//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: A Brave New World // by Ausbrony //------------------------------// Chapter Four   It was midmorning by the time the Friendship Express pulled into Ponyville. The sudden jolt as the train stopped was enough to rouse Seth from the light sleep he had fallen into. “Huh? Wha?” He rubbed at his eyes, still half-asleep. He tried to get off of his seat, only to fall face first to the floor. “Ow!” Selena shook her head as she helped him up. “I present to you, our fearless and professional Pokémon Trainer!” “Har, har!” Seth replied sarcastically. He was seriously getting sick of falling all the time. “I want to be a biped again!” “It could be worse,” Elesa said as they got off of the train. “You could have been stuck as a Galvantula, or an Arbok.” “More than four legs or none at all? No thanks!” He glanced at the twin Lucario that exited the carriage in front of them, along with a Vaporeon that struck up some small talk with a grey pegasus. Maybe it was one of those rare Pokémon that could actually talk? That must be nice… “Hey, some Pokémon can learn to talk right?” Seth as his Pokémon and Elesa nodded. “I’ve seen one that could, not telepathically like some Ghost and Psychic types, but actually speak like a human.” “Then maybe I could learn?” he had to learn to walk properly and since he could talk before, the knowledge was still there. Maybe it was simply a matter of training his vocal chords to make the sounds. “Sorry ta interrupt,” Apple Fritter spoke up, “But ah’d like to welcome y’all to Ponyville!” She waved a hoof towards the town that lay before them. The town was a lot smaller than Canterlot, and the buildings were designed a lot differently. It was very medieval in design, even older looking than some of the rural towns in Johto. One building in the distance stood out in particular, a tall tree that seemed to have a house built into it. Seth fell in love at first sight, being a real sucker for weird and clever architecture. “I figured we’d head straight fer the farm,” Apple Fritter explained as they walked through town. “Ah can find out what needs doing so we’ll know how long we’ll be here for.” She just hoped that cousin AJ would mind her showing up with a bunch of Pokémon. Seth had taken to wearing a small writing pad around his neck so he could make little notes for Fritter to read. He scrawled something down and tore the page off for her to read. “Where is the Everfree Forest?” Apple Fritter shuddered slightly at the mention of that Tartarus-damned place, but Seth and his fellow Pokémon had powerful abilities, so she wasn’t too concerned for their safety. But still… “Ah’m mighty worried about you going in there. Is it alright if we all go to the farm first? It sits on the border of the forest anyhow.” Seth nodded and the group made their way south.   Ponyville was a delightful little place. Aside from the tree-house, Seth also saw a building made of gingerbread, one that looked like a carnival carousel, another that had a giant hat with bells for a roof… Ponyville was great! There was a sudden weight on his back and before he could react, it got heavier until he was knocked to the ground. Twisting his head, he was about a half dozen foals perched on him, petting him and nuzzling his soft fur. “It’s sooo fluffy~” One filly with a pink coat and a wavy mane cooed. “And it’s feels all tingly!” Another grey glasses-wearing filly added. There was also a light purple unicorn, a painted colt, a small yet boisterous pegasus filly and a pegasus colt with grey fur and a dark mane. Seth didn’t really mind as he lay there, allowing to kids to play, while Rika look fit to burst. “Who put a Beedrill in your butt?” Selena asked. “It’s not like they’re hurting him or anything.” “I know that!” Rika replied and then in a more hushed tone, “I’m just jealous of them is all.” Selena shook her head as Seth got to his feet, the foals on his back squealing with delight. He pretended to roar and then lightly jumped around, the colts and fillies giggling and laughing. “Aw, would ya look at that~” Apple Fritter cooed. “Ah never woulda guessed that he was good with kids.” Elesa was surprised as well, this was a side of Seth that she’d never seen before, but his Pokémon knew otherwise. Seth would sometimes go to the day-care centres of the towns and cities they’d visit, letting the kids there play with his Pokémon. It was all part of his plan to bring Pokémon and humans closer together, but Rika and Selena knew that he also just liked kids. “Children? Where are you?” A voice called out that made the kids fall silent. They were sooo busted. A cerise hued mare with a pink mane approached them. “What the-?” She saw the Luxray giving the children a ride and didn’t know whether to be worried or amused. Seeing the children unharmed and appearing to be having a ball, she settled on amused. “The big kitty is rilly fun!” Dinky said and everypony nodded. Cheerilee snorted and gave Seth an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, the children have been really excited ever since you Pokémon showed up.” Seth