//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Fire&Flames Incorporated, aka trouble! // Story: A New World, Detective Style!!! // by Doctor D //------------------------------// “- and so, after encountering the truly ridiculous trio of thieves, my trusty sidekick sent them flying high!” Edgar pompously told his story while twirling his fake-stache “And so I once again aided in solving the mystery of the disappearing rice cakes! A humble feat, perhaps, but I will never forget the looks of gratitude in the townsfolks eyes, especially the children.” Bronze Beak chuckled lightly. “Sounds like you’ve got a knack for helping others. I can respect that.” He said sincerely. Acacia was less thrilled and had stopped listening a long time ago. Much to her relief they had reached their destination. “Okay here we are.” She said. They had come to a house that looked like it was built into a giant tree stump, which looked like it had seen better days. There were two windows in the front on both sides of an old wooden door. But something strange caught their eye. Some roughly egg shaped pink creature was standing in front of the door, and Edgar knew exactly what it was. “Well, this is curious.” He thought out loud. “What could a Chansey be doing here, I wonder?” “Another Pokèmon? Great.” Acacia said with a glint of intrigue and approached the Chansey. “Excuse me? What are you doing?” The Chancey turned around to look at who was talking. Acacia noted the egg it was carrying in a pouch in it’s stomach. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear you come.” Chansey said, her voice soft and kind. “I heard someone inside this tree being in distress, so I’ve tried to see what I could do to help.” Chansey looked a bit downcast afterwards. “Sadly, it seems I can’t get in to see what is wrong.” Acacia and Bronze looked at the Chansey oddly. Acacia was the first to speak. “Well, the one living here is… easily frightened, so maybe you should let us do things from here.” Chansey nodded and moved out of the way to give them room. Acacia walked up and knocked on the door exactly once and the response was immediate. “Go away!” The shrill voice of Scaredy Cat yelled in fright. “Cat, it’s me. Acacia. I just want to talk to you about something, so if you could come out-” She got cut off really quickly. “No! No outside! M-monsters everywhere… no!” Scaredy Cat yelled frantically. Apparently the presence of Pokèmon had not gone by her. Acacia sighed and stepped away from the door. “All yours, Bronze.” “Go and so your best, sir Griffon!”, Edgar chimed in before jumping off Acacia’s back to converse with the Chansey. “Greetings! Mind if I ask some questions?” Chancey smiled brightly at the Ditto. “Not at all.” “Very well then. First off, my name is Edgar Holmes, Pokèmon Detective extraordinaire..” He began, and as that was going on the Griffon was taking his chances with Scaredy Cat. First off he knocked on the door softly, so softly in fact it was hard to hear that he actually knocked twice in one movement. There was a moment of silence before Scaredy Cat whispered softly through the door. “B-bronzy?” “Yeah. It’s me.” Bronze Beak responded in a soft and kind tone. “Listen, Acacia really needs to talk to you.” “B-but… monsters… everywhere. I saw!” Scaredy Cat said fearfully, voice shaking a bit. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen them. They won’t hurt you.” Bronze said reassuringly. A moment passed in silence again until the sound of locks getting opened one after another could be heard. And Cat had a lot of locks, at least ten of them. Then the door slowly creaked open just a bit and Scaredy cat peeked out. “... A-are you s-sure? T-there’s h-hundreds...” She said, nervously looking about. Bronze Wing replied with a gentle smile. “Doesn’t matter. If they try, I’ll get ‘em.” For a moment is seemed like it was working as Scaredy Cat opened her door more and more. Then… “Good news everyone, I have gained knowledge!” Edgar yelled, jumping into view. The door was promptly slammed shut with a loud shriek. “I’ve come to tell you of my incredible findings and… why do you look at me like that?” “It’s a mystery.” Acacia said coldly as she and Bronze glared icicles at the Ditto. She then let out a frustrated groan. “Great, now she’ll never come out. This day can’t get any worse.” Even Bronze growled a bit at