• Published 13th Nov 2014
  • 2,850 Views, 113 Comments

A New World, A New Journey - ThatOneVolcarona



Steven Stone, former champion of the Pokemon universe, gets transported into the MLP universe by the Pokemon God´s desire. Will he be able to adjust to this new world? Or will he fight with it all to go back to his homeland?

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Chapter 6 : Vs. Zoroark

Last time, our heroes found themselves in a hurry, when Pickett Midnight was poisoned by a wild Snorlax’s Toxic attack. Unable to find an immediate cure, the group was forced to board a passing by train, to try to obtain medicine for their suffering companion. Yet just as they managed to heal her up, a figure from Steven’s past appeared. The famous Phantom Thief Fox. Now, Steven teams up with Eric, another former human, as they decide to bring Fox to justice once and for all.

As the two groups waited in the carriage for any sign of Fox, a sense of anxiety surrounded the cart. Steven already warned the drivers of the thief that was in the train, informing them to brace themselves for any emergency that may occur, but the passengers wouldn't be safe until they'd taken Fox down.

“Steven, my sensors have detected her, she’s on the roof once again. My body will reach her shortly.” The Bunnelby pointed to the end part of the train with his ears, his body had been scouting the train for any signs of the thieves, yet due to their typing and the lack of mental power, he wasn’t able to detect the group until they got out of their hiding spot

“Great, keep her busy until we get there. Use another brain to have a better control of it, and inform me of everything that happens” The former champion

Steven signaled Eric and his Volcarona to move out, his own group also following. Steven didn’t know what to expect, this fight was not going to be the same as the last time, as not only did his new body meant that he was a fighter now and had to be part of the action, but he didn’t have his full team with him, Layton being the only one he truly knew how to battle with.

“Three incoming attacks… Blizzard dodged, Dark Pulse destroyed, Shadow Ball destroyed. The moves I used provoked a decrease in my speed, I’ll require assistance.” Bunnelton informed dryly, as he hanged from Steven’s metal lid.

Steven sighed, and looked at Eric, signaling him to keep going, while he began climbing the nearby stairs that lead to the roof, “Use the other hatch ahead, and remember to pay attention to the mental link, if you need anything, inform me. Pockets, stay close with the Bunnelby, if you see Fox just tell Layton and we’ll do what we planned! Frederick, with me!”

As his plan started to build up, the doubts in his head started disappearing. He was ready to take her down, he had a plan that was almost certain to work. The adrenaline pumping in his body reminded him of the missions he went through back home, the tasks corresponding to a Champion. He has dealt with worse, a thief was nothing. Besides, he could already see the current battle in front of him, with his Metagross partner… webbed?

Incoming attack, three Dark Pulse headed to my location. Chances of being knocked out: ninety eight percent.

Well crap.

I’m almost there! Come on, get some speed!” The former Champion flapped his wings as fast as he could, trying to pick enough speed to reach the battleground. On the distance, a purple triangular beam headed towards his friend, but he was going to make it in time, he was sure of it.

“Not so fast!” A voice said from behind the immobilized Steel Type. Steven rushed just before the attack hit, as a lime green coloured Protect reflected the attack, keeping his friend safe. “It seems like I arrived just in time, huh bud? Get out of that mess and come help me out” Steven ordered, brewing a Tailwind which sped his partner up.

“I hate it when our opponents arrive in the nick of time like some cartoon hero,” The Liepard snorted, mocking the Champion with her tongue.

Ignoring her, Steven took a deep breath, it was time. “Give up, Fox. We don’t need to do this the hard way. There are more reinforcements coming this way, if we don’t stop you, they will.”

“We can handle Ponies easy,” the Weavile snorted. “What are they gonna do? Buck us to death? Heh, I’ll turn them all into ice sculptures before they get the chance.”

The champion chuckled softly, showing a confident look on his face “I never said anything about ponies. That Tailwind was not just to speed Layton up”

Fox’s eyes dilated, as she jumped swiftly to the side, dodging an incoming punch from a Hydreigon, who had arrived not long ago.

“You again?” Fox deadpanned. “Okay, two times was a coincidence, but this...this is getting ridiculous.”

She moved just as expected. Eric, bring the attack!

Focused on the Hydreigon, the Fox gang was not able to notice in time the Volcarona that had been hiding in the side of the train. Levitating upwards, Eric called for a Bug Buzz, and the Fire type obeyed shortly. The move hit, the Fox gang being sent away by the wave of sound.

“I see you’re all as charming as always,” the Liepard deadpanned.

Cleaning her ears with her paws, Fox remained as calm as always, yet Steven knew she must have felt the pain from the Bug type move “What I’d like to know is what you two are doing working for Gray Hat,” she said.

Gray Hat? What’s Fox talking about?” Frederick asked through the link

My data does not show anything related to a subject called ‘Gray Hat’

Better find out” Steven thought dryly, “Who’s Gray Hat? What on Earth are you even talking about? Explain yourself, Fox!” Steven demanded, getting his pincers ready to launch an X-Scissor

“Oh, only the crime lord who’s trying to get a ring that will let him blow up mountains with just a thought. Speaking of which, here,” Fox said, before tossing Pockets’ golden ring towards Steven, the gem shining with its various colors, confirming its authenticity. “That wasn’t my target. Turns out it just happened to look a LOT like the ring we were after.”

What is going on? What could she possibly be planning?” Steven thought to himself, before delicately taking the ring that was now laying on the cold metal floor, he was not going to let her play with him again, “You think I’ll let you do whatever madness of a plan you are pulling off here just because you gave me this ring back?” He deadpanned, storing the ring in his hollow pincers.

“....Try it, just try to give us one reason why we should believe you?” Eric growled, tensing himself up. “But you won’t, seeing as you’ve never given me a reason to believe anything, in fact, all you’ve given me are other reasons to go after you. Besides, we already let you get away for a second time, it won’t happen again.” Looking at his Volcarona, he added. “Alex, ready yourself.”

“Uhm, okay, if you say so. Sorry for what’s coming Mrs and Mr. Thieves.” The Volcarona said softly, as the Bug type’s wings started to flap faster.

The shiny Zoroark sighed in annoyance, as she and her group quickly stepped back “Like I said before, you REALLY need help. Even Johnny-boy isn’t this obsessive, and he keeps getting heat for not catching us,” Steven could only guess what the incoming attack was going to be, as an orange fire started emanating from Alex, the Volcarona.

“Use Heat Wave!” Steven’s eyes widened, as he, Frederick (who was vaguely hiding) and Layton moved from the affected area, the fire barely missing him.

“Watch it with the Heat Wave! One hit from that, and I’ll be out!” The Scizor pointed out, remembering that his typing was not at all fire-friendly.

“Don’t you have ANY restraint?” the Weavile grumble.

“He’s right. First it was the museum, then the warehouse, and now this train. Are you TRYING to get someone killed in the crossfire?” the Liepard added.

Told you this guy was nuts” Frederick said through the link, before getting a shut-up glare from Steven .

“Sorry about that, Steven! Alright, Alex, you heard him, no more Fire types attack like before.”

“....alright.” The Volcarona replied timidly.

“Finally, I was afraid you’d set this train on fire just to catch us, ya nut!” Fox said in annoyance.

Fox’s guard was down, just what Steven wanted.

“Moonblast, go!” Steven called. From behind him, Frederick jumped into the air, shooting a large pink sphere towards them.
“Oh crap. Weavile, Liepard, Rock Smash the roof! We’re sitting ducks out here!” Fox barked, to which the two Pokemon obeyed, smashing their attacks into the roof, and blowing a sizeable hole from which they fell into the train, right into one of the less crowded train cars, though they still scared off a couple of ponies who were thankfully not near where they landed. .

“Steven!” Eric exclaimed, as he quickly went towards the hole alongside Alex.

The former Champion nodded in return, as he and his team went forwards and into the hole.

You’re finished, Fox!” he thought, remembering the plan they had.


“This is it, they should be here.”

Steven opened the door of the cart, where Eric told them they were staying at. Softly opening the door, Steven managed to see the Hydreigon talking to a Volcarona. Oddly, there were also two forms slumped on the other seat, a mare and a Braviary respectively, they were fast asleep.

“...can you do it?” Eric muttered

The timid Volcarona nodded softly. “Uhm...I think so.” His eyes found it’s way beside Eric to see a Scizor staring at them. As per the usual timidness, he quickly shied away.

Seeing this, Eric glanced over his shoulder to see Steven and his group standing there.

“I see you are already in the planning process, good.” Steven got closer to the group, taking a better look at the odd-looking pony and the Braviary next to it, both seemingly asleep. Pockets waved her hoof softly, greeting the Hydreigon and his Pokémon.

