Author's Notes:

Arctic: Here it is, the first Crossover I did with AusBrony and his story A Brave New World . If you havent checked it out you should.
Had a blast writing with such a excellent writer, tons of fun^^

AusBrony: 'This was a ton of fun to write. The characters were great and the author was just as amazing.
10/10 would cross again~'

It was a brilliant day in Neighagra Falls. The sun was shining down onto the land below, warming up all its inhabitants and filling them with energy. As a result, ponies and Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were out and about, making the most of their day. It was practically a crime to remain indoors on such a day, and as such, Ethan and the rest of his little ragtag family were out and enjoying their day to its fullest. Well… most of them were, at least.

“I...I want to go home.” Jenny stammered out as she made herself as small as possible, pulling her cloak tightly around herself. “T-they are staring at me. I c-c… I can feel them staring at me.” She was constantly looking around her as she was talking.

“No one is staring at you, Jenny.” Ethan kneeled down beside the frightened Vulpix, the rest of the group stopping a small distance away from them. Chii had tried to go over to them immediately, but was held back by Vernus who simply shook his head. It had been somewhat of a common occurrence those last few days. Ever since her return, Jenny had been… changed. One could almost describe her as broken. And while they were working with her to help her regain what had been lost, she still had quite a few episodes.

“N-n-no, I know they w-were looking.” Jenny shivered. “They were looking… and talking… talking behind my back…” She started hyperventilating. “I… I NEED to go home.” It had been a struggle to get her to join them in the first place. Maybe Ethan had just expected a little too much of her too soon. Getting her out and making her socialize was important in her recovery process, but it had been too soon, he realized that now. “Not safe here, not safe here, not safe here.” She started quietly repeating to herself.

“It's okay, Jenny. Everything is okay.” Ethan spoke in a soft, soothing voice. He heard some footsteps approaching them from behind, though he already knew who it was.

“Everything is going to be fine.” The Growlithe walked past Ethan and over to Jenny, sitting down next to her. “I am here, you don't need to worry anymore. No one is going to hurt you.” He reached out and gently put his paw on Jenny, who flinched at his touch. Though she did not shy away after the initial contact. It was a huge improvement from when she would go into full panic if someone touched her. “I'm never going to let anyone hurt you again.” He whispered to her, and his voice seemed to calm her down, if only slightly.

“Sorry, everyone.” Ethan turned to the rest of the group as he stood back up. “Seems like we have to go back… you just continue while-” He was going so suggest that he and the Growlithe took Jenny back, but the fire dog interrupted him.

“You just continue with your day.” The Growlithe cut in as he gently nuzzled Jenny and helped her back on her feet. “There is no need for both of us to head back.”

“But what if-” But once again, the Growlithe cut Ethan off, a gentle smile on his face.

“I know that you are worried about her… we all are.” He looked down at his partner, who seemed so small and frail. She was so different from the Jenny that he used to know. Some of her fur had started to grow back, but she still refused to let anyone remove her cloak. “And you have helped her a lot, you have spent nearly all your time working with her. That is why I think you should take the day off. We will be fine.”

Ethan wanted to protest. He had spent the last few days caring for and helping Jenny on her path to recovery. It was his duty as her friend to make sure that she would be okay… but perhaps he was right. Perhaps both he and Jenny needed a break. Besides, it would give Jenny and her partner some much needed alone time to reconnect.

“... You are sure that you can handle everything?” There had been a few nasty episodes where they had to restrain Jenny for her own safety, though that has not happened since the first day.

“I can handle anything that might arise.” The Growlithe stated proudly.

“Okay, but if anything should happen, well, you know where to find us.” Ethan nodded, finally accepting his inevitable defeat. “You two take care now.” He smiled at them.

“We will. Are you ready to head back home, Jenny?” He carefully nudged his partner to get her attention, and Jenny started nodding slightly

“Y-yes.”

“We will see you later then, have fun on our behalf, too.” And with that Jenny and the Growlithe turned around and started walking back, Jenny never leaving his side.

Ethan stood there for a moment, just watching them as they left. They had known each other for years, been through thick and thin together, but now, it was like they were getting to know each other all over again. He dared not think about how things might have gone had the Growlithe not been there for her.

