Fire burning in the depths of a frozen wasteland, our heroes will need to overcome the challenges of a whole new world!
Set in the "A New World, A New Way"-verse our hero, Mick, has to find his friends and a new home among the many races that populate the new world that Arceus has decided to forcibly move them to. Evicted from their original home, will our heroes survive and make a new name for themselves? Or will they fall to desperation and despair as the world crumbles around them?
So yeah, be sure to check out "A New World, A New Way" by ZeusDemigod, and all the wonderful side stories that have been popping up because there's a ton of awesome ones to see!
Tags and extra ratings will be added when needed, although I do intend to keep this below Mature.
Azalea town was quiet, the sparse buildings sitting in silent vigilance against the backdrop of the Ilex forest gave the town a peaceful atmosphere. A breeze made its way through town and blew a few Hoppip into the air.
All in all it was a beautiful day as Mick slept on the branches of one of the trees in Ilex forest, his only company was his loyal Quilava, Emma, curled up on his stomach while the day just seemed so peaceful.
Mick blinked his brown eyes a few times as a smile grew on his face. “Emma… Why can’t more days be like this?” He asks as he idly pets his Pokemon.
She nuzzles his chest a bit and lets out a happy purr that elicits a chuckle from the teen.
“I know, I love you too…” He starts happily before letting out a sigh that changes his smile to a frown. “Now only if more people saw that relationships like ours weren’t so bad…”
“Quil…” She squeaks out before pressing her face to his chest again, somehow knowing exactly what to do to make him smile. Before long he begins to laugh and has to brace against the tree to keep from falling out.
“Alright…” He says as he begins to calm down a bit. “We had better get home… Mom’s gonna get worried about us.” Emma gives him a nod before leaping down the trees, followed closely by Mick.
Once out of the forest Mick takes a deep breath, enjoying the clean air. “You know… It’s air like this that makes it so I could never enjoy being in a big city…” He muses as he keeps walking, waving to a few of the townsfolk, and even Kurt, before heading to his house just on the edge of town.
“Mom! I’m home!” He calls as he opens the door, letting Emma in first.
“Hey Hun! I just got lunch ready.” His mother, tall, slender, stunning woman, replies as she walks out into the dining room followed closely by her Flareon. “Mick, have you seen your father?” She asks as she sets the first couple plates down.
“When I got up he had said something about checking the old well… I don’t think he’s over that Team Rocket incident.” Mick replies with a small sigh.
“You’re probably right… Maybe he’s just talking to Bugsy though… I’ll check with him later to see if he’s seen your father around.”
-{[]}-
The darkness of the forest Mick sat with his team across from one of the few ponds contained within the thickly-wooded area. The sheer amount of information he had to study on a daily basis kept him from doing anything but planning in what little free time he had, he could already calculate increasingly difficult math equations just by seeing the formula a few times, the human body and key functions that were needed to keep someone alive were able to be recited right from memory, there were few subjects that his parents hadn’t had him get at least an intermediate understanding in.
He idly flipped the pages on his phone as he soaked up the information to be used at a later date. A smile grew on his face as he slowly stroked Emma’s head causing her to make a sort of purring sound.
There were three pokemon having a good time just running around and playing in the quickly-fading light of the forest; First was Terry, Mick’s Furret, and one of the fastest members of the team. Next to Emma, Terry had been on his team the longest, and thus acted more like an older brother than anything else. He also had no problem catching his trainer whenever he thought Mick was off guard just to wrestle around with him and keep his senses sharp.
The twin Eevee that were running around with Terry are Minna and Todd, the newest members of the team and practically oozed inexperience with how often they were simply happy to just run around when they had the time.
Next to the pond itself was Eric, The quiet and strong Mienshao. He would occasionally give disapproving looks to the rookies that were following in Terry’s pawsteps… Sadly enough Terry and Eric never got along even as a Sentret and a Mienfoo, Always ready to start fighting with each other for any reason, no matter how silly.
Above, watching from a safe distance away from any sort of accidents that Terry may cause was Shelly, the Staravia that served as the group’s scout whenever they were travelling. Her place was mostly because her brown feathers kept her well-blended to any nighttime adventuring and she could lose anyone in almost any environment.
It was at least a good hour before Mick turned off his phone and got up to stretch, causing Emma to whine a bit in protest.
“Sorry Emma… It’s getting late and we have to get back home.” Said Quilava makes a small whimper again before Mick starts returning his pokemon to their pokeballs. “Lets go home and get some rest… Dad’s got a big day for us tomorrow…”
That night, the world experienced a phenomenon that not even an Alakazam could’ve predicted, an event so monumental that it would’ve blinded a Xatu if it had even tried to comprehend it…
...Arceus had returned to the pokemon world… And he was not happy.
Had he acted without gathering the other legendaries, his children, first, then he would’ve simply wiped humans off the face of the planet. Humanity had gotten the luck of the draw when he finally decided that not all of humanity was bad enough to be wiped away… and to those chosen to stay with pokemon he had one thing to say to them.
“Rest now my children,” He said gently. “For when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”
If it wasn’t strange enough that almost no one heard him as he spoke, around the entire world thousands of people and millions of pokemon began to go into a sleep so heavy that not even an explosion could wake them.
For Mick, he simply seemed to fade from the world, like many others, hardly leaving a trace of ever being there.
-[{}]-
A splitting headache was the only thing that greeted Mick as he awoke again, strangely enough not in his own bed either. So, he simply did what any other thirteen year old boy would do… okay, any other thirteen year old boy who was conditioned to have an IQ to rival a psychic pokemon… He sat up, and looked around to gauge his surroundings so that he could calmly calculate where he was or at the very least what he could do in the immediate area. So far it seemed to be some sort of very snowed over area, if the blanket of white powder was anything to go by.
Whatever you do… don’t… panic…
He simply repeated the mantra over and over in his head, trying to keep himself from freaking out about how sitting up already seemed like he was half the height he should be.
“Okay… size is not the first thing to worry about right now… first should be getting a point of reference… I’m sure there’s a landmark around here somewhere.” He thinks as he slowly pulls himself up and begins realizing one more crucial fact.
He wasn’t just short… he was fuzzy… or fluffy, whichever you preferred.
He took a deep breath…
...And screamed.
-{[]}-
Emma’s ears perked and her head snapped to attention as she hears her trainer’s scream. She raced toward the sound of the scream. Having known her trainer’s voice for so long she was easily able to pick it up among the whistle of the wind, her inner fire kept her from feeling the biting cold around her… but she was far more scared for her trainer, it wasn’t like he had any fur to protect him.
The snow seemed to pick up the closer she got to the source of the scream, making it so she couldn’t see very far in front of her. Her limbs began to tire from the deep snow she had been trying to sprint through and her breath came in ragged gasps as she began looking around for her trainer.
After almost a minute of searching she finally comes across a Cyndaquil in the snow, shivering from the cold… and smelling quite a bit like Mick…
Despite wanting to question the strange Cyndaquil, Emma’s motherly instincts begin to take over as she curls him up and positions her belly above him before gently laying herself over him like a blanket to keep him warm. She wouldn’t get any answers out of him until he wakes up anyway, so it was better that she kept him warm than try to wake him while he was freezing.
{[]}
There was a crunching in the snow near Emma and she immediately turned her attention toward whatever was coming. It took a few seconds before two large figures appeared out of the storm, She didn’t even have time to ask them who they were before the cold of the storm seemed to sap her strength, forcing her to black out just as the smaller figure spoke.
“Hey Widget… Let’s get them and go, it’s freezing.”
Emma woke with a start, sitting up immediately and trying to look around before her vision swam and blurred, forcing her to lay down again.
“Hey, Don’t get up so fast… You and the little creature with you nearly froze to death out there…” Came a slightly soothing voice from off to her left. She tried to blink away her dizzyness as a figure began to get a bit more clear the closer he got. After a few more seconds the blob solidified into a type of Ponyta-Rapidash-creature. The shape was generally right, but the scale was way off, it seemed to be shorter than a rapidash by… well… A lot. The horn was a bit more blunt and his mane wasn’t on fire.
The colors seemed to be off as well because the thing’s entire coat was somewhere between charcoal grey and dirt brown.
“Wha-... What are you?” Emma asks as she gives him a confused look.
The ponyta-creature let out a small sigh. “I can’t understand what you are saying… but considering a bit of your body language… I’m gonna guess you asked who I am?”
Emma gives a small nod.
The ponyta-thing smiles and puts his hoof against his chest. “My name is Gleaming Gem… Unicorn Ambassador of Equestria.” He actually seemed to show a little pride at the title.
And he deflated a little as he realized that Emma was still looking at him with confusion.
“You know…” He begins a little desperately, “...Equestria? Home of the royal pony sisters?” He tries, looking to get some form of recognition before she slowly shakes her head while looking at him like a stantler caught in the headlights.
“Really? You don’t know?” He sighs in disbelief.
”At least… I know what he is…” Emma thinks as she gives him a sad look.
“Well… Widget is making sure the little creature that was with you is ok… you were both pretty cold by the time we found you… You both must have someone looking out for you two because I was about ready to call it a day, but Widget started getting that little itch in her paw that meant she was about to find someone…”
The mention of the other pokemon that was with her made Emma sit bolt upright to try and get out of bed to see the little Cyndaquil.
“Woah there…” Gleaming Gem said as he put a hoof on her chest to keep her on the bed. “...You’re in no condition to be moving around… keep on making fast motions like that and you might break a few of the not-so-thawed muscles. Widget has got everything under control… Trust me, she knows her survival stuff.”
Grudgingly, Emma nodded and slowly layed back down on the bed before Gleaming tucked the comforter around her. “Get some rest so you can warm back up, I’ll bring in some warm water and some soup for you so that they can help.” He just barely whispered with that same smile that just made it so Emma couldn’t help but trust his every word.
He got up off the stool he had been sitting on and makes his way out the door.
Once the door was closed he let out a small sigh as the smile fell from his face. “You two are very lucky… It was almost as if Luna herself was watching out for you two…” He said in a whisper. With that he turned down the hallway he was in to meet up with a creature in the small, round living room that comprised the home he stayed in. Various mechanical experiments and doohickeys lined any free shelf space in the room leaving just enough for the couches and the fireplace to be clear.
He trots over to the creature on the couch and gives her a small nuzzle, “Widget… I hope they both pull through.”
The other creature, dog-like in appearance… much like a husky, gave him a small smile. “They will pull through, we both saw that they’re already regaining their internal body temperature at a really fast pace, the bigger one more so than the little one, but regaining it nonetheless.”
“Yeah, maybe I need to stop worrying so much and trust in your ‘diamond dog logic’...” Gem chuckles. Which only elicits a confident smirk from the diamond dog.
“Yes… Yes you should.” She replies in a playfully condescending tone.
With a final chuckle Gem heads out to the kitchen, crafted as if from a single section of stone with how smoothly the surfaces flowed from one to the next, to grab the warm water and soup.
“You should still get some soup for him and some warm water as well, he’s probably going to be pretty thirsty when he wakes up.”
“I know, I know… But I also know that you’ll be so sweet enough to get everything around so that I can just take it in to him.” Widget replies, letting Gem hear the smirk in her voice as he freezes up for a second, a frown edging its way onto his face.
“Alright…” He says as he gets his face back into a neutral look, “Only because I love you though.”
“That’s fine with me!” Widget cheers from the other room.
After a few moments Gleaming Gem comes out with two glasses and two bowls. “Alright, take one in to him and I’ll take the other one in for the female.” He sighs. Widget quickly gets up and gives Gem a hug and a small kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks, I’ll be sure to give you something good when I get back…” She whispers in his ear before taking one of the bowls and a glass.
Gem sighs and hangs his head a little. “The things I do for love…” He chuckles before heading to the room that the Quilava is in.
When Emma awoke she was greeted by the tasty scent of a kind of soup that smelled familiar and different at the same time. After a few minutes of struggling with the blankets, since a bit of her body had gone numb from how long she had been sleeping, she finally began to take a few sips of the soup.
She had to stop herself from letting out a pleased hum when she finally got the vibrant vegetable taste of the soup, from carrots to potatoes mixed with… well… a broth that tasted kinda like miltank steak. She quickly downed the entire bowl, just to set it back on the bedside table and start practicing walking around again.
It was really exhausting… Emma was only able to take a few steps before she could feel her labored breathing but that was all she needed to start building her strength back up. Starting slow and steady, it was only a matter of minutes before she managed to double her speed. With a smile she slowly climbed back into the bed and let the comforter’s warm embrace cover her again. Even now she could feel more of her body warming back up.
Her head turned when the creak of the bedroom door let her know that Gleaming Gem had returned, “I see that you’re starting to recover a bit more of your strength… That’s good, even the little creature you had with you has started to eat again…” He simply smiled at her concerned look. “It’s alright, Widget is taking good care of him, even going so far to treat him with the gentleness you would a baby…” It wasn’t a lot, but it was certainly enough to get Emma to relax again.
“We’re hoping he’ll be back up in a couple of days… from the looks of it you won’t have to stay in this room much longer, definitely a lot of progress for someone who nearly died by freezing to death.” He gives a small chuckle, eliciting a small smile and nod from Emma.
Emma took her sudden drowsiness as a sign to get back to bed so she gave Gleaming Gem one last nod before wrapping the covers around her tightly.
Gleaming only had a small chuckle before petting the lump that was Emma and heading out of the room again to check up on Widget and the other creature that was here. The wooden door that separated the second guest room from the hall was slightly ajar, allowing him to look in and see the one sight that nearly made him ‘D’aww’ right there.
The husky-colored diamond dog had the little mouse-like creature on her lap and she was feeding him from the bowl of warm soup like he was her baby, Her left arm was curled around him protectively and she even had a serene look on her face as she focused entirely on keeping the little mouse warm. Knowing that he couldn’t possibly disturb her, lest he make her accidentally drop the creature, Gem slowly backed away from the door and made his way to the living room.
{[]}
Mick was actually happy for once since he woke up. The warm soup, mixed with the warmth of whatever was holding him, was pure bliss now that he was feeling a lot less frozen. There was even a chance that he might be able to get up and walk around on his own soon. Alas, it was still something that he could only hope for now that he could just barely feel his… incredibly flexible… toes, and they weren’t even the right shape. In fact, most of his body still didn’t feel right. Much of his muscle memory was lost on his new form that he had actually only just managed to realize was not a dream.
He just didn’t let that stop him from enjoying the wonderful soup that he was so generously being fed. A smile grew as far as it could before it started to hurt, forcing him to give the being holding him a slight nuzzle to let them know he was happy. It hurt to even try and talk, and his decreased size wouldn’t let him possibly know if he was currently being held by a human or a pokemon, he was actually kind of hoping it was a pokemon because otherwise he might have a few problems later.
“Alright… That’s enough soup for now…” The creature that was holding him whispered in a motherly manner. “You need to get a bit more sleep to help heal your injuries…”
The weightless feeling of being lifted easily through the air overcame him for a few seconds before Widget began tucking him into bed. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”
Mick lets out a small yawn and a nod as he curls the blankets up against himself.
{[]}
Out in the Living room, Gleaming Gem and Widget sat side by side, both with content smiles on their faces.
“We did good Widget… We did good…”
“Yeah… At this rate they’ll both be walking around by tomorrow.” Widget replies, earning a surprised look from Gleaming Gem.
“Even the little one?”
Widget nods. “Even the little one…”
“Wow… That’s amazing… Whatever creatures they are… They recover so fast…” He says with his stunned surprise. He shifted his position so that he could get a bit more comfortable next to his mate.
“That they do… It’s fascinating…” Widget whispers as she hugs the unicorn closer.
“You know… You did look pretty adorable when you were feeding the little one.” Gem chuckles a little, making a blush spread across Widget’s face.
She blusters and stutters for a few seconds before giving him an irritated look, “I was just trying to make it easier to feed him…” She pouts.
“I think you looked beautiful…” Gem states as he snuggles with her again. “It made me feel a bit bad again that we couldn’t have a child together…”
Widget simply hugs him tighter, “We could always adopt… you know that…”
“I know… but it still wouldn’t be the same, even if we give an adopted child the same as one born between me and you… I just… I just want to be a family… more than just me and you.”
“I know hun…” Widget replies. “But we still have each other and even that is enough for me…”
Gem gives a silent nod, bringing his hooves up on the couch to use his mate like a pillow as the flames of the fireplace dance in his large, reflective eyes. Widget couldn’t help but look at how the flames seemed so clear and sharp against the reflection.
“The eyes are the windows to the soul… You ponies are so innocent, you never have to hide anything because you trust so easily… If only more were like you… then the world would truly be as perfect as Equestria wants to be.” Widget thought before stroking Gem’s chest, feeling the powerful muscles he had built up during his time in the freezing wasteland grow and shrink with each breath.
Mick blinked his eyes a few times, letting out a yawn as he woke. He finally managed to get a good look at the room he was in and, aside from the clay or stone walls, it wasn't too different from his room back home. Taking things slow because it still felt like his entire body was sitting on pins and needles because of how long he had been laying down he started to look a bit more at himself, twisting and moving just enough to tell where his limits were before he started to hurt.
Unfortunately for his sore neck that wasn't very far before he almost felt it cramp. Nonetheless he started testing the other parts of his body, knowing that his familiar muscle memory wasn't going to cut it.
...Or... At least he thought it wasn't going to cut it...
Aside from not having thumbs, his smaller form really didn't have too many poses or muscles that he wasn't familiar with. Gingerly grasping the side of the bed, he began to lower himself to the floor, mentally cursing himself as his feet erupted in that stinging needle feeling again.
He took a few deep breaths until the pain subsided, allowing him to put a bit more weight on his feet. It was... An interesting sensation... Being on these new feet. They felt longer than he was used to, and he wobbled a little as his legs felt like jelly after he took his first step. Dedication and an incredible amount of stubborn pride that he had inherited from his mother kept him from letting himself fall while he practiced walking around.
First he tried it on two feet until a particularly large spike of discomfort had forced him to all fours... Which, to his surprise, was actually a lot more comfortable as he started to walk off the pins and needles. Slowly at first, but he had always been a fast hands-on learner so he actually managed to get a bit more confident with each step he took on all fours until he got back up to a decent walking speed.
Smiling like a fool he decided to try two feet again to test his balance.
Fortunately enough he only wobbled a little as he stood up, although with his elongated feet it was going to be a bit more difficult to not scuff his pads on the floor. It was nice, his arms moved like he remembered, most of his body actually still moved like he remembered so that helped in deflating the panic attack he knew he was going to have once all this elation wore off.
"Okay... So the panic train isn't going to go all the way to Nopeville, it'll just stop in the City of Mildly Manageable... That's good..." Mick says with a slightly forced chuckle. "After all... The more time spent delaying the panic the more time you can spend organizing your thoughts to make the panic as short as possible."
{[]}
Emma was back up to her normal walking speed, She wasn't going to be running anytime soon, but walking was better than laying on a bed all day gorging herself on soup... No matter how delicious the soup was... Now if only she could get Mick to learn how to cook...
That thought stopped her in her tracks. "...Mick..." She whimpered, feeling a stab of cold shoot through her heart. "... Please... Please let that Cyndaquil be you... Just so I know you're safe..."
With a newfound determination Emma tempered her resolve and got back to practicing her walk, making absolutely sure that she could get her full range of motion and wasn't risking any sort of muscle shattering.
{[]}
Mick took a deep breath as he sat down against the bed, Even walking had been tiring. It was just good that he was able to get up and move again, That one strange Mightyena checked up on him to help make sure he was fed, she was nice, if he had originally been born a pokemon she was definitely something he would've looked for in a trainer.
Now that he was resting though, he could only focus on his growing concern for Minna and Todd. The two Eevee had been such a recent addition with little to no battle experience, That was what weighed heavily on him, he knew the rest of his team was skilled enough to take care of themselves. He let out a sigh as he held... most of his face in his paws, he was still getting used to having such a long muzzle and no thumbs... He was going to miss his thumbs.
While it would've been a perfect time to slip into depression and weep uncontrollably despite what little manliness he had built up over the years, he simply sighed and went back to thinking, to reviewing the work that his parents had him do every day to make sure he could enjoy a pokemon journey one day without needing to worry about school. His work with breeding, math, language skills, reading, comprehension, all of them pushed to their limits and then given just the needed push to break those limits and propel him forward in his studies. No matter what negative stigma some breeders got and how lots of people thought that breeding pokemon was by forcing them to have an egg, He knew the truth, and that truth lived on in Minna and Todd.
Those two were powerful for their age, The trainer who originally wanted them had only wanted a certain breed of eevee, one that was incredibly powerful to compete in leagues from a young age. But they hadn't passed the trainer's exacting standards, something about how they weren't shiny enough, Mick hadn't cared at the time because the Vaporeon and Umbreon that were producing the litters at the time were his friends, and he made sure that they were well cared for while they were helping. His parents had never forced their pokemon into loving each other or even mating.
He was familiar with a few pokemon rangers, since a few stopped by every so often to make sure the Eevee were all taken care of, which they were without fail, One of the rangers had even adopted a couple to give to his daughter while he was away on missions.
Mick's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the door to his room slowly began to open, And then as suddenly as his thoughts had directed him to the door, his mind drew a complete blank as he practically stared at the stunningly lithe form of the Quilava entering the room in front of him, her crimson eyes blinking once as she seems to appraise his current form up and down.
He couldn't bring himself to say anything, so she simply spoke first. "...Mick...?" Her voice is barely above a whisper, but to him, that was all he needed to give a dumbstruck nod. In an instant she had managed to cross the room and directly after that... Mick noticed a distinct lack of oxygen in his lungs as she hugged him tightly.
"Oh Mick! I was so worried! I thought something happened, and then I saw you as a Cyndaquil but I didn't know you were a Cyndaquil! But now I've found you and know it's you and... You're... You're..." Mick takes a gasp of air as she holds his diminutively light form out at arm's length, making him feel... somehow... a bit less awkward than he would've if he was human. "...You're incredibly adorable!" She squees as she hugs him tightly again. "Oh... I don't want to lose you again." She ponders as she keeps Mick tightly in her embrace.
He manages to struggle enough to where he manages to Rasp out, "...AIR!!!" Snapping Emma to her senses and getting her to drop him so he could breathe again.
After a few minutes of him gasping for breath he finally is able to speak once again. "...I... Missed you too... Emma... I..." He stretches a little. "Ah... I didn't like staying in this room all by myself because I didn't know where the rest of my team is. We have to find them, Moreso Minna and Todd because they're the least trained, but we need to find them."
Emma nods, slowly leaning in to give the little mouse that's half her size a warm hug. "... You're still adorable though..." She teases.
Mick rolls his eyes and gives her a playful growl, "Shut up... I'm not cute."
Emma took a deep breath as she started walking around her room once more, her body felt a lot less numb now that she was able to pick up speed and wasn’t confined to the bed. Gleaming Gem had only consented as long as she was supervised, just to make sure that someone was there in case she got hurt. The other day everyone in the house had gotten a shock when a voice seemed to be trying to shatter their ears with his psychic speech. They didn’t even know it was possible… but this guy was trying to do it somehow.
"I am Lord Arceus, creator of the creatures that you have seen over the past few days. You have no reason to fear me for I come in peace.”
Gleaming Gem chuckled a little to himself. "Someone's been reading too many sci-fi comics."
Mick was actually looking around a bit skeptically. “Arceus? He’s been gone for so long… I thought he was Just a myth”
“I am the one who brought the creatures you see to this world, they are known as pokemon.”
Emma nuzzled her old trainer. “Well… Maybe to humans he was a myth… but all Pokemon know of his existence.”
