Adrien yawned as he rolled over, off of his sleeping bag and onto the cold stone floor. It took a second for his brain to catch up and he remembered that he was in the cave with the Changelings.
Speaking of, Milly had curled up inside his sleeping bag while the others were scattered across the cavern. It was amazingly quiet in here with them all asleep. But nature called and Adrien got up, before carefully inching around the buggy minefield.
Once he got to the main tunnel, he legged it for the entrance and outside. He saw some bushes nearby and moved to them, sighing contently.
His mind wandered as he thought on how to proceed from here. Chrysalis had given both him and now Darell permission to take one of the changelings with them. To explore the world.
But where would they go, and what to do? Would he even be allowed to use a changeling in battle? Not to mention all the attention they’d get.
He wondered if Darell was worrying about this too?
Darell, for his part, was having a relatively normal morning. It had been easy to keep Rush in his room when his father had come in at night and left early in the morning, thus keeping the little changeling from being too exposed right off the bat.
And now began his partner’s favorite time of the day.
The time when he began cooking breakfast.
“Are you just going to keep chanting ‘food’ over and over?” Rush asked the Linoone as the changeling sat on the bed, watching cartoons.
“You have no idea how good Darell’s cooking is,” Chris said. “I can’t believe you didn’t eat it when he brought it up to us!”
“It doesn’t taste as good as love… or sugar!” Rush bounced at the thought of that.
“How would you know?” Vlad asked. “You never tried any.”
“Don’t have to,” Rush nodded. “Now shush, Gligarman is about to get the bad guy!”
It was just about then that the scent of the cooking breakfast wafted into the room, causing Vlad and Chris to sigh happily at what that meant.
Rush was just glued to the television, though his nose did twitch slightly. Approximately two minutes and thirty seconds later, Darell opened the door to his room, with four stacks of pancakes and hash browns sitting on them.
“Breakfast!” he said.
“MineMineMineMine!” Chris ran forward, sitting in front of Darell as his tail wagged so hard it might fall off and fly away.
“Five minutes,” Rush said, still glued to the screen. Darell just laughed and put the trays down in the room. One in front of Rush, one in front of Vlad’s preferred spot to eat. One next to Rush, which Chris eagerly claimed as his and began eating, and the last one he took with him to his chair as he sighed.
“Just don’t let it get too cold,” the boy warned the ‘ling.
Eventually, the show ended and the changeling walked over to the tray, sniffing at it.
“Alright, let’s see why Chris and Vlad brag so much about your food,” he said as he took a bite…
It was like an explosion of flavor. The pancakes were just...there weren’t words for it. It was the tastiest food he’d ever eaten before.
“What… is… this?” Rush said slowly, chewing the food and swallowing.
“This,” Chris said as he used one paw to indicate their food. “Is what learning for years online and having his partners give honest feedback about his food, does to a boy. And he’s not quite a master of it yet.”
“I will follow you forever!” Rush said with wide sparkling eyes.
“Glad to see that food is the way to a Pokemon’s heart,” Darell chuckled at the changeling’s sudden enthusiasm.
“Preach it!” Chris shouted as he inhaled his food, crumbs flying everywhere from the destruction he wrought upon breakfast.
“Dang it, that also means Chris was right,” Rush said.
“When it comes to food, I am always right,” Chris said before burping loudly. “‘scuse me.”
“I wonder if the others are doing okay?” Rush said. This was the longest he’d ever been out of the Hive before.
Darell noticed that his new buddy looked worried. Most likely he was thinking about home. “I’m sure they’re fine,” Darell said with a wave of one hand at Rush’s worried expression. “We can check after I make some more candies with the leftover berries from my harvest yesterday and see to my garden.”
Rush was suddenly in his face, chittering excitedly.
“Ack! Down!” Darell said, pushing the little ‘ling down off of him. “Let me finish eating!”
Rush just bounced around the room at hyper speeds.
Chris pushed his empty plate away and then grabbed the changeling as he rocketed past. He pointed to the garden, but Darell shook his head.
“That might get him spotted,” Darell replied. “Let’s...wait on taking him out in public just yet.”
The Linoone just shrugged as the human and Zubat finished their breakfasts.
Rush eventually calmed down enough to finish his breakfast, before the group headed out to water and harvest the garden. They’d need to get an early start, seeing as how long a walk it was to Viridian Forest.
Chrysalis hummed to herself as she snacked on the little pink cakes. Adrien was busy showing some changelings how to make them so she had a supply once he left. He’d managed to teach Sync one of those ‘attacks’ he’d been talking about last night, but it was a far cry from the level of preparedness she wanted the Hive to be in.
Scribe had also recovered nicely. Even Chrysalis had been impressed by the power that youngling had amassed in such a short time. Still nothing compared to herself or even Sync should they be at full strength themselves… even so.
And then there was that mysterious letter she received last night. She’d thought to ask the human about it, but decided against it. He was dealing with enough and she didn’t want to be too reliant on him. She was still the Queen after all and she had to retain some level of control or she feared she go crazy.
And then there was Sync’s near constant complaints about trusting the human with the youngling. While Chrysalis understood and appreciated her concerns, it was also grating on her nerves just a little.
