Lea was having trouble concentrating. A few of the others were snoring as she worked, though she was starting to block it out. The umbreon looked at the clock, It still wasn’t that late, only about fifteen minutes until midnight.
She went to grab some of the seeds she had collected on their way out of the Everfree. On her other side, she opened the book she got from the library. “Let’s see… if I want to grow these I need to- aw shoot! I grabbed the wrong book when I left!”
Lea got up carefully so she didn’t wake anyone up. “Maybe there’s a chance that library is still open or something.”
Grabbing a key to the room the umbreon left, not noticing a figure following her on the way out.
Lea ran as fast as she could to get to the large tree that was the library. As she got closer, she bit her lip when she could tell none of the lights were on. Still hoping for some reason she might get in, the Umbreon got the rest of the way there just to make sure it was really locked.
“I guess… I ran… all this way… for nothing.” She panted.
Lea sat down next to the library to rest for a little bit when she heard the front door seem to creak open. standing up to go look at it, she saw Sparks in front of an open door.
“Sparks! what are you doing! Why aren’t you asleep! You should be back at the hotel with your mom.”
“Book?” Sparks asked her.
Lea nodded, telling him how she had come to get a book she left here. After she explained that, Sparks went into the library. The umbreon quickly followed him in to bring him back out, but he was already gone.
“Sparks!” She whispered. “Where did you go!”
Lea saw a door on the other side of the room and went through it. She thought it might be a storage area. Instead, her ears drooped down as she saw a kitchen instead. “Oh no. If that’s a kitchen then someone must live here.”
Suddenly, there was a crash in the library area and Sparks came zooming into the kitchen to Lea’s side. “Oops.”
There was a crash from upstairs, as if someone had fallen out of bed, followed by some quiet mumblings and the sound of someone coming downstairs.
Lea shook a little, a little scared of what would happen. Twilight had been the librarian here, so if anyone was living here, it should be her. As a princess, Lea didn’t know what might happen to her. Sparks didn’t seem to care that much, as he decided he wanted to see who was there and followed the new noises.
“I swear, if that Mage again,” Twilight mumbled.
“You probably just left some books stacked on the table again,” Spike said with a yawn. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Sparks was hiding himself, looking like he was ready to pounce on either of them. Spike was the first to get close, and the Dunsparce jumped onto the dragon. “Play time!”
“AAAAHHH!” Spike fell to the ground. “Twilight! Help! It’s gonna eat my face!”
Twilight looked shocked at first, then sighed and pulled the Dunsparce off of Spike with her magic. “Okay, who are you and what are you doing here?”
“Sparks! Books!”
Twilight tilted her head, a little confused. “Um... the library’s closed right now, could you maybe come back tomorrow?”
Sparks gave a sad look at tilted his head. “But gan-ma want book.”
He wiggled around until Twilight dropped him and found the book Lea had come for. “Book!”
Spike dusted himself off and looked over at Twilight. “Twilight, I think he’s just a baby.”
Twilight nodded. “I was thinking that same thing... wonder where his family is.”
From across the room, Lea ran as fast as she could to the front door, picking Sparks up using psychic as she passed him. “Sorryforcominginhere. Ileftthisbookhere. BYE!”
As the umbreon went through the door, Sparks exclaimed “Wheeee!” before the two of them disappeared from view.
“Mommy! Wake up! I wanna look around this place more!”
Lea gave a small groan when Kya started to shake her around to wake the umbreon up. Lea had never really been a morning person, and being awake for so long last night didn’t help. Finally, Lea decided she had to get up, but not before Kya had pushed her off the bed and onto the floor.
“Fine! But everyone has to make a list of what we can do for the next two days before we can take the train to Canterlot.”
“Wait? Why two days from now?” Caddi asked. “You seem to think there’s nothing left to do, so why can’t we leave sooner?”
Lea sighed. “I already bought tickets and I can’t give them back for a refund. So either we’re paying for a whole new set of tickets, or we wait.”
“I’m fine with waiting.” Ben said. “Besides, it’s not like it will hurt to wait.”
“Mommy, can you come with me? I wanna train and stuff!”
Lea turned her head sharply toward Kya. “What? You’ve never really wanted to before. What made you change your mind?”
