“Uncle Vernus!” Chii positively rocketed towards the Leafeon. After Ethan and Brawly had met Vernus and the Growlithe that was traveling with him last night, they had taken them back to their home. By the time that they arrived, it was fairly late and everyone was already asleep, so the reunion had to be postponed until the morning. So when Chii had woken up and saw the Leafeon that she had missed oh-so-much, she launched herself at his sleeping form with a Quick Attack. Needless to say, it was a rude and sudden awakening for Vernus.
The commotion and noise that followed was more than enough to wake up the rest of the inhabitants in the building, or at least most of them. And all heads turned to see a Leafeon who was gasping for air and Chii who was happily nuzzling against him.
“You're back! You're back! You're back!” Chii repeated ecstatically. Vernus had been the one she had grown the closest to quickest after she had started living with Ethan. So she was so happy; she was beaming since he was finally back.
“Y-yeah, I'm finally back.” Vernus said with a wheeze. Chii had not pulled any punch, no, she had rammed into his stomach with full force; she may be small, but she was by no means a pushover. “So, how is my little girl doing?” Vernus smiled, using his paw to rub the fur on top of Chii's head.
“Great!” Chii exclaimed. “Now almost all of us are back together again.” Sax was the only part of their family that was still missing. But according to Zoey, he knew where they were and had chosen to travel on his own for a while. “Zoey! Come look!” Chii yelled to the Zoey who was still in the process of waking up. She had heard the commotion too, but she had just put it as Chii's usual antics and had tried to ignore it.
“What is it Chii?” Zoey yawned and stretched as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She looked over to where Chii was. Around her some of the other Pokémon that lived there had also gathered around something, but she could not see exactly what from where she sat.
“It’s Vernus!” Chii yelled once more. “He is back!” And this time, Zoey heard her clearly and quickly got up. Once she got closer, she saw the Leafeon in question who was currently being bombarded with questions from Chii and the Pokémon that were surrounding him. Not that he minded answering them.
“Heh, hello there, Zoey. It's been a while.” Vernus looked up at Zoey and blushed slightly as he remembered his last talk with Ethan before they got sent to Equus. Zoey just stood there for a moment, staring at her friend before a smile slowly started growing on her face.
“It has not been that long. But it is good to see you again.” Zoey smiled kindly before she walked over to where Vernus laid. “And you are still as popular as ever.” She joked, nodding at all the other Pokémon who were still gathered around him.
“They are curious, can’t blame them.” Vernus smiled. “Sorry everymon, but could you give us some space? I’m not going anywhere, so I’ll be sure to get to know each and every one of you later. But for now, I want to catch up with my family.” Many of the Pokémon voiced their disappointment, but complied with his request in the end. It was only natural that they were curious about the new Leafeon who knew not only Chii, but Zoey, Ethan, and Brawly as well.
“Yeah, we can all play later!” Chii voiced her enthusiasm from where she stood.
“You are sticking around as well?” Vernus teased Chii, poking her softly with his tail, making her laugh.
“Yeah, about that. Chii is now a permanent addition to our little group.” Zoey informed Vernus.
“Oh, really? So you are part of our family now as well?” Vernus asked as he lifted Chii up, placing her on his back.
“Yeah!” Chii cheered.
“That’s great!” Vernus matched her enthusiasm with a cheer of his own, making Zoey laugh. Vernus always had that effect. Others always were quick to take a liking to him because of his high and infectious spirit.
“It really is nice to see you again.” Zoey repeated. “Does Ethan know that you are here?” She asked curiously.
“Yeah, I met him and Brawly last night actually.” Vernus looked over to where Brawly and Ethan were still sleeping. They did not have any sort of walls in their home, except for the bathroom, so privacy was practically nonexistent. But it seemed that Ethan had snuck closer to Brawly sometime during the night and had ended up with his head resting against Brawly's chest, using it as a pillow. Brawly on the other hand, had gotten a face full of fluff as Ethan's ears covered his face. It was a really amusing and cute sight to behold. “That was certainly a surprise. It seems that I have missed a lot in my absence.” Vernus laughed and shook his head.
“Yeah…” Zoey sighed out. She was happy for Ethan, she truly was, but that still did not quell her heartache.