She was still weighing on whether this world was a good idea or not. Yes they were away from the ponies, and this was indeed their chance to start again. She just…
It was so different here. Chrysalis had to admit she was… concerned.
The sounds of Sync training reverberated throughout the caverns. They’d been up late last night, then rose again a little after dawn. While Chrysalis appreciated her daughter’s dedication, the lack of sleep made it difficult to show.
She rolled over and off of her mossy bed before walking slowly out into the main chamber. She saw Adrien over in one corner, preparing breakfast in the makeshift kitchen he’d set up. As she cast her gaze over the rest of the cavern, she saw Sync attacking a well-worn boulder with that Dark Ball attack, or, whatever it was called.
“Sync, please be a dear and cease that incessant noise for a time, or Mommy will smother you in your sleep.” It was said in the sweetest tone that even Adrien shivered from the other side of the chamber.
“Y-Yes mother,” Sync stammered as she stopped her barrage of attacks.
“Good nymph,” Chrysalis yawned and trotted over to Adrien. “So, it would appear that her training is coming along well.”
Adrien looked up and blinked, before snapping his fingers and fishing his translator out of his pocket, placing it back over his ear.
“Sorry, say again?”
“I was just mentioning Sync’s training,” Chrysalis repeated. “She seems to have come a long way in just a night.”
“She’s a fast learner,” Adrien nodded as he stirred the pot. “I thought about training a bunch of the changelings at the same time. But then I figured, if I could just teach Sync. Then she could teach the others.”
“That makes sense,” Chrysalis replied as she knelt down next to the human. She took a tentative sniff of the pot and hummed. “What are you making?”
“Honey-flavoured oats,” Adrien replied. “It’s easy to make in large quantities. But I’ll teach some of your changeling how to make Poffins and such before I have to go.’
“That will only get us so far,” Chrysalis said. “While delicious, your treats don’t offer much in the way of nutrients for us. What we need is love.”
“I was wondering if you could explain that,” Adrien asked her. “How is it that you consume emotions?”
“That is a long story,” Chrysalis said and hummed softly as Adrien scratched her behind the ears out of reflex. He didn’t look like he realised he was doing it until she cleared her throat. He flinched and jerked his hand away.
“S-Sorry.”
“Don’t be, it was pleasant,’ Chrysalis smiled softly. “But let us hold off on that talk until the other human returns. It is information he should be aware of as well.”
Adrien nodded and returned to his cooking, as Chrysalis was quite content to remain where she was. He seemed to take great enjoyment in his task, or perhaps just being in here in general. A creature that liked being around changelings in their natural state? That was still going to take some getting used to.
After having seen to his garden, making sure that none of his partners ate his stock, making more candies, making sure none of them were eaten before they were secreted away in the Pokeblock case, and giving the house a good once-over, Darell was more than ready for a nice, soothing walk to the the forest.
He’d waited until they were far off the beaten path, like, really far off the beaten path, before he even thought of letting Rush out. Seriously, he was certain he could almost see the cave from here. Still, he wasn’t one to keep his teammates confined in their balls if he could avoid it. Secrecy may have demanded that he keep Rush hidden until now, but surely he could let the little guy out at this point.
Two changelings suddenly stepped out of the bushes on either side of him, chittering and pointing at the cave entrance. Darell nodded at them, before pulling Rush’s ball off of his belt and opening it, letting the little Changeling out.
He stretched and shook himself off as he looked up at Darell, then chittered at the other two changelings, one of them shaking its head and facehooving. As they led the human deeper into the cave, he could hear the sounds of battle raging from within.
“Guess Adrien’s still training you guys, huh?” Darell said as he followed them into the cave.
The two guards didn’t say anything, not that he could understand even if they did. As the tunnel opened up into the central cavern, he could see the source of the noises. Adrien was directing Sync as she blasted the rock with a Shadow Ball, then followed up with an ear-splitting Screech attack.
“She gets enthusiastic, huh?” Darell asked, suddenly very glad she hadn’t been the one their queen assigned to him.
Adrien must have heard him, as he looked up and waved. Sync saw him too and smirked, and that was when a Shadow Ball narrowly missed him and impacted the wall, the two guards yelping and fleeing back down the tunnel as Sync laughed.
“Let’s save the near misses for when I’m not a target, huh?” Darell asked as he held a hand to his chest. “I swear I felt myself age as that passed me by.”
Adrien sighed and shook his head, berating the nymph for scaring Darell like that before walking up to him.
“Sorry, she’s just a little… pumped to learn all these new moves.” He took out his notebook and beamed. “I’ve confirmed no less than a dozen moves so far that they can use. They’re adapting amazingly fast.” Damn, even his eyes seemed to be sparkling.
“Whereas I mostly sat around with my friend and kept him out of the public eye. And he did something a little...odd,” Darell said.
“Odd?” Adrien asked. “How so?”
“He skipped dinner last night,” Darell said. “In favor of doing something that made me feel...I think cold is the only way to put it. I don’t know what it was…”
Adrien tilted his head. “I wonder if that’s because he fed on your love?”
