He felt incredibly alone. It was unlike any other time in his journeys throughout his life. From the early points of his childhood, he had always spent his life with his Leafeon by his side. But now, he didn't even have that. Now he was in a strange unown place that he could not make heads or tails of. Following the events from before, he didn't even know if he was dead, dreaming, or in some form of afterlife. His emotionally stricken heart had found it hard to cope with it all.
He closed his eyes awaiting something. But what? Awaiting someone. But who? It was a waiting game that was driving him insane. He felt so very alone as he whispered his sorries to Luca, hoping in his heart he had done the right thing. Hoping he'd somehow made a difference in the world's fate.
He shook those depressing thoughts out of his head as he placed an ear to the earth beneath him to listen to any signs of life, Pokemon or human. He rested his head back into the smooth grass, the tears of resignation welling up in his eyes as he heard nothing and no one, save for the Eevee beside him. At the very least, it seemed the small fox had come to trust him again. That alone kept him from truly despairing. He didn't dislike the idea of having to start all over in their friendship, as he loved his little friend all the same. But it didn't help much as he felt lonely within its company. And even as he closed his eyes to rest, his sleep was restless and empty.
Amidst his dreamless sleep, the Eevee licked his cheek with expressive worry and curled up into a ball within his arms, seemingly standing guard for him. Not everything was awful, so it seemed. At least the Eevee was worried about him. That was a start. He let his exhaustion wash over him and the tired sleep endured, the warmth of the brown fox expanding throughout his chest.
Some time passed and suddenly, he heard the faint gallop of hooves. He felt as the Eevee perked itself up suddenly, it too awaiting something coming closer. He had been asleep quite a while, but he was still too exhausted to even get up. He was drained. Hungry too. No energy left to even see what it could be.
He found an inner strength to pull himself up and open his eyes when the small Eevee began to growl and pat its tail on his arm, urging him to awaken. The small fox stood before him readied to protect him from something it perceived as dangerous. In the distance was a light blue creature with wings and a rainbow mane hovering in the air, staring at them with curiosity.
A Pokemon? I've never seen anything like it. He pulled out a still completely intact Pokedex from his pocket and pointed it towards the Pokemon before him. Strangely, it offered no information on it as if the creature had no known entry to begin with.
Eevee coiled back in preparation of executing a move. The boy surmised that it was dangerous, given by the signs of his Eevee's instinctual nature to stand its ground. If their species did not feel like they had the option to run, then its last resort was to fight.
"Eevee, are you willing to battle for me?" He whispered to it thinking that now would be the best time to see if the small fox would still consider following his orders despite its lack of familiarity. His fears confirmed, the small Eevee remained unresponsive to his questions or command. It had no trust in him, no sense of companionship. The Eevee might as well have been a wild Pokemon by all accounts. He looked over at the ponyta-like creature with growing anxiety as it just kept on staring. He could feel a cold sweat run down the side of his temple. In the silence of this showdown, he could hear both his and the fox's heart beating in anticipation.
Finally, the deadlock seized the moment the pony drew closer to the two in its curiosity which caused Eevee to kick up sand into its face, making it flinch and shake off the sand with its hooves.
"Hey, what was that for!"
He heard it shout in a sort of mildly high-pitched voice like that of a tomboyish girl. He was absolutely bewildered by the fact that it could talk. He knew that some special Pokemon like his Lucario and many of the legendaries could speak through telepathy using their psychic abilities, but not with this level of vocal range. This Pokemon was undoubtedly special, and powerful at that, with no question that its hyperintelligence could rival a human's. He had to be very careful.
Without warning, Eevee sprang forth in a Tackle, striking the blinded Pegasus. It sent the creature skiing to the ground, seemingly unfazed by the infantile fox's efforts to drive it away.
"Ow, stop that!" The pegasus yelled. It flew straight towards Eevee in a flight quicker than any Pokémon he'd ever seen to pin it to the ground and keep it from attacking. Not just powerful but also dizzyingly fast, the danger level was increasing by the second.
Before he could rush to the fox's aid, the Eevee enveloped itself in the white light of a Quick Attack and shook out of the sky-blue pegasus' grip. It then proceeded to juke her by stringing multiple Quick Attacks in rapid succession to jump from tree to tree, creating afterimages to occasionally tackle the confused ponyta.
Even if his Leafeon had reverted back to an Eevee and had lost all of its memories of their adventures together, its battle instinct and training had remained with it evident by the battle prowess of its decision-making and technique. That alone made him think that perhaps there was still something left in that little fox that would remember him, but he left those thoughts for later as the battle ensued.
Despite that, the unknown creature did not flinch at its attacks, as there was little power in Eevee's strikes. Seeing the little fox bounce off its hide reminded him of that Pokemon he'd saved back in that thunderstorm during his childhood. In his reminiscence, he made a grab for the scar that should have been down the length of his shoulder blade and all across his back... and was met with nothing.
Before he could even panic at this, however, the battle before him took a turn for the worse when the ponyta finally decided to fight back. "Okay that's it, it's go time!" The voice cracked. It drew its hind legs and kicked the Eevee as it rushed her, KO’ing it in one hit and leaving it fainted in the process.
"Eevee!" He reached his hand towards his belt for some pokeballs he could use to recall the Eevee with, but found nothing on it. In his desperation, all he could think to do was run down towards the fainted Eevee. His full-on sprint unsettled the pegasus and made her rear backwards to get some distance from the two.
"What's your problem? What did I do to you two?!" The Pokemon spoke again. He picked up the Eevee in his arms and tried to make a run for it.
