Kanto Regin. Pallet Town. Day.
A regular day at Pallet Town. Ash took the advice of his friends and chose to take things easy. And the only way he knew how was spending time with his friends and family. Pretty normal things for him to do daily. But this time, without the interference of anything Rift related, Ghetsis, the Empress or anything troublesome.
"Ash. Where are you heading this time? Ponyville or Canterlot? Or is it somewhere here?" Delia asked as Ash was already prepared to head out.
"I'm heading for the Human World to help Twilight out." He explained. "I wanna help her catch a Pokemon before the Friendship Games happen."
"I thought that mirror portal to Human World had been destroyed by Ghetsis? Oh. But you'll be taking Manehattan's gateway to Castelia then Eindoak and straight to that world, right?"
"Nah. Emerald fixed the portal for us. So it's A-OK." He gave a thumbs-up of certainty. So did Pikachu. "I'll be back soon once I help her. And don't worry. I won't get into anything wild."
"I hope not. After your friends suggested you take it easy and all. I know you're used to things that can be high-octane and everything but there's no shame in slowing down, Ash. Besides, you just had a karaoke rock concert not too long ago."
"Yeah. And it was a blast, wasn't it buddy?"
"Pika-Pikachu!"
"Hm...Aha!" Delia snapped her fingers with an idea brimming in her mind. "How about I come along with you? I'm curious about that other world myself. I mean, a world where many familiar faces are human variants of friends you already know? That's irresistible."
"Oh, sure. You can come along. Same with you Mimey."
"Mime-Mime!"
"Let me just get myself ready then~!" She whistled before rushing off to prepare herself. No dressing. Her casual clothes were enough for this.
Delia shares Ash's adventurous spirit. She was a Pokemon Trainer in the past after all. Ash made sure to grab extra Poke Balls, just in case. It would be Twilight's first catch after all.
After some preparation, they made their way towards Canterlot quickly. And this time, Delia made some food for Ash to eat in the other world instead of Pinkie Pie. And speaking of Pinkie Pie, walked up to them as she ended up making the food anyway.
"Ah! Can't leave without these." She showed them the food she made. "I know you're already heading there and...Mrs Ketchum?"
"Hi-Hi. You don't have to worry about food, Pinkie Pie. Planned ahead." To show this, she held out Ash's bag, shaking it as Pinkie Pie put her ear next to it. She could hear all the familiar sounds of certain foods rumbling about. Some of which she enjoyed.
"Aww...Oh, well. More for me then." Pinkie grinned before opening the box of food, ready to devour what she had made along with Mew and Spinda.
"Right. Let's head over and meet that other Twilight now. Shall we, Ash?" Delia said.
"Wait." Pinkie halted them while on the verge of eating a cupcake. "You're heading to the Human World too, Mrs Ketchum? Ooh! I almost forgot I wanted to go there too one day!"
"Now's a good chance, Pinkie. Plus, with Mew, Twilight can learn a lot more about Pokemon. So it's all win-win, right?" Ash turned to Pikachu.
"Pika-Pika." The Mouse Pokemon agreed.
"And it'll be a first! Think I'll get a chance to see myself there?" Pinkie Pie asked. "It's not gonna be like the Mirror Pool again cause we're more than the same than just clones. I think that made sense?"
"Made sense to me." Delia chuckled along with Mr Mime. "Come on now. Let's not keep the other Twilight waiting."
The Human World. Twilight's home. Day.
Twilight was home today, waiting for Ash to show up. But as she waited, she was drawing an image of a Pokemon in her notebook. And this was something that she did on a whim.
The Pokemon in question that she was drawing had a familiar appearance to Zorua. But there was something different about it. Different from the regular Zorua. Twilight looked a bit zoned out when drawing this odd Zorua, trying to recall what it looked like. But she barely got a good view of it.
"I heard about Zorua before but...that didn't look like what the Pokedex described it to be. Wish I could've gotten some information before the snow came in."