the outcome. “... Hold on, did I interrupt something?” Edgar had the gall to ask, only to be answered by two looks that could kill in a second were that possible. “... Ah, I see your contempt is growing. I… err..” He muttered, looking for a way out of this situation. Then he saw a Pokémon in the distance that might be the answer to his prayers. “Eureka! I have a plan!” In a second he was jumping off to talk to a creature that looked like a floating ball with a piece of fabric for a tail. Acacia and Bronze traded looks of dubiousness when Edgar returned, followed by a Chimecho. “Alright, this here will solve this matter. I guarantee it!” He got two doubtful glares, but Chansey clapped her hands in realization. “Oh, I see! That’s very clever.” “And how is that going to help?” Bronze asked, still doubting anything would work at this point. “Now, hold on. Let me show you my magnificent idea. Hey, Chimecho!” Edgar said to the Wind Chime Pokemon, who turned to look at him. “That thing I talked to you about. Think you can do it?” “Yup, yup!” Chimecho said in a childlike voice, bobbing it’s body as a yes. “Very good. Now Chimecho, use Heal Bell!” Edgar said, pointing at the door with great intensity. The Chimecho let out a soothing noise that rung all around the area. The unicorn and the griffon quickly felt a sensation of calm as the noise resonated in the air. As the sound continued, the door creaked open, much to their surprise. Scaredy Cat poked her entire head out, eyes close but clearly listening to the soothing noise. What shocked the two even more was the fact that she stepped fully outside just a few seconds later. Acacia and Bronze Beak gaped at this small miracle they were seeing as Cat opened her eyes to look at the source of the sound. “... What is going on?” Acacia asked, eyes still wide. Edgar laughed softly. “Why, that is Heal Bell, a move that heals the body from ailments. I just used it a bit creatively.” He explained as Chimecho stopped the sound and looked at the not-so-frightened mare with a smile. “Uhh, cat...” Acacia started off to make sure her friend was alright. “... That was…. beautiful...” Scaredy Cat said in awe, reaching over to touch the floating Chimecho, that answered with a happy “Chime chime!” “Thank you!” Acacia would have put up a translation spell, but her quota was full. She couldn’t spare to sever an older link right now, which she believed was on Gizmo and Moonfall. Instead she just smiled warmly along with Bronze at the unbelievable sight they witnessed. Naturally Edgar had to break their moment. “Yes, I do love it when a plan comes together! Everyone, witness my mind in action!“ He shouted with a hearty laugh. Luckily for all of them Scaredy Cat was too distracted with the cute Chimecho nuzzling her with affection. It took a few minutes for them to explain to Cat what was going on. Chimecho’s presence seemed to calm her down enough for her to get her to follow them, something that made Acacia note possible therapeutic applications. Nestled to Bronze’s side with Chimecho’s tail wrapped gently around her neck in a hug Cat walked behind Acacia who carried Edgar. The Chancey also followed them. But it did not take long before things started to go very wrong. Back at the house, Goomey was dying of boredom. She was rolling on the clear area on the floor, unwittingly spreading her slime everywhere. Then she stopped and jumped up. “I can’t take this anymore!” The Goodra yelled in frustration and walked to the door, threw it open, walked through and slammed it shut behind her. She took a deep breath of the fresh outside air contently. “Sorry Uncle.” Goomey said with a sigh. “I just can’t stand this much waiting.” Then she sniffed the air. Her eyes opened up in surprise. There was something weird smelling in the air. It was very faint but she could notice it. She sniffed the air again to confirm it. Then she looked towards the town. There was smoke. “Well, that’s ominous.” Edgar said. “No kidding.” Acacia replied. The two had noticed the smoke rising not too far from where they were. She addressed everyone present. “Everypony… and Pokèmon, there might be something up in town. Let’s see if we can help others out, but be careful.” Bronze nodded, as did Chancey who was practically going by now. Scaredy Cat looked at the smoke hesitantly but nodded after a light reassuring squeeze