A New World, An Old Promise

Chapters

I
II
III
Intermission I

I

A hot dry wind blew across the open plains of cracked, rains starved ground as the sun brightly over head, its rays beating down on on all beneath it. Despite the benevolent intentions of the pony that guided it across the sky each day, many beings of many different species had fallen into the habit of continually cursing its presence. If only it were not quite as warm most of time it would be much easier to tolerate, but as it was, most could do little more than grumble at their perceived misfortune.

Cherry Jubilee was not one of these individuals. The red maned mare had learned long ago to not begrudge things that she had no control over. Her basic opinion on the matter was that if it helped more ponies than it hindered, then there was absolutely no point in griping. If there was going to be anything that she would have a problem with, it would be with the schedule of the weather ponies charged with bringing rain clouds, which should have arrived some time in the last two days.

Yet here she was now, standing on the train platform, and there was not so much as a wisp of a cloud in sight, and the soil showed no signs of a recent deluge. The sky above remained clear, blue, and at times unbearably hot. Jubilee herself would not have minded if Celestia was willing to call it in early that day. Little drops of sweat rolled down her cream colored, soaking her fur until the moisture evaporated from existence. At least it was getting late in the afternoon, so it would not be too long before the sun started to set.

Glancing around at the little wooden shacks and houses that made up the majority of the towns infrastructure, although truthfully Dodge Junction barely qualified for the term as it had no more than a few dozen buildings. In actuality the place was little more than a pit stop for travelers, pony or otherwise, to take a break from their trip before continuing on their way. Very few here were permanent residents, which at times made the place feel more like a ghost town than not.

But even then, it was still home to Cherry Jubilee, and the earth pony mare could not even imagine herself living anywhere else in Equestria but here.

Pausing to take a breath and take in the scent of her home town, Cherry trotted off of the train platform, and began humming a little tune to herself that her niece had taught her. At the moment she could not recall the exact lyrics, but the pleasant melody had remained a fixture in Cherry's mind ever since she had heard the filly singing it during her last visit. Jubilee continued as such for a few minutes, making her way along a familiar road, when she forced to come to a halt as a creature that was definitely not native to this continent, or even this dimension, crossed her path.

It was approximately between three and four feet tall, and sported bulky green armor on its torso, while its exposed leathery skin was colored a dark grey with splotches of red. In addition the creature possessed two tusks that sprouted from either side of its upper jaw at a horizontal angle, with red at the tips. Walking upright on its hind legs, the creature carried a bulging sack over its shoulders.

One would think that the moment that Jubilee saw the intimidating creature she would run away and hide and call for help. She did no such thing however, even when the creature noticed her as it walked along. Pausing, the creature turned towards Jubilee before proceeded to wave at her and say, "Fraxure."

"Well, good afternoon to ya too Blitz," Jubilee replied cheerfully, giving the pokemon a smile. "Hope that you're doin' okay under this heat."

"'Xure," Blitz replied with a shrug, causing a metallic clinking sound originating from the bag he was carrying.

Taking notice of the sound emanating from it, Jubilee said in an observant tone, "I see those parts that Silver Spanner's been waitin' for have finally came. Is that mare still workin' on that old carriage of hers?"

Blitz rolled his crimson eyes and answered while giving her a slow nod, "Fra, fraxure."

Unable to suppress a chuckle, Jubilee said, "Well, don't be workin' too hard now. Can't have ya faintin' in the middle of the road now."

Reaching into the pockets of one of the saddlebags slung over her back, Cherry procured a hoofful of bits and tossed them to the pokemon. "Here," she said warmly. "Do yourself a favor and get yourself somethin' at the Salt Block." Before Blitz could offer any sort of protest to her Jubilee cut him off with a wave of her hoof and said, "Ah! I don't want to hear none of that now. I know how hard ya work for Spanner, and gettin' yourself a drink is the least ya should be doin' for yourself. Ya can do it later if it makes ya feel any better."

Glancing at the coins in his cawed hand, Blitz gave Jubilee a small nod of appreciation.

"Fraxure," he said.

"Think nothin' of it there sweetie," Jubilee responded before letting blitz continue on his way. "Take care o' yourself now, ya hear?" she said in farewell, getting a short wave as Blitz disappeared around a corner, and Jubilee resumed her own trek across town.

When the creatures known as pokemon had first appeared in locations all across the world as a result of some sort of inter-dimensional relocation program, Cherry Jubilee would have been counted as one of the first ponies to lock herself in her room and start figuring out a way to contact the royal guard so they would come and remove them. While a few of the odd creatures seemed harmless for the most part, many others, ranging in appearance from metal birds with razor sharp wings to wingless dragons with axes for teeth, were downright fearsome to look at. If Jubilee had been told back then that she would come to call some of them her acquaintances, and in some cases her close friends, she would have likely accused whoever made the claim of being a complete loon.

And yet now, more than a few months since that fateful day when she found a weird dancing cactus that made a sound similar to maracas raiding her pantry, that is exactly what happened. Now every time she thought back to that moment she could not help but shake her head at how much she acted like a scared filly when the dancing cactus was obviously just as confused and frightened as she was.

What made the situation even stranger was a fair number of the odd creatures had actually not been pokemon to begin with, but were formerly some sort of ape like beings called "hyoomahns". At least that is how Jubilee thought it was pronounced. Jubilee herself could hardly imagine waking up one day to find herself in an unfamiliar place while inhabiting an unfamiliar body.

But even then, in those days when everypony and everyone was just trying to make sense of the incredibly stressful situation, Jubilee had learned rather quickly that Equestria's newest residents were harmless, at least for the most part. She also learned early on that they were here to stay, so there was really no point in hiding in her room forever, and if Jubilee was honest with herself, she would sometimes have difficulty recalling a time where she would not occasionally see a skarmory flying overhead or a dunsparce crossing her path.

Cherry began to hum again as she trotted along, saying hello to anypony or pokemon she happened to pass by. After a few minutes she eventually left the perimeter of Dodge Junction behind her, entering an orchard consisting of dozens upon dozens of cherry trees of various types, along with the occasional oran or pecha berry tree. It was as she was strolling through them on the route to her house that she came across a large object resembling a sharks dorsal fin sticking straight up out of the ground, and she took note of the deep rumble that it seemed to be giving off.

"I see the old coot decided to take a nap in my orchard. . . again," she said aloud with grim amusement. Unfortunately the matter could not be dealt with at the moment, as it was starting to get rather late in the afternoon now. Besides, he was not hurting anything by just sleeping there, and she would have hated waking him up just to make him sleep somewhere else.

"I'll get Mavis to set him straight in the mornin'," she decided as she resumed walking, the sound of snoring gradually fading behind her. Presently her home came into view, appearing over a rise in the path, located near the center of her orchard. For a two story log house, it was fairly modest, but compared to the rest of Dodge Junction she might as well be living in a mansion. Jubilee had inherited it from her aunt and uncle, and she made sure to keep it in good condition since then.

