//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: A New World, a New Way // by zeusdemigod131 //------------------------------// Rarity awoke from a rather enjoyable fashion star dream to a peculiar smell, breakfast. “Huh?” She asked groggily, rubbing an eye with a hoof. Normally, whenever she smelled food cooking, it was while Sweetie Belle was staying over, and it was almost always burning, forcing her to put out the fire, eat what her sister had cooked so as to not hurt her feelings, and cook something infinitely more edible later. But this smelled like actual food. “Who would that be?” “Spritzee.” The Fairy-Type fluttered from its resting place on Rarity’s night stand and landed on the unicorn’s horn. “Spritz.” Rarity smiled at the little Pokémon. “Good morning to you too, Spritzee.” Rarity threw on her robe and trotted downstairs to see who was cooking, Spritzee fluttering after her. She was surprised to see Gene and Belle standing in front of the stove. Gene was holding a spatula and whistling as he flipped pancakes and Belle was setting the table. What surprised Rarity most was that the utensils and plates that were floating into place. “Good morning, Miss Rarity,” Belle greeted her when she noticed the unicorn. “I trust you slept well?” Rarity drew her attention away from the floating tableware and smiled. “Of course darling, and you?” Belle smiled and turned to Gene, who was still flipping pancakes at the stove. “It was perfect.” Rarity looked at the pair quizzically for a moment but shrugged, figuring if anything had happened between them last night she would’ve heard it. Rarity trotted over to Gene and looked at the pancakes as he flipped the last one off of the stove and onto the pile. “Breakfast is served.” He said with a smile, carrying the plate over to the table. “Gene dear,” Rarity said, eyeing the flapjacks. “Not that I’m ungrateful, very much the opposite actually, but whatever compelled you to make breakfast?” Gene shrugged and answered. “I had to make breakfast for my team every morning back on Earth, so I’m kinda used to getting up early.” He glanced at Belle momentarily and, solely to his mate, said. “Plus we had to get up early anyway to tidy up.” The Gardevoir giggled softly, electing another quizzical look from Rarity. Noticing the unicorns glance’s Belle decided to get off the subject of last night. “Anyway,” She said. “What time are we supposed to be at the train station?” Rarity took a sip of coffee that Gene had brewed. “Oh, I suppose that Twilight or Spike will be along shortly with the time.” This wasn’t the first time the group had been summoned to Canterlot. “But in the meantime, I must know dear, where did you get that dress? It is simply marvelous.” Belle looked at the fashionista in confusion. “It’s not a dress.” She explained. “It’s part of me.” Rarity’s eyes went wide. “Wait, you’re saying that your clothes are actually part of your body?” Belle looked down at herself and then back at Rarity. “They’re not actually clothes, but yes.” Rarity got out of her seat and walked over to the Pokémon. “Hmm,” She picked up one of the sections of Belle’s dress in her magic, somehow missing the startled “Eep!” that escaped the Gardevoir’s lips and the glare that Gene shot her way. “Smooth, but it doesn’t feel like skin at all, and so soft!” “Eh hem.” Rarity looked up at the Fighting-type and noticed his glare and Belle’s shocked expression and immediately dropped the dress. “Sorry.” She walked back to her seat. “I just get excited about fashion and, as I said, I absolutely love your dress.” Belle sighed. “It’s alright,” She smirked. “Just don’t ask me for a sample.” Rarity and Gene chuckled and the trio turned their attention to breakfast. After a while they began chatting. “So,” Rarity began. “How did you two meet?” Gene smiled at Belle. “You wanna tell it? Or should I?” The Gardevoir grinned. “I’ll do it.” She turned to Rarity and held one hand to her temple and the other towards the unicorn. “If I may.” “Um… sure?” Rarity was a bit confused as to what was going on, but she thought Belle was going to activate the translator again. As she felt the Psychic-Type touch her mind she quickly realized this was not the case as she was engulfed in a flow of memories. Gene’s alarm clock went off and the boy groaned, he rolled over and fumbled for the sleep button. After a few more moments he managed to turn off the alarm and he almost went back to bed but after a few seconds he jolted up. “Today’s the day.” He jumped out of bed and rushed to his closet, quickly changing into a white jacket and pants before throwing on his hat. After checking himself in the mirror he ran downstairs. His mother, cooking breakfast in the kitchen, heard him and stuck her head into the front room as he rushed for the door. “Gene,” she called. “I know you’re excited, but could you at least come have some breakfast first?” “No time, Mom, the boat leaves soon and I’ve gotta catch it.” Gene grabbed his bag from by the door. “Bye.” “Just one more thing honey,” She said as he opened the door and started outside. He stopped and looked back at her. “Happy birthday.” Gene smiled. “Thanks, Mom.” Gene closed the door and rushed out into Mossdeep City, he quickly made his way to the dock where two other kids, a boy from Pacifidlog Town and a girl all the way from Dewford Town waited, both of whom had come for the same reason as Gene, to get their first Pokémon. “Hey,” The girl greeted him. “I’m Sue.” “Zachary.” The boy introduced himself. “I’m Gene.” He