Pokémon Eclipse

by moviemaster8510

Chapter 49 – The Splendid Spectre

Trixie kept her eyes shut the entire time as she gripped onto Hau’s stomach for dear life, still flying high and level in the quickly darkening night sky. With Twilight and the others very close behind, Twilight took note of the bright city lights that illuminated both Konikoni City and Heahea City ahead.

“Hau!” she called out.

“Yeah?!” He kept his head straight.

“Are we meeting with Olivia!”

“No! We’re headed to Heahea! You probably already know the person who lives there!”

Twilight could only think of one person from Heahea City that she knew, and with a satisfied frown, she paid attention once again to the direction Hau’s Charizard flew.

“Is this place getting close?” Trixie grunted through the wind blasting her face.

“Very! Let’s descend!”

“Good!”

With a gentle push on the handlebars, the Charizard began its smooth, controlled climb down, the other Equestrians deftly following from behind. As they passed over the lantern-lit streets of Konikoni, the Charizard made a heavy beat of its wings, slowing itself down even faster. The sudden decrease in speed made Trixie yelp, and Hau couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her aerial lightweightedness.

Banking slightly north, the group rounded the mountainous exterior of the Diglett Tunnel with their bodies directly below where the sea crashed into the cliffs. Passing over the hills, Heahea City was once again in sight. Even with their general predicament, Thorax and Luna were both enchanted by the colorful, pristine sight of the city at night, their mouths slightly open as they tried to appreciate as much as they could.

“Where are we supposed to land?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I thought we didn’t want to attract any attention?”

“That’s going to be unavoidable.” Hau could now clearly see the Dimensional Research Lab clearly from his spot and altitude. “At least where we’re going is pretty private.”

“If you say so, dude…”

As the group got closer to the shore of the city, Hau suddenly went even lower and slowed himself down so that the ponies were leading him.

“Hau!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “What are you–”

“They probably won’t notice you at first if you fly over the streets first.” He rose back up to tail them from behind. “Do either of you know where the Dimensional Research Lab is?”

“Oh, yes, I do! That’s where Professor Burnet is!”

“Perfect! Excuse the pun, but I’m handing the reins to you! Lead us there!”

“Oh, okay…”

With a deep breath, she went to the front as they neared the streets, turning to the walled off building that Fluttershy was familiar with. As they passed over, Rainbow Dash looked down to see that the people below were indeed only looking up just as she flew back where the light from the streetlamps no longer touched her.

Fluttershy swooped down inside the wall and grounded herself, trotting to a stop to let her other friends have enough room. Once they were all in, they turned to see Hau’s Charizard swing down to lead with its feet before plopping down. Hau hopped off the saddle and bounced off the Charizard’s leg before his own feet touched the ground. Turning around, he saw Trixie frozen in the same spot as she had when they took off, her arms now holding on to nothing.

“Alright Trixie, we made it! You can come down now!” No response from her. Hau then help up his arms. “Don’t worry! I’ll catch you if you–”

With her body petrified in the same position, Trixie tipped to the side and landed in Hau’s grasp, her muscles solid as stone and vibrating in anxiety. Once he turned her over and set her down on her hooves, she slumped down as if she instantly melted, groaning as she rubbed her face against the stone lot.

“Oh, ground, how I missed you!” Trixie also kissed it, earning odd looks from Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Sheesh, and I thought Rarity was the drama queen.”

“Come on.” Hau was already walking to the doors. “Hopefully it’s still open.”

Not waiting for them to follow, he turned quickly as the sliding door parted the way for him. The younger receptionist, hearing it, turned to face him walking further inside, already pushing her chair in under her desk with her purse strap over her shoulder.

“Sir! The lab is closed to the public for the ni–” Hau turned to face her, her eyes pulsing open upon recognizing him. “Oh, hello Hau! Are you looking for Professor Burnet?”

At that moment, the ponies all started pouring in. Even as she recognized Fluttershy, seeing Luna, Twilight, Spike, and Thorax, not even counting Rainbow Dash and Trixie, made her feel both claustrophobic and bewildered. Almost mechanically, she walked back to her desk and picked up the phone.

“Professor? You… have some visitors.”

“Hmm? Alright, I’ll be down soon.”

Hanging the phone back up, she turned to face the Equestrian visitors, a parade of questions racing through her thoughts. It was Luna’s expectant cock of the head that finally inspired her first query.

“So, uh… enjoying Alola?”

As Trixie opened her mouth to object, Hau spoke first. “This isn’t exactly a vacation for any of them. In fact, most of these guys were supposed to go home, and more of them are now stuck here with them.”

“Oh, I’m… sorry.” The woman bowed, hoping that the Equestrians could forgive her insensitive remark. “I didn’t mean anything by that!”

“I understand what you were trying to do,” Luna cooed. “If it’s any consolation, I and my companions have been enjoying Hau’s company as he assists us.”