Grateful to be home at long last, Jubilee aproached the house and stepped onto the wide porch. She did not immediately go inside however, instead choosing to set her saddlebags on the floor and sit down to simply sit down and enjoy the moment as the sky gradually began to darken. She took a deep breath through her nostrils, inhaling the faint scent of cherries in her lungs before releasing it into the evening air.

The moment was interrupted when an odd sight distracted her. A small glass filled about halfway with reddish liquid floated into her line of sight, surrounded by a light blue aura similar to that of a unicorns. "Oh," she said in mild surprise as the glass hovered in front of her. Already aware of who was behind the act, Jubilee took the glass, balancing it on the bottom of her hoof. She allowed herself a brief sip before turning to address the dark being standing behind her.

"Hello there Mavis," Jubilee said cheerfully. Patting the vacant spot next to her with a free hoof she added, "Why don't ya come here and join me? The sunset's especially pretty."

Silently, a tall black pokemon hovered up beside the mare before settling down next to her with her concealed legs hanging over the side of the porch. As always, the gothitelle was dressed in attire much like a segmented black nightgown with four white ribbons along the front. In the past Jubilee had wondered why she never seemed to opt for a change in wardrobe, until she learned that her "clothes" were really more of a second layer of skin. Jubilee had felt somewhat embarrassed for asking the question, in public no less, but she was glad that her friend did not seem interested in holding the matter against her. Apparently the topic was just as obscure here as where she came from.

Taking another sip from her glass, Jubilee savored the taste of cherry tinted cider before turning to Mavis again.

"Did ya get yourself one too?" she asked. Her answer came when Mavis glanced at her with a small grin on her purple face, and a second glass floated into view. Mavis proceeded to pluck the beverage out of the air with her fingers before drinking. Jubilee chuckled and shook her head. A few moments of silence passed between the two before one of them finally spoke, although it was not with her mouth.

"So how was your trip?" Mavis asked, her voice echoing slightly in Jubilee's head in its familiar accent. "Was the train ride any good?"

Not even bothering to wonder how exactly she was able to hear an accent through a mental link, Jubilee merely shrugged and replied, "It was fine I suppose. The trip from Fillydelphia was as long and borin' as it usually is. Had to wait a while for the train to get to the station too, and there was this weird stallion there that kept givin' me a funny look. He kinda looked like the type o' pony that had a little too much o' the strong stuff, if ya know what I mean."

"Really?" Mavis said, adopting a concerned expression. "He didn't try anything, did he?"

"Nah," Jubilee answered with a wave of her hoof. "One o' them big fightin' type friends o' yours saw it and gave him a look of his own that would've made a hydra think twice. Some big four armed fella in speedos, looked like he was on a business trip or something. Besides,, even if he did decide to try anything funny, well," Jubilee began to chuckle as she spoke, "I didn't spend my whole career in a managerial position. I've bucked every cherry tree ya see here, and I got the legs to prove it."

They both shared a laugh at her statement, after which another pause followed as they simply enjoyed being in each others company. It was times like these that the mare enjoyed the most in life. She would never be the kind of pony one could call lazy, but she would be damned if she did not get a few moments every now and then to be with a friend. Cherry turned to Mavis to say something similar to that, but stopped when she noticed the frown that had formed on the gothitelle's face, along with the distant look in her vivid blue eyes as she stared ahead at seemingly nothing. Cherry quickly found her good mood soured the moment she saw it, and she understood exactly why Mavis had changed so suddenly.

Jubilee let a quiet sigh as she set her empty glass down. "Still miss em'?" she asked in a way that did not really sound like a question.

Mavis remained silent as she watched the sun sink lower and lower in the horizon, painting the sky a rich orange. Her lack of a response was answer enough for Jubilee, and the mare felt compelled to put a hoof on her friends shoulder, offering any comfort she could.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that their out there somewhere," Jubilee added. "And you know what?" she asked, getting a questioning look from the pokemon. "I'd be willin' to bet anythin' that they miss ya miss just as much."

After a brief moment, Mavis finally let a small smile cross her face, and she put her own hand Jubilee's shoulder.

"Well," Cherry said, "I should probably let ya go now. Thanks again for watching the house and makin' sure it didn't burn down while I was away."

Mavis let out a little laugh at the quip. "Always happy to help ma'am," she replied. "And I'll be sure to take care of guest tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

"How did you-" Jubilee began to say, until she was struck by realization. "Ah yeah, that's right. Mind powers and whatnot. Can never quite get used to that."

Mavis apparently could not help but find humor at Jubilee's expense, but the mare took it all in stride. She was just happy that the pokemon was feeling better. Their glasses now empty, Mavis stood and dusted herself off. Saying a last farewell to the gothitelle, Jubilee watched as a white mist suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere, surrounding Mavis and obscuring her from sight. When the fog dissipated, Mavis was gone, leaving Jubilee alone once more on the porch of her house.

"I wonder how long until she finds out there's no more pie left," Mavis wondered wondered as her vision was obscured by a thick blanket of white fog. She knew Jubilee would likely be a little upset to find that all of her desserts had mysteriously disappeared in the time she had been away, but it was nothing that Mavis could not easily replace or make up for. She knew how to prepare a more than decent meal from her previous life. She could still vaguely recall a few of the nice compliments she had received in her line of work.

As Mavis reminisced about her past experiences, she hardly noticed the scenery around her gradually begin to change. The fog slowly faded away, transforming into a pristine wooden floor polished to near perfection, and walls adorned with many paintings of various people and landscapes. Overhead was a tall arched ceiling, giving the interior of the mansion an almost cavernous feel to it. The faint smell of flowers was constantly present.

Mavis paused, taking it all in. The sights, the smell, just the familiarity of it all.

The faint sound of footsteps drew her attention to her left, where she saw a pair of ornate wooden doors decorated with a carving of a serperior. Mavis smiled fondly as she went over to the door and grasped the handles. She opened the door and stepped inside, letting herself be carried away by her memories.

Author's Note

So here it is. I finally decided to get on the bandwagon and submit my own side story to Zeus's masterpiece of a tale.
Now, before I begin, I just want to thank each and every single one of you for taking the time to read my tale. It really means a lot to me that you do, and I hope that you enjoy it.
If any of you are wondering if this story is in any way connected to the others, know that this story will largely be independent. Whether or not characters from other tales will be featured here or vise versa, or if it will even be considered canon to Zeus's story, is up to interpretation at this point.
Once again, I hope that you enjoy, and kindly request that you point out any errors through the PM so that I can correct them.
Dilos1

II

The morning came far too early for Cherry Jubilee as streams of sunlight cascaded through the drapes of her bedroom window before hitting right where her head just so happened to be located on the foot of the bed. While some would note this is as an odd habit of hers, Jubilee purposefully oriented herself like this each night just for the sole purpose of rising early. That, and it was too much effort to move the bed.

