A New World, Filled With Curiosity

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!