“I have my reasons for bringing them here, I will be holding a summit with the world's leaders so that they can help inform their citizens the best. For now I issue a warning; Even if some do not appear as such, the pokemon are just as intelligent as any other creature that calls this world home. Since they are MY subjects I will not tolerate their mistreatment or abuse. Treat them as you would your own neighbor.”
“Pokemon who have awoken in this new world, do not seek to harm the natives of this world. To the pokemon that experienced certain... Changes... when you arrived; You are the ones who proved that not all of your kind deserved vengeful retribution, consider this your reward. To live new lives, free of the burdens of the old world, a chance to start anew. As sentient beings of varying intelligence, the laws of the respective countries you now reside in apply to you, and ONLY those laws.”
All four occupants of the house looked at each other in confusion.
“That is all for now, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite. If you have any qualms with what I have done, I reside in a temple located within the Everfree forest and welcome all who would like to speak, 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.”
“Goodbye for now, though I doubt this will be the last you hear of me, and peace to you all.”
The only one who actually had anything to say when the speech was over had been Widget.
“Well… Someone’s a bit arrogant…” Her blunt statement at the time had given the four of them all something they needed a good laugh about. letting them forget, at least for a while, the near death experience that Emma and Mick had.
{[]}
About an hour after Arceus' speech everyone was sitting in the living room. Emma had fallen asleep shortly after Arceus' speech but she had curled up around Mick so the little Cyndaquill couldn't move, both because she was definitely larger than him and was using him like a teddy bear, and because he couldn't bring himself to wake her up again. He gently nuzzled under her chin, getting her to let out a sound that was a cross between a coo and a purr as she hugged him closer.
It actually impressed him, She had never been in such a deep, restful sleep whenever anyone but his parents were around. Ever since Mick had gotten her from Professor Elm she had always been protective of him, it was so adorable as a Cyndaquil. Then she evolved, she refused to leave his side, to the point where his parents couldn't even get her to patrol the rest of the grounds while they were asleep, she only ever kept to Mick's side. While he had never thought about the attraction while he was doing his schoolwork, chores, and training... now that he looked back on it... He saw the completely devoted love she had for him...
But... Did he have that same love? He had always seen her as a friend, or at least a sibling... Did he have the love that his 'sister' showed him?
Was it gross? That his mind began to imagine scenes of him and Emma being intimate? Or... Was it not so much since she wasn't actually related to him? Was it all right... to love those you considered to be family... more than that?
After a few minutes of quiet contemplation he simply decided to file it in the {problems to deal with later} folder of his mind and get some rest, breathing in the scent of his Quilava... His... Quilava. The slightly smoky smell of an oak fire with a tinge of Grepa berry. A smile crept onto his face as he drifted off to dreamland. Setting all his worries aside to deal with when he finally was able to move his entire body again... It's not like he could visit Arceus in his current condition. He would have to journey across the ice wastes of wherever they were so that he could get to this 'everfree forest' and speak with the supposed god.
Besides, it wasn't like there was some magical door he could walk into in order to avoid the whole trip entirely.
{[]}
“Alright! I know what we’re going to do!” Mick said proudly as he paced in front of Emma, who was thinking he was just so adorable walking around on his cute, stubby legs.
“What’s that?” She asks, deciding to flatter his muse.
“We’re going to talk to Arceus!” Well… That had floored her a bit, and left her with a completely shocked expression as she sputtered out what she was trying to say.
“I-... But you-... Wait! What!?!?!” She says as she recovers from the sudden surprise. “Why would we be talking to him!?” Like most pokemon, Emma had instinctually known that Arceus existed, even if he hadn’t been seen for so long. But Humans? They never had such instinctual levels of fear… While inspiring… was not healthy sometimes, especially when there were rumors of humans getting eaten by pokemon in more unrefined frontiers. And thus, her surprise that mick would tell her he was just going to walk right up to THE MOST POWERFUL COSMIC BEING IN THE UNIVERSE!!!
“Because… I want to see if he can at least get most of my gear back and let me know if our family is okay.” Mick replied evenly, the nonchalantness of the statement only seeming to make Emma’s eye twitch.
“How are we going to get there?” She asks, trying to dissuade her (former) trainer from walking up to the MOST POWERFUL COSMIC BEING IN THE UNIVERSE and possibly saying something that will get him obliterated.
“Well… I’ve uh… I can’t really say I’ve been talking with Widget, but I’ve actually managed to use drawings and a little bit of writing to let her know what I needed to do. Which is actually a lot harder than I was hoping with paws.”
Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing, sure, she absolutely loved Mick’s parents and the rest of her team, but going up to THE MOST POWERFUL COSMIC BEING IN THE UNIVERSE to have him locate everyone?
Not only was it stretching her disbelief, but she was at least… Ninety percent sure it wouldn’t work.
“So yeah, Widget said that when it was time for her to report to their king and switch back to her real home… that she would help us get to him.”
Emma wasn't having a good day... Not one bit... And it was all because her (former) trainer, Mick, had decided to have the Diamond Dog that they were staying with set them up in what looked like an INCREDIBLY UNSAFE mine cart.
So why was she upset you may ask?
Well, it was because ALL FOUR OCCUPANTS OF THE CART were barreling down the tracks at almost twice the recorded maximum speed for a mine cart!
She was holding onto the edge of the cart for dear life, keeping her eyes closed and her ears pinned to her head as Mick simply shouted next to her with the glee of a child going on their favorite roller coaster. The constant click-clack that she knew from slightly older trains was the same here, travelling at almost the same speed as a regular train. If it weren't for the fact that she could still feel the bed of the cart with her feet she would've thought she had been flung out of the cart on their first jump.
While there was a normal track that most of the Diamond Dogs used to get from their underground cities to the surface outposts, Widget had custom-made a track that went between the capitol and her home, one that Emma didn't seem to appreciate ever since the first leap had made her nearly lose what food she hadn't had before they started their trip. Gleaming Gem had made sure to let the two fresh-riders know that their first time with Widget's track would be a doozy. Emma was just happy she had no breakfast to lose.
When the movements had finally started to settle down enough, Emma peeked open an eye... Just to open both eyes and gasp at what she saw.
The cart had slowed down considerably now that they were circling a massive underground city, many of the taller buildings seemed to have rooftops made out of gold or some sort of gold-colored metal, the outlying buildings that she saw all looked to be carved out of the stone in order to match the edge of the cavern. There were clanks and bangs of machinery as the cart began to get closer and closer to the center of the city, not obnoxious, the clangs and bangs seemed... rhythmical, calculated, beautiful. The bit of citizenry that she saw as the cart began to dip down seemed to be moving in time with the clanks.
But that was impossible... Wasn't it?
Slowly she began to find herself bobbing her head to the soothing beat that was echoing through the cavern, the cart seemed to slow down as they approached a station. It was intoxicating, the steady beat... like a drum... actually was getting her to smile as the cart pulled in to let them off.
Widget had a wide, toothy smile as she stepped out onto the main street of the city. "Ladies and Gentlepups!" She says with a dramatic flair of her arms. "Welcome to Khinolduhr! Capitol City of Canida."
Mick slowly clapped his paws together as he stared at the massive structures around him, when you're only a third of a meter high... well... everything is a giant to you. "Wow..." He says with no small amount of awe. "It's... It's like a more golden version of Goldenrod City... Except underground..."
Widget noticed the awestruck Cyndaquil and decided to go over to the little mouse-like pokemon and pat him gently on the head. "Someone seems a bit excited to be here." She grinned as she picked him up to give him a better view of the nearby area as they began to walk through the streets.
{[]}
About an hour later the group was standing outside of the second-largest structure in the city, The Royal Hall, where King Grimm Halfpaw resided. Widget had Mick in her arms as Emma was curled up on the back of Gleaming Gem. With a low grinding sound the doors began to open to admit them in and the group eagerly stepped inside as Widget began to prepare her notes about what happened while she was on the surface.
All that was lost on her when she saw the massive number of pokemon that were being idle around the main lobby.
A lot of them had some sort of earthy-brown color, some of them even looked to be made of stone...
There was even a gigantic snake made out of boulders patiently curled up in one corner. If it weren't for the fact that it was such a bizarre sight Widget would've walked right up to the secretary and gotten the forms she needed to fill out to see one of the clerks. It was actually a lot less chaotic than she would've guessed it would be with the pokemon thrown in the mix. Then she heard the secretary arguing with a strange, muscled, indigo pokemon that was shrinking down a little at the scolding he was getting.
Apparently today was Aggie's shift...
"I don't care if you don't speak our language! When that Arceus creature talked it made it clear to EVERYONE that you would obey the laws of the city you are in... And property damage due to brawling halfway across the city will get you time, no matter how strong you think you are!" The Machoke was nearly on his knees, his eyes betraying the fact that he looked like he was about to get a tad emotional . "Now... Go sit over on the left and a representative will be with you shortly so that you can have a defense in court." She says with a small, curt frown.
Mick could only gape in surprise, not only had this smaller diamond dog scolded a Machoke, but she actually got him to sit down across from the onix and patiently wait for a translator (Probably a psychic pokemon) so that he could plead his case in court. The surreal feeling of pokemon actually acting and being treated much like humans back home would if they had done anything against the law was so staggering that Widget actually had to snap a couple times in front of him to get his attention.
Now a Tyranitar and an Aggron were standing in front of the small dog, The tyranitar seemed to be the female since she had a bit of a feminine roundness to her body. She placed a slip of paper on the desk to let the Diamond dog read their request. They both seemed a bit tense as she went over each line. She gently put the paper down, quickly reaching for a folder and gave out a whistle, attracting the attention of a diamond dog that seemed to be about a teenager.
She gave him the folder, "Take this to the local investigation bureau, if you drop it I swear to the king I will make you regret it."
He rapidly nods and takes the folder before dashing away as if he had used Quick attack.
Aggie turns back to the Tyranitar and Aggron. "We'll get right on the case... you can stay at either one of the local shelters or with a friend, either way please notify us of your location so that if we get any information or find your son we can let you know as soon as possible." They nod and begin to walk away, giving Widget and the rest of the group the opportunity to speak with the lone secretary who seemed to have been intimidating enough to make an Onix wait.
"Oh boy... What have we gotten ourselves into...?" Mick thought as he swallowed a lump in his throat.
Speaking with Aggie hadn't actually been all that bad. the group spoke for a few minutes, requested to see King Halfpaw, were denied because he had recently left to speak with Arceus, collectively sighed, then thanked Aggie for her time before leaving to make a new plan.
"Okay... So it's not a complete bummer... We still can gather the supplies we need to see Arceus." Mick says, narrowly avoiding a smack across the back of the head from Emma.
"Do you WANT to get erased off the face of the planet!? You don't just simply walk up to the GOD OF ALL POKEMON and make a request!" Emma gave him a glare that made him happy she wasn't a psychic pokemon.
"Well... I just wanted to ask if I could have my gear back... Obviously I don't care about what few pokeballs I had, but there was still a lot of useful stuff we could have, like the evolution stones, the TMs as well as the medical supplies." Emma was holding a paw out as if pointing an accusatory finger at Mick while her mind tried to think of something to say in order to at least attempt to get her (former) trainer to not want to go see the god of all pokemon.
To her it was a mission that was destined for failure and she didn't want to see him get hurt.
Widget clapped her paws together, "I've got a perfect idea!" She exclaims, getting the attention of the rest of the group. "We'll stay at my cousin Vinny's place and get some supplies around, there's a railway that goes almost to the Everfree, about a day's travel between the end of the line and the beginning of the forest."
"Yeah, I kinda want to see Vinny again anyway, see how he's getting along with his inventing." Gleaming gem replies with a smirk before turning to Mick and Emma. "I think you guys would love his inventions, he may even be able to help you learn how to speak our language." At the affronted looks from both of the pokemon in front of him he decided to clarify a bit. "I know you guys can understand us, but we need a way to understand each other without needing to resort to a game of charades. Helping you guys speak our language, or at least to help us understand yours... Which I'm thinking may be near impossible since many of you speak what would normally sound like hundreds of different languages..."
After a few thoughtful moments, Emma picks Mick up like a baby and begins to walk, ignoring Mick's protests as she nods to Widget.
"Stop! No! Put me down! We need to move as fast as we can toward Arceus! Not in what is quite possibly the wrong direction!" Mick argues as he tries to wiggle out of Emma's grasp... Which is surprisingly strong despite her not having thumbs.
Emma rolls her eyes as she easily manages to keep the pint-sized pokemon in her paws. "Mick..." She begins with a tone that slows his struggles. "...How many battling moves do you know?"
"Uh..." He hesitates giving Emma the opening she was looking for.
"Your father may have been a fully trained ninja, but you are not, and currently have no battling moves, thus meaning that you would quite likely be easy prey." She explains as she hugs him closer.
Mick lets out a slight sigh and nuzzles a little into her chest. "Where would I be if I didn't have my second mother...?"
"Probably some bigger pokemon's lunch." Emma replies in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You know... Sometimes you really do kill the adorable mood now that I can understand you... and realized that all of your adorable squeaks had just been you answering rhetorical questions."
Emma had just been happy that Mick was looking away so she could calm the blush that appeared on her face. "... Get it together, He's called you adorable before." She mentally scolds herself as she looks down at the Cyndaquil half-asleep in her arms. "Aww... The widdle baby tuckered himself out with all his struggling..." The thought immediately causes her to stop and think about exactly what just went through her mind.
"Well... That was... Weird..."
After about an hour the group found themselves in front of a, Not quite huge, home. A loud crash and several banging sounds later the front door quickly opened and shut with a diamond dog who's coat was quite similar to Widget's coat, although it was a few shades lighter. The dig was panting a bit hard while clutching what looked to be a frying pan before he noticed the small group outside his home. His eyes shrunk a little as he recognized Widget and Gleaming Gem, causing him to raise his paws to the air and exclaim his enending joy about the entire situation in the world that had so perfectly aligned itself so that he and his cousin could be reunited once more.
"HEEEYYYY Cou-sin!" He shouts as he wraps Widget up in a tight hug, "I remember Gemmy over here but who are your new friends?" He asks as he breaks the hug and examines the Quilava and recently-awoken Cyndaquil. "They just look so ADORABLE!" He squees as he starts to pet Emma, making her blush and causing Mick to snicker a little.
"Well Vinny... These are a couple of pokemon we found out in the tundra... They nearly froze to death and now we're taking care of them."
He put a paw up to his mouth to cover an exaggerated gasp. "Oh no! Then these poor dears had better not stay outside much longer! They must be put inside as soon as possible so that we can make sure they are at full strength!" He declared as he waved a paw dramatically in the air. "But first I must deal with a pesky little invention gone haywire."
Before anyone could say anything Vinny quickly opened the door, brandishing his frying pan, and leapt inside the home with a mighty battlecry.
"Get back you mechanical fiend! Back I say! AND STOP EATING MY DIRT!"
Mick looked up at Emma in the stunned silence that was permeated with the metallic banging of whatever Vinny was fighting. "Emma... I think that our life here is about to get even stranger..."
Emma nodded with a dumbstruck look, "Yes Mick... Yes it is..."
It was definitely a strange sight... Vinny began to lean back in an easy-chair while propping his feet up on what appeared to be a mechanical galvantula. Everyone else seemed to be sitting on the only other couch in the living room.
"Sorry I don't have more places to sit, I don't often get company that stays for that long." Vinny says with a shrug. "Anyways... You two can call me Cousin Vinny... Everyone calls me Cousin Vinny, but don't worry, I'm not your actual cousin so don't be askin' for money." Vinny says with a smile.
Emma gives the strange diamond dog a confused look before he realizes something. "Oh yeah! Why don't any of y'all speak? Is it because you can only say yer names like some of the other pokeymans around here?" At that he got a nod from Mick. "Then do I have a wonderful item that... Might... be able to help!"
He seems to defy gravity, much like a few other pokemon that Emma could place, as he springs up from the easy chair and dashes to one of the side rooms, eliciting a few clanks and bangs from the back room before letting out a shout. "Okay! Come on back!"
Hesitanty, the entire group gets up off the couch to see what the slightly off his rocker inventor had in the back room. To say they were surprised is an understatement...
There was a massive machine that just seemed to be haphazardly thrown together just to quite possibly fall to pieces at any time. There were several conveyor belts that simply fed dirt from one end of the machine into the other. There were a few clanks and bangs before the dirt seemed to simply get sorted into mason jars, the exact criteria that they were sorted by was lost on the four awestruck beings just looking at the incredibly complex machinery.
And that was when Vinny had appeared behind them all, causing them to jump. "Like it?" he asks with a grin.
"...What is it?" Gleaming gem asks as he looks back at Vinny.
"It's an Automatic Dirt Discretionator!" Vinny replies with a broad smile. "It helps make sure I get the perfect kind of dirt to be used in the next invention I'm going to show you, But first! An explanation on just what kind of dirt I need!" He quickly seems to pick them up and begin showing them each of the sections of the machine.
"First! The Conveyance section that brings the dirt in from my stockpile under the house, it has to be there in order to try and get as much perfect dirt as possible, even if there's not a one hundred percent conversion rate to make all the dirt the perfect dirt... Although I still have yet to try Equestrian dirt... So I'll have to find a dirt salespony there, I'm sure I'll be able to find one. Anyways that's not important..." He quickly gets himself back on track once he realizes that he had been rambling. "...What is important is that I've been able to turn a seventy percent success on my dirt because of this machine."
He then pulls them along to the next section, various numbers of sewn together conveyor belts that are moving piles of dirt back and forth on the machine for no apparent reason. Mick gives a confused look to the dog, prompting an eager explanation.
"This part of the machine sends the dirt along to the various scanners and sorters, if the scanners find any bad dirt they dump the pile through a sorter, sifting as much of the bad dirt away from the good dirt as possible." He points to one of the darker piles of dirt, "See... That dirt is bad dirt because it's too dark, most likely too much moisture... It'll be sent back down into the depositor to away more growing and perfection into the good dirt."
"Um... Vinny..." Widget starts nervously. "... Forgive me for not understanding the genius behind your invention... but why do you need an Automatic Dirt... Uh... Dis-cretion-ator?" She had to slow herself down at the last part of the machine's name to make sure she didn't trip over her words.
"As I said Widget, it's for the next machine... We'll get to that in a minute... Anyways, onto the next part!" He seems to squee a little as he continues on his tour, stopping in front of a giant mess of pipes, a few of which seem to defy the direction gravity is supposed to pull the dirt.
"This section of the Discretionator brings the good dirt through several filters to sterilize it and make sure there isn't any harmful bacteria still growing in it... and it also tosses out the occasional stray worm that managed to get into the crop." He places a paw on his chin. "It's a little weird... While the parts of the dirt that the worms feed on gets sorted into the bad dirt section... the worms themselves don't get sorted out until this part... weird..." He mutters a little bit as if this is actually the first time he really thought about his invention.
"Anyways... This is the final stage of sorting before the good dirt gets put into those quart-sized Mason jars over there which can then be directly transferred to my next machine." He explains with his usual smile as he shows them the dirt being a uniform brown color that almost blends in with the wall of his home had it not been for the metal caps on the jars.
Mick blinks as he looks at each of the jars, a small pang of worry shooting through him as he thinks about the rest of his team. "Terry... You would love it here... where are you?" He says barely above a whisper as he thinks about the energetic Furret who always decided to live in the moment instead of worrying about the future.
In a large, foreboding forest, Terry's ears began to heat up. His head snapped to attention, taking his eyes off of the two eevee cowering near him. "...Someone's talking about me..." he observes mentally as his ears monitor the area for predators and still trying to find a decent burrow to keep them all safe until he could figure out where Mick was.
Mick let out another sigh before he noticed Vinny sitting next to him, crouched actually but that wasn't the point.
"I take it there's someone got put here that ya cared about and you don't know where they are...?" He asks quietly, earning a nod from Mick in response. Vinny lets out a small sigh, his eyes focusing on the floor in front of him. "I know how you feel... I got to this city as a pup, had to walk here the entire way from one of the far cities." By this point even Widget and Gleaming gem were interested, it was a rare event indeed to hear about Vinny's past.
"We were taking a steam train to Khinolduhr... I don't know a lot of the finer details, but there was a cave in that broke most of the passenger cars and the next thing I knew I was covered in scrapes and laying on the ground... When I went to try and search for my parents I had heard them on the other side of a rock wall that had been between us... They told me to head to the city... to Khinolduhr... and that they would meet me there... they put a lot of trust in me... and I'm still waiting for them..." He finishes quietly as a few tears build up in his eyes. He jumps just a hair as Mick hugs his side, He seems a bit shocked at first until he slowly hugs the little fire mouse back.
Widget sits down next to him and places a paw on his shoulder, "Vinny... We're here for you... just ask, and we'd be happy to help..." She says before giving him a hug of her own. Gleaming Gem and Emma walk a bit closer, but don't engage in the hug, feeling that it would just put too many in the mix of sad feelings.
...
And then just as suddenly as he had been upset, Vinny bounces back up while hugging Widget and Mick, "Welp! That's enough moping! Time to get back to showing you guys some amazing inventions!" Widget and Mick both get a bit stunned by the sudden mood swing before he drags the two of them off, leaving a stunned Quilava sitting next to an equally confused unicorn.
Vinny stops in front of a large machine that looks more like a building boiler than anything else. "And this!" He says with a flair, "Is the invention that I have not named yet because I have absolutely no idea what it does!"
Widget gave him a confused look. "Aren't you supposed to know what the invention does?"
Vinny gave her a sheepish grin, "Well... I had only named the discretionator after I had found out what it did... All I know is that this machine goes and takes the perfect dirt over there... and dispenses some sort of orange-colored liquid..." He confesses, eliciting a facepaw from the other Diamond Dog.
"Why do I even try to understand your logic...?"
The lighter Diamond Dog chuckled and hugged his cousin again. "Because you're a masochist... anyways! Who wants to try some of the Orange Juice?" He exclaims as Emma and Gleaming Gem walk over.
He quickly picks up one of the filled mason jars and offers the mildly-bright orange liquid to all of them.
Widget quickly takes a step back, chuckling nervously. "Well Vinn... As much as I love helping with your inventions... I'm going to sit this one out..."
Gleaming Gem backs up as well. "Yeah... I'm still trying to get the pink spots off of the underside of my hooves..."
Mick and Emma both give a look of confusion at the diamond dog and unicorn. "What's their problem? It's just... Admittedly strange... Orange juice. It's not like it's on fire or anything..."
Emma took a wary look at the 'drink' in Vinny's paw, "Well... I think it would be best to be cautious if others are as well..."
While Mick and Emma had been discussing in the pokemon language Widget had actually asked Vinny a good question.
"Why can't you try it? You've got plenty of medical supplies around in case something happens..."
Vinny let out a small sigh. "Widget... Widget, Widget, Widget... Widget..." He tsk's, "... I'm the inventor... If something happens to me, I wouldn't be able to invent anymore... With volunteers I get results easier and I can make sure all the necessary safety steps are all in place."
"...Vinny... You may get volunteers for your inventions... but you still need to think about what might happen if something went wrong..."
"I do, that is why I have medical supplies for all sorts of accidents or injuries save those of accidental implosion or explosion and so far this orange juice causes no physical damage whatsoever, I tried it with several types of plants and an ore tree sprout."
"Vinny... Where exactly did you get an ore tree sprout to work with?"
"Uh... I don't know, I kinda just found it in my dirt garden..."
Mick sat on one of the small stones that had been shaped into an improvised chair in the workshop as he stared at the metal cup in front of him, filled almost full with a bright orange liquid. He had begun to second guess his choice to help Vinny with his experiment when the dog had him sign several legal documents that basically said 'if anything bad happens, you can't sue me because you volunteered'... It was really one of THOSE days...
