"And we're here!"

"This is the place?"

"A little hard on the eyes I admit, but it's homely no less."

"Looks weird. Are you sure this is it?"

"Trust me, we get that reaction quite often."

"I know, right? So anyways guys…welcome to Fairy Tail!"

The group that was comprised of Wendy, Carla, and the newcomers to the world, Joey and Dereece, had finally gotten out of the accursed Eastern Forest thanks to Wendy and Carla's guidance. Although technically, it was Joey's spontaneous energy from the prospects of a certain someone mention that made him reach the guild first. It took a few good minutes to calm Carla down after a deep pompous chastise. But rest assured, they stood before the guild that Wendy proudly introduced to the boys.

"Woooaah." Joey's eyes were wide as he looked at the guild hall's highest point. It wasn't like some fortress, but it wasn't like anywhere he's been to. If anything, it looked like a tricked-out tavern, which it technically was. "So this is a guild?"

"Yup." Wendy confirmed.

Chespin's head tilted as he looked equally as surprised as his new Trainer. He, too, awed at the base that housed more of these people that he saw demonstrate magical powers.

"So what is it that these guilds do again?" Dereece questioned the two girls.

Carla crossed her arms and smirked. "Well, if you want to get technical, a guild is a place where mages of all kinds can be assigned work. There are people in this world who seek help, and for those who aren't right for the job, we have mages who perform magic to fulfill these tasks."

Dereece raised a brow at Carla's summary. "Huh."

"Of course that's technical terms. Here in our guild, you can say it's…" The disguised Exceed looked away, looking to find the right words to say. Although from the strain she seemed to be putting onto herself, it looked a lot easier said than done. Thankfully Wendy was there to clear it up.

"Let's say we leave it to them to decide that." She advised.

Joey put a wrist to his hip as he looked up at the sign that was over their heads, spelling out the guild's name. He raised a brow as he reiterated it. "'FAIRY TAIL'. So this is it?"

Wendy nodded. "Sure is. I'm sure everyone is waiting inside waiting."

Carla sighed heavily. "Guess postponing is out of the question. Come along." She started into the guild, alongside Wendy.

Joey and Dereece looked at each other with inquiry. The looks on their faces were clear neither knew what to expect or what will come of the situation at hand. First they fell out of the sky, and then they wake up and find Joey's Chespin speaking. If they could find answers here and now, then it's worth the leap of faith.

With steps closely following behind Wendy and Carla, the group made it through the entrance indoors.

"Hey guys, we're back!" Wendy greeted cheerfully.

Everyone inside the guild was busy idling by around Natsu and Lucy, who were taking liberties in catching everyone up on the details. When Wendy ventured into the guild along with the outsiders, their attention was grasped on them.

"Hey, welcome back Wendy!" Elfman loudly greeted.

"Thank goodness you're here. We were starting to get worried." Lisanna admitted.

Cana ceased her chugging of a mug, sighing out with a whimsical hiccup. "N'aw c'mon, she's a big girl. She can take care of herself." She slurred before turning towards Wendy. "Way to make timing, you guys!"

"Well we'd be here sooner if someone cooled off all of a sudden." Carla's snarky tone was adverted towards a certain blonde just a few feet from her. Suffice to say Joey exaggerated his own shock.

"Well you're here now, that's what matters." Kinana looked at the newbies to their world. "Huh? Are those who I think they are?"

Wendy smiled. "Yeah. These are the guys we've been telling you about." She turned towards Joey and Dereece, presenting them to their friends. "These are…uh…s-sorry, I forgot to ask." She nervously dropped a bead of sweat from not asking sooner.

Carla shook her head over her friend's mistake. "Good grief."

Joey smirked at all the newcomers he's seen. He looked so amazed at the various people that he's been looking at for not even a minute and the looks department was without a doubt the most bewildering sight. There was a brawny man who looked like he bench-pressed mountains, there was that old lady back in the woods, and now all these ladies with different hair colors, not to mention their bodies. He was so shocked to say the least, in more ways than one. The first impression was always the most intriguing.

Dereece looked towards him with a raised brow. "Hey, Joey, you really think this was a good idea?"

Snapping out of his wonders, the new Trainer looked at Dereece. "Maybe, then again, maybe not. Look let's just play along and see this goes for no~ooooww…" His eyes drew towards the crowd, where he got a better image of the guild, more specifically, the women. Not only were a good majority of women on the less conservative side, but looking at people like Kinana, he could see how enormous her rack was. In fact, he looked like he was gonna spaz. "Woooahh…"

"Hm? Joey?" Dereece waved a hand in front of Joey, but he looked like he was frozen solid. His questionable gaze followed Joey's to the women such as Cana and Kinana, noticing just now the size of their bust. His eyelids dropped as he hunched in a sulk. "Oh."

Lucy turned within the crowd, seeing the two newbies that got warped into their guild. "Hey, look." She and Natsu looked at Joey and Dereece with welcoming looks.

The Dragon Slayer raised a brow and grinned. "Hey, it's those two guys from before. So you're up already?"

"Those guys?" Gray repeated, turning towards them without a shirt on. "Hey, yeah. They're the ones you mentioned knocked out that Pokémon Vanessa described."

Juvia nodded. "They look well."

Dereece looked all around, seeing the numerous people that came in all different shapes and sizes. "Man, this place is packed full of these guys. I didn't think something like this even existed." He noticed how Joey was still quiet from his little eye candy of a sight that was very much common in Earthland, and as much as he appealed to his own tendencies, he found it more appropriate to budge Joey's arm harshly with an elbow.

"Oof!" The shock snapped his out of his moment. "H-huh?! Yes! Yeah!" The last bit came out more forcibly than he thought. "I mean, this place is cool and all, but are you all mages? What is a mage anyway?"

Carla snickered. "Well…" She suddenly glowed, morphing her body in a bright light. Her whole figure shrunk and swirled into a smaller state, and Joey and Dereece watched with recoiled necks and raised brows as she reverted to her real form; a white feline. "That implies with the concept of magic." She finished.

"GAAH!" The two recoiled in shock of the sight.

"Cooool." Chespin awed.

Wendy saw their shock, again feeling uneasy. "…yeah, I forgot to tell you. Carla's really an Exceed." She explained.

"A what and who now?" Joey questioned.

Carla sighed. "Typical. This is what happens when you lay something on someone too fast for them to handle."

Dereece began to feel his knees quake. He couldn't believe his eyes, nor even his ears. First it was Chespin speaking to them, and now it was the cat that stood on two feet. "W-w-wait, what? H-how are you…and what are…" He fumbled over his words to process what was happening, but as Happy and Pantherlily got within sight, Dereece's head sharply turned to gaze like an owl. "Wait…WHAT?! There's even more of you here?!"

"Aye!" Happy greeted.

"They look like they're going to faint again." Pantherlily said.

"Well don't look at me, I ain't getting the water." Gajeel said. "Isn't that why Juvia's here?"

Juvia looked at Gajeel with confusion, a question mark over her head popping.

Joey's mouth was gaping, but eventually shook his head to shake off any shock. "Okay, can we call a time out?!" He put his hands up to make a referee signal for his wording. "Okay, so firstly, we fall out of the sky after a light strikes us like a bomb. Then, we wake up, and we're in some place far from home, and here, my Chespin is speaking…"

"Hi." He waved.

"-and now we're here in a guild of wome-I mean people who can use jug-I mean magic to help others? And now there's talking cats? Somebody better explain this to my mother or things are going to get super crazy around here! And nobody wants to see Dereece that way!"

"I what?" Dereece inquired.

A person stepped up from the crowd, her thick thighs covered by her brown leggings. "It's okay. We'll do what we can to help."

Dereece and Vanessa turned towards the person who own the thick thighs and the voice. Upon meeting her face – among other beautiful parts – it was like Joey's face was smacked by an angry Audino. His eyes were as wide as Noctowl eyes, yet his pupils were as small as dots. His space that was around him was like gray stone, because that's what he felt like when he recognized the person stepping up.

Dereece didn't look as shocked, but surprised no less. "It can't be…"

Vanessa smiled as she greeted the two boys from her world. She ignored their surprise with little to no difficulty. "I take it you're surprised?" she mused.

"Y-yeah, you can that that." Dereece answered.

"Well you wouldn't be the first to admit that. A lot of people get that impression at first. It's nothing new for us."

Sophie chuckled at the irony. "Quite true."

A high-pitched squeal came from someone within the guild. The squeal sounded more or less of an inhale than anything other than a squeal itself. Everyone looked around to see where the bizarre sound was coming from, but Dereece swiftly turned to see Joey's mouth gaping as he saw Joey squealing in place. Immediately, he knew what was to come. "Oh boy…"

"Is he okay?" Wendy worried. She remembered what happened back in the forest, and it was safe to say she rather not try and see him in another spaz at the moment.

The squeals got to an even higher pitch, with Joey starting to shudder in place.

"Oh boy." Dereece groaned.

Joey's legs were feeling like jelly as they were quaking in place. He was looking at Vanessa with a widening smile and his fists shuddering like some giddy boy waiting for Christmas. "V-V-V-V-Va-Va-Va…" He couldn't even make sense at the moment with his growing condition.

Vanessa raised a brow. "What is it?"

"Va…Va…!" Suddenly, explosions of sparkles happened around his face, his eyes becoming sparkles themselves. His shrieks went loud and clear as he eyes Vanessa with all his joy and prosperity to come. "VANESSA PULARIS~!" He squealed in a hitch pitch again, getting his associate to show moderate calm at his shock, which turned to his own closed-mouthed groan.

Chespin looked in wonder and awe at his Trainer's shrieking.

"Woah, hey! What's his deal of a sudden?" Natsu questioned. "He blow a fuse or what?"

"Yeah, why's he panicking? We didn't do nothing!" Happy worried. "…did we?"

"Beats me. The guy probably is just overloading in a breakdown." Gray figured anxiously. Beside him, the others backed a full step back, unsound as he was with Joey's reaction.

Joey looked at his twitching fingers with sporadic gasps. His knees were continuing to quiver from his overwhelming surprise. There she was, someone beautiful, of not bodacious, and someone of importance who was before him. And she talked to him. "Va-Vanessa…just talked to me…" he whispered. His cheeks got a tint of pink in him. "She really did just…talk to me…"

Unable to hold himself up, Joey slumped down, hunched forward and gaping at the ground with overwhelming shock. Everyone again felt alarmed at Joey's display of shock, even Mirajane was put on edge.

"My goodness." The barmaid said.

Lisanna sweat-dropped beside her. "Should we do something?"

"I don't know." Max said. "Is he even paying attention to us?"

"I think so if he shouted Vanessa's name like that." Laki speculated.

"This guy's weird." Nab said.

"Takes one to know one." Romeo retorted.

Joey continued shuddering in deep shock right beside his wondrous Chespin. He looked unresponsive as he looked like he was about to cry of sheer joy, but bending down and patting his back, Dereece snapped him out of it. "Uh, Joey? Joey?" he called.

Joey snapped out of it with a start. "H-huh?! What?!" He looked towards Dereece, where he nudged his eyes to motion forward. The blonde followed, seeing Vanessa's face again. She looked relaxed, if not questioned like the others. Immediately he scrambled towards his feet, again sparkling around his eyes. "D'uh, s-so sorry! I-I-I couldn't help but…"

Vanessa grinned again, stopping Joey cold. Those mature lips forming made his heart grow out of his chest with sparkles in his eyes shining brighter than ever. His squeals reverberated again, making his conscious nearly fade. His held his head as he swayed about. "I can't believe it! This guild actually has Vanessa Pularis! The very younger sister of Nic-senpai! Vanessa-senpai! They're actually here?! They're here~! Waaaah!"

Everyone in the guild sweat-dropped as Joey was panicking like a wild Primeape. They didn't know what to do for his condition, and no one could blame them.

"'Nic-senpai'?" Sophie reiterated. She looked towards Vanessa, smirking. "Well this is interesting. You know him, Vanessa?"

"Can't say in person." She said as she watched Joey sparkle and stare at her, it honestly felt humbling. "But I think he's seen us before if he knows who we are."

"O-of course I know who you are!" Joey snapped. "Y-you're Vanessa! Vanessa Pularis! I-I mean I'm honored to…no! I'm humbled to-NO! I mean…gaaaah! I'm not worthy!" In shame, he bowed before Vanessa, worshipping her in all her glory. His face hit the floor as his muffled wails went aloud.

Dereece groaned again. He turned towards the crowd, putting his hands up. "Everything's cool, folks. Nothing to see here. Just your regular person just, uh, doing…regular things!" He looked over his shoulder. "C'mon man, catch your breath. He harshly whispered.

Joey sniffled as he wiped his face with his arm. "R-right…sorry…"

"Well I'm not sure if this is humorous or pitiful." Evergreen boasted.

"The guy's falling all over himself." Bickslow said.

Freed put a hand to his chin. "Well I doubt this will affect Nic's arrival upon return."

"That's right. Isn't he supposed to be back soon?"

Evergreen sighed. "Hard to say, he can be so unpredictable."

Charmander slumped besides Natsu and Happy, sighing in relief. "Phew, well thank goodness. I hope I never have to bear something like that again." He hoped.

"Was there a pun intended in that?" Happy asked.

Natsu looked down at him, smiling. "Hey, c'mon little buddy, have some cheers? That was pretty cool though how your yelling stopped that guy. You should be proud."

Charmander looked up towards him, looking slightly cheered up. "If you say so…"

As Joey arose to his feet, Dereece looked back at the group. "So, wait…you mean that is Nic's sister's here, that means…"

A spatial distortion began to open from behind, illuminating Joey's back. The shocked blonde felt some tingly feeling arise up his spine as there was some odd, cool breeze flow from behind. Very slowly, he looked over his shoulder to get the hint. When he saw some sparkling, distorted portal just meters away, he swiftly turned to face it, as did Dereece and Chespin. The shocked trio as well as the guild gazed into the portal, some knowingly grinning.

"Well speak of the devil." Jet teased.

"It's about time." Droy added.

"Was he and Erza on their honeymoon or what?" Wakaba joked.

Macao laughed. "If it were their honeymoon pal, I doubt they'd come back for another year."

Joey and Dereece looked at the portal with deep awe. On the other end, they could see the looks of a beautiful landscape with a river and a small hill amongst a field. "Woah…" Curious Joey folded his fingers and put them over his brows. He squinted his blue eyes to try and get a better picture from the distance to see what was going on.

Within the light, two figures began to reveal themselves side-by-side. Their shadows were slowly coming into light, with the male figure stepping out first. "Sorry for the wait…"

The figure's voice, his shape, his tone; it's those qualities that made Joey freeze in place. His eyes were so wide and his mouth gaping so much that people could've mistaken him for a Loudred. Dereece took a step back out of shock of his own right. With a few slow steps, he teetered back to where he was a few meters away from his pal.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

As Joey was gawking and having trouble breathing, the figure turned around and reached inside the portal. He pulled out his companion, who was clanging in her Heart Kreuz Armor, with her long, flowing red hair shifting as she stepped into the breeze-free guild. Once out, Nic and Erza looked ahead, the portal closing with sparkles in its place.

Nic grinned. "Hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Hope you all weren't too bored with us away." Erza smirked.

Joey's eyes literally stretched out of their sockets as he stood in place, his jaw dropping lower than ever.

Dereece blinked several times before he was able to compose himself. Even now he seemed startled. "W-woah! H-he-he's actually here?! IN THE FLESH?!"

Joey was still trying to process it. There was Nic Pularis right in front of him, the savior of the universe. His squeals were so quiet that they could've been mistaken for long inhales.

Vanessa stepped up from the crowd, grinning. "Welcome back."

"Hey, you're just in time. Salamander just finished yammering on about this mishap that you guys couldn't handle." Gajeel snorted.

"I could if I wanted to! What do you know?! You weren't there!" Natsu protested.

Gajeel shot him a look of his own. "That's funny considering how Erza and the little Pularis herself swept it up instead. I think a few good clubs to the head would've knocked it out."

Before an intervention could kick in, Levy got between Gajeel and Natsu, pushing them apart. "Now is not the time!" she insisted.

"So then you relocated that creature?" Sophie asked, moving along with the subject.

Nic nodded. "Yeah. We thought it would be best to settle him in Route 21. With what's been described of him, that's where a lot of those kinds of high-level Pokémon reside. I just hope it won't be a problem here anytime soon." He then turned towards the two newbies to Earthland, half-grinning. "You two…"

"Uh, N-Nic Pularis?" Dereece responded quickly, Joey was smiling wide as he stared at Nic, hands shaking near his mouth.

"Can't say I'm anyone else at this point. Are you both alright?"

Dereece nodded. "Yeah! Yeah! We're just dandy, right Joey?" He waited for his pal to answer, but Joey was still squealing as he stood stiff as a statue. He whispered into his ear again. "Pssst! Don't be rude! Say something!"

"I~…" Joey's mind was all scrambled up inside. As Nic looked towards him with a calm expression, the blonde-haired fan was smiling so wide that he looked like he was about to explode now. "I-I~…I…" Unable to handle the situation any longer, he fell backwards like a tree, thudding loudly with his limbs falling to his sides.

Erza's eyes widened. "What happened?"

Nic, Erza, Vanessa, Dereece, and Wendy all began to surround Joey. Chespin moved right over Joey, staring with his head turn and looked deeper into his Trainer for any signs of his condition like a magnifying glass.

"Is he alright?" Vanessa asked.

"Believe me, I've been asking myself that same question every hour of every day." Dereece answered. "But this…" He waved his hand in front of Joey's face. His eyes were still wide open yet didn't follow. "My guess, he just put himself into a bliss coma. Which he should be clear of in 3…2…1…"

"AAAAHHH!" Joey sat up with a loud shriek that startled the entire guild. Sparkles surrounded his face and eyes as he looked at Nic, who looked morally astonished. "N-N-N-N-N…NIC-SENPAI~!" He began to run around with so much energy that a dust trail followed his scrambling feet. His hands covered his face as he blindly shifted everywhere.