said. The three explained where they had come from and talked about their plans and hopes. It wasn’t long before a boat pulled up to the docks, two people, both dressed in blue with dark black hair, stood on the deck, facing the perspective trainers, anyone could’ve figured out they were twins after a few minutes in their company. The boy, Tate, had a Lunatone floating by his side, while his sister, Liza, had a Solrock at her side. “Greetings.” They said together. “And welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.” Tate finished. His sister smiled. “Forgive my brother,” She said. “He can be a bit melodramatic.” “My point still stands.” He defended himself. “Now come on,” He waved the three ten year old's onto the boat. “We have a long way to go.” The excited teenagers onto the boat and his sister signaled the captain. As the boat started on its trip to its destination the twin Gym leaders gave a speech they had given many times before but always looked forward to. “Now I’ll skip the part about being ten and getting your Pokémon, you already know that.” Tate explained. “What I want to talk about are the specifics of how we give out Pokémon.” The trio leaned in, not wanting to miss even one detail. “We don’t.” The shocked and horrified expressions of the group’s faces sent Tate into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. His Lunatone snickered along with him. Liza rolled her eyes. “What my brother means is that you don’t just get to choose a Pokémon,” She looked to the horizon and continued. “We’re taking you to a special island that’s populated mainly by Psychic-type Pokémon: Cerea Island. There you’ll each have until sunset to find and capture your own Pokémon.” She turned back to the group. “You can befriend them, or trick them, or bait them, but you’ll each only get one Pokéball and a container of Pokémon food to work with, otherwise-” “Otherwise you’ll never be a Pokémon Trainer!” Her brother finished, once again provoking startled responses from the assembled teenagers. “No,” Liza corrected. “You’ll either have to go to wait a month before trying again or get a Pokémon from somewhere else.” The group nodded in understanding. “Now, the Pokémon on this island are actually pretty social, although they’re not going to just jump into your arms. If you want their trust, you’ll have to earn it.” Tate said, finally becoming serious. “But it could be well worth it, there are a lot of different species on this island, and not only from Hoenn, there are Kanto and Johto Pokémon as well, and even a few rarer ones from Sinnoh, Unova and even Kalos.” This got the group excited, getting their first Pokémon was good enough, but getting a rare Pokémon from a region like Unova would be a dream come true. After a few smaller directions the Gym Leaders retired below deck, leaving the hopefully future trainers alone. “I hope I can find something cute,” Sue said with a smile. “Like a Chimecho or a Spoink.” Zachary smirked. “I want something powerful, maybe an Abra or a Beldum as a start.” Gene smiled and stared in the direction the boat was headed. “I just want someone who I can call my partner.” “Aww.” Sue cried. Zachary just rolled his eyes. It wasn’t long until an island came into view and, as if sensing that the destination had been reached, Liza and Tate ascended to the deck just as the boat pulled into the small dock. “Alright, you three,” Liza said as they disembarked. “Remember what we said and be back before sundown, with or without your Pokémon.” The group nodded and walked down the path that led to the forest, soon they came to a three way fork in the road. The one on the right led down to a craggy crevice surrounded by forest, the middle one led into dense woodland and upwards to a large plateau and the leftmost path led down to a pleasant lake by a waterfall. “I’m heading up there.” Zachary pointed towards the plateau. “Bet I can find a Beldum up there.” He headed down the path leading into the woods. “Then I’m going that way.” Sue ran down toward the lake, where she hoped to find some cute Pokémon near the calm waters. “See you back at the boat!” She cried to Gene as she left. Gene, now alone, looked down the final path leading into crevice. “Perfect place for Solrock, Lunatone, Beldum,” He smiled. “Or Bronzor, if I get lucky.” About an hour later, Gene was walking through one of the little craggy crevices that made up the valley. He had seen no Pokémon save for a few Flying-types that had fled at the sight of him. “And not even a Natu,” He sighed. “This might be harder than I thought. “ He walked for a few minutes more and would’ve continued had something not caught his attention. Above his head and spanning the length of the crevice was a fallen tree, the kind Pokémon used for crossing. And walking across that tree was a tiny green and white figure that Gene recognized as a Ralts. He smiled at the little Pokémon as it crossed the tree bridge, arms held out in either direction to help keep its balance. Gene watched the little Pokémon for a moment before continuing, it was too high up to risk getting its attention, he didn’t want to startle the little creature and make it fall. However as Gene neared the underside of the bridge and the Ralts reached the center a strong gust swept through the crevice, it was only a mild annoyance to Gene but it was a major problem for the Ralts. Unable to keep her balance in the sudden wind the Psychic-type began to fall, she flailed wildly, trying to keep her balance, but ultimately toppled over and fell into the crevice below. Gene witnessed the entire thing and gasped as he watched the little Pokémon fall. “No!” Gene dove for the Ralts and intercepted her before she reached the ground. “Gotcha!” “Ralts?” The tiny Psychic-type looked up at her rescuer. “You alright?” He asked, placing the Feeling Pokémon on the ground. “R-Ralts.” She answered nervously. Gene heard the fear in her voice and sighed. “Don’t worry,” He said, rooting through his bag. “I’m not gonna catch you, not if you don’t want me to.” He pulled out a cylindrical container and uncapped it. “Hungry?’ He asked, holding the food canister. “Ralts.” She answered, she still wasn’t entirely sure about the human, but she was hungry. She grabbed the canister and began eating, Gene smiled as she did and decided, since it was almost noon, that he would have his own lunch. He unpacked and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while the Ralts watched his every move. “Well,” He said after finishing his lunch. “I gotta get going, I only have until sundown to find a Pokémon who’ll be my partner.” He stood up and looked down at the little Psychic-type. “Unless you’d like to join me.” When the Ralts looked away from the human, Gene sighed. “I understand,” He began walking further down into the valley. “You can keep that, by the way.” Ralts just watched as the human walked away, confused by the way he acted. Some of the other Pokémon who had been here longer said that a lot of humans just wanted to catch Pokémon, but this one seemed nice. Ralts just shrugged and continued to eat the Pokémon food, unaware of the shadowy figure creeping up behind her. Meanwhile, further down the path, Gene was still looking for any Pokémon. “Maybe I should’ve tried harder with the Ralts.” He said to himself, he would be beyond disappointed if he had to return him without a Pokémon. He was considering scaling the walls of the crevice so he could search the forest, but was interrupted when a childlike cry came from behind him. “RALTS!” Gene immediately turned around and began to run in the opposite direction. “Hang on!” He ran until he reached the same bridge he passed previously, and there he saw the same Ralts from before. She was slowly backing away from a Hypno who was advancing on the little Pokémon. “Hypno.” It said threateningly. “R-Ralts.” Gene had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t care, he could see that Ralts was scared and he intended to do something about the Hypno threatening her. Neither of the Pokémon had noticed Gene yet, and the boy decided to take advantage of this. Grabbing a branch that had fallen from a tree hanging over the crevice, Gene ran over to the Hypno just as it had backed Ralts into a corner. “Hypno!” The Hypnosis Pokémon loomed threateningly over Ralts and prepared to strike. Ralts closed her eyes and covered her head with her tiny hands. “Psy-” CRACK! The Hypno’s move was interrupted as a club like branch was broken over his head. The Psychic-type crumpled to the ground and Ralts opened her eyes, seeing the same human from before standing over the unconscious Pokémon holding a broken tree branch. “You alright?” He asked, worried for the little Pokémon. “Ralts, Ralts, Ralts, Ralts?” She asked him, gesturing at the Hypno. Gene took a moment to try and figure out what she was asking. “If you’re asking why, I wasn’t going to let you get hurt.” He pulled the Pokéball he had been given earlier and looked down at the unconscious Hypno. It was already unconscious, and Liza and Tate had said to use whatever means necessary. Plus starting out with a fully evolved Pokémon would probably give him an advantage. But as he looked down at the Ralts who was now looking up at him in curiosity he couldn’t forget how it had scared the little Pokémon. Then he got an idea and a grin. “Hey, Ralts?” Ralts looked up at him quizzically. “Ralts?” “I know I kinda already asked, but I’m gonna do it officially this time.” He kneeled down and looked her right in the eyes. “Ralts, will you be my partner Pokémon?” At first the little Psychic type was going to refuse, but she paused in her rejection, she thought about how nice Gene had been to her. “I don’t really know what’s gonna happen,” he said, noticing her contemplation. “But I can promise you that we’ll go a lot of new places, meet people and Pokémon,” He looked her directly in the eyes. “And that I’ll never leave you behind.” Ralts couldn’t help but smile, she could sense that he was being sincere. She looked up at him, Gene was smiling and was holding the Pokéball out to her. “What do ya say?” Ralts thought for a moment then smiled again. “Ralts!” She ran forward and hugged him. “I’m guessing that’s a yes then?” He asked with a smile. “Ralts.” The little Psychic-Type took a few steps back, she scrunched her nose as she looked at the Pokéball. Noticing her discomfort Gene smiled and explained. “Don’t worry, I won’t keep you in there, it’s just so no one else can catch you.” Gene had no idea how a Pokéball worked, but he was a little uncomfortable with keeping a living creature in a capsule no bigger than a baseball. “Ralts.” Ralts sensed that he was telling the truth and decided to get the unpleasant part over with, she tapped the white button in the center and was engulfed in red light. For a moment she couldn’t sense her surroundings in any way, like she was half asleep, but soon a bright white light engulfed her and she was again standing in front of the human. He smiled and picked her up. “Welcome