from Chimecho’s tail. Scaredy Cat, Bronze, Chimecho and Chancey went ahead, leaving Acacia with… Two empty saddlebags and empty air. “... I seriously need to keep an eye on Edgar all the time.” Acacia muttered, trotting to see what was going on in town. To tartarus with that wandering Ditto. Seconds later a pink masses came out of the bushes nearby. “Excuse my leave, but I thought I saw something in this here bush...” Edgar stopped, looking for the companions who were not there. “Well… Bugger.” He lamented, but got over it. “Oh well, this happens. Off to investigate that smoke! And you know as they say, where there is smoke-” Just then a pillar of flames erupted towards the sky just a few building over. Ponies and Pokèmon alike fled from where it originated. “-there is fire. Onwards!” Edgar finished, rushing to the scene by hopping on the ground. He had found hopping to be faster than trying to crawl with no legs. And when he came to the source and turned a corner, he was met by a sight of a lot of fire. Luckily none of it was on the buildings yet, but the ground was getting scorched. In the middle of the flame sea stood a very mean looking Heatmor. “Hahahahahaa!” The Heatmor laughed maniacally flicking its tongue of fire. “Yess! Burrrn! Flee from the Flame!” The it shot a Flamethrower into the sky while laughing like a lunatic. Edgar looked at the scene behind cover, inspecting the area. From a distance he could see Acacia and Chancey aiding some ponies and Pokèmon who were fleeing the Heatmor. Then he did something even a brain dead chimp would call stupid. He jumped out of cover and threw a pebble at the Heatmor, hitting it square in the face. The small sound the useless attack made upon contact silence the Anteater Pokèmon’s laughter. The silence was… stunned. Then it slowly looked at the Ditto. “You threw that stone?” It asked, surprisingly calmly. Edgar showed no fear and pointed at Heatmor with burning passion! “Indeed I did! Shame on you for scaring innocent people with that fire. You should be ashamed of yourself, mister!” Edgar passionately scolded the Heatmor, who kept glaring at him menacingly. Then it laughed again. “Hahaha! Shame? Pathetic!” It spat venomously. “They fear fire, so what? Fire burns. Fire hurts. Fire is fear! I am the Goddess of the Flame, hahahahaa!” The heatmor proclaimed... even though it’s voice was very masculine and clearly male. Edgar frowned, being too stupid to know fear. He kept pointing at the Heatmor with righteous justice! “You, my not-good friend are delusional and I will NOT condone this behaviour in a town environment!” “... Hah...Hahahahaa!” The Heatmor roared in mocking laughter. “Oh yeah, then what are you gonna do about it, spud?” Edgar’s whole body might as well have turned into stone, because that’s how still he was. “... Erm… Excuse me?” “You heard me, mite! What are you gonna do about me, the Goddess of Flame, Fire and the Burrrn?” The still clearly male Heatmor asked, stomping the ground threateningly. Edgar was very silent as a lone tumbleweed hopped along right behind him for no reason. “... Well, to be perfectly honest I didn’t think that much ahead.” He admitted, gulping a bit. “Also, I have come to realize just how alone I am given current circumstances.” Why couldn’t Watson be here when you need him? The Heatmor roared in laughter and aimed a Fire Blast at the Ditto who barely managed to hop out of it’s path. “That’s was a warning, tiny! I won’t miss next time, so how about you scamper to whatever hole you came from SO I CAN ROAST YOU ALIVE! Nyahahaaa!” Heatmor and began firing Flamethrowers at Edgar, who to his credit was very good at dodging them. “Oh dear oh dear oh dear- YOUCH!” He jumped and yelped as his backside got a bit too close to the fire, burning him mildly. Heatmor stopped his barrage to laugh at the Ditto. “Hahahaa! Yesss, fear the burrrn, you pink snot! Fear the Goddess!” Heatmor proclaimed like the deranged lunatic he was. And then another pebble hit him square in the face. Deafening silence ensued as Heatmor slowly craned his neck to look at the Ditto still holding a throwing pose. The two stared at each other for a good minute. “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “...” “Tally-ho!” Edgar said, raised his tiny top hat in farewell and quickly hopped on away. Heatmor shrieked in utter rage, spouting fire into