Before he could get far, he felt himself be tackled by the Pegasus onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him. As he forcibly pushed the strange Pokemon away with all his might, it retracted its legs one last time and kicked him in the face, knocking him out cold.
"Don't you think you might have gone a little overboard?"
"I have no idea what that thing is... besides it attacked me first. I acted out in self-defense, I swear!"
"Still, you didn't have to kick it into submission you know. Seriously, reflect on this. This is terrible."
"Yeah yeah, I already said I was sorry. I didn't think I would hurt it that badly. Other ponies usually take worse. These creatures are fragile."
The voices grew louder as he slowly regained his consciousness completely. Their speech... they sounded very much like human voices. One of them was familiar and he'd already attributed it to the Pokemon that had attacked him. He was hopeful that the second voice had come from its human trainer, but in opening his eyes his worst fears were realized when it so happened to be a second Ponyta-type Pokemon. A purple one with a deeply violet mane with pink and blue highlights. They hadn't noticed that he'd awoken yet, but it was unnerving all the same. The boy quickly scanned his surroundings in order to make a plan of escape.
For starters, he was lying on a soft mattress. By the feel of the cushioned panels, he narrowed it down to a sofa. Far over to his opposite side was his Eevee sleeping soundly on a rocking chair covered in a blue rag. His eyes widened when he spotted the horn of the purple ponyta light up and a pencil begin to write on its own into a hovering book.
Psychic, huh... it doesn't have wings so it must be a pure Psychic type. Just hope by the color it isn't half poison. That rainbow one must be flying and fighting considering her sheer strength, those double kicks were hard. Weird... Could I be in some sort of new region? He moved a bit, noticing that his shirt had become a bundle under the sofa while he was laid down face first. As he moved to adjust it ever so lightly, he felt their stares focus on him. He became as still as ice and could feel them surveying every inch of his body. He sincerely hoped they hadn't noticed he'd woken up yet. He swore under his breath at his light blunder.
"So you were saying, Twi? What is this thing?" The rainbow-colored Pokemon asked.
He almost let out a sigh of relief, but he was carefully controlling his actions now. He listened in on the conversation.
"I really don't know. That fox is weird too. It is unlike anything I've read or seen in my books." The purple one responded, her voice was scholarly, assured, and knowing. Nerdy almost.
"It could be a bear."
"Don't be silly, it's far too thin and hairless to be a bear."
What? That was offensive. He wasn't an underdeveloped man or anything. The last time he saw himself, he was in the beginning stages of having a friendly beard since he aimed to be a Pokemon Professor in his retirement. Sure, it was just a light morning shadow, but it was something. He was, after all, near to being twenty-five years of age. Actually, today should have been his birthday, though not like it mattered in this situation. He'd never really celebrated his birthday as he hadn't many human companions and the ones he did have he kept at arm's length.
"I know a bear when I see one."
"Hmm, why not call over Fluttershy? She might know what it is considering she's around animals all the time."
"Yeah, and I'll get her to agree with me, just you watch." Like that, the rainbow one zoomed out of a nearby circular window.
Animal? Had they really never seen a human before? What kind of Pokemon were these things...? He thought to himself while he surveyed the room a bit, looking at the furniture and the odd curving design of the circular room. The walls were made of brown bark as if the house itself was carved into a big tree.
In the absence of the other, the purple ponyta got unnervingly close to him and began prodding at his sides. He closed his eyes to be careful that it wouldn't notice that he was awake. He felt a small glass item against his forehead, like some sort of thermometer. He could also hear sketching noises as if it was writing something down on a piece of paper. His curiosity and anxiety were driving him insane by this point. What was it trying to do to him? Was it... analyzing him? A sudden force plucked a single hair straight out of his head. It was difficult not to flinch but he managed somehow, biting back the pain his hands were desperately wanting to soothe like an itch.
He heard her move back to where her study was, her hooves making less noise the more she moved away. He carefully opened one eye and viewed the side of the purple unicorn Pokemon levitating the piece of his hair she had plucked, and with her psychic abilities, she brought it into a small flask with liquid in it which immediately began to turn brown.
"Huh... this is strange. Never seen anything like it." She said as she began to 'study' his hair.
He assured himself that he had lost all of his wits. He was either dreaming of these different-hued ponytas or he was dead. He didn't bother thinking too much on it, for if he wasn't dead, all that mattered now was his Eevee. He needed to get it to safety. That was everything on his mind. He hadn't even spared a thought for what would come next after that.
Before he even had the chance to formulate a plan, however, the door burst open and the rainbow Pokemon's wings were fluttering and struggling to pull something into the room.
"C'mon, Fluttershy, you gotta see this!" She said as she flew into the room. It dropped off on the floor yet another winged pony Pokemon, this time in a yellow with a large curled pinkish mane.
"Sorry, Rainbow Dash, I'm still half asleep. The animals kicked up quite a fuzz last night so it was hard to get a moment of rest. I think they might've been spooked by something." She said in a delicate and soft voice, almost motherly.
How was it not surprising anymore that they could all talk? Maybe they were some sort of talking Pokemon or something, happened he to be in a new region.
"Well, this'll shake the sleep right off ya, take a look!" The rainbow one pointed towards him. He could do nothing but listen in as they talked about him.
"Well... what is it?"
"That's why we brought you here. We think it's a bear or something and we thought you might know better."
"Correction, you are the only one who thinks it's a bear."
"Will you can it, Twilight."
