Luckily, the pair of Eevolutions made it to the train in time. Offered bought their tickets from the snobbish unicorn at the booth, replenished their translation spell, and they were off on their way to Ponyville. They had managed to grab an empty booth seat just as the train began rolling, sitting across from one another.
They had made some idle conversation on the train, but eventually Valerie finally looked out the window. And what she saw blew her away. She had been taken from her home when she was fairly young, and hadn’t seen much of the outside of her parent’s den before. But now, looking out the window, she felt almost scared. After living a life of tight spaces it was inconceivable to be able to see something miles away.
After she stared out the window for several minutes, her eyes rapidly attempting to see every little sight there was to see, Shadow spoke up. “Enjoying the view?”
She jumped at his words, bringing her attention back to the cramped interior of the train. “Oh, yes. I don’t think I've ever seen a view like this before. It was… cramped back at the lab.”
Shadow nodded in understanding. “I remember how I was for me when I first went out on the open ocean with Tyler. We were going to Dewford town to get a gym badge, you know about gyms right?”
Valerie nodded, “Yeah a Scyther named Sam taught us all a whole bunch about the outside world.”
Cracking a smile he continued, “Well anyway, it was my first time really being in an open space like that, it was the same for most of us. I grew up on Route 116, east of a Rustboro, it was a relatively thick forest, and you could never see more than a few hundred feet unless you were on a path, which you avoided unless you were interested in being caught or just plain stupid. So when we went to Dewford on that ferry boat, I could see all the way to the horizon. That was a pretty big shocker for me, but probably nothing compared to what this is like for you.”
Valerie nodded. “I was born in the Kalos region, route ten, north of Cyllage city. I had only just gotten old enough to leave the den without my parents, both Vaporeon, and battle with other wild Eevee of about the same age as me.” Looking for a change in subject, she asked “So how did you and Tyler meet?”
Understanding her need for a change of topic he elaborated. “I wasn’t looking for a trainer really when I joined him. I had gotten cornered by a hunting party of Nincada, and probably wouldn’t have gotten out on my own if Tyler hadn’t saved me. He took on all five of them with Kenny, a Fennekin still at the time. Afterward he patched me up some with some potions and offered for me to join his team. I, of course, accepted and he added me to the team. Apparently he had his whole team planned out in his mind long before he actually caught any of us and he was looking for Eevee. I don’t like to think about what would have happened if he decided to go with something else on his team.”
Valerie smiled at the story, “That’s nice, he sounds like a good trainer.”
“Yeah, he even gave me the final say in what I evolved into, but I trusted his judgement and decided to be an Umbreon. The first two weeks we were together were the most exhausting, we got stayed up late every night until one AM training. I fought so many wild Pokemon I probably have a rep in Petalburg Woods.”
The Poison-Type giggled at that. ‘Well I suppose a story for a story, here I go…”
Shadows eyes widened, “Oh, no you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Really.”
She shook her head. “No, we can’t ignore the Donphan in the room forever. It’s about time I told you more about myself.”
“But we haven’t even known each other for twenty four hours yet.”
“That’s true, but still, you’re the first person to ever really care about me outside of the lab, discounting my family.” She stopped and cleared her throat. “I was captured by the Doctor’s assistants along with my brothers one foggy morning. They didn’t use Pokeballs or Pokemon to catch us, they just shot us with tranquilizers and bagged us. Next thing we know we’re in a small empty room with tiny bowls of food and a security camera. We were allowed to talk with this little kid named Vincent, I think he was the Doctor's son, but he was no less a victim than any of us. He helped explain to us what was going on, and did his best to make what he believed would be our last week of existence more comfortable. But I was the only one to survive.”
Silence reigned once more between them, and Valerie looked back out the window at the landscape. A few minutes passed and Shadow saw her eyes begin to water up again. He jumped out of his seat and switched sides to sit by her, then pulled her into a hug, and this time, for once, she returned it.
Eventually the train ride ended, and they got off. “I didn’t expect it to be so… rural.” Commented the Umbreon.
“Well Canterlot is supposed to be their capital. I guess that’s the only city of that size.”
Shadow shrugged, and looked around. From the train platform he couldn’t tell where the forest was, especially at his stature. He gestured for Valerie to follow him and they escaped from the crowd, looking around some more, but not seeing any sign of their destination. “I guess we’re gonna have to ask for directions.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Most of the ponies we’ve met haven’t exactly been helpful.”
“Offered said Ponyville was much more laid back. I think if we asked politely we could probably get help.” They looked around some more, looking for someone that didn’t look too busy. Finally spotting someone, a Gray Pegasus mare with a bow mark on her flank. “I’ll have to ask Offered about those later” thought Shadow.
