okay, this is the story I had been working on, a spin-off of Aladdin. I am still unsure about the story name so if you have anything better in mind, TELL ME!

I was wondering what I would do with the genie though. I was wondering, should I make Jirachi the Genie? But then decided to make someone very handsome a Genie. By the end of the chapter, you'll know who that Genie is!

This chapter was supposed to come out on Valentine's but I got caught up in college seminar. I presented a poster on Ecotourism and that exhausted the hell out of me. But, when everything related to seminar was done, my university suddenly decided to publish the results and that almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I was going to get very poor marks but thank god, I did better than I expected. Okay, that's too much information so I will stop now.

Moreover, my brother is getting married today and gosh! I am so super duper excited!

Happy Reading!

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The young boy stretched and relaxed his muscles. Hiding inside the barrel was getting tiresome and he peeped through the little hole. He saw the road almost deserted and grinned. Now was his chance to get out!

"Mental note," he whispered to himself,"Never ever hide inside a barrel again." He covered his face, except for his eyes, with the free end of his black turban and slowly rose up, removing the lid. He peeped outside and saw no one. Seeing the road clear, he sprang out while clutching the oversized bag tightly underneath his arms.

He was wearing a black vest but no shirt underneath. The vest had stitches all over and he was wearing ankle length black pants. He glanced up to see that the sun had long been set and grinned. "I can blend in the shadows now," he spoke to himself and made sure to stay out of line of sight and moved through the shadows.

He hastily turned and saw the marketplace right in front of him. He was about to uncover his face when he heard a loud, male voice screaming,"I have spotted the Shadow Thief! Spread around the marketplace!"

He knew without turning that they were searching for him. "So much for hiding for an hour," he rolled his eyes and quickly climbed up the building nearby by using the water pipes.

"He is heading towards the roof top! Don't miss him this time!"

The screams were getting louder and he finally turned to find three well-built man chasing him. They were wearing Royal armour and had long swords with them. He gulped and sprang faster, jumping from one building to another.

He saw guards approaching from the building he was going to jump to and stopped hastily at the edge, almost about to fall. He quickly leaned back to regain his balance and fell backwards, landing on his back. He winced as he felt something stinging at his back and groaned,"Seriously, I got hurt again! Mom is going to kill me!"

"Worry later Street Raticate," a well built man who was approaching him with a malicious grin said,"Your Shadow Thief era ends now."

"You think I'm in trouble?" The boy got up and looked around him. There were guards on every building and he knew he was surrounded.

"You're in trouble, Shadow Thief," the guard smugly said.

"You should know that I'm only in trouble if you catch me," The boy grinned.

"You have no where to run to!"

"I have!" The boy grinned and jumped, making everyone gasp in surprise.

"Chase him!" The guard screamed,"Catch him!''

The boy landed on a clothes line and grinned. He quickly slid off and entered a nearby room, making the old lady who was knitting by the fireplace gasp.

"Good evening Mam," he bowed graciously,"I was just passing by."

"Aren't you a troublesome young lad," the old lady grinned,"What did you steal this time?"

The boy laughed and sat down, crossed legged,"Want to buy it?"

The old lady turned to face him and put down her knitting tools,"I have to look at it first."

"Its the famous pot made from bronze. It can fetch a high prize if bargained correctly," The boy grinned.

"I will give you ten silver coins for this," the old lady held the pot and ran her fingers over the fine sculpture.

"Make it 15?" The boy begged.

"12."

"Deal."

The old lady handed him the money and placed the pot beside the fireplace, saying,"What's your name? I bought so many things from you young lad. I atleast deserve a name from my regular dealer."

The boy got up, his chocolate brown eyes sparkling from the fire of the fireplace,"Haven't you heard from all the chasing on the street?" He was almost halfway out from her window,"I am Shadow Thief." He winked at the old lady and slipped out.

