Changelings: Gotta Love 'em All

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six

Prologue

Ebony hooves echoed off the marble floor as a young white Pegasus fled along yet another corridor. Her pursuers kept pace, their yelling still within earshot. She rounded another corner, only to encounter another squad. She slid to a halt as their horns shone brightly; she lifted a leg over her eyes just as the rear guard caught up.

“Nowhere to run, Changeling!” one said as he stepped forward.

“Changeling? Me?” she replied innocently as she glanced back… and saw that her hind legs had reverted; they were covered in black chitin and riddled with holes. “Ah, well…” She offered a sheepish smile. “I suppose you got me there.”

Seems I have less energy than I thought.

She looked at the guards inching closer and winked. “Please, lovelies, while I do so enjoy a group session, I’m afraid I must cut and run.”

“You’ll go nowhere!” the stallion shouted as a pink dome surrounded the mare, trapping her within. “Our princess would like a few words with you.”

The mare stiffened, then simply smirked. “Now, that won’t do at all, I’m afraid. You see—” her form ignited with a burst of emerald flame, shattering the shield “—I already have a date with royalty.” Her entire illusion now dispelled, she cackled and dashed to the side, crashing through an adjacent window and out into the moonlit sky.

The guard stomped a hoof as he scowled through the expensive hole in the Changeling’s wake. Celestia was not going to like this…

Princess Celestia sat upon her throne, head down and eyes narrowed as she listened to the guard’s report. Once he had finished and stepped back, she took a deep breath and spoke.

“Captain, what did she steal?”

“A scroll from the Forbidden Archives, Your Highness” he stated. “We are still determining which one in particular. We also believe that it could already be in Chrysalis’s grasp by now.” The stallion hung his head, his ears drooping. “I take full responsibility for this, Princess. If my squad and I had been a few seconds faster to respond—”

“There is no need for such dramatics, Captain.” Celestia stood and waved a gilded hoof with a small smile. “The Changelings are quite possibly our most unpredictable foes. Now pick yourself up and get back to work. We must know what scroll was stolen, in case Chrysalis plans on using its contents to prepare another attack.”

The stallion saluted and departed, leaving Celestia alone in the room. She sighed and wandered from her throne to a window. Gentle moonlight illuminated her form as she closed her eyes.

Just what are you planning, Queen Chrysalis?

Even after leaving Canterlot far behind, the Changeling buzzed her wings like her life depended on it. The sun was already rising by the time she reached the Badlands’ outer border. An endless view of dirt, rock, and a spattering of dried shrubs stretched out as far as the eye could see. Ever since their failed invasion of Canterlot, the Changeling swarm had been forced to take up residence in this Tartarus-forsaken place.

She approached an inconspicuous rocky outcrop and landed in front of it. Raising a hoof, she tapped on a yellow stone three times, before a large slab slid open and a welcome blast of cool air washed over her. The second she crossed the threshold, two Changelings appeared on either side of her, pointing spears made from sticks and sharpened stone.

“Ally?”

“Or enemy?”

“Like I would freely admit if I were an enemy, you idiots,” the mare scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “Where is Scribe? I have what he’s been pestering me for.”

“Yeah, that’s Sync, all right.” One Changeling guard chuckled. “Scribe should be with the Queen right now…” He lowered his voice as he looked around. “Is it true? Our Queen has a plan?”

“She has one—whether it’ll work or not is another matter,” Sync replied dryly. “Keep an eye out. I was unveiled during my escape. I might have been followed.”

“Right!” The other saluted as the door was sealed once more.

Sync nodded at them and trotted further into the complex cave system. Luminescent moss clung to the walls, providing light and cooling, while the slime that only a Changeling could produce further insulated the caverns.

The chamber that housed Queen Chrysalis was located in the deepest part of the underground. Having been at the epicentre of the love blast, Chrysalis had sustained the heaviest injuries of the swarm. While the massive amount of love energy she had hoarded from Prince Armor saved her life, it had still taken months before she could even walk again.

As Sync neared the chamber, a green flash lit the entrance from within. A moment later, a very young Changeling limped from the room, a small smile on his face. Sync frowned as she strode in, seeing Chrysalis lying upon a large makeshift bed. Another Changeling was by her side, a pair of half-moon glasses perched on his muzzle.

“What the hell?” Sync yelled as she walked in, the other two flinching at the sudden outburst. “We barely have enough magic as is! And here you are wasting it like the ponies do water!”

Ever since the invasion, it had become harder and harder to procure a sustained supply of love energy. While the Queen had a less-than-stellar track record since the great failure, she had been rationing it out since she had amassed so much. But even her reserves weren’t going to last forever, and some of the elderly Changelings had already passed, both they and Chrysalis favouring the young ones.

The Queen had wept for three days when the first died…

“The nymph was hungry,” Chrysalis replied, but withered under Sync’s harsh gaze.

“Hungry or not, he’s young and tough! And we need all the magic we have left if we’re going to pull this insane plan off!”

“Okay, Sync,” the queen’s partner said as he raised a hoof. “I believe you’ve made your point. Now… were you successful?”

“Was I—” Sync glared at him. “Did you actually consider that I’d fail? I’m the hive’s best infiltrator. I’ve never failed a mission!”

She opened her bag. “You’d better appreciate this, Scribe, considering the flirting I had to do with that dinosaur that guarded the Library.” She shuddered before producing the yellowed scroll. “One magical scroll, fresh from Canterlot Archive’s Forbidden Section.”

Scribe’s eyes lit up as he snatched the scroll and opened it. His grin slowly faltered as he pored over the contents, until finally he rolled it up with a contemplative frown. “Oh dear…”

Sync’s own frown soon followed. “That had better be the right scroll—I can’t go back with Canterlot on high alert!”

Scribe ran his eyes across the words once more. “No, it’s fine, Sync. The good news is, this is the right scroll. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the spell is far more complex than I predicted.”

“Show me,” Chrysalis ordered, and Scribe handed over the scroll. The Queen read, then re-read the scroll. As she placed it down, her smile was a terse one.

“I believe I can do it, but it will require almost all of my remaining energy. I may even need to take some back from the others.”

“I’ll talk to them,” Scribe said. “Sync would just threaten them—”

“Go shove it!” Sync snapped, causing Scribe to just laugh harder; even Chrysalis chuckled lightly. “Seriously, Chrissy? You too?”

“Haha. I’m sorry, dear, but Scribe is quite right. We must be delicate about this.”

Sync huffed and sat on the ground, removing a few shards of glass caught in the joints of her chitin. “Fine, but I get to threaten them over the next life-changing event!”

“Fair enough.” Chrysalis smiled weakly. “Now, this spell requires significant preparation. Make sure everyling is ready to depart at a moment’s notice.”

No sooner had Chrysalis issued those orders than a shrill chirping echoed through the caverns. Sync paled as she looked at Scribe and the Queen; that could only mean one thing.

“We may need to accelerate our plans…”

A platoon of Royal Guard landed atop a red plateau after chasing the thief all the way from Canterlot. Though it had managed to lose them, one of the guards that had encountered it managed to tag it with a tracking spell.

Captain Iron Guard led the platoon, the stallion that had confronted Sync back at the palace. He certainly hadn’t expected it to fly all the way to the Badlands. If the Changelings were here, there must have been some trick to their continued survival.

Iron exited the chariot and faced his men, all stiffening and offering salutes. “All right, everypony, spread out and search. There has to be a trace of them somewhere.”

The platoon split up into pairs, searching every nook and cranny. Iron himself branched off, horn alight as he poked and prodded the area for a more specific signal. The tracking spell had led them here… but no Changelings were in sight, and while the spell was accurate to within fifty metres, their surroundings bore no sign of recent activity.

After minutes of quiet—broken only by the dusty winds and the crunch of hooves upon the rocky plateau—Iron Guard found the remnants of the tracking spell.

“The hay?” he muttered as he inspected the pile of stones. They didn’t seem out of place, but the spell was definitely strongest there. It was then that he noticed a yellow stone, one that stood out from the rest of the rust-coloured rocks.

“Just where are these blasted things hiding?”

Chrysalis sighed as she looked over her Changelings. Their numbers had once reached the tens of thousands… now it was barely a fraction of that. Many of their kind still roamed the world, though they had created separate hives, having abandoned Chrysalis after the invasion.

“Is this everyling?” she asked Scribe.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Chrysalis sighed. Why had it come to this? She knew it was her fault, but her Changelings shouldn’t have had to suffer for her own foolishness. She would fix this—she had to.

“Attention, everyling!” Her voice carried out over the cavern, reaching every ear present. “We have a plan to escape this living nightmare, a way to start fresh in a new land. But—” she raised her forelegs to quiet the wave of cheers and hubbub “—it will be dangerous. I will not force this change on all you without permission. We all go, or none of us go!”

“Go where?” one called out. “What are you planning, Our Queen?”

“Thanks to the efforts of Sync here,” she said, waving a hoof at her Second, “I am in possession of a spell that can take us all to a new land, one where we’ll not be hunted. A land that might bring us salvation!”

“Might?” another asked.

Chrysalis nodded, “Yes, I will admit that I cannot personally guarantee our safety, should we choose this new path.”

“Then why should we go?” another ’ling spoke up. “We’re safe here, aren’t we?”

Sync growled as she limped forward. “The Royal Guard are practically knocking on our door. And even if they weren’t, we’re starving to death here!” She looked back at her Queen… at her friend and smiled. “At least this way, we have a chance.”

The Changelings murmured amongst themselves, weighing their options and debating on what they should do. Chrysalis gave them some time before she spoke up once more.

“I can understand everyling’s concern. I have failed you, mistreated you… caused you all great suffering.” Chrysalis hung her head, her voice significantly quieter. “I have failed as your Queen, and it breaks my heart to admit that. I ask only that you trust me one more time—give me a chance to right my wrongs. The risk is great… but the reward far greater.”

The hall fell into silence, before the Changeling that had asked those questions stepped forward.

“We’ll trust you, Your Majesty.” His words were simple and pure, enough to make Chrysalis smile. “What should we do?”

“Huddle together as close as you can,” Scribe ordered. “And Our Queen will handle the rest.” He turned and pushed his glasses up slightly. “You can handle this, right?”

“Of course!” Chrysalis huffed. “I am Queen Chrysalis! No paltry pony spell is above my power!”

“Too bad we can’t eat confidence,” Sync snickered. “Chrissy would be an endless supply.”

Chrysalis just rolled her eyes in response before an emerald hue enveloped her horn. As she began to charge the spell, she could already feel the strain of its overwhelming power requirements. A brief thought flashed through her mind.

What if I fail?

No! She wouldn’t fail. Her horn glowed brighter, its light filling the cavern. She felt a touch on her withers as Scribe and Sync smiled at her. Spurned on by the gesture, Chrysalis let out a shout, her horn’s light consuming everything in sight…

Iron Guard paused as his horn shone brightly for a moment, before he felt the tracking spell vanish entirely. The ground shuddered, a mild tremor rippling through the earth beneath their hooves. Pegasus Guards took to the air, while the Unicorns stumbled around—including Iron himself.

“W-what in the name of C-Celestia is this?” he stuttered, tripping over his legs.

As soon as it began, the quaking stopped, however the stones next to him shook and collapsed, revealing a hidden entrance.

“Is that…?” Iron frowned and looked at his squad. “All right, squad!” he barked as they reassembled their formation. “Seems we have located the hive after all. Now I want all of you on your guard. We have no idea what awaits us down there, and they probably know we’re here by now. Now form up!”

They moved into a two-by-two formation, before cautiously entering the tunnel. Iron did a quick scan, but detected no signs of life—only a rapidly fading magical signal. By the time they reached what they believed to be the central cavern, it had all but vanished. Iron waved a hoof, ordering his men to split up and search.

After an extensive search through every mossy cavern, they soon returned empty-hooved. Not a single Changeling was found, only signs that they had been there: more slime, some low-grade furniture, assorted toys, and a few decaying birth pods.

“We were outside the whole time, with perfect visibility.” Iron pondered his thoughts out loud. “Did they teleport? Is that even possible? I doubt even Princess Celestia could teleport so many at once.”

“Sir, over here!” one mare called, leading Iron to a small section at the rear of the room. The ground was scorched, the last vestige of dissipating magic all over it. “There’s no sign of them,” she continued. “A massive group teleport?”

“It’s unlikely, but… possible, I suppose. We don’t know the limits to Changeling magic, or if the stolen scroll had something to do with it.” Iron sighed and rubbed the space between his eyes. “All right, gather any clues you can and report back to the surface. Princess Celestia needs to learn what’s happened here.”

The guards present saluted and split up again. Iron took another look at the scorch mark and sighed again. Explaining this was going to be fun.

She had failed.

There was nothing. No food. No water. No life. Just an empty wasteland of nothing that seemed to stretch forever.

And it was all her fault.

Why? They don’t deserve this!

Exhausted, drained, and her magic spent, Chrysalis opened one heavy eyelid and saw her swarm, her beloved family.

Help them… please… someone, anyone…

I can help them.

Who… are you?

I can help all of you. Should you accept. You cannot go back.

Why would we? We are hunted. Vilified.

I can give you a second chance. It requires change. Do you accept?

Will they be safe? My children?

They will not know hunger. They can choose to be happy. You can choose to be happy.

…Do it. I don’t care for myself… just save them.

Then it shall be done.

Those were the last words Chrysalis heard before her world faded to white…

There was nothing. No dreams. No thoughts. Not until a faint voice pierced the darkness.

“…ake… up…”

Go away.

“…wake…”

I said buzz off.

“Chrysalis! Wake up, dammit!”

Chrysalis’s eyes shot open as she flinched away from the sudden yell; Sync’s muzzle was a few scant inches from her own. She let out a very un-queenly scream and backed up until she hit a wall.

“Do. Not. Do that!” Chrysalis panted, clutching her chest with a hoof. “You scared the slime out of me, Sync!”

“Whatever—just take a look around.” Sync swept a hoof over her back.

Chrysalis stood, shook her head, and looked around before following Sync’s motion. They appeared to be in some sort of cosy cave. It bore some resemblance to the one they had lived in before, only this was much nicer. A large waterfall roared against one of the walls, splashing into a pool of crystal-clear water. Cracks in the ceiling let the warm sun stream through, lighting the cave with a warm glow.

“Where… are we?” Chrysalis wondered aloud; around the cave, other Changelings started to wake up, also taking in the alien surroundings.

“It’s so different here,” Scribe spoke up from behind the Queen. “The taste of the air, the lack of magic. And… it’s faint, but I can feel love energy close by.”

Sync nodded. “Yeah, should we go and investigate?”

“Sync—wait a moment,” Chrysalis ordered. “We have just arrived in an unknown land. We’re tired, hungry and have no knowledge of this place.” She hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “Sync, take the most energetic changeling we have and go find this food source.” She looked into her friend’s eyes, giving her a stern gaze. “But be extremely careful. Do not be seen. Avoid conflict at all costs. This is purely a reconnaissance mission.”

Sync frowned, but nodded again. “Should we obtain any love energy we find?”

“We can’t risk exposure while we are so weak. If you can obtain even a little while remaining undetected, then do so. But don’t risk your lives or even your stealth for it.”

“Got it.” Sync pointed at a Changeling, one of the few that were standing. “You! You look fit enough. Let’s get going!”

The Changeling gulped and nodded; Sync was known for being a harsh taskmaster when on patrol.

Sync gave Chrysalis a salute and carefully buzzed her wings. Convinced they were still working, she lifted the smaller drone into the air with her, wings blurring.

“Come on then—let’s fly!”

Author's Note

So here it is. A story I promised a looooong time ago. The original concept was created by The Letter J and I went ahead and wrote it. I also want to thank the outstanding Cerulean Voice for his editing and proof-reading of this one.

Chapter One

Upon exiting the cave, the pair of Changelings stopped and gasped at the sight. Gone were the rust-coloured rocks, dead shrubs, and searing heat they had come to expect. Instead, vibrant green trees, a clear blue sky, and a comfortable, temperate warmth greeted them.

“W-what is this?” the youngling squeaked. “What are these things?”

Sync glanced down at her, thinking to offer a snippy remark, but held her tongue with the realisation that several of her underlings had never set hoof outside their old home. This one must have been very young indeed to have never even seen trees.

“It’s called a forest,” Sync replied as they buzzed past the trees. She paused, both so the youngling could touch the leafy foliage, and to enjoy the refreshing breeze. “Forests are made up of trees, and those green things covering the trees are called leaves.”

“Wooow,” the youngling whispered. “How come we didn’t have these ‘trees’ back home?”

“Why?” Sync frowned as they landed on one particularly large oaken branch. She set the youngling down and stretched her wings. “Because those selfish, cowardly ponies wouldn’t let us! They fear and despise us, simply for being what we are. The mere idea of being an emotivore is something they don’t understand—not that they ever tried!”

Sync thrust a hoof into the trunk with her final word. She withdrew at the sight of her quivering charge and sighed. “Sorry. That particular topic gets me riled up. But I guess we don’t have to worry about ponies anymore.” Sync picked her youngling up again, smiled, and buzzed her wings. “Now, let’s go find that source of love energy.”

Scribe let out a small sigh. Shortly after Sync had left, the Queen had collapsed from fatigue, sending everyling into a worried frenzy.

Chrysalis looked up from the makeshift bed that her Changelings had made. Though it was just a pile of moss, it was strangely comfortable.

“Must you be so dramatic?” she asked Scribe. “I am simply tired from using a complex and powerful spell. Nothing to worry about.” She tried to get up, but groaned as Scribe shook his head and gently eased her back down.

“You mustn’t move, Chrysalis,” he said. “Your magic is dangerously low, and your love energy even more so.” He looked toward the cave’s entrance and sighed again. “Sync and the youngling had better stay out of trouble. I sure hope they’re all right out there…”

“You worry for your sister, don’t you?” Chrysalis said softly. “Let me tell you—your fears are unwarranted. Sync is my most skilled and trustworthy child. She can look after herself, and her underlings.”

“But we have no idea what’s out there!” Scribe shouted, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “What if we’re still in Equestria? What if the Royal Guards are waiting right outside?”

“If that were the case, they’d have charged in by now,” Chrysalis said dryly. “After we teleported, something happened… something went wrong.”

She watched his eyes widen at her words and look around before leaning in. “What happened?”

“I took us somewhere far worse. I don’t know where, but I do know our deaths were guaranteed if we stayed there.” Chrysalis sighed as she closed her eyes; her eyelids felt so very heavy. “But then I heard a voice—one that said we could find happiness here.”

“You know how crazy that sounds, right?”

“I know, but it’s the truth,” Chrysalis replied. “I know you can taste my sincerity. But… one thing that voice said concerns me.”

Scribe blinked as he sat a little closer. “What did it say? What has you worried about all this?”

“It said that the move would require ‘change,’” Chrysalis said.

All was silent for a second before Scribe let out a small chuckle. “Um, newsflash, Chryssie—we’re Changelings! It’s kinda what we do.”

Chrysalis frowned as she opened one eye. “First, noling likes a smart-flank. And second… it’s the way that voice said it. Just thinking about it makes my chitin itch.”

Scribe mirrored her frown as he sat down. “Just what have we gotten ourselves into?”

Sync had absolutely no idea what to make of it. She’d been expecting just about anything really, but what awaited them was beyond the scope of her imagination. The youngling was the first to actually voice their confusion.

“Sync? What is that thing?”

Sync just shook her head. She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. What they were staring at was some sort of bipedal creature. It resembled a Minotaur, only this creature was far smaller and scrawnier in comparison. Its face was flat, with a short nose and really small eyes. Its whole body was garbed in clothing, and what was visible wasn’t covered in any fur or chitin, save for the sandy-blonde mane on its head.

“Whatever it is, I think it’s a male, and it’s definitely giving off trace amounts of love energy.” Sync’s horn shined with a pale light, and her body tingled gently. It wasn’t romantic love, more like… familial, the sort that one would have for a pet or close friend.

Not as potent as lust or desire, but it’ll do.

While Sync continued to study the strange creature, it grasped a small sphere from its belt and tossed it into the air. After a flash of blue light, another creature appeared; this one looked like a badger of some kind, coated in white fur with tan stripes.

“Li, Linoone?”

Sync tilted her head and exchanged glances with her underling. What sort of language was that?

“I dunno, buddy.” Hearing the familiar lingo, Sync focused upon the biped; his voice was high, but soft, not at all like guards she had eluded the night before. “The info says there was one in this area, but I can’t find a trace of it.”

As the biped sighed and patted the badger’s head, Sync felt another small spike of love energy. Was this it? The reason behind this creature’s source?

Unfortunately, the youngling felt it too. As she leant forward to feed on some of it herself, she toppled from the tree. Sync’s reactions were too slow to catch her; the youngling tumbled through the air, landing on the soft grass and rolling. She finally stopped at the biped’s feet and lay still. Dislodged leaves floated down around her.

