It didn’t take long for the group to reach the mansion. When they arrived the butler took it in stride, welcoming in the new Pokemon and cleaning up the little bit of dirt that was tracked in before they even left the room.
They found Fancypants in the lounge enjoying deeply enthralled in a book. As the Pokemon entered, he looked up. “Ah, Shadow, Valerie. How did your outing go?”
Valerie smiled and moved closer to Shadow, “Very well thank you.”
“That’s good. I see you’ve brought back more friends. I thought that the only ones remaining were bird and fox-like creatures.”
Shadow spoke up now. “Well technically the only one either of us knows is the Sylveon, Frederick, who is still passed out after accidentally getting poisoned by Val.”
The Poison-Type broke out in a wide grin, a bit of moisture coming to her eyes. “He’s my brother. I never thought I’d see him again, but he’s here, finally.”
“That’s wonderful. It’s always important to be with family.” He looked to the Scizor, Sylveon, Flareon and Unicorn. “I suppose you offered them a place to stay while they’re in town?”
Valerie rubbed her leg uncomfortably. “Yeah, sorry if that’s overstepping boundaries or something.”
“We can find a hotel somewhere else if need be. We have plenty of bits with us.” Steven spoke up for the first time, pointing at the saddlebag the unicorn wore.
Fancypants slammed his book shut, making everyone in the room flinch. “That would be preposterous! How could I in good conscience turn away the family and friends of one of my own friends. It would bring dishonor upon myself and my family!”
“We appreciate it, sir” The Bug-type nodded, “My name is Steven Stone from Rustboro City, in the Hoenn region of Earth: the unicorn next to me is Pickett Midnight, from Tall Tale, the pink guy passed out here is Frederick, and the Whismur behind Valerie is Wendy.”
“Wassup!” The unicorn chimed, giving a military salute to the fancy-looking unicorn in front of him.
“My name is Prophet,” added the Flareon before Steven could ask.
The noble nodded. “Greetings to you as well.” He looked over to his loyal butler in the corner. Looking to the Flareon and Sylveon he asked, “Are those two going to be alright? They don’t look in the best of shape.”
“I should be fine, I’ve had worse. A little rest and I’ll be as good as ever.” Answered the Fire-Type.
“Same with Freddy, if you cure it soon enough my poison shouldn't have any long term detrimental effects.”
“Hmm… well if you’re sure.” He clapped his hooves twice and the butler entered again. “Loyalty, could you please go get a few rooms set up?” He looked back to the group, “Have you three had anything to eat yet today?”
Steven and Pockets looked at each other in shock, they had forgotten the pies that they ordered back in the restaurant, and their stomachs had been growling in anger for a while, yet the commotion had lead them to ignore them.
“...And they were already paid for too…” Pockets sighed under her breath,
“Apologies, but… would you mind providing us with a meal?” Steven sighed as well, ashamed of having to ask this from their host.
Fancypants chuckled. “Well why do you think I was asking? Loyalty, fetch Barnardo.” He looked back to the Pokemon waiting expectantly. “Come along, the dining room is this way.”
The Pokemon and Pony followed the white unicorn through the halls. As they passed through the entryway, Tyler came running down the stairs.
“Hey guys! How’d the date go?”
Shadow nuzzled Valerie. “It went great.” He lifted his head back up and turned to the Scizor, still holding an unconscious Frederick. “This is Steven Stone, you’ve probably heard of him.” He pointed to the Sylveon the Champion was holding. “That’s Frederick, , Valerie’s long lost brother, the quiet Whismur is Wendy and the Pony is Pockets, or PIckets… or something... I dunno.”
“It’s Pickett, but just call me Pockets, don’t ask why” The unicorn shrugged, “Glad to meet ya”
Tyler’s eyes widened to the size of teacup platters. “Steven Stone? The Steven Stone?”
“Uhm… indeed?” The former champion said dubiously.
The Flaaffy darted forward and held his plush paw up to the Scizor. “I can’t believe it! I… I’m honored to meet you again sir!”
