//------------------------------//
// 8: A New Life to Live 
// Story: A New World, A New Family 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	Atop the mountain north of Ponyville, Pinky slowly woke up with the sun in her eyes and a slight headache. Last night had been... wonderful. Bon Bon had managed to propose to Lyra, Felix and Kanga finally got together, and to top it all off, Pinky and Tartar had finally-
”Wait, did that actually happen?” Pinky quickly thought to herself. She looked down to see that she was, indeed, laying on top of Tartar, who was still asleep. ”Oh no. Please tell me that didn't actually happen.” Pinky closed her eyes and tried to reach into Tartar's memories to confirm. He was a Dark-type, so breaking into his mind was fairly difficult... usually. This time, however, something happened that caught Pinky completely off-guard. She managed to look through Tartar's memories with hardly any trouble. As if that wasn't evidence enough, a quick skim of his memories confirmed her fears.
“Mnh...” Tartar grunted as he slowly woke up and looked up at Pinky lying on top of her, his mouth forming a smile. “Morning, sweetie.”
“Uh... morning,” Pinky replied, forcing a smile. “Did, uh... did you sleep well?”
“I slept great,” Tartar replied. “Thanks to you.”
“I'm... glad to hear that,” Pinky said. In truth, this isn't what she wanted to happen... at all. The most she expected to happen was she and Tartar enjoy a nice evening in each other's arms and maybe kiss before falling asleep in each other's embrace. But somewhere along the way, things... escalated. Pinky's memory went fuzzy somewhere last night, and the only conclusion she could draw based on all of that was the worst case scenario. She'd gone into heat sometime last night, and being so close to Tartar for so long and then seeing him that night...
”I can't believe this is happening,” Pinky thought to herself. ”I'm not ready for commitment like this, and I'm definitely not ready for an egg. I never even went to law school. What am I going to do?”
“Are you alright, Pinky?” Tartar asked. “You're starting to sweat.”
“Oh, I'm... fine,” Pinky replied, doing her best to maintain her forced smile while using Psychic to discreetly wipe the sweat from her forehead. “Just... thinking. About... Felix and Kanga. We should go see how their evening went.”
“Good idea,” Tartar replied. “But, uh... you kinda have to get off of me before we do that.”

