Disclaimer: Er, well, Charlotte’s mine, don’t take… Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics!
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Chapter 2
“Nice to see you not dead for once.”
“Lance!”
“Well, it’s true.”
Charlotte grinned. “No offense taken…”
“Don’t you mind being dead so often?”
“Why should I? It’s duty, so what, I live when I can, and enjoy what I have.” She shrugged nonchalantly.
“Ash is still not quite used to duty…” Lance put in. Ash flushed.
“Don’t tease me!”
“I’m merely stating a fact, dear heart…”
Now a full-fledged blush suffused his cheeks. “Lance…”
Charlotte rolled her eyes skywards and began humming ‘Yellow Rose of Texas’ beneath her breath. Those two…
At least they had each other for company. Sometimes she felt lonely, but it as all right, she had dear Ninetails and Flareon and Vulpix-chan and Angel…
So she was all right….
“You can open your eyes now. We didn’t kiss or anything!” Ash piped up helpfully. Charlotte laughed.
“It’s not that I don’t think it’s cute…”
“It’s just that it makes you feel like a voyeur.”
“Lance!”
Lance ruffled Ash’s hair. “He gets flustered so easily.”
“Mm.” Charlotte laughed. “So, no crazy power-hungry magical apprentices, groups seeking legendary pokemon, or Team X taking over the world in this life?”
“Not yet at least.” Lance smiled.
“We seriously need a break…”
“Let’s take one.” Charlotte grinned.
“What, you’re going to create another world?”
“Why not? It is one of my special abilities.”
“I’m up for it,” Lance shrugged. “Design what you will.”
“I’ll set a time limit on it – otherwise there’s way too much energy drain. Maybe… 50 years ought to be enough time. I’ll set the one-day to one-year ratio for here.” Charlotte pulled out her red compact and began tapping on it, seemed like Morse code…
Ash and Lance went out and got ice cream while she was busy. Three hours later, Charlotte came out of her room with a triumphant smile. “Done!”
“Really? We can go now?”
“Yes, but I’m warning you, it’s RPG-type. That’s the easiest.”
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go!” Ash cheered.
“All right…”
They activated the Gateway card… and instantly, were separated by the dimensional winds…
Ash woke up to find himself lying on a spongy turf with the ‘Eternal Winged Pikachu of Greatness’ licking his face to wake him. “Pika-chan, I’m awake!”
Pika-chan immediately shrank back to tiny winged pikachu form. “Oh good.”
“Do you have any idea where the others are?”
“No, and look at yourself…”
Ash gulped. He was now wearing brownish-green dappled robes and soft leather boots, with a leather chest plate and buckler as well.
“You seem to have turned into a druid.” Pika-chan said helpfully. “Since your secondary powers include earth and flying, that seems to make sense… druids are also very closer to nature and have animal companions. Sometimes.”
“… I see…”
“Well, that’s my best guess.”
“I wonder where the others are?” Ash asked, as he tried to ignore his clothing. At least it wasn’t one of Teresa’s costumes… and the robes and armor-like adornments did seem to be properly spelled…
“No idea. Do you have any weapons?”
Ash shrugged. “Don’t think so.”
“Well, I suppose we’ll just wander around aimlessly – er, Ash, you do have your key, right?”
Ash’s hand automatically went to his neck. Three items clinked – his star key, Destiny’s amulet, and Hope’s locket. “Yes, thank Lugia…”
“Well, why don’t you try your magic?”
“Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before you! Your Master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!”
With a soft whispery noise, instead of the normal bright flashes, the winged moon-topped star wand appeared.
Ash sighed in relief. “Thank goodness…”
Meanwhile, Elsewhere…
Lance woke to find a growling, vaguely humanoid creature, standing over her. In its hands was a double-bladed axe.
“Just my luck,” The Champion sighed, as the creature brought the axe down towards her. She faded away with teleport and then clonked the creature over the head with – something. She didn’t get a good look at it until after it was down.
It was a clarinet.
She was using a clarinet as a weapon?
Something was very wrong here…
Taking a closer look at herself, she realized that she was wearing baggy black pants tucked into leather boots and a matching black tunic, and on her back was a small pack. Investigating the pack revealed that inside was another clarinet, along with some supplies and a harp.
Lance froze. This did not look good… and where had her dragon blades and key gone? She twitched.
Charlotte smiled as she turned to Angel and Vulpix-chan. They were seated around a small table in the middle of a forest, set with bone china and platters of sweets, as incongruous as it was with the surroundings. “Tea, anyone?”
“Yes, please!” Vulpix-chan handed around a plate of chocolate cookies and Angel requested strong coffee instead.
Charlotte was wearing a white apron and a chef’s hat, and all she had with her was an assortment of cutlery and what seemed to be a brick oven built into a tree. Oh, and a lot of raw ingredients. Admittedly, it wasn’t much, but she wasn’t going to go around wandering. It would be nice, just to relax for a while, and who knew? Maybe this was just what she needed. She could improve her cooking skill at any rate.
End Chapter
Completed 7/7/05
Started 7/5/05
Charlotte’s a Cook, Ash is a Woodsman or Druid or something like that, and Lance is a Bard or Wandering Minstrel…I’ll decided next chapter for Ash
I’ve run off with Lance and Charlotte’s magic – they usually rely on it a lot, so it gives them a chance to polish other skills…