He felt a hoof to his cheek at this, the yellow pony pokemon taking great care to be gentle evident by its light touch as it felt the rest of his upper body.
"Oh, uhm... I can't say I've ever seen anything like it. It doesn't have claws or even fangs. What do you think it is, Twilight?"
"I poured over all of my books on animals and their anatomy. My best guess is... an oversized hairless monkey."
They've really never seen a human before... if they even have literature to begin with and it mentioned nothing about us, then something is definitely wrong here. He thought to himself.
"That makes sense. It has fingers like one." The yellow Pokemon responded and placed a hoof in his open hand.
"Maybe it's a new species or something." The purple one said. "Though the mystery runs deeper considering the cloth around its body. Even the trinkets it had on hand were made of processed metals and synthetic materials. Whatever it is, it's safe to assume that it has the same level of intelligence as us."
The boy's body flinched involuntarily at this revelation as he considered the possibility of humans not existing in this strange new reality.
"Poor thing must be scared." The yellow one stroked his hair, mistaking this for a night terror.
"Well, maybe after what Dash did, I don't doubt it. Kicked it unconscious."
"I already said I was sorry! Don't look at me like that, Fluttershy."
"Come, Fluttershy, he is the first, there is that." The boy opened his eyes in curiosity to see the purple mare lead her away from him, only to be struck with panic as she pointed at Eevee.
The yellow one passed a hoof over the Eevee's head and began to pet it. "Aw, it's so cute!"
"Troublesome too." The rainbow one replied. "It was the one that attacked me."
"Come on, look at it, it wouldn't even hurt a fly." The yellow one held Eevee to her chest in a hug. "It is rather strange though, it's unlike any fox I've seen either."
"A phenomenon is all we can call it for now." The purple one proposed. "We just have to wait for them to wake up and hope that they're not too afraid of us especially considering the circumstances."
As the yellow pegasus let down the Eevee onto the chair again, in that moment, it began to struggle in pain while still unconscious. He could feel it too. Even if the Eevee had forgotten him, he hadn't. He could sense the pain that it was under while it shook and tremored.
"Huh, what's going on with it?" The rainbow one asked.
"It seems feverish, could it be sick? Its cry is very distinct."
"It sounds hurt..." The yellow pegasus pet it gently trying to comfort it.
Perhaps because of the fantastical day he already had, seeing his buddy struggle in pain like this had made him a bit irrational, throwing away any semblance of a plan he'd been patiently formulating in his head.
"Get away from Eevee!" With sheer force, he pulled his aching body up off the sofa, his backpack and effects still in hand, and he made a sprint over to the three now startled ponytas who hadn't even the time to react to his presence before he snatched Eevee as quickly as he could. The door to the outside had been right beside them and in one quick motion, he managed to burst through it shortly after securing the fox within his arms.
"Rainbow Dash, don't!" He heard the purple one exclaim, seemingly trying to prevent her friend from retaliating and exacerbating the issue again.
The orange-gold light of the morning sun blinded him for a second and made him stumble from having tackled open the door with the full heft of his body. When his vision adjusted, he took a quick look at his surroundings. Much to his surprise, it turned out the house WAS carved into a tree. A big one at that. The houses all around him were pastel colored and normal comparatively, and their style reminded him of some of the more old-fashioned houses he'd seen on his travels. He felt his mind stop thinking in his panic altogether the moment many of the similar types of Pokemon like the ones from before all turned to look his way, whispering under their breath as they talked about him.
He had surely gone crazy. How could there be an entire town of just Pokemon? How could Pokemon build all of this?! His curiosity did not last long as he could feel Eevee squirm in his arms and cry out in pain. He was painfully aware of the presences behind him too. They were trying to say something to no avail since he hadn't made room in his head to think of anything else. He made a mad dash towards the far end of the town that led to the empty roads near a large hillside.
"Hold on buddy, I just need to find a way out of here. There must be civilization somewhere. Please, hold on..."
"Wait, please! Don't leave!" He heard the voice of the purple Pokemon shout out to him. But the boy had not been in the mood to listen in his panic.
He kept running as fast as his legs could carry. When he reached the top of the hill at the end of the road, he couldn't believe his eyes. He was knocked to the ground in his surprise.
"You have to be kidding me!!!"
Standing at the edge of a mountain was an entire city. No Pokemon could have built something like that! There must be humans there! He thought to himself, his brain desperately ignoring the morning sun almost tick like a clock halfway above the horizon.
Breathless and seemingly unpursued, he decided to walk after he had lost sight of the town behind the hill. He had a goal now; he needed to go there and find someone that could help his Eevee.
After some time walking, he neared an area with a lot of trees in neat rows. He laid back on a tree to rest, and as he looked up, he noticed bright red apples hanging from its branches. It was a lone apple tree that had strayed outside the fenced apple orchard of a farm he had just now noticed. After he'd seen that town of ponytas, it didn't seem outlandish to think that one of them would be taking care of that farm, so he made no thought to go ask for help there.
The boy's stomach began to rumble at the sight of the plump ripeness of the apples. He hazard a guess that maybe his Eevee had been hungry too, and decided that he would try to get one to share. Tried as he might though, he didn't have the strength to climb the tree as he'd expended the last of his energy by running for dear life on an empty stomach. He hit the tree with his forehead in resignation and to his surprise, it shook easily. He hadn't put that much force in his expression of frustration, as his forehead hadn't even hurt from that hit, but the tree had shaken with a mighty force all the same. But a couple of apples fell off the tree all the same. Well that was convenient. He couldn't help but think.