Just as she spoke, the door had been knocked. Twilight was alerted, closing her book and heading to answer. Not a moment late or early. Just on time. Ash and Pikachu were here as always. Joined by Delia Ketchum, Mr Mime, Pinkie Pie and her Mew and Spinda who rested in her playful mane. And being in the Human World transformed Pinkie Pie into her human variant. She opened the door to see them.
"Ash! Pikachu!" Twilight said with glee in her voice before noticing the surprise guests. She recognized Delia after seeing her through the Xtransceiver. But not Pinkie. "And...W-Who are they?"
"This is my mom." Ash began the introduction. "I talked about her, remember? Then there are my friends Mimey, Pinkie Pie, Spinda and Mew."
"Nice to finally meet you up close, Mrs Ketchum."
"Wow! I know I've already seen another Twilight but seeing a third one like this is still so wonderful!" Pinkie Pie squeed. "We have matching hands now! Look!"
"Uhh..." Twilight pulled back after Pinkie put her arms out, wiggling her fingers in front of Twilight. "Hi. I'm guessing you're from Equestria, right?"
"Sure am!" She gave out a sun-glistening grin with her hands on her waist, standing proud. That quickly, Pinkie Pie had gotten used to standing like a human. That instance of being Mew for a while did some wonders for her. "Here to help you with all your Pokemon Research stuff."
"I came here just to visit this world. I can leave everything else to you kids. Although..." Delia thought for a moment. "Not sure I have the currency for this place to start shopping."
"Just do what I did mom. Street performance stuff worked for me," said Ash, referring to when his body was swapped with Ghetsis.
"Hm...Performance you say?" Delia pondered as her eye flashed. She then turned to Mr Mime with glowing eyes. Mr Mime was the embodiment of performance, which gave Delia an idea.
"M-Mime?" Mr Mime had a sweatdrop appear, wondering why Delia was looking at him like that.
"I can do that." Delia chuckled, scaring the Barrier Pokemon. Mr Mime knew what was coming next and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"So. Are you ready to catch your first Pokemon?" Ash asked.
"I sure am!" An excited Twilight nodded, unable to contain her excitement. But that's when she had a question for Ash as she opened her notebook. "Oh and...there's one Pokemon I want to catch. I saw it four days ago."
"Yeah?" Ash and Pinkie Pie said.
"This." She then showed the drawing of what seemed to be Zorua. The drawing was not complete as Twilight barely got a glimpse of this small Pokemon. "This is Zorua, right?"
"Zorua?" They both leaned in. They squinted their eyes, wondering if they were seeing this right. Twilight managed to get the stature of Zoroak correctly. It was somewhat recognizable but there was something different about it. Mainly the tail."
"Looks like it." Ash nodded. "Pretty close drawing to what Zorua looks like.
"I was told Zorua had a colour scheme of black and red. But this one was different." She tapped on the book. "That's why I'm having such a hard time recalling how it looks."
"Different, you say?" Delia uttered. "What do you mean by that?"
"Like I said, it was hard to see through the snow at night. But I could see parts of it. At first, I thought it looked like a Vulpix or a Growlithe. But closer, it had a different tail. The tip of it was all red and swaying. I think the same was for its hair on the top. But the ears and the way it stood were much like Zorua. That's all I could get from it."
"That doesn't sound like Zorua...Unless..." Ash's mind started shuffling through all the possibilities. And there was one good possibility that he could easily make out. "Wait! Is it a Regional Form?!"
"Um...I don't think so?" Twilight shrugged. "Again. Not much to say when a bunch of snow's blocking your view. But if it was, you'd know right?"
"There's still a bunch of Pokemon Ash doesn't know about yet." Pinkie nudged Ash. "And a whole lot more regions he hasn't visited. Like Holon. The Pokemon World is so gigantic!" She then spread her arms out."
"There's a good chance this could be a Zorua from another region we've never seen before. That'll be a great first Pokemon to have. Okay, let's get ourselves a Zorua."
"Pikachu."
"And if you're curious. You can always take a look at this guy right here." Pinkie then went into her mane, holding the New Species Pokemon. She was already big enough to hold Mew. Now she was even bigger to him in other Pokemon forms.
"Mew-Mew!"
