//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: A New World, a New Identity // by Snek //------------------------------// After Valerie and Shadow headed off to Las Pegasus, the others all ventured back to the mansion. Damian and Tyler decided to get some training in, and it was going much better than all previous attempts. “Drain Punch!” Damian rushed forward, his hand glowing with energy, ready to strike. “Iron Tail!” Tyler swung his tail around, shining metallically, and parried the strike, before charging it up again and swinging it at the Scrafty’s stomach. Damian jumped backwards, just out of the strike, and held up a hand. “Good job man, you can charge up faster, but they still ain’t all that powerful.” Tyler nodded, and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Thanks. You think we can call it off for the day? I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.” Damian nodded in understanding. “That’s cool. I kinda wanted to go look for new shades around-” “Tyler!” An enraged shout emanated from the house, and an irate Delphox came charging out, grasping his table-leg in his hands. “You’re taking me to find a carpenter.” “I am?” He questioned. “Yes. I don’t have any money yet, and don’t know my way around town, so you’re coming with me.” “Why do you need to see a carpenter?” The confused Flaaffy scratched his head. “Because of this!” He held his table leg in front of Tyler. Tyler was getting more confused by the minute. “Um… is there something wrong with your stick?” “Arceus you’re blind” Kenny groaned. “Look!” he pointed to a hairline scratch in the wood, “Those asshole from the cult scratched it! Now I have to go get it repaired.” “But Kenny… the whole thing is covered in scratches, how do you know it was them?” “I know my stick like the back of my hand!” he huffed, “That scratch wasn’t there before.” “But why is that scratch so much more important?” Tyler was now holding his head, trying to suppress the headache he was developing. “Because it was them! Now cmon! You’re gonna get it sanded and refinished.” Tyler groaned, and rubbed his head some more. “I guess I don’t have a choice do I.” Kenny then stormed out of the backyard, and stopped at the door into the mansion. “Well? What are you waiting for? Cmon!” Tyler followed the Delphox inside in defeat, Damian following close behind him. “I’ll come with, like I was sayin’ before, I was gonna get some new shades, so I might as well go with you guys.” Tyler nodded in thanks, “That’s good. It seems like Kenny’s been even worse since we rescued him from the cultists.” BBK floated in from the next room, “Yeah, true. He’s been an even bigger jackass lately. I think the fact Helix wanted to marry him and knock him up really got to him.” Loyalty then approached and handed Tyler a bag of bits, “I thought you would need these sir.” Tyler nodded in thanks, and responded to BBK, “Yeah, I think you’re right. Maybe we could-” “Hey assholes hurry up! We’re burning daylight!” Came a shout from the front door. Tyler sagged, and glared at a wall. “We need Queen to help calm him down I think. She was the only one who could really do that.” Damian nodded, as they approached the front door, “Yeah, but for now shut up about it. I don’t want another ‘incident’.” Tyler and BBK nodded in agreement, and followed the impatient Delphox out. Halfway up the walkway Tyler stopped, “Wait, Kenny. I don’t know the city any better than you do.” The Delphox stopped, and turned back at the Flaaffy, “Then get someone who does!” The Delphox glared down at the little Flaaffy, his gaze filled with rage. Tyler shrunk under his gaze, “Um… Uh… I’ll go see if Offered is around.” He then dashed back into the mansion, slamming the door behind him. He exited again several minutes later, the light green mare following behind him, “So, Kenny was it? You needed a carpenter?” She asked, unfazed by the Fire-Types hard gaze. “Yeah, you know one in town?” “Course, he fixed up an old dresser for me a few months ago. He’d probably be able to do whatever you wanted.” “Take me to him.” Tyler had finally had enough, it was time to stand up to his team member and demand he shows people some respect. “What’s the magic word?” Kenny crossed his arms, “Fuck off.” “I’m pretty sure that’s two words.” Offered jumped in then, “Don’t worry about it, Tyler. I’ve dealt with worse before I started working for Fancypants. I’ll lead the way.” The group traveled through town, Damian looking around for somewhere he could look for sunglasses. After