aboard.” He said, placing her on his shoulder. “I’m Gene by the way.” “Ralts.” She cried happily. Gene smiled. “You know,” He said as he began walking back to the dock. “I want all my Pokémon to stand apart from others, so I’ve been thinking of giving you a name.” he looked over to her. “But first off, are you a boy or a girl?” “Ralts!” She cried indignantly. “Uhhh, girl then?” Gene asked, taking a shot in the dark. She nodded and crossed her arms, pouting slightly. Gene chuckled. “Alright then, how about Melody?” “Ralts.” She shook her head. “Um, Emma?” She stuck out her tongue. “Alright,” Gene tapped his chin. “I know!” he grabbed her and held her in front of him. “I’ll call you Belle!” She considered the name for a moment, then smiled. “Ralts!” Belle cried happily as Gene put her back on his shoulder. Rarity gasped as she the memories faded. “W-what,” She shook her head. “What was that?” “That,” Gene explained. “Was the first time Belle and I met.” Rarity looked at the pair in confusion. “But that was, and you were, and you…” Rarity might have been able to form a complete sentence had someone not knocked at the door. “Rarity!” Spike called. “Twilight says we have to leave soon!” Rarity sighed. “Tell him I’ll be down in a minute.” She said to the Pokémon as she trotted upstairs. Her questions would have to wait until later. Korrina blinked awake and stretched in the bed Applejack had let her use the night before. She looked around and saw Lucario where he had been the night before, legs crossed at the foot of the bed. The pair had decided last night that the circumstances constituted the necessity that only one of them should sleep in the bed. Lucario had given the bed to Korrina, deciding that his stressed trainer needed it more than he did. Suddenly a knock at the door jolted the Aura Pokémon awake. “Korrina! Lucario! Time for breakfast!” Apple Bloom called before trotting off. “Good morning, Korrina.” he said as he stood up and stretched. “Big day ahead.” In truth, Lucario engaged in this idle chit chat with his trainer every morning, she just didn’t understand him. “Yeah...you think that Princess has a chance of getting Arceus to send us home?” She was certain Arceus was older, more powerful, and was reasonably sure he was wiser than the Alicorn, but since Princess Celestia was their best chance of getting home Korrina was hoping she had a secret weapon, and a plan. The Steel-.type shrugged. “I don’t know. She is powerful; her aura shines like the sun, but she is not as powerful as any of the legendaries whom I’ve met so far, save for perhaps Lord Deoxys.” “Yeah, but in all fairness, those were the most powerful Pokémon in the world.” Korrina grabbed her helmet from where she had dropped it last night. She stepped into her boots/roller skates, which had somehow reshaped to fit her feet. And turned back to her partner, smiling. “Now come on, I want breakfast.” Lucario smiled and followed his partner out of the room. He had known her since he had been a Riolu, and had given to her at the same time she as his rival, the same Lucario who had joined the Trainer who had stopped Team Flare. The pair hadn’t been rivals before Korrina had recieved them but it had grown between them as they attempted to gain Korrina’s favor. But ever since he had left, he and Korrina had grown closer as partners, she used him in battles more, kept him in his Pokéball less, and spent more time training with him. Lucario was still amazed that a human was strong enough to smash boulders with a single kick. Relatedly, her training had been part of what started his and his rival’s rivalry, the fact that their trainer was so… strong had set the two fighting for her attention ever since they had evolved. They both wanted her undivided attention, and two Lucario had trouble sharing anything. For whatever reason, Lucario couldn’t get stop thinking about Korrina. It had been that way since the pair had awoken on Sweet Apple Acres the day before. Lucario woke up face down in a pile of leaves. “Ugh,” He pushed himself up and rubbed his head. “What happened?” The Aura Pokémon looked around in confusion. “This is not Shalour City,” Then he saw the being lying unconscious next to him, for a moment he thought it was Korrina, the helmet and boots were the same, but he discarded that idea when he saw the yellow, blue and black coat that matched his own. “And you’re not Korrina.” He stood up and walked around to get a better view of the Lucario. It was then that he noticed that it was a she. This surprised Lucario because he had never seen a female Lucario before, his species was primarily male. The next thing that surprised him was that she was wearing Korrina’s helmet. “How did you get that?” He asked, not expecting a response. “Quiet,” The Lucario said. “I feel like there’s a Noibat in my head.” Lucario reeled back in shock, he recognized that voice. “K-Korrina?” Korrina opened her eyes. “Yeah, it’s me, Shalour City Gym Leader and,” She saw her Lucario looking at her, mouth open and eyes wide. “Oh, hey, Lucario,” She stood up and looked around. “Who was talking?” Lucario stood up and looked his trainer right in the eyes, he took a deep breathe. “Korrina, is that you?” He was almost certain the answer was yes, his power to see a being’s aura was telling him that this Lucario was Korrina, but he had to know for sure. This time Korrina’s jaw dropped. “Sweet Arceus, you can talk?!” Lucario looked at his Trainer, dumbstruck. “Korrina... something is really wrong.” “You’re telling