Chapter one: where the hell am I!?
Ivy groaned as she awoke to find herself in an unknown location. The area was forested and temperate, which was nowhere near where she was before, which had been a more tropical climate. If she was waking up near where she was supposed to be it would have matched that description. She sighed in exasperation, this was the last time she would get drunk.
”Like the hundreds of times you’ve said that line,” she sighed again before getting up on her feet, but something was odd. She couldn't stand up, everytime she tried she would fall back on all fours. Now normally she could put this down to the alcohol and the splitting headache she was suffering from but there was a strange weight on her rear end as well, and her ears twitching at the slightest sound.
“Human ears don't twitch, at least not normally!” Ivy thought to herself.
She was now beginning to panic and her breathing was becoming rapid as more strange sensations hit her awareness.
“What the hell has happened to me!?” Ivy thought as she looked down and gasped in shock as her body was now completely different, no longer a biped she was now a quadruped. She now had pale blue fur with white tips, and her new mane curled and moved on an invisible wind as well, and she could see it was also pale blue with white tips as well. Turning around she saw she now had nine tails that matched her new coat, and that the tips of the tails were also white.
Ivy frowned, she had never seen an Alolan Ninetales in person before, but she knew what one looked like, and it fit her current appearance to a tee. Except for her height she seemed taller and the weight looked off as Ninetales is a lithe Pokémon and now she was quite bulky.
She fell onto her rear, and the weight of reality came crashing down on her as she started crying. She was alone and stuck in a strange new body, and likely any trainer she met would mistake her for a wild Pokémon and capture her. Then her only hope would be that the trainer had a psychic type to translate for her. Her ears fell back as her mind seemed to be adapting to the new body with disturbing ease. A rustle in the bushes drew her attention away from her moping and self pity. Out of the bushes slunk a Dratini, “Well, what do we have here, a shiny Ninetales?” the Dratini asked rhetorically, its voice marked it as being female,
“You will make a fine meal for one of my status!” She finished by diving at Ivy who dodged and at the same time a hail storm started out of nowhere and began to buffet the dratini. She thrashed as she took damage from the storm.
“Graahh! Dragon Rush!” Dratini charged in rage at Ivy as the body of the Dratini was covered in a red orange aura, when it hit Ivy, the move kicked up dust, “you were foolish to challenge me fox! Dragons are your masters and you are our prey!” She gloated and dived again with her maw open to accept her prize.
Ivy closed her eyes as a bright multi coloured light burst out of her body hitting the Dratini, sending her flying,
“How did you survive!? That move should have ended you!” the Dratini screeched in pain. Ivy opened her eyes to see the light fade from her glowing form, “Dazzling Gleam?” Ivy stood up tall once she realised she wasn't in danger anymore.
“That might have been true, if I wasn't an Ice/Fairy type and totally immune to dragon types,” Ivy grinned baring her teeth,she breathed in to catch her breath and let out a long breath through her opened mouth and a blue beam struck Dratini, freezing her in place. Ice Beam? How am I doing these attacks? Ivy frowned at the frozen Dratini before she smashed it open again, leaving the Dratini at her mercy.
Ivy’s belly rumbled, as she salivated over her prize and her instincts took over.
You tried to eat me? Well bitch! Two can play at that game! Ivy thought as she felt her awareness fade.
Ivy moved around to Dratini and licked her lips, “the prey becomes the hunter and the hunter becomes my food.”
An hour had passed since Ivy had regained her senses, and when she discovered what she had done she had began to cry again, she had eaten a sapient being, alive if her memories of it were to be believed. Ivy wanted to throw up but couldn't as her body wouldn't comply with her demands. In fact, her once distended belly very quickly went back to normal and she doubted there'd anything left to throw up. What made it worse was that Dratini was delicious, filling, and that as a predator Ivy knew she'd have to seek more prey if she wanted to survive. Ivy knew that this would be her new life now and that it was unlikely going to change any time soon. She would starve or become food for another Pokémon if she didn't adapt to it, and adapt quickly.
“For example instead of getting lucky actually learn those moves. Pokémon seem to just know them instinctively, now how did Dazzling Gleam activate? At the time i just wanted her gone and had cowered. This time let's just crouch and try willing something away this time with my eyes open.” Ivy repeated the movements getting very little in the way of progress. Until a small animal startled her and in her haste to eject the creature from her she managed the attack properly. Unfortunately for the poor animal it was sent over the horizon covered in soot.
So I need to mentally reject something in order to trigger it.
Ivy rejected a nearby tree as strongly as possible sending it flying to make sure.
Ivy sighed, Guess there's no helping it and I can't sit here moping, I need to get home to Valencia, and hopefully reverse this transformation, and if i can't reverse it? I still want to return home. Ivy thought as she tried walking. It was slow going at first but she eventually got the hang of it. After some wobbly walking, “walking with nine tails is difficult.” she complained internally. It wasn't long afterwards that the trees began to thin and the sky was now less obscured. In the distance, Ivy noticed a collection of tall grey mountains with a singular peak in the center towering over the others.
“Higher ground would enable me to see where I should go,” Ivy muttered to herself.
A cry that sounded like someone had kicked a gogoat in the family jewels. Followed by screams from several people filled the air. Ivy grew determined and rushed towards the commotion, she jumped over a bush that blocked her way into the open. What she saw confused her, a Geodude, Onix, Rockruff and an Absol. The geodude was a small round rock with eyes, a mouth and two arms. The Onix was a large serpent made of boulders with a single wedge crest on top of its head and the Rockruff looked like a small dog with light brown fur with its paws, muzzle and the tips of its ears a darker brown, the dog like Pokémon having white spiked fur around its neck with dark brown diamonds where the inner spikes met and a creamy white tail. Finally the Absol also looked like a cat, with a white slick coat and a black face, from its head a black sickle like horn swept and curved backwards, and it had a tail like a black inverted scimitar or scythe. It's wide paws had three large claws each and a single claw from its elbows, it also had a spiked mane around its neck which eventually became slicker as it reach its head.