"W-What is that?!" Curiosity struck Twilight as she held her Pokedex out for this one.
"Mew. The New Species Pokemon. Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people. When viewed through a microscope, this Pokémon’s short, fine, delicate hair can be seen. This Mythical Pokémon is said to be extinct, but sightings of it are still being reported to this day. Due to its DNA, it can use all kinds of techniques."
Shock struck her next. Twilight listened to the Pokedex closely before realizing what she was facing right now. In front of her was the ancestor of all Pokemon. From the Pikachu that Ash had, the Spinda within Pinkie's hair and the Mr Mime that was currently shaking in front of Delia.
"Ancestor!" Twilight then grabbed Mew, lifting him into the air. "What a lucky day! The DNA of every Pokemon is in this one Pokemon?! That's amazing! I could clear out days, weeks and months of research just with this one Pokemon!" Mew, was it?!"
"Mew!" Mew whimpered a bit before making himself invisible. Twilight startled him from the sudden grab and constant bellowing. He then teleported out of Twilight's hands before heading back into Pinkie's mane.
"S-Sorry." Twilight put her hands together, feeling embarrassed for doing that. "I got a bit excited there."
"Don't worry about it. Just a natural reaction to Pokemon. Our Twilight did the same to another Pokemon once." Laughed Pinkie as she comforted Mew to make her feel better. "It's okay, Mew. Twilight was just psyched to know about you."
"Mew?"
"Ahem." Twilight cleared her throat. "Well, anyway. I want to catch that Zorua. The last place I saw it was even past the forest that we usually go to. Just on the outskirts. Hope it's not too snowy for us to search for one."
"Good thing we're already prepared for snow! Check it!" In unison, Ash and Pinkie pulled out jackets. Ash already had his Sinnoh Jacket while Pinkie Pie was given one despite her originally being a pony. Almost as if she prepared for this moment. They placed their jackets on, ready to head out. Twilight put on warmer clothes and a scarf too.
As for Delia, she and Mr Mime were off to the streets to show off why Mr Mime lives up to his name. Both groups were ready to go. Spike couldn't handle the cold so he chose to stay. Perhaps a little bit of cold-blooded dragon blood resides in this dog, much like his dragon counterpart. But Pinkie allowed one of her Slurpuff to keep him company.
The outskirts of the forest. Afternoon.
On the outskirts of the forest where some Pokemon resided, nothing but grass and some small hills could be seen. Fewer trees existed on the outskirts as this area also had a fairly flat surface. Minus the hills. But more than that, due to the existence of Ice Pokemon, and the approaching Christmas, snow was abundant here.
"It was right here. This should be its natural habitat from how it was coloured white." Twilight spoke as she and the others were approaching the snowy outskirts. "My guess is that it's probably an Ice-Type Pokemon. Once we get close, I can have my Pokedex take all the information down."
"How many Poke Balls are we talking here to catch it?" Pinkie asked. "Zorua's pretty hard to catch. 'Cause, it's so tricky with all those neat and creepy illusions." Pinkie flailed her arms about to replicate the bizarre oddities of illusions.
"20. Thanks to Ash and Professor Oak. This should be enough to give me enough tries. I really want that Zorua. Not only is it cute, but the fact that even you don't know about it Ash gets me all excited. I followed everything you told me, Ash."
"Awesome. Just make sure you put all that muscle strength into your arms. Keep your eye on the Pokemon at all times and you'll be throwing like the wind."
"Pika-Pika."
"Pretty chilly...Brrr!" Pinkie shuddered as Mew transformed himself into a Chimcar, heating up his body to warm Pinkie. "Hoooh. Thanks, Mew."
"Chimchar."
"Do you see Zorua anywhere? Or someone that looks like Zorua?" Ash asked the observant Twilight. Twilight was searching as hard as she could but as the group advanced further into the outskirts, the more they noticed the amount of snow in the area.
"No. I'm afraid our view will be drowned out by the snow before we can find Zorua." Twilight sighed. "There has to be a better way for this."
"Oh, there is." Stopping in her tracks was Pinkie Pie, already coming up with a solution and a way to potentially find Zorua. A way that Pinkie Pie knows best. "We draw 'em out, duh."
