Twenty Third Move
Twenty-third Move
About the Past
Griffinheim Empire
Living Quarters
Shredder left her troops at the end of the day as always, entered her room as always, got glomped by Roll as always with the only difference being that she had come to expect such by now.
“Good day to you too dear, how was the orphanage?” Shredder asked, genuinely interested, as she made her way to her chambers, while carrying the Lopunny like an apron.
“Those kids are very energetic and curious. But Miss Avise has a good control over them, so they are quite adorable,” Roll replied as she finally let go of her lover’s neck.
“And what about those orphans from our world?” Asked Shredder with some worry.
“They are doing fine,” Roll stated, although she didn't seem that sure herself. “Even though they break into sobs and tears from time to time. Luckily, the rest of the kids are nice to them, and those three from Earth are a big help as well.”
“Gigalith’s companions?” Inquired Shredder as she removed her skirt and sword. “It’s good to hear they are valuable additions to the empire.”
“Yeah… even though they seem to have a bit of a harsh time with themselves. Not having their child seems to have strained their relationship,” Roll explained.
“... Crap!” the female Bisharp exclaimed. “I forgot to ask Empress Victoria about helping them!”
“Some leader you are!” teased the Lopunny. “Convincing mons to join you with promises of help and then forgetting about it.”
“I know, I know,” Shredder said with a sigh. “I’ll go talk to the Empress now and rectify this.” With little decor or announcement, she left the room, leaving a disappointed Roll alone.
“... So we don’t get to ‘play’ tonight!?” she shouted as she dashed after her lover.
Manehattan City
Central Park
Both parties had pretty much made amends with one another at this point of the day and were currently parting ways for the moment as they went for their respective things at their respective hotels. They would reunite at the train station and then head for Canterlot together, the only exception being Edge, who preferred to take the aerial route.
For now, the group was heading towards the Manehatten’s library to retrieve Xavier and Bit, and to hopefully find the place still standing.
“They seemed like a nice group to me,” admitted Daring as they left the Nurem family and the park behind. “I still can’t believe they went through such a past… until they start repeating it over and over.”
“I don’t think they’re entirely okay up here,” Char pointed at his own head, “so they deserve for us to cut them some slack.”
“Cut them some slack? They’re lucky to still be somehow sane!” exclaimed Valerie. “Those poor children, oh how they have suffered.”
“They’re free and they aren’t going to start any major trouble, unless they’re provoked, so I guess we can let them be,” Weiss said on his end, before adding, “They do deserve that much, especially from us.”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me!” proclaimed Daring. “How exactly do you have a past dealing with them?”
All the mercenaries became silent with that question.
“... Por Arceus’ name, Xavier needs to learn to explain things properly or to keep his gigantic boca shut!” exclaimed Pancha.
“First thing’s first, how much do you already know?” asked Weiss with a sigh.
“Not much, only that your group had something to do with them. Although he was a bit cryptic about it,” answered Sylveon from besides his wife.
“Well…” began Weiss not sure if he should fill them in or not.
“Well?” Said Daring as Weiss seemed to keep quiet for far too long. “We’re listening.”
Weiss sighed once more and finally replied with a monotone fitting of Xavier himself.
“We… used to work for Vincent’s dad, Doctor Nurem.”
The non-mercenaries of the group halted in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Okay… before you start…” began Weiss as he turned to Daring, who wasn’t too kind on letting him talk.
“YOU DID WHAT!?” she screamed, as did the rest, although she overpowered them with her voice.
“Before. You. Start!” Weiss tried to explain himself once more, with no success.
“You helped what I can assume is a monster far worse than those from the deepest realms of Tartarus!”
“We’re mercenaries, remember!?” Weiss shouted back, finally getting a bit of her attention. “We get paid, we do the job, simple as that!”
“... And what exactly could that madman need your all for?” asked Gold with no little disgust.
“... It was many years ago…” began Weiss as he motioned for them to keep walking; after all, he didn’t want others to know about it. “The good doctor had just began to gain fame in the underworld, not to mention he was a total celebrity in the known one.”
“We sort of thought it would be a simple job,” admitted Char with sadness and regret as he thanked Arceus that Surskit was sleeping in his arms.
“Easy money and popularity,” added Simon with a similar tone.
“And what was that ‘simple’ job?” Asked Daring.
“We were asked to deliver test subjects for him,” answered Weiss right away, not wanting to keep those words on his mouth for too long.
