> Like Night and Day
>  by DuqFedora
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Act 1 - Welcome To Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This only serves as a time stamp for the story, since I wrote no chapter names.

Just for reading this, here's a little quote :


"Being in a new problem or a new situation often brings out the true self of other. For good or for worst."


You'll understand this quote by reading the story.
> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Letting go of the past is useless if you didn't make peace with it."



=====


“Look at him. Worthless little Eevee.”

I made a little pained sound as air rushed out of me. It has been about five times that I have been kicked in the ribs. Naturally, it was painful. I started to cry as I was lying on my side, hoping that the pain would subside. I only wanted this to end.

“Why did we bother stealing this Pokemon? He’s barely able to stand up after a little kick. He doesn’t even look fashionable.” I was hearing the human say as I was hearing the sound of a door opening. I was hoping that it was the human leaving the room and leaving me alone, but I was quite wrong.

“Oh, mister Xerosic! I’m sorry, but we weren’t able to find you any suitable Pokemon to help fight that Calem guy. Please don’t rip my suit as a punishment!” He begged the other human. Even in constant pain, I stopped a second to think about what he just said. If ripping his suit was a true punishment for him, I really fell deep in the looser barrel.

“Do not worry, grunt. After some calculation, I’ve determined that the required Pokemon needed to get rid… or simply delay him until the Geosenge device is ready.” I opened my eyes, only to see his face right in front of mine. What was the most surprising was that, even with that much fat in his body, he was able to bend down enough for his chin to hover a bit over the floor.

“The required Pokemons needed to be stronger than simple creatures such as Eevees. I’ve decided to go with a Malamar and a Crobat. Just send this Eevee to my lab. I always wanted to test Eevee DNA’s special property.” He said, straightening back up. My eyes grew wide as I imagined what his ‘testing’ would meant.

“But sir, only two Pokemon!?” The grunt exclaimed. The one known as Xerosic laughed and shook his head.

“As I said, my main mission is to slow down Calem enough for the Geosenge to be ready. When this millennium old cannon will be ready to fire, we’ll see if my calculations were correct. Now go, we need to get read-“ Suddenly, some kind of alarm rang around the base. The grunt, forgetting my presence, ran out of the room with Xerosic, leaving me on the ground, helpless.

“Vee…” (Why?) I asked out loud to myself, knowing that nobody would hear me or even understand me. As I started to fade into the unconsciousness resulting from pain and tiredness, I heard more humans going through the door.

“Oh sweet Arceus, look at the poor thing!”


=====


I woke up, feeling pain in my middle area. After getting my breath back, I realised it was just phantom pain from this horrible nightmare. I thought that those dreams were over weeks ago, but I guess that mental scars can’t be easily healed.

“Tenebre? Are you okay?” I looked beside me, seeing Neige, whom I now called Milady. I was looking at a young human woman wearing a pink beret and a light jacket. Her flowing blond hair was led by the wind and her sapphire eyes were looking deep inside me, trying to decipher why I woke up startled.

“Was it… the week before we met?” She asked me. I sighed, thinking that she knew me too much.

“Umbre, umbreon bre…” (Indeed, but it was more realistic this time…) I told her, knowing that she wouldn’t understand me anyway. Still, I knew that my facial expression was enough for her to guess my predicament.

“Oh you poor thing.” She sighed while petting me. “I guess that the mind takes longer to heal than the body. I still can’t believe what… They did to you.” She grabbed me and hugged me tightly, almost choking the air out of my lungs.

“Umbre umbreon, umbre.” (If you don’t want me injured again, I would suggest stopping with the bear hugs.) As if she understood me, she placed me down and stood back up.

“Well, it’s not the time to cry over spilled milk! We are a few walking hours from Anistar City and a few hours away from our seventh badge ever!” Then, like the young girl she is, she started jumping in circle while voicing her pure excitement.

While I didn’t want to ruin her time of enjoyment, I was still hungry and I was sure that the others were too. So, I pointed the other Pokeballs hanging from her belt. She stopped jumping and followed the direction of my paw toward her midsection.

“Oh, right. Let’s eat breakfast then pack our stuff.”  She removed every ball from her belt and threw them out. “It’s eating time!”

I’ve decided to ignore her for a few seconds, staring at the red lasers of the mysteriously and, apologies for the unrefined statement, awesome device Milady called ‘Pokeball’. Those devices, using a technique unknown to me, were able to make Pokemon, big and small, fit inside a really small definite space. It was always a wonder to look at my friends come out of there. While I had mine on her belt, I was used to staying outside, walking beside Neige.

In front of me was the shining form of Brave, the first Pokemon she caught after me and the team’s leading (and only) transport service that isn’t on foot. That Talonflame was a bit annoying, but her heart was at the right place most of the time. The only thing I’m sure is that I’ll never get used to what she considers ‘pranking’.

Beside her was Excalibur. That Aegislash never talked, never reacted to anything, but when Milady was in danger, he was ready to get out of his Pokeball by himself only to protect her. While I still found him quite suspicious, as long as we aim for the same goal, I respect him.

Behind them all was Snap the Clawitzer. He was… something else entirely. He is violent, savage and ruthless. Yet, he was also kind hearted, respectful and loyal. The thing that made his stand out  was that he seemed to switch those two categories from time to time, like if he had some kind of personality trouble.

Finally, on top of a really small branch was Spike, a really childish Chesnaught. This one’s problem was that he seemed to forget that he is a 90 kilo tank and not fit for tree climbing and hill rolling. Luckily for us, even if he had a child’s mind, his physical proweses were still impressing me.

Still, I found it weird that Milady was refusing an obvious advantage that she could have over her opponents. The occasional trainer and ‘gym leader’ all had under the maximum amount of Pokemon one can have on them. Sadly, it seemed that this fact was going right over her head, repeating that she was waiting for ‘the one’.

While Neige detached from the group to make us some food, I saw Brave hovering toward me. “So, lover boy, how d’you sleep? I gotta tell ya’, those balls aren’t as comfortable as they seem.” She said, stretching out.

“I told you millions on top of millions of times that you only have to ask Mil-, I mean Neige to sleep outside.” I argued, tired of having the same conversation over and over again with this bird brain.

“Okay, let me tell you why I do this, why we are all doing this. It will be waaaay easier for you to ask Neige out with us out of the way. If you grow the courage, that is.” She said, pointing at me with one of her claws.

“You’re telling me that all of you are sleeping in harder conditions just because of my love life?” I asked the group whom I just realised were listening to both of us. They all turned to face us.

“Yup.”

“Mmm mmm.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes mister Tenebre.”

I stared at her speechless, the guilt growing inside of me. “You all know that you mustn’t sacrifice your ability to get a good night of sleep only for such trivial matters. Yes, I may hold some emotions toward out benevolent trainer, but it doesn’t mean that I want more than her friendship. That notion would be hard to take for her.”

“Why don’t you just ask her, mister Tenebre? I’m sure that asking can’t hurt, right?” Spike asked before the twig he was standing on broke, making him fall on his armoured back. Naturally, that got the attention of our trainer whom, upon realising it was only Spike being Spike, returned to her cooking.

I scratched my head, unsure how to explain the concept of pokephilia, or human love for Pokemon, to such a pure and uncorrupted (and yet older than some of us) soul. “Well, I heard from… a conversation between Neige and her parents that relationship between humans and pokemons going over the state of ‘friendship’ is not viewed as… normal.” I explained, pausing once in a while to find the right words.

“Oh, okay.” He simply said. Suddenly, I heard Milady’s voice calling us for breakfast. Knowing her, and the fact that we bought flour in the last town we walked in, she probable made us pancakes. The smell quickly place my assumptions correct.

“Today, my favorite breakfast ever, pancakes!” She announced in her cute voice. In front of her was six plates, each of them containing two of those yellow-ish fluffy meals. She sat down in front of her and grabbed her plate, digging fast through her share.

For myself, I dragged the plate using my mouth near Milady’s leg and, while cuddling with it, ate the perfectly cooked breakfast. It surprised me that, even though she is clearly of younger age, her cooking skills clearly surpasses whatever my mother used to give me.

That sudden thought about my old immediate family brought a frown. It’s been years since I saw them. Even their faces were shadows in my memories, being slowly replaced by the one who saved me from… my demise.

Last time I saw them was before I got lost in the forest near what I called the Rocky road. That name came from the multiple rock formations located in the middle of said road in a weird symmetrical pattern that is too perfect to be naturally made.

After sleeping there for a few days, I woke up in a bag with a hole in it, allowing me to see the outside world. I knew that I was far from the Rocky road, but I was still oblivious to the fact that I was pokenapped.

I remembered the city where I was caged. I never thought buildings could go that high! Still, the amazement was short lived as I was brought inside some kind of kitchen with dozens of table where all the walls were painted red.

The rest of the time spent there is simply a blur that my memory is trying to erase. I only remember pain, voices and the color red. Let’s not forget fire. Ever since I left that place, I never was able to look at fire without some kind of reflex fear reaction toward it.

“Tenebre? Are you seriously okay?” I snapped out of my memory lane as six pairs of eyes were staring at me. I realised that I was crying due to the wet spots under my eyes and on the ground.

“Hey, Tene? I know it may not be of my business, but are you feeling alright?” Brave asked between two bites of pancakes. I shook my head and resumed eating at a quicker pace than normal. I felt Neige’s hand going over my fur, slowly calming me down.

I looked up and saw her smiling. That made me start questioning if I really should keep my emotions from her. That’s when Spike’s words came to my mind.

‘I’m sure that asking can’t hurt, right?’

It sure couldn’t. What is the worst that could happen? She could…

I suddenly felt a cold feeling down my spine that made the worst case scenarios come out of my psyche.

She could abandon me and find another dark type to cover my absence. I mean, it’s not like anybody would care. Excalibur would shrug it off, Spike would be sad, but will survive, Snap will stay Snap. Only Brave would be truly affected by this, being my friend for so long.

That’s when the intelligent side of me slapped the other side, calling it ‘incompetent’. Why would Neige even consider abandoning me? We share the kind of bond that not even time or death can sever. Releasing me would be like releasing a part of herself.

Anyway, that’s how I think it would work.

After eating the pancakes faster than I ever did to cover my daydreaming, Neige started cleaning the camp we set-up yesterday. Being one of those ‘easy to place, easy to remove’ tent, the task took only about 10 minutes.

“Okay, it’s time to leave. We’re about 4 hours from Anistar so I’ll get you all back in your pokeballs.” Milady said while bringing out said balls. One by one, my partners were returned to their energy forms until only Brave and I was left. When she aimed Brave’s ‘home’ at her, I stepped forward between the two.

“Tenebre? What are you doing?” Brave and Neige asked. “Do you want her to walk with us?” Milady continued. I nodded, going near Brave and placed a paw over her. “Okay then, let’s go!”


=====


“Why in the name of Arceus did you want me to accompany you?” Brave asked me while hovering beside me. I sighed, looking at Neige who was walking in front of us.

“I… wanted to talk to you. Is that some kind of sin unknown to me?” I answered. The phrasing I used confused Brave for a few seconds before she shook my head with her wing.

“Why didn’t you say so? So… what do you want to talk about?” I looked down at the floor, trying to determine a specific question that could start the conversation and lead to the subject of my obvious love for our trainer.

“Well, it’s about-“ I started before being cut by the bird.

“Let me guess.” She stopped and rubbed her chin like if she was searching for an answer she already had. “It’s about you and Neige, am I right?” She giggled while she shook my head again, only for me to push her wing away.

“Am I that obvious to decode?” I mumbled, just loud enough for Brave to hear me.

She landed and started to laugh while following us. “You’re as easy to read as an open book. Plus, you speak like one. Are you sure there is no book pokemon in your family?” She joked, returning to the skies.

“Har har har. Last time I’ve checked, there is no such thing as a ‘book pokemon’. Also… yes, it’s about my impossible relationship with the human whom shadow is engulfing us at the moment.” She sighed while shaking her head.

“Is it me or talking with you is like talking to a scientist. You over complicate everything. INCLUDING your love with Neige.” She approached me and placed her head beside mine. “You think too much. I may sound cheesy, but stop thinking with your head and start thinking with your heart.” She smiled as she said the last part.

To her surprise, I acted like if I was choking. “Lord Arceus, that was so cheesy it made me choke. Seriously, that’s not helping.” She stared at me and suddenly fell on the floor laughing. That’s when I thought that I should research her laugh threshold. It seems to be incredible low to laugh at such a pathetic attempt at a joke.

“Sweet lord, I didn’t know you had a sense of humour. Like, at all.” She cleaned tears from her eyes. “Still, if you don’t ask her, I’ll make sure that you’ll do it.” She warned me. I looked at her, confused.

“Two questions you seemed to have brushed off. First, how do I ask her such a thing if our speaking dialects are far from being the same? Second, how do you plan to force me into doing such an act?” After finishing the second question, she started grinning like a maniac.

“Well, just write a heart on the dirt and maybe try to get a kiss from her. For the second part, let’s just say that any humans will listen to an annoying bird pecking at their neck.” I saw a flash of malice inside her two eyes.

“You… wouldn’t dare.” I managed to say, trying to keep my stern mask on (and failing miserable). She nodded slowly, landing and opening her wings like if she was about to jump on Neige.

“OKAY, okay. You win.” I sighed, still trying to believe that I just got beaten mentally by a bird. Still, I have to remember that she used the cheap tactic of intimidation. Now, I either do what she told me to and draw a heart on the floor or find another way.

Deciding that nothing worst could happen, I’ve decided to go with what my partner told me to. “Umbre!” (Hey!) I shouted, getting the attention of my trainer. With the emotions getting stuck in my throat, I started drawing a circle under the curious eyes of the girl looming over me.

When I finished drawing that crude cartoony heart in a sand spot near the grass, I looked at Milady’s face to see if I would get any kind of reaction. Luckily (or unluckily) for me, she smiled and grabbed me by the middle of my body.

“Oh Tenebre, I love you too.” She said while placing my head against her. I knew that this ‘I love you’ was said in a ‘I am your friend too’ way and that, if I didn’t do anything more, it would stay that way.

When she made me look at her, face to face, my heart passed an order that my brain didn’t approve, but allowed anyway. I raised my paws, placed them on her cheeks, kissed her and closed my eyes.

That’s when I realised four things. First, I was actually kissing her. It was my first victory of the day. Second, her lips tasted like bubble gum and watermelon, which was a really good taste. Third, Brave was laughing while enjoying the fact that I listened to her and that her plan worked. Fourth…

Neige wasn’t breathing anymore.

My eyes shot open as Milady’s body started to fall backward. When the impact happened, I was launched a few meters backward and fell on my side. Brave immediately rushed beside me to see if I was alright. My first thought, however, when I stood up was more about Neige’s situation than mine.

I ran toward her to look if she was alright. Placing my head over her chest, I realised a scary fact. Her heart stopped beating. Brave and I started to panic before I felt a sharp pain in my skull. The last thing I saw before succumbing to the darkness was Brave falling in tandem with me.

“Rest now, my children, for when you awake, a whole new world shall be your home.”

> Chapter 1.5 - Bonus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This chapter contains stuff that shouldn't be read if you are under the age of... of who am I kidding? Even if I place a warning, you won't listen to it. Still, this chapter is dark and contains implied rape, assassination and suicide. Reader's discretion is advised."

~Berry



__________________________________




"Thinking of having no sins truly is a sin by itself."
~Anthony Mathias Duquette




__________________________________



Silence.

That was something that I didn’t hear that often. Normally, there would be the damn shrieks of Chatots and Fletchlings bothering me outside the window. And sometime we would hear the sound of shattering china from the Gardevoirs and Lucarios I’ve imported to be my maids.

Yet, this morning, there was nothing but the sound of wind. It was actually comfortable… maybe too comfortable. I opened my eyes and saw Liliane, my wife. She looked so peaceful, but she lacked her normal 5 pound of makeup she wears everyday.

I looked to my side and caught a glance at my clock. I gasped when I saw that it was 10 in the morning. Where was my dumb bitch that was supposed to bring me breakfast and waking me up!? I roughly pushed the covers away from both of us, startling the other sleeper.

“Michael? W-Why did you do that!” She shouted while trying to breathe normally. I stared at her and pointed the alarm clock, making her realise that we overslept. We quickly dressed ourselves and made our way out of our bedroom.

“Why in the damn world is the house empty!?” I shouted in the living room. Receiving no answer, I groaned and made my way to the kitchen. Seeing that, like everywhere else, there were no Pokemon cooking my food, I had to make myself a bowl of cereal.

“Honey, do you know where is everyone?” Liliane asked. I shook my head while booting up my computer. In between two bites, I managed to get on my email account and saw that my inbox was full of messages coming from my factories.

“Forty two messages for forty two factories. What the fuck is going on?” I asked to no one in particular. I opened each messages one by one and, as I was reading them, my face was slowly losing its color until reading the last message. At that point, I was as white as a ghost.

“If… you don’t mind me asking, what is going on?” Liliane asked, seeing my reaction regarding those messages. I slowly closed the screen of my computer and started to shake in fear.

“Gone… all of our workers, all of the Pokemons… gone. Investors, gone. Even the heads of those factories are gone. Poof, like a cloud of smoke.” In anger, I grabbed my PC and threw it on the wall, shattering it into pieces and scaring the living hell out of my wife.

I stood up and darted toward the exit. I grabbed my light coat and opened the door before being stopped. “Where do you think you’re going, Mister? What about this computer you just threw at the wall! Who is going to cl-” She started before she met the back of my hand, making her fly a few meters backward.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch. You will clean this up and if it’s still there when I come back, I’ll show you why those Gardevoirs were so afraid of me.” I warned her before leaving, the shocked woman sitting on the floor, rubbing her cheek.


=====


It only took 5 minutes of walking before getting to Lumiose city. That was one of the plus side of building my mansion that close. Still, for once, I was entering the city with a fixed idea and not some drunken stupor. With my head kept low to avoid recognition, I quickly entered what was considered the dark part of the place.

Every town and city had its darker place and Lumiose was no different. In this place, you could enter with a Pokedollar and come out with a multi-billion company. It only took the right investment and the right contacts… and maybe an assassin for hire could help too.

I was used to see those rotten walls for a long time. Ever since I’ve entered this place in my teenagehood, I’ve made lots of friend and a bunch of enemies. Still, it helped that I was buddy-buddy with the local assassin gang, Checkmate. Even a little word or two against me and somebody might be impossible to find the day after.

And today was no different. Enter the location, say hi to a group of buddies and maybe see a match or two of Pokemon fights. I always loved those fights, mostly when it’s a champion Pokemon like Houndoom fighting a group of Pachirisu. It always ended in a bloodshed.

As I made my way towards the deepest part of this undercity, I stopped in front of the most well-kept house in the location. While the other houses were all destroyed or overgrown with roots and vines, this one had a fresh-looking paint finish and fancy windows. That was the house of the most notorious band of assassin known in the city : Checkmate.

