“What’s happening brother?!” Flim shouted to Flam over the noise.
“I don’t know! Monsters are attacking us I think!” Flam called back as he cowered beneath the Patented Flim Flam Brothers Monster Cage.
“Bunch of beasts!” Flim replied. “We were just trying to keep them from tearing the city appart! There’s no reason for them to attack us!”
The banging, roaring, and stomping outside increased as something tried to pry the bars of the cage apart.
“Hah, they don’t realize that we’re the only ones with the key and that it would take a pair of full grown dragons to tear that cage apart!” Flam stated with a grin. “Now then, let’s get out of here, brother!”
Flim was about to agree when he felt something hard and fleshy close around his ankle and yank him out from under the cart. Flam let out a cry of surprise as he saw his brother yanked away before he too was lifted high into the air above the chaos by... the most adorable thing they’d seen since the last Parasprite. At least, that was the initial impression that Lex gave them until the fact that he was quite literally shivering with absolute rage.
“WHERE IS IT!” he roared at them. Of course, all they heard was “SYL! SYLVEON!”
“LET US DOWN!” Flim shouted as he saw a rather large golden dragon/beast slam the side of its head into a trio of guardponies, flinging them into the air as three dozen random ponies tried to escape from the maelstrom of conflict and chaos that was consuming the square.
“We want the key to the cage!” Kasai barked angrily at them. “Arc! Arc! Arcanine!”
“Brother! They’re going to kill us!” Flam shouted as he tried frantically to pull the flesh ribbon off of his ankle where it was securely wrapped, only to have his head slammed against his brothers, filling their ears with a painful ringing.
“Give us the key!” Lex demanded again as Abby dodged an incoming net and launched a small Ember of fire the offending guard.
She wasn’t having quite as much luck as Axel was, after all, Axel had a variety of ways to avoid severely injuring the guards who were swarming the area. All she really had at the moment was fire, and she barely really knew how to control that. Still, the Ninetales was doing fairly well all things considered. At the very least, she’d been able to set up a protective ring of fire between the guard ponies and the cage itself with Axel and herself covering the singular gap in the temporary ‘fortification’ though Arceus alone knew how long that would last.
As all this was happening, Rill continued her efforts to escape but no matter what she attempted, nothing was capable of even denting the bars! The Flygon was growing extremely anxious. Her family was out there fighting for her and she was stuck within a steel cell!
Lex meanwhile, had grown tired of questioning the pair and instead his ribbons had begun to quickly ruffle through their clothing, searching for anything hard and metallic.
“Oh dear, this is incredibly bad! The creature is trying to find the key!” Flim shouted as he tried to shake himself out of Lex’s hold. “If it does that then we’re as good as eaten by these monsters!”
“Have faith brother! We can get out of this yet!” Flam replied as his horn began to glow and he telekinetically grabbed ahold of Lex and threw him.
The Sylveon let out a startled shout as he was flung ten feet away, landing inches away from Abby’s roaring wall of flames. Unfortunately for Flim and Flam, it appeared that throwing someone who is currently constricting you with things attached to his body is a bad idea.
The brothers slammed face first into the ground on the opposite side of the wall of flames, the ribbons of flesh retreating from the extreme heat. Without hesitation they sprang to their hooves, well, after they remembered that they had hooves and the pain faded.
“Run for it brother!” Flim shouted, turning his back on the wall of fire and beginning to run.
He didn’t make it particularly far.
Kasai’s great weight barreled into him and knocked the unicorn to the asphalt, his jaws closing around Flim’s neck as a growl more resembling a clap of thunder or an erupting volcano vibrated around the poor stallion’s gullet, pushing the dagger sharp teeth into the flesh a little. Flim froze in place, an overwhelming sensation of fear flooding his every atom. He was a buisness pony not a guard! This shouldn’t happen to him! He wasn’t made for it.
Lex landed beside Kasai with a slight ‘plop’ as his ribbons retracted back to him after being used to ‘pull vault’ over the flames. Flam, who was staring at his brother’s predicament with equal amounts of fear and anxiety turned to face him, a look of anger crossing his face. Here was the one who had gotten his brother into this situation! The unicorn’s horn lit up but before it could fire off a telekinetic blast at the Sylveon, Lex’s ribbons shot out and slapped him five times across the face, making the stallion flinch. Before Flam could recover, the ribbons twirled around him and he found himself floating in mid air, being held up by four ribbons of pink flesh.
“Okay, you’re going to tell me how to get my mate back or I’m going to tear off your leg and shove it down his throat!” Lex shouted, pointing a paw at the frozen Flim.
Flam was going to reply by screaming when suddenly a new voice presented itself. It was deep, powerful, and one hundred percent mental.
“Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new.” The entire square fell silent. “I am Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokémon realm.”
From Flim and Flam’s point of view, these words meant next to nothing, but their effect on the monsters in the plaza was obvious. The ribbons holding Flam were suddenly dropped him to the hard asphalt and Flim let out a shout of pain as the Arcanine’s jaw’s tightened in surprise, his eyes widening.
