//------------------------------// // Ch.1 In forest unknown // Story: Pokemon, A Whole 'New' Frontier // by CroixAura //------------------------------// The forest around Hollow Shades had a bit of a darker feel than other forests, however this was not because of a dark presence or bad history. The simple truth was the trees, grass, and shrubbery grew in darker hues and the canopy of leaves above grew thick enough to keep out a lot of light. All and all the forest itself had almost a serene feel to it, almost peaceful. It would have been a lovely place to walk through with a loved one or even camped in had circumstances been a bit better, as it was chaos was about to ensue as the new inhabitants began to awaken. Jayce tossed and turned as he began to come too, he felt something soft and fluffy against him but getting comfortable was out of the question as his head was literally killing. “Nao…did you blow us up…again…” Nope he didn’t want to open his eyes; content with spending the next oh few hours face down in the dirt. “Or did I go off a ledge…again…” The last thing he remembered was trying to outrun a Jenny and her Growlithe and this wouldn’t have been the first time an escape ended badly. The answer he’d been waiting for came fairly suddenly when he was telekinetically flipped over on to his back and forced against the ground. “Who are you and what have you done with Jayce?!” Nao’s voice felt as if it was directed at him, though the hold he was in told him that was the case. Problem was normally she spoke in his head and so it felt like she was talking, now it felt like the words were being thrown at him. Rather painfully in fact, no wait that was the ground. “I is me who is being yelled at by the oh so fluffy Nao?” His speech was a bit wonky as his head hurt quite a bit, that only got worse when his eyelids were pulled open. “And now I see the lovely Nao…heeeey did someone use growth or something on you? As his vision got clearer Jayce noticed a few things; Nao was bigger, the trees were bigger and darker, and that Nao was directly above him as if he was looking up at her. Without blinking Nao dropped the telekinetic grasp, there was only one person who would ever refer to her as ‘fluffy’ or ‘lovely’ and that would be Jayce. “No you’ve gotten smaller.” A mischievous grin crossed those lips of hers, funny how the smaller things were a lot easier to notice from this angle. “You sho-“ “You mean like that thing Sabrina did a while back, like to her parents?” It was an easy guess, Sabrina was a movie star now and pretty much all of her past has been exposed in some way or another. “We’re kind of far from her gym though; I don’t think she’d be able to do that.” Reaching up he would pinch his own cheek and let go, nope that…”Ow.” Hurt a bit, so he was awake at least. In response to a stupid answer Nao could only facepaw, sometimes Jayce was a bit much but she loved that about him. “Jayce just look at your-“ Again something stupid was said to interrupt her. “Maybe this is some kind of crazy joke played on us by Clefairy or those other strange pokemon, you know the ones with the spaceship?” It was the only logical thing that could have happened! “Jayce look at your hands already!” The suddenly grumpy sounding Meowstic shouted at him. Jayce didn’t like being yelled at by the rather large and fluffy Nao so he did as he was told; stopping once he saw cream colored paws rather than his hands. “Wait one moment.” Very quickly he ran the paws over his body, face, and ears, finding that something was very familiar but completely wrong. “One moment more…” Shooting up from his prone position Jayce looked for any source of water he could find, his eyes stopping once he found a small pond. With all the energy of a five year old on a sugar high he ran to the pond, the speed was great enough to leave behind a second image of him that lasted a few seconds. The sight that met him in the pool of water was about the same as what echoed in his thoughts. “Nao I’m small and adorable!” His reaction was probably better than others who had the same experience; then again Jayce always had a thing for small cute things. “Wait that’s me! Why am I…an Espurr?” From behind Nao stepped up and did exactly what Jayce would have done on a normal day, she picked him up and held him like a stuffed animal. The reflection Jayce saw was enough for him to d’aw rather loudly. “Because turnabout is fair play? Or…” Closing her eyes she’d try to think about what happened, one moment they were running, well she was being carried, and the next they had woken up here. The line of thought however did cause her to remember the last thing they had both heard. “Oh Arceus.” Their voices echoed each others. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Throughout the forest and the entirety of Equus this same event was playing out over and over again, the reactions as varied as the Pokémon themselves. Some were even unlucky enough to appear near towns, close enough that the locals might stumble upon them, or well being struck in the face by one. The problem with waking up in a strange new place is that it is a strange new place, the wild Pokémon who were wild by nature some became worse while trainers were left to panic and yes some cried. Hollow Shades was a small town much like Ponyville with the exception that it was generally thought of as a sleepy town, they certainly didn’t have a Pinkie Pie to help brighten their day. When the morning hours came about the townsfolk found themselves with a little bit of a problem, the woods that literally surrounded their town was crawling with new life and some of it was downright scary, terrifying even. In the woods they could see dark shapes, bright lights, and what they feared to be ghosts, worse still several of the townsfolk have gone out and have yet to return. Note they weren’t entirely worried about Rock Soup since the previous day he found his ‘love’ of cooking and had thus proceeded to annoy the hell out of everypony. “Now everypony calm down, I’m sure this is something that can be explained.” A slightly small for her age green earth pony stood in middle of the town, she was surrounded by a number of residents who were in the midst of panic or woe. “We’re not too far from Canterlot, I am certain the princesses will do something as soon as our letters arrive.” They weren’t so lucky as to have a pupil of Celestia in town either, so waiting for the train was their best chance of getting word out. “Fear not what has come, keep your foals at home and please someone tell Rock Soup to stop with the soup.” Trustful Grace, or Grace for short, was the town’s mayor though really she was just the one everyone came to with their problems. About an hour or so later the sun was rising and Grace found herself trotting towards the woods, some way somehow the townsfolk had convinced her to go looking for the missing since for SOME REASON Rock Soup was gone. Really last week it was rock jewelry, the week before that rock furniture, and now its soup, it could really wear on a mare when she had to constantly get him to stop. “Can you just stay out of trouble for a few days, no…of course you can’t.” Finding the stallion’s hoof prints wasn’t that hard, being a draft horse in this area wasn’t common and he tended to take exaggerated steps whenever he was ‘hot’ on to something. After ten or so minutes of walking and avoiding some of these new creatures, a lot of them weren’t that scary but there were some that could give her nightmares, Grace would be met with a strange sight. In front of her there seemed to be a bouncing rock, it had two appendages that looked like arms which was frantically trying to catch her attention. “Geo geo dude.” Behind the thing was an oddly familiar mass of pony, balled up like a foal might be. “Geodude.” Trotting up she would try to speak to it. “Um..hello what have you there?” Yeah it was Rock Soup, well Rocky Hooves, but he tended to change his name on a weekly basis. “Have you been keeping him company?” The Geodude, as she would call it, bounced happily as it circled them. “Thank you, he can’t take care of himself most days, I fear what would have happened had he been alone.” Oddly enough the thought of Rocky having a talking rock as a friend brought a smile to her lips; it just seemed to make sense for him. Moving closer she would inspect the stallion, seemed he had taken a nasty hit to the face and possibly the ego, oh how she hoped the latter was the case. “Would you mind watching him for a bit longer? I need to find some water, I’m certain he’s going to have a headache when he wakes up.” Geodude nodded as it came to a stop next to Rocky and flexed, it was cute really. “Dude!” With the little defender in place Grace would go in search of water, luckily she knew that nearby there was a small pond which had clean water. “Geodude huh? Maybe they aren’t all so bad.” To be fair the floating candles were a bit adorable but those things with skulls as faces and what appeared to be floating puppets were scary. Again the walk would take about ten minutes, this time though because she had attempted to avoid the creatures. “Oh goddesses please please help us.” Whispering in a small prayer, she didn’t know that at this moment Celestia was chasing Luna and Discord through the palace looking for her cake, really cake. Anyway she would eventually find the pond; it was a small one that she used to frequent when she was younger. “Purr Esp.” “Meowstic stic” Grace had to stop and rub her eyes, at the pond she saw what appeared to be a kitten being held