the sky before giving chase and firing Flamethrowers at the Ditto’s general direction.. “I’LL FRY YOU, YOU INSOLENT SNOT!” Edgar hopped as fast as he could and was able to maintain a healthy gap between him and the deranged Fire-Type as his mind tried to come up with a strategy. Ponies and Pokèmon alike saw the mustached Ditto run from the crazed Heatmor and, despite their morbid curiosity and confusion opted to stay as far from that as possible. They were just glad that Heatmor wasn’t interested in them. Even Chansey and Acacia who watched from the sidelines were utterly dumbstruck. “What. The hay. Is he doing?” Acacia asked, both herself and the universe. Chansey shook her head. “Honestly, I have no clue either.” “Will he be alright, even?” Acacia asked, not because of concern but more out of curiosity. “Well...” Chansey said, thinking about it. “Ditto aren’t really all that powerful, unless they transform and even then-” “Yeah, he can’t do that I think.” Acacia interjected. “... Well, then I don’t think your friend can take that Heatmor on.” Chansey said apologetically. Acacia frowned slightly and gave Chansey a deadpan look. “Making a lot of assumptions there.” She commented blandly. They kept looking and saw Edgar hop into a bush to hide, and at first it seemed to work without a cinch, Heatmor passing it in blind rage, then stopping in the following confusion to where the pink bastard had disappeared to. Then Edgar just hopped out of the bush like a freaking Oddish and threw another pebble, hitting Heatmor on the back of the head. Again the Fire-type turned his neck excruciatingly slowly to glare at the pest of a Ditto, eye heavily twitching as his rage reached critical mass. “... Toodaloo!” Edgar quipped cheerfully and hopped off again as Heatmor roared in absolute rage and pursued, now so angry it forgot to use Flamethrower and just tried to swipe at him with his claws. Every single Pokèmon, pony, and a griffon in near vicinity sweatdropped near simultaneously at the sheer stupidity present here. Acacia most of all just stood there with her mouth wide open and eyes being an odd mix of an annoyed glare and being so wide open they could fall off at any second. “... Excuse my Prench, but what the buck!” She exclaimed, very glad her children weren’t present to hear that. Chansey had no idea what was going on and kept silent, just trying to even slightly comprehend what was happening. The game of cat and mouse continued with Edgar stopping suddenly and hopping high as Heatmor sank his claws into the ground, effectively landing on the Anteater Pokèmon’s face and jumping off when he tried to swipe him, causing Heatmor to claw his own face. “GRAAAH!” Heatmor roared, now enraged enough to forget how to speak coherently and holding his face in pain. It turned to the Ditto who was blowing a raspberry at him, enraging him even further. The chase moved on, slowly turning into more of a comedy routine than an actual chase. “What is his logic with this?” Acacia asked, exasperated, now starting to grow, disturbing as it was to her, a morbid curiosity with Edgar’s mindscape. Edgar for his part hopped and hopped as fast as he could, keeping out of reach of Heatmor’s dangerous claws. His headway was good but he was getting tired and in his fatigue he landed wrong and did a rapid pirouette by accident. Before he knew it he was pinned into the ground firmly in between two of Heatmor’s claws. “No! Lack of physical exercise, my greatest weakness!” Edgar hollered in despair as Heatmor began laughing more and more maniacally after finally catching the annoyance that had plagued him. Acacia got worried and tried to rush over but was stopped by Chansey who stepped in front of her path. “What are you doing, he needs help!” “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you throw yourself in certain harm’s way.” Chansey said firmly. “... Besides… I don’t think you should be worried.” Acacia didn’t know what to make of the surprisingly reassuring way Chansey said the last line, only gritting her teeth and forcing herself to look on. The Heatmor had stopped laughing. “THERE! Pinned and trapped like the vermin you are! I hope you like barbeque, because this’ll be a ROAST!” Heatmor said with a manic giggle and a happy flick of the fire tongue, clearly satisfied with the capture of the pest. “The Goddess of Flame loves