//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Ghost Stories, Training, and Good Old Times. 
// Story: Pokémon: Knight of Order 
// by Darkevony 
//------------------------------//

Huddled near a campfire at nightfall at the edge of a familiar unnerving thicket of trees, they reviewed all the information they had on hand. And there was a lot of it after going around trying to get testimonies from eyewitnesses. The process had been helped along by Celestia’s royal guard after he’d been found incapacitated near the Everfree Forest who had a more accurate description to give them all as to what ailed the town of Ponyville.

But the info was very troubling indeed, and it had turned a lot of ponies and even Hilda white as sheets as they spoke of it.

“Illusive purple whisks of flames were appearing in the town late last night from the reports of the normal citizens. Considering the royal guard’s accounts of what he saw when trying to confront them near the Everfree, the stories check out. We know that there was a purple-tinted smoke that weakened him when he entered it and that the entity in question proceeded to sap him of his energy with a black, ethereal type of power. If this is a Pokemon we’re dealing with, do you guys know what we’re up against?” Twilight asked the two humans who were busy trying to put it all together themselves, with Hilda rubbing at her arms in fear.

"This sounds like the work of either a Dark-type Pokemon or a Poison one," Emile said. "I only know of a few moves who put out a fog. But a purple one? That's gotta be the poison-type move, Smog. As for that black-sapping power... doesn't sound like any dark type move I know of. There's also that whole fire too. We can assume it's also a Fire-type of some kind. Hilda, any guesses?"

He had given her quite a start as the conversation was passed onto her, and what she said next unnerved the poor ponies to their wit's end.

"Yeah... I do... I've seen them once before when I was really young. Those Pokemon are called Litwicks." She hesitated to speak of them, inadvertently increasing the tension in the air. "I was almost spirited away when I was just a small girl because of them. They're Ghost and Fire type Pokemon..." Teah who’d been resting in Hilda’s lap had turned to the girl in worry.

The ponies were not having a very nice introduction to Pokemon at all. Between the harrowing ordeal that was Arceus, to witnessing the dangers and power of Pokemon during Eve's struggle and the fight against the trio, and now this... Ghosts... Sure enough, just about every pony went deadly still in their shock with the exception of the Pinkiest of Pies and the curious Twilight.

“Wait, real ghosts? Ghost Pokemon exist?” Twilight asked.

Having had the chance to talk more about his favorite subject, Pokemon, Emile proceeded to pick up the conversation where Hilda had left off. “I’m afraid so. It’s said that ghost-type Pokemon are the spirits of Pokemon when they were alive and can often be materialized from other spiritual energies like from humans as well. In Sinnoh, there was one called a Spiritomb created from thousands of restless souls trapped into a stone said to have a need to consume more if it happens upon unwary passersby. They’ve often been associated with death and many of them are malicious in nature, often disguising themselves and using tricks to lure away unassuming kids and creatures into a trap to sap away their souls. Drifloons are Pokemon in the shape of balloons, and they’re said to abduct and carry off children to the spirit world. I’ve had a lot of run-ins with them, but the scariest I’ve ever felt around Ghosts was back in my home region when I visited Lavender Town. There was something called the Pokemon Tower there which is one massive funeral and resting place for a lot of beloved Pokemon. Being in there was something else. It felt unnatural and otherworldly, it felt like just being in there you were slowly being eaten away at by hundreds of hungry mouths. Like if-”

Suddenly he felt a weak little Tackle from his Eve against his stomach as it had been trying to make him stop that entire time, making him realize what he was causing in this tangent of his.

He had really made a mess of things.

On any day, his vast Pokemon knowledge would’ve been a good thing for the studious Twilight and an interesting conversation for anyone not in the know. But this particular subject had made even the purple in Twilight disappear as she contemplated the true nature of Ghost-type Pokemon. Only Pinkie Pie was left standing unabated.

