http://southern.silvertree.org/logs/threadfall/thread0121.html http://southern.silvertree.org/logs/events/weyrlinginspect.html Gatekeeper Saga Gwen HexerNKC 2 Nyassakaiba2000@yahoo.com Romance/Crossover: Pokemon/Real World After experiencing a traumatic seperation of her parents, Gwen Tori accidentally opens the gate to the pokemon world. Can Ash help her become a trainer and unlock the secrets of the Gatekeepers? Or will Gwen's dreams of getting home go up in smoke? WARNING A SPOILER FOR THE NEXT SEASON INCLUDING ROSTERS AND POSSIBLY TRAINERS AS WELL. IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED DON'T READ!! I AM ADDING A YAOI/YURI wARNING TO THIS FIC. NO LIkE TWO GUYS OR TWO GIRLS GETTING IT ON LEAVE, like NOW! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Journal Entry 2: Gwen Not even in my sleep could I let go of the pain. I dreamed and dreamed of it. Of my father hitting my mother, yelling at me, I can't help who I love. And I would never compromise my love of the Goddess. Why, why, why then does he hate me so, and why did he leave us? I cried myself to sleep. I heard the door opening, and saw, out of the corner of my eyes, Brock looking in to see if I was alright. I don't care that he saw me crying. Torchic and the other pokemon were firmly in their pokeballs. They couldn't see either. My mother used to tell me, that nobody drinks from the cup of life alone. I used to believe that, but I feel alone, even when all the others are by me. Why? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile: Gwen Location: Kanto/Johto/Hoen Ferry Time: Early evening Altaria flew endlessly overhead as the ferry from Oldale town headed for slateport. From there they'd catch a train to Lillycove and from there to Cinnabar Island. From Cinnabar Island they'd take the ferry to the port, just a scant day's away from Pallet Town. "Altaria... will you even trust me?" Gwen asked softly. "It's okay." Ash said with a grin. "Altaria will trust you in time. Tell you what, how about we have a battle. Your Bagon's gonna need experience if you want to raise it into a Salemence. And Drew's having the time of his life battling all the trainers down there." He pointed to the below deck where Gwen had seen a series of playing fields. "They're all gawking over his Flygon." He rolled his eyes. "Ash, has there ever been something you didn't want to talk about?" Gwen asked worriedly. "Like what?" Ash asked, startled. "Like what happened to bring me here." Gwen replied. "I did kinda wonder about it." Ash commented as he watched Altaria fly. "Well... my dad... got angry at my mom, and angry at me, and left. He took my brother Michael with him. So now my mom's all alone out in the mountains in our house." "That's horrible! Why was he angry at you two?" Ash asked worriedly. Gwen paused. "If I tell you, will you absolutely /swear/ not to tell anybody?" "On my first pokeball." Speaking of which, Pikachu perked its ears and climbed up onto Ash's shoulder. "Pikachu, you won't tell the other pokemon either will you?" "Pi-ka!" Pikachu agreed, nodding. "I... I like women, and... that's why my dad was so angry... he blamed mom for it and then left us... just like that..." Gwen sniffed. "I was so sad. I ran off to the caves. He hit me, he hit my /mother./ What happened to until death do ye part?" "I dunno. That's kinda sad." Ash said softly. "I... well... I like men..." He says with a blush. "Pikachu you are /not/ to repeat that either. I... well... the one who made me realize that was Gary. I just couldn't get him out of my mind. Then... the night before our battle at the Johto League, I ran into him, in the moonlight near the lake in Silver Town. And he..." Ash blushed. "He kissed me, on an impulse... but it was... it was beautiful." He said softly, looking up at the sky. "And then... he didn't want to come to Hoen. I guess what happened confused him." "Heeeey... maybe you could try shacking up with Drew?" Gwen smirked. "And make Gary jealous, and then he'd come back for you. Then you break Drew's heart and... hey... how many other trainers do you know are gay?" "Hm... well... I think James is, but I'm /not/ interested in him." "Oh I hear ya. One look at James and you can tell he's flaming. Anywho, that's not the only thing." Gwen pulled a pendant out of her pocket. It was strung on a string of colorful beads and was a circle, with a star in it. "I'm also wiccan. That's part of why dad was so angry at my mom. She's wiccan too. She taught me... and he didn't like it." "Wow... I've never met somebody who's paegan." Ash's eyes widened. "Can I see?" He asked curiously. Gwen handed him the pendant. "So what's this symbol called?" Ash asked as Pikachu reached out to bat it carefully. "It's called a pentacle. It's a signal to other witches that you're one of them. Witches also tend to wear a lot of black. For us its a color of protection, not darkness and mourning." Gwen explained as she took the pendant back. Altaria sailed down then. "Heyla Altaria, care to battle?" Gwen asked hopefully. "Ash wanted to know if I was up to one." Altaria stuck her nose in the air. "Okay, so you don't want to fight. Can't you be nice to me for once?" Gwen demanded. Altaria sighed and relented, bowing slightly before pecking its pokeball and going inside. "What's that supposed to mean?" "It means that we can have a full four on four battle downstairs." Ash said as he led Gwen down the steps. Gwen nodded. "Can we make it contest rules though? I want to have at least one contest battle with Altaria. I want to make it a contest pokemon." "Okay, you can try." Ash said calmly. "I don't know if you'll succeed." Gwen nodded. "If there's one thing I've learned Ash, its that there are times when all you can do is try. And sometimes that just isn't enough. The best anybody can do is to throw everything they have at something, and when that isn't enough, to let it go and move on." "Gwen, can I ask you something?" Ash asked suddenly. "Sure, what?" "Before the incident, did you have a dream? An ambition?" Ash asked hopefully. "Funny you should mention that. I wanted to tell the world's greatest story." Gwen replied as she headed down the stairs to the battlerooms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile: Jessie Location: Kanto/Johto/Hoen Ferry Night, the time Jessie always liked best. It was a time of secrets, a time of mystery. Some people associated night with fear, or with despair, and she guessed that that could have been possible too. But Jessie had adopted a more paegan view of night, after reading some Joseph Campbell lectures. That's right, Joseph Campbell. He always had such interesting stories to tell, and cited works that Jessie hadn't even heard of. But it was his philosophy