Kya pawed the floor. “Well, these two psychics got near Sparks and I freaked out. I wanted Angela to save him since I couldn’t do it. They didn’t hurt him, but what if they were mean and Angela wasn’t there?”
Lea looked at Angela. “She said sorry, though barely, more ‘cause I threatened her.”
Lea gave the absol a look that said, ‘Really?’ “Next time, don’t threaten your niece, even though you’re not related by birth and stuff. Kya, come on. We can train, but you really should be nicer to them, though I do have something I would like to give them for my apologies.”
Lea grabbed one of the saddle bags they had brought, and packed three small spray bottles. “Alright, let’s see if we can find them again.”
“PRETTY LADY!” Sparks exclaimed, before zooming out of the room. Kya giggled nervously from his enthusiasm while Lea groaned.
“Remind me to ground him once we finally get back home. If he keeps this up, we’re going to get in tons of trouble.”
Lea and Kya ran to keep up with Sparks. Eventually, the Dunsparce jumped on a few objects in the street of increasing height until her found his way onto the head of a Gardevoir, and then snuggled it like it was a giant teddy bear.
“Aww, well hello to you too little one,” she said with a smile. “What are you doing here?”
“Pretty lady friend!” Sparks exclaimed before Lea and Kya caught up, the former out of breath.
“Sparks! You know I’m not used to keeping up with you! Now please get off her head.”
Belle giggled and lifted the Dunsparce off her head, setting him on the ground. “So you’re this little cuties mother then?” She asked.
“No.” Lea replied. “I’m his grandmother. Kya here is his mom.”
Belle nodded. “Well, it’s nice to meet both of you,” she said with a smile.
Lea rubbed the back of her head. “Kya and Angela, uh, she’s my sister, told me about how they ran into you, and then Kya tried to attack you, and probably some other stuff. I wanted to give my apologies as well.”
“Oh it’s alright,” Belle replied. “I understand she’s protective of her child.”
At that point, Kya stepped forward. “Where’s the other guy? The one you were with when we found you earlier?”
“Oh, my husband’s around somewhere,” Belle assured her. “Probably chatting with some of our friends... this is the first time in a while that we’ve actually been able to relax.”
Lea gave a small laugh. “Oh, what’s been going on here?”
“Hm, some people from Earth tried to arrest him and one of our other friends,” Belle shrugged.
“Ah, doesn’t sound too bad… at least not to me.”
“Oh?” Belle asked. “What’s your story then?”
“Also almost arrested, almost strangled to death as well as almost beaten to death. Oh, and someone tried to use my own sister to kill me and the rest of my family” Lea responded, with a somewhat crazy smile on her face. “Other than that, we have some criminals living in our home back in Hoofington, the same ones that made me fight some of the animals that lived here almost to death.”
Lea took a big breath of air. “I suddenly feel much better.”
“Venting does that,” Belle said with a nod. “And you definitely had a lot to vent about.”
“Yeah… Oh! Sparks, go be a hat for Kya. I don’t want her to freak out too much.”
Sparks went on top of Kya’s head, making her be very careful so he wouldn’t fall off. Lea quickly used psychic to take one of the spray bottles she had in her saddlebags out and gave it to Belle. “Here, this is for my apology.”
“Thank you,” Belle said with a smile. “... what is it?”
“I figured out how to make potions here. I used most of the normal ingredients, but there were a few that don’t seem to exist on this planet, so I found a substitute. I’m going to try and mass produce them in the future.”
“If you need some kind of plant, I’m pretty sure Arceus could get it for you,” Belle said. “I know he was making berries earlier.”
“No, it was more a man made chemical that was needed, but it just so happens that one plant on this world is close enough to it that it works almost exactly the same. It’s just a little bit weaker. I should be able to make it just as strong with time.”
“Well, I’m sure a lot of Pokemon and trainers will be thankful for that,” Belle said with a smile. “I know some are probably itching to get back to battling.”
At that, Kya perked up. “Oh, Mommy! I wanted to do that! Can we find someone?!”
“I guess we could. Do you have any ideas of who we could ask… Oh my gosh, I never got your name.”
“Belle,” she said with a smile.
“That’s a nice name.” Lea replied. “But still, do you have any ideas?”