Once he was out, he quickly shoved the turban in his bag and pulled out a reddish cap and placed it on his head. The raven haired boy stretched and gave a long yawn. His eyes were chocolatey brown and his skin was slightly tanned. He had a funny z line on his cheeks and his most striking feature was his toothy smile. He grinned widely and walked confidently towards his house. He saw the guards passing him by in a hurry and he grinned as they passed him without recognizing him.

A guard stopped in front of him and scrutinized him carefully,"Have you seen a thief pass by?"

The boy shook his head,"I saw someone running towards the palace. I don't know if he is the thief or not but his face was covered."

"Thanks boy," the guard bowed slightly,"What's your name?"

The boy grinned as he spoke,"Ash Ketchum, the great!"

The guard rolled his eyes and ran towards the palace. Ash grinned and began walking towards his house, whistling to himself. 12 silver coins! He could pay the stupid rent his landlady was pestering him for and also afford some decent food. He quickly went to the market and bought some loaves of bread with the money.

On his way home, seeing some orphans sleeping while hugging each other attracted his attention.

He glanced at the bag of food in his arms and sighed. He tiptoed towards them and placed the bag beside them, running his hand over their small heads, waking them up. The kids winced in fear and Ash quickly waved his hands in front of face, saying,"No need to be afraid. I can't afford to give you a decent meal or a place to sleep but atleast I can offer you something to eat."

Ash smiled on seeing the grin forming on the children's faces and got up. Realizing he was late, he ran towards his house.

He climbed the stairs and was almost hit by a sandal. He ducked in time and yelled,"Mom, what happened!"

A woman, in her mid-thirties, turned with a horrified look on her face. She was wearing an ankle length brown gown with her hair in a bun. She quickly went over to where Ash was and said,"There's a spinarak in the house!"

Ash sighed in relief and said,"Don't scare me like that! I thought you were going to beat the crap out of me!"

Delia laughed on hearing those words. "Why would I? You are not the Shadow Thief who steals from people. My boy is a diamond in the rough."

Ash sweatdropped on hearing those words,"You hate the Shadow Thief that much?"

Delia rolled her eyes,"Who would like a thief? I wonder how his mother feels about having a son who steals?"

Ash felt his heart breaking in a million pieces. "He must have some reason for stealing, don't you think so?"

"Why are you supporting the thief!" Delia gasped,"Are you..."

Ash panicked, averting his gaze from her. Did his mother figure it out? "What Mom?"

"You are not his friend, are you?" Delia shook her son slightly,"He is not your acquaintance right?"

Ash reassured his mother,"I haven't even met him!" He breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God that his mother had not discovered who he was yet. However, he knew he had to stop soon otherwise he was going to fall deeper and deeper with no way to escape.

Delia sighed in relief and Ash sweatdropped. How was he supposed to meet him when he was the Shadow Thief? He remembered something and quickly pulled out the ten silver coins, handing it to his Mom.

"Here," he said, grinning,"My wage of today."

"Ten coins?" Delia was surprised,"How did you get them?"

"I work for the landlady remember," Ash clicked his tongue,"She sells antique things and I just sold something to one of her customers. Thats it."

"The landlady scares me sometimes," Delia said, putting away the money in a box,"I feel like most of the things she owns are not earned rightfully."

"Don't worry Mom," Ash hugged his Mom from behind,"I will make sure to find a good job so that I can leave this house with you and..."

He was unable to finish when he felt something running up his back to his shoulder. He glanced at his shoulder and saw a yellow rodent smiling widely at him.

"Hey there Pikachu," Ash grinned back,"Where were you?''

"Pika pi!" The yellow rodent chirped. Ash laughed, saying,"You were dealing with the spinarak? Aren't you a brave mouse?"

"Both of you clean up," Delia smiled and touched their faces,"I will prepare dinner in the mean time." Pikachu climbed off Ash's shoulder and rubbed against Delia's feet, making the lady giggle,"Okay, I know what you want for dinner so clean up real quick."

Both of them nodded and Ash shouted,"The first one to enter the bathroom wins!" And he and Pikachu broke into a run.

