A New World, A New Family

by Lance Skyes

13. Reunions

Nana was awoken suddenly when he heard Drake shout and fall onto his face. The Tropius looked up to see Drake get rolled over onto his side and pinned by an invisible force. “Nana, I could use some-!” Drake started, however, he was suddenly silenced by whatever invisible force pinned him.

“Hold on, Drake!” Nana called as he tried to get up. However, just before he leapt into action, the entity that had attacked Drake came into view. It was a Zoroark… and she currently had her lips locked with Drake's. “It can't be…”

“Hell yeah it is,” another voice said from behind Nana. The Tropius turned around to see a Leafeon standing on his back. “You two didn't seriously think you could escape us by disappearing to a different planet, did you?”

“Ki?” Nana asked with wide eyes. “You… and Mangol… how did you find us?”

“Well, no offense,” Ki started as she leapt off of Nana's back, “but you aren't too hard to spot when you're in the air.” The Leafeon giggled for a moment before adding “Plus, the forest told me where you guys were.”

“Oh did it?” Nana asked. “Hmm… I wonder why I didn't bother asking the forest where everyone was…”

“Well it's a good thing one of us is keeping our head on in this crazy new world,” Ki said with a roll of her eyes. “I already asked where the remainder of our teams are, by the way. The only 'Mons that are in this forest that we haven't found are Marcus, Blitz, and Tiny. I'm afraid the rest of your team is somewhere else.”

“Actually, we know where almost all of our team is,” Nana replied. “We found Felix, Kanga, Roo, and Pinky yesterday, and they told us Tartar was atop a mountain around here.” The Tropius then smirked. “So, unless I'm mistaken, we've got six out of seven team members found, and that's counting Kanga and Roo as one. And you've only got five out of seven, right?”

Ki opened her mouth to respond, but closed it quickly when she realized something. “Uh...” she tried to say. “I mean... just you wait. It just so happens that Mangol and I have a good feeling about today. This is gonna the day when… well, something's gonna happen! I mean, we've already found you two. It's not even noon and we're on a roll.”

“Heh, don't count your Pidgey before they hatch,” Nana said with a laugh. “But seriously, it's great to see you and Mangol again.”

“Same for you two,” Ki replied. “And I'm sure Mangol and Drake feel the same way about each other.”

Meanwhile, Mangol had finally gotten off of Drake and allowed him to stand. “Mangol, I...” Drake tried to say, but he was rendered just about speechless. “I… I… How did you…?”

Mangol giggled. “I've forgotten how adorable you are when you stutter, Drake,” she said with a smile. “Let me guess. What you're trying to say is 'It's wonderful to see you again, Mangol!' Am I correct?”

“Ah… yes, that is,” Drake replied. He then recomposed himself and smiled. “I'd… been starting to think that thing back at Violet City was gonna be the last time we saw each other for ages.”

“Well, it has been almost a year,” Mangol replied. She then ran the back of her claw gently down Drake's neck. “For me, every day away from you feels like an eternity.”

“You make it sound like I haven't spent many a sleepless night wondering where you were, whether you were safe,” Drake replied with a smile.

“Now, I never said that,” Mangol said with a laugh. “Every night, I could feel you somewhere out there, I could feel you thinking about me… and I couldn't think about anything but you.” She then ran her claw further down the Ampharos' body, pausing for a moment to stroke his chest. “And each one of those nights, I couldn't stop thinking about Violet City, what would have happened had that Ranger not attacked our teams that day…”

“Oh, you mean…?” Drake asked. His yellow cheeks gained a slight tint of red. “Yeah, I… couldn't stop thinking about that either. You waited for me, right? You never got impatient and… found someone else?”

Mangol pulled Drake in for a kiss that lasted for a few seconds before she broke away. “For you, my one true love, I could wait an eternity and a half,” the Zoroark replied. “And I would never, ever, betray you.”

