A New World, Same Shadows

Chapters

Chapter 2: Into the Sandstorm
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Interlude: Selene
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Prolouge- The End of the World

Chapter 2: Into the Sandstorm

Chapter 2: Into the Sandstorm

Ringo ran. She ran faster than she ever did on the beach, ever in her life even, as panic ate away at her mind. It wasn't because of what was following her, and she knew something was following her. No she was scared at what was in front of her 'that sandstorm is happening at the orchard! Why was there a sandstorm at the orchard in the first place!?' she screamed in her head, before mentally shaking the question away 'Doesn't matter, Grandpa was right! He was right and now he's in danger because I wasn't there to help him! I have to hurry home! I have to!' she mentally repeated, pushing herself to go even faster to the point where her muscles started to ache.

Right now her mane was drooping in front of her eyes and she could only imagine what the rest of her coat looked like now or what everypony would think of the 'vain and terse' granddaughter of Fuji Apple looking the way she did, but right now appearances were the least of her worries. Rin was taking every shortcut she knew through town, using a combination of sprints down the main street and high-speed acrobatics or tight fits between buildings or whenever more strange creatures were inadvertently between her and her destination, and for good reason too. Her Grandpa Fuji was the only family she had, If something were to happen to him...

No! Now was not the time to be thinking about that. He was a tough old stallion, a measly sandstorm wouldn't do him in, she just had to get home, make sure he was alright, and kick the flank of whoever or whatever was causing this.

Luckily, aside from the occasional cart or food stand barring her path, that there were no signs of anypony on the streets. Usually that meant one of two things, depending on the severity of the crisis. Either the town banded together to stop said crisis that was threatening their town, or they hid together in the town hall until whatever was threatening their town, be it bad weather or unusually timed nights, blew over. Usually the latter, much to her chagrin, but regardless of which it was it gave her a chance to push herself without worrying about onlookers. Though really, there was very little she noticed at the moment. All she cared about was reaching the swirling vortex of sand.

And thanks to her efforts, or reckless abandon if her body's aching was any indication, she was nearly out of town and could see the outer wall to her home, it would be only another few minutes before she was there. That was the good news. The bad was that she could start making out how bad the estate was starting to be ravaged by the wind and sand from the sandstorm, that somehow seemed to be moving towards the main building. Worse yet, there was a group of ponies including the Weather Pegasus-the very one that told her today's weather report, the local Guard officer of Kouma-and a unicorn who was almost in love with his job it seemed like, and the Mayor of Kouma-who practically everypony in town agreed must've had a mule for a parent at the front gate standing around arguing about something with...more of these strange creatures, consisting of a floating, flower patterned, thing that had arms and hands but no feet, a blue dog-like thing with yellow fur around the head, front paws, and back legs, and a weird looking giant red thing with flaming eyebrows. As interesting as these creatures were to her, she didn't have time to deal with the arguing ponies or the strange creatures and there was no way she was sneaking through the front gate past them either, not covered in so much sweat the she practically shined in the sunlight.

Acting fast, she snuck through the tree line and made a detour along the side of the wall making sure that nothing, especially the group bickering nags, would see her approach. Catching her breath for the first time since leaving the forest, Rin scanned the three meter tall wall, thinking how best to climb the smooth stone surface. Looking up then back, eyeing a particularly sturdy looking tree branch five meters away, taking a few steps back to look between it and the wall, judging if she could make that or not. With a suppressed whine and a grimace she took one more reluctant breath and began climbing the tree to the branch without being seen up to her perch. With one deep breath to remind herself why she was doing this and strengthen her resolve Rin began her perilous running start and, to the sound of a snapping tree branch, cleared the wall.

While her landing was anything but graceful she had managed to get home undetected, save for the creatures she had to avoid in town, but she didn't think they would be going around gossiping about her anytime soon. Though now she had a new problem, she was now in the midst of the sandstorm, without anypony's knowledge, and with no protection from the sand save her tough shell of skin and hair. In hindsight, going over the wall may not have been her best idea considering all that and now she could barely see past her muzzle. Shielding herself the best she could, Rin shook off the sweat from her run and did the best she could to return to her 'normal' look, deciding it was futile to try and keep the sand out of her coat and mane. Once that was done...or better at least, Rin squinted her eyes and looked around to find anything in the sandstorm, preferably her grandpa safe and sound in front of her with a plan on how to stop this, but at this point she'd settle for anything.

Wandering aimlessly through the sandstorm she bumped into some of the orchards apple trees that had been stripped of their leaves and had sand beginning to perforate the apples 'great, grandpa's in danger and we're gonna be loosing sales...' Rin complained before moving on 'if I find out that somepony is behind this then I'm going to kick their flank so far, Tartarus will have to ask for it to be mailed-' "Whoaa-oof!" Her thoughts were interrupted when she tripped over a smooth slab of stone laying on the ground, obscured by the sandstorm. Standing up on all fours, Rin turned back towards the long rock glaring at it with contempt "grr...stupid rock! I don't have time for this!" she yelled, earning herself a mouthful of sand. Sand she promptly coughed up and spat out onto the ground next to her. Quickly loosing patience with every kind of solid hard material she kicked the slab as hard as she could with her forehoof, cursing as it caused more pain to her hoof than the rock, something she didn't really care about at the moment.

"Ty...?" the rock on the other hand...did.

Rin watched dumbstruck as the slab raised into the air floating away from her before flying at her, hitting her in the chest, and knocking her through a nearby tree. Gasping for air and trying to get back up after the hit she looked back at the slab...then looked at what it was connected to.

"Uh...oh..."

"RAAAA...!"

"How'd we lose her!? She's a bright red...Ponyta...thing!" James yelled at no one in particular as he ran down the road.

"I think it was when those Chimecho came by." Selene replied calmly, ignoring her partner's outburst as she kept up with him using Psychic.

James and Selene had been able to keep up with the mare (which they agreed to call her considering she was some sort of horse-thing) by sticking to the treetops and transitioning to the rooftops when they reached the town. The town architecture had looked like what he had seen in brochures of Ecruteak City with all of the buildings being slightly elevated off the ground and made mostly of wood, from the thick support beams to the open-framed windows. The roofs were all lined with stone tiles and gently curved with the highest point being in the center of the building.

Even with taking in the local architecture, the two were doing well tailing her, until she started going through, around, and sometimes even under the same eye-catching buildings. James and Selene did their best to track her but when she ducked into an alleyway among the buildings their pursuit was interrupted by a group on Chimecho who had never seen a shiny Pokémon before. And while Selene politely sent them on their way, the damage had been done.

"I know the when, but I'd rather know the why. We're better that this, I know we are!" James sighed trying to regain his composure. Something he learned long ago was that anger makes you reckless "Can't you search for her thoughts or something so we know where she is?"

Selene shook her head "I'm afraid not, she's too far away right now and I'm not used to her mental signature like I am with you or everyone else."

"Wonderful..." James murmured 'so she's too far away to track on her mental mini map huh, well that's frustrating. Hmm...frustrating. Maybe...' "Could you track her emotions then?" James asked. 'If Ralts can sense emotions with their horn, and that horn still remains as a Gardevoir then it's possible...right?'

"I could try it." Selene replied. She closed her eyes, focusing on the horn on her chest, opening herself to the emotions of everything nearby "Hm...I sense something but, there's interference everywhere. Best I can tell something's headed to the sandstorm where there's something with similar, but ultimately stronger, emotions overwhelming everyone else's right now. And whatever it is," Selene said opening her eyes to focus on the turbulent wall of sand "it's in the heart of that."

"Lovely..." James sighed. He then took a deep breath as his eyes became burned with drive "Welp, plan B then."

"Plan B?"

James returned Selene's question with a cocky smirk "What else? Enter the sandstorm, find the Pokémon inside, stop it, be badasses in the process."

"Oh," Selene giggled as she returned her attention to the road ahead with a smile "I like plan B."

The two continued down the path until they saw the gate leading to whatever estate the sandstorm was currently decimating. Much like the rest of the town, the gate itself was made from wood and had the gently inclined tile roof, though there were some noticeable differences than the town architecture. The most notable being the wood carved red apples on each side of the gate and that the base of it as well as the wall it was connected to were made from smoothed grey bricks. And as much as James wanted to admire the architecture more, there was a more immediate problem in front of them.

Specifficly the group of Pokémon standing in front of said gate.

Being seen by the Pokémon here was not a big deal to James, heck he was a Pokémon himself now and a trainer before that. But there were concerning differences with these ones, namely that the three of them had some sort of accessory attached to them, and that was enough for alarm bells to go off in his head. Grabbing Selene he jumped off the path and ducked behind a nearby tree. Peeking out from behind it, James took a closer look at the group.

The group consisted of a strangely thin Dusknoir, a Manectric, and a Darmanitan, all talking with each other. Each of them had their own unique decorations on them consisting of a flower shaped antennae along with flower pattering on the Dusknoirs body, a red scarf tied around the neck of the Manectric, and an absurdly too small red cap on the head of the Darmanitan. In fact, if the situation were different, James would have found the sight hilarious. The problem was that the scarf had a very familiar emblem on it, as did the hat.

"Rangers...great." he cursed. Ever since an incident in Almia, the Pokémon Rangers had been trying to arrest him on sight with some even attacking with their Pokémon beforehand. He even had to stop going home in case one of the more passionate rangers were waiting for him there. Paranoid? Maybe, but he didn't want anyone getting hurt in the crossfire for his actions other than him. "Should've figured I wasn't the only human turned into a Pokémon." he said, letting out a tired sigh.

Selene peeked behind the tree as well "yeah, but they don't know who you are yet. You don't exactly look like your normal self."

"Perhaps, but Shiny Gardevoirs aren't exactly a common thing back home. If we're seen together, it won't take them long to put two and two together and start asking questions." James finished, hitting the back of his head on the tree, the blow was mostly cushioned by his tongue though to his frustration he now tasted splinters. Groaning loudly, he relented "Guess I have no choice then; Plan B version two."

"...'Version two'?" Selene parroted, James retracted his tongue into his mouth and whispered into her ear and her shoulders slumped "I don't like 'version two'."

"It's the best I can do with what I know." James said "And trust me; I don't like it either." and with that he ran parallel to the wall, disappearing into the forest.

"Well, guess I better go say hi." she sighed, returning to the path. As she approached the Pokémon, an ominous feeling passed through her, a warning from her mind that something bad was going to happen. Not 'Arceus putting Pokémon to sleep around the world' bad but still something she was not looking forward to finding out. 'When this is all over, I am going to do SO many things to him!' Selene mentally noted before gaining their attention "Hey! Excuse me! Do you know what's going on?"

The trio turned their attention to her each with an equal amount curiosity for the new voice. The Dusknoir was the first to recover as it flew through the air towards its with her arms extended and aimed at her neck.

"Seleney!" a young girl's cheerful voice called out.

"Phoebe!?"

Instinct took over as Selene ducked around Phoebe's hug, missing her arms by inches as she kept going in mid-air. She had nothing against her friend hugging her, it was just that Dusknoir is known as the Gripper Pokémon for a reason, and she liked breathing right now. "It's nice to see you too Phoebe, but you have to be careful with those arms of yours." Selene scolded.

"Ahaha! Sorry. Sorry." Phoebe replied, swaying from side to side with her arms flapping slightly.

"I guess that means you're Kirikaze's slave." a masculine voice interjected, one that while Selene didn't recognize it made her tense up and grit her teeth. The voice came from the Darmanitan who along with the Manectric had finally caught up with Phoebe. The normally wide grinning Darmanitan had his mouth contorted into a scowl, making his whole face look unnatural, an obvious tell aside from the hat that this 'Pokémon' was once human.

"His name is James!" Selene yelled in defense of her trainer "And I am not his slave. I'm his partner."

"Right. And Giovani calls his thugs 'business associates'. Rangers are still cleaning up the mess he made in Almia and he still has yet to be put on trial for his other crimes." the Ranger said with a voice full of contempt "Speaking of, have you seen Kirikaze?"

"No, haven't seen him since I woke up." Selene lied "And even if I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you." she added truthfully.

"We're just trying to help-" the Manectric started to say.

"You've helped enough!" Selene interrupted "Because of you, he hasn't been to Oldale Town in years! He can't challenge the Pokémon League, or even the Gyms in any other region besides Hoenn! He can't enter contests, no matter how much Cinder begs him to! You have no IDEA how much he's given up for us! And it's all thanks to you rangers!"

"Because HE leveled one of our detainment facilities!" the Darmanitan ranger yelled back.

This was not good, she could feel the psychic energy welling up within her, crying to be unleashed on her surroundings. It usually meant one thing; her temper was starting to get out of control, she had to stop this conversation now before things got worse. James was counting on her after all, and she wouldn't let the love of her life down. Taking a deep breath she began to use Calm Mind with the hope that it will have the effect its name implies. It seemed to work...a little bit anyways. At the very least it got her emotions under control enough so Selene could try and change the subject "You still haven't answered my question," Selene said through gritted teeth "What's going on here?"

"Well, we've been trying to go into the sandstorm but these ponies won't let us through the gate." Phoebe explained, pointing toward the group of ponyta-like creatures.

"Ponies?"

"That's apparently what their called." the ranger said "Apparently they can have either wings or a horn, being considered a pegasus or a unicorn respectively. There's also a bit of a vocabulary difference, they keep using the word 'pony' whenever we would use the word 'person' or some variant of."

"How do you know that?"

"Because, we've been here since the Sandstorm started and in that time they've been arguing about what to do with us." the Manectric replied "And to make things worse, like humans they can't understand a word we say." he then added.

"I think I can help with that one at least," Selene said, seeing an opportunity to get close to her love "but I think first introductions are in order."

"I'm Carlos, and this is my partner Manectric." the Darmanitan said.

"No nickname?"

"Manectric is my name, I am quite fine with it."

"Hahaha! You all know who I am." Phoebe said whimsically.

"A lot of people know who you are Phoebe. Being in the Elite Four kinda makes you famous." Selene commented with a chuckle. She then turned toward the group of ponies and began approaching them, with the others following close behind.

The group of ponies consisted of two pegasuses 'or is it pegasi?' arguing with a ashen colored unicorn with a light grey mane with red streaks running through it. The pegasi's coats 'it's probably pegasi.' were different shades of green, one a more lime green while the other was aqua, while their manes and tail were the same storm cloud grey and even looked like puffy storm clouds. There was also a wrinkled old pony that had neither wings or a horn that had an orange coat with silver hair, definitely from age unlike the unicorn's hair which seemed like it's natural color. Another thing she noticed was that like the mare they all had some sort of brand on their flanks, but each was a different picture then the next. The ponies were still arguing with each other with one that had wings suggesting that each of the Pokémon be tied up and reported to their 'Princess' whoever that was, whereas the unicorn was trying to explain how bad of an idea it was, even if he didn't know either, to Selene's amusement. Getting enough of their back and fourth argument, Selene reached out to them with her mind.

"Excuse me, perhaps you could let us through?"

"Wha- who said that?" the aqua pegasus said, looking around for the source of the voice in his head. The others were also searching for the source in different directions.

"Behind you." Selene replied, watching as the ponies all turn towards her. With their undivided attention Selene waved an arm at them and gave the best smile she could under the circumstances "Hello."

All of the ponies stared at her with the same struck dumb expression on their faces. The unicorn was the first to break out of his stupor, clearing his throat "we have A LOT to talk about."

"My sentiments exactly."

Rin rolled to the side, barely avoiding another charge from the thing she stumbled upon as it cashed through a tree like it was paper. She turned toward where it went squinting to try and see it would approach from next in anticipation of another follow up rush. She was gasping for breath which, being in the middle of a sandstorm, meant that sand was also making it's way into her mouth. So for every gasp of air she took, she either coughed up or spat out the same amount plus whatever sand she inhaled as well, with blood thanks to that initial strike to her chest. Breathing was difficult to say the least and commanding her body to move fast enough to avoid all of the charges was not doing her any favors either.

There was a ray of hope however. The sandstorm seemed to be dissipating slightly as time went on, which made seeing the surroundings much easier than it was when she first arrived. A part of her wished it wasn't though.

The 'stone slab' she had kicked turned out to be something's tail and that something was some sort of stone armored monster with spikes running down it's back. It had two arms and legs each with three very sharp claws protruding from them. It's lined blue belly, which looked to be the softest part of it, was harder than anything she had ever kicked before. There were also what appeared to be black holes on it's chest and knees in the shape of empty glaring eyes but she never had the opportunity to look into them to check if they actually led anywhere, she was too busy not becoming fertilizer for whatever trees would be left after this.

She heard the pounding of it's feet against the ground to her left and turned to meet it. What she saw was a pair of glaring eyes, their pupils the size of pinpricks, a triangle shaped head, ending in three points at the back of the skull, and four pointy fangs currently glowing in it's open mouth. Gritting her teeth, Rin leaped out of the creature's way, barely avoiding the creatures sharp fangs, and once again rolled along the ground. That time she felt some of the hairs on her tail get pulled out, most likely caught in either it's fangs or it's claws.

One thing she realized about it was once it was moving, there was no stopping it but whenever it missed her, because of it's short legs it took it's time turning around for another charge or bite. At first Rin tried using this moment to buck the monster and found out very quickly that this thing was incredibly hard! Now she was using those moments to catch her breath and put some distance between her and it.

"Ty..."

Rin stopped in her tracks, immediately turning around to face the monster only to find it glaring at her from the corner of its eye. She started backing away slowly, never letting her eyes off it's own.

"Ty...rani..."

Her eyes went wide as she watched the giant beast pivoted on one foot and stomp the other hard into the ground.

"Tyranitar!"

And then all Tartarus broke loose. The ground began to heave and break, trees that were somehow still standing nearby toppled over with a large crash. Rin quickly lost her balance trying to endure the shakes as the ground around her began to sunder. She could feel her insides being torn apart, bones breaking from the tumultuous shakes and organs being scratched or pierced from hitting the broken bones.

Rin realized two things at this point. The first was that this thing was holding back the entire time she had been avoiding it. And the second was a bit more grim as she laid on the ground staring at the monster through the sand.

'I'm...going...to die here...aren't I...'

Rin tried to move as the monster walked towards her but a sharp pain in her barrel forced her to the ground coughing up an unsettling amount of blood.

The monster, which like the Geodudes she decided to name Tyranitar, was standing over her staring at her with contempt "Ty. Ran. ni." it said, reaching down for her.

This was it, Rin closed her eyes and awaited the bitter end. The next thing she was expecting was Tyranitar grabbing her neck and biting down on either her head or barrel, ending it. Moments passed in agonizing silence as she waited for it to be over with...so why wasn't it? The next moment she heard a stomp rumble through the ground. Wearily she opened her eyes and was surprised to see something new standing in front of her.

There was a blue frog-like thing with large yellow triangular ears stood with its back to her crouching on its webbed feet, using one of its hands as balance while the other was extended into the air behind it dripping with water. There were also large bubbles on it's knees and elbows that seemed to be unaffected by the sandstorm going on around them. It stared back at her with one eye scanning the length of her body before focusing on her face with a smirk.

"Grenin. Grenin~ ja!"

"I...have no clue...what you just said..."

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Vs. Tyranitar

Selene and the ashen unicorn stared each other down, watching as each group shifted their positions to mirror each other. Carlos and Manectric stood to Selene's side while the two pegasi mirrored them. Phoebe and the pony stallion stood behind Selene and the ashen unicorn respectively. "Since it appears you can communicate with us, let's start with introductions." the ashen unicorn stated as he stepped forward to the group of Pokémon "My name is Vigilant Specter, officer of the Equestria Royal Guard," he said motioning to himself with a forehoof. Vigilant then motioned to the twin pegasi to his side "to my left is Typhoon Eye, weather pony of Kouma and his sister Hurricane Eye."

"Hey." the aqua pegasus said tersely. He had his wings tucked tightly to his side and his storm cloud-like mane bristled just with him looking at the Pokémon. The brand on Typhoon Eye's flank looked like a swirling cyclone of clouds with a hole in the center.

"Was'sup!" the lime-green pegasus added happily. Unlike her brother, she waved at them whole-heartedly, smiling all the while. Her brand looked like her brothers except the cyclone was spinning in the opposite direction.

Vigilant then moved to the side, revealing the orange and silver pony who merely stared at them with contempt "And behind me is Doctrine, Mayor of Kouma." Vigilant introduced. Mayor Doctrine only responded with a scoff as he turned away from the group, revealing the unrolled piece of parchment with unintelligible scribbles on it as his brand. It was clear to the Pokémon that he wanted nothing to do with them. Sighing, Vigilant retuned his attention to the Pokémon "That's us, now it's your turn."

"Right." Selene replied as she began to mirror Vigilant and introduce her friend, and the Rangers she supposed "My name is Selene, partner to the Pokémon Trainer James Kirikaze, I'm what's known as a Gardevoir." she said via telepathy, moving on to the Dusknoir staring off into space, nodding occasionally "This is Phoebe, member of the Hoenn Elite Four, and currently in the body of a Dusknoir."

Hearing her name, Phoebe snapped her attention back to the group and waved one of her hands "Dusk..."

"She says 'hi' by the way." Selene translated before moving on "He is Pokemon Ranger Carlos, and a Darmanitan. The other one is his partner Manectric." the two ranger Pokémon nodded, not happy they found themselves in. Having the Pokémon of a criminal acting as a liaison was a huge blow to their pride "Collectively we are a species known as a Pokemon." Selene finished "So, who wants to answer the first question, you or us?"

"How about you." Vigilant Specter said "First off, where's this 'Hoenn' you mentioned? I've never heard of it before."

"We could say the same about your 'Equestria'." Selene replied "Have you heard of Sinnoh? What about Kanto? Kalos? Unova? ...Almia?" Selene listed off, making the Darmanitan clench his fist at the last one.

"There's nowhere on Equus called any of those."

"Equus? You mean Earth right? You know, the planet were currently standing on." Selene corrected "...Right?"

"This planet is called Equus, not Earth!" Doctrine interjected behind the royal guard.

Three of the four Pokémon stared at the ponies wide-eyed and slack-jawed, the odd one out was still staring away from the group, nodding occasionally. Selene exchanged glances with the others, to make sure she didn't mishear something. Phoebe noticed her stare and looked back at her inquisitively, Carlos was still looking at the ponies with wide-eyes and his mouth almost literally hitting the ground, and Manectric was not much better.

'James is going to freak when he hears this.' Selene thought to herself as she came to terms with what the implications of what they just said were. Sensing the discomfort growing from the ponies, she regained her composure "I think it's safe to say we're not from this planet, so saying where Hoenn is would be moot."

"Another world? Really?" Vigilant said as he gave Selene a disbelieving stare. When she nodded in affirmation he let out a disappointed sigh "Okay, new question; how are you speaking to us in our heads?"

"I'm using telepathy. It's a specialty of Psychic types like me." Selene said matter of factly.

"Telewha-?"

"Mind reading sis... mind reading." Typhoon Eye said evenly.

Vigilant raised a forehoof to his head "so your projecting your thoughts into our heads in a way that we would understand." he questioned Selene who replied with a nod "Why? You clearly understand our language."

"Because while I may know the language, that doesn't mean I can speak it." Selene answered "Also, Phoebe and Carlos used to be able to speak the way you do." she then once again shifted to the side revealing Phoebe staring off into space "Let's see what they have to say. Phoebe? Carlos?"

"Dusk~ dusknoir! (Heya guys!)" Phoebe said once again to the group.

"Darmanitan...(I feel like I'm being used...)" Carlos mumbled.

"Gar. (You are.)" Selene said reassuringly before returning to her mental link "See? Now it my turn; Can we enter the estate?"

"Are you crazy!? Do you not see the ferocious sandstorm happening in there?" Doctrine chided.

Slowly but surely, Selene was starting to dislike that pony. Still, there was work to be done and whatever James was facing she was certain that he would need help. Taking a breath to calm down she continued on, suppressing the urge to make a retort "the sandstorm is most likely being caused by some type of Pokémon, most likely scared or worried about something beyond the point of rational thought." she stated, earning a surprised reaction from each of the ponies. The pegasi 'it's definitely pegasi' in particular looked the most surprised.

"Pokémon can control the weather too!?" Hurricane Eye asked, flying in front of Selene's face with an excited grin "So cool!"

"Yeah, fantastic..." Her brother muttered.

Recovering from the invasion of personal space by something other than James, Selene gently pushed Hurricane Eye away from her face with Psychic before clearing her throat "I also have reason to believe that one of you ponies has already entered it in an attempt to rescue her grandfather. Red coat, short black mane, ring any bells?"

"Ringo." they all said in a deadpan tone.

Seeing the confused look on Selene, as well as the surprised look on the two rangers and the...aloof expression of the flowery one, 'ok, does that one even care about what was going on around her?' Vigilant thought, going off on a tangent. Deciding to ignore it, he looked back to the (mostly) confused Pokémon "Ringo Apple, Granddaughter of Fuji Apple, the owner of this apple orchard."

"That's Fuji Apple the Fourth, enforcer!" an old male voice interrupted. The voice belonged to a tan pony with no wings or horn balancing a wooden plate with five ceramic teacups on his back. Like the mayor, Fuji had a greying mane and tail. Unlike the mayor, Fuji's face had wrinkles and his legs were much thinner than the rest of them, showing how much older than the rest of the ponies here. His brand was that of a group of apple trees with yellowish-red apples on it.

"Enforcer?"

"Long story..." Vigilant sighed, clearly not interested in telling said story.

"Sorry 'bout the interruption. Mah names Fuji Apple the Fourth, named after mah great grandpappy. Now, what's this about mah granddaughter?"

"I think she's in this sandstorm looking for whatever may have caused it, and you..." Selene answered "On behalf of the Pokémon here I am asking that-"

Before she could say anymore everyone there heard the rumble of the earth followed shortly after by the physical shaking of the ground beneath them. Hurricane Eye and Typhoon Eye flew up into the air and Phoebe blinked her cyclopean eye out of her trance and looked around, finally noticing the world was shaking. Doctrine and Vigilant braced themselves and tried to keep themselves up, only to fall to the ground shortly after. Carlos and Manectric tried to do the same but didn't last much longer while Selene knelt down on one knee and rode out the shakes. All the group could hear was the rumbling of the ground around them and the breaking of tiles falling from the gate until the shakes eventually stopped.

"Consarn it...those were my good teacups too." Fuji complained as the teacups he had been balancing on his back had fallen to the ground and shattered, spilling the tea as well. Amazingly though the old stallion had remained standing throughout the whole thing.

"Was that an earthquake?" Hurricane Eye asked, looking around at the damage from the air.

Aside from Fuji's teacups, a few tiles on the roof of the gate had fallen off, the stone foundation of the surrounding wall had been shook loose in some places and the cobblestone pathway leading to the main house had been sundered, and that was only the damage that could be seen from outside the sandstorm. No one knew what the inside of the house looked like now.

But Selene wasn't focused on that right now, she was focused on the whisper she heard in her head. A whisper that belonged to the mare she and James had been following. For the first time since she ran off, the mare, Ringo was finally able to make a coherent thought. Selene had been searching constantly for Ringo's thoughts so that when she had to find her it wouldn't take long to find her. But now that she finally has a mental link with Ringo, her blood ran cold at the thought currently going through her head.

'I'm...going...to die here...aren't I...'

Throwing aside all forms of diplomacy, Selene began making her way towards the ponies, and the gate they were standing in front of "Change of plans! Ringo is in danger! We're entering the sandstorm now whether you like it or not!" she said to everyone present, not just the ponies. Upon hearing that, Carlos and Phoebe snapped to attention and followed suit, Manectric shadowing his partner. The two pegasi then followed suit, leaving Vigilant, Doctrine, and Fuji standing where they were.

"What? Hey! Stop!" Vigilant commanded, conjuring his magic to restrain Selene in an indigo aura. Selene responded by turning towards him, her eyes and body glowing light blue, and capturing him in her own Psychic attack. The strain became too much for Vigilant an he released Selene from his grasp "You can't-" he tried to protest, only to be cut off by a hoof.

"There's somethin' ya gotta ask yerself, enforcer." Fuji said in an even tone "If ah pony's life is on the line, are you gonna sit back and do nothing because your rules say you can't help? Or are ya goin to save that somepony, even if you have ta bend those rules?" he then removed his hoof from Vigilant's path and slowly started making his way inside "You better have an answer ta that question soon before ya make too many enemies."

Vigilant Specter struggled with what to do. He knew he couldn't stop them, Selene had proven that when she overpowered his magic. And it wasn't like they were going on some rampage, they were going to save somepony. With a loud growl he finally relented "Hang on, I'm coming with you!" he yelled, running to catch up to the group.

James dashed through the sandstorm, keeping his eyes barely open enough to see where he was going and not much else. The Earthquake attack he felt gave him a clue where the Pokémon he was searching for was as well as what the condition of the mare was. It also would give Selene a chance to approach the Pokémon with the Rangers and in order for "version two" to work, he had to get there first and at least stop the sandstorm.

All things considered, it was time to stop dillydallying.

As he ran through the sand, he held larger versions of his Water Shuriken in each of his palms, closely spinning near his head catching any sand that blew through and tossing it away from his face. James had found out that the shurikens he produces can be infused with quite a bit of water and that the water he created from his hands could be conjured without a medium. Given enough time, he could create shurikens as big as him. The drawback was one that size would require both hands to create and maintain and wouldn't last long once it was thrown so instead he stuck with a medium sized pair in his hands.

He was also keeping his tongue tucked away in his mouth considering everything he tasted with it today, including a double helping of wood, he felt adding sand to the list could wait. With his vision mostly unhindered by the sand, he ran towards the epicenter of the Earthquake where he expected to find the both the source of the storm and whatever was unlucky enough to cause the quake.

And as he expected he saw in the distance a Pokémon looming over the body of something, reaching out to grab it. What he also expected was that the body looked like the mare that he and Selene had been following.

What he was not expecting was the Pokémon to turn out to be a Tyranitar.

'Well I already planned on beating whatever was causing this sandstorm...the bar's just a little higher than I originally thought. I can handle this, no problem.' James thought as he closed the distance between him and the rampaging Pokémon 'Besides, it's my time to shine! Got my one-liner picked out and everything.

Increasing his speed, James uncrossed his arms, moving the Water Shurikens to his sides. Locked on to his target, James hurled the first shuriken at the Tyranitar hitting its outstretched arm, knocking it away from the fallen mare. The Tyranitar looked his way in confusion just in time to notice the second shuriken headed directly towards its surprised face.

Out of reflex the Tyranitar leapt away from the incoming projectile, putting some distance between it and the mare.

James took this opportunity to slide to a stop in between it and the mare, kicking up a dust cloud with his feet. Looking over the mare he could tell she would not have lasted another attack, or even being moved roughly for that matter. 'Well the hero does show up just in the nick of time...' he mused.

The mare's red coat was covered in dirt, sand, and most likely her own blood as well. she had bruises all over her body, namely her barrel, hooves, and a large one on her chest. throughout her core there were bumps sticking out of her, either damaged organs from the fighting or more likely broken bones, or both for all he knew! Her head was also laying in a pool of her own blood, one slowly getting bigger if the drip coming from her mouth was any indication.

And yet she was still conscious!

Through barely open eyes, she looked back at him. She was breathing, but her breaths were short and raspy. She was visibly in a tremendous amount of pain, yet still somehow aware of her surroundings 'Damn, she took on a Tyranitar head on, alone, and is still breathing!? I LIKE HER!' James thought.

This was it, this was the moment he was hoping for. A damsel in distress behind him (even if it was an alien mare), a ferocious monster in front of him (or at least an angry Tyranitar but close enough...), and witnesses on their way (probably), It was time to be a badass! Giving the mare a smirk, he set one of his arms on the ground and raised the other behind his head. And in a voice that radiated confidence he said; "Don't worry. The hero...is here!"

"I...have no clue...what you're saying."

...

"Seriously!" James yelled, turning towards the bloodied mare "It took me five minutes to think of a decent one-liner! Five. Minutes. In a sandstorm no less! And you're telling me that-" his tirade was interrupted when she broke out into a coughing fit, spewing up more blood into the pool under her "Right...dying." he noted before changing his tone from irate, to comforting, "Ok, just lay there and get some rest. Help is already on the way. In the meantime," to determined "I'll handle him."

"Stay out of my way..." the Tyranitar growled.

"Great Arceus you're a girl..." James blurted out subconciously "Well this is awkward, I honestly thought you were a guy." he amended as his cheeks slowly turned red.

"Move!" she yelled.

Instead of doing what she said, James stood up and rubbed the back of his head "yeaaahh no. See, I've kinda been tailing this thing all day and I think I'm starting to get attached to it. I mean, she was able to outmaneuver me, a Greninja, and was able to go a few rounds with you, a Tyranitar, so there must be more to her than meet's the eye. Speaking of, what if she could transform, or had wings, or, or could level a mountain with one hand, or hoof I suppose, and was fighting against these other transforming creatures that took over her homeland. I couldn't let an opportunity like that pass m by! Anyway, that's just one reason I can't let you hurt her. Another is-"

James continued rambling on, talking about how he couldn't because the stars weren't in the proper alignment, or that he couldn't see with the sandstorm raging, or that he wasn't prepared to, going into excruciating detail about all of those points. Eventually Tyranitar's patience dried up "SHUT UP! Stone Edg-"

"Water Shuriken!" Jamed interrupted, tossing a small Water Shuriken at her face and landing a direct hit. He then pointed a webbed finger at the Armor Pokemon "Heroes rule number five: never interrupt the seemingly pointless monologue." he scolded.

That was the last straw. The mare could wait. She wanted this frog dead NOW! "Graaah! Just GO AWAY!"

"Make me! Water Shuriken!" he said, throwing three more shurikens at her eyes.

The Tyranitar used her arm to shield her eyes from the attack. She then swatted off the moisture that had accumulated from the paltry attack and returned her gaze to the Greninja...only to find that he was no longer there. She looked through the sandstorm for any signs of where the Ninja Pokemon ran off to, and was hit in the knee by a large Water Shuriken. the force from the hit was enough to make her kneel over, and the follow-up shurikens to the face stung like a Beedrill's Twinneedle. Yet despite the flurry of water projectiles, all they did was make her angrier. Shaking the excess water from her face she glared toward where the shurikens came from "Grah! Stop hiding and fight me!"

"Start looking in the right place and I will." a voice said from very close by, in fact, it sounded like it was coming from on top of her. Looking towards the back of her neck as best as she could, she saw James crouched onto her back with a carefree smile on his face holding up a large Water Shuriken "Yo" was all he said as he brought the shuriken down on her face causing it to rupture and drench her once more. He then leapt off the flailing Tyranitar, landing a few feet back 'hey, this is pretty easy. I can handle this.'

Now seething and finally having the Greninja in her line of sight, the Tyranitar rushed forward prepared to sink its fangs into it with its mighty Crunch attack. James dodged the attack by leaping to the side with barely enough time to notice a large spiked tail heading in his direction. Acting fast, James ducked down as far as he could to avoid the tail sweep and jumped backwards into the air when the tail corrected for his dodge and came back. Seeing an opening, Tyranitar opened her mouth and began gathering up all the energy it could and, in the form of a massive beam, fired it at where the Greninja would land.

"Hyper Beam!"

James eyes widened, realizing his mistake as the beam of energy easily bigger than him was barreling towards him. He had jumped too high. Now as he fell towards the ground and the incoming Hyper Beam he was guarding with his arms and legs hoping, wishing, and praying that he was somewhere else right now to no avail. 'damn damn damn damn damn DAMN!'

