//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: A New World, a New Identity // by Snek //------------------------------// After the experience with the carpenter was finished, the group all headed back to the mansion. Tyler and Kenny talked strategy a bit more on the way, Kenny experimentally shooting small flames out from his new staff. Suddenly along the way, Tyler stopped short and gave himself a hard slap in the face. “Arceus! I’m such an idiot!” Kenny chuckled slightly, “What caused you to finally realize it.” “Hey, don’t think I’m the only idiot here on this one, cause you didn’t catch it either when we were talking about it.” Tyler defended. “Your Will-o-wisp won’t work on her Blaziken because he’s a Fire-type!” Kenny put two fingers between his eyes and sighed, “Fuck, you’re right. Shadow Ball then? That’s the best I’ve got that I can think of.” “I don’t know. That’s the best we’ve got for now I suppose. We should probably get some training in tonight then,” Tyler recommended. Kenny shrugged“Yeah, sure. Been awhile since we’ve done that hasn’t it.” “Only about two weeks since I’ve done training with you specifically. I’ve been training with Damian a bunch since I became a Flaaffy though,” Tyler pointed out. The group was coming up on the mansion now, and turned into the red brick pathway leading up to their new home. The two were still talking training as Loyalty opened the door for them as usual. Damian and BBK went off to do their own thing, but not before the Klefki used Safeguard on the both to prevent burns and paralysis. Once the two were outside again they both took battle stances, but before they could begin their sparring they were interrupted by someone cheering on the sidelines. “Yeah! Go sheep dude! Kick that chicks ass!” Kenny froze up, recognizing the voice. “Oh Arceus no… out of everyone I could run into.” Tyler turned towards the strange voice, to find a Fennekin, a fairly bulky one compared to how he remembered Kenny. It jumped down from its perch in a tree, and approached the pair. “Looks like Slim got an upgrade. I honestly didn’t expect this, but you somehow look even girlier fully evolved!” Kenny snarled and pointed his stick at the Fennekin, “Don’t call me that! My name is Kenny now! Don’t you dare call me that degrading ‘nickname’!” “ Or what? You’ll make me feel warm and cozy on this chilly mountaintop? I’d really appreciate that bro. Besides, you were ok with it when Kayla called you that, why can’t I call you that.” Tyler’s eyes widened, “Wait, Kenny, this guy’s your little brother? You never told me you had siblings.” “I don’t,” Kenny snarled at the smaller fox, “I just have acquaintances that got squirted out of the same-” “I get the point!” Tyler interrupted. “So you two aren’t close then.” “Understatement of the century,” the Fennekin’s smirk grew, before he held out a paw, “The name is Hook. I’m Kenny’s older brother. I got all the good, masculine genes.” “You also got the bad attitude,” Kenny muttered. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s a shared trait,” Tyler responded, putting his hands on his hips. “So why don’t you two like each other?” “Remember how I told you about being bullied back at Sycamore’s lab?” Kenny questioned, “This cock sucker was the ringleader.” “Language little bro! You know what mom thought of that!” “Mom was a hypocrite with a mouth dirtier than a Muk,” the Delphox retorted. “Where do you think I learned all of it?” Tyler scowled at the Fennekin before him. He and Kenny didn’t have much in common, but being bullied at one point was definitely one of them. “So, I hope you at least chased Kenny to make up. This world is supposed to be about a new start.” “Nah, that’s not it. And by the way Kenny, my question still stands, why can’t I call you Slim when Kayla does?” “Because she didn’t mean it as an insult,” he briefly explained. “Now tell me what it is you want so you can fuck off sooner.” “Wow, no need to be rude Slim, I could tell you, but I don’t think I want to now,” Hook contemplated with a paw to his chin. “How about this, if you can last two minutes in a fight with me for once, I’ll tell you. Sound good?” Kenny grinned, and cracked his knuckles “Sure thing, I’ve gotten much stronger in the past year, and I have five years of misery to