Well, could actually be called ‘assassins’ when they’re with you. Then you learn their true method of killing. When they want to, you might not see the light of day ever again. However, if they hate the one who hired them or find their reason for killing fucked up, they will fake the death of their target to get the money without spilling blood on their hands.

I sadly learned that last part as rumors. When my old friend turned rival turned huge asshole and CEO of my biggest enemy in Pokeball manufacturing decided that it was time to cut loose ends, he sent some silent killers after me. Their job was simple : kill me and find all my important documents to take control of my factories.

They actually tried to kill me, but they didn’t know the power I had in this world. I was the only person on this planet that could safely say that I had eyes and ears everywhere. If something happens in the Viridian Forest, near Pewter City in Kanto, I would be the first one in Kalos to know. Even before the newspaper articles arrives. It helps to have business contacts that kisses my feet everytime I come to their country,

Using that power, I learned that they were after me. Some would find scary that someone wants to kill me, but I actually found that gratifying. And I also found the fact that I would be the first one to outsmart them, like my daughter would say, ‘pretty awesome’.

So, when they silently broke in my house, they managed to backstab me. Well, more like my sandbag double. Let’s just say that I laughed when I saw their faces the day after.  It knew that it was the first win in a long run for me.

After their failed attempt, they tried to poison me by giving the chefs some Koffingide, one of the most potent toxic substance on the market, to put in my lunch. Luckily for me, I was feeling paranoiac that day and made some Ralts eat some of my lunch. She naturally died in pain. It’s only later that I learned that she was the kid of the main chef who worked with the killers.

At that point, they were pissed after me. Not only because their last attempt lead to more casualties than planned, but also because I outsmarted them twice. Their next attempt had to be big or else they would be known as failures.

So, they did the next logical choice. They kidnapped my only daughter, Neige. Now, I know I could have left her there, but I felt like that would be a bit too much, even for me. She is my offspring and I mustn’t leave those guys do whatever they wanted.

Sadly, I knew that the job would be too much for me. What could a slightly chubby businessman could do against trained killers? So, I hired whom I knew would be the perfect team for the job. An underground group of mercenaries called Checkmate.

At first, they were a bit cautious about me. They learned from rumors that I raped Pokemon and used them as slaves. Naturally, I kept that truth under the lid in case that they would want to kill me instead. Half of their team are Pokemon, so the less they know, the less of a danger they are for me.

I explained the situation to their leader, a man named Weiss. He told me that it was rare that a man would hire them to kill someone with a proper reason why. They didn’t ask more questions. They took the money and disappeared into the shadows.

The day after learning that the local police found dead bodies inside a warehouse, I received a phone call telling me to go to an alleyway near the black market. When I recognized Weiss’ voice, I quickly made my way there.

It wasn’t a surprise to see Weiss and his Bisharp standing there with my poor daughter in his arms. I immediately grabbed her and placed the coat I brought over her. I repeated over and over again how I was so thankful that they succeeded in their job. Weiss, however, left with a cold stare and one last thing to say.

“I know who you are, Michael Chateaublanc. I know everything you did to your Pokemon and even your own family. If I ever hear that you attacked one more Pokemon or, even worst, you dared thinking about attacking this little one. I’ll make sure that you no longer see her ever again.”

As they left me with my girl, the Bishard accentuated her master’s will with a throat-cutting motion, making me feel uneasy. I had no time to wait, however. I quickly made my way back home and placed my little girl in her bed.

So, sometime when I pass by their house, I leave a little something for the team whom I owe my daughter’s life. Sometime it’s chocolate or a rose, but it’s always left without a name. I wouldn’t want them to remember their promise and assassinate me. Sure, I might not have cared so much about that brat if things went like they should have, but it was nice to see her safe. Even if she ran away.

With my head still in the clouds, reminiscing about the past, I made my way to the meeting point I had with my best informer. He knew everything to know about everything. I was normally supposed to meet him to know the daily news, but today was a different story.

I snapped out of my train of thought when I saw the location I was looking for. ‘La Jument Pavoisée’ was a low quality tavern where people could go either for information or for a good fight. Naturally, I went there for the first reason, but when the latter showed up, it was quite the entertainment.

I entered the bar and made my way to a small table located far in. That place was away from all the other tables and had a speaker spouting whatever sound that came out of the piano located on the other side. That particular place was perfect to have a conversation without people eavesdropping.

Without much hesitation, I sat in front of a man in his 30s. His face was partially covered in a hood, hiding his bleached white and coal black hair. On the left side of his nose was a scar that was principally used as some way to boast to newcomers. He says that it came from a Tyranitar that wanted his skin. I still thought that it was made up and that he shouldn’t have been playing with knives when he was younger.

“Yo Micky. I have some news that you really wanna know.” He started. I nodded, motioning him to continue. However, he opened his hand, telling me to give him something. I sighed and pulled out a 1000 pokedollar bill, placing it in his palm. He placed it happily in his pocket.

“Four headlines for you today. First, as you may know, lots of Pokemon and humans has disappeared in the last few hours. What is surprising is that it happened throughout the entire world! From Kanto to Unova, school houses were emptied, ranger bases got cleaned and even entire cities became ghost towns.

Some people were left behind, like you and me. We don’t know yet what is the reason why, but we learned that most who is left are either criminals or… no offence, sinners. Like you and me.” I glared at him, but still nodded. “Anyway, that’s all I can tell you about that. Like I said, no idea what happened and I hope it’s temporary.

“Then, we have the Mount Coronet… it’s gone.” He simply said. I stared at him, confused. “It’s exactly that. It’s gone. I don’t know why, but the entire mountain is gone. Where the roads would lead to entrances, they’re leading to a flat stone floor.” I was surprised at this one. How can an entire mountain disappear like that?

“Next news would be about the state of the other major cities in Kalos. Three of them already fell in the hands of street gangs and Coumarine City actually suffered damage from a power plant explosion caused by a lack of surveillance. The next few days might lead to more disasters if you ask me.”

When he finished speaking, he started looking through his bag for something. “Weren’t there three headlines?” I asked, impatient to go back home and prepare myself for the coming future. He threw a quick glare at me and went back in his bag. After few seconds of digging, he slid a picture on the table toward me.

I looked at it and my mouth hung in disbelief. It was a picture taken from a security camera somewhere in a forest. The time stamp on it was telling me that it was taken a few hours ago. However, I simply couldn’t believe what was on it.

In the middle of the frame was my daughter Neige holding her stupid black furball Tenebre. That was a normal sight since she brought back that annoying pet a long time ago. This time, to my surprise, she was kissing with it.

I was shocked of seeing my offspring doing such an act. She was nonchalantly doing Pokephilia, something that could get her thrown in jail. Sure, I was doing it too, but it was to show my Pokemon who was the boss and to break their free will. What use is a slave who doesn’t listen?

“This was taken by a security camera installed near the Terminus Cave. It was meant to record the Pokemon’s behavior since the disappearance of Zygarde. Looks like it recorded weird behavior after all.” He laughed at his bad joke, getting a simple glare from me.

“Okay. It was a bad joke. However, that’s not the weirdest part. Right after that shot was taken, they both fell unconscious and… vanished. Poof, just like that.” He enhanced that last part with some hand motions. “I think that she fell under the same spell that affected everyone else. Which might explain why nobody’s body was found.”

I nodded and placed the picture in my pocket. I wouldn’t want that shot to come out in the public. My reputation would take a serious hit. Still, I don’t think that it would matter now that 1/10th of the population is left roaming around aimlessly.

I had nothing left to tell my informer. He did his job and I paid him. I stood up and replaced my slightly folded suit. I bid goodbye to my ‘employee’ and quickly left the bar. I had to prepare myself for the days to come and I knew, deep inside of me, that there would be problem down my future. Lots of problems.

I walked faster than before, making my way out of the undercity. There was nothing else that I could do there. There was no activity since there were no Pokemon left and it seemed that everyone disappeared. I guess that most of them weren’t that dishonorable like I thought.

While walking, I thought of what he told me. If the people left really were sinners, it would mean that this ‘teleportation’ thing was simply god, or Arceus for that matter, choosing the worthy people and leaving the rotten part of society here. In my opinion, I’m not that bad of a person to be left here with assassins.

As I was stressing over what might or might not happen in the near future, I heard a roar coming from high above. I looked up and saw a charizard flying, fire spilling out of its mouth like if he filled his jaw with raw magma.

I looked at it flying by and out of the city. When it passed where I was standing, I saw something that froze my blood. On his back leg was a broken fire-resistant chain and his tail was missing a piece, making it look like a creature bit a piece out. There was only one captured Charizard with such a distinct characteristic.

I started running after the giant lizard, leading me toward my house. However, it has been such a long time since I ran that quick and that long. It didn’t help that I took an additional few pounds. My legs still held me as I was imagining the worst case scenario.

When I arrived, I saw that my imagination wasn’t that far off. Naturally, the Charizard arrived before me and had time to start what it wanted to do. I had to watch, powerless, as this force of nature tore through my house like a hand through sand.

Through the fire and flames coming out of the dragon’s jaw, I saw a shadow writhing in pain. It took me a second to realise that, behind it all, was my wife that I’ve forced to stay home. I was assisting, on a first row seat, to the death of the women of my life.

I quickly hid behind some trees, hoping that the lizard wouldn’t try to find me. It took more than three hours before it became bored of burning everything and headed south. When I saw it leave, I stared at what was left of my life’s work.

I slowly walked through what used to be the living room. I was doing my best not to step on some fiery ashes. For the first time in forever, I started to tear up. My life’s worth was counted in material possessions. With all my belongings turned into dust, I was now worth nothing.

I continued wandering around my old living place, tears covering my sight like fog over a lake. I couldn’t believe that all of this happened in a day. I was now alone and owned nothing. However, I had to do something before my other enemies learned of how I had fallen from my high pedestal.

I looked around and finally located my bedroom. To my surprise, I could see that my bed, which contained both wood and fabric, was actually intact, minus some marks from falling debris. I ran, dodging the heated materials and hoping that whatever was under it was also okay.

I pushed the bed away, knowing that it was easier to push it than pull what was under. I looked at the black box left untouched by what attacked the place. The safe was… well, safe. I smiled as I started unlocking, not noticing the shadow looming over my head.

Suddenly, when I finally opened the box, a knife slid under my neck. My blood froze, slowly raising my head to see who was doing such a travesty. My eyes grew wide when I saw that my attacker was no other than my informer.

“Well, well. It’s not everyday that you have a knife to your neck, Michael. Now, give me all you’ve got in that safe and drop it in that bag.” He ordered, dropping a bag beside me. I wanted to refuse, but I felt his weapon go higher, making me choose the other choice. With tears in my eyes, I started putting all the green blocks of money that were laying in the safe.

After placing all the money that I had left in his bag, I started moving whatever was left from my safe. When he saw that I was dropping a piece of charcoal and a diary in his moneybag, he stopped me, saying that it was useless for him to get those things.

“Why are you doing this!?” I accidentally shouted while packing some more banknotes. This caused him to laugh and slowly rub the side of his knife on my chin.

“I was looking at you, Michael, and only saw victory. Well, victory and a lot of money. I worked for you for so long, yet never got anything from it except a very poor wage. It is time for me to get what is due and maybe, if you don’t behave, I’ll get rid of a scum. Don’t worry, the world will thank me.” I grabbed the bag and gave it back.

I looked inside the box and saw that, beside the writing tools, there was a box of rage candy bars and a revolver. “Well, I only have a box of candy bars left.” He brought his bag forward, motioning me to drop them in there.

After everything was given, he quickly stood up and prepared himself to run away. However, as quickly as him, I grabbed the revolver and tried to get up. Sadly, compared to him, I was on the floor and I was ‘slightly chubby’. When he saw me with a gun, he spun around and stabbed my triceps. The impact made me drop my revolver.

That single attack was enough for him to grab his bag and run away safely. My right arm was now useless and, being a right-handed person, I couldn’t aim easily and it would just waste bullets. I was now alone, standing in the remains of my mansion, armed only with a revolver, 6 bullets and a knife covered with my blood.

I looked around and spotted a half burned shirt. I removed the knife from my arm, cringing and crying as the adrenalin faded and the pain knocked at my door. Using the burned fabric, my left arm and my mouth, I managed to cut myself a bandage and slowly managed to attach it to my wound. I sighed and grabbed what was left of my belongings. I looked one last time at my house and left toward the forest.


=====


Day 1,

Dear diary,

Is this real life? Is it just fantasy? I don’t even know anymore. It’s like if I was living in a dream all the time. Sadly, I know all too well that all that happened was real. I am now alone, poor, worthless. My pokefucking daughter left me to go make out with her black cat and my wife died under a flamethrower. Still, even if everything looks bad, I don’t have the intention of killing myself to join them. I’m sure all the ones who disappeared will come back and I’ll be able to regain control of what I had before.

So, I am now writing using my bad hand. It looks like I am writing a new language, but I don’t really care. No one will ever read this. Beside me is the revolver, still with 6 bullets in it, and the damn knife that my informing cunt left me in my arm.

I still can’t believe that he did this to me. We’ve been coworkers for years and he dared stealing my money and stabbing my arm. Why did I ever trusted him in the first place? I don’t even know myself. Still, I have to go now. I am hungry and I’m sure there must be a Pokemon around here to eat.

~Michael Chateaublanc


=====


“Day 4,

Dear diary,

I can’t believe it is still going. I’ve been walking for days now and was only able to find a ghost town. Luckily for me, I’ve found some supplies, but it’s still not much. I was only able to kill one Pokemon and it took me two bullets, leaving me with only 4 left. And that Pokemon was almost unedible.

I seriously think that this situation will last forever. If it does, then I’m in deep trouble. No business can flourish in a world with only about a tenth of the population. Plus, that population can’t grow where only criminals exist. This world will all be our grave, it’s only a matter of time.

It’s during time like these that I think about something dark and sad. Maybe that, in this story, I am the bad guy. I’ve driven my business with fear, my family with anger and my life with sins. What is a man than a pile of secrets, but my secrets won’t fit in my closet.

I won’t kill myself. That is a fact. Even if I think about it, I am not ready to leave this world. At least, not like this.


=====


Day 10,

For the first time in forever, I can finally see my feet simply by looking down. I must say that this diet of ‘nothing but air’ works really well. Wow, even when I try dark humor, I simply can’t raise my hopes of surviving this ordeal.

I am now down to two bullets. I managed to kill a Fearow and it helped me for two or three days. My supplies from that other town ran out and I’m left with drinking muddy water and eating some berries found here and there. 

It’s quite sad, really. Michael Chateaublanc, Kalos’ hot shot and best entrepreneur, brought down to his knees by life and a Charizard. They say karma is a bitch, but I say that she should be assassinated. My stomach hurts and my energy is running low. I am seriously thinking about my life and the mistakes I made that got me here.

In the end, I truly am the devil in a suit and tie.


=====


This is it. 15 days, quite the record, I must say. Being left alone in a forest, surrounded by the worst Pokemon that even roamed the planet, surviving more than a week must be a feat by itself.

However, everything must come to an end. I didn’t see it coming. It was a Pokemon. I think it was a Zangoose, but I’m still unsure. Still, it pounced on me and started tearing my back apart. I used one of my two bullets to scare him away, but the job was done.

The wound on my back is huge. I am still on the ground, writing over the soaked grass. Soaked by my blood. There are three possibilities right now. Either I bleed out until death, which might take a few days. Then we have thirst and hunger which are two creatures looming over my head every hours.

Well, there is also the fourth possibility. I’ve been trying to stay away from it, but it keeps jumping at my face like an overenthusiastic Joltik. It was the coward’s way out… but I still had a bullet left.

It’s weird how, when you’re on the brink of death, you think of your life like a critic over a Pokestar movie. It’s during that moment that you see all your mistakes and cry on how you could have been better.

I will say this, right now. I am a scum… no, I am worse than a scum. I am evil, forced to rule over the world with an iron fist. That role blinded me, preventing me to see what was happening around my global ascension to power.

My wife was always beside me, cheering from the sidelines. Even if she was the worst traitor in the entire world, she was still my wife. How did I treated her in return? Punches, kicks, slave work. This anger that ruled our relationship lead to her death. Forcing her to stay home lead to her becoming a human torch over a flamethrower.

Then, there is my daughter. Since she was born, I tried to forge her into my legacy. A girl that will rule over my business like I would. However, I forgot how wild those fragile things were. When I saw how unruly she was, I almost did the unthinkable. I almost sold her in the slave market. When she learned that, she ran away, scared.

My greed over money made me blind;
My lust over others made me tyranic;
My wrath over my family made me alone;
My gluttony over everything made me vulnerable;
My sloth over my life made me unbearable;
My envy of others made me demanding;
My pride over my daughter made me controlling,

I truly am the embodiment of sin. Now that I’m bathing in my own blood, I realise that the small bullet located in the gun I’m holding might be able to get rid of the worst person to ever inhabit this world. For the first time, I am finally able to see what I’ve become, and I must say sorry to both of you, Neige and Liliane.

Well, I’m gonna tell you both sorry in person, since I shall join you.

Forever.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"It doesn't matter what you use, there is no way to break a link of true love as it surpasses time and space itself."



=====



What surprised me most when my consciousness came back to me was the lack of sound surrounding my half asleep body. Even the darkest of caves has the sound of dripping water and the echo of Geodudes. Still, for an Umbreon who fainted in the forest, there was a clear lack of… anything.

I opened my eyes and saw the grayest sky I’ve ever seen. It looked like the sky was stuck between day and night without the beautiful colors of twilight. The clouds were blocking anything that would come from outside Earth’s atmosphere, making my surrounding dull and lifeless.

Speaking of where I was, it seemed like I mysteriously changed location. Around me was no longer a forest filled with the color green and brown, but an empty city filled with fog. There was no wind and not a soul in sight.

I knew that laying there wouldn’t solve my problem, so I took any scrap of energy left in my system and slowly stood up. My joints cracked as my legs felt like they haven’t moved in ages. Still at the pace of a snail, I stretched the rest of my body like if I woke up from a long nap.

When I took my first real analytic look around, only one thought occurred to me that I couldn’t keep inside my mind. “Where am I?” To my surprise, a shadow crept from a building to my right and slowly advanced towards me.

Normally, a dark type like me shouldn’t be afraid of ghost, seeing that any of their attacks are not very effective, but the fact that the only thing that existed, beside me, in this silent city was a shadow coming from Arceus knows where, I quickly panicked.

“Don’t fear.”

It was barely over a whisper, almost to a point where I wouldn’t be able to hear it. It sounded female in nature, but held a strong tone of authority and power. I knew that I had to obey what looked like a request, but still had the same effect as an order.

I froze in place, listening to the request I just received. That’s when I felt the first gust of wind of the last ten minutes. The feeling you get of the element touching your fur gets normal after some time, but after a good time without it, you get to miss it.