Everyone looked at one another questionably, some raising brows, and other shrugging. Dereece remained calm as he watched him scramble all his energy out.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOGMYGOD! THIS IS HAPPENING! THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING!" Joey stopped back in place, quivering his twitching fingers as his eyes were misting of sheer joy. "I…I…I'm standing before the great Nic himself…no! Nic-senpai! OOOHHH!" He grabbed his face again, bending his knees inward like he had to use the restroom.

As Joey was in a full-blown state of shock, Nic looked towards Erza to see what she had to say. She shared the same level of surprise he did. They both calmly looked back at Joey as he scrambled overtime to find words to praise Nic with.

Sophie walked around Joey as he got to his knees, bending and bowing constantly as he made no sense. Once beside Nic, she looked down with an amused face. "Seems you've got quite the reputation going for you, Nic." She said.

"Yeah…looks like it." He raised a brow on his own.

She smirked. "Looks to me you and your family grew to be quite the celebrities, eh?"

"That so? I always just tried to ignore it."

Erza crossed her arms. "Well ignoring this groveling doesn't seem to be part of the bargain."

"Groveling seems a bit harsh, but…" Nic looked at another angle as Joey constantly bowed with wavy comical tears running down his face. The strangest part of it was that half of his sayings were incoherent, and he was starting to worry for Joey's water supply.

"I'M NOT WORTHY!" he shrieked, finishing his bow.

Chespin looked down to his Trainer with confusion over his fanboy demeanor. He wasn't sure exactly, but he had a feeling by the warm and enigmatic vibe Nic gave off, he must've been important. Very important. He, too, bowed in the case of any regal reason.

Gajeel couldn't hold back his laughter. "Well isn't this guy a kiss-up."

"More like a diehard." Gray interjected.

Mirajane nervously reached out to them. "Now, now. Let's not push any buttons we don't already know…"

"Aw c'mon. I actually think it's cute." Cana chimed. She received looks from the guild. "What? I'm not wrong. It is."

Erza sighed at the predicament. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

Not wanting this to go on any further, Nic crossed his arms over his chest and looked down. "Honestly, I'm a little flattered by this. I'm not sure what to say." He admitted.

In a loud heartbeat, Joey sat up with a gawking expression. He gasped again in deep shock. "Nic just…admitted he was flattered…" His next act was whimpering loudly as he bit his nails. 'My god, Nic-senpai just talked directly towards me. And I made the great impression! My folks are gonna be so jealous!'

Nic grinned in delight, chuckling. "Well it's alright. At least you're able to take delight in this predicament. So then, what do people call you?"

Joey scrambled once again back to his feet, clearing his throat with a few good hums. "Uh, right! So sorry!" He stood still as he tried to catch his breath. He breathed in and out, but was having trouble with how fast his heart was racing. 'C;mon Joey. Just say it. Make Nic know your name!'

A shaky hand reached out towards Nic. Joey clenched his teeth together as he looked like he was looking at a ghost of a dream. "J-J-Joey Haycliff! An honor to meet you!" He bowed his head again.

"A-and Dereece Iwoda!" Dereece reached out next.

Nic reached out and shook hands with both associates. "Nic Pularis, welcome to Fairy Tail." He shook Joey's hand normally without show of professionalism. He then shook hands with Dereece in gratitude. The former looked at his hand as it shook in front of his face. He had a good idea of what Joey was thinking, but he chose to dislodge that logic and move along.

Once situated, he turned and looked at the remaining guild members. The atmosphere began to grow serious as his frown formed again. The others were picking up on the innuendo and knew it was time to move along.

Laxus stepped in front of everyone, preceded by the Thunder God Tribe around him. They got before the guild as the master crossed his arms and gave Nic a returning serious look. "So what do you got?" he bluntly asked.

"I have a pretty good idea of went down as of last night." Nic answered. "But it's not exactly the best news for everyone."

"What do you mean?" Levy asked.

Nic looked towards Erza to see what she had to confirm. She shared her own look of worry, and that made him turn and look back at the guild. Finally, he started.

"This isn't going to be easy to comprehend, but hear me out…"

Nic thus took several minutes to explain the details of what pieces of the puzzles he was able to put together and what transpired in Spear Pillar according to the news. He told them in the simplest details and as bluntly as possible, yet still concise all around. By the time he was finished, the whole guild was dead silent.

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold up." Dereece intervened. "You mean all those meteors that traveled across the sky, they're really…"

"Yeah." Nic nodded. He looked up at the guild with his blue eyes searing daggers. "Pokémon carried from PokeEarth."

The idea was blasphemy. It was crazy to disregard as a theory, let alone an ambiguous ordeal. Who could possible believe such a theory existed? Admittedly, there was the instance where Acnologia connected the two worlds upon accident that ensued Dragon Force, but even that wasn't scientifically possible.

Erza took in all the information Nic gave and thought long and hard about it. "So that's it. All those hundreds of thousands of meteors everyone saw last night really were Pokémon who were struck by those same meteors that crossed over."

"Which explains the Charmander." Sophie said. She shot Natsu's Charmander a look.

"And that also explains Joey and Dereece as well. They must have been struck by one of those lights as well." Vanessa evaluated, looking at the two in confirmation. "That is what you said, right?"

"Yeah, basically." Dereece answered. He turned back towards Nic, shuffling his hands in anxiety growth. "So…what you're saying is…we're in an entirely new world? Full of magic and creatures that can talk?"

"Yes." Nic replied.

"H-how?"

Nic kept his arms crossed as he turned towards Erza. "The truth is that I'm still very much connected to time and space, specifically, the rifts that Dialga and Palkia create. I knew something was off last night when I felt those meteors fall, because it was at that same time Spear Pillar suffered that eruption. All that spatial energy went viral, and as a result…" He looked towards Charmander once more, the Lizard Pokémon seemingly full of attention lately.

"Oh my goodness." Mirajane gasped.

"Yeah, this is big news! And that's taking the cake!" Romeo exclaimed.

Lucy looked down, putting a hand to her chin. "So what do you think happened that caused space to go viral like this? Would it have to do with Dialga and Palkia like before?"

"Yeah, that's my viewpoint at least." Nic looked down at the ground, a somber silence falling before the guild hall. "Dialga…Palkia…Time…Space. All these fabrications conflicted again, but this time, with damage far greater than before. I don't know what happened with them, but I do know whatever they did crossed a lot of lines, and I don't think that many are going to react positively to this." He looked towards the entrance's light at the bottom of its doors. "But that light…I didn't think it would be anything I recognized. I think Dialga and Palkia were disputing again, but I think whatever it was, there had to be someone or something in the carnage."

Everyone gasped again. Lucy stepped forward. "Nic, are you sure about this?"

He looked back towards her. "Honestly, I can't be sure at this point of any reason this crossing happened…but I know when I feel something off. And I know this trumps everything I feel being misplaced. Pokémon are now in this world, and a lot of them at that. We'll have to adapt to this change, and fast."

"That's a tall order considering there's only you, your sister, Erza, and maybe those two guys over there who know about Pokémon." Macao pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm not sure being able to get all these guys off and on these planets will be a bright idea in the long run."

Nic shook his head. "That's not the angle I'm looking at."

"Huh?"

"I'm not talking about sending the Pokémon back. No, there's far too many for that to be possible at this point. If anything, this is going to take the effort of anyone and everyone we're able to get ahold of. We need to get them to know of what happened."

"I get it, so then that way we can plot from there." Gray deduced.

Erza nodded. "I've been in Kalos before, and I haven't been the only one. Natsu, Lucy, and those who crossed with us from Edolas at one point went through that shift. I think we would be best to handle the situations since we're at least familiar with the customs these creatures follow."

Natsu hummed as he crossed his arms, looking up towards the ceiling. "Uh…" He bopped a fist on his palm. "Hey, yeah! That's when we met Vanessa and went through Kalos! Man was that a blast!"

"That's also where you got knocked by that mushroom." Lucy remembered dryly.

Pantherlily nodded. "I must say, even now, battling that Roserade does bring a smile on my face."

"Yeah, that's a good point." Gajeel agreed.

"And we can't forget that we all went to his world to see Vanessa's battle against that girl for this small badge." Elfman reminded the guild.

"So in retrospect, we all have knowledge of how Pokémon are generally used." Lisanna noted. "That makes us the most capable of knowing how to handle these creatures, to an extent at least."

"Exactly." Attention again drew towards Nic. "Remember the Council War. Remember the exact reason as to why they wanted me gone, and to rid of Pokémon. They were scared, they thought we were superior, when we rather be seen in light like everybody else. I'm sure you all remember how hard you fought for that reason." The guild looked towards each other, seeing the faces of some starting to grin at Nic's reasons. "Now I'm not saying this will work out in the end the way everyone wants it to be, but maybe we can lessen the struggle. To do that, we need to get the word out, and we need to do it with tentative action. That means caution about and around."

"And just how exactly are you intending to do that?" Gray questioned.

Nic turned towards the whole guild, paneling from right to left, and back again. He remained as quiet as possible while he thought long and hard. He looked over towards the anticipated Joey, whose Chespin looked neutral. He then looked towards Charmander, seeing him crawling onto Natsu's shoulder. Seeing the two smile, as well as considering the lives of the Pokémon and humans alike, it wasn't easy, but finally, he thought of something.

He sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I can't believe I'm going to suggest this…"

Vanessa heard Nic's mumbling and looked towards Sophie. She looked back at him with a frown. "Nic, what are you suggesting?"

Nic looked up, opening his eyes as he shot another serious expression towards his allies; Freed in particular. "Freed."

"Yes?"

"Do you think you can get in contact with the Council?"

"I can try."

Once again, the guild looked at Nic like he's been struck by lightning. They all showed distaste in some way.

"Say what?!" Natsu shrieked. "Not those jerks again! C'mon!"

"Yeah, I'm with Natsu on this one. That's a bold move, Nic." Gray sniped.

"Booo!" Happy protested.

As everyone began to riot about, the commotion allowed Joey and Dereece to turn towards the other, getting their own conversation in a huddle. "So, what do you think is going on?" Dereece whispered.

Joey's eyes narrowed. "Not sure, but I think they're trying to say they're gonna try and get the word about Pokémon out." Even he didn't sound so sure, but it's what he could process at least. "What I wanna know is what this Council thing is, and why they're against it?"

"It's a long history." Sophie interjected. "Simply put, the Magic Council is a high-ranking committee that's in charge of the magic world. We're not exactly on the best terms with them…or rather were on the best terms."

"What happened?" Chespin asked.

Vanessa went from that point on. "They tried using a number on weapons and policies to suppress Nic and Pokémon. Since they caused a panic after the whole incident back during Giratina's descent, they tried to make Nic's Pokémon powers into weapons if he didn't go home."

Joey gasped in deep shock. "What?! They dare to question Nic-senpai's awesomeness?!"

"Lines were crossed, so the Council initialized a war. It was a struggle, but we won, and the Chairman passed from a heart attack out of defiance."

"Ouch." Joey murmured.

Erza folded her arms. "But since then, the Council's policies have been reformed. After reformations and…incidents…we can say that this new Council should at least be able to hear our voices with an open mind."

"I see. So if can convince them about the reason why Pokémon are here, then maybe they'll listen and act accordingly to you because you uphold the most experience with them. That's smart thinking." Macao said.

"Power behind the throne. Not bad." Max said. "A little underhanded, but I think it'll work."

Nic sighed again, deeply. He still despised the Council to no end, and in every way possible, he'd damned them and its bureaucracy to no end. In no way would he ever condemn himself to being pacified or subjugated to any of the Council's words or policies. He'd sooner see them see the errors of their own folly, and watch them crumble into dust. But he also knew that would lead to another war, and this time people against all Pokémon. It wasn't to his liking, but if it meant saving lives from a misunderstanding, he would at least tolerate looking at their faces. But in no way was he going to take a scolding for any reason by people who don't understand what they don't know.

"If the Council listens and orchestrates maneuvers with dealing about Pokémon from then on, then everyone wins." Lucy said. "I hate to say it, but I think I'll have to agree."

Natsu huffed as he folded his arms. "Well I say screw them. We can spread word ourselves!"

"Yeah, but you know there are some people who don't listen to us, Natsu." Gray said.

Natsu raised a fist. "Then we make them understand."

"No." Nic scorned. "Gray's right. Even out there, if we go guild by guild, we'll only get so far. I know Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus will be willing to hear us out, but for everyone outside of Fiore, we'll be needing some help. So Freed, can you issue a request?"

Freed nodded. "Consider it done. Master Laxus?"

Laxus turned downwards and closed his eyes, frowning. "All things considered, I don't think we have a choice. Do it."

"Yes, sir!" Freed ran into the crowd, hurrying towards the large desk in front of Laxus' office.

Laxus turned to face everyone. "Alright guys, listen up, because I'd rather not repeat myself. You heard Nic, we have Pokémon crossing over, and frankly, it's creeping me out as well. These things take up a lot of shapes and sizes, so don't expect a welcoming committee if you see or hear of weird creatures that can talk. For today, everyone be on standby. Resume your duties, but if you're out on a job, keep open eyes. If you come across these Pokémon, use caution. You never know what they're capable of."

Erza smirked. "That's putting it mildly." Beside her, Nic chuckled.

"Evergreen, while Freed is writing a request to the Council, I want you and Bickslow to keep an eye out on the news and whatever reports come in about any strange sightings."

Evergreen held a sassy posture, with Bickslow sticking his tongue out beside her. "Consider that our number one priority." She huffed.

"Aw yeah! Now things are gonna get interesting!" Bickslow cheered.

"As for the rest of you, just keep in mind what Nic explained. There's hundreds of thousands of those meteors that recently stopped after noon, so it's up to us to get out about Pokémon. If someone doesn't see reason about how to handle these things…then make sure they get it, otherwise the Pokémon may have their way. That's all." The Ninth Master of Fairy Tail turned on his heels and walked off. He left the others to hear over what he had to say and began to process it. They now had a new goal in mind, and they had to be extra careful. For the most part, if they saw a talking creature, they knew what it would be about. Everyone had to do their part, however they could. Some maybe less than others, but others are willing to pitch in and help out people and Pokémon if it were to procure safety.

Juvia looked towards Gray with concern. "So what now?"

Gray shrugged. "Guess when we go out on a job, we'll have to keep an eye out." He looked over towards the board. "Do you wanna do that tomorrow then?"

Juvia looked at him with hearts in her eyes, gasping of joy. "Of course, my love!"

Sophie turned towards Vanessa. "Seems as though there's going to be a little more change." The blonde teased. Vanessa snickered lightly.

"That's putting it mildly."

Cana took in a deep breath…before resuming her alcohol. "All this thinking's making me thirsty!" She reached for the nearest barrel of liquor, downing it slowly, much to the bewildering shock of Joey and Dereece.

"This is a lot to handle." Erza said to her husband. "You really think this will work?"

Nic looked around at everyone beginning to formulate. He could see that a majority of them were still processing, while others were more than willing to go out on jobs like they were normally doing. Others went back to their business like they did before Natsu barged in with Charmander. They knew they were hard-pressed for time, but they will make do.

Nic looked towards her, grinning. Without warning, he grabbed her hand again. "We'll pull through. I'm sure of it."

Erza smiled back.

Nic looked back. "Natsu. Joey. Dereece."

The three people called upon request turned towards him. In Joey's case, he went stiff at his name mentioned. "Yeah? What's up?" Natsu asked.

The three gathered towards Nic as the guild went off to do their own thing. They made way around Nic as he stood with a relaxed position, yet still ready to go at it if he had to. Then again, he's always had that.

"Sorry I had to postpone this. There was all this matter that we had to get out of the way first." He apologized.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Natsu smiled wide. "At least we got an idea of what to do now!"

Nic nodded. "How's Charmander getting along with you?"

"Oh, him?" Natsu looked towards the orange lizard that was perched on his shoulder. The two looked at each other before Natsu looked back like nothing happened. "Yeah, we're fine." He sounded like it was so obvious.

"Yeah, things are okay." Charmander insisted.

"I see." He turned towards Joey and Dereece. "And how are you two holding up?"

Joey looked at Nic with shock. "Uh…" He was looking down at the ground, his face covered his shadows as he tried to think of words to say to the ultimate idol of his dreams. 'C'mon Joey, what do you say? He just asked you a question!' In a sporadic flip of his head, he looked at him with a bright smile while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "-I'm feeling pretty great so far!" he nervously exclaimed.

"Well good for you." Dereece said. "But if you ask me, this is all sounding pretty crazy. And yet. All this talk about Pokémon integrating and this magic stuff…I don't know how to put it."

"A loss for words, huh?" Nic looked at them all with an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry, I didn't imagine it would go this far. I can understand if you guys aren't so comfortable with all this."

Charmander shook his head. "No, no! It's fine, really! It's not that bad when you get past all this freaky magic." He looked back at Natsu, who gave his trademark smile.

"Damn straight! This place can be a blast once you get used to it!" he chimed.

Nic smiled. "No arguments there." That same smile turned to a half-grin. "Still, if you guys aren't so situated with all this, I can send you back to PokeEarth, but only if you want to."

The statement shocked the group.

"What? Are you serious?!" Dereece exclaimed.

"Y-you can actually do that?!" Chespin squealed.

Charmander looked down at him with a bead of sweat on his face. 'Did he forget that he just came through that portal?'

Joey looked stone faced once again, gawking at Nic. "Y-y-you…would actually do that…for us?" he paused.

Nic didn't seem bothered. "Yeah, I mean I can relate to you guys. When I first came to this world, I was completely lost with how it all worked. If it weren't for my friends or my Pokémon, I wouldn't even be here today." He looked towards Erza, who graciously smiled at him. He looked back. "As someone with this experience, other's safety is important, which is why I am asking you if you want to return to PokeEarth or not. I'm not saying you have to, I'm just giving you a choice of you want to take part of the information you were exposed to or go back to what you were doing."

"So then…it's our choice?"

"Everyone gets to make a choice. What's yours?"

