Old Scars, New Chances

by Arcticbrony

Chapter 6

Zoey continued to hold Ethan as he cried. She remembered back to the time after he had saved her. He always looked so fine, like it never bothered him. He had always been strong for them, always been there for them when they needed it. He had done so much for them; it was her turn to be there for him now.

“Are you feeling better?” Zoey asked him when he eventually calmed down.

“Y-yes, a little… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, we all have our moments.” She smiled at him. “But this is still something you need to deal with.” Ethan tried to look away but Zoey used her paw to lift his chin and make him look directly at her. “You need to at least try… If you won’t speak to Officer Jenny about it and try to convince her properly that you did the right thing, then I will.” She needed Ethan to do this.

“…Not giving me a choice here, eh?” He let out a small laugh. “Alright, I will do it. But let me at least have a few hours’ time to get ready, and figure out what to say.” He really did not feel ready then and there, he needed the time.

“I think that’s fair,” Zoey smiled. “Are you going to call Chii back?” She asked. “I know you want to protect her from everything you can, but she really wanted to comfort you too, I think. She is almost too emotional for her own good.” Ethan knew she was right.

“Thank you… I really needed this.” He said before calling out to her. “Chii!” Mere seconds after he had yelled her name a pink fur ball slammed into his chest, and nuzzled herself as close as she could.

“Please don’t be sad.” Chii’s voice was muffled as her face was buried in Ethan’s chest fur. “I don’t like it when you cry.” She was shaking slightly as she spoke. Ethan felt bad as he held her, his episode must have really upset her.

“It’s alright, Chii, everything is okay now. I’m sorry you had to see that.” He waved Zoey in and hugged them both again. “I love you both.” They were his family after all. There was the possibility that his father made it to the new world too, of course, but the two of them never really spoke much anyway. At least not after Ethan became a criminal.

“I love you too.” Chii cheered happily as she had calmed down.

“Me as well.” Zoey added in happily. Though the love she felt for Ethan may have been a little different than what he felt for her. When she thought about it, he had never shown any romantic interest in anyone at all, and if he did, he had never talked to her about it. There was also the fact that he used to be a human. He was a Pokémon now but… Ethan had never seemed to disapprove of that sort of thing.

As she thought about it, she realized how little about Ethan she actually knew. He almost never talked about himself. She needed to figure out her feelings first and how to express them. This was the wrong time to do so anyhow.

Zoey glanced down at Chii. And she needed to make sure that she did not ruin everything. Chii had a knack for picking up on others feelings and Zoey was sure that she already knew about her crush on Ethan. Or maybe she could get Chii to help her out.

“What are we going to do now?” Chii chipped in, while they were hugging.

“Hmm… I don’t know.” Ethan said as he leaned back from the hug, letting Zoey and Chii go. “Do you have any suggestions Zoey?” He asked her.

“Well… you said you wanted to get more used to your body and learn some moves right? Why don’t we focus on that? It never hurts to be prepared after all.” she smiled sweetly at him.

“Yeah, that should give us something to do until Officer Jenny and Mary Care come back. I like it.” Ethan replied.’

---

“… I retract my earlier statement. I really don’t like this idea.” Ethan and Zoey stood facing each other a small distance apart. Zoey’s idea of training was pretty much real battle.

“Don’t be afraid, you should be much more durable now than when you were a human. Besides, learning with your body is the best and fastest way. Watch what I’m doing, and feel it when I hit you with it, then do it yourself. It was the same way my mother taught me.” Ethan wanted to say how much that explained about her, but he was afraid if he did then she would hit him. Scratch that, she would hit him anyway, but maybe if he kept his mouth shut then she would not hit him as hard.

“Can’t we just… I don’t know. Can’t I just watch how you do the moves and then try to do the same under your guidance?” He smiled hopefully.

“Well we could… but this is a much better method. Now, don’t try to dodge, see how I am doing the move and feel it with your body.” Zoey took a deep breath and dropped down onto all four of her legs.

“But I like dodging; I really like the sound of that.”

“No, now brace yourself. Quick Attack,” Zoey gave him a seconds warning before she began running at him. She suddenly began running much faster than normal; her body was almost giving off a slight glow. Ethan barely had time to blink before a purple and white blur slammed into his abdomen, throwing him to the ground from the impact.

“I thought you said that you would go easy on me.” Ethan complained as he held his stomach.

“I did go easy on you. Now you try.” She ordered Ethan as he stood back up, and dusted himself off. “Use the energy within yourselves and force your body to go past its own limitations. This should let you move much faster that you normally should. Now try!” Ethan understood the idea behind it, but understanding and doing is two different things.

