After their odd encounter with the Enchanted Stones family, our group of adventurers continue their small adventure in Canterlot, as they looked for Fair Price Pawnshop in the gigantic brick jungle the city was. Yet the day had just begun, after all, and they were more than ready to keep journeying throughout the city. And this attitude got their heads up, their confidence boosted, and the flame of adventure burning!
This lasted for about ten minutes. And of course, the first one to complain about their current situation, was a very grumpy Sylveon.
"Gaaaah, we're lost!"
"Course we're not! I told you, I just... took a touristic detour!" The unicorn replied with an obviously forced grin.
"This is the fourth time we have passed by this street." Layton stated coldly, adding fuel into the fire. The unicorn glared at the Steel type with a twitching eye and a frown, that forced grin still on her muzzle.
"What do you know?" She blew a raspberry at the Steel type, yet deep inside she knew, he was right. "We’ll get there in no time! Isn’t that right Steven?"
But the Scizor didn't answer, instead he had stopped entirely, taking a look at the distance towards the end of the crossing street. Pockets went back to where the Bug type was at, curious of what he was looking at. She then realized, he was staring at a large pink crystal, the same one they had seen before meeting Enchanted Pearl, with a troubled expression on his metallic lime green face.
“What’s the deal with that anyways? You said it was called the… Alitas Sunday or something?”
“Anistar Sundial… is a strange crystal that used to be in one of the most important cities in the Kalos Region back on Earth. Legends say the crystal has been there even before the city itself was built.” He explained, before chuckling, “We had such an enthusiastic group researching it, it seems to have a connection to Mega Evolution after all. We were doing so much progress… but I guess we’ll never finish our research, not with the technology we have to our disposal in this planet, anyways.”
Pockets frowned at that, she didn’t like how skeptical Steven was of this new world, even after all they had passed. But instead of shoving the fact that one single pony was able to craft a gorgeous armlet in less than an hour, she decided to take another approach.
“Let’s go check it out!” She chirped with a smile.
“Are you sure? Don’t you prefer to look for that pawn shop?” The Scizor said with a raised eyebrow. But the pony just shook her head no with a smile, changing course and throating off towards the massive pink crystal at the end of the street.
“We’re lost anyways!” She finally exclaimed with a smirk that irritated Frederick, who grumbled and groaned to the skies, as he and Layton followed behind.
The crystal’s pink majesticness could only be seen at its fullest when you looked at it closely. It seemed far more smaller than what it really was from afar, as once they reached it Pockets realized it was easily forty times her size. The sun shined brightly upon it, emanating a beautiful pink aura around it, which dazzled the visitors.
“Wow, I wonder how much this thing would cost in the black market.” Pockets snorted, as she poked the Sundial with her hoof.
“I’ve seen this thing before.” Frederick pointed out lightly, “It’s supposed to shine at sunset, and those rings over there start spinning for some reason.” He said as he pointed at the strange structure in front of the crystal.
“Professor Sycamore found out that around 8 PM to 9 PM, when the sun is just in the right place, the Sundial begins emanating what we know as Mega Energy, sending powerful waves that according to our theory, would cover the entire planet.” Steven said rather enthusiastically.
“You are such a nerd.” She taunted as the sheer expression of nerd-joy Steven had was priceless. He chuckled in response, as Layton got closer to him.
“Something is not right with the sundial…” The Metagross said in thought, as he scanned the monument, “It is weak, I can barely sense the energy on it.”
“What do you mean?” Steven asked with a raised eyebrow, “How could it lose its energy? According to our research, its flow is constant, the energy levels haven’t decreased for decades…” He scratched his chin in thought, analyzing the possibilities, the theories, the evidence. What could be the reason behind this change? “Layton, prepare to grab a sample, a small fragment should do.”
“Uhm, guys.” Pockets said rather alarmed as Layton prepared a Hammer Arm.
“Perhaps it has something to do with the transfer… I’m going to need some equipment….”
“Guys, hey!” The unicorn repeated as Layton analyzed the best point to strike from.
“Darn it! I doubt we can find a particle accelerator in this place, we’ll have to use with a simple scan test.” The champion kept going, as Layton found the perfect spot, and decided to go for a Bullet Punch instead for a better sample taking.
“Hey you fucking idiots you’re making a giant scene!” Frederick shouted, breaking their train of thought. And true to his word, surprisingly enough, all visitors and even some royal guards were watching them in confusion, some mothers covering their fillies’ ears due to the Sylveon’s strong words.
“Uhm…” Steven hummed, “I’m sorry, please keep going with whatever you’re doing.”
Mumbling and whispering behind their ears, the crowds went back to their respective business, the guards keeping an eye on the group, as they stepped back from the Sundial.
“Congratulations guys, now the whole city knows how much of a weirdo you are!” The Sylveon snickered, meeting death-glares in response.
“Let’s just get going. We need to find the pawnshop” Steven sighed as he knew the Sylveon was right, yet he didn’t want to accept it.
“I hear you are looking for a pawnshop?” A raspy yet elegant voice asked from within the crowd.
“Why yes, we are…” Steven asked with a mix of confusion and lack of trust, as he turned around to see a rather old-looking earth pony with a cane, a monocle, and a top hat.