Tyranitar watched as the Greninja was engulfed in the blast, his silhouette vanishing in the light of the beam as it continued through the sandstorm, tearing it apart and impacting into the mountain range on the horizon. She watched as her sandstorm dissipated and the blackened remains of the Greninja laid on the ground in front of her. The Hyper Beam had vaporized its limbs and face, leaving only the charred body left. Satisfied with her work she turned her attention back to the strange dying Ponyta thing who looked at her 'saviors' corpse in complete shock. Behind her, the Tyranitar could now see more approaching Pokémon and more of the strange creatures, two of which had wings. Letting out a low growl she cursed as the Pokémon formed a perimeter around the dying creature 'MORE distractions!' she seethed as she took a defensive stance, ready for whatever attack may come.

Selene ran through the storm in the direction of Ringo's thoughts using Psychic to shield herself from the sand by using the sand as a shield. The group of Pokémon and ponies that chose to follow her were on her tail, being protected by an indigo colored barrier. To give Vigilant some credit, he was quite skilled when it came to this 'magic'. He had been able to create and move a barrier large enough to fit three ponies and relatively large Pokémon.

If she had the time, Selene might ask more about his talents or even challenge him to a battle. He was a guard so he must know how to fight...right? But alas, right now her attention was focused on who should be in front of her. She sensed that Ringo's emotions were becoming more peaceful, perhaps somebody was holding off the Pokémon assailing her. Then again it could also mean she has come to terms with her demise.

Shaking off the negative thought, Selene pushed harder through the sandstorm, intent on saving Ringo and making sure James doesn't do something reckless. That was her job after all...

Her momentum was halted when a beam of light cut through the sky in the distance, heading inland towards a far off mountain range. The air around her trembled as the shockwave from the beam reached her, sending the airborne sand into turmoil. When the group opened their eyes after the shockwave, the sandstorm had dissipated, giving an unobstructed view of their surroundings, and the devastation wrought. Every inch of ground was covered in sand with toppled trees littering the ground and wasted apples smothered in sand. Whatever trees that were left standing were stripped of their bark, leaves, and especially fruit, leaving spiked growths of wood protruding from the ground, glittering from the oppressive heat of the sun. To make things worse was that a short distance in front of them was the back of a Pokémon that none of the former humans wanted to see up close; a Tyranitar 'At least now we don't have to worry about the sandstorm.' Selene sighed, releasing her Psychic as she focused on the thing laying on the ground between her and it

The still body of a red, bloodied mare.

"Rin-!" was all Hurricane Eye could say before her mouth was enveloped in a light blue aura.

Selene turned toward her with a finger over her mouth. "shh...The Tyranitar doesn't know we're here yet, and I can heal her so long as I can get close." she said calmly and evenly, even if she was anything but.

James should've been there but aside from a few desolate trees, all she could see was Ringo, Tyranitar, and the group behind her "Don't. Panic." she said to everyone in the group, herself included as they quickly made their way closer to Ringo.

Selene mentally cursed as the Tyranitar looked back at the dying pony and then to them growling. She was the first to reach Ringo kneeling down beside her and began using repeated Heal Pulses with Carlos, Manectric, and Phoebe standing in front of Ringo, covering her and Selene as she worked. Vigilant Specter joined the Pokémon on the front while the pegasi stood near the mare with worried expressions on their face.

Slowly but surely the bruises all over her body faded away, the blood dripping from her mouth stopped, and the lumps dotting her chest and barrel receded back into her as the soft light soaked into the mare's body. After a while, she began to look as normal as the other ponies did, or at least as 'normal' as Selene thought. Hooves were bent the way they should be, nothing was sticking out of her, and she was no longer bleeding out so...she was calling it good.

Which is why when Ringo sprung up and ran past the Tyranitar, alarm bells started ringing in Selene's head.

'No...no, no, NO!' Ringo screamed. How did it go so wrong? Greninja had been doing so well. He had knocked it down, he had damaged it, he was winning!

Until that beam of energy consumed him.

Now she ran towards the charred remains laying on the ground behind Tyranitar, the monster letting her pass and keeping its attention on the new creatures that appeared, along with Hurry, Ty, and the enforcer. She slid down to his blackened husk fighting back tears "why..." she whispered to the remains "Why did you try to save me? You didn't even know me."

"Ty~raa...!" Tyranitar roared causing one of the creatures, the white and cyan one that healed her Rin noticed, to take a shuddering step back. The other three creatures each started their own forms of attack, ready to move at a moments notice. The big red one's fists started burning in a brilliant flame, the yellow and blue one was discharging electrical sparks from its fur, and the floating cyclops thing had conjured a sphere of darkness in its hand.

"I guess you were something special to her" Rin lamented, nuzzling the blackened remains. She didn't understand a word Greninja said, she couldn't figure out why it was protecting her to begin with or where it came from, she didn't even know what it actually was. She just called it 'Greninja' because like the other weird creatures she's seen today that was all it said.

But another thing she didn't understand was...why was his body so plush? "nin, nin, nin, nin..."

Her ears turned, hearing something strange in the wind as she looked around. "nin, nin, nin..."

She then took a closer look at the remains...and found something odd about them. What was left of the arms were in the wrong spot, the legs were too far apart, and she could just barely see the remains of a smiling face "is this...a doll?"

"Nin, nin, nin~ja!" a familiar voice said as it dropkicked the back of Tyranitars head.

He put everything he had into his dropkick, planting the Tyranitars head into the ground before leaping off and landing beside the mare. She currently had a dumbstruck expression on her face and continued to do so as he hoisted her up over his shoulder and leapt towards Selene and the group. "So, the cavalry's arrived." he said in an even tone, setting down the mare "Unfortunately you're too late, I'm claiming this battle as mine. Don't interfere."

He watched as Selene fought the urge to embrace him right then and there, knowing it would ruin their plan 'I promise to make it up to you later.' he vowed.

His attention didn't remain on her for long as the ranger Darmanitan stepped forward, glaring at him "and who exactly are you?"

That was the question he had been dreading. The entire reason he split up with Selene, fought the Tyranitar alone, and was now rejecting their help. As far as the Rangers were concerned, James Kirikaze was a dangerous criminal and a Poképhile who sent one of their members into a coma and many others to the hospital using his slaves.

So as long as there were rangers nearby he couldn't be "James Kirikaze".

"My name is Kira."

Kira carefuly watched the expressions of the Pokémon. He noticed Selene's expression drop at the sound of his second name, the name he used most often when dealing with Pokémon poachers and other criminals who may have had friends in high and low(er) places. Only seven people outside his team knew the connection between James and Kira, and judging by the surprised expression of the Dusknoir it was one of those seven. The rangers still looked at him in annoyance, their expression unchanging, good.

"Ok Kira," the Manectric started "do you know that your battle has been destroying these ponies' apple orchard?"

'They're called ponies!? huh, so close..." Kira thought before turning toward the Tyranitar, replying "then I will finish this quickly." and sped off toward the Armor Pokémon with a Water Shuriken ready.

Tyranitar saw red, blue, and even more red. The Ponyta-thing that attacked her was getting up again thanks to the shiny Gardevoir. The Greninja she thought she killed was coming back at her with renewed vigor. And now there were three more Water Shurikens heading for her face...wait...what? Tyranitar had no choice but to close her eyes as the three shurikens impacted her head, one would have hit her eye if the eyelid wasn't in the way. When she opened her eyes, the Greninja was gone again! "Raaagh! Where are you!?" Tyranitar yelled "Come out or I'll level EVERYTHING! Earthqu-" her attack was once again interrupted by a shuriken hitting her face eliciting a yell in response.

Kira hid behind one of the stripped trees, watching the Tyranitar curse his name and roar in every direction 'this isn't working...' he thought, looking at the raging Pokémon 'every hit I land, she just shrugs it off and attacks again. I need something with a bit more power behind it...' looking over his body for some sort of inspiration for another move he knows. Legs aren't giving him any ideas, for so many reasons he's not using his tongue, and his hands were still dripping from the last Water Shuriken 'maybe...' he thought, trying to conjure more water in his hand, with some success shown by the blue sphere the size of a Voltorb 'well, one way or another this is gonna hurt. I just hope it's not me.' making peace with himself incase this went south fast, he leapt out of his hiding and rushed toward Tyranitar. No longer hiding, Kira launched the sphere of water towards his opponents gut only to have the sphere fall short and hit the ground below her.

Noticing the failed attack, Tyranitar turned toward the Greninja intent on keeping him in her sights and quickly stomped the ground "Stone Edge!" she called out as jagged stones began to pierce though the ground.

Kira moved quickly to avoid the Stone Edge, jumping to the side seconds before the first spikes erupted from the ground. He couldn't rest long as a second batch appeared, jumping backwards out of instinct to avoid getting skewered. He then jumped onto one of the stone spikes, dodging the third Stone Edge attack and, using it as a push board, propelled himself towards Tyranitar, this time creating another sphere of water with both of his hands. Landing on the moistened ground, he slid right up to Tyranitar and thrust the sphere into the base of her neck.

"This ends now! Water Pulse!" Kira yelled as the sphere exploded into a miniature torrent, nearly knocking Tyranitar off her feet. She struggled to keep her balance from the attack as her throat was compressed by the shockwave. Tyranitar was able to keep standing and taking in air to replace what was forced out, she brought her head down to where Kira was.

And right into the next Water Pulse.

The following attack hit directly in the center of Tyranitar's face, filling her mouth with water and knocking her vision skyward once more. The world around her was spinning and she couldn't think straight anymore. What she could see was that the Greninja had taken a few steps back and like the rest of the colored blobs in the distance were watching what she was doing. She tried taking one step forward and found it nearly impossible to not lose her balance. After a second step, she found out nearly impossible had become completely impossible. With a resounding thud Tyranitar fell onto her belly and stared at the group with water filled eyes.

Kira relaxed as the fallen Tyranitar made no effort to get back up, dissipating the Water Shuriken he was holding just in case things continued. Motioning to the group that it was safe he bent down to the Tyranitar's head and asked in a calm but stern tone; "Why did you create a sandstorm?"

"I had to..." Tyranitar shakily replied.

"That doesn't answer my question. Why did you have to?"

"To find him..."

"Find WHO?"

"To find my baby!" Tyranitar snapped, causing everyone else present to take a step back. Yet to all of the Pokémon present's surprise her voice wasn't out of anger but out of desperation "I just wanted to find my baby Larvitar! If he was stuck in the bushes my sandstorm would have freed him! if he had been Pokénapped my sandstorm would have given him the cover to escape! He only emerged a week ago and he's still so naïve about the world..." Tyranitar continued with tears streaming down her face "if someone from Team Rocket found him, I could never forgive myself."

'Well...now I feel like a dick.' Kira thought, after hearing everything the Tyranitar mother said. What made it sting worse was that it was all true because right in front of him, Selene, the rangers, and the ponies was something you don't just see.

The Tyranitar, the indestructible Armor Pokémon known for its love for battle, a Pokémon known to level mountains and change landscapes, was on her knees with her head pressed against the ground begging "please...help me. Help me find my Larvitar. I'll do anything, but, please...he's just a child. I just wanted to find my baby Larvitar..."

At this point there were two things Kira could do, but only one of those things entered his mind. With a long sigh, he wrapped his tongue around him in a scarf and turned back to the group, namely the Darmanitan ranger "well, you heard the mother and I already know my answer, what's yours?"

"As a Pokémon Ranger of Hoenn, I cannot let a baby Pokémon be away from its mother in a new land, regardless of what body I find myself in." the ranger responded, showing his conviction with his eyebrows blazing higher than ever.

"My feelings are the same. I will follow my partner wherever he may go." the Manectric added.

"As one of Hoenn's Elite Four, it's my duty to help out people and Pokémon in need! You can count me in...Kira." the Dusknoir said in a mock salute.

'Wait...flowery patterns, knows who I really am, Hoenn Elite Four, Ghost-type body...Phoebe!?!' Kira realized, trying his hardest to not show his epiphany to the rangers in front of him. Thankfully the next voice made that easier.

"My trainer James would never allow a Pokémon to be away from its family, not if he had any say in it, and I share his feelings, as does the rest of his team." Selene declared "you have my full support, Kira."

"Thank you, all of you." Kira said, smiling behind his scarf. he then retuned his attention to the kneeling Tyranitar who only looked on with tears still streaming down her face in disbelief and awe "You heard them, you've got our full support. We'll find Larvitar for yo-"

"Thank you!" Tyranitar said, embracing Kira and silencing anything else he had to say as tears ran down onto his head "Thank you..."

'Current list of things I thought I would never taste: dirt, wood, sand, Tyranitar tears. what's next Houndoom drool?'

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Sun In The Sand

Rin...wasn't sure what she just witnessed. The last thing that made sense to her was that she was dying, bleeding from her organs being punctured by her broken bones to be specific, and some frog thing she named Greninja tried to rescue her only to be reduced to a blackened lump. That's when more strange creatures arrived with the enforcer and the weather twins, one of them somehow able to heal her wounds. Not really thinking, she then went over to Greninja's charred body and embraced it tightly.

Then everything went crazy. The thing in her hooves wasn't the remains of a living thing but was in fact a charred doll. After that Greninja went flying over her and planted both of its feet into the back of Tyranitars head. And while Tyranitar was pulling itself out of the ground Greninja exchanged a few words that she, unsurprisingly, couldn't understand before retuning to the battle, finishing it off with two spheres of water to the neck and face. And yet thing got crazier as Tyranitar then started bawling and eventually hugged Greninja.

This made it very easy for one lime-colored pegasus to fly up and tackle the distracted red earth pony.

"Rin! You're ok!" Hurricane Eye squealed as she held her friend in a death hug.

"Hurry...choking...stop..." Rin gasped, trying to not pass out from loss of oxygen or her bones breaking...again.

Hurricane Eye opened her eyes, finally noticing her friend rapidly tapping on her back "oh! Sorry, hehe." she said sheepishly, releasing her from the embrace.

Now that she was free, Rin greedily sucked in large breaths of air as she focused on her friend. Hurricane Eye always assaulted her with one of these hugs whenever she would get injured or threatened. It was her way of showing that she cared and it did make Rin feel better every time she did it, even if she nearly blacked out each time.

With her lungs once again filled with air, she looked beck at Hurricane Eye's frizzy mane and smiling face and trying her best to not chuckle "pff...what happened to your mane?" she said from behind her hoof, failing.

"Heheh, me and Ty tried to blow the sandstorm away." Hurry said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head and knocking loose some sand caught in her mane "Thought we were doin pretty well too, until the sandstorm blew us away. I swear, first thing I'm doin' when I get home is brushing this sandy mess back to normal." she griped, examining the now sand covered hoof she used to scratch her head.

"So glad you have your priorities straight," Rin replied in an amused tone. She then surveyed the area around her, noting to what extent the sandstorm had damaged the orchard.

It wasn't good. From where she stood nearly half the orchard was covered in a thick layer of sand. Of that half, eighty percent of the trees that were supposed to be there had been either toppled over or had their fruit destroyed by the sand and the remaining trees were being burnt from the glaring midday sun. "I'm going to be cleaning this sand for Celestia knows how long." Rin sighed. One of the downsides of caring so much about appearances was that she was the only farmhand working at the orchard besides her grandpa, and even then he only tends to the specialty apples behind the house because only he knows how.

"Ringo."

Rin jumped as the new voice that echoed through her mind "who said that?" she said scanning around to find the source of he voice but only seeing the creatures and ponies talking amongst themselves.

"Said what?" Hurry said, also looking around with her friend "ohhh...that might've been Selene," the lime pegasus said once she noticed two of the creatures staring at the two, one being the tall, slender, cyan and white one and the other being Tyranitar "that's her over there. Apparently she can talk using her mind, at least that's what Ty said. She called it tele-something-or-other, I don't really know how to say it." Hurry mused. Her musings stopped when she noticed the piercing glare coming from Selene's eyes "You should probably see what she wants, or else she might mess with your head and make you think you're a seagull or something."

Rin just stared at her friend unamused at her warning "I really doubt she could do something like that..."

"True, the best I could do is a Slowpoke. Instead I would just tear apart your mind and leave you no more sentient than a pile of dirt." Selene said matter of factly, echoing her voice through both of their heads his time "Now please, while I'm still asking nicely, come here."

Not wanting to know whether or not her claim was true, Rin slowly walked up to the two while Hurricane silently prayed to Celestia for her friends well-being "yes?" Rin asked tentatively.

"Apologize." was all Selene said.

It was all Selene needed to say to make Rin grit her teeth "apologize? It tried to kill me! I think it should apologize to me." Rin retorted, watching as Tyranitar glared at her and stepped forward to attack only to be cut off by one of Selene's arms and a cautionary glare.

Unfazed by the outburst, Selene returned her attention to Rin "you kicked her, rather hard I might add, when she was looking for her son calling her, and I quote, a 'stupid rock'. Apologize."

Rin wanted to argue with her, to say that nearly dying was more than compensation for kicking her tail. On the other hoof Selene healed her from the brink of death, intimidated Tyranitar, and was so nonchalant about turning her mind into a vegetable it actually scared her to wonder what else she could do. Considering it was in her best interest to comply, she hung her head and sighed, resigning herself to whatever happens next "alright...fine...I'm sorry. I was worried about my grandpa, in the middle of a sandstorm, and didn't have the best opinion of rocks at the time so I'm sorry ok." while her tone suggested otherwise she really did mean her apology.

Selene and Tyranitar whispered amongst themselves for a moment, occasionally nodding to each other before turning their attention back to Rin with a smile "apology accepted," Selene answered. Tyranitar also chimed in with a few growls "and she also says that she may have overreacted as well..." Selene translated.

'Gee, you think?'

"I can still hear you, you know."

If it weren't for her already red coat, her head would be the same color as the surviving apples "y-you said that her son is missing. Shouldn't we be trying to find him?"

"Yes, shouldn't we?" Vigilant interjected, walking with the twin pegasi and attracting the attention of the others "We may be from different worlds but a missing foal is a big deal around here. Let me help. At least then I can act as an intermediary between you Pokemon and the townsponies."

"Thank you, both of you, for helping." Selene said in a bow. Shortly afterwards the big red one, 'Darmanitan' if Rin was still going to name them based on what she heard them say, started talking to her with the rest of the Pokemon chiming in on occasion. After a back and forth conversation between Darmanitan and Selene, with Tyranitar visibly getting angry at one point, Greninja clenching its fist and interjecting from time to time, and 'Dusknoir' looking away dejectedly for the majority of the talk, the entire group nodded in agreement and turned towards the four Kouma ponies "Here's our plan," Selene began "we'll split up into two teams. Carlos, Manectric, and Phoebe will go with Vigilant Specter and search the town for any signs of Larvitar. In the meantime Kira, Tyranitar and I will search the rest of the orchard with Ringo for the same thing." she said while using her hands to point out the members of each team. To her surprise, Rin had been right about Tyranitar's name but was wrong when it came to Darmanitan, Greninja, and Dusknoir. "We will search our designated areas until sunset and rendezvous at the orchard gates. Should either of our teams find something, Phoebe or I will fire off an attack into the air and we'll immediately head to the rendezvous point. Does everyone understand?" she asked the ponies. When the two mentioned nodded their heads, Selene couldn't help but smirk "Good, then let's go."

Each of the Pokemon town team said some encouraging words to Selene and headed towards town. The act unintentionally frustrated Rin since she couldn't understand a word they said and also because all she got was a "good luck" from Vigilant as he left, which didn't amount to anything considering she shared her grandpa's sentiment about the enforcer. She was also nervous with working with Tyranitar on Fuji's farm but at the same time was reassured that she was with the one that healed her and the one that beat Tyranitar. All in all she felt confident that they would find Larvitar, whatever Larvitar looked like anyway.

"Hey! what about me and Ty? What are we gonna do?"

"Someone has to stay behind and clean up Mr. Fuji's house." Selene answered over her shoulder as her group walked deeper into the orchard.

"Whaaat! That's lame..." Hurricane Eye moaned.

"No use crying over it sis, let's just get it done." Typhoon Eye said as he started blowing the sand into a pile with his wings.

Twenty-seven Pokémon and twenty-four ponies later the Pokémon of the town team sat in the middle of town exhausted as the sun beat down on them watching the ponies react to the new Pokémon in town, many of them they already questioned.

"Nothing..." Carlos said to the group, sitting against the wall of a building staring blankly into the sky all the while "seventeen Pokémon and eight former humans, and none of them have seen a Larvitar around here."

"My Odor Sleuth is useless with all this new stuff around us." Manectric complained, laying beside Carlos panting "And he's not hiding underneath any of the buildings either."

"He's not in any of the buildings, and nobody I talked to has seen him either." Phoebe added, laying on the ground in the shade with her arms stretched out and her lower body sunken into the ground.

From what Carlos had seen, Phoebe just floated around aimlessly the entire time they had been searching, usually just under the rooftops "Phoebe, I have SO many questions for you right now." he said with equal parts concern, scolding, and intrigue.

"Here you go guys! Ice cream for each of you." Vigilant Specter said, levitating a tray with four sundaes on it with him. Though the speaker might as well have been from Arceus himself as the ice cream was nothing short of a divine blessing in the oppressive heat. Each one had an assortment of fruits topped on it and was drizzled in chocolate syrup with a spoon sticking out of the side. He stopped when he saw how the Darmanitan was leaning against the building "Um, Carlos? Your eyebrows are burning that wall down."

Surprised, each of the Pokémon looked at the wall Carlos had been leaning on. Sure enough, there were two burning holes already in the wall. Acting quickly, Carlos franticly tried to smother the fire with his hands while Phoebe attempted to suffocate the fires by phasing her hands through the wall where the holes were.

When the fires were put out, Carlos let out a long sigh and bowed to the owner of the home apologizing repeatedly 'I bet I'm the only human Pokémon that's managed to accidentally catch a building on fire.' he chided before moving a safe distance away from the building and into the direct sunlight. That didn't matter anymore as one of the sundaes floated over to him in an indigo aura, setting down in front of him just like two others had done for the remaining Pokémon. After thanking Vigilant for the ice cream (even if he couldn't understand them still) the trio dug in and reveled in the chilled sweet flavor of their treat.

"Ahh, this hits the spot!" Phoebe exclaimed, putting another spoonful into the mouth on her stomach.

Carlos watched with his mouth agape as the ghost Pokémon continued to scarf her ice cream literally into her stomach "Can you even eat that?" he absentmindedly asked. He may not be an expert on Ghost Pokémon but he was almost certain that they didn't need to eat anything to survive.

"Of course." Phoebe replied with a mouth/bellyful of ice cream "Why?"

"Er...no reason." It was probably best if he dropped the issue.

"So, what are we going to do, partner?" Manectric asked as he licked his sundae, the fruit having already been eaten.

"What else, expand the search area until we find him or until it's time to rendezvous."

"I mean about Kira." he corrected, earning the attention of the other team members "I don't know if you noticed but when we first met him, he was covered in Selene's scent."

"Now that you mentioned it, he did smell funny. I just thought that was what a Greninja smelled like to a Pokémon." Carlos said to himself. That wasn't all he considered weird about the Greninja either, the way he fought was sloppy, he failed to use some of his moves during the battle, and even then he only used two different Water type attacks, not a random assortment of moves and then seeing what works. No...this Greninja was knowledgeable about his opponent but not himself, like how he is right now.

And then there was the aftermath. When the groups were being determined, it was his idea to have the Tyranitar join the orchard team and make Phoebe be apart of the town team. Not that either decision was a bad one but it filled up who was going where quickly, or another way to look at it, made it where he would have to be in Selene's group to keep the teams even. But that raises the question; why would an unknown Greninja want to team up with the shiny Gardevoir?

Unless he wasn't an unknown Greninja "In fact there's a lot of things about him that are suspicious."

"W-wait a moment," Phoebe interrupted, taking a break from eating her ice cream "maybe Kira bumped into her and they took a tumble together before meeting up and just didn't want to talk about it." she'd admit that her excuse wasn't the best one she ever thought of but that was the best she had on short notice "I know if that happened to me, I wouldn't want to bring it up in front of strangers."

"There's more to it than that," Manectric retorted, eating more of his ice cream "He was also very on edge whenever Selene was nearby, always distancing himself from her whenever possible."

"Selene is a Fairy type," Phoebe retorted before shoveling the rest if the sundae into her mouth, finishing it off "it makes sense he's nervous around her. Even Sidney complains whenever a team full of Fairy types challenges him." she then added nonchalantly. Many trainers did challenge each one of the Elite Four with similar tactics thinking that if they beat them the Pokémon League will make them members in their stead, none more so than Sidney, thinking the Dark type master was the weakest member. And while that was true to an extent, weakest doesn't mean pushover. Sidney took each one of them with only one of his Pokémon, showing how much they were out of their league. But with the discovery of Fairy type Pokémon, his battles had gotten much harder while the trainers themselves hadn't improved. "Kira probably didn't want to be near her because of the type disadvantage."

"Then why did he want to be a part of her group?" the discharge Pokémon countered as he finished off his own sundae "And perhaps more importantly, why are you covering for him?" he accused, now glaring down the Elite Four member who decided to return the accusing stare with an uneasy look of her own.

Their attention, however, turned towards the sky as a pillar of yellow light and electricity erupted from past Fuji's apple orchard. They weren't the only ones to notice it either, in fact every pony there stopped what they were doing to gawk at the beam of light and the lightning shooting into the sky. From Carlos and Phoebe's perspective, the ponies looked like they were either about to panic hysterically or run off to see what caused the anomaly whereas the Pokémon simply glanced at the beam before returning to what they were doing previously.

A heavy sigh brought them back to the present as the ashen unicorn put the last bite of ice cream into his mouth "looks like you'll have to continue your conversation later." Vigilant commented as he collected the empty bowls with his magic and blinked them out of existence, and into a nearby garbage bin "Come on, let's go see what the others found." he said to the rest of his group before galloping off to the signal.

Manectric, Carlos, and Phoebe exchanged uneasy glances with each other, none of them saying anything before reluctantly heading toward the orchard too. Whatever happened at the orchard was more important than their squabble, for now anyway. Manectric was almost certain who 'Kira' was and once the opportunity arose he was going to put him under arrest or, if he resisted, take him out. Carlos had similar feelings, those doubts he had were never quelled and should Kira really be 'The Cleaving Winds' then he would have to pay for his actions against the Ranger Union. Phoebe was trying to remain calm, but with Kira's secret nearly being exposed already she had to do something to throw them off his trail, at least until she had a chance to talk with him. Altogether the three rushed to their destination solely intent on resolving this issue with Tyranitar and getting answers from the enigmatic Greninja.

None of them noticed the orange earth pony walking down towards the town, a scowl on his face.

"It's...too...hot..."

"What did he say?"

"He said it's too hot."

"Oh...you can make water in your hands, stop complaining!"

Rin and the others trudged through the desolated part of the orchard which, thanks to the sandstorm, was now more akin to a desert. The ground was covered with a layer of sand deep enough to lose a hoof in it, fallen trees stripped of their bark and leaves were scattered about baking in the overwhelming heat of the sun. Ahead of them they could see where the sandstorm ended as the desert abruptly returned to the green of what the orchard should look like and the trees were mostly untouched save for a light dusting of sand that made them sparkle in the distance.

But as much as Rin wanted to enjoy the scenery there was work to be done. Even with Selene directing them to any Pokémon caught in the sandstorm they still haven't found any sign of Larvitar. All they could confirm was that a Larvitar was in the area thanks to one of those strange seagulls she saw earlier today that Selene introduced as a Wingull. But that had been an hour ago with not another Pokémon seen or sensed nearby, and it was starting to take it's toll. Tyranitar seemed unperturbed at not finding her son, or maybe Selene was privately speaking with her to keep her calm but all she did was scan the area with that unnerving stare she always wore. Kira on the other hoof...

While Rin was at the forefront of the group, Selene and Tyranitar shadowing her, he was lagging behind. Looking back she saw he was dragging his webbed feet with his arms dangling at his side. His lidded eyes stared blankly forward and his tongue that was used as a scarf currently hung from his mouth almost touching the ground swaying slightly with each lethargic step he took.

"You wouldn't understand my pain. You're not the Water type shriveling up here." Kira groaned despite knowing that Rin could only hear him say "Gree~. Gre~ninja."

"What did he say this time."

"More complaining and that you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, alright then..."Rin said behind gritted teeth. She then turned toward him still clenching her teeth shooting daggers at him all the while "tell him if he doesn't get his flank in gear I'll buck him to the other side of the farm." she venomously warned. Sure she was hot too but she didn't need to be reminded of it every other second by something she couldn't even understand on her own. Even Tyranitar grumbled something while surveying the landscape "Not you too..."

"Actually she said she'd help, not that I'd let either of you harm him." Selene translated, her voice becoming very ominous as the second part entered her head "And he can understand you just fine."

Rin was very thankful for her red coat hiding the embarrassment she was feeling from the oversight as she returned her attention to where she was going groaning at her little faux pas "I really wish there was a way I could understand what you're all saying..."

"The feeling's mutual you cherry colored jacka-"

"Kira...be nice." Selene scolded "Although you do have a point." she added, losing herself in her thoughts. With a nod Selene reached out with her mind connecting hers and Rin's together. Satisfied that this would work she tried out the new link "There, is this better?"

Rin stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the familiar voice, not just in her head either but her ears were registering her voice as well "yeah, much!" Rin replied.

"That's good," Selene sighed in relief "I was worried there might be some sort of mistranslation issue seeing that I've never done this with a pony before."

Rin simply stood there amazed, it was like there was no language barrier between them anymore. Every word was clearly understood and matched the movements of Selene's lips. Even better it wasn't echoing through her head either. Imagine what this could be used for, nations divided by a language barrier could come together, ponies who couldn't speak could finally be able to communicate with loved ones, she could barely imagine how this could be applied in diplomacy, healthcare, everything really. It was world changing, and that was putting it mildly.

"What'd you do anyway?" she asked, her curiosity finally taking over.

"Simply put, I made a psychic link with you. Now you can hear and understand what I hear." Selene replied nonchalantly.

"Woah..." Rin gasped with eyes wide in awe. While she was no expert on magic she knew enough to know that only alicorns, unicorns, and changelings could even attempt a spell such as this. But then the awe in her eyes changed to disbelief "Wait...why didn't you do this sooner?"

"I'm not omnipotent, even I have limits." Selene said with a shrug "Linking five Pokémon to four non-Pokémon would give me a serious headache, and for a Psychic type like me that's incredibly dangerous."

"Dangerous? How so?"

Kira cleared his throat, drawing Rin and Selene's attention "A Gardevoir, that being what she is, is said to be capable of using its psychic power to create a black hole when its trainer is in danger." he said, not a ounce of the lightheartedness or humor he displayed in his voice "Imagine having that kind of power but not the ability to control it, to be able to tear apart anything with a thought while your mind already feels like it's being torn apart." he continued, his eyes blankly looking at the ground. It didn't take a genius or a changeling to realize Rin had struck a nerve, and she was even starting to miss his complaining.

"He's not exaggerating. She could have beaten both of us without breaking a sweat." Tyranitar added, either oblivious or uncaring of Kira's current mood.

"Speaking of sweat, I'm still roasting back here!"

And just like that Rin took back her previous thoughts.

"Ugh, complain complain, complain! Is that all you do? Just keep searching and enjoy the nice sunny day we're having!" she yelled, stamping a hoof to help prove her point.

"Hey I do more than complain, I saved your tail remember." Kira retorted, pointing a finger back at her.

"No, that was her. You showed up, got hit by an energy beam, and beat up a distressed mother."

"...It could be a Sunny Day couldn't it?" Selene muttered, putting a hand over her mouth and scanning the area thoroughly, pondering the thought.

Ringo stared in disbelief at Selene's comment "of course it is, see?" she said motioning towards the wide blue sky "Not a cloud in the sky."

"Huh? Pffhmhmhm...no that's not what I meant." Selene giggled at her misinterpretation "Sunny Day is the name of a move that intensifies sunlight during battle and, by extension, Fire type moves."

"Wait. You Pokémon can control the sun!? Only Princess Celestia can do that, or an army of unicorns!" Rin objected. This was starting to get ridiculous. She could believe a giant rock monster being able to create a sandstorm, an alien figure with a horn sticking out of her chest communicating with her mind, and even a frog being able to use hydrokinesis, but this was where she drew the line. Whats next, Pokémon who could control time and space?

"Sunny Day doesn't work like that. Think of it like...putting a giant magnifying glass over an area." Selene reassured with a faint smile. The smile vanished though when she returned her attention to the surroundings in concern "But it's still weird. If this sunlight is caused by Sunny Day then surely we should have seen a beam of light going up into the sky by now."

"Why?"

"Sunny Day only lasts so long, even outside of battle." Kira answered "In order for the sunlight to persist it would have to be reused, meaning a beam of light would have to be shot into the air. Unless...!"

Selene looked at her love inquisitively, trying to figure out what he was getting at when it clicked "Drought!"

"Excuse me?" Rin questioned. As an Apple, she didn't like where this was going.

"Drought is a Pokémon Ability like my Sand Stream, where I can create a sandstorm at will," Tyranitar explained, now fully interested in this conversation taking place "a Pokémon with Drought can intensify the sun's rays indefinitely outside of battle."

"Ability? Sand Stream? This is making my head hurt..." Rin said raising her hoof to her temple.

Tyranitar let out a disgruntled groan "every Pokémon has some sort of inherent trait called an Ability." she explained "Some abilities affect the Pokémon their fighting, others affect themselves, and there are a few that affect the whole battlefield." she then turned towards the shiny Gardevoir "But only Groudon can have the Ability Drought and I don't see him anywhere nearby."

"But Groudon's not the only Pokémon that can have Drought. I know of one other who has it," Selene said, barely able to contain her excitement. Even Kira looked a little happier at the news "I'm going to try something, give me a second." Selene said, closing her eyes and temporarily disconnecting the link she had with Ringo. She then closed her eyes and reached out as far as she could, using Calm Mind to further expand her range, to each Pokémon mind she could feel. Sorting through the ones she knew couldn't be the familiar Drought user Selene gently spoke to the Pokémon, hoping one of them would respond "Cinder? Cinder~. If you can hear me you can stop maintaining Drought."

"Mommy? MOMMY!" a very familiar young female voice responded "You're here! You're here!"

There was not a single doubt in Selene's mind who that voice belonged to, and she had to resist falling to her knees crying tears of joy, she could do that later. Right now there was a job to do so she would have to be content with this ecstatic feeling in her chest "yes sweetie, I'm here. Now where are you?"

"I'm underground with my new friend, he is a bit of a wimp though. We've been hiding from the sandstorm so I don't get all sandy. Hehe, pretty smart huh?"

Selene couldn't help but chuckle. The world could be ending and Cinder would still find some way to brighten the mood "yes that was very smart of you, Cinder, but the sandstorm is over. You don't need to hide anymore." she was also thankful Cinder remembered what to do in case she was ever separated from her and Kira. But considering that she was currently underground, Selene made a mental note to determine how far and in which direction Cinder's presence was.

Right now though she was curious about her new friend. If it turned out to be some Bunnelby trying to get an egg out of her then she'll finally have a target to practice her Moonblast on, as well as begrudgingly give Cinder the talk. On the other hand, it could be exactly who they were looking for. "Could you tell me your friends name?" Selene asked, silently praying to Arceus it wasn't the Bunnelby.

"Of course, his name's Larvitar. He said he was looking for his mommy too."

'Thank you, Arceus...' Selene thought before breaking the news to Cinder "I'm actually with his mother now, we'll meet you on the surface ok."

"Really! Ok, we'll wait on the surface then! See you soon Mommy!" Cinder said before Selene undid the link.