gave her a toothy grin and nodded. He roared again and gave the kids another ride before setting them back down next to their teacher. “Maybe my daddy will get me a Pokémon?” Diamond Tiara wondered aloud, but Dinky shook her head. “Nuh-uh! Mommy will get me one first!” she said and soon all the kids were bickering about who was going to get a Pokémon first. Cheerilee just gave an exasperated sigh, having heard this argument more than once. Bidding Seth and his friends a farewell, she herded the kids away. Seth turned back to the others to see them all sporting wide grins. “What?” he asked. “That. Was so stinkin’ cute!” Rika exclaimed, hugging Seth tightly. “Daddy Seth is adorable~” “I’ll agree that it was pretty cute,” Selena grinned. After his little rage yesterday, is was good to see Seth in high spirits again. “You’d make a great daddy!” Apple Fritter said. “Those kids looked like they were having the time of their lives!” Seth just blushed profusely beneath his dark fur. “Yeah well…” He was a bit embarrassed, but he had fun regardless. The group headed off once more and by mid-morning, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. The scent of apples was a lot stronger here than it was back at Fritters place, but compared to the dozen or so trees that Fritter possessed, there were thousands here. “Whoa, this place is huge!” Seth said as they walked down the dusty trail. “And those apples smell so good~” “Try as I might, I just can’t get the apples on my farm to taste as good as the one here,” Apple Fritter explained as they walked. “The trees I have come from this farm, but I think it’ due to the soil conditions and the fact that I use potions to speed up the growing process.” Having a small amount of trees due to land restrictions was Fritters biggest problem. But a solution came in the way of special potions that made her apples grow quickly and she could harvest every few weeks all year round! The downside that was that the quality suffered somewhat and the apples produced didn’t have seeds, which meant no new tees could be grown from them. It didn’t stop her from labelling them as ‘Diet Apples’ and having the snobby elite of Canterlot snap them up like they were going out of style. Fritter used to buy the potions she needed at first, but that got expensive fast, so she learned how to brew them herself. Ingredients were a lot cheaper than the potion itself, but it meant that if she screwed it up, her crops suffered. “I can’t wait to introduce y’all to Cousin Applejack!” Fritter said excitedly. “She’s the best farmer this side o’ Canterlot and a world hero!” Okay, that got Seth’s attention. How the heck was an apple farmer also a world hero? “Ah’d explain, but AJ would do it a lot better so you’ll hafta wait.” The rounded a corner and passed the gate that led to the farmhouse. An elderly pony sat on the front porch, swinging back and forth on an old rocking chair. “Howdy Granny Smith!” Fritter called out, gaining the matriarch’s attention. “Huh? Whazzat- Ooh, Fritter dear, good to see ya!” She got onto her hooves and came to greet the group. “And who might ya friends be?” Apple Fritter smiled widely, “Well this is Seth and his friends Rika, Selena and Elesa.” She paused for a second as each Pokémon greeted the elderly mare. “So they’re more o’ them Pokeymans?” Fritter was surprised that Granny knew what they were, even if she got the name a little wrong. “That’s right, you know about them Granny Smith?” Granny nodded and pointed towards one of the nearby paddocks. “Sure as sure do. We got a bunch o’ giant bee ones that’ll make some good honey fer us in th’ near future!” “Must be Combee or Vespiquen, given the description,” Seth thought. Beedrill could also make honey, but it tasted nasty so no-one bothered to produce it, well aside from the ones with weird senses of taste. “Well I’ll be,” Apple Fritter whistled. “Is Applejack around? I got her letter ‘bout that field y’all need a helpin’ hoof with.” Granny shook her head as she got back into her chair. “Sorry sprout, but ah aint’ seen her since she left fer Canterlot yesterday with her friends.” Apple Fritter expression fell, she was in Canterlot!? What the hay! “Big Mac’s inside, you could always ask ‘im whut needs doin’” Apple Fritter sighed and nodded. “Okay, thanks Granny.” Fritter headed inside to find her cousin while Seth looked towards the forest in the distance. There was something about it, something… ominous. Was that the Everfree Forest? Apple Fritter had told him a little about it on the train before he dozed off. She had said that almost everypony steered clear of it due to the dangerous creatures that inhabited it and that the plants grew and the weather moved all on their own. Seth scoffed at that last part, having that being the norm for the world he was born in. And it too had its fair share of dangerous places, a few being forests. There was Viridian Forest, Santalune Forest, Eterna Woods and the worst of them all, Ilex Forest. Plus he’d have Rika and Selena with him, so he was sure he’d be fine. Granny Smith had fallen asleep and Seth and the other waited