A New Place, A New Attitude

Chapters

Your Heart is in Two Worlds
Three Days of Freedom
Path in the Woods
Wrath in the Woods
Buzzing with Excitement
A Kirinriki Tale
The Lonely Ocean
Introduction
To Silverstream...

Your Heart is in Two Worlds

Author's Note

I still haven’t played Gale of Darkness. Or finished Colosseum, for that matter. I’d like to see someone who has write a full Newverse story about those characters.

Your Heart is in Two Worlds

Harmonising Heights was Michael’s new favourite place; it was much nicer than anywhere back in Orre. He would stay there whenever Terramar went to Seaquestria. The cool wind gently swept the long grass as it whistled through the trees, accompanied by the sound of a rushing stream. Every morning, the Kricketune would play their violin-like songs as soon as the sun rose. It was like a symphony orchestra that was played by the whole world. He just wanted to close his eyes and listen to the sounds and deeply breathe in the salty air all day...

But today, it made him reflect on how lonely he felt.

He blankly stared at the horizon, reflecting on everything that had happened yesterday. Skystar had used literal magic or something so he could finally tell her that his name wasn’t Fluffykins, and she was going to do the same for Mimi, but then Queen Novo caught her and told - no forced - her to stay away from Pokémon. Since then, no Pokémon dared to wander into Hippogriffia.

“What’s wrong?” asked Mimi, waddling over to him. The Whismur’s squeaky voice should have sounded annoying, especially to an Eevee’s sensitive ears, but instead it sounded cute.

“Nothing...” Michael lied, sighing.

“Is it because of what happened yesterday?”

“Yeah...”

Mimi sat down next to him. “I understand. Skystar was such a nice friend, and now... and now...” Her voice trembled, and she looked skywards. “I CAN’T BE WITH HER ANY MORE!” Michael pressed his ears against the sides of his head as her voice echoed throughout Harmonising Heights, scaring a few tiny, non-Pokémon birds out of the trees they were perched in. Mimi fell onto her face and started crying.

Michael got up. “There, there,” he said, rubbing a paw against her back.

Mimi sat up. “What do you have to be upset about? You’re an Eevee!”

“Huh?” While it was true that he liked Eevee - one had been his first ever Pokémon, a gift from his absent father - he didn’t enjoy being one. His fur made him feel uncomfortably hot in this tropical weather, and it made Skystar annoyingly gush over him. “Yeah, I know that but... I miss being human, you know?”

“Why would you? I’m jealous of you Eevee. You can be anything! You get to see all sorts of places, try all sorts of things! Meanwhile, ordinary Pokémon like me are stuck with one option forever...” Mimi sighed.

Michael sat back down again. “It’s not that... it’s just...” He paused. “I was a human for my whole life. Being suddenly forced into another body, in another place, far away from anyone I know... to be honest, on that first day, I was just as scared as you was. I just didn’t show it.” He looked down at this paws. “Also, hands. I miss having those.”

“So anyway, what do want to evolve into?”

Michael tilted his head at that. He hadn’t put much thought into evolution; he had spent way too much time imagining what it would be like to be human again. “Hmm... maybe a Flareon? I always thought that one was the coolest!” He stood up and posed confidently.

“What if you accidentally set fire to Harmonising Heights?”

“True... What do you think?”

Mimi looked surprised. “I-I don’t think I should be making such an important decision for you... But what about Vaporeon? You’d get to visit Seaquestria then. I’m sure it’s a wonderful place...” She sighed again.

Michael pictured himself leaping off the stepping stones and into the stream, merging with the water as it carried him all the way down to the sea. He pictured Terramar being overjoyed to see him more often, and finally getting to meet his elusive mother. He pictured himself leaping back onto the beach where Mimi was waiting for him, telling her all sorts of stories about the world she could never experience.

Michael smiled. “Now that you mention it... that does sound like a good idea.”

Three Days of Freedom

Author's Note

I've never played Gale of Darkness (used copies go for about £70, and I don't even know if any of the ones I can find are PAL), and I can't get into any let's plays of it.1 My impressions of it are based on wikis and reviews.

The ones I tried were TheJWittz's (which I don't think was ever finished) and chuggaaconroy's.

Three Days of Freedom

To Terramar,

I won't be coming home for the Three Days of Freedom celebration this year. It turns out that my friend, Gallus, wanted to stay behind because he had no family to return to, so we all decided to stay at school with him!

- Silverstream

It had been a few months since the Pokémon had arrived. Since then, Queen Novo had become a little more accepting of them - enough so that Skystar had been allowed to cast more translation spells; about half of the Pokémon on Mt. Aris and in Seaquestria could be understood now, though most of them still kept away from settlements. That wasn't the only thing that had changed...

"What're the Three Days of Freedom?" asked Michael, his ears perking up.

Terramar used to read Silverstream's letters in his "bedroom", but now he read them on the ground floor. Hippogriffs' homes didn't have stairs; the "rooms" were platforms, and Terramar's was near the top. Back when Michael was an Eevee, he'd been able to carry him, but now that he'd become something called a "Vaporeon", he was too heavy. Michael had explained that most Pokémon underwent something called "evolution", which was basically a kind of permanent transformation; in his case, it was caused by touching some blue gemstone. Since Terramar transformed on a regular basis, he hadn't found this weird at all.

"It's the celebration of our freedom from the Storm King," he said. Michael tilted his head inquisitively. "You see, a few years ago, a warlord called the Storm King invaded Mt. Aris. Auntie- I mean Queen Novo was forced to turn us all into seaponies to escape from him. At least, that's what I've been told. I was quite young at the time, so I don't really remember." Terramar scratched his neck. "Anyway... The Storm King was defeated by a group of ponies, with a little help from Skystar, so Queen Novo decided to add two more days. It starts tonight."

"But what do you do, exactly?" asked Michael.

"We spend the first night in Sequestria, thanking the ocean for protecting us from the Storm King. We spend the next day on Mt. Aris, celebrating our freedom. Then on the third day, everyone parties together on land and sea, and at the end of the night, Queen Novo gives everyone presents." Terrmar glanced at the door. "Ask Skystar later. She'll explain more. Did you have anything like it where you came from?"

"Not really..." said Michael. "But it sounds cool!"

Harmonising Heights was so beautiful, so peaceful in the morning. While in theory, it was the winter, Mt. Aris was tropical, so the weather was the same all year. A cool, gentle breeze rustled the grass, while the rising sun glinted off of the streams that ran all the way down to the ocean. It was much, much nicer than anything in Orre.

It was also alive with Pokémon. A Spinarak was asleep on a hammock of silk it had sewn between two trees. The Kricketune were beginning their xylophone-like morning song, accompanied by a chorus of Swablu. It was hard to believe that a Skarmory had almost completely wrecked the place on the first day... though Michael and Mimi were also responsible.

At the same time, though... it was boring. After the initial chaos had worn off, Michael's life had become more or less the same every day. It was why he had decided to evolve into a Vaporeon; he had wanted to spend more time with Terramar. That's why the Three Days of Freedom celebration had caught his interest: it was something to break up the monotony.

Harmonising Heights was where Michael and Terramar always met up with Skystar and Mimi. Usually, Skystar would be here first... so what was taking her so long?

Suddenly, Skystar practically crash-landed in front of them, clutching a scroll of parchment in her talons. She stood up and held the scroll up with one talon, causing it to unroll.

"Oh, we have so much planned for the Three Days of Freedom celebration!" She shook the parchment excitedly, before pointing to each item on the list. "We have shell-stringing and shell-decorating and shell-tossing... Oh, so many activities that involve shells! Then on the next day... Wait, does Michael even know what it is?"

"Y-yes," stammered Terramar. "I told him earlier."

Michael hadn't been paying attention to what Skystar was saying, and was instead focused on something else. "Where's Mimi?" he asked.

"Oh, Mimi?" Skystar looked surprised. "Wait! I was so busy that I must've forgotten about her. Excuse me for a minute." With that, Skystar flew towards the palace, leaving as quickly as she came and dropping the parchment. Michael stared upwards awkwardly.