"Draw them out? Oh, like that frequency radio I used to bring out Pokemon!" Twilight snapped her fingers. "That could work!"
"Pssh. We're not gonna use that stuff, silly." Pinkie scoffed before holding her comically large bag out. "The only sound we need is the sound of food. S-Scent. The scent of food." She corrected herself. "Lucky for you, I know exactly what a Zoura likes."
"You do?" Twilight looked down to see Pinkie Pie scrolling through the many food options in her bag.
"Pinke Pie's got a cabinet of files about everyone's favourite food. From me, Pikachu and all my friends back at Equestria. It's a lot but she's got a tough memory to remember them all." Ash explained.
"And I figured out that Regional Pokemon have the same tastes as their original regional counterparts. Boy that almost sounded like a tongue twister." She chuckled before getting out some Poke Puffs. "All Zorua like Spicy Poke Puffs. Something about how it makes them more devious with illusions."
"Is that so...?" Twilight was following this.
"Oh yeah. And if the Unovan ones like it, then whatever region this one comes from will love it too." She then added the spicy flakes onto the Poke Puffs instead of a sauce. Mew wanted a piece as he started drooling. "Here you go!" Pinkie hooked up by tossing one Poke Puff into the air.
"Chimchar!" Mew quickly jumped into the air before transforming into a Spoink. After biting on the Pokemon food, he started bouncing around with excitement as Spoink naturally does. "Spoink! Spoink-Spoink!"
"Wow. She really knows her stuff about Pokemon, doesn't she? And she's still somewhat new, right?" Twilight said to Ash.
"Well, Pinkie mostly knows all about every Pokemon's favourite food and what cheers them up. Not really everything else. But I'm learning from her too like she's learning from me. I wanna know what food every Pokemon knows. I already know what my Pokemon like. Right, buddy?"
"Pika-Pikachu."
"Okie Dokie!" Pinkie clapped her hands together. "Princess Flurry Heart taught me this. We put all of our faith in the Idols of Taste lying within the stars for a wonderful time. For our mouths and stomachs. Now for the finishing touches." Pinkie then took out her Poke Ball, sending out one of her Slurpuff.
"Slurpuff!"
"Sweet Scent away, boy!"
"Slur!" Slurpuff raised his arms, exuding a wonderful and enticing scent onto the Poke Puffs. With that, the aroma could waft into the air, right in the direction of the snow.
Now they just had to wait. And unlike Flurry Heart, whose food attracts multiple Pokemon, Pinkie makes it so that only one species of Pokemon approaches.
In the meanwhile, Twilight was feeling chilly herself. This was the result of Ice-Type Pokemon, much like the scenario up in Pegalysium with the heavy snow that was caused by one Froslass alone.
She needed some warmth instantly. Mew would grant that. Despite him being a tad bit afraid of Twilight after what happened earlier, Mew would go out of his way to help. He transformed into Centiskorch, sitting near Twilight while pumping his body temperate to a reasonable amount. Enough to keep her warm.
"Thanks, Mew." Twilight thanks the New Species Pokemon.
"Mew-Mew."
And so they waited. But not for long. They only waited for just 12 minutes, until, the scent of this food had gone past the cold air and snow. Footsteps could be heard as Pikachu stood up, becoming alert.
"Pikachu."
Everyone looked ahead as the silhouette of a Pokemon could be seen within the snow. But after the silhouette moved forward, its true appearance could be seen. A Pokemon with light grey with red and white accents. Its ears were primarily grey with split cuts and a slight red tint at the tips.
Its eyes had golden yellow irises and pink eyelids, and its limbs are tipped in black. The tuft of fur on its head, the ruff around its neck, and its tail were all white at their bases, with long wisps of fur that fade to red at the tips.
But despite its appearance, the head-shape, stature and eyes were without a doubt Zorua.
"There it is...!" Twilight gawked as she and Ash took out their Pokedexes. The Pokedex then read out the information that it could gather from this alternate Zorua.