“You help him with those kidnappings!?” shouted Valerie, although she hushed her voice as much as could.
“No… at least not at first.” Admitted Weiss.
“We were first asked to get some specific wild Pokemon for him. That wasn’t that rare when working for scientists, they do need specimens to analyse and study after all,” explained Rouge as she held her arms crossed.
“We didn’t know what he was doing with the Pokemon we brought him, but neither did we ask,” now it was Simon’s turn to explain while he kept looking at the nothingness above. “It was a fair deal.”
“Then the was changed?” asked Roa, surprisingly being the only one not as shocked or disgusted as the rest. She was only curious.
“Then his requests began to turn more and more… specific,” said Weiss without turning back. “He asked for Pokemon with distinctive traits, like their personalities, body structure, age, etc.”
“Again, we didn’t ask, but then we started to have our doubts,” said Char.
“Especialmente when he started asking for eggs,” added Pancha.
“By that time, his fame in the underworld had grow exponentially, especially with military organizations,” Remembered Rouge.
“Good or bad, they were always making donations to the doctor’s research,” explained Simon. “Everyone wanted their Pokemon to be the ultimate ‘weapon’.”
“That increase in demand gave the doctor more fields of study, which in return caused a greater need for test subjects, which made him start using his own people to get the Pokemon he needed,” began Char. “We thought that would mean the end of our collaboration.”
“We were wrong,” continued Weiss at the front. “He began to ask us for even more specific subjects, to the point of wanting those whom belonged to someone already.”
The silence which followed those words was only comparable to the tension floating on it.
Finally, Valerie broke it.
“So… those were kidnappings…” she pointed.
“We didn’t perform most of them…” Weiss tried to clarify, “But I can’t say we didn’t regret it...” he ultimately admitted.
“And what do you mean by that?” Daring dryly asked.
“The last of those jobs,” replied Weiss with a dried throat, “he asked for a particular Riolu, one which was very well guarded… we didn’t want to at first. But he told us how none of his men were able to since the parents were quite sturdy. Of course he also promised a bonus.”
“And you accepted it,” said Sylveon.
“Of course we did, we had a reputation to protect,” Weiss took a moment to breathe and then he continued. “The job was a success, although things did get a bit nasty. Luckily the ‘target’ was too young to remember anything.”
There was another awkward silence after this last explanation.
“And…?” asked the explorer.
“Don’t tell me he betrayed you?” snarled Gold.
“Would it be that rare?” sourly replied Weiss. “Once we delivered the Riolu, the good doctor began to praise our job, a bit too much for our taste. He obviously wanted something.”
“And what was it?” asked Roa.
“Xavier,” replied Char.
“What?” asked Daring in confusion. “Why him?”
“Xavier is quite unusual, not only for his rare coloration, but because of his mind. He wouldn’t admit it, but he is far stronger than those of his own species, which are already considered to be one of the more powerful in our world.”
“I didn’t see that much of a difference between Vincent back on the beach.” Admitted Valerie as she remembered the event they ‘felt’ as Vincent talked with some old Ranger. “I mean, he could stand against Xavier to some extent didn’t he?”
“He restrains himself,” Explained Simon with little care. “Xavier only uses the 1% of his full power, if not less:”
The look on the companions was of utter shock, yet Weiss didn’t let them duel into it for too long.
“Nurem, however, found out about it. And wanted to add Xavier to his Pokemon ‘staff.’ Something about him being in charge of the program running his facility.”
“And what did you say?” Asked Valerie with curiosity.
“I think that’s a no brainer,” replied Daring. “He’s still around isn’t he?”
“Right you are Miss Yearling,” admitted Weiss while referring to Daring’s pseudonym. “We adamantly declined the offer. But of course, the doctor didn’t take it very well, we weren’t contracted after that.”
“I thought your kind didn’t take double-crossings too well?” asked Gold with surprise.
“Of course we don’t, but we were able to part ways on relatively civil terms,” explained Weiss.
“Honor among thieves?” asked Daring with sarcasm.
“Something like that,” admitted Char. “It was also then when we truly felt regret for our previous deals with him.”
“The way he tried to convince us…” remembered Rouge. “He was more obsessed with adding Xavier to his experiments than Xavier himself.”
“Then we knew it,” finished Pancha, “he was beyond loco.”
“... And that’s what happened?” asked Daring again, although her sarcasm was no more. “That’s how you met them?”