The tone to the elevator chimed, and turning to face the double doors, Hau and the Equestrians saw that the up-pointed arrow was also illuminated. At once, the doors slid open, Burnet walking through them with her Reuniclus floating beside her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the Equestrians, taking particular interest in Thorax and Luna, who appeared to look at her Pokémon with the same level of inquisitiveness.

Her expression relaxed as she seemed to recognize them. “Thank goodness. They’re safe.”

“Thank goodness we’re safe?” Thorax suspiciously thought aloud.

“Yes,” Twilight responded. “She was there at the Aether Paradise when the second accident happened.”

“I guess, if you say so. I was so focused on that lab and seeing Starlight that I could hardly focus on anything else.”

Burnet walked up to Hau and shook his hand firmly as Reuniclus gently hugged his face with its large arms. “Hau, a pleasure to see you. But I’m curious, why aren’t you on Melemele Island?”

Hau’s slightly amiable demeanor changed to seriousness. “There’s a bunch of reasons why we’re here, and we need to talk it over with you… preferably behind closed doors, if you know what I’m saying.”

Burnet opened her mouth, letting out a long yawn. “Please, pardon me. Today has been a particularly busy day for me, and I guess since I’m already down, I was going to get myself some dinner.”

“So…” Spike looked worried. “You aren’t–”

“No, nothing like that!” Burnet smiled and fanned her hand at Spike, hoping to dispel his concerns. “If anything, we can head upstairs, I can order something for delivery, and while we wait and while we eat, we can discuss!”

Twilight huffed gratefully. “Yes, that sounds fine. Thank you for your time.”

“It’s no problem at all! Let’s all head up now! I’m sure you all had a long flight over here!”

“You can certainly say that again,” Trixie scoffed.

Burnet then turned to the receptionist. “I assume you’re off for the evening.”

“Yes, ma’am! Thank you!” With a nod, she went to the end of the counter and flipped it open, allowing her to pass through to the exit doors. “Goodbye, everyone!” She bowed to the Equestrians as she addressed them. “I hope you get home safe and sound.”

Feeling the sincerity in her voice, Luna and Twilight smiled back to her. “Thank you, miss,” Luna bid. “Safe travels yourself.”

As she turned, she walked out through the open sliding doors. Everyone inside the lobby remained silent until the doors closed back up again.

“So…” Burnet walked to the stairwell door and held it open for the group. “Up we go? I mean, unless we all want to get nice and cozy in the elevator?”

The group all looked to each other. Stairs sounded perfectly reasonable.

Inside the empty mess hall, Burnet held her cell phone to her ear in one hand and fanned her face with her ID with the other. “Alright, read that back to me… uhuh… yes, that many luau garden rolls and dumplings, I know… the noodles, mmhm…”

Hau and his friends sat at one of the numerous vacant tables as they watched Burnet pace between the corners of the end of a table where a long, thin menu was laid to face her. Unsure how much more of her lengthy ordering process they’d have to endure, they turned to face each other.

“She seems a bit, um… quirky?” Thorax’s wobbly smile failed to hide his half-hearted compliment.

“Yeah, but don’t worry,” Spike assured him. “She’s been a huge help so far. She’s one of the people who helped save Twilight and I. Twice!”

“Whatever she’s feeding us better not be poisoned!” Trixie crossed her arms, both defensively and unpleasantly.

“You shouldn’t worry,” Hau responded. “I’ve eaten at this place many times. The food is great.”

Trixie pursed her lips, unsure if he was mocking her or not. Finally, Burnet got off the phone and walked to her guests with Reuniclus floating loyally beside her. Taking one of the empty chairs, she swiveled it around and leaned her chest against the backrest as she sat down in her preferred position.

“So…” she started, pointing to Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy. “I know you, you, and you. You’re Rainbow Dash…” She then moved her finger from the blue pegasus to the three more unknown Equestrians. “And I’m pretty certain we haven’t met yet.”

“Yes.” Luna reached her hoof to Burnet and allowed her to shake it. “Please, call me Luna. I’m co-ruler of Equestria with my sister, Celestia, but seeing as how I’ve been… unwillingly exiled from my home, I do believe we can drop my title as princess for the time being.”

“Princess? Though, I guess that explains the crown… And what exactly are you?”

Thorax and Burnet reached across the table and made their salutations. “I’m Thorax. I’m something known as a changeling. We don’t really do it anymore, and frankly, we don’t need to, but we have the ability to appear as any creature we want.”

“Any creature? Say, you wouldn’t by chance have enough magic after today to show me a demonstration, would you?”

“A demo… I can try…” Thorax charged his horn as he looked into Burnet’s eyes, and with a flash covering its body, Thorax’s form had disappeared.

