//------------------------------// // The Past affects the Future (Day 2) // Story: A New World, A New Conflict // by Evowizard25 //------------------------------// “Now then, Rattata,” Thrist spoke with sadistic glee. “Are you comfortable?” Said Rattata was held down on a metal slab with iron bars keeping its limbs in place. It tried to squirm to freedom. Anything to escape the daemonic griffin before it. All it did was bring a giggle to Thrist’s lips. “Struggle all you want,” she tapped its snout, causing tremors of pain to shoot through the pokemon. “You’re not going anywhere. So please, make this easier on the both of us and stop struggling.” The Rattata didn’t listen, causing Thrist to sigh. “They never listen.” She walked back over to one of the collars she was currently working on. The once smooth, black surface was now twisted and purple. To any other being, they would grow sick from even looking at it, it was so unnatural. Thrist considered it one of her finest creations ‘Needs a little more tweaking.’ Thrist conjured some more of her dark magic and thrust it into the collar. The collar was her first experiment. She had another one that had been her favorite through the centuries, but now wasn’t the time. ‘Perhaps later today.’ As she worked, she glanced over at the Rattata. It was mewling in despair. She sighed. “Consider this a learning experience. You now know how it feels to be all alone in the world…like me.” She muttered the last part to herself. “Let me tell you a legend,” Thrist spoke as she made the final touches to her masterpiece. “Probably the oldest legend there is. For you see, long ago, before the reign of the two sisters, before Equestria was even idea, the griffins lived under the control of the Thirst.” She sighed in bliss, remembering the good old days. “Back then, the griffins were strong, proud. We did not cower and listen to the whims of other races. They are prey, short and simple. There were many witches like me. So many….” Her magic faltered as she shook a little, but she composed herself. “Our god, Ragnoros, the god of destruction and bloodshed, led us through the ages.” Her sadistic grin returned. “I remember how the air was constantly pierced by the souls of the damned. How the rivers ran red with blood. The look on the face of a young warrior as he slaughtered his first village.” She frowned. “But some griffins didn’t see our way. They resisted…And they won. It just took one warrior. One ‘brave’ soul to stand up to us to drive us back.” She spat on the floor in disgust. “His sword, Finality, cut through our ranks like we were nothing but tissues. The mortal even had the gall to stand up to our god…” She balled her fists. “And he struck down Ragnoros, banishing him to the realm of darkness never to return.” She let out a tired sigh. “My kind, the Thirst, fled…We hid from the rest of the world and in time they forgot about us…But we were a doomed people. Our ways divided us, weakened us.” She chuckled. “Ironic, isn’t it? What made us strong, made us weak as well. I mean, I saw it happen.” Her magic ceased and the collar, which was the perfect size for the small Rattata, fell into her hand. “It was just me and my nine sisters,” Thrist played with the collar in her hands, feeling it for any weaknesses. “Of course, with a few hundred warriors, but they do not matter. Me and my sisters attempted to resurrect our god.” She growled. “That is, until that Daring Do arrived. She destroyed everything that I held dear. My sisters died when Daring ruined the ceremony. I only survived because I myself had grown tired of the incompetence of our soldiers and tried to kill her myself.” Thrist’s brow hardened. “How any mare can be so hard to kill, is beyond me? So now, I am the last Witch because of her. I only have one thousand warriors under my thumb. Hardly anything to brag about, since I have nothing to do with them….That is, until now.” She turned to the Rattata and walked forward. “You pokemon are the key to my revenge. This world will perish when Ragnoros returns once more to lay waste to everything. You are the key to that future.” She clasped the collar around the Rattata’s neck. At first, nothing happened, but then she waved a hand over it to activate her creation. Immediately, the Rattata screamed and convulsed as dark magic lanced around its body. “Don’t resist,” Thrist chided. “The