He turned around to the rest of the group, only to see a number of small fiery balls shooting up from the middle of the town. But before he could give any more thought to it, they exploded into a magnificent display of fireworks, casting a reddish light across the whole town.

It was not something any of them had been expecting, and for a moment, they all stood there in silence, speechless.

“Well, something is obviously happening in town.” Vernus was the first to break out of their little daze. “Should we go and… see…” But Chii was already sprinting towards the town, leaving a small dust trail behind her as went.

“I think that means yes.” Brawly laughed. “Come on now, let’s catch up with her before she goes too far.”

The crowd was already quite large when Ethan and the others caught up with Chii, who was hopping up and down at the edge, desperately trying to get a view of what was happening on the stage in front of them.

“Hello there, everyone!” A Braixen said as she walked out on stage. “Having a good day so far?” She was wearing what Ethan would normally call a magician’s getup. Complete with the hat and everything.

Unfortunately, she did not seem to get the response she was hoping for with just a few murmurs going through the crowd.

“Okay, so who here likes magic?” she asked, and the crowd seemed to be easing up a bit, she especially got some more cheers from the Pokémon side of the crowd, and Chii who was cheering from the top of her lungs.

“This ought to be interesting.” Brawly commented with a smile.

“I thought only unicorns could do magic.” A small earth pony colt who was standing close to the stage asked, curiosity and scepticism clearly visible in his expression. And his statement seemed create some murmur through the crowd as several ponies agreed with him.

“And normally, you’d be right in this world,” the Braixen smiled as she sat on the edge of her stage. “But you know what? I’m gonna show everyone that anyone can use magic. Now, let’s see a show of hands, hooves, whatever you have. Who wants to see some MAGIC!” And this time, a much larger cheer resonated from the crowd, which was growing every second. The initial explosion of fireworks had attracted the attention of most of the town, and the ground even shook a little as a gigantic, grey cave troll stopped at the edge of the crowd.

“Jim see magic!” He cheered with the rest, his loud voice easily blocking out the rest and even making a few of the ponies close to him cringe at the sudden volume.

“Whoa… big guy is big,” The Braixen gulped. “Well okay then! Let’s see what we could start with.” She pulled a black and white wand out of her tail and tapped it against her tophat as a bouquet of flowers erupted from the tip of it. “Hmm, no, this is too cliche…” She paced around and then grinned as she held the flowers up and they burst into a swarm of butterflies that spread out over the crowd.

Ethan watched in amusement as one of the butterflies landed on the nose of a certain little Skitty.

Chii's eyes widened as the butterly evaporated, a shrill laughter escaping her throat while she lightly batted after the remains before the winds carried them off. Afterwards, a pink blur ran through the crowd, using ponies as stepping stones and getting a few complaints before the Skitty landed right in front of the stage. Her eyes were positively sparkling and her smile stretched from ear to ear.

The Braixen smiled and winked at her as she raised her wand. “Alright, now watch the pretty birdie, okay?” She took off her hat as a Starly landed on her shoulder. It leapt inside the hat and she held it up to show the bird, inside it quite clearly. The Braixen then placed the hat back on her head and tapped it twice, before lifting it off and showing a perfectly empty hat.

A light “oooh” could be heard across the crowd and some light applause started as the ponies stomped their hooves against the ground. And Ethan had to add his own applause to, whoever she was, she was quite talented.

“Where did it go?” Chii asked as she jumped up and down to get a better look at the hat.

“I wonder,” The Braixen hummed and looked around. She then raised a paw and nodded. “Aha! I know where he went!” She put her hat back on her head and tapped it again. And when she pulled it off and held the hat out, dozens of Starlys flew from it. A skilled trainer could recognise a well-trained Double Team when they saw it, but to everyone else, a flock of birds was pouring out of a very small hat.

The pegasi and flying Pokémon who were watching from the air, parted as the flock of birds flew past them, and most of the audience on the ground turned to watch the Starlys as they flew by. Chii even jumped up and used a nearby unicorn's head as a platform to get a better view, ignoring the rather crass remark her living platform gave her before it tried to shake her off.

The Starlys soon vanished as the original hopped out of the hat and landed on the Braixen's shoulder. She took a bow as the audience clapped or stomped their hooves before she put a paw to her forehead, pretending to search.

“For my next trick, can I have a volunteer from the audience?” Before anyone had the time to put their hooves up or shout out, there was another pink blur and suddenly Chii was standing on the stage next to the Braixen.

