A New World, Filled With Curiosity

by shadowlucario50

Chapters

Quilava's New Home
A Weird Bird
Now Are The Repairs of Our Discontent
Another Day, Another Job (Part 1)
Another Day, Another Job (Part 2)
Journal Entry: Day 1 & 2
Halloween Special: Quilava's Nightmare

Quilava's New Home

Grass. Grass is good. And tree. It's tree. Many trees.

Air's good. It doesn't sniff bad. It's good.

It's quiet. It isn't good quiet. It's bad quiet. Where's tick-tick?

I see my tick-thing. But it no tick. It not move. Very bad. Must get my tick back!

How? How get tick back? Maybe someone get tick back for him? Make good?

These creatures appeared out of nowhere, but Felix the Lucky Clover knew what was going on. Today was his day! Today, he would get a pet. And, as fate would have it, he now had a variety! He wanted to have at least an owl. Of course, they might fly in during the nighttime, so that could wait until later. But the first one of these creatures to come up to him would be his pet!

His name was Luck Streak, but he preferred to be called Felix. After all, why rub the streak of luck he has into other pony's faces? He lived in the town of Ponyville which, as fate would have it, was one of the most wild cities with lots of excitement. He truly enjoyed each day where random disasters happened to add to the excitement of the town. But that wasn't all of why he stayed here. With a small town meant a lot of friends to come across! His lucky catch to find himself in such a wondrous town never ceases to amaze!

And to amaze, it did! Of course, some of these creatures are strange. One looks like cotton candy. Another looks like some puff-ball with arms, feet, tail, and a pig's nose. But there were also a charm to these creatures. Like they had some power that others did not. Guess other ponies were pretty afraid of them. And it's true that some were frightening and taller than him, but, knowing his luck, he wouldn't have any run-ins with any bad ones. And if he did, he could simply run. After all, one wouldn't just chase him around unless they were hungry. And if one was hungry, others would be hungry and come try to eat him before fighting each other for a taste of his hide.

Sometime luck was an amazing thing to hold.

Of course, he would never use his luck for gambling and the like. No, he rather play safe even with his cutie mark being three four-leaf clovers. That, and gambling would be boring if he won each and every time. He rather have it a little more interesting. That's why he picked up repairing. After all, he found it nice to have a great streak of luck fixing many items and making ponies happy. That's also partially why he named himself Felix. He could feel the fixing beneath his hooves. He even collected random magical stones for his collection of repairing so an item could last longer and also give a certain magical effect. For example, there's a pony who couldn't awaken easily in the mornings, so he placed a sound-increasing gem that activated when the sun rays hit the grandfather clock. And another time, he fixed a child's toy with a small addition of a magic-stifling gem that would help the small unicorn not accidentally break his toy with his magical grip.

Truly, he couldn't ask for a better life. But his life would be better if he had a partner or two. So, he decided yesterday that he would get a pet to help with his loneliness. And now, he had so many options. Since there were too many to choose, he decided to do the thing he loved doing the most: leave it up to luck for who would approach him. And, for good measure, maybe he could help it out with something small so they could find a way to bond together. But he didn't want to press his luck further. After all, there was only so much luck that could be given to him at a time, and being too picky led to unsatisfactory results.

Oh, he was so excited to whom he would get as his first partner!

He saw things. Weird things. He didn't know how to talk it, but it was a forest of wood-block-tree things with moving things that he could walk through when backwards. It even made weird sounds like when a tree snaps but doesn't snap. And that's what these Pokémon with circle walkers did. They snapped those weird moving things forward so the insides of the wood-block-tree things couldn't be seen.

But why were these circle walking Pokémon hiding? They hid from him, and that was weird. He didn't hurt them, so why did they hide? He wants to fix his tick-thing, but he doesn't know how. Other Pokémon he talked with were talking about where they are. Aren't they just in a weird creature place with wood-block-tree things that the hiding Pokémon used?

There was one circle walker thing with a dark-type color and sun eyes. Maybe he will make tick-thing tick!

He showed the tick-thing again and talked his usual thing. "Tick-thing not ticking!"

The circle walker Pokémon had weird thing on face. "Why, hello there!" it talked with creature voice. "Is your watch broken?"

So creature circle walker thing called tick-thing a... 'Watch'? He didn't know what a watch was, but he knew about tick-thing, so that was good. "Tick-thing get tick back!"

He did some weird movement with his head going up and down. "Of course I could fix it!" creature talked. "Follow me!"

Creature thing walking away now, but he walked with circle walker. But what is 'fix'?

Felix was exhilarated! Not only did he get one of these creatures to come up to him, but it came with a broken watch! Which means that he could show off his skill to this little Quilava! That's what he continually heard from it, but it seems it was trying to communicate. Luckily for him, he had his hoof on two translation gems in his inventory of magically enhanced stones. He truly couldn't wait to make friends with this creature! The Quilava itself though was quite adorable, being on four paws and having a round body. The blue fur covering the top of its body while the tan covered the rest was quite appealing as well. Then there was those random red spots on its head and rear that were strange.

Of course, there was the chance that it would leave when he fixed the watch. He would offer it a home, but if it declined, that was okay. Actually, not really. Already two minutes with the creature and he's already quite fond of it. He didn't want to rely on luck for him staying around, but he did want to have... Him? He, for some reason, without any knowledge of the creature, is calling it a him. He wanted him to be his friend for a while. He knew that the Quilava would leave sometime, but he wanted to at least make friends with him so he would have a place he could stay if he ever came back from his self-travels.

He could also tell the Quilava was extremely young. He just had this youth-like curiosity of everything around him. He even stopped when he passed by a mirror and started speaking to it. He also found out he can blow fire from those red spots on his head and on its rear when it destroyed said mirror. It was mumbling to itself soon after, and Felix found himself hoping that the Quilava wasn't going to have a stroke of bad luck in the near future. He just found him, and rather not lose him just because of breaking a mirror.

He reached the destination; his home. It wasn't much to look at since he didn't model the outside of his home to be unique except for the board above showing his store name: "Felix's Repair Shop". Even then, that was pretty dull, but he wasn't one for excessive creativity. He didn't need it since others respected him as a repairspony for the creativity of enhancing their items. He unlocked the door and opened it, allowing the Quilava to step inside.

The inside of the house was a bit scattered because of working on a project that was halted from the appearance of these creatures. The project would take a while, but his little friend's watch was easier to fix. "Hope you don't mind the mess! I've been quite busy here!" He knelt down to look at the watch. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to fix your watch as soon as possible." He then reached his hoof out.

The Quilava blankly stared and blinked for a moment before undoing the watch and handing it. "Quil Quilava."

Felix gave a nod and a smile. "Of course. I'll make it better in no time at all!"

The creature is weird, but good. Quilava can think; he's very good. He brought him into one of the wood-block-tree things and started doing things to his tick-thing... Watch. He's even putting a rock into it. It's weird, but it's colorful. He's weird, but he's good.

He was using some strange fire thing on his watch. Is that fixing it? Making it burn? He's making it good, but it's making the Quilava bad. But he knows he make it good. But it still feels weird.

He put it into water and there was the sound of him falling into the water when he had fire burning. It was really, really bad. It made him not want to be here anymore.

Now the creature's attacking me on the head, but it feels good, for some reason. Why does he feel good with him? It's weird.

It's now really good! The tick-thing is ticking again! He made ticking tick! He put it on me and gave that weird thing on his face again. "Well? How is it?"

The Quilava looked at ticking-thing. "Ticking-thing ticks again. It's good."

The creature was looking at him. "Ticking... Thing?"

He showed the creature the ticking-thing. "Watch. Ticking-thing. You... Fixed it." The creature was hearing him now. That was good. Now he could talk, "What is 'fix'?"

"What is...?" he talked, his face looking down. Then he looked back again with weird thing on his face. "Oh, you mean 'what does fix mean'! Well, it's when a pony makes things work, just like your ticking-thing."

The Quilava wanted more talking. It was weird. "What does 'pony' mean?"

The creature blinked then gave a weird battle cry. "You're quite the curious one, aren't you?" He then stopped the battle cry, but was still deep breathing. "Well, I am a pony!"

"You're Pony?" he talked. "I'm Quilava."

He did his weird battle cry again. "Oh, no no no! My name is Felix. I am Felix the Pony!"

The Quilava didn't know. This was more weird than weird. "What's a name?"

He attacked my head again. And it felt good again. What type of attack makes foe feel good? "Heh, now now, if you keep asking questions like that, I won't be able to give you any food."

... Food? The creature was getting food for him? The pony said 'give'... That meant getting for someone, right? "Food is good."

He walked. "Well, as I always say, 'Your home is my home!' Stay as long as you like!"

... 'Home'? Isn't that family thing? Is he family now? Does that mean he has home now? This is... Home! His home!

This Quilava was certainly more than he could ever ask for! Even with his continual questions about word meanings, it was still quite enjoyable. The Quilava ate his food, drank his water, and even went into the makeshift bed he created. Looks like the Quilava would be staying for the while! Nothing interesting happened during the day since many ponies stayed in their houses because of the roaming creatures, which was one thing he learned from the Quilava. With the lack of business meant that he was able to build a bird perch for when he searched for his new owl friend. It wasn't too flashy, nor was it extremely unique in any way, but it was sturdy and smooth. And, being made of pine, it had a sweet scent as well! He even placed a scent-increasing gem so his workplace could smell like the pine.

It was time to start his search in the evening time! He opened his door and, before he could even take a further step, an owl flew right in. He blinked for a moment from the swiftness of the luck. Usually, most of his luck took a bit of time before kicking in, but this luck was quite instantaneous. Closing the door, he gave the newcomer a smile. "Well, that was unexpectedly convenient."

The owl looked quite similar to normal owls, but he could tell that it was a creature. This owl had a strange triangular pattern on his stomach, and it had some large eyebrows as well. Felix walked up to the Noctowl, who was standing right upon the bird perch he just created. "I see you enjoy such craftsponyship! I'm glad you enjoy my first attempt of a bird perch!"

The Noctowl twisted its head around and blinked. "You have created a good perch for me to roost. I must apologize for my intrusion, but my exhaustion exceeded over reason."

That caught Felix off guard. The owl was speaking into his mind. He only knew a few ponies that could do that, and a few of his magical stones that allowed telepathic communications. Was this owl full of magic? "No, no, it's fine," he stated hastily, realizing how silently shocked he was. "I was creating it for later when I searched for an owl partner."

It turned its head straight up again. "What interest do you have with an owl?"

Felix smiled, still recovering from the surprise of the intelligence of the bird. "I always found owls to be most interesting!" A small thought appear into his head. Maybe he was hungry as well? As he walked over towards the kitchen, he asked, "Do you want something to eat?"

It twisted its head around, staring at him with piercing eyes. The gaze nearly caused the pony to yelp from surprise. "Just some crackers will do. I've already feasted tonight. And some water to help keep my focus intact to continue my telepathic transmissions."

Felix gave a smile, still settling his nerves. "Of course! Though I would appreciate if you did not stare at me like that. It's quite unsettling."

The owl stepped around on the stand, facing him frontward. "My sincerest apologies. I shall refrain from further tendencies to cause any discrepancies," he stated, never taking his eyes off of the pony.

His interest in owls were starting to falter a bit from how creepy it was. He grabbed the box of crackers from the cabinet and filled a small glass with water before giving the small meal to the owl. As he started to peck at the treat, Felix exclaimed, "Whoops, almost forgot! My name's Lucky Streak! But please, call me Felix! And, if you don't know, I am what you can call a pony."

The owl gave a slight nod before returning to his crackers. "I am William. William Shaketalon. My species is referred to as Noctowl."

"Pleasure to meet you, William!" Felix greeted before looking back towards his equipment. He really wanted to build something for the owl. Something to show how much he wished for him to stay. "If I might add, I am a repairspony, but I've been attempting to become able to craft my own things as well. If I might ask, does it require a lot of energy to speak to me like that?"

William stopped for a moment and looked at Felix curiously. "Is it not far for me to presume you hold an item that could enhance my abilities?"

"Indeed!" Felix exclaimed joyfully. "If I might create something, I would love to allow you to have something that will translate your words into pony speech!" He hoped that the Noctowl would get excited.

William tilted his head. "Such an item exists? What technology do you manage?"

Felix shook his head. "Not technology. Magic! I believe I could create something that you might find fitting!"

The Noctowl straightened his head, his eyes shining yellow for a moment. "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." He stretched his wings outspread, the yellow in his eyes dissipating. "I shall allow you to choose the creation you believe is best."

"Excellent!" He gathered his tools into his hooves, multiple ideas flowing through his head of what would best suit the Noctowl. "I shall create something that will impress even yourself!"

A Weird Bird

That was good sleep. It feels good in new home. Pony give food that good too! Better than forest food that were on short trees. They're also bigger and more good!

Watch ticks good too. Pony fixed watch good! Pony tried talking me things words, but it's weird. Words are weird. He talked to me with words, but they're still weird.

Wait, foe? What's foe in home? Foe bad! But I'm bad too. Can't fire and chase away. Too weak for that. Maybe talk with foe? Maybe good?