Ash locked the bathroom door behind him and took of his vest. Hiding his pain in front of his mother was hard and he glanced at the mirror. He had scratched his back on the roof and it was bleeding. Pikachu, concerned, chirped,"Pika?"

"I am fine, Pikachu," Ash said and pulled out a clean cloth from the counter,"Can you clean this mess?"

"Pika pi!"

Pikachu took the small handkerchief from Ash's hand and Ash sat down on the floor. Pikachu gently wiped the wound with a slight frown on his face.

"Don't worry buddy," Ash reassured him,"I won't hurt myself again."

"Pika pika! Pikachu!" The yellow rodent angrily wiped the area, making a chill run on Ash's spine.

"Hey don't press so hard!" Ash winced in pain,"One day, I'll stop stealing and lead a decent life, I promise. So forgive me this time, please?."

"Pika." Pikachu's expression softened,"Pikachu! Pikapi!"

"I know, I shouldn't lie to Mom but we will starve to death you know. She is already working for the landlady and honestly, I don't want to see her doing the menial jobs just to feed us."

"Pi pi! Pikachu!"

"Yep. I didn't steal from the needy. There was this wealthy, snobby merchant who looted a poor shopkeeper. So I stole from him, returned the shopkeepers belonging to him and the shopkeeper gave me the pot."

"Pi?"

"And the guards came to know I robbed the merchant so they were after me. Long story short, I slipped out and sold the pot and got the money."

Pikachu had finished cleaning up the bloody mess and Ash picked his small electric rodent up, running his hand through Pikachu's soft body and scratched the underneath of his chin as appreciation for helping him,"I promise you Pikachu. One day, I'll be known as Ash not as Shadow Thief. Till then, please stick with me!"

They both finished cleaning up and Ash quickly changed into fresh set of clothes. He was wearing a violet round necked t-shirt with knee length baggy pants. He picked up Pikachu and put on a brown vest on him, making Pikachu grin at himself in the mirror.

"Lets not forget the hat," Ash said and Pikachu jumped on his shoulder with the hat in his mouth. Ash put it on and then picked up a smaller version of the hat and put on Pikachu's head,"There. All done."

They ran out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to find Delia serving the food. A wide smile spread on his lips as he began digging into his food.

"Did you hear Ash," Delia sat down beside him and passed a small bowl of ketchup towards Pikachu, making the rodent grin like crazy.

"What?"

"They are telling that another suitor of Princess Dawn returned empty handed today."

Ash's head perked up and a wide grin spread on his face on hearing that name,"Princess D-D-D-D-Dawn?"

"Okay maiden in love," Delia teased,"Focus on your food."

"You know Mom," Ash grinned widely,"One day, I'm going to marry Princess D-D-D-D-Dawn when I become rich!"

Delia, amused, hit her son in the head, saying,"She isn't attracted to money you fool. She would have been married already if she was money hungry."

Ash nodded,"I know that she is not. But Mom, one day, when I can prove that I'm not a street raticate and hold equal grounds with her, I will ask for her hand in marriage."

"And for that mister, you have to work hard," Delia reminded him.

Ash grinned,"Well practice calling Princess D-D-D-D-DAWN your daughter-in-law from now on."

"You should practice calling her name without stammering, you know," Delia laughed and poked his cheek, making him embarrassed.

"One day," Ash whispered to himself,"One day I'll prove that there's so much more to me."

.

"Where is the Princess?" A lady, wearing a satin silk pink gown with diamond jewellery stormed into a room, her heels clicking against the marbelled floor.

The maids, who were in the room, bowed down, saying,"We are sorry Your Highness. Princess is at the veranda with her maid."

The Queen haughtily stormed towards the terrace, coming to halt when she saw a bluenette wielding a sword and going up against two guards.

She slowly made her way to the maid who was standing on the sidelines and coughed to get her attention.

The brown haired girl, seeing the Queen there, knelt down, saying,"Good evening your Highness."

