//------------------------------// // Ch.3 Flashback with a side of eggs // Story: Pokemon, A Whole 'New' Frontier // by CroixAura //------------------------------// By the time Grace returned from the kitchen Nurse Joy had been moved to the top of the pillow instead of being half on and half off, but now it seemed it was just her and Jayce left awake. “Well I don’t know what happened while I was gone, but I don’t think we can have a conversation…” From behind the mare the kettle she’d just put on was beginning to whistle. “At least there’s something we can do until they wake up.” And so the two had an early lunch, green tea was served and small sandwiches were set on the table for ready consumption. Having no clue what ponies ate Jayce had to choose the ones that looked edible. Really it just ended up with him eating bread with cucumbers, which was not a sandwich it was…bread with a cucumber. ‘If only I had my bag…’ Jayce was left wanting more and who could really blame him, ponies didn’t eat meat and what they had readily available was hay, grass, and other fruits and vegetables. He didn’t have a problem with fruits and vegetables it was the principle of not being able to serve them with stew or meat or well anything consisting of real flavor. Silence prevailed for a few minutes before Grace decided to speak up. “So...with your wife-“ What little tea Jayce had been sipping at that moment shot out of his mouth and his eyes instantly went to the unconscious Joy. “Wife no…” Shaking his head he actually felt a little bad with how fast he rebutted that comment, if they were back in their world that comment alone would have been means for investigation. “Girl friend?” Grace hadn’t expected that reaction though there was a saying about assumption that might have fit right there. Jayce couldn’t deny that one and so he tapped on the table once while saying. “Yeah.” Which in turned wounded like meow to Grace. With a sigh he scooted a little closer to Nao as his current position had him sitting right between the two pokemon. The tapping however did give Grace an idea. “I know how we can talk. Since you can understand what I’m saying I can ask you questions in return you tap once for yes and twice for no.” Brilliant she thought to herself, at least they wouldn’t be eating in silence. “Let’s see…” There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask but right now she was noticing how Jayce was picking at the food. “Are you a vegetarian?” Tapping twice he would shake his head before opening his mouth, inside were a few pointy teeth. All the better to eat fish with and to bite those who annoyed them, Meowstics were pretty awesome. That thought actually made him cringe, a paw went to his left arm where Nao had bitten him a few years ago for a prank gone bad. “Ehehe…never again.” Grace didn’t flinch at the sight of teeth, knowing they were cats of some sort she’d been expecting them. “Then you’re omnivores?” Having seen him eat some of the sandwiches she’d quickly ruled out carnivores. One tap and a smile later Jayce began to hope the pony actually had some sort of meat around, wouldn’t that be nice? “I thought so, sadly we’re mostly vegetarian.” Reaching a hoof up Grace would tap her chin to think. “I may have a few eggs left from breakfast.” Standing up she would walk back towards the kitchen, Jayce would follow behind to take a look. The kitchen was quite spacious as it held a decent sized fridge, a large stove, a number of shelves and counters. On an island in middle of the kitchen sat a brightly decorated cake in one of those glass displays, a sign on it said ‘don’t touch’. Skirting the island Grace went straight to the fridge and pulled it open, inside was a bottle of milk, some vegetables, and on the door was two eggs. Reaching for the eggs Grace would have to stop, the eggs vanished from where they’d been sitting. “What the…” Turning she saw Jayce holding the eggs in his paws no more than a few paces away from her, he was holding them up to the light inspecting them. “Are you going to eat those raw?” A twitch had appeared over her left eye, the thought of eating eggs raw was making her a bit ill. However Jayce shook his head and started wondering around the kitchen looking for cooking utensils. “Going to make Nao some eggs, then she will be a happy Nao and a happy Nao makes Jayce happy.” Talking to himself always seemed to help and wasn’t weird in the slightest, nope. Soon there was a frying pan on the stove with a spatula. “Do you know how to cook?” Asking nervously as she took a step back, a cooking cat was something Grace wanted to see but it also scared her a bit… Looking back with a grin he would flip on the stove, a stove was a stove after all and they worked about the same no matter what world you were in. “Can I cook? Ha, I cook every day and I’ve never once had a complaint.” Not