Gatekeeper Saga
Gwen HexerNKC
3
Nyassakaiba2000@yahoo.com
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!

I'm also making this a crossover in ernest. In the second half of the chapter 
Hikaru, Umi, Fuu and Caldina from Magic Knight Rayearth will come to take a 
siesta and crash a fiesta in the pokemon world!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~
Journal Entry 3
I've danced before. I've done talent shows before, but when I got up on that 
stage my knees were knocking and my palms were sweating. All those people were 
there to see us! 

"If you're ever confused about performing, you should stand in the lobby and 
watch people come in, these are people who are willing to pay ten bucks apiece, 
give up their evening, and watch you do something that hopefully you love to do 
anyway, and pay you for it. You get thousands of dollars, playing for thousands 
of people, when you want, where you want, what you want, and if that isn't a 
great job I don't know what a great job is, so if you can't, give that 
everything that you've got, if you can't return back to your audience some kind 
of gratitude, then I think you're a damned fool, I've been a fool in my life I'm 
not that big a fool."- Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin said that. Was there even a Harry Chapin in this dimension. Dunno, 
but man was I nervous. And it's not over yet. My first contest battle is coming 
up. And with a near perfect score I'm sure to be in first place." 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~
Logfile: Gwen
Location: Slateport contest hall

Gwen paced the length of the hall as the last contestant finally came back in, 
bone weary. Grace hadn't made it. Her Medicham had gotten a twenty five point 
five when it missed a beat on the High Jump Kick that made it crash into the 
target and earn points off. 

"The following contestants have made it to the battle round." Said the announcer 
as Gwen's, Drew's, James' and the young Nurse Joy's pictures came up on the 
screen. 

"I still can't believe that Grace flubbed an appeal." Gwen said as she followed 
Drew down the long dark hallway. 

"To be blunt, shit happens." Drew commented as they walked their way through the 
hall. "Grace has won more than her share of ribbons. It's okay if she loses once 
in awhile." 

"Okay, the first battle is Gwen vs. James, then Drew vs. Joy." The backstage 
manager told them. Gwen, James, go out there and give it your all!" 

Gwen nodded. James tensed visibly. "Relax. The worst you can do is lose." Gwen 
told James. "It's a show right?"

"It's both a show and a battle and a competition of the highest caliber." The 
Manager told them both. "Now, when you are announced, go out there and make your 
pokemon proud." 

"The first contest battle is between Gwen and James." The announcer called. 
"Will the contestants please approach the stage?"

Gwen nodded to James. "Break a leg, not literally." She told him.

James blinked for a moment, then smiled. "You too." 

Then Gwen walked out on the stage amid thunderous applause. "Altaria!" Gwen 
tossed the pokeball, calling out Altaria. 

James came out on the other side of the stage. "Seviper!" He called out the 
serpent pokemon. 

Gwen waited while the announcer said calmly. "The battle is five minutes long. 
After five mintues the one with the least amount of points wins. Ready?" At a 
nod from both coordinators the announcer shouted. "GO!" And the race was on. 

"Seviper! Poison fang attack!"

"Altaria, use Dragon Dance to dodge it!" Gwen called out. 

Altaria glowed silver and hopped on one foot. Seviper missed. "Now use haze 
attack!" James called out.

"Altaria, beat your wings to turn the cloud away!" Gwen shouted. 

The cloud of whatever it was that Seviper had unleashed went flying back in his 
face. James coughed for a few moments while the Haze cleared. 

"Poison tail!" James shouted and Seviper swung. 

"Altaria! Safeguard!" A ball of glowing energy covered Altaria and the poison 
tail bounced right off. 

From the Crowd, Brock shook his head. "She needs to go on the offensive if she 
wants to beat James. Seviper's got some pretty strong physical attacks, but with 
all Gwen's speed and defensive moves it can't get through." 

Misty nodded, fists clenched at her side. "That's it Gwen! Show them who's 
boss!" 

"Will you relax?" Grace asked. "Gwen's a pretty good coordinator for a rookie. 
She can manage it." 

"Okay Altaria! Into the air!" Gwen told Altaria.

"Tari!" The pokemon sailed into the air above the contest stage.

"Now... use Sky attack!" Gwen shouted. 

"Taria!" Altaria called out happily. It began to glow golden. "Alright Altaria, 
get it!" 

Altaria let out a cry of joy and then dove for Seviper. 

"Seviper, counter it with a body slam!" James shouted. 

Seviper launched into the air and dragon and serpent collided in midair. 

Both pokemon lost points, big time, but Seviper lost more than James did. 
"Gwen's got a good head start." May commented. "James is way behind her now." 

"Yeah! She'll win that ribbon for sure!" Max cheered.

Altaria swooned for a moment because of the power behind the Body Slam. 

"Altaria! Pull yourself together!" 

"Poison fang!"

"Safeguard!" Gwen shouted. 

Altaria pulled out of her troubles just in time to put up the safeguard. 

"Now use HYPER BEAM!" Gwen shouted as Altaria powered up for a Hyperbeam and... 
BOOOOOM!" There went Seviper. Seviper had curlicues for eyes it was beaten so 
hard. Gwen cheered. "Alright Altaria!" 

Seviper's points dropped to zero and James gave the serpent pokemon a pat before 
calling it back. "You did your best." 

Gwen cheered and hugged Altaria. "You were rockin' out there!" 

"Taria." Altaria said happily. 

"Now, please direct your attention to stage two for match two." The announcer 
was saying as 
Gwen hurried down the hall. "James!" She called. "Is Seviper alright?" She asked 
worriedly. Altaria sailed in and landed next to Gwen. 

"Yeah, a good rest is all it needs." James told her. "I did my best, for 
Jessie." 

Gwen nodded and smiled warmly. "That's all some people can do sometimes. I'm 
glad you're both okay." 

That was when Drew came in from his match, dusting his hands in satisfaction. 
"Did you win?" Gwen asked him. 

"Nope, lost, horribly, gee genius, what do you /think?/ All it took was one 
hyperbeam and Kadabra keeled over." Drew rolled his eyes at Gwen. He pulled out 
his rose and with a whiff, tossed it to Gwen. 