It was a ritual that the mare adhered to almost religiously. Unfortunately it also came with the annoyance of being unable to do anything about it except get up. The sun was not like an alarm clock that she could push off the dresser or throw something at. If she wanted to hit the snooze button on the sun, she was going to have to bring it up with Celestia, and it was too much effort to go to Canterlot and back just for an extra five minutes of sleep.

Burying her muzzle in the folds of her blanket, Jubilee let out a muffled groan, thinking that maybe if she tried hard enough she could ignore the obligation to rise, and go back to her blissful slumber. It was not be however, as soon enough the suns rays began to to feel hot on her back, prompting the pony to move away, dragging herself across the mattress in an effort to find a more comfortable spot. This unfortunately resulted in her sliding right off of the edge and falling to the wooden floor with all of the care and grace of a snorlax.

A typical morning in the life of Cherry Jubilee.

groaning not so much from the fall and more from a lack of sleep, Jubilee began the slow and drawn out process of getting on her hooves, one limb at a time. After a small eternity filled with the moaning and groaning of a mare who sounded like she should be among the ranks of the undead, Jubilee was eventually able to peel herself off of the floor. She remained where she stood though for a few moments as she slowly regained her sense of self.

Her crimson mare, normally done up in a large bun on the top of her head, cascaded around her face and shoulders like a waterfall, swaying a little as she finally started to move forward. As she slowly walked to her bedroom door, she noticed an odd, though not unpleasant, smell reach her nose, steadily coaxing the pony into alertness. Something was cooking downstairs, and whatever it was, it smelled good, which prompted a low growl to sound from her stomach. Letting her nose guide her through the house, Jubilee followed the scent out of her room and downstairs, her hooves clicking on the floorboards with each step. Eventually she found herself in the kitchen, in the presence of what at first glance looked like a chefs poltergeist.

All manner of cooking utensils could be seen floating around, with an occasional egg or milk carton added to the mix, each of them enveloped in a light blue aura. At the center of the nexus of kitchenware was none other than Mavis. She was standing in front of the stove with a measuring cup filled with batter hovering next to her head, and the sound of something sizzling could be heard. Without even looking at Jubilee Mavis mentally greeted her in a cheerful tone, "Good morning, lazy flank!"

Too brain dead to offer any sort of witty retort, Jubilee merely responded with a low grumble that, if one were to listen carefully, sounded vaguely like the phrase, "Screw you too."

Mavis chortled from her place at the stove while she continued to manipulate the pan with her thoughts. Jubilee trotted over to an empty seat at the table that looked to have set up for her, sitting upright for all of five seconds before her forehead met the tabletop with a dull thud. The clatter of a plate being set in front of her drew her out of her torpid state enough to look at her breakfast with bleary eyes. Mavis had apparently taken it upon herself to decorate her meal to resemble a smiling face with whipped cream eyebrows, strawberry eyes and mouth and scrambled eggs in place of hair. Below it, written in maple syrup was the hellish phrase, "GOOD MORNING!"

"What kind of sick joke is this?" Jubilee muttered. An amused laugh made her look to see Mavis attempting to stifle herself with a hand placed over her mouth as the gothitelle sat down at the opposite end of the table, her own breakfast consisting of a collection of berries and something that resembled a muffin.

"Still not a morning pony I see," Mavis said in an observant tone as she skewered one of the berries with a fork. It was one of the few times Jubilee saw the gothitelle use her hands for anything. Mavis was vehemently opposed to using her telekinetic abilities at the table, as she considered it to be very poor manners. Jubilee was glad that she never had to contend with that herself, but to this day she still cringed whenever she thought of the time her aunt Ivy, who just so happened to be a unicorn, decided to pay a visit.

Shaking her head to dislodge the thought, Jubilee finally answered, "Never was." Bending her head down, she took a small bite of her meal. Mavis merely nodded as she ate, and a long silence followed.

"So," Jubilee spoke up, "how did you handle bein' in charge while I was away? The others didn't give you any trouble I hope."

Mavis shrugged. Still chewing, she answered, "They were fine for the most part. They know better than to get on my bad side, so there were hardly any problems. Although, there was one instance when of the stallions, Dusty I think is his name, tripped while he was hauling a load of cherries and landed on Brooke. You could have probably heard him screaming all the way from the other side of town. When we got there we found him stuck on her thorns in a rather. . . compromising position."

Jubilee nearly choked on her food as she fought to keep herself from laughing, and she felt her sour morning mood disappear entirely.

When she finally recovered she asked, "Really?!"

Mavis nodded as she cut up the muffin thing with a butter knife. "Yup. You really should have been there to see it. . . . Actually, now that I think about it, you can."

At first Jubilee was confused what Mavis meant by that, until she felt a presence that was both alien and familiar enter her mind, and thoughts, feelings and emotions that were not her own became present. The first time it had happened Jubilee had outright panicked as thoughts of old legends regarding soul stealers and their methods were remembered from stories told around the campfire. Shhe had of course quickly learned that was not the case when Mavis explained what was going on. Now the gothitelle used this method of communication on a regular basis.

Jubilee could no longer contain herself as she saw the image of a brown coated, black maned stallion and a maractus, both of them blushing quite profusely. They appeared to be stuck together like velcro in an awkward position that one would think was actually quite romantic, were it not for the fact that the pony was grimacing from the contact. Jubilee howled with laughter as she banged a hoof on the table, much to Mavis's displeasure as the silverware and plates rattled violently.

"Feeling better, I assume," Mavis said as she set about rearranging the scattered items. Jubilee nodded, attempting to rein in her mirth a little so she could finish her breakfast. Mavis nodded back as a content grin grew on her face.

Jubilee took a moment to spare a glance at the grandfather clock in the next room, noticing that it was now approaching eight. Deciding she had enough time left to talk before she had to get to work, Jubilee cleared her throat and asked, "So, did anything else happen while I was away that I should know about? Like maybe a certain friend o' yours has decided to take a literal dirt nap right in the middle of my orchards?"

In less time than it took for her to blink, Mavis's face morphed into a scowl, and she let out a frustrated sigh.

"How many times do I have to tell you ma'am? I am not friends with that garchomp. It's just that no matter what I do or tell him he refuses to leave me alone, like he's got rocks in his head or something." Mavis shook her head. "I swear, of all the things he could have done, h chooses to pursue this weird dragon code of honor. I don't even know where he learned that either. How many times do I have to tell him to get lost before he gets the message?"

Mavis's frustrated rant was interrupted when she heard the sound of Jubilee chuckling.

"What?" she demanded.

"Oh nothin'," Jubilee replied. Mavisdid not buy that for a moment, and she shot the mare a sour look, but chose to let it go this time. Just then, Mavis seemed to recall something.

