A New World, A Confusing New Way

     The next morning, Kylee awoke to a warm body pressed against her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Midnight curled around her. Being larger than a normal Umbreon, Midnight almost managed to touch his nose to his tail while still staying curled around Kylee.

     Kylee shook herself lightly, then carefully got up and walked around the small clearing they had camped out in. Dash still had not come back, and she was starting to get worried.

     "Where is she?" Kylee mumbled. "She should have been back hours ago!"

     "Something wrong?"

      Kylee spun around and saw Midnight walking up to her. "Oh... H-hey midnight. Did I wake you up?"

     Midnight shook his head. "Oh no. I woke up on my own. What's wrong?"

     Kylee sighed, trying to shake the worried feeling she had. "Dash still hasn't come back. I'm worried..."

     Kylee trailed off as Midnight embraced her is a tight hug. "Don't worry." He said softly. "She will come back. She's tough."

     Midnight let go and stepped back. Kylee stood still, her mind still trying to catch up with what just happened. "Oh..." She said quietly. "T-thanks Midnight. I-I need to go on a walk... I'll see you later!"

     With that she spun and ran off into the woods. "What just happened?!" She thought. "Why did midnight hug me?! He can't have a crush on me. He can't! I already have Matthew as a boyfriend!"

     Kylee stopped as she came to a large lake. She saw many water Pokemon swimming around, including Magikarp, Goldeen, and Feebass.

     Kylee looked at her reflection and noticed she looked slightly different than a normal Umbreon. For one, her eyes were blue like they were as a human. Se also had her silver loop earrings on still, the ones with the little blue-and-white striped ball on them. Lastly, she still had her pink watch and heart-shaped ruby ring that Matthew gave her. She looked down at the ring, a tear forming in her eye. "Matthew..." She sobbed. "I miss you..."

     Kylee looked up and saw a large blue turtle swimming towards her. "L-lassie?" She whispered. "Hey, lassie!" She said a little louder.

     The Lapras looked up and saw the Umbreon. "Midnight?" She called. Kylee shook her head. "No! It's me, Kylee!"

     The Lapras sped forward, stopping at the shoreline. "K-Kylee? But how? Your an Umbreon!"

     Kylee shrugged. "Not sure yet, but I'm glad I found you! Now we just need Freedom. We found everyone else."

     "Wow... So, where are they?" Lassie asked.

     "They're farther inland. I can get them to come over here if you want." Kylee said.

     "Sure! I'll wait here." Lassie replied, swimming back out into the water before diving under.

     Kylee began running back to toe clearing, calling for her team. "Midnight, Velvet, Meowsie! I found Lassie!" She yelled, bursting into the camp. All the Pokemon looked up at her except Midnight, who looked away shyly. "Come on!" She called, running back. She heard three sets of footsteps behind her, showing that the others were following.

     "Lassie!" Kylee called out as they made it to the lake. "We're back!"

    The Lapras lept out from under the water, showering the Pokemon with the splash. Kylee laughed and looked at Lassie. "Here we are! Dash went to find an exit to this forest, so we are waiting for her to come back. Speaking of which, Midnight, Velvet, send the signal."

     Velvet shot a tower of flame into the air, followed quickly by a flurry of shadow balls from Midnight and a physic, turning the flames black and blue.

     "My Pokemon coordinator training from mom seems to have helped me, even if I never did compeate in them." Kylee thought happily.

     As the pokemon sat around the lake, Kylee saw a burst of fire way out in the distance. "There!" She yelled. "I saw Dash's signal!"

     Kylee paced in anticipation waiting for Dash when the flame horse leaped through the bushes, followed closely by a red blur. The red thing tackled Dash, holding a hoof to her throat.

     "Dash!" Kylee yelled, then glared at the red creature. He looked somewhat like Dash, but with wings instead of a horn. He had a red body with a goldish-yellow mohawk-style mane and tail. "Who are you?" Kylee growled, stepping towords him. "Why are you chasing Dash?"

     The figure looked up and saw the pokemon now surrounding him. He glared at them, slowly stepping off of Dash. Looking around, he snorted. "I can't understand you animals, you know."

     Kylee nodded and turned to Meowsie. "Do your thing." She said.

     Moewsie smiled and closed his eyes. Kylee felt something in her brain, like a light poke. "Hello there." Kylee thought, knowing it would be sent to the ponytas mind. Her thoughts were confirmed when he suddenly jumped in the air in fright.

     "Who said that?!" He growled.

     "Me." Kylee said, stepping forward. "Meowsie set up a mental connection so we could talk. Nw tell me, who are you and why did you attack Dash."

   "I am Cloud Ace, and 'Dash' attacked me with fire!" He said.

     Kylee glared at Dash. "You attacked him?!"

