//------------------------------// // Chapter 61 // Story: A New World, a New Way // by zeusdemigod131 //------------------------------// By the time Rika reached the town center, she was... well she was honestly expecting more. It was just another day, no pissed off Professor, no Belle melting brains and opening black holes... Just ponies and Pokemon going about their business. “Well... now what do I do?” Rika wondered out loud. Oh! The purple Princess from before. She could find her and tell her what was supposed to be going on. Now where did she live again? After pulling up a nearby pony, Rika had made her way to the large tree-library. She raised a paw and knocked on the door a few times. “Oh, please be home...” After a few moments, Twilight opened the door. “Oh hi... Rika right?” She asked with a smile. “How’re things over at Sweet Apple Acres?” Rika paused, she hadn’t really taken much notice of the Princess until now. And it dawned on her that she needed to hug this little Alicorn for her collection... Argh! Not the time for that right now. “Good, bad, horrible, super-duper unawesome!” Rika cried. “We got attacked by Koga, Sethy got poisoned, Ignis got blown up, Christine nearly murdered a bug and now some bad guys are coming for Gene and Belle!” Twilight blinked once, the facial expression of this Pokemon were quite amusing. Her then her smile turned into a glare. “I was really hoping they wouldn’t do this,” she said with a sigh. “Something wrong, Twilight?” Rika was surprised to see Princess Celestia step out of the library. “Hello there, Rika.” Celestia said with smile upon noticing the Sylveon. “Looks like they’re making their move, Princess,” Twilight said with a frown. “I have to go warn Gene and Belle.” Celestia nodded. “Very well, I shall inform our own forces to be on guard.” “Hi Princess!!” Rika waved to Celestia. “I didn’t know you were here! Did you hear Sethy earlier? His roar was sooooo loud!” “That was Seth?” Celestia asked. “Hm, good to know the spell works right.” Twilight wanted to ask what she meant by that, she really did, but she didn’t have time, she had to get to Carousel Boutique before someone tried to attack Gene and, this was the important part, before Belle stopped them. “Um, what should I do now?” Rika asked. “Sethy will be here soonish, and he told me to help out any way I could.” “You’ve done well in informing us of this matter,” Celestia smiled. “Do you know how long Seth will be?” “About ten minutes, give or take?” Rika replied. “He was recovering from some injuries before leaving the farm.” “Actually,” Twilight said. “Could you go to Fluttershy’s cottage? She has a lot of baby Pokemon and critters there that could be in trouble. Spike can show you the way.” The small dragon nodded and walked up next to Rika. “It’s across town, so we’ll have to hurryyyaahhhh!” Spike let out a very unmanly yelp as Rika picked him up, briefly hugged the little dragon and placed him on her back. “Less chit chat, more rescuing!” she declared. And with that, she bolted from the library, a yelling Spike shouting directions as they ran. Back at Hastings camp, things had dissolved into chaos. After hearing Seth’s roar, everyone present had, understandably, freaked out. This was followed by Luxray pointing out that Koga had gone missing. “That thick headed fool!” Hastings spat. “He’s going to ruin our entire plan!” “We have a plan?” Wendy asked, honestly curious. “I thought our goal was to abduct two people and from there were just winging it.” Staraptor, her partner, chuckled. “Winging it,” he nudged her with a wing. “Good one flygirl.” Wendy rolled her eyes. “Back to the point, Abby’s right... just where are we going to put them that they can’t escape?” she asked before another thought occurred to her and she glanced at Hastings. “And how exactly are we going to keep Abby from cursing us, or Belle from teleporting in and rescuing them both?” “I thought you had to grab a Ninetales tail for it to curse you,” Max said. “That’s a common misconception,” Rowan replied. “A Ninetales can afflict a person with their trademark curse at almost any given time... understandably, there’s been very little research into the subject,” he paused, then added. “But that being said, grabbing a Ninetales tail is still a bad idea in general.” “So we need to contain someone who could turn us all into plants if we upset her, and someone whose mate is capable of doing unspeakable things to our minds,” Luxray summed up. “And opening black holes,” Candice added helpfully. “Can’t forget about that part.” “Thank you,” Luxray