“Technically, we only met them today,” clarified Weiss “The problem is that we once worked with the person who put them through a living hell again and again. I am sure they wouldn’t be too keen on that.”
The mercenaries exchanged a knowing look with one another, they knew this was too much to keep the group as it was.
“What will you do now?” asked Weiss. “I doubt any of you would be comfortable with us around.”
“We will do nothing to you for knowing these facts,” Char added with a calm yet serious tone, “Neither will we try to stop you should you decide to spread them. So again we ask; would you like to continue to travel with sinners such as us?”
The group stopped once more as the mercenaries looked straight at the civilians, plus two, who travel with them, waiting for an answer.
The mons had to take some time to process the idea, especially Valerie and Sylveon whom had no reason to go with them in the first place. They just found some interest in roaming this new land while having indirect protection from the mercenaries.
Roa and Gold on their end were a bit more split. Both of them wanted to leave, that was for sure, but Roa would prefer to stay with Valerie, something Gold knew without asking, but he still had his doubts regarding the sanity of his PLA companion. Not to mention he didn’t know where the Commander was.
Daring, however didn’t need any time at all. She took a determined step forward and stated “I’m not leaving you guys.”
“... Wait, what?” asked Weiss in disbelief.
“You’re mercenaries. Expecting you guys to have a clean past is as ridiculous as asking for Ahuizotl’s plans to have common sense; not to mention you guys have done nothing but help others since your arrival, whether you wanted to or not.”
The mercenaries didn’t know what to say, for a change. They were moved by their current contractor’s trust in them.
“Besides, if I can barely keep you all in line while I am around, I don’t want to know about whatever destruction you’d cause to this already chaotic world on your own and feel responsible afterwards!”
And then they felt a bit annoyed by their contractor.
“... pfffft, hahahahahahahaha!” Simon erupted into a sonorous yet sincere laugh. “I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t deny miss Do’s claims about us. We’re actually starting to turn into good people under her watch, so who knows, we may actually become proper members of society at this rate!”
“Not to mention we do have a tendency to blow things up,” admitted Rouge.
“And we have no idea of where Norte and Sur are!” added Pancha.
Char, Greninja and Weiss simply chuckled in agreement. “Thank you miss, it’s quite refreshing to be trusted for a change,” Char stated.
“Even when is just a little bit,” concluded Weiss.
“So what do you say?” asked then Daring to the rest of the group.
Valerie and Sylveon shared a silent glance for a few seconds, then they replied.
“We own our freedom to Mister Weiss and his family, not to mention the chance of meeting our Lord Arceus. It would be rude for us to leave them after something that was mostly in the past… even when it was clearly a horrible thing,” began Valerie.
“But we must also admit that, even when that history is now buried in our previous world, it’s still a bit soon to say we will trust you as before, but I still have faith our patience will be rewarded. We shall look forward for the great acts of heroism you all will perform for now on!”
Gold let out a defeated sigh as he noticed the bright resolution on Roa’s eyes.
“Well… you all said you will keep an eye on us. So I presume we are in your care until we can prove to not be a threat to this world,” he lied. “Of course, I still think any one of you is far more dangerous than both of us.” On this point, he wasn’t lying.
And then the group began to laugh a good, sincere, and friendly laugh.
“See?” Pointed Daring out. “You guys really think you're going to get rid of us THAT easily?”
“Maybe for a second.” Joked Weiss. “Even when we still have sins to atone for… I thank you. It’s good to know somemons, and a Pegasus, can have faith in us,” admitted the mercenary as they finally reached the library, which was surprisingly still whole.
Although...
“Ponies running from the place and erie lights shining through the windows… this has Xavier written all over it all right,” Weiss admitted as he entered the building with a tired step.
Griffinheim Empire
Nestinghold Castle
“So, you want me to deliver the information about this lost child to your guild so there are better chances of finding her over in the neighbor continent?
is what you want me to do?” Empress Victoria elegantly asked with an arched eyebrow as she looked to Shredder, and Roll, kneeling before her bed.
“Yes, your Highness,” admitted the female Steel-type.
“And you’re sure this can’t wait until tomorrow?” she added with a less elegant and a bit more annoyed tone. “You do know by now how little time I have for myself, not to mention all the preparations that have to be made for the upcoming summit?”
“My apologies your highness, but I gave my word that I would help my recruit in this way and I’ve already wasted a day of his time.” Shredder replied with an outmost sympathetic tone.
She is quite stubborn when it comes to noble things like this… Added Roll with a note beside Shredder. That makes her cute.