“I should have expected this.” Ethan groaned silently while Brawly just laughed at Chii's antics.

“Oooh, me! Pick me, please!” Chii pleaded as she jumped around the performer, the most adorable smile on her face as she begged. The Braixen giggled and knelt down to look at the Skitty.

“Well aren’t you a little cutie. Wanna tell me and this fabulous audience what your name is?”

“I'm Chii!” She cheered in a much louder voice than what was necessary, her excitement bleeding into her voice.

“Well then, Chii,” the magician said and lifted her up. “We’re gonna play a little game. Do you have a mommy or a daddy in the audience?”

“Um, I don't have any of those but I have the next best thing.” Chii said after a small pause. “Ethan!” She shouted out across the audience from the top of her lungs. “Ethan, you need to come up here!” It was a few seconds before anything happened at all, but soon a Lopunny could be seen making its way through the audience.

“Excuse me. Sorry, coming through. Hey, watch the ears!” But it did not take long before Ethan reached the stage and joined the Braixen and Chii there.

“So a big sister then?” The Braixen giggled and winked at Ethan.

“Well, not a sister, but I guess it kinda does look that way.” Ethan smiled while Chii laughed.

“No, Ethan is a guy!” She giggled. “Though he is a very pretty Lopunny. It's not the first time someone had called him a girl.” She made no effort to hide the last part and a small laughter spread out through the audience.

“Aw, I know that, but he looks fun to tease,” The Braixen giggled and took her wand out. “Okay, so let’s get this trick under way. First, we rinse and repeat the last part,” she scooped Chii up in her hat and tapped it as her wand glowed a crimson red. The noise also served to mask her whispers to the Skitty. “Okay Chii, just hold still. You’re gonna feel a little tingle when I teleport you okay? And then you gotta sit still and stay real quiet.”

Up close, Ethan could recognise the aura of magic. Actual magic, like the stuff that unicorns used.

The Braixen took of her hat and Chii was gone as she searched around and then tapped the hat again. But then showed the still-empty hat.

“Hmm, odd. Now, where do you suppose little Chii went off to?” She mused out loud. And while she had told Chii to be quiet, Ethan could hear the muffled laughter of a certain little Skitty coming from within the fur on his ears.

“I'm not sure, though I'm certain that we will soon figure it out. She dislikes staying silent for too long.” Ethan smiled, playing along with the act as he looked around the stage. And a very faint giggling could be heard as Chii had a harder time staying silent.

“AHA!” The Braixen said and took one of Ethan’s ears. She reached inside it and started rummaging around the fur. “Let’s see, nope,” she tossed out an apple. “Not this,” there goes a banana. “What about… this?” She yanked and pulled out an entire potted flower and stared at it. Then she reached in with both arms and soon half her body fell into the fluff, a feat that should be physically impossible. Then she pulled back out holding a certain little Skitty.

“There you are~” The performer giggled and held her up for the audience to see.

“Have fun in there?” Ethan shook his ears to make sure that no dirt or anything remained in there.

“Yeah!” Chii laughed before she wiggled her way out of the Braixen's grip and dropped down onto the stage.

“Okay then,” The magician said and waved her wand as Ethan’s ears were coated in a magic aura, grooming them and removing any knots and tangles. “Now for my last trick…” She looked around and tapped her hat again.

She raised her wand and swirled it around as she lifted off of the stage, floating above the crowd. A gentle aura washed over them in a rainbow of colours as the ground under their hooves suddenly sprouted into a massive field of flowers!

Ethan kept his eyes on the floating magician as she made her little trip around, and while the joy in her eyes was easy to spot, she was also beginning to look quite exhausted as she landed back on the stage again.

The crowd, however. erupted into “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” at the sight, and soon, the flowers vanished almost as quickly as they appeared. After that, the Braixen tipped her hat and smiled.

“Thanks for being a great audience and let’s all thank Chii and Ethan here for being such great test dummies… I mean, such great assistants!”

The applause and cheering from the audience continued and even intensified slightly as the show was over. Chii bowed slightly to the audience before climbing up Ethan to sit on his head.

Just as soon as they had come, most of the audience dispersed, some of them coming up to the stage and tossing a few bits down near the Braixen's feet. By the end of it, a small pile had gathered, each pony may not have given that much, but it quickly added up. A few ponies, mostly foals even remained to ask, or rather bombard said magician with various questions.

