together!"

   Rouge blushed again, and tried to push him away. "Um, back to the battle." she said as enthusiastically as possible. His answer was a hearty yes.

   Once again the battle royal continued. While those on the ground recovered from the blast a Hawlucha and a Farfetch'd took their aerial battle to the ground.

   Pancha ran towards the other Flying type and kicked off of the ground with her left foot to deliver a knee first High Jump Kick to the other bird's face. Rey blocked her kick with his left wing, and smacked her away with a blow from his leek. Pancha kicked off from the ground before she had even fully landed, leaped over her opponent, somersaulted in mid air, and kicked him in the back with both feet. Rey landed on his chest and rolled over just in time to avoid Pancha's next attack, and they both jumped away.

   They faced each other again and waited for the right moment to attack. Weiss and Joker brought their fight around them at that moment, and Joker was swinging a cowbell on a rope as a weapon. Weiss grabbed the bell and smacked Joker on the head with it twice.

   Ding! Ding!

   The two Flying types rushed into battle. Rey swept his leek at Pancha's legs with a Fury Cutter. Pancha jumped and raised her right wing, her hand lit up with power and she brought it down on his head. His resistance to Fighting type attacks prevented the Karate Chop from doing any significant damage, and he used his leek to Cut her. Pancha had dodged fast enough to avoid the Cut's power, but the edge of the attack had still caught her leg and drew a small bit of blood. She picked up a small rock and threw it at his face, when he ducked it he left himself open to a punch to the gut. When he bent over she hooked her left arm around his and her right under his body, then she lifted him upside down and jumped. Pancha had Rey set to land head first when they landed, but he flapped his wings and kept them in the air long enough to start a Brave Bird attack. Before Pancha could escape Rey grabbed her around the waist and held her tight as they crashed to the ground.

   When the dust cleared Rey was standing up, and got kicked in the face by a yellow clawed foot. Pancha grabbed him around the neck with a headlock and dragged him along as she ran up a tree. When she got to the top she leaped and threw him down to the ground with a Sky Drop, spread her wings and used her momentum to glide back up to the top of another tree. Before Rey could recover Pancha began snapping off small sticks, then used them for a barrage of Fling attacks.

   Rey was pinned to the ground by dozens of sticks and Pancha had an opening. She back flipped over the top of the tree, landed on one of the branches, and used it to springboard high up into the air. When she reached the highest point she could and began to fall Pancha angled her wings in a way that would accelerate her by spinning her body like a bullet. The grin on her face at this moment would rival Joker's. As she descended from the sky a spiral contrail formed and followed her.

   Rey opened his eyes and saw a red, green, and white object approaching him. When he tried to move the sticks dug into his skin. He struggled more when he could hear the whistling of the air as it passed over her form. He broke one wing free ...and Pancha hit her attack with perfect aim.

   The resulting impact crator had a spiral impression carved into it, was about ten feet wide, two feet deep, and had two immobile forms at the center. Pancha's enhanced version of the Flying Press, the Corkscrew Flying Press left her with confusion, but it was a one hit knockout for most of the weaker pokemon. She rested with her right wing draped over Rey's body, and her beak close enough to nuzzle him if she wanted to.

   "...Sexy hombre..." she said in her confusion. If she actually meant that or if she was too confused to know what she was saying is up for debate.

   Three others had moved their fight off of the road and into the trees. Edge, the huge bat like Noivern swooped in low to blast the area with powerful sound waves as her teammate Scylla the Gyarados shot multiple Dragon Rage attacks at the enemy. The large Venusaur used his vines to block the attacks as much as possible, and swept the area with a Poison Powder before he pulled a boulder out of the ground with his vines tried to slam his opponents with it. Edge dodged and put some distance between her and the improvised Rock attack, Scylla took the boulder head on and Crunched it in her mighty jaws turning it into pebbles. The two Checkmates moved in for close quarters combat and attacked with claws, jaws, and pythonic coils.

   Breasal was a strong Grass type, in fact most thought he was the strongest Grass type in the world. But as he found himself caught between two equally strong Flying types Breasal decided to step it up a dozen notches or so. With Scylla wrapped around him her jaws clamped onto his back, and Edge clawing at his flower he combined his two most powerful attacks. Outrage and Plant Frenzy. His eyes flashed a brilliant angry red and he gripped both of the females in his vines, and as dozens of trees suddenly grew and thrashed about he swung them around smashing them into the plants as they were actively attacked by the trees.

   The rest of both Checkmate and Royal Flush gave that part of the surrounding forest a very wide safety range as it was being completely demolished by the three pokemon. If the wordless roars that could be heard coming from the woods were any indication of what was happening, not to mention the occasional full grown tree that was uprooted and thrown into the air, then it would be suicide for the three monsters to be interrupted.

   Roll threw a left jab Saraid, but missed. After the Breloom dodged the Fire Punch she caught the Lopunny with a right hook to the kidney. Roll dropped her left arm down around the mushroom cap that made up the top of Saraid's head and held her tight as she hit her with multiple Fire Punch body shots. She would have continued if the poison in her system hadn't chosen that moment to fill her body with pain. Saraid broke loose and swung her head up to hit a Headbutt that sent Roll stumbling back. Roll came back at Saraid with another flaming fist, but a second spasm of pain tripped her up, and the Breloom hit her in the stomach with a Dynamic Punch while she was doubled over, and sent her flying up into lower orbit.

   Saraid watched as her rival was about to disappear in a twinkle of light. But she was interrupted by a flying Whimsicott crashing into the tree to her left. Iosac was lodged upside down into the trunk of the tree with his eyes rolling around in unconsciousness. Saraid looked over her shoulder, and sweatdropped. Behind her stood Shredder who's eyes were two cold angry orbs. The Bisharp raised her sword and the Breloom sweatdropped even more.

   A badly burned Breloom was soon seen running at full speed in an effort to escape the very angry Bisharp. Shredder had apparently raised her strength with Swords Dance so much to the point that she overpowered the effects of Cotton Spore and could almost keep up with the faster pokemon.

   Through all of this Gene, Belle, and Scootaloo had stood there and just watched as the mercenaries, both the ones protecting them and the ones trying to kill Gene, all seemingly forgot that they were there. Gene scratched his head under his wizard's hat.

   "Umm, not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't they at least be trying to catch me or something?" he asked nobody in particular.

   They watched as Weiss grabbed Joker in a headlock and started punching the top of his head. Joker just stood there for a minute and let himself get punched, each punch to his head was accompanied by him saying "Ouch." Joker then slipped his right foot between the other man's legs and shifted his body, sending Weiss tripping over to the ground. Joker backed up and got a running start before he jumped and yelled "Elbow drop!" as he fell elbow first across Weiss's upper chest.

   "It's called a distraction." the Audino named Doc said as she pushed him away from the battle. "Most of these idiots can't resist fighting each other whenever they meet. So move it while they don't care."

   "Now that's not very nice of ye Doc." said someone with an Irish accent. "Not all of us in Royal Flush are so silly and foolish. Checkmate on the other hand..."

   Doc glanced at the speaker, Riona the Gogoat and queen of team Clover in Royal Flush. With her were Inge the Porygon Z ace of Heart, Monarca the Miltank queen of Heart, as well as the king and queen of Diamond Saturn the Beyheeyem and Neptune the Starmie.

   "I don't know if ye have noticed or not Doc, but you are a wee bit outnumbered." Riona said with a smirk.

   "I don't know if any of you have noticed, but I can teleport." Belle deadpanned.

   "Oh we know senorita." the older Miltank said. "We are just waiting for a good opportunity to take out two Tailows with one stone."

   Xavier crashed down between the two groups. "The Gravity wore off, so I am now free to-" he stopped mid sentence as the Stamie spun its body to fly away.

   "Thanks for being so helpful Xavier." Saturn said, and the Beyheeyem unleashed his Psychic powers. "Synchronize!" Psychic energy danced across the bodies of Belle and Xavier as the attack targeted their Psychic typing. The Beyheeyem then teleported directly in front of the Gardevoir and used another move. "Imprison."

   Belle's eyes shot open and she tried, she tried, and she tried. "I can't teleport!"

   "Perfect." said the Beyheeyem. He then sent her and Scootaloo away gently with his Psychic, he knew what Joker would do to him if he hurt a child even by accident so he took extra care when set Scootaloo down. He turned back to the job at hand. "Now where were we."

   He was face to face with a Houndoom.

   "Fang, Bite!" Gene grabbed two more of his pokeballs and called out more of his family. "River, Webber, make a storm!"

   The Houndoom lunged with an open maw of vicious fangs, passed through the useless Psychic barrier that the panicking Psychic type had placed, and bit down on nothing as Saturn teleported away. River flew up into the sky and did a Rain Dance, and as the water fell the pokemon of Royal Flush looked blankly at the Electric pokemon. Webber's arachnid body sparked briefly.

   "Well this will hurt." Riona said.

   "Electro Web, Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt!"

Fourth wall.

   Joker sat in a high backed chair. He was wearing a set of expensive black and red silk robes and pajamas. He sat with his legs crossed and held a tea cup in his hands.

   "Hello everyone reading at home. I'm Joker, your favorite fourth wall character,and I'm here to give you a message on behalf of the writer. You see, because of the excessive amount of Electric type attacks seen in the Pokemon anime the writer has decided to not bother with describing the effects of being hit with them at this time. If you would like to see what it would look like then feel free to watch this video." he sipped his tea. "Enjoy."

   "Oh, and for an erection lasting more than four hours, pat yourself on the back." he uncrossed his legs to reveal a video link. "You know you want to click it."

   Riona recovered from the shock of the Electric attacks first thanks to her Grass typing. The Gogoat charged the Galvantula with her Horn Leech. Her horns are straighter than those of most Gogoats so she was able to run them underneath Webber and forklift the Bug over her. The Horn Leech recovered some health for her, and as Webber fell she bucked both of her hind hooves into his back.

   Webber fell in a heap. He was pretty sure that kick had been some kind of Fighting type move. He climbed to his feet and was met with an emotionless faceless enemy. He shocked it but the Starmie was unfazed.

   "I Camouflaged myself to gain immunity to electricity. If I cared I would advise you to use Bug type attacks, but since it was my Psychic typing that I replaced it would not have much effect." the Starmie warned him. He was then trapped by Webber's Spiderweb. "Really? Spiderweb? My kind's signature move frees me from this."

   Webber would have facepalmed if he had had the time, or a palm, but instead he fired more Spiderwebs while he used Agility. It's not his normal style, but when the opponent is immune to your best attacks you tend to improvise.

   Neptune escaped from the web with a Rapid Spin, and continued the move to make all of Webber's webs useless. If someone else didn't step in then Webber was finished.

   "Willow Wisp!"

   Several small blue balls of fire collided with the Starmie. He was thrown off balance by his new burns before he could reach Webber. When he righted himself Neptune could hear the laughter of a taunting Ghost. "Show yourself you insufferable intangible specter so I can Hydropump you!"

   In answer he received another set of Willow Wisps to his back. And he heard more laughter as he turned around to strike at the vanishing Mismagius, only to get a Blizzard from River. It hurt quite a bit since he didn't have his normal resistance to Ice.

   Fang leaped over Webber and charged with a Fire Fang. The Starmie didn't bother to dodge, but was surprised when the Houndoom jumped over him as well. Fang landed behind his target turned and slammed his horns into Neptune's back sending him flying right into Xavier's Meteor Mash.

   "That was highly satisfying." the Metagross commented.

   A stream of flames flowed over Xavier's metal body. He deflected the Flamethrower with his Psychic before it could do any significant damage. He tore up a chunk of earth with his claw and used his Psychic powers to improvise a Mud Shot, getting a direct hit in the face of the Porygon Z.

   Inge ignored the hit and fired a Tri Attack, hitting Xavier with the Ice and Electric beams, but missed with the Fire beam. Xavier tried to get into Inge's head, but she had used her Conversion moves to become a Dark type. Before Xavier could move Inge shot him in the face with a Dark Pulse.

   "Superpower!" a green clawed hand grabbed the Porygon Z and slammed it repeatedly into the ground. Xavier gave a nod of thanks to the Flygon. As Draco flew off to seek out the next enemy that he had an advantage over Xavier hit Inge with a Meteor Mash.

   Xavier spotted Doc fighting off Monarca as the Miltank was trying to reach Gene. He was about to put a stop to it when he realized a problem. He had been shut out from his teammates minds. He knew that it would take a powerful Psychic to do that, or several strong ones. A quick look around and Xavier could see that the Psychics of Royal Flush had formed a four point Psychic trap to lock down any pure psychic powers that were not actual moves. It was an annoying tactic, but Xavier could appreciate its effectiveness.

   Belle ran up to the Metagross with Scootaloo held protectively to her chest. "Something's wrong. I can't use my powers." she told him.

   "Do you know Shadow Ball?"

   "Yes."

   "Put the young one down and aim where I indicate." he told her and pointed a claw at the top of a tree where Helios was hovering. Belle did as he said, put Scootaloo down between two of his big metal legs, and aimed a Shadow Ball at the Solrock. She let the ghostly energy fly, and grinned as it exploded in the enemy's face. Xavier pointed another claw at Selene who was between the battle inside of the trap and the one outside of it. Belle sent another Shadow Ball directly into the left eye of the Lunatone. Another claw pointed at Saturn, and the Beheeyem was knocked away in an explosion of ghostly shadows. The Starmie however simply let the attack hit, and nothing happened.

   "Other than to avoid damage from a Ghost attack why take on Normal typing?" Xavier asked in mild confusion as he could not find any advantage.

   "Just something I discovered." Neptune hinted.

   The Starmie began another Rapid Spin and hovered up above the ground, above the trees, and unleashed a Hydropump. As the powerful torrent of water came down it began to rotate with the Rapid Spin, and became a storm of water and wind. Neptune increased his power output and the vortex became a charybdis, an inescapable whirlpool that drew its prey into it. Fang, River, Webber, Draco, Doc, and even a few of the surrounding mercenaries were drawn into it, before Neptune flipped over to reverse the direction of his Rapid Spin without losing any momentum and threw them out of the vortex.

   Neptune fell to the ground in exhaustion. He lay there unable to move after using up the rest of his energy surrounded by the others who had passed out. Gene aimed his pokeballs and recalled his family. Doc stood up and kicked the Starmie before healing herself. And a Miltank did a Rollout attack to everyone that was standing.

   Monarca stopped rolling and checked her targets. She had been extra careful to not hit the little orange Ponyta. Joker would definitely not be happy with her if she did, she wouldn't be happy about it either, but Joker is crazy and likes kids. Taking the opportunity while her targets were recovering Monarca revived her teammates with Heal Bell and Helping Hand.

   "Body Slam!" Monarca's Normal type attack didn't do much damage to Xavier because of his Steel typing, but the move used left him paralyzed. Neptune followed up with another Gravity to lock him down from levitation. Helios then trapped him with a Fire Spin. And finally Saturn started slamming repeated Shadow Balls into him.

   "Willow Wisp!" Mage had avoided any harm from the Charybdis attack by phasing out of the physical realm. Now she hit every possible target with the floating balls of fire as she phased in and out of site. When they were all burned she hit them with a Hex.

   "Wake Up Slap!" Mage turned to look incredulously at the Miltank who was attacking her, a Ghost, with a Fighting type attack. Unfortunately for her the hit landed and both of her cheeks were slapped repeatedly.

   "Ah! What the hell!?" Mage yelled.

   Monarca jumped at her and delivered a Body Slam to paralyze her. "I'm a Scrappy old cow." she said in answer to the question of how her Normal moves were working on a Ghost.

   "I hate that ability." Mage deadpanned. "Mystical Fire!" The area surrounding the two pokemon was engulfed by a blazing inferno that seriously hurt Monarca, but drained Mage's energy. She sighed as the flames held and continued to burn.

   The flames dispersed and died down. Monarca used Heal Bell on herself as she jumped for yet another Body Slam. The impact fully paralyzed Mage and she struggled to move as Monarca stepped back and began charging her energy for a Hyper Beam. And then a Lopunny fell out of the sky, Bounced off of Monarca pushing her down onto her chest, and went to town on the other members of Royal Flush.

   Monarca's Hyper Beam activated and exploded against the ground sending her flying up into the air. She didn't get as much height as Roll had, but she had no moves to save her from the return to earth.

   Across the battlefield Joker and Weiss were still going at it, but being humans they were nearing the end of their endurance. Weiss drove his right elbow into Joker's shoulder after he twisted his left arm behind his back. Joker flipped over onto his back and swung his left leg up to kick Weiss in the chest. Weiss caught the leg and rolled Joker onto his stomach before trapping him in a submission hold. Weiss was trying to break Joker's ankle by twisting it between his arms, but suddenly the shoe was empty and he stumbled back. Joker rolled backwards, flipped up to land sitting on Weiss' shoulders, spun around to face the opposite direction as Weiss, and back flipped with enough force to throw him several feet.

   "Woo hoo hoo!" Joker took a minute to catch his breath. "This is the most fun I've had in months. Weiss we have to try to kill each other more often."

   "Killing isn't my idea of a fun time ass hole." Weiss stood up and rolled his neck to pop some of the kinks out. "I'm not a sociopath like you."

   "If you insist on calling me crazy, at least call me the proper kind of crazy." Joker pulled out an official looking paper and read it aloud. "Subject displays traits of narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathic tendencies, dementia, possible nymphomania, obsessive compulsive tendencies leaning towards violence, obsessive compulsive tendencies leaning towards comedy, dissociative reality disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." he put the paper away.

   "So you're a self absorbed perverted nut job who is obsessed with cartoon violence believes he can see other realities and can't sit still for longer than five minutes." Weiss deadpanned. "I could have told you that for free."

   "Well I didn't have to pay the doctors anyway because they all kind of went bonkers after diagnosing me." Joker smiled. Somehow everyone managed to hear that, and they stopped fighting to stare at him.

   "...you drove your doctors crazy?" Weiss asked.

   "Yep!" Joker smiled and gave everyone a thumbs up. Everyone sweatdropped, Joker's pokemon included.

   "Well...that's something I didn't, and wish I still didn't know about you." Weiss pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Okay look, you have us outnumbered right now, but my guys are better and you know it. So how about you walk away before someone actually does get killed?"

   "Better idea." Joker held a megaphone up and spoke into it. "SHUFFLE THE DECK!"

   "You jackass!" Weiss had enough time to shout before all of Royal Flush suddenly exploded into action.

   The next couple of minutes was complete random chaos. Attacks were thrown at random with no planning on who they would hit. Enemies and allies were grabbed and tossed at each other. Electric attacks were intentionally used on Ground types. At one point Pancha, Rouge, and Titania were all trapped inside several floating bubbles.

   Scootaloo somehow found herself out of reach of the ...battle?...with a bowl of popcorn and a soft cushion to sit on. From her perspective it looked like Discord himself had set it all up.

   Discord lay in a hammock strung between two active volcanoes with a pair of sunglasses on upside down, and a coconut filled with chocolate milk in his lion paw. He sat up so suddenly that his sunglasses flew off and his chocolate milk fell out of its coconut.

   "Why do I feel as if I'm in two places at once?" he asked and shifted his eyes back and forth.

   Weiss fell back after getting kicked in the gut by Roll. She started to apologize, but was snatched up by a Vine Whip and spun around a few times before being sent flying. Weiss held back several cuss words as he climbed back to his feet. He looked into the chaos, and saw Joker drawing his guns.

   "Damn it Joker!" Xavier picked up the mental image from Weiss and manipulated the electromagnetic field around the bodies of his teammates to deflect projectiles. He extended the same protection to Gene and Belle. "If you-

   Joker held his right gun straight out to the side and the left gun up pointing back over his shoulder. BANG! BANG! He spun and dropped to his knees with his arms crossed and the revolvers pointing out to each side. BANG! BANG! He stood up on one leg and pointed one gun under the raised one and the other behind his back. BANG! BANG! He back flipped and fired once while he was upside down and once after he landed, both guns pointing in front of him the entire time. BANG! BANG! He held his arms crossed straight in front of him with the guns held gangster style. BANG! BANG! He turned while aiming the right gun at random. BANG! And flipped the weapon in his hand to swing it into Weiss' jaw just as the man reached him.

   The bullets had each hit their marks, the heads of Shredder, Pancha, Roll, Edge, Scylla, Simon, Rouge, Gene, Belle, Titania, and Mage. But they were all deflected by Xavier's skilled use of his telekinetic abilities, with the exception of the one aimed at Mage which passed harmlessly through her. The momentary distraction caused by the bullets allowed for Royal Flush to jump on the other mercenaries and restrain them.

   Joker tossed a random pokeball at Xavier as he walked towards Gene. The pokeball released a slightly larger red and white orb that rolled underneath Xavier.

   "Go away scary people!" the Voltorb yelled. "Self Destruct!"

BOOM!

   Xavier's big heavy body took most of the explosive force from the devastating attack. He didn't fully pass out from it but his multiple brains were stunned and his legs collapsed from under him. He watched as Joker walked towards Gene who had been separated from the rest of the crowd, and sent a warning to the only Checkmate that wasn't pinned to the ground by a cluster of Royal Flush pokemon and was actually in a position to do something.

   Joker walked right up to Gene and poked the barrel of his gun against his head. "Nothing personal pal. You're just going to make me rich is all." Joker shrugged.

   "Hey idiot!" Joker looked at the speaker. It was Doc, and she had a Focus Blast primed and ready. "You looked." And she thrust her palms out to blast him in the face.

   With Joker distracted by pain and an involuntary back flip Belle was free to teleport in beside Gene and teleport him to safety on the other side of the crowd.

   Doc saw that the human was safe for the time being, and moved to heal her Xavier. Only she had not even took a step before she was kicked in the head and sent flying. She tried to stand, but Joker pistol whipped her back to the ground. The Audino settled for kneeling on one knee and glaring up at him. Her glare relented in fear when he aimed his gun at her.

   "You know Doc, I actually like you. Hell I even considered hiring you out from Weiss a few times... By which I mean kidnap you." he told her honestly and with a friendly smile as he kept the the revolver aimed at her head.

   "Well I guess I'm flattered that an annoying psychopath thought that I was worth the trouble of abducting." she said sarcastically. "Oh, wait I'm not because I don't like you."

   "See! That right there is why I like you." he smiled even wider at the older pokemon. "But I had that pokemon poker where I wanted him, and you just cost me a ten digit paycheck. So I have to shoot you now. No hard feelings right?" Joker pulled the trigger.

BANG!

   It was only because of an orange and purple blur pushing Doc out of the way that he missed. The first thing Joker did was scream childishly and throw his empty gun. After that he noticed a small splatter of blood around the bullet hole in the ground. He shrugged.

   "Well I winged you so I'll call it even." Joker told her before walking away.

   "I can't feel my wings..."

   "Eh?" Joker looked back at Doc, and saw her using a Heal Pulse on Scootaloo.

   "...no...no...nononono!" Joker had just broken the one rule he enforced on himself and his teams. He had just done the thing that he would kill people who tried to hire him to do. He wanted to just collapse right there but maybe he could still make it better. He snapped out of it and gave instructions to his pokemon. "Monarca, Selene, Riona help Doc now!"

   The three did as they were told along with the other Checkmates who could help. Doc applied another Heal Pulse, Monarca sang out with Heal Bell, Roll used a Healing Wish,and Rouge gave Scootaloo some Aromatherapy. The healing moves combined with Doc's medical training made short work of Scootaloo's injuries, though Doc still had to wrap Her wings in bandages and put medicine on them. It was over as fast as it had happened, and a Sleep Powder later had Scootaloo sleeping through the rest of the day.

   Roll whipped around and roared in the faces of the Royal Flush members that had helped, and her eyes flashed red. The rest of Checkmate did the same and glared at their opposition so intensely that lasers and daggers might as well have been shooting from their eyes. Royal Flush at least had the decency to look ashamed of themselves, and a few actually pointed at Joker.

   Weiss and Xavier both started sweating bullets. "Xavier didn't you say that the Gardevoir had adopted the kid?"

   "Actually what I said was that she and the young one had imprinted on each other as mother and daughter. The key difference being that they shared their memories, and had strong enough emotional reactions to each other's lives that they bonded on a psychic level."

   "Meaning?"

   "That." Xavier shifted his body to let him see Belle more clearly. "...we should go."

   "Why?" Weiss looked at her. "...yep!"

   Flecks of blue light could be seen zipping through the air. From every direction they came, and collected in a single location. The amount of the lights increase as well as the speed untill the mercenary pokemon of both guilds stopped what they were doing. They followed the lights with their eyes, and sweatdropped when they saw it all surrounding Belle. The ambient Psychic energy in the air was gathered to her, and it flowed from her feet up to her head in a manner similar to fire. The Psychic flames danced across her body, flowing into and out of and into her again as her mortal form could not contain all of it at once.

   Belle raised her head and gazed upon the mercenaries, and they all flinched away from the look in her eyes. It was not a look of vicious vengeance that could be seen on her face. Nor was her face the mask of a sadistic smile hiding barely contained anger. The Gardevoir had passed the point of rage. The look on her face was the look of pure unrestrained wrath that could put the fear of Arceus into her enemies.

   But these were mercenaries, they would not back down just because someone was angry with them. They changed their minds about that after she screamed just four words at them.

YOU SHOT MY DAUGHTER! Her words carried power and shook the air and the ground.

   The mercenaries all sweatdropped. The stories of how protective Gardevoirs are of their trainers and mates were well known, and so too were the stories of how far they could go for revenge. The only reason there were not such stories about their offspring is because nobody in recent times has been stupid enough to hurt the child while the parents still lived.

   The Checkmates all carefully retreated, very quickly, and Roll held Scootaloo in her arms. Royal Flush stayed still for fear of being singled out by the extremely angry Gardevoir.

   "Oh come on!" the Krookodile exclaimed. "She is only one Psychic against all of us! Let me Crunch la petite dame!" He rushed at her and opened his jaws.

   Belle effortlessly flowed out of reach of his attack, and punched him on the chin. The Psychic energy being held within her took solid form around her arm and reinforced it, muscles and bones became as solid as iron. He flew up and back from the impact and landed next to his teammates, with a few missing teeth.

   With a forced smile Joker called out to Belle. "So on a scale of one to ten, how much is this going to hurt?" His pokemon all yelled at him to shut up.

   Belle erupted in a blast of fire as the psychic energy she had gathered ignited. But she was unharmed by the flames, and when they died down she was changed. Her body was now all white and glowing like a brilliant light. Her eyes burned a bright angry red like two coals in a fire. Her spikes were sheathed in strong hungry fire.

Bonus chapter

  "I cannot let this happen to another."

   "Agreed, but what can you do about it?"

   "I will return to the Hall of Legends and ask Arceus to prevent the Rage Shift from being used by mortals."

   "Can he do that? I know he is a god but how can he be sure that nopony else will use it."

   "If he cannot then I am sure that Mew can."

   "She wakes sister."

   Belle opened her eyes, and immediately threw an arm over them. She groaned. "Turn off the sun."

   Luna giggled and Celestia rolled her eyes. The solar princess had heard that joke a lot over the centuries, and it was still annoying even in another world.

   "Belle!" Gene grabbed her and pulled into a hug.

   "Did I miss something?" she asked and looked around at everyone. The Checkmates were in full recovery from the battle and now they were just waiting for further orders. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who she recognized from Scootaloo's memories, were standing over her with inquisitive concerned looks. Belle immediately forgot almost everything else. "Scootaloo! Where is she!?"

   "Over here!"

   Belle saw the little orange filly waving at her. She was perfectly fine, and was playing tag with the Voltorb. Belle had a brief moment of panic when Scootaloo climbed ON TOP OF THE VOLTORB, but the Electric type was laughing and playing along.

   "Ok someone tell me what happened."

   They all looked at each other. Finally Gene asked her what she remembered.

   Belle thought for a moment. "That man hurt Scootaloo, and I got angry, but after that Krookodile attacked me I don't remember anything."

   "The Krookodile is Valete, the muscle of team Spade in Royal Flush. He rushed you after we cleared the road. You knocked out some of his teeth." Weiss told her.

   "I knocked out a Dark type's teeth?"

   Weiss reached a hand into his coat and pulled out three Krookodile fangs. "Rouge wanted to make them into a necklace for you as a trophy."

   Belle eyed the fangs and imagined going into battle with them around her neck. "Cool. But...how did I do it?"

   "According to Xavier you used an undiscovered Psychic move, but that is not the reason why we are here." Celestia said.

   "After you struck your attacker you used a spell called Rage Shift-

   Belle interrupted Luna. "What? I know I'm a Fairy but I don't know any magic."

  -which is now possible for you to do because our magic spells have been converted into pokemon moves along with the introduction of us as the new Magic type." Luna finished with a deadpan.

   Belle shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."

   "About that. Why a new type?" Weiss scratched his jaw. "Why not just put each species in a different already existing type? And why Magic as the type when Fairy pokemon can already kind of do that? Seems kind of cheap, like whoever decided it just went with the first thing they thought of."

   "Twas Arceus who did it. Maybe you should question him about it." Luna told him.

   "Sounds bad for my health."

   Celestia used her magic to help Belle to her feet. "The Rage Shift amplifies the power of the one who uses it, but it must burn something as fuel to create that extra power. It uses your own energy as the fuel, and takes as much energy as you are angry so that your power and strength become equal to your rage."

   "Okay, so I was really mad, ...how much of my energy did I burn through?"

   "All of it."

   Belle's eyes widened. Celestia and Luna both watched her carefully. Gene just hugged her again.

   Celestia broke the silence. "Normally the spell only takes the caster's magic as fuel, or in your case the energy reserved for your moves, but you were so furious that when your reserves were used up it continued."

   "You managed to tear open a black hole and cast your enemies into it." Luna told her. "I am not sure how this would normally effect a living creature in this dimension, but the magic behind the spell allowed them all to survive."

   "So I didn't kill them?"

   Luna shook her head no, and Belle sighed in relief. "Though they do now seem to be in some other new dimension."

   "How am I even standing right now?! If you're right about me using up all of my energy...

   "I detected young Scootaloo's dreams while she was sleeping off her injuries." Luna explained. "My sister and I teleported here and healed the both of you."

   "I can't thank the two of you enough." Gene told them as he bowed.

   "You owe us nothing so long as you and your beloved are good parents for Scootaloo." Celestia smiled. "Though an invitation to the wedding would be appreciated."

   Weiss had his own concern. "What about the Rage Shift?"

   The sisters gave him a cold look. Celestia spoke. "Fear not for your contract mercenary. I will be making sure that only myself and a select few that I believe worthy can use it from now on."

   Weiss shrugged. "Fair enough, but I was referring more to her temper."

   "Excuse me? What's wrong with my temper?"

   "I'm thinking of a Gardevoir that I met once a long time ago." Weiss explained to her. "Read my mind."

   As Belle did as she was invited the others standing nearby all watched. They saw it as her face went from offended to concerned, to worried, and finally horrified. She shut down her telepathy and looked like she might throw up.

   "Never mind...I don't want to be like that..." Belle shuddered at the image of one of her kind breaking all the bones in a man's body and taking pleasure from it. "I'll stick to league battles from now on."

   "Well it is my job to hurt people who try to hurt you, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't steal my job." Weiss grinned at her. "Now I will leave you alone while I pick my team for the mission."

   "You're not bringing everyone?" Gene asked.

   "Nah, going in undercover as a trainer. Only reason I kept so many around is because I didn't know who to bring." he explained. "Now that my biggest competition is out of the way I have a better idea of who I need."

   So the deviant mercenary left the nice decent people alone and called in his family. He had good idea of who he would need and who would be overkill. The average trainer would get killed trying to battle me...hmm.

   Before he could speak he was approached by Doc and Greninja. The ninja bowed to him and nodded at Scootaloo as she was telling the princesses about the battle. Weiss cocked an eyebrow.

   "You sure?"

   Greninja nodded again. He had stayed out of the battle with Royal Flush so that he could watch from the sidelines and get Gene to safety when he had a chance. But when Joker started shooting his concern had shifted to his own family for a brief moment, and he had had to dodge two of the ricochet bullets. In the time it took for him to recover and put his concentration back on Gene the little filly had already saved Doc and took a bullet to her wins. He had taught her Quick Attack, and if he hadn't done that then she would never have been able to do that. He felt both grateful and guilty. He would train her properly now.

   Weiss nodded and looked to Doc.

   "I owe the kid." she said simply.

   "Okay that's two. Xavier I want you in the sky as usual, Edge stay out of sight unless we need some help or a quick getaway." he thought for a moment. "Any volunteers for battling the trainers who will almost certainly not leave us alone until we beat them?"

   Pancha raised her hand.

   "Anyone who won't accidentally cause serious injuries to the pokemon in question?"

   Pancha put her hand down.

   Weiss felt something bump into his legs. Looking down and around his feet Weiss found the Voltorb trying to get his attention. "What do you want?"

   "Can I come?" the small Electric type asked.

   Weiss raised an eyebrow at the question. "Why would I take you with me?"

   "Before all of this...crazy...I was living in a metal scrapyard, and feeding on the electromagnetic energy that built up in the iron. It was boring except for when it wasn't, and when it wasn't I was fighting the invading pokemon who wanted my turf. It sucked and even if I wanted to go back I have no idea where it is."

   "That doesn't answer my question." Weiss told the Voltorb. "Why would I bring you with me on mission where I'm supposed to protect someone while pretending to be a regular trainer?"

   "I could battle the other trainers for you."

