2. Catch Me If You Can2,137 words

4. Am I Wrong?

Below, below, far far below. You won't even see it coming.

While the land dwellers had three classifications of pony, the ponies who lived underwater were known collectively as Merponies, and split into only two persuasions: the seahorse-like Seaponies and the dolphin-tailed Hippocampi. They were ruled over by the benevolent, immortal Queen Oceania, who ruled over the tides and currents from a coral palace in the capital city of Marelantis.

But Rafe was an unusual case. At least, he was by the standards that merponies found unusual. While mixes between seaponies and hippocampi were biologically impossible because of the vast differences in seahorse (and by extension, seapony) biology, seapony and hippocampi marriages weren't unpopular. Therefore, it wasn't too far of a stretch when Rafe’s father fell for a clever unicorn, who let him see the world above the waves in exchange for him guiding her through the mysteries of the deep. The result of their union was a baby hippocampi with a tiny horn, already giving off sparks of magic not known to his father's people.

Magic was not unfamiliar the underwater world, but all merponies who practiced magic drew it from the bioluminescent glow of scales and fins, available to any merpony who lived underwater. In order to learn how to control unicorn magic, Rafe’s father taught him to float a merpony sized bubble of water in order to keep hydrated on land. Since then, Rafe carried himself to school every morning extra early to catch the unicorn magic classes taught nowhere else for dozens of miles. And now, he was on his last year. Once he graduated, he planned to go to Canterlot and become a great wizard, maybe even earn a position of power on either Celestia’s or Oceania’s councils if he played his cards right.

But for now, he was a high school senior. And a rather bored one, since he had already passed most graduation requirements. He did have his part time job on weekends, but as long as he still needed an extra foreign language credit he could only sit around the school grounds for four hours until the Prench language tutor showed up. He had to do this, and keep doing it every day till the end of the year.

But this morning, Rafe had other plans. He wolfed down the breakfast his father had put on the table, called a hurried goodbye over his shoulder and rushed out the coral fan door before he could be asked where he was in such a hurry to go.

Once he was out the door, the darkness of the night sea hit him like a cloud of octopus ink. Rafe had gotten up so early that the sun hadn’t yet climbed high enough in the sky to reach the seafloor. Normally, casting a simple horn glow spell was child's play, but Rafe was a bit shaken by the unexpected. Trying to keep his teeth from chattering from unfounded fear and an early-morning chill, Rafe lit his horn and struck out into the darkness.

The smarter nocturnal animals had turned in to sleep by now, but some of the more brave and foolish were still pecking around sleepily at imagined morsels hidden in the sand. These were used to merponies (even the glowing-like-a-unicorn kind) and payed him no mind as he passed.

The pokemon--as he had recently found they were called--were a bit more jumpy about weird glowing things on the prowl. They didn't wait for the light to fall on them while before they scuttled away from Rafe’s path.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, dappled rays poked through to the seafloor, where Rafe was nearing his destination.

The outskirts of the city of Marelantis were made of sprawling reefs growing on a limestone cave system. It was located two nautical miles south of the Hawhinny islands, but a northeast bound current helped shorten the trip there. For most, the only problem was waiting for the return current to clear up from traffic. Ever since Rafe mastered teleportation spells, he rarely ever used the crowd-clogged currents.

But that was before pokemon.

Rafe swam past the current’s underbelly, past the coral tower station where the bulk of traffic entered and exited the underwater highway. He stole past the winding lines and away from the grumpy, sleep deprived sea life and merponies either exiting or entering the fray. Rafe turned a corner, and the voices receded behind another pillar of coral growth. Rafe finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned his sights to a pokemon more beautiful and powerful than anything he had seen before in Marelantis. He slowly approached the sleeping serpent monster that he had left to wait for him yesterday night.

Its tail was a mosaic of brightly colored scales, and its body was a warm honeycream color that let its vibrant hues of rose and sapphire pop. She was asleep, her body curled around a half-buried rock on the seafloor, her snores scaring away curious fish and crabs.

She had introduced herself as Milotic in both species and nickname, once Rafe cast a translation spell on her. Everything about her was surprising; the way she looked, the way she spoke, the way she simply appeared in a flash of light right in front of his house and the doting way she had apologized for nearly giving the neighbors heart attacks. Milotic had quickly proved there was more than met the eye, as evidenced when she had been strong enough to convince a rampaging shoal of gyarados to leave town with just an introduction. Apparently she was some sort of deadly celebrity, as there were just as many gyarados who wanted her to sign their scales as there were fleeing for their lives.

But all of that was yesterday, and today this celebrity had a much more low-key day planned. Milotic slowly reared her head, letting out a stream of bubbles in a yawn.