by a cat. Despite everything she’d seen so far the sight had wrenched a d’aw from her, really it was adorable. However the moment also seemed to announce her presence to the two, the larger cat’s eyes turning from what could have been amusement to annoyance. “Horseapples…” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ “How big do you think I can get my eyes?” Jayce asked as he pointed to his reflection in the water, his eyes were about normal right now though he had been trying to make them bigger. “I mean your eyes got pretty big so maybe mine can to?” The conversation had changed a few times within a period of a few minutes, at first it was whether or not he was as fluffy as or fluffier than Nao had been, then it had been fiddling with his ears, now it was all about his saucer like eyes. Actually it was probably a good thing the ear bit didn’t last long, Espurrs weren’t exactly good at controlling their psychic abilities and their ears were notoriously sensitive. Sighing Nao lightly bopped him on the head, Jayce wasn’t taking this seriously and as comforting as that might be this was still a strange situation. “Don’t your eyes might get stuck and then I’d have to fix them. Now what about what’s going on Jayce, I don’t know this place and you’re an Espurr.” Still it wasn’t a situation she could complain about, this way at least she could be close to him. “I’m not entirely sure what I can do Nao, I don’t have my pokegear, I don’t know where the others are, and worse of all I have this craving for fish that won’t go away.” Squirming a bit so he could look at Nao, how strange was that, he would continue with. “Now seeing no one’s going to miss me and I’m pretty sure you can fling me at the fish, we only have one real problem. But instead of worrying about them I’m content to sit here a bit longer because you’re holding me.” Splash would probably be alright, they’d just have to look for some other bodies of water, Zippy was still hurt but would likely be alright, and Hazel could hopefully fend for himself for a while. Nao was a bit thrown off by his response, firstly because he sounded serious and that was a rarity and secondly because he’d been forward with what he wanted rather than being silly. “Hazel’s probably trying to sniff you out now, though he’s not a dog…the others I don’t know, Splash might try to find you if he can get over himself and dancing, and Zippy well he wasn’t with us long so he may just with to remain. That’s assuming they’re outside their pokeballs.” Snuggling back against now he simply shrugged. “Thanks Nao, you know always know how to cheer me up.” Honestly he felt warm right now despite the situation, Jayce wanted to make the most of this even if it was a cruel dream or prank. “I love you Nao.” Nao’s ear twitched a bit as her face slowly turned a lovely shade of red, not quite fire engine red but not so light as to be non-existent. “I love you too Jayce…” Then everything came to a halt, not because they realized their love for each other since that was already known, no they were interrupted by the unintentional d’aw of an unwelcome guest. Both Nao and Jayce looked up from their spot to the new comer to see a brightly colored pony muttering something that sounded like “Horseapples.” Jayce stared at the pony, his eyes began to get wider and wider but would stop at the maximum adorableness. “Nao look it’s a colorful Ponyta!” “It doesn’t smell like a Ponyta.” Standing up she would put Jayce down, making sure to place him so she was standing protectively in front. “Now then, who are you and where are we?” Adding to her fear factor, if any was there, Nao opened her ears and made her eyes glow Meanwhile from Grace’s perspective she was hearing absolutely none of their conversation, some Ponyta she was! Well except she wasn’t one, instead she was a slightly scared pony with a large helping of confusion. When the small cat thing started to walk forward with glowing eyes it sent shivers down her spine. “Now now kitty I didn’t mean to interrupt you or scare you so um can you not scare me? So much?” Grace had grown up in this town and in these woods, she knew the sounds of every creature that lived here and everything she’d seen today was new. It’s bad enough that that Hollow Shades were superstitious, this was going to sky rocket any sort of progress made by the town. “Stic meo meowstic meow” “No..I can’t run I have to help Rocky.” Bringing up whatever courage she could Grace pulled a water bottle from her saddle bag and marched to the edge of the pond. “Sorry you can scare me off in a moment but my friend’s hurt.” The last part got Jayce moving around the lake, out from behind Nao towards the creature that couldn’t understand them. “Nao see if you can bridge our minds, like you did with me before.” The