Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Control was a simple stallion. He had a taste for the finer things in life and he knew how to get them. Sure, his job was difficult at the best of times and there were times when the payoff wasn’t worth the effort to obtain it in the first place.
But then these wonderful creatures called Pokémon arrived and a whole new world of possibilities opened up to him. These creatures were strong, resourceful and most importantly… easy to manipulate.
A little Persuasion spell here, a small Memory Replacer there and these poor saps would steal anything his heart and whims desired. And best of all, he had a partner Pokémon that thought just like him. A creature by the name of Malamar, he could also control other Pokémon through psychic hypnosis.
Now, he had Pokémon that could fly, dig, teleport and even turn invisible! In a mere week, he had amassed a fortune thrice the size of one that took several months to ‘collect’.
Control stretched out onto his couch, smiling broadly. Things were certainly looking up!
*~*
As Elesa returned home, she smiled as she remembered the talk with Rising Star. He had been very surprised at first, that the same little sheep he had given a chance yesterday now looked completely different. He’d also asked her something, something that might make the others upset…
She let herself in, only to find Selena sitting alone on the couch reading a book.
Elesa looked around, but she did see or hear anyone else. “Where is everyone?”
Selena shrugged, not bothering to look up from her book. “Beats me, I know that Fritter’s at work, but I don’t know where everyone else is.” The Dark-type stretched and groaned at the stiffness in her legs. “How’d it go with Rising Star?”
“It went well, the look on his face was pretty funny,” Elesa giggled. “He had a business proposition for me actually.”
This perked Selena’s attention. “A business proposition? What do you mean by that?”
“I’ll tell everyone once they get home,” Elesa waved a paw and smiled. “Are you hungry? I’ll fix us some lunch.” Selena frowned and nodded, just what was the Gym Leader hiding?
*~*
Skyla flew high above Seth and Rika, apparently never having grown tired of having wings of her own. Seth didn’t pay much attention though, the memory of that Sandslash was weighing down on him.
“Why would a Pokémon resort to purse-snatching?” Rika wondered aloud. “Do you think it was a former human?” What had unsettled Rika the most was that she had a feeling that she knew that Sandslash from somewhere, she just couldn’t place a paw on where.
Seth frowned as she stared at the sky. “I don’t know, something seemed off about him.” All he could think about was the dead look in his eyes, and that brief flicker of light right before he had fled. Just what in the hell was going on around here?
It was a little around noon when they got home, and as Seth walked up to the door, he could smell something nice wafting from within it. Was someone cooking? He nudged open the door and walked in, hearing someone humming away in the kitchen. Selena was still lying on the couch, reading her book, looking up once Seth stepped through the door.
“Hey there,” she greeted him. “Have a good morning?”
“Well, I have good and bad news,” Seth replied, placing his bag on the floor next to the door. “It was certainly busy though.”
Selena tilted her head and blinked. “It seems that everyone’s had a crazy morning… well, except for me.” She stretched and sighed as her bones gave a satisfying crack. “Elesa’s in the kitchen preparing some lunch-” At the drop of Elesa’s name, a Swellow that was perched on Seth’s back suddenly flared up her wings.
“ELLY!?” Seth motioned towards the kitchen and Skyla shot off like a bullet. Selena just looked even more confused as Seth, Rika and Selena sat there as the crazed bird flew into the kitchen.
There was the sound of a plate breaking as Elesa fired off a few choice profanities, followed by a moment of silence and then three Pokémon plugged their ears as high pitched shrieks of joy emanated from the kitchen.
The noise eventually died down as Elesa waddled back into the living room, a crying Swellow latched around her waist.
“I can’t believe you guys found Sky!” Elesa said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“More like she found us,” Seth winced, the Brave Bird attack he received still ached slightly.
“Regardless, I’m glad that we’re all together again.” Elesa pried Skyla from her and placed her on the table. “Have you found all your Pokémon Sky?”
Skyla nodded, “I woke up with my whole team next to me, why?” She glanced as Elesa and Seth dipped their heads. “Did you guys… not?”
