//------------------------------// // Ch.4 Departing // Story: Pokemon, A Whole 'New' Frontier // by CroixAura //------------------------------// Grace was left well alone in the kitchen to prepare and get over what she’d seen in those memories. She had recognized…well… no one really in the memory, but with the way they acted she assumed the hairless thing was Jayce and the small Espurr had been Nao. What shook her the most wasn’t that humans were weird looking. No, it was that someone could be cruel enough to kill the people who had worked for him without so much as a second thought. “Why?” Looking down at the sandwiches she’d been making Grace realized they’d have to be tossed; tears didn’t go well with hay. It was around this time that Nurse Joy started to rouse from her shock induced sleep. “What…where am I?” Bewildered and confused she poked up over the edge of the table just in time for Jayce and Nao to turn their heads. Being stared at by one Meowstic was creepy enough, especially if it was a female. To have two Meowstics staring at you as if they see your soul…that was just too much. Sliding a ways away, Joy would stare at the two and how very close they were. “What are you doing?” “Staring at you.” Was the unanimous decision between the two. Perturbed or disturbed, she couldn’t be quite sure which it was she felt, but Joy certainly felt something. “No no no before that, you know before I uh…” Looking around to try and find the time. She gave up after a few seconds. “Passed out.” There was a little bit of disappointment in her voice at her own weakness. Glancing from side to side Jayce decided to take advantage of the situation again and kiss Nao. “This and that but mostly this, that wasn’t all that fun. This though?” Again he would peck her but on the cheek this time. “This is soft and fun.” Wasn’t he just evil? The blush on Nao’s face though didn’t match the angry look she was trying to give Jayce. “Uh…you were doing this and I was doing that.” Trying to play along with Jayce’s natural silliness, it didn’t come so easy. The look on Joy’s face was priceless, stuck between shock, disgust, and confusion. “You two should be ashamed.” Trying to play the Nurse Joy she knew she was even if on the outside pleasantly plump was what others saw. “Pokémon and trainers shouldn’t be acting like that.” Poképhilia was a topic Joy tried to avoid at all costs, not because it was illegal but because she didn’t know how to feel about it. Waving his paw madly Jayce laughed. “Sure when the two weren’t the same but lookie.” Sitting up on top of Nao was difficult but he managed to do. “I’m so fluffy and adorable that I believe I am a Pokémon. There’s nothing wrong with one Pokémon loving another right? Hell of a thing breeders do if it is.” “No you’re not…” But they were Pokémon weren’t they? Nurse Joy would take a moment to look down at herself, to really look at herself. Everything from color to size told her the truth. “We are Pokémon aren’t we?” Defeat filled those precious eyes of hers and that stung even Nao. The poking had gone too far and soon Nao and Jayce were sitting next to Joy. “For some of us being a Pokémon isn’t a bad thing, I think I can be happier this way.” Jayce’s eyes seemed to widen as he grinned broadly, yep there was nothing but happiness in the way he looked. “Besides I’m adorable now and I have a tail…err…three tails.” Turning his head back he’d actually count his tails just to make sure Nao hadn’t pulled one off in her anger. Joy was left staring at the two Meowstic as Grace finally returned from the kitchen with a platter of food, nothing fancy some sandwiches and hay fries. “Sorry it took so long, I had some…trouble.” Her face though betrayed how calm she was trying to act as even now tears looked to have streaked her cheeks. “I didn’t have anything with meat but I did my best with these.” Setting the tray down she’d place a plate in front of each seat, two in front of Nao, and followed up with tea. “If you need anything else please ask." Food glorious food. Lunch appeared to be just what everyone needed even if the Pokémon dived in a bit slower. “Hey Grace.” Jayce had scooted a bit closer to the pony throughout the meal, somewhat worried about why she was sad looking and because he needed to tell her something. “I uh…was thinking that Nao and I might head back into the forest for a while. We have some friends missing and I’m a little bit more than worried about them.” A partial truth anyway though Nao was able to pick up on that. “Jayce what are you talking about?” She would ask without using the psychic connection to translate. “Well you see I was starting to think about Grace and the town a bit. The town seems pretty much deserted since we’ve come, so maybe if we leave the town, then the ponies will come out again.” Yes he was thinking of others again rather than himself. Turning back away from Nao and to Grace again he would continue. “Also I’m sorta used to carrying a bag, would you happen to have a small one I could have?” If Jayce could get away with the bag then he could carry useful things like medical supplies, food, and well a map. “Oh um…” The two cats wanted to go and for some reason it made her feel a bit sad. “Of course you need to find your friends.” Pushing up from the table she’d head over to the closet which was next to the front door. Inside were a number of coats, boots, and yes, some bags. Digging through the closet she’d pull out saddle bag after saddle bag, looking for something Jayce could use. Jayce and Nao watched as Grace dug through the closet Jayce would comment. “You don’t think she’s sad to see us go do you?” If Grace wasn’t sad to see them go then Joy certainly had