   Weiss had to admit that it was a good idea. He wouldn't be using the Voltorb for the actual mission so his life would not be put in danger, and it would help his cover if he had a weak pokemon that he was trying to make stronger. "What moves do you know?"

   "Electro Ball, Roll Out, Spark, Eerie Impulse, and Self Destruct."

   "Hmm, not a bad starting set, and you can always learn more." Weiss thought about it one last time before he shrugged. "So what do I call you?"

   "Scootaloo gave me a name." the ball pokemon said proudly. "It's Sparky Sparky Boom Boom!"

   "...Do I have to call you that?"

   "Yes!" Sparky Sparky Boom Boom told him. "Well you can shorten it to Sparky."

   Weiss shrugged and reached into his coat for a spare pokeball. In the process of rummaging around in his many pockets Weiss accidentally dislodged a very different and unique pokeball. The Luxury Ball fell and rolled on the ground, and stopped just in front of Sparky Sparky Boom Boom.

   Sparky Sparky Boom Boom's eyebrows rose up as even a wild pokemon would recognize such a valuable item. He tilted himself forward and bumped the button to expand the ball, and again to make it capture him. Ding!

   "Eh?" Weiss looked down at the now filled pokeball, and his right eye twitched repeatedly.

   "Hey Rouge?" Pancha whispered to her friend. "Is that the same Luxury Ball that Weiss had hacked to have the inside look like Alto Mare, and was going to give to Latias if ever retired and asked her to stay with him?"

   "From the look of his face I'd say yes." Rouge sweatdropped.

   Sparky Sparky Boom Boom popped out of his new Luxury Ball with an ecstatic look in his face. "It's awesome in there!"

   Weiss carefully smiled as his right eye continued to twitch. "Glad *twitch* you *twitch* like *twitch* it."

   "So you are not going to really need many of us for a while, right?" Roll asked.

   Weiss sighed, and chose to just forget about the ball. It was not like he would ever actually force Latias to stay in a pokeball no matter how luxurious it was, but the money that had gone into the hacked Luxury Ball was now wasted on a random little Voltorb. He could get a new one, maybe.

   "Yeah the rest of you can just-

   Roll didn't wait to hear the rest. She turned around, grabbed her mate and ran so fast that Shredder's metal body was flapping in the wind like a flag. As they were both getting smaller in the distance a piece of paper floated down in front of Weiss. He picked it up and read it out loud. "On vacation, be back soon, call if you need us, but don't interrupt private time unless it's an emergency."

   "...Like I said, the rest of you can just head back home and wait for orders." Weiss told them all. "I'll send word for two or three more to join us later."

   A very loud yawn was heard by all, and many of the pokemon covered their faces expecting it to be the attack Yawn. But it was only Princess Luna.

   "Apologies everyone *yawn* meditating for three days has that effect, even for Alicorns."

   Celestia glanced at her sister. "So you were just meditating? Nothing else?"

   Meditating and training with Darkrai in the dream realm." Luna confirmed. "Why?"

   "Well there are a few rumors about what you were doing with him for three days in his private chambers." Celestia said sheepishly. "I refused to believe them at first, but you were in there for three days."

   Luna's face darkened as she blushed, and then darkened some more as her temper rose. "Who is responsible for these rumors?"

   Back in the Hall of Legends a small group of Legendary pokemon gathered. They were discussing the rumors that had started flying around about Darkrai and Princess Luna. Among them was Hoopa.

   Hoopa thought that this was a great idea. By spreading the news that they had locked themselves in his room for three days she only had to steadily push Cresselia into marking her territory and taking him for herself. Her friends would finally be together!

   A flash of blue light behind Hoopa stopped the others gossiping in it's tracks. Hoopa blinked and turned around to see what they were all staring at. Her eyes were met with an angry pair of cyan blue eyes.

   "Would you prefer a lecture or to be blasted through a wall?" asked Princess Luna.

   Hoopa thought about it for a few moments. She then flew away and yelled "You can't catch me!"

   "Let the hunt begin." Luna said with a chuckle.

   Mew's eyes glew as she scanned Princess Celestia's mind for the Rage Shift spell. After she found it she focused her power inward to find it in her own move set. Once deleted from her the move was automatically removed from being used by any pokemon species that she had created. Her eyes stopped glowing with a ding. All done!

   Princess Celestia sighed. "Thank you lady Mew."

No need to be so formal, we're friends! Mew giggled with her paws over her mouth. And you hugged my daddy!

  "Yes I did, as a friend nothing more." Celestia shook her head. She saw Mew's ears droop and her eyes get big and watery. The princess chuckled. "I'm surrounded by cute little ponies every day and night, the cute sad face won't work so easily on me."

Aw Rattatas! Mew pouted and kicked a foot paw at the air.

   Princess Celestia rolled her eyes and smiled at the antics of the little pink cat. She looked around the room they were in, Mew's lab. It reminded Celestia of Twilight's room back when she lived in Canterlot, except with lots of odd stuffed animals mixed in with the scientific paperwork. In the center of the room was a pedestal that was projecting an image of a dragon.

   "What is this?" Celestia asked.

Hm? Oh, I've been trying to figure out what to do with the dragons from Equus. Mew floated next to the image and crossed her arms. I mean they are REALLY BIG and...well you know them better than I do.

   The princess smiled warmly as she remembered giving this exact same lesson to her students. "Equestrian dragons share many similarities with other reptiles from Equus, however they have one very important advantage. Dragons are immortal and so they can live forever, but that is not where it ends. You see young one-

I'm older than you.

   -dragons, like other large reptiles, continue to grow larger as they age. Being immortal means that they grow very very large. This growth however is possible only because of the great amounts of food that they eat, so at a certain point in their lives they grow so enormous that no matter how much they eat they cannot trigger their growth, and so they seem to stop growing. Of course once they reach such a size nothing can threaten them, and so they sleep for hundreds of years if allowed to."

   Mew was about to ask some questions, but was interrupted by a pink and purple pokemon adorned with golden rings flew passed her from out of a portal. Hoopa stopped just before she slammed into the wall and frantically looked around.

Hoopa? What's wrong? Mew asked her.

   The answer came in the form of Princess Luna's disembodied head popping out of the portal. "Huzzah! Nowhere left to run!"

   "No no no wait!" Hoopa pleaded and waved her arms frantically. "I'm sorry, I apologize, I won't spread rumors as pranks anymore!"

   Hoopa could not believe how persistent Luna was when it came to getting revenge. She had gotten a head start and jumped through a portal after the first turn around a corner, but Luna had already gotten close enough to jump through it. This had continued for four more portals, and now Hoopa was going to get blasted through a wall.

   "Moon Blast!"

   Hoopa flinched and closed her eyes. She felt something bounce off of her forehead. She looked down and saw a rubber bouncy ball that was designed to look like the moon. Hoopa watched the ball bounce for a bit before looking to Luna. "Was that it?"

   A flash of light burst forth from Luna's horn and a barrage of rubber moon bouncy balls was launched at Hoopa. When it was over Hoopa lay on the floor of Mew's lab covered in rubber moon bouncy balls.

   "We are best prankster princess!" Luna yelled and retracted her head back through the portal laughing all the way.

   Princess Celestia just stood there while Mew just floated in place beside her. Both of them just looked at the scene in front of them with their faces frozen in a 'what the fuck just happened' position, their eyes and mouths wide open. They did not move for a few minutes and had no actual thoughts in their minds because they were now broken. Celestia finally shook head head several times, bid Mew farewell, and walked out of the lab muttering something about switching Luna's coffee to decaf.

   Mew just continue to float and stare. ...wat?

   Melissa Chapman opened the door to her home. She dropped her keys in a bowl on the table next to the door. She walked through the living room, passed the couch, and into the kitchen. After opening the refrigerator and grabbing a drink she called out.

   "Dad! I'm home!"

   Melissa shrugged and figured that her father was out for work. She walked back out of the kitchen took off her jacket and hung it in the closet. After a bit of stretching to work out the kinks from her journey she walked out to the backyard.

   "We're home everyone." Melissa called out and took four pokeballs from her belt.

   From the first pokeball came a tall cream colored equine with black hooves, red eyes, a horn in the center of its forehead, and flames sprouting from its neck tail and hooves. From the second pokeball came a tall black and white striped equine with a jagged white mane extending all the way from its head to its tail which ended in a star shaped tip. From the third pokeball came a large bird with brown and cream colored feathers a red tail, and a long red and yellow crest on its head. From the fourth pokeball came a snow white sea lion like pokemon with black eyes, a black button nose, two short tusks, and a small horn on the top of its head.

   "Everyone say hello to our new friend!" Melissa told them and threw her fifth pokeball up into the air.

   Rainbow Dash hovered in the air at head level with Melissa and looked around at the new place they were at. The other four pokemon all watched her with curiosity. She saw the large stream fed pond that decorated the far end of the rather impressive yard, the flower garden that grew between the pond and the house, and the hedges that grew along the sides as a fence.

   "You guys all get to know each other." Melissa told them. "I'll go get some food ready."

   Rainbow Dash watched the blonde girl go back inside the house. Then she turned back to the others and waved her right front hoof a little nervously. "Uh, hi I'm Rainbow Dash."

   "So very nice to meet you darling, my name is Dew." the seal greeted her in a polite ladylike manner.

   "I'm Peck!" the bird said with a big grin on her beak.

   "Hello." the striped equine said a little gruffly.

   "Ah don't mind him. Strike is just a little slow to warm up to new faces." the fire horse told her. "My name is Rapid, short for Rapidash."

   "Rapidash huh? So you're fast?" Rainbow asked with her front hooves crossed and a smug look on her face. "I happen to be pretty fast myself. Maybe we should have a race sometime."

   Rapid snorted and laughed. "Ha! Gal unless you can beat one hundred and fifty miles per hour you ain't gonna match me."

    Rainbow Dash burst out laughing and clutched her sides. "One fifty is the best that you can do?! I pass that just by getting out of bed."

   "Let's see it then." Strike challenged her.

   Rainbow Dash was off like a shot. She ran the length of the yard and left a trail of rainbow flames in her wake. When she reached the pond she spread her wings and launched herself up into a vertical climb with a rainbow streak trailing behind. After she reached a high enough altitude Rainbow Dash went into a series of zigzagging patterns at a much higher speed than the pokemon watching her had ever seen. Finally she finished with a full circle loop and a nosedive, and stopped just in front of Rapid's face.

   "That. Was. AMAZING!" Melissa screamed from the door. She dropped the containers of food in her arms and ran back into the house. "New routines, better combinations, so awesome!"

   "Um, what just happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

   "What just happened is that we won't see her for at least an hour." Strike said. He then looked at the food with an unamused expression. "And I'm hungry."

   "So then eat." Rainbow told him.

   "None of us can open the food." Peck said and pecked at a container.

   Rainbow Dash shrugged and picked up one of the jars and unscrewed the top. "Who gets what?"

   "Yay!" Peck flapped her wings and dropped a bowl for each of them on the ground.

   Again Rainbow Dash shrugged and didn't try to figure out where the bowls had come from. She just poured each different food into a different bowl and gave herself a mix of what Rapid and Strike were eating.

   Inside the house Melissa had gone up to her room to plan out a new contest routine for her new partner. She had promised that they would find her friends, but until they had some better information about where they were she could make plans for the stage. Melissa briefly looked at the note she had found stuck to her bedroom door. Her father had gone on a trip to the Kalos region to work on a high profile legal case and would be gone for a few days.

   Melissa sighed and not for the first time wished that she could spend more time with her father, but he had a job and she was set on becoming a top coordinator. Of course there was still the Team, but she had honestly only joined because it was a family tradition.

Location: Kalos regional prison, high security sector, visitation wing.

   A middle-aged man in a simple blue business suit sat in a booth on one side of the bulletproof glass. His hair was combed back in a respectable style, his glasses were plain black rimmed pieces that sat lightly on his nose, and he was clean shaven. All together he was a very respectable looking man.

   On the other side of the glass two guards walked in with a prisoner in cuffs between them. The prisoner was set down in the booth opposite of the one the other man sat in. The guards left the room. The prisoner did not waste any time and pressed the button that allowed them to talk.

   "I don't believe we have ever met, who are you?" the prisoner asked, his voice void of emotion.

   "My name is Hedrick Chapman, I'm an environmental lawyer."

   "Why are you here Mr Chapman?" the prisoner asked.

   "To get you out of prison." Mr Chapman answered.

   The prisoner was surprised by this information. "Are you with one of the government organizations that are hiding their connections to me?"

   "No, nothing so trivial." Mr Chapman smiled earnestly. "I do however work for a Team of individuals who simply want to prevent harmful changes in our natural world."

   "Don't waste time with pretty words Mr Chapman. You are here on behalf of Team Eternity."

   "You know about us. Alright, I'll be frank." Mr Chapman mentally threw away the little speech he had planned. "We have a project that we have been working on. The Forever Ball, but we have encountered a few problems with the building and programming. We would appreciate your help."

   "What do you hope to accomplish?"

   "We intend to build a better world, but in order to do that we must break down the old one."

   "And what do I stand to gain from this arrangement?" the prisoner asked emotionlessly. "Aside from getting out of prison that is."

   Mr Chapman smiled as he knew that he had the deal sealed with his next line. "Completely unrestrained freedom of your research, provided that you work on what we need."

   "I accept." the prisoner said without a moment's thought.

   Mr Chapman stood up and pulled out a cellphone. "Glad to have you with us Dr Nurem."

The fate of Vincent Nurem part 1

Fox looked VERY pleased with herself as she ran down the hallway. “Just a little more. Just you wait Nurem, soon you’ll be where you belong,” she grinned, before stopping by a door. Reading it, it seemed to lead to the containment cells of the ‘subjects’. “You’re a complete piece of scum, aren’t you? Sick excuse for a scientist,” she growled, and with a quick flash, disabled the door’s locking system, forcing it to open.

Walking inside, she beheld several cells, each one with a unique ‘mon behind what looked like one-way glass, otherwise they would have reacted to her presence.  Each one had a door stamped with numbers, starting from one on her left and two on her right.  The hallway continued on for quite a while, though the numbers stopped at thirty-six.  The door at the end, though, was stamped with the number thirty-seven.  Curiously, the cell for sixteen was empty, along with a few others afterwards...

Walking down the hall, she was about to start busting them out...when she stopped. “Hold on a sec...bastard must have been experimenting on them for Arceus knows how long. That doesn’t exactly instill trust to humans. If I let them out now...I might end up getting mauled.” she thought. However, for some reason, something spurred her to keep looking. Before long, she came across the cell with the number thirty-seven on it at the end of the hall. Peering inside, her eyes widened when she saw not a Pokemon, but a human boy inside, curled up and fast asleep. Thinking back to what she knew from the various reports, she realized who it was. “Vincent Nurem…” she gasped, before her eyes turned determined as she started disabling the lock. “Hang on, kid. I’m getting you out of this Arceus forsaken pit,” she said, just as the lock was disabled, opening the cell.

The noise startled the kid awake, revealing his green eyes and messy black hair to the phantom thief.  His panic only lessened when he realized that the one in front of him wasn’t someone he knew, but spiked again when the lights failed to come on.  “Who are you?  What’s going on?” the boy asked, clearly nervous as he looked up at the young woman, her red hair flowing out from under her black cavalier hat, and her form concealed by the black cape she wore.  He wrung his white shirt with both of his hands while his eyes darted over her form.

“Relax kid,” Fox said in a reassuring tone, holding his shoulder to keep him from...well...to keep him from doing anything stupid. “I’m getting you out of here, stat.”

He narrowed his eyes at her.  “You didn’t tell me who you are...and how do I know this isn’t some sort of test he’s cooked up?”  That had happened on more than one occasion…

Fox blinked, before sighing. “Sorry, can’t help you there. Even if I said anything, I can’t prove anything. But for names...just call me Fox.”

“Okay, Fox, if you’re here to get me out, answer me this question: how’d you get in?  I know quite a bit about the things keeping us all here, and you’d have to do something drastic to get this far.”  Vincent waved a hand at the lights that had begun to flicker on and off in demonstration.  “An EMP would only work for so long.  There are backups within backups here.  That was made clear to me: escape was futile.  Multiple times.”

“Oh that? Yeah...I kinda knew that the security would be a problem so I...broke it. Funny what a few viruses, bugs, a bucket of water, and an Ice Beam can do to a mainframe,” she chuckled.

Vincent, however, was not amused.  In fact, he was angry.  “You did what to Bit?”  He stated.

“Er...Bit? Who’s Bit? I shorted out a mainframe, not a person,” Fox looked honestly confused at his reaction.

“Bit.  Subject sixteen, as he was also called.  A Porygon2 the doctor broke and forced to serve in the mainframe.  And you just told me you broke him again.”  Vincent had balled up his fists, shaking them slightly.

Fox’s eyes widened, her pupils shrinking till they were little more than pinpricks. “Oh crap…” she groaned. “Kid, if you know anything. ANYTHING at all about the mainframe, tell me what you know if you want us to even have a CHANCE of saving your friend!”

“Only that Bit was to serve as the back-up in case anything like that happened to it...but he also wasn’t supposed to be in it at the time!”

Fox’s mind was running several miles per minute. “Okay...a mainframe has to link up to somewhere. It should be near the control room...with luck the guards are still either ice sculptures or mummies...Okay kid, new plan, we’re getting your friend out. If he still has some survival instincts in him, he should have gone to any secure spot in the mainframe, and if we can find it, we can remove it, hopefully with him still in there. If not...I’m really sorry. I had no idea Nurem had a Pokemon inside the mainframe,” Fox said, sounding very much apologetic.

“There is one spot that is going to be secure, you know,” Vincent mused.  “And it’s the most likely one for Bit to flee to, should he come under assault while he’s in the mainframe.  But you’re not going to like where it is.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but where is it?”

Vincent sighed as he looked at his open door.  “The Doctor’s terminal, of course.”

Fox blinked, before sighing in relief. “Oh...I was afraid you were gonna say it was near a power reactor or something.”

“He also has his own backup generator in his room, and the security systems there are controllable from either his terminal or the wider server dedicated to such,” Vincent elaborated.  “Just like we couldn’t get out, none of us were ever allowed into that room.”

“Not a problem anymore. When I messed up the mainframe, I left a bunch of jammers and scramblers all over the place, and a few bombs too. We also sabotaged the generator so the power distribution would go haywire in the facility. I would have set it for Self destruct too...if it weren’t for the fact that you and these Pokemon were here,” Fox sighed.

“If you can let me and them all out, most of them will listen to me,” Vincent said.  “And...I’m trusting you, Fox.  Bring Bit back to me, please.  It’s not his fault.”

“Done. When this is over, all I want is to see Nurem carted off in a prison car...and to the electric chair if I’m lucky,” Fox smirked at the end. “Just make sure they actually listen. I was going to free them earlier, but...I didn’t want to get mauled.”

“They listen to me or like me because I’m not them,” the boy elaborated.  “And some of them I call family.  The rest...well, they should like the idea that you’re not one of them, either, and that you’re getting us out.  They’ll listen to the both of us, and I’ll warn you if things start turning sour.”  With that, he stood up and hopped off his bed, stretching as he did.

“Alright then, I’m trusting you too on this one, kid,” she smiled, before activating her ear piece. “Okay guys, I’m over in the containment area. We’re doing a rescue mission now, and we might just get some backup. Oh, and Weavile, if you provoke anyone of them, I am NOT saving your butt this time...well, I’ll make sure they don’t kill you at least…” Fox said as she walked out of the cell, before moving on to the occupied cells, Vincent following her.

“These two,” he said, pointing at thirty-five and thirty-six.  “Family.  Close as could be.  If you would?”

“Gotcha,” Fox said as she went to work. Before long, the locks disengaged and the two cell doors opened, revealing a Scyther and a Riolu. Both of them had been asleep, but woke up quickly at the sounds of the doors opening.

“What?” the Scyther asked in Pokespeak.  “Vincent, what’s going on?  Who’s that?”

“Vinny, who is that strange lady?” the Riolu asked.  In response, Vincent crouched down, and the Riolu jumped into his body for a hug.  He then walked over to the Scyther and led the two parties together.

“Fox, meet Lucy and Sam, my brother and sister.  Lucy, Sam, this is Fox.  She’s getting us outta here.”

The Scyther and Riolu turned to look at her with hope in their eyes then, and each stuck an appendage out at her for her to shake.

Fox jumped back a bit in alarm when the Scyther stuck out its arm as it was a...well...BLADE. Upon realizing it was friendly, she calmed down. “Sorry about that,” she chuckled. However, when she remembered that since this wasn’t her team, she couldn’t really understand them, she stuck a hand into her pocket. “Hold on.” and pulled out an odd looking earpiece which she affixed on her left ear. Fiddling with it a bit, she said, “Okay, could you repeat that?”

“I said sorry.  I forget that not everyone is Vincent and knows I can be gentle with these things,” Sam said, waving his scythe-arm around a bit.  “Still, if you don’t wanna shake, I understand.”

Fox frowned, since the translation was still a bit garbled, but she got the gist of it. “No problem. Can’t blame you after you all must have been through hell and back,” she said, before tapping the ear piece. “Need to get some of the bugs out of this thing…”

“What is that thing?” Lucy innocently questioned.  “It looks weird.”

“Its a translator to let humans understand Pokemon. Its still experimental, so looks aren’t really a big concern at the moment,” Fox sighed, as she finally got it to be MOSTLY clear in its translations. “Still needs work though…”

“You mean understanding Pokemon isn’t normal?” Vincent questioned with a tilt of his head.

“Er...no its not. Honestly, you’re the second person I’ve met who could actually understand Pokemon...and somehow I doubt your case is...natural…” Fox sighed as she led them out.

Vincent carefully set Lucy into Sam’s claws and motioned for the two of them to stand by the entrance to the rest of the compound.  The two exchanged a brief nod, understanding what was about to be asked, and the boy turned to Fox again.  “The rest,” he stated, sweeping back at the other cells with one hand.  “If you please.”

“Right, right,” Fox chuckled, as she got to work disabling the doors. However, in the middle of the way, two guards came into the room.

“Hold it right there!” they shouted, guns filled with both tranq darts and bullets at the ready.

“Yeaaaah...I’m kinda busy right now, so please don’t bother me, Mr. I have a bigger problem coming in two seconds,” Fox said dismissively, before both guards were violently pulled out the room, their muffled screams could be heard outside….just as Fox finished disabling several more doors, all of them opening at the same time.

The small mob of surviving test subjects had gathered in front of Lucy and Sam and were milling about, all of them eager to leave, but as Sam kept emphasizing, they would all leave together.  Safety in numbers in this instance.  Plus, there was no chance that any of them were going to be left behind.  Vincent had turned to look at the guards when they spoke up, and blinked a few times at their sudden vanishing act.

“Do I...want to know?  Or should I guess?” the boy asked of his savior.

“Go take a guess. Its more fun for me,” Fox chuckled mischieviously.

“Well,” Vincent said out loud in a mocking tone.  “Considering your earlier remarks to one member of your team, along with your mention of an Ice Beam,” here his tone had turned dark at recalling what it had been used for, before resuming normal operations, “And the fact that only one non-Legendary ‘mon could possibly be that fast, and I presume I have Weavile to thank...unless said Weavile has a name, in which case, I’d ask for it and use it.”

“Nice guess, little detective, but bzzzt, wrong answer. As for Weavile’s name, that...is a secret,” she said in a sing song tone as she watched the subjects mingle.

“How much do you want to bet that I’ll learn it after hearing him talk for ten minutes?  Assuming you don’t tell Weavile I can understand ‘mon,” Vincent shot back, an actual smile on his face.

“Normally, I wouldn’t take you up on the bet. But considering what you’ve been through...I’ll give you five grand out of my own pocket if you find out,” Fox shrugged, not the least bit concerned about losing that much money.

Vincent noticed that the last door had been opened by this point, and turned to the survivors.  “Guys and gals, listen up please!”

More than a few turned to him, and he sighed before picking up a Whismur and gently petting her.  “Guys and gals, listen up please, or I’ll have Wendy start singing!”

With that, the attention of everymon there was Vincent’s, and he smirked again, before turning to Fox.  “The floor is yours,” Vincent said with a nod.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not that great at these kinds of things, but oh well. Long story short, you are all free, and before we leave, we are gonna be getting something from the good doctor’s room, and we need your help. Feel free to horribly dismember any guards you come upon. No big loss to the world there,” Fox shrugged at the end. After everything she had heard about these facilities, as far as she’s concerned, there were no humans here...except for Vincent...the rest were just rabid animals.

One of the subjects spoke up, and the question was rapidly carried around, causing her translator to short out trying to keep up with all the different voices and speed at which they were speaking.

“...cousin Thomas is gonna kill me for that…” Fox groaned as she put away the now broken translator.

“They want to know what you did about the security systems and Bit,” Vincent supplied.

“...only if they promise not to maul me. I didn’t know for Arceus’ sake!” Fox groaned.

A general noise of agreement came from the ‘mon, and Vincent nodded as well.  “They promise.”  One of the ones in front spoke up again, and the boy laughed.  “Yeah, it would be pretty stupid to attack the first one to show us genuine kindness and a way out, wouldn’t it?”

“Alright. I knew getting in here would be a problem with the mainframe online, so I...plugged in several flash drives worth of deadly computer viruses and bugs, before I doused the wiring with a bucket of water AND had my Weavile freeze it with Ice Beam. I even left scramblers and jammers all over the place. In short, I made sure to royally screw this entire facility’s systems before I got in,” Fox explained. Surprisingly, none of the ‘mon in front of her seemed to react too much to the news.  One voice spoke up, and Vincent snapped his head towards it.

“NO!  NOT ‘GOOD’!  He was as much a subject as ANY OF YOU!  He was BROKEN LONG BEFORE most of you CAME HERE!  I WATCHED IT HAPPEN, I KEEP SEEING IT HAPPEN!  No Porygon was meant to take both disks at once!  NONE OF THEM!”  He was absolutely livid at this point in time, but kept going.

“He was programmed to respond to the Doctor’s VOICE-!” he started, only for Fox to suddenly interrupt.

“WHAT? He had voice activated systems? Oh come on, if I had known that, it would have been MUCH easier for me. Like this,” she said, changing her voice into a copy of Dr. Nurem’s at the end. “I wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of sabotaging this place,” she finished, still in Nurem’s voice.

“Considering that you likely couldn’t have perfectly imitated him, yeah, you probably made a good call in forcing him to flee from the server he was in,” Vincent said, not looking at her.  “And he likely had a few routines written into him in the case of something like this happening.  Regardless, Bit had no choice.  Don’t blame him for doing as the Doctor bid during your experiments.”  Vincent finished his rant with a look of rage at the escapees, and none of them could look him in the eyes.

“I did what I could with what leeway I could.  Whenever he was imprecise in ordering Bit around, I exploited it for your comfort, you thankless little- no.  Fox, I’m done.  They can be shown the way out.  They’re no friends of mine anymore.”  Vincent then turned his back on the shamed ‘mon, not capable of looking at them in his current state.

“...if you wanna stick around and help, by all means. If not…” Fox sighed, before tapping her right ear piece. “Liepard, if you would?”

A Liepard came walking into the room. “Anyone who wants out now, follow me. I’ll guide you to the exit...or I’ll MAKE one if needs be,” she said pleasantly, though her tone made some of them shiver.

“No scaring the Pokemon we want to save,” Fox sighed. “Honestly, what am I going to do with you all sometimes…”

Vincent gently set Wendy down, and the entire group of ‘mon slowly walked over to the Liepard, their head hung in shame as they realized their ‘tormentor’ had been one of them the entire time.  Vincent looked up to Sam holding Lucy, the pair of which were still looking at him.  They knew about Bit already and had believed him, but he still pointed at the Liepard.

“I want you both out of here, now,” Vincent demanded of them.

“Only if you come with us,” Sam said in just as firm a tone.  Vincent shook his head in response.

“I know Bit’s code better than anyone here.  Once Fox leads me to his room, I can make him listen.  She wouldn’t be able to.  You two need to leave, now.  This is our first real chance.”  He then looked over to the Liepard and pointed at Sam and Lucy.  “Miss, if you would make sure they’re the first ones out the door, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, kiddo. I’ll have a Hyper Beam prepped and ready. Fox?”

“Right,” Fox nodded, before using several X Sp.Attacks on her, boosting her power to the max...for now.

“Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Vincent said with a roll of his eyes.  “Let the swamp in, why don’t you.”

“Kid’s got a mouth does he? You obviously don’t know about the Fox gang then. We don’t do normal, while impossible is a normal day for us. Besides, Rascal will be around to use Ice Beam soon enough if I DID get a swamp area,” Liepard snorted...before Fox walked up to Vincent and handed him five thousand Poke dollars. “...I said too much didn’t I?” Fox just nodded.

“To be fair, you couldn’t possibly know, miss,” Vincent replied while tucking his newly-won cash in the pocket of his pants.  “Just, FYI, your trainer here ain’t the only one who understands you anymore.”

Liepard blinked. “Wow, and I thought N was the only human who had that kind of gift.”

“We’re in the research facility of a crazy geneticist. Not that surprising,” Fox deadpanned. “Now get going before those items wear off.”

“Right! Come along everyone!” Liepard ordered as she led the Pokemon out.

With a bit more vigor, the subjects followed the Liepard out of the room, though Sam cast another gaze back at Vincent.  Vincent merely nodded in turn and pointed again, and Sam sighed before following the rest out.  The kid then turned to Fox and cracked his knuckles.

“Right.  You lead, I need to go over every single instance I can think of that Bit ever alluded to that would end up with his ‘ownership’ being transferred to me if we’re to try and take him in peacefully.”

“Gotcha. Next stop: The bastard king’s lair!” Fox grinned, before she led him out of the room and down the halls. All the way, Vincent saw either people who were hung upside down in sticky cocoons, or people who had been frozen solid.

“My team has been busy. Good,” Fox chuckled.

“So you have at least one bug-type on your team of some sort of spider,” Vincent mused.  “Y’know, it’d probably save you and them a lot of embarrassment further down the line if you just tell me who and what they all are.”

“Naaah, I like seeing your cute little face when you’re thinking too hard,” Fox laughed, never once losing her playful tone.

“At the moment, the thing I’m ‘thinking too hard about’ is how to properly convince Bit that the Doctor is dead,” Vincent deadpanned back.  “That’s the only way I can get him to agree to transfer ownership of himself to me.”

“...that, or I could go stuff him in a ball. I have a few Ultraballs. I even have a Master ball on me right now,” Fox commented. “As for dead...no thanks. I don’t care much for killing.”

“For the things he’s done, if I had any of his damn concoctions in hand, I’d do it myself,” the boy hissed between his teeth.  “And good luck with the balls: Bit was balled before he was brought here.  He’s just...never used it since.  I don’t even know where it is anymore.”

“Okay, one, no can do. I am NOT letting a kid like you commit murder. I’m going to catch him, leave him to the police, and let THEM do the dirty work. He’s a dead man anyway. Second, is that all? I have some criminal balls on me too. Those can catch already caught Pokemon too, hence why they’re called criminal balls,” Fox said as they moved down the hall.

“Then you better make sure he’s not in there,” Vincent said darkly.  “Or so help me, I will strangle him.  I was forced to watch everything.  And I want him to suffer for it.”

“Yeeaaah...word of advice, don’t talk like that when the cops arrive. Wouldn’t want you to go to a mental institute for anything OTHER than therapy. Sides, I can easily stop you from doing anything stupid. I’ll just wrap you in a nice web cocoon and haul you out of here with your friend...though if you want, I do have a taser or two on me. Feel free to use em,” Fox chuckled at the end.

“On who?” Vincent said with a gesture at the bound guards.  “Your team has done a remarkable job leaving them unfit-” here he gasped as an idea struck him.  “That’s it.”

“Got an idea?”

“One of the protocols states that in the event of the Doctor being declared dead or unfit for duty, that ownership of this facility and all within shall pass to the next in line, and so on and so forth,” Vincent explained rapidly.  “All it needs is two people to agree that he isn’t fit.  The problem has been that there hasn’t been two humans at this facility who weren’t on his payroll...until right now.”

At his words, Vincent promptly found Fox shoving him 2 tasers, and several small balls. “When we get in there, feel free to go crazy. Its all non-lethal. Debilitating though…” Fox offered him an almost malicious grin.

“There’s only one I’d use this on,” Vincent said, sticking the balls and one of the tasers in his front pockets after moving his won cash to one of the back ones.  “And nothing is non-lethal if you have the know-how.  But you’ve already stated you’re going to stop me.  So I question why you gave it to me in the first place.”

“Eh, I honestly don’t care much if old Nurem kicks the bucket. Once the cops get him, the only place he could possibly go with all his crimes, is the executioner. I just don’t care much for actually doing it. And consider this a test of character,” she said.

“The real test would begin once I had Bit,” Vincent stated.  “I need you up until then.  After that, I’m willing to trust you until we get out.  But I’d keep an eye on him if I were you.  He’s...always been a stickler for rules.”

“Meh, fine by me. Once this is all over, you probably won’t see me...except on the news and on wanted posters,” Fox shrugged nonchalantly.

Vincent blinked a few times and shrugged as well.  “You’re helping me get out, and you aren’t him.  Frankly, they could decry your name from the mountaintops, and I’d ignore it.”

“Fair enough. Now then, let’s go see the good doctor,” Fox chuckled, as she set a device on a large metal door, before pulling Vincent into a corner...right before the door exploded.