After approaching her and asking for directions she explained she didn’t know the forest all too well, and instead gave them directions to someone else who was much more likely to be able to help them, a “zebra” named Zecora.
After thanking the mare they went on their way. As they passed through the town they couldn’t help ogling at the strange architecture. Libraries inside of trees, joke shops shaped like jester’s hats, bakeries made to look like gingerbread houses! The buildings kept getting stranger and stranger as they went through. The ponies also seemed much more diverse. In Canterlot most of the ponies around had been Unicorns, but here it seemed to be about an even motley of races. The colors of the ponies seemed to be much more vibrant and varied as well, as in Canterlot a great number of ponies had white coats or manes. That would also need to be something they asked Offered and Fancy about later.
Finally they reached the edge of the town, the forest now in sight. Following the instructions of the Pegasus they found the path into the forest and followed it. There was a much larger number of Pokemon staying in the forest than in the town or Canterlot, and they both kept an eye out for any Pokemon that would be overly angry due to their sudden move.
Not long after entering the forest they came upon tree hut they’d been instructed to find. The Blitzle like creature inside that was apparently a zebra happily gave them directions in a strange rhyming accent.
Now with knowledge of the location of their real destination they once again set out. After about two hours they finally made it to the Hall of Legends. The pair were rather surprised to see all of the legends around it, the Regi Trio standing outside the
large front doors. Shaymin, in her land form, came dashing out from between them
as fast her little legs could carry her, and dashed off into the forest. Valerie considered stopping her and asking if she could get some Pecha Berries from her but opted against it since the small legend appeared to be in a hurry.
Shadow stopped in semi shock at the encounter. It was true that it would be expected to meet legends at their home but it was still a big surprise to see Pokemon considered to be legend, hence the name, in person.
Valerie giggled at his reaction. “What, never seen a legend before?” She asked with a playful smirk.
Broken from his short stupor Shadow shook his head, “Well of course not! It was a pretty big deal to meet even one on Earth. But we’ve already seen four up close!”
“Five for me actually, I met Celebi rather briefly before I was taken. I wandered out of the den by myself when I was still just a pup. I got lost pretty bad in the forest, it was already nightfall when she heard me crying and helped me back. I wonder if she remembers me. I don’t remember much about her though, I was pretty little.”
The Umbreon grinned, “Wow, lucky you. Maybe we’ll be able to see her again while we’re here.”
The two finally approached the Regis, all standing sentinel at the entrance. The golems lights lit up together, beeping the strange patterns in unison. Then they spoke up together, their voices melding into one, rather menacing sounding monotone. “Halt, state your names.”
“I’m Shadow, and this is Valerie. We’re here to speak with Arceus.”
The trio beeped a few more times, “State your business with Lord Arceus.”
Valerie spoke up this time, “I was hoping to learn the locations of my family members, obtain some berries, and seek help with a certain, personal issue.”
“And the Umbreon.”
“I’m just accompanying her for… um, moral support?”
“Acceptable. You may enter.”
The two Eeveelutions padded between them and up the steps into the great hall of the building. It was so magnificent, it was beyond description. No one could do this masterpiece justice. After the long walk down the hallway, they came into a more open room, with a large table in the center. The only Pokemon here was Dialga, who appeared to be reading a comically oversized newspaper, and sipping another ridiculous looking cup of coffee, big enough for the two smaller Pokemon to use as a bitter hot tub.
When the two entered he glanced down, and sighed. “You here to see pops?”
Shadow and Valerie nodded together nervously.
The time Pokemon chuckled at their nervous state. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll just go get him and head back to my room. I was pretty much done with the paper, and I don’t really need to drink coffee.” He folded up his paper, and gulped down the last of his coffee. “Hey, you want my paper?”
Before either of the smaller Pokemon could respond it shrunk down to normal size and floated over to Shadow who gave an awkward grateful nod and put it in his bag. The Steel Dragon lumbered off into a different room, leaving the two to themselves, awkwardly standing in the center of the room waiting for someone else to greet them.
After some time had passed there was a bright flash and Arceus stood before them. Before two could bow he spoke up. “Don’t worry about formalities, I’m trying to be easier to relate to. Please, let us talk like equals, or at least near equals.” He looked at the two for a moment. “I hope I am not being rude, but I do not believe I am familiar with your species, are you a resident of Equus?”
Surprised somewhat at his reaction, Valerie answered. “No milord, I was a… experiment under Doctor Nurem. I’m sure you’re familiar with him somewhat.”
The gods eyes widened suddenly. “Oh my! I certainly meant no disrespect when I asked you of your species.”