surrounding mythology that she liked. No, to Jessie night was the time that all things slept in mother earth's womb, waiting to be reborn with the dawn. But Jessie, tonight, was one restless baby. And she took a walk to get some air, maybe calm down a little. She'd been seasick for the first few hours of the voyage, but Meowth had pointed out that the balloon would have stuck out like a pirate flag and so they'd asked a friend of theirs, a retired Rocket named Nimea, to transport it for them back to Kanto. With her charizard, (which Jessie wholeheartedly envied) to pull it Nimea would make excellent time back to Viridian City. Jessie stalked to the viewing deck on the bow, her favorite place on any ship, and scowled. A girl, about Ash or May's age, was standing there with her Torchic. "I dunno what I did to make Altaria hate me so Torchic." She said with a sigh. "Sometimes I think I'll never get home. And Misty won't tell me anything." "Toooorchic." The Torchic said softly, sympathetically. Jessie hid behind a crate to listen. "I just... I just want to go back to my mom's cabin, and see if I could make things up to dad, get him to come back again. I could /not/ bring a girlfriend home until I'm in college or something." She suggested. Great, just what Jessie wanted to have interrupt her walk, a rookie trainer with sexual orientation issues. "Evening." Jessie had gone plainclothes, she was wearing tight bluejeans and a sapphire tube top, not her usual plainclothes attire, but she thought it set off her eyes and hair. "Evening." The girl said, startled. "It's so serene isn't it?" Jessie asked. "What is?" "The ocean." She sighed and looked out over it. "I know a Meowth who prefers the moon, but the ocean's always drawn me." The girl peered at Jessie suddenly. "You're Jessie from Team Rocket!" She exclaimed. Grrrr... how did she know? "What? Do you collect wanted posters or something?" Jessie demanded. The girl snorted. "Hardly, Ash told me about you." "That doesn't explain how you knew what I looked like." That was when Jessie saw the dragon/phoenix sword on the girl's back. "You... you're... one of them aren't yoU? The ones who protect the border between worlds!" "A gatekeeper you mean? How do /you/ know about gatekeepers. You aren't one are you?" "Hardly. My mother was a gatekeeper..." Jessie drooped at the mention of her mother, Miyamoto. Miyamoto was a Team Rocket Legend. Jessie was a Team Rocket Joke. "Her name was Miyamoto." "I heard about that online." The girl stated. "Misty calls the dimension I'm from the inter." "The dimension where we're all a cartoon." Jessie leaned on the railing and looked out over the blank seascape. "So, the pokemon contest is coming back to Slateport the two days that we're in port." "How do you know?" "I stole a copy of the twerp's itinerary. And don't forget, we're supposed to be taking his Pikachu. So where he goes, we do." Jessie agreed. "have you ever tried catching a /wild/ pokemon to give your boss? You might have more success if you caught a pikachu, raised it, and gave it to Giovanni instead." "Shhhhhhhhhhh!" Jessie hissed. "Nobody knows the Boss's identity but a member of Team Rocket! Don't let it out!" The girl nodded. "Say, Jessie? Can I battle you? I've got four pokemon already." She said, indicating the balls on her belt. Jessie sighed disgustedly and considered. On the one hand it would help her settle down. On the other, when it went down between twerp and Rocket it would give her a one up on what pokemon the girl used. "Alright, two on two okay with you?" "You bet." The girl replied. Jessie paused at the door to the battle deck. "I like to know the names of the people I battle." She said suddenly. "Gwen, Gwenolan's my full name, but everybody just calls me Gwen." "Gwen... my grandmother was named that." Jessie said with a small smile that Gwen couldn't see due to the angle and the darkness. The two humans and Torchic descended to the battle deck, bathed in darkness. Jessie flicked a switch, and dim emergency lighting came on. But the area was still pretty dark. At first she hesitated. But no, the darkness would make things more interesting. And both Dustox and Seviper were nocturnal, they'd have no trouble finding their way in darkness. Gwen took her position, and Jessie took hers. "Okay, go, SEVIPER!" Gwen didn't hesitate. "Bagon! I choose you!" Bagon appeared from the ball and growled at Seviper. "Ready?" Gwen asked. "Yes." "Then let's Rock and Roll!" Gwen growled. "Bagon, start things off with an ember attack!" "Seviper! Poison sting!" Jessie shouted. "Seeeeviiiper!" Seviper growled and shot glittering poison shards at the dragon type. "Bagon! Jump and use Ember!" GWen shouted. Bagon jumped into the air just shy of Seviper's attack and shot Ember down at it. Seviper wailed, hissing in pain. The wail was enough to wake Meowth. "Huh? I taut tat was Seviper! Da twerps!" Meowth cried out as he toddled down the stairs to investigate. "Wait a second, tat's no twerp she's figtin. Not wit dat sword she's got!" "How perceptive Meowth but I'm kinda busy." Jessie glared as Seviper attempted a poison tail at Bagon. Bagon grappled with the poison tail. "Seviper! Keep it up!" Meowth, whom Jessie had told all about the gatekeepers, went to get James. "James! James wake up! Jessie's havin' a battle wit a gatekeeper! A girl! She's da twerp's age!" James rolled over in his sleep muttering. "Butch, more icecream please, and make mine topped with a cherry." Meowth rolled his eyes. James, from what the cat pokemon could tell, dreamed about Butch frequently. Usually dreams of the superior Rocket being his servent. But considering that the two of them were usually at each other's throats it didn't surprise him. "Manane?" Manane yawned, stretched, and seeing Meowth asked worriedly. "Mana?" "Come on Manane, we gotta go cheer Jessie up!" Meowth tugged the baby mime pokemon by the hand. "manane!" Manane replied. Meowth got back to the battle deck to find that Bagon had just about been beaten to its knees. "Bagon! Don't give up! Believe in yourself!" Gwen was saying encouragingly. "baaaaaaa... gooooon!" Bagon trembled under the pressure from yet another poison tail attack. Then it began to glow, it glowed, and reformed, and grew until it was... "Sheeeeellgon!" "Alright!" Gwen cheered. Manane mimicked Gwen's cheer and giggled. "Let's do this Shelgon! Protect attack!" A wall of greeney blue light suddenly separated Seviper from Shelgon. Seviper tried to use poison tail again. It didn't work. Seviper's tail smacked hard on the protect barrier. "Seeeeviiipeeer!" Seviper cried out in pain. "Now use headbutt!" Gwen told it. With renewed power Seviper didn't stand a chance. It went flying out of the ring. "Seviper! Return." Jessie