They were facing off against three giant goat Cyclops monsters that dwarfed all except the onix. Those are not Pokémon! At least none that I know and I know a lot. Ivy noted internally.
The absol stood behind the other Pokémon directing the battle shouting commands like a trainer would often do for their Pokémon, with the onix on the far left, the geodude on the far right and Rockruff taking up the middle, they had equal numbers, but it was obvious that they didn't have equal attributes.
And it was clear they were struggling, all participants looked like they were on their last legs, though the giants seemed to be faring better “Rocky, use wrap on the left one closest to you,” ordered the absol in a female voice, the onix roared and wrapped around the creature to his left, and squeezed. The giant thrashed, trying to escape, the middle giant was trying to pry Rocky off of his companion, the female absol turned to the middle and shouted, “Tom! Rock smash on the middle one! Luka, tackle!”
The geodude jumped and slammed his fists on the distracted giant trying to free his friend as Luka tackled it, hitting it in the belly.Folding it over like a deck chair, the goat cried out in pain. The giant on the right roared in rage as his friend was felled. It charged the Absol and prepared to punch her into the ground, the Absol was trying to get away but seemed unable to move fast enough due to her wounds. Wounds which she had probably sustained prior to Ivy’s arrival and the damage had now became obvious, now that Ivy could see her limp and also see her wince in pain, Ivy was about to run in to save her when Luka noticed in time and shouted, “Tackle!”, and tackled the fist heading for her. He managed to divert the punch, but took the full brunt of the attack and was sent flying back, letting out a yelp as he hit the ground.
“Luka!” The Absol screamed as she tried to get over to him, her limping slowing her down. However the goat was winding up for another punch, Ivy growled and charged at the goat.
A hail storm kicked up the moment she entered the fight, striking the creatures
Ivy swung her tails forward and a dark orb with strands of white light appeared in front of her, and her tails flicked launching the orb, hitting the giant mid swing and knocking it back. Ivy landed in front of the Absol and Luka, the bloodstained goat stood up groaning in pain. “that was retribution?”
Ivy widened her stance as her body began to shine, she threw her head up and growled out, “Dazzling gleam!” she winced as a wave of light engulfed the area around her. Ivy was beginning to tire, her new body wasn't used to the strain she was putting it through, her breath was ragged and ejected puffs of ice as she breathed heavily. Despite this, Ivy was rewarded with screeching and incomprehensible speech from her targets, the creatures were breathing raggedly, their bodies smoking, their eyes wide in fear and confusion as their last breaths left their maws.
The last goat like creature stopped moving and trying to escape as it laid dead. Once he was free of Rocky's wrap, his body slumped to the ground. Ivy panted as she came down off the adrenaline.
“what have I done, I just killed those giants…. I’m a monster!” Ivy was lost in thought as the adrenaline rush left her, until a female voice pulled her from her thoughts.
“Who are you? What are you, you look like a ninetales.” The Absol asked between pained breaths, wincing as she spoke. Ivy noticed that the absol was barely tall enough to reach her barrel “since the average Absol reach three feet eleven inches, that would make my new form five to six feet tall.”
“I am Professor Philena Ivy from Velancia island, as for what I am? I am an Alolan Ninetales, ice/fairy type, as a Professor I deal with regional variations.” Ivy replied
“My name is Ryoko, it's a pleasure to meet you Prof. Ivy. I just wish it was under better circumstances.” Ryoko sighed as she looked at herself and her friends, “These are my partners and my team. Rocky, Luka, and Tom.”
Meanwhile, miles away in Ponyville a purple maned fashionista shivered as if something had walked over her grave.
“Anyway, thanks for helping us,” Ryoko smiled, “first it was just one of the creatures and we beat it fairly easily, then three more showed up and we beat them too, but then five more showed up. We had managed to take two of them down before you arrived,” Ryoko explained.
Ivy looked up at the slowly darkening sky, “as much as this conversation is pleasant. It's getting dark, let's go find an unoccupied cave to set up camp.” She suggested.
Everyone else nodded in agreement, and after a short walk they found an empty shallow cave.
“Ryoko, stay here, Tom, can you find twelve semi round stones of roughly the same size?” Tom nodded, “Rocky, can you guard Ryoko and Luka, I’ll be out collecting firewood and bedding,” Ivy instructed, Tom left the cave shortly followed by Ivy.
Once she had reached the forest, she looked at a nearby tree what moves can I use she thought before deciding on one to try. Ivy shouted, “Ice shard!” she aimed at the tree, around her body shards of ice formed in mid air before they rapidly flew forward, the razor sharp ice shards sliced through the tree felling it. As the tree fell, “Ice shard!” Ivy repeated and with more razor sharp Ice shards cut it into smaller logs.
Ivy was now getting the hang of her abilities, she noticed that saying the names of moves triggered something deep inside her and she couldn't quite understand why she knew so many moves she shouldn't have been able to do yet, “Is learning a move just an exercise in waiting for instincts to kick in? I have seen Pokémon learn new moves mid battle so that must be the case right? Also some moves even seem genetic passed down by parents. Heh wouldn't it be funny if I knew moonblast” a switch in her mind clicked and she felt a strange energy build in herself, in panic she looked at her body and sure enough light was gathering in her tails, Ivy frowned “oh come on! First I'm a totem Pokémon and now I also find out I have Sylveon in my new body’s genes! I could put the other moves down to luck or instincts but bloody moonblast? Someone would have had to actually breed that in! Okay so whatever turned me into this is either planning something for my future or is so absent minded that he or she gave me an overpowered body by accident or this is karma for my crap beginnings!”
There was a pain in Ivy’s tails causing her to wince, as she remembered she had triggered a move. Frowning she tried to remember that one battle where she had seen Diantha’s Gardevoir using moonblast, in that battle against a Scizor. Nodding to herself as she remembered how Gardevoir had done it.