That was when the younger Joy, came in with Kadabra's pokeball wailing her eyes 
out. Gwen covered her ears. "//WILL YOU SHUT UP!//" Drew demanded. "It's not my 
fault your pokemon's weak! Dragon types have only one weakness and psychic isn't 
it!" 

"Two, other dragon types or dragon type attacks." Gwen pointed out. She crouched 
down a bit so that she was on level with the little girl. "Joy, it's okay. There 
are other contests. This was your first, you did a good job. This is my first 
contest too..." 

"And if you didn't lose that doesn't count." She snapped as she jerked away from 
Gwen's efforts to comfort her. "I don't even know you so neeeeeh." The young Joy 
stuck out her tongue at Gwen and flounced away towards the pokemon center. 

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Well then I guess the next match is just you and me 
Drew." 

"It would seem so." Drew agreed. 

"Then may the best dragon win." Gwen told him, holding out a hand. 

"Agreed." Drew shook hands with Gwen. 

"Okay you two. You have a five minute break to prepare for the final battle." 
The announcer said calmly. She fidgetted with her costume slightly. "Then we'll 
have the final battle." 

Gwen took a deep breath just as Grace came in from the audience. "Gwen, I 
thought I'd come to make sure you're okay. You're not nervous are you?"

"Plenty nervous." Gwen gulped.

Grace sighed and started massaging Gwen's shoulders. "Close your eyes, let your 
tension out. Imagine a place where you feel at home, a place that's yours, 
quiet, peaceful, and safe." She told Gwen. 

Gwen nodded, imagining the big rock out in the woods where she and her mother 
did magick. The rock was covered in moss and worn smooth. It was about three 
feet high and nine wide and a pure pure white. In her mind, Gwen was there, 
staring into a candle's flame as she recited the mantras often used in 
meditation. Ooom shanti ooom, ooom shanti ooom. Gwen didn't realized she was 
saying it aloud until Grace chuckled. "Well if my massages are that meditative 
then perhaps I should go for a degree."

Drew laughed. 

"Okay, go out there and do your best." Grace told them both. "I can't wait to 
see who wins." 

As Gwen got to the door onto the stage she heard the announcer say. "And this is 
it folks. This contest has boiled down to a dragon duel as Gwen's Altaria 
squares off against Drew's Flygon! Who will win? We'll find out! Please direct 
your attention to the main stage where the challengers are currently coming 
out." 

That was Gwen's cue. With Altaria at her side Gwen marched resolutely out onto 
the stage. At the other end Drew swaggered out with his rose in hand. Flygon 
came trudging through the door after him. Both pokemon took their places. Time 
seemed to stand still for a moment as the two Dragon types glared at each other. 

Then the timer began to count down. "GO!!" The Reff called. Gwen growled and 
shouted. "Dragon Dance Altaria!" 

Altaria began to glow silver and did its thing. 

"Hyperbeam Flygon!"

"Altaria! Dodge and use dragon breath!" Gwen shouted as the pokemon gathered all 
their poise and aplomb, all their power and strength, and attacked. A stream of 
green fire shot from Altaria's mouth and hit the Hyperbeam. The attacks created 
an explosion, one of the lights came down and landed nearby, still sparking. 
Both pokemon lost nearly the same amount of points."

"Let's show them /your/ dragon breath Flygon!" Called out Drew. 

"Dragon Dance Altaria! Then use Sky Attack!" 

Altaria dodged the dragon's firey breath and began to glow golden. Then it 
closed its wings and plunged like a stone towards Flygon. It's talons raked 
forward and it's neck was curved in an attempt to rend with its beak. The two 
pokemon clashed with a sickening crack, rebounded, and then clashed again. 
Altaria screamed in its battle rage and raked its talons forward, leaving a 
slash under one of its eyes. 

Flygon keened. Drew shouted. "IRON TAIL FLYGON!" 

"Altaria! Astonish!" 

Flygon almost instantly broke off it's attack. 

Gwen became aware of the stunned silence from the audience as they watched the 
dueling dragons in awe. "Altaria! Hyperbeam!" 

Another Hyperbeam lanced through the stage and hit Flygon, this time a direct 
hit. That was the instant that the clock ran out. 

"AND TIME IS UP FOR THE DUELING DRAGONS AND THEIR TRAINERS!" Shouted the 
Announcer. "The player with the most points left is..." The screen began to 
scroll obscure equations that Gwen had never even heard of before. "GWEN! GWEN 
WINS BY A NARROW MARGIN OF POINT ONE!" The Announcer called out. "I'VE NEVER 
SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS!! TWO HIGH LEVEL POKEMON DUELING TO SUCH A NARROW 
MARGIN!" 

The applause was thunderous. Altaria stopped in her tracks and preened. Gwen 
looked ready to faint from shock. That was when Drew elbowed her gently. "BOW! 
Bow you silly!" 

Gwen stared at him. Drew, with a grin the size of the Island of Hoen, calmly 
guided Gwen into a bow. Flushing, Gwen realized what was going on, bowed, and 
turned to the judge. 
"Congratulations Gwen, I present you with this Slateport Ribbon." Gwen took the 
ribbon, eyes lighting up. "Thank you." She said with a shy blush. She bowed 
politely, as was Japanese custom. Finally the judge dismissed her. Gwen ran 
through the corridor out of the back room. 

James practically jumped her. "YOU WON! YOU WON! Jessie's going to be so proud 
of you!" James cried. 

Gwen untangled herself from a very happy James when Grace was the next to 
congratulate her. "YOu won!  You did it! Gwen congratulations! I admit... I 
doubted you could win against Drew so soon. He's a tough coordinator to beat, 
but you beat him! By a fraction of a point!" 

Gwen made it out to the Lobby when Ash, Misty, Brock, May and Max were next to 
cloud around her. "Gwen you were awesome!" Ash said with his trademark carefree 
grin. 

"You were rockin' out there!" May said with a grin. "It made me want to catch an 
Altaria!"

"You did a good job." Brock agreed. "You really know your tactics." 

Max glomped her happily. "You were sooooo cool out there! And they were 
recording that on TELEVISION too!" 