Victoria chuckled at the little explanation and then replied. “I suppose that is a good trait of hers.”
“Y-your Highness, please; don’t encourage her!” steamered the flustered Bisharp.
“My apologies,” said Victoria with another chuckle, she had to admit that the interactions of this couple were very cute and entertaining. “And I think I can help you in this regard…” as she said this, the empress took a small patch of scroll from the bedside table as well a quill which she soaked in some ink.
“I was planning to deliver this tomorrow morning, it contains information regarding the upcoming summit for your guild master, but I presume I can send it now, along with the information you want to deliver,” and so Victoria added a few more lines to the parchment. “So, what did you say this child’s name was again?”
The Friendship Express
A few hours after leaving the station
The regrouping with the Nurem family was calm, no major incidents worth of mention happened as they boarded the train. And so the group passed the few wake hours of the ride talking with each other until they all fell asleep.
The only ones still awake being Weiss, Xavier and Vincent, the latter two having a short farewell, since Xavier had decided to help Vincent control his powers so the things from that day wouldn’t happen again.
He planned to do this by simply using a little trick he had picked up along his mercenary life, the acceleration of mind. This made him, and whoever he took with him, process information so fast that time turns into a very slow ilusion. This trick had proved to be useful for either training or last minute reorganization on the middle of a battle. But it was also one of Xavier’s biggest secrets outside the team, for him to help someone else like this was unheard.
‘Hard to believe you’ve developed so much interest in someone, old friend,’ admitted Weiss as Xavier made preparations to leave to the inner constructions of his mind. ‘Is it because of our past with them?’
‘It has something to do with that,’ said Xavier as he also keep a part of his mind talking with Vincent, ‘but also because I can sense an incredible potential lying within him. I would like to help him reach a new level of awareness so he doesn't end up hurting those he wants to protect.’
‘So it’s a personal thing as well, huh?’ asked Weiss with surprise, but didn’t ask anything else about it. ‘That is very unlike you, I must say this kid may become a good influence!’
‘We will see about that once I come back. Until then, safe travels Weiss.’
‘You too old friend, you too.’ And with nothing else to say, the link was cut.
Weiss let out a small sigh as he leaned back on his seat, wondering what would his team do from then on.
“Well, we still have a lot of things to do, so I doubt others like Ness will disband as suddenly as she did,” Weiss said to himself.
Then a young little voice interrupted his line of thought.
“Mister Weiss?”
The mercenary training Weiss had gone through most of his life had granted him many perks, one of which was the ability to suppress the moments he was surprised. Thus he didn’t let out a girly shriek once he heard that little voice so close of him.
“...”
He then looked down in the direction of said voice and found a face he hadn’t gazed upon in what felt like ages.
“Why hello there Surskit, sorry if I kind of forgot about you,” he apologized as he offered the Pond Skater Pokemon a hand so she would be at a better level to talk with.
“It’s okay mister. I fell unconscious once mister Char began to dash around, although I sort of missed most of the day,” she admitted with some shame. “He is quite fast for a Scizor.”
“I don’t have my nickname for nothing,” said Char himself as he opened an eye from across the seats and joined the conversation.
“You could say it comes with the job,” added Weiss. “So, how was your time with Xavier and company?” he asked Surskit.
“It was good I guess, everyone seemed to distrust us, but other than that we were properly received. I even managed to make some friends… and then one of them tried to eat me…” For a moment, the little Bug-type seemed to remember something too scary for her.
“Ehm… you okay there?” asked Weiss, causing Surskit to yelp in surprise.
“Eeep!” She seemed to realize where she was and then she relaxed. “S-sorry, bad memory.”
Char was about to ask something else when Surskit said.
“The less I talk about it the better…” and as she said this, a big yawn filled her mouth. “And I am afraid I will be leaving for Cresselia’s land once again soon. Good night Mister Weiss, Mister Char…” And so, the young one was gone.
“It seems she had quite some time as well,” observed Weiss.
“She is quite strong though, most mons tend to have headaches when exposed to the speeds I reach, yet she merely seems tired,” pointed out Char.
“I presume that is because she is a Gym Leader’s pokemon, those guys are tougher than we thought…”
~Flush~Poof~
Suddenly, Weiss was interrupted as a piece of parchment feel into his lap.
“Did the sky just puke on me…?” he said as he took the scroll, finding the Imperial Seal on it. “Oh, so this is how these things arrive!”