“What’s your name, little one?” He asked as he pointed the cane at Pockets.
“Uhm… Pickett… Pickett Midnight.” The unicorn gulped in response, stepping back and immediately regretting sharing such information.
“So you have finally arrived!” He chuckled as he left out a soft smile, before kicking his cane so it’d turn around his hoof, standing up in his two legs, and using the cane to balance himself up. “I am Fair Price! Value Hunt told me you’d be coming, heroes of Tall Tale.”
“Why is everyone so damn dramatic in here!?” The Fairy groaned, before being bucked on the stomach by Pockets.
“That is amazing! We've been looking for you for the entire morning!” Pockets said with a grin.
“I know! And in hindsight I should have probably searched for you as well… but oh well!” He waved off, before tossing his cane and bouncing away, “Follow me, the shop is this way!”
“Don’t you need the cane to walk?” Pockets asked confused.
“Nah, I found it lying around and I thought it’d look cool on me!” The pony replied back as the group followed him.
“Is there such thing as a normal pony?” Frederick sighed, miffed by the sheer existence of ponies. He was already regretting his decision to accompany Pockets, just for the fact that he knew this wouldn’t be the last weirdo they’d meet.
“What!?”
“Is there a problem, dear?”
Pockets was completely stunned at the sack of bits in front of her, she had imagined the loot was worth something, yet she could have never even dreamed of the sheer amount of money that in that precise moment Fair Price was giving her.
“No, there must be a mistake, this… this is way too much!” The unicorn asked with her jaw wide open.
“My name’s Fair Price for a reason dear, I always know how much exactly I must pay for an item. I checked them all out, and this is the price.” The unicorn replied with a warm grin, before scratching his chin, “That is, with the exception of the ring you showed me, I have no idea what that is to be honest.”
“You mean the golden ring we almost got killed for? The one that Fox tried to steal and that ended up getting us involved with a crazy bastard that wanted to take over Equestria?” Frederick said coldly, before chuckling, “Nice!”
“Are you even capable of shutting that mouth of yours?” Pockets asked with a smirk, “It’s like if you’re here just to throw sassy comments and get yourself kicked in the gut!”
“That’s my purpose in life, get kicked in the gut and using everything in my power to make your lives slightly more annoying!” The Sylveon said proudly. Yet his stance was cut short, as his attention shifted to the noise of a small ball bouncing behind him. His ears raised and his tail stopped, before he shifted into a hunter stance and backflipped to catch a small white ball with Celestia’s symbol printed on it. He munched it, yet the material and size of the ball made it difficult for him to keep a hold of it.
Pockets and Steven saw in shock and confusion how the untamable beast furiously tried to munch on a small white ball. Looking at Fair Price, who had started laughing uncontrollably, “Oh it is always such a joy watching these cute critters!”
“I am not cute!” Frederick growled, attempting to grab the ball with his paws yet failing miserably as it bounced off.
“Yes you are,” Pockets began laughing as well, as the one who gave Layton a run for his money was now struggling to defeat the small sphere.
“Bitch I’ll cut you!” He growled as he jumped on the ball and was finally able to stop it, opening his jaw as wide as he was able, and finally being able to grab it, holding it still with his fangs, “Hake hat ou hupid hall!”
“Eww gross!” The unicorn taunted as she teleported the ball away from him and into her hoof, before tossing it again and earning a loud annoyed grunt from the Sylveon.
“You will fucking pay for this Pickett!” He shouted as he jumped into a pile of boxes to search for the toy.
“Keep it!” The earth pony exclaimed, reading Pockets’ mind.
The thief raised an eyebrow and took another glare at the Sylveon, who digged into the pile of boxes furiously in search for the small toy. “You sure? This is way too much power in my hooves.”
“Looks like you need it dear,” Fair Price chuckled, before pushing the bag of bits forwards, “Well then, take your loot and make some folks back home happy!”
“What about the ring? What am I supposed to do with it?” She asked back.
“Let me ask my friends then! They are experts in this sort of things.” The pony replied back, before knocking on the back wall in the end of his shop. A small window opened, revealing the familiar face of Enchanted Pearl who, waved at them with a smile.
“Hey guys! Funny seeing you here, small world huh?”
Pockets facehoofed and sighed, all the lost time trying to find the pawn shop and it had been right behind them, “Right. Behind. Us.”
“So what can I do for you fellas?” The unicorn asked with a grin.
“Miss Midnight has this weird ring with a stone I don’t quite recognize… know what it is?” The pawn shop owner said as he raised the ring with his hoof to show it to Enchanted Pearl, who raised it and chuckled.
“Well if it isn’t rainbow quartz! This is quite the rare stone you have here.” She said as she took a closer look with an amplifying glass, “Yet in today’s market, it’s pretty much unsellable.”
“Oh come on!” The unicorn shouted in frustration, before giving up and shutting down her legs to let the floor take her weight.
“I’m sorry darling, but there are other gems that are far more common, while doing an even better job than this one.”
“What do you mean with a ‘better job,’ what is that stone supposed to do?” Steven asked, his interest in gemstones acting up on him.
“What I mean is, this is a magic amplifier. A Rainbow Quartz was used to make unicorn’s spells slightly stronger, letting them do more than what they normally can, yet not too much. This is why another gem known as Manasite, which was discovered after the Rainbow Quartz, replaced it, and thus made it invaluable.”
