Phantomness hits writer’s block with a sledgehammer!

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 9

“Viridian is fairly close to the Viridian Forest. Giovanni will be there.”

“Well, Blaine lives on an island, and I don’t think we could sail there from here – wait, what is that?”

It seemed to be a raft. The entire thing was made out of logs caulked tight with piney sap and tar, but the man declared that he had made several voyages to Cinnabar Island and no one found his words false. Indeed, he had no reason to be tricking anyone. If the boat sank, they would all drown.

That was all there was to it. The idea was not terribly difficult to understand…

The man charged five gold for the fee, cheap enough, and the two travelers pushed off with Jack the skipper.

Jack studied the pair as he rowed. They were both dressed in traveling clothes, so they seemed common travelers…

There was nothing terribly distressing or secretive about his job. He transported island produce in small amounts and sold it.

He was more than happy to take two people over, since it paid well. At the island, they dismounted and headed off in the direction of the hot springs. Jack grinned to himself. Just tourists, after all! The Cinnabar hot springs were famous all over the continent.

Lace looked around, before she felt a slight twinge in her aura. With a smile, she walked towards a stone statue shaped like a lion’s head and pressed the nose. The result was instantaneous, the water in the spring drained away and as replaced with a tunnel, stairs cut into hard granite.

Interesting.

“Blaine must be expecting us then.” Red grinned cockily. “Well, since he went to all this trouble to set up an invitation…”

“We had best take it, ne?”

The two of them began walking downstairs, Red carrying an oil lantern, which he had stowed in his pack earlier.

Blaine was waiting for them, a fire elemental at his side. The man was obviously a cleric, dressed in brilliant red robes so bright that Red had to shield his eyes. Lance gave a half-smile and formed the Water Shield in her mind as he attacked.

Red whipped out his greatsword and watched as the rapid flames attempted to boil Lance’s shield away. It was lucky she was so fast…

Blaine watched in surprise as Magmar’s flames faltered, before finally, the water evaporated into steam. In that instant Red struck, his sword slicing through flames like a hot knife through butter.

It should not have worked, really… but what was there to explain? It must be an enchanted blade…

Blaine seemed quite willing to hand over the jet chunk shaped like a flame into their keeping, now that they had ‘proved their worth’. It was mostly fighting, in this world, but that was just the way things were.

Peace was a luxury they could not afford…

After the battle with Blaine, Red and Lance had a soak in one of the real hot springs, not a trap and tunnel to the underground lava maze like the other had been. It was comforting, but at the same time, Red kept feeling a twinge in his wrists. It made no sense! He was in good physical condition and had certainly not sprained them!

So why did they hurt?

In any case, the warm water was soothing and he allowed his guard to fall, luxuriating in the sense of complacency that fell over both of them like a shroud. Time was not something they had to spare, but if they did not rest they would burn out.

That would defeat the purpose of collecting the items in the first place…. If they got so far and tripped into failure…

Would the world end? Or would it continue on?

Lance watched with wary eyes as the Dimensional Door opened. With a thump, the group landed in the Viridian Forest. It was only about ten minute’s walk to Viridian City, and then they would have the very last of the Kanto set.

Then, they could head back to Johto and collect the rest. It was simple.

Giovanni was not an imposing man, and he was dressed nicely in a black tunic and pants, nothing really special, save for the green emerald he wore as a stud in one ear. Red spotted it almost instantly. He could see a faint magic aura around it…

Then again, all of the items held magic…

Perhaps this was…

Lance did not have time to finish her thought before she had flipped backwards into a crouch, hands spread in spell-casting position. Where had that dart come from?

Red gave a slight frown. Giovanni… Giovanni… ah! He was a bandit, and thus he obtained his wealth… they had run into him back at the inn…

Lance muttered something under her breath before vines shot out of the ground and entangled the man’s arms and legs. Giovanni was caught by surprise and Red hastily made a mad dash for him. In a moment, the earring was off and in his hands. The whole ordeal had only taken three seconds. Most impressive, the bandit leader thought, but why? It was only a trinket he had found amidst their loot…

But before Giovanni could say another word, the eight items all began to glow in synch, and a voice rumbled quietly, “Well done…”

Red came to, finding himself still sitting in front of his computer. The screen flashed a happy little ‘Game Over’ at him in bright letters. For a moment, he felt stunned. The next, he spotted a familiar figure sprawled on the ground next to his chair.

Golden eyes blinked sleepily, before she sat up, instantly alert. Red was about to order his pokemon to subdue her, when she looked up at him in a disbelieving tone.

“Red?”

“Yes, Lance?”

“I… why am I alive? And…” She looked down quickly, before shaking her head. “The elven garb is… well, nice enough, but… how did you do it?”

“I have no idea.” Red replied. “Does it matter?”

She shook her head in response. “If this is the afterlife, it looks like home.”

“Well it isn’t, unless I’ve died, and I’m still breathing, thank you very much.” Red smiled as he pulled Lance into a kiss. “I missed you…”

“We can figure out later how a RPG became real.” Lance agreed, before a smile quirked the corner of her lips. “Where did you get the game, anyways?”

“Huh? Oh, it came in the mail…”

“Mm. You should have been more careful. But in the end, the trial was worth it, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t understand. Was that game really a game?”

“Oh, no lie, it was only a game, but when you collected the last badge, you brought me back. You see; it was because of them that I was… destroyed, and it’s kind of like a reversal of time. Some of the legendaries must care enough about us, to bring me back. I wonder if Father wheedled Serebii...”

Red decided to blink and nod. Such things did not matter, not as much as the girl in his arms did.

Who needed Yellow now?

He had all he needed in his arms.

End Chapter/The End

Completed 1/31/06

There is something wrong with my computer mouse. *Anger sparks* this is why I wanted an actual mouse instead of a pad!

Finally finished! *Looks at clock* Sweatdrop…

Eh, better get to bed. Enjoy!