I looked behind me, looking for the source of that wind and saw one of the most majestic creature I’ve ever seen, Milady not included. She was a blue swan-like Pokemon with pink crescents wings beside her body. She irradiated peace and beauty, but also strength and authority.

“Who… are you?” I asked, trying to keep my stoic mask on (and again, failing royally at it). She looked at me and smiled, making my mental defenses crumble like if they were made out of wet sand.

“My name is Cresselia and I’m here under your demand.” She explained. I looked at her in confusion. How could I have asked her to come if I didn’t even know who she was in the first place?

“I can feel that you are confused about my presence. You see, you are currently trying to get into a relationship with a female that doesn’t share the same feeling for you. It… also didn’t help that she was human.” She said the last part in a downed mumbled, but I still managed to hear it. It’s when I listened to it again in my mind that I’ve caught that weird sentence structure.

“Didn’t? Was? What do you mean by was a human?” I asked her, trying to determine if this strange way of speaking was caused by a simple mistake or a hidden truth.

“Well, the reason why you are currently here is tha-“ She started, but I only wanted the specific answer to my question, so I cut her and asked the same question again. She glared at me and continued.

“As I was saying, we are currently in your dreamscape. You are in a life-changing transition toward your new life and, well, let’s just say that it will not only change for you but also for…” She looked deep into my eyes like if she was reading something from inside my soul. “…for Neige.”

While listening to her, I looked around again. I tried looking for any insight on where I was. Seeing that the only other Pokemon in my dream stated that it was, indeed, a dream, I came to the logical conclusion that this city must be from a memory of mine. Yet, I’ve never entered a city as huge as this.

That’s when my eyes caught the sight of a sign attached to a dull red storefront. On the sign was written ‘Lysandre’s Café’. On top of the door was a flag with a letter ‘F’ drawn in a flame pattern. I now knew where I was…

…I was in Lumiose City, where I was captured all those years ago.

All the memories I tried to cram behind an armoured steel vault exploded, leaving all those nightmares free of their bindings. I could feel the pain of the kicks, the agony of the fire, the soothing touch of… Cresselia?

“It seems like some Pokemon had a rough time.” The Pokemon hovered beside me as I opened my eyes, realising that I was crying. I shook my head, trying to regain my composure, but the emotions were too wild to be tamed.

“It also seems like those memories were bothering you for a long time.” She continued as she started to glow. I already had my head facing away, trying to hide the tears from the only other soul surrounding me, so the light didn’t blind me.

A small tendril of light came from behind me and slowly made his way to my forehead. I jumped back in surprise, not knowing what it was supposed to be. “Let it to its job.” I sighed and closed my eyes, placing my trust in this Pokemon I’ve never met before. When the light through my eyelids was the strongest, I felt like if a weight was lifted off me.

“What did you do?” was the first question that I was able to ask. She giggled and ‘retracted’ her light back.

“As the Pokemon ruling over dreams, I made sure that those horrible nightmares wouldn’t bother you anymore in the future.” She explained. I was about to call her wrong, telling her that it was impossible, but I stopped for a second. If I was indeed in my dreamscape and that she was the only one except I that could enter it, maybe her claims were truthful.

“Then why are you helping me? Shouldn’t there be more important Pokemon to take care of?” I asked, still a bit wary of her presence. It’s not every day that you stand in front of a Pokemon in control of a non-physical plane.

“You see, I may be the Pokemon ruling over dreams, but I also rule over love.” She turned her head, smiling. Curious, I turned my head only to see Neige, standing like a lifeless puppet.

“Like I said earlier, you are trying to tie an impossible bond. Such bond can only be created by pure love. You have what it takes to make it happen, but the feeling isn’t mutual due to a… cultural shock.” She took a pause before the last part. I’m sure it was to find a polite way to say Pokephilia, or irrational love for Pokemon to a point of sexual relationship.

“Yeah, like you said. This is an impossible quest that I’m doomed to fail.” I sighed. “Such is my fate.” I sat down, my head hanging low. I raised my head back to see her motioning ‘no’ while approaching me.

“Like I also said earlier, there is going to be a great change in the near future for both you and your lover that will help you get that relationship on the road.” She explained. “Now, I must leave for you to return to the world of the awoken. I only have one thing left to tell you…” The dream started to turn black as she was floating away in the darkness.

“Whoever you see in that forest, help her and you’ll be rewarded with a great surprise.”

I blacked out.


=====


As the feeling of drowsiness left my system, I felt some pushing on the side of my body. I tried to open my eyes to see the one who offended me by trying to wake me up and sadly succeeding, but it seemed that my body had other ideas and I started to drift off again, ignoring the annoying feeling of pushing and poking on my ribcage.

“TENEBRE!”

That name. Like a password on a freshly new padlock, my eyes opened wide at the mention of the name only my closest friend knew. To my surprise, I only saw a Pokemon over me… in an incredibly awkward position to wake up to as a male of my species under a female.

At first, I was really confused. First, the Pokemon who was standing over me was an Espeon who knew my name. That, by itself, was intriguing as this name was kind of private. Second, I only saw another Espeon once and it was only for a quick moment in a Pokecenter. Thus, her knowing my name was impossible. Three… I was still overthinking it and I needed to stop.

“Tenebre, please help me, they… they are com-” She started rambling before a rope suddenly tied around her neck, pulling her backward toward who I assumed threw said rope. The perpetrator was some weird imitation of a Ponyta, but with a color palette far from the normally white and fire red horses.

Due to its stocky body, I immediately knew he was a male. His body was covered with weird tainted fur. It was some kind of bluish green that didn’t look safe to touch. Almost as safe to touch as the poisonous hands and claws of a Toxicroak. Plus, his mane was a Grimer purple, making him look like a biochemical laboratory reject.

Naturally, when I saw Mr.Sick Sicko and his three goons grabbing the only one around me that actually looked like another Pokemon, my first thought was to slowly fade away like if I never existed, preventing any problem in the near future. That’s when I remembered Cresselia’s warning :

“Whoever you see in that forest, help her, and only HER, and you’ll be rewarded with a great surprise.”

Since that, after my quick observation, I realised that the only female member of any specie was being kidnapped in real time in front of my eyes, I’ve decided to go after those thugs even though I could have dodged this fight like the pacifist that I am.

When I stood up to face the goons, they suddenly realised that they missed one of their prey. They looked at their team and, with a nod, started surrounding me. The one holding the Espeon knocked her own and threw her without regret farther in the woods. Behind my shocked expression over that act, my analytical mind was going wild. I added ‘Has great intelligence, enough for a strategy’ and ‘heartless’ in my mental list of those Ponyta’s characteristics.

When the team of four perfectly surrounded me in a square, I knew that I had to find something or I would be the next to get captured. I closed my eyes and sighed. “Time to get serious… more serious than normal.” I whispered to myself before shouting “DOUBLE TEAM!”

I smirked as a team of ethereal Umbreons appeared in the middle of their circle, surprising the Ponytas enough to break their formation. I suddenly remembered a strategy I used once during a gym leader battle that allowed me to win without injuring the enemy myself.

“Sand attack!” I jumped in a small spot of sand and made a cloud, covering the team with thick, annoying smoke. The sand disrupted my fakes, but I knew I wouldn’t need them anymore. I looked inside and saw that one was about to come out of the smoke toward me.

“Hey you!” He exclaimed as he saw me through the cloud. When he got out, I used confuse ray on him, turning his eyes into a cartoonish spiral. Using quick attack, I ‘carefully’ returned him inside the smoke. I now knew that I had to enter it too.

Inside the cloud, my eyes trying to block the annoying sand, I spotted another one trying to find his way out. I managed to catch his attention and decided to do something that Brave would be proud of.

I turned around and started shaking my butt toward the Ponyta. “Hey Ponyta, can I borrow your face for a few days while my behind is on vacation? It would be greatly appreciated!” I taunted him. I knew that, from personal experience with Neige, he wouldn’t understand me, but it was oddly gratifying to insult somebody for no reason.

Still, the action of showing my behind was enough to anger him to a point that he was only focusing on me. He lunged, trying to catch the black furry spot through the smoke. Sadly, I quickly dodged, leading him to the confused Ponyta who gladly knocked the unlucky one using a wooden club.

Calculating the situation in my head, I knew that one was down and one was my temporary ally if I stay away from his strikes. Logically, that meant that there was only Mr. Sick Sicko and Goon #3 left.

As the dust was dissipating throughout the wind, I finally saw who I was going against. The one that I confused earlier passed out of… well… confusion, leaving the two Ponytas and I in a triangle formation.

“Orange, kill this bucking cat thing and bring it to the village. I must bring the white one before dusk so that I can make that coat.” Sicko said before running away toward Espeon’s lifeless body and running away with it. I started charging a shadow ball to stop him in his tracks, but a sudden hit in the back of my head broke my concentration.

I turned around and faced the last goon left. He charged forward with his mace, hoping that I wasn’t intelligent enough to find a counter to it. I chuckled as I jumped over him. He seemed to pinch me on my side, but I didn’t feel anything as I kicked his back, causing him to fall on the side.

Before he could get up, I jumped high into the air and threw a shadow ball right on his side, making him scream in pain before stopping, either asleep or dead. At this point, it didn’t matter to me. I had to find the Sicko and get Espeon before she becomes a coat.

Sadly, when the adrenaline of our fight faded off, I felt a funny feeling on my lower right. I turned my head only to see a little needle where the goon pinched me earlier. For once, I got outsmarted by a guy who charged forward without thinking.

“Sometime the best… strategies are the… stupidest… ones.” I said while trying to run, the endorphin flowing through my bloodstream like Magikarps in the water. In the middle of my running pattern, my muscles lost their power and I fell flat on my face, falling in the arms… or wings of Cresselia.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"It's only by sharing their pain that you can understand others."



=====


“Oh sweet Arceus, look at the poor thing!”

I opened my eyes and saw someone. She was female. I could easily see that from her facial complexion. It also helped that her voice was obviously higher in pitch than the monster who was with me earlier. Still, she had a look of innocence in her eyes. She looked like all the forces of evil couldn’t rot her heart.

“Those Flare grunts, they don’t respect Pokemon at all! Lysandre, vile monstre, pourquoi? Why did I ever trust you?”

I turned my head to find the source of this deeper voice. I was met with an older male who radiated knowledge. Seeing that he looked angry at what happened to me, I knew that he would keep me away from those red-dressed demons. Well, seeing that I was about to faint, I didn’t really have a choice.

“V...Vee…” (Help.)

I barely managed to finish that word that the humans obviously failed to understand before falling into the deep abyss of unconsciousness. Before my eyes closed, however, I saw the face of the female human, smiling warmly with the lights giving her a golden aura, saying something to me. Sadly, I couldn’t hear what my savior was telling me as I was out like a light.



=====



My eyes opened quickly as where I was laying started to move. I looked around and saw that I was in a rusty cage inside some kind of workshop. I tried to focus and see what was located outside the three walls and the jail gate I was in, but it seemed that someone was shaking my cage. It's more important to survive face planting in a wall than to analyse my surroundings.

"Wake up you lazy thing!" The one who was shaking my cage shouted as he placed me back on a platform. Then, he walked in front of my only point of view, allowing my analytical side to do its job. 

He was a male from the same species as the one who attacked me earlier. His mane was a shade of red that looked like rust and was really messy. He had glasses that were soiled with black powder, making me wonder how he was able to see anything. He was smiling at me like a hunter would do to the one he was hunting after finally capturing him.

“Would you look at that. Perfect health and not a scratch. Kind of surprising if you ask me. They normally bring you critters in pieces.” He shook his head. “Those dumb ponies really don’t know their strength. You and your white friend are the first living animal to enter this workshop since… well, since I moved here basically.” He laughed before walking away.

To get a better view out of the door of my cell, I tried to move forward towards it. Sadly, I soon realised that I was actually chained. My four legs were attached to the wall of the cage with a steel chain, making my escape seem impossible.

“What? Wanna ditch me before you become a nobles’ new fashion accessory?” He shook his head again while making disapproving noises. “You won’t be able. I heard about your witchcraft powers, lil’ one. I made sure that your mouth and your little paws wouldn’t be able to cause me trouble in the long run.” When he finished his sentence, my eyes looked down, only to see something made of some strong material blocking my muzzle.

“I like you creatures better when I can talk to you without being interrupted. This way, I can make a big evil speech to you poor things like villains do in stories. Makes me feel like I’m superior, you know?” He walked to a wall and grabbed a cloth. Then, he placed it on a table and revealed its content. It was full of different knives that was obviously not used for eating. There was even one stained with blood.

“You must be wondering what those are. I mean, not every creature know what a weapon is even though they have claws.” I rolled my eyes at how pitiful this guy was. Even I knew how to know if somebody had friends. The way he talked to his animal victims made him look like a poor soul looking for attention. Sadly for him, I forgot my affection in the forest when his goons attacked me. Oh Arceus, I think like Brave and that is not a good thing.

“Those are cutting knives. The small one over there is a boning knife. It is used to separate the meat from the bones to sell it to gryphons.” I let the information sink in and suddenly realised that this creature was seriously planning on cutting us apart. My eyes shot open as I started to back off.

He looked at me with a sadistic grin. “Well, well. Looks like someone can understand me.” He turned back to his knives, laughing. “And this is a skinning knife. By the name alone, I guess you already understand what it is.” I wanted to put my paws on my already lowered ears to block whatever he was saying, but the chains made it impossible.

“Finally, even if there are more than ten knives here, I only need one more for you and your friend.” Using his hoof, he grabbed a large knife with a square blade. “This is a cleaver. Whatever useless part there is attached to the coat, like the head or leg…” He then slammed the knife in his wooden cutting board, managing to enter the entire length of knife inside. I swallowed whatever was coming up my throat.

One by one, he moved the three knives toward another table out of my sight. Then, he moved the table right in front of my cage. On it was the Espeon I tried to defend with the knives perfectly placed beside her. “I’m sure you want to see how I do it with only three tools. Normally, a task like that would require more as a more precise tool makes better fur, but technology is slow in this neck of the woods, so we’ll have to do with those babies.”

So there I was, defenseless and powerless, forced to look at a mad ponyta cutting whoever that Espeon was. All because I’ve decided to listen to some crazy legendary Pokemon in my dream telling me to protect her. I knew I should have ran away when I was able to.

He grabbed the knife he used for skinning animals and slowly placed it near Espeon’s body. Then, in one quick motion, he sliced a large scar from her front leg to back leg. The poor Espeon,was woken up by the pain and started screaming.

When I heard the screaming, something snapped inside of me. Like if I heard that scream in my past coming from someone I cherished. Either be a human or Pokemon. That’s when I knew that, even though I am lazy and normally peaceful, even if a Pokemon goddess told me to, I had to save her even if it costed me my life.

A new wave of energy flowed through me, but this time, it was fueled by pure, unadulterated rage. Using an attack I never thought I would ever use, hidden power, I dashed forward, pulling the chains and the cage with me. It seemed to be super effective as it fell right on the Ponyta’s head, breaking open the door and making him stuck.

When the cage fell, I felt the chains loosening up. I saw that the screws were only attached to a slim sheet of metal, making it really weak to any act of strength. By using hidden power, I managed to unscrew all of my chains, freeing me.

I fell forward and out of the cage as his head was getting stuck. I grin with malice, thinking on how I could repay what he did to the Espeon who was now unconscious from the pain and bleeding from the side.

Using take down multiple times, I managed to force him down on the floor, the cage still on his head. After the second attack, the badly made thing that was blocking my jaw fell, liberating my mouth and a plethora of new attacking possibilities. Sadly, I knew I didn’t have much time as Espeon was losing a lot of blood.

I walked near the edge of the table and looked at the laying body of the monster that sent those trappers to attack us and that tortured my kin. I was looking at my list of options for my next move. I could use giga impact and shatter his skeleton to shreds. Maybe I could try hyper beam and reduce to ash his body…

...or I could listen to my good side and do nothing.

I calculated the pros and cons of killing him and the fact that it would lead to guilt and hatred from the village I was in, I knew that killing wasn’t the best solution right now. Plus, I needed a Nurse Joy quickly to heal the Espeon.

I grabbed her body with my mouth and managed to place her over me, soaking my fur in blood in the process. I managed to get down from the table without much problem and got out of the workshop, only hearing the sound of the Ponyta waking up.

As I got out of the house toward an almost empty street, I heard some sounds behind me. I started running away, hoping that my act of kindness wouldn’t…

“CATCH THOSE VERMIN!!”

...bite me in the ass.

I never ran this quick in my entire life. Considering that I had additional weight on my back, it was quite the feat that I was pulling off. I looked back to see the same goons from earlier, all bruised up and angry-looking, running after me.

I continued running away from the grunts when I heard a voice in the distance calling for ‘the black cat’. I looked at the general direction and saw a smaller Ponyta, obviously a kid, motioning me to enter his house. I knew that it was a risky move to enter the habitation of a creature coming from the same village as the group trying to kill me, but I also knew that one being doesn’t represent a species.

I dashed inside the house, not caring if I was trampling anything. When I set paw in the entrance, I heard the kid close and lock the door behind me. I fell on the floor, trying to breathe normally. I immediately took awareness to my surroundings, the adrenaline boosting my senses to a maximum.

I saw a female enter the entrance room from what looked like a kitchen and stare at me with curious eyes. “Sweetie, why did you let a bleeding cat enter?” She asked the kid. That’s when he started explaining that he heard the ‘crazy animal butcher guy’ yell that an animal had escaped and that they were running toward here.

“So you were attacked by Crazy Nail?” I laughed internally at what the mother said. Was this guy’s name really Crazy Nail? Anyway, I nodded to the question, hoping that animals who understood normal speech was normal around this town.

“Poor thing, he really did a number on your friend.” She started to move toward us, a pair of wings popping out of her chef apron. I was taken by surprise as I knew from experience that Ponytas didn’t have wings. When she crouched to grab Espeon with her wings, however, I adopted a fighting stance by reflex.

“Don’t worry. I must take care of her wounds before they get-” Before she could finish, someone knocked at the door. Sadly, I knew who that was. I dropped Espeon on the floor for the mother to take and ran towards the closet to my right.

“Sweet Leaf, go place that creature in the bathroom near the sink. Whoever is on the other side will not be friendly.” I opened a small crack of the closet to see what would happen. I knew that I may not need to fight, but I prepared myself mentally in case I needed to.

She opened the door and we saw two goons standing there with large knives that was obviously used to kill anything on sight. Instead, I prepared myself mentally to run away at the first sight of provocation. I had more chances to escape than to survive fighting them.

“You again? How many times did I told you both that you won’t find any zebra potions hidden in my cupboard?” She shouted angrily at the males.