In the late of night, the Noctowl appreciated the silence to evaluate his predicament. On one point, he had no attachments to the humans of the library he resided in before. Those humans gave him nourishment, yes, but he never allowed them to connect. It wasn't due to them being bad; no, quite the opposite. He only longed for a more mutual attachment like before his time in that glorious mound of information ceremoniously bonded together in one wonderful place: the library.

Being thrown into a new place separated him from the precious knowledge he filled himself with each and every day. But surely he could find another library in this grand world. He had enough novel facts that would put a professor to shame... Or so he would gloat when in youth. He knew that, while he dedicated his life to reading, most of the knowledge he had came from the fictitious creativity of multiple authors of olden days. Perhaps he could attempt to write some fiction while staying in Lucky Streak's residence. While the stallion was quite eccentric and showed quite a belief in the uncertainty of luck, he showed a love and passion in his everyday work. That passion could motivate him to at least place his talon onto a quill and write some type of story. Ideas swirled in his head of what he could write, but one fact came to light in his pondering. In the past, he read that most authors base their fiction on either real-life troubles or desires. So the resolution that settled in his mind was to take up the offer of generosity of living under this roof while writing his autobiography.

Many other thoughts ran through his mind during the night, mostly of what he could do with his time to fill said biography to reciting poetry out of boredom. He accursed himself for his nocturnal tendencies, or else he would have slept along with the rest and have more activity in the daytime along the others. And with the daylight gleams, sleep called his mind, but willpower influenced he distract himself from the beckoning of rest. He should have asked for an awakening gem from the stallion, if any might exist, along with the translation gem imbued in the shackles of the bracelet around his talon, since his ability could only energize him so much. Admittedly, he found these stone to be most fascinating to have such a power, but the stallion simply stated these gems come in abundance, all with their unique abilities from unicorns willing to fill them with energies of spells beyond his wildest imagination. He lusted for more knowledge, but Lucky Streak needed his rest during the night, so conversation, along with his curiosity, was withheld.

A certain Pokémon hidden in the corner caught his attention. He recalled how Lucky Streak explained his desires to have two partners, so process of elimination pointed towards this mysterious stranger as the other residing here. He gave the wayfaring mon an incredulous stare. "Why do you hide from myself? Are I not a resident of this humble household? Come out, I ask of you."

The Pokémon shuffled behind the two wooden planks laying on the wall before peering out with skeptical eyes. Tediously, the ferret-like creature stepped towards him, his eyes never parting from his. With a tone more childlike than he expected, the fire-type asked, "Who are you?"

The Noctowl stayed on his perch, sharing the same interlocked gaze with his present acquaintance. A mistrusting Quilava. "I am William. William Shaketalon," he clarified in a mighty tone, huffing his chest to look more chivalrous. "Might I ask who you are?"

He fiddled around his paw on his watch, escaping his sight towards the floor. "I am Quilava." Almost as if an electric shock rushed through his, he fixated his stare back into the Noctowl's eyes quickly. "Are you foe?"

Hm... This child is truly wary, William observed, carefully studying his body language. His positioning spoke distrust and readiness to pounce away. His eyes, while showing little emotion, still brimmed with cautiousness and fear. He concluded that his first step is to first calm the child. After all, 'The course of true love never did run smooth.'

He tilted his head slightly to try to speak his curiosity to the child. In return, the Quilava followed his head, the wariness suddenly melting into curiosity. He stood his head up straight, and the Quilava followed. He blinked slowly, and the Quilava followed. He then raised his talon, showing the metallic bracelet with the gem faced towards the child. The Quilava stared at it in wonder before the Noctowl placed his talon back onto the perch.

"Has that answered your question, young one?"

The Quilava fiddled with his watch once more, which Noctowl decided to observe into closer detail. The watch was quite old, clicking at each second on its analog face while having a red hue in the backdrop, similar to the coloration of his own translation gem on his silver bracelet. The Quilava looked back up with blank eyes and simply stated, "Good mon."

Curiosity filled the Noctowl as to the attachment the Quilava had with the watch. After all, most wild Pokémon he knew wouldn't hold something so frivolous as ferals compared human architect as taboo. "If I might ask, why do you hold that watch?"

Also as if William threatened the Quilava's territory, his eyes filled with hostility as he stared at the Noctowl, holding away the watch from him. "Mine."

William glanced at the Quilava, tilting his head slightly in attempts to not provoke him. "Yes, it is yours. I just wish to know why you hold that watch."

The Quilava glared at him for a while before raising up his own question. "What... is 'hold'."

A question of knowledge? Almost like his mind flipped like the pages of the book, he immediately answered with, "Hold is to keep things in your paws or limbs."

He blinked away the hostility for curiosity as his eyes filled with wonder once more. "What is limbs?"

The Noctowl studied the Quilava feral before a small grin appeared behind his stoic beak. A child who's interested in vocabulary? Hah, my crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy! The gleam makes even the sun's rays envy!

"Limbs are what keep your paws together on your body."

"What is body?"

"Body is what helps keeps your limbs and head attached together."

"Then what is when body feels bad after attack?"

"That is called 'hurt' or 'pain'. Pain is when your body is telling you that you are in danger."

As if a Graveler threw a rock at his mind, he stood completely still for a moment, his eyes filled with indescribable satisfaction. "You... make good over pony words."

William couldn't help but chuckle under his wing. The understanding of the Quilava was small, but his curiosity was grander than the ocean, feeding the bowels of his limited knowledge. "It is best that you learn as much as possible so you can understand others."

The Quilava tilted his head. "Learn? Understand?"

"To learn is to know new words, while understand is being able to use these words," William explained, his enthusiasm growing each bit. "And I can help you learn new things if you let me."

Faster than the speeding Tauros, he ran stretched his body upwards on the pine-created perch. He stared up towards the Noctowl with eyes shining even brighter than the Noctowl's enthusiasm. "That is very good. Let me learn!"

To say this was the start of a beautiful relationship could not define the enjoyment the Noctowl had. The purpose he sought for came to him in a feral lusting for the fruits of knowledge. A Pokémon to teach under his wing was something not even he would have imagined. He would not allow this opportunity to escape. After all, the golden age is before us, not behind us.

Before speaking further, a loud explosion sounded from outside. The Quilava nearly climbed onto William before scurrying underneath the carpet. William let out a small sigh.

As soon as the Quilava calms.

Watching the two of his new partners getting along so well made him quite happy! After all, he only hoped that the two would get along, but he never expected them to become friends so quickly! Pokémon were truly wonderful. He still had barely any business, but at least he was able to work on some things while the two of them talked together. Of course, he also made a mental note to either find a unicorn that will be willing to recharge the translation gems after the week past. After all, the stones were limited and not strong enough to last for long periods of time, and he'd rather understand them by talking rather than hearing their names over and over again.

Leaving the two upstairs in their extra room, he had no idea if business would improve today or if it would take a bit longer until other ponies came out of their houses. So, until then, he would start working on making wooden sculptures of the Pokémon that came in for a small snack. He got to start carving out a muscular two-legged Pokémon, and before long, he created and gave away five different sculptures of different Pokémon! One looked like a rock nose, one looked like a larger pigeon of some sort, one had some sort of fruit hanging from its neck, and one was some sandy hippo. And better yet, all five Pokémon liked his small wooden sculptures of themselves, so he decided to let them keep them as a token of his appreciation. He wondered if he should make an extension to his repair shop for creating miniature wooden sculptures. Guess he'll put that in the list of things to do as well.

Before he started working on his next project, a voice rang out in his head.

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

He blinked and, as if he was controlled by some strange force, he ran upstairs as quick as he could to check on his two friend. To his shock, both looked surprised as well.

The voice. It talks. Loudly. He was just learning new words when a voice interrupted them. Even Pony walked in and looked like the hiding circle walkers. Bad.

"I am Lord Arceus, creator of the creatures that you have seen over the past few days."

He looked up to Noctowl, who talked something silently. He talked, "Lord... Arceus...?"

"You have no reason to fear me for I come in peace."

Peace was one of those words Noctowl talked about. It meant calm, like the feeling he got from listening to his watch ticking when alone.

"I am the one who brought the creatures you see to this world. They are known as Pokémon."

... World? What's a world? He wanted to ask, but Noctowl looked weird. Like talking quiet and kinda like a Pokémon who watched bad Pokémon attack their homes. He couldn't even hear him talk now.

"I have my reasons for bringing them here. I will be holding a summit with the world's leaders so that they can help inform their citizens the best. 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."*

So. Many. Words. Yeah, Noctowl and Pony both had many words, but they let him ask questions and gave answers so he could... Understand? Yes, understand sounds good.

"Pokemon who have awoken in this new world, do not seek to harm the natives of this world."

Okay, not harm... Whatever thing they were talking about, harm is bad.

"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."

He wanted Noctowl to talk lots of these words, but Noctowl looked like Pokémon near fainting after being attacked very bad. He would ask Pony, but he was the same.

"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."

It was quiet again. Noctowl and Pony both were still like how they were attacked by Pokémon without knowing. But he really wanted to understand what Arceus talked, so he talked loudly.

"Can someone learn me what got said!?"

His mind... No, he was flabbergasted. Lord Arceus himself, said to be a rumor for multiple millenniums, had just relocated all Pokémon into a completely different world. Yes, he understood that this town was different, but he never expected that they were in a completely different realm! He had settled down as he gotten time to analyze the speech Arceus made due to the young Quilava's questioning of words. The point he felt most uncomfortable with were how some were changed in the process of transportation. What type of transformations were beyond his understanding... or comprehension.

Impressively, the Quilava's memory served them well. He could quote the speech word to word, each with extreme precise annunciations. He could tell that the Quilava's sentences were becoming more fluent in grammatical structure in contrast to his first time speaking with him. The adaptive ability of the Quilava made him wonder if he ran on the wild's instinct of survival and he saw communication as such. But his comprehension surprised him when he asked his next question.

"So Arceus sent us to new world, and new world is reward. But why Arceus send us here? What was his... Reasons?"

Lucky Streak, who did not question the extensive change of the Quilava's knowledge, attempted to explain as much as he could with his intensively focused stare and his chin rested upon his raised hoof. "I wouldn't be surprised if you guys already knew or if Quilava didn't know, but you don't really know about it either, William?"

He closed his eyes, rubbing his claws on his perch to help settle his nerves from the sudden change of interest. The scent of pine truly did settle him. "I cannot say for certain, but you stated he was nearby in the... Which place was it, young one?"

"Everfree Forest," the Quilava answered.

"Yes, Everfree Forest," William repeated, closing his eyes to sort his thoughts out. "If we are near, we could ask. But if we ask, we would be asking directly of our Pokémon god. I do not wish to face him with such trivial matters, but I have a belief of why he may have acting accordingly..."

He opened his eyes to find the two with hopeful eyes for an answer. He sighed, ruffling his feathers to cool his body. "The story of Arceus is vaguely known, but in short, he had been trapped many centuries ago. Centuries is many years for your understanding, young one. And, from what I can assume, he was released from his prison, which is a place where cannot run from. But–and this is my theory or guess–Arceus had seen a lot of the bad in the world, so he got everyone that was good and placed them into this world. That is what I'm assuming."

The Quilava nodded. "That explains 'free of the burdens of the old world' words." The Quilava tilted his head. "But what about the 'Pokémon that experienced certain changes when you arrived' words? What changes did we get?"

Of course this question comes up next. But he remembered his quote: 'This above all; to thine own self be true.' So he decided that the honest path was best in this situation. "It is something that I am truly uncertain of. I do not know if Arceus spoke to us about being changed or spoke of others being changed. And I do not believe that the next portion... What did Arceus say after that, young one?"

"'You are the ones who proved that not all of your kind deserved vengeful retribution'," he recited, trying to scratch his ear before Lucky Streak took it upon himself to help. After letting out a relieved purr, he added, "That means we not bad Pokémon. Did Arceus change us to be good?"

He shook his head, his tension falling from the silly perception of the Quilava. Reviewing the facts, it seemed quite petty to worry over such a trivial thing. After all, he remembered his past, and his attitude never altered severely from leaving to this world. "We are still quite the same, you and I. And I sense that Arceus wouldn't go changing his Pokémon's personalities. But... 'What is past is prologue.' If we are changed in some way, we shall speak with Arceus."

Lucky Streak stood from his spot, stretching his legs from sitting for a while listening between the two. "Well, I don't know what's really going on, but if you ever need help, I'll gladly help!"

Willliam would not prolong the discussion any further. With a wave of his wing, he replied, "We shall gladly take you up on your offer if necessary. Thank you."

With a smile backing up his previous desire to assist, Lucky Streak excused himself with a slight bow of his head and went downstairs. Meanwhile, the Quilava walked up to the owl with his curiosity-filled eyes. "Why'd you talk... Uh, say 'thank you' to Pony Felix?"

And things continued as previously, as if the discussion of Arceus never happened. "'Thank you' is a phrase to give your happiness when someone gives you something."

The Quilava blinked, a signal he had deduced to him readily pressing for more information. "And what's happiness?"

Explaining emotion, now aren't we? he mused. Understandably, feeling emotions better described how it would be placed into words. So, instead, he decided to take another approach to the topic.