called it back. "Go DUSTOX!" "Dusssstox!" "So tell me Gwen." Jessie said as Shelgon and Dustox squared off to fight. "What's your family like?" "Well, I used to have a dad and a little brother. But... there was a fight... dad got mad and left me and mom, took Michael with him. My mother's a nisei though." Jessie nodded. There was something so familiar about this girl, from the look in her green eyes to the way she carried herself. It reminded Jessie of her when she was a little girl, kindhearted, altruistic, the way her own life would have gone if she hadn't followed in her mother's footsteps and joined Team Rocket. <> <> "Gwen, what was your mother's name?" "She said her name was Miyamoto? Why?" Gwen asked. "Can we get on with the battle?" Jessie uttered a curse in Japanese, rather than the Basic spoken by most pokemon trainers. And she began to cry... "Jessie!" James cried as he ran over to join Meowth. "Sorry, I noticed you and Jessie and Manane were gone so I thought something was up." He told Meowth. "Jessie, what made you break down in the middle of the battle? You've never done that before..." "James..." Jessie refused to be comforted. "I... I think Miyamoto's alive..." "WHAT??? YOUR MOTHER??? HOW???" Jessie stood up, resolute. "Gwen, would you consent to a DNA test?" "A what huh?" "To see if we're related. My mother's name was Miyamoto as well, and she was a gatekeeper who disappeared in the Andes years ago." Jessie explained. "Her name was Miyamoto, and in case you haven't looked in a mirror, while your hair is black, we still have the same eyes. No needles, and it won't hurt a bit. But I /have/ to know, and I know somebody who can help us." "Just as long as I don't have to join you all in your den of insanity." Gwen rolled her eyes. "Who is it?" "I don't know if you've heard of him, he's Professor Shiranui, he's a Rocket Researcher who specializes in biotechnology." Jessie explained. "Oh I've heard of him. He was in Raikou Legend of Thunder. I did extra research on the Rockets, but I've never heard of this Miyamoto that you say is your... er... our mother." Gwen said thoughtfully. "Here, this scanner should get a reading on your DNA. Mine is on file at Rocket HQ." Jessie said calmly. Gwen held our her arm for the scan as Jessie took the scan and then removed a chip from the scanner and hooked it up to the video phone. Then she turned to Gwen. "I'm going to have to have you turn around so that you don't get the password." "Yeah." Gwen turned around so that she couldn't see what Jessie was doing. "Okay, you can look now." Jessie said calmly. Gwen turned around and peered at the screen. A big red R blinked on it. Then suddenly a man with long silver hair and pale icy eyes appeared on the screen. "Bashou..." Jessie said icily. "Jessie, what's up at this time of night?" "Is the Prof around? I have a DNA scan for him, human this time and its very important." Jessie said worriedly. "Since I owe you for covering my butt that one time I'll go wake him up. But I'm warning you, no tricks like you pulled on him last time." "I'm here, what is it Bashou?" Asked a cold, sharp voice behind Bashou. "Jessie wants us to do a family scan." Bashou replied. "I see, you took a reading with the scanner I gave you yes?" "I did, it's hooked up now and ready to upload." "Good." Dr. Shiranui had short black, bowl cut hair with gray highlights, a sharply pointed face, and very small, shrewd looking eyes. He looked to Gwen rather like a gray and white pencil given life and hair. "Professor Shiranui, thank you." Jessie said as a bar at the bottom of the screen uploaded Gwen's DNA pattern to the Rocket computer databanks. "I'm running the comparison program. But the Human genome is so large that it will take a few... oh dear!" Professor Shiranui was staring at his readout. "The two DNA patterns are fifty percent compatible. Looks like somebody's got a half sister." Jessie cheered and pumped her fist in the air. "Thank you Professor! I owe you!" Jessie squealed. "Gwen, you can't go back to the inter just yet, you aren't allowed, but when you do, can you take me with you? I haven't seen my mother since I was a very small girl." Jessie said happily. Gwen was staring at the screen, shocked. "I'm... related to Jessie? Weird! But that means..." "Half siblins!" Meowth cried out happily. "Jessie, ya got a little sista!" "Congratulations Jessie!" James cried, giving his teammate a hug. Jessie wrestled free, tears streaming down her face. "Gwen..." Jessie said softly, giving her new little sister a hug. "Thank you..." She said, still crying. "You... you gave me hope. I thought my mom had died. I thought I'd never see her again. But if she's in your dimension, it means she's alive, and safe. And while you're here I'm going to do my best to do what she can't, protect you." "What do you mean I can't go back just yet?" Gwen demanded angrily. "Didn't Misty tell you? Until they reach Journeyman or JOurneywoman level a gatekeeper can't return to their home dimension." James explained. "Or that's what Jessie told us." "That's true." Jessie nodded. "I'm sorry Gwen... listen... take care of yourself okay? I'll be keeping an eye on you." Gwen stomped over to where Misty was asleep and gently kicked her in the stomach. "Get UP!" She snarled. Misty jumped awake. "Gwen... why did you..." "How come I had to hear from a /Rocket/ instead of my own /MASTER/ that I can't go home?" She demanded, tears streaming down her face. Jessie was standing in the doorway. "I"m sorry Misty. Really I am. I thought you'd told her. My mother was a gatekeeper, that's how I knew about it. I recognized the sword." "Jessie get out of here, /now!/" Misty snarled as she stood up and angrily stalked towards Jessie, dressed only in shorts and a bra and armed with an angry temper. Angry? No, she was furious! "I don't think so. She's my own little sister, after all this time there's no way I'm..." "Your WHAT???" Misty demanded, glaring from one to the other. Jessie smiled bitterly. "My mother wasn't just a member of Team Rocket Misty. She was also a Master Gatekeeper. As near as I can tell she faked her own death and ran away from Team Rocket to the Inter." Jessie replied. "It's the greatest mystery Team Rocket, any Rocket, has ever had to contend with. What happened to the great Miyamoto? Most of us believe that she died in an avalanche. But when Lady Boss, our Boss's mother, sent search parties they never found a body. Get it now?" Jessie demanded. "And I wouldn't lie about something this important to me!" Misty stared searchingly into Jessie's eyes, then grabbed a bathrobe and said calmly. "I'm going to let the others know about this. Gwen, you stay here." Gwen sighed and sat down on the abandoned bed. Torchic jumped