“You have no reason to fear me, I come in peace.” Lord Arceus continued, the sensation of being spoken too within their minds too strange for Flim and Flam to put thought into anything but escaping. “I have revealed myself to inform you that I am the one responsible for the Pokémon’s presence in this world, for the citizens of Equus, the Pokémon are the beings who have appeared over the past few days.”
Abby’s mouth opened and closed twice. So... THAT was what happened!
“To my Pokémon, I say this, I brought you, all of you, here so that you could live in peace, do not seek to harm the natives of this world, for I am the one responsible for your displacement. And to the Pokémon who went through changes when I brought you here I say this.”
Abby blinked twice. Okay. That was another puzzle piece in place.
“You are the ones who proved themselves worthy, those who were fair, kind and good in the old world, consider this your reward. And to all of you, as sapients the laws of Equus, and the varying countries, now apply to you, and only the laws of Equus.
There was a pregnant pause.
“That is all for now, but just to be clear, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite, if you have a problem with what I’ve done, feel free to contact me, I currently reside in an ancient temple deep in the Everfree Forest, or a pocket dimension outside of the space time continuum, so if any of you wish to face the sheer power of a god, feel free to come by.”
Another pause.
“Goodbye for now, though I doubt this will be the last you hear of me, and peace to you all.”
The voice in their heads went silent and Abby glanced around the suddenly silent square.
The guards were staring at her team with looks of apprehension and fear, their Captain, a black and mare named Ace, studied the situation with narrowed eyes. Who were these creatures who had the ear of a God?
Honestly, Ace didn’t know, but one thing was for sure, attacking them head on had proved highly ineffective.
The mare silently went over what she knew already of the situation. Yesterday the golden one had tossed her officers around before being subdued by a traveling celebrity, odd how many times that happened in Las Pegasus, and now this morning they’d spotted a giant dog and fox respectively making their way through the city. At the same time, reports had been pouring in of strange monsters all over the city.
In a decision that she now regretted, she’d ordered her officers to attempt to apprehend some of the more dangerous looking monsters before they could cause any real havoc. All of that had lead her to this square, five extremely dangerous alien monsters standing in front of her, one of whom had a hostage.
Perhaps it was time for a different approach?
Before the guard captain could give a single order, a certain mint green unicorn walked up to the monsters, particularly the strange fox with nine tales. “Hia, I’m Lyra,” the mare said with a casual smile. “I think all of us might have gotten off on the wrong hoof huh? Would you like me to cast a translation spell on you? I didn’t study at Celestia’s just for the music after all.”
Abby blinked twice before cocking her head to the side. “Translation spell?”
“Mhm,” Lyra replied, nodding her head. “It’ll last around an hour and let you talk to anypony you want.”
“...” Abby stared silently at her for a moment before nodding her head. “Sure... make it so we can talk to everyone.”
Lyra smiled and her horn glowed.
Abby frowned, she didn’t feel any different than she normally did. “Umm... did it work?”
“Yep,” Lyra said, a grin on her face. “Heh! Chock another point up for Lyra Heartstrings, master of music and caster of magic!” She frowned for a moment. “Well, okay, any unicorn can do that second one but hey, no one else thought to cast a translation spell on ya so I can take credit for it too!”
Abby blinked twice and then nodded her head. “Sure, you do that. Thank you for the help,” she said stiffly before she stalked over to the two unicorns who Kasai and Lex were restraining, the Slyveon having retaken his hostage. “Okay, I’m going to ask you once, politely, and only once, where is the key to Rill’s cage?”
“....” was all Flim had to say, Kasai’s powerful jaws still digging painfully into his throat.
“I-I have it!” Flam exclaimed from within Lex’s fleshy grasp. “Just-just let my brother go and it’s all yours!”
“Where is it?” Lex demanded, his voice dark. “Tell me where it is!”
“Le-left pocket!” Flam answered shakily, his eyes widening as the skin crawling sensation of Lex’s tendril working it’s way up his body until he reached the pocket and withdrew a shiny steel key.
Flam was then tossed to the side with very little care and Lex sprinted over to the cage, the key fitting into the lock and the door being pushed upon by Rill in almost the same moment as the shiny Flygon rushed out.
“Oh Lex! I was worried!” she exclaimed as she scooped the smaller Pokemon into her forearms and brought him against her chest, her face nuzzling him and giving him affectionate little nips with her jaws as Lex’s ribbons wrapped around her and he returned the nuzzle.
“You were worried about me?” Lex replied once she’d finished nuzzling him. “You were the one in the cage!”
“Yes I was,” she said obviously. “You are a great deal smaller than me and thus at a much greater chance to come to harm.” Lex gave her a slightly sour look but let it go and simply held onto her.
Abby smiled before she glanced over at Kasai who was still resolutely pinning Flim to the ground with his jaws, displaying no intention of letting the one who had put one of his family in a cage go.
“Kasai, let him go,” Abby ordered before turning to Axel who was glaring at the guards. “And Axel, relax; we’re turning ourselves in!” she shouted over to the guards. That announcement caused a moment of silence before a mare in golden armor with a black mane stepped forwards.