"Get up Leaf," The Queen ordered,"What's going on here?"

Leaf gulped,"I am sorry your Highness. The Princess was angry at the suitor and now, to vent out her anger, she is.."

"What am I going to do with this girl?" The Queen sighed. She watched as the Princess, even though she was against two fully armoured men, was easily dodging their swords swing and attacking at every possible chance.

The Princess' blue hair was in a bun and she was wearing a fitting top with pants. Her mouth was covered by a veil, making only her eyes visible. Dawn dunked and avoided the swing of the blade again and headbutted one of the guards. She quickly regained her balance and kicked the approaching guard in his guts, making him stumble and fall. She quickly pointed a sword at his neck, hissing,"Are you taking me as a joke or is this your full strength?"

The guard shook his head, mortified on seeing the blade so close to his neck,"We were serious Princess."

"Is this how you all are going to save Sinnoh? Is this your power? Don't make me laugh!" Dawn hissed again and put the sword back into the scabbard. She then extended her arm to pull the soldier up, saying,"Go get treated."

Once the guards were gone, she uncovered her face and breathed deeply to catch her breath. She was sweating all over and wiped her forehead. Hearing a cough, she stopped in her tracks and looked sideways, only to find her mother staring at her with a murderous look.

"Hello Mother," she bowed a little and sat down on one knee to show her respect to the Queen.

"Good lord! Look at you!" The Queen screamed in annoyance,"You are a Princess for Heavens sake! Can you please act like one! Leaf prepare the bath for her!"

"I was just testing the strength of our guards," Dawn mumbled feebly, getting up. Leaf bowed and excused herself.

"Dawn!" Johanna screamed, making Dawn cringe. "How many times should I warn you! This year you're going to turn 16! You have to get married by then!"

Dawn went over to where her Mom and Leaf was and took the towel from Leaf, thanking her. Wiping her sweat, she said,"I am not going to get married to some snobbish prince like him!"

"Prince Kenny was not snobbish!" Johanna slapped her forehead in frustration,"You always find faults with anyone and everyone who comes to woo you!"

"I am not getting married without falling in love," Dawn stubbornly said.

"Love and administration don't go together Dawn," Johanna's voice softened,"I am sure you'll fall in love with the prince you marry."

"Well I want to fall in love then marry!" Dawn crossed her arms over her chest, making Johanna even more annoyed. Leaf, who was done with her work, returned to see both Dawn and Johanna glaring at each other.

"You know what, deal with your father on your own. I am done making excuses for you." The Queen stormed off and Leaf let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"The Queen is angry," She told Dawn who was now back in her room. Leaf followed her inside and continued,"Princess, I think you shouldn't have allowed Prince Kenny to meet your Pokemons."

Dawn, who was changing into a fresh set of clothes, remarked,"You saw how he treated the pokemons. What made you believe that he would treat me well after marriage?"

Leaf nodded,"I said that as a maid. As a friend, I am telling you, you should have allowed Mamoswine to freeze him when he wanted too."

The girls broke into laughter and Dawn couldn't help but go out to the balcony again and stare at her kingdom below.

"Leaf," Dawn sighed as she leaned on the railings,"I have never ever left the castle on my own. I have not seen the outside world. My whole life, I was imprisoned in this castle. This is not the life I wanted. Everyone treats me like a princess, no one even sees me as a human being."

"Hey?" Leaf was offended at the last part.

Dawn grinned,"You're my only friend here Leaf. I wish I could see the outside world one day."

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Somewhere in the Castle

A feline, with a golden amulet stuck on his forehead, was resting on the lap of a man who was in his late twenties. The room was dimly lit by the chandelier and the man, who was sitting on the bed with a large, golden book in his hand, turned to read the next page.

The feline stirred in his sleep and the man spoke,"Dear Meowth, want to hear a fairy tale?"

The cat yawned,"Whatcha mean by fairy-tale?"

The brown haired man put Meowth in his bed and properly sat down, resting his head against the wall as he began reading.

