//------------------------------// // White World, New World // Story: The Human and His Lopunny // by Burningbloom78 //------------------------------// I'm wasting... wasting away. So far, so close, the grave grows ever nearer and the world is becoming dark. I'm wasting away in the cold, death's grip holds my heart tightly. I'm wasting away. I don't want to waste away... A young boy remembers the day they met. It was a long and cold night; a wintry gloam pervaded the sky with the colors of white, gray, and deep blue. The wind was swift and harsh, its howling was the only sound that echoed throughout the muffled snow. The young boy was shivering; desperately trying to keep his hands and feet warm and flexible, but with each cruel breeze of the wind that rushed his body, they'd stiffen and lose a bit of that warmth. Another thousand steps tread; the young boy tries to catch and steady his breath while moving one step at a time, but each step grows weak and heavy. As the young boy trudged through the four feet of snow, he comes across an abandoned vale of tears; a land where the creatures known as Pokémon used to live, but now nothing but ice and snow. He used to go there and speak and play with the various Pokémon, but after his home was struck by a never-ending snowstorm, the Pokémon had gone and left. Other than his home, the now miserable vale used to be where he'd go to be happy. But now there wasn't a single place for the boy to play, there wasn't a place for him to smile or laugh. Through the horridness of the winter storm, his love for the vale is what kept him going, now that he was alone. With a labored breath and an unsteady step forward, the young boy staggers further into the vale, spotting a lonesome cave where he could rest his aching body. Inside the cave, as expected, there wasn't a single Pokémon to greet him; they were truly gone, his only friends... his playmates. He looked forward and saw a large pile of snow blocking access further into the cave. It was better than nothing. The young boy sat on the frozen floor pulling his arms and legs together in an attempt to keep warm, but his strength was waning; his little heart was beginning to slow, and his eyes felt as heavy as lead. There's a saying that if you sleep outside when it's extremely cold, you run the risk of dying in your sleep. The young boy is well-versed in many sayings, but it seemed that this rather crucial one has gone overlooked and disregarded. The essence of sleep, just thinking about it made the young boy quite eager for rest knowing full well of the ramifications. But he did not care; what was the point of trying to survive this endless winter storm if you're all alone with no family or Pokémon? Seems like a life not worth living. Just as the boy was about to resign his life to the sweet lull of death, he heard the rustling of something followed by grunts of something else. Having closed his tired eyes, the young boy reluctantly opened them in a soft daze, his vision adjusting to view a little brown rabbit-like Pokémon hauling a large bush vastly decorated with oran, peacha, and lum berries. The young boy could not believe his eyes; how could a bush possibly bear any fruit during this horrible winter storm? All crops in his village died, all the meat rotten and inedible, and there were no berries or any kinds of fruits and vegetables for miles. He knows this, he and his family know this, along with the rest of the village. They searched, they scoured, they rummaged until only he was left. How could this little rabbit find something that an entire community could not? Perhaps that being a Pokémon certainly has its advantages. He continued to watch the rabbit struggle to reel the bush of berries inside the cave. The sheer gusto and determination of the little rabbit were somewhat inspiring; the will to live and persist, the tiny rabbit's strength embarrassed the young boy. A rabbit had a larger vigor than he did. By the grunts of frustration, the young boy had deduced that the Pokémon is female. She was brown from the top and had yellow-cream fluff around the mid-section of her body. The tip of her brown floppy ears was also covered with that lovely fluff. She had the shortest, fluffiest tail the young boy had ever seen. When the Pokémon turned to face the young boy, it had a cute pink triangular nose, and its piercing black eyes bored daggers into his soul. What he gazed upon was a wild Buneary. Now, the young boy was no expert on this Pokémon, but during his time playing with his Pokémon pals, he has seen his fair share of Buneary, and how deadly they can be. He once saw a Buneary attack another Pokémon after being threatened to give up its food. The attack was so devastating, that the bully was sent flying in the air before crashing into a boulder. The Buneary raced over to the boulder and attempted to teach the