“... You did not know, did you?” Vernus asked. He had his suspicions, but he had never asked Zoey about it.
“No, no I did not. He told me but…” Zoey sighed as she thought back to that night.
“Ethan made Zoey sad.” Chii chipped in. “Stupid Brawly.” She huffed, still having mixed feelings about the whole thing after Brawly and Ethan had talked to her about it the day before.
“What? What happened?” A concerned Vernus asked.
And so, Zoey told Vernus about everything that had happened that night. About her finally working up the courage to admit her feelings to Ethan, and about her being rejected just before she found out about Ethan's sexuality. Even worse, he had not been the one to tell her himself either. That was part of what had hurt the most. She had remained strong for a while, but now the dam that she had build, finally broke.
She had talked to Ethan a little about it before, but never like she did then. She could never truly admit how hard it had struck her to Ethan, she could not let herself put a damper on his happiness like that. When she was talking with Vernus then and there, she let all her emotions flow freely and it was not long before both Vernus and Chii were hugging Zoey, comforting her.
“I’m sorry that I couldn't come before.” Vernus told her as Zoey sniffed, having her arms wrapped around Vernus. She kept glancing over to where Ethan and Brawly were lying, making sure that they had not woken up. She did not want either of them to see her like that.
“I… I just can't understand him at times. He is so smart, so good at reading people and Pokémon, figuring out what goes on inside their heads. But…” She took a deep breath to try to calm herself a little before she continued. “But at other times. It is like he is completely oblivious to everything around him.”
“Please don't cry…” Chii cooed softly as she continued to nuzzle Zoey. It hurt her to see her family like that.
“He does not mean anything bad with it.” Vernus told her. “But he can be like that at times. He does not consider the consequences, and he can easily become blind to the things around him.” Vernus was the one among them that had known Ethan the longest. He knew that his friend was good at what he did, brilliant even. But he had a tendency to overlook simple things, especially among the people and Pokémon that he cared about. “I am sorry, I wanted to tell you about him sooner. But I did not think that it was my place to tell.” Zoey nodded softly.
“Are you okay?” Chii asked carefully as she looked up to Zoey. “I can hit Ethan or Brawly in the face again if you want!” That however, made Zoey burst out in a short laugh.
“N-no, I don't think that will be necessary, Chii.” Zoey giggled. “But yeah, I am going to be alright. Thank you, both of you. I needed that.” She pulled both Chii and Vernus into an extra tight hug.
“It’s what family is for, is it not?” Vernus just smiled and Chii agreed.
“Yeah!”
“I love you guys.” Zoey had to hold back her tears once more. She was not usually that emotional, but it really felt good for her to let everything go. The three of them had gathered quite an audience during the time they had talked. The Pokémon that lived there watching from a distance. Many of them had grown rather close to Zoey during the time they had lived there, and so they were worried about her too. But at the same time, they had respected the fact that Zoey wanted to spend some time with her old friends to catch up.
“Looks like there are some more that are worried about you.” Vernus pointed out after a little while, looking off to the small gathering of Pokémon who were looking at them. “Why don’t you go just relax for a moment, and in the meantime I'll fix some breakfast for everyone.” Zoey had liked the idea at the start, but had grimaced the moment Vernus had suggested that he would make food.
“Um… are you sure that is a good idea?” Zoey asked. She knew that he only wanted to help, but…
“Oh, come on. It will be fine!” Vernus reassured her. “Chii will even help me out. So it will be alright.” Chii nodded eagerly.
“Oh, fine. How can I say no to the two of you.” Zoey shook her head in defeat. “But-” She was about to say something more, but was cut off as Vernus and Chii had started pushing her over to the others.
“No buts. You just sit back while we take care of everything.” Vernus told her, and she had to agree. Not taking care of everything that morning sounded good.
So Vernus and Chii left Zoey there as she got slowly surrounded. They had breakfast to take care off.
“So, you ready to do some cooking?” Vernus asked Chii who was riding on top of his head, holding onto the leaf that was growing there.
“Yeah!” She cheered again. “What are we making?” She asked once they arrived at the kitchen, Vernus looking over what they had to work with.