“Wait wait wait, time-out,” Darell said, even going so far as to make a T with his hands. “They feed on what now?”
“Love apparently.” Adrien shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure how it works, and Queen Chrysalis was waiting until you got here before she would explain it.”
And now that you are here, Chrysalis said from right freaking behind Darell. We can begin.
Darell, for the second time in as short a timespan, let out a scream as he was shocked in this cave. “I swear I’m going to lose ten years off the end of my life just from being around you Pokemon,” he muttered once his heartrate was back under control.
Adrien snickered and bumped fists/hooves with Sync. Even Chrysalis wore a bemused smirk as she beckoned for the humans to follow her into an adjoining chamber.
“That was pretty funny though,” Adrien smiled. “You scream like a girl.”
“Laugh it up,” Darell muttered. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to get one over on you soon.”
“Whatever you say,” Adrien singsonged as he followed Chrysalis. Sync chittered something and he laughed even harder.
“Okay, so,” Darell said, doing his best to ignore the mocking of him they were doing. “You said something about them feeding on love? How does that even work?”
Chrysalis sat down on her mossy bed and got comfortable. It was rather nice being able to laze around like this. Yes, let us discuss that. And judging from what I sense from Rush there, you’ve already discovered that little ability of ours.
The human nodded, and motioned for Rush to come a little closer. The little drone did, clearly curious as to what this Darell human had planned, and then he discovered the joys of having affection lavished on you via petting.
We consume love. Well, we can consume any emotion really, but love is the most potent, and the most satisfying. They saw Scribe enter the room and Chrysalis sighed. What I am about to tell you concerns us all, and what led us to this world in the first place. Are you sure you’re ready to hear it?
“We’re kind of already involved,” the Darell human replied as he demonstrated just how much affection he could give Rush with something that looked like a belly rub. “I’m pretty sure short of us giving up our friends here, we’re committed to this.”
“Yeah, we’re not going to just up and leave now,” Adren nodded. He petted Milly’s head, the little changeling cooing happily.
Then you are fools, Chrysalis said with a light smile. Very well, listen closely then.
Our race has always lived in the shadows of others. What we look like, our ability to change… and especially because of what we eat. We have always been met with hostility and fear. I do not know why it is that we need love to survive. Perhaps we evolved this way, or maybe it’s a curse that we will never be rid of.
We did what we could to survive. We replaced ponies and took the love their friends and family had for them. Occasionally we’d be discovered, either through mistake or accident. And… overconfidence. And those discoveries often led to undesirable ends for us.
For generations we stayed like this, living off the meager scraps we could harvest. We also learned that we could… forcefully extract the love from others…
“Which explains what Rush did the other night,” the Darell human mused, though he didn’t pause in giving the little drone affection at all. “Okay, I have a few questions, but they can wait until the end when I can put them more concisely.”
“Can I ask, what happens when you use force?” Adrien asked, though he sounded hesitant.
Should we use force… Chrysalis paused, as she sounded hesitant to answer. It leaves the host empty of love. A being ruled by apathy or even hate. A monster born from a monster.
“Okay, I’d rather not lose my new friend here just because you all get classified as highly dangerous,” Darell said. “So I’m going to have to ask you to not do that to any human or Pokemon. It likely wouldn’t end well anyways. Humans can be real animals when they hate something. Can you just...I dunno, nibble a little? I mean, I don’t feel like a monster.”
Rush says he did not mean it, Chrysalis replied to him. He is young and made a mistake. But… She paused here and stared at the two humans. That ability was only ever a last resort and there is only one Changeling ever guilty of using it. Given the way Sync and Scribe looked at Chrysalis, that worried, concerned expression. It was easy to tell what Changeling she was talking about. To explain it further, what we consume is freely given affection. Which is why we transform into loved ones. We can also extract it from the air around, but that doesn’t provide us with much.
“So basically,” Darell said before pausing in his belly-rubs. “I’m feeding Rush right now?” Adrien leaned over and Darell felt the boy clip something to his ear.
“Sooooo, fuuuuull,” Rush burped loudly. “Darry’s love is super tasteh~”
“Okay, so, forgive me if I’m asking stupid questions here,” Darell said. “But do you have to imitate something? Can you not just make up your own disguises?”
We have tried that in the past, Chrysalis said to them. But that meant forging new relationships. Where as stepping into a pre-existing one was easier and could net us more love faster. I said that these were our methods, I never claimed them to be perfect.
“They were,” Sync said irritably. “If those ponies had actually tried to accept us!”
“Well, then those ponies sound like jerks,” Adrien said with a nod of his head. he’d leaned well into Darell’s personal space so he could hear through the earpiece as well. “Cause you guys are great. And you’re only scary when you're threatening to disembowel me.”
“Ahh, good times,” Sync sighed happily.
“Okay, new question,” Darell said. “Things like music idols, actors, popular people. Could you not have tried to become one of them? As I understand it, they’re universally adored by legions of fans.”
Perhaps, but... Chrysalis looked away. I had… not considered that.