some time they reached a small square, and Offered led them to one of the shops. It didn’t look like anything special. Above the door the name “Oak Sapling’s Wooden Emporium” was displayed. In the front window several wooden chairs and clocks were displayed, and a thin coat of sawdust seemed to coat everything as they entered. Several customers were milling about, admiring the hoofmade wares. Kenny marched straight up to the counter, and placed the table leg on the surface, and rang the bell on the counter. After a few moments a light brown unicorn stallion came out. “I hear you do repairs?” Kenny questioned. The stallion nodded, “Yeah, but I’ll need the rest of the table too.” Kenny looked confused for a moment, before frowning and shaking his head. “No, I just want the scratches on this sanded down, and for you to refinish it.” “Oh, so you’re planning on re-attaching it yourself? It doesn’t cost much extra for me to do that too.” Kenny rolled his eyes. “I’m not putting it on a table. I use it to focus my powers. Just fix it up. How much will it cost.” The carpenter looked over the table leg, “This looks pretty easy. Ten bits to have your… table leg fixed up.” Kenny looked to Tyler, who sighed, “Sure. Do I pay before or after.” “Half now, half when it’s done.” Oak answered. Tyler pulled out five bits from his bag and placed them on the counter, and the stallion took the table leg and placed it on his workbench. “I’ll have it done by tomorrow probably, I have other things I have to do first.” Before Kenny could complain, Tyler grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the shop, shouting a quick thanks. “Cmon guys, let’s get some food while we wait. You know a good place nearby, Offered?” The mare nodded, “Sure, there's a little diner nearby that I like to go to. They serve mostly salads, if that’s ok with you guys.” They all voiced their consent, and headed in the direction of the restaurant. About halfway there Damian spotted a place with a large selection of sunglasses, and decided to browse, BBK going with him to look at keychains. Another few blocks down the now trio came to the restaurant, which was fairly empty. The server was quick with them, obviously out of fear of Kenny’s unhappy glare. “Kenny stop,” Tyler leaned over and whispered. “You can’t just be an ass to everyone you meet.” “Not now, Tyler,” He growled back. Tyler’s eyes narrowed. “Look, you can’t just-” “Tyler? Tyler Watsky?” A voice interrupted. Tyler, Kenny, and Offered Hoof all turned to the verbal intruder, finding a lone Froslass eyeing the group. “Um… Do I know you?” Tyler asked, rubbing the back of his head, “Sorry but the whole ‘every human I know being turned into a Pokemon thing’ sorta makes it hard to recognize old friends.” The Ice-Type huffed, “I should’ve thought you’d be too much of a dolt to recognize me. Honestly I thought when Arceus said worthy that didn’t include losers.” Tyler groaned, “Oh, now I know who you are.” “Well I still have no fucking idea so hurry up and introduce yourself,” Kenny demanded. The Froslass smirked, “Honestly I’m not sure which I should less surprised at. The fact you’re still living with your mother, or how stupid she sounds. It’s Juliana.” Kenny stood up and slammed a fist on the table. “I am not his fucking mother! Or a chick!” Juliana quirked an eyebrow, “Tyler, you mind explaining to her, or him, I’ll just go with ‘it’ for now.” For the first time that day, Tyler’s eyes were fixed in a glare stronger than Kenny’s, “Kenny, meet Juliana. My ex-girlfriend.” “So, if this ‘Kenny’ isn’t your mom, who is he?” She asked, leaning into their booth from the next over. “He’s a member of my team.” Tyler continued his glare. “Your team? Do you play some nerdy board games together or something? Compete in championships? Oh what am I thinking, you’re far too poor for that.” Kenny’s glare began to match Tyler’s. “No, I’m a member of his Pokemon team. He’s my trainer.” Juliana blinked, “Trainer? Well that explains a lot, such as where you disappeared to in the last year, and why your Delphox looks so weak.” Tyler finally snapped, jumping up in his seat he slammed his hands on the table and leaned across, nose to nose with the Ice-Type. “Yeah well he’d wreck your Blaziken!” The girl flinched backwards, obviously surprised by the outburst, before regaining her composure. “Well, I guess you’ve grown a bit of a backbone in the past year. Challenge accepted. He’s back at my house. I’m staying with a noble, a mare named Fleur De Lis. She’s