“Alice, do you remember the code of Phantom Thief Fox?” a man in a black tuxedo and cape with a familiar cavalier hat asked as he smiled down at a little girl with brown hair.
“Of course!” the little girl said happily. “Fox never steals from the needy. Fox always returns what was stolen if it was for practice. Fox always announces their attempts first. And Fox always helps to bring down the bad guys.”
“Very good, Alice,” he smiled, before getting up and walking towards the window. However, before he left, Alice said one more thing.
“When I grow up, I’m going to be just like you, daddy!” she cheered.
Her father smiled, but shook his head. “No, Alice. When you grow up, you should be you. Everyone who has ever taken up the mantle of Fox did it their way. Some better than others, but in the end, they did their best, and became their own version of Fox. That’s why, you should do the best you can, but you should always do it your way,” he smiled, before he jumped out the window, using a nearby pipeline to slide down. However, as Alice ran to see, the scene started to blur and fade.
Alice blinked as she woke up. Yawning slightly, she was stunned for a moment at the sight of her new body, but quickly remembered what had happened. ”Guess it wasn’t a dream after all,” she thought glumly, before picking up her glasses and putting them back on. Hopping off her bed, she walked over and nudged open the door. As she walked down the hall, several of the servants were busy cleaning up, or moving a few things, while others were busy chasing out some of the more...troublesome Pokemon that had gotten in, many of which were Zubats...and there were a LOT of them. Paying them no mind, she continued down the hallway, retracing her steps from last night until she made her way to the dining room. However, instead of Sleight Hoof and/or Quick Storm sitting down to eat, she was treated to the sight of both of them cowering under the table, while several of the servants were trying to get out of a very large spider web.
“Zor?” she barked, catching their attention.
“Ah, Zorua. I see you’re awake,” Sleight Hoof chuckled nervously, before adding, “We seem to be having a bit of a problem.”
The deadpanned look she gave them just screamed “Ya think?”. Shaking her head, she looked up at the web, a part of her wondering why she was even doing this, considering she now likely had the weakness that Dark-type Pokemon had to bug types, and the web just screamed “Bug” to her. However, when she saw the cause of the web, up near the ceiling, her eyes widened in surprise. Up near the ceiling, simply clinging to the web, was a pair of Spinarak. Two very familiar looking Spinarak. Wanting to see if she was right or not, Alice quickly moved to the nearest strand of webbing and gave it a quick pull, before pulling it again into a pattern that only she and her team would know. The effect was instant, as the two Spinarak immediately climbed down from the web, both of them looking puzzled when they saw her.
“Who-”
“-are-”
“-you?” the two Spinarak spoke, the male starting, before the female continued, and the male finished.
“Why do-”
“-you know-”
“-that sequence?” they said, this time starting with the female.
Alice blinked in surprise, as since this was the first time she had actually heard them talk, she had never known that they had THAT kind of habit. However, she quickly smiled when she realized that she had been right. “That’s easy. I taught that to you two back when we were starting out 5 years ago, back when I first became Fox. That was our secret code for [All clear, I’m here].”
The two Spinaraks were completely shocked when they heard her say that, so much so that they actually fell off their own web. “B-b-but...that’s impossible,” they both said, their voices losing the synch they once had. “The only person who should know that is Alice and the others. We did not have a Zorua on our team, yet why do you know that which only Alice should know?”
“That’s because I AM Alice,” she sighed, before she quickly started to explain, not wanting to hurt their sanity more than she likely already did.
While this was happening, Quick Storm and Sleight Hoof were watching from under the table. “Well...I was definitely right about her being one of these strange animals…” Sleight Hoof chuckled weakly as they watched the small fox have a conversation with a pair of giant spiders.
“Is it just me, or does she seem to know them?” Quick Storm said, noticing Zorua’s behavior. True enough, not long after she said that, Zorua walked back to where they were, the two spiders crawling behind her.
“Well, looks like you sorted that out easily enough. Are they your friends?” she chuckled weakly, to which the fox nodded. “Alright then, could you ask them to let our servants down? I don’t think they like being stuck in that web much.”
Zorua barked and yipped a few times, earning nods from both the spiders, to which they quickly crawled back up the webs, and lowered the servants via more webs that they spun. Once that was done, the servants quickly gave them a wide berth, obviously a little wary of the two spiders. With that done, Zorua promptly walked back to the two of them, while the two spiders followed behind her. When she stopped in front of them, she looked up at them with her adorably pleading eyes which seemed to say, “Can they stay?”. Seeing this, the old couple looked at each other, before sharing an awkward chuckle. “So...mind if we take two more pets?” Quick Storm chuckled weakly.
“I don’t think she’ll take no for an answer,” Sleight Hoof chuckled weakly.