"Allow me to ask you a question, young one," he started, leaning forward and widening his eyes to show his own curiosity. "What makes you feel good?"

The Quilava tilted his head. "Eating good food is good to me. Makes me feel very good when really hungry."

The Noctowl slowly nodded, pulling his head away. "That, young one, is happiness. Happiness is the feeling when you have when something goes well for you."

For an odd reason, the Quilava faced towards the stairs, but he caught a glimpse of his deep thought expression. "That's... Happiness?"

"Indeed, young one," he stated, his own curiosity starting to feed off the tips of his feathers. It seemed the young Quilava honestly wanted to understand the feeling, but his comprehension of the emotion still lacked.

"... Then you... You make me feel happiness, William." The Quilava looked back, his eyes filled with clarity. "You tell me many things and help me understand. Felix gives me happiness by giving me a home."

The Noctowl nearly lost his grip as the faceless Quilava grew a smile on his face. An honest, genuine smile. The Quilava finished with, "Thank you, William."

He could not speak for a moment, but he did what felt natural. He gave a smile back. A genuine smile to express the boiling emotion of joy bubbling rising through his mind. Then he found the words he searched for. The best response he could think of in such a wonderful situation.

"You are most welcome... Quilava."

Now Are The Repairs of Our Discontent

After the announcement, he finally began to receive costumers. To his surprise, the first customer came in with a Pokémon partner (a brown, furry pig with darker brown stripes), but as soon as more customers came in, he could count only a couple ponies afterward with their own Pokémon. The amount of requests for his services started piling, and he was busier than ever. The list of repairing went on: broken furniture, shattered glass (with one he recalled the Quilava burning with a fireball), smashed clocks, ripped books, destroyed shelves, and even a random quill. Overall, business boomed a bit more than he could handle. Many ponies even shouted "fix it, Felix", a small quote from a certain video game that influenced his name.

Luckily, two Pokémon were on his side, helping out with their all. The Quilava was carefully working on attempting to gluing together a vase (after small guidance from the stallion and a visual of how it looked like). He had no trouble picking up how to use the glue, to the point where he looked like he was a true pro at fixing things. Felix reminded himself that he needed to give him a name one of these days.

Sadly, not everyone had the adaptability of the Quilava. While the Quilava was on the third repair job, William hadn't even gotten close to progressing with his first. He placed the wood together before attempting to glue it together, but the wood slipped from his talons and fell to the ground. He flew down, grabbed the planks, flew back up, and repeated the progress over and over. Felix felt a little guilty that he spent most of his time working with the Quilava instead of helping out William, but he thought that the Quilava would need more help than the wise owl.

Before Felix could wander over to the Noctowl, the bell tolled at the front, signalling another customer. He sighed before wearing his great smile to introduce the next customer.

It was really weird to do work. Yeah, doing work gave other ponies help. But he didn't know why ponies had weird things. But he worked. And it was... Fun? Mister William explained what fun was. But even though he was getting fun, Mister William wasn't getting fun. And that concerned him. Concerned was another word Mister William explained. It was one of those feelings when you get when watching a good Pokémon running away from a bad Pokémon. Words were fun! And words helped explain things he never knew, like happiness. Fun was just another happiness.

No, Mister William. Mister William wasn't getting fun. He wasn't doing repair thing right. But Mister William had... Focus? Focus was when someone didn't let something distract them. And distract was when someone or something would make them not focus. Mister William showed him what distraction was, and he wasn't distracted. He was focused. And it made him feel bad in another way... Fear? Yeah, fear. He had fear for distracting Mister William. Mister William was good Pokémon, and he didn't want to make him bad Pokémon.

He just worked on his weird thing and let William do his work.

The attempt and not the deed confounds us, he muttered in his mind, growing anxious with each dull thump of the wood striking the ground that slid off of the round structure of the broken wooden lamp. Nothing can come of nothing... How in feathers am I suppose to piece this together?

Patience was his watch-worth, but the owl found the trial pressuring his limit. No matter how he viewed the situation, he found no learning knowledge from his errors. No matter how he placed the wood, it would not hold before he gathered the glue in his talons. And he would not use the glue to hold it in a wrong position. He must handle this with precision. If he placed the wood to balance like so...

As he reached for the holding substance, he saw the wood sliding off once more and land to the ground with a loud thump. O, had I but followed the arts to understand the way to piece this together!

He flew down once more to gather the wood into his talons and observed yet another project completed by the Quilava. If I had the astounding adaptability as the young one, I would be farther amongst the gods to decide my will...

"Alright, Quilava! I got your next order here. Let's see if you can do it yourself without my help!" a jolly voice called from the other side of the room.

"Without help?" the Quilava asked, the nervousness apparent by his paws fiddling with his watch. "Can I do... Repair weird thing without help?"

Of course, the obvious cheery answer would come from a positively cheerful stallion. "Of course you can! You've done so many that I know you can do it without my help!"

The answer suited the Quilava as he worked enthusiastically after the small amount of praise. Such a confident, young one. Of course, the doubt worn by the stallion did not pass him either.

Lucky Streak strode up to him with eyes doused in concern. "William, are you still having trouble?" A concern that did not settle with him.

William forced his eyes to focus on the wood to veer the belief of the stallion. "There is no need to fret. I shall accommodate this accordingly. You shall instead worry of the other projects, shall you not?"

He continued carefully balancing the wood before placing it onto the right angle. Before he could reach for the glue once more, a hoof came onto the board. And, in a magical sense, he held a pen in his other hoof and marked the sides of the wood. After finishing, the stallion met his gaze with a compassionate... Nope, Pity. It was pity. "It's better if you cut the wood down first and get it into place."

The Noctowl pushed his embarrassment through the fiery aggravation blazing inside of him and gave a simple nod. "I see. I thank you for your advice."

He gave that same smile which William made out as a mocking sneer before he left him to his own project.

No, I mustn't think such naught of him, he criticized himself, ashamed he would even think of the hospitable stallion as such. Now, he gave information to myself that I should follow. Now... It's time for me to exceeds Pokémon's might that dwells with the gods above!

He faced the tools hanging from nails from the wall and, with a swift flap of his wings, he grabbed the saw with his talons. As he headed back, he didn't realize that a wing clipped onto one of those same tools and fell to the ground, gravity forcing them against their will. William heard the many tools fall near him with the sounds of metal against stone. He barely had time to spread his talons away from each other for the very saw he flung as he fell landed in between his legs, the teeth of the blade-side taunting him as they stared at him before falling away from his paralyzed body.

Sweet merciful Ho-oh! Never shall I forget the luck you shewed me today, lest I be impaled thrice more! his mind screamed out.

As he recollected his thoughts, he observed the Quilava's flames ablaze, primal shock swimming in his eyes. Lucky Streak broke into the room with a speed rivaling a Skiddo, skidding to a halt as he released his breath of relief when looking upon the scene.

"You startled me," the stallion sighed out, hanging his head down. Bringing his head back up quickly, he sincerely asked, "Are you alright, William?"

Overcoming the initial shock of coming close to meeting Yvetal's blade, he picked himself up and gave a bow. "I apologize for the scare. I was not anticipating my wing to become caught on a small nail of all things."

The stallion shook his head in disappoint before a small hum sounded. A tune rang out from nowhere, causing William to look around in question. As the song went on, he started kicked the items on the ground back onto the wall, each landing pinpoint onto each part of the wall. He gawked in awe as each tool settled onto their small holding nails with such precision. The wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, and all other repairing item flew to their respective spots without a single-moment's hesitation. He looked over to the Quilava that now sat next to him, who also stared in disbelief and wonder. As he kicked up the last small wrench, the stallion clamped his jaw around the saw, the music reaching a climatic note, and held it out to him. William placed a talon on the saw, letting the handle slide into his claws. The stallion then skipped away, still humming the small tune.

After a few moments of stunned silence, the Quilava asked, "How did he do that, Mister William."

His mind could only allow him to state a small answer. "... I... Haven't the foggiest idea."

Mister William was still having trouble. Even though Mister Felix gave him... Advice? Yeah, the thing where giving small learning thing. Mister Felix gave Mister William advice, but Mister William was still bad. He was trying to use the move Cut, but he can't learn that. Mister William's been just putting cutting thing on the board, but he hasn't been using Cut. Maybe Mister William should use cutting move with wing. He saw bird Pokémon using their wings like Cut, but it wasn't really Cut, but it worked like Cut.

He wanted to help Mister William, but Mister William was focused again. He didn't want to distract him. Also, he don't think he can make good Cut with his claws. He knew Cut move, but he didn't know how to Cut things well. Maybe learning Cut later. Back to weird thing.

With one problem came another. The Noctowl gripped the smooth wooden handle of the saw in his talon, aligning the teeth to the line. Once connected, it slipped once pushing down, the flat side paralleling to the accursed rough wood. And the process repeated twice-over. He uttered a small sigh as he placed the saw onto the line once more.

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast, he echoed into his mind, raising his talon to smack the head of the saw into the wood. The saw slid across the wood, creating more scratches upon its face. Taking a moment to breath, he looked towards the indent he had created over the past few minutes. Or indents, as he realized the saw landed upon many different spots on the wood except for the ink line across the face and, surprisingly, the desk he worked on.

"Erm... William?" a voice asked near him. William looked up to find Lucky Streak with yet another concerned face, with a small hint of... Exasperation. The Noctowl deflated a bit as he continued, "Are you certain you don't need any help?"

Realizing how pathetic he must look, he puffed his chest, attempting to put in a more confident demeanor. "I have no need of your assistance. I'm quite certain of my capabilities."

Another voice called from behind, this time, the Quilava. "I thought Noctowl can't learn Cut?"

The burning feeling of enjoyment rose up in his chest once more with the prospect of teaching the child once more, momentarily forgetting about Lucky Streak's plight. "Indeed, we do not learn that move, but what I am doing is an action with this saw, or cutting tool."

The Quilava once more had the curiosity head tilt and wonder eyes, as the Noctowl liked to call it. "What's action?"

"An action, young one, is when you do something. For example, running, eating, sleeping... They are all actions."

The Quilava blinked once. "Can we learn to do an actions?"

The Noctowl nodded in agreement. "Indeed, we can learn many certain actions, young one," he heartily answered. "Some can be easily taught, while others might be more difficult, but with dedication, we can learn to do most anything if given time."

The Quilava straightened his head. "Then why you not learning to use saw?"

"Pardon?" William felt his ego crumble underneath the weight of that question. "Erm... Well, in retrospect... It is... I mean, I... Ergo, it's..." he muttered, the heat of his embarrassment rising in his chest.

Lucky Streak filled in with his own explanation. "I would say that a certain Noctowl is trying to hide his pride a bit, wouldn't you say?" the stallion said, a smirk plastered on his face taunting the Noctowl.

"Th-that is not so!" William defended, but he realized that was the correct answer. Still, he wished he could come to the answer before Lucky Streak did. "The passage I take is my own! I only seek to find knowledge through self-teaching!"

Understandably, the stallion was rolling his eyes, and William could not blame him. After all, childish described this unpleasant scene. He released a long sigh, understanding the script needed reworking. "But... It may be more of interest if I... asked for assistance in my quest towards repairing this project." He gave a small bow towards the stallion. "Forgive my arrogance and allow me to repent of my pride."

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" the stallion cheered, giving his infamous grin stretching to both ends. "Well then, let's start learning, William!"

Felix had a theory once that his luck rubbed off on others. But, after working with William, he realized that he was dead wrong. Somehow, William managed to break bench dogs while using tape to wrap around one of the Gloss-Enhancing Gems by tripping on the bow of the face, scratching up the figure with a flying gouge from the same wall William knocked all the tools from in the process. And that's only one of the several accidents he had just working on his project.

What's worse was that, while Felix was relatively unscratched compared to his workshop, William was covered in splinters, with cut-up feathers from his beak to his talons. And, somehow, he had a rake glued to his back. How William managed to cause such disaster upon his workshop and himself was beyond Felix's imagination.

He sighed as he consulted, "Alright, this will probably sting, William."

William, on the other hoof, was less than happy. "This is definitely not what I expe-EEEEE!" he shouted as the rake on his back was ripped off, along with a few feathers.

Felix threw the rake away, shaking his head. "You know, maybe you're probably not made to work in the workshop..."

The Noctowl sighed, poking at his back with his wing. "I sincerely apologize for my lack of skill. I am but a Pokémon of poetic words."

"Don't blame yourself for this," Felix comforted, staring at the ground with a small pang of guilt. "I believed you would be okay working with wood before you were ready." Deadpanning, he added, "Also, stop pecking at your back. It only makes the pain worse."

William froze as his beck laid on his back before raising his head again. He simply answered, "It's quite irritable."

Felix leaned back onto a stool, careful not to fall backward. "So... What now?" he asked, his mind trying to think. William appeared to do the same.

Quilava came up to them, a weak smile on his face. "Finished another project, Mister Felix!"

Felix gave a large smile towards the Quilava holding the fixed stool. "Well done! You've really have gotten good at this!"

Quilava gave a smile a child would only wish to rival. "Thank you, Mister Felix!"