“Look, Witch, we are looking for two creatures that hid inside your house. There are witnesses saying that they’re here and the blood stains stops at your porch. Hand them over and we’ll do nothing to you and your son.” The taller one angrily said to the mother.

“You and I both know that you won’t do anything to us because I only need to say one thing to the mayor to get you both expelled from the village. So leave us alone.” Then, she slammed the door, hitting the muzzles of both non-Ponytas.

“We’ll enjoy the day we find proof of your associations with the Zebras or of your acts of witchcraft. When that day will come, we’ll see who will get the last laugh!” One of them shouted behind the door. I slowly crept out of the closet, only to see the mother motioning me to follow her.

We made our way to the bathroom where the Espeon was laying in her own blood. I saw the mom rush in and grab an elaborate healing kit the kid was giving to her. I looked at her, the only thing passing through my mind was a whispered wish that she was going to be okay and that I would learn what was so important about her in the first place.

“Hey.” I saw the kid looking at me. “I don’t know if you can understand me…” Okay, so intelligent critters weren’t common around here. “... but you can wait in the living room if you want to.” He proposed. Seeing that there was nothing else to do but wait, I nodded and started making my way there. The last thing I heard from the bathroom was a warning telling me not to go on the couch as I was covered in blood.

I arrived at my destination by descending stair that were way too steep for me and layed down on the floor. I was tired and I had passed my limits by a long run since I woke up in that forest. The tiredness quickly made itself known and I slowly fell asleep naturally, the first time in days.



=====



After what looked like days, but was only about three hours, I was woken up by the kid whom front legs were covered in blood. “You should come with me.” He simply said before leaving towards another room that I assumed was a bedroom.

Arriving there, I saw the limp body of the Espeon on the bed, breathing slowly. On her side was a large wound mark where wire was holding it together. She looked like hell, but at least she was alive.

“Look, let me be blunt here. She is really weak and injured. I will need special medication from the Zebra tribes located south from the village.” She explained to her son and I. Her kid, however, shook his head.

“You can’t leave! I heard from Nail’s worker that they’ll try to prove that you do business with them. By leaving, you give them enough proof to get us kicked from the village… maybe worst now that we have those two under our wings.” He pointed me with his arm, feeling a bit guilty that I was making their life harder.

“I know. That is why, after he takes a good bath, we’ll send… uhh… what’s your name again?” She asked while cutting her own sentence. By reflex, I answered Tenebre, but it only came out as Umbreon. I knew I should have seen this coming, but I was so scared of what was coming up in the mother’s idea that I simply didn't care. 

“Okay. We’ll send Umbreon to the tribes to get the medicine.” My eyes grew wide as I started backing off. The mother was staring at me, not with hate, but with hope. “Listen to me. Your friend’s life is in danger and you are the most agile and nimble here… Well, since your a cat thing, I guessed you were nimble.” I shrugged, still backing up slowly.

“Anyway, just go south, give the Zebra leader the order I’ll give you and bring the pots back with the bags I’ll lend you. Easy, isn’t it?” I was about to say no, but remembered that a life was at stake here. I sighed and turned around to get out of the room. When the mother saw me leaving to the bathroom, she smiled and nodded.

“Perfect! Let’s get to business.”
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"A plan without holes is not a plan, it's an idea."

=====



“Perfect! Let’s get to business.” The mother said before leaving the room and entering the bathroom. I left right after her, awaiting the time to get that blood off my coat. The constant smell of iron was really getting on my nerves.

She opened the shower curtains and open the water valves, letting the warm liquid flow through. At first, I thought that she would only prepare the water and leave, but I realised that I would actually need help scrubbing my coat. Luckily for me, she already had the intention of helping me at said task.

“There you go, Umbreon. Just jump in there and I’ll make sure that your black coat shines bright.” She said, her smile inviting me to get inside the tub. I cautiously entered, being the first time since Neige found me that I would take a shower with somebody else. Pokemon didn’t have the same nudity taboos as humans had, but it was still an activity strictly reserved for my master and I.

Against my own opinions, and because the blood wouldn’t come off otherwise, I jumped inside the steel tub. I slowly relaxed as the lukewarm water flowed over me. My muscles loosened up and peace was finally ruling my chaotic mind.

“Well, would you look at that. It seems like Nail was the least of your problems. You are bruised literally everywhere!” I didn’t understand what she meant by then until she started rubbing the liquid soap she poured on my back. It seemed that my visit to the nearest forest went well, all things considered. I rolled my eyes internally, wishing that I was still in bed, out of danger and near my Neige.

“Don’t worry. I still have some bruise salve that Idube gave me.” She continued to rub my sensitive skin to get the shampoo everywhere. “Idube is who you’ll need to see for the healing remedies for your friend. She’s the leader of the Zebra tribe located south from here.”

I wanted to see what she was doing, but I had to close my eyes to prevent the soap from entering. I remembered the first time Neige cleaned me. I was running around, using tackle to attack her before realising that it was all an accident and that a few drops of water was enough to save my eyes. Now that I think about it, I really was hyperactive when I was young. I wonder what changed me into the lazy one I am now.

It took about five minutes, but I was finally free of the filth that was staining my coat. We were finally able to see the black with my yellow ornaments! The water stopped above me while I rubbing my eyes of the water.

Suddenly, the mother grabbed me with a towel and raised me to get me out of them tub. I winced in pain because she was holding me right on a bruise. I groaned in answer to the accident, but she didn’t seem to realize.

“Sweetheart, can you go get me the bruise cream from the closet?” She asked Sweet while carefully drying me. I guessed that it was an accident that she grabbed me right on my injury. Still, the way she was drying me felt good, like Neige petting me.

My eyes dropped in sadness. The relaxation that came from the shower disappeared, unleashing the hundred thousand questions that were haunting me. In the end, however, the major question was wondering where she was.

As I was entering further and further in my well of sadness, the son came back with the cream and the mother started placing some on the obvious black… darker spot. “It may sting a little, don’t worry.” I was wondering why she said that, but then certain spots on my body started to itch. I wanted to stop the feeling, but I knew that using my claws for the task would bring more bad than good.

After a good five minute, she finally finished what she was doing. She closed the pot, which was now half empty due to all the injuries I had, and gave it back to her son. “There you go. By the end of the day, all of your bruises will be gone. They might still be sensitive, but your black coat won’t be ruined by them.” She smiled again.

We all left the bathroom and went back in the bedroom to look at Espeon’s situation. She seemed to be okay, but she had lost a lot of blood due to the big gash she received. Yet, the way she slept made me think of my trainer. Sleeping on her left side, her arm under her leg like an additional cushion, the rest of her body sprawled over the bed like if she knew that no one was there.

I sighed, returning to the pit of despair that I was trying to get out of. I knew that I was in love with her, but I never knew love could hurt as much as that. It didn’t help that my knowledge of love was about as big as my knowledge in… well, I think love is my worst subject.

This time, both the mother and the son saw that I was depressed. “Are you okay, Umbreon?” The kid asked. Instead of answering, I simply left the room and went toward the sofa in the living room. Both of them followed me.

“Was she someone you knew? Oh, by the way, my name’s Healing Heart and my son is called Sweet Leaf.” She asked. I stared at her after hearing their names. I knew that Tenebre wasn’t that original, meaning ‘shadow’ in french, but Healing Heart? Sweet Leaf? Those were nouns with an adjective, not a name!

I shook my head in answer. I wanted to know her, mainly because Cresselia told me that she is important, but she was only awake for about a minute when I was there. I don’t think that’s enough for an antisocial Pokemon to make a relationship with anybody.

“Then… why are you sad?” She asked. I wanted to tell them, but I knew that ‘Umbreon umbreon’ wouldn’t work as an explanation. I looked around and I spotted a notepad on the small table between the seats. I remembered some things that I saw Neige draw that might explain my situation.

I pointed the notepad and, luckily for me, they understood. Leaf took it and a pen, placing them in front of me on a fresh page. Using my mouth, I did my best to illustrate what I wanted. I drew two curved lines, making it look like what humans called a heart. I really thought that it was stupid. A real heart needed more details than two lines. It had a big tube coming from the top with four zones located inside and tons of muscles… at least, that’s what the book I saw showed.

Beside the ‘heart’, I wrote a question mark. I hoped that, in picture to word translation, it would mean ‘lost the only you love’. Healing looked at the drawing and looked confused. When I looked, I saw that my heart looked like a crude oval and my question mark like a circle over a dot. Still, she  started deciphering it out loud.

“He looks obviously depressed and I can tell it’s from a bleeding heart, but he doesn’t know who that cat thing is…” I looked at her while she was trying to understand my bad drawing. One thing that kept popping out since I arrived here was the fact that those Ponytas kept referring to Espeon and I as ‘cats’. If I consider that a cat would be along the lines of Skitty, the kitten Pokemon, it makes next to no sense. I think that our family would actually have more resemblance to the Vulpix family than them.

After deep pondering, the mother gasped. “When you were kidnapped by Crazy, you lost your loved one!” How she managed to figure that out with whatever clue I left baffled me, but it was the closest I could get with the resources I had, so I nodded.

“Wow, I can’t believe I found it.” She shook her head, clearing her cheerfulness away to get back to serious. “Anyway, I can cut you a deal. Go get what we need from the zebras, along with a few things I’ll need for the near future, and we will look for her in the forest.” I looked down. I knew that saving that Espeon was important, but I couldn’t wait to search for Neige.

“I know you might want to look for your loved one, but a life is at stake here.” Let me add ‘Does the Ponytas from the new universe can read minds’ in my research to-do list. “ Still, a little wait before looking for her won’t hurt. You lured the goons away from the forest and she should be safe by now. I mean, she can’t be in a worst situation than your frie- acquaintance back there.” She was right on that one. I wouldn’t want Neige to suffer what Espeon went through.

“So, just follow Sweet to the bedroom and he’ll find you a suiting saddlebag for your size.” She turned to face her son. “Maybe the one you had in kindergarten. Might fit, more or less. Since you can’t speak, I will write you a list and a letter for Idube. I’m sure she’ll act kindly to you.” Like if had a silent agreement, we all went our separate ways, some less separate than others.

I follow Sweet Leaf to the bedroom. When I arrived, he was already digging through a closet for what I assumed was that ‘saddlebag’. After few seconds of rummaging, he grabbed two blue bag attached to a belt. Like the name suggested, it indeed looked like a saddle and it had bags attached to it. I seriously didn’t know what I was expecting.

“There you go, Umbreon. We only need to adjust it and you’ll be ready to roll.” He said while placing the bags over my body. To my surprise, even though my body had quite a different shape than those Ponyta, it fitted on me like a glove would on a trainer.

“Wow, I don’t even need to readjust it. It’s like if it was yours.” He patted me while I glanced at Espeon who was beside us. I suddenly thought of something that didn’t occur to me before. Maybe the reason why she was so important was because she knew where Neige was. She was awake earlier than me in the forest, she might have seen where Neige went. Maybe she even tried to speak with her and had a misunderstanding.

“I just have to warn you. Be careful.” He motioned me to follow him out of the room. “And try to stay away from Crazy’s workers. I don’t know what he’ll do to you if he catches you..”

We went down the stairs and met with his mother. She was standing beside the entrance with a small bag and a sheet of paper. “I have a bag with pots here. Just give them back to Idube when you get there. And here is the order and the letter. Just give all of these to the zebra and you’ll get what you need for your friend.”

I nodded, letting her place the pots inside my newly aquired bags. I felt the shift in weight as she tried to equalise it to prevent any accident. I suddenly realised that those bags weren’t made for creatures with swift and flexible backs, but more akin to strong and sturdy ones. By adding weight, they started to feel uncomfortable to wear.

“There you go, all packed and ready to run. So, to get to the tribe, just find the town exit where the gate is and run forward. Try to hide from the townponies and you should be there in about 30 minutes of running.” She explained while locking the bags with the button. She was about to open the door, but I stopped her. I was hearing something so faint I almost missed it.

“Just wait. I’m sure she’ll come out soon.” Oh sweet arceus. Them again? They won’t leave us, aren’t they? I looked at both Ponytas and they looked at me in confusion. I pointed at the wall beside the door and placed myself in a pre-pouncing position that only Brave does normally.

“Wait, they’re there?” Heart whispered. I nodded and backed off the door. “Okay… maybe you can leave using the window in the kitchen while I distract them. That’s an idea.” Before she even finished, her son and I were already running toward the kitchen.

“Wait, they might be on the other side here too!” Sweet warned me. I winked at him and grinned. He shrugged and opened the window, receiving a silent ‘yes’ from the other side. Using a complicated set of movement, I managed to tell him to close his eyes, which he did.

I got a running start and jumped through the window. When I left the house, I used flash, successfully blinding whoever was looking at me. And they said that this attack was only useful in caves. Because of my new role as running sun, I took a sprint toward the nearest alley, my goal being finding a quick and easy way to get on the rooftops.

Unluckily for me, my unstoppable force was quickly met with an unmovable object. In front of me was a house-high wall with no way to climb it. I wanted to go back the way I came and find a solution around it, but I knew that my flash gathered attention and might set me up for a trap.

I stared at the wall and suddenly thought of an idea. An idea so crazy there was no way it couldn’t work. Still, I was a bit reluctant at doing it for safety precaution, but it was my only solution. Well, only one I could find within the timespan I had. I sighed, hoping that my 10 second calculations were correct.

I summoned a shadow ball, but instead of shooting it, I let it float above the floor. Then, I got another running start and jumped on it. Right before colliding with the ethereal object, however, I used protect. When my body, 100% protected, hit the shadow ball, it compressed between the floor and I and exploded.

Like a spring, I was thrown into the air with the grace of a wailord on dry land. Even though the protect protected me from the impact on the ball, the sheer force of being flung was giving me quite the headache.

When I was flying, I suddenly realised a fact that I completely forgot when I did my ridiculous plan. My ‘gunpowder’ was a ball of darkness with a high density core. I was a projectile weighing about 60 pounds. It was obvious that, by the laws of physics, I would be thrown way too high for what I needed.

So I continued to fly for a good time. At first, I liked the feeling of being free of the gravitational pull of the planet. The feeling of weightlessness that came with my predicament. Then, I felt fear. I was meters high in the sky, rocketing at I-don’t-know-how-much miles per hour…

...and had no way to land.

Sure, I could use protect again and save me from the fall, but from past painful experiences, I knew that protect rarely worked again after using it once. I started searching inside my brain for a way to land without relying on luck.

I saw my body passing over the gate Heart told me to go. At least I knew I was going in the right direction, even though I might not survive my method of transportation. When I overshadowed the first trees in the forest, I started to feel the weight of the planet pull on me like it was supposed to.

I saw the trees approaching at increasing speed. I closed my eyes and curled into a ball, hoping that I wouldn’t turn into a umbrecrepe. Sadly, before I felt anything coming from the impact of my body on terra firma, my mind disconnected. I’m sure it’s to protect my own self from exterior pain. My last thought was about how much time I fainted in the last few days and if it was unhealthy.

> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“The universe is big. It’s vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles.”

~The 11th Doctor, Matt Smith.

=====


“Raise your hands up in the air where I can see them!” What a wonderful way to wake up. Ever since I was sent in this underground lair, screaming always was my alarm clock and my bedtime story. It’s incredible how you get used to such an annoying sound in a single week.

I opened my eyes and stretched. When I saw that I was actually stretching in the arms of my savior and that we were attacked by some of those red-dressing weirdoes. Seeing, in his hand, the same device he used to attack my parents, I shrunk back his the palms of the women whom I owed my life.

“Okay. Just get out of your Pokemon et battons-nous!” The man beside me said to the machine wearing freak. He pointed the device at the man and lifted a switch on it before laughing loudly.

“Oh, I would, Augustine Sycamore, but I am sure that, whatever I would do, I would lose.” He pressed on a button and a part of the device fell in his other hand. After a second of looking at the plastic part, he placed it back in the device and pulled the top. He smiled as it made a clicking noise.

“D-Don’t you dare use it against us or you’ll have the police up after you… and the Chateaublanc family.” The girl holding me said, shaking from fear. Was that device able to injure humans along with Pokemon? If she was shaking like a frail tree, that thing must be really dangerous.

“Oh, I don’t think they’ll find me.” He started laughing maniacally. “Seeing that my boss wants you alive, Sycamore, I shall only sliiightly injure your good friend here.” He then pointed it to us. I curled into a ball, scared of what would come next.

I definitely heard a bang and some pain, but from somewhere I wasn’t expecting. I opened my eyes, only to see the bad guy on the floor, a foot on his face. Standing atop him was a strange man with a long coat and a tie.

“Am I late, Professor Sycamore?” He asked before grabbing two metal circles and placing them around the guy’s hands. When my savior came back to her senses after her fear took over, she looked at me and gasped.

“Oh no! The man got him with the gun!” She shouted. So… that device was called a gun and was aimed at us. I tried to look where she was pointing and saw where the pain came from. There was a small, perfectly U shaped hole on top of my ear. It may have made a hole through it, but what would have happened if the ‘gun’ was aimed at a body? I seriously didn’t want to know.

“Bah, don’t worry. It could have been worst.” The human capturer said to the girl while pulling the gunner by his attached arms. “If I hadn’t been there, that hole could be somewhere else.” Then I was right. This ‘gun’ is an invention straight from Giratina’s dimension of pain and suffering.

“Anyway, we should get out of here before we get interrupted again.” My savior proposed. Everyone nodded and they started to run. “Don’t worry, little one. I will take care of you even if I can’t bring you home.” I didn’t understand what that last part meant, but I took her words like truth.

=====

“Hey. Are you with me?” Why did everyday had to start by fainting? Even if it was actually sunset right now. Well, I was not sure that it was the same day, but the voice looked like it just started talking.

“Yeah, I am fine. Just some bruises, that’s all.” I answered, unsure if the other was pony, Ponytas without the power to speak with others, or Pokemon. I heard some leaves rustling and a relieved sigh.

“Magnifique, I was sure that the fall you took would be your end, but seems like falling on my leaves helped. Guess I was wrong.” Whoever was around me said with a slight accent telling me that it wasn’t a native. Plus, it understood me, which only meant one thing.

I opened my eyes and saw… a tree. I couldn’t say I was surprised since I’ve crash landed in a forest. Yet, that tree had something weird going on about it. Maybe it was the dark markings all over its body where bark was non-existent. It could also be the leaves on top of his head having the form of a proper hairstyle. Or maybe it’s the all-seeing eyes on the upper section of its body.

My eyes shot open and I quickly backed off what I assumed was a Pokemon I’ve never seen before. It looked at me with a face telling me that I shouldn’t trust whatever it was. Then, to my surprise, it showed sadness and he backed off too, leaning on another tree.

“Oh great. Another one scared of me. Dare I say I was handsome back when I was human. Now I’m only a shadow of my own self. Kind of fitting since I’m a ghost Pokemon.” He sighed before rooting himself and closing his eyes. I could see a tear flowing down his bark.