“Whatever we feel like!” Vernus grinned before the two of them got to work.
A… unique smell filled the air as Ethan slowly woke up. He slowly opened his eyes and yawned. It had seemed that he had slept in later than he used to, or at least that's what he thought. He did not feel nearly as tired as he used to in the mornings. In fact, he could not think of the last time he had felt that good.
One of the first things that he noticed was that something was wrapped over his shoulder and that his pillow was breathing. He had gone to sleep next to Brawly, he knew that much, but he never remembered having snuggled that close to him during the night. Not that he minded.
Ethan reached up and pulled one of his giant ears away so that it was no longer covering Brawly's face. Seeing the sleeping face of his friend… no, his boyfriend, made Ethan smile. He still had to get used to calling Brawly that though. It still seemed so surreal to him.
He heard some commotion behind him, but he ignored that long with the strange smell as he just continued to lay there. His head resting on Brawly's chest. In truth, if they could continue to lay like that, then he never wanted to get up. But it was not long before Brawly too awoke. He took his arm off Ethan and reached up to rub the sleep out of his eyes before he looked down at the Lopunny who was using him as a pillow.
“Morning.” Brawly greeted Ethan who smiled right back at him. “Sleep well?”
“Most certainly did. This is something I could get used to.” Ethan positively purred.
“I have to admit, you do make for a rather comfy blanket, man.” It also seemed that Brawly had noticed the strange smell that was filling the air. “Dude… what is that?”
“Breakfast is ready!” Vernus called out, making a shiver go through Ethan's body. Memories of horrors so gruesome that they should never be mentioned, flashed through his mind. Someone had let Vernus into the kitchen, Arceus help them all.
“Dude, what’s wrong?” Brawly asked, he had noticed the look on Ethan's face and wondered what it was about.
“You really don't remember?” Ethan answered after he had shook his head and rid himself of those memories. “Last time you ate his cooking you were sick for three days.” Realization lit up on Brawly's face as he remembered that incident.
“He has to have gotten better. That was years ago!” However, before Ethan could say anything against that, they were interrupted.
“Good morning, love birds~” Vernus positively sang as he skipped over to the area where Ethan and Brawly was, two plates of food on his back while Chii rode on his head. “Ready for some food?” The two lovers both felt a sense of dread as the Leafeon now stood before them. They had no place to run anymore.
“Um… no offence, Vernus. But you don't have the best history with your kitchen creations.” Vernus tipped his head at Ethan's words seemingly thinking to himself before nodding.
“That… might be true. But it is different this time.” He insisted. “And I did not do it alone this time either.”
“Yeah, I helped!” Chii exclaimed in a loud voice.
Hearing those words made some of Ethan's unease melt away. He was unsure if Chii knew how to cook, he had never seen her make anything before. But it was impossible for anyone to be worse than Vernus. He had a special gift for making… he was not even sure if those things could be called food at times. Organic weapons was more like it.
But he had not heard any sounds of anyone throwing up yet either. Nor any cries of anguish or the like. And it seemed that all the other Pokémon had already gotten their food. Perhaps it would not be so bad this time.
“Sure, I'm ready for some food.” Vernus and Chii both beamed at that. It was obvious that they had put a lot of effort into whatever it was they had made. Both of them had stains of different kinds all over their fur. They mad made a mess, but it could have been worse.
“Superb!” Vernus craned his head back and lifted the plates off his back, handing one to both Ethan and Brawly. “There you have it. An orange and melted cheese sandwich.” And there Ethan felt some of that uncertainty begin to creep back into him. “Enjoy!”
As Vernus walked away, it was nearly impossible to miss the grin Chii had on her face as she looked back at Brawly. She was even rubbing her paws together as she laughed. Yeah, she was definitely plotting something.
“I think there is a chance that Chii might have done something with your food.” Ethan shook his head. “She is still mad at you. But at least she had agreed to make an effort.”
“She just needs time man. Besides, it can't be all that bad. Most of her tricks and pranks so far has been harmless. I say, we dig in!” Brawly said before taking hold of his plate and leaning back against the wall.