tone he was using was a bit more firm than normal, when it came to hurt people, Pokémon, or well ponies it seemed, he didn’t joke or kid. “Our problems can wait.” Nao flinched when Jayce started on his way, it was always interesting to see him get worked up like this. “I got it.” Moving she got closer to the pony and used her ears to direct her thoughts to the mare.”Do not move, I’m not familiar with your mind” The reaction was what Nao expected it to be, the mare reared and tried to back away. “Hold or I will freeze you where you stand” Her red eyes narrowed as she focused, giving her face a slightly distorted somewhat evil look. The Espurr which was Jayce finally made his way to the mare and looked over, if Ponyta were anything to go off then she was fine. “I apologize for our intrusion.” Saying once he felt the familiar effect take place. “But you have an injured friend and I’d prefer to help rather than frighten you.” Reaching for his pack he only grasped at air, of course everything got left behind even his medical supplies. “Right…I forgot we’re lost in a new place without anything…” Grace was mid panic when she felt something in her head and was pushed awfully close to the edge when she heard a female voice in her head. “No no no no no no.” Scared? Flew past that moments ago but she forced herself to not move, if the cat thing was in her head what else could it do when angry? It looked angry too… “Sorry I won’t mo-what?” The smaller kitten had gotten really close now and it spoke with an oddly male voice, for some reason she’d imagined it as a girl, at least it was calming. “I…um can…” And it wanted to help. “Go on, we won’t hurt you.” Jayce tried to reassure the pony the best he could, speaking for himself he wouldn't hurt her but Nao on the other hand…paw…might. Taking the permission to leave as a sign from Celestia Grace fled, taking off as fast as she could. Not for Rocky, he’d survive being bashed in the face by something; nope she fled because her legs wouldn’t allow her to do anything else. She didn’t even bother to see if the two things were following her, honestly she didn’t care. For those who didn’t know a galloping pony could be quite fast, a galloping pony in the midst of terror? There’s few things that could keep with that really, a Rapidash could easily do it, Dodrio with a rider could of course, oh and an injured Doduo could too, what couldn’t however was a Meowstic and Espurr. “So not the best idea, I mean she fled pretty fast. Like an Abra actually, except with more running and less poofing.” Oh that gave him a great idea actually. “Hey Nao do you think I can teleport? I’ve never seen an Espurr or Meowstic do it but there’s no reason we couldn’t, right? Abra do it all the time and they sleep like sixteen hours a day.” Walking up Nao closed her ears and shrugged. “Maybe, you were a pretty odd human so maybe something carried over…” Looking down on Jayce, which was easy considering she had a foot on him, she saw him trying to focus. “Not now Jayce! You don’t even know what you’re doing; you might end up blowing something up. Like your brain.” Leaning over she picked him up yet again like a stuffed animal and kissed in on the top of his head, like he had done so many times to her. “Besides I’m not done carrying you yet.” Jayce didn’t fight being carried, he was actually enjoying it quite a bit. “Then…onward to possible answers.” Reaching forward he pointed in the direction Grace had run. “I hate running.” But run she would, though there was a reason Nao always had Jayce carry her. “We’re going to have to find Hazel.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ The run would take Grace all of five minutes; she was more than capable of cutting the time in half since she was actually running this time. The sooner she got Rocky up the sooner they could get out of this forest and back to the safety of their home. When she got back to her fallen friend she found the Geodude still there, holding the pose he’d taken earlier. “Thank you Geo..dude?” Walking around she would find that Geodude was not actually guarding him, his eyes were swirling? “What’s wrong?” “Mis…magius.” “Chandelure.” The two ghost types seemed to appear just above them, one appeared to be a chandelier and the other was like a witch’s hat. “More of you?” Around her the forest seemed to darken with the presence of the two, beyond them she could see dark shapes moving towards her. “Oh no…” Closer and closer the shapes got and the closer they got the more pony in shape they appeared. The ponies in question stopped just behind the two Pokémon, their eyes empty as if they were being compelled to come. “You? What why are you here?” If she had the courage to look closer she would notice that these were the missing townsfolk, even a few foals