Seeing this, I could only feel bad about it. He was a human stuck in this world and inside a Pokemon from the most scary type. I slowly approached the tree and stood in front of him. “M-Mister? What was your name back on Earth?” I asked, sure that I would get a proper answer since he was a man.

When he heard my voice, his eye opened, revealing what I could only call ‘being lost and sad’. “I was known as Professor Augustine Sycamore. Leader of the main Pokemon science and research team in the country of Kalos. They used to call me the ‘most handsome professor’. Sure, it did help that I was compared to Oak and Elm.” He laughed at his own joke that I didn’t understand.

I didn’t know why, but his name rang a bell deep inside my memories. From a time I was forcing myself to forget. Add to that the french accent and the wonderful… leaf haircut and his current description fitted perfectly.

“I know you. You helped Neige save me from the lair of team with the flame logo.” I said, hoping that it was the same man and not another scientist who speaks french. His wooden eyebrow raised, maybe in confusion or surprise. It didn’t help that I was used to reading faces with two eyebrows instead of one.

“Wait, Tenebre? Oh sweet Arceus, I am so happy to see a friendly face!” He grabbed me with his arms and held me into what I assumed was a hug. I wasn’t sure since his arms couldn’t hold me tight enough and that it was uncomfortable due to his hard shell compared to a skin hug.

After a few seconds, he let me go. I could see clear improvement in his limited facial features that meeting me was a good thing. He finally had someone to be with him and help. “Glad to meet you again, professor.”

“Me too, Tene. Looks like Neige really liked you. You have a fur tone that fits your name. Ténèbre, darkness. She predicted it, didn’t she.” He looked around, but the sun was too low to see clearly. “Where is she anyway? I know she would never leave you.” I looked up at his now glowing eye and shrugged.

“I wish I knew. Ever since Arceus sent us here, I’ve lost track of her. I wanted to look for her, but I had something else to do before.” I explained. “I have to go to a village this way and-” Before I could finish, he grabbed and placed me on his hair leaves.

“We can speak about it while walking. I don’t want to be stuck in any forest at night.” Even if I knew he wouldn’t see me, I nodded. I placed my bag beside me and I curled into a ball, finding the patch of leaves incredibly comfortable.

“So, why are you going to that village? Is it about Neige or something else?” He asked while I placed myself.

“No, not really. I wish it was though. It’s actually an Espeon that was… badly injured. She needs special medicine from the members of that village. As a kind and polite gentle umbreon, it is my duty to help her.” I explained, almost dozing off from the excitement of the last day.

“It must be a really big injury if she needs special treatment. What happened to her?” I sighed and buried my chin in my all-natural bed. I already knew that this question was coming, but I still had no clue on how to answer it. Should I soften the blow or throw the harsh truth straight on.

That’s when I remembered that the person I was talking to was a man with more knowledge a normal Pokemon would learn in a lifetime. Surely gorey details wouldn’t shake that literal tree of intelligence. 

“Well… it started when we’ve got teleported and when I met Cresselia in my dreams…” I started to explain what happened from my strange dream to my quite stupid shadow jump I’ve invented. Even through the torture part, he didn’t flinch one bit. Well, maybe he did, but it didn’t show over his face.

“...so, that’s when I compressed a shadow ball under a protect attack to get catapulted over the town. The rest, as they say, is history.” I’ve finished explaining after a good ten minutes. I knew that Heart was telling me that it would only take about 30 minutes of running, but I was too tired to go that fast and my main method of transport wasn’t the fastest thing out there.

“Wow, belle histoire! Might I say, what a tale.” Before he could continue, I yawned loud enough to wake up the entire town if we were beside it. When I realised that I cutted him in the middle of what he was saying, I quickly apologised.

“So, I was about to propose you to sleep a bit. I’m sure that, after all that you’ve lived in the last half-day. Don’t worry, I’ll wake you up when we’ll arrive.” His proposal looked really interesting. While I was feeling the sudden famine and thirst that came with half a day without food or drink, sleep was already taking over, placing my other needs in the dust.

=====

“Ehh… Tenebre? We are surrounded.” If I would gain a pokedollar every time I was waken up by someone with a problem, I would have enough to buy a crate full of potions. This is clearly an understatement on how I was annoyed of this particular situation.

Sadly, I was the kind of Umbreon that, even if I was lazy, helping people was also my thing. I opened my eyes and saw that we were indeed surrounded. To my surprise, instead of being surrounded by ponies, we were surrounded by Zebstrikas.

“More of those creatures.” One of them mumbled. “Are you friend or foe?” He asked us. I looked at him and sighed. I stood up on Mr. Sycamore and stretched. I slowly made my way down the tall tree and landed on the floor.

I walked toward the one who looked like the leader and sat down in front of him. That’s when I realised that I forgot my bag. “Professor? Can you give me my bag please?” He made an approving sound and lowered my bag, allowing me to dig through it.

I grabbed the letter that Heart gave me and placed it at the hooves of the leader. He looked at me, curious of my actions and grabbed the letter to read it. After a minute, he closed the piece of paper and gave it back to me.

“Nyama, Okum, lead those two… creatures to Idube. Treat them as friends of the tribe and not as prisoners, please.” He ordered. Two Zebstrikas, one more black and one more white, came out of the group and started walking at a direction to our left.

As we followed them, I’ve realised something important. “Wait… we’re we going in the right direction or what?” I asked to Sycamore. He glared at me, his ghostly presence causing more fear than desired.

“Well, you indeed pointed this direction. Maybe your jump ruined your idea of the general direction.” He hypothesized. I nodded, glad that we met those guards. If we had missed them, we might have never came back.

It took about ten minutes of walking, which made me even more glad about meeting them, before arriving at the village. On our way there, we say sights of nocturnal Pokemon resuming their lives after the teleportation. I was impatient for the moment where I could join them in their world of peace with my friends on my left and Neige in my arms… or more like me in her arms.

I stopped for a seconds and realized something important. If the Professor was turned into a Pokemon, then maybe Neige had the same fate. That made searching for her harder considering that it makes humans non-existent and Pokemon plentiful.

“Idube! We brought those creatures by orders from Gada! They came here with a letter asking for potions and ointments!” The guards broke my train of thought. They both said their line in perfect synchronism and in a creepy monotone voice. 

The Zebstrika in front of them nodded. “At rest, guards.” She smiled at us, her voice instantly calming me from the stress of entering an unknown place. “Come, you two. Don’t be afraid of those guards. They were born like that.” She approached me and whispered in my ear. “They were born with a stick up their ass.”

After all that I’ve experienced, I finally broke down. Instead of breaking in tears, however, I broke down in uncontrollable laughter. It felt so good to finally have a peaceful moment in a town where no one wanted to kill me.

After quite a large fit of laughter, I’ve finally managed to stand up and look at the pleased smile of the older Zebstrika. “Glad that my joke lightened the mood. Now come and follow me.” Sycamore and I nodded at each other and we made our way to Idube’s hut.

When she entered her ‘house’, she immediately made her way to her desk where a paper made of birch tree bark was laying beside a stick of charcoal. “Sorry if it’s a bit dirty. I didn’t have time to clean.” She started writing something and then smiled at us again.

“Now, I know that you are here for something, but I must ask you a small question.” I rolled my eyes. Don’t tell me that I must go get her something in order to make the potions! She is in danger, I don’t have time for this tomfoolery!

“So, I want to make this new potion, but I need an ingredient that is quite hard to get.” Okay, that was it. I dropped my bag and growled at her, warning her that I was tired of what was happening. Sadly, she only understood ‘Umbreon’, which only lead to her laughing.

“No, no. Don’t worry. In fact, I’ll show you what I need and you’ll understand.” She invited me to come toward her. When I arrived, she grabbed a pair of sharpened stones and cut a small lock of fur off my body. At first, I was surprised and shocked, but then I was curious.

She went to her crucible located in the middle of her hut and started mixing ingredients that I’ve never seen before. Some green goo, a dark powder, some crushed blue flowers and more. Then, she added my fur and mixed the liquid, creature a dark green mixture that surprisingly smelled nice for what she threw in there.

“Wow, that is interesting.” I looked at Sycamore who stayed silent for most of the ride here. “I never was really interested in other cultures, but seeing a ritual in action is quite impressing. I might stay here for a while to learn some new things. Well… after everything is over, of course.” I didn’t know what I was waiting for. A professor who wants to learn? How obvious!

Finally, she took a cup and filled it to the brim with the liquid, drinking it in one try. Slamming the cup on the table, she started choking and wheezing while falling on the floor. “Oh no! Are you alright Miss. Idube!?” I asked her in fear of seeing another being injured because of me… or a part of me.

After a long wait, she finally stopped coughing. “Yes, I’m alright. Thank you fo- Wait. I can understand you!” Her smile grew large while looking at me. I looked at her, impressed, but mostly confused. 

“Those creatures appeared out of nowhere and spoke an unknown language.” She started to explain. “So, I’ve decided to try and make a potion allowing both ponykind and… creaturekind to speak freely. Sadly, I needed something from a member of your specie to make the potion.” I nodded, impressed at her work.

“By the way, they are called Pokemon.” I explained back. She apologized while writing her newest discovery and everything that I taught her. “And my name is Tenebre from the Umbreon specie.” She nodded quickly while writing furiously.

I was suddenly startled by a sound looking like an angry wolf. I looked down to see my belly raging. It has been more than 12 hours since I last ate and drank, making me really weak. The walking I’ve made to get here burning my last calories.

“Well, looks like someone is hungry.” She opened a window and spotted a female-looking Zebstrika passing by. “Kudla? Could you please be a dear and bring to me the most food you can bring and a sac of freshwater please?” She politely and calmy asked.

“Yes mam!” She said while bowing. That made me curious on how the hierarchy of this tribe worked. Is the ‘master’ of the tribe considered the only voice of power or is the tribe more democratic.

“Tenebre?” She asked. I sighed as another train of thought derailed and crashed into a nearby tree from the forest of abandoned trains. I nodded, showing that I was listening. “Do you mind if I cut a layer of your fur for the potions? It will allow me to create a huge amount and improve the relations between our people and the… Pokemons. Then, I’ll be able to take some from the friends we’ll make.”

“I don’t mind…” I smirked. “..., but I want something in return. I want the order I was sent her for completely free in exchange. And maybe erase the dept my sender has here. Then, my good friend, my fur is yours, but only a layer. I still need it.” I smiled at my successful attempt at humor.

“Well, give me the letter and I’ll see if it is possible.” I gave her what she wanted and she quickly read it. “Oh, it’s from Mrs. Heart and her little Sweet Leaf. I can’t say no to his little blue eyes. I accept the deal.” 

Right when she finished speaking, two Zebstrikas entered the room. One with a bag full of small fruits and the other with a gourd full of water. Even if I wasn’t a fan of fruits, just the sight of the bag made my belly go into a full symphony of annoying noises.

“Thank you, dears. That will be all.” They nodded and left, leaving me with both treasures. Without even asking, I started swallowing a great amount of sweet and sour berries that slowly filled me with energy.

After a minute, however, I remembered that I wasn’t alone. “Do any of you wants some?” I asked. Idube shook her head, claiming that she ate right before meeting us. Sycamore, on the other paw, stated that he was able to feed himself only by planting his roots in the floor. I nodded, glad that I had this feast for myself.

After eating the last berry inside the huge bag, I immediately made my way for the water. I placed the drinking nozzle at my mouth and started sucking like if it was a baby bottle. I quickly chugged through the bag, leaving no drip behind.

“Wow, you really were empty.” She stated. I told to her when was the last time I ate or drank, receiving a surprised sound from her. “I understand now. So, it will take time before I finish your order, so I would suggest that you take a good bath to remove the juice from your fur and take a good night of rest. Tomorrow, I will take my part of the bargain and you’ll get your potions, free of charge.”

I nodded and made my way up the Treevenant who was gathering nutrients. We both made our way to the middle of the village and i quickly cleaned my face at the river that was crossing through.

I then made my way up my new bed and made myself comfortable. Even if I had just slept, I was still feeling like I never even closed my eyes. I turned on my back and looked at the stars. To my surprise, I saw a shooting star. I remembered that, from what Neige told me, a shooting star could grant wishes. I never believed in such a thing, but I guess it was worth a try now.

I wish that Neige is alright… actually, I wish that she is alright and, if she turned into a Pokemon, that she turned into something cute. Something the opposite of a trubbish for example. Maybe another eon, like Sylveon, or Leafeon. Maybe like…an Espeon. I closed my eyes, thinking about how it would be awesome for my trainer to be a Pokemon.

No more Pokephilia,

No more things in my way,

No more problems.

> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“The best puzzles are the one where the answers are in plain sight, but you and your brain don’t even consider them as answers since they were so easy to find.”

-----



I sighed as I opened my eyes, the sound of a busy street ringing through my ears. I missed the time when I was able to get a good night of sleep, only to wake with the beautiful sight of my trainer looking at me with her constant smile.

However, the night I just had was the best night of sleep I had in days. No nightmares or memories invaded me and I was able to regain some energy for the day to come. Plus, the bed I was on was surprisingly comfortable. Who knew leaves and branches were this good for such a purpose.

I looked around and remembered where I was. I was still in the Zebstrika village and I had to deliver the medicine to Espeon. I sighed, wondering for a second why I was helping her, but I quickly remembered that the god of dreams herself visited me about her.

I rose up and stretched my tired limbs. I quickly realised that these past few days might have been too much action for such a lazy Pokemon, but it was part of the job. I sure hope that, in the end, helping that Espeon will be beneficial for me. It is getting in the way of my search for Neige.

“Tenebre, are you aware?” The tree I was sleeping on asked. I was startled by it before my mind told me that it was the professor that saved me a long time ago. I slowly and carefully made my way down his body, doing my best to not fall. Naturally, I fell backward, hitting the back of my head on a rock.

“Arg, why me?” I simply asked to no one. I knew that this new bruise would soon give me a major headache, something that I am sure will not be fun. I stood back up and sighed.

“Are you alright, Mr. Tenebre?” A Zebstrika that sneaked up on both of us asked. I quickly turned around and saw that it was only Kudla. She looked less tired that yesterday, since it’s not around midnight. In her mane was a cute flower and she held a basket filled with various flowers in her mouth.

“Y-Yeah. Just a small bump on my head. No worries.” I explained, forgetting that I was a Pokemon speaking to another race that doesn’t even speak the same language as I. “Oh, I forgot, you don’t understand us.” When I said, this, however, she shook her head.

“I can hear everything you say. Miss Idube gave me one of her Pokemon talking potions so that I can bring you to her. Your order is ready.” She quickly explained. When I heard that my ‘quest’ was finally over, I nodded and told her to lead us.

“Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new.”

I stopped dead in my track, as did Kudla and Sycamore. I was wondering if that head injury really was that important, but seeing that I wasn’t the only one that reacted to the mental message, I stopped questioning my sanity.

“I am Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokémon realm.”

That name mysteriously rang a bell in my head. Either from bedtime stories Neige told me when I was young or books I read when I was bored, I knew that this Pokemon was something straight out of legends. Since he just said that he was the creator of our realm, I guess that those stories weren’t farfetched after all.

“You have no reason to fear me, I come in peace. I have revealed myself to inform you that I am the one responsible for the Pokémon’s presence in this world, for the citizens of Equus, the Pokémon are the beings who have appeared over the past few days.”

Well then. That wasn’t the way I expected to get answers. What happened to the good old ‘ask question to important Pokemon’? Is the new generation so lazy you have to give them the answers before they even consider asking the question?

While listening to what our great god had to say, I looked around to see how others were reacting to this sudden life interruption. Some citizen were shocked and others were scared, Kudla was looking around her, surely trying to find the source of this mysterious voice. Sycamore was… well… as stoic as his new body can be. Either he had great control over his emotions when he was a human or his body wasn’t prone to express reactions.

“I have my reasons for bringing them here, and to the leaders I will reveal them in time, but for now a warning, the Pokémon, while some may not seem it, are just as intelligent as any race who calls Equus home, and, seeing as how they are my subjects, I will not tolerate them being treated any differently than you would treat your fellow Pony, Griffin, Minotaur, Diamond Dog, Changeling, Deer, Hippocampi, Zebra, Horse, Buffalo, Cow, Donkey, or Dragon depending on whichever race you belong to.”

“To my Pokémon, I say this: I brought you, all of you, here so that you could live in peace. Do not seek to harm the natives of this world, for I am the one responsible for your displacement. And to the Pokémon who went through changes when I brought you here I say this…

You are the ones who proved themselves worthy, those who were fair, kind and good in the old world, consider this your reward. And to all of you, as sapients the laws of Equus, and the varying countries, now apply to you, and only the laws of Equus.”


‘Okay brain. Explain to me what is happening.’

‘Left brain at your service, my lord. It seems that a being known as Arceus, whom information about him you’ve read in the following books :

-History of the world.
-Tales of Sinnoh.
-The trio of time and space.

has teleported / transported all of our race into this world known as Equus and as-’

‘Ah, come on Lefty. Stop bragging about that stick up your butt. It becomes boring. Still, it pisses me off that we’ve been transported here without our consent, but at least we’re still together… minus Neige. The only thing we have to do here is to stay together and respect the rules. That must be easy.’

“Thank you, right brain.” I accidentally said out loud while sighing, causing my traveling partners to stare at me in silence.

“That is all for now, but just to be clear, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite, if you have a problem with what I’ve done, feel free to contact me, I currently reside in an ancient temple deep in the Everfree Forest, or a pocket dimension outside of the space time continuum, so if any of you wish to face the sheer power of a god, feel free to come by.”

If you have a problem with me not respecting the rights you receive for free when you were born, which include free will and the right to make life-changing decision, please send your angry mail at my creepy temple located in a forest. Isn’t that the best way to hang a target on your chest and asking to be used as a practice dummy.

“Goodbye for now, though I doubt this will be the last you hear of me, and peace to you all.”

When the message finished, I looked at Sycamore. For the first time ever, his face showed some emotions. He was curious, but also scared. I guess that his fear was justified. It was now official, there was no turning back. We changed dimension and we had to deal with it.

“Well… that was certainly… something.” Kudla tried to explain her train of thought, but it failed miserably. “Let’s just make our way to Idube’s shack.” I nodded and we continued walking. On the outside, I was as calm and collected as normal, but inside, my mind was overclocked to allow me to classify all the information I just heard.

“Let me get this straight…” I started out loud. “...an immortal deity imprisoned for hundreds, maybe even thousands of year sent both humans and Pokemons to another world where countless species already inhabit the planet. Plus, he gave the humans a new form and let the others suffer without any permission given.” I looked at Sycamore who, still shocked, nodded slowly.

I nodded back, happy that I managed to sort this out quickly. By happy, I only meant my exterior appearance. Inside, I was boiling with rage. I finally managed to kiss the one that I loved. I had friends and a family that was about to challenge the elite four. I was now alone. The only companion I had was a scientist turned tree whom I only knew for a few hours when I was young and a fainted Espeon that I didn’t even know yet.