Felix brought out his list. "Now, let's see here... Which project shall you do next... Argh, this darn list of mine... Ah, here we are!" He walked towards a broken vase. "Now, you've done this already. Think you can do it even quicker than the previous vase you fixed?"

Quilava nodded. "Of course, Mister Felix!" He scooped up the pieces of the vase into a dust pan and wandered over towards his table. He stopped midway and added, "Hey, Mister Felix?"

"Yes, is something wrong?" Felix asked, Quilava staring back with a puzzled expression.

"Well... If Mister William can't help do repair thing, can't Mister William do other thing? He's good advice and good book... Whatever book is."

Felix gave a nod. "We're trying to figure something out..." Felix blinked. Good book? A small smile came across his face. "And you just gave me an idea."

Quilava tilted his head. "I gave idea?"

He pulled out his list and called out, "William, I believe I've thought of something you would be able to do!"

William snapped from his stupor and flew over. "Have you found the direction towards the least destruction"

"Yes!" Felix exclaimed. "You will be my new secretary!"

Quilava tilted his head. "Secretary?"

The Noctowl flew over, his chest puffed out and his back straighter for every time the Quilava asked a question. "A secretary is a job quite similar to repairing. Secretaries help keep things organized, or makes things easier for other workers."

Quilava gave another weak smile. "That's good job for you, Mr. William."

William gave a smile and a nod in return. "Quite so, young one! I will be able to give you more projects for you to do well at, as well as give Lucky Streak a more efficient route." He turned towards Felix. "Isn't it not so?"

Felix gave a large smile. "Of course! I'll put my full trust in your abilities as an organizer!"

"Splendid!" he cheered. "How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a brilliant world! One blessing I shall not allow to burn!"

"Mister Felix!" he whined. "Mister William's poetrying again!" He pointed an accusing paw at the Noctowl.

Felix and William couldn't help but chuckle to each other. Quilava saw them laughing and gave a small huff of smoke before collecting the pieces once more. Once he started working once more, Felix pulled out his sheet. "So, my first job is for you to organize the projects I have and check off any that have been completed. Once that's finished, you'll take customer's orders... Well, tomorrow. Our little project together took up most of the day, so we'll just finish up what we got and call it a day, wouldn't you say?"

William looked over towards the Quilava, which Felix followed. Felix didn't realize that Quilava was starting to sway a bit while working. "I believe the best course of action is to halt all work and allow the young one to rest for the night. As you shall know, we Pokémon can be stubborn sometimes for our friends that we forget about our own well-being, instead caring for them more often than naught."

Felix looked towards the Quilava and gave a sheepish grin. "Heh, seems I may have been overexcited again. The poor Quilava need his rest. I guess I see you're both quite loyal. It's almost like you both are Elements of Loyalty."

For a moment, he could of sworn he heard a sneeze from a rainbow-maned pony from another city.

William shook his head. "Even so, I truly apologize though for my day's behavior once more. Because of my blind loyalty, I've wasted valuable time of your day. So, for tomorrow, I shall seek for someone to fill in my previous role."

Felix rubbed the Noctowl's head. "Now, now, no need for any of that! Besides, tomorrow's going to be a lucky day! A new worker will come in as well as my presents for both you two and I!"

William stared at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "I shall not question why you strongly believe someone shall come for employment here. As a matter of fact, I shall never comprehend you ponies nor your world. You'll see that somehow, I am currently miraculously fine after all the torments of the day."

He blinked as he observed the Noctowl. Sure enough, William's feathers filled in the previous place where his feathers were plucked from his body, and no splinters were in sight. Felix knew the one conclusion to draw from this.

The magic of slapstick comedy!

Another Day, Another Job (Part 1)

Sleep was good. He didn't know when sleeping, but he felt good after sleep. Mister Felix was awake, making food. He smelled food and walked into food place.

"Food," he said. It got Mister Felix's... Attention? Yeah, attention was the word.

"Ah, good morning!" Mister Felix said, throwing something from something into the air. The Quilava thought to himself to ask Mister William about more words of weird things. Mister Felix talked on. "Hope you don't mind, but I'll be making breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I'm going to be out all day today!"

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Aren't those three large foods? The Quilava looked towards Mister Felix. "Why?"

Mister Felix gave large smile again. "I'm getting a huge shipment of translation gems today, and I'm going to be trying to hand them out to others so they can have something to help them understand Pokémon."

He put the speak into his mind to ask Mister William about what it meant later. "When you coming back?"

Mister Felix put his hoof into the air before loud noise sounded at door. "I'll answer that right after I answer the door." He walked at door towards front, leaving the something on the other something that had fire coming out of it. Quilava then saw it. A weird Pokémon on the ground, sleeping. He felt bad with... Mistrusting? Mistrusting Mister William the first time they met. Mister William wasn't bad Pokémon, so maybe weird sleeping Pokémon wasn't bad. But what was weird thing on Pokémon's body?

“Uh, morning! Are those all the translation gems I ordered?” Mister Felix said from other room. Another voice talked, but Quilava couldn't catch it over loud noises. "Perfect! Just leave them there. I'll take care of it!"

After many noises, Mister Felix walked in with weird thing with wheels. Cart? Yes, cart. Mister William fixed one of them day before. Mister William also had weird things in cart. One was translation gems, which Quilava knew about because one was in his tick-tock watch. The other though was some weird thing that made weird quiet noise.

Mister William flew in quickly, his eyes filled with excitement. "Do my ears deceive me, or is that the glorious rustling of the pages of knowledge?"

Glorious rustling of the pages of knowledge? the Quilava said in thoughts. Knowledge comes from pages?

"Yep, I promised you two presents yesterday, and here they are! For Quilava..." He pulled a... Page? Yes, he pulled pages and showed it. "A foal's book to help you start reading! As for you, William..." He pulled more pages and showed William. "Your name reminded me quite a bit of William Shakehoofe, so I decided to get you some of his books!"

William looked super excited as he took the pages. "Extraordinary! I give my greatest regards to this wonder! Thank you!"

Quilava gave a nod and took his page as well. "Thank you, Mister Felix! But I want food."

Mister William shook his head, with scary look in eyes. "Now, now, young one, that's not very polite or nice. You must ask, 'may I have some food, please'. Also, it's not nice to ask for something right after getting something nice."

Quilava looked down. "S-Sorry, Mister William. Sorry, Mister Felix."

Mister Felix gave large smile again. "You're really starting to learn, aren't you? You'll get the hang of it soon enough!" Mister Felix did the good attack on his head again that made him smile.

Mister William then talked. "But if I might ask myself, who is our new Munchlax friend sleeping over there?"

Mister Felix said, "Ah, that little fellow came to our doorstep early this morning while you two were asleep. He seems to have fainted from hunger, but he'll be fine soon enough!" He flipped on the thing onto another thing. He needed to ask about those things soon.

Mister William nodded. "Quite kind to take in such a suffering soul, Lucky Streak. I assume he shall wake soon for us to become acquainted?"

Mister Felix shook his head as he threw food thing into the air. "Only for you two. I have things to do today, so I'll be away for the rest of the day."

Mister William tilted his head. Confusion. Mister William was confused. "Might it have to do with those gems in the back of your cart? Shall I suppose you are being further charitable by sharing the translation amongst all Pokémon?"

Mister Felix nodded as he put the thing with the food onto the thing. It was sorta... Annoying? Annoying not to know these words. "You supposed right! It must be very annoying for ponies to not understand anything you Pokémon say, so I thought I might help out a bit!"

Mister William nodded his head again and said, "Indeed, these mystical treasures are quite astounding and... Apparently quite abundant."

"I have some connections," Mister Felix said, taking cart back and walking out the door. "Stay safe while I'm gone!"

Mister William shook his wing. "Pleasure and action make the hours seem short! May you return soon!"

Quilava shook his paw like Mister William, still a little confused. "Stay safe!" he said loudly.

Quilava looked at the closed door. A noise sounded from Mister William. "Well, we should enjoy this wonderful meal he provided before going on to learning the wondrous knowledge of these books!"

Quilava felt strange. Bad strange, but not fear. "Mister William, Mister Felix never told me when he was coming back."

"He will be back soon," Mister William said, but Quilava was still feeling bad. When was soon?

Felix breathed a deep sigh as he looked towards the sky. Being stuck in the house for the whole day yesterday didn't give much of Celestia's rays. He would worry about the other projects later—especially after that train-wreck the day before with William on the one project. He pulled along the gems in search of one pony who could help him out.

Going through the colorful town, he recognized a few ponies here and there. Oakey Doke and Seasong sat together, having whatever mare talk they had. He would never understand how mares could speak to each other for long periods of time. What do they even talk about for all that time? he wondered as he looked towards the sky. Bluebell flew by above the houses, carrying a small bird with a leek in its mouth. He also spotted a large, orange bird flying up into the sky before turning around and diving back towards the ground, its wings glowing white. He recognized it as a Pokémon battle, and was natural for any Pokémon to engage in, according to William.

A sudden bump into another pony sent him falling down. He heard a surprised scream, and it wasn't just his own. As a few gems flung itself from the cart onto his back, he gazed upon a lavender body and an unmistakable cutie mark of two swirling dolphins.

"Sea Swirl, we have to stop meeting like this," Felix quipped as he helped her back to her hooves.

Sea Swirl chuckled nervously in response as her magic enveloped the fallen gems and placed it back into the cart. "Ahah, um... S-Sorry about that, Felix. I was lost in thought again..."

Felix laughed in response. Whenever she said 'lost in thought', it meant she was lost in her marine imaginations. "Thinking about swimming with the dolphins again, aren't you?" he asked.

Her red face gave Felix the answer he needed. Furiously, she answered, "N-No I wasn't! I wasn't thinking about that at all!"

He couldn't help himself but coo at her adorable behavior. "Aww, don't have to be all flustered! We all have our own imaginary worlds we love to delve ourselves into. No matter how lost you get in that world, I hope you don't forget about me!"

She groaned as the blush disappeared from her face as she rolled her eyes. "How can I with your easygoing and immature attitude..." she moaned.

Felix let out a mock gasp. "What are you saying? Me, immature?" They stared at each other and giggled. "Okay, fair enough. Still, you should save it when you're out on the streets. You never know if you'll fall into a lake and magically become a seapony."

Sea Swirl gave a small sigh as they started to walk down the dirt road together. "Yeah, yeah, save your dry humor for someone else. Anyway, what's with all the gems? Did a customer order a bunch of gems for you to craft or something?"

Felix shook his head. "Nah, this is something I bought. A bunch of translation gems for all the Pokémon that came here!"

The atmosphere stilled as Sea Swirl strode in front of him, boring holes into his eyes. The Swirl Glare. "You didn't spend all your bits again, did you?" she uttered under her breath.

He gave a sheepish grin in return. "It was for a good cause."

"Felix..." she moaned again. "Remember the last time when you spent all your bits trying to build another bridge? You got conned out of all your bits! And what you got in return was a bunch of parrots that flew all around town saying, 'Sally sells shells by the seashore! Sally sells shells by the seashore!'"

"At least they had a sense of humor about it..." Felix silently responded as he walked around her.

He felt a tug at his tail, halting his movement again. He looked back to find her horn still glowing in the magenta aura. With a jerk of her head, a small beam struck at the gems. He watched in horror as the gems, radiating a powerful red glow, dissipated into gray, dull rocks.

"And that, fillies and gentlecolts, is why you need to stop buying anonymous deals," she announced, giving a small sigh after. "Seriously, Felix. You got conned. Again. You may be called Lucky Streak, but this is one streak of bad luck you always get."

His mind blanked as he stared for a moment. "... They still have the translation spell on them, right?"

"Nope, just an illusion spell. I may be a Marine Biology researcher, but even I can see through this hoax."

He stared at her for a moment before returning his smile. "Welp, guess that means I'm a rock head, wouldn't you say?"

Pain struck on his head, and it's name was the Swirl Hoof. Not as hard as her sister's, Orange Swirl, but still painful enough to send the message. "Oww..."

"You're such a pain sometimes, Felix," Sea Swirl muttered under her breath. With a sigh, she added, "But, knowing you, you're going to do some crazy job that's going to pay enough to get you back on track, aren't you?"

"That's the way it goes!" he responded. "Want to help out this time?"

She put her hoof to her chin. "Help you get back on track and get some of the reward myself, or stay in my house and keep reading about the anatomy of a dolphin for the fifth time in a row? Hm... I wonder what I will choose?"

Felix gave a small grin. "You do realize that, with a bunch of these new creatures, there's more aquatic creatures to study?"

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. "Wait, what?"

"These Pokémon come in many different shapes," he noted. "I have a good feeling that we're going to be having a little bit of a chat between some of these aquatic guys if you do come along."

A large smile came across her face. "Then what are we waiting for!?" she exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"First things first!" he said, stopping her from her jot. He wrapped his tail around one of the rocks and threw it to his hoof. "We have to get rid of these rocks."

He puffed her face towards him. "This is no time for rocks! We got some creature exploration to do!"

"Won't take too long!" Felix yelled as he started running towards the pawn shop. "Follow me!"

Even from the distance he sprinted, he could hear her loud huff as she started her gallop.