“The Volcarona seems to be well trained, his scales seem to be healthy, and the Braviary seems powerful enough, although he seems to be inexperienced in battles.

“...I prefer to keep the Braviary out of this.” The Hydreigon interrupted,. “As you said, he’s not that experienced.”

Seeing the strange company, the Volcarona quickly hid behind his trainer, trying to make himself as small as possible. “..Eric, er, who are they?” He said in a soft tone, so soft that it would take trained ears to completely understand him.

“Well, would you look at that, little Volcarona is scared of the Bunnelby freak. Heh, I thought Fire types were more… fiery.” Frederick smirked, chuckling at the antics of the Bug type.

“....what’s your point? He’s always like that. I don’t see any difference in power either way. As long as you take care of your friends, they will let out their true power.” Eric explained.

Great, an Ace Trainer. I’m sure as hell I won’t enjoy working with him” Frederick grunted through the link.

Be quiet, Frederick, you don’t even know him” The shiny Scizor buzzed, before looking at the Volcarona, “I am Steven Stone, Eric and I will work together to try to catch Phantom Thief Fox, who as your trainer probably told you, is in this train with us."

“Let’s forget about before and just focus on this, okay?” Eric calmed the Volcarona down, who was shaking possibly due to all the sudden events.

"Well then, may we begin with the planning?" Steven suggested, trying to get the work done as soon as possible.

“I can already think of something.” The former trainer said calmly, putting one head-hand under his chin. “First, from what I recall about Fox, she rarely if ever tries to attack head on. Second, don’t let her bait you, whatever she does, she does it for a purpose. Third, a sneak attack, she doesn’t know I’m here.”

“That’s good, real good. Now, Fox is a master of manipulation, if we give her enough time, she will be able to adapt to our strategies, and use them against us. We need to end her before she can manage to do that. Yet she won’t let herself get hit that easily. Besides, she has her team with her, a Liepard and a Weavile, I suppose your Volcarona knows a Bug type attack.” Steven articulated

“....yeah, Bug Buzz. It...almost deafened her once. Too bad if failed...earplugs.” Eric grunted “Sneak attacks are our best bet.”

Does anyone else think he sounds like a madman? Or is it just me?” Frederick commented on annoyance through the mental link. Pockets smacked the Fairy, and gave out a fake-ish grin

Steven thought for a second, putting together all the information gathered so far. He analysed possibilities and options, there was no chance for a flawed strategy, it was all or nothing.

“Your Volcarona is the best weapon we have then, we’re going to need him to hide, luckily he’s rather small for his kind. We need to keep her on the move, pressure all the time, that way she will have a hard time dodging. We need to surround her, we need to limit her movement. I’ll go first, a frontal attack. She doesn’t know you’re here so she wouldn’t really expect you attacking from behind. We need to get all her group together so your Volcarona’s Bug Buzz can hit them all at once, how to do that is your call, understood?”

“....I agree.” The response was curt. “I’ll wait with Alex in the carriage right below her. When the time comes, I’ll climb up from behind her...Alex, you get it all?”

The Volcarona said something in a tone so low, not even Steven could understand him, yet the Hydreigon’s nod of confirmation was enough for him.

“Good. Now, Fox won’t hesitate to try any possible routes of escape. I doubt she would jump off the train, so if she’s surrounded, the only way she could possible go for would be down. Is your pony friend going to join us?” Steven asked dryly, looking at what appeared to be a mix between a bat and a pony, sleeping soundly.

Silence reigned on for a few seconds before the Hydreigon replied. “...no, let’s leave her out of this. I don’t need to endanger anyone else.”

“I can respect that, lets leave the ponies off this.”

“Oh hell no,” Pockets interrupted, stepping forwards with a determined look on her face and a wide grin of excitement, “You won’t leave me behind on this one. Count me in, and don’t you dare try to stop me.”

“Even if I do say no, you’ll do it anyways.” Sighed the former human, before returning once again to his serious look, “Do you know any kind of magical spell that can do some damage?”

“I can stun them out, but my magic ain’t that strong so I can just shoot one beam at a time.”

“Doesn’t matter, I have an idea which may end up working, we’ll talk about it later, but for now I’ll let you know that you’ll stay inside in case she tries to get in. Now, Eric” Steven once again glared at the Hydreigon, “I have a special request. We don’t know what may happen, and we need to be prepared for anything. That’s why communication will be vital, yet we can’t let Fox know what we are planning. Your typing makes it especially hard for Layton to link you to us, so I have to ask if it’s okay for him to enter both of your minds so you can join our mental link”

A whisper came from the Sun Pokémon, and the Dragon nodded once more. “...we’re up to it.”

“With the Volcarona, it should be rather easy for Layton. Yet for a Dark type like you, I’ll require you to relax, and try to keep your mind as blank as possible. Do you think you’re able to do it?”

“....easy enough.”

“Good, we’ll start the plan soon,” The former Champion nodded softly. “As of now, anything else you want to add?”

“....nothing that will change the plans. Just don’t get your hopes up when dealing with her. I’ll be waiting below with Alex, call me when you need me by then.”

“I know that... “ Steven sighed, before looking at all the presents, did they really have a chance against Fox? "But something tells me we aren't losing today."


Fox was trapped, even by opening a hole in the roof of the train, and getting inside to seek for refuge, Steven could easily follow her and catch up to the sneaky thief. Her team seemed rather agitated, the pressure placed onto them had broken their usual strategy. Fox couldn’t play with them anymore, she could only try to escape the inevitable. Or at least that’s what Steven thought would happen.

Three black spheres were shot in the air as they attempted to jump into the cart, exploding mid air and releasing a soft yellow glow, surrounded by various lightings that struck them back.

“What the… what's going on...?"

"My body.... I can't move a muscle"

"What.... what is this?”

What just happened, why can’t we move!?” Steven thought to himself, as waves of electricity surrounded his entire body. “Layton!” Steven called with difficulty, looking for his metallic friend

“This appears… to be a modified paralysis status effect. My… calculations indicate that… the effect is temporary… yet extremely effective.” The Steel type stuttered, the field of electricity roaming wildly in his body.

“Like em? I call them Shock Bombs. Don’t like using them much, but they’re effective,” Fox chuckled. Steven followed them with his eyes, spotting a young unicorn pony escaping with the thieves.

“Get….back...here!” Eric grunted, gritting his teeth with fury, yet not able to move due to the Paralysis.

Don’t worry, we still got this under control.” The Scizor informed through the mental link, trying his best to take a look at the recently made hole, his neck not moving at all.

As Fox began to escape once again, a blue silhouette stood between her and the door.

“Stop right there, Foxy! You ain’t gonna go pass through me!” A navy blue unicorn mare exclaimed.

The Fox gang looked at her for a moment...before the Weavile and the Liepard burst out laughing. “Oh come on, we already dealt with the bigger Pokemon. What’s one pony gonna do to us?” Rascal said through his mirth, while Fox just sighed at their antics.

“Me? Nah, I won’t do anything, my body will though. Layton!” The unicorn’s eyes turned a pale white, before returning to normal, with the exception of the pupils now having a soft red shade. “Transfer complete, initializing… magic.” the unicorn said, in a now robotic and deeper voice. Layton had taken over her mind. And so, from the small unicorn’s horn, various stun spells were shot, aiming at the trio of thieves in front of them.

With the intensity of the beams, and Layton’s control over them, the now homing projectiles were sure to hit their targets, which would have placed Fox in a similar position to the one of Steven.


"Mental what now?"

"I don't recall the precise name, but for now, let's call it Mental Takeover." Steven began, his pincer softly stroking his chin. "The process is fairly simple in theory, Layton will connect his neurological system to yours, which will provide him with full control over your body. This should enhance your physical and mental capabilities, hopefully also increasing your magic."

“Ok, in a scale to one to ten, how fucked up will my brain be after that?” The Unicorn joked, yet with a slight tone of fear.

“Your neurological system won’t be affected, you’ll have partial consciousness of what’s going on, but you may completely forget what happened. These effects are normal and theoretically, harmless.” Layton explained curtly.

“Cool cool, I’m scared as hell but lets do this! We’re going to test first, right?”

“We don’t have time, Eric is waiting for us, and we need to get ready as soon as we can. Layton’s body is scouting the train, if he manages to get a signal, we’ll move immediately.” The former champion explained, stretching his wings and moving them softly.

“And… if it doesn’t work?” Frederick interrupted skeptically

“If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to start from scratch, this is a plan B, Layton will only enter your mind if Fox manages to escape the ambush. She can only go one way, down, and if she does that you should be able to stun them out, especially with Layton controlling your movements.” The Scizor continued, giving a nod to Layton, who jumped on Pockets’ back.