That was when a lady in a reporter's outfit carrying a mike and a cameraman 
descended on the group. "Gwen, Gwen, do you have any comments about your win?" 

"Yeah, I'm just glad that battle's over." Gwen said crossly. 

"What was the inspiration for your win?" Asked the interviewer. 

"My half sister got injured in a training accident today, I really, really need 
to get home." Gwen said worriedly. 

"Where are you from?" The Interviewer asked. 

Misty growled at her. "Okay, that's enough pestering." She grabbed Gwen and 
hauled her away.

"No Misty wait!" Max called after her. "That was Gabby and Ty! You don't say no 
to them." 

"I don't care if they're Sisco and Ebert they're not messing with my 
apprentice." Misty glared. 

"But they're famous!" Protested Max.

"Come on Max. The less they know about Gwen the better." Brock said warningly. 

Gwen nodded. 

Gabby would not give up. She and Ty were waiting for them at the entrance to the 
pokemon center. "Gwen, how do you feel about the contest and your win." 

"That she /can/ answer." Misty let go of Gwen's trenchcoat long enough for her 
to say. "I was really nervous about the contest. I honestly thought I was going 
to lose to Drew. I had heard about Altaria's dragon dance, so I thought it would 
make a good contest pokemon."

"Thanks for the interview." Gabby replied before turning to Ty's camera. "There 
you have it folks, words of wisdom from the latest Slateport contest winner, 
Gwen Tori, who, just moments before, won her first pokemon contest ribbon! 
Congratulations are in order to Gwen and her Altaria, who pulled off a Dragon 
Dance in the appeals round with perfect aplomb, and won the battle round by 
point one percent against the up and coming contender, Drew, and his Flygon, 
who, incidentally, are on their way to the Grand Festival in Kanto this fall. 
The two second place winners of the contest, young Joy of Slateport and James of 
Viridian City, were unavailable for... wait a minute! Here comes James. James, 
do you have any comments on Gwen's unexpected win?" 

"I'm proud of the job she did. Her sister asked me to enter the contest for her, 
since she was injured in a training accident and couldn't come."

"Heartfelt condolences. It must have taken a lot of hard work to get Seviper 
ready on such short notice." 

"It took a lot of work. I wasn't even sure that the trick would work." James 
nodded. "There were a lot of problems that could have arisen." 

Gabby nodded. "So, your comments on Gwen?"

"For a beginner she's very good." James commented. "I've seen trainers who are 
stronger, but Gwen really hit the mark this contest."

"Well we all have to start somewhere." Gabby said with a laugh. "And what about 
you Drew? How do you feel about your loss?"

"For some reason I'm really not upset. Normally I'm a bad loser. But the two of 
us put our all into it and our dragons. There's no reason for regrets." Drew 
agreed. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to go celebrate with the winner." 

Drew disappeared into the pokemon center with the others. Nurse Joy followed and 
turned on the lights. Gwen ran the stairs to Jessie's room two at a time. Meowth 
was curled up on Jessie's bed, appearantly asleep, but it opened one eye at Gwen 
and smiled. "Congrats on da win. Ya' should have seen Jessie, she was real happy 
dat you won." And with a snore the cat pokemon fell asleep again. 

"Jessie! Jessie! I made it back!"

Jessie groaned and her eyes fluttered open. "Congratulations. I'm so proud of 
you. And I'm sure our mother would be too. Your first ribbon. May I see?" She 
asked, holding out a hand weakly. 

Gwen nodded and held up the ribbon. Jessie squinted in the dim light to see it. 
"Keep that. A first ribbon or first badge is always worth celebrating." 

Gwen nodded and opened her ribbon box to put the ribbon back in. "James was 
rocking too! You should have seen him. And Seviper was awesome!" Gwen exclaimed. 

But Jessie was asleep again. Gwen smiled sadly and sighed. She looked at the 
clock. Eleven at night. No wonder. 

Meowth opened an eye. "I dink you should sleep if we're leavin' tamarra 
evenin'."

"Yeah, goodnight Meowth." Gwen went off to bed, but not before letting out her 
pokemon. All of whom climbed onto the bed with her, except for Shelgon, who 
curled up next to the bed. 

Misty woke Gwen early the next morning. "Okay, we're going to meet another 
gatekeeper today. I want you at your best." 

"Who is it?"

"Umi from Magic Knight Rayearth." Misty replied. "She needs a vacation, so she's 
coming to Slateport for a day. We're going shopping again, then the beach." 

"Umi? Great! She's so cool, and we can have a fencing match!" Gwen said happily. 

"Well we have to meet her by the battle tent." Explained Misty. "It's a new 
structure." 

"The other Knights won't miss her?" 

"Not today they won't. They were working on rebuilding Cephiro and Umi needs a 
break, sooo..." 

Gwen was dressing quickly, calling back all her pokemon and buckling her ball 
belt onto her waist. "Personally, I find it funny that Umi, of all the Knights, 
who always freaked out at something new, became the Master Gatekeeper for 
Cephiro." 

"I find it ironic too." Misty commented, "But we have to be nice." 

They got up and Gwen, with Torchic in her arms, followed Misty to a gaudy tent 
decorated with a design that resembled a pokeball pyramid. "Misty, has Ash faced 
the Frontier Brains yet?" 

"Who are they?"

"Just checking. Because when he does Brock just might get his girl."

"Do tell."

"Her name's Azami and in the Japanese version of the show she had a mild crush 
on Brock. But Max kept tugging him away from her before he could make his move." 

"Sounds like a typical Brock antic." Misty said absently. Several pidgy flew 
across their view of the nearby park, and one minute there was nobody there. The 
next a bluenette carrying a rapier and dressed in a sapphire and orange 
schoolgirl outfit was standing there, looking around her. Next to her was a girl 
about Gwen's age in a red schoolgirl outfit. With a Japanese saber and long red 
hair in a braid. It had been cut short around the top of her head though. Her 
style was actually similar to Gwen's.

"Is that her?" Gwen asked curiously. 

"Yup, that's Umi." Misty said with a soft blush. "OY! UMI! OVER HERE!" She 
shouted.

"Misty!" The girl came running over. Her redhead friend following. "Misty! This 
is my apprentice, Hikaru."