“No, no, It’s fine! Really.” Valerie's eyes shifted around nervously. “Um… I just had a few questions and requests. Nothing too major for you I hope.”
The legend bowed his head, “Considering what suffering that monster has likely put you through, I would be ashamed of myself if I could not at least offer my help in some way.”
“Ok, um… thanks. Well the first thing is my family. My parents and brother. I haven’t seen them in years, and I would like to let them know I’m still alive, and what happened to my other siblings. Could you tell me where they are?”
“Of course, but I’ll need a description of them before I can find them.”
“Oh, um ok… Well they’re both Vaporeon. My mom is named Flo, and my dad is Hector. I don’t know about my brothers name, he may have a different one now if he was captured, and a lot of Eevee change their name after evolving.
“Give me a moment please.” The elder god’s eyes glowed and he vanished in another burst of light.
“Is it just me or does this whole thing seem really Deux Ex Machina?” Muttered Shadow.
Another flash and Arceus was back. “I have determined the location of your parents. Although I am unsure of your brother as I do not know what he evolved into. I could get the information from your parent’s minds, but that would be rude. They are currently residing at some docks in the city of Las Pegasus. I would recommend going there as soon as you can. They may leave.”
Valerie grinned widely, finally, she could see her family again! They could have closure! And she would get to learn what happened to her younger brother!
“Was there anything else you needed?” Questioned Arceus, breaking Valerie from her inner thoughts.
“Oh, yes! You see, when the doctor experimented on my siblings and I, he meant to create new species of Eeveelution. I was the only successful one though. But I can’t touch anyone without poisoning them. I know most Pokemon with the poison point ability can control it when they aren’t in battle but mine is always active, and it’s hurt a lot of people. I was hoping that there is something you could do to fix that?”
This request gave Arceus pause. “I’m afraid this is not my area of expertise. I believe my daughter Mew would be better suited for this.” His eyes glowed again for a moment, and then faded.
A muffled yell could be heard coming from down a side hallway, “I’m coming, I’m coming, wait a moment!”
A small pink cat Pokemon floated into the room, “Hi there! You said you needed my help da…” Just then she finally really noticed Valerie. She turned to the Veneon, and gave her an intense stare, slowly floating closer and closer, until she was almost nose to nose with the confused Poison-Type. “What are you? I’ve never seen a Pokemon like you! I know humans have created their own species accidentally and on purpose in the past but none as natural looking as you!”
Valerie shifted uncomfortably, and gave Arceus a pleading look. He nodded and his eyes glowed again for a moment, this time Mew’s lighting up as well. Her look of curiosity turned to horror and she backed away quickly. “Oh my! My apologies! I had no idea! I’m just always excited to see new life forms, after all, I created the first few.”
“I-it’s fine. I actually needed your help with that. You see, I have a rather overactive poison point ability. I was hoping you could maybe help to fix that somehow.”
Mew squinted at the Veneon. “Well whether I can help depends on what you mean by fix. Do you just want me to tone it down some, or completely revert your evolution?”
Valerie’s eyes widened. “No no no, I don’t want to revert it. Even if the process in itself was painful and traumatizing, this is part of who I am. I couldn’t even consider going back.”
The cat Pokemon smiled and nodded, “That’s good to hear. You’d be surprised by how many Pokemon have sought me out to ask for a reversal of their evolution. I technically can, but I usually don’t. I mostly only help with Pokemon whose evolution are related to abuse, like yourself, but I never feel right doing it.” There was a short pause, and the legend reached out her paw. “Can I get a few samples? Some saliva, a bit of fur, some blood and a bit of your venom?”
Valerie shrunk back a bit and grimaced, and Shadow came forward to comfort her one more. At Mew’s worried expression she explained. “Sorry, but whenever the doctor said something like that to any of his subjects something bad usually followed.”
The Psychic gasped, “Oh my! I’m sorry, I should be more careful of what I say.”
“Please, it’s fine. I just need to readjust. It’s all me.” She gave a forced smile. After a few moments she held a paw forward to the small legend. “Lets get this over with. Please.”
Mew nodded and looked to Arceus, who summoned some basic medical equipment, including several bags and cups and a needle. The little Psychic made it as short and painless as possible, giving a quick prick in the leg, squeezing a bit of venom from Valeries spiky fur patches, dabbing some of the oily poisonous substance on her fur, pulling out a few tufts of loose fur, and holding the cup forward for her to spit in. She examined the samples, her eyes glowing a few times, and even dipping her finger in the poison. After a few minutes of this she set them down on the legend sized table and began to speak.
“May I test something? I have a theory about something, and I’ll need to use a few battle moves on you. Don’t worry, I’ll use weak ones.”
