Chapter 2
Having dozens, if not hundreds, of eyes on her was hardly a new experience for Celestia. But there was a difference between having everypony’s attention while you gave a rousing speech and simply being gawked at by strange creatures.
The sun shone down on Celestia as she walked down the dirt road of Nuvema Town. Professor Juniper was keeping pace beside her on her right. The Snivy was on her left, his tail fanned out to collect as much of the sun’s light as it could.
This unlikely trio was quick to attract the attention of the town’s inhabitants—more plain-looking bipeds from Juniper’s species. Most of them glanced at Celestia as they passed-by along the street, though she could feel their eyes lingering on her long after they’d passed. Their faces all told a unique tale; some were clearly in admiration of this bizarre creature among their town, while others were lingering in varying degrees of shock and wonderment. Still, others didn’t seem to care at all.
Perhaps this was a bad idea, Celestia thought to herself. Nuvema town had seemed much smaller from a distance. Just a collection of buildings with identical blue triangle shaped roofs connected by dirt roads and broken up by fields of grass. Though not quite as big as Ponyville, the town was still sizable enough that there was always at least one pair of eyes on every road.
“Professor Juniper!” called a menagerie of voices from behind. Celestia and Juniper both turned towards the sound and were greeted by four children (at the least, they looked like children to Celestia). Floating among them was a plump pink creature with patterns that resembled purple flowers on its body.
“Hello kids,” Juniper said with a smile.
“Professor Juniper, what’s that Pokemon?” a young boy asked, pointing to Celestia.
“I’m glad you asked. This here is an Alicorn; a visitor from a far away land.”
The children seemed invested in the professor’s description. They edged closed to Celestia, all wanted to get a better look at her. Even the pink creature seemed to eye her with its shiny, oval, red eyes. From the corner of her eye, Celestia could see the Snivy watching each of the children and straighten his back, standing upright and proper.
“How far away?” a young girl asked.
“Further away than Kanto,” Juniper said. “Now please, don’t crowd her, children. This is her first time in an Unova town, and you don’t want to make it a stressful experience, would you?”
The children all backed away from Celestia, with the pink creature following after. Juniper smiled at them again. “Go enjoy yourselves and have fun with Munna.”
“We will!” the children all said in unison. One by one they said goodbye to the professor and Celestia, then raced across the street with their pink creature towards a playground of some kind.
“Perhaps this should have waited until later,” Celestia said once she was sure the children were out of earshot.
“I told you already, half the town already knows you exist,” Juniper said. “If they didn’t see you when you initially arrived, the kids have probably gossiped about it several times over by now. All seeing you in the flesh will do is confirm those rumors.”
“And you’re sure no one would try to capture me?”
“Not when we explain what you really are,” Juniper explained. “Then again, it’s entirely possible that a Poké Ball won’t work on you. They’re designed only to be used on Pokémon; humans can’t be captured in one. So it’s possible it won’t register on you either.”
That was comforting to Celestia. The Snivy might not mind being stored inside one of those red and white spheres, but the thought was more than a little disturbing to her. As was the fact that these ‘humans’ were so casual with discussing it.
“On that thought, was the pink creature with those children a Pokémon as well?” Celestia asked.
“It was,” replied Juniper. “That was a Munna. A Psychic-type with the ability to eat the dreams of people and Pokémon and project them through a mist. Specifically, it seeks out nightmares, because those who have had a Munna eat their dreams will forget the dream.”
That would certainly make Luna’s job a lot easier, Celestia thought.
As the three of them walked through the town, Celestia became aware of more strange creatures, all of whom the professor identified as Pokémon. A large purple cat with yellow circles was curled up and sleeping on the porch of a house. She called that one Liepard. Two shaggy brown dogs called Lillipup and Herdier followed a pair of humans on a mid-day jog. Pidove like the ones Celestia had woken up among were resting on rooftops or flying overhead. When their shadows passed by, the Snivy hid himself underneath Celestia and refused to come out until they passed.
“Flying-types are strong against Grass-types,” Juniper explained. “Once Rowen is here and settled, we can go over the entire type effectiveness chart.”
The Snivy poked his head out from beneath Celestia, a wary eye on the skies. She craned her neck back and nuzzled him, speaking soothingly. “It’s alright, little one. The danger is passed.”
“Snivy?” asked the Snivy, his red eyes darting across the sky. Once he’d confirmed Celestia’s claim, he stood beside her again, head held high and regal, like so many of the elites of Canterlot.
It was a small gesture, but it reminded Celestia of when the children had swarmed around her, or when the professor’s assistant had tried to challenge her to a battle. Both times the Snivy had composed itself properly.
It seems outward personas are important to this creature. Celestia thought. Curious.
Professor Juniper stopped in front a store painted in bright pink. A large window took up nearly the entire wall, and right behind were several mannequins wearing all manner of clothing, though nowhere near as decorative or eye-catching as what she was used to from Equestria. At first it seemed odd to Celestia that clothing would be so commonplace and, for lack of a better word, trite, but it then occurred to her that every one of Juniper’s species had worn some manner of clothing. In Equestria, outfits were usually reserved either as formal wear or business attire. The elites of Canterlot wore clothing regularly to showcase their stature. Perhaps it was the same for humans.