“Good morning, Lady Milotic,” Rafe said with his most pompus butler voice and a sweeping bow. “I do hope you had a restful sleep.”

“As restful as I could, since I had to sleep on the floor.” she grumbled, missing Rafe’s joke entirely. “why can’t a lady rest on the waves without worrying about floating off? Damaging the coral structures indeed, why can't they just ask a corsola to repair it?”

“Do corsola really repair the skeletons of coral?” Rafe wondered, not quite expecting an answer and a bit too tired to process one.

“Well, yes. Did I not tell you about corsola yesterday?” Milotic began uncoiling herself from the rock, stretching out cramps. Milotic had encyclopedias of trivia about the pokemon world, which drew Rafe in like a magnet. “We were talking with your father and neighbors until nearly sunset if my memory serves me well.”

“I dunno. But we can discuss that when we’re in the current, right?” Rafe pointed upwards with a fin to the current flowing through the gaps in the reef. “I told you yesterday that I would take you to the islands of Hawhinny to look for your ‘human’ trainer.”

“Don’t say human in such an indignant manner.” Milotic huffed, following Rafe to the lifeguard station and waiting in line behind him. “They are most certainly real and when I find my darling Cynthia you will eat every word of those doubts you were spouting yesterday afternoon.”

“Who knows?” Rafe murmured, swimming past the much thinner lines for the station and picking out a blind spot where he could enter without the stationmaster seeing until they were already in transit. “We can find the most fantastic and mysterious things on the surface.”

“Why, yes we most certainly ca--Rafe?” but he was being whisked away by the current, off into the distance.

Milotic dove in, scattering fish and a particularly unlucky nurse shark. She pinpointed Rafe through the throng of their fellow highway patrons and coiled her body up so that the water would push her faster. Rafe watched with amazement as she caught up to him and uncoiled just enough to match his pace.

“Brilliant.” he laughed.

“Hmph. I like to think I still have my sea fins.” she said over the rushing water and sea life. Sleepy morning shift workers were entering the current from all angles, the ponies accidentally edging out shoals of fish by sheer numbers in their morning transit. Rafe ducked to keep his head from hitting a large sea turtle flanked by remora fish and more foreign looking remoraid pokemon.

The current rounded a bend and the entire reef came into view. It was a valley of coral and tropical fish, coral fan doors waving as underwater creatures of all kinds came out of their homes and hidey-holes to greet the morning. The sun's rays were finally strong enough to pierce through to the beds of coral, illuminating them into a forest of color that attracted shoals of fish and lazy reef sharks, and a bustling underwater city come to life. Milotic gasped, twisting her head left and right to take it all in.

Rafe laughed, but Milotic was too excited to keep up a stoic front. It was like bringing a land pony below the waves for the first time.

“Now,” Rafe said suddenly, as the view fell behind them. “we were talking about ‘corsola’, weren't we?”

Paige waited by the beach in the shade of an exeggutor, the only tree the other ponies were too scared to try and steal shade from. (the trick was, very obviously, to politely ask permission to sit instead of just plopping down wherever you liked.)

She stared around at the tourist ponies milling about, all on vacation to spend their earnings from their years of daily monotony. All of the islands had caught on to the arrival of pokemon like the flu, tourists treating them like fashionable new attractions and souvenirs and the locals cashing in any way they could, as store mascots and living curiosities. Even more bizarrely, a good portion of the pokemon seemed somewhat used to all of this attention. The ones who hadn’t already slunk away in search of peace and quiet acted like tourist attractions all on their own. They posed for pictures, let little ones ride on their backs within sight of their fascinated parents, and begged for snacks in return.

Paige was in no such situation. In fact, if her walking buddy didn't show up soon, she was going to be late to her daily cycle of tedium. She looked at a clock hanging over the lifeguard station and stood up.

“Argh, I’m late.” she said to no one in particular.

“Guuuuuu...” came the exeggutor’s faraway reply.

Paige cast one more glance to the miniature docks attached to the lifeguard station. Her friend usually came up out of the water from under there, preferring a spot to surface where he wouldn't disturb ponies and ponies wouldn't disturb him.

She sighed and turned away, unfurling her wings and waiting for the sidewalk to clear so that she do a running start.

“Oh, there she is, there-Paige! Paige wait up!”

Paige let her wings fall back to her sides. She turned around, and saw just the merpony she was waiting for poking his head out of the water.

Rafe’s horn glowed as he cast a lifting-liquid spell, collecting a bubble of water that rose over his head and floated his body up out of the water. He prodded his magic forward, ducking out from below the docks and floating to his favorite hippogriff.