pretty famous around here so I’m sure it’ll be easy to get directions. She’s doing some landscaping so we can use the part she’s planning on tearing up.” “You're on!” The server then returned and gave them their drinks, and Juliana floated out, preparing for the coming battle. “Tomorrow. Three O’clock, be there!” Kenny sipped from his glass, “So, I guess we’re still doing the whole battle thing. I kinda thought Arceus was against that sort of thing.” Tyler sighed, “Yeah, sorry. If you don’t wanna-” “No don’t worry, I’ll fight. She seems like a huge bitch, I would assume her Blaziken is as well, and I think giving someone a beatdown would be good for my temper,” He then cracked his knuckles. “We’ll need to get my table leg back first though. But three O'clock tomorrow is a lifetime, it'll be done by then. Tyler grinned, “It’s great having you back bud. I’m sure you’ll destroy her!” Just then Damian and BBK entered, Damian now wearing a different pair of shades with metal frames instead of the plastic on his old ones. “Hey, you guys order yet?” Kenny shook his head, “Nah, just the drinks. I think the server’s scared shitless of us.” The two slipped into the booth with them, and picked up the menus in front of them. After a few moments Damian looked at Tyler, who was still showing a strange mixture of emotions between anger and anticipation. “We miss anything?” Offered finally spoke up then, “We ran into Tyler’s ex. It seems the two are pretty hostile, and Kenny has a battle with her Blaziken.” BBK perked up then, “Tyler! I never knew you had a girlfriend!” He rolled his eyes at her, “Yeah, I didn’t really mention her for a reason.” The Klefki grinned and floated closer, “C’mon! Gimme the juicy details!” Tyler scowled, “There are no juicy details. It was just a stupid teenage relationship. She cheated on me, I called her a whore, and we broke up. Nothing more.” “Oh, well that’s disappointing.” BBK sagged, “And here I was hoping for some dramatic tragic romance to spice things up.” “BBK, it was years ago. Do you really expect me to have deep, long lasting emotional feelings at fourteen?” “Well… that is pretty young for a human I guess. You do have a point. But still! Next chance I get I’m setting you up with a nice gal!” The keychain Pokemon grinned at him. “Please don’t.” he took a sip from his water. “So what about you guys? Any of you have any notable ex’s?” Kenny shook his head in the negative, “Nah, it was hard to pick up chicks when everyone new you met thought you were one.” Offered nodded, “Yeah, I’ve had a couple coltfriends. None of them ended particularly poorly. The relationship just got stale and we decided to move on.” BBK shook her head, “Nah, I was never really interested.” “Never had a real long term relationship, but I’ve had some flings.” Damian replied. Tyler groaned, “Great, I was hoping someone could sympathize.” Kenny patted him on the back, “Eh, don’t worry about it. After we destroy them you’ll feel better.” “I thought Arceus said he only brought kind humans or something.” Offered queried. Tyler shrugged, “Honestly she’s pretty nice to most people, and she utterly spoiled her Pokemon when I knew her. We had a pretty hostile breakup so her nastier side comes out around me.” The whole table let out various understanding noises, and began looking at their menu’s. The server came back out then and they all ordered. Getting various rather simple salads. Once the jumpy mare had left with their orders, Damian spoke up again. “So what’d you do to the guy she was cheating on you with?” “I didn’t ‘do’ anything to him,” Tyler replied crossing his arms. “He was like that one really nice and cool guy that everyone knew and liked. I confronted him, and learned that he had no idea about me, and they had actually been together since a few days before she went out with me, so she was really cheating on him.” “So did you do anything to get back at her?” BBK leaned in, with the new possibility of “juicy details.” “I didn’t, but the other guy told one of his friends, who was a massive gossip. Long story short her reputation was ruined. I don’t think she’s been with anyone since but something could have happened while we were on the journey together.” “So,” Kenny began, “What do you know about her Blaziken?” “I know that she got him when she was ten, like most people do.” He paused and thought hard for a moment or two, “I don’t think she’s the type to teach him many strategic moves. He’s probably all muscle. Then again, you would be too if I hadn’t