“If you don’t mind.” Kya quickly added before she decided to hide behind Lea.
“Well, my husband’s a trainer,” Belle said, “I’m sure he’d be interested.”
“I knew it!” Kya exclaimed. “If you’re really careful, you can tell. But yeah! Could we maybe?”
Belle chuckled. “Of course, I’ll just go get him.” Belle Teleported out, and a few moments later, returned with her husband.
“Hi, I’m Gene,” he introduced himself.
“Well hello!” Lea responded. “I’m Lea, and I guess you know Kya and Sparks.” She gestured to the other pokemon. “Kya kinda wanted to battle you, and since we got potions, it should be better than one just out of the blue.”
Gene smiled. “Sure, sounds like it’ll be fun.”
Kya started to jump around in happiness, with Sparks soon following. “So, Kya will be the one battling on my side.” Lea said. “What about you?”
“Oh! I’ll go get Fang,” Gene said excitedly. “Belle, take them to where we’ve been training outside of town, I’ll meet you there.”
Belle smiled as he ran off. “I’ll just Teleport us there, alright?” She asked.
“Uh, I’m fine with it. I’m just wondering about Kya.”
Kya gave a quick nod. “Do it before I change my mind.”
Belle nodded and Teleported them all to a field just outside of town. “A lot of us have been using this place for training,” she explained. “Making sure former Humans know how to use their powers so they don’t hurt themselves or anyone else.”
“Good idea.” Lea commented.” We use the large sewers underneath the town, though we also try to clean it up as well so we don’t get sick or anything.”
Kya walked in place somewhat impatiently. “I can’t wait, I can’t wait!”
Lea rolled her eyes. “You know, it would be easier if you took your bracelet off.”
The Quilava glared at her. “Never!!!”
“What’s special about the bracelet?” Belle asked.
“It’s got an Everstone implanted in it because she doesn’t want to evolve. At least, not yet.”
“Hey guys!” Gene shouted, running up with Fang at his side. “Sorry about that, anyway, this is Fang.” He patted the Houndooms head.
“Pleased to meet you,” Fang said with a grin.
Kya looked at the Houndoom, then at Lea. “He’s big. I like him!”
Fang smiled and took his place across from her. “Been awhile since I had a battle,” he said, stretching. “This’ll be fun.”
Sparks tossed an object and Gene, which he caught. “SPARKS! How did you get that out of my saddlebag?!”
“Magy!” He replied before slowly backing up. “Wooh, wooh, wooh, wooh, wooh!”
Gene looked at the squirt bottle. “Um... is this a potion?”
“Yup!” Lea nodded. “Made it myself. I gave another one to Belle for when you need it, but this one is for after this battle. Or during if you want.”
“Hm, neat,” Gene smiled. “Alright, you ready?”
“Ready if you are!” Lea replied while Kya hopped out in front of her.
Gene grinned. “You can have the first move.”
Lea and Kya smiled. “Alright Kya, Smoke and circle!”
The Quilava started to blow out smoke from her mouth. She circled around Fang as fast as she could to completely surround him in her Smokescreen, switching which way she was going a few times so he would have trouble knowing exactly where she was. Kya slowed down once she was done spewing smoke so she wouldn’t run out of breath too quickly, but the volcano pokemon refused to stop moving around for Fang to figure where she was.
“Fang, use Smog!”
Fange took a deep breath and as he exhaled, a thick purple smoke began to seep from his nose and mouth, traveling outwards and mixing with the Smokescreen.
Kya gave a shake of her head as she exhaled sharply from the smell. The flames on her head came up from her annoyance getting her a little more pumped up for the rest of the battle. “Alright, try Overheat Kya!” Lea ordered.
Kya smiled as her body started to get hotter and glow. She shot out a large blast of flames from her mouth as the attack left her and towards Fang in the midnight purple cloud.
Fang smirked as the attack passed over him. “Flash Fire,” he said to her.
“Now use Flamethrower!” Gene shouted.
Fang blasted a wreath of flame at Kya, bathing the entire area in flames.
“No!” Kya exclaimed right before the attack hit her. It knocked her over before she got up quickly and sung. “Ohhhh, we’re halfway there!” Before digging into the ground.