Joey and Dereece looked towards the other once again, but unlike before when they entered with inquiry, they were now fixed with newfound information and now realized they were in another world full of magic and talking creatures. They knew by now this wasn't a dream, and even if it was, Joey – to his leisure – would have way more "interesting" concepts. But this was the reality, and it was overwhelming. It didn't seem like it, but if felt like pressure was being put on them. Either go back, or help Nic in the cause to help spread good word about Pokémon, that's how Joey saw it.

After a few moments of thinking, Joey looked at Nic again. He saw the look of someone who was strong, confident, and saw potential in someone. That's why choices are made, and Nic was willing to allow their potential to be reached in two different aspects. And that's what made Joey ball his fists in delight.

"Okay, I'm so in on this!"

"What?!" Dereece shrieked. Chespin looked up towards his Trainer with questioning of his own.

Joey looked at his best friend with a smile. "Dereece, don't you get it? This is Nic who gave us this choice. He gave us the opportunity to become the kinds of Trainers no one ever was!"

"Over the consequence of our own safety?" he deadpanned.

Joey waved him off. "Ah, phooey. Safety's overrated. Since when was our world safe to begin with?"

Dereece wanted to argue with Joey's point, but for once, the blonde was actually onto a point. It made sense to a degree. Since when was wielding animals that could fight ever considered a safety hazard?

Seeing him ponder, Joey raised a knowing brow. "My point exactly. Besides…" Sparkles appeared around him as he gestured towards Nic, who seemed unfazed by the spotlight he was exaggerated. "With us here, we can learn so much more and help Nic-senpai with his cause! And I say we do everything we can for him! Everything!" The last stretch of his voice sounded more like a growling threat to Dereece. The best friend backed off with his arms up.

"Geez, okay! Okay!" He eased up, taking a deep breath and sighed aloud. "Well, guess someone's gotta look after Joey so he doesn't get killed. Guess if this is really that important…then I support you."

"Are you both sure about this?" Erza confirmed.

Joey smiled wide. "Yeah, of course! I wouldn't miss this chance for the world!"

Dereece nudged his head towards Joey, going along with his saying.

Erza looked towards Nic, wondering what his input on the matter was. He looked at them for a moment to see into their eyes. He could see that Joey meant what he said, and he'd like the experience, but given his "reactions", he also knew the other reasons why he would like to stay. But in retrospect, it could benefit them all to have a Pokémon Trainer developing from scratch. Of course Nic worried about that, but he wasn't going to force them to leave. He gave them their choice, so he went along with a grin. "Well okay then, if you both want to help, then consider yourselves welcomed." He said.

"YES!" Joey jumped into the air, cheering loudly. "Woooh! Man, this is gonna be so awesome!"

Nic snickered at Joey's enthusiasm. "Well since you both intend to stay here, guess we should situate you." Joey's cheering went to a stop as he paid attention towards Nic again. "In this world, you need to work in a guild to get by. If you both haven't found any possibilities, you're always welcome in our guild. But why don't we save that for tomorrow? Why don't we get situated for the day?"

Joey's eyes sparkled in delight as he looked at Nic with sparkled for eyes. 'Nic-senpai is gonna let me join his guild! Somebody pinch me! NIC-SENPAI WANTS ME AROUND! YEEAH!'

Dereece ignored his friend's delights and paid attention. "So all this 'guild' stuff you guys do, what's this about? Is there ranks and stuff we can do?"

Erza nodded. "Well naturally of course. For guilds, certain requests require mages with certain magic. In the end, you get a reward befitting the job's level of difficulty. We can get to that tomorrow, but as Nic said, take a load off."

"If you say so."

"That reminds me." Nic imposed. "You guys have a place to temporarily stay?"

Joey and Dereece were taken back by Nic's inquiry.

"That's a wonderful idea." Erza smiled. "I wouldn't mind the welcoming. I say we greet them with open arms."

Nic smiled. "So you guys okay with this?"

Joey was weak in the knees. He was asked so bluntly by the two if they wanted to crash at their house for a short while, and they did so without hardly much of a care or doubt. It was like they could see no ill will in them. The blonde's heart was beating so fast that he was getting a heart attack…again. "N-NN-Nic-senpai…and Erza-senpai…a-asked me…" His eyes began watering again from joy. "I-I-If I could…could…" He looked up in a daze, his head fizzy in pink and bliss once more. 'If I could stay at their home! The place where they live together happily ever after!'

Recollecting himself, Joey shook his head in protest. "N-n-no! I-I mean I couldn't! Really!"

"It's fine." Nic insisted. "So long as you help around while you're here, I think it's fair."

"Y-You mean it?!" Joey looked so hopeful.

"Sure. Just don't try anything you'll make us regret. Okay?"

"YES, NIC-SENPAI!" He shot up with balled fists and a bright smile, sparkles twinkling. "I promise I'll do everything I can to help out! This I swear! You won't regret this!"

As Joey squealed in delight, Dereece looked down at his best friend's Chespin, who looked at him. "Better get used to this. Because now there's really no going back." He told him.


Nic and Erza took their sweet time walking up their own trail that was made from dirt, just like it always was. Others insisted they paved it, but Erza found it to be fruitless, and Nic seemed indifferent to the whole thing. After finding their way up the small incline to their cottage abode, holding hands along the way, they stopped and marveled at their own home sweet home once more.

"Here it is." Nic chimed casually.

"We apologize for the lack of commodity it has." Erza said. "It wasn't always like this, but our first home together had…misplacements."

Joey and Dereece looked up at the abode to see that it was a fine cottage, though vast and with a cozy feeling. Dereece was smiling in appreciation to the quality that it carried. A small jump from beside him caught his attention, turning his eyesight to look over at Joey, who was looking like he was going to explode at any given moment. His smile was so wide and sparkles surrounded his vision. His eyes were misting profusely as he inhaled excitedly upon seeing the abode that belonged to the Pularis couple. Finally, he wailed his arms overhead and yelled out to the world. "GAAAAH! This is it! This…this is the home of Nic and Erza Pularis! I never thought I'd be able to see it in the flesh!" As Dereece tried to counteract Joey's lack of "insight" on the flesh concept, the excited and energetic high school graduate followed to the porch, where he sunk to his knees upon looking at the small flight of stairs with a gasp. "They walked up these very steps…" He followed them inside, where he gasped upon seeing the interior. Even inside it looked cozy. "This is their den…I'm actually breathing the same air they are…" He took a large whiff of the air, exhaling dreamily. "It smells just how I dreamt it would." He gasped again upon seeing the kitchen. "Oh my god, it's their kitchen! They cooked meals that fed their appetites in here…" He zipped to the entrance of their bedroom, gaping in shock at the scene. "This is their very bedroom." He said in a high-pitched tone. "They sleep underneath these very sheets…" He gasped yet again as he jolted to the hallway bathroom, standing at its entrance and gazing at the toilet. "This is their hallway bathroom!" He gasped. "Nic excreted his urine into that toilet bowl…oh the humanity."

Dereece folded his arms behind him. "Just don't go smelling their laundry." He advised.

Joey whipped around, angrily pointing an accusing finger and poking his shoulder. "Woah, hey now! Dereece, what a dirty little mind you have! Why would even think of crossing that line?!"

"Gee, I wonder why." He answered sarcastically.

"It isn't that much to look at, but I admit it's comfortable no less." Erza admitted. "Now you two better behave yourselves while you attend as our guests for the time being, understand?"

"I understand." Dereece said.

"You've got nothing to worry about!" Joey said dramatically. "I'll make sure nothing ever happens on my watch around here!"

"We have two open rooms next to each other. We were thinking of decorating them, but for the time being, we could only afford roll-up mats and sheets. Hope you can be okay with that." Nic said.

Joey gasped with a recoil. "I…" He sunk to his knees once more. "I'd be honored…" He sniffled as he started to wipe away a tear coming to his eye. Dereece seemed indifferent to the whole scenario, considering that was how he usually slept.

With that out of the way, Nic looked towards Erza with a smile. "So then, you going to make dinner?"

Erza swayed her weight to one hip, crossing her arms in a less than ecstatic mood. "Don't think just because you're in charge of dessert that you get a freebie out of helping with the cooking." She retorted before smirking. "Those who don't work don't eat."

Nic snickered. He abruptly grabbed Erza's hand and reeled her inwards. She fell forward, caught into Nic's warm embrace. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she stood with surprise over Nic's affection.

"And yet it's our job to help feed others who need it more than we do." He pointed out softly over her shoulder.

Erza's shock soon subsided. Nic beat her to the affection this round, but she'll be sure to pay in kind. She smiled as her arms soon found her way around his neck, her head turning into his own. They have a lot of hard work coming their way; they weren't going to regret the free time they had already.

Joey continued to sniffle at the hanky-panky scene, blessed to see how much they cared for each other. Dereece patted his back to comfort his pal.


"Upsy-daisy!" Joey ran and barreled through the air, landing on the cushioned mat on the lamented wooden floor. "Oh yeah, this is nice~." He sighed. Beside him, Chespin did a mini-jump and plopped onto his stomach.

"I gotta say, that meal was pretty good." Dereece praised. Like Joey, he jumped and landed on his side, cushioned by the rolled-out mat with a plushy pillow and blanket.

"Yeah, it really was." Joey turned over, laying on his back to stare up at the ceiling. "I learned so much today that I didn't even knew was possible."

"You mean Pokémon struck by these light meteors and said meteors crossing time and space?"

"Besides that, Dereece. No, I learned something important today. Something that made me realize something about Nic and Erza…"

"That they're just regular folk like we are who love and appreciate each other?"

Joey groaned loudly. "What is it with you and jumping to conclusions so early? Did you even sleep last night or kept stupid questions stockpiled for this occasion?" He was giving him an expectant stare, giving Dereece the message he was meant to hint. The best friend despondently raised a brow at the irony, tapping his finger on his mat. "Anyways, what I learned today…it'll make me realize something that I never thought was possible." He looked up at the ceiling with a bright smile, watching the ceiling fan turn profusely. "The truth is that…Nic really likes garlic and garlic powder."

Dereece rolled his eyes at the exaggeration his friend gave out. "Yeah, well, I kinda admit that it really does fit the bill when baking handmade subs. I didn't even think baking subs could be that good."

Joey supported his weight on his elbow, staring at him. "You learn something new everyday" he grinned. "Hey, thanks again for being there for me, buddy. I really do appreciate you being here with me."

Dereece warmly smiled. "There's nothing you can't ask me to do."

"True that, but seriously, thank you." He looked down at Chespin, who was already rolled over onto his back. "And thank you too, Chespin."

The Grass-type raised a paw lazily upwards. "This is a very interesting first day…" He trailed off as his arm fell to his side, his eyes closing from the exhaustion today carried.

"I think he has the right idea. Better get some rest for tomorrow." Dereece laid on his side, pulling the covers over himself. "We're gonna be helping out a guild tomorrow. We're gonna need our strength."

"True that." Joey sighed in fatigue. He was really, really happy about today. He could say over and over how awesome today was, and how he came to a world of magic, met his idle, and started out with being a Pokémon Trainer. He wasn't going as far as to forget about Gyms, but this was something that seemed essential that could impact both worlds. He certainly wasn't going to forget what he said earlier this morning. 'I always did say that I wanted to live big. I'm actually making my dreams come true. Nic really is just as awesome as I thought.' He began to feel so giddy about Nic again that he had to suppress a squeal. He turned over and laid on his side, smiling wide as his dreams were going to come true.


"Nic?" Nic's muffled response was from a pillow he laid on. "Do you really think it was wise to let them stay in this world?"

Nic turned his head in bed, facing Erza as she aid on her stomach. She had a loose black tank-top that gave ample view of her equally ample caboose. He powered through his arousal over the subject. "Maybe." He quietly answered. "Neither world is technically safe all around."

"But you know as well as I do that here isn't as integrated. It's dangerous. You're asking Joey and Dereece out of the gate if they want to dance with the devil."

Nic frowned at her. "Did you forget about myself and Vanessa?"

Erza fell silent as Nic turned on his side, facing her fully. "Vanessa and I made our own choices. I didn't force her to stay behind because I knew she grew up. I'm not asking nor telling people how to live their lives. But growing up is never easy. We need all the help we can get at this point, but from one Trainer to another, we'll help them, just like how we help each other and people, right?"

Granted, the idea had some merit to how it was played out, but in technicality, Nic wasn't wrong. They needed all the help they could get to see this problem get resolved. In all honesty, Erza would've pegged for their safety, and Nic did too. But Nic gave them the choice, just like any self-thinking human being should. That was another part of her that admired Nic: Consideration. Even though the two were starting out, they were at least going to get the experience unlike any other has ever known. It could be seen as selfish, but it's not like asking a lot more of what they already have to deal with will solve anything, it'd just be backed up. And Nic was also right, as long as Joey and Dereece are willing to help out for the Pokémon and people's sake, putting themselves into this matter willingly could help out. But even then, Nic knew only time would tell if they would bear fruit.

Erza smiled warmly at Nic as she pulled herself closer towards him, her slender arms draped underneath his, getting around and gently stroking his black hair. She caressed her nails into his small, soft hair, and she bent forward and kissed his forehead as he dozed off to slumber. "You're right." She whispered, continuing to hold him. "We'll help, even at the risk of our lives…that's the price we pay for being a guild."


The next morning came by rather quickly. Joey lazily got up while Dereece barely struggled to get out of bed. The duo aroused with some energy, looking out the window due west to see that it was barely dark out, but blue was well along the way.

Suddenly, they heard a loud boom reverberate. It was weak, but the vibration made them nearly jump.

"You hear that?" Dereece questioned.

Joey redid his stance, catching balance once more. "Yeah…" There was an eruption of glowing red at the corner of their window, getting them both to sharply turn towards the closed windowsill. They saw the blaze dissipate, but out of inquiry, they inched near it.

"Something wrong outside?" Dereece questioned.

"At this hour?" Joey unlocked the window, instantly being hit by a cool morning March breeze. He powered through and narrowed his eyes as he looked left and right outside of it. "Who's messing with Nic's property…y…y…" He began trailing off once again as his jaw started dropping. His eyes widened upon fixation to something that was something that caught his interests.

Seeing his pal get cut off, Dereece looked towards. "What is it?" He looked in the direction Joey followed, but what he saw rivaled Joey's own surprise.

His own eyes widened as he saw the clash of two beings.

On the battlefield in front of their house, Nic and Erza were in their own Trainer Boxes; Erza being closer towards the house. The redhead was clad in her armor as of yesterday while Nic was dressed as well. On Erza's side of the battlefield were Aegislash and Cloyster. On Nic's side, there was Charizard and Greninja.

Charizard exerted a powerful roar as he reeled his head up, heated shockwaves reverberating and shuddering the landscape. He repositioned himself as he readied his next strategy.

"Charizard, into the air! Greninja!" Nic ordered.

Charizard pivoted and spun backwards, kicking up a wave of dust while giving a grunt as he pointed straight up. The moment his large wings spread apart, he flapped them, shooting up in an orange blur. Greninja gave out his own grunt as he crouched and twisted into the air. As he spiraled, Charizard spun his body in a whirl, picking up Greninja by the use of his back and kneeling forward to hold his weight on him. The two kept a deep, serious glare as they made a sharp arch through the air counterclockwise, nearly reaching the 3 o' clock position.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Charizard whirled his head around and opened, unleashing a hot ripple that exerted upon a molten blast of roaring fire that beamed down with deep pressure. The attack closed in on Aegislash, but Erza was ready.

"Cloyster, Hydro Pump!" Erza commanded, her Cloyster opening his mouth and morphing molecules into a large mirror of water.

Nic swiped his arm. "Water Shuriken!"

"King's Shield!"

As Charizard's attack speeded downwards, Greninja held his foothold on Charizard, swiping his arms and sending high-speed bullets of shredding water at Cloyster. Aegislash retained her Shield Form and moved in front, creating a hexagonal shield that above and around each other like a wall. The Water Shuriken continuously bombarded the wall, creating blue bombs of water that spouted profusely into a mist.

With the cover, Cloyster finally released his Hydro Pump, expelling a vivid torrent of water that bolted up towards the incinerating Flamethrower. The two attacks collided in the dead center, creating a pulsating wave of mist that exploded everywhere. The ground and air alike shuddered as a roaring mist seared and seeped about through the atmosphere. The majority of the mist, however, centered within Aegislash and Cloyster, leaving the two unable to tell where they would strike next.

"Stay sharp! They're right over your heads!" Erza shouted.

Nic's face didn't falter, but his chin tilted. In a flash, Charizard – with Greninja – disappeared, the speed startling Erza once again. They both got out of her sight, disappearing out of thin air.

"Where did they go…?"

In the mist in front of Nic, Charizard reappeared, landing on the ground with a draconic stature. "Heat Wave!" Nic commanded. Charizard again roared out and brought his wings back. Once so, he flapped, unleashing a searing, flaming maelstrom that ripped across the ground, expanding outwards into waves of deep heat that closed in.

Erza balled her fists as she saw Aegislash open and opt to change that. "Cloyster, Protect!" Sliding in front of Aegislash, Cloyster huffed and closed his shell and stood still as a turquoise forcefield rippled in front of him. The Heat Wave blew away every ounce of mist in the area, even as far as blazing small embers in its shockwave. But the whole attack beamed around the Protect, shielding Cloyster and Aegislash.

Erza looked at Nic's serious expression as her hair shifted from the shockwaves of the attack. She couldn't read him. He seemed so calm and improvised. She then realized something off, which made her realize also that it was too late.

As the Heat Wave bolted around Protect, Greninja reappeared in the zone that Heat Wave didn't reach behind Protect, alarming Aegislash.

"Night Slash!"

Upon Nic's command, Greninja grunted loudly as he reached back and suddenly bolted pass Aegislash. The Heat Wave diminished as Greninja followed through in a Mach sweep, dissipating the attack as he revealed his long, bright purple needle in a slash position. Looking away and on two feet, he closed the needle, and in a chain reaction, purple sash marks appeared on Aegislash. She suddenly erupted in a purple smoke cloud, crying out in pain.

"But how?!" Erza gasped.