"Hiya." Hikaru said shyly. She blushed at Gwen.

"Hikaru, this is Misty. Misty and..."

"Gwen, Gwen Tori. I'm Misty's apprentice." Gwen said with equal shyness. 

"Well this is funny." Umi said with a giggle.

"What is?" Hikaru asked suddenly. 

"You two have the same hairstyle, and you reacted the same to each other." Umi 
explained.

Gwen's ears began to turn red. "Why is that funny?" Hikaru asked curiously. 

"Because Hikaru." Umi said with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around Hikaru's 
waist and attempted to tickle her. "How alike are you two?" 

Gwen sighed in disgust and looked anywhere but at the pair. 

"So are we going to hit the beaches or not?" Hikaru asked hopefully. "And go 
pokemon catching?" 

"I think we can find a pokemon for you two." Misty commented as she pulled 
something out of her pockets with a smirk. "I caught these yesterday while Gwen 
was training for a pokemon contest. I got one for Fuu too." Misty said with a 
smile. "Compliments of the Cerulean gym." 

Hikaru called her's out. "Groooooowlithe!" Came the howl. 

Umi called her's as well. "Aww, how cute!" It was a Squirtle. 

"And Fuu's is a Pigeotto." Explained Misty. "I tried to pick something that 
matched your Mashin. But trust me Umi, you wouldn't have wanted a Gyrados."

"That's okay. This little guy is so cute." Umi said as she gave her squirtle a 
hug. 

That was when another portal opened and through it came a bronze tanned, 
scantily dressed woman about Jessie's age and a blonde girl with glasses and 
wearing a green girl's school uniform. "Thank you for bringing me Caldina." The 
blonde said with a blush.  

"Oh, Fuu came after all!" Hikaru said happily. 

"I convinced her to come." The tan woman explained. "So how are you two faring?" 

"We're doing fine Caldina. How are things on Chizeta?" 

"The Princesses got hurt in a training accident. But they told me specifically 
to take Fuu with me to the Pokemon Universe." Caldina explained. "It took me 
forever to figure out which universe was the right one." 

"We took a wrong turn, and ended up on this interesting world called Pern." Said 
the blonde. "We were lucky that Journeyman Piemur found us and sent us in the 
right direction." Then she noticed Gwen. "Pardon me Misty, but you have not 
introduced your apprentice."

"I'm Gwen, Gwen Tori." Explained Gwen. "I've only been a gatekeeper for four 
days." She said with a sheepish chuckle.

"A newbie huh?" Asked Caldina as she looked Gwen over. "You look like a black 
haired version of Hikaru. Only with green eyes instead of red." 

Misty giggled. "Actually, she's related to Jessie."

"You're kidding me? Jessie? Daughter of the infamous Miyamoto?" Demanded 
Caldina. "How?"

"We're half sisters."

"How /is/ Jessie doin' anyway?" Caldina asked. "Last time I dropped in she was 
in hot water with her boss." 

"Jessie got hurt in a training accident yesterday." Gwen said shyly. "She 
couldn't enter a pokemon contest because of it." 

"Oh you poor thing." Caldina, ever bold, gave Gwen a hug. 

Gwen found herself smushed against Caldina's chest, which, for the record, was 
not small. "Meeep!" She squeaked, blushing deeply.

"Whoops, sorry." Caldina protested.

Misty giggled. "Come on girls. Are we going to hit the market and then the 
beaches or the beaches and then the market?"

"Let's do some shopping. I just realized that we all forgot to bring our bathing 
suits." Umi sighed in disgust. "And I have enough yen to get one for Caldina 
too." 

"And I forgot to give you this Fuu." Misty offered Fuu a pokeball. 

"Why Master Misty!" Fuu protested. "Is this for me?"

"Duh. Forget your manners for once and just take it." Misty's smile was bright 
with mischief." 

Fuu fumbled with the pokeball for a moment before finally getting it open. 
"Pigooooooo!" Pigeotto said happily as it hovered ten feet in the air above Fuu.

"Oh! My own pokemon!" Fuu exclaimed. 

"I'd ask for a pokemon, but only if it could dance." Said Caldina with a sigh. 
"And whatever you two do, don't neglect Mokona when you get back. You know he 
might get jealous of the pokemon."

"Not if these are the only ones we have." Umi said cheerfully.

"Sir Mokona is very hard to upset." Fuu pointed out.

"Actually, I think Mokona would rather have somebody to play with." Hikaru said 
thoughtfully. 

"Like I said, I'll only get one if it can dance." Caldina commented.

"A pokemon that dances is a pretty tall order." Gwen commented. "My Altaria 
knows the move Dragon Dance, but I doubt it would obey you. It only obeys me 
during pokemon contests because it wants to win the Grand Festival someday. And 
I can't do that without ribbons. Pigeotto has a Feather Dance attack, Ludicolo 
can't seem to stop dancing, and Kirlia is sort of a dancing pokemon. It doesn't 
know any dance attacks but it's kind of a Ballarina. And Bellossom dances too, 
they love to. And both Bellossom and Roselia know Petal Dance." Gwen went on 
naming all the pokemon she knew that could dance or could possibly dance. 

They were walking now, towards the bustle of Slateport Market. "We'll find you a 
dance partner Caldina." Misty said happily as she led the way into the hustle 
and bustle of the market. 

As they passed the vendor who had sold Gwen her ribbon box and badge case the 
day before the vendor called out. "Heyla! You!" Gwen stopped, then turned. "I'm 
sorry, I don't know your name." Said the trainer running the stand. "But I 
wanted to know if you'd actually gotten that ribbon to put in the box?" 

"See for yourself." Gwen said as she opened the box for the vendor to see. 

"Congratulations! Hmm... oh yeah, you were the trainer on the news last night 
who won the contest by .1 of a point!" 

"That's right."

"That was spectacular. I didn't tell you at the time, but if you win a ribbon 
and put it in one of my ribbon boxes, then show me, I give you a coordinator's 
kit and a pokemon." 

"Coordinator's kit?" Asked Hikaru as she peered around the counter. They all had 
their pokemon back in their pokeballs. 