"Ah yes, before I forget," she said, her tone suddenly changing dramatically as her eyes began to glow a bright blue. Within moments a large stack of envelopes floated into the view before stopping directly over the table. The blue aura surrounding them vanished, causing them to fall in a heap onto the table. Some spilled over the edge before fluttering to the floor. Jubilee had to hold her plate above her head to save it from the avalanche of paper, after which she gave Mavis a disapproving look that the pokemon seemed all too happy to ignore as she took a dainty sip of tea from her glass, although they way one the corners of her mouth were turned upward was hardly inconspicuous. Jubilee sighed and rolled her eyes before moving some the envelopes to clear a spot for her plate before sorting through the mail she had missed while she was away.

Most of it appeared to be bills, unsurprisingly. They unfortunately came with the territory of owning a business, and were consistently an unwelcome sight for Jubilee. A few however looked like payments for cherry shipments, a good number of those originateing from Ponyville. Each of those ones had a little note card attached decorated with little heart shaped stickers. Jubilee did not even have to wonder who those came from. Ever since she contributed a good portion of her stock to that wedding a while back she had received a number of similar letters.

As she continued to sort through them, one envelope stood out among the others, a white one with her address written somewhat crudely on the back. Jubilee recognized the hoof writing almost immediately, and a small smile adorned her face as she reached for it. Tearing the top away with her teeth, Jubilee quickly pulled out a folded piece of parchment and began to read eagerly.

"Well, ain't that just so sweet o' her," Jubilee said aloud happily, causing Mavis to look at her with a curious expression.

"What is it?" the gothitelle asked.

Still grinning like a little school filly, Jubilee answered, "It's a letter from my niece. Ya remember little Peach Blossom right?" Immediately upon hearing that name, Mavis's face turned into a scowl, but Jubilee either did not notice or did not care as she continued to speak. "Why, it's been ages since I last saw her." Looking at Mavis she added, "I remember she took a real likin' to ya when y'all first met."

"I remember she liked to pull on my feelers all the time," Mavis muttered before realizing that she had unintentionally let that thought be broadcasted to Jubilee. It was the perfect example of thinking aloud.

"Oh come now, there's no need to be like that,"Jubilee admonished, although her tone sounded more playful than harsh.

"These things are sensitive, I'll have you know," Mavis retorted, indicated the black disc like appendages on either side of her teardrop shaped head. "Now don't get me wrong, I do like her, but how would you like it if you had a six year old filly tugging on you so much it felt like you were going to have a brain aneurysm?"

Jubilee could not help but grimace at the very thought of the experience. "Ooh, I see what ya mean there," she conceded. "But ya still gotta admit, that filly adores ya to pieces, and it's likely she's learned some restraint since ya last saw her, so it wouldn't do ya any good to hold grudge over it."

Now it was Mavis's turn to concede the point to Jubilee, as she could not find anything to say that would disagree with that statement. "I suppose your right," she eventually admitted, giving the pony a slow nod as she brought a cut off portion of the muffin up to her mouth.

"Course I am," Jubilee stated, happy to hear that from the pokemon. "Which is why I'll be so happy when she comes by to visit us next week so you two can spend some quality time with each other."

The moment she heard this, Mavis accidentally inhaled some of her food. Her eyes were bulging, and she began to cough and sputter violently. She began hitting her chest with a fist in an attempt to dislodge the obstruction in her throat. Jubilee meanwhile simply sat and watched the spectacle with a small, smug grin plastered on her muzzle. Mavis was eventually able to get herself to breathe normally again. Breaking her own code of conduct, she refilled her empty glass with her telekinesis and promptly downed the entire thing.

"Gothi-" she began to say, only to remember that Jubilee would not be able to understand in this way. "Would you mind repeating that?" she asked mentally while she continued to clear her throat. Still grinning, Jubilee slid the letter over to her as she began to explain.

"Apparently Peach's folks are sendin' her on over for a visit. Seems that that both she and them want her to spend the week with her favorite pokemon."

"My name is not spelled with a 'y'," Mavis stated as she examined the letter in her hands. Setting it down she let out a sigh and stood, levitating her empty plate over to the sink. "It's kind of odd though, don't you think? Usually whenever we see her it's when we're the ones visiting, not the other way around. Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

Jubilee shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Don't know, but I'm sure it's nothin' to get worked up about. In any case I guess we'd better get movin'. Don't wanna waste the day chattin' after all, and you still got your friend in my orchard to take care of."

Shaking her head, Mavis continued to grumble. "I swear, if that girl even looks at me weird. . ." she began to say before trailing off as she head for the door.

"Oh come now, don't be like that," Jubilee called after her, unable to stop the grin from splitting her face. "It'll be good for the both of ya."

Mavis muttered something in her native tongue that Jubilee was sure was sure was some variation of swearing. All she could do was chuckle at her friends behavior, secretly wondering how long it would be until she blew something up.

III

The morning air was just beginning to warm up a little as the sun gradually rose higher into the sky when Mavis stepped outside. She paused for a few brief moments to take in the scent of the orchard, enjoying the surreal stillness before the day began.

And yet. . .

Mavis's gaze lowered to the dry ground beneath her feet, feeling her content expression fade into moroseness. Briefly she wondered if Jubilee had managed to catch wind of any of the emotions that Mavis purposefully neglected to tell her. She did not believe so, as none of Jubilee's actions seemed to indicate she was aware of them, but it was always a possibility whenever Mavis opened her mind to allow them to communicate.

As far as Mavis was concerned, there was no need to concern her friend with a matter such as this, but she did not fool herself into believing that she would be able to keep her thoughts private forever without cutting Jubilee off completely. Jubilee would find out eventually that there was something going on with her. Until that day however, Mavis would just act as though nothing were wrong, and just go about her day as she always had.

"Business as usual."

Floating above the ground to save herself the trouble of walking, Mavis silently moved away from the house with her hands clasped behind her back, her first objective for the day lying just ahead of her, appearing in the form of a large bluish-grey dorsal fin sticking out of the soil like a strange rock formation. Letting a heavy sigh escape her lips, Mavis approached the object and examined it with a critical gaze before giving it a firm kick.

"Hey! Wake up you overgrown salamander," she ordered loudly as she continued to kick it repeatedly. "Time to get up and get lost."

Within a few moments the soil beneath her began to stir, reminded her a little bit of churning water as a large creature rose up out of the ground. Mavis stood back a little bit to avoid any dirt getting on her, and watched with a bemused expression as a garchomp, standing roughly between eight and nine feet in height, stood, stretching his claw tipped arms and letting out a mighty yawn, exposing the rows of small pointed teeth in his mouth. The large pokemon then took a brief moment to shake the dust he had accumulated on himself. As the dirt fell off of his body multiple scars running across his rough hide were made visible, the most prominent one being a large diagonal line running down his torso, starting from his right shoulder down to his left hip, the result of having fought a great many battles. He was actually well known, once in the Lumiose Badlands and now Dodge Junction, as something of a bruiser, as it used to be that he would run off anything that tried to usurp his claim over an oasis in that arid part of the Kalos Region.