With the mental link severed, Selene exhaled the breath she was apparently holding, smiling as she redid the previous link she had with Ringo "I found our children." she proclaimed happily. Although her eyes were still closed, she could feel the flood of emotions radiating off of everyone, mostly being some version of surprise, and could just imagine the wide-eyed slack-jawed expressions she was getting. Opening her eyes and smiling inward at calling their expressions she focused on Tyranitar who looked about ready to cry "Let's not keep them waiting any longer." she said right before rushing towards a cluster of apple trees still standing on the orchard.

Tyranitar didn't waste a second and followed Selene running as fast as she could over anything in her path to keep up with her, causing the ground to rumble with every step she took. Kira snapped out of his stupor a second later and followed suit, quickly overtaking Tyranitar and catching up to Selene and matching her pace while he re-wrapped his tongue scarf.

Rin stood motionless, still trying to process what Selene said for another few seconds. Though once she realized the Pokémon were leaving her behind she turned around and started galloping after them "hey wait!" she called out desperately "What do you mean 'our children'? Wait a...you're a mother!?"

Rin's chase led her to the fence surrounding Fuji's special apple trees behind the Apple estate across the orchard. There she found the Pokémon standing on the other side of it in a semi-circle, staring at an unassuming part of the land in the distance with an almost giddy expression on their face. Leaping over the fence apparently caught Kira's attention as the blue frog turned in her direction and waved her over.

"Thanks for leaving me back there by the way." Rin deadpanned, once she was in earshot.

"What took ya?" Kira jovially replied.

"Funny." she added, walking in between Kira and Selene "So, what's so special about that patch of dirt?"

"Wait and see." he replied with a smirk.

Before Rin had a chance to argue with, or interrogate, Kira anymore the ground everyone else was staring at started to shift upwards. At first it was subtle but then the loose pile of dirt being pushed upwards began to grow exponentially, becoming the size of a filly after a minute. With one final rumble something popped out of the pile of dirt, something a clay green with a long horn on its head and red eyes with black marks under them.

A head. It was a Pokémon's head.

As the little rock thing looked around taking in its surroundings, Rin looked at it and sighed inwardly 'I know this is most likely Tyranitar's child but couldn't at least one of these Pokémon be cute or fluffy?'

It seems someone was listening as a moment later the little rock creature was pushed out of the hole and onto his face by a pair of brown paws. Following the paws came the reddish-orange head of a fox laying on the edge of the hole sighing in relief. On its head was a scruffy orange tuft of hair covering the forehead that was curled three times behind the ears. It had a small black nose and, when it inevitably noticed the group, stared back at them with big brown baby-doll-like eyes.

"Mommy!"

"Mom..."

The two young Pokémon rushed forward tackling Tyranitar and Selene respectively, with Larvitar being caught in his mother's embrace and the fox successfully knocking the Gardevior down to the ground (or perhaps she took a dive) and started nuzzling her chest while her front paws wrapped around her neck in a hug and her six curled tails caressed her waist. "I knew you wouldn't abandon me." the fox Pokémon mumbled barely loud enough for Selene to hear it.

"Of course, my little Cinder. Neither me or James would ever do that." Selene cooed, returning her daughter's affection with a hug of her own. When she eventually let go and Cinder hopped off of her she got up and walked over to Kira and Rin, letting Tyranitar enjoy the moment with her son "Well, I guess we better let the others know we found something." she said right before raising one of her arms into the air. Electricity started arching around her raised fingers, condensing into a small sphere of yellow. She then loosed the stored energy skyward resulting in a large beam of condensed electricity towering above any landmarks near Fuji's Apple Orchard, let alone the town of Kouma.

When the electricity dissipated, Selene shook off any remaining charge of electricity she had left on her hand "well, they should be able to see that," Selene commented, seeing Cinder run around her saying how cool that was as well as noting Rin's astonished expression "shall we meet them at the gate?"

"Let's." Kira politely answered, hoisting the still stupefied earth pony over his shoulder and turning towards Tyranitar and Larvitar, still locked on an embrace "Meet up with us whenever you two are ready." he said, earning a simple nod in acknowledgement from the mother and child. With the search finished the four made their way to the front gate.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Ghosts of Karma Past

The town team reached to gate to Fuji's orchard breathing a little easier upon seeing it still in one piece. The sight of the two pegasi laying on the ground next to a pile of sand being mostly covered by a cloth tarp and Mr. Fuji watching a Vulpix and a Larvitar chase each other without a care in the world was also somewhat comforting. Once they actually cleared the estate gates and saw Selene, Kira, Tyranitar, and Ringo sitting to the side did they let out a collective sigh of relief.

Tyranitar was unsurprisingly watching over the little Larvitar in front of her, most likely the child everyone was looking for. Seeing this Carlos couldn't help but feel relieved at the successful mission, it made all of the times he tripped and fell onto his face on the way here worth it. The relief faded when he and Manectric noticed how much attention Selene was focusing on the Vulpix. Carlos knew from the reports that James Kirikaze had a Vulpix in his possession when he was arrested and seeing it here, with Kirikaze's most known Pokémon paying attention to it, did not help dissuade his doubts.

Speaking of those doubts, "Kira" was sitting with his legs crossed, enduring being interrogated by Ringo about what every Pokémon there considered to be basic information, from Types to Abilities. He almost felt sorry for him.

Noticing the group's return, Kira stood up, quickly catching everyone else's attention except the two young Pokémon who continued to play their game of tag. "Hey! Looks like you finally made it back." Kira welcomed "Take your time, or did the beautiful scenery trip you up?"

"Shut up." Carlos replied tersely, rubbing his face while his body started to glow and let loose embers. The embers didn't last long as Carlos took a deep breath, calming down and focusing on the more important issue "I take it this Larvitar is the one we were looking for?"

"That's right," the Ninja Pokémon proudly stated "and as an added bonus Selene here found one of her teammates too."

"About that..." Manectric snarled, putting the Gardevoir and flowery Dusknoir on edge as well as the other ponies as they watched sparks arc across his body "we need to talk."

The haughtiness in Kira's expression faded to reveal the stern gaze of someone ready to fight "looks like you want to do more than just talk." he evenly said, slowly moving a hand to one of the star-shaped scars on his leg.

Now it was the Darmanitan's turn to step forward, distancing himself away from Phoebe and Vigilant "admit it Kira, you've been hiding something from us haven't you." Carlos added.

"Gonna have to be more specific than that..." Kira murmured, certain none of them could hear him.

That didn't appear to be the case when Carlos spoke up next "you don't fight like any Pokémon I've ever seen; they're much more coordinated with their moves, and generally use more than one."

"Hey I used more than one!" Kira defended.

"Yeah, after failing once." Manectric countered "You fought as well as I would expect Carlos to do if it were him. And you had a Type advantage."

"Alright, you got me. My trainer sucked, had to learn how to fight from an Accelgor." Kira shrugged, sarcastically giving them his false story.

"You know, I might have believed that if it weren't for another thing," Manectric said before closing his eyes and raising his muzzle into the air, taking in everything with his Odor Sleuth. Smirking, he opened his eyes once more focused solely on the sweating Greninja "you stink."

'Now that's just plain rude.' Kira thought, even slouching a little, before responding to the insult "Well sorry for being all sweaty, I've kinda been in the middle of a desert. Not exactly the coolest of places if you know what I mean."

"Actually that's not what I mean." Manectric smirked, knowing he had something on 'Kira' now "Pokémon mates share a unique scent, but being a Pokémon yourself you already knew that."

In fact Kira did NOT know about that. 'How was I supposed to know that!? It's not like I've ever dated a Pokémon before!' he screamed in his head, trying to figure out when, where, and how he got tagged.

I know, I do too. And no matter what happens, I won't let go.

The memory hit him like a Giga Impact, and the pieces fell into place 'That's right, I came here wrapped around Selene. Who knows how long we were like that...' he grimly thought. Realizing his faux pas, his body instinctively tensed up as sweat once again started dripping off him as he did his best to keep his composure.

Inevitably it was failing. His webbed hand was slowly coalescing water over one of the four pointed scars, he was unable to stop the sweating from the new information, and his eyed were focused on a battle-ready Manectric. He wasn't preparing for the reveal, he was preparing for the inevitable battle afterwards.

"I couldn't tell without using Odor Sleuth but it's definitely there. Any guesses who else has that scent on her?" Manectric rhetorically asked, knowing with absolute certainty that 'Kira' knew. A slight turn to the side was all it took to shift the attention of every human turned Pokémon there as well as the ponies trying to keep up with the conversation from the suspected fugitive to the noose that sealed his fate.

A shiny Gardevoir staring back in realization and fear.

"That's right Selene." Manectric confirmed, causing Selene to take a half a step back. Ignoring her action, Manectric looked back to his partner, giving him a resolute nod.

One that was returned in kind as Carlos stepped forward "There's only one person that Selene would be romantically involved with." he stated to everyone present but keeping the frog and fairy in his sights. Ready to finish this interrogation, he stamped one blazing fist into the ground and stared at the two with a gaze showing nothing less than focused determination "By my authority as a Pokémon Ranger I hereby place you-"

"Ok, ok. That's enough you three. Can't you see your scaring the others." a voice intervened. The owner of the voice stood between the groups, his ashen-colored body acting as a barricade as he watched each of them wearily with his horn glowing a deep indigo "I'm really getting tired of these one-sided conversations. Selene, could you translate again for us?" Vigilant asked, his vision always shifting from on group to the other.

"Sure..." Selene answered automatically, once again remembering how to breathe. The shiny Gardevoir took a few more deep breaths then closed her eyes for a moment and, aside from a small groan from Ringo, opened them again without anything else happening. "alright, I'm ready." she said, a little more emotion back in her voice.

"Good." Vigilant nodded. He then turned towards Carlos and the rest of the town team, wearing the stoic neutral face of the Royal Guard with his tone changing to fit the part "Right now you are currently on somepony else's property. If you want to beat each other senseless, and trust me that's what it looked like, you'll have to do that somewhere else. Otherwise I can charge each of you with destruction of property, domestic disturbance, and failure to comply with a guard and toss each of you in a cell for as long as I see fit. Understand?"

Vigilant's response was the electricity and embers around Manectric and Carlos dissipating respectively and each of them giving him unfriendly glares and sharp grunts. "They understand, but they're not happy about it." Selene translated.

"So long as they understand." Vigilant tersely said before making a complete one-eighty "The same goes for you, frog. Any trouble here and you'll be joining them in the next cell over, got it?"

Kira relaxed his body, causing the Water Shuriken the size of his thigh to drop and soak the ground beneath him. With a silent nod, he then sat down cross-legged on the dampened soil and folded his arms, keeping an eye on the two rangers "Kira agrees as well."

After allowing himself a moment to smile at the small victory he then turned toward the matron juggernaut quietly paying attention up until now "Now then, Tyranitar, I know you were only trying to find your son but the simple fact is you razed more than half of Fuji Apple the Fourth's apple orchard, something the ponies of Kouma rely on for both food and trade, with that sandstorm you caused. Do you understand that?" she simply nodded in response, not changing her equally stoic expression "Good. As an officer of Equestria's Royal Guard I cannot let this incident go without some sort of recompense. As such, you can come quietly with me to the detention center, alone, and stay there until I can reach the Princess and figure out what to do with you."

The reaction from everyone was what he expected, varying degrees of disbelief and anger were on everyone's face with Tyranitar unsurprisingly showing the most of both "OR! You can stay on Mr. Fuji's orchard and repair the damage you wrought." the anger everyone was feeling suddenly turned to confusion as hateful glares shifted into puzzled glances. Vigilant paid them no mind as his expression softened to an almost sincere smile while he turned toward one pony in particular "That is, if Mr. Fuji allows it."

"Oh? The Enforcer asking a pony for permission ta not throw somethin in a cell?" Fuji said in utter disbelief while his aged eyes continued giving the guard an inquisitive stare "I wonder what brought this on."

"I still think Tyranitar should pay for what she did to your orchard, even if you seem so laid back about this. But I've also been giving what you said some thought and separating a mother from her child when they just met doesn't seem right, even to me." Vigilant huffed before taking another glance at the mother in question 'besides, I don't think the cells are big enough to put her in, let alone keep her there.' he silently added.

"Well, it's a start anyway..." Fuji sighed but decided to not dwell on the moment too long as he looked to Tyranitar expectantly "so, whaddya say; Stay here an clean up this mess, or wait in a cell till the Princess figures out what to do with you?"

Almost immediately Tyranitar responded with a series of growls and snorts that, while it made sense to the Pokémon, sounded like she had something stuck in her throat "she says she'll stay and help." Selene translated for everypony present.

"Good! Now ah'll want ya up bright an early tomorrow ta get started so until then spend the rest of the evening however ya like." Fuji said wearing a smile that could only be rivaled by a few ponies in Equestria. The smile faded though when he looked toward his home, noting the tiled roof and wooden elevated floors with concern "Fraid the house ain't gonna big enough or sturdy enough for ya though, so ya'll have to sleep outside. Hope ya don't mind."

Tyranitar was used to living on mountains and sleeping in caves, a structure made out of flimsy wood didn't appeal to her in the slightest but she did appreciate the thought at least. With that in mind she merely shook her head and calmly growled "No, it's fine, thank you for the hospitality."

"Ah don't mention it, t'aint nothing special. Lotsa ponies in Equestria would do the same." Fuji replied waving his hoof dismissively. When no one said anything after that the old stallion looked at everyone there only to be met with the same dumbstruck expression "Why are ya'll lookin at me like ah grew a pair of wings?"

"How did you know what she was saying? I didn't have a chance to translate yet."

Fuji tried not to, he really did, but he couldn't help but burst into laughter at the simple question "it doesn't take ah mind reader ta know when somepony says 'thank you' does it?" he was able to say between his fits of laughter. When he finally finished catching his breath and wiping away the tears he opened his mouth once again "Now then, who's all stayin tonight?"

"Me, little Cinder, and Kira would be happy to take you up on your offer." Selene spoke up before anyone else could. While Cinder was still playing with Larvitar, Kira seemed to object being spoken for even if none of the ponies could understand him, right up to the point he found a cyan arm gripping his shoulder. "Me, little Cinder, and Kira would be *happy** to take you up on your offer."* Selene repeated behind closed eyes in a much more ominous tone than before. She then slightly opened one of her eyes to where only the Greninja could see the glowing pupil behind it "Isn't that right, Kira?"

He didn't put up much resistance after that. He liked waking up not dead.

Fuji couldn't breath at this point he was laughing so hard. So when he thought he saw electricity arcing around Selene's hand he summed it up as his eyes playing tricks on him. Still chuckling he turned to Carlos, Phoebe, and Manectric "well that's five, what about you three?"

Unlike Fuji, Carlos looked on at the two with only disgust on his face. His partner's expression was no better, shooting daggers at the sulking Greninja and the shiny Gardevoir looming over him. With a loud roar from Carlos the two immediately snapped their attention to him and after another few growls meant specifically for them and only them the two turned around and left without another word being said between the them.

The next sound to be heard by the group was the growl of some large beast being stirred from its slumber. Looking around for the source of the noise the ponies and Pokémon eventually all stared at the same thing; a thin Dusknoir with a flower patterned cloth covering the mouth on her stomach and chuckling sheepishly "Phoebe says she'll stay for dinner at least..." Selene translated emotionlessly. What Carlos had said, how they figured it out, and what their obvious intentions were before they left still rang through her mind.

"Six guests eh? Ah think we can manage that." Fuji mused as he mentally went over the foodstuffs they had and what would be enough to feed everyone as well as who would get what room. With a small nod to himself, the old stallion started making his way into the house "Ringo, care ta help me out in the kitchen? Ah reckon we're all mighty hungry after today."

"Sure thing gramps. Any ideas in mind?" Ringo answered, quickly making her way to her grandpa's side as the two bounced ideas for dinner back and forth as they disappeared inside.

Vigilant breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Pokémon around him go their separate ways "show's over...for now anyway." he said to nopony in particular. With Tyranitar lumbering off to where Cinder and Larvitar were playing and the two Rangers leaving the estate entirely there didn't seem to be anything that would end with the estate being reduced to ash. But there were still a lot of things bugging him right now. Whatever Carlos said before leaving rattled both Selene and Kira, so much so that Selene didn't translate it. 'Unless...it was meant for them? But if that's the case, what did he say?' he mused, making a note to confront the red Ranger about it. He then winced as the obvious problem bared its teeth once again 'But first I'll have to send a request to Canterlot for a translation spell.' he added. Sighing at the long day still ahead of him he started dragging his hooves to the gate himself, stopping momentarily to look at the covered pile of sand "You two should probably head home now too." he shouted before continuing on his way back to town.

From behind the pile popped two pegasus heads with equally messy manes and sparkling coats "no arguments here," Typhoon Eye said as he slowly rose from their hiding spot "let's go Sis."

"Aww, I wanted to know what they were saying." Hurricane Eye moaned, flopping her body onto the top of the pile while her brother watched with an unamused look on his face. "It was probably some life-changing revelations or something like that and we missed it because of some dumb language barrier. I mean for all we know it was a declaration of war between the daring hero of a parallel world and the leader of that world's infamous and malignant underground criminal network. And we may never know!" Hurricane Eye exclaimed, flailing her hooves as she told her story to emphasize her point. Seeing that her brother now stared at her with a dumbstruck expression she slowly flew up to him and placed her hooves onto his shoulders before speaking softly "And Ty...? Dibs on the bath when we get back!" she quickly finished before bolting off towards home.

"Wha- hey!" Typhoon yelled at the ever-shrinking speck that was his sister. He was put off guard with not only her outlandish story but also that she used so many big words. She was definitely a one-or-two syllable type of pony. But none of that mattered now as with each passing moment she was getting closer to getting clean and filling the tub with sand "Bath's first come first served!" he yelled, flying off to beat her to the punch.

Kira watched contently from his seat on the ground as he watched the siblings fly towards a cloud formation floating over the other side of town 'must be hard having siblings. I'm kinda jealous.' he thought, watching the second pegasus to leave overtake the first in their little race 'Then again, I guess I could argue that I have a sister, even if I don't know if she's technically younger or older than me.' he chuckled, amused at the tangent his brain was going off on. His thoughts were cast aside when Selene fell onto her knees, releasing his shoulder from her grip in the process. When he looked over he saw her clouded topaz eyes and faint smile, a look he's only seen three times before.

"I did it again...didn't I." Selene said, staring blankly at the ground in front of her. Her voice had gone hollow, devoid of the rage, happiness, or allure she normally spoke with. It was something Kira hated hearing, even more so now that he could understand everything she says.

"I'm pretty sure this time was my fault. That, or Arceus'. Either way, we'll figure something out, we always do." he said trying to cheer her up, even wrapping his arm around her as a sot of half-hug, something she contently leaned into. With Selene now leaning against his body, Kira turned to the gate Carlos left from, and the burnt ground in front of it 'Still...that was way too close for comfort.'

With the two of them caught up in their own little worlds, neither of them expected the Elite Four member appearing behind them "Hahaha, you two make a good couple. Now that you're Pokémon you two should start going steady." she said before floating into the house, laughing wholeheartedly the entire time.

"Wh-wh-what! Wh-where did THAT come from!?" Kira stuttered, quickly breaking off the embrace he was in and racing after the Ghost type with beet red cheeks not even his scarf could cover up "Phoebe! Come back here!"

"Waaay ahead of you Phoebe..." Selene said quietly but happily. Slowly, she got up from her spot, dusted off her dress-like frills, and walked inside as well, a genuine smile on her face and life returned to her eyes.

The setting sun bathed everything in the Fuji dining room in a deep orange as light shined through the open partition doors onto the elongated food covered table. At the table Phoebe, Ringo, and Fuji Apple sat next to each other facing the open doors and the outside deck with Kira, Selene, and Cinder sitting on the opposite side facing the interior of the house. In front of each of them was a bowl filled with freshly cooked rice, an apple and spinach salad, and a cup of warm green tea. Larvitar had chosen to eat outside with his mother who, thanks to her immense size, had already finished her meal.

For the last hour Rin, thanks to Selene reconnecting the mental link with her and adding Mr. Fuji to the network in the process, had been asking Kira, Selene, and Phoebe question after question about Pokémon, starting with Types and just now finishing the Elite Four. "So, let's see if I got this," Rin said in between mouthfuls of rice she picked up with chopsticks (something that bugged Kira to no end) "Pokémon Trainers, that being what you are Kira, go around certain regions of the world collecting badges from gyms so you can challenge the Elite Four, Phoebe being one of them, in order to challenge the Champion for his title. Is that right so far?

"In a nutshell." Kira replied, shoveling another pile of rice into his mouth "Not all trainers go after the Champion. Some choose to participate in shows and contests, others strive to catalogue every kind of known Pokémon in a Pokédex, an encyclopedia of sorts, while others join the Rangers or some other team and work as part of a group toward some goal. I just happen to be part of the majority." Kira explained, deciding to not say anymore on the subject of Rangers or ''Teams''.

"Why?" Rin asked tersely, glaring at the trainer "What's the point of sending Pokémon to fight each other, or dance around for your entertainment? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Ah agree," Fuji added, contemplating everything that's been said and not liking the implications "if what you say is true and all Pokémon are as sentient as any pony, and you still beat them up for sport, ah'm surprised they haven't tried to revolt."

Selene giggled as she grabbed another slice of apple from her salad "you misunderstand, most Pokémon enjoy competing in this sort of fashion." she said as she popped the apple slice into her mouth, enjoying the sweet and juicy flavor of the fruit "In fact, Pokémon challenge each other anyway in order to get stronger and evolve. It's just how nature works where we're from." she finished by taking a sip of the tea

"I still don't like it but if you say it's alright..." Rin said, shifting her salad around on her plate with her chopsticks (still bugging Kira to no end) "Ok new question." Rin said, deciding that a change of subject was in order "Um Kira? How did you survive that laser beam Tyranitar hit you with?" immediately a shower of tea sprayed the padded floor beside Selene.

"BEAM!? What kind of beam!?" Selene said, slamming the cup on the table and spilling even more of her tea "Was it blue, black, white, or yellow!?"

"Uhm...black. Is that bad?" Rin replied. Her response seemed to cause Selene to stiffen up, stuck staring at Rin with her mouth hanging open trying to process the information.

"Wow Daddy! You tanked a Hyper Beam from a Tyranitar. You must be REALLY strong!" Cinder praised with bits of rice sticking to her muzzle.

"I...don't think that's what happened." Kira commented from between the mentally fried Gardevoir and the star-struck Vulpix. Folding his arms he went over the scene in his head "I think I somehow used Substitute."

"Substitute?"

"It's a move Pokémon can learn that creates a copy of them to take a hit in their place," Phoebe explained, using two apple slices skewered by her chopsticks as props, with the 'substituted' apple slice being the first eaten "the exact technique varies from Pokémon to Pokémon but usually something is left behind when the copy is broken, like a doll or a large piece of wood." she concluded, eating the second skewered apple slice.

"That would explain the charred doll then..." Rin muttered under her breath.

"I'm just glad you're ok." Selene sighed, now that there was a logical explanation for Kira surviving a Hyper Beam. The sigh however turned into a yawn as the days events began to catch up with her "Wow...not even dark out and I'm beat. Kira, care to join me?"

Kira was about to object but a yawn of his own cut him off "now that you mention it, sleep does sound good right now. If you could, would you show us to our rooms?" he graciously said to their hosts.

"Hohoho of course." Fuji chuckled "Ringo, ah was thinking of puttin them in the rooms next to yours, ya don't mind do ya?"

"No, not really..." she said despite her tone saying otherwise "just as long as they don't barge in unannounced or keep me up all night." she warned the two Pokémon "I like my privacy and my sleep, got it?"

Kira answered by stretching his arms into the air and standing up from the table "that's fine, I'm too tired to do anything anyways. You want to sleep with me Cinder?"

"That's alright Daddy..." Cinder politely answered, wiping away any food left on her face with her paw. She then walked up to Rin, staring at her with her big brown eyes "...but could I sleep with you?"

"No."

"...I'm adorable..."

"Privacy, remember."

"Aww..."

Phoebe chuckled at seeing Cinder sulk off to the corner of the room, pawing at the floor in a circle. She knew her long enough to know when she was truly hurt about something or was hamming it up for attention. And right now was full-on Emboar. But seeing that the only translator among them was about to go to bed she figured it was time to go. Placing her chopsticks over her emptied bowl she rose up and politely bowed to Fuji and Rin "I should be leaving as well. Thank you for the food."

"Yer leaving? Don't ya want to stay the night?"

"Hahaha, I'm a Ghost type so I don't need to sleep, but I'll be back in the morning." Phoebe responded nonchalantly to Fuji's question "See you tomorrow Seleny!" she waved before phasing through the wall beside the door.

"Have a good night Phoebe." Selene replied, waving back to her friend. When Phoebe was out of sight, she returned to looking at her trainer, a bit of wistfulness in her eyes "Well then, shall we?"

"Yeah...let's."

Rin led the two along the wooden deck around the outside of the house, circling around the dining room they were just in. The setting sun glistened along the walkway as they reached three identical sliding doors, the orange tint of sunlight reflecting off the starch white of the paper windows.

Stopping in front of the middle door, Rin turned back to Kira and Selene and pointed with her hoof to the adjacent door "this is your room Kira, go ahead and make yourself comfortable." Rin said before pointing her hoof to the door the trio had just passed "Yours is that one there Selene."

Selene looked from the corner of her amber eyes over to the door behind her and then to the door designated as Kira's room noting the lack of doors between them. With a faint smile, Selene did a quick, light bow "thanks Rin."

"Uh, sure." Rin replied, uneasy about something clearly alien bowing to her. Another large yawn interrupted her musings as her vision momentarily went blurry from the action "I'm going to bed too. Today kicked my flank...in more ways than one...goodnight you two."" she said off-handedly as another yawn forced its way out of her. With her energy fading fast she slid open the remaining door and shut it behind her, leaving the two Pokémon standing there in the setting sun.

With a small shrug, Kira slid open the door to his room and peeked at the room rented to him. The entire floor was covered in something similar to tatami mats. He said 'similar' because while they looked like the woven flooring he was familiar with, when he stepped on it there was too much give and he nearly lost his balance. It felt good on his tired feet but it still made him watch his step. Aside from the flooring, nothing else really stood out. On the other side of the room was another sliding door that obviously led to the rest of the house and piled against the wall was a large folded mattress with a light blue blanket and two white pillows on top of it, his sleeping arrangements for the evening.

Gingerly stepping into the middle of the room, he noticed the dresser placed in one of the corners of the room he was blind to wit a banner of two ponies with wings and horns flying in a circle chasing the sun and moon in a sort of yin yang parody. taking in the décor of the room Kira stretched and let out a content sigh "A bit big for just me but cozy nonetheless."

"I have an Idea on how to fix that."

The only warning Kira got was the sound of the door shutting behind him. By the time he turned around, Selene had closed the gap between them and was now inches from his face. Gently caressing his chest with a hand she added a small bit of pressure which, combined with one of her legs locked behind his, toppled him onto the ground. "Oww...what was that for?"

"To make sure you don't get away." Selene seductively replied, staring at him like a predator ready to pounce, as she sat down on his stomach. "Besides, I need to make sure other Pokémon know you're mine...and vent some frustration." she added with the last part being no louder than a whisper. Although the light blush Kira saw on her face all but confirmed what her motives were.

"Uhh...this is a bit bold, even for you." he replied nervously, trying to subtly squirm out of this but the moment he did Selene pressed down on his shoulders with both of her arms, pinning him in place.

"Oh? And Hearthome City wasn't bold?" she asked coyly, inching even closer to his face and sliding her arms down his.

"I was stuck in a hospital bed, with both of my arms broken up to the shoulder, and June was with you egging you on, so no."

"Well then...perhaps I should try a little harder then..."

In the room next door Rin laid splayed out on the floor wrapped loosely in her blanket with her pillow being firmly pressed over her head.

"'Too tired to do anything' my flank..." she groaned, pressing her pillow even harder against her ears in a futile attempt to block out the noise coming from the other side of the wall, or somehow make herself pass out. At this point she'd take either one.

It had started innocently enough too. Shortly after Rin went into her room, she unfolded her mattress on the floor and was even able to get comfortable. When she heard a loud thud come from Kira's room she crawled out of her bed and pressed her head against the shared wall, curious if he was in danger or just tripped. When she heard him talk, in Pokéspeak, she assumed Selene had cut the connection before going to bed herself. It made the most sense anyway.

So when Rin heard a distinctly feminine and quite possibly seductive tone also coming from the other side of the wall she immediately scrambled away from the wall. 'They're not going to-' her thought was interrupted when she heard a meek moan come from behind the wall 'they are, aren't they...' she grumbled, dragging herself back to her bed. She crawled back under the covers and slammed her pillow over her head "It's ok Rin...neither of them looked like they had a lot of strength. They'll probably be done in thirty minutes or so...you can endure it." she told herself as she took deep breaths from under her pillow, groaning miserably as she waited for the minutes to pass.

That had been hours ago.

By now night had fallen and everyone was most likely in the middle of some happy dreams, save for three of course. What made it worse was that thanks to all of the noise she was now wide awake! Giving up on sleeping anytime soon, Rin tossed her pillow into the air and slipped out of her blanket "Uuugh! No point in trying to sleep now." she cursed, looking around her room with a deadpan stare "Might as well wander around for a little while, maybe then I'll be tired enough to get some sleep, and those two will be done." she muttered, feeling as if somepony forced ten cups of coffee down her throat as she reached to the door.

Only when her hoof made contact with the door did she pause, deciding to crack open the door to see if anyone else was still awake. while there were no lanterns or candles lit, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness long ago thanks to her lack of sleep and constant glares to the room next to hers. Aside from the occasional moans, Rin saw or heard no signs of life coming from the darkened estate. Breathing easier knowing that she wouldn't have to worry about being seen, she crept out of her room and into the hallway leading deeper into the estate, a destination in mind.

It didn't take long to get there. In the middle of the house, surrounded by the various rooms, walls and wooden walkways was an open garden with a large spring and enough room to hold three full grown apple trees. Despite that there was only one there, one that had pale yellow apples that seemed to shine in the moonlight. Sticking to the shadows, Rin felt pride welling up inside her as she watched the literal fruits of her labor gleam against the darkness of the night. Slowly, she approached the tree, ignoring the rustle of the leaves as she stepped across the grass.

She did however freeze up when she heard the grass rustle from something other than her hoof steps.

Looking around for the source led her to the base of the tree, where a small furry orange and red ball was curled up in the grass. 'I guess Cinder chose to sleep here tonight.' she thought, relieved that it was something sleeping that startled her and not something conscious. Taking a quiet breath she jumped up into the branches of the apple tree-her apple tree-and did her best to get comfortable in the boughs, ignoring the buzzing of insect wings as she shifted around on a large branch. Looking down at the sleeping form of Cinder a faint smile crept onto her face 'I'll head back to my room before dawn.' she thought, closing her eyes under the shining silver moon in the sky.

Meanwhile, in the forest on the other side of Kouma, two Pokémon sat around a small fire, listening to the ocean waves crashing against the cliffside. Manectric and Carlos stared listlessly into the dancing fire, the events of the day sinking in. Being able to burst into flames did have it's perks as making the fire in front of them consisted of gathering the wood and Carlos venting his frustration.

"So...close." Carlos muttered, reaching into the fire with his fist only to have the flames rise in between his fingers, not even leaving any burns. He then clenched the hand into a tight fist and watched as it too erupted into flames "We were SO CLOSE to apprehending Kirikaze! Only to be branded criminals ourselves if we arrested him!"

"I know, but we'll get our chance tomorrow." Manectric calmly said, not even opening his eyes to look at his partner as he laid down next to the fire, bathing himself in the warmth coming off of the flames.

Retracting his still burning hand from the fire and slamming it into the ground, extinguishing his fist, Carlos looked over to his resting partner with concern "how can you be so sure? What's stopping them from running off in the night?"

This made Manectric open his eyes and look the Blazing Pokémon out of the corner of them "did you see any maps while we were exploring?" Carlos shook his head/body in response and Manectric let out a sigh "We're on an island, a relatively big one but an island nonetheless." he said, getting up and turning around to let the other side of his body warm up before laying down again "He may be a Water type now but Selene and the Vulpix aren't. He won't risk going anywhere until he has a means to leave with all of his Pokémon, I'm sure of that."

"Ok, but what about going into hiding?" Carlos suggested.

"Pokémon are foreign to this place, that much is obvious. I'm sure seeing a Greninja or a Gardevoir would stick out to these ponies." Manectric said as he rolled onto his side, exposing his belly to the flame's heat "On top of that, with the amount of Pokémon in the area it would be extremely difficult to move around undetected. Plus, someone would definitely remember seeing a shiny Gardevoir and a Vulpix together, a Top Ranger or a Gym Leader if we're lucky. In other words it would be impossible to hide from both the Pokémon and these ponies for long."

"Speaking of these ponies..."

"I know what you're going to say and from my observations the unicorn's magic is very similar to a Psychic types powers. There must be some way to translate our words using it." Manectric interjected. He then let out a small chuckle as a simple, ingenious, and admittedly silly to think about solution entered his head "Otherwise you could always communicate through a notebook tied around your neck."

Carlos didn't react to the quip. Instead he continued to look at the white coals of the campfire while his mind tried to swim through the torrent of worries, scenarios, and outcomes flooding his head to the point where his eyes burned and his head hurt.

Manectric saw this and got up, giving his partner a quick jab to the arm. When he finally snapped out of his trance Manectric looked him in the eye with the same resolute glare he was giving the fire not a moment ago "relax, they're not going anywhere anytime soon."

"If you say so..." Carlos replied, even if he didn't completely believe it. It's not that he didn't trust his partner, on the contrary there's no one he trusts more, he just knows how dangerous 'Cleaving Winds' Kirikaze can be.

Their discussion stopped when Carlos felt a chill run down his back, something he felt as a human and learned to trust almost as much as Manectric. Seeing nothing in the forest in front of him he quickly stood up and pivoted around, facing the only remaining blind spot "Hey! I know you're there! Show yourself!" he called out to the darkness, pressing his fists into the ground ready for a brawl with whatever was there. Manectric followed his lead and was now sparking electricity from his yellow and blue fur.

Amidst the shadows the two could see a single glowing red eye. Flat fingers were gripping the tree that was being used as cover by the entity. Yellow marks could also be seen lining its body, one particularly zig-zagged across its stomach and frills could barely be seen around the glowering red eye.

With their attention on the being, they never noticed the shadows encroaching around them.

"Oh...it's just you Phoebe. Don't scare us like tha-ARGH!"

"Carlos! What do you think you're doi-GWAH!"

"Manectric! Damn you! FIRE PU-ghoof."

"Car-mmf" *SMASH* "MMMMGH!"

"MANECTRIC! *CRACK* "M-man...ec...tric..."

...

"Well well...it looks like I've run across a few lost souls this evening..."

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Calm Before...

Selene walked through the gate leading to Fuji's orchard, taking a moment to stretch while the rest of her group caught up with her so they could continue on to town together. Sighing in her state of bliss from the limber muscles she looked back through the gateway to Cinder and Phoebe merrily talking to each other with Rin between them strapped to a cart needed for todays errand. With an extra six dinner guests and a sandstorm ravaging most of the food somepony had to go to town and buy more as well as the materials to continue the repairs, the Pokémon volunteered to help though. And why wouldn't they? Fuji, despite having little food to spare, once again gave them a free meal, this time hash browns with a strange but undeniably delicious apple that was constantly glowing different colors ranging from pure white to brilliant gold. The weather was perfect too, with the sun glittering off any lingering sand still stuck to the outer wall of the Apple orchard and not a cloud in the sky to obstruct it. It was truly a perfect morning anyone would want to be outside for.