"That's right. I raise grass and psychic pokemon and give them to coordinators 
who use my ribbon boxes." Said the trainer. She pulled out a beautifully wrapped 
gift basket and gave it to Gwen. "Here... it's got everything you need and some 
creature comforts for the road." 

Misty led them all to a table where the group sat. "Well? Open it!" Misty said 
happily. 

Gwen opened the pokeball first. A Bellossom came out of it. "Bell!" 

"Oh wow! A bellossom!" Gwen grinned at Caldina. "There's your dancing pokemon 
Caldina."

"But don't you need it for a contest?" Caldina asked worriedly. 

"I already have both a dancing pokemon and a grass type. You can have her." 

"Bell? Losssom!" Bellossom said cheerfully as it hopped happily into Caldina's 
lap.

"What else is in there Gwen?" Asked Umi. 

Gwen pulled out a string of different pokeballs. These included an Ultra ball, a 
great ball, a Dive Ball, a Luxury Ball, a Nest Ball, a Net Ball, a Primier ball, 
a repeat ball and a timer ball. A pokeblock case, a small tupperware container 
of pokeblocks, a set of bathsalts  a special soap, and essential oil of jasmine 
made the basket smell nice and made Gwen long for a hot soak. A pokenav was 
nestled amid the bath supplies. 

"Oh wow, that smells nice!" Caldina said as she took a whiff of the bath oil. 
"It says something on it too. I wish I could read Japanese." 

"It says its from Jasmine, rose, sandlewood and dragon's blood oil." Hikaru 
said, peering at the label.

"What's Dragon's blood?" Asked Caldina. "I don't think I'd want to bathe in 
that!" 

"Not a real dragon's blood." Explained Gwen. "Dragon's blood is a resin coming 
from the dragon's blood tree. It's supposed to be a very powerful magickal oil. 
It's supposed to bring good luck." 

"Oh! That's a good thing then, for a moment I thought that it was real dragon's 
blood." 

"Bell!" Bellossom snuggled against Caldina.

"Looks like Bellossom really likes you Caldina." Misty said cheerfully.

"Either that or she smells the Fahrenian Rosewood oil I'm wearing." Caldina said 
with a chuckle. "Nobody can resist that scent."

"Not even Lefarga?" Umi asked with a smirk. 

"Lefarga seems to be the only one immune to it. The Fahrenians burn it as an 
incense in their temples and for love spells." Explained Caldina. "I should have 
brought some with me." 

"Next time." Misty agreed. "So shall we get you a bathing suit? I'll even 
venture so far as to say you're one of the few women I know who can pull off 
wearing a string bikini and not look like a slut." 

Gwen snorted back a laugh and blushed as she studied Caldina's figure. Living in 
the mountains she didn't have much occasion to wear a bathing suit, but Misty 
was correct. Caldina was already dressed scantily in traditional Chizetan 
attire, (for men, something out of 1,000 Nights, for women next to nothing.) The 
bikini would be no stretch at all. 

Misty nodded and, still carrying Bellossom, Caldina followed her. The six girls 
gathered in a group around the clothing stall. Caldina went straight for the 
bikini section. "What's so special about these, 'bathing suits'?" She asked 
Misty curiously. "They don't look much different from what we wear on Chizeta." 

"Well we wear different clothes here. Generally if you wear something like what 
you're wearing now people will assume that you're either a very flashy pokemon 
trainer or a prostitute." Misty said, bluntly. 

Caldina laughed. "Where I'm from this is tame." She indicated her own attire. 
"And traditional. Chizeta is a desert planet. The best way to keep cool is to 
wear less." She explained. "So, lets see, I think this, this, and this would 
work nicely." Caldina picked out a burgundy red bikini and a pale pink, gauzy, 
wrap around skirt that fluffed out behind her as she walked. 

Misty paid for the outfit while Gwen quickly helped the Magic Knights pick out 
their beach attire. Fuu, who was rich in the first place, paid for the goods, 
(since yen seemed to be almost universal here.) Misty also bought them towels 
and beach bags for their clothes and any shells they might find. 

And so the girls headed to the beach. As they searched for a spot to lie in the 
sun and tan they let out the pokemon. "Okay you guys." Gwen told her four. "You 
all be good and play with the Magic Knights' pokemon okay? No starting fights." 

Hikaru turned to her Growlithe. "Okay Growlithe, go and play with the other 
pokemon." 

Fuu let out Pigeotto and Umi let out Squirtle, giving them similar injunctions. 
But Caldina wanted to dance. So dance she did, and Bellossom followed, all the 
way to the waves where a big one almost carried poor Bellossom away! Caldina 
scooped up the pokemon and the two of them played in the water. Suddenly 
Bellossom began to let out a sweet scent attack. "Wow Bellossom is that coming 
from you?" Caldina asked.

"Bell!" Bellossom nodded and turned to the sky before letting loose a petal 
dance. Caldina gaped as the little pokemon danced along the high tide line, 
singing a song to itself and spraying petals and sweet scent every which way. 
"Bell, bell, loooosom! Bell bell, lo som, bell lo som! Bell bell bell!" It sang 
as it marched its way down the high tide line. 

It marched its way right onto Ash's foot as the young trainer nearly tripped 
over the dancing pokemon. "Bellossom that was rude." Caldina scolded. 

"Bell!" Bellossom bowed in apology to Ash and scurried over to hide behind 
Caldina's leg.

"I'm Caldina, a dancer." Caldina explained. "I'm sorry to bother you." 

"No bother at all." Ash said, rubbing his bare foot. He was in swimming shorts 
and not wearing shoes. 

Misty, Gwen and the Magic Knights came running up the beach then. "Ash! Hey, 
good to see you."

"Yeah, Pikachu wanted to come down to the beach, so here I am." Ash said 
sheepishly. "Max, Brock, James and Drew are busy trying to catch pokemon in one 
of the coves. Drew doesn't have a water pokemon yet, but his Flygon keeps 
scaring away the pokemon." Ash snorted back a chuckle. "Sorry, not funny." 

"Misty are they gatekeepers too?"

"All except for Fuu here yeah." Misty explained. "Mind if we join you boys? We 
were just going to find a spot to tan." 