Holey crap…

“What the?” The biped looked down at the crunch and jerked backward with a cry. He held his pose for a second before lowering his leg back to the ground and dropping his hands. “Well, you’re not the one I was looking for, but still…” He took a step forward and knelt down to half his height. “What Pokémon are you? Some kind of bug-type?”

As he looked closer, it definitely seemed like it: short translucent wings, a jagged black carapace with a few holes in the legs, and those brilliant blue, pupilless eyes…

He reached for something at his belt, but stopped when the monster shrunk away, its eyes shining and its legs covering its head.

“Hey now, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said in a calming tone. He glanced at the growling badger and held out his arm. “Easy, Linoone. Stay back. It doesn’t look dangerous.”

The Linoone leered at the bug, but stopped growling and relaxed.

“My name is Adrien… who are you?”

The bug either didn’t or couldn’t answer. It just stared at him.

Adrien peered at the creature while scratching his head, then reached again for his belt. With a flick of his hand, he flipped the rectangular red device open, pointed it at the creature, and pressed a white button in its centre.

The machine beeped, and the monster’s image appeared on a small screen. “No available data,” it said in a high-pitched, distorted voice.

“No data? So you’re not in the Pokédex?” Adrien flipped the lid closed and replaced the device. He scratched his chin and moved his head closer. “So, if the Pokédex is drawing a blank… have you… not yet been discovered?”

A sudden rustle from above caught his attention. He glanced up, finding his vision filled with a fierce pair of gleaming emerald eyes. Unlike the one quivering at his feet, this one was perched in the tree… and it looked very angry.

“Oh. Ahhh… you have a friend…” Adrien backed away slowly, both arms raised in front of him. “Don’t worry, I mean the both of you no harm.”

Sync dropped down from the tree, stood over her underling, and hissed at the assailant. Although she now knew she could speak with him, her bared fangs would send enough of a message. Oddly enough, trace amounts of affection wafted from the creature; even stranger, it was directed at the pair of them.

“Okay, I got it.” The Adrien creature backed away and waved at his badger. “Come on, Linoone. Let’s leave ’em alone.”

They continued watching the biped as he picked up his bag and retreated into the forest, his eyes never leaving theirs until he and his pet vanished beyond the treeline. Once they were sure he was gone, the youngling breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ohmigosh! I thought it was gonna eat me!” she chirped. “That was waaaay scary!”

“Then you should have been more careful!” Sync snapped. “What would have happened if that creature was dangerous? What would I tell the Queen if you’d died?”

The youngling hung her head at the berating. “’M’sorry… but I’m so hungry…”

Sync grunted and raised a hoof to her face. “I know. We all are. But that is exactly why we must be so careful. The less we have to gather, the less we can gather.” She brushed some dust off of the youngling’s shell and smiled. “Still, we managed to gather at least a little love energy, and discovered something interesting. Let’s return and report to Her Majesty.”

The youngling nodded and buzzed her wings.

Sync chuckled at the youngling’s poorly hidden excitement. She could feel the little one’s elation: on an important mission with the hive’s best infiltrator, discovering new things, getting a taste of real love for the first time in months…

She looked back at where that creature had disappeared. Just what in Equestria was that thing? Why did it radiate love energy so readily? And was was that other thing with it?

Bah! Too many questions, not enough answers. Maybe Scribe’ll know something with that big brain of his.

After one last glance at the treeline, the two Changelings flew off, having quite the story to tell.

Once out of the strange bugs’ sight, Adrien had sprinted home through the forest, his Linoone bounding along, enjoying the frolick. He’d seen a brand new Pokémon—a Pokémon no-one had ever seen before! This was the greatest thing ever. No only that, but in spite of the larger one’s offensive front, they were super cute.

After leaping the stairs to his bedroom two at a time, he sat at his desk and raked his fingers through his damp hair. Still puffing lightly, he pulled out a sketchbook, grabbed a pencil, and started drawing. Various thoughts ran through his head: What Typing were they? What did they eat? What Attacks could they use? What were their passive Abilities?

The pics slowly came to life as it all swirled around in his mind. Too many questions, not enough answers. I’ll have to ask the Professor about this.

“Line, noone?”

Adrien scratched behind Linoone’s ears after the badger slinked up his back and draped itself across his shoulders. Linoone yawned and drooped its head, lazily watching Adrien’s picture take shape.

Adrien himself frowned harder and harder as his sketch neared completion. Just where had these brand new Pokémon come from? He’d lived in Viridian all his life, taken many trips through the forest between home and Pewter, but never had he seen…

He turned to the snoozing badger and gave it a gentle caress atop the head. “What do we even call these, Linoone? They look like… a Heracross, a Blitzle, and a Venonat all put together.”

Linoone opened a single eye and snuffled Adrien’s hand before falling asleep again.

“We’re back, everyling!” Sync called, her underling buzzing up in her wake. As she touched down on the rocky surface, sun at her back, a single sentinel met her.

“Oh, Sync, thank goodness. The Queen, she—oof!”

Sync bowled him over and zoomed into the dim caverns. She knocked several ’lings over in her haste, a chorus of shouts trailing after her which she promptly ignored. Once she reached the Queen’s chamber, she released her breath; Chrysalis was awake, still lethargic but at least attentive while Scribe sat next to her.

“For crying out loud, Chryssie, don’t scare me like that!” she scolded the queen as she touched ground. Her horn flared, and Chrysalis gasped when she felt the transfer of love energy, small amount though it be.

“W-where did you find this?” she asked. “Are there ponies out there?”

“Not… exactly.” Sync frowned as she finished the transfer and wobbled slightly. That energy had felt nice, but Chrysalis needed it more. So Sync’s frown only deepened when Chrysalis returned some of it.

“I got us all here safely—I’ll not have anyling else keel over now,’ she insisted. “Now, what did you find out there, my daughter?”

“A strange creature,” Sync replied as Scribe focused on her. “It was a biped: some kind of scrawny, hornless Minotaur, but without the bull head. Clad in clothes.” She bared her fangs. “There was also some giant rodent-like creature with it. Like a badger, or a weasel or something. The biped treated it like a pet, a close friend even. It didn’t like us. But get this—the biped summoned it in a flash of light from within a little ball.”

Chrysalis and Scribe stared.

“I don’t know how. All I can assume is that he possesses either something far beyond Equestrian technology, or his own brand of native magic.”

“That… is most unusual,” Scribe said. “Your descriptions don’t match anything I’ve ever heard of before.”

Sync clicked her tongue. “Hmmm, what a shame. I was hoping you would have known something, bookworm.”

“Stop calling me that.” Scribe pouted, shoving his sister lightly. “And maybe if you ever picked up a book, you wouldn’t be such a brute!”

“Brute? Please.” Sync scoffed and shoved him back. “I’m the sexiest damned Changeling in the hive. I don’t need book smarts Who holds the record for accumulating the most love energy in the hive to date?”

“Our Queen, actually,” Scribe stated without a second thought. “And she did it with just one—” he shoved Sync again, harder “—pony I might add.”

The twins stared at one another—and lunged. Both yelled incomprehensibly as they tumbled across the floor with their fight, grunting, limbs flying every which way.

Chrysalis groaned and rolled her eyes. For two Elites, they could really behave like foals whenever they disagreed. But this fight would be resolved in the usual way; she ensnared the pair in her magical grip. Both struggled against the bond for a moment before giving up.

“Now,” Chrysalis chided them. “What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“He started it!” Sync pouted and poked out her tongue.

Scribe glared and adjusted his glasses. “Hardly. You’re the battle-ready brute!”

“Children!” Chrysalis growled, causing them to flinch. “What. Do. You. Say?”

The twins shuddered and looked at one another. “Sorry,” they said in unison.

Although they didn’t sound like they meant it all that much, Chrysalis would take what she could get. Even simple levitation still strained her. Once her lovable idiots had finished, she lay back down and sighed.

“Brilliant, Sync.” Scribe glared at her. “Way to waste that energy you brought back.”

“Scribe, be silent.” Chrysalis glared until he sat back with his mouth shut, and looked to Sync again. “So, this creature you found. Do you think it was, or at least could be, dangerous?”

“Honestly? I’m not really sure, though it didn’t seem aggressive,” she replied. “It was tall, perhaps only a head shorter than you. It lacked the huge muscles of a Minotaur, and didn’t seem to posses any natural weapons like horns or claws. It didn’t even have a tail.”

“A biped without a tail?” Chrysalis blinked in surprise. “How does it even stand up?” She tried picturing a skinny Minotaur without a tail and giggled. “I may have to observe this creature myself, if only to believe it.”

“Shall I capture one for you?” Sync asked, lips curled back into a leer.

“No. We still don’t know enough about them, and procuring more love energy remains our top priority right now.” Chrysalis closed her eyes and reclined against her mossy pillow. “We’re safe for the moment, but for how long?”

An explosion rocked the cave.

All three Changelings leapt up and stared down toward the central cavern. After exchanging wide-eyed stares, they hurried along the passage to discover the rest of the hive either cringing and backing away or running around yelping. A lone youngling stood in the chamber’s centre, his gaze fixed upon a smouldering crater in the wall in front of him.

“Calm down, you idiots!” Sync yelled above the ruckus. “What happened?”

The panicking drones continued to scream and shout—

“Be still!”

Chrysalis’ voice reverberated throughout the cavern. Loose stones and dust fell from the walls. Even the waterfall seemed to pause for a split-second before resuming. Every Changeling present halted in their tracks and turned to their queen. Their silence was deafening.

Chrysalis held a hoof to her head as the bottom of her horn throbbed. I love you all, children, really. But you can be just, so…

“Now that you’re all done flailing about like headless cockatrices,” she said, dropping back down to a level tone, “will someling explain what happened here? Is anyling hurt?”

A youngling stepped forward, the same one that had accompanied Sync earlier. She halted under the queen’s gaze at first, mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

“It’s all right, youngling.” Chrysalis smiled. “Tell me what happened.”

“Your M-M-Majesssty” she said in a small voice. “That one there just used some strange magic that went boom! Nobuggy was hurt, but it really scareded all of us!”

Gods above. If I could feed off cute… Chrysalis placed a hoof over her heart and sighed. After a deep breath, she approached the youngling staring at the fresh crater. “Tell me what you did,” she said. “I’m not mad. I just want an explanation.”

The shaking youngling faced his queen and lowered his head. “I’m sorry! Please, I didn’t mean to—I don’t even know what or how I did it. I just felt a sudden buildup of energy in my horn—and then that happened!” He pointed at the epicenter, blackened and charred against the stone-grey cavern.

Chrysalis frowned and approached the wall. Trace amounts of magic lingered about the crater. She closed her eyes, sensing the residual energy. She recoiled. How can this be? Her eyes widened and she spun on the spot.

“There was no Changeling magic used in this spell. Even if it was, we’re all too malnourished to produce magic of this magnitude.” She stepped up next to her youngling. “Noling here should have enough energy to cast a spell that powerful.”

“Th-that’s the thing,’ he whimpered. “It wasn’t magic. It was… something else, something… more.”

“‘More’?” Chrysalis glared again at the crater. “So then, what was it? What did you do?”

“It was… s-some kind of black sphere,” he said. “While it built up in my horn, I… it felt dark, and c-cold. I don’t really ling.”

Chrysalis shared glances with Sync and Scribe, all three biting their lips. Had he used dark magic? Based on their dubious expressions, they too had already confirmed that wasn’t the case.

What the heck is going on here?

“M-maybe I could Change it again-ling!”

Chrysalis cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at her youngling. Does this one have a nervous tick or something?

“Clarify,” she stated simply.

“Well, Changeling, ling Change!”

“Would you speak some sense!” Chrysalis snapped. “This is important!”

“Chaaaangee! Lingling, chaaa!”

Scribe, Chrysalis and Sync all looked at one another as the youngling blinked in confusion, tapping his throat.

“Is he… broken?” Sync asked.

All present stared at the spluttering youngling like he had just grown a second head. Why on Equus was he just saying ‘Changeling’ over and over again?

“Something very strange is going on here,” Chrysalis muttered as Scribe examined the indignant youth. “What could it—?”

It will require change…

Chrysalis froze as the memory resurfaced. Was it that? Did the ‘change’ involve turning her children into incomprehensible idiots? Was that what that voice had designed for her children?

“I’m talking plain Changeish! What is wrong with everyling?”

Chrysalis gasped. The voice had not come from her youngling’s mouth. It had come from her youngling’s mind.

And she had heard it in hers.

“And why does the queen keep staring at me? What the shedding skin is going on?”

“Wha—is… is that you, little one?”

The Changeling’s eyes widened as he stared at Chrysalis. “Oh. My. Carapace! Her Majesty’s voice is in my head…”

“And yours is in mine…” Chrysalis looked at Scribe and Sync; both just stood there, mouths open at the Changeling that forgot how to talk. “Can you not hear that?” she asked. “This one’s voice is not also in your heads?”

“Um… no?” Sync and Scribe exchanged quick looks, before Sync chuckled and touched Chrysalis’ leg. “Okay, Chrissie. Let’s get you back to bed and you can lie down—”

Chrysalis swatted Sync’s hoof away. “I am not crazy,” she snapped. “Or am I? I don’t know…”

Sync and Scribe gasped, looking at their queen. There was no way they had just heard that, right?

“Is this madness contagious or something?” Sync backed away from Chrysalis.

“Telepathy!” Scribe suddenly shouted. “You’re using Telepathy magic, aren’t you?”

“I am using no such spell,” Chrysalis replied. “I have no magic to cast with. It’s… just something I thought.”

“Wait, so… you’re doing it… naturally?”

Sync sniggered and jabbed him in his side. “Is there any other way of doing it?”

Scribe frowned. “Well of course there is: magic, latent psychic ability…” He paused as Sync’s snorting delved into full-blown laughter. “Aaand telepathy wasn’t what you were referring to.”

“For the love of…” Chrysalis smacked her forehead. “Okay, so I appear to have telepathy now. This is new, but not necessarily a bad thing.” She looked back to the bewildered youngling in front of her.

“All right, young one. Begin with what you can tell me.”

Author's Note

Ah, so we're finally makin' some headway. Once again, Cerulean Voice has taken this coal and made a diamond out of it. Also, change is on the wind, can our survive without driving each other nuts?

Only time will tell....

Chapter Two

Adrien paced around the room, quiet but for the intermittent ticking of a Dialga-themed clock, the more infrequent flip of a page, and the sound of his own sneakers on pristine white tiles. Every few laps, he would glance up at the elderly gentleman looking over the sketches and concepts that he’d drawn up a few nights earlier.

“Well, this, er—” Adrien’s head shot up as he halted with one foot in midair “—you’re sure about this? What you saw?”

“No doubt, Professor,” he replied, setting his foot down. “It was barely a metre away from me, and it was the middle of the day. What you see there is what I saw.”

“Intriguing. Positively fascinating.” Oak said, scratching his chin. “Shapewise, it appears to resemble a Ponyta or a Blitzle, but the finer details… hmmm. These jagged edges around its extremities, translucent wings, and these odd holes—” he looked up at Adrien “—I assume you didn’t add those by accident? I’d say it looks more like some kind of carapace, an outer shell, than a regular bone structure. We could be looking at a new species of Bug-type Pokémon, considering you saw them in Viridian Forest.”

Adrien nodded and swept over next to the Pokémon Prof. “Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. At least at first, I mean. But then I even thought it could be an entirely unknown type, like how the Fairy-type was only just discovered, or Dark and Steel-types were a few years ago.”

“I don’t feel we can reasonably come to that conclusion… yet,” Oak added, “but it is far from beyond the realms of possibility.” He peered through a window toward the north, the morning sun filtering through it. “I must say, I never expected something like this so close to home. Now if only we could examine one up close… oh, goodness me, I can feel these old researcher’s instincts kicking up again!”

Adrien laughed. “You know, Professor, I plan on going back to that forest today anyway. I really hope I can see one again. I’ll be sure to let you know if I do, or better yet—if I can catch one!” He pulled his Pokédex from his pocket and handed it to Oak with a nod.

Oak grinned as he took the electronic encyclopedia. Humming, he walked to a nearby computer and placed it in a slot. While the computer registered the ’dex, he tore the pages from Adrien’s sketch pad and passed them beneath a scanner. After a few keystrokes, the Pokédex beeped, and the computer automatically ejected it.

“There we are,” Oak said, handing back the device. “I’ve updated your Pokédex with what we know and suspect as well as with these images and its own snapshots. For now, it has been programmed to assume that this Pokémon is ‘undiscovered species number seven-hundred-and-twenty-one’, and it should record any new data you discover. Still, we don’t know what they’re capable of, so please take every precaution.”

“Of course, Professor Oak,” Adrien said. He flicked it open, and fought to keep his heart from bursting through his chest. There, in the Pokédex, were his sketches, his fleeting observations about a brand-new Pokémon.

“And also… hmmm, I wonder…” Oak tapped his chin. “Yes, I suppose now’s as good a time as any. No time like the present, so they say.” He walked over to his desk and, opening a drawer, extracted an oblong-shaped box from it before returning to the boy. “Perhaps you could take this too? It may prove useful, should you encounter them again.”

“Yeah? What is it?” Adrien took the box and opened it, revealing an earpiece connected to a microphone. It looked quite similar to a hands-free device for an X-Transceiver, save for the small metal antenna protruding from the top of the earpiece.

“An experimental piece of technology from JeJaMe Technologies,” Oak said, a wide grin stretching across his face. “As long as you wear it, you should be able to understand Pokémon speech.”

“A… translator?” Adrien couldn’t believe his ears. Was this thing for real? He looked at the professor, his eyes wide. “A-are you sure?”

“It will be a good field test,” Oak replied, already setting up a file to take notes. “Even if you are unsuccessful in your endeavour to find the new species, this will bring some worth to your trip.”

“All right, so—” Adrien placed the device over his ear and moved it until it fit snugly in place “—like this?”

“Perfect.” Oak clapped his hands together. “Now. When a Pokemon speaks, theoretically, the microphone on that device picks it up, and the translation algorithmprovides an accurate translation. The Pokédex is already capable of doing this, but of course you need to have your Pokédex out and pointing at a specific Pokémon. Not only that, but very few trainers actually have a Pokédex to begin with. If this prototype is successful, people all over the world will be able to converse with Pokémon, and they won’t even need a Pokédex to do so!”

“Really? That’s amazing!”

Oak continued to grin while Adrien examined the prototype further. It really was a marvelous breakthrough. He looked out the window again. JeJaMe Tech was a fledgling company, but their recent advancements in robotics and Poké-related technologies had rocketed them up the corporate ladder, putting them on par with Devon and Silph.

“So, my boy, do let me know if you—”

Footsteps.

“Adrien?”

Oak looked up and saw that he was alone in the lab. The only sign that Adrien had ever been there was the laboratory’s swinging front doors.

“Kids these days. Always in a rush.” The old professor chuckled. “Good luck, boy.”

This was getting ridiculous. What in the everloving holes was going on around here?

Queen Chrysalis stared at Sync, a Noble Drone that possessed the blood of the Queen herself. Her daughter. Her most likely heir.

Saying “Changeling” over and over again while she ranted about things even the Queen wished not to repeat.

Chrysalis groaned. After the first case of this mysterious speech impediment outbreak, more and more of her Changelings had succumbed to it. Soon, only Chrysalis and her own firstborns—Sync and Scribe—had remained. And now, not even that. The two siblings argued like always, only this time Chrysalis couldn’t understand the context.

Between that, the developing powers her Changelings had started to acquire, and the severe lack of knowledge they still possessed about this world, she had been reluctant so far to send her children out to scout—especially after Sync had reported on the strange creature she had encountered last time.

Aside from their seemingly endless problems, Chrysalis’ thoughts were trained upon it. From Sync’s description, it had possessed strange technology, and seemed to command some other strange animals that inhabited the forest around them. Perhaps they could—

“Chaaaange! Change-ling!”

“Ling ling! Changeling!”

Chrysalis growled and gnashed her teeth. Enough was enough!

“Would you two shut up?”

The telepathic roar brought shouts of surprise from both Nobles, who grabbed their aching heads.

“Sync!” she barked, glaring at her daughter who immediately snapped to attention. “I have another mission for you. Something more important than relentless bickering with your brother.”

“Do I have a choice?” Sync replied. This telepathic method of communication was weird as all get out, but right now it was the only way.

“No, not really.” Chrysalis shrugged and teased the air with the tip of her tongue. “I’m still weak. I cannot transform or even use magic beyond basic levitation, otherwise I’d do it myself.”

“But what if I run into that hairless minotaur again?” Sync asked aloud.

Chrysalis paused and looked at her with a curious look. “Could you… repeat that?” She had heard that right… right?

“I said, what if I—” Sync paused, a hoof upon her lips. “Wait, you… understand me now?” She continued to stare at Chrysalis, who eventually nodded.

“Yes… but what does this mean?” She slowly rose and limped into the central hall, where a lot of her Changelings were either experimenting with their new—and quickly developing—powers, or just talking about this whole mess.

“Oh, Holey Mother, finally! No more of that infernal name-repeating!” Chrysalis looked back to her children, her own head pulsing as she cradled it in her hooves. “I swear, these changes and this new world are doing my head in.”