"Ahh, that was the best breakfast I've had in a long time!" Phoebe said.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Cinder nodded "That apple was really tasty...What were they called again?"

"...Morning Suns..."

"Oh yeah. Haha, what a funny name."

Well, save for one. While the Pokémon were full of energy Rin kept her head low, hiding her lime green eyes and the large dark spots under them behind her mane. Yet despite being obviously sleep deprived she wasn't falling behind to the Pokémon.

"Are you alright Rin? you're in a bad mood." Selene asked innocently.

That didn't make her feel any better as she raised head just high enough to reveal the dark spots and shoot the Gardevoir a glare "oh yeah? What gave that away?" she answered tersely.

"You mean ignoring the fact that I can sense your emotions or read your mind like a baby's picture book if I so chose?" Selene replied snidely, smiling mischievously for a moment before donning a worried look "You've been wearing that scowl all morning. So what's wrong?"

Thinking more about it Rin realized Selene wasn't wrong. Then again pulling an all-nighter because your next door neighbors were horny, realizing how much more damage Tyranitar caused that still needed to be repaired, how many apple trees were lost to the sand, and that in only two meals the Pokémon ate through nearly three-fourths of their food stores would leave a good many ponies peeved as well. And nothing would make her feel better than telling her off and shooing her away, at least for a little while. But she couldn't, Rin needed all the help she could get to finish the restoration before it affected business any more. So reluctantly she let out a growl of an answer and hoped she would get the hint or better yet end the conversation "I just didn't get any sleep last night..."

She didn't. "That's not good, sleep is an essential part for maintaining a young gi- err, mare's beauty and energy. Just look at Phoebe here." Selene chastised, even pointing proudly at Phoebe to emphasize her argument.

'Yet somehow you managed to go all night without it and are just fine.' pointed out to herself 'And how am I supposed to know if she looks good or not! I don't even know where to look for eye contact!' she added. Still, in an attempt to understand what Selene was talking about she glanced over to the floating girl, examining the eyestock on the top of her head and the face on her body to figure out which she should be staring at. Eventually Phoebe took notice of this and returned the gaze with a smile...she thinks. It was hard to tell with the body face looking like it was about to eat her while the glowing red eye looked like it was about to cry. The conflicting faces sent a chill down Rin's back "let's just get to town, I'll feel better when we get there." she said, picking up her pace to the point that she was now at the head of the group, and listening to the poorly hidden giggles coming from Selene and Cinder.

'Selene and Cinder...'

The more Rin thought about them the more curious inconsistencies appeared, especially toward Kira 'Selene and Cinder obviously know each other but Cinder kept calling Kira "Daddy". Does that mean he adopted her or something yesterday? No... That doesn't make sense. Parental relationships take time to form, longer than an afternoon anyway.'

'Then there's Selene herself. Deny it all he wants but he and Selene are definitely in a relationship. I could practically see the love between the two of them, and that was before they decided to get intimate last night.' Rin continued to try and think about what it was about them that was bugging her, but everything else she thought of didn't bring any breakthroughs. Selene knew Kira, that much was obvious. Cinder knew Selene, that too. And Kira seemed to be connected to each of the other Pokémon, somehow anyway, but there was still too much she didn't know, and her half-asleep brain cells weren't pulling their weight. Deciding to pursue that line of thought further later, like when she had some coffee. She instead let her mind wander while her hooves kept moving 'I wonder what he's doing right now?' she started with.

"Well this is boring..." Kira stated from the rooftop.

"Quit complaining and keep working." Tyranitar growled, carrying another pile of desiccated trees to an awaiting cart.

Kira grumbled as he conjured another sphere of water only to gently roll it off the roof, washing away the dirt, soap, and sand still remaining on the tiles. He then grabbed the soapy sponge floating in the bucket slung over his shoulder and started carefully scrubbing the next set. This had been the routine for the past three hours after breakfast, long after Selene and the others were out of sight. Hell, for all he knew they finished their shopping a while ago and were now having fun on the beach without him. But instead of doing that himself he has been scrubbing each of the tiles on the roof of not only the Fuji home but also the surrounding wall. The silver lining though was that he had plenty of time to practice his Water Pulse, so much so in fact that it felt natural using it now. He could even adjust the strength at will, ranging from a veritable torrent to a harmless slosh, the latter being what he's been using to speed up his work. But the endless cycle of wash, Water Pulse, repeat had made him yearn for a distraction, in this case a conversation with Tyranitar who was passing by beneath him.

Tyranitar on the other hand was focused on her task, and by extension ignore him in the process, with Larvitar helping in his own little way by carrying some branches close behind his mother. Those two( more the mother then the child) had the task of cleaning up the dead trees and removing the stones left behind by the Stone Edge attacks.

The big pile of sand gathered yesterday by the two pegasi had already been spread across the beach but there was still plenty of sand left across the orchard that needs to be removed. Fuji was sweeping off the walkways around the house getting any leftover grains outside where they would be swept away by the wind or picked up by the twin pegasi later that day.

"You're mad at me aren't you." Kira probed as he loosed another mini Water Pulse across the tiles.

"You've been complaining nonstop about how boring this is and you hit me in the face with Water Pulse today...three times, so yes." Tyranitar glared as drops of water dripped off her face, his latest stray shot.

"Those were accidents! I swear!" Kira pleaded, though Tyranitar was unconvinced. Admittedly he wasn't a natural at first, with one of his earlier attempts knocking free the tiles unlucky enough to be in its path and another dropping right onto Tyranitar's head. The second time Kira was trying to be cute and curve the attack around a corner of the wall. It worked but the resulting wave splashed down on Tyranitar when she was depositing a previous load. The third time was- "Wait, three times? ...Ooohh... Sorry." And with one last glare the Armor Pokémon continued on with her slightly wetter load, leaving Kira alone on the roof. With a sigh, Kira gave up and went back to work scrubbing the next set of tiles 'I wonder how Selene's doing.' he thought while his body went on autopilot.

Selene, after evolving to Gardevoir, had always been forward when it came to showing her affection towards him, taking every chance she had to make a double entendre. But for some reason, the events of last night still bothered him. It wasn't that she snuck into his room, she's done that at least ten times in Mossdeep City alone, and that's only the times he caught her. Even her sultry actions were nothing new...aside from actually succeeding this time. But that was the effect, not the cause. Although, because of last night he now had a much better understanding( not that he had a choice in the first place) of how his new body could and couldn't move. One example he thought of was when Selene kept his arms pinned down over his head and his legs wrapped around her arms he felt little physical discomfort there. Though unfortunately he had to add something else to his list of things he's tasted( it wasn't Houndoom spit, though a part of him wished it were) when Selene pressed down on him and proceeded to-'Wait! Why am I thinking about that!' Kira screamed mentally, trying to destroy the memory brought on by the tangent. His flushed cheeks and flailing head meant he was failing though.

"Kira, that's enough daydreamin! That sand ain't gonna remove itself!" Fuji yelled from below him in the estate.

Snapping out of his delusion Kira looked down at the elderly pony currently sitting with his front hooves crossed and staring disapprovingly at him. 'You'd be surprised if there was a certain Rock/Steel-type here...' Kira mentally deadpanned. He could already imagine the shocked looks of the ponies seeing a Probopass floating around with sand clinging to its already bushy moustache 'Maybe with enough time it'd become a horseshoe stache.' he snickered.

"Ya want dinner tonight, don't ya? Well this has ta get done first. So enough jokin' around!"

"And then there's the mind-reading pony..." Kira muttered to himself. He was surprised at how intuitive Fuji was despite being separated by a language barrier, even if that intuition was why he was being chided right now. With a sigh of defeat he gave Fuji a nod and focused on completing his job. Dinner was on the line after all and he wasn't going to let anything come between him and a meal, not even the seemingly unending waves of tiles that covered this wall 'This week couldn't get any worse...'

"Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new."

"OH WHAT NOW!?"

Every pony in Kouma was looking around for the source of voice they just heard, and beginning to panic when they couldn't find it. Some of the more skittish residents were already making a beeline to their homes while some of the braver ones, like Vigilant, were trying to prevent said panic from setting in.

Rin was somewhere in the middle. She wanted to at least see what was causing the new voice before she decided to either fight or flee, even if fleeing with the supplies she just bought would be difficult. It sounded masculine but there was something else as well, a sharpness similar to a king or queen addressing a group of ants. "Please tell me you know whose voice that was inside my head." Rin pleaded immediately after the voice started speaking she turned to the ones most likely to know, and her heart sank at what she saw.

Cinder and Phoebe were both looking towards the sky motionless and with their mouths agape, as if they were staring at some unseen giant looming over the entire town. Selene was far worse. While she too was looking towards the sky like the others, her amber eyes were reduced to mere pinpricks, She was visibly trembling all over, and was clearly starting to hyperventilate.

"Th-that's...Lord Arceus..." she was barely able to say through her fear "Why is he...?"

"Umm, who?" Rin asked, only to be cut off by the voice.

"I am Lord Arceus, creator of the creatures that you have seen over the past few days. You have no reason to fear me for I come in peace. I am the one who brought the creatures you see to this world, they are known as Pokémon. I have my reasons for bringing them here, and I will be holding a summit with the world's leaders so that they can help inform their citizens the best.

'Okay, so he doesn't seem interested in a hostile takeover. That's good at least.' Rin noted. With her more violent fears regarding Arceus laid to rest she exhaled the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. When she calmed down a little more she returned her attention to the voice, intent to not miss any more of his declaration as it continued on.

For now I issue a warning; Even if some do not appear as such, the Pokémon are just as intelligent as any other creature that calls this world home. Since they are MY subjects I will not tolerate their mistreatment or abuse. Treat them as you would your own neighbor. Pokémon who have awoken in this new world, do not seek to harm the natives of this world.

'Duly noted, even if you're a day late on the warning.' she chided, taking a moment to look at her barrel. Thanks to Selene it looked perfectly normal, no scars, no discoloration, nothing suggesting that just the other day her insides resembled tree pulp.

To the Pokémon that experienced certain... changes... when you arrived; You are the ones who proved that not all of your kind deserved vengeful retribution, consider this your reward. To live new lives, free of the burdens of the old world, a chance to start anew. As sentient beings of varying intelligence, the laws of the respective countries you now reside in apply to you, and only those laws."

This caught Rin by surprise '"Changes"? "Retribution"? What does he mean by that?' Kira never mentioned anything involving angering their own creator enough to warrant vengeance, not that anypony would want to brag about something like that. But if Kira was somehow involved then that would explain why Carlos reacted the way he did yesterday. The changes part was also bothering her and again suspicion was cast on Kira. 'Perhaps Kira used to be something else, like a pony?' she hypothesized. Thinking back, even though Kira said he was a Pokémon trainer he never said he was a Pokémon, Rin just kind of assumed. Did that mean before appearing in Kouma Kira was a pony or something? 'Something else to ask Kira when I see him I guess, or that Carlos guy.' she concluded. Conveniently, so was Arceus.

"That is all for now, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite. If you have any qualms with what I have done, I reside in a temple located within the Everfree forest and welcome all who would like to speak, or a pocket dimension outside of the space time continuum, so if any of you wish to face the sheer power of a god, feel free to come by. Goodbye for now, though I doubt this will be the last you hear of me, and peace to you all."

For the next minute everything was silent. No one dared move or speak in case the voice returned with "something he forgot to say". Slowly the ponies around Kouma crept out of their homes and hiding spots and began talking about what just transpired. "Oookay so, that just happened." Rin said absentmindedly. In truth she was still processing the information Arceus ended on 'The Everfree forest though. That's near cousin Applejack's farm. I hope she's ok...' she thought. Rin had never met Applejack or even been to Sweet Apple Acres herself, she was always too busy keeping Fuji's orchard running alone. Everything she knew about her cousin came from either Fuji's stories or newspaper articles about the Elements of Harmony. Regardless she was still an Apple and while Rin couldn't be there physically she silently prayed for Applejack's well-being.

Her worries about her extended family were cut short when a thud rang out from behind her followed by labored breathing. Rin looked back to find Phoebe and Cinder crowded around Selene on her knees and clutching her chest tightly with her hands. "Hey! Are you alright?" Rin cried out, franticly trying to free herself from the cart's yoke.

Her head was low but the streams of tears running down her face were impossible to miss. Her entire body was trembling and her mouth was pulled back, revealing her teeth as she struggled to breath and speak at the same time "th...th..." was all she could say before more tears or the need to breathe drowned out her voice.

"Mommy?"

"Thank you!" Selene cried, Shouting those words and more to the heavens as the tears continued flowing down her contorted, but still smiling face "Thank you Lord Arceus! Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!"

Rin just stood there, half free from the cart, staring with a confused expression at the trio. By this point she knew Selene was crying tears of joy from Arceus' declaration even though before he started speaking she was utterly terrified of what he had to say. But still she felt like she was missing some context somewhere, especially with Selene's dramatic reaction. So with all of the composure and grace she could muster she tried to eloquently voice her questions: "Uhhh... Huh?" sleep deprivation nixed her efforts quite well though.

Thankfully Phoebe noticed her and after giving Selene a light hug started floating towards her with a kind aura emanating from her "Selene and her trainer, James, had it pretty rough where we came from." she said softly, moving to the cart and positioning herself to look like she was sitting on top of the supplies watching the mother and daughter soothe each other "From what he told me he was always being chased by poachers because of Selene being a shiny Pokémon and-"

"Wait. What do you mean a shiny Pokémon?" Rin interrupted. Phoebe looked down at her confused but then brought one of her hands over her eye stalk and chuckled softly 'Did she just face-hoof? Or try to hide her laugh?'

"Oh, right. You don't know about that haha..." Phoebe laughed, though Rin sensed a bit of grief hiding in her voice. Choosing to not press further on that emotion the two looked to Selene who was now having her face nuzzled by Cinder in her latest attempt to stop the tears "Well...Gardevoirs are not normally blue or amber. For some reason the abnormal color causes the Pokémon to 'sparkle' when they leave their Pokéball." Rin opened her mouth to ask another question but before she could say anything Phoebe cut her off "And don't ask what a Pokéball is, it's not important." with a quick snort Rin looked back to Selene with a deadpanned expression "Anyway, because of that certain collectors would go to any lengths to have her just to have her as a sort of trophy, or worse." she thought back to one of her league sanctioned missions near route 123 to a wealthy socialite's manor.

This socialite in particular was under suspicion of kidnapping Pokémon from trainers and Phoebe was tasked with using her Ghost-type Pokémon to find any incriminating evidence. When she arrived at the manor in question one of the servant's spirits told her that the socialite had been tipped off about her arrival, and what she saw confirmed it. To put it simply, she found far more than enough evidence than even the League wanted to find. Every servant she saw had either a hole or a knife going through one vital organ or another, the socialite silencing any would-be loose ends. In the cellar she found a Ditto so drugged with aphrodisiacs it tried to assault her as her( with one notable difference) as well as the ghosts of the abducted Pokémon, all of which the servants testified were drugged and attempted to be bred with, and not always with other Pokémon. There were also dozens of hatched, rotten, and smashed eggs of Ralts, Roselias, Meditites, Sawblus and even Solosis. What made this scene wore was the servants said these were the "failures" of the socialite's scheme to own a Shiny Pokémon and not only did he hatch a "success" but he took it with him when he fled his home. She didn't have to look far for him though as his poisoned body was found face down with black and purple flower petals scattered around him. In the end, with no other traces of survivors and all of the servants bodies accounted for Phoebe had to leave the manor with nothing more than the dirt on her hands from the freshly dug graves.

"I can't imagine how hard it must have been being a target for the criminal underworld your whole life simply because your skins a different color than normal." Phoebe said, after pulling herself out of the memory even if her words lacked any of her usual positive cheer.

"I can..." Rin muttered, barely loud enough for her own ears to hear. After another moment watching Selene became too much for her to bear, and so for her own sake she looked away instead straightening her ink black mane with a hoof to banish the bad memories welling up from Phoebe's explanation. Still, even she couldn't deny that she and Selene had more in common than she first thought 'maybe we can be friends... or at least get along.'

"And this is all before he became an enemy to the Rangers."

Her ears perked up at this latest bit of information, something Phoebe herself didn't seem aware she said out loud "huh? You mean Carlos and Manectric? Selene and this...'James' pony are their enemies?" Rin pressed. This could be her chance to figure out what happened when Selene stopped translating yesterday shortly after Manectric said "you stink." and why Carlos and Kira were about to turn their front yard into a battlefield.

Phoebe however realized her slip as well "ahahaha...I think I said too much." she chuckled, rubbing the back of her head in an attempt to treat it like it was nothing important. It wasn't working. Seeing that Rin wasn't buying it, Phoebe figured it was time she used the tried and true method of keeping quiet: Change the subject then run like hell "We should go buy more food, I have a feeling everyone's going to celebrate tonight."

And just like that Phoebe hopped down from the cart, gave Rin a quick wave, and flew towards town, the opposite direction Rin, and the cart she was still half-strapped to, was facing "wha- hey!" Rin called. Intent on following her, Rin looked back at the cart of supplies to weigh her options. She couldn't leave the cart unattended, not with all the rice, wheat, and non-apple fruits on top just begging for somepony, or somemon, to help themselves to it but she also couldn't effectively chase down Phoebe dragging it with her. Cursing under her breath and stomping the ground she strapped herself back to the cart so she could begin turning it around to chase her "When I catch you I'll make you tell me what you know!"

"Ahahaha you'll hear it from him first!" Phoebe goaded a safe hundred meters ahead of the approaching mare.

As Rin began her pursuit of the ghost Pokémon the remaining two sat there, oblivious to the world around them. After another minute Cinder looked up with worried eyes to her mother's own closed eyes "mommy?"

"I'm ok now, thank you." Selene whispered, releasing Cinder from her embrace to wipe away her remaining tears. Slowly she opened her bloodshot amber eyes, letting them adjust to the presence of light once more and to reassure Cinder she was really fine. "Let's go too, sweetie." she said, her voice cracking occasionally "They won't know what to get if we just sit here and wait, will they." With a bright smile on her face Cinder nodded vigorously and started barreling towards town no longer with a care in the world. Selene smiled softly as she watched Cinder run, deciding to walk at a leisurely pace as they headed back to town 'I wonder how James is taking this.' She mused on the way, taking a minute to listen to the ocean and the wind 'I did kinda forget to tell him we're on another world. Haha, I bet he's freaking out right about now.'

The ocean breeze gently caressed the Kouma beach line and all on it, ponies and Pokémon alike. The weather pegasi were clearing the sky of any clouds intent on taking advantage of the warm weather and make today a fabled 'perfect day' to be out on the beach despite having a flock of Wingull watch them from a distance in the air. Even some Krabby and Kingler could be seen on the rocks interacting with each other with some brave/foolish ponies inching closer for a better look. There were even some young fillies playing tag with a Tyrogue, a Meditite, and a Pancham while their parents( and a Hitmonlee) sat and wearily watched them play together. It was a testament to how both sides were trying to naturally coexist peacefully, regardless of the foreign god's declaration to do so. And yet none of this was registering to the lone Greninja on the beach.

After listening to Arceus' announcement Kira excused himself from his chores, sneaking down the nearby trail to the beach without Fuji's consent( or knowledge). There were most likely going to be consequences for his little disappearing act but right now he had a downpour of thoughts plaguing his mind, none of which involved his shirking. The Pokémon god of their world not only revealed his existence to most likely everyone but also took credit for moving an entire species from one world to another, changing another species into beings of the former species, and condemning the previous world to not-even-god-knows-what!

Finally unable to take the pressure, Kira collapsed onto his hands and knees under the weight of his thoughts "is this really happening? No...of course it is, how could any of this be a dream." he murmured despondently while his eyes stared blankly at the sand beneath him "It would be so easy to say it is though. To just deny everything that's happened and that I'll wake up in Selene's lap back at Ever Grande City and everything will be back to normal, but it won't. This is my normal from now on." letting out an empty sigh Kira tried to stand back up...only to fall on his back. It wasn't that he slipped lost his balance rather when he pushed himself off the ground to stand his body just kept going. Now he laid on his back in the sand facing the sky with his legs bent in weird uncomfortable V-angles "Haha...you'd be laughing your ass off if you saw me now, wouldn't you, Nova..."

"You know it could've been, like, so much worse..."

Unbeknownst to him Kira had gained a guest during his little tirade. Said 'guest' was about a meter tall grey dog with black fur on its feet past the joints as well as on its back and tail. Its head was drooped and its tail was between its legs as its red eyes stared emptily towards the ocean. And aside from some extra ragged fur on the head, obscuring the muzzle slightly, and a four pointed blonde patch of hair between its ears it looked like any other Mightyena Kira had seen, but two things convinced him otherwise. First was the aforementioned hair and second was the voice it-she spoke with was incredibly familiar.

"That voice...Sharlene!?"

Chapter 7

Chapter 7:Kira's Gambit

Sharlene, a Pokémon Trainer living in Lillycove many would call a delinquent. A person who ditched school regularly to harry trainers on Route 120 with other thugs. A person whose gang, on one of these harrying attempts, was beaten by James and left her behind. A person who James not only battled but befriended to the point of being allowed to stay at her place whenever he was in town, such as the day the world ended.

And now she was a Pokémon staring back at him in a mixture of surprise and disbelief "huh? You, like, seriously know who I am?"

Sitting up from his spot Kira pressed one of his webbed hands to his chest and stared at her with pleading eyes "it's me! James! James Kirikaze?!"

Surprisingly, she looked offended to hear his name rather than relieved "Huh? James!? You seriously have a lot of nerve saying that with your face." she growled, raising her muzzle and scrunching up her face in order to look more intimidating. And from Kira's sitting position she was slightly, thanks to the added glare and bristled hair, but what stopped him from reacting was the fact that he knew he was right. And the punk-ish outburst to a 'stranger' only helped confirm it. So while she stared down and snarled at him he just sat there with his arms in his lap and retaliated with a deadpanned look of indifference. After a minute of nothing happening, Sharlene snarl lightened up to an unsavory scowl and slowly her lowered head to be eye level with Kira. Kira remained motionless as the Mightyena shifted around, examining him from different angles and occasionally sniffing the air for some reason until she returned to eye level, her gaze softening slightly since beginning when finally she spoke in a disbelieving tone: "You look, like, completely different."

"Uh~huh...I'm not going to respond to that and instead ask the more important question; What are you doing here?"

Kira's question quickly reminded her why she was at the beach in the first place, and her solemn mood from before resurfaced "oh...nothing..." she said in a dour tone, no longer looking Kira in the eye. How could she? Instead she turned to the shoreline and started lumbering onward "I was...just going to go walk into the ocean that's all." she mumbled apathetically.

"Oh." and then it hit him, Mightyenas can't learn Surf "Wait what! No! No, no, no, no! Bad idea!" Kira said, immediately getting up and putting his body between her and the ocean. Sharlene, for her part registered the obstruction in her way and stopped moving but kept her head low and made no other attempts to acknowledge Kira's presence. She merely kept her head down, staring at the sand, until he spoke again without any snark or sarcasm whatsoever "Listen, I know this is a weird situation we're in but it's only been a day and a half. Isn't it a bit early to be throwing yourself into the ocean?"

"I've met some Pokémon who would disagree with you!" a voice from behind called out.

"Not. Helping!" Kira seethed, turning his head see the voice's owner. What he saw was a unmistakable blue fin, yellow X-shaped scar, and glinting red eyes of a Sharpedo staring at the two of them from beyond the waves. While he had mixed feelings about Sharpedo in general thanks to his encounters with Team Aqua this one was one he had seen many times before. In fact her trainer was standing right in front of him.

"Sherry has a point though." Sharlene admitted, forcing Kira to look at her in shock as she continued talking "I have, like, no idea where Alley is, I can barely walk in this body, I've literally become a big black bitch, and now Arceus expects us to just take all of this? It's too much, ok." she instinctively started pacing in front of Kira, with tears forming in her eyes and her voice cracking at every syllable, as he watched her becoming more of a jibbering mess with each word she spoke and after another five minutes she collapsed in front of him quietly sobbing into her front paws.

'And there's that "cheery outlook" she tends to have.' Kira sighed. Even when they first met, it was obvious to Kira that she had a very pessimistic view on life. As a trainer she had the potential to earn at least four of the Hoenn gym badges with just her two Pokémon Sherry( her Sharpedo) and Alice( a Weavile), something he had mentioned many times before during training battles, but her dispirited attitude prevented her from even trying. Amazingly she never relied on strategy, in battles or in her life, and usually made decisions based on intuition and emotions which occasionally exposed her to surprising or stressful situations when her way didn't, or couldn't, work. There was also the fact that the gang she was a part of abandoned her shortly after Kira overpowered them and ''kidnapped'' her( something that, in hindsight, wasn't the smartest thing he could have done) but in his opinion that was for the better in the long run.

Still, considering that his first moments in this world were in intense pain and since then has been one tribulation after another she did have a point "ok yes, that sounds bad and right now my situation isn't much better." Kira admitted, making Sharlene sulk and sink deeper into her depression "Emphasis on right now." he then added sternly before shaking his conversational captive into focusing on him. When he had Sharlene's undivided attention he gave her the widest and best smile he could behind his tongue hoping it was big enough for her to notice "Selene and I wound up here together and already I've found Cinder. It's only a matter of time before I find the rest of my team, and after that who knows what I'll do. I mean think about it; we're in a whole new world where practically everything is new to us." he said, highlighting his point by reaching towards the afternoon sun as if to grab all of the treasures this world had to offer. With his trainer's curiosity on full display Kira then gave her an assured smile "Aren't you at the very least a little curious about it?"

For her part Sharlene stopped looking at Kira, disregarding what he said and once more focusing on the crashing waves in front of them "honestly, all I want to do is find Alley..." she replied, though in a tone of neither nor despair but longing.

"Well I sincerely doubt she's at the bottom of the ocean." Kira said jokingly, even scratching the back of his head with his previously outstretched hand, and almost immediately regretted it. The next moments were filled with an awkward air between the two and the sound of ponies finally noticing the "shark" just off the coast. Sighing at the poor attempt to lighten the mood, even by his standards, Kira presented Sharlene with his hand "Come on, I'll treat you to some lunch where I'm staying and we can continue talking then."

Sharlene looked from the Greninja beside her to the ocean she intended to go into, shifting her focus from one to the other. But over time her gaze started to linger on the Pokémon more and more, something Kira smiled inwardly at. His inner smile grew when he heard a definitive growl come from Sharlene, but not her mouth "that sounds...good actually." she said, hanging her head in embarrassment over her stomach's protest, but smiling nonetheless "I've eaten, like, nothing since coming here."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" Kira asserted, spinning Sharlene around and leading her to the apple orchard path and Fuji's home cooking. He didn't think this was a permanent solution for Sharlene trying to throw her life away but at the very least being close by with familiar faces around her should help improve her mood, at least long enough for him to get his bearings and figure out what to do next. Though before he got too far his hand smacked his head as he realized something "Oh! Almost forgot. I'm going by my 'other name' because some Rangers are in the area ok. And they seemed pretty set on catching me and locking me up in some hole." Kira cautioned, to which Sharlene nodded knowingly "Thanks I appreciate it. See ya later Sherry!"

"I'll catch ya later James!" she replied.

"Try not to scare the locals too much, ok!"

"No promises!"

For the second time today Selene, Cinder, and the others were on the well-kept dirt road leading to Fuji's apple orchard. The spoils of their latest shopping spree being carried either by hand, mouth, or psychic power while Rin continued pulling the cart nearly overloaded with necessities. Speaking of Rin, after an impressive hour of chasing Phoebe around town she gave up and resigned herself to the back of the group still pulling the cart of ever-growing supplies. On the way back Selene had been telling Phoebe and Rin about the last day on Earth to help pass the time, and to have an excuse to fawn over James. So far she had reached the "running the welcome wagon over the poor kid's ass." part of the story.

"Ahahaha, no way! He said that?" Phoebe said clutching her side with one hand while trying to keep the large container balanced on her shoulder from falling over with the other.

"On Arceus' name he did." Selene jovially swore, even raising a hand and closing her eyes as if to take an oath. When she opened her eyes she noticed Rin was looking at her in both sheer exhaustion and utter confusion "What?" Selene asked, curious as to why she was looking at her that way this time.

"I don't, huff...huff, get it. Is ice cream, huff...huff, rare where you're from?" Rin wheezed before unstrapping herself from the loaded cart and promptly keeling over onto the ground, sucking in all the air she could.

"Of course not, but Castelliacones are a world-famous regional specialty. A region we weren't in I might add." Selene explained...with a bit of haughtiness that Rin couldn't quite place "There were also rumors of a new top-secret flavor being revealed buuut," this time the haughtiness was in clear view as she had chest puffed out, arms folded, and a wide grin plastered on her face "from what I heard from other Pokémon it was definitely-"

"Mommy look!"

Selene's bragging and Rin's break were cut short when Cinder grabbed everyone's attention. The young Vulpix had wandered up the road twenty meters and was now pointing with one of her paws towards the front gate of the orchard barely visible in the distance.

And at the front gate of the orchard was a group of more than a dozen ponies, each a different color than the last being blocked by what could only be Tyranitar standing on the other side of the gate. The majority of the ponies were wearing either a dark-colored hat with a piece of white sticking out of it, a harness that led to a camera hanging directly in front of the face, or both in some ponies cases. at the front of the group standing between the gate and the mob were two ponies, a grey unicorn with a pink(?) mane and an orange earth pony with a short silver mane "Hey isn't that-"

"Mayor Doctrine." Rin spat out, joining Cinder and Selene in observing the crowd. While Selene saw ponies with cameras and hats, Rin saw reporters and paparazzi surrounding Mayor Doctrine and the Enforcer "And it looks like Vigilant is there too. No doubt this has something to do with your creator's little announcement." she surmised unable to hide the disdain in her voice. It wasn't the reporters she minded, rather it was the two ponies standing in front of them. The reason why was simple, she didn't like them and they were making a scene at her doorstep.

"Anyone know what they're saying?" Selene asked only to get regretful shakes from the other Pokémon. Rin meanwhile was squinting her eyes as if trying to read Doctrine's lips from their position half a mile away. She wished the pony luck though because neither Doctrine's nor Vigilant's or anypony's mouth for that matter was directly visible.

"All I can tell is that whoever he's talking to is getting under his skin, so it's most likely gramps." Rin answered, not breaking eye contact with the mayor. Methodically her eyes scanned every inch of Doctrine and Vigilant, constantly looking for any tells that would help discover what they were saying, taking a long deep breath before continuing her scan every other rotation until frustration started to show. Rubbing her eyes and with a huff she finally conceded "It's no use, I can't tell what they're saying from here." Rin grumbled, hanging her head and letting her strained eyes rest a moment "We'll have to get a little closer to know what exactly's going on."

"You're not missing much." a familiar voice called out. The entire group turned to the source of the newcomer and found, hidden by the shadows of the foliage, the shape of a Greninja leaning against a tree. He had his arms crossed, his eyes closed, and his mouth was covered by his tongue but to Selene and Rin it was clear he was livid. Because of that both of them almost didn't catch the grey and black dog laying on the ground staring at the Pokémon in wonder and the pony with disdain. "That beloved mayor of yours came by with his entourage about a half-hour ago. Since then he's been using some stupid law to try and evict us from the town." Kira said, trying to stay calm and barely succeeding.

"Stupid law?" Rin wondered, only to plant her hoof into her face in a groan when she realized what he was talking about "You don't mean 'Regulation 22: Unless approved by both races ruling leaders, non-pony residents are prohibited from staying within the town's borders.' do you?"

"That's the one." Kira replied "Why do you even have a law like that anyways?"

"Long story." Rin deadpanned "And gramps isn't budging?"

"Like a Snorlax after a meal."

"...Oookay, well what should we do?" Rin asked, the analogy Kira made going over her head. One by one she looks at the Pokémon, each with their own confused or thoughtful glances to one another. But nobody spoke up. Kira and Cinder seemed to have some idea forming but neither looked confident in speaking, Cinder more-so. Even the black dog seemed to be lost in thought even though it hasn't said a word this entire time. "I'm open to suggestions you know..." she pleaded "Otherwise all of Canterlot is going to hear about this, maybe even all of Equestria if those reporters are any good."

"Reporters, huh... Well that explains the cameras around their necks." Kira reasoned. He had figured they were some type of newsmongers but hearing that from the local confirmed his suspicions. Reporters meant public news, public news meant widespread audiences, widespread audiences meant a message could be sent to a large area so long as it didn't raise any alarms. Already he was considering in his mind how he could best take advantage of this in order to find his team, or rather have his team find him. Though before he could act on anything he still had to address the Mamoswine in the room "But...'Canterlot'? 'Equestria'? Care to elaborate to the foreigners?" he insisted, motioning towards the other Pokémon.

"Kouma's the name of the town but Equestria's the country we're in." Rin started to explain, hopefully for the last time "And Canterlot is the city where the Princess' reside, the capital in other words."

"Reeeealy..." Kira answered, with his eyes narrowing and a devious grin stretching across his face. He could ask about the princesses later. Right now, his mind was on other things "Hmhmhm, I think we can take advantage of this." he said with a sinister undertone creeping out of every word. Whatever was going on in his head Rin didn't like any part of it and the chill running down the back of her neck only served as physical confirmation. With out missing a beat, Kira turned to the Gardevoir and her daughter with the same nefarious grin on his face "Selene, Cinder, care to give me a hand?"

At this point Rin was beginning to wonder if it was safe being around this Pokémon. Subconsciously taking a half-step back she asked possibly the most dangerous question yet: "What are you planning...?" to which Kira turned to her with a mischievous smile.

"They're reporters right? Let's give 'em a story."

"I keep telling you Fuji! These creatures are a menace! Just look what they did to your home! And you're defending them!?"

"That was the action of ah distressed mother, Mayor! Not ah crazed beast!"

"They might as well have been the same thing! Just look at what happened to your apples!"

Out of frustration Mayor Doctrine stamped his hoof and started pacing in front of the gate, letting the reporters and publicity he called in yesterday to take picture after picture of his stressed face. Among the reporters were also ponies from town who sympathized with him or had been wronged some way by these creatures already. Vigilant Specter, the dutiful guard that he was, stood stoically to the side waiting for when (or if) his services would be needed while Fuji and that monster behind him blocked the way into the orchard itself. He planned on chasing away the monster and show these creatures in town that they cannot do as they please but his plan changed when this "Arceus" said they were as sentient as any pony. While he didn't believe the voice, he had the perfect law in mind that could be used against them. It was an archaic one he would admit but it's not like Princess Celestia would allow these invaders to roam as they saw fit, harming her subjects in the process.

Taking a short breath Doctrine returned to Fuji's face with his resolve tempered once more "I will not argue about this Fuji, those creatures are dangerous. You said so yourself; a "distressed mother" did this to your home and-"

"And she's tryin' ta make things right by fixin everything."

"You're missing the point, Fuji! Imagine what could happen if one of these things tried to destroy the town!

And as if to prove his statement, a large sphere of water shot into the air exploding in the sky high enough to drench everypony present aside from three. Doctrine and Vigilant stayed dry thanks to the azure barrier the guard pony created with magic. Fuji was luckily standing under the roof of the gate when the sudden shower came, sparing even a hair from getting wet.

"Greetings! Citizens of...wherever I am." A voice echoed throughout the air, and panic started growing in the crowd as they looked to each other to figure out who said that. Desperately, Doctrine too was searching for the source of the voice, looking to the trees, the crowd, Fuji and the monster behind him, and even down the empty road leading back to town. Vigilant was also looking for the sound, currently focused on the roof of the gate for some reason the mayor didn't know or care about. His opinion however changed when he heard a rough cough come from not only behind him but above him, and he wasn't the only one to notice. Standing on the roof of the gate for everypony to see was a blue frog-like thing standing on its hind legs with its arms stretched wide apart with their unobstructed mouth curled into an arrogant grin. "My name is Kira, I am a Greninja, which, as some of you may have guessed, is a type of Pokémon. And while I'm sure many of you won't be able to comprehend this but, yesterday I took control of your weather."