said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter!” Surge shouted, slamming a fist against a tree and shaking it. “These people broke the law, assaulted me, and they deserve-” “Oh spare us another tirade about law, please,” Grimsley snarked. “You’ve gotten your point across well enough the last fifty some times.” Surge growled and took a step towards Grimsley. “Now Edward,” Hastings said. “There’s no need to get violent here.” “Noo,” Luxray said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s save that for later, once we’ve managed to piss off half the population of a small town.” “Shut up you stupid cat!” Surge snapped. “Hey!” Sven shouted, getting to his paws and marching over to Surge. “Don’t you yell at my partner!” While the clearing devolved into a mad dash of insults, swears, and shouting, Norman sighed, and motioning to Max, the two of them slunk off into the nearby woods. “This...is not going to work…” he sighed once they were out of earshot...not that it mattered anyway, since the others were too busy arguing. “I know what you mean. For a ‘team’, our group sure spends a LOT of time arguing over all sorts of stuff,” Max sighed as well. Norman thought for a moment and tapped his chin. “Maybe... maybe we should try diplomacy again... this time without Surge or Hastings around.” “Well...that would help. But I still don’t see how that would make much of a difference at this point,” Max said, scratching the back of his head, since to him, at this point it felt like the milk was already split in terms of diplomacy. Norman sighed. “Maybe... but we have to at least try. Maybe we can appeal to the ponies first, then arrange something with the trainers.” “I dunno dad... still sounds like a long shot,” he shrugged. “But I guess we don’t have any better options...should we bring some of our Pokemon just in case?” “Well... Slaking’s asleep and I don’t really want to make that much noise...” “I’ll tell Banette to keep watch,” Max said. “Invisible... and from a distance.” Norman nodded, then frowned. “Actually... let’s bring them all with, in case we don’t come back, we’ll just have them wait outside of town.” May’s heart was thundering in her chest as she and Blaziken sat next to each other in a bench near the center of town. Blaziken’s arm was wrapped ever so slightly around her shoulder and she was snuggled into his warm feathered side. She glanced up at him and caught his gaze. This was the first time they’d shown even this much ‘openly’ before and it made May nervous out of principle. Without thinking about it, one of her hands moved up to her beret and adjusted it slightly. “You okay May?” Blaziken asked her. “Yes... yes I’m okay,” May said, glancing at a passing pony who paid the two no mind at all. It was so... strange... being in public like this with him, his strong warmth surrounding her, his affection and love radiating off of him like a flame. The Delphox gulped for a moment before moving slightly so that she was all but leaning on his chest. “Um? May?” Blaziken asked again, a bit shocked at the action before she leaned up and kissed him hard. Then there was no room in his head for any questions until... “MAY?!” The world of paradise came crashing down on both of them jumped in surprise and May all but kneed Blaziken in the crotch as she leapt upwards in surprise. May and Blaziken turned to see a Golduck wearing glasses, and a Vigoroth in a red jacket staring at them, mouths gaping. May gulped. “D-dad? Max?” Norman had to admit, Ponyville was a nice town, it really was. Okay, some of the architecture was downright strange, but he’d seen stranger really. The ponies seemed nice enough too, one of them having pointed them towards the Mayor’s office which was of course where they wanted to go if they wanted to get anything done officially. “I just hope the Mayor’s reasonable,” Max muttered. The entire time since they’d met up with Hastings’ group had been nothing but a complete headache for the brainy teen and he knew his dad felt much the same. “I’m sure she will be son,” Norman said, though more to reassure himself. Max sighed and continued after his father. That is, until, he spotted a familiar face on a nearby bench. “Dad,” Max said, coming to a stop. “That’s Blaziken.” Norman stopped and looked in the direction his son was. “Yes, it is a Blaziken...and a Delphox,” he raised an eyebrow and asked. “And?” “No, it’s May’s Blaziken,” Max deadpanned. “And considering I woke up with Kirlia and Grovyle, and you woke up with Slaking, I’m going to take a guess and say that the Delphox is probably May.” Norman