Skystar returned a few minutes later, this time clutching Mimi close to her chest before gently placing her down.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Mimi asked. Before he had evolved, Mimi had kept Michael company whenever Terramar and Skystar went to Seaquestria. For the first week or so, Mimi had been really shy, hiding from absolutely everyone, regardless of species... except for Michael. She would ask him all sorts of questions - what his life was like when he was a human, if he missed it, if he was happy the way he was now - and he would happily answer them. While it was true that he missed his old life, being a Pokémon was awesome.

Skystar crouched. "Sorry about that. I'm getting ready for the Three Days of Freedom celebration. Wait... Do you know what that is?"

"No..."

And so Michael watched as Terramar and Skystar explained it all to Mimi; the latter was way more thorough.

"Wait... Seaquestria?" asked Mimi after they had finished, looking down sadly. "That means... I can't go, then..." Michael couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He looked down in thought.

"Aww, don't be sad, Mimi. We'll tell you all about it," said Terramar.

"Besides, you can still join us on the second day!" exclaimed Skystar. "We have a few surprises planned!" She practically sung that part.

"I guess so..." Mimi sighed.

Michael raised a paw. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "How about I stay with Mimi?"

"Really?" asked Terramar, scratching his neck. "But I thought you were looking forward to this..."

"True," Michael replied, "but this day is kind of a big deal, from what you two've told me. I can't let Mimi be unhappy!"

"Well... that's your choice," said Terramar. "But if you change your mind, you can drop in any time."

That evening, Mt. Aris felt eerily deserted. It felt odd without the chattering of the hippogriffs to cover up the sound of the howling wind, as the setting sun cast long shadows and scattered the colours of the stained-glass windows across the ground. It was like a ghost town, reclaimed by nature. Mimi had seen a place like that once, but the memory of it was so distant now that it felt like a dream...

Mimi hadn't seen this many Pokémon in the village since the first week. A Talonflame was perched on a high branch of one of the tallest tree-homes, fiercely surveying the skies for any rivals. A pair of Aipom played tag as they swung between the branches of a different tree by their tails. On the ground, a Skitty chased its tail. It made Mimi happy, seeing Pokémon enjoying themselves like this... until she remembered it was only because this was the first time they could ignore the rift between themselves and the hippogriffs.

She wandered beyond the hippogriff-shaped arches to see Michael sitting down, gazing towards the beach. Mimi suddenly realised she'd never left the peak; no wonder, since those steep, zig-zagging slopes looked so difficult to climb. She sat next to him.

"So... Mimi," Michael said. "You've asked me a lot about my old life, but what about yours? What was it like?"

"Well... I had a trainer," said Mimi, looking down. "We were in the middle of our journey through Hoenn before I arrived here. I was her only Pokémon. I don't know where she is now, though."

"I can relate," said Michael. "I still haven't met any people I know here. But why haven't you gone looking for her?"

"Same reason you haven't," Mimi replied. "I've made new friends here, and I was so focused on getting used to this place that I kind of forgot about her. Still... weren't we all supposed to end up near people we were close to? What if she wasn't good enough to come here?"

"Don't worry," said Michael. "I know some good people who I'm sure must be out there, somewhere, I just haven't found them yet. The world is a big place, you know. Maybe you'll meet again?"

"I guess so," said Mimi. "But even if I never see her again, I'll always have you."

Michael hadn't realised he had fallen asleep outside of the arches until he was abruptly awoken by a talon shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up, Michael!" shout-whispered Terramar. "The second day's celebrations will begin soon!" In the months he'd known Terramar, Michael had never heard him sound so enthusiastic.

Michael looked around to realise that Mimi was nowhere to be found. He figured that she went back to Harmonising Heights.

"Wait, what?" he quickly exclaimed, still half-asleep, before standing up. "You didn't tell me it would begin in the MORNING!"

"Sorry about that," said Terramar sheepishly. "Now let's go!"

In contrast to last night, the village was alive with a rainbow of hippogriffs. Michael noticed that many of them were wearing necklaces made of seashells. Markets sold all sorts of novelty gifts, and the sound of trumpets signalled the beginning of a sky race.

"So... what did I miss?" asked Michael in the quietest place they could find. "An awful lot of shells?"

"At lot," said Terramar. "It wasn't just shells, you know. Were their whales in your world? Because they have the most beautiful songs."

"Well, there were Wailord. I've never heard them sing, though."

After finishing his conversation with Terramar, Michael kept away from hippogriffs for the rest of the morning. He met back up with Mimi, who told him that Skystar had talked her ears off about everything she'd missed.

"Alright, everygriff! Now it's time for the main event!" Skystar shouted into a megaphone that afternoon. Hearing the word "everygriff" for the first time in ages felt... disheartening. As the hippogriffs flocked towards the Harmonising Heights, Michael decided to hide in a stream and follow them.

Harmonising Heights felt so... barren without Pokémon. While his view of the air above was silent, he couldn't make out anything resembling Swablu in the trees, and the Goldeen were swimming near the bed of the river instead of weaving gracefully across the surface. The only Pokémon who wasn't hiding from the hippogriffs was what looked like a Talonflame perched on something covered in a cloth that towered above the crowd. He recognised the colours of a few who he'd only seen as seaponies, such as Terramar's mother, Ocean Flow.

Skystar and Novo, Queen Novo - Michael had to remind himself that he wasn't on friendly terms with her - were delivering a speech about... something. Michael couldn't make out what they were saying. After they had finished, most of the hippogriffs rose into the sky.

Michael poked his head out of the water, and looked up to see countless hippogriffs weaving gracefully through the sky in ribbon-like patterns. Accompanying them was a whistling song that seemed to have been sung by the wind itself. This must be the "wind song" Terramar was talking about! It was so soothing, almost angelic... He wondered if this song was created by magic, like almost everything seemed to be in this world.

Michael lost track of how much time had passed before the hippogriffs gracefully landed again. He pulled himself out of the stream... and was met with a crowd of stares.

"What's one of those doing here?" yelled a hippogriff. It took a moment for Michael to realise that it wasn't hatred in her voice, but rather surprise.

Terramar pushed his way through the crowd, towards Michael. "I can explain," he said sheepishly. "H-his name is Michael. He's a Vaporeon, and he's my friend."

The crowd went silent for a moment. Michael was expecting there to be an outburst of outrage (an outrageburst, if you will), but to his surprise... there wasn't. Instead, most of the hippogriffs seemed... curious? Huh. He'd never seen them react like that before.

"Well... I'm glad that everyone's interested in a Pokémon today, because another one will be helping us with the main attraction!" exclaimed Skystar into her megaphone, before raising both of her forelimbs in excitement as she hovered in midair. Michael was relieved to no longer be surrounded by stares. "Ladies and gentlegriffs, I introduce you to... Talonflame!" Talonflame preened his wing boredly. "I did my translation magic thing, buuut he doesn't talk much. Anyway, he'll be helping us with... THIS!"

Skystar and Talonflame pulled away the cloth to reveal a wooden effigy of a bipedal figure with prominent, curved horns.

"Who's that?" Michael whispered to Terramar.

"It's the Storm King!" he whispered back.

"Now Talonflame's going to do his thing, but don't worry, he's a professional. Take it away!" With that, Talonflame flew over the effigy and breathed a jet of fire, setting it alight. As it burned, the whole crowd cheered.

Michael and Terramar had decided to spend the next morning in Seaquestria with Ocean Flow, while Skystar and Mimi remained on Mt. Aris. Skystar said she was busy helping her mom get the presents ready, while Michael wondered why the monarch was the one delivering them.

Seaquestria was a mixed bag. On one hand (gosh, he missed having those), moving in three dimensions was great for relieving stiffness, the bauble-like houses were a joy to behold, and the colours were much more varied than the blues, greys, and twenty-three shades of green on Mt. Aris. On the other hand, it was TOO DARK, and Michael also had to deal with the problem of occasionally accidentally turning invisible.

He saw a lot of Pokémon on the way to Ocean Flow's; they were a lot less shy than the ones on Mt. Aris. A pair of Buizel and a Mantyke were playing tag. A Dragonair gazed longingly towards one of the exits, towards the sky. A school of Finneon swam past, their tails glowing the same shade of magenta as the baubles.