Right as Mangol said this, the two were interrupted by Nana clearing his throat. Both of them turned to face the Tropius, on whom's back Ki sat. “Sorry, I know you two were having that 'reconnection' moment,” Nana said, “but I thought you might be interested to know that Ki and I were on our way to regroup with the rest of our teams in Ponyville. The forest told us Marcus and Blitz were headed there, and if Pinky's in Ponyville, I can only assume Tiny's on his way as well.”

“Oh… great...” Mangol said, her ears drooping slightly. She looked over at Drake to hear his opinion. The Ampharos winked at her and turned to Nana and Ki.

“You two go on ahead,” Drake said. “Mangol's been through a lot lately, and she needs a loved one to 'comfort' her.” He stressed the word “comfort”, hoping Nana would get the message. The Tropius caught this and nodded.

“Gotcha,” Nana said. “Well, you two take all the time you need. We'll leave you be.”

“Mangol,” Ki called, “don't forget that thing I taught you. He'll appreciate it, trust me.”

“Ki!” all three of the other Pokemon shouted in unison.

“Yeah, we're outta here,” Nana said, deciding at that point that it was best to get Ki out of the area as fast as possible. “Don't feel obligated to catch up until you want to.” With that, Nana took off in his usual ungraceful fashion with Ki on his back.

After the two Grass-types left, Mangol and Drake sat there staring at each other for a moment. “Just out of curiosity,” Drake finally said, “what was that 'thing' Ki was talking about?”

Mangol sighed. “It's not for our first time,” she replied. “Later, I promise to show you. But for now...” The Zoroark reached up and pulled Drake into a passionate kiss.

Back in Ponyville, Felix was walking downstairs and yawning. “Oh man…” he said to himself. “I must have dozed off again. Sure hope I'm not too late to help with breakfast.”

“Sorry, but I'm afraid you are,” Lyra said with a smile as Felix walked by the kitchen.

“What?” Felix asked as he walked into the kitchen. “Sorry about that. I kinda…”

“Kanga told us last night,” Lyra replied. “I don't blame you at all for sleeping in.” Then, with a chuckle, she added, “But I would appreciate help with lunch and dinner.”

“Not a problem,” Felix said with a nod. “So… what's for breakfast?”

“Nothing really special,” Lyra replied. “Fruit and eggs.”

“Fruit and eggs…” Felix said thoughtfully. “You ponies seem to have a thing for fruit, huh?”

“That's a race of herbivores for you,” Lyra said with a smile. “You don't mind that, do you? I mean, since you're a plant and all, I don't wanna, like… eating fruit wouldn't be cannibalism for you, would it?”

Felix chuckled a little at this. “I don't think so,” he replied. “If I were to eat flowers, I think that would be cannibalism, but I think I'm good eating fruit and most vegetables.” The Meganium then looked down and sighed. “There's all these little things about my new body, and yet everything seems so… complicated.”

“Well don't worry, Felix,” Lyra said while placing a hoof on Felix's shoulder. “I'm sure you can get used to it.”

“Thanks Lyra,” Felix said with a smile. He then laughed a little. “If I'm having this much trouble, I wonder how Marcus is holding up. And I'm sure he and I aren't the only humans turned into Pokemon in this world. I wonder where they all are, how they're doing…”

“I'm sure they're fine, Felix,” Pinky called from the kitchen. It was then that the Slowbro walked out of the kitchen, levitating a bowl of fruit.

“Oh, good morning Pinky,” Felix said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“Calm down, Felix,” Pinky said. “I didn't even touch the food. It's all still edible.”

“Thank you, Pinky,” Felix said. “But don't think I'll let things stay that way. I am gonna teach you how to cook sometime.”

“If you say so,” Pinky said with a chuckle. Felix had been telling her that for the past three years, and not once has he gotten around to actually following through with this promise.

Meanwhile in the Everfree Forest, Marcus and Blitz were taking a stroll through the woods, having decided that just running towards Ponyville would be a bit much… for the time being.