He punched the tree with his full might in a sort of hypothesis, testing his assumptions. Again, it did not hurt. This time, the tree shook much harder. It was almost as if the very tree itself wanted to shake the apples off and almost all fell from how loose they already were. He now had a good dozen on his hands and began to eat what he could while placing the rest in his rucksack. He took out a small knife and cut up one into tiny pieces for his Eevee to eat.
As he tried nudging the little fox awake and held out a small piece for it to eat, however, it actively refused the slice, still unconscious as if in a deep sleep. "C'mon buddy, wake up please." He tried to get him to eat several times. He even tried opening Eevee's mouth gently and placing the slice of apple in its mouth in hopes it would eat it by instinct. To his relief, it managed to eat it but that quickly turned to worry as it started to cry out in pain again with the second slice as the Eevee let it fall out of its mouth.
"I guess you aren't hungry after all... Don't worry, you'll be fine... I promise..." He petted the little fox until it finally calmed down again.
Beside himself with worry, he checked the contents of his bag to see what he had on hand that could help. The medicines and potions he had on him had proved ineffective at helping the ailing Eeevee. If only I had a pokeball I could alleviate its suffering a little. He thought to himself. Then, he spotted the machine that Kurt had given him so long ago which he had not had a use for in almost a decade. Could it be used with anything other than Apricorns to make pokeballs? He eyed the apples curiously and took one of them out. Kurt was a genius inventor he had met and subsequently helped back in Johto, and the machine he'd given him was his pride and joy, a Pokeriss, a hand-held device able to produce Pokeballs on the fly, but only with the nuts known as apricorns. Since having awoken in this place, he had not so much as spotted even a berry let alone an apricorn so this was an act of desperation on his part.
He slotted the apple into the device in his curiosity and prayed with all his might for it to work as he closed the little glass hatch at the top of the device. It began to glow in its usual rainbow hue to signify that it was working as intended, and he sighed a heavy sigh of relief. He now wondered what would be produced from those apples. It would take a while for it to produce a single pokeball no doubt, but if it worked, he could place Eevee into one and make it much easier to transport him to a Pokemon center. That was, if one even existed in this place...
Suddenly, the voices of the ponyta Pokemon from before were now coming over the hill. It wasn't just the three from before, but two new ones too as a white one with a purple mane and a bright pink one trailed alongside them. The boy quickly placed the Pokeriss into his jacket's pocket and started to sprint with his Eevee in tow.
His tattered clothing had been making it difficult to run since his torn pants consistently got the cuffs caught underneath his shoe, making him stumble. Even without those issues, he noticed that those ponytas were far too quick for him to outrun, so he quickly slid his backpack onto his frontside while in mid-dash, and secured Eeevee within it in order to use the full weight of his arms and body to run faster. With the ponytas gaining in on him, he jumped the picket fence in a last-ditch effort to escape. The orchid would give him some cover from the flying ones and generally slow them down even on their ground pursuit.
From his many years of handling all sorts of Pokemon, he had guessed correctly that although they were fast like typical ponytas, they generally had trouble adjusting to the flexible terrain afforded to him by the row of trees. The Pegasi would also have issues recklessly entering the tree line since the branches presented a big obstacle one way or another, not even considering the small flight space for making micro adjustments in aerial turns. But in the middle of their chase, he saw the cyan rainbowed pegasus fly farther in front of him outside the orchid, and the grounded ponytas split up to his sides and back. They were trying to pincer him into an ambush. Just a little distance over the rainbow Pokemon, he could see the bright red color of the farm's barn. If he could only reach it maybe he could barricade in there until they left him alone, he thought.
Just as he'd guessed, he was forced out of the maze of trees by the coordinated pursuit and was met by the cyan pegasus. He would not be done in like last time and was fully prepared to do everything possible to go right through her. As she readied herself to stop his advance, the boy quickly skidded into a slide and put all the force into his arms to do a very precise acrobatic maneuver that Winona from Hoenn had thought him. Then a second dance-like one that Wallace had forced onto him upon connecting with the ground again to regain his balance and continue his momentum into a sprint, much to the surprise of the rainbow Pokemon. Despite how embarrassed the ballerina-like moves made him feel, he had strung the two together for the benefit of Eevee, as they did not rattle his bag too much to make it uncomfortable for the little fox.
Being a long-term Pokemon trainer your whole life was no easy feat. You'd certainly pick up a thing or two in your years of travel. His physical prowess was unrivaled after more than a decade of adventures. But for some reason, his body felt simultaneously lighter and also weaker, and he found his body becoming sluggish after just that short sprint. He had felt like he was at 100% after that rest he'd taken at the tree, so he couldn't understand why he felt so tired already. Beyond that, his moves were uncoordinated and he had almost messed up the landing in that maneuver, almost as if his limbs had shortened and was trying to cope with the difference in the length of his legs and arms.
Still, he'd pulled it off expertly and jumped over and straight at the now encroaching barn entrance. With its doors bursting open at his tackle, he quickly shut them with his two hands. He laid Eevee down on the ground and used the full force of his back to guard the entrance. He slumped back into it in victorious relief. There were no milktank or one of those ponytas inside, and he thanked his lucky stars in between his short panting breath. Now it was just a matter of waiting this out. Surprisingly, he didn't feel them bang at the door like he initially expected them to. In fact, it was quiet. A little too quiet...? He sighed in relief as a few moments went by with nothing eventful.