Ocean Flow had her own stories to tell about the first day. She told him that they danced as the whales sang, and that it looked just as beautiful as the sky dancing, just with a lot more S-shaped movements. She also offered him fish oil tea. It tasted awful, but Michael drank it anyway. It was denser than water, or something.

By the time they returned to Mt. Aris, the first stars had begun to appear in the murky eastern sky. The stained-glass windows of the tree-homes were illuminated from behind by candles, scattering their vivid colours across the village. While Michael still got a lot of stares, most of the hippogriffs were preoccupied with anticipating the big moment at the end of the night.

That was, until a surprise visitor arrived...

When the sun had almost finished setting, a shadowed shape soared and swooped through the sky, surprisingly graceful for its size. It came down to land in the village square, several hippogriffs scattering away. Michael ran towards it, almost trupping over his tail in the process. Could it be...?

"Pardon the intrusion," it said thepathically. It was only then that Michael got a closer look. Yes... It was!

"And who do you think you are?" demanded Queen Novo, scowling.

"I am Lugia, Guardian of the Sea, Patron of Psychic-type Pokémon, Master of the Legendary Birds...

"We get the picture. But what are you doing here? Have you come to punish us?" She spat out the word "punish" like it was poison.

"No, my reason for coming here is a lot simpler. I wanted to see how my old friend Michael is doing."

Michael was overwhelmed by joy. A god, one who was so above mortals that he had no reason to even remember who he was... considered him a friend? AWESOME!

"Wait... This guy knows who you are?" asked a gobsmacked Terramar.

"Heck yeah!" exclaimed Michael, stepping towards Lugia and in front of the crowd that had gathered. "To cut a long story short, I saved his life once!" The crowd murmured in disbelief as Lugia bent down.

"Queen Novo," he said. "I have heard a lot about your kingdom. I can understand why you would be wary of outsiders, considering your past. However... I have also heard that you are working on improving your relationships with other nations, and that a group of ponies helped to undo a rift that had been forming in your own kingdom. Why have you not done the same for Pokémon?"

Queen Novo looked as if she was about to begin an angry rant, but Skystar pulled her back by the shoulders before she could do so.

Terramar stepped forwards. "Actually... We're working on it." Everyone turned to look at him. "You see, we had a bad first impression of Pokémon - your friend Michael and a Whismur named Mimi almost destroyed Harmonizing Heights in a battle against a territorial Skarmory. It was only after they tried to talk to us that we realised they were only trying to help, but by then the damage had already been done... literally. We became wary of the Pokémon, so in turn, they became wary of us, too."

Michael grinned sheepishly.

"I was the second hippogriff to befriend a Pokémon," Terramat continued. "I was encouraged by my cousin, Skystar." She waved. "Since then, Michael has proven to be the most invaluable friend I've ever had... but it would be foolish to think that we could change everygriff's opinion overnight." He rested a talon on Lugia's snout... beak... thing. Michael was worried for his safety, but Lugia didn't seem to mind. "Point is, these things take time, Lugia. We just need to try."

Path in the Woods

Author's Note

These Stagland chapters are a semi-remake of a Newverse fic I wrote back in 2016 called Growing Up in a New World, which I deleted when I returned in 2018 because I was ashamed of it. Incidentally, I unpublished The Tides Have Turned because it didn’t feel like a My Little Pony fanfiction.

Path in the Woods

The ancient, sturdy trees’ bright green leaves were coated in dewdrops that glistened in the morning sun, while the songbirds on their branches tweeted gently. Far below, the faded remains of leaves that had fallen in the autumn were trodden into the earth.

A young deer concentrated hard as a weak, leaf green aura, the same colour as his eyes, appeared around his short, blackish-brown antlers. His fur was mostly chestnut brown, with a beige underside. A stream flowed next to him, trickling down a ledge. The same aura appeared around a pebble in the stream, flickering as he levitated it about a metre above the ground.

“Easy does it... easy does it... yes... yes... Oh!”

Just as the pebble reached the edge of the stream, a bright, white flash of light consumed the whole world for a few seconds, accompanied by a sound that reminded him of bamboo hitting a rock. Startled, he dropped the pebble, causing it to land in the stream with a gentle splash. He bolted away in panic... and promptly fell a couple of metres down the ledge.

“Ow...” he groaned as he struggled to stand up, his knees wobbly.

“Are you alright?” a girl’s voice asked. She sounded strange, as if she was speaking a foreign language that he was fluent in.

He pulled his head up to see a tan and pink deer, with a yellow flower next to her ear. As far as he knew, deer with colours like that only lived in the furthest north. This, combined with her lack of antlers, made him mistake her for a pony.

“Yeah...” he replied. “I think so, anyway. My name's Faunus, by the way.”

“And my name's Flora,” the pink deer replied. “Pleased to meet you!” Faunus held out a hoof for Flora to shake, but she looked confused, so he put it back down. She turned around and skipped forwards with a spring in her step, as if beckoning Faunus to follow her. “Now, I'd like to introduce you to my...” She suddenly stopped. “...Herd?”

Faunus caught up to Flora, and could see a frown on her face. “You're not from here, are you?” he asked.

“Now that you mention it, I'm not...” Flora looked lost in thought for a moment. She suddenly turned around to face him. “The place where I came from had this huge river, not like a stream, like a proper river. There was also a lot more grass, like a LOT more, and there was also this really weird lab...”

“Okay, I get the picture,” Faunus interrupted. “Anyway, that doesn't sound like anywhere I know.”

“So how did I get here...?” Flora looked around aimlessly in confusion.

“That is a good question,” Faunus replied. “But finding your herd is more important, right?” Flora nodded. Fernus looked up at the ledge. “I think we should ask around town.”

Flora suddenly looked worried, backing away in fear as her legs trembled. “A town? Oh, no, no, no I can’t go there! My father always told me that I should stay away from them because there are humans there, and they’ll-”

“Wait, you believe in humans?” asked Faunus. Is she crazy? He shook his head in disbelief.

“Believe? I’ve seen humans! Trust me - if they see you, they’ll capture you, and...” She suddenly calmed down. “Wait, are there no humans around here?”

“Um... yes,” Faunus replied, tilting his head in concern.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Flora, bouncing on the spot.

“The deer in the village are nice,” he continued. “I’m sure they’ll be willing to help.” But how am I going to get there...? He looked from left to right, trying to remember a shortcut to the village somedeer told him a long time ago. Oh, I remember now!

He turned and pointed in the opposite direction of the stream, towards the thickest part of the forest. “There’s a shortcut this way. Follow me!”

The oak trees’ criss-crossing branches blocked out most of the sunlight, and the ground was covered in ferns. Usually, this place was so silent that Faunus would be startled by the sound of a twig crunching under his own hoof, but today it felt alive. Flora gasped in awe as she looked around. Giant fireflies cast a soft, bright, golden glow, allowing him to see creatures such as a bright green gecko clinging into a branch, a blue, round mouse looking up at it, and... a shadowed, bipedal figure quickly raking its claws against bark?

Hastily, Faunus used his magic to yank the figure away from the tree, before it fizzled out and he unceremoniously dropped it.

“Hey! What was that for?” the biped shouted, rubbing his head as he stood back up; Faunus figured that he was male from the voice. Now that Faunus had a closer look, he could see that the biped had huge, cat-like eyes, a red feather next to one of its ears, and sharp, white, triangular claws. He was slightly shorter than Faunus.

Faunus sternly stepped forwards. “You were destroying that tree!” he shouted, in a similar tone to a parent scolding their child.

“Destroying?” the biped exclaimed, looking both startled and nervous. “Why would I want to destroy a tree? I was just marking our territory, that’s all!”

Flora, meanwhile, had a quite... different reaction. She curiously looked at the biped from several angles. “What are you, anyway? You kind of look like a Pawniard, except not really. I’ve only seen one once, though, so my memory’s not the best. I was AWESOME, though!”