me,” She said, shaking her head. “Pokémon aren’t supposed to be able to talk.” “Well, they can actually,” He corrected. “But only to other Pokémon.” Korrina raised an eyebrow and gestured to herself. “How does that explain this?” Lucario facepawed. “Korrina, look at your hands.” The Gym leader looked at her partner quizzically for a moment. “Alright,” She said after a while. “But I don’t-” Korrina stopped as she saw her hands, well, paws actually. “H-how?” She looked up her arm, and down her body. “I’m a – I’m a –!” She looked to her partner. “Lucario?” He nodded. Korrina sat down and held both paws to her head. “What happened last night?” She asked. “I barely remember falling asleep.” “I vaguely remember passing out.” Lucario said. “But after that…” Korrina pushed herself upright. “Well, sitting around here isn’t going to solve anything,” Korrina was not the type to stand by and let something happen. “We need to find someone.” She looked around and just managed to spot the top of a windmill over the trees. “Come on.” She started down towards the direction of the windmill, where she hoped she would find a farm. “No use sitting around like a couple a Cascoon.” Lucario sighed and followed Korrina through the trees. “Same old Korrina.” He smiled and looked up at her. “And I wouldn’t change a thing about her.” “Well, howdy, young un’s.” Granny Smith said with a smile as the Pokémon walked into the kitchen. “Hope y’all slept well.” “Just fine, Miss Smith.” Korrina said with a smile. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith all developed confused looks on their faces. “What?” “Ah think Princess Luna’s spell wore off.” Applejack explained. “Lucario?” She asked. “Yeah, we can’t understand a word yer sayin’.” Applejack said bluntly. Korrina’s ears drooped. “Luu...” “Oh don’t worry too much now,” Applejack said with a smile. “Once we meet up with the others Ah’m sure Twilight can cast the spell again.” Korrina grunted, still upset, but sat down and started eating the breakfast the Apple family member had set for her. The group sat in silence for most of the meal, with the Apples occasionally talking amongst themselves, but soon after everyone had finished, a knock was heard at the front door. “Oh, thank goodness.” Applejack sighed in relief, this morning had turned very awkward, very fast. “Ah’ll get it.” Applejack trotted to the door and opened it. “Hi, AJ.” Dash greeted. “Twilight sent me to get you, and Korrina, and Lucario. We have to get to the train station.” “Alright,” Applejack said. “Just wait here.” She ran back inside where Korrina and Lucario were waiting in the kitchen. “Time ta go.” The Aura Pokémon nodded and walked past the mare. “Ah should be back soon.” She said to her family. “Just be safe would ya?” Granny Smith said. “It seems like every time ya go away somethin’ dangerous always happens.” Applejack smiled. “Ah’ll try.” She said before trotting out the door. Twilight Sparkle exited the Golden Oaks library, saddle bags strapped to her sides, filled with several different books and a few snacks. “Alright,” She said, looking towards town. “Let’s go”. Earlier, she had sent Spike to get Rarity and had sent Owlowiscious to Rainbow Dash with a note, if everything went according to plan Rainbow would get Applejack and Fluttershy and they would all met up at the train station. That still meant Twilight had to get Pinkie Pie from Sugarcube Corner, and thus deal with the multitude of ponies who would doubtlessly have questions. Questions that she, as a princess, would have to answer, something she couldn’t do without causing mass panic. Twilight trotted past a few of the shops on the way to Sugarcube Corner but saw nothing, then as she neared her destination she heard screaming. “Slurpuff puff puff slur!” Twilight had no idea what was happening, but she broke into a gallop. As she neared Sugarcube Corner, she saw a large crowd of ponies gathered outside the store front. She pushed her way past them all and stopped when she reached the center. Pinkie Pie was running around in a circle like a mad mare on the run. Except that she wasn’t the one on the run. Pinkie was chasing what, for all intents and purposes, looked like a giant cupcake with arms and legs. After a moment Twilight recovered from the shock. “Pinkie Pie,” She called sternly. “Have you been playing with Zecora’s potions? Again?” “No way, Twilight.” The Earth Pony called back excitedly. “I just found this giant cupcake at the door this morning, so naturally I figured somepony must've left it for me as a gift,” She stopped as she neared her friend. “But once I tried to bite into it, it ran away from me. Weird huh?” Twilight facehoofed. “Pinkie,” She said in exasperation. “You remember how yesterday Gene told us that Pokémon have a lot of different looks?” “Uh huh.” Twilight waited a moment in case she got the point, then continued. “Do you think that maybe this thing,” She gestured to the Slurpuff hiding underneath a nearby table. “Could be a Pokémon?” Pinkie looked to the Pokémon, then to her friend, then back at the Pokémon, then at Twilight again, then back at the Pokémon. “Oooohhh.” She said in realization. “Then I better go apologize.” As soon as Pinkie went to apologize for trying to eat the Pokémon Twilight found herself bombarded by a multitude of questions. “What is-?” “What are-?” “Where-?” “Time stream!” “How-?” “Pinkie sense-” “One at a time!” She shouted, quieting the ponies. “Now I understand that a lot of… things have… developed in a very short time, but