“I guess, since he did not make it alone. But don't say that I did not warn you.” Ethan took his own plate before sitting down next to Brawly. He looked down at the sandwich that Vernus and Chii had made. It looked… strange at first glance. Not bad in any kind of way, just… strange. But as he looked around the room, the others appeared to be enjoying their morning meal. So he brought the sandwich up to his mouth and closed his eyes, steeling himself for what was to come before he bit into it.
It was… decent. Calling it good would be wrong, orange and melted cheese does not mix that well. But other than the strange texture that it had, Ethan could not find any other faults with it. It was not burnt, nor did he feel anything crawling inside the sandwich or a sudden urge to vomit. It seemed that Chii had indeed managed to get Vernus's cooking down to a level where it could actually be considered to be food.
During the time when the two of them sat there and ate their breakfast, Chii had been staring intently the entire time. It was too obvious that she had done something. But Brawly had almost finished his meal and had not had any reaction yet, so that made Ethan curious.
“So, did you notice anything strange?” Ethan asked after he had finished his own meal.
“Depends on what you mean with strange. But I don't think that yours was as spicy as mine. I can still feel my mouth burning. Thankfully I like spicy food.” Brawly flashed him a grin, if he was in any sort of uncomfort, he was hiding it well. Though Ethan could feel the spiciness from the smell on his breath. “That was delicious.” He said, deliberately raising his voice so that Chii would overhear it. And just after those words had left his mouth Chii cried out in frustration. Ethan could faintly overhear her muttering something about “her next plan” as she went over to her little corner to sulk and plan out her next move.
“Mischievous little thing.” Ethan laughed while shaking his head. “The Skitty I took in a while back would never have dared to pull something like that… It's good to see how far she has come.” It filled him with joy that Chii had recovered as well as she had. She still had some demons to deal with. But she could not be compared to the Skitty he had found back then. Now she looked happy, joyful. She was enjoying life once more.
“Well, you are good at what you do.” Ethan blushed as Brawly complimented him.
“...Thanks.” Ethan smiled. He had always been happy about his work and what he did. It was moments like these that made him proud beyond anything else. Not of himself, but that the Pokémon that he had been helping had the strength to pull through. “I think I'm going to grab a shower.” He mentioned as he stood up and stretched, the bones in his back cracking nicely. “Want to join me?” He asked with a mischievous look in his eye.
“As tempting as that sounds, I think I'll go for a run instead.” Brawly stood up and stretched as well. “Our bathroom is not that big, and you usually spend a good two hours in there.”
“Hey, this takes work you know!” Ethan motioned to his whole body as he protested. “Especially these two.” He stroked his ears. He had learnt to love them, but they took an insane amount of work to get just perfect. “I’m not like you, I can't just do this-” he reached out and ruffled Brawly's hair, watching with annoyance as it laid back down into a perfect position. “And have it turn out perfect like that…” Ethan huffed. It irked him slightly how Brawly never seems to put any significant effort into his fur, but despite that he always looked good.
“It’s just the way it is dude, besides, I can pull off a rough look like this, you can't.” As much as that irked Ethan he knew that he was right. It was just the way it was. “But don't worry, your effort definitely shows.” Brawly booped Ethan on the nose as he said it, making him blush slightly. “I may be handsome, but you are definitely the cuter of us. So get your ass in there and do your thing.” Brawly said, giving Ethan a playful slap below his tail, which made him yelp in surprise. “See ya later!” He called back as he disappeared out the door before Ethan could retaliate for his playful little slap. Though he had no doubt that he was going to do that later anyway.
“See ya later indeed.” Ethan just chuckled as he slowly walked towards the bathroom, passing Zoey who were playing with a few of the Pokémon they had living there, and Vernus who was apparently talking and catching up with Chii. “Hey there, you two. Vernus, have you brought some food for our guest yet?” Ethan asked, motioning to the backdoor with a nod.
“No, not yet.” Vernus admitted, he had been so caught up with catching up with his family that it had slipped his mind.
“What? What guest?” Chii asked, looking between Ethan and Vernus. She had not heard anything about a guest.
“Jenny's Growlithe.” Ethan answered before picking up Chii. “Now come on, you. You really need a shower.” However, Chii was not as inclined to join Ethan this time as she had been the last time.