He licked his lips as they seemed to have suddenly gone dry, His nerves had him shaking a little as he began to bring the metal cup to his mouth, slowly opening to drink the... surprisingly tasty... liquid. After a few gulps he moved the cup away from his mouth and braced himself for spontaneous combustion, or implosion, or poisoning pains... or... well... anything.
Vinny, who was hiding behind an improvised stone wall with an upturned cooking pot acting as a makeshift helmet and his trusty Frying Pan of Fiendslaying at the ready in case a tear in the fabric of reality brought some sort of unspeakable horror over for tea, peeked over his barricade, as did Emma, Widget and Gleaming Gem.
"...Did it work?" Vinny prods as he starts to move a bit more from out of his cover, sensing no danger.
"I don't feel any different..." Mick replies with a shrug.
"Darn! Welp... Back to the drawing board..." Vinny replies as he takes the pot off of his head, leaving a slack-jawed Widget and Gleaming Gem behind the barricade as he walks over to the cyndaquil and carefully takes the cup. "I really would've expecting something... well... Something." He says as he examines the liquid.
"It was actually pretty tasty... kinda like an Oran berry..." Mick says hopefully, "Maybe it could still be used to make a drink to sell?"
"That is true... but what's an Oran berry? Is that something from your world?"
"Yeah, it was a really good berry that was a perfect blend of flavor to be palatable for anyone, from pokemon to humans, and it even had minor healing properties so it was amazing for helping young pokemon keep healthy if you didn't have enough money for medicine."
"Hmm... Maybe some of the fruit from your world made it over... That way we could try some Oran Berry Extract to add to the drink to give it healing qualities?"
"We could certainly try it... Widget... Why are you staring?"
Widget only gave a few blinks as her brain decided that the particular moment she was experiencing was a good time for a hard-reset, leaving Gleaming Gem to answer the question.
"Cyndaquil... I think the drink worked..." He replies with a dazed tone, catching Vinny's attention.
"What do you mean? There wasn't anything amazing that happened, or strange, or weird... How could the drink have worked?" Vinny asks.
"You turned a spell... that takes even expert unicorns years to learn, let alone master... and turned it into an orange drink... BY USING DIRT!" Gleaming Gem explains in a loud voice, the rational thought processes of his brain had decided to take an early day off from work.
"...I did?" Vinny replies with an impressed look at the cup in his paws.
"He did?" Mick echoes as he looks at the cup as well.
Vinny gives a small chuckle, "Well... Whadda ya know... I invented a translation potion."
The sounds of the mines had become familiar; the repeated *tink* sound of pickaxe hitting stone, the high-pitched squeak of full minecarts making their way across tracks to some sort of dumping area or stockpile. Out of all of it though, there was something that was even more ominous and oppressing as the dark figure balanced on a support beam.
His crimson eyes narrowed as he watched several figures in dark brown robes walking among the miners and pokemon that had been hired to help with the excavation. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn't place it. There was something about the robed beings that reminded him of his youth, when he had been part of Team Magma.
He scowled as he watched them, looking for any sign of something suspicious, growing increasingly frustrated as they all simply seemed to bring comfort to those who were tired, The digging team didn't seem fearful of the robed beings and the pokemon seemed to be equally as comfortable just digging.
While he normally would've just passed by the mining operation without a care, the robed figures really caught his attention. Their brown robes, trimmed with a dull yellow color, had a symbol on their back. While he had spent some time figuring out what kinds of creatures these Ponies and Diamond Dogs were that didn't explain the various move sets that each one seemed to have. What stumped him further was that darn symbol, it looked like an angular version of the swirl on a poliwag's belly, curling around only twice. The symbol made his skin crawl, it felt like there was always an eye watching him even if it couldn't see him.
Deciding that he had gleaned enough information from where he was, the figure leapt from beam to beam, barely putting any weight into his steps as his dark navy scarf trailed a little behind him. His crimson eyes continuously scanned the area as he moved, jumping to every possible movement even as insignificant as the flicker of a torch...
...He was deep in enemy territory... and he had to be careful... One wrong move and he could be put to work, blindly digging his way toward whatever the rest of the miners were working toward.
They may not act it, but he knew a cult when he saw one.
His obsidian-colored skin, mixed with his navy scarf easily helped him hide in the shadows as he passed a few small guard patrols. "...Lightly armed... They don't expect any resistance or anyone to poke their nose around where they're not wanted... Confident priests aren't they?" He mused to himself. "Darkrai guide me... Please let me find something that will reveal this cult's plan... He knew his prayers never truly left his own mind, but he always hoped that somehow, the Tortured Martyr felt the respect his clan had always given him.
A strangled gasp nearly escaped him as he noticed that he had lost his footing and re-braced himself against the wall and one of the supports. His eyes darted around, looking for signs that anyone had spotted him. He stayed dead quiet as he listened hard for the sounds of rushing guards. When none came he let out the breath he was holding as he eased himself all the way onto the beam.
Taking a moment to breathe and ease the adrenaline shooting through his heart the figure glanced at his surroundings, He groaned quietly as he realized that his focus had been taken off of the path he was trying to use and more on his prayers. He placed a hand on his face as he sighed.
Waking up as a pokemon had certainly been... odd... While the change in height and general body shape had been jarring at first, it was easy to get over, the webbing between the three fingers on his hands and between the three toes on his feet had consistently felt strange as well, but even that had been easy to ignore. It was the closer sense of nature that had really gotten him when he began to listen around.
As a shinobi he had learned to 'listen to nature' as his mentors had put it. But this new 'sense'? He could feel the very rocks he had his back to growing with each second, he had felt how much energy and strength the water had, even the air he was breathing he could feel coursing through his lungs...
... And it terrified him...
There were few things in the world that a shinobi could truly claim to be afraid of, so it had come as a total shock to even himself when he had first gauged the world around him, the sheer amount of energy stored within its depths, even the air seemed to be filled with the same energy. The feelings had overwhelmed him and caused him to close off his senses to the world, making himself totally 'blind' to the world.
He had never been so parted from feeling the world around him since he had started his training as a ninja, and suddenly being forced to cut himself off from the world like that. It had made him feel vulnerable, and nothing made him more afraid than being vulnerable, unable to defend himself.
He had no idea how long he had waited in the underground pond he had woken up in, but once he had reintroduced his senses slowly to the world around him, he had begun to calm down more and more until he finally had let his senses fully ingrain themselves into the world.
What he finally had seen was glorious... The sheer beauty in the leylines of energy running through the world had been so strange and powerful because they were nothing like the energy that he had called home.
Taking another deep breath, the figure straightened and looked around once again before proceeding down the tunnel, letting his senses guide him to where he would find what he was looking for.
Vinny eased himself back into his lounge chair, holding a warm cup of tea that he called 'Zebrican Red Tea', Which was supposed to be a very rare and valuable commodity. He even explained it in a sentence that even a voltorb could understand...
"Trust me Mick, that's a nice name by the way, once you get a taste of Zebrican red tea, all other drinks pale in comparison. And it's so expensive because so few zebras become wandering traders that usually someone has to go all the way to Zebrica to get the tea... As you could probably tell, there's a lot of races on Equus that prefer not to venture too far into the desert sands surrounding Zebrica's cities."
Mick easily saw the reasoning, with similar situations he could compare back home about why the rare candies had been so sought after. He actually began to wonder what they tasted like now that he was a pokemon, he had tried one when he was a human and nearly gagged at the taste, leaving it as something that was probably more suited to what pokemon prefer to taste.
At that precise moment his stomach decided to add its own opinion to the conversation by making a loud growl.
Vinny started to chuckle a little, "I think someone's hungry... Don't worry Mick, I've got plenty for us all to eat, I just have to warm it up." He explains as he gets up, leaving the group in the living room.
Emma lets out a nervous cough as she finishes her cup of orange juice. "So... Vinny's certainly a good... guy..." She starts, fumbling a little over her words as she tries to get a conversation going.
Widget nods. "He's a tad eccentric... but he's a good dog, I'm proud to call him family." She says with a smile as she leans against Gleaming Gem.
"That's not to say he wasn't downright terrifying when you first introduced him to your coltfriend..." Gem ammends, causing her to chuckle. "It's not funny! He chased me for five blocks with that frying pan of his! I don't even know how he got so good at beating anyone senseless with it."
"In the end he let you be his cousin's lover..." Widget replies with a roll of her eyes.
"Only because the city guard threatened to arrest him for attempted assault on an ambassador."
Widget chuckles a bit, while Mick and Emma contentedly listen, "Well, you shouldn't have gotten into his dirt garden and disturbed his worms."
"It was a complete accident... we've been over this, I don't even know how I got down there, there was only one entrance and I don't remember ever sliding down it." Gem defends. "I even saw the fact that he had a grate over the top of the entrance and I don't know any teleporting spells."
"It doesn't matter anyway... What matters is that my family approved of my lover..." She coos as she gives him a kiss on the forehead, causing Mick and Emma to chuckle. Gleaming Gem chuckles as well.
"Joke's on you guys, I'm secure enough in my masculinity not to be embarrassed by a show of affection."
Emma lets out a happy sigh as she wraps her forepaws around Mick, pulling him into a hug and making him blush. "I'm happy you're a pokemon now..." She whispers as she nuzzles his head, "I can give you all the hugs I couldn't when you were a human..."
"Emma..." Mick grumbles as he tries to shift around in her embrace, managing instead to find a more comfortable position that nearly made him want to nuzzle a bit closer and fall asleep.
"You're still a young Cyndaquil, you're going to need to rest and eat before you will be strong enough to hold a flame." The Quilava says as she strokes his fuzzy head.
"Can we start my training tomorrow? I really want to get stronger..." Mick pleads.
Emma bites her lower lip, conflicted about letting him train, before she finally relents. "Yes... We'll start tomorrow by finding out what moves you do know."
"I'm back!" Vinny calls as he brings out a tray of bowls that still have steam coming off of them. The scent of warm food quickly grabbed everyone's attention as they all gathered around the medium sized table in the middle of the room. "My specialty, mushroom and tater soup!"
Mick gave the mixture in front of him an odd look, the milky white substance did give off a faint potato-like scent, mixed with a few other spices that he couldn't quite place. When his stomach gave another rumbling insistence that he begin to feed it he gave a small chuckle and brought the bowl up to his mouth, intensifying the scent of the spices.
The taste of the soup definitely wasn't bad, the texture was a bit too squishy for his liking when it came to the mushrooms, but the taste was definitely a decent taste. He began to eagerly drink up, having little difficulty using the pads of his paws to grip the sides of the bowl.
As he placed the bowl back on the table with a smile he mused aloud, "I wonder how Grepa berries would make it taste..." Which got a light punch to his shoulder from Emma. He gently rubbed his shoulder while he smiled at her, making a mental note of how her coat still seemed to shine in the light despite the near death situation they had been in only a week prior. Everything else seemed to fade from the world as he watched her, life moved in slow motion as she blinked and turned her attention towards him. Her beautiful, sparkling ruby eyes asking the one question he never knew he wanted to hear...
"...Hey Mick? Are you alright...?" Emma asks with a little concern at the open-mouthed Cyndaquil staring at her. Her concern grew a bit as he nodded as if in a stupor. "...If you say so..." She relents, turning her attention back to Vinny. "Uh... Cousin... Cousing Vinny? What happened back at the Discretionator... You went from really sad to really happy, why?"
Vinny gave her a wide grin. "I was hoping you would ask that my dear, It's actually due to a philosophical saying I heard in one of the marketplaces." He explains before taking a sip of his tea. "...The ground is the past... and the sky is the future... If you spend all of your time looking at the ground, you'll miss every opportunity in life... If you spend all of your time looking at the sky, You'll trip and fall because you won't see where you are going... if you focus on what's in front of you, then you will live long and prosper." He gently smiles with a happy sigh before taking another drink.
Emma places a paw over her right ear as she tilts her head in thought, focusing on the spot of table in front of her while she mulled the saying over in her head. "That... Makes a lot of sense actually..."
With that, Vinny claps his paws together. "Well, it's getting late and the lantern workers are dimming the streetlamps, it's time to get you all off to bed, you've got a lot of prep work to do before you all go anywhere. I'll show you where you can sleep."
[Warning: If you are uncomfortable with one of the characters reacting a bit more like a mother and prepping their 'child' for bed please skip to the next page break. I decided to try something that would develop Mick and Emma's relationship a bit more in a closer setting. This content is completely optional and no major bearing on the plot.]
Emma and Mick both sat on the small bed in the spare room, she gave him an extra soft hug as she looked out the window at the last glimmers of the day-life of Kinholdur. "Mick..." She whispers as she hugs him a bit tighter.
"Yes Emma?" The little Cyndaquil replies as he nuzzles into her soft fur.
"Do you think Arceus will be able to bring our family back together?"
When she looked down at him he was giving her as confident a look as he could muster. "I don't think so Emma... I know he can, he brought us to this world, and if he could do that, he could bring us all together... or at the very least point us in the right direction."
She chuckles a little, stroking his head while letting out a purr of her own. "You're so mature... It's hard to imagine that you were ever just a thirteen year old human at one time..."
"Well... Mom and Dad did make sure that I got the best education... that way I could travel and not have to worry about school." Mick replies with a smile.
Emma gives him a gentle, motherly lick on the head before she starts to shift around, "Come on Mick... It's time for you to get to bed, and there's a little bit of a nip in the air..."
"Alright... but... what are you doing?" he asks as she places him on the bed near her belly.
"You need to be kept warm... you're still young, and besides... I know you'll like it..." She coos as she nudges him closer to her soft, warm fur.
He hesitates a few moments, unsure about whether he wants to be this close so soon... but... She cares about him, and not doing it would hurt her...
Deciding to bite the bullet and 'man up' as it were, he inches closer.
The effect was almost immediate as her warmth washed over him. She gingerly lowered herself so that her entire body covered him like a really, REALLY, soft blanket. Mick actually noticed that he had no trouble breathing despite being covered by Emma's fur, for the first time since he had woken up in Equus... He could feel some kind of purr wanting to rumble up from his own throat as the safety and security of the more mature pokemon enveloped him. If it were not for his own sheer amount of willpower he would've fallen asleep immediately, he was fighting a losing battle though as his vision became more and more blurred while sleep overtook his defenses.
Emma was happy that Mick was asleep so quickly, her blush that tinted her fur red across her muzzle had grown incredibly warm just before she leaned down and gave his back a small nuzzle. The movement made Mick shift a little in his sleep, but he didn't wake.
"...Goodnight... My little Cyndaquil... I love you so much Mick..." She coos before curling up to fall asleep, enjoying dreams of finally truly having a family with Mick, once he was a bit more mature of course.
The next morning Mick yawned a little, before quickly shaking his head to get the fur out of his mouth. He realized that he had turned over in his sleep and ended up getting a mouthful of Quilava fur in his yawn. He chuckled a little to himself as he pressed his nose a little deeper into her fur to take a whiff of Emma's fur.
The scent of an oak campfire with a slight tinge of Grepa berry, although the Grepa scent was getting much fainter. It had always relaxed him, kept him feeling safe even when there was nothing to truly be afraid of. She had always been by his side, dedicating her life to his safety above even her own. There was a short time when he had wondered if it was because of the pokeball she had been in, but even after he had offered to let her go on her own, she stuck by him.
He hated his moments of Introspection... they tended to make him feel depressed, and it was never a good thing, so he began to worm his way out from under his Quilava, mentally frowning when he did realize how much colder the air was in the room compared to the warm bed he had just crawled out of. He was even tempted to go back to bed just for the warmth.
Sighing, he settled on leaning his back against her side, snuggling into her warm body as he lost himself in thought again.
Mick took a nice, even breath as he tried to focus again. He had spent the last several hours trying, and failing, to use any of his moves. Even ones he knew a newborn Cyndaquil should know. Each failure only caused him to grumble more and more. He had seen how scratch was supposed to look before, how his claws would glow faintly, but he couldn't feel the power. There was once, only once where he could feel it begin to build, but he just couldn't get it again.
As the move failed, again, he sat on his rump with a depressed sigh. Emma nuzzled against his cheek, "come on... It's not that bad. Most new Cyndaquil aren't able to use their moves right away either. It takes practice and in some cases a calm mind, you're getting frustrated so it's much more difficult... Let's get you something to eat, that way you can take your mind off the moves and come back later with a clear mind."
With a sigh and a nod Mick picks himself up from where he was sitting and heads back inside.
Despite living inside a cave the air never seemed stale, there didn't seem to be too little air to breathe, and even many of the pokemon were employed by local businesses. It was... Honestly a bit jarring when he saw pokemon in the same kinds of roles that humans had back home. Fighting types had been given plenty of jobs working alongside construction teams, even helping out when they felt the job was too dangerous for creatures that weren't as physically durable. Fire types were helping in forges, and there was even one Flareon he had met on his way out to the training ground who got a job helping a local jeweler get the perfect heat for his silver and gold. Rock and ground types were helping the eternal digging that these Diamond dogs loved to do even as a hobby. While there were a few different types of other pokemon around, those ones were the main focus of the area. There had been a few water types that felt out of place until there were several large pools created for them to live in. Since much of the pipes and machines were steam powered there was actually a large demand for fresh water, which the pokemon were more than happy to provide in exchange for food and shelter at the least.
There were plenty of things that had confused Mick when he thought about them, now that he actually had more time to truly think about anything other than his studies.
Already there were schools with psychic-type guest speakers that were teaching pups about pokemon and how they reacted just like the other dogs if you were mean to them. He had passed by an elderly dog and a somewhat-older-looking Machoke speaking to one another over a game that was eerily similar to chess... Even if the old dog couldn't understand the Machoke, they didn't appear to be letting that stop them. With the old dog laughing every so often and making it at least appear like he could tell what the pokemon was saying.
"This place really is a paradise... now if only we could get organized rosters for battles again, pokemon need them to become stronger, and I want a shot at the champions!" The thought was enough to put a bit more pep in Mick's step as he continued on his way to Cousin Vinny's home. Unbeknownst to him, he had a special guest waiting just for him to arrive.
Vinny took another sip of his tea as he watched his guest, smiling as the two of them conversed like old friends.
"So... you said your name was Professor... Elm... Am I correct?"
"Absolutely, Foremost scientist on the study of pokemon Evolution, at least... up until about a few days ago... when I had been unceremoniously dumped into King Halfpaw's lap. It was quite a doozy of a tale to tell when we both regained our wits, at least it was a good thing that I still retained my ability to talk."
"That's definitely good, what was his reaction?"
"Well... Less than pleased when I had started thinking that he was a previously-undiscovered stage of the mightyena evolution line..." Elm says as he rubs the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle. "Fortunately he understood that I was just as confused as he was so he didn't do anything too drastic."
"Well..." Vinny begins. "If I know how our king is, he's generally pretty laid back since most of the work is done by the dogs that specialize in different areas of the government. He hardly holds court anymore because of the changes into a mostly autonomous society, He's mostly in place to give his approval or disapproval in laws."
Elm nods, stroking the strange red and white collar around his neck. "That explains why the Diamond dogs managed to integrate pokemon into their society so quickly..."
Both of them turn toward the front door as it eases open, revealing a Quilava and Cyndaquil.
Emma rubs the back of her head as she speaks first. "Um... We were hoping to get something to eat...?" Vinny chuckles a little as he gets up.
"Absolutely, I was just talking to Professor Elm here, I'm sure Widget already cooked up something for the both of you."
Mick's gaze travels to the larger pink pokemon in the room. "P-Professor Elm? You're... A Slowking?"
Elm nods a little. "Yes, it was a little bit of a surprise to me as well, although the crown is a little tight from time to time and I get the occasional headache." He lets out a small chuckle. "But what about you Mick? I haven't seen you in over a year."
"Well... I've been busy..."
"Busy? With what? When I had seen you last you were just a short little guy... much like you are now." Elm teases.
"You know how hard I had to study, and even now I'm trying to train just to go speak with Arceus." Mick replies with a slight huff.
"Oh yes! That's why I came here in the first place." Elm says with a bit of realization. "you see... There was a rumor going around that there was a little fire type that was planning to brave the surface world and trek through the most dangerous forest on the planet to speak with the god of all pokemon."
The smile on the Slowking's face was enough to make Mick sigh a little when he realized how his plan actually sounded from an outside perspective.
"So, I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind requesting a copy of my research notes...? I don't doubt that Arceus would believe that the knowledge my team accumulated about pokemon evolution and how it works would be very useful to have in this world."
"Hmm..." Mick hums as he places a paw on his chin. "...I can see that it would be useful, just like the knowledge that pokemon breeders have for any biology studies..."
"Exactly!" Elm exclaims, "I have to stay here in the hopes that my wife and son are both in the city somewhere, while you are planning to speak with Arceus. I've even got a couple of train tickets to take you to the Diamond Dog town closest to the Everfree."
"Really!? That... I-... I don't know what to say?"
Another chuckle from the psychic pokemon. "Just say you'll accept my request, I hope that you are able to depart soon, but please don't feel like I am rushing you."
Mick managed a slightly stunned nod just before Vinny walked back into the room. "Well... I don't exactly know what a Magikarp is... but Widget said that several psychic types told her that cooking them up wasn't going to demand divine retribution... So, I hope you guys like fish fillet!"
Mick wasn't able to keep himself from smiling, despite needing to keep a neutral face for his training the elation welling up in his chest at the thought of going to see Arceus... The creator... The GOD OF ALL POKEMON... Just thinking about it sent a shot of adrenaline through his mind. It was like feeling dizzy and incredibly happy at the same time.
"Huh... This must be what being drunk sorta feels like..." He mused as he focused on the sack of sand in front of him. His objective was simple; Break the sack with a scratch attack. Due to being a young Cyndaquil, by the standard that Emma had told him about, his claws weren't naturally sharp enough to pierce even human skin without the help of a move. "Focus, Mick... Think about the energy... feel the energy in your core..." He continued to recite the mantra over and over, willing himself to focus less on the sights and sounds of the world and focus more on the world itself.
To quantify his surprise and awe with physical descriptions would have felt like an insult to the world itself. There was so much energy when he finally reached out that it felt as if someone had landed a focus punch right to his stomach. He withdrew into his mind again and opened his eyes, just to proceed right into collapsing and panting for breath.
Worried that something had happened to her (former) trainer, Emma rushed over to the little fire type's side. "...Mick?" She asks cautiously as she gently places a paw on his back. When she got no response aside from his heavy panting she decided to prod again. "Mick... Please say something..."
He rolls onto his back, "Emma... What's it feel like to have pokenip?" He asks in such a serious tone that her first reaction was to blush a deep crimson. When she started to stutter he clapped his paws in front of her to get her attention. "Seriously... I know that dad gave you some before... What was it like?"
The Quilava took a deep breath, trying to calm down a little. "Really? Am I really about to explain a hallucinogenic plant to a Cyndaquil?" Cursing her luck she took another deep breath, readying herself to explain. "Well... primarily it causes minor to major euphoria, depending on how much you consume... After that the effects vary, although many pokemon report having a sharpened sense of touch, which is why many prefer to roll around in flowers or grasses. Although some do prefer to curl up with their trainer... Enjoying their touch as they try to get as close as possible..." Emma's face heated up again as she began to realize she was describing her personal feelings instead of the scientific explanation that Mick may have wanted. Her paws quickly cover her mouth as she tries to look anywhere but at the Cyndaquil in front of her.
Fortunately Mick doesn't seem to notice the reaction, or possibly attributes it to being one of those uncomfortable things he is dedicated to making feel less taboo to talk about. Either way he seems to nod. "Yeah... That's pretty similar to how I feel... aside from the heightened sense of touch..." He slowly picks himself up from the dirt. "A little dizzy though... How much different is Equus compared to Earth?" He asks as he looks back at Emma.