blinked once, then smiled. “Well then let’s go!” Max had to chase after his father as he ran to greet May, he only managed to catch up with him when they saw something that made them, and their minds, screech to a halt. The Delphox, who they were now positive is May, thanks to the bandanna, had leaned on Blaziken’s chest, before kissing him full on the beak. The two ground to a stop and Max almost tripped over his own webbed feet. Norman for his part was just staring at the two of them as they exchanged the rather deep kiss. “MAY?!” the two of them shouted in surprise when their brains managed to reboot. May leapt upward in surprise and both she and Blaziken turned towards them. “D-dad? Max?” She asked, sounding surprised, confused, and a little bit horrified. The four of them stared at each other for a long moment before May finally spoke up. “Er... I can explain.” Finally recomposing himself, Norman’s gaze hardened into a glare. “I certainly hope you do, young lady.” He said angrily. May’s ears flattened back against her head, and she stammered for an answer. “W-well I, see it’s-” Thankfully, Blaziken stepped in, starred Max and Norman down for a few seconds, then simply said. “We’re dating.” For Max and Norman, it felt like their brains shorted out again for a moment. As for May...she was staring at him in abject horror. That was NOT the answer she was hoping he would give them. “You... you’re... but he...” Norman stammered. “If it makes it any better, I’m the one who came on to her,” Blaziken added, causing May to blush. “Wait...what?!” Max balked. Blaziken nodded. “I’ve had feelings for May for quite some time,” he turned to her and smiled. “Even back on Earth...back when she was a human...I loved her as more than my trainers, but I never expressed them because of the laws that prevented us from ever being...together.” “But... when did this start?” Max asked. May smiled at Blaziken. “It was at Gene and Belle’s wedding reception, we were dancing and he confessed his feelings and... I decided to give him a chance.” She leaned over and kissed Blaziken on the cheek. “Really glad I did.” “May...” Norman began, taking a step towards his daughter. “Are you sure about this?” He asked, concern in his voice. “Are you sure you’re not jumping into anything?” “Dad, I’m 21,” she said pointedly. “I’m not a little girl who has no idea what she’s doing. I’m an adult.” “That’s not what I’m saying,” Norman said. “I’m just...” he looked at her. “I’m concerned May. I’m very concerned for both of you.” Once again, Blaziken stepped forward. “Sir, I understand your concern, and I know you’re only trying to look out for your daughter, that’s all you’ve ever tried to do,” he smiled softly. “But I... I love her, and I say that from the bottom of heart. And I beg you to believe me when I say that I will never do anything to hurt her and that I would NEVER force her into anything that she didn’t tell me she was ready for.” “And the same goes for me,” May agreed, wrapping a furry arm around Blaziken. “We just want to be happy dad... is that so bad? I mean, yes we just started but... I really do think that I’m in love.” Norman stared at them for a few moments, then finally spoke. “Alright May, I trust you, so I’m not going to object anymore,” he leveled a glare at them. “But I’ve got my eyes on you,” he said calmly. “Both of you.” May gulped and Blaziken nodded and said. “Understood sir.” Norman nodded. “Good,” he looked back towards town. “So... why don’t you introduce us to your new friends?” When everything back at the clearing had settled down, it was discovered that they’d suffered another pair of casualties. Namely, Norman and his son were nowhere to be seen. “Ya know, at this rate I’m about to start thinking that we’re in a horror movie,” Sven muttered to Luxray. “Every time one of looks around someone else is missing.” “Where do you think those two ran off to?” Wendy asked. “They don’t seem like the types to go for a frontal assault.” “Probably didn’t...” Luxray answered for his partner. “My guess? They wanted to go when a certain someone-” he nodded at Surge who was engaging in a shouting match with... oh who did it matter at this point “- wasn’t there to start a fight and try to talk things out.” The electric lion let out an annoyed growl. Hastings sighed. “True, though I must say, that Princess Twilight was completely unreasonable.” Luxray raised an eyebrow. “Yes, because the reasonable thing to do would have been to hand over her friends to what’s looking more and more like a terrorist cell.” Hasting’s looked at Luxray in