Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Streak's mind began to shift gears into overdrive. All his senses were heightened to their peaks as the adrenaline began to pump into his veins, his heart beating a mile a minute as the he watched the blue flame creep closer and closer to him.
"GET UP!" Streak's conscience screamed, snapping him out of his daze. He scrambled to his hooves in an effort to prop himself up, his body moving in the same lethargic manner as the flames that continued to advance towards the stallion.
Streak's hooves finally managed to get a solid foothold on the ground as he began to pull himself up, his instincts screaming at him to go faster as he saw his progressing demise. Now on his legs, Streak leaned his body to the side as he prepared to jump out of harm's way. However, his escape plan was quickly thwarted as a searing pain shot through his shoulder, causing him to gasp and stumble as his muscles locked into place.
"Shit!" Streak swore out loud as he lost his balance and fell onto the ground once more, his shoulder throbbed in protest as he landed on his side. With a pained huff, Streak lifted his head to see the flames practically on top of him.
He had missed his chance, now he was out of time.
Streak could only watch in misery as the flames descended upon him. His life flashed before his eyes as he felt the heat lick at his fur.
He remembered the time he spent growing up in the mines, learning their secrets as he explored their depths with his father by his side. He had even earned his cutie mark along the way as well. His sixteenth birthday, his high school years, even his first crush. All these memories continued to rush by him as he wallowed in the past…until a particularly recent one caught his attention. A simple kiss from a beautiful mare that he had adored ever since he had first laid eyes on her.
Melon Stripe.
Something snapped inside Streak at that moment, his feeling of sorrow being quickly replaced with a bubbling rage.
"What in Tartarus am I doing?!" Streak questioned himself as he stared defiantly at the flame. "I am a member of the Glimmer family for crying out loud! So what if I get burned?" With the last of his strength, Streak braced his forelegs firmly on the ground.
"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE TODAY!!! YOU HEAR ME?!" Streak screamed as the flames engulfed his body, the stream of fire quickly eating away at his fur. He braced his legs down even harder into the ground, bracing himself for the constant barrage of fire; however, the conflagration was abruptly cut off as a figure jumped between him and the inferno.
"Caaaarbink!" shouted the jewel-like Pokémon as it took the full force of the Dragon rage, the energy from the attack simply evaporating into thin air as it came into contact with the rock-fairy Pokémon.
Streak starred up at his savior in shock, the flames that licked his coat dissipating as their source of energy was suddenly cut off. He watched in awe as the small Pokémon absorbed the attack like it was nothing, a small smile slowly forming upon his face.
"Heh, even in death, pops can't just let his little colt go." Streak mulled over his luck as the flames began to die down, revealing the still agitated Gabite.
"Gabite." The cave-Pokémon snarled as it glared at the Carbink, energy already gathering around its arm as it prepared for next attack. The purple energy condensed and swirled around the Gabite's arm before morphing into the shape of pair of hellish looking claws.
The Gabite rushed forward at a surprising speed as it rushed forward at the pair, its shadow claws extended in preparation to rend the pony and Carbink into pieces. However, it didn't get the chance to finish its attack as a blinding light erupted from the crystal on the Carbink's forehead, the wall of energy slamming into the rushing Gabite like a run-away freight train.
The Gabite was thrown back by the wall of energy before slamming violently against the wall of the cave, causing the mines to shake from the tremendous impact. As the dust cleared, it became evident that the Carbink's attack had done a number on the Gabite, which was currently imbedded into the wall, unconscious.
Streak didn't take his eyes off of his savior as he attempted to propped himself up, but he stumbled once again as a fresh wave of pain erupted from his shoulder. Thankfully, the Carbink quickly hovered to Streak's side, catching the stallion before he could further injure himself.
With a nod of gratitude, Streak gently pushed himself away from the Carbink so that he could stand on his own.
"Thank you. In more ways than one." Streak smiled at the jewel Pokémon as he began to rummage through his cart, searching for something.
"Bink!" The Carbink chirped happily.
Streak searched his cart for a few more moments before he finally found what he was looking for. "Ah ha!" he exclaimed out loud before pulling out a first-aid kit from the depths of his cart. Wasting no time, Streak quickly opened the kit and began to apply ointment to his shoulder, his quick and fluid applications clearly showing his experience with these kinds of injuries.
"Lucky that it was only a bruise." Streak thought as he began to wrap the gauze paper around the wound. "Getting a broken bone this deep in the mine would have been troublesome." He quickly finished the last of the wrapping before sniping the edge of the cloth with his teeth, letting the adhesive glue from the gauze seal itself in place. He was about to put his kit away before he realized something.
Streak turned his attention towards the Carbink that was still watching him curiously. "I almost forgot to ask, are you hurt?" Streak asked the Carbink, a small amount of guilt forming in his chest for tending to himself first before the one who actually saved him.
"Carbink." It replied, shaking its body side to side.
"That's good." Streak sighed in relief before putting the med-kit back into the cart, his shoulder already feeling much better.
"My name is Golden Streak by the way." Streak said as he turned around and held out a hoof towards the Carbink, who stared blankly at the appendage. "Oh right, no limbs." he chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his hoof.
"Bink." The Carbink shrugged, not minding the unintentional insult.
"And you must be a Carbink." Streak deduced from his minimal knowledge of Pokémon. He had a certain someone to thank for this knowledge.
*~*
Yesterday
"Now, does anyone else have any other questions?" Clara said as she stood in front of the town hall with all of Little Brook's citizens present. The last few days had been hectic for the poor Sylveon and her Pokémon, for they had been the only ones that had been able to establish a reliable means of communication between the two races. Meaning that they had to be the ones to inform the town of all the information regarding Equestria's newest arrivals.
Streak stood at the edge of the crowd with Melon, both of them giving the Sylveon a sympathetic look. He honestly had a few more questions that he wanted to ask, but he could tell that the poor girl was exhausted, his questions could wait for another time. However, one mare didn't seem to share his sentiment.
A scarlet hoof quickly shot up into the air, causing Clara to sigh heavily. "Yes, what is your question?"
"You said there are over six hundred Pokémon. How exactly are we suppose to identify them in order to know which ones are dangerous?" The mare asked, holding a pen and note pad in her magic, eager to write down Clara's response.
Streak shifted his attention from the mare when he heard a hard thunk coming from the stage. He looked over to see that Clara had smashed her face against the desk of the podium. Everyone just stared at Clara as she continued to bash her head several more times before finally quitting her onslaught and lifting her head off the podium, a fake smile adorned her face, as well as a large bruise on her forehead.
"While it would take too long to explain all the properties of the every single Pokémon, I can still give you a basic idea of how to identify which Pokémon it is." Clara said with a faux smile as one of her ribbons lightly rubbed the bruise on her forehead. "The key to identifying most Pokémon is by basing them on the sound they make. Each type of Pokémon has their own unique sound which corresponds with their name, for example."
"Sylveoooon." Clara said in her real voice, causing a many of the ponies in the crowd to perk their ears up as they listened to the her real voice.
"That was Pokéspeak, and it's basically the language in which all Pokémon speak, aside from the few that use telepathy." Clara said as she cast a glance at maiden, who weas currently offstage. "If you haven't guessed it, the Pokémon that I am is a Sylveon, which is evident from the sound that I made."
The mare quit her frantic scribbling as she looked at the Pokémon on stage with an overwhelming amount of curiosity. "So what you are basically saying is that all Pokémon just say their names to communicate?"
"Pretty much." Clara shrugged as she cooled down her bruise with an icepack that Saul had thankfully brought for her. He knew her so well.
Unfortunately for Clara, the mare was nowhere near done yet.
"That is good to know, but I would still like to know which Pokémon pose a significant threat, so can you please provide us with a list of these Pokémon, as well as their description?" The scarlet mare asked as she tilted her glasses.
Clara responding by bashing her head again, the sound of the soft thunking of her head hitting the podium once again filling the clearing.
Saul simply stared at his frustrated mate as she continued to bash her head into the podium, making no effort in stopping her. With a sigh, he padded off the stage as he headed down to one of the town's many creeks.
He was going to need a lot more ice.
*~*
Present
The Carbink tilted its body in the similar fashion of a nod, confirming Streak's theory. Streak smiled at his minor achievement, but his smile quickly turned into a frown as the Carbink turned around and hovered deeper in the cave.
"Wait!" Streak called out, reaching out his good hoof towards the Carbink. To his surprise, the Pokémon actually stopped, turning around to regard the stallion with a confused expression. Not losing his motivation, Streak walked up to the Carbink with a smile on his face.
"You wanna come back to my place and have something to eat? It's the least I can do after you saved me back there. Plus, I'm told that I make a mean dish of ratatouille." Streak chuckled as he reached his hoof out invitingly.
The Carbink stared as the hoof for a few seconds before nodding and following the Stallion out of the cave.
*~*
Clara's head was throbbing painfully as she laid in the bed that Melon had given her and Saul, a pained expression on her face as the ice pack did little to help.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow." She muttered in rhythm with the throbbing. "Why is it hurting this much?
"Probably because you kept banging you head on that podium until there was a one-inch dent of your face on it." Saul chuckled as he padded into the dark room, his blue rings shining softly as he made his way towards his mate.
"Ugh, keep it down. It feels like my heart and brain swapped places." Clara groaned as she shoved her face into a pillow.
"Here, take this. Melon said that it's a family remedy that should help with the pain and swelling." Saul whispered in a quieter tone as he lifted a small glass of green liquid towards Clara.
Clara said nothing as she picked up the glass with her ribbons, scrutinizing the drink's contents with the eye of a top coordinator. After gazing at the glass for a few moments, she quickly dumped the drink into her mouth, swallowing the whole drink in one large gulp.
"GYAAAAHHH!" Clara hollered as a horrible taste assaulted her tongue, causing her ribbons to tense up at the shock.
Before Saul could utter a word, Clara dropped down onto her stomach and preceded to roll around like she was on fire, sending blankets and pillows flying across the room as she steamrolled over the bed.
"What in Arceus's name is in that goop?! Muk crap!?" Clara screeched as she made a bee-line to the bathroom, her face becoming a light shade of green. She slammed the door to the bathroom open as she rushed towards the sink, throwing her head under the faucet as she turned the knob with her ribbon.
Clara couldn't help but moan in relief as the crisp water washed away the disgusting taste that had violated her mouth. She rinsed her mouth out several times before she deemed that her mouth no longer carried the awful substance, but the evil drink had marked its victim.
"My tongu' is gween!" Clara cried as she stuck out her newly painted tongue at the mirror.
"I think someone is overreacting." Saul chucked as he walked into the bathroom, barley containing his mirth as his mate glared at him with her tongue still hanging out.
"Oh ya? take this!"
"What are you- GYAAH!' Saul had no time to react as Clara tackled him to the ground, effectively pinning him as she leaned her face closer towards Saul's. With an evil smirk, Clara bent down began to lick Saul's face, her tongue leaving a trail of green that began to coat his fur.
"Nooooo!" Saul cried out has he felt is fur being plastered with the gunk, which was already hardening onto his fur. Clara continued to assault Saul's face for several more seconds before she leaped off of him to take a look at her handy work.
Unlike Saul, Clara didn't try to contain her amusement as she began to laugh herself silly, her face turning red as she forgot how to breath.
"AHAHAHA! You look like you're wearing a mud mask!" Clara cried in-between breaths as held her sides.
"I get it, it's funny, now help me get this stuff off before this stuff really starts to harden." Saul scolded his mate as he placed his head under the water faucet in order to keep the green paste from drying.
With an immense amount of willpower, Clara toned down her guffaws to light giggles as she padded over to Saul, who was still running his head under the water.
"Ya know, this reminds of the time you found my duct tape back in Lumiose city." Clara giggled as she used her ribbons to clean his face, the ribbons working efficiently as they lathered and scrubbed the Umbreon.
Saul shuddered at the mention of duct tape. That had not been a fun week for him. walking around with barley any fur had been brutal, after all, an Eevee's thick coat is one of their most prominent features.
"Ya, I was really rambunctious as an Eevee, wasn't I?" Saul smiled as he tried his best to repress the memory.
"That's an understatement." Clara chuckled as she continued to scrub Saul's face. "But it was probably one of the most damn adorable things I'd ever seen."
"Ya, I'm pretty adorable, aren’t I?"
"Don't push it buster." Clara smirked as she leaned in and kissed Saul's clean cheek, a small chuckle escaped her lips as the water splashed against her face.
"Ya, the family's secret remedy hasn't always been known for its… flavor." A new voice entered the conversation, causing the two Pokémon to turn around to look at the entrance of the bathroom.
"Morning Melon." Saul said, switching to telepathy as he lifted his head from the sink, not a trace of the green brew to be found.
"Why didn't you tell me or Saul that the drink tasted that bad?" Clara interrupted with an annoyed expression, skipping over formalities.
Melon fidgeted a bit. "Well, I figured that you wouldn't have drank it if I told you that it tasted like pickled toothpaste," Melon said with an apologetic tone. "But you're feeling better now, aren’t ya?"
Clara paused before inspecting her body for any of the pain that she felt earlier. Much to her relief, she found that the throbbing her head had now stopped. Not only that, but her irritatingly tight muscles had relaxed considerably. Glancing into the mirror, Clara let out an audible gasp as she looked at her forehead, the large bump from earlier now gone.
"Amazing, it's gone." Clara muttered in awe as she kept looking into the mirror in search of the swollen mass.
Melon seemed to surprised with the results as well as she walked over to Clara. With a tender hoof, Melon slowly turned the Sylveon's head so that she could get a better view of her forehead. True to Clara's words, the wound had vanished.
"hmm…" Melon hummed in concentration as she continued to examine Clara. "That's weird, the medicine I gave you has always worked wonders in the family, but I'd never seen it work these kinds of wonders."
"Maybe it has to be the Pokémon factor at play." Saul suggested as he joined Melon in examining Clara's forehead.
"I have to agree with Saul. After all, Pokémon are known for having an amazing healing factor that helps them recover from some of the most brutal fights." Clara said, but was interrupted as Melon mushed the Sylveon's cheeks together.
"Can you stop kneading my face like a ball of dough please?" Clara asked in annoyance as Melon continued to examine her face, the former becoming more irritated by the second.
"Oh, we playing with Clara's face again?" Maiden chuckled as she walked into the bathroom, Leaf close behind as she followed the Gothitelle.
"Yay! bathroom party!" Leaf exclaimed in excitement as trotted up to her sister.
"TOO MANY PEOPLE!" Clara shouted in vain as everyone began to feel her face at the same time.
"Her face is so soft."
"It's like a marshmallow."
"I want a marshmallow."
Clara felt overwhelmed as everyone continued to assault her face, all of them oblivious to her discomfort as they continued to feel her face. "How in the name of Arceus did it end up like this?!" Clara mentally screamed.
Unfortunately for Clara, thinks only got worse as a certain filly got too curious.
"Her bow looks soft too!" Leaf exclaimed as she stroked the warm bow on the Sylveon's chest.
"HYAAA!" Clara shrieked out loud at the contact, a large blush adorning her face.
All of a sudden, everyone in the bathroom felt the sensation of being constricted as Clara's ribbons shot forward, wrapping around everyone's torsos before lifting them into the air. A split second later, they were tossed out of the bathroom like dirty laundry, the sound of a door slamming shut quickly followed suit.
They all looked at the bathroom door in shock before Leaf finally broke the silence.
"I was right."
*~*
Several miles outside the town of Little Brook, two Charizards stood on a mountain ledge overlooking the town. They both stared down at the small town beneath them, both of them wearing an unreadable expression.
"You sure this is where you felt it, Alain?" the orange Charizard asked his companion in a skeptical tone.
The black Charizard turned towards his friend in acknowledgment, his large blue scarf blowing violently in the high altitude winds.
"I'm positive that I felt it emanating from this town." Alain nodded as he tightened the scarf around his neck.
"The Mega stones are resurfacing."