made sure you learned some sort of strategic move.” Kenny scowled again, “Whatever. So a basic Will-Oh-Wisp could knock him down a few pegs?” “Yeah,” he nodded, “only super effective move he has against psychics is Shadow Claw. He also knows Rock Tomb, but Will-Oh-Wisp could help with that too. Only other move I know he knows is Flamethrower, but if they’re smart they’ll stay away from that.” He then returned Kenny’s scowl. “Unfortunately for us, we aren’t that smart, and all of your good moves are Fire-Type attacks.” The Delphox huffed and looked away, “Well maybe you should’ve trained me better.” “I can only do so much on my side, I even bought the TM Psychic for you, and you got fed up and said screw it after five minutes,” was Tyler’s retort. “Yeah well… screw all that Psychic mumbo jumbo anyway. It ain’t my style.” The server returned not long after, and they all enjoyed their meals. Once the they were finished they paid and headed back out to the carpenter to check on Kenny’s stick. Once they arrived Kenny marched straight up to the counter and rang the bell again, and after a few moments the tan stallion stepped out again. “Oh, hello. Your… uh… table leg isn’t quite ready yet.” “Do you think you can hurry up a bit with that? It turns out now that we need to be somewhere with it by tomorrow.” Kenny requested. “Sorry, I’ve got a couple other small projects I’ve had to do first.” The stallion grinned sheepishly. Kenny sighed, and looked at the wooden grandfather clock in the store, which showed one forty seven. “We need it by at least two thirty tomorrow. Can you do it by then? We’re willing to pay a bit extra to have it done sooner.” The stallion considered for a moment, then shook his head. “Sorry, but they’re pretty major clients. I can’t skip over their orders. It could take longer to get it done. Sorry.” Kenny groaned and rubbed his forehead. “Well would you mind if I look through some of your long roughly cylindrical pieces around here? I need something for the battle.” “Uh sure,” Oak Sapling looked around, “What do you need exactly?” “I use my table leg to focus my fire, just any wooden stick or dowel will do, but I’ll need to test it before I take it.” “Alright, you have any preference,” the stallion gestured for Kenny to come behind the counter, “I have a couple scrap piles in the back, if you like you can dig through and try to find something. You have any preference on types of wood?” “Oak or mahogany is best. Definitely not pine.” The stallion looked around for a moment, “There’s the mahogany pile, and oaks over there. When you ‘test it’ please step outside. This is a wood shop after all, and I’d rather you not burn it down.” “Yeah sure whatever,” Kenny mumbled as he began rummaging through the scrap wood, tossing bits and pieces to the side. “Dammit, I won’t be able to fight as well with the wrong wood pieces. I need my table leg.” Tyler groaned, “Then ask for it back, and have him finish it up afterwards!” Kenny stopped digging, and facepalmed so hard he gave himself a headache. “Why the hell didn’t I think of that!” They moved back out to the front, where the stallion was dealing with another set of customers. Once he was finished with them he turned back and asked, “Did you find what you needed?” Tyler shook his head, “No, we decided we’ll just take back the table leg for now and we’ll come back another time.” The stallion returned to the back, and cried out it shock. “Fluffy! No! Bad! Put that down that is not a toy!” The stallion came rushing back out, an apologetic grimace on his face. “I’m so sorry sir! I don’t know what came over him!” Kenny glanced over the pony's shoulder into the room behind him, where a guilty looking Mightyena was pawing at the floor next to a thoroughly gnawed table leg. “He ate my fucking stick!” He yelled in horror. “Like I said, sir, I’m very sorry! I can replace it! Make one that looks just like it! It’ll be free of-” “That table leg had sentimental value! You can’t just replace it!” Oak’s eyes widened even further, “I’m very very VERY sorry sir! Kenny sighed, and clenched his fists. “I guess I’ll just have to go back to the scrap pile.” He then marched back into the other room. Tyler glanced back and forth between them. “Heh, um. He’s been having a bad week so far.” “What kind of bad week?” “He got kidnapped by a group of cultists who tried to marry him to their male leader who was convinced he was a chick.” The unicorn almost fainted, “And now a sentimental item of his is ruined. Oh Celestia, I’m