hadn't managed to escape this trap. Being scared wouldn't save her from this, instead she took the water bottle she’d filled and dumped its contents on the oversized stallion. What followed might have made her laugh if the circumstances were different, as it was it simply annoyed her. As soon as the water hit him Rocky shot straight up to his hooves with a yelp “Who what when where why?! Huh?” He would spin in place once then twice before looking around to find Grace. “Why’d you go and do that for, you know I hate being woken up that way.” As if remembering what had happened he quickly grabbed his face. “My face! My precious modeling career ruined! I mean…wait no I’m a chef this week so I’m good.” Like a snap he seemed to get over what had happened. “Hey Grace why do you look so scared, it’s like you've seen a ghost or something.” Reaching up Grace would push the idiot’s face in the direction of the two ghosts and the townsfolk; it was his fault she was here so he might as well be scared too right? Apparently not. “Hey Grace look my adoring fans came to find me, they must’ve heard I was in the area.” Pulling on a cheesy grin he walked forward. “Now don’t y'all worry, Rock Soup will take care of your soupy needs.” Except he had no soup on him and these ponies didn't seem quite right. “Well look they must be starving, you can see it in their eyes.” Blank eyes were blank and sleep didn't cure stupid it seemed. A blue glow surrounded Rocky as he was flung back towards his companion, Mismagius drifted downwards as to be in view of the two. “Mis..magius mag ius.” There was a glint in the Pokémon’s eyes, it appeared to be enjoying this game quite a bit. Rocky shook his head as he stood up, dirt falling from his ill kept mane. “Oh wow what was that? Last time I felt that… we don’t speak of that time right?” Now was when he saw the Mismagius and his coat seemed to go pale, well more pale than normal. “G..g…ghost!” He actually ducked behind Grace for cover! “Why are you hiding behind me?!” She sounded offended but at least she hadn't expected more. Shaking like a large baby Rocky poked his head up. “Don’t you know nothing? Size don’t matter when it comes to ghosts, they... they um... haunt things and steal your soul and… things like that! I have so much to live for! My fans need my food to keep them going; it’s all that gets them through the day! Woe to those who can no longer taste what I serve, how could they possibly go on?” Smack. “Woe to me if you smack me again…” “Would you get a hold of yourself?! I need-“ The rest of her impromptu speech was cut off by a rather loud yelling sound. “Esssssspppppuuuuurrrrrr!” With a quick look to their side, both the ponies and the ghost Pokémon did a double take as an Espurr came flying from the left, ending its flight in a roll that came to a stop in front of them. “Es es Espurr!” The defender of peace had arrived… _________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Run faster Nao.” Jayce urged Nao on with everything he had; he was even trying to clap for her which was hard considering how he was held. Sadly Espurr couldn't learn Helping Hand until they evolved so it really just ended up being annoying. Now Meowstics weren't slow Pokémon, in fact despite their size they were considerably fast. This speed often helped male Meowstics support their team mates in double battles, sadly it still wasn't enough to keep up. Nao was having a hard enough time carrying someone half her size and the added sound of clapping wasn't helping her concentration. “Jayce can you STOP clapping, you don’t know Helping Hand!” “Just because I don’t know it doesn't mean it can’t work, see.” He continued to clap his paws together, trying to keep in time with Nao’s foot falls. Bop! “Ow!” A tiny bump formed on Jayce’s head from being bopped rather violently and unprovoked! At least it got him to stop clapping since it took one paw to rub the bump. Nao on the other paw laughed lightly, oh she was enjoying the size difference right now. “Anyway we-“ A cold shiver ran down Nao’s spine as she felt the presence of others nearby, she knew this feeling was caused by Ghost-type Pokémon. “Jayce we have trouble, there’re Ghost-types around.” Both Nao and Jayce knew their weakness to Ghosts but Ghosts were also weak to Psychic, they’d have to hope the ghosts were weak. “I've got a bad feeling about this.” The Espurr squinted it’s eyes trying to get a closer look at where the Ghosts were, though he had a feeling in his gut he knew where. “Nao we’re not going to make it!” There was panic in his voice, he might not have known who or what that pony was but he had the suspicion she didn't know what was going on any more than he did. Nao had been coming to the same conclusion though her pace never slowed. “I know but I can’t go