“I think the first one to notice… this,” Marcus said while gesturing towards Blitz's midsection, “is going to be Pinky.”

“Yeah, that one's a bit of a loudmouth,” Blitz commented. “But I'm sure she'll be willing to keep her mouth shut if we just-” Blitz stopped mid-sentence and suddenly began looking around with a startled expression.

“Blitz?” Marcus asked. “What's wrong?”

“I feel something,” Blitz replied in an almost growling tone. “Something I haven't felt since…” Blitz trailed off as she continued scanning the area. “It's a presence… cold… lifeless…”

“You should know by now that I take those adjectives as compliments,” a voice said from above the two Rapidash. Marcus and Blitz looked up to find nothing but air, however.

“Aria, is that you?” Marcus asked. There was silence for a moment before Marcus felt a chill over his shoulder.

“You didn't think you could get away from me that easily, did you?” Aria asked as she made herself visible once again and appearing over Marcus' shoulder. Marcus leapt back in surprise, but quickly shifted gears and hugged Aria.

“It's so good to see you again, Aria,” Marcus said.

“Same to you, Marcus,” Aria replied as she returned the hug, doing her best to endure Marcus' flames. ”Why did he have to become a Rapidash?' she thought to herself. ”Why not a Zebstrika?”

Fortunately for Aria, Marcus finally released her. “How did you find us?” Marcus asked, entirely oblivious to the pain he caused Aria. (Not that she showed it.)

“I heard some rumors about this town that seems to be a huge magnet for chaos,” Aria replied. “Knowing you, I was sure you'd be the mayor of that town by now.”

Marcus chuckled at this. “Nope, not yet,” he replied. “Hey, wait a second, you haven't even flinched at the fact that I've been turned into a Rapidash. You aren't surprised or something?”

“I'll be honest,” Aria started, “if this one Jynx I ran into wasn't able to share her memories with me in order to explain that she was a human just a few days ago, I wouldn't have believed any Pokemon who claimed to have been human before. And even then, I recognized Blitz from a mile away, and after hearing about the humans turned into Pokemon, I hadn't a doubt in my mind that the other Rapidash she was with was you. Although… I think you would have looked a lot more adorable as a Zebstrika.”

“Hey, I'm cute enough as is,” Marcus retorted.

Aria simply giggled at this. “Sure you are.” The Froslass then looked over to Blitz, who had been silently glaring at Aria the whole time. “But enough about you, Marcus. It's Blitz who I wanna reconnect with most at the moment.”

“Dare I ask, what you want with me?” Blitz asked, not breaking her glare.

Aria took a deep breath, the air before her quickly freezing as she exhaled. Marcus had seen Aria do this only twice in the past. Once when she was about to ask Marcus to take her to the grave of the man she'd killed not long after she'd evolved and didn't know how to control her new powers, and once when she'd finally decided to stop pursuing the other Froslass who had tricked her into evolving when Aria was a Snorunt. What Marcus gathered from this was that, whenever Aria took a deep breath and froze the air as she exhaled, she was about to say and/or do something that was immensely difficult for her.

“Blitz…” Aria started, “from the moment we first met all those years ago, neither of us liked each other. At all. Can we agree on that?”

“Is that even a question?” Blitz asked.

“Yeah… I figured that much…” Aria said. “Do you know why I kidnapped Marcus that day?”

“I don't wanna stereotype you Ghost-types, but…” Blitz started, but she was cut off when she caught a nudge from Marcus.

”Don't,” Marcus said silently with his eyes before he turned to Aria. “I don't think you ever told us why you kidnapped me that day, actually.”

“I didn't?” Aria asked. “Then I suppose I should add that to my list of apologies I owe you. But we'll get to that later.” The Froslass shook her head before continuing. “I did, however, tell you about the man I killed when I had just evolved into a Froslass, right?”