The room beyond was spartan and neat, except for the recently-added rubble to the floor.  Everything seemed to have been placed just so, and just bespoke of a mind beset by some form of OCD.  A terminal in the corner was softly glowing, and the image of a Porygon2’s head was on it, though slightly glitching every now and again.  All in all, it looked more like a place that was used, not lived in.  There was no real warmth to it at all.

“Nice place he’s got here,” Fox commented sarcastically.

“Quick,” Vincent said, pulling out the chair in front of the desk and sitting himself down in front of it.  “Just follow my lead.  Subject sixteen, activate Delta protocol, version five zero two.”

The computer whirred for a few moments, before a mechanical voice spoke up from it.  “Delta pro-pro-protocol requires TWO humaaaaaans to verify-fy-fy that the DOCtor is unfit.  You only couuuuuuunt for ONE, Vincent.”

“Then I second him. Dr. Nurem is NOT fit for control!” Fox quickly said.

With that, the computer whirred again.  “Identify yoursel-sel-self,” it said.

“Okay...now what?” Fox asked. Sure she could answer, but she doubted a Phantom Thief was in the list, and neither was her real name.

“If you are hu-hu-human and can testiFY to the doctooooor’s state, that is all DELTA protocol requi-qui-quires,” the computer responded.

“Bit actually wants to be free,” Vincent said.  “He just has to go through all the hoops.  Just...tell him who you are and how you know that he’s unfit.”

“Fine. I’m Fox. Phantom Thief Fox. Dr. Nurem is unfit to lead on accounts of insanity, immorality, and if he comes in here, broken bones,” Fox stated.

The computer beeped a few times before the screen lit up green.  “ConTROL transferring...error, cannot-not-not contact any in the neeeeext of line...Greetings, MASTER Vincent.  How may I hellllp you?”

Vincent smiled a bit at that, happy it had actually worked.  “Bit, we’re leaving this place behind.  I’m ordering you to come with me.”

The terminal sparked a few times before the glitchy, erratic Porygon2’s form rose from it.  He nodded once at both of them and turned to stare at Vincent.  “I am at-at-at your disposal, MasTER.”

“Well, we got what we came for. Let’s get out of here,” Fox said.

“Not quite,” Vincent said.  “Bit, where is your ball?”

In response, Bit pointed his head at the Doctor’s bed.  “It is kept neaaaaarby.”

“...Under the mattress? Really? That’s like...the oldest hiding place in the book, next to under the pillow,” Fox deadpanned.

Once she lifted up the mattress, though, a floor-safe made itself evident to her eyes.  “The Doc-doc-doctor did not want to TAKE any chaaaaances with the security of this facility,” Bit explained.

“Well...at least he added a spin to the cliche. Fine, then, let’s just crack this thing open,” Fox simply said, before she started fiddling with the safe. Not long after, it opened. “Jackpot,” she said as she pulled out a Pokeball.

“I’ll take that, if you don’t mind,” Vincent said, holding his hand out.

“Here ya go. Not interested in this kind of treasure anyway,” Fox shrugged as she tossed him the ball.

Vincent caught the thing and turned to Bit with a raised eyebrow.  “Anything you think we need while we’re still here, Bit?”

The program whirred a few times before shaking his head.  “NEGatory.  You have fr-fr-freed the other subjeeeeects, and myself as well.  All that REMAINS is to get me out-out-outside, and the arrrrchives I contain will put the DOCtor away for all tiiiiime.”

“Bit says we’re good,” Vincent translated for Fox.

“Hold it,” Fox said. “What was that last thing he said? It sounded important.”

“Something about how the information he has will put the Doctor away forever,” Vincent expounded with a shrug.

“All by itself? No need to give it to the press or something?” Fox asked, her eyes narrowing. Something wasn’t right here…

Bit dinged a few times as he explained.  “In the event of a to-to-total escape or SYStem failure, the arrrrrchives are to be se-se-sent to Hoenn News, and to every other NEWS network.  They contain informaaaaaation about everything the Doc-Doc-Doctor has done in the past sixteen YEARS.”

“Once we get out, all the information in the archives will be sent to the news networks.  It has things from…”  Vincent sobered a bit before continuing.  “Sixteen years ago?  Hang on, that was before I was born…”

“That...makes absolutely no sense. Why on Earth would Nurem include a protocol that basically puts himself in line for the firing squad?” Fox mused. “Unless…”

The sound of rapid footsteps coming down the hallway snapped the party of humans and ‘mon out of their thinking states.

“Which can wait till later. Let’s get out of here,” Fox quickly said, as she grabbed the Pokeball, returned Bit into it, and promptly scooped Vincent into her arms. “Exit: up!” she chuckled, before dropping a smoke bomb, filling the room with smoke, just as the owner of the footsteps entered. But when the smoke cleared, there was no one there.

“Subject sixteen, respond,” a familiar, cold voice said.

“...Subject sixteen, this is the Doctor.  Respond,” it reiterated, and Vincent had to force himself to breathe normally.

“...I see.  All the subjects are free, including that one, then.  Perhaps it is time we turned the defenses on automatic anyways.  I dislike it for the time it takes to boot up, but needs must.”

There was the sound of clicking noises then, as the Doctor began activating the defenses himself.

“Not on your life, dirt bag,” Fox snickered from her hiding spot in the vents, before she pulled out a switch, and pushed the button on it. The moment she pressed it, a few explosions went off, shaking the facility, before the systems went haywire, as controls sparked, screens were covered in static, before finally, all the screen changed to show a single emblem. A symbol shaped like a black Zoroark head.

“...Phantom Thief Fox, then.  I had suspected as such.  Truly an interesting match of intellects this was.  I look forward to our next meeting, for I have no doubts that even from this, I can recover.”

Meanwhile, on the roof of the facility, a hole was being carved open with a blow torch, before it was pushed open. “Fresh air. Finally,” Fox gasped. It was getting stuffy in there…

“Well...this is novel,” Vincent commented as he pulled himself out of the air vent.  “I’ve heard about these sorts of things, but this is the first I’ve gotten to actually see them.”

“Take it easy with your fill, kid. Cause this is your new life now,” Fox chuckled as she pulled herself out. “And here comes the cavalry,” she added as she noticed several people: Police Officers, surrounding the facility. “Guess Johnny-boy finally managed to get them to move,” she chuckled.

“...What took them so long?” Vincent whispered.  He seemed to be both angry and resigned at the same time.

“Eh, forms, bureaucrats, and politics. The ick of any authority,” Fox chuckled, sticking her tongue out playfully. “But don’t be too hard on them. Some like Johnny-boy really do try their hardest.”

“...They’ll have to work to earn my trust,” Vincent proclaimed before looking over to Fox and holding his hand out.  “If you would?”

“Hm? Oh right, Bit. Here ya go. Take good care of him. Also, here,” she added, before handing him two empty Pokeballs. “For Sam and Lucy. I don’t think you’ve seen the last of those two,” Fox chuckled, as she got up to leave.

“Fair enough, but what now?  I’m...free for the first time...and I have no idea what to do.”  The boy laid back on the roof and looked up to the sky above, sighing wistfully.

Fox smiled slightly. “Tell ya what kid. I kinda like you. Let’s meet up again in a few days, and I promise I’ll help you sort some things out,” she chuckled, before leaning down upon him. “I guarantee you’ll know its me when the time comes,” she whispered into his ear, before standing up. “Well, show’s over,” she chuckled, before her cape wrapped around her in a spiral, before seemingly vanishing into thin air.

Just as she disappeared, Vincent heard something from the side, and turned to see two Spinarak crawling on the roof, a rope of webbing behind them as they stuck it to the roof.

“And you would be the ones responsible for quite a few webbed guards,” Vincent deduced.  “Well that, or you have a bigger brother I should be worried about.  Thank you.”

“You’re-”

“-welcome,” the two Spinaraks said, the male talking first, followed by the female.

“It was our pleasure,” they finished together in perfect synch.

“...Okay, that could get freaky or annoying real fast,” the boy said.  “And I dealt with a Whismur with a Jigglypuff’s voice.  So.  Is there a reason you two came up here besides for me to thank you?”

Both Spinaraks just gestured to the trail of webbing, as two familiar appendages climbed on to the roof.

“No way.  You brought them here?”  Vincent wasn’t quite sure he could believe what he was seeing at the moment.

“Again, you’re welcome,” the Spinaraks said in synch, before crawling off, no doubt back to their Trainer.

“Wait, can I at least know your names?” the boy called after them.

“Spinner.”

“Charlotte.”

Vincent nodded as they crawled off, before Sam pulled himself up, Lucy riding his shoulders.  “And there you are!” the Scyther crowed as his form finally crested the roof.  “Good to see you again kid, especially on the outside!”

Vincent rushed the Scyther and hugged him.  A heartwarming scene that only got more so when Lucy jumped down and joined in.  “I’m glad you two are safe,” Vincent whispered, before remembering Fox’s gifts to him.  “I have something here for the both of you,” he said, pulling back and revealing the two empty Pokeballs.  “Now I promise you that-”

He was cut off by both Scyther and Riolu pressing the buttons on the displayed balls near instantly, followed by the balls only wobbling slightly and clicking just as quickly.  With a befuddled expression on his face, Vincent opened the balls and released his brother and sister from them.  “You...didn’t let me finish,” he stated.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sam said.  “I trust you.”

“Same here!” Lucy said before resuming her hug.

The scene was interrupted when a Noibat flew up. “Noi!” she called out, before flying back down. Shortly after, a young man with a Combusken by his side climbed up to the roof. “Hey, I found more survivors up here. One of them’s a human boy in his early teens, likely Vincent Nurem!” the man called out to below, before he walked over to them.

Once he drew close, however, the three there flinched.  Vincent spoke for the group.  “What took you so long?”

Jonathan for his part looked taken aback by the question...until he realized what Vincent was likely talking about...and his expression grew guilty, as even them being here was all because Fox had left them a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. “I’m really sorry...I have no excuse to give you, and no words to defend our failure,” he said, bowing in apology.

Sam looked to Vincent and nodded once, and Lucy did the same.  Vincent sighed and rolled his eyes.  “Admitting your failure is a start,” the boy said.  “Just promise me he’ll fry for what he’s done to them all.”

“That I can guarantee. The bastard who did this to you can only hang for what he has done,” Jonathan nodded. “Now then, let’s get you all down. I’ll take you to the station in Laverre, and we can sort things out from there,” he said, smiling gently.

“There, ah, is a rope over there,” Sam said, pointing at where he and Lucy had come up. “Granted, it’s made of Spinarak webs, but it’d work.”

Seeing it, Jonathan only gave them a flat stare. “...Fox?” he deadpanned.

“Considering she got me, them, the rest, and even Bit out,” Vincent deadpanned back, “I’m more inclined to trust her than you at this point.”

“...fair enough,” Jonathan sighed. “Honestly sometimes...I really wonder what you’re doing on the wrong side of the law with how much good you do sometimes…” Jonathan mentally sighed as he helped them down. No matter how he sliced it, the fact remained that the real hero here was...Phantom Thief Fox. The irony was almost too much.

Once the small family was down (Vincent having put Lucy and Sam in their newly-acquired balls beforehand and letting them go once they were on the ground), they looked at the small horde of other survivors and nodded once.  “Just...ask me or Bit about what they can do.  And especially don’t let the Whismur talk,” Vincent informed Jonathan.

“Duly noted,” Jonathan nodded as a small sheet was draped over Vincent. “Now let’s get you out of here. I doubt you want to stay in the swamps for longer than necessary,” Jonathan chuckled as a bunch of Quagsire walked by. “Then again, if you like Pokemon a lot…”

“I don’t have a problem with ‘mon,” Vincent stated, before looking at the Combusken.  “And usually, they don’t have a problem with me, either.  Your partner’s been pretty quiet, though, so I don’t know…”

“Just wondering why I see a human, but keep smelling a Psychic,” Heat commented, as a Mightyena, Howl, trotted up next to him.

“He’s right. I’m smelling an Abra off the kid,” Howl commented. In response, Vincent reached over and gave the Dark-type a rub behind the ears, much to the Mightyena’s enjoyment if the whimpers he gave were any indication.

“Blame the Doctor for that one.  What I got out of those very few times I could from Bit, that’s what I’m spliced with,” Vincent said in response to both ‘mon’s statements.

“Okay...that’s a new one. Didn’t know you COULD splice Pokemon DNA into a human,” Jonathan whistled. “Okay, let’s get you all out of here. The paper work this is gonna give us is NOT going to be fun, but we gotta do it. Better sooner than later,” he groaned. Paper work was, and always will be, the bane of his existence. Fox could never compare to the terror that is paper work.

“Guess that also explains why I think the kid can understand us. All Pokemon can understand each other. Guess adding Pokemon DNA does that to humans,” Heat commented as he and Howl walked back to Jonathan’s side.

“Yeah, Vinny always could understand us,” Lucy commented, not letting up from her hug for a second.  “Is it really that weird?”

After Heat translated for him, Jonathan just groaned. Suddenly he had a feeling this was gonna be more trouble than he thought. “Yeah, it is. Now let’s get you all out of here. For real this time,” he sighed, before picking Vincent and Lucy up and carrying them down the path towards Laverre City.

“...If anything happens, I will not be pleased,” Sam stated as he stalked after the human that had his younger brother and sister.

“If anything happened to them on his watch, Jonathan might not bother dodging,” Echo piped up as she flew alongside him.

“He’ll make the third human I’ve ever trusted,” Sam retorted.  “And that’s stretching the word ‘trust.’  You’d best be right, little bat.”

Echo just shrugged and flew after her Trainer.

After an hour, all of them entered into Laverre City. “Welcome to Laverre City. Otherwise known as the City of Otherworldly Dreams,” Jonathan said as he put Vincent and Lucy down. Shortly after, Sam walked up and stood next to his ‘brother’, and Vincent looked around with wide eyes.

“Okay, the pictures Bit snuck out?  One thing.  Seeing it for myself?  Another thing entirely.”  He actually had a smile on as he took in the sensations.  “I...think I’m going to like it out here.”

“Glad to hear it. Since you just got out, I doubt you want to be stuck in the station for what might be hours,” Jonathan said.

“Sam,” Vincent said, turning to the Scyther, “Any idea how much a typical room in a hotel would cost?”

The Scyther just shrugged.  “I stayed with an old man until he passed away in his sleep before I met you guys.  We didn’t, ah, exactly touch on that subject.”  Here he blushed and looked away.

Vincent shrugged again and looked to John.  “I have a little money.  Is there a good hotel in this town I could use for the duration?”

“Well...yeah, you could find one or two,” Jonathan started. “But...you know what, I’m probably gonna get into trouble for this, but what the heck,” he smiled slightly. “Tell ya what, you go with Heat, Howl, and Echo and see the town. When you’re done, follow them back to my place. Its not much, since I’m also only renting a place here temporarily, but it’ll do. And its free of charge,” Jonathan smiled, before adding, “Though...where did you get… FIVE THOUSAND?!!” he gasped in surprise when he saw the amount of money Vincent had. He was expecting a hundred at most, if not at all, but this...took the cake.

“Oh, I won a bet with Fox.  She bet I couldn’t guess the name of one of her team, and another one all but told me, so…”  Vincent smiled before putting the money back in his back pocket.  “Thank you for the offer, mister...I don’t believe we ever were properly introduced,” Vincent observed.

“Jonathan. Jonathan Trace. I’m the officer in charge of Fox’s case...speaking of which, I don’t suppose you could tell me what the names of any of her Pokemon were, could you?” he said.

“Why yes, I do possess basic communication skills,” Vincent observed.  “However, seeing as she got to me first…”  With that, he turned to the town and waved a hand behind him.  “C’mon you three, or else I’ll never find your Trainer’s home in this mess!”

Jonathan just looked at him with a bemused expression. “Alright, I get it. Considering she did save you...I’ll let it slide,” Jonathan smiled slightly. “Fair warning though, DON’T tell any of the other officers that you have any clues on Fox. They’re not as...understanding as I am…” he sighed. He wished more officers were more...honorable sometimes.

“Fair enough,” Vincent said with a nod.  “And unless they know exactly how to ask, I doubt I’ll have to give any exact answers.”  He hoped that was enough of a clue to the detective as to how his own mind worked before he began walking off.

Jonathan did understand the meaning behind the statement. Vincent was basically saying that as long as he specified which one he wanted to know about, he would answer but… “If my grandparents saw this, they’d be rolling in their graves. But…” he sighed before looking at the sky. “You did good today, Fox. I’ll leave this be for now,” he smiled, before turning to his Pokemon. “Go on, get. I’ll deal with the paperwork,” he smiled, as the three of them went after the boy.

“Oh hey there, finally decided to join us on our little jaunt?” Sam questioned as he gave Lucy a piggy-back ride.

“Don’t push us, bug,” Heat jabbed in bemusement.

“We’re the guides here, so keep up,” Echo chuckled, before they led them around town.

“And here we have Laverre City Gym,” Howl said as they walked by the building built into the massive tree. “Current Gym Leader is Miss Valerie, and her specialty is Fairy-type Pokemon. Not the best matchup for you guys at the moment,” he chuckled at the end.

Sam merely fluttered his wings, which had suddenly gained a metallic quality to them.  “So you say.”

Vincent, however, was lost in thought.  “For what basis does the one-Type-per-Gym system come from?” he pondered aloud.  “Clearly, I would need to befriend and capture half-a-dozen Pokemon at best, a dozen at worst, and make certain they learned the correct moves, and there would not be a Gym I could not best with one or another by my side.”

“Not that simple. Aside from types, each Gym Leader has their own ‘style’ of battle. So just knowing the right moves and the right type matchups won’t be enough. As for why the singular type specialties...I honestly don’t know,” Heat explained. “I personally always thought it was a mix of preference for each Gym Leader, and as preparation for any trainers aiming for the top,” at this, he turned towards the general direction of where the Kalos Pokemon League was located.

“Ah yeah, that championship thing,” Sam said.  “Doesn’t the Champion only ever get there with a team sorta like what little Vincent here just described?”

“Fifteen, not little,” the boy groused.

“Well, yes. But just because a person has a type specialty, doesn’t mean they ONLY use that type. It’s complicated really,” Echo said, scratching the back of her head.

“Oh really?  Valerie, Fairy…”  Vincent leaned back onto his ‘older brother’ with a smug expression.  “Tell me, what ‘mon partners does she have that wouldn’t be vulnerable to Sam’s Steel Wing?”

“...her Mawile,” Howl simply said. “Her strongest is her Sylveon though. Most likely it was her starter.”

“Hey Lucy, how good are you at punching things?” Vincent asked idly.  In response, Lucy found a nearby rock, lifted one foot, and brought it down on the rock...which split in two, and it had been her size to begin with.

“Ookay...so you’ve got some surprises too,” Heat blinked, before an idea crossed his mind. “If you’re so confident, how about you give it a shot. All gym leaders are required to choose their teams according to the level of the challengers, and in your case...it’d be a 2 on 2 Pokemon battle at most. Wanna try?”

Vincent pulled out Bit’s ball from behind him and held it up to refute one part of what Heat had said.  “Not yet,” the boy replied.  “And maybe not ever.  I want to see these three safe at least, but Bit is going to need...work.  Lots of work and deprogramming.”

“Oh boy...you should have left him with Jonathan then. If you did, he’d have given Bit to his bosses, and they would have had your friend...fixed,” Howl sighed, though he was careful on his choice of words.

“I was talking literally; Bit’s a Porygon2,” Vincent retorted before putting the ball back where he’d gotten it from.  “And tell me they know him as well as I do, I dare you.”

“Fair enough. But unless you’re a computer wiz or something, you’re gonna need help in that department,” Heat said, scratching the back of his head.

“Eh, with Fox’s help, I got Bit to transfer his perceived ownership of himself to me, so he’ll answer all of my inquiries.” Vincent shrugged before finishing. “It’ll only take me five minutes at most to figure out if I need help.”

“Then why not do it now? Not like you’re gonna get anything from waiting. Sides, if this gets messy, I’d rather we do this outside,” Howl suggested.

“...Fair enough,” Vincent replied, before taking the ball out again and tossing it in the air.  With a click, Bit’s erratic and glitchy form was in front of them.

“Greetings, MASter Vincent.  How may I-I-I help yooooooou?” the Porygon2 said.

“...okay, no offense, but that is just wrong,” Howl shuddered.

“Yeah, that is just not right. How did he get that way?” Heat gulped.

“Do we even want to know for that matter?” Echo fluttered behind Heat.

“The Doctor made a Dubious Up-Grade; combined both of a Porygon’s Evolution disks, and fed it to him.  He Evolved, but I can tell you right now, it hurt,” Vincent elaborated.

“I was right, we didn’t want to know…” Echo groaned.

“How the hell does someone make an evolution hurt?! That’s just...not natural,” Heat sighed, while Howl nodded in agreement.

“Whiiiich defines most of us that survived,” Sam said.

“The only unnatural thing here is how messed up it is that it took the world so long to finally save you guys,” Howl growled. “And to think the higher ups keep putting focus on stuff like Pokephilia too…” he muttered under his breath.

“Bit, do you have a self-diagnosis or self-repair function?” the boy asked of the program.

The Program ticked a few times before dinging in response.  “This UNIT does po-po-possess those functions, maaaaaster VINCENT.”

“Excellent,” Vincent said, rubbing his hands together in glee.  “Bit, perform self-diagnosis and self-repair.  Find out what’s wrong with yourself, then fix yourself.”

The Porygon2 locked up for a moment before speaking up again.  “Processes started.  Estimated time until scan finishes: eight hours.  Estimated time until repairs finish: unknown.  Please return this unit to its ball or to a computer to facilitate repairs.”

Vincent pointed Bit’s ball at the hovering mess of a Pokemon, and with a beam of red, Bit was sucked back in.  “Well...that’s a thing,” the boy commented.

“At least you got that taken care of easily enough though,” Echo simply said.

“True enough, at least something was simple in our favor,” Sam agreed with a nod.

“So...while we’re here, do you want to go in anyway? You know, maybe check out the gym...maybe catch some poor trainer getting pummeled along the way,” Heat suggested.

“Battle nut,” Howl and Echo deadpanned.

“Yeah, like I’m the only one who likes to watch a gym battle,” Heat rolled his eyes.

“I...don’t think so,” Vincent replied.  “These guys are essentially my family, plus, hearing others in pain…” Here the boy trailed off before raising a hand to his head.  “Always made the headaches worse.”

“That’s...gonna be a problem,” Howl sighed. “Now that you’re out of the facility, truth is, Pokemon battles are a normal thing here. And since you’re technically a trainer now, there WILL be some people who will challenge you to a battle, so…”

Vincent seemed to grow sad for a moment, before he looked down at the ball in his hands and smiled.  “Oh, is that so?” he said in a too-sweet voice.  “I’ll keep that in mind.  Sam, remind me, what’s the usual forfeit for losing a battle?”

“A good chunk of change,” Sam replied instantly, before taking notice of where Vincent was looking.  “No.  No, you do not get to use Bit when he’s fixed.  That is just unfair, and you know it.”

“Nobody is gonna say anything though. As far as we know, a Porygon is a Porygon. Heck, if he’s as strong as you seem to say he is, you SHOULD have him as a signature Pokemon,” Heat shrugged.

“Bit was the backup for everything and ran the security systems,” Sam explained.  “He was also the trainer in the simulator room.  All that time, working on his special attack...Pray he doesn’t know a move you’re weak to if you face him.”  Sam shuddered at the thought of his ‘sessions’ with Bit and Charge Beam.

The three police Pokemon just shrugged. To them, it sounded like as long as Vincent kept a leash on Bit, he shouldn’t cause any problems if he were used in a battle.

“Plus,” Sam tacked on, “You don’t know what his state is going to be like once he is fixed.”

Vincent sobered a bit at the thought.  “Hadn’t considered that,” the boy said with a slight nod.  “Still, his wide array of moves and his Download ability…”

“Well...we’re not gonna force you to do anything. But all the same, it wouldn’t hurt if you and your family...trained up a bit. Its definitely better than relying on only one Pokemon...or watching them get pummeled in a fight,” Heat sighed.

“Aaaanyway, on a more cheery note, I say we go to the Pokemon fan club next!” Howl suggested.

“Sounds like a fine idea!” Sam said in response.  Lucy jumped into Vincent’s arms and pointed in a random direction.

“Mush!” she commanded.

“You don’t know where it is any more than I do,” Vincent deadpanned.

“...Mush!” she commanded again.

“Yep, she doesn’t know,” Echo chuckled, before they led them towards the right direction.

“Sorry about that. We didn’t know the local kindergarten was having a field trip,” Howl said apologetically. When they had gotten to the fanclub, they were all but swarmed by a horde of kids.

“Eh, you couldn’t have known,” Sam replied with a wave of a scythe.  “And at least the boys were mostly gentle with me.”  It was close, though, even with his thick exoskeleton.

“Speak for yourself,” Echo grumbled. Unfortunately, some of the kids who STILL needed to learn more about Pokemon got her and well...being treated like a stuffed animal was NOT fun.

“I got to sit on Vinny’s shoulders!” Lucy said, still on her new perch.  “It’s fun up here!  Looks like I can see more from up here too!”

“Yeah, it probably looks like that,” Howl smiled.

“Well, since we’ve more or less seen the whole town, let’s head back,” Heat suggested.

“We can do that,” Vincent agreed.  “...Still, why was it important they not know about my...ability?”

“Well...for the police, its more that you know a clue about Fox. Jonathan would rather catch her fair and square, and not resort to taking advantage of her kindness...other officers though...let’s just say they’re not as honorable. As for in general...your dad is unfortunately NOT the only crazy scientist out there. A LOT of people might be interested in figuring out how to re-create what you can do,” Heat sighed, before shuddering at the end.

“Plus, did you want to be there any longer?” Sam questioned.  “They’d have kept you there for hours if they realized you were actually talking to us and hearing us.”

“And that’s a no, so let’s get going,” Vincent replied only quickening his walk in response afterwards.

The small group walked for a while, before coming upon an apartment building. Walking up to the front desk, Heat dinged the bell. “Yes?” one of the staff asked, before seeing Heat. “Ah yes, I assume Mr. Trace will be coming back late today again?” Heat nodded, before the staff sighed. “Very well, I’ll open the door for you,” he sighed, before noticing the new additions. “Friends of yours?” Another nod. “Very well, they may come as well.”

“My thanks,” Vincent said with a nod, following the Combusken onwards.

The apartment they came upon was...simple to say the least. Two bedrooms, one clearly a guest room, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. “Its not much, but Jonathan likes to have apartments like this in every City in case he has to spend a long time in any City. Normally, we live in Anistar city,” Heat explained.

Vincent, Sam, and Lucy all made a beeline for the couch and sighed in relief as they managed to get some rest for their feet.  “Hang on a tic, you’ve been carried this whole day,” Sam pointed out, turning to Lucy’s form.

“Can’t talk, comfy,” she retorted, working herself in deeper on the couch.

“Make yourselves at home. It’ll probably be a while before Jonathan comes home,” Echo smiled.

Vincent took note of the computer screen nearby and fingered Bit’s ball, thinking about letting the program at some hardware...and deciding against it.  He didn’t want the officer to come back to a non-functional computer for however long Bit took.

“Yeaaah...please don’t let the Porygon mess with Jonathan’s computer. That thing is connected to all his computers in each city. All of them have all his data he’s gathered on Phantom Thief Fox. That’s five years worth of work,” Howl sighed. He had gotten worried when the boy eyed the Pokeball, but was glad that he decide not to.

“I will admit I was tempted, but it’d be a poor repayment for his kindness so far to put Bit in his network,” Vincent retorted.  “At least, until Bit is fixed anyways.  Then he might want a Porygon to help him out.”

“Maybe, but Bit is your Pokemon. Besides, all we can do now is wait. So...tv anyone?” Heat offered, picking up the remote.

At the mention of the device, Sam turned red and decided to monitor the viewing for tonight, whereas Lucy and Vincent were curious right off the bat.  “Didn’t you tell us about this, Sam?”

“Ah, yeah,” the Scyther replied, turning more and more red.  “Just...it’s been...a while since I’ve seen one.  So it might take...some time to get reacquainted with…”

“Awesome. Okay, I know the perfect movie we can watch. It should be starting soon. So...I’ll go get dinner ready. So...Pokemon food or human food?” Heat said.

At that, the three rescuees adopted a dead look and recited in monotone their diet for the past few years.  “You will eat this nutrient paste full of vital vitamins and minerals, containing everything a body could need without sacrificing any taste.  You will drink this water filled with the same.  You will partake of this routine every day.”  And the three stuck their tongues out at the conjured memories.

“BLEH!” they stated in unison.

“Hard to sacrifice what you never had,” Vincent commented.

By the time they were done, the three Police Pokemon had stepped back. A few feet back. “Oookay...Burgers and Fries it is,” Howl deadpanned.

“That’s not very healthy,” Echo commented.

“I think healthy food is the last thing they want right now,” Heat deadpanned as the three of them went to work in the kitchen.

Jonathan yawned as he got home. Once again, after filling in his paperwork, he got grilled. AGAIN. About how Fox got away. “Moron. I don’t see him chasing after her,” he grumbled. He loved his job and what he did, but he could do without the annoying bosses. “I’m home,” he said, not expecting anyone to be awake.

The peaceful sight of the three he’d picked up dozing on his couch lasted for all of a second as the sound of an opening door reached them and triggered their reflexes.  Instantly, they were up and in fight-or-flight mode.  Sam stood protectively over Vincent, who was holding Lucy close to himself as their brains all slowly rebooted.  “This...this isn’t there,” the boy whispered.

“Yeah, this isn’t. Its not a dream, and if it is, then Darkrai just sunk to a new low,” Jonathan sighed as he took off his vest and tie, before plopping down on a chair. “Pass me one of the Instant Ramen cups, please,” he sighed tiredly.

Sam did him one better: there had been one too many burgers and some leftover fries, which he put on a plate and passed over to the detective.  “Better than ramen, though still not good for you,” the Scyther observed.

“I’ll burn it off the next time Fox decides to come out,” he simply said, before taking a bite. It was cold, but to the tired officer, it was one of the best things he had ever tasted.

“So...mister Trace, I think there are two things you should know,” Vincent said, slowly leaning forward and prying Lucy off of himself.

“...what did Heat burn this time?” Jonathan deadpanned. He wouldn’t trade Heat for anyone, but sometimes the Combusken was just too enthusiastic for his own good.

“Oh, just the first few burgers, which he ate himself, but that’s not the important part,” Vincent commented before pulling Bit’s ball out from behind himself and putting it in his lap.  “This is Bit...a Porygon2 that was meant to serve as the backup for everything from...there.  He’s currently fixing himself as best as he can, and I’ll check on him when I wake up...but I figured you should know he’s an option.”

“An option to what? Unless he still has problems after he’s done, he’s your Pokemon as far as I’m concerned. The Nurem case is all but closed now too, since every media provider in the world just got a special delivery. Anyone who supports Nurem now is just ASKING to be on death row next to him,” Jonathan sighed tiredly. He was happy, yes he was that Nurem could never harm another Pokemon again without SEVERE repercussions, but still, he had a long day.

“...Guess we missed it then,” Vincent said, before taking the money out next.  “And second...I want you to have this...if you’ll let me give it to you, of course.”

“Eh, you won it from Fox more or less fair and square. Besides, you’re not exactly a member of the Rich family. Keep it, you’ll need it,” Jonathan simply said, pushing the money back.

“True,” Vincent said, pushing it forward again, “But I don’t know how to properly use it.  I want you to use it, to help not only me...but yourself as well.  I think...Fox knew something like this might happen anyways when she gave it to me.”

“Kid. Fox is a whimsical as they come. Personally I think she just wanted to give you something so you wouldn’t find yourself on the streets when you got out. But, if you’d like...I’ll give you a hand. First thing tomorrow, I’ll get you to the Pokemon Center. From there, we can get you an official trainers license, which will give you access to a trainer account, as well as the free services from the Pokemon Centers. After that...I think I know a few funds we could invest some of the money in,” Jonathan smiled slightly.

“I’m still going to repay you for this kindness you’ve shown me,” Vincent replied, finally taking the money back and putting it away in his pocket.

“Vincent. Just live. The nightmare is over. All I want is for you to live life like any other kid your age, and we’ll call it even. Speaking of which, I got some info you might want to know,” he said, as he pulled out a folder with a picture of a woman on it. “See this? Apparently, she’s your mother. Your biological mother. She’s been spending the last fourteen years looking for you after...you know.”

Vincent looked at the folder and gently took it, not quite sure what to make of it.  “I...Do you know where she is right now?”  To say he was stunned would be a slight understatement.

“Last records of her were in Kanto a few weeks ago. Apparently she’s been following any and all leads she could to find you since you were kidnapped. She’s also a well known Pokemon rights activist, though part of the reason was to rally more people to help in her search,” Jonathan smiled. “You’ve got one hell of a mom, kid.”

Vincent blinked a few times before he realized that his vision was blurry, and he wiped away the sudden tears.  “Huh...thought I stopped doing that a while ago,” he commented idly as he noticed the moisture on his sleeve.  “Well...thanks, mister Trace.”

“Just call me Jonathan, or Jon if you’d like. Mr. Trace makes me feel like my dad,” Jonathan chuckled. “As for your mother, unfortunately at the moment nobody really knows where she is, since many of the places she looks are a bit...off the grid. Until we can contact her again, I’ve volunteered to take care of you till then. Its the least I can do after fourteen years of hell you had to deal with. And don’t worry. Its no big deal for me. My family is by no means rich, but we’re...comfortable,” Jonathan said.