“In other words I’m stuck with this ring for the rest of eternity… guess you can’t win ‘em all.” The unicorn chuckled.
“Well, it’s still pretty fun to use. Go ahead and put it in your horn.” Enchanted Pearl winked, and Pockets did as told. “Good, now… uhm.” She hummed in thought, before pointing at a heavy storage box, “Lift that!”
“... You do realize I’m not proficient in regular magic, right? Levitation spells are not my forte.” She replied as she raised an eyebrow, yet still did as said. Focusing her magic on said box. At first, it was as difficult as she imagined it to be, the sheer weight being too much for her… or so it seemed. After the first few seconds of struggle, she felt how the nerves on her horn reacted to the Rainbow gem, as the box began twitching before being lifted less than an inch in the air, ascending slowly, yet clumsily. Yet deep inside, she knew she could do it, she knew she could manage to beat her own limits and lift that damn box.
And she failed.
“Wow! That was impressive! Like, you totally showed that box who’s boss.” Frederick smirked, leaving his toy on the floor before easily lifting the same box with his ribbons. “Ta-dah!”
Pockets huffed before casting her paralyzing spell on the Sylveon, causing the heavy box to fall on his back and his expression to change, “Show-off.” She chuckled.
“Ya brute.” He coughed, lifting the box back up and throwing it away, much to Fair Price’s discomfort.
“And a shameless one!” Pickett replied with a smirk, before looking at Fair Price and Enchanted Pearl, “Guess it might be useful, so I’ll keep it around in case I need to half-lift another box.”
“Great!” Pearl chirped back, before a loud explosion sent several debri flying behind her, “Well, seems like my brother is having some trouble with those stones you showed us…”
“Just remember to use the right tools, tell him to check the list on what and what not to use that I left him,” Steven instructed her. “That sounded like a Thunderstone, just… don’t use anything metallic, learned that one the hard way.”
“Got it, back to work!” She said before closing the little hatch that connected the two stores, another explosion making Fair Price chuckle as he turned back to them.
“That’s one hell of a pair.” The mature stallion said before going back at the bag of bits in front of him, “Take it, don’t worry about how much is in there, it’s for a good cause. Truth be told, I added some bits in there as well, a small donation to the cause.”
She was once again about to refuse, yet Steven decided to take the initiative, reaching the table and lifting the heavy bag with ease, “We appreciate it. I’ll make sure to send most of this to the poor ponies in Tall Tale, or rather, we will. Thank you kindly sir, we shall be on our way now, it was an honor to meet you.”
Slightly shocked, Pockets couldn’t find anything to say, yet she quickly realized that they were right, this was all for the best. “Yeah, thanks Fair Price. We owe you a big one.”
“Oh please, I’m just doing my job. Now go, it’s getting rather late and I need to get to the Sundial again so I can watch some tourist booty!”
Pockets’ image of the old stallion changed, facehoofing before chuckling as she should have seen it coming. “Have fun you perv.” She said as she followed Steven outside.
“Good luck my friends! And may Celestia be with you in your journey!” He waved at them, as they disappeared into the crowd.
The rest of the process was simple, figure out how much they’d need for the next week (a task made easy thanks to Layton’s multiple brains) buying some professional adventuring equipment, including a magical bag that could hold five times more weight than a regular bag, a set of boots with small compartments for smaller tools, and an utility belt. The rest, even after Frederick’s complaints, was sent straight to Tall Tale, to a trusted friend of Pockets who she knew would manage the money well.
“Well, that should do it!” Pockets sighed happily as she lay on the sidewalk, “I’m exhausted.”
Yet Frederick was not that happy with the results of that day. “And I’m hungry for fuck’s sake. We haven’t eaten since we got here, plus we have to find a place to stay at, and-”
“Oh shush your filthy mouth you pessimist butt.” Pickett nudged the Sylveon, “Everything’s going according to plan. I know of this really nice place, not far from here, where they sell some amazing dandelions. Don’t worry, they sell meat too, this is Canterlot after all, griffins gotta eat too.”
“Meat would be appreciated,” Steven chuckled, “Eating nothing but fruit is not doing my stomach any favors.”
“I require organic fuel as well, so I am afraid I must leave you to find my own source of aliment.” Layton added calmly.
“Wait, eat, do you really do that?” The unicorn asked confused, as not once since Pokémon came to Equestria, had she seen the Metagross feed on anything.
“Metagross are still organic species, they’re alive. They usually eat meat as well, yet Layton prefers to feed on rocks and minerals instead.” The former champion explained as he leaned on Layton, “It’s part of his diet.”
“I must lose a few pounds, my levitation is not as effective as before. I would be considered what you call, ‘fat’.” He added, resulting in a laugh from Pockets and Frederick, annoying Layton who simply took off into the skies.
“Very well, where is this restaurant you speak of?” The Scizor asked as he chuckled as well.
The trio managed to reach the restaurant in no time, it was located in the middle of a small street that connected a residential area to the main roads, It wasn’t anything big, nothing flashy or extravagant like the other establishments of the city, rather, it felt cozy and welcoming. The simple iron tables and the lamps hanging from the ceiling, as a board with a hand-written menu stood in the outside, several simple rose arrangements giving it a nice mood. The delicious smell of food in the air made them sigh in bliss, as the calm music invited them in. It made them feel good, it made them feel calm, at ease, like if they were at home, but not quite.
