Chapter 2 – Company Kept
At Aether Paradise, Sun and Lusamine looked at Equestria’s solar system through the large pool in their lab, which was conjured up by Solgaleo and Lunala.
“When should we go and explore it?” Lusamine asked.
“I want Solgaleo and Lunala to try and pinpoint this solar system’s location,” he explained. “Our progress already gets set back every time one of them tires out, and then we essentially have to start from scratch again.”
“But we’ve gotten so close this time,” Lusamine said. “Surely an extra ten minutes looking for it again won’t make a difference.”
“That’s ten minutes we lose getting to explore the solar system in depth. Lusamine, I know how much this stuff excites you, but I want to make the best use of our time, and most importantly, Solgaleo and Lunala’s energy.”
Solgaleo let out a tired whine, followed by another from Lunala. Lusamine and Sun looked in each other’s eyes; a point had been made.
“I understand,” she said. “They can rest for today.”
“Thank you.” Lusamine left, leaving Sun on his own with the two beasts. “Solgaleo! Lunala! You can stop now!”
The entire image of the solar system and the space around it began to glow until it became the milky-blue surface which soon after dissolved into clear water.
“Jets off,” Sun ordered further.
The whir of the machinery wound down, as did the water in the pool, and Lunala and Solgaleo let out a big stretch and removed the electrodes from their heads with their psychic abilities, fully out of their astral trance. Sun approached Solgaleo and gently laid his hand on its shoulder.
“We’re getting closer there, pal. Soon we’ll get to see what’s in there for real. Sound exciting?”
Solgaleo purred as it rubbed its metallic mane into the side of Sun’s head. Sun took its Poké Ball from his pocket and aimed the center at the Pokémon.
“Atta boy,” he cooed as he returned Solgaleo inside of it. Lunala floated up to Sun, the two looking at each other from their respective heights. “You’re doing good too, Lunala. I’m certain we’ll get there sooner than later.”
Lunala nodded in agreement as Sun took out a second Poké Ball and returned it inside. Sun walked up to Wicke who stood by her computer and handed her the two Poké Balls. Past Wicke’s head, he glanced at Lusamine standing at the balcony. Returning his focus to Wicke, he released his grip of the two Poké Balls into hers.
“Get them to Lillie right away for a small nap,” he said. “I want to see if they’ll be ready for another go later today.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” she responded. “They’ve already done so much today.”
“I know. We’ll see how they feel in a few hours. If they’re not up to it, it can wait until morning.”
Stepping back, he turned around and walked back towards the pool. Wicke made her way towards the lift, watching as Sun circled the outer edge of the pool, inspecting the waves that still sloshed inside the water.
Twilight and Spike stood before their round table with the two Equestrian princesses, Celestia and Luna on either side of them. Celestia’s mane was long, striped with hot-pink, lime-green, light-purple, and cerulean that seemed to blow in a non-existent wind, while Luna, who appeared only a bit bigger than Twilight, had a coat of dark blue, while her mane was a sparkling deep-sapphire color that moved like the other’s.
Both of their regal jewelry, a tiara and broad collars each, matched the marks on their rumps. For Celestia, whose mark depicted a large sun, her jewelry was made of gold, and for Luna, which appeared as a black splotch with a white crescent moon, hers was black as obsidian.
Much to Twilight’s dismay and embarrassment, the Equestrian map on the table appeared to be normal. The other two alicorns also looked disappointed, but more at the lack of any phenomena than with her.
“And you said there were four islands?” Luna asked.
“I’m certain there were,” she replied. “I just don’t understand why it decides not to happen when you two show up.”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about us not believing you, Twilight,” assured Celestia. “I can’t see any reason for you to lie about this. Now, how long has this been happening?”
“About a week. It started off where the islands appeared for only a second, and then disappeared, and I thought nothing of it, but recently, it’s been getting to the point where it will stay up for nearly an hour. I’ve done as much research as I could about these islands, but not a single book or scroll in my library makes any kind of reference to them. My next step was to see if anything existed at the Crystal Empire Library, but I wanted to ask you first about any knowledge of the islands before I have to take such a long trip out.