His heart sank the moment a bright purple light flashed in front of his eyes and the silhouette of the studious ponyta appeared before him. The psychic purple Pokemon knew Teleport...
He stared at her in horror and quickly took hold of his Eevee in his arms; his breathing erratic as it paced closer to him. He was caught... why didn't he think this through? These Pokemon were dangerously powerful, and he feared what they might do to him now. What did they want with him in the first place? He hadn't really listened at all despite their efforts to communicate with him. He felt himself slowly open up to the idea that maybe he could bargain with them. Could he? He hadn't been thinking straight yet.
Now with the purple unicorn standing right in front of him, she lifted a hoof and slowly brought it close to his head. He broke into a cold sweat as her slow, careful movements built up the anticipation of the moment. What was it going to do?
Though, instead of his face, her hoof eventually landed on the door behind him to push it open. He fell backwards into the wide-open outdoors, the rest of the ponies now all staring at him with yet another new face in the mix. This, an orange one with a cowboy hat, undoubtedly the rancher of that farm. He closed his eyes and didn't dare to move; he was exhausted and his heavy breathing from all that running wasn't helping his anxiety.
"See? What did I tell you? It's trouble. We should just bind it." The cyan one spoke first.
"Now calm down, Dash, we just heard it talk, maybe we can communicate with it."
"I came to check out the ruckus you girls were making here but man I was not expecting this." Said the new voice, western in its accent. Probably from the orange one that had just arrived.
"Oo, oo, what is it? Could it be a new friend? Does it have any friends? I could be its first!" That was a lot of talking... another new voice, this one more excited and cheerful.
"Wait up, Pinkie, don't scare it. It's been through a lot already."
"Seriously, Rainbow Dash? I've told you time and again to take more care in your fits of anger." Said yet another new voice, this one more elegant and refined.
"What?! How do you even know it was me before anyone even told you? Okay, it was me... but I'm serious, it was self-defense!"
"Wadda ya reckon 'it' is?"
"Well, we first thought it was a monke-"
"Bear."
"A bear, but then we thought it was a monkey. That is until it suddenly spoke and ran off with that fox thing over there."
"It spoke? Animals can't speak Twi, don't be silly."
"I don't think its an animal Rarity."
"U-uhm yeah. Rainbow Dash and I were there when it happened. I think it's still panicked by us."
Sure enough, it was just as the yellow one had said. The boy was still in a major fit of panic and was unable to properly parse the conversation happening right in front of him. He couldn't understand where all of his worries were coming from, as he had always stayed calm in unnerving situations considering his adventuring experience, but now just about anything made him flinch as though his nerves of steel had been shattered or perhaps even reverted to a much earlier point in his career.
The yellow pegasus placed a gentle hoof on his chest and whispered softly. "Um, you don't have to be afraid, everything is going to be alright. Everything will be okay." The soft voice relaxed him a little. The emotional spell on him broke as he was comforted, and finally, the words that they were saying began to seep into his skull.
"Y-you can talk..." Was the first thing he thought to say at that moment.
"Of course we can, we're just as amazed that you can talk too." The purple one loomed over him again, talking a little common sense into him.
He sat upright, the pony Pokemon making way as he did. They all sat down in front of him and he somehow guessed there were a lot of questions that would need to be answered. At that moment, his Eevee began to squirm again like if it were some cosmic joke on the poor boy. His anxiety immediately brought him out of the hands of rationality and he made yet another mad dash for escape when he thought he had found an opening.
Though it didn't last long as a lasso wrapped around his legs and pulled him back onto the ground. He struggled to pull free from it. He could hear his Eevee crying out in pain, and his stupid panicky mind associated its pain with the rope. He writhed within the lasso as much as he could.
"Eevee, everything will be fine... I just have to get you out of here... please..." He said as he tried pulling the lasso off of his legs.
The purple ponyta sighed and brought her horn up to his forehead. As it lit up, his consciousness left him and he fell into a deep sleep.
---------
He slowly awoke again. Now though, he found himself guarded by the six ponytas from all sides with his back against the wall. He was inside a different place altogether, in a rather cozy cottage with many birdhouses and feeding bowls laid about. He slumped back onto the wall defeatedly. Even he could tell when there was no point in running anymore.
"Guess who's awake." Huffed the rainbow one.
"Will you cut it out, Rainbow Dash. No doubt it's because of stuff like this that its afraid of us."
"Rainbow... Dash?" The boy followed up involuntarily. 'So they also have names' he thought.
"Oh! Yes, that mean one over there is Rainbow Dash. I'm Twilight Sparkle by the way. I'm sorry if we had to resort to these measures to calm you down." She bowed her head in apology. Judging from everything he'd seen up until that point, he could tell at a glance how much the curiosity in her heart poured over, and was dying to ask all sorts of questions.
"I-It's okay. I understand that I was acting a bit irrationally..." The boy said and bowed his head to her as well.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, nice to meet you!" The pink one exclaimed as she cheerfully walked over to him and placed both of her hooves on his chest. She didn't have any special features like the pegasus or the unicorn, but she was much stronger than the other two undoubtedly and he couldn't help but huff when she brought them down on top of him. "Oops, I'm sorry!"
"I-I'm Fluttershy." The yellow one meekly called from the farthest point of the group. Much like her name suggested, she was incredibly shy. Her whole body language spelled out her lack of self-confidence. Her shyness now seemed a little uncharacteristic considering how she'd treated him earlier, but he had seen a similar attitude from Pokemon breeders. She was like the types of people who could only be themselves around animals and Pokemon, and it made sense considering that they had thought he was an animal not moments before.