Caldina nodded. "I don't meet many non gatekeepers on my travels. I'd love to 
come." 

"Uh..." Ash stared, blushing up at Caldina. "Er... sure..."

Uh-oh. Gwen thought. If Caldina can make /Ash/ blush what about /Brock?/

Brock turned red and had steam coming out of his ears. "Well... er... hi... 
er... hello... my name is Brock and I'm a breeder... er... pokemon breeder... 
not that... breeder..." Then he stopped stuttering and got in his knees, taking 
Caldina's hand. "My name is Brock and I'm looking for somebody to join me for a 
nice romantic picnic lunch a couple coves down, could that somebody be you?" 

Misty grabbed one of Brock's ears, Max grabbed the other, and they dragged him 
away from Caldina. "You mean looking for a nice /weird/ picnic lunch?" Max 
asked, eyes rolling. 

"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Brock wailed as he was dragged away. 

"Besides, isn't this the time of day that you feed Bonsly Brock?" Asked May as 
she pointed to Brock's backpack. 

"Bonsly?" Asked Caldina, puzzled. 

"Bonsly, the preevolved form of a pokemon called Sudowoodo." Explained May 
brightly as Brock pulled a Luxury Ball out of his backpack. "Come on out 
Bonsly!" Brock called. 

Bonsly popped out of its pokeball and started bawling it's eyes out. The Magic 
Knights covered their ears. "Wow, thats... er... loud..." Fuu commented. 

"It keeps using Fake Tears." Explained Brock. "Whenever its hungry or wants 
something. It /is/ a baby after all." He put a bottle of milk to Bonsly's lips 
and the baby pokemon began to drink. "See? It was hungry." 

"That's cute." Caldina commented. "I've only got Bellossom here."

"I'll battle you if you'd like." Offered Ash. 

"Er... I... haven't battled before." Caldina said shyly. "So I'm not sure what 
to..." 

"YES!" Brock rushed and bowed down on one knee before Caldina. "Caldina, let me 
be your battle teacher! I'll teach you pokemon breeding, pokemon care, and the 
tactics of pokemon battling!" 

"Oh would you Brock? I haven't had a pokemon before, so I don't know what ta do 
with the lil Missy besides letting her petal dance her day away." Caldina 
commented as she peered down at the little grass type. 

"Bell!" Bellossom said happily. 

"Come and sit." Brock said, patting a towel next to him. He dug through his bag, 
then picked a pokeball and tossed it out. Out came Mudkip. "Hikaru, do you mind 
if I use Growlithe for comparison?" 

"not at all. Go ahead Growlithe." 

"First of all there's pokemon care. Some pokemon have leathery skin, some have 
fur, and some have feathers or wool. So the care depends on what kind of pokemon 
you've got. Bird pokemon will preen their own feathers. But wool has to be shorn 
every so often. And if you've got a furry pokemon, like the dogs and cats of the 
inter, it needs to be brushed." He scooped up Growlithe and got out a wire 
brush. He began to brush Growlithe. The pokemon let out a happy, rrrrr, noise. 
"Usually its fur will be brushed every day or every other day. But its worth 
it."

"But Bellossom has no fur." Caldina pointed out.

"Nope, its leathery. Pokemon with leathery skin need to be oiled once a week." 
Explained Brock. "Otherwise the skin gets itchy and uncomfortable. The oil makes 
their skin soft. Also, grass pokemon enjoy streams or small brooks to play in. 
The water makes their foliage healthy." He pulled out a small bottle of oil. 
"Just the way you'd put on tanning oil or sunscreen. I've even used scented 
lotion for Mudkip here." He offered the bottle to Caldina. "Go ahead, try it on 
Mudkip." 

Caldina dabbed some of the oil expertly on her scarf and began to rub it into 
Mudkip's back.  "Like this?" 

"You're doing great!" Brock put aside the brush after a few minutes of brushing 
Growlithe's fur. 

Caldina finished with a blissful Mudkip and scooped up Bellossom. "Okay 
Bellossom, we're going to try this out on you okay?" 

"Bell." Under Brock's supervision Bellossom settled down to be oiled. 

"Then there's food." Brock pulled out a recipe booklet. "Different pokemon like 
different foods. One of the universal foods are berries and nuts of different 
types. Some pokemon will hunt and fish for themselves. But berries can also have 
curative properties." He pulled out a small container of berries. "These are 
some of the berries I've collected. You can make candy out of them with a 
pokeblock blender. The pokeblocks have different effects based on the berries 
you put in. So for example you could make a red pokeblock, with a spicy taste, 
that cures paralysis when fed to a pokemon."

"Pokemon get paralyzed?" Caldina asked worriedly.

"Some pokemon attacks, such as Stunspore and Grasswhistle, can have physical 
effects on pokemon by paralyzing, putting to sleep, poisoning, burning, or 
freezing a pokemon. These are called status attacks. Cheri Berries and extract 
of Salveyo weed are the two almost universal natural cures for pokemon paralysis 
working on humans who may have been caught in the crossfire as well as pokemon." 
Brock explained. "Most people try to get their pokemon to eat Chesto berries if 
they're put to sleep because of the high caffine content. It wakes them right 
up. Pecha berries are a great antidote for most pokemon poisoning attacks. A 
pultice of Rawst berries can soothe a burn as well as any aloe sap. And a tea 
made from aspear berries is supposed to help after a battle with pokemon that 
have been frozen and have been broken free of the ice. Of course other berries 
just taste good, but the pokemon /adore/ them." Brock was now quickly noting 
down a recipe on a piece of paper. "This is just sort of standard pokemon food. 
They sell pokemon food in stores. But I don't think you have any yen." He said 
sheepishly.

"You're right. I don't." Caldina said with a wan smile as she took the recipe. 
"I'll whip up a batch for you girls too." She offered the Magic Knights. "Less 
work to do." 

"Oh could you?" Asked Hikaru. "I can't cook to save my life."

"Neither can I." Umi agreed. "I just about starved my first week in Cephiro. If 
Fuu hadn't been able to work her magic with the ingredients Mokona found for us 
we would have starved to death." Umi said with a disgusted sigh. 