Within the smoke cloud behind, Cloyster opened his shell and looked back. "Is she okay?!"

Faster than a Pidgeot at Mach 2, Charizard reappeared in front of Cloyster, making him realize it was too late. Charizard's mouth seethed in spiraling flames. Now all Nic had to do was give the order.

"Flamethrower!"

Craning his neck around once more, Charizard arched his mouth and expelled another pulsing, roaring inferno at Cloyster's side. His eyes widened as he was enveloped in another heated blast wave at point-blank range. The shell and Cloyster alike were caught in an explosion of fire that continued streaming fire, pushing Clyster into the smoke cloud and Aegislash, making the two collide before a pillar of heat and fire expelled skywards.

The shockwaves tore across the battlefield, but Nic remained calm as the fire seared in front. A blazing glory morning indeed. Greninja and Charizard both recoiled on their feet and stood in front of Nic, waiting for the heated waves to dissipate. When they did, they saw that Cloyster and Aegislash were sprawled beside each other, spirals in their eyes, and signaling the sparring battle's winner.

Nic grinned. "Looks like that's it for this round." He looked at Greninja and Charizard both. "That was amazing, guys. You both worked really well there."

Greninja smirked. "Don't worry about it. Thank you."

"Not shabby at all." He praised. The Flame Pokémon held out both his fists with a proud smirk. Nic and Greninja bumped their fists against Charizard's, their connection being made with proud grins.

Erza sighed heavily, but she didn't seem disappointed much. She grinned despondently as she took out a Poke Ball and Dive Ball. "Cloyster. Aegislash. Thank you for your bravery. Please, take a break." The Pokémon were recalled back to their capsules, which she put away. "Seems there's still work that needs to be done with my Double Battle skills."

"Well why don't we try again later on today?" Nic advised. "Your Houndoom and Slurpuff combo worked pretty well last round."

"True, but it looks like I'll need to work on maneuvering my offense and defense together with Cloyster and Aegislash."

"Well it was much better than last time we tried." Nic grinned. "Let's get ourselves some Revives and Full Restores, and then we can get ready for breakfast."

Erza nodded. "Yes. The sun should be up any minute now."

Watching from afar, Joey looked like he had suffered a heart attack, while Dereece saw the battle with wide eyes.

"Did you just see that?" he inquired. "Man, I knew Nic was strong, but seriously…"

Joey was completely lost. He was wide-eyed and had misty, watery eyes as he gripped the windowsill like his life depended on it. He was gazing at Nic, Greninja, and Charizard. Nic presented them with a handful of Leppa and Sitrus Berries right there for him to see. 'N-N-Nic-senpai…with his Greninja and Charizard…two of the six mighty Pokémon that saved the universe!' He was shuddering so hard that he could've been mistaken for being cold. In a way, he was. 'They actually battled right before my eyes! Their bond and coordination was simply just awesome~!'

"Woooah, that was so cool…" Chespin hung on the windowsill, having jumped up to look over with his Trainer. Suffice to say his awe was as staggering as his.

Realizing they were getting sidetracked, Dereece shook his head to get out any initial shock. "Okay. Okay. Just relax now. That was just a practice battle…" He put his hand to his chin. "Wait, if that was practice, I'm scared to ask what a real battle would do…" He began to feel a chill went up his spine if he ever saw Nic go all out in a battle in person. He began to question how the land wasn't turned over by mistake.

Joey shot back from the window with an excited look on his face. "C'mon man, we better go get ready to tackle this new day!" He had sparkles in his eyes. "And now we have inspiration!"

"Yeah!" Chespin jumped off the windowsill and followed his eager Trainer out the doorway. Dereece offered no setbacks as he followed too.


After a quick breakfast and healing up their Pokémon with the items they've acquired, Nic and Erza wrapped up their morning routine and escorted Joey and Dereece to the guild hall. Once there, their initiation had begun. Joey was more than ecstatic as he tried to find a place where he could put his guild mark, but Dereece seemed humbled by the offers that Mirajane insisted.

Soon enough, Joey found a spot for his guild mark in the same spot that Nic got his. His was between the shoulder blades, and unlike Nic's violet and Vanessa's teal, Joey went more lenient towards Vanessa. His guild mark was a nice, smooth turquoise.

Dereece's guild mark was located on his upper right arm, just below the shoulder. His guild mark, however, was a safety orange color.

"And you're all set!" Mirajane chimed. "Now you're official Fairy Tail mages!"

Dereece chuckled. "Yeah, now I dig that. Up top!" He raised a hand to Joey, who exchanged a high-five with him, although Joey was slightly distracted at first when he was looking at Mirajane, for obvious reasons. Thankfully this factor was ignored…this time.

"So you're staying here?" Erza asked Nic.

"I have to. Believe me, as much as I'd like to get out there, I need to stay around in case Freed gets back to me on the Council's reply. Someone has to look out the fort." He grinned. "Just be careful."

Erza nodded in acceptance to Nic. Sure, she'd very much enjoy to go on another job with him, but if Nic wasn't around when the reply gets around, then a lot of things could fall apart. She'd have to take the lead for the day, not that she didn't mind.

"What about you, Vanessa?" Sophie asked.

The Aura Mage looked towards her roommate with her relaxed grin. "I'll stay behind just in case. Maybe they need more witnesses and ears for me to tell which Pokémon is which."

Sophie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Well, enjoy your brother-sister bonding. Erza, would it be alright if we took a job?"

Erza nodded with beaming pride. "Why of course, Sophie. It has been a while since we've had our last job together. I say this should be very refreshing."

"Are Natsu and the others okay with this?" Vanessa asked.

"You needn't to worry." The voice this time came from Freed, who talked up behind Nic and Vanessa. They all turned to face him. "The Master insisted that we get as many people out there as possible. We've already sent Natsu with others on a mission, and Gray and Juvia have been off to Mt. Hakobe."

"I see. So we're on our own then." Erza said.

Freed held up a flier that he had in one free hand. "Forgive me for not asking earlier, but since I've been rummaging through various sightings and reports, I couldn't help but recall that we have two new recruits with us. Are Joey and Dereece available at this time?"

Nic and everyone looked over towards the duo. They were given a clear passage to get a view of Freed. The duo stepped forward. "Yeah?" Joey asked.

Freed presented them a flier with the picture of a tree on it. "I understand that this is your first day and you just got included, correct?"

"Yeah?" Dereece asked.

"I took the liberties of looking through the recent jobs that we got overnight. This one was just posted. It should be most suiting for your level."

The duo took the flier, with Joey reading aloud from it.

Unknown Trees

According to eye witnesses, a strange set of trees began to pop up as of yesterday. No one knows where they came from, but they give off a sweet air. Mysterious creatures have been sighted around these trees. Proceed with caution.

Reward: 10,000 Jewel

"'Unknown trees'?" Joey reiterated. He and Dereece looked at each other in question over the job described.

"If anything, those sightings could very well contain Pokémon that you both can decipher." Freed explained. "All you have to do is figure out these trees and you'll receive a pay if you are successful."

"Sounds simple to me. Let's do it." Joey insisted.

"If it puts bread on the table." Dereece shrugged.

"Very good." Freed turned to Sophie and Erza. "Erza. Sophie. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for you both to follow them for their first job. Make sure they understand how the basis of a job goes."

"Right." Erza nodded.

"Ken. (Yes.)" Sophie replied.

Freed turned towards Nic and Vanessa. "I'm afraid Laxus and everyone will be needing your help in detailing all these new jobs rolling in. Almost all of them are of these creatures that could very well be Pokémon."

Nic and Vanessa nodded in understanding. "We'll do the very best we can." Nic answered.

"Thank you once again everyone." Freed thus walked away, leaving the group to turn and leave themselves to their worries.

Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose with a huff. "Good grief."

"Well it's not like this work is going to solve itself." Dereece insisted. "So Joey, you up for this?"

Joey looked at him like it was obvious. "Wha…yeah! Yeah! I'm up for it!" The tone he made sounded more forced, very much like when he was startled before. He suddenly turned towards Erza, sparkles around him. "I can't believe that I'm gonna be working with Erza-senpai…" he squealed.

Dereece rolled his eyes. "Just stick with the program."

Erza put her hands to her hips, looking sternly at the group. It made Joey feel even more hyped than before. "Alright everyone, we'll be heading out now."

"Right!"


The train whistled as it left the train station. The passengers were all safely off the board and were making way towards the city. They all looked excited…well, almost everyone.

A pink-haired someone was drooping as his cheeks were puffed. A dark, droopy aura surrounded him as he was recovering from his bellyaching. Sadly though, he wasn't alone in this one. Beside him, Wendy was looking down and drooping, her own face showing paling.

Lucy sat between them, patting their backs. "It's all good guys…it's all good." She comforted.

"Poor Wendy." Carla grieved.

Happy patted Natsu's back along with Lucy. "It'll be okay pal, just give it a minute."

"Mmmmf…" Natsu groaned.

Watching the scene, Charmander looked up to his allies with a worried look on his face. "Are they okay?"

"Natsu and Wendy both get motion sickness." Happy explained. "Any vehicles just makes them lose it."

Charmander tilted his head at the term. "Motion sickness…?" He looked back at Natsu and then at Wendy. When he thought about it, it made sense why the two pales before they got onto the station back in Magnolia. It also explained why they looked like they were going to throw up. He'll be sure to keep that in mind.

After several minutes of rehabilitation, Natsu and Wendy swallowed a lump, sighing in relief.

Natsu shot up to his feet. "Okay, I think I'm good."

"Yeah, me too."

"Well it's about time." Carla exasperated. "…although it's understandable, you two really need to learn to walk it off."

"Speaking of walking, we should probably get going now." Happy said.

Lucy looked ahead. "Yeah, you're right. C'mon guys."

The group didn't waste anytime in the morning getting on with their duties as mages. Once they saw the guild's request board, it was filled to no end with certain jobs detailing a lot of things out of the norm. So many creatures were seen printed on them according to site watchers. But for the sake of safety and for taking it easy a few pegs, Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy all elected to go on a job together in Onibas.

Their jobs was a search. As of recently, for over the past day now, people have been missing keys to their homes and belongings. Lucy thought with Natsu and Wendy's sense of smell, they could track down the thief and return the keys once he was caught. Sounded easy enough.

Natsu and the group wandered out of the station, taking their stroll out to the streets. They carried along with their business and own leisure like anybody else strolling about.

"So what do you think this key thief is like?" Happy asked. "Do you think it could be another Pokémon?"

Natsu shrugged. "Could be. Or it could be another mage or house cat."

Carla glided beside Wendy, but her face showed displeasure. "Why do I feel so offended right now?" she hummed ominously.

"It's not you." Wendy assured. "But whoever this guy is, he couldn't have gotten very far."

"Yeah, if he did, we wouldn't have been able to smell all this metal we are right now." Natsu grinned.

Lucy followed the group, giving her own thoughts as she seemed secured. "Well let's just hope we find him before he strikes again. I'd rather not be around when he tries for another set of keys."

"Hey, don't sweat it." Natsu looked back at her, grinning like it was no big deal. "I bet once this guy looks at ya, he'll realize he just messed with the wrong kind of person."

Lucy nervously smiled. "Are you talking about yourself?"

As the group carried along towards the client, their trek through the streets wasn't completely unnoticed. As they passed by a few stands selling various produce, if not baked goods, something small and hidden away close to the allies zeroed in on the group. Its vision homed in one Lucy, and what looked like something shiny that was a pouch on her belt. Its eyes glinted with ambition as it leered in the darkness it crept in.


"We should be at the spot soon." Erza said.

"Understood." Sophie stated.

"So, there really isn't any other transportation in this world?" Joey asked.

"Other than vehicles as fast as trains go, not necessarily." Sophie answered. "Are there things faster in your world that we overlooked?"

"Uh, helicopters and planes. We have those sorts of things." Dereece explained.

"Ah yes, I'm quite familiar with those two." Erza smiled. "I must say, those airplanes are faster than what I expected. Quite cozy at that."

The group that was Erza, Sophie, Dereece, and Joey, had all taken liberties and proceeded with their job. The requests was as followed and they followed the directions towards the forest where it was located just outside of Oak Town. The atmosphere around said forest seemed pleasant to say the least. It was like taken a stroll in a park trail. Dew began to fall and evaporate, and some leaves still as buds made the whole forest look enigmatic in a way. Joey and Dereece certainly didn't mind considering the scenic change from back in Lumiose City, but what startled them was how downgraded society was when they didn't invent cars yet.

Sophie had taken the privilege of explaining to them all about her magic, and how her magic qualities function about her. Of course she felt like the bell of the ball, but more so than just her magic. She knew even from know even Joey was behind or in front of her. He pegged maybe a few glances here and there at things quite noticeable about her. She didn't mind, although then again, she hoped it didn't deter the mission. If it did, Erza would run him through.

She also made sure to detail them a little about factions like Dark Guilds, and bandits and people who kill. It was a brief explanation, but she summed it up as well as could have. She even detailed certain aspects of things or minerals called lacrima that held magic inside. She showed her Communication Lacrima, but she didn't use it because it was only for emergencies. Need to stay practical after all.

As they went on, Joey was looking at Sophie at times since he tailed behind. Not only because he didn't know where they were going, but also to see other…things. But for the other half, he was following Erza for admiration. 'I…I'm actually walking in the same footsteps as Erza-senpai. She's letting me walk just meters away like I'm one of their own! This is just awesome!'

"Hey, I think I see someone up ahead." Dereece pointed at the trail's exit, which lead to sunlight.

"Then we're nearly there. Come on." Erza lead the group deeper into the forest trail, pacing swiftly over the tree roots and the dirt paved into it. Even Joey looked on with anticipation now as he followed the group. Eventually, Erza and the others passed through a passage that Dereece pointed out and made it to the top of a small hill, which overlooked a field of flowers with wide green trails going into various paths of the forest. With the sunlight beaming just over their heads, everything seemed to be sublime.

"Man! Now this is what I call a view!" Dereece exclaimed.

"I know…" Joey awed. "Man, people weren't wrong when they said I needed to get out more."

"That person was me, Joey."

"Psssh! Let's not dwell on the past here, okay? We have a job to do, so c'mon." He tailed behind Erza and the others, heading further down the fields and onto the trails around the tall red flowers on the left.

"So the client seemed nice." Sophie said, trying to get a conversation started.

Erza nodded. "She did seem reasonable. Although I have to say, she seemed rather uneased about this whole tree scourge." She sounded so conspicuous herself.

"What do you think it means?"

"I'm not certain, but she did explain that the closer she got to one of these trees, the more it rustled. That's also where she saw a number of very large insects."

Sophie's eyes narrowed. "You don't say…?"

Dereece looked towards Joey as they walked along. "Large insects?"

"Don't look at me, I'm just as clueless as you." He shrugged. As he looked at him, he noticed something far off in the red flowery field. He leaned pass Dereece to point at it. "Hey, look!"

Everyone turned towards the direction where his finger pointed. They made sure it was swift in case they missed it. They couldn't see it feel from where they were, but behind a few trees still blooming, they were seeing a faint yellow tree. It was pretty big at that as well.

"You see that?" Joey inquired.

"Yeah." Dereece said ominously.

Erza looked towards the group, seeing them curious yet unsound by all this. She grew serious as she took the lead. "Everyone be careful. Let's stay sharp around here."

The did complied and they followed her lead around the prickly red flowers. With Sophie and Erza wearing skirt, and having studied some flora based on experience, they'd rather not try and consider poison ivy as a gambit. They found a trail that arched around the bed of flowers and left them to follow on the other side of the yellow tree. They all approached it, eventually standing meters away from its yellow, sweet leaves.

"So this is the tree?" Dereece asked.

"Well I don't see any other yellow trees around here." Joey answered, rubbing the back of his head. To make sure, he looked around the perimeter, but saw nothing.

Erza approached the tree, getting a better view of its bark. She noticed how waxed it looked, like it was lamented in a sweet nectar that was licked clean and smoothed out over time. She even noticed that the closer she got, the sweeter the tree was. It was even making her own taste buds water some. "What kind of tree is this?" she pondered.

Sophie put a hand to her chin as she inspected the overview. "Well it's not anything I recognize from the flora I read on the way here."

"And they said it appeared the other night?"

"That's as I recall. They also said something about large insects."

Joey put a hand to his chin, trying to think of something. He couldn't help but feel something bubbling inside his extremely odd mind. "Yellow leaves…a sweet air…I'm lost."

Dereece, however, narrowed his eyes as he began to approach the tree. "Now wait a minute." He slowly approached the tree, getting close enough to where he was standing mere feet in front of it. He looked at the bark with an inquiry, but he felt something off that almost seemed within reach.

Erza noticed how close Dereece was to the tree. "Be careful." She warned.

"Dereece, buddy, got something?" Joey questioned.

Dereece turned his head to look up at the branches. He knew there could be something waiting, and he had to be careful. He still kept in mind what was bubbling inside his head, making him realize something. "Wait…large insects…sweetness…" He looked straight at the bark again, this time reaching out towards it to get a feel of the tree. As he gently brushed his hand on the smooth bark, he began to get a faint smell of something familiar.

He pulled his hand back, which seemed to have collected some of the shiny filament. He stuck his tongue out and poked his own palm. When it retracted to his mouth, his eyes widened in realization. "Honey!" he gasped.

"'Honey'?" Sophie questioned.

For some unexplained reason, the mention of that word sent a chill up Erza's spine. She could picture a familiar face who always said that, and she tried to pull off a brave face.

Dereece turned towards Joey. "Joey, quick! You remember those old games we played with the Sinnoh region?"

Joey reminisced with a smile. "Yeah, sure did. Those were some good times. We have some pretty close fights, and I really loved all those underground stuff and tre…" He began to trail off when the realization dawned upon him. His eyes widened to rival Dereece's when he realized the trees were all too familiar. When he looked at the tree again, he recognized it with a loud gasp of his own. "A Honey Tree!"

"Yeah." Dereece nodded.

Erza looked at the two, her brow furrowing. "Is there something wrong here?"