Yet, despite this reputation, the big fellow was actually something of a gentle giant, especially around those much smaller than him. Whenever young ones or injured were involved, he always made sure to keep himself in check. This was all well and good in Mavis's opinion, but to her it was offset by his lack of regard for the property of others, and the only thing on her mind right now was to get him to leave so she could be on her way.

Finally taking notice of her, the garchomp flashed her a toothy grin and said in a rough tone laced with the onset of age, "Oh, mornin' there Mavis. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, Mavis wondered how much longer he would pretend to not know why she was here. It had become something of a ritual between them, where he would feign ignorance and innocence while her annoyance grew. She was pretty sure that he found some sort of amusement in it, judging from the look on his face, which only made it that much more aggravating. It probably would not have bothered her so much if it did not work.

"You're not fooling anyone here Grump," Mavis replied, using the nickname given to him by the residents of Dodge Junction. "You know exactly why I'm here, so pack your bags and get going."

Grump placed a claw on his red skinned chest across the scar, as though he were actually hurt by the remark. Mavis knew better though, having long since learned that the old pokemon had at some point in his life become a bit of a trickster, oftentimes manipulating the younger generations of both ponies and pokemon into getting his way.

"Why Mavis," he said in a rather convincing solemn tone that would have probably fooled anyone else, "how could you say such a thing, and to your elder no less? What have I ever done to deserve such treatment from the very same individual to whom I owe my own life to?"

"You mean other than the fact you annoy me on a daily basis just for kicks? Not to mention you digging around here damages the roots of the Jubilee's trees? Nope, can't think of anything."

At this Grump let out out a deep rumble in his throat and responded, "Well what am I supposed to do? This is the only good soil around for miles." After saying this Grump fixed her with a blank look that suggested that she had been a bit too callous with him, "Also, I did not know that I found pleasure in making you uncomfortable instead of repaying a debt. I thought it was just to stay close by should you have need of my assistance, but apparently that is not the case as you see it."

Mavis sighed, understanding that she may have been a little bit more abrasive with Grump than she intended to be. For all of his faults, he was a gentle that cared deeply for those he considered his friends.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I should not have said that." Mavis apologized sincerely. Crossing her arms she added, "I. . . don't know if you've noticed, but I've been rather on edge as of late."

"Oh don't worry, I noticed," Grump responded, giving her a sympathetic look. "And to be honest I'm a little concerned. Are you well? Has that pony, Peachy or whatever absurd name it was, been treating you well?"

"Yes of course," Mavis answered, not wanting the garchomp to get the wrong idea. "Jubilee has been very kind to me. I know I've told before that since we met she's been nothing but kind and respectful to me, which is actually more than I can say for most of the humans I've met. As for me. . . I'm doing as well as I can I suppose. It's nothing you need to worry about."

Grump narrowed his eyes slightly as a deep rumble escaped his throat, sounding very much like boulders grinding against each other to Mavis' ears, and she could tell that he wanted to say something to her, wanted to pursue the matter. In the end however he chose not to however. "Well, if you say so," he said. Brushing away some dirt that was still stuck to him he added, "Well in any case, do you still wish for me to depart?"

Mavis was about to say that was indeed what she wanted, but then she thought about her earlier conversation with Jubilee just a short while ago. Deciding to at least humor him for the being, she said," You know what Grump, why don't you stick around? I was planning to get something down at the Salt Block. The tender there knows me, so I could get him to get something for you to. What do you say?"

Appearing to mull over her offer, the large dragon type pokemon put a claw to his chin and said," Well, I don't normally like to get involved with them ponies, but I suppose that as long as you're offering, then who am I to decline."

Nodding in appreciation, Mavis motioned for hi to follow her as she started to make her way to town, the sound of his feet thudding on the ground letting her know that he was close behind.

"Oh, just so you know, this isn't going to be a regular thing for us," she said over her shoulder.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Grump replied with a deep chuckle.

The commute into town was a short one, but Mavis nevertheless enjoyed the quiet as they approached the wooden buildings. She had once heard a pony on her way to Manehatten refer to the structures as oversized storage sheds, which she supposed was true to at least some extent. Mavis herself once shared that opinion, as she was more used to living on a neat and tidy estate one would associate with the rich and powerful. Over time however Mavis had come to appreciate what Dodge Junction had to offer, in spite of its lack luster appearance.

She only wished that it did not feel so empty half of the time. Dodge Junction had few residents in comparison to other small towns such as Ponyville or Hollow Shades. The last time she checked, the overall population came out at around eighty or so individuals, pokemon included. This oftentimes made the place seem more like a ghost town. So far the only other residents she had seen were a stallion sitting on his porch and a pair of fillies playing with a trapinch. Nobody seemed to be out at this time as the Salt Block finally came into view. The establishment itself looked like a saloon in an old western film, complete with swinging doors and tacky wooden buffalo statue.

Letting herself drift to the ground, Mavis strolled up the doors with Grump still following close behind. When she reached the doors she stopped, waiting expectantly with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Well?" Grump questioned as he came up beside her. "Are you going to go in or not?"

In response Mavis gave him a little smile and said, "It is only proper for one to open a door for a lady, is it not? It is good manners after all."

Grump sighed heavily, looking slightly annoyed as he reached went over and pulled the door open to allow her entry.

"Thank you," Mavis sang as she proceeded to step inside, choosing to ignore whatever the garchomp was muttering under his breath regarding her own manners. Inside she was greeted by a somewhat dark and mildly stuffy interior, helped slightly by a few open windows. Above her head was an ornate iron chandelier, unlit at this time of the day, surrounded by a quartet of ceiling fans that spun slowly. The current Block's current occupants consisted of about eight ponies. A few of them were in conversation with each other, others chose to sit alone, while the last pony, a thin unicorn stallion with light bluish grey fur, was busy arranging supplies behind the counter. There were only two other pokemon in there as well, a murkrow that was perched on the chandelier and a cacturne that was sitting at the front counter, nursing a drink.

When they entered they received only a few passing glances, most of them reserved for Grump as he was the more eye catching of the two, especially seeing as how he was having a minor amount of difficulty squeezing through the door. However Mavis was all but too aware of the cacturnes' gaze tracking her movement with his vivid yellow eyes. Even though she was unable to read his mind on account of type, Mavis knew all too well what was on his mind as he looked at her. She could not help but feel her skin crawl a little from it. This only it all the more satisfying when he spotted Grump, who was finally able to get inside while causing only minor damage to the door frame, although little chunks of wood and paint could still be seen on his rough skin. Almost immediately the cacturne turned away, now only occasionally glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Letting a satisfied smile cross her face, Mavis casually strolled over to the counter, where she sat down with her hands neatly folded in her lap. Since he was likely to break the bar stool if he so much as leaned on it, Grump chose to shove the seat aside and sat cross legged on the floor next to her.Even sitting down, the mach pokemon still towered over almost everyone else by a good few inches. Within moments the bartender approached them, and Mavis almost had to struggle as his large sideburns quivered as he spoke.