Ivy threw her head back and aimed up at the evening sky. Opening her mouth she unleashed the beam skyward, before shortly afterwards another beam came from the sky and struck a nearby tree incinerating it. Ivy’s right eye twitched at the now burnt hole in the ground, the only evidence of the previous occupier of the space.
“Moving on,” she muttered to herself.
“Now how to get these back to the cave?” Ivy asked herself, “Oh, I know, I can use my tails,” Ivy tried moving her tails and found that it was difficult to move them independently, she supposed it was like moving a arm but attached to her now fluffy butt, she slowly managed to get the hang of moving them and so wrapped them around the fire logs and tried to lift it with a grunt. After several tries and ten minutes each try, she wasn't making any progress there.
“Alolan Ninetales doesn't have any levitating ability!” Ivy complained, “at least I don't think so, they do learn other psychic moves” she muttered, she then began trying to lift the logs with her mind, straining to use it. Her eyes began to glow briefly as light enveloped the firewood for a second before sputtering out, and Ivy sat down “well what do you know. Come on Ivy, you've taught psychic before it shouldn't be too difficult, just keep trying,” Ivy glared at the offending logs still in the previous location, and focused on moving the logs as she said “psychic, cooooome ooon, Brock told me about another Ninetales who learnt this move without even trying, it shouldn't be this hard!”
And then an image of Ryoko shivering in the cave flashed in her mind
Ivy strained harder and focused with even more determination, it was then that something new clicked in her mind and the logs levitated upwards, and she was so pleased with herself that she did a cute little dance,
“Yeah! who's the mon? You are woohoo!” Next she began practicing her new move until she had the hang of it as it seemed like this was a totally new and foreign move to her body. After she had gotten proficient enough, which took an hour, Ivy traveled further into the forest to look for large enough leaves and to gather some Oran berries.
After gathering many leaves, Oran berries and the firewood as well as carrying it all with psychic she was getting very tired, “I hope I'm getting experience for this!” She complained as she reached the cave. Ryoko, Rocky, Tom and Luka watched as Ivy strained herself picking up the rocks that Tom had collected, she arranged the rocks in a circle, the wood into a teepee shape and placed dry leaves under it for kindling.
“How in Arceus’ name did a Ninetales learn psychic!?” Ryoko exclaimed.
“A lot of focus and a lot of straining, or just wait for one hundred years,” Ivy explained and then looked at Ryoko, “and a pinch of motivation.” She added mysteriously.
“One hundred years!?” Ryoko exclaimed.
“Yes, as a Ninetales I will live an average of one thousand years if I stay like this,” Ivy replied,
When she was done she said, “Can you use flamethrower Ryoko?” Ivy asked causing Ryoko to raise an eyebrow,
“You’re lucky that I found a Flamethrower TM when we were fighting those creatures for the first time,” Ryoko deadpanned and opened her mouth, then a small flame came out of it, hitting the kindling and wood. The fire quickly roared to life as she laid out the leaves to form bedding for everyone around the fire. The warmth from the fire provided would help keep them from freezing to death. It's too cold for it to be spring or summer.”my form implying that hostile cold environments would be an unlikely cause of my death,” Ivy sighed ”psychic,” and all except Rocky found themselves levitating to the new bedding. A range of thank yous came from them as their battered bodies were released. Ivy laid down on her leaf bed and sighed in relief.
“So what do we do next?” Ryoko asked unsurely.
“We won't be doing anything until you are all healed and rested Ryoko, psychic,” Ivy said as she levitated in some Oran berries and distributed them amongst the wounded.
“And who made you the leader? We did follow what you suggested earlier but that doesn't mean we’re going to let you boss us around!” Luka demanded,
“Yeah, we were doing fine before you showed up!” Tom added angrily.
Ryoko sighed and shook her head. Rocky silently watched with curiosity.
“Ryoko did, when she admitted she had no idea what to do, and it didn't look fine to me when Ryoko was about to die.” Ivy chided causing Ryoko and her team to flinch at the reminder that Ryoko only managed to survive because of Ivy's intervention. Ryoko's and Luka's ears folded back, shame and sadness on their faces.
“Look, you survived, we are safe. Unless those goat creatures have more tribe members here, which I doubt. Due to the size of their bodies, they would not be able to sustain a large population village, or not in this environment at least. So with that obstacle out of the way.” Ivy said as she turned to Ryoko
“So where are we Ryoko, do you know?” Ivy asked with hope seeping into her voice.
Ryoko shook her head and shrugged, “No idea, one minute we are on route to Unova and the next I feeling drowsy and woke up here as an Absol. I awoke to find Rocky, Luka and Tom arguing about what to do to the Absol they found when they expected to see their trainer. Needless to say it was a shock when I heard them talking. Add to that being lost here, wherever here is, what about you?”
“More or less the same, except I was busy researching a phenomenon, that a trainer named Ash Ketchum experienced with his Greninja, I fell asleep suddenly and next thing I know I'm in the middle of a forest as an Alolan Totem Pokémon of all things.”
“Anyway, first and foremost we need to find our bearings and study the local geography. I was planning on scaling the mountain to get a better vantage point. Depending on the situation, I feel we will either move to civilisation or build our own home here. Of course I will welcome feedback, I maybe taking charge but this affects you as well, so you have a choice in what we decide to do.” Ivy explained.
“Are there any objections?” Ryoko asked her team who wouldn't look her in the eye but nodded, Ryoko sighed, “I guess that means you're in charge Ivy, all we were really doing was wandering about aimlessly, anyway,” she lamented scuffing her right paw on the hard ground.
Ivy stood up and went over to Ryoko’s side, and placed her right fore paw on the white pokemon’s shoulder,“hey. Don't beat yourself up okay, you’re doing the best you can to ensure your team's safety,” Ivy nuzzled Ryoko and froze up, realizing what she just did, and shaking her head to clear her mind. Ryoko leaned up and automatically licked Ivy’s muzzle in response before she too froze in wide eyed embarrassment, both Ivy and Ryoko were now wearing matching blushes and then they heard the snickering from Ryoko’s team mates.