“Wait her out Fang, then use Bite!”
Fang nodded and watched the ground, waiting for Kya to pop up.
From under the ground, Kya poked small holes throughout the terrain. Seeming to come out of all of them, Kya called out, “Speed Star!” Stars came out from all of the holes, before directing themselves toward Fang, a Swift attack.
Fang yelped as the Swift hit him, before lunging at one of the holes and trying to catch Kya.
Kya gave a small yip of surprise before a few pink and yellow hearts surrounded her and went after the Houndoom.
Fang’s eyes widened as the attack hit him, and his pupils were replaced with little hearts.
“Ooh! Not Attract!” Gene cried. “Come on Fang, snap out of it!”
The Houndoom didn’t respond.
At that point, Kya came out of the ground straight into Fang’s underbelly, knocking him a few feet away. Kya let herself relax for a second with a small giggle before getting ready for any attack that might come.
“Fang!” Gene called again.
This time, he responded, shaking his head and looking at Gene in confusion.
“Use Inferno,” Gene ordered.
Fang nodded and his jaws lit up with flames, the wave of fire that blasted towards Kya, and engulfed the surrounding area.
“Hurry Kya! Move out of the way.”
The Quilava barely made it, but she decided she wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for the circumstances. With it being a move that already had a fifty fifty shot of hitting with the fact that there was still some of her smoke lingering in the air, she was glad it worked out.
“Hope you like some more stars!” Kya exclaimed in the air before launching another swift attack.
Fang took the attack, knowing he couldn’t dodge. Then ran towards her, his body surrounded by dark energy as he used Beat Up.
Kya took the hit, surprised on how hard it hit. “How the heckle?” She stared at Gene. “Oh I get it now! Digging again!” And she disappeared back into the ground.
Fang stuck his snout down the hole, and launched a Flamethrower attack.
Kya knew there was no escaping and the attack hit, leaving her to start glowing orange. “This doesn’t help. Or does it?” Kya jumped out of her hole and aimed a fire blast attack right in front of Fang, Aiming straight at his horns. It left a grey smoke cloud around him from the blast, so Kya couldn’t tell what happened. “If it works, yay! If not, well, I’m screwed.”
“Ow, ow, ow!” Fang shook his head. “Dammit! I hate when they figure out the horns!” Fang growled and pounced at Kya, jaws open, preparing to Bite.
The attack hit, knocking Kya out. Lea quickly ran over and sprayed her potion, helping to revive the Quilava. “That was a good battle!”
“Thanks!” Gene and Fang said together, as Gene leaned down and sprayed Fang with the potion. “Good job Fang.”
Fang smiled and licked Gene’s face.
“Thank you for the battle. I can’t believe she figured out she could hit the horns. I didn’t know that and I like to research stuff like that!”
“It’s not that well known,” Gene said with a shrug. “It took me a while to figure it out too.”
“Maybe I’ll add it in when I try to remake the pokedex, or maybe not, since it could give an unfair advantage. Though who knows when I’ll get to that. I have too many other things to do, like recreating other items and making a better and more… what’s the word… ethical contraption sort of like pokeball that is temporary and such.”
“Capture Stylus?” Belle asked.
“No, not something like that. I’m trying to figure out a way to make a machine that acts much like a pokeball, but can only be used once. Once the pokemon leaves it, it can’t be used again. It’s more for the use of taking a pokemon, and maybe a pony if I can make it work like that, to someplace to heal them if they’re in critical condition.”
“Hm,” Gene sounded interested. “Stasis Ball... interesting idea if you can make it work.”
“I was thinking more cube like, so no one would think of it as a pokeball and complain to Arceus or the princesses about it.”
“Yeah, he does get upset whenever anyone mentions them,” Belle replied. “But good luck with it anyways.”
“Don’t worry too much, Arceus already knows. But thank you so much, I really should be going back to my family. I hope we might see you again in the future.”
“I’d like that,” Gene said with a smile.
Lea smiled, and she and Kya waved to the group of three before heading back into the town.
On the way back, Kya had wanted to get lunch. Lea was surprised at first before realizing again that she had slept in so late. Lea decided she should have something to eat as well and the two bought some apples from a stand. Instead of eating them right away, they went back to their hotel room and started to peel them. Lea filled up a pot with water and dumped the apples in while Kya heated them up to boil them.