entirely true, Nao had been a pretty harsh judge for a while but that urged him to get better. With a crack the eggs were soon sizzling on the frying pan and Jayce watched them like a hawk. “I might not like eggs but I know how to cook’em.” Grace didn’t understand a word Jayce said. “I’m going to assume you are explaining what you are doing.” Curiosity got the better of her and she ended up inching closer to the stove to watch the cat cook the eggs. Choosing to be helpful Grace would pull a plate down from one of the cabinets and set it next to the cooking Meowstic whom gave an appreciative nod. Sunny side up didn’t take terribly long to cook, long enough for him to poke the eggs and then transfer them to the plate provided. Jayce looked proud of himself and Grace looked surprised that he was actually able to cook. “Wow I didn’t expect you to be able to cook.” There was a lesson in there somewhere about judging a book by its cover, or rather a cat by its fur. Grabbing the plate he’d lift it above his head and jump off the counter, the look on his face saying he landed a bit wrong. “I’m not used to this yet…” With gritted teeth he started to walk back towards the foyer, at least the eggs weren’t scrambled or else they’d have ended up all over the floor. “My plan is going along smoothly, Nao will smell the eggs then she will wake up to eat the eggs. Yep my master plan is flawless!” Of course there was no way to know for sure, yes this tactic had worked in the past but not every time he did it. Once the eggs ended in his face which left him flailing for a good half hour, they were hot of course but mostly because he REALLY didn’t like eggs. Padding into the room Jayce would set the eggs down on the table to debate on the best way to do this, Grace simply followed behind to watch what he was doing. “Let’s see…I could…no that would be bad…oh…no that could be dangerous.” Eventually he would decide to place the plate on the floor next to Nao then position himself so that her head was resting on his legs. From here he would gently fan at the eggs so that the smell would waft towards Nao’s nose. “Come on love, breakfast is ready.” Watching Jayce try to wake Nao brought a smile to Grace’s lips, she had expected him to make the food for himself. “Awww” The scene was cute and loving, too much so for words to describe. Instead of interrupting further she would find her spot at the table and sit, hoping it would wake Nao up. The reaction wasn’t as quick or explosive as one might suspect, it started with a twitchy nose and a flutter of ears. From there Nao turned her head from one side to the other before her eyes would slowly start to open though stopping for a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room. “Jayce..those better be sunny side up…” A light groan would escape her as she looked up, from here she could see his face and that brought a little bit of a smile. Then Nao remembered where she was and sat straight up, her somewhat cold demeanor returning. “Breakfast now.” However Jayce clung to Nao as she sat up. “No good morning hug or kiss?” Making a pouty face he snuggled against Nao. “And I went through the trouble of making breakfast.” Perking her ears up Nao would look between Grace, eggs, Joy, and Jayce, repeating the process twice more before letting out a sigh. Without a word she would peck Jayce on the cheek then grab the eggs as if she’d just claimed victory. Jayce beamed brightly as Grace started laughing “Do you ever feel like you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have?” Normally Grace wouldn’t have laughed at something like that but the expression on Nao’s face and reaction made the moment feel priceless. “You two could probably stand to be a bit more.” Pausing for a second to think she’d finish up with. “Like a couple?” She had found it odd that Nao looked so emotionless sometimes and others did her best to not show affection. Having been about to dig into the eggs provided Nao glared at the pony for a moment. With a little bit of a grow she flapped her ears for a moment to re-establish the mental connection, after all only one pony shouldn’t be too hard and she only needed to translate their words. “It’s complicated.” Jayce just kept quiet, he quite liked where he was at this moment. While it was indeed complicated, and the passed out Nurse Joy might be one reason, she was not the only reason why their relationship was complicated before. A smile stayed on his lips as he rested his chin on Nao’s shoulder, it was so very soft and fluffy especially with fur tuft around her neck. “Love is love, there’s nothing complicated about it.” That’s the way most ponies were raised anyway and so Grace thought it to be true. “Simple.” Nao looked back at Jayce before taking a bite of the eggs, the moist yoke popping as her teeth broke through. It was amusing