Ethan began running at Zoey, faster and faster. He thought that he was moving pretty quickly, but it was not even close to the speed she had when she was using a Quick Attack. He braced himself for the impact, but Zoey easily hopped out of his path. As he was passing she gave him a hard smack just below his tail. She could enjoy herself during this training too after all.

“Oww, why did you hit me again?” Ethan complained as he rubbed the area in question.

“Because that was pitiful, did you not hear me? Use your energy to force yourself past your own limitations. Psyche yourself up if you need to, now again!” Zoey charged at Ethan with a Quick Attack once more. Ethan knew that she was coming; he tried to throw himself out of harm’s way, but it was futile. Zoey changed direction at the last moment and slammed into Ethan’s stomach once more.

“Y-you are…evil.” Ethan groaned out as he forced himself up.

“You were the one that wanted to do this, stop complaining. Now, do try it once more.” She commanded him.

By her orders, Ethan ran at her once more. He pumped his legs, forcing himself to go as fast as he could. But that was not good enough; she had said he needed go to past that point. He just had no idea on how to achieve that. Just like last time, Zoey avoided his attack at the last moment and slapped him under his tail as he passed her.

This continued for an hour, Zoey was enjoying herself immensely while Ethan was simply getting sore in certain places. He was lying on the ground after taking the last attack when he heard Chii speak up.

“Jenny, Mary!” He looked up to see that Chii was hopping happily around the two.

“We heard that something was going on in the park… I must say this is slightly amusing.” Officer Jenny grinned as she looked at the downed Ethan.

“Please help me. They are being cruel, even Chii won’t help me.” Ethan jokingly complained.

“… He sucks.” Chii’s words came down like a hammer upon Ethan. Why did she have to be so brutally honest?

“I… Um, what are you doing?” Mary asked as she trotted over to Ethan and helped him up.

“We were training a little. He wanted to see if he could use some moves, but I think we are done for now.” Zoey sighed out as she sent a glare at Officer Jenny. Ethan had ordered her not to harm her, but that did not mean that she had to like it.

“We were just training a little,” Ethan translated for Mary, since Zoey did not have the spell on her.

“It looked a little… rough.” Mary said as she looked Ethan over for injuries. But other than some small bruising and some dirt marks on his fur he was completely fine. Zoey had been going easy on him after all.

“No, no I’m fine.” Ethan reassured her. “We Pokémon are rather hardy creatures.” He said with a small laugh, he was hurting but there was no need to show it. “So, how did the relocating go? Any troubles on your trip?” He asked the two.

“Well… not really.” Mary Care started.

“Some ponies we passed got really nervous. I know they are new to Pokémon, but Lotads are some of the least threatening or scary Pokémon there is!” Officer Jenny sighed. She could not understand for her life how any person or pony with any amount of self-respect would be afraid of a Lotad. “So, you found another of your Pokémon?” She asked as she sized up Zoey.

“Ah, yes. This is Zoey… Do you think you could cast the translation spell on her Mary?” Ethan asked.

“Oh… I would love to, but I don’t think I have enough magic yet. I’m not that powerful a unicorn, I’m sorry…” Mary said as she hung her head. She was only a veterinarian after all, her specialty was in precision not power.

“No, no it’s no worry.” Ethan glanced over at Zoey who were having a staring contest with Officer Jenny. Neither of them was willing to back off from the contest of wills they were having. “She… why don’t you come say hello to Mary Care, Zoey!” Ethan pulled Zoey away from Jenny and over to Mary. “She helped us out when we got here; she even opened her home to us when we needed a place to stay.”

“… Thank you so much for helping them!” Zoey wrapped her arms around Mary and gave her a hug as she thanked her, much to Mary’s surprise.

“She can be a little… physical. She says thank you.” Ethan translated for her with a smile, as Zoey let go of Mary.

“It’s fine, she seems really nice.” Mary replied. “I really should get back to my clinic though… I’m already late enough as it is.” She really had a lot of paperwork backed up.

“Oh, I’m sorry for taking up your time then,” Ethan apologized, he was trying not to laugh as Chii seemed to have decided that Officer Jenny’s tails would be her new toys and was batting them around. Officer Jenny was doing a valiant attempt at dodging her but to no use; Chii had her right where she wanted.

“No… no, it’s alright. It was actually really interesting, Jenny told me even more about your world while we were walking.”

“I hate to ask more of you… but do you think maybe we could borrow your shower?” Ethan asked embarrassingly. “I got all this dirt in my fur while we were training and…” he let out a sigh.

“Sure!” Mary said with a smile. “I need to head to my clinic now, so just let yourselves in.” She handed a flabbergasted Ethan the key to her house.