“So… still want me to go on this mission then?”

Chrysalis considered Sync and, after a moment, nodded. “Yes. Now, this hairless minotaur. Besides what you already told me, did you notice anything significant about it?”

“Yeah. It was wearing clothes. You know, I’ve never seen a minotaur wear clothes before. Or one so scrawny either. Now I think about it, it really didn’t look all that dangerous.”

“Hmmm. If it has clothing and the ability to speak, that would hint at some level of intelligence,” Chrysalis mused aloud. “Yes, I think that will do nicely.” She turned and leered at Sync, headache forgotten. “I want you to find me one of these creatures and bring it here. Discreetly if possible.”

Sync nodded and saluted. This mission was going to be risky, dangerous and possibly deadly…

Oh, sweet hives, this was gonna be great!

“Try not to get yourself killed,” Scribe said to her. “You’re one of the only ones here with any semblance of intelligence.” He pushed up his glasses and frowned. “I’d be quite bored otherwise.”

Sync chuckled and nodded. “Really feeling the love, bookworm.” She gave her wings a test and grinned. Time to hunt!

Adrien sighed as he walked through Viridian Forest’s thick undergrowth. While it had a well-worn path travelled by many a trainer, he knew that he’d probably never see the new Pokémon if he stuck to that.

So off-road it was, and it didn’t take long for Adrien to wonder if his quest was really such a great idea. Beyond the regular path, the canopy blotted out most of noon’s sunlight, giving the forest an odd feel of perpetual twilight. Aside from the occasional Pokémon cry, or the wind rustling the tree branches, it was also quiet. Whether that silence was serene or just plain creepy, he had yet to decide.

“Yup, this feels like a perfectly good place to get eaten by something,” he mused to himself as he pushed his way through the thickening greenery. While he had Linoone and his other Pokémon to protect him, they wouldn’t be much help if he was attacked by surprise.

Speaking of, why wasn’t Linoone out now, helping him Cut away this dense foliage?

As he reached for the ball at his belt, something green and sticky slapped him in the face.

Blinded, voice muffled, Adrien flailed about for a moment before he felt a powerful blow strike his head. Consciousness slipping away, he could only think a simple, single thought.

Yup. just like that.

Sync stood over the unconscious minotaur triumphantly. She hadn’t expected her sneak attack to go so smoothly; nor had she expected to see the exact same creature again. Perhaps it was local to the area. Would it be missed if she abducted it? Then again, he’d only be detained long enough for the Queen to get some answers anyway.

But now the problem was moving it back to the hive. Going alone was proving to be a pretty stupid decision. She then remembered how far away the hive was. This was going to be a long day.

Sync sighed. Well, time to start dragging…

“This is it: the final battle of the Pokémon League Championships. Will the Champion keep his title? Or will our challenger score an overwhelming victory?"

“Okay. Use Dark Pulse!” Adrien called out to his new friend. An insect-like Pokémon nodded and opened its maw, firing a concussive blast of dark energy. His opponent’s Pokémon took it head-on, and the battlefield was rocked by an explosion.

The crowd held their breath, as if the slightest sound would affect the outcome of the heated battle.

Slowly, the smoke and dust settled…

Adrien and his Pokémon stood victorious!

“Oh yeah!” he cheered, running onto the field to congratulate his partner… before the ground gave way and he fell screaming into the endless abyss that awaited him—

Adrien sat bolt upright with a yell, which subsided into a hiss as he winced from the sudden movement. He clasped his forehead with one hand. When he pulled it away, he noticed some green slime stuck to his fringe.

“Oh, gross, what is this?” He frowned, giving it a tentative sniff. It kinda smelled like… lime?

“Ling!”

“Ahhh!”

Adrien jumped at the new voice and quickly turned in the direction that it came from. His eyes widened; it was that new Pokémon, standing right there in front of him… well, beside him anyway. He was apparently lying on a large bed of moss. He just stared at the Pokémon and tried to hold still, not making any sudden moves lest he frighten it.

“Ling, ling… Change?” It tilted its head and spoke at him. The tone of its voice suggested confusion… maybe a little irritation. At that, a second one came in. It was a little taller, and its muzzle was more square-shaped.

It also wore glasses?

“Changeling, ling change?” the second one spoke as it pointed at Adrien, and then scowled at the first one.

The first just rolled its eyes and sighed. It, too, pointed at Adrien and scowled. “Ling!”

So, were they called ‘Changeling’? And there appeared to be two different types. Adrien wondered if it was a male-and-female difference, like Nidoran or Meowstic. While the two kept each other busy, possibly bickering, he slowly pulled out his Pokédex and scanned them. It pinged once before replying, “New species detected. No data present.”

“No data,” he repeated to himself. “Well, hopefully that’s about to—hey!”

Some unseen force yanked the Pokédex from his hands, and he saw it float over to the glasses-wearing Pokémon. The horn on its head seemed to be glowing. Was it using a Psychic-type move? Possibly Psychic itself? He trembled at the thought. Few Bug-type Pokémon naturally learned Psychic-type moves, let alone a move so powerful.

Now they were looking at the device and talking amongst themselves. Adrien took a deep breath and felt at his belt—or where it should have been. He gulped. These things must be intelligent. I’m in way over my head right now…

“That’s the thing I saw before,” Sync said. “I have no idea what it is though.”

“Hmmm.” Scribe turned the device over and then poked at it with a hoof. It resembled a red book, only small and made of some kind of metal. It also had buttons on it. “Let’s try this,” he said, pressing the largest one in the centre.

At his touch, the screen lit up and appeared to flick rapidly through some illusory pages. Seconds later, it came to rest on the image of a ball of fuzz with arms, legs, and a face contorted into a frown.

“Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon. An agile Pokémon that lives in trees. It angers easily and will not hesitate to attack anything.”

“W-what?” Scribe almost dropped it out of surprise. The book not only showed the picture of some tan-furred monkey thing—apparently called a Mankey—it also spoke in a staccato, high-pitched voice.

“A speaking book? Unbelievable!” He snorted. “How lazy are these creatures if they need their books to read themselves?”

“I wonder what the Queen’s gonna think of this?” Sync asked.

“Think about what?”

When the new voice filled the room, and Adrien saw its owner walk in, something inside him told him to panic. This looked like a Pokémon you did not mess with! Although it appeared injured, it still exuded an air of authority and supremacy. Could it be the evolved form of the two before him? It looked similar…

“Lis? Chrysa,” it rasped in a deeper voice than the other two as it looked down at him and narrowed its menacing green eyes. “Lis? Lis?” It shook its head and looked at the other two, speaking to them instead.

“Can this thing even understand me?” Chrysalis asked Sync and Scribe. “It seems… awfully dim.”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Scribe said, not taking his eyes off of the strange book, enamoured by it like a foal with a new toy. “Maybe it’s having the same problem we did? It seemed to take a while to adjust from not hearing our species’ name repeated over and over again. Perhaps that’s all it’s hearing?”

“How fantastically inconvenient,” Chrysalis muttered as she turned and looked at the creature again. “I wonder if…” She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them, looking him in the eyes.

“How about now? Can you understand me, creature?”

“Can you understand me, creature?”

“Whoa!” Adrien put a hand to his head and looked at the intimidating figure, his mouth hanging open. “You can use… telepathy?”

“How odd. I can understand you, but I must resort to this for your benefit?” Chrysalis sighed inwardly and then looked at him. “Well, no matter. I have questions. You will answer them.”

That wasn’t asked; that was told, plain and simple, Adrien knew for sure. While he might have normally been offended by such abruptness, he had a mountain of questions of his own. That, and there were three very large, possibly-angry-and-super-powerful Pokémon of unknown behavioural patterns. Best to do what it says.

“Sure, I’ll help out anyway I can.”

“Good.” The Pokémon smiled, showing off its sharp fangs. “Then let’s begin right away—” Its thoughts were cut off by a loud growl, one that made it look… embarrassed?

“Are, uh, you guys hungry?” Adrien asked.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say; the smaller one snarled and snapped its fangs at him. The tall one—a… Chrysalis, perhaps? Going by its prior sounds—gave it a sharp glare and it backed off.

“Forgive my daughter. And to answer that, yes. But that can wait for the time—”

“I have some Pokéfood in my bag if you want some,” Adrien interrupted. The short-tempered Changeling, now identified as a female, snapped at him again. “Ah, what? Did I say something wrong?”

“We do not consume physical food, little minotaur. Not for nutrition anyway,” the Chrysalis answered again. “Now, I grow weary of interruptions. Should anyone do so again—”

Its stomach gave a loud rumble. “Oh, for hives sake!”

Adrien suppressed a chuckle and reached slowly for his backpack, lest he incur the wrath of the female again. The three Pokémon watched him dig around in it until he produced a container.

“These are PokéPuffs,” he explained as he pried the lid off and a wonderful aroma spread throughout the area. “I make them for my own Pokémon. They seem to enjoy them, so I can’t be that bad a chef.” He gave a small laugh at the last part, but his joke seemed to fall flat with his audience. “Gee, tough crowd.”

“Like I said, physical food does not… oooh, That smells wonderful!” the Chrysalis practically purred over the proficiently produced PokéPuffs.

“Ling! Change-change!” the daughter cried out, looking to its partner for help; unfortunately for her, it was busy burying its muzzle into Adrien’s Pokédex.

The Chrysalis paused, appearing to admonish herself for a momentary lack of judgement. “Lisss… Chrysalis.” She turned to face Adrien once more. “Creature! Are they poisoned? I shall know if you lie!”

“No, of course not!” Adrien replied, a little upset that they could insinuate such a thing. But he could hardly blame the Changeling for being protective of its mother… its Queen. He picked one up and put it into his mouth, chewing the delicacy slowly. “Shhe! Noff poifonouff!” he declared between smacking his lips together repeatedly.

Chrysalis snorted as she read the creature’s emotions. It certainly didn’t seem to be lying… and those treats looked really good. She took a step forward and lifted one up with her magic, giving it a few sniffs before taking a dainty nibble.

Oh, by the Creator! She had never eaten anything like it before. It reminded her somewhat of those bland apple cakes that had been served at the wedding, only this was utterly divine! She had never tasted something with so much love put into it before—

Wait a minute!

She took another bite, this time testing it with her other sense. No doubt about it, there was definitely trace amounts of love put into this food. And yet there seemed to be more coming from somewhere? And her head felt really good for some reason, like a long-irritating itch finally being scratched.

That was when she noticed the creature scratching her head, like a pony would do with a cat or a puppy. She recoiled back as her horn flared with magical power, her eyes ablaze with righteous indignation.

“Y-you dare? You dare touch me? The great Queen Chrysalis!”

“Ah, sorry?” it offered, even as it recoiled from her display of power. “I didn’t mean to upset you—you just looked so cute when you were eating that PokéPuff…”

Cute? This… This thing! Called her… c-cute?

She stamped a hoof, remembering a split-second too late that it was on the end of her injured leg. She winced when she struck solid ground, only to then look down and blink.

It didn’t hurt?

Her leg was healed. But how?

She looked up at the creature. Could it hold the answer? Come to think, it had shown a small amount of affection for her while scratching her head before she’d startled it away. For not merely an undisguised Changeling, but the Queen of the Changelings: Chrysalis, “The Scourge of Equestria.”

Speaking of…

“Creature, before I decide whether to vaporise you or not, you will continue to answer my questions. Now tell me, where in Equestria is this place? Or is it located somewhere else on Equus?”

Equestria? Equus? Adrien blinked and tilted his head slightly. Those names sounded completely foreign. Could that be where they hailed from? His head swam with the possibility. Could he, little old Adrien, amateur Pokémon trainer, be on the verge of not only discovering a whole family of new Pokémon, but another completely unknown region?

Fighting to control his heart rate again, Adrien shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I don’t know about any places like that. But right now you’re in a place named ‘Viridian Forest,’ in the southwest section of the Kanto region.”

“…of the Kanto region.”

“‘Kanto’?” Chrysalis scowled at the creature. “Never have I heard of such a place. Now keep quiet while I consult with my kin.” She turned to Scribe, who had at last pulled his nose from the talking book. “Scribe? Care to shine some light on this, if you can?”

“Never heard of it,” Scribe finally spoke up. “I’d like to think I have a pretty good memory, and I know most of the regions and countries on Equus. That ‘Kanto’ name feels like it could be familiar, like an area of Neighpon I might have once read about… but, I highly doubt that this is that place.”

Unknown areas, food that contained love energy, and a creature that actually liked Changelings? The headache returning with a vengeance, Chrysalis growled and turned on her heels. “I need time to think,” she replied quietly. “Creature,” she added over her shoulder as she walked away, “consider yourself declared non-threatening to my hive for the present. You will not be harmed, and neither will you harm any of my children. When I have cleared my thoughts, you will answer more of my questions.” Pausing for a moment, she lit up her horn; the box of PokéPuffs floated out of the creature’s hands and into the air next to her. “You would do well to produce these in greater quantities,” came her parting words.

“…produce these in greater quantities.”

Adrien stared as his entire box of PokéPuffs floated over to the Chrysalis. A moment later, the smallest Changeling gave a snort, and with a “Changeling, ling ling!” she followed her mother. That left Adrien alone with the other, quieter Changeling, the one who still had his Pokédex—and more importantly, his belt with his Pokéballs. I guess I was too busy with the Queen to notice, he thought. Now, how to get them back?

…

Idea!

“You know,” Adrien finally said, giving a small, awkward cough, “if you like my Pokédex so much, I can show you how to use it properly?”

The Changeling blinked as it looked at the Pokédex and, after mulling it over for a moment, nodded and walked closer. It took a seat next to Adrien and passed it back using his telekinesis.

“Okay. So first of all, this is the search feature…”

Chrysalis sat in her private chamber, an empty container at her hooves and a confused look on her face. Was this what that voice was talking about? That ‘second chance’?

Surely it couldn't be this easy. Early hiccups aside, everything seemed almost too good to be true. Even though she’d nearly gone back and murdered the creature when one of the treats turned out to be hotter than the Badlands’ volcanic basin, most of them had set her taste buds dancing like never before. Not to mention the nutritious, euphoric love baked into each and every one of them.

So what now? Questions seemed only to beget more questions, and that creature had its own to ask, many of which she couldn’t even answer!

Of all the things it had said, though, there was one word that it kept repeating.

Just what in Tartarus was a Pokémon—and why did it seem to think that she was one?

Chapter Three

Author's Note

This chapter is now edited and shiny an stuff. Please enjoy this new and improved version.

Chapter Three

Adrien wasn’t sure how much time had passed since he started teaching the bespectacled Changeling about his Pokédex. There was just so much to go over: the search feature, the region map, different Types of Pokémon—even then, those things were all just basics of being a Pokémon Trainer. It didn’t help that Adrien couldn’t be certain if the Changeling even understood him… but at least the angry female and that Chrysalis hadn’t come back yet.

They were just a little scary. Perhaps the females of this new species were all generally intimidating? This one seemed far more docile than the others, more level-headed; Adrien wondered what the professor would think about it.

While the Changeling kept its attention on the device in his hand, Adrien glanced at his bag, his belt draped over it with his Pokéballs and snacks inside. Could he chance trying to convince the curious Changeling to let him give it a more practical demonstration of Pokémon abilities, or would it misread his intentions and immediately flee to report to its queen?

He looked back at the Changeling, suddenly feeling nervous; it had stopped scrolling through his pages, pausing to furrow its brow and squint closer at the Blitzle currently on screen.

Adrien cleared his throat, deciding to try his luck. “Hey, uh, you know, if you give me back my bag, you might learn things a bit faster.”

The Changeling’s eyes flicked up from the Electrified Pokémon.

“I can show you some of those Pokémon for real.”

Scribe couldn’t believe the sheer amount of knowledge that was held in this so-called ‘book’, this ‘Pokédex’. How could such a small, portable device contain an entire library’s worth of information inside it, complete with a working index that instantly sourced the requested information? It was like no magic he had ever seen.

Admittedly, these ‘Pokémon’ seemed like such fascinating creatures; and now that he’d learned just a little about them, he could see why this creature had mistaken the hive for some kind of Pokémon species.

But what was this one? Intrigued, he looked closer. It might have been easy to call it a pony, were it not for the odd colour palette or coat and mane style. Some of these Pokémon resembled rats, rabbits, bears, fish, birds, and even dragons.

The possibility came to him. This ‘Blitzle’ Pokémon was the closest thing to a pony yet. His hoof lingered over the search by body type option—

“Hey, uh, you know, if you give me back my stuff, you might learn things a bit faster.”

Scribe’s ears perked up. Maintaining his frown, he peered up over the Pokédex’s top screen.

“I can show you some of those Pokémon for real.”

Scribe looked over at the bag. This might easily be a ploy. How could there be real, living Pokémon inside the boy’s bag? Were they perhaps a lot smaller than he thought? No, that couldn’t be right. The Pokédex had clear silhouette comparisons with a supposedly average-sized human, and they appeared to range in size from fitting in one’s hand to standing taller than a house.

But did the Pokédex itself not contain an unprecedented wealth of compressed information within it? What was to say the boy’s bag or belt would be any different? If the boy spoke truth, Scribe had the chance to see one of these Pokémon up close. Only, that meant defying the queen, and if he allowed the boy to escape under his watch…

Scribe sighed and ignited his horn. There’s only one way to find out. The bag and belt floated back over to the boy, who let the items fall back into his hands. Scribe kept his horn lit though, even after releasing the items. With a glare at the boy, he tapped the base of his horn, and the boy also glowed green for a split second before the aura faded.

The boy gulped and nodded. Good.

Scribe flipped the Pokédex lid shut and watched the boy extract a single small red-and-white sphere from his belt.

Adrien almost couldn’t believe his luck. The Changeling had actually given his Pokéballs back, along with the rest of his stuff! He reached for the ball in the first holster, carefully plucking it out and setting it down in front of him.

“Just hold on a sec, okay? I wanna check my bag to see if anything’s damaged.”

With the Changeling’s eyes on the loose ball, Adrien opened the smaller bag he kept on the back of his belt. His eyes widened when he noticed a familiar box. Of course!

“And now I feel like a moron,” he muttered as he took out the JeJaMe translator device that Professor Oak had given him, and showed it to his newest friend.

“If this thing works, I should be able to understand you,” he explained as he turned the device over in his hands. It didn’t seem to have anything aside from the antenna and a single button. Seemed simple enough. He slipped the device over his right ear and extended the antenna, then pressed the button.

“Testing, testing.” Tiny bit of static fuzz, but I’ll deal. He looked at the Changeling. “Okay, say something.”

The Changeling just stared blankly and blinked slowly. “Like what?” he finally asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Perfect!” Adrien beamed and punched the air. He’d had his doubts about the device, as it wasn’t the first time that a company had claimed they could translate PokéSpeak. “Uh, I guess I should ask, since I still don’t really know anything about you… do you have a name?”

“I am Scribe of the Changelings, right-hoof record keeper to Queen Chrysalis.”

“Wow, this really does work! Awesome!” Adrien punched the air again. “I’m Adrien, a Pokémon trainer. Aw, yes—I’m so happy we can actually talk now without that Chrysalis having to translate for us.”

Scribe’s face darkened as that aura surrounded his horn, and the cavern walls were painted green. “That Chrysalis?”

Adrien waved his hands in front of him. “Oh no, I just meant—”

“That Chrysalis happens to be our queen and my mother. So you will watch your tongue and address her as such, or you shall find that tongue torn from your mouth!”

Adrien’s eyes widened and he gulped loudly. “S-Sure, okay. I’m really sorry about that.” Jeez, and I thought he was a Calm one for a moment.

Scribe nodded, the aura vanishing. “Good. See that it doesn’t happen again.” He floated the Pokédex back over and looked at it with a curious expression. “Now that we have an understanding, literal and otherwise, tell me more about this object. How does it work? What kind of spell powers it? Where would I obtain one for myself—”

“Hold up, there, buddy.” Adrien pushed an open palm out toward Scribe. “Okay, look. One, I don’t really know all that much about the technology itself. It’s basically an electronic encyclopedia of all known species of Pokémon. Two, it's powered by a rechargeable micro-lithium battery, I think. It keeps about forty-eight hours of constant use, or around two weeks in standby mode. Three, getting one…” He stopped and hummed to himself. “I’ve actually never heard of a Pokémon getting its own Pokédex before. They’re only given out to aspiring trainers.”

Scribe frowned, clicking his tongue. “You keep saying that, calling us ‘Pokémon’. We are not like these creatures in your fancy encyclopedia. We are Changelings!”

“Well, aside from humans, the only other creatures that have intelligence are Pokémon,” Adrien countered, adding a little bite to his tone. “I mean, you talk by repeating your name, like a Pokémon. You have strange powers, like a Pokémon—”

“We have magic.” Scribe cut Adrien off, lighting his horn again. “And as for speaking only our species name for some reason, which has never happened before today…” He shook his head when his horn began to flicker. “Urgh.” He tapped his chin. “Though our magic has been acting up since we got here…”

Adrien leaned forward and raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Scribe scoffed. “As if your minotaur brain could comprehend it,” he said, closing the Pokédex and sighing. “But, if you must know, some of the others have been displaying strange new magicks. The Queen worries they could accidentally cause harm to each other.”