“Yeah, just, as I’m sure you noticed,” Vincent said with a weak smile and chuckle, “please, please try to avoid startling us again?  For most of us, it’d not be an issue if you were outside of arm’s reach, but for someone like Bit...there’s no telling what he’d do when he’s fixed and out of the ball.”

“Yeah...I think I should add therapy to the list after all,” Jonathan blinked. “Speaking of which, since the Nurem case is closed more or less, I’ve been ordered to go back to my main branch tomorrow. So yeah...sorry for the sudden info, but I hope you enjoyed your short stay here.”

“Actually,” Sam mused as he thought aloud, “It’d probably be a good idea to get further away from here.  Might help you recover more if you’re not as close.”

Vincent thought about what Sam had said before nodding slowly.  “Eh, fair point. Maybe a change of scenery will help.”

“Great. It’ll take us two days to get back to HQ, so we’ll be stopping by one of the nearby towns first. That would be Dendemille town. Hope you like snow,”Jonathan smiled, before a thought crossed his mind. “Speaking of snow...a good friend of mine is over there right now for her research. Maybe we’ll bump into her along the way.”

Vincent shuddered at the mention of snow, along with Sam.  “Not a big fan of cold,” the boy explained.

“Oh boy, that could be a small problem. Anistar is close to Snowbelle, and while we’re nowhere near as cold as Snowbelle, its often snowing there,” Jonathan scratched his head.

Vincent thought for a moment, before he patted the pocket the money he’d been given was in.  “How much would warm clothing cost, do you think?”

“Laverre doesn’t see much need for it...so...actually, you’d be better off buying it in Dendemille. Here, people don’t really need warm clothing, so the price is higher...maybe 2000 poke dollars per jacket. But In Dendemille, that would only cost you about 1500 poke dollars,” Jonathan suggested.

“So a quick stop there to outfit me, maybe for you to see your friend,” Vincent supplied. “And then on to the main HQ.”

“Yeah, that’ll work...provided Alice isn’t in Frost Cavern...knowing her, that’s probably where she’ll be. Looking for frozen fossils and stuff no doubt,” Jonathan sighed.

“And once we get there, you can put me right in that ball,” Sam said.  “I’m not sticking around cold if I can avoid it.”

Lucy merely hopped back in Vincent’s lap.  “I’m stayin’ with Vinny.  I have a coat of fur, anyways.”

“Plus the stopover will give me time to check on Bit,” Vincent finished.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan. Alright, then I think its time you all turned in. We’ve got a long day of traveling tomorrow,” Jonathan smiled.

The next morning, Jonathan brought Vincent to the Pokemon Center, along with Sam, Lucy, and Bit.

“Good morning, welcome to the Pokemon Center,” the Nurse Joy running the center greeted pleasantly. “Ah, Officer Trace. Are you here to give your Pokemon a check up?”

“Nothing like that, Nurse Joy. I’m here to get Vincent here registered for an official trainer license,” Jonathan smiled back as he motioned to Vincent.

The boy stepped forward a few paces, stopping still well away from the desk.  He...wasn’t fond of doctors or nurses, and with good reason.  “Good morning,” he said nonetheless.

“Is...something wrong?” Nurse Joy asked, a little worried by his reaction. At this point, Jonathan stepped forward and whispered to Nurse Joy, “Yeah...about that. Let me explain. This is Vincent Nurem. We only just saved him yesterday.”

Upon hearing the name, Nurse Joy’s eyes widened at the implication. “Ah...I see...the poor boy. I understand,” she nodded, having heard reports on the infamous doctor, one of which being him kidnapping his own son.

“Well...Vincent does get along with Pokemon more easily,” Jonathan idly commented as a hint.

“Ah, that’s a good idea. Wigglytuff, could you please come here,” Nurse Joy called to the back. Shortly after, a Wigglytuff wearing a nurse hat and apron walked out.

“Ah.  Hello there,” Vincent greeted the fairy.

“Hello!” the Wigglytuff said happily with a big smile. “Welcome!”

“Well she’s certainly energetic,” Vincent commented with a slight smile, taking a small step forwards, Sam and Lucy following.  “I’m here to get registered as an official Trainer.”

“Ah yes, I’ll take care of that immediately. All I need is your name and age, but Officer Trace already told me your name, so all I need is your age, and I can take care of the rest,” Nurse Joy smiled, happy to see the boy getting more comfortable.

“I...think I’m fifteen?  I’d need to see the records to be sure,” Vincent commented scratching his head.

“Alright, I’ll write down fifteen for now. Please wait right here. I won’t be long,” Nurse Joy smiled, before walking to the back.

“So, how you feeling about being a trainer?” Jonathan idly asked.

“Not sure yet,” the boy commented.  “I’m more into the aspect where nobody will be able to take my family from me.”

“Fair enough,” he nodded.

“Don’t you worry. Once your license is done, you and your family can be together forever!” Wigglytuff said with her big smile again.

“And how long does it typically take?” Vincent asked of the fairy, causing her to stop for a moment as she realized the boy had heard and understood her.

“Did you...actually understand what I said?” she asked in surprise. Normally, only Nurse Joy could really understand what she was saying, since they had been together for a long time. Most other trainers could only understand the general feelings she was trying to project.

“I think I’ll start labelling these stages in reaction to this,” the kid mused.  “Stage one, denial.  Not sure about stage two.  Maybe relief?”

“I dunno about that,” Jonathan chuckled, before kneeling down in front of the fairy. “Could you please not tell anyone about this. If word gets out, the kid’ll have more problems than he already had, especially if the wrong people hear of this.”

“Oh...okay,” Wigglytuff stuttered, not sure what to say.

“Look, Jon, I’m happy you’re looking out for me, really I am, but to me, this is just something I do.  I’m not going to be able to hide it easily for a while...or ever.  Why not tell people?  They’ll find out anyways.  Sooner we tell them, the better.  Especially if you say I’m in police protection at the same time.”  Vincent questioned the detective bluntly.

“Well...alright. I just thought we’d at least try to keep any...unwanted attention off of you first, especially since you just got out of that place. Alright kid, its your...gift...so if you want to show it, I won’t stop you,” Jonathan said, scratching the back of his head.

“Best to get it all done at once rather than drag it out,” the former-lab-Rattata commented, speaking both wise words...and from experience.  “Plus, given time, people might forget about it to some degree, or not even believe it if it’s such a weird or rare thing.  Meaning it won’t really matter until the moments like this one happen.”

Jonathan couldn’t help but be surprised again by the boy. Despite living an...isolated life, he seemed very intelligent. Not at all like what he had expected to see. “Alright Vincent, you win,” Jonathan chuckled, raising his arms in mock surrender. “Guess I was wrong to think you needed any protection...other than physical ones.”

“Which we have handled already,” Sam stated with a nod.  Lucy gave off a positive-sounding hum at the Scyther’s statement.

“Especially if Bit really fixes himself,” the little Riolu added.

“Fair point. But just watch yourselves. You might do fine against normal trainers, but if you get any of the Evil Teams on your backs, well...don’t get cocky,” Jonathan sighed in amusement.

As he finished saying that, Nurse Joy came back with a device in her hand. A Pokedex. “Sorry for the wait. Your Pokedex and license are ready,” she said, before placing the Pokedex on a panel on the desk. “Please place your Pokeballs on this panel too, so we can register your Pokemon as well,” she said, motioning to the place for the Pokeballs.

Vincent slowly stepped forward and brought out Lucy and Sam’s balls.  “Do they have to be in them at the moment, or…?” he trailed off, unsure.

“Not to worry. They’re already locked to the balls. Just placing the empty balls will do,” she said.

Vincent nodded and placed the balls of his family next to the ‘dex, before reaching and snagging Bit’s ball as well and holding it in front of him.  “I...don’t think Bit’s ready yet,” he said, before putting the Porygon2 back where he’d gotten him from.

“Alright. But please register him as soon as you can. Any other Pokemon you catch after this will automatically be registered to your ownership,” Nurse Joy explained. “Have a nice day. We hope to see you again,” she smiled and bowed.

Vincent softly smiled in return, before reclaiming the balls and taking the ‘dex.  Upon getting his new gear, he realized a problem, and turned to Jon.  “I...am going to need something to carry this all with at this rate,” the boy wryly observed.

“Well...we’ll see about getting you a backpack for this then. For now, just hold on to them. We’ll get you a backpack when we get to Dendemille. Until then, I can hang on to your Pokedex for you if you’d like,” Jonathan nodded.

“I think I can manage,” Vincent said, his pockets bulging.  “Barely.  Sooner we get to that town, the better.”

“Alright then, let’s get going. Would you like to go by foot or by vehicle? I was thinking we could go by foot so you could take in more sights along the way,” Jonathan smiled.

“Fair enough,” Vincent said, before Lucy climbed over his head and sat on his shoulders.  “But we’re taking shifts with this little height maniac on the way.”

“Mush!” she ordered.

“Fair enough,” Jonathan sweat dropped.

Later, they were all on the road, taking the path towards Dendemille Town.

“Huh,” Vincent said, looking at the leaves crunching underfoot.  “Is it always autumn here?”

“More or less. Its all thanks to the climate,” Jonathan nodded.

“Even this is more chill than I like,” Sam said, now the one carrying Lucy.

“Pretty!” she commented, looking around.  “It’s real nice here.  Colorful.”

“It sure is!” Echo chimed in. She always did enjoy the routes around their home.

“Just watch out for some of the trainers around here. There are a few weirdos every now and then,” Howl commented, while Heat nodded in agreement.

“Be nice you two. Some people are just a little...eccentric,” Jonathan chided.

“I think we can handle eccentric,” Vincent deadpanned.  “Doesn’t get much weirder than us.”

Jonathan just chuckled in response as they walked through the path. Along the way, several trainers challenged Jonathan to a battle. Apparently he was pretty well known around these parts.

“Heat, end it. Overheat,” Jonathan calmly ordered, as Heat fired the flames at his opponent, a Bannet. The attack hit, and after the ensuing explosion, the Bannet collapsed, its eyes swirly.

“Dang, you really don’t let up, Officer,” The Hex Maniac that had challenged him whistled. “Thank you for the battle,” she said as she paid him his winnings, and recalled her Pokemon.

“...Something tells me I’m safer sticking with you for as long as possible,” Vincent commented.

“Just, watch it, will ya?  I felt the heat on that one,” Sam said with a slight wince.

“As long as you stay a good distance away, its no problem,” Heat chuckled, quite satisfied with the battle.

“As for the fight...yeah, I am pretty strong,” Jonathan chuckled, as he pulled out a case, and showed Vincent the inside. There were 5 badges pinned inside it, from the Bug Badge to the Voltage Badge.

“That isn’t bad,” Vincent admitted with a nod.  “I might try something similar one day...assuming I can  find partners as strong as yours that get along well with my family.”

“Don’t force it. Trust me, its better to only have a few Pokemon who you can really bond with, rather than having a hundred that you can’t connect with,” Jonathan smiled as he put the badges away. “Why do you think I only have 3 Pokemon?”

“Because only three would put up with you?” Vincent snarked.  “Seriously, good on you for taking as good care of them as you have...and vice versa,” he said, winking at Jon’s partner ‘mon.

“You’re a good kid, Vincent. Trust me, be true to yourself and you’ll be just fine,” Jonathan smiled before they resumed their travelling.

Once they had gotten to the ruined buildings, Vincent turned to look at them, only slowing down slightly.  “What’s the story behind these?” he questioned.

“That’s the Lost Hotel. Apparently, there used to be a successful Hotel, but something happened years ago that left it in ruins. This is all that’s left,” Jonathan sighed. “Be careful though, that place has become a popular hang out for gangs and stuff, and even a few mercenaries have been known to use it as a meeting point,” Jonathan warned.

“So avoid creepy places, because they’re home to creepy people,” Vincent summarized.  “Sounds logical and reasonable.”

“That and Ghost-types tend to live in areas like that a lot. Course, I’m not worried, since I’ve got Howl with me, and as you saw, Heat can deal with them well enough too,” Jonathan nodded.

In response, Sam lifted a claw that now seemed to be edged with shadows, and Lucy’s arms seemed to be darker as well for some reason.  “Y’all should really stop underestimating his educational programs,” Vincent commented without turning around, knowing what his siblings would be showing off.  “And you two, put the Dark-type moves down.”

Sam and Lucy returned to normal with a grin on their faces.

“Fair enough,” Jonathan shrugged. “I’m just doing my job and at least giving you a warning.”

“Appreciated,” Vincent said with a nod.  “But we can hold our own in a few situations, and  that might expand rapidly, depending on if our third member is salvageable.”

“Just being here so you know I got your back,” Jonathan simply said. “Speaking of which, I can see the town now.”

The chill had finally gotten to be too much for the Scyther, so he passed Lucy off to Vincent and nodded twice.  “Okay, ready.  Lemme out when we’re somewhere warmer.”

In response, Vincent pulled out Sam’s ball and returned his brother to its interior.  By that point in time, Lucy had climbed up onto his shoulders.  “Onwards!” she demanded.

“She’s cute. But I hope she gets a bit more mature when she Evolves,” Heat smiled wryly.

“I hope for quite a few things when she Evolves,” Vincent said, staring off into the distance for a moment before shaking his head and smiling wryly.

“We have shopping to do if I’m not mistaken,” the boy then reminded his escorts.

“Yeah, let’s get going,” Jon nodded, before leading them to the clothing store. Once inside, they quickly picked out warmer clothing for Vincent.

“Well this feels much warmer,” the boy commented as he tried on a fluffy coat, before taking notice of something.  “Um.  Where’s Lucy?”

“Huh? I thought she was with you just a moment ago,” Howl blinked.

“Well she’s not here now,” the boy pointed out, looking around for his wayward sister.

“Well, she had to have gone somewhere...let’s go find some young ladies. Maybe they caught her to huggle her or something,” Heat suggested, before deadpanning at the end.

The moment Vincent moved to follow Heat, his coat giggled, causing the boy to freeze and sigh.  “Found her,” he stated, before the Riolu’s head poked out from the coat in front of his own.

“Hi!” Lucy said before ducking back into the coat.

“...no sugar for the Riolu,” Echo deadpanned. “Or else she’d be bouncing off the walls.” The rest of her team and her trainer nodded in agreement.

“And that’d be without any help in launching her at those walls,” Vincent stated with a wry smile, recalling an incident from not too long ago.  “Comfy in there, Lucy?”

“Warm in here!  I like it.  Gonna nap now.”

“Quick, let’s pay for that coat and get to the hotel before she wakes up. I don’t feel like keeping track of an almost hyper Riolu in this town,” Howl quickly said.

“Would you prefer the alternative?” Vincent bluntly questioned before taking his cash out and handing it to Jon.

“What alternative?” Heat blinked as Jon paid for the coat.

“She could be acting like the things that happened to her in there affected her,” the boy elaborated.  “I prefer this version of her rather than the one that she could be.”

“...suddenly I don’t mind dealing with a hyper Riolu,” all three Pokemon deadpanned.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Jonathan chuckled, as he handed Vincent his change back. Vincent put it in one of the coat’s pockets, along with the Pokedex, making the load easier on his poor pants.

“Just one more thing to take care of before we can be going, Jon,” Vincent said.  “I’d like to borrow Heat for it if I may, seeing as how he’s likely to know Fighting moves if worst comes to worst.”

“...why would you want to go into Frost Cavern? The only reason I wanted to go there is in the event Alice isn’t in town, she’d likely be there,” Jonathan stated.

“You misunderstand,” Vincent said, pulling out Bit’s ball to make his point clearer.  “Lucy’s napping, so I need someone else...and she might not like the idea of hurting him, even if we have to.”

“...alright. Tell ya what, I’ll give you a hand too. Take Bit to the northern exit of town. There’s an open field where nobody will get hurt,” Jonathan said.

“Thank you,” Vincent said before looking at Heat with a raised eyebrow.  “If you want to, of course,” he amended.

“Meh, I don’t see why not. Sides, I always like testing myself against strong opponents,” he grinned.

“And this is why I wonder how you’re not a Blaziken yet,” Jonathan deadpanned, especially since Heat was his main Pokemon for battle. Heat just shrugged in response.

“In that case, we’ll be off for...hopefully not long,” Vincent said.  “Why don’t you call your friend while we check up on Bit?”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll book a room in the hotel for us. Just tell them you’re with me, and they’ll show you the room,” Jonathan nodded, before heading for the hotel.

The fate of Vincent Nurem part 2

“Ready, Heat?” Vincent asked the Combusken, Bit’s ball at the ready.

“Anytime,” Heat grinned, fire already seeping out of his beak.

Vincent tossed the ball upwards, releasing…

Well, it wasn’t a Porygon2 anymore.  Sometime between when he’d been told to fix himself and now, Bit had apparently been upgraded to a Porygon-Z.  Or maybe this was how he was supposed to be?  The program ticked a few times as he took in the surroundings before he spoke to himself.

“Scenery suggests outside world, most likely that of Dendemille town...last known records indicate that Fox was breaking in before Delta Protocol 502 was enacted, transferring ownership of myself to-”

The program cut itself off and turned around, seeing Vincent standing there with a smile on his face.  “Hey Bit.  Feeling better?”

Bit slowly nodded before looking around again.  “Is...this real?” he questioned.

“Well, one way to find out,” Heat suggested, half joking as he raised a clawed arm. “One good punch will do,” he joked.

Bit, however, didn’t take jokes well.  His head rotated around quickly and focused on the unfamiliar, to him, ‘mon.  “Combusken, fire/fighting type.  Exploiting weakness.  PSYBEAM!”

“Bit!” Vincent cried out, but too late, as the multicolored beam of light had already been fired.

“Oh boy…” the Combusken groaned, before he was blasted back. “I was kinda asking for that…” he groaned, his eyes swirly.

“Bit, calm down!  That was Heat, the partner of Detective Jonathan Trace, the man who’s looking after us now that we’re out of there.  I asked him to be here in case you were...less than reasonable,” Vincent educated the program.

Bit ticked a few times before his arms and head hung down.  “Apologies, Heat.  I...still seem to have a few ingrained protocols to being startled,” the program apologized.

“It’s fine. Jon always did say I should watch it with some of my jokes. Well, I learned my lesson now,” he said, still a bit dizzy.

“So Bit, are you...well, yourself again?”  Vincent questioned.

The Porygon-Z considered for a moment, before nodding.  “I appear to have found and corrected a vast majority of the errors present in my systems,” he said.  “I am willing and ready to serve, Vincent.”

“Well, looks to me you got your third Pokemon, kid,” Heat chuckled as he finally shook off the dizziness. “So...is that it? Anything else?”

“There is...much within my memory banks that should be shared,” Bit stated.  “As well, there were some things that the Doctor deleted off of the mainframe, but not myself.  I possess quite a few things that the world should know about, assuming he is behind bars now.”

“Oh yeah, he should be this time. I mean, with all the defenses down and the guards immobilized, rounding up everyone in the facility was easy. Plus, we caught Nurem trying to activate some systems instead of running away….though Jonathan didn’t do the arrest,” Heat commented. “Well, he won’t be there for long. With his record, its only a matter of time before he’s...executed,” Heat sighed at the end.

“Then it is all the more imperative that the data be shared,” Bit proclaimed, before turning his head around in an exact circle.  “Looking for nearest terminal,” he said by way of explanation.

“Why? I mean, wasn’t he a total nut case? Why would this make a difference?” Heat asked in surprise.

“Data goes back sixteen years,” Bit stated.  “The Doctor only became what he is known for after an accident a few years into his seclusion.  I do not know what the information precisely is, but all sides of this story must be shared, as the copies on the mainframe were destroyed.”

“...alright, we can show this to Jonathan. There is a police station in town too. Its small, but it can still connect with the mainframe,” Heat sighed, before they quickly went back into town.

“Alright then, so I’ll see you tonight then. Glad to hear you’ve been finding artifacts that support your research...yeah, I’m doing fine. The kid can be a bit awkward at times, but he’s a strong one. He’ll be just fine. Later,” Jonathan chuckled as he switched off his Xtranceiver. Like he had thought, Alice WAS in Frost Cavern, but her research there was going off without a hitch, so she would be back later in the evening.

At that moment, Heat suddenly came running into the room, followed by Vincent, and a Porygon-Z he assumed was Bit. “...something wrong?”

Bit merely locked eyes on the nearby computer and floated over to it.  “Beginning data transfer,” the program proclaimed, before images started to appear and vanish in rapid succession on the screen.

“Once we determined he was fixed, Bit said he had to share some of the information he had, as the Doctor had deleted the copies on the mainframe, but not on him,” Vincent began.

“...I don’t get it. What difference could more info on Nurem do?” Jonathan said blankly. With how deep Nurem had gotten himself in...only an idiot would defend him, and nothing short of infernal intervention could save him.

“Well, apparently, it goes back to before I was born,” Vincent stated dryly, but perked up a bit afterwards.  “And apparently he wasn’t always so bad, but seeing as how I don’t recall that, I’m taking what Bit’s said with a grain of salt...about the size of a desert.”

“...okay. I don’t see what harm it could do,” Jonathan shrugged as he turned his attention to the computer.

“Transfer complete,” Bit stated.  “Beginning broadcast with first deleted record, sharing with all news outlets, and proceeding through deleted records sequentially.”

“Wait, what?” Jonathan gasped, before looking at the screen. True enough, the data was being broadcasted. “...I am going to be in soooo much trouble if they find out…” Jonathan groaned.

Vincent, out of curiosity, turned the TV in the room on.  While the news networks were still running with the story about the Doctor being apprehended, the anchor was suddenly called off the set.

“...That’s...not good, I’m assuming,” the boy stated.

“I just hope the data doesn’t cause a riot somehow…” Jonathan sighed in resignation.

Eventually the anchor returned, just as Bit finished his broadcast.  “Uh, this just in,” she said with a nervous smile.  “New records from the Doctor paint him in a...well, different light.”

“Oh boy...here comes the riot…” Jonathan groaned. A LOT of people were looking forward to the Doctor hanging when the news of his arrest came out.

“Apparently,” the newslady said, “The start of his crimes wasn’t something we normally associate with his name.  He wanted to save people, one person in particular.  His own mother.”

“Okay, yeah, real funny, Bit,” Vincent said with an eye-roll.  “That’s not the man I know.”

“This...we will be showing the recordings...similar to the ones that were received a day prior...but in a very different light,” the newslady was now speechless at what the videos contained.

“...Bit, what did you show them?” Vincent questioned, now very serious.

“The truth,” the Porygon-Z replied.  “No matter how hard it may be to accept, I showed them nothing less or more than the truth.”

“Question is, will they believe it? Humans aren’t saints. They’re not above blocking out the real truth to facilitate the truth they want to hear,” Jonathan sighed as the recordings began playing.

“...That...that can’t be right,” Vincent whispered as the broadcast finished.

“Hit by a stray attack from a Grumpig...lost sense of morality in process...greedy government spurring him on...scary part is it actually sounds legit,” Jonathan sighed as he looked out the window. True enough a small riot had broken out in the streets, people arguing over what they had just seen. “Unfortunately, all that’s done is made things harder on us. It was much easier when everyone thought he was an abomination…”

“Easier for me, too,” Vincent said, shaking slightly in rage.  “This...It can’t be...but Bit’s never lied before...just...ARGH!” the boy screamed.

“Pillow?” Jonathan offered, giving the boy a pillow to scream into. Vincent grabbed the thing and proceeded to scream his lungs out for a good minute or so, before looking up and quirking his head at the human nearby.

“Um...did you just say ‘poor kid’ or something like that?” he questioned.

“Did I? I think I was too busy trying to wrap my head around this. Honestly, when Fox left us a trail to the facility, I would have grabbed her and kissed her for leading us there. Now…I suddenly feel like the bad guy.”

Vincent opened his mouth to comment, but let out a cry of pain and grabbed his head.  “Ow.  Ow.  Oh goodness OW.”  He looked up and sighed.  “Aspirin?”

“I’ll call room service. How often does that happen?” Jonathan said, a worried look in his eyes as he reached for the phone.

“Whenever I get really angry,” Vincent replied.  “Usually right after I ask people if they said something I just heard too.  So you didn’t say that?”

That’s when something clicked in Jonathan’s mind. “No...I didn’t SAY it...but I was thinking it. Oh Arceus, I don’t know which is crazier. The fact he did it, or the fact it worked...to a certain extent.”

Vincent was now scared as well.  “Um.  Okay, I’m just going to sit here until the world makes sense again,” he said, bracing himself on the bed.  “That...might take a while…”

“If ever. I think that operation did more than let you talk to Pokemon. You’ve got the same powers as them too. An Abra at least,” Jonathan sighed, as he ordered some aspirin from the front desk.

“...I get the feeling this is going to be a thing that keeps happening, then,” Vincent said, shaking slightly.  “I...may need a bottle to take with me, and…”

With that, the stress of his tormentor having another side to him, along with the revelation of the true extent of his modifications, was too much for the boy.  He passed out shortly afterwards.

“Aaand he’s out...so...how much did you guys see or hear?” he asked as the Pokemon stepped into the room.

“Enough. Dang, and it seemed so...easy till now,” Howl sighed.

“Yeah...why can’t anything be straight forward?” Jonathan sighed, before he got a message. “...guess we won’t be seeing Alice till tomorrow. Looks like she’s found something else deeper in the cavern. Oh well, its better this way I suppose. Wouldn’t want her to get caught up in the riots.”

Vincent slowly came to with a wicked headache, and saw a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water nearby.  Thankful for whoever put it out, he popped the pills in his mouth and washed them down before pocketing the bottle.  “Let’s hope they work fast,” the boy muttered, before he felt something small, furry, and most likely cute, impact his back.

“Morning, Vinny!”

Vincent couldn’t help himself, he smiled and turned around, grabbing his sister and plopping her in his lap.  “And morning to you too, Lucy.  What’d I miss?”

“I dunno,” she pouted.  “None of the grown-ups will tell me.”

“Probably cause nothing happened after you woke up,” Echo commented fluttering across the room, right before a plate of warm food was placed next to Vincent.

“You’re just in time for breakfast though,” he chuckled.

“Ah!” Vincent said, smiling again and picking some of it up before glancing at Lucy.  Almost as if on cue, she sat back and opened her mouth while giving off a pleading whine.  Laughing, the boy fed both himself and his sister from the plate.

“Well, looks like things have calmed down. So us getting out of the city shouldn’t be too hard,” Jonathan sighed. “Good thing Alice decided to come back now. Or else she would have been caught in the riots.”

As if on cue, someone started knocking on the door. “Good morning!” came the cheerful voice of a young woman from the door.

The knock caused the two siblings to tense up for a moment, before they breathed deeply and sighed.  “We are never going to get used to that, are we?” Vincent questioned.

Jonathan opened the door, and a young woman promptly pounced on him, causing him to stagger back. “Jonathan! Its been a while!” she laughed as Jonathan tried to maintain balance.

“...It’s like she’s an older version of you,” Vincent said, looking between the arrival and Lucy.

“Hey!” The Riolu said while crossing her arms and huffing.  “I know you’re insulting one of us!”

“Oh? Who is this?” the woman chuckled, before patting Lucy on the head, “And what an adorable Riolu!” she laughed.

Lucy was startled by the sudden contact, as she’d had her back turned, and jumped right into Vincent’s chest.  “Save me, Vinny!” she cried.  Vincent merely stroked her back to calm her down while looking up at the woman who’d come in so suddenly.

“Either you’re Alice,” Vincent deduced, “or there’s some other lady in his life that he knows well enough to get away with that.”

“That’s me. Now that I think about it...you must be Vincent. I bet you’re much happier now that you got away from that horrible place,” Alice nodded, her voice becoming more subdued. “Sorry about that. I was just happy to see Jonathan again after so long. We’ve both just been very busy lately.”

Lucy had slowly calmed down by the now calmer tone Alice was using and Vincent’s comforting strokes.  She turned around and sat down in her brother’s lap, looking up at the lady who’d startled her.  “Wow,” the Riolu commented.  “She’s pretty.”

“Right then, allow me to introduce you, this is Alice Maximilion. We’ve know each other for years now. And Alice, this is Vincent, and the Riolu is Lucy,” Jonathan introduced.

“Its nice to meet you,” Alice nodded.

“Likewise,” Vincent said in return.

“I’m, um...sorry about yelling,” Lucy said bashfully.

Alice just patted her head, having heard the embarrassed tone. “No worries.”  Lucy let out a pleased murr at the sensation, even leaning into it a little.

“So how bad is it out there thanks to Bit’s broadcast?” Vincent idly questioned Alice.

“Could have been worse. People don’t really like hearing that people like Nurem had an actual reason. I have to admit, I nearly dropped an important artifact when I heard the news,” Alice recalled.

“Do you think we could get out of here without an issue?” Vincent asked, before turning to look at the one who’d caused quite the upheaval yesterday.  Bit was still hovering nearby, silent for the moment.

“I don’t see why not. I mean, its not like you sent the data...right?” Alice said.

“Not...me directly,” Vincent said, hedging his answer as Bit came out of sleep mode.

“...we’ll still be okay as long as nobody blabs that your Porygon-Z is the one who sent that data,” Alice simply said.

“Or as long as I don’t talk to anymon,” Vincent snarked while looking over at Jonathan.  “As someone seems to think I need to stop doing.”

Alice actually blinked...then suddenly she was right in Vincent’s face.

“Big mistake, kid,” Jonathan snickered.

“You can talk to Pokemon? Fascinating. That makes you the second known case...then maybe my theory was right…” she started to rattle on. Vincent started for a moment, then reached up with one hand and gently pushed on her body to get her to back off.

“Talking to them isn’t hard, I’m sure you do it everyday.  It’s understanding them that people seem to think is impossible,” Vincent clarified.  “And...please don’t do that.  I don’t react well to sudden scares.”  Neither did Lucy, as she’d returned to hugging her brother over looking at the suddenly strange lady.

Alice blinked when she realized what she was doing. “Ah...sorry about that. I tend to do that whenever I hear anything that deals with my research. I’m researching on human and Pokemon origins. Its not easy since most people don’t seem to like the idea that humans and Pokemon might have the same origin,” Alice apologized.

“An...interesting idea,” Vincent said, though he didn’t take his eyes off of her.  “I wish you the best of luck.”  The boy looked over to the other human in the room for a second before looking back at Alice.  “She always like this?”

“For the last 5 years,” he snickered, earning a light glare from the woman.

“...Promise me she won’t do anything?” Vincent asked of Jon again.

“Don’t worry. She’s harmless,” Jonathan snickered again, this time it earned him a light smack to the back of the head.

“I’m not that bad...am I?” Alice grumbled.

“You are when you go into ‘researcher mode’,” Jonathan deadpanned.  Lucy slowly unstuck herself from Vincent again, and Bit hovered a little closer to Vincent before nodding at him.

“What is your wish, master Vincent?” the program asked.

“Okay, first, cut it out with the title,” Vincent said with an eye-roll.  “We’re getting you out of that mindset if it’s the last thing we do.  And second...you didn’t attach your name to any of the data you broadcast, did you?”

The program considered for a moment, before shaking his head in the negative.  “I did not.  Though I did not censor any information, neither did I think it necessary to take the credit for its reveal.”

“Oh, that’ll make things easier on us, then,” Vincent replied, turning back to Jon and Alice.  “Plan as I see it is get Bit registered to me, then on to Anistar, and try to limit exposure on the way.  Sound good?”

“I got a better idea. How about we get out of this town before anyone retraces the source, THEN we get you registered in Anistar. We can take the train anyway...unless you feel like going through several feet of snow,” Alice commented.

Bit responded to Alice’s words, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to understand, but counting on Vincent to translate anyways.  “In order to break the sequence I used to transmit the data and hide the source, one would require either a super-computer with an assistant not unlike myself, or a network of powerful computers,” Bit said.

“Bit says we can take a few minutes,” Vincent translated.  “If they ever break through whatever he did and find that it came from here, we’ll be long gone.”

“Alright, if he’s sure. I suppose we can take some time,” Jonathan said. “In that case, let’s get you to the Pokemon Center and register Bit.”

“There you go, all registered. Thank you for coming. We hope to see you again,” The Nurse Joy in charge of Dendemille Town said with a bow after they finished registering Bit’s Pokeball to Vincent.

“My thanks,” Vincent replied, taking the ball back and nodding at the Nurse.  He then turned to Alice and Jon and tilted his head.  “Enjoying your passenger there, Alice?”

Indeed, Lucy had gotten over her fear of the strange lady by riding on her shoulders on the way over.

“Why yes, she’s quite light,” Alice chuckled. “And who could say no to such a cute little thing.”

Vincent merely smiled and looked up at where Lucy was sitting.  She responded by pointing one arm out and commanding Alice to mush again.

“I think you’d best give her back, though...unless you’re going our way, of course,” the boy pointed out.

“I am. I live in Anistar City, and most of my research data is there,” Alice said.

“Ah,” Vincent said with a nod.  “Well, you can hold on to her for a little longer then...or give her to one of the others to carry.  Me and Sam had her all of yesterday.”

“Sure. I don’t mind. She’s not exactly heavy,” Alice chuckled.

“We should really get going. The train won’t wait for us,” Jonathan reminded, before recalling his Pokemon.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. We’d better hurry,” Alice nodded.