“You… you are giving me the key to your house?” He asked surprised.

“Yes, I trust you after all. You seem like good ponies, Pokémon I mean.” She said with a smile as she corrected herself. “Just come over with the key after you are done. You can answer some more of my questions too when you come by, if you don’t mind.” She turned around. “You are all welcome to stop by too, of course.” She said to the others. “I’ll see you later.” she waved them all goodbye as she walked away from the park.

“She seems really kind hearted.” Zoey chipped in as they watched her leave.

“Maybe a little too kind...” Officer Jenny muttered, but not low enough that they did not hear it.

“And what is that supposed to mean!” Zoey said as she turned to Jenny and took a step towards her.

“I meant exactly what it sounded like. Or maybe you don’t know your trainer as well as you think you do.” Jenny spat back as she matched Zoeys advance.

“Oh you little…” Zoey was just about to unsheathe her claws, but Ethan stepped in between them.

“I thought I told you to behave, Zoey!” Ethan scolded her. “And I thought we had an agreement, or at least an understanding.” He went over and kneeled down to look into Officer Jennys eyes. “I behave… you behave.” Officer Jenny met his glance and held it for a few seconds, before looking away. She was a little ashamed at herself for not being able to keep her feelings under control, not that she would ever let Ethan know that, of course. She could not show any sign of weakness at all to them. “So are we good?” He asked as he stood back up and locked in between the two of them.

“…Yes.” Officer Jenny answered simply.

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Zoey answered. She knew that Ethan had said to her not to do anything to Officer Jenny. And since Ethan would attempt to set things right, it would certainly not help if she did things like this. But that did not mean that she could simply stand by and do nothing as someone insulted Ethan.

“Yeah, you should not fight…” Chii said as she hopped up on Zoey’s shoulder. “Officer Jenny is nice, you just need to get to know her.” she smiled and nuzzled against Zoey’s cheek.

“I’ll take your word for it.” Zoey nuzzled her back, looking over at Officer Jenny who had already begun walking out of the park.

“She just needs a friend.” Chii said as she hopped down and ran over to cheer up Officer Jenny as well.

“… Chii is insightful, you know.” Ethan said as Zoey looked after Chii and Jenny. “And quite possibly right about Jenny. She is still alone.” Ethan told her, remembering what Chii had told him when they were looking for Zoey. “It’s her job to hate me. She needs someone to be kind to her, give her some slack. At least until I have a chance to talk to her about… everything. Can you do that for me?” Zoey wanted to be angry with Ethan. He should hate that woman; she wanted to take him away. She wanted to take him away from her, from Chii, from family. But he only stood there with a big smile on his face. He was troubled because of the situation, because of what may happen because of Officer Jenny. But he still had no ill feelings towards her at all.

“…Okay,” she said with a smile matching his. It was silly of her to think that he would hate someone in the first place. “I still have to protect you though,” she said with a pout as the two of them began walking after Chii and Jenny.

“I thought that was my job.” Ethan said with a laugh. “… I’m happy I can always count on you.”

“Always,” Zoey answered happily as they walked to catch up to Officer Jenny and Chii.

The village was getting busier as they walked through it, a lot of ponies were out in the streets, and Ethan could see several pegasi in the sky, pushing clouds around. They caught up with Jenny and Chii in front of Mary’s house. Chii was sitting on Jenny’s back and both of them were looking much happier than when they left. Whatever Chii had done of said to her, it must have worked.

Neither of them said a word as they entered the house. Ethan did not want to ruin Jenny’s good mood by commenting on it or saying something by accident that would tick her off.

“You want to take a shower too, Chii?” Ethan asked after they had entered.

“Nah I’m good!” She smiled. She really looked fine, both her and Jenny’s fur were in perfect condition. It seemed like it was only Ethan and Zoey that needed it.

“Well you take care of Jenny here then.” Ethan told her. Chii smiled and nodded in confirmation. “I think it was upstairs… you coming Zoey?” he asked as he climbed the stairs, Zoey following close after.

The two of them entered the bathroom and closed the door behind them. They weren’t going to shower together, but Ethan needed to do a check up on her since she had been in a battle.

“Alright, take off your sweater.” He told her.

Zoey gripped the edges of her purple sweater and lifted it off to reveal what was underneath. Most of the fur around her chest area was gone, replaced by scar tissue. This was the reason Zoey wore her sweater; she was beyond embarrassed about her looks. Ethan and Vernus were two of the few that had seen her without her sweater on, at least willingly.