Fortunately the new topic helped to reduce the blush on her cheeks. "For starters, the ambient energy in the world here is a lot more plentiful. It makes the whole world seem like it is probably either larger than earth... Or has a greater connection to the primal forces of creation."
"You mean like a bigger connection to Groudon and Kyogre?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "Not just a couple of legendaries... All of them. When you reach into the planet's ambient energy you get to feel just a small concentration of the combined might of EVERY legendary. Earth had a weaker connection to the legendaries since they were locked away in ancient prisons, thus there was a lot less natural energy which limited the strength of pokemon to what the pokedexes could calculate." She smiled as she began to hug him again, ignorant of his struggles to escape her vice-like grip.
"Curse my penchant for training my pokemon to make them strong!" Mick loathed in his mind.
"On this world, pokemon should be at least twice as strong as they used to be... if not with the ability to gain close to limitless potential..." She sighed as she sat down, petting Mick on the head as she looked at the roof of the city.
That last part had made Mick stop squirming as he thought about it. "...Limitless potential, you say? Hmm... That is an interesting prospect." He couldn't help but let a mischievous grin curl up on his face as he continued to think about his possible challenges.
"Lugia, Ho-oh, Entei... Maybe even Darkrai! I could test my strength against the legendaries themselves!" Each new challenger in his mind only served to make him feel even more giddy with the prospect of training.
Standing tall despite his short stature in the middle of a stadium was Mick, a single spotlight shone down to cast him and his defeated opponent in the light as he claimed yet one more victory toward achieving his goals. Darkrai slowly turned his head up to look at his opponent, his eyes widening when he realized that Mick was offering a paw to help him up.
"Why do you offer your help?" the question seemed a little harsher than was probably intended, but the diminutive fire type didn't flinch.
"Because, I want to get stronger, and I can only get stronger if I have strong rivals to fight. I can't get stronger if I'm the strongest, then it'll be boring because I'll have no one left to give me a challenge. And besides, friendly rivals are the best kinds of rivals." Mick says with a broad grin.
The nightmare pokemon gingerly took his paw, being helped up with ease by the incredibly strong fire type. "I hope that you're a lot stronger by the next time we fight!" Mick gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "Maybe we can even hang out sometime, My dad was always talking about how much his old academy practically worshiped you."
Despite being a little confused about the academy Mick's father went to, Darkrai gave a small nod. "Alright... I believe it would be nice to have one that I could call friend."
"Awesome! See ya later then!" Mick cheers before running out of the spotlight to the next challenge.
The scene changed around him, putting him on a lone mountain peak, the plateau was just big enough to count as a pokemon battle arena, his eyes and ears scanned the entire area, just waiting for a surprise attack. When none came he slowly began to relax, just before a flash of bright light lit up the peak, making it look like a heavenly observatory instead of a desolate arena.
Then a voice spoke to him, making him turn his head and gaze in awe at the very majestic form of Lord Arceus. "Mick... You have achieved much to be able to defeat my children in single combat, even going so far as to show humility and kindness in victory... For that I can grant only one reward for a pokemon who seeks to better themselves as you do." The deity-like pokemon closed his eyes for a moment before he started to glow again, turning from a white light into a fiery, passionate red. Within seconds Mick was engulfed in the same red, passionate, burning glow. A loud shout began to resonate from the Cyndaquil as his form seemed to change, He began to grow taller, nearly... or possibly quite literally, quadruple his size as flames seemed to flow from his shoulders like scarves in the wind, his body becoming sleek and muscular like a Typhlosion.
When the light faded Mick's eyes seemed to have a much sharper quality to them, angular and predatory, yet a gentle sapphire blue to balance them out. The flames around his neck burned with the righteous passion for battle that he had become so accustomed to.
"For your dedication and strength I grant you a Mega Form!" Arceus says with a smile in his voice.
The world seems to pop from a calm, mystical peak to something similar to a congratulation-party room. The room was filled with various pokemon and diamond dogs, and everyone had bright, adorable anime-style eyes as they congratulated him on obtaining a permanent mega form. Emma practically leapt into his arms and began to nuzzle him, purring like a happy skitty.
Everywhere he looked were praises and congratulations... but... Even with the achievement he had gained... He felt hollow. What was the point of having so much strength if there was no one to compete against?
When you're the strongest, you're guaranteed victory... Without the chance of losing... What was the point?
He turned back to Arceus, a confused look seemed to subtly change the god's neutral features.
"Take it back... please..."
"What do you mean, Mick? Wasn't it what you wanted? To become the strongest?" Arceus replies.
The fire pokemon shakes his head. "Stronger... not strongest. When you're the strongest, it doesn't matter how many challenges you face... When you have no room to improve... then there is no point in having the strength." He gives the ancient legendary a firm look. "Please... Take it back, I want to keep training to become strong, with others that are stronger than me instead of becoming the strongest."
"...Mick..."
"Not now Emma, I am speaking with Arceus."
"Mick."
"Emma... I'm talking to the god of the pokemon, I need a moment."
"Mick!"
Emma was gently shaking the Cyndaquil that had fallen asleep in her arms.
"...Mick..."
He began to grumble in response as he buried his face deeper in her fur, mumbling something ending in Arceus.
She giggled a little at his stubbornness. "Mick." She prods again.
This time he grumbles a little louder while trying to make himself more comfortable. "Oh this is going to be too easy..." Her mouth curls into a sinister, Cheshire grin as she gets really close and takes a small breath.
"MICK!" She shouts, getting a nearly instant reaction as he leapt several feet in the air before landing on his rump with a barely contained yelp.
With watery eyes he starts to look around for the one who dared interrupt such a meaningful dream, all of his anger... however minor... Seemed to disappear as he caught sight of the beautiful Quilava. Her coat seemed to shimmer in the golden light of the city as she gave the most beautiful chuckle he had ever heard, to him it was like the lullaby of a Jigglypuff without the drowsy aftereffect.
He hadn't even noticed that his entire body seemed to have frozen in place until she clapped a few times in front of him, causing him to go from perfectly balanced on one foot to face-first in the dirt.
"Come on sleeping Snorlax, we still have training to do." She chuckles with her amazingly beautiful voice again.
"... Maybe I should stop thinking of her as a sister..." Mick quietly debates as he picks himself up from the dirt. "It may not be fair to her if I keep thinking like that... After all... there are no more humans... and she is absolutely beautiful." He tenses up a little as he makes a realization. "Maybe it's the fact that I'm a pokemon now... but... I think I'm in love..." The sheer shock was almost enough to get the nopetrain started again, but he quickly began to take the fuel away.
"Mom and Dad had the occasional interspecies relationship... If they didn't find anything wrong with having a pokemon partner... then... would it really be that bad... if I did?" He decided to file that question in the [think about it later] folder and get back to focusing on his training.
Despite being an underground city, Kinholdur actually never suffered from food shortages. Whether it was due to food imports from Equestria or the Diamond Dogs' major reliance on crops that would be able to grow in moist, underground areas with artificial light at most. Many of the pokemon residing within the city weren't too picky on what they were fed while they were working as long as it was palatable, which actually led to a lot less sustenance hunts within the city limits.
Actually, one of those hunts in particular led to Mick's new friend... which was quite odd since the large Ekans had tried to eat him. That had certainly been a strange experience, fortunately Emma had been nearby to rescue him.
Mick was hopping up and down, a little giddy with joy since he had finally begun to be able to use his moves... even if it was just the simple Scratch attack. They both still had a long way to go before they could start their journey, but fortunately most of the preparation was more along the lines of teaching Mick how to use his pokemon moves than anything else, a lot of his stealth and acrobatic training seemed to have carried over from his human form.
...Unbeknownst to the passing fire types a hungry predator was eyeing the much smaller, and slightly lagging, Cyndaquil from where it was curled under what appeared to be an abandoned stall. A forked tongue licked cracked, starving lips as the pokemon eyed its prey.
The moment it was waiting for presented itself, ripe for the taking since the larger mongoose-like quilava was distracted, reading a map of the city while the Cyndaquil was too busy celebrating the insignificant victory it had gained in the use of its moves. The purple snake pokemon lunged out, catching Mick by surprise and managed to swallow up most of the little Cyndaquil in one desperate gulp hoping to get fed and flee before the larger fire type reacted.
Mick's reaction, well, let's just say it was completely on reflex as he only heard a gulping sound before being swallowed alive.
...He screamed... Loudly...
Emma was the first to recover from the shock as she noticed the bulge just below the writhing Ekans' jawline. She quickly leapt onto the stunned snake's body and knocked the wind out of it, making... her... wheeze for air as she tried vainly to keep her meal down. With a furious, predatory look Emma glared into the slit-like eyes of the violet snake and seemed to have her own hiss just loud enough for the Ekans to hear.
"You will spit him out... Or so help me I will tear you apart to get him back..." She growled, leaving no room to argue it may have been a bluff.
With fear-filled eyes the pokemon quickly nodded and spat out the poor, disoriented Cyndaquil. Emma quickly rushed over to his side, shooting a venom-filled glare at the weakened snake.
Mick let out a quiet moan and shook his head as he finally regained a bit of sense. "Ooh... I really don't understand how some people could be aroused by something like that... That was absolutely terrifying..." He groans with a grimace just before his expression changes to one of surprise as his vision finds his attacker. His stomach sank as he saw the injured form of the Ekans. Her body was actually a lot thinner than he knew it should be at a glance, in general she wasn't even in physically fit shape for an Ekans. But what truly broke his heart was watching her there, laying hopelessly on the ground as tears streamed down her face. While every instinct in his new body was screaming at him to run away from the creature who attacked him and nearly swallowed him whole, his mind was calmly slapping his instincts in the face and telling him to get a grip.
She was starving, and he was likely her last, desperate attempt to get SOMETHING to eat. He may not have liked that she chose him, but he could certainly understand why. He slowly began walking over to the battered Ekans with a look that was torn between curious and sad. Halfway to her he was suddenly stopped as Emma pulled him close to her.
"Don't even think about talking to HER..." She growls slightly as she stares at the slightly sobbing pokemon. "...We're leaving... That's more than she deserves... If you weren't here she wouldn't be getting off so eas-"
"Emma..." Mick says with stern resolve. "...Put me down." Out of reflex to his 'you're in trouble' tone she lets him go and he looks at her with a somewhat... disappointed... look. "Emma... We were brought here... to this world... Because we're better than those who just leave pokemon to a terrible fate." As he spoke, the Ekans began to look up at him in slight confusion. "...While what she did may not have been right... she did so because she thought that was the only way to survive." He turned and started walking towards the Ekans again, only to stop in front of her.
He held out a paw that she flinched a little away from. "I'm Mick... Human turned pokemon who specialized in pokemon care..." He introduces gently.
With a bit of wonder on her face the Ekans slowly meets his paw with the tip of her tail. "G-Gwenneth... but... you can call me Gwen..." She replies nervously.
He smiles a little as he gives her tail a firm shake. "If you were hungry, you could have asked... I know there may not be a whole lot of jobs around for a snake pokemon, but I'm sure someone could have found a place that suited you. If you want, you can come home with us and get a warm meal."
Her eyes widened with surprise as she gawked a little. "A-are you serious? But... I just... tried to eat you..."
Mick nods. "Yeah, but you were desperate... you didn't try just because you could, but because you wanted to survive... I know what it's like to need the hospitality of someone you don't know."
The look of surprise on the Ekans' face began to melt into a tear-filled smile. "Thank you... I... I would love to have somewhere to rest..." She seemed to wheeze out before she collapsed on the ground, causing Mick to jump a little in surprise.
"Oh my... It's worse than I thought..." He says just before wiggling his paws underneath the Ekans to heft her onto his back.
"Mick! What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm carrying her to safety... She's starving... I'm surprised she had the strength to lunge at me like she did in her condition." He replies sharply. "Now you can either help lift her or just open the door when we get back to Vinny's."
It was several hours later before Gwen awoke again, with some food nearby... much to her initial surprise before she began to eat ravenously, not caring what the food was or even tasted like. Her devouring was stopped as she heard the door to the room she was in creak open, revealing the Cyndaquil and Quilava from earlier with a container that had a red plus sign on it.
"Well... Some things between worlds appear to never change." Mick says as he starts walking over to the bed with the first aid kit in his paws, causing Gwen to look at him curiously. "Now... I've got to do a physical for you... I need to make sure that nothing is too wrong with your body so that we can hope for you to make a full recovery." He says gently while he pulls out a stethoscope. "First is a check of your breathing and heart rate..." He explains as he lowers the metal end to her scales. It was surprisingly warm as he slid it along her to listen to various places and explained as he went along what he was checking for.
After several minutes he finally put the stethoscope away with a smile. "Good news; you're going to make a full recovery as long as you get some rest and some food in your system. The bad news... Is you're going to have to stay in the bed until you've recovered to the proper weight for your species, while the damage wasn't permanent... It doesn't mean you'll be getting back up soon.
Tears began to fill Gwen's eyes again as she listened to the little mouse, half giggling to herself about what a miracle it was to finally have someone caring for her, and how adorable the little mouse she had tried to eat not that long ago was. She let out a smile and a small nod. "Thank... you..." She chokes a little on the happy sob that was stuck in her throat. "I... I don't know how I can ever repay you..."
Mick lets out a chuckle. "That's an easy one... Just don't try to eat me again."
Despite how much she disliked the Ekans near her Cyndaquil, Emma couldn't help but let out her own little chuckle as the three of them began to laugh the experience off a little.
...Maybe it wasn't so bad being a pokemon after all...?
Within just a couple days Gwen was beginning to get back much of her strength. While Emma still wouldn't let Mick see the Ekans on his own, she had definitely gotten less hostile around her... In a way. While she was no longer actively growling at the snake pokemon, she still had a slight scowl on her face whenever she walked into the snake's room. Mick was almost constantly checking on Gwen to make sure she made a full recovery, finally satisfied once she got to within five pounds of the weight she was supposed to have.
That was when she made a slightly odd request...
"Mick..." Gwen began hesitantly, catching the little fire-mouse's attention. "... C-could I come with you on your journey?"
The little Cyndaquil gave her a slightly confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I heard from Vinny that you are looking to travel... and... well... I wanted to go with you." At his continued puzzled look she let out a sigh and continued. "You've been so nice to me even though you have more than enough reason to abandon me and have me fend for myself... I... I want to travel with you, I don't have much use in a city like this, so I want to find a place where I can help, and I think that I can be of help... to you..."
She had her eyes closed, just waiting for his refusal, for Emma to start yelling at her, for anything really... except...
"Hm... I'll have to think about it. I can certainly see the use of having a poison type around, although that does mean we may have to make a small change to the travel plans. But I'm sure we can work it in."
Gwen gasped a little in surprise, switching to as much of a smile as she could, and leaned forward to give him a delighted nuzzle that forced Emma to tense up a bit. "Thank you so much..." the Ekans squealed.
Mick simply waved a paw. "No problem, The more the merrier. We're even going to see Arceus so we'll be able to find a whole bunch of pokemon to battle and help get stronger." He explained with a smile as he got up. "Besides, I want to see everyone get stronger, not just me... so I wanted you to come anyway." He bounced a little with each step as he left the room, followed closely by Emma who shot the Ekans a bit of a warning look.
Despite the threatening gesture, Gwen's chest felt a lot lighter than it had in a long time. If it weren't for the fact that she knew she didn't have wings, she could've sworn she had been floating on a cloud. She curled up and for once, felt like she had someone who cared.
Mick was exhausted, every moment he spent up was used to practice either his moves or his agility so that he could make sure his new smaller size wouldn't put him too badly at odds with anyone he had to fight. As such, when he had the option to simply crash on what certainly did appear to be a comfortable couch, he made no protests and nearly passed out as soon as he hit the upholstery. Even when Emma was trying to wake him for a meal he stubbornly refused to wake up by simply making whiny growls and flailing a paw at random.
With a slight pout Emma began to think of a way to get him to get up long enough to eat, which led to a weaselly smile spreading its way across her mouth. "Fine... if you don't want to eat, I guess you don't get the apple pie that Widget made for desert."
It came as a tiny bit of a shock that, in hindsight, she should have expected when he let out a small groan similar to "...Meh..." and flailed the closest paw he could. She gave out a small chuckle and gave up. "Fine... You probably should feel tired after the day you've had anyway." With a smile she leaned down to plant a small kiss on his head.
The Next Day (13)
The training ring that Mick had procured now had a couple of burning dummies, with Emma, Gwen and Widget on the sidelines to be sure nothing else caught on fire, Quite a few of the dummies had long needles sticking out of them in various places.
Gwen looked over to Emma, "With all his training... why didn't he ever compete in the pokemon league?"
The Quilava shrugged a little. "A little of it had to do with his parents and... me... being a tad overprotective and not wanting to leave until he was a bit older, while the rest of it was just that he never had the desire to travel very far from home. He grew up his entire life without seeing Goldenrod City up close."
"Wait...! Goldenrod? He's from the Jhoto region!?"
"That's right." Emma confirmed. "Why?"
"You guys lived literally just a couple days travel from where I did, I lived just outside Goldenrod City."
That was enough to give Emma pause, "Well... maybe pokemon from similar regions had a big likelihood of appearing in nearby places..."
Widget gave them both a confused look. "Pokemon League? What's a Pokemon League?"
Emma had opened her mouth to begin answering before she was cut off by Mick landing nearby. "The Pokemon League... Was a region-encompassing test of skill, strategy, and power. Each of the known regions had their major leadership and influence based on the Pokemon Gym that was in each town or city."
Widget nodded as she sat down, eager to learn more about where the pokemon came from.
"Generally, each gym had one major unifying type, usually based on the kinds of pokemon that lived in the area, but more than not just focused on the gym leader's preference..."
"... And with that we wrap up the general power structure of my old world..." Mick finished just to turn and rub his eyes in surprise when he noticed he had an audience of quite a few diamond dogs and a sizable number of pokemon. "A-any questions...?" He prompts as he looks over the small crowd.
He pointed to a female diamond dog pup, he had recently noticed that the females had features similar to the poochyena evolution line while the males tended to resemble the snubbul line, "Yes?"
The diamond dog slowly stood, her adorable eyes trained on Mick while her paws hugged the Poochyena next to her close enough to make him balance on two legs as he let out a surprised yelp. "Poochy here told me that there were mean people where you guys lived... that didn't love pokemon like they should have... What did the leeg do to them?"
That caused Mick to hum a little. "Well... They were some pretty big organizations that were hard to bring down at once... but whenever the police or rangers found the bad people who hurt pokemon just to be mean, they were stopped as quickly as they could be."
"Well... Poochy was talking about those Team Wocket people...He said that they made a lot of pokemon sad..."
"That they did... but you want to know who stopped them?"
Everyone seemed to be dead quiet, even the sound of the city clanging around them seemed to want to listen in on his response as the pup nodded.
His smile grew as he stood proudly, "A trainer no older than me by the name of Red, he beat their boss and their boss disbanded the organization so that they wouldn't be such a big problem in Kanto and Jhoto anymore."
The girl looked at him in awe, "Really...?"
"Yeah, that's what the bonds between pokemon and their trainers were truly about... Believing in yourself and helping each other to become stronger than before." With that he went and struck a dramatic pose as his entire third of a meter height could give him. "BECAUSE BONDING WITH YOUR POKEMON CAN OVERCOME ANY CHALLENGE LIFE THROWS AT YOU!"
While the rest of the crowd was clapping, Gwen and Emma had tensed up when they noticed each other chuckling over Mick's dramatics, It was unspoken... but it was there...
... at least just a small piece of the wall between them began to come down, nothing too big, but possibly a place to start.
Professor Elm smiled as he watched the small 'adventuring party' getting their gear together. "This reminds me so much of when you first received Emma, Didn't your mother stuff your bag so full of medical supplies you could hardly walk?" He chuckles a little as he helped the little Cyndaquil with a messenger bag.
Mick nods with a laugh of his own. "Yeah, I'm surprised that I made it to New Bark town when I did." The slowking began packing a few jars of the orange juice into the bag.
"So, how long do you think you'll be away?"
Mick shrugged, "I can't say for sure, but we do have to leave soon to catch the train."
"Yes... Yes, of course, wouldn't want you to be late for that would we." Elm chuckled as everyone finished packing. "And you'll be asking about my research notes...?" He asked a bit nervously. "I wouldn't want to feel like too much of a bother..."
Mick shook his head with a smile, "It's not a problem Professor, I'm sure the natives of this world would benefit greatly from your research... and I'm pretty sure that they'd be happy to help look into more than what you already have. Just keep your family company, wouldn't want them to think you forgot to eat while researching again."
Elm gave him a good-natured glare. "Fine, just try not to get hurt, we don't know how well our new bodies compare to those who were born and bred to be competitive battlers."
"Don't worry Professor, We'll be sure to stay safe." Mick replied with a nod as he strapped his pouch of needles to his sides, which caused the professor to give him a curious look.
"Um... Mick, I'm not sure I remember you ever needing..." He paused with a slight gulp. "...Such long needles before."
"Oh those?" Mick took a look down at the pouches. "They're typically more of a surprise weapon... Since they're only really effective if you hit someone in specific places."
"Well... Where did you learn to use them?"
"My dad taught me, There's a few types of pokemon that are a real pain to use these on, but many pokemon can actually be stopped from a rampage if you get just one of these needles in the right place."
"MICK! We need to go!" Emma called out as she opened the front door.
"Right... Professor? Give my regards to your family, we should be back soon with your research notes."
The slowking gave a small chuckle and smile as he watched the young adventurer leave. "Yes... I know you will."
The train itself was very simplistic in design, not quite as streamlined as the one rumored to be in Goldenrod, but it was very nice. Mick couldn't help but start to smile as he walked onto the train platform with his ticket. He took a deep breath as he looked around, taking in just how focused the diamond dogs seemed to prefer function over form when it came to items working.
"All boarding the train to Equestria!" Calls the conductor as Diamond dogs and a few tourists hurry onto the platform.
Mick, Emma, Gwen, Widget and Gleaming Gem all made their way onto the train eagerly. None were quite as eager as Mick as it seemed like he just couldn't keep from bouncing around the train car.
Gwen let out a small chuckle as she watched the excited Cyndaquil examine every part of the train. "Well... He's certainly the strangest human I've ever met... Bouncing around like the child he is one moment... and then all serious and surprisingly mature the next..." She let out a small sigh as Emma nodded her head.
"It's what happens when a human grows up homeschooled... at least, when taught by a pokemon breeder."
Gwen looked at Mick with a small smile as he finally sat down next to Emma, "Well... He was definitely raised by the right people."
Emma leaned down to nuzzle the Cyndaquil that was drifting off to sleep. "Yeah... He was definitely raised right..."
The steady rumble of the train finally woke Mick a few hours later, He blinked a few times as he saw something that looked like Emma and Gwen holding a hesitant conversation. He began to stretch a bit, remembering the way that Emma would stretch when she woke up as a Cyndaquil. Several very satisfying pops later Mick was shaking the last dregs of sleep away from him as he began to look around the train car once again. Widget and Gleaming Gem seemed to be sleeping, not surprising since they were around tracked methods of transport all their life. He didn't really want to interrupt Gwen and Emma at the moment, since they did seem to be getting along better.
As such, he decided to check out more of the train. He quietly slid open the door to their compartment and ventured out into the hallway, picking to head away from the front of the train since there seemed to be the smell of a dining car coming from the way he was going.
"...Please tell me there's bacon..." He muttered just as he opened up the door to find himself get practically smacked in the face with the smell of various prepared foods.
After blinking a couple of times he slowly starts looking around the room, noticing a few diamond dogs, ponies, and even some pokemon. He decided to pick a barside spot next to a Machoke and Gardevoir, The diamond dog behind the counter smiled at him.