some sort of feeling. “Where do you think you’re going?! If you get lost you’re supposed to stay put and I think we’re lost.” Creepily enough it looked as if Joy inflated a bit to make herself look a bit more intimidating. “You’re going to stay right here until this is fixed.” Normally most trainers would listen to a Nurse Joy since they generally wanted the best for the trainer. However Jayce wasn’t most trainers and only one person could boss him around, she just happened to sitting next to him. “Believe me when I say I mean no disrespect Nurse Joy but.” Jayce would look to Nao who simply nodded. “You’re not my boss and I really don’t have to listen. Now I have friends I want to find and I want to spend time with Nao.” While Joy was left to stare in awe at the two Meowstic, they proceeded to stand from the table and walk over to Grace. By now there was a small pile of bags next to the closet which seemed to be growing until it appeared Grace found something. “Ah ha here we go.” The bag in question wasn’t large but the strap was long enough that Jayce could wear it. “I remember this bag, it’s one my older brother used when he moved out a while ago.” Oh yes she remembered it now, her brother had wanted to try and carry absolutely everything to prove how strong he was and this bag was one that went around his neck. “You can adjust the strap too in case it’s too long.” The bag was exactly what Jayce had been hoping for and soon he had it around his small body. “Thank you so much Grace, you’ve been really nice.” But Grace wasn’t done being nice it seemed as she went back to her own packs and produced both the map and a canteen. “If you’re going somewhere, then you need to know where you’re going first. Also, water is important.” There was a large amount of berries in the forest which were edible and the ones that weren’t clearly looked poisonous. Quickly she would deposit the things into Jayce’s bag while trying to keep her smile sincere. “Do you have to leave now?” Both Jayce and Nao nodded their heads in unison. “Some of our friends are young and need our help.” “Besides, us being here is going to cause you problems with the other ponies around here.” Nao wasn’t going to let them just leave under false pretenses after all the truth rarely came back to bite them. “But you can keep the pink one.” Wait was that why they had decided to leave all of a sudden? “But you don’t need to go because of that. The other pony will come around just wait and see...” She reasoned, though inwardly she was face hoofing. Oh who was she kidding. If the other ponies had their way, there’d be a wall around the town to keep even strangers out. “Where will you go?” She asked as she gave up trying to convince them to stay. “If I remember the map right then…Canterlot? Those are mountains over there, and Hazel is a Skiddo...” he muttered, reaching up to tug at his ears as he’d have to think about that, assuming that Hazel was near the mountains could easily lead them away from him or any of his other Pokémon. “Maybe we’ll just wander around the woods for a while?” Nao simply gave a nod, wondering around wouldn’t be bad to get them used to the area and it might keep Jayce with her for a bit longer. “We’ll go back the way we came and walk around the town. That way, it might scare off some of the other Pokémon who might be curious.” He was already imagining the map and was plotting the path they would take. It wasn’t going to be a short walk and would more than likely take a day or so to walk it unless the train happened to come by. Oddly enough, he had no problem with hitching a ride on a train since the conductor probably wouldn’t know how to charge them. Looking between the two Meowstic Grace would walk up and throw her hooves around them. “I wish you the best of luck. Thank you for saving us.” She was going to say more when there was a rather loud and already obnoxious banging at the door. With a sigh Grace pulled away and walked to the door already knowing who it would be. Rocky stood at the door with the majority of his face wrapped in bandages, not that he needed them they were more likely just to keep the stallion quiet. “Heya Grace those cat things still here? Wanted to thank them for you know protecting us and all that?” With a broad grin he dropped a rock at the door and even though it appeared to be carved and made pretty the thing was still a rock. “Ah know what you’re thinking ‘Rocky it’s a rock’ and ah know that. The outside is a rock.” Rolling the thing over he would reveal a cork. “Filled it with soup, ain’t giving up on the soup thing yet.” Both Jayce and Nao just stared out the door and at the rock, it honestly look fairly heavy. Reaching out Nao would start translating for him as well. If the rock obsessed pony thought they would actually carry it with them then maybe he was a bit cracked. “Keep it for us please.” Nao really didn’t want it and was hoping that Grace would actually help them with this. “I would be happy to keep it for you.” Stepping around the thing Rock had brought she would start to roll it inside the house. “Rocky they’re actually getting ready to leave, lets walk them to the edge of town?” The soup holding rock weighed a good thirty pounds or so and was fairly hard to push but push Grace. “What’d you make this out of?” Yep it was inside the door and it could stay there! “Well rock of course, if you want to get technical then um…stone yep stone.” As if there was any other kind. “As long as I don’t have to leave town, last time didn’t go so well.” Then everyone seemed to turn around to look at Nurse Joy who hadn’t yet moved from the table. In fact she looked quite comfortable on the cushion with the tea. Her eyes