“The Bunnelby will stay with you, that way Layton will be able to protect you from any unexpected events.”

“Ok, so you guys are going to take over my head, and not only that but you’re leaving me with the creepy rabbit. I love you guys,” The unicorn snorted sarcastically. She tried to hide her fear, this was way out of her league, but she guessed that this was what adventurers did, and that she had to buck up if she wanted her dream to become a reality.


“Transfer complete, initializing… magic.” The three powerful stun spells flew towards the Fox gang, making them unable to escape the homing beams of magic.

But before the beams hit, a young unicorn jumped out of nowhere in between them. He was notably younger than Pockets, yet they were about the same size. He had a white coat with a black mane, and on his flank was a Cutie Mark depicting a wand over a crystal, seemingly enchanting it.

“Kid...what are you doing?” Fox asked with a slight tone of both worry and anger

“I’m helping!” Grinned the unicorn. He was about to receive enough stunning spells to cause permanent paralysis, maybe even killing him in the spot. Whatever the results may be, Pockets and Layton were not going to risk it.

“Non-Pokémon combatant appeared, unauthorized to harm. Awaiting orders from the main unit.”

“Yeah, not happening,” Weavile grunted, before shooting an Ice Beam at the now static unicorn. Somehow, although no damage was made, the beam was shot in such a way that Pockets’ body now seemed completely frozen.

“Darn her…” Steven grunted under his breath, looking at his frozen companion and the Zoroark that just passed by her

“Everyone, we can move again!” Eric exclaimed, as him and his Volcarona stood up from their position, Steven and his group doing the same.

The two former humans jumped down through the hole and into the cart, their teams following, preparing to follow the sneaky thief. Yet they were interrupted when a stampede of panicked ponies rushed through them “Oh no…. Get out of the way!”

Steven and Layton dodged the incoming stream of ponies, to see it die soon as they all entered the cart ahead.

“Steven, we have to go!” Eric exclaimed

“Layton, Meteor Mash on Pockets, we need to get her out of that ice! Frederick and I will go ahead, catch up with us later!” Steven ordered, as him and the Fairy type followed the Hydreigon. “Also, give her this, tell her to keep it safe… make sure she is safe too, understood?” Steven dropped the golden ring from his pincer, and continued his way.

“Understood,” The Metagross nodded.


As the two former trainers searched around, a slight sense of dread surrounded the environment. Many ponies were glaring at them, not scared, not confused, just… staring. Although suspicious, they decided to ignore the watchers, looking for the real threat, Fox.
.
“Do you think she got away? There are no signs of her anywhere” Eric sighed, slightly embarrassed that the thief had gotten away once again.

“Don’t worry, this is a train after all. There aren’t many hiding spots where she could be at. Let’s keep looking. “ Steven replied, still hopeful that they could achieve what they came for.

“...you’re right. Be ready, Alex, watch everything carefully. From now, we’re in her territory.”

“....okay.” The Volcarona sighed. Just as everyone else, the Bug type wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

Steven, Eric. I sensed one of Fox’s companions in the final carriages of the train, nearby the luggage cart we were located before. I’ll arrive as soon as possible, as I am currently dealing with some... minor trouble.” Layton informed through the mental link.

“Ready to catch her once and for all, Eric?” Steven grinned, as his wings flapped rapidly, preparing for a Tailwind

“....ready…” Eric nodded curtly., as his Volcarona’s wings buzzed faster as well


Crash!

“Miss Midnight, I’d appreciate it if you woke up.”

Pockets shivered, as an extreme cold sensation ran through her body, “What, what just happened? Are we on the Crystal Empire or something?”

“You became frozen due to an Ice type attack. I calculated a Meteor Mash with the right amount of power and the right location to break as much ice as possible without harming you. Do you feel anything out of the ordinary? Mental fatigue, perhaps?”

Pockets shook her head with a grin, “Not really, just wished I had a blanket or something. Thanks bud, what happened while I was out?”

“Phantom Thief Fox managed to escape. Steven, Frederick, Eric, and Alex are already on the chase. We should hurry there. Also, Steven got your ring back.” Layton levitated the golden enchanted ring and placed it on the unicorn's saddlebag.

Pockets closed and sealed the bag, before advancing towards the place of the battle. But Pockets stopped midway when she saw a Bunnelby following the metal creature, who was already tucking his legs to advance through the roof.

“Hey, what do we do with this little guy? We can’t just throw him into a battle, we can’t leave him here either,” Pockets thought out loud. Layton landed softly, and closed his eyes. The eyes of the Bunnelby shined a bright white, before going to their normal color again.

“Wow, what happened? Where am I?” The small Normal type squeaked.

“Welcome aboard, little fellah! We are on a train, and we’re gonna fight a big baddie in a bit. So yeah, we wanted to thank you for your help. Layton , think you can safely place this guy on the ground?”

“Wait, so you guys are just leaving me here? What about our deal!?” The Bunnelby complained.

Layton and Pockets looked at each other confused, they had completely forgotten about the deal Layton and Steven made with the Bunnelby.

Layton cursed himself for not having payed attention to the earlier agreement, “We will provide you with your reward soon. As of now, we have other business to attend.”

“What!? No! I risked my body for this, I want my cabbage, and I want it now!” The Bunnelby stomped into the ground, thinking to himself that the duo owed him.

Pockets sighed, and tried to remain calm, “Look, pal. We really are thankful for the help you’ve given us. But we’re in a hurry right now, and our friends are in danger. So do you think maybe you can wait till later?”

The Bunnelby grunted, and jumped on Pockets’ head, pulling her hair, “In that case I’ll go with you!”

“Gah, dude, stop that! Seriously, we can’t take you there, it’s too dangerous!”

“I’m a brave Pokémon, I can deal with anything!” The Bunnelby said proudly, “Besides, you guys owe me my veggies, the Scizor said that you would give me a cabbage, and I won’t accept anything but a cabbage!”

Layton, we need to deal with this guy, fast, I don’t think he’ll leave us until we pay him what Steven promised him.

I’d prefer to not hurt the Bunnelby, I’ll analyze our possibilities, please keep him distracted while I find a solution.” Layton closed his eyes, and began thinking, leaving Pockets to face the demanding Bunnelby by herself.

“Ok, so… do you… like playing games?” Chuckled the unicorn awkwardly, not knowing what to do to entertain an alien child, and cursing Layton under her breath for leaving her alone with such a task. .


While all of this happened, in the final carts of the lengthy train, a purple, famous rich stallion from Canterlot calmly checked on all his loot gathered from a recent excavation in the North. Known for being linked to illegal artifacts and items, and said to have gained his fortune with them, he’d finally managed to get his hooves on one of the most powerful artifacts he has ever encountered. An ancient ring, capable of powering up a unicorn’s power to outstanding capabilities. Nothing was going to be able to stop him now, and everything seemed to be just fine, until that very moment.

“Sir, Sir! We’ve received reports from the grunts in the front carts. There seems to be multiple disturbances all over the train! These… Pokémon even attacked some of our own grunts! What are your orders?”

“This was supposed to be a calm and peaceful trip! All those bits wasted in these damn carts, and on the damn excavation. If those Pokémon destroy the train, it will be all over. Gah! Tell them to fight off the threat, and overall, protect these carts, with your life if you need to!”

However, just as he said that, there was a sudden explosion, and the roof came down...right on top of a group of grunts, crushing them underneath.

“Thanks for the soft landing,” a mischievous female voice chuckled from behind the cloud of dust that was kicked up. When it cleared, it revealed a small group of Pokemon, one of them a large fox dressed in a hat and cape. “Hope you’re all ready for the show,” she chuckled.

“What the heck do you want!? Just leave me alone you freak!” Gray Hat demanded, “All of you, whoever grabs that damn Pokémon gets eight thousand bits as a reward!”

The still standing grunts reached for their weapons, as they showed lances, whips, and even swords, before rushing towards the group of Dark types.

Fox just smirked, before tossing a few metal balls at each of them, and when the balls impacted, the grunts were coated in sticky webbing, before Weavile fired an Ice Beam at each of them, freezing them solid. “What a cold welcome. Didn’t your mother raise you better?” Fox taunted in amusement, as they started to advance towards Gray Hat.

“You had one job! This is what I get for hiring cheap employees.” The unicorn muttered, as his body started shining on a strong glow, disappearing before Fox reached him, and reappearing in the next, and last carriage of the train.


“I’ve scanned the train, Steven is going to engage Fox soon, we need to hurry,” Layton said.

“Layton, I thought you were finding possible solutions to our… little problem here” Pockets grunted, pointing at the Bunnelby, who was just standing there with his arms crossed and his little paws repeatedly stomping on the ground in impatience.