“Well, I can’t go spilling all my secrets,” she chuckled as she scooped the bits with her hat.

“She just makes it up as she goes along,” the Starly chuckled. “Don’t mistake that for her actually having any real talent.”

“Props shouldn’t talk,” she poked him and giggled. “Tell you kids what, maybe I might do another one before I leave.”

Hearing that got another set of cheers out of the foals as they got the answer they had wanted to hear. And after they had made their goodbyes, they too left to go back to whatever they were doing before the show had started.

“That was fun!” Chii exclaimed with a huge smile on her face. She had insisted that they wait after she show was over so she could ask the magician a few questions. “Your tricks were cool, and the ending beautiful. Though you could combine them a little better.” In the background, another small group of Pokémon was approaching.

“It was indeed interesting.” Ethan agreed as he jumped down from the stage. “She might not look like it, but she is a Contest veteran, so she knows that she is talking about.” He jabbed a paw at Chii who just laughed innocently. “Though you look a little tired, are you okay?” He asked the Braixen.

“Y-Yeah, just… a little worn out from using… so much… magic…” And that was all that she managed to utter before her body went limp and she fell forward, unconscious. She must have been really tired even before she show for something like that to cause her to pass out.

“Not again,” the Starly muttered. He looked up at Ethan. “Could ya give me a hand with her?”

“Yeah, we live not far from here so we can take you guys there so she can recover.” He looked back to the group who had now reached them. “Brawly, would you mind carrying her?” He indicated to the unconscious Braixen who were currently being poked by a worried Chii.

“No problem, dude.” The Mienshao carefully lifted the Braixen up. “What’s her name?”

“I don't think she ever said who she was.” Ethan turned to her partner again. “Is it just the two of you?”

“For now,” he responded. “Her name is Rebecca Cre-” Ethan noticed that he cut himself off. Though, for what reason he had no idea. “Just call her Becky. And I am Crowe, her lifelong partner.”

“Okay then, Crowe, it's nice to meet you.” Ethan paused and put his paw on Becky's forehead. “It's just exhaustion so she just needs some rest and some proper food once she wakes up.” He pulled his paw back. “That being said, I would like to get her back as soon as possible just to be sure nothing else is wrong with her.”

“As long as your intentions remain pure,” Crowe said with a little bit of bite. “Anything inappropriate and you’ll lose an eye or two.” He was actually a little cute when he tried to be protective.

Ethan started laughing slightly. “You have nothing to worry about, though it's nice to see that you care about her.” He shook his head, a small smile gracing his features. “No, we have a little place where those that need it are welcome to stay, that includes you and your trainer.”

“Yeah!” Chii puffed herself up slightly. “We help others all the time. But if you try to hurt him, you will regret it.” She tried to look angry, and the little Starly responded in kind, but they soon both received a pat on the head from Ethan instead.

“Calm down you two. Point is that she needs help and we can give it. So, shall we go?” Ethan asked Crowe.

“Yes, and thank you for the assistance,” the bird responded and perched on Brawly’s head so he could keep a close eye on the girl.

The Starly had been watching Ethan closely ever since they had made it back to the warehouse. Especially when he had checked Becky to make sure that nothing more was wrong with her. It was obvious that he cared a lot for his trainer, a sentiment that Ethan could perfectly understand.

Though Crowe seemed to be a bit split at times. It seemed like he both wanted to keep an eye on Ethan and the others, but also watch Becky who had been placed in her own little, plant-like room that Vernus had grown. It was just a small side-project he had started on, making walls and small rooms out of vines and branches, among other things. And it was really nice and handy to have a few extra rooms available for situations like these.

That being said, it did not take too long before the Braixen in question woke up, and Crowe followed close by as Ethan walked into the room where she was resting.

“‘Bout time you got up,” Crowe said. “Feeling better, princess?”

“As soon as I eat, yeah,” she replied. “So where am I?”

“At our home.” Ethan replied as he kneeled down next to Becky. “And it's good that you are feeling better, but you should not get up yet,” he said while gently pushing her back down. “You passed out so we brought you here. And you should get some food into your system before you get up again, unless you want to risk passing out once more.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Becky sighed as her stomach growled again. “I’ll have a large cheeseburger, fries, and a tall soda.”