“This place is rather nice.” Steven managed to say as he noted how similar the architecture was to those fancy restaurants in Lumiose City.
A waiter took them to their tables, and took their orders. The restaurant itself wasn’t crowded, yet still several couples and families of locals and tourist were near them, as a couple of waiters went from table to table doing their job.
Pockets sighed in relief, as she breathed deeply and stretched her back. “Damn I needed this. Some relaxing is always good after a week of adventure.”
“Indeed.” Steven nodded, enjoying the mood as he sat down on the floor, “It’s been so long since I was last able to relax like this.”
“You’ve always seemed like the kind of guy who gets stressed too easily.” The unicorn snorted. “You should do things like this more often.”
“When you’ve seen the apocalypse three times, faced several wanted criminals, and been through near-death experiences as many times as I have, taking a break is not the first thing that would cross your mind. “ Steven chuckled, “Can’t complain though, it’s the kind of life I chose.”
“You mean trying too hard to be the hero just to end up as a secondary character?” Frederick smirked.
“I don’t mind if I get credit for the things I do or not, as long as the deed is done.” Steven replied calmly, “The heroes are heroes for a reason, they dared to do what not even I was able to.”
“Heroes?” Pockets asked with a raised eyebrow, her interest in legends and myths showing off.
A glow appeared in Steven’s face, as the memories of those days came back to him. “The ‘Heroes’ are a group of extremely powerful trainers who have dealt with the greatest of crises and returned victorious. From taking down giant criminal organizations, to battling the Legendaries themselves, or even stopping the end of the world. The heroes, all of them young when they accomplished their feats, are the best of the best, and I had the honor to become friends with one of them, knowing him since the early stages of his journey.”
And so, Steven began the same story he had told before so many times before, yet that he still loved to tell to anyone interested on it. From the rise of Team Magma and Aqua, to the awakening of the ancient legendaries of Hoenn, and the kid who befriended the mighty Rayquaza in order to put an end to the clash of titans that threatened to destroy the entire region.
“So… let me get this straight, this kid, 10 years old, came in riding a massive ancient dragon into the battle between Pokémon the size of buildings, and managed to calm them all down before riding back into the sunset and fully taming said dragon to become his own Pokémon?” Pockets asked with a dropped jaw.
“Well, he did release him after about a week, but yes indeed. And he then proceeded to storm the elite 4 and defeat every single one of them, before facing me with only two Pokémon, and still managing to beat me.” Steven chuckled as he recalled the epic battle, “To everyone else, he became the legendary trainer Ruby. But to me, he was the light hearted, sharp and extremely smart Brendan Birch.”
“Isn’t that the name of the current professor of the Hoenn region?” Frederick asked, actually impressed by the story.
Steven nodded in agreement, “He joined his father in his research, traversing the world to study Pokémon up close in their natural habitat. He developed new technologies that would help Pokémon all over the world, and was even working on perfecting the Pokedex so it wouldn’t be necessary to catch them in Pokeballs to get their data… yet it was still in development.”
“That’s neat and all…” Frederick grunted, “But I’m starving over here, we gave our orders like twenty minutes ago and we haven’t even gotten bread! What kind of service is this!?”
Scratching her head, Pockets realized that it had taken them a while to serve their food, in fact, there were no waiters in sight, and a quick look around told her that the other customers were confused and angered as well. “I reckon this didn’t happen last time I came here. They’re usually decently fast with their service.”
“I’ll go check.” Steven sighed, as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen, “It shouldn’t take long.” Reaching the door, he prepared to knock and call for service, yet stopped as he heard some metallic clanks and some rustling, which when stopped, would leave the inside with an eerie silence. “Oh geez…” He sighed again, as he realized it was probably time to be a hero.
Steven slowly opened the set of doors that lead to the kitchen, preparing a Bullet Punch as he expected the worse to happen. Taking a deep breath, he jumped inside, and what he saw horrified him.
Several bodies lay on the floor, all the staff members seemingly dead on the floor, whatever happened there? He had to warn them all, he had to evacuate the area, he had to-
“Snoooore”
Confused, the Scizor took a closer look with a raised eyebrow, leaning down to turn one of the waiters around, to see… an inked on, fake moustache on his face. His chest still showed breathing, and from what he could tell there weren’t any sort of injuries. He was simply fast asleep.
Checking the rest of the unconscious bodies, the results were the same. All of them sleeping, different markings from goatees to monocles and black teeth, showing this to be some sort of weird prank. Steven scratched his head in confusion, until a sound called his attention, a squeaky sound reminiscent of a marker could be heard from behind a table. Turning around and keeping a low profile, he followed the source, to find one of the strangest things the former champion had ever seen, and that was saying something.
A small mauve creature with yellow spots on its long floppy ears and small feet, was holding a marker in one of its short hands and drawing something on the face of one of the ponies. It also had pulled as much food into one pile as it could manage to get a hold of, seeing as how everything that was more than two feet from the ground had been unmolested.