“All right, so we have some plans for how you all can survive here,” Darell said before looking at Sync. “Another question. I’m noticing at least two stages of Changeling here. And Rush seems pretty satisfied with mindless affection for the moment, and it’s not harming me. Would the same hold true for you?”
“Touch me like that if you aren’t attached to your limbs,” Sync growled and clicked her fangs. “Noling touches me like that!”
“I’m just trying to gauge how much more intensive maintaining one of you would be,” Darell said with one hand raised. The other was still petting Rush. “After all, I’m going to be helping Adrien here write the entries on you guys.”
It depends on how much magic we expend, and you can imagine that transformations expend quite a large amount, depending on the form we take, Chrysalis motioned towards herself. I am much larger than the rest of my children, and use far greater magic. Even my own children, Sync and Scribe use more than the average drone or nymph.
“Wait,” Adrien held up his hand. “You call Sync and Scribe your kids, and I know they call you Mother. But, you also call the rest of the Changelings your kids too?”
I think of them as my children, yet only Sync and Scribe are ones born from my womb, Chrysalis explained, taking some small pleasure in the expression on Adrien’s face as he scrunched it up.
“Interesting,” Darell mused. “Okay, so...stage one nymphs and drones only require basic adoration and loving interaction once a day to be fed, at least as far as I can tell. I’m going to guess that Scribe and Sync need vastly...more…” He trailed off as he looked at Sync. “Hey, has using your Moves made you any hungrier for love than you normally would be?”
“Starving actually, but those little cakes that Adrien makes contain enough to sustain me, plus the youngling accompanying him has been sharing hers with me,” Sync explained. There was no way in Tartarus she was letting herself get pet like some common dog or cat.
“So, what brought you guys here anyway?’ Adrien asked.
My mistake, Chrysalis said in a flat tone. It wasn’t that she was annoyed or bored. she just… couldn’t put emotion behind it. I nearly got my entire race killed because of a single error… because of my greed and—
“That is NOT true!” Sync roared. “It was all those stupid ponies fault! Your only mistake was that you were too lenient on them! You should have gut that stupid princess like a fish!!”
“Okay, A, I think we can classify Sync as one that’s just a wee bit too violent for most trainers,” Darell said as he subtly edged away from the crazy nymph.
“Go buck yourself,” Sync said with a glare.
Synchronize! That is enough! Chrysalis said, that last word echoing throughout the chamber. Sync sat there, her mouth ajar in shock before she glared and stormed from the room, the sounds of yelling could be heard in the distance.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Adrien asked the queen.
She just has… a lot of hatred for ponykind, Chrysalis said. She knew the story, but it was not hers to tell. As I was saying. It was because of me. I chose to invade the ponies capitol city. To try and ‘take’ their love from them. In hindsight, it was stupidly foolish and would have only solved our problems short term, and made it even worse long term. But, I was so blinded by my greed. My children were starving… what was I supposed to do?
Chrysalis was not crying. It was dusty in here and she had large eyes was all. Then she felt something she hadn’t been expecting.
When she hadn’t been looking, Darell and Adrien had gotten up and walked over to give her a hug.
Pathetic, sappy humans, Chrysalis muttered and lifted them away with her magic. As I said, it’s in the past. Long story short, I failed to imitate my target properly and was found out. But by then, my army had descended on the city and I assumed that my victory was assured. The ironic part however? We were ejected from the city, forcefully, by a shield made of love energy. Laughable is it not? The very thing we need to survive was used as a weapon to nearly wipe us out…
Darell sighed before digging around in his bag, before pulling out his Pokedex. He scrolled to an entry he’d scanned into it and pushed play, letting its sound echo through the chamber.
Golbat. The evolution of Zubat. Golbat can drink up to ten ounces of blood from a Pokemon or a human in a single sitting-
He cut it there before looking over at Vlad pointedly, before looking back at Chrysalis. “I can’t blame you for doing what you needed to do to survive. Heavens know I’m going to be surrounding myself with dangerous creatures. What’s one more dangerous species, in the grand scheme of things? And as long as you learned something from all of that...then it wasn’t really a waste, was it?”
“I’d never drink your blood,” Vlad said as he nuzzled his trainer’s neck and smiled. “Your tasty, delicious blood~”
“Like I said,” Darell deadpanned. “Dangerous, snarky creatures.”
Chrysalis chuckled in that odd, yet cute buzzing tone of hers. So I see.
“So, you were defeated by the ponies,” Adrien continued. “But how did that lead you to here of all places?”
Chrysalis sighed again as Scribe took a place next to her. Months later, conditions for our kind had grown far worse. Now that our existence became common knowledge, the ponies rapidly developed more ways to detect us. It became harder and harder to procure love… I… She shuddered as Scribe took over, waiting for Adrien to sit near Darell again.
“We watched many of our kind die,” he said quietly. “Nothing demoralises you more effectively as you watch grubs, barely hatched for more than a few months wither away from starvation. Our Queen was giving up her own love stores, just to keep what little of us remained. Many abandoned her after the invasion, taking their chances on their own, than rely on a Queen they thought had failed them for the last time.” He frowned as he stared at the floor. “So, we stole a spell hidden away in Canterlot, the capital city. It was supposed to teleport us to a far away land…”
But I couldn’t even get that right, Chrysalis said sadly. After using it, we wound up… somewhere. I don’t know where, but nothing existed there. Just dry barren earth and endless heat. Our deaths were assured. I had condemned us to extinction.