“You’ll eat what you get,” Crowe sighed. “Equestrians are vegetarian remember?”

“I want meeeeeaat~” Becky whined and Ethan had to hold back a small laugh of amusement. If he had to guess, he would put her in her early teens from the way she acted.

“We don't have anypony who sells meat in town, I'm afraid.” Ethan told Becky, who seemed a little disappointed at his statement. “And no hunting anywhere near the town either, we have made a little safe haven here, and we would like to keep it that way.” Ethan told Becky with a certain weight, and authority in his voice.

“Hunting?” she said. “What, like fish?”

“I think the rabbit is trying to say that we cannot hunt other Pokémon,” Crowe said. Becky blinked slowly and looked at Ethan like he’d he’d just grown a second head.

“Eat… other… Pokemon!?” the last word coming out as a shriek. “That’s just… ew…
ewewewewwwwwwww!!” A good reaction really, one that he approved of.

Ethan just smiled at that statement. “That rule is mainly targeted towards other wild Pokémon, not former humans like yourself, though it still applies.” He said while taking Becky's temperature with his paw. “Not all of the weaker Pokémon are able to defend themselves, so we made a sort of safe area for them in this town.” He pulled his paw back, a smile remaining on his face. “You haven't gotten any worse, so that is good. Would you mind telling me how long it was since you last ate, and how much?” He asked. He had done a small check on her while she was unconscious, but he would get much more information now that she was awake, especially now that Crowe would not pester him whenever he got close to her.

“I suppose the last big meal I had was about…”

“Three days,” Crowe answered for her. “After that, our money ran out and we’ve been surviving on what we could scrape together while we searched for her brother.”

That explained a lot actually. While malnourishment combined with exhaustion was nothing to look lightly at, it was so early for her that it should be easy to fix. Ethan expected her to make a fast recovery.

“Yeah… so I’m just a tad hungry,” Becky replied as her stomach gurgled.

“That explains a few things.” Ethan mused. “Your situation might not have allowed for any more, but you are a fire type now, and need more nourishment as a result. You burn much more calories than you would when you were a human.” A few clanks and different sounds could be heard from the other room. “Though it sounds like the food should be ready any second now.”

Now that he could get a closer look at her, he realised what kind of shape she was in. Her tail and the thick fur around her ears had a multitude of knots. She looked like she’d used streams to bathe in and her tail had a few leaves stuck in it.

“The move here… has not been easy,” Crowe said quietly. “And she misses her family. This is the longest time she’s gone with any form of contact with them.” That just furthered to confirm her age. It was no wonder she had gone through such a tough time.

“He doesn’t need to know that,” Rebecca snapped.

“What you choose to tell me is up to you.” Ethan commented he moved towards the door opening. “Though it looks like you have been through more than enough.” He paused as Chii came walking into the room, a large plate of fried vegetables and rice balanced on her head. “It's not much, but it's better than nothing.” He said as Chii stopped in front of Becky, offering her the food. “And it’s rich in iron, so it will be good for you in your current condition.”

Becky just drooled a little before she took the plate and went to scarf it down before Crowe stopped her.

“Rebecca Crescent! Manners!”

“Ah…” she blushed a little and nodded. “Right, thank you very much for the food,” she said and then begun to practically inhale it.

“You are welcome.” Chii proudly stated while puffing her chest slightly out. “I hope you like it!”

“Heh, well it looks like you should be fine if your appetite is anything to go by.” Ethan smirked as she watched Becky go to town on the plate of food that she had been handed. “I'll let you finish your meal in peace.” He waved his paw and Chii reluctantly walked back and out of the room. “When you are ready, we will be outside. Take your time though, there is no hurry,” and with that, he left the room, giving Becky and Crowe some peace.

Ethan stretched as he walked out of the room with Chii following close after. Becky… or Rebecca as her partner had called her, was finally awake again. And from the looks of it, she would recover quickly. Severe exhaustion was nothing to sneeze about though.

“...I don't like him.” Chii huffed as she walked up to Ethan's side.

“Crowe?” Ethan asked, and Chii's silence confirmed it. “Well, the two of you are a little similar, so it's not strange if the two of you end up butting heads for a bit.”