“No! I want to meet the Growlithe!” She protested, struggling in Ethan's arms.
“You are filthy, you are not meeting anyone like this.” He had felt the stickiness on her after he had picked her up. Stains from orange juice being splattered on her along with other things filled her fur. She and Vernus had really made a mess. “Don’t worry, you will be meeting him afterwards. Now, let’s get you cleaned up!”
Vernus had done as Ethan had suggested after he and Chii had disappeared into the bathroom. Bringing a plate with a sandwich out to the Growlithe. They had plenty after all, he and Chii had gotten a little enthusiastic and had as a result made a bit too many.
The Growlithe was already awake when Vernus came out to him, and he finished his meal quickly.
“So, have you calmed down enough to come inside now?” Vernus asked as he sat down beside his former traveling companion.
“I think so… I apologize for last night. It was unbecoming of me.” Growlithe apologized. They had invited him in last night to sleep with the rest of them, but he had declined, opting for sleeping outside instead.
“Come on then, let me introduce you to the rest!” Vernus beamed before the two of them walked back inside.
“Her scent… it's all over the place.” He commented as he followed after Vernus. To think that they had come all that way, and he had been too late…
“Hey Zoey, got someone for you to meet!” If Vernus heard the previous comment, then he had chosen to ignore it instead. “This guy is the reason that I was able to find you guys.” Vernus practically showed the Growlithe ahead of him.
“Pleased to meet you.” The Growlithe nodded at Zoey who were looking intently at the newcomer.
“Um… hello… Why was he sleeping outside?” Vernus had expected that question, and he also knew that Zoey had quite the temper so he was not quite sure how to answer her…
“Well… you see…” He had really hoped that Ethan would have been the one to explain last night events to her.
“I suggested it.” The Growlithe said as he sat down in front of Zoey. “I thought that I would need some time to calm down after I attacked Ethan.” And there it was.
“You did what?!” Vernus immediately hopped in front of the Growlithe as anger was present in Zoey's eyes. He knew just how protective she could be, it was something that he admired in her.
“Zoey!” Vernus stared Zoey down. She always held back a little extra whenever Ethan was around, it was not something that she did consciously but it meant that she got emotional easier when he was not around to see her. “It’s alright, chill. Nothing happened. It was just a misunderstanding and we took care of it.” Vernus reassured Zoey.
“I lost my mind for a few moments after… after I found out about Jenny.” The Growlithe admitted. He and Jenny had been hunting Ethan for so long, so when he had finally thought that he had found her again, but instead heard from the person they had been hunting for so long that she was missing. Well, his mind immediately went to the assumption that Ethan had been the one that had done something to her. “Vernus here and Brawly both stopped me, but I apologize.” Zoey's features softened slightly after having heard that and Vernus visibly relaxed.
“So, you are Jenny's Growlithe?” The fire Pokémon nodded at Zoey's question.
“I was her partner, yeah.”
“Then you were also the one that tried to arrest Ethan, correct?” Vernus groaned as the conversation veered off-course with Zoey's help. “Why should we trust you to leave him alone!?” This time, it was Vernus who cut in.
“Because I trust him.” Vernus told Zoey with a straight face. “I have been traveling with him since we woke up in this world. Turns out that he is a pretty alright dude!”
Zoey was still a little unsure about the newcomer. They had already gone through a lot of problems with Jenny before things straightened out. Before everything settled down, she did not want them to have any of those problems again. The main reason she was so vary around him, was because he was Jenny's partner, he probably also knew about Ethan's past.
“Do you promise to not try to arrest Ethan?” She asked, she had to be sure, even if Vernus trusted him.
“Yes, I do.” The Growlithe nodded. “But to think that Jenny would settle down here with the same person she had been trying to catch for so long… I wonder what happened.”
“Did they not tell you anything last night?” Zoey asked.
“Well… it was already pretty late when we met up last night and Ethan and Brawly had been… preoccupied.” Vernus covered his mouth and coughed as he remembered that scene when he had first come across the two of them. “So we just got the short version.”