any faster than this, you sure can’t either.” Actually an idea occurred to Jayce while they were running, it wasn't a great idea, hell, it wasn't even a good one but it’d have to do for now. “Nao I’m going to tell you to do something, you might not like it but it’s the best we've gone.” Taking in a deep breath, which puffed his cheeks thus increasing how cute he actually was. “Throw me using psychic as hard as you can.” “That’s a stupid idea, no.” That would put him in danger and she wanted to avoid that if at all possible. “Do it.” “No I won’t.” “Throw me!” Jayce yelled, he wasn’t going to let others get hurt if they didn’t need to even if it meant getting hurt. “I have faith in you Nao but they need faith in us, throw me.” Biting her lip Nao slowly opened her ears, she would hate him later for this and she would make sure Jayce knew it. “Fine, Jayce I choose you!” Might as well while she had the chance right? A blue glow surrounded Jayce as she grabbed in and flung him, putting as much force into it as she could. “This is soooo cool!” Screaming once he had take off, the speed he obtained was causing his mouth to remain open and his cheeks pull back. Tree after tree passed him as super Espurr flew at the speed of scream, luckily the path had been clear of trees and soon his targets would be in sight. Those targets shook him though, a Mismagius and a Chandelure, this could be about as bad as it could be. “Stooooop!” He would have to shout as he collided with the ground, impact would hurt a bit but he’d have to roll with it which seemed to come naturally with his small shape and low center of gravity. Once the roll ended he sprung up to his feet and puffed out his chest, trying to be menacing. “I won’t let you hurt them!” The Chandelure seemed to float there, debating if the fight would be worth it or not since clearly the thing hadn't gotten here on its own. Mismagius however took Jayce’s arrival in stride even going so far as to laugh. “You think you can stop me kitten? You should find your mommy before you wet yourself.” Her voice was sultry sounding, almost silk smooth. Puffing up his cheeks Jayce shouted, though his voice would have a disarming affect to some around him. “No! You should feel bad for hurting these ponies, especially since they don’t know what you are!” Stepping forward he would point to the other ponies. “Release them or you’ll have to deal with me.” Chandelure floated backwards as he took in the Espurr’s words, he’d woken up confused and lost and had only come because Mismagius had something of a plan. “You are bold for one so small.” His voice was deep and slow in comparison to Mismagius, it was also a bit intimidating. “I will do no harm in this fight.” Wait it was a fight now? Laughter came from Mismagius just as Jayce realized what was about to happen. “Oh fun, winner take all then. Shadow Ball!” A black mass formed in front of her and was launched at Jayce, purple like energy seemed to crackle around the sphere. Jayce didn't know how Pokémon moves worked but he felt something burning inside of him and decided to go with it. “Protect!” His ears seemed to flap open as a nearly transparent barrier blinked into existence around him. The Shadow Ball collided head on with the barrier causing a loud explosion, the shield held long enough to keep him from damage but burst moments later sending out all of the power it had taken to form it. “Hey um what are they saying?” Rocky had inched his way up next to Grace who was staring in awe, the little guy had been serious about helping? But once the battle began she was no longer able to follow what was happening, why were they fighting? “I don’t know…but I think the little one is he-“An explosion rocked the ground beneath them and the backlash of Espurr's barely controlled power forced them both from the ground, flinging them roughly ten feet back. Sadly Rocky landed on her. The explosion had been enough to send the weaker Ghost-types who’d been watching scrambling, it also had the added effect of knocking down anything within a hundred foot radius down. While Mismagius seemed to be relatively unaffected the ponies she’d been controlling flopped down to the ground. “You’re quick but what about-“ “Psyshock!” Jayce kept with the feeling that was slowly growing warmer inside, his ears flapped open again as he sent out a wave of psychic energy. Unprepared for the attack Mismagius took the hit head on and it seemed to strike at her very core, the shock sent her to the ground below. “I won’t lose to you!” Struggling to right herself she would send out another attack, it would be imitated by yanking her head back in a startling fashion. “You’ll never beat me, Astonish!” If she could manage to get a second to gather herself then victory would be hers! “Ahahaha!” Taken aback