Author's Notes:

Here is the newest chapter, hope you like it^^

And as always, any comments are greatly appreciated.

“So this is where the battle took place?” The Growlithe asked as he surveyed the area that he and Protocol stood in front of.

He had seen the area before when he and Vernus came upon it the first time. But he had not found it to be too interesting at that time, so they had just moved on without looking around. Now though… it was the last place where Jenny had been seen. It was the best place for finding any clues about what had happened to her… the only place.

It had not been until the day after Ethan had introduced him to Protocol that the police pony had agreed to take him out to the mine to see if he could be of some help. He had naturally wanted to go out immediately after Protocol had used the translation spell on him, but he had reluctantly agreed to wait until the next day after a stern talk from Protocol. There would not have been too much they would have been able to do that day either way since it was already fairly late after Protocol had agreed to let him help with the investigation.

“Yes it was.” Protocol answered as he led the Growlithe through area leading up to the mine entrance. Signs of the battle could still clearly be seen on the ground around them. Some of the other police ponies that had accompanied them had already gone ahead and entered the mine, Protocol had taken it upon himself to show the Growlithe around and fill him in. “The battle went rather well, Ethan and his friends helped us contain the hostile Pokémon while we took care of the ponies. It all went smoothly until that snake… Scylla went off on her own.” Protocol shook his head and spat on the ground in distaste. “I should have never agreed to let her have such an important role in our operation. She was impulsive, arrogant… and so full of rage.” He whispered the last part to himself under his breath. “ And ultimately, it was my mistake by letting her take such an important role that ultimately ended up leading to Jenny's disappearance. You have my apologies.” Protocol hung his head as he apologized. As the one that had been in charge, every loss or mistake was a fault on his part. Or at least so he told himself.

“... Don’t beat yourself up over it.” The Growlithe eventually said. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to have someone to blame, everything would have been so much easier that way. And he had tried, after Ethan had first told him about Jenny, he had attacked him. Everything would have been so simple if there had actually been someone to blame. He could blame Ethan for taking Jenny along with them in the first place. But he knew that she would have just gone along either way. He could blame Protocol for making a bad judgement call. But he just did what he thought was right at the time. He could even blame Scylla. But, in the end, he could not even do that. It would not have been right. Jenny had simply charged into danger without regarding the consequences… like she always did. If he wanted to blame anyone, it was himself since he had not been there to stop her like he always did.

But no, he could not blame himself either. What was important was that it happened, and that he did everything that he could to get her back. To do that, he had to keep a cool and level head.

“You did the best you could with what you had.” Ethan had told him that Protocol was most likely under a fair amount of stress because of the Pokémon. He had been placed in situations he had never been in before and had no training on how to deal with. All things considered, he did a remarkably good job for the circumstances he had been in.

“Have heard that one before…” Protocol commented but let the subject drop. “We are fairly sure that she ran into the mine, chasing after a few ponies. Do you agree?” It was sort of a little test run for the Growlithe. Protocol wanted to see for himself if his smell was as good as they had told him that it was. It was not that he did not trust Ethan, he had proven to be very useful. But he was a pony that liked to see and judge individuals for himself.

A few sniffs easily confirmed what Protocol had just said. “Yeah… she went into the mine, that much I can tell.” The Growlithe said as he lead them up to the entrance, intently watching the ground as well. “She was going fast, sprinting as fast as she could.” As a police Growlithe, he did not just have his sense of smell to rely on. He was also trained in other kinds of tracking. “She took the first path to the left.”

“Very good.” Protocol nodded. They had also gotten to the same conclusion. “You lead the way.” It would a test of sorts. Protocol wanted him to be able to track Jenny's scent and tracks to the hidden laboratory they had discovered without his help. If the fire Pokémon did that successfully, then he would have no doubts about his abilities.

“Yes sir!” And so the Growlithe took the lead, following the scent of his partner as they navigated the maze of tunnels before them.

Once again, Ethan found himself on the path leading down to the waterfall. It had been over a day since his last session with Scylla, and he figured that a day was enough for her to cool down since they had not ended that session on the best of terms.

But they had made progress. Significant progress. And he now had a lot to work with.

Scylla had a rough past, that was something he had suspected from the start. But what most likely shaped her even more was how her problems had been handled. If he got his paws on Weiss… then the two of them would certainly have something to talk about. After what Scylla had told him, he was sure that Weiss had meant well, he had just gone about it in the wrongest way possible.

Scylla was no where in sight when Ethan came down to the water, but he figured that she was not too far away. And if she was anywhere nearby, then she would definitely notice him before he noticed her.

It did not take long before a familiar blue head poked out of the water and swam towards Ethan, who was sitting patiently at the banks, waiting for her.