“You are sure that you are not feeling any discomfort after the battle you had with the Whiscash?” he asked her, as he traced his paw down some of the skin that was slightly discolored from the rest. It had lost its normal color and had taken a more grey hue instead. As far as he could see, it looked like it used to.

“No, I’m fine.” She reassured him. “If I weren’t then I would not have agreed to our little training session.” She had a point.

“I know, I just have to make sure. I’m sorry,” He told her as he stood back up. There had been no further damage and everything looked good, relatively speaking. “I care about you, so I have to make sure you are alright.” He smiled as he picked up her sweater.

“T-thanks,” Zoey replied as she fidgeted with her paws.

“I think I saw some sewing equipment downstairs, you take a shower and I’ll repair your sweater in the meantime. Enjoy yourself!” He gave her a big smile as he left and bathroom and walked back downstairs where Chii was playing with Officer Jenny’s tails. She was raising them and waving them around as Chii chased them, both of them unaware that Ethan was watching them.

“Having fun?” Ethan asked with a small grin, catching Officer Jenny by surprise, making her turn to him with an embarrassed look on her face.

“Yeah, we have been playing!” Chii said happily as she finally caught one of Jenny’s tails.

“She is a nice girl… reminds me about my Growlithe when he was but a pup,” Officer Jenny said as she looked back to Chii with a small smile on her face.

“Good to see that you are getting along,” Ethan smiled as he picked up the sewing kit that laid on the shelf where he had seen it earlier that morning.

“So, what are you up to?” Jenny asked him with a raised eyebrow as she watched him.

“I’m repairing Zoey’s sweater. It got a little banged up so I need to patch the holes.” Ethan answered as he got out the needle and thread he needed.

“… You can sew?” Jenny asked him surprised.

“…Yes I can sew. I will have you know, that I made this sweater in the first place.” Ethan huffed as he got to work. He tried to ignore the look he was getting from Officer Jenny though. “What?” he asked her.

“Nothing….”

Ignoring her Ethan continued. “Ow…ow… damn it.” He muttered under his breath as he kept stinging himself on the needle.

“I thought you said you know how to do that?” Jenny asked him, a smug grin visible on her face.

“I do… it’s just that these paws are a little different from my hands…” He still had fingers, so they were similar in some sense, but they were still different enough that he had some minor trouble.

“You know… if this keeps up, that sweater is going to be more red than purple,” Jenny teased him as she watched.

“I know what I’m doing!” He just had to get used to making the finer, smaller movements with his new fingers.

“… Why would a Zangoose wear a sweater anyway?” Jenny commented.

“We used to wear clothes. Why can’t she if she wants to?” Ethan replied. He was beginning to get the hang of it and was making good progress.

“Hmm I guess.” Ethan really was a bad liar. Officer Jenny could easily tell when he was hiding something; it was her job to tell when criminals were lying after all.

“…And done!” Ethan grinned when he finally finished patching up all the tears. He glanced over to Officer Jenny; she was certainly being friendlier towards him than at the beginning. Or maybe less hostile or neutral would be more correct. He still needed to figure out how to explain what he had done to her. Or rather how was he going to convince her that he had done the right things when he was not even completely sure on that himself?

Ethan got up and headed towards the stairs. He needed to bring the finished sweater up to Zoey, and maybe he could think better with some warm water pouring down over his head.

“Zoey! I finished your sweater,” Ethan called out to her as he knocked on the door. He could no longer hear the water running so he assumed that she was finished.

“Oh, thank you.” He could hear her answer from the inside as the door was unlocked and she opened it. She had a towel wrapped around her midsection and small amount of steam was rising from her fur; which was really unruly from her drying herself.

“Looks like you need this too,” He let out a small laugh as he handed her his hairbrush.

“Well I’d like to see you keep your fur in perfect condition right after you are done,” she said with a pout as she grabbed the two items and went downstairs.

Ethan sighed happily as he stepped into the room, locking the door behind himself. He almost shuddered in delight when he turned on the warm water from the shower, he had missed the feeling. His old secret base did have a poor excuse for a shower, but not any hot water. His long ears became heavy as the fur on them absorbed some of the water. Ethan let himself slide down the wall of the shower into a sitting position. He finally had some time alone to think.

Zoey was right; even though he deserved to go to jail, he could not just abandon her or Chii. Zoey could manage on her own, but Chii… He still had a job to do, a responsibility to her. He entertained the thought of convincing Jenny to go see Arceus with him, to let him decide his fate. But he was not sure he could do that, he was afraid. A murderer like him would most likely be smitten immediately; he was still convinced that Arceus must have made some kind of mistake bringing him to this world. If only since he still had to take care of Chii and Zoey.