Even though the first meal of the day satisfied his stomach, he hungered towards the new knowledge to teach the young child. Reading was essential to the development of a young mind, and he was the owl to enrich his new pupil. He also wondered about the strange Munchlax and how quickly the Munchlax would eat all the food laid out for him, but the curious spectacle would have to remain unknown until his awakening.

He looked towards the table where the young Quilava placed himself and realized something off. His food, which he bluntly requested this morning, sat there barely touched. He blinked a few times and flapped his way towards the fire-type, carefully landing on the table with the grip of his talons as to not scratch the surface.

Observing the Quilava's face, he seemed distraught. Deciding to question things further, he asked, "Might I ask why you look sad?"

Quilava jerked his head towards the Noctowl, his features switching from sorrow to emotionless. "Not looking sad. Look like Quilava."

William stared at the Quilava for a moment before saying, "Do you understand what sadness is?"

He expected a curious look, but instead, the young one looked down, back to the same miserable face he wore seconds ago. "Sadness is... Feeling what I am."

The Noctowl hummed in amusement. The young one, still learning words, picked up on context clues to better understanding. Before thinking further, a small quote arose in his mind. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

William was caught aback and questioned the logic of the random quote, but he deterred not when asking, "What reason are you sad?"

The Quilava then did something the owl did not expect. The Quilava... Sighed. A releasing breath of despair to cool the mind of its troubles. Then his sweet, innocence came out. "Did Mister Felix leave because I was bad?"

William's heart nearly leaped from his chest hearing these words. In only two days, this feral... Felt doubt of himself? In his case, it took several weeks before William started comprehending emotion to this extent, yet seeing the brilliance of this child, he felt a twinge of mixed emotions; envy, guilt, sorrow, and pride.

Swallowing his own self-depreciation, he knew the child needed comfort more than anything. Thinking quickly, he answered, "Did Lucky Streak leave when I was unable to do my projects yesterday?"

The Quilava's eyes widened in horror. Shouting, he said, "I didn't finish projects! Mister Felix is mad because of not finished projects!" Before William could stop him, the Quilava bolted into the repair shop part of the house.

He stared blankly, not anticipating such an outburst and rash conclusion. Silently, he murmured, "For the fate of the gods... Why must he be so blessed with such amazing capabilities, yet be so innocent despite his ability?"

Groaning from his mistake, he flew into the workshop, finding the Quilava staring at the paper blankly. Sideways. On the blank side of the paper. The Noctowl landed next to him and carefully observed his face once more. He saw the desperation behind the focused eyes, his determination to please the stallion that cared so much for them in just the two days they have stayed in his humble abode shining intensely. Clearing his throat to get the young one's attention, he stated, "Did Lucky Streak look angry with you this morning?"

The Quilava paid no attention to his words, still intently focused on the blank sheet. Thinking carefully, he continued, "Felix is not angry because you did not complete your projects, young one."

Still no reaction. William felt like the Quilava completely tuned out everything around him to finding out how to fix the problem. He continued speaking. "It's not wise to hold in your feelings. If you trust someone undoubtedly, you can trust them with your own personal self. Do you not trust me?"

That got a confused glance from the Quilava. "Mister William, you talk weird."

So he's not completely ignoring my words, he mused. Quilava has not been asking information from my beak of the words spoken, so maybe I shall rekindle his interest through a tale of old.

Puffing his chest, he decided to follow the stereotypical rumor of old mons; infuriating and prolonged ramblings of past times. For added effects, he started stroking his chin. "You know, this reminds me of a tale of my past. A long time ago, I wandered around the world, searching for a grand treasure of legends." He outstretched his left wing outward, starting to wave it about. "The Pokémon all around mocked me for seeking such a rare interest, but I said with a strong will that I would find this legendary treasure of old! When I set out my course, I left behind those naysayers, but it did not lighten my load. I found myself faced with trials beyond imagination; treacherous waves, stormy seas, and lightning brighter than the sun's rays!"

He glanced over towards Quilava to find him not sitting there anymore. Looking forward, he found the Quilava sitting there, staring in awe towards the Noctowl. Realizing the attention the Quilava brought to him, he decided to twist his story around. "But I continued forward, knowing that the treasure was somewhere. When I arrived at my destination, I was dumb-struck to find the ruins that held the wondrous treasure was in disarray and was unsearchable! So, with a heavy heart, I returned home, sad and confused. But when I came home, I saw my wife, waiting there for me. And in her possession was that very legendary treasure that I had been searching for!"

The Quilava's head perked up. "What was it?"

William couldn't help but chuckle at the enthusiasm of the child. He relaxed his wings as he answered, "Why, it was something very legendary indeed. A bell that rang in such a beautiful tone unparalleled to anything you could ever dream of. It was truly a grand treasure of legends."

He blinked for a moment before a small smile came on his face, his eyes starting to burn with intense excitement. "Can I see bell?"

His puffed chest deflated at the remark. "I'm... I'm afraid not. The legendary treasure belongs to my wife, and she is not here."

The Quilava flattened his ears back, a sad look on his face. "Can we find... Whatever wife is?"

William could feel the burning stings of the past striking as his mind once more.

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

The quote again resounded in his mind, but he shook the feeling. Solemnly, he answered, "Until you understand the chains of death, I'm afraid I cannot say anymore."

William was caught off guard once more when the Quilava asked, "What killed wife? Did bad monster kill her?"

He trembled, a cold feeling of sorrow sweeping through his mind. Taking a deep breath, he answered, "Yes. You can suppose right."

Quilava stood silently, gazing upon him. The Noctowl presumed that the Quilava must have seen terrible things in the wild before, despite being so young. Finally, he looked down and uttered, "Sorry."

William didn't know what came over him when he brushed his wings against the Quilava's back. Almost instinctively, he stated, "It is of the past. Do not fret, young one, for it is but a faded scar."

Both Quilava and William sat there in moments of silence before the Quilava stating, "I'm hungry." Throwing the paper away, he returned back to the dining area where his food lay. William couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the sudden change of mood, passing the dark corridor of darkness before.

"I can't believe a part of the town was blown up!"

Felix could not believe what he saw from far-away, but he couldn't mistake the sight of scaffolds of the charred buildings. If he hadn't lived on the opposite side of the Everfree Forest in a sound-proofed house, he would have immediately rushed in to help. He knew he should have left yesterday when his cutie mark was screeching at him that something unlucky happened.

"You still got some ponies to come in with their projects in your workshop, right?" Sea Swirl asked. "I'll say you got your share!"

"I know, I know," he grumbled. "But if I knew about this earlier, I would have sprinted over here!" He continued to stare. "I really hope that Ditzy Doo and her husband are alright."

For a moment, he could have sworn he felt the shiver of Sea Swirl behind him. "I still think there's something strange about that stallion Ditzy married," she said. He turned towards Sea Swirl, her magic levitating rocks idly into the store. "I mean, doesn't something just seem... Off whenever he's around? It almost feels like he's not even of this world..."

Felix chuckled. "Oh, that's just your imagination going wild."

Sea Swirl rolled her eyes as she continued to carry each rock into the shop. "But seriously, how many of these gems did you buy?"

Felix smiled. "Oh, about five hundred."

Sea Swirl coughed, nearly losing her grip on the rocks she floated. "F-Five hundred!?"

"Yep, five hundred! Anyway..." Felix walked over to the cart, slamming a hoof into the cart, launching the rest of the rocks into the shop. "There, no more wasting time!"

Back to the Sea Swirl glare. And the rocks shattering in her magic. "Y-You... You could have just done that in the beginning," she sighed, taking many deep breathes beforehoof.

"Ah, but I felt we needed to talk a bit for someone to come," he singsonged. "In fact, they’re trotting here right now!"

Sea Swirl and Felix both looked back simultaneously to see a brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark and a... larger Quilava walking towards them. He immediately thought of Quilava back in his shop at that size.

"Felix! Just the stallion I wanted to see!" Time Turner greeted with a big grin, shaking Felix out of his daze. The brown stallion turned towards Sea Swirl. "Good to see you Sea Swirl! How's your father like the clock?"

Sea Swirl groaned. "Yes, hello, Time Turner," she deadpanned. "My father very much enjoys that clock you got, but why did you have to get such an annoying chime?"

Time Turner shrugged. "I like gangnam style," he countered.

Sensing Sea Swirl’s aggravation, Felix interrupted quickly. "So, what brings you around the clock?" Realizing what he just said, he added, "Pardon my pun."

Luckily, Time Turner was a delightful pony. He threw his head back and laughed. "Clock jokes! I love it!" It took a moment for him to get himself under control again. "Er... Pardon me. Yes, apparently Derpy brought a vase by yesterday. She wanted me to pick it up."

Felix put a hoof to his chin, trying to remember Derpy’s eyes. He felt a bit bad about her lazy eye, but it was probably her best identifying feature beyond the blonde mane. "Hm... I don’t recall her coming in..." he mused out loud. "Then again, with so many ponies coming in, it was hard to keep up with so many orders..." He decided to go with his gut. "Alright, let’s head to my shop. I believe we have it ready for you to pick up!"

"Excellent!" Turner cheered. "Lead on Felix." Felix was about to direct them, but then Turner glanced towards his left. "Oh, where are my manners? Felix, Sea Swirl, this is my friend, Nova." He gestured to the large Quilava next to him.

Nova nodded. "Nice to meet you both."

"Well, about time we finally get a Pokémon that can actually speak," Sea Swirl snarked as they started walking together. "I was wondering if all these Pokémon just only said their names."

"That's what you're hearing." Nova explained. "We have our own language."

Felix grinned with a nod. "Yep! It took me a while to actually figure it out myself!" He then looked towards Nova. "But I must ask... Are you a Quilava? You seem larger than the Quilava I have at my home."

Nova blinked and stopped walking. "A Quilava you say?" he asked. Felix couldn’t help but pick up a bit of an amused tone, but with his stoic attitude, it was difficult to place. "No, but I was one once. I'm a Typhlosion now."

Felix blinked. He was a Quilava? He and Sea Swirl both stared for a moment before Felix realized what he meant. "Of course! It must be that evolution that William was talking about!"

"Evolution?" Sea Swirl asked.

"The natural process of a Pokemon maturing." Nova explained. "Your Quilava friend for instance wasn't born a Quilava. Before he evolved, he was a Cyndaquil. Nearly all Pokemon evolve in some way."

Sea Swirl groaned. "Pokémon maturing by natural process? Evolution? These Pokémon get more and more confusing at the minute."

Felix smiled, knowing exactly how she felt. "It will be quite interesting for your studies though. I’m sure you’ll probably have to learn about them when researching those water Pokémon!"

"That means I’ll probably be asking many questions about this." She turned towards the Typhlosion. "Nova, was it? Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll probably be questioning off your ears on the way to Felix’s."

Nova laughed. "A Marine Pokéologist?" he asked, quite bemused. "I'll answer what I can. But you should know that I'm a Fire-type type... The polar opposite of water."

"At least water beating fire makes sense..." Sea Swirl sighed. Felix could tell she was getting prepped for her ‘researcher mode’. "Alright, so let’s go over more about Pokémon evolution..."

Quilava ate up last of food after firing it but not firing house. He was careful with fire because fire was danger. And food was good. Quilava went over to Mister William, who read pag–book. He called it book. Mister William read book while Quilava ate.

Mister William looked scary again. Angry. Mister William was angry at... Book?

"Confound this mimicry! This book speaks William Shakesphere in the word of pony! How ignominious!"

Quilava blinked. "What’s wrong with book?" he asked.

Mister William scary went away. "Oh, sorry, young one. I’m just upset. You could say I’m not used to this new world and its copies."

Quilava tilted his head. "Copies?"

Mister William did weird thing when he start explaining thing. "Copies are when... Hm... Quite difficult to explain in words that you know. How about I say this? Imagine that there was another you. That would be a copy."

Quilava blinked. "Another me. Like... Someone look like me?"

Mister William nodded. "Indeed! It looks like it, but is not actually what it is. For example, this blasted book is a copy of another book, but is not good."

"So copy is bad?"

Mister William gave nod. "Quite terribly so, young one. After all, copies are very bad because they’re stealing from the original."

So copies are very bad because they steal? Quilava thought.

Quilava tilted his head again. "What is... Steal? Is it also bad thing?"

Mister William nodded. "It’s a terrible act to make. Stealing is taking from someone else without permission."

And permission is when they let you do something. That is bad.

Quilava nodded. "I’m ready to read now."

Mister William was going to speak, but then Mister Felix entered. Quilava looked in surprise before jumping.

"Mister Felix!" he called.

He had big smile on his face too! "Quilava! I’m back... For the moment, that is!"

Quilava frowned. "What?"

Mister Felix did head attack again. "I had to return because I forgot to tell someone how long I would be out."

Quilava blinked. Mister Felix wasn’t there when I saying that, he thought.

He was put back on the floor and Mister Felix made weird sound. "Anywho, I also came back because a customer needs her vase returned."

Quilava nodded and ran to vases. He remembered vase fixing yesterday and found vase and gave it to Felix. "Here you go. This was only vase."