Elesa nodded, “Yeah, I still haven’t found Tynamo, and Seth is missing a Pokémon he caught not too long before all of this happened.”
“Oh man, that sucks.” Skyla looked at them apologetically. “I wish I could help out… hmm, maybe I can. I’ll get my guys to fly around, see if they spot them anywhere.” She looked at the Luxray, “What was the Pokémon you were missing?”
“A Sandshrew named Heath.” That caused Skyla to gasp and Selena narrowed her eyes.
“You said you had good and bad news,” The Absol quoted him from earlier. “And I’m guessing that Skyla was the good news?”
“Yeah, the bad news is that some Pokémon around town seem to be stealing from ponies… and one of them is a Sandslash.” Seth really hoped it wasn’t what he was thinking.
“And you think it might be Heath?” Selena pondered on this for a moment. The ground type was still missing and none of Seth’s family had known him very well. So the idea wasn’t totally impossible… but still, a Pokémon wouldn’t do something like that for no reason. Meowth and Murkrow would often steal shiny objects, but that was in their nature.
She looked Seth and even though he was of a different species now, he still wore the same expression whenever he was lost in deep thought.
“You’re thinking that a human or a pony might be behind it?” Selena asked and Seth nodded in response.
“That’s one theory, the other is that the Sandslash itself is a former human… but for a brief moment when we were fighting, I could swear that he recognised me… if only for a second.” What Seth needed right now was more information. Ever since this morning, the robbery that he’d helped investigat lingered on the forefront of his mind. “We didn’t stick around afterwards, but perhaps I should go and see the Guard I met today… I think his name was Grissom?”
Selena’s expression shifted, this time to one that was a mix of worry and annoyance. “Seth? Please tell me you don’t plan on playing detective? You do remember what happened last time you did that?”
Seth remembered, it had caused his team a great deal of trouble and had pissed off the Rangers a great deal. But this time was different, and the Guard wouldn’t know how to deal with a Pokémon threat.
“This won’t be like last time, but I do need more information first.” He rummaged around in his bag until he found what he was looking for, a piece of paper with a name on it. “Officer Grissom, head of Forensics for the Canterlot Guard. He said if I knew anything else, I was to go to the castle and inform him.”
Selena sighed, but nodded regardless. Seth was as adamant as you could get and he wasn’t going to change his mind about this. “Alright, but I’m sticking with you on this one. The last thing we need is for you to get into trouble… again!”
“Thanks Selly… besides, what could go wrong?”
Everyone else present just groaned and applied their appendages to their faces.
*~*
Upon deciding to head to the palace, the group bumped into Fritter and Titania on the way, the latter deciding to accompany them as well. After returning home to drop off the cart, the large group once again headed for the palace.
“Sound like y’all had an interesting day,” Fritter chuckled. “Ah’ll tell ya, mah life has gotten a lot more interesting since y’all showed up.”
Skyla tilted her head and suddenly hopped from Seth’s back and onto Fritter’s, the mare letting out a surprised yelp as the birds’ talons pinched her skin.
“Ah, sorry about that,” Skyla apologised. “But I want to ask you a question.”
Fritter frowned, wincing at the sudden shock. “Well alright, shoot.”
“How come you accent changes? First you have this adorable Southern accent, then you seem to shift into a fancier one when anyone other than us are around.”
Fritter nodded, “It’s cause the ponies in this city won’t buy from a ‘country hick’ as they put it.”
She shifted into her Canterlot tone. “It wasn’t difficult to learn, and now I can shift between them pretty easily.”
“It sucks that you have to do that,” Skyla remarked.
Seth agreed. “Yeah, I think her accent is much better.” Fritter blushed and smiled softly.
“Well, it’s only while ah’m at work, so ah think of it as jus’ part of the job.” She smiled more widely. “And thank you fer sayin so. Ah appreciate it.”
It wasn’t long before the group reached the castle and the Pokémon just looked at it with a sense of wonder. Titania had been in this general area before while searching for her team, but had never been inside the castle. Seth was drooling, wondering how the castle just sat on the mountainside like that.
