"So, what is this place?" I ask.
"Somewhere in Route GF," Robert responds. "You know when you took a tumble with Liana and wound up fighting that Pinsir? We tried to find a detour to get to you, and we found this place where a lot of Pokemon gather. Maybe it'll be a good spot to train."
"Why are we here, though?" Lynn sighs. "I thought David was the only one who needed training."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. Besides, who's to say you won't get snatched by Team Noir again?"
"Robert!"
"Haha, I'm just kidding. There's no way they'd come back after David sent them flying with that Woosh."
"Rotom, what Pokemon live here?" Ash asks.
"These do," Rotom replies. It shows us images of some Pokemon. One of them catches Allison's eye right away.
"That one?!" Allison exclaims in excitement. "That one lives here?!"
"I can't believe it!" Chloe agrees. "This could be our chance!"
"Wh-What?" I stammer, still surprised at their sudden energy. "What Pokemon are you talking about?"
"You probably don't know which one this is. So, Rotom? Could you read its entry for them?"
"Of course!" Rotom complies. "Ponyta. Galarian form. The unique horn Pokemon. A Psychic-type. This Pokemon will look into your eyes and read the contents of your heart. If it finds evil there, it promptly hides away."
"Galarian form?" I repeat.
"It's a regional variant," Ash tells me. "In some regions, a few Pokemon look different than they normally do. I've been to Alola, and there were Alolan-form Pokemon there. Although I've never been to Galar."
"Regional variant... So, what's the entry of the normal Ponyta?"
"Let's see..." Rotom beeps. "Ponyta. The fire horse Pokemon. A Fire-type. Its mane is made of intense flames. If you've been accepted by Ponyta, its mane is mysteriously no longer hot to the touch."
"So why are you so excited about catching a Galarian Ponyta?" I ask Allison.
"Because it's the first Pokemon Chloe and I wanted to catch!" Allison answers.
"It was just too adorable to ignore," Chloe adds.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Why don't we help them out?" Wesley says. All of us agree, and we split up. I remember looking around some bushes, a grove of trees, and even a hole. Maybe I was trying a little too hard, what with looking in that hole and all.
"Turns out they're not so easy to find," I mutter when we regroup. "I thought we could find it like any other Pokemon..."
"Ponyta are a little rare," Rotom agrees. "The chance of finding one in this area is 11 percent."
"How do you know that?"
"...Haven't you asked that before? You know the answer."
"W-Well, yeah... But where do we search?"
"Let's keep looking," Ash says. "Surely there's at least one Ponyta!"
We decide to resume our search, but we don't split up this time. It made me wonder, though. How did this training session meant for me turn into a Pokemon hunt? Perhaps anything can happen when you've got friends...
"Wesley, think you can search from the air?" I ask him.
"Sure," He agrees. "Wanna come with, Liana?"
"Okay, big bro!" Liana says. She and Wesley take to the skies.
"Those two are basically inseparable," Susie says. "They must have a pretty strong bond."
"Well, I guess that's natural," I say. "I'm not saying I remember having any brothers or sisters, but I think that's supposed to be."
"Speaking of your memories..." Robert pipes up. "Are you any closer to remembering anything?"
"No... Actually, maybe. I keep getting headaches every once in a while. I think they're related."
"But how would they be related? And why?"
"That's what I'd like to know. Maybe if I remember, I-"
"We've got trouble!" Wesley says, coming back.
"Trouble?" Lynn repeats. "Something wrong?"
"We found a Ponyta," Liana says. "But it's in trouble!"
"What?!" Allison gasped. "Take us there right away!"
"Of course! This way!"
Wesley and Liana fly off again, this time with us tailing them. They take us to a clearing in the forest, and we see...
"Oh, come on! Not these guys again!" Chloe says, exasperated. "Team Noir!"
"How are you here?!" I yelled at them. "I sent you flying the other day!"
"True that," Robin says. "But your spells were so weak, they weren't even enough to send us to Grama Town."
"Did you just call me weak?!"
"Yeah, you heard him," Oliver taunts me. "Whatcha gonna do about it, weakling?"
"Forget that," Ash says, stepping forward. "More importantly, where's Ponyta?!"
"Ponyta? You mean this thing?" The three of them step aside, revealing a very wounded Ponyta. It looked like it wanted to run away, but Team Noir had mainly attacked its legs, stopping its escape.
"We wanted to capture it," Nick explains. "But it's so weak, it's probably better to off it rather than recruit it."
"Off it?!" I screamed. "You're out of your-! Now you're asking for it!" I quickly drew my sword. "If anyone deserves to be offed, it's you!"
"What are you saying?!" Liana gasps.
"What?! Don't tell me that you're thinking they're doing something right!"
"Of course not! But they don't deserve a taste of their own medicine! Are you dropping to their level?!"
"Well, I don't care about that! C'MERE!"
"DAVID! NO!"
I charged forward and blocked out her cries. I didn't care. These guys crossed the line. I wasn't going to have any of it! If I don't put a stop to them, who will?! I get to Nick in no time and swing at him. He quickly dodges, but I still manage get a small cut on his hand. Oliver tries to send out Sneasel, but I rush at him and punch him in the face to stop him. Robin jumps me from behind, but I quickly dodge and watch as he faceplants, then I stomp on him.
"David!" Ash cried, grabbing at my shirt and pulling me away. "That's enough! You don't need to attack them! Just send them flying, and that'll be all!"
"Send them flying?!" I repeat. "Why I oughta... You know what? That's actually a good idea." I was still enraged. I shove Ash away to free myself. Remembering my fight with Camphor, I grab a Leppa Berry from my bag, and eat it to restore my magic. I turn to the villains and prepare to cast the spell I was gonna cast earlier.
"Get out of my sight. BANG!"
I snap my fingers, and the area around Team Noir explodes. The force is strong enough to send them blasting off. It probably won't be strong enough to send them flying a distance enough to keep them away for a few days, but it'll have to do.
"Good riddance..." I seethe.
"David..." Liana stammers, frightened. "D-Did you just...?"
"Yeah," I say. "I tried to beat 'em up. Deal with it, kid." Liana flinches and hides behind Wesley.
"What about Ponyta?" Robert asks. When I looked, Chloe was already using Life Dew on it, and it was soon back on its feet. It looked at me with a profound expression.
"What's up?" I asked, still mad. "Something wrong?"
Ponyta suddenly perked up, and it hid behind Chloe. I remembered what Rotom said about it earlier. It could look into my eyes and detect if there was any evil in my heart...?
"Judging by Ponyta's reaction," Rotom says, "It seems that there's a bit of evil within you."
"E-Evil?" I repeat. Now I was afraid. Looking at their perspective, an alien would definitely be evil to them. And given the sight they just saw, I... I...
"David?" Ash says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"
"I blew it..." I whisper. "I've lost everything dear to me..."
"Huh?"
"You don't accept me anymore, don't you?! I can't stay with you anymore!" I run off. I knew I couldn't let them see me. Not after they saw who I really am. I've become the thing that I've feared the most...
...I'm alone.
The one in which David loses it and goes berserk on Team Noir.
I know the Pokemon anime is supposed to be kid-friendly, but when you cross it with a game like Dragon Quest, you've gotta have a touch more mature content. But, I will NOT do anything too graphic, and I NEVER will.