In response, Lucy jumped down, then hugged Vincent close, worming in under his jacket.  The boy sighed and rolled his eyes, but proceeded anyways.  “Just don’t nap in there,” he warned.

“No promises.  Really warm and snuggly in here,” the Riolu responded.

Alice couldn’t help but chuckle at the display, it was really cute. Jonathan also chuckled in amusement, before they headed for the train station.

“Enjoying the view?” Jonathan asked, as they rode on the train, going over the scenery.

“It looks nice out there,” Vincent commented.  “But at the same time, I can still feel the chill through this coat, so...I much prefer it in here, thanks.”

“Yeah, it tends to get like that. Good thing they built this railway, or else we’d have to ride Mamoswines to get through,” Alice nodded.

“I’m more concerned with proper clothing for me eating up what few funds I have,” the boy retorted.  Lucy’s head poked up through the neck of the jacket once he was done talking, and she took in the scenery as well, with a soft sense of wonder.

“Pretty...But cold out here,” she said, before ducking back in.

“Well...you’ve got some strong Pokemon. One good way is of course…” Alice started.

“They’re my family first,” Vincent interrupted.  “And it’s going to take a while for me to be comfortable with the idea of sending them out into battle.  If ever.”

“Well...I can respect that...hey, if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t his mother looking for him?” Alice asked.

“Yeah, but last anyone heard of her was in Kanto a couple of weeks ago. It might be a while before she gets back on the grid,” Jonathan nodded.

“I see...I know, how about for the time being, if you need a job, you can be my assistant. I’m not asking much. I just need someone to help around my house when I’m doing my research,” she suggested.

“Translation: She needs someone to help her make sense of the ocean of papers,” Jonathan snickered again.

“Ah, well, nobody’s better at data processing than Bit, now that he’s...sane again,” Vincent said, absently fingering the Porygon-Z’s ball.  “Might have to go over what he has in his systems with him one day…”

“Its settled then! You’re hired!” Alice chuckled.

“Well, more like Bit’s hired, I’m sure,” Vincent said with a laugh as well.  “Still, thanks for the help, Miss Alice Maximilion.”

“No problem,” Alice smiled, before kneeling down, and saying softly into his ear. “After all, I did say I’d help you sort things out. Especially now that there is plenty of fresh air.”

Vincent did his best to control his errant emotions, but he still experienced a moment of surprise as the words struck a chord in his memory.  His uncontrollable powers spiked then, gathering Alice’s surface thoughts.

What he got was a flash of an image. Of a woman dressed in black with a cavalier hat and a cape. Fox.

“We’ll talk more later,” she chuckled, before standing back up. “Glad to have you on the team,” Alice smiled.

Vincent was about to say something before his headache hit as an aftereffect of using his power, and he groaned, holding one hand to his head while the other fumbled for the aspirin bottle.  “Owww….they never get any easier,” the boy moaned.

“Alice, quit messing with the poor kid,” Jonathan chided, before adding, “You okay kid? Don’t worry about what Alice said, she likes to tease people she likes,” he chuckled. “So...heard anything interesting from around here?”

Vincent thought rapidly as the pain receded, before going with a vague truth.  “Your friend is quite the interesting lady,” he said, not going into details.  “I think I’m going to enjoy working with her.”

“Yeah, she can be. Especially after you get past her quirks,” he chuckled, earning another playful jab on the shoulder from Alice.

“Yes, well, I’m sure she’s going to learn a few things about me very quickly if she keeps it up,” Vincent said with a small smile of his own.

After arriving in Anistar, the group separated for a bit, with Jonathan and his team going to the station first, while Alice brought Vincent and his family to her house. It was a sizeable house, but didn’t look all too interesting other than the fact that it was pretty big for someone who lived alone.

“Well, here we are. Home sweet home,” she chuckled as they walked in, she then reached out and plucked at an almost invisible string, before plucking it in a sequence.

“This is-”

“-Interesting,” came two familiar voices as a pair of Spinarak descended from the ceiling.

“Spinner, Charlotte,” Vincent said with a nod, passing Lucy off of his shoulders and to Sam’s.  He’d let the Scyther out once they arrived in the town, and finally gotten tired of carrying her.  “I thought as much, Alice...or would you prefer I use your other moniker?”

“Alice is fine when I’m like this,” Alice smiled as she took off her reading glasses. “Now then, shall I give you the grand tour?”

Sam blinked before looking at the Spinarak, then at Alice.  “Vincent, is she?...”

Vincent smiled as well.  “Most likely.  And while I’m not hiding my talent, I’d like to know if you already told your team.  I’m starting to enjoy those faces of shock when they realize what I can do.”

“They already figured it out two nights ago,” Alice simply said, as she took out a pokeball, and lightly tossed it, releasing her Liepard, Shade.

“I was wondering when you were gonna find the kid, Alice,” she chuckled as she trotted up next to her.

“So we’re taking visitors now?” came a mischievous voice as a Weavile, Rascal, jumped down. “Speaking of visitors, they’re already waiting,” he added.

“Business?” Vincent questioned his host.

“Family, actually,” she chuckled. “Though I wasn’t expecting them to come till later today. Guess mom and dad decided to come early.”

“Ah, well, go on and see them,” Vincent urged her.  “I’m sure your team is competent enough to show me around.  They got me out, after all.”

“Hey!” Shade and Rascal snorted. Though the need was quickly unnecessary.

“So this is the boy you helped out?” came a voice from the stairs.

Turning to the source of the voice, Vincent saw a middle aged couple. The man had short red hair that was slightly messy. His eyes were a light brown color, and he was dressed in what looked like a three piece suit with a dark blue vest and pants and a white shirt with a red tie. His expression was that of confidence and a hint of mischief. The woman on the other hand, had long brown hair that flowed straight down her back, and light blue eyes. She was dressed in a simple, but lovely blue dress with a white ribbon on the front. Her expression was that of a gentle and graceful woman.

“So you’re Vincent Nurem. Congratulations on finally escaping,” the man said with a slight smile.

“Now now, dear. Let’s not be rude. Its only fair we introduce ourselves. I’m Maria Maximilion, and this is my husband…” the woman started.

“Ralph Maximilion,” the man smiled, before turning to Alice. “So, how does it feel to know you finally managed to help bring down old Rupert?”

“Quite satisfying...though the recent news has made it a bit...bitter sweet,” Alice sighed at the end.

Ralph smiled when he heard that. “You do our legacy proud, Alice,” he smiled. “And take comfort in knowing that at the very least, now he has a chance for some real help. Who knows, they might just be able to bring him back to his senses.”

“Assuming he has any senses to come back to,” Vincent snarked, before continuing in a more serious tone.  “And I suppose I have you two to thank as well.  Alice didn’t learn the things she did to break me out on her own, I imagine.  So...thanks.”

“Anytime. Since our daughter has seen fit to tell you our secret, allow me to reintroduce myself,” Ralph chuckled, before doing a dramatic bow like someone on the stage. “Ralph Maximilion. The previous Phantom Thief Fox. Alice is both my daughter, apprentice, and as of five years ago, my successor.”

“Then thank you,” Vincent reiterated.  “Oh, and Bit?’

Bit beeped before speaking up.  “Yes, Vincent?”

“What do you recall before being forced to flee the server you were in?”

The program ticked a few times as he went over the data.  “The server was assaulted with various bugs and viruses, which I was in the middle of defeating.  Then it was a bucket of water.  Then it was an Ice B-”  The program cut off as he took notice of Rascal, and two and two started to add up to four.

Rascal for his part was whistling innocently, while pointing at Alice.

“Traitor,” Alice snorted, much to her parents’ amusement.

“I’ll give you three shots,” Vincent said.  “Try not to damage their house too much.”

In response, Bit’s eyes flickered red as he locked on to Rascal.  “Signal beam loaded,” he stated.

“Er...did I mention it was Alice’s idea to add the Ice Beam?” Rascal chuckled nervously...right before there was suddenly a Weavile shaped space in the air for a second as he ran screaming like a frightened little girl.  Bit darted after him, the first beam already firing out of his beak, and Vincent merely laughed.

“Oh, they’re going to get along great,” the boy stated.

“I hope so. Then again, the insurance should cover it. Glad I took out insurance for ‘angry Pokemon’,” Alice scratched the back of her head, before wincing as the sound of something breaking could be heard. “So….about that tour?”

“Like I said, I’ll walk with Spinner, Charlotte, and…” Vincent trailed off as he looked at the Liepard, not knowing her name.

“Shade,” the Liepard supplied.

“Spinner, Charlotte, and Shade.  You can catch up with your parents, and if I run into Bit, I may or may not reign him in.  It’s probably a good idea to let him get a similar Beam attack in on Rascal before too long,” the boy said.

“Okay then, run along. Oh, and do try to keep Bit from doing any serious harm. Rascal can be annoying at times, but he’s still my friend. I like them when they’re not at Yveltal’s door…” Alice said, before she and her parents went upstairs.

Vincent then turned to the three ‘mon Alice had left her with and nodded at them.  “If you would?” he asked.

“So, Alice. Was it just me, or did Vincent actually understand what Shade was saying?” Maria asked her daughter.

“Yeah, he does. Apparently what Rupert did to him...gave him Pokemon abilities or something. So he’s kinda...a Pokemon/human hybrid now,” Alice explained...somewhat.

“That’s possible? Is the boy okay? I know you say that humans might have been Pokemon at one point, but I doubt it would be healthy for a human to suddenly have Pokemon DNA put in them,” Ralph asked, honestly a little worried.

“Well...Vincent seems okay...maybe I’ll ask Bit if Rupert did any other experiments like that. For all we know, he’s the only one,” Alice said, nodding in agreement.

“Well, I do hope the boy is okay. Now then, enough about that. How have you been?” Maria said, before adding with a sly gleam in her eyes, “And how have things been between you and Jonathan?”

“I’ve been fine, and…” Alice blushed at this point. “Jonathan and I are friends, mom. We’re not like that…”

“Oh, but you will be,” Ralph chuckled, joining in on the teasing. “All you need is to get a bit closer. Maybe a nice dinner between the two of you,” he said, wiggly an eyebrow suggestively.

“That’s right Alice. Besides, we want to see some grandkids sometime,” Maria chuckled, playfully nudging her daughter with her elbow.

Alice just blushed in embarrassment.

“So, how do you like our humble abode?” Shade asked as she led them out of the entertainment room.

“It’s better than anything I’ve seen before,” Vincent said honestly, before he felt the wind Rascal generated as he ran by, and snagging Bit’s tail before the pursuit could continue.

“Bit, report.  How many beams have you fired?”

The program whirred angrily, before calming down just a touch.  “Two.  I have yet to get a sufficient fix on that Weavile for the third to be risked.”

“Ah,” Vincent said, releasing the program at that.  “Carry on, then.”

The Porygon-Z darted off again in search of Rascal.

“He’ll be doing that for a while. Rascal has been through the same training as Alice...albeit not as long. He’s also very good at evading, so Bit might have to either go for area attacks, or go point blank,” Shade commented.

“Yes, but Bit’s the one who taught me, so he’ll realize what I just said in about two seconds here, and-”

With that, there was a crack of thunder as Bit unleashed Thunder Wave in an attempt to catch Rascal with paralysis.

“-he’ll start trying to slow Rascal down,” Vincent finished with a small smile.

“Hey! That was three shots!” Rascal shouted while paralyzed.

Bit drew close to Rascal while Vincent elaborated to Shade.  “Seeing as how I asked him how many beams he’d fired, not how many shots he had used, Bit took it to mean he’s only allowed to fire three Signal Beams, while everything else is fair game.  Give him an inch, he’ll use it.”

“Ah...gotcha,” Shade commented...right before the sound of pain was heard…

“Agh! Foul! I call foul!!” Rascal shouted in between screams.

“Account settled...we have exchanged Beam attacks.  Might I recommend not doing anything like your previous assault on me again?” Bit’s slightly-angry tones made themselves known after Rascal was done complaining.

“Fine fine! Just don’t get in our way, and we have nothing to worry about!” Rascal groaned.

Vincent and his family had slowly settled into their new routine around the Maximilion house.  For most of them, it wasn’t anything much more than cleaning or helping move things around...mostly moving for Sam, finding things for Lucy, and cleaning what he could reach for Vincent.  Bit, however, nearly devoured Alice’s records in one day before presenting her with a series of orderly binders that not only encompassed, but also cross-referenced her research where applicable.  The system he used showed her where she was on to something and where she’d gotten a bit too far off the rails.

When she saw what he had done, the woman had literally grabbed the Porygon and kissed him on the...beak...mouth...thing, while squeezing the life out of him. It literally took a crowbar to pry the girl off of him.

“Enjoy your first kiss, Bit?” Sam snarked.

“This unit does not have a mouth to kiss with,” he replied as his pink portions slowly grew even brighter.  “Nor a gender, technically speaking.”

“Excuse Alice. She was just so happy when you showed her what you did. You just jump started her research by months if not a year,” Shade nodded.

“This unit merely followed one of the primary directives: repair and organize all data.  Where would you like the digital copy stored within my memory?” Bit questioned while tilting his disconnected head.

“Wait. You did what?” Alice blinked when she heard that.

“All data is easily transcribed to a digital medium through me,” Bit said.  Fortunately, Vincent translated.

“Once he was done organizing your files, he probably had a set in his memory just from looking at them, so he did the same thing all over again...or maybe he organized both at once?  Point is, your research exists here,” the boy tapped the binders, before tapping Bit’s body.  “And here.  Just tell him where you want the digital version.”

“....” Alice didn’t say a word...before Vincent and Bit suddenly found themselves in a bone crushing hug. “Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!” the girl said. “If there is anything you want, anything at all, just let me know, and I’ll get it for you. Heck, I’m so happy right now, if you asked me to go catch Arceus, I’d do it!”

Bit ticked as he pondered the question, while Vincent had a response ready.  “Air!” he gasped, not liking the feeling of his trachea collapsing under her onslaught.

Alice let him go instantly. “Sorry.”

Vincent coughed a few times before waving her off.  “Not...a problem.  Just gimmie...a moment.”

Bit finally dinged as he came up with something.  “This unit would appreciate a terminal for its own use.  Mostly for self-maintenance, but also so it can communicate without needing to use Vincent’s unique abilities.”

“Bit wants a computer of his own,” Vincent relayed.

“I’d get him a Supercomputer, custom made if he wants,” Alice grinned.

“The amount of attention that would draw would be most unwise,” the Porygon-Z stated.  “However, a high-end model would not go amiss.”

“The best would draw too many eyes,” the boy said, slowly picking himself up.  “Second-best at best if you really want to repay him and stay off the radar.”

“...Shade, I’m going out. Please have them re-file my data today, and please make sure the artifacts are all stored properly,” Alice said, as she grabbed her wallet. She was out the door before they could respond.

“...well, its been a while since I’ve seen Alice so happy,” Shade chuckled in amusement.

“Bit just did what he does when he sees disorderly data,” Vincent commented before placing the binders on a desk.

“Yeah well, Alice hasn’t exactly been having a good time with the scientific community, despite the evidence she’s unearthed,” Shade sighed.

Bit ticked a few times as the others put the information away.  “Legend states that Mew is the mother of all life, human and Pokemon alike...logic would state that one need only find said Legendary and ask.”

“Not so simple. Alice doesn’t really want to bother the Legendaries...not after what humans did to them…” Shade sighed, remembering the artifact that had spurred Alice on so much to prove her theory.

Bit went over the recently acquired records he’d been supplied with and actually winced.  “A fair point,” he conceded.  “Still, at least now she knows where to look in greater detail.”

“Yeah. Alice really hopes that if her data is accepted by the scientific community...maybe, just maybe...the world can go back to how it was supposed to be…” Shade sighed as she shook her head. “But then again…that would require freeing Arceus and all the sealed Legendaries. Not to mention the question of whether or not they held a grudge. Its...complicated.”

Vincent gave the Liepard a deadpan stare.  “Well golly gee, who do you think might be able to understand his point of view out of the ones here?  Granted, none of us were held for nearly as long as he’s supposedly been, but I wouldn’t blame him if he did have a chip on his shoulder about humans!”

“And that’s why Alice is hesitant sometimes. She wants to help make the world a better place...not bring an angry God down on our heads,” the Liepard deadpanned.

“Well the first step would be getting him out,” Vincent commented.  “Step two would probably be leave your Pokeballs at home.  Don’t need to give him any wrong impressions about why you want him out of his prison.”

“Yeah well, to start with, we’d need to find the keys. And unfortunately, those have been missing for some time now. The irony is that previous Foxes have gotten their hands on the Plates, but never kept them,” Shade sighed.

“...Why not?” Lucy questioned.

“Yeah, something that’s a key to the prison of Arceus sounds like something you’d want to hold onto,” Sam tacked on.

“Fox never keeps what they steal. As for why they’re missing...follow me,” Shade said as she walked into another room. Fiddling with a book case, she revealed a hidden room. “Alice has been getting some data on that lately. Its all inside,” she said as she walked in, followed by the Nurems.

When they got into the room, they noticed that it was covered in papers and articles. What really caught their eyes was some scribbles Alice had left, saying something about ‘Team Eternity’.

“...Oh...kay,” Sam said, reading the articles with a critical eye.

“Up!” Lucy demanded, and Sam sighed before putting her on his shoulders.

“The point of all this eludes me,” Vincent said, looking at the collection.  “Mind summarizing?”

“There have been some rumors circling in the underground lately, about a team calling themselves Team Eternity. Alice has been doing some research on them in secret. She found something a little troubling. It seems unlike other evil Teams, they don’t want to use the legendaries. Rather, they want to seal them away PERMANENTLY if possible. Alice is pretty sure that they are remnants of the old civilization, likely descendants of the same humans who sealed away the Legendaries the first time. We believe they’re the ones responsible for the recent disappearance of the Elemental Plates from the grid...or at least any attempts to find them,” Shade explained.

“...So they would seal away all the Legendaries...to what end?” Vincent asked in a slightly subdued voice.

“Why, to prevent any chances of the world changing of course. The original perpetrators of the seal didn’t have any ‘noble’ intentions...as far as Alice has managed to find, their real motive was NOT to ‘free humanity from the tyranny of the Legendaries’. They just didn’t want anyone stopping them from doing as they please. Why do you think Pokemon are now so...well...slaves isn’t the right word for it for the majority of the world...but they certainly aren’t treated equal to humans,” Shade explained again.

“You seem to forget my family,” Vincent said, taking Lucy off of Sam’s shoulders and hugging her close.  “I treat them as my equals, because in my eyes, they are.”

“I meant in general. The laws governing the world nowadays don’t see Pokemon as being equal to humans. Heck, some of them seem to think Pokemon aren’t capable of making their own decisions with how trainers are blamed for anything and everything, with said Pokemon usually being taken away for...training or something,” Shade sighed.

“Then what we really need,” Vincent said, his mind whirling, “Is to raise people who can understand ‘mon like I do, who treat them like I do, without the price tag my views had...and get them into positions where they can make a difference.  Legends are nice to think about and all, but anything worth fighting for, you should fight for, not rely on a Legend to change for you.”

“What do you think Alice is trying to do? She’s not just chasing after Legends. Heck, if she can help it, she doesn’t want to rely on the Legendaries. She wants people to understand how things once were and present proof that the legends were real. By raising that awareness, she hopes that maybe, just maybe, the world will slowly change. She even has wills ready just in case something happens to her. Especially now…” Shade sighed.

“Yes, well, let us try to make sure nothing does,” Vincent said as he cast another look around.  “After all, she’s the first one to have shown us such kindness, so we have a vested interest in her well-being.”

Shade nodded...before an idea hit her. “And you can. Bit, once Alice comes back with the computer, could you scour for data. Anything and everything you find on Team Eternity will be helpful. Heck, if you can, a few viruses set loose on any of their servers if you find any couldn’t hurt. As it is now, with what you’ve done, Alice will be able to get conclusive data more easily...but when she does, she may come into their cross hairs assuming they’ll try and stop her.”

Bit thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.  “I can try.  I make no promises that I will be successful, but I will at least try.”

“That’s all I ask,” Shade nodded.

A few days later, Alice was idly reading the paper while on break, while Vincent happened to be reading a book nearby. However, when he looked towards her, he noticed a mischievous grin on her face, before she plopped the paper down and promptly got up.

Upon reading the cover story, it appeared that some sort of rare meteorite was on display in the nearby museum.  Thinking nothing more about the subject, Vincent shrugged and returned to his book.

Later though, that changed when Vincent sat down to watch the evening news with his family. At first, it was a normal news report, when suddenly there was an interruption. “We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special report. This just in, there has been another notice from the infamous Phantom Thief Fox, this time to the Anistar Museum,” the anchorman said, before a copy of the note was shown.

‘The Meteorite will be mine. Phantom Thief Fox’

was what was written on it. “Police have issued a citywide alert, as they prepare to protect the meteorite. Local officer, Detective Jonathan Trace had this to say,” the newscaster said as the screen changed to show Jonathan surrounded by reporters.

“As of currently, we are checking for any and all possible infiltration routes throughout the museum. Ideally we would have liked for visitors to not come until after Fox’s latest escapade, but unfortunately, the museum management has insisted that visitors still be allowed as normal. As such we will simply have to adapt,” he sighed.

Vincent put two and two together remarkably fast, and got up from his seat to go find Alice.

Meanwhile, Alice was down in her secret room under a different section of the house, pulling on her costume, having just stepped out of the shower, her hair now red from the special dye she used to make her hair like that of a natural red head. However, just as she was about to put on her cape, Vincent came running in. “Something wrong, Vinny?” she chuckled.

“You’re going out,” he stated bluntly.  “Why?  You don’t need to steal something like that meteorite.”

“Vincent, I don’t need to steal any of the things I did,” Alice said. “Besides, I haven’t gone out for a while. Can’t let the police get complacent,” she chuckled.

“So you do this so they can sharpen their skills?” Vincent asked with a soft snort and an eye-roll.  “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to it than that?”

“Right now? Not really. But in the long run? Definitely. Anyway, you know how the police tend to be a little...slow, right?” she started. Vincent’s deadpan stare answered that question. “Well now, picture this. What would happen if they had to go up against someone who kept pushing them to their limits, while rubbing it in when they don’t succeed?”

“You liken yourself to a virus and them the immune system.  All in all, not the most flattering of comparisons,” the boy said with a chuckle.

“I prefer to think myself an ‘immunization’,” Alice chuckled back, as she put on the rest of her Fox outfit. “But I think you get the point.”

“Still, every heist you pull puts you in danger of them one day catching you,” Vincent pointed out.  “And...I’d really rather they didn’t.  You’re the one that saved us, after all.”

“That’s just the risk I run as Fox. I knew that was a possibility since I first took up the title. But don’t worry,” Fox smiled, tipping her hat over. “I have no intention of making it easy for them.”

“And I’m sure the Doctor had no intention of being found by anyone with a shred of moral fiber,” the boy retorted, before mellowing.  “Just...take care out there?”

“Always. And Vincent, know this. No matter what you do, risk is always going to be a part of life. You can’t be afraid to take a gamble when you have to. The only difference is I just happen to take bigger ones more often. But...I have no regrets of becoming Fox. Now you sit tight. I’ll be back later tonight,” she smiled, ruffling his hair, before she turned to leave. Vincent looked at Fox’s team, who had just about left as well, and said one thing to them.

“Please take care of her.”

“With our lives,” they all nodded.

With that, the Fox was out to strike again, and Vincent sighed.  He’d just about made a difficult choice...and now he would have to go see Bit.  It only took him five minutes to get to the room with his new terminal, and Vincent sat himself in front of it.

“Hello Vincent.  What do you desire to do?”

Bit’s voice called the boy out of his contemplative state, and he asked a simple question of the program.  “Are they still waiting?”

The response took Bit a few seconds to deliver.  “Yes, the court would still accept your words, should you choose to give them.  They have yet to decide the doctor’s ultimate fate.  There is...far too much for them to go over still.”  A pause then, and Bit spoke up again.  “You don’t have to do it, Vincent.  It must be hard, but nobody would blame you if you kept silent.”

“I would,” the boy fired back.  “Bit...begin recording.”

(the next morning)

Once again, the headlines showed that Fox had done the impossible, and despite all the police’s attempts, had stolen the meteorite, only to return it again by morning. However, this time, she wasn’t the only one the news loved.

“The news this morning,” the TV stated as Vincent turned it on, “Is full of crime...and possibly punishment?  Last night, Phantom Thief Fox did the impossible again, stealing the Meteorite and returning it, but really boys and girls, by this point in time, we’ve come to expect that when Fox makes a promise, Fox keeps it.  No, the thing nobody was expecting was little Vincent Nurem not only speaking up...but what he said as well.”

Vincent’s voice came from the speakers then.  “Despite everything he ever did, if Bit is right, then there used to be a man under that monster’s skin.  I pray that you all will listen to my words...and let him live, for now.”

The news anchor cut in at that point.  “Yes, apparently, the boy says Doctor Rupert Nurem should live for the moment...though the why is interesting.”

“Killing him would solve nothing.  What would his death accomplish?  Whereas if you can find a strong enough Psychic...you might be able to heal him, and then with his life, he might be able to do something, anything, to make up for all the blood on his hands...though at this point, he’s really drowning in the stuff.”

Vincent walked off then, heading to the kitchen, as the story finished, at least for the moment.  “The boy who survived the Doctor pleads for his survival.  We’ll go over what he said and the meaning behind it later, and we’ll call on a few psychology experts to see if he means what he’s saying.”

They finished their little snippet with one final quote.  “I do this not because it is easy...believe me, the easiest thing would be to be quiet and let him die, and I almost want to.  I do it...because someone has to.”

“You’re a better man than any of us thought, Vincent,” came Alice’s voice as she stepped into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

“Yes, well, one of my conditions on letting him live was stated plainly just then,” Vincent replied, pouring himself a glass of milk.  “The other is far later on than they showed.  I mostly rambled a little bit, but the general gist is that he should be allowed to live if and only if they can find a Psychic that can restore his sanity.”

“Fair enough. I’d have sent you to a doctor to get examined if you didn’t include that condition,” Alice nodded as she sipped her coffee.

“The other one,” Bit said as he floated in, “Was that the Doctor not be allowed within fifty feet of him ever again, even if he should be healed.  I have already filed the necessary restraining order in preparation.”

“Fair enough. Though if he IS healed, it might not hurt to at least try to reconnect...however little,” Alice sighed.

“No,” Vincent emphasized with a shake of his head.  “Even if he were to be returned to normal, just the sight of him...it would most likely trigger far too many memories.”

“I understand. Can’t say I’m happy to hear that, but I understand,” Alice nodded.

“So your heist last night was a success, I hear,” the boy said, changing tracks with all the subtlety of a train crash.

“Yep. Just like always. They even had an electrified cage to stop me from getting in AND an array of laser tripwires, but I got around it. Used one of my inflating dummies. Dropped it and let it expand over the cage. As usual, only Jonathan realized I was about to dupe them, but his men aren’t exactly smart. One of them opened the cage while several tried to dogpile the dummy. Locking them back in it was REALLY easy. The challenge was outrunning Jonathan. He and his team have gotten better,” she chuckled, looking like someone who had just enjoyed a roller coaster.

“At least you enjoy what you do,” Vincent said with a smile, before sighing himself.  “Now if only I had an idea as to where I should go from here…”

“Well...there’s lots of things. Its a big world out there. You could travel to the other regions. After all, I go to other regions all the time on my business trips. Next time you can come with me,” she suggested.

“That sounds good,” Vincent said idly, “But I can’t be dependant on you forever, Alice.  And the one avenue that’s open to me for earning money at this time is also the one I really don’t want to use.”

“Well...technically you’re my assistant. And as for work...you could always be a counselor. I mean with what you’ve been through, maybe you can help other people with their traumas,” Alice suggested. “Or you could also work to be a researcher. I’m sure your talent would be useful.”

“Call us what we are,” Vincent said with his eyes half-lidded in irritation.  “Sam, Lucy, and myself are the most ineffective trio of maids ever.  Bit’s the real assistant.  Just because I hold his ball doesn’t make his accomplishments mine.”

“Well, you get the job done. My stuff is in order, and the house is clean. Sounds like a good job to me,” Alice shrugged.

“And if you were anyone else, would you have hired us, much less put up with us?” the boy asked.  “I swear, I don’t know how you can just shrug off Sam’s accidents, but at least they’re not as often as they used to be. Factor in Lucy’s energy, though, and her love of heights, and...”

“Alright Vincent, I get it,” Alice sighed. “Yes, you’re right. If you all had been anyone who didn’t REALLY need it, I would have looked for more help. But you’re not. The world may be cruel at times, but that doesn’t mean I have to be. Look, I’m not pushing or asking anything. I’m just here so you know that you’ve always got a shoulder to lean on if you need one. Ask Jonathan too, he’s also trying to be there for you too, despite how busy he is.”

“Fair enough, and speaking of him,” Vincent said, draining his glass, “How long d’you think it’ll take for him to come looking for me, what with that little stunt I pulled last night?”

“Well, seeing as its already about time for them to finish setting up...I’d say right about...now,” she said, and just as she did, the doorbell rang. “See?”

“Your house,” the boy said with a smirk.  “You can answer it.  I have family to go rouse.  If I don’t come back, send someone to pry Lucy off my face.”

“You know, with how happy she’s been lately, I honestly don’t know why she hasn’t evolved yet,” Alice idly commented as she got up to walk to the door.

Bit ticked as he considered the conundrum, before coming to a conclusion: Perhaps...she was only masking her trauma?...

As Alice got to the door, she opened it, revealing, as expected, Jonathan standing in front of her. “Morning, Jonathan,” she said pleasantly.

“Morning, Alice. Is Vincent here?” Jonathan smiled back.

“He’s waking up Sam and Lucy. So if he’s not down in 5 minutes, Lucy probably latched on to him again,” Alice chuckled.

“...how is that Riolu not a Lucario yet again?” Jonathan sighed.

“I just asked that same question a few minutes ago,” Alice chuckled as she let Jonathan in.

Sam walked downstairs and sniffed a few times before making a beeline for the coffee pot.  “Mine mine mine mine MINE!” he said along the way.  “It has been too long!”

“...sometimes I think Sam died and came back a zombie. Only instead of brains, its coffee,” Jonathan deadpanned as the Scyther went straight for the coffee. “So...Vincent?”

Both Scyther and Porygon-Z pointed upstairs with an appendage, as the boy’s voice drifted down.  “Lucy, I am not a ladd- LUCY!  Watch where you’re grabbing while you’re climbing up!”

“...the usual?” Jonathan deadpanned.

“The usual,” Alice sighed.

Vincent came down the stairs, Lucy on his shoulders.  Upon seeing the others, she let out a little cheer.  “Hiya Alice, hiya mister Jon!”

“Lucy says hi,” Vincent translated for her reflexively.

“Hi, Lucy,” both of them answered back.

“So...Jonathan, to what do I owe the pleasure this morning? I assume it has to do with work, since its not lunch yet,” Alice said.

“Yeah...its about Vincent. Vincent and his testimony last night. The people at court want to deal with him further,” Jonathan sighed.

“And why would that be?” Vincent questioned as he passed Lucy off to Sam.  One really couldn’t look serious with a Riolu on their shoulders.  “I said what I meant, and I meant what I said.”  He crossed his arms over his chest while looking at the officer.  “I was not raised to lie, much like Bit does not, Officer Trace.”

“Yeah, but you sure like to dance around the truth,” Jonathan sighed.

“Only when you aren’t specific in your questions,” the boy fired back.  “However, since nobody forced me to give any testimony whatsoever, the only one doing the asking that night was me of myself, and the most important question I asked before I even began was simple.  ‘Do I honestly believe in the words I’m about to say?’”  He looked away at that before continuing.  “Yes.  I honestly believed in the words I said.  From the easiest thing being saying nothing, to the hardest thing being my belief that he should be forced to live if he can be healed.”

“Well, either way, I’ve been asked to bring you to the court. So that you can testify immediately,” Jonathan sighed. “We better hurry, before one of them blow their top and splatter your dad’s brain when they see you,” Alice called out.

“That will be interesting, especially if they take into account the restraining order,” Bit commented.  Vincent merely laughed as he considered the words, causing no end of confusion to the humans.  They wanted to drag him into a court of law?  He’d use their laws against them.

“Lead on,” Vincent said, a smile not leaving his face.  “Alice, can I trust you to take care of them while we’re out?”

“No problem,” Alice smiled.

“Well, let’s go,” Jonathan nodded.

At the courthouse

Vincent walked in and took a deep breath as he saw the man of his nightmares behind the desk of the defense.  “Your honor,” he stated from his position near the doors with only a slight tremble to his voice, “Either that man or myself will have to leave, as I have a restraining order against him now.”  Vincent pointed at the Doctor with a trembling hand.

“I’d highly recommend that, your honor,” Jonathan nodded, putting a hand on Vincent’s shoulder while sending a death glare at the Doctor. “I don’t think Vincent will be able to think straight with...that thing in the room.”

“Oh no, Jon, I can think straight.  Straight back, but that’s not the point of me being here, I don’t think,” Vincent commented, still shaking a little in fear as he remembered the things he’d been through.  “Rather, I think we’re here for something else entire, but I want to see if this court will even follow the law before they ask me to contribute.”

“Oh, they will, Vincent. They will,” Jonathan reassured, before sending a quick glare towards the judge too for emphasis. “I’m sure we can all honor Vincent’s wishes. After all, he doesn’t NEED to testify.”