up into Gwen's lap. "Torchic tor chica chic chic tor!" It told Meowth. "Oh I hear ya!" Meowth replied. "But Jessie's actually happy for once, so it can't be too bad." "What makes you think I was unhappy?" Jessie asked, arching an eyebrow. Meowth ignored her in favor of the Torchic. "Tor tor tor chic!" Torchic told Meowth. "What's it saying Meowth?" Gwen asked curiously. "Torchic says that things 're gonna get complicated now that everybody's gonna know that you're related to Jessie, and that maybe it can get itself to evolve so that it can help protect ya' 'gainst us Rockets. Dat's one devoted pokaymon." Gwen smiled and scooped up Torchic. "Torchic, it's okay. You shouldn't rush something like evolution, it lasts for the rest of your life." She pointed out as she stroked Torchic's hair. That was when Ash, Drew, Brock, Max, May and a very upset Misty came striding in. "You..." Ash growled at Jessie. "Relax twerp, I'm not after your pikachu tonight." Jessie glared daggers at Ash. "I'm here because I found out that my mother actually survived, faked her death to leave Team Rocket, and left for the Inter where she had Gwen!" Jessie growled. "And I'm coming as myself, not as a Rocket, but as a girl who had /no/ family for fifteen years and never knew more about them than their names!" That relaxed Ash a hair. "Whatcha talking about?" He demanded, realizing what Jessie had just said. "My mother was a gatekeeper of the highest caliber." Jessie explained. "But one day, on a mission for the Boss' mother, she disappeared. None of us ever found her body." Jessie explained. "But when I had Professor Shiranui do a DNA scan of Gwen, (we have the technology to send a person's DNA print elsewhere) it came up with a fifty percent similarity to mine. That means we're half sisters!" Jessie growled. Ash stared at the two of them for a moment. "Well you do have the same eyes. But I'm surprised Gwen, you don't act anything like Jessie does." "Yeah." Gwen sighed. "I'm still not sure what to make of it." "That's okay." Drew said slowly, sitting down on the bed next to Gwen. "It's what you do with your pokemon, not who you're related to, that makes the trainer." Gwen nodded and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. And I gained a sister, no matter how evil she may be." "That's the spirit!" Brock said cheerfully. "And we won't judge you." May agreed. "We're your friends, and not fairweather ones either." Jessie had left the room during that conversation and came back alone, without Meowth. "I've just talked with James, he agrees that we won't attack you while you're on your way to Pallet Town, but after we reach Viridian City things go back to normal." Ash rolled his eyes. "Sounds fair enough. Although I'd rather you leave us alone totally." Ash growled. Jessie nodded. "Sorry, under orders to catch your Pikachu, not our fault." Gwen got up and gave Jessie a hug. "I need to finally go to bed. It's three in the morning. Oh, and Ash, I got Bagon to evolve." "You did? Good for you!" Ash said with a nod. "Jessie helped you get it to evolve?" "I didn't even know it was close to evolving." Jessie rolled her eyes. "When a Bagon learns Ember it means its almost ready to evolve." Brock told Gwen. "It's the last attack it learns before it evolves into a Shelgon." Gwen nodded. "I should thank you Jessie." Jessie nodded. "What's a battle or two between sisters? I'm going to get some rest before I go shopping in Slateport tomorrow." Jessie got up to go. "And May, there's a pokemon contest there too. I'll be glad to beat you..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile; Gwen Location: Slateport Pokemon Center, Slateport Market, Slateport Contest hall Gwen stepped off the boat at Slateport shipyard. "Follow me to the pokemon center." Ash said happily. "And then we'll see about registering you for the pokemon contest." "Alright! I want to use Altaria's Dragon Dance as a display." Gwen sighed. She looked through the pokedex. "Altaria's attacks... hmm... Peck, growl, astonish, sing, fury attack, safeguard, mist, take down, Dragonbreath, Dragon dance, refresh, Perish song, and sky attack." "Want me to quiz you?" Drew asked hopefully. "Sure." Gwen answered. Gwen continued to review Altaria's stats the entire walk to the pokemon center. Drew would fire a question at her, and Gwen would answer as best she could. Twice she got answers wrong. But aside from that she mostly did a good job. Finally they made it to the door of the pokemon center. "You're a good teacher Drew." Ash complimented. "I don't think I'd have had the patience to teach anybody anything." May agreed. "So your appeal attack is going to be Dragon Dance?" Asked Drew as he continued the barrage. "Yes." "What does Dragon Dance do to a pokemon's stats?" "It raises speed and attack in battle." Gwen replied automatically. "Good, good. We'll do the practical part once we reach the pokemon center and get something to eat." Drew told her as they walked in the door. "Nurse Joo-oy?" Ash called into the pokemon center. Sniffle... snork... "Yes... ACHOO! Sorry, I've got a bit of a cold." The Slateport Nurse Joy said with another sniffle. "What can I do for you?" "We just need to stay here overnight." Ash told her. "And our pokemon could use a rest, we were battling most of the afternoon yesterday." Drew agreed. "Of course, stay as long as you need to. Will you be entering the pokemon contest?" Nurse Joy asked. "I already got a Slateport ribbon. So I think I"ll be sitting this out." May said sheepishly. "I lost at Slateport, and Gwen hasn't entered a contest yet." Drew nodded. "I'll be entering." "Good, because the contest hall is right next door." Nurse Joy jerked her thumb in the general direction. "I'm in charge of..." Cough, hack, cough. "Registration." "Great!" Gwen exclaimed, her enthusiasm never wavering. "So how do I go about registration." "Follow me and I'll show you." Nurse Joy led Gwen and Drew to a computer. "I've seen you around before Drew, why don't you explain?" "You just have to fill out the form." Drew snitched two from the top of an almost gone pile. "Here." He handed Gwen one. Gwen sat with Torchic to fill out the form. It was very simple, you had to give your name, age, pokemon roster, family, etc. Gwen was just trying to figure out family when Jessie came in in plain clothes. "Oh, there you are. Gwen I was going to take you shopping." "Nurse Joy, this is my Older Sister Jessica. She's a wicked cool coordinator who hasn't won either. So we're going to enter together and compete against each other." "Good for... hack cough... you." Gwen put down "Jessica, Half Sister." Under family as well as "Miyamoto; Mother," But left out any other family. Entry pokemon? Gwen sighed and put down Altaria. She