"Mornin' there Mavis. Nice to see ya around here again," he said in a friendly tone. "Anythin' that I can get for ya?"

Projecting her thoughts toward the stallion, Mavis replied in an equally friendly tone, "My usual if you would please Brass. And one more for my companion here."

Brass eyed Grump analytically before stating, "I'm not sure a glass would suit you there big fella."

"Whatever you can do will be fine," Mavis said as she slid him a pair of bits. Brass gave her a curt nod as he set to work.It was only a minute or two until he came back, levitating a glass over to her, while grump received a large tin cup. The garchomp had to use both of his clawed tips to try and pick it up before bringing it up to his fanged mouth.

Giving Mavis a sly grin, Brass said to her as she took a sip, "Ya know Mavis, that stuff ain't exactly cheap to have shipped all the way out here, and you're pretty much the only one in town that even drinks it."

Smiling sheepishly, Mavis said apologetically, "Sorry. I guess I'm just a bit too used to the fancy stuff."

Brass chuckled. "Eh, don't worry about it. Everyone and everypony here knows you've at least earned yourself that much."

Mavis thanked him, sincerely appreciative of his hospitality. He was certainly much nicer than some of the humans she had met in the past, including a former one that was currently sitting not too far away from her. Gesturing to the cacturne in question, she asked, "So what's with tall dark and spiky over there? I thought you banned him from coming here anymore."

"You mean Baxter?" questioned replied, keeping his voice low enough that he would not be overheard by the cacturne. Mavis nodded, at which Brass sighed heavily and said, "No, that's just a rumor that's been floating around since about a week ago. What happened is that he was getting a little too, how do I say. . . direct with some of the patrons, and I had to throw him out. Now though, I'm starting to wish I had banned him, if only so he'll stop bothering my customers."

Mavis nodded in understanding as she took another sip, casting a sidelong glance at Baxter. Mavis herself did not know that much about him, and she had no intention to learn more. What she did know was that he was once a human, like Brooke, along with the fact he was both a pervert and less tan sober most of the time, which was always a bad combination to have. Mavis had thankfully never been unfortunate enough to garner his brand of attention, at least not yet, but she still recalled in vivid detail the time when he started to make advances on Brooke, much to the maractus' chagrin. Nothing had happened thankfully. Mavis made sure of that.

"It's a real shame too," Brass added, interrupting Mavis' train of thought. "I want to believe that there's a good guy in there somewhere, otherwise how would he be here in the first place, right?"

Despite her misgivings regarding the cacturne, Mavis had to admit that Brass did have a point there. Only a handful of humans were selected to go to Equestria, each one having been deemed worthy for it, which brought to mind the question of how someone like Baxter made it through. Perhaps he was different back then, but as he was right now Mavis found it difficult to have much sympathy for him. Raising her glass a little she said, "Here's to hoping he wises up one of these days." She took a drink then, emptying her glass before signalling for a refill.

Suddenly the sound of the doors saloon doors opening drew her attention, and she turned in her seat to see a bedraggled pony mare four large, worn looking saddlebags slung across her back enter the establishment. Mavis instantly recognized the mare as Silver Spanner, a unicorn mare with a rusty brown coat of fur, white hair and a cutie mark of a wrench. While she was not personally acquainted with her, Mavis knew her well enough from brief encounters that she was a good pony with a generally good disposition. From what she heard however she liked to keep her side of the small town awake through the nights by working on whatever projects that happened to catch her fancy, most of them mechanical in nature.

Last night must have been witness to one of these occasions, if Mavis were to judge from her tired appearance. Her mane was mess, her fur was covered in oil stains, and the bags under her bloodshot eyes were so large they could have held water. No different than how she normally looked in all honesty.

With a half lidded gaze and barely any grace to speak of, Silver Spanner plodded and stumbled her way over to the front bar, where she hauled herself up onto a seat a few chairs down from where Mavis was sitting. Waving Brass down, she yelled, "Yo tap! Can I get a block an' a glass o' water?"

"Coming right up," Brass replied. In a few moments he procured a small block of salt and a glass of clear water, levitating them both over to her. Silver Spanner practically yanked them out of his grip with her own magic, levitating the block up to her mouth before noisily sucking on it. Every once in a while she would stop to take a quick swig of water before returning to the salt.

Mavis suppressed a chuckle at the sight as she returned her gaze to her own drink, until she noticed that Baxter's attention had shifted from her to look at Silver Spanner. She also noticed the odd gleam in his yellow eyes as he looked at the mare. Within Moments the cacturne stood up from his seat and began moving towards the mare, occasionally swaying from side to side.

Mavis already knew what was on his mind, and she could not help but feel her skin crawl from thinking about it. Instead of intervening right away however, Mavis chose to wait and watch for the time being. She knew that even in the mares depleted state, Silver Spanner was wise enough to see through his ploy. Silently observing, Mavis watched as Baxter helped himself to an empty seat next to Silver and began a quiet conversation with her. Not for the first time Mavis found herself wondering how and where Baxter learned to speak Equestrian, albeit a somewhat broken version of it. She could not for the life of her figure it out, and Baxter seemed content to keep that information to himself. For now, it was just another mystery regarding who he was.

Mavis was unable to suppress a grin when she saw Baxter frown when Silver said something to him. In response, Baxter tried at another attempt at smooth talk as he reached an arm around her withers. This action was met by Silver's hoof slapping it away as though he were no more than an annoying insect. Baxter still did not seem to take the hint however, as he spoke a little louder, enough for Mavis to hear him say, "Oh come on, don't be like that. You look like you could use a little fun to get you going."

Mavis felt the sudden urge to vomit, and it was then that she decided to intervene.

"I'll be right back," she said to Grump in her native tongue. The garchomp payed her little mind however, as he was still rather preoccupied with trying to grasp his beverage in his claws. Leaving him to deal with that, Mavis casually strolled over to the the two. When she reached them it looked to her as though Silver was about ready to do something violent to the cacturne, and as much as Mavis would have liked to see Baxter get what was coming to him, she felt it was only proper to interfere before the situation got too out of hand.

"Excuse me," Mavis spoke up after clearing her throat, using both her mind and her lips to speak so they would both understand her. "Pardon me for interrupting your little. . . discussion, but it seems to me that the lady does not wish to be bothered at this time."