“Unfortunately,” Luna said, “we haven’t been able to see these islands for ourselves, so we really can’t know if they look familiar unless we see them ourselves.”
“Here!” Spike said, producing a rolled up paper in his hand. “Twilight drew those yesterday when the islands were there. The sketches are a little rough. No offense, Twilight.”
“None taken,” she casually said.
“But I suppose it’s better than nothing.”
Celestia unrolled and levitated the image for her and Luna to see. The drawings weren’t too terrible; the outlines were pretty well rendered, but there was very little in topographical details to be seen. It didn’t take either of them long to come to a conclusion.
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Celestia said, “but I’m afraid I’ve never seen these islands in my life.”
“Neither have I,” Luna added. “Though, perhaps the Crystal Empire Library would be a good next step. Considering that most books in there are from before when the city vanished, the islands might be more familiar to them. How soon do you plan to take a train there?”
“I actually wasn’t. Starlight also expressed concern that whatever this island is, or whatever’s on it, could be a threat to Equestria. I’d rather I’d be here with my friends should something bad happen and we need to face it. I’ll send Cadance or Sunburst to find as many books about the islands as possible and bring them to me.”
“If anything does happen,” Celestia said, “please do write to us, and we’ll be there as fast as we possibly can.”
“Thank you, Princesses,” Twilight said with nod of her head.
The two alicorns nodded as well before turning and walking out into the chambers. Twilight went over to her throne and sat at it, watching the map intently.
“Spike,” she said to her draconic assistant, “please bring me some paper, some ink, and a quill.”
“Yes, Twilight,” he replied, running off.
Twilight didn’t even look to him, only kept her eyes firmly at the center of the table.
Sun threw his lab coat off behind him and tossed it onto his bed, revealing a light-grey t-shirt and a pair of white pants with two large pockets on each thigh. Kicking his boots off, he was finally able to shed himself of his shirt and his pants and stretch his body. Though he hadn’t been out training for over five years, Sun still looked remarkably fit. Standing there naked save for his socks and black underwear, he could have lived a comfortable alternative life as a model, at least, according to the young woman standing in the doorway. Sun turned around to see Lillie standing stiff as a board, blushing profusely.
“Ahaha, Lillie,” Sun nervously stammered as he grabbed his lab coat and wrapped it around his waist like a towel. “What– Why– How–”
“The…” she tried to say, stepping inside, “door was left open. You should try and be more mindful of that when you change.”
“I mean,” he said, having calmed himself, but still catching his breath, “what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring Solgaleo and Lunala?”
“Wicke said she could look after them for me and gave me a break.”
“Oh, I see.” Sun walked to his dresser and pulled out the center drawer, which was filled halfway with breathable athletic shirts and nylon shorts. “I was just going to the gym to work out. How long was your break?”
“Listen,” Lillie said as Sun fished out a dark blue shirt near the bottom of the stack, “I heard Wicke saying when she came down with the two that she hoped they’d be ready for another excursion tonight sometime.”
“I also told her that if they weren’t up to it, we could wait until tomorrow.” Sun slipped the shirt on, and it fit a little snugly. “Then again, if Solgaleo and Lunala are really are up to it, I want them to at least practice starting our excursions beneath that solar system so we don’t waste anymore of their energy trying to find it again.”
“That’s fine,” Lillie said, “but after what I saw my mother turn into when we were children, it’s just that I don’t want that happening to you, her again, or anyone else, for that matter.” Sun grabbed his shorts, but stayed still as she continued talking. “With mother, it started off with a couple of extra experiments to staying up late at night to missing some nights entirely.”
“Lillie, are you–”
“No, I’m not implying you’re turning into my mother from back then. We’ve never done two excursions in a day before, and I just want to be sure that Solgaleo and Lunala don’t get hurt by what we’re doing.”
Understanding her view, Sun put his shorts on with the lab coat still tied at the waist. Untying the sleeves and letting it drop to the floor, he pulled his shorts all the way up.