Skyla watched Seth and giggled. “So I see he hasn’t lost his love for architecture then?”
“Nope,” Rika responded. “You should have seen him when we went to Ponyville. He practically foamed at the mouth when we went to the tree library.”
“It’s a library inside a tree! How is that not awesome?” Seth huffed. “Everything about this world is awesome so far!”
The group shared another laugh as they crossed the massive drawbridge and headed towards the castle gate. A pair of stoic-looking Solar Guard, one Pegasus and a Unicorn, looked towards them, crossing their spears together to block the entrance.
“Halt! State your business!”
Rika puffed herself up as was about to yell at them for their rudeness but Seth placed a paw on her shoulder.
“They’re just doing their job, let me handle this okay?” He stepped forward, placing himself between the guards and the rest of the group. “My name is Seth Crescent, I’m here to see a guard by the name of Grissom.”
The guards blinked for a moment, not used to having Pokémon approach that weren’t here to see the Princesses or that Arceus god of theirs. The horn lit up on the Unicorn guard and after a moment, he nodded.
“Very well, but the castle is in a state of high security for an upcoming Summit. I’m afraid I cannot permit all of you to enter.”
Seth nodded and smiled. “That’s alright. Fritter, would you mind accompanying me?”
Fritter nodded, but she was a bit confused as to why he picked her. “Well alright, but why me?”
“As the gentlemen here just stated, the castle is on high alert so having a pony with me might be the best choice,” Seth explained. “Otherwise I might be explaining myself to everypony that I come across.”
Selena nodded, that was probably the most sensible idea. “Alright, we’ll wait here. But try not to keep us waiting too long, hmm?”
“No worries, I just have to pass along some information.” Seth turned to the guards, Apple Fritter at his side. “Well gentlemen, could please tell me where I can find Mr, Grissom?”
On that cue, an elderly-looking Unicorn stallion wearing glasses and a snazzy red waistcoat emerged from the castle. He approached Seth and offered a friendly smile.
“Good afternoon, my name is Kibitz, I’ll be your guide to the castle today.”
“A pleasure to meet you Mr. Kibitz,” Seth replied, offering a polite nod of his head. “I am Seth Crescent, here to see a Mr. Grissom.”
“Ah, that fellow.” Kibitz’s voice had a tone of slight amusement. “He’s a bit of an odd fellow, but very good at his job. Come along, I shall show you to his office.”
As they walked through the castle, Kibitz explained that he was in charge of the day to day schedules of the Princesses, and that job alone kept him immensely busy. But after the arrival of the Pokémon, and with all of Equus thrown into chaos, Princess Celestia had given the stallion a well-deserved rest, but he still helped out around the castle, insisting that the place would fall apart otherwise.
“Well here we are,” Kibitz announced, stopping in front of a wooden door. “I shall wait until your business is concluded and escort you back out again.”
“Thank you,” Seth responded. He knocked on the door and a muffled voice inside replied for him to enter. Seth nudged the door open and both he and Fritter entered the room, gasping slightly at what they saw. It was organised chaos, with dozens of displays filled with insects of all kinds. Reference books were piled high and there was a refrigerator filled with rather questionable-looking objects. The pony that Seth had met before sat behind a large desk, which was also stacked with all sorts of books, scrolls and a map of Canterlot that had various locations marked off.
“Ah, the Pokémon I met this morning, Mr. Seth Crescent was it?”
“That’s right,” Seth nodded. “And this is my friend, Apple Fritter.”
Grissom nodded, smiling at Fritter. “Ah, Miss Fritter. I do so enjoy your apple cinnamon tea. But if I may ask, why are the two of you here? I get the feeling that this isn’t a social visit.”
Seth sat down on the floor, still tall enough to look over the desk. “Unfortunately you are right. I… discovered a lead to that theft case of yours.”
“Oh?” Gris pulled out his notepad and pen. “And what might that be?”
“A little around noon today, myself and one of my Pokémon witnessed a purse-snatching in the Theatre District. The culprit was a Sandslash, a Ground type Pokémon. We weren’t able to capture him though, he tunnelled away.”