“I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again. We REALLY lucked out,” Jonathan said. After finding some shelter during the night before, the two of them had stumbled upon what appeared to be the town guard, which was the equivalent of the police for this town. Shortly after, they were met by an Electabuzz, claiming to be Lt. Surge of the Vermillion City Gym, and a Chatot named Denise, also claiming to be a former human. Turns out, with all the chaos that’s happening thanks to the confused Pokemon (and a few panicky ponies), Surge had been trying to rally up some help to calm everything down, and if need be, subdue any of the trouble making Pokemon. However, as most of the town guard had to focus defenses around the southern border which was close to the swamps, this left the remainder of the guard undermanned. As such, Surge was trying to rally together any Pokemon that were willing to help, or if possible, former humans. Naturally, they’d decided to help, so now here they were going on their first patrol.
Heat didn’t say anything, but just nodded in agreement. As of currently, they were in what appeared to be a business district, albeit nearly deserted, as it was clear that the Ponies, and really any other resident of the city were still wary of the Pokemon. Despite that, it was still a good sign that some were brave enough to venture out of their homes. It helped too that it seemed that most of the Pokemon had calmed down so it seemed that it was going to be an uneventful patrol.
“Stop! Thief!”
So much for uneventful…
Hearing that, Jonathan’s head immediately snapped in the direction of the shout. What he saw made him do a double take, as it appeared to be a Sceptile with a bag, obviously stolen from the Pony in question. “Hold it right there you!” Jonathan shouted, before dashing after the Sceptile, Heat following closely behind.
The blue clothed Sceptile cast a quick glance back and laughed. “Sorry dudes, aint gonna happen.” Another hearty laugh lit the air as he increased his speed with a ‘Quick Attack’. With practiced ease, he shot through heavy crowds, spooking several ponies and causing them to run in several directions. The streets quickly became rather chaotic, making pursuit quite difficult in the mess.
However, the duo hounding his tail were not so easily lost in the confusion. They had dealt with a few unruly crowds before. So they nimbly ran past the scared ponies, making sure not to get trampled while they did so.
With his keen eyes, honed from years of chasing after Fox, Jonathan was just able to see the Sceptile’s tail disappear into a nearby alleyway. He and his pokemon followed suit. With a quick glance and a tilt of his head, the Combusken nodded. The fire type nimbly jumped up onto the rooftops, while Jonathan kept to the alleys. The thief could be using either route to escape.
As the little Riolu ran, he almost past by a rather large, black robed figure. Turning his head, he quirked an eyebrow at the sitting figure. “You wouldn’t have seen a large green lizard by any chance run by here? Blue uniform? With a bag?”
“He went that a way, dude.” The figure extended a green arm in another direction.
“....seriously, that all you got?”
The robe figured pulled back the hood to reveal a chuckling Sceptile. “Yo, don’t mess with the classics.”
Jonathan just leveled a deadpan stare that seemed to say, ‘Are you kidding me?’, before shaking his head. “Either way, you’re under arrest. Come quietly, and I promise you’ll get off easy.”
The Sceptile’s smile left his face in an instant. “You fez can’t tell me what to do. No one tells me what to do. I’m my own mon, yo. I’m not going anywhere with a cop.” In the blink of an eye, he was at his feet and had thrown the cloak right into the little Riolu. He nimbly took to the walls, owing a lot to his arboreal species.
Usually, a cloak wouldn’t do anything, but now given his now smaller size….They were a foe to be reckoned with! Jonathan struggled with the infernal piece of cloth for a moment, but with Heat’s help, they managed to rip it off, just in time to see the Sceptile wall jumping to get away from them. “After him!” the Riolu shouted, before darting to the nearby fire escape. Now, as a human, all the times he had chased after Fox had made Jonathan an accomplished climber, especially with fire escapes and the like. However, now that he was a little Riolu...well, the mixture of a smaller body and his unfamiliarity with his new body slowed him down by a few crucial seconds. Heat on the other hand, quickly jumped toward and kicked off the wall, tailing the Sceptile with a wall jump of his own.
The Sceptile’s movements became a blur as he used his ‘Quick Attack’ to full effect. Even with this added speed, he, without any effort, was still able to find clean purchase on the sides of the walls. Of course, given how his paws could find traction on anything, it was no real mystery as to how. With a clearly practiced backflip off a wall, he jumped right onto the top of the buildings, managing to get out of their sight.
As his two pursuers found their own way to the top of the building, they were immediately barraged by a rather thick set of ‘Leaf Storm’. The attack blinded the duo. The sharp edges didn’t get too close, but Jonathan was nearly knocked over thanks to still being near the edge of the roof. With a steadying claw, Heat kept his trainer from falling over.
The little distraction had given the perp ample time to make a clean getaway. He was bounding across rooftops nearly, what it seemed, a league away. His laughter chimed annoyingly in the air. “You’re too slow!”
With an annoyed growl, the pair took chase once more. They were able to make some headway, but the thief had gained too much ground to catch him at their current pace. “Heat, Quick Attack!”