I scanned all the nearby carts, and found what I believe is to be the kitchen… and I wasn’t able to find… a cabbage..”

Why did Steven offer him such a specific thing!?” The unicorn thought to herself, keeping her fake smile on to not be intimidated by the impatient Bunnelby looking at her. “Listen, buddy, we… have a problem. Turns out, there are no cabbages here like we were promised! We swear we thought they would bring them, seriously. So, why don’t we keep going and maybe we can find some in the big city,” She tried to reason with the Normal Type

“If there’s no cabbage, then you have to pay with something else!” Squeaked the Pokémon, jumping in place with his arms still crossed.

“Gah, Layton, there were other vegetables in the kitchen, right?” Pockets grunted annoyed

“Indeed, but I don’t think it’d be legal to-”

“JUST DO IT, I… I just want to end this as soon as possible!” Even Pockets could hear the agony in her own voice, Steven was out there chasing a dangerous criminal, and here she was dealing with a small Bunnelby wanting a cabbage.

Layton closed his eyes, as annoyed as Pockets by the little interruption. Many doors on the hallway opened, and suddenly a wooden crate flew across the room, stopping and landing right in front of the Bunnelby.

“A box containing carrots, are you satisfied?” The Iron Leg Pokémon said coldly.

“Carrots? For a Bunnelby? That’s so stereotypical! I can’t accept this!”

Layton sighed, and once again brought another wooden crate into the room, this one with a sticker that seemed to represent lettuce leaves.

“Lettuce and carrots, are you satisfied now?” Layton grunted on his monotone voice.

“These ones…” The Bunnelby hummed, taking a better look at the product safely kept in the boxes, “They seem to be fresh, and they smell good...but they remind me of cabbages, so I won’t take them!”

Pockets’ eye started twitching, with a wide grin still trying to remain on her face, “Layton, please bring something else, this… will probably take a while”


“....it looks like we’re halfway there.” Eric pointed out,“....and still no sign of her. Seen anything peculiar yet?”

“Not much… until now, we have some company.” Steven informed, as some ponies stood up, with weapons on their mouths, wings, and the occasional unicorn levitational spell. Other ponies appeared from the neighbor wagons as well, also carrying a variety of weapons like whips and swords.

“I think we angered the staff, can’t blame it, we did kind of made a mess here.” Frederick deadpanned, as his feelers started to shine, preparing to attack.

“....Alex, forget Bug Buzz. Instead, Rage Powder!”

“...if you insist.” The Volcarona said softly, releasing bright red powder to the surrounding ponies, who annoyed by the slight burning sensation, proceed to attack he Volcarona.

“Get out of the way!” Eric ordered, and the rest of the group did as said, while the angry ponies on the other hand, crowded right below the Volcarona, attempting to jab him with their weapons.

“Now, Bug Buzz right underneath you!”

Alex followed Eric’s order by angling his wings toward the direction of the floor, as a horrible screech was sent, releasing various smaller yet still powerful waves around him. The henchmen were all paralyzed as their eardrums got blasted by the waves of the loud and high-pitched screech, sending them all unconscious on the ground

“Watch it, Eric, they may be trying to attack us, but try to not overdo it. Have to admit though, that’s one powerful Volcarona you got there, I can only compare it to Alder’s, although still not quite there yet, ” Steven chuckled, seeing as none of the unconscious attackers was seriously damaged.

“Thanks, but we’re on a timetable, Steven. We have to hurry or else we lose her for real.” Eric said coldly, rushing towards the next carriage.

“Don’t worry, I’m not the type of guy that can be left behind. Frederick, lets go!” Steven flapped his wings once again, calling for another Tailwind as the effects from the last one had faded.

Eric and Steven advanced through several wagons, knocking out the grunts that still dared to attack them. As they reached the final wagons, Steven attempted to open the door that lead to the two final carts. But as soon as he opened it, a powerful blast destroyed the roof, sending large fragments of metal and wood over the cart. As the cloud of dust disappeared, and the Pokémon cleared the path, they spotted a Zoroark, a Weavile, and a Liepard advancing to the other cart. They finally catched up with Fox and her gang.

“Miss Fox, wait!” came a young voice, as the Unicorn colt from before jumped down through the hole of the roof. But as he started to run, a whip grabbed his leg, bringing him to the floor. A bulky earth pony pulled the unicorn towards him, not letting him advance.

“Bullet Punch!” The lime green scizor rushed towards the grunt, as various weak yet repetitive orange colored punches struck the earth pony, leaving him unconscious. “Eric, you and your Volcarona go ahead. Frederick, go with them, we need to stop Fox before she tries anything.”

“Alright, you heard him, we’re going ahead!” Eric exclaimed, as they all went by Steven, but not before adding. “And be careful, Steven, there might be some ponies left.”

“Don’t worry about me, as of you” The Steel type glared at the young unicorn. “Kid. I don’t know what kind of lies Fox told you, but if you think this is some sort of game, you are wrong. Fox is a criminal, and helping her only means you’ll end up like she will, in jail. Go back to your parents, I don’t think they’d like this.”

“But Miss Fox helped my parents a lot. It's because of her the bad ponies can’t hurt them anymore!” The unicorn shot back. “And she’s trying to do it again. If she doesn’t stop that bad pony from getting that ring, a lot of ponies might get hurt!”

“Bad pony? What bad pony? The only bad person here is Fox!”

The Unicorn stamped his hoof in annoyance. “No she isn’t! Miss Fox is the good guy...girl here! The bad pony is that crime lord mom and dad were talking about!”

Steven looked at his eyes for a moment, his expressions, his words, there seemed to be no lies on his words. The grunts, the ring. Could it be that Fox was actually trying to help? Steven recalled the reports of the Fox heists back on Hoenn. Something was always odd about them. She almost always returned what they stole, and most of the times her heists lead to bigger arrests. The Ranger Union made it seem like they were just trying to eliminate the competition, but.. was it true? Only one way to find out.

“I can’t believe I am doing this. Kid… you said something about a ring, what exactly can this ring do?”

“Well, mom and dad’s old friend told us about it. Its a magic ring that can amplify a Unicorn’s power to insane levels. According to him, if that Unicorn gets that ring, a mountain will be a minor problem, since he could just blow it up. Miss Fox is trying to stop him from being able to do that,” the colt explained, hoping to convince Steven.

“You have no idea how hard it is to believe you right now, but if what you are saying is true, then Fox is the least of our problems. I seriously hope I’m doing the right thing. Kid, hop on my back, you wanted to go with her, then lets go.” Steven leaned forwards, and pulled back his wings, only showing a metallic bar which worked as the shell of his folded wings.

“Cool, I’m riding a metal lobster-bug,” he grinned as he hopped on.

“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this” The Steel type mumbled, before rushing forwards to the next cart.


“Two boxes of carrots,two boxes of turnips, a box of tomatoes, a crate full of lettuce, ten apples, a cardboard box full of orange juice, some olives; and fully cooked hamburger, double cheese, extra pickles, and enough ketchup to fill a small cup… are you satisfied now?”

The Bunnelby took a good look at the food in front of him. Smelling each box and sighing in joy with each sniff. He closed his eyes, and smiled.

“Yup, this should do!”

“FREAKING - FINALLY!” Pockets shouted in a mixture of anger, relief, and a small touch of depression. About fifteen minutes had passed since the madness with the Bunnelby began, but it felt like centuries for the unicorn who didn’t know what to do to stop the little rascal. “CAN… sigh Can we go now?”

The Bunnelby nodded, and the unicorn rushed towards the door, but a shout stopped her, a familiar voice who she had been hearing for the past… 15 minutes.

“Wait!” The Normal type exclaimed, causing Pockets to grunt in annoyance, getting ready to kick the Pokémon off the cart if he asked for one more thing. But the Digging Pokémon just chuckled and smiled, “Good luck!”

“Thanks… same to you, if the staff sees you with all that food, they’re gonna be mad, hide in the luggage and eat fast before we reach the city, you should be able to do an escape as soon as they start delivering the bags.” Pockets said calmly, analyzing the fact that she just wished to kick an innocent child off a moving train, and wondering how she got that idea.

“Miss Midnight, no time to lose. Steven has encountered a more dangerous foe and he needs our aid.” Layton informed coldly, tucking his legs and floating towards the room.

“Sure thing, lets finish this Fox gal!” Pockets exclaimed with cheer, teleporting next to Layton and rushing with him towards the final carts.


Meanwhile, in his personal carriage, Gray Hat was frantically tossing aside various items that he had piled on top of what he was looking for in order to hide it. Finally getting to the bottom, He grinned as he pulled out the bronze box that held his prize.