"Yeah there's something wrong here! You know what this is?!" Dereece pointed at the tree's trunk. "This tree is called a Honey Tree, and it's native to the Sinnoh Region."

"So then…it's a tree from your world then?" Sophie grew surprised.

"Yeah. Honey Trees are usually discerned by their sweet scent and yellow leaves. If you leave Honey slathered on its bark, and then you wait after a certain period of time, you can get a number of Pokémon attracted to it. Believe me, you can find a few good Bug-types this way."

Sophie looked conspicuous. "And this is legal?"

"Pretty sure it is." Dereece looked towards Joey. "Hey, Joey, what were those Pokémon we can see again?"

Joey's face twisted as he tried to think. "Uh, hang on a minute." He called out. "Let me see, uh…there's Wurmple…Cascoon and Silcoon…Cherubi…Aipom…Combee…oh! And there's another one, but it's like really rare! I think it's…"

Erza and the others waited for the blonde to finish, but oddly enough, he fell short of a finish. They looked towards him to see what was wrong, but he was staring at the tree with wide eyes.

"Joey? What's wrong?" Sophie followed his gaze, but when she did, her own eyes widened.

Erza followed as well, but in her case, her brow furrowed as her face grew astoundingly serious.

Dereece looked at them like they never saw daylight before. "Uh, are you feeling alright guys? You kinda got lost there with that last part, Joey."

"Dereece…" Joey's voice held a great deal of suspense. He put his arm up in a warning sign. "Whatever you do, don't make any sudden movements."

Dereece questioned what his pal meant, but when he started to see Erza get out a Poke Ball, he began to feel a chill run up his spine. Slowly, he turned his big-boned body towards the tree, looking up at something that was stopped crawling down and looked at Dereece dead in the eye at a steep angle.

It was a gargantuan dark blue beetle-like Pokémon, which had yellow eyes with black irises. It had two claws on each hand and one big toe claw on each foot. While the antennae had bulbous ends, the most bewildering part was its humungous horn that curved up into the shape of a concave beetle-like horn. Its glare was meeting Dereece's, whose heart stopped upon sights of the human-sized Bug-type.

"…oh boy."

Yeah, that was the last one." Joey grimaced. "Heracross."

Sophie looked at the huge beetle with a newly profound and perplexed stare. "That's a Pokémon?"

"I'm afraid so." Erza said.

Joey couldn't help himself. Getting out his PokeDex, he frowned as he aimed it at the Heracross, the holographic screen showing its image.

"Heracross, the Single Horn Pokémon. With its Herculean powers, it can easily throw around an object that is 100 times its own weight."

"100 times its own weight?" Sophie repeated. "That strong?"

Dereece was caught completely by surprise of the Heracross that was hiding in the tree. He was looking at him intently, almost ominously. Dereece tried his best to remain as calm as possible while slowly backing away.

"N-now let's take it easy…" He put his arms up. "We…we don't want to do anything we'll regret now, right?"

The Heracross suddenly flapped his wings, dropping down in front of Dereece. The shock made Dereece flinch and rendered paralyzed from shock. He looked like he was going to quiver at any given moment. The Heracross took one step forward, and then another. It was slowly making way towards Dereece and his hands, looking intrigued.

"U-uh, s-somebody help me~!" he chimed. "No pressure of course!"

Erza readied to take action. She was about to throw out a Pokémon, but was cut off when Sophie looked at something. "Wait!" She insisted.

"What? Why?" Erza asked.

Sophie looked back ahead, her gaze as conspicuous as anyone else'. "Look." They all gazed ahead at what Dereece was getting himself into.

As Dereece was unable to act accordingly, the Heracross closed in on the hand Dereece had out before him, sniffing it. The male Heracross continued sniffing the hand, turning his head some like some curious child. He closed in, licking the sap off Dereece's palm.

"H-huh?" Dereece looked in confusion as the Heracross was licking the sap and any means of honey off of his hand, like some dog who loved peanut butter. The action was making his heart rate decrease again. "O…kay?"

Heracross nudged his head, licking the sap clean. "Mmm…delicious…" he muffled.

Erza and the group watching had beads of sweat falling from their heads. Things were expected to get out of hand, but irony had its ways of dealing with this predicament.

"Well, I guess that's one way to attract a Bug-type." Sophie said.

"Well, I suppose you aren't wrong there." Erza speculated.

Joey smirked. "Aw, Dereece made a new friend."

"Quiet you." He grunted back to them. "So uh, you like sweet stuff huh?"

Having licked the sap clean off Dereece's palm, the Heracross backed off, giving him another docile look. "Well who doesn't?"

"True. I bet this Honey could go well with my desserts." Erza pondered.

"Maybe we can consider that later." Sophie said flatly before looking back ahead. "So then, you were in that tree the whole time?"

"Looks like it." Dereece speculated. He moved his other hand to try and reach for the horn. Very gently, not wanting to make any alarms go off for the Heracross, he reached for the horn. "It's this part, right…?" He calmly rubbed Heracross' horn, making his eyelids falter at the petting. He seemed to be okay with it, leaving Dereece to ease fully with how he was handling the situation. "There we go. You like that?"

Heracross sighed as he could feel Dereece petting and scratching his horn. "Uuuugh, this beats rubbing against trees for sure." He muttered.

Once Dereece finished petting, the two began to get acquainted. "You can't really reach up to your horn, can you?"

Heracross shook his head. "When I get itches, all my species can do is rub against tree bark. You won't believe how much bark we accidentally chip off."

Dereece rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I think I can get the picture."

Joey got between Erza and Sophie, watching Dereece with the Heracross. "So what do we do?"

Erza put her hand to her chin. "It's hard to say if this is the only Honey Tree around here. If it is, then you think more were sent here somewhere?"

"Well that's a possibility." Sophie guessed.

Joey turned his head in wonder, looking up at the tree. "Huh, maybe…maybe not? I'm not so sure myself, but I haven't been to Sinnoh before, but the games Dereece and I played had the same geography. There was usually a Honey Tree for every route, basically everywhere."

"I see, so then we might find more scattered about. Good work, Joey." Erza praised. "For the most part, now we have the job completed."

Joey's eyes widened. "I-it is?!"

"That's all it took?" Dereece questioned.

"The client wanted to know about these mysterious trees and you two solved the case. That's all it entails. There's no point in going on a search all throughout Fiore to decipher every last one. We'll report this and receive our payment."

Joey and Dereece looked each other with shock. Said shock made their mouths widen before they looked like they were going to explode. "ALRIGHT!" They high-fived.

As the group seemed relieved, Heracross' interests turned towards the rustling shrubs that were close by. The shrubs shifted left and right, getting not just him, but the alarmed Erza and Sophie to grasp the situation.

"What is it?" Sophie asked.

Erza looked at the bushes, hearing a deep humming from within its wake. Her brow furrowed as she balled her fists.

"You know what this calls for tonight, Dereece?" Joey asked. He and his pal were still caught in their little moment of the job being completed.

"Let me guess, pizza night?" he answered.

Joey gasped in shock. "Oh! You sly devil! It's like you read my mind!"

Suddenly, a sword shimmered beside them, getting them all to quiet down. "Quiet!" Erza warned the two. Her sword remained at her side, held in both hands as she faced the shrubs. "We're not out of the woods yet. Get behind me!"

"R-right!" Not wanting to intrude, Joey scuttled behind Erza. Dereece backed away near her.

Everyone watched as the bushes and shrubs began to rustle louder and louder. The more it did, the more their senses grew. Erza used the sword in hand and threw it into the bushes. Suddenly, in swift blurs, figures began to shoot out, scattering skywards and getting to look above.

"Look!" Sophie shouted.

Scattered through the air and now in the open for all to see, there were several large bee-like Pokémon that massive, bulbous posteriors with equally massive stingers. There were two white needles on each arm, and on the body were black stripes and a pair of clear wings flapping profusely. In total, there were about 20 of them.

"Looks like we got company." Erza grunted. "Beedrill!"

"You know those Pokémon?" Sophie asked.

Erza nodded. "Yeah, Nic, Vanessa, and myself fought a few well-trained ones back in Kalos. They're not to be taken lightly."

The swarm right over their heads grew shivers up Dereece and Joey's spines. They looked up in a panic as they counted all the huge bees that looked hungry. Wanting to be sure, and quickly, Joey pulled out his PokeDex once more.

"Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. May appear in a swarm. Flies at violent speeds, all the while stabbing with the toxic stinger on its rear."

Joey grew nervous by the second. "Uh…is this part of the job?" he worried.

"I don't know." Dereece looked on with anticipation. "But something tells me we should've packed some bug spray!"

"Honey." A few Beedrill said. The sweet smell of a Honey Tree, let alone anything sweet for that matter, that's the ticket to get these Pokémon going. When they want something, they were going to get it.

One other Beedrill pointed his stinger at the group, seeing them as interference. "I sting yo face!" He sassily ordered. All the Beedrill around him went at them, flying at great speeds.

Erza and Sophie glared ahead, readying as the swarm came for them.


"Okay, that should be the last of them." Lucy sighed in relief. She trailed behind Natsu and Wendy as they were currently in the lead, going all over the town to get eye witness reports, or rather in the more logical sense that followed, seeing each victim and getting scents and descriptions of their keys. It was a good lead and start, and now that they had a good whiff of keys, they were ready for some hunting.

"So the last guy who lost his keys said that the thief made a lot of sound." Happy explained. "He said he saw it just as he swept his key and ended up flying out the window."

"The creature would have to be fast in order to achieve that level of reflexes." Carla said.

"Yeah, and it could be small, too." Wendy said.

As he carried along, Natsu put his arms behind his head. "Well I gotta say, we haven't really seen anything that looks like they said."

"True."

Carla huffed. "Well don't sell yourselves short yet. You said you smell it around in this town still, right?"

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, she's right. I'm sure if we keep walking, we'll bump into it."

As they passed by another alley, the group was making headway down the market section of town, where the last eye witness report said he saw it go. As they passed said alley, something with glinting eyes moved, making a rattling sounds.

"Huh?" Natsu turned his head back, alarming the group.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

His eyes narrowed. "You hear that, Wendy?"

The Sky Dragon turned around, intrigued by the noise that went through her ears. "Yeah. I think I did, too…"

A shadowy figure hurriedly went behind an empty cart nearby. Natsu and the others began to proceed much slower out of caution. They knew they were being tailed by someone. Or rather, something. They kept their pace well, and Lucy and the others took notice and stood guard.

"You think they're around here?" Happy muttered.

"I can't sense any magic coming from any direction." Lucy foreshadowed.

"Me neither." Wendy said. Her ears suddenly twitched. "Wait-!"

Natsu gasped as well. He looked over his shoulder. "Lucy! On your right!"

Lucy turned to see in the direction Natsu referred to. In the blink of an eye, a swift, silverfish blur sped right pass Lucy, time slowing down as its many keys were seen. With its jingling rattles, Natsu went wide-eyed as he saw a good look of the figure being something as small as a keyring. He watched as the pouch containing Lucy's keys was slipped into the opening loop of the keyring, being ripped off as it passed on. As the blur went away, Lucy turned around and saw the figment go on.

"Hey, wait-!" She realized what it was carrying off. She looked down at her waist and saw she was without her keys. She gasped in shock.

Out of anger, Natsu sped pass the blonde, barreling into the alley the figment carried off to. "Hey, get back here, you feeb!" He darted so fast that Charmander had to dig his claws into his shoulder in order to stay on.

"Hang on, buddy! I'm coming!" Happy flew into the alleyway next. "C'mon!"

"Right! Lucy, let's hurry!" Wendy urged.

"Yeah! We gotta get those keys back!" Lucy was beyond a doubt short of being frustrated herself. She, along with Wendy and Carla, hurried along down the alley. The blonde with her single, huge, sideways ponytail, ran as fast as possible with a face full in anticipation as she was going to keep her keys back. "Whoever's doing this is in for a world of trouble!"

"Damn straight!" Natsu growled.

The floating figure sped down the open alleyway like no other. It looked desperate as it was surging towards the nearest spot to the right. Once reaching there, it took a sharp turn, leading the chase down a narrower stretch. Natsu was the first to follow, next being Lucy and then then Wendy. Their Exceeds flew over their heads, keeping an overview of which direction of where it'll be going next.

As it drifted with Lucy's and others' keys, Natsu began to grow even more angry. "I betcha a fireball will put that creep in its place!" he insisted.

"Don't even think about it, Natsu!" Lucy insisted.

"Yeah! You might hit those things it likes!" Charmander cried out, still barely hanging onto Natsu. "Also can it kill you to slow down just a teeny-tiny bit?!"

"NOT A CHANCE!" Natsu only sped faster, making Charmander barely hang on and squeal.

The culprit moved as fast as possible, rushing to what looked like a faint green up ahead. Natsu and Lucy and Wendy all looked ahead to see what was coming up.

"Hey guys, it looks like it's heading towards the forest!" Happy called out.

"If it gets into there, we'll lose it!" Carla exclaimed.

"Not with my nose it won't!" Natsu roared.

Lucy caught up to his side. "Yeah, and I ain't going nowhere without my spirits!"

The group bolted as fast as possible into the clearing, where the creature whisked itself into the underbrush. It made way as fast as it could to get away from Natsu and Lucy, but it couldn't believe how ridiculously fast both were. Even as it carried into the grassy woods, they were following, much to its frustration.

Having no use above the canopy, Happy flew right beside Natsu. "We'll never catch it at this rate!" he yelled. "Looks like I got my Max Speed for this job!"

"No, don't!" Natsu insisted. He glared ahead with a smiled growing. "I got a better idea."

"You do?!"

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"Please tell me it's safe!" Wendy hoped from behind.

"Haha! It's completely foolproof!" he anchored his foot on the ground, sliding along the earth and reaching back towards Charmander. "Okay little buddy, it's your time to shine!"

Charmander's eyes widened. "Wait, I what?!"

Natsu threw his arm back, carrying the panicking Charmander that was scrambling to find excuses. "Okay…Charmander, I choose you!" With a massive swing of his arm, he pitched Charmander straight ahead with all his might. The little Fire-type shrieked loudly as he had comical, wavy tears out of the corners of his eyes.

The silver keyring hurried as quickly as it could, but it heard something close in from behind. It sounded like shrieking. Turning around to get a better view, it showed itself just as Charmander smashed right into its face. The silverfish figure and Charmander collided in a powerful – and painful – wave that caused both to recoil. The key pouch it had looped around its arms went loose and went flying off near the trees. It fell into the leaves of the lower branches, perched right on top.

Both Charmander and the keyring groaned, having possible concussions. Natsu, on the other hand, laughed. "You see?! I told you it was foolproof!" he exclaimed.

Behind him, the four had small white eyes and triangular mouths, dull despairing auras over their heads. 'That was his plan?'

Charmander dizzily sat up, his consciousness coming around once again.

"Wait a go Charmander, that was awesome!" Natsu cheered.

Turning around, Charmander shot an angered look with tears still in the corners of his face. "Hey, that actually hurt! What the heck was that for?!"

Natsu sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Whoops, sorry! Forgot to give ya a heads up!" he snickered in slight regret. The Charmander looked more annoyed than ever now.

"Hey look!" Happy pointed at the tree branch that the keys were in. "I think I can see the keys from here!"

Lucy's eyes lit up upon seeing the brown pouch. "Yeah, I see them too!"

"I'll get them, don't worry!" Wendy assured. She rushed ahead, with Carla swooping in from behind to carry her up.

"I'm counting on you, Wendy!" Lucy shouted.

"Yeah, no problem!"

The wild Pokémon now revealed to be a Klefki groggily got back up. She blinked several times before she got a feel of her surroundings. "Gnnngh, what just hit me?" She noticed the Charmander. "Wait, where did you come from?" She noticed how light she was before gasping in shock. "Wait, where are my keys?!" She felt a shadow sneak over her, getting her to look up and see Wendy with wings pass overhead. Her eyes followed her as she raced towards the keys. "My keys!" She started for them as well.

"Don't count on it!" Natsu roared.

As Klefki made a beeline for the keys, Charmander intercepted in a jump of his own. "Scratch!" His claws raked diagonally in midair, sending Klefki back towards the ground. Charmander landed in front, facing off Klefki as she tried getting back up.

The lizard smirked. "Look, I'm in a bad mood right now, so we can either fight, or you can surrender. What's it going to be?"

Klefki found no way out of this. All she could do was growl as she squared off against Charmander in the forest.

Natsu pumped a fist. "Aw yeah! Time for our first Pokémon Battle!"

Wendy and Carla arose to the tree branch, finally reaching Lucy's keys. "And…there! Got 'em!" She chirped. "Hey Lucy, I found them!"

"Thank you, Wendy!" she shouted from afar.

"Now. Let's back down and…" As Wendy was trying to wrap up her choice of words, she felt something cling to the top of her head. "Huh?" It felt light, very light. When her brown eyes looked up, she noticed that a plump, light blue bird with cloud-like wings and a white peak perched itself on her head. Its heady white eyes made it look placid and snugged.

"Uh…"

"What the?! Where did this hooligan come from?!" Carla sniped. "Shoo!"

However, the creature didn't listen. In fact, it looked down at Wendy, their eyes meeting. Beady black ones met with brown. They looked so wide, and very much curious.

Wendy wasn't sure of what to do, but she didn't want to make the situation anymore awkward. Still attached to Carla and flying, she spoke to the perched bird on her head. "Uh…hello?"

"Hi." It chirped.


In deep, whisking snow, two figures were seen walking along an incline up the mountain. A closer inspection showed that the raven-haired man had no shirt, while his partner followed closely by his side.

"Juvia, you sure you're alright?"

"Y-yes. I'm sure I'm well."

"Okay then, just be careful."

Gray and Juvia's job was a different story. Unlike Natsu and the other's jobs, Gray's job was for a different reason. The job was to find some wyvern scales from a wyvern that was last seen around Mt. Hakobe. It felt like a pain, but with his skills, it should be no problem. As an added promise of yesterday, he brought Juvia along. Juvia of course was more than willing, and was actually happy to be alone with Gray on a job, but she also had to remind herself a job was a job. The cuddles would have to wait once they get out of the snow.