by her reaction to being attacked Jayce would take a step back. “I’m not fighting to win, I’m fighting to protect.” Finding strength in his own words he started to walk forward, trying to put more distance between him and the ponies he was protecting while closing the gap at the same time. As he walked however the warm sensation spread across his body, it was bubbly as if something was building up inside of him, growing and growing until it had nowhere else to go. Amongst the turmoil inside his body there was peace and as these two forces crashed inside a glow started to take place over his body, starting from his chest it would work its way to the tips of his paws and ears. Step by step Jayce grew in size, his height would double and his ears would grow longer and fold over thus continuing the protection of the psychic organs in his ears. From outside the fight both ponies stared in shock as the little one got bigger, they had no idea what was happening but would later agree that it was amazing to see. The battle also seemed to take long enough for Nao to arrive on scene, though she would stop to look at Jayce. Something must have happened during the fight to bring out his potential or angered him enough that evolution triggered. Truth be told evolution occurred differently for every Pokémon, even amongst the same breed reasons could vary. "He's evolving." She would tell the two who were staring in awe and confusion, it was a sensation she remembered well and hoped that Jayce might notice it. “Knowing him he won’t…” For Grace having her mind invaded by Nao had happened already so she wasn't as surprised, Rocky however quickly found himself scrapping his face on the ground. “Voices in my head, get it out get it out! It wants my soup recipe I know it!” Mismagius also realized what was happening and began trying to get away from the evolving Espurr, this wasn't a fight she could win any longer. Not without cheating anyway. “I... I yield!” She was hoping that the Espurr’s bravado also meant his was kind enough to trust her. It worked, Jayce stopped in his tracks just as the evolution finished. No longer was he covered in grey fur but now a dark blue covered him with the tuft of fur on his head, around his neck, paws, and tail tips being a crisp white color. However if he noticed the change he didn't show it. “Good, I don’t want to hurt you. Go away and leave the ponies alone.” Turning he would walk back towards Nao, noticing she’d arrived. “Hey when did-“ “Fool! Power Gem!” The red orbs around Mismagius’ body shot from her body in a brilliant red light and struck Jayce along his back, the force causing him to be thrown to the ground. “Shadow Ball!” Nao, never really trusting an opponent to stay down, had been prepared for something like this and launched the ball of dark energy just as Jayce hit the ground. The ball flew over him and straight into the unsuspecting Ghost Pokémon, its effects being doubled and sending her flying into the distance. At this point the fight was over, none of the other ghost types wanted to fight, especially not an angry Meowstic couple. This left Nao to run over to Jayce and pull him to his feet then proceeding to pummel him in the head for doing something stupid. “Why didn't you finish her? Instead you had to be the good guy and get shot in the back.” She had been worried, but the pummeling ended with her hugging him, this had the adverse effect of him noticing he was bigger. She was also broadcasting the entire conversation. “Because I knew you would protect me… wait did you get smaller?” Looking down his eyes widened as he noticed something off about his coat. “Nao I evolved!” It had taken him a few minutes longer to realize the fact than it would have if he had been born a Pokémon. “So cool, I didn't think I’d be able to.” With a twinkle in his eye he moved back to snuggle against Nao, feeling sort of pleased with himself. Now with a sense of peace returning to the area it left them with time for questions and hopefully some answers, for both sides. Turning to face Grace and Rocky the two Meowstics would look them over, Jayce would bow to the two. “Sorry we didn't arrive sooner to help, but it seems you found your friend and a few more.” The moans and groans from the other townsfolk could be heard from the where they were standing. Grace and Rocky took a moment to look at each other then back at the strange creatures. “Yeah…thank you and all.” It was Grace speaking now. “And I mean it, saving us from those things, you didn't have to. But what are you?” Rocky nodded his head vigorously in agreement; he even kept Grace in front of him as some sort of protection. The question though got odd looks from Jayce and Nao, who in turn looked at each other and once again mimicked each other. “Oh Arceus…”