Juniper motioned to the ground in front of the shop, tracing a line in the air. “A group of kids on their way to school found you here. From the way you were sprawled out I assumed you hit the shop while flying too fast and knocked yourself out, though the shopkeep doesn’t recall anything hitting the wall. And given your size, you’d likely have to been flying a fair speed to knock yourself unconscious, which would leave an impact on the wall somewhere, but it’s as smooth as the day it was built.”
Celestia’s eyes followed the professor’s hand. The ground looked like, well, the ground. Aside from a slight scuffing of the dirt that may or may not have been her outline, there was nothing to suggest that this spot was where Celestia appeared. When Twilight Sparkle had used the mirror last, she explained that it used a statue as a focal point to Equestria.
Although this place doesn’t match her descriptions of Canterlot High, Celestia thought. She craned her head to look up at the building. “How long was I lying here?”
Juniper thought a moment. “Couldn’t have been more than an hour. The shop would have been open long before the kids were on their way down the road, and I doubt anyone would have missed you, even if it was dark out.”
Celestia frowned, her brow furrowed in thought. “Did anyone notice anything peculiar when they found me? Any disturbances in the air or distortions in the glass?”
“Not that I can remember.”
Before Celestia could press for further details, a shrill cry pierced the air.
“What was that?” Celestia asked, looking past the store. The sound seemed to have come from a hidden back-alley.
“It sounded like a Pokémon cry,” Juniper answered with a surprising amount of attentiveness. Her eyes were scanning the ground around them. “Say, where did the Snivy get to? He was with you not two minutes ago.”
Celestia turned away from the alley and looked at her side. Sure enough, the Snivy was not standing beside her or hiding beneath her legs.
“Could that sound have been him?” she asked, looking grimly at the professor.
“Possibly,” Juniper replied, stepping towards the alley. “At any rate, if a Pokémon is in distress, I have a responsibility as a professor to assist them.”
Celestia nodded and stepped in-line next to the professor, her mind racing with possibilities. Cedric had said that not all of these Pokémon were friendly; could one of the more aggressive ones have wandered into town?
Contrary to what she was expecting, the alley was actually well-lit and not at all dirty. The Snivy was indeed there, his back to the wall, with two green vines extending from his neck. Advancing on him was a small purple cat, similar to the Liepard she had seen earlier, but it walked on its back legs and lacked the yellow spots of the larger cat.
At first, Celestia though that the cat was merely hungry and desperate for a meal, or at worst rabid, until she spotted the cloaked figure just past the two creatures. Shadows concealed its face, but Celestia could see white hair poking from the darkness.
“Hey! Identify yourself!” Juniper called to the figure.
“Return,” it replied, no louder than a whisper, before pointing a Pokéball at the bipedal cat. A red light shot from the ball and covered the cat, who vanished into nothing. The figure pulled the Pokéball back into the shadows, and Celestia could feel cold eyes locking onto her.
“Tend to your Pokémon, professor,” the figure hissed. “While you still can.”
“Who are you?” Juniper demanded, but she was too late. The figure vanished into the shadows as if it were a part of them.
The figure’s abrupt departure left Celestia disquieted. “I take it that was an uncommon occurrence?” she asked, her years of royal etiquette helping to keep her voice level and calm.
“That is one way of putting it,” Juniper said, walking over to the Snivy. He seemed shaken by the events, but otherwise unharmed. “There have been rumours of some group of thugs running around and stealing people’s Pokémon, but I never thought they could be so cryptic.”
“They steal Pokémon?” Celestia asked. “I thought you said humans treated Pokémon as friends and help compliment each other.”
“Most people do, but there are some who see Pokémon only as a means to an end.” She stood, pulling the Snivy’s Poké Ball out of her lab coat. “I’m just glad nothing serious happened this time.”
She pointed the ball at the Snivy. A red beam shot from the ball, aimed for the grass-type’s chest, but it jumped aside before the beam could connect.
“Snivy!” he exclaimed, waving his arms at the professor.
The professor kneeled, looking at the Snivy intently. “Yes? What is it?”
The Snivy crossed his arms and straightened his neck. As he did, a thin green vine extended from his left side. It twisted through the air and into the shadows where the figure had been standing, all while the Snivy looked up at Juniper and Celestia. The duo watched in silence as the diminutive green lizard pulled out a shard of glass, delicately gripping it with his vine.
“What do you have there?” Juniper asked, holding her hand out. The Snivy dropped the glass shard into her palm, being careful of the jagged edges.
Celestia peered at the object. It was near-circular in shape, save for the jagged edges where the glass had broken. Size wise, the shard was half the size of a dining saucer. But there was nothing else that stood out to Celestia about it.
“A shard of glass?” she mused aloud.
Juniper furrowed her brow. “I don’t see anything particularly striking about it either, but this Snivy doesn’t tend to waste his time with trivialities or trinkets.” She turned the shard over in her hand and stood. “Come on, let’s get back to my lab before something else happens.”