“Yes,” Marcus replied. “You told me you had no control of your powers at the time. You weren't able to overcome your own instincts before it was too late for him. How come you're bringing this up?”

“And what does all of this have to do with what you want to tell me?” Blitz asked.

“I'll get to that part,” Aria replied, “but first, you have to know a little more about me than you already do. You see, Froslass are known for kidnapping travelers lost in snowy mountains and then trapping them. That doesn't mean we all do this, of course, but such a terrible thing is in our very nature. I'd heard of this when I was a young Snorunt, and I'd always wondered why. And… when I finally evolved… I understood.” Aria paused for a moment to wipe her eyes, where tears were apparently beginning to form. “You see, when I evolved—and I'm sure this happens to some other Ghost-type Pokemon—I… the Snorunt I used to be… she died. The second I touched the Dawn Stone, I died, and then I came back as a Froslass. And it felt… I could never describe it. It was just… horrible. Like I was being ripped from my own skin.”

“Aria… I had no idea…” Marcus said.

“That isn't all,” Aria continued, wiping more tears from her eyes. “After I'd evolved, I had all these new emotions, a new mind… like I wasn't myself anymore. I felt… sadness. Sadness like I never could have imagined before then. And I also felt cold, empty… and angry. Angry at what had just happened to me. I was angry that I'd lost my life. Instinctively, I needed something to direct my anger at. The first candidate for my rage: the living. I didn't want to hate the living. I knew that just because I was no longer alive, that didn't mean those who were still alive were to blame. But even still, it was like… there was this voice in my head, this other Froslass, a real Froslass who was talking to me while I was still a Snorunt under my new skin. It was filling my head with all these thoughts that weren't my own. Most prominently was hatred, and that overcame me. I tried to fight it for a few days, I'd secluded myself in a cave far away from my old home. I didn't want to hurt any of my old friends and family. I knew they'd fear the worst for me when they noticed I never came back, but… that's kind of what happened, isn't it? Anyway, I was in the cave, just laying there on the floor. I didn't have the energy to do anything else. And that was when he appeared.

“Wade Roberts, the man I'd kill within minutes of seeing him. He was just a tired traveler; he and his partner, an Umbreon, had taken shelter from a blizzard in my cave. I hid myself, of course, so neither one saw me at first. I did, however, watch them from behind a rock. As I watched them, though, I heard that voice in my head again. Filling me with all the rage and hatred I'd been trying so hard to suppress. I retreated back behind my rock and just sat there with my eyes closed and my ribbons gripped around my head. I'd done my best to shake all those thoughts out of my mind. I probably could have managed to do so, too, but…”

As I lay there, snuggled up next to Wade, I felt… some kind of presence. I could tell something was watching us, and its gaze felt cold. Not quite the same kind of cold as the air around us. No, I recognized this kind of cold. The cold, soulless glare of a Ghost-type. Of course, I'm not one for typism being a Dark-type myself, but I knew that only a couple species of Ghost-type Pokemon would be out here. Amongst those were Froslass, of whom I'd heard stories. Terrible ones. I looked over towards where I thought I'd felt the glare, and sure enough, I could sense some kind of movement in that direction. Quickly, I got up to see what there was.

“Gatsu?” Wade asked as I leapt off of his lap. “What's the matter?”

“I don't think we're alone in here,” I replied, even though he wouldn't have understood me. Instead, I turned forward and continued towards the rock behind which I thought I could sense the movement. I approached it cautiously, not knowing what was behind the rock. As soon as I got to the other side of the rock… I was honestly caught off-guard. It was, indeed, a Froslass, and a shiny one, at that. The shiny bit wasn't what surprised me, though. What surprised me was that she seemed to be curled up in a ball, softly crying and seeming to struggle with something. Now, I wasn't oblivious to the sort of thing I thought she was going through. It seemed she had some kind of internal struggle going on. I couldn't have said that I knew what she was going through first-paw, but I did help Nyx, Wade's Steelix who he received as an Onix from a friend, get through an altered mindset brought about by evolution. Being the good Pokemon I was, I felt like I should have tried to help this Froslass who was going through the same thing.