shock. “We’re not in the wrong here, it’s just...” Hasting’s shook his head. “You just don’t understand how complicated the laws of our world are.” Luxray’s expression changed to one of hurt. "Did you just say I'm too stupid to understand the laws you made regarding Pokemon?" Hastings didn’t bother looking at Luxray, so he missed the hurt in his eyes when he said. "Oh, no. But I don’t think you should talk about things you have no understanding of." Luxray was visibly shocked at the Professor’s words. The leader of the Pokemon Rangers, who he had nothing but respect for, seemed to think he was incapable of understanding how the laws worked. "What do you mean ‘no understanding’?” He asked, glaring at the Professor. “I think as a Pokemon I have enough background to speak about the laws which were made to help us. And as a Ranger, I think I have a pretty good understanding of them, don't you think?" Hastings sighed as he looked to Sven who now had a look of total disbelief on his face. "Sven? Could you keep your partner under control? We have no time to deal with this right now." He said, looking back at Surge and Candice who were arguing about... something about law. Luxray stand just stood there. Mouth hanging open in shock. Sven expression couldn't be read as his eyes were hid in the shadow of his hat. "Luxray..." he started. "We’re leaving." Sven and Luxray turned around and moved away from the group. Hastings just nodded and said. "Come back soon." Sven froze and shot a glare back at the Professor. “Don’t count on it.” Wendy watched the two as they walked off, quickly whispering something to Staraptor before they took off after them. “Sven, what are we doing here?” Luxray asked after they had put some distance between themselves and the camp. “Honestly?” Sven sighed. “I’m beginning to ask myself that same question,” he admitted. “I mean originally, I thought we were still in the right, I thought we’d have a plan to arrest Gene Phillips by now but instead, we’re bumbling around to try and arrest to people, one of whom’s a Ranger, and we have no plan.” Luxray grumbled. “Then can we just... leave please?” He asked, his fur down and tail twitching in annoyance at the volume of the shouting as his ears flattened. “Kasai’s a nice guy and he’s had Abby’s scent on him for years now... or at least he did whenever we saw them at conferences. I don’t know about this Philips guy but really... I’m betting he’s probably cool too.” He let out a small growl as well. “Besides, aren’t there more important, actual, criminals for us to be taking down? Leave the sex crimes to that division I say.” Sven was about to respond, but Wendy interrupted him. “Wait... before you decide anything, I think we-” she gestured at the three of them, as well as Staraptor. “Need to talk.” “What about?” Luxray muttered as he half rose to his paws and then gestured at the bickering ‘team’ behind them. “Do you honestly think we’re going to get anything done here with these clowns?” “Well,” Wendy looked back at them. “Not... really, but that’s not what I meant,” she sighed. “Before we run off, we should at least have a foggy idea of what we’re going to do next.” Sven frowned. “Hmm... good idea, don’t want to be a hypocrite,” he said, tapping a paw on the ground. “Well, we need to have some kind of destination in mind. So I guess the question is, where are we going and who do we know around here?” “We kinda know Kasai and Abby,” Staraptor offered. “Plus, if we do leave these guys, we’re probably going to want to apologize for our involvement.” “Yeah... but that shouldn’t be too bad right?” Luxray asked the bird. “I mean we didn’t actually attack anyone did we?” “That’s true,” Staraptor admitted. “As long as we don’t, you know, barge into town like we’re gonna attack them, then we should be fine.” “Well then, I think you and I are decided,” Luxray said, getting to his paws. “Let’s leave before Lt. Idiot over there can notice us.” Wendy took one last look at the arguing group and shook her head. “Yeah... let’s go.” Sven, Wendy, Luxray, and Staraptor were making their way to Ponyville, their eyes glancing around cautiously. However, it didn’t take them very long to notice the two figures who were standing in their way. Abby Trombley stood in the middle of the road, Kasai at her side and while neither looked particularly angry, they didn’t exactly look very pleased to see them. “Halt,” Abby barked out. “By order of the Equestrian Ranger Union you are not to take another step towards this town if you are after myself or Gene Phillips. Failure to comply will be met