“Very well,” the judge said. “Bailiff! Remove the accused for the duration of the testimony!” And with that, the Doctor was promptly seized and led out of the room.

Vincent walked forward as Jon directed him to the center of the room, where the witness would testify.

“Right, I’m here,” Vincent groused, still slightly shaky at having to confront him so early.  “Don’t know why, I said everything I needed to last night.”

“Its the procedure,” Jonathan sighed.

“Watch your words,” Vincent shot at the detective.  He of all people should know!

“Sorry. No other way to say it,” Jonathan apologized, realizing his mistake.

“Ahem.  How about ‘it’s protocol?’” the boy snarked.

“...fair enough,” he sighed.

“Witness, please proceed,” the judge sighed.

“With what?” Vincent said, turning and raising an eyebrow.  “Saying more than I did last night?  I don’t have a need to, and I meant everything I said.  If you want me to clarify something, then clarify what you want me to clarify yourselves.”

“Vincent…” Jonathan face palmed.

“Clarify your testimony on the accused. Keep in mind that what you say may decide if he lives or dies today,” the judge said sternly, not liking the boy’s attitude.

“I was pretty darn clear last night, but if you want me to use small words,” Vincent snarked before breathing deeply, seemingly gathering himself up.

“I am going to admit, right now...and really, ever since I was freed from that room, that a part of me, a very, very large part of me, would like nothing more than to be his executioner.”  Vincent paused for a second, to let his words sink in.  “And really, considering all the lives ended in those labs of his, he does deserve it.  I heard their screams and saw them die.”

“Your testimony, witness,” the judge said, starting to get angry. “Yes, I am VERY aware of the body count. But we are not here today to discuss that.”

“No, we’re here to prod the recovering trauma victim until he snaps, apparently,” Vincent fired off.  “Let me talk at my own pace, or I will leave.”

The judge glared, before nodding. “Very well, as long as you testify, that is acceptable.”

Vincent nodded back and breathed deeply again.  “But last night, I asked a friend of mine why they did something if it wasn’t easy and they didn’t have to.  They painted a clearer picture for me: that it was necessary, even if it wasn’t easy.  It made me realize that even if it would be easier for me to say nothing, I should speak up.  That even if it would be easier to condemn him...I should speak up.”  Vincent looked at the door where the Doctor had been led away and sighed.

“Bit...doesn’t lie.  He simply can’t,” Vincent supplied.  “So those records, the ones stating that there once was a man under the monster?  That’s what I want.  I want them to be true again.  If...if you can find a strong enough Psychic to undo the damage that was done...then I want Rupert returned from the depths of that madness.  There may be a lot of blood on his hands...but killing him isn’t the answer.”

“I see. And if I may, this...friend of yours…?” the judge inquired.

“Oh, you all know her,” Vincent said with a smirk.  “I ran into her last night not long after she issued her challenge.  That’s why I asked her why she did what she did.”

Jonathan, who had gotten a glass of water, promptly did a spit-take. “Wait, what? You saw Fox again?”

“She seems to have taken a real shine to me for some reason,” Vincent mused.  “And clearly, if you all failed to capture her, then yes, I find myself agreeing with her: your police do need sharpening until they can actually catch her.”

“Can’t argue with him there…” Jonathan muttered under his breath, remembering last night’s fiasco. The judge on the other hand…

“And you mean to say that you did nothing to stop her? One of the most wanted criminals in the world?” he glared. It was obvious that he did NOT like this boy.

Vincent just glared back.  “Let’s see, on my side you have me, a Scyther, a Riolu, and a Porygon-Z that doesn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘restraint’.  All of us traumatized and only recently freed.  And on her side?  Who bloody knows!  I’m sure if I had tried anything, she would have had a counter!  Plus, let’s also consider that she saved me first.  Fifteen years of hell, and she saved me.  Where were you?  Sitting here on your bench, I bet!  You’re damn lucky I agreed to come in here!”  The boy, apparently, returned the sentiment.

“That is irrelevant. Fox is still a criminal and thus will be treated as such!” the judge thundered, while there was a murmur of agreement from the stands. “Furthermore, while your situation was...regrettable and unfortunate, we also had other things to deal with, and not just a man hunt for a single man. We had to deal with various other criminals, INCLUDING your supposed ‘savior’. And on top of that there were the issues of Pokephilia that kept on coming in,” the judge stated.

Nobody noticed Jonathan face palm at that statement, which even he found was bull.

“Your incompetence is nearly as criminal as her whole streak!” Vincent shouted back.  “The only way his death toll got into the triple digits was if he was paying off local authorities, or if the governments started hiding him!”

“You DARE suggest that the government had a hand in this? That we were actually HELPING that monster?!” the judge thundered, as a resounding chorus of angry agreement rose from the stands at the implication.

“Let’s fucking ask!  Subject sixteen, this is master Vincent!  Are you within the court’s systems at this time like I asked you to be?”

“Ah crap…”Jonathan groaned. Things were going to hell in an egg basket.

There was a pause, and from the speakers, Bit’s mechanical tones rang out.  “Indeed I am, Master Vincent.  What do you desire?”

“Are there any records of the government helping, funding, or aiding the Doctor in any way, shape, or form in your memory?” Vincent questioned aloud.

“There are one hundred experiments located within my memory that can be traced back to one official or another,” the Porygon-Z replied.  “More as I reconnect with the Internet and start backtracking the money and pictures from the facility.  As well, it was an official that suggest the swamps for his lab, and a government-contracted construction crew built the original facility.”

While Bit was droning on, Jonathan had switched on his Xtranceiver and made sure to patch it through to the local police force. This was going to get MESSY.

“You dare sit there in your ivory tower and claim that you are either the paragon or the servant of the law, when the law has clearly been bent,” Vincent scowled up at the judge.  “Do you want me to tell him to start naming names, or will you take it on faith?”

The judge on the other hand was now white with anger at this...CHILD’S insolence. “Guards! Get this brat out of my sight!” he roared.

Before they took more than two steps, Vincent looked to the ceiling.  “Bit, defenses if you’d please!”

The Program Pokemon leapt from one of the speakers and hovered over Vincent’s form, his eyes red and cross-haired.  “Defenses on-line,” he stated, even though now only Vincent could understand him.

“Gentlemen, I really wouldn’t,” Vincent said, idly examining his fingernails.  “He’s not to be underestimated.”

“Oookay, I think that’s quite enough,” Jonathan sighed, getting in between them. “Vincent, I’ll admit I’m both disappointed and proud of you at the same time. I would think you would know better than to cause a ruckus when we came here for a simple reason. On the other hand, nice work not letting them push you around,” he chuckled. “And as for all of you. I can’t believe you still aren’t accepting the truth when the proof is so glaring already,” he sighed.

“They haven’t earned any of my trust yet, Jon, so I felt a trump card was in order.  And really, Bit’s a trump card and a half,” Vincent replied, looking up at the Porygon-Z.  “Gentlemen, if you want me to keep him from naming any names at all, or more likely, if your superiors do, then you’ll listen to me when I stated the Doctor’s terms for continuing to remain amongst the living.”

“What are you doing, officer? Arrest the boy!” the judge growled.

“Yeeaaah. I don’t think so. You see, when Bit started droning on, I made sure my Xtranceiver was on. Oh, and I made sure it was connected to every police station throughout the city. Meaning they should be here right about….now!” he stated, right before the doors were slammed open and a SWAT team poured in along with several normal officers. “So yeah, sorry to say, but gentlemen...you are all under arrest.”

“Well,” Vincent said, blinking and smiling.  “This is a happy turn of events.”

“You CANNOT DO THIS to me!” the judge stated, getting up and practically roaring at the incursion into his courtroom. “I AM THE LAW!”

“Sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, you stopped being the law when you started trying to deny proof. So yeah, see ya around,” Jonathan said, before he walked up, and cuffed the judge to the table.

“...Still think I should trust the law, Jon?” Vincent asked as he pulled Bit down to be more level with himself.

Jonathan shrugged. “Your choice kid. Me? I gotta still trust it. What would happen to the law without a few honest folk in it?”

“Honest folk like Fox?” Vincent smirked as he turned to walk off.  “Just like Bit, she hasn’t lied yet.”

“And the sad part...sometimes I honestly trust her more to NOT stab me in the back than my own fellow officers,” Jonatan mentally groaned as he followed the boy out.

“So...what happens to him now?” Vincent questioned as they hit the streets once more.

“He’ll be put on trial. But with this evidence, odds are he’s not gonna get a ‘Not Guilty’ sentence,” Jonathan just sighed.

“I’m fine with him being found guilty,” Vincent said.  “But I also want him to live, be healed, and work off his blood debt to society.  What the courts need to find is a strong enough Psychic that it becomes a thing that can actually happen, rather than an idle fantasy.”

“Here’s hoping. Of course...if he IS ever returned to sanity, I’m kinda afraid that he might go nuts and try to kill himself out of guilt…” Jonathan mused.

“It...makes sense, but let’s hope not,” Vincent said.  “It’d be hard to find someone as skilled as him to fix the survivors that want to be.”

“Good point. Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to those guys...the police in Laverre took them in, but I don’t know much after that,” Jonathan mused.

“Let’s hope they kept track of them at least,” Vincent said.  “And let’s hope we can find the escapees before they find us.”

“...why do you say that?” Jonathan couldn’t help but ask. To him, they seemed harmless enough back then.

“Considering that very rarely if ever would they believe me about Bit, and that they all got past him running all the systems?” Vincent commented.  “They’re out there in the world somewhere, and I hope we can find them.”

“I’ll notify the rest of the police. Just in case,” Jonathan sighed. He liked the kid, but the trouble that came with him...he could do without.

“Thank you.  I’ll try and remember what they were in a moment…”  Vincent closed his eyes and hummed.  “A Gliscor...a Gabite...A Rotom...an Eelektrik...and a Sandshrew,” he finished.

“Seems simple enough. Any of them we should look out for in particular...or rather, any of them we should call you for help?”

“The Rotom should be easy enough to bring in,” Vincent said.  “He was just exposed to a plan to make it far easier for him to slip through things...and it worked.  The Sandshrew has really, really sharp claws...but she’s a chef, and had a trainer anyways.  The Gabite has Kecleon in her, so she can go mostly invisible, the Eelektrik can make EMP’s happen, and the Gliscor…”  Here the kid shuddered.

“Ookay, I get the picture. Any and all of them, call you. Do they have names? Or even details on how they look?”

“Well,” Vincent mused, thinking about the question.  “Christine is the Gabite, and she’d be the most obvious one, as she also has a Kecleon’s patterning...but if you look at it too long or draw attention to it, she’ll likely get really mad.  Tracy the Eelektrik tended to spark quite a bit, especially when she was practicing her talent.  Specter won’t look too different as compared to a normal Rotom, but he did say he felt like he needed to possess the objects they left him...to hold himself together.  Mary the Sandshrew is Shiny, but probably found her trainer again by now.  And if you find Gregory the Gliscor, keep him away from me.  Please.”

“Okay, I’ll do what I can,” Jonathan nodded.

“...And you may want to call in these guys as well when you find him,” Vincent said with a jerk of his head at the SWAT team leading the judge from earlier away.

“That bad huh...:”

“He was battle-hungry before...kinda reminds me of Heat, actually,” Vincent said with a small smile.  “And then when all the treatments to make him better on nearly every level possible worked...well…”

“Too well I’m guessing. Alright. Let’s go back. I’ll alert the rest of the force as soon as I can,” Jonathan sighed.

“To be fair, had I the capacity to have warned you some years ago when he first broke out, I would have,” Vincent said honestly.  “Oh, and Bit, you can resume normal operations.”

The Porygon-Z’s eyes flickered back to being yellow and he stopped eyeing every passerby as a potential threat.  He nodded at Vincent twice.  “I am glad to have been of service, Vincent.”

Jonathan just chuckled in amusement at their antics.

The fate of Vincent Nurem part 3

Vincent couldn’t help but be on edge as he watched the heist from the hidden spot Fox had left him in. Just from watching, he could understand kinda why she did it. She certainly was a sight to behold as she evaded the police, all the while using tricks and illusions that were just mind boggling. In fact, the sheer excitement was causing him to shake a little as the adrenaline pumped through his veins...wait, that was more than a lit...tle… the next thing he knew, his world exploded in pain, before he collapsed, falling out of the hiding spot, just as Fox and Jonathan passed by, the rest of the officers having been incapacitated.

“Vincent?!” Jonathan gasped, not expecting to see the boy here. Even Fox was caught off guard. However, any other thoughts left him when he saw how the boy looked like he was having a seizure.

Fox was the first to get to him, and checking his pulse, her eyes widened in alarm when she felt the erratic pulse. “His pulse is erratic. Its like he’s having a heart attack, but it's different somehow,” she said, causing Jonathan to stop short. “Okay, Jonathan. We don’t have time for our usual games. If we don’t do something, Vincent won’t make it. Truce for now?” Fox quickly said.

“...alright,” Jonathan sighed. As much as he wanted to catch her, right now, Vincent’s life was more important.

“You had a hidden tunnel like this in the woods?” Jonathan couldn’t help but ask in surprise when Fox actually brought him to one of her hideouts, Vincent’s life clearly more important to her. What REALLY surprised him was that when he got to the hideout, Bit was floating around there.

“Bit?! What are you doing here?!” he gasped.

Seeing Jonathan, Bit quickly went into the terminal that Alice had prepared for him. “Salutations to the pair of you, but time cannot be spared.  Records from the facility have been dissected more thoroughly, and Vincent’s condition is now more properly understood.”

“But...how? What are you doing here of all places?” Jonathan gasped.

At this, Fox sighed. “I’ll explain later...its high time I did…” she said, before putting Vincent on the table.

“Indeed, her explanation can wait until later.  This one cannot.  Vincent was not the only one to be made, but he was the only one to survive,” the terminal declared.

“Explain,” Jonathan said.

“Thirty-six volunteers signed up for the Doctor’s initial project to fuse man and ‘mon.  Vincent was the unofficial thirty-seventh subject.  The previous subjects died after six months, their bodies tearing themselves apart in rejection of what had been done to them...but for some reason, Vincent lived.”

“Why is that? Why was it he was the only one to live?” Fox questioned.

“It is not known at this time,” Bit replied.  “The Doctor spent some years trying to determine why Vincent lived, but when the answer kept eluding him, he turned to trying to bring Vincent’s powers beyond his capacity to understand Pokemon out.”  The terminal whirred for a second, and when Bit spoke up again, he did so hesitantly.  “This unit...is formulating a theory, even now...but it seems...far-fetched…”

“What is it? Spit it out, or Vincent might not live!” Jonathan demanded.

“There are two legends about Pokemon representative of Life and Death itself in this region...perhaps Xerneas would be able to provide us with answers where we have none?” Bit said, not liking the idea of invoking a Legendary’s name.  But for Vincent…

“Xerneas? Can do. I can find a lead on where she likely is,” Fox said. “Just look for the trainer who was involved in the Team Flare incident. According to the underground, he was reported to have Xerneas in his possession.”

“Also,” Bit pitched in.  “The initial subjects survived for six months...with the last one being where their body started to reject the modifications.  This, bad as it is, will pass after a day or so...only to repeat as his body gets closer to the end of such a month,” the program elaborated.

“Then we’d better hurry!” Jonathan said, while Fox quickly looked through the data.

“Ah, my apologies, Fox.  Do you desire for me to leave the terminal at this juncture?”

“No, stay in there. If you can help me find the trainer, then all the better,” Fox quickly said.

“For Vincent, gladly.”  Images were quickly called up and dismissed, news articles and snippets of video flashing by.  “Disseminating data,” the Porygon-Z stated, before a map of the Kalos region popped up, a line starting to be marked across it.  “Projecting past path based on the most likely to be true stories.”

With that done, Fox stepped away, letting the program do his work. However, just as she did, Jonathan, grabbed her, and pinned her against the wall. “Alright, Fox. Talk! Why is Bit here? How do you know Vincent so well? Answer me!”

Fox sighed, before picking up a vial nearby. Removing her hat, she sprinkled a few drops on her hair, and before Jonathan’s eyes, the red color of her hair seemed to flow off, staining her outfit, revealing brown hair. Then Fox fished out a pair of reading glasses and put them on.

The moment Jonathan saw it, he felt like someone had poured a cold bucket of ice on him. “No...no...it can’t be!” he gasped as he stepped back.

“Its not. I’m really sorry Jonathan. I didn’t want you to find out like this,” Fox...no, Alice shook her head sadly.

“Path plotted,” Bit spoke up then, distracting the two.  “Most likely location determined.  The trainer we are seeking appears to have booked a room at Lumiose city and has been waiting there for a few days now.  Unknown as to why.”

“Then we have no time to waste!” Alice said, before grabbing Jonathan by the arm. “Let’s go! I will explain everything later! For now, we have to save Vincent!”

“R-right!” Jonathan said, before grabbing Vincent and going.

Calem sighed as he stepped out of Lumiose City. Xerneas had been trying to tell him something for a while now, and though he didn’t know what, he felt that it was important, so he had waited here for a few days. And today, Xerneas was urging him to go by the Eastern exit.

What he wasn’t expecting was seeing two people running towards him, a young boy in their arms. At that moment, Xerneas’ Pokeball started shaking violently, before the Legendary broke free of the ball.

“Vincent Nurem,” She stated, before bowing her neck and touching Vincent’s forehead, her antlers shining brightly.  “I am sorry it took so long for us to meet.”

“Wha...what’s happening?” the boy deliriously said, not quite sure what he was seeing.

“Wait...Xerneas...knows him?” Alice blinked.

“It...it looks like it…” Jonathan said, equally speechless.

“My counterpart knew the others like him,” Xerneas said as she began to glow, channeling as much of her power as she felt the boy could withstand.  “And once he told me of them passing, I felt this young one about to join them.  I did what I could from far away...but someone wasn’t always the best listener,” she said shooting a quick glance towards Calem, before looking at the other two humans that had brought Vincent to her.  “Otherwise this might not be happening.”

“Well...can you help him?” Alice asked.

“Now that he is in my presence?” Xerneas said with a slight smirk.  “There is a reason I am known as the Lady of Life.  Vincent will not die this day...or any time soon.  I will see to that.”

Her antlers caught the sunlight, and beams of color danced around the nearby area, before every one of them was focused on Vincent’s form.  With a final dose of what could only be called raw power, the Legendary caused the boy’s form to glow as well.

After about ten seconds, Vincent stopped glowing, and stood on his own power.  He blinked a few times, before reaching a hand up to his head.  “My...headache.  It’s gone.”

“As are all the other downsides of what that Doctor did to you,” Xerneas said.  “You should live a long and healthy life...with occasional bursts of Psychic strength, but it won’t be painful for you anymore.”

“So...he’s gonna be okay?” Jonathan asked. “What...did you do?”

“Granted him enough of my essence and power, and his body took it and used it to...hmm, ‘bridge the gap’,” the Legendary said.  “It was as though both halves were warring for dominance, but I’ve managed to negotiate a cease-fire within him.  He shall live.  Though if he starts getting headaches rapidly again, have him come see me…”  Here she glanced over at Calem again.  “Assuming someone makes it easy for me to be found.”

“Hey, understanding what you try to say isn’t always as easy as this,” Calem rejoined, before looking at the trio of strangers.  “I’ll give you my number so that in case of emergencies with the kid here, you all will be able to reach out to me and Xerneas.  Just, uh,” he said as he scribbled a set of digits down onto a scrap of paper, “Try to make sure you only use it in emergencies?”

“I…”  Vincent reached up and gently stroked the Legendary’s form.  “Thank you.”

“Not a problem, young one,” she said, smiling.  “Just live your life.  That is all I ask in return.”

“I will,” he stated.  “Thanks to you, I will.”

After bringing Vincent back to his family, Jonathan brought Alice aside. “Okay, Alice, spill it. Why are you Fox? How long?!”

Alice just sighed. “Alright, follow me,” she said as she led him to her study. Pulling out a particular book, she opened it to reveal a switch. Pressing it, the book case started to move aside, revealing a stairway down. “Follow me. Everything will be clear soon.”

Walking down the stairs, Jonathan was surprised at what he found. Inside the hidden room, it was lined with pictures/paintings of various people. One thing in common was that they were all dressed in a familiar outfit, with an unmistakable hat in their hands. When his eyes fell on one particular painting, he gasped in surprise. “This is...Mr. Maximilion…” he said, recognizing Alice’s father.

“That’s right. Phantom Thief Fox. Every last one of them were members of my family. Jonathan, do you know why Fox exists in the first place?”

“Dunno. You’ve all been around for the last 500 years, and I doubt anyone was interested in a motive,” Jonathan said.

“Alright...I’ll start at the beginning,” she sighed. “Its a long story, but it started from the first Fox, 500 years ago. If I’m not mistaken it was in Orre...before it became the wasteland it is today. Even in those days life was hard, and people horded what little they had. My ancestor was a penniless orphan, and with how things were at the time, he had all but resigned himself that he was going to die. However, at the brink of it, a kind family aided him, a stranger and outsider. For the first time, he experienced true kindness,” she said, a distant look in her eyes. “However, once again, humanity’s ugly side reared its head. Another family, one who was high ranked, yet greedy and jealous of what they saw, hated how that family was happy despite being poor, so they decided to take the only thing they could think of. They took everything the family owned, and because they were highly ranked, they were able to...cover up their tracks. My ancestor, angered by that injustice, and wanting to repay their kindness, sought a way to help them. He tried talking to the people, yet they were afraid. He tried talking to the authorities, yet they turned him away. After a while, he came upon his answer. If the right way wasn’t going to give him his answer, then maybe the answer was in the wrong way. Taking a big gamble, he did the only thing he could think of, he stole what he could, initially intending to give it all to the family that helped him and tell them to run, but in the middle of that heist, he stumbled upon something else. Documents of the family’s dealings. That was when he realized another alternative. Taking the documents, he leaked them to the authorities, and shortly after, that family was exposed, and everything they had taken was returned.”

“That was...the very first Fox? And the first crime lord he exposed then…” Jonathan said slowly. Despite himself, he couldn’t help but feel respect for the person he was learning about.

“And that was just the beginning,” she chuckled. “Seeing what his actions had done, my ancestor for the first time felt like he had found his calling. At first he wasn’t a Phantom Thief. He was just a thief who would sneak in, steal what he needed to expose his target, then give it to the police anonymously, while leaving a trail right back to his targets. However, he wasn’t quite good enough at hiding his tracks. A few years later, a group of bandits, hired by one of the people he had ‘ruined’, managed to trace him back to the family who had helped him in the beginning, and took them hostage, threatening to kill them if he did not show himself. Naturally, he had been ready and willing to give his life, but he knew that if they killed him, nothing would stop them from killing his dear friends anyway. Desperate for an answer, he prayed for an answer. What he got was a glimpse of a creature who’s image would forever be burned into his mind. A creature who could melt into the shadows, appear as anything it desired. Yes, at the time nobody knew what it was, but nowadays, we know that it was a Zoroark that he had seen. Inspired by it, he created one of the very first man made illusions of a large scale, as while he had little money, he had something far far more valuable. A bond of friendship with many of the Pokemon that lived in that area. Donning an outfit modeled after the creature that inspired him, and with the help of his friends, he managed to save his dear friends, all the while creating a spectacle that the people at the time would remember for generations. It was in that heist that he announced himself as Phantom Thief Fox, right before he and his friends fled the town. After that, time passed, he fell in love, married, had a child, and inspired by the tales, his child followed in his footsteps. This happened again and again with each generation, and before long, Phantom Thief Fox became a legend, even if each of them was a different person, but in the end, we all followed his footsteps, his desire to right the wrong that couldn’t be corrected by the so-called ‘right’ ways. And I’m proud to be the latest in this legacy,” she finished.

“Is that...that’s why Fox exists?”

“Like I said,” Vincent’s voice pitched in from the nearby stairs.  Apparently he’d wandered in at some point during her story.  “I trust her more than you.”

“Yeah...but…” Jonathan started.

“She rescued me,” Vincent said.  “She got the rest of them out and helped me save Bit from being stuck there.  And if she hadn’t come along, would you have ever found me?”

“I….” Jonathan tried to say...but Alice cut him off.

“Jonathan...I’m really, really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. You’re my best friend, and that was never a lie,” Alice said sadly.

“Why should I believe you…” Jonathan said...though his voice lacked any real conviction.

“I know...I was scared. I was afraid of what might happen if you knew...but now...Jonathan, no matter what, I want you to know...this is how I really feel…” Alice said, and before Jonathan could react, she had pressed her lips against his, and pulled him into a kiss. Vincent looked away from the scene, pointedly not interested, waiting for one of them to talk again to signify that it was over.

Jonathan’s eyes widened, and his first instinct was to push away....but before long, he found himself pushing back against the kiss, deepening it. His thoughts were going miles per second. On one hand, he was a cop and she was a thief...but as they remained locked together, he started to realize...it didn’t matter to him. Here was the girl of his dreams kissing him on the lips, right after she had told him everything. Her reasons, her ideals, and really...he always did entertain the idea of reforming Fox if he ever caught her…

The two would have gone on, but they soon needed to breath. “Wow...just wow…” Jonathan sighed.

“Mmmhmm,” Alice sighed, leaning into him. “I’ve hid it for so long, but I won’t lie anymore. I love you, Jonathan Trace. You’re my best friend, and even though we were on opposite sides when I’m Fox, those feelings never changed.”

Jonathan hesitated for a bit...before hugging her back. “I...I need some time…” was all he could say, his mind still jumbled up.

“Take all the time you need. But please...I need to know how you really feel. Please, Jonathan,” Alice nodded as she slowly let him go, before he walked up the stairs, his mind very much a jumbled mess.

“Well,” Vincent said, looking back at Alice.  “Really, that could have gone worse.  And at least that’s one secret I don’t have to keep anymore.  At least, not from him.”

Alice just nodded, though she watched his retreating form, an almost longing look in her eyes, before she sighed and went back to work, her mind also too troubled to respond to Vincent.

“Oh this promises to be pleasant,” the boy muttered, not liking the idea that he might be the only really functional one in the house.

Jonathan bursts through the doors to Alice’s...no, THEIR home as he ran with a folder in his hand.

“Jon? Where’s the fire?” Alice blinked.

“No time. Where’s Vincent?”

“He’s in the living room. Why?”

Jonathan quickly ran to the living room, where Vincent was reclining on a couch, looking at a spoon intently.  Lucy sat nearby, and Sam was snickering behind a claw.

“Vincent!” he said, catching the boy’s attention.

“Shh!” he said in response.  “Focusing.”

“Your mother called,” Jonathan said.

Vincent whipped his head around, and the spoon flew upwards, lodging itself into the ceiling.  “Who called?”

“Your mother. She’s in Johto, and she just contacted my office. She asked me to take you to her,” Jonathan said, handing him her file. The boy opened it and went through the papers, raising an eyebrow.

“I...recall you telling me about her, yes.  But…”  Here he sighed and looked at the far wall.  “I suppose she’s the only one left for me to see,” he mused.

“I know it’ll be more like seeing a stranger, but I think you should at least meet her,” Jonathan said.

“I agree. You should give it a chance, Vincent,” Alice said as she walked into the room. “At the very least, it’ll give you both some closure.”

“I...how would I even start that conversation?” Vincent said, still giving the wall the thousand-yard stare.

“Er...hello?” Alice suggested with a weak chuckle when he said that. She honestly hadn’t considered that.

“There are worse options, I suppose,” the boy said with a chuckle.  He then seemed to consider something and looked at the file.  “The Johto region?  That’s...not anywhere near us, is it?”

“On plane it would take us nearly a day to get there,” Alice nodded. “Johto is connected to Kanto, so we can take a plane to Kanto from Lumiose Airport.”

“And of course one of the regulations is that all trainer’s Pokemon must be in a Pokeball,” Vincent groused.  “I really don’t like doing that to them, you know.”

“Well the only option is a ship then. But that would take us a week,” Jonathan started.

“Plus really, I think only Sam would need to be in his ball. Lucy and Bit should be small enough to be allowed out of their balls,” Alice added.

“Vincent, if it means you getting to see your mom sooner than a week, I’m fine with a day in the ball,” Sam pitched in, causing the boy to sigh.

“...Fine, I’ll go get their balls and put Sam in his when the time comes,” Vincent said.  “Let’s just hope this whole thing isn’t a mistake.”

“Alright then, we’d better go soon then. The next flight is in a few hours,” Jonathan said. “Oh, and don’t worry about the money, I was given the money needed for a 2 way trip. Vincent was given money for only a one way trip though.”

“I’ll pay for my own ticket,” Alice nodded. The kid went upstairs and rummaged in his room, locating his bag and packing what few things he thought he would need for such a journey.  A change of clothes, a few items to maintain his hygiene, and of course the balls for his family.  He came back downstairs and looked at the table with a raised eyebrow.

“Huh...where’d the spoon go?” he questioned aloud.

“The spoon you were bending?” Alice questioned. “Wasn’t it right...here?” she blinked as true enough, it was missing. “...I did NOT take it.”

Sam snickered again and pointed upwards, drawing the attention of the humans to the embedded silverware in the ceiling.

“...Okay, I did not intend for that to happen,” Vincent stated.

“...I think the Abra DNA in you must have Evolved. I don’t remember Abra being strong enough to do that,” Jonathan deadpanned, while Alice nodded.

“It’s a good thing I’m trying to get practice, then,” the boy said, standing under the spoon and tilting his head.  “Hmm.  How to get it?”

Alice simply jumped up and plucked it out. “This is nothing to Fox,” she chuckled.

“My thanks,” Vincent said, holding his hand out for the spoon. Alice simply gave it to him, before she and Jonathan went to their rooms to pack up as well.

“Okay, so here we are. Lumiose Airport,” Jonathan said.

Vincent whistled at the sight, before sighing and grabbing Sam’s Pokeball.  Sam nodded, ready to be returned so that everyone else would have no hold-ups in boarding.  With a flash of red, the Scyther was gone for the time being.

“Let’s get this over with,” the boy groused.

“Aww...don’t be so grouchy, Vincent. Once we get our tickets, we’ll still have about 2 hours to get on the plane. We might as well enjoy the airport a bit,” Alice chuckled as they walked in.

“Hm...I should probably get some souvenirs for mom and dad,” he mused.

“Speaking of which...how are they reacting to...you know,” Alice sighed, referring to their recent relationship.

“...Dad looked all but ready to disown me at first...but they’ve cooled off. It helps that its you. They’re still a bit...iffy about me dating Fox,” he sighed, saying the last part quietly.

“My parents won’t stop teasing me about ‘how long before your parents will start saying they have outlaws for in laws’. That and how long before they become grandparents,” Alice deadpanned with a sweat drop. “They REALLY don’t mind the idea of...us...one bit.”

“Yeaaah….I can see that,” Jonathan sweatdropped, remembering how...lax her father could be at times. The man was a good man, even if a little eccentric.

“Relationships seem to be a complicated mess,” Vincent commented while Lucy sat on his shoulders like usual.  “Really, you’re imposing the rules of society upon your own basic biological desires.  I don’t see how it could ever end neatly.”

“It doesn’t,” they both deadpanned.

“Its one of the reasons why I think laws like Pokephilia are Tauros Shit as they are now,” Jonathan sighed.

“A law stating who you aren’t allowed to love does sound like a terribly complicated one to enforce,” the boy said with a nod.  “And speciest as well.  By enforcing it, you’re essentially saying that you don’t think Pokemon and humans are or should be equals.”

“Unfortunately most people don’t see it that way. They think anyone who loved a Pokemon was a depraved sicko for the simple fact that they ‘obviously’ trained their Pokemon for this purpose,” Jonathan said, before sticking out his tongue. “Just look at poor Gene Phillips. Its only recently that thanks to Seth Crescent that we’re cracking down on that law. Mainly we actually CHECK first before arresting.”

“And thus sanity returns to the world,” Vincent said, before returning to snark.  “Now if only it could have happened a little sooner…”

“Well, unfortunately, even now things aren’t so simple. A LOT of people still oppose the change. Old Hastings still isn’t happy about this,” Alice sighed.

“And when Old Hastings does something akin to what you two have for me,” Vincent fired back, “Then maybe he’ll be worth listening to.”

Both of them just shrugged, as they walked through the airport. “No comments there.”

Bit ticked as he floated behind the humans, idly processing the information.  Perhaps when he had a free moment, he’d look up this Hastings with a bit more scrutiny…

“So which way are we going?” Vincent questioned his benefactors.

“Terminal 10. The plane goes straight to Johto,” Jonathan said.  The teenager looked up and took note of the numbers before angling himself in the correct direction.

“You’re sure they won’t have a problem with Bit?” Vincent queried.

“...most likely? If not, just recall him till they are done,” Alice said.

“It’s just, he’s a Porygon-Z.  And a plane, though massive, still operates on delicate systems.  I think they may just have a small issue with him being out,” the boy pointed out.

“We’ll just see. If they ask you to keep him away, its better if you do. At least its just for the flight,” Alice nodded.

“If they ask me to return Lucy as well, I swear that I will turn right around,” the boy muttered darkly.

Both of them looked at the Riolu, then sweatdropped. “As long as she doesn’t try climbing up anywhere she shouldn’t I don’t think they’ll mind,” Jonathan said.

“I’ll be good,” Lucy said.  “Promise!”

“You’d best be,” Vincent said, reaching up to give her ears a quick rub.  “If I end up having to put you in your ball, I’ll turn around and look for a boat.”