With a nod, the Combusken grabbed Jonathan and threw him onto his shoulders before speeding further along. In no time, they were once again on the Sceptile’s tail. They were so close that they could hear him muttering about ‘stupid cops’. The Sceptile took a turn around a large chimney and as the pair turned themselves to spot the perp, they instead saw several forms of the thief running in several directions. Some of them kept running along the building, others dropped into the alley below. All of them were the same and all of them could be the real one.
Jonathan, being a native of the world of pokemon, was quite familiar with the move ‘Double Team’. A good battle tactic it made, but it also made for a good headache when used in his line of work. It was especially aggravating because it left him with no other choice. “Split up.”
Heat reluctantly nodded. While splitting up was the ‘logical’ choice, it wasn’t the safest nor was it an ideal one in any circumstance. Jonathan was still getting used to his body and had no grasp on his Pokemon form’s abilities. If he was caught in a fight with the Sceptile, he wouldn’t win as of now. Still, desperate times bring forth desperate measures.
The pair took off, with Jonathan taking to the streets and his partner keeping to the rooftops. With an extra spring in his step, he took off after a set form.
The Sceptile turned and scowled at the cop. “Little dude, you’re really harshing my mojo.” With a jump, the thief landed on the ground with a thud. A small shockwave traveled along the ground, shaking the earth enough to throw Jonathan off his feet.
Thankfully, he quickly righted himself and kept up his pursuit. Of course, that little distraction had bought the Sceptile some time and he was out of sight. Jonathan scowled and strained his ears to pick up anything. His sense of hearing had definitely improved as he was able to hear some foot steps lightly running alongside nearby.
Jonathan quickly found himself in a small park...and his perp had actually stopped to take to rest against an apple tree. A red apple was held firmly in his his hands as he smirked at the officer. “Took you long enough, dude. You chasing skills are whacked, man. I ran circles around you like it was nothing.” He took a bite of the apple. “Hmmm, juicy.”
Jonathan’s eye twitched slightly in annoyance, but managed to keep his cool. This Sceptile was certainly annoying, but not quite at Fox’s level when it came to pushing his buttons. “We’ll see about that. Your first mistake was letting me catch up,” he growled, before charging right at him.
The Sceptile calmly let him charge….before twirling around him, grabbing him by the back of the head, and slamming his face into the bark of the tree. “I don’t make mistakes, cop.” He growled. “I haven’t been caught once by the fez and you aren’t going to be the first. So dude, just go take a puff or something.” He glanced upwards and threw Jonathan into Heat, who had attempted a falling kick. The duo fell to the ground, but were up again in less than a second. “I’m going to make this simple, dudes. Leave me alone...now.”
“Double Team then quick attack,” Jonathan barked, spitting out a few pieces of bark. His whole face would be sore for a while, or until he got to a center. It wasn’t looking too bad. Just a few scrapes. The Sceptile hadn’t smashed him too hard...Just hard enough to hurt.
Suddenly, there were several Combusken who rapidly attack the thief. The Sceptile nimbly blocked the moves, but Jonathan could tell he would rather flee than fight. Either he wasn’t that good of a fighter, a coward, or he was just nervous being that close to a fire type. It could have been all three. Neither made any ground and Jonathan didn’t like it. He didn’t know anything about this Sceptile, so he could very well be a strong opponent. He needed to end this fight soon.
“Flame charge!”
Heat’s whole body became engulfed in flame and his attacks became quicker. While the Sceptile could block them, the flames still licked over his skin. He let out pained groans as his flesh was seared. Still, he kept at it.
“Alright Heat, he’s wavering! Fire Spin!”
Heat opened his beak, and breath out a torrent of fire that encircled the Sceptile, cutting off his movements, while slowly damaging him with each passing second.
“A ring of fire, dude?” The Sceptile chuckled. “Originality isn’t your jam, is it bro?” Jumping up a bit, he slammed into the ground. Large rocks jutted out of the ground cutting off the flames from him. In seconds, he clawed his way into the ground.
“Oh no you don’t! Heat, Rock Smash! Full Power!” Jonathan barked. Nodding, Heat charged up his energy into his right claw, before slamming it into the ground. The shock wave that was created was enough to shake up the area where the Sceptile was, forcing him back above ground.
With an aggravated snarl, the Sceptile had already two charged green sphere or ‘Energy Balls’, which he fired with great precision. The attack smacked into Heat and Jonathan’s chests, knocking them off their feet. Without delay, the thief took off.
However, before he could get far, he was met with a Shadow Ball to the face, knocking him back. Looking at the source, he saw a Mightyena barreling straight for him. Acting quickly, he moved to dodge the charging Mightyena, but when he jumped up, the Mightyena went for its real target. The bag in his hand, which was quickly wrenched from his grip.
By that time, Jonathan and Heat had managed to get to their feet, and upon seeing the Mightyena, they recognized him immediately. “Howl?”
Howl grinned at Heat, but looked surprised at the Riolu. However, his attention quickly focused on the Sceptile who was the main issue right now. “So Heat, what’s going on anyway?”