"What can I get you?" He asks with a bit more of a refined tone than most diamond dogs.
"Hmm... Got any bacon?" Mick asks, "with baked potatoes and sour cream?"
The dog chuckles a little. "Yes, I'll get one ready."
"...So... You used to be human too, huh? Or were you a trainer's pokemon?"
Mick turned his head to look at the Machoke in slight confusion before registering the question. "Oh... I used to be human. I'm actually on my way to Equestria to speak with Arceus."
The Machoke seemed to have been stunned a little at that, sure he had accepted what Arceus had done for the most part, but the fact that some of the humans were actually planning to see him?
He clears his throat. "Well... Anyway, My name is Derek." the Machoke introduces as he holds out his hand.
Mick grips the large hand with both paws. "Mick... So... Who's your friend?" He asks as he leans a little to get a better view of the nervous Gardevoir.
"Oh... The Gardevoir is one of my team mates, Richard." Derek replies.
"Richard? Wait... That's a guy's name." Mick repeats a little stunned, causing the Gardevoir to grimace and the Machoke to get a little cold.
"Yeah... What about it?" Derek asked.
"Aren't Gardevoir supposed to be female?"
Derek softens a little, "No... All Kirlia evolve into Gardevoir if the males aren't given a dawn stone... But Richard was always better as a mental battler and Gardevoir was a better tactical advantage."
"Oh..." Mick replied as he nodded his head once, accepting the meal that the diamond dog placed in front of him. "Were you two... uh... Close before the move?" He asked with a curious look.
Richard nods a little as he and Derek began to blush. "It wasn't common... but yeah... we were one of the very unique cases..."
"Oh... Okay, just wanted to make sure I wasn't bringing up something too embarrassing." Mick replied cheerfully.
With that the three pokemon began to tell tales back and forth of the adventures that they did have, Mick giving them a tale about his family breeding ranch near Azalea town, Derek and Richard told Mick more about the Hoenn region much to his enjoyment about the region that had so much of a terrain difference than the Jhoto region. It seemed like hours before they finally decided to part ways.
A/N: big, BIG spoiler warning! This chapter adds in characters that have not been introduced into the main story and the chapter takes place about 2 years later. If you don't want characters spoiled in the story I would recommend waiting until the chapter where I note that all characters of the story have been added.
Aside from that I can only say that this chapter is going to be a nice little late holiday gift to y'all!
And a big thanks to Bubba1995x for letting me add Volt to the festivities, Go show his story some love!
The night air was biting hard in the Crystal empire, Hearth's warming was only two days away and a little four-legged electric spider was already making plans for what he would do in the warmer parts of Equestria when his team made their way south to meet up with their friends for the holidays...
... Little did they suspect that he was going to get his share of sugary goodness that would keep him forever out of their reach.
"Kekeke..." He chuckled to himself as he rubbed his forelegs together, plotting his evil scheme to abscond with the treasures that would make even the mightiest of kings fall to his might.
He was jarred out of his thoughts as a firm knock was heard from the doorframe, caused by the Huge blue turtle in the doorway. "Hey Volt, John's looking for you because we're almost ready to leave."
Volt gives a small nod, "I'm almost ready Eclipse, I'll be right out."
The little Joltik quickly made his way across the massive, in his view, crystal city that made up the strange entirety of the crystal empire in order to reach the train his friends were on. He had to wait a bit longer than he told Eclipse just to be sure that he could scare the daylights out of Holly Heart again just because of how fun it was and no matter how many times he did it she always had the same reaction that sent her leaping into John's arms.
With barely more than a *tink* he dropped onto the train heading southbound and began to scuttle his way across the roof of the train, climbing down to the side before the hulking metal behemoth could pick up speed and crawled into an open window.
The train car seemed pretty plain for a train heading to Equestria though; no lavish decorations, no pink frilly seats... Just a simple steel-grey set of walls and red cloth-upholstered seats.
"Well, it's good that they finally took my advice and stopped making the train so girly." Volt squeaked with a smile as he dropped onto one of the seats, waiting for someone to open the heavy glass door so that he could continue his journey. After a while though even his limitless supply of energy had to take a breather as he began to curl up on the seat and nap, just a quick one... and only a light one so that he could know when someone was opening the door...
Volt jumped a bit as the door slid open, admitting a Machoke and Gardevoir who ended up sitting on the bench across from him. The Gardevoir gave a tiny wave, prompting Volt to wave back, before leaning against the Machoke.
The three pokemon sat in silence for a while before Volt finally spoke up. "So... you guys heading to Equestria too?"
The Machoke shakes his head, "No, we're heading to Kinholdur to visit a couple friends for the holidays."
"Kinholdur?" Volt asks as he tilts his head a little.
"Yeah, the capital city of Canida, that's where this train is heading."
"...Uh oh..."
The train ground to a stop at the station, letting the doors open to reveal a sprawling station three times the size of the train station back in Unova. There was even a light mist of steam covering the ceiling as a few more trains pulled in.
"Last call for train departures, after now the trains will only be arrivals in preparation for the holidays!" Comes a voice over the P.A. system.
"Hey... Volt, right?" The Machoke began as he caught the little spider's attention. "Maybe you could come with me and Richard, Cousin Vinny actually has a video-communicator that goes directly to one of the Elements of Harmony over in Equestria. I'm sure that if your friends are as influential as you claim them to be then they'll have access to it."
"Uh... Sure... I just hope John isn't too worried... Although Holly is probably panicking that I could jump out from anywhere right about now, I'm really good at startling her."
"Good, come on, I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting Cousin Vinny and the gang." Derek chuckles as he begins heading towards one of the southern districts of the city with the Gardevoir in tow.
Volt marveled at the large stone structures they passed, they all seemed to be chiseled right out of the ground without any issues and then given a layer of glaze, or gems or even what used to be considered precious metals. The designs on the buildings themselves seemed to be very fine, requiring precision that few pokemon could hope to have. Near the actual streetline were lots of small pictures that seemed to have been made by children or hatchlings, the subjects always seemed to have a range of themes, from heroes conquering evil dragons to a group of heroes banding together to fight the elder evil eye that had threatened the universe only recently. Volt couldn't remember the specific details too well, just that they had to fight a bunch of creatures that were like pokemon but weren't pokemon in order to help save the world. Then again, they did save the world, so the specific details really didn't matter... so long as the bad guy was stopped, since the end of the world would ruin anyone's day.
And John wouldn't have let that happen.
"Alright, here we are..." Derek says as they stop in front of a house that certainly looked like it was recently built. "Vinny had to make a few renovations, but... at least now he's got plenty of space for his inventions." He quickly brings his fist up and knocks surprisingly gently on the door, having it open a few seconds later to reveal a slightly-larger-than-normal Lopunny who quickly let out a small squeal of joy as she leapt up to hug the Machoke.
"Ooh! I'm so happy you made it! We were wondering if you two had missed the train and got stuck on one of the outposts for Christmas, or Hearth's Warming... Whichever you prefer now." She giggled a little as she kissed his cheek and let herself fall to the ground. "Ooh... and who's this adorable little cutie?" She asks, looking at Volt.
"I am Lord Volt! Ruler of the Crystal Empire and, soon, the world! All shall fear the might of my mighty blade Excalibur!" the little Joltik hopped a little before he drew a butter knife out from his spiky fuzz.
"Well ain't that just adorable..." She chuckled as she leaned forward to pet Volt on the head, making him blush a little.
"...I'm not cute... I'm terrifying..." He mumbled as he shuffles a little on Derek's shoulder.
"Of course you are, Now... all of you, come on in, we were just about to have dinner." The Lopunny stepped aside to let the three pokemon in before closing the door behind her.
"Dinner's almost ready so if you want to talk to Mick you might have to get a loud noisemaker." She chuckled.
"No problem Jessica, We actually wanted to see if we could use Vinny's phone."
With a loud *Clank* the aforementioned Diamond dog seemed to drop down from the ceiling, giving them all a good jump. "Of course you can!" He exclaimed as he seemed to spring up from the ground with a visible imprint of his pan on his stomach. "I'm good, my trusty pan broke my fall. Anyway... You said you wanted to use the phone?"
"Yeah... You remember that cop, John... right?" Derek began to explain, getting vinny to nod a little as the group began to go deeper into the house. "Well, this little Joltik is his friend and he was headed to Equestria for the holidays, most likely with the Elements of Harmony."
"Ah! I see, so you would like to contact Miss Sparkle and see if she's with John and Co. ... Right?" Vinny pieced together as they finally reached the living room.
"Yeah, just want to let him know the little guy is safe." Derek replied as he followed the Diamond dog over to a large box-like object that had a slightly-opaque mirror embedded in the back of the panel on top.
"Alright, let me just start it up... HEY CURLY!" Vinny shouts as he looks towards the stairs leading to the second floor. "I NEED YA DOWN HERE!"
At his call a Pikachu leapt onto the banister, the little electric mouse had a miniature version of a bowl haircut that waved in the air as he quickly made his way down to the first floor and over to Vinny. "Yeah Vin?"
"Need some help powering up the transmogrifier again."
"No problem, just... Let... Me..." The pikachu let out a small grunt as he squeezed in behind the machine and began to fiddle around with a few wires.
Vinny let out a small chuckle. "Those three are good boys... and pretty funny if you just sit back and watch them do what they do."
Volt simply looked on in interest as the machine began to spark a little just before letting out a low hum as the crystal mirror and the panel in front of it began to light up to look kind of like a computer. Derek grinned a little as he flexed his fingers and got to typing on the panel.
"Hey Derek... I'm going to go see Mick and Emma... As well as Gwen if she's in..." Richard informed the Machoke as he placed a hand gently on the fighting type's shoulder.
"Alright... I'll meet with you soon, this shouldn't take too long." Derek said with a smile as the screen seemed to light up with a rough map of Equus.
The screen began to zoom in on Equestria until it was just above ponyville, showing three small dots. One was focused on a giant crystal tree-palace, another was focused on the Equestrian Ranger HQ and the last one appeared to be at the pokemon center that sprung up in town.
Derek began to mumble a little to himself. "Alright... It's likely Gene is with Twilight... so we should Check her castle first..." He tapped gently on the dot that was on the crystal tree. A little Pidgey appeared on the screen with a letter in its mouth as it looked to be tapping on a window.
"Wait... Wasn't all this technology what caused Arceus to get mad in the first place because he's a technophobe or something like that?" Volt asked as he watched the bird pokemon curiously.
"No... It was mainly because humans invented pokeballs... and he saw it as forced subjugation. While I don't completely agree with him... He wasn't completely wrong either. Lots of people had differing views on pokeballs... Like Jessica, she used them to help keep the pokemon she actually employed safe and to turn away people who would think of using her business as a way to get a free pokemon."
"Oh... What kind of business did she have?" Volt inquired.
"One that the police and rangers were always trying to get her arrested for... She ran a tight ship, but it was a business practice that was frowned upon for just having human employees... so her pokemon ones never got any better public treatment."
"Oh... I see..."
Finally the screen flickered a little, revealing a very confused violet alicorn. "Vinny? Why are you-... Oh! Hey Derek, What's up?"
The Machoke chuckled a little as he pointed to the Joltik on his shoulder. "Just wanted to let John know that Volt here was okay." He explained quickly as the little lightning-spider waved a foreleg in greeting.
"Oh! That's where he is! That should help Holly relax a bit then, she's been panicking over every little twitch out of the corner of her eye thinking that he'd jump out to scare her... John's just been worried though, One sec... I'll go get him." Twilight rushed off with a small flap of her wings, leaving a slightly-grinning Derek there just to look at a very nice piece of crystal wall.
Within about a minute the alicorn was back, using her magic to drag a flame-headed monkey into view.
"Hey John!" Volt squeaked out, brandishing Excalibur.
"Hey Volt, Twilight told me you're in Canida... Why did you go to Canida?"
"...Uh... Because... Well... Because I wanted to!" He stumbles a little at first before pointing the butter knife at the screen. "For now Holly Heart doesn't have to worry about me attacking her, but I will return soon... And then... All of the cookies shall be mine!" He squeaks out before launching off of Derek's shoulder and towards the kitchen.
"Derek... you had better stop him before he gets to the cookies... Otherwise you'll have some big trouble to deal with."
"John... Jessica's here... We'll be fine."
At the mention of the Lopunny John's eyes shrunk a little. "W-wait... ... ... She's there?" He seemed to hiss out the last two words, making Derek sigh a little.
"Yes John, and she's a really good person... You should already know that, Especially after she took care of you AND Holly when the Avatar of Fire nearly killed you."
"How was I supposed to know he could absorb the fire out of me!? I thought he was just like a fire type and could still take damage from other types of attacks!"
"It doesn't matter... what does matter is that she has everything under control here." Derek replies. "And don't worry... I'll escort Volt back to the Crystal Empire after tomorrow."
The Infernape sighs a little and rubs his face like a small headache is coming on. "Alright... I'll let Holly and the team know where he is and when he'll be back."
Derek let out a small sigh as the screen darkened, with Curly popping out from behind the machine smiling like a child. The Machoke knelt down a little to give the Pikachu a light pet on the head before he straightened and began to wander around the house, familiarizing himself with the new place.
"Wow... This place IS big... Mick wasn't kidding when he sent that letter..." He mutters as he makes his way into a kitchen that looked quite like it belonged in at least a three-star restaurant. "I hope Richard isn't lost..."
With a small chuckle he continued to search the house, trying on the first floor to see Jessica and Widget in the kitchen, Vinny in his normal inventing room throwing together yet another invention, and then the 'three stooges' as Vinny seemed to lovingly call the three Pikachu that lived in his home. Having no luck on the first floor he moved to the second, which was practically lined with guest bedrooms. Letting out a sigh he began to knock-and-check each room until he reached the second to last door on the left. Voices from the room stayed his fist as he began to listen.
"...The children seem to be doing fine, How's it been with Jessica around?"
"Oh, you know... She keeps trying to sleep with MY typhlosion, but I don't let her get to Emma, although Gwen's been more than happy to satisfy her urges since she likes to keep her distance from a 'territorial Typhlosion'."
With a pair of chuckles the conversation continued. "I'm glad that you're all doing okay then... How long until Jessica reopens her bordello?"
"I really don't know, after her little argument with the head of the rangers I'm surprised that Abby didn't try to arrest her on the spot. I do know that Gwen wanted to be one of the first employees if she does reopen, since we've kinda grown apart I can certainly understand her wanting to try something new."
"Jessica's a good person... She'll make sure Gwen's safe, remember... Security was air-tight back in the day and I know Jessica wouldn't dare reopen without making sure it is again."
Having enough with eavesdropping Derek quickly, yet gently, rapped on the door.
"Come in." Mick calls happily from inside as Derek opens the door to reveal a large Typhlosion sitting on a matching-sized chair across from the loveseat that his Gardevoir was sitting on. "Hey Derek! I was wondering when I'd get to see you again." Mick smiled as he greeted the fighting-type. "Have a seat, I'm sure we're all about to get ready for hearth's warming eve."
Derek nodded a little bit as he sat next to Richard, letting the Gardevoir cuddle into his chest and wrap his arms around the Machoke's midsection.
Mick smiled as he let out a slight happy sigh. "You two are adorable together..."
Richard let out a chuckle as he made himself a bit more comfortable. "So are you and Emma..."
"I won't deny that, especially with the twins on the way... Mew says they're healthy but we are going to be going to a hospital once her due date gets closer." Mick looked up at the ceiling as he leaned back in his seat. "I love how soft she's gotten... She was absolutely adorable as a Quilava... but now that she's a Typhlosion she's just so fluffy!"
Derek and Richard both let out small chuckles as the room descended into a warm silence. It seemed that for once... Peace was finally achievable now that so many risks and grand adventures were over with.
Richard spoke up after a few minutes. "It's hard to believe you're only fifteen... Two years ago you were panicking over who to choose between Gwen and Emma... now look at you... All grown up with twins on the way and the head of the Canida branch of the Pokemon Rangers... For such a young kid you really have come a long way."
"Yeah..." Mick sighs as he looked back down at his body, now a little over four times the height he was when he first arrived on Equus. "...I remember when I evolved the first time... It was such a head-rush that I got really dizzy and nearly knocked myself out on a rock. I'm just glad I was battling with Gene when it happened instead of a wild pokemon who would've taken the opportunity to kill me." He let out a slightly deeper laugh. "And then there was Twilight right after it happened... good lord I thought I was going to be stuck in her castle until I evolved again with how many questions she had, I'm just happy Gene held Emma back from tearing her apart."
He put a paw to his chin in thought. "Actually... now that I think about it... I think it took the combined might of Gwen, Gene, Belle... and a few dragons to hold her back... although my head was still spinning so that could've just been something that my mind cooked up." He said with a shrug.
"HEY MICK! GET EMMA, DINNER'S READY!" Jessica shouts from the kitchen.
"That's my cue, I'll see you guys down there..."
Richard and Derek both nod as the three of them get up and leave the room.
Mick carefully walked down the steps alongside a slightly smaller, and much more rounded Typhlosion. As they reached the bottom of the stairs it was a little more apparent how far along Emma was in her pregnancy, the round arc to her belly was a bit more than noticeable as she slowly walked into the dining room to take a seat at the table. Mick leaned into her neck and gave her an affectionate nuzzle before sitting to her side.
Derek, Richard, Gleaming Gem, Vinny, Volt, a Goodra, a shiny Greninja, and even the three Pikachu brothers; Larry, Curly and Moe were all seated at the table.
Mick gave volt a small smile as everyone began to have a few small conversations. "Volt... I would like you to meet my parents." He says as he pointed to the Greninja and Goodra.
The water type extended a hand to shake volt's tiny foreleg. "...Nathaniel, I've heard a lot of good things about your friends from Mick and a few of the other Rangers. I can't say I've worked with John personally, but I think I did manage to help him out of a few tough spots."
"I doubt it... John's always going on about how he would fight completely undercover without using his pokemon often so that he could make sure they wouldn't get hurt."
"He's a good man... Just like my Sensei, there's a great value in friendship and loyalty that those criminal organizations rarely understood."
The Goodra gives a small laugh. "I'm sure everything worked out just fine dear... The little guy probably wants to hear about some of your adventures instead of your teachings..." She turned to face Volt herself. "I'm Margaret... It's very nice to meet you Volt."
Widget moved quickly alongside Jessica as they finished placing food on the table for everyone to enjoy, taking their own seats.
Jessica gently cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "...I'll begin the meal with a small prayer if no one minds..." She looked to everyone gathered, getting a small nod from each one that prompted her to begin praying.
"...We thank Listai for this wonderful feast, her teachings of pleasure and enjoyment without gluttony or greed permeate all of our lives and bring us all closer together. We thank her for bringing us all together through the years as well as now. May we all continue to bask in her teachings of kindness, generosity and equality. For love and pleasure know no boundaries."
Everyone smiled as she finished, with Larry, Curly and Moe being the first ones to dig in and start off the merry dinner. With the stress of the day winding down everyone had something to talk about, whether it was recent adventures to rediscovering lost friends that they still had yet to meet up with, it seemed like the perfect end of a wonderful day.
With dinner out of the way Derek and Mick pitched in to help with the after-dinner dishes while everyone else gathered in the living room to see just what Cousin Vinny's machine could do aside from contact the Ranger HQ and Princess Twilight's castle.
At least, that's what would have been happening if the three Pikachu weren't fighting over the blocky remote that Vinny had designed.
The bushy-furred Pikachu used his tail to smack Moe in the face as a distraction as he gave a strong tug on the remote, causing Moe to lose his grip and make the bushy one stumble back into a slightly larger, smooth-furred one.
"Ah, Ah, Ah Curly, you know better than to hit Moe like that." The smooth-furred pikachu chided as he plucked the remote from Curly's grasp, only to have Moe bite his tail and make him toss the remote into the air allowing Moe to grab it with a smirk.
"Not this time Larry... You got to pick last time... I get to pick the channel this ti-EEEM!" He lets out a shriek as Curly stomps on his paw, beginning the cycle again that would toss the remote dangerously into the air a few times before Gleaming Gem hovered the remote over to him and Widget while he shot Vinny a worried look.
"Are you sure that's healthy for them?"
"Oh you worry too much, pokemon evolve by having battles with each other, so having three brothers go about their sibling rivalry will just bring them closer as a family." Vinny replied with a dismissive hand.
"Still..." Gem winced as he saw the three Pikachu started to get near the level of an all-out brawl in the living room.
Vinny took the hint and nodded before he clapped his paws loudly, "Boys..."
All three of the Pikachu stopped mid-brawl; Curly had a grip on Moe's chest fur and looked about ready to slug him, Moe had one of Larry's ears in his teeth and had the larger Pikachu in a headlock while Larry looked to be about ready to yank the tail right out from under Curly.
"I think we should all just take a rest from the fighting and watch a nice movie together." Vinny offers as he pulls a large rectangular block out from behind his back. The three little mice began to get excited and scrambled to find seats on the various couches, beaming with pride as Vinny put the movie into the larger computer-like device that was against the far wall.
Volt watched Mick with slight confusion. "Doesn't that hurt your paws?" he asked as the Typhlosion washed various dishes. "I mean... You are a fire type..."
Mick let out a small chuckle. "It still stings a little, but it's more akin to having your leg fall asleep on you... It's something a lot of pokemon noticed after about a year of being here... The more you were exposed to attacks that are strong against you and survive, the more your body adapts to resist those attacks... If anything I would have to say it's one more little oversight on Arceus' part that he seemed to have missed when he brought us here. While I'm not complaining, it'll eventually make it so there's no such thing as a super-effective attack against a pokemon who is a career battler."
"I se- ei chihuahua... A-are those... cookies?" Volt squeaked as he turned his gaze in time to see a small plate of cookies on the table, chocolate chip if his incredibly trained eye was correct.
"Yeah, Emma's gotten quite a sweet tooth since she got pregnant..." The large typhlosion leaned down and began to whisper conspiratorially. "...Don't tell her this, but the cookies are actually sugar free... She doesn't notice the difference though so that saves the fur off of my back."
"Wait... Really? I thought sugar free stuff had to taste bad because it didn't have sweet, sugary goodness."
"Nope, no sugar needed, it actually uses dark chocolate chips and she actually likes the taste of dark chocolate over regular chocolate anyway, so that's an added bonus right there. You can have one if you would like, but just one though... we need to save some in case we get a visitor bearing gifts." Mick chuckled as he went back to the dishes.
"Come on Mick, you really think that Arceus transported 'Santa' here with the rest of us?" Derek asked with an incredulous smirk.
"How do you explain last year?"
"You know that Widget went out of her way to get extra gifts..."
"Nu-uh... She specifically explained that they weren't from her."
"Whatever... You finish up the dishes, I'm sure that everyone's probably watching a movie in the living room." Derek dismissed as he dried his hands and left the kitchen.
"Actually Volt... If you would be so kind... please bring some of the cookies out to the living room for Emma."
The little spider gave an affirmative nod with an accompanying salute before he launched off the counter to grab two cookies and swing through the air like the spider-mare comics he had been reading recently.
Emma was laying on her side as the movie started up, giving her a bit of needed relief as she had an entire couch to herself, She had even begun to doze off before she smelled the cookies that Volt had put in front of her.
"Oh..." She quietly yelped as the cookies landed on the couch. "...Thank you Volt, I really needed these." She smiled warmly and nuzzled the little bug type before she began to nibble on one of the cookies. "I'm not sure I can finish both though... You can have the other one."
Volt looked at the cookie a little curiously before he began to nibble at it himself, quite enjoying the taste even if it didn't give him the energy rush that other cookies were so blessed with. He even began to pay attention to the movie, which looked like starred the three Pikachu of the house as a sort of home-movie.