make up for in two minutes.” “What makes you so sure you can beat me?” Hook questioned, his smirk growing even bigger. “I’ve grown some in the last year as well. After all, for all you know I could have been picked up by a trainer, and gone on a tour of Kalos, growing - Scratch!” The Fennekin darted forward in the middle of his sentence, aiming for a surprise attack. Kenny didn’t even flinch, and caught his brother's forehead with his staff, stopping him in his tracks. Before Hook could react, Kenny swung his foot and punted the Fennekin into the bushes. “Not so easy without your group of dickriders now is it?” Hook pulled himself out of the bush, slightly dazed. “Well well. Looks like Slim has some moves. Let's see how you hold up against my Ember!” A few small spouts of fire came out of the fox's mouth, and flew at Kenny, dissipating around his chest without doing any real damage. Kenny just shook his head, “I must’ve been a real wimp a year ago to get hurt by that.” He lifted up his staff, and charged up an attack, “Fire Blast!” The attack flew quickly towards Hook, and blasted him backwards, landing in the bushes once again. When he didn’t emerge again, Tyler checked on the weaker ‘Mon. “He’s out cold,” the former human reported. “Serves him right,” Kenny smirked, “He’s lucky I don’t still have my old staff or I’d have played baseball instead of kickball. Bring him inside so when he wakes up I can brag properly instead of him sneaking off without facing me afterwards.” Shadow sat in the den with Flo and Hector, an awkward silence in the air. “S-so... “ he tried to start a conversation, “What have you two been up to the last five years.” “Oh… You know,” Flo awkwardly replied, “Trying to discover the reason for the mysterious disappearance of our children and coming to terms with it.” The silence continued. “We did meet a few nice folks when we traveled the Kalos region searching for Valerie and her siblings,” Hector mentioned after a bit. “Oh, that’s nice…” After some time, Valerie finally returned to the collapsed sewer, causing everyone to sigh in relief. “Are you alright Val, honey?” Flo asked worriedly. “I’m fine, mom. Just needed a few minutes to think. While I was out I found something Shadow would like,” the Veneon gave a grin. “Uh, like what?” Shadow inquired, cocking his head to the side some. “Like me,” a voice said from outside, and a few moments after a large golden head stuck itself in. Shadow’s eyes widened, “Queen! I can’t believe we found you! Where have you been this whole time?” The Altaria shrugged, “When I woke up on Equus I was pretty far South, in a place called Zebrica. A large flock of Swablu made me their leader, since I was the strongest I guess. I lead them North from there to Equestria since there was a lot of aggressive natives where we were before.” “Where’d they go?” Valerie asked, “I didn’t see any Swablu around when I ran into you.” “We ran into their old flock leader a bit West of here, a polite guy named Zachary.” Queen explained. “He was pretty thankful of me helping, especially since three of the Swablu there were his daughters. He said he was going to take ‘em to a place he had heard about closer to the center of the continent. That was two days ago.” “Well I’m glad we finally found you!” Shadow grinned, “Tyler’s going to be ecstatic!” “Where is he?” Queen asked, concerned, “I would’ve thought you two would want to stick together.” Shadow nodded, “We are living together, but he’s back in Canterlot. Val and I are just visiting in Las Pegasus to meet her parents,” he nodded towards Flo and Hector. “It’s nice to meet you,” Flo smiled and held out a paw to Queen, who shook it with her beak. “You’re a friend of Shadow’s I assume?” “Yep. We had the same trainer back on Earth. I’m a little surprised he got a girlfriend so fast. If you had seen the way he got flustered by this one Flareon in Lavaridge-” “That’s enough Queen,” Shadow quickly closed her beak, “That was almost four months ago. And she was being way too forward, even after I met her mate.” “A story for another time,” Hector chuckled. “I’m just glad to know that my little Val has someone so supportive, after all she’s been through, she deserves it.” Valerie reached over and gave her parents along group hug, “I’m just glad that I found