Slowly, I approached the Froslass. “Hello there?” I called. This seemed to startle her, and she tried to scoot away from me.

“S-stay away!” she said in an almost panicked tone. “I don't want to hurt you!”

“Woah, calm down there,” I said, moving my paw down in a calming way. “I don't want any trouble-”

“No, you don't understand!” Froslass said, turning away from me. “You… and your trainer… you need to leave! Now!”

“Look, miss… can I just call you Froslass?” I said, taking a step towards her. “I won't pretend that I know first-paw what you're going through, but I do know what's wrong with you. I understand that you don't feel like yourself anymore. Like you're an entirely different Pokemon. I have a friend who went through that same thing, and I helped him. I wanna help you, too.”

“NO!” Froslass shouted as she blew me back with a Powder Snow. I took the hit and was skidded backwards, but I kept on my paws. I looked up to see that her expression had changed. There was something different in her eyes. I could sense anger, hatred. They weren't there before. And as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared, and Froslass returned to her timid and scared state. “Please… you have to go away. I can't control myself. There's someone else in me, and she hates you and your trainer. I can't fight her, but I can give you a chance to escape. You can't help me. No one can. Just go away and I won't be able to hurt you.”

I stood up straight, steadfast, and looked at Froslass with a determined expression. “No one is ever beyond help,” I said. “Nyx wasn't, and I know you're not. If you'll just give me a chance-”

“GO AWAY!” she shouted, attacking me with Ominous Wind. I had a resistance to Ghost-type attacks, but for some reason, this Ominous Wind was strong enough to blast me backwards into the wall of the cave. As I slid down to the floor I saw that Wade had gotten up and ran over to me.

“Gatsu! Are you alright?!” he shouted as he did his best to run over to me despite being so cold from the blizzard.

This was his big mistake. I was stunned from impacting against both the wall and the floor, and unable to save him when I saw Froslass get up, her eyes once again full of that hatred, and turn her attention towards Wade. I didn't see any remorse or regret in her eyes. Just… hatred. I tried to reach out, but I wasn't able to before she attacked both me and Wade with a blast of Icy Wind. Instantly, Wade moved in and tried to shield me from the cold.

“You should have fled when you had the chance,” Froslass said as she ended her attack. Wade got up and looked over towards her. By the look on his face, I guessed she was speaking through some kind of telepathy. I'd been practicing that so that Wade could talk with me and the rest of the team easier, but I had no such luck. “You should have left me here so that I wouldn't have had the chance to hurt either of you. But I can't fight her anymore. She's filled me with all this rage, all this hatred, hatred I don't want to have… but it's there, and it's consumed me. You can't help me, and I can't help you. Now you both are going to die… and I'm sorry for that.”

“Froslass, you don't have to do this,” I pleaded. “I can help you. And Wade can too. Our whole team, we'll do everything in our power to help you. You don't even have to join us. We can just-”

“NO!” Froslass shouted. “IT'S TOO LATE FOR YOU!” She then attacked with a Shadow Ball that exploded between Wade and I, sending us flying across the cave in different directions. I tried to get up, but I couldn't. I was so cold, and I'd already been hit several times. All I could do was lift my head and watch as Froslass approached Wade. I could feel my strength fading fast, and I felt like I'd black out in a matter of seconds. Through fading eyesight, I saw Froslass hover over Wade's downed form. The last thing I remembered was Froslass attacking Wade with another Icy Wind… and then I blacked out.

“Oh my Arceus…” Blitz said as Aria finished telling her side of the story. “I had no idea… I thought this whole time you were just- Ow! Marcus, quit it!”

“Then don't say any of the rude things I know are on your mind,” Marcus replied as he returned his foreleg to the ground after nudging Blitz. “Please continue, Aria. Whatever happened to the Umbreon?”