fried verming. Any last words before dinner is served?” “... Just one, actually.” Edgar said, unbelievably calm given his circumstance. Heatmor’s glare intensified as he brought his face closer to the Ditto, his tongue of flame flicking dangerously close. “And what might that be, pest?” The Fire-type asked in a venomous tone. Edgar smiled widely and chimed in a cheerful sing-song tone. “Distraction~!” “... What?” Heatmor uttered, briefly seeing a blue glow to his right before having a mass smash into his face. “Aqua Tail!” Goomey shouted and flung her blue glowing tail that resembled a raging torrent of water so hard at the Heatmor that it sent the Fire-type a good four meters high before causing him to crash down, head first. It didn’t look like he was getting up if the swirls in it’s eyes were any indication. “You okay, Uncle?” Goomey asked Edgar, picking him up from the ground. “I’m fine, my dear. Bloody good timing, if I do say so myself. Good job!” The Ditto Detective said, patting Goomey’s head affectionately, much to the Goodra’s delight as she started smiling goofily at the praises. Around the area where Pokèmon and ponies alike were watching the scene were whispers and murmurs, mostly from the ponies. Amongst the masses were Gizmo the Shopkeeper, who was clapping, accompanied by her Klink. Moonfall whose jaw had left an imprint on the ground along with his Chicorita, who was cheering. Bronze Beak and Scaredy Cat, both snuggled close to each other with the griffon whispering something to the mare under his wing. And Acacia had fallen on her flank from surprise and shock. Chansey smiled happily, though she looked very relieved. “I figured as much.” “... What?” Acacia asked, half to what Chansey said and half to the attack Goomey had done just now. “Well, I had my suspicion when I talked to him before, seeing as humans apparently changed into Pokèmon, but...” Chansey started, looking at the Ditto being held by a happily smiling Goodra. “I think I’ve heard about him before.” Acacia shook her mind out of the gutter and blinked. “Huh?” “I heard a story from my trainer once, of an eccentric Pokèmon Detective. She told that he is supposedly very odd and highly unpredictable, but his mind is a very potent force and that he has made a name for himself in high places for his eccentric way of handling things.” Chansey said with a serious look in her dotty eyes. “... You know, for some reason I can actually believe that.” Acacia admitted, trotting over to the Ditto and the Goodra holding him. Edgar noticed her coming and waved. “Ahh, good day miss Acacia! I seemed to lose you somewhere just a while ago, but I will forgive you for your mistake!” Edgar said as hammily as possible as if the thing with the Heatmor was nothing more than a usual walk in the park. Acacia was not as easily amused. “What in Tartarus was that just now?” “... I am afraid I know not of which you speak. Please specify.” Edgar said like a senile old man. Acacia growled, jabbing her hoof at the downed Fire-type. “That! What were you thinking?” She asked again angrily. Edgar was quiet for a bit before his lightbulb lit. “Oh, yes! Why, I just defeated a maliciously mad menace. No need to thank me, it’s all part of the job!” Acacia groaned in annoyance, wondering how something who was supposed to be smart could be so stupid. “Why, oh why, did attack that thing? It was obviously way bigger and more dangerous than you!” “Elementary!” Edgar said, attempting to place a pipe into his mouth but he didn’t have one, much to his diappointment. “Well bugger, now I’ll need to find one of those- Nevermind! I will explain to you how I defeated this danger in detail!” “You did nothing but throw pebbles at it! That’s only slightly more than mosquito bites!” Acacia yelled at him, losing her patience. But the Ditto didn’t hear her anymore and started talking. “You see, it was quite obvious I could not do much to this Heatmor on my own, it is a fairly strong Pokèmon after all. That said, I had to opt a different strategy. Naturally I could not go all out offensive, but that is where my GENIUS strikes!” He said, gesturing with his nubby arms wildly. “Firstly I had to make sure that Heatmor wouldn’t target any civilians, so I had to take the shot and sacrifice myself as bait. Irritating the Heatmor proved very effective and allowed me to construct a plan.” “You