"Howdy, Applejack's the name." The orange one bowed respectively. She must've been the farm hand that had lassoed him earlier.
"Rarity, dear. A pleasure." Followed the white one. With one glance, she eyed the boy's clothing and shook her head in disapproval. "My... Your clothes are a mess. Does your kind dress like this usually or have you taken a tumble through a whirlwind?"
"Oh? No. I've just been... through a lot. I don't have any spare clothes though, and I don't know where I'd find another."
"Mind if I whip something up for you? Free of charge of course. I take this as an opportunity to work on my sewing skills, dear. It's quite the prospective challenge for a seamstress." She said as she hid her generous intentions with excuses.
"Please, if you could. I would be very grateful, though I would like to pay you back if possible."
"Think nothing of it, surely." At this, she left the room to go work on his clothes.
A nagging feeling nettled at him as they conversed. He felt something was off. Suddenly, it struck him all at once.
"Eevee!"
"It's okay! Everything is going to be okay." Fluttershy brought her hooves to his chest to calm him down again. It seemed initially considering him as an animal had done work towards her being more confident with him as she did her best to comfort the boy.
"W-What happened to him?" He asked after having calmed a bit more.
"By Eevee do you mean the small fox you were carrying?" Twilight asked. He nodded in reply. "Fluttershy is a good animal caretaker and she saw how sick that Eevee was. We brought it back to her house to nurse it. It's doing a lot better now." Her words were a huge relief as he felt himself sink back into the couch he was on, his fears abating.
"Oh yes, it seemed like it had a fever, so I gave the poor thing some medicine. It got better almost immediately, so now it just needs a little rest."
"Thank goodness..." It had been the first real sense of calm he had felt since arriving at this strange place. He was downright overcome with relief. "And thank you Fluttershy. To you all as well. If it hadn't been for you all chasing me down when I panicked, Eevee might still have been in danger." He bent forward at a perfect right angle and bowed his head, an expression traditionally used in his home region to show great reverence, respect, or apology.
"It's alright, we just felt like helping you is all. We saw how panicked you were, so it felt only natural. Now I understand what had you up in arms so much. You really care about that fox don't you?" Twilight responded.
"Mm." He nodded as he got back to sitting on the couch. "He's my best friend. A lot has happened lately, and I've been dealing with a lot even before meeting any of you. I couldn't help my worry make a fool of my senses. Sincerely, I'm sorry."
Twilight pondered a bit, and then finally asked an important question that every one of them had been waiting to ask. "I hope you don't mind us asking, but what are you?"
Well, it seemed it was the best time to start answering their questions now that he was afforded some time and tranquility. "I am... a human."
"Human?"
He spent several agonizing minutes explaining to them what humans were. The ancestry of human evolution. What humans had achieved. How they lived their lives. All the important bits while leaving the more nuanced things for some other time.
"Wow, so we have a lot in common then." Twilight thought a bit about this. "But from all this, surely we would've heard about humans before right? Since you said that they lived all across the world. To be honest, you're the first human anyone has ever seen to my knowledge, and I read a lot of books!"
"Y-yeah. I was thinking about that when we first met. I uh... overhead when you talked about me back in your home, Twilight." He said as he'd gotten to know them a bit better. "Likewise, I've never seen creatures quite like you. I've seen all sorts of Pokemon throughout the world but you're the first I've met of your kind. Moreso, you're able to talk with your vocal chords which is something I didn't even know was possible."
"Ehm, Pokemon? You mentioned them a few times when you talked about humans and their history. We've never called ourselves that so we don't know much about them. All of us are ponies. Specifically, Rarity and I are Unicorns, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are Pegasi, and Pinkie Pie and Applejack are earth ponies."
"Yeah... I've been thinking about that this entire time. It's probably safe to assume you guys aren't even Pokemon to begin with, considering the circumstantial evidence. But talking to pony-types is still quite strange since I can't help attribute you to some similar Pokemon. I'm sorry if I say something that offends you. I don't quite know how to handle this situation."
"Us neither, sugarcube. It'll take some learning I reckon." Applejack followed up.
Rainbow Dash cut into the conversation at this point and dropped Eevee into his arms gently. "Eevee! Thank goodness you are alright." He held the Eevee in a tight embrace, not wanting to let go. It opened its eyes and yawned sleepily in a stupor, probably from the medicine.
"You're welcome." Rainbow Dash flew back to where she was previously spectating. Despite her rudeness, the cyan pegasus was quite kind and caring in her own way.
"Thank you, Rainbow Dash, I appreciate it. I'm... sorry we met in less-than-ideal circumstances." He bowed his head to her apologetically.
"Not even a problem, don't mention it." She batted her wing as if dismissing the issue altogether like it were a thing of the past.
"O-oh, uhm, is Eevee one of the Pokemon you were talking about? You mentioned that they were animal companions, right?" Fluttershy said while petting the brown fox on his lap.
"Yeah, you guessed right. Eevee is a Pokemon." He thought a bit more on his response when they all looked at him inquisitively as if asking with their stares what the difference between a Pokémon and an animal was. "So uh... for us humans, Pokemon is just a short word for pocket monsters. Compared to normal animals, they are incredible creatures that can even control the elements with their powers. They can do a range of things from strengthening their own bodies to affecting the very weather. Pokemon also have an innate ability to shrink down to such an incredibly small size that it allows them to fit in our pocket. Hence the term, 'Pocket Monster'."