"Next aspect of care, training. Pokemon get stronger through battle. There's no 
denying that." Brock shook his head. "Most pokemon will not battle right off the 
bat. But when provoked or in danger they will fight back. They need to be 
trained and guided in combat."

"/That/ won't be a problem." Hikaru said grimly. "There's a civil war going on 
in Cephiro." 

"Pokemon don't attack humans." Brock said calmly. "If they do, usually it means 
there's something wrong or they're acting under a trainer's orders." Brock began 
to draw lines in the sand, along with several symbols including a paw print, a 
flame a leaf, a rock, a fist, a shell, an eye, and several others. "Pokemon have 
elements, and strengths and weaknesses based on those elements." He explained. 
"For example, fire burns grass, so fire pokemon beat grass pokemon. And what 
happens if a bird flies into a power line? Zap! So flying pokemon are weak 
against electricity. And on it goes." He explained. "The elements are Normal, 
fire, water, grass, electric, ice, fighting, poison, ground, flying, psychic, 
bug, rock, ghost, dragon, dark, and steel." He explained, pointing out each 
symbol in the sand. "Where I've put an x is where there's no damage. Where I've 
put a 1 its at a disadvantage, where I've put a two its effective against that 
particular type, and where I've put a three it's super effective."

The Knights and Caldina leaned forward to look. "I see, so Growlithe isn't just 
weak against water, but against rocks and the ground as well, but its strong 
against grass, bug, ice and steel pokemon, and has normal damage against 
everything else."

"And here it says that ghost pokemon don't have any effect on Normal pokemon." 
Pointed out Caldina.

"Yes, but normal pokemon can't effect ghosts either." Brock explained. "It's a 
stalemate, not so for Dark type pokemon. Ghost and Psychic attacks have no 
effect on a dark pokemon, /but/ Dark types can still attack psychic or ghost 
pokemon. It's a balencing act between the  elements." 

"Sounds complicated." Commented Umi as she peered down at Squirtle. 

"It doesn't sound hard to me at all." Fuu commented. "You just need to reason 
your way through it." 

Gwen turned to Umi. "Er... Umi, before we go on the boat tonight, would you... 
er... fence against me... er... that is if you've brought your fencing gear." 

"You fight with swords Umi?" Max asked curiously. 

"Yes, my team's won championships." Umi said with a smile. "Tell you what Gwen. 
If it really means that much to you, I'll fence with you tonight." 

"YEAY!" Gwen glomped Umi. "Oops, sorry." 

"Why not now?" Asked Misty. "Our boat leaves in 4 hours. That's not a lot." 

"Okay, now is fine." Umi told her. "You have your gatekey right? I'm going to 
teach you a special spell for blunting it." Umi pulled hers out as Hikaru used 
her sword to draw a fencing strip in the sand. 

Gwen nodded and pulled her sword key from under her shirt. "By the grace of the 
goddess, by the grace and power of the Dragon Masters! Reveal my true nature!" 
And the key glowed, transforming into a rapier.

"Okay, this spell is easy. You take your sword and hold it up to catch the sun 
like this, then you call out, 'By the grace and power of Seiryuu, king of the 
winds, blunt my fangs!'" With that Umi's sword glowed and became almost a stick 
of energy. "It transforms the sword into energy that will disipate if it comes 
into contact with a human body. So you can't hurt yourself that way." Umi 
explained as her armor appeared along with her rapier. 

"Okay, here we go! By the grace and power of Seiryuu, king of the winds, blunt 
my fangs!" Gwen called out and her gatekey also changed. 

"Good, not every apprentice gets it on their first try." Umi told her as she 
fell into a fencing crouch. 

"Would thier swords break if they came in contact with a human as energy?" Asked 
May worriedly as she watched the two square off. 

"The swords we use are made of Escuto, they don't break." Hikaru explained. 
"Only one person has ever broken an escuto sword, Nova, and she isn't around to 
tell the tale." 

"An unbreakable sword?" James murmured as he watched. "I can't fence. My parents 
once tried to get me to learn, but I ended up all thumbs." He shook his head. 
"If they can't break, then how can they be shaped?"

"With the will." Explained Fuu. "Cephiro is a land of the will. What you think, 
what you feel, your subconscous mind, all manifest themselves in physical form. 
So if you have a lot of will power, and a lot of lifeforce, then you can use a 
special ritual to carve Escuto. But I wouldn't reccomend trying. The Master 
Smith who made these swords died in the process." 

James shuddered. "And never got to see the rewards of her work?" He asked, 
appalled. "That sounds like a pretty sleezy trade off to me. And I'm in the 
Rocket Dan where sleezy is the order of the day." 

Fuu rolled her eyes. "Just watch." 

"Okay, this match is a three touch match. The first person to get two out of 
three touches is the winner." Misty was saying, picking up two pieces of 
driftwood and raising them like you would the flags in a pokemon battle. "Umi 
vs. Gwen, no time limit! Go!" 

Umi charged, Gwen waited. "What's wrong. Gonna fight back?" Umi asked.

Umi's charge was parried, reposted and both swords hit their target at the same 
time. "Stop!" Misty called, then turned to Umi. "Advance," To Gwen. "Parry, 
repost. Touch and Touch. The round has ended in a tie. The next person to score 
a touch wins." 

This time Gwen didn't wait to charge Umi. She advanced like a whirlwind, sending 
Umi parrying her blows left and right. Parry four, parry 2, beat six, disengage, 
parry 6." Gwen parried Umi's attempts at a counter assault time and again until 
Umi had her back to the end of the strip. Then she aimed and fell into a lunge. 
Time seemed to stop as Umi said. "You're fast Gwen, but not fast enough!" In a 
triumphant tone and parried the lunge. Gwen fell off balence, and Umi's sword 
hit its mark!

"Stop!" Misty called and both fighters waited at ease. "Advance, parry 4, parry 
2, beat six, disengage left, parry six, lunge, parry, repost, lunge, touch." 
Misty concluded. "Umi has two touches, Umi is the winner!" 

"This makes me want to battle. Big time." Ash commented as the two girls came 
back in their direction. The assembled trainers and knights clapped. "Gwen that 
was awesome! Even if you lost! Why didn't you tell me you knew how to use a 
sword?"