“That’s ENOUGH!” snapped the biped impatiently, tapping his foot and covering his face with a hand. “I s’ppose I should explain.” He folded his arms. “I’m a Sneasel, and in my clan, they call me a scout. So, this morning, we woke up... here. What do you call this place?”

“The Deepest Part of the Woods, near the capital of Stagland,” replied Faunus.

“Real creative name.” Scout shook his head. “Anyway, shortly after we got here, the Head Honcho told my sister and I to survey this place, mark the trees, tell any potential rivals that we’ve claimed this place, y’know?” Faunus took a second look at the tree, and noticed that the scratch marks looked deliberate: two trios of diagonal lines that overlapped in the middle. “And then YOU showed up!”

“Oh, um, I’m sorry about that,” Faunus said, feeling mildly embarrassed. “I’ve never met a Sneasel before.”

“And neither have I!” added Flora enthusiastically.

“What are you two, anyway?” asked Scout. “Some kind of funky-looking Stantler?” Faunus didn’t have a clue what that meant.

“I’m a Deerling, you dork!” replied Flora hastily.

“Anyway, I think we’d better get going,” said Faunus.

As Flora and Faunus ventured further into the Deepest Part of the Woods, the giant fireflies became less and less frequent. He noticed Flora shudder in fear, and even he felt a bit uneasy. The trees were covered in webs that seemed to have been spun by giant spiders, and he swore that those white mushrooms with glowing, pink caps had eyes.

He looked up to a branch, and briefly noticed a pair of eyes similar to the Sneasel’s, reflecting what little light there was as if they had absorbed all of the sunlight. He could barely make out a shadow leaping from tree to tree... it seemed to be following them.

“Get out,” a deep voice suddenly said. “Now.”

“W-w-why should we?” trembled Flora, hiding behind Faunus.

“You won’t? Fine.” Several splinter-sharp shards of ice rained down diagonally from the branches. Flora barely avoided all of them, but one of them grazed Faunus shoulder. Both of them gasped in shock.

“Show yourself,” said Faunus through gritted teeth.

“If you insist...” A dark figure leaped out of the shadows and onto the ground in front of them. Faunus could barely make out that he looked like a Sneasel, but with an entire mane of feathers.

“What do you want?” shouted Faunus.

“It’s simple, really.” The larger-Sneasel stepped closer to Faunus. “I thought even a couple of kids like you would know better than to intrude upon a Weavile’s territory. I guess my scouts didn’t do a good enough job.”

Faunus tried to keep his cool. “Um... this isn’t your territory, you know. If what another Sneasel - was he yours? - said was correct, you only arrived here this morning.”

“Yes, but it’s ours now.” The Weavile continued stepping closer to Faunus, holding his claws out, ready to strike. Even he was trembling now; he stepped backwards, inch by inch, until he was right next to Flora...

“Wait!” exclaimed Flora. “Take THIS!” Quickly, she dashed forwards and kicked the Weavile in the face with her hind legs, sending him flying a couple of feet. Flora stepped forwards, her legs still shaking slightly, but she quickly held her head up high. “P-please, don’t hurt Faunus!” She swallowed her nervousness. “What has HE ever done to YOU? When we met that Sneasel scout earlier, none of us had ever seen one before, so Faunus thought he was attacking a tree for no reason. Instead of jumping to conclusions and attacking, the scout was quick to explain what he was doing, and you know what? We UNDERSTOOD that! None of us know what’s going on right now, so I can understand why you’d be so protective. But that’s no excuse to attack us!”

The Weavile stood back up. Before he could object, Faunus spoke up and stepped forwards. “W-we weren’t planning on staying here, anyway. I was just trying to get home, and this was the quickest way.”

The Weavile folded his arms. “Was that all?”

Faunus nodded, before both he and Flora dashed away without another word.

About half an hour later, they arrived in the capital. Even though it was such an ordinary sight to Faunus, it took Flora’s breath away. The city was indistinguishable from the forest at a glance; the deer’s homes were within the oldest, sturdiest hardwood trees, many of which were covered in moss. In the centre was the largest tree, where the Empress lived. At the edge of the city, a waterwheel spun its way through a river, which branched off into multiple streams.

Faunus had expected an entire crowd to be gathered around the palace, or for the deer to all be shut inside in panic, but... no. The deer were happily milling about outside just like any other clear afternoon, the only difference being that they were curious of the new arrivals.

“Hello! Have any of you seen my herd?” Flora asked several deer, such as a stag who was looking up at a grey bird with an orange head who was perched in a high branch, the doe who owned the waterwheel, who was watching a group of round, blue... things with spirals on their fronts happily splash in the river, and a deer with weird black orbs embedded in his horns. The answer was the same every time: “I haven’t, sorry.”

After a few hours of no success, Faunus admitted defeat. “I think we should go home and call it a day. My parents are probably starting to get worried now.”

“Aww, don’t be sad. There’s always tomorrow!” exclaimed Flora.

Just then, Faunus noticed something unusual standing outside of the palace; a creature who vaguely resembled a blue and black diamond dog. Most concerning to Faunus were the spikes on his chest and wrists; did they hurt? He carefully pulled some leaves off a nearby branch and then crouched down to wrap them around the paws of what looked like a younger, less spiky member of his species. The younger one didn't seem to be bleeding, so what was that for? Whatever the case, she smiled before happily walking away, her steps unstable as if she was walking on a tightrope.

"Hello!" asked the older one, waving. Upon closer inspection, Faunus noticed that his fur was grizzled. "You look like you need help."

Faunus stepped forwards. "Um... Yes, actually. You see, to cut a long story short, Flora was separated from her herd this morning, and we've kinda had no luck finding them."

“I can help you with that,” replied the not-diamond-dog, smiling so that his eyes wrinkled. “My name is Gurrkin, by the way. Have you ever heard of aura?”

Faunus stopped to think. He’d heard the word “aura” a few times, to describe the general mood of a place, or the glow of magic, but neither of those seemed to be what Gurrkin was referring to.

Flora was a lot quicker to respond. “Nope!”

“Then allow me to explain,” said Gurrkin. “You see, aura is the life force of all living things. It is like a signature, unique to you, and those who are related have similar auras. Most living things must spend years training to be able to sense auras, but Lucario such as myself have the innate ability to. I can scan your aura, Flora, and sense if there are any similar auras nearby.”

“Okay, but how are you supposed to scan my- oh,” said Flora. She interrupted herself when Gurrkin closed his eyes, and a blue glow surrounded his paws. He spread his arms out wide, before clasping them together again. Faunus vaguely sensed some sort of force that seemed to ripple throughout throughout the entire city.

Gurrkin opened his eyes again. “I couldn’t sense any auras similar to yours in the vicinity, I’m afraid.”

Flora’s legs started shaking. “Oh... well that means... they could be anywhere...” she keeled over onto her knees, and looked as if she was about to cry.

“Don’t worry,” said Faunus quickly. “I’m sure my parents will let you stay with us for the night. They’re nice.”

Flora sighed. “I guess so...”

Wrath in the Woods

Author's Note

This short is based on Newverse canon.

If you're wondering how the deer can understand Pokémon, Empress Serva says so in chapter 42 of A New World, a New Way.

“Quick question,” Shredder said. “How did you manage to communicate with them?”

Serva blinked once, then smiled. “Oh, we Deer are very good at understanding others,” In a softer tone, she added. “It comes from the forest.”

Wrath in the Woods

Carly leaped at an ancient, sturdy oak tree, furiously slashing its thick bark. Her white, triangular claws, claws she still couldn't believe were hers, felt sore, but she didn't care; it was nothing, NOTHING compared to the rage she felt. How DARE Arceus, or at least someone claiming to be him, get to decide on everyone's future without considering what THEY wanted? In what sick, twisted reality was transforming millions of people against their will, separating them from everyone they knew and loved, and throwing them into an entirely new place where the locals had never heard of Pokémon a REWARD?

Carly had no idea how long she had spent attacking the tree, but she eventually hesitated when she realised that she had removed a window-sized, X-shaped chunk of bark from the tree, revealing the smooth, beige surface underneath. Unlike the Sneasel clan she'd met on her first day here, whose slashes were thin and neat, hers were jagged and uneven. Suddenly, she felt an intangible force yank her away from it, holding her in midair.