to watch Nao eat because sometimes she would eat with forks and sometimes when she wanted to be lazy or busy she would just float whatever it was she was eating to her mouth. This happened to be the latter and so when the egg popped it sort of leaked on the table and plate, somehow missing her body entirely. It was Jayce to answer and his voice seemed a bit low. “Nothing is ever as simple as it should be.” Tilting his head up he would look Grace in the eyes with his piercing green eyes. “If I were a Meowstic originally then…yes we could have been together and nobody could or would have stopped us.” It was about time they started getting more information about where they were and to do that he would share first. Confusion crossed Grace’s face, he looked like a kitty now so what had he been before? The kitten perhaps? “What do you mean; you look like you go together.” “Before we were here I was human…” Nao seemed to go rigid when he said that, the conversation might be going in a direction that would cause Jayce distress. “And close relationships with Pokémon were illegal.” His voice continued to be low as his eyes shifted back to the Nurse Joy who thankfully was still unconscious, that was another problem he’d rather not deal with at this moment. Blinking and clearing her throat Grace looked a little dumbstruck, she didn’t know what a human was but it sounded like something was wrong with them. “That doesn’t-“ There was a sharp look from Nao that said to stop, it was a sensitive subject. “Um…” She scrambled for another question to ask and the most logical had to be. “How did you two meet?” For most the question would have brought smiles and over all sense of good feelings, for them this wasn’t the case. By this point Nao had finished the eggs and her frown had remained but now Jayce had a frown on his face. “I don’t want to talk about it.” There was a twinge of something in the way he said it, sadness perhaps? Finally Nao would have to speak up while Jayce buried his face in the scarf like tuft of fur around her neck. “There’s more to that story than you’d expect and it’s not a happy one, not for Jayce.” Pushing up from Jayce’s lap she would walk around the table until she was right in front of Grace, staring at her as if trying to determine something. “I have seen it from his perspective and my own, I can show it to you if you wish to know but I won’t subject Jayce to it.” Jayce was left grasping at the pillow, somewhat unaware she had actually gotten up. “I’m going to go sit outside I think, don’t worry I won’t wonder around or anything.” He was grateful that Nao was able to handle it, there were some things he refused to relive and those days before meeting Nao were it. Grace looked between the two for a moment; something bad had to have happened for Jayce to act like this. After all the entire time here he’d been happy go lucky and downright silly at some points. “I…if I’m going to side with you.” And possibly alienate herself to the entire town. “I would like to know, if anything I’d like to know how things worked where you were from.” And somewhere deep inside her curiosity was getting to her and hopefully curiosity didn’t kill the pony. Once the sound of the door opening and closing was heard Nao would open her ears, revealing the eye shaped symbols in side. “I don’t do this often, but do not fight me.” To Grace it would seem like these psychic organs would glow and pulse as her world slowly began to go black. Jayce found himself sitting at the edge of his bed in the morning; the light was filtering into his room from behind a closed curtain which painted the white walls of his room a light blue. In his hands he held a pamphlet which was currently opened to a picture of three Pokémon; the three were Froakie, Fennekin, and a Chespin. At thirteen he was already a few years late in starting his own journey but that was more because he didn’t want to go on a journey rather than not ready to go. “But I don’t want to go…” On the floor next to his bed sat a stuffed backpack and a jacket, on top of the backpack sat a leather fedora looking hat. “Try not to worry honey, the professor won’t be in town till next week.” His mother said as she walked in, with long brown hair and sharp blue eyes she looked like a beautiful young woman, too young to have a child so many have pointed out. Walking over she would set down a neatly ironed shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. “You know we love you but sitting at home with mommy all day isn’t healthy for a boy your age.” It was a conversation they had often over the last three years, it wasn’t Jayce’s fault he loved his parents and didn’t want to leave them. “Go on and get cleaned up, we have to be at the dock in a few hours.” That’s right he thought, his expression brightening a bit as he took the clothes. Today his father’s