A New World, Same Shadows

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..."