“Going somewhere?” came a sly voice from behind him. Turning to the source, he saw the Pokemon from before, all three of them having confident smirks on their faces, and not a single one of his grunts in sight.
“Gah, guards!” Gray Hat called, but there was no response, as all of his henchmen were already knocked out. “My mother always told me, if you want something done right, do it yourself,” he muttered darkly as he pulled out the ring.

“And my dad always told me to be prepared,” Fox laughed, as from the ceiling, a rope of webbing shot out, snagging the ring in Gray Hat’s magical grasp and promptly pulled it back to Fox, who grabbed the ring. “Checkmate,” she chuckled.

Gray Hat became alarmed, as his ultimate weapon was taken away from him with extreme ease, “What, No! Drop that ring, you don’t know what kind of pow- WOAH!” Grey Hat rushed towards Fox, yet slipped and falling due to a lone banana peel that was in the way.

“...that was random,” Fox blinked, before she noticed Rascal idly eating an already peeled banana. “...what am I going to do with you sometimes,” she chuckled in amusement. “Well, at least we go the-”

“Bug Buzz!” A familiar voice called, The gang’s ears were once more assaulted by the deadly screech that came from the Volcarona directly behind them. When it died down, a Hydreigon barged in, followed by a Sylveon.

“Good lord, man! Do you HAVE to keep doing that?!” Shade shouted in annoyance while all three of them were holding their ears. As the gang got back on their feet, Fox noticed that something was missing.

“The ring!”

“Looking for this?” They all looked back at the unicorn stallion, who was now holding the ring on his hoof, a malicious grin on his face.

“...gee, thanks for that distraction, ya maniac!” Rascal growled at their attackers. “You’ve ruined EVERYTHING, and now there is a high chance we are all gonna die! So thanks for ruining the day, hero.”

“What are you talking about?” Eric asked with a neutral look. “All I see is you thieves stealing someone’s ring.”

“Oh, you foolish Pokémon, there’s no such thing as a high chance, you see, there are no chances here. You are all, most definitely, going to die.” Gray hat raised his hoof, getting the ring closer to his horn. “And that weird Pokémon is right, here, there are only thieves stealing MY ring.”

“No! Don’t let him put that ring on!” came Toichi’s voice.

“What?! Toichi?! I thought I told you to stay behind!” Fox gasped in alarm upon seeing the colt...riding on Steven’s back. .

“Alex, Will-o-Wisp!” Eric called. Yet the ghostly fireballs didn’t reach their target, as they were stopped mid-air by a red aura, before being slowly turned into nothingness.

“It’s too late, behold. The power of the ancient ring!” Gray Hat began floating, and as if gravity was nothing but an obstacle, the things around him started floating as well.

“Once again, thanks for ruining everything, hero,” Rascal groused again, looking at the Hydreigon.

“Enough, Weavile,” Fox glared at him, before turning to Steven and Eric. “Okay, we’ve got a crazy pony who is more than ready to kill us with ancient powers that can blow up mountains. Truce?”

“There’s no other way, Fox. We need to get to an open area, do you think you can lead him to the roof?” Steven requested, getting his wings out and preparing to fight.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Fox said as she quickly rummaged through where she kept her bombs. “...and I know just how to do it,” she grinned, before looking at Gray Hat.

“Hey lame brain, I bet your mom was so retarded, she named you after the first thing she saw,” she taunted.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MOTHER? YOU… DESPICABLE THING,” Knives and lances started floating around him, all surrounded in the aura of the ring’s power. “DIE YOU SCUM!”

But before he could actually do anything, a small metal ball went splat on his face, covering it in pink paint. “Whoops, too slow, PINK hat!” Fox laughed. “Heh, no wonder you need that ring. You probably couldn’t catch a snail with your regular power!” she laughed, before running up the ladder and out the hatch to the roof, her team following closely.

“YOU DESPICABLE THING!” Gray Hat fired a massive red beam towards the gang, who swiftly dodged it. The roof was no more, as a giant hole revealed the calm nightsky.

“You know, we’ve REALLY been tearing up this train’s roof. I wonder how nobody has called the authorities yet,” Fox idly commented as the Unicorn burst through a good chunk of the roof at the end. Fortunately, this left ample space for them to fight. “A little help would be appreciated here,” she said, calling down the hatch to her impromptu allies.

“Eric, Alex, Frederick. You go and help her, put as much pressure on the unicorn as possible. I’ll think of a plan to shut him down!” Steven called

“Right, let’s go!” Eric exclaimed, rushing upwards, and being followed by the quiet Volcarona and the grunting Sylveon who didn’t like being commanded by the Ace trainer.

As they did that, Steven turned to whom Fox called Toichi. “Kid, you seem to know about this ring. How can we stop its power?”

“Well...it may be strong, but it's actually very simple,” Started the unicorn. “I mean, the ring may have magic power, but if we remove the ring...or maybe cut off his horn...or even destroy the ring, then he’ll lose all his power,” he explained.

Take the ring, cut off the horn, destroy the ring… how?” Steven thought to himself, before realizing that he had a way to stop Gray Hat, a plan that was too risky, but possibly, the only plan they could use. “Kid, you’ll feel an odd sensation in your head for a bit, I need you to relax and let it happen. A voice will come through, don’t panic when it does. We’ll need you to keep us informed, but we also need you to be safe. Got it?”

“Uh...okay?” Toichi said uncertainly...then he felt a presence enter his mind. Gulping slightly, he forced down his instincts that were screaming for him to run and let the presence in.

Mister Toichi, can you hear this?” A robotic voice inside his mind asked.

“If you want to say something, just think hard enough and it’ll be sent through the mental link.” Steven informed, getting ready to join the fight.

Uh...like this?” he thought.

Affirmative, welcome Mister Toichi. I am Layton, Steven’s partner.

Introductions for later, Layton. I’ll need you to go to the roofs final carts of the train, now. Pockets, I’ll need you to go the same way, but stay inside. You’ll meet Toichi here, protect him from any harm, understood?

Got it Steven. Leave that to me” A feminine voice added

But before he advanced, something called Steven’s attention. Lying there, on a wooden box filled with paper strips, a light blue somewhat transparent crystal was resting with many other different kinds of gems. A strange white and gold pattern could be seen inside it, a pattern that Steven had seen many times before. In fact, Steven knew what the crystal was, as it was not a crystal, but a mega stone. “They were sent here as well...” Steven whispered, as he grabbed the stone, and tossed it towards Toichi’s direction, “Kid, give that to Pockets when she arrives, keep it safe, understood?”

“Er...okay,” Toichi nodded, taking the crystal, not the least bit understanding why it was so important. Steven pulled out his wings, which started flapping, allowing him to rush outwards, and into the fight.


“To protect a pony… who could this pony possibly be? I swear if he’s not worth missing the fight, I’ll smack a pie into Steven’s face“ Pockets walked into the carriage, taking a good look at the massive mass that was present there. Weapons on the floor, pieces of the roof shattered all around, and a strong light made it difficult for the unicorn to see the action clearly. She continued looking around, until she spotted a hiding unicorn. The coat seemed familiar to her, like if she had seen him before, but she couldn’t recall where or when.

“Yo, you must be Toichi, right?”

“Uhm… yes, and you must be.. Pockets, right?” The young colt said shyly, “Wait, you’re the pony that attacked Miss Fox earlier, the one with the robotic voice!”

“Yes, and no. My body was the one trying to stun the fox girl, but my mind was kind of not there…? I dunno really, things are always crazy with these Pokémon.”

Toichi shrugged at that. “Yeah, but its not a bad thing I guess. Speaking of which, Mr. Stone told me to give you this,” he said, giving her the Mega Stone. “He said it was very important.”

“A stone? Geez this guy is a mess. What could this possibly be?” Pockets chuckled, placing the crystalline gold and silver stone on her saddlebag, “And what is a kid like you doing in this mess? Steven is not the kind of guy that would just put kids in a fight”

“I wanted to be useful. I wanted to help miss Fox after what she did for my family,” he said.

“Aren’t you too young to help out a criminal from an alien planet?” The unicorn joked, “And how exactly are you planning to help her?”

Toichi was about to open his mouth...but promptly closed it, then smirked. “A magician never reveals his secrets.”

Pockets laughed at the young unicorn’s line, a grin on her face, “Magician, huh? I like you already kid, and from your cutie mark and all, I can already tell magic’s your deal, am I right?”

“Yep. I only got it just now. I owe it to miss Fox for telling me that trick to find out my talent. If it weren’t for her, I’d probably have been jumping from one idea to another like a headless chicken. That would have been REALLY dumb,” he chuckled.

At that moment, a certain trio of Foals in a not-so-far away place sneezed.