Adrien nodded and closed his eyes. If what had been said so far was true—that they really were visitors from another world, developing Pokémon powers—then, it could be that these ‘strange magicks’ as he put it were really—

A not-so-distant explosion rocked the room, shaking loose dust and stones from the ceiling; Adrien’s train of thought derailed.

“Not again,” Scribe muttered as he turned toward the central chamber. “Wait here while I go and see what exploded this time. Don’t try anything foolish, like leaving this chamber.” He exited the area, Adrien’s Pokédex still in his possession.

Adrien looked at his belt. No, screw what Scribe said. If these Changelings were developing powers they didn’t understand, then he’d need something to defend himself—and possibly defend them from themselves, too. He slung the bag over his shoulders and fastened his belt, remembering to grab the single ball left sitting on the ground.

Sorry, Scribe. I’m not letting you all hurt yourselves.

Chrysalis emerged from her chamber, feeling far fresher than she had an hour earlier. Barely had she a moment to stretch her legs, however, when an explosion drew her attention down the passage. Urgh, what now?

“What’s going on in here?” she shouted as she strode into the central chamber, no longer limping. While noling answered right away, the explosive results were plain to see.

A large space had been cleared around a single shaking drone, a smouldering crater several hooves wide in front of him. Falling dust, hundreds of stone chips about the ground, a curious smell in the air. The expressions of the others ranged from fear to curiosity, though they kept their distance.

Sync and Scribe arrived a few seconds later, the latter almost running to examine the crater, while Sync made sure that noling was injured.

“What. Happened?” Chrysalis repeated as she moved to stand in front of the changeling sitting before the crater. “What did you do?”

“I-I don’t… I don’t know,” he stammered as he looked between his Queen and the destruction he wrought. “I don’t know how I did that.”

Chrysalis exhaled through her nose and looked at Scribe. “Well, what do you know of this?”

Scribe shook his head. “I am unsure. I was conversing with the boy… Adrien, he said his name was, at least until this happened. But I cannot feel any residual magic coming from this. Whatever he did, it was not of arcane origin.” He raised the Pokédex. “Perhaps this thing might know. Let me try to work it.”

The room fell silent. Flipping up the top lid again, Scribe tried pointing it at the crater.

The Pokédex beeped. “Scanning image… Detecting energy… Shadow Ball, a Ghost-type attack. The user hurls condensed shadow energy at the target. This attack has a twenty percent chance of lowering the target’s Special Defense.”

The silence in the room grew louder.

At last, Sync spoke up. “Scribe? How does that metal book know what happened and you don’t?” While it was a genuine question, the added smirk caused her brother to click his tongue at her.

But before he could respond, another voice spoke up. “That’s because the Pokédex can identify the residual energy of the move that little Changeling just used.”

Hundreds of blue eyes turned to face Adrien.

“Explain. Now!” Chrysalis barked at him.

Adrien gulped and nodded. “Okay, so, your Scribe Changeling said you’re starting to develop weird magic, right?”

It took Chrysalis a moment before the realisation came: the boy was speaking to her, answering her—without her telepathy! She frowned at the odd extension of metal protruding from the boy’s ear. That must be it. He’s obviously managed to wrangle information out of Scribe and get his gear back too.

“Go on.” I’ll deal with Scribe later.

“Well…” Adrien paused to get his thoughts in order. “While some kind of magic exists here, it’s probably not the kind you’re used to. What this Changeling used is an attack known by several species of Pokémon called ‘Shadow Ball’.”

Chrysalis frowned and looked at the drone in question. “But, that is not possible. We are not these ‘Pokémon’ creatures you refer to. We have never even seen one before…” Her sentence trailed off when she saw Adrien smile. “What?”

“Would you like to see one? I have a couple with me right now.”

“I see no creatures with you,” Chrysalis argued. “Are you addled in the head?”

Adrien responded by holding out his right hand; clutched in his palm was one of his odd red spheres from his belt. “He’s in here.”

And then, Chrysalis cackled. “Ha! You take me, Queen Chrysalis, for some fool? That you could have a giant monster inside one of those tiny little things?”

“Absolutely I can. And do. In fact, I have five of them right here, all different ones, and a few others back at the lab, too.”

Chrysalis snorted, baring her toothy grin again. “Okay, Adrien, I’ll humour you. Produce now your magical friend from within your little red device. Show your Queen what sort of magic you possess.”

Adrien sighed. “Good. Okay, I’ll let him out. But you have to promise not to attack him, all right? He won’t hurt you—promise.”

Chrysalis looked to Sync, ensuring she could act at a moment's notice. Scribe stood next to her, anticipation in his hungry eyes.

“All right then.”

Adrien pressed the silver button in the center of the ball.

A burst of light cast a brief red tint on everything as it twisted into the shape of Adrien’s Linoone. Several Changelings yelped in surprise, and began backing away at the sudden appearance of the furry Pokémon. The light disappeared, leaving behind a very solid looking raccoon-type… thing.

Linoone opened his eyes, quickly widening them at the sight of so many strange Pokémon. “Well, this is just wonderful. What the hell have you gotten us into this time, boyo?” He sighed at Adrien. “Don’t you think Ignatius would be a better choice here?”

Adrien didn’t move for several moments. He had completely forgotten he was wearing the translator, and so this was the first time he’d understood his lifelong partner.

He grinned widely as he knelt down and hugged Linoone.

“Oi, knock it off,” Linoone said. “This ain’t no time to be getting mushy. You’re kind of surrounded in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Adrien blinked and pulled back. “Huh? Oh! No, they’re friendly, so please don’t attack them.”

“Well I wasn’t going to without a command anyway, but whatever.” The Linoone turned to the Changelings staring at him. “They don’t look very friendly. So, what’s going on then?”

“What? How did you summon that creature?” Chrysalis exclaimed.

“Oi!” The Linoone growled at Chrysalis. “That’s a bit rude, ain’t it? My name’s Ventus and I’m a Linoone. So now, spill—who and what are you?”

Chrysalis glared at him. “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, and you will show me due respect, you overgrown rat!”

“‘Rat’?” Ventus glared back. “You ain’t my queen, your royal bugbutt. And I only respect those that have earned it. You—” he motioned at Chrysalis “—ain’t done squat to earn that.”

“I will gut you like a fish!” Chrysalis yelled. Her twisted horn glowed pure white as she lowered her head.

Ahhh, crap. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Adrien cried, stepping between Ventus and Chrysalis. He leaned down to hold Ventus back; Scribe likewise moved to block Chrysalis, with Sync all the while cheering for blood to be spilled.

“Not. Helping,” Scribe muttered to his sister. “And My Queen, please be calm. You’re still not at full strength.”

“I don’t care. That insufferable little—”

“We don’t know anything about these Pokémon yet, and you’ve still not fully recovered. Please, you cannot strain yourself.”

Chrysalis gave a final snarl, slowly letting the white light fade. “Fine. I shall postpone punishment… for now.”

Ventus opened his mouth, but Adrien slid his hand over it. “Ventus says he’s sorry and it won’t happen again.”

The Linoone growled and gave a muffled response. Two words, one syllable each.

“Play nice, please?” Adrien asked as he removed his hand. He now understood why some Pokémon got so worked up when they battled Ven. “They’re new here and don’t understand a whole lot yet. So we’re gonna help them.”

“You and your bloody bleedin’ heart. Fine,” Ventus replied. He took a good long look at the Changelings. “So what are we doing with this lot then?”

“We have to demonstrate a few things. But first things first…” Adrien looked up at Chrysalis. “So this is a Pokémon. They come in countless shapes and sizes—”

“Your encyclopedia thing says you have seven-hundred and twenty-one species known,” Scribe interjected. “I’d hardly call that countless.”

“No, I mean…” Adrien sighed and put his hand to his forehead. “While that’s how many species are known, they all have their own personalities. Likes and dislikes, temperaments and even sizes can vary. The Pokédex merely records the average weight and height.”

Scribe sniffed, but seemed otherwise satisfied.

“Let us move to the topics of attacks,” Chrysalis interrupted. “That is why you summoned the mutant ferret, no?”

“Oh, I am gonna kick your—” Again, Ventus found his mouth blocked as Adrien gave the queen an apologetic look.

“Yes. Ventus here can use that move your Changeling did before.” He looked around and saw a stumpy stalagmite jutting out of the ground. “Could you clear that space? We’ll show you.”

Chrysalis nodded and then looked to her Changelings, who cleared the area around the rock.

“Okay, Ven. Use Shadow Ball!”

“The things I do for you,” Ventus sighed as he opened his maw. Ethereal energy began to materialise, condensing into a dark sphere. When the sphere outgrew his mouth, he released the energy; the blast impacted the spike and exploded, blowing several stone chunks into the air.

Chrysalis stared at the rock—or what was left of it—and tried to keep her composure. Such destruction… If only she’d been able to harness that kind of power during the Canterlot invasion…

No, that was all in the past. The present was here, now, and very real. This new magic would be their salvation—and her little changelings were already beginning to naturally learn this?

“This could get out of hoof very quickly,” she muttered. “Very well, Adrien. You will instruct us. Teach us how to harness this power so that we may control it, rather than the other way around.”

“Now where do you get off ordering him—”

The hand again. “I’ll be happy to do it.” Adrien smiled. “But first I’ll have to go home and get some stuff. Plus tell my mom where I’ll be, so she doesn’t freak out.”

“Your terms are… acceptable. On two conditions,” Chrysalis said with a small nod. “You must take two of my changelings, to make sure you do not betray us.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone about you,” Adrien agreed. “But fair enough. And the second?”

Chrysalis stepped closer until she was standing over him. She leaned down and, even in the gloom of the cave, Adrien could swear she had a red tint to her cheeks.

“You will make more of those desserts. Except the red ones. I don’t like those.”

“Can do.” Adrien grinned. “Which ones do you like most?”

“The pink ones,” she said before leaning back up and coughing lightly. “Sync, take an infiltrator with you to accompany our new… ‘friend’ here, as he returns to his home and procures supplies.”

“As you wish, My Queen.” Sync bowed her head and flashed a fanged grin at Ventus. “And maybe I’ll get revenge for you as well.”

Ventus snorted. “You can try.”

This trip is gonna be great. Adrien sighed as he picked up his bag. “Well. If that’s all, guess I’ll see you guys soon then.”

The first thing Sync noticed, as the gaps between the trees grew, was the encroaching scent of civilization. The natural aromas of trees, grass, and flowers gave way to stone, smoke, and one similar to what the human had. Sync presumed that it was more of his kind.

“You know,” Ventus mused as they walked, “you might draw attention if you walk into town with two unknown Pokémon.”

Adrien paused. Ven was right, of course. These Changelings had never been seen before, after all.

“Well, what should we do?” he asked. “I could always put them inside a Pokéball…”

“And I could turn you inside out.” Sync pointed and narrowed her eyes. Adrien had explained the concept of these ‘Pokéballs’ and how they captured and contained Pokémon. “There’s no way in Tartarus that me or anybuggy else is ending up in one of those things! Are we clear?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” Adrien stammered and nodded quickly; Ventus just rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t we just transform?” the youngling Sync had brought with her suggested. “I mean, we are changelings.”

“Because we barely have the energy for that,” Sync replied. Although, as she mulled the idea over in her head, it could be worth a try. Okay, so maybe she might have been passively feeding from the human and had a little magic to play with.

She closed her eyes and focused on Adrien standing in front of her. Emerald flames licked at her hooves, but after a few strenuous moments, the flames died out, having accomplished nothing beyond a slightly impressive pyrotechnics show.

“So, uh… was that supposed to be Flare Blitz?” Adrien asked, tilting his head slightly. “Maybe Flame Charge?”

“It was supposed to transform me into you.” Sync growled, more at her own failure than his inane questions. “I have enough magic in me, so why can’t I do it?”

“Welp, guess you suck at that too.” Ventus snickered; Sync’s eyes twitched and she glared at the Linoone.

“Oh, that is it! You die now!” Her body suddenly rushed forward at high speed, only to phase right through the Pokémon like a shadow and hit a tree.

Ventus laughed harder as the dazed nymph picked herself up. “Moron, Ghost-type moves like Shadow Sneak won’t work on a Normal-type Pokémon like me.” Ventus smirked and raised a beckoning paw. “Come on, little buggy. Want another go?”

“I’m going to tear you apart!” Sync roared and leapt at him, her fangs bared as she forwent any magic. Ventus blurred to one side as the Changeling literally ate dirt. The Linoone laughed again at her pitiful attempt to try and attack him.

“Do you want to see how it’s done?” he said with a wide grin as he crouched down. “Here, eat a Quick Attack!”

“Ventus!” Adrien shouted and held out his Pokéball. “Return!” A beam of red light shot from the device as the Linoone yelped.

“Wha?” Ventus sidestepped the recall beam and sighed. “Aw, come on—she started it.”

“And I’m ending it,” Adrien said with a pointed look. “Just… we have a lot to do and can’t waste time fighting.” He sighed as he looked at the youngling helping Sync up. “Why don’t you just wait at the edge of the forest here? I shouldn’t be too long.”

Sync spat some dirt from her mouth and glared at Ventus again. “No. We were ordered not to let you out of our sight.”

The youngling chose that very moment to erupt in flames.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Sync asked.

Next second, a perfect copy of Ventus stood in the youngling’s place. Sync stared in disbelief, as did Adrien and Ventus.

“So they really can transform,” the Linoone pointed out. “Hah! The little one’s better at it than you are!”

“I will end you!” Sync roared, preparing to charge again; and she would have, if not for the disguised Changeling holding her back. Just like Chrysalis, she snarled at Ventus.

“Try again, Lady Sync,” the youngling said. “For some reason, he’s really easy to copy.”

“Because he’s so simple,” Sync retorted.

“And yet I fluster you so easily.” Ventus smirked back before he was enveloped in red light and recalled to his Pokéball.

Adrien sighed as he stared at the spherical device. “Honestly, Ven, what am I gonna do with you?”

“I know,” Sync purred. “It involves a sack, a river, and a few rocks.”

“You two are never allowed in the same room again,” Adrien deadpanned. “Okay, so can you copy your friend there?”

Sync narrowed her eyes and glared at Adrien. “Of course I can. You think an untrained nymph exceeds me in skill?”

“Well, you did just lose your very first Pokémon battle, and—”

“One more word and I’ll make sure you have no tongue to sass me ever again.”

Once Adrien nodded and shut his stupid face, Sync looked over the youngling. Emerald flames consumed her form, morphing into a second clone of the Linoone. “Such a weak form,” she hissed as she looked herself over.

Adrien ignored the jab at his friend. “Right. Okay, I guess now we have to figure out if you used an ability to do that, or a move.”

“What’s the difference? You say ‘attack’ and ‘move’ and ‘ability’ – aren’t they all the same thing?”

“I’ll explain later, okay? Right now, let’s go do some shopping.” Adrien turned and started walking towards the town, though his movements were a little stiff. “And please try not to terrify any of the people in town? I’m not the only one who walks around with Pokémon, got it?”

The twin Linoone just rolled their eyes and followed him.

Adrien poked around the shelves of the local PokéMart. His Pokémon treats required some specific ingredients, and some healing Potions and status cures could be helpful as well. While not as big as some of the other ones around Kanto, he usually found that this one stocked what he needed.

“Kinda wish I had the cash to get better stuff,” he said to himself, both Linoones following on his heels. “Full Restores would be a lot better.” He only received a small allowance from Professor Oak for his research assistance and scholarship, and a Full Restore was a hefty fifteen times more expensive: enough to wipe out his weekly allowance in one hit.

As Adrien reached up to get some Antidotes from the top shelf, a young man in an apron approached him.

“Excuse me, sir?” he spoke up, causing Adrien to flinch a little and look down from the shelf. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to put one of your Pokémon away.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Each trainer can only have one Pokémon over fifty centimetres long outside of its ball in this shop.” He pointed to the sign in the window. “It’s in the rules, stops the aisles from getting cluttered with larger Pokémon who might knock the shelves over.”

“But, they’re Linoones. They’re only fifty-one centimetres each. And I’ll just be a minute—”

“No exceptions, sir.” This guy was persistent. “Please comply, or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Uh…” Adrien sighed. “Sure.” He knelt down, unzipped his bag, and pulled out an empty Pokéball. “So, uh—” he coughed a single time and held out the ball toward the pair “—sorry, you two. I have to put one of you away.”

Sync frowned and stared up at him. “You’re going to swallow that damn thing before you put any Changeling in one of those freaky stasis pods.”

“I’ll do it!”

The youngling stepped forward; before either Adrien or Sync could say otherwise, she leaped up and nudged the sphere with her nose. The ball opened and light spilled forth, consuming the Changeling before retreating back into the ball. It shook a few times, stopping soon after with a final soft ping.

“W-what?” Adrien blinked as Sync just stood dumbfounded.

“Was that a… wild Pokémon?” The shop assistant looked away and shook his head. “You know what, I don’t wanna know. Just buy your stuff and get out, kid. Mart’s closing in a few.”

“Yeah…” Adrien stowed the ball away quickly. Seemingly on autopilot, he absentmindedly grabbed a few more items and took them to the counter.

Once outside, Sync had had enough time to process what had happened, and so pounced on the human. “Let. Her. Out. Now!” she screamed as she grabbed his shirt and shook him hard.

“She’ll be okay, trust me, just get off!”

“Let her out!”

“Let me go and I will!

With a final burst, Sync pushed Adrien away. As he stumbled backward, falling on his back, the ball popped out of his pack. In a burst of light, the ball opened, the Changeling within reappearing in her true form.

“Oooh, that was kinda fun.” She giggled and looked down at herself, quickly reapplying her disguise.

“Youngling! Are you all right? Are you hurt? Are you—”

“Lady Sync, it’s okay, I… I feel… really good actually. Yeah, I… I’m totally full! I feel amazing!” The pseudo-Linoone twirled around at right-angles on the spot.

“Full? How is that even possible?” Sync looked over her charge, taking note of the shinier coat, the slightly longer horn—and she was just brimming with energy.

Now where in Tartarus did she get all this power?

Sync glanced at the sphere that was used to contain the youngling. Unlike the other red-and-white Pokéballs, this one was green and white. The top green half sported red teardrop-like shapes. In addition, a gold gem sat just above the button.

“Is this it?” Sync held the ball up as Adrien finally sat up with a groan.

“Jeez, that really hurt,” he grumbled, giving his head a quick rub. He saw the ball Sync was holding and sighed. “Aw man, and that was a gift from the Prof as well. Guess I grabbed it by mistake.”

“What is this thing?” Sync asked, deciding to hold onto it for now. “Why did it give the youngling so much power?”

“I’ll explain later.” Adrien looked around as some passersby started to stare at the scene unfolding. “We should head back to my place for the moment. We’re almost there, so let’s just get you two out of the open and into a safe place. I’ll tell you anything you want to know then. Deal?”

Sync mulled it over and nodded. Today was already grating on her nerves. “Fine! But you’re explaining everything, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on.”

Adrien wasn’t overly enthused with the bossy Changeling right now. He was just trying to help them, for Arceus’ sake. Couldn’t she cut him just a little slack? Making sure nothing in his bags were damaged, he led the Pokémon back to his house.

“Mom, I’m home,” he called out, the setting sun at his back as he opened the front door. “Sorry I was out so long.” He gave it a minute before stepping inside. “Mom?” He poked his head into the lounge room, then the kitchen. Dinner wasn’t even on the stove or in the oven. “Huh. She must be out or something.”

“Good, that makes this easier.” Sync nodded as she resumed her normal form. “Ahhh. So much better.” The youngling soon followed suit.

“Hey, d’you mind waiting a sec next time?” Adrien hissed. “Geez, a little warning would be nice.” With speed that would have made Ventus proud, he ran around the house, closing curtains and locking doors.

“Sorry,” the youngling offered. “Should I change back?”

“Nah, just…” Adrien nodded toward the couch, dropping his pack and shopping bag on the floor. “Look, just keep what you are a secret for now, right? Last thing we need is someone coming and snatching away a ‘rare and unique’ Pokémon. Now do you guys want anything to eat or drink?”

“Oh! Oooh!” The youngling bounced up and down, clopping her hooves together. “Do you have any of those sweets you gave the Queen? I wanna try some!”

“Would you calm down?” Sync snapped. “That is no way for an infiltrator to behave. We most certainly do not beg for sweets.”

“Awww.” The youngling sighed and then giggled when Adrien rubbed her head.

“Don’t worry, I should have a few in the fridge.” He looked at Sync and smirked. “I guess Little Miss Grumpybug doesn’t want any then?”

“What did you call me?” Sync roared again as the youngling covered her mouth to conceal her giggles. “And anyway, I never said that.”