“The famous fire-transported scrolls I have heard about?” inquired Char while Weiss took a look into the content. “The magic of this world is almost as amazing as the technology of our world.”
“It truly is…” said Weiss absentmindedly, “a word summit huh? Makes sense. I doubt we can be around for it though. Besides, Shredder is with them and I am sure she can be help enough… well, what do we have here?”
“New orders?” asked Char.
“More like a favor for Shred. She want us to look for this kid; it seems she made a deal with one of her subordinates in exchange of our help.”
“That is quite a smart course of action,” admitted Char with a heavy sigh, “the whole world movement did leave many of us strained and afar, I am in a similar situation after all, so I can understand the desperation that family may be feeling. What is that child’s name?”
“Aley,” Weiss replied. “Aley Checker.”
Weiss noticed Surskit mumbling.
“Shall we talk somewhere more private?” he suggested. “I wouldn't like to disturb anyone.”
Char nodded and they both left for the dining car, which at the current hour was nothing but a bar; the perfect place for the mercenaries to relax.
Yet they couldn’t hear the Pound Skater Pokemon mumbling something on her sleep.
“Little… Al...ey…”
“What do you think of this world so far?” asked Weiss as he finished his fifth glass of rum as he thought how much he was going to miss getting at least tipsy.
“Peaceful as we could only dare to imagine,” replied the veteran. “It’s not perfect, that’s for certain, but the level of friendliness these ponies show is very contrasting with our world.”
“We used to surround ourselves with the craziest beings from that world, it isn’t surprising we found this world almost like paradise,” added Weiss as he poured some more rum into his glass.
“I look forward to enjoying this peace, I can assure you that,” commented Char.
Weiss was still not happy about having to part ways with one of his oldest companions, but there was no way he would dare to challenge his decision.
“It will be a bit lonely without you around, old friend,” Weiss replied.
“You’re kidding right? I’m mostly around to stay cool and save everyone’s butt when things have gone too bad.” Joked the Scizor.
“Yeah, yeah, half of us had an ‘IOU’ tag on our butts,” joked back Weiss, and thus both mercenaries laughed. “Have anything planned for when we find Lala? What you’ll do and stuff?”
“I… may not have all that planned out,” admitted Char with a shameless shrug. “But I do know that I want to give her a normal life, she deserves that much.”
“She really is lucky to have you,” said Weiss as he looked at the starry sky shining through the car’s windows as the first rays of morning began to shine upon the horizon.
“No, I am the lucky one,” replied Char. “And I have to be thankful to the mare who made me realise that.”
“Oh yeah, you had a talk with this Pegasus, what was she called…” commented Weiss while remembering his own talk with a friendly Unicorn mare on Ponyville. “Oh right! Fluttershy… I’m still having a hard time adjusting to these names.”
Char chuckled. “I wonder if parents have a prophetic way to name their children so accurately to their personalities and skills or if they just change their names once they find out what they want to do in life.”
“So this Fluttershy is as her name implies?” Weiss asked with curiosity.
“She said she was, but with the help of her friends she has become far stronger now,” complimented Char, only to chuckle once more. “Or so she says; I still remember how impressed she was when she saw me.”
“Odd, I thought I was told she was kind with all type of animals.” Weiss remembered.
“First, I am no mere animal,” Char retorted. “Second, she seemed to be looking for a quiet place when she found me, and third, I may have scared her unintentionally.”
“Wish I was there,” Weiss said with a smile. “So, what did you two talk about?”
“I apologized for scaring her first, from there we introduced ourselves and talked a bit about our respective experiences since Arceus’ exodus. I ended up telling her about Lala at some point and how I wished for a better life for her.”
“So you told her about our job?” asked Weiss as he remembered how Rarity and Princess Twilight had reacted, at least according to Valerie on the last one. “How did she take it?”
“I didn’t tell her about that,” Char explained, “but I did say I had a rather violent and dangerous life, and that I was worried Lala would become used to it.”
Weiss took a small sip from his glass as he allowed his comrade to continue talking.
“The answer was quite simple of course, me quitting. But then I told her I was worried about what I would do afterwards. I’ve been a mercenary far longer than you.”
“Hey! I’m still young.”
Char chuckled at the random comment and continued. “At that point I finally came to a conclusion; I was afraid.”
This little revelation did surprised Weiss, but he remained silent.
“I don’t want Lala to become like me, someone who doesn’t know what to do besides war and conflict. And here it is, when this little pony gave me her piece of advice.”