turned in the form and took Altaria outside. "Okay." Jessie called out Dustox. "Shall we continue from last night?" Jessie asked. "Sure thing, only as a contest battle." She turned to Drew. "Can you keep time for this battle?" "sure." Drew agreed. He pulled out two different colored bandanas from a kit marked 'first aid.' "Okay, red bandana is Jessie, blue bandana is Gwen." Drew told them. "Okee dokee." Gwen tossed out Altaria. "Altaria! Come on out!" "Taria!" Altaria stuck up its nose. "Altaria, I want to use you in a contest okay?" Altaria perked up at the word Contest. "But to do that we need to practice with Jessie, Drew, and May. Can you bear with me for an afternoon so that we can win tonight?" Gwen begged. "Taria!" Altaria thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, Gwen and Altaria vs. Jessie and Dustox." May said happily as she declared the rules. "The players will have a time limit of five minutes. The battle is one on one! Go!" "Altaria! Power things up with your Dragon Dance!" Gwen shouted. Altaria began to dance. It bounced on it's left foot, one two, one two. Then on its right foot, one two, one two. Then it launched into the air and came down, then hopped left one two, one two, then another hop to the right this time, one two, one two, then it spread it's wings forward, and spread them backward. As this happened it began to glow a bright silver color. "Dustox, start things off with Toxic!" Jessie called out. Dustox shot purple bubbles at Altaria. "Altaria! Dodge it!" Gwen shouted. Altaria ducked under the bubble, then launched into the air. "Alright, Altaria! Sky attack!" The glow changed from silver to gold and Altaria dove after Dustox. "Dustox! Tackle, then use Toxic close in!" Jessie shouted. "Duuuuustoooooox!" Dustox flapped upwards to meet Altaria's attacks, shooting a glop of something purple at it. "Counter with safeguard!" Gwen called out. The toxic attack just bounced right off. "What was that?" Jessie demanded. "How did you..." "Safeguard is an attack that blocks status changes from moves such as thunderwave and ice beam, but yes, also toxic! It would be the bane of grass pokemon such as Vileplume or poison pokemon such as Wheezing who's attack power relies mainly on status changes." Gwen explained. Jessie eyed the young coordinator. "Okay, Dustox, use Silverwind!" "Jessie, I've got a riddle, what do you get when you feed a seviper hot peppers?" "No idea, focus on the battle." "DRAGONBREATH!" Grinned Gwen as Altaria breathed out a plume of green fire. Dustox wavered, struggling to stay aloft. "Now finish it with Hyperbeam!" Altaria opened its beak, and a ball of glowing orange light began to form. The ball grew, and then shot from Altaria's mouth as a beam of glowing golden energy. "DUUUUUUSSSSSSTOOOOOX!" Jessie cried in warning. Dustox dropped like a stone, the dragonbreath causeing it to fall and be missed by the Hyperbeam. The beam missed and hit Jessie, sending her flying and screaming backwards into the wall of the pokemon center. There was a crack, and Jessie blacked out. "NOOOOOOOO!" Gwen, James and Meowth were by her side instantly. "I didn't mean to hurt her! Really I didn't." Gwen said, crying. James took Jessie's pulse carefully. "She's alright. You!" He pointed to Drew. "Go get help! There's usually a hospital or doctor's office near a pokemon center." Drew nodded and ran off. Jessie was still unconscious, a pained expression on her face. A small drip of crimson fell from her hairline and she had scrapes on her back and arms. Drew came pelting back with a doctor. Or Gwen assumed he was a doctor from his white coat. "This is Doctor Proctor, he was in the area, I couldn't find the local hospital." Dr. Proctor rolled his eyes at the scene. "Let me guess, hit by a pokemon attack." "How could you guess?" Gwen growled as she leaned close to see better. "I see a lot of trainers at my practice in Appletown, who accidentally got injured by crossfire in a battle." The doctor replied. He took Jessie's pulse and shook his head. "As far as I can tell she needs to sleep for the next day or two. Are you passing through?" "Yes." James said simply. "Our ship leaves tomorrow evening." "She's to rest until that time. You're staying at the pokemon center?" He was running hands along Jessie's skull. "I don't feel any cracks. She'll be fine after a couple days of bedrest." Gwen nodded, wringing her hands. "What happened?" Ash asked, coming out of the Pokemon Center. "OH, Doctor Proctor? Remember me? It's Ash." "Ash, hey there. I was just passing through on vacation when your friend Drew told me this woman had gotten hurt." "What happened?" "Its a long story Ash." That's when Jessie slowly began to wake up. "Gwen..." She said softly. "I want you... to keep fighting..." She groaned, trying to sit. "Enter that... contest and... win the day... do it... for me... James..." "Yes?" "Take Seviper and enter the contest..." Jessie groaned, still struggling to rise. "I will Jessie, but how? How am I supposed to come up with an act?" "You'll... think of something..." Jessie said with a lopsided smile. "Don't sit up." Doctor Proctor said sharply. "You'll..." Too late, Jessie's world spun, she leaned against the wall of the pokemon center and ended up heaving up her last meal before collapsing backwards again. "Oooooooh..." "I warned you." Doctor Proctor told her. "You need to sleep." Proctor turned to James. "We need to carry her prone back into the pokemon center. Then we need to take care of her scrapes." Nurse Joy fussed and fussed about Jessie. "Looks like she'll have to drop out of the contest. I hope she's alright? Bed rest you said? We have a room upstairs that will do." Nurse Joy said as she blew her stuffed up nose. "And after we're done with her I'll see what I can do about your cold." Doctor Proctor added. "Being sick and having to work is /never/ any fun." "Oh would you? Thank you so much!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. Gwen sat there in the Lobby, head in her hands. "I can't believe I hit her like that." "It's not your fault." Ash told her. "Sometimes beginning trainers don't know when to stop attacking. You had already won the battle against Dustox. You didn't need to use Hyperbeam." Gwen nodded worriedly. "Now, I've been thinking." Ash commented in a low voice. "I think when I get back to Pallet I'll definately ask Gary out." "Good for you!" Gwen grinned. "Oh dear, Altaria and I need to go over our act!" "Go for it. And don't worry about Jessie, she's had worse encounters than this and survived." Ash told her. "Okay." Gwen wiped a tear from her eye. "Altaria! Let's rock and roll!" She told the dragon. "For Jessie okay? Be sure to dance your very best!" Nurse Joy had come back down. "I had Chansey sing her to sleep." She said, much more relieved now that Jessie was being taken care of. "And her Meowth is watching the door. Is there anything I can help you with?" "Do you have a CD player I can borrow?" Gwen asked, rooting through her backpack. "All I've got is my discman. And Jessie told me to win this contest for /her!