“Your mother’s obsession with the Ultra Beasts is still something I don’t like to remember. I don’t think I could continue working with the Aether Foundation if I knew I was hurting Solgaleo and Lunala in any way to do all this. I know how special they are you, and they mean the world to me too. They’ve grown so much stronger since they helped us save your mom and seal the Ultra Wormholes she opened. You’ve grown much stronger too, you and your Z-Powered form.”
Lillie, a subtle grimace on her face, took her eyes off of Sun and ran her fingers over her hair above the right ear. She knew she was meant to be flattered, but she wasn’t sure how well Sun meant by saying that.
“Tell you what,” Sun added, stepping closer to her, “when Solgaleo and Lunala wake up from their nap, I’ll let you make the decision of what we do tonight. They are as much your friends as they are mine, and you have every right to determine what’s right for them as I do. Just say the word, and I’ll either let it happen or not.”
Lillie, now looking up at Sun, smiled with assurance. Leaning into him, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head into his chest.
“Thank you, Sun. I also want you to know that I’m just as excited to see what’s out there as you are, but if we need to, we can wait one more day. We have all the time in the world.”
“Yes,” he responded, returning the embrace and rocking side to side with her. “All the time in the world.”
Sun then surprised Lillie by taking her hand and transitioning her into a dance. The two looked into each other’s eyes, almost as if asking each other how after all this time and all that they’ve done and been through, they could still be so lucky to end up together in this moment.
“I need you to let me go now,” Lillie whispered.
“Huh?”
“I need to get changed into my work-out clothes.”
Sun smiled a happy, toothy grin as he slowly twirled Lillie around and let her go. “I’ll see you down there.”
He stopped midway through the doorway, turning his head to see Lillie taking her lab coat off. Once she took off her blouse, the only other thing keeping her torso clothed being her bra, he suddenly sensed someone watching her, and she turned to ensure the door was closed herself. She smiled to see both the door closed and Sun no longer there, providing her with greater security to take off her boots and pants.
Sam took the pitcher from the table and filled as much of his glass with the remainder of the lemonade inside as possible, getting it just below halfway. His Honedge floated beside him trying to rub the bits of sauce from the chicken still caked on its cloth limb on its blade. Alice cradled her Noibat with her left arm, who appeared to be still with a smiling mouth and a full tummy.
“So,” Kukui said, leaning back in his chair, “how did you like your first taste of Alolan fare?”
“Everything was delicious,” Sam said before taking a gulp of his refill.
“So good!” agreed Alice.
“That’s good,” replied Hau. “It seems your Pokémon enjoyed the meal.”
Noibat let out a loud sigh to affirm him and Honedge nodded, swinging its entire body to do so.
“To be fair,” Alice added, “free meals are always enjoyable.”
Kukui laughed, requiring him to adjust his balance on his seat. “Can’t argue with that logic. Wait here, your Pokédexes should be done about now.”
Kukui tilted forward in his chair and stood up, walking from the dining room and disappearing to the left.
“So,” began Hau, “what are your plans? You going to start the Island Trials right away, or are you going to go out and catch some new Pokémon?”
“Well,” Alice answered, “we only have our Pokémon here with us, and I don’t think it would be the best of ideas to walk in and do our trials without having a couple extra friends at our side.”
“Makes sense. Normally, we also send some of the newer trainers to go to the school just east of Hau’oli to get a few pointers, but considering your guys’ age, I don’t see what help that would do you. Pretty much once Kukui gets your Pokédexes ready, you’ll be set go.”
“Well,” Sam said, “I’d feel pretty guilty about not helping you guys clean up.”
“Don’t worry about,” Kukui responded behind them. “You two just go off and do your thing.” Sam and Alice turned around to see Kukui with both of their Pokédexes pinched in between his fingers. He approached them and handed both of them to their owners. “So now those things will identify all the new Pokémon and Alolan forms that you’ll come across.”
“Very nice,” Alice replied, browsing through hers to see several dozen empty slots at the back end of her list.