“Mornin, Rafe. You're late.”

“Ah, what's one more tardy this late in the year? I’ve already been approved to my first choice.” Rafe seemed to swim through the air in his water bubble, paddling with his tail and angling his fins. He stopped just before the exeggutor’s shade. “And how do you do, kind ‘mon? Thanks for keeping my friend shady.”

“Gutor!” a pleased rumble came from the heads unseen in the branches.

“Talkin to pokemon now?” Paige asked walking out from the shade onto the sidewalk, carefully omitting that she had done the very same thing just minutes ago.

“Yeah, like--Milotic! Oh,” Rafe turned and rushed back towards the shore. “I didn’t cast her spell!”

“Who’s Milotic?” Paige called to Rafe’s retreating tail.

Rafe stopped just before the breaking waves, where the head of a beautiful sea monster poked out her head and giggled. Slowly, without Rafe’s spell, she slithered out of the water and into the air, coiling herself about a foot above the sand.

“Milotic?” she tossed her head and fanned herself with her peacock tail. “Ohohohoho! Why, that would be moi!”

“That’s amazing!” Rafe gasped. She gave him an elegant bow, then passed him to float to Paige.

Paige felt the slightest bit intimidated as Milotic stared down at her. “Oh, and you must be Rafe’s girlfriend! Such a pleasure.”

“I, uh,” Paige’s feathers wilted. “Pleasure to meet you, too, but, look I dunno what Rafe told you, but we're not…”

Paige faltered again as Rafe came back. “We--we aren't…”

“Hm?” Milotic blinked at Paige from behind her fan.

“Dating. Me and Rafe, we aren't...doing that.” Paige stuttered.

“Ah, but talking like Yoda you are!” Rafe pointed out.

Paige gave it a forced smile, but Milotic stayed hidden behind her peacock tail. That was weird, this new talking pokemon was weird.

Paige stretched her wings again. “Well, let's not waste any more time, huh? I’ve still got a spotless record to keep, you know.”

“Spotless?” Rafe snorted. “Since when?”

Paige playfully booped his nose with a knuckle. “You going to clown college or what?”

“Yup!” Rafe giggled in mock pride. “Going to the same clown college the rest of the Queen’s Council attended! And I’ll learn all of the finest tricks, making this mile high stack of voter complaints...disappear!”

That one got a chuckle out of Paige, and what might’ve been a smile from behind Milotic’s mask.

“Okay, but seriously, we should get going.” Paige flapped into the air. “I don’t mean to be rude, but we are already late.”

“Oh, yes, I'll be accompanying you to the police station, miss Paige. Rafe already informed you that I was looking for my dear friend Cynthia, of course.”

“He did?” Paige side eyed her friend.

“I did?” Rafe tapped his chin with his fin. “Well, I guess you mentioned Cynthia, but--”

“Then, naturally, you would bring me to a friend of yours that could help me, isn't that correct?”

Rafe wanted to retort with something, but his mind was buzzing with red flags. Milotic had barely introduced herself to Paige and she was acting all weird and demanding favors. Rafe had a feeling that this pokemon was more spoiled brat than she first let on.

But to his surprise, Paige smiled. “Sure, you can follow me to the station, and I'll walk you through reporting a missing pony when we get there. But we need to hurry up!” she called the last bit over her shoulder and took to the air.

“Right!” Milotic slithered after her. Rafe sighed and followed, imagining swimming over Hawhinny as he went after them.

The route Paige and Rafe followed each morning was well worn in their minds, a path they had been taking together nearly every morning for two or three years. Giving the tallest buildings in the skyline a wide berth so that they could fly a bit lower than most pegasus traffic had saved them from tardiness more than once. Milotic was unfamiliar with the imagined airway and trailed a bit behind, giving Paige and Rafe some room to talk.

“So, mind telling me about your crazy new girlfriend?” Paige said with the appropriate amount of sarcasm.

“Huh. Well now who’s making assumptions, you or her?” Rafe waited until she made a comically disgusted face at him before he took the conversation seriously. “I found her just the other day when I was coming home from school. She seemed safe enough to talk to and help out a bit, but now I'm having my doubts. Sorry about dumping her on your lap like this, by the way.”

“Eh! I deal with crazies like her for a living.” Paige checked behind her to see if Milotic had heard her. “Plus, she doesn't seem like a dangerous kind of crazy yet. Just a manipulating/self-absorbed kind of crazy.”

“And you're okay with that?” Rafe asked sheepishly.

“Almost every job in the world means you have to deal with annoying ponies and situations.” Paige shrugged. “At least my job provides me with a baton and handcuffs for when things get out of hoof.”