Meanwhile, Felix had just woken up as well. Waking up in Kanga's embrace was a slight shock to him at first, but then he remembered everything that happened the night before. After that, a content sigh escaped from him. “Can't believe how perfect this is...” he said to himself with a smile. “I never thought I'd be here with anyone. But with Kanga...” Felix didn't finish his sentence, but rather opted to just enjoy this moment in silence.
He was only enjoying the moment for another minute before Kanga began to stir and then woke up. “Good morning, Felix,” Kanga said with a smile.
“Good morning, Kanga,” Felix replied, returning the smile. “Did you sleep well?”
“I slept great,” Kanga replied. “You have no idea how long I'd been waiting to tell you that I love you and to have you say the same thing back. I hadn't realized until now how much of a weight it was on me.”
“Well, sorry about that,” Felix replied. “If it's any consolation, I'd have probably said yes if you asked me back on Earth. It probably would have taken me longer to reply, and in that time there probably would have been a lot more awkwardness between us, but... the point is, I love you, and I always have, even if I never realized it.”
Kanga simply laughed softly at this. “I love you too, Felix,” she said. The two then leaned in to kiss, but they were interrupted when they heard Roo yawning and waking up in Kanga's pouch. “Maybe later,” Kanga said to Felix with a chuckle. She then stood up and looked down at Roo, who had looked up at Kanga with a smile.
“Good morning, Mamma,” Roo said.
“Morning, Roo,” Kanga replied. “I hope you had a good night's sleep, little one.” ”I'm guessing she did,” Kanga thought to herself. ”I didn't hear her crying at all last night.”
“Actually, I had an awesome dream,” Roo replied. “I dreamed that me, you, Felix, and someone else were all playing together as a family. I think it was a... Chikorita who was with us.”
Instantly, several thoughts crossed Kanga's mind. First, why would Roo even have such a dream? Second, who was this Chikorita? Third, that Chikorita couldn't possibly be.... Fourth, the answer to her first thought. (The events that transpired the night prior.) Fifth, a mental face palm for taking so long to figure out the answer to the first thought. Sixth, what was that smell?
“Oh good, you're all awake,” Pinky said as she and Tartar walked over to the others. “Morning, everyone.”
“Good morning, Pinky, Tartar,” Felix said. He was about to ask how the two slept, (and possibly regret asking immediately), but he stopped suddenly when a strange smell caught his nose. “Hey, does anyone else smell something... odd?”
“Oh right, you're new to being a Pokemon,” Tartar said. “That 'smell' you smell is my scent on Pinky and hers on me. It's because we had-” Tartar stopped himself when he remembered Roo was there. “Ahem. It's because Pinky and I 'became mates' last night. The smell is to let other Pokemon know that she's taken.” Tartar said that last sentence with a chuckle and a pat on Pinky's head.
“Yeah, I'm his now,” Pinky said with a chuckle that, to Felix, sounded nothing like one that normally came from the Slowbro.
“Uh-huh...” Felix said with a slow nod. “Well, thanks for the science lesson.”
“No problem,” Tartar replied. “Huh, look at that. Looks like my new mate's eagerness to teach is already rubbing off on me.”
“Heh, well I've been told I've got too much for myself,” Pinky said with another odd chuckle. It was then that Felix realized what was going on. That was a nervous chuckle that came from Pinky. But this was the part where he was stumped. Pinky? Nervous? About what? Okay, the last thing may have been obvious to Felix. But still, those first two?
“I think we should get back to Ponyville,” Kanga said, snapping Felix back to reality. “I mean, we can't stay up here all day.”
“Yeah,” Felix added. “Plus, I wanted to ask Lyra about how she makes pancakes. See if there's some kind of secret pony cooking thing I should know about while we're in this world.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Roo said. “And while we're on the subject, could we please have pancakes for breakfast today?”
“Haven't you had pancakes for breakfast two days in a row, little one?” Felix asked.
“Um... yes?” Roo replied. “But what happened to the whole 'new world, new way' thing? Doesn't that mean new rules?”
“You still don't need that much sugar,” Kanga laughed while rubbing Roo's head. “But yeah, we should get back to Ponyville.”
“Alright,” Felix said.
“You all go,” Tartar said. “As much as I'd love to go with you, I want to try to avoid causing too much of a panic among those ponies.”
“Come on, Tartar,” Felix said. “You really should try to lighten up a little. I mean, you should have seen how most of the ponies reacted to us. They've pretty much gotten used to Pokemon in their town by now.”
“Well...” Tartar said. “I believe you, Felix, but the fact still remains that Tyranitar don't exactly have a perfect reputation. You've seen how many children I scared back on Earth. Besides, I'm a little more comfortable up here. It feels like home, minus living in terror of a raging Steelix.”
“If you say so, I guess I can't change your mind,” Felix shrugged. “Alright, you can stay up here until you feel comfortable enough to come down.”
“I'd stay with you, Tartar,” Pinky said, “but I'm kinda their line of communication with the ponies.”
“I don't mind, sweetie,” Tartar said, leaning down and giving Pinky a quick peck on the forehead. “Just don't forget about me up here.”
“We won't, Tartar,” Felix said. “As soon as we find Nana, we'll fly him up here for a visit. But that doesn't mean I don't want to see you joining us down there sometime soon.”
“Maybe once things settle down,” Tartar replied. “The other day, I could feel the panic that was going on down there from up here.”
“Alright,” Felix said. “We'll see you again soon.”
“I should hope so,” Tartar said, turning to Pinky. “And you shall be in my thoughts the whole time.”
“Heh heh... ditto,” Pinky said.
With that, Felix, Kanga, Roo, and Pinky turned and left.