Baxter's yellow eyes narrowed as he peered at her with an annoyed expression. Mavis found that at least from a distance he was tolerable to be around, but up close she had a hard time trying not be rude by gagging. He was dirty, unkempt, and his breath smelled of many foul things as he spoke.

"Get lost Mavis," he snapped at her in irritation. "Mind your own business."

Mavis frowned as she cocked an eyebrow at him. "I don't think so Baxter," she replied in a quiet tone, fixing him with a withering glare. She felt an immense amount of satisfaction when she saw him flinch, no doubt recalling the last time he had gotten on her bad side.

"Leave. Now."

Mavis hoped that Baxter would have had least retained enough of his dulled sense to comply. Unfortunately it seemed that his memory was failing him as his green face contorted into an expression of anger as leaped up from his seat and took a swing at her aiming for her face. Mavis saw it coming coming however, and easily leaned out of the way, avoiding his blow completely as Baxter, not expecting her to be able to dodge, was carried by his own momentum all the way down to the floor. This gained to attention the saloons other patron as they looked on with mild interest while Baxter scrambled to his feet.

Out of the corner of her eye Mavis noticed Grump beginning to stomp towards them, but Mavis quickly motioned for him stay put. She did not want to kill Baxter after all.

His face contorted with drunken rage, Baxter tried once more to hit her straight in her chest, his arm cloaked in faint aura of green light. Mavis sidestepped away from the blow almost no perceivable effort, causing him to become sprawled over the front counter when his stomach met the its edge. Silver snickered as she pointed a hoof at him. Rather than give up however, Baxter picked up one of the bar stools and raised it over his head to strike Mavis. Mavis looked on incredulously, then with amusement when Baxter swung his makeshift weapon, only to find said weapon missing from. He looked around frantically to see where it went, and soon found that the bar stool was now in the magical grip of Brass.

"These are expensive to replace I'll have you know. You ain't gonna be messing these up," the stallion scolded.

Baxter scowled at the pony, looking ready to try and hit him until a quick "Ahem" drew his attention back to his original opponent. The moment her turned around however he found his face becoming acquainted with a pink fist wrapped in an angry orange aura coming towards him at high speed. The force of the power-up-punch was enough to knock him out instantly, leaving the cacturne to fall to the floor like a sack of rocks.

"Oh Grump," Mavis said all too cheerfully, calling the garchomp over. "Would you be so kind as to take out this piece of rubbish? Its stench is fouling up the air in here."

Giving her a quick salute, Grump replied, "Right away milady." Gathering up Baxter, Grump proceeded to carry him over to the exit, where he was unceremoniously tossed out onto the street.

"Nice swing," Mavis heard someone say behind her, and she turned to find that it was Silver Spanner that ha spoken to her. "Saved me the trouble of havin' to buck his teeth down his throat myself."

"Your welcome," Mavis answered with a nod. "To be fair though, I've been wanting to d that for a while now."

"Can't say that I don't believe you," Silver Spanner replied as she took another sip of her water. "Sorry for asking, but what's your name again? I mean, I known I've met you before, but I can't for the life o' me remember what your name was."

"Really?" Mavis said in surprise. She would admit that she and Silver may not have been that well acquainted with each other, but she would have thought that the mare would at least remember a name that was not an adjective followed by a noun. Still, Mavis chose not to be offended in favor of saying politely, "Well in that case, please just call me Mavis."

"I knew it started with an m," the mare said with a nod. She then offered Mavis a hoof and added, "Well in any case, I Silver Spanner if you didn't already know."

"Don't worry, I did," Mavis answered as she somewhat hesitantly grasped the mares hoof her hand. She did not mean to seem uppity, but she oftentimes felt compelled to wash her hands after shaking a pony's hoof, on account of the fact that she never knew where they had been walking all day. Retracting her hoof, Silver gestured to the chair next to her that Baxter was just sitting in.

"Why don't you take a seat so we can chat a little more?" she asked. "I mean, it pretty much yous seeing as how you punched that guys lights out."

Shrugging, Mavis did as the mare requested and sat down. "Well, I won't say he didn't deserve it, but still I think there could have a better way for me to handle it," Mavis admitted as she retrieved her own drink with mental nudge.

"Maybe," but at least you were willin' to do something about it," Silver Spanner said. "Honestly most of the folks I meet would be happy to just stand by and watch and wait for someone else to do something. You know what I mean?"

Mavis nodded, conceding the point. She recalled a few instances from her previous home where it seemed that whenever people like Baxter started to cause trouble, most would just happily ignore the problem and continue on their merry way.

"For what it's worth though," Silver added, "At least it led to me meeting you for a second time. Hopefully the next will be under better conditions, eh?"

"This sounds like a farewell," Mavis said with a raised eyebrow. "You're not leaving already are you?"

"Afraid so," Silver replied as she stood and began t move away from the counter. "I just remembered I got a whole load of work to do for a couple of clients o' mine. Two stallions in barber uniforms or somethin'. Want my help to fix their weird contraption or whatever. Plus I need to make sure Blitz is doing okay at the workshop. I always get nervous when he's on his own around heavy objects."

With that, Silver Spanner made her way towards the exit, tossing a quick "Be seein' you" to Mavis over her shoulder, leaving Mavis sitting alone at the counter.

After a few moments, Mavis noticed that Brass was giving her an odd look, as though he were expecting something from her. It was at that moment that Mavis realized that Silver had left her to pick up the tab.

Author's Note

Well this took a lot longer to get out than I expected. I hope the fact it's about twice as long as the others help make up for it.
Now, I realize that not a lot seems to be happening in this story at the moment, and that was actually my intention for this story as a whole. If I just start throwing out eldritch evils and political conspiracies wherever until book two comes out. Plus I would prefer this story to not be as action oriented as others. My main focus right now is how the people from the pokemon world are adapting to their new environment. On the topic of Baxter. . . well, just as people can change for the better, so to can people change for the worse.
Be sure to leave a comment below on what you thought of this chapter and the overall story so far.

Intermission I

The process of trading was quick and painless experience, with little to no fuss involved. Aside from the odd feeling that always came with having ones material body broken down and converted into light energy through a process of particle dematerialization, is was relatively smooth.

Granted there there was always the potential risk of there being some sort of malfunction with the trading machine, resulting in her atoms being scattered across the atmosphere, dooming her into an oblivion of thoughtless limbo, but from what the gothorita had heard from listening in on the conversation the humans were having, the odds of that particular event happening were actually very low. Hopefully anyway.

No matter the outcome, it was still quite an unsettling experience for her, and she had a hard time imagining that she would miss it anytime soon.

From the inside of her pokeball, the gothorita was only vaguely aware of a discussion that was taking place, most likely between the old man and the trainer that had traded her.

Former trainer, she remembered with a certain amount of moroseness.