Steven had no idea of how he should react. Whismur were very common in the Hoenn region, and they were usually extremely shy creatures, avoiding civilization at all costs. Most importantly, they didn’t draw on people’s faces nor steal food.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Steven asked with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
The Whismur turned to him and blinked a few times, dropping her marker in apparent shock as her ears twitched.
“What happened here?” Steven continued, “And what do you think you’re doing with these unconscious ponies?”
More ear twitching was his answer, as she slowly reached down to pick up her marker again.
This was getting too weird for Steven, he just wanted to enjoy a nice dinner, and now he had to deal with a vandalic Whismur. “Ok, that’s enough. I’m taking you… well, I don’t know, not here but somewhere else.” And as he said this, he stepped forwards and leaned down to grab her.
“Hi!” she chirped at him. Even that word would be enough to get the process started.
Steven’s serious face turned into a drowsy face, and his drowsy face soon turned into a sleeping face, as he reached the floor with a loud clank inches away from the Whismur, his wings vibrating with each snore he let out.
“Hey Steven, what’s taking you so long? I’m star-” Pockets’ words were cut short as she processed the picture ahead. Several bodies on the floor, weird markings on their faces, and now a sleeping Scizor with a humming Whismur that had already managed to draw a mexican moustache on him. The unicorn’s eyes widened up at the sight of the Whismur, it was such a strange-looking creature, yet at the same time, so freaking cute. She advanced slowly, trying to not startle the Normal type, not even caring for her friend’s condition. “Hello there!” She said softly, “What could such an incredibly cute critter like you be doing in here?”
The only response Pockets got was a wave from the Whismur’s free hand as her other one started writing something on his shiny shell. She then beckoned for the unicorn to come closer and look at what she’d written on the shiny Scizor’s forehead. It was the word WENDY, written in big, thick letters.
The unicorn couldn’t control her laughter when she saw the mess Steven’s face was. Taking some gasps for air, and cleaning the couple of tears that managed to leave her eyes, she smiled at the little creature. “Wendy, that must be your name, huh?”
The Whismur nodded and then walked over to one of the Scizor’s sides so she could keep writing. She wrote a short message. Just two words. CAN’T TALK. This was very convient for getting her message across, moreso than ear-signing. If only she had more metal friends to write on.
“You can’t speak? Poor girl, you must be mute.” She sighed before giving her a warm smile. “You can call me Pockets. And your little writing board here is my friend, Steven. Love what you did with him by the way, truly a work of art.” She smirked as she poked the sleeping Scizor’s face. “By the way, do you know what happened here? Why are all these ponies unconscious?” She said as she took a rather big metallic plate from a nearby table, and placed it in front of Wendy.
Wendy smiled and wrote a small message on the plate. When she flipped it around, it read…
‘I talked. When I talk, others fall asleep.’
Pockets raised her eyebrow as at first it was hard to believe such a small cute creature could have such power, but then she remembered this was a Pokémon, and how she had also managed to see two Pokemon spiders render a predator useless with one single web-shot. “Well that must be rather inconvenient. Do you belong to someone, are you from around here, or…?” She asked as she passed her another plate of similar size. Wendy pulled it closer and wrote what looked like a small paragraph on the plate before turning it around.
‘I lived in a lab before this. I had a friend, the best human friend I could ever ask for. He helped me come up with my ear-language. But now I’m lost and I was just hungry...then these Ponyta were all so mean and rude to me...so I talked.’
Pockets gave herself a short while to analyze the message, understanding more than enough to feel bad for the little gal. “So you’re lost, and now you’re forced to steal to survive. Don’t worry, I’ve been there as well.” She sighed, before petting the Whismur’s head softly. “Hey, the grumpy jerk who you put to sleep used to be a human as well, he has helped a lot of Pokémon, and he also has a really smart friend who can help us understand you better. So, why don’t you come with us so we can help you find your friend, huh?”
Wendy blinked a few times before writing a simple question on the plate. ‘You’d really help me find Vin-vin?’
Pockets d’awwed internally as she chuckled at her, “Of course. Us street girls must watch out for each other. We’ve been traveling all around Equus, perhaps we’ll find him on the way to our destination.”
The Whismur let out a silent cheer before waddling over to Pockets and giving her a hug as best as she could, a hug that Pockets returned without hesitation. Truth be told, she had wanted to hug the Whismur ever since she saw her. Pockets tickled Wendy with her muzzle before placing the little Whismur on her head. “Well then. First, we gotta find something to eat. You’ve already caused too many troubles to these ponies, it’d be for the best if you didn’t steal their food either.” And with a smile, she walked outside the doors and into the outside, meeting Frederick on the table whose face seemed to have fused with the table in sheer desperation and hunger.
“Fred, raise your grumpy face up and meet our new friend.” Pockets said as she poked the Sylveon.
“No food, no greeting.” He replied back, barely raising his head to be heard, before slamming it back into the table.
“This is Frederick… just, try to ignore him whenever you can, he’s really grumpy and mean, but he has a good heart.” Pockets explained to her new friend.
“I don’t, those are lies, hearts are for the weak.” The Sylveon replied with a groan. If anyone knew Wendy’s ear-language, they would have read a very troubling sign from her. Namely, that she was tempted to talk just to put him to sleep and draw on his face.