“Really? Damn, congrats! Makes me remember when I got my buttpic." The unicorn chimmed proudly, "Who would've thought I had such an odd talent"

Toichi took a look at the mare's Cutie Mark, to see a thief mask surrounded by a white heart. "...I don’t fully get it,” he blinked. “Does it mean you have a talent for being a vigilante thief? That’s kinda like what Miss Fox is doing.”

"From what Frederick told me... yeah, in a way, I guess that what we do is similar. But while she gives criminal acts away, I milk those criminals and greedy ponies to give those in need a new chance. I’m like a real life Robin Hoof! For five years I've been stealing from Tall Tale's corrupt Mayor and his friends, giving the bounty to the poor ponies back there."

"Well, that was really nice if you, but miss Fox kinda has you outdone. Thanks to her, that awful Mayor isn't a mayor anymore. He's in jail now," Toichi chuckled.

“Wait, old horse Grumble? The Mayor of Tall Tale?” Toichi’s nod of confirmation caused a loud laugh in Pockets, who after a minute or so stopped. “This Fox is quite impressive. To be honest, I wanted to catch her just for the sake of the challenge, but she seems to be out of my league! I’ve been trying to uncover the old horse for a while now, even gave up at a point.”

“We didn’t do it alone. Miss Fox always says that a Fox is only as good as their team. She could only do it cause everyone was working together to show everyone the Mayor’s real face,” Toichi explained.

But as Pockets got ready to reply, she pushed Toichi into a bag of piles, kicking some bags to cover him completely, before disappearing completely out of sight with an invisibility spell. Toichi was about to ask what was going on, but he was shut down when the debris that were caused by all the destruction began moving.

Miss Midnight has requested me to create a private mental link for you two, this should avoid confusion on the main link that is currently being used for the battle.” A robotic voice announced, who Toichi identified as Layton, the Steel creature that accompanied Steven.

Kid, remain silent. These guys are beaten up, so they should be an easy target. My spell won’t last long, so if anything, I know I can trust you to guard my back” Pockets said mentally, as three seriously injured ponies stood up from their metal tombs.

And what am I supposed to do? I’m not a fighter.” The white unicorn replied.

Kid, if I’ve learnt anything in my short life, is that we all are born fighters.” The blue unicorn’s spell ended, and before the injured grunts could react, she hoofed one in the cheek, leaving him unconscious, before shooting a stun spell to the other one. Yet the last one was not there, it had disappeared, or rather, tele-transported. Behind the mare, a bulky pegasus kicked her with extreme force, sending her to the wall and sending rather heavy debris to fall on her, as the two carriages were slowly falling apart. He picked up a knife with his mouth, and growled at his target, getting ready to kill. Pockets tried to throw another stun spell, but she wasn’t able to, maybe a mental cooldown due to the fear.She gulped and closed her eyes, getting as far away from the angry pony as possible.

Toichi’s mind was soon racing at several miles per second, thinking of a way to get out of this situation. That’s when he got an idea...just as the pony was upon them. “Don’t need to look so angry. After all, the fun is just starting!” Toichi grinned, right before his horn emitted a bright flash, blinding the pony. “Nothing up my hoof,” he said, before pulling out a LONG line of cloth from who knew where, and before the pony could react, all but mummified him, so quickly, he was soon very dizzy. At this, Toichi simply tipped him over, causing him to fall over.

“See? Told ya! I knew you could do it. Now help me out in here, my magic doesn’t work when I’m under a lot of pressure. Kind of odd considering how I’m a thief.” She chuckled, as the young unicorn approached her, levitating some of the fallen metal and freeing the unicorn, “Thanks kid. Ya know, that was a pretty awesome trick, wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up being a phantom thief yourself.”

“Maybe,” Toichi chuckled. “That does sound pretty cool though,” he mused as he considered it.


Up on the roof, the Fox gang were gracefully dodging a veritable barrage of silverware and various other sharp metal items...well...as well as they could with the limited space. “This is getting ridiculous. We can’t even get close like this,” Fox grumbled.

“Alex, Protect!” Eric called, protecting himself and Alex from the incoming barrage of sharp metals

As it turns out, Eric positioned himself on the other side of the roof, thus trapping the stallion right in the middle. “Sylveon, Moonblast the Unicorn!” Frederick jumped over the Hydreigon before firing a pink orb toward the empowered unicorn.

And now, he’s using me like if he was my freaking trainer… I swear, Steven will pay for this” Frederick thought to himself, following the Hydreigon’s orders.

“You too, Liepard. Hyper Beam!” Fox quickly ordered, as her Pokémon obeyed, the two attacks flying at Gray Hat.

“You are all weak! WEAK!” Gray Hat shouted, stopping the attacks mid air, and returning them to their attackers,who were forced to dodge…again. “WHY CAN’T YOU UNDERSTAND? YOU ALREADY LOST!”

“Great, killed by a pony. This is how I meet my end? Meh, I expected worse,” The Sylveon sighed, before launching several small Shadow Balls towards the floating unicorn.

“Sorry, but I don’t intend to go that easily,” The Weaville growled, before firing a Blizzard at the Unicorn.

“Alex, Quiver Dance, then Rage Powder, draw his attention away!” With the command, the Volcarona flickered out of existence.

“You won’t escape. DIE YOU PITIFUL BUG!” Gray Hat launched massive beams, aiming at the fast Volcarona, who barely managed to dodge the attacks.

“Hyper Beam!” The Volcarona gathered a massive energy right in front of him. Due to the effect of Quiver Dance, of course, the beam that was fired became more massive than normal.

“Dark Triangle!” Fox barked, as the three of them tried their combo move again, the high powered Dark Pulse racing towards Gray Hat.

The pony surrounded himself on a field of magic, which absorbed all the attacks, releasing the power in the form of waves afterwards, sending all the Pokémon back.

“Hey, anyone wonder where Stone went?” Fox couldn’t help but ask as she picked herself up, dusting her hat a little.

“Meteor Mash!”

A silver blur flew above their head, showing four iron claws surrounded by a yellow star, rapidly spinning like a massive iron top. The Unicorn tried to stop him, but due to his speed and power, the attacks managed to hit. But they were all surprised when the unicorn took the damage like it was just a scratch. The unicorn grabbed the Metagross with his magic grip, and launched it towards the rest of the team. Layton slowed down, and revealed his four legs, landing next to the shiny Scizor that controlled him

“Guess that power boost wasn’t just his magic…” The Liepard groaned in annoyance.

“Toichi was right, we can’t do any sort of damage to him unless we separate him from that ring.” Steven informed

“That’s kind of what we were hoping to do from just now,” she replied idly.

“Of course, it would have been SOOO much easier if SOMEONE didn’t insist on attacking us like a starving Growlithe on a piece of meat,” The Ice type snarked again, pointing at the Hydreigon.

“Weavile, one more time, and you’re in timeout after this,” Fox warned.

“No, he is right, it was kinda my fault. We’ll do it!” The voice of the Hydreigon caught their attention. “For the moment, Alex has the best chance of distracting him. Due to the effect of Rage Powder, the unicorn will focus his attention on Alex. You try to think of something up, we’ll play cat and mouse for now.”

“Great, that’s just what I needed. Fox, I’ll need you to let Layton into your mind, I have a plan, but if he hears us, it won’t work.” Steven said, as his pincers began to glow.

“...fine. But it better be communication only,” Fox nodded, though she still focused her mind to keep up her mental block against anything OTHER than receiving and sending thoughts. The same was done by the rest of her team. When she felt the presence enter, she asked, “So what do yo have in mind?

After hearing what he had to say, Fox nodded. “Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”

“Hey, Gray Hat. You know, if what they say about the ring is true, then you must be really weak if you haven’t been able to take us out yet!” Frederick called

“SHUT UP!” Gray Hat exclaimed, preparing a large metal bar and aiming at him

“He’s right. In fact, here’s a present for LOSER,” Fox chuckled, before chucking a Shadow Ball at him from another angle, while he was in the middle of the attack.

“YOU PESKY BRAT!” Gray Hat changed his aim, and prepared the bar to be shot at Fox.

“Will-o-Wisp!” And yet another interruption came in the form of glowy blue flaming balls that were shot towards him.

“ENOUGH!” Gray Hat screamed, stopping the orbs, and ripping the metal bars in 3, and shooting each at the taunting Pokémon.

“Hammer Arm!” Layton called, destroying the metal piece that was shot at Frederick

“Ice Beam!” Barked the Weavile as he froze the bar aimed at Fox solid, while Shade smashed it with a Rock Smash. He then fired another Ice Beam at Gray Hat, nicking his hoof.

“Heatwave!” Alex called, flames surrounding the incoming bar. Until it became molten metal that dropped harmlessly on the roof.