Burnet squinted slightly to see no one in the chair in front of her, but was alarmed by the presence of another Reuniclus floating just higher than where a human head would be. Realizing quickly that the Reuniclus was indeed Thorax, she let out a loud laugh and applauded him.

“That’s incredible, Thorax! I wonder why you chose to transform into my Reuniclus of all things.”

Reuniclus orbited around Thorax, who appeared to greatly appreciate its presence. “To be honest, I was trying to turn myself into you, but I was just so fascinated by this… Reuniclus by you that I just couldn’t think of anything else!” Suddenly, a pop of light burst off from Thorax’s Pokémon body, restoring itself to its buggy equine form, shocking Reuniclus into hiding behind Burnet’s shoulder. “Though, I’m a bit curious. You asked if I had enough magic to transform myself. How did you know about all that?”

“You see, Thorax,” Fluttershy explained, “Starlight and I met Burnet a few days ago, and we explained a lot of what we already knew about what happened with us.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of the type of energy used to bring you and your friends here,” Burnet added, “but considering your recent arrival, I just didn’t want to force you into something that you weren’t capable of yet.”

“Oh, well… thank you for that, then.”

Burnet finally turned to Trixie, holding her hand out. “And you are?”

Trixie very quickly slapped her hoof into Burnet’s hand and shook for them. “The name’s Trixie, and don’t forget it! I may not be royalty or be able to transform myself into anypony I please, but I’m still an expert magician and friend extraordinaire!”

Twilight and Spike both rolled their eyes at the sheer display of arrogance.

“Trixie…” Burnet hugged the back of her chair once more. “So Hau, now that we’re alone, what exactly did you want to discuss with me? Why are you even on Akala Island?”

Hau wove his fingers between each other and set his hands down on the table, struggling to find the most cohesive way to respond to either inquiry. “If you’re worried about me leaving Melemele unguarded, you shouldn’t be. Ilima and Kukui are both looking out over it with Tapu Koko, and I trust it’s in just as capable hands as mine. As for why we’re here, I…” The oddities were all surfacing at once. “Geez, this is going to sound crazy.”

“Hmm?” Burnet toyingly leaned in. “Even crazier than a bunch of magical, talking ponies appearing in our world?”

“If you could believe it, yeah. So, right before the portal appeared over Melemele again, I was visited by the spirit of my grandpa.”

Hau stayed silent to gauge Burnet’s reaction, watching as she sat up straighter in her chair before slumping back, unable to detect a hint of jest or sarcasm on his face. “Okay, that does sound a little crazier.”

“Yeah. While I was praying to him for strength, he came to me and warned me about Alola being in great danger. He then bonded my soul to the Pokémon Marshadow, who lent me his strength for the battles to come. So yeah, pretty crazy.”

Burnet leaned back in, looking at Hau’s belt and finally spotting the green-and-grey Pokeball with his others. “Marshadow? Is that who’s taking up the sixth spot on your belt?”

“It was crazy!” Thorax said. “We were getting attacked by this group called Team Prism…”

“I’m aware of them…”

“…and he came in and… gosh, even for an earth pony, I don’t think I’ve seen anything move that fast on land in my life!” Rainbow Dash nodded, approving of Thorax’s choice of words.

“If it weren’t for the two of them,” Luna added, “those men and women would have done who knows what to us.”

“No doubt…” Burnet stood back up from her chair. “Would you mind showing him to me?”

“Huh?” Hau picked his head up. “You’d like to meet him?”

“Meet? And it can understand humans and speak to them too? Then I’d very much like to!”

“Alright… here goes…” Hau stood from his seat and walked several paces from the table, Burnet turning her seat toward his direction.

Looking up at one of the fluorescent lights above, he then looked down to his feet where his shadow was just barely visible. He held his arms level and clenched his fists, concentrating within himself. Taking a deep breath, the sound of his exhale echoed unnaturally inside the room as a small whirlwind picked up.

Burnet and her Reuniclus then found Hau’s shadow begin to darken and stretch out toward the table and it’s shade. The head of the shadow then crept onto the end of the table, stopping right beside where Burnet was sitting, forcing her to shoot out from her seat and look down to face the shadow.

As it had done before, the shadow began to peak like a tent before rounding and enlarging into Marshadow’s head, the rest of the shadow wrapping around its form and creating its body. Reuniclus squeaked and hid behind its trainer, who ignored its trembling arms grabbing hold of hers. Once its feet had risen to the surface of the table, it opened its eyes and looked up at Burnet, who was possessed with wonder and awe as her mouth hung open.

Marshadow slightly tilted its head in confusion. “You… wanted to meet me?”

Burnet took a couple of audible breaths to control herself and snap back into it. “Yes… yes I did. My name is Burnet. It’s a… great pleasure to meet you, Marshadow.”

Reaching forward, the two shook each others hands, Burnet putting her other hand on the back of Marshadow’s to admire its touch like a thick, solid smoke.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me,” it said.