“If you know what you want to do, then do it,” remembered the Red Comet while repeating the words. “You won’t know unless you try. You were brought to this world because you were deemed worthy after all.”
“Well… that is quite simple,” admitted Weiss, little surprised.
“Indeed,” Char admitted in turn. “But remember; simple things often are the most effective. And that night, that was all I needed to hear.”
“I presume that makes sense,” replied Weiss as he leaned on the bar. “But at the same time it makes me wonder if all of us made it here as well. We’re no saints, after all; we’ve never even tried to be.”
“Hey, if a couple of sinners such as you and me made it, I’m sure the rest are here as well.”
Weiss smiled at the thought as he pushed his own worries to the side. ‘There are still things that need to be done, but I’ll get worried about those other things in due time. For now, let’s focus on stopping this nutjob, finding the rest of the gang, and have a blast while we’re at it!’ he mentally said to himself.
‘That is a the proper course of action after all.’ Acknowledged Xavier’s mind.
“Well but it isn’t our master tactician!” saluted Char. “So I presume your training with mister Nurem is over then?”
‘It is.’ Replied the Shiny Metagross.
“The sun is beginning to break, so I presume it must have taken quite some time for you.” rationalized Weiss. “How long was it?”
‘Around six years,’ replied Xavier as if was nothing.
Weiss on the other hand, almost spit out his rum, “What!? Years? It took you two years of mental training?”
‘Yes.’
“... I sometimes wonder what would become of the world if he decided to plan its end with such determination,” sarcastically mentioned Char.
‘There are more interesting things to do with my mind,’ admitted Xavier. ‘Besides, calculations say I would be defeated 78% of the times.’
“... so you have thought about it?” Weiss asked.
‘Sometimes I find myself too bored,’ was all the tactician replied.
“I guess we’re responsible for keeping your mind occupied then,” joked Weiss, “cheers for us!”
And again, the group laughed.
“So you are free then?” asked Weiss.
‘Yes I am,’ replied Xavier. ‘I presume you want to train as well?’
“Train?” repeated Char with curiosity.
“Yeah. You see Char, I’ve been having this sensation of being able to pull off Psycho Cut, even though I have no Alakazam as a father,” Weiss explained.
‘Technically, Arceus and his children would be yours and every former humans parents.’ Rationalized Xavier. ‘Your theory may have some basic foundation.’
“Those were my thoughts exactly!” admitted Weiss. “So can you help me?”
‘I will, just give me some time to get my mind in sync with my body, I did spend six years in there you know?’
“Take your time then,” said Weiss with excitement. Ever since becoming a Bisharp, Weiss had to admit he liked his new powers and abilities, and he was looking forward to adding even more tricks to his repertoire.
As Weiss was thinking this, a third mon joined the dining car; a Kadabra who looked the same as the young Psi Pokemon they knew a few hours ago, yet the look in his eyes showed a more mature person.
‘I guess we can’t call him a kid anymore,’ Weiss thought as he saluted Vincent. “Welcome back, kid!”
The Hall of Legends
One of many corridors
Latias had spent most of her past days talking with Victini about her feelings, and even when she felt awkward a couple of times, she admitted the whole experience helped to clear her mind, sort out her emotions and think a bit more straight; now she needed to go and put their plan into motion.
‘You have me behind you, there is no way this can go wrong!’ she remembered the cheer the Victory Pokemon had left her with.
“Alright, time to kick myself into gear!” she proclaimed to herself. “I can’t just wait for things to solve themselves anymore, neither can I run away of them, I mustn't run away from them!” she cheered to herself.
However, she had been cheering herself on for the past two hours before a door, not feeling able to knock on it and properly do what she had to in order to start.
“... But how should I start?” she asked herself. “I mean, what I am about to tell him is quite harsh, not to mention we sort of have a fight between us right now, and there is the part when I shoved a Mist Ball to his face…”
As Latias continued to worry herself, fate decided to take the choice for her, or rather her brother.
“Will you just come in already!” demanded the voice of Latios from within his chamber.
Latias was startled for a second, but obliged right after as she enter the room, looking everywhere but at her brother as she did so.
“... How long did you know I was there?” she asked as she took a look at her brother’s room.
“It’s hard not to notice you when we already have an ever-present link with one another.” Latios replied as he looked at the enormous window his room had.
The only thing their respective rooms had in common.