As the Vinny on the video, dressed as Entei... or at least as close as the Pikachu brothers had been able to guess to what Entei looked like, leapt out of the darkness on the screen to unleash a paper-effect of an energy beam from his mouth Volt had to stifle a giggle at the absolutely hilariously terrible special effects of the movie. Even the unknown in the movie were made out of paper and when proper scale was needed it looked like the characters had been drawings on moving sticks.
Emma had already fallen asleep on the couch, nuzzling Mick who was sitting on the floor near her head.
Richard and Derek were leaning against each other, and even the Lopunny and Arbok were sitting against each other on the couch. As the movie ended, Vinny began to slowly let the lights in the room come back to full brightness, rousing a few of the pokemon who had fallen asleep.
Although Emma had reflexively groaned in protest as she blindly reached out and wrapped Volt up in an incredibly warm hug, whispering little unintelligible coos to him as she slept. Mick got up and began to stretch, getting a few satisfying pops from his back as he tested his flexibility.
"...Ooh... that hurts so good..." He half-chuckled, half-whimpered as he slowly got back into a regular standing position to look at Volt and Emma. "Aww... Ain't that cute..." He cooed as he leaned down to help pry a struggling Volt from Emma's vice-grip. It took a bit of effort but he managed to get Volt free only to make Emma groan as she tried to grasp for anything else.
"Hey Volt... I think that Vinny can find a place for you to sleep tonight..." Mick let out a little grunt as Emma latched around his neck as he picked her up. "I think its time we all went to bed anyway... We don't want to stay up and make Santa miss the house, would we?"
Volt shrugged a little, choosing instead to remain on the couch as he watched the larger Typhlosion carry Emma up the stairs.
"...Hmm... Would John and Holly be able to have an egg together? Or would they have to adopt?" He began to ponder, putting a foreleg against his chin. "She does look a lot like a Ponyta... but... she's not a pokemon... so... would that make a ponyta that would be able to use magic if they had an egg together?"
Mick gently laid Emma down on their bed, which got her to release his neck. With a small, happy sigh he slowly climbed into bed next to her and began nuzzling against her swollen belly, causing her to purr.
"Ah... I love living here..." Mick sighed again before he buried his face in Emma's fur and let his mind get lost among the scent of burnt hickory and roasted Grepa berry.
Volt jumped awake as he heard a commotion coming from across the room, as his eyes adjusted to the low light of the tree that Vinny had lit up before they went to bed he noticed that the chimney was getting quite a bit of dust falling onto the floor just before a large red creature fell with a soft, yet noticeable, thud.
"Stupid deerling... gotta give me a huge bag... Ugh... just look at my feathers!" The red figure grumbled as he stood and hefted a large brown bag over his shoulder as he made his way over to the tree. With a small sigh he began to pull a few boxes out of the bag. "let's see... this one... Hmm... Widget..." He shook the brown box a little before looking at one of the sides, "...Handle... With care... Oops! I hope that doesn't hurt anything..." He mumbles with a sheepish frown before placing the box gingerly below the tree.
He pulled out another box, this one seemed to be blue in the low light, "Hmm... For Mick AND Emma? Eh... I'm sure they won't complain... although I shouldn't shake too many of the packages." With a steady hand he slides the box in with the others, going on with his list; the three stooges... which managed to get a chuckle out of him, Cousin Vinny, Margaret and Nathaniel. "Huh... Well... It might not be a big package... but I think they'll like it." He beams a little before placing the rest of the packages under the tree.
He paused as he got to the last one. "...Volt? wait... isn't he supposed to be with John?"
"I was... but then I got on the wrong train..."
At the sudden interruption the figure gave out a somewhat loud squawk as he flinched a little. He peeked an eye open to see the Joltik on the nearby table with a plate of cookies and a couple glasses of milk, the smaller one obviously being for the tiny bug. "Uh... Oh... Okay... A-aren't you supposed to be asleep?"
"I was... until a Delibird came crashing down the chimney..." Volt stated bluntly, causing the Delibird to wince a little. "Anyway... who are you?"
Since he knew that the jig was up, the Delibird let out a small sigh and shrugged. "I'm Santa."
Volt tilted his head and gave him a deadpan look. "...Really?"
"Well... Not the Santa from Human tales... but... well... My trainer named me Santa because he thought it fit with my personality... And sorry about waking you up, this is quite literally my second year doing this... so... I'm a little rusty from not having to deliver the rest of the year. I'm working on getting a postal job locally though."
"I see... Do you want a cookie? For being sugar free they're actually really good."
"I don't see why not... I could certainly use a break, the past four hours I've been up and down chimneys, only one of which I refused to go down because I could tell it was still lit." Santa replied as he walked over to pick up a cookie.
Volt nodded a bit sagely. "I know the feeling... You have no idea how tiring it is riding on John's shoulder, especially when he is so focused on his assignments, He's so boring sometimes..."
As Santa finished up the cookie he had been offered he pat his belly and stretched a little. "Well... Don't worry then, at least you will have something to open up on Hearth's Warming day. I've just got a few more houses to go before I'm done."
Volt nodded with a smile as he watched the Delibird shuffle his way back up the chimney with a grunt.
As he heard the clatter on the roof die away Volt smiled as his eyes started to droop. "so... telling John... I saw Santa." He snickered a little before yawning and curling up on the table. "Just... Need... To nap..." He let out another long yawn before closing his eyes and letting his mind drift off to dreamland.
Meanwhile... In the strangest crossover yet.
Volt looked around in confusion as the world seemed to be made of more pastels than Equestria, all around him there seemed to be teeming natural life. It actually began to make him feel... happy... Calm almost...
Then it happened...
The denizens of dreamland began to flee in terror from something behind him, his body was screaming not to turn around, just to run, run the same way that the rest were...
But he had to find out...
He had to...
Slowly he began to turn, his vision filled with pink the same shade as Pinkie Pie, and he was greeted by the most terrifying line ever.
"HIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Volt jumped awake in a cold sweat as the nightmare seemed to fade, reducing itself to little more than a whisper and a mention of the color pink. He quickly looked around and noticed that almost everyone had gathered in the living room, with Mick happily nuzzling Emma's cheek to try and keep her awake. Emma grumbled a little, but stayed awake as Nathaniel started passing the gifts out.
Volt looked on at his gift in interest as he began to tear the paper away. As he opened the box he felt the fabric inside, stunned at the amazing feeling of the fabric, wincing a little as light reflected off of golden plates.
"It's... Armor..." he says quietly as he brings up the gift, Vinny smiled as he helped the little electric pokemon into the outfit. The plates clinked together a little as he shifted his position.
"You could be a knight of the Crystal Empire." Emma observed with a chuckle. "I think it's adorable..."
"I am not adorable! I am terrifying!" Volt squeaks as he brandished Excalibur and made off into the kitchen
Richard and Derek got a matching pair of sweaters, while Widget and Gleaming gem got a sapphire and ruby dragon statuette each. Everyone gathered was genuinely happy as they opened their gifts, Jessica even got a card signed by several of her previous employees, eager to find her again and get back to having an amazing boss.
Emma stayed out in the living room as Mick and Jessica went to the kitchen to begin breakfast, chuckling and joking around with each other as they got ingredients out to feed everyone.
"So Jessica... I hear so many amazing things about where you used to manage, I certainly hope that I don't have to ever knock on your door for the wrong reasons..."
The lopunny gave him a seductive glance as she put a bit more swing in her hips. "You know me babe... I keep my employees safe... it'll be more like me knocking on your door because I don't want to kill someone." While he did follow her swing, he kept a safe distance as he set to work making scrambled eggs.
"Yeah... If what I heard from Richard is right... Although... I have a hard time believing those two met at your establishment..."
"Well... they technically didn't." Jessica replied as she began mixing the batter for pancakes. "They met pretty close to Goldenrod... although it was still on my property line."
"Oh, that explains a bit then."
"Yeah... I refused to let Richard participate in the activities of the bordello... but while he was out exploring Ilex forest he met Derek. Poor boy was so hurt when he was brought back that I just had to take care of him. By the time he got better I was about to take him to Goldenrod to find his parents."
"What happened?" Mick asked as he slowed his whisk down a little.
"What happened was that he had been kidnapped by some team rocket remnants... but the agent got caught without the boy so they thought the Team Rocket guy had an accomplice, somehow their minds went to me and I was just about to walk out my door when the police arrived." Jessica looked at her reflection in the mixing bowl for a few seconds before going back to getting the pancakes ready. "the short version is I was able to get everything straightened out after a while and the girls even kept everything up and working while I was away."
"You really must've been an amazing boss if they kept everything running while you were away."
"...They really were..." Jessica replied quietly, smiling as a few tears dripped down her cheeks. "...I've just been missing them after so long. I can't wait to get my Bordello open again, although I'm thinking about renaming it... something a bit fancier sounding. Maybe 'The Courtesan' would be a good choice."
"I'll send a note Abby's way... to see if she doesn't mind allocating a ranger or two to help out when you get it up and running."
"I hope she allows it, I really could benefit from having a ranger on staff."
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful; The Stooges played an elaborate game of hide and seek with Volt, Mick and Emma retired early to their room so that Emma could rest and hug her Typhlosion mate until he gave in and decided to nap with her, Derek and Richard were quietly sitting in the living room, reading a book together as the day was dimming.
Soon enough it was time to sleep again, another day gone by, another night passing. Fortunately for Volt the dream about the strange pink creature did not return, but neither did the dreams of conquering the world. He simply dreamed of his team's relief when he returned safe and sound.
...tomorrow would be the day he saw the relief on John's face.
The train wheels clicked on the track as the snowy terrain of the Crystal Empire came into view. With this final stretch, Volt was back home.
Mick took his time on his way back to the train car he was staying in, he yawned a little as he rubbed a little tiredness from his eyes and stumbled just outside of their room. The rumble of the train as it went down the track didn't help either, every so often there would be a bump that threw him off balance a little so that he had to quickly catch himself. With a small grumble he continued until he reached the room his friends were sharing. A quick slide of the door later and he found Emma sitting on one of the seats reading one of the Diamond dog books that Cousin Vinny had given them to help them, hopefully, learn basic Canidian. With a smile Mick leapt up onto the seat next to her and nuzzled her side, as he looked up he noticed her attention on him with a slight smile.
"Where have you been, Hm?" She asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the others who were sleeping, Mick simply shrugged a little.
"I was talking to a pair of pokemon... they were from Hoenn, really nice guys."
Emma gave a small chuckle before leaning down to nuzzle him. "I'm sure they were..."
They only spent a few more minutes studying the Canidian language before putting the book away to curl up together and rest for a bit, the lights finally dimming enough to simulate the night sky.
"Goodnight Mick..."
"Goodnight Emma..."
With their final goodnights the two drifted off to sleep, enjoying a new land that was ripe for adventure and exploration, knowing that if they stayed by their friends there would be no problem or obstacle they couldn't get past.
They may even be able to find their friends... family... possibly... everyone that they cared about.
A robed Diamond dog looked quickly both ways as he exited his room on the train car, making sure there wasn't anyone that would see him as he slipped down the hall to the entrance of the car just before the Conductor's cabin. His steps were nearly silent as he reached the car, slowly sliding the door open to step onto the connection bridge between the cars.
Despite being in a tunnel on a train, the car seemed almost dead-quiet as the hooded dog made his way over to the other side of the car, a miniscule *shink* could be heard as a blade extended in front of his paw. He inched the door open, trying not to let the conductor know that he had a guest, with a practiced ease he slipped a small, white rag from within his robe and covered the conductor's mouth. The startled struggles of the train operator slowly died down until he was limp in his chair, the hooded dog slipped the blade into a spot near the base of the conductor's neck and held the blade to make sure there would be no splatter or drip.
"Rest now... into the embrace of death and onto the next life to join the elements you were created from..." the hooded dog says in a hushed tone before he sets a red and gold stone near the furnace. "...May we all meet the elder eye..."
After sheathing his blade again he quickly left the conductor's cabin and pulled a small white stone from his robe and spoke to it. "Are you sure this will work?"
A feminine voice responded as he picked up his pace away from the train car. "Of course it will, The train will pass one of the outer dog outposts in four hours, Once we bury that outpost we'll take the supplies from what's left and then grab our target. Understood?"
"I understand... it's just... there's a lot of people on the train that didn't do anything wrong..."
"they didn't do anything right either." The voice calmly snapped at him. "They've spent their lives spurning the blessings of the eye and showing no humility or respect for the elements that he gave them. With this we send more to see their true creator." The dog winced a little at her voice, hesitating to open the door.
"Yes... Of course..." He murmured before stowing the stone away and making his way to the dining car, hoping to catch a drink before the fireworks started.
The air was biting, the chill would normally have sent many running for their cozy homes, but for a single Aggron in the middle of town square, the cold didn't bother him nor did it seem to phase the slightly aged unicorn sitting in the snow next to him, wrapped in layers of thick fabric. The Aggron raised a large metal cup to his mouth and took a few deep gulps before lowering it and looking out over the snow.
The unicorn looks up at him, "You certainly seem like someone who's seen quite a lot... probably used to travel, Right?" At this the large steel dinosaur nodded. "The world is a wonderful place to travel... a wonderful place to see. But when everything's all said and done you start to miss home." The unicorn continued, getting another nod from the Aggron. "Obviously, with all that travel you found someone you cared deeply for... someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with..."
The Aggron looked down at the liquid that was still in the metal cup, he felt his jaw muscles twinge as his mind drifted to a time before... when he did travel, the love he felt, the friends he made... And then he felt his muscled tense in anger as he remembered the Rangers. As he heard the sound of metal crumpling he looked at the cup in his hands and noticed that he had nearly crushed it into a ball with the amber liquid still inside.
"I see... well, I've got more cups back at my place so one isn't a problem..." The unicorn said with a slight smile to his tone as he patted the large dinosaur-like creature on the arm. With a grunt of thanks the Aggron quickly brought the cup to his mouth and chomped down on the whole thing, alcohol and all, taking the unicorn by surprise. "Well... I... I'm actually a little surprised, the only other creature I've seen to eat stuff like that would be dragons...never up close mind you... but, wow."
The Aggron seemed a little surprised and blinked a little as the rest of his drink quickly splashed down his throat. Slowly he began to get up.
"You know, if you've got no place to go... you could stay with me... gets lonely out here and I could use someone to talk to, even if you don't talk back. The diamond dogs out here aren't quite the best conversationalists."
The Aggron seemed to give it a little thought, placing a claw on his chin as he looked to the ground in thought. About a minute passed before he nodded.
At that moment the ground shook as snow was blasted high into the air behind the pokemon and pony. Quickly turning to try and see what caused the quake the two began to rush over to the edge of a huge hole in the ground.
The unicorn gasped as he realized where the hole was, "The train line to Kinholdur is down there, come on! We need to alert rescue teams!" The Aggron nodded and picked up the pony as he stomped his way back toward town hall through the snow.
Mick let out a groan as he struggled to come to his senses, he couldn't even figure out where he wa-... oh wait, he was definitely still on the train. Blinking a few times, he slowly looked around him, one moment he had been fast asleep... the next there was the sound of an explosion before he was tossed around the cabin like a doll. He let out a small hiss of pain as his body protested getting out from under the bench he had come to rest at.
"E-emma!?" he called out weakly, his voice sounding much like a hoarse whisper as his everything seemed to hurt. Each step felt like he was stepping on pins as he stumbled his way out of the cabin, there was even an annoying ringing in his left ear to accompany the headache that began to build as he grunted against one of the stuck doors. He could smell smoke choking the air even if he was okay for the most part, though once the door was jammed open a biting cold made its way over his fur, forcing him to the ground to curl up out of the way so that he could keep from freezing.
"I couldn't get put somewhere warm... we just had to get put in a frozen wasteland..." Mick mentally groaned as he let out a particularly choice curse before slowly getting back up to try and brace himself against the cold. He shivered with a small shuddered breath before making his way out into the cold, What greeted him was like a nightmare...
The train had been thrown off its tracks, some of it laid on its side like a snake that had shed its skin, windows were shattered and boards were bent or broken, even the metal of the tracks and wheels were twisted and bent out of shape. Light and cold filtered in from a massive hole in the roof of the tunnel and some snow even dripped in every so often. As his breath came out in chilly wisps Mick continued to make his way forward, his senses sharpening a bit now that his body had to react to the cold. It was when he came to the edge of the second car that he actually had to stop, back up, and work down the urge to lose what food he had. There was a smell of death in the entire wreck that repulsed him as he slowly continued, wondering why it was only the unmoving bodies of the unlucky that were here.
Ponies, Diamond dogs, he even saw a few pokemon... but there was one diamond dog that intrigued him. When he had opened the door to the dining car the scent of alcohol and copper assaulted his nose, it had nearly forced him to turn away and search for a way around the car until he had noticed the robed dog slumped over the counter. Something about the dog made him brave the stench and inch forward, trying to breathe as little as possible through his nose as he could. While there hadn't been anything typically remarkable about the dog, his brooch was something that caught Mick's attention immediately, moreso the symbol on it but nonetheless he took the brooch. He quickly made his way out of the car into the biting cold again so that he could check if his backpack was still...
"OH NO! MY BACKPACK!" He yelped as he stumbled his way back to the passenger car that had his cabin, worried about the supplies he had been given by Cousin Vinny.
With a loud *Clunk* the door slid open and then proceeded to fall off its hinges, making Mick wince a little at the noise before proceeding into the cabin. His shivers were coming a bit faster now, with his breath lasting longer in the air before dispersing. "Oh that's not good..." He thought timidly as he started searching for his bag. He let out a sigh when not a trace of the previous occupants of the room or any gear turned up. "They couldn't have gone far..." He tried quietly reasoning as he gently eased himself into a sitting position against the wall, trying to regain enough strength to walk now that his senses were sharpening.
With each passing second the pain all over his body seemed to grow as well, like he was tossed around the way clothes were tossed in a dryer. He looked around the cabin for anything that might help him locate his friends, his nose was no help since it only seemed to be getting a bit numb and all he could smell was smoke and blood.
Every muscle felt slow, each movement sluggish, as he tried to move from where he had sat down. He could feel his eyelids drooping and getting harder and harder to force open as the quiet embrace of sleep called out to him, cooing sweet lullabies without the need for music.
"Heh... Where's that Jigglypuff..." He groans out with a weak chuckle as his vision starts to blur again, the seductive darkness of sleep calling him to its embrace once more as the shadows danced at the edges of his vision. A larger blur filled what he could see before a sharp pain collided with his right cheek, snapping his eyes open and putting him back into an alert state so that he could see who had struck him.
Amber eyes met his sapphire ones as he realized that Gewnneth had been the one to keep him from going to sleep. It was still a few seconds before his ears registered that she was talking to him.
"...Okay?" Gwen asked, "Mick?" Her voice was thick with concern as she quickly looked him over, not realizing that he hadn't heard most of her question. "Come on Mick! Answer me... Let me know you're alright..." The whimper at the end of her sentence was enough to snap him out of his stupor.
"I... I'm alright now..." He stuttered a little as he began getting his mental faculties back in order. "It... It's really surpri... Surprising just how fast... A pokemon can recover... from anything..." He rapidly blinks his eyes to clear away the blurred vision. "... You have a surprising amount of strength in your tail..."
"Actually... I did just a little more than a light slap... you're just around the same strength as a baby pokemon..." Gwen replied with a slight frown of embarrassment. "I was worried it would be too light..."
Mick frowned a little himself. "After all that training... I'm still not strong enough to hold my own..." He let out a sigh. "That's fine... It just means I need to train... more..." He trails off a bit as he starts looking around the cabin a bit more. "Do... Do you know where Emma is?"
The Ekans shook her head sadly. "I tried searching around the cabin at first... I was lucky that I didn't get more than a few bruises from being thrown around... but the cold made it really hard to focus and if it hadn't been for your yellow belly fur I wouldn't have noticed you the second time I had gotten here."
Mick nods just a little bit as he continues to look around, trying to find his bag. "Come on... It has to be around here somewhere..." He grumbles as he searched the dust and debris. With each passing minute his searching became more and more frantic until he was trying to toss the already loose benches around.
"AHA!" He exclaimed as he held up a slightly damp and very rigid shoulder bag, "Aww... There's only one jar left... and everything else froze... oh?" He slowly pulls out the one item that Cousin Vinny had given him before the trip...
"...Huh... Never expected this to survive..." He says calmly as he holds up a slightly-thicker-than-average metal spork with two small buttons on it, one red and one blue. "Welp, that's at least one plus side so far... I have a swiss army spork." Mick chuckled as he tried to see what he could salvage as a temporary shoulder bag.
Emma held Gwen and Mick close as they began travelling back out into the cold of the exposed tunnel, by now a few groans could be heard in some of the nearby wreckage, prompting the small group to quickly make their way over and investigate. It took quite a bit of work, as well as several generous applications of [Ember] to get the debris out of the way so that a small family of diamond dogs and their Hitmonchan travelling companion could be freed from their car. The fire types wasted no time in getting the Hitmonchan's help in creating a makeshift camp in the middle of the wreck.
"Alright... I think that may be able to stave off most of the wind chill..." Mick says with a slight yawn as they finish putting some sheets up to block the whipping wind.
"I've got the fire." Emma declared just before she let out an [Ember] on a pile of broken boards, getting the safety-fire roaring with fuel and a small, warm area to regroup at.
Mick nodded, "Good, Emma, I'm going to need you to come with me; we're going to look for more survivors. Gwen, you are going to stay and make sure that any survivors we have are alright, I'll keep the medical supplies with you and we'll send back anything that we find." He smiled a little when the Quilava and Ekans gave him short nods. "We have a short time to save as many as we can... let's hurry." He dropped to all fours and darted into the wreck of the train with Emma following close behind him.
Gwen picked up his bag that had been left behind and kept it by the others. "Is everyone good?" She asked as she looked to the small family. When the father nodded she gave him a small smile.
Mick wiggled his way under a few angled boards as he made his way to a pup that was clutching his mother. A new cold seemed to close around him as he moved closer, each inch drawing a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach the moment he had entered the room. "Hey..." He whispered as he got out from under the boards, drawing the pup's attention. The dog let out a small growl, but seemed too weak to really do anything else. It was a second icy stab to the heart as he saw the tears at the edge of the pup's eye. He turned back to where Emma was, "Emma... go on ahead... make sure there aren't any others in this cabin." Once he heard her hesitant pawsteps leave the partially collapsed room he slowly walked over to the pup.
The little dog's eyes were brimmed with water just before Mick opened his arms for a small hug. After a few seconds the pup wrapped the Cyndaquil in a tight hug and began to sob. Mick closed the hug, gently petting the pup's back and giving him a place to cry in peace.
It was one of those times that felt like it took forever and no time at all to end as the sobs slowly gave way to an all-consuming silence. Mick indicated towards the hole he had come in through. With a small nod and a sniffle the pup quickly starts making his way out of the car with Mick in close pursuit. Once outside of the broken room the little Cyndaquil held the pup close while they both walked back to the campsite.
Several small groups were huddled around a slightly larger fire now that several cars had been cleared for survivors. "Alright... Emma... Any more cars we have to check?" He asked as he helped get the pup situated by the fire, Gwen quickly made her way over and curled up next to the pup.
"Just the back of the last passenger car..."
"Then let's get going." Mick replied with a determined tone, there were already more survivors than he had expected, but getting them further than the wreck would be incredibly hard. His breath came in slight pants as he made his way back to the passenger cars, all of the work that was going in to helping the survivors was definitely taking its toll as he struggled to get up to the raised floor of the ruined car. Emma quickly helped him up, the use of her stronger fire to burn away debris was starting to exhaust her strength as well. Nonetheless they pushed onward, the hope of more that managed to survive the wreck was a motivator in and of itself.