He closed his eyes as the water continued to run down across his face. His first instinct was to run; it was what he had always done. It would be so easy to do, but he could not. He had to stop being so selfish, he lived for them. And it was time to face his problems.

But it was easier said than done. He was not a brave person, never been. He always had someone else he could rely on. Vernus had always been at his side, ever since the beginning. And then there was Brawly…

Ethan wondered if his childhood friend had made it to this world too. He had to have; Brawly was a good person after all, a bit stubborn at times, but a good person.

Ethan’s train of thought was interrupted by a loud knock on the bathroom door.

“Ethan? Are you okay? You have been in there really long!” He heard Zoey shout out to him. He had completely lost track of time it seemed.

“Yes, I’m fine!” he shouted back. “Just finishing up now!”

He turned off the water and exited the shower, steam filling the room and water dripping off his fur. When he grabbed a towel and started drying himself off, he found out that Zoey had been right. It was impossible to get his fur to look good right after having taken a shower. He had trouble just drying himself, the water just seemed so incredibly insistent on remaining in his fur. Admitting his defeat he dried himself as best as he could and wrapped the towel around himself.

When he got down, he saw that Chii had left Jenny and decided to spend time with Zoey instead. She was watching with jealousy as Zoey brushed her fur, the longing look in Chii’s eyes was a dead giveaway at what she wanted.

“Well look who brushed up nicely.” Ethan said, alerting the others to his presence as he walked over to the two.

“Thanks,” Zoey smiled as she continued.

“She won’t brush me next…” Chii complained with a small pout.

“Your fur is already fine, you don’t need it.” Zoey retorted. Chii knew that she did not need it, but that did not mean that she had to like it.

Ethan leaned close to Zoey. “Can you take Chii into another room? I’m going to talk to Jenny,” he whispered to her. There was no need for him to wait any longer; he was as ready as he was ever going to be.

Zoey did not say anything; she just looked at Ethan and nodded. “Come along Chii,” she said as she picked up her little companion and walked out of the room, despite Chii’s complains.

“You are up to something!” It was not a question, but rather a statement. Officer Jenny was watching Ethan carefully as he walked over and sat down in a chair opposite from her.

“I am, yeah.” He confirmed. He braced himself as he looked her in her eyes. “I need to talk to you.”

“… What about?” Officer Jenny was intrigued. She had thought that she had figured out what sort of person Ethan was. But he was not someone that would confront her alone like he was now.

“Its about Tarjei Elsioth!” The look in Officer Jenny’s face slowly changed from intrigued to anger.

“And what exactly do you hope to accomplish by talking about him!” he spat at him. He had already tried something like this when they first met in this world, she shot him down then and she would shoot him down now.

“…I don’t know.” Ethan sighed out. “I hope that if I tell you everything as it happened your view of me might change, that you might make different choices. Not everything is black and white, you know.”

“… Alright, I will listen.” She said, much to Ethan’s relief. “On one condition,” she got up and walked over to the door leading out of the room. “If you are going to confess, then I will not be the only one listening… no, Mary Care. You will tell both her and me what you have to say. That way, I get something out of this little stunt of your’s as well. If your goal was to convince me, then you should have no trouble convincing her too, right?” Jenny spoke with a grin. “She is at her clinic now, right? I’ll be waiting.” And with that she walked out, leaving a speechless Ethan alone in the room. He could hear her leave the house and close the door behind her. That was not how it was supposed to go at all.

How was he supposed to tell Mary Care that he was a killer? She had been so kind to all of them. Maybe running away was still an option. All he would have to do was…

Ethan stood up and ran out of the house after her. He could see Officer Jenny slowly walking towards Mary’s clinic in the distance. If things did not go his way then Officer Jenny would win. All she needed was one more person or in this case Pony, that knew his story. He knew what he had to do.

With a new plan in mind Ethan ran after Jenny. It may go badly for him, but he had a good plan for what he was going to do. Officer Jenny was a good person, she believed in justice above all else. Hopefully he could use that…

Comments

[V-Oblivion]

Now that is an unexpected but interesting turn.

[Raul]

Hey! Jenny made a good bargain there! Clever girl.

Can't say im not curious about this myself.

[Texus]

Chii had a knack for picking up on others feelings and Zoey was sure that she already knew about her crush on Ethan.

I think I hope that's not the chase, that Chii knows it already.

Normally it would probably not the best idea to have such a conversation at her working place, that could possibly distract her, especially if she is the really emotional version of the ponies.

[Nitro Indigo]

I think Ethan lying about Zoey's reason for wearing a sweater would have more impact if we didn't already know the real reason.

[Arcticbrony]

9185273
I never acually consithered that.