you two. Now we can finally piece our family together again. Flor broke away from the hug slightly, “But, you’re not planning on staying… are you?” Valerie shrunk back some as well. “Well… no. I’m glad to see you, but for now, I want to stay with Shadow, and his place is with the rest of his family, which… I’m starting to become a part of as well.” “We both understand honey,” Hector assured her, “Just because we weren’t around when you were growing up, doesn’t mean you haven’t. Just come visit sometimes, kay?” “Of course!” Valerie smiled, “I’ll be sure to come around in a little over a month or so when the egg is about to hatch. I wouldn’t miss that for anything. If I see Frederick I’ll try to get him to come around the same time.” By now the sun had set fully, causing the room to flooded in darkness. Shadow lit up his rings some, allowing the Pokemon to see. “So,” Flo looked to Valerie and Shadow, “Will you be staying in here, or are you going to stay nearby?” “We brought enough bits that we’d be able to get a room somewhere, but I’d love to be able to stay here!” the Veneon looked around the small room, “If there's enough room that is.” “Don’t worry hun,” Flo comforted, “there’s plenty of room since we sleep in the water. You can have the ledge.” Valerie nodded, her eyes drooping slightly. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’m getting pretty tired already. It’s been a pretty long day.” “That does sound nice,” Shadow agreed. “I could turn in right about noooowww,” he finished with a yawn. “Ok,” Hector nodded. “We can all go to sleep for now. Maybe we can find something else to do tomorrow.” Valerie and Shadow laid down together on the stone floor, as Hector and Flo slipped into the pool. Valerie snuggled up some next to Shadow, her fears forgotten. Hook had been knocked out so badly that he didn’t regain consciousness that night. Still wishing to collect on his little bet with his brother, Kenny placed the Fennekin in a bed in the room across the hall from him, and had Loyalty lock the door for good measure. All was quiet that night, except for BBK and Damian’s laughing when Tyler told them of Kenny’s old nickname. Come next morning, Kenny woke up in a much better mood than usual, and positively strutted out of his bedroom, until he saw the door across from his ajar. Kenny took a moment to articulate, trying to decide the best way to express the sight before him, while “What the fuck!” The Delphox quickly rushed down the hall, frantically searching for his sibling. “That asshole better not have run off. I swear to Arceus I’m gonna tear him a new one.” Kenny rounded a corner and suddenly found Loyalty in front of him, “Gah! Where’d you come from?” “I felt you needed some assistance sir, is it anything I can help you with?” “Have you seen a Fennekin? He would look sorta like me but smaller and quadrupedal.” Kenny asked irritatedly, “He lost a bet to me.” “Ah yes, your older sibling.” Loyalty nodded. “I know you asked me to lock him in his room, but Fancy has instructed me not to fulfill any wishes you or your friends may have of an illegal nature. I let him out this morning and had Barnardo make him breakfast.” “You what” Kenny growled, before taking a deep breath. “Fuck it, where is he now?” “In the dining hall still, I believe he ate far too much and has rendered himself immobile for the time being,” the butler gave him a wink. “Is that all, sir?” Kenny smirked, and nodded in thanks. “Thank you, you are dismissed.” Loyalty nodded in return and left to attend to other duties in the mansion, leaving Kenny to go find his brother. After a minute of walking, he was in the dining hall, peeking in, he saw Hook leaning back in a chair, a comically large bulge coming from his stomach, a plate in front of him, and a syrupy mess all around. “Fucking pig,” Kenny muttered, before stepping in. “Well hello brother! I hope you’re having an absolutely divine morning,” Kenny spoke sarcastically, imitating the tone the Fennekin always used to use before a bullying session. “It looks like you’ve eaten a tad too much. Maybe we should let in some fresh air to help.” The Delphox walked slowly over to a window, and forced it open, letting in a light breeze. Looking back to Hook, Kenny saw that he was still so full he looked