"Hey!" shouted Carly. She turned around to see that dark brown deer (was that what they were called?) she'd seen a few times, along with that Deerling he was always with. The deer's short, brownish-black antlers were surrounded by a leaf-green glow, and she realised she was surrounded by a similar glow that kept flickering. The glow flickered out altogether, and Carly fell a couple of feet onto the ground.

"Sorry!" exclaimed the deer.

Carly stood back up, and noticed her reflection in a small, leaf-filled puddle. Her rage quickly turned into despair. At first, she had wanted to believe this was some sort of elaborate fever dream, and she'd wake up soon enough, but as the days had passed, the reality began to sink in. She had become a Sneasel, and now she knew she would be one for the rest of her life.

"What was that for?" Carly complained.

"Well..." said the Deerling, stepping forwards, holding herself up with confidence. "YOU were causing a, uh... a disturbance! And you don't want to give the deer a bad first impression of Pokémon... right?" She turned towards the deer. "Did I say that well?" The deer nodded.

"What made you do this?" the deer asked. She thought for a moment that he was angry at her, before realising that there was sympathy in his voice.

Carly sighed. "Well... y'know when Arceus mentioned Pokémon that had undergone changes?" The deer nodded. "I think he was talking about Pokémon that used to be humans, like me... You know what a human is, right?" The deer shook his head, so Carly crouched down and drew a stick figure in the dirt with a claw. "This is what I used to look like. Well, not exactly, but you get the idea. Point is, I miss being one..."

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about that," said the deer. "But I know someone who might be able to help you."

Carly crossed her arms and leaned against the tree. "Who is it?"

"Follow me. I'll show you," he said.

The deer and Deerling guided Carly to the largest, most magnificent oak tree she had ever seen. The ground below it was dappled by the shadows of its vivid leaves under the midday sun. High above, its branches spread out horizontally, reminding her of pictures she'd seen of Xerneas. She felt homesick.

The deer pointed at a sleeping, grizzled Lucario who was sitting against the tree. "This is Gurkinn," he said. "Empress Serva met him on the first day. This is her palace, by the way." Carly was mildly surprised to learn that. "Ever since then, he's been helping young Pokémon find their families. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to help Flora here, but he might be able to help you." The Deerling - Flora - looked down sadly.

"But I'm not looking for anyone," said Carly. It's not that she didn't have any loved ones; it's just that she had been so overwhelmed by her transformation, she hadn't put much thought into what might have happened to people she knew. It's not like they would even recognise her, anyway.

"I know," replied the deer. "But... Gurkinn doesn't just find people. He's also good at giving advice."

Something clicked in Carly's mind. "Oh, I've heard of him! He was some super-amazing trainer back where I... came from..." She could almost feel the sharp pain of homesickness in her chest.

"What's a trainer?" asked the deer.

"Long story," quickly replied Carly.

"I'll tell you later," shout-whispered Flora.

"Anyway... we'd better get going," said the deer. "Why don't you wake him up? I'm sure he won't mind."

As the deer and Flora turned away, Carly approached Gurkinn. Unsure of the best way to wake him up, she gently shook his shoulder. Gurkinn jolted awake in surprise. Carly was quite surprised to see him stand up; a Lucario was now almost twice her height.

"Hello, uh... Mr. Gurkinn? I'd like to speak to you, if you don't mind," said Carly, with uncertainty in her voice. "My name's Carly, by the way."

"There's no need to talk like you're starting a phone call," replied Gurkinn. "Assuming there are even phones here, that is. What's the matter?"

Carly spent several seconds mulling over what she was going to say as she looked down sadly, sighing softy. "Well... it's just that... do you ever feel so angry that you just want to take it out on the nearest thing? Because that's how I felt after I heard Arceus' speech. It's like... I was doing fine as a human! I had my whole life ahead of me! And now it's all gone in an instant..."

Gurkinn kneeled down. "Listen, Carly. While it's true that there is nothing any of us can do about it, we've got to make the most of what we have."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Carly, sounding more aggressive than she intended.

"Think about the positives of your new life. Take me, for example. When I became a Lucario, I gained the ability to sense aura, the lifeforce of all living beings." Aura was a concept Carly had heard of a lot, but she had never been able to wrap her head around it. "Since related individuals have similar auras, I was able to use this power to help children find their families. What about you?"

"Now that you mention it... on that first day, I bumped into a couple of Sneasel siblings. The older sister was about to attack me, until the younger brother told her not to because he realised I wasn't a rival. They decided to show me to their leader, who offered to let me join them... but feeling out-of-place, I said no. Maybe I should go back to them..."

"Is that not a positive?" replied Gurkinn. "You're lucky to have found kindness so soon. I think they would greatly appreciate your return." He stood back up. "You may have heard of my granddaughter, Korrina. Ever since I arrived here, I've been worried about her. I can't find any sign of her around here. Still, I reassure myself by remembering that Korrina can handle herself. I'm certain that she was worthy enough to come here, and I'm hopeful that Lucario is with her. Wouldn't it reassure your loved ones to know that you're not alone?"

"Yeah... I guess so," said Carly, smiling bittersweetly as she turned to walk away.

Buzzing with Excitement

Author's Note

This is based on vanilla Sun & Moon.

My headcanon is that ponies don't conveniently speak the same language as humans; rather, Pokémon have one-way "universal translators" "built into" them, which is why Pokémon can understand breezies by default here.

Buzzing with Excitement

Mina didn’t miss her old life too much.

Of course, she still missed some things. She missed being human. She missed trekking through the wilderness of Poni Island for days on end to survey the landscape. She missed Seafolk Village, Konikoni City, and not instinctively wanting to fight every Butterfree she met, but most of all, she missed most of her team. But all of this was outweighed by the perks of being a Ribombee.

She got to experience all sorts of things she never would have been able to as a human: she could fly freely and taste the sweet, delicious nectar of flowers. But best of all, she now had the innate ability to sense auras, something she had always thought was exclusive to Lucario. It made the world look so more colourful! Every living thing, from the breezies that inhabited this world to the phosphorescent mushrooms they lived in, radiated a brilliant, warm glow. She could sense the precise differences between each and every flower; how recently they had bloomed, and how sweet their nectar was. It filled her with inspiration to just paint everything!

Mina would have never been able to figure any of this out on her own. She was lucky enough to have woken up right next to her Ribombee - who wasn’t really “hers” any more; Mina still hadn’t gotten used to that - on that first day, who had been kind enough to to teach her all of this. Unfortunately, Mina and Ribombee (who she now wished she’d given a nickname) had given up looking for most of their teammates once they realised that they were way too big to be here without wrecking everything, but the jury was still out on Klefki.

Speaking of which, the Breezie Village was, for the most part, great! It was like living in a picturesque village straight out of a postcard, or an outdoor dollhouse. The only downside was that the breezies were very wary of Pokémon; they were so delicate that even the slightest disturbance in the air could send them tumbling, so Mina tended to only go out flying when most of them were inside. Not that she minded; in the evening, the setting sun dyed the lake (which was probably the size of a pond, now that she thought about it) a beautiful shade of orange that reminded her of honey.

On one such evening, Mina was hovering in front of a tiny piece of canvas on a tiny easel, painting the pond-lake before her. She was particularly interested in capturing the blue glow of the spores that constantly fell from the mushrooms, some of which landed on the surface of the water. She giggled at the sight of a Dewpider trying to avoid them.

“That’s a nice painting,” a breezie said in a high-pitched voice.

Mina was so engrossed in her painting that she almost didn't notice the pale blue breezie coming down to land next to her. She had a purple, curly mane, and was wearing a red mushroom with white spots as a hat. Mina didn't see breezies up close very often, so she was surprised to remember that they were less than half her height.

Unfortunately, the Pokémon still hadn’t figured out a way to talk to the breezies yet. Mina had briefly wondered if she could use her aura powers for telepathy - she’d heard that a few Lucario could do that - but Ribombee had told her that was incredibly difficult to learn. She landed, and then sat on the edge of the cliff.