bully another lesson with its ears, but, thankfully, the bully dodged the Buneary's strikes and witnessed its ears shatter the boulder to pieces. Afraid of being pummeled by those ears, the bully promptly left and never returned. Now, there's a wild Buneary that appears with a bush full of berries glowering at the young boy with the intent seeming to harm. Too cold to defend himself and too tired to run, the young boy kept holding himself as the Buneary began to close in. To die by a Pokémon's hands was truly a frightening prospect, but so is freezing to death in your sleep. However, if it is by a Pokémon, at least the young boy wouldn't have to suffer... that much. Once again, the young boy resigns his fate at the hands of the cute rabbit. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come, and he wished it would be quick and painless. Seconds passed, and the young boy felt a nudge on his right arm, but he didn't react. He simply thought the Pokémon was determining how to kill him, and as he thought such terrible things, he received another nudge, but this time was harder, so much so that he shouted a little in pain. Turning his attention to his attacker, he saw the rabbit giving an angry scowl. She offered him an oran berry, but the young boy couldn't process this act of kindness. Aggravated at the young boy's dumb-looking face, the Buneary punched him in the gut, causing the young boy to lurch forward in pain, a groan escaped his lips. The Buneary then grabbed his hair and made him look her way, and shoved the berry in his face. It fell on his lap as the rabbit returned to the bush to haul it closer to the cave. Afraid of angering the Buneary that graciously gave him food, the young boy began to nibble on the oran berry. The taste was all over the place, but it made the young boy's mouth water each time his tastebuds made contact with the berry's juicy contents. "Uh... hey," the young boy called out meekly. "I want to say thanks for giving me some of your food. I know how scarce food has become since this winter storm started, so for you to share it with a stranger like me, well... I appreciate it. Thank you." The Buneary that walloped him ignored the boy's sincerity and threw down a pile of sticks, some dry grass, and leaves she had gathered while searching for food. Then, she kneeled next to the pile, grabbed two sticks, and began rubbing them together quickly. She was trying to spark a flame; The young boy assumes that the Buneary has been around this wintry land a while to learn such a human skill. As the little human watched, his eyes were amazed at the speed the Buneary rubbing the sticks; there was smoke forming between them and a small light forming on the grass and leaves. After a few seconds of waiting, a small fire suddenly sparked to life, surprising the young boy. "Woah," he uttered in astonishment. He turned his body to face the small flames to desperately ease the frostbite accumulating on his hands and feet. He then saw the wild Buneary carrying a ton of berries. "How did you make that so quickly? That's insane. I mean, well... I cou- OOF!" The wild Buneary had leaped into the air and slammed her behind on his lap. The abrupt action nearly caused the boy to lose his grip on his oran berry. He felt the Buneary shimmy her fluffy behind, trying to get comfortable. The boy wanted to protest, but the Buneary elbowed him in the gut, and the wincing boy decided to withhold his grievance. For the next five minutes, the duo was silent, the only noise they made was the delectable munching of berries. After the young boy finished his berry and was satisfied, he looked down and saw that the Buneary had hardly touched her's, opting to merely stare at the fire. The young boy turned his gaze further down to see the Buneary's eyes fixated on the flames, almost as if she was in a trance. The boy then felt a tinge of sadness from the little rabbit; it was alone and lonely. Perhaps that's the reason she hadn't kicked him out, she wanted some company and decided that the boy had to do. "Hey, are you okay?" The boy said softly, meeting the Buneary's eyes with his own. "You need to eat. You can't act all tough on an empty stomach." Cut from her trance, the Buneary scowled at the boy and turned her head away. "Come on," he pleaded, "don't be that way. How long have you been living in this cave?" The Buneary did not answer. "Maybe since the winter storm began? But... if that's the case, why didn't you leave with the other Pokémon? Surely your friends and family would've liked it if you went with them?" The Buneary was silent, the only noise she made was a long tired sigh, then her ears drooped limply to her sides. "Oh..." the boy muttered, realizing the Pokémon's body language. "I guess we're in the same boat; I lost them as well. We were trying to find food and a source of water since the winter