Aria took a deep breath before continuing. “After I… after I froze the trainer over, I moved on to the Umbreon. I was about to kill him, too, but I was able to stop myself with a last surge of reason. It was then that I looked down at the Umbreon, who I'd knocked unconscious, and I asked myself 'What have I done?' I'd already taken a life, like the other Froslass took mine and so many others. All too late did I realize that I didn't want to live like she did. It was too late for the trainer since I didn't know Will-O-Wisp at the time, but I knew that I wanted to give the Umbreon a second chance. I picked him up and quickly flew towards a Pokemon Center near the base of the mountain. I couldn't have gone inside, that would entail me having to face the Umbreon when he woke up. Instead, I left him at the front step and banged on the door several times before retreating and hiding so I could make sure Nurse Joy came out and found Umbreon. Sure enough, she came, and quickly brought Umbreon in. I wanted to stay behind and make sure he was okay, but I couldn't. I killed his trainer. There was no way I'd be able to face him. On the other hand, there was no way I could go back to my cave for at least a week. I knew that Umbreon would lead someone back there, where they'd find Wade Roberts' body. And I also knew they'd find a way to communicate with Umbreon so that he could ID me. Instead, I spent several days just wandering the mountain. I didn't sleep or eat at all the whole time. I just moved aimlessly, like I was on autopilot. I don't know when it was that I'd finally collapsed, but when I finally came to, I was in that cave you and Blitz would find me in just days later. I was weak, tired, and shaken. I didn't move from the cave, I hardly even bothered to get up off the ground for several days before I finally just gave up. I'd decided that there was already blood on my ribbons, so there was no other choice for me. I wouldn't fight the voice in my head any longer. I was a killer, and I'd just have to come to terms with that. The next day, I went out and found you two… and then I think you know the rest of the story after that.”

For the longest time after Aria finished her story, none of the three Pokemon said anything. The only noises were the various distant sounds of the forest and the gentle crackling of Marcus' and Blitz's flames. After a while, Marcus walked up and hugged Aria again. “I'm so sorry, Aria,” he said, almost crying himself. “I never had any idea…”

“Don't be sorry, Marcus,” Aria replied, this time completely ignoring Marcus' flames and returning the hug unflinchingly. “If it weren't for you, I would have stayed the same for my whole life. I'm thankful that I nearly killed you. I know that sounds evil and sinister, but I mean it in a good way.”

“I know you do, Aria,” Marcus said. “And I'm glad I could help lift you from that terrible life.” Marcus then looked over at Blitz, who had just stood there for the past couple minutes, doing absolutely nothing but watch. And honestly, Blitz didn't know what to do. For over five years, Blitz saw Aria as nothing but this soulless ghost who had attempted to murder the love of her life. Marcus was able to forgive the Froslass, and the rest of the team welcomed her, but Blitz was always on the defensive. That was just the kind of mate she was, protective of Marcus to a great extent. But now… even Blitz had no choice but to look past Aria's ghostly outer form and see a damaged soul beneath.

That didn't mean Blitz liked Aria all of a sudden by any means, but for the first time in ages, she felt sympathy for the Snow Land Pokemon.

“Aria…” Blitz said, but she wasn't able to say anything else. She was at a loss for words. “I…”

Marcus released Aria and allowed her to float over to Blitz. “Blitz…” Aria said, “there's a reason why I told you and Marcus all of this.”

“Aria, before you say anything, I have something I need to say to you first,” Blitz replied. “I wanted to apologize for how I've treated you ever since we've known each other. Sincerely. I had no idea what was beneath the surface you've tried to paint.”

“You really mean that, Blitz?” Aria asked, seeming legitimately surprised at Blitz's apology. “Th… thank you. It means a lot to me. But there's still something I need to tell you. Both of you.”

“What is it, Aria?” Marcus asked.