I assure you, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are doing everything in their power to fix this situation.” I hope. “Discord! Come out here at once!” Celestia pounded on the Draconequus’ door, attempting to rouse the sleeping serpent. “I do not think he is coming out, sister.” Luna said, taking a sip of coffee. “Perhaps we should leave him.” “Not a chance, Luna. You said it yourself. Discord is the only one who comes close to matching Arceus in power.” “Would you like me to chop down the door my lady?” Aegislash asked, attempting to please his master. Celestia sighed. “No, Aegislash.” She was slightly upset that the sword had followed her home, more so that it had been staring directly at the door when she exited her room that morning. “He’ll come out, or I’ll come in and get him!” Celestia began to pound on the door again, but before she could deliver the first blow the door swung open and Celestia fell face first into the chaos Lord’s bedroom. “What do you want, Tia?” He sounded like he had a cold. “I told you I was busy.” “Discord,” She said, walking over to his bed. “Are you… actually sick?” The last time that Discord had gotten sick, he had been faking the blue flu and Luna had bucked him out of Canterlot after he annoyed her with his request for water. “No,” He said, sniffling. “Maybe, I don’t know, I’ve never actually been sick before, but this is a lot like all the times I played sick so I could stay home from school.” “Did you even go to school?” Luna asked. Discord snapped his talons and pointed at Luna. “That’s why it never worked.” Celestia rolled her eyes and walked over to Discord. She scanned him to see if anything was actually wrong with him and was shocked at the results. “You’re weak.” Discord shot a glare at the princess. “And you’re judgy.” “No, I mean your powers, they’re not at their normal levels.” “How is that possible?” Luna wondered aloud. “Even the Elements couldn’t weaken Discord, that’s why they turned him into a statue.” “I’m not sure but… Discord?” She asked, developing an idea. “How closely are you tied into the natural chaotic forces of Equestria?” “I am the natural chaotic forces of Equus,” Discord replied. “But I think what you mean was how does the natural chaos magic of Equestria affect me, the answer… I just realized something’s wrong with the Everfree.” Discord sat up. “Did you two do something with your stupid tree again?” “No.” They answered in tandem, the pair made a point never to mess with the Tree of Harmony unless they absolutely had to. “Well someone’s messing with the forest.” Discord stood up, wobbling slightly. “And it’s draining my magic.” “How?” Luna asked. “Aren’t you chaos incarnate or something?” “Yes Lulu, I am in fact the embodiment of chaos.” Discord frowned. “But that means that all chaos stems from me. And whatever is draining the chaos from the Everfree is causing a drain on my powers because that beautiful forest is trying to draw more power from the source of all chaos, me.” “Oh my,” Celestia said, genuine worry in her voice. “Are you going to be alright?” Discord waved a paw at her. “Of course, once whatever this thing is is done converting the Everfree the forest will lose touch with chaos completely and then it will stop draining me,” Unless I can stop it. He sighed. “In the meantime, I suppose I’ll need something to keep it from draining me any further, some kind of force field or-” “Bio Chem!” Celestia walked out of the room, once again to bother the stallion, normally she’d go to a Unicorn for a problem involving magic but A.) No one at her school was brave enough to study chaos magic in any form, let alone how to control it. and B.) They’d already bothered him before, why inconvenience anyone else. “Wait, no!” Discord said, chasing after her. “I said force field, not cutting me open!” Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie arrived at the train station to find that Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, Gene, Belle, Korrina, Misty, Lucario, Togepi, and Cubone were already there and waiting. “Wow,” Pinkie said as she trotted up to the group. “This is the biggest group we’ve ever taken to Canterlot to visit the Princess.” “Yeah.” Twilight agreed, suddenly unsure of the prospect of parading a group of unknown creatures through Canterlot. “Hey, Princess?” Gene walked over to Twilight. “Do you think you could cast that translation spell from yesterday on us? Belle doesn’t like to admit it, but supporting a translator on this many... beings, makes her tired.” Twilight smiled. “Of course.” She concentrated and cast the spell, it traveled outward in a shock wave as it had last night and hit everyone in the vicinity. “Thanks.” Gene said as he walked back over to his mate. Twilight watched the group for a moment, then she started to consider what might happen once they all got to Canterlot. What if somepony calls the royal guards? She thought worriedly. Trying to explain getting a bunch of strange creatures into Equestria’s capitol would be hard enough normally, add in the fact that one of them had swords on its arms… “Ugh,” She groaned to herself. “Why does everything always have to be so difficult?” Before Twilight could consider any other scenarios the train pulled into the station and the conductor stepped out. “All aboar-” Seeing the creatures standing on the platform scared the poor stallion so bad he tried to run back inside. “Hold it.” Twilight stopped the door with her magic. “We’re all heading to Canterlot,” She explained. “Are