storm invaded us. No matter how hard we searched, none of us in my village could find any trace of food or water. Eventually, one by one, everyone in my village succumbed to the winter's grasp and died. I was the only one left..." The Buneary turned her head to meet the boy's hazy eyes, they were glossy and gray; the young boy has seen horrors no boy should see. He was right, he is like her, they don't have anybody else to be there for them anymore; they had all died or left. "I'm lonely too," he whispered, staring at the fire. He absentmindedly embraces the rabbit. "Before you came along, I had given up hope of living; I was going to sleep and let the cold take me away. You could've thrown me out and left me to freeze, or you could've killed me yourself. You didn't." The wild Buneary didn't reject the boy's embrace, rather she held onto his arms tightly with her own. "We can be lonely together," he suggested. "We can be at each other's side; as the best of friends. I won't leave, I won't abandon you. I'll stay here with you and be your friend until I die. Can you be mine?" he politely asked. The wild Buneary took a moment to ponder her decision and after careful consideration, the Buneary bussed the boy's arms and nodded her head silently. The young boy smiled for the first time in months. "Now that we're friends, you need a name," he said, looking Buneary in the eyes. "Now you're tough and you don't take scrap from anybody... so maybe a girly name wouldn't fit you. How about... Nian? What do you think?" "Bun..." she softly let out. Her voice was so soothing and delicate; It was extremely feminine. "Bun... Buneary." "I can see why you kept quiet, but I'm glad you like the name... Nian. My name is Joeshur Riverside, but you can call me Joey for short," he chuckled. "Nice to meet you." Joey felt something poke and prod at his cheek. It was soft to the touch and quite familiar. He groaned in protest, trying to swat away the vexing touch, and after a while, it had stopped and Joey was relieved. Then he heard an annoyed huff and felt a painful punch straight to the stomach and he shot awake in pain, holding his stomach. "Ow, what the heck?!" he cried, shifting his gaze towards his attacker. It was a Lopunny crossing her arms angrily with a scowl to boot. The tall brown rabbit had yellow-goldish fluff along with her lanky ears the same stuff is on her arms, mainly around her hands and the bottom half of her legs and entire feet. The sclera of her eyes are completely black and her eyes are a reddish-pink pigment. Her long and well-tended eyebrows were the same yellow-gold colors. Joey sighed loudly and said, "Nian, what did we discuss about punching me awake?! It's not healthy! I'm gonna have to let Lena look at my injury." The unapologetic rabbit sneered at Joey and directed him to the world around them. "Wait a minute..." he mumbled to himself. "Where are we? I remember being in Alamos Town when... when... when the legendaries fought one another! Now that I recall, we were caught in between their clash, but we should have died, yet here we are." Nian rolled her eyes and forced Joey off the ground, aggressively dusting every piece of dirt and debris from his clothes. That was the thing about the Pokémon Lopunny, they always took care of themselves, especially their ears. The same love, care, and attention has been extended to Joey, and Nian was a militant cleaner. He remembers he had to wear an extra layer of clothing when Nian helped clean him because the rabbit would be too rough. Oddly enough, when came to taking care of, and even pampering his hair, Nian would surprisingly be delicate and meticulous. One of the many blessings Joey had the pleasure of experiencing. "Thanks," he said, which got an irritating huff in response. He sighed again, "Anyway, we aren't dead, you made that painfully clear." He looked around the area; it was a grassy land with hills and mounds off in the distance. It was bright and sunny, not a cloud was in the sky. "Hmm..." Joey contemplated. "Well, it doesn't seem we're in our world anymore, which is admittedly frightening. Shall we-" A torrent of screams filled the air, attracting the attention of Joey and his rabbit friend. The screams came from the east where a forest is seen in the near distance. Although Joey would love nothing more than to explore this world, he could not ignore those screams, and neither could Nian. "Nian, it's time to get to work," Joey said with a smile. "You up for some action?" "Lopunny!" Nian merrily announced, punching her left palm with her right fist as her face displayed a wicked grin. "Then kick it up a notch; kick it up to eleven!!! Mega evolve!!!" Joey shouted to the heavens. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light engulfed Nian, changing and shifting her body into something more powerful. When the light subsided, the fur on her neck, torso, legs, and fingers has been shed. Clamped on her legs is a weird unknown material with black patterns. The delicate fur above her eyes shifted from arrows to a stunning crest that resembles a butterfly, and the fur around her wrists and ankles became less fluffy and more round, similar to wrist and ankle weights. Her fluffy ears lost most of the fluff and only two segments of fur were around her ears, resembling headbands. After the transformation, Nian took a large intake of breath and exhaled slowly, shifting her body into a downward stance: She bends down to the ground, both arms stretched out in front of her, then she put her right leg forward and left leg back and lowered her head close to the ground. She merely waited in silence for Joey's orders. Joey fished out of his belt a Poké Ball. "Glad I still have you guys," he murmured in relief. He taps the button in the middle as it enlarges before throwing the ball into the air, bringing out his Staraptor. The mighty avian of the skies screeched flying high above the ground. "Nils!" Joey called out to the large avian, pointing to the forest, "I need you to hover over that mass thicket of trees and survey any openings you see! You know how we roll: Use those keen eyes and look for any creatures in distress! Once you do, call out and I'll give Nian the go-to!" Nils screeched in confirmation, soaring quickly over the forest with powerful, almost air-rending flaps, and began to diligently hover over the forest. His sharp eyes shined and glimmered with a white gleam staring ardently at the forest's clearings below, and that's when he spots two- no, three odd-looking Ponyta; Their colors were yellow, purple, and orange and they seem to be galloping away from something. Squinting, Nils saw two large beasts roaring and chasing the fleeing Ponyta. After surveying the situation, Nils screeched, his echoing cry piercing through the air and into the ears of his owner. "Nian, Nils says there are weirdly colored Ponyta trying to escape a few beasts somewhere in the middle of the forest," Joey explained quickly as he kneeled next to his furry friend. "Ready?" Nian nodded fiercely. "One... two... three!!! Blitz!!!" In a flash, a brown blur was seen speeding into the forest. With Nian gone like the wind, Joey yelled out to Nils. The avian flew to his master in three seconds flat, extending his wing to the ground, allowing Joey to climb on his back. "Alright, Nils," Joey said excitedly, "let's head to the middle of the forest and watch Nian go to town; Just follow the trail of destruction! It's more fun that way!" Nils screeched and followed Nian into the untamed wilderness. Inside the foreboding forest was opaque and light barely filtered through the canopy of dark trees that stretched on for seemingly no end. As Joey flew on the back of his avian companion, the ground was littered with fallen leaves, twigs, and branches. The further he went in, the more odd things become: Trees began to creak, as the forest moaned, and there was a faint wind that howled as it flew around and through the bent tassels of whistling grass. The luminous light of the sun desperately tried to bleed through the forest canopy was beginning to die, and yet what persisted was naught but paltry beams of faded light pierced through. It was remarkably eerie to Joey and exciting... nevertheless the human steeled his trembling nerves. Nils nuzzled the human to help calm him, and Joey greatly appreciated it; It wasn't often that Nils showed affection towards his trainer and best friend, but the avian did have his moments, and it was those moments Joey treasured in their relationship. Beyond his shuddering anticipation, he began to hear feminine voices hollering in distress. They were different... distinct sounds. Then he heard other voices, but they bellowed and roared, their thundering cries rumbled the earth as Joey witnessed the trees move and undulate. Although Joey wanted to ponder this, he was torn from his musings by Nils who directed the distracted human to an upcoming clearing. It was an opening, much like an arc, shrouded in bright white light. As they got closer, Joey heard the splitting of the earth and said, "Nian is already gone to work; I guess she just couldn't wait until we got there, eh, Nils?" The avian gave Joey a low chortle in response. Once they entered the clearing, it was no surprise that Nian already had whatever beast had the misfortune of fighting her having their head embedded three feet into the earth's crust. And the problem with that is that Nian desired more, she wanted a struggle to flex her legs and arms; Then it would be a good workout, but unfortunately, her opposition has long since lost consciousness. And again, to no one's surprise, another beast was sizing her up despite what happened to the other guy. What was surprising is that Joey has