“Well then, you’re under arrest for resisting arrest, assault on several dozen officers of the law, endangerment of civilians-” the officer continued on to list several dozen other laws that they’d broken, Abby’s ears getting lower and lower with each one. “-and last but not least, destruction of a cabbage cart.”
“... wow, that’s impressive,” Abby complemented the officer once the oppressive list had ended. “Way to juggle all of those in your head, Ma’am.”
The mare frowned for a moment as she tried to decide whether or not Abby was serious before deciding to just take the compliment. This mess was going to give her a headache to sort out, she didn’t need to get into a shouting match with a fox.
“Thank you... now would you and your... friends please follow us to the Police Station so that I can get started on the truly monstrous amount of Paperwork you’ve caused me?” the Captain asked with a long sigh.
“Sure, be glad to be somewhere familiar,” Abby said with a smile before glancing back at her Team. “Come on guys, don’t do anything unless someone attacks you.”
Ace gave her a glare.
“... don’t do anything even if someone does attack you and let the police handle it,” Abby amended sheepishly.
Ace let out a small grunt of acknowledgement, it was something that she’d picked up during her long years of service in the guard. The majority of communication was done through grunts, grumbles, and occasionally swears. To her surprise, the fox replied in with a small grunt of her own.
“Long day?” the fox inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes. And it’s only noon,” Ace grumbled as she and her cadre of guard ponies encircled Abby’s ‘Team’. “Oh, and Sgt. Blackjack, arrest those two stallions,” she added with a nod at Flim and Flam who had only now begin to recover.
“FOR WHAT?!” Flim shouted. “That beast had my brother’s throat in his mouth!” he added, pointing at Kasai who had fallen in beside Abby.
“Well, let’s see here,” Ace began, unphased by the outrage. “I don’t remember seeing you submit a request for a permit to house a live dragon in the middle of a busy square. Actually, there is no permit for such a thing because it is illegal to house any kind of sapient creature in a cage for the purpose of display.”
“How were we supposed to know that it was-”
“The law doesn’t care if you knew or not,” Ace replied, cutting them off sharply. “Now would you like to add resisting arrest to the charges in my mind, or are you going to come quietly?”
Flim and Flam looked like they were going to protest for moment but instead shut their mouths and let Sgt. Blackjack lead them to the back of the party.
The entire group started forwards at a lurching pace and Abby smiled. They were going to the police station. Finally, something that made sense in this crazy place. Admittedly, they were under arrest, but Abby was sure that could be cleared up with a bit of talking. After all, the police mare was bound to be looking for someone who knew what they were doing as far as Pokemon went and if anyone could qualify for that, it was Abby.
“So... Ever heard of the Pokemon Rangers?”
“No.” Ace replied pointedly. “I’d never heard of a Pokemon before until that voice claiming to be a ‘god’ spoke in my head.”
“That was Lord Arceus actually,” Kasai informed her helpfully, more than a touch of reverence in his voice. “And believe me, he is very much a God.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ace stated flatly. “Now, who were these ‘Pokemon Rangers’ you were talking about?” she added, redirecting her gaze at Abby.
“The Pokemon Rangers were one of the police forces from where we’re from,” Abby explained. “We specialize in Pokemon Abuse cases, advanced criminal investigations, Manhunts, and... Pokephilia.”
“We?” Ace asked, glancing up at her and raising an eyebrow.
“Yep, me and my whole Team,” Abby replied with a smile as she glanced back at the four Pokemon who were trailing behind them, Lex balanced on Rill’s shoulder, a singular ribbon wrapped around her arm to help keep himself balanced.
“Wait, you’re telling me that you’re essentially international guardsmen for your world?” the mare asked, dumbfounded.
“Mhm,” Abby answered, nodding her head. “At least, I think so? I don’t wouldn’t call us ‘guardsmen’ but that sounds right. But yeah, and my Team in particular are some of the cream of the crop as far as Rangers go. The only others on our level are Solana, Lunick, and my teacher Scarlet. Well, Professor Hastings counts too, but he’s more of an overseer then a field agent.”
Ace was quiet for a moment before she asked. “So you’re an upper level field agent of these ‘Pokemon Rangers’ and your first instinct was to run from the authorities? Forgive me if I find that a bit odd.”
“In our defense, we just got here,” Kasai pointed out before Abby could speak, glancing down at the mare with a frown. “And Abby changed bodies! Give us a break.”
“... you switched bodies?” Ace asked, her eyebrow getting a bit higher as she looked at Abby.
“Yeah... I used to be human,” Abby answered as she wrapped two of her tails around Kasai’s and looked up at the mare. Ace glanced at her skeptically.
“She did,” Axel added loudly from somewhere in the back.
“Right...” Ace said and Abby couldn’t tell whether or not she believed her or was just trying to move the conversation along a little and not enrage the dragon again.
“Anyways, you’re right... neither Kasai nor I should have run. We should have sat down and waited until someone could come along who could understand us... or something. To tell the truth, the only type of Pokemon who can really ‘speak’ are psychic types,” the Ninetales continued before things could become too sidetracked.
Ace shut her eyes for a moment. It was going to be a long day. Then, she opened them, green orbs alert and awake. “Okay then, why don’t you start at the beginning.”