“Eh? Oh. Uh. Whoops. I guess this is not such an easy thing to talk about, was it? Uhm...” He said as he finally noticed the group of friends who were one of three things. Hugging each other witless like Applejack and Rarity, timidly with their heads to the ground and their forelegs covering their eyes like Fluttershy and Twilight, or Rainbow Dash who had gone very still indeed. Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, had busied herself with scribbling on Spike’s face as he slept, it being past the little dragon’s internal curfew. “Would it help to know that those are all just rumors? Ghost types are certainly mysterious, but they very rarely do the things they’re described in doing. I know of a ton of Pokemon trainers who love their ghost types very dearly and tenderly. Even I myself have captured them, trained them, and lived alongside them. They’re like any other type of Pokemon. They all just need a little love and appreciation, or so I think.” He said as he petted Eve on his lap.

It really did help to have painted that picture of them in that way, as he noticed them all relax a bit. For better or worse, they all had Pokemon now and if those Ghost-types were anything like their pets, they didn't want to associate them with those awful rumors.

The only one this hadn't worked for at all was a terribly shaken up Hilda who was still in the middle of trembling her fears away by hugging Teah close to her chest, clearly troubled by her own personal experience of almost being abducted by them. Emile felt a bit guilty as he watched her be comforted by the ponies but to no avail. Emile was, for the most part, fearless. Often diving headfirst into danger. He would've imagined Hilda to have been this way too, due to her cheery disposition and likeness of his mannerisms.

But everyone was different at the end of the day, no matter how much you look up to or try to copy someone else. What could work? He thought to do the only thing he knew how to do to comfort another. Except the only others he'd comforted in his life were his Pokemon. So... Emile felt Hilda's shivers slowly go away, unbeknownst to him that they had been replaced with flustered embarrassment. Patting someone's head might've done the trick too, but how was he to know that gently caressing her hair might've been a little overkill?

She was redder than one of Applejack's apples by the time he felt it was enough, not realizing it since she'd kept her face hidden beneath her hair. Maybe if he'd been more observant and knowledgeable of others' feelings, Hilda's burning ears might've given her away.

"Sorry, Hilda. I should've realized it'd be a touchy subject for you." He said as he concluded his actions.  "If it troubles you, you can stay back in Ponyville where you won't have to face any Litwick. I'm sure my two water types can take care of it."

She shook her head, her face still hidden in shame as she felt the playful grins of everyone save for the clueless Emile. "It's fine, I'll be okay." She said in a hushed voice.

"Are you sure? You don't see-"

"Please dear, you should learn to accept when someone is determined to see things through. Perhaps looking in the mirror might help you do that, Emile." Rarity's voice interjected in trying to save the poor girl. For a few seconds anyways before she finally noticed the article of clothing Hilda had been wearing as she had not taken it off that entire time. “But say, Hilda, why are you wearing Emile’s jacket? Do you like it? I could’ve made you one of your own if you’d only asked.” 

Rarity’s question only furthered her embarrassment as both her and Emile realized that she’d been dry for a while now, and that they’d forgotten about it in the heat of the excitement. She took it off with haste and draped it over one arm towards Emile, using her other hand to dig her cap as far down as it would go to hide her shame. Now even Emile could notice the obvious grins on the faces of the mares that were insinuating something troubling. As he took his jacket back and put it on, he coughed in his own awkward shame when he felt the warmth and the girlish aroma still lingering on it.

“No no, it’s nothing like what you guys think. We just got caught out in the rain because I didn’t know if Eve knew Rain Dance when I asked my buddy to perform it, and so I ended up dousing Hilda in the process by accident.” Emile had tried to explain it away.

Though, it was a wonder how they hadn’t tripped this sort of conversational trap sooner. The timing could not have been worse, as it was Rainbow Dash who thoughtlessly thought to ask the next question.

“So? What does that have to do with you handing over your jacket? You wouldn’t see me passing over my clothes to another pony if either of us got wet. If I wore clothes anyhow.”