“Looks like somemon has found their mate!” Luka joked causing Ryoko’s and Ivy’s blushes to grow deeper.
Rocky actually spoke up for the first time, “Ivy is a strong Pokémon, a worthy mate for our trainer,”
Tom nodded, “indeed, we approve,”
“You guys can't be serious! We just met!” Ryoko whined trying to cover her face with her paws.
“It must be love at first sight, Ivy is a beautiful Ninetales” Luka said grinning like a loon. Ivy started grinning, a blush still on her face, she had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she slinked around behind Ryoko’s body and wrapped herself around the Absol, whispering in her ear,
“You can be the little spoon if you want to,” a shiver ran down Ryoko’s spine as she looked back in horrified embarrassment,
“You're not helping! They'll misunderstand!” Ryoko chided Ivy whose grin widened further,
“Oh? How will they misunderstand my intention to claim you as my mate? As a Pokémon professor in variations I have intimate knowledge of Pokémon breeding habits,” Ivy teased as she leaned in and began to open her mouth around and breathing heavily on Ryoko’s neck, causing her to tense up in preparation for what she thought she knew would happen next. Ryoko’s teammates watched in anticipation, and Ryoko began to lean back. Her body yearning for Ivy to sink her teeth into the back of her neck, she soon felt Ivy's lips wrap around her neck, then it was in Ivy’s mouth and as soon as Ivy's tongue touched Ryoko’s neck she squealed and pushed Ivy away, much to her teammates’ disappointment. Ryoko’s deep blush hadn’t faded and she was panting and glaring at Ivy, who was now laughing her head off on the floor while on her back.
“Oh Arceus! You're going to be so fun to tease!” Ivy exclaimed in between her giggles, “reminds me of the time that Pokémon breeder Brock who thought he could seduce me,” she added which caused Ryoko to growl, causing Ivy to stop and look at her incredulously.
“Don't play with my feelings!” Ryoko demanded as she started to tear up.
Ivy stopped smiling and got up and ran over to Ryoko, “I’m sorry. I didn't mean to upset you Ryoko, I would neverdo something like that,” Ryoko flinched when she heard Ivy say the word never, “at least not until we get know each other better” Ivy explained as she hugged her.
”what is wrong with me!? First, I'm anticipating and relishing being claimed, then my chest hurts and I growled at Ivy when she mentioned about this Brock who tried to seduce her and now I’m flinching at the word never and rubbing my face deep in her mane…. Wait! Rubbing my face in her mane!” Ryoko thought, as she tried to jump away, but somehow Ivy had a strong grip on her and wasn't letting go, she also had a wide smirk on her lips as Ryoko blushed deeper than she thought possible. Ryoko turned to see her teammates’ knowing smiles. Ryoko was now feeling terribly awkward under their scrutiny,
“Hey look, a shiny HootHoot!” She pointed out of the cave,
“Where!” Ivy exclaimed running out of the cave, and as soon as Ivy left to look for it, Ryoko let out a sigh of relief that lasted until she saw her team smirking at her, with Rocky shaking his head at her antics.
“You can’t hide your feelings from me Ryoko, I have known you for too long for that to work, you wanted to be claimed didn't you?” Luka asked, daring her to deny it.
“Maybe,” Ryoko mumbled looking away her blush still going strong.
“Why are you embarrassed? It's natural to want to be claimed by a strong and dominant mate. I mean, you didn't hear this okay, but I wouldn't mind being claimed by her either and I'm male!” Ryoko growled again, “wow Ryoko, I never pegged you for the jealous type.”
“I am not normally! But this new body and these new hormones are wreaking havoc on my emotions!” Ryoko exclaimed in exacerbation.
Luka gave her a hug, “it's okay, I understand.” he consoled her
“Hey, there wasn't a shiny Hootho…” Ivy cut herself off as she came to a stop. Her face contorted in rage as ice swirled around her body.
Luka let go of Ryoko and suddenly backed off, causing Ryoko to fall down.
Luka leaned in and whispered as Ivy froze in shock at her own behaviour.
“Looks like you're both in the same boat, Ryoko,” Luka added with a chuckle. Ryoko swatted at the cheeky Pokémon but Luka just dodged, wagging his tail.
Ivy returned to her bed of leaves and curled up as the atmosphere was too awkward for anymore conversation, lest she stick her foot in her mouth, so she tried to sleep it off.
Ryoko watched Ivy for a few minutes, “Would it even be bad to be claimed by Ivy, even if she was teasing me? There seems to be something there and I’d be lying if I said I wasn't at least attracted to her. Plus she has saved my life, and she seems to care. Fuck it! I'm just going to do it, if I am stuck here I at least want somemon I can rely on.” Ryoko thought to herself, Ryoko got up and slunk towards Ivy.
Ivy was surprised when Ryoko came into her view and laid down next to her and then shimmied in between Ivy’s legs.
“Claim me,” Ryoko muttered, and Ivy looked down at her with an incredulous expression, Ryoko turned to face her.
“Claim me! Finish what you started. I don't love you, so don't get the wrong idea! But I suppose there are worse people to be claimed by, so do it! Make me yours, maybe love can grow from this, maybe not, but something tells me that you started a process that will plague us until you actually do it.”
Needless to say Ivy was shocked, she hadn't heard of such a bodily response before, so she turned to the other, real pokemon,
“She's right Prof. You set off something that will plague you two until you claim her, her body is waiting for it. Your body has also prepared for it, the symptoms will get worse as time goes by.” Luka explained.
Ivy’s expression became serious, “You sure about this?” she asked her.
“No, I am not to be honest, but you set this off by teasing me, so just do it!” Ryoko demanded as she scrunched up her face in anticipation of possible pain, and Ivy sighed.