Heat just shrugged. “Same old, same old, chasing a thief.”
“Oh? Well then, you’re under arrest, buster!” Howl growled. However, now that the Sceptile was actually standing still, and Jonathan wasn’t blinded by his annoyance and frustration, they could actually see the notable feature of the Sceptile. A jacket with an emblem that looked like Arceus’ ring.
“Hold on a sec,” Jonathan’s eyes widened in surprise. “A PLA member?”
Hearing that, Scep grinned. “Took ya long enough to notice. Guess all that action makes even supporters not realize-” anything else he was going to say was cut off by a double attack of Focus Blast and Dark Pulse that impacted right into his chest.
“By order of the Kalos National Police, the International Police, AND the Baltimare Guard, you’re under arrest!” Jonathan shouted, as the three of them quickly moved to round him up.
Scep’s eyes grew green. Vines wrapped around the feet of the acting police tripping them and keeping them from moving. “NO! Freaking NO! You coppers aren’t going to get me! I’m not going back into one of those pokeballs! I’m not going to have some snot nosed brat tell me what to do! So dudes, chillax.” He sprung to his feet, acting none for the worse, despite his current injuries might say. “This is the day you almost caught General Scep!” His back glowed and a storm of leaves flowed forth, covering Jonathan and crew in a sea of green. Yes, they cut him here and there, but again, nothing serious.
After a few moments in the sea of green, it stopped. Spitting out some of the dirt that got into his mouth, Jonathan groaned. “Well...at least we got the bag back…”
With everything calming down, Howl could finally recognize his voice and scent. “Wait, Jonathan?! How? What-?” the Mightyena sputtered.
“You might want to sit down first,” Heat sighed.
As the three of them talked, out of earshot their audience chuckled, before going after Scep, having easily seen through his trick. ”Well now, this certainly got interesting,” Alice thought, a grin creeping into her face as she tailed the Sceptile who had managed to evade both the Riolu and the Combusken. From what she could tell, this Sceptile was clearly a thief, and not some amateur at that. If anything, she couldn’t help but wonder just how far he’d stack against her, and without realizing it, she had started to instinctively slip into her Fox persona.
Earlier, after sorting out the issue with Spinner and Charlotte, Alice had decided to go outside, as she had a lot on her mind, namely what she was to do next. Anyone with half a brain could have told her that she wasn’t anywhere NEAR Kalos, and she had a sinking suspicion that that was just the surface of the issue. Another thing that made her uneasy was her new body. While she DID find Zorua to be adorable, the fact remained that nearly all her old skills would be heavily impaired by the smaller body, and a quadrupedal one at that. Fortunately, the walk certainly helped to clear her mind, but the real highlight came when she noticed a Sceptile swipe a bag from some random Pony, only to end up getting chased by a Riolu and Combusken, both of whom were shouting about arrests. ”Ah...good times….” she mentally chuckled as she remembered all the times she had that same line shouted at her. Taking interest, she decided to tail them from the shadows, using this as an opportunity to test her skills in her new body. True enough, her new body proved to be a slight problem, however she quickly adapted, allowing her to keep up with the chase, even from the shadows. Throughout the chase, she was intrigued by the tactics employed by the Sceptile, all of which were those used by an experienced thief, and true enough, despite the efforts of the Riolu and Combusken, they weren’t enough to catch the Sceptile, and it was only the sudden appearance of the Mightyena that allowed them to retrieve the bag.
Now, as the Sceptile slunk away, she was tailing him until he stopped in a nearby alleyway. Noticing that he had stopped, she decided to make herself known. “That little trick you pulled wasn’t bad...for an amateur,” Fox chuckled from the shadows, catching the Sceptile’s attention.
“Amateur?” Scep scowled, before turning to the source of the voice. To his surprise, out of the shadows stepped out….a little Zorua. His eyes widened and he gulped. “Okay dudette, it’s not safe to be all alone….unless you’re going to eat me….Yeah, I’m going to hope you aren’t going to do that.”
Fox blinked at his statement, honestly wondering where that idea came from. “Nothing of that sort. I just happened to stumble upon your little chase, and while you’ve certainly got talent, you're hardly a master thief if that’s all you have,” she chuckled, her tone teasing.
Scep snarled, bearing his dagger-like teeth. “Hardly a master thief? Little dudette, I taught myself everything I need to know about being a thief. I’ve stolen enough moola and other stuff from right out under some of the worst people you could imagine. What do you know about stealing?”
Smirking slightly at his reaction, Fox leapt forward, and bounced off his head, landing on a nearby railing. “Everything there is to know about being a thief. There is nothing in the world that Phantom Thief Fox can’t steal.”
“....You’re Phantom Thief Fox?” Scep blinked in confusion.
“I know what you’re thinking, and yes, Phantom Thief Fox is a human, or at least she was a little over 24 hours ago,” she chuckled, quite enjoying the look on his face.