Mick's hearing had vastly improved compared to when he had been human, it was either his own heightened senses or the near-dead silence of the wreck that was helping him pick up the faint breathing several rooms down. He picked up the pace of his walking as he got to the door, the glass was shattered and the metal was bent in a few different places that made it almost impossible to move on its own. "Emma... Can you help me get this out of the way?" Mick asked her as she walked up next to him.
"Fire... not work... too cold... can't think... straight..." She panted as she seemed to look at the door with an unfocused stare.
Mick's eyes widened. "E-Emma? Are you alright?"
She quickly reeled her head back and rushed at the door, clanging against it with a resounding echo. Mick simply stood there stunned as the [Headbutt] had managed to bend the door enough for him to get inside. "...Emma?" He squeaked.
With a sigh and a groan of pain she slowly pulled herself to her feet "I... I think I need to sit down..."
The Aggron stomped to the edge of the huge hole in the ground, bracing himself against what ground was available beneath the snow and threw a rope down into the depths. Several diamond dogs began to rappel down. The elderly pony that had met the Aggron was watching with a deep concern. "Look!" He exclaimed as he pointed to the glow of the makeshift camp. "Survivors!" With that declaration the dogs seemed to move even faster.
Medics went down first, followed almost immediately with scouts and then other volunteer relief. There were a few quiet cheers as the relief workers made their way into the camp and began to pass out some supplies and much-needed medical care. The rescue team was actually surprised by the number of... well... creatures that had been rescued, from diamond dogs and ponies to pokemon.
Several rescuers turned to see a Cyndaquil making its way out of the wreckage towards them. "Hey! We... We have survivors over here..." He called out before skidding to a stop. "Send... Send some over.. towards that car..." He pants as he points to one of the derailed passenger cars. Two rescue workers nod before heading to the wreckage, a third one comes over to wrap the little cyndaquil up in a blanket... within seconds the warmth of the blanket itself, even if it wasn't that warm, was still good enough to make him wrap himself tightly in it before falling asleep.
Mick awoke with a start as he sat up in the surprisingly comfortable bed that he was in, looking around he noticed the sleeping forms of Emma and Gwen... It brought a small smile to his mouth as he noticed how they had set aside their own vendettas against each other because he was in danger... or at least something like it. He put a paw to his head as he started to feel a migraine coming on and let out a small groan as he eased himself back onto the bed.
"Oh... I hate mondays..." He groaned with a weak chuckle as he waited for the migraine to clear. He tilted his head a little as he heard the door open, his blue eyes blinked a few times as he noticed the Gardevoir standing just past the open door.
Richard chuckled a little as he took a few tentative steps into Mick's hospital room. "Wow, I thought Cyndaquil always had their eyes closed, but I think those blue eyes look adorable on you." He holds the bouquet of flowers that he was carrying a bit tighter as his chuckles die down and his smile drops.
Mick gives him a slightly confused look. "What's up Richard?"
The Gardevoir bites his lip before slowly walking over to take a seat next to the little fire mouse. "It's... It's Derek... He... He's having a very rough time at the moment... and that's probably one of the biggest understatements of the day..."
Mick started to sit up again. "What happened?" He prodded with concern.
"Well... I got cleared to leave the hospital a couple days ago because I only suffered some scratches that I was able to easily recover from... But... The reason why I only had scratches... Was because Derek protected me... If you hadn't found us when you had..." He starts to sniffle before the Cyndaquil nuzzles him reassuringly. "...Thank you..." He says quietly before continuing. "...If you hadn't found us, then Derek would have likely died on the train, with me shortly after..."
"...What's wrong with Derek?" Mick asked as he hugged the petite-framed male.
Richard takes a small breath as he tries to regain his composure. "He got a very big shard of glass in his arm just below the shoulder... Pokemon heal really fast... but even the Chanseys' who have taken up residence here are unsure whether he can heal from the injury or have to have his arm amputated."
Mick hugged Richard tighter as he listened to the Gardevoir's story, he winced a little as the psychic pokemon's arm touched a sore spot but it wasn't too bad so he didn't say anything about it.
"The good news is that the injury was on Derek's left side... so his dominant side isn't in trouble... but still... needing to amputate his arm... it's a big change..." The Gardevoir sighs as he gently picks Mick up off the bed and cradles the Cyndaquil in his arms. "I'm not sure what to do... of course I want him to pull through and keep both of his arms... but... I'm worried about how it would affect him with how this recovery could go either way..."
"Richard..." Mick starts. "... The simple fact that you are concerned about his health over how he looks will be good enough. I may not have known you two for long, but I can already tell that you two have spent enough time together to not let this get in the way of your relationship..."
Richard chuckles a little. "Of course this wouldn't get in the way of our relationship, he raised me from a Ralts near the beginning of his journey... I was the one constant in his life... and he let me choose which evolution path I wanted to take." Mick hugs him again, getting a slightly less-worried smile out of him. "...It's going to take a lot more than this to come between us..." He gingerly puts Mick back on the bed. "Thanks for the talk... It's going to be a couple days before the surgery if his condition doesn't show any signs of improving... so I'll be back often when I'm not with Derek."
Mick nodded. "I'm going to hold you to that..."
Richard lets out a small laugh. "You're a strange little Cyndaquil, so much like a child... but when you talk... it's hard to remember you're a kid..."
Mick shrugged. "I had a great teacher." Richard gives him a warm smile before leaving the room, his smile falls just a little. "... A teacher I hope made it to this world..." He lets out a small sigh as he leans back on the bed and stares at the ceiling until he simply loses consciousness.
Mick awoke a bit later to the sound of a conversation being held nearby.
"... well."
"I know, I know... But I don't think he'd be entirely comfortable with that, he's only thirteen after all."
"...Isn't that still too young in human years though?"
"He's a pokemon now... it's a lot different... you know that..."
"Is it really?"
"...Yes! Yes it is. And you know I'd have to pry you off of him again once he evolves."
Mick had to put a lot of effort into not laughing and letting the two of them continue their conversation while thinking that they weren't being heard. To be honest... he was putting a lot of thought into what they were discussing. He hadn't been raised like normal kids... he had learned the same way his father had... so he had a lot of knowledge that others his age didn't seem to have. His parents talked to him like an adult... all because he was taught to understand... so it was hard growing up since all of his kid friends never seemed to understand what he was talking about.
It's why he had grown so attached to his pokemon team, why he was so much more comfortable around pokemon than he was people. "...Pokemon don't have a reason to leave... and neither of you have to understand what the other is saying for them to know you need a hug... Just treat them with kindness and respect, why couldn't humans learn that much from pokemon?" he thinks with a tinge of sadness as the conversation winds down. A sudden warmth causes him to blink awake and see Emma nuzzling up against him.
"...Hey..." She says quietly once she notices he's awake.
"...Hey..." He replies back just as quietly.
She tenderly licks the top of his head. "Are you feeling okay? You've been out for a few days..."
He nods a little and blushes just a bit. "Yeah, I'm doing better than I was at the train... did everyone make it out okay?"
Emma gives a small smile. "Everyone we rescued... Widget and Gem are down the hall sleeping off their injuries, but aside from that everyone we rescued is going to be okay... more or less..."
He gives another nod before slowly easing himself into a sitting position. "That's good... but it looks like we're going to be staying here for a while then... aren't we?"
"Yeah..." She sighs. "On the plus side, we're in one of the border towns to Canida, so the weather isn't as cold as it was near Kinholdur... still really cold, but not quite as frigid." She explained with a half-hearted shrug. "...I think I'd still rather have a temperate place to live like Violet City though..."
He nods with a small chuckle. "Yeah... Me too... but living in Kinholdur wasn't so bad... as long as you were underground." He looks over to one of the nearby chairs that has a curled up Ekans in it. "She's okay too? I would've thought that you two would have been in pretty bad shape."
Emma pets him idly. "It's more because she and I are both used to the more extreme conditions of battle that we're able to recover so quickly. I still prefer warmer places... but Gwen and I are able to get back up after big hits because of how we were raised. You're still sorta new to being a pokemon, so you don't have quite as much tolerance to adverse conditions yet." Mick lets out a sigh as she licks his head again. "Besides... You're still cute, I don't need you becoming the super-cool Typhlosion of the family yet." She chuckled, causing him to chuckle a little as well.
"...I heard you and Emma talking earlier..." He says quietly as his laughs die down, causing her to stiffen and tense a bit.
"...How much did you hear...?"
"Enough to get an idea of what you meant..." Mick replied as he nuzzled under Emma's chin. "...Maybe not now... but... maybe in the future we can give it a try."
She tries to stifle a laugh. "...Has anyone ever told you how you act so much more like an adult than the kid you are?"
"Absolutely!" He replies with a grin. "And I love surprising people." The statement manages to get them to devolve the conversation into a laughing fit as some of the stress from the near-death accident finally starts to fade.
Richard leans forward to nuzzle his lover. "Derek... are you sure you want to go through with this? There's a chance that your arm would heal..."
The Machoke nods. "The doctors are already talking about a risk of infection, as much as I would like to keep both of my arms... this is the best option to go with. I can deal with only being able to use one arm Richard, I'll be fine." He reaches his right hand up to cradle the Gardevoir's cheek in his good hand. "I only have to change up my fighting style a little that way anyway." Derek explained with a small smile.
Richard wiped away the small tears that were building up in his eyes before leaning down to hug the Machoke. "Alright... I trust you... just... Just be okay... alright?" He whispered.
"I will be, We're surrounded with professionals and we even have several chansey tending the pokemon..."
The Gardevoir quickly nodded before sitting back up in his seat, waiting for the nurse to return and escort his lover to the operating room.
Mick let out a gasp of awe as he looked out the window of the hospital. "Woah... This place is almost as big as Kinholdur..."
Gwen smiled as she slid up next to him. "We are a bit closer to a warmer climate, so more buildings could be built to help accommodate a wider variety of people than just the diamond dogs." She explained as she used the tip of her tail to point towards a large cat-bird creature. "That's a griffon, They tend to prefer large, open areas to fly in... so it's difficult to build an underground city to keep them happy like it is for the Diamond Dogs."
Mick nodded, eagerly pointing out a few other species that seemed to be in the town for trade or some other tourism reason. He quickly learned that his team members had been quite active with their study while he was unconscious... It seemed that a world summit was being held in Equestria and Arceus wouldn't be in his temple if they happened to arrive on that date, which got him planning around to try and get the best time frame to speak with the god pokemon. "Hey Gwen... I... I want to have a few minutes to think about something on my own... can you bring Emma in with you after about... oh... ten minutes?" He asks as he looks over to the violet snake pokemon. She gives a quick nod and makes her way out of the room to leave him in silence with his thoughts.
Thoughts that began to drift to how he felt about Emma and Gwen... His concern for his family... With the excitement of simply being able to visit and speak with the god of all pokemon... he hadn't really given any thought to what he was going to ask. When it came down to it... What was he actually going to ask? Would he ask if his whole family had made the journey? where they were? if they could be brought to him? ...Wouldn't that be a tad selfish though? What if they were doing important things and his request tore them away from vital actions?
Each question only caused him to get a cold pit in his stomach that expanded with each question. Why was he making this journey in the first place?
"...for the same reason that hikers climb mountains..." Chimed a quiet voice in his mind, causing him to jump and look around before noticing the Gardevoir standing just past the door. "...you're making this journey simply because you can, just like other trainers began their journeys... The wanderlust of a young trainer is what causes the greatest events to happen, whether for good or ill..." He gracefully crosses the room in a few strides and sets up a chair next to the Cyndaquil. "Don't give up on your journey just because you don't know why you're journeying... It doesn't matter why you're wandering as long as you enjoy travelling. It's why Derek and I have been together for so long... Even after all of his pokemon were given to friends or family that they bonded with, I stuck with him because I knew that as long as we were together neither of us would ever have a bad day." His eyes begin to water a little as his smile wavers. "...Don't ever give up that desire to seek adventure... because you may just enjoy the journey so much more than the destination..."
It was something... not quite new... but not quite familiar either. He could tell that his... friend? Yeah, that was definitely the word... Since his friend needed an outlet, and the little Cyndaquil was a great listener it was the perfect opportunity. "Richard... How did you meet Derek?"
Richard smiled a bit stronger as he looked out the window. "It was quite a few years ago... I was a Ralts in the rescue home owned by a club owner by the name of Jessica... Derek occasionally worked as a bouncer for her when travelling brought him to her part of Hoenn... She was a big activist on pokemon rights and fought tooth and nail to make as much progress with getting the government... and especially the Rangers... that pokemon were just as able to make their own choices as humans..." He started, going into a long explanation about more of the trials and tribulations of living in a world outside of Jhoto, without even thinking about it the two began to hug and for once... It was simply a hug between friends as they swapped stories back and forth once more while they waited for the day to draw to a close.
Terry stopped quickly, his lithe body arching up as his ears twitched in several directions. The twitch of his tail had caused the two Eevee behind him to stop and listen as well, searching intently for whatever had caused their Furret leader to stop. After a few tense seconds the Furret finally gets down on all fours and uses his tail to indicate that they should keep moving. They silently nodded as they continued following the ferret pokemon while trying to cause as little noise as possible. The forest they were in was absolutely massive, and filled to the brim with more pokemon than Terry had ever seen in his life, with quite a few of them being far outside of the strength-range that he estimated he could handle on his own.
While Minna and Todd had both offered to help, they were too inexperienced to deal with many of the threats here, those two were still in their too-cute stage to be of help. Todd certainly had speed going for him but he couldn't hit worth a Rattatta, While Minna could take a hit well, she didn't have the speed or stopping power yet to help either. He let out a small sigh as he continued looking for a safe place for them to stay, searching the forest was turning out to be a bigger pain in the butt than he had initially anticipated.
"come on... There's got to be somewhere... near-... by...?" He paused again as a familiar scent reached his nose, Minna and Todd even stopped and noticed the new scent.
Todd spoke up in a near whisper. "...M-Mom is here?" His mouth began to curve into a smile as the three of them cautiously made their way in the direction of the new scent.
Minna began to get excited. "I wonder if Dad is here too!" She tried to reel in her excitement but it was certainly showing as Terry kept the two Eevee behind him.
He had a different train of thought. "it's definitely her scent... but... it's faint... We're lucky we picked up on it at all... but... What's the stronger scent?" as they got closer to the source he had them all drop low to the ground as he crawled to look past some of the really tall grass, He couldn't believe what he saw though.
A Goodra was sitting on the edge of a small lake, surrounded by several other pokemon, Terry squinted his eyes as he tried to figure out why this dragon seemed so familiar. Then a lucky twitch of his ears caught her voice.
"You two be safe now, Try to stay close to the bank and do stay where I can keep an eye on you, we wouldn't want you two to get hurt again would we?" She coos to a Poochyena and Houndour that quickly nod to her before dashing off down the bank of the lake like pups.
As Terry's jaw dropped Minna and Todd both recovered first and in their excitement they sprinted from the bushes. "MOM!" they both shouted as their run took them directly on a collision course with the dragon. She had just looked up from the small group of other small pokemon before both of them leapt into the air and had her catch them.
They both looked up at the same time, the front of their bodies coated in slime from the hug, "Hey mom!" Terry cheers as he nuzzles up against her.
"I can't believe we found you!" Minna added as she mimicked her brother. At the Goodra's confused look Terry smirked and spoke up.
"Don't tell me you forgot us in such a short time Melissa..." He chuckles, getting her attention. "It's Me, Terry."
She let out a gasp as realization crossed her face. "Oh! OOOH! I knew that something was familiar about you two!" She squealed happily as she hugged the two Eevee in her arms a bit firmer, quickly standing up and shifting Minna over to the same arm that had Todd so that she could scoop up the Furret (much to his panic as he tried to escape) and hug him as well. "I was wondering when I would find little Mick and his team! So, Where is my boy?" She asks with a smile.
Terry, Minna and Todd all lose their smiles as she look down in shame. "We... We haven't found him yet..." Terry replies. "We got separated when Arceus brought us here... I don't know where he is..."
"Oh..." Melissa says quietly as she gives each of them a firm hug again. "Well... Mick is a tough boy... he's probably asking Arceus about us right now and we'll see him soon... Till then... How about you three stay here?" She asks with a hopeful smile.
The Eevee twins smile again and cheer, getting the Furret to lighten up a little. "Sure, I think it would be good for them to have a strong dragon watching over them while we train anyway."
Melissa smiled as she put the three of them down. "Good! you three can even help me take care of the local pokemon who can't get past all the big, mean ones."
Mick stretched a bit as he finally was released from the hospital, they still had to wait for Gleaming Gem and Widget to make full recoveries... but they would discuss that after the two of them were up and active. It was even hard for Mick to realize that it had been nearly a month and already the pokemon in Canida were being adjusted to living just as the humans had...
As it turned out, Arceus had sent Shaymin around the world to populate it with various berries that the Chansey working in the hospital were happily cultivating as local scientists began to experiment with the ways that they affected pokemon. Mick was even deep in conversation with one of the doctors as he and Richard waited for Derek's surgery to end.
"Fascinating... So this Professor Elm? he was studying into pokemon evolution and breeding before that Arceus fellow transported all of these creatures here?" The Snubbul-looking diamond dog asked as he scratched down a few notes into a journal.
"Yep! I'm even going to speak with Arceus to see if I can get his research transported here, he was part of the professor teams making breakthroughs all the time about how we came to understand pokemon."
"Amazing! By the way, I've noticed that a surprising few pokemon have been able to speak with us... how is it that you are so fluent in Canid?" He asks.
Mick shrugged. "I'm a pretty fast learner... still a few bits of the language I have to get right, for most part I can handle it." He replied with a small smile.
"I see... Yes, still a bit broken in some places but with practice I'm sure you'll be as fluent as any natural born dog."
"Thanks Doc, I gotta ask though... How did you guys get everything under control so quickly?"
"You mean with keeping the pokemon from causing disasters? That was easy, Diamond dogs always have natural predators they run into when they expand so we've developed tactics to help distract, delay or repel monsters and other threats without killing them, since more often than not they're of more use alive than dead." The dog explained as he started scratching the back of the Cyndaquil's head, causing Mick to tilt his head at an angle as he began getting enveloped in bliss. "All it was is a tiny change to our usual tactics and we were able to adapt them to keeping pokemon from destroying towns and crops as well." He let Mick sit up straight again as he gave the little mouse a curious look. "It's an incredibly uncanny thing though... many of the pokemon that have been recorded within Canida at least seem very much like regular animals of our world... so much so that it's hard to remember at times that they're as intelligent as Arceus said."
Mick shrugged a little. "I can't really fault you for that... Most pokemon had the same status as pets back in our original world anyway... if anything I'd have to say that treating them just like a citizen of the country must be a bit more shocking to them than being in a new world..."
"Oh yes, even those Chansey that are working on our staff were surprised that we hired them like we would any other citizen, They do have quite a natural talent to heal after all." He looks down at a watch on his wrist. "Your friend should be coming out of surgery any minute now... It'll be at least an hour before he wakes up though. I had better be getting back, thank you for the information as well. I hope you guys have a safe journey."
In a way, Mick was happy that Canida simply saw no need for a monetary system, since the surgery and hospital costs would have been through the roof in his world... no... the old world... this world was his world now, The thought brought a smile to his face as he got up and walked with Richard to check on Derek.
"Just think... we're going to speak with Arceus... and then go on the greatest road trip ever." He thinks to himself as he steps into the room that one of his newest friends was occupying.
Once again Mick looked around the snow-coated town on the edge of Canida and Equestria and felt an overwhelming sense of... he couldn't place the exact feeling, though it was strange nonetheless to watch as pokemon and natives of the country were mingling (for the most part) among each other as if the pokemon had been born in this region. They weren't even being treated as second class citizens! More and more he noticed how the Diamond dogs fueled their society by simply doing what they loved because they loved to do it, they were... amazingly altruistic in most senses of the word.
And it all started with the dogs' natural inclination for digging. Miners would dig up supplies, construction workers would use the stone to build homes aboveground for those who couldn't find solace underground... and in most cases they would end up with a surplus of stone, gems and fuel because the dogs would simply expand their homes by digging more. He and Emma had been invited to a few homes as they explored the city and found that the diamond dogs themselves lived in very... spartan... abodes. Every home seemed to be furnished with only what the family needed to survive, with the largest room being the pantry so that they could be well-stocked during the winter.
"...I think when all is said and done... I'd like to live here... but not aboveground..." He thought as he looked around the town, mentally sizing up different pokemon to look for as a battle challenge. With the pokemon restoration limited to the berry stock that the local Chansey had, it wasn't a smart idea to be picking fights with every pokemon that one came across.
"oh well... I'll evolve at some point..." He sighs quietly as he continues walking alongside Emma.
Emma rolled her eyes as she listened to Mick sigh again. "I'm bored..." He groaned as he lay belly-up on the bed in their rented hotel room. She had been listening to his groaning and complaining for the past hour when they found out that the injuries were going to leave Widget and Gleaming gem in the hospital for a bit longer than they had anticipated. With how nice the town was she had been expecting the little Cyndaquil to want to keep exploring it, but his desire to keep travelling was definitely becoming a hindrance at the moment.
"Then find something to keep you entertained Mick!" She replied with a slightly annoyed tone. "We're taking Gem and Widget along with us, remember?"
"Actually... They were only going to come with us to the edge of Canida since they still have a house they need to take care of... So we were going to be travelling through Equestria on our own anyway." Mick replied as he poked his paws together.
Emma was quiet for a few seconds before she calmly walked over to the little fire mouse, narrowed her eyes and shouted. "WHAT!?" Mick quickly covered his ears and rolled onto his stomach. "When were you going to tell me that we were going into Equestria with no guide?"
"Yeesh Emma... We weren't going into Equestria blind... at least... till the train hit... We had a map in my bag as well as the orange water. We just have to look for a place that's willing to part with some gems and a map of Equestria, Aside from that I've still got Vinny's swiss army spork and if the Chansey here are right we'll be able to find plenty of berries to eat along our route because of Shaymin's efforts."
She glares at him for a few more seconds before relenting. "...Fine... but we're not just going to leave the two of them here..."
"Of course not, we'll make sure they're informed when they wake up and then Richard and Derek will be accompanying us to Equestria."
"Why would those two be coming?" Emma asked as she gave him a confused look.
Mick smiled a bit. "Because Richard wanted to see if Arceus would be able to restore Derek's arm... He had to get it removed because the glass that was embedded in it risked getting him killed, but he's ready to go any time that we are." Being a pokemon was certainly beginning to show that it had some perks compared to being a human... and recovering faster was very high on the pros list.
The Quilava sighed again as she sat down against the bed. "Alright... but... we need to think about what we're going to do in order to get to Arceus. We won't be able to survive off of berries alone and I know that there's still nearly a month's journey on foot to get to Arceus."
"I know... but we'll figure that out when we get there, for now let's just enjoy the ability to travel... since we'll be free from the bonds of responsibility." He smirked.
"We have responsibilities for a reason Mick... We still have to find the rest of the team and make sure they're okay."
"Emma... You know that the only two I'm worried about are Minna and Todd, everyone else has had plenty of training so I'm confident that they're alright." Mick says as he leans over to nuzzle her cheek. "And if what my gut is telling me is right... I know one of our team members found both of them."
She simply smiles a little and nuzzles him back. "I'll go see what I can round up... Just stay here and try to keep Gwen out of trouble..."