I didn’t even had time to continue my mental rant as we finally arrived to our destination. I was finally able to get a decent view of the outside now that the sun was shining upon it. The style was exactly the same as the other houses. However, this one was clearly bigger, surely a proof of the inhabitant’s experience and hard work.

“Idube, we’re here!” Kudla shouted as we entered the humble abode. However, no sound came from  inside. This immediately alerted our group. We went further into the house, only to find a frozen Zebstrika standing on her back legs and over her cauldron.

“M-Miss Idube, are you alright?” The young female quickly said while rushing toward the elderly. However, when she touched Idube, the Zebstrika turned around and showed her face. To our surprise, it didn’t contain shock, but more along the lines of excitement.

“Alright? My dear, I am more than alright!” She started running toward her library, us following behind her. She then started to grab books at random and throwing them in a huge pile. However, after further scrutiny, I realised that those books were all about the multiple races populating the land we were in.

“And there I thought I wouldn’t get something exciting in my life before my demise. Hah! I was so wrong.” She then started to pull out empty pages as well as quills and ink. “And here I am. A scientist thinking that everything that was, is and will be was already researched to a molecular level. Aren’t I lucky that new species just appeared out of nowhere.”

We all stared as she started scribbling like crazy. My curious nature taking over, I looked over her shoulder and saw that, even if she was writing about 5… weird symbolic letters per seconds, her writing looked spotless. I guess that she truly was a scientist.

“O...kay. Do you have our medicine then? We really should go soon if we want to save that Espeon.” I said. However, it seemed that the potion had ran its course since Idube looked at us, confused. Kudla, seeing her reaction, quickly translated what I said.

“Oh! Right! Your bag is right there.“ She started, pointing at the bag. “You have both the medicine for Healing Heart and the salve for your friend. I also added a few Pokemon talking potions as a thank you gift. I have enough fur for tons of bottles. Oh, by the way…” She went to her crucible, grabbed one of the potions and drank it. “...the potion lasts about 18 hours. I’ll have to test it more.”

“That’s good to know. I really want to thank you for your hospitality. And thank you Kudla.” I respectfully bowed to them. However, instead of doing something to show that she shared the same feelings, Idube grabbed me and hugged my poor body.

“Merci beaucoup, miss Idube and demoiselle Kudla. I am glad to see that you and your tribe will take care of the Pokemon like this. Just… don’t use them as test subject for your potion, please.” The Trevenant, who talked rarely in the last day, said. While he said his departing words, I went to the bag and placed it in a comfortable position on my side.

As we were about to make it out of the house, Idube stopped us. “Mister… Sycamore, was it? I know you have to help Tenebre with his problem, but I would like to ask you a favor. Could you please stay with me a bit longer. I want to get as much information as possible about all those Pokemon before starting my research. Since I heard that you were a Pokemon scientist, I guessed that you wouldn’t mind share your knowledge.” She asked with the warmest of smile.

I looked at the tree from under the door frame. Sure, I am not one to order someone to refuse such an opportunity to spread knowledge to one in need, but he was the only other Pokemon,… or human, that I knew from Kalos. I didn’t have time to say anything, however. Augustine was already by her side.

“I’m sorry Tenebre. I know you want me to keep your company, but I-” I shook my head, making him stop in the middle of his sentence. I explained what I just thought to myself. “Well, I’m glad you share that idea with me. Good luck with that Espeon. I will find you when I will finish with this.” He said before going deeper in the house, followed by Idube who waved at me.

I sighed as I left the house, the small charge on my back subtly changing my balance to a point that I had to regain my equilibrium a few times. I slowly made my way outside the village, reminiscing times where I wasn’t alone or inside a forest. I never thought I would ever say this, but I missed the monochrome appearance of cities.

It took about an hour before I got back to the village where it all started. When I started to see the entrance, however, I immediately hid behind trees. Remembering what happened last time someone other than Heart found me, I knew that being sneaky was my only way in.

After waiting for a long time, or 10 minutes depending of the point of view, I was finally greeted with an empty field toward my nearest hiding spot. So, like a shadow, I moved from dark corners to darker corners, hoping that no one would see me.

While hiding in an alleyway, I managed to hear a conversation happening near me. I looked at the source of the noise and saw Tweedledee and Tweedledum talking about 15 meters from me.

“I can’t find them anywhere.” The taller one said. “I am sure that they’re still in the village, but where?” He asked his smaller counterpart. His friend shrugged.

“Maybe that witch hid them somewhere before we’ve raided her house.” The other said. I ignored the rest of the conversation, my mind focusing on only the information I just learned. Those two… evil… monsters raided Heart’s house!? And it was all my fault.

As I was staring at those two criminals, I suddenly felt something hitting me in the back. Startled, I jumped back and growled at the Ponyta behind me. To my surprise, he was as startled as me. However, our mental showdown was stopped when we heard the two coming this way. When the Ponyta saw my fear, he quickly grabbed me and pushed me back in my hiding spot, blocking the path.

When they arrived in front of us, he started shaking his hoof in front of him. “Is everything alright here?” The tall one asked. The one blocking their sight of me explained that he accidentally stepped on a sharp stone and that it surprised him. “Okay then. If you see a black fox creature roaming around, tell us. He owes us his pelt.” He finished his sentence with a small maniacal laugh before leaving the scene.

The Ponyta sighed as the other left. I slowly left my hiding place and looked at the one who just saved me. “So, you’re the one who cause so much trouble in our town.” He crouched in front of me. In fear of what was coming, I started to back off. “Don’t worry. You cause problems for Crazy Nail and that is always a plus in my book.”

I stared at him, a slight grin sprayed on my face. “By looking at your bag, I can tell that you’ve met Healing Heart. Such a fine mare, heh.” He said, smiling. When he said, her name, however, my eyes grew wide. I poked him and pointed the bag. “I guess you wanna go see Heart. How about a secret visit. Give me your bag and hop in mine.” I nodded and did as he instructed.

I was kept in darkness as I felt him move under my body. It only took a few minutes to get to her house, but it obviously took less time than sneaking through town. However, after a minute, I heard a gasp. Suddenly, the bag started to move frantically.

I heard the sound of a door opening and the clear dissonance of a women crying. I quickly jumped out of his bag and was met with the weeping face of Healing Heart. Surrounding her was the broken debris of some of her living room furnitures.

“Oh, T-Tenebre! You’re s-safe!” She exclaimed while grabbing me for a hug. I returned the motion, slowly patting her back like Neige used to do. It seemed to do the trick as she calmed down after few seconds.

When she let me go, I made my way to the unnamed Ponyta and looked inside my bag. I grabbed one of the talking potion and gave it to Heart. At first, she looked at me in confusion, but she realised that I wanted her to drink it.

When she did, however, the response was immediate. She reeled back in disgust and glared at me. “Why did you make me drink that!? It taste awful!” She shouted. I smiled, preparing myself for the surprise of her life.

“Well, I would have explained to you the use for this potion, but you would have only heard me repeating ‘Umbreon’ over and over again.” I said. While the male would only hear… well, Umbreon, Heart stared at me in shock.

“You… you can talk!? How?” She asked, still shocked. That was surprising since she knew that I was intelligent. However, I guessed that she didn’t make a link between ‘able to write’ and ‘able to speak’.

“Like I said. That potion is allowing you to understand Pokemon speech while others only hear what you’re used to hear. Idube truly is a genius.” I stated. She slowly nodded, the information she just learned sinking in. “Anyway, where is Espeon? Did they caught her?”

She shook her head. “When I saw that they were coming, I hid her under the floorboards under my bed. I guess they were too lazy to look down there.” She added a small chuckle. I sighed in relief. I might not know her, but we are kin… more or less.

“What about Swee-” I started when I was immediately cut by the one who saved me earlier.

“Okay, this is weird. How can you speak to this fox? He only repeats Umbreon.” We both stared at him, sighing. Using Heart as a translator, I explained that the potion allowed people to talk to us and that, sadly, he can’t have one due to its limited quantity. He nodded, accepting the fact.

“I guess you were about to ask for Sweet. He should arrive soon. It’s still a school day.” On cue, a shadow loomed through the door. When we looked at its source, we saw the shocked expression of Sweet Leaf.

“M-Mom!? Are you alright?” He asked while running toward her for an embrace. She greeted him with open arms, sobbing quietly in her son’s embrace.

“Yes I am, Sweet.” She simply said. After a few seconds of embrace, the other Ponyta cleared his throat.

“Look, I know that it was horrible, but we need to leave. We don’t want them to come back while they’re here. Let’s just go to my house.” I wanted to tell him that he was a bit impolite for ruining that moment, but he was right. We all looked at each other and nodded.

I jumped inside the bag and looked outside as Heart ran upstairs and, after a small moment, brought the bandaged body of Espeon. She placed her in the other pouch inside the male’s bag. Then, she grabbed my old bag and placed it on her back.

I closed my hiding place and returned to the darkness of the cloth bag. I sighed and wait, hoping that his house wasn’t that far from where Heart lived. Luckily for me, it only took about five minutes before hearing the sound of a door opening.

“Okay. Tenebre, can you come with me. I will give Espeon her medicine.” I popped my head out of the bag and looked at Heart grabbing the limp body out of the other side of the Ponyta. I hopped out, clumsily grabbed my bag from his back and followed her upstairs.

We entered his bedroom and dropped her on the bed. Then, Heart opened what I was holding and grabbed a jar filled with a greenish blue cream. I jumped on the bed as she applied the weirdly colored paste on Espeon’s enormous injury.

The effect was immediate. I saw, in real time, fur slowly growing back where the gash was and the red becoming the normal white. However, it was still slow and, from what Heart explained, would need multiple application before the injury would fade.

“Look, I have to go and find a solution with Bright Speech for this whole ordeal. You can stay here and take care of her if you want.” She offered. I nodded and she left the room, leaving me alone with the poor Pokemon snuggled behind me. I wasn’t drowsy, but this position felt somehow right, like if I did it before.

My eyes suddenly grew wide. Everything made sense now. My brain went in overclock as it was now factoring in all the information that was left to me. How did I miss something so obvious!?

Cresselia telling me to protect her, her knowing my name when waking up, her getting kidnapped so easily and without attacking back, that constant feeling of familiarity and the fact that I seem to know her somehow. I turned her head and saw the last proof of who she was. Right there, under her ear, was the last scar her father gave her before she ran away. A mark forever hidden behind her hair.

I now knew who she was.

I finally found you, Neige.

> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“Only by detaching from your senses that you can discover the greatest treasure of all. Yourself.”



-----


I started shifting, finally feeling something in my lazy bones. However, I stayed there with my eyes closed. Last time I woke up, I was captured by some freaky Ponytas. I’m sure that, by staying down, I’ll hear them and know what is their plan. I controlled my breathing and concentrated on the outside world.

The only sound that got to my ear was snoring. However, it was a special kind of snoring. The same one that I heard every night for the last few months. Somewhere near me was Tenebre sleeping. Yet how could he be sleeping if we were both captured?

I started to think of the worst case scenario. Maybe they drugged him and placed him with me in a… pretty comfortable cage if I refer to what I am laying on. Do I fake sleeping and try to hear something else or try to wake him up. Considering he’s the only thing I can hear, let’s do the latter.

I quickly opened my eyes and, without caring about my surroundings, shook the limp body beside me. The black fox moved a bit before opening his eyes and staring at me with drowsiness covering his face. “Tenebre, wake up! We have to run away!” I shouted.

“I have vague suspicions on who you truly are, but before I can be sure, you are considered a stranger in my book. Which means that you really don’t know how dangerous it is to wake me up and spouting nonsense.” He stared at me with a glare that could easily scare anyone who doesn’t know him.

“What do you mean ‘I don’t know who you are’? I’ve been with you for the last few months! Why can’t you recognise your trainer?” I asked him, still under the impression that our lives were in danger.

“Well, first off, you can hold a conversation with me. Second off… you’re pink.” He stated before placing his paw over his mouth. It was like if time stopped around me as I looked down at my hands… or paws. Two pink three-fingered stumps replaced my normal hands.

I started shaking, but I didn’t know why. Actually, I knew why, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. It was so surreal, yet so grounded in reality. I stopped caring about what was happening outside and only felt whatever was happening inside.

I went over what I could move inside my body. Left arm, right arm, left leg, r-reversed, r-right l-leg, r-r-reversed… n-new appen-. I couldn’t even think straight anymore. I finally realised that I was actually crying on the outside and that Tenebre looked guilty.

He immediately rushed to me and gently placed me in a laying position. “Shhh… Look, Neige, just take your time. I know it’s you and I was only trying to… slowly bring you to the inevitable realisation of your predicament.” He sighed. “And I didn’t remember that since I was half-asleep.”

I would have laughed if I wasn’t so busy trying to stop my mental from destroying itself. I was now in a proper position for general panic thanks to Tenebre. So, like a reflex, I went into a fetal position. I continued shaking as I stared into nothingness.

I suddenly felt a weight behind me. It seemed that he laid behind me and was slowly petting what felt like my midsection. It felt nice, but didn’t help my situation. I was feeling something that I’ve never felt before. Some kind of emotion I never experienced before.

I was continuing to tremble in Tenebre’s gentle hug when I heard his voice singing softly a bedtime song I used to sing to him.

À la claire fontaine
M'en allant promener
J'ai trouvé l'eau si belle
Que je m'y suis baigné

Il y a longtemps que je t'aime jamais je ne t'oublierai

After only a single part, I was already feeling more relaxed. The voice that I heard repeating Umbreon countless time was the last one I was waiting for to sing this song, but his baritone voice made this Kalosian poem sound even better.

Sous les feuilles d'un chêne
Je me suis fait sécher
Sur la plus haute branche
Un rossignol chantait

Il y a longtemps que je t'aime jam-

“Tenebre?” I asked, cutting him in his singing. He was startled at first, but he immediately nodded. “Why… is this only happening to me?” I said, tears still flowing from under my eyes. He stopped petting me for a second, obviously trying to find how to answer such a question.

“You are not the only one. I think multiple humans got turned into Pokemon.” He answered without thinking too much. I nodded, placing my head back in his embrace. “Also, Mister Sycamore is here as a Treevenant.” I was a bit surprised, but I had that dark happiness to know that I wasn’t the only one stuck with this… curse?.

I looked down to the rest of my body and started to ask myself question. What am I going to do? Am I going to stay as a Pokemon forever? Is there a future for me where I am? What do I do now? Should I go and try to analyse wher-

“Neige. Neige!” He shouted, just quiet enough for my ears to stay in one piece. “Shh… I… don’t know how you can deal with what is happening to you, but I’ll always be with you.” He moved his paw under my eye and cleaned what looked like tears. “Please stop crying.”

“W-Why me? This… this is horrible. N-no offence, b-but I don’t want to be a Pokemon.” I said between sobs. All the while Tenebre was still petting me, shaking his head.

He slowly grabbed the side of my body and rolled me in a way that I would be able to look at him. We were now face to face, almost too close for my personal taste. “How about you sleep a little bit, leave some time for your body to adjust a bit, then we talk about it.” He proposed.

Since I was still a crying wreck, I’ve decided to agree to his proposal. We were still quite in an intimate position, so when I placed myself in a more comfortable position, I ended up with my head on his shoulder and my body right beside him. I didn’t care that it felt a bit too close for two ‘friends’.

Before falling asleep, however, I raised my paw to my eyes. “I can feel them.” I stated with a monotone voice. Tenebre looked at me, confused. “My fingers. I can still feel them. It’s like… they are still there, but invisible. And they hurt. They are in pain.” I tried moving them, but only ended up slightly moving back and forth my paw fingers. “Why do they hurt so much?” I asked to no one in particular.

Tenebre raised his own arm and slowly replaced mine between us. He was now hugging me. This position felt right for some reason, but the crying burned the last reserves I had. Even if I just woke up from being knocked out, I still felt like I needed a good night of sleep. It didn’t take long before the feeling washed over me.

=====

I opened my eyes and quickly raised my body. I looked around and realised that I was actually in my room in my parent’s villa. I sighed in relief as the nightmare I just had was exactly that… a nightmare. I placed my head back on my pillow.

“Neige, can you come here?” I heard from downstairs. I sighed and made my way outside my room, annoyed that I had to wake up. When I left my room, however, I immediately stopped, confused.

“Wait… how can I be here? I was in Kalos last time I remembered.” I descended the stairs, still trying to find an explanation for my memories. “Yes, I was in Kalos with Tenebre and the team. Wait a second, where is Tenebre?” The last line was said when I was downstairs, the room beside the person who called me.

“Oh, Tenebre? I have no idea.” My father said. He was standing under the door frame, a smile on his face. “Anyway, can you come here? I have something to show you.” He entered the living room, almost forcing me to follow him.

When I entered the room, I was suddenly tackled from behind. As my face was falling on the floor, I felt a force attaching my hands behind my bag using what sounded like handcuffs. I started to tear up from pain, but also from confusion.

“As gullible as always, aren’t you Neige? I just love people who are easy to take and throw away like you.” He said while holding me in place. I was full blown crying at that point, scared of what was coming. I knew what was coming. I wish I didn’t know what was coming.

“Well, you are already crying. Looks like nothing has changed.” He stated, followed by a deep laugh. I tried to raise my head, but was only able to get a blurred sight of my mother, standing in a corner, afraid. I knew she never would help me. I wish she would come help me.

He turned me around and placed me on the wall, giving me a clear view of him. Even if tears was covering my face, I saw him clear as day. He started untying his belt buckle and unbutton his jeans. I-I knew w-what was hiding b-behind. I-I wish I n-never knew…

When his pants dropped down, I closed my eyes in an attempt to hide the horrible truth. He told me I would feel pleasure, while I would actually be pain. Everytime, I ended up injured down there where only my father and I could touch. I didn’t want to look.

However, what was supposed to be a sound of joy and a hand removing my clothes, there was a sound of surprise and fear. I opened my eyes to find… nothing. He was there, staring at me with his pants off, but where his body would be, there was nothing. Only a floating shirt with a head on top and arms beside.

“What is happening!?” He shouted, as surprised as me. I felt something behind me, like if some pressure was released around my wrists. I removed my hands off my back and realised that my handcuffs were nowhere to be found.

I stood up and looked at the shocked expression of my father. “Don’t you dare move, you fucking whore!” He lunged at me, which was weird since he didn’t have any appendages to do so. I braced myself as his fist was coming toward me. Yet, no pain was felt.

When his fist was about 2 decimeters from my face, it started to disintegrate like if it was traversing a wall that destroyed evil. I was confused, but still found it quite reassuring. Although, like Michael, I was oblivious to what was protecting me.