“I see,” Grissom wrote that down. “And you believe that it might be the same Pokémon from this morning?”
Seth nodded, “Yeah, it’s just too much of a coincidence… but, there’s something strange about it that’s bothering me.”
Grissom glanced up from his notepad, taking a look at Seth’s worried expression. “Something strange?”
“That Sandslash, he didn’t look… I’m not sure how to put it, but he didn’t look right. His eyes had an odd, glassy look to them.” Seth sighed as he rubbed his temples. “Well that, and a Pokémon just doesn’t commit crimes like that. No Pokémon is inherently bad, they have to be trained to do something like steal material objects. If they were stealing food, then I’d chalk it up to instincts…”
“But you think somepony is telling it to steal?” Grissom finished the sentence and Seth nodded.
Grissom tapped his chin as he thought. “Well, I have a few theories, but none of them are pretty.” He pointed to the map on the table. “The robbery this morning wasn’t the first one. In the last week, several other high-profile stores and residences have been hit. And everything that has been stolen is something that can be easily resold on the black market. Whoever is doing this is in it for the money… but it’s his methods that are still unclear.”
A frown crossed the stallions face as he looked over the map. “As I said before, I have a few suspects in mind, but without evidence, we can’t act.” He gave a small nod, like he was agreeing with himself. “Okay then, I have formal request. I would like it if you could lend your assistance.” Seeing the confused look on Seth’s face, Grissom decided to elaborate.
“Currently, we have no Pokémon in the Guard...aside from that sword Pokemon, Aegislash, but it always stays close to the Princess, and generally acts more like a personal bodyguard than an actual member of the Royal Guard, so...investigating what appears to be a Pokémon problem could be… problematic. But you, you seem like an intelligent fellow. So my question is this.” Grissom extended his hoof. “Would you be willing to lend us your aid?”
Seth thought for a moment. He could see the point Grissom was trying to make, a pony running around asking questions to other Pokémon could raise some alarm bells with whomever is in charge. But if another Pokémon were to investigate…
“That seems like the most logical conclusion.” Seth took Grissom’s hoof and shook it. “I’ll help out any way I can.”
“Then I thank you,” Grissom replied. “We’ll keep going from our end here, so just drop by if you discover anything else.”
“Will do, good luck on your end.”
With that, Fritter and Seth left the castle, Kibitz escorting them out just as he said. Selena, Rika, Elesa, Skyla and the other Pokémon were all waiting for them, but Selena and Rika looked much more impatient than the rest.
“Took you long enough!” Selena said as they emerged, Seth just chuckled.
“Calm down Selly, we weren’t gone that long. Oh, and it looks like I have a temporary job by the sounds of it.”
“But are you sure you’ll be alright?” Apple Fritter spoke up for the first time in a while. “Ah think this might be a bit dangerous.”
“Yeah, it might be… but I don’t want ponies thinking that Pokémon are nothing but thieves and a danger that they don’t want around.” Whoever this bastard was, he chose the wrong city to do it in.
“Um,” Elesa suddenly spoke up, getting everyone’s attention. “I just wanted tell you all something, while we’re on the topic of jobs.”
“Hm? Did that Rising Star guy not want you back?” Seth asked.
“N-No, it’s not that… quite the opposite really.” Elesa looked towards the setting sun and sighed softly. “He wants to take me to meet a friend of his, some DJ in Manehatten to work on making a record.”
Seth’s eyes widened as a broad smile crossed his face. “Whoa! That’s totally awesome Elle!”
“Yeah, who’d have thought you’d be popular again,” Rika smirked. “But seriously, that’s pretty cool.”
“That’s my Elly~” Skyla giggled, wrapping her friend up in a feathery hug.
But Seth’s smile faded when he noticed that Elesa wasn’t sharing everyone’s enthusiasm.
“Elle, when do you have to leave?”
Elesa sighed, hiding anything from Seth was almost impossible. “In about an hour actually. Rising wants to take the next possible train as his friend in kinda flighty, so there’s a chance we’ll miss her if we leave it for too long.”