Mick was bouncing a little as he walked alongside the new team while they made their way to the edge of town. It felt a bit weird that he was travelling without his pokemon friends in pokeballs but it wasn't as much of a big deal when he saw how happy everyone seemed to be. Despite the surgery making it so Derek couldn't keep his arm he was nothing but smiles as he held his Gardevoir lover close in a one-armed hug during their entire trip through town.
Emma had a bag similar to the pony-sized saddlebags over her lower back as she walked close to Mick, the panniers themselves full of gems that clinked together every so often. Even Gwen was sliding alongside the group at a decent, if slightly slow, pace.
Mick had spent the past few days making sure that Widget and Gleaming Gem were going to be alright before they went ahead... mostly as scheduled. Widget was the one who had been the most adamant about having the group leave for Equestria with such a long journey between the town they were in and the edge of Equestria, it would still end up being a few days before they reached any more hospitable environment. It had taken quite a bit of convincing, and a subtle reminder from Gleaming Gem, before she reluctantly agreed to let them go on their way.
Mick had the group stop as he noticed the large, imposing Aggron at the end of the street. Slowly, the lumbering hulk started walking toward them specifically. He stopped only a few feet away and held his hand out to Mick, the monstrous paw easily the size of the little Cyndaquil. When he spoke his voice seemed to belong in a movie about humans who rounded up Tauros and Miltank, "Heard you were the little Cindaquil that helped out with all those people who survived the train... I was hopin' to join ya' on your journey."
Mick's cautious look quickly took on a smile as he stepped forward to put his tiny paw against the giant metal dinosaur's paw. "Certainly! My name's Mick." He says with a broad smile.
The Aggron smiles back with a small nod. "Name's Allen... It's good ta meet ya Mick." He closes his claws around Mick's paw with a surprising gentleness. "I've overstayed my interest in this town anyway, so it's good to meet a fellow traveler."
"Same here!" Mick replied as he was shaken a bit by the Aggron's powerful handshake. "Well... I think that this is going to be a great journey, a bunch of friends... traveling the open roads of Equus... Things couldn't possibly-..."
"Don't even finish that sentence!" Emma barked as she walked up to the two of them.
"... get any better." He finishes with a smirk, leaving a surprised Quilava to try and say something while stumbling over her words. He starts off with a smile just before Allen picks up Gwen.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" She exclaimed as he picked her up.
"You may be able to keep up with them, but I'm sure you'd rather not have to slither across all this cold ground..." He explains as he puts her across his shoulders. She opened her mouth as if to protest at first, before shifting herself to a more comfortable position across his shoulders.
"Well... You're not wrong..." She replies with a slight pout as she curls up around one of his shoulder spikes, causing him to smile a little as the group makes their way towards a snow-covered forest for the first leg of their new journey.
(Go ahead... read this in the spongebob narrator voice... I dare you!) Three Days Later...
Allen sighed as it seemed that the snow-riddled forest just refused to end, already he was carrying the Cyndaquil, Quilava and Ekans on his shoulders (Not that they felt like any weight to him) and the ice was beginning to bug him as the metal-strong plates covering his body began to get a coat of frost on them. Now that he was an Aggron the ice really didn't bother him physically, it was just irritating. The only parts of his body that weren't slowly acquiring a coat of frost were the parts that the fire pokemon were resting on, which naturally had the Ekans close to them.
Derek and Richard were both wrapped tightly in heavy, brown travelling cloaks so that the cold wouldn't be so much for them. "How you two holdin' up back there?" Allen asked as he looked over his shoulder at the couple.
Derek smiled as he pulled the cloak a bit tighter. "A little chilly, but nothing we can't deal with."
"Alright, 'cuz there's a cave just up ahead if you want to rest for the night." With eager nods the group picked up its pace before entering the large cave. Emma quickly hopped off of Allen's shoulders and lit up her flame-Mohawk and flame-tail to give them some light. Allen quickly put down the other two that were on his shoulders before making his way back outside.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Emma asked as everyone else began to get settled in.
"...Wood..." Was all Allen responded with as his form became less distinct in the snow.
Mick lit up his back as he started to explore deeper into the cave. He was definitely happy that his own body could be a renewable light source now that he had been practicing a bit more with his internal fire, he still didn't know when it would feel like he was going to evolve... but for now he was content with being able to set things on fire at a whim. He observed the texture of the walls as he started slowly walking around, it was nice... he never usually went into the connecting cave between his house and Violet city, but the few times that he did he was actually regretting not getting a Geodude or Onix for his team, he would've even been willing to get a zubat... but they were even in the slowpoke well so it wasn't something that concerned him too much.
"Mick! What are you doing? Don't just wander off like that." Gwen chastised as she slithered up to him. "It's a good thing that Richard was watching the entrance or else Emma would've thought you ran out after Allen."
He let out a sigh as he tried to listen to the lecture that Gwen was giving him, but he had no desire to stop exploring now... it was such a huge cave complex! How dangerous could it possibly be?
At that moment the entire cave rumbled, causing Gwen to pause and look around with Mick. Several tense seconds went by before the rumbling stopped.
A cautious step back towards the entrance later and the screeching of hundreds, if not thousands of Zubat could be heard as Mick and Gwen scrambled their way back towards the others followed by a cloud of Zubat. Everyone dove for cover as the swarm quickly exited the cave, flying narrowly over their heads for almost a full minute before the screeching began to die down. Mick cautiously looked up from the spot he had leapt for and looked around, noticing that everyone seemed to be okay... if a little shaken up... He felt his spine tense once more though as he heard the hiss of an attack behind him.
"[Dragon Rage]!" The moment after he heard the attack Mick's entire world seemed to be a barrage of pain as several flaming violet spheres slammed into him and send him careening towards the entrance of the cave. Pain seared every limb as he tried to stay conscious, but it was all in vain as he couldn't bring himself to move... even the act of trying to stay awake seemed to hurt... before he finally drifted into unconsciousness.
Emma stared in shock at the singed and smoking form of her trainer before quickly returning her attention to the Gabite that had dared to hurt him. She quickly took a few steps between him and the smug dragon as her whole body seemed to burn with anger.
The Gabite let out a chuckle. "Wow, I've seen some weak pokemon around, but to not be able to handle a dragon rage attack, well... it's a good thing I won't have to work hard for this meal." She lets out another laugh as she looks over to the Quilava. "How much dragon do you think you can handle?"
Emma pushed off the ground in a surprising show of speed as she unleashed a [Quick Attack] at the cocky dragoness. The blow managed to land solidly in the Gabite's chest... only for the land shark to not even flinch backward at the attack as she grabbed Emma around the shoulders. "Pity... I thought you would've held out longer than him." She chuckled before unleashing more violet flames at point-blank range and letting go just soon enough to have the ferret-like pokemon go flying. "Although... I am a dragon, so fire types aren't so effective against me."
Emma struggled just a little to her feet, gritting her teeth as Derek and Richard took a place on either side of her.
The Gabite just began to chuckle a bit harder. "Oh... how rich... I'm gonne be fought by the 'one-armed man' and his little fairy princess!"
Richard scowled at the dragon. "I'd consider myself more of a prince than a princess." He retorts, much to the surprise of the Gabite, causing her to stop laughing.
The Gabite's eyes widen a little as a small blush starts to cross her face. "w-wait... I... I thought trainers would turn their male Kirlia into Gallade?"
Richard sighs, extending a hand that starts to glow with psychic energy. "Not when they are far better with mental abilities and an immunity to dragon type attacks." He growls as the Gabite starts to hover in the air, only to hesitate as she smirks.
"I wouldn't be a good dragon if I didn't prepare for fairies!" She laughs before launching a [Toxic] attack, causing Richard to recoil as the blob of poison struck him. With his concentration broken the Gabite landed back on the floor of the cavern. "Oh my... Just two pokemon... well... one and a half... left to fight." She chuckles.
Derek scowls a little, wanting to go to his Gardevoir's side, but he keeps his eyes on the dragon. "Come on... I need something... some advantage..." he groans mentally as he shifts his feet, getting ready for the Gabite's [Dragon Rage]. It came just as he predicted, a barrage of violet flames rushed towards the three of them that were still conscious. Each ball of violet flame that struck him stung almost like nothing had before, but with his own endurance and sheer willpower that's all it was, a sting that he could ignore as his fist became charged with the cold that would make any north-Sinnoh trainer shiver just before he lunged forward to drive his fist right into the stomach of the surprised dragon.
Had he described the action it would seem similar to an explosion, but just off by a bit. Primarily, there wasn't any heat, just an overwhelming cold. Then there was the sound like a drum beat as the air around the two pulsed once just before she rocketed back into a stalagmite, cracking it before sliding down into a sitting position. Derek let out a deep breath as he dropped to one knee, panting hard with the effort of actually using a move.
"Wow..." He said quietly as he watched the last of the ice energy dissipate from his hand. "That... was handy... hehe..."
"Don't start chuckling now... you only got a lucky shot in." The Gabite growled as she started to stand again, although with noticeable difficulty. "I still don't have to get close to hit you, while you can hardly stand... one more [Dragon Rage] and you're done."
Derek winced a little as he watched her build up her violet flames, she had certainly been right, he was in no condition to move as he watched the inevitable doom. "Oh well... at least I get to tell my parents I was killed by a dragon... that ought to sound cool enough." He blinked in surprise as a large chunk of wood soared over his head and smacked right into the mouth of the dragon that was about to knock him unconscious. She let out a single grunt as her entire body jack-knifed from the force, causing her to land hard on her back as the wood clattered away.
The Machoke turned a little to see their Aggron companion standing at the mouth of the cave with a large stack of logs over one shoulder while he tossed one log into the air and caught it with his other hand. "Want another log? or are ya good?" he growled as the Gabite struggled simply to sit up.
"Why... you..." She growled just before another voice, harsher and more mentor-like, cut through the air.
"Sarah! Enough!" The voice caused the Gabite to wince a bit just before a Garchomp stepped into view, a sheepish smile on his muzzle as he crossed his arm fins and bowed slightly to the two awake pokemon of the group. "I'm so sorry for my daughter's rash actions, She was just doing it to protect our cave from possible poachers."
Allen put down the logs he had left and nodded while he went over to the little bag that Mick had managed to acquire while they had been in town a few days ago. "I understand the concern... but it certainly seems that she could learn a bit of patience..."
"Of course, sadly... this is only the first chance we've had for a quiet place to ourselves since we arrived."
Allen held up a hand as he took out several round, blue berries. "If you want to be swapping stories it may be better to save them for when everyone's awake... so you don't have to repeat yourself." He explained before passing one to Derek who quickly ate the berry, getting a bit of his energy back.
Mick groaned as his entire body felt sore... the pain in his body though was nothing compared to the beatdown his pride had taken when he found out from the Garchomp he was sitting across from that he had gone down in one hit. It still meant that he was in the very-low tier of pokemon when it came to journeying, fortunately the Gabite's smugness was short-lived when she received a glare from her father.
He hated not knowing how strong he was, at least when he had his pokedex it would help him find out just what level each of his pokemon had reached and how suited they were for adventuring around the Ilex forest. But now? Now he only had this battle and his training to go off of, and the results simply showed that he was too weak to be an effective battler. He nuzzled a little more into Emma's fur as the crackling fire in front of him helped keep him from feeling the cold of an open cave entrance.
They had decided to do introductions once the team had woken up, letting them know that the Gabite and Garchomp were named Sarah and Nathaniel, respectively. Now that he looked over to the Garchomp though, he did notice the slightly darker tint to his scales, and how they seemed to just shine a little more in the orange glow of the fire. "So..." Allen said, cutting off Mick's train of thought. "You were talking earlier about how you two got stuck in this cave..." He prompted.
The Garchomp nodded. "Well... It was quite a while ago..." He started as he began to tell his tale.
Mick and his friends waved goodbye to Sarah and Nathaniel as they continued their journey in the morning sun, the new day seemed to be much warmer than yesterday.
"I think we're getting close to Equestria..." Derek started as Richard pulled out their map.
"Yeah, we should only take about another day or so like this and we'll reach a settlement called... 'hoof-ing-ton'... Hoofington... Huh... strange name." Richard replied.
"It's their country, they can name their towns and cities whatever they want." Mick replied with a shrug. "Besides, it's not a bad name..."
"I never said it was bad, I just said it was strange." Richard replied with an indignant huff as he put the map away. Mick continued to let silence reign in on their traveling... for about twenty minutes, which was fortunately a new record for him.
"So Allen... What did you do before you were brought here?" Mick asked as he leaned on one of the Aggron's neck plates.
The hulking metal dinosaur simply shrugged. "I was a traveler... a trainer with dreams of battling the league and taking the champion title before I got my fourth badge and simply stopped caring about battling." He looked up at the sky as the group slowed down a bit, quite eager to hear about their friend's occupation. "For the most part I simply backpacked through the world, I can say that the only region I never visited was Kalos... I was actually back in Hoenn after a stint in Unova when Team Plasma had talked about why they wanted to liberate pokemon from their trainers and how we were suppressing their true power..."
Richard took a small step closer to Derek and held his arm, Derek returned the gesture by intertwining his fingers with the Gardevoir's small fingers.
Allen moved to a fallen log and eased himself onto it, with the others finding at least adequate seating nearby. "...In a way, the more I heard their speeches over the TV and in person... the more I thought about it... I guess, they just kinda got me thinking about how much we at least did limit pokemon when they were with us, sure battling made them stronger... but... it also hurt them." He let out a slight sigh. "after hearing their side of the story I couldn't bring myself to enjoy battling as much when I knew it was hurting my poke-... no... my friends, as much as it was making them stronger. So we did the one thing that I still enjoyed; Travel and Explore. There were plenty of caves and mountains that needed exploring or climbing, but something about how I was only traveling with only two female pokemon had one of the pokemon rangers after me for a while... He thought he was being sneaky through Unova... I'll admit though, I hadn't noticed him at all once I got back to Hoenn."
Derek gave him a puzzled look. "They were tracking you just because you had two female pokemon in your active party?"
Allen gave a sharp chuckle, "Yeah, I had a similar bit of confusion when I was put into custody..."
"Custody?" Mick questioned from his seat on Allen's shoulder.
"Yeah, the Rangers arrested me for Pokephilia... five years in prison and 'separation' from my 'victims'..." He replies using his claws as air quotes. "Bunch of Tauros-... crap..." He hesitated as he passed a glance to Mick. "...that was, the entire case was on shaky evidence and a single picture of the night my Grovyle kissed me. Biased judge took one look at the photo and locked me up, declared me a menace to society and sent all the pokemon I had painstakingly trained most of my life with to 'foster homes' and day care centers where they would hopefully find a less abusive home." Allen was looking at his claws, as he curled them into tight fists the tips of his claws began to dig at the metal-like hide. "...I was in the middle of my third year, working out in the weight room before everything faded out.. The last thing I heard before Arceus spoke was my spotter shouting something that I couldn't make out."
As much as everyone wanted to make some space for him, they couldn't help but move just a bit closer. "Well..." Richard started as he leaned forward. "...Obviously that judge was wrong, otherwise you would've stayed back there when Arceus brought a bunch of people and pokemon to this world..."
"Oh trust me, I know... I spent the entirety of two and a half years knowing that I got shafted because one of my pokemon had feelings for me. All I can hope is that Arceus can bring her back to me..."
Gwen gave him a small nuzzle. "Why did... what caused your Grovyle to kiss you?"
Allen shrugged a little. "I don't know, I got her when I was thirteen, then traveled for oh... five out of six regions... before coming back home. I was planning a visit to my parents, apparently it was somewhere while we were traveling in Unova that she actually developed feelings for me in that sense, but she was too nervous to talk to me about them... admittedly it was likely because I wouldn't understand what she was saying, that was the case too..."
Mick was sitting on Allen's shoulder, watching the Aggron with interest as he listened to the story. "So how did she finally get you to kiss her?"
"That was the thing, up until the point where she actually kissed me I thought she was doing the adorable pet thing that most pokemon do when they want their trainers to scratch a particularly hard to reach spot. When she did though, That ranger... Royce, attacked us from the surrounding shrubbery. I was too stunned to fight back, his four-pokemon team managed to easily subdue my two... from there it all seemed like a blur... but I can only hope that somehow Royce made it here... because if I find him... I'm going to punch him... hard." He let out a small sigh as he slumped a little in his seat. "He probably is here... He's one of those rangers who thought that he was truly doing the right thing... I could tell from the way he talked back when I first met him in Unova. Kid was happy to be bringing down criminals that hurt pokemon, simply because he enjoyed being the hero that pokemon and people in their darkest moments need."
"So... You'd really punch him for that?" Gwen asked.
"Absolutely, because of him and a prejudiced jury I lost two and a half years of my life behind bars and my true family was separated from me." Allen replied. "Besides, if he is here, then he's a pokemon, and he'll be able to take a punch... I just don't know how many I'll throw before I come back to my senses." He looks over to Richard. "I do have a favor to ask of you two though..."
Richard and Derek both leaned a little closer in interest.
"If I do black out and start punching him more than once... don't let me kill him... I might want to hurt him, but I don't want to kill him."
"Yeah... I... I don't think I'd be able to handle it if you killed him anyway." Richard replied as he gave a hollow chuckle. "I'm not sure any of us would."
Mick let out a few grunts as he bounced off of the floor of the clearing a few times, struggling to pick himself back up as he finally lost momentum. Nearby Allen, Richard and Derek were watching him while Gwen had gone off to find something to eat that wasn't a berry.
"Come on Mick, I know you're better than this, you shouldn't be getting thrown around this easily." Emma scolded as she got into a ready stance. "In the wild any pokemon would've knocked you out and torn you up as its next meal with your reaction time... I thought you were training to be a shinobi like your father?"
Mick grit his teeth as his eyes narrowed, he could feel it... his inner fire... He wanted to stoke it, to let it breathe and release just like he had seen Emma do so many times before. Nothing so far he had tried worked though, he was able to light up his back but that was the extent of his fire, the flames on his back weren't even that large to begin with. They had tried practicing, coaching, eating... oddly enough... but nothing worked, so this attempt was tough love. He winced a little as her head and rump flames ignited to a larger degree and she began spinning towards him like a flaming sawblade. She had already crossed the distance between the two before he finally registered the instinct to dodge her [Flame Wheel] attack, but he was too slow, the attack clipped his hind leg and he was thrown off balance just enough to let Emma stop right before he could recover, she dashed over to him and the next moment he had his senses he was flying through the air again as he had gotten hit by yet another [Quick Attack].
As much as he knew Emma didn't like treating him like this... he knew it would pay off... he would evolve soon, right? all this training would be worth it when he evolved and was able to hold his own against other trained pokemon. "I knew that you didn't train for too much combat when you were human... but this is pathetic! I know for a fact that you at least sparred with Eric every week." Emma taunted once more. "Maybe we should just have you stay as a Cyndaquil for the rest of your life, you won't be able to reach Quilava stage, let alone Typhlosion, if you keep letting yourself get smacked around like that."
That was the nick in his patience that did it, he felt his inner fire flare up once more as he got to his feet and he took a deep breath... and let it out, emitting a thick, black smoke that seemed to fill the entire clearing. All of the spectators were waving hands in front of their faces as they tried to stay clear of the smoke that was making it hard to breathe. Emma let out only a couple of coughs as she started controlling her breathing, waiting for the little mouse to attack her.
What she hadn't expected was Mick leaping out from behind her and headbutting her hard in the back, sending her flying forward to land on the ground. She started to get up when Mick tackled her again, fortunately her battle experience gave her a bit more resilience as she quickly grabbed the little fire mouse and began to grapple him, easily managing to pin him under her by the time the smoke began to clear.
Several Butterfree were using gust on the smoke to clear it. "Thanks guys, sorry about that..." Allen apologized as the smoke was finally cleared away, the closest Butterfree hovered nearby and shook its head.
"It's no problem, we're happy to help... besides, it wasn't a forest fire so no harm done." He chuckled as he used his little fist to bump against the Aggron's much thicker fist. "Welp, see ya!" he called before the group of Butterfree began flying away.
"Such good kids..." Allen mumbled as he watched them fly away. "I wonder how Lorna is doing..." He asked quietly to no one in particular as he thought back to his Grovyle. "I really want to see them again... they didn't deserve that treatment... maybe Arceus can help get the three of us back together..." He turned back to the pair of battlers as Mick was starting to get back to his feet. "You two alright?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah, a bit more training and Mick may be able to evolve..." She replied as the little Cyndaquil was dusting himself off. She walked up to him and gave the diminutive fire type a firm hug. "Congratulations Mick, you're now just above the equivalent of a starter pokemon for a greenhorn trainer!"
Mick turned a little to give her a flat look. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic... or if that was genuine praise."
Allen gave a chuckle. "With women, you'll never know kid... you'll never know."
Derek and Richard were making their way back towards the pair as well, the Machoke smiling a bit broader as he began to speak. "at least you might be able to find a trainer here who wants an adorable little fire mouse pokemon." He leans down to pick up Mick. "Besides... you'll want to stay adorable for as long as you can, because your adorableness will keep you safe."
"It didn't stop the last two pokemon that wanted to try and eat me..." Mick grumbled.
"That's because wild pokemon know that it's the adorable ones that are an easy meal, when you're a predator you go after the adorable pokemon because it's easier to pick off the weaker bits of the population." Gwen explains as she slithers into the clearing.
"I'm gonna guess your hunt went well Gwen?" Allen chuckled.
"Yeah, there's a surprisingly large number of Rattatta in this forest... are you guys sure we're on the right track for Hoofington though?"
"Of course!" Richard says as he pulls out the map. "It's only going to be another three hours' walk from here to get to the town."
"I was just talking to a few of the Ekans around the area and none of them have even heard of the town of Hoofington..."
Richard gave her a flat look. "Would you have ever heard of Ecruteak city in Johto?"
"That doesn't count, I lived in the wild near Goldenrod AND I've actually heard of the city. I learned that within a few weeks of hatching!"
Mick actually blinked once as he looked between the two arguing pokemon. "Wait a second..." He starts, causing them to pause and look at him. "...if Arceus brought us to a new world... and pokemon could already understand each other completely while humans only understood it as the pokemon saying their name... why didn't he just make it so pokemon could speak the commonly understood language? It would solve so many language barriers and we wouldn't have to worry about any sort of translation item."
Emma looked at him with wide eyes. "...While that is completely unrelated to what the two of them were arguing about... that does actually make a lot of sense, I mean... how can we even understand each other if we're actually only saying our names in various combinations of the parts of our species name...?"
The clearing became quite silent as the gathered pokemon began to really think about the situation, Mick decided to continue the momentum away from the argument. "When you really think about it, even psychic pokemon when talking to their trainer through telepathy should still just have the same language barrier since humans only understood pokemon speech as the pokemon's name."
Richard starts to rub his head. "But by that logic none of us should be able to understand each other because with over seven hundred species of pokemon that only say their names to speak... ugh... please... let's stop thinking about this... it's giving me a headache..."
"Are you sure that you were a battler Mick?" Derek asked as he started to rub his head as well.
"I'm friends with a professor who's specialty is about pokemon breeding and evolution. Random things like that just seem to come to mind whenever they please." Mick replies with a matter-of-fact tone. "growing up I spent most of my life studying and training, so I should be able to pull random arguments like that."
"Next time though, just try to warn us before you go off on a tangent..." Allen requested as he shook his head a little. "Either way... everyone ready to go?"
The rest of the group nods as they start making their way along the dirt road that they had been following for the past couple of days. About five minutes later Mick spoke up.
"Wouldn't it be funny if Hoofington actually had a pokemon center set up this quickly?"
Richard actually chuckled a bit. "A month in? I'd be surprised if they didn't if all the Nurse Joys that came from earth became Blissey, Chancey or Audino when they were transported over."
"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be surprising... looks like we'll just look for the building with the red roof when we get there."