there any cars without any other passengers in them?” The conductor looked between the princess and the rest of the group for a moment. “R-right this way, please.” He gestured the group towards the first car on their left, completely empty. “Thank you.” Twilight said happily. The conductor watched as the six mares, baby dragon and eight Pokémon piled into the car. He smiled at them nervously and then headed to the engine, leaving the group alone. Once the door behind the conductor had been shut Rainbow and Pinkie started laughing. “Girls,” Twilight berated. “That’s not funny.” “Oh lighten up Twi,” Rainbow chuckled. ”Did you see that guys face? Priceless.” Twilight giggled softly, remembering that stallion’s expression when he had seen the Pokémon. “I guess it was a little funny.” Soon after the train started on its journey to Canterlot. “Alright every... body,” Twilight said, getting up and beginning to pace. “Once we get to Canterlot we’re going to have to get to the palace, hopefully Princess Celestia informed the palace guards of our arrival, but if she hasn’t then-” “Hold up Twi,” Applejack interrupted. “Why would you be worried ’bout the guards? Can’t you just, ya know, order ‘em ta let us in?” Twilight froze in place. “Oh, um, I didn’t really think about that.” Twilight’s friends all laughed as the violet mare blushed. “One thing, though.” Misty said once the ponies stopped laughing. “How are all the ponies going to react when they see us? Didn’t you say they’d freak?” “Oh, don’t worry too much darling,” Rarity assured. “Unlike in Ponyville, Canterlot ponies are not as apt to ‘freak’ when faced with the unusual.” “You sure, Rares?” Rainbow asked. “Because unless you count the Changelings I don’t think Canterlot has really been exposed to anything ‘unusual.’” “Please, Dash, these ponies are the very picture of serenity, they’ve spent years mastering control of their emotions.” “Alright,” Dash consented. “But if everypony starts screaming when we get off the train, I’m gonna say I told you so.” The group spent a few more minutes discussing Canterlot but soon fell to chatting amongst themselves. While her friends chatted, Twilight was content to just stare out the window and watch Equestria roll by. Thankfully, and for the first time in two days, no complications arose in the journey, no Pokémon attacked the train and no one even bothered the group in their car. And as the train pulled into the station Twilight sound herself thinking that everything might finally go right. As Twilight and the others exited the train they were surprised to see that most Ponies seemed to be going about their day normally. “So far, so good.” She muttered. And as the group began their journey to Canterlot castle it seemed that what Rarity had said was true, until they rounded a corner and encountered their first group of royal guards. “Hold it still already!” “It can’t, it keeps trying to bite me!” “Grrrr Ruff! Ruff!” What Twilight saw were three royal guardsmen surrounding what, to her, looked like a creature that was supposed to be locked in Tartarus. It was wolf-like and almost as tall as a pony. Its coat was pitch black over most of the body, but was bright orange on the muzzle and underbelly. The horns that shot out from where its ears should’ve been were silver, and looked like they were made of metal, the same substance striped its back and ringed its paw as well as formed a necklace like ring around its neck with what looked a skull as the charm.The real clincher was the spiked tail that looked exactly like a demon’s. “Oh, my word.” Applejack whispered. “What is it?” Dash asked, not expecting an answer. “A Houndoom.” Belle explained. “Let me go!” The Dark Pokémon barked at its would-be captors. Gene’s eyes went wide as he heard the Houndoom speak. “Is that…?” The Houndoom sniffed the air, as if finding something familiar, and looked over to the group. “Belle?” It asked. “Fang!” Gene shouted happily. “Come here boy.” “Are you crazy!?” Twilight shouted. Fang was very confused for a moment, then, smelling the air again, he caught a whiff, just a hint, of a scent he had memorized when he was just a pup, a smell that, to him, meant one thing. Home. “G-Gene?” He asked in disbelief. The Gallade nodded. “Gene!” Fang’s spiked tail wagged happily. The Dark Pokémon looked at the circle of Pegasi around him, and then jumped over the nearest stallion, using his head as a boost, and ran happily over to his Trainer. “Fang!” Gene shouted as his Pokémon tackled him to the ground, electing a gasp from the ponies, and began happily licking his face. “Ack! Fang it’s good to see you, too. Down boy, down!” He said laughing. The Fire-Type leaped off of his trainer and sat obediently next to his longtime trainer and friend. “Gene?” He asked as his trainer pushed himself up. “Where are we? And why are you a Gallade?” Gene sighed and patted Fang on the head. “It’s a long story, Fang, one that we’re probably going to have to recount soon anyway, so-” “Stand down!” Gene looked up to see the three Pegasus guards who had been attacking Fang standing in front of them, two of them holding swords in their mouths. “Away from the Princess!” Gene glared at the stallion, he had no sympathy for anyone who tried to harm Pokémon, let alone his Pokémon. “Hey!” He shouted, startling the guards with his ability to speak. “What were you doing to my Houndoom?” “Gene,” Twilight said, walking past the Blade Pokémon. “Let me handle this.” Twilight walked up to the guards as regally as she