sick. “Hmm, you don’t look too good. Maybe you need more fresh air.” Kenny came back around to Hook, and picked up the smaller Fire-Type, carrying him to the window. “Here, maybe this will help,” Kenny put his brothers head out the window, and gave the Fennekins stomach a light, squeeze, slowly adding more pressure. “Slim… I don’t think this is going to-” Hook was interrupted when Kenny suddenly added a large amount of pressure at once, causing the smaller Pokemon to vomit violently out the window, into the hedges below. “Aw fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this,” he groaned after a moment. “Reminds me a lot of the time you and your lackies stole a bottle of women’s shampoo from one of Sycamore's lab techs and force fed it to me.” Kenny said calmly, “Of course, that tasted much worse, going down, and coming up,” he added with a bit more venom. After a moment, he walked back over to a seat, and dropped his brother in, causing Hook to cough up a bit more bile and pancake. “Enjoy your breakfast, asshole,” Kenny muttered as he left the room. “And I expect you to tell me whatever your little secret is after you’re done and not choking anymore.” Valerie woke up slowly, as she felt Shadow shifting against her. “You up?” She asked him. “Yeah.” Was the sleepy sounding reply. “Your parents snuck out about twenty minutes ago. I don’t know where they went.” “Well,” Valrie got up and stretched, “I suppose I’ll go look. Wanna come with? Or do you wanna get more sleep.” “I barely got any sleep on that hard floor. I’ve been awake for hours,” the Umbreon groaned. “You’re so soft Shadow.” she giggled, “That was way more comfortable than the beds they had back in the lab. I think Doctor Nurem would be far more successful as a scientist if he put more research into making sturdier building materials from mattresses.” Shadow rolled his eyes as they entered the den together, “I’ve heard people often deal with grief by using humor but doesn’t that seem a little overboard.” “Maybe around some of the other subjects,” Valerie shrugged, “But I think Frederick’s philosophy of humor to mask emotions may work well.” The pair exited the collapsed drain and took a look around, Hector and Flo were nowhere in sight. “You think they went to get something for breakfast?” Valerie guessed. “Maybe,” Shadow rubbed his chin some. “What did you usually eat way back when?” Valerie’s eyes brightened, “If they are getting breakfast, then I know exactly where they are,” the poison type waked out to the water, the salty waves coming in and out from the vast ocean. After a few moments she stepped farther out, into slightly deeper water, once the water was up to her chest, she lowered her head under the waves. Shadow watched on, slightly confused until a blue head popped out from the surf. “Valerie!” Flo scolded, “What did your father and I tell you about opening your eyes underwater unless you evolve into a Vaporeon! It’s not good for your eyes!” The offending pokemon laughed a bit, “Mom, Veneon have a lot of traits similar to snake Pokemon, including a brille.” The vaporeon blinked in confusion, “What’s a brille?” “It’s a membrane that covers my eyes, it’s like a second eyelid that doesn’t move, I can also see underwater fairly well with it.” “Oh… Well ok then.” Flo muttered. “Your father and I were just doing some fishing for breakfast, since you paid for dinner yesterday we can serve breakfast today.” “But we didn’t pay for dinner, it was free,” Valerie blushed, rubbing her head. “You got it from a friend who you met at that lab, so in my opinion,” Flo stopped and gave Valerie a hug, “you already paid for it,” Hector popped his head out of the water next to the two, and spat out the dead fish in his mouth, “Hun, you need to stop being so cheesy all the time.” “Well excuse me, mister, I’m just trying to have a bonding moment with my daughter.” “I’m just saying, hun.” “It’s ok, both of you,” Valerie laughed. “Also, Dad, your fish is floating away.” “Oh dang that was a hard one to grab!” the male Vaporeon exclaimed as he splashed after it. Once he caught it again he brought it up to the shore and laid it on a rock in the sand. “Say, I know Flo said this was supposed to be our treat, but we never did get to start any of the fishing lessons for you did we? We were