“Those colours are so wonderful!” the breezie continued. “Is that how you see the world?” Everything in the painting was portrayed not by their physical colours, but by the colours of their auras; the gloomy mushrooms and their sparkling spores were both a lively, fresh shade of green, similar to new leaves in the spring. Mina nodded.

“Wow, that must be incredible! I wish you could tell me more,” said the breezie. “I almost feel jealous of you Pokémon! But I’ve experienced things you haven’t, too.” Mina tilted her head in curiosity.

“You see, this world that we’re living in right now is just a small part of something bigger. Every year, a portal opens up to the land of Equestria for a few days. Some of us have to leave and travel far to collect pollen, that we then have to bring home with the help of the pegasi. Do you know what ponies look like?” Mina shook her head. “Ponies look like us, only bigger. Pegasi are the ones with wings, but they’re feathery, unlike yours or mine.” The human side of Mina found that mental image adorable, but the Ribombee side found that strangely terrifying.

“Anyway, I was one of the breezies who ventured out last year. My group’s flight path was disturbed, so a kind pegasus took us in... but we soon forgot all about those who were waiting for us at home, and we took advantage of her kindness.” The breezie sighed, her wings drooping. “But... she taught us the error of ours ways, and she and her friends helped us get home just in time.” Her wings perked back up. “Equestria is a scary place, you know. Something as small as a leaf almost stopped us in our tracks. A leaf!” She stomped on the grass to emphasise her point. “And who knows what kinds of Pokémon live there now! At the same time, getting to see a new place, and seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces when you return... that’s what makes it all worth it.” The breezie leaped upwards with joy, her weak wings flapping slightly before she gently fell onto the grass.

“The portal reopens in a few weeks. Do you want to go then?” asked the breezie.

Mina’s wings buzzed with excitement, lifting her off the ground. There was so much more to this world? And she’d soon have the chance to go and see it? Awesome! Sure, it was supposedly dangerous to breezies, but she was a Pokémon! She’d seen Ribombee take down opponents several times her size before. She could ask her to train her, which still felt like a weird concept. She might even find her other teammates there!

Mina nodded. Why wouldn’t she?

A Kirinriki Tale

Author's Note

This is a remake of “Years and Years of Stored-Up Words”, which I deleted because I was unhappy with it.

Usually, I don’t like to use PokéSpeak, but I thought it would be fitting for this story.

A Kirinriki Tale

For what she could only assume had been years, every day of Autumn Blaze’s life had been the same. She would wake up, talk to the vegetables, talk to Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands, venture out into the jungle for breakfast, and then sit down at the edge of the cliff and just look at the view for hours and hours and hours. A rainbow spread across the savannah far below, where a river wound its way towards the misty horizon, as a cool wind swept her mane. The view was beautiful... but it hurt. It served as a constant reminder that she had no-one to share it with, a constant reminder of her banishment.

Today, as she went looking for something to eat in the jungle, she noticed a variety of fruit she’d never seen before: a magenta mangosteen. Curiously, she lifted it up with her magic, only to notice that... the mangosteen had a face? Its cheerful expression quickly turned terrified as it struggled to get out of her light blue aura. Feeling pity for the poor thing, she gently placed it down, where it quickly bounded away into a bush.

She was about to continue her search, when she heard something rustling in that same bush. Judging from the sound it made, it seemed to be much bigger than the mangosteen, or a squirrel. She approached it, and something that looked like the world’s shortest giraffe, slightly taller than her, stepped out, its steps wobbly. Its large eyes looked surprised, but also curious.

Cautiously, Autumn Blaze approached the giraffe. “Oh, hello, are you lost? I’ve never seen anything that looks like you around here. I thought giraffes lived in the savannah, be-lao here - I mean below, I haven’t said it in a while, sorry - but then you’re not exactly a normal giraffe, are you? What’s your name? My name’s Autumn Blaze, pleased to meet you! Wait, can you even understand what I'm saying?” She held out her hoof, but quickly put it down. “Oh, I must be crazy! I’m talking to a giraffe, for crying out loud!” She melodramatically gestured with her forelimbs.

“Gira...farig?” the giraffe stammered, starting to back away in concern.

“Oh, right, I should slow down.” Autumn Blaze took a deep breath. “Let’s start from the top. Are you lost?” The giraffe nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Girafarig,” it replied flatly.

“Girafarig? Is it because you’re not quite a giraffe, but not quite a thingymajig, so you’re a Girafarig?”

Girafarig shook its head. “Gira, GIRAFARIG!” It stomped a front hoof on the ground in annoyance, its teeth gritted in frustration.

“Is that really all you can say? Is this like some new secret code language, where you only say your name? Oh, I’d love to learn a new language!” As Autumn Blaze briefly reared in joy, Girafarig sighed. “Aww, don’t be sad. Now I finally have somekirin to talk to! Even though you’re not a kirin - you know what I meant - did you?” Girafarig tilted its head. “Now, it’s been great knowing you, Girafarig, but I have my own things to do. See you later!”

After a long trek through the jungle that involved her almost being eaten by a giant, yellow pitcher plant, Autumn Blaze decided to call it a day and eat one of those freshly green coconuts that inexplicably grew at the edge of the jungle, not far from her humble shack. Not that she minded - she loved coconuts! It was both a drink, and a snack!

She was about to stare at the view beyond the cliff, when she noticed something that made her gasp in horror - something had knocked over her basket of cabbages! She rushed over to check - the one she’d drawn a face on was still intact - good, good - but who had eaten them? She noticed a few scraps of leaves, that formed a trail that lead straight to the culprit!

“Girafarig?” she asked. It turned to look at her slowly, still munching on the cabbage. “Wait, you are Girafarig, right? You’re not just another giraffe-thingymajig - a girafamajig?” Girafarig nodded reluctantly.

“Those were my favourite cabbages! You can’t just eat those!” she exclaimed, exasperated. She felt her ears warm up as fire began to form around them, but she took a deep breath to stop it.

Girafarig stared at her, concentrating hard. She noticed that it had a smaller head with sharp teeth where its tail should be, but thankfully, she couldn’t see anything that looked like its bite marks. Was it even functional? She hoped not. Girafarig, meanwhile, looked confused, and then once again stomped its hoof in frustration.

What was that for?

“...But they were just cabbages. I have plenty of other vegetables! I’d like you to meet Carrie the Carrot, and Barry the Banana Basket, and - I suppose you’re not interested, are you?” Girafarig shook its head. “I know something you’ll definitely love, though. Follow me!”

Autumn Blaze skipped towards the edge of the cliff and sat down, gazing at the view once again, Girafarig following slowly behind her.

“The view is amazing, isn't it? The way the rainbow shines over the whole valley, as if it connects everything... They say that this was the first rainbow in existence, and the pegasi were so impressed with it that they decided to create their own, and I understand why, but you just can't match the real deal, y'know? I've never seen a pegasus myself, though, so what do I know? Oh, there's so many things I want to see out there!” She raised her forelimbs in joy.

Girafarig tilted its head in confusion.

“I suppose you want to know why I haven't left this place yet.” GIrafarig shook its head, but Autumn Blaze continued anyway. “The Peaks of Peril - that’s where we are now - got their name for a reason. The rocks are so sharp and unstable that there's only one safe way down the mountain. Unfortunately... It requires going through the kirin’s village.” She sighed. Girafarig nodded, as if gesturing her to continue.

“You see, I lived in that village, a long, long time ago,” she continued, her voice unusually sombre. “It was great! Oh, I wish I could show it to you, it’s so beautiful! The houses are all built into the trees that grew all these colourful fruits, and it’s so much more inviting than the jungle where I found you! The kirin were great, too! Oh, Rain Shine - that’s our leader, by the way - had the most amazing singing voice ever, way better than mine! And I think I’m a great singer, not to brag or anything.” She sighed again. “But... there’s a downside to everything.”