boss was throwing a party on his boat, the S.S. Summer, to celebrate a year of ‘progress’ as he had called it. Really it just seemed like an excuse to throw a party for a project no one really knew about, maybe to make the employees feel like they were important or something. But party it was and party they shall do in dress attire! “I’m going to wear my hat.” It wasn’t up for debate, it was a choice that was his to make and his alone and darn it he was going to wear it. His mom ruffled his hair with a little chuckle. “Alright honey just make sure to wash your hair, it gets oily if you don’t.” She would leave the room after that to finish getting ready as well. Once she was out of the room Jayce would put the paper down and grab a towel from the back of a nearby chair. “I wonder if there’s going to be a lot of food.” Wondering to himself as he walked into the hall only to be stopped a moment later after tripping over his mothers Furfrou who yelped then barked happily as it noticed Jayce. This would have been nice if Jayce was a dog person, he didn’t hate dogs they just never really got a long all that well. “Ugh…Frofro…stop barking please…” Frofro barked a few times, wagged his tail, and took off down the hall as he heard something fall. He was an energetic dog even if his hair was too long and often tripped over it. Good for him. A few hours passed and before long Jayce would find himself walking down a dock with his mom and dad, Frofro was of course pulling up the rear. The breeze coming off the water was nice but chilling which caused him to pull his coat all the tighter while his mom and dad chuckled about something. Ahead of them sat the majestic looking S.S. Summer, it was done up in reds and oranges with lights highlighting windows and other sections. “Wow it looks like it’s on fire.” The lights seemed to move and flicker, they were really well done. His father, a lean looking man with a trimmed beard looked down at him and grinned. “Of course it does, the boss man likes to be big and flashy.” Pointing ahead he would continue on. “I’m sure he’s dressed just as flashy too, I think you’ll like him.” Excitement filled Jayce’s eyes as he jogged down the dock, leaving his parents behind just a bit. The boat was huge! At the ramp looked a rather plump looking man, his hair was done back in a slick way and was died an amazingly bright shade of red. “Oh ho ho what do we have here? Someone little and full of energy? Do you know what that means.” Crouching down he’d offer a hand to the kid. “It means you’re here for a party of course!” Looking past Jayce and he’d wave to the man and woman who of course return the wave with their own. “Come! Come aboard, treats and music await you for a night you won’t forget!” From there the man led the family up the ramp and from the sound of the ramp being pulled up they were the last to board. On deck music was blaring, lights were dancing, and food was sizzling on grills placed at the end of the deck. People crowded here and there and when the boat started to move towards the river everyone cheered, the boat ride was beginning. Jayce and his parents mingled until the sun started to sink in the sky and the moon began to rise. By the time the sun was gone however Jayce was sitting at the back of the boat away from the noise and light with his hat pulled down over his eyes. “Ladies and gentlemen, children, the moon is starting to sink and the light is starting to dim. What does that mean? Fireworks of course!” Applauds went around as it seemed the night was starting to tie down. “Before that I would like to thank everyone for your hard work over the last year. A lot has come from it even if you have been kept in the dark.” Fireworks started to go off behind him, highlighting the sky nicely but it also highlighted the helicopter above as well. A rope ladder would drop down from the helicopter and he would reach up to grab it. Violent explosions rocked the boat as the fat man spoke, those closer to the first explosions were killed violently while the rest were sent scrambling to the deck. Jayce was thrown from the seat he was on and on to the deck, hitting the ground hard enough to hear something crack. “Agh!” “Sadly you will not be around to see the fruits of your labor. Fair well.” The helicopter began to pull away from the boat and the man seemed to fly behind it while grasping the ladder. The moment he was away from the ship more explosions went off through the boat, horrid shrieks and screams of death filled the air. A frantic barking raced through the ship which roused the boy from his pain filled stupor. Frofro looked pained and covered in injuries as he began to push Jayce towards the edge of the rapidly sinking boat. Jayce could barely open his eyes now, the pain was horrible and a sick sensation was filling him. “Fro..fro..where’s mom?” Something