“Uhm… pardon me, but I don’t think I recognize you… given our current bodies it’s hard to remember old acquaintances”
“You’re pretty famous, huh Steven?” The navy blue unicorn chuckled.
“My name is Tyler Watsky. We met once just south of Petalburg woods, but I doubt you’d remember me. You fixed up my Fennekin after I lost my first battle and gave me some encouraging words.”
“Yeah, forgive me. My memory is not that good, I’ve met many trainers in my journeys. But if I gave you some advice, it means I saw potential in you. So glad to see you’re here, in this planet that is.”
“You’re babbling mister Champion, can’t really handle fanboys, huh?” Pockets mocked, nudging him.
“That’s ok. I bet it’s hard to remember guys like me when you’re off saving the world and overseeing Pokemon Championships and such.” He clasped his paws behind his back and blushed slightly.
Pockets stomach growled loudly, interrupting the awkward pause after Tyler’s statement. “Can you guys leave the autographs for later? Seriously, following that sneaky rascal around drained all my energy, gotta refill.”
Steven heard the rumble in his own stomach, and looked at the former human in front of him ashamed, “I’m feeling hungry as well, we can speak on the dining table, if that’s ok with you, Tyler”
“Sure! It’d be an honor.” He grinned.
Loyalty approached them again, “Excuse me sirs, and ma'ams. Your rooms are ready should you wish to get some shut eye. If you need any other assistance just ask.”
“Thank you,” Steven nodded at the butler, “We’ll dine first and then we’ll go take some rest. Although, I think it would be the best to leave Frederick resting, it’s no good to have him in my arms all the time, I’m sure a comfortable bed should help him out. “
“Of course, give him here and I will take him to one of the rooms.” The butler stepped forward to receive the Sylveon but Valerie stepped in front of him and shook her head.
“Thank you, but Shadow and I can take him up.”
The stallion nodded and continued onward, looking for some other service he could contribute around the manor.
Steven carefully placed the unconscious Pokemon on Shadows back, and the Umbreon, along with his mate, slowly made their way upstairs, Prophet following close behind.
The remaining Pokemon and Pony continued on to the dining hall, where Barnardo gave them some pasta that he believed to be a shameful example of his culinary skill due to him having to rush it before he left for home.
“Sweet Celestia this is good!” Pockets chuckled, muzzle full of noodles.
“Indeed, this is pretty tasty,” Confirmed the Scizor, trying to eat as slowly as possible, enjoying every little detail of the meal that was in front of him.
“Dude, if you keep eating like that you’ll finish up by the sunrise! Just grab a bunch of them and get them all in your belly!” Pockets grabbed a considerable amount of noodles with her fork, placing them all on her mouth at once and slurping them all with great force, which caused all the noodles to slap her face instead of directly going into her mouth, causing a chuckle in all the presents.
“So, how did you end up meeting Valerie and Shadow?” Inquired the Flaaffy.
“Well, the Whismur, Wendy, caused some chaos on the place we were dining at. Her ability caused a bunch of ponies to fall asleep all of the sudden and we ended up following her around the city. She seemed to be following your friends, as she and Valerie is one of former Nurem’s experiments. Then things started… getting rather chaotic, but I believe we’re lucky to have found her, she seems to be a rather nice Pokémon.” Steven explained, before getting another bite of the meal, “What about you? I don’t think any trainer could just casually find a one in a kind Pokémon like her.”
Tyler chuckled. “She isn’t one of my Pokemon. We met her after the mass exodus. She and Shadow got put in a cage together when the guard was still rounding up Pokemon.”
“So the Pokemon were causing problems here as well? Damn you guys are troublemakers,” The unicorn joked, her mouth once again full of food which made it hard to understand her.
“We’re pretty much aliens in this world, so it’s understandable. Tyler, once again, I am sorry for forgetting, but could you please remind me how we met?