“Yeah...please don’t do that,” Jonathan groaned.

The next hour or so was spent walking around the airport, grabbing a few souvenirs, and/or a few snacks. Before long, it was soon time to board the plane.

“Welcome to your first airplane ride. Hope you enjoy,” Alice chuckled as Vincent was seated behind her, while Jonathan was behind him.

“Something tells me a certain little height maniac certainly will,” Vincent laughed as Lucy squirmed in her seat.

“...please keep her in her seat if you can. She can look out the window, but PLEASE don’t let her crawl around anywhere else,” Alice sighed. The last thing they wanted was to be kicked off the plane.

“Yes miss Alice,” Lucy said, settling down a little bit.  “I don’t want Vinny to be in trouble ‘cause of me…”

“Aww,” Vincent said, giving her a quick rub behind the ears.  “Just be on your best behavior, Lucy, and everything should work out.”

The plane ride was relatively uneventful. Fortunately, the available on board entertainment screens proved adequate amusement for the duration of the long flight. Alice had been reading a mystery novel, while Jonathan had decided to watch a few crime dramas. Vincent and Lucy alternated between cartoons and re-runs of famous battles within the League.

“C’mon,” the Riolu muttered.  “Get up, dodge it, come on, come- Noooo,” she moaned.  “Aww, that was just an awful fight.”

“True,” Vincent agreed.  “But then again, that Red seemed to know what he was doing, bringing Dark and Bug types to the Psychic gym.”

“Not surprising. Red’s the current Champion of Kanto, and has so far remained undefeated since he took the title,” Alice commented from where she was reading.

“...And how long ago was this?” Vincent asked, honestly curious.  He hadn’t spent much time looking such things up when he was at the house.

“Let’s see...13 years ago, give or take,” Alice answered.

“That is quite a time to hold on to that tile,” the teenager replied, honestly impressed.  “So...wait, how old was he when he took it?”

“17,” Jonathan chimed in.

“He...must be quite gifted, then,” Vincent said, falling silent as he thought about the ramifications.

“Well...he’s known to be pretty reclusive. Lots of time you can hears stories of how he would disappear from time to time, though he’s always present for a challenger when they show up,” Alice mused. “Personally, I prefer champions like Iris and Cynthia. I hear they’re quite friendly, and often journey around their regions, mingling with other trainers. There’s also Steven and Diantha, but since those two are pretty much celebrities, they have a pretty good reason to remain out of sight in public.”

“I wanna meet one!” Lucy chimed in, and Vincent laughed before giving her a quick scratch behind her ears.

“Hopefully not to fight them,” he commented.

“Yeah, I’d give you 5 seconds at most. Probably less,” Alice chuckled with a slight jab. “Next time if you want, I’m sure we could find Diantha. You just need to know where she’s shooting her next film or something. Also, I hear she sometimes likes to frequent a few cafes in Lumiose. Apparently she’s got a taste for some good chocolate cake.”

“Where did you learn that?” Jonathan chuckled. “The underground?”

“Gossip column. Most of it is crap, but some of it is pretty good.”

“Not everything Alice knows needs a shady origin,” Vincent commented.  “Though with her, it is hard to tell sometimes.”

“I’ll take that as a complement,” Alice laughed as she went back to her novel.

“Well, here we are,” Alice said, stretching a bit as they stepped off the plane.

“Oooh, that feels goo-ack!”  Vincent’s stretching was cut short as Lucy jumped into his chest, hugging him fiercely.

“Missed doing this,” She said into his shirt.

“...I just realized. You are SO lucky that Pokephilia isn’t strictly illegal anymore...unless its abusive. With how Lucy acts, all it would take is some jerk pointing and you’d have police on you in minutes,” Jonathan idly commented.

“In which case I would ask them how they intend to Evolve any ‘mon that requires a close, caring, loving bond with their trainer and not get called out for the same,” Vincent replied while shifting Lucy to her customary shoulder perch.

“Well...most people think a little different in that sense. Then again, like I said, Tauros Shit law,” Jonathan deadpanned.

“That’s the truth,” Alice shrugged.

“I’m pretty sure it had about fifty truck-sized holes in it the moment it was written,” the teenage Trainer said with an eye-roll.  “But let’s not waste too much more time.  I’d like to get out of here, let Sam out, and then we can see about finding...her...”

“Right,” they both nodded. Once they were out of the airport, several Pokeballs opened up, revealing their entire team.

“Okay, so where did she say she would be again?” Alice asked.

“She’s in Azalea Town I believe. We’re in Olivine City,” Jonathan answered.

“Okay, onward then!” Alice laughed, before they headed straight for said town.

A few days later…

“Ah, its been a long time since I’ve had to rough it out like this,” Alice sighed nostalgically.

“Not surprising. Both of us were never interested in the league to begin with, so we didn’t spend all that long for a Pokemon Journey,” Jonathan nodded.

“I think I read about that,” Vincent observed.  “Something about sending the youth off with a starter Pokemon, some balls, and some funds to make their way in the world?  Or am I mistaken?”

“More or less. Its not mandatory, and mostly based on choice. So really, most people come back better for it,” Alice said.

“Everyone has to start somewhere and get experience somehow,” Sam observed.  “Seeing the world is a good way to figure where you want to go and what you want to do.”

“And you would know that how?” Vincent retorted.  “You spent most of your time with one old man in one city, learning...something.  You never told me.”

“And you don’t want to know, kid,” the bug replied instantly.  “I’ll tell you when you’re older, maybe.”

The teenager sighed and looked to the adults.  “He always says that and never does.”

“...old man huh? Why do I feel like I heard something about this before…” Alice mused.

“If you did, somehow I think we don’t want to know,” Jonathan deadpanned.

“The old guy lived in Celadon...I think,” Sam said.  “That’s what everyone else called it.”

Both of them looked at each other with a deadpan look. “The legendary pervert? Vincent, trust us. You do NOT want to know.”

“How bad could it be?” the teenager said with an eye-roll.  In response, Sam leaned in to Jon’s ear and whispered.

“...that’s warrant for arrest AND 10 years at least in jail,” the officer blinked.

“...Okay, one of you is exaggerating, and I’m not sure who,” Vincent said, still disbelieving.  Sam shrugged and decided to whisper the same thing to Alice.

“...forget arrest. How was he not murdered by an angry mob of women,” she deadpanned.

“...And suddenly I’ve reached a conclusion,” the teenager said.  “You can keep your secrets, Sam.”

“Thank you!” the bug cheered.

“Speaking of which, here we are. Azalea Town,” Howl commented as true enough they had arrived.

“Finally. Hey Jonathan, why don’t we go challenge the gym here? For old times sake,” Heat suggested.

“You wouldn’t have much fun. Azalea Gym is a Bug-type gym. You have the clear advantage,” Alice commented.

“Awwww…”

“Anyway, let’s find the hotel. Ms. Jeanne should be there,” Jonathan quickly said.

“I...hope so,” Vincent said, swallowing thickly.  “I still don’t know what I’m going to say…”

Later, after searching the town, they soon found the hotel. Shortly after, they were waiting in the hotel lobby, having talked to the manager.

“She’ll be here soon,” Jonathan said.

“I just...I’m not sure.  There’s far too many emotions warring for control at the moment,” the boy replied, running a hand through his hair nervously.  “I barely even know her.  Files can only do so much.  For all I know, this is a mistake, coming here…”

“Well, we’ve gone this far. We might as well finish it. Don’t go chickening out on us now, Vincent, or I’ll shackle you to the table,” Alice smiled with a half joke as she held up a pair of handcuffs she had swiped from a passing police officer.

“...I know I should comment, but I’ve been with you long enough to know that some things just aren’t worth commenting on,” Jonathan sighed as he checked for his cuffs. They were still there.

“And that’s supposed to make me less nervous?” the boy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, but it shows you’ve got worse things to worry about,” Alice said with a slight troll grin.

“I, on the other claw, don’t think Bit or I need to be here,” Sam said, snagging a hold of the program and starting to walk off.  “So I think we’ll go see the sights...and give you fewer chances to distract yourself or claim that you need to leave early.”

“Good boys,” Alice chuckled. “Speaking of which….Ms. Jeanne, I presume,” she chuckled as she turned to see the woman.

“Aaaand now I think we should be out of the way,” Jonathan smiled as he pulled his girl aside.

There was a quiet beauty to her, Vincent would reflect.  Someone who had probably been very gorgeous once, and only had it...muted through age.  And stress.  She was roughly his height...maybe an inch or two taller, with green eyes and blonde hair.  The one thing that halted Vincent from trying to flee any further was simple:

She looked to be just as nervous as he felt.  Vincent settled himself back in his seat and Lucy sat back in his lap, looking up at the unfamiliar lady.

“Hello Vincent,” she said softly, sitting opposite him.  He absently took in that she was wearing clothes that seemed to have been woven to be durable...and that there were a few holes here and there.

“Hello Jeanne,” he replied, not quite ready to call her his mother just yet.  She winced slightly at the name.

“I suppose I deserve that,” she said in response.  “I’ll...be honest, a part of me was hoping you would call me some form of ‘mother,’ but I can understand why you wouldn’t.”

“I’m just not comfortable with it,” he replied.  “I understand that you did what you could to find me, but the fact remains...only he was there, and I don’t even like to think of him as…”

By this point, Vincent had glanced away and was breathing erratically, but Lucy reached up and patted his cheek, drawing him back from...wherever his memories had led him.  Jeanne smiled and looked at the Riolu.  “And is this your partner?” she asked.

“Little sister, partner ‘mon, friend and family,” the boy replied, causing the woman to pause for a moment before her smile returned.

“Well it’s nice that you keep her so close to your heart then, especially as that’s one of the things needed for her to Evolve,” Jeanne commented.

“Well aware,” Vincent replied with a small smile.  “Lucy, don’t be shy.  Say hi.”

The Riolu climbed out of Vincent’s lap and walked across the table to stand in front of the lady.  “You’re pretty,” she commented, sticking out a paw in greeting.

Jeanne took the proffered appendage and gave it a light shake while making sure to keep eye contact with the small fighting-type.  “And hello to you too,” she said, before letting go.  Lucy turned back to Vincent and took her usual perch back, causing him to sigh in frustration.

“I don’t know why she doesn’t ever stop,” he said.  “All I know is that she loves it up there.”

“She probably likes seeing things before they see her,” Jeanne said with a slight giggle.  “You two are just perfect for one another.”

Vincent was silent for a good ten seconds as he considered how he wanted to phrase his question.  “I’m...not going to ask where you were.  I’m not going to ask what you were doing.  The files Jon gave me made those things quite clear.  What I am going to ask is...what you saw in him.”

Jeanne slumped and sighed, looking at nothing in particular before she started to reply.  “Like that second broadcast said, he was once a normal man.  And Rupert, while clueless to begin with, was devoted to his work.  Once I got it into his head that I liked him and wanted to see him, he was devoted to me as well.”  She turned slightly and smiled at her son before continuing.  “He would do any and everything to make sure that I wasn’t mad at him, and he used to be kind and caring.  If not for those few twists of fate...then maybe we wouldn’t be meeting this late in your life.”

“I see,” Vincent replied, taking in the information and saving it away for later use.  Jeanne suddenly grabbed his hands with her own.

“I’m...glad to have seen you, Vincent,” she said, before standing up and walking out of the lobby.  “Now let’s see if we can find your friends.  I have a few things I want to tell and ask them.”

The boy blinked a few times before he got up as well, following after the lady who gave birth to him.

“So...how do you think Vincent is doing?” Alice asked as she and Jonathan sat on a bench not far from the hotel, their Pokemon running around free.

“Worried about him not working things out with his mom?” Jonathan smiled, putting an arm around her shoulder.

“No, more that we weren’t there for moral support since SOMEBODY decided to pull us out first,” she chuckled, elbowing him lightly.

“Oh don’t worry. He’ll be fine. Besides, he’s got Lucy with him. He’ll be fine,” Jonathan reassured.

“Ah, well you two didn’t go far at all, did you?” Jeanne said as she stepped out of the hotel, Vincent not far behind her.

“He’s technically our responsibility, so yeah, we couldn’t go far,” Jonathan said back.

“Sides, he’s been like a little brother to us. We wouldn’t just leave him,” Alice added with a chuckle. “I take it things are going well,” she said.

“Well enough,” Vincent replied.

“Yes, but you two have lives outside of this little town,” Jeanne said.  “Which leads me to what I wanted to ask you.”  She paused for a moment before staring at them both intently.  “I want you to take Vincent with you when you go back.”

Both of them stopped short. “Wait...what?” they both sputtered.

“I would love to have been there for Vincent throughout his life,” Jeanne sighed wistfully.  “But the fact of the matter is, through no fault of my own, I wasn’t.  And I would be a fool not to recognize the bonds he’s made with the pair of you,” she observed, then chuckled.  “Or the bonds you two share with one another.”

“W-well, thank you. We promise we’ll take good care of him,” Alice said.

“Yeah. You can count on us,” Jonathan nodded. “But...are you sure about this? He’s your son. Wouldn’t you at least consider maybe coming with us?”

“I would like to, true,” Jeanne said, but shook her head and looked at the old Slowpoke Well.  “But I still have a few things to do.  Just because my son is found doesn’t mean there isn’t still something to do to fight inequality.  Besides, did you think I would just turn him over without a small fuss?”  Here she winked at the pair.

“...ooohh!” Alice blinked, before chuckling. “I see where he got his devious side from.”

“My condition is quite simple, dears,” Jeanne said, before nodding at the nearby Pokecenter.  “I’m going to work to build up my reputation and a modest amount of funds again, get back into the Coordinator line of work...but until the time comes when I can come to him?  Sundays mornings, I’ll call, and he’d best be free.”

“No problem. Sunday’s my day off anyway,” Alice chuckled.

“Mostly cause you like to be her on Saturdays,” Vincent snickered under his breath.

“Well then,” Jeanne said, puzzled for a moment before brushing whatever they’d been talking about to the side.  “Call the Pokecenter the Sunday morning when you get back, and I’ll write your number down and do it myself afterwards.”

“Done. But...we should still be here for a few more days at least,” Alice commented.

“Yeah, I can arrange for my ticket to change the date of when I get back...assuming my superiors will let me do that,” Jonathan nodded. “Actually, they DID say I’ve been racking up on vacation time. Maybe this would be a good time to burn through some of it.”

“Going to take Heat up on his idea of challenging the gym then, Jon?” Vincent questioned with a bit of a chuckle.

“Eh why not. I already have 5 Kalos badges. Might as well get a few Johto badges while I’m at it,” he chuckled.

“If you’re going to do that,” Jeanne commented, “Then I’ll come along to watch.”

“Sure, it could be fun,” Alice chuckled.

“Well that was easy,” Jonathan smiled as he held up his new Hive Badge to the sun, the light glinting off it.

“Not hard, considering you have a Combusken and a Noibat. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how Heat isn’t already a Blaziken with how strong he already is. Echo should be a Noivern by now too,” Alice commented.

“And you lot keep telling me that this little bundle of hyper should be a Lucario by now, but we can all see how true that’s been,” Vincent commented, tickling Lucy, who had in a rare moment consented to being carried instead of riding Vincent’s shoulders.

“Well, we’ve got good reason to say that. She’s pretty strong, plus she’s been so happy since you got out. The only thing you’d need now at this rate is for her to thrash a strong opponent,” Alice defended. “As for Heat, you know how he likes to fight. By all means, he should have racked up enough experience to Evolve.”

“Well then, let’s ask.”  Vincent turned to the latest victor over the Bug gym and quirked an eyebrow.  “Heat?  There any reason in particular you aren’t a Blaziken?  You wouldn’t be holding back your Evolution on purpose, now would you?”

“Nope. Why would you think that?” Heat blinked. “Heck, when I evolve I say we should totally go to Shalour, and maybe find a Blazikenite. I’d totally want to go Mega.”

“...and that leaves us at square one,” Jonathan sighed.

“Pardon me, dears, but did you all just…?”  Jeanne was befuddled to say the least.  “I mean, I know some trainers claim to understand their partners, but…”

“Well, Vincent’s technically part Abra now, though we’re pretty sure its evolved into Kadabra with how strong his psychic powers have been lately,” Alice commented. “Jonathan’s just been with Heat for so long, talking to him is a no brainer for him.”

“I...see,” Jeanne replied softly.  “And yourself?  Any reason it looked like you caught a part of what he was saying?”

Alice pulled out an ear piece. “My cousins a genius and a tech geek. He’s been designing this translator for humans to use, wanting to break the old language barrier between human and ‘mon. Guess who’s the lucky test subject,” she said sarcastically at the end, remembering how often the thing would go haywire after a while, nearly causing her to go deaf in one ear.

“Do tell me he wasn’t using your latest addition to your lives to do his research,” Jeanne said, crossing her arms as she considered the idea.

“Nah, Vincents never even MET him. He sends stuff over to me all the time. Heck, its been a while since I’ve seen him out of his lab. I think I saw him looking a little pale the last time he sent a photo,” Alice shrugged.

“Well then, I wouldn’t mind an earpiece myself...nor would many of the more sane members of the Rangers, I don’t think,” Jeanne said.  “I’m sure I have a list around here somewhere of Rangers who I’ve met who were nice folk.  It’s exactly the sort of thing we could use.”

“No can do. This thing is far from ready. Sure it works, but it keeps having static. Not to mention it tends to try to drag my hearing down with it when it dies,” Alice deadpanned.

“Alice, outta curiosity, which would have been better?” Vincent questioned.  “Your earpiece dying, or hearing what Sam had to say not too long ago?”

“...my earpiece dying. At least I can’t understand it.”

Sam just chuckled.  “And that was the intro course,” he said with another laugh.

“...say anything else and I will personally wash your mouth out with soap,” Alice stated, her voice deadly calm.

“Shutting up,” the bug said, drawing a claw over his mouth.

“...Do I want to know?” Jeanne and Vincent asked at the same time.

“Not if you don’t want to feel like tearing your ears off,” the girl deadpanned.

“...Alice dear, I do hope you’ll keep a good eye on that Scyther,” Jeanne said, shooting Sam a glare that he could feel.

“Done,” Alice glared as well. “Now then, what shall we do? Is there anything interesting going on?” she asked.

Suddenly the ground tremored, shaking up the whole town. When it subsided, all attention was on the various tv screens, all of which were showing the same thing.

“We interrupt all programs for a special report!” the newscasters all looked frantic. “This just in, a mysterious new landmass has suddenly appeared in the middle of the oceans near the Unova region! We have yet to be able to investigate, but all authorities assure that they will get to the bottom of this immediately!”

“...when I said anything interesting, I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!!!!” Alice shouted to the sky.

Greetings citizens of Earth both old and new. I am Arceus, and I have returned.

Halloween anniversary special: Nightmare in Shadow

   Twas a dark and stormy night. The sky above shrouded in a mass of impenetrable black clouds. Wind howled, lightning flashed, and thunder boomed.

   Arceus hath made his announcement to the world. He hath told everyone of the new region, and of the many new species of pokemon that live upon it. Also he hath told the humans not to approach the new region until further notice so that the inhabitants of the land could adjust.

   Truly all at first seemed well, but many things are not always what they seem.

   Below the storm Spear Pillar sat upon the face of Mt Moon, currently in the region of Johto. Inside the temple a storm of a different sort was brewing.

   After her three days of meditation to help Darkrai learn how to control his nightmare powers Luna was mentally and physically exhausted. This still was on top of the stress from the loss of her home, and the attack by Tirek. So it would come as no surprise that she now walked into her room, and collapsed onto her bed.

   The chamber that she had received as her temporary bedroom was left plain with no personal decor. So it was that she now rested in a plain white chamber, and slept in a pristine white bed. And lo it was because of this even more unsettling what occurred next.

   Deeply sleeping in a bed as soft as a cloud, Luna had not looked so peaceful in days. Her dark fur contrasted with the white sheets that covered her. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed. She stirred slightly as she dreamed, and a smirk came to her lips. Slowly she seemed to begin to wake, and one eye opened.

   One draconian slitted eye opened.

   Alone in one of the corridors inside the Hall of Legends was a green fairy like pokemon. Celebi was humming a cheery tune as she floated along by herself. She was very happy about what has happened. Her grandfather, Arceus was back and there were all new pokemon that she could play with!

   Celebi paused for a moment as the light suddenly flickered into darkness around her. She shrugged when the light came back, though she failed to notice the darkness that still lingered.

   So Celebi continued on her way, but she heard someone walking behind her. She turned around and looked into the deep shadows that shrouded the hall. The echo of bipedal steps sounded from beyond her sight. With each step the echoes grew louder, signaling that the one walking was getting closer. As the steps reached their loudest Celebi could see the human who approached her, and she became paralyzed from fear.

How...how d-did you get here? she asked, stuttering with her telepathy in her alarm.

   The iron masked man sneered at her. He reached a hand up to his chest and grabbed one of the Dark Balls on his red cloak.

   Celebi's little body trembled as she watched him draw his arm back...

    Celebi finally screamed with her Psychic voice. The telepathic scream travelling much faster and farther than a regular one could have. It was heard by nearly all who were currently in the temple, but most importantly it was heard by one in particular.

   Seventeen feet of blue and gray metal armored Dragon stepped out of a portal and stood protectively over his daughter. Though there was no threat that he could see, not even an illusion, he roared with enough volume to make the Hall of Legends quake.

   It took not very long for the Legendaries to track down the source of the dark power that had haunted little Celebi. Luna and Celestia had both denied it at first, but they knew better than to ignore the possibility. So it was that they now gathered in the temple's meeting room.

I still think that I should just go into her mind and obliterate this Nightmare. Arceus stated not for the first time. Celestia and Luna both gave him a deadpan "No." , also not for the first time.

No offense dad, but you aren't very subtle. Mew told him. You would probably make think she's a Torchic or something.

I'm not that blunt. he muttered.

   "How shall you be doing this?" Celestia asked Mew.

My sisters and me will go into Luna's mindscape, and get rid of Nightmare. Easy! Mew smiled and gave a thumbs up.

   "That will not work." Luna shook her head. "Nightmare may have different motivation than me, but she has all of my knowledge and skill. If you go after her as a group she will only separate you and take you out one at a time. It would be best if only one goes after her, one who is skilled in mental powers but also skilled in combat. Is there a Legendary who fits this description?"

   Mewtwo levitated through the darkness of Princess Luna's mind. He watched for signs of any daemon or dream spirits, but for now there was only darkness. He was confused about how this Nightmare could slip passed a seal set in place by Arceus. The only thing he could think of that would explain it is if Arceus had set the seal for something specific, and Nightmare was something else.

   Soon it was that Mewtwo came upon a rusted crooked iron gate. On the other side of the gate was what looked like an abandoned village. Run down shacks and falling apart buildings, rotted dieing trees scattered around, a polluted lake, and a cemetery with open graves like they had all just been dug, or like something had crawled out of them. He passed through the gate and noticed that the shadows in the graveyard began to move.   Mewtwo heard a slow creak from behind him, and when he looked the gated had slammed shut.

   All around him the seemingly abandoned ghost town sprung to life...with ghosts! Ghosts and zombies and other creatures of the night, but they were all ponies. They had all just been standing there, or hiding just inside the shadows like they were waiting for something. Then they all started

singing.

   When the song was done the monster ponies had surrounded Mewtwo, though they made no move to attack him. He paid them no attention and turned to face the the one who controlled them. She stood taller than he did, with her horn extending over a foot higher. Her body was black as a lightless void, her mane a flowing astral night sky, and she wore blue silver armor. Her draconian eyes illuminated with a semblance of moonlight, and her mouth pulled into a smirk revealed her shark like teeth.

   "Nightmare Moon I presume." Mewtwo spoke, his voice being verbal rather than his normal telepathy sense they were already communicating telepathically. "You're not some simple figment of her mind are you."

   "Indeed not." she trotted around him in a circle as she studied him. "Can you guess what I am truly?"

   "You are definitely no simpled demon or spirit. Arceus placed the seal on Princess Luna's mind to keep such things out." he said as she continued to stalk around him. "So you must be a representation of some part of her subconscious mind. Am I right?"

   Nightmare Moon snorted in aggravation, and her conjured minions adopted a more hostile appearance. "Just like that bearded fool... I am no 'piece' of her mind. I am my own pony, SEPARATE from Luna!"

   With that she plunged everything into darkness. Mewtwo could see nothing, not even his own hand in front of his face. Still around him he knew that the monsters she had made were stalking him.

   "You see Mewtwo, you are not in Luna's mind." He heard her whisper from everywhere and nowhere. "You are in mine. I have existed for only half of her life, but I have always been nothing but a thought. A living mind that existed on the astral plane, a mind without a body.

   "So when you get right down to it, you are not simply in my mind." Nightmare Moon spoke clearly from just behind him, a malicious fang filled grin on her muzzle. "You are in the center of my very being...and I locked the gate when you entered."

   Mewtwo's eyes widened as he thought back to the gate he had entered through. Had there been another sound that was muffled by the slamming of the gate? Had he heard the clicking of lock underneath the echoed clang of the rusted iron?

   "...Oh pokebal-aarrgg" he screamed in agony as the spike she had formed from her mane retracted from his abdomen. It left no wound in the physical world, but here in her world was more real than any attack he had ever felt.

   "I was hoping for something more feminine." Nightmare Moon told him. "But a body is a body, and I shall have one of my own!"

   A pained groan escaped Mewtwo's lips as he stood. He focused and the wound vanished. "You will have to do better than that. None of this is real so any injuries I sustain will have never existed as soon as I recover from your attacks."

   "I know." Nightmare Moon told him as she raised an eyebrow at him. She then pointed at the zombie, ghost, vampire, mutant, and other monster ponies around him. "That's what they're for."

   The monster ponies all swarmed on him. Mewtwo threw himself into the air to escape, but some still clung to him. Lyra had her snake fingers wrapped around his left leg with their fangs biting into his flesh. Spike had climbed onto his back and was biting away at his shoulder. Pinkie Pie held onto his tail with one hoof while the other was trying to keep from dropping her face, she solved this problem by holding her face to his tail and biting it. The sudden pain in his tail made Mewtwo teleport out of instinct and he looked down to see them all plummet to the ground.

   The cackling of witches got his attention. Twilight and Trixie were riding after him on their broomsticks, and behind them was Rainbow Dash the reaper. Twilight and Trixie both shot twin balls of green fire at him. He deflected the flames with a Psychic, but then Rainbow Dash zoomed in on him. With a wicked smile on her muzzle she swung her scythe. Mewtwo tried to block with a Psychic shield, but Rainbow Dash vanished in a haze of smoke. She reappeared behind him and he only avoided having his spine severed by blocking with his tail. Unfortunately the blade held a ghostly power within it and it caused him a great deal of pain as it cut into his flesh.

   Mewtwo turned with a Fire Punch aimed at her face. The blow sent the undead mare flying off in the direction of the toxic lake with her head engulfed in fire. Mewtwo took the opportunity to focus his form and remove the wound, but this left him open to attack.

   The unicorn witches flew around him as they cast fire at him. The flames burned his skin, but they also poisoned him. A rot formed around his burns and began to creep up his body. He teleported next to them and used a Psycho Cut on each of them. Once more Mewtwo restored himself as their bodies and heads fell separately.

   "Here kitty kitty."

   Mewtwo flinched as Rarity sunk her fangs into his neck and began draining his blood. He tried to teleport, but pony ghosts flew through his body and disrupted his concentration. They also sapped his strength and slowed his thoughts. As blood dripped down his body Mewtwo slowly sank to the ground.

   "Your power may be legendary but your brain could use some improvement." Nightmare Moon laughed, her voice booming across her realm. "Too bad you didn't figure it out in time."

   Mewtwo looked up at her as she trotted towards the gate. He noticed how her power was retracting into her from around them. He slumped in defeat... Then he realized his mistake, and grinned widely.

   "Everything here is a part of you." he raised one arm and clenched his fist. "Even the ground!" Mewtwo struck the ground with an Earthquake and destroyed the minions that Nightmare Moon had created.

   Nightmare Moon felt the blow like a physical attack, and fell over from the pain. She clenched her fangs, and turned on him with her horn glowing. From around his feet the hooves of zombified ponies dug out of the ground, and began to pull him under.

   Mewtwo fought them off with Fire Punch and Psychic, but as strong as he was the sheer number of undead ponies made it an even match. Eventually though he managed to drive most of them off, and he noticed that they were appearing less and less as he fought. It seemed as if he would win...

   A sound like the wind being cut through by a sword greeted his ears, and suddenly Mewtwo could no longer feel his right arm. Rainbow Dash flew around him with her scythe dripping blood, and his severed arm. The sight of his own limb dangling lifelessly in someone else's grasp was very unsettling. While he was distracted the zombies all rushed forward and pinned him down.

   Rainbow Dash flew down and held her scythe above his head. "Any last words?" she asked him with a sneer on her burned face.

   "Just one." he told her. "Psyshock!"

   Nightmare Moon's entire world flickered in and out of existence as bolts of psychic power shot through her. The Earthquake had hurt, but this was a psychic attack delivered directly to a mind with no physical body... It. Was. AGONY! She screamed as her form distorted almost into nothing.

   Mewtwo recovered from his injuries, and got a big foreleg to his face. After flying back from the blow he looked at the newest pony monster...a Frankenstein Big Mac!

   As the Macenstein monster lifted his massive forelegs up to smash him...Mewtwo pulled his arm back, charged it with Psychic power, and jabbed a Psystrke into the undead stallion's chin. Big Mac's head made a nice whistling sound as it flew through the air.

   "Enough of this!" yelled Nightmare Moon. She transformed into smoke, and streaked through the darkness towards the gate.

   "No!" Mewtwo focused his mind on the gate, and a blue glowing symbol of his face appeared over it.

   Nightmare Moon returned to her normal solid form, and gallopped to the gate. She scratched at the gate with her hooves, but Mewtwo's own seal kept her from even touching it. Her face contorted with rage.

   "Too late." Mewtwo said as he floated towards her. "You can't get through that seal. Now how about we finish...this...are you laughing?"

   "Ha ha, ha ha ha, Ha Ha, HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Nightmare Moon looked at him with her fangs showing through a feral grin. "You foal! I was going to just leave you here, but now in order for me to go you must die."

   "...You were holding back?"

   A wave of darkness flooded the world around them. The town, and all of its inhabitants were swept up in the shadows. When it stopped Mewtwo was left with nothing around him...unless he counted the endless expanse of a galaxy that met his eyes. Planets, stars, and even a nearby asteroid belt.

   "Why would you cover this with that horror show?" he asked.

   "Oh, so now someone appreciates the night?" she growled at him. "Too little too late."

   Mewtwo saw her, and his eyes widened. As she had previously spread herself out to make the town Nightmare Moon had had to focus too much on her illusion for her to be a true threat. She swiped Mewtwo with a backhanded blow from one wing, and sent him flying off through space at the speed of a comet. Before Mewtwo could react Nightmare Moon teleported into his path and hit him with an energy blast.

   This time Mewtwo was left to crash into a passing meteor. When he hit the meteor cracked open, and he found it to be hollow.

   "What's this?" Mewtwo saw the inside of the meteor was actually a memory. One of Princess Luna's memories. "Hmm..."

   He watched as a very young Luna walked up to a door and knocked twice. "Tia? Tia?" she called to her sister. "Does thou want to see the moonrise?" Mewtwo stayed to watch in the hope that he might learn something, but all he learned was that Luna used to cry herself to sleep.

   Nightmare Moon burst into the meteor like wrecking ball, and rammed her head into him. He just barely managed to avoid being gored by her horn, but even so she still hit him with the force of a Dragon Tail attack from Groudon.

   Sailing through space once again Mewtwo caught sight of another meteor, and in an impulse he changed his direction to crash into it. The inside of this one contained a memory from a slightly older Luna. She was somewhere between a filly and a fully grown alicorn.

   Luna was alone in the library of the old castle at night. She was browsing the shelves in search of some specific book. She looked for some time before finding what she seeked. In her magic she pulled a single book from a shelf.

   "Spells of the mind, memories, and emotions." she read the title aloud. After flipping through the pages for a bit Luna found what she was looking for. "Here it is. A spell to hide the emotions in the subconscious. This had better work, tis not right to be so jealous of our sister."

   Mewtwo watched Luna cast the spell on herself. He knew from the memory that it was only a temporary spell meant for therapeutic use, but he was getting a suspicion about things. Then the floor erupted in an explosion of stone as Nightmare Moon crawled out of some hellish pit with the fires of the underworld following her. Mewtwo was gone as fast as thought would allow.

   "This is getting interesting, but I need to see more." Mewtwo came to an asteroid belt, and thought about it. "What the hell."

   Being in a world of the mind, and not bound by the laws of reality Mewtwo Mega Evolved. Twice. His combination of the X and Y Mega Evolutions was definitely cooler.

   With his power amplified Mewtwo zoomed into the asteroid belt, and began smashing them with his fists. After a series of punches he decided to mix it up, and began to head but, kick, tail smash, and even crushing a few of the massive space rocks between his hands. Each one that he destroyed released a memory.

   It took him a moment to sort the images into a linear memory, but he soon had a better understanding of Luna, and of her creation. The memories were still jumbled, and a little out of order, but they we're understandable.

A collection of memories from Luna's foalhood to her banishment. The battle with King Sombra which awoke the darkness fully.  The battle with Celestia after her transformation. Nightmare Moon in her and Luna's banishment.