“S-similar?!” Chii sputtered, her face flustered. “I am not anything like that stupid featherbrain.” And with that she ran off before Ethan could come with any sort of counter arguments. And he could only laugh at her reaction.

The rest of the warehouse was teeming with life and activity. Brawly, along with a few helping fire types, was manning the kitchen. Becky had gotten her food, but it was feeding time for the rest of the Pokémon that lived there too. The ones who were sick or injured got their meals first, as per usual. It was an arrangement that they had agreed on a while back, so there were no trouble or arguments about it.

Zoey was helping with delivering the food to the ones that could not move to get it themselves, or the ones that needed rest. It had been a while since they had gotten any new patients from any poacher base raids, but injuries and the like always happened in the wild, and more than a few had heard about the shelter that they could provide.

And Vernus. Well, Vernus was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, so our guest is up.” Ethan surprised Brawly with a hug from behind. “Do you have everything under control here?” He had caught them just as they had finished with handing out the food.

“Yeah, someone has to keep this wave rolling.” Ethan only giggled that Brawly had left himself so open.

“I know, it's a good thing we have Zoey to take care of that.”

“You wanna play it like that?” Brawly easily turned around and silenced Ethan by pulling him close and planting a kiss on his lips. “So, our guest is up?” He asked once they separated.

“Yeah, she seems to be doing well.” Ethan said, his smile having a little extra something to it.

“Who is she, anyway?” Now that he thought about it, her partner had revealed her name. Though it had seemed unintentional, especially since he had avoided the topic earlier.

“Becky… thought her partner called her Rebecca, Rebecca Crescent, I think.” Maybe they had something to hide, maybe not. It was not in his place to pry anyway.

“...You don't know who that is?” And once again Ethan simply shrugged. “Man you really need to read more.”

“Hey, I glance over the newspapers every now and again.” Ethan huffed, though it only made him look cute. It was quite an amusing sight. “I just don't find them that interesting. Is it important anyway?”

“Nah, not really.” Brawly waved a paw nonchalantly. “You will find it out soon enough anyway.” It still troubled him a little, especially since Crowe had made a point to withhold her name earlier, though, if Brawly said that it was okay, then he would trust him.

Unbeknownst to Ethan and Brawly, a certain Starly was listening in from the rafters above them. Though, he had been spotted too.

Chii was sitting on her little elevated corner, and was currently glaring daggers at Crowe, who just drew his wing up to his eye and pulled it down while poking his tongue out at Chii when he spotted her.

Seeing this only infuriated Chii even more as she puffed herself up and stuck her tongue out at him too. She was too far away to begin yelling at him, so instead she opted for trying to gesture her point across. Though she really failed at it. She just threw her paws up with a silent scream and turned away from him in sheer frustration. She would get back at the little featherball later.

Back down, Zoey had joined Ethan and Brawly as they were talking about their new guest.

“You know,” A new voice cut in from below. “I hate being the voice of reason but… we are cutting it kinda close you know.”

“I know but… are you saying that we should not have done anything?” Ethan countered.

“Of course I'm not… it's just… well, we barely have enough for the tickets to Canterlot. And this is not really helping.”

“She needed help, and she is our guest.” Ethan said with a serious tone in his voice. “I know that we are in sort of a tight spot, but our doors are always open to those that need it, we agreed on that.”

“I… I know.” Zoey let out a sad sigh.

“Don't worry, Zoey.” Brawly put his paw on her shoulder. “Things will work out, they always seem to do:” His words seemed to instill confidence in Zoey who finally smiled.

“I'll talk to the mayor when I get the chance. With everything that we have done around here lately, well. I think I should be able to convince him to give us a bigger budget.” It was true, they had been doing them a lot of favors and they had also gotten a lot more patients. So, a bigger budget was appropriate. And he had no doubts that he would be able to convince that pony.

After that, everyone went back to their normal daily tasks. Zoey and Ethan still had a number of patients that needed to be taken care of, both physically and mentally. Zoey kept on changing bandages while Ethan had a number of talks with those individuals that wanted and needed it.

Brawly however, really did not have anything to do at that moment, so instead he chose to check up on their new guest.

He had seen Crowe fly in just a few moments earlier, and as he got close, he heard quite a lot of noise coming from the inside.