In the blink of an eye, Scep jumped up on the railing, sat down, and took her little paw in a firm handshake. “Ah man, I heard so much about you. Gots to say, I never thought a human had it in them to be so good. General Scep, is my name,” he put a hand onto his chest. “Best thief in all of the PLA and general of our recon teams.”
“Oh? So you're one of that group. Yes, I’ve heard quite a bit about your little group, especially in the underground. You certainly know how to piss off plenty of the crime lords down there. Oh, how I remember the profanities I heard from one of the crime lords. Don’t know what you did to piss him off, but...nice,” she chuckled, before a grin came to her face again. “Speaking of which, since we’re on topic, I have a small...favor to ask, if you don’t mind.”
“Fire away little thief,” Scep patted her head. “I wouldn’t be a thief without the stories I heard about your family. Well, not a great thief. That old dude, your grandfather, I remember reading stories about him. Inspired quite a few stunts of my own.”
“Ah yes, grandfather Jack was certainly a...character. I do believe there was quite a rise in the number of new thieves when he was active. Oh the stories he used to tell me. He was certainly one of the more...unorthodox people to wear the mantle of Fox,” she chuckled, before continuing. “Anyway, as I said before, I was human until a little over 24 hours ago, and as you can probably guess, suddenly waking up in a body that is not only much smaller than my original body, but quadrupedal at that, doesn’t exactly vote much confidence in my skills at the moment. I propose a small challenge if you will, a game of tag. You’ll use every trick you know as thief to get away from me, and I’ll try to catch you. While I admit its a little odd to be the one chasing for a change, I can’t exactly practice and adapt my old skills into this new body without rousing suspicion. Doesn’t help that I don’t know who is or was human, and which of them were part of the law. My family has spent generations with the prestige of never getting caught, and I’ll be damned before I let that end thanks to something as trivial as suddenly turning into a Zorua.”
Scep stroked his chin. “Sounds fun, though you could have cut it down a bit.” He put a finger into an ear and twisted it about. “That was quite an earful, little dudette,” He huffed. “Earfull, thieves got to stick together, human or not. You’re not getting caught on my watch.” He stood on the railing and winced. He clutched his chest. “Ugh, this just hasn’t been my day...Don’t worry, I’ve taken hits to the chest all the time.”
“Alright, if you say so. However, word of advice, next time someone realizes that you’re with the PLA, don’t always assume they’re on your side. My team talked with a few Pokemon about this before, and frankly, quite a good number of them, especially the ones who like being with humans have a rather...low opinion of your group,” she said, before another thought came to her. “Actually, as far as the criminal underground is concerned, most of them think your group is a joke that would sooner blow themselves up before they made any real progress. The exceptions though...they think you MIGHT become a threat, and many of them wanted to make a coat or a hood ornament out of your skins.”
Scep sighed. “Alright dudette, firstly, yeah a lot of pokemon didn’t agree with us. They fought us, we fought them. How it always went. Can’t convince everyone,” he shrugged. “And those criminals” He snarled and balled his fists. “A joke? A joke?!! Those dudes peed their pants when we came storming in. A joke? I’d like to see them say that to the Commander’s face. You want to make a coat out of him? He’ll use your skull as a nightlight….He really did once.” Scep rubbed the back of his head.
“...okay, I’m not gonna ask how that was possible, but for all its worth….I’ve read the history books, and I’m pretty sure that at one point humans and Pokemon were equals...until humans decided to change that,” she said darkly. “When you know stories like that, what your group was doing makes sense. I suppose its a mixture of your...predecessors’ reputation, as well as how some of your actions affect both innocent and guilty parties that put you in such a bad light with most people,” she mused. “Though, I certainly remember the time when you replaced the Rangers’ Capture Stylers with jewels. Oh, we were laughing all week when that hit headlines,” she chuckled. “Anyway, whenever you’re ready.”
“Dudette, the Commander wouldn’t let innocents get harmed. He might not say it, but he cares about humans. We even took in orphans and raised as our own. Little honorary pokemon we called ‘em,” he chuckled and stood up. “Alright, let me catch my breath.”
“Well, wherever your commander is, I hope he at least tones down being...him. I don’t think the natives of...wherever we are, would appreciate it much, if the stories I heard about how....eccentric your leader is are to be believed,” Fox mused, stretching a little to limber up.
“He is strange,” Scep said, stretching himself. “But they’ll manage….It’s Roa I’m worried about.” He breathed in deeply, scanning the place for the best getaways and such. His legs tensed as he prepared to make his move.
“Ah yes, ‘Project Roa’. Another of Raziel’s...it would be too kind to call it a mistake. The only thing I regret in terms of him is that I never got a chance to use a heist to expose him to the authorities. It would have given me great pleasure to see another of his kind sent to the executioner for his crimes,” Fox growled darkly. One thing she really enjoyed about being Fox was the times when her heists lead to the arrest of the more...depraved criminals.