”Sure, I wouldn’t expect you to remember, it was like a year ago, and I’m sure you meet tons of trainers like me.” The former human cleared his throat, “I was just a few days into my journey, and was about to head into Petalburg woods. Up till that point I hadn’t battle any trainers, really just fighting wild Pokemon and rocks, heh. This snooty guy named Winston challenged me to a 1v1 between my Fennekin, Kenny, and his Zigzagoon. He ended up totally destroying me. The closest Pokemon center was miles away and he was too much of a stiff to give me any potions. Then you came out of nowhere and reprimanded him for not helping me, and gave me a full restore. My spirits were pretty crushed after the loss so you gave me a few kind words about believing in myself and then you were on your way.”
“Oh! The trainer with the Fenekkin, I remember now. How did your adventure go? I did see potential in you, especially on the bond you had with the Fennekin.”
Tyler smiled, then sighed, “It was going great. I had six badges, and had just made it to Lilycove when all this” he gestured around “Happened. I was planning on catching a water type and swimming out to Mossdeep the next day but then Arceus did his thing.”
“I see.. Six badges? You’ve become pretty strong, haven’t you? That’s good.” Steven remarked.
“So what are you doing here in Canterlot? I showed up here and got a place to stay so I figured I’d go sedentary for a while.” The Flaaffy inquired.
“We’re going to the Everfree Forest” The unicorn interrupted, cleaning the massive amounts of sauce on her muzzle with a fancy-looking napkin, and yawning after finishing, “Steven wants to talk with your god, something like that.”
“I just wish to ask Arceus some things, Miss. Midnight here had some business in Canterlot, so we decided to stay here for the night. If Frederick is better by the morning, we’ll be planning our departure, after he solves some details with his… sister that is.” The former champion buzzed softly.
“Ok, makes sense. Valerie went to see Arceus immediately after his announcement and took Shadow with her. I don’t know what happened when they were gone but next thing I know one of my partners is in a relationship. I don’t mind that he’s settling down and all it just bugs me they won’t tell me what happened to bring that about.” He sighed. “I don’t mean to be nosey, but… you know. Shadow is one of my best friends, my first Pokemon to evolve. I just don’t like being out of the loop.”
“If I may, they seemed pretty happy together, and your Umbreon, Shadow, seems to care a lot about her. I know how hard it is when your own Pokémon hide things from you, but you have to remember that, they have feelings just like us. They have their own life, and still they decide to share part of that life with us, but it doesn’t mean we have full control over them. We are their trainers, yes, but we are also their friends, and we have to respect their decisions.” Steven took a sip of the glass of water that stood next to the now empty dish, “By the way, we appreciate the food. Tell our host that it was marvelous.”
Tyler smiled. “Thanks for the advice, and I’ll be sure to do that.” He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall between the two large windows to his right. The hour hand was nearing the eleven mark. “I suppose we should probably turn in soon, you probably have a full day ahead of you tomorrow with meeting Arceus and all.”
“Once again, thanks to both you and our host. If you don’t mind, could you lead us to our rooms?” The Scizor requested, before poking the suddenly sleeping pony at his side.
“Wait… what, what did I miss?”
Steven chuckled softly, “That explains why you were so quiet all of the sudden.”
“I would lead you to your rooms, but Fancypants has like twenty or something in this place. I don’t know which ones are prepped for your stay.”
For once Tyler didn’t flinch when an aged voice spoke up behind him, “I would be happy to lead you to where you’ll be staying. Come with me please.”
The Scizor and Unicorn followed the butler through the doors, and were lead upstairs. Pocket's room was the first on the left. “Thanks, sleep tight!"
“Aaaand I have sudden insomnia, great. That food must have done something.”
Pockets got off her bed, looking around at the huge room they provided for her and Wendy. “So many things but nothing to do. And Wendy’s completely asleep so I can’t ask for her help, it’d be rude. What… to… do…” Pockets opened the main door, and stepped outside. Just a couple of lights illuminated the hallway. “Maybe there’s a kitchen around here somewhere, maybe I can get some milk to help me out.”
The unicorn slunk downstairs, trying to avoid being spotted by those still awake, who were mainly servants. “This is going to be my biggest heist yet… a glass of milk in the house of a famous noble!” The unicorn chuckled under her breath, teleporting around and hiding in the shadows.
“No one can spot the famous Robin Hoof of Tall Tale! Pickett Midnig--”
“Do you require anything ma’am? I’d be happy to fetch something to help you sleep.”