“It's about where I woke up in this new world,” Aria replied. “But it starts at something that I've never told anyone ever before. Far deeper into my past. As I said, I died when I evolved, and after that, I had a… a fear of a second death. I thought it was irrational for a while, but then there was that incident where the Ranger Union put me on death row for the crimes Lassie committed. I was actually faced with a second death… and I was terrified. I didn't think I could have been faced with a worse fate… until a few days ago when I woke up in this world.”

“What do you mean by that?” Marcus asked.

“I'd… heard from this Glalie…” Aria started. “Where I woke up, way north of here in a snowy land, there was some kind of monster attacking Pokemon. It even possessed one Gengar and forced it to do unspeakable things to a kingdom of crystals. I don't know how many inhabited that city. I fled just before that ordeal was confirmed to be over. The whole time, I was thinking to myself, 'That could have been me. That Gengar was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What if I was in the wrong place at the wrong time? That thing could have attacked me.' Then I wondered, 'No one would have known it was me. No one would have known that I'd been attacked and possessed. I don't know if even Marcus would believe me, provided I ever woke up. Oh Arceus, Marcus is probably still wondering where I am, somewhere on the other side of this world. And he'd never see me again. Nor would anyone else.' And that made me realize… how important you are to me, Marcus. You, the rest of the team…” Aria turned to Blitz. “Even you, Blitz. We might not like each other, but you're still part of the family who took me in when I was at my worst, and brought me up to my best. And that made me think to myself…” Unless Marcus was mistaken, he could have sworn he noticed Aria smile a little here. “When was the last time I actually thanked you?”

Everyone was silent for a moment before, strangely enough, Blitz was the one to break first. “Dammit, this is the part where I hug you, isn't it?” she asked. Without waiting for Marcus' glare, however, the female Rapidash walked up and hugged Aria. “I'm sorry you had to go through everything you did.”

“Thank you, Blitz,” Aria replied. “And I'm sorry for everything I've put you through over the years.” Aria then noticed something and began chuckling. “Are you crying, Blitz?”

“What?” Blitz shouted, quickly releasing Aria and wiping her eyes. “Of course not! I… got something in my eye, that's all!”

“Admit it, you're starting to care about me,” Aria said.

“Aw, Blitz,” Marcus mockingly cooed. “I knew you had feelings under that tough exterior.”

“I…” Blitz tried to defend, her cheeks gaining a twinge of crimson. “No, I…”

Marcus and Aria laughed a little before the former put his foreleg around Blitz. “I'm just teasing you, honey,” he said. “But for real, thank you for giving Aria this second chance.”

“Eh… thanks,” Blitz said with a slight smile. “In a desperate attempt to change the subject, shouldn't we be heading to Ponyville? Felix and the others are probably wondering where we are by now.”

“Yeah, I think you're right,” Marcus said as he released Blitz. He then turned to Aria. “We found Felix and some of his team, by the way. They're in Ponyville, a town not too far from here. They also seem to have made some new friends since we last saw them.”

“Yeah, I took a peak at them when I arrived before sunrise,” Aria replied. “I'd have said hi, but I wanted to find you two first. Two ponies named Lyra and Bon Bon, right?”

“Yes, actually,” Blitz replied. “How'd you figure-” Blitz stopped herself before she finished her question, but it was too late.

“Ghost-type abilities, remember?” Aria said. “Also Pinky sensed me outside and shared a couple minor details. Or was it Shelly? Eh, whatever.” Aria shrugged before continuing. “Sure, let's get going.”

“Okay,” Marcus said as the three began walking/floating. “Oh, and just a heads-up, there's a chance Lyra and Bon Bon will freak out a little when they see you. From how I've noticed most ponies have been reacting to Pokemon, I think a Ghost-type like you will be one of the most… 'out there' for them, for lack of a better term.”

“Oh?” Aria asked.