“...You’re not going to--?”

“Of course not! Violence is a last resort in every situation. It's illegal to use any kind of force unless you or somepony else is in danger. And, in Milotic’s case...”

“The worst she’s done so far is assume we were dating, huh?”

“And ask a police officer to help her find her missing friend.” Paige bumped Rafe with her elbow, splashing through the bubble to jab at his side. “Passive-aggressive, sure, but nothing in any way damaging. Now do you feel better about you making her my problem?”

Rafe could have retorted if Milotic’s voice didn't catch up with them just then.

“Wait! Wait for me, this isn't a race, you know!” Milotic was panting with exertion as the two mixed equines paused their idle chatter to regard her.

“Don’t worry,” Rafe called. “You and Paige are almost there.”

“So get going!” Paige would have slapped Rafe towards the school if he hadn't already been flying there. She stopped for Milotic and watched as Rafe waved his fin at them, then continued towards a building complex with a tropical bird mascot painted on the side and dozens of ponies filing into the entrance.

Milotic fanned herself with her tail when she finally caught up to Paige. She watched as her escort circled to the ground and let herself float down as slowly as she could.

“Hey, Milo! You coming or what?”

“M--Milo?!” Milotic nearly dropped out of the air. “What on earth is that kind of awful nickname?!”

“Short for Milotic?” Paige shrugged as she walked down the block, not even waiting for Milotic to catch up. “If you don’t like it, I could always use ‘Tic’.”

“That. Is. WORSE!” Milotic growled. “You have no right to refer to me in such an undignified way. Now say it with me: My-Low-Tik. Milotic! There can be no more elegant and beautiful name in the world to suit me, given to me by my darling Cynthia…”

Paige sighed as she rounded a corner. She didn’t mean to do that. But now she knew just how obsessed with beauty this sea monster was.

The police station was just across the street. Paige pushed the button to cross and half-listened to “My-Low-Tik’s” continuing rant. Soon she could push all of these pokemon troubles onto a pony who could add ‘Cynthia’ to the ever growing list of missing ponies (which may or may not serve pokemon, she was about to find out) and then go about her day as normal.

Or, as normal as things could get in her line of work.

Barodius’s attention flickered to the crystal tablet hanging on the wall of his spacious office. He set down the letter from the mayor he was reading and reached towards the light switch on his desk, turning off all the lights in the room with one click.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the purple dragonfire that burned within the crystal. It was as wide as two ponies and as tall as a minotaur, but looking at it from the side would reveal that it was only as thick as a bottlecap. And, unless you were in total darkness with the crystal, you would never begin to guess its fiery secrets.

The voice that had grabbed Barodius’s attention before crackled through the sounds of flames working through firewood. It was rasped and urgent, but subdued to authority just like anyone else under the iron hoof of Hawhinny’s Chief.

“M’ilord, m’ilord there is an extremely powerful pseudodragon entering this building. You must--”

“How did it get in?” Barodius said flatly.

The voice stuttered. “A-according to the badge, it was a Sergeant. Please sir, she's astronomically powerful and fully capable of undermining this entire--”

“And what is she here for?” Barodius sighed, unamused.

“A...missing pony. She's reporting a missing pony with Sargent Paige, the hippogriff. Sir, if she stays in this building too long she might sense us--”

“And if she is escorted right out, she won't have time to sense anything.” Barodius ripped open another letter. “Honestly, my dear, you can be so dramatic at times. All of this worry about a pseudodragon--not even a real dragon, mind you--and I barely heard a peep from anyone when I allowed an immortal psychic and aura sensing canines into the waiting room.”

“Ah,” the voice retreated, either relaxing or shrinking in dismay. “of course. Just like you let that same psychic and the aura-sensing pup leave about an hour ago.”

Barodius slammed both hooves onto the desk, rattling knick knacks and the pony behind the purple fire. “I did no. Such. THING.”

“Well, sir,” the shivering pony gulped. “They are at Mauna Kea at this moment. It's not as though they left the island, but--”

Barodius didn’t hear that far. At the mention of Mauna Kea he slammed his hoof onto the light switch, threw on his coat and stormed out of the office. He scattered ponies with just a glare and stomped past the door where Paige was having Milotic describe her missing friend to a bored pegasus behind a window.

Barodius burst through the front doors of the police station. He paused just then, seeing the twin mountain peaks rising above everything and everyone on the island. He sucked in a breath of clear Hawhinnian air and started towards the dormant Kea at full gallop.

At its base were two pokemon that had acted against orders, and Barodius wasn’t going to let them roam free.

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