“You seem to be in a hurry.” And as he walked in, he saw just what that was about. Becky has tried to sit up, but her condition was not that good just yet as she fell down almost immediately. “We have someone who are out gathering some berries that will make you feel better, so just relax.”

“Thank you,” Crowe replied. “But we have burdened you long enough. The meal was delicious and we accept that gratefully. Any more would be asking too much.” Brawly was not stupid though; the Starly was in a hurry to leave, though he had no idea why.

“We got a Leafeon that grows the berries himself, so it wouldn't be a hassle.” He shrugged slightly. “But if you want to leave, then you are welcome to do so…” He eyed Becky for a second. “Though your friend don't seem to be well enough to travel, especially if she can't even stand up straight.”

Crowe sighed and nodded his head. “I suppose you have a point. And, about what you said earlier. We won’t be having a problem with that yes?”

That made Brawly pause for a moment, before his grin widened. “Eavesdropping eh? Well, that's fair enough, I suppose.” He looked back to Becky. “I never met your brother, but it was impossible to not hear about him. Though I never cared too much about all that jazz anyway, so you don't have anything to worry about.” His face softened and he held out an open paw to her. “Names Brawly, nice to meet ya.”

“Brawly… Brawly…” She mulled the name over as she took his paw. “I’ve heard that name… Ah!” She beamed and looked at him. “The surfing guy from Hoenn!”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Brawly laughed. “Small-time Gym Leader, and surfing god.” He continued laughing for a bit as he shook his head. “But as I said, you are among friends here, so you can just relax.”

“I suppose,” Becky giggled. “And, thanks again for this.”

“Now we just need a way to get to Canterlot,” Crowe sighed. “I fear we may be stuck here for the foreseeable future.”

“You guys need to get to Canterlot?” Brawly rubbed the back of his head for a moment. “Well, we are heading out there for that Contest tomorrow, you could just tag along if you want. That’s where your brother is at, right?” They were heading out the place where her brother was tomorrow, funny how fate works that way.

“The problem is that we lack a sufficient amount of this world's currency,” Crowe explained. “So even if you are going, we cannot afford to come with you.”

“Perhaps if I did another show or two?” Becky said and went to get up again. Only for another wave of nausea to hit her, along with a splitting headache.

“Yeah, that is not happening today.” Brawly sighed. “Possibly tomorrow… there is no point in traveling to Canterlot if you can't survive the trip there.” The sound of a door opening and closing could easily be heard through the building. “You tried sneaking aboard?”

“Oh please, that was a horrible idea the first time you suggested it for us,” Ethan came into the room. “And it still is… How are you feeling?” He asked, looking back to Becky.

“Like I got kicked by a Rapidash,” she groaned and put a paw to her head. “Magical exhaustion sucks, especially since I’m still getting used to it. Why can’t ponies make their spells easier to use?” And that confirmed his earlier assumption. He had seen her use a magic that was similar to the one unicorns used. Interesting.

“Brawly, you mind getting some more water?” Ethan asked the former gym leader who nodded and slipped out of the room. Leaving the three of them alone. “Magic, eh? Don't know much about that, not my area of expertise, but you should watch out if it can get this bad.” In his hand he held a big glass that was filled with some kind of liquid that kept changing color. “Don't know if it will help with the magic exhaustion, but it does wonders for a headache.” Vernus was a master herbalist and could make just about anything with half of the ingredients when it came to herbs. Though, despite his expertise in that area, and how good his healing items were, just like his cooking, it had a taste that was out of this world, and not in a good way. “It's a specially made berry juice, it should speed up your recovery significantly.”

Rebecca looked at the strange liquid and wrinkled her nose. “Yeah… not to sure about taking strange liquids from strange Pokémon…”

“It’ll be fine,” Crowe nodded. “If they were to do anything, they’d have done it by now.”

“I guess,” the Braixen shrugged and pinched her nose as she gulped down the liquid. She coughed and spluttered, shaking her head. “Ahhh, gross!”

“Yeah, it tastes like shit, but it works, we use it regularly around here.” Ethan smirked at her reaction. “So, you guys need to get to Canterlot? Any particular reason?” He had just overheard part of the previous conversation.

Becky went quiet for a moment, and it seemed like she was thinking hard about something.

“Her older brother is there,” Crowe cut in. “He is the only one that we have ever been able to count on and she misses him dearly.”

“Crowe!” Rebecca snapped at him and he shrugged before closing his beak.