never seen a Pokémon with a fiery red mane with sharp teeth, finely honed white claws, and wings. It had a tail and stinger similar to a wild Drapion. Truly a magnificent creature, that was until Nian's axe kick whacked it in the cranium, sending the howling creature flying into a slew of trees with a powerful impact, effectively ending the fight nearly after Joey caught up. Nian had that crazed glare stitched on her face; A Mega Lopunny always had this aura of battle lust; It fully awakens their competitive side and makes them extremely aggressive and dangerous, not to mention that their ears and legs become tons more powerful than before. A Buneary can shatter whole boulders with their ears, and a Lopunny's legs are written to be "destructive" if they decide to fight. Joey knows that too well, whenever he trains with his Lopunny, mega or not, he usually has a fractured or broken bone by the end of it. Now one would think that Joey is an idiot, and while that may be true to some extent, the reason he's so reckless is because of the Pokémon Chansey. He also likes the thrill. Whenever Joey and Nian spar, that Pokémon is present to aid Joey and administer any injury Nian inflicts. Back on the situation at hand, Joey scans the ruined battlefield to see the multicolored Ponyta cowering on the grass. The yellow one was crying and laying down, and the one with a... hat is comforting the yellow horse. The purple one, oddly enough, has wings and a horn. In an instant, Nils flapped his wings and he and Joey suddenly faced the Ponyta. Now, on closer inspection, and as memory serves, Ponyta had a mane and tail that was always on fire, but when Joey stared at the trio of frightened horses, they did not resemble any traits commonly found in Ponyta. The one that they shared was their physical characteristics. So... what were they? Not Ponyta... so maybe ponies? Joey had a tough time figuring out what to call them, but for now, it was time to push that aside. As he continued to examine the ponies, he saw that the yellow one had a few cuts and bruises. Looking at the purple one, she had no injuries to speak of but Joey could see she was tired if panting was anything to go off of. The orange one sadly emulated the purple pony. Clicking his tongue, Joey's Staraptor landed on the ground, allowing the human to disembark. The ponies were scared. If Joey was being chased by two large creatures and suddenly a tall rabbit knocks out and buries one of them into the earth, he'd be shaking in his boots as well. That and the giant predatory bird. That was also scary. Luckily, Joey's resourceful backpack survived the clash of the legendaries. Reaching into it, he fishes out three sitrus berries for each of the ponies to calm their nerves, then on his belt, he grabs one small Poké Ball and enlarges it. Unfortunately, but not unexpected, the three ponies had their attention glued to Nils, and he doesn't blame them. Nils is physically bigger than most Staraptors. With a few quick snaps of his fingers, the ponies were brought from their terror-filled gazes, staring at the human looming over them. He kindly offered the berries, lightly throwing them to their hooves, beckoning for them to eat. "Don't worry," he assured quietly, his soft and kind voice soothing their worries, "this will make you feel better. Go on," he urged with a gesture, "eat up and gather your strength." Though grateful to this mysterious being and his avian ally, the orange pony stood between her friends and Joey, glaring at him. Joey felt the pony peering into his soul as if she is trying to find traces of trickery. Joey didn't like it, it felt wrong and almost perverted, but as the feeling came, it went away. The orange pony smiled, taking the berries into her mouth and presenting them to her friends. The yellow one was reluctant to eat, but if her orange friend decided it was okay to consume one of those berries, then the yellow pony happily tried it. It wasn't long until Joey heard a cute squeal as faint as a whisper coming from the yellow pony. The orange pony gave one to her purple friend and she tried it and nearly emulated the yellow pony, giving a look of satisfaction and euphoria. To Joey's wonder, the orange pony consumed the entire berry in one chomp. She liked it also and Joey was happy. "Thanks, partner!" the orange pony suddenly said. The unexpected response almost made Joey yelp in surprise, but he quickly calmed himself down. "I don't know what that fruit was, but it sure made me feel loads better. Thanks for helping us!" "Heh, I'm certainly not in my world any longer, and these aren't Pokémon," Joey uttered under his breath. "I didn't know you could talk! The name's Joeshur Riverside, but you can call me Joey for short!" The orange pony tipped her hat saying, "Name's Applejack. That there is Fluttershy," the yellow one she pointed to. She then