“Callin’ it how I see it,” Adrien said as he moved to the kitchen. “Now, where are those leftover Poképuffs?”

“Callin’ it how I see it.”

Sync was just itching to fire a retort, but some interesting things about their current shelter caught her eye. Adrien’s house seemed to resemble that of a pony’s, only everything was a little larger in scale. Apart from that, and a few assorted machines and decorations she didn’t recognise, the home still had the passively weak love scent that permeated everything: the telltale sign of a happy family.

She happily absorbed what she could, gaining a little more strength. She took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled. It would not do for her to keep losing her cool. But it was just so… so easy lately for anything to rile her up.

Argh, something about this world is messing with my head. Why am I being so reckless and argumentative lately? I’m an Elite, the Hive’s best infiltrator. I need to be setting an example to the others, not raging at everything around me.

She did a quick self-assessment. Heart slowing, wings could probably use a preen… and a bath… a good nap… but she had some energy now, at least. Nowhere near as much as the youngling had acquired though.

Adrien soon returned with three plates of food and a pitcher of water.

“I believe you owe me an explanation, human,” Sync said as he placed a plate in front of her on the coffee table. “Thank you—” She clapped a hoof over her mouth.

“So you can be polite.” Adrien smiled and set a second plate before the youngling; she beamed widely as she tore into the treats with gusto.

Adrien laughed, taking a seat on the couch with a contented sigh. “Something’s been bugging me,” Adrien said as he looked at the pair. “So before we start, just one question of my own, okay?”

Sync huffed and crossed her arms.

“Oookay.” Adrien took a muffin. “All today, I’ve completely forgotten to ask you your names. I mean, clearly you’re both a Changeling, but the one I was with earlier in the cave said his name was ‘Scribe’. Do you all have different names? If so, what are yours?”

“Fine. ” Sync lowered her arms. “I’m Sync, short for Synchronise, and I earned this name for being the Hive’s best infiltrator. I’ve always been better than anyling when it comes to copying my target: attitude, appearance, everything. Which is why it sucks—” she banged a hoof on the table, making her plate shake “—that I’ve been having trouble with it lately.”

“Hmmm.” Adrian pulled out the Pokédex from the bag at his feet. Flipping it open, he ran through the move encyclopedia. “Let’s see. Sleep Talk, Tail Whip, Teeter Dance—ah, Transform. What does the ’dex say about this?”

He pressed a button, and the electronic voice provided: “Transform: The user transforms into a copy of the target, right down to having the same move set. A move traditionally only usable by Ditto.”

“Maybe… you can only transform into another Pokémon, and not a human.”

Human. So that’s what this creature is called.

“And what about you, little one?” Adrien continued.

The youngling’s muzzle was coated in icing and crumbs as she looked up. “Oh, I haven’t earned a name yet,” she said, still with food in her mouth. “Changelings hafta earn them, like… when we find out what we’re really good at, we get a name based on that.”

“Well, what are you good at then?” Adrien asked.

The nymph looked away. “M’not really good at anything,” she mumbled.

“Oh. Well, you know, since you kinda went inside my Pokéball, I can actually give you a name myself,” Adrien suggested.

The youngling gasped and dropped her Poképuff. “Really?”

“Yeah! People normally just call their Pokémon by their species name, but sometimes they like to give their friends their own special name. So… Um… What about… Milly?”

“What,” Sync deadpanned. “Milly? What kind of Changeling would—”

“I love it!”

Chapter Four

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Five

“And so, that’s pretty much everything,” Adrien finished explaining everything that had happened so far. His first meeting with the changelings, his disastrous second encounter and subsequent befriending.

“So to sum it up, they’re entirely new here and could really do with someone helping them understand this world,” Darell said as he occasionally pulled out a candy and called out its flavor to the crowd. “So, why not get a Professor in here? Heck, Professor Oak isn’t even that far away…”

“I’d… rather not, at least not yet,” Adrien said. “Yeah, I know that the Prof wouldn’t hurt them or anything. He’s a little kooky sometimes but,” the boy sighed and looked at a far chamber. “How do you picture a meeting between him and Queen Chrysalis going?”

Darell eyed Scribe before replying. “Something like ours,” he said. “But in reverse.”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah, and how do you suppose the gracious Queen would react to the Prof’s… personality.”

“You mean that ancient-looking human from before?” Sync interrupted. “My mother is powerful and wise. More so that what any of you feeble… humans could be.”

“No, we’re just saying that they both have rather confrontational personalities,” Adrien amended. Milly crawled into his lap and purred when he scratched her behind the ears.

It was also around then that the Zubat woke up and got a look at where they were and what they were surrounded by. He looked worried, so Darell pulled the little bat into his lap.

“Don’t worry buddy. They’re pretty harmless.” He shot a look to Scribe and frowned slightly. “Most of them anyway.”

Adrien opened one of his Pokeballs as Ventus popped out, and almost right away, he and Sync were glaring at one another. Adrien sighed, this was going to be a regular thing wasn’t it?

“Oh, look who finally crawled out of his hideyball,” she taunted.

“You wanna go!?” he yelled. “Come on then ya buggy git! I’ll kick your butt all over again!”

Then one Linoone was under assault from the other eagerly greeting him. “Ventus!” Chris exclaimed. “Hi!”

“Oh bloody hell,” Ventus groaned and turned around. “Hello Christopher.” That greeting had come out dryer than the Unovan desert, but the ever-cheerful Chris didn’t seem to notice.

“So I thought I saw you back in the lab, but you didn’t say hi at all!” Chris said. “It wasn’t you, was it? You usually say hi back to me.” Ventus was his very bestest buddy. They’d battled a bunch but he’d never been able to beat the older Linoone. Didn’t help that he knew how to use Rock Smash and Water Pulse.

The female changeling near them chittered. “No, that was me,” Sync snapped before smirking slightly. “Still, good to know that I’ve still got it.”

“That’s so cool!” Chris exclaimed as he turned his attentions to Sync. “What, you can disguise yourself as other Pokemon?” He moved into her personal space as she bared her fangs and snapped at his nose when he got too close, the Linoone yelping and stepping back.

“Better,” she mused. “And yes, any Changeling can transform into whatever we want.”

“Yeah, I can’t see that being abused at all,” Ventus sarcastically said.

“It’s how we survived!” Sync snapped at him. “Without that ability, how could we harvest love from the ponies.” She stood before him in her chitinous glory. “What pony would ever love this hmm?”

“Ponies? Love?” Adrien turned his attention back to the group. What was she talking about?

“I dunno about ponies,” Darell shrugged, having heard the anger in Sync’s tone, “But here you’re just another mystery, just the latest species for us to try and understand. From what Adrien’s been telling me, you already seem to be adapting to this world, or vice-versa. I’m pretty sure you’ll attract a few new looks for a little while before you’re accepted as the newest Pokemon.”

“Tch!” Sync turned away and walked off, not even some taunts from Ventus could bring her back.

“Well, that was fun,” Adrien said. “You really tell it like it is huh? Is that some grown up thing I’m missing out on?”

“Honesty’s the best policy in making friends,” Darell said, before flicking his Pokeblock case and whistling. “Oh boy. Last one! It’s sweet, you’d better tell me quick! Chris loves these ones!”

That was when something black and possibly ballistic cannonballed into his gut, big blue eyes staring up at him.

“Eating that candy would make Milly most happy.”

Though all Darell heard was some excited chittering.

“Aren’t you already Adrien’s friend?” he asked the little ‘ling in his lap. “And didn’t you already get one?”

“Nooo?” she blinked slowly.

“Yeeees,” Adrien replied.

“Caaaaandy~” Milly pouted as Adrien pulled her away, her hooves waving as her bright blue eyes shot a pleading expression at Darell

“...I can’t say no to that face,” Darell sighed. “I’m trying and I can’t say no.” With a toss of his hand, the final candy went flying towards her.

Milly trilled happily and opened her mouth… right before it was snagged out of midair by Chris, who nommed the treat happily.

“Chris!” Darell berated him. “Just for that, I’m cutting your dessert tonight.”

That was when he was tossed across the room by a loud, angry buzz.

One that came from Milly.

“You. Ate. My. CANDY!!” she roared… well, more like squeaked. It was cute on how mad she was.

“I take it that they like the candy?” Darell asked of the cave at large as he watched Chris land and roll for a little bit. “I guess they can use Bug Buzz as well?”

“I wanted that candy,” Milly sniffled and Adrien rubbed her head while shaking his own.

“...ow,” Chris said from his landing spot.

“Oh Arceus, that was bleedin beautiful,” Ventus howled with laughter. “You alright mate?”

“I’ll live,” Chris said as he rolled to his feet. “Totally worth it.”

“Your Linoone is… interesting,” Adrien said flatly. “Though, I suppose I can’t complain.”

“That’s cold,” Ventus said. “Like, I need an Ice Heal for that one.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and looked down at Milly, wondering when Chrysalis and Sync would return. Then a thought occured. “Oh hey, you wanna meet more of my Pokémon?”

“You have more with you!?” Scribe exclaimed happily. “Send them out. I must study them posthaste.”

“Scratch what I said before,” Adrien said as he unclipped one of his Pokéballs. “Imagine if Scribe meets the Professor?”

“The only thing that’s coming to mind is a Pokemon running a Pokelab,” Darell said with a shake of his head. “Whether it’d be Oak’s or one he convinced someone to build for him, I don’t know.”

“A lab? I could use one of those,” Scribe sighed happily as Adrien pressed the button on his Quick Ball.

This friend was one he caught during a recent vacation to Unova. “Come on out Fulgar!”

Light bust from the ball and took shape before dispersing, revealing the Blitzle.

“You rang?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and the cavern suddenly fell deathly silent.

“No. Sudden. Moves,” Darell hissed. “I don’t think they like you.”

The a single changeling screamed. “PONY!!”

There was a flurry of activity as the bugs bolted from the room en masse, only Milly was left behind as she dived back inside Adriens bag.

Soon the cavern was empty as Fulgar looked around, then to his Trainer. “Well, that was interesting.”

“You’re telling me,” Adrien replied, surprised by the changelings’ reaction to the Blitzle, as well as surprising the Blitzle with the fact that he could understand him.

“I think you just looked like something they have bad memories of—” Darell added.

“Well, that’s hardly my fault,” Fulgar said.

“—And after I spent so much time buttering them up as well,” Darell sighed.

“I-I-Is the pony… gonna eat us?” Milly said, her head popping out of Adriens bag.

“He’s not a ‘pony’,” Adrien explained to her. “His name is Fulgar and his species is called Blitzle. An Electric-type Pokémon.”

Fulgar’s body sparked with lightning to help get the point across.

“He's gonna cook us with lightning!!” One changeling screamed as they retreated further into the cave.

Adrien groaned and facepalmed.

“Fulgar, right?” Darell asked the Blitzle, who gave a confirming nod in return.

“Oh yeah, you haven't met some of my new guys huh?” Adrien rubbed his Blitzle on the head. “We met in Unova what… two months ago?”

“Something like that,” Fulgar nodded.

Then something strode out from another chamber. A very pissed of Chrysalis.

“What is going on out here!?” she yelled, both physically and psychically.

“Ah!” Darell said as he held a hand to his head. “Chill! Please! Adrien just brought out Fulgar there, and all your little friends panicked because he apparently looks like a pony.”

Chrysalis looked at the Blitzle and scoffed. While he bore some minor resemblances to the equine race they knew oh so well, it was clear this creature was not one of them. It possessed no magic, it’s emotions felt more… muted. Ponies projected theirs abundantly well. “My children are idiots. It looks more zebra than pony anyway.” She muttered and looked at the caves they were hiding in. “Get out here. You honestly think that weakling is a match for all of you?”

“I feel as though I should take offense to that,” Fulgar muttered. He wasn’t expecting this in the slightest, but she had a point, he looked extremely outnumbered.

“Imagine their reaction to a Ponyta,” He heard Darell joke to Adrien. Fulgar imagined their reactions if they ever met Keldeo.

“Oh! Now I recognise that thing,” Scribe said. “It was in the Pokédex, a… Blitzle?”

Fulgar just rolled his eyes at being called a thing. He’d mention pots and kettles, but they were already black, so he simply nodded. Scribe looked incredibly pleased with himself for having got that right.

Chrysalis was annoyed by the interruption, but decided to press forward. “Now,” Chrysalis looked at Darell, “I have excellent news for you. Your offering was delicious, so I shall graciously allow you to live. Now thank your Queen.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” he said with no small amount of sarcasm. “Truly, yours is the wisdom that outshines the stars. How can this wretch be of better service to you, O’ mighty queen?”

Apparently she either ignored him or she just didn't get sarcasm. “See, now was that so difficult? There is hope for your kind yet.” She turned to the changeling horde and scanned the crowd. “Rush? Where are you?”

“Right here your Highness!” The sugar-crazed drone from before stepped forward.

“Good. Now you shall go with this human.” Chrysalis pointed a hoof at Darell. “I have a most wonderful scheme… er, plan. Yes. Plan. And these humans will serve our Hive for the foreseeable future.”

“Just as long as ‘serving the Hive’ doesn’t interfere with my home life. Like my cooking,” Darell stipulated.

“Aw, that's cute,” Sync said with a grin. “He thinks he has a choice.”

“Interfering in my cooking would mean less treats for everyone,” Darell said simply to the interruption and wicked grin.

“Queen Chrysalis?” Adrien piped up. “What exactly is you plan?”

“A sensible question,” Chrysalis nodded and looked at Milly. “Now, it has come to my understanding that you snared one of my changelings in your capture stones. Is that correct?”

“Yes…?” Adrien sounded hesitant.

“And you human Darell? Have you captured one as well?”

“Not me, no,” Darell said with a shake of his head. “Mostly I’ve been feeding them the candy you didn’t take. And talking and trying to understand this whole situation. I did come with some, but I wouldn’t just capture anyone. I’d rather if the one that came with me wanted to.”

“Yup,” Vlad agreed from Darell’s head. “Though you kinda took me because I was the only one around.”

“You attached yourself to my face and wouldn’t leave me alone,” Darell deadpanned to the chittering Zubat on his head.

“Worth it,” the Zubat said with a shrug.

“I see,” Chrysalis nodded.

“Mother… er, Your Majesty?” Sync asked her. “What exactly are you doing?”

“It is simple,” Chrysalis nodded. “These humans will be our agents out in the field. They will take one of our brood and do… whatever it is they do. As a trade, we will get valuable information about this world and how it works.”

“What, are you all connected no matter how far apart you are?” Darell asked only semi-mockingly. Admittedly, that would be kinda cool.

“In a sense,” Chrysalis nodded. “I know where all my changelings are at any given time. And should I focus, I can even feel their emotional state and well-being.”

“Cool,” Adrien whistled, writing that down. “But, I’m guessing that there’s more to this.”

“Correct,” Chrysalis nodded. “We still need to learn how to harness these new abilities of ours, so we shall have you teach us. If…” It looked like this was taking her some effort. “We would be grateful if you would help us…”

“First things first,” Darell said, before looking at the drone that had been running around the room. “Rush, right? Do you actually want to come with me? Not just because your queen told you to. I’ll not have any partners that don’t want to be with me.”

Rush looked and put on one of the most adorable puppy-faces he could muster as he nudged the Pokéblock container.

“I make it on a regular basis,” the human smiled. “And I treat all my partners with affection and care.”

The drone grinned widely and pumped a hoof in the air.

I thank the gods that the ponies didn’t try distracting my army with candy, Chrysalis sighed and shook her head. Her changelings should not be this easy to sway. Was this a result of the changes? Or were they just idiots…?

“My Queen, are you sure that this is the correct course of action?” Sync asked. “At the very least, send someling with more skill…”

I need all the skilled ones I have here to defend our Hive, Chrysalis retorted. She noted that a good portion of her changelings had also restored some love energy, perhaps thanks to that candy? We need to take a risk here Sync. Do not worry, I’ll not repeat the mistakes of the past.

“I didn’t suggest you would,” her daughter replied. “I just… I have a bad feeling about this world is all.”

I doubt a true paradise exist's anywhere, Chrysalis sighed. Your concerns are noted, and if this fails, you have permission to rub it in. But for now… She looked down at the two humans and licked her lips. I believe they have some cooking to do.

“If I might suggest something?” Darell said, even going so far as to raise his hand. Chrysalis nodded at him, allowing him to say his piece.

“I have a home with an internet connection,” he said. “My mom’s a Ranger and out on a mission, and dad’s hard at work on some research project for the next few days. So long as, say, Scribe was quiet when my dad came back, he could use the computer to ask all the questions he might think were relevant today.”

I… have no idea what any of that means, Chrysalis blinked in confusion. What the holes was an ‘internet’?

Scribe on the other hoof. “I think I like the sound of that,” he nodded, drooling at the thought of all that knowledge. And when Adrien pulled out the book he’d brought, the drone let out a filly-like squeal of delight and snapped them up with his magic, sequestering himself in a corner to start reading.

“Dork,” Sync shook her head.

“Basically,” Darell said, “Imagine the sum total of human knowledge, easily accessible through a terminal, so long as it’s hooked up to the network. All you need to do is ask the right questions. From the weather to data on Pokemon, though that’s more commonly accessed through a Pokedex.”

He soon found himself pinned to the floor, a rather crazed-looking Scribe standing over him, his muzzle only an inch from his face.

“I. Want. This internet thing!” he panted in a totally-not-creepy way.

Darell, for his part, only meeped in fear at the crazy chittering bug on top of him.

“Release the Candy Giver!” one Changeling yelled as a small army tackled the drone off of him.

I should have stayed in bed today, Chrysalis sighed and shook her head.

“I’m starting to get that impression as well,” Darell said as he sat up. “So, your majesty,” he said to Chrysalis. “Do you think that’s a workable plan?”

I suppose we do, Chrysalis nodded as she extracted Milly from Aidren’s bag. So little one? Are you ready for your first mission?

“I won’t let you down your Majestyness!” Milly saluted.

“And provided that Scribe can keep himself under something resembling control, I don’t think I’ll mind having him around either,” Darell said as he looked at the second bugpile on said drone today.

“Must. Have. Knowledge…” he groaned from under the pile.

“So… we're goin’ on an adventure?” Milly asked her new Trainer, Adrien shrugged and then nodded.

“I guess we are,” he said as he rubbed her head. “But, I should get started on these Poképuffs. You wanna help Darell?”

“I’m outta supplies,” the other trainer said with a shake of his head. “My garden won’t be ready again for days. I brought everything I could make and carry after replanting.”

“Luckily, I brought plenty,” Adrien smiled as he emptied one of his bags. It was full of flour, sugar and tons of Berries. “Gotta feed an army after all.”

“Think you brought enough?” Darell said with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you pulled out some sort of mini-stove next.”

Chrysalis watched Adrien rummage around in his other bags, pulling out a fold up table, a portable cooker and some pots and cutlery. “Mum likes to see me prepared for anything,” he chuckled.

Sweet hives, he was like that insufferable pink mare. One of Starbright’s friends… Pink Thing?

“...I’m not even going to question how that all fit in there,” Darell flatly said, looking just as perplexed. “So, changelings. Who’s hungry?”

Not a single changeling had all four hooves on the ground. Even Chrysalis raised a hoof before looking away.

“Okay,” he chuckled. “Adrien, how about you sort the berries based on taste, and the little changelings can make...yeah, five lines, based on that. I’ll make the Pokepuffs.”

“Will do,” Adrien said as he recalled Fulgur, seeing as how a lot of the changelings still looked nervous around him. Instead, he took out another ball and opened it.

Except he forgot that Chris was still here… and this Pokémon had…

“Chrissy honey~” the Marill cheered as she latched onto her self-proclaimed boyfriend. “How’s my snuggly-wuggly little Linoone today~?”

…Issues.

“Ack!” Chris said as he tried to break free. “I told you before, I’m not yours! I don’t even like you like that!” He eventually shook her off and started to run.

“Aww, I love it when you play hard to get~” the little water-type sang as she chased him.

“Oh… forgot about that,” Adrien sighed and recalled the Marill. “And being able to hear that makes it so much worse.”

“You know, I’m starting to see where not hearing Pokemon say more than their names could be useful,” Darell said.

“Yup,” Adrien let out a tired sigh. “At this rate, ‘sorry’ is going to become my default greeting.”

“Well, currently you’re the only one that can understand ‘mon,” Darell pointed out as he walked over to the portable cooker. “Unless more of these translators get produced.”

“Who knows… ah crap, I was supposed to write out that report for Professor Oak…” Ah well, he’d do it when he had the time. Adrien got up and started directing the changelings. And of course, Milly, Sync and Chrysalis were first in line.

“Right, what’s the first berry, Adrien?” Darell asked as he started measuring ingredients.

“Well, Sweet seems to be one of the most popular,” he replied and handed over some Pecha berries. “And Bitter as well.” For that he needed… Ah, Aguav berries!

“Right,” Darell said as he started mixing up the two Pokepuffs, before separating the mixes and adding a Pecha to one and an Aguav to the other. In short order, the two flavors of puffs were being created, filling the cave with the scent of baking treats.