was wrong, it wasn’t just him who was hurt from this and now Frofro was trying to save him. “Fro…get mom it hurts.” Glancing down to his side there was a trail of blood and he couldn’t tell if it was coming from him or Frofro, probably both. “Fro-“ A final explosion sent him hurdling over the edge, arms outstretched towards Frofro as he plummeted towards the cold water below. The river’s current swept him away; the last thing he saw of the boat was flames as it sank, the sight would forever be burned into his mind. Ten whole minutes he was in the water being thrashed about by the current and the debris from the ship which floated down stream. Before long Jayce washed ashore, his body covered in cuts, bruises, and blood with his consciousness fading in and out. Sand and dirt greeted him; here he laid for what seemed like an hour before Pokémon started to poke around to see what had happened. The first Pokémon to appear were Oddish and Sentret and soon they were followed by Audino. Each one showed concern for the child that was hurt but none dared to get too near; what if whatever caused this to him was still nearby? Curiosity did seem to snag one of the smaller on lookers as an Espurr poked it’s head out of a nearby bush. “Espurr? Es es espurr.” It appeared to be asking questions or trying to get the others to act. The responses it got back didn’t seem to sit well as the Espurr puffed out it’s chest and wiggled it’s ears. “Espurr!” The look on Espurr’s face and the voice made it clear that she was trying to get the others to act, using Leer and Disarming voice. Whether or not what the Espurr said or rather fear of it the other Pokémon moved forward to pull the boy away from the cold water and into the slightly warmer forest, just in time for a helicopter with spotlights to pass over. The Oddish and Sentret did their best to take care of his wounds while the Audino and Espurr gathered berries and fruits for when the boy woke. The night air was cool though and on the second return Espurr decided to stay behind to try and keep the boy warm. Through the night the other Pokémon left to return to their homes and families and yet Jayce didn’t move much, only once to turn over and cling to Espurr. Morning would come and the early rays of light peaked through the forest’s canopy above, rousing Jayce from his pain and nightmare filled dreams. By now, thankfully, the bleeding had come to a stop leaving behind aches and sore limbs. “No…it’s too early…” He groaned as he buried his head a bit deeper in the Espurr’s fur, though the feel of it confused him. Jayce didn’t have a pillow that felt like this. Tilting his head up he would look around and the night’s events would slowly pop in his head. “Mom…Dad?” Jayce sounded hoarse and his voice was quickly filling with panic as he looked around. “No no no no.” Trying to stand up just wasn’t going to happen as pain shot through him as soon as he tried; the leg was broken or at least fractured somewhere. Espurr would awaken to the panic stricken boy and would immediately try to calm him down the only way she knew how. It would sit there and look absolutely adorable. “Espurr.” It’s when it noticed him trying to stand and falling down in pain that got Espurr to act. Popping up it would shout “Esssspurr! Esp purr!” Its voice echoed throughout the forest loudly, causing rustling from a number of bushes which soon had Pokémon coming out of them. Suddenly the Oddish and Sentret were back with branches, vines, and leaves and moving to help with the wounds they might have missed. Jayce found himself utterly surrounded by Pokémon who were poking and prodding him here and there, binding and splinting whatever might have been broken or fractured. There were no Nurse Joys out here for wild Pokémon and so they watched out for one another, thus why they were able to help Jayce. In minutes Jayce was back up on his feet with a proud looking Espurr helping hold him up on the uninjured leg. Even while grief tore at his hear there was a sense of amazement starting to fill him, if this was how Pokémon were then perhaps he should have started his journey earlier. “T..Thank you” His voice was quiet as he stumbled towards the beach, following the drag marks left by his own body. The scene though brought back memories from the previous night, debris had washed ashore including bodies. “…” Stepping back repeatedly he beat a hasty retreat while trying not to scream and shout, Espurr was left clinging to his leg. He did indeed scream as he ran. Jayce didn’t stop running, limping rather, until he could no longer breathe. “Why…” Now he was lost and confused but not for long! Espurr to the rescue! Flapping her ears Espurr would attempt to connect with Jayce, it was most definitely a she with the sound of her voice. “Stop please.” The very sudden intrusion on his mind and adorable