“Good morning, Scylla.” He greeted her with a gentle smile, a gesture that she did not return.

“Morning.” She muttered, clearly not in the best of moods yet if her tone of voice was anything to go by. But whenever that was, due to the fact that she was not a morning mon or something else, Ethan was not sure about.

“I think I owe you an apology.” He started. “I… I wanted to help you, but I pushed a little too hard too quickly. I am sorry.” He could feel Scylla's eyes on his as he bowed his head.

He could hear her breathe in before she let out a short and sharp sigh. “You only meant well. Don't worry about it.” It was one of the things that he liked about Scylla. She wore her emotions on her non existent sleeve. She said what she meant and usually did not hide anything in the way of her feelings. If she was angry with you, you would know it. “They make any progress with Jenny?”

Ethan shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. Though Jenny's partner, a Growlithe, showed up though. So perhaps he will be if some help.” No one had been down with Scylla the day before so she had not been informed of what had happened. “But enough about Jenny, nothing good will come if you worry too much about her.” Scylla had the type of personality where she would feel useless and worry more and more if there was a problem or an issue that she could not personally help with.

“If you say so.” Scylla nodded reluctantly.

“So, how have you been since I last saw you?”

“Well, I haven't exactly been going anywhere. So, good I guess.”

“And have you thought about what we talked about last time?” That was the money question. He could help her and provide support, but ultimately the effort rested on Scylla.

“I… have.” She hesitated, she was still uncomfortable with talking about it. A life time of suppressing your problems and putting on a tough exterior was not something that just disappeared overnight. But Ethan was nothing if not patient, and it was important that he let Scylla proceed in her own pace this time.

“Take your time.” He simply told her. “There is no rush.” He had nowhere he needed to be, and her being comfortable was an important part. So they just sat there for a little while, Scylla resting her head on the banks, taking deep breaths to calm herself just like Ethan had taught her earlier. It took a few minutes, but she finally mustered the courage to continue.

“I don’t want to continue like this.” She admitted. “I can't continue like this. But I don't know what to do. Strength has been my whole life. It still is, and I don't want that to stop.” She straightened up, towering over Ethan as she lifted a large portion of her body out of the water. “I am Scylla, the raging queen of Checkmate!!” She roared loudly the water beneath her rippling. “But I don't know what to do! I. Don’t. Know. What. To. Do!” She thrashed about in frustration with each word, sending small waves in all directions, Ethan had to hop out of the way to prevent himself from getting wet. Once she was done, she was breathing heavily as she sunk back down into the water, resting her head on the banks once more.

She was angry, she was angry at herself. She was upset because this was not a problem that she could solve with her usual ways. This was not a problem that would disappear if she threw enough force on it. She was way out of her comfort zone.

Ethan slowly made his way over to Scylla, who had her eyes closed after that whole ordeal. He gently placed his paw between her eyes. “It’s alright.” He spoke in a soft voice as Scylla opened her eyes to look at him. “There is nothing wrong with not knowing what to do. In fact, it is a normal part of life. But I am here to help you. And together we will get you through this. Okay?” Scylla closed her eyes once more and nodded.

“...Okay.” With how loud she usually was, it was strange to hear her speak in such a quiet voice. If he had not been so close to her, Ethan might even have missed it.

“That’s great, Scylla.” Ethan beamed as he removed his hand and backed away slightly, sitting back down on the rock he had been sitting on earlier. “Don’t worry, we will get you through this. And I will be here to help you, every step of the way.”

“...” Scylla looked at Ethan. When she had first met him, she had seen him as a weak former human and nothing more. She had been annoyed at how persistent and… kind he had been towards her despite them being nothing but strangers. But, as time went on, she had begun to see him in a different light. He had begun to grow on her. In many ways, he reminded her of Doc. “Thank you.” And now, she actually found herself trusting that same strange Lopunny that had treated her injuries when they first met.

“We are friends, are we not? It’s the least I could do for you.” Ethan smiled at her and it was one of the few times that Scylla returned the gesture and smiled back. “Now, as for what we should do…” Ethan had been giving this some major thought and he believed that he had come up with something that Scylla would agree with. “Your anger is not necessarily a bad thing on its own. I’m sure you already know this, but there is a lot of power in emotion. You have experienced this for yourself a lot of times. But, the problem lies in the fact that you have lost control of your anger. It has gotten to the point where your anger is controlling you.” A lot of other psychologists or therapists in Ethan's shoes would most likely have done things differently, or just straight up disagreed with what Ethan was planning.. But he believed that this would be the course of action that best fit Scylla. “So, instead of working to quell your anger, I think we should be working on getting you to master your anger instead. You have been a prisoner to your own emotions for long enough. No more unwanted rampages or blackouts on your part. You'll be in control.” Scylla gaped at Ethan once he finished talking. Whatever it was that she had been expecting, that had not been it.