Chrysalis hummed to herself, swaying slightly as she smiled. Adrien chuckled at how some simple treats won them over so easily as he diced the berries. He started working on the Sweet ones, and divided up a few berries to make the other flavours as well.

“Order up!” Darell said before pulling the puffs off the portable range, acting for all the world like a short-order cook. “One Sweet, one Bitter!”

Chrysalis and Sync bounded forward, eagerly taking their treats as Chris looked up at his trainer, a line of drool coming from his mouth.

“You already ate lunch,” he said to the Linoone, not even looking down as he pulled the next two mixes onto the range.

“Awww,” the Linoone pouted. “Lunch, yes. But what about afternoon tea, second lunch and snacktime?”

“Second-Lunch?” Adrien echoed and quirked an eyebrow at Darell. “How many times a day do you feed him?”

“Too much, and I think he snacks when I’m not looking,” Darell said. “I either need to cut his intake or exercise him more.”

“Blasphemy on both counts!” Chris said.

“Maybe he’s a ‘glutton’ for punishment?” Adrien laughed.

“Too bad,” Darell said. “With a third team member, I think we’ll be ready for an actual journey to find the rest, and more delicious berries. Guess who’s going to be outside his ball, walking with me the whole way?”

“Aww man,” Chris sighed.

Adrien laughed again as he continued to distribute some tasty cakes. Though he had the sneaking suspicion that Milly was transforming into other changelings to get more treats.

Once they’d seen to every ‘ling getting a full belly, the two boys were rather exhausted. Darell panted as he lay near his bag, before opening up one of the pockets at the front and pulling out a simple Pokeball. “Hey, Rush?” he asked. “Totally up to you when we do this, but…”

He looked confused, perhaps a little uneasy, but some chittering from Adrien’s changeling seemed to alleviate those fears.

Darell touched the button and caused it to expand to normal sizes. “If you’re absolutely sure about being my partner, just touch the button in the center,” the boy said, holding the ball out to the changeling. “It’ll take care of the rest.”

Rush looked at his Queen, as the Royal Changeling nodded once. He inched closer and pressed the button as light engulfed him, pulling him into the ball. Several changeling’s gasped as Scribe watched with a look of fascination. After the ball shook three times, it dinged to signify the process had been completed, and Darell nodded before opening the ball back up and letting Rush out again.

“Whoa…” Rush wobbled and put a hoof to his head. That had been an experience and a half. One second he was here, the next, he was inside the most comfortable place he could imagine. A Hive filled with candy. Heck, it was made of candy...

Are you alright? Chrysalis asked. She wasn’t sure if that had been fascinating or terrifying to watch.

“I’m okay!” Rush nodded. Sync looked him over and she blinked in surprise.

“Weird, you don’t have the same love boost the youngling had.”

“That’s just a normal Pokeball, the one I used was called a ‘Friend Ball’,” Adrien explained. “It has a special property that fosters friendship between Trainer and Pokémon. And it was expensive and rare… but Milly’s totally worth it.”

“Yup, cause I’m cute!” Milly said.

“It’s useful for the sorts of ‘mon I typically go for,” Darell tacked on. “Namely, ones that want to be with me. If I were after ‘mon that were bigger or stronger, I’d use a different ball.” He looked at the Friend Ball and tapped his chin. “I might have one of those stashed away somewhere, but I didn’t think I’d need it today,” Darell said as he scratched his head. “Or was it dad that had it?...”

Adrien just shrugged, not bothering with a question he didn’t know the answer to. “So, are you sure about this Queen Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis looked at Darell. Not entirely, the older nymph replied from her resting place. But… you have proven to be trustworthy so far.

“I promise to treat Rush with all the care I treat all my friends with,” Darell said with a firm nod. Chrysalis looked at his Pokémon, they all radiated love and affection for the human. As much as any pony would. She couldn’t help but draw some of that ambient energy in with a soft sigh.

“Do you think we should tell her about the various Teams?” Darell asked Adrien. He really didn’t want Queen Chrysalis mad at him again. She was terrifying.

“What, like Team Rocket?” Adrien said and shrugged. “I think it’s fine. They’re not that big a deal are they? Sides, only we know about the Changelings so far.”

“Her paranoia isn’t entirely misplaced, though,” Darell pointed out. “Once we walk out of here with them, others will see them and want to know where they came from. I’m going to make sure that Scribe looks up the teams, if only so they know what to watch for and avoid being used like tools. Not all humans are as nice as we are.”

“Yeah…” Adrien sighed. The topic of those… people always got to him. Adults could be so stupid sometimes. “We can’t tell anyone where Milly and Rush come from.”

“But at the same time, I doubt they’re going to stay hidden forever,” Darell said. “We should arm them with knowledge before we just leave them be.”

“That’s why I’m here in the first place,” Adrien replied. “Then you decided to follow me and now everything's all weird.”

“Hey, you were talking about new types in the bug-infested forest,” Darell joked. “What was I supposed to do, ignore my curiosity?”

“In a word, yes.” Adrien deadpanned. “But what’s done is done as the old folks say. So, looking forward to journeying with brand new Pokémon?”

“I’m sure we’ll learn a lot from each other,” Darell said with a nod. “And if all else fails, he can try using his new moves on Chris. He’s about as heavy as a punching bag, it’d work out.”

Chris tilted his head and asked Ventus something, who only shook his head in response.

“Now all I have to do is sneak two Changelings into my home so that one of them can use the Internet and so that both of them won’t be spotted by my dad when he comes home,” Darell sighed. “What have I gotten myself into.”

“...You know they can use Transform right?” Adrien pointed out.

“Which is good,” Darell agreed. “All I’ll have to do is put my team away so that Scribe can disguise himself as Chris without anyone any the wiser as to why there’s two of him.”

“Yeah, it looked a bit suspicious that I had three of Ventus running around,” Adrien nodded. “So, shall we start teaching them about moves and how to use them?”

“Yeah, I got time before I have to get back and start making dinner,” Darell agreed, pushing himself up. “What sort of movepool do they have so far? Heck, what type are they?”

“I’ve seen them use a lot of Bug moves, as well as some Ghost,” Adrien said as he flipped through his notes. “So I’ll say they’re at least part Bug-type. If they happen to be a dual type, then I don’t know. I also have no idea what their Ability might be.”

“Hmm,” Darell hummed. “Well, one of the faster ways to determine if they have more than one type is through moves...namely, seeing if any other sort of move they can perform is stronger than the norm. Alternatively, we could have them use their moves on each other, see which ones sting more, but I don’t think that’d go over well.”

“Yeah, me either. I don’t know how resistant they’d be, since they seem to be adapting little bits at a time,” Adrien pointed out. “My hunch is that if they have a second typing, it’d be Ghost or Dark. Too bad I don’t have any non-attacking Psychic moves.” He did have some attacking Fairy ones. But again, if they didn’t have the defenses…

“Alright, so far I’ve recorded them using Shadow Ball, Bug Buzz, Transform and Shadow Sneak.” Adrien flipped through his notes again. “And… I thinkthat Chrysalis might be a Legendary. No other changeling looks like her. And I also get the feeling that Scribe and Sync might be their evolved forms.”

“Hmm,” Darell said as he pulled out his own Pokedex and flipped to the typing matchup application. “If they were a Bug/Ghost, they’d be similar to Shedinja, and Ghost and Dark type moves would be super-effective. But there is no Bug/Dark type. However, I can...guess as to what would be super-effective against them, if they were. Fighting would be negated by their own Bug nature, but Bug and Fairy would be super-effective. So, the quickest way to determine their typing would be to have your friend use Bug Buzz against one of her own. At the very least, it’d either confirm or eliminate Dark from the typing pool.”

“Well…” Adrien looked down at Milly and then got an idea. “How about we have Milly and Rush battle?”

“Hardly fair,” Darell teased back with a smile. “You’ve had her on your side longer than I’ve had my friend. Though if Rush is up to putting his body on the line for science, I won’t stop him.”

“You want me to fight Rushy?” Milly asked her trainer. “Why?”

She… had a good point. Then he got an idea. “Better one, how about we battle with our other Pokémon first? Show them what one is like?”

“Yeah, but we better keep the noise down,” Darell agreed. “We don’t need others investigating the random sounds coming from a cave well off the beaten path.”

Chris ran up next to his Trainer and bounced excitedly. It was his normal cue for saying he wanted to battle.

“Okay, so Chris against…” the boy said, waving a hand at the other human.

“Let’s go, Ignatius!” Adrien tossed the ball into the air and it popped open, revealing his second partner, a Quilava. “Ready for battle?”

“All will become ash,” Ignatius nodded and looked at Chris.

“Not a bad choice,” Darell admitted.

“Heya Iggy!” Chris waved. “Sorry, but I’m gonna have to beat you now!”

“Hmph! We shall see,” the Quilava nodded and looked around with a curious expression “What’s this?”

“New friends,” Adrien replied. “We’re teaching them about battling.”

“You… understood me?” Ignatius turned and looked at the boy, who just tapped his earpiece. “Human technology never ceases to surprise me. Very well. A battle it shall be.”

“Let’s go Chris!” Darell said. “Let’s use our traditional opening move. Sand Attack!”

“Roger!” the Linoone said, before using his claws to fling sand and dirt in Ignatius’ eyes. The Volcano Pokémon coughed as he got a faceful of sand.

“It’s alright buddy, show them Swift!” Adrien countered. Ignatius leapt into the air and opened his mouth, spraying several glowing stars down at the Linoone as they pelted his body with perfect accuracy. Chris grunted in pain, but smiled as he knew it was time to show off the latest Technical Machine that they’d acquired

“Chris, use Return!” Darell said, and the Linoone practically glowed as he darted forward, slamming his claw into his opponent. Ignatius yelped in pain as the powerful move struck him, sending him tumbling across the floor.

“Ignatius!” Adrien couldn’t believe how powerful that was. “Use Defense Curl, we can’t take many more of those.”

Chrysalis watched the battle. “That was interesting,” she mused at that last attack. “That one had quite a bit of love energy in it. Seems we aren’t the only ones that can harness that power.”

Scribe was just taking endless notes as Milly and Rush watched with mixed feelings. This was what the humans wanted them to do? It looked really painful.

“Alright, giving me a freebie, huh? You know what to do here, buddy,” Darell laughed. Chris nodded and flung even more sand and dirt into Ignatius’ face, further lowering his accuracy.

“Not so much,” Adrien said and smiled. “Ignatius, show them your Flame Wheel!”

The Quilava nodded and his curled up body begun to spin in place, his neck and tail flames flaring up as he became wreathed in fire. And thanks to the Defense Curl, it had a very nice power boost as well.

“Ooh~ Everything's better with fire,” Chrysalis chuckled. She idly wondered if she could learn some of these moves.

“Quick, Slash him!” Darell said. “Try and throw his aim off even more!”

The Linoone hastened to obey, nearing closer as his claws glowed again. Ignatius shot off, rolling across the ground as he neared Chris…

The Linoone, for his part, did his best to guess where Ignatius would likely go and tried to dodge at the last possible moment. It wasn’t something he was good at, but hopefully he wouldn’t need to be that good at it.

He dodged the the main strike, but it was close, close enough that a trail of singed fur now lined his side as Ignatius came to a stop and rubbed his eyes.

“Let’s see how they like it,” Adrien called out. “Use Smokescreen!”

The Quilava smirked and exhaled a thick plume of black smoke, plunging the area into darkness.

“Chris, use the light from his flames to guide you and use Slash!” Darell called out. There was some shuffling, before the Linoone used his move again.

“Ignatius, follow up with Quick Attack, get him before he gets you!” Adrien commanded as the Quilava launched himself at the incoming Linoone.

But due to the decreased accuracy of both of them, all they could see were incoming blobs of colour.

The loud crack of their heads colliding echoed throughout the cave.

“Ooohhh,” all the changelings winced.

“C’mon Chris, I know your head’s harder than that,” Darell pleaded. “Finish this off with another Return!”

The Linoone was seeing so many stars, he wasn’t sure he wasn’t under assault from a Swift barrage. However, his trainer’s words cut through the haze, and he charged the attack up on reflex before unleashing it right in front of him.

“Use Ember!” Adrien called out. “I know you can do it!”

Ignatius opened his maw and fired wildly, his vision danced with spots and his head pounded. In the end, both attacks missed completely and the two Pokémon fell over.

What kind of bloodsport is this? Chrysalis heckled from the sidelines. I want to see entrails!

Darell shook his head at the macabre comment. “That’s one of the rules of any trainer battle,” Darell said as he walked closer to the pair of downed ‘mon. “No lethal or crippling moves. You fight each other until one of you passes out, then the battle’s over.” He pulled Chris closer to him and smiled. “You did good buddy. Here, let’s get back to our spot.”

The Linoone giggled giddily and batted his paws at something, his eyes swirling around dizzily.

“Draw?” Darell posed to Adrian as he fished around in his bag, before withdrawing a potion to use on Chris.

“Draw,” Adrien nodded. “Ah well, can’t win them all. Chris has gotten a lot better though.”

What a boring sport, Chrysalis scoffed and stared at the two humans. So, that’s how you battle hm?

“Pretty much,” Darell shrugged. “And considering we don’t know your movepool or types, it’s going to be a learning experience for both of us,” he said as he made sure Chris could see and walk straight. He seemed to be doing better now.

“Still, all we need now is for Milly to use that Bug move she knows on you,” Darell said to Rush. “It’ll help narrow down the types Changelings could be.”

Adrien agreed with Darell, but until they could determine if Changeling’s could resist a Pokémon attack...

“We could run some experiments!” Scribe said excitedly as he loomed over Milly. “Come now little youngling! We have science to do!”

“Eeeek!” Milly shrieked at his sudden appearance and buzzed her wings, trying to get away, but she used Bug Buzz again instead. Scribe was launched across the room with an impressive spiral and impacted the wall, firmly imbedded in place.

“Bug/Dark?” Darell asked Adrien.

“Bug/Dark,” Adrien nodded as he looked at the twitching drone.

Sync absolutely lost it, rolling onto her back as she cackled with laughter. “Holey freaking crap. That was hilarious!” she gasped between giggles.

Chrysalis just sighed as she went to retrieve her foolish son. A few firm tugs on his hoof later saw him free from the wall, a nice Scribe-shaped indentation was all that remained.

Perhaps we should work this out tomorrow, the Changeling queen said.

“Assuming you can stop him from following me home even now, I’ll agree to that plan,” Darell said.

“Knowledge…” Scribe groaned, raising a weak hoof.

“Well, he’s still alive,” Adrien said and shook his head. “So… they have some defenses against attacks?”

“That, or he’s just too stubborn to die properly,” Sync added with a smirk. “And I would like to train now. The sooner I learn these powers, the sooner I can defend the Hive.”

“Well, I was planning to stay the night anyhow,” Adrien nodded. “So we can start going over the finer points.”

“And I need to get back and start cooking for my team,” Darell said. “And probably my guest as well. Assuming he can make it back and I don’t have to carry him.”

He shall see you in the morn, Chrysalis said as she looked at the unconscious drone on her back. And human… take care of that youngling.

“Of course,” Darell said. “Though I will have to stick him in the ball if we’re going to get him back to my place unseen. You do want that, right?”

If we are to be Pokémon to blend into this world, then so be it. Chrysalis looked at the drone and tilted her head. The two seemed to be sharing a private conversation.

Rush. Do not try anything foolish. And do not do anything that will put you in harms way, Chrysalis said to him. Should anything bad happen, you return to the Hive immediately alright?

I won’t, Rush nodded. “He seems like a nice… human-thing. Plus he has candy~

What is it with us and candy? The Queen sighed out loud and shook her head. She turned her attention back to Darell and nodded at him. Very well. Protect my child well Human Darell.

“I’ll do my best,” Darell said as he lifted the ball. “Rush, return.” A red beam shot out of the sphere and contacted the changeling’s form, turning him into so much red light and sucking it into itself. A faint ‘Wheeeee’ could be heard when he did that.

Perhaps it is you I should worry for, Chrysalis chuckled. Come to us tomorrow. We shall see about Scribe accompanying you for information purposes.

“If not for the whole trying to sneak him in thing, I’d offer to carry him in, but that’s not the most inconspicuous way...at least, not until night’s fallen,” Darell said with a shrug. “Still, I’ll do my best to look after Rush once we get home. My dad’s pretty hands-off, I doubt he’ll look into it too hard unless Rush runs right under his nose.”

Chrysalis nodded and with a round of farewells, Darell left for home, after what was possibly the strangest day of his life.

Inside the cave, Sync poked at Adrien and smirked. “No rest for you. We start training now.”

“...Yay,” Adrien sighed.

Darell sighed as he arrived home. Nobody had raised any questions, which was good. Then again, all they might know from observation is that he had three balls on the belt at his waist instead of two. He pulled the one for Rush off his belt, expanded it to normal size, and opened it, unleashing the changeling in the fairly normal home his parents owned.

Rush looked around, then started zipping about at lightning speeds as he observed every little knick-knack in his bedroom.

Darell, for his part, simply picked the little bug up when he next dashed by him, holding him up and turning him to look Rush in the eyes. “Do I need to housebreak you?” he asked teasingly.

The changeling just gave him an inquisitive looked as his horn started to glow.

“I’d like it if you calmed down just a little, so I don’t have to have Chris sit on you while I make dinner,” the boy said.

Chris looked a little offended and Rush stopped, sitting perfectly still.

“Good,” Darell said with a nod as he put Rush back down. “I’ll explain things better after I’ve made dinner, okay? Feel free to look, but don’t touch anything. It might be breakable. Also, I never said you had to sit completely still,” Darell said. “Just no roughhousing or touching anything. I can’t afford to replace anything.” With that, he left the room as Rush looked around some more.

“What’s thaaaat?” the changeling said in awe, staring up at the large television. “Shiny~”

“That,” Chris said, “is a Television, or a TV for short. Humans use them to talk about all sorts of things to one another. C’mere, I’ll show you how to work it.” With a hop, a grunt, and a bit of effort, the Linoone was sitting on one of the couches. Notably, the couch with all the remotes on it.

Rush crawled up next to him and bounced in place, wondering what was going to happen.

“All right,” Chris said, before pushing the button at the top of the remote. “First, you turn it on.” The screen flickered into life, before displaying a news broadcast. “Bleh, that’s just news about what’s happened,” Chris said, sticking out his tongue. “I know that these,” he indicated the two sets of arrows, “Either change the channel or change the volume.” He pushed one, and the screen flickered, to display a cartoon. “And this is what we call channel surfing,” Chris said proudly. “Flipping through all our options until we find something to watch.”

“Oohh~” Rush’s eyes went wide and they stopped on a channel broadcasting a repeat of the last Pokémon League challenge. A man with spiky red hair was battling using a massive blue serpent with a fierce gaping maw.

His opponent, a boy about Darell’s age had a big silver snake thing.

Apparently the volume was up loud enough for the human to hear it from the kitchen. “Enjoying the show?” Darell called, as sounds relating to him cooking were also heard. Vlad chose to make his presence known by landing on the back of the couch.

“Yeah, it’s not bad so far,” Chris said to no-one in particular. Plus, if Rush saw any move he liked, he could try it out himself in training. Maybe.

The Steelix roared and fired a Hyper Beam at the Gyarados, Rush’s eyes went wide. “I wanna learn that one!”

“Sorry kiddo,” Chris said as he pet the changeling behind the ears. “Hyper Beam can only be used by adults. And even then, it’s a real expensive move.”

“But… lasers,” Rush pouted. “Grown ups get all the cool stuff.” The Gyarados on screen roared and unleashed a powerful Aqua Tail, slamming the Steelix across the battlefield. “Hmm…” Rush smirked. “I should be a grown up too!” And the body erupted in emerald flame…

When Darell walked upstairs, he couldn’t hear anything from his room. And when he opened his door.

The face of a Gyarados stared back at him.

“AGH!” he yelped, stumbling backwards and only barely keeping a firm grip on the tray full of dinners. His brain caught up to his panic and put two and two together for him. “Rush! Behave, please! I nearly dropped dinner!”

Emerald flames filled the room as Rush returned to normal, Chris and Vlad had been pressed against a wall due to the serpents massive coiled body.

He chittered something before he started wobbling and fell over, his stomach growling louder than any Gyarados.

“Something tells me you shouldn’t try disguising yourself as something so big for a little while yet,” Darell said as he put the tray down on the floor to pick up the little ‘ling. Which turned out to be a tactical error, as Chris had used that moment to swipe one of the plates of food off the tray and dart away with it.

“Wasn’t going to make you diet just yet,” Darell said with a deadpan expression.

Chris responded with a sheepish expression. Darell just rolled his eyes and picked the little one up, worried about his newest friend.

“Liiiiiiiinnnng~” he moaned and made grabby motions with his hooves. Darell put Rush back on the couch and picked the tray up before joining him there, putting the tray on the table and holding a plate in front of the little ‘ling.