only about a week in with Frederick, fishing and swimming come to think of it. Wasn’t going too well, poor guy couldn’t even get near a Magikarp to save his life, and we couldn’t get him to go more than half a foot deep in the river.” “I don’t think he ever did learn,” Shadow commented, “We got into a fight with a Lapras back in Canterlot when we met him. He used Surf and all Frederick seemed to do was flounder helplessly until it washed away.” “Aww, poor guy,” Valerie giggled, “I didn’t really notice that then. Next time you two see him you should teach him.” “Well we will, but what about you?” Flo looked to Valerie expectantly, “We never did teach you to swim, and I’m sure you don’t get many chances in a laboratory.” “Actually,” Valerie grinned, “When I found myself on Equus, I was on the cliffs above Canterlot, and to get down I had to cross a river, one of the ones that feeds to the waterfalls there. I swam across just fine, I guess it just came natural or something.” “I think Frederick would be pretty mad if he found out about that,” Shadow chuckled. “He cares about you but I get the feeling he would get easily jealous.” “He’d just go run into the nearest body of water and try to drown himself if he’s anything like his uncle,” Flo smirked. “He did something similar after your father told the story of the time a trainer tried to catch him. That’s how he got caught.” “I didn’t know that part of the story,” Valerie snickered. “We didn’t tell any of you because of how much of a block head ol’ Freddy could be,” Hector explained. “We were worried he’d go out and imitate him.” “That is sorta what happened,” Valerie explained. “After me and the others were captured, he tried to chase after us but got lost and a trainer found him. I don’t know much more than that, he seemed to be pretty secretive about it. I think someone hurt him, on a deep emotional level,” she sighed. “Well, whatever it is I hope he opens up to someone about it,” Flo gave a defeated look. “It’s not good to bottle things like that up.” Everyone muttered their agreement, and their was a short moment of silence, before Hector cleared his throat, “So, how about we give you some basic fishing lessons? Your boyfriend can join in too if you like.” The Poison-Type nodded excitedly, “That sounds great,” and followed her parents out into deeper water. A little later, once Hook wasn’t tasting bile anymore, and he could move again, he dropped out of a chair and snuck over to a window. He pushed a chair closer so he could reach the latch, and was about to push it open when a wooden staff came out of nowhere and slammed down on his paw. The Fennekin bit his lip to keep from yelling out in pain, and looked behind him. “Heh, hey Slim, I was just going out for… a bit more fresh air?” Kenny smirked slightly, “Oh, well I don’t see why we can’t go outside together. You can tell me whatever that little secret of yours is.” “Heh, well technically the battle wasn’t two minutes long so- gack!” the smaller Fire-Type was cut off when Kenny grabbed the scruff of his neck and lifted him off the window sill. “I- I mean, sure I can tell you. I know where Kayla is!” Kenny raised an eyebrow at Hook, “Oh? And where would that be?” he questioned, tightening his grip. “A little South of a city called Detrot. Some pony poachers caught a bunch of the starter Pokemon from the lab, they have some Pokemon helping them,” the Fennekin’s eyes were now beginning to water from the pain of being held by his scruff. “I managed to escape and came for help.” Kenny narrowed his eyes, and dropped Hook four feet down to the floor. “Why should I believe you?” The Fennekin rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, I may be an asshole, but you know I was never much of a liar.” “Granted,” Kenny nodded, “But why didn’t you tell me when you first got here?” “I… I don’t know. I guess I wanted to impress you somehow since you seem way stronger now. I probably should have just told you earlier.” Kenny sighed, “Well, I still hate you. But since I’m not as bad a person as you are, I’m done with revenge, for now.” The Delphox picked up the smaller Mon’ and held him under his arm. “Where are you taking me?” Hook asked slightly panicked. “To see the others, if what you say is true then we have some work to do.”