more you resist, the harder the collar will make your life. Just let the magic flow.” She snorted once the rat pokemon stopped squirming. “Good, I’m glad you saw it my way. For a moment, I thought it wasn’t going to work.” She snapped her fingers and the metal rods binding the Rattata fell away. The little pokemon jumped up and looked at her. Its mind was now hers. Oh yes, it was still intact. The little rat was still in there, most likely screaming bloody murder or something. She did not care. What she cared about was the final product. “You are the beginning of the future, my little servant.” She affectionally rubbed its head. The Rattata cooed in delight. “This world will burn,” Thrist spoke with the utmost glee. “And no one, be it god or mortal, will stop it from happening.” ___________________________________________________________________________ Flannery glared at General Drill with such ferocity, that her gaze might as well been a ‘Flamethrower’. Drill was shaking in fright, but still stuffing his face full of food. She knew that she had the type advantage in this battle. She also knew that Drill wasn’t a fighter. She’d met him once before, when he accidently got his cohorts to dig underneath her gym. Needless to say, she kicked him and his soldiers into next week. Now however, she didn’t have her beloved pokemon with her. She was by herself, in a body she was still getting used to. Yeah, she had learned Ember…at the cost of nearly burning down a building and barely any sleep. ‘Not to mention a few irate striped Ponyta.’ She reminded herself. Even though Drill wasn’t that much of a fighter, he had always been a pokemon. Once he realized that, the advantage would be his. Of course, she also learned he was a little slow. So, she reasoned that she could trick him into giving up. “Flannery?” General Drill stared at her like she had grown a second head. “You can’t be Flannery? You’re not human…or that annoying.” “Thanks,” Flannery rubbed a paw against her chest, proud of herself that he thought she was annoying. “I try.” “But…” Drill stuffed a nice juicy pickle into his mouth and quickly chewed and swallowed it. “That voice. Oh that voice. I would remember it anywhere.” “You should,” Flannery snorted in anger. “I kicked your sorry butt all the way back to your little hole in the ground.” Drill snarled and took a step forward. The food he was carrying fell to the ground. “You can’t be Flannery! You’re a pokemon. Humans can’t just turn into us. That’d be confusing.” “How do you think I feel?” Flannery said. “Look, just come quietly. I’m sure the locals will forgive you, seeing as we’re foreigners. We don’t know the laws here.” “Bah,” Drill scoffed, waving a hand dismissingly. He started to scoop back up his food. “The PLA doesn’t care about laws or anything like that. I’ll just head on my way now….” He was interrupted when Flannery used ‘Tackle’, sending him falling to the floor. Flannery had to admit that it was kind of cool to do that and it didn’t hurt as much as she thought. ‘Guess Pokemon bodies are sturdier than I thought.’ Getting back up to his feet, Drill turned around to give her a glare. “Did you just use a normal attack? On me? If you wanted to hurt me, try something a little more effective.” He scoffed and tried to flee again, moving to an already existing hole in the floor his size. Flannery ‘Tackle’d him again. Drill grunted in agitation. “Okay, that’s it.” He got up and turned around. “If you really are Flannery, then you’re still getting used to that body of yours.” “Yeah,” Flannery answered, before mentally scolding herself for saything. Drill grinned. “Then this will be easy.” The Excadrill put his arms up to his head. “Drill Run.” His body started to spin until it was nothing but an actual drill. Jumping up into the air, the burrowing pokemon shot right for her. Flannery yelped in fright as she dodged the attack. ‘Way to go, Flannery. Why don’t you give him a hose or a bucket of water next time?’ Drill quickly stopped his first attack and came at her with a ‘Slash’ attack. Again, Flannery dodged. While she may still be getting used to having to walk on all fours, Drill was still a rather slow fighter. Most likely that’s because he didn’t fight often. Usually, he relied on his old ‘running away’ tactic. ‘Guess I ticked him off more than I thought.’ Drill kept at it, trying his hands at some ‘Fury Swipes’. Flannery was too quick for him and ended up luring him deeper into the store. “Really?” Flannery smirked, dodging another ‘Slash’. “Is this the best your can do, General? What about that PLA fighting spirit? I thought you guys were the top dogs in a fight.” Drill said nothing, except to growl angrily. His attacks were getting faster as he was getting used to the fight. Flannery could see this and it worried her. Her worry was founded. As they passed the hole, Drill dug one of his claws into the upturned dirt and used ‘Mud Slap’. The attack hit Flareon directly in the face and she fell back screaming. She briefly wondered why any creature would be weak to dirt. Of course, she didn’t have much time to think, both because of the pain and the fact that Drill tackled her to the ground. His body was much bigger and heavier than hers, so it was easy to keep her pinned. “Now,” Drill raised up a claw hand. It glowed, signaling a ‘Metal Claw’ attack. “Any last words before I knock you out?” “Yeah,” Flannery grunted through the pain. “Ember.” Her mouth fell out and little balls of fire impacted against the Excadrill’s face. Drill jumped off her, screaming in agony. He was rubbing his face, trying to get some feeling back into it. Flannery tackled his stomach, making him land on his back. Standing on top of him, she growled. Little embers escaped her mouth. “Okay bub,” Flannery said with some venom lacing her words. “You’re going to go out there and apologize to those…strange pokemon outside. Else, I’m going to burn your hide so bad that nobody will recognize you.” She wasn’t going to do that, but he didn’t know. Drill whimpered in fright. “Okay, okay. I give. Just don’t hurt me.” “Drill,” a soothing feminine voice stated. “She wouldn’t hurt you, especially not now.” Flannery quirked an eyebrow at the voice and looked over at the speaker. It was an Audino. She was calmly walking towards them and stopped not but a few short feet away. “Umm….I’m sorry, but who are you?” “Joy,” the Audino answered. “Nurse Joy, if you like. Most people do, even if I’m not technically an official nurse anymore.” “Wait,” Flannery jumped off Drill’s big belly. “So you’re a human too?” Joy nodded. “Oh yes…Or at least I was. Doesn’t really bother me really.” She looked over at Drill and sighed. “You had to go about stealing again, didn’t you Drill?” Drill’s mouth fell open. “Flannery is one thing, but the Commander’s mother too?...Wait, I thought you already a Pokémon?” “What?” Flannery asked with a quirked eyebrow. “The PLA think Nurse Joy’s are Pokémon,” Joy rolled her eyes. “That actually explains a lot of things,” Flannery said, which caused Joy to pout in anger. “I’m joking.” “Well it isn’t funny,” Joy said. “So let me guess,” Flannery chuckled. “They think the Jenny’s are Pokemon too.” “No,” Joy shook her head. “They think they’re a clone army the humans bred to subjugate Pokemon.” “…..” Flannery had no response to that. “It was my son’s idea,” Joy smiled sheepishly. “It kind of caught on.” “Who the heck is your son?” Flannery said. “And how do you know Drill? I only know the guy cause he broke into my gym once.” “My son is Commander Sev,” Joy said. Flannery’s jaw dropped. “WHAT?!!! But I hear he hates humans. How’d that nutball call you mother…?” Joy glared daggers at her. “My son is not a nutball. He’s a special, sweet little angel.” ‘Key word is special,’ Flannery thought. “Sweet?” Drill spoke up as he stood on his feet. “Yeah, I’m going to question that one to, and I work for the guy.” “Shut up, Drill.” Flannery’s mouth burned with flickering flames, causing Drill to cower. “But still, he’s not a nice guy. He’s killed people.” “They deserved it,” Joy growled. “You’d do it to, if you found out what they were doing.” Flannery didn’t say anything. If a Nurse Joy wanted someone dead, they better well deserved it. Joys are the nicest people you could meet. If they didn’t like you, well, tough luck mister. You deserved it. Elsewhere, a certain Luxray felt the urge to defend himself. “You know what,” Flannery sighed. “I’m not going to argue or anything. I just want to know how that snake has a human mother.” “I saved him,” Joy frowned. “If you recall, the current PLA are actually a reformed version of the last group that called themselves that.” “Really?” Drill asked. “Never did ask if there was anyone before us, but the thought did occur.” “They weren’t…as friendly as us, Drill.” Joy looked away, lost in her thoughts. “Yeah, I heard about that,” Flannery said. “They were a small group of pokemon who took over one of the off shore island. We took it back a month afterwards.” She furrowed her brow. “You don’t mean to tell me you were there.” Joy nodded. “I was…” She held herself as she shook a little bit in fright. “I…it was horrible. Worse than you could imagine. It was the third week of the battle when I was sent in. I was sent there to replace the previous Nurse Joy who had….met a rather gruesome end….” ____________________________________________________________________________ Several years ago, on an island off the shores of Hoenn A young woman with pink hair and a regular army medic uniform, stood outside the regiment commander’s tent. She fidgeted in place, not used to her current outfit. Honestly, she wished she could have kept her old nurse outfit, but they said that’d make her an easy target. ‘I still don’t see the problem. I mean, Pokemon wouldn’t really hurt me….Right?’ “Nurse Joy,” a gruff voice called out. “You can come in now.” Reluctantly, Joy followed the order. Brushing aside the entrance flap, Joy stepped inside. The regiment commander was an old man, somewhere in his sixties. Yet, he still had the physique of someone in their twenties. His haggard appearance was unkempt and frazzled, hardly the epitome of military protocol. He straightened himself and brushed his uniform down. “Sorry about this, nurse. We’re…kind of hard pressed at the moment.” “I understand,” Joy inclined her head. The colonel raised an eyebrow. “Do you now?” He took a step forward and held out his hand. Joy took it and they shook. “Names Colonel James Ryan.” “Nice to meet you,” Joy smiled and they ceased the handshake. “Nice to meet you as well,” Colonel Ryan smiled. “It’s always good to see a friendly face in this hellhole.” Joy frowned. “It can’t be that bad.” The colonel eyed her for a moment before sighing. He headed over to the desk and pulled out some folders. “You know, I really, really don’t want to do this, but you’re going to see something like this pretty soon since you’re a field medic and all….” She could hear him mutter, “Shouldn’t be.” Joy opened her mouth to voice contempt of that remark, when the colonel opened up the folder. Joy’s voice caught in her voice as her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Putting a hand over her mouth, she gasped. The photos were gruesome and sick. Humans were torn apart in the streets. Some of them were hung up like warning or trophies. There were even signs, written in blood no less, saying ‘Arceus be praised’ ‘death to the humans’ ‘Long live Commander Viper’. “Just get rid of what notions made you volunteer for this,” the colonel said. “This is hell, pure and simple.” Putting away the photos, he looked like he was hating himself for showing them in the first place. “W-what happened to the previous medic?” The colonel was silent for a moment. “They ripped her to shreds in front of us. Wanted to make a message or some sadistic shit like that.” He cupped his face in his hands. He hadn’t been the original regimental commander. He was simply promoted after his predecessor…received a nasty ‘headache’, from a psychic Pokémon. He had to be put down. Joy was shaking in fright, mentally cursing herself for volunteering. Now that she thought about it, the Hoenn government had been rather eager for volunteers lately. It was almost to point of a full blown draft if you look hard at it. “Why didn’t you stop them?” Joy said. “Maybe you could have gotten one of your pokemon too…” Colonel Ryan laughed. “Our superiors wouldn’t allow that. They think that bringing pokemon here would be a terrible idea. That’d they join the ‘rebels’. Stupid if you ask me. Why, I raised my Arcanine since he was a pup. Won’t find any creature more loyal.” He walked over to her with a rifle in hand and thrust it into her arms. “But….” “You’re going to need it.” _________________________________________________________________________ Sometime later, Joy found herself walking through a simple forest with dozens of soldiers walking around her. She knew she should be safe. These men were trained to fight and kill after all, but she also knew what Pokémon were capable of. She had spent her whole life around them, and while she loved them dearly, she knew they were dangerous. She shivered all the more. “Don’t worry,” a nearby soldier smiled. “We’ll protect you from the big bad mons.” “Private,” another soldier barked. “Stop smoozing with the nurse. She already has in enough shit to deal with by just being here. You don’t need to add to it.” “I was just trying to make her smile, sir.” The soldier explained. “Just look at her. She’s shaking like a leaf.” “Of course she is,” another soldier, a woman actually, called out. “She practically is one.” Joy pouted. ‘I’m not that skinny.’ “Ease up on her lads,” the sergeant spoke up. He was a rather short man, only coming up to her shoulders. “Picking on the new meat isn’t fair. Give her a chance to earn some of that ire.” “If she lives that long,” Joy heard one of the soldier mutter, which sent another wave of fear down her back. “What did I….” Whatever he was about to say was cut short when a ‘Razor Leaf’ slashed across his throat. He gurgled as blood poured out of his wound and put a hand to it. “AMBUSH!” Another soldier cried out and everything became a blur to Joy afterwards. Several types of Pokémon native to Hoenn rushed out of the wood work. Given how little space there was between the soldiers in the path and the tree line, there wasn’t much time for the soldiers to fire at their attackers before the Pokémon descended upon them. Joy was frozen in fear, gazing at a charging Vigoroth who looked ready to tear her head off. It, like all the other Pokémon, wore a blue piece of uniform with a little flag of Arceus’s symbol stitched into it. She didn’t know why she cared to notice that. Maybe it was just savoring the time she had left….. A gun barked and several bullets whammed into the chest of Vigoroth, killing it. The cheerful soldier from earlier pulled her along with him. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.” Joy didn’t need any more prompting. She took off as fast she could, clinging to the rifle in her arms like a life preserver. Which it was in a sense. Her eyes filled with tears as she heard the unmistakable sound of death as human and pokemon fought it out. ‘We aren’t supposed to fight. We aren’t supposed to fight. We aren’t supposed to fight.’ Had she been paying attention to her right, she would have seen the flying at them. The ball smashed in between the fleeing soldiers and nurse, scattering them about. Joy groaned as she tried to raise herself off the ground. Of course, she stopped when a rather vicious Mightyena came charging at her with its bloodied jaws ready to make a kill. She screamed…and the dog went down. “Gotcha!” The cheerful soldier shouted, before a ‘Thunderbolt’ struck him. He convulsed as the electricity fried him completely. He was nothing but a black, burnt corpse in seconds. Joy let loose tears of sorrow at seeing the sight. Of course, she still remembered that she needed to get out of there. It wouldn’t be long before she joined the soldier in death. She never felt so scared of her life and by pokemon no less. She always though they could live in peace and to see them kill each other so….It was just too much for her. Her vision was bleary as more and more tears ran down her face. She didn’t see the large tunnel hole before it was too late. Screaming, she tumbled downwards. It didn’t take long for her to come to a small cave and she thanked Arceus that nothing had been broken in the fall. She looked around and realized she could stand comfortably, since the ceiling was high enough. She found it odd at first, but then she reasoned that the PLA probably dug this. She shivered in fright at the thought. ‘There could be some of them down here,’ Joy whimpered. ‘But I have to keep going. I am not climbing back out the way I came.’ So Joy walked on. She realized that she had lost her rifle sometime during her escape and that made her feel even more vulnerable. Yes, she would never shoot anything, but oddly it felt nice to have some protection. Especially after seeing what the PLA were capable of. As she walked through the tunnels, she couldn’t help but hear something. Something that tugged at her heartstrings: the cry of a child. Hurrying forward in the hopes of finding the child safe and sound, she rounded the corner. She was stunned to find that it was not a human child, like she thought, but a little Seviper. He was crying his little eyes out, curled up by himself. He looked roughed up and beaten, with some gashes around his upper half. A tattered uniform adorned his body. Joy wasn’t sure what to do. He was obviously a member of the PLA, but he was hurt. ‘And he’s just a child.’ Steeling herself, she walked slowly forward. The Seviper looked up at her and squealed in fright, before smacking himself into a nearby wall. Shaking away the dizziness, the Seviper’s crying intensified tend fold. He sounded so broken, so destroyed. Joy couldn’t stand it. “Shh,” she cooed, kneeling right next to him. Her hands slowly moved towards him, keeping within his eyesight. She didn’t want to scare him any further. “Shh, you’re going to be alright. No one’s going to hurt you.” “Human…hurt,” the Seviper hissed angrily through his sobbing’s. “Human hurt daddy…Why?” Joy was silent for a few seconds. “Sometimes, people get angry with each other and do stupid things. It happens, but I promise that the humans won’t hurt you.” The Seviper stared at her through his bleary eyes. “Human understand?” Joy smiled. “Yes, human understand. I have, what you could consider, a gift. It helps knowing what a pokemon needs when you can talk to them.” The Seviper looked at her with a look of terror. “Human hurt Sev?” Joy shook her head. “No, human help Sev.” She felt a little silly talking like that. She slowly reached for her backpack. Sev yelped and tried to take off…only to nearly hit the wall this time. Joy had snatched him up before he made the same mistake again. He wriggled and struggled in her hold. She was lucky his bladed tail wasn’t hitting her through it all. “Let Sev go…” Sev whined. “No,” Joy said. “You’re hurt.” “Hurt matter no,” Sev’s whines grew louder. “Want safe. Want daddy.” “Shh…” She rubbed the back of his head. That seemed to calm him down somewhat. “You are safe…and I’ll try and find your daddy, okay?” “Human help?” “Of course, human help.” __________________________________________________________________________________ Present “And that’s how I found Sev,” Joy finished. “Wow,” Drill seemed uncomfortable. “I mean, I don’t like humans, but killing?...Geez.” He shook his head. “Poor Commander.” “Don’t you guys kill all the time?” Flannery pointed out. “Only some of the time,” Joy frowned. “And again, it’s usually in self-defense…or Team Rocket.” “Yeah,” Flannery nodded. “Those guys are asking for it, but whoa. I didn’t think the battle was that terrible?” “That regiment I was in was, in essence, replaced two and a half times during the entire month of the battle,” Joy looked downcast. “It was hard…harder still when I had to hide Sev. I didn’t want anyone to find him and take him away…He was just the sweetest little thing. I got him off the island after the ‘war’ was over. I took him home with me out into the woods…I still remember when he first called me ‘mommy’.” __________________________________________________________________________ Hoenn past “One more story,” Sev said through a yawn. He was still a little Seviper, tucked inside a large bed. Joy gave it to him so as to spare herself from getting a new one when he grew up. “No,” Joy playfully poked his snout. “It’s bedtime.” “The great and powerful Sev never tires,” Sev yawned once more. “How about this? If you got to bed now, I’ll read you two stories tomorrow. Deal?” Sev’s eyes widened. “Two stories? Really?” Joy nodded. “Can I pick them?” “Of course you can, sweetie.” “YES!” Sev exclaimed. Joy giggled at his enthusiasm. Sev was always a boisterous Pokémon. Sometimes, he was a handful, but he was worth it. Kissing his forehead, she whispered, “Good night, Sev.” Sev nuzzled her and flicked his tongue on her cheek in a snakey kiss. “Night mommy.” Joy was shocked by that. “Mommy?” Sev nodded. “You take care of me. You love me….You’re female, I think….Are you female?” Joy facepalmed, but still giggled. “Yes, I’m female.” “Then you’re my mommy,” Sev grinned. “Be thankful you received this high honor.” “Oh I am,” Joy hugged him. A few happy tears escaped her eyes. “Mommy,” Sev frowned upon seeing her tears. “Did I do something wrong? Do you not want to be my mommy?” “No,” Joy reeled back. “I want that Sev. I’m just happy, you see. Sometimes, people cry when they’re really happy.” “Did I make you happy?” Joy booped his snout. “Oh most definitely, my littlest snake.” Sev pouted. “I am not little…The world is too big.” Joy giggled. “Of course it is.” She kissed him once more on his brow. “Now get some shuteye. We have a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow.” Sev frowned. “Why do the human trainers have to bother us? Why do they make us fight?” “Because…..” Joy paused to think of an answer. “Humanity is filled with jerks.” “Then I will beat these jerks,” Sev proclaimed. “One day, I will make them…not jerks. Then we can play all day.” “I’d like that. In fact, why don’t we place a little game right now.” “What game?” “Tickle fight!” Joy brushed along his body, hitting a ‘tickle’ spot. Sev started to laugh. Joy doubled her efforts, making the little Seviper double over with joy. __________________________________________________________________________________ Present “I am so going to use that when we meet him,” Flannery chuckled. “The Commander is ticklish?” Drill asked and tapped his chin. “No wonder he doesn’t like people to touch him.” “He’s not that ticklish,” Joy said. “He just doesn’t like anyone but loved ones to touch him…..He kind of has a stigma about that. Might have been what happened before I found my little snakey wakey.” “Snakey wakey?” Flannery laughed. “I’m sure your mother came up with plenty of nicknames for you when you were little,” Joy said. Flannery’s laughter died an instant death. “I don’t really remember. My parents died when I was very little.” Joy looked shocked. “I’m sorry. If I had known…” Flannery waved a dismissive paw. “Don’t worry about it. I had my grandfather to look after me. It made up for it. He loved me enough for several people….Maybe a bit too much.” Flannery remembered how reluctant her grandfather was about leaving her and the gym. Joy giggled. “Oh yes, I met him on a few occasions. A lovely man.” “Don’t get any ideas,” Flannery joked. “I don’t want to become the Commander’s aunt.” “Do it,” the head of the zebra guard said. He and his cohorts were sitting around the bunch. “This guy sounds like that’d get him good.” There were several murmurs of an agreement from the other zebras. During the flashback, several of the local guards had ordered them to stop what they were doing and come with them…but then they learned that the pokemon were in the middle of a flashback. One does not interrupt a flashback, so they all sat down and listened as they waited for it to end. “Nah,” Joy giggled. “I like being single.” “A pretty thing like you?” The head guard chuckled. “Such a waste.” Joy blushed, but playfully swatted his chin. “Oh hush you.” “You know,” Drill spoke up. “I’d like to thank you guys for not arresting me.” “Arrest you?” The head guard said in confusion, before something dawned on him. “So you’re the guy going around shops and stealing food.” “…..” Drill was silent for a moment. “No I’m not.” “Then why did you say that you were glad we didn’t arrest you?” The head guard raised a questioning eyebrow. “I was testing you for…..” Drill took off for the hole, before Flannery ‘Tackle’d him. “Not today, fatso.” Flannery smirked. “While this is all and good,” Joy asked. “How is it that we can all talk to each normally?” “That would be me,” a dark, foreboding voice spoke up. Walking inside, General Gard the Gardevoir glanced at everyone. The guard zebras shook in their armor. Gard’s very presence sent waves of fear down their spines. There was something…off about him. Flannery could feel it to, but she had to save face. Of course, that didn’t help when she yelped as Drill shot back to his feet. “Gard,” Drill said. “You’re here. Quick, wipe their memory or something.” “No,” Gard said. “You got yourself into this. We’ll let the Commander decide what is to become of you…Actually, just Lia.” “The Commander’s coming here?” Drill asked. “Of course,” Gard nodded. “This is the capital of this country. Commander Sev would be drawn to this place like nothing else here. You know him well enough for that.” Drill grumbled, while Joy looked ecstatic. “My babies are safe?” Joy squealed. “Oh, I knew they’d make it, but I was so worried. How long? We need to prepare.” “He’s also with the king of this country,” Gard said. The zebra guards stiffened. “If he’s with the king, then he must be an ally. We’re sorry for bothering you all.” “Don’t be,” Joy smiled. “Drill was stealing. He will be punished, but not now. Now we have to welcome my children and I want it to be a warm welcome.”