“Think you can feed yourself?” the human asked. The changeling looked at the tray and blinked.

“Nuuu, I want fooooood,” Rush protested, pushing the tray away a little.

“What do you even eat that that’s not good enough for you?” Chris asked. “Seriously, it’s good stuff. Darell is great at cooking. Puts his heart into it.”

Rush opened his maw and started inhaling. While it was imperceptive to Darell, both Chris and Vlad saw faint wisps of… something enter his mouth. Something he seemed to be taking from the air itself, and something that also looked like it came from the human. Darell blinked and rubbed his chest when the little changeling was done.

“Okay that...was weird,” he said. “What did you just do?”

Rush made a weird face, before opening his mouth and belching loudly. “Thanks for the food,” he sighed happily. “Love is so tasty~”

“Wait wait wait,” Vlad said, flapping in front of the bug. “Hold on. Are you telling us that you just… ate our trainer’s love?”

“Yahuh,” Rush nodded, eating a lot made him sleepy. “It tasted warm and nice.”

Chris’s eyes widened. “Okay, disregarding how that should be impossible, does it do any damage to the one you feed off of?”

Rush groaned. Why couldn’t they let him nap. What’s the big deal anyway? “Only if I eat aaallll of it. But I don’t have to, cause the Queen says that’s bad. So we just eat it from all around and stuff…”

Darell shivered a little, whatever Rush had done had left him feeling a little cold for some reason. “Okay, we’re discussing this with Chrysalis when you wake up tomorrow, and when we get back to the cave,” he said. “I don’t want others to classify you as a dangerous species and try to move on your home.”

Rush just chittered quietly before falling asleep.

Chris just sighed and rubbed the little changeling’s head affectionately.

Darell mirrored his partners expression. “I’ll put his tray of food back in the kitchen. If dad asks, I’ll tell him my newest partner wasn’t hungry.”

Chris gave him a hopeful look, only to get a wilting gaze in return. That diet plan was looking better and better.

Rush just started snoring quietly in response.

Chrysalis had retired to her chamber for the night. Tomorrow, she would send out some workers to see about procuring supplies to start building their Hive properly.

But when she reached her bed, something strange was sitting upon it. A leaf of paper. She picked it up and her eyes scanned the page, though that only served to confuse her more.

“What the holes…” she muttered. “Legendary Pokémon Application Form?”

Chapter Six

Adrien yawned as he rolled over, off of his sleeping bag and onto the cold stone floor. It took a second for his brain to catch up and he remembered that he was in the cave with the Changelings.

Speaking of, Milly had curled up inside his sleeping bag while the others were scattered across the cavern. It was amazingly quiet in here with them all asleep. But nature called and Adrien got up, before carefully inching around the buggy minefield.

Once he got to the main tunnel, he legged it for the entrance and outside. He saw some bushes nearby and moved to them, sighing contently.

His mind wandered as he thought on how to proceed from here. Chrysalis had given both him and now Darell permission to take one of the changelings with them. To explore the world.

But where would they go, and what to do? Would he even be allowed to use a changeling in battle? Not to mention all the attention they’d get.

He wondered if Darell was worrying about this too?

Darell, for his part, was having a relatively normal morning. It had been easy to keep Rush in his room when his father had come in at night and left early in the morning, thus keeping the little changeling from being too exposed right off the bat.

And now began his partner’s favorite time of the day.

The time when he began cooking breakfast.

“Are you just going to keep chanting ‘food’ over and over?” Rush asked the Linoone as the changeling sat on the bed, watching cartoons.

“You have no idea how good Darell’s cooking is,” Chris said. “I can’t believe you didn’t eat it when he brought it up to us!”

“It doesn’t taste as good as love… or sugar!” Rush bounced at the thought of that.

“How would you know?” Vlad asked. “You never tried any.”

“Don’t have to,” Rush nodded. “Now shush, Gligarman is about to get the bad guy!”

It was just about then that the scent of the cooking breakfast wafted into the room, causing Vlad and Chris to sigh happily at what that meant.

Rush was just glued to the television, though his nose did twitch slightly. Approximately two minutes and thirty seconds later, Darell opened the door to his room, with four stacks of pancakes and hash browns sitting on them.

“Breakfast!” he said.

“MineMineMineMine!” Chris ran forward, sitting in front of Darell as his tail wagged so hard it might fall off and fly away.

“Five minutes,” Rush said, still glued to the screen. Darell just laughed and put the trays down in the room. One in front of Rush, one in front of Vlad’s preferred spot to eat. One next to Rush, which Chris eagerly claimed as his and began eating, and the last one he took with him to his chair as he sighed.

“Just don’t let it get too cold,” the boy warned the ‘ling.

Eventually, the show ended and the changeling walked over to the tray, sniffing at it.

“Alright, let’s see why Chris and Vlad brag so much about your food,” he said as he took a bite…

It was like an explosion of flavor. The pancakes were just...there weren’t words for it. It was the tastiest food he’d ever eaten before.

“What… is… this?” Rush said slowly, chewing the food and swallowing.

“This,” Chris said as he used one paw to indicate their food. “Is what learning for years online and having his partners give honest feedback about his food, does to a boy. And he’s not quite a master of it yet.”

“I will follow you forever!” Rush said with wide sparkling eyes.

“Glad to see that food is the way to a Pokemon’s heart,” Darell chuckled at the changeling’s sudden enthusiasm.

“Preach it!” Chris shouted as he inhaled his food, crumbs flying everywhere from the destruction he wrought upon breakfast.

“Dang it, that also means Chris was right,” Rush said.

“When it comes to food, I am always right,” Chris said before burping loudly. “‘scuse me.”

“I wonder if the others are doing okay?” Rush said. This was the longest he’d ever been out of the Hive before.

Darell noticed that his new buddy looked worried. Most likely he was thinking about home. “I’m sure they’re fine,” Darell said with a wave of one hand at Rush’s worried expression. “We can check after I make some more candies with the leftover berries from my harvest yesterday and see to my garden.”

Rush was suddenly in his face, chittering excitedly.

“Ack! Down!” Darell said, pushing the little ‘ling down off of him. “Let me finish eating!”

Rush just bounced around the room at hyper speeds.

Chris pushed his empty plate away and then grabbed the changeling as he rocketed past. He pointed to the garden, but Darell shook his head.

“That might get him spotted,” Darell replied. “Let’s...wait on taking him out in public just yet.”

The Linoone just shrugged as the human and Zubat finished their breakfasts.

Rush eventually calmed down enough to finish his breakfast, before the group headed out to water and harvest the garden. They’d need to get an early start, seeing as how long a walk it was to Viridian Forest.

Chrysalis hummed to herself as she snacked on the little pink cakes. Adrien was busy showing some changelings how to make them so she had a supply once he left. He’d managed to teach Sync one of those ‘attacks’ he’d been talking about last night, but it was a far cry from the level of preparedness she wanted the Hive to be in.

Scribe had also recovered nicely. Even Chrysalis had been impressed by the power that youngling had amassed in such a short time. Still nothing compared to herself or even Sync should they be at full strength themselves… even so.

And then there was that mysterious letter she received last night. She’d thought to ask the human about it, but decided against it. He was dealing with enough and she didn’t want to be too reliant on him. She was still the Queen after all and she had to retain some level of control or she feared she go crazy.

And then there was Sync’s near constant complaints about trusting the human with the youngling. While Chrysalis understood and appreciated her concerns, it was also grating on her nerves just a little.

She was still weighing on whether this world was a good idea or not. Yes they were away from the ponies, and this was indeed their chance to start again. She just…

It was so different here. Chrysalis had to admit she was… concerned.

The sounds of Sync training reverberated throughout the caverns. They’d been up late last night, then rose again a little after dawn. While Chrysalis appreciated her daughter’s dedication, the lack of sleep made it difficult to show.

She rolled over and off of her mossy bed before walking slowly out into the main chamber. She saw Adrien over in one corner, preparing breakfast in the makeshift kitchen he’d set up. As she cast her gaze over the rest of the cavern, she saw Sync attacking a well-worn boulder with that Dark Ball attack, or, whatever it was called.

“Sync, please be a dear and cease that incessant noise for a time, or Mommy will smother you in your sleep.” It was said in the sweetest tone that even Adrien shivered from the other side of the chamber.

“Y-Yes mother,” Sync stammered as she stopped her barrage of attacks.

“Good nymph,” Chrysalis yawned and trotted over to Adrien. “So, it would appear that her training is coming along well.”

Adrien looked up and blinked, before snapping his fingers and fishing his translator out of his pocket, placing it back over his ear.

“Sorry, say again?”

“I was just mentioning Sync’s training,” Chrysalis repeated. “She seems to have come a long way in just a night.”

“She’s a fast learner,” Adrien nodded as he stirred the pot. “I thought about training a bunch of the changelings at the same time. But then I figured, if I could just teach Sync. Then she could teach the others.”

“That makes sense,” Chrysalis replied as she knelt down next to the human. She took a tentative sniff of the pot and hummed. “What are you making?”

“Honey-flavoured oats,” Adrien replied. “It’s easy to make in large quantities. But I’ll teach some of your changeling how to make Poffins and such before I have to go.’

“That will only get us so far,” Chrysalis said. “While delicious, your treats don’t offer much in the way of nutrients for us. What we need is love.”

“I was wondering if you could explain that,” Adrien asked her. “How is it that you consume emotions?”

“That is a long story,” Chrysalis said and hummed softly as Adrien scratched her behind the ears out of reflex. He didn’t look like he realised he was doing it until she cleared her throat. He flinched and jerked his hand away.

“S-Sorry.”

“Don’t be, it was pleasant,’ Chrysalis smiled softly. “But let us hold off on that talk until the other human returns. It is information he should be aware of as well.”

Adrien nodded and returned to his cooking, as Chrysalis was quite content to remain where she was. He seemed to take great enjoyment in his task, or perhaps just being in here in general. A creature that liked being around changelings in their natural state? That was still going to take some getting used to.

After having seen to his garden, making sure that none of his partners ate his stock, making more candies, making sure none of them were eaten before they were secreted away in the Pokeblock case, and giving the house a good once-over, Darell was more than ready for a nice, soothing walk to the the forest.

He’d waited until they were far off the beaten path, like, really far off the beaten path, before he even thought of letting Rush out. Seriously, he was certain he could almost see the cave from here. Still, he wasn’t one to keep his teammates confined in their balls if he could avoid it. Secrecy may have demanded that he keep Rush hidden until now, but surely he could let the little guy out at this point.

Two changelings suddenly stepped out of the bushes on either side of him, chittering and pointing at the cave entrance. Darell nodded at them, before pulling Rush’s ball off of his belt and opening it, letting the little Changeling out.

He stretched and shook himself off as he looked up at Darell, then chittered at the other two changelings, one of them shaking its head and facehooving. As they led the human deeper into the cave, he could hear the sounds of battle raging from within.

“Guess Adrien’s still training you guys, huh?” Darell said as he followed them into the cave.

The two guards didn’t say anything, not that he could understand even if they did. As the tunnel opened up into the central cavern, he could see the source of the noises. Adrien was directing Sync as she blasted the rock with a Shadow Ball, then followed up with an ear-splitting Screech attack.

“She gets enthusiastic, huh?” Darell asked, suddenly very glad she hadn’t been the one their queen assigned to him.

Adrien must have heard him, as he looked up and waved. Sync saw him too and smirked, and that was when a Shadow Ball narrowly missed him and impacted the wall, the two guards yelping and fleeing back down the tunnel as Sync laughed.

“Let’s save the near misses for when I’m not a target, huh?” Darell asked as he held a hand to his chest. “I swear I felt myself age as that passed me by.”

Adrien sighed and shook his head, berating the nymph for scaring Darell like that before walking up to him.

“Sorry, she’s just a little… pumped to learn all these new moves.” He took out his notebook and beamed. “I’ve confirmed no less than a dozen moves so far that they can use. They’re adapting amazingly fast.” Damn, even his eyes seemed to be sparkling.

“Whereas I mostly sat around with my friend and kept him out of the public eye. And he did something a little...odd,” Darell said.

“Odd?” Adrien asked. “How so?”

“He skipped dinner last night,” Darell said. “In favor of doing something that made me feel...I think cold is the only way to put it. I don’t know what it was…”

Adrien tilted his head. “I wonder if that’s because he fed on your love?”

“Wait wait wait, time-out,” Darell said, even going so far as to make a T with his hands. “They feed on what now?”

“Love apparently.” Adrien shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure how it works, and Queen Chrysalis was waiting until you got here before she would explain it.”

And now that you are here, Chrysalis said from right freaking behind Darell. We can begin.

Darell, for the second time in as short a timespan, let out a scream as he was shocked in this cave. “I swear I’m going to lose ten years off the end of my life just from being around you Pokemon,” he muttered once his heartrate was back under control.

Adrien snickered and bumped fists/hooves with Sync. Even Chrysalis wore a bemused smirk as she beckoned for the humans to follow her into an adjoining chamber.

“That was pretty funny though,” Adrien smiled. “You scream like a girl.”

“Laugh it up,” Darell muttered. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to get one over on you soon.”

“Whatever you say,” Adrien singsonged as he followed Chrysalis. Sync chittered something and he laughed even harder.

“Okay, so,” Darell said, doing his best to ignore the mocking of him they were doing. “You said something about them feeding on love? How does that even work?”

Chrysalis sat down on her mossy bed and got comfortable. It was rather nice being able to laze around like this. Yes, let us discuss that. And judging from what I sense from Rush there, you’ve already discovered that little ability of ours.

The human nodded, and motioned for Rush to come a little closer. The little drone did, clearly curious as to what this Darell human had planned, and then he discovered the joys of having affection lavished on you via petting.

We consume love. Well, we can consume any emotion really, but love is the most potent, and the most satisfying. They saw Scribe enter the room and Chrysalis sighed. What I am about to tell you concerns us all, and what led us to this world in the first place. Are you sure you’re ready to hear it?

“We’re kind of already involved,” the Darell human replied as he demonstrated just how much affection he could give Rush with something that looked like a belly rub. “I’m pretty sure short of us giving up our friends here, we’re committed to this.”

“Yeah, we’re not going to just up and leave now,” Adren nodded. He petted Milly’s head, the little changeling cooing happily.

Then you are fools, Chrysalis said with a light smile. Very well, listen closely then.

Our race has always lived in the shadows of others. What we look like, our ability to change… and especially because of what we eat. We have always been met with hostility and fear. I do not know why it is that we need love to survive. Perhaps we evolved this way, or maybe it’s a curse that we will never be rid of.

We did what we could to survive. We replaced ponies and took the love their friends and family had for them. Occasionally we’d be discovered, either through mistake or accident. And… overconfidence. And those discoveries often led to undesirable ends for us.

For generations we stayed like this, living off the meager scraps we could harvest. We also learned that we could… forcefully extract the love from others…

“Which explains what Rush did the other night,” the Darell human mused, though he didn’t pause in giving the little drone affection at all. “Okay, I have a few questions, but they can wait until the end when I can put them more concisely.”

“Can I ask, what happens when you use force?” Adrien asked, though he sounded hesitant.

Should we use force… Chrysalis paused, as she sounded hesitant to answer. It leaves the host empty of love. A being ruled by apathy or even hate. A monster born from a monster.

“Okay, I’d rather not lose my new friend here just because you all get classified as highly dangerous,” Darell said. “So I’m going to have to ask you to not do that to any human or Pokemon. It likely wouldn’t end well anyways. Humans can be real animals when they hate something. Can you just...I dunno, nibble a little? I mean, I don’t feel like a monster.”

Rush says he did not mean it, Chrysalis replied to him. He is young and made a mistake. But… She paused here and stared at the two humans. That ability was only ever a last resort and there is only one Changeling ever guilty of using it. Given the way Sync and Scribe looked at Chrysalis, that worried, concerned expression. It was easy to tell what Changeling she was talking about. To explain it further, what we consume is freely given affection. Which is why we transform into loved ones. We can also extract it from the air around, but that doesn’t provide us with much.

“So basically,” Darell said before pausing in his belly-rubs. “I’m feeding Rush right now?” Adrien leaned over and Darell felt the boy clip something to his ear.

“Sooooo, fuuuuull,” Rush burped loudly. “Darry’s love is super tasteh~”

“Okay, so, forgive me if I’m asking stupid questions here,” Darell said. “But do you have to imitate something? Can you not just make up your own disguises?”

We have tried that in the past, Chrysalis said to them. But that meant forging new relationships. Where as stepping into a pre-existing one was easier and could net us more love faster. I said that these were our methods, I never claimed them to be perfect.

“They were,” Sync said irritably. “If those ponies had actually tried to accept us!”

“Well, then those ponies sound like jerks,” Adrien said with a nod of his head. he’d leaned well into Darell’s personal space so he could hear through the earpiece as well. “Cause you guys are great. And you’re only scary when you're threatening to disembowel me.”

“Ahh, good times,” Sync sighed happily.

“Okay, new question,” Darell said. “Things like music idols, actors, popular people. Could you not have tried to become one of them? As I understand it, they’re universally adored by legions of fans.”

Perhaps, but... Chrysalis looked away. I had… not considered that.

“All right, so we have some plans for how you all can survive here,” Darell said before looking at Sync. “Another question. I’m noticing at least two stages of Changeling here. And Rush seems pretty satisfied with mindless affection for the moment, and it’s not harming me. Would the same hold true for you?”

“Touch me like that if you aren’t attached to your limbs,” Sync growled and clicked her fangs. “Noling touches me like that!”

“I’m just trying to gauge how much more intensive maintaining one of you would be,” Darell said with one hand raised. The other was still petting Rush. “After all, I’m going to be helping Adrien here write the entries on you guys.”

It depends on how much magic we expend, and you can imagine that transformations expend quite a large amount, depending on the form we take, Chrysalis motioned towards herself. I am much larger than the rest of my children, and use far greater magic. Even my own children, Sync and Scribe use more than the average drone or nymph.

“Wait,” Adrien held up his hand. “You call Sync and Scribe your kids, and I know they call you Mother. But, you also call the rest of the Changelings your kids too?”

I think of them as my children, yet only Sync and Scribe are ones born from my womb, Chrysalis explained, taking some small pleasure in the expression on Adrien’s face as he scrunched it up.

“Interesting,” Darell mused. “Okay, so...stage one nymphs and drones only require basic adoration and loving interaction once a day to be fed, at least as far as I can tell. I’m going to guess that Scribe and Sync need vastly...more…” He trailed off as he looked at Sync. “Hey, has using your Moves made you any hungrier for love than you normally would be?”

“Starving actually, but those little cakes that Adrien makes contain enough to sustain me, plus the youngling accompanying him has been sharing hers with me,” Sync explained. There was no way in Tartarus she was letting herself get pet like some common dog or cat.

“So, what brought you guys here anyway?’ Adrien asked.

My mistake, Chrysalis said in a flat tone. It wasn’t that she was annoyed or bored. she just… couldn’t put emotion behind it. I nearly got my entire race killed because of a single error… because of my greed and—

“That is NOT true!” Sync roared. “It was all those stupid ponies fault! Your only mistake was that you were too lenient on them! You should have gut that stupid princess like a fish!!”

“Okay, A, I think we can classify Sync as one that’s just a wee bit too violent for most trainers,” Darell said as he subtly edged away from the crazy nymph.

“Go buck yourself,” Sync said with a glare.

Synchronize! That is enough! Chrysalis said, that last word echoing throughout the chamber. Sync sat there, her mouth ajar in shock before she glared and stormed from the room, the sounds of yelling could be heard in the distance.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Adrien asked the queen.

She just has… a lot of hatred for ponykind, Chrysalis said. She knew the story, but it was not hers to tell. As I was saying. It was because of me. I chose to invade the ponies capitol city. To try and ‘take’ their love from them. In hindsight, it was stupidly foolish and would have only solved our problems short term, and made it even worse long term. But, I was so blinded by my greed. My children were starving… what was I supposed to do?

Chrysalis was not crying. It was dusty in here and she had large eyes was all. Then she felt something she hadn’t been expecting.

When she hadn’t been looking, Darell and Adrien had gotten up and walked over to give her a hug.

Pathetic, sappy humans, Chrysalis muttered and lifted them away with her magic. As I said, it’s in the past. Long story short, I failed to imitate my target properly and was found out. But by then, my army had descended on the city and I assumed that my victory was assured. The ironic part however? We were ejected from the city, forcefully, by a shield made of love energy. Laughable is it not? The very thing we need to survive was used as a weapon to nearly wipe us out…

Darell sighed before digging around in his bag, before pulling out his Pokedex. He scrolled to an entry he’d scanned into it and pushed play, letting its sound echo through the chamber.

Golbat. The evolution of Zubat. Golbat can drink up to ten ounces of blood from a Pokemon or a human in a single sitting-

He cut it there before looking over at Vlad pointedly, before looking back at Chrysalis. “I can’t blame you for doing what you needed to do to survive. Heavens know I’m going to be surrounding myself with dangerous creatures. What’s one more dangerous species, in the grand scheme of things? And as long as you learned something from all of that...then it wasn’t really a waste, was it?”