pointed to the purple pony. "And that is Twilight Sparkle, she's a princess!" "Howdy!" Joey joyfully said, bowing at the two other ponies. Fluttershy was a bit hesitant to reply, so all she did was meekly give a lame wave. It was made abundantly clear that Fluttershy, hence the name, was going to be a little tough to speak to. Joey hopes to change that very soon. Twilight, on the other hand, was speechless, somehow spawning a quill, ink, and a scroll. From that action, Joey knew that Twilight was a studious pony, he has met humans like that all the time during his travels. The interest was directed towards his Pokémon, which, to most who have seen and on occasion studied them, are quite odd and unique. However, Joey seeing Twilight's eyes sparkle with an enthusiastic look made him a bit uneasy, especially when she was staring directly at him. "What are you?!" Twilight blurted out, looking up, down, and around Joey like mad. "I've never seen anything like you before! Are there more like you?! What do you eat?! What are those creatures with you?! Do you have magic?! What are your day and night cycles?! Do you LIKE BOOKS?! Because I LOVE BOOKS!" While Twilight was gushing on and on about Joey, Nian rushed between them and gave Twilight Sparkle the dreaded stink eye, which shut her up quickly. The way her ears splayed back, how her eyes bulged and widened and the way she lowered her body to make herself look smaller were on account of fear. Though overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, Joey felt a little guilty that Nian had to stare the poor pony down with such a powerful glare. Applejack didn't like how Nian invoked Twilight with a sense of dread and was about to get up in her face, even though the pony saw what the rabbit did. That was nerves of steel; Sticking up for your friend always gave some kind of power boost or something. Now Joey didn't want a fight, so he gently and carefully pulled Nian away. The rabbit looked at him and snorted, but when she saw that serious look, Nian immediately ceased her aggression and stood at Joey's side with no argument. Usually, Joey lost those kinds of fights since Nian wouldn't care. She's always been a bit stubborn and being in her mega evolution wasn't making her personality any better. Still, Joey was glad that it was this instance where Nian decided not to be hard-headed. "Sorry about that, Twilight, Applejack," Joey said solemnly, bowing before them in apology. "Nian gets overprotective when she sees me... overwhelmed, and her being in this form does the lout no favors. She was worried is all, please forgive her." Twilight recovered from Nian's glare. "No, no, that's quite alright," she said blushing in embarrassment. "I tend to... get overexcited as I've been told. I'm sorry, Joey." Applejack pulled off her hat. "If it was to protect ya, I understand. Just don't make it a habit and we'll be dandy." "Yeah, deal," Joey agreed. He turns his attention to Fluttershy and frowns. "Your friend's hurt. How long has she been like this?" Twilight moved over to Fluttershy and put a comforting hoof on her mane. "Ever since the attack," she said glumly. "We were going to visit a friend who lives in this forest, but on the way, we got attacked by two hungry manticores. "While we were running away, Fluttershy stumbled, lost her balance, and was struck a couple of times by the manticores. Luckily, she narrowly escaped any fatal injuries and got off with a few cuts and bruises. "I was going to teleport her to the hospital, but... now that I'm looking over her wounds, they appear to be a bit more severe..." Joey laughed and lightly threw the Poké Ball that was in his hand, summoning forth a large, round, pink creature with small stubby arms and legs. It had three pink frills on the right and left sides of its head with the end of the frills having a darker shade of pink, along with its feet. It even had a tail, a small white skirt, and a white egg tucked away in what seemed to be a pouch of some kind. It danced slightly while chanting "Chansey, Chansey, Chansey". It was a bit goofy and bubbly. "Lena, Lena," Joey softly called gaining the large Chansey's undivided attention, hugging the poor human as he struggled to hug back. And breathe. "I'm happy to see you as well, but before we get to dancing, I need your help." Instantly, like a light switch turning on, Lena the Chansey stood at attention. Joey has heard stories about the Pokémon Chansey going to any lengths to help humans or Pokémon, even if it took them around the whole world; their desire to help others in need could not be matched. Of course, they'd be the perfect partner for nurses and doctors; it was kind of a no-brainer. Joey always believed that anyone adventuring, like a Pokémon Trainer, should always have at least a Chansey in their group or party. He had Lena ever since she was a