"What!"

"Impossible!"

"Wh-What's he talking about!"

"What's going on!?"

Similar comments continued to ring out from the reporters and spectators, drowning out any thoughts the mayor had. Panic was starting to set in, the reporters no longer taking pictures in favor of taking a few steps back. Vigilant on the other hoof slid into a defensive stance and kept his eyes on the creature calling himself "Kira", eyeing him inquisitively instead of out of fear. But aside from that he hadn't done anything, and Doctrine couldn't comprehend why!

Tired of nopony doing anything useful, Doctrine decided to confront the terrorist himself "are you saying you're the cause of that sandstorm!?" he demanded, his voice silencing the hysteric ponies around him and making him the center of attention.

At first Kira looked at him incredulously in the silence, but after another moment he bent over snickering, and then the snickering became raucous laughter. A good thirty seconds passed before Kira quieted down, wiping a tear from his eye as he regained some form of composure "hmhmhm... No, the sandstorm was indeed caused by the Tyranitar here. I'm referring to the drought that was taking place during and afterwards." he clarified. The ponies looked to each other, mumbling about the revelation Kira just said. Doctrine didn't believe it and from his point of view neither did Vigilant Specter 'after all, why would this...frog remove the water from the land when he needs it too?' Doctrine thought, and the whispers behind him suggested that he wasn't the only one coming to this conclusion. But Kira seemed to anticipate this "Hmm... I sense skepticism. Then how about a demonstration," he said before clapping his webbed hands together, creating some sort of hand sign. He then raised one hand into the air, prompting a pure white beam of light to shoot into the sky above him.

And almost instantly the world around them started getting hotter. Every cloud in the sky vaporized, the world around him started to look distorted, and the sun seemed to be shining brighter than ever before "there we go. I could even make it rain if I wanted to. But I don't. So I'm not." Kira said with a satisfied grin on his face.

Doctrine could feel the sweat forming on his face and air warm him with each breath he took. The bystanders were faring much better thanks to the few pegasi among them creating a breeze with their wings. Vigilant was experiencing the worst of the heat though, courtesy of his dark grey coat. Still, he persisted "why are you doing this?" he said, wiping the sweat off his face and confronting the one responsible.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kira asked in a cynical tone only to sharpen his expression afterward "to send a message." he then answered, lacking the humorous tone and leaving only contempt in his voice "All Pokémon are as sentient as me, despite their outward appearance and are far more powerful and diverse than anything you ponies could ever dream of. They will not take too kindly to being forced out of town, especially now that they've started settling in. In fact..." now his mood reversed, loosing the disdain but overflowing with pride, as if 'he had the greatest idea ever'. This was not going to end well "I claim this town and the surrounding area as my territory!"

"WHAT-!"

For a moment Doctrine thought he heard the voice Fuji's granddaughter, Ringo behind him but when he chanced a glance back he didn't see any trace of her, not that she mattered at the moment. Instead he focused on the Pokémon menace attempting to usurp the entirety of Kouma who just stood there, arms wide and eyes closed, just waiting for somepony to inevitably speak up and try to stop him.

But nopony did.

"If there are any who would try and stop me, speak up now!" he said, his voice sounding more irritated than haughty. Vigilant Specter was already in a combat stance, his horn charging up magic, almost ready to strike him down "Don't even try it poser." Kira chastised, glaring at the enforcer with only one eye open "You've seen what I'm capable of. You know what it would take to beat me. You're not it." reluctantly, the magic in Vigilant's horn dissipated and he, along with the majority of the crowd, hanged their head in defeat.

The ones who didn't saw a solid lump of shadows hit the Pokémon dead in the chest, exploding on impact into a plume of thick smoke.

"I'll stop you!" a new voice called out and immediately caught everypony's attention. To Doctrine's surprise, behind the reporters was the aloof floating Pokémon he met here yesterday except this time she looked remarkably serious. Both of her hands were stretched out towards the smoke cloud that was once Kira "Kira! You've gone too far! As a member of the Elite Four I will not let you harm these ponies!"

"Elite Four, huh? Seems I caught me a really big fish." Kira's condescending voice echoed from the smoke. As the smoke cleared, the Pokémon could be seen standing in the same spot with his arms crossed, eyeing the former Elite Four member with intrigue. The intrigue quickly faded, being replaced by an expression that could only be described as 'battle lust' and his arms slowly unfolded with one hanging near the x-shaped scar on his thigh and the other generating a sphere of water "But, how well can you fight in that body, hm? I vote we find out. Water Pulse!" with lightning fast reflexes Kira launched the ball of water directly at Phoebe.

"Shadow Ball!" she called out, retracting her hands to quickly create another lump of darkness and fired it back at the Water Pulse. The two spheres collided in mid-air, creating another explosion of smoke which enveloped the ponies spectating. Not wasting a moment, Phoebe retracted her arms once more and quickly fired another Shadow Ball through the smoke with the exact same trajectory as Kira's Water Pulse.

"What!?" was all he could say before the second Shadow Ball connected with his chest, this time crying out in pain from being hit in the chest again. Once more the smoke enveloped his surroundings and once more Kira spoke through the shroud but his time it was something everypony there wanted to hear: the undignified shouts of him running away "This isn't over! I'll be back! Just you wait!" when the smoke cleared this time Kira was nowhere to be seen.

The next minute was silent with everyone present still processing what just happened as the literal smoke cleared and dust settled, and when it did nearly everypony there cheered. Phoebe was flocked from every direction by the reporters wanting a story or the townsfolk saying thanks, to which she laughed awkwardly, returning to her aloof nature and taking each question one by one. Vigilant was hanging his head, no doubt mulling over something that struck him as odd, something that Doctrine would no doubt ask about later. Speaking of Doctrine, the mayor began the long walk back to his home, mulling over todays events. His plan had failed. If her were to try evicting the Pokémon now the public would have turned against him considering a Pokémon just saved them from one of their own kind. There was also Kira's last words. If he were to come back Kouma would need an answer for him and at present that answer was being bombarded by questions, no doubt for an upcoming article. He didn't like it but until a better option presented itself he would keep the monsters close if only to throw at other monsters.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT, IN THE NAME OF TARTARUS' DEEPEST DARKEST PIT, YOU'VE JUST DONE!?"

Kira recoiled as the livid mare assailed him in the Fuji family dining room, pushing him against the closest wall and pressed her glowered face against his, effectively immobilizing him. It wasn't that Kira thought he would lose, or that he couldn't overpower her. Rather it was Rin actually terrified him right now, with her mane more akin to furious green fire, her emerald green irises boring a hole through his soul, and her ember white coat completing the appearance of a nightmare baring down on him.

Not that her rage was entirely unjustified, after all he did just try to "take over the town" and didn't give her any warning about it beforehand, an error on his part he concluded. What he did in the aftermath didn't help either. After pulling his disappearing act he hid in the forest long after Phoebe finished talking with the reporters and everybody left. He only recently reappeared at the Fuji residence upon witnessing Phoebe was cooking dinner for everybody. Moments later he was set upon by the raging mare. He also didn't expect to be getting any dinner from Fuji either, not only for the stunt he pulled but because he never did finish washing the roof tiles. But all of that paled in comparison to the current problem pressed against him with her gritted teeth an inch away from his neck. Thankfully( and with a twinge of heartache) a voice moaned out, distracting the two.

"Too loud, head hurts..."

Rin looked over to the shiny Gardevoir laying her arms and head on the dining table, with a cup of warm tea by her side and a miserable expression on her face. Gradually, Rin reverted back to her usual look with her anger also fading "sorry Selene." Rin said sincerely, releasing Kira to comfort Selene. She easily had the toughest job in Kira's plan, that being to translate everything he and Phoebe said to the group of ponies, or at least as many she could manage, without being seen. Something Selene did from a nearby tree Phoebe, Rin, and the newly introduced Sharlene hid under. By the time the last pony left, Selene was dangling from the branch looking like she does now. It was only thanks to Sharlene carrying her that nobody got hurt. With a content moan, Selene rustled slightly in an attempt to show some sort of gratitude without expending too much energy, something the splintered remains of the sliding door and the pebble that was once another of Fuji's teacups showed was very easy for her to do right now. Kira however was fair game. Turning back to him to make sure he didn't disappear again, she gave him the best 'this is your fault' glare she could manage but kept her voice civil, For Selene's sake "You on the other hoof have a lot of explaining to do. First off, do you even know what you did back there?"

'I made myself public enemy number one and Phoebe the local idol?' Kira thought, hesitant to actually say that in fear of his already hurting chest hurting even more. Another reason he kept his mouth shut was Selene, she overexerted herself today. If Kira said anything Selene would try to translate for Rin, and if she did Ringo, Fuji, Cinder, and any other non-Dark type Pokémon in the area would be at risk including Selene herself. So instead of answering Rin he gave her a simple nod showing that he understood but followed up with raising his hand before Rin could continue. He then raised one finger, showing it off to Rin, before making a fist and then pointing at Selene with another outstretched finger.

Rin...didn't get what he was trying to say, or why he was making weird hand signals and pointing at Selene "what about her? Will she be alright?"

"No translate right now..." Selene mumbled telepathically, though to Rin the message was accompanied with a sharp ringing in her head.

"Oh." Rin said after the pain in her head and the nauseous feeling she had subsided. Unbeknownst to her, Rin wasn't the only one who was affected by Selene's words. Cinder, Phoebe, and Fuji also came down with a momentary migraine, delaying dinner slightly when a pot of hot water spilled onto the floor when Phoebe clenched her head without thinking. Thankfully nobody was burned by the scalding water but Sharlene came a little too close for comfort.

Nodding, Kira stepped past the crimson pony and helped Selene up, supporting her with his own body "Let's get you to bed, ok?" he said in a gentle tone as he walked with her to their rooms, his head blocking the evening sunlight from her eyes and Rin following close behind worrying all the while.

"You'll sleep with me, right?" Selene asked weakly, almost pleading to him.

"Of course, I'll even bring some of Phoebe's cooking in case you get hungry later." he answered to which Selene gently smiled "I just have to talk with Rin for a little bit first ok?" while he said "talk" it was going to be more like a game of charades without Selene being there to mediate but he wasn't going to let her push herself and make her migraine worse. When they reached Selene's actual room Kira quietly opened the door and gently laid her down while Rin unfolded the mattress and prepared her bed. When she was finished Kira picked her up and tucked her in, making sure the blankets weren't restricting her in any way "I'll be back soon Selene." he whispered.

"Mhmm."

Content that Selene will be able to get some rest Kira quietly exited the room with Rin meeting him outside. "You really do love her, don't you." Rin said as they were walking back to the dining room, something that Kira, James, could only reply to with a nod and a faint smile. Upon returning to the dining room the two sat down on opposite sides of the table, ready to begin their 'game' "Ok, new question, you had a plan right?" Rin asked, which Kira responded to with a nod "Did everything go according to it?"

Not exactly. His original plan was to rile up the crowd enough and make a scene by causing a drought, only to be 'stopped' by Carlos and Manectric thus giving the rangers some credibility in this world, a news article about a Pokémon causing a drought or Kira being apprehended, and a chance to show what Pokémon are capable of should they think of fighting them. And in the off chance that he was captured and imprisoned by the ponies, that only meant he had time to practice his escape techniques. Admittedly he may have gone a little overboard in his acting but Vigilant Specter seemed like a smart pony to him. It would only be a matter of time until he pieced together what his actions were really about, Kira believed anyways. What really bothered him was that Carlos was a no-show. He expected that they would be nearby waiting for a chance to arrest him considering how they acted yesterday. Still Phoebe really helped him out by challenging him when she did, even if those Shadow Balls hurt like hell. In the end Kira settled with answering Rin with a shrug.

"You don't know? Why?" Rin interpreted, which Kira replied with showing her two fingers and then one'ok, two reasons. I got this.' Rin thought, psyching herself up as Kira looked around for something he could use to help explain himself. Finding something he got up and grabbed the perfect thing to use as a prop "a newspaper? Oh! You wanted to have the Canterlot Times write a story about you didn't you?"

A shrug followed by a nod, it was close enough.

"Ok, so what's the second reason?" Rin immediately asked only to be rebuked by a deadpan stare "Oh, right... yes, no, or maybe answers, sorry." she answered sheepishly. With a sigh both Rin and Kira returned to their neutral expressions. Closing her eyes, Rin began reviewing everything she knew about Kira's performance, even talking to herself to see if something didn't sound right "You're plan was to have the reporters write an article about you with Selene and Cinder helping. I'm guessing Cinder was the one who really caused the sun to intensify and Selene was translating everything you said from the tree above us. Then Phoebe jumped out from our hiding spot and confronted you...while Sharlene held me down so I couldn't cave your face in." Rin added spitefully, shooting Kira a quick glare and watching him flinch before returning to her recount "After that you two fought, Phoebe won, and she instantly became popular with the local press. So...that means you don't know if your plan was a success because you haven't seen tomorrow's paper right?" a long slow nod, she was warm "But if that's the case then it sounds like your plan worked perfectly, except you say it didn't. So what went wrong?"

"Ah think it was when yer ghost friend showed up wasn't it?" Fuji said as he, Phoebe, and Sharlene entered carrying an assortment of delicious looking food ranging from fresh fruit salads with bits of melon cut into the shape of flowers to steamed tofu coated in a light soy sauce with some pickled ginger placed on top. Where they found the pickled ginger in the first place was beyond him but more importantly Fuji somehow managed to hit the nail on the head again. Fervently, Kira nodded and pointed at the old stallion as he started setting the table "Ah see... Ya wanted those Rangers ta fight you didn't ya?" more nods as Fuji then set plates where everybody was sitting or going to sit, except Kira who froze and hung his head utterly defeated. Judgement had been passed.

But it was at that point Rin connected the dots "and when they didn't show up Phoebe stepped in instead!" she blurted out, something Kira affirmed with one final nod and then some applause. Rin wasn't entirely sure if he was actually congratulating her or just being patronizing but the food in front of her was more appealing. He could have been both for all she cared, she was hungry! So without further ado Rin, along with everyone else( sans Kira), started digging into their respective plates. Now that her hunger had been sated slightly, Rin stopped eating for a moment to finish sating her curiosity "But still, why demonize yourself like that? Was it really worth it?"

Kira's response was only a simple smile.

The next morning, in the skies west of Vanhoover, one paperpony casually flew towards her next stop, carrying with her saddlebags filled to the brim with todays edition. In her hooves was also a copy, one she taken from her stack to read herself. It wasn't a big deal to her since she always had leftover papers by the end of her route anyway and nopony was around to stop her, besides she needed some cheering up "The nerve of those guys, just because I think that writer I saw and the musician she was talking with would make a cute couple doesn't mean I pair anypony with anypony at the drop of a hat." she huffed while reading the comics section "I mean it's not my fault my name's Overnight Ship. They really need to grow up a little." she bemoaned to herself, pausing from reading to check the ground. Below her was a sea of trees and in the horizon in front of her was the sea, and the little port town that just so happened to be her next destination.

"Still about another hour before I get there." she guessed, glancing at the speck in the distance before focusing on the paper. Though she couldn't enjoy it for long as an unusual sound caught her attention. Over the course of seconds a chill ran up her spine as she recognized, pinpointed, and made eye contact with the sounds owner.

It was a dragon's roar.

A dragon was headed right for her.

The dragon did not look happy.

Seeing the red winged terror flying at her Overnight Ship had to make an executive decision; be brave and confront the dragon, hoping it was friendly, or run away and live. She chose the latter. Abandoning her papers she flew back towards the city screaming at the top of her lungs.

'I just wanted to ask if I could read that for a second.' the Dragon Pokémon sighed as he approached the discarded papers in free-fall. Deftly, he snatched one of the tied bundles with his mouth and slowly descended into a small clearing in the forest. With a nail he cut through the string holding the papers together and started reading, gingerly turning each page with his mouth, until he came across an article that made him tear up.

"Cin...der? Cinder! Cinder's ok! Don't worry, I'll be there soon."

"Hey, One Shot. Did you hear about all the strange weather goin' on around Equestria?"

"You mean the sandstorms down south, the blizzards to the east, or this downpour we're both standing in?"

The two unicorns trudged onwards through the forest surrounding Smoky Mountain, moving from tree to tree to avoid getting as wet as possible. One Shot and his friend, Pathfinder had been scouring the forest for the source of the strange weather, convinced that a Pokémon was the one causing it and were slogging through the forest to catch it on camera and sell the picture to their local gossip magazine.

"None of those actually. Today's paper said a localized drought happened out in Kouma. Even says one of these Pokémon are responsible for it." Pathfinder claimed.

"Really? Was there a description?" One Shot asked, galloping from one tree to the next.

"No... The article was pretty vague." Pathfinder said right on his friends tail, continuing the conversation as they kept searching for their supposed Pokémon.

Neither of them noticed the last tree they were under lost six broad leaves.

"Well, THAT was a fun night." June sighed, strolling out of an alley in Manehatten and stretching her arms above her head. Behind her, laying on the ground in the alley was a Vigoroth and two ponies( a "pegasus" and an "earth pony" if she heard correctly) utterly exhausted and sore. Wiping off the liquids from her face and then wiping her hands on a random pony's back she was passing by. Only two days here and already she loved this place, it reminded her of Hearthome, only bigger and with none of the bad parts. Pokémon were everywhere, these ponies were adorable, and she could pay for almost anything with just a smile and a wink. To demonstrate this she walked up to the next magazine stand she saw intent on buying the latest idol magazine. One magazine in particular covering some pony called "The Countess" caught her attention above all the others.

But before she could grab it, a paperpony standing at the street corner said something that caught her attention "Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Pokémon cause problems all over Equestria! From droughts to destruction of property! If you can get arrested for it, in two days they've caused it!" he cried out.

While she didn't appreciate the pony's(a unicorn this time) cries, one word caught her attention. With lithe steps, she approached the young pony and with an alluring slide of her finger up the pony's throat she grabbed one of his papers and expressed her gratitude with a peck on the muzzle "thanks sweet stuff." she said alluringly, knowing full well that ponies couldn't understand her. Still it was polite.

Walking away from the dazed unicorn she began skimming through the paper herself 'huh, apparently the pony wasn't exaggerating...at least about the drought part anyway.' she noted, finding the article in question 'so, Cinder might be in a town called Kouma. I wonder if James is with her. If so, maybe I'll finally be able to woo him away from that poacher-bait Selene.' with resolve in her eyes, June exchanged her newspaper for a map from another helpless pony and made her way to the busiest intersection she found. Once there she fluffed up the fur on her arms and legs, brushed her gigantic, fluffy ears behind her body and struck the most dynamic pose in front of everyone.

"Hey! Who wants to take this bunny across the country! Maybe I'll take you around the world in return!"

Interlude: Selene

Interlude: Selene

Warning: this chapter( as will the future interlude chapters) is intended to take place during an undefined moment of time or day and mainly talks about events in the past. Ergo it is not required to read and does not influence the "present" story so you can be skip it should the word count intimidate you or you simply are not interested about Selene and James/Kira's past at the moment. Also, I cannot guarantee tags outside of what this story already has will not make an appearance but I will do my best to give you a fair warning. For example, there will be blood this chapter.

Ringo Apple lay slumped on the dining table, hugging a warm cup of tea to her face. It wasn't a large cup of coffee like she wanted right now but Fuji put a lot of love into making it and, more importantly to her tastes, four lumps of sugar. In front of her was a stack of pancakes with bits of apples baked in and coated in a not-so-healthy layer of maple syrup. Beyond that and sitting on the other side of the table was the reason for her exhaustion, creatures new to this world called Pokémon. Specifically, they were a Gardevoir named Selene, a Greninja calling himself Kira, and a Vulpix named Cinder. There was a fourth Pokémon present, Phoebe, but her ghostly body was floating above all of them in the air happily eating her own portion of breakfast. The aforementioned trio on the other hoof were causing a ruckus, with Selene trying to use her breakfast to sneak a kiss out of Kira and Kira blocking her by shoving a bite from his own into her mouth, and then blushing from a comment that could be taken out of context either by Cinder or Selene, Selene more often than not and definitely on purpose.

Just another breakfast at the Fuji household nowadays.

While her grandpa was loving the new life around the house and even in town Rin was not as quick to adapt. So, in order to give her time to wake up as well as answer one of many questions she had Rin decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, Selene. How'd you and James meet?"

Selene and Kira, currently locked in a struggle over wanting to be kissed and not, perked up at the question and shared looks between each other and Rin. With a shrug the two sat straight and cleared their throats, Selene even removing Kira's fork from her mouth and giving it back to its owner "well, it's kind of a long story..." Selene admitted, scratching her cheek with a cyan finger while her amber eyes looked away.

"If it's time yer worried about, the day's young an' nothin' needs ta be done right now. In fact, ahm a little curious mahself, so go ahead if ya like." Fuji's aged voice assured, balancing a platter with a fresh kettle of tea, a Morning Sun apple for everyone, and his breakfast of pancakes on one hoof as he took a seat next to his granddaughter.

With Fuji's blessing Selene cleared her throat once more, a smile plastered on her face as she made sure her audience was comfortable. Kira on the other hand returned his attention to his meal, or what was left of it anyways. This was a story he heard before anyway( hell, he lived this story.) and if Selene was up for it then he had no reason to stop her.

Besides these pancakes were delicious and talking with a mouthful was a pain in the ass anyways.

"Well then, it all started ten years ago in Oldale Town..."

"And there it is folks! Steven Stone has beaten the challenger Sarah and retains his title of Champion! But man, what an intense battle it was!"

The crowed roared as the battle came to a close, cheering and bellowing in adoration at the two trainers standing on opposite ends of the stadium. On one end was a brown-haired, glasses wearing girl hanging her head in defeat as her Pokémon, a Swampert, lay on the ground groaning. On the other end of the battlefield was a young man with light blue, almost metallic, hair and eyes waving to the crowds while his partner, a Metagross seemingly made of platinum and gold, stood undaunted towards the fallen Swampert, ignoring the cameras that televised their battle while his trainer acknowledged them and the viewers at home with a calm smile and a wave.

"That, was sooo COOL!" one of said viewers screamed, not the only one in the Hoenn region doing so.

"Hurry up, James! You're going to be late for school!"

"Okay Mom!" the young black-haired boy yelled downstairs, turning off the T.V. in his room. He creeped out of the covers of his bed and put on the first pair of pants he got a hold of and slipped on the a (probably )clean shirt-

"Hold it!"

Selene paused, looking innocently at Rin, whose front hooves were slammed against the table "Yes?"

"Shouldn't this story start with you, and not James?" Rin refuted, removing her hooved from the table and returning to her seat "Also, how do you know his point of view anyways? Were you there with him and he didn't know, or what?"

Selene chuckled at the questions, as fair as they were "that's easy," she said holding up a finger "one: James' story and mine are intertwined by the red string of fate. It's only natural that I'd start at the very beginning." Rin just rolled her eyes in response as Selene held up a second finger "Two: I think what happens that day is important as a sort of build-up. And since I'm the one telling the story I choose what to leave in and what to leave out."

'Of course if you twisted the story too much I'd correct you.' Kira thought, tearing off another piece of his breakfast with his fork and popping it into his mouth.

"And three: I read his mind once we reached Petalburg City." and then the Greninja started choking on said breakfast.

'Really Selene!? You had that much faith in me!? ...Well, yeah, actually. I'd buy that.' Kira surmised after he coughed up, then washed down the piece of pancake 'And hey! Spoilers!'

"Now then, as I was saying..."

James barreled down the stairs in his favorite set of clothes, black pants with a zipped-up pocket on the right leg and a T-shirt with a Blaziken in a dynamic Blaze Kick pose, and forest green backpack slung over his shoulder. Swiping his lunchbox with one hand and placing a bagel with cream cheese in his mouth with the other he opened the front door, nearly making a mess as in the kitchen as he left...again "oh-hay, ha'm hehin' hout how. haiii!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" his mother chided from the front door, watching him wave back at her with his bed-head and breakfast still sticking out before breaking into a sprint towards school, trying to get his lunchbox in his backpack. With a content sigh James' mother went back into the house to start her day as well.

James on the other hand was still trying to fit his lunch in the backpack while running across town to school. For some reason his lunch was getting caught on the edges of his bag and trying to force it in would only tear the paper bag apart, and by extension spill his lunch all over his school books "come on... Get in there..." he groaned, shifting his bag's contents around trying to make enough room but to no avail. While this wasn't the first time this had happened to him he was lucky that everyone in Oldale Town kept to a rather predictable routine, it made dodging them a lot easier. Nowadays he never ran into anyone when he was late for school "oof!" well, almost never.

As he rebounded onto the ground, James heard whoever he ran into fall to the ground as well and the distinct sound of bags dropping with them "Oww..." James moaned, rubbing the back of his head to check where it stung. There was definitely going to be a bruise there later, but it wasn't something he was going to cry over. He was a big boy now so a little fall like this wasn't worth crying over. The tears in the corners of his eyes were from the dust that's all. Honest.

"Are you ok kid?" an gruff unfamiliar voice called out. Wiping the water from his eyes, that were definitely not tears, James looked around and found that the voice's owner happened to be the same guy he ran into, who by this point was already up on one knee and offering a hand to help him up. He wore a ragged brown cowboy hat, an unzipped red explorers jacket covering a black shirt, and a pair of fingerless gloves. The distinct straps of a backpack could also bee seen and combined with the goatee he had, James couldn't help but admit he looked pretty cool.

Shaking off his star-struck expression James slowly got up on his own "yeah, I'm fine..." he mumbled, dusting himself off and wiping the not snot from his nose "Sorry about that." he added pensively, bowing his head to show he was serious. Unexpectedly, the next thing he heard from the man weren't words of forgiveness, or even slightly deserved ranting but raucous laughter. Curious, he looked straight at the man, seeing he actually was laughing at him "Heeey... what's so funny?" James pressed, now more annoyed than sorry.

"Haha, sorry, sorry," the man said, raising his hands in surrender before pointing off to the side "but I think I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

Not sure what he meant by that, James followed the man's finger to the spot on the ground it was pointing to, and the reason suddenly became clear "my bagel!' he cried, sucking up the snot trying to escape his nose, as he stared in disbelief at his dirtied food 'that was supposed to last me until lunch.' he bemoaned to himself, wiping more snot from under his nose as he stared teary-eyed at the bagel, taking everything about it in. The golden sheen of the crust, the notable bite marks left in it, the red splotch near one of said bites...wait a minute.

"Uhh...I'm referring to your bloody nose kid."

It took James a moment to register what was just said and when he did he wiped the his nose with his hand once more only this time he looked at the back of his hand afterwards. Sure enough there were three red streaks going across the back of his hand with his nose still running. Now that he thought about it he did smell something strange shortly after hitting the guy. Groaning, James covered his bloodied nose with his hand 'great, now mom's going to wonder why my nose was bleeding once I get...back...from...' "SCHOOL!" James yelled, now wide-eyed and panicking "I'm late for school! Again! And now I have a bloody nose! Aww, they're never going to let me live this down!" James cried, forgetting about everything else. He was already considered by his classmates as the flighty latecomer, whatever 'flighty' meant anyways, but he figured this wouldn't help any!

"I think I can help you out with that." the man said, instantly drawing James' attention. With a smile he took off his backpack and setting it in front of the two, unzipping the topmost compartment and reaching inside "Let's see... Where is it?" he mumbled, fishing around in the bag and pulling out handfuls of different colored spheres the size of a large marble each "No...no...not over there...where is it?" he griped, still rummaging through his bag.

James on the other hand found something else to interest him, now focusing on the spheres the man was pulling out "hey, is that an Ultra Ball?" he asked inquisitively, marveling at the black and white sphere with a yellow "H" on the top. Next to it were two other different colored Pokéballs, one blue with yellow lines crisscrossing along the button in an "X" shape and the other red and white with a red bulge on the top "And these are a Quick Ball and a Timer ball aren't they?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, they are." the man said, lookin up for a second to confirm what James was pointing at before going back to searching his bag.

"Then you're a Pokémon trainer, right?"

"You could say that...Aha! Here it is." the man said smiling, pulling out his hand and with it a small first-aid kit. His triumphant smirk went unnoticed as James' star-struck( and still bloody) face looked at him in pure awe "...What?"

"So cool..." James swooned, his wide eyes and gaping mouth showing he forgot about everything else around him, again "Can you show me your Pokémon? Please? Please!?" he begged, getting in the trainers' face, bloody nose and all in the blink of an eye with a hungry expression that wouldn't take no as an answer.

"Uhh, how about we take care of your nose first." he suggested, gently pushing James out of his face. He then opened the first-aid kit and pulled out a tissue and two cotton balls. "Hold still, ok." he said, lightly rolling the cotton balls in his hand and wiping the blood from James' face with the tissue. Next he stuck the pieces of cotton into James' nose and watched as the cotton slowly turned red from the blood "There, how does that feel?""

"My nose itches."

"That's normal. Just breathe through your mouth and keep those in there until the bleeding stops, ok." the man said while putting the Pokéballs back into his bag. Once finished, he stood up fully, and imposing six and a half feet tall, ready to say farewell when the expectant look James was giving him caught his attention "What?"

"Pokémon?"

"What about them?"

"'Nose First, then Pokémon'?"

"I never said that."

"You implied."

"Don't you have somewhere you're supposed to be?"

"Yeah...I'm already late for school though, so I've got time." James admitted with a casual smile on his face.

Letting out a drawn out sigh, the man looked down at the wide smiling kid with a wry smile of his own "you're not gonna let me go unless I show you aren't ya."

"Nope!"

"Looks like I've got no choice then..." he bemoaned. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a Pokéball, smiling at the device as it grew into its full size "I'll show you one, and then you head straight to school, ok kid?" he offered slyly.

James closed his eyes and crossed his arms, mulling over the offer in front of the trainer, or at least that's what he wanted him to think. Really James had already made up his mind, he was just stalling to see if the guy would sweeten the deal. After a minute of nothing happening, James conceded and nodded his head "deal." he said "And my name's not 'kid'. It's James Kirikaze." wearing a devious smile, one the trainer mirrored a moment later.

'Sucker...'

After the two shared a wily chuckle the trainer tossed the Pokéball high into the air "come out!" he cried. Responding to his call the ball split apart unleashing a cascade of brilliant white light. The light coalesced on the ground beside them forming the shape of a small flabby pink Pokémon. It stared at the two with pink eyes and a goofy smile with its tongue sticking out. Its hair( or what counted as such) was the same look and consistency as pudding, only a slightly darker shade of pink with a lightish-red sphere jiggling at the top of its head. It also smelled sweet, almost unbearably so even to James.

"Slurpuff!" the Pokémon answered, slurring its speech from drool slightly.

"Woah..." James gasped, taking in everything about the foreign Pokémon "What's this Pokémon?" he asked eventually, his expression showing nothing but awe.

"This, James, is a Slurpuff." he answered, motioning to the sweet-smelling Pokémon "A satisfied client of mine in Kalos gave him to me as a reward."

"Cooool." James fawned, not really listening to him but instead admiring Slurpuff from every angle. He even considered licking it( you know, to see if it really did taste like the cotton candy it smelled like) but decided against it since doing so considering that would be rude. Slurpuff didn't seem to mind the attention anyways as all it did was keep James in its sights smiling the same goofy smile with drool dripping off its tongue. "So what do you do exactly?" James asked once he was done swooning and his more rational mind, for a child anyway, started working.

The man cleared his throat, gaining both his Pokémon and James' attention "shouldn't you be getting to school?" he chided, though his tone held no irritation or contempt, rather it was more like he was goading him.

After considering the question for a minute James relented with a groan. The man was right after all and there was a difference between being late and skipping school altogether. Being late meant he would be the center of attention at school and get a lecture from Mom when he got home. Skipping school meant he would be grounded for who knows how long and with today being Friday he couldn't let that happen, now more so than ever "fine..." James sighed, his expression worsening. He then backed away from Slurpuff and zipped up his backpack, taking a moment to safely fit his lunch inside, and fastened it onto his back. After that he turned to the man and bowed deeply "Thank you for your time and I'm sorry for hitting you." he said in a monotone before sprinting off past him and his Pokémon. As he ran towards the schoolhouse the dour look on his face slowly began to change. His despondent eyes began burning with passion, his frown curled up into teeth-bearing smile, and his heart shook in excitement 'that was it! That was what I was waiting for! That last push! A Pokémon I've never seen before and a trainer who no doubt has many more than that, how could I ignore that?! I've decided. Tomorrow's the day. Tomorrow I become a trainer.'

'Tomorrow...I'm catching a Pokémon!'

'Okay, snacks? Check. Pokéball? Check. Plan? Well, I'm still working on the details but it'll work...I think.'

James went through the contents of his backpack one last time, making sure everything was accounted for, for the third time in the past hour. It was finally Saturday, the weekend, and he had no other chores left to do! His plan for becoming a trainer was deceptively simple, go out to Route 102, head off the beaten trail, and catch the first Pokémon that met his standards, those being a Pokémon that can evolve twice, not a Bug-Type, and would look cool when fully evolved. To this end he wore a pair of jeans and a durable, hooded jacket over a long-sleeved shirt. The snacks he was bringing with him consisted of two apples, a leftover bagel from yesterday, and five candy bars...give-or-take two extras. The Pokéball he had was you everyday red and white Pokéball he "borrowed" from the local Pokémart 'I'll be sure to pay it back once I win my first battle.' James thought as he casually strolled out of the store.

Obviously there was no way his mother would approve of this and that he would be grounded until a century after the end of time. So he did the only logical thing a kid would do; lie to her face and say he was going to play with his friends 'as long as I'm back in one piece before dark there'll be no harm done.' he assured himself. The last item in there was a folded up sheet of paper he wrote up last night detailing his so-called plan from his criteria for the Pokémon he'll catch to what he'd do if he met a Legendary Pokémon, like Raikou for example.

Satisfied with his preparations he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder "alright, I'm finally ready." James said, psyching himself up. Now that he was about to do this, he felt his heart beating like crazy and invisible weights tied to his ankles. But still he moved forward. It was a slow start but after the first five paces his walk became a jog and after another ten he was in a steady run. He kept up this pace until he reached the first rough spot on the route, coming to a stop just before the dirt road gave way to a grassy path, and the much taller grass that usually hid some Pokémon.

But instead of charging headfirst into the tall grass like so many trainers before have, James turned ninety degrees to the left and walked straight to the treeline 'If I were a wild Pokémon, I wouldn't hang around a path trainers pass through daily. That's just asking me to be caught.' James hypothesized as he wriggled past the first tree of many. To prove his point there was already a trainer romping through the tall grass, a trainer he particularly wanted to avoid. It wasn't the one from yesterday, rather it was one of his classmates, one who battled any trainer he saw whether they wanted to or not. No doubt he was trying to ambush some other unwitting sap instead of training that Zigzagoon of his. Regardless, he was out of sight soon enough and James had more pressing matters to attend to. The brush was incredibly thick now and he had to actually start planning his moves beforehand otherwise the bramble would claw at his clothes or any exposed skin. Still he persevered with a grin on his face 'This isn't so bad.' James thought, pushing a cluster of branches aside 'This is exactly what I planned for really. After these bushes I should start seeing Pokémon left and right. In fact, nothing could go wrong at this point!'

'I think I might be lost...'