"It sure isn't small enough to fit in your pocket though... and how could such a cutsie wootsie thing like that be a monster? Monsters are mean and scary." Pinkie Pie asked as she petted Eevee herself.
"Ehm, well we call them monsters because of our troubled, distant past when humans and Pokemon did not co-exist to this extent. But really, nowadays they're mostly gentle creatures with a few exceptions. They're quite intelligent and even understand us almost as well as any human can, sometimes even more so than the average person. This little one here... we've been together for ages so our bond is strong. We were best friends for a long time..." His explanation trailed off and his mind led him to a sad place momentarily. He picked himself up before any of the ponies could notice. "But you know, I'm still thinking that you guys are Pokemon considering how you all fit the bill for some of their typing categorizations."
"Typings? What do you mean?" Twilight spoke up.
"Typings are the kind of elements or attributes a Pokemon has and can use the power of. Ehm, for example, Twilight." The purple mare perked up. "You would've been considered a psychic-type Pokemon. A kind of Pokemon that is able to use the power of their mind to move around items with telekinesis. When you teleported back at the barn, I was so sure you were one too." He laughed nervously.
"Telekinesis? Oh, it's nothing like that. I was just using good ol' magic. I spent a long time studying the magical arts in Canterlot and more here in my study in Ponyville. Do humans know of magic?"
"Magic? Wait, like real magic?" She nodded her response at his question. "Whoa, for real? Uh, we do know OF it. Sometimes there are just unexplainable phenomena we can't help but attribute to magic of some kind, but the most we ever see in the way of 'magic' is parlor tricks and slight of hand illusions with decks of cards..."
"Oh I see, those tricks exist for ponies too. But yes, it's real magic. It's not an end all, be all power like some ponies believe it is, but magic is able to do some awesome stuff I do admit." She said as she used her magic to give him a few examples of the things she could do with it. It was a lot to take in for the boy, and he only stared in bewilderment.
"You know, Pokemon are the closest things to actual magic where I come from, but even then their powers can all be quantified and explained with science. At the end of the day, none of it is magic but it might as well be since humans are not able to mimic their power even through our advancements in our technology. This Eevee here, he has a unique set of moves, with one of them being Quick Attack. He's able to pool his energy to strengthen his body in order to gain a huge burst of speed all at once."
"So you mean to tell me that the things that Eevee did back at the forest when it moved really quickly with that white streamline behind it was its powers?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah, you guessed it. This little guy wasn't listening to me back then, so I was powerless to stop it from fighting you. Probably acting out of self-defense since it might've considered you as a threat. Again, I'm sorry Rainbow Dash."
"It's okay, for real. I got to see something interesting at least! The way it just zipped from tree to tree and how it rattled me with that power was awesome! It might even rival my own speed with that." As he and Rainbow Dash spoke of the events only they had seen, the others were beset with envious curiosity. "I was doing my workout routine when I heard a loud crash so I came to check it out and I saw both of you lying on the ground. Hmm, but you said it wasn't listening to you? Does it usually?"
"Yeah. My occupation err... I'm what's known as a Pokemon trainer. Usually, Pokemon listen to our commands no matter what once they recognize you as their master, but this little one here attacked you regardless of what I had to say. Eevee and I have been friends for ages so there shouldn't have been an issue but... I'm sorry. A lot of strange things have been happening lately."
"It attacked? Why would it do such a thing... Are Pokemon usually violent?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"Pokemon are not strictly aggressive by nature. Some are territorial, which is completely natural. Ah, that's right. Forgot to mention it. Pokemon Trainers often battle each other with their Pokemon."
"Battle?! Oh my... what for? Doesn't that hurt them?" She asked frantically.
"Fluttershy, calm down, he might have an explanation." Twilight told her, which made her pull back from the questions a bit.
"It might sound bad, but some Pokemon love to battle. It doesn't hurt them all too much unless they take serious damage which very rarely happens as Pokemon Trainers are licensed and expected to uphold the rules as much as possible, with heavy penalties otherwise. Not everything is about battling though. For Pokemon trainers and other Pokémon enthusiasts, there are those that treat Pokemon as pets. Me? My Eevee is my companion, my family. I wouldn't battle with him if I knew he didn't like it. But, in the end, we're bred from that kind of cloth." That eased her troubled heart a bit. "If it really troubles you, Fluttershy, there are also Pokemon Breeders whose whole job lies in nurturing and raising Pokemon in big daycares, not battling. They're also the ones to rehabilitate wild Pokemon who become too injured to be reintroduced to the wild too soon."
"Oh... thank goodness. I don't think I'd be cut out for a trainer."
"Sounds like breeder is down your alley, Shy!" Pinkie Pie followed up. "But you said you were a trainer? Is that like a job? What's that like?"
"It's hard to put it into words, but I guess Pokemon trainers are adventurers since they travel the world to collect information on Pokemon and compete for sport. Trainers find purpose in the heat of Pokemon battles. We join massive tournaments that happen once a year to see who the very best trainers and their Pokémon are. There's an old adage in my hometown that reads 'Only through battle do we find the things most important to us.' In my case, I found that my most important thing is wanting to protect my friends..." His voice trailed off.
"It's a lovely sentiment, sugarcube. I've been meaning to ask, is there any Pokemon besides Eevee? You know, like a different species?" Applejack asked, intrigued by the fox in his arms.
"Of course. Actually, in the world there has been six hundred and forty-nine different unique Pokemon sighted, if you can believe it. More are being discovered every single day. My Pokemon professor theorized once that there might be more than a thousand out there!"