danced between Jayce and Nao before turning her head away. “If you want to go and get lost I won’t stop you. I’m going to stay here in case someone else comes along.” “Please take care of Nurse Joy for us, we may not see eye to eye but she’s a good person in our world even if there are like thousands of them.” Grace looked down at Jayce as he explained and gave him that ‘what’ look. “Really thousands of them, there’s at least one at every Pokécenter. Family reunions have to be hectic I mean can you even imagine it? What’s really awesome is they all look exactly alike, confuses most new trainers.” No, no she couldn’t imagine it. Sure in Equestria there were some over populated cities like Manehatten but to think a single family had thousands of members? The Apples not included. “Um…okay she can stay as long as she needs…” Confusion aside if any other Pokémon came to town maybe Nurse Joy could talk them down or treat them if needed. Joy brightened a bit when she was welcomed to stay. “Thank you.” She was then promptly dropped from the link as Nao didn’t really care enough to include her. Grace started to walk back outside when she stopped at an idea. “Would you two mind waiting about ten minutes? I need to do something before you leave.” Jayce and Nao looked at each other as they’re eyes spoke wonders for each other before both turned back and nodded. “We can wait a few minutes for you Grace.” It would have felt wrong to not say good bye to the one pony that treated them nicely. With a warm smile Grace dashed off into town, leaving Rocky looking a bit more dumbfounded than he had been before. “While she’s gone ah can tell you about my soup! Now you might say ol Rock Soup how…” A long ten minutes this would be. Grace returned home half an hour later looking a bit smugger than she had earlier. On her back sat a new bag which clearly held a few things from the way it bulged. “Sorry it took me so long.” On the ground in front of her lay Rocky who seemed to be in some sort of daze and muttering to himself. Looking from him to the two Meowstic she only gave a sigh. “What did I miss?” “You don’t want to know but I don’t think Nurse Joy is coming out for a while.” Came the reply from Jayce who had his normal smile. “No really don’t ask, you really don’t want to know.” Nao however had a bit of an annoyed expression on her though it wasn’t that much different than the usual expression she held. “Idiot.” “Anyway..” Walking over to Jayce she’d pull open his bag again. “I got you something to snack on later.” The first thing into the bag was a box of cookies which was followed by a small book. “The book has a little bit about a few of the towns and some about the princesses.” The cover was marked with a unicorn symbol over what had to have been the shape of Equestria. The last thing which would be attached to the outside of the bag was a small lantern, something perhaps a foal might be able to carry in his or her mouth. “It gets dark in the forest fast so this should help.” The bag certainly felt heavier but the weight left him speechless. Grace was going out of her way to make sure that they’d have an easier time getting around even though they may or may not have knocked out Rocky. “I…thank you Grace this is really generous of you.” “If you were a bit bigger I could have done more but I didn’t want to weigh you down too much.” Then she would motion them to start going. “But there’s one more surprise or there had better be anyway.” What had she done? The pace they kept got them to the edge of town in a few minutes. Grace seemed to be in a little bit of a hurry but wouldn’t say why. Why was revealed when they made it to their destination, and the sight bewildered Jayce. In front of them stood the towns ponies who they had helped save from the forest, the foals were running about while the adults seemed to be chatting to one another. The foals were the first to catch sight of Jayce though they did they made a beeline straight at him, not to him but at him. Before they arrived Nao had but a moment to pull the bag from him before he was on the ground. “Save me! Their adorableness is going to kill me.” He would reach out in a rather dramatic fashion towards Nao who simply stepped away. “Traitor!” The Foals were on him now trying to pull him this way and that while the adults walked over and gave their thanks. Jayce couldn’t hear any of it as his ears were now the subject of glee for the foals… “I went around to the ones you helped save and told them you were leaving. This isn’t all of them but I think a good number showed up.” Grace walked over to the foals and pulled them off of Jayce so that he too could appreciate what had been done. “They wanted to see you off.” Each of the ponies bowed their head a bit and looked genuinely thankful for what had happened. An elderly stallion with a beard that almost dragged the ground stepped out from the crowd. “We also want you to know that you can come back any time. Don't worry about what the others think. Heck, we’ll whip the town into shape if we...” A long serious of coughs interrupted his speech but continue on he would. “have to.” Those around him agreed in earnest and even went so far as to pat him on the back which brought out more coughing. An overwhelming sense of joy came over Jayce even as Nao pulled the bag back around him. “Thank you every..” Turning he’d look at Grace to help fill him in, she mouthed the word pony. “Everypony. We’ll be sure to come back sometime soon.” Reaching down to take Nao’s paw he’d start walking towards the forest. “I can’t believe they did that, it makes me hopeful.” Turning back for only a moment he would wave to the ponies who he hoped to see again.