Gray looked up towards the sky, trying to see through the sprinkling white. "Man, this stuff is coming down pretty hard today." He said.

Juvia nodded. "Yes, this weather does make it less likely to keep track…" She then smiled. "But I'm sure as long as we stick together, we'll find our way, right?"

Gray looked towards her. "Yeah, just stay close to me, alright?"

Like that, hearts appeared in Juvia's eyes. She went and hugged him from behind, holding on tight. "Yes! Of course! Whatever you say!"

Gray dropped a bead of sweat, but he accepted them and carried on with the added weight to his back.

The two carried along up the mountain pass. They were making decent timing up the hill towards the mountain range of Mt. Hakobe. There, they speculated they could get a better view. Surely they would see a wyvern nest from up there.

As they went higher up, a weak shriek ripped through the air. Gray stopped in his tracks, perking up. "Hey, you hear that?"

Juvia smirked. "You mean our hearts thumping in unison?"

Gray's face was serious. "No. Not that. I think something's heading our way."

Juvia was confused at first, but another shrilled cry was heard. Her head went up, het attention making her let go of Gray and stand right beside him.

"I think we've got company." He warned.

Slowly, within the blizzard at the high altitude, something that had white scales was shrilling caws as it passed overhead. About 20-feet in height, and much longer in length, the miniature herbivore with sharp fangs cawed loudly as it passed overhead.

"White wyvern, 1 o'clock." Gray said.

"I see it."

As the wyvern was incoming within the snow, the sound of a shrilled cry was heard, but it sounded more like distress.

"Hm?"

The wyvern exerted another roar, coming down to the ground beyond the hill with a claw. It stamped, making another shriek exert through the air as snow and mist went everywhere.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Yeah, I did." Juvia said.

"Aaaaaah!" a cry shouted.

Immediately it rung a warning in the air. "I looks like it's attacking someone!" Gray rushed ahead. Juvia followed with equal hurry.

The two hurried as the ground continued to shake beneath them with every time the wyvern seemed to have reached down below. They were closing in on the white hill, seeing something running in their direction in a panic with something on its tail.

As they closed in, both Gray and Juvia's eyes widened.

"Somebody help me!" The creature shouted. He flailed his arms around as he tried to move as fast as possible on his stubby brown legs. His body's entire upper half was white, including a mountain-like cap over his green wyes. His arms were white with green ends with hardly difference between the fingers and leaves. In a way, he looked like a wailing, stout snow tree that was running from the face of death in his eyes.

The creature hurried as fast as possible, but the wyvern was hot on his tail. As he labored in breath, the head dipped down again, diving into the snow just beside it. The creature jumped from the shock and hurried as fast as his legs could carry him.

"WHY ME?!" He wailed. His shrieks went as wild as his feet as he ran in a straight line over the mountain's vast blizzard. The wyvern was chasing him once again once recovered and glided overhead.

The creature knew that the snow cover wasn't going to last forever. He had to defend somehow. As the wyvern overhead readied its claws, the snow tree looked back and aimed his left arm at it. It glowed green and unleashed spinning leaves in a funnel. The spiraling Grass-type attack closed in, but the wyvern flapped its wings, dissipating the leaves before they even got close. As shocked as before the creature was in disbelief that his last-ditch salvation failed.

The wyvern shrieked as its massive claws closed in. The snow tree closed his eyes, looking away from the inevitable.

However, the inevitable never struck. Instead, there was the sound of an explosion that went through his ears. He thought it was going to be his body crushed like a jelly donut, but rather it was the cry of the wyvern. Confused, he looked back, only to gasp in shock.

The wyvern had been struck by something that enveloped it in a mist cloud. It fell backwards into the snow, crashing and quaking the land beneath with tremendous force. The snowy headed creature looked at his predator with shock as he mysteriously fell back from something he knew he wasn't responsible for. "Did my Razor Leaf really do that…?" he wondered.

"That was a close one."

The male voice made the creature turn towards the two figure who were behind. To his greater shock, it was a shirtless man, and a woman with blue hair and dark blue eyes. They just saved him from being dragon-chow.

"Looks like we didn't have to wait after all. The big guy's barreling right for us." Gray mused.

Juvia looked down at the creature before them. "So then this was who it was chasing?"

The creature met eyes with both of them, getting an uneased expression on his face. After his encounter with the wyvern after falling from the sky onto its back, he'd rather not deal with people now. He got into a defensive position, looking ready to attack.

"S-stay back!" He ordered. "I'm warning you!"

"Huh?" Gray looked at the frosted tree directly, looking at his small form with increased wonder. 'Wait, hold on. Why does this thing look a lot like something I saw back in Kalos?'

Noticing Gray's shirtless form, and aware of how humans usually shiver, the creature gave another uneased look. "Wait, why are you without clothing? W-what's going on?"

"Don't worry. We're not here to hurt you." Juvia warned.

"You're not?" The creature was having more confused vibes than before, but then a boom from behind made him swallow a lump. The wyvern in the background began to stir back up again, ready to attack. He shifted back around to face the creature in great shock.

Gray looked at the wyvern without hesitation. "Nope. We're here for that guy." He answered. "Just one thing…"

The creature looked back at him in questioning.

"What you might see, you might want to prepare for. Got it?" With that, he walked pass the surprised snow tree, with Juvia following close behind. The blizzard they were in was falling at such a low level that the smaller figment could see their footprints. He stared with shock as Gray and Juvia stood between him and the shrieking wyvern.

"Wait, hold up. What are you doing? Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

Gray and Juvia took stances as they saw the wyvern flap. It took flight into the icy sky once again, towering over with his fangs bared once again.

"Juvia, you wanna soften him up or should I?"

"I will. I insist."

The white creature looked unsound as he saw them look like they were going to attack without any defenses. It staggered hi to say the least. He backed away, unnerved of what could be the possibility of a demise.

The wyvern flapped his wings and came closer down towards Juvia and Gray. Juvia raised and arm, swiping it.

"Water Lock!"

In speeds no one could've traced, the white wyvern was trapped inside a large dome of water. The whole thing rippled and bubbled inside as the aquatic prison contained the wyvern, which struggled to move about inside.

The creature's eyes widened in shock as he just saw Juvia do what looked like an attack. He couldn't believe it even if it did happen. 'Wait, did she just…?'

"Gray, now!" she exclaimed.

"On it!" Gray took a leap skywards towards the water prison, putting his arms together. "Sorry for this, but we'll just be taking a few of your scales! Nothing personal!" He closed in on the dome of water, a misty ice surrounding his arms as his magic created a shivering blade.

Again, the creature looked in shock over Gray manifesting ice crossed in his arms.

"Ice Bringer!"

Gray passed the wyvern and spliced the water dome with two swords made up of ice. While in midair, the water and the wyvern were suddenly enveloped in an eruption of ice that overtook it all. The ice glimmered a few times before breaking apart, shattering to expel the wyvern in a loud cry of pain. As Gray landed on his knee, the wyvern fell behind him, crashing into snow with a thud. When he arose he looked back to watched as a mixture of ice and chipped white fragments fell like rain, sprinkling around the three and landing in the dying blizzard. "And that's how it's done." Gray smirked.

"Oh Gray, that was so cool!" Juvia jovially cheered with hearts in her eyes and a big smile on her face. As she fangirled over him, the creature that stood right beside her was wide-eyed still upon seeing Gray's attack. To say he was astounded was an understatement.

He couldn't fathom what was going on here. He just saw a shirtless man use an Ice-type attack, and he saw a blue-haired woman use a Water-type power of sorts. While more inclined towards Gray for the usage of ice, he was without any regards to his own condition.

"Excuse me?" Juvia's sweet voice got his attention. "Are you hurt?"

The frosted tree looked up towards her, trying to nod slowly to confirm.

Juvia smiled wider. "That's great."

"…what…what kind of people are you?" he questioned.

A pair of feet pressed into the snow, revealing Gray. "I bet you got a lot of questions right now, don't you?" He approached the small creature, standing right before him in a state of awe. "We got some questions to ask of you as well."

The creature looked up as Gray knelt to eye level. He seemed so calm despite seeing him for the first time.

"So tell me, are you this thing called a Pokémon?"

The snow tree blinked in surprise over Gray's inquiry. Now he was really curious. His eyelids dulled some as he stared up at him. "…yeah…"

The wind began to pick up again, the icy snow howling once more. It was getting so frigid, but Juvia didn't mind. She dressed for the part, and Gray was unaffected, as was the Pokémon.

"What do they call you?"

"Snover."

"Do you know where you are?" Juvia asked.

The creature, who is now revealed to be Snover, looked down in inquiry. "I…I don't know. It all looked the same, but I didn't recognize a few mountain passes here or there…and that dragon thing, I tried to hunt me down ever since I fell on its back from the sky."

Gray looked back at the unconscious wyvern. "That explains it."

"What?"

"Those are white wyvern. You'd be surprised by this, but they're actually not carnivorous. They're actually herbivores, and if I had to guess…" He faced Snover again, getting to the point. "It must've figured you as lunch."

Snover gulped. "O-oh…" He bowed before them both. "Thank you for saving me."

"Our pleasure." Juvia smiled.

Gray put a hand to his hip, grinning at the Snover. As the wind howled into his ear, he looked back at the snowfall. It wasn't dying down. He looked back at Juvia, who seemed like she was doing okay, but with him and Snover looking immune, it wasn't helping their case.

"Well I say if you want some more answers to these questions, let's get off this mountain first. What do you say?"

The Snover nodded, looking more comfortable around Gray. "If you say so…" He followed behind Gray and Juvia alike, watching their backs as they went pass him to get their wyvern scales that fell off the defeated wyvern. The Grass/Ice-type looked on with green eyes fixed on the mages with estrange powers. More accurately, how they could use them to begin with. 'I wonder what's wrong here? Just who are these people?'


The wild Klefki remained stationary as she expelled a pink, sparkling wind from her body, via Fairy Wind. The attack beamed straight for Charmander, forcing him to cover up as the attack rushed pass him. Trying to maintain his foreground he leaned forward so as to keep anchorage.

"Hey, this thing's pretty strong." Natsu commended. "But we can do better! Charmander, use Ember!"

Opening an eye through the pink gust, the Lizard Pokémon glared ahead. He took in a deep breath and unleashed a spray of orange and yellow sparks that shot like a blanket at Klefki. It made it through the Fairy Wind, but Klefki escalated and dodged the attack, which dissipated upon meeting the tree bark meters behind it.

The Klefki looked down towards them, humming with an impatient vibe running off her. Charmander grunted in anger.

"Use Scratch, and nail that thing!" Following Natsu's exclamation, Charmander took another leap off the ground to attack with his claws. Klefki's expression didn't recede from frustration as she too charged at him, via Tackle. The two attacks met dead center; claws against head. There was even a small light ripple that burst upon impact. Once dissipated, the stalemate was off when Klefki nudged Charmander's claws back, sending Charmander back towards the ground. He spun about until he caught himself on all fours in a slide.

Natsu glared at Klefki with his expression growing more serious by the second. "How the heck am I supposed to hit that thing if it just dodges or bounces off my attacks?!"

Charmander got back up to two feet. "This guy's getting really annoying really fast for me."

"That makes both of us." Natsu ignited a fist. "I bet I can fry that thing and make it stop moving."

"Don't even!" Lucy protested. "You'll burn down the whole forest if you do that!"

"Yeah, and you'll melt all those keys!" Happy pointed out. "You gotta keep it this level, buddy."

Natsu growled in frustration. "Gnnngh…okay then." He smirked. "But I bet it can't beat what it can't see. Use Smokescreen!"

Charmander's blue eyes ignited with a glint of passion. "Okay then…how about this!" He opened his maw once more, expelling a thick black cloud of smoke that billowed its way towards Klefki. The attack swallowed up Klefki from within, the keyring closing her eyes as a blue aura enveloped her from within, signaling her accuracy faltering.

"Man, that move sure takes me back!" Natsu cheekily smiled. In his mind, he pictured Nic's Greninja using his own version of Smokescreen, when he still had it of course. "I still can't believe you guys can learn similar moves. That's pretty cool if you ask me."

Charmander looked at the smoke surrounding Klefki, not wanting to turn about or get distracted. "Duly noted."

Watching from afar, Lucy looked at Natsu's battling against Klefki. Suffice to say that with her body language, she was surprised with how it was turning out. "Wow, I can't believe how well Natsu's handling Charmander. I thought he'd all over the place, but it's like he's got the idea down."

Happy floated next to her. "Well he's seen Nic use his Pokémon all the time. I think after seeing from example a dozen times, I think he's doing all monkey see, monkey do."

"Well let's see how this keeps up. I don't wanna get my hopes up too early." Lucy nervously pointed out.

"Lucy!"

The sound came from above. The blonde and feline looked up to find Wendy and Carl descending beside them. "Oh, Wendy!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hey, Lucy." They landed beside them, with the blue-haired maiden presenting the blonde with the pouch of keys. "Here."

She gasped upon seeing her keys. "My keys." She took them and smiled. "Thank you, Wendy. You're a real lifesaver." As she saw the Sky Dragon smile back, she took a moment to realize something was off about her. "Uh, Wendy?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to alarm you, but…" She pointed to Wendy's head, more specifically, something that was perched on it. "Do you know you have a bird on your head?"

Wendy looked up at the blue bird as it nested itself on her head. It looked so cozy as its cloud-like wings were all folded and tucked in. She had a nervous smile as she looked back towards Lucy. "Yeah, it just kinds came out of nowhere…"

"The creature literally swooped in and perched itself on Wendy's head like it was some pedestal." Carla sighed. "I keep telling it to get off, but Wendy apparently doesn't seem to mind."

"Well its light as a feather." She pointed out. "Besides, for all we know, it could be another one of those Pokémon that came here."

"Really?" Lucy gasped.

"Sure looks like one to me." Happy said. "Does it have a name?"

"Not sure. I haven't asked yet." Wendy looked up to the creature. "Um, excuse me?"

The bird hummed as she looked down at Wendy again. "Hi there."

"Hi. Uh, we were wondering something."

"Like what?"

"Do you…have a name or something?"

The bird blinked, only to then shake her head. "M-m, nope. I'm just called Swablu."

"Swablu, huh?" Wendy smiled. "Okay then."

"Aren't you going to tell her to get off?!" Carla interjected.

"It's fine, really! Don't scare it away!"

Back to the battle, Natsu balled a fist, eager to get the fight rolling on. "Okay then, let's use Ember and cream that thing!" Charmander had no problem doing just that. He ascended above the cloud of smoke with a jump and saw Klefki in the low-level smoke cloud. He opened his mouth and fired a blanket of embers from above. The Klefki looked up, but was instantly pelted by the barrage of sparks. She yelled out as she slid back out of the Smokescreen, which dissipated.

As she looked head, Charmander landed in her spot.

"Alright! Now we got this going for us!" Natsu cheered.

The Klefki's expression turned annoyed next. "You think so, huh?" As she faced Natsu, she couldn't help but look behind him. In her line of sight, she saw that the keys she stole were back in Lucy's possession. Immediately, her expression shifted to glints in her eyes. "My keys!" Instantly, she tried to make a beeline for Lucy.

"Oh no you don't!" Natsu slipped in front of Klefki, surprising her with his quick feet. The Steel/Fairy-type instantly jerked away for caution.

"Now, Scratch it!"

Confused, Klefki turned towards her right, staring at the Charmander as he jumped to rake at her. She backed further away and allowed Charmander to fall forward in his Scratch, losing the momentum needed to land safely. He thudded loudly, staying on the ground as Klefki levitated a good distance away.

Natsu's fists balled tight. "Man, does this thing ever sit still?"

Klefki flimsily moved about through the air in a rushed manner. Charmander got up once more to follow Klefki as she moved about through the air. She seemed eager and impatient all at once. "Keys. Gotta get my keys. I need keys!" she chirped quickly.

"What's this thing's deal? Why does it need keys so bad?" Lucy asked, holding her keys tightly to her ample chest.

"I don't know, but if this keeps up, we won't get anywhere." Wendy worried. "We gotta slow it down somehow."

On her head, the Swablu perked her head up. "Huh?

"That thing's too fast to land a clean blow." Carla examined. "We won't get anywhere if this drags along. Wendy, can you use your enchantments to enhance Charmander?"

Wendy nodded. "Great idea. Okay then…"

Wendy readied to attack, but she fell short as Swablu extended her wings on her head, making her hold position as the small blue bird hummed and took flight.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Wendy called out, but she didn't listen. Swablu took to the air and went flying ahead to battle.

Carla saw the act and seemed generally surprised. "What's she doing?"

"Is she going to try something?" Happy questioned.

Lucy and Wendy held their ground and watched from the distance.

Natsu watched with his eyes following Klefki. Even with all those keys attached to her, she was surprisingly very light. He was honestly surprised at the speeds in which they traveled about. "Great. How am I supposed to catch that thing if all it does is-?" He was cut off when a blue humming bird flapped pass him. "Huh?"

"I can help!" Swablu called, getting Charmander's attention. The Lizard Pokémon looked back in surprise as Swablu stopped beside him, flapping in midair.

"Wait, where did you come from?!" Charmander exasperated.

"KEYS!" Klefki whined. She zoomed right ahead, targeting Swablu as she had entered the fray.

Wendy looked astonished as Swablu was within her range. "Swablu, look out!" However, the Normal/Flying-type didn't listen. In fact, she started to open her mouth, taking in a deep breath.

Klefki rolled in, but Swablu emanated a voice from her beak. Her white beak opened, releasing a loud, but equally as enigmatic lullaby. The soothing voice reverberated through the area, catching Klefki off guard. Swablu kept humming away, her vocals aimed for the desperate keyring. As she kept going in at Swablu, she began to get slower, much to everyone's surprise.

"Hey, it's slowing down!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Amazing." Lucy said. "Is she really trying to sing the thing to sleep?"