That thought sent a wave of panic down James' body as he looked around for something, anything, that told him where he was. All he saw however were more trees and shrubbery in every direction with not a single living thing, let alone a Pokémon in his sight. And this was not something new either. For what felt like three hours he had been climbing and navigating through the forest alone, his snacks reduced to a candy bar and an apple, and scrapes and scratches dotted his arms and face from when he tripped and fell into a bush. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case a clearing off in the distance. It still looked at least a hundred meters away but having some visibility was better than having none. It would also help settle this sense of claustrophobia he was starting to feel.

But before that he had another appointment with the ground. Falling face first into another bush and getting more scrapes on his arms was not part of his plan, and as an added bonus one of the branches found its way between his shirt and pants and through his side. James wanted to scream, more out of frustration than pain as his cringing eyes and gritted teeth attested to, but he resisted. He figured any loud noises would scare off any nearby Pokémon, something he really didn't need at the moment. So instead he breathed through the pain and rolled to his side to look at the wound.

It wasn't deep, the branch just caught on his skin and tore through it, but it drew blood 'great, one more thing to worry about when I get back.' James groaned, looking back at what made him fall 'Dumb acorn.' he cursed seeing the shape of a large cracked acorn only a few steps away from his foot, coincidentally in the path he was taking towards the clearing. Picking himself up, James tapped the wound with his hand to see if it was still bleeding before continuing onwards to the clearing. The splotches of blood on his palm and sting every time he touched it meant that it he had to be more focused moving forward. He was so focused in fact that he didn't notice the "acorn's" empty eyes or feet...

Selene quieted down at this point, staring at the tea Fuji poured for her. It wasn't that she didn't know what happed to James after that point. Rather, she was reaching the point where, as June would eloquently put it, shit hits the fan. She knew what happened next would turn out okay, that James and her would become a team but it still brought up bad memories, memories that were currently playing through her head like an old record. If it weren't for Rin she may have stayed like that.

"Hey! Selene!"

"Huh?"

"You ok? You're kind of spacing out on us."

Selene blinked and looked around the room, first at Ringo staring back at her with her ears folded back and a worried look in her face then to Cinder and Fuji looking at her with similar expressions. Phoebe had stopped floating above them and was now by her side rubbing the shiny Gardevoir's back. It...helped in Selene's mind. Kira was laying on the floor with his eyes closed, using one hand as a prop with his back to the group feigning indifference to her whole ordeal after his food was eaten, but she knew better. Because in his other hand, hidden from all but her and Phoebe thanks to their short stature was a sphere of black water constantly expanding and contracting in his grip. "Uh...yeah, I'm ok. Where was I?" she said half-heartedly.

"James was about to enter the clearing." Rin answered albeit a little hesitantly "But are you sure you want to keep going? I mean it seems kind of like you're stalling."

"N-No! No. I'm not stalling, it's just..."

"Selene," Kira calmly said from his spot on the floor though his tone lightened up a moment later "what were you doing before everything went down?" he asked with seemingly genuine curiosity. Seemingly because James already knew her side of that day and Rin could feel the loathing air he was trying to hide.

But the distraction seemed to work as the gears in Selene's head started working again "I...suppose I could do that." she mused "Although, it was just a normal day of wandering around and eating berries for me so there's not a lot to tell. I wasn't very old to begin with either."

"Ah don't mind."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Yay! Mommy's childhood!"

"Alright, alright," Selene sighed "but I'll only cover the hour before ok? Ok. Now then, I was wandering around in the thicket looking for food..."

One hour earlier, Ralts wandered around the thickets of her home. She was on a mission, one of grave importance: she was hungry. The berry tree she usually went through had been picked clean by the other Pokémon. She knew this because they picked it clean while she watched from the bushes. She didn't know if they were just passing by and hungry or if it was on purpose but the Poochyena among them prevented her from defending her territory. If it was on purpose she would know why at least. The other Ralts stayed away from her, calling her a "bad luck magnet" and a "shiny" not that she knew what either of those meant. All she knew right now were two things. One: while all the other Ralts simply growled and hid at dangers, she fought back, making her stronger by default. And two: she was hungry, VERY hungry, and she wanted to eat now. And Three: there was this sweet smell in the air.

Wait...what?

Ralts stopped and lifted her face into the air sniffing for the source of the smell. It was sweet, like the pink berries were only sweeter. She liked the pink berries and could usually find lots of them, maybe whatever was making that scent was similar? She couldn't give it much thought as a low gurgle from her stomach made the decision for her.

"Hungry..."

Before she knew it she was walking towards the sweet smell. It didn't smell far away at first but it wasn't until ten minutes passed that she saw sunlight breaking through the treeline. Seeing the sun and smelling the sweet thing motivated her for what had to be the final push.

It was a good thing too as the next moment she was trampled by five more energetic and less hungry Ralts. Not wanting to have her food pilfered twice in the same day the cyan Ralts on the ground got back up and chased after them into the clearing.

That had been a mistake.

Immediately after clearing the bushes she saw a tall bipedal thing with red, brown, blue, and black coloring all over his body staring at her with a toothy grin. Beside him was a pink blob thing smiling at them blankly. There was a metal contraption standing on four black circles near the end of the clearing and riding on it was a large, intimidating purple monster with pincers on its arms and tail, glaring at not only her but the other Ralts too. More importantly there were no fruit trees at all in the clearing, no food in sight, only metal cages everywhere, and the smell was coming from the pink blob Pokémon. With the illusion broken she gauged the emotions of everything there. Conceit, hunger, fear, malevolence, a mix of these emotions were swirling around her coming not just from the other Ralts and the person but the other Pokémon as well. She had to get out of there now! Slowly she started backing up to cover of the forest in and attempt to escape.

"Ah, ah, ahh... No running away now. My client wants to get to know one of you much more," the person remarked snidely, pointing to a tree branch behind them "and I don't think my friend would appreciate it either." the group of Ralts followed his finger to see a metal-clad vulture glaring down at them with sharp eyes and a challenging grin "Then again, he does look hungry."

For one of the Ralts that was the last straw. They turned around and made a mad dash for the forest, hoping to escape this nightmare. They even made it to the bushed before a gleam of steel flashed by and struck them down. The Skarmory overhead was now ten feet away, partially obscured by shrubbery, striking furiously at what could only be the Ralts with its beak. None of the others dared move, not even the cyan one. Fear had paralyzed all of them. It wasn't until the person let out a sharp whistle that the Skarmory stopped and faced everyone with its blood covered face "Skarmory! I told you not to kill any of them until after I was done checking them!" he shouted "Now give it here."

Rolling its eyes the Skarmory reached down with its beak and picked up the limp body of the Ralts, its green hair dyed red. Unceremoniously the Skarmory tossed the body towards the person where it hit the ground a foot short. Cursing the man stepped forward and picked up the bloody body, spreading each appendage and examining what wasn't obscured by blood or gouges "Tch, a female. There goes our bonus," he said as he tossed the corpse towards the purple monster. The thing caught it in its pincers and devoured in three bites, its fangs having no problem crunching through the flesh and bone "Oh well, one down; five to go." he said with indifference "Slurpuff, use yawn on one of them."

"Yawn..." the pink blob slurred, opening his mouth wide inhaling then exhaling a large amount of air. With his exhale a large bubble floated out of his mouth and found its way to one of the other Ralts prompting it to yawn as well. The remaining four watched as the yawning Ralts toppled over and fell asleep only to be picked up by the Skarmory and dropped off in the persons hand where he began checking the Ralts again.

"Male huh... That's a shame. Slurpuff use Dream Eater. We don't need this one."

"Foood..." Slurpuff drooled, holding his arms out wide. A large slobbering shade of it rushed out of Slurpuff's body and through the asleep Ralts resulting in the sleeping Pokémon to wail in pain. But it wasn't over yet as Slurpuff's shadow circled around and passed through the Ralts again before receding back into the meringue Pokémon. This time there was no response and the man tossed the Ralts over his shoulder "Hungrrryyyy...".

"Next, Slurpuff." again the Slurpuff yawned, and again the sleep bubble floated towards and popped on another of the Ralts, already that one was getting drowsy.

The problem was that this time it hit the shiny one.

Ralts was struggling to keep her obscured eyes open. Even standing up was becoming a struggle 'I...have to...go...' she thought, trying to focus on her old berry tree safely out of the reach of this person. There may not have been any food there but it was away from these things in Pokémon shapes at least. Desperately trying to conjure the psychic energy she needed to escape she kept the image of that tree in her mind, keeping it as clear as she could. Finally she enveloped herself in a bright light and teleported away from her attacker. When the shiny Ralts touched down on the ground again she collapsed to her knees, fighting valiantly against the exhaustion that would soon claim her. With her strength dwindling she raised her head to look at her surroundings in order to be absolutely sure she was safe before passing out, and her heart dropped at what she saw.

Staring back at her were the three other Ralts and the person staring at her in shock.

'What...went wrong?' she thought as she fell to the ground 'Was it not enough energy? Were my thoughts too blurry?' she questioned, watching the purple monster leap down to the ground and grab the three remaining Ralts in glowing purple pincers at its trainers command. She couldn't make out what he was saying, she could barely even make out everything's shape at this point, she was so tired. So very tired. Her eyes begged her to close from both exhaustion and seeing the three other Ralts writhe in the monster's clutches, her body felt like it weighed a ton and wouldn't listen to her command to move, she felt the grass below her become more welcoming by the second and the sweet scent of the Slurpuff made it even harder to stay awake. But if she did fall asleep, what life would await her when she woke? Would she even wake up? 'I'm...scared.' she thought, unable to move, unable to keep her eyes open, unable to do anything other than pray. Pray to Arceus or whoever else would listen that somehow this would turn out all right.

"Freeedo-whah!"

And it seemed her prayer was answered. Right as she was about to black out a young childish voiced yelled out from the trees. Accompanying the voice was a smaller person in a green coat barreling through a bush with the widest smile she had seen reaching out to the air with one hand. That same boy then planted face first into the ground when his leg got caught on one of the bushes branches. To his credit his arm was still outstretched, albeit twitching a little, and the fall didn't look too bad but her overall impression of him did detract a little.

Pinning her hopes on a small child to save her didn't inspire much confidence either. It was four against one, three of which were Pokémon and all of whom had no qualms taking lives. The irritation he was emitting worried her too but it wasn't the same malice she felt from the larger person so at the very least this person was the lesser of two evils. Not that she had any choice in the matter, she was at her limit. So with the last of her energy she propped herself up the best she could and uttered two words to the boy before collapsing to the ground and watching everything fade to black.

"Help...me..."

James couldn't believe it, the first thing he does upon reaching the clearing is fall on his face 'well at least nobody saw that.' he groaned from his place in the dirt. He lifted himself off the ground, checking the imprint he made for any blood( wouldn't want to get a bloody nose two days in a row) before looking up at the clearing, and coming face to face with a blue Ralts 'Huh, don't Ralts usually have green hair? Anyway, at least nobody I knew saw that.' he corrected, patting off the dust accumulated from his fall and pulling his leg free from the bush.

"Ra...alts..."

His attention was drawn away from his musings as the Ralts in front of him collapsed fully to the ground "hey! Are you ok?!" he said, quickly rising onto his knees and picking up the Pokémon "Come on, answer me!" he said, vigorously shaking it in his hands. He did not want the first living thing he's seen since entering the forest to faint on him now. When he stopped shaking the poor thing he watched the body and noticed the steady rise and fall of the chest. Curious, he put his head close to its and listened for the rhythmic sound of breathing and a heartbeat "Oh, it's just sleeping. Heheh...whew. Don't worry me like that." he sighed, letting his own breath return now that he knew the Ralts wasn't in danger of losing its.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

The new yet familiar voice made James tense up and send a shiver down his spine, mainly because it meant he had to correct himself again 'well, at least this can't get any worse, right?' he thought before taking a glimpse around rest of the clearing and seeing the trainer from yesterday staring at him with his arms crossed and an chastising look on his face "looking for Pokémon...?" James replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand while his left held onto the sleeping Ralts "Anyway, why are you here, mister?"

"Looking for a Pokémon myself. Specifically the one you're holding kid." the trainer said casually.

"Oh, ok. I'll had 'em over them." he said happily. As he got up he surveyed the rest of the clearing, seeing the Slurpuff from yesterday with that same smile too. He also saw another Pokémon, one he had seen before on broadcasted exhibition matches from Sinnoh "Anyway, I knew you were holding out on me yesterday but you could have shown me your...Drapion...instead..." and then he noticed what was in its pincers, three Ralts all hanging limply and moaning in pain. Looking at the trainer again, he noticed another Ralts on the ground behind him not moving and the large truck beside the body lined with metal cages. Alarm bells started ringing in James' head and, hesitantly, he started taking a half-step backwards "Why did you need this Ralts again?" he asked tentatively "And what's wrong with those Ralts anyways?"

"Hand over the one you're holding and I'll tell you."

"Tell me first and then I will."

This seemed to make the man's eye twitch slightly but he kept his calm demeanor in tact, though something was on his mind. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath the man pinched the bridge of his nose while the trees rustled around them "you really want me to tell you?" he asked in a grave tone, something James answered with a nod prompting another sigh "Alright then. But don't say I didn't give you a chance." he said as he walked towards the Ogre Scorp. Pokémon "These Ralts are sick. A disease has been spreading across the local Pokémon, causing fits of rage, discoloration, intense pain, and a comatose-like state until they finally die from it. That one is patient zero and as you can see it's still alive. I need it to try and find a cure otherwise a lot more Pokémon like the Ralts lying over there are going to be killed."

James stood there speechless, struck dumb by the revelation he was just told. The Pokémon he was holding was making others sick? How? From what he knew, Pokémon were pretty resilient when it came to natural diseases. It took things like pure sludge to even poison most Pokémon and even then there were types that were immune completely 'maybe the bug evolved to be stronger than the Pokémon.' James theorized. But if that were the case, was he going to get sick now because of it? And if so how long would it be until he started showing symptoms?

"...lying..."

'Yeah! I could be lying on the ground within the ne-' James paused, repeating the voice he just heard in his mind. It sounded exactly like what the trainer had just said, same voice same intense tone same everything. It was like he heard him say it again only this time it echoed in his head 'Oh man! I AM getting sick! This is how it starts isn't it!?'

"No. 'Mister'. Lying."

There it was again, this time his voice was included saying the word "mister" just like he said it earlier. It was like specific parts of his memories were repeating in his head, except for the 'no'. He never heard the trainer say "no" the entire time he's been here, yet if felt like a vivid memory.

'mister...lying. Mister...lying,'

"Mister, lying?" James whispered, something the Ralts in his arms reacted to by squirming around slightly, something everyone there noticed. 'This Ralts was doing that? And has he really been lying to me this whole time?' James thought. The trainer had been rather secretive up till now, in fact he still didn't know his name, but now he's telling him this Ralts is the cause of an impending Pokémon pandemic? When he thought about it like that something in his chest started tightening, as if to serve as a manifestation to this...wrongness he was feeling. It also presented a problem, if the Ralts was right and the trainer was lying then the next most likely thing causing the other Ralts pain would be the Drapion...and its trainer, putting James in a very dangerous position. On the other hand if he was telling the truth then he was preventing who knows how many other Pokémon from getting better. Either way he had to make a decision, one that would cost lives, hopefully not his. It all boiled down to one cruel decision: Trust the trainer? Or the Ralts?

"So are you going to give me the Ralts or not?"

James looked at the ground in a grimace, tightening his hold on the Ralts slightly. He opened his mouth to answer only to find no words come out. He tried again and again to say what he wanted only for his throat to constrict "I...I-I think we should...take her to a Pokémon Center first." he finally managed to eke out.

Just by looking at his face James could tell the trainer did not want to hear that. The eye twitch had returned and accompanying it was a slight tug at the corner of his mouth "Kid, do you know how close I was to losing that Ralts before you showed up?" he said through gritted teeth "How close we were to a pandemic? I had Slurpuff put it to sleep so it wouldn't harm anybody and Drapion can only hold three Pokémon. I need to catch it before it can run away."

"But-"

"Dammit kid! If that thing wakes up then my check disappears along with it!"

Silence permeated the clearing as the two stared at each other with the same wide-eyed, mouth opened expression. One from what was just said and the other from realizing his faux pas. The trainer was the first to recover when he closed his eyes and scrunched up every part of his face before letting out a long breath "I'm only going to say this once more; give me the Ralts, or else." the man said, no longer hiding his maliciousness from James. There wasn't any point anymore. Instead he glared at the child in an attempt to scare him into surrendering the Ralts.

But he refused. James stood his ground and returned the glare with the most intimidating look he could despite being terrified.

"I see." the man sighed, hiding his eyes under the hat he wore and relaxing his body. James relaxed as well, thinking that maybe there was a chance that he would drop the issue altogether.

"Air Cutter."

'Air Cutter?' James tensed at the realization and jumped to the left the very next second covering the Ralts with his body. And in that second blades of air tore through the ground where he had been standing. From the ground James looked over his shoulder to where he had been standing the moment before and saw the gashes left by the attack, as well as what was left of his supplies strewn about the remains of his backpack. The apple, the Pokéball, his candy, all torn to shreds by the blades of wind. Turning his neck in the other direction he followed the trajectory of the attack to see the Pokémon that caused it 'A Skarmory...' he gasped watching the Armor Bird Pokémon fly overhead and land on another tree branch, a smile under its blood stained beak. If there were any doubts left in James' mind regarding whether or not he made the right choice they vanished upon seeing the dark look it was giving him and he knew exactly what he had to do.

He ran.

"Dammit. Get back here kid!" the trainer shouted as the Skarmory dived down for another attack. Its talons shredded through James' jacket but the Skarmory could not stop him before he disappeared into the foliage he fell out from, leaving the revealed poacher and his catch alone in the clearing once more "This isn't over James! Not by a long shot!" he yelled before making preparations.

James ran. He ran through the forest in the direction he thought he came from, he ran clutching the Ralts close to his abdomen not caring about the cuts and nicks he was accumulating. He was, after all, running for his life.

He didn't know exactly how long he had been running or how far he had gotten in that time but so long as he was away from that poacher it was good enough for now. He kept to the shadows of the trees not taking the chance that the Skarmory was searching for him from the sky. But he couldn't keep running forever, he was just a kid after all, he had limits. When that limit was finally reached he ducked behind a tree and listened for anything from his pursuers. Hearing nothing, he let out a sigh and started catching his breath as he assessed his current condition. His coat was frayed everywhere, all that was left of his backpack were the straps and the torn padding pressing against his back, and even his jeans were starting to show wear. He had three more gashes on his right shoulder from where the Skarmory swooped own on him. But the Ralts was safe, soundly sleeping in his arms. He had to admit, she looked kind of cute with her mouth slightly open as she breathed, like a little sister he never had. It was...nice, despite the dire situation he was in.

That 'little sister' however started moving in his arms, slowly waking from her sleep. When she opened her amber eyes the first thing she saw was the warm smile James was giving her "morning." he said softly and happily, hiding the pain he was in. The Ralts blinked and looked around, taking in her new surroundings before focusing on the person once more "Did you sleep well?" he asked still smiling with not a trace of negative emotions in his demeanor. It wasn't enough to fool the Ralts, she could tell he was scared and hurting, but he was doing his best to be happy instead so she replied with a nod. With the pleasantries finished the Ralts stepped off of his lap and started scanning the area to determine which way she would go "Um, are you leaving already?" James asked, something Ralts replied with another nod "I...wouldn't recommend it." this got her attention and she turned around to face the person she had just woke up to. Yet to her surprise his expression and emotions were sad "That guy is still out there looking for you and it doesn't look like he's going to give up anytime soon. I don't think I lost him, just moved faster through the brush than he could." the Ralts' mood dropped slightly at the news, something immediately picked up on "B-but it's not like I don't have a plan!" he added, waving his arms wildly in front of him "I was heading to my house to hide. He wouldn't dare do anything in town where there are so many witnesses, I think." he explained, his voice notably quieter at the end. Suddenly a thought struck him out of the blue and he quickly added "B-but I had no intention to catch you, ok. When I thought it would be safe I was going to bring you back to this forest and let you go." It wasn't exactly the truth though, he did intend to catch her at their first meeting but after everything involving that poacher happened that just wasn't something he wanted to do anymore. So he held out his hand and gave her a warm smile "So, will you trust me? At least for a little while."

The Ralts stood there just out of James' reach staring at him and his extended hand. He was battered, bruised, and a little bloody but he was trying to fight his fear so that he could ask her to trust him with a smile, with nothing but kindness and hope in his eyes. Slowly the Ralts inched closer and closer, raising an arm to meet James' and placing the end of it gently in the palm of his hand. In response James gently closed his palm around her arm and let his smile widen even more "Alright! Then I promise I won't let that poacher, or anyone else catch you." he vowed. Surprisingly Ralts felt the fear in him dissipate slightly as he said that "Well, that's enough of a break. Let's get going." James said, gently lifting her up to his chest and making a seat for her out of his arms. With his charge safely and comfortably in his arms, James once more set off into the forest "Umm, just to be sure, you aren't sick or anything, are you?"

"Raaalts..."

"Ok, Ok, just making sure."

The two continued onwards through the forest, making steady progress despite the foliage. Ralts proved to be an invaluable asset as she helped James keep his footing and prevent further scratches by using Confusion to move some of the branches out of their way on top of pointing towards shortcuts or hidden trails wild Pokémon used. She helped so much so that James' three hour journey in was cut down to two hours. The drawback was they exited the forest at a different spot then where James entered thanks to a detour they had to make to avoid running into the poacher, someone Ralts sensed and confirmed that he was indeed still after them.

But finally they stood on the main road staring at a sign pointing down each path. The sign pointing to the left was engraved with Petalburg City while the sign pointing to the right had Oldale Town, their destination. "Well, we're almost there." James told Ralts before jogging off towards home "This path will take us around a small cliff and then straight to Oldale town. But I know this awesome shortcut that will put us at the town's front door." he bragged to his passenger "It's still going to be a while before get there, especially at this rate, but after all the running I've done today I don't think I'll be going anywhere for the next week."

The Ralts nodded in understanding. The entire trek through the forest had taken a toll on both of them and while James' was a physical toll Ralts' toll was more mental. It would be some time before she could use Confusion again in battle, for example. But there was still other ways she could help him, and by extension herself. Focusing on the farthest point of the road she could see, the Ralts gathered her energy, surrounding James and her in a translucent blue aura. The next moment the two blinked out of existence only to reappear at the turn in the road.

"Whoa!" much to James' surprise.

Thanks to the sudden shift in location the step James was about to make became off-kilter. He stumbled forward another few steps before regaining his balance on the grass "That...was weird." he said as he took in his new surroundings. He even looked back the way he came and recognized the spot he should have been seconds ago and finally put the two together "You know Teleport?" he asked the inconspicuously smiling Ralts in his arms.

"Raalts~" she answered brazenly despite James not knowing what she said.

"Cool..." James gushed, at least until a thought popped into his head "But wait. Then why didn't you just teleport away back there?" the Ralts replied with a low growl and a pair of puffed up, slightly red cheeks as she took a sudden interest in a pebble on the dirt road "Right, sorry." James chucked in an attempt to save face. It didn't work. The Ralts excused herself from his arms and leapt down to the ground where she then proceeded to fold her arms and scoff in his opposite direction "I said I was sorry..." James sighed as he pressed his two index fingers together dejectedly.

With their little spat over James regained his composure "Anyway, we're not too far from that shortcut I mentioned. The path leading to it is right over there." he said right before pointing to an inconspicuous path leading seemingly deeper into the forest. That path led to a ridge just outside of Oldale Town and circled around the opposite side of the hill. The ridge itself was only a story high but thanks to the loose rocks nobody ever tried climbing it making the 'shortcut' one-way. On the plus side they were headed in the right direction to use it. So without another moment of hesitation the two walked side by side down the narrow path "If we pass through here it'll only be a hop, skip, and a jump to my front door and then-"

'And then what?'

James stopped dead in his tracks. He never even thought about that before now. What was he supposed to do afterwards? The poacher did say this wasn't over, he even called out his name! He couldn't hide in his room forever, let alone hide Ralts from his parents. He could tell the police, no... That wouldn't work either. He would probably just lie to them and come back later, or wait near the edge of the forest and not show himself at all. Could he fight back? 'With what; the wild Ralts he's after?' that idea was out. So what did that leave? He could contact the strongest person he knew and have them face him instead, but Steven was probably preoccupied on the other side of Hoenn, not that he knew him personally either. The strongest trainer nearby was Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, the city in the opposite direction he went.

"Ralts! Ralts!"

Suddenly the Ralts started franticly tugging on his pant leg and pointing to the path they were just on "please tell me that doesn't mean that guy is close." James pleaded but the panicked nod Ralts answered with confirmed his fears.

With option one closed off James ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the ground below 'yeah, falling from up here would probably hurt a lot, especially if you landed wrong.' he thought, with his option two slowly taking shape 'All I have to do is get him to the edge. That should be enough.' with a tentative plan in mind he looked down to his traveling partner for the day "Well, it looks like we'll be saying goodbye pretty soon."

The Ralts looked up to him with confusion and uneasiness in her eyes only to find a calm smile on his face. Immediately she started reading his emotions while listening to every word he said. "It's only a matter of time before he finds us, and I can't think of any way to get him to stop...besides two." he said in a somber tone, with regret being his most predominant emotion. He really was sad that these two options were all he had to work with and by the sound of it he didn't like either of them.

"The first option is to hand you over and hope he lets me go... W-which I'm NOT going to do by the way!" James said, even flailing his arms and backing away slightly to make the last part clear "I promised to not let anyone catch you and I will keep that, even if it kills me." he added with a strange sense of conviction, something the sense of pride Ralts felt backed up.

"Which brings me to my other option. The second option is to, well... Is to get him caught red-handed committing a crime." James explained even thought Ralts could see the hesitation and anxiety he had about that plan "I have a plan on how to do that too. It's...not perfect...but at the very least it will give you a chance to get far away." he said, trying to convince her and possibly himself if the emotions Ralts was sensing were accurate. He then went over his plan, what Ralts had to do, and what she should do if it failed. He explained everything in a sense of peace, with the fear and anxiety he was feeling all but gone from his voice. That is until she noticed he was focusing on her and not himself.

"Ralts, Ralts?" she said, intending to ask about him if he would be alright. Her heart sank watching his expression sadden briefly only to be replaced with a large fake smile.

"Hehe, don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

He was lying.

Hesitantly, the Ralts nodded and agreed to his plan but made a vow to change it.

The poacher cut through the unkempt path leading back to Oldale Town, tearing branches and leaves out of his way while his Drapion leveled everything else in its path behind him. The suave demeanor he prided himself in was gone, that brat and his meal ticket made sure of that. Still, with each branch he broke and every leaf torn away he felt slightly better, especially since he was imagining these things as the child's limbs. It hadn't been hard to track them thanks to the footprints left behind and the knowledge of their destination. After all, everyone knew about this shortcut to Oldale. But his venting was cut short when he reached the seemingly empty ridgeline, seemingly being the important word "Come out kid! I know you're here!" he called out to the forest. The forest answered by producing some rustling from a nearby tree and from behind the tree James stepped forward with the shiny Ralts sleeping in his arms. At once his rage calmed and a wicked grin crept onto his face "Stealth rule number one kid: Unless they're staring back at you don't show yourself when they say so." he said with a condescending bite.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." James said evenly, putting himself between the poacher and the ridge.

Seeing the determination in his eyes despite the position he was in made the poacher cover his face and chuckle "kid, I don't think you understand the position you're in." he said behind his hand "I have you cornered, overpowered, and utterly at my mercy. And after everything you put me through, after you made me poison the rest of my haul just to make sure they wouldn't run away while I was hunting you down, I am NOT in the best of moods right now." he seethed and watched as the kids grip tightened around the Pokémon "But, if you hand over that Ralts right now I would be more than happy to forget about this whole incident." he said in his cool and collected tone. He wasn't lying about that either, after he had the shiny Ralts he would completely forget about the child, who would be in a shallow grave ten-to-fifteen minutes later taking a long dirt nap.

Annoyingly, James started chuckling as well before looking back at him with a wry smile "pass."

"What?"

"I said 'pass'." James said with the smug look on his face growing "I'm not handing over Ralts to the likes of you. I promised her that much and I wont change that now."

The poacher was no longer laughing at this point. Instead he simply looked at James from behind his hand with absolute disgust "Then I'll just take her from you." he said coldly as both he and his Drapion took a combat stance "Don't you get it kid? There's nowhere left to run."

"Then I'll jump."

"The fall would kill you."

"No it wouldn't." James said simply "But if I landed wrong then it would definitely hurt a lot. In fact even I would start crying like a girl if I, say, landed on my elbow or knee." James paused to admire the pained expression on the poacher's face. It was clear that he wanted to hurt him but couldn't. If he so much as said the wrong word or his Drapion twitched then he would bolt off the cliff. And whatever injuries he got would be blamed on the trainer that 'pushed him off'. And with houses he recognized not even a quarter mile away from the ridge there would be no time for the poacher to run before James was discovered. "I'm also pretty sure that would wake Ralts up, and I don't have to explain what she would do next, do I?" James flashed him a winning smile before staring him down with the best 'serious face' he could muster "Turn yourself in or I'll make you."

"Your bluffing."

James lowered his head and took a deep breath in and let it out in one fluid motion. When he rose his head again he faced the poacher with his eyes closed and a faint smile on his face with only one sentence leaving his mouth.

"Let's find out then, shall we?"

As soon as those words exited his mouth James turned around and ran towards the edge of the cliff with the sleeping Ralts in hand. The poacher tried to catch up to him with his Drapion right on his heels in an attempt to intercept him. But it was for naught, James reached the edge first and jumped as far as he could, shielding the Ralts with his body. Not a second later the poacher leapt after him, trying to grab the boy mid-air while his Pokémon was poised at the edge of the cliff ready to grab him and reel the three back. Time seemed to slow in that moment as the poacher reached for one of James' legs while James himself rotated in the air with his back facing the ground.

And revealing the widest grin he ever had plastered on his face. But that wasn't the worst of it. The shiny Ralts in his arms was smiling back at him as well, wide awake and in the palms of James' hands.

'Sucker!' James taunted as he lifted his arms into the air and let go of Ralts. His plan had gone off without a hitch. Ralts could now teleport anywhere she wanted while the poacher took the fall with him. James knew he wouldn't have his Drapion attack and risk harming Ralts, the Slurpuff's moves wouldn't make a difference now, and that Skarmory had to be above them as he jumped if it was going to swoop in and snatch them up, which, thanks to Ralts scanning the area while she was "sleeping", wasn't the case since neither it nor the Slurpuff was nowhere nearby to begin with. Maybe it was keeping an eye on the other Pokémon the poacher captured. That was the most likely explanation in James' head. But right now that didn't matter. All that was left was to hit the ground and bust that poacher for pushing him off a cliff. He's probably going to get a broken arm for this but he figured it would be his comeuppance for using the Ralts as a bargaining chip, even if it was to help her escape. Still, with a smile on his face and a chuckle echoing throughout his mind, he accepted his fate.

So when he felt something grab his finger a wave of surprise washed over him. Looking up her saw two white, spindly arms clutching onto his hand and a smiling face staring back at him 'what are you-' before he could finish his thought the two blinked out of existence, leaving the poacher to swing front first into the loose rocks of the ridge with his Drapion holding on to him by the ankle. The moment didn't last long as something heavy crashed into the Drapion's back, knocking it forward slightly and freeing the rocks underneath. With cries of panic coming from both Pokémon and trainer the two tumbled down the ridge while small boulders buried them.

On the topside of the ridge two pairs of eyes watched the pile of stone and the purple carapace below them "that's not going to hold them long." James said, already seeing some of the smaller rocks move. Deciding it was better to not be there when those two broke free from the pseudo Rock Tomb James picked up Ralts and ran away from the poacher, the town, and his home. There would be time to rest, think of a new plan, and question why Ralts did that later but right now he had to live past the next five minutes.

With the poacher and his Pokémon between him and Oldale Town, James' only chance at getting help was Petalburg City, a three day trip by foot, maybe less if he could run the entire way, which he couldn't. To compound that the poacher could beat them there if he was fast enough. After all, they were still on Route 102 and James had a shorter ways to go, but that poacher had a truck. A truck in the middle of the forest but a truck nonetheless. He knew he had a ways to go, he knew he could not outrun a vehicle but seeing how the clearing he saw the truck in was a couple hours away he had that long to figure something out.

And the more he thought about it the more he realized how screwed he was.

When they reached the road once more James couldn't help but collapse on his knees "gotta. Keep. Moving." he wheezed, sucking in air as fast as his lungs would allow. As he sat there he loosened his hold on Ralts allowing her to hop off his lap and stretch while he kept breathing "Have to. Reach. Petalburg." he gasped, trying to get back on his feet but his legs wouldn't respond, they hurt too much. His whole body hurt. And he felt dizzy.

But he couldn't rest, not right now anyway. Working through the hurt, James once more got to his feet and lowered his arms to pick up his travel partner. Ralts had other ideas and climbed up to his uninjured left shoulder and perched herself on his back, wrapping her arms around his sternum "Ralts! Ralts!" she said, seemingly pushing him on.

With a sigh, James started moving down the road as fast as his tired body would let him, with Ralts now getting a piggyback ride as well. With one step after the other James made his way down the road carrying Ralts on his back diligently "we just have to follow the road." James muttered to himself. He knew where he had to go and he knew that if he stayed on the path he would reach Petalburg City eventually...probably. If the poacher didn't catch him first. He knew the first step was backtracking to the guide post and he figured that was going to take an extra hour due to his tiredness. He already saw the sign, or at least where it would be but between him and it was miles of road yet untraveled. He knew that beyond that was a two day walk to the city. He was-

"Wah!?"

...Already there?

James struggled to keep upright on the unfamiliar ground, coming to a stop to prevent eating dirt. When he regained his balance he let out the breath he had been holding and looked to the right, noting the familiar wooden sign that pointed down each way of the road. He really made it back to the sign in less time than it took before, something that should have been impossible "how did we...?"

"Ralts!"

Looking over his shoulder James saw the smiling face and amber eyes of Ralts looking back at him "riiight, you know teleport..." he said as he hung his head in realization, with a dumb smile on his face "Then, we may have a chance!" he said, brimming with hope. He faced Ralts again, this time with determination shining on his face "Do you think you could keep ding that? At least until we reach the city?"

Ralts pondered the question for a moment before nodding her head in affirmation "Ralts!"

Smiling and laughing James started running down the path to Petalburg "Ok, but when you're about to teleport us, say something ok." he requested, picking up his pace to a steady jog "That way I'll be ready for it." he said now in a full sprint.

Ralts grunted and nodded, showing she understood his request. As James ran Ralts focused on the farthest point on the road she could see and started gathering her power. A silver lining to being put to sleep was that she conserved a decent portion of her psychic energy. So while she couldn't fight with her Confusion, her Teleport move was something she could do almost indefinitely. Zeroed in on her point in the distance the Feeling Pokémon gave her signal "Ralts."

In that instant James leapt into the air and the duo blinked further down the road with James landing ungracefully landing on his feet but recovering nonetheless "Haha! It worked!" James cried out "We teleported while moving and I didn't fall down!"

"Ralts."

Again James jumped into the air and teleported even further down the road and again he landed on his feet and kept running "Haha, we'll be there in hours at this rate!" he cheered just in time for Ralts to warn him a third time and warp them forward. This pattern continued for another hour and already they crossed what it would take a whole day to do. And after fifteen or so more Teleports the duo decided to use whatever Ralts had left in an emergency. Besides nightfall was coming and her Teleports couldn't go very far in the darkness anyways. During this run, as twilight loomed over the forest James slowed down to a brisk walk to help ration what fumes of energy he had left, as well as say something "Ralts?"