with violence.” “Um... we’re not,” Sven said awkwardly. “We’re kinda... defecting.” Abby blinked and her mask of calm ranger authority crumbled. “... really?” she asked, gobsmacked. “Hah,” Kasai said with a small chuckle, leaning over and nuzzling Abby. “Told you someone would.” Abby just blinked again. “Umm... thank you?” “Yeah, we kinda got sick of all those idiots constantly arguing with each other,” Wendy admitted. “And not listening to us,” Luxray said under his breath. “Ah... yeah I can see that, they didn’t seem all that well strung together,” Abby agreed with a nod of her head. “Hehe, I guess my speech paid off more than I thought if you four are here.” “Plus,” Staraptor added, smirking slightly. “Their main argument kinda fell apart when we found out you were part of this,” he chuckled. “Unless you’ve been abusing Kasai all this time.” Abby’s right eyebrow twitched and she turned her red eyed gaze on Staraptor. “You know, I’m sorry that I’m about to unleash this on you but if I don’t use it on someone then I’m going to go insane, so sorry in advance,” she said, a hard edge to her voice. Kasai for his part just leaned against Abby in support. “Tell me Sven, when was the last time you saw a Pokemon commit, or attempt to commit suicide because their ‘true love’ was taken away from them?” Abby asked calmly. “How often did that happen to you on a weekly basis?” Sven blinked and looked over to Abby. "We... we weren't part of that division." He admitted. “Yeah, you weren’t,” she agreed with a small nod. “Sorry that I couldn’t be out saving a region every other day,” she continued, glancing between the two of them. “I was down in the muck, fighting against people who were destroying Pokemon. How many people have you been forced to kill Sven?” Sven gulped. "Not... not many..." he said slowly. "Luxray and I... we brought in most of the grunts and poachers we had the displeasure of crossing paths with." “How nice,” Abby replied with the slimmest of smiles though it lacked any warmth at all. “I’d love to say I had that luxury at all times but no, I really didn’t.” She looked over to Kasai. “Kasai, my partner, the love of my life, lost a leg saving me from a poacher who sent a Claydol at me with the intention of using Self Destruct.” Her eyes hardened. “I have never abused Kasai, I’ve never hurt him, I’ve only ever disciplined him when he was bad, the same way you’d discipline anyone else.” Abby’s fur began to glow with heat. “I’ve spent my entire life fighting against the bad Pokephiles, and trust me, I know there were many... I’ve shut down brothels, I’ve shut down underground fighting rings, hell, I arrested one of the heads of Sylph for his ‘collection’ of beautiful dragon types.” She sucked in a deep breath. “So you know what, maybe long ago I came to the conclusion that maybe Pokemon were better then humans! Forgive me for getting sick of the way that society always treated them like second class citizens. Forgive me for getting sick of men who always wanted to get into my pants. Forgive me for falling in love with the most compassionate, caring, handsome man I’ve ever met in my entire life!” Abby glared at the pair of Rangers. “Kasai was the one who was always there for me when my parents got eaten, when I had to go trekking into the wild for nights on end there he was beside me. He was there for me when I nearly froze to death in the snow, when I was staying in the hospital, and the times when I didn’t feel much like being alone anymore! So You know what, I guess I did abuse him! I made him waste the chance to be with another Arcanine who would be Arceus damned WORTHY of him!” Abby stood there shivering with anger, the red in her eyes flickering in and out with the blue. “She’s right you know, about most of it anyways,” Kasai added, leaning over to nuzzle Abby. “Though, I wouldn’t say that there’s another person on this or any planet as ‘worthy’ of me as Abby.” Wendy and Sven stepped back at Abby’s outburst, while Staraptor merely flinched and Luxray stepped forward. “Why doesn't everyone just calm down?" Luxray said softly. "We’re not here to fight, so there’s no need to be hostile." Abby stood there panting for a moment before shaking her head. “Yeah... yeah you’re right... sorry... you guys didn’t deserve that.” She glanced down. “I’ve just... been holding that in for years now.” “It’s, um, it’s alright,” Wendy said, awkwardly, not really sure what to say next. Kasai broke the following silence as they started walking before it could get too awkward. “So, Luxray, you had any luck finding anyone lately? Last time