     Dash's eyes went wide. "No! It was the signal! When i sent it, one of the stars points nearly hit him. He attacked me after that!"

     Kylee nodded and turned to Cloud. "Im sorry abut Dash's Fire Blast nearly hitting you. She was sending the signal to tell us where she was. Each of my pokemon have a signal of their own and one they can do as a team, in case anyone needs help. Again, I am very sorry. She will be punished for her careless behavior, I promise you that."

     Cloud Ace stood stunned for a moment before nodding slowly. "Well then..." he thought. "I'm sorry about attacking your friend."

     Kylee smiled nervously. "Its fine. You thought you had been attacked. It was simple instinct."

     Cloud smiled back. "Well, i gue-"

     "Cloud Ace! Where are you!"

     Cloud looked up at the sky. "Rainstorm! I'm down here!"

     A blue figure similar to Cloud flew past them, then turned around and collided with Cloud Ace. She stood up and shook herself off, and Kylee saw she was light blue with a black mane and tail. She, like Cloud, had wings. Kylee nodded at Meowsie, who set up a connection quickly with the newcommer. Kylee then glared at Cloud with a look that said "Explain."

     "Everyone, this is Rainstorm, my wife. Rainstorm, this is Kylee and her friends."

     "And just how did you meet these... animal things?" Rainstorm demanded.

     (One short explanation later, cause I'm lazy) "Im so sorry, Kylee! Cloud can be very compulsive and reckless sometimes." She said with a laugh. "So... What exactly are you guys anyways?"

     Kylee gasped. "You man you don't know what a pokemon is?!"

     The two creatures, 'Ponies' Kylee remembered, shook their heads.

     "So there are no pokemon here..." Kylee thought.

     "Its eaiser to give a demonstraition." Said Velvet, looking hopefully at Kylee.

     Kylee laughed. "Fine, Velvet. Hmmm... Freedom, can you help us out? Were gonna do a battle demonstraiton for the Ponies."

     Freedom swooped down from the sky. "Sure!"

     "Know any clearings around here?" Kylee asked.

     "Theres one on the other side of the lake. Come on!" Rainstorm said, speeding off. Kylee lept on to Lassies back, along with Midnight, and rode across the lake while Meowsie just teleported, Dash and Velvet ran, and Freedom flew across. When they arrived, they saw a large clearing. Kylee smiled, as it was just the right size for Dash and Freedom to battle without a problem.

     "Alright, Dash, Freedom, you two are up!" she called.

     The flame horse took one side of the feild while the large blue bird took the other. "And... BEGIN!" Kylee yelled.

     "Flamethrower!" Dash started by launching flames from her mouth, which Freedom eaisely avoided by flying into the air.

     "Air Slash!" Cawed Freedom, shooting blades of air at Dash. Dash lept to the side, but one of the blades hit her. She grumbled a little, shaking herself before calling out "Flame Charge!"

     Dash was an orange blur as she charged and lept at Freedom, who coulden't move out of the way in time. He cried in pain as the flames engulfed him, but he recovered just before hitting the ground and shook off the fire, retaliating with an Ariel Ace. It hit son and caused Dash to stumble.

     "Thats enough!" Kylee called out. "We dont want any serious injuries here."

     The two battlers nodded and walked past the ponies, whos jaws were on the floor in shock.

     "But... how... why... the fire... blades of air..." Cloud mumbled.

     Rainstorm recovered and looked at Kylee angriy. "You force these poor animals to fi-"

     She was cut off as Midnight tackled her, growling. "We. Are. Not. ANIMALS!" He screamed at her. She threw him off and grumbled. "Sorry." Kylee said. "But pokemon hate being called that. Being an animal implies not being smart. More of a beast. Pokemon, however, are very intellegent. In fact, one pokemon named Alakazam has an IQ of over 500."

     Rainstorm nodded. "As I was saying, you force Pokemon to fight each other?! WHats wrong with you?"

     Kylee shook her head. "Only bad people like Team Rocket would force them to battle against their will. Truth is, most pokemon love battling.

     Rainstorms eyes took a sudden light of understanding. "Oh. I see. So its kinda like something they do to prove worth and whatnot?"

     Kylee nodded. "Pretty much."

     Cloud Ace suddenly leaped into the air. "That. Was. AWESOME!!" He screamed.

     Rainstorm shook her head and laughed. "Hey Kylee, how would you like to sleep at our house? I figure since you kinda woke up out here, you need a place to stay."

     Kylee smiled. "Sure! Thanks! Alright team, were headed to Rainstorms and Clouds place to sleep for a while. Lets go!"

     As Kylee followed the two ponies to their house, she coulden't help but let her mind stray to that morning with Midnight and the mixed feelings she had.