“I’d never drink your blood,” Vlad said as he nuzzled his trainer’s neck and smiled. “Your tasty, delicious blood~”

“Like I said,” Darell deadpanned. “Dangerous, snarky creatures.”

Chrysalis chuckled in that odd, yet cute buzzing tone of hers. So I see.

“So, you were defeated by the ponies,” Adrien continued. “But how did that lead you to here of all places?”

Chrysalis sighed again as Scribe took a place next to her. Months later, conditions for our kind had grown far worse. Now that our existence became common knowledge, the ponies rapidly developed more ways to detect us. It became harder and harder to procure love… I… She shuddered as Scribe took over, waiting for Adrien to sit near Darell again.

“We watched many of our kind die,” he said quietly. “Nothing demoralises you more effectively as you watch grubs, barely hatched for more than a few months wither away from starvation. Our Queen was giving up her own love stores, just to keep what little of us remained. Many abandoned her after the invasion, taking their chances on their own, than rely on a Queen they thought had failed them for the last time.” He frowned as he stared at the floor. “So, we stole a spell hidden away in Canterlot, the capital city. It was supposed to teleport us to a far away land…”

But I couldn’t even get that right, Chrysalis said sadly. After using it, we wound up… somewhere. I don’t know where, but nothing existed there. Just dry barren earth and endless heat. Our deaths were assured. I had condemned us to extinction.

“The Unovan desert?” Darell asked Adrien. “Or some other sort of desert, do you think? Or maybe just a desert place between wherever they started and here?”

There was no life there, Chrysalis answered. But then, ‘something’ spoke to me. Offered me and my children a second chance. And so I accepted, consequences be damned. She looked at the two humans. And thus we come to the end of our sad little tale. We are here, a world just as alien to us as we are to it. We… must learn to change once more it seems. This ‘Arceus’ of yours has an interesting sense of humor.

“A-Arceus…?” Adrien whispered. “Arceus is just… a rumor. None have ever actually seen it before.”

“Still, all the myths point to there being something,” Darell said. “The very text from the Plates indicates that. And we know Legendary Pokemon exist.” He nodded his head towards Chrysalis. “I get the feeling we’re sort of in the presence of one right now.”

“I know about Legendary Pokémon,” Adrien said back. “So, do you think you’re one Queen Chrysalis?”

I have no idea what you speak of, Chrysalis lied, her mind flashing to that note she received last night. So, you know our tale now. What shall it be? Shall you help redeem us monsters? You can still leave while you can.

Adrien looked at Darell and shrugged. “This is pretty serious. But I think you and I know what to do.” You could almost feel his grin.

“Okay, so the first thing we’re going to have to do,” Darell said. “Is see about accessing the ‘new entry’ mode in our Pokedexes. ...It’s been awhile since a trainer had to do one, and it’s definitely the first time I ever got to do it. It’s hard to remember how we get there...”

“It would only update our own,” Adrien pointed out. “We’d need to get the Professor to update the servers so any Pokédex would recognise it. But…” Adrien smiled. “There is something more important first yeah?” He hugged Milly close to emphasise.

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!” Darell said with a snap of his fingers, before going over to his bag. Moments later, that famous Pokeblock case came out again, and the first treat, a pink one, was already sailing towards Milly.

“CANDY!!” Milly opened her maw and caught it, nomming happily as she even made little nom noises.

“That… is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen,” Adrien nodded.

“I have plenty more, little guys,” Darell said as he shook the case. “Who’s hungry for candy?”

Are you planning on riling up my changelings again? Chrysalis deadpanned.

“I meant that we should distribute hugs,” Adrien added.

“Hugs, sugar, affection,” Darell said with a shrug. “I can give it all. There’s something creepily cute about the little ones. Makes it real easy to hug ‘em.”

Adrien nodded and before Chrysalis could protest, she was hugged again, Milly and Rush joining in this time.

I should disembowel you all, Chrysalis muttered, but made no attempt to remove them beyond that.

Once they did finally break it, Adrien’s next thought was what they should do next. As he walked out into the main chamber with Darell, he prodded the older boy. “Is it bad that I don’t want anyone else to capture the changelings?” he asked.

“Not at all,” the older trainer replied. “They’ve had a hard life. But they can’t stay isolated forever. Matter of fact, they need to interact with others in order to even eat properly. The best thing we can do is give them a good start, like any other Pokemon. To that end, we should write their Pokedex entries together. We’ll need to make them not sound like a threat while still telling people how to feed them properly.”

“That’s a good idea,” Adrien nodded. “We still need to learn more though. Like if they can evolve and their entire moveset. But I guess we’ll learn that as we progress.” Milly was sitting on his shoulders, her forehooves dangling over his head. “And, I wonder where Sync ran off to?”

Darell pondered the question for a moment. “Probably just to be alone,” he said. “Hopefully she doesn’t disturb a Pokemon.” He cracked his neck before realizing he still had Adrien’s translator in his ear and passing it over to the smaller boy. “You should have this,” he said.

“Oh, thanks,” he replied, clipping it back onto his own. “I think I’ll go and look for her just in case. Have fun revving them up with candy again.”

“I have a plan,” Darell chuckled. “And if all goes well, I’ll have some preliminary data for our Pokedex entries.”

Adrien nodded and left the chamber… leaving Darell alone with a hundred expectant changelings. They’d heard his comment about candy apparently.

“Okay,” he said, holding the case up. “This is how it’s gonna work. I’m gonna say a flavor, and whoever likes that type of candy can come forward. You get it if you consent to hold still and let my Pokedex get some information on you, so we can start introducing you to this world. Then once that’s done, the candy is all yours. Raise your hoof if you understand.”

All they understood was. ‘Line up and get candy’.

Children, be patient, Chrysalis said as she emerged from her room. Now then, Darell was it? Do as you must, but I shall observe.

Darell nodded towards her majesty and accessed the ‘new entry’ on his Pokedex. Selecting the ‘new species’ option, he gave it a moment to boot up before pulling a Pokeblock from his dispenser. “All right, the first flavor of the day is...sour!” he said. “Anyone like sour candies?”

Several put their hooves up and then stepped forward after Chrysalis gave them a small nod.

“All right, so one of you come forward,” Darell said as he held up his device. “And let me get a good scan of you. Then, candy.”

One stepped up, slightly larger than the rest and he had a few scars and nicks in his chitin.

That is Bludgeon, Chrysalis informed him. One of our most fearless warriors.

“All right Bludgeon,” Darell said as the Pokedex began to emit a blue light. “Just hold still and let me get a good look at you. Or if you want to strike a pose or say something, that’s fine too. The Pokedex will be sure to record it as it gauges how heavy you are and how tall you are.”

The changeling remained as still as a stone as the Pokédex recorded the data. It recorded him being about one and a half meters tall and weighed about forty five kilograms, or around a hundred pounds. He looked similar to the majority of the changelings there, just a little bigger than the rest.

“And there we go,” Darell said as the glow stopped once the sample was recorded. “That’ll get stored for computing the average for your species’ entry. For now,” he said, holding up the yellow candy. “Catch.” The human lightly tossed the Pokeblock at Bludgeon.

He snapped the candy up and chewed it as he walked away, with even more lining up now.

“All right,” Darell chuckled. “Let’s see…” The next one was red. “Oooh, spicy candies. Anyone up for one?”

A few stepped forward, looking absolutely identical.

Uno, Deux and Trois, triplet sisters and rather good at the art of seduction, Chrysalis said, sounding rather proud. Taught them myself actually.

“Well there’s something I didn’t need to know,” Darell muttered. “I take it you all have similar tastes? A simple nod or shake will do, I understand that much.”

They nodded and licked their lips, and he noticed they were looking at him, rather than the candy case.

“Okay, fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “I promise to give you a hug instead, how about that?”

Be careful, Chrysalis smirked. It’s not just hugs that they’re after~

“Yeah, well, it’s hugs or candy,” the boy replied. “They can have one or the other, but nothing else.” He looked at the trio and shrugged. “So what will it be, ladies?”

They chittered amongst themselves and then giggled before motioning to the candy case.

“Okay, two seconds,” he said, before opening it up and rummaging around, withdrawing three red candies. “I sort of put them away haphazardly. Mostly I was trying to stop Rush and Chris from eating them all. But first.” He held up the Pokedex as it started to emit that blue glow. “One at a time. It can’t handle more than that.”

That earned him another giggle from the trio. He merely held up his Pokedex and waited for one of them to step forward. They did, one by one as he scanned them in and the Pokédex pinged softly, also noting the differences between male and female changelings.

“And here you ladies are,” Darell said as he held the three spicy candies out to them in one hand. They took turns in taking one, the last showing off as she played with it using her tongue before walking away as she giggled.

“Okay, next,” Darell said before pulling one that he knew would get most of them in line. “Sweet.”

He saw that none moved… mostly because Chrysalis was first in line.

“Ah...you’re certain?” he asked her. “This was mostly for them, but if you’re sure…”

You shall need to scan me as well yes? Chrysalis asked. Besides, I have yet to try your candy.

“All right, your majesty, but as the only one like yourself, I’m going to have to ask you to strike an impressive pose for the Pokedex to record,” Darell said. “Maybe even say something normally, so it can record your voice.”

A striking pose hmm? Chrysalis reared up on her hind legs and held that pose for a moment.

“Excellent,” Darell said as the Pokedex started recording. “Maybe some words for the trainers that look up the queen of all Changelings?”

Bow to your Queen! Ahhaahahahahahaaa! The Pokedex recorded her laugh as her cry for future reference, and dinged quietly once its measurements were done. She was a little over two metres, including her horn. Her weight was estimated to be about fifty kilograms.

“And there we are,” Darell said as he held the candy out to her. “One Changeling Queen, all recorded for the Pokedex.” Chrysalis took the candy and walked away as she ate it, humming delightedly.

A few more rounds saw to it that the average data was recorded, as well as estimated variances in height and weight. Scribe had turned down the offer to be scanned and Adrien and Sync were still missing.

Ah well. Adrien had five other team members, not including the Changeling that Chrysalis had assigned him. The younger boy would be more prepared than Darell would in case something happened, that was for sure. He instead opened up the data entry for the newest species, as the Changelings were being recorded by his Pokedex, and looked over to Chrysalis. “Want to help me write their entry so they don’t sound terrifying to every human in existence?”

Oh, but where’s the fun in that? Chrysalis murred. Oh don’t give me that look. I shall assist you in writing something… positive.

Adrien had left, following the tunnel upwards but there was still no sign of Sync. Even once he reached the cave entrance, he saw that the scouts weren’t there.

“Where did you go?’ he asked himself as he stepped outside. Milly looked around and then tapped Adrien on the head.

“There’s somebuggy up ahead, I think it’s Lady Sync,” she said as Adrien nodded and followed her directions. True enough, he found the nymph sitting in a tree a few dozen feet away from the cave, staring up at the sky.

“What do you want?” she asked in a harsh tone, not even bothering to look at them.

“Just checking on you,” Adrien replied as he sat at the base of the tree, “We were worried.”

Sync scoffed, “Don’t be, I am the most powerful changeling save for my mother. I doubt your precious ‘Pokémon’ would have an easy time now that I know how their powers work.”

“You have a point,” Adrien nodded. “But you don’t know everything. Like type matchups for instance.”

“Hit it til it dies, seems simple enough,” Sync responded.

“Why are you so violent?” Adrien frowned.

“Why are you so damned nosy!?” Sync shot back. “Stay out of my business human. And while you’re at it, take that other stupid one and stay out of our lives!”

“Hey! We’re trying to help you,” Adrien yelled at her.

“No-one asked you to!!” Sync said, dropping down from the tree. She turned and faced them as Milly squeaked and hid behind Adrien.

“Technically Queen Chrysalis did…” Adrien felt the need to point out. Apparently his need was suicidal.

“Mother is far too trusting,” Sync spat. “You’ll betray us, just like the ponies did. Just like HE did!!”

“He?” Adrien echoed and Sync’s eyes widened before her scowl returned.

“You know what, do whatever you like,’ she said. “Just remember that when you betray us, I can be there to say I told you all so.” And with that, she flew off back to the cave. Adrien sighed as he leaned back against the tree, Milly narrowly avoiding being squished.

“Lady Sync was much scarier that time,” she shuddered as Adrien petted her on the head. Just why was she like that anyway?

Inside, Sync stormed down the tunnels, muttering under her breath as she entered the main chamber and she instantly felt the other humans eyes on her.

“WHAT?” she yelled at him.

“I take it she’s angry?” Darell asked the Queen. “I’ve rarely seen her act on any other emotion.” He yelped as a Shadow ball flew at him, but Chrysalis put up a green barrier that blocked the attack. Once the smoke had cleared, Sync was gone again and Chrysalis sighed.

You asked before, why we do not create original disguises? she said to him as Adrien ran into the chamber, hearing the commotion.

“Just from the fact that you brought it up, I can guess,” the boy mumbled. “And I’d been hoping to ask her to pose for the second-stage entry…”

“You guys alright?” Adrien asked as he walked closer. “What happened? Did Sync attack you?”

She’s… far more upset than usual, Chrysalis said and sighed. Adrien tapped his chin and then looked at her.

“When we spoke, she mentioned being betrayed. By ponies, and by him?”

Now it makes sense, Chrysalis nodded. My daughter was hurt by someone… very close to her heart. And as a result, she has locked it away. I just ask that you forgive her transgressions.

“Hey, as long as she doesn’t deliberately attack a human again, I think I’ll be fine,” Darell said. “Can hardly help if I’m wounded because of her. Oh, speaking of. Adrien, come get a look at all this data!”

“Oohh!” the boy’s eyes shone with excitement. “If we combine this with the data of their moves that I’ve recorded, we’ll have made quite a bit of headway.” He tapped his chin and frowned. “The one thing we don’t have though. Is their Ability.”

“That’s a tricky one,” Darell agreed. “As well as an entry for their second stage. Probably because there are only two second stagers in this hive…” He pointedly looked over at Scribe.

“Well, we only assume they are,” Adrien pointed out. “We won’t really know for certain unless one of the regular ones evolve. Then of course, there’s the method of how they evolve, even if they can. By experience? Stone? Love? Trade? Location? There’s just so many possible ways.”

“True, but I like the sounds of numbers one and three,” Darell said. “Easiest ways to test here. Also wouldn’t require us to comb half the continent in search for just the right stone. And it wouldn’t expose them, yet.”

“Well, our Pokédex’s have a wireless trade feature. So we could test that as well,” Adrien replied as he tapped away on his, entering the various moves they could learn. Neither noticed Chrysalis’s departure, as she left to check on her daughter. Adrien continued the current topic of evolution. “There’s also the possibility of Mega Evolution…”

“That, would be something to see,” Darell admitted. “Though for that, there are two options. Either only Chrysalis will end up having it, or all the second-stage Changelings could end up having it. I don’t see that one being possible, though, as they already have Chrysalis...”

“Who knows,” Adrien shrugged. Professor Sycamore was the expert on that subject. “Well, it’s only a minor thing for now.” He sighed and looked towards the cavern that Sync had run off to. “I just hope she’s okay. She looked… kinda sad you know.”

“There’s nothing we can do to help her,” Darell said softly. “She has to choose to trust us for herself.”

Their talk was suddenly interrupted by a loud growl that filled the cavern. Darell looked down and saw Chris laying on the floor on his back, holding his stomach as it gave another loud gurgle.

“Guess we should head back for lunch, huh buddy?” he asked his longtime friend. The Linoone nodded happily at that thought, and the human looked over at Scribe.

“Scribe, my offer to take you back so you can look up information at my home is still open to you…” Darell paused dramatically. “If. You consent to being the first data point for the more evolved Changelings.”

Scribe seemed to think this over before nodding and sifted his things around, removing his bags and glasses. Rubbing his eyes, he stood there still and tapped his hoof on the ground. Darell held up his Pokedex and entered a whole new species worth of recording on it via the new entry system. He held it up as the blue light started to glow.

“Okay, so if you want to strike a pose or say something for the recording, now would be the time to do it,” the human said to the Changeling. Scribe just raised a metaphorical eyebrow, and Darell elaborated. “It records the pose you strike so that when others look you up, that’ll be what they see first, as well as the sounds you make so that they’ll know right off the bat that they’re dealing with Species A and not Species B. All Pokemon have distinctive cries.”

He chittered for a moment and Darell noticed it was in a different pitch to Sync’s.

Adrien chuckled. “He says that posing holds no scientific purpose. Just take the scan already.”

“It’s been going all this time,” Darell said as the blue glow died. “Cry recorded and measurements taken…”

He sat somewhere in between Chrysalis and a standard changeling. Another press of a button saw the data copied to Adrien’s Pokédex as well.

“So, will you be back tonight, or tomorrow?” Adrien asked him.

“I don’t dare leave Scribe alone in the house with the computer,” Darell chuckled. “Assuming I can pry him away, I’ll be back whenever I can. We should probably try to stay in touch with our ‘dexs, it might be a while…”

Adrien nodded and scribbled something down. “Here, my PokéGear number. I’ve always got it on me.”

“Shoot, I left mine in the house,” Darell said with a shake of his head. “Then again, I wasn’t planning to go too far…” He flipped to another page and wrote down his own number for Adrien. “Here, I’ll pick mine up when I get home.” He then began taking the balls off his belt and looking at his teammates. “Gonna have to put my team away before we leave…”

Scribe stepped up next to him and looked at Chris, before flames engulfed his form and he now looked like the Linoone. Darell nodded before recalling all his teammates and sighing.

“C’mon Scribe, let’s head home. Then I’ll show you the computer and everything you can do with it.”

The Linoone practically skipped with joy as he followed the boy out of the cave. Adrien felt bad for him, he knew he didn’t like keeping his Pokémon in their balls.

In the meantime, he had some data to edit and some lunch to start cooking.

Chrysalis sighed as she stood in the entryway for the alcove that Sync had dug out for herself. The nymph paying her mother little heed as she sat in a corner of the room, staring at a wall.

“So,” Chrysalis said as she stepped inside. “Do you wish to talk?”

“Talk about what?” she said flatly, barely putting an emotion in her tone. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“It does if you almost kill one of our new friends,” Chrysalis said and flinched as Sync turned her head, showing her hate-filled glare.

“They are not our friends! They are just some worthless species that will betray us like all the others!!”

“And if they do not?” Chrysalis replied calmly, taking a breath to regain her composure. “Suppose you drive away the one chance we have at getting a good advantage in this new world?”

“Which we wouldn’t be in if it wasn’t for you!!” Sync roared and stood up. “It’s all your fault! Everything! We wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t tried to invade! I hate you!!”

“I am aware of that,” Chrysalis said, accepting her verbal lashings, even if it felt as though her heart was being torn in half. “I am fully aware that I am not perfect. That I am a poor leader and an ever poorer mother…”

Sync took a step back, looking like she’d just been struck. “N-No… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…” Her mother was always so proud, she had an indomitable will and never took abuse from anyone.

And yet that proud changeling queen stood there with a small smile, even as the words Sync had uttered caused tears to roll down her cheeks.

Yes, Sync was angry, but, she hadn’t meant to do that. This wasn’t her mother’s fault. And her anger was… it was because she was weak.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t hate you. I could never hate you… it’s just…”

“I know,” Chrysalis had stepped forward while Sync was lost in thought, the queen now holding her daughter in a hug. “It’s alright. I don’t blame you my little one. What happened to you was a terrible thing...”

“And you warned me it would happen!” she cried. “You said it would and he did. He… he tried to kill me! He… wouldn’t listen, just kept calling me a monster.”

Chrysalis ran a hoof through her mane. “You always try to find that hidden hook. The double meaning in words and it has saved us countless times.”

“So why can’t I find it with those stupid humans!?” She shook her head. “N-No-one is that trusting! No-one can love us as we are! So… why?”

“Perhaps,” Chrysalis smiled. “They are so immensely stupid. They simply cannot help it. Or…”

“Or?” Sync asked.

“Or perhaps they truly do care,” Chrysalis said and held her daughter back a bit to look her in the eyes. “I’m not saying to trust them implicitly. That would be the height of stupidity. But, I feel that we can give them the benefit of a doubt… just, keep one eye open perhaps.”

“So what, I’m supposed to be all friendly with them now?” Sync asked and snorted.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Chrysalis said with a nod. “I’m not asking you to marry them or anything. Just… work with them a little alright. And for the love of Holes, do stop trying to kill them.” Chrysalis paused and smirked. “You know how hard it is to clean blood off of our chitin.”

“True enough,” Sync chuckled weakly. “We need a bath or something in here.”

“I’ll order one in the morning,” Chrysalis smiled and kissed her forehead. “Now why don’t we go and get something to eat? Those little cakes are to die for.”

“You’re as bad as ol’ Sunbutt,” Sync snorted again. “Might as well leech a little love from the human. He owes me for pissing me off.”

“My dear little one,” Chrysalis said as they walked out. “By those terms, most of Equestria would owe you.”