on the front porch as Fritter talked with somepony inside. They soon emerged and Seth laid eyes on the biggest stallion he’d seen so far. This guy was friggen huge! “Everypony, this is mah cousin Big Macintosh Apple. Big Mac, these are mah new friends, Seth, Rika, Selena and Elesa.” “Eeyup,” the stallion gave a deep baritone response and Elesa felt her knees go weak at the sound. His voice was gorgeous. Seth shook his raised hoof with his paw and nodded. Big Mac remained silent for a second before he spoke again. “Ah’m guessin’ none ‘o you are Psychic Types like Miss Belle? Or Miss Korrina?” “Korrina?” Seth had heard that name before, but where?... Ah, whatever. Seth shook his head and sighed, learning to talk got a significant bump up his to-do-list. “Well maybe once Miss Sparkle comes back, she might cast that there translation magic on y’all fer a spell…” Fritter groaned at the bad pun while Seth was shocked, there was a translation spell? “So the story is, cousin Applejack is outta town right now an’ ah gotta wait till she gets back.” Apple Fritter was a bit annoyed that AJ would call her out here, only to disappear. But the sudden appearance of Pokémon threw a lot of schedules out of whack she guessed. “We can stay here while we wait, but ah’m afraid that there’s no room in the main house. This family is pretty big and they already have some guests, but the barn is plenty comfortable, and ah can vouch for that seeing as ah helped build it!” Seth looked at the massive barn. Apple Fritter helped build that!? He had a whole new level of respect for the mare. Seth was actually pretty lousy with his hands, well not that that mattered anymore, but the former human couldn’t even build a decent Secret Base, let alone an entire barn. Well if they would be here for a while, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to look around. He scrawled a note and passed it to Fritter. “Gonna look around town? Okay then, just ask somepony iffn’ y’all get lost.” Seth nodded and smiled. He’d noticed that ever since they left Canterlot, Fritter had used her accent all the time. He found her southern twang to be utterly adorable. He decided to write as such and pawed the note over before running towards town. If he had looked back, he’d notice a visible blush cross the mare’s face. He decided to run the whole way, wanting to get used to his new legs as soon as possible. Elesa was riding on his back, unable to keep up with the three quadrupeds. On their way into town, the four Pokémon passed two Lucario, Elesa offered a friendly wave as they passed, the male responded, but the female was too lost in thought to bother replying, if she’d even noticed them at all.   ***   “So, where do, we go first?” Seth panted as they reached Ponyville. The run was harder than it looked and the added weight didn’t help. “Probably to get something to drink?” Rika puffed as well, unused to running so far. Selena on the other hand was fine, scoffing at the Intertwining Pokémon. “If you stuffed less Poképuffs in your face, then you wouldn’t be so out of shape.” Selena prodded at her pink tummy, eliciting a small growl from Rika. “And not all of us are a Machamp in a fur coat!” Rika retorted. Selena snarled and flexed her claws. “Alright, calm down!” Seth said calmly and the two Pokémon stopped. Despite appearances, the two of them were friends. But their types and personalities sometimes caused problems. “Sorry for calling you fat,” Selena mumbled. “And I’m sorry I called you a muscle head… you can’t help it if you’re a tomboy~” Rika smirked as Selena started to chase her around, nearly knocking over a frizzy-maned pink pony that was hopping around. “Seriously girls, settle down already.” Elesa laughed, still perched on his back. “Your fatherly side is showing again,” She chuckled, and Seth just hung his head in defeat. “Well when they act like that, what else am I supposed to do?” His stomach rumbled, showing he was more than just thirsty. “Let’s go find something huh?”   Their search of the town eventually led them to the building made from gingerbread, but it just looked like gingerbread, Rika having found out the hard way when she tried to take a bite from it. The fairy was still rubbing her sore mouth as they walked inside. A blue Earth Pony with a pink mane greeted them cheerfully. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner how may I…help… you?” Her greeting petered out as she saw her customers weren’t ponies, but some of those Pokémon creatures. Seth decided to nip this in the bud as quick as possible by scrawling out a note requesting food and drink and placed the note on the counter as well as a small pile of bits. “You, have money? Oh, where are my manners. My name is Cup Cake and it’ll be my pleasure to serve you.” She counted the bits and smiled, “Well how about four house specials? You have enough here with change to spare. The special is a fruit slice of your choosing, a slice of cake, also of your choosing and a milkshake. Sound good?” The four Pokémon nodded and after pointing to various cakes and slices, took a seat as the mare prepared their