Latios’ room was filled with many pieces of art from Earth, or more exactly, those from Alto Mare’s museum. Yet those had a rather average placement, as if they were mere decor; what really caught the eye of anyone entering the room were the portraits all over the room. They were placed so anyone could see them. And one thing one could easily notice about them was how similar they were from one another in terms of strokes and technique.
They were all made by the same hand.
“I see you managed to get most of her art,” Latias idly commented.
“It was Lord Arceus’ favor, although he did offer me some of the more prized art from Earth,” he replied with a slightly sad tone. “I accepted some of it, but told him there was no better art I would like than hers…”
“You will find her,” Latias added, finally looking directly at her brother.
“I know I will,” he replied with confidence yet not less sad. “Having to wait is what strains me.” He then removed his gaze from the window and looked at his sister as well. “But you didn’t come to talk about me. Tell me then, what can I help you with?”
Latias brought forth her courage and then proceeded to be sincere with her one and only brother.
“I first wanted to apologize for what happened on the day of the race,” she began. “I shouldn’t have acted like that.”
“It’s okay, I was at fault as well,” replied Latios with a regretful tone. “It’s just that you have gone through so much all by yourself that I… sort of… became a bit overprotective of you. Not to mention most of those memories were about that man.”
“Yeah, Weiss and his gang have quite an history with me. But what’s done is done, and I don’t want to keep repeating mistakes that will throw people away of me,” she confirmed mostly to herself.
“... Repeating?” began Latios with confusion, but his line of thought was cut short as her sister blurred out her suggestion.
“So I wanted to repay you for your troubles,” she once again began. “I will help you find her!”
Latios was surprised by the sudden proposition, and even when he would’ve preferred to find her on his own, he also had to admit he couldn’t let a chance for him to make up with his sister just slip by.
“I would be glad to have your help… but there’s just one problem: we’re still grounded, remember?” he replied.
“No problemo! All we have to do is go and ask Lord Arceus for permission!” And like that she left the room, leaving Latios confused.
“... Wait!” the male Eon Pokemon shouted as he flew after his sister, happy to see their bond had begun to heal.
Friendship Express
Toward Las Pegasus
A couple of hours had passed since the team had left Canterlot and Vincent and his family, which had stayed on the capital of Equestria. Now the team was once again awaiting for the train to reach its destination as Celestia’s sun shone on the horizon.
“You know guys… I can’t shake the feeling I’m forgetting something.” Weiss mentioned as he looked at the window, a very tired look on his eyes.
Once Weiss’ training was over, the once human returned to the normal world with a slight temporal disorientation. The training had positive results, however the whole thing took him around three days to pull through.
As such, the rest of the team had to help him remember stuff he would have forgotten.
“You still remember where we are right?”Asked Simon.
“Is pretty hard to forget when we are riding a pastel colored train.” Sarcastically replied Weiss.
“Okay, how about our current mission.” Asked Rouge.
“To show off… and something about stopping this Ahuizotl guy?” He asked back.
“Casi!” Said Pancha as she told him about Tlaloque.
“It’s quite impressive,” said Daring on her seat as she watched at the mercenaries’ antics. “No matter how many times I see it, you Pokemon folk can really pull the strangest of things.”
“I won’t deny that, we are pretty impressive,” modestly said Gold, “but even I must admit some of us are more impressive than others. Take mister Xavier for example. He just spent years training Vincent inside his mind, and he has been using just an insignificant portion of his true potential.”
“That makes us look like simple mortals.” Added Valrie.
“Well, Xavier is in an entirely different league of his own, but you guys are quite impressive yourselves. I mean look at what you can do: Valerie can use Equestrian magic with ease and Roa here can create illusions not even the best magicians I have met so far can dream to accomplish.”
At this point, Gold looked at her in a pompous way, waiting for whatever praise the explorer had for him.
“...” she looked at the Golduck for several seconds before continuing. “And those guys don’t seem to be your run of the mill gang either.” She said while looking at the mercenaries once again.
Gold became depressed for the rest of the journey.
‘Like I said before, we have to be good for this job,’ added Xavier within their minds.
“Oh yeah, and then there’s this” commented Daring as she got over the initial fright Xavier had caused with his abrupt introduction. “I can’t get used to it.”
‘My apologies, but this is the only way I have to communicate as I am too big for the passengers cars,’ replied Xavier.
“It’s okay big guy, I don’t hold it against you,” Daring clarified. “It’s just that I’m not used to having voices talk in my head, at least when I am not being enspelled by some sorcerer.”