Ivy leant down and sunk her teeth into Ryoko’s neck and felt her’s muscles tense up, hearing a wince as Ivy broke her skin. Blood seeped into Ivy’s mouth and onto Ryoko’s white coat. Relief flooded Ryoko’s face as Ivy withdrew from the bite but did not pull away from her. “I am sorry, that I got us into this mess,” Ivy nuzzled and licked the bite wound as Ryoko whimpered again.
“It's okay, I didn't help the situation, just please don't abandon me,” Ryoko whined.
“She had better not abandon you Ryoko, as no other Pokémon will try to mate with you now,” Luka said seriously, “but otherwise it's more than okay,” Luka added, “I would have had to claim her eventually once she hit her season. So a random Pokémon wouldn't. Trust me, Ryoko, you wouldn't want a random Pokémon claiming you, and no offense, but I see you more as a hatch mate than a mate, which is like a sister in human terms.”
Ryoko chuckled ruefully, “well I suppose that's a good thing then.”
Ivy pulled Ryoko close and rested her head on Ryoko’s. The two of them quickly fell asleep. Once the others were sure they were asleep Tom turned to Luka,
“You okay with this Luka? Didn't you want to be her mate?” Tom asked worriedly.
“Yes I'm sure, she wouldn't have gone for me as her mate anyway, what with how many times I saw her checking out other females. Even if I did ask her. At least this way she won't be alone anymore and her claimer was at least human before their transformation. So there's a chance they'll fall in love. I just want her to be happy.” Luka replied, tears forming in his eyes.
“There are plenty of mates out there Luka, I’m sure you'll find your own one that returns your love,” Rocky added as Tom pat Luka on the back.
Next morning Ivy awoke to the sun's rays filtering into the cave.
“how could I have been so stupid!? Just tease the girl a bit you thought. Now I’m essentially married to the girl. She’s a cute girl and I normally wouldn't have said no, but I was always busy with my fieldwork. I couldn't ask someone to wait at home for me for months at a time. And now we have to survive in this hostile environment instead, there's hardly time for romance. Oh the things I’d do for her if only I… wait a second, I have no obligations at the moment and love can bloom during survival situations. Do I dare fully commit to making her my mate? My assistants and Brock did keep mentioning that I needed to find someone. Even if Brock thought that should have been him, I am not getting any younger. I’m Twenty three and after all it's downhill from twenty five. Although, if this body isn't immortal... even if I am not I will still outlive her.” Ivy thought as she idly watched the shorter girl sleep.
“Could I do it? What am I saying? If that cheese head Rowan can, so can I! I am really doing this aren't I? Do I dare to hope I could have my own family? Even my own children, since anything seems possible here and now? Ivy thought just as Ryoko turned around and awoke face deep in Ivy's mane. Her eyes widened and then looked up at Ivy, “morning beautiful,” Ivy greeted, settings Ryoko’s cheeks on fire.
“Yesterday, wasn't a nightmare? This is real?” Ryoko wailed as the realisation caused her to begin to sob, Ivy frowned and sighed as she pulled Ryoko into a comforting hug. On an intellectual level Ivy was aware that Ryoko meant the whole turning into Pokémon and being dumped in the forest thing, but emotionally she couldn't help but feel hurt because yesterday they’d met, and Ivy was really getting ready to settle down with Ryoko. It may not have been ideal but she was willing to put in the work it was going to take to make it work, to fully give herself and her heart to Ryoko,
Ryoko caught the frown Ivy tried to hide, her own tears had started to fall, “Oh there you go again Ryoko, stomping on the hearts of girls! Wait, did she call me beautiful? I know how to fix this, she stole a march on me before but this time it's my turn!” Ryoko thought, “this is going to be a bit awkward to pull off, but here it goes!”
Ryoko lunged up and wrapped her forepaws around Ivy's neck and kissed her, making Ivy squeak in surprise, but she melted into the kiss as she wrapped her legs around Ryoko. Ryoko drew back, and said, “I'm sorry I implied being with you was a nightmare, it’s not,” as she laid her head under Ivy's chin. Ivy kissed her back, in response.
“If you two lovebirds are finished, can we get going, we have a mountain to climb.” Luka said with a smirk which matched Tom and Rocky's.
Ivy and Ryoko spluttered as they apologized for keeping them waiting.
Outside the sun was shining bright, and as they turned to face the mountain, they felt themselves being picked up by Rocky and placed on his back alongside Luka. Rocky began the climb to the top, which took half an hour to traverse the distance. Once they reached the peak, Ivy took in the sights, “we're not in Kanto or Unova anymore,” Ryoko remarked while Ivy nodded numbly.
To the east was a large forest that bordered a train track and ringed the mountain, which would be useful for getting to civilisation. To the north over the mountains the track went through, there was a verdant land with a tall mountain peak splitting the sky, and next to that in a forest not too far south sat, “the spear pillar! That's supposed to be in Sinnoh!” Ivy exclaimed.
Further south was the rolling desert planes with a few ramshackle towns.
West of the mountain in the north were several cities made of clouds.
Closer to us to the west was a winding river north.
“So we have three options, make our own settlement here for Pokémon primarily, or we can follow the train tracks or the river to get to civilisation, or we could just wander about the country?” Ivy suggested.
“Can we stay here?” Ryoko asked, “We’re close to the train tracks, we have access to a river on the north face, and we have trees around us and the sea to the west, we can carve a prosperous town out of this place, and honestly I don't really want to leave the mountain. All we would need to do is flatten or dig out the mountain and we could build and cut down trees for a berry orchard, perhaps other farm produce as well. Hopefully we can attract more Pokémon to help and live there?”
“Of course that's fine Ryoko. What about you three?” Ivy asked Tom, Luka and Rocky.
“We’ll go with Ryoko’s idea.” Luka declared as Tom and Rocky nodded.
Ivy chuckled, “Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us.”