They had not accounted for the physical, mental, and customary differences between their two species. Emile was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. He could explain to the ponies why humans would feel embarrassed if they were exposed and why that was even a sensitive topic to begin with in order to save his own pride after he’d shown them his embarrassment earlier. But it would come at the cost of leaving the ready-to-keel over Hilda to her demise as he would basically be confirming to her that he did, indeed, manage to catch sight of whatever it was that they had hidden with the jacket in the first place. What a terrible time for Spike to have been asleep, Emile thought, wishing he’d have a voice to complain about this girly talk at his behest.

“Anyways! Let’s make a plan of action for the Litwick, okay?!” He yelled out in frustration with his head to the sky trying to avoid all gazes, his own ears burning with a flush. “By some act of providence, it is safe to assume all the Pokemon we met today are your previous pets transformed. We know this much thanks to Fluttershy’s connection with Angel. Thankfully none of them had any issues registering to you guys with the Pokeballs provided to you by Hilda, with the exception of Rarity who had to try and capture Opal several times.” Rarity gave a sigh as Emile mentioned it in front of everyone.

“So typical of Opal. She wouldn’t be tamed by just anyone, I assure you. But if it’s a battle of endurance, I’ve got her beat.” She said, getting a chuckle out of everyone.

“So here’s what I’m thinking. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, you’ll be with me in handling all Pokemon battles if they arise. By the look of the dex, your new Pokemon companions are the only ones that know moves that can naturally counter their Ghost/Fire typing. Prepare for some practice bouts with me later. We’ve got to get you guys up to snuff on how to handle commands.” Twilight and Applejack looked a little worried still especially since they’d be at the forefront.

“I don’t know if I’d be alright handlin’ battlin’ other creatures with Winona. I know you mentioned that it’s a natural occurrence in your world and that you even hold tournaments and such, but I apologize if I can’t stomach it.” Applejack’s usual confidence had wavered. It wasn’t such an easy thing for innocent ponies to accept, after all.

It was only Applejack that had voiced her incredulity. Twilight’s own doubts were being overwritten by her overpowering curiosity and Pinkie well... She seemed to be accepting everything Emile was saying at face value, like it was just second nature and natural to assume what he was saying was right.

“It’ll be alright, I assure you. We’ll have to handle them in some form or another before they cause further harm to Ponyville or to the Everfree considering their Fire-typing. Besides, Pokemon are smart enough to know when to hold back for the sake of others. Eve and our Pokemon will be able to communicate our points across to them, and if they refuse to listen then we’ll just have to forcibly relocate them where they can’t cause serious damage in the meantime and teach them to be nicer. In that case, we’ll have Fluttershy attempt her first Pokemon Breeder job by rehabilitating them.” Emile said as he smiled her way, making the yellow pegasus cheer up a bit at the prospect. 

“What about me? I wanted to do some Pokemon battling too! Tank and I can handle anything.” Rainbow Dash interjected.

“Sorry Dash. Tank is a Grass-type which is susceptible to Fire-types and he doesn’t have any move that would be super-effective or even manage to touch ghost types. For his sake, I would advise you to sit this one out.” He said, making her droop a bit with disappointment. “But that doesn’t mean you’re without a role. We’ll need fast scouts to try to find those Litwicks, so I’ll need you and Fluttershy to search the area from the sky. And if you really want to do some battling too, I’ll spar with you in our practice rounds later. Sound good?” He’d said, cheering up the cyan pegasus considerably.

“So then what should I do?” Rarity asked from behind.

“For now, there’s not much you can do, as Glameow doesn’t have anything in the way of offensive moves that can take on Ghost-types either. I ask of you this, Rarity, if you’d oblige me. Stick with Hilda and use your unicorn magic to protect her however possible. Unfortunately, Teah doesn’t have a strong moveset against Fire types but she’s not weak to them either so if anything happens, Teah should be able to protect her long enough for you to get word to us. I know she already said she’s fine coming with us, but I’d be much more at ease knowing you were backing her up.” He said, genuinely concerned for the girl and with no regard for how she might take his statements.