so sorry.” The MIghtyena then peaked out of the room, “I thought it was scrap! He told me I was allowed to chew on scrap!” Tyler just waved him off. “Don’t worry, I think as long as he gets to beat Juliana’s Blaziken he'll be fine emotionally.” The stallion nodded, “So, if I may, what kind of sentimental value does an old table leg have?” Tyler glanced into the next room, where Kenny was frantically digging through the oak pile, before looking back to Oak Sapling. “Well, do you know about evolution?” The stallion shook his head, “No, I haven’t really been able to speak with many Pokemon other than you. How are you doing that anyway?” “Kenny’s a psychic,” Tyler explained. “Although he’s never really learned how to do anything other than a simple translator. This is the longest he’s really kept it up I think. But anyway, evolution occurs when a Pokemon meets certain conditions regarding strength, emotion, time and other factors. Kenny started out as a smaller Pokemon called Fennekin, then became a Braixen, and is now a Delphox.” “Kenny evolved for the first time at a place called the Mauville food court. It’s just a cafeteria that people can battle in really. We were in the middle of a battle, and he managed to throw his opponent into a table hard enough to break it, then he evolved in the middle of the battle. Once it was over the owner threw a fit over breaking the table and we paid for it, Kenny took one of the table legs to use as his focusing stick. His species uses tree branches usually, but he’s not very normal. The shape of the wood affects the output and strength of his fire, he’s very brute force oriented so something big and heavy like that works well for him.” Oak considered Tyler’s words, “So how long has he had it?” “About nine months,” Tyler answered. “It’s not family heirloom tier sentimentality, so don’t get too worked up over it.” The stallion sighed, “Still, there must be something I can do to make up for this.” Kenny stepped in then, holding a large thick oak dowel. “There is, make me a new one. Use your fancy magic or something. We only have an hour left now.” “Alright, do you want it to look like your old one?” The Delphox considered for a few moments, “No. I want something different. My old staff was… mediocre really. I only used it for sentimental value, but strictly speaking it wasn’t very good.” He walked over to a table and scratched out a quick sketch. “I sorta thought this up a while back, but never really had the time to get it.” He then handed it to the stallion. “Think you can make it look like this?” Oak nodded and took it in his magic, “Of course. Sorry again, lemme just go shape this real quick.” He then retreated into his work room, and the cartoonish sounds of various machinery, all of which didn’t sound like they belonged in a carpenter's shop, emanated from behind the door. Tyler and Kenny gave each other looks, wondering what was going on behind the door, before the noises stopped, the stallion exited, and handed a long object wrapped in paper to Kenny. “Once again, my apologies on the destruction of your staff. I’ll be sure to not let something like that happen again.” He gave an unhappy look to the Mightyena. “Sorry,” the hyena Pokemon mumbled. “You should be.” Kenny growled, “I think your mutt needs training.” The pony gave him an confused look, “You’re talking about him like he’s an animal. I thought Arceus said that all Pokemon were intelligent.” Kenny shook his head, “No, we’re all sentient. Intelligence can be a rare quality.” The Mightyena whimpered a bit, “I said I was sorry.” Kenny sighed, “Fine. Let’s go Tyler.” Tyler gave another apologetic look to Oak as Kenny charged out of the store, almost running into Offered who was waiting outside with Damian and BBK. “What took you guys so long?” the Klefki asked. “The store owners Mightyena chewed up his table leg, he had to make us a new one.” Tyler sighed. “Is that what’s in the package then?” Damian leaned forward to get a better look, “It’s kinda weird for him to wrap it up like that.” “He better not have done a shitty job,” Kenny mumbled, ripping off a few chunks of paper from the package. He began to pull out the new staff, and his eyes widened. It was a far cry from a table leg, but wasn’t quite like Kenny’s drawing from before, the liberties taken rather obvious. It was long, flowing, smooth. It was designed to have the shape of a tree branch, winding along to the end, where it branched out into three points, all pointing back to center. “Woah,” mumbled