Author's Note

When I originally wrote this, I forgot that Hitch didn't live at the Crystal Brighthouse. I've fixed this in the rewrite.

Chapter 2: Searching for Sylveon

Hitch Trailblazer was rudely awoken by Izzy jumping on his bed in the Brighthouse. In a panic, he tried to get out of bed, but fell onto the floor and got tangled in his bedsheets. Fortunately, she levitated them off him.

"What happened? Is there an emergency?" Hitch asked in a single breath.

"Nope!" exclaimed Izzy. "I found a weird creature I didn't recognise in the Boardtrot, and I was hoping you could talk to it." Then, she described what it looked like.

"Is that all?" Hitch asked. From how frantic Izzy was acting, he thought it would be more urgent.

"I have a feeling it's connected to all the weird stuff that's been happening! Please can you come with me?" Izzy pleaded like a puppy begging for treats. "Besides, you're not gonna be busy until later."

Hitch sighed. "Fine..."

Sparky, who had been asleep on Hitch's pillow, woke up. Hitch bent down.

"You stay here, Sparky," he said.

A few minutes later, Izzy and Hitch reached the Boardtrot.

"I last saw it over here..." Izzy pondered as she galloped towards the smoothie stand. Hitch trotted after her.

"Where is it, then?" he asked as he looked behind the counter. All he could see that was out-of-place was an apple core on the floor.

"I don't know." Izzy looked down and tapped her hoof on the sand. "I hope I haven't scared it away..."

"Don't worry, Iz." Hitch stepped closer. "Creatures don't just disappear. There's got to be signs of it somewhere..."

Hitch looked around the Boardtrot for clues. Zipp would love this, he thought. He found a wooden wall with a hole blasted through it, but there were no burn marks. Izzy hopped along with him and picked up a stray, pink hair. Finally, Hitch saw a trail of pawprints in the sand that led to the dunes next to the cliffs, and they both followed them. Once they reached the end, they stayed very still, being careful not to disturb whatever it was.

Eventually, they saw a pair of long, pink ears poke out of a gap in the dunes. They twitched and turned from side-to-side.

"That's it!" Izzy shout-whispered.

Hitch took a careful step closer so he could see the creature's face. "Hello," he said softly. "Who — and what — are you?"

The creature let out a few mews that sounded like mumbling.

"What did it say?" asked Izzy, who was still at the edge.

"She says her name's Penny, and she's a Syl-ve-on," Hitch translated.

Penny faintly gasped, and although her pupils were almost the same colour as the rest of her eyes, Hitch swore that they shrunk. Then, she mewed again.

Hitch looked over his shoulder to Izzy. "She's surprised that I can understand her." Then, he turned back to Penny. "Just so you know, I can talk to animals. Although... you're not like any animal I've ever seen."

Penny tilted her head and stared at him blankly.

"Right..." He decided to change tracks. "Where did you come from?"

Penny mewed twice.

"I've never heard of anywhere called Gal-ar or Pal-de-a. We're in Maretime Bay, in Equestria."

Penny tilted her head again.

Hitch shook his head in frustration. "You're really not from around here, are you?"

Just then, Izzy bounded to Hitch's side. "I know! How about we take her to the Brighthouse? Our friends are pretty smart, so maybe they could figure something out!"

"Hmm... that could help." Hitch placed his hoof against his chin. "Sunny is great at dealing with weird things like this." Penny frowned when she heard this. Hitch guessed she didn't like being called a "weird thing". "Sorry," he quickly added while facing her. "What do you think?"

Penny lifted her lower pair of ribbon-tentacles into a shrug, which freaked Hitch out. They'd been limp by her sides up to that point, and they didn't look like they were part of her body. Then, she meowed.

"Don't worry," Hitch said. "The Brighthouse is pretty far from the rest of Maretime Bay, so it's a lot quieter. Unless Pipp is practicing a song."

After a pause, Penny slowly nodded.

"Then it's settled!" exclaimed Izzy. "Follow me!"