“Better sit down then, because there is quite a lot to tell…” And so Zoey began to fill both of them in on the events involving Jenny. She told them about the difficulties they had when trying to convince Jenny and the events that led up to her finally accepting Ethan and joining their little group. There was certain things that she left out of her little story though. She did not suspect that the Growlithe would have been particularly happy to find out that she had threatened Jenny on multiple occasions. Yeah, perhaps it would be for the better if she kept that to herself.
“Hard to think that those two managed to see eye-to-eye.” The Growlithe commented. He knew how strongly Jenny felt about justice, so he wondered exactly what it had been that had convinced her to see Ethan in a different light. He wanted to hear her reasons from her, but that was not going to happen for a while it seemed.
“I don't know, Ethan has a way with people.” Vernus retorted. Having been with Ethan as long as he had, he had seen on multiple occasions how convincing Ethan could be.
“I have what now?” The three of them were interrupted as Ethan came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and a fluffy Chii at his feet.
“Nothing, we were just taking about Jenny.” Vernus told him.
“Are you Jenny's partner?” Chii asked as she ran over to the Growlithe.
“Indeed I am.”
“Oh… sorry about what happened to her.” Chii hung her head, but that frowned disappeared quickly, replaced with a smile instead. “She talked about you a lot! I think she missed you. But don't worry, she is a tough lady. She will be fine.” Chii's words had an immediate effect and her smile quickly spear to the Growlithe who had been in a somber mood ever since last night.
“She really is. So who are you?”
“I'm Chii!” She cheered, happy that she finally got to meet the new guest that the others had been talking about. “So are you going to stay here now?” The Growlithe looked down at the little Skitty before glancing up to Ethan.
“He is welcome to stay if he wants to.” Ethan cut in. “Our home is open to everyone Pokémon that needs a place to stay. You are no different.” All of them agreed, and it was not difficult for the Growlithe to see why Jenny had stayed or why she had liked it there.
“Thank you… truly. All of you.” He smiled gratefully. He had just met them the night before and made a bad first impression on top of that, but they still made him feel so welcome.
“We can talk more later. For now, I think the little lady wants some more of your time.” Ethan just grinned at the sight of Chii who was hopping around the Growlithe excitedly. She could be quite the shy little Skitty if you came on too strong. But if she was the one who initiated the contact, then things usually went much more smoothly.
“Yeah! I need you to tell me more about Jenny. Come on!” She bit down on his tail and made a futile effort to drag him away, it was quite an amusing sight to watch.
Reluctantly, the Growlithe allowed Chii to drag him away so that she could bombard him with questions. She had been one of the ones that had grown the closest to Jenny, so it was only normal that she wanted to know more about her. And who would know more about her than her partner?
“So, Vernus.” The Leafeon in question looked up Ethan. “Have you kept to the rule?” Ethan questioned.
“Of course!” Vernus lied with a straight face. He was one of the few that was able to lie to Ethan without him seeing through it. Ethan was good at reading individuals, using the tone of their voice and micro-expressions which only appeared for a few fractions of a second to tell if they were hiding something or not. However, Vernus had learnt to control these small tells over his time with him.
It was one of the only rules Ethan had for the Pokémon that lived under his care or stayed under his roof. They were not to hunt within a ten kilometer radius of any town, city or settlement. It was a fair rule, a town was supposed to be a safe place after all. And Vernus kept by that rule for most of the time. But on their travels, finding food had not always been too easy for him or the Growlithe. He knew that he could survive on photosynthesis alone, but he had lived as a hunter his whole life and, quite frankly, he did not want that to change. He enjoyed it too much. And in his defence, it was not like they knew that Hollow Shades was so close at that time...
Ethan kept his glance on Vernus for another second or two before nodding. “Good,” he smiled. He was aware of the fact that he could not read Vernus. He had been the one that had teached him about those kind of things after all. But he trusted Vernus just as he trusted the rest of his family. “So, want to tell us about your travels?” He asked as he sat down besides Vernus and Zoey. “You must have seen quite a lot.”
And he certainly had.
Time passed rather quickly as Vernus told them about the things he and Growlithe had experienced during their travels. Where his travel partners nose had taken them and what sort of trouble that it had gotten them into.
Brawly returned sometime during their talks and joined them, listening intently while Chii kept bombarding the Growlithe with questions and playing with him and some of the other Pokémon in the background.