Felix blinked. "That makes things easy. Ah, and William... Where is he?"

Quilava looked and didn’t see Mister William. Then he remembered read. "Mister William getting book for me."

"Ah, probably looking for a good one! Well, nevermind that then! How would you like to meet the customer that you fix this vase for? After all, it's only fair for you to show such hard work done well!"

Quilava smile grew. "Sure!"

He followed behind Felix, who walked with vase. "Here you are! I hope this repair is suitable for your needs!"

Smiling bark pony frowned, taking vase with him. "Oh, that's the one that broke! No wonder she was so serious about this. Thank you Felix." Quilava then looked to the side and saw...

Huge Pokémon. No, huge Quilava?

"If anything, the thanks should be given to our little worker here!"

Huge Quilava had fire eyes. Very fire eyes. He was fire. Very good fire. And huge Quilava was looking at him. Huge Quilava gave huge smile.

Quilava did paw thing that Mister William does when wing is at something. "He’s huge." Huge Quilava made loud roar. "And loud. Are you bigger me?"

He said something, but Quilava couldn’t hear. "Yes and no."

Quilava blinked. Huge Quilava was confusing too. "So you’re not bigger me, and you’re bigger me? Will I be that big?"

He did more quiet roar. "Some day if you practice, yes. But what I meant was that I'm the same species of Pokemon as you. I'm a Typhlosion."

"You’re Typhlosion?" Quilava asked. "But you said you were bigger me." He thought for a moment. "Does that mean that if I do practice thing, I’ll become like bigger you?"

He did huge smile. "Yes. One day, when you're strong enough, you'll evolve into a Typhlosion and you'll be much bigger."

Another new word. "What is evolve?"

"It's what you did to become a Quilava. Do you remember when you were a Cyndaquil?"

What?

"I was Cyndaquil?" Quilava asked. Quilava didn’t know what Cyndaquil was. "I have always been Quilava."

Typhlosion looked bad and... Fear? Why was he fearing? He said another thing, but Quilava couldn’t hear again. "Do you know how old you are?"

Old? He didn’t know word, but something told him it meant hatching day. "I hatched ten suns before."

"Ten suns?" Typhlosion said loudly.

"Ten days ago!?" bark pony also said loudly.

Quilava couldn’t hear words well, but Mister Felix said, "T-Ten... Days?"

Quilava didn’t even notice weird pony with thing sticking out of head. Pony asked, "Is that natural?"

"No it's not. There's no way you could have evolved after just ten days. Bug-types don't even grow that fast!"

Typhlosion was getting scary, and everyone was getting fearing. "Why is everyone looking bad? I don’t understand..."

Mister Felix shook head. "Neither do we, Quilava. Are you certain that you hatched ten days ago?"

Days? Suns must be days, from Typhlosion saying. Quilava nodded. "Ten suns is ten days, so yes."

"I think I know." Typhlosion had weird look on face, like Mister William when thinking. Think look. Typhlosion had think look. "I read something about this once. It was in some popculture magazine, so take it with a grain of salt. I read an article about rumors of Team Rocket cloning Pokemon."

Clone?

Now Quilava was fearing. “What is clone?” It sounded close to...

Typhlosion had big fear now. "Um..." He then breathed long. "It means someone took a piece of another Quilava and used it to make another Quilava."

Copy. He was... Copy. "So... I’m a copy?" He felt sad and fear when he said that. Mister William hated copies.

Mister William hated him.

"No! Of course not! You're just like a twin."

Quilava blinked. "T-Twin?" he said, fear still in him. "I-Is that another copy word?"

"Not at all!" bark pony said, putting vase on ground. "It means you've got someone out there a lot like you!”

"Exactly!" Mister Felix said. "It’s not a copy, but more like a brother!"

Bark pony came closer and said, "And I've known clones. They're really very nice."

Clones... Nice? Does that mean... Clone isn’t copy? "R-Really?"

"Oh, of course! Of course!" Mister Bark Pony said. "Huh? Come to think of it I still owe him money..."

"What?"

"Oh, it's not important," Mister Bark Pony said.

Mister Felix made weird noise again, but different from weird roar noise. "Well, as much as we’ve enjoyed talking about this, I believe that you have an upset wife to return to posthaste with that lovely vase!"

"Ah yes indeed!" Mister Bark Pony said, walking out of house. "Now if I could just solve the problem in Canterlot we'd be all set."

Quilava turned to find Typhlosion staring at him. Clone is not copy. Clone is good, while copy is bad. Which means... "So I’ll be bigger you? Will I be as awesome as you?"

Typhlosion gave big smile. "With the right kind of training yes."

Mister Felix also gave smile. "Now, Quilava, I’m sure that if you become that big, you’ll won’t fit in your bed!"

Quilava frowned. Did that mean he would grow bigger the nicer he got? He liked sleeping in bed. But wait, Mister Felix was good maker. "Then you can make new bed, right?"

Mister Felix made weird roaring noise again. "Of course! Oh, and before I forget..."

Mister Felix turned to Typhlosion. "Tell the Doctor about aliens invading his home." Mister Felix then closed an eye.

Mister Felix then turned to pony with weird thing on head. "Sea Swirl, come into my workshop! You have to meet William!"

Pony... Sea Swirl blinked. "Oh, of course!" She walked with Felix. Quilava walked with them, leaving Typhlosion behind.

Quilava thought he heard a "what".

Felix shook his head. He couldn’t believe what he had heard, and it felt very much wrong. But one fact still remained: Quilava was ten days old. Newborns still couldn’t talk at that time, much less walk around and have such awareness.

The other pressing problem was Sea Swirl. He knew that she didn’t really like Time Turner, but Sea Swirl was much more distracted than usual. He felt like this distraction was going to lead to a great decision, but he didn’t know what.

William was sitting on his bird perch, watching the trio enter. With a smile, he stated, "So, it seems you aren’t only here to inform us of your time of homecoming." With a bow towards Sea Swirl, he added, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am William Shaketalon. Shall I fancy you are the customer that Lucky Streak served?"

Sea Swirl blinked. "Me?" She shook her hoof in front of her. "Oh no, that was another pony. I’m Sea Swirl, Felix’s friend."

"Then it is my pleasure to make acquaintance with a friend of our caretaker," he corrected.

Felix smiled. "And, of course, you’ve already met Quilava."

Quilava gave a small nod. "Nice to meet you."

Felix blinked. "You know, I am rather curious of where you picked up these small things, like ‘Mister’ and polite messages."

Quilava tilted his head towards Felix. "I heard small pony say ‘Mister’, and when she didn’t say ‘Mister’, she was yelled at."

Sea Swirl chuckled. "Oh dear, don’t tell me that Cheerilee was around shop."

Felix shrugged. "There were a lot of ponies that came in yesterday. It was quite crowded, so I don’t really recall much of what happened yesterday."

"Fair enough," she stated, "but isn’t the workshop silenced? How did Quilava hear about it?"

Felix blinked and looked towards Quilava. He was fumbling around with the watch on his wrist again, apparently nervous. "Quilava, when did you hear about these things?"

Quilava looked up at Felix with apologetic eyes. "S-Sorry. I got curious. I went out while you were busy."

Felix chuckled. "So you did that?" He then scratched the Quilava's head. "I'll let it slide if you remember to ask next time, okay?"

Quilava gave a huge smile with brightly-lit eyes. "Okay, Mister Felix!"

Sea Swirl couldn’t help but giggle a bit. "Aww, did Felix adopt a child?"

Felix scratched the back of his head. "I was just intending to get someone to help out in the workshop and an owl to look after the shop during the night. I was just depending on luck."

"Again, you never cease to amaze me," William commented, placing a wing to his face. "If I didn’t know better, I would say you probably hum songs to get trivial things finished like breakfast or the like."

"Looks like you met a charming feature of this knucklehead then," Sea Swirl commented, a large grin on her face. "Don’t think you’ll be able to find much else unless you really dive deep."

Felix laughed. "'Dive'?"

Sea Swirl glowed a crimson red. "S-Shut up. You’re probably worse after a day of repairing."

"At least I take pride in my puns!" Felix gloated, pointing a hoof at her. "Besides, I’m sure any mare will think you’re cute with your aquatic puns!"

Before Felix and Sea Swirl could have more fun, a cold chill ran through them from William’s glare. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. So what purpose is there with matching yourself with someone of your same sex when it does not bring forth frutation?"

Felix sweatdropped and could feel Sea Swirl’s disturbance as well. "Erm... Yes, moving on. Sea Swirl and I are going to be out for the rest of today, but I’ll return by tonight. Make sure Quilava gets to bed on time."

Quilava looked back and forth from a clearly agitated William and both other ponies. Before they could say anything, William huffed, muttered something, then flew into the other room.

Sea Swirl shrugged. "I don’t know what that was about. Guess it must be something from the other world or something."

Felix nodded. "Or maybe it’s William. Either way..." He turned to Quilava. "I’ll be back tonight. Make sure to learn many things today and take care of the Munchlax, alright?"

Quilava nodded. "Yes, Mister Felix."

Felix smiled and scratched the fire weasel’s head. "I knew I could count on you!" He turned to Sea Swirl. "Alright, shall we finally be off?"

Sea Swirl gave an exaggerate sigh, putting her hoof to her head. "After such a treacherous morning with you, I don’t know if I can. Unless..." A devious grin appeared on her face. "You buy me breakfast."

Felix sighed before grinning. "You got lost in studies again, didn’t you? Alright, no problem. I mean, I didn’t just spend all my bits recently."

As they started walking out, Felix looked back and waved goodbye to Quilava. And Quilava waved back, a big smile on his innocent face. He felt a bit of relief that Quilava didn’t seemed to be bothered when he left, so why should he feel sad?

He felt like he should feel the same when the time came.

The sunlight beat against his close-lidded eyes as his mind woke up. As he opened those very eyelids, he observed the room around him. Green walls with a wooden floor and many appliances and cooking utensils hanging about.

I’m in a kitchen of some sort. Looks pretty simple. A bit large, but I guess that’s because of my small body.

He finally noticed the weight against said body. A heavy, green blanket covered most of him.

Based on the blanket and kitchen, I’ll can safely assume I was taken in by someone...

Usually, he was an optimistic, outgoing type of guy, but he had developed a bit of a ranger mode despite only working mostly in the research lab. He could thank the region of Oblivia for giving him some better experience, especially when working with the ship “The Union”, but that was only for a year or so.

Strange that people are able to either explain things through thoughts or description...

Lifting the blanket from his body, he looked around the wooden kitchen. Several packages of food laid out on the kitchen floor. He assumed that the pony that took him in possibly set the packages up for delivery, or the slight chance that they were all for him. He pushed aside that thought immediately due to how the world didn’t seem to know their species.

A loud rumble sounded, and he found his mind drawn to the food. He resisted the impulse and attempted to look more at the surroundings. His stomach cried out once more, and the instinct crept on him again. He glanced at the food wearily before shaking his head.

Stay focused. A ranger wouldn’t fall into such temptations. Alright, let’s think of this as a mission! My mission is... To not eat any of the food! Ranger Murph, it’s mission time!

Murph poised himself up and put his arms to make a straight, horizontal line. Bringing his arms to his sides, he shook his hips and finished with raising a pointed finger from his right hand.

If there’s ever going to be another Ranger Union created in this world, that’s going to be one of my first missions: to bring back the Ranger Pose!

Another Day, Another Job (Part 2)

Breathing. An essential part of life that drives the mortal body to continue living on. A tool to cool the mind, body, and soul from the burning inside. But, despite how much he insufflated himself with heaven's gift of taintless air, resentment lingered in his mind. Agitation encompassed his mind of the sheer irrationality of the affections of these other ponies. He purposed that, in this new world, the selfish desires of the heart would cease to exist. Instead, the interactions between Lucky Streak and Sea Swirl showed that, not only was the affections accepted; nay, 'tis but promoted.

Perhaps he was being hasty with his judgments. Perhaps he was right on the mark. Either way, it bothered him to no end how these so-called lovers flaunted the word completely out of prospect. Instead of love meaning devotion to a friend, many messaged it to become sexual romance, or attraction with no sense of friendship. Oh, the terrors he saw within these senseless humans during his time in the library. Many "broke up" because they didn't wish to settle out their own feeling between them and find a middle ground. Others he saw being used just for sexual pleasures, with how they seemed to share nothing but sensual quips between each other, or one feeling discomfort around the other. They never cherished their loved ones, instead seeing them as superficial and only worthy if they succumbed to their own pleasures.

Never once has he seen relationships work out. But instead of logically fixing the relationships between others, the world just complicated the original concept of love for the worse. They allowed two of the same gender to disgrace marriage. Marriage used to be the union of a man and woman, but then the previous world twenty years ago decided to appeal to the foolhardy. Luckily, the relationships between Pokémon and human was still outlawed, but many irresponsible people took Pokémon as their companions outside of the law. Many even attempted to taint marriage's name further.

