Episode 53! The two now-patched up Chosen and their guardians discuss what to do about this new situation…

 

Disclaimer: Shadow owns Bob the Dragon-Mage, Charlotte, Destiny, Eterneon, The Wand of the Water Guardian, etc. Nintendo owns pokemon. Got it?

 

Notes: <> indicates thought-speak a.k.a. telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and italicized text indicates pokemon speech.

Note: Charlotte can use non-pokemon cards, like Jump, Arrow, and Shield, because she created them. Once Ash reaches a certain magic level he’ll be able to create non-pokemon cards too!

 

Silver#2 – Hehehehe, thanx!

Tmp – Bob is the antagonist in this story, Hehehehe…

Ranma – you’re right, Eriol’s not the only one in on this…

Mathais-8888 – Ah, can’t believe you caught that! Yes, I know. There will be more fights in later chapters…

Severus’ potion mistress – uh, I named him Bob for a very good reason that shall be revealed after ‘Dragon’s Love’ is done. Um… I guess the guardian pokemon knew how to stay out of harm’s way.

Pikacar/Marle – heh, I thought it was fun to write. Yep, Teresa’s getting to be problematic…

Inami – maybe, oh well, I try to make my chapters roughly the same length

Eevee99 & Star – correct, thanks for you support!

SnowTiger – Eriol is Eriol, but he’s not playing Eriol’s role, does that make sense?

Fire Eevee – Wand of the Water Guardian makes potions, remember? Review page looks normal to me…

Episode 54: Discussion and planning

 

            “What do we do?” Charlotte asked as she and Ash sat in the lobby of the Amber city pokemon center. They had chosen to stay there for the night, to recuperate before heading to the next city. “We can’t just leave this place, because if Bob attacks again, we’d have the blood of innocent people on our hands.”
            “But the fire died down a few minutes after Bob left. Do you think we’re his targets?” Ash asked.

            “If he is targeting you, then we really ought to leave.” Sabrina said. She had removed her wings. The other guardians were in their small forms, as not to attract attention from passerby.

            “Bob is a very persistent man. He will achieve his end through any means, even if he has to burn down all of Kanto to do it.” Pika-chan added.

            “He’s also very powerful.” Vulpix-chan piped up.

 

            “Wait, I wanted to ask about that.” Ash said. “How come he disabled both of us with just one card? I thought you had to be a card master to create cards?”
            “You do. But Bob, well, since you have to fight him anyways, I suppose that some information won’t hurt.” Angel said. “Bob was once Clow’s apprentice, but he was too power-hungry and became convinced that Clow was refusing to teach him. So he delved into dark magic and created his own set of Forbidden cards. By the time Clow found out, it was too late to destroy them. All Clow could do was to seal him. But it has been so long since then, that the magic slowly wore off until finally Bob was able to break free. Hundreds of years, in fact.”

            “So we have to re-seal him?” Charlotte asked.

            “Yes. Only the ones that hold the cards created by Clow have the power to stand up to him.”
            “But you saw what happened today.” Ash said. “What can we do?”
            “Well… Ash, I suggest that you start intensive training to build up your magic reserves as well as your resistance, and Charlotte; you’re going to have to go through the same thing. And that includes water magic.”

            Charlotte paled, but nodded.

            “That’s all we know about him, so… I’m afraid there’s nothing else we can do.” Pika-chan said apologetically. Sabrina turned back into Skymew, and went back into its poke ball. The others stared glumly at each other before they all sighed in unison.

 

            About half an hour later…

 

            “Fine then. I guess we have to train.” Charlotte said, sighing. She was sitting morosely by the side of the pool, dressed in a black one-piece swimsuit and looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

            “If Bob finds out about your hydrophobia, then that will be another weapon he can use against you.” Angel said. “You have to conquer this fear.”

            “I know.” Charlotte would have said more, but than Ash walked in, wearing navy blue swim trunks and an annoyed expression.

            “Hi. Sorry to bother you, but Pika-chan decided that this would be a good time to work on hand to hand underwater combat.”