“I said I’m FINE!” Hilda finally yelled out in a lighter flush, having moved past her earlier shame and now just annoyed that she was being picked on again by a couple of sly smiles.

“Count on me, dear, I’ll protect you however I can.” Rarity bellowed.

“But all of that comes later, for now, let’s get some practice in.”

What followed next was an extensive lesson with the four mares on how to battle with their Pokemon. Fluttershy didn’t think she was capable of sparring much less battling anything, so they respected her wishes and left her behind with Rarity who had also refused to partake in the rabble of fighting, both of them looking after Hilda who was doing her best to stay composed.

Rainbow Dash was the first to step up to the plate. She was a ball of instinct and could time her directions to dodge or protect from attacks with Turtwig's Withdrawal pretty easily, being able to see even the minor twitches of a command in Emile or a move being prepared by Eve on its own in its Eevolutions, having seen its moveset not even a handful of times before. Despite only having five moves, she struggled to memorize all of them in the heat of battle and their effects, often asking Tank to Tackle a distant target instead of using Leafage or Razor Leaf. She never once used Growth either to boost the power in Tank’s physical moves, and had completely forgotten Tank’s Overgrow ability, thus causing her swift defeat. Both Tank’s and Rainbow Dash’s pride had been shaken, but they both looked like they had a lot of fun tackling this new experience and wanted to do more.

Applejack on the other hand had a better understanding with commands and was able to lead Winona almost silently which posed a challenge in, in of itself as the two coordinated almost beautifully. She had some difficulty remembering the moves much like Dash, but both of them were experts at dodging when needed and instinctively knew the right moves to use in certain situations. Winona had Howled before Rock Throw, and Double Team’d after a Sand Attack. The scariest part for Emile was almost being caught off-guard by a juke Rock Throw that had forced Eve into a position where Winona could follow up with a Tackle. Thankfully, they were still a few leagues before reaching Emile and Eve’s prowess.

Pinkie Pie and Gummy were a wild card entirely, and Oshawott had to step in to handle that battle, as Osha’s battle instinct and lighting speed reaction were the only thing that could match Gummy’s sporadic nature. At first, it seemed Pinkie was using Gummy’s moves at random by asking it to Sand Tomb the ground and Hone Clawing many times before so much as using an attack move, but the Pink menace was incredibly cunning in her own right, or at the very least, Gummy’s natural calling for chaos was so powerful her moves just made sense at the end of the fight. In between Pinkie’s seemingly random babble, Gummy all on his own used Leer and Scary Face to slow and weaken Osha. It began using the inaccurate Sand Tomb closer and closer around Osha to corner him into the sand traps it had created, and nearly KO’d the struggling otter in one move as it narrowly avoided a VERY powerful Bite that had been Hone Claw’d considerably by managing to insert his shell side-ways into Gummy’s mouth. 

Gummy with teeth was... terrifying.

Twilight was the last to try her hoof at battling as she tried to learn from her friends’ mistakes and was overall the fastest learner, being able to memorize Axew’s unique moveset altogether and being able to memorize typing advantages and all the different moves’ effects. She’d managed to combo a good string of moves together by using Leer first, then Taunt, and then Dual Chop. For Ghost-types, she also had Assurance and Bite to fall back on, or even Dragon Rage in long-distance combat. Coupled with Axew’s Rivalry ability, the little dragon was a force to be reckoned with under the right circumstances. Having been awoken by the sounds of practice, Spike looked on at the sight of Twilight and Axew coordinating their moves indignantly for a bit as he felt left out, before changing his mind as a real sparring session went underway with Oshawott parrying Axew’s Dual Chop with ferocity. If nothing else, Spike was a bit bewildered by the sight of a Pokemon battle.

“Whoa dude! That’s awesome! You gotta teach me how to do that!” Spike said as he went up to the little dragon after the fight had concluded. 