Humans didn't deserve Pokémon. How imprudent that most humans were such ungrateful beings of many blessings bestowed to them. He used to feel relief that Pokémon would join humans of their own free-will when meeting trainers who gave them a proper battle or took them in when they were astray, but then he discovered that book about PokéBalls. Terrifyingly, they were tools to capture Pokémon, virtually making them slaves to these trainers. He couldn't despise those humans who genuinely cared about Pokémon, but there were those that took advantage of their mind-bending abilities to make Pokémon into mindless drones.

Something he most truly despised was how humans believed it was natural for Pokémon and humans to live alongside each others as lovers. Humans attempted to prove the fact that, just because they were created alongside Pokémon, they had permission to do whatever they pleased with them. They completely ignored the fact of "Egg Groups" built with their creation. After all, if mates couldn't breed, what was the point of joining together in the first place? And yet, none thought of continuing their generations, instead thinking of their temporal pleasures instead of bringing about new souls onto the Earth.

He blinked for a moment before laughing to himself. Here was was, complaining about humans but, during his time flying and searching the land, not one human appeared. He circled around the entire town, but no humans. The highest possibility was that humans no longer existed in this world. He was only beating a dead Ponyta for cursing the humans when they lived on a new planet, filled with ponies and Pokémon... And many other species Arceus spoke of. While he didn't agree with the ponies preference of romance, they had at least more gall against evil than those wretched humans. While this world had its downs, it also had its ups.

Besides, he shouldn't get too upset around a certain child.

"I can see you, young one," he stated, seeing the Quilava flinch backwards behind the dresser before sticking his head out. He could see the hesitation within the young one's eyes.

The Quilava twisted the watch on his wrist again, which William took note of as a nervous habit. "Y-You were really scary in there. Are you good now?"

The Noctowl gave a small smile to at least assure the Quilava. "I apologize for scaring you, young one. I was just upset."

Quilava visibly relaxed and came out of hiding. He tilted his head with his curiosity eyes lighting up once more. "Mister Felix said 'any mare will think you're cute' to Miss Sea Swirl. Then you said 'what purpose is there with matching yourself with the same sex'. They never answered your question."

William felt a rising heat in his chest. Indeed, the Quilava would surely be interested in the debate, but did he truly want to tear the child's innocence? While he wished to lay his opinion out for the young Pokémon, he knew it wouldn't be right since the child took many of his words to heart and believed them as Reshiram's truth. He decided the best course of action was to move the topic aside. "Young one, there are some subjects you must avoid sometimes. It's not appropriate to ask questions that intrude on their personal life. It will be something you shall learn as you continue to grow."

He appeared to ponder his words before the Quilava said, "Personal life is bad?"

"Not entirely," William started, glad the Quilava dropped the subject. "Personal means secret, which is something that you aren't telling someone. We all have secrets that we rather not share unless they are okay with sharing them."

Once again, the Quilava did something that surprised William. His face lost a bit of color, from a tan to a creamy color. "S-Secret?" he squeaked out in a shaky voice.

William stared at the Quilava in disbelief. In just a few words, the Quilava went from curiosity to terrified almost instantaneously. From his shrinking form, it seemed the Quilava had a great secret. And not any secret, but something the young Quilava was horrified to admit. A sudden feeling rose in his stomach, flopping like a Magikarp in a stream.

No, I will be the pattern of all patience. I will say nothing, William quoted in his mind. I shall allow the child to make his decision of the secret he holds. After all, it would be contradictory after stating that I wouldn't intrude on his personal life.

Watching the Quilava, he seemed to try to calm himself the best he could. "M-Mister William? I... I have something to... I have something to say," he stated, his voice quivering near the end.

William continued to look at the Quilava, observing his motions. His whole body seemed to be shaking and curling up. His paw grasped at the watch, pulling at it. If the Quilava had more strength, he could probably pull it off due to how frantic he seemed.

"It's... It's about me. I may be... Copy."

William raised his eyebrow. Why was he so worried about being a copy? "Do you mean that you are a twin of someone?"

Quilava stood up straight. "N-No, clone. I may be clone of someone."

William couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Is this what truly bothered the young child? "Now, why would you be so worried about being a clone? You are just a young Quilava."

"Very young Quilava. I'm only ten days old."

His eyes widened. Now that would be a concern of why he felt why he was a clone. Suddenly, the Magikarp was flopping around again, dancing in the scorching flames of his anger. "Now, I assure you, young one, while you may be ten days old, it's preposterous to assume that you are a clone based on that alone."

The Quilava gulped. "W-Well, the other reason is because I don't... I don't remember evolving into Quilava."

William couldn't help but scoff at these remarks. "Is that all? While both being ten days old and not remembering being a Cyndaquil is quite strange, it does not make you a clone!" his voice rose. He took a deep sigh to relax himself. "Besides, you did mention that you 'may be' a clone, did you not?"

Quilava nodded. "I... I did... Y-You're not mad that I might be clone?"

William froze immediately. Is this what this was about? That he would be angry due to him being a clone? He sighed out of frustration for not realizing why the Quilava was disturbed until now. "Clone or not, you are still you, young one." The heat in his chest burned once again. "And whoever made you think that you were bad because they thought of you as a clone shant be allowed to inflict you with such nonsense to stir you up to fear. If I ever meet this Pokémon that said this, I shall give them a piece of my mind!"

The Quilava seemed to be a bit bothered by this. "He... Didn't mean to. He looked just as... Worried? Just worried as you."

William would have congratulated the young Quilava for using new words, but the fact still stood that some Pokémon was trying to convince the Quilava he was some sort of despised creature. "Still, to assume such a thing... If anything, I shall at least tell him off for not thinking before speaking."

"But Typhlosion had think face before saying clone thing. He was thinking before speaking."

William blinked. Well, that explains why he's a bit defensive. He might not think of the Typhlosion as an enemy due to being of his evolutionary line. A sudden chill ran through him. I truly hope that he isn't just tricking the young one out of malice... Or trying to chase him away from this household to capture him for his own means of... I don't even wish to think about–

The sound of raging fire and a slap of wood snapped William back to attention. What he saw was... A Munchlax knocked over on his back, flailing his arms, while the Quilava glared a Leer towards the perpetrator.

"Hey, you didn't have to push me over!" the Munchlax cried out as he rolled back onto his feet. "I was checking to make sure you weren't actually a clone! And luckily, you aren't!"

He gawked in incredulity at the Munchlax. From the sound of his voice, he was an adult, but the tone indicated an extremely rash and witless Pokémon. With a sigh, William said, "You do realize that he is but a child recently coming out of feral instincts, do you not? It's not bright of you to get too close."

The Munchlax stared blankly, which just added to the owl's astonishment and disturbance. "Oh, whoops. Didn't know that. But I can say that he's not a clone for sure!"

William resisted the urge to slap him with a weakened Air Slash for not seeing the natural signs of a feral Pokémon. Instead, he continued pressing against the fool. "And you eavesdropped into our conversation. You should know better than to interfere like that."

The Munchlax winced. "Hey, not my fault that your conversation was very interesting. But seriously, didn't you hear me say that he's not a clone?"

William rolled his eyes. "I also heard you were pushed over," he couldn't help but snark out loud. He wasn't one for snarking, but this Munchlax gave such a vibe that it felt natural to do so. "But feel free to humor me; why do you claim that the young Quilava is not a clone?"

The Munchlax put his arms to the side, almost looking proud of himself. "Because clones have no private parts!"

A part of William snapped at that statement. Without hesitation, he charged at the Munchlax covered in a blue aura.

"... And that's how I found my Pokémon!" Felix ended with a cheerful smile.

Sea Swirl smirked. "Once again, I should be surprised at how easy it was for you, but since it's you, I'm not surprised at all."

"Well, that was my story!" Felix stated happily. "What about you? Got any Pokémon companions yet?"

Sea Swirl scratched the back of her head. "Nope, not yet. I've been avoiding them. But, hey! They sound like they're really fun to be around. Of course, what do you think of that Munchlax? Do you think that he'll be just as wonderful as William and Quilava?"

Felix scratched his chin. "I'm sure they're getting along quite well! In fact, I think they might even be getting acquainted right now!"

"I told you, I'm sorry!" he shouted, running through the hallways of the house away from the angry bird shrouded in blue; Brave Bird. This isn't what he had in mind when he wanted to have a mission with Angry Birds. He winced at the damage caused to several of the walls and furniture, with wallpaper ripped in several places and couches popping white cotton from their wrappings. Even if he didn't cause the destruction... Actually, he did cause the destruction by angering the Noctowl, but it was an accident.

Maybe it probably was a better idea to say something instead of checking the Quilava. He could hear the other rangers in his mind saying "there goes Murph again: acting before thinking".

Sea Swirl smiled and said, "Well, knowing you, you never seem to get unlucky when it comes to these things. Hey, maybe he's awake right now and playing with Quilava."

Quilava stared. He wondered why feeling on lower body felt weird when weird Munchlax touched him and why it felt... Wrong.

Felix grinned. "Hopefully Quilava's really having fun in that case."

Sea Swirl smirked. "What was it you said to him? 'Take care of the Munchlax'? I wonder if he's getting William's help for that."

William pinned the Munchlax to the ground, watching him struggle to get up but terribly failing to do so. He would have caught him earlier, but he wanted to tire out his foe before going in for the strike. He picked up the Munchlax and glared at him.

"Allow me to take care of you, dirty scoundrel, for taking advantage of an innocent child."

Felix's body stuttered for a moment before he said, "I think we should talk about something else. I feel like we're just tempting fate with them."

Sea Swirl blinked before rolling her eyes. "What, you think that the Munchlax is in trouble or something?"

Red eyes, take warning, his mind raced as he watched the red-eyed owl reach for him with his talon...

"I now feel like the rest of the day will be quite interesting for them..." Felix muttered.

Sea Swirl laughed. "Come on, it can't be–"

Felix covered her mouth. "Ah, ah! No more about them. Let's move on to a different subject."

When he removed his hoof, Sea Swirl stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Fine, how about what mode of transportation do you have in mind this time? Will you finally beat the time you made us ride dragons to Manehatten?"

"Nah, nothing flashy like that," Felix said, pulling a rock from his saddlebag. "We'll travel around with this!"

Sea Swirl raised a brow. "You put one of those rocks into your saddlebag?" Her eyes widened suddenly when she looked at the saddlebag. "Oh no, not that saddlebag. Tell me you didn't bring–"

"Indeed, I did!" Felix cheered, throwing the rock back into the bag and pulling out two different bracelets made of clay with a small gem inserted into the middle. One was shaped as a dolphin, while the other was formed into a four-leaf clover. "I still don't understand why you didn't want me to make one for Sassaflash."

She looked back and forth, wrapping the bracelet and slipping it on immediately. "I just didn't. It's just so weird for her and you to be friends. After all, she thought you and I were a couple before she found out that I was into mares, and then she stayed away from me because I thought I was into her."

Felix laughed as he slipped on the four-leaf clover bracelet. "Yeah, Caramel was pretty surprised as well. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him about that. He stayed away from me because he thought I was interested in stallions!"

Sea Swirl rolled her eyes. "Caramel also sent you an apology note after that with multiple bits for... What was it again?"

Felix frowned. "Now, we don't have to speak about–"

"Oh yeah!" she interrupted, point a hoof in the air. "You got a lot of bits and spent it all in Sugarcube Corner and ate all the muffins."

Felix's eye twitched. "You know how I feel about talking about my muffin addiction."

"Hey, at least you have something in common with Derpy. If she wasn't married, you probably would have been her husband with your love of muffins." She shrugged. "Just be glad you're not Hughbert Jellius."

Felix blinked and chuckled. "Oh, fair enough. I'm not obsessed with muffins, but I rather stay away from them in fear I might accidentally stuff my whole house with muffins. I don't know if most ponies would appreciate all their furniture smelling like muffins."

"Well, maybe except Derpy."

Felix laughed. "Okay, Derpy is an exception." He then gave a huge fake pout. "I'm still mad I don't know your food pleasure. Then I could counter you whenever you get me with that muffin speech."

Sea Swirl hummed. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you can stop bringing up the reason why you couldn't make a clayship bracelet for Sassaflash. But you never learn that it holds bad memories for both of us."

Felix sighed. "At least things got better in the end. I, for one, found it quite humorous after Caramel and I went bowling."

Sea Swirl rolled her eyes. "If you weren't Felix, I would totally knock you to the Everfree Forest right now."

Before Felix could say anything else, a glowing came from his saddlebag. He lifted the strap before a huge gust of wind blew around the two of them. A flash blinded Felix momentarily as the wind started to cease.

As Felix's eyes settled, he looked around to find Sea Swirl and himself in a dark forest.

He pulled out the rock and smiled. "So that's how this rock works! It's a teleportation rock!"

He got the Swirl hoof for that. "You mean to tell me that we just teleported into the middle of the Everfree Forest!?"

He looked around as he rubbed his cheek. "Not only that, we're probably trapped here if the rock lost its spell. Oh well, guess we'll have to wander over towards a beach."

Before Sea Swirl could argue, the stone started shining once again. The same wind blew once more. Sea Swirl glared at Felix and stated one thing before being warped once more.

"I hate you..."

Ouch... I don't want to do that Angry Birds mission anymore... Too many angles...