Brawly in particular took interest as Vernus mentioned a day when they had come across a particular Breloom. They had only seen it in passing as they had been running from something at the time. Vernus had no idea what it had been they had been running from, he had never seen any Pokémon like that before so perhaps it had been a local creature. He only knew that it was big, grey and kept yelling something about wanting to “Pwet the pwetty plant cat.”
He had however noticed that the Breloom had been standing in the middle of a pond, punching nearby leaves as they fell down from the surrounding trees. And that it had been missing a portion of the mushroom cap on its head. Something that had looked familiar to the Leafeon.
While it was not enough to be one hundred percent sure, it did sound like his Breloom, which was more than enough to put a smile on Brawly's face. He knew that his team was tough and more than capable of taking care of themselves. But it was something else in knowing. Perhaps he would take the trip later to see if he could meet up with his teammate.
But as much as they enjoyed themselves there, Ethan had something else he had to do that day, and the Growlithe also had something he wanted to ask of Ethan.
“You said that the local police were investigating that happened to Jenny?” Ethan turned around and looked down to the fire Pokémon. He had been getting ready to head out himself when the Growlithe had spoken to him.
“Yeah, I want to help, but it seems like there is magic involved and… well I know nothing about that, so I would not be that useful to them.” Ethan admitted. The best that he could do was just to let the police do their job and be there in case anything did come up. He was still the go-to Lopunny for most of the Pokémon related troubles in the town.
“In that case, can you take me there and convince them to let me help?” The Growlithe asked. He had needed the little rest but he just could not continue to sit there and do nothing while his partner was missing, not if he could do anything about it. “I have to do something.” He insisted.
“Well, I was going to head over there anyway…” Ethan rubbed the back of his head as he thought about it. If any of them would be able to help the investigation at its current point, it would be the Growlithe. He had worked with Jenny as a police Pokémon, so he had the training, all that he had to do was convince Protocol. “Alright, let’s go.”
“Thank you.” He got a nod and a grateful smile in return.
Ethan said his goodbyes before the two of them headed out, walking along the path that led into town.
“Been with her for long?” Ethan inquired, deciding that he might as well make some small talk to get to know the Growlithe a little better. “Jenny I mean.” He had heard a lot from Jenny, but it never hurt to hear things from a different angle.
“A while… I was her first partner, so I have been together with her ever since she was just a student at the police academy.” He told Ethan. “I have stood by her side ever since.” A bond created over time and through hardships. It was no wonder that he wanted, needed to do something to help find her. Jenny was Ethan's friend now too, and he wanted to make sure that she was safe. But if it had been one of his family that had been missing he would have probably done anything to get them back too.
“So, it’s just you? No other Pokémon?” While it was not unusual for a Jenny to have more than a single Pokémon, a lot of them seemed to prefer to just stick with a single partner.
The Growlithe shook his head. “No, just me. She thought that we were doing pretty well for ourselves so we did not need anymon else. You were the only case that we did not fulfill.”
“Yeah, about that… I would appreciate it if you did not mention who I am to anyone else. Things could turn badly if someone who knew of my past recognized me… funny enough, that was Jenny's idea.” He remembered when Jenny had covered for him.
“I see no reason to go against her wishes. Besides, if you got sent here that must mean that you are a good person.” It relieved Ethan that the Growlithe took everything so well, it certainly made his life a lot easier. “Right?”
“I guess it does.” Ethan answered with a smile. The two of them continued to walk in silence for a little while until Ethan remembered another thing that Jenny had mentioned. A subject that she had avoided every time he had brought it up after that. “So, are the two of you just partners or…” He let the question sort of hang in the air, it was a very touchy subject so he would not push too hard if the Growlithe decided not to talk about it.
“Just partners yeah. Besides, she already had a boyfriend.” Ethan got his answer, he had never been able to tell what Jenny's stance on human-Pokémon relationships were. It could have gone either way really with how strongly she viewed justice. But a single word of the Growlithe's answer stood out to him.
“Had?” He inquired. It may just have been a slip of his tongue, but it could also have meant something else.