Scep glared at her. “Don’t call her a mistake… She’s just a kid. Yeah, she’s messed up in the head….Yeah, she likes to terrorize and kill, but that’s only when she gets in that ‘mood’. She rarely does and she’s really sweet….But if she ever does get in a mood, well, let’s just say she was a good way to flush out Raziel’s forces...or the few remaining after she ‘dealt’ with the rest….Word of advice, give her a plush toy. She loved them.”
Fox winced at that. “I apologize for that. I was referring more to Raziel’s work in general, and I honestly don’t blame any of the ones who came out of his experiments for anything they did...but unfortunately, most people don’t see it that way. If you ever find her, and I hope you do, tell her to beware of any Pokemon that might have been part of the law back home. Word underground on the PLA is that amongst the ones who the authorities deemed...too dangerous to leave alone, she was on the top of their list slated to be...’put down’. But enough about that. Are you ready? If not, I can wait for a little longer. Maybe a day, or however long you need to recover. That double attack HAD to hurt.”
“I’ve taken blows WAY stronger than those little stunts,” Scep rubbed his chest. “I even got shot once. Right through the chest. Kept on the job that night I did, dudette. Stole quite a bit of intel on some of Team Rocket’s where abouts in Hoenn.” He chuckled. “You should have seen Giovanni’s face when I crashed into his little meeting. Priceless. I even made off with his wallet. He never noticed.”
At this, Fox burst out laughing. “I take back what I said about you being an amateur. Anyone who can steal something right out from under one of the top dogs in the underground is no amateur. Shame we did not meet years before. I would have liked to have a Pokemon like you on my team. Rascal might have even liked to have more competition.”
“I might have let you,” Scep bolted down a nearby alley. “BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO CATCH ME!”
“Let the game begin, then!” Fox laughed as she gave chase. Upon starting, she was faced with the first obstacle of her new body, she had lost quite a bit of her speed thanks to her shorter legs, and her unfamiliar body would likely cut into her agility and finesse when the time came. However, she knew speed alone didn’t make a thief. Spotting a nearby discarded mattress, she noted the loose springs. Adding a quick burst into her legs, she ran at the mattress, and jumped on it at an angle. True enough, the springs reacted against her weight and velocity, and the angling allowed for her to be launched at the Sceptile ahead of her.
Scep ducked and spun around her. He leaped onto a nearby building and bounded alongside the walls. “And you said I was the amateur?” He said in good humor.
“Its too early for you to claim otherwise,” she playfully retorted as she chased after him. Looking to the right, she noticed a railing that was slanted. Quickly jumping on, she quickly ran on the railing after him, avoiding the obstacles below. All the while, the gears in her head were turning, thinking up a plan. Looking around again, she noted some clothes being hung out to dry, but what really interested her was the clothesline itself. “Mom was right. I’ve been watching too many cartoons,” she laughed to herself, before jumping on the clothesline, turning it into a makeshift catapult that launched her up on the same roof that Scep was running on.
“You’re quicker than I thought, dudette,” Scep smirked. “But let’s see if you’ve got a thief’s eye.” In an instant, there were several of him running around in all directions.
“Double team. Not a bad choice. However…” she mused, before she grabbed a nearby piece of glass and tossed it upward. “There is a fatal flaw!” The glass caught the light, and refracted in several directions, and on to the many Sceps. “There you are,” she mused, when the light revealed that one of them had a shadow, while the others didn’t, and chased after the real one.
“...That’s a new one,” Scep frowned. “How about Leaf Storm.” A hail of leaves shot out from his back, clouding the air in green.
Seeing the attack coming, she immediately ducked down, and instead of getting distracted by the cloud of greenery, focused on her target, or more specifically his feet, which she noticed were moving towards the left of the building, and jumped down. The moment the storm ended, she immediately chased after him.
“Huh...now that I think about it, I never did get chased by someone so tiny...or cute.” Scep shrugged slightly as he used his acrobatic skills to jump to and fro between the walls and along the rails of the buildings. His speed was enhanced with a ‘Quick Attack’.
“Okay, this might be a tough one…” she muttered. Running to the edge of the rooftop, she spied another clothesline, only this one had no clothes hanging on it. Seeing this, she got an idea. “Well...here goes something,” she muttered before jumping on the edge of the clothesline, and biting with her teeth, which unsurprisingly, shredded through the clothesline, which broke off, turning into an impromptu swing, but at the same time allowed her chase after him.
Scep turned to see the Zorua swinging right after him. “She’s crazy! I like her!” he grinned, before getting out of the way. Naturally, this left Fox with no way to stop, and unsurprisingly, landed in a nearby trash bin.
“What a dirty dudette,” Scep raced off. “I know I’ve got a ‘filthy’ mind, but your’s takes the cake….I’m not good with puns.” He grumbled.