“It all started one fine morning. The day had began so wonderfully! The sky was clear, the birds were singing, I was singing... but then a couple of kirin started arguing about something really minor - I don’t know what it was - and it eventually it spread to every kirin in the village! It got so heated - literally - that we ended up burning it down.” Girafarig looked startled. “Right, I suppose I should explain. You see, when kirin get really angry, we catch on FIRE and turn into niriks!” To emphasise her point, she waved her forelimbs in the air. “Ancient pony explorers thought they were two different species, not that I was alive back then, of course.”

“Anyway, Rain Shine decided that the best course of action would be to make sure such an argument would never happen again. Or any arguments. Or any talking at all. We were all forced to take a vow of silence - one we couldn’t break even if we wanted to. The Stream of Silence took away our voices - but also our emotions. Oh, I can’t begin to describe how awful it felt! It didn’t feel like being constantly sad, no - it was much worse than that. I had no will to interact with anykirin, or do anything other than basic necessities... it felt like there was a void inside of me, as if I couldn’t breathe, even though I could...” She placed a hoof against her chest. “I had almost forgotten my own name! Can you imagine?” Girafarig looked strangely annoyed at that. “But then, one day, I discovered the foal’s breath flowers by complete accident. I’d heard legends that they could cure silence, and guess what! They turned out to be true!”

Girafarig seemed interested to hear that.

“I tried to tell the other kirin how wonderful it was to talk again, but... they didn’t want that. Rain Shine gave me two options: either I could stay and live with them, or I could keep my voice. Not wanting to ever go back to that horrible numbness again, I... I chose to be banished to here instead.” Her throat ached as she tried to hold back tears, but one rolled down her cheek. “That... that was years ago. I am so glad you were willing to listen to me! I hope you never have to feel alone for all these years...” She noticed Girafarig look down in concern for a moment. “What’s the point of having a voice if you have nokirin to talk to? Even though you’re not a kirin - oh, you know what I meant...” Girafarig stepped closer, as if to comfort her.

Autumn Blaze collapsed crying, not knowing if her tears were ones of sadness or joy. But now that she finally had someone to share the view with, it looked that much more beautiful.

Today was not only the weirdest day of Georgina’s life, but also the worst. Yesterday she had been a human, finally starting her journey, but now she was a Girafarig? In the jungle? Didn’t those only live in grasslands or something? She didn’t know; she didn’t care!

And seriously, Girafarig? Why couldn't she have been something cool, like a Charizard? That was how she knew this wasn’t a dream: why would she ever dream of being something so boring?

The second thing she realised was that she was starving. She felt as if she hadn’t eaten in a million years. What did Girafarig eat, anyway? Grass? There was no grass here, so she tried the next best thing: a bush. She took one bite of its leaves, and immediately spat it out. It was so bitter! She also realised how long her new tongue was, and couldn’t get it to comfortably sit in her mouth any more.

Suddenly, a round, pink Pokémon bounded right through the bush, cowering behind it in fear. It was a Bounsweet, right? She’d never seen one in person, not that she was really a “person” any more.

Curiously, Georgina stepped through the bush to see what could have possibly scared the Bounsweet, its twigs scraping against her fur, and saw the most harmless thing she’d ever seen. It was a quadruped of some sort, with soft cream fur, pale green scales running down its back and nose, and a curly orange mane. Weird, but no weirder than some Pokémon. It looked so plush, too, like a girly-girl’s toy she would have hated. The only part of it that looked remotely threatening was its maroon horn with two sharp branches. That was cool.

The... whatever it was, she couldn’t come up with a good name for it on the spot, seemed curious of her, too. “Oh, hello, are you lost? I’ve never seen anything that looks like you around here. I thought giraffes lived in the savannah, be-lao here - I mean below, I haven’t said it in a while, sorry - but then you’re not exactly a normal giraffe, are you? What’s your name? My name’s Autumn Blaze, pleased to meet you - what’s your name? Wait, can you even understand what I'm saying?” She held out her hoof, but quickly put it down. “Oh, I must be crazy! I’m talking to a giraffe, for crying out loud!” She - judging from the voice - suddenly said, all at once, without breathing, somehow.

Georgina was quite surprised that something that definitely wasn’t human - she hesitated to call it a “Pokémon” - could talk... but then she figured that if she was a Pokémon, she could probably understand them now.

“Um... what?” was all she could come up with, as she backed away slowly. This “Autumn Blaze” really creeped her out. Wasn’t personal space a universal concept?

“Oh, right, I should slow down.” Autumn Blaze took a deep breath. “Let’s start from the top. Are you lost?” Georgina nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Geogina,” she replied flatly.

“Girafarig? Is it because you’re not quite a giraffe, but not quite a thingymajig, so you’re a Girafarig?” Autumn Blaze replied. Georgina felt furious. Was this some kind of joke? Because it wasn’t funny.

“I said, GEORGINA!” she shouted exasperatedly, stomping her hoof on the ground in frustration.

“Is that really all you can say? Is this like some new secret code language, where you only say your name? Oh, I’d love to learn a new language!” Georgina sighed as Autumn Blaze performed some sort of inteprative dance on her hind legs. “Aww, don’t be sad. Now I finally have somekirin to talk to! Even though you’re not a kirin - you know what I meant - did you?” She tilted her head. “Now, it’s been great knowing you, Girafarig, but I have my own things to do. See you later!”

With that, Autumn Blaze skipped away deeper into the forest, leaving Georgina bewildered. So her suspicions were correct: she really wasn’t a Pokémon. Huh.

Georgina remembered that she was starving again, but didn’t know where to find food. The leaves on the trees were too high for her to reach, and she didn’t want to eat any fruits, just to be safe. That was basic survival, right? Instead, she followed her next instinct: follow the path. It would lead to civilisation, whatever civilisation there was in this crazy place, right?

Eventually, she reached a clearing on the edge of a cliff. She stared in awe at the rainbow that shined in the distance... until she noticed a shack to her left. She realised that she now had much better peripheral vision. So that was cool, she guessed.

What’s more, outside of that shack were vegetables! They looked just like farmed ones, too. So there was something resembling civilisation here! Wait... Girafarig could eat vegetables, right? Only one way to find out!

Curiously, she approached the vegetables. Most of them had faces drawn on them, but she noticed an entire basket of cabbages that didn’t! Okay, so the actual basket had a face on it, and so did one of the cabbages, but the others? They were free food!

She gently kicked the basket with a front hoof, knocking it over. She ate the cabbages, one at a time, and strangely, they tasted so much more delicious than they ever would have when she was a human. Maybe being a Girafarig wasn’t so bad after all!

...Wait, that’s the best thing that had happened to her so far? Eating vegetables? Is this what her life had become now?

Suddenly, Georgina heard someone gasp in horror. Shortly afterwards, she saw Autumn Blaze rushing towards her in her peripheral vision, then abruptly stopping.

“Girafarig?” she asked. Georgina turned to look at her slowly, still munching on the cabbage. “Wait, you are Girafarig, right? You’re not just another giraffe-thingymajig - a girafamajig?” She nodded reluctantly, wishing she could facepalm. Though now that she thought about it, it would be great if she had another Girafarig to talk to. It would certainly be better than this kirin (that was weather species was called, right?) who could not. Stop! TALKING!

“Those were my favourite cabbages! You can’t just eat those!” she exclaimed, exasperated.

Wait a minute... Girafarig had psychic powers, right? Georgina wondered if she could use telepathy to talk to her. She concentrated hard, and thought, What? I was hungry, okay? Autumn Blaze didn't respond, so Georgina stomped her hoof in frustration again.

“...But they were just cabbages. I have plenty of other vegetables! I’d like you to meet Carrie the Carrot, and Barry the Banana Basket, and - I suppose you’re not interested, are you?” Georgina shook her head. So she talked to those vegetables? It was official: Autumn Blaze really was crazy. “I know something you’ll definitely love, though. Follow me!”

Autumn Blaze skipped towards the edge of the cliff. Georgina reluctantly followed her. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

She looked down, below the rainbow, to see a savannah sprawling out as far as the eye could see. She felt instinctively drawn to it, as if a voice inside of here was yelling: This is it! This is where I belong! Unfortunately, Girafarig were not known for their ability to survive falling long distances, and she couldn't see a way down the plateau.