“The Unovan desert?” Darell asked Adrien. “Or some other sort of desert, do you think? Or maybe just a desert place between wherever they started and here?”
There was no life there, Chrysalis answered. But then, ‘something’ spoke to me. Offered me and my children a second chance. And so I accepted, consequences be damned. She looked at the two humans. And thus we come to the end of our sad little tale. We are here, a world just as alien to us as we are to it. We… must learn to change once more it seems. This ‘Arceus’ of yours has an interesting sense of humor.
“A-Arceus…?” Adrien whispered. “Arceus is just… a rumor. None have ever actually seen it before.”
“Still, all the myths point to there being something,” Darell said. “The very text from the Plates indicates that. And we know Legendary Pokemon exist.” He nodded his head towards Chrysalis. “I get the feeling we’re sort of in the presence of one right now.”
“I know about Legendary Pokémon,” Adrien said back. “So, do you think you’re one Queen Chrysalis?”
I have no idea what you speak of, Chrysalis lied, her mind flashing to that note she received last night. So, you know our tale now. What shall it be? Shall you help redeem us monsters? You can still leave while you can.
Adrien looked at Darell and shrugged. “This is pretty serious. But I think you and I know what to do.” You could almost feel his grin.
“Okay, so the first thing we’re going to have to do,” Darell said. “Is see about accessing the ‘new entry’ mode in our Pokedexes. ...It’s been awhile since a trainer had to do one, and it’s definitely the first time I ever got to do it. It’s hard to remember how we get there...”
“It would only update our own,” Adrien pointed out. “We’d need to get the Professor to update the servers so any Pokédex would recognise it. But…” Adrien smiled. “There is something more important first yeah?” He hugged Milly close to emphasise.
“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!” Darell said with a snap of his fingers, before going over to his bag. Moments later, that famous Pokeblock case came out again, and the first treat, a pink one, was already sailing towards Milly.
“CANDY!!” Milly opened her maw and caught it, nomming happily as she even made little nom noises.
“That… is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen,” Adrien nodded.
“I have plenty more, little guys,” Darell said as he shook the case. “Who’s hungry for candy?”
Are you planning on riling up my changelings again? Chrysalis deadpanned.
“I meant that we should distribute hugs,” Adrien added.
“Hugs, sugar, affection,” Darell said with a shrug. “I can give it all. There’s something creepily cute about the little ones. Makes it real easy to hug ‘em.”
Adrien nodded and before Chrysalis could protest, she was hugged again, Milly and Rush joining in this time.
I should disembowel you all, Chrysalis muttered, but made no attempt to remove them beyond that.
Once they did finally break it, Adrien’s next thought was what they should do next. As he walked out into the main chamber with Darell, he prodded the older boy. “Is it bad that I don’t want anyone else to capture the changelings?” he asked.
“Not at all,” the older trainer replied. “They’ve had a hard life. But they can’t stay isolated forever. Matter of fact, they need to interact with others in order to even eat properly. The best thing we can do is give them a good start, like any other Pokemon. To that end, we should write their Pokedex entries together. We’ll need to make them not sound like a threat while still telling people how to feed them properly.”
“That’s a good idea,” Adrien nodded. “We still need to learn more though. Like if they can evolve and their entire moveset. But I guess we’ll learn that as we progress.” Milly was sitting on his shoulders, her forehooves dangling over his head. “And, I wonder where Sync ran off to?”
Darell pondered the question for a moment. “Probably just to be alone,” he said. “Hopefully she doesn’t disturb a Pokemon.” He cracked his neck before realizing he still had Adrien’s translator in his ear and passing it over to the smaller boy. “You should have this,” he said.
“Oh, thanks,” he replied, clipping it back onto his own. “I think I’ll go and look for her just in case. Have fun revving them up with candy again.”
“I have a plan,” Darell chuckled. “And if all goes well, I’ll have some preliminary data for our Pokedex entries.”
Adrien nodded and left the chamber… leaving Darell alone with a hundred expectant changelings. They’d heard his comment about candy apparently.
“Okay,” he said, holding the case up. “This is how it’s gonna work. I’m gonna say a flavor, and whoever likes that type of candy can come forward. You get it if you consent to hold still and let my Pokedex get some information on you, so we can start introducing you to this world. Then once that’s done, the candy is all yours. Raise your hoof if you understand.”
All they understood was. ‘Line up and get candy’.
Children, be patient, Chrysalis said as she emerged from her room. Now then, Darell was it? Do as you must, but I shall observe.
Darell nodded towards her majesty and accessed the ‘new entry’ on his Pokedex. Selecting the ‘new species’ option, he gave it a moment to boot up before pulling a Pokeblock from his dispenser. “All right, the first flavor of the day is...sour!” he said. “Anyone like sour candies?”
Several put their hooves up and then stepped forward after Chrysalis gave them a small nod.