"What!? That's so many!" Rainbow Dash couldn't help but exclaim.
"I know, it's incredible."
"You said Pokemon trainers collect information... Do you have any on hand that we can see?" Twilight said, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Sure, hold on, give me a sec." He took out the Pokedex from his satchel and began scrolling through it.
"What is that?" Twilight asked as the lit screen of his handheld device entranced her.
"It's a Pokedex, a Pokemon encyclopedia created by Pokemon Professors so a Trainer can collect information about a Pokemon's habitats and mannerisms to further increase our ever-expanding research on the intricacies of Pokemon. Here we can actively catalog and review Pokemon as we come across them. Although... something seems to be wrong with it. It's not working."
"What could be wrong with it?" She said as she had no idea how it was supposed to function.
"Well uh... despite my many years adventuring as a Pokemon trainer, none of my entries are in here. It's blank. I was sure I had gotten them all by now. I'm sorry to disappoint you." He had a quick thought to try to cheer everyone up. "Well, actually, there's one entry we can view with this since the Pokemon in question is right in front of us."
At this, every pony crowded up to see it.
Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Eevee is a unique Pokémon that can adapt to its environment by changing its form and abilities when evolving. Because of its unstable DNA, Eevee possesses a wide variety of evolutionary possibilities hidden inside. It is widely believed to be the key to unlocking the mysteries behind Pokemon evolution.
The ponies had basically witnessed a miracle in the images and the sounds that popped up within the small device. He played back the recording of Eevee's cry and read to them the auxiliary information on its height, weight, classification, and typing.
"We often give each Pokémon a unique classification that we base off different things. Apart from Pokemon, there are normal animals like the ones I'm seeing here in Fluttershy's home, and it's what we use to categorize most of the Pokemon we see, though Pokemon come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some even come in the form of inanimate objects."
Twilight was finally the one to ask a very important question that had seemingly flown underneath his radar the entire time. "Excuse me for saying this, but the more we talk about animals and Pokemon, the more things don't make sense. The information is not adding up considering how Equestria has never so much as seen anything like you humans or the Pokemon you mention. With how prominent you speak of them; we would've known about this sooner right?" Twilight thought on this and racked her brain for possible answers.
The room grew very quiet. The boy's brow furrowed and he contemplated the happenstances that had occurred thus far, how all the information presented to him fit in this big puzzle he just wasn't seeing for some reason. Then, it hit him. An epiphany as though it had been the most obvious thing in the world. A realization about the world.
"I-I uh..." He hesitated to voice his thoughts. Even he thought it was crazy coming out of him. But considering the events with Arceus and now this... Well, it only left one conclusion... "This is going to sound insane, but..."
"What is it, sugarcube?" Applejack put a hoof to his leg to reassure him that they would do the best to listen to him talk.
"I think I got transported to a different world. Yeah..."
The room was unnervingly quiet for a bit, then Twilight chimed in. "No... yeah no. Uhm. No actually yeah. Yeah." She struggled to come to her own conclusion. "I mean, we have physical evidence in the way of you and Eevee. If what you say is true, then it's very possible that that's the case. But... I've never heard of this happening before. No such otherworldly magic exists to my knowledge here in Equestria to be able to summon people from other worlds. So then something must've happened on your end? Though, what on earth could've caused this to begin with?"
Yeah... it had all been incredibly obvious now. This turn of events had REALLY somehow made him forget his circumstances that had happened not even a day ago. Even though he had a very strong suspicion in his heart, it was a topic he didn't want to touch with these innocent creatures that he'd just befriended. It was not something they needed to know...
"Also, I didn't quite catch your name, now that I think about it." Twilight said, which made him flinch.
"Uh..."
"Is anything wrong?"
"To be honest, I don't know my name..."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I can't remember it..."
"Rainbow Dash, I think you might have kicked him too hard."
The truth of it was, he COULDN'T remember his name, as though there was a physical block on it. Try all he might, it felt like every time he tried remembering his name being spoken, it would blank out in his memory.
"No, it wasn't her doing. I'm pretty sure of it, er... man this is a bit unsettlingly now. I might have amnesia." The room grew quiet.
"If you don't know it, just choose a new one!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, trying her best to keep the mood souring by the second. Honestly, her pension for good vibes was a blessing in disguise.
"I honestly can't remember no matter how hard I try... So I think Pinkie Pie is on to something. At least for now, I think it's a good idea to come up with one." He said, easing everyone's concerns and brightening up the Pink one considerably.
"So then... what will your name be?" Applejack asked.
"Hmm..." He thought about it long and hard. "How about Emile? I always took a liking to that name for some reason..."
"Emile? Is that a normal name for humans?" Asked Rainbow Dash, receiving a nod from him in response. "Weird naming conventions but I guess it's okay."
"Are you a.... boy or a girl?" Applejack continued.
Everything got quiet again. This was just plain weird, even if the situation called for it, it was almost a little comical at this rate. Well, only one way to answer this one at least.
"Boy."
Now that he was thinking sanely again, he began to realize something incredibly important that, again, his mind had just skipped over in his previous disorientation. His body... his voice... it all felt... smaller... younger...
"Can you give me a mirror?"
"Sure."
Twilight levitated a mirror to his hand and he took a hold of it. What he saw looking back at him made his heart jump. He was younger. Much younger... like the time he had met Eevee. He made a grab for the scars which he had realized before were now gone... And all at once, the dawning realization hit him like a truck.
He was ten years old again...