“No, you certainly aren’t,” came Fox’s voice, before he felt a paw on his tail. Blinking in surprise, he turned to where he felt it, only to see the little Zorua fade into view. “Gotcha.”
Scep blinked in confusion, before smiling. “Well, how about that. You caught me, little one. Can’t believe I forgot about the whole ‘illusion’ thing.” He chuckled.
“That was kind of the point. I knew that my biggest advantage would be my illusions, but like any other good player, I saved my trump card for last,” she nodded. “Your really good though. I think you’d have given me a real run for my money even when I was human, and that’s saying something,” she chuckled.
“I’m not that good,” Scep rubbed his paw against his chest. “Okay, I am. I always was a bit of a thief.” He shrugged. “Even as a kid I knew. Stole everything I could at the breeding center. Just for kicks.”
At that Fox chuckled. “Normally I should say that kids shouldn’t steal. But if I did, then you can call me Pot,” she said as they shared a small laugh. “Though, my offer still stands. I dunno if I’m ever gonna go back to being human, since last I checked, humans don’t just suddenly turn into Pokemon for no reason. But just because I’m not human doesn’t mean I can’t still be Fox. I could use someone like you on my team.”
Scep was about to answer, but before he could, a voice rang out in the minds of everyone on the planet.
"Attention citizens of Equus, both old and new.”
”I am Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokémon realm. You have no reason to fear me, I come in peace. I have revealed myself to inform you that I am the one responsible for the Pokémon’s presence in this world, for the citizens of Equus, the Pokémon are the beings who have appeared over the past few days. I have my reasons for bringing them here, and to the leaders I will reveal them in time, but for now a warning. The Pokémon, while some may not seem it, are just as intelligent as any race who calls Equus home, and seeing as how they are my subjects, I will not tolerate them being treated any differently than you would treat your fellow Pony, Griffin, Minotaur, Diamond Dog, Changeling, Deer, Hippocampi, Zebra, Horse, Buffalo, Cow, Donkey, or Dragon depending on whichever race you belong to. To my Pokémon, I say this, I brought you, all of you, here so that you could live in peace, do not seek to harm the natives of this world, for I am the one responsible for your displacement. And to the Pokémon who went through changes when I brought you here I say this. You are the ones who proved themselves worthy, those who were fair, kind and good in the old world, consider this your reward. And to all of you, as sapients the laws of Equus, and the varying countries, now apply to you, and only the laws of Equus. That is all for now, but just to be clear, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite, if you have a problem with what I’ve done, feel free to contact me, I currently reside in an ancient temple deep in the Everfree Forest, or a pocket dimension outside of the space time continuum, so if any of you wish to face the sheer power of a god, feel free to come by.” “Goodbye for now, though I doubt this will be the last you hear of me, and peace to you all.”
When the message ended, both of them just stared. “Correct me if I’m mistaken...but that message was either from Arceus himself, or someone pretending to be Arceus…” Fox started.
“Yep.”
“He didn’t just bring us to a new place, he brought us to a new world…”
“Sounds like it.”
“And if I’m reading between the lines right, he turned any humans he brought along into Pokemon. Is that about it?”
“Well, I dunno about that, but considering you’re a Zorua now...sure?”
“...oh, is that all then. In that case…”Fox promptly fell over and fainted.
“...so...now what?” Scep couldn’t help but ask as he was left with an out cold Zorua in an empty alley.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a certain Riolu was flat on his butt, a look of abject shock on his face. “Oookay, please tell me I’m not the only one who heard that.”
“We all heard it,” Heat deadpanned, though his face was just as shocked as his trainer’s, while Howl sat on his haunches, a look of shock on his face as well.
“So...we’re aliens now?” Howl chuckled weakly, trying to say something to lighten the mood.
“We’ve just been flung to another world, and that’s all you got from it?” Heat deadpanned.
“Let’s...let’s go back. With our luck, I’ll bet there’ll be a riot for us to calm down,” Jonathan said as he shakily got back on his feet.
The two of them didn’t say anything, instead just opting to follow him.
To say the atmosphere was tense in the mansion, was like saying that ocean was a little wet. Just an hour ago, every Pony and Pokemon in the city, the world, and of course, the mansion, heard the message from the Pokemon god. Naturally, this left the Ponies...uncomfortable to say the least.
“For the last time, no means no! Now get out! Your boss has already taken away enough!”
Never mind, it just went past uncomfortable.
“Very well. But mark my words, you two have made a very big mistake. Next time, it will be more than just a Jewel that you will lose,” the stallion, a shifty looking pony with a dirty brown coat, and black mane, snorted before walking away.
This was the scene that Alice walked into, leaving a very confused Zorua. Earlier, after waking up from her shock induced coma, she had decided to invite Scep to follow her back to the mansion, seeing as the Sceptile didn’t exactly have anywhere to go at the moment (though she made him promise not to steal anything while they were staying at the mansion, something she emphasized with another death glare when she noticed the Sceptile inching towards a nearby vase).