“I do, but I just need to have one answered now.”

“Hmm? And what’s that?”

Burnet smiled, intending her question to be playfully well-meaning. “Do you like pan-fried noodles?”

Everyone was now sitting at one half the table enjoying their meal, the other half littered with empty cartons, bags, and containers caked with sauces. Off to the side, all of Hau’s Pokémon, including Comfey and Reuniclus, were all sitting alongside on the floor as they also enjoyed their hearty helpings of rice, dumplings, and noodle dishes.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a little guilty considering the amount of trash being made. “How much did all of this cost you?”

Burnet quickly and loudly slurped the noodles in her mouth to clear it. “You don’t have to worry about that at all. I’m more than happy to spend a little money to feed my friends.”

“Well, it’s still very kind of you. The food is delicious.”

“I know, right?” Hau’s mouth was still half-stuffed with rice, mushroom, and carrot as he flung more in with his chop sticks, miraculously not spitting any on Fluttershy as he leaned toward her. “I told you this place is awesome!”

Trixie herself let out a belch after swallowing a bite of a spring roll, Twilight and Thorax reeling back from it. “I have to say,” she sheepishly giggled, “the cuisine is rather tasty.”

Burnet then turned to Marshadow, who seemed content with sitting on the table with its blank, meditative stare. “Are you not hungry, Marshadow?”

Marshadow turned its head, its expression ominously staying exactly the same. “I don't mean to be rude by repeating myself, but I receive nourishment when Hau does, so I really don’t need to eat anything.”

“But you can’t not eat food, right?”

“Yes, when I wasn’t bound to him, I’d have to eat much like you would, but–”

“Great! I’ll give you some of mine.” Plucking a single noodle from her bowl, she hung it in front of Marshadow, who began to wind it around its arm until the other end could reach its mouth. “Well? Go on then!”

Marshadow sniffed it a couple of times before taking the slightest of nibbles. With faint pulses of breath leaving its nostrils to taste, he finally took a deep breath in and smiled, clearly having enjoyed the flavor.

Burnet chuckled, happy to see the positive reaction. “It’s good, right?”

Marshadow unwound more of its noodle rope and took larger bites until it was half-full. “The food is actually quite delectable. Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“I probably won’t eat all mine, so you’re more than welcome to whatever’s left if you want.”

“This much is just fine. As long as Hau is full, so am I.”

She shrugged, not taking the least bit of offense to it. “Suit yourself. More for me.”

Marshadow contently returned to its share of noodle as Rainbow Dash leaned over to get a good look at him. “So, Marshadow. I don’t think you actually ever told us, but where’d you even come from?”

Marshadow quickly slurped the rest of its noodle and turned to face the pegasus. “I reside in a plane referred to mainly as the spirit world. It’s where the souls of humans and Pokémon reside when their bodies perish.”

Twilight wiped her mouth with a napkin before leaning in herself. “I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of an afterlife. What’s yours like?”

“It’s actually not too dissimilar to this world, except it’s far bigger and strangely more vibrant.”

“I’m sure it has to be pretty big,” Spike commented. “I’m sure that’s a lot of people and Pokémon that have died since, you know, forever!”

Marshadow couldn’t help but giggle at the comment. “That’s very true. And with each new soul that comes, the world just continues getting bigger.”

“What about you?” Burnet wondered. “What was it like when you were alive? In fact, what were you when you were alive?”

“I’ve… actually always been a Marshadow. I was born in the spirit world primarily to serve as an envoy should there be any disturbances in either of our worlds. As you can tell by my being here, speaking with all of you, there is indeed a great disturbance that must be fixed, and I’m truly sorry that you ponies had to be thrust into the middle of all this.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, dude!” Rainbow Dash clasped her glass of water with the wrist. “I mean sure, we have a bunch of crazy psychopaths hunting us, but look! We’re all here with our friends, having some grub, and hanging out! I’d say given our situation, things aren’t that bad right now.”

“But we still greatly appreciate your help and assistance,” Luna spoke, raising her glass with her magic.

Feeling the energy rising, Burnet picked up her glass and rose it herself. “Here’s to a safe return home in the company of great friends!”

“Yep!!” Hau wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and rose his glass up too. “I’ll drink to that.”

“To great friends!” Twilight rose her glass up to join Hau’s.

With the others raising their glasses, they toasted the night with a resounding, “To great friends!”

As everyone took toasting sips, they all began to break out loudly into conversation, made fully comfortable by each others' company. Marshadow himself looked about as Burnet, Fluttershy, and Thorax laughed over something one of them had said, while Hau, Twilight, and Spike had completely ignored their bowls still with food inside of them to engage in a rapturous conversation.

Taking another breath, Marshadow let a warm smile etch itself across its face. He was in great company; probably the best he could have hoped for.