And the waving wheat does sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain…. (Oklahoma the musical)
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me! Don’t take my work!
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Chapter 7
After a day of walking, Ash reached Lavender Town. To his surprise, there was nothing there except a pokemon center, manned by an old, shriveled woman in a purple robe, and an imposing tower.
“What’s that tower?”
“That, child, is pokemon tower, where the spirits of pokemon are laid to rest.”
“So there are… ghosts in there?”
“Yes.”
Shivers came from the hat-equipped boy. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry, they’re only around level twenty. You should be fine.”
“I hope so…” Ash muttered to himself.
“Anyways, I’ll be open until eight tonight. After that, I’m closing. It’s hard on an old lady’s bones to be a nurse…”
“Thanks!” Ash said. He headed towards the tower, wondering where on earth Sabrina was and why she wasn’t at her gym.
So odd!
Once at the tower, Ash noticed that the heavy iron doors with studded nails were slightly ajar. Therefore, he entered on tiptoe, just in case…
He didn’t want any ghosts angry with him!
A fine layer of porous gray dust coated the surfaces within, reminding Ash uncomfortably of the mansion on that island.
Checking his pockets, he saw that the poke ball he had taken was still there.
Maybe…
No! Dust did not equal magic! Besides, the poke ball wouldn’t open anyways, so why did he bother carrying it around?
Worthless junk…
Seeing a grave with a poke-ball-shaped indent in it, Ash went over… and placed the poke ball inside from the abandoned house on the island.
The ground rumbled under his feet as waves of bluish black light surrounded the area. Ash gripped his poke balls tightly as Pikachu hid in his backpack.
What had he unleashed?
Blue eyes opened, sleepily blinking.
“Where am I?”
Ash gaped as a girl in a loose white nightgown appeared out of midair and just kind of… floated there.
Wait a
second!
Girls don’t have scaly green
fish tails! A mermaid? No! They only existed in fairy-tales, right?
Right!
However, Ash couldn’t deny his eyes.
The girl slowly floated down to earth. “Where am I?”
“Pokemon Tower, Lavender Town.” Ash said automatically.
She nodded slowly. “I see…”
“Who are you?”
“I don’t remember my name…”
Seeing her grief-stricken expression, Ash tried to comfort her. “Now, now. It’s not that bad. I’ll help you find your way home.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Thank you…” She hugged him, and then… vanished. Ash gaped, before the poke ball fell off the grave and rolled back to his feet.
Ash shuddered. * Oh no. It can’t be… *
People
shouldn’t be captured in poke balls, but if she really were a mermaid, it would
make sense! Mermaids weren’t human, right? Did that mean they were pokemon?
Ack! All these things – why
him? * Why me? *
Why…
All I ever wanted was an ordinary pokemon journey, like everyone else! Go catch pokemon, get the gym badges, compete in a few leagues, and then settle down.
Why can’t I have that?
What did I do to deserve this weirdness?
Why can’t I be normal? All I wanted was a normal journey!
What’s wrong with me?
Ash finally quit musing and decided to do something about the mermaid. He sprinted over to the beach outside of Lavender and released the poke ball.
Instantly, the girl reappeared and landed in the salt water.
“Oh, thank you!”
“No problem.” Ash said. “So what did you need?”
“I’m not sure where my home is…”
“Um… right. Okay. You said you forgot your name. Can I call you something?”
The girl nodded.
Ash tried to figure out what would be a good name for a mermaid. Well, she had blonde hair, didn’t look like Ariel…
Ariel was an ugly name anyways!
Brilliant blue met brown as he tried hard to think. However, the persistent ringing in his head just wasn’t leaving.
Fine! Ash gave up trying to fight the voice.
“Can I call you Catelyn?”
A frown settled on the mermaid’s face. It sounded familiar, but at the same time, kind of… disjointed. Like her name had the syllables rearrange incorrectly.
Still, it would have to do.
“I’d like that very much.”
“Okay then! Catelyn it is! My name’s Ash!”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“What can you tell me about what happened?”
“Well…”
After a hasty discussion, Ash discovered that she had been kidnapped and then force-fed some sort of weird drug to suppress her memories.
Still, what could he do? She was a mermaid. In a poke ball, one of *his* poke balls to be precise.
Why was the world so weird?
Catelyn looked at Ash uncertainly. “Um… Ash?”
“Yes?”
“I…I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t let me out unless you’re near water. Otherwise, I’ll get dehydrated…”
“Oh! I didn’t think about that!” Ash said.
“It’s fine. I’m sorry for being such a pain.”
“Er… it’s not your fault.”
“Honto Ni?”
“Hai…”
After a while, Ash made himself a sandwich, Catelyn politely declined the offer of lunch, and swam in deeper.
He was getting worried she wouldn’t return, but she did.
“Find anything?”
“No. I asked all the water pokemon. They said there aren’t any mermaids around here. I guess my home is really far away…”
“I guess.” Ash echoed, questioningly. * What have I gotten myself into? * “Well, can we leave now?”
Catelyn nodded as she vanished within the capture beam. Ash stowed it in his backpack, noting that it hadn’t been transferred. Of course! She wasn’t a pokemon.
Eventually, things would sort themselves out. Until then, he’d try to be patient.
End Chapter
Completed 12/12/04