Axew had a bit of a mild personality, so all it did was tilt its head inquisitively at Spike as it considered his statements. Then it put out a little claw and cried its distinct cry as Spike made a grab to shake it with his own.

“Spike, you do know that Axew is a girl, right?” Twilight chimed in.

“What?! Really? I couldn’t tell.” Spike coughed apologetically. “Sorry, uh, Axew.” The little dragon gave out an amused cry at Spike’s reaction.

“It would’ve already attacked you for Twilight’s approval otherwise Spike. Axew’s are notorious for their Rivalry which often makes jealous Pokemon. It’s an ability that sees the Pokemon’s power drastically increase against the same gender or decrease to the opposite gender.” Emile intersected by having seen a similar ability on Nidorans.

“So I guess you can say that Axew is weak against Spike?” Twilight asked curiously enough, not realizing the implication which flustered the little dragon but had left Axew unfazed. “We should test it, for the sake of research. Axew, Leer at Spike!” The Axew only stared at Spike’s direction for a bit, then looked back at Twilight having not accepted the command.

“Well, that theory would only work on attacking moves, Twilight, but I wouldn’t condone attacking your friends for the sake of research. Even if Spike’s scales could protect from Axew’s Scratch. But hmm. that’s weird. It didn’t use Leer at all. Try it again?” Emile spoke up.

As she did, nothing.

“Okay, this is going to sound weird but... Spike. Try to command Axew to use Dual Chop on Osha.”

As Spike repeated his words verbatim, sure enough, the little dragon used her powers to follow the command. More strange happenstances. He’d only seen dual masters before a handful of times, but he didn’t expect to come across them in this world. 

“Well uh, congratulations, Spike. You’ve got a Pokemon you can battle with too. Just be sure to keep Axew’s Rivalry in mind as this little girl is prone to jealousy. Ask either me or Twilight anything about her moveset so you can join us in our future sparring lessons.”

The little Axew gave out a happy cry as she walked over to both Twilight and Spike and placed a claw on both of them.

“Uhm, I don’t know how to feel about this.” Spike said unassuredly, not feeling too good about commanding his own kin to do battle.

“You’ll get the hang of it.”

“Well, only if you’re okay with it.” Spike said over to the Axew as he placed a claw on her head in order to pet her on it. She replied with a cry of happy agreement. “This is so weird.”

“Anywho, that aside, let’s get down to reviewing your performances, girls.” He said over to the fighting mares. “I was not expecting you guys to be so good right off the bat.” Emile beamed at the girls who were now maintaining their Pokemon pet companions after that battle by grooming them. “What did you think, Hilda, do we have some Champion material amongst their midst?” He called over to the girl that had been spectating from the sidelines.

“All of them I don’t doubt. That was pretty good handling of your Pokemon for your first battle, girls.” Followed up Hilda. “In particular, Twilight, you remind me of my friend Cheren. He always used to battle so by the books and writing notes on everything to do with battles. He’s had the Unova reign for quite a while. Dash, you remind me of that old man Alder, the champion that came before me. So full of passion and instinct! Pinkie Pie, you remind me of this rising star that became Champion for a bit too. Her name was Iris, and she was so quirky. Good kid, big heart. And Applejack... you were scary. The way you and Winona fought silently... you reminded me of an old friend I used to have. Hilbert was his name. He went far away one day to go chase his dreams. He didn’t talk much but he and his Pokemon were terrifyingly in sync and powerful.”

“Mighty big compliments, sugarcube. Thank you. It’s nice hearing about your hometown. It still sounds like you miss them all dearly.” Applejack said as she noticed the shift in her expression. Her mood had dropped again as she began reminding herself of what she left behind. “Would you like to talk more about your world?”

Before she had the chance to refuse, she felt Emile’s hand on her shoulder, and she looked to see him nodding his approval. She was a rather open book if even Emile could see she needed this. They had all gathered back at the campfire to listen to her talk. 

