And yet another chapter has risen like a phoenix from the ashes…

Yay plotbunnies!
Disclaimer: I really don’t own pokemon; it belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. I don’t work for either of those companies, this is non-profit fanwork, I’m not infringing on their copyright, and since I wrote it its mine under international copyright laws.

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

Ash (Red) is almost 15

Chapter 4: Sea Urchin: Prickle

Four days.

It actually wasn’t bad, it was kind of fun… the power was cool to play with, even if Red knew it was new to him.

Solaris warned him to be careful. He could wreak havoc if he were careless.

He was! He made sure all the wards were up and he kept total focus, pure concentration when he fought. Wasn’t that a good thing?

No wavers meant that he would commit no errors.

The lines of magic extending out were steady, alchemy and magic were close, and some people even thought alchemy was a form of magic. But that wasn’t the point. As he finished weaving the Sunny Day spell, he felt more than heard someone else’s presence behind him.

Jasmine was watching.

“Hi.” He said brightly, knowing that it was in character for Red as well.

“Why are you doing weather spells?” She asked. “I know it’s your strong point, but weren’t you going to work on alchemy?”

Ash’s mind raced. “Well, just practicing.”

“…Oh…”

She seemed to accept the explanation. She watched him for a few more minutes, before leaving again.

< Safe? > Ash asked Solaris afterwards.

< Luckily, she didn’t know Red that well. >

It was a somewhat auspicious reply… but he still felt uneasy. That scrutiny… Solaris said that as long as she didn’t look in his eyes, there would be no way to tell, but still…it was nerve-wracking. That did nothing for his lines of magic.

He took deep breaths to calm down, drank a glass of hot chocolate, and then refocused his attentions.

Much better.

The vibrations stilled, waves of shock ebbing away.

A smile. * Let’s try again. *

He ran through all of the weather spells in two days, confident that those were working fine.

But weather had been Red’s strongest point, as Lighting Alchemist-mage.

Lighting was a form of the air…it changed atmosphere… well; it could convert oxygen into ozone but that was not the point.

He could make it rain, just like a Water mage might. Snow, hail, tempests… they were almost nothing.

Those lines of magic were easy to control. The hardest spells for him were probably weaponry.

Why were they necessary, anyway?

Daggers were hard enough to control… much less a sword… even though the amount of raw material was close in amount, changing from two hands to one as a focus point really irked him.

But weaponry was something that had to be mastered also. There would be situations where magic alone wouldn’t save him.

Red didn’t have many enemies…

There had been one before, Bob the Dragon Alchemist-mage, but he had been disposed of not long before Red’s vanishing.

The second, Elizabeth the Earth Alchemist-mage, had been how Leonard had been recruited to join the Confederation.

Two years ago, was it?

He hadn’t been more than twelve at that point certainly, well, Red, but that wasn’t quite the point.

Leonard might look like a fool, but he was dangerous.

He was also unrestrained by any moral code of ethics, he would and might use human subjects for his experiments, despite the laws.

Why? Was it a thirst for power? Maybe.

Ash came back to reality when he felt someone shaking him.

“Wake up, Red. Don’t overstrain yourself.”

“Lance?”
The Flying magician nodded. “Hai. You were practicing weapon spells? You know that’s your weakest point.”

“I was trying to get better…”

“You lost focus in the middle, I don’t think you need a cannon?”

Ash’s jaw dropped as he realized what he had called up.

“It drains too much magic energy from you. Get some rest, and don’t push yourself! There’s no hurry.”

Ash bit his tongue. * You wouldn’t know… I do want to go home, I miss my mom and my pokemon! This is sort of nice but it’s not the same! *

He kept a tight lid on his emotions though. * Can’t lose control… that will mess up any spells I do… and I still need to recover by drawing from Gaia… *

Lance fed him blueberries and cream and put him to bed early with extra pillows despite his protests.

Well, he didn’t protest too much, this was a luxury wandering trainers didn’t have, might as well enjoy it. Right?

Still, he had to increase his magic reserves, since gateway magic was taxing. So to build up his endurance, he would work on those weapons!
That was a promise.

The next morning, however, was not a time to train. Lance took him to see the seals at Carmine Beach.

Carmine was Cinnabar, Ash realized after a few minutes of familiar clicking. Why not? It was a new world with different names.

He wondered what Blaine did now that there were no pokemon gyms.

Well, the old man was nowhere to be seen. But Ash didn’t dwell on it much; those animals – they weren’t pokemon – were very interesting.

They were much like Seel and Dewgong.

Maybe they were also equivalents?

Even the names were kind of similar. It would make sense.

They spent the afternoon swimming, and then drying on the beach under a sunny haze of glowing light.

It could not be designated as unhealthy or a dire action, he needed the relaxation anyway. How had Lance known?
The trainer was a bit of a puzzle. From Red’s memories he was enigmatic but kind to the younger Alchemist.

Bizarre…

Mysterious, no one knew the true limit of his powers. And the ‘bird’s Chosen’, too. That could be puzzled out some other time.

For now, Ash just enjoyed his chocolate Popsicle and cloud-watched while Lance lay on a towel next to him.

End Chapter

Created 4/13/04, completed 4/22/04