voice was enough to cause Jayce to go head over heels, literally. Tumbling he ended with the Espurr in his lap and staring at him with those saucer like eyes almost like she was staring into his soul. Or something. “Who’s there?” Turning back and forth he tried to find whoever said that though his head would eventually stop at the Espurr. “Was that you?” “Yes. Help you.” Expurr turned her head to the side a bit and offered a smile. Moving to the side she would pat his leg where the splint was. “Better?” Jayce stared at the small kitty Pokémon, he could help himself from bending down and picking her up. “No I’m not better…I…my parents are gone” Tears pricked at his eyes again, he would bury his face in Espurrs fur in an attempt to not. “I’m alone.” There wasn’t any way his parents could have survived that as he had barely survived with the help of Frofro. “Why’d you have to save me Frofro?” While no one wanted to die it had to be better than living with this didn’t it? Espurr tried her best to hug him though her arms prevented a real hug from where she was. “Not alone, I’m here.” Basic communication was the best she could do and even this seemed to strain her. But clearly the boy was distressed and she didn’t want that. She was worried however that the reason why he was sad had to do with the big explosion yesterday. He stopped to stare at the fluff ball in his arms, his eyes widening a bit before asking. “Will you stay with me?” Being alone was something he didn’t want to be right now, he was barely holding on from breaking down and losing whatever composure he had. “Please…” She thought about it for a moment before nodding her head, Espurr had wanted to get out of the forest for a while. It wasn’t really a fun place to be anymore since most of the Pokémon were somewhat afraid of her after the last incident, it wasn’t her fault a 300 foot radius was sudden blasted into the forest. Scolipedes were scary enough said. Besides it seemed like he really needed someone or some Pokémon to be with him and he was hugging her despite the inherent danger. “Yes.” “Thank you so much.” Squeezing Espurr he would start to walk a bit, looking only mildly surprised that she did squeak. “Now then I think you need a name, you’re too cute to not have a name.” It was also a process to distract him from what was going on around him. “Fluffy?” Espurr shook her head repeated at the bad name. “No Now.” Scratching his chin Jayce would continue to think about it. “Squeak?” After all she had squeaked after being squeezed so maybe that could be a thing? “No Now.” There was a bit of annoyance seeping into her tone now, Jayce had horrible ideas for names. “With me, Now.” Jayce hummed at that, he wasn’t quite getting it but decided to go with it. “Now then but I’m going to spell it N-a-o that way it sounds like a name.” Or is at least written like one whenever he actually managed to get a Pokéball. “But…we have to find an officer Jenny and go home…” The world eventually reasserted itself beneath Nao and Grace, Nao’s ears would close as she cut the connection to the memory while leaving Grace looking sad and confused. “That is how-“ Something funny about sharing memories the way Nao had done it was the fact one tended to lose track of what was happening in reality. This meant that someone could move things around, paint something on your face, bounce around, or be prepared to pounce and glomp behind you. Jayce had taken his time to make sure he was in the perfect spot for the attack and when Nao’s ears closed he made his attack. “Glooooomp!” Calling out as he tackled her from behind and glomped her ear, the shade of red Nao went was priceless and well worth the psychic shout that was coming. “Jayce!” She put as much force behind it she could but still Jayce would not budge from his position, the shade of red continued to deepen. Of course Nao’s weak spot were her ears. Grace had to stand up from the table, something horrible had happened to one of these creatures she was starting to think of as friend. “I…I’m going to make lunch.” Shuffling away from the table the clock in the room would strike noon which only prove to hasten her steps. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Once through the kitchen doors tears started to stream down her face. She doubted there was a pony in all of Equestria that wouldn’t have shed a tear at that story unless they were being held in the deepest darkest cell in Canterlot. From Beneath Jayce Nao began to turn over so that she was facing him, even her eyes seemed to have emotion in them. “Jayce…” The psychic connection breaken once Grace was out of eye shot or ear range as it were. Then he did something unexpected, Jayce kissed her. “I love you Nao.” “I love you too.” Her arms reached out to hug him just as she had tried so many years ago, this time able to wrap around him.