Suddenly, a voice coming out of nowhere boomed. “May this action be a pitiful apology for what I did.” It sounded like my mother, but I could still see her standing on the other side of the room… motionless… lifeless…

A human-sized light flew from the ceiling and landed on my mother’s body, making it disintegrate like my father’s arm. The light started to take a more humanoid form until the brightness faded off, showing… my mother?

“Liliane? What… how…?” My half destroyed father asked. In response, she pointed at his other arm with her fingers in the form of a gun. When she ‘fired’ the gun, his arm exploded in a thousand pieces, all of them disappearing.

“You’ve been ruining both Neige and my life. Even if you are not truly here, I am sure that making you disappear here will make us a bit happier.” She snapped her fingers and, when I turned my head toward Michael, he was nowhere to be found.

However, even if he was gone, what happened still happened. I almost got raped by him… again. Like last time, even if it didn’t happen, I was still under the shock of the event. It was one of those times where I look up to other kids and wish I could have a life like theirs.

“Neige, are you okay? Wait, no you aren’t obviously…” She approached me, but I reeled back in reflex. Like any mother, she looked at me with worry, knowing that she did something wrong. ”Look, I’m sorry. Even if that means nothing, I regret everything I ever did… or didn’t do ever since you were born. Can you please let me hug you while I explain what is happening?”

I stared at her, used to her… straightforward way of talking. Seeing that I was confused on why I was there, what was happening and why she descended from the sky as a floating lightbulb, I’ve decided to give in to my child temptation and allow her to hug me like in my long forgotten past.

She started explaining as she was petting me. “Look, the truth is… this isn’t real life. I mean, you just saw your father disappear, it’s kind of a given. We are in your head. I guess you never got over the fact that your father was a crazy rapist… well, who can get over this. It also doesn’t help that I was the worst mom ever and never tried to stop him.” She sighed.

“So, this is where it’s getting weird. Yesterday, half the humans and Pokemon on the planet disappeared. Then, after your father went on a rant, the house… kind of got destroyed by a Charizard.” She stopped and looked around. “Wow, I’ve totally forgotten that we changed the furniture in this room. It’s like if your brain had an old backup of the room.” I snapped my fingers, returning her attention.

“Oh, yes. So, I died and went in the world of the dead or something. Pretty lonely place if you ask me. From what I was told by… I think it was Giratina, that they were all sent to another world and that the ‘bad guys’ were left there. Since I was… uhh… ‘borderline bad guy’, he decided to grant me one last wish. With the help of… I don’t even remember her name… let’s call her Pink Moon. With the help of Pink Moon, I got one last chance to speak to you.”

I whispered a small thank and hugged her back, quite to her surprise. She lowered her head and we were finally in a proper mother-daughter comforting hug. I think that we never hugged like that, but from what she said, she would never hug me like that ever again…

Wait a second.

“Are you telling… Oh sweet Arceus, you died. No no no... “ Aaaand I was back to crying. Sure, she wasn’t the best mother one could have, but she was still my mother. Even if we were in a dream, for some reason, I could tell it was really her and that she was telling the truth.

“Shh, don’t worry. In fact, it’s quite a positive thing.” I looked at her, my eyes red from all the crying I had in the last ten minutes. “I am finally free of your father’s influence. Sure, it’s not the best way to take care of the problem, but a way is a way.” I shook my head, not wanting to hear more.

“Look Neige. I don’t have much time and I have stuff to tell you. First, I am sorry for everything. I should have been a better mother and I regret everything. Second, you have a future in Pokemon training. Wherever you’ve landed, grab the opportunity you can have and win. Third… tell Tenebre good luck for his… ‘conquest’. He’ll understand.”

I was even more confused at that last part, but was quickly brought back to reality when her hands started to glow. “Looks like my time is up.” She simply said. I shook my head and grabbed her in a giant hug. “This is my last words. Take them and cherish them, my girl. Enjoy the new world you are in because it’s not everyday that you get to rebuild your life on a solid ground without your past breaking it. Good luck, Neige.”

I protected my eyes as her body was engulfed in a strong light. I fell on the floor as the person holding me left this world. When I could finally see, I looked around and saw that I was finally alone in my living room. No father, no mother, only my own self.

I sighed. “Looks like I have no choice.” I cleaned my eyes and stood up. I walked toward the door leading outside. Since dreams can only load what I remember, if I leave what I know, I might be able to wake up. At least, that’s my hypothesis.

I braced myself and opened the door.

> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stared at her face with sadness. How can such a broken creature still exist with even a small shred of sanity left? Any normal human being would already be nuts after even half of what she lived through, yet she still lives and survives like if nothing happen. Even if I wasn’t in love with her, I would still follow her out of sympathy.

She was born in what one would call the perfect living condition. Rich parents, stable living condition and everything she ever wanted. However, even in the brightest of situation can lie the darkest of shadows. It didn’t take long before she stepped into it.

Raped, attacked, the worst you can think, she went under. Her father scarred her for life and no one could help her. The only one who could were given a blindfold made of green bills. She truly was alone… if you didn’t count Mister Sycamore.

He was her psychologue, her caretaker and her only friend. He would sometime come and pick her up for ‘Pokemon Tutoring’ as he called it. Secretly, he would try to find solution to her problems. Sadly, her father didn’t want her to leave the house or own a Pokemon. Both being the most logical solutions to what was happening.

Everything changed during one of her tutoring session. They were supposed to go to a cafe in town, but was caught off guard when Pokemon came out from inside and ran away. They started with a boring meeting and ended up raiding the den of one of the biggest criminal organisation in Kalos.

That’s where I come in. I was nothing, but a simple Eevee at the time. Yet I still remember the event like if it was yesterday. I dream of it quite often, but it still doesn’t mean I want to relive it. Which is why I shall stop here and move over the even like if nothing happened.

We came out of the base and to Sycamore’s lab. After a go through a machine, all of my physical ailments were fixed. I wish it would have done the same for what was in my head however. At that time, I might have been as broken as Neige. Separated from my family a few months after being born and being stuck inside a cage, beaten and famished.

Two souls with injuries invisible to the naked eyes, linked together by a fateful encounter. After much arguing with Sycamore, Neige managed to sneak me into her home. I was able to hide from her parents for a long time. The only beings that would enter her room was the maids, but since they were also subjects to Michael’s tyranny, they were quite friendly to Neige and I.

Unluckily for us, even the most hidden secrets has to come into light one day. When Michael found me, he was… well, I don’t have a word for it. I would say angry, pissed, furious, but that was too tamed. He told Neige that she has to get rid of me by the day after. I didn’t sleep that night. Not because of fear of what would happen then, but from the sounds of pain coming from the other room.

When all was over, she entered the room looking like a mess. Her hair was all over the place, she had blood over her hands, arms and legs and she had a nasty red scar under her ear.. She looked at me, not with anger, but with what I can only call determination. I thought that, after everything that happened because of me, she would be the one ending my life, but I was wrong. She quickly packed up some clothes, basic washroom items and some trainer items.

She looked at me and placed a Pokeball on the bed. “Look. I know… what happened was horrible, but it’s my fault. I should have left a long time ago. If you want, you… could become my starting Pokemon. We could go on adventures, away from him. All you have to do is press the button on the ball.” At first, I was confused, but I agreed to her idea and entered the ball.

We escaped the residence with the help of a Gardevoir maid. She was so beautiful, yet looked so sick. “I know I will die soon. Helping you will be my ticket toward Arcancil, the eternal reward.” She said using telepathy. My knowledge of Arcancil was limited, but I knew that it was a place reserved for the best of this world. Our own personal paradise available when the last bit of life leaves your body. I don’t know what happened to her, but if she was there when Michael saw we disappeared, I wish her soul stands beside Arceus and his sons.



She started moving a bit in her sleep, breaking my chain of thoughts. In the end, she survived hell. Even when she got out of the pit, Arceus himself made sure she would fall again. It’s almost like if life itself was against her. One thing was certain, I would always be by her side.

The door of the bedroom opened, revealing a small figure who I assumed was Sweet Leaf. “Hey Tenebre. Mama made some soup for lunch. Want some?” He asked. If there was one thing that stayed since I started travelling with Neige was the lack of lunchtime. You get used to eating only twice a day after a few weeks. I shook my head, keeping my internal promise.

I looked around, trying to find a way to know what time it was. If there was a window, I might have been able to figure it out, but I was in an enclosed room. I mentally facepawed when I remembered that not even ten seconds ago, Leaf invited me for lunch.

I placed my head in a comfortable position, deciding that getting a power nap would be the best thing to do right now. Plus, having the mate of your dreams in a diminutive state cuddling with you is certainly a great way to fall asleep. I might be a gentlemon, but in the end, I am still a male.

However, I couldn’t get to sleep. Something was still pushing it’s way in my mind and I had to answer it. What would happen in the future? Fighting gyms? There is none left. Running away? We don’t even know if Michael is on this planet. Humans were transferred, but was there a filter? Some kind of condition that had to be filled? I hate when your question can only be answered by a god.

I looked at Neige as she started moving a bit in her sleep. Seems like I wasn’t the only one with a busy mind. I hoped her dreams were pleasant… who am I kidding? With what she lived, I should hope that her nightmares wouldn’t involved events rated for adults.

I didn’t realise that, as I was thinking about everything I could think about, I was actually dozing off. upon the discovery, I stopped thinking, which is a rare sight, and closed my eyes, letting the heat emanating from Neige relaxing my muscles.

=====

Grunting. Grunting means life, means someone is awake. However, I am not grunting. Was I sleeping with someone? Wait, obviously I was. Was I so deeply asleep that my memory has to boot up again? Knowing my body, this power nap might have been longer than expected.

“Urg… T-Tenebre!?” I heard beside my sleepy head. I was about to question the tone of fear and shock that came with this realisation, but quickly fell backward on the floor. The impact placed my body in overdrive, allowing me to analyse what just happened.

Neige was sitting on the bed, her face mixing both shock and worry. Her front paws were folded in front of her, maybe because she just used them to push me off. However, even by using all of my skills, I couldn’t understand why the sudden reaction. Did I do something wrong?

“Uhh… had a good nap?” Step one, start the conversation with an unopinionated statement that can lead the target to a sense of familiarity and peace. Huh, I guess I really learned something from that psychology book I found.

“Yeaaah… WHAT WERE YOU DOING SPOONING ME?!” Oh, so that’s why she was pissed. Does she remember anything that happened earlier today? I guess I will have to reason her before anything else.

“Neige, do you remember anything that happened before you fell asleep?” I asked, hoping that we’ll be able to reach an understanding. She retreated to a position akin to a normal Espeon sitting down. My reasoning is that these positions are part of the reflex side of the brain and that they get… uploaded when the transformation happens. That might also explain Mister Sycamore’s calm and almost dead-like state.

She closed her eyes and stayed like this for a few seconds. Then, her face slowly turned from white to red, maybe due to her remembering what happened yesterday. "Oh... Uhh... Sorry?" She said, trying to bury her face inside the bed. I sighed, deciding to let this even go by. I jumped on the bed and tried to get closer to her without triggering another problem.

When I got close enough, I stroked her fur like she used to do to me. "So, how are you feeling Milady?" I asked, not realising that I used her nickname. She turned her head to look at me, but also held a slight look of confusion.

"Uhh... I feel fine. I am still confused, but I think I stabilised myself. Although I feel something stinging on my side, but I can't see anything." I nodded and poked her side, trying to get her to move so I could see. To my surprise, what was a gash of blood and red fur was now a scar.

"I guess you want me to tell you what happened while you slept." I asked. She opened her mouth her mouth to answer, but before a sound was made, her stomach started to roar like the beast she had become.

"I really wanna know, but can we get something to eat? I. Am. Starving." She said while standing up. Before I could do anything, she stretched her body by keeping her back legs up and folding her back down. I knew that she made that movement unconsciously, but I had a front row seat for something I never would have thought she would show me.

"So, coming?" She said, looking at me. I was looking back with a face comparable to an apple. I couldn't believe she was oblivious to what she just did. Actually, knowing how lost and oblivious she can be, I shouldn't be surprised. I nodded and followed her out of the room.

=====

“That’s when I grabbed you and ran away from the psycho. Let’s just say that I never did as much exercise as that… well, except that time when Korrina made me try her new Pokemon roller skates and then pushed me off a 45 degree slope.” I shivered at the memory that still torments me this very day. Who knew that a mother Gogoat decided to make her home at the bottom.

“All of that happened when I was out!? Wow, I am impressed that you managed to save me like that. As far as I know, I took care of you so much you might have gone a bit too… domesticated and lazy.” I glared at her. “But still, I am glad to have you by my side. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

I smiled as I swallowed another mouthful of soup. It seemed that, even though some technical information was transferred to the brain after the transformation, other details were left out. Well, either that or only reflex-based data gets changed on the way. Anyway, all of that only to say that I had to teach her proper Pokemon table manner that didn’t involve eating like a newborn Eevee.

“Mmm, by the way, Heart, that minestrone soup is delicious. Although I will miss protein-filled red meat.” That was a disadvantage of living with a population of herbivores. The slaughter of animals for food would almost be considered cannibalism. That would make most Pokemon monsters… well, more monster than some already are.

“I love it… your name is Heart? What kind of na- Uhh… I mean, your soup was amazing!” Neige said while keeping her trademark smile. I truly hoped that Heart didn’t notice the slip up. It’s amazing how Milady can think out loud without realising it.

“Well, no problem. I am glad I can be of some help to both of you.” Heart answered while placing the pot of leftovers back in what they called ‘ice box’. It’s such a basic device, but can do so much. I remember refrigerators back home, but they required electricity. Here, everything seemed to be powered either by magic or by nothing. It was incredibly peculiar that such an advanced specie was so late in the technological timeline.

“I forgot to ask though… how can you speak Pokemon? You can answer my questions just fine, but that would be impossible.” Neige stated. Oh, I guess I forgot to explain the idea of magical potions to her. I guess I have the excuse that I wasn’t there yet in the story.

“Oh, that? You should thank your… friend? Mate?” Heart winked as Neige choked on some soup. “...him for that. While he got some salve for your injury, he also managed to get custom-made translation potion… or something like that. Sure, it taste like rotten berries, but it does what is written on the tag.” She turned around and resumed her cleaning.

I looked at Neige, only to see what I could only compare to a Pokemon tomato. Her face was shaded with all the tints of red one could recognize. I was confused for a second until coming to the realization of what Heart said.

“Don’t get any ideas, Heart. Neige is my trainer and I would never see her more than my best friend.” I knew that I was lying both to myself and to the others. However, Neige’s face warned me that I needed to calm the atmosphere. I mean, I was even starting to find it hot in here.

I could hear chuckles as I tried to fill my mouth with what was left of my soup. I hoped that my comment would stop all the gossip. Yet, even with months of experience with Brave, I forgot the fact that comments kindle gossip and that only ignoring it could shut the flames.

“Right.” Heart started. “Sorry to push this. It’s just that, the way you two have been acting, you both look like a freshly married couple. It’s kinda cute, really.” It was my turn to choke. Was I really that transparent? I almost feel ashamed to have shown my emotions so easily.

“Uhh… yeah. I don’t really think I will be in a couple with Tenebre. Sure, he’s… kind and all, but where I come from, being in love with a Pokemon is taboo.” Neige explained as I was trying to regain my breath. “Isn’t that right, Tene?” She asked.

I looked at her, but couldn’t look directly into her eyes. If someone was able to read me like an open book, it was Neige. “Yeah, that’s a thing.” I said halfheartedly. I turned my head to look at my empty bowl. I could feel a weight in my chest. Was it the food, or was it something else?

“Tenebre? Is something wrong?” Neige asked. I took a deep breath and, bearing my most realistic fake smile, nodded. However, her expression showed her doubt over my answer. She couldn’t question me further as this was when Heart broke the tension.

“Was the soup okay?” She asked, already aware of the answer since both our bowls were empty. Neige and I nodded, pushing our bowls with our nose toward the host. “Great! Now, it shouldn’t be a surprise to both of you if I say to not go outside. However, I know that staying cooped inside is long and boring, so you should be okay to go when the moon is up.”

‘And when would that be?’ would be the question I would ask if I wasn’t still trying to sort out how I felt. Luckily for me, Neige was on the same page. When the question got asked, Heart’s head swiveled toward the nearest clock which was displaying our answer.

“It is half passed 5… The sun should go down at 8. Until then, just make yourself at home. I will be making dinner soon. I know both of you just ate, so, if you want a small plate, just tell me.” I nodded and quickly lept off my chair. I needed a second to myself and a place to think.

My quick departure must have seen suspect since Neige was quick to follow. She stayed silent for the whole walk up the stairs and in the bedroom, but I knew that she was barely holding her torrent of questions. My doubts weren’t on which questions were going to be asked, but on why she wasn’t bombarding me with them.

The moment we both stepped into the bedroom, Neige closed the door behind us. Such a simple motion, and yet, it immediately changed the atmosphere from open and friendly to private and tense. And yet, here I was, face to face with my trainer turned Pokemon. The moment of truth.

“Look Tenebre. I know something is wrong. To me, you are more transparent than air.” She took a step forward. I answered by looking away from her. “Yes, something is wrong and what I wonder is… why won’t you tell me?” She said the last part in a more desperate tone. I knew that what I was doing was actually hurting her.

“Neige… I know we’ve been together for so long. I mean, you are basically my mother. However, some things are meant to be kept to ourselves.” I smiled. It might have been genuine, but it was too genuine. Anyone could see the sadness seep through the cracks. She moved towards me and placed her head on the side of mine. This act must be coming naturally to her since it was how one would confort another if they weren’t bipedal.

“It’s alright then. If you don’t want to tell me, I can accept. However, you must answer a question for me.” Curious as I was, I backed up to see her face. She showed concern, but also a look of pure determination. I had no idea what was going through her head, but I was starting to be afraid of what she would ask.

“Do you love me, Tenebre?”

Her tone was serious. Gone were her tone of concern and slight motherly love. I was taken by surprise by the entire package. The tension was unbearable and I stayed silent for a long time. Even though no words were coming out of my mouth, a conversation was going on. Nothing like body language to carry a conversation heart to heart.

“I get it now. All that time and I didn’t even see it. Your displays of love… that kiss when I blacked out.” She looked away, mainly to hide the tint on her face. “It’s been going for a long time. Even then… you did know about the pokephilia law.” She stopped. I couldn’t hold it anymore. This was a worse torture than anything I ever experienced.

“Why?” That question… the bane of my existence. The only subject books couldn’t explain. It causes physical effects, but without any way to prevent them. How to explain what cannot be explained? I looked at her and I broke down. I fell on the floor, crying like I never cried before. Neige’s expression went from serious to worried, filled with guild.

“I DON’T KNOW!” I shouted. “I don’t know and I don’t care. I can’t control these things.” She slowly approached me, but I wouldn’t move. “I get it. You will never love me. It’s toxic for me to love you, but I never cared. Can we just drop it and forget I even tried.” I hoped that the subject would be dropped. Blame my laziness on that part.