   Among it all though was the recurring sight of Luna returning to the library, and recasting the suppression spell on herself. Luna did this whenever she began to feel jealous of, or angry at her sister. As time went on Luna would do this more often. The negative feelings that the spell blocked did not simply vanish, but were put away in the back of her mind. There the feelings and thoughts stayed as fresh as the day she had them, and with each casting of the spell they grew. Finally on one fateful day Princess Luna modified the spell to last as a permanent enchantment.

   Mewtwo let his form return to normal. "So she inadvertently created you from her own mind?"

   From behind him Nightmare Moon watched the memories herself. "Do you have any idea what it is like to be trapped within someone else's mind? Simply come into existence one day, and find yourself without any companionship? I eventually grew strong enough to push through the barrier that contained me, and Starswirl told Luna that the voice in her head was just some out of control dream magic that had manifested from her subconscious. They thought I was nothing!"

   Mewtwo noticed a stray meteor off by itself. He raised one arm, and fired an energy blast that broke it open. The memory inside was of a newly made Nightmare Moon trying to call out to Luna, Celestia, and Starswirl. They ignored her, and placed a mystical cage around the part of Luna's mind where she lived. The young alicorn pounded her hooves on the barrier, and began to cry.

   "I just want out!" she yelled at them, but this only seemed to embolden their actions.

   "Don't leave me alone." she begged, but they did not listen.

   As they were placing the final touches on the seal she lashed out in anger. She summoned a storm of shadow demons, shot bolts of lightning, and screamed vengeance at them. "I shall slay ALL of you for this!"

   Mewtwo looked the alicorn in the eye, and thought for a moment. "How willing would you be to compromise?"

   Mewtwo returned to his own body, and to consciousness in Luna's bed chamber where the Princesses, Mew, and Arceus had all gathered. Luna was coming out of her trance as well, and she nuzzled her sister who sat beside her on the bed. Mewtwo let them have their moment while he detached Mew from his head.

Why were you hugging my head? he asked after unlatching her nearly unbreakable hug from him.

YOU ALMOST DIED! she shouted, and once more clamped onto him. Though this time she attached herself to his shoulder.

   Mewtwo decided to leave her where she was. I was not in danger of death at first. Her goal originally was to replace my mind with hers.

   "Why would she want to do that?" Luna asked him with a confused expression.

Long ago you began to use a spell to suppress the negative thoughts and emotions that you had whenever the ponies favored the day over the night. This spell was only temporary, and did nothing more than put your problems away for a while. he reminded her.

   "I..remember that yes, but what does it have to do with Nightmare Moon?"

When your bad thoughts would not stop you abused the spell nearly every day, and then you corrupted the spell by applying it to your mind permanently.

  "Luna! Tell me you didn't." Celestia scolded her.

   "...We may have." Luna mumbled. "But so what? It has nothing to do with her."

   "Luna..." Celestia rubbed her right temple with her wing. "You placed a spell on your own mind as a permanent fix to something that we could have just talked about. You know that changing an established spell into something it is not meant for can have serious unexpected side effects."

In this case the unexpected side effect was the creation of a whole other being as a result of Luna's magic containing so many of her thoughts, memories, and emotions. Basically all of the magic combined with the repressed parts of her mind in a way that created the personality known as Nightmare Moon. Mewtwo explained to everyone.

   Celestia and Luna both stared at him for a bit blinking their eyes. Nobody else moved or said anything while the information was being processed. Finally Luna asked a rather obvious question.

   "What?"

You accidentally created a twin sibling by dividing your mind into two parts, and you both share the same body. Mewtwo told her. He then levitated himself up and stretched his surprisingly sore muscles. Starswirl then mistakenly advised you that she was a part of your subconscious that had been animated as a side effect of Sombra's curse, but truthfully that had only awakened her. You all then locked her in a cage when she had only the mind of a young teenager.

   The Princesses could have chosen to not believe him, but they had always known that there had been something odd about how the Nightmare had just appeared. Starswirl had tried to find the truth before he had died, but he left little information on it. Celestia herself had tried to search for the answer, but after Luna's banishment there was no way to test her theories. Then there were the Elements. If she had not been banished or otherwise dealt with as Discord had been, then she was not evil.

I'll save you the trouble before you start blaming yourselves. Mewtwo got their attention as he levitated next to the bed with Mew still clamped onto his shoulder. While she is still angry she does not want to continue where she left off. Even if she did somehow manage to take over your body she would now find herself at odds with the Legendaries. So I have arranged for a meeting between her and Luna, so that they can negotiate a fair way of managing who gets to do what.

   Once more in a trance Luna walked through her own mind, guided by Mewtwo. Luna was still unsure about facing her other half like this, but she knew that it was the best option. Mewtwo led her through the gate that separates the two minds, and Luna immediately wished that they could just battle and be done with it.

   Luna found herself not in the nightmarish land that she had expected, nor in the endless beauty of the night sky that she would have welcomed. No, instead she found everything to pink. Not just pink, but bright pink with lots of frilly girly patterns that Cadence would love. And in the middle of it all was her twin sitting at a table set for tea with a sly grin on her muzzle.

   "Won't you sit down?" she invited Luna to join her.

   "...Can we by any chance just fight instead?"

   "No."

   Luna grumbled a little, but sat at the table anyway. Though she refused to drink out of the flowered teacups. "Well, let us get on with it."

   "Agreed. First order of business, my name."

   Luna blinked a couple of times as her darker counterpart fixed a cup of tea with ten sugar cubes. "What about your name?"

   "Oh come on. You're the one gave me that name when you first heard me talking to you. Would you want to be named for a grown mare's moment of childish fear?"

   "Ah, well...good point." Luna blushed a little as she remembered running into Celestia's room one night, as a teenager not a grown mare, and telling her about hearing a voice in the dream realm. "Fine then. Any suggestions?"

   "I've put a good bit of thought into that actually. Do you take ten cubes of sugar, or twelve?" she pointed a hoof at one of the two cups that floated between them.

   "Twelve please." Luna answered politely. Mewtwo dropped the cookie that he had been sneaking from the table.

   "See we are not so so different." the darker alicorn said as she dropped twelve sugar cubes into her tea. For some reason Mewtwo started floating slowly away from the table. "You just got to walk around whenever you wanted while I was locked in a cage for my entire existence."

   "Well maybe if thou had tried communicating with me about something other than terrorizing ponies that may not have happened." Luna countered as she levitated her tea to take a sip.

   "Tis hardly our fault! Twas thee that created us from thy dark thoughts!"

   "Thou still should have explained thyself! Least we would not have feared thee!"

   "Thou should fear more our hoof upside thy head!"

   The literal lightning storm that had manifested from the flaring tempers of the twin night alicorns was enough to remind Mewtwo that he was supposed to be the peacekeeper of this meeting. He imposed a Psychic aura over the area, and got their attention by lightly smacking a hand on the table. "Enough! This is a negotiation, not a battle. Now you two-

   They both turned on him with a pair of cold dark stares that silenced him instantly. Mewtwo took about a millisecond to think about it before he removed himself from their minds and retreated to the real world.

   The alicorns looked back to each other, and burst out laughing. After a minute or two they calmed down, drank their tea.

   "He had a point." Luna said after finishing her drink. "This is a negotiation, or at least it is supposed to be."

   "True. We were talking about my name I believe." Luna nodded for her to continue. "I would like to be called Artemis."

   Luna narrowed her eyes at her. "Why?"

   "Luna is an old Stalliatin word that means moon and is also the name of a forgotten deity. She was later forgotten in favour of a new goddess. Artemis was her name, and it translates into 'Hunter in the night'."

   "So...you want a name that is younger than mine, and more badass as well?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

   "Locked in a cage for thousands of years without having done anything to deserve it." she calmly sipped her tea.

   "Ah, ahem...yes fair enough." Luna nodded in agreement. "Well then, Artemis, what is the next order of business?"

   "Only one I can think of is how to decide who gets to control our body and when." Artemis told her.

   It was a few weeks later before the newly christened Artemis could walk the world in her own. It had been agreed that the night Alicorns would swap out control of their body as the moon traversed in its monthly cycle. So as the sphere became full Luna would take control, and as it left the sky dark Artemis would stalk the earth.

   Upon a balcony at the top of the Hall of Legends stood Luna. Beside her were her sister Celestia, Arceus, Mew, and Mewtwo. These immortal beings waited for the moon to finish its cycle into its 'new moon' state, and watched as the last remaining sliver of moonlight was swallowed up by shadow.

   Luna looked to her sister, but there was nothing to be said. She stepped forward away from the others, and changed. It was similar to, but still very different from her transformation into Nightmare Moon. Luna was swallowed up by a sphere of shadows yes, but there was no quaking of power. When it ended, Artemis was revealed.

   "Mmm, good to be back." she said as she stretched her body. HER body, for a month at least. "Fresh air feels SO good on my fur."

   A small noise got her attention. Artemis turned around to see Mew slightly trembling at the sight of her. "Oh, umm, Hello-

BYE NOW! Mew yelled, and she teleported away.

   "...I see..." Artemis turned her deadpan look to Mewtwo, and was impressed with him. Her eyes scanned over him-

Don't you even think about it! Luna told her from within their mind.

A little too late for that. Artemis replied. But I promise that my first time out will not be for that.

   "Luna?" Celestia took a step forward, and looked at her with a confused expression on her face. The dark alicorn before her looked like Nightmare Moon, but there was something off.

   "No Celestia, the name is Artemis...and..." she paused before trotting up to Celestia, and looking UP into her eyes. "...Why the Draconequis are you taller than me?"

All around them there was nothing but war. Three sides all against each other. Earth erupted around the battlefield as the combatants fought with each other. It was their fault that this happened. They placed the blame on all of them. Team Eternity was to blame for creating the Forever Balls. Team Rocket was to blame for even thinking that they could, let alone actually trying to catch them. The Rangers were to blame for not going after the real criminals when they had the chance.

Now they were all fighting, and ignoring what had just happened. Finally the so-called heroes were trying to stop the villains, and all it took was for them to attack during the Indigo League.

In Luna's body they gazed down at the Forever Ball at their hooves with a heartbroken look. They. Had. Seen. Enough!

Like a fury they leaped their body into the air, and slammed back to the ground with the force of a comet. The expanding shockwave knocked even a Tyranitar off its feet. The battle ceased as everyone had to recover, and what they saw after was Luna rising from the ground as a swirling mass of black energy.

The energy turned red, and the outline of a much larger alicorn could be seen. Nightmare Moon, the true Nightmare Moon burst forth like a sudden hurricane. She scooped up the Forever Ball with her mane, and gently held it close. With her cargo safe Nightmare Moon cast her gaze upon the mortals who had done this.

They cowered away from her as she unleashed a wave of shadows. "YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS! YOU WILL ALL PAY WITH YOUR LIVES!"

   Mew and Celebi returned from their vision of the future. The two Psychics had went in search of confirmation about a theory that Mew had. What they found was more than enough to prove her right.

   Celebi shivered as she had felt the cold of Nightmare Moon's vengeance even through the vision. So they can combine their minds into one in order to use all of their magic at once?

   Mew nodded. Yes, and because each of them is a fully grown alicorn they are already powerful. Each of them has somewhere around two thirds of Luna's natural power, but they are so opposite of each other that they should not be able to join like that.

They look like they get along ok. Celebi shrugged. They even made a deal about who gets to walk around when.

   Mew facepawed as she remembered exactly who she was talking to, and how naive Celebi could be. One of them has been locked in a cage for thousands of years INSIDE the other's mind, and she tried to conquer their world by force. Trust me, they are not going to just forgive each other.

   Celebi leaned back and grabbed her feet like she was sitting on thin air. Well I still don't get why you are so worried about it. I mean she is scary, but how dangerous could she be? Let's invite them to a tea party! She suddenly jumped up and down in mid air,and clapped her hands.

   Celebi then saw Mew do something that she had never ever seen her do. Mew's face lost all of its usual playfulness, and she actually looked old for a moment as something frightened her. Luna and Artemis can only combine into the form known as Nightmare Moon when they each agree to give the other control. We have to make sure that does not happen.

   Celebi had never even heard of Mew acting so serious, let alone actually seen it. What's wrong?

Artemis is a natural Shadow pokemon.

This epilogue is only the beginning

Greetings citizens of Earth both old and new. I am Arceus, and I have returned. For many centuries, I have watched, helpless to intervene as this world suffered atrocities, and disasters. Now, I am free, and I will be able to deliver justice where it is needed.

However, today is not about those who have harmed this world. Today is about those who are new to it.

The quake that was felt across the world earlier today was the creation of a new continent. A new region of new pokemon.

These new pokemon are from a different world that no longer exists. Through the power of me, and my children they were saved. We brought them here to live.

These new pokemon are Ponies, Changelings, Griffins, Zebras, Deer, Hippocampi, Minotaurs, Breezies, and others. With them comes the new Magic type. Now I understand that this is very tempting for trainers, but be warned that anyone seeking to take one of them without the pokemon’s own permission will answer to their Legendary guardians Celestia, Luna, and Artemia.

And me, Discord!

Ah...yes one more. Discord the spirit of chaos. ...Now where was I? Anyway, these Legendaries will allow a few professors to visit their land, but only after their subjects have had enough time to adjust. Soon enough after that they will allow visitation to trainers.

Farewell to you all, and I bless you.

   Professor Oak put down the paper that he had copied Arceus’ words onto. “In a world of pokemon wonders never cease. As big as a Wailord, or as soft as Flaffy’s fleece.”

   The aging Professor stood up from his desk chair, and walked around his office with a cane in his left hand. “A whole new region. New species of pokemon. A new type of pokemon!” He thrust his arms into the air with excitement, and quickly regretted it. “Ohh, my back. I've got to stop doing that, but pokemon are so cool!”

   Professor Oak heard the doorbell ring, and went to answer it. Outside he found three humans, a Greninja, and what looked like a small orange Ponyta with wings. In the sky he could see a Noivern flying off.

   “May I help you?” Professor Oak asked them.

   “I'm Gene Phillips.” the young man almost didn't say his last name. It came out half mumbled as he reached out for a handshake. “I'm here to get my Kanto region trainer’s license, and a pokedex update.”

   “Why didn't you say so?” Professor Oak smiled and happily shook his hand. “By the way, I was rooting for you the whole time. Are you aware that there is an ink mustache on your upper lip?”

   Gene blinked a few times before he remembered. He then glared accusingly at Bell and Weiss. “You two really let me walk around with a magic marker mustache on my face?”

   “Yep.” Weiss smirked as Bell teleported ten pokedollars out of Gene’s wallet. She frowned as Weiss had won their bet, and handed him the money.

   Professor Oak chuckled. “Well come on in, and I'll get you on your way in no time.” Gene and Belle walked inside, and Weiss started to follow. Professor Oak held his cane out in front of the other man to stop him. “You will stay out here.”

   Weiss had to process that for a moment. Old man trying to stop me from doing my job. He is poking a cane into my chest. Why am I letting him do this? “Look doc, I've got a job to do. I'm contracted to protect that guy. So if you don't mind?” He moved to grab the cane, and Professor Oak quickly jabbed it down onto his foot.

   “I am perfectly aware of who you are young man, and you are certainly not allowed in my lab.” the older man scowled at Weiss as he shook the pain from his foot. “Contracted or not, you are a bad influence, and you will not enter my home.”

   “And how exactly will you stop me?” Weiss asked with a sigh that was half annoyed, and half bored.

   Professor Oak smiled. “Let me introduce a friend of mine. Charizard!”

   Whooosh! A sudden wind blew past them as a large orange reptile landed behind Professor Oak. The Charizard let out a roaring torrent of flames that easily shot thirty feet over Weiss’ head, and left a few singed hairs.

   Professor Oak was still smiling. “Allow me to introduce my friend, Charizard. I'm sure that you have heard of his trainer, Ash Ketchum.”

   Weiss’ right eye twitched for some reason. “Yes, I'm familiar with the Battle Frontier Brain.”

   Professor Oak continued smiling. “You see, I'm getting old, and since Ash was worried about me he sent Charizard to stay with me. Actually several of Ash’s pokemon are here, along with some that were trained by my grandsons Gary and Blue.”

   “Bulba!” Weiss and Greninja looked down at the Bulbasaur that stood between them. The Grass/Poison pokemon had a small, but constant puff of Sleep Powder that was ready to be blasted out.

   “...I still have to insist on one of my team going in with you.” Weiss finally deadpanned. He took out Doc’s pokeball, and called out the Audino. She looked around, and blinked as she recognized the famous professor. “Doc, Professor Oak. Professor Oak, Doc. Doc, you go in with him because he doesn't want me in his lab.” Doc just nodded, and walked over to him.

   “It's very nice to meet you Doc! Allow me to escort you inside.” Professor Oak held his hand out for her to hold so he could lead her inside.

   “Well it's nice to see someone is capable of behaving like a gentleman.” Doc said as she took his hand.

   Greninja tapped Weiss’ shoulder. Having gotten his attention the ninja frog pointed at the Charizard, then at the lab door, and the he shrugged. The question was obvious to Weiss; “Not worth the risk?”

   The mercenary scratched his chin. “Well...the Charizard is strong for a League pokemon, the Bulbasaur has us pretty good, and he was probably bluffing about his grandsons’ pokemon...but do you want to take the risk of one of Red’s pokemon being in there, and us pissing them off?”

   Greninja thought about that, and then nodded his head in agreement.

   Inside his lab, Professor Oak was giving Gene, Belle, Scootaloo, and Doc a tour. He showed them the nursery where all the younger starter pokemon stayed, and Belle almost went crazy over the amount of adorable that was in there. Then he showed them the garden, and Doc was able to collect some healing herbs for making her medical potions.

   “Well here we are.” Professor Oak announced as he opened the door to his lab. “This is where I help new trainers get started on their adventures. Ah, I remember each, and every boy, and girl who came to me for there first pokemon.”

   “You gave Red his first partner didn't you?” Gene asked as he saw three pokeballs set, and ready for a trainer to pick one.

  “That's right! Red, Blue, Gary, and Ash. By far the four most talented trainers that came to me. Red became the Champion of Champions, Blue fell out of competition battling years ago but he still trains his partners, Gary followed in my footsteps and will take over as the professor of this lab someday, and Ash Ketchum is the Frontier Brain to beat right now.” Professor Oak smiled in satisfaction at how far those boys had gone in the last twelve years.

  “Wow! I'm glad I won't have to battle any of them.” Gene rubbed the back of his head, and smiled sheepishly.

   “Hey! We could win!” Belle protested him indignantly, and then she sweatdropped. “Well not against Red.”

   “By the way, Gene how would you like to have a pokemon from my lab? I don't think you have a Water, or a Grass type.”

   “Sorry, but no thanks.” Gene just smiled. “My team is my family, and I like to have all of them with me. Any more than now, and I'd have to leave someone behind. Besides that, Webber can take care of any Water or Grass types we battle, and River is as good as any Water type herself.”

   “Alright then. Your visit was a bit of a surprise so, I'm afraid I don't have a license printed out for you, but I'll have it in a few moments if you just wait here.” Professor Oak told them as he walked to his office.

   “Sure thing. Hey, is it ok if I check my email?” Gene asked.

   “Of course, the pc is just over there.” Professor Oak pointed to the computer next to a pokeball transport system.

   Gene thanked the older man again, and booted up the pc. He entered his password fairyprincess, and opened his inbox. The first thing he noticed was the sheer number of emails. “...I'm probably going to delete most of these.” The second thing he noticed was an email from a very dear friend, right at the top of the list. “Bell check this out!”

   Belle grinned, and shook his shoulders. “What are you waiting for? Click it!”

   So Gene opened the email.

AbbyTrombly@PokemonRangers.gov

    ...

    ...

My dearest Belle and Gene, I apologize for taking so long to send this email to you, I’ve been quite literally swamped in work. Now... you’ve probably looked at the end of my ‘name’ above and seen where it is that I’m sending from, well, I hate to do this via email but as it stands I’m too busy to make the trek across the world to where you are right now so I suppose this is the way it has to be.

All those years ago when Kasai and I first found your little campsite, we weren’t entirely honest with you. In fact, we were lying to your faces the majority of the time, and for that, you have my deepest apologies. Kasai and I have always been members of the Pokemon Rangers, Top Rangers in fact, simultaneously, we have been together for years, we never lied about that part. You probably would have noticed if we had about the last part, hah. Still, I’m stalling, sorry, I’m bad at writing emotional emails. Ehehe, this actually reminds me of how Kasai and I came out to the other Rangers after a certain law was passed... apparently 90% of the other Ranger Pokemon knew about us already so things went pretty smoothly... wait, right, sorry, still mentally stalling... sorry.

Right, where was I, ah, yes... Kasai and I had always been of the rather biased opinion that persecuting every Pokephilia case as they were all the same was wrong, so we liked to do some scouting out of each pair before we reported or arrested them. We’d take the guise of lost travelers, open up to them a little about our relationship and see how they reacted and what they’d tell us. If by the end of the night we decided that the relationship was a broken one, and that the Pokemon (or trainer, yes, it happens) was being abused, then they’d wake up handcuffed and slung over Kasai’s back on their way back to the nearest Ranger station. If not, and this is your case obviously, we’d let them go on their merry way and file a report saying that even with Kasai’s incredible nose that we were unable to find you anywhere in the area.

You and Gene however were different, you two were just so lovely and kind that Kasai and I couldn’t help ourselves but come back to you over and over again. You’re both some of our best friends in the world, and the ones who know us the most intimately... so... from Kasai and I, we love the hell out of the both of you, we’ll see you when we finally get the current amount of mess that we’re dealing with squared away. Oh, and Kasai specifically says ‘I can’t wait to be your noble steed again, Fairy Princess’, heh. Anyways, feel free to reply and we’ll see when we can get together again!

Love Abby and Kasai

P.S. Tell Mage that Luke says ‘hi’.

The Email ended with a pair of pictures of Abby and Kasai in their Ranger outfits along with one of them both lying on a bed together, Abby with her face in Kasai’s neck and the large Arcanine cradling her against his chest.

    Gene, and Belle both stood there staring at the screen. They couldn't believe it. All that time, and they never knew. And now they just wished...that they could have seen the looks on all the Rangers’ faces. Especially Professor Hastings!

   “So I guess we know where to send the wedding invitations next year huh?” Gene chuckled, and blushed as he remembered what had happened on some of their camping trips with Abby and Kasai. What had happened between a known fugitive, and the Ranger who was supposed to arrest him.

   “We should probably expect one from them too.” Belle pointed out. Then her eyes sparkled. “Eeee! Double wedding!”

   Scootaloo scrunched her face up as she thought. “What does it mean when it says that Kasai can't wait to be your noble steed again? And I thought only Dad called you his fairy princess.”

   “...Professor Oak? Is my license ready yet?” Gene called out.

   “Coming right up!” Professor Oak walked back out of his office with a trainer’s license, and new pokedex. He handed them both to Gene. “Here you are! Just transfer all your data over to this new pokedex here, and leave the old one.”

   Gene did as he was told, said goodbye to Professor Oak, and walked outside with Belle, Scootaloo, and Doc. They found Weiss, Greninja, a Bulbasaur, and a Charizard all playing poker. From the looks of things the Bulbasaur was winning.

   “I still say that Bulbasaur was cheating.” Weiss grumbled for the third time after Gene had all but forced him to abandon the game by walking off without him. “Give me five minutes and some pruning shears, and I'll have my proof.”

   “Sorry, but we apparently have a schedule to keep.” Gene told him as he examined his new pokedex. “Looks like, Professor Oak gave me a map of a good route to take around Kanto. It's got all the gyms, Battle Frontier locations, and other stuff.”

   “What's the first stop?” the mercenary asked as he began to pick his fingernails with a knife.

   “Looks like, Pewter City. Oh, hey! That famous gym leader from Saffron City is still running her gym.”  Gene heard a yelp, and some swearing from behind him, but he ignored it. “This will be SO awesome!”

   And with that, Gene set out to take on the Indigo League. His beautiful, Belle, and his adopted daughter, Scootaloo at his side.

Theme song.

Episode two sneak peek!

   I awakened in a forest. Regular looking trees with nothing special about them. There were strange creatures running around here, and there. Though at that moment I could not care less.

   Freedom! I was free from my imprisonment! I thrust myself from the ground so fast that my hooves touched nothing more than air for a few seconds, and I was not even flapping my wings.

How did this happen? Was the first question I asked myself. I suspected it to be some trick, but as I walked my magic told me all that I needed to know. It was no illusion!

But where am I? That would be a great deal of help to know. The trees were not of the kind that grew in my jungle homeland. The creatures were unfamiliar. I had no clue where I was.

   “Well now what do we have here?”

   I turned to see the speaker. It was a strange looking biped dressed in green clothing with purplish hair. Beside this biped was a shorter one whose body appeared to be the inspiration for the design of the the taller one's clothes. They were both looking at me like I was some sort of prize.

   “Never seen a pokemon like this before, Cacturne. Let's see what it can do, and if it's good enough we'll catch it.” the taller one said.

   “Right, Master!” the shorter one responded, and raised its arms to ready itself for a fight.

   They actually thought that they could simply do this. Just attack, and capture me like a trophy? I laughed. Unknown to them, I had already begun to feed on the love they shared. It was not the love of two hearts like what I took from Shining Armor, but was enough to give me an edge.

   “Come then!” I challenged them. “Test yourselves against Queen Chrysalis!”

   I was uneasy. There was...something! I do not know what, but it was there. Like someone was watching me through a screen of some sort.

   “Stop watching me!” I yelled to no-one in particular. Unfortunately this resulted in everyone looking at me. “What are you looking at? Can't a snake yell at nothing without everyone giving him odd looks? Stop looking at me!”

   They all shrugged, and went back to what they had been doing. This was good because we had a mission. It is a simple, but very important mission. We were taking away the humans’ ice cream!

   Yes, I see that you understand how important this is. Ice cream looks like a pokemon! And humans eat it! So we will take the ice cream from the humans, and turn it into milkshakes for ourselves because milkshakes do not look like pokemon.

   “The humans will surrender all of their ice cream to the Pokemon Liberation Army!” For some reason this got a very big cheer of approval from my soldiers. I raised my tail blade high as I gave the order to attack. “Take the ice cream factory! So says, I the great Commander Sev!”

Luna Pissed Off

   Princess Luna had accepted Mew's apology multiple times as the Legendary had felt so bad for saying what she said that she had had to apologize over a dozen times. It had eventually reached the point where Luna had started contemplating various methods of escape. The only thing she could think of that would work was to distract Mew with her work. So it was that the pink gerbil-cat raced off to her lab to begin converting the other races of Equus into pokemon.

   Having had a rather stressful few days (what with the attack by Tirek and the destruction of her world) Luna did not quite feel up to performing her nightly duties. The alternative however was to stay up, and wander the Hall of Legends aimlessly. So she found her temporary room, and drfted off into her dream trance.

   The dreams of pokemon turned out to be very similar from pokemon to pokemon. The only discrepancies were those that had opposite view points to each other. Those that preferred living wild, or tame. Liked, or hated humans. At the end

of it all the majority of pokemon simply wanted to be happy, and have fun, and their dreams reflected that.

    That is not to say that they did not have bad dreams. Luna had already helped a crying Charizard recover its lost stuffed ursa toy that had run away with a Blastoise. She had consoled a broken hearted Delcatty whose trainer had traded for an Absol, and saved many a Grass type from runaway lawnmowers. There was also a fair share of true nightmares, but they were week enough that Luna felt no need to visit them personally, instead just dispelling them from afar.

   Princess Luna was quite enjoying her peaceful work. Unfortunately she was interrupted by the presence of a powerful nightmare. It was a nightmare of such a level that Luna had to first shield herself from it before investigating. It was a nightterror, a bad dream so potent that if left unchecked a recurring one would eventually drive the dreamer insane.

   She followed the dark power of the nightterror. As she got closer she began to see into the dream, and what she saw quickened her pace. Her friend Twilight Sparkle was the victim of the terror. Luna blurred through the dream realm like a streak of dark blue lighting. The dream ended before she got there.

   She slowed down, and almost called it a night, but she noticed that Twilight was still dreaming. Curious, Luna poked her head into the dream wondering if Twilight had learned some dream magic. What she saw was Twilight, and a creature made of what felt to like living bad dreams. The creature was all black except for the white ghostly hair, and the red spiked armor around its neck. The creature spoke to Twilight, and it said .

Earlier

The great from of Lord Tirek loomed over her. Her body weak, and exhausted from the battle she had waged with the tyrant. She could still fight using her mind, and her magic, but only if she was willing to risk the safety of her friends.

   She would never, and it shamed her to admit it, but she would never sacrifice her friends for anything, even the kingdom itself. It broke Twilight's heart to imagine what Princess Celestia would say when she found out that she had thrown away a chance, her only chance to save Equestria. She could already hear her mentor's words "How did you get so selfish." Tears formed in her eyes.

   She had no choice, and so surrendered to Tirek. He cast her friends aside, reached  to scoop her up to his gaping fanged mouth.

The last thing Twilight Sparkle saw before she was consumed was his face, a serpent's tongue escaping from a drooling fang filled mouth below two smoke spewing nostrils, and capped by his glowing fire filled eyes.

   Then she fell. Down, down past the teeth, straight down his esophagus that was lined with rings of sharp needle like teeth that would jab at her, pricking her skin as she passed them. By the time she reached the stomach she looked, and felt like she had lost a wrestling match with a giant flexible cactus. Then she hit the acid, and it seeped into every single pin hole going directly into her blood stream...

   A shower of pink glowing feathers brushed aside the bad dream, and Twilight found herself looking at pair of what she thought must be pokemon. One was a blue, and yellow swan like being with pink ring shaped wings. The other was dark with flowing fog like white hair, and spiked red neck armor. The swan smiled at the dark one before drifting off to some other dream, leaving it alone with Twilight.

   "Um, hello?" Twilight asked.

   he, as his voice was not deep but masculine, bowed

Now

   Before another word could be said a burst of moonlight ended Twilight's dream completely. Twilight woke up in her bed. She sat up with a sleepy expression on her face. Then she flopped back onto her pillow, and started snoring.

   In the dream realm Princess Luna was glaring at Darkrai. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GIVING SUCH NIGHTMARES TO SOME INNOCENT DREAMER? WHAT GIVES YOU THE RITE TO DO SOMETHING SO HEINOUS?" she yelled at him in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

   The Legendary Pokemon of nightmares flinched. He clasped his hands together in front of him and bowed.

   Luna raised an eyebrow at Darkrai. "You are unable to control your dream powers?" she inquired.

   Darkrai looked at his hands, and clenched them into fists.

   Luna was about to say something, when she heard crying. She looked to her right, and saw the former Element of Kindness in a nightmare. Fluttershy was curled up on her floor, crying uncontrollably, and hugging the headless body of her beloved Angel bunny. The rabbit's head was in the jaws of a hideous dream beast that she had apparently tried to adopt. The beast was now rampaging through her home trying to kill the rest of her animals.

   Luna jaw dropped like never before. There was simply nothing that could be more horrifying for Fluttershy than this. A black tendril of darkness waved in front of her eyes, trailing from the nightmare. Luna, her eyes wide, her jaw still dropped followed the tendril to its source.

   Darkrai swiped a claw through the tendril, dispelling the bad dream. He looked at Luna who was staring at him with a 'what the fuck' expression. Now Darkrai had actually had the pleasure of talking with Fluttershy earlier in the day, and in less than five minutes he had come to the conclusion that she was the sweetest, and most loving being in existence. So he knew exactly how bad this looked. <I

WOOMP!!

   Darkrai folded over as Luna planted a hoof in his gut. With him doubled over she headbutted the back of his skull. He recovered enough in time to see her drive her hind hooves into his face. The blow struck with enough force to knock him into a nearby dream.

   Rainbow Dash had done it. She had created a move even more awesome that the Sonic Rainboom. The crowds were cheering her name. Princess Celestia was presenting her with a medal. Princess Luna punched a black ghost into the sky, tearing a hole into space through which everything was sucked out. Once she was in space Rainbow Dash could no longer fly because she remembered Twilight going on and on about how it was impossible to fly in space.

   Darkrai recovered, and tried to defend himself. Knowing that they were both dream walkers, he knew that pokemon moves would have no real effect. So he did the only thing he could. He would normally never even consider doing this, but he had to do something. Darkrai tapped into his nightmare powers.

   Sending a tendril into a nearby dream he latched onto the first thing he could, and threw it at Luna.

   Twilight was reading a book about dreams. Suddenly it became a book about snakes. A large anaconda slithered out of the book, and kissed her on the nose. Before she could properly freak out however, a zipper opened in her wall and a black rope wrapped around the big snake and pulled it through. The anaconda waved goodbye with its tail, and the zipper closed itself.

   Darkrai through the giant serpent at the Princess. First he was surprised it had worked. Then he was very disappointed when Luna stabbed it with her horn, and it dissipated into nothing.

   "THOU THINKETH THAT A NIGHTMARE?" Princess Luna exploded. She literally exploded, her body bursting to pieces as a being twice her size replaced her. Her horn was long, and thin like a rapier blade. Her body was the deepest midnight black, her eyes luminous blue her mane and tail like living pieces of the night sky. And her teeth were the triangular razor sharp fangs of a shark. BEHOLD THE FACE OF TRUE NIGHTMARES.

   Darkrai muttered a single curse to himself before he was forced out of the dream realm by what he could only describe as being hit with the moon.