At the sudden interruption, Pockets, who was carefully standing on a shelf, found herself falling to the floor. “Gah! You came out of nowhere! Do you ever sleep?”
“I make myself available for any who may need assistance.” Replied Loyalty, his face still showing no emotion.
“No offense, but that’s creepy.” The unicorn chuckled awkwardly, “I was just looking for the kitchen, want to get some warm milk and whatnot. Do you think you can tell where that is?”
“Of course madame, follow me.” The old butler turned and led her through the dining room, into the kitchen through a side door. She stood awkwardly by the entrance while he retrieved a bottle of milk, and poured it into a glass. His horn lit up for a few moments and a bit of steam and bubbles rose from the drink, before handing it off to her levitation. “If you need anything else just ask.”
Pockets took a tentative sip from her glass, spitting it back in when she found it to be boiling hot still. She set the glass back down and looked around, but the butler had already disappeared.
“Geez, what’s wrong with that guy…” Levitating the milk, she decided to walk around the mansion while the milk cooled down. The wide windows let the moonlight come in, softly brightening the place up. She went upstairs, having a good look at the various fancy items in the mansion, wondering the value of each one of them. She reached the guest rooms, and saw the two Pokémon they met at the Donut Shop earlier standing in front of a room, the one she assumed was Frederick’s.
“Hey, sup.” The unicorn saluted, catching the attention of the cuddling duo.
“Oh, hi. Pockets right?” Valerie broke off from Shadow at the Unicorns approach.
“Sorry, if I’m interrupting anything I’ll just be on my way!” The blue pony chuckled awkwardly.
“No! Don’t worry it’s fine. Fredericks your friend so if you wanna check on him or something that’s fine.” The Veneon gave an equally awkward smile.
“I guess he hasn’t woken up yet… you doing ok? He’s your brother after all.”
Valerie smiled, “I’m fine. I honestly hadn’t expected to meet him so soon! I had been planning on meeting our parents soon. When I went to see Arceus he told me they were in a city called Las Pegasus. I would have probably gone in the next few days.”
“Your parents… huh. Hey, do you mind having a walk with me? I have some… questions.” Pockets scratched her head, a bit embarrassed of doing such a request to someone she had just met.
Valerie looked to her mate. “I’ll keep an eye out while you're gone, if he wakes up I’ll come find you.”
The Poison-Type gave him a lick on the cheek, stood up, and walked over to Pockets, making a “lead the way” gesture with her head.
The two strolled silently through the corridor until Shadow was out of sight, and Pockets finally cleared her throat. “Frederick seemed… uneasy when he found out who you were, something about being his fault… sorry if it’s a delicate topic, but he’s my friend, and I’d like to know what happened to him… to you.”
Valerie’s ears flattened. “Well, I can’t tell you much about what happened after I was kidnapped, after all, I wasn’t around, but I do know that he’s different now. I only recognized him because he sounds so much like our dad, and his name is Frederick.”
“I see… he also mentioned… others? You had other siblings?” The unicorn asked, a bit saddened and ashamed by talking about the topic.
Valerie nodded. “Yes, two brothers. Marc and Eric. Both their deaths were… gruesome to say the least. You see, Shadow, Frederick and I all evolved from the same species, Eevee. Eevee has eight documented forms, and many believe there to be more. I’m proof of that, as the new ninth. The doctor wanted to discover more Eeveelutions, so he kidnapped us to be the ‘lucky frontiersman’ of our species. Marc died in his first attempt, and Eric… Eric was the first one I ever poisoned.”
“That’s… horrible… Sorry for bringing it up. Frederick sure had it hard then, explains why he hates humans so much.” Pockets sighed, “I guess you guys used to be really close, weren’t you?”
The Poison-Type nodded. “Yeah, he was the oldest out of all of us. He had a really bad case of overprotective big brother syndrome. He got in trouble once for beating up this Poochyena that was teasing me! I’ll never forget the look on that guys face when he came charging in with a swift attack.”
