Whee!
Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon, okay? Ok! It belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics, this is non-profit fanwork by me so I own it, and I’m not infringing on their copyright.

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

Jasmine is from the actual series, not an OC, and so is Lance.

Chapter 2: Lying Eyes: Manta Ray

It couldn’t be! Could it?

“… Red?” He asked hesitantly.

Ash blinked. “Um…” He took in the appearance of the ruby-haired teen that had just appeared in front of him, and decided to guess, ignoring the white robe with circular brown triangle patterns. “Lance?”

Bright golden eyes softened, warm with – affection? The next thing Ash knew, Lance was holding him gently.

“You’re alive, Leonard said you were dead but I knew he was a lying scoundrel! Trying to do new life transmutation, what can you expect? Still, I’m glad you are here again.”

“B-but…” Ash tried to protest, but for some reason, couldn’t find the heart to. At the same time, Pikachu’s appearance seemed to shift for the briefest of instances, turning tawny gold – a lion? He couldn’t tell…

The strangest thing was how it felt so right. But that was impossible! He had never met Lance in person before, and now…

Lance was wearing that strange clothing, like he was.

Bizarre…

In any case, it was… warm? And pikachu was purring? Will wonders never cease? Who was ‘Red’, anyways?

But… if he really listened to Professor Oak’s lecture on Schroeder’s Cat and alternate dimensions… it was possible. Would that really be so strange?

And if Red was he and no two copies of a person could exist in one dimension, he was now, for all intents and purposes, Red.

A faint glow whispered in his mind.

Well, in that case, they had melded, and since he was dominant… Red’s memory would probably return in a few days. Until then, he could fake amnesia until he figured out how to get home.

Please, let there be a way for me to go home?

I’m not sure I want to be here. And where is my pokemon? For that matter, where are all of them?

My poke balls aren’t here…

I’m lost, and… Lance seems nice. Following him would probably be better than wandering around lost, right?

He… hopefully if he’s the same person, then… it should be fine!

Ash followed Lance back to the Headquarters of the Confederation.

There, he found Jasmine and Leonard sitting stiffly at opposite sides of the table with a pot of streaming black tea between them.

Reconciliation did not seem to be high on the list of priorities.

He idly wondered how he knew their names, but decided that basic facts had to carry over. But…

He suddenly pitched forward, eyes blurred, as a particularly unpleasant memory intruded upon his senses.

It was gloomy, and he was working for Leonard, the man could be insane but he wasn’t sure, maybe power-hungry.

He came back to himself as Lance stopped fanning him.

“You all right, Red?”

‘H-hai!”

Lance nodded. “It must be shock… can you remember what happened after you vanished?”

“No.” He said truthfully, and everyone could hear the sincere tone. Thus, any unpleasant questions were swiftly avoided.

No one wanted to cause another attack, not even Leonard.

Lance nodded, then showed him to his room.

It had been kept clean; no fine dust coated the surface of either the bed or the work area, and fresh lilies sat in a vase on the window.

“I’ll see you later then, Red.” Lance said, before he left.

Ash nodded, as he flopped down on the bed, Pikachu crawling out of his robe, that thing had large inside pockets!
“Now what am I going to do?”

I’m not sure, Ash, but I don’t sense danger.

“I know.” He lowered his voice. “But I can only pretend amnesia for so long, and what if they try to unlock my memories with magic or something?”

Don’t worry too much, we’ll find a way to get home.

“Hope so…”

He looked around, hoping Red had kept a diary of some sort, but alas to no avail, there was nothing of the sort.

Still…

As he walked to the work arena quietly, he felt a familiar tingle of… magic. Yes, that was it.

This world was magical! Sure, that seemed like a blatant observation, but that clicked something else in his mind. He wasn’t a wizard… those were common and stole magic from the earth. They were not respected, either.

No, he was something else entirely, on a higher level.

He was an alchemist-mage, one of four that ran the Confederation.

What was the Confederation?

Hmm… they controlled much of the webbing flow that covered the earth, they could tap freely into Gaian power.

Also, they were her Chosen ones, her children?

Gaia being earth… yes, they were also enforcers, who did her duty to punish those who were not meant for magic.

How interesting.

As an alchemist, he could also create magic, and combine it in new forms… but he couldn’t create new life. That was a power of Earth alone, and three times only could one disobey before disaster struck.

Death wasn’t even much of a punishment then. What came after was probably worse…

Eternally frozen, trapped, unable to move but feeling pain forever…

He shivered. Luckily, it wasn’t him. He was fine, just fine…

The currents of Gaia magic wove around him, not harming, so he really was Red otherwise he couldn’t touch it.

At least, not without feeling shocked…

Pikachu yawned. Then, without warning, she shifted. Her form blurred away to reveal a golden lion with a black mane.

“So it is true.”

The lion purred. < Yes, Master Red, or Ash, if you prefer. >

“Are you really Pikachu?”

< I am her dimensional double, we are one just like you are one. It is lucky you came along… Red was near death either way. >

< Oh… >

< And do not worry about Lance, he cares about you, and will not hurt you. Jasmine is a friend also, Leonard… is not, to put it mildly, so be very wary. >

< Wait! What happened to Red? > Ash asked, unaware he was using telepathy.

< Him? He tried human transmutation, wanted to bring his mother back to life, and failed… so he died, I warn you not to try it. >

Ash shivered and nodded…

Started 3/21/04, completed 4/2/04