“All right, so one of you come forward,” Darell said as he held up his device. “And let me get a good scan of you. Then, candy.”
One stepped up, slightly larger than the rest and he had a few scars and nicks in his chitin.
That is Bludgeon, Chrysalis informed him. One of our most fearless warriors.
“All right Bludgeon,” Darell said as the Pokedex began to emit a blue light. “Just hold still and let me get a good look at you. Or if you want to strike a pose or say something, that’s fine too. The Pokedex will be sure to record it as it gauges how heavy you are and how tall you are.”
The changeling remained as still as a stone as the Pokédex recorded the data. It recorded him being about one and a half meters tall and weighed about forty five kilograms, or around a hundred pounds. He looked similar to the majority of the changelings there, just a little bigger than the rest.
“And there we go,” Darell said as the glow stopped once the sample was recorded. “That’ll get stored for computing the average for your species’ entry. For now,” he said, holding up the yellow candy. “Catch.” The human lightly tossed the Pokeblock at Bludgeon.
He snapped the candy up and chewed it as he walked away, with even more lining up now.
“All right,” Darell chuckled. “Let’s see…” The next one was red. “Oooh, spicy candies. Anyone up for one?”
A few stepped forward, looking absolutely identical.
Uno, Deux and Trois, triplet sisters and rather good at the art of seduction, Chrysalis said, sounding rather proud. Taught them myself actually.
“Well there’s something I didn’t need to know,” Darell muttered. “I take it you all have similar tastes? A simple nod or shake will do, I understand that much.”
They nodded and licked their lips, and he noticed they were looking at him, rather than the candy case.
“Okay, fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “I promise to give you a hug instead, how about that?”
Be careful, Chrysalis smirked. It’s not just hugs that they’re after~
“Yeah, well, it’s hugs or candy,” the boy replied. “They can have one or the other, but nothing else.” He looked at the trio and shrugged. “So what will it be, ladies?”
They chittered amongst themselves and then giggled before motioning to the candy case.
“Okay, two seconds,” he said, before opening it up and rummaging around, withdrawing three red candies. “I sort of put them away haphazardly. Mostly I was trying to stop Rush and Chris from eating them all. But first.” He held up the Pokedex as it started to emit that blue glow. “One at a time. It can’t handle more than that.”
That earned him another giggle from the trio. He merely held up his Pokedex and waited for one of them to step forward. They did, one by one as he scanned them in and the Pokédex pinged softly, also noting the differences between male and female changelings.
“And here you ladies are,” Darell said as he held the three spicy candies out to them in one hand. They took turns in taking one, the last showing off as she played with it using her tongue before walking away as she giggled.
“Okay, next,” Darell said before pulling one that he knew would get most of them in line. “Sweet.”
He saw that none moved… mostly because Chrysalis was first in line.
“Ah...you’re certain?” he asked her. “This was mostly for them, but if you’re sure…”
You shall need to scan me as well yes? Chrysalis asked. Besides, I have yet to try your candy.
“All right, your majesty, but as the only one like yourself, I’m going to have to ask you to strike an impressive pose for the Pokedex to record,” Darell said. “Maybe even say something normally, so it can record your voice.”
A striking pose hmm? Chrysalis reared up on her hind legs and held that pose for a moment.
“Excellent,” Darell said as the Pokedex started recording. “Maybe some words for the trainers that look up the queen of all Changelings?”
Bow to your Queen! Ahhaahahahahahaaa! The Pokedex recorded her laugh as her cry for future reference, and dinged quietly once its measurements were done. She was a little over two metres, including her horn. Her weight was estimated to be about fifty kilograms.
“And there we are,” Darell said as he held the candy out to her. “One Changeling Queen, all recorded for the Pokedex.” Chrysalis took the candy and walked away as she ate it, humming delightedly.
A few more rounds saw to it that the average data was recorded, as well as estimated variances in height and weight. Scribe had turned down the offer to be scanned and Adrien and Sync were still missing.
Ah well. Adrien had five other team members, not including the Changeling that Chrysalis had assigned him. The younger boy would be more prepared than Darell would in case something happened, that was for sure. He instead opened up the data entry for the newest species, as the Changelings were being recorded by his Pokedex, and looked over to Chrysalis. “Want to help me write their entry so they don’t sound terrifying to every human in existence?”
Oh, but where’s the fun in that? Chrysalis murred. Oh don’t give me that look. I shall assist you in writing something… positive.
Adrien had left, following the tunnel upwards but there was still no sign of Sync. Even once he reached the cave entrance, he saw that the scouts weren’t there.
“Where did you go?’ he asked himself as he stepped outside. Milly looked around and then tapped Adrien on the head.
“There’s somebuggy up ahead, I think it’s Lady Sync,” she said as Adrien nodded and followed her directions. True enough, he found the nymph sitting in a tree a few dozen feet away from the cave, staring up at the sky.
“What do you want?” she asked in a harsh tone, not even bothering to look at them.
“Just checking on you,” Adrien replied as he sat at the base of the tree, “We were worried.”