“Family, eh? That sounds great, I am sure that he missed you too.” Ethan beamed at her. “I got most of my family right here, so I guess I got lucky in that regard. And don't worry about it, I won't tell a soul if you don't want me to. I might be a strange Pokémon, but you are our guest, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, thanks,” she mumbled, blushing lightly under her fur. Then she smiled and leaned closer. “Soooo~ What’s up with you and Mr. Brawly? You two seem… close.”

“It’s that obvious?” Ethan smiled sheepishly. “Well, he is one of my oldest friends and…” He paused for a moment, but before he could continue a small pink fluff landed besides him.

“And his boyfriend.” She simply blurted out with a sly smile.

“Chii!”

“What? It's true.” Ethan had a whole bunch of things he wanted to say in that moment, but he just deflated slightly instead. She was right after all.

“And we are together, yeah.” He said, a small blush appearing under his own fur.

“Aaawwwww~” Becky cooed. “That’s adorable. Have you had your first date yet?”

“You are really interested in this? Well, I suppose-” And once again, Ethan found himself cut off.

“Oh, that was awhile back. I mean, it was so obvious to everyone that they liked eachother, but nooo, they had to go and make it complicated for so long before either of them did anything about it. This… love thing just makes you so stupid it seems like.” Chii made a small surprised sound as she was picked up by Ethan.

“And that's enough of you, young lady, out you go.” Ethan deposited the small fluffball outside the room, despite her objections.

“Aww, but I want to talk to the guests… besides, it was all true.”

“I know, that's sort of the problem. You can talk to them later.” He sighed before turning back to Becky, Chii reluctantly walking off behind. “Sorry about that.” He apologised. “She can be a little... well, like that at times.”

“I understand your pain completely,” Crowe said with a long-suffering sigh. “The young miss can be quite the talonful as well. You would not believe the things she tried to pull when Seth was dating Lady Elesa…”

“Well, it is a little sister's job to cause some amount of trouble, now is it not?” He could not help but smile at Crowe's comment.

“Got that right!” Rebecca nodded, already feeling a lot better. She took her wand out of her tail and Ethan noted that rather than a twig, it was an actual magician’s wand. She pointed at the water jug on the table and her wand shone with a sparkling, crimson hue as she floated the jug over to her.

“Oh hey, that crap actually worked pretty well,” Becky smiled. “Thanks a bunch.”

“No worries.” Ethan smiled back. “All of his creations might taste horrible, but Vernus is one of the better herbalists I know of. Give him a few berries and there is few ailments that he can not cure.” He could not help but note the aura around the jug. And his eyes followed it as Becky levitated it. “I see that you picked up on something new here in Equestria.”

“Yep, I also used it during my performance. The magician finally got real magic.” Becky looked at her wand. “I don’t really know how or why I can do it. I’m hoping Sethy will figure something out.”

“And you mustn’t exert yourself just yet,” Crowe admonished her. “Honestly, you only just got well.”

Becky replied by poking out her tongue, but she still put her wand away regardless. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I am sure that you will figure it out. With this new world and who knows what else, it's not strange that something like this happens.” He looked between her and Crowe, and a small sigh escaped his lips. “It is good that you got someone to help take care of things… and he is right you know, I would suggest that you keep away from magic from the rest of the day at the very least.” Ethan suggested.

“Yes, doctor,” Rebecca whined and then her eyes sparkled. “You know, I bet you’d look good in a doctor’s coat.” Becky smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. “And I know Brawly would just love to play doctor with you~” He had gotten a few pointers earlier, but now he definitely knew what kind of person Becky was, and it was also time to one up her.

Crowe just sighed and slapped his forehead with a wing.

“What makes you think I don't already have a doctor’s coat?” Ethan grinned, though his blush was clearly visible through his fur. Becky squeaked and blushed in kind, not expecting that kind of response.

“You’re both incorrigible.” Crowe groaned.

The train whistled sharply as it pulled into Neighagra Falls station. A Meganium blinked away the sleep in her eyes and stretched her legs before getting up.

“Well, that certainly took longer than I thought,” she groaned. “I do hope she’s here at least…” After stepping off of the train, she winced at the change in light before her eyes adjusted to her surroundings.

“The main problem… is where to start,” she said as she picked a direction and started walking.