In the Everfree Forest, Mangol the Zoroark had been sleeping in a small clearing before she quickly woke up to the sound of rustling leaves. Following her first instinct, Mangol quickly got up and initiated an illusion that turned her invisible. She'd done this sort of thing before. She hid, assessed the situation, and if it was a foe she could take on, she'd do so. If not, she'd form another illusion to trick her foe before fleeing. She waited for a moment and focused on the source on the source of the rustling. She was only waiting for a second before she discovered what was making the noise. It was a Leafeon.
“Odd,” the Leafeon said as she walked into the clearing. “I could have sworn someone was here. Oh wait a second, someone is here. Isn't that right, Mangol?” The Leafeon then turned and faced the exact direction where Mangol was.
“Ki? Is that you?” Mangol asked from behind her illusion, which she quickly dropped. The Zoroark then flipped and transformed into a Glaceon before using that form to run up and hug Ki. “I can't tell you how happy I am to finally find a familiar face in this place!”
“Heh, I'm happy to see you too,” Ki replied, returning the hug. “Wait, you haven't seen anyone we know yet?”
“Well, I ran into Felix Light two nights ago,” Mangol replied. Before continuing, she broke the hug and returned to her normal Zoroark form. “But the thing is, he's changed in an... interesting way.”
“How exactly has he changed?” Ki asked.
“He's a Meganium now,” Mangol replied. “Oh, and do you remember Kanga? His Kangaskhan? Turns out someone's gotten their shipping right.”
“You mean Felix and Kanga are...?” Ki asked. She then looked like she was trying to contain excitement for a moment before she ultimately failed by leaping into the air, doing a backflip, and shouting “YES!” She then landed gracefully before continuing. “I knew there was something between those two! For once, I've gotten a ship right that Tiny doubted! I can't wait to rub it in his adorable little-” Ki stopped her celebrating suddenly, however, when she realized something. “Wait, if Felix was in a relationship with Kanga, how come he's never told Marcus whenever they had one of their secret meetings?”
“Because they weren't in a relationship on Earth,” Mangol replied. “This development happened in just the past couple days. But that's enough about Felix. Do you realize what him being nearby could mean for the rest of his team?”
“Oh, I get it,” Ki said. “You're more focused on finding Drake than anything else.”
“The last time we met was so long ago...” Mangol said, turning to look up at the sky and noticing a particularly fluffy cloud that reminded her of the thick coat of wool that covered Drake when he was a Mareep. “Since we last met, not a day has gone by in which I had even a second's rest from the burning sensation caused by waiting to see my one true love once again.”
“You really miss him, huh?” Ki asked. “And let me guess. In your search for Drake, you haven't given even the slightest thought to finding a single member of our team?” Mangol simply shook her head, causing Ki to laugh a little. “Why am I not surprised? But I'll tell you what. Since you've managed to find at least one member of our team,” (Ki paused for a moment to indicate herself) “I'll go ahead and reward you by aiding in your search for Drake.”
“Really?” Mangol asked. “That's so kind of you. Thank you.”
“Heh, what are metaphorical sisters for?” Ki asked in reply. “Now come on. I found you by talking to this forest, I can find Drake for you the same way.” Ki then walked off into the forest, Mangol following close behind. “On the subject of finding Drake, have you even eaten in these past couple days?”

Back on the mountain trail, Felix and company were on their way back to Ponyville. Felix and Kanga were walking side by side, one of the former's vines in the latter's hand. Behind them, however, Pinky was lagging behind, which was rather unnatural for her. Felix noticed that she hadn't been acting quite like herself all morning, and now he was starting to get a little worried.
“Excuse me,” Felix said to Kanga, pulling one of his vines away. “I need to check on Pinky. I don't think she's well.”
“What makes you say that?” Kanga asked. “Is it the fact that she hasn't said one annoying thing since we woke up?” The Kangaskhan quickly realized that she answered her own question. “Yeah, you'd better check on her.”
“Thanks,” Felix said. He then decreased his pace, allowing Kanga to go ahead and Pinky to catch up to the Meganium.
“I'm fine, Felix,” Pinky said as she realized that Felix had started walking right next to her, though she was still looking down.
“Pinky, I've been your trainer for almost three years,” Felix replied. “Did you really think I wouldn't pick up on any unusual behavior? And for that matter, did you really think I wouldn't do anything about it?”
The Slowbro sighed and looked up at Felix. “What do you want?” she finally asked.
“To know what's bothering you,” Felix replied. “And then to help you in any way I can.”
“I... really don't want to talk about it,” Pinky replied.
“Does it have something to do with you and Tartar?” Felix asked. Pinky didn't say anything, but rather kept walking. An evident “yes” to Felix's question. “You know, you don't have to come down with us. You can stay with Tartar. Kanga, Roo, and I will find another way to talk to the ponies.”
“It's not that,” Pinky said. “It's.... Exactly how familiar with Pokemon biology are you?”
“Probably familiar enough,” Felix replied.
“Then do you know about heat cycles?” Pinky asked.
“Um...” Felix replied, starting to blush slightly as he realized where this conversation was headed. “I'm not a hundred percent familiar with the subject, but I know of it.” Felix then rubbed his chin with one of his vines. “So that's it! I didn't think there would be any other reason why you'd finally let Tartar get to you. If it's egg trouble, congratulations first and foremost. Second, I'm sure Kanga could help you better than I could.”
“It's not 'egg trouble' in the way you're probably thinking,” Pinky replied. “And no, I don't know for certain that I'm pregnant yet. But the real problem is... I don't want an egg. And I don't want a mate either. I know Tartar would be crushed if he knew any of this, but I've never been able to see myself as part of a family. You and the rest of our team aside, that is. My dream was always to learn a lot, enroll in a human law school, and become a politician. When I let you catch me that day three years ago, that was just me placing myself in a position in which I'd be exposed to more opportunities to learn. Of course, you turned out to be a decent trainer and I started to enjoy traveling with you, but that didn't mean I was going to abandon my dreams. I was sure you'd understand when it came time for us to part ways.”
“Uh... yeah...” Felix said, donning a slightly irritated expression.
“But that plan of mine didn't involve a mate or an egg,” Pinky continued. “I'm not blaming Tartar for anything. I'm just saying that life threw me a curveball last night that I wasn't expecting and now my plans are probably going to fall apart as a result. I... I hate to admit it, but I don't know what to do. Something unexpected happened, I have no idea how to deal with it, and it's causing me to panic on the inside. I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers all the time, but now I'm completely lost. Do you have any idea how-?”
Pinky was stopped suddenly when Felix suddenly wrapped his vines around her and pulled her into a hug. “Pinky, shush,” Felix said. “There's no need to panic. I'm sure you'll be a good mate for Tartar, a wonderful mother for your child if you have one, and still be able to become a politician. There isn't a doubt in my mind about that. You wanna know why? Because you're Pinky, the smartest Slowbro in the world. No matter what happens, you always have the answer, even if you can't find it right away.” Felix then released Pinky from the hug and looked her in the eye. “That's the Pinky I know and lo- er, the Pinky I know and tolerate.”
Pinky couldn't help but smile up at the Meganium. “Th-thank you Felix,” she said. “That's the kindest speech anyone's ever given me.”
“I'm glad,” Felix replied. “Now quit your nervousness and internal panic. It's creeping me out.”
Pinky simply rolled her eyes, but was also still smiling. “Alright,” she said. “I'll try.”
“Hey!” Kanga called to the two from further down the trail. “Are you two coming?”
“We'll be right there!” Felix called back. He then turned to Pinky. “Remember what I said. No matter what comes of this, you can handle it.”
“Okay,” Pinky said. She then took a deep breath and began walking again. Felix was about to follow, but he stopped when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and looked into the distance to see a large creature flying in a circle.
“That can't be...” Felix said to himself as he strained to look closer. This simply confirmed is suspicions. “It is!” Felix then ran down the trail towards the others. “Pinky, Kanga, I found Nana!”