"You never asked. I was team captain of my school's fencing team, the Fat Dogs." 
Explained Gwen. "For four years. My school was one of the ones that combined 
middle and high schools. So I had more than enough time to play on the team." 

"That move at the beginning was spectacular." Said Misty as she walked back over 
from the strip. "Turning an opponent's attack back on itself like that. That was 
sheer genius." 

"Okay, I'll battle you Ash." Said Hikaru, turning to Growlithe. 

"I wanted to battle him." Pointed out Umi.

"We could do a double battle." Suggested Gwen. "I need to get some experience 
in." 

"Okay, double battle, one pokemon each, no time limit." Ash stipulated. 

"Sounds good to me!" Said Hikaru with a determined grin on her face. "Shall we?" 

Both groups of trainers backed off. Brock stood in the middle and to the side. 
"This is a double battle! Trainers are limited to one pokemon each! No time 
limit!" 

"Okay, Corphish!" Ash called out Corphish and the crawdad pokemon scuttled out 
to battle. 

"I choose... Chikorita!" Gwen called out, tossing the fourth pokeball in her 
belt. 

"A Chikorita huh?" Ash asked as the grass pokemon took its place in the center 
of the field.  "This is going to be interesting." 

"Okay, what are Growlithe's attacks...?" Wondered Hikaru.

"I think you'd better borrow this." Said May with a grin as she handed Hikaru 
her pokedex. "It has all the pokemon and their attacks." 

"Okay! I was going to have Growlithe use Flame Arrow, but that's my attack." 
Hikaru said with a chuckle. "Let's see. Oh yeah, Growlithe has a flamethrower 
attack that would do nicely. Growlithe, start things off with a Flamethrower 
attack!" 

Umi seemed to already know the water attacks. "Squirtle, use skullbash on 
Corphish!" 

"Chikorita, dodge the flamethrower! Then use razor leaf!" The leaves left ruts 
in the sand as they flew towards Growlithe. 

Growlithe had a simple answer to that, and a flamethrower stopped the leaves in 
their tracks. 

"Chikorita, sweet scent!" 

Growlithe and Squirtle swooned, giving Pikachu an opening with a Thundershock. 
Squirtle went flying, to be caught by Umi. "I'm out Hikaru! It's up to you!" 

"Gotcha!" Hikaru nodded. "Growlithe, kick up some sand and blind them!"

"Growl!" Growlithe sent more than sand flying, as the firestone that had been 
buried by wind and tide was uncovered and went flying through the air, hitting 
Growlithe in the head. "GROWL!" It said plantively. 

"Wait a minute, that was a firestone... that means..." Misty said as she and the 
others gathered around Growlithe, who was still stunned. 

"What? What does it mean?" Hikaru asked, kneeling by her dazed pokemon. 

But Growlithe began to glow, and grow, and reform, shaping into an... 
"ARCANINE!" Arcanine said happily as it got to its feet.

"It grew!" Caldina exclaimed. 

"Actually, the term is evolve. Not all pokemon get bigger as they evolve though. 
But when some pokemon come into contact with a firestone, waterstone, leafstone, 
thunderstone, moonstone or sunstone they evolve into a stronger monster. For 
example, if you give Gloom a Sunstone you get Bellossom. Element stones are hard 
to find, and their evolved pokemon are sometimes even harder. But every so often 
a wild pokemon will find an element stone and use it to evolve." Brock 
explained.

"So Growlithe is a..."

"Arcanine!" Arcanine supplied as Ash brought out his pokedex. 

"Arcanine, the fire dog pokemon. It likes to run at extreme speeds across open 
ground. If it is taught overheat it is capable of melting solid steel." 

"Cool!" Hikaru exclaimed. She hugged Arcanine. "Congratulations Arcanine! We 
could sure use your help." 

Gwen flopped onto her towel to tan, her Chikorita and Torchic flopped onto the 
sand next to her to soak up the rays. The summer day was so slow, and Gwen was 
so tired...

And the next thing she knew Misty was waking her up. "We're going back to the 
pokemon center now." Misty told her. "We have to be at the boat in an hour and a 
half." 

When they got to the pokemon center Jessie and Meowth were waiting for them. 
"Jessie! You're better!" Gwen cried happily, reaching out to hug her half 
sister. 

Jessie looked surprised at such a show of affection before smiling at Gwen. 
"Have a nice day  at the beach Gwen?" 

"You bet I did! I didn't catch any new pokemon, but I did get to battle." 

"Here Caldina." Brock offered Caldina two tupperware containers. "My homemade 
pokemon food, and some pokeblocks for the road. Don't be afraid to try the 
pokeblock yourself either. They're really good." 

"Thanks Brock." Caldina said and gave Brock a kiss on the cheek. "You're a dear 
you know that?" 

Brock turned beet red. "Really?" 

"Yeah, you're like Lafarga, big and strong on the outside and inside you're just 
a puppydawg." Caldina said with a smile as the four girls headed back to the 
battle tent and the portal. 

The four of them waved goodbye as they walked, Hikaru's Arcanine leading the 
way.

"Misty?" 

"Hmm?"

"I think, once my training is done here, I'd like to go to Cephiro to visit." 
Gwen said happily. "Just to say hi." 

"Bring me along?" Brock begged.

"Brock?"

"Hmm?"

"Caldina has a boyfriend named Lafarga." Misty said with a roll of her eyes. 

Brock facefaulted. "You're kidding."

The others laughed. But Max said with a wink. "You'll find somebody in /this/ 
dimension Brock. You don't need to go chasing girls elsewhere." 

Gwen laughed. But Misty looked worriedly at her watch. "You guys, we have forty 
five minutes to get down to the pier."

Jessie checked her watch. "That's right. We'd better get going. Thank you Nurse 
Joy. You could have turned me out knowing I was Rocket Dan, and you didn't." 

"I'm not that heartless." Nurse Joy said with a smile. "See you all around!" 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile...

The captain of the ship shook his head. "With so much Cargo, we're going to have 
to make extra stops along the way. To Mossdeep, Whirl Islands and Olivine before 
making our way to Cinnabar and Appletown."