Before long. They had made an apple pie which they enjoyed as well as the others when they returned. It had become a bit of a late lunch, but otherwise it had gone well. The group ate contently other than Ben and Angela who both seemed to be thinking about other things.
“So, how is everyone?” Kya decided to ask.
Most of them were doing good, but Ben answered differently. “I know we still have a day left here, but I think I want to head back to Hoofington already.”
Lea through a small bag at him, surprising the Hitmonlee. She smiled. “I didn’t know when you would be leaving so I never bought you a ticket. Thanks for coming here though.”
Ben smiled back before grabbing the bag. “Hope to see you guys return soon.”
Everyone wished Ben good luck, but Midnight took him aside to talk. Before long, Ben had gone to buy a ticket for himself and catch a train back to Hoofington. Midnight and Caddi left as well deciding to go on a date, though the changeling was nervous and refused for a bit. Matrix also wanted to go out and explore the edge of the forest. Kya and Sparks stayed in the hotel room while Angela and Citrus just stayed. Lea was about to work on making some more potions when Angela changed her mind.
“Oh no you don’t. We are on vacation. You are not working.”
“Oh come on!” Lea exclaimed. “I have had enough vacation here. besides, I have a book I need to return by tomorrow and that tell me how I can grow poison joke.”
Angela raised her eyebrow before sighing. “Alright, but only growing those plants. Got it?”
Lea nodded and added how she would also be taking notes for next time. Angela agreed and helped get what the Umbreon needed. Before too long, Lea was planting her seeds and making sure she would be able to grow them again. When Lea felt she was done, she decided to take a few extra notes on the book. Even when that was done, Lea still wanted something to do. Taking a quick glance to make sure Angela wasn't looking, Lea was happy to see the Absol with her eyes closed. The Umbreon use psychic to get her folder, apologizing to Kya when the Quilava complained.
Lea put her notes away and took out some older ones. There we around thirty pages in the pile she pulled out and on each of them was all the various pokedex entries she had gotten from various regions. It had been hard to find them, but it was worth it now.
“Lea! I thought you said you were just going to work on those plants!”
Lea turned her head slowly towards the voice. Angela was staring at her, right next to her head. It shocked Lea and she backed up, falling on the ground.
“Get up! Get up! You’re going outside!” Lea tried as much as she could to stop Angela from dragging her out, but the Absol didn’t stop. “I’m not letting you lock yourself inside just work!”
“Well that’s the closest thing to a normal life I’ve ever had!”
That stopped Angela in her tracks. Lea stopped fighting back but kept talking. “After my dad left, I had to do everything myself. I didn’t have time to meet with friends anymore. Everything was for school so I could live by myself because I wasn’t going to have my dad’s friends helping me forever! There was always a part of me that hoped he’d come back, but he didn’t, and because of that there’s still a part of me that hates him for that. Because he left, I never got a real normal life. Working was the only thing that made it see better and that was my normal life. Living with you guys and work. Now everything is messed up, I worry about everything, and I don’t know if when I wake up you guys will even still be here.”
At this point, Lea was starting to cry. Everyone in the room had gone silent. Kya started to get up, most likely to hug her mom, but Sparks pulled her down.
“And even just hanging out is odd. You apparently were with some evil group of people before I found you. What’s to say you won’t do it again? I mean, you didn’t want to help Kya the first time. Maybe you should try to find your old trainer!”
Angela realized what she had done. “No, Lea, I didn’t mean to-” Then she was thrown across the room.
Lea had used Psychic to slam the Absol into the wall. It earned a cry from Kya as she covered her head. Lea was angry enough she started to slam Angela a few more times. The Umbreon didn’t stop until Kya screamed her name. Lea suddenly stopped and stared at what she had done. Angela had fallen to the ground. She was beat up, but the Absol had been through worse.
As the disaster pokemon started to get up, Lea ran from the room. Kya wanted to go after her mom, but Citrus stopped her. “There are times you just have to let it out. This is her way.”
They waited for a bit before Citrus put on a song. Just after a few lines, she stopped it, as it made the mood even worse.