“Haha, that sounds like what he would do… No wonder it hit him so much… losing you would hit him so hard…” She noticed a tear slowly rolling down Valeries cheek, and grimaced slightly. “Here, you want some milk?”
This earned a slight smile from the Eeveelution. “No thanks, I wouldn’t want to poison you, even if Shadow is nearby. Ingesting my poisons are way worse than having it absorb through your skin.”
“Aaaaand that is not something I needed to know.” The unicorn chuckled, “Thanks for hanging out with me, Valerie.”
Shadow watched the two girls depart, a small smile growing on his snout. It was good to see that she was still making new friends. Only Arceus knows what sort of emotional issues she could have ended up with after her experience. At least reclusiveness wasn’t one of them. Before he could reflect on it further, he felt something snaking its way along his barrel, before he could react another one covered his mouth, they both then simultaneously tightened and pulled him into Fredericks room.
“Well then, hello pretty boy. Finally we can have a one on one conversation, don’t you think ‘brother in law’?”
“Mmph, mmph.”
Frederick chuckled diabolically, “Easy there, you’ll have time to talk soon enough. You know, I don’t really like Umbreon, in fact you are on my top hated things in the world, just below humans. So you better answer carefully. What are your intentions with my sister?”
Frederick released the Umbreon, letting him breathe again.”I don’t know what you mean!” He sputtered, drawing in as much air as he could.
“No, no, not a good enough answer. You know, I’ve always wondered… some people say that Eeveelution always fall in their feet, who knows, this place is pretty high up.. and with a couple of Moonblast... “ Frederick grabbed Shadow once again, and looked at him with a dead-stare. “What are your intentions with my sister, I’ve met some pretty rotten Dark types before, give me one reason to believe you’re different.”
Shadow growled “Look man, she came onto me! And I’ve been helping her readjust to not living under the fear of a psychopath. I don’t have any ‘intentions’ other than to help her in any way I can.” He returned the Sylveons glare, “And don’t think that some stupid type advantage will mean too much in a battle. My trainer planned for encounters with fairies.”
“Oh, tough boy aren’t you? Trained as well… that explains the ‘creative’ name,“ Frederick smirked, “Listen, I’m just protecting my little sister, and I don’t really trust you, at all.”
“If you’re trying to ‘protect’ her, where were you when we were both tossed in a cell together just for being Pokemon? Or when she found out she killed someone and tried to get herself arrested? Huh? I’ve been protecting her too you know!”
Frederick dropped Shadow, and grunted under his breath, “Oh… that was most definitely a wrong answer, you fucking asshole!” Frederick grabbed him once again and threw him in the air, before swiftly throwing two small Moonblasts at the Umbreon, sending him back.
Shadow managed to dodge one of the two Moonblasts, but the other impacted him square in the shoulder. The force threw him back into a wall, where he quickly threw up a protect to block the next two attacks. His tail glowed a bright white and he rushed forward, hitting the Sylveon in the jaw, drawing a bit of blood with the super effective Iron Tail.
“Oh ho ho. You fucking asshole, you represent everything I hate in life. it’s going to be fun to beat you up!” Frederick released a strong Flash in the room, blinding Shadow for a couple of seconds, and just as he regained sight, another Moonblast hit him directly between his eyes.
The Umbreon stumbled back, before his eyes glowed a purple light, and a viscous bubbling liquid was shot at the Sylveon, infecting him with the toxin, causing him to shudder violently. Frederick chuckled, then copied the Umbreon, sending his own Toxic attack out. To his surprise, the Umbreon didn’t even flinch as he was infected.
“Sorry, that’s not gonna work. Thanks to your sister I’ve started to build up a resistance. Give me two hours and I might start to feel a little wobbly.”
“For Arceus’ Sake… you dirty bastard. I still have enough time to beat you up before the Toxic takes me down.” As Frederick grunted, he Moonblasted the Umbreon once again, who dodged it effortlessly, but was surprised when the Sylveon himself tackled him out of the window, and onto the roof. Shadow barely managed to hang onto the edge, and pulled himself back up onto the tiles.
He erected another Protect, blocking another few Moonblasts, and then healed himself with Moonlight. “That all you got?”