When they returned to the base of the mountain on the north face, Ivy turned to face Rocky, Tom and Luka with Ryoko standing beside Ivy who smiled at her,
“Okay, first off we need a more permanent home, me and Ryoko will be cutting down trees, Rocky, can you build your home and dig out a mine? Tom, can you gather stone? Luka, can you scout out the area and check if the river contains fish?”
“Wait, why are you two cutting trees down?” Luka asked with confusion evident in his voice.
“That's because we need to clear land for the house and for the wood, we will also be needing enough space to grow berries, then we need to start building roads and other roads so we can get about, and before you ask the mine is for minerals and ores so we can make metal,” Ivy answered
“Oh, okay,” Luka responded with an expression of dawning comprehension.
“Any other questions?” Ivy asked with a smile, and hearing no objections as she waited, she continued, “Okay then, let's get to work.”
Ivy, and Ryoko, who walked beside Ivy, travelled a short distance north till they met the tree line.
“Okay, we need to clear these trees up, are you ready Ryoko?”
“Yes Ivy!”
“In that case, Ice shard!” Ivy shouted as she shot razor sharp shards of Ice at the tree line in front of her repeatedly.
“Slash!” Ryoko called as her sickle like horn glowed white, slicing through several trees, this went on for hours as the ground was shaking due to Rocky and Tom’s work. Soon with the combined efforts of Ryoko and Ivy they had almost cleared a large chunk of the forest and cut them into logs, which were stacked in piles ready to be used when a yellow cylindrical object fell out of a tree and hit Ivy on the head.
“Ow!” she cried as she rubbed her head with her right paw, Ryoko heard the commotion and came over to see what had happened.
When Ryoko saw the cylinder case she deadpanned, “a TM case.”
“That thing hit me on the head!” Ivy complained still rubbing the spot. Ryoko rolled her eyes and made her way over to Ivy and kissed the bruised spot,
“There, all better,” Ryoko softly, “ Now let's see what TM you got,”
The TM case was a long yellow cylinder with a slot and a blue gem set into one side of it, Ryoko pressed a button on the machine and the other end slid out, revealing rows of disks.
“Hmmn, Aurora veil, Shadow claw, protect… no way, Blizzard!” Ryoko exclaimed. She quickly slotted the blue disk into the case and aimed it at Ivy, Ivy was getting nervous and started to sweat, Ryoko pressed another button and a beam of light struck Ivy, causing her to wobble as the blast of light began to wear off, and Ryoko slotted in another blue disk and repeated the process.
“Oooh the world is spiny,” Ivy commented as she fell onto her butt.
Ryoko then used another two disks on herself, and then proceeded to wobble over and fell onto Ivy,
“Oof!” Ivy grunted, and then kissed Ryoko, and started chanting, “This is my mate, there are many like her, but this one is mine, My mate is my best friend. She is my life. I must master her as I must master my life. Without my mate I am not complete and without me my mate is incomplete.” And then she kissed Ryoko again, who was caught between smiling and an exacerbated expression.
“Okay, no more TMs for you,” Ryoko muttered while trying to get back up which was difficult with a Ninetales hanging on to you.
Ryoko wiggled out of Ivy’s embrace and started towards one of the few stumps left. As she was struggling, Ivy grew serious while watching her and her eyes glowed, “psychic!”
All the stumps were outlined with glowing light and pulled up as Ivy grunted and strained. While doing so she picked up Ryoko and levitated her back into her arms, missing the sour look Ryoko was giving her.
“I can just tell you're going to be a broken character,” Ryoko said with a groan.
“What's a broken character? Never heard the term before,”
“It's a video game character that is too good to exist. It is so powerful that it is unbalancing and hence breaks the game it is found in. Every winning player has to use this character to be competitive and when you faced those creatures you wiped them out single handedly, you are bigger than me when Ninetales are normally around the same height.” Ryoko blushed as she explained. Remembering Ivy wrapped around her.
Ivy stared at Ryoko before shrugging, “I have struggled and I don't even understand my new body and most of that was instincts and andrenalin,” she defended weakly.
Sighing, Ryoko spun in place to look around, and noticed that their pile of wood gained more materials stacked around it.
“Hey look! I guess we were really distracted, look at the stockpile.” Ryoko pointed out causing Ivy to look at it.
While they were all working their stockpile increased filled with wood, stone and ores. Ivy let Ryoko go as sad as she was to do so, since she had to go and transplant some berry trees. “I am just going to find some berry trees for our orchard,”
Ryoko smiled and gave Ivy a kiss on the cheek, “Take care then, we need you in one piece,” Ryoko joked although the thought of Ivy getting hurt caused a tightness in her chest.
An hour later Ivy had collected enough trees to form an orchard and so she headed back, luckily berry trees were relatively small compared to evergreens. So it was easier to get them back where they would build a home. As Ivy exited the forest she heard Ryoko scream in pain. Ivy’s vision turned red as she dashed towards Ryoko's screams, the giants were back, this time nine of them. Rocky, Tom and Luka lay unconscious on the ground and one of them was holding Ryoko’s tail and horn, pulling them in opposite directions.
“Psychic!” Ivy growled as light enveloped the giant that was holding Ryoko and tore its fingers off, causing Ryoko to fall only for Ivy to catch her in her psychic and gently move her away from harm. Not finished with the creature, Ivy pulled its limbs in opposite directions, tearing them off, blood pouring from the wounds. Ivy tossed it aside to let it bleed to death. The other eight giants looked on in fear and horror as nothing save for dragons or the pony Princesses had proven a threat to them.
Once Ivy was sure Ryoko was okay she turned to the other eight giant goats who had earned her primal wrath, “Moonblast!” A waves of light energy gathered in her tails and when Ivy opened her mouth and aimed upwards, she sent it skyward at the early evening moon. Light swirled around the celestial body and fired a large beam of energy from the heavens made of purples, blues and stars sending the giants flying, after which Ivy jumped into the air “blizzard!” A burst of mist washed over the prone giants, freezing them and killing those that got hit by the attack painfully.