Georgina tilted her head in confusion. What the heck was a pegasus? How did this rainbow exist without rain?

“I suppose you want to know why I haven't left this place yet.” Georgina shook her head, but Autumn Blaze continued anyway, because of course she did. “The Peaks of Peril - that’s where we are now - got their name for a reason. The rocks are so sharp and unstable that there's only one safe way down the mountain. Unfortunately... It requires going through the kirin’s village.” She sighed. This intrigued Georgina. She nodded, hoping it would convey that she wanted her to continue.

“You see, I lived in that village, a long, long time ago...”

One part of Autumn Blaze's story had particularmy intrigued Georgina: the foal's breath flowers. If they could cure silence through the power of magic or something, could they make her be able to say things that DIDN'T sound like "Girafarig" to a kirin's ears, right? Did that count as a form of silence? If course, she had no idea what those flowers even looked like...

“I am so glad you were willing to listen to me! I hope you never have to feel alone for all these years...” Georgina was reminded of someone she’d almost forgotten about in the midst of far more pressing issues: where was her starter, anyway? She suddenly felt a pang of sadness. They could have had a great journey together... but they never got the chance to. “What’s the point of having a voice if you have nokirin to talk to? Even though you’re not a kirin - oh, you know what I meant...”

Georgina slowly stepped towards Autumn Blaze, wanting to comfort her. At first, she found her annoying, but now she could sympathise with her... Or was it empathise? She always got those two words mixed up. Either way, she realised that they were similar: they were both alone in a world that they didn't understand, and one that didn't understand them, either. She'd only felt that way for half a day; she could only imagine what Autumn Blaze had been through. Scratch that: she didn't want to.

Georgina smiled as she stared at the view, the tight sensation of bittersweet tears forming around her eyes. Maybe being with Autumn Blaze wasn't so bad after all.

The Lonely Ocean

Author's Note

Inspired by a forum comment by Arcticbrony.

This oneshot is slightly darker than the anthology’s usual fare.

The seapony is an official character.

The Lonely Ocean

I can’t breathe.

It feels worse than suffocation. It feels like all the air has been sucked out of my lungs, and my lungs along with it, and I have no desire to get them back. I can’t feel my limbs, either. They don’t feel severed; it’s like they were never there to begin with.

I open my eyes to see that the world around me looks dark, murky, and blurry. I feel weightless, and my surroundings are neither warm nor cold, like a place beyond temperature. I can hear distorted echoes coming from below, and look down to see nothing but darkness that stretches on endlessly. Above me is the light, but it seems impossibly far away, a distant dream that I can never reach. I feel like I’m in a void, and I’m the only living thing around. Is this what it feels like to die? Am I stuck in limbo, unable to move on?

And then it hits me: I’m underwater.

My heart races. How did I get here? Have I been reported missing? Is anyone looking for me? I almost take a deep breath to calm myself, but I have to remind myself that I can’t. I feel like I’m going to sink, any minute now. I frantically dart around, trying to look for the nearest land, or anything to ground myself, rocks, sand, something...

Wait... how am I moving? And why haven’t I drowned yet?

I catch a glimpse of something flat, round, smooth, and purple in the corner of my eye. I try to turn around slightly to try to get a better look at it, but end up going in circles. Swimming feels weird, like I should feel the weight of the water slowing me down, but instead I feel like a hot knife cutting through butter.

I eventually get a good look at the purple thing. It’s attached to a thin, pink tail... but I can’t get a good look at what it’s attached to. Is it part of my body now...?

So I’m a Gorebyss. It’s okay, self, you can wake up now...

...

...I’m still awake. I’m lost and alone in an empty world, in a body I don’t understand. I call out for help, but I’m startled by the sound of my own voice; it’s distorted, and I can barely make out my own words.

Just then, I hear a strange song. The long notes are so deep that I can feel them as much as I can hear them. It reminds me of those Wailord songs you can buy recordings of, but it’s not quite the same. What’s more, it’s getting louder; whoever’s singing it coming closer. I can see a shadow coming towards me...

And then, it becomes clear.

The singer some sort of dark grey and white... thing. It has a tail like a Dewgong’s, but a lot less delicate, while its top half looks like a Ponyta with seaweed for a mane. It’s... adorable! As I wonder what purpose its hooves could possibly serve, it waves one of them as it turns around, as if beckoning for me to follow as it continues to sing it song. I follow it.

As I follow the singer, the waters become brighter and shallower, until I can finally see the sand far below me. It’s reassuring, but it also makes me feel disoriented; the idea of not being on the ground feels so wrong. Other Pokémon start to follow her, too; I notice a Mantyke and a Remoraid who are almost inseparable, and the faint glow of a Finneon.

Eventually, the waters become so clear and green that I can see the shadows of the waves amongst the swaying seaweed. I look ahead to see what looks like a vast, twisted forest made of knobbly rocks in all sorts of vivid colours, inhabited by beings much like the singer, as well as swarms of tiny fish I don’t recognise. Upon closer inspection, I realise that it’s a city, and the spiralling buildings are made of coral. This place is beautiful. I want to cry tears of joy, but I can’t.

The singer beckons us to keep following it. Yes, us - I’m not alone forever after all.

Introduction

While Arceus was imprisoned for millennia, he could do nothing but watch as the world he created tore itself apart.

Humans began to treat Pokémon as tools instead of living beings. They created Poké Balls to imprison them. Some tried to harness their powers to rule the world - or to destroy it.

So when an arrogant fool had dared to challenge him and challenge him, he had decided to call all of his legendaries to the Hall of Legends for a meeting about what to do to protect his Pokémon, where Mew suggested that he move them to another world. But Arceus also saw good in humanity, so Cresselia suggested transforming humans who were worthy in the Old World, those who were kind, selfless, and respected Pokémon as equals, into Pokémon.

The new world Arceus selected was Equus, for he hoped that its friendly inhabitants would be accepting of the new arrivals. And so he allowed all of his dear children to rest, for when they awakened, a whole new world would be their home...

Unfortunately, not all went well. As Arceus watched over the Equus, he saw lives that had been ruined, families that had been separated, and chaos caused by the natives’ inability to understand Pokémon - but he also saw beings who were literally worlds apart forming new bonds, making compromises, and learning to work together.

These are but a few of those tales...

Author's Note

I was worried that a reason why this story wasn’t getting much attention was because it didn’t make sense on its own, so I added this to explain the premise.

To Silverstream...

Author's Note

The following oneshot does not fit into Newverse canon.

To Silverstream...

How are you doing?

We've been having a hard time dealing with these Pokémon for the past week. I remember on that first day, some metal bird called a Skarmory nearly tore up most of Harmonising Heights. Even after Arkyus Arceus made his announcement, Auntie Novo still doesn't trust them, though Skystar keeps trying to convince her otherwise.

It's not all bad news, though...

I made a friend. His name is Michael, and he's an Eevee, which is some sort of fluffy brown thing with the ears of a rabbit, the face of a cat, and the bushy tail of a fox. I bet you'd love him. He saved us from that Skarmory. He's sitting next to me as I'm writing this letter, and he told me how to spell "Arceus". I asked him if he knows what Arceus looks like, but all he knew was that some of the stories said he had "a thousand arms". He said that most humans - what he used to be - didn't know that Arceus was real until now.

I suppose I should explain how I can understand him. You see, the evening after Arceus made his announcement, Skystar came to talk to me in private. She told me she had a plan to get Auntie Novo to trust the Pokémon: get them to talk to her. So after spending the next day or so studying translation spells, she was finally able to cast one on Michael. The first thing he told us was to stop calling him "Fluffykins". Skystar cast the spell on another Pokémon, a Whismur, who she called "Mimi". Unlike Michael, Mimi didn't mind her new name. She wanted to cast it on every Pokémon she came across... until Auntie Novo found out and she got grounded. Have you been able to talk to Pokémon yet?

Michael used to feel lonely whenever I went to Seaquestria, but now he has Mimi for company. Still, I sometimes notice him staring at the sea longingly.

I wonder how the School of Friendship is doing? Will they start having Pokémon students?

- Terramar