“Yeah, psychics are so normal in our world we take them for granted,” Sylveon explained.
“I guess you’re right. I mean, I just can’t believe there are other worlds without magic. It just seems unnatural for me,” Daring rationalized.
“But now magic und mental powers are part of this world, I wonder what kind of future will this world have,” thought Roa.
As they were on this metaphysic levels of thought, Weiss seemed to remember what he had forgotten.
“It was something about a note!” He proudly claimed. “I read it just a little while ago… what was it, what was it… Ah-ha!”
As inspiration hit the Bisharp, he began to look around his clothes, until finally finding a small piece of parchment.
“It was this…” said Weiss as he read over the scroll. “World Summit… new member in their troops… here we go; we have been asked to look around for little Aley Checker!” he said triumphantly.
“Ah yes, the search mission,” remembered Char. “Are we really doing that?”
“It won’t hurt us to look around once we arrive in Las Pegasus. Besides, it’s a personal favor,” explained Weiss.
The rest of the group seemed to agree.
“Wait! Do you mean little Aley?” asked Surskit as she began to wake up as well.
“So it says here,” replied Weiss. “You know her?”
“I meet an Aley back in Baltimare,” replied the Bug/Water-type.
“You mean that cute and energetic young Petilil you played with?” asked Rouge.
“Are her parents Sally and Joseph Checker?” added Weiss as he read the information they received.
“She didn’t say,” acknowledged Surskit with a hint of sadness.
“Well, here’s another coincidence,” pointed out Weiss while reading the scroll. “It says here that miss Sally is a Liligant now.”
“I presume she is under the care of someone if she was energetic enough to play with our little friend here.” Char pointed.
‘She was normally under the care of a former human whom is now a Zangoose and goes by the name of Powell,’ replied Xavier. ‘Although that’s a false name.’
“Should we worry?” asked Weiss.
“His real name is Nathan Wood,” explained Simon.
Weiss made memorie for a minute. “There was a bounty for him, wasn’t there?”
“More of a reward for a missing person,” added Rouge. “He no longer has any attachment with his old organizations and only looks for a peaceful life.”
“So there is no worries for ese,” finished Pancha.
“Then we will not,” said Weiss. “I’m sure he and this child’s parents will be glad to receive the good news. All we have to do is send a letter to each of them and they will reunite in no time.”
“Good job everyone!” shouted Simon as the group began to laugh.
Then Daring spoke. “That’s cool and all but weren’t you supposed to go look for one of your comrades on Canterlot?”
“...”
“Oh yeah… what was her name… Titania?” added Valerie.
“...”
Then Weiss uttered a single word strong enough to be heard all the way from the engineer's room.
“BUCK!”
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
767 users online
1,314,497 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
great chapter as always
keep up the good work
hm... it seems I have forgotten who nearly everyone is... oh well
except Roa, who can forget Roa?
.... For a man with such a Brilliant tactical commander, Weiss is a bit of an idiot.....
Ironically I know how to properly say Weiss... While probable anyways.
5598290 That is the idea.
5673095 Okay, let's answer in order.
1 - Good to know you like it.
2 - Do you know how hard is to get a shiny without cheats or events?
3 - Too much awesomeness to you? (I do admit I may have exagered a bit too much though)
4 - That is up for Zeus to explain.
5 - I see Janine as still looking to hone her skills more, this she is still in middle stage.
6 - As for Kouga, that is Zeus' work.
Mhm... looking at this again, it makes me sad to have to explain some these points. Welp, it only meens I need to write better.
5724080 I am glad to know, I may have over done it though, alas; I have no regreths whatsoever.
5724558
Time for answers once again:
7 & 8: I pressume you know why by now, and yes, yes she is.
9: Well, Celestia didn't had someone with such lungs to beggin with, not to mention Grifienheim isn't as snobish.
10: He did, in mind.
11: Originally I had other thing in mind, but in the end, this worked out better.
12: Same as 7 & 8.
13: He was.
14: "The law of the talion will leave the world blind" -Gandhi.
15: They are like evil kindergardians, so yeah, they are ok.
16: Yup.
17: *coughcough~Movie9~coughcough*
5732125
5732395
18: Only time will tell.
19: Mercenaries remember? And acording with the Wiki, Fairy type energy comes from a different source than Psichic types, a source theorisiced to be magical. Besides, levitating something with your mind isn't the same as levitating something with a spell.