“Y-you think that is possible?” Scylla asked. It had been exactly what she had wanted in the first place.

“I really do!” Normally, one would rather work towards quelling Scylla's anger. But with her personality and how emotional she was, Ethan did not think that such a plan would fit her. If she learnt to successfully master her anger so she would always be the one in control, it could also result in making her stronger. She would be able to draw on the power of her rage and still make controlled decisions instead of just going on a mindless rampage. “It’s not going to be easy though. It’s going to take a lot of work.” The rage of a Gyarados was legendary; that, and Scylla's anger issues ran deep, very deep. But Ethan would never back down from a Pokémon that needed his help.

“I don't care!” Scylla huffed. “I want to succeed with this, and I am going to make it!” Some of her usual confidence back. She was not the kind of Pokémon that backed away from a challenge.

“That's the spirit!” Ethan grinned. “We will get you through this, and you won't be alone. I will be here to help you.” Ethan reassured her. They had a long way to go, but Ethan was confident that Scylla had the determination that it would take for her to get there.

Protocol had to admit, he was impressed.

The Growlithe had lead them straight down to the laboratory where some of his other ponies were already set up and were making themselves busy. Sure, his own ponies had also managed to track Jenny down to the laboratory, but they had also encountered a few dead ends along the path. The Growlithe had taken them directly there without fault. That took skill.

“And this is where her scent ends…” The Growlithe came to a stop in the middle of the room. “What happened to her?” He asked, turning back to face Protocol.

“Magic.” He simply told him. “Most likely some sort of teleport. We can't figure out exactly where they went though… all trace of the spell was gone by the time we got here. This is where our trail ends… at least for now.” They had discovered a lot of strange objects in the laboratory, weird stones and items. Some of them had been taken back to the town to be studied, like the Toxic Orb that Ethan had taken. But a lot of what they had found was still there, studying the items themselves had not been their top priority.

“So… what now?” The Growlithe asked. He was eager to do something, anything to help. But Jenny's trail ended there for him, and he knew nothing about magic.

“Our next move is… not clear yet.” Protocol admitted. They had found a lot of books and texts being kept hidden there. Some of it burnt, but they had been quick enough to save the majority of it when they came down there for the first time. And unlike the letter that Ethan and Jenny had gotten Cursed Vision to translate, none of what they found had any sort of spell cast on it. Everything was perfectly readable, so at least they had somewhere to look for additional clues. “We are looking over everything that was found here in hope that something contains a lead to where they might have gone.”

“Oh… “ Looking around, he did indeed see that multiple of the ponies had books and papers in front of them, which they were looking through. “What were they doing down here?” He had gotten the brief version of what The Weavers had done, but he was still a little out of the loop.

“From what we have gathered so far… this was a temporary base that they were using to… for the lack of a better term, “figure out” how to best make money off the Pokémon that they had captured.” Protocol looked away in disgust as he had read some of the notes for himself. It had reminded him why he hated poachers in the first place. The only thing they cared about was money. They needed to see what parts would regrow so they could sell them separately, or if it was just better to sell the Pokémon individually. The amount of information they had found on those subjects was disturbing. “We caught them at the right time. They were only going to stay here for another few days before moving on.” Now if they could just figure out where exactly they would be moving on onto…

“I… see…” Seeing one of the cages which had some dried up blood around it made the Growlithe cringe. Jenny had always been the impulsive of the two, but seeing something like that made his blood boil all the same. “ To think that they could do something like this…”

“Somepony will do anything for the right amount of bits.” Protocol spat in annoyance as he looked around the laboratory as well.

“So… W-what about me? Is there anything I can do?” The Growlithe asked. He would join the ponies in reading through what they had found there if necessary. Jenny had taught him to read at an early age. It was not something that was required of police Pokémon, but it certainly came in handy at times.

“Yes… in fact there is, something you could do.” Protocol said as he started walking, leading the Growlithe over to a corner where a female pegasus stood, waiting for them. “This is Glider!” Protocol introduced her, and glider gave the Growlithe a smile and a small wave of her hoof. “I want to send the two of you on a special mission.” That made the Growlithe perk right back up, if there was anything he could do then he would be overjoyed. “Have you gathered up all of it?” Protocol addressed Glider who nodded in return.

“Yes, sir!” She answered, pointing to a small pile of what seemed to be clothes. Lab coats, hoof gloves, safety goggles. All kinds of equipment and clothing was gathered in the small pile. “It was all we could find.”

“Let’s hope that it is enough then.” Protocol sighed before he gathered himself and turned to the Growlithe once more. “This…” He pointed to the pile again. “Is the equipment and clothes that the ponies that worked here used. Could you learn all the smells from these clothes?” Protocol asked, and the Growlithe already began to understand what he was asking of them.