"Mm?"

"Thanks for teleporting me too..." he said shyly "I...didn't want to imagine what would of happened to me if my plan worked. Heh, I always thought the heroes were so cool when they sacrificed themselves to save the innocent but...I...probably wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for you. So, thank you." James said plainly and honestly. And as he did it felt like a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders even when it really felt like Ralts had tightened her grip on him. Still it wasn't a bad feeling, in fact she felt...warm.

He didn't have very long to enjoy the feeling as something on the horizon caught his eye, something that brought a smile to his face "Hey, look. We're here!"

In the distance, shining against the darkness of night were the myriad lights coming from street lamps and homes. The quiet cacophony of the bystanders echoing into the night. And most importantly the illuminated dojo-esque building that was the Petalburg Gym. "Petalburg City... We made it to Petalburg City!" James sighed as he took in the sight despite almost fainting from dizziness. Ralts on the other hand hid herself behind James' back, intimidated by the sight in front of her. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. I promise." James assured, putting a hand over his shoulder to help reassure her "The Gym Leader will help us, I'm certain of it." he said with a kind smile, something that seemed to help a little. With a deep breath James made sure Ralts was holding on tightly and spent the last of his energy running into the city.

Norman stepped into the Gym's entrance ready to lock up for the night. All around him the usual trainers who practiced here were gathering up their things with some help from their Pokémon. His own Slacking was also playing with some of the younger kids and their Pokémon while their siblings were busy gathering their gear. Once a trainer was done they would call back their Pokémon and head home or simply leave with their partner by their side. Norman would admit he was looking forward to heading home as well but as the Gym Leader it was his responsibility to close the Gym for the night, which meant being the last one to go home too. But he didn't mind to much, not when his daughter and son would be there to greet him.

"See you tomorrow, Norman."

"Have a good night Parker."

With the last of the trainers leaving, Norman returned Slacking to his Pokéball and gathered his own things as well. All of the badges were accounted for, the other doors were locked, and he checked each of the training rooms one last time for anything left behind or forgotten. With everything else done he made his way to the front door, only to watch it open suddenly and a young boy stumble in.

The kids clothes were torn, he looked on the brink of death with sweat pouring off of him despite the cool night air, his right shoulder was soaked in blood, and the breaths he was taking were long and raspy. His eyes looked unfocused and he was holding onto the doorframe tightly with one hand while the other was propped behind his back. He only said one word before collapsing to the ground and revealing the Ralts, a shiny Ralts on top of that, clinging to his back.

"Help..."

James woke up in a white room. His eyes straining to see anything in the glaring light other than the night sky out the window and a pink blob in the distance. He heard the Pokémon in the distance but due to grogginess or the walls themselves he couldn't make out what kinds they were, at this point it didn't matter. At the very least they sounded happy, so that was good. Another good omen was that he didn't hurt as much as he remembered. He felt the cool bed sheets on his chest and bandages wrapped around his waist, shoulder, and other parts of his upper body. He was no longer wearing his jacket, or a shirt for that matter, but whoever treated him most likely took them and held on to it somewhere, in his mind anyway. The cool breeze coming from the window felt good and slowly he moved his arms searching for one last thing, something he didn't find.

Concerned, James looked around the room once his eyes adjusted to the light and immediately noticed two things. The first was the Chansey with a first aid kit beside it sleeping by the door. The second, and much more important, was that Ralts was not with him. Upon realizing that James threw off the covers and got out of bed, startling the Chansey awake in the process "Where's Ralts..." he managed to say before his body suddenly started tingling all over and his vision went black. All he could do was fall onto the bed while the Chansey ran out of the room in a panicked fit. His eyesight returned moments later but the prickly sensation in his arms didn't go away for another five minutes.

In that time James shifted his head to gaze at the crescent moon outside 'nighttime huh? Mom's going to be mad at me for staying out so late...' he mused. He was so close! He made it to Petalburg, to the Gym even, but somehow he still managed to lose Ralts. Now he just laid there, sore all over, staring at the moon outside while the night breeze caressed his face.

That went on for another couple of minutes when the door opened once again, with two familiar people walking in. One had short black hair and was wearing a zipped-up red jacket and navy blue jeans and the other had pink hair that was curled into two large rings in the back and was wearing a nurses outfit. The Chansey from before was there as well and in its arms was a small, white and cyan Pokémon.

"Ralts!"

James and Ralts leapt forward with their arms wide and faces smiling intending to meet in a warm embrace, only for James' body to give out once more and make him collapse on the ground "I'm okay..." he said, sitting on his knees and rubbing his head.

Norman and Nurse Joy relaxed as they watched James laugh off his fatigue and the Ralts hop to his side with a carefree smile on her face. The Gym leader let the two share their moment of revelry with a content smile on his face. Whatever those two had been through, he could wait until after they were done to hear it. Eventually the laughter died down and the boy and Pokémon duo exchanged smiles before turning to the adults with a more concerned expression. "I'm sure you have quite the story to tell me, don't you." Norman said calmly, something James responded to with a nod.

He then began recounting the days events starting from when he left Oldale Town up until he stumbled into the Gym and collapsed apparently only three hours ago. He explained how Ralts somehow repeated words either he or the poacher had said to warn him, the events leading up to and including the ridge standoff, and their Teleport jumps to Petalburg. Ralts supported the story being told by either nodding in affirmation or using a move in front of the group whenever James had first mentioned it, with a pillow being used as Confusion's target. Norman for is part stood with his arms crossed and listened intently while Nurse Joy raised a hand to her mouth in astonishment.

When James finished he took a deep breath and looked back to Norman with a serious look that belied a nine year old boy "...and that's it. So, please, help me Mr.Norman. Help me find a way to keep her safe."

Norman stood there and took in everything that was said including the request. Technically, James was in the wrong since he took a wild Pokémon away from another trainer had he would have to release the Ralts into the wild. After all James may have seen a truck with some cages in the bed but without any mention of a Pokémon trapped inside said cages the trainer couldn't be charged with poaching. That being said, the shiny Ralts in front of them wasn't the only Ralts in that clearing. so with that in mind he formulated a plan of his own "Nurse Joy, I need you to contact the Oldale and Petalburg Police Departments and notify them about that clearing. With any luck there will still be something incriminating left."

"Right away Norman!" Nurse Joy squeaked before turning to the door. But before she left James spoke up once more.

"Wait. Please tell them he had a Skarmory, a Drapion, and a Pokémon I've never seen before called a Slurpuff, maybe even more too. The Slurpuff knew a sleep causing move and the Drapion could poison it's targets. If there was anyone that had an experienced Numel or Camerupt, recommend sending them along with any full-heals they had."

"Got it." Nurse Joy nodded and ran off with Chansey following behind her.

Norman stood impressed at James' advice "not a bad assessment, despite the dire circumstances." he praised.

James' face immediately went red as he scratched the back of his head and smiled meekly "well, I do want to be a Pokémon Trainer. Learning about type matchups is the most basic of basics." he said sheepishly.

"Oh really?" Norman inquired, a smirk appearing on his face and an idea in mind "Wait here, I'll be right back." he said and then left the room as well, shutting the door behind him.

James exchanged a confused look with Ralts only to shrug it off and stare out the opened window until Norman returned, with Ralts joining him a minute later. One minute turned to ten, and ten turned to thirty before Norman walked through the door again. When he did he held out his right arm with his hand clenched into a fist "here, hold out your hand." he requested.

James nodded, wary but otherwise compliant, and put his right hand under Norman's. The next moment he felt something small and round drop into his palm and when he had a chance to see it his eyes went wide "a Pokéball?"

"If you want to be a trainer then you'll have to catch a Pokémon." Norman said with a smile "I've already contacted you mother, James. I know you're still too young to become one just yet but there are plenty of unofficial trainers in the world. One more won't make a difference. This will also prevent Ralts from being stolen in the future, since she would belong to you and you alone. Plus she seems to have taken a liking to you already. In fact if I-"

"No."

Norman looked down at James with a inquisitive stare and frown appearing on his face "why not?"

James looked at the Pokéball with regret, clenching it in his fist as if he were trying to crush it "I can't. I promised Ralts that I wouldn't let anyone catch her; including myself." he said weakly "When we first met I considered it but after everything that's happened I don't think I could catch Ralts. It...just wouldn't feel right. After all, I couldn't save the others." the feeling that was tearing him apart didn't dissipate as he continued to confess his failures. In fact they seemed to intensify into a self-loathing wry smile "I'm sure she has friends of her own she would be leaving behind. Besides, even if she did choose to become a trainer's Pokémon she should be with someone strong enough to protect her...and that's not me." with that James turned around and threw the Pokéball as hard as he could out the window and into the night sky.

Only to watch it lazily float back into the room and over Ralts' head.

"I... Choose... You..."

"...James..."

Again the words played back in James' head, all of which he remembered saying in the past hour...except his own name. That was said in a young girl's voice, a voice that was fragile and awkwardly said but one he had never heard before in his life, which meant it could only be-!

As he put the pieces together in his head he watched the Pokéball expand to triple its former marble size and the faint blue aura around it dissipate, dropping squarely onto the smiling Feeling Pokémon's head. It bounced off slightly before opening and enveloping Ralts in a red light and sucking that light inside the ball and closing as suddenly as it opened, where it then hit the ground. It shook once, twice, three times before clicking, signifying the successful capture.

"...And that's it."

Rin blinked at the sudden end of the story "that's it?"

"Yep."

"But, how did James know you were a girl at first? What happened to the poacher!? And, HOW DID YOU GET YOUR NAME!?"

Selene put a finger to her cheek and hummed about how best to answer her "mmm... Well... It must have been when I tried speaking to him using my memories, the first time anyways."

"You were asleep!"

"As for what happened to him, I don't know. Nobody told us anything about him after that. For all we know he disappeared into the sunset, never to be seen again. And as for my name it's..." her voice trailed off while her face turned bright red "Well, kinda embarrassing..." she answered poking two of her fingers together while she looked outside.

Rin tried holding back her frustration while Selene continued dodging her last question though her scrunched face and twitching eye showed it was proving to be a tough battle "are you kidding me..." she said in a dangerously heavy tone while Selene started whistling innocently "I can tell you're fond of that memory, you know. It's written all over your face."

"Ohheylookatthetimewebettergetoutandstartourday!" Selene blurted a second before teleporting out of sight.

"HEY!" Rin dashed out of the dining room and towards the outer yard "Don't you dare run! Come back here and finish your story!" she screamed as she literally started searching the estate for her from top to bottom "At least tell me if you were in love with him like you are now by then!"

"I wasn't, not even close! But he was definitely the safest choice available!" Selene's voice rang out from...somewhere.

After a minute of silence it became obvious that neither Rin or Selene were going to be retuning anytime soon, effectively ending their little story time. "Aww..." Cinder moaned with a sullen expression as she pawed the table dejectedly "Maybe someone in the forest will want to play with me." the young Vulpix wondered out loud as a smile returned to her face "Yeah...yeah! That sounds like fun!" she cheered while bouncing outside herself.

"Wait for me Cinder, I'll join you." Phoebe added following her through to wall.

One by one everyone left the dining room, with Fuji collecting everybody's empty plates and started washing them in the kitchen. Everyone, save Kira who kept laying there with a smile on his face.

"Are you sure about this?" Norman asked.

"Yeah." James replied.

"Alright, I'll go get you the necessary paperwork." the Gym Leader said with a twinge of anguish in his tone. After that he turned around and left James to himself.

James sat on the bed staring at the Pokéball in his hand with his newly caught Ralts eyeing it curiously from behind his back. With it being nearly midnight when James woke up, Norman and Nurse Joy decided it would be safer if he stayed at the Pokémon Center that night. James contacted his mother who was understandably angry, worried, and happy. Norman on the other hand got a hold of Professor Birch and filled him in on the situation. Which led to the Pokéball in his hand, It wasn't his Ralts'. Instead it held a Torchic, one of three Pokémon all aspiring trainers in the Hoenn region could chose from to start their journey with. Officially this would be his 'starter' Pokémon once he was old enough with Ralts being his first 'caught' Pokémon, but for now it was an 'early birthday present' from the professor. Normally this doesn't happen but the Gym Leader and Professor agreed keeping Ralts' anonymity would be best since she was a shiny Pokémon, something James didn't understand until he called her out of the Pokéball for the first time.

Another reason was time, since James was going to be in Rustboro City studying until he was old enough through the Trainer School's boarding program, something that would keep him away from home and in a big city alone. Now that he was Ralts' trainer he had to get stronger in his own way. He wouldn't be able to battle alongside Ralts like a Pokémon so he had to learn everything he could and become a genius trainer that could never lose. His parents were against it at first but after seeing James' determination( or stubbornness to not accept "no") they eventually gave in and wished him luck.

Which brought him to the present, slightly over twenty-four hours after he left Oldale Town, staring at his second Pokémon "hmm... I should probably think of names for everyone." he mused, garnering an inquisitive hum from Ralts "I mean, it would get confusing if we ran into someone with another Ralts, or you suddenly evolved, wouldn't it?" Ralts pondered this and tried to comprehend her new trainer's point of view. All other Ralts looked different to her and she could easily spot these differences with a glance. But maybe humans couldn't?

"Raalts." Ralts sighed, consenting to his idea.

"Okay, well, I've already thought up a name for this guy." James said. He then tossed the Pokéball lightly into the air "Come on out, 'Grand Supernova'." the Pokéball burst open and white light and coalescing into the shape of a small orange chick with yellow tufts of feathers on his neck and head.

"Torchic!" 'Grand Supernova' chirped.

"See, he likes it." James boasted while Ralts simply shook her head "Right, Grand Supernova?"

"Torchic?"

Sudden giggling drew everyone's attention to the doorway where Nurse Joy happened to be standing, covering her mouth with a hand in a vain attempt to hide her smile "I think that's a bit too long, James. Perhaps you could shorten it?"

'Shorter, huh?' James mused, folding his arms to consider the suggestion "Ok, then how about just Nova?"

"Torchic! Torchic!"

"He seems to like that one."

James smiled at the news and Torchic bouncing running around the room with more energy than even James knew what to do with proved that he made the right choice "alright, then from this day forth your name will be 'Nova', the fiery star of the future Hoenn Champion." he declared proudly, even pointing out the window and into the clear blue sky. A moment later he retracted his arm and adopted a puzzled expression "I guess that means I also have to change the name I had in mind for Ralts." he murmured.

"What was it?"

James hesitated at first but after enough time for his cheeks to turn red and a deep breath later he blurted out "Supreme Galaxy Goddess Dianna..." he was immediately pelted with a psionically tossed pillow.

Again Nurse Joy broke out into lighthearted laughter "you certainly gave it a lot of thought didn't you." she said, though the deadpanned look James was giving her said he wasn't convinced, or didn't find it funny "I'm serious, I can tell you really care about her." she defended, never losing her lighthearted demeanor. "How about this; consider Ralts' characteristics and then think of a single name that embodies those characteristics. No 'grand' something-or-other, or 'supreme' this-and-that, just one word. If it 'sounds right' then you're on the right track, ok?" Nurse Joy suggested.

James let the advice sink in, taking a long deep breath to help clear his mind. He then crossed his legs and closed his eyes, ready to delve into his subconscious.

When they first met Ralts saved him from the poacher by tipping him off to his lies. When they fled, she used her own power to keep the both of them safe and even teleported him to safety when she didn't have to. In the past twelve hours she had been his guardian angel and because of that he was doing what he did. Still, something he noticed last night was that Ralts was fascinated by the moon. Long after he tucked himself in to bed she kept looking out the window staring at the crescent moon with a warm smile. The night sky seemed to love her as well since the faint moonlight shined off her light blue hair and made her amber eyes sparkle. It wasn't because she was a shiny Pokémon, it felt like it was because she was happy, content with the choice she made, and had the conviction to see it through. How could James simply name something he didn't feel like he deserved.

Slowly he waded through his thoughts, with some ideas coming to mind but nothing 'sounding right' as Nurse joy put it. It wasn't until said Ralts tugged on his shirt and looked at him that his mind saw a spark of something. The more he thought about it the better it sounded to him, and the more proud he was at thinking about it. But it wasn't the same haughty pride as 'Supreme Galaxy Goddess Dianna' had been, this name him feel calm, confident, happy, and driven all at the same time. The more he imagined saying it the more the feeling inside him grew and he knew this was the right choice. Looking down at Ralts' smiling face and seeing Nova's expectant look he took one last long deep breath "I've got one. One perfect for the ace of my team, my reason to get stronger, and most importantly my partner." James said confidently, without a single doubt in his mind. Ralts looked back at him as if she already knew the name she was about to be given and smiled, showing her approval.

"It's nice to meet you, Selene."

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Growing Darkness

Kira didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to do this. But now that he was Kouma's public enemy number one there was little choice left in the matter. In the past two days Kira has faced a distraught Tyranitar and, being honest with himself, survived through sheer dumb luck as well as getting caught up in a mock battle with Phoebe the next day, whose Shadow Ball hurt far more that he thought it should. It was time to face facts; as a Pokémon, he was weak.

He. Needed. Training.

So there he stood, on a desiccated part of the orchard near the Fuji household that he and Tyranitar transformed into a crude Pokémon battle arena, facing off against his selected training partner. What preparations that could be made have been, he had a large breakfast, a medic was present, and their arena was far enough away from the house or any of the other, still living apple trees that nothing should get hit in the crossfire yet still close enough in case something went horribly wrong. So without further stalling ado, he took a quick breath and addressed his selected partner.

"Selene..."

"Yes?"

"I...ugh...I want you to glomp me."

"S'CUSE ME :heart: "

"You see, I need to-whoa crap!"

In the span of five seconds Selene bounded across the battlefield and lunged arms first towards Kira's chest. Kira, moving on instinct, leaped to the side and rolled across the ground before pushing himself off the ground and back onto his feet facing the shiny Gardevoir currently hugging air. Kira stood still for a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his face "ok, Selene? Let me explain fir-"

"Don't care!" she said in a happy-go-lucky voice, directly behind him!

Kira turned around and jumped away, barely dodging her grasp for a second time "no, seriously, you-ahh!" he didn't have a chance to finish before Selene tried to tackle him again, this time charging straight at him only to teleport at point blank to his right and lunge at him then. Kira had to back step to avoid this one "Uhm, Cinder? Phoebe? Could either of you give me a hand here?" he desperately pleaded, taking a precious moment to look at the crowd of two sitting outside the arena.

"Hahahaha! You're doing fine! Keep it up James!"

"Traitor!"

The Elite Four member kept laughing as Selene flew over Kira's head only to roll on the ground, recover, and attempted to tackle his legs. Kira would have commented on how she also used his real name instead of his alias but since everybody present already knew about it there was little point. Besides, he was too busy dodging a shiny Gardevoir that was having way too much fun. Cinder meanwhile watched the two dance on the battlefield from a bench the sidelines made from some of the uprooted trees and cut using a Water Shuriken buzzsaw. To her, Mommy was the second fastest member of the family, with Big Sis June being number one, but now that her daddy was a Pokémon as well those rankings may change.

"Mommy, you really should hear him out first." the little Vulpix called out, almost instantly stopping Selene centimeters away from Kira.

"Oh thank Arceus!" Kira gasped as he fell to his knees and started sucking in air.

"Really?" Selene asked, looking toward her daughter slightly curious now as to what she's doing "How come?"

"As I was trying to say..." Kira gasped, now sitting on the ground "I want to figure out how to use Substitute, but I don't know where to start. So, I need to figure out what triggers it...and the only lead I have is I didn't want to get hit by Hyper Beam..." the Greninja took one more deep breath and got back up to his feet "Right now I want to figure out if Substitute activates from just being hit by a move or if contact in general will work. Once I know the answer to that then the real training I have in mind will begin. If I can figure out how to use it at will I'll be one step closer to being able to fight how I want to."

"But, why would you want to fight?" Selene asked "I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough to handle anything this world could throw at us, especially with the 'Ultimate Tactician' backing me up."

"You're still calling me that?" Kira whispered.

"You're still you, right?" Selene replied.

Kira sighed at his partner's nonchalant response and the self-proclaimed title she gave him. It wasn't that he hated it, far from it actually, he just thought it was a silly moniker since in Pokémon battles there was no 'surefire win' strategy for winning. If he had to attribute his 'tactics' to anything it would be how much he studied Pokémon in school, how adaptable he had to be with only two Pokémon helping him earn six of his eight Gym Badges, and how observant he had become dealing with Pokémon poachers and the twin Teams of Hoenn. Even then he still lost plenty of battles and still made mistakes along the way, some more costly than others. Still, those failures were not something he wanted to forget, they helped him bring about some of his greatest triumphs too after all.

"Well, you got me there." the Ninja Pokémon conceded and Selene celebrating her small victory by sticking her tongue out and giggling "However, this is still something I want to do." Kira countered, reigning in his partner's ego "I highly doubt Carlos was the only Ranger that made it here and considering howmorally sound I was back on earth, who knows who else made the jump here." one group in particular made a chill run down his spine as he silently prayed they didn't make the cut. But it was because of forces like them and the Legendary Pokémon that he had to do this "I'm not human anymore Selene, I'm a Greninja. A Pokémon that's not only capable of fighting alongside you but one that practically personifies how I normally fight. If I can master all the moves I know then I'll be that much more useful for when we'll have to fight, and trust me we will." he concluded. It wasn't that he would go out looking for a fight, rather he didn't believe Carlos would let things stand as they were. And right now the ultimate tactician part of him from ten years ago was telling him to prepare for a battle.

"Fiiine," Selene sighed "But can we go do something fun today later?"

"Which brings me to point." Kira interjected "I'm going to try using Substitute. Every time you grab me or hit me with a move we can go anywhere or do anything you want together for a day, that's a promise." Kira announced. The human-Pokémon didn't expect mastering a move like Substitute to be easy but at least this way he could gain some much needed information plus both sides would take this seriously while still able to have some fun.

"Really?" the Embrace Pokémon asked, her chest tensing up slightly. And when James answered with a nod, she felt the fluttering in her chest explode. Selene, elated to hear her trainer make a promise, calmed down and relaxed her body "Is that so." she said calmly as a faint smile appeared on her face "Well then, I better take this seriously." she stated in an almost hauntingly happy tone, one that made Kira shiver.

"L-Let's get started then, shall we?"

"Yes, let's."

The two turned around and walked back to their starting points on opposite sides of the rectangle. After one deep breath Kira clasped his hands together with the two closest fingers fully extended upwards "Substitute." he declared hoping that would be enough. After a quick stretch of his muscles to see if anything felt different Kira gave Selene a firm nod, one that she in turn gave back and the two entered their respective combat stances.

Selene made the first move by dashing straight for him with electricity gathering in her left hand. Kira braced himself for the incoming Charge Beam ready to see if Substitute worked, only to be caught off guard when a blue aura surrounded the shiny Gardevoir and she flicked her right hand up. In the next moment Kira was assaulted by a wall of dirt being brought up from under his feet by the Psychic attack. The dirt itself didn't hurt nor did the Psychic energy laced within making the attack null and void but the move's main function had been achieved, he lost sight of Selene. Immediately Kira jumped backwards out of the growing dust cloud, ready to dodge Selene's follow-up Charge Beam.

Only to land straight into her arms "that's one," she whispered, slowly rubbed the tip of her horn up his back "you won't be sleeping tonight."

Kira stiffened up as thoughts of the first night caressed his memory while Selene continued to caress other parts of him with a playful smile on her face. And while he dared not move Selene took a glimpse over to the stands to see her daughter's eyes being covered by two leathery hands with Phoebe giving her a sheepish smile. 'Thanks, Phoebe.' she thought, happy her daughter wouldn't be exposed to her more adult mannerisms, at least for a little while longer anyway. She would have been happy standing there for all eternity, her arms wrapped around his chest and no body, pony or mon interrupting her but she knew someone would eventually.

Reluctantly, Selene let go of her mate and gave him a gentle push to kickstart his brain "Now let's see how many more dates I can get out of this." she purred, watching Kira take a stance that suggested he was about to run "In fact, I should ask Ringo where some tourist spots are around here, maybe even what the most expensive restaurant is."

"That implies you catch me again." Kira taunted despite the sweat running down his face.

"Or hit you." Selene corrected, firing a weak but incredibly fast Charge Beam at Kira's chest. Poor frog didn't have a chance. Instinctively guarding, Kira was blown back to the ground landing roughly on his back while his arms crackled with the leftover electricity "That's two, maybe there's a secluded beach or alcove we could disappear to for some fun in the sun." she mused while following up her attack with a wave of rainbow lights, one Kira didn't even try to avoid. As the Heal Pulse connected with his body the sparking and burn mark on his arms dissipated and the stamina he lost flooded back into him "And that's three."

"What!" Kira shouted, clamoring to his feet a moment later "How does Heal Pulse count? I didn't take any damage!"

"You said, and I quote: 'every time you catch me or hit me with a move'. You never said the move had to do damage." the shiny Gardevoir contested and suddenly perked up at an epiphany "Oh! Then doesn't that make this four?" she asked rhetorically.

"Urk!"

Now with the eyes and smile of a predator, Selene slowly started strolling towards her gorgeous prey with both of her hands sparking with bright yellow energy "I really hope this takes a while for you to get. But if it's any consolation, this is going to hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you."

"I find that hard to believe!"

"Nine times... In three hours I only tagged him nine times..." Selene huffed as she walked down the path leading to town. After the first salvo of hits James made an effort to keep out of her reach, with astounding success she might add. She pegged him an hour in with a Dazzling Gleam-Heal Pulse combo and once more with a Charge Beam volley. She even used her 'trump card' and hit the entire field with it. It didn't do any damage to him but it connected nonetheless. The drawback was their arena was ruined afterwards and James insisted that Cinder take her place "I must be getting rusty, yeah that must be it. that's the only explanation. After all I haven't been in a single battle since I got here. So that must be it!"

"You mind setting up your translator thing Selene. I can't understand a word you're saying." Rin said, trailing behind her with the cart strapped around her midsection again today "Either that or talk to yourself a little more quietly."

With a sigh Selene's eyes flashed blue momentarily and a twinge of discomfort in their heads later the link was established "better?"

"A little rough this time don't you think?" Rin complained only to cover her face with a hoof as her red fur turn scarlet "Oh sweet Celestia you're rubbing off on me." she groaned eliciting a chuckle from the shiny Gardevoir.

"Why Rin, I didn't know you were in to that sort of thing." Selene said in between her fits of laughter. If looks could kill Rin would have bored a hole through the back of Selene's head. "Ahh thanks for that. I needed a laugh."

"Sure, happy to help." the mare deadpanned "So, are you going to tell me what you were ranting on about, or can I assume that was an apology for nearly blasting my head off?"

"Ehheheh..." Selene chuckled, suddenly taking a huge interest in a pegasus moving clouds overhead. The reason Selene was leaving the orchard was some of her shots strayed and hit one of the remaining healthy apple trees...as well as the outer wall, the replacement tiles for the roof and the space Rin's head was a second after she ducked. Thanks to that, Selene was drafted to go get replacements for the replacements while Cinder took over her spot as James' partner, much to the Greninja's joy.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, I don't have any new holes in me so no harm done right?" Rin nonchalantly replied. She then picked up her pace to catch up to Selene's and gave her a prying look "so then what is bothering you?" she asked. Selene responded with an incredulous look towards the mare "Yes, it may come as a surprise to you but I actually care about your feelings and happiness." Rin snarked in response.

"it's, well... I'm not satisfied with how Jame-OUR training went." Selene confessed, barely correcting herself in time. Rin was staring at her with an eyebrow raised but otherwise kept quiet "I mean, I don't know if I should be proud of him for dodging my attacks so much or ashamed of myself for missing him so often. Either way I wish there was a secluded place I could go to have an honest to Arceus battle. That or a secluded place I could go with him to...vent." She said with the last word being as sultry as possible.

"I'm...not going to help you with that last one," Rin said "but I know of a few places that ponies tend to avoid."

"Where!?" Selene pleaded, raising Rin and the cart to her face with her Psychic powers perhaps with a little too much power if the cracking sounds coming from the two were any indication "Tell me, tell me!"

"I will, I will just, put me down already!" Ringo begged. A moment later Selene set her back onto the ground as carefully a possible, all the while staring at her with a look that dared her to run away. Clearing her throat Rin stepped back a little to regain her personal space "Let's see there's the Black Beach, the Drowned Forest, and-"

"Selene!"

The two were interrupted by a rough female's voice coming from the direction of town. When they looked to see who it was they saw Sharlene running at full speed towards them with a unnerved look on her ever approaching face. Once she finally reached them the ragged Mightyena lowered her head, gasping for air "Town... Pokémon... Hurry! " she said between long breaths before collapsing entirely.

Both the pony and Pokémon's moods hardened at the news. If a Pokémon was going wild in town then that meant only bad things for the residents. With an exchange of glances Selene put a hand on both Rin and Sharlene, already gathering Psychic energy "Hold on tight." she warned. The next moment her blue aura surrounded them and she blinked out of existence, leaving the road empty once more.

Save the black and gray dog still laying on the road of course "figures..." she panted, not bothering to move.

A second later Selene and Rin flashed into existence on the road directly outside of the town's south entrance. From there they could see the lines of beachside homes on the right and various shops and restaurants on the left the ponies of Kouma frequented on a daily basis. There were small carts parked in front of one store or another with varying types of things from imported lettuce and oats to planks of cut wood. There were even a few Pokémon mulling about and playing, some notable examples being Elgyem, Chimecho, and a group of Petilil.

But not a single pony was in sight.

Apprehension growing in their hearts, the duo ran Into the middle of the town and turned down the only corner in Kouma, heading inland. Down this road were larger, three story buildings, mainly government offices such as the guard post, stockade, and the small library as well as four opulent looking manors the farthest inland, running perpendicular to the City Hall.

On the left side of the street they found what they were looking for: a group of Ponies all surrounding a Pokémon, a familiar one at that. It's one piercing red eye shifting about, the yellow lines across its body, and the humanoid cloth hands at the end of its stocky arms made it look familiar to Phoebe, making this Pokémon a Dusknoir if Ringo remembered correctly. More importantly, this Dusknoir was bigger than the Elite Four member both in size and in stock and it was currently using that massive body to hold two earth pony fillies in its hands and...was playing airplanes with them?

Rin breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the large ghost simply playing with the fillies and over all entertaining the crowd "whew, I was imagining something much worse than another Phoebe." Rin said, loosing all of the tension her body had gathered "C'mon, let's go see what all the fuss was about." and with that the mare started making her way towards the newcomer.

Selene on the other hand was paralyzed. Her eyes were mere pinpricks and her mouth hung open at the sight of the Pokémon. She knew exactly why Sharlene wanted her here, she just couldn't believe it "Wha...that...wh...a...I...not...possible..."

'What's another shiny doing here!?'

Tyranitar lumbered through the cleared part of the orchard, the one remaining area that still showed signs of the battle's damage, carrying with her three more trees that had been stripped of all their leaves and most of their bark. For the past six hours she had been collecting all of these uprooted trees and piling them closer to Fuji's home with the old stallion himself judging if they can be reused as building lumber or firewood, with marked pieces being smashed apart with her tail to make them more manageable. Even Larvitar was helping her sort through the pile by collecting the branches that were small enough to be used as kindling. Even with Kira begging her to help make his impromptu arena at the start of her work she could still be done with everything and leave for the mountains on the other side of the island by nightfall. Speaking of Kira however...

"Please."

"No."

"Pleease."

"No."

"Pleeeasse!"

"NO!"

...The frog was trying to get another favor out of her. The very moment Cinder left the training arena at his request the Greninja ran over to where she had been picking up trunks and started asking her for what he called 'the last favor he'd ever ask of her'. Now she would have heard him out at the very least, except helping him carve the arena into the ground was also supposed to be 'the last favor he'd ever ask of her'. So instead she decided to not give him another inch and finish the repairs to the estate. Fuji Apple was nice enough but she had yet to find a territory for herself and her child to call home.

And so for the last fifteen minutes he had been on his hands and knees groveling behind her while she worked, even shuffling behind her to keep up when necessary. She had to admit, Kira was determined, as well as a complete hypocrite.

"Pleeeea-"

"If you finish that word, I will slam my tail into you." Tyranitar said, glaring back at him from the corner of her eye.

"Then maybe if you hear me out I won't have to repeat myself." Kira replied, his voice scratchy from his begging.

"You already used your 'last favor' on building the battle arena and now you have another one?" she pressed, still not bothering to look directly into his face.

"That was...more to get you to do it" Kira admitted. At first Tyranitar had been reluctant to create a Pokémon battle arena claiming that they had no purpose in this world and that he should forget all about it. It was only after he said that did she eventually concede to helping. "But this time I really mean it!" he added, slamming his head into the ground and leaving him completely at her mercy "So please!"

The next moment his face was crushed into the ground by Tyranitar's tail.

"I told you what would happen if you said that word one more time." the Armor Pokémon sighed. Looking back at Kira she noticed he was still on his knees just like the moments before trying to hide how much pain he had to be in. She didn't mean to kill him, only knock him unconscious. In fact she barely put any momentum behind her strike, mostly letting gravity do most of the work. Still, even after she lifted her tail off of him he didn't move an inch from his spot in the ground. With another sigh she looked away from the sight and continued moving forward "Maybe if you actually practiced Substitute you wouldn't be where you are now..."

"I already figured it out."

Tyranitar stopped when she heard that and gave Kira a second, more serious look. He was still face down on his hands and knees in the dirt with his head in the small crater but she could just barely make out his eyes, opened and focused on the dirt before him. "It reacts to danger by using a fragment of my own life force to create what is seen as 'the decoy doll' while I'm shifted to a different place outside of the perceived danger zone. The smokescreen is caused by the excess energy being released and gives me a three second window to either counterattack or escape. It also does not require a verbal cue to activate, simply a focused mental command or an incredibly strong desire to avoid the incoming attack, though this instinctual method is more taxing on me. So far I've estimated I could use this second method a total of three times at peak condition before being in danger of collapsing." Kira summarized from his spot in the dirt "And all of this I concluded an hour ago. I'll experiment and truly master this move in my own time, under controlled circumstances. But right now there is something I have to do and I WILL do this regardless of your answer. Having you help though would make it a whole helluva lot easier. So, please, help me one last time."

Unlike every other time today when Kira said please this time his voice was calm, collected, and deathly serious. If what he said was true then he could have easily dodged her tail and continued pestering her but instead he willingly took the blow. There wasn't any proof that he was telling the truth but if he was indeed lying he still took the hit for a bluff. And there he remained, his head pressed into the small crater with his barely visible eyes showing the glint of determination. It was then Tyranitar could finally see that whatever was on his mind was important to him. With a short breath Tyranitar lumbered over to the wood pile and unloaded her current burden. Then, with three quick tail slams, she shattered the trees into a size the ponies would find easier to work with. While Larvitar began collecting sticks she returned to the bowing Greninja, with her answer in mind.

"Alright, I'll help. But me and my son are leaving by day's end."

Hearing those words Kira finally raised his head, greeting her with a sincere smile "Thank you."

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Preparations

Time slowed to a crawl around Selene as she tried processing what was in front of her. It wasn't that she thought she was the only shiny Pokémon in existence, nor was it that this was the first one she saw in the flesh. Being friends with Phoebe and, by extension, Steven meant she and James met his shiny Metagross. But aside from that in their ten years of being together they could count the other times on one hand...er...two hands actually, considering James' new lack of digits. After all, the odds of a Pokémon being born shiny were roughly four thousand to one. Multiply that by being in the right place at the right time or meeting the right person and a Magikarp winning a battle using Splash becomes more likely.