“Sheer cold!” Ivy growled out as a ring of ice dust washed over those still living and froze the creatures, killing them, “psychic!” Once again more bodies were lifted up and smacked down before Ivy charged them, “Giga impact!” Ivy roared as she was encased in a light smashing them to bits, “Icy wind!” a gust of ice cold wind emanated from Ivy and blew away the pieces.
Ivy landed on all fours and panted as she ran to gather some Oran berries, once she returned she gave two to each of them.
When she got to Ryoko, she fed her three and tapped her face gently with her right paw “Ryoko, wake up!” she exclaimed in worry and nuzzled her, until Ryoko groaned as she did so Ivy beamed and hugged her.
“Ow. Ow. Ow, I am still sore!” Ryoko complained as Ivy rubbed her face against Ryoko’s.
“I was so afraid I’d lost you, I shouldn't have left you alone.” Ivy deprecated herself, Ryoko’s expression softened and leant into the hug as she said “it's not your fault, they came from the place Rocky dugout,”
“They were guarding treasure that I stumbled on, tried to escape but lured them out here instead,” Rocky explained, lowering his head in shame.
“It's not your fault either, it was whoever sent us here!” Ryoko shouted, “and our home is now safe. We also now have gold and treasure which we can use to purchase supplies and help. And now we can start building,”
Ivy smiled, “Well, if we do that you'll need a translator and this place needs a palisade to wall off our little village. It will also need a well and a lake,” Ivy added nuzzling and leaning into Ryoko's side.
“Oh by the way the river is filled to the brim with fish Pokémon,” Luka added in response to being reminded.
“Hey, Ivy, I think I sense something coming,” Ryoko stated likely tapping into her Absol abilities.
BOOOOMM!!!
A sonic wave washed over them interrupting their snuggling, “what the fuck was that!” Ryoko exclaimed,
“I don't know but it sounded like a sonic boom,” Ivy replied rubbing her ears.
“What!?” Luka shouted, obviously suffering from the deafening sound wave.
Shortly afterwards another wave hit them, Ivy and Ryoko perked up as they felt their power boosted to new heights.
“That felt like a dark attack mixed with something else,” Ryoko shuddered.
They were distracted again by a loud rumbling sound that emanated from Ivy's belly, Ivy’s cheeks coloured as her expression morphed into one of sheepish embarrassment. Ryoko smirked and kissed Ivy's cheek, “I guess it's dinner time. Do you want to go fishing with me while the boys set up another campfire?” Ryoko asked
“Sure,” she replied with a smile, Ivy then boopped Ryoko on the nose before running ahead giggling.
“Oh.It.is.on!” Ryoko growled playfully chasing after her.
So distracted by each other they missed the pair of eyes watching them from the forest.
As Ivy and Ryoko ran giggling towards the river side and slid to a stop, they were panting and smiling as they gathered their breath they sat by the river.
Ryoko leaned against Ivy and closed her eyes, suddenly she spoke up, “you know, your coat is really soft and fluffy and warm.” Ryoko complimented as her voice grew softer as she grew drowsy.
Ivy shook her head with a mirthful smile, she spotted a large orange Magikarp, a carp like fish, and used her tails to catch it. “psychic,” Ivy said to levitate the Magikarp. She also noticed a Luvdisc, a heart shaped fish, like Pokémon and once again grabbed the fish with her tails and transferred it to her psychic, next another Magikarp was caught. “One more to go, then I have enough,” and once again a Luvdisk moves into her view, her tails diving into the water like a spear. Ivy looked at Ryoko and sighed, as she saw her Absol mate had fallen asleep without her noticing, Ivy deciding to wait for her for a bit.
A short while later, Ivy sensed someone besides them, and different from Ryoko's Pokémon. “Who are you?” Ivy demanded as she turned to see a young filly with a slate grey coat and a darker mane and tail with a lighter grey stripe going down it. Her mane covered half her face. And a tattoo of three small rocks that looked like marbles on her flank.
Marble Pie had been instructed by Limestone pie, her older sister, to come and investigate the Arimaspi territory to the south as a loud commotion had drawn their attention, Marble had been trotting for an hour since she left. “I wish Pinkie Pie was here, this dark forest was always scary,” Marble thought to herself. As she reached the other edge of the forest she spotted a group of strange creatures, where the Arimaspi usually were. “did these creatures displace them,” she worried as she watched them.
“Absol ab sol,” She heard the white horned creature with sword like tail, facing the taller pale blue fox like creature with nine tails. The fox had a big fluffy pale blue mane and its face looked like a fox and its eyes were blue like the sky.
“Ninetales ni ni tales,” the pale blue fox replied before using its right forepaw to boop the horned white kitty on the nose before running away.
“Ab. So. Sol!” The shorter white kitty chased the fox.
They then darted off, the fox slowing down only to flick one of its tails in the other’s face causing the kitty to blush, “I should follow them,” Marble thought as she followed the strange if beautiful creatures.
When she finally caught up with them, she gasped, the fox was levitating strange fish like a unicorn and was using its tails to catch more fish. The other smaller white creature leant against the bigger one and its tail wagged.
The tall fox kitty tensed, then said “Tales Ninetales Nine?” It then turned to face her, Marble hadn't been that close but it still detected her. It looked at the smaller creature and shook its head and picked her up, putting the now obviously sleeping creature on its back.
“Hello?” Marble squeaked out.
“Hello?” the ponyta like creature said nervously.
“Hello,” Ivy replied
While Ivy understood her, the confused looking ponyta obviously didn't.
Ivy tried to used her new psychic powers to probe the creature's mind to see if she could find the language center of its brain.
And Ivy tried to talk to it, “Hello,” the ponyta blinked, eyes wide in shock.
“He..llo,” a static filled voice that spoke slowly filled Marble's mind.
Marble hadn't expected an answer from it, or that the pale blue fox’s eyes would start glowing.
“I don't mean to be a bother, but what are you?” Marble asked.