/" Gwen said, with a determined grit of her teeth. "So what do you need a CD player for?" Asked Misty. "Altaria has a dragon dance attack. And if I'm going to display it I need to have music for Altaria to time it with. Right Altaria?" Gwen asked Altaria. "Taria!" Altaria said with a gritted smile. It's eyes sparkled. Meowth came down the stairs then. "James said he wanted to talk with Jessie alone. Jessie wanted to teach him Seviper's attacks so that he could play in da contest. James wanted to use Manane, but Jessie /did/ lend him Seviper." "Meowth, can you translate what Altaria's saying for me?" Gwen asked. "For some reason it wouldn't obey me until it heard the word contest." Meowth nodded and turned as Altaria spoke. "Taria all al taria ria altaria..." "Oh wow! Now dis is intarestin!" Meowth said with a grin. "Altaria's sayin' dat she used ta be da pokemon of an up and coming coordinator, who even made it to da Grand Festival!" "Taria al altaria..." Altaria drooped. "It says but den Altaria did dwagon dance an' got a pewfect score." "Taria altaria ria alt altaria." "But it lost da' battle round an it's traina abandoned it." Meowth continued. "Tara altaria ra ria a." Altaria replied, glaring at Gwen. "So it says how does /it/ know that ya' won't abandon it if it loses? It had dreams o' winnin da grand festival. An' it wants ta' go all da way!" "Taria!" Altaria agreed. "I'll do my best Altaria. But I think your coordinator must have been a horrible loser. I mean, look at Ash. He's lost two league championships and he still keeps going, nor has he gotten rid of Pikachu. I believe that's the best example a coordinator could follow. Just because you lose one time, doesn't mean you can't start over." "Taria!" Altaria turned up her nose. Then flicked an eye towards Gwen. "Taria, ria altaria alt." "Altaria says it'll give ya' a try at dis contest, but only because it wants ta make up fer what happened to Jessie." Meowth translated. "But after dat ya gotta prove ta' it that you take good care uh yer pokaymon." Gwen nodded. "Fair enough. Shall we work on your Dragon Dance?" She asked as Nurse Joy came out from behind the desk with a boom box. "Here's the CD player. Your CD's aren't coded are they? Sometimes American CD's won't play on this." "They're burned without codes." Gwen nodded. "Ready Altaria? I want you to listen close to the music and pick a song that best goes with your Dragon Dance." Altaria cocked its head at the music, but disdainfully pecked away, "Crawling" and "Rock The House." It paused, listening to "Unwritten" for a moment. Then it came to what she wanted. "Size Matters," by Natasha Beddingfield. "Taria!" It said happily and began to do it's Dragon Dance. "We're allowed to have music in the background right? I won't be disqualified?" "I've seen trainers have their pokemon jump through hoops and not be penalized." Nurse Joy commented. "You're allowed one prop without being penalized." Gwen nodded, then took a look at the dancing Altaria. "Wow, cool! And the music has a message." "Taria." Altaria said. She was dancing with her eyes closed. Gwen grinned as she watched Altaria dance. "Wow... you really know your stuff!" "Taria." Altaria said proudly. "Somebody's sure got an ego." Meowth commented. "Like somebody else I know?" Asked Ash with a smirk. "Okay, I can take bein' teased by oder Rockets but not by a twewp!" Meowth growled. "An' I used 'ta be da bosses favorite! I got reason ta' have an ego." "So does Altaria." Brock had been listening to the translated conversation. "Made it to the Grand Festival and cut down in its prime. That's gotta hurt." Meowth nodded. "Look at dat ting dow. Cuttin a rug witout a care in da wowld." Meowth said, hands on its hips. "Altaria, mind if I dance with you?" Gwen asked hopefully. "I used to do a couple of routines at the school talent shows back home." Altaria barely nodded, never faltering as it danced. Gwen joined in, laughing with the sheer joy of the music as Altaria led the dragon dance and Gwen followed her movements as best she could. I was checkin' nice things you do standing in the Starbucks queue You buy coffee for a stranger who's down on their luck Random acts of kindness flow, compassion from a hand I'd like to hold It does it for me and I cant get enough Oh...Don't confuse me when I say Oh...Please don't take this the wrong way You can lead a heart to love but you can't make it fall I'm tired of loving small 'cos... Size matters but not how you think, uh, I'm talkin bout your heart and what you do with it The more seeds you plant the more flowers will grow, so... big up the love 'till it overflows The rest of the people in the pokemon center were watching the dragon dance and Gwen's attempts at following along. And when the song ended several humans and pokemon applauded. Altaria took a bow. "You're great Altaria! We'll win that contest for sure!" Gwen grinned as she took a bow too. That was about the time James came downstairs, plainclothed, Manane on his shoulder. "Jessie told me she owes you a shopping trip when we get to Lillycove. But in the meantime she wanted me to pick up a couple of things for her at the Slateport Market. Any of you interested in coming along?" "I'll come." Ash said instantly. "Gwen and I can finish our conversation from earlier." "And I'll come to make sure you don't corrupt her with your stupidity." Misty said with an arch smirk. "And I'm just going to come for the shopping." May said shyly. Drew rolled his eyes. "Count me out. I still need to train Flygon for the contest." "See you then." Gwen said with a nod to Drew. Gwen enjoyed the slow walk to the seashore, Altaria walked alongside her, wings folded like big, puffy sails. But once they got there she was amazed. The Market was down by the warf, only instead of selling fish they sold pokemon objects. Gwen noticed a gorgeous blue flute made of glass and a ribbon box and even a badge case painted with a Salamence's sillouette. "Aw man... I'm flat busted..." Gwen looked longingly at the stuff at the market. "How am I supposed to store ribbons or badges without a ribbon or badge case though?" "I used the inside of my jacket." Ash offered. "Ash, my jacket is leather and a trenchcoat." Gwen pointed out. "I don't want holes in it from the badge pin and it would totally flatten a ribbon." "I've got a lot of allowance stored up." May told Gwen. "I'll get you the badge case and