Felix felt the sand beneath his hooves as he looked around to see where they landed. He looked up to see some weird pelicans with beaks covering most of their body in the air. On the inside of the land, he saw a blue otter with shells attached to its strange pelt chatting with a parrot with a music note head heading towards the forest.

Sea Swirl grunted, catching Felix's attention. She was covered in sand. He attempted to brush off some of the sand, but she shook it off onto him.

"Gah! Watch it!" Felix exclaimed in surprise.

"No, that's what you get!" Sea Swirl shouted back, anger seeping through each word. "Seriously, you should have warned me before teleporting us off onto another land so I could see how much magic was left in the stone! For all we know, you just deserted us onto a deserted island!"

Felix blinked. "Huh, what makes you think it's deserted?"

Sea Swirl pointed towards the sea. "The sea energy levels aren't contained like on other beaches. Also, I spotted several sharks swimming out there in the sea spiraling into a circle counterclockwise. That says a lot more than you think, Mister Felix Rockhead."

Before Felix could say anything else, she snapped the rock with her magic and observed it. She scowled and uttered a short curse. "No magic left. We are stuck here. Thanks a lot, Felix."

Felix blinked for a moment before asking, "You seem more... Irritated, suddenly. You don't usually go off like this. Last time, it was because you stepped on a porcupine... Can you lift your hoof to see if you accidentally brought a porcupine with us?"

Sea Swirl scoffed. "Yeah, like there's any porcupines–" Her pupils shrunk as she looked to find a purple spike ball on her hoof. "I stepped on a sea urchin. Felix, get it off. Immediately."

Felix's eyes shrunk as well as he searched through his saddlebag. He realized the item he forgot to get while packing. Tweezers. He forgot tweezers. "Uh, hold on." He got out the magnifying glass and hammer he brought along and used them to remove the sea urchin. Afterward, he pulled out the needles stuck in her hoof using both of the tools.

After getting rid of the last one, he looked at her hoof. "Your hoof. It's more purple than usual."

She attempted to walk forward, but found herself slipping. Uttering another curse, she said, "Argh, this isn't good. I'm already starting to feel woozy. Looks like I was punctured worse than I thought. Felix, we need to find shelter. Now."

Felix nodded and picked up Sea Swirl. "Alright, hold on, Sea Swirl. I've got ya."

Mister William attacked Munchlax. That was weird, but now Munchlax and William were angry talking to each other.

"Honestly, I didn't mean anything bad about what I did!" Munchlax said. "I just acted before thinking!"

Mister William gave scary look towards Munchlax. "You touched a child in an inappropriate area without thinking!? How can that action ever be justified through words alone!?"

"I really didn't mean it! I just didn't want to have it going out!" Munchlax said.

"And yet you have the gall to ask for forgiveness after such an immoral action? You should know better than that! If anything, this proves that you shouldn't live in this household!"

Munchlax had sad face. "Honestly, you're making me look like a bad guy. I swear I didn't mean what I did. I was just acting without thinking."

Quilava started to get annoyed. They kept saying the same thing over and over again. "I didn't mean it." "Then why did you do it?" "I acted without thinking. I didn't mean it." It was really, really annoying.

So annoying that he said, "Stop!"

They looked at Quilava with angry eyes. But Quilava was angry himself. Quilava said, "Mister Felix told me to 'take care of the Munchlax'. I forgive him for what he did."

Mister William gave angry look to Quilava. "Stay out of this, young one. What he did is unforgivable."

Quilava didn't want to fight against Mister William, but he was annoyed, so he said, "And you're unforgivable for long angry talk! It's just the same angry sayings over and over! It's very annoying and isn't doing anything but making more angry things!"

Mister William gave angrier look to Quilava. "Do you even understand what you are forgiving him for?"

Quilava gave back nod. "He did bad thing by touching no touching part, but he won't do it again." He looked to Munchlax. "Will you?"

Munchlax shook his hands weirdly. "Of course not! I was just checking to make sure you weren't a clone!"

Quilava shook his head like Mister Felix did. "Mister William, he is forgiven. Stop angry talk with him about bad thing he did."

Mister William looked angry, but also... Happy? "Fine then, young one. But when you are older, you'll realize the severity of this situation. In the meanwhile, I believe that a suitable punishment is in store for him."

Munchlax gave weird roar-Haha. Quilava called it haha until Mister William said it was something else. Munchlax hahaed. "I think I already know what punishment I'll take on. I'm cleaning up this huge mess we caused." He then did... Weird arm thing... Moved lower body... Then pointed towards sky... "Ranger Murph is ready to clean up!"

He ran off. Quilava blinked and looked towards Mister William. He covered his face with his wing. "Ranger Pokémon... He was a Ranger Pokémon... If that's how the Ranger Pokémon is, I fear to know what the Human Ranger was like..."

Quilava tilted his head. "Ranger Pokémon are bad or something?"

Mister William shook his head behind wing. "No, no. Rangers rescue many Pokémon from dangerous places. They are known to take on difficult missions, but also take on some less than likable missions. I assume that this ranger must have gone through some very awkward and embarrassing missions, like help out in the PokéCenter, a place for healing Pokémon. Some performances of healing must have involved the genital area..."

Quilava understood a bit, but really didn't know what genital meant. Must be the private parts they angry talked about. "Mister William, Mister Felix told me to learn lots as well. Can we read now?"

Mister William did weird poof thing with his chest. "Well, it will be a good distraction of what has happened. I've been waiting for a while to do just that! Come, we mustn't waste anymore time!"

Mister William was good now. And soon, Quilava was going to be better with words soon! Quilava ran after Mister William happily.

Felix found a small grove of trees to put Sea Swirl in. It was shady and protected against the sun's rays, just like he hoped. Sea Swirl herself wasn't looking too good. Her pink coat dulled, and she looked ready to puke at any time. She also looked weak. Very weak.

"Alright, Sea Swirl, you're in a nice, comfy place," he said, trying to calm the petrified mare... And himself somewhat.

Sea Swirl, despite looking so bad, managed to let out a weak chuckle. "Yeah... Real comfy..."

Felix sighed in relief. Since Sea Swirl was managing playful sarcasm meant she overcame the frustration part of the sharp needles. He learned that if she was punctured in any way, she would lose quite a bit of her cool and let her temper get the best of her for some reason he didn't know, but never really questioned. After all, that was one thing that distressed Sea Swirl the most, and he didn't want to pry.

"Alright, so it's time for Doctor Felix to come onto the scene!" Felix exclaimed, picking up her punctured hoof once more. The place where she was punctured was swelled up in a mixture of red and purple. He cringed internally, but kept his huge grin for her sake. "So, what should I do about this, Nurse?"

She let out another, weaker scoff. "Marine Biologist is much more... Much more doctor than nurse..." she said, her smile starting to fade. "Just... Just get some water... Boil it..." Her eyes started to droop. "Hot water... Not burning..."

Felix felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. "Hey, stay with me, Sea Swirl," he pushed, lifting her face to his. "I need you to stay awake so you can tell me how to help you."

She lazily looked at Felix through hazy eyes. Her body started to twitch. "I'm... awake..." she stated. "Poison... Stronger than usual... Shouldn't... hurt this much..." She scrunched her eyes, gritting her teeth. "F-Felix... It shouldn't... spread... so much... Another poison... Was on urchin..."

Another poison!? "Sea Swirl!" he shouted, not caring about his previous anxieties. "Tell me how to help you! I don't know how to clear the poison, and I don't know if my luck is good enough to find something to help on this island!"

Even in her cringing form, she formed a small smile. A pained smile, but a smile nonetheless. "You'll find... something to help... You always do... Lucky Streak..."

Her form softened as she fell into a peaceful slumber. Felix's eyes widened. "Wait, don't fall asleep now! I don't know if I can! Sea Swirl!!"

Just as he was about to start freaking out, a small feeling starting spreading through him. A warm feeling of comfort. And it was further into the grove. A small smile formed on his lips as his anxiety instantly simmered. "Wait, what am I doing freaking out? I'm Lucky Streak! Of course I'll find someone to help out!" He turned his head towards Sea Swirl. "I'll be back as soon as I can, Sea Swirl. And sorry for freaking out again. I know how much you hate that."

With that, Felix started charging towards the forest, ready to find the cure.

As Murph taped another ripped part of the wallpaper together with the clear tape he found in a workshop made of the smoothest boards of wood, he realized something dire. Something extremely prudent that he should have realized before.

It was private 'marks', not private parts! I needed to check the other end!

Journal Entry: Day 1 & 2

Day 1

Mom got me this journal and this feather so I can learn to write as a Pokemon. It's hard to write with paws. it keeps slipping. It's hard to write with my mouth. Its tickly on my nose. I use my mouth because it's easyer.

I asked mom what to write, and i was told to rightwrite about today. I woke up as an Eeevee. I was alone when I woke up and I was scared. When I cryed to mom she came in rallyreally fast. But I didn't know it was mom until I herd her voice. She's a pretty Chimeecho. My dad also came, and mom tried to protect me. It was dad that heared me. heard me. Dads a Hairacross. So my mom and dad are together with me in a diferantdifarintweird world.

I really wish i still had school. Its hard to spell some words.

I miss home to. its hard to be outside. Pokemon don't like us because were humans. So we stay away from pokemon.

Theres also colorful ponys, but dad won't let me meet them. They dont like us because we're pokemon.

Why do we hate?Why are we so hated? Both pokemon and ponys don't want us. Why were we turned into pokemon? Why is life so hard?

I'm trying not to cry while writing, but its so hard. Why can't i be stronger? Why do I have to cry when Im scared? I shouldn't be scared since i got mom and dad. Theres probubly others out there without their mom or dad. That's even worse than me. What if they're hurt?

I'm probably lucky because my dad and mom are still here with me. I really hate this. Who would do something so bad?

I hope my brother's safe.

Day 2

Mom told me to write this down. ArseesusArceus just gave a huge speech. He put us into this world as a gif. Why? What was wrong with our world? I dont know why we deserved vengful retrretriwhatever he said. My old life wasn't bad though. I don't relreally like this new life Arceus put us in. But at least he said that ponys shouldn't hurt us. Maybe we can be with them?

Dad told me no. Dad also looks really mad about this. He keeps saying he nedsneeds a drink. I don't understand why dad cant drink the water we found. it's like a drinking fountain, except it doesn't spray up.

There was a pony that cursed me earlyer than Arceus speech. He said some type of poem and he saw me as a good test sudject.

Flower that blooms

Meet your doom

Destruckion be your path

Until calming blue fires wrath

Mom and dad told me not to worry. They said curses arent real. But we're on a new world. It could be real. I really hope that mean pony doesn't curse anyone else.

Dad got into trouble and was put into jail. Its because of my curse. Mom keeps saying it wasn't me, but I know it was. Why did that pony have to curse me?

There was a pony that kicked me in the head. It still hurts. after that, dad attacked the pony. Then other ponys came along and took dad away becase he protected me. I hate want to hate those ponys, but theyre just doing their job. Its just because I wasnt watching where I was going. Its my fault dad's in jail, no matter what mom says.

I hate this new world. Arceus said it was a gif, but I hate it. I want to be back at home where I was in school. I want to be back with Rio and play with him. We always played fun games. My brother's still missing. I want to think he's ok, but these ponys aren't nice. I hope he's safe.

Were back in the same place we used to hide from ponys. Mom says my writing got beterbetter.

My writing has got better. Mom told me to be grateful for things, so Im going to try to say one thing that I'm thankful for each day.

I'm thankful for mom stil being here when dad isnt.

Halloween Special: Quilava's Nightmare

On the Eve of Nightmare Night,

The folks all rest their heads with delight.

But one Quilava stayed awake,

The only sound was his watch's tick.

He stared outside, curiosity filled,

And for the moment, the world stilled.

Floating there was a lone Shuppet,

With eyes showing much covet.

He lit up his fire spot with Flash,

But nothing flowed except particles of ash.

Careful not to cause a stir,

He scurried out the open door.

Slowly walking towards the source,

He came across a shadow that looked like a horse.

He attempted to speak,

But nothing came out; not even a squeak.

He backed away out of fright,

Now realizing the error of his plight.

The shadow crept toward him,

The yellow eyes being the only part not dim.

Quilava ignited the fire in his terror,

While the darkness covered the ground and floor.

The shadows grasped at his light,

Extinguishing them to nothing but slight.

The horse cackled a broken voice,

Taunting the Quilava for his wrong choice.

Black consumed all the surrounding area,

The chill of the shadows stinging his paw.

Quilava attempted to run,

But the fearful shadow wasn't done.

A painful scratch struck his back,

The gash spreading its eternal black.

The Quilava writhed with agony

As he begged for tranquility.

From the corner of his eye,

The shadow began to spry.

It formed into something he truly feared,

One who he previously thought of as weird.

A human with a grievous smile.

Eyes shining with evil guile.

Quilava continued to squirm,

But the force that held him was firm.

The human approached him with an evil cackle,

With the sounds of the terrible shackles.

Quilava gave a loud scream. He looked around to find he was in the same place. He felt very bad-fear, but he was good-Uh, okay.

Mister William can explain what that was later, he thought as he went back into his bed and started sleep again. But the bad feeling of fear was still in him.