Seeing a slight change of expression on the Whismur’s face, the same idea crossed the unicorn’s mind. Casting a spell to block any sound from entering her ears, she smiled at Wendy and winked. “Frederick, I think she wants to tell you something, you better listen.”
“Hi!” Wendy chirped. “My name’s Wendy!”
“I said, no food…” The Sylveon yawned as soon as he raised his head up, instantly becoming drowsy as he managed to say, “No freaking… greeeeee” And with a thud, he was out cold, snoring as loud as a Snorlax as he began dreaming with hot Jolteon ladies.
Instantly, Wendy jumped off of Pockets and brandished her marker again, before tugging the Sylveon down onto the floor and drawing all over his face. Long, curly, fake moustache, check. Monocle, check. All sorts of insults written on his face backwards so that he’d see them the next time he looked in a mirror, check. And then she wrote something on his side.
‘Wendy is the greatest~’
Pockets laughed out loud as she saw the gorgeous masterpiece that the Sylveon’s face had become. “Good one girl, you’re really good at this sort of things.” She said as she saw how the Sylveon rolled over and fell into the ground, still as sound asleep as before.
Immediately afterwards, a loud thump called their attention, jump scaring Wendy while simply causing Pockets to turn towards the origin, before smiling, “And this, is Layton. He’s the really smart guy I told you about, if anyone can understand you, it’s him.” She said as she waved the Metagross, signaling him to come closer.
“Greetings, Miss Midnight. I see you have made new friends, it is a pleasure to meet you, Whismur.” The Metagross said in his monotone cold voice. Wendy narrowed her eyes dangerously as she looked at the shiny metal Pokemon. Her marker hand twitched…
“Don’t worry, he won’t harm you. He’s on the good guys’ side…” She wanted to say ‘I think’, yet she prefered not to do so, that would probably affect the Whismur’s trust issue with the Iron Leg Pokemon.
“I promise I will not hurt you, Whismur.” Layton said as he tried to give her a soft smile, yet failing, and opting to go for a less serious look instead, slightly less serious at least. She nodded once and lowered her marker hand, before wiggling her ears in some sort of pattern.
Layton analyzed the gestures as he tried to identify what sort of language the Whismur was trying to communicate in, not managing to find one, he then proceeded to find any sort of pattern that could hint at the system she was using. “Could you please repeat yourself?” He requested calmly, and when the Whismur nodded and started over, he managed to have a rather basic grasp of the strange ear signals’ meaning.
‘You understand me?’
“I believe so. The system you use, is quite ingenious, yet so simple at the same time.” Layton nodded, “It will take me some time to fully learn it in its entirety, though, so please bear with me.”
“Awesome!” Pockets chimed in, before remembering the little issue with the kitchen. “So… Steven’s kinda unconscious in the kitchen, and we’re going to need you to take us to the nearest restaurant.”
Layton sighed as he made his way towards the set of doors, before coming back with the lime green Scizor in his psychic grasp. “Please do restrain from doing this to my trainer, Miss. Steven has a complicated sleeping schedule, and if he sleeps before his designed time, he can get insomnia.”
Pockets laughed as she made a note of that tidbit in her head, nuzzling the Whismur before placing her back on her head. “So! Ready to eat something little girl?”
Wendy responded with a simple gesture. One of her pointing at the still-sleeping Sylveon. The question was plain to everyone. ‘What about him?’
“Layton will drag him as well, but don’t worry about him. Even if he’s a stinky flank, he’s still part of our team, and you’ll get used to him in no time.” Pockets replied with a soft smile, as Layton took him in his grip as well, except instead of keeping him in the air, he lazily placed him on the ground and literally dragged the Sylveon with his mind.
Wendy let out a silent giggle before climbing back along Pocket’s neck to rest comfortably on the pony’s back, riding her. With a soft patting, the Whismur signaled she was ready.
“Take the lead big guy.” She nudged the Metagross, who had managed to find a source of food not far from there, a small donut shop which remained open late at night.
Steven woke up mid-way, scratching his head as he didn’t manage to recollect what had happened to him, before spotting the waving Whismur who was riding on Pockets’ back. Speechless, he simply waved back slowly, before the memory hit him in the head.
The resulting shouting of anger startled the Whismur, as Pockets calmed the angry Scizor down, explaining the situation to him. He took deep breaths, and relaxed, before a nearby mirror salesman passed next to them. He noticed the markings, and began shouting in indignation again, earning a buck in the head from Pockets.
“Ok, fine, I get it, she’s just a child, children do pranks.” He sighed as he stood back up, “But a Whismur that can put anyone to sleep with her voice only? Now that’s rather interesting. Whismur are not known for doing those sort of things…” He hummed as he looked at the Metagross.
“Her genetic composition has been altered somehow. She has the natural ability of a Jigglypuff, except far more effective.” He replied back calmly, before stopping in front of their destination, “We have arrived.”
“Donuts, nice!” Pockets said with a smile as she took a look inside. The Whismur noticed a familiar face inside the restaurant. One that she emphasized with greatly, as she’d never put this pokemon to sleep. Jumping on Pockets’ back and pointing at the shop, the unicorn chuckled as she misinterpreted the Normal type’s intentions. “Someone’s rather hungry. Let’s go inside then!”