Sync scoffed, “Don’t be, I am the most powerful changeling save for my mother. I doubt your precious ‘Pokémon’ would have an easy time now that I know how their powers work.”
“You have a point,” Adrien nodded. “But you don’t know everything. Like type matchups for instance.”
“Hit it til it dies, seems simple enough,” Sync responded.
“Why are you so violent?” Adrien frowned.
“Why are you so damned nosy!?” Sync shot back. “Stay out of my business human. And while you’re at it, take that other stupid one and stay out of our lives!”
“Hey! We’re trying to help you,” Adrien yelled at her.
“No-one asked you to!!” Sync said, dropping down from the tree. She turned and faced them as Milly squeaked and hid behind Adrien.
“Technically Queen Chrysalis did…” Adrien felt the need to point out. Apparently his need was suicidal.
“Mother is far too trusting,” Sync spat. “You’ll betray us, just like the ponies did. Just like HE did!!”
“He?” Adrien echoed and Sync’s eyes widened before her scowl returned.
“You know what, do whatever you like,’ she said. “Just remember that when you betray us, I can be there to say I told you all so.” And with that, she flew off back to the cave. Adrien sighed as he leaned back against the tree, Milly narrowly avoiding being squished.
“Lady Sync was much scarier that time,” she shuddered as Adrien petted her on the head. Just why was she like that anyway?
Inside, Sync stormed down the tunnels, muttering under her breath as she entered the main chamber and she instantly felt the other humans eyes on her.
“WHAT?” she yelled at him.
“I take it she’s angry?” Darell asked the Queen. “I’ve rarely seen her act on any other emotion.” He yelped as a Shadow ball flew at him, but Chrysalis put up a green barrier that blocked the attack. Once the smoke had cleared, Sync was gone again and Chrysalis sighed.
You asked before, why we do not create original disguises? she said to him as Adrien ran into the chamber, hearing the commotion.
“Just from the fact that you brought it up, I can guess,” the boy mumbled. “And I’d been hoping to ask her to pose for the second-stage entry…”
“You guys alright?” Adrien asked as he walked closer. “What happened? Did Sync attack you?”
She’s… far more upset than usual, Chrysalis said and sighed. Adrien tapped his chin and then looked at her.
“When we spoke, she mentioned being betrayed. By ponies, and by him?”
Now it makes sense, Chrysalis nodded. My daughter was hurt by someone… very close to her heart. And as a result, she has locked it away. I just ask that you forgive her transgressions.
“Hey, as long as she doesn’t deliberately attack a human again, I think I’ll be fine,” Darell said. “Can hardly help if I’m wounded because of her. Oh, speaking of. Adrien, come get a look at all this data!”
“Oohh!” the boy’s eyes shone with excitement. “If we combine this with the data of their moves that I’ve recorded, we’ll have made quite a bit of headway.” He tapped his chin and frowned. “The one thing we don’t have though. Is their Ability.”
“That’s a tricky one,” Darell agreed. “As well as an entry for their second stage. Probably because there are only two second stagers in this hive…” He pointedly looked over at Scribe.
“Well, we only assume they are,” Adrien pointed out. “We won’t really know for certain unless one of the regular ones evolve. Then of course, there’s the method of how they evolve, even if they can. By experience? Stone? Love? Trade? Location? There’s just so many possible ways.”
“True, but I like the sounds of numbers one and three,” Darell said. “Easiest ways to test here. Also wouldn’t require us to comb half the continent in search for just the right stone. And it wouldn’t expose them, yet.”
“Well, our Pokédex’s have a wireless trade feature. So we could test that as well,” Adrien replied as he tapped away on his, entering the various moves they could learn. Neither noticed Chrysalis’s departure, as she left to check on her daughter. Adrien continued the current topic of evolution. “There’s also the possibility of Mega Evolution…”
“That, would be something to see,” Darell admitted. “Though for that, there are two options. Either only Chrysalis will end up having it, or all the second-stage Changelings could end up having it. I don’t see that one being possible, though, as they already have Chrysalis...”
“Who knows,” Adrien shrugged. Professor Sycamore was the expert on that subject. “Well, it’s only a minor thing for now.” He sighed and looked towards the cavern that Sync had run off to. “I just hope she’s okay. She looked… kinda sad you know.”
“There’s nothing we can do to help her,” Darell said softly. “She has to choose to trust us for herself.”
Their talk was suddenly interrupted by a loud growl that filled the cavern. Darell looked down and saw Chris laying on the floor on his back, holding his stomach as it gave another loud gurgle.
“Guess we should head back for lunch, huh buddy?” he asked his longtime friend. The Linoone nodded happily at that thought, and the human looked over at Scribe.
“Scribe, my offer to take you back so you can look up information at my home is still open to you…” Darell paused dramatically. “If. You consent to being the first data point for the more evolved Changelings.”
Scribe seemed to think this over before nodding and sifted his things around, removing his bags and glasses. Rubbing his eyes, he stood there still and tapped his hoof on the ground. Darell held up his Pokedex and entered a whole new species worth of recording on it via the new entry system. He held it up as the blue light started to glow.