The joyous feelings of everyone present suddenly evaporated. Selena frowned as she put two and two together. “That was the bad news you had at lunch, wasn’t it?”
Elesa nodded, looking down at the ground. Seth took a breath and then put his smile back on.
“Well, I think it’s a great opportunity.” Everyone turned to look at the Luxray like he’d grown a second head. “Well I’m right, aren’t I? I think this is something you should do. Besides, it’s not like you’re going away forever. We’ll see each other again soon enough.”
After mulling over it for a bit, Elesa wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, this is something I want to do. You sure you’re okay with me just taking off like this?”
“Pft, It’s not like you need my permission to do anything.” Seth reached up and bopped her on the nose. “Just make sure you write okay?”
“Yeah, and you try and stay out of trouble, I know how much you seem to like getting into it.”
“Hey!” Seth replied with an indignant huff. “I’ll have you know that trouble finds me, I have nothing to do with it.”
The two old friends shared a laugh and the walk to the train station was filled with conversations of the past, tales of adventures and just everyday life. But it ended all too quickly was they reached the station, Rising Star and his entourage were already waiting.
“Glad you could make it Elesa!” Rising greeted her. “I’m sorry that we have to leave so quickly though, Vinyl is nothing if unpredictable.”
“It’s alright Star, just let me say goodbye to my friends okay?” The Unicorn nodded and boarded the train, leaving Elesa to say her farewells.
“Don’t party too hard,” Rika laughed. “You’ll need all that partying mojo for when you get back.”
“Stay safe,” Selena simply said, but gave the Ampharos a hug.
“An’ remember, y’all are welcome back at my home any time!” Apple Fritter added. “Yer family now, that’ll never change.”
Elesa nodded, tears gleaming in the corners of her eyes. She got to Seth, who didn’t say anything, but smiled gently when she hugged him. His expression suddenly changed to one of shock when she lowered her head and lightly pressed her lips against his.
“I meant what I said, take care of yourself okay?” She whispered as she broke the kiss. She eyed Rika, who was glared daggers at the Gym Leader, whilst Apple Fritter just blushed and looked away bashfully. “One last piece of advice,” Elesa said. “Try not to keep them waiting too long okay?” Seth simply nodded and Elesa gave her friends one last look and boarded the train, Skyla and her bird Pokémon following close behind.
“What?” Skyla said, when everyone looked at her. “You think I’m just gonna leave my best friend go off alone?” Elesa sighed, but didn’t bother arguing, Skyla could be extremely stubborn about things like this.
Zebstrika gave Seth a nod as he followed his mistress. “Keep up your training alright? I don’t want to see you slacking off.”
“Well, catch you guys once I come back famous okay?” With that, the train gave a shrill whistle as the doors closed and it pulled out of the station. Elesa leant out of the window as everyone gave them a final round of waves and cheers, and soon, the train disappeared from view.
Seth sighed and turned around to face his friends, only to yelp in surprise when two Gardevoir teleported in front of him.
“W-what the? Who the heck are you?” Seth narrowed his eyes, hoping the newcomers were friendly enough.
The blue Gardevoir gazed over eh group with her golden eyes and chuckled lightly. “Oh! I didn’t mean to startle you, I’m still getting used to these abilities I’m afraid.”
Rika gasped as she recognised the two of them. “Wait a minute! You’re the two Gardevoirs that helped me and Seth out earlier today.”
“Ah, that’s right. A pleasure to meet you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“And what circumstances are those?” Seth asked dubiously, his fur crackling with electricity.
“And you have yet to introduce yourselves.”
“That is true, my deepest apologies.” The shiny Gardevoir bowed her head and smiled. “My name is Diantha, former Champion of the Kalos region. And unless I am mistaken, you are Seth Crescent, former activist and now currently assisting the Canterlot Guard with a rather peculiar case.”
Seth just blinked, did she just say she was Diantha?! “Uh, yeah… that’s right.” This evening just got a whole lot stranger.
*~*
Control frowned as Malamar told him of the persistent Solar Guard that pursued him and that they’d now roped in a group of Pokémon to help them.