            Charlotte sighed and directed a searing glance towards the small pikachu perched on Ash’s head. “I see. Okay, then. No use wasting time.” And with that, she jumped into the pool. Ash followed, after making sure that his gills were in place.

 

            Charlotte closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down, before forming a short sword of gold energy in one hand. < Okay, I’m ready. > She said.

            Ash nodded and formed a sword of white energy in his own hand. < Can we start now? >

            Pika-chan nodded from above. Storm floated by, as she was supposed to watch the fight and make sure that nobody got hurt.

            < Begin! >

 

            The two card masters immediately began trying to hit the other person with their own sword. They both managed to block the other’s attacks, but neither one was successful in actually touching the other.

            Ash blinked. * Shouldn’t she be better than I am? *

            Charlotte beat down her fear at the fact that they were underwater, before she launched herself at Ash again. Ash blocked her attack, before using the momentum from his swing to throw her a few feet. (A/N: Hey, they’re fighting underwater, okay? It’s got to be hard!)

            Suddenly, Vulpix-chan noticed that her Chosen was turning blue and looked ready to pass out. She quickly flew down and dragged Charlotte out.

 

            “What’s wrong?” Ash asked as he swam up to the surface and poked his head out of the water. Teresa was moping because she couldn’t tape underwater.

            “Charlotte is hydrophobic to the point of extremity.” Vulpix-chan said. “Part of that comes from the fact that she’s fire-blooded, that means her blood is basically just fire. It makes her a lot more adept at magic, but the drawback is that she can’t stand water.”

            Charlotte stuck out her tongue at the flitting guardian.

            “No cure?” Pika-chan asked. “Is it possible to change this condition?”

            “Nope.” Vulpix-chan said. “It’s like asking Ash to give up his powers as a legendary pokemon. This is just something that she was born with. We can’t change it. Besides, it is advantageous in certain situations. She doesn’t really have to breathe or metabolize food.”

            “Hmm…” Pika-chan said. * She’s not a pokemon… and she’s fire-blooded. She must be one of the last remaining Gifted. *

            “So what can we do to help?” Ash asked.

            Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. But this is something I’ll have to deal with. Thanks for caring, though.”

           

            “I guess the session’s over then.” Ash said as he headed to the showers. Sunny padded along behind him, as protection from Teresa. Ash took a nice, long shower, before getting dressed in his normal t-shirt, jeans, and blue jacket.

 

            Charlotte sighed as she mixed herself a starshine potion to replenish her magic supply. Keeping her alive while underwater was quite taxing, since every time she touched water, part of her ‘went out’ and she would grow weaker.

            “Are you okay?” Vulpix-chan asked, feeling a bit guilty about forcing her Chosen to participate in such an arduous exercise.

            “I think that we should do water resistance and magic training separately.” Angel said as he fluttered over her head.

            “Yes, that would probably be better.” Charlotte said.

            “Say, I was just wondering… shouldn’t you be going to school now?” Vulpix-chan asked.

            “You only noticed now? I sent Mirror to pose as me.”

            “Oh.”

 

            “Let’s have dinner now.” Ash said as he pulled out his Fruit basket. His pokemon, both old and new, cheered.

            “Okay, everybody gets poke chow with three toppings. Is that enough?”

            Yep!
            Yum!

            Most definitely!

            I love tuna fish!

            I want sunflower seeds!
           
After a while, all the pokemon were satisfied. Ash had a peanut butter sandwich, some hot chocolate, and some cookies.

            “Having fun?” Charlotte asked as she came in.

            “Hi! Yep.”

            “You have a lot of pokemon, Ash.”

            “So do you!”

            Charlotte nodded. “Well, sleep well tonight. I hope nothing attacks.”

            Ash gulped. * Oh shoot! I forgot how I usually get attacked a night. Oops. *

            He nodded.

            “Night.”

 

            Teresa sighed as she set up her portable sewing machine. “Time to work on this costume… it’s going to be so nice. But for once, I wish Ash would thank me…”

 

End Episode 54! Shadow dances and twirls, before winking at her reviewers. Flames will be donated to baby Eevee to keep them warm on long winter nights!