The static voice returned, though now it had a female quality to it that didn't exist at first, “I am a Pokémon, specifically… I am a Ninetales” she said, “My name is Professor Philena Ivy and this sleepyhead on my back is my mate Ryoko.” Ivy smiled at the sleeping Absol.
“What happened to the Arimaspi?” Marble asked
Ivy tilted her head and frowned in confusion, “What's… an arimaspi?”
“A giant Cyclops with goat horns,” Marble explained and instantly regretted it.
Ivy’s voice distorted even more, sounding like something from Tartarus as blue fire ice leaked from her body, “I exterminated those pests, and scattered the remaining pieces to the four winds after they attacked my mate! If they yet still live here they will learn not to mess with me.”
Marble shied away from Ivy. Ivy noticed and sighed, relaxing the hail, “ I am sorry, my anger is not directed at you… actually, I gave my name, but I don't believe you did,”
Marble’s eyes widened, “Oh I'm sorry, my name's Marble Pie, my big sister Limestone Pie sent me here to check on the natives here as they hadn't made a raid in a while. So I guess we won't have to worry about them anymore,” Marble said and beamed.
“Can you tell me what you're going to do now?” Marble asked,
“Well, we were going to be building a village for Pokémon to settle, logically we couldn't have been the only ones sent here.” Came Ivy's clearer voice as she got a hang of it.
“Oh really, that sounds nice.” Marble looked at the sky and panicked, “Oh my, I best be off home! It’s getting late. Can I come again tomorrow?” Marble asked, Ivy raised an eyebrow at Marble,
“That shouldn't be an issue,”
Marble smiled and waved before running home, as the girl left Ivy turned to leave, “Let's get home Ryoko,” Ivy said to the sleeping girl on her back.
She froze when she felt a presence invade her mind.
“Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new.” echoed a voice in Ivy's head, “Ryoko! Wake up!”
Ryoko stirred and looked around slightly lost, and started blushing as her current location was revealed to her,” Ivy are you carrying me?”
“Yes now hush,” Ivy chided.
”I am Lord Arceus, creator of the creatures that you have seen over the past few days.” Arceus started to explain,
“I am the one who brought the creatures you see to this world, they are known as Pokémon.”
“He’s responsible!?” Ivy and Ryoko screeched seething at the god.
“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 Pokémon 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.”
Ryoko just sat there, silently processing what she heard.
“Pokemon who have awoken in this new world, do not seek to harm the natives of this world.” “whoops” Ivy thought “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.”
Ivy and Ryoko flinched at hearing what could have happened as the alternative, now they weren't so sure they could hate this outcome, when the other choice Arceus could have made was so much worse.
“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.”
“So we are stuck here? At least we can be assured friends and family are here,” Ivy deduced
“Ivy please take me, us, and find my… our family and to also go see Arceus,” Ryoko begged her and used baby-doll eyes. It's super effective!
Ivy sighed, “okay Ryoko, after Marble Pie comes over to visit tomorrow we will tell her where we are going and then leave. Is that ok?”
Ryoko nodded into Ivy's neck, “Thank you.”
“Wait, who’s this Marble Pie?” Ryoko asked with an edge in her voice
“A ponyta like sapient creature who came to investigate the missing Arimaspi, which is what those things we decimated were. Apparently they harassed her family by raiding them. And no you don't have to worry, you are my mate and that's for life as far as I'm concerned, I’m not on the market.” Ivy explained before pulling Ryoko in for a long deep and passionate kiss.
“Oh, so why is she coming again?” Ryoko asked curiously, with a blush on her face from the unexpected yet pleasant kiss.
“Wants to help or make friends,” Ivy shrugged.
As they both made it back the others had managed to get the fire going, Ivy descaled the fish Pokémon, impaled them on sticks and placed them over the fire until they were ready to eat.
After they had finished with the fish, Ivy got up, groaning slightly from her full belly. She wasn't going to sleep in a cave again, though the leaves will have to do for temporary bedding. Her eyes glowed as she dug a foundation and started layering stone over the dirt, the logs carved ready to start building the walls locked into place a basic door and a stone slab in below and in front of it. A second floor was added with bed rooms and finally a roof and chimney to the fireplace in the lounge and master bedroom. The new house’s footprint was two hundred and one square meters overall.
Ryoko, Luka and Tom looked on in awe as they slipped into their new place, first room was a decent sized lounge with a stone fireplace set into the wall, next to lounge was a counter cutting off the kitchen like a bar counter, to the north east of the lounge were the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, Ryoko and Ivy would share, while Tom and Luka had their own rooms. Ivy went out the door to claim some flaming logs and returned to the fireplace which she lit, and heat spread throughout the new house.
“This is our new house, furniture may take a while so bear with me, in the meantime, I'm going to go set up the palisades and a covered water well, with Rocky's help,” Ivy announced before leaving the house.
Ryoko sighed, “it's nice and warm here, it's only missing one thing... Ivy.”
Loud banging filled the air, “that’s probably from Ivy and Rocky,” Ryoko thought aloud.
“Ryoko, something has been bothering me,” Luka started, he continued when Ryoko urged him on, “well what’s a palisade and why is it loud in making one?” Luka asked.
“A palisade is a huge defensive wall made of wood around a castle, village, town, city or camp, It's meant to defend against dangerous people and animals. It will take her a long while to build that even with Rocky's help, so let's just get some sleep.” Ryoko explained laying down on the improvised bedding.
Luka sighed but complied.
The door to the house opened and a soft patting of paws hitting the floor stirred Ryoko from her sleep, “what? Ivy? What time is it?”
“Shhh, Ryoko it’s midnight, we finished the walls, the well and we diverted the river into a deep lake that flows under the Palisade,” Ivy explained causing Ryoko to smile
“Oh okay,” Ryoko gave Ivy a peck on the cheek, as Ivy curled around her.which was followed by a kiss from Ivy, as they drifted off to sleep.