Happiny, which is the pre-evolution of Chansey. "Always one for theatrics." Joey chuckled before he gestured to Fluttershy. "That pony needs your assistance. Care to remedy her woe with a gracious and generous Softboil, Doctor Lena?" Quickly and with a gleam in her eye, Lena merrily skipped over to Fluttershy, kneeling next to the pony with a sweet smile. She assesses the pony's wounds and carefully retrieves her neatly tucked egg from her pouch and hovered it over Fluttershy. "Wait," Twilight said fearfully. "What is that going to do? How would an egg help Fluttershy?" "That egg has strong healing properties when applied correctly. Lena, my Chansey, is going to administer its effects to your friend," Joey explained plainly. "Also, it's quite nutritious and it tastes good. Watch." A soft glow from Lena's hands poured something into the egg that Twilight couldn't discern. The egg was glowing a faint pink as it cracked open, sending a wave of healing into Fluttershy's body. Twilight and Applejack were rightly confused, but then their jaws nearly hit the grassy earth as the wounds on their friend's body started to vanish almost instantly. As the egg disappeared, another one manifested in Lena's pouch. After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy stretched her body and wings. There wasn't a single notable scratch, bruise, cut, or scar. She had been healed completely. "Well, I'll be..." Applejack breathed out slowly. "It's all gone, every little bit of injury is gone. That was some egg." To say Twilight was intrigued would be a massive understatement. The pony could barely contain herself after seeing such unbelievable non-magical healing power. She wanted to geek out so badly, but... Joey could freak out and that would mean another visit into those cold, cruel eyes of that rabbit creature, and Twilight Sparkle determined it'd be prudent to hold off on geeking out until they get to the castle. As Fluttershy attempted to rise from the ground, she was aided by Lena who handled the pony with such care and attention that it made her blush. "Thank you," Fluttershy whispered. "To you and Lena..." "No problem, we're always happy to help, isn't that right, Lena?" The Chansey agreed wholeheartedly, happily spinning and dancing around the group. Nils watched in rapt attention, Nian scowled and shut her eyes, Joey laughed along with Applejack and Twilight, and Fluttershy merely stood in silence, enjoying the goofy spectacle. Although it was indeed fun to watch Lena go around and put smiles on most faces, Joey decided it would be smart if they got out of this forest in the concern that more monsters might show up. Nian wasn't afraid, she could turn any opposition into mush. She would love to encourage any monster lurking in the shadows to show up and fight her right then and now. Despite her desires, Joey came first. And since he wants to be around these ponies a bit longer, Nian has to put up with them. "Alright," Joey called out, clapping his hands together, "is there a town or something near here?" "O-oh, of course," Twilight said. "There's a town very close to the Everfree Forest. I'll be happy to escort you there if you would... maybe... tell me about yourself and these creatures." There's that gleam in her eyes. Joey chuckled to himself, Twilight reminded him of his sister. "Well, I don't see the harm in telling you some stuff. Let's get going." Joey grasped Lena's Poké Ball. "Alright, Lena, I'll let you out to stretch your legs later. Return." Lena continued spinning as the red beam of light engulfed her, sending the upbeat Chansey into the Poké Ball. Joey then grabbed Nils's Poké Ball. "Good work today, my wonderful friend. I'll call on you again soon. Have your rest. Return." Nils cooed as the same red light swallowed him up and he returned to his Poké Ball. Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy gasped, which caused Nian to groan and roll her eyes. "Calm down," Joey pleaded, trying to relieve the ponies' fears. "This object is designed to hold my friends inside. From what I hear, it's quite comfy. I'll tell you all more later. Shall we get going? I'm afraid if we stay in place any longer, Nian might explode; She has almost no patience." The vexed rabbit lightly kicked Joey in the shins, which elicited a quick yelp of pain. Joey, despite knowing about Nian's temperament, seemingly, and a lot of times unwittingly, says something that sets her off. It's usually a punch in the gut or a kick on his keister; Joey should be counting the lucky stars he got off so easily. A mega Lopunny with anger issues is a frightful thing. How's he alive for this long is anyone's guess. Twilight clears her throat and says, "I would teleport back home, but I am afraid of what magic might do to you, so we'll just walk." Joey nodded and let the ponies take the lead as he and his partner followed close behind.