Frederick called for a Wish to heal himself as well, annoyed by the taunts of the Umbreon who until now had been able to take his hits with ease, “You piece of garbage… I won’t let you get close to my sister, no matter how, but I’ll stop you two from being together any longer… even if I have to kill you for it!” Frederick rushed to the Umbreon, tackling him they both were rolling around on the rooftop of the mansion, punching and kicking each other on the way down. Frederick was ready to send another Moonblast, and Shadow was ready to use another Iron Tail, but both were stopped when they reached a balcony, and a loud shout of anger and confusion called their attention.
The two were forcefully yanked from one another by a blue telekinetik grip, and held there in the air, both panting and glaring at the other.
“WHAT IN ARCEUS’S NAME ARE YOU TWO DOING?” shrieked Valerie.
“Well I did say I’d let you know when your brother was awake.” He gasped out.
“Hey Sis, I was just having a small chat with your pesky boyfriend, we were just playing and whatnot.” The Sylveon chuckled with anger, hissing at the Umbreon with his sight.
“Somehow I find that doubtful,” Pockets glared.
Valerie turned to Shadow, “What’s going on Shadow?”
The Umbreon gasped for breath for a few more seconds, having taken a hard kick to the stomach right before they were separated. “Your lunatic of a brother yanked me into his room and started interrogating me! Something about him not trusting me around you. Words were exchanged, then blows, now we’re here.”
“Is this true?” She turned sharply to Frederick.
“That’s one way to put it, I just wanted to know if he could be trusted, and hey! What a surprise, he can’t be trusted at all, you should probably break up with him as soon as possible, you deserve better than.. that” Frederick chuckled, just now receiving the heal from the Wish he had called for earlier.
Valerie’s eyes darkened. “You think you have the right to tell me who I can and can’t fall in love with?”
“Kind of, yeah.” The Sylveon said dryly.
The Veneon growled, “Does that give you an excuse to attack and possibly harm my mate?”
“He got on my nerves! The idiot taunted me about not being with you for when you needed help! Freaking idiot…” The Fairy grunted under his breath.
“There’s a difference between taunting and citing examples of when I helped her instead of you.” The Umbreon shot back.
“She was taken away from me years ago you asshole! How was I supposed to help her?”
“Well I never accused you off not being there, I was just saying that maybe you aren’t the only one who can help her!”
“Oh, sure, that was totally what you meant back there, you idiot can go and suck a-”
“STOP FIGHTING!” Pockets interjected, “You two are both acting incredibly immature, and in your case, that’s saying something!”
“S’not my fault…” The Sylveon sniffed.
“He started it,” whined the Umbreon.
“I can’t believe you two, especially you Frederick. I would have thought that you would be more mature after five years.” She looked to Shadow, “I know it was probably mostly self defense from you, but there must have been better ways to deal with it than fighting.”
Before either could retort there was a sound of shattering glass from around the corner of the building. Pockets finally set down the two Eeveelutions, gave them a shushing gesture, and put an invisibility spell on herself.
“We’ll discuss this later, I’ll go check whatever that was.”
“I’ll go with you, just so I can get away from those idiots for a bit.” She gave a glare to the two rivals, “Don’t do anything even stupider while I’m gone.”
Frederick glared at the Umbreon, but before he could throw more blame at him, he felt a sudden pain hit his stomach, as the Toxic from earlier became stronger. “I hate you… gah.”
“Let me help you with that,” before the Sylveon could protest he felt the poison fade away with a glow from the Umbreons eyes.
“I’ll use my own damn move to heal my health next time if you don’t mind.” Was the only thanks the Dark type received, before Frederick jumped into a nearby roof, his feelers glowing softly while he prepared Flash to illuminate his way.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“What? Do you think I’ll just leave Pockets and Valerie to investigate whatever that was by themselves? As much as you hate the idea, I’m her brother, and I’m also Pockets’ Pokémon.”
“Fine, then I’m going too.” The Umbreon padded along behind the Fairy, as he reached him he lit up his rings, thus making the Flash pointless. The Sylveon grunted at his assistance, and advanced forward.