"About 500 years ago, in the deserts of Celestic Town, lived a black mage named Agatha lived with her servants.."

500 years ago

A blonde haired old lady, whose hair was turning gray due to old age, was sitting on her throne, drinking red wine. She had a malicious smile on her face as she looked down on the man who was kneeling on the ground in front of him.

"Do you understand now," Agatha said with a deep, snobbish tone,"The difference in power between us? Measly wizards like you aren't even worth my time."

"I know Madam," the man said, trembling in fear,"But please help my village out. Without water, they will die!"

"They should have been careful then. How could they forget to ask for my blessings! They must suffer!" Agatha spat again.

"I apologise on their behalf Madam!" The man was at the verge of crying,"Please return water to the wells and tanks! Your magic evaporated every drop of water from my village! I vow to be your loyal servant till the last day of my life."

"Shut up!" Agatha rose from her throne, smashing the glass she was holding on the floor,"Your whining made my wine tasteless. Get out of here!"

"Madam!"

Agatha ignored him and started walking back to her chambers. The man, totally helpless, cursed,"The magic, of which you're so proud of, will betray you. The one who abuses her power can't stay powerful for long!"

Hearing this, Agatha was agitated. She smirked and made her way to where the man was. Shaking in fear, the man fell to the ground, feeling unable to get up. His eyes, showing how scared he was, was overflowing in tears as he watched Agatha striding towards him.

"Gary!" Agatha screamed at the top of her lungs,"Bring me the potion which can turn people into stone."

Agatha knelt down beside the man, running her finger over his fear stricken face,"I could turn you to stone in an instant but that wouldn't allow me to see the pain on your arrogant face."

A brown haired boy, about 16 or 17, brought two glasses of potion on two different plates. He was wearing a white t-shirt with dark blue pants. His hair was spiky and he had a small oval, ruby around his neck.

"Here your Highness," Gary handed her a new glass of red wine,"Red wine for you."

Gary knelt down and placed the green liquid infront of the wizard, saying,"This glass has the potion which can turn people into stone, Mam."

Agatha rose up, taking a sip of the red wine,"You're a fine servant Gary. You always know how to cheer me up. Now wizard, drink it."

The wizard gulped hard, tears streaming down his face. With shaking hands, he picked up the glass, saying,"Your regime will end soon, just wait."

Agatha glared at the man who forcefully drank the whole potion. Smiling at her little victory, she chugged down the red wine in one big go and said,"Now see how you slowly freeze and turn into rock, you peasant."

The man burped loudly and felt himself getting lighter and lighter. Wasn't turning to rock supposed to make him feel heavier? He looked down to see his body swelling in size as he turned round like a balloon. Gary quickly shoved him out of the door, saying,"You'll turn back to normal in an hour!"

Before Gary could even turn, he knew Agatha was glaring at him with murderous look clear in her eyes.

"Worthless human!" Agatha screamed,"Do you know the price of disobeying me?"

Gary, looking pleased at his work, chuckled,"I do."

"Then why did you defy me?" Agatha screamed. The whole castle began trembling and Gary noticed that the things which were in the room started floating around. He knew he had pissed Agatha beyond comprehension.

"You thought that I would do something reckless without taking precautions? My dear Mistress," Gary smirked,"The wine you just had contained the potion. You will turn into a rock no matter what you do. You made this potion and you didn't keep any way to reverse it. So laugh at your own foolishness, My Mistress."

Agatha's eyes were turning red and she took a step towards Gary but stopped. Her feet had started to turn into rock and it was slowly travelling up.

"You fool!" Agatha didn't stop glaring at him,"You think that this will stop your punishment?"

Gary stopped in his tracks, feeling the room crumbling around him.

"You have angered me, fooled me!" Agatha caught the first thing she saw floating around her, a small lamp,"Gary, you will be confined in this lamp, untill and unless someone frees you!"

Gary felt strong gusts of winds forming around him and his eyes widened in response. He was being sucked into the magical lamp and no matter how hard