ribbon box." "And how about the blue flute too?" Gwen asked, pointing to the sapphire blue flute that was sitting in a small wooden box stained blue, on a velvet cushion. "looks expensive." James commented. "It is expensive." Ash commented, pointing to the price. "Look at the price." "And the badge case and ribbon box cost all I'd be able to pay." May pouted. "Sorry Gwen." "No problem." James said suddenly. "If we pool our money we'll be able to get it for her." "No, this one's on me, a gift from Master to Apprentice." Misty said, digging through her bag for her money purse. "I won a ton of gym battles before leaving. I've got cash to spare. I'll even buy everybody something to eat." "Cool!" So Gwen got her Ribbon Box, and her badge case, and her blue flute. She also got icecream. And the group was back at the pokemon center in time to warm up for the pokemon contest. Gwen went through the dragon dance with Altaria one more time before Nurse Joy, dressed up in a pink and sky blue dress for the occasion, came out from her office. "My cousin from Altomare is watching the center while we go to the pokemon contest. My younger sister is going to be entering with her Kadabra. She's the only psychic Joy ever born to my family." Explained Nurse Joy. "This is her first contest, so mother, gran and I are coming as family support." As she spoke two other Nurse Joys, one of them Elderly and the other with laugh wrinkles around her eyes came walking in the door. "Joy are you ready?" Nurse Joy sneezed. "Yeah. Dr. Proctor's cold remedy really worked, for the most part. I'm ready to watch." Gwen walked the short distance to the contest hall in silence. "Nervous Gwen?" Asked May warmly. "Yeah..." "Don't be. You and Altaria did incredibly well in training this afternoon. And if your Altaria really did make it to the Grand Festival under another trainer then it shouldn't be a problem." May pointed out. They were walking down a hall near where a sign said. //Coordinators to the right, Spectators to the left. No spectators allowed in green room.// "This is where we part company." May told her. "Good luck." Gwen sighed and followed Drew and James to the right down a long hall plastered with pokemon posters. Drew took Gwen's hand and led her eagerly down the hall. "Welcome to my world." Drew's wave of an arm indicated the green room with its rows of benches and empty lockers. Humans and pokemon in all shapes and sizes were gathered there, going over attacks and tricks. Drew dragged her straight for another girl with red hair in ponytails and a gawdy, colorful outfit. "Grace! Heyla!" "Drew, I haven't seen you since last year." Grace commented. "Ready to lose?" "I think not. My Vibrava evolved." Drew stated. "Thanks to some help from Ash that is." "And who's this?" Grace asked curiously, blinking at Gwen. "You remember Jessica right? That coordinator with the Dustox? This is her half sister Gwen. She's a beginning coordinator who can be a little too overzealous." Drew explained, and went on to explain about the incident that afternoon, much to Gwen's embarassment. Grace nodded at the end of it. "At least you learned a lesson about discipline. Have you ever put your Altaria through a drill?" "Drill?" "Yeah, Winona does them with her pokemon all the time. I've been staying in Fortree City until I get enough ribbons for the Grand Festival. Winona's out there every day drilling her flying pokemon by calling out directions for flying, and mixing an attack call in there. Directions like, 'spin left' and 'dive right' and 'Safeguard' things like that." Grace explained. "I liked them so much that I've started drilling Medicham. Maybe if you drill Altaria a little..." Altaria stuck up her nose at Grace. "Oh dear. That's another problem, my Altaria's got an ego." Gwen explained. "Jessica has a talking Meowth that said that Altaria made it to the Grand Festival, lost, and got abandoned. So not only does it not trust me, it wants me to prove that I can be a good coordinator before it will work with me in a pokemon battle." Grace nodded. "I've seen pokemon like that. But as long as you keep your cool Altaria will too. Pokemon tend to pick up some of the traits of their trainers over time. I've been studying the psychology of pokemon training. Humans and pokemon are almost symbiotic in their relationships with each other." Grace assured her. Gwen nodded, still taking in her surroundings. She noticed a girl with pink hair, pigtails, and a Kadabra. "Who's that?" She asked, pointing. "That, is the only psychic Nurse Joy you will ever see." Grace said with a chuckle. "I talked with her earlier. She's entering the contest with her Kadabra. And it's at a pretty high level itself. If she makes it to the final round she'll be tough to beat." Grace told her. "Can I give you a hint? You can always tell a psychic by their eyes. Their pupils are extremely narrow from using their powers all the time." Gwen nodded again. "Altaria, let's run through the music one more time. It never hurts to review." She pointed out. "Taria." Altaria replied as she pecked the play button on the CD player. Both Grace and Drew turned to watch and listen as Gwen went over the Dragon Dance with Altaria. By the end of it Grace was tapping her toes and Drew had a small smile on his face. "You're going to blow them away." Grace predicted. "I've never seen a pokemon with a dance attack." "It's called Dragon Dance, there's another dance attack called Feather Dance that Pigeotto can learn." Gwen explained as Altaria did a slow turn. "And Altaria picked the song. I guess it could apply anywhere, 'I'm talking 'bout your heart and what you do with it.'" She quoted. "I've never heard that song before." Grace commented. "Really? I found it online." She told Grace as she glanced sidelong at Altaria, who was being watched by several of the coordinators in the room. "Maybe its somebody new." She suggested. Grace seemed to accept that explanation. James nodded. "You know, I haven't heard that song either. It's got a lesson to it, but where did it come from?" "I told you, online." Gwen replied, getting a little annoyed. James leaned closer. "What I meant was is it from the inter?" he whispered so softly that neither Grace nor Drew could hear him. Gwen nodded and whispered. "Yeah, Natasha Beddingfield did it." "There is no Natasha Beddingfield here. Be very careful what songs or television shows you quote openly." James warned Gwen. "It appears suspicious to the paranoid and puzzling to everyone else." That was when the ref/announcer came in. "Okay, who here hasn't entered a pokemon contest before? Raise your hands and come forward." Gwen and James both raised their hands, along with the Nurse Joy who had been working with her Kadabra