And as soon as she made the first step in, the Whismur jumped off her back, and ran towards an apparently random table, where an Umbreon and a strange looking purple Pokémon calmly ate their dinner. The Whismur began doing her ear signals as she approached the table, before the purple Pokémon’s eyes widened up.
“Wendy?”
“Uhm.. excuse me?” Pockets raised an eyebrow as interrupted the duo, “Is this your Pokémon? We found the scared little girl outside, causing some mighty chaos.”
“Mine?” The purple Pokemon replied. “She isn’t anybodies Pokemon.”
“Oh, is that so? Well she seems to know you guys” The unicorn chuckled, petting the small creature, “My friend Steven, told me that was she does isn’t normal for her species, so we were wondering if you knew what’s going on with her… er, ability?”
The Pokemon shifted uncomfortably, and looked to the abnormal Normal-Type, who just nodded at her, indicating it was ok to divulge her tender past. “She and I were both victims of a… a mad scientist by the name of Doctor Nurem. He did ‘experiments’ on Pokemon to try and augment us. She was given the ability of another Pokemon called a Jigglypuff, but much more potent. Every time she talks she puts people to sleep, so she has to get by on sign language.” She stopped and glanced down at her half eaten donut.
“So that’s why…” The Scizor interrupted, ”One of Nurem’s experiments… damn maniac.”
“You know who he is?” Pockets asked, looking at the small Whismur who seemed to be rather uneased now at the mention of her former captor.
“One of Earth’s most wanted criminals. Some even call him a myth, some say he doesn’t exist. A maniacal scientist that used to do extreme experiments on Pokémon. He kidnapped Pokémon from the wild, used extreme amounts of chemicals, messed with their D.N.A…. many Pokémon didn’t survive the procedures. Every time we got reports of one of his labs, we usually just found corpses of his test subjects laying around, not a single trace of him.” The Scizor sighed, and took a soft look at the Purple Pokemon, “This may be a fragile subject, but if I may, what did he do to you? I can’t recall any Pokémon with your appearance”
Seeing the shift in mood, she handed the Whismur the Umbreon’s remaining donut. “I was one of his most successful. His goal was to discover whole new Eeveelutions. He injected me with the contents of a Toxic Orb and force fed me liquefied Rare Candies. I evolved into this, he dubbed me a Veneon, since apparently that’s what I say in Pokespeak.”
“That sounds… horrible” Pockets gasped.
“New.. types of Eevelutions? That idiot… I deeply apologize for bringing the subject up. And to interrupt your meal.” Steven said softly
“It’s fine, really. I’m glad to see Wendy again. She identifies with me the most out of most of the Pokemon there. We both have to watch ourselves so we don’t inflict our friends with status conditions by accident. I have a very overactive Poison Point ability you see.”
“Hey, thanks for leaving me behind you pricks” A dry voice interrupted from behind Steven, Frederick walked towards them, as signs of ink were distributed messily all around his head. “What kind of marker did that annoying brat use? I swear this is harder than what it should be.”
“So you’re awake, huh?” Pockets chuckled, “This is Frederick. Please forgive his attitude, he can be a bit… rude”
Yet suddenly, the Veneon’s eyes widened. Tears slowly creeping into the edges, and with a face of shock, she simply shouted, “Freddy!” and then launched herself across the table and tackled the Sylveon in a hug. Completely forgetting about her poison.
“Uhm… can someone get this freak off me? My body is itching like crazy” The Sylveon replied coldly.
The Veneon was now sniffing, and on the verge of full on tears, while the Umbreon started to get up, mad at the strange Sylveon for his blatant insult. Yet before he could do anything the Poison-Type mumbled “You don’t recognize me. Of course you don’t. Who could.”
“Uhm… forgive me, but do I know you from somewhere? I think I’d recognize a purple cat creature.”
“It’s me, Valerie. Your sister.”
Frederick went silent, as a single tear began forming on his eyes, yet his face was of anger, “No, you… can’t. This is a joke, isn’t it? That damn iron asshole went into my brain, didn’t he? HA, very funny guys, you pricks… don’t you… don’t you fucking play with my past!” Frederick violently forced Valerie off himself, standing up and glaring at them with a disgruntled look
Valerie was simply shocked. She had finally found her final surviving brother, and he was convinced that a psychic was just playing a trick on him. That was the straw that broke the Camerupts’ back. She now burst into tears. And the Umbreon jumped down to comfort her, shooting a glare at the Fairy.
Valerie sobbed uncontrollably into her mates shoulder. He just stroked her back, and said nothing. One broken word escaped from her lips, “Freddy…” and then she choked up again.
Something seemed to spark on the Sylveon, whose eyes became full of tears, as he got closer to the crying Poison type, “That voice… those tears… no, it can't be... after all these years.” Flashbacks of his past, of her three younger siblings, of the more fragile one, Valerie, crying on his own shoulder, as he comforted her. Frederick broke into tears and rushed towards Valerie, and hugged her with force, launching off Shadow, who landed with a thud to the side.
“Lil sis… Valerie. I’m so… sorry. It was all my fault, I had to protect you, and now I just keep hurting you. What... what happened, who did this to you!?” Frederick sobbed, tears running wildly from his eyes.