“Oh gosh, where do I start?” She thought for a bit as she looked up at the night sky. “I met so many wonderful people in Unova. Cilan from Striaton City, Lenora from Nacrene... Burgh, Elesa, Clay, Skyla, Roxanne. Even that weirdo Brycen and that grumpy old man Drayden. But you know, Unova wasn’t such a happy-go-lucky place all the time either. I know when I was young, back then we had our own Team-Rocket type troublemakers called Team Plasma, and they were doing this horrible thing of stealing other people’s Pokemon.” She was visibly distressed by all the sadness that event had caused, no doubt.

“W-what?! W-why would they do that. Pokemon are people’s companions. They’re family. Oh that just sounds so awful.” Fluttershy had flown into hysterics, but not as much as Emile was feeling it.

“Stealing other people’s Pokemon... Why...?” His voice was a dangerous, low growl as he clenched his fist very tight, his Eve crying out its worry in his direction.

“Don’t worry! The story has a good end.” Hilda said easing everyone up. “A lot of people still ended up facing the sadness of their loss for quite a while. However, thanks to Cheren, Bianca, and myself along with a spritely young girl named Rosa, a bright boy named Nate, and a serious kid that went by Hugh a few years later, we were able to put a stop to Team Plasma for good with the help of all the Gym Leaders. Those were some harrowing adventures; I’ll tell you what. But I felt the unity of being helped by everyone at that time. All my friends all across Unova. Even unlikely friends like that N guy that was originally the figurehead of Team Plasma. He had this unique ability of being able to talk directly with Pokemon, and he cared for them a lot. He had been twisted up into believing lies, but he eventually saw the real truth for what it was and helped us out. Good guy in the end. Heck, even the big wigs of Team Plasma eventually saw reason too, like Colress and the Shadow Triad. One of my best friends was actually a girl I met in an unlikely situation. Yancy. Loved hanging out with her every now and again."

Hilda sighed an awfully sorry sigh as she recalled everything. Emile and the ponies could not imagine the depths of her sadness as she spoke. They were listening to a lifetime of friendships and loved ones that were seemingly now so far out of reach and with no one having a concrete answer as to if they could make it back or not. In a way, Emile was lucky to have come out of his world with no real baggage holding him down. But the same could not be said for Hilda. You could hear the hurt in her voice, as it shook from being almost at the point of tears.

“Bianca, my childhood friend, was always the more sensitive one of us two.” She began again, realizing that they could all tell this from her. “It hurt her to feel like she was not doing good at Pokemon battles. It pained her to feel like she was aimlessly wandering around life when she began her Pokemon Journey. And it crushed her when her father denied her the freedom of going on that Journey to find her purpose and almost forced her to go back. I don’t know what I was feeling at the time when I saw her go through all that. I just thought she looked so strong, being able to confront it all. But if it’s anything like what I’m feeling now, I feel I can understand her a bit better. I can understand her dad too, as he just wanted to know she was safe and sound at home where he wouldn’t miss her. And I think about my own Pokemon and my mom...”

Emile and Hilda had been sitting close to each other around the campfire. He thought to do the only thing he could think of doing and placed his hand over hers, gripping at it to silently tell her to be strong. In much the same way his own mother used to for him long, long ago. This talk of parents had made him remember his own mom, and so he was feeling a similar pang of emotion. Perhaps he’d just done it to comfort himself by comforting her, but it had worked. 

She sniffed back tears and wiped at the moisture clouding at her eyes, having been stronger about thinking of the past than last time. Emile’s moral support had helped a lot, as well as the understanding nature of the ponies who kept adding to the levity by asking her about every single one of those people she’d mentioned in more detail. It heartened her to talk about them as she spoke about her adventures. 

As they conversed and the night grew older, Emile thought to himself that he needed to find the truth to what brought them to this world. He hadn’t really cared much about it until now. His priorities had lied with saving Equestria from the mess he’d made, especially after finding out his world had been saved. 

But now, he really wanted to find a way back into his old world.

For Hilda’s sake.