“GAH! YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!” Gray Hat said, as various trees from the surrounding area began lifting off the ground, flying towards the Pokémon.

Everyone, around us, dodge or attack but whatever you do, don’t let him throw you off the train” Layton said, before smashing a trunk with a Bullet Punch.

“Don’t need to tell us that,” Shade chuckled as she dodged another tree that passed right over her.

They all did as the Steel type said, Both Eric, Alex, and Frederick went flat on the roof as a large part of earth was thrown at them.

“Weavile!” Fox shouted.

“On it!” he said, before using Blizzard to freeze it solid, followed by Shade destroying it with a Dark Pulse, which was then directed at Gray Hat.

Gray Hat, still focused on the trees, did not notice when the Dark Pulse struck him, and neither did he notice the damage that was supposed to make.

And here I thought that was a ring that only powered up magic. Not defense. So how is the plan coming along? We can’t last forever here,” she asked over the mental link.

I’m on the move, we just need to reach him, keep his attention on you. Eric, on me!

Will do,” Fox mentally saluted, before she threw another Shadow Ball at him.


The plan, the chance of it working is of a fifteen percent. There are many variables that could affect the result, most of which are against its success.

“Good thing this link is private then, we don’t need the rest to know our chances. This is the only way I can think of, Layton”

“That’s incorrect, there should be more ways to deal with him. I only need some more minutes to analyze the entire situation, and--”

“We don’t have more minutes, this pony is using a power you’re not familiarized with. This is the only way I can think off.”

“That move worked only once in training, you were never able to perform it again. We know you can use it, but the chances of you managing to perform it now under all this pressure are--”

“Stop with the negativity, Layton. Sometimes, calculations are not the way to go, sometimes faith is the only thing necessary. Let's do this the way we used to, with our instincts.”

“There’s a reason we stopped using… our instincts.”

The two Pokémon remained silent, as Layton fought and Steven prepared himself for the rush. They couldn’t let sore memories affect them now, it was now or never.

“Good luck… Steven”


”Alright!” The former Champion said, brewing a Tailwind to speed Eric and himself up. The pair of former trainers tried to sneak up from the right side of the carriage, but the unicorn was able to detect them. .

“YOU THINK I CAN’T SEE YOU? YOU PESKY BRATS, I SENSE IT ALL!” Grey Hat exclaimed, sending various red beams at the two running Pokémon.

As swiftly as they could, the pair dodged the incoming beams as they reached their locations. The two kept advancing, getting closer at the crimelord.

“YOU ARE ALL PESTS ON THIS COUNTRY, ON THIS WORLD. YOU DESERVE TO DIE!” Gray Hat took off a huge chunk of metal from the side of the cart’s wall. He ripped it and launched sharp pieces to all the Pokémon around.

“Eric, get rid of that! If I dodge more, I’ll fall of the train!” Steven called, looking at the Hydreigon behind him

Eric nodded, and focused on the attack, managing to launch a powerful enough Dragon Pulse at the huge chunk of metal flying their way. Shaking his head slightly, not used to using that move, he catched up with Steven and gave him a nod. “Time for the finishing blow, Steven!”

“Ok, let's finish this!” Steven exclaimed, as he started flapping his wings, brewing a Tailwind which speeded Eric up. “Fox, now!”

“You got it! Close your eyes!” she barked, before throwing a single, oddly shaped bomb. The bomb went off, revealing that it was a flash bang, and it went off right in Gray Hat’s face, blinding the mad pony.

While Gray Hat was blinded, Eric floated next to the unicorn, and surrounded his neck with his arms, pulling it back to the roof level.

“Steven, finish it now!” The Hydreigon exclaimed as he struggled to hold the Crime Lord in place.

“Please work again…” Steven said to himself, as the thorns on his pincers glowed a bright white, he opened the pincers, and aimed for the horn. “BUG BITE!”

A loud chop, and then a metallic sound. Gray Hat screamed in pain, as the power he once held, began fading. He looked at the roof, and saw his precious horn on the cold ground, the ring still on it.

“....it’s done.” Eric released the unicorn from his grip and floated back, watching him try to pathetically attempt to put his horn back.

“I think this has caused us enough trouble,” Fox simply said as she almost casually yanked the horn out of the now powerless pony’s grasp, and promptly dropped a web bomb on him. “Show’s over.”

“Give me the horn, Fox. I’ll give it to the authorities.” Steven ordered, opening his pincer.

“I’ve got a better idea. I think this thing has done quite enough already,” Fox simply said, as she tossed the horn into the air. “Hyper Beam.” And it was promptly obliterated, ring and all by a Hyper Beam from Shade.

“That’s a way to do it” Frederick chuckled from the distance, as he called for a Wish to heal himself up.

Did...did it work?” Toichi asked from the mental link, the colt trembling in where he was hiding.

It did, thank you, Kid. Without you, I wouldn’t have known what to do. You are a hero” Steven replied, sitting on the roof and letting out a loud sigh.

H-happy to help,” the colt smiled weakly, finally crawling out of his hiding spot as the Pokémon went back into the train car, the now cocooned Gray Hat with them.

“Yo, Steven, I heard some crazy explosions going on up there. You guys Okay?” Pockets asked, seeing the dusty and injured Pokémon.

“My readings indicate that we are all on a stable condition. In other words, we are Okay.” Layton replied coldly.

“Well, glad that’s over with,” Rascal sighed.

"Yeah, that was tough. But you're still a fugitive, Fox, and even if you helped or not, I have to arrest you " Glancing at the Volcarona beside him, Eric nodded. "Alex....you know what to do."

“Okay,” Alex looked at the Fox gang with an apologetic look. “Sorry, Mrs. Thief.”

“Why you dirty, double crossing…” Shade was about to say, but Fox stopped her.

“Enough, Liepard,” Fox sighed, and raised her arms up in surrender. “After all that, I’m way too beat to want to deal with these two. Sides, I’m fresh out of bombs I was carrying. So its better this way, right?” she sighed.

“Don’t worry Fox, I’ll try to help you out in court, if there’s one in this place at least. Maybe reduce your sentence a couple of years, who knows.” Steven shrugged, flapping his wings to regain a regular temperature. “Scizor sure get pretty heated up in battles, huh?

“Much obliged,” Fox nodded as they started to walk out of the train carriages. However, just as they were entering the luggage carriage, Toichi suddenly fell over, which the entire Fox gang ran to his side. “You okay, kid?” Rascal asked.

“Layton, analyze his body! Frederick, get ready to run back to the medicine room!” Steven ordered, as he walked towards the young unicorn.

“Steven… I suggest you back off. There’s nothing wrong with--”

“You were really cool Mr. Stone, but sorry, I owe Miss Fox more,” Toichi smiled apologetically, before another of Fox’s bombs levitated out of his mane, and shot at the collective Pokemon, revealing itself to be a Shock Bomb when it detonated.

“Oh, did I forget to mention? I was out of bombs, but the KID wasn’t. I’ll leave Gray Hat to you all. Adieu,” Fox chuckled, before the metal attachment that connected the luggage car to the last two train cars was promptly destroyed by twin Shadow Balls from Shade, the Liepard; and Rascal, the Weavile; leaving the two remaining train cars to be left behind by the rest of the train, the Fox gang waving to them as they disappeared into the distance.

“Ahg, can’t… move…” Steven muttered.

“....Damn...got..to….chase...her!” Eric groaned.

“No… leave her be… we won’t be able to catch her in… time” Steven sighed. The paralysis effect ended, and they all stood up to see the carts left behind, as the shiny Zoroark waved from the distance. “Besides, she did her part. I’m sure someone else will get her one day, or maybe not. Let destiny decide. If Arceus brought her here, it’s for a reason, right?”

“....I guess….no, there has to be a reason. Otherwise...she would’ve been left behind.”

Good luck, Fox. Whether you are a thief, or a hero, you saved a lot of ponies and Pokémon.” Steven thought to himself, before looking back at the Hydreigon. “I suppose you are going to Canterlot?”

“I am,” Glancing over his shoulder, he added. “We got business in the city, mainly concerning a family member. I’m sure you can put two and two together.”

“Great, we’ll be able to give both our testimonies to the authorities to get this guy on jail. “Steven pointed at the immobilized Gray Hat, who was crying and cursing under his breath. “Besides, I’ll need help calming the ponies over the first carts.”

The Hydreigon and his Volcarona looked at each other, muttered something Steven didn’t manage to identify. But before he could ask, the two rushed away, waving and leaving the carts.

Pockets chuckled, and patted Steven in the back, “Crazy day, huh?”