“...” The Growlithe looked up at Ethan, he had already told him that much so perhaps it would not hurt if he told him the rest too. “I dont think that he was sent to this world.” He reluctantly told Ethan.
“What? Why not?”
“He… He was not what you would call a good man. And a part of me really hopes that he was left back on Earth.” The Growlithe spoke with spite in his words. “He was not good for Jenny. But despite that, he made her happy. And I think that she hoped that she could change him for the better… But he never did.” It had certainly not been the answer that Ethan had expected, but it did explain a few things to him.
The two of them continued the rest of the way in silence after that. The subject had put a damper on their conversation and Ethan did not feel like it would be appropriate to push any more on the subject.
It was not long before they reached the police station, but as they neared the doors flew open and an Earth pony who Ethan did not recognize was carried out. He was carried between two pegasi who did not waste a single second as they took to the air.
“What was that?” The Growlithe spoke up first, looking up to Ethan for answers.
“I have no idea… He did not look well though.” Ethan commented. The Earth pony had looked positively horrid. Something had obviously happened inside, hopefully they would get more answers there. Ethan for one was curious about what had happened to him, especially since some of the purple spots that he had seen on the his fur had looked familiar to him.
It did not take long for the two of them to find Protocol, who looked like he had seen better days. His mane was ragged, his eyes bloodshot and Ethan could practically smell the ungodly amount of coffee that he must have ingested from his breath.
“Took you long enough. Figured you would show up yesterday.” Protocol huffed before he went back to what he had been doing when Ethan and the Growlithe had walked into his office.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I had some business to take care of.” Ethan apologized. He really had intended to come by the day before, but with his long session with Scylla and Brawly… the day simply just disappeared so quickly. “So… any new leads?” And by the look that Protocol gave him, he could guess the answer.
“No, we are still figuring out what kind of spell that was at works there. And if that was not bad enough, the objects that we found in that laboratory has given us more than enough troubles.” Protocol let out a long and tired sigh.
“Objects?”
“Like this one.” Protocol showed a small box over to Ethan, that, when he opened it, contained a small purple orb. “Somepony so foolishly touched it without wearing any sort of protection. He collapsed shortly after, writhing in pain.”
“It’s a toxic orb.” It was an item that Ethan was very familiar with, it looked just like the one that Zoey used to have. The one that had done so much damage to her. “Do you mind if I keep this? It would not do you any good, and it needs to be handled with extreme care. Breaking one could have… unfortunate effects.” He had only heard about stories of someone so foolish to break a toxic orb. But those stories never ended well.
“Be my guest. After what that thing did to one of my ponies, I don't want it anywhere in my station.” The police pony huffed and looked away as Ethan took the small box. “So, what are you doing here?”
“I came for two reasons actually. Firstly, how are things with the Granbull?” At that question, Protocol rubbed the side of his head.
“She is not telling us anything new. She just keeps saying the same thing over and over again, I'm almost inclined to believe her. But that does not change the fact that what she did was wrong!” It had been a better response than what Ethan had hoped for. If Protocol was beginning to believe her, then maybe he could convince the police pony.
“Right… the other reason I came was because of this fellow.” Ethan ushered the Growlithe forward. “He had not had a translation spell cast on him yet, but he is Jenny's partner. And he wanted to help with the investigation.” Ethan glanced down at the Growlithe. “He needs to help find her.”
Protocol stared at the Growlithe who stared right back. Both of them evaluating the other, neither breaking the stare until Protocol was the one who faltered as he blinked and nodded.
“I will not regret this, will I?” He asked, turning his head back towards Ethan.
“His sense of smell if second to none. He came here because he tracked Jenny, if anyone can help you out in this, I believe that it is him.” The Growlithe nodded eagerly.
“...Nothing is decided yet.” Protocol told the fire Pokémon. “I will talk to you myself later when we can understand each other before I make any decisions. Is that clear?”
“Y-yes sir!” The Growlithe answered, though it sounded a lot differently for Protocol. But the answer and the emotion behind it seemed to please him.
“Good, I am sure that the two of you will get along nicely.” Ethan smiled. “Now, regarding the Granbull. I believe that I can be of assistance.” His smile turning into a small grin. He already had something in mind for her.