"I don't know, but it looks like it's working. Look!" Happy pointed ahead, signaling to everyone how the Klefki had started to drift towards the ground and her eyes showing signs of getting heavy. "It looks like it's really working!"

"That's a surprise." Carla deadpanned.

Swablu kept singing aloud with all her gusto, her eccentric lullaby reverberating towards Klefki. The Steel/Fairy-type was trying to hang on to her willpower the best she could, but her strength was beginning to fade. The keys she carried started getting heavier and heavier. They felt like they were going to come loose any second. She pulled herself together in whatever way manageable, but nevertheless, just hearing the hypnotic tune was making her mind go numb.

"N-no…my…keys…" Her conscience finally giving up, Klefki's eyes finally closed. Her body fell to the ground, laying in her side with her keyhole mouth open. At long last, she was finally asleep.

Charmander looked ahead in shock at the fallen Klefki. She was finally asleep, and in a way, vulnerable. He looked back towards Swablu in amazement as her angelic tone finally subsided, ending her attack and her aid.

The blue bird turned towards the distilled Charmander, unfazed by her own actions. "Okay, that should be good, right?"

"R-right!" Shaking his head of any distractions, Charmander redoubled his focus on the battlefield. "Natsu, let's hurry and finish this!"

Natsu looked at his Pokémon with a distinct brow raised. "What?" He looked at the Klefki, watching her sleep. "But…isn't attacking someone in their sleep a little bit wrong?"

Charmander rolled his eyes. "Ugh…well not to Pokémon. It's not like we're gonna kill them…right?"

"What?! No! C'mon!" Natsu retorted. "Even I don't do that! But, since this is between Pokémon…I guess just this once will do."

"Now we're talking." Charmander faced the sleeping Klefki, ready to make his next move.

Natsu balled a fist, punching forward. "Man, I'm actually gonna feel sorry for this but…use Ember!"

Charmander reeled his head back, gathering what power he could. "Sorry pal…sweet dreams!" He lurched his head forward, expelling another blanket of sparks and embers that bolted at Klefki. With the Pokémon fast asleep and unable to dodge, the blanket of sparks enveloped her, this time kicking up enough force to send her flying off the ground into the nearest tree meters away. The impact of the Fire-type attack and the tree alike sent a shock through the Klefki as she blacked out inside her dreams. The critical hit made the Pokémon fall forward once again into the grass, this time thoroughly unconscious. It was shown by the spiraling eyes.

Charmander beamed with pride. "And that's how it's done."

Natsu shrugged. "Well, guess that's it then. We did it!" he laughed in glee over how it worked out. "We won our first battle!"

"Yeah!" Charmander growled up to the forest, signaling his first true victory in the new world.

The Swablu flapped in place, humming sweetly as she felt proud herself. It wasn't wrong to say she gained experience as well.

After the fight was over, Lucy and the others regrouped with Natsu, with Wendy being the lead with a big smile on her face. "Wow Natsu, that was pretty amazing." She complimented.

"Yeah, you two really did a good job." Lucy commented.

Natsu sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Aw c'mon, it was nothing." He looked over, seeing how Swablu was flying gently pass him again. "Besides…" His gaze followed her as she perched herself on top of Wendy's head once again. "I couldn't have done it without that little guy's help. Thanks a lot."

The Swablu smiled at Natsu happily. "With pleasure."

Carla faced the Swablu with a tick mark growing. "Hey, wait a minute! Why are you back on Wendy's head?! I thought I told you not to do that!" Swablu, however, didn't seem afraid. She just nested in Wendy's clean hair and sighed. Carla groaned in growing aggravation.

"I said it was fine, alright?" Wendy scolded before smiling up at Swablu.

"Well if you ask me, it must really like you, Wendy." Happy said.

"Well I think it's sweet." Lucy chimed. "Now then, back to business at hand…"

"Oh right." Natsu turned his attention towards the unconscious Klefki. He and Charmander glared at it like they wanted to burn holes through her, and really no one could blame them. She gave them such a hard time that it's hard not to get mad.

Lucy sighed. Rather than wait about, she moved pass Natsu and reached Klefki. She knelt and undid her keyring herself. She had a strong grip, even when unconscious. She eventually got it loose and took all the keys that were on her keyring, handling them by herself. "I think when this little guy comes around, I'm gonna give him a personal word about thieving from others." She sounded scornful, and the look she had proved it. "You all get that? This one's all mine."

Natsu folded his arms, smiling. "Sounds good to me! Boy I'm feeling sorry for it already."

"So I guess we should return all the house keys then." Wendy suggested.

Natsu turned back the way they came. "Yeah, then we can eat until we pop!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy glided onto his shoulder, resting on the right one, while Charmander hopped up and took liberties on the left one. Carla followed along as Wendy pressed behind, with Swablu remaining on her head. Lastly, Lucy trailed behind. She held onto the keys and onto Klefki by the key-like top so that she doesn't go anywhere, not while Lucy had a few choice words for her the second she wakes up.


A wave of fire in a vast arch went everywhere. The heated sword that it came from followed through with its arch, enveloping no less than 6 Beedrill in its wake. The wave pushed through, sending all the charred bees back into the underbrush again.

Erza adjusted her stance, her posture and heated choice of weaponry alarming the Beedrill before her. "Is that all?"

Sophie slowly raised her finger to her forehead. "So, these insects detest fire then? Ein be-a-ya. (No problem.)" A chain of memories started to form behind her, targeting the Beedrill that were heading for her. "Memory-Make: Pyro Saucer!" Like Erza's attack, several saucers of spinning flames shot from out of thin air. They moved so fast that the Beedrill had nowhere to go. They were all struck and blown away by the erupting saucers. The Beedrill hissed in pain as the flames boomed in their faces.

Erza and Sophie held their statures as the remaining Beedrill looked at them in raised alarm. They all hissed with shock and fright as they used fire, something they can't seem to stand. A few more looked at each other knowingly before they chose to flee the scene. A few others stayed and readied their counter.

"So you choose to stand your ground?" Erza questioned. "Very well then…prepare yourselves!" Same as before, she let out a battle cry as she slashed her Flame Empress Sword, sending another wave of fire at the Beedrill heading their way.

Standing away from the action a safe distance, Joey was quietly squealing as his hands cupped his own face. He was on the verge of paling as he watched Erza do battle against Beedrill without Pokémon. In fact, seeing her Requip Magic and transform to use arts like moves would was making his own heart race. "This…" he muttered. "This is Erza-senpai's power…it's no awesome~!" he whispered.

"Yeah, no kidding." Dereece agreed. "Man. They're swatting then down like…well…flies."

Sophie swiped her arm, summoning lightning down from the sky around the Beedrill. They all spooked to no end at the display and rushed away once an opening in the lightning strikes was clear. Erza's next wave of fire was the final insult to the Beedrill as they took off, not wanting to get cindered nor barbequed.

"So this is guild work!" Joey chimed. "Man is it awesome or what?"

Dereece was willing to respond to that, but a shadow appeared on their backs. They heard the faint sound of buzzing that made their ears shrivel from its unpleasant tune. They had a bad feeling as the buzzing grew louder, getting them both to slowly raised their brows and glance at the other.

"Dereece…"

"Joey…"

Together, they turned around swiftly and got the identity of what was the culprit was. To their shock, it was a lone Beedrill. It looked down at them with his red eyes gleaming hostility and curiosity at the same time.

"A Beedrill!" Joey gasped. He looked back at Erza and Sophie, who just finished the last wave of Beedrill that was attacking. 'Did he work around all that?!'

"I sting yo face!" The Beedrill aimed his stingers at the two boys.

The Beedrill having been dispatched, Erza and Sophie turned towards the two boys. To their shock, they saw that one was carefully observing them, awaiting for whatever move was to be made.

"We missed one!" Sophie growled. She readied another spell to save them, but a sword cut her off. The red and hot piece of metal still simmered watery heat waves that made her face feel hot. "Erza?"

The Requip Mage glared at the scene, her brown orbs seething anticipation of what will happen next. She knew that as new Trainers, as well as being one herself, she had to see what Joey and Dereece can do in a situation such as this.

Slowly, Dereece took a very slowly step backwards, hands up. "Joey? I~ don't think the job's that fun anymore…" he nervously spoke.

"Uh…maybe." He seemed equally as worried as Dereece, but at that moment, realized something important that he had that made him less vulnerable. Feeling his pocket, the blonde stopped in his tracks and felt his Poke Ball containing Chespin. He knew what he could do.

Hurriedly reaching into his pocket, he expanded the Poke Ball, glaring up at the Poison Bee Pokémon that was shivering his spine still.

"Uh, Joey…"

"Go, Chespin!" Throwing the Poke Ball, the capsule popped open, expelling out the Grass-type Pokémon that stood on his two feet. The creature looked as ready as his Trainer as he faced the bee.

"Okay, let's do it!" He eagerly shouted. The Beedrill glared at him, his three stingers pointed directly at his face. As they glinted, the confident look on Chespin's face began to falter. His ears started to droop like he was facing a devil. "…uh, can I take back what I just said? I don't think I'm ready for this."

"I sting yo face!" Beedrill denied.

Dereece looked at Joey like he had gone mad. "Joey? The heck are you doing?" he whispered.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm proving myself to Nic and Erza-senpai." He stated. "Even if we're still newbies, we won't go down that easily, right Chespin?"

Chespin wanted to object, but seeing the look on Joey's brave face showed he was into this. The least he could do was put one up himself. He looked back at the Beedrill, readying himself.

"Well this'll be something then." Dereece groaned. "Just keep your distance, okay? You know Chespin's at a huge disadvantage here."

"I know~, that's why we played all those video games." He reasoned. "We'll just have to soften him up first." He reached out. "Alright, let's use Growl!" Chespin complied with Joey's command. He opened his maw and expelled soundwaves that distorted the air all the way towards Beedrill. The Bug/Poison-type shimmered in the air, rattling his head back and forth as a blue aura enveloped him, decreasing his Attack strength.

"Just like that!"

The soundwaves soon receded, and Beedrill shook his head. Once cleared of the loud noise, he aimed his two white stingers at Chespin. "I sting yo face!" In his Fury Attack, he dove at him.

Joey clutched a fist tight. "Dodge it!" Chespin took off in a quick leap towards his right. Beedrill stabbed the ground where Chespin was before he moved away. The bee turned his head as Chespin laid on the ground to the side, safe from that blow.

"Use Growl again!"

Chespin opened his mouth once more, expelling another round of distorting soundwaves that ripped through the atmosphere. The attack, being at a closer range, made Beedrill shrivel as his antennae went out of control. Once again, the blue aura surrounded his body, signifying an Attack decrease.

"Alright! It's looking good now!" Dereece exclaimed.

Joey pointed at it. "Good, now use Tackle!"

Chespin got up to his two feet, aiming at Beedrill like he was going to launch himself skyward. "Cowabunga!" He shot off the ground into Beedrill's abdomen. The attack had enough force that it dislodged Beedrill's stinger from the ground, sending him back into the air. The poisonous bee recoiled heavily back up, while Chespin wobbled on his two feet until he straightened out.

"Nice going, Chespin!" Joey praised. "Keep it up!"

Chespin smiled. "I've always wanted to say that."

The Beedrill looked down at Chespin with a more revolted look. "I sting yo face!" he roared.

Chespin raised a brow. "Wait, didn't you say that already?"

The Beedrill pointed his stingers once again at him, but this time they were glowing a bright purple color. The coating compared to last time immediately set off alarms for a few people.

"Uh oh." Dereece muttered.

"Why 'uh oh'?" Joey questioned. He looked back up, only to realize what it was that Dereece meant. He knew what might happen. "No…please not Twineedle!"

But it was too late. Beedrill shot at Chespin with a faster speed than before. One needle was brought back, and Chespin hurriedly ducked in his own act of cowardice to evade the attack. To his relief, it again struck the ground behind him, impaling the earth.

"Alright, nice dodge!" Joey shouted.

Chespin opened his eyes once more, looking up to see the needle was right overhead. He thought he was able to attack again like before, but a needle from dead ahead reached for him, stabbing him square in the stomach. Chespin cried out in pain as he went flying back, sailing head first into Joey. The surprised Trainer had no warning as he caught Chespin, falling onto his back in the process.

"Joey!" Dereece cried out.

Erza and Sophie looked on in shock. It looked like they still had a ways to go. "Is he okay?" Sophie yelled as she hurried behind Joey. Erza followed not long after, just as Joey grunted and slowly sat up again.

The teenager opened one eye, his teeth gritting from the pain. "Great…it's gym class all over again." He wheezed. He looked down at Chespin in his arms. "Hey little guy, you okay…?"

In his arms, Chespin clutched his stomach. He groaned in pain as he too opened an eye. "Gnnngh…my stomach hurts…but I think I'm good." He groaned.

Joey sighed in relief.

Dereece looked back, seeing that both Joey and Chespin were still in the pink. "Is he still conscious?" He got a nod from Joey. "Phew. Man, that was a close one then. If it weren't for those Growls, then-!"

"I sting yo face!"

The cry alarmed Dereece. Immediately, he realized his folly and turned around, seeing the Beedrill was once again in the air, and this time, it looked like his aggression had spiked big time. From the looks of things, he seemed particularly interested in stabbing Dereece, being so close and all.

"Dereece, get back!" Erza rushed ahead, bypassing Dereece with her sword ready. She readied her defense while Sophie held a vanguard beside Joey as he and Chespin were getting back up.

The Beedrill didn't care how many of them there were. He was mad now, and he wasn't running away. "I sting yo face!" With his needles shown, he poised and shot down at Erza, who readied a parry.

Dereece closed his eyes behind her, having very high doubts and prayers for all of this to be a nightmare to soon end.

The sound of a body struck through the air, reverberating like armor. It sounded like the bee had met its mark with someone, but when he opened an eye, he saw that it wasn't Erza. In fact, she looked as shocked as he was. When he looked back, he realized what it was that took the blow.

"What the…?"

The Beedrill was held in place as his needles were grabbed hold by two claws that were trying to keep him back. They belonged to a large blue beetle who got in the way and dug in his heels to fend off the poisonous intruder.

"Heracross!" Dereece exclaimed.

"He took the hit for us?" Joey gasped.

Heracross grunted as he did his best to hold his ground. Surprising enough, even with the Attack lowered by Beedrill, he was still putting up a deep vanguard to follow up on. "Gnngh…you're…not going anywhere…!" he retorted.

"I…sting yo face!" Beedrill retorted, but with equal strain as Heracross. With his two needles incapacitated by the claws, his secret weapon was pulled up. It was time for the big stinger on the bottom.

With it poised and aimed for Heracross' face – literally – the wild Beedrill unleashed a Fury Attack again. The stinger struck his face, making Heracross grunt.

"No!" Dereece panicked.

Another Fury Attack in the face, this time making Heracross slide back again. And again, slide back another inch. Through each consecutive blow to the face, Heracross still held his grip onto the stingers, but he kept sliding back.

Seeing the angry Beedrill on offense, Sophie's eyes squinted. "We need to do something."

"Wait!" The call came from Dereece, surprisingly. The group turned to see him standing up again, the big-boned friend of the other newbie Trainer looking ahead with a pleading look in his eyes. "C'mon man! Dig in those heels!" he encouraged. "Push!"

Heracross kept getting stung in the face, but Dereece's encouragement kicked in. The Bug/Fighting-type suddenly opened his eyes at last, registering what to do. His heels stopped sliding back, and his ground was finally getting back to his side. With a heavy grunt of raw muscle, Heracross began to take blow after blow of Beedrill's Fury Attack, but the bee was caught off guard as the superior insect was pushing him back rather than him instead.

One step after the other, Heracross kept pushing, showing his way towards victory.

"Yeah! That's it! Keep pushing, you're doing awesome!" Joey shouted.

"Go get him!" Chespin cheered, but he fell short of saying before wincing at the pain. "Ow…"

With one final shove, Heracross finally shoved Beedrill back into the air, ceasing his advance entirely. He looked down in shock upon catching himself, seeing that Heracross was now determined to get in his way.

"It's just you and me now." Heracross retorted. "Leave the delicious human alone."

"'Delicious'?" Dereece repeated.

"I sting yo face!" Beedrill pointed his two needles at Heracross again, this time glowing bright purple to signal Twineedle. The poisonous bee bolted downwards to attack full force, stabbing Heracross with both needles at once in the face. The impact made him reel face in pain.

Everyone gawked in surprise over the attack. They saw Heracross regain himself from the attack, but when he dug in his heel, he suddenly winced, toxic bubbles rising up from his face.

"It's poison." Erza explained.

"This doesn't look good at all." Sophie worried. "Should we help out?"

Heracross grunted again, but his eyes opened again. He looked up at Beedrill again, who was waiting for his turn to do something. Heracross' open eyes had seething glares as poisonous bubbles fizzled around them. As the last bubbles arose, his eyes suddenly became a glistening crimson aura.

Joey blinked. "Hm? What's that?"

The crimson aura enveloped Heracross, as if empowering him and making him stand taller than before. The huge beetle let out a cry as he anchored himself to attack once more, the weak look he once had replaced by bravery.

"Woooah…" Chespin awed.

"What's it doing?" Sophie questioned.

"I don't know, but I don't care." Dereece widely smiled as he punched forward. "Sick that thing, Heracross!"

Responding to Dereece, Heracross lowered his head to reveal his horn to Beedrill. The horn glowed a bright like that shimmered heavily in strength. He shot off the ground and up towards Beedrill like a rocket. "Horn Attack!" he screeched, barreling into him.

"I sting yo face!" Beedrill straightened his needles once more, diving into Heracross two the same Twineedle as before. The two Pokémon closed into each other at high speed.

They both shouted at high volume, soon reaching the middle to decide a winner.

Beedrill dove in, and Heracross Horn Attack bolted straight through like a tank. He shot skywards still into Beedrill's abdomen, making the bee cry out in deep, relentless anguish as he felt the inside echo in pain. Heracross' Horn Attack gave one last flick that shot Beedrill up into the Honey Tree's trunk, making a bone-crushing thud from Beedrill slam into it. He stayed glued to it for a few moments before slowly slumping downwards like a collapsing building, sprawled on the ground with red spirals for eyes.