However, no answer came. My guess was because of how awkward the situation was. I am sure she only wanted answers with her questions, but she ended up breaking me into tears. She sighed and walked towards the door.

“I’m sorry Tenebre. For… everything. Just… tell me when I can come back.” She said before closing the door and leaving me alone with my thoughts. The first thing that went through my mind was… what have I done? What just happened?

In about 5 minutes, I ruined the strongest relationship I had. The person who took care of me for the longest time now viewed me as… I don’t even know. Do I even wanna know? I doubt it. I just layed there, confused on what I should do.

To be honest, I needed some air. Patience is my friend now. I turned my head toward the window and stayed there, waiting for the sun to fall and the moon to replace it.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sighed as I closed the door. To be honest, I didn’t know why I reacted that way. I guessed that seeing my long time friend holding a secret like that, a secret that could eat him from the inside, was too unhealthy for his sake for me to let it pass by. However, surprising me was the way I tackled the situation. It was almost how my father would handle things. Tactless and… cold.

Just the idea of becoming like my father brought a shiver down my spine. This idea quickly died down as the voice of reason inside my head spoke up and reminded me that I never could reach the level my father was boasting back when I still lived with him. Even then… what if his influence never really left me.

In fact, now that I am free from any other obligation and have time to think, even I find my past behaviour suspect. I was cold and distant to anyone who wasn’t Augustine and my Pokemon team. Well, even with my team I was cold, but not as cold. Maybe… lukewarm? I can see that I was lukewarm to them.

I stopped for a second and came back to reality. Why was I analyzing my past behaviour out of nowhere while laying down in the middle of a hallway? Heck, why was I analyzing that in the first place? Wait, why was I finding differences in the first place? Why am I acting so differently than yesterday? It’s not like I changed much since then.

I looked at my pawn and realized the clear mistake I just thought. Indeed, I changed… a lot. However, I don’t believe I changed mentally. Unless whatever happened to me also happened to the me me. The mental me, who I was psychologically.

I grabbed my head out of a mix of frustration and confusion. I’m thinking too deep about this. Sure, I was cold in the past, but the past is the past. I looked back at the door I just left and sighed again. No. I am on a roll on fixing problems haphazardly, let’s take time to think about this one for once.

What if I actually changed mentally. What if this change was so drastic that it pulled me out of whatever bubble I was in and allowed me to do a retrospective of my past. To change again, this time consciously, for the better of everyone.

Did my past actually leave a trace on me? Did my father hurt me more than I would allow myself to believe? It would make sense, now that I think about it. Children from problematic homes are more likely to have a more introverted and cold personality. Question is, how did I know that? Wait, I do know how…

===

“Mister Sycamore. I am telling you that, even if it doesn’t show, she will have to live with what happened to her. She will have lasting effect of this all over her psychological state and personality. Does she seem to act… colder than a normal girl? Maybe even introverted to a high degree?” The psychologist asked the scientist, her small round glasses slowly sliding down her Cyrano nose.

“Maybe. I haven’t stayed with her much to know about that. However, all I want to know is if it’s going to prevent her from getting a trainer’s card.” Sycamore pushed, hoping to get the answer to his last question from the professional.

“We’ll have to pass some tests to be sure that the… events didn’t make her more aggressive. This might be the only things that could prevent her from getting the card. Except that, I will still hold my ground on my opinion. A girl that suffered such mistreatment shouldn’t be allowed to roam the land like that. I can let by the fact that we let them go so young, but this one is a special case.” She finished her rant by placing her writing board with a bit too much strength than intended.

What the adults didn’t know was that a young girl, barely passed the age of 11, was watching through a hold of the ajar door. She would remember what was said, but wouldn’t pay any attention since she was sure that what was said wouldn’t actually happen to her.

===

I gave a slight dry chuckle. Boy, was I oblivious in the past. Maybe a bit too oblivious. I guessed that, even back then, I was so sure that I was finally free of my father’s influence that I didn’t see his shadow following me throughout my adventure. Maybe even the fear of maybe meeting him again was enough to cause my state to worsen.

I placed my head down on the floor, my face reflecting my horrible mood. In the end, right now, I felt good. Almost like if a weight was lifted from me. Maybe the knowledge that I am finally free from my past life was the reason why I was more outspoken since I woke up. Maybe now, people will see me for who I am. A girl with too much to say, but no tact whatsoever.

I slowly pushed down, moving my new pink body off the ground. I knew that staying there wouldn’t fix any of my problem and that self-deprecation would never help me in any situation. I moved forward, letting my subconscious take care of all the walking. I knew that if I would take over for it, my face would quickly meet the stairs.

As I was walking down the stairs, my train of thought was still going strong with result of self-analysis coming in from all over my head. One fact was clear, the way I treated Tenebre was wrong in all sense of the word. I ruined a perfectly good friendship instead of trying to shift the love into simple affection. I left my prejudices take care of the thinking… just like He would do.

Maybe I was just never used to someone telling me they loved me. Heck, I never thought anyone could love me. This might be because my parents never loved me… or at least my father never did. What does love feel like? Would I ever know? After what happened, even I doubt it.

My ears pulled back, outwardly displaying my state of mind to whatever or whoever was watching me at the moment. A small tear fell down my cheek as I realized what I was thinking. Is that what I think of myself? Someone who couldn’t be loved?

I closed my eyes and tried to keep the emotions inside, like I always did. Showing emotions is wrong… that was what I was taught… but I shouldn’t do that and I know it… however, my body was simply ignoring me at this point.

I slammed my head in the wall. This was too much for me to handle, I just wanted everything to end at this point. My mind was going so fast to every single conclusion that I didn’t see a shadow moving towards me and grabbing me.

I screamed and all my muscles locked for a second. I thought it was my father, here to get his revenge for running away from home. I opened my eyes and, in a fog made from tears, I could see the silhouette of Heart placing her hooves around me. In fact, she didn’t grab me… she was hugging me.

“I don’t know what happened, but it must have been bad if you hit your head like that. Did you fall off the stairs?” Heart asked, oblivious to the internal struggle I was currently facing. She started petting me gently near where I slammed on the wall. I was still sobbing, the pain and shock finally subsiding, leaving only empty thought and tiredness.

“It’s… not that.” I started. “I don’t really wanna talk about it… but I don’t feel like I’m myself anymore.” I knew I was overgeneralizing the situation and that her help could really be useful in order to bounce opinions off her, but at this point, I was too tired to care.

“Oh, this seems like a much greater problem. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” She asked. I sighed and wiggled my way out of her grasp. A voice in my head tried to urge me to accept her offer and I was considering the situation.

“Honest question, why do you care, Heart? Here we are, two random animal-like creatures stumbling down through your doorway. All we’ve done for you is spilling blood on your carpet and causing you more problems with your neighbors. Why would you go as far as becoming my impromptu psychologist?” This question was another one in my list that was boggling me to no end.

She looked at me, a bit surprised at the question that was asked. However, she still looked like she was giving it an honest thought. After what felt like hours, she finally came up with an answer. “It’s simply who I am.” I was taken aback. I was expecting an answer longer than a line and Heart knew it perfectly well.

“I don’t know where you two came from, but here…” She looked outside the window. “Well, in this country minus this town at least… we ponies believe that acting for the benefit of others is simply common courtesy. Plus, not taking you in after seeing your injuries would weigh on my mind for years on end. Finally…” Her face turned into a slight grin. One that conveys a mix of kindness and slight redemption.. “...getting you means pissing off Crazy and that is always a plus in my book.”

I chuckled a bit, a godsend after everything that happened. I only saw a glimpse of Crazy Nail before everything that happened, but anyone that cuts my body open doesn’t even deserve a shred of sympathy. “I guess I do want to talk about my problems after all…” I surrendered to the obvious answer. Speaking to an impartial party is often a great way to find a light in any darkness.

“Just come over to the living room’s couch and tell me everything.” She proposed, already making her way there. I followed suit, my eyes still hazy from earlier. I was free from the wrath of my psyche, but I knew that speaking to Heart would make the pain come back.

I am not okay, I said to myself.

I layed down on the couch in a position that would be incredibly uncomfortable if I was still my bipedal self. Heart sat down beside me and placed her hoof back in petting mode. “So, Neige, what’s going on? Why do you say you aren’t feeling like yourself anymore?” She started.

I forced myself to speak. “First off… you need to know something about me.” I then went on, in generalized details, my… tumultuous relationship with my family. Even if I wasn’t going into details, I could see a range of emotions going through Heart’s face. From disbelief to anger to pity, her face was a rollercoaster and I was the one manning the control panel.

“And here lies my problem… I used to keep my emotions in check by staying to myself. I wouldn’t talk to others and I wouldn’t barely talk to the ones close to me. Heck, Tenebre is the one I shared the most words with since yesterday. However, everything changed this morning.” I was finally done with all the explanation and it was already a slight relief.

“From what I can see, you are more outgoing than secluded. I take it that’s your problem. Whatever happened to you during that… event caused by your Pokemon god, you believe it affected you mentally?” I nodded to Heart’s observation.

“Not only that, but since my self-imposed lockdown is gone, I feel like I am too much like my father and it scares me. Wh-what if I do something wrong and lose all my friends!? O-or maybe I turn bitter with age and…” I started hyperventilating, the emotions rushing back to me. Sweet lord Arceus, I am so weak. I can’t even speak to someone without-

“Look at me, Neige.” The sudden order broke my train of thought. “If there is one thing I know about friendship is that no mistake can break a well kept bond. If you remember to stay yourself, everything will be alright.” I looked at her and she responded with a warm smile. 

“Plus, from what you were telling me, you really don’t want to become like your father. Sadly, the facts are that you will indeed act a bit like your father.” I cringed. That was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to hear. “However, it is your job to rectify his mistakes and make sure that what you keep from him is his good side. Everyone has one, you just got the short end of the stick with him.”

I nodded and placed my head back on the couch. “Now, about Tenebre…” Heart started and my eyes shot open. “I don’t know what type of taboo this… Pokephilia is, but whatever it is, I doubt it still is effective here.” I knew she was right, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.

“Even then, when you grow up believing something, it’s kinda hard to change your behaviour on a whim like that.” I stated. I was met with a nod, but also a small know-it-all smite. “I’m missing something, aren’t I? You have a solution for that too?” She chuckled at my reaction.

“I am a mother, of course I have stuff to say about anything. From what you told me, you aren’t much older than Leaf, and yet your maturity could be equal to any adult. Sadly, what you need now are experiences to speak about. You have been given a gift no one I ever encountered has ever received. You are young and you have been given a new life. Maybe the new Neige could also try new things.”

“Am I really that new, though?” I asked to no one in particular. Heart moved her hoof from my back to my head.

“Who are you?” Heart asked, rhetorically. I answer back with my name, completely clueless to what she was getting at. She moved her hoof from my head to near my heart. “What are you?” I was about to answer the first thing that came to my mind, but I stopped, understanding what she meant.

“I am an 11 year old… Espeon. I have pink fur and a weak appearance, but I am hiding a strong spirit that will never surrender.” I chuckled. “My thickheadedness might actually be something less negative I got from my father’s side.” I could feel the pressure of the entire day leave my shoulders. “Thank you Heart. You’ve helped me a lot.”

I looked outside and, to my surprise, it was already dark. “I guess Princess Celestia passed by while we were talking. I should go and put Leaf to bed. The rest of the job is on you, Neige. I know you can make the right decision.” Heart then left the living room, calling her son’s name aloud. I had no idea who this princess was, but she might have been related to the celestial bodies. Yeah… her name is kind of a sign, I think.

I jumped down from the couch and decided to face my problems head on, the first one being Tenebre. I was still unsure of whether or not I should give his love a chance, but I had a plan. A plan that is more sound than confronting him in a corner and forcing the confession out of him. I still am dumbfounded on how I thought this was a valid way to tackle the issue.

I quickly made my way up the stairs and up to the door of Heart’s bedroom. I stood in front of the door, my heart beating like it never did before. I felt like I just spent an hour doing exercise, but all I did was going up the stairs. I guess I still can’t get over what I did… right?

I opened the door. “Tenebre, I’m so-” I stopped, realizing that no one could hear me. In fact, I was alone in the room. “What?” I looked around and saw that the window was open. “No… he didn’t run away, didn’t he?” I asked to myself.

I placed my upper body on the side of the window and looked outside. I couldn’t see the ground due to my lower height, but I knew that he wouldn’t be there. Knowing him, he was somewhere high, moonbathing and enjoying the calmness of the outside. I turned my gaze upward, hoping to see him. As if on cue, yellow circles started flashing faintly on the flat roof of a house about 20 meters from me.

I jumped, barely holding myself onto the windowsill. My body was telling me to get the flip away from that window and do the rational thing, taking the front door. However, my heart was telling me that what I was doing was perfectly sane. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and jumped.

As if my body was listening to a whole new set of reflexes, I landed gracefully on my paws and jumped forward. I knew the general direction and that was all I needed. My body obviously knew what it was doing, so I decided to trust it. Heck, I might end up liking it.

I got to the alleyway neighboring the house I was trying to get to. Like if I was trained since my birth, I jumped on a random garbage can, swiftly landed on the half windowsill of a closed window and gave a final push, landing my top half onto the roof. Luckily, Tenebre seemed to be ignoring any sounds from outside his vicinity.

I took a few seconds to remind myself of what I just did. It was dangerous, almost impossible and might have caused me problems if I missed something. However, the new me was quick to discredit the claim. After all, a cat always lands on his or her legs. I’ve had worse injuries in the past day than a sore paw.

I slowly made my way to the Umbreon and took a seat beside him. I saw that his eyes were closed, most likely because he was lost in deep thought. A small dark ring was around both his eyes, wet with tears that I caused. I lowered my head at the realization of how deep I injured him.

In front of my was a window of an even higher house. I would ask about how high these ponies could build, but that wasn’t important enough in my situation. Even then, the window mirrored my state. My eyes had the same circles as he had, but in the shade of my coat. My fur was a mess. I could see that I had better days.

I heard a sigh. I quickly turned my head and looked at Tenebre who seemed to be back on Earth… or the closest equivalent. I stayed silent, preferring to not disturb the black cat. However, even that was a failure since, the moment he saw me sitting beside him, he jumped backward, back on his paws.

“N-Neige!? What are you doing here?” He asked, clearly stressed out by all this. I did my best to keep my calm and stayed exactly where I was.

“Tenebre, come sit next to me.” I ordered, keeping my voice calm to try and share the emotion. Still cautious, he walked towards me and took back his seat. I looked back forward, staring at nothing, letting the cold air envelop me.

“You… look surprisingly well this evening.” He said, trying to start a conversation. However, his line brought a chuckle out of me.

“You only say that out of politeness. I look like a mess.” I grinned awkwardly, my face heating up. I never really cared about my physical appearance before, but in front of him, it felt like I was committing a cardinal sin.

Tenebre smiled at my antics. “I take it you were crying by how you look. What happened?” He asked, his voice displaying his honesty. I cocked my head, wondering if he was serious. “I could hear a commotion downstairs. Did you hurt yourself.”

“Yes. Yes I did.” I started. “I did hurt myself, both physically and mentally. However, it should be fixed now.” I confessed. I doubted Tenebre would actually understand what I meant and I considered keeping it that way… unless he asked.

“What… do you mean by mentally hurt?” And he had to ask. I sighed, folding my tail around myself and staring at the split tip. I started poking it with my paw, trying to feel which nerve could control it.

“Tenebre, honest question. What do you think of me? Why would you ever want to… be with someone like me?” I had to know, I just had to.

“Ooph, that is a really loaded question, Neige. I never thought you would be the kind of person who cared about other’s opinions about you.” He said, punctuating with a jokey grin. I stared at him, trying to keep my serious face on.

“Fine, fine. Why would I stay with someone like you?” He stopped, his mood shifting from joyful to somber. “To an honest question goes an honest answer. You.. are an inspiration to me, Neige.” He looked down as if reminiscing bad memories. “I had lost all hope when I was in that Team Flare hideout, but you saved me and, at this point you were my hero. A question remained in my head during that time, however… how does a hero cope with what I felt? How does a hero lives with the memories of a painful past?”

He turned around to look at me. His eyes were clear as the sky. I could practically see his soul pouring out of him. “It took me a couple of weeks to realize the truth. You would come back to Sycamore bruised, beaten, but still standing tall and proud. A part of you kept on living, never bowing down to your oppressor. That’s when you went from a hero, someone so far from my own league that I can only dream to reach your height, to an inspiration, someone I can relate to, that can help me day by day.”

He raised his gaze to the moon and I followed suit. “When you chose me to become your partner for your adventure, I was overcome with joy. The one who I looked up to decided to look down and choose me. It barely took a few days before I became an Umbreon. I was overcome by our friendship, but by then, something else was growing.”

He placed his paw on my cheek and moved my head towards him. “I love you because you showed me that the past only exists if you let it exist. I love you because whenever I feel down, I know I can survive because you lived much worse and still are standing up. I love you because you are the single best thing to happen to me ever since I was born.”

I was left flabbergasted. To know that I was the cause of all this was extremely surreal. When he finished the explanation for his love, his face turned redder than ever before. “However, if it has to be that way, I’ll stay your friend. I will never abandon that bond.”

“The past only exists… if you let it exist.” I repeated slowly, my mind finally surrendering.

“Uhh… yes. I know, it was kind of cheesy, but I thought that, due to the current si-” I’ve decided to stop his tirade with a kiss. I could feel his breathing come to a screeching halt, his eyes growing to a cartoonish size. Yet, it only took him a second to close his eyes and surround me with his arms.

We broke the kiss after what felt like forever. It was my first time doing so, but I hoped that it wouldn’t be the last. “Mi- I mean, Neige. What has gotten into you? What about what the others think… or even Pokephilia!?”

I chuckled and pecked him on the cheek. “Oh, I never was aware that an Espeon loving an Umbreon was illegal. I’ll have to look it up online. Oh wait! We’re no longer on Earth anymore. Those laws don’t even affect us here.”

“B-But-” I placed a paw on his mouth, hoping that unsanitary act wouldn’t cause a problem.

“No buts. Look, I’ve made a lot of thinking in the past… uhh, hour or so. I have to learn to let go of the past and focus of the present. Arceus gave me a present that allows me to change my fate for the better. Maybe even become a better person that I’ve ever been.” I stood up, smiling. “So, how about we continue this conversation at Heart’s house. She’s probably worried sick and I’m starting to doze off.”

He nodded, the situation leaving his mind in need of a proper reboot. “Oh, and Tenebre? You can keep calling me Milady if you want. I don’t really mind getting used to it.” The wink at the end was enough to cause him to smile. A smile made of pure happiness and bliss. One that I’m sure he never had in his life. It’s not everyday that a dream becomes true.