“I faced a mad unicorn with the power to move mountains, with a thief I swore revenge on and a random mindly screw-loose trainer as my allies. I let the thief escape after it all ended, and now, I’m stuck with a now powerless criminal without knowledge of how the legal system works on this planet. So yes, this can be considered a ‘crazy day’ “ The Scizor replied curtly.

“You’re way too weird, Steven. I’m sure there were better ways to say that” Pockets chuckled awkwardly, , “Welp, we are reaching Canterlot soon enough, so after the whole deal with the pony is over, I can go, sell this stuff, and get us a nice hotel room for us to rest at. Whatchu say?”

“I’ll sleep on the floor anyways, so I don’t mind. But wasn’t your money supposed to go to the people in Tall Tale?” Frederick deadpanned, while eating an apple he picked from the ground.

Pockets grabbed her loot bag, and poked it, “How much do you think this is worth? We may as well spend the night in the most expensive hotel and I’d still have enough money to send to Tall Tale.” But before anyone could reply, the poking on the bag caused a silver-light-blue crystalline rock, with an odd silver and gold pattern in it.

“That would explain why my senses were not behaving properly,” Layton looked at the crystal, and grabbed it with his Psychic powers. “Where did you possibly find this, Miss Midnight?”

“Oh I remember now! That kid Toichi told me to give it to Steven. The action upstairs was so intense that I forgot, sides, I didn’t have much sleep so yeah, didn’t remember.” Pockets shrugged, before taking a closer look at the rare stone, “What is it anyways?”

“Metagrossite, a Mega Stone,” Steven pointed out, before getting closer to the stone and holding it with his pincers, “I found it on Gray Hat’s cart. I gave it to Toichi so he could give it to you, Pockets, and you could hold it for me.”

“Of all the Mega Stones out there, you had to get the Metagrossite, didn’t you?” The Sylveon deadpanned.

“I guess that I got lucky. I still need the Key Stone if I want to mega evolve Layton.”

“Ok, you have no idea how confused I am right now,” Pockets interrupted, poking at the Mega Stone, “What the heck is that thing, what is this mega evolution you guys are talking about, and what on Equus is a Key Stone?”

“Well, where should I start…” Steven left out a soft grin as one of his favorite topics was brought up.

“Great, you just triggered him. Now he won’t stop talking about it.” The Sylveon sighed, before jumping on a table and bracing himself for the long explanation.

“There are two stories you should know. First, a story between a small village, and the god of the skies. And then another story, about a young boy, and his Lucario…”


“And that’s all the information we have on Mega Evolution until now, a good portion of that information I proudly claim them as my own discoveries.” Steven took a good look at the group, seeing all of them but Layton fast asleep, he sighed in sadness. and sat down with a grin on his face. At least the story had cheered him up.

He started thinking about his life back on Earth. About his two families, his dad, and his team. He thought about his friends, his partners, even his enemies. He then thought about all he had lost, his vast rare stones collection, his advanced technological devices, his years of research on many subjects... his adventures, his feats, his goals. Was everything really over?

"Yo... sorry for falling asleep, I really liked your stories, but like, I'm dead tîred. So yeahp... maybe you can start over?"

Steven chuckled and softly played with Pickett's already messy hair up."Thanks... you've been through all of this with me. You didn't have to, but you faced things many wouldn't even consider facing, you even risked your life for us. I’m still not comfortable with your career choices, but you seem to be a great person, er... pony"

Pockets chuckled, a soft blush on her cheeks, "Nah, you're giving me too much credit. I'm the one that wanted to go on this crazy train, both figuratively and literally.”

“Steven let out a soft smile, and took Pockets wildly, kissing her violently on the lips”

The duo looked at the source of the voice in shock and embarrassment, their faces completely red, while Frederick chuckled softly at his interruption. “By the way, I wasn’t really asleep, was hearing you two lovebirds compliment each other.”

Pockets smacked Frederick off the train seat he was laying at, as his face slammed the cold metal floor, almost leaving his smug mile printed in the metal, “We’re not lovebirds you idiot!”

Steven remained silent, as he hadn’t noticed the turn the conversation had taken. He took a good look at his pincers, he pretty much stroked Pockets’ head in an almost romantic fashion a few minutes ago. What was he even thinking?

“Excuse me” A deep voice interrupted from the door. The two blushed and got as far away of each other as possible, while Frederick checked his mouth to see if he didn’t have any missing teeth.

“Uhm yes, what can we do for you?” Steven asked, trying to regain his serious composure.

“I’m a representative of Mister Express Route, CEO of the train operating company, Express Route. We got a letter from the main offices in Canterlot. Mister Route would like to have a word with you.” The tall earth pony informed coldly, “Two staff members will lead you to his office as soon as you arrive to the city. So please follow their lead. Thank you.”

As swiftly as he arrived, the pony left the scene. And after all that had happened, Steven didn’t know what else to say, but sigh and look at the rising sun in the horizon. He wasn’t sleepy anymore, and as far as he knew, they had at least thirty more minutes before they reached their destination.

“I’ll go talk with Eric for a few minutes,” Steven sighed, before leaving the carriage. Pockets was still blushing, yet the red of her face turned from embarrassment to anger as she menacingly looked at the Sylveon that was once again up.


“So, everything is under control. We just have to accompany the ponies to the police station and give testimony of what happened. We also apparently need to talk with the manager of the train-line. But besides that, we’re all good”

The shiny Scizor had arrived at the carriage Eric was staying at not long ago, after making sure that everyone (with the exception of the grunts, and the carts that Fox had taken away) was okay: Steven had decided to have a small talk with the trainer that aided him on the battle. He seemed like the powerful yet still naive kind of trainer. He was stoic and heroic, but didn’t seem to think before acting, yet still his Pokémon seemed to appreciate him deeply, and the former Champion could see why.

“Steven….”

The Steel type looked at the Hydreigon with a raised eyebrow, as the tone of his voice seemed to indicate some sort of worry. “Yes, Eric?”

“About earlier, sorry I screwed up.” Eric admitted, head looking downward miserably. “I really shouldn’t have...I didn’t really know what that ring did. If I had known….I should stop now, I’ll probably just try to think of some bad excuse.”

The Champion thought for a second. Before taking a serious look and looking at Eric in eyes, “You did what you had to do. You didn’t know what the ring did, but you knew Fox was involved and that she always means problems. You did a great job back there, I wouldn’t have managed to take down Gray Hat without your help. Given, you need to work some more, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

We’re all far from perfect, and we all make mistakes. But what’s important is that we fix those mistakes, and we try to improve, learning with every mistake. That’s the beautiful thing about errors, you can learn from them to become a better self. Like when you search a cave system for the first time, you’ll most likely end up in dead ends or natural deadly traps, but that’s part of the job, to find those and avoid going through them again. So don’t beat yourself up for a mistake even I could have made”

Eric straightened his head again, with a soft grin on his face. “.....you’re right. It’s better I shouldn’t sulk like that.”

“Great, anyways, now that the ponies in the train are all good, and the crew agreed to help with Gray Hat, I believe we’re going to split ways soon. It’s been a pleasure, Eric Angelo.” Steven advanced towards his cart, almost all pending business done, before being stopped shortly by the voice of the Hydreigon.

“Hey, Steven…”

“Yes?”

“…Do you mind if I challenge you to a battle, in the event should we meet again? I always wanted to challenge champions, both ex and current ones.” Eric asked almost shyly.

“I’m afraid that, I… can’t say no to that. After seeing your Volcarona in action, I’m sure it will be an interesting fight. But first, I’d need to reunite with my team, as Layton is the only one I’ve encountered so far. So if we ever meet again, I’d be glad to have a battle with you.” Steven kept going, leaving the cart to reunite with his group, and leaving that slight trail of sparkles distinctive of a shiny Pokémon.

The cart Eric was in went silent, before he left a confident grin. “....glad to hear that.”

Author's Note:

Second and final part of my crossover with A New Stage, and A New Dawn! Hoped you enjoyed them, and don't worry, next chapter is not far from done.

Writer's notes:

Uber Reaper - Ah, classic traintop battles, how I love to kick a crime lord’s ass like that alongside TDN and ThatOneVolcarona. First time I had a three-way crossovers, nevertheless, I enjoyed writing it with these two awesome authors. With that, I hope you all like this crossover as much as I do. Enjoy!

Tdn - I really enjoyed writing this collab, and I really enjoyed writing it with you two. You’re a ton of fun. Hope everyone likes this.

Me - This was extremely fun and exciting to do. These two guys are great, and this crossover just shows how awesome they are. Hope you all enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed writing it. Also, don’t you just love blowing up trains?

And there we go. Links to their pages and fics on the last doc cus me lazy.

Hope you enjoyed!

Wait... Another note?

Oh... oh god, oh no!

Bubba was here.

GOD DAMMIT