we ran into each other you were at that awkward ‘between’ phase.” The group caught up as they made their way to town, and meanwhile, back at Hastings’ camp, the Professor finally realized that Sven and Wendy had left. He was not happy. Draco was feeling very pleased with himself as he flew back towards Ponyville, River wrapped around his body, her head resting against his. The past few days had been quite enjoyable for the Dragon, having finally taken River as his mate before fulfilling his promise to Rill. In all honesty he was looking forward to passing out in the sun in front of Carousel Boutique at this point, he was pretty much spent from the past two days. “Draco?” River suddenly said. “There’s a bunch of Pokemon down there, heading towards Ponyville.” Draco turned his head and blinked in surprise when he saw a sizable group of Pokemon heading for Ponyville. And they looked angry. “River,” Draco said, his tone deadly serious. “Go warn Gene and Princess Twilight.” “But-” River began. “Just do it.” Draco said flatly. He didn’t know what it was, but something about these guys was... off. River blinked once, then nodded. “Okay,” she said nervously, uncoiling herself from around Draco and floating alongside him for a moment. “Just be safe.” She said as she nuzzled him. Draco nuzzled her back before pushing her ahead of him. “I’m just going to see what they’re up to,” he promised, already descending. Meanwhile, back on the ground, Surge was leading a rather unorganized march into Ponyville, ignoring the fact that pretty much everyone else thought a frontal assault was a terrible idea, especially considered how much their number had nimbled. Even so, because of Koga's stunt they had pretty much lost the element of surprise and showed that they were ready to resort to a more direct approach rather than diplomacy, meaning their targets and the ponies would start to see them as real threats and act accordingly. Might as well just wing it and attack immediately rather than trying to come up with another plan that would have only given the Phillips runt and the purple Princess more time to organize a defense, then. They had no more time to lose. He only hoped that Koga had at least succeeded to some degree, or he would have put them in such a bad position for nothing. A quick glance at the rodent running at his side raised his spirit a little. At least he finally had Raichu by his side again, and that was all that mattered. “Lieutenant,” Raichu suddenly spoke up. “Possible enemy bogie, twelve o’ clock.” Surge looked up and, between the foliage, spotted what appeared to be a Dragonair flying rather quickly towards Ponyville, barely visible against the blue of the sky. He frowned, unsure for a second about what to do. From the briefing he had with the Rangers of his group, he knew that Gene Phillips had one on his team, and considering how rare Dragonair were, the chances it was another one just passing by were fantastically low, but to attack it without being sure... Then he remembered that they were already at war, and one thing he knew for sure was that in war any hesitation always got someone killed. “Good eye soldier, bringing it down.” The Electivire started windmilling his arms to create electricity, his twin tails lashing behind him with small arcs of thunder jumping between them, and focused on the lithe form of the snake-Dragon. Then he took a step forward, lowered his head and cried out. “Thunderbolt!” His antennae disappeared from view as powerful electricity surged enveloped them, then shot forward in a single arc of lighting, running up in the air towards the Dragonair. There was a split instant where it looked like the attack would actually hit, until a green blur intercepted it. Draco had been willing to give them a chance to explain themselves. He wasn’t planning to attack them out of the blue like some violent brute. But as the Electric attack dissipated around him, Draco decided that someone wasn’t making it out of this in one piece. Angling himself downwards at a dangerously steep angle, Draco descended rapidly to a spot directly in front of the Electivire. He landed with a crash, throwing up a cloud of dust as his full weight smashed into the ground, creating a sizable crater. Standing up from the crouch he had landed in, Draco stood at his full height and glared up murderously at the Electivire while the dust he had raised started to swirl around him. “No one,” he began with a growl. “Attacks my mate,” his tone was as deadly as his gaze. “And lives to tell about it!!” With a roar, Draco rushed forward.