"Zorua. The Spiteful Fox Pokemon. Hisui Form. Exiled from other lands by humans because of their illusions, and unable to survive in the Hisui Region conflicts with other Pokémon, the souls of deceased Zorua linger on in a new form, reborn by their malice towards humans and Pokémon alike. If Hisuian Zorua spot a lone person or Pokémon, the Zorua may appear before them in a guise mimicking the target’s appearance. These ghostly mimicries are created using spiteful power emitted from the long fur on Hisuian Zorua’s head, around its neck, and on its tail. Hisuian Zorua draw strength from the terror of those who witness their illusions."
"Hisui?" Ash uttered. "I've never heard of that region."
"Pika-Pika."
"H-Hey there." Twilight waved at the Spiteful Fox Pokemon, trying t see if she could get her chance to catch it.
"Zorua?" Zorua looked on, noticing Twilight and the others. And especially the food. Twilight then held the box of Poke Puffs, moving them over towards Zorua to try and attract it.
The scent got closer to Zorua as Twilight herself stayed still, trying not to make any sudden movements. Zorua then approached the box after being attracted to its scent.
Zorua got closer but showed signs of timidness. Especially when around Twilight and the others. The shaking of her legs were signs of that. Even with everyone being still. Zorua was afraid but also wanted the food in front of her.
"Zorua!" So, to try and gain the food while also not interacting with Twilight and the others, Zorua started casting illusions from her body. And did so via purple wisps that emanated from her body. They erupted with a horrifying howling sound as a mysterious black smoke appeared.
"W-What is this?!" Twilight gasped as she moved back. The purple wisps surrounded everyone with malice embedded within them.
"It must be Zorua's illusions!" Ash observed as he was ready for whatever illusion would come his way. But these illusions would be out of spite. He and the others closed their eyes as the wisps had then shrouded them all, forming into a purple dome.
"Zo!" Zorua then quickly ran for the box of Poke Puffs while casting the illusions. However, the magic within Twilight that she was unaware of acted on its own again. It seemed to respond to imminent danger as the visage of another Twilight flashed behind her.
Twilight managed to break free from the illusion without knowing how she did so. And after that, she opened her eyes to see Zorua's mouth on the box of Poke Puffs, trying to take it away. However, the box was too heavy for Zorua as she was unable to do so.
"Z-Zorua!" Zorua cried out before noticing that Twilight was looking at her. She gasped before rushing off in fear, shocked that her illusion didn't work.
"Oh! Wait!" Twilight cried out before grabbing the box of Poke Puffs. She knew that Zorua wanted it and was unable to drag it herself. So, Twilight went after Hisuian Zorua to try and give her the food she wanted.
And that meant heading through the harsh snow. Right as her appearance faded away from the snow, Ash had managed to bypass the illusions due to his own personal experience. But Pinkie Pie was screaming, seeing something horrible around her.
"Pinkie!" Ash held Pinkie, shaking her. "It's okay! It's just Zorua's illusions remember?!"
"Aaaaah!" She roared, flailing her arms around frantically, accidentally hitting Ash in the face. As soon as she felt herself hitting a friend, Pinkie snapped out of it as Ash held his head. "Oops! Sorry, Ash!"
"It's okay." He replied before adjusting his hat. Then, Ash and Pinkie noticed something. Twilight was not present here anymore. They just missed her when she went after Zorua. "Twilight!"
"Where'd she go?!" Pinkie gasped. "You don't think the illusions scared off, do you?!"
"I don't know. But I can see her footprints right there." He pointed over at the footprints of boots left behind by Twilight. And they led into the further outskirts. "That's where Zorua also came from. And the Poke Puffs are gone too."
"She went after it? Why?"
"Only one way to find out. Come on." Ash then went ahead with Pikachu jumping on his shoulder. Pinkie Pie then followed suit as Mew reverted to his normal form, hiding in Pinkie's mane.
A new Zorua. One that comes from a place known as Hisui. Someplace unknown to Ash even. And this was the Pokemon Twilight wished to know about but was taking a big risk being close to it. Truly, the number of Pokemon are abundant with lots more yet to be discovered as the journey continues.
Chapter 588 End.