“Ah, Zorua. I see you’re back...and I see you brought a friend,” Sleight Hoof sighed weakly.
Walking up to them, Alice cocked her head towards the direction of the stallion that had just left, obviously asking about that.
“Oh, him? It’s...it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Quick Storm sighed.
The look she gave them clearly told them she wasn’t buying it. Seeing that, the elderly couple sighed. “Alright. You’ll probably not understand half of it anyway, even if that ‘Lord Arceus’ said you’re all supposed to be just as intelligent as us,” Sleight Hoof sighed, before sitting down. “For starters, allow us to reintroduce ourselves. I’m Sleight Hoof, renowned Earth Pony illusionist. I can make magic trick that even baffle some of the best unicorns out there. This is my wife, Quick Storm, owner of Air Express, the biggest shipping company in Baltimare, and one of the biggest in Equus. What you don’t know, is that we weren’t always legitimate. Both of us come from poor backgrounds. Heck, we don’t even know who our parents were, so like most orphans, we had to do what was needed to survive. Naturally, this ended up getting us involved with a rather...unsavory crowd.”
“As you can probably guess,” Quick Storm continued, a tired look on her face. “Life back then wasn’t exactly easy, especially since we were part of one of the bigger criminal gangs, and well...we kinda got sick of it after a while. So we left…”
“Problem is, even after all these years, our past seems to be catching up to us. After we left, our old boss wasn’t about to let us just walk away scot free. Fortunately, an old friend of ours from the gang helped us get away. Before we left though, he gave us something to help kick start our new life, a rare jewel he snagged from the boss,” Sleight Hoof continued. “For a while, things went well for us. I had a lucky break when I was practicing my magic tricks, which put me on the track on my career, so much so that we were able to get on our feet without having to use the jewel, while Storm managed to get a job in a delivery company thanks to her fast flying speed. Eventually, we managed to build up our lives till we were able to live comfortably and settle down. Unfortunately, about a year after we settled down, we got an...unwelcomed visitor.”
“The pony who came was the boss’ second in command, though he’d become the new head of the gang since our old boss stepped down,” Quick Storm explained. “Anyway, he somehow found out that our old friend had stolen the jewel, and they wanted it back. We didn’t want any trouble, and especially when we heard that they had our old friend, we gave the jewel back without a fuss...only for them to turn around and say they had decided to make an example out of our friend…” both of them started to tear up at this point.
“We wanted to go to the police with this, calling them murderers, but they turned around and told us that if we so much as said a word, then they’d stop at nothing till everything we worked so hard for was in ruins. At first we weren’t afraid, then they pulled a cheap shot on us. They said that then our friend’s sacrifice would have been for nothing. In the end, we did nothing, got to keep our lives, but now with a threat hanging over our heads. That stallion you saw walk out was one of their enforcers. He gave us a message that the gang wants to use Storm’s company for their illegal trades, and now...now we don’t know what to do. They know they’ve got us in their hooves, so they’ll come again. But we don’t know what to do. If we give in, then we’re just as guilty by being accomplices, but if we refuse, then losing everything will be the least of our worries. They’ll tear and rip everything apart, making us watch as everything burns, and then they’ll get rid of us…” Sleight Hoof finished, before sighing tiredly, their already old features suddenly looking several years older.
Alice looked up at them sympathetically, before an angry look appeared on her features. She knew exactly what she would do, or rather, what she would have done back on Earth. Steal the jewels back, use it somehow as evidence, and use that to bring the gang down. Simple as that. Only one problem. She was… a Pokemon that was much smaller than her human form, she didn’t have most of her team, she didn’t have any of the resources she used to have, and more importantly, didn’t have enough information to really do anything that would really help. Fortunately, she knew where she could get information, but she couldn’t get it if they couldn’t understand her. Thinking hard, she realized something. A simple answer, so much so that she face pawed. Turning to an empty part of the room, she ran forward slightly, focusing on her human form, and jumped forward, doing a midair flip as she activated her illusion ability. There was a flash of light, and where the Zorua was, was now a human.
The old couple just stared at the thing that had been Zorua just a few moments ago, while Scep blinked, before muttering something that sounded like “Didn’t know Illusions could do that”.
“Can you understand me now?” she asked, shocking the old couple further, causing them to just nod dumbly.
“Good,” Alice smiled, before adding, “Now then, I’d like you to tell me everything you know about your old gang, and what you know about them now.”
“Why?” Quick Storm asked, more surprised by her words than by what she had just done. “I mean, what would you do with if we told you?”
Alice just smiled, as a black cavalier hat appeared over her head, having added that to her illusion. She then tipped it over, and said in a noticeably sly tone, “I believe its time for Fox to enter the stage.”
Editor’s note:
Evowizard - It's a great chapter that I'm really glad to have been a part of. It was rather fun to talk and write with you. (I'm still kinda new to this 'co-writing' thing, but it seems fun in my book.)