see, I figured that if I got Heatmor mad enough it would grant me a perfect chance to catch it off guard. Anger makes you stupid, as they say in psychology books. This also hinged on my prediction that Goomey here would likely grow very bored in the house, leaving it at some point despite promising me otherwise. Naturally she would notice the smoke coming from the flames and come see what was wrong.” “And from there it was all about buying time and timing it just right. Now you may applaud my MAGNIFICENCE!” Edgar finished. “Speaking of the fire, how’s that going along?” He looked about and saw some Water-type Pokèmon using Water Gun to put out the fires Heatmor had caused. “Aah, I love it when a plan comes together.” Edgar said and leaned back in Goomey’s arms all relaxed-like. Acacia found her eye twitch making a comeback as her mind tried to wrap itself around Edgar, his admittedly brilliant plan and his unbelievably shifting scale of Brilliance and Idiocy. While her brain perplexed leaving a blank look on her face Bronze Beak, Scaredy Cat and her Chimecho approached them. “Hey, I told Cat what’s up.” Bronze said, his wing place protectively over the nervous looking mare that eyed the slime dragon a bit suspiciously. Goomey, recognizing the mare laughed nervously and looked apologetic. “Uhh… hi?” She said, but Cat couldn’t understand her. Realizing this Bronze translated. “She says “Hi”.” The griffon told Scaredy Cat. The nervous mare gulped and gathered courage to speak up. “H… He-hello.” Goomey lowered her head and looked sad. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I-I didn’t mean to.” She sniffed sadly. “She says she is sorry for frightening you yesterday, and that she didn’t mean to.” Bronze translated again. Scaredy Cat looked at the cute slime dragon looking sad and honestly, what kind of monster could be mad at a face like that? She put on a strained smile and said “I… It’s okay. I forgive.” Goomey sniffled and looked at Cat, who looked back, both beginning to smile slowly. “...Auuggh...” A moan came from very close, spooking both of them. Scaredy Cat was spooked so bad she jumped and clung onto Bronze’s head like a frightened cat. Goomey just dropped Edgar who fell flat on the ground, on his face, with a shout of “Lordy” from the good detective. Right a few steps away the Heatmor sat up, rubbing his head. “Man, my head feels like a rock concert...” The Anteater Pokèmon looked around and saw a perplexing pony, another scared pony, a glaring griffon and a battle ready Goodra looking at him. Except Edgar whose face was on the ground where no one cared about him. “... What?” The Heatmor asked out loud. Watson’s Journal Entry.5 Not much has happened I should note about. Travelling blindly is a tiresome task. I look back and think I should have asked for a map in that previous town. An idiotic mistake, in hindsight. At least Professor Rowan is good company, when he get’s off my back about my habit. IT’S MY HABIT! PISS OFF! Pardon that outburst, just needed to let it out. I seem to be growing stressed, most likely due to not knowing what that fat idiot is doing and where. Heaven forbid he get’s himself killed. I don’t think he knows even the basics of battling Pokèmon, or fighting in general. Stupid slob! … Where was I? Oh, right. We met another human today. A Whimsicott that claimed her name was Cheryl. I knew the name and verified her identity with a series of questions with a few controls added into the mix to confuse her if she was just claiming to be her. She passed. Apparently Cheryl is looking for her pokemon partner and happened to cross paths with us. Seeing as we are all looking for something I saw no issue with Cheryl joining us, at least for the time being. Rowan didn’t oppose the idea either. Aaaand as of writing this I realize that now I have two nearly useless humans turned Pokèmon who can’t fight well if we get attacked. God Damnit. Well, at least Rowan seems to be a fast learner and Cheryl seems eager enough. Going to go waste my time with those two now. Entry.5, End~☆ (One of the control questions was if she had ever saved a Pokèmon from a raging river. How precious.) Ps. Never again leave the Journal laying around where anyone can find it. This is supposed to be a private log, for Arceus’ Heavens sakes! Pss. Never again underestimate Rowan. His Ice Punch is a monster.