“Tch! Are they going to be a problem?” he asked.
“I doubt it,” Malamar sneered. “They have no idea who is tugging the puppet strings, and even if one of our tools gets captured, your spells ensures that no information will be leaked.” He looked towards the cages that held the Pokémon that were under their control. A little over a dozen, all with skills that would enable the two partners to pull off greatest of heists.
The theft of the Equestrian Crown Jewels.
And with the World Leaders Summit right around the corner, all the Guards will be expecting a threat to come from outside the city.
“Well, I don’t like it anyway. Be a friend and take care of it alright?”
Malamar laughed, one that would have chilled any normal creature to the bone. He glanced towards the cages and wondered what they could do if they added a Sylveon or a Luxray to their… collection.
“Oh but of course, friend~”
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..Oh yeah, rob the Equestrian Palace with MIND CONTROLLED POKEMON..
..WHILST THE GOD OF ALL POKEMON IS INSIDE.
FIVE STAR PLAN! FIVE FUCKING STARS STRAIGHT INTO YOUR EARLOBES!
I feel like there's going to be a lot of confusion and that a lot of arse is going to be kicked, possibly on both sides
4959011 - http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/368855/who-is-your-otp
So Ellesa and Vinyl heh?
Of course it'd be a Malamar pulling the strings
I knew Dianthia was running around somewhere.
Good chapter
5080348 You snake!!!!!!
*Reads last part of chapter* So thats how they're tied to the story.
My name is Seth
heheh
Don't know if people have told you this yet, but congrats on making the feature list! (I'm on a tablet so I cant show proof)
Sleep is over-rated anyway!
Planning to mind-rape Seth and Rika? I have a feeling this shall end with Selena giving that malicious Malamar a Mega-Horn attack straight to the frontal cortex. Can you say "quadruple Bug-type weakness"?
Yeah! New Chapter!
*Starts to foam at the mouth.*
5080643 Sleep is for the weak!
Yay!! Wants moar!
5080737 *starts vibrating and humming*
Can you please explain to me how would the heist would play out? Just wondering.
5080321 Yeah, I agree. Planning to rob a place where Arceus himself is taking up residence for a while? There is NO way that plan is gonna fail. That was sarcastic by the way.
I wonder Arceus is actually aware of all this and is simply choosing to heed Celestia's advice about not taking every matter into his own hooves even though he could.
Rika seems like a really jealous Pokemon in this love triangle judging by her reaction to Elesa giving Seth a kiss. Fritter's reaction tells me that regardless of who would get Seth in the end, she and Elesa would still be good friends. It's nice to see a love triangle in which some of the characters aren't made into a 'villain', and are more happy for the person they love.
And just like that, Elesa and Skyla are Put On a Bus for the time being. And I agree with Paradigm Shift here, this guy's not very bright.
Awesome, nuff said!
5080792 arceus crushes the stallion and malamar into a black hole
Generically evil guy is generically evil.
I hope that they catch that pony and Malamar, also hope they free those Pokemon too.
Control - 'What are we doing tomorrow night Malamar?'
Malamar - 'Same thing we do every night Control. Try to take over the world!'
Control - 'I thought we were just robbing them blind?'
Malamar - 'Errr... yes. My mistake.'
5082303 They aren't "catching" them, but they're saving them from making the worst mistake of their lives.
Actually, they might just get erased from existence anyway, heh.
5082895 oh yes turned to ash from Celestia's sun magic powers
5082928 Yes, totally Celly who'd do the trick. Absolutely.
5082966 Or Arceus
5082977 Yeah… I was referring to Arceus originally, y'know?
Don't use great deal twice, it's repetitive and grinds on the ears.
Great chapter btw
In honor of Diantha and her Gardevoir (AKA my newest OTP) now being in the story proper, please enjoy these two pictures I found just tonight:
fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/209/3/e/__true_bonds_of_mega_evolution___by_maikoforev5674-d7snmvp.jpg
fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/136/e/8/diantha_and_gardevoir_by_nordicranger34-d7ilquh.jpg
5116480
awawawaw so cute meaw