could, then, to the leader of the group, asked. “What’s going on here?” The guards saluted. “We were attempting to capture a dangerous creature, Your Highness,” He pointed to Fang, who cocked his head slightly. “We received several attempts about it scaring ponies so we made to remove it.” “Oh come on,” Gene said in exasperation. “How could anyone find this face scary?” Fang glared at the Pegasi and growled. Everypony took a few steps back. “Princess?” one of the guards asked. “What’s going on?” “Don’t worry about that,” She answered. “Just, uh, keep up the good work I guess, but don’t attack anymore odd creatures unless you try to talk to them first.” Twilight noticed that her statement was about to bring forth more questions. “That’s an order.” The guards saluted and cantered off, leaving the ponied alone once again. “Ok,” Twilight turned around and looked at Gene, the Gallade was crouched down and petting his Houndoom while talking to him. “What is-?” “This is Fang, he’s a Houndoom and he’s one of my Pokémon.” Gene answered. “And no, he’s not going to hurt you, despite his fierce appearance he’s really just a big puppy dog.” Fang rolled his eyes. Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Alright, just, come on.” The group once again set off towards the palace, this time with most of the ponies, save for Pinkie Pie, giving Gene, Belle and Fang a wide berth. “Finally,” Twilight said as the gates came into view. “We’re here.” Twilight trotted up to the gates and walked past the guards standing in front. She turned back when she heard the sound of metal clinking against metal and saw most of her friends and all the Pokémon being blocked from entering by the guards’ spears. Twilight sighed again. “Let them pass.” “But Princess-” “That’s an order.” The last part came out a little harsher than she had intended but it got the point across, and soon the group were inside the castle and being led to the meeting room by a guard who had been waiting for them inside. “Whoa,” Korrina whistled. “This place puts Parfum Palace to shame.” “What’s that?” Pinkie asked. “It’s a castle back in the Kalos region.” She explained. The group was silent for a few minutes until they reached the meeting room. “The Princesses are waiting inside.” The guard assured before trotting off. “Why are all the guards identical?” Gene asked absently. “It’s a spell on their armor,” Spike explained. “Don’t worry, it confused me at first, too.” Twilight smiled, remembering the time she and Spike had spent in Canterlot, and opened the door. “-Now that should keep you separated from Equus’ magical field but keep your own personal magic working at its normal level.” Bio Chem explained as he finished strapping an altered magical suppressor around the Draconequus’ neck. Celestia and Luna stood watching the exchange, along with Luna’s Swablu, perched on the lunar Alicorns horn, and Professor Juniper. Once Celestia noticed that the others had arrived she smiled. “Welcome everyone, please come in.” As everyone filed into the room Fluttershy ran over to Discord. “Discord?” she asked. “Are you alright?” “Oh, I’m fine, Fluttershy,” He said, finally having cleared himself of the sniffles. “Just suffering from a bit of chaos withdrawal is all.” “Not anymore.” Bio Chem replied. He looked around the room, eyeing the various Pokémon. “Interesting.” “I hate to be rude,” Celestia interjected before the scientist started anything. “But we have a matter of the utmost importance to discuss, so…” It took Bio Chem a moment to take the hint. “Oh, right, official Princess and heroine business,” The stallion trotted over to the doorway. “Bye, Twilight.” “Bye.” Twilight replied. “You know him?” Discord asked. “We were science partners when I was a filly.” She answered, confusing most of her friends. Before anyone could ask another question Celestia spoke up. “Everyone, I suggest you get comfortable, we’re going to be here awhile.” Twilight and the other ponies took seats in various chairs surrounding a large table in the center of the room. Gene and Belle did likewise and Fang curled up between the two. Fluttershy let Togepi and Cubone off of her back and the two baby Pokémon immediately ran over to Spike who was tackled to the ground. Korrina and Lucario sat opposite of Gene and Belle and Korrina picked Misty up and set her on the table. Discord materialized a movie set and a bucket of popcorn. Seeing everyone gathered gave Celestia new hope that this problem could be solved. “Now-” The door squeaked open and a nervous looking guard stuck his head in. “P-p-p-Princess?” He stammered. “T-there’s something here to s-see you.” “Well tell them-” Celestia stopped when she registered the stallions choice of words. “Thing?” She ran to the door, followed by her sister and Twilight, and shoved the doors open with her magic. The alicorns all stopped cold when they saw the creature waiting for them. It was bipedal and just barely humanoid in appearance, but instead of walking on two legs it chose to float several inches off the ground. Its skin was grey and purple and its purple tail swished behind it lazily. Its head was somewhat cat like and it had a tube reaching from the back of its head to its neck, it had fingers, but instead of normal ones its digits ended in bulbs. “Greeting Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Its voice was deep and unearthly, which made sense considering. “I am Mewtwo.” He looked between the Princesses, judging their various levels of shock. “Lord Arceus sends his regards.”