“I… It doesn't matter now. He’s gone. We’re together again!”
“Where are the others… are they with you?”
The Poison-Type’s eyes just watered up more, and she sobbed into his shoulder again. After a moment, she whispered, “It was shorter for them.”
“No…” Frederick dropped Valerie, and got away from her, “This… this is all my fault. She told me to take care of you, it was… it was my FUCKING DUTY!” Frederick started moving backwards, searching for the exit, as his now red eyes let out more of the waterfall of tears.
“NO IT WASN’T! IF YOU HAD BEEN THERE YOU WOULD HAVE JUST GOTTEN CAPTURED WITH US!”
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA…. OF HOW I FUCKING FELT WHEN I ARRIVED THERE, AND JUST SAW THOSE DAMN HUMANS TAKE YOU!? I COULD HAVE FOUGHT, I COULD HAVE SAVED YOU, BUT I WAS, AND I WILL ALWAYS BE AN IDIOT, A COWARD!” Frederick rushed for the door, yet his paws started shaking mid way, as his body seemed to lose color, and his eyes closed. The poison had taken effect, and the Sylveon was now laying down in the floor, unconscious.
Shadow quickly dashed forward and used Heal Bell on the unconscious Pokemon, who stood mindless on the floor, his body slowly regaining color.
Valerie just backed up, in shock at how quickly the poison had worked. Usually when not in battle it was much slower. All of the emotions from the moment must have sped it up.
Before she could ponder it further there was a loud crash and a Flareon flew through the window of the shop, his head banged on the table and he then fell into to the ground. Shouts of the word “anarchy” could be heard from outside, and a Raticate and two Rattata came in.
“Grab the False Prophet!”
The Rattatta scampered over to the “false prophet.” It started to rise again, but they quickly used a bite attack on it, fully fainting it.
“You two!” Steven exclaimed, “Leave that Flareon alone, at this rate you’ll end up killing it!”
“Butt out, heretic! This is our business!” The Raticate proclaimed in a pretentious voice.
The Bug type extended his wings, while his claws started glowing a soft red, symbolizing an attack, “I said, leave the Flareon alone.”
“Make us, heretic! You shall fall before the mighty might of the Disciples of Helix!”
“You asked for it. Bullet Punch!” As swift as a bullet, the Scizor rushed towards the two Normal types, his glowing pincers delivering punch after punch, sending them both back, and knocking the small Rattata out. “Pickett, get the Flareon, and Frederick out of the way!”
“On it!” The unicorn replied, rushing forwards and grabbing the two seemingly unconscious Eeveelutions, dragging them back to a safe distance.
“You asked for it heathens!” The rat Pokemon’s teeth began to glow a bright white, and he yelled “Super Fang!” before rushing the scizor. Before the attack could land, a black blur jumped in front of him,
“Protect!” The attack bounced off the glowing yellow shield, and the fuzzy brown Pokemon landed on his back, on top of all the broken glass he and his comrades had knocked in. Before he could right himself the Umbreon moved again, “Foul Play!” He grabbed the Raticate, lifted him of the ground, and spun him around until releasing him, letting him fly into the table.
That did it for the invading Pokemon, his eyes now consumed by spirals..
“Maniacal idiots. What were they thinking?” Steven mumbled to himself, looking at the ones present, and seeing that nobody got hurt. “Who were they?”
“The Cult of Helix” The Flareon suddenly stirred, struggling to stand up, bruises all over his body. “Insane bastards, they’ve been following me for a week now. They claim I’m some sort of ‘False Prophet’, their ideologies have lead them to follow me around to ‘bring me to Helix’s justice’ “
“What did you do?” Inquired Valerie.
“I left…” The Flareon sighed, before giving up on the attempts of trying to keep steady, “or rather they kicked me out.... long story.”
“Cult of Helix?” Steven asked, before looking outside at the Metagross that was still out there, watching them from a distance. “I see… well, there’s no point in dealing with them now. We need to heal your wounds, and we also need to check on Frederick. Now it’d be a good time to find a Hotel, Pockets.”
Valerie chimed in again, “If you like you can come stay with us. We’re living with a noble by the name of Fancypants. We’re supposed to be security, and you guys look pretty tough so I’m sure he’d appreciate extra help.
“I have yet to have a pleasant experience with nobility in this world,” The Metagross interrupted, sneaking his head up on the hole in the window, “I will keep my distance. I’ll dedicate myself to scouting the area, and to prevent more cultists from causing more trouble.”
“Oh yeah, Layton messed up the mansion of a Mayor” The unicorn chuckled
“Well then maybe you should stay away, after all, it would be our job to prevent that.” The Umbreon replied, chuckling along with Pockets.
“I appreciate the offer. Although I think it would be too much--”
“Oh quiet Steven, don’t go all humble here. We can stay in the house of a freaking noble. Sides, I’ve heard that Fancypants is a cool guy, so it should be fun.” Pockets interrupted, before looking at the duo, “So yeah, we will gladly accept.”
As the group started moving out to the mansion, Steven picked up the still unconscious Sylveon, and cradled him in his chitinous arms. Valerie staying close as she kept an extra eye on her freshly reunited brother, and she couldn’t help but be reminded of her younger ones.