in the corner and half a dozen other trainers. "Whoever has a prop, raise your hand again." The announcer said after she took a tally of how many new coordinators there were. Gwen raised her hand, and surprisingly James did too. "Then let's see them. We're on in ten minutes. Please explain what you're going to do, quickly, when I point to you." She pointed to James. "Have Seviper use poison tail to kick soccer goals." James said with a sheepish grin. The announcer pointed to Gwen. "Music for Altaria's dragon dance." The announcer pointed to a girl with a pokemon that looked like a Sneasal, but it had a head crest. "Slashing bricks with slash attack." And on down the line. Finally the last 'prop act' was done and the Reff looked satisfied. "Okay, now be ready to go on when I call your number. Number one, James." James pulled a soccer ball and two cones from his backpack and headed for the door. All eyes turned to the screen. "The first pair tonight is James and Seviper. What attack will they demonstrate?" The announcer was saying. James, with total aplomb, set down the cones and the ball, then called out Seviper. "Seviper! Poison tail! Through the goal!" "Seeeeeviiii- PER!" Seviper smacked the ball clean through the goal and rolling towards the judge's stand. "Seviper bends it with its poison tail!" "Now, use Wrap!" James ordered. Seviper took the ball securely in its coils, then yanked with its tail. The ball went spinning to rest on the tip of its tail, balenced perfectly. "Oh my, what a wonderful sense of balence Seviper's got!" Then Seviper flicked its tail, and the ball rested on its head. It swayed and swung to some imaginary tune, but the ball stayed put. "Wow..." Grace commented. "Just because he hangs out with Jessica, I thought he'd be just as tasteless, but this is a good act. He's totally different from her." "That's Jessica's pokemon he's using." Gwen said glumly. "Say what?" Grace asked. "It's true." Drew agreed. "Jessica, Gwen and I were training with May when Altaria's hyperbeam missed and hit Jessi... I mean Jessica. She'll be alright, but the doctor said bedrest until we leave for the Ferry to Lillycove. So she can't participate in the contest. She asked James to take her strongest pokemon and enter in her place." "You you know what? I may not like her but I wouldn't wish that on anybody. It was your Altaria?" Grace asked Gwen. Gwen nodded, looking upset now. "I ordered it to use Hyperbeam when I didn't need to. Jessie's Dustox fell and the Hyperbeam missed and hit her instead." "Hey, no need to be upset. You learned a lesson right? That when its time to stop, you should stop." Grace pointed out. "That's an important lesson that some coordinators don't learn. You're lucky to have learned it. The same applies for pokemon training. I know that they say pokemon don't die, but it's not true. And a bad battle can sometimes cause casualties, that's why, to minimize them, a good trainer should know exactly when to stop. Anything more is vicious or foolish." Gwen nodded. "What score will the judges give James and his Seviper?" Asked the announcer. "Good work." Said one. "Very original." Said another. The Nurse Joy judging the contest nodded. "I've never seen a Seviper use its attacks that way." 9.5, 8.9, 9.7. "Total score is 28.1!" The announcer read. A cheer went up from the crowd. Gwen caught sight of Ash and company when the camera zoomed in on the crowd. Ash was clapping. Brock's look was thoughtful. May and Max were cheering. And Misty's look was careful, studied, an expression one wouldn't have expected from the usually bubbly gym leader. "Number 2, Gwen!" "We're rooting for you!" Grace flashed a thumbs up to Gwen as the new coordinator scooped up the borrowed boombox, stopped the music, and led Altaria out. The hall was long and dark, though the occasional dim light flickered for her to see her way. "The next act is Gwen and her Altaria." Gwen's knees were knocking. Altaria snickered and led the way onto the stage. "Ready Altaria?" Gwen asked, with more cheerfulness than she felt. "Taria!" "Altaria!" Gwen pushed the button on the CD player. "Dragon Dance!" I've been sizin' you up and stuff watchin you live life large Enough for the both of us to big up the love Got the measure of the man in you it's more than the sum of the boys It's true what they say... You gotta big up the love Left one two, right one two, Altaria began to dance, sparkling with silver energy as she did so. Hop left, hop right, bow and spin then take the whole thing to the air. I was checkin' nice things you do standing in the Starbucks queue You buy coffee for a stranger who's down on their luck Random acts of kindness flow, compassion from a hand I'd like to hold It does it for me and I cant get enough In the air Altaria swung left and dipped its wings left one two, dipped its wings right one two. "Oh my, Altaria's getting its groove on with Dragon Dance!" Said the announcer happily. "What other surprises will they have in store for us?" "Altaria, while you're up there use a sky attack!" Gwen told it. Oh...Don't confuse me when I say Oh...Please don't take this the wrong way You can lead a heart to love but you can make it fall I'm tired of loving small 'cos... Size matters but not how you think, uh, I'm talkin bout your heart and what you do with it The more seeds you plant the more flowers will grow, so... big up the love 'till it overflows Altaria's glow changed from silver to gold as it pulled back a little before circling the stage and swinging low over the crowd, leaving a golden trail of energy in its wake before circling around and heading back for the stage." Size matters but not how you think, uh, I'm talkin bout your heart and what you do with it The more seeds you plant the more flowers will grow, so... big up the love 'till it overflows Most brooks to shallow to swim in only intrested in one thing It's all so meaningless 'cos puddles dry up A view of the world so small it limits the size of the dream and you achieving it A new panorama with your arms around me, I see my life how it should be Altaria bowed politely to the crowd, then to the judges. "What score will the judges give Gwen and her Altaria?" 10, 10, 9.9 "That's a twenty nine point nine folks! Putting Gwen squarely in the lead!" Gwen searched the crowd and saw Ash and company on their feet and cheering until they were hoarse, even Misty. Gwen turned off the music and managed to make it back through the corridor without falling over from shock. "YOU DID IT!" Grace glomped her. "You'll make a very worthy opponent." Drew commented, sniffing his latest rose. "Number three, Drew!" Called the backstage manager. "See you!" Drew said as he followed the manager out. And the waiting game began.