“Okay, so if you want to strike a pose or say something for the recording, now would be the time to do it,” the human said to the Changeling. Scribe just raised a metaphorical eyebrow, and Darell elaborated. “It records the pose you strike so that when others look you up, that’ll be what they see first, as well as the sounds you make so that they’ll know right off the bat that they’re dealing with Species A and not Species B. All Pokemon have distinctive cries.”
He chittered for a moment and Darell noticed it was in a different pitch to Sync’s.
Adrien chuckled. “He says that posing holds no scientific purpose. Just take the scan already.”
“It’s been going all this time,” Darell said as the blue glow died. “Cry recorded and measurements taken…”
He sat somewhere in between Chrysalis and a standard changeling. Another press of a button saw the data copied to Adrien’s Pokédex as well.
“So, will you be back tonight, or tomorrow?” Adrien asked him.
“I don’t dare leave Scribe alone in the house with the computer,” Darell chuckled. “Assuming I can pry him away, I’ll be back whenever I can. We should probably try to stay in touch with our ‘dexs, it might be a while…”
Adrien nodded and scribbled something down. “Here, my PokéGear number. I’ve always got it on me.”
“Shoot, I left mine in the house,” Darell said with a shake of his head. “Then again, I wasn’t planning to go too far…” He flipped to another page and wrote down his own number for Adrien. “Here, I’ll pick mine up when I get home.” He then began taking the balls off his belt and looking at his teammates. “Gonna have to put my team away before we leave…”
Scribe stepped up next to him and looked at Chris, before flames engulfed his form and he now looked like the Linoone. Darell nodded before recalling all his teammates and sighing.
“C’mon Scribe, let’s head home. Then I’ll show you the computer and everything you can do with it.”
The Linoone practically skipped with joy as he followed the boy out of the cave. Adrien felt bad for him, he knew he didn’t like keeping his Pokémon in their balls.
In the meantime, he had some data to edit and some lunch to start cooking.
Chrysalis sighed as she stood in the entryway for the alcove that Sync had dug out for herself. The nymph paying her mother little heed as she sat in a corner of the room, staring at a wall.
“So,” Chrysalis said as she stepped inside. “Do you wish to talk?”
“Talk about what?” she said flatly, barely putting an emotion in her tone. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”
“It does if you almost kill one of our new friends,” Chrysalis said and flinched as Sync turned her head, showing her hate-filled glare.
“They are not our friends! They are just some worthless species that will betray us like all the others!!”
“And if they do not?” Chrysalis replied calmly, taking a breath to regain her composure. “Suppose you drive away the one chance we have at getting a good advantage in this new world?”
“Which we wouldn’t be in if it wasn’t for you!!” Sync roared and stood up. “It’s all your fault! Everything! We wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t tried to invade! I hate you!!”
“I am aware of that,” Chrysalis said, accepting her verbal lashings, even if it felt as though her heart was being torn in half. “I am fully aware that I am not perfect. That I am a poor leader and an ever poorer mother…”
Sync took a step back, looking like she’d just been struck. “N-No… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…” Her mother was always so proud, she had an indomitable will and never took abuse from anyone.
And yet that proud changeling queen stood there with a small smile, even as the words Sync had uttered caused tears to roll down her cheeks.
Yes, Sync was angry, but, she hadn’t meant to do that. This wasn’t her mother’s fault. And her anger was… it was because she was weak.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t hate you. I could never hate you… it’s just…”
“I know,” Chrysalis had stepped forward while Sync was lost in thought, the queen now holding her daughter in a hug. “It’s alright. I don’t blame you my little one. What happened to you was a terrible thing...”
“And you warned me it would happen!” she cried. “You said it would and he did. He… he tried to kill me! He… wouldn’t listen, just kept calling me a monster.”
Chrysalis ran a hoof through her mane. “You always try to find that hidden hook. The double meaning in words and it has saved us countless times.”
“So why can’t I find it with those stupid humans!?” She shook her head. “N-No-one is that trusting! No-one can love us as we are! So… why?”
“Perhaps,” Chrysalis smiled. “They are so immensely stupid. They simply cannot help it. Or…”
“Or?” Sync asked.
“Or perhaps they truly do care,” Chrysalis said and held her daughter back a bit to look her in the eyes. “I’m not saying to trust them implicitly. That would be the height of stupidity. But, I feel that we can give them the benefit of a doubt… just, keep one eye open perhaps.”
“So what, I’m supposed to be all friendly with them now?” Sync asked and snorted.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Chrysalis said with a nod. “I’m not asking you to marry them or anything. Just… work with them a little alright. And for the love of Holes, do stop trying to kill them.” Chrysalis paused and smirked. “You know how hard it is to clean blood off of our chitin.”
“True enough,” Sync chuckled weakly. “We need a bath or something in here.”
“I’ll order one in the morning,” Chrysalis smiled and kissed her forehead. “Now why don’t we go and get something to eat? Those little cakes are to die for.”
“You’re as bad as ol’ Sunbutt,” Sync snorted again. “Might as well leech a little love from the human. He owes me for pissing me off.”
“My dear little one,” Chrysalis said as they walked out. “By those terms, most of Equestria would owe you.”