And yet there it was. A Dusknoir whose body, save its skin's ghostly shade of blue, was more akin to what a normal Dusknoir would look like compared to Phoebe's skinnier build was playing with the fillies of Kouma without a care in the world. Whether this was good fortune, fate, or some deity's attempt at a funny joke Selene was still deciding.

But once the shiny Dusknoir looked up to her in mild surprise the world restarted once more "Oh? So the rumors I heard were true." he said in a deep, yet positive voice. Carefully setting the young ponies down he bowed to the crowd and waded his way towards Selene "The Pokémon living in the forest mentioned seeing a shiny Gardevoir in this town but I could not believe such matters on hearsay alone. I simply had to see for myself, and I am elated that I did. The rumors did not do you justice, You are absolutely dazzling." the Dusknoir complimented "Ah, but where are my manners, allow me to introduce myself. I am Noir, humble leader and acting ambassador between this town and the rest of my group."

"Uh...yeah...Selene." the shiny Gardevoir responded even though her dazed expression clearly showed she was still processing what he said "Wait group?"

"Correct." Noir stated proudly "In our previous world I, along with others like me, traveled throughout the regions searching for those blessed by Arceus but found themselves abandoned or ostracized from their families or under a contemptible humans thrall." he practically spat out the word 'human' but quickly coughed "I wanted to find all the ones in the world and give them a home. A place to belong, to be safe, and to never have to worry about survival again. A utopia." he concluded, returning to his stoic stance while watching Selene slowly process the information.

"When you say 'blessed by Arceus' you mean-"

"What the humans have dubbed 'Shiny Pokémon' yes." Noir clarified "In my many years as a Dusknoir I have traveled from Almia to Unova and everywhere in between, with missions planned or carried out in each region to save others like us."

"How?" Selene pressed.

"I have a comrade from Sinnoh to thank for allowing us to travel among the oceans of our world." Noir answered politely "He is quite feverous toward our cause as well. Though, considering his history with his former trainer I cannot blame him..."

"That's not what I meant. How did you know where other shiny Pokémon were? How could you?" she corrected, now becoming slightly annoyed "Even if there were a hundred of you there's no way you could find every single shiny Pokémon. Our world was gigantic, you can't deny that."

"That is true, but what about five hundred-"

"Ok, I'm gonna have to stop you right there." Rin interjected, unstrapped from their cart and putting herself between Selene and the shiny Dusknoir earning a surprised look from the former and an indignant one from the latter "I don't know what you're saying to her but it's obviously not good. So why don't you go ahead and take back what you said or float off to some other town before my hooves send you there." the mare warned, staring down Noir ready for a fight. Noir, for his part remained silent while Selene stared on with her mouth open still trying to comprehend what was going on.

A moment later they both sighed "Rin?".

"Yes?"

"Did you understand any part of the conversation we were having?"

"Nope, not a word! You started speaking in Pokémon after you saw him so I had to make a few assumptions." Rin stated, almost proudly even "How close was I?"

Putting a hand to her face and shaking her head Selene reestablished the mental link "Rin? Did anyone ever tell you what happens when you make assumptions?"

"...What now?" the mare asked warily.

"You would besmirch my name without knowing what exactly I say? I am hurt miss." Noir replied calmly, feigning offense while keeping his eye on Rin in order to see her reaction.

Convinced by her deadpan look that she could understand him now he cleared his throat, or what counted as such and continued "As I was saying what if there were five hundred of me, or even one thousand? As you say our world was vast and I could not be everywhere at once. Then again I did not have to." Noir inhaled deeply, causing his entire body to expand only to contract as the air exited through the large mouth on his body "Loathe I am to admit it I too was once under the thumb of a deplorable trainer," he admitted with his voice dripping with so much spite that both Selene and Rin felt chills run down their backs from his disdain "and during our time together I was exposed to the underground side of human society. I saw trainers claiming to be stronger than champions battle with Pokémon hatched and raised for the sole purpose of fighting mercilessly against others like them, breeders boasting about their latest batch of Pokémon specifically bred to fight or be bred with other Pokémon while pawning off their failures to any that would take them. In that time I had seen so many atrocities against Pokémon that some images still haunt me to this day." Noir paused for a moment to clasp his hands together and offer a prayer before returning to his spiel.

"But I also learned how important information was. After my liberation I made connections everywhere I went. And the more I traveled the more I realized how dire the world had become. It was then that it became my mission to unite and liberate all of the shiny Pokémon in the world and create a utopia where they could be treated how they deserve to be, without persecution from the humans or other narrow-minded Pokémon." he concluded only to let out a deep sigh "But...that is in the past now, humans no longer walk the world and my mission for a utopia has been pushed back to square one." he said, extending a blue hand out to her "Yet it is too soon to be giving up, and I would be honored if you would join me in seeing my vision realized, seeing my utopia brought to fruition."

Selene thought about the offer. A utopia did sound nice and there were bound to be shiny Pokémon around this world facing the same problems they did in the last. She could even think of a few ways she could help out too. Her Heal Pulse could keep them healthy, being a Psychic type also had its advantages as well, the first two being mind reading and telepathy. But how would Cinder play into all of this? Or Ryu? or Phoebe? or even...James? With her family at the forefront of her mind Selene took a deep breath and gently reached out to Noir's hand.

And pushed it back towards him.

"I appreciate the offer but I'm quite happy with my current conditions. Ringo and her grandfather have been very kind to me and the other Pokémon staying there despite the trouble all of us caused with our sudden arrival."

"I see... That is...most regrettable." Noir sighed, his shoulders sagging and closed eyestalk facing the ground. His dejection didn't last long however as with a deep breath he regained the composure he once had "Nevertheless I still have much to ask the residents of this town regarding our new world and intend to be here for some time yet. Should your mind change or you merely want to talk I shall be nearby."

"I'll keep that in mind." Selene replied "Speaking of; if you don't mind we have some shopping to get to." she added, motioning towards the empty cart.

"Ah, of course. Then I shall take my leave as well." Noir stated with a bow before returning to the group of ponies he had left behind and continuing his conversations and games.

Selene stood there, watching the shiny Dusknoir interact with the rest of the ponies once again, staring intensely at the scene in front of her 'something's not right...' she thought. Maybe it was because she tried sensing emotions for the first time since becoming a Gardevoir or maybe the feelings she sense were powerful enough but radiating from Noir was a small cacophony of negative feelings.

Fear, desperation, lust, malice, anger, despair, Selene felt all of those and more emanating from him. They were small, like specks of dust floating through the air, but they were powerful and wild. For a moment she considered looking into his mind to see what secrets he was hiding but a small voice from her own told her not to do that, and with neither James nor Tengu there to back her up in case things went south she decided discretion was the better part of valor. 'Why couldn't I sense those emotions until just now? What is he not telling me that would cause them in the first place? Did I somehow cause them? And if so, how?' she pondered up to the point of frustration.

"Oookay... Well that Pokémon made my mane stand on end." Rin scowled, looking at Noir with a suspicious glare "I don't know what he said at the beginning but I could practically feel his malicious intent...among other things." she said, shivering at the last part before looking to Selene with a worried expression "I'd be careful if I were you, he seems to have the hots for you after all. And not in the innocent and pure love-at-first-sight way either."

"So I have a stalker in this world too? Just great." Selene groaned, placing a hand over her face to quell the growing headache.

"Wow, you must have been really popular back on Earth!"

"I don't think that's something she wants Hur-" Rin paused, processing the new voice and the distinct lack of a pony to go with it. Selene noticed as well and together they looked around for the voice's owner, much to her amusement if the barely stifled giggles were anything to go by. It was only when a cloud's shadow blocked out the sun that the two decided to look up. And when they did-

"BOO!"

"EEP!"

-A Charge Beam shot straight through it, parting the cloud and nearly hitting the lime green pegasus hiding inside "Aww... That was my fifty-eighth favorite cloud... You didn't have to do that Selly." Hurricane Eye pouted from the air.

'Selly' stared dumbfounded at the mare unable to comprehend what possessed Hurricane Eye to think spooking a Pokémon was a good idea, how she dodged a point blank Charge Beam, and why did she have a 'fifty-eighth favorite cloud' in the first place. "Do I want to know what happened to the other fifty-seven?" she asked absentmindedly.

"It's probably for the best that you didn't." Rin replied "let's just say if you name some possible way chances are you're correct."

"Yeah..." Hurricane Eye admitted, rubbing the back of her head and laughing slightly "I still don't know where that house came from, or that cane."

Selene however was unamused "Ms. Hurricane-"

"Please, call me Hurry. All my friends do." Hurricane Eye interrupted "...Well...Rin does anyway."

"And you better get used to being called that pet name too, Selly. She gives all her friends one of those as well." Rin added "It will make your life here a lot easier if you just accept it."

"Noted." Selene said, if only to move the conversation on to something that might make sense "Anyway, Hurry, I have two questions for you."

"Okay, shoot." Hurricane Eye responded, flying upside down in circles.

"How long were you eavesdropping on us?"

The mare's body stiffened and as a result she fell to the ground and tumbled unceremoniously onto her head only to scramble upright. "E-eavesdropping? I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Hurricane Eye blurted out, smiling sheepishly, looking into the distance, tapping her hooves together, and practically every other tell to show she was lying. Needless to say when Rin and Selene gave her disbelieving stares the pegasus conceded almost immediately "The whole time..." she sighed "I was laying on my cloud listening to the Pokémon and ponies in town when I heard you passing by. So I tailed you. I'm sorry..."

"There's no need to apologize, Hurry. Being spied on is nothing new to me." Selene said, waving her arm to dismiss the issue outright "If anything I need to apologize to James for not sensing you sooner, I should know better after all. But one word of advice; don't go around spooking Pokémon like that, they won't appreciate it." she scolded, something Hurricane Eye listened to with her head hung low and a quiet grumble escaping her mouth. "But enough of that I still have something else to ask you."

"Hm?" Hurry mumbled, lifting her head enough to meet Selene's gaze.

"How can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Oh, because of Vigilant's spell." She replied matter-of-factly.

Selene quieted down at the news, instead turning her attention inwards to fight with some unseen force in her head which effectively passed the bit to Rin "So that means he got his hooves on a translation spell this morning?" the work mare asked.

"I'd say the results, speak for themselves! Eh, Eh!" Hurry responded, landing beside Rin and jabbing her in the shoulder with an elbow. Rin, in response to her friends bad pun rebuked with the most unamused, even stare she could muster "Oh come on that was funny!" she said, throwing her hooves up into the air.

"It really wasn't." Rin deadpanned.

"Says you..." Hurry pouted "But yeah, Vigilant Specter had his copy of a translation spell delivered earlier this morning. In fact the mailmare was earlier then expected. Can't imagine why though, she never seems to take her job seriously. Unlike a certain few ponies I know-"

"Hurricane Eye!"

Every hair on Hurry's head and back stood on end as the unmistakable voice of her irked brother cried out from the sky. And in the sky, casting a shadow directly over the mare in question was her brother, his front hooves crossed and his left eye twitching ever so slightly "whuh-oh, Ty found me. Guess my extended break is over!" Hurricane Eye chirped. Reluctantly she rose into the air and towards her brother, who continued to chastise her the whole time about ditching him. His chastising continued even after the two met up and flew towards the forest.

Rin, for her part, wasn't surprised to see these two arguing like that. After all, she knew deep down they cared deeply for each other. "Celestia help whoever that mare's working with though..." she sighed. It wasn't that her friend was incompetent, far from it really. Despite not being officially apart of the weather team she was occasionally drafted to help them when they become overworked or understaffed. She says 'occasionally' because despite her natural talent she regularly goes off on her own to shirk, listen to town gossip, scout some of the new clouds, or some combination of the three.

But her concerns for her friend's coworkers vanished as an ominous vibe slid up her back. A vibe that was accompanied with the air shaking around her and small pebbles rattling on the ground. Looking behind her Rin saw Selene with her eyes closed in a scowl and her psychic aura emanating around her body. It didn't take a changeling to know that she was pissed "Uhh, you ok?" she had a bad feeling about this.

The psychic power around her faded from view, her arms hung relaxed by her side, and she took a deep breath while he rest of her body seemingly unwound. Yet the tension Ringo Apple felt from her only seemed to grow, sending chills down her spine. Slowly The Shiny Gardevoir opened her amber eyes with an ominous smile growing in unison.

"I think we need to pay Vigilant a little visit."

Kira looked up at the cliff in front of him, carefully running his idea through his head over and over again. Behind him was the ocean crashing against the solid rock he and his partner in crime Tyranitar were standing on. One of the few outcroppings of rock along the nearby coastline and the only one big enough for his plan.

With a sigh, he walked up to the cliff and placed one of his webbed hands on the rock wall as high as he could reach. He then did the same with his opposite foot and began twisting, nudging and pressing to see if he had any sort of grip whatsoever. To his surprise, and slight dismay, his grip was quite strong, easily capable of supporting his body weight for longer than a minute. So with one last groan he began his climb up the cliff, methodically searching for any loose rocks or other potential hazards that could prove dangerous later on. Spying one such rock he climbed closer to it and after yelling "incoming!" to Tyranitar, who rolled her eyes, brushed the rock free and watched it fall to the ground and shatter to pieces. Opting to not let that reminder of what would happen if his grip failed get to him Kira looked up and continued onwards, his senses a bit sharper than when he started and his mind taking this a bit more seriously as well. On his way to the top he found another eight loose stones which he considered lethal to the average person and were quickly removed. And to be extra sure he didn't miss anything the Greninja pushed weakened Water Pulses to his sides letting the created water wash down the cliff and sweep away any of the smaller rocks that, while they wouldn't kill, would definitely ruin someone's day. With the cliffside cleaned and cleared that just left one fun task to do before he could start.

And that would be getting down.

In Kira's mind there were two ways to get back to where Tyranitar was. Either reach the top and circle all the way back, which would take the rest of the day, especially if his understanding of the local geography was correct, or jump into the ocean from what he estimated to be five stories up. It would be faster but the odds of it stinging immensely were almost guaranteed. Actually dying, ten percent...ish. Weighing his options against the fact he needed to finish this today Kira let out a sigh and repositioned himself to where his back was against the wall.

'Well...at least I'll see how durable my new body is.' Kira thought, looking out to the sea from his perch. Carefully he inched his legs closer to his body and readied his arms to push off the cliff. As a precaution he kept his tongue in his mouth to avoid the salt-water taste he would soon be experiencing. A shame too, he was starting to get used to his new scarf. And so, while his subconscious yelling at him that this was a terrible idea, the Greninja launched himself away from the cliff and towards the vast blue sea with as much force as he could muster.

For the few seconds it lasted flying through the air was pure bliss for Kira, bringing back memories of when he, Selene, and Ryu were flying to Ever Grande City to challenge the Elite Four, or just soaring over Hoenn for funsies. And while he knew his partner was tough enough to handle himself Kira still quietly hoped Ryu was doing alright. As he drew closer to the water he snapped out of his nostalgia and straightened his body out, putting his arms in front of him, and braced for impact.

The water was frigid to his new amphibian-esque body and sent chills throughout his arms and legs, chills that intensified the numbing pain both appendage and face were currently in. When the pain receded and he could feel his limbs again, Kira opened his eyes to the salt water only to close them immediately afterwards 'Seawater, right. Not used to that yet.' Kira cursed, blindly floating towards the surface. Once he felt his head breach and his hearing return to normal he shook off his right arm and did the best he could to wipe the water from his eyes "That hurt about as much as I thought it would" he groaned, cautiously opening his eyes. Taking a moment to float and get his bearings back he looked back at the shore, noticing Tyranitar giving him a concerned look with the cliff he had soaked slowly drying off behind her 'well that should prevent anything from falling on us as we work,' Kira thought, somewhat proud of his work, before focusing on the rocky shoreline 'now for the legitimately fun part of swimming back to shore.' he added, before breaking into an awkward breaststroke. Normally he preferred swimming freestyle but considering his new body was a frog he thought he should give it a shot. After ten strokes he swore to never swim that way again.

"Dun-nun."

Kira stopped swimming and immediately began searching for whatever made that sound, an ominous chill running down his spine.

"Dunnn-nun."

He turned around just fast enough to see something sink into the ocean but when he tried looking underwater the choppy seas obscured anything it could have been.

"Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun!"

The voice was getting louder, which meant whomever was making it was getting closer, something Kira was growing less and less fond of. This time though the voice wasn't going away so with one strong stroke he turned his body once more to face it only to be met with piercing red eyes...

...And sharp, shining white teeth bearing down on him "Omm!" she said before everything went white. The Sharpedo, being too close to need sight, Crunched down on her prey and began swiftly dragging it down into the depths, taking a wall of bubbles down with it. She continuously kept shaking violently in hopes that a piece of flesh would be torn off leaving the rest crippled for later, it would have been so much easier for such a unique catch. It was a new taste too, one she couldn't quite place. Maybe wool? Or was it Cotton? Either way it was strange for something that was living to taste like this. Her confusion cleared with the bubbles as the Pokédoll she had in her mouth came into sight. Realizing why her meal tasted like gourmet styrofoam she made a u-turn to the surface hopefully to find her prey before he does.

"What the hell Sherry!" Too late.

Kira floated ten feet away glaring menacingly at the Sharpedo "not cool trying to eat me Sherry! Not. Cool!" he growled, the goosebumps and labored breaths showing the hair's breadth he came within of getting hit.

Sherry rolled her eyes "oh, it was just a love Crunch, don't be such a baby." she chided.

"YOU WERE AIMING FOR MY NECK!"

He wasn't wrong, and Sherry's sudden interest in the sky made that fact and Kira's glare even harsher. After a minute of silence Kira silently started swimming back to shore, whereas the Sharpedo trailed behind, looking everywhere but forward. With not a word between them for the next ten minutes she finally asked "so why are you out here?"

"It was either this or take all day walking back to the coast," he answered offhandedly "and I don't really have the time for extra cardio today."

"Couldn't you have, oh I don't know, climbed down?"

"On a slick surface over the only spit of solid rock on this beach with a indestructible pincushion as a safety net? Hahaha no."

"Well since I'm here why don't I give you a ride to shore. You look like you could use it."

"My swimming is perfectly fine and you know it!" Kira defended. It wasn't that he was a bad swimmer, far from it really. Being a Hoenn native and more importantly a frequent visitor to Lilycove meant that swimming came as naturally to him as battling or eating ice cream. It was only because he was trying to do what felt "natural" that he looked like a beached Goldeen.

Sherry, however remained unconvinced "Then let me rephrase that; I'm taking you to shore before something really tries to eat you."

Her tone made it clear that she wasn't joking and while his pride and body said he could make it back, his mind was telling him to take the offer before something bad happened and she could say 'I told you so'. And so with a stream of bubbles being blown out of his mouth he reluctantly answered back "fine..."

While he could have done without the toothy grin when Sherry offered him her fins Kira grabbed on and gave her a small nod. With that Sherry sped toward the shoreline, leaving a wake large enough to hide her body. It also meant The poor Greninja clinging on would be having a severe belly rash from all the skipping across the surface. The next five minutes after were filled with an awkward silence until eventually Sherry spoke up in a nonchalant tone.

"So, what are you two really doing."

"I would tell you, but then I'd have to make you an accomplice."

"Oooh, ominous." She replied, looking back at him with a toothy smile. Her focus returned back to her front when the sound of waves began breaking against the shoreline. And so with one sharp turn she tossed Kira into the rocky shoreline "whelp, this is as far as I go. Don't let me catch you out to sea again," she said not bothering to look at him, though the inviting tone suggested otherwise "or I might just treat myself to some frog's legs." she added coyly.

"Goodbye Sherry." he answered evenly, rubbing his back while Sherry returned to open ocean laughing to herself. As fun as she was to be around Kira learned fast to keep an eye on her lest you somehow misplace one of your fingers in her mouth, like the last guy. Either way, once Sherry was well and truly out of his sight he hoisted himself up onto the rocky shoreline where his swim had started from "Well, I'm looking forward to not doing that ever again." he said to himself before acknowledging Tyranitar's presence with a smug yet curious smile "So, how'd I do?"

"Everything's dried off and nothing's seems to be loose. I even gave it a quick Headbutt while you were swimming back, just to be sure, so I doubt anything will be falling down on us." And by Kira's quick estimate that would mean it survived a magnitude six earthquake, so it should last for quite a while.

"Perfect." The Greninja said, admiring his work and visualizing his desired outcome. It was a simple enough idea, yet in actually executing it he wasn't entirely sure it was possible. Still he didn't get to where he was taking the safe route all the time and in theory his plan will work. So with what belief that he had He picked up a shard of one of the rocks he dislodged and started carving a line against the cliff. He kept drawing the line up the cliff as high as he could reach, even lifting himself onto the wall for a little extra height. He then sketched a horizontal line across the wall twelve feet across in both directions and then down once more to the cliff's foot. Finally he mirrored what he drew onto the rocky floor as best he could, drawing the crude dimensions of a 24 by 20 square meter box "You think this will be big enough?" Kira asked casually, tossing aside the stone he used into the ocean.

"I'm more concerned that this won't work. But yes, if this works then there will be more than enough room."

"It'll work!" Kira snapped before glancing back at his outline and quietly adding "Probably..." to his remark. Either way he couldn't rest quite yet.

At the base of the wall, safely out of the oceans grasp was a pile of Trees, felled when Tyranitar went on her rampage as well as some from the surrounding forest that looked freshly downed too. Mixed in to the pile was pieced of lumber already cut into boards but had some deformity to them ranging from a hole where a knot used to be or one end was already rotting. It was on this pile Kira sat down, creating a Water Shuriken in his hand and picking one piece out of the pile to start carving.

"If you say so." Tyranitar mumbled, looking at the diagram Kira drew. It sounded ridiculous, using a Pokémon move like this. But with this favor they would be even, whether it worked or not would be his problem. Though that didn't mean she wouldn't take this seriously either "Stone Edge!" She stomped the ground causing the pillars of rock to rise up high along the drawn lines. Kira, for his part sat on his pile of wood, cutting, smoothing, and cleaning up the planks as he watched his plan come together.

Prolouge- The End of the World

The End of the World

"Ahh Lillycove. The sun. The sand. The naïve tourists thinking they're better than us." a trainer smiled, enjoying the coastal scenery. The wind blowing in from the ocean was always a refreshing feeling to him. The fact that trainers from around the world came here to shop and show off their Pokémon too was also a good reason to like this city; it was good training. But it was mostly the scenery.

"Much as I agree with you James, we are in the middle of something..." his partner chided "besides I still want to try those Castelliacones the department store have right now. They're only here for a limited time, so can we hurry?"

"Eeeyup..." James responded, stretching his arms high over his head with a content sigh escaping his lips moments later.

"Hey! stop ignoring me and focus on the battle! Pangoro use Crunch!" their opponent commanded.

"Goro!"

"Did you say something?"

As the Pangoro lunged with his jaws wide open, his opponent, a Gardevior, jumped back out of the way causing him to bite down on thin air "wasn't me, James." the Gardevoir replied, focusing on her trainer rather than the angry Pokémon she was battling. The Pangoro, on the other hand thought that was the perfect time to launch a surprise attack since he tried to sneak up behind her and land another Crunch aimed at her shoulder, only to have her twirl her body around and, with some subtle guidance from her lithe hands, was instead made to eat sand. That miss only served to motivate him even more as he tried again, forgoing any kind of subtlety or accuracy to make another leap at the Gardevoir only to miss...again.

"Hmm, must've been the wind then." James mused, returning his attention to the ocean. He always did find the ocean breeze put the wind in his sails. Besides he knew his partner, Selene, could handle this by herself. In fact the only orders he gave her were to use Calm Mind and not get hit. After that he just turned his attention to the ocean and started casually goading his opponent into attacking.

"Why are you missing Pangoro!? It's just a Gardevoir!" his opponent chastised.

"Just a Gardevoir? You're not smart are you?" James snarked before shrugging and speaking in a overly-haughty tone "Well it's probably because I taught Selene here one of the greatest moves there is. Ready for it? It's called dodging."

"I still want to get ice cream..." Selene pouted, sidestepping another one of the Pangoro's Crunch attacks and ignoring her trainer's taunting.

"Your just saying that because your Gardevoir is a 'Shiny'! I bet you didn't even catch her on your own but just made some back alley deal with a Pokémon poacher! Or had a Ditto breed with Ralts until you were satisfied!"

And just like that, the wind in James' sails just petered out.

"Okay...that was uncalled for." he scolded, the smile he once had falling into a slight frown. He was used to getting flack for Selene's normally-green-but-instead-blue coloring and the orange-instead-of-red horn protruding from her chest, in fact he expected it from mostly everyone new he met. It still bugged him to no end that people used that as an excuse though. With a drawn out sigh James turned towards the battle giving it his undivided attention, much to his annoyance 'Selene? how's Calm Mind coming along?'

"Hmph, been using it this entire time. A Gengar couldn't harm me now." Selene boasted while still dodging more of Pangoro's attacks. By this point he had given up trying to connect with Crunch and instead was using every move he knew, which from James point of view looked like Hammer Arm, Low Sweep, and Sky Uppercut in a wild frenzy. Might as well have been Outrage for all the good it was doing as Selene, with her hyper calmed mind, was gracefully avoiding every attack with a smug expression on her face. And James couldn't help but smirk from the news.

"Well then, let's run the welcome wagon over this poor kid's ass! Selene, use Dazzling Gleam!"

"I thought you'd never a-" Selene replied with a haughty gleam in her amber eyes as she looked back at her trainer. Her reply however was cut short when the Pangoro finally connected with a Sky Uppercut, knocking her into the air and landing right in front of James' feet.

A blink or three later, and with James' expression becoming neutral, he let out a small cough "Huh, well that was anti-climactic." he noted, kneeling down and extending a hand to Selene to help her up "Should've been paying attention though...". Being both Psychic and Fairy type he knew that Selene was fine. A Fighting type move like Sky Uppercut wouldn't do much to her. Though to his surprise she didn't take it. Normally at this point she'd take it and say something that usually had a double meaning to him like "and yet you didn't notice my surprise yesterday." and return the favor to whatever Pokémon that landed the cheap shot. "Uh, Selene? You ok?"

Minutes passed and she didn't get up. No, she curled up more, her arms wrapping around her head. Now worry was starting to sink in so he knelt down to check on his beloved partner. What he saw terrified him, Selene was awake but her amber eyes were pinpricks yet shone with the light blue of her psychic energy, she was shivering and had both of her hands pressing hard against her skull. "Selene! What's wrong!?" he pleaded, now panicking that the Sky Uppercut actually did more damage than he realized.

"Gar!" was all Selene cried as she wrapped her cyan arms around James in a tight embrace, even causing some pain to him with the horn on her chest jabbing into his gut.

"Hey! Stop holding your Pokémon like that and get back to our battle!" his opponent yelled, James paid him no mind. There was a bigger issue at hand.

'Gar!? Selene hasn't spoken to me like that since she learned how to use telepathy. What's going on-' any further thoughts were silenced as Selene pressed her lips to his, locking him in the kiss with her arms behind his neck.

"...Ever Grande..."

"H-hey, control your Pokémon! Are you even aware of what she's doing to you!?"

"...Arceus..."

"Wait...y-your one of those Poképhiles aren't you!"

"Those flowers...I want to see them...one last time..."

'Last!?'

"Y-you are! P-Pangoro grab them! Don't let them get away!"

"Stop. Talking." James said, breaking out of the kiss, glaring at is opponent. He was now getting sick of this trainer, and while he didn't have any qualms facing off against the rangers, there were more important matters to attend to. Selene was scared, whatever she saw, whatever she felt had her terrified and right now he had somewhere he needed to go. Reluctantly he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down "You win, I forfeit. Go, find the Rangers, or Officer Jenny, or whoever you think will be able to stop us. Watch as they try and fail to arrest us until only you are left. But get out of my sight before you say something you'll regret." he threatened and, sure enough, his opponent turned and ran towards the city center crying for help with his Pokémon following with a bewildered expression behind him.

Letting out an annoyed sigh brought about by that trainer, James gingerly moved his arm free from his partner's embrace "Besides we'll be long gone before they even get here..." he whispered before reaching for one of the five Poké-Balls attached to his belt. Pressing the button to make it expand, he threw the ball into the air "...Ryu..." and watched as the ball burst open with a cascade of light escaping and coalescing into the shape of a large blue dragon with red-wings on his back shaped like the blades of an axe. The Salamence roared proudly into the air, ready to fight, only to become timid when he noticed his family clinging together, one scared out of her mind and on the verge of tears and the other looking at him solemnly. With a low growl, Ryu nuzzled the Gardevoir with a worried look in his eyes as well before turning to James expectantly "we need to get to Ever Grande City as soon as possible, will you take us there?" his trainer asked. Ryu's response came when he turned to the ocean and let out another bestial roar, one louder than the first and with a gout of flame coming out. With eyes burning with determination he motioned towards his back letting the two get on, James holding onto Ryu's neck, Selene holding onto James. And with a few strong wing beats to gain altitude, Ryu flew off towards the sea, his destination clearly in mind.

As Lillycove city became more of a speck with each passing second, James looked back at the department store and sighed 'I guess we're not going to get those Castelliacones...' he mused 'oh well...not like this day can get any worse.'

Meanwhile on another world named Equus, Celestia's sun was rising on the island town of Kouma. it's rays illuminated the morning dew on the plants, the glistening waves crashing on the coastline, and a certain mare who didn't want to get out of bed.

"Mmmgh...five more minutes, Celestia..." she mumbled, turning away from the sunlight leaking in through the paper screen doors to no avail. Realizing there was no chance the sun was magically going to recede back into the horizon she did the next best thing and turned to face the encroaching rays and glared spitefully at it. When that didn't work she groaned, admitting defeat and crawled out from under her warm, comfortable, blanket to the less warm and comfortable bathroom to get ready for the day. She reached for her brush with a hoof and began working her magic to make herself look presentable, brushing any unruly hairs in her black mane and tail into submission.

Satisfied with her work, she put the brush back in its place and slid open the doors from her room leading outside and took in the fresh morning air. She stretched her limbs in the sunlight, letting her bright scarlet coat soak in the sunlight as her limbs popped one-by-one. With a satisfied sigh, exemplified by her body relaxing "ahh, that's better." she said as she stepped onto the wooden deck and headed towards the house's entrance. Trotting by one of the opened rooms she gestured to the aging earth pony stallion inside, sitting on his flank drinking some tea "I'm headed to the beach Gramps, want me to pick up anything on my way back?" she asked. It was her normal routine to run the length of the coastline every morning and pass through the forest to pick up supplies from town, should either of the two need anything, before returning home to do her chores.

"Hmm, no...nothing comes to mind." the old pony replied "But be sure to come back home soon, Ringo. I sense a storm is coming."

"Okay grandpa..." the mare, Ringo or 'Rin' to her friends, replied "I'll be back soon to help with the apple trees, so don't go doing anything reckless ok."

Her response got a chuckle out of her grandfather "I believe that's my line missy. How many times now has an apple hit you over the head working?" he asked rhetorically.

"T-that's because those trees don't like me!" Rin defended with her already red cheeks turning a brighter shade and having her grandfather burst out laughing "It's not funny, I know there weren't any apples above me last time." she grumbled.

"It is, and there were." the old pony added between fits of laughter. Finally reigning in his laughing he looked back at his granddaughter with an affectionate smile "Take care Ringo."

"I will grandpa." she said, returning the smile before she turned to leave their estate "Don't worry, I'll be back soon Gramps!" she said before running toward the estates entrance and then, to the path leading to the ocean.

Once Rin reached the beach, she glanced around the coastline taking in the sandy beach clear of any litter or debris and squealed to nopony in particular. And that was precisely why she squealed, nopony was there yet. She could gallop to her heart's content and not worry about anypony watching her or, Celestia forbid, get hit by her. Practically hopping to the water's edge, she marked a spot with her hoof and got ready to run. She knew it would be gone by the time she got back but she needed a 'starting point' for her exercise. With the mark nice and deep in the sand, her return course planned out already, and breakfast being her motivator she put all of her strength into her legs and bolted down the beach. As she ran, she thought about what her grandfather said.

"But be sure to come back soon, Ringo. I sense a storm is coming."

The thought seemed silly. She knew that the weather forecast for later today was supposed to be clear skies until nightfall, she even heard that from the local weather pegasus himself and there wasn't a rouge cloud in the sky, or any clouds for that matter. His 'senses' didn't have the best track record either, varying from being spot-on to off by miles at the flip of a bit. Besides, she knew today was going to be a great day, she could just feel it.

Ryu had been flying for hours, the sun was setting, and the wings he was so proud of were burning in pain. Below him was sea route 128 and on his back were the two most important beings in the world to him. He wanted to sleep so badly right now, to just close his eyes and let gravity take over but he couldn't, not yet anyway. His destination was in sight, Ever Grande City was just a few more flaps away, and the flower field a few flaps less, he could manage for just a little longer. He would manage for just a little longer.

James was holding on tightly in the back of Ryu. He could tell his partner was tired, were they any farther away than Lillycove then he doubted they would have made it. Ryu was a great flyer but traveling across an entire region over the course of a couple hours at full speed would tire out any Pokémon carrying double it's usual load, Legendary Pokémon excluded of course. Relieved, he looked over his shoulder to check on Selene. She looked bad, her eyes were barely open and what he could see of her pupils were glazed over. She was still breathing ('thank Arceus') but her breaths were ragged and heavy and she had covered herself in the familiar blue Psychic energy. "Hey, we're almost there." he softly whispered.

"Sleepy..." Selene said through her link, closing her eyes and relaxing her body, releasing herself from Psychic as she started to succumb to sleep.

Normally letting her rest on a trip was not a big deal to James as ferry rides and busses to other regions were quite boring. Normally they didn't travel by Salamence over deep ocean and jagged rocks either. He acted fast when he felt Selene's grip loosen and she began to slide off Ryu by grabbing the first thing he could (an arm in this case) and pulling her underneath him.

"Didn't think this...would be how...our first time went down..." Selene commented between her tired breaths "Always thought...I would be on top..." she added, laughing weakly.

"Hmhmhm, your going to be fine..." James chuckled, although he was hoping desperately that he was right. He didn't want to lose another one of his team, of his family.

Ryu landed roughly a moment later in a grove of camellia flowers, his heavy body sending some loose petals into the air. He leaned to one side to let his passengers slide off as he laid down beside them in the flowerbed catching his breath and resting his eyes. "You were amazing Ryu. Get some rest ok." James praised as he held out his Pokéball, calling him back into it. He then helped Selene sit up by having her lean on him, doing what he could to keep her awake.

Selene didn't complain, she was too busy enjoying what could be their final moments together. She knew that Arceus had been freed, she felt the Pokémon around the world, herself included, were being influenced by Him into a deep sleep and she even felt that the same influence wasn't affecting James. And that's what scared her. Whatever Arceus was doing, James didn't seem to be a part of it and the thought of never seeing the one she loved again was too much for her to think about. It was only because of the many times she used Calm Mind in the battle earlier and kept using it on the way here that she lasted this long. But everything has limits, and she was quickly reaching hers. She was no legendary Pokémon, she couldn't compete with Arceus, only try and stall him until the inevitable happened. So if this was to be her last moments with the person she loved, she would do what James and Nova had always said and done:

'No matter how dire the situation, make the most of it, and don't go down quietly.'

"James..." Selene started, looking over to him to remember his face. It was blurry. "I want to say...while I still can...that I lo-"

"I know, I love you too." he whispered, embracing her waist. He shut his eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen but he could feel something wet dripping onto his face "And no matter what happens," James held on to her tightly, as if letting go would mean she would disappear forever. And all he did after that was hold on and listen to her soft breaths as she fell to the ground asleep "I won't let go." he finished. And soon after, he too lost consciousness.

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