“No, I will not let you scare them,” Marcus said sternly, sensing the evil idea forming in Aria's mind.

“Fine,” Aria grumbled as the three continued on towards Ponyville.

I awoke slowly, not entirely sure what was going on around me. For a moment, I could have sworn I was dead. Where I lay was soft, the lighting around me was far too bright as I opened my eyes, and the last thing I remembered was the Froslass killing Wade and coming for me next.

“Wade!” I shouted as I jolted awake and leapt up from my laying position. From this vantage point, I could tell that I was in a mostly orange room, atop a bed with blue sheets. The temperature was rather warm, which felt a little comfortable despite how much I enjoyed the cold, but despite this, I felt a serious chill within me, and it was this chill that suddenly sucked all the strength from my legs and sent me back onto my side on the bed below.

Right as this happened, a door on the far side of the room opened, and a human accompanied by a Blissey ran into the room. Right away, I recognized the human as a Nurse Joy. “Oh no!” Joy shouted as she ran up to me. “I'm glad you're awake, but you need to take it easy.”

“What… what's going on?” I asked as I lifted my head off the ground, which seemed to be all I could do at the time.

“You're in a Pokemon Center,” Blissey replied. “Can you use a psychic translator or telepathy to talk with Nurse Joy?”

“I… no, I can't,” I replied. “I've been trying for some time, but-” I cut myself off mid-sentence and shook my head. “I'm sorry, can you please explain to me what's happened?”

Blissey looked up at Nurse Joy and shrugged before turning back to me. “Okay, let me try to explain,” she said as Nurse Joy bowed and left the room. “We found you lying unconscious at the front door three hours ago. You looked badly beaten, and you had serious hypothermia, so we brought you in and put you in here, where we've healed you as best we could, but you're taking a long time to thaw completely.”

“My trainer and I were attacked by a Froslass,” I said. “And she… she froze him. She froze Wade.” I began to tear up and raised my voice. “We need to go back and find him! I need to make sure he gets medical attention too!”

“Calm down… I'm sorry, I don't know your name,” Blissey said, trying to speak calmly.

“Gatsu,” I replied. “My name is Gatsu.”

“Gatsu…” Blissey repeated. “I'm sorry, Gatsu, but we don't know where your trainer is. Like I said, you just appeared.”

“We were in a cave,” I said. “I know that doesn't narrow the search area down much, but… but I have to try.”

“I'm afraid we can't,” Blissey said while shaking her head. “A huge storm rolled in an hour ago, and it's not gonna pass for a while. We can't go out.”

“But…” I started, but I didn't say anything else. I could feel the world around me crashing down. Blissey said something else to me, but I didn't hear her. My body went numb, and I fell back to my side. Wade was dead. There might have been a glimmer of hope for saving him before, but with this blizzard, there was no way I could get to him in time. My trainer, my best friend, had been ripped away from me. And it was all because of that Froslass. The one I tried to help.

I mumbled something. I'm not even sure I understood what I said at the time, and Blissey certainly didn't. “What was that?” she asked.

“I said…” While getting back up on all fours and donning a serious expression, I repeated, “I'm going to kill that Froslass.”

Author's Note:

Only just now did I realize that the only two Eevee-loutions in this story are named after Japanese words for what they represent. ("Ki," meaning "tree," and "Gatsu," meaning "moon.") I might do this a couple more times... or not...
Speaking of Gatsu, if that last sentence he said wasn't indicator enough, I'll go ahead and tell you that we will see him again.

Derpina-mon 420 commented 6h 9 m in the future:
But why did you have some of those scenes told from Gatsu's perspective?

>>Derpina-mon 420 Well I couldn't tell them from Aria's perspective, or I wouldn't have been able to do that last scene.
Anyway, this is where the real story begins to be told, so make sure you pay close attention from here on out.

Comments

[Lance Skyes]

6140361 Technically, it was Markiplier in general who I brought up here. FNaF just happened to follow along. Sorry.