“Yes sir!” He answered. Picking up on a particular smell and remembering it was one of his fortes.

“Good. Because I want you and Glider here to make use of your nose and track any and all of these scents back to where they came from, where they went from here, and find out what they did.” Protocol addressed the both of them. “There will most likely be a lot of dead ends, but just creating a timeline of what they have done before will help us out in the long run.” And maybe, they would stumble over something that would crack their case right open. “Do you understand your mission?” He asked the Growlithe and Glider who looked at each other for a split second before they gave their answer in unison.

“Yes sir!”

“So, why did you bring me out here?” Vernus asked. It has been a little later during that day when Chii had dragged Vernus out to the local park. Now, there was nothing wrong with just taking a trip to the park, but he knew Chii fairly well and he could tell that she was hiding something.

“I.. I wanted to ask you something.” Chii asked of him. She had hesitated a little though, as it was about something that had been on her mind for a while.

“Alright, ask away then.” Vernus grinned as he laid down in front of Chii.

“Well… who was Ethan's first Pokémon?” Chii looked at Vernus who had blinked in surprise when she had asked just that. “I always thought that it was you, but he told me you weren't.” She could not help it, it had been on her mind ever since since Ethan had talked about it.

“Ethan told you about that? What did he say?” Vernus inquired. He was slightly set back by the question, mostly because it was something that he had not thought about for such a long time. And it was a subject that Ethan mostly did not enjoy talking about so…

“Not much.” Chii hung her head sadly. She had tried to talk to Ethan but… “He talks about something else every time I ask him. So, I don't know anything about it.” Seeing the sad look on Chii's face, Vernus reached out and pulled her against him, settling her under his head and between his front legs.

“Hey, what's with the frown?” Vernus nuzzled her gently, a gesture that she happily returned. If it was one thing that he had learned about Chii, it was that she really took comfort in being close to the ones that she liked. She could pretend to want to be alone all that she wanted, but nothing cheered her up like a good hug. “There is no reason to be sad about that. She is not a subject that Ethan is happy to talk about. It carried a lot of bad memories”

“W-what happened to her? Is… is she dead?” Chii looked up to Vernus, her ears laying flat against her head.

“What? Oh, no, no she is not dead. Sorry if I made you think that.” Vernus quickly corrected her. “Something happened and… and they simply went their separate ways.”

“Did you know her?” Chii asked, she had been watching him as he spoke and noticed that he had the same look on his face as Ethan had whenever she asked about it.

“...Yes, yes I did know her.” He remembered her well, and he remembered the events that led up to her and Ethan falling out. And how devastated all of them had been. “Camy, that was her name.” He could never forget that name.

“W-what happened to her?”

“...” He pondered on how things would go if they met in this new world. And if she would actually believe that Ethan had gotten a place in it. “I think that’s enough for now.” He sensed Chii's disappointment in his answer. “I can’t tell you the rest of that story, that is something only Ethan can tell.” Just like why he had not told Zoey about Ethan's sexuality, it was not in his place to say.

“Oh…” Chii did not like the answer, but she had gotten a name now. Perhaps Ethan would be willing to tell her the rest later. “T-then… how did you meet Ethan?”

“You are a curious little Skitty tonight.” Chii then suddenly felt herself flipped over onto her back, and she just had time to look up and see the large grin that Vernus was wearing before laughter filled the entire park, as Vernus mercilessly initiated his tickle attack.

“S-s-s-stop it!” She cried out between her laughs, but her voice betrayed the words behind it. She did not want him to stop, and Vernus had no intention too as he continued his assault, blowing raspberries into her stomach.

It was not long before Chii was gasping for air from all the laughing. Though she had managed to turn the tables around sometime during it and tickled her uncle Vernus right back. So the both of them just laid there, still laughing between their breaths even after the attack had ended.

“I guess there is no harm in telling you.” Hearing that, made Chii roll back over to her stomach. “Ethan helped me, just like he helped you and Zoey.” The only difference was that he had met and got to know Ethan before he was labeled as a criminal. “I was not in a good place back then.”

“So… he rescued you too?” Chii asked as she looked up to Vernus. She had always thought that Vernus was Ethan's starter, but now she knew differently.

“In a way, yes he did.” Vernus looked down and met Chii's glance. “Do you know what an addict is?” Chii's face scrounged up for a bit as she thought about it before she shook her head.

“No… is it something bad?” Vernus could only smile at her curiosity. He was not proud of his past, but he did not hide it. Besides, she had a right to know since she was now a part of their family.

“Yes, it is something very bad.” He told her. Drawing in a long breath before he started on his little story. “Let me tell you about this stupid Leafeon, and how Ethan saved him from himself…”