Heracross flexed his muscles, looking jovial at the match won.

"Alright! You did it man!" Dereece praised. "That was awesome!"

"With just one blow…" Sophie awed. "Amazing."

Heracross turned back towards them, smiling with glee. "Aw, thanks. It was nothing…" He trailed off as his body lurched again, poisonous bubbles once again piling up. Everyone closed in on Heracross as he flinched from his poisoned condition, hurrying with gusto.

"Woah, hey, take it easy." Dereece insisted. He looked at Heracross' face, smiling. "Relax."

Erza reached into something behind her that she had been carrying. She looked at the item she carried in hand, which happened to be a Full Restore. The cream and bright green container was pointed at Heracross. "Hold still. This may sting a bit." She proceeded to spraying Heracross with the medicine.

As it was sprayed once everywhere, the insect could feel a sharp pain at first, but the next second, it was like hugging a fluffy cloud. He could feel his aching face ese up, his poisonous bubbles fading away. He smiled wide as he was finally cured and back at full health.

"Well that was a relief." Thanks, Erza." Dereece thanked.

Erza nodded in acceptance. She turned towards Joey's Chespin, presenting a different capsule – a Potion. "Be strong, okay?" She sprayed the medicine into Chespin's stomach, where the Grass-type winced at the pain. He grunted heavily, but then the wound he was given began to ease up and fade away. "There, all better."

Joey sighed in relief. "Thanks so much, Erza-senpai. You're so awesome, coming prepared!" Like before, he gazed at her with sparkles around his face. He was so unprepared, and yet the wife of Nic Pularis himself came to be the savior of this terrible woe.

Erza smiled. "Well, a good Trainer knows when to come prepared for situations such as these. You should chock this experience down so you don't get shorthanded the next time, okay?"

He nodded. "Yes!"

"So I take it we head back now?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, it seems our work here is done. We know what these trees can do so the people can be more adequately prepared for these forests. We'll inform this and see to it that our reward is collected. Shall we move along?" Erza started off for the way they came back. Everyone else followed her lead back to the path.

As he started, Dereece took a few steps forward until he heard something from behind. Getting an odd feeling, he turned around and saw that Heracross was there, his claws towards his abdomen and looking at him expectantly. "Oh, hey. Heracross, thanks so much back there. You were awesome." He praised.

Heracross sheepishly blushed. "Oh, I don't know about that…"

"You got a lot going for ya, okay? What you did was pretty amazing, and you know…you're a pretty cool Pokémon." He smiled happily as he turned and began to walk away. "Don't be a stranger now. Later."

"Wait…" Heracross reached out towards Dereece as he took off with the group, but he fell short of guts as he watched him go instead. He retracted his claws, watching in silence and a falling face as Dereece took off with the others.


On the trail outside the forest that carried them to the train station, the group was looking peachy at this first job being a success. For Joey and Dereece, it was a milestone.

"Wow, that was actually exciting! And it was so…so…dangerous!" Joey scrambled to find the right word, but that was the one that came to mind. "It was everything that I hoped it'd be."

Erza chuckled at Joey's expense. "Welcome to the life of a guild mage. If you're really that into it, then I suggest that you save that comment for when the more tougher jobs come your way."

Sophie smirked. "If I were you, I'd heed that warning."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Dereece grinned. "And Joey, I do hope you learned to be a little more prepared the next time you have Chespin battle, yes?"

Joey rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I got it. I'll try and wait on the Bug-types until we learn Rollout or something. Right, little buddy?" He looked at Chespin, who sat on his shoulder with a smile of joy on his face.

"Right!" he nodded. "Huh…?" He turned his head, looking behind him.

Joey stopped in his tracks, getting the others to stop as well. "Huh, what's up?"

Chespin pointed back the way they came. "Look."

Everyone followed his arm out towards the trail that they came from. Their heads turned back to see something head their way down their trek. To everyone's surprise, it was Heracross; the same one that Dereece saw back by that Honey Tree.

He got in front of the group, looking at him with surprise. "What…Heracross?"

Heracross stopped several meters away from Dereece. Looking sheepishly at him, his claws were at his abdomen again. "Hi…" he greeted.

"It followed us all the way out here?" Joey questioned.

"But why?" Sophie wondered.

Erza's brow furrowed. "Maybe it wants something…"

Dereece and Heracross stood apart from each other, looking at the other with an odd air between them. Dereece couldn't exactly explain it, but he just had a feeling Heracross came out here for something that seemed more personal than it led on. His hunch grew as he looked into Heracross' eyes, seeing deep wonder, almost like a child.

When he realized it, his eyes widened. "Wait a sec…" He pointed his index finger to himself. "You mean…?"

Heracross' smile widened and he nodded his head. "Yes. Of course!"

Dereece could feel his heart thump out of joy. To say he was shocked would be one thing, but he felt like he was going to explode out of excitement. A wild Pokémon wanted to follow him, and how could he possibly say no to that? Overcome by awe, he gaped and chuckled some. He pulled out a Poke Ball he had out and chuckled upon seeing Heracross again.

"…okay!" With a toss of the Poke Ball, Dereece went and threw the capsule that closed in and tapped the stiff Heracross on the side of the head. He complied happily as he reverted to red energy and went into the Poke Ball. The capsule closed and fell to the ground, making a plastic thud before it started to rustle left and right.

Everyone watched with anticipation as the ball shook left and right, its button going red constantly. Finally, after what seemed like forever, one final 'Ding' went off, signaling the beginning of Dereece's own adventure with Heracross.

"Alright!" Dereece ran up and plucked up his Poke Ball. He presented it to the group with great joy. "I gots me a Heracross!"

Joey pumped both fists with wide eyes. "Man, that's so awesome!"

"Wow!" Chespin awed.

Dereece sheepishly rubbed the back of his head at his best friend praising him. "Oh c'mon now…"

"You know what this calls for?" Joey questioned. "Guess? It's…DANCE PARTY TIME!" He crouched as he pointed both fingers at Dereece. "Dereece, crank up that tune!"

Happy to oblige, Dereece pulled out the small boombox he had still on him. He pressed a button, getting the ultra-bass thumping loudly. Together – right then and there – the two began to dance along the trail. Chespin smiled wide as he watched his new Trainer kick it with jams as well. He knew then what Joey meant by 'shaking his moneymaker'.

As they danced along the trail, Chespin followed happily, shaking his tail and kicking up his feet every now and again. They had a good beat going, and Erza and Sophie watched with smiles on their faces as they watched them go on.

"So that's how you bond with Pokémon." Sophie said.

Erza nodded with a warm smile of her own. "It's a beautiful thing. You can earn a Pokémon's respect in many ways. Those who uphold themselves find it more suiting to battle and be caught fair and square…but there are those unlikely exceptions to that rule."

The two followed behind the partying duo, warm smiles and chuckling as they had another fond memory to share.


"So that's what happened, huh?" Nic summarized the day's events explained to him by Erza. He was currently on their front porch, watching as the sun was setting on their right. He, along with Vanessa, had a long day of deciphering all the Pokémon that were seen on the posters, and frankly, after having used the PokeDex so many times and getting mock notes that Freed jotted down about them, the two siblings were relieved to have it all over with.

A brush ran across Staraptor's back, her eyes closed as Nic was combing out her back. Her feathers were looking glossier than before, and she certainly felt good with every stroke of the brush.

"Sounds like you had quite the day. Certainly better than us I hope." Vanessa was right beside her brother, using a brush that didn't conduct heat to comb out her Delphox's tail. She was brushing far longer than Nic, and reasons were obvious. When your whole body is fur, keeping it all kempt isn't easy on your own.

Erza sat on the opposite end of Nic, leaning back as she viewed the hill trail that seemed to have gone on for so long. A smile was on her face as the sounds of Nic brushing through Staraptor's feathers sounded refreshing. It reminded her to take care of her own hair. "You can say that." She mused.

Nic moved the brush towards the back of Staraptor's neck. "Honey Trees from the Sinnoh region…even more Pokémon than before…and through it all, it still worked out." Despite the surprises that kept mounting, Nic smiled with satisfaction. "Things certainly aren't getting easier, but in a good way. It's to my liking."

Vanessa ran her brush through Delphox's tail tip. "You can say that again." She chimed.

Nic glanced over to his wife. "So I take it Joey and Dereece are still out for pizza?"

"I wouldn't worry about them…not yet at least." Erza sat her hand on top of Nic's. Their fingers separated to allow Erza's to sink into Nic's. "It's not us to decide the choices they make. You said that yourself. Besides…I think they'll fit in just fine."

Nic smiled at the reassurance of Erza's words. He resumed brushing his Staraptor's left wing. "Now that you mention it, pizza does sound pretty good right now."

Erza beamed. "Well I say you should make that salmon."

"But I thought we agreed to save it for the weekend?" Nic questioned.

"It's been sitting in the freezer for almost 3 days. We have to use it up."

"It's good or another week. Besides, today I decide dinner and you get to decide dessert."

"Well you won't get dessert of you don't rid of that wild caught fish."

As the two bantered back and forth about their dinner plans, with Nic trying his best to reason with Erza's winning argument, Vanessa just watched the two go on. They really did act like a married couple. It was amusing as well as jealous-filling.

Staraptor suddenly looked up. She seemed to have picked up on something ahead of her. Delphox's ears twitched as well, getting her to look at the trail too.

"What is it?" Vanessa asked. She looked to where they saw someone come down the trail towards their house.

Nic and Erza turned and looked at who was coming towards their house. They looked surprised to see Freed of all people trail his way towards them. The Pularis trio instantly stood up and looked at the incoming Freed.

"Freed?" Erza speculated.

Freed approached them, having a serious frown on his face. "Salutations. I hope that I'm not interrupting anything."

Erza shook her head. "No, it's fine."

"It's not like you to come out all this way to our house." Nic pointed out. "Is there something wrong that happened at the guild?"

Freed shook his head. "No, in fact, Laxus gives you his regards, Nic. You have been a great asset in helping decipher the Pokémon that have been appearing on the job requests all day. To you and Vanessa, the information you both have given to us has been most helpful to the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus."

"You're welcome." Vanessa smiled. She looked towards her Delphox, who smiled at her Trainer in delight.

Nic grinned back. "It was no trouble, really. Dis he already send copies of that information out towards the fellow guilds?"

Freed nodded. "He's into that right now. Laxus is being sharp with all the data and pictures of the Pokémon your devices reiterated for us to use and help us on our and our fellow guild jobs. As accordance to the conducts of light guilds, any necessary information is to be connected to each other. In which case, if we didn't uphold to that regulation, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

"That makes sense." Erza crossed her arms, looking like she was pondering. "Ever since the Lumen Histoire incident, information has been askew. There are those who question our trust now."

Nic closed his eyes and crossed his arms as well. "Repairing that broken foothold is going to take a lot more time than we thought. We need to show everyone we're here for them, not ourselves. If they don't believe the information they're being given, then we'll have to keep trying in more ways than one."

Freed nodded in fullhearted agreement. "Indeed you speak the truth. Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus were more than accepting of this information." His face grew serious. "Also, there's one more thing."

Nic and the others looked at Freed with wonder. The look he had was telling them something of an omen that they had to be careful of. Nic could feel his spine tingling as Freed pulled out a document with a gold stamp on it. He held it in his hand before the one who was of the message's contents.

"It's the report I sent to the Magic Council. The request was approved. They are willing to hear you out to see what you have in light of this change of events as soon as possible."

The group looked relieved as well as dreadful. They were more then happy to know that the Magic Council is going to try and hear out what Nic has to help them out. But at the same time, they knew that due to their history, they had to remain on their toes. Their terms were still not on solid ground yet.

"I see. Thank you, Freed."

"They expect to see you at 11 AM tomorrow morning. Best prepare yourself."

Erza looked pass Nic, looking towards Vanessa instead. "Vanessa?"

"Yes, Erza?"

"If it's not too much trouble, I heard Natsu and the others came back with some Pokémon. Would it be alright if you stayed and gave some pointers?"

Vanessa had no qualms with the idea. She nodded at the request, grinning in understanding. "Alright. I'll be sure to keep them straight while you're away."

"Thank again, sis." Nic thanked.

Erza turned back towards Freed. "Also, Freed. One more thing."

"Hm? Yes, Erza, what might it be?"

Erza crossed her arms, looking stern with the prospect she was bringing up. "If it's not too much…tell me, which one sounds better at the moment: Pizza, or salmon?"

"Pizza or salmon, huh? Interesting…" He put his hand to his chin, humming as he pondered aloud. Nic and Erza looked towards the other as time went on, but Erza's glare was making Nic sweatdrop. She always had to have her way. "Well if you ask me, right now…I'd say pizza."

Nic smirked triumphantly. Even as Erza started to get up, he remained calm and seated as she turned and punched into one of the support beams to the siding of the roof to the door. The whole beam was there, just cracked completely and bent inwards. Everyone looked at Erza as she kept her fist balled in place. "Curse you flatbread delicacy. You may have this round, but I'll swear my revenge on you yet." She sniped with cold retribution.

Nic sighed breathlessly. He knew he was going to be busy fixing up that pillar for a while.


In an unknown domain, there was bright lightning, but rather than it being from the ceiling lights, it came from outside. The windows were open to allow the dimming, blinding sun to ignite the room with its radiance. It was deep in a burning yellow, and yet to have set with the sunlight still up.

Inside the massive domain that could be been mistake for a grand banquet hall, someone was sitting on the far end of the really long table. His silhouette wasn't clear as he held out a fine glass of wine in hand.

"What an exquisite flavor this place was." He remarked. He bright the glass over, taking yet another long sip from its violet, liquidy luster. "To think that even this so-called 'magic' can make the grapes of this fine wine make it even more potent. I must say, despite its lack of luster, this place surely does compensate well."

A fellow person came from nearby. He looked like a Rune Knight messenger. Unfortunately since all the frog staff was annihilated during the Tartaros incident, the messenger and staff were of ordinary men now. He bowed before his side.

"Pardon my intrusion sir, but I hope everything is to your liking." He said.

Taking one more sip of his wine, the man took the glass away from his hand, keeping his head raised with a faint grin in the sunlight. "Yes, it is. Thank you very much for your concern."

"My pleasure. Is there anything else you will require?"

The man turned into his silhouette, presenting the empty wine glass to the messenger. "Yes. I'm quite fond of this wine you have here. It's very refined. I was hoping if I can get some more?"

The messenger nodded. "Consider it done. The Council has also told me to give you regards to the briefing you've given us."

The man craned his head. "And what might that be?"

The messenger put his hands behind his back, looking more professional in the sunset. "The Council has informed us of whatever intel you could tell us about these events. We have thus cooperated fully into giving you these conditions given your services. In light of which, the information of what you have given us and these debriefings are upholding high claims thus far."

The man kept a stern face. "…so then it all goes well I take it?"

He nodded. "For now, but there's someone else who is coming tomorrow to provide his own testimony on the subject. He has been acclaimed to many of subjected ordeals before."

"So then this man is important I take it?"

"Yes, sir. Very important."

"Good. You may take your leave if you will. Thank you again." With that, the messenger obeyed with a respectful nod. He departed from the banquet hall and the large set of doors creaked loudly before shutting fully. The clang reverberated through the chamber, but the man held his posture calmly. "Just who is this person you think it is anyway?" he asked.

The woman beside her adjusted her glasses. The deflecting light made them look white, a stark contrast to her own silhouette. "I'm not sure. I'm still getting used to things as they are, with us being away from the company and all."

"At ease, Marie. Relax. I know how you feel." He folded his fingers together, holding his own hands as he bent hid forehead down to think deeply. "Things haven't been kind since the other night. We've been convinced this wasn't a farce and we assessed it already…still, hard to believe magic exists that people can use. It's astounding what changes there are to here and to ours. It's fascinating to where I'm getting goosebumps."

Marie put her hands behind her back. "So are we going to comply."

The man leaned back in his seat, which turned out to be his wheelchair. "Of course we are." He adjusted his golden tie. "This is their world after all. It's only fair we follow their rules and examples they set. If what they said really was in fact true, then maybe, just maybe, we might have found our breakthrough, Marie."

Marie shot her nose skyward with a snort. "I wouldn't get my hopes up yet, sir. I think that wine's getting to your head again."

The man chuckled meekly at his assistant's retort. "You really think so? Sorry. Guess it's been a while since my last good time out." He smirked. "You're right. Getting used to these changes will have to take time. I just hope we all can learn to get along."

Marie looked away. "Unfortunately, sir. That philosophy will never truly come to pass."

"I know…but dreams can come true if you try hard enough. Let's just take this one day at a time, alright?"

Marie sighed. "Right…"


30K in one chapter, in a span of 4 days…good god almighty what have I just done? I went 3 times my quota per chapter, and in such record breaking timing at that as well! Well I still hope that despite how crazily long this turned out that you all enjoyed how much of the plot I stuffed into this chapter. The reason being so long is that…well…when you have a lot of arcs and concepts planned, you want to make sure that it all isn't stretched out too long. Having Dereece catch his first Pokémon on like chapter 5 would seem pretty long. Don't worry too much on the others getting their Pokémon too, I'll make sure that they get their own at some point, whether it's next chapter or several afterwards.

So in terms of concepts covered this chapter, everyone learned Pokémon came from the meteors and now cover Earthland, Nic issues to get as much helpful information out, even as far as going to the Council; Joey and Dereece choose to stay and help out, and Natsu and Joey have their first wild Pokémon battles. Dereece got a Heracross from a Honey Tree, which was a Gen 1V reference; Lucy got Klefki, Wendy got Swablu, and Gray got Snover. More will come soon.

So next chapter, you'll be seeing the new Councilmen, as well as the rest of the OCs in chapter 1. I hope my newest record-making length chapter left a lot of stuff for you to give feedback on, and I hope it's positives.

Until next time, see ya once I update From Depths We Rise! Which, by the way, I really hope for reviews and comments there too please! Last chapter hardly got any, and that left a little deterred. Support necessary please!