She would admit that, even though she had only been a part of the young girls' ragtag team for a short while, no more than a few weeks she felt, it still stung the gothorita just a little to know that she was being traded away, and for a magikarp of all things. In all honesty, she was not sure if she should feel feel insulted by the girls lack of taste, or relieved that she would not have to spend anymore time around the idiot for the exact same reason. To preserve some semblance of contentedness, she chose to go with the latter.

After a few minutes of inactivity, the gothorita was beginning to feel the onset of boredom settle in. She only found being contained in her pokeball to be tolerable at best, and never liked being cooped up in it for any length of time. She wanted to force her way out so that she could stretch her limbs a little, and as the minutes seconds ticked by that option was looking ever more tempting. In spite of it hwever she kept herself reigned in, not wanting to make a bad first impression on her new master. For some reason most humans did not particularly care for a pokemon that came out of their pokeball without any express permission, so for the time being she waited until she was summoned.

As it turned out it was only another minute before this happened, and in a brief flash of light and energy the gothorita began to feel herself materialize once more, gaining solidity as her feet touched. Dictated by a force of habit, the gothorita quickly checked herself to make sure that nothing was missing. Nothing appeared to have been lost, and the gothorita took the time to stretch her short limbs and brush off her black skirt. That was when she noticed an elderly man dressed in a grey business suit standing a short distance away from her. He was slightly hunched over as he supported himself a peculiar looking white cane.

"Well hello there," the old human said to her in a cheerful tone that did little to reflect his age as he extended a bony hand towards her. "Pleased to meet you there lass."

The gothorita hesitated slightly at the gesture. She had seen many other humans greet each other in this same manner, but had never had the courtesy extended to her. To be greeted in such a way by this man was an unexpected and somewhat surreal experience for her. Deciding not to keep him waiting the gothorita reached up and placed her comparatively small hand in his. To her continued surprise the man did not shake it as she expected, but instead gave it a light kiss. Almost immediately she felt a blush darken her pink face. She knew he was only being courteous, but still she hoped this would not be a regular occurrence.

Rubbing the spot where he kissed her, the gothorita looked around at their surroundings, noticing that they were still in the pokemon center where the trade had taken place. She also noticed that aside from the nurse at the front counter who was busy writing something down on a sheet of paper, they were the only ones in there.

Suddenly she heard the old speak up behind her. "If you're looking for your old trainer, I'm afraid to say that the young lady's already left."

For some reason, hearing that stung the gothorita more than it should have, and she was left feeling unsure as to why.

"Didn't even make the time to say a proper goodbye either," the old man continued, his muttering laced with disappointment. "Trainers these days. Right disrespectful it is." The gothorita gave the man a curious look, noticing that his wrinkled face had adopted a sour expression that would have given any ghost type a good run for their money. "Still, I suppose it's for the best that I managed to get you away from her." Suddenly he leaned down towards her and whispered, "Between you and me, that magikarp I gave her? Real ornery type. bound to give her a bit of grief, especially when it evolves."

The old man began to laugh quietly, and despite herself the gothorita could not help but utter a brief chuckle as well. She decided that she liked him much more than her trainer already, and within moments the feeling of being slighted vanished as it was replaced by mirth.

"Oh! How silly of me!" the man suddenly exclaimed, startling the gothorita a little. "Here we are just wasting time and I haven't even introduced myself yet." Clearing his throat, the old man tapped his chest with the top of his cane and said, "My name is Gordon. Gordon Williams, though my grankid just calls me Pop. You can too if you like."

The gothorita quirked an eyebrow at the statement, unsure exactly how to answer. Her thoughts were interrupted when Gordon gestured towards her and proceeded to ask, "Now then, what might your name little miss?"

The blank stare he received was answer enough.

"Hold on. You mean to tell me that your trainer never thought to give you a proper name?" Gordon questioned. The gothorita shook her head in response, unsure why it was that that important. She soon found out when Gordon added, "Well that's just not going to do at all. I can't just call you by what you are all the time. What if I walk into a room full of gothoritas and I need to find you?"

She supposed that he may have had a point there, although the likelihood of coming across a room full of her kind.

"Would you like for me to give you a name?" Gordon asked her in a soft voice, and once again the gothorita felt that same sense of surrealism of being around him. Until now, no human had shown as much consideration towards her. The way he spoke and acted around her was unlike any of her prior experiences with humans, and she found herself having a hard time processing it. Still she supposed that she would at least humor the old man, as she gave him a short nod in reply.

Appearing satisfied with her answer, Gordon smiled brightly before putting his fingers to his chin in thought. "Alright then, lets see here," he muttered quietly. After a few moments of silence that felt a little awkward for the gothorita his wrinkled face brightened, and he said, "I know! How about Olga?"

Olga?

The gothorita may not have had any special preferences with taking on a name, but she would still like to not have one that did not sound so . . . heavy. She shook her head, alerting him to her disapproval.

"No?" Gordon said, looking genuinely surprised. "I thought you would've liked it. It was my great aunts' name after all, rest her timid soul."

With a name like that, the gothorita doubted that his aunt was all that timid. It made her sound like she could sucker punch a machamp.

"Well alright. How about Mavis then? That was my regular aunts' name."

The gothorita considered the suggestion for a brief moment, mulling it over in her mind. It was certainly much more appealing to her, and it a certain ring to it that she rather liked. Quite a bit actually. Within moments her decision was made, and she gave Gordon a short nod of acceptance.

"Wonderful!" Gordon said loudly, flashing her a bright smile. "I still think Olga would've suited you perfectly, but Mavis is good too."

The newly christened gothorita felt the compulsion to roll her eyes at that, but managed to resist the temptation. She liked this man, and she would rather not risk offending him in a way that would make him think any less of her.

"Well then, now that that's been taken care of, how about we start heading back to my estate. I'm pretty sure you'll like it there."

Mavis nodded, then proceeded to mentally prepare herself to be called back into her pokeball. However, for the third time that day she found herself being caught by surprise when instead of storing her away in her pokeball. Gordon turned and began making his was way towards the exit, his cane producing a sharp click every time it met the tiled floor of the pokemon center. When he noticed that she was not following him he turned around and said, "Well? Are you coming or not? there's plenty of room in my car for you to sit, and I don't want to keep my driver waiting for too long."

Resigning herself to the fact that the rest of her day was going to be about as normal for her as the past few minutes had been, Mavis followed him outside, where she found a large black car that she had heard the humans refer to on occasion as a limo waiting outside at the curb. A tall clean shaven man in a uniform waited next to it, holding the door open for them to enter.

"Well?" she heard Gordon say, and she looked up to see him motioning for her to go first. "What are you waiting for?"

Mavis knew it would take some getting used to, but she found herself thinking that she might enjoy this change quite a bit.

Author's Note

Here's a short little intermission for you all. I am going to be posting these every few chapters so as to get a little more backstory on Mavis and a few other characters. Hope you all like.