The Poison-Type nodded, and braced herself. The small cat Pokemon floated over to her, and yelled “Rock Smash!” hitting Valerie square in the chest. It stung, but the low power and infectivity, combined with Mew’s obvious holding back, didn’t do much. Mew’s eyes glowed for a moment again, and hit her a few more times. “Just to make sure theres a measurable amount of damage,” she explained. The mini legend began charging up another attack, this one with a purple glow. “Venoshock!”
The attack struck in Valerie’s chest again, but this time instead of feeling pain she felt a cool refreshing feeling, that reminded her of a swim in the cool river near her parent’s old den. The dull ache from the earlier attacks vanished, and she felt like she was at full strength.
Mew observed her expression, the reaction confirming her earlier suspicion. “Well I guess I’m right then.”
Valerie broke out of her small trance. “About what?”
“You have two abilities!”
The now even more special Poison-Type tilted her head. “What? I thought Pokemon could only have one.”
“Usually yes, but in some cases if the Pokemon has a particularly strong evolution or a stressful one mutations like this can occur. Tell me, how did the Doctor evolve you? Give me details please.”
“He broke a Toxic Orb, and injected it into me while feeding me some sort of special rare candy liquid. I came pretty close to dying during the process, but at the last second I evolved and felt better all of a sudden.”
“Ok, that makes sense. From what I can tell, the way you would normally evolve into a… um… what is your species called?”
“I’m a Veneon.”
“Right, the way you would normally evolve into a Veneon is by having an Eevee hold a toxic orb, and be near experiencing a great deal of emotion at once. You see, it’s a common misconception that Lucario, Snorlax,” she glanced to Shadow, “Umbreon, and other Pokemon that evolve through ‘friendship’. You see, it’s really just extremely powerful emotions that allow them to evolve, friendship and love just being the most effective. I believe that your evolution was triggered by fear, and that combined with having the mixture in the orb directly injected gave you a ‘supercharged’ evolution. And that’s why your Poison-Point is so much more potent and you also have the ‘Poison-Absorb’ ability.”
Valeries haunches sunk to the floor. She lifted a leg and examined the spiky fur on her elbow. “I wonder how I haven’t already figured that out. The doctor used to put me in the simulator all the time to test what my species was capable of, movewise. It’s strange to think in those whole five years he never thought to have Bit use a Poison move. Heh.”
“So you mentioned wanting to have yourself ‘fixed.’ Would that mean having your Poison Point ability removed altogether, or just lowering it back to manageable levels? And keep in mind I’ve never done anything quite like this before, so it could take a few weeks of preparation.”
The dual abilitied mon contemplated for a few moments, before looking to Shadow, the question evident in her eyes.
His eyes widened a bit that she would look to him for advice. “Um… I think it’s pretty cool you have two abilities. That could really come in handy, and if it’s only active during battles. But I suppose you probably have some negative memories attached to it, so I would understand if you didn’t want to keep it.”
Valerie closed her eyes. Shadow brought up good points. It was part of her, and she couldn’t deny that, but it had hurt those close to her many times, and she didn’t want it to happen again. But weakening it would still prevent her from hurting her friends and family, once she found them, and it would still give her another level of defense in battle. Her mind was for diminishing it, but her heart was for getting rid of it altogether. A sigh escaped her lips, this was much harder than she had always planned out in her mind.
Mew cleared her throat, and Valerie looked up again. “How about I just weaken it for now. If you ever decide to completely remove it then you can return any time, I may not be able to give it back to you if you decide to remove it.”
The Poison-Type nodded in understanding. “Ok, thank you. So how long do you think it’ll be before you’re ready?”
The little Psychic placed a hand on her chin and looked up. “Hmm, I’m not sure. These will be a very busy next few weeks after the teleport. I’ll work on it when I can but it could be some time. Three weeks at most.”
Valerie nodded. “Well I guess it’s better than nothing. Thank you for your help.”
Arceus now returned to the room again, “I believe you mentioned you needed some berries. I spoke to Shaymin and she was kind enough to supply you with a large portion of her Pecha Berry crop. I would recommend using half and half for seed and use. Was that all you needed?”
“Yes I suppose that is, since it will be getting dark fairly soon. Thank you very much for all of the help. The only other thing I could think of is to say hi to Celebi for me. She helped me out of a tight spot once when I was still an Eevee North of Cyllage.
He nodded, “I’ll make sure to mention it. If you like I can teleport you back to Canterlot, you may not be able to make it to the train in time, I checked the schedule while I was retrieving the berries, and while you can’t tell from this room, it’s already dark out.”
The two friends smiled, and Shadow spoke up again “Yes that would be great, thank you.”
Arceus’ eyes glowed, and the two were gone in a flash.