Tyler. “That’s not something you wanna hit someone over the head with.” “Yeah” Kenny mused. “I guess no more pseudo Wood Hammer for me.” “Wait,” BBK interrupted. “How long did it take for him to make that thing?” “About a minute,” Tyler replied. “I wasn’t really paying that much attention.” “So why couldn’t he just do it when you first got there?” Kenny put a hand to his chin, and a scowl started to reappear, “Good question. Maybe I should go…” “Nope!” Tyler grabbed Kenny’s arm and pulled him away from the shop, “I know you’re just gonna get in trouble, and we need to make sure that you can use your new stick.” “Fine, but we’re going to a different carpenter next time.” After the dinner at Fredericks, the three eeveelutions returned to the den, a few leftover slices for Hector in tow. Once the collapsed drain was in sight Valerie stopped, causing her companions to as well. “Something wrong hun?” Flo questioned, a concerned look on her face. “No… well yes… but… I don’t know really.” “That’s helpful,” Shadow chuckled. “You wanna talk about it?” Valerie sighed, “Maybe later. For now, I think I’m just gonna go for a walk, I haven’t really gotten a good chance for alone time since this whole thing happened.” Before either of the other two could respond she was already off, padding along the shoreline, away from them. She already felt bad about wandering off on a day like this, but she was just feeling so overwhelmed. Everything was going so well. It just felt wrong. After so many years of pain and misfortune, having a good day just didn’t feel natural anymore. After a while of walking, she came across a pier, jutting out into the calm waters, the sun slowly being pulled down past the liquid horizon, allowing Luna’s night to begin. Valerie decided the pier looked like a good place to sulk for a while, and padded down the wooden platform to the end, where it ended in a long T shape, branching out fifty feet in each direction. There was only one other person there, a shiny altaria, gazing out into the waters on the left side, so Valerie decided to take the right. The climbed up onto a bench, and sat alone in her thoughts for some time, watching schools of water types pass by in the distance, splashing and playing on the surface. After some time she heard a creak behind her, and turned around to find the shiny Altaria from before standing just behind her, watching the Wailords in the distance. “Um… hi.” Valerie stuttered awkwardly. “Can I help you?” “No. But could I help you?” Valerie tilted her head in confusion. “What?” “You look sorta down. So I’m willing to listen if you like. Sometimes that’s all it takes.” “Oh… well my boyfriend already offered to listen, and I told him maybe later. So…” The Altaria nodded in understanding. “That’s fine, I just thought I’d offer, since sometimes it’s easier to tell a stranger than someone you know. It protects the image they have of you.” “Yeah, I guess,” Valerie mumbled. “For most of my life I haven’t really known any strangers. I was sorta confined to one little hellish corner of the earth.” “Is that part of the problem?” The shiny Pokemon asked. “Well… more the second part then the first.” “Go on.” Valerie shuffled her paws nervously. “Well… are you gonna ask about what kind of Pokemon I am?” “Unless it’s part of the problem you don’t have to tell me. If it’s important, then sure.” “Oh. For most people that’s one of the first things they ask. Well, I was the victim of an evil scientist named Doctor Nurem. He kidnapped hundreds of Pokemon and conducted brutal experiments on them. Very few survived. I was one of the lucky, if you could call continuing to live there lucky.” She stopped and looked to the Flying-Type, who nodded to continue. “I finally got out when Arceus brought us all here, and since then… everything has been… perfect. But… it feels… just… wrong.” “You’re worried that this is all a dream?” The Altaria questioned. “No… it’s not dreamlike. I just… feel like something bad is going to happen to counter all the good.” The Altaria hummed. “I think I know what you mean. But what if this is all the good to counter the bad that happened before.” “That....” Valerie considered. “That makes me feel like a paranoid idiot.” The Dragon chuckled. “You’re not stupid. Don’t worry. Anything else you’d like to talk about?” The Veneon sighed, “No… not really. I think just talking about that one thing really helped.” “It’s good that I could help.” The Altaria smiled. “So,” Valerie asked, “What’s your name?” “Queen.”