“I also went through the trouble of downloading the Alolan map onto there so you don’t get yourselves lost. I’m certain you won’t need it to get back home, but once you go a bit north of here or start exploring the other islands, it may come in handy.”
“Thank you very much,” Sam said, standing out of his seat. “Are you sure there isn’t anything for me to do before we go?”
“Come on!” Alice exclaimed, standing up, shocking Noibat into flying out of her arms and perching on her shoulder again. “Kukui said he’d handle it! Let’s get this started!”
Noibat excitedly seconded her notion with a stretch of its wings and a screech.
“It’s quite alright, Sam.” Kukui already began clearing the plates from the table. “I didn’t invite you into my home to clean; I just wanted to make sure you and your sister were all ready for your journey. Now that you are, you’re both free to go.”
“If that’s the way you feel,” Sam breathed, “I’ll just thank you and Hau for the meal.”
Sam approached the professor with an outstretched hand, which took Kukui off guard, making him quickly put the dishes in the sink. With his hands free, Kukui and Sam shared a firm handshake.
“Good luck to the two of you,” bid Kukui. “I look forward to seeing how far you come.” Alice came beside her brother and took Kukui’s hand. “And to you too. You have some good Pokémon on you.”
“Sure do,” she responded, nuzzling her head into Noibat’s.
Sam and Honedge turned and looked at each other. Sam smiled, knowing that if Honedge had a mouth, it’d be smiling too.
“I look forward to our Grand Trial battle too,” Hau spoke up. The two trainers turned and faced him, and he pointed his thumb at himself. “I’ll be right after Ilima’s trial, so I won’t have to wait too long.”
“I’m certain you won’t,” Alice assured him.
The two clasped hands and brought their chests together, slapping each other’s backs for good measure. Sam approached them, and offered his hand firmly, prepared to meet Hau’s again.
“Oh no, you don’t,” grunted the grinning Hau, wrapping his arms around Sam’s lower back and lifting him in the air.
With Hau being at least three inches shorter than him, it didn’t take long for Hau to set Sam back down, just in time for the surprise to kick in.
“Well, this is where I see you off,” Kukui called out, holding the front door open. “Hope to see you again!”
“Thank you again,” Alice replied, stepping outside with her Noibat flying out behind her.
“Yes, thanks,” Sam simply said as he waved to Kukui on his way out with Honedge.
Once Sam heard the door close behind him, he took out his Pokédex and checked the time: 12:20.
“Wow,” he said, seemingly to himself, “we were in there for that long?”
“It’s almost as if you were enjoying their company,” teased Alice.
“I did, actually.” Sam’s smile grew a little bit each moment. “They’re a cool bunch, and Kukui really knows how to cook.”
“Well, I’m sure glad that’s the most important thing you got out of it.”
“Hey, I can’t knock someone who takes the time to make such a big lunch like that. And like you said, I did enjoy their company. Truth be told, even a perfect meal ends after the last bite.”
Alice giggled and backhanded her brother’s chest. “See? I told you Alola would be the best. Only one way to make it better.”
Before Sam could answer, Alice began sprinting out back towards Hau’oli City, her Noibat trailing quite close behind.
“Alice, wait!” he shouted out. “Don’t overdo it!”
Sam took off after Alice, his Honedge keeping the same distance from him the entire time as if its mind was synched to his. Within half a minute, both of them had already disappeared down the road.
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Good job keep it up!
Before I read this, what is the Gore tag for ?
And How bad does it get ?
Gore tag in a MLP/Pokemon crossover is unexpected.
But I am curious to read more! I hope the other 5 of the Mane 7 haven't landed too far away.
8017596
8017717 It's mostly for the battles between the Pokémon, but I'm planning on some craziness for the climax.
8017730 but how bad does the gore get ?
8018628 Something along the lines of this?
agamershistoria.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/aaaaaaahhhhhhhh.png
8018835
I don't think that counts as gore if we don't see any actual blood.
8486959 At one point, a Pokémon does bite Sam's hand and makes him bleed, and I plan to get crazier in the later arcs.