order. “So when do you want to go and find Arceus?” Selena asked Seth as they waited. “It’ll be a good idea to plan it soon.” “Tomorrow is probably best,” Seth said. “I’m still a bit angry at him and it’ll be best to go with a clear head. Plus it’s nearly noon already and I’d like to get an early start on it. We don’t know how deep this temple of his is in the forest, so I’d like to have as much time as possible.” Their order arrived, brought out to them by a lanky stallion wearing an apron. “Here’s your order,” he said with a chipper tone. “And I think you might be the first Pokémon we’ve served that didn’t have a pony escort. Please let us know if the food isn’t to your liking.” Seth doubted that it would be a problem. The cake looked moist and delicious, the slice glistened with the fresh fruit used to make it and the milkshakes were topped with fluffy whipped cream and the glass was ice-cold. “I think my tongue just exploded with happiness~” Rika purred. Selena said nothing but the wide smile on her face spoke tomes of what she thought. Seth looked at his milkshake and realised an important fact. With his wide muzzle and thick paws, he couldn’t drink it! He was almost gonna cry when Elesa sighed and put a straw in it. “Oh, right!” Seth sipped at his drink and his next sigh was one of content. After they finished and the euphoria of the delicious food wore off, the group headed outside and wondered where they should head next. Then Seth saw a sight that he’d never expected to see, four Legendary Pokémon walked down the street. Virizion, Terrakion, Cobalion and Keldeo, and they seemed to be headed for the carousel-shaped building. “So then there are other Legendary Pokémon here besides Arceus?” Seth wondered aloud. “I wonder if all of them are here, or just a few?” “Isn’t that place a boutique?” Elesa asked. She’d seen the sign the last time they’d walked past it. “Why would Legendary Pokémon require clothes? Now that I think about it…” She looked around at the various ponies walking and flying about. “Why do ponies need clothes?” Seth thought about that for a moment, but just simply shrugged when he came up with no real answer. “I’ve seen a few in Canterlot, so I guess there’s a market somewhere?” “And why are we standing around talking about clothes?” Selena asked. “C’mon, let’s do something fun!” “Well what do you suggest?” Seth replied. “We’ve never been here, so it’s not like we have a regular hangout like we did in Nimbasa…” Bringing up their old hometown like that made everyone fall silent. They missed it a lot, the friends they had made, the family that was left behind. “Sorry,” Seth said softly. “I shouldn’t have brought that up.” Elesa shook her head, “No, it’s fine. I just wish we knew what to do.” “How about we find some information on the Everfree?” Rika suggested. “You think there’s a library around here?”   ***   After a little bit of searching, they came across Seth’s favourite building, the tree house. “Golden Oaks Public Library?” Seth read the sign aloud. “So this place is actually a library? That’s cool!” “It kinda reminds me of Fortree City!” Selena was born in the Hoenn region and quite close to the city. But at this point, it was just another reminder of home. “Well, we came here for a reason, so let’s go!” Seth pushed on the door, but it didn’t budge. “What the?” He looked closer, and a note tacked to the door explained that it would be closed for the next few days. “Well that’s just great!” Seth muttered. “Who closes a public library in the middle of the day!?” A mint green unicorn passing by looked over Seth’s shoulder, causing the Pokémon to jump in surprise. “Huh? Did Twilight close the library again?” She sighed and looked at the Pokémon. “I’m guessing you guys wanted to use it?” Seth nodded and Lyra whistled in surprise. “I didn’t know Pokémon liked to read, but yeah, this happens more often than you’d think. Twilight’s a great mare, but she lives here you see, and she often forgets that it’s a public library.” Seth just groaned, there went their best lead for getting info on the Everfree. Lyra offered an apologetic smile and left them. Elesa pouted and folded her arms, a scowl on her face. “This Twilight sounds like a rather irresponsible mare!” She said. Rika had another idea though. “Well, how about we ask the Apple family?” Seth tilted his head, why them in particular? “Look, they live right on the edge of the Everfree right? So maybe they have some info on it. Maybe a map?” “Alright, let’s head back to the farm then.”   ***   The sun was already setting by the time they got back. The foals from earlier had managed to ambush Seth again and he’d spent about a half hour playing with them. Rika had gotten another brilliant idea, but she decided to keep it to herself for now. Seth needed to get this thing with Arceus out of the way first. When they passed the gate, Apple Fritter was waiting for them on the front porch. She ran over to them and greeted her friends. “Y’all are back, I’ve been waiting fer ya!” Seth nodded and wrote down a few notes explaining what they had been doing. After she read them Fritter smiled, wishing she’d been there when Seth played with the kids. She also made a mental note to bring them to the next family reunion. “Whoee! Sounds like y’all had a real good time today? But you had no luck finding out anything ‘bout the Everfree huh?” She tapped her chin with a hoof, maybe Granny Smith had something or perhaps Applejack? She knew her cousin had been in the forest a few times. “Well we’ll ask ‘em later, how ‘bout we go inside and get some grub huh?” Seth stomach gave a loud agreeable rumble in response and the group headed inside. What the Pokémon didn’t expect was to find two Lucario sitting at the dinner table. Were they the ones that they passed by earlier this morning? “Greetings!” the male Lucario responded. “I didn’t know you’d be here for dinner.” What had sent Seth for a loop was that Lucario wasn’t speaking in PokéSpeak, but rather the same tongue that humans and ponies used. Was it that translation spell that was mentioned earlier? “Where are my manners, I am Lucario and my quiet friend here is Korrina.” Seth noticed the split second glance the male Lucario gave her, one of deep concern. “Well, it’s nice to meet you guys. My name’s Seth and these are my friends, Rika, Selena and Elesa.” Korrina’s ears perked up when she heard Elesa’s name. It sounded familiar, but where had she heard it before. It was like deja’vu, it the fact that the knowledge was there, but her current crisis clouded her mind somewhat. Lucario’s feelers on his head twitched and he looked at Seth. “Given your name and your aura, I take it you used to be human too?” Seth nodded, he’d never seen the aura powers of a Lucario before, but he’d always wanted to catch one. “Yeah, same with Elesa here, and Rika and Selena are my teammates and best friends.” The Apple family had already been subjected to a one sided conversation like this before, they could understand Lucario thanks to the spell that Celestia had cast on him and Korrina, but Seth and the others had no such luxury. “Well met then,” Lucario smiled while Granny Smith and Big Macintosh set the table. The front door suddenly opened with a loud bang and Applebloom charged into the room, a Bulbasaur hot on her hooves. “Granny, Granny. You’ll never guess whut ah found!” Applebloom rattled on excitedly, not even noticing the extra house guests. “Alright, slow down sprout. Why don’t y’all say hello to yer cousin an’ her friends first?” Applebloom turned and when she saw Fritter, leapt through the air to hug her. “Cousin Fritter! Yer visitin’ from Canterlot?” “Eeyup,” Fritter grinned, hugging her little cousin. “AJ wanted help with the north field, so here ah am! Oh? Almost forgot,” Fritter pointed to Seth. “This here is mah new friend Seth an’ his friends Selena, Rika and Elesa!” “Howdy y’all!” Applebloom greeted cheerfully and Seth could feel his heart imploding from the adorableness of the little filly. “Ooh, ah made a friend too! Everypony… and everymon. This here is Bulbasaur!” The Grass type waved a vine shyly and Rika cooed at him. “Aww, he’s adorable.” “M’not adorable,” Bulbasaur muttered, blushing at the pretty Sylveon. “So can ah keep him?” Applebloom begged Granny Smith. “Ah’ll look after him, feed him, ah’ll take real good care of him so , pleasepleasepleaseplease!!” Granny thought about this. She still thought that some Pokémon might be dangerous, but she saw the way Miss Belle had defended them, so maybe if Applebloom had one for a friend… “Well… alright, but you kin bet yer backside that if yer don’t look after him good an’ proper…?” she just let the threat hang in the air, but Applebloom got the idea as she gulped audibly. “Thanks Granny, ah promise ah won’t let you down!” “That’s go to hear Sprout, now go an wash yer hooves and well eat some vittles!” Applebloom nodded and headed upstairs to the bathroom, Bulbasaur following closely behind her. “Oh, my Arceus!” Rika exclaimed once she left. “That filly is the cutest thing EVER!!” Seth just facepawed.   ***   After dinner, Seth and his team retreated to the barn, eager to get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow. He didn’t expect Korrina to be waiting for him. “So is it true?” she asked him, her tone was curt and precise. “You’re going to see Arceus tomorrow, why?” He motioned for the others to head inside and once they were gone, he spoke. “I want answers,” he replied. He walked away from the barn and into the orchard with Korrina following him. “I want to know why Arceus did what he did and I won’t settle for anything less than the absolute truth.” “We can’t be human again,” This statement caught him a bit off guard. “I’ve met with Arceus already, and he said he won’t turn us back.” Well… that sucked. “Won’t or can’t?” Seth answered. “I don’t really know,” Korrina responded. “He just skirted around the question and kept using another trainer as an excuse to not tell the whole truth.” She clenched her paw and sighed. “Just… don’t get your hopes up for a meaningful heart to heart with him… for your own sake.” With that she left, leaving Seth to mull over her words. Tomorrow would prove to be interesting indeed.