Nana slowly descended into the forest to join Drake.
“Sorry, bro,” Nana said to the Ampharos as he landed on all fours with a loud thud. “I couldn't find anyone.”
“No one?” Drake asked, his ears drooping. “Oh... ok. Then I guess our only option left is making our way to that town and hope either we find them or they find us there.”
“Alright,” Nana replied. “But we're gonna have to go on foot. These flyovers tend to tire me out.”
“Okay,” Drake replied. “Now... do you know which way that town was?”
Nana was about to reply (with a “no”) when a shouting voice stopped him. “Nana! Nana where are you?”
“Felix?” Nana asked, momentarily unable to believe he was hearing his trainer's voice once again. “Felix! We're over here!”
It was a few moments before Nana and Drake came into the view of Felix and the others. “Nana! Drake!” Felix called as he ran over to them.
“Felix?” Drake asked. “Is that-?” The Ampharos was stopped short when Felix ran up and hugged Drake with his vines.
“I'm so glad to see you again, Drake,” Felix said. He then quickly released the Ampharos and hugged Nana. “And Nana, I'm so glad to see you, too!”
“Um...” Nana said, trying but failing to back away from the Meganium.
It was at this time that Kanga and Pinky had finally caught up to Felix. “Kanga! Pinky!” Drake called. He then mouthed “Who is this guy?”
“Felix,” Pinky said, “you're in a new body, remember?”
“Oh, right,” Felix said, releasing Nana from his hug. “Uh, sorry about that guys. It's me, Felix. Just... as a Meganium.”
“So that's what Arceus meant by Pokemon who underwent changes,” Drake said with a nod of understanding.
“At least you were turned into the right type,” Nana said, patting Felix on the back with one of his leaves. (The problems being the force with which Nana “patted” and the fact that Felix's back was mostly the back of his neck.)
“Yeah...” Felix said as he tried to regain his balance. “So, how have you two been for the past two days?”
“Mostly just looking for everyone,” Drake replied. “Nana was my first find.”
“Actually, I found you,” Nana replied. He then turned to the others. “I dive bombed him thinking he was a tasty Pikachu. It's a good thing I'm no good at dive bombing.”
“I beg to differ,” Drake replied with a laugh. “You can dive bomb pretty well if you use Body Slam at the same time.”
“Anyway,” Nana quickly said, “Drake and I have been looking for the others, but so far you four are the only ones we've found.”
“Okay,” Felix said with a nod. “Out of curiosity, what have you two been eating?”
“Apples,” Drake replied. “There's a lot of them in this forest, and they're... different from the ones in our world.”
“Very tasty and surprisingly filling?” Felix asked.
“Yes,” Drake replied. “But enough about apples. What have you guys been up to?”
“I'll summarize what we've done and explain afterwards,” Felix replied. “Basically, the past few days have held Pinky revealing Kanga's crush on me...”
“And fixing your memory,” Pinky protested. “You're welcome.”
“...lesbian ponies who took care of Roo...”
“And one of them made me pancakes,” Roo added.
“...almost getting killed a couple times by Tartar because he didn't recognize us, an incredibly romantic evening atop that mountain over there, Kanga and I getting together, and Tartar probably getting Pinky pregnant. Let's see... I think that's everything that's happened the past couple days.”
Both Drake and Nana could only stare at Felix in confusion. It was a few seconds before Pinky stepped forward. “Good try, Felix, but I'll take it from here,” she said. She then turned to Drake and shared her memories with the Ampharos. After a minute of psychic transfer, Pinky turned to Nana and did the same thing.
“So those are what populate the town,” Drake said. “They seem varied enough to be able to adapt easily to Pokemon. And those two, Lyra and Bon Bon, really wanted to help take care of Roo?”
“They did,” Kanga replied. “I'm not sure what it was about Roo, but they seemed to really bond with her. Like she saved them from something.”
“I've been told I'm a 'Mon of many talents,” Roo said proudly. “Saving relationships is just one of the above-mentioned talents.”
“Well that's...” Drake started. “Well, it's not the strangest thing we've ever seen. That's for sure.”
“I was a little skeptical at first as well,” Kanga said. “But Lyra and Bon Bon are good people. Or... good ponies?”
“If you wanna meet them, we were on our way back to town,” Felix said.
“Uh... no thanks,” Drake replied. “We're still looking for Piggy.”
“And Mangol,” Nana added.
“What?” Drake quickly asked, blushing and nervously looking this way and that. “No, no, I never said anything about looking for a Zoroark with perfect hair and a beautiful face. Heh heh...”
“Mangol?” Felix asked. “As in Mangol the Zoroark? Odd. The other night, I met a Dragonair named Mangol. Hmm... now that I think about it, she did disappear after we were done talking, so... yeah, I think your Mangol is in this forest. Probably even looking for you.”
“Mangol's looking for me?” Drake asked excitedly, his tail glowing and wagging. “I mean, uh, ahem, maybe she'll make finding everyone else easier.”
“If you say so,” Nana laughed.
“So we'll see you two when you find everyone else on your list?” Felix asked.
“Yup,” Drake replied with a nod.
“Alright then,” Felix said. “Well, at least I know where six out of my seven team members are now. I just hope Piggy's staying out of trouble.”

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Appleoosan Mountains...

“Come on, weakling!” Piggy shouted to the downed, battered, and beaten Aggron before him. “Is that really all you've got?”

Back in the Everfree...

“Piggy? Staying out of trouble?” Nana asked with a laugh. “Come on, Felix.”
“I suppose you've got a point there,” Felix said. “Lemme rephrase. Let's hope he's not in over his head with whatever he's doing.”

“...and your mother was a Whismur!” Piggy continued to his defeated opponent. “Are you really going to take all of that from me? If not, then GET BACK UP AND FIGHT!” Piggy's taunting was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. Quickly, the Emboar whirled around and shouted “What do you-?”
Piggy stopped mid-sentence when he found himself face to face with a Charizard, and an angry looking one at that. “Do I look like a Whismur to you?” the Aggron's mother asked with an angry growl.

“That sounds better,” Kanga said. “So, are we gonna get going?”
“Oh yeah,” Felix said. He then turned to Nana and Drake. “I guess we'll see you again. Good luck on your search.”
“Thanks Felix,” Drake said. “And whatever comes your way, good luck with it.”
“Thanks,” Felix said. He then turned to Pinky and Kanga. “Come on. Lyra and Bon Bon are probably wondering where we are by now.” With that, the four left for Ponyville, leaving Drake and Nana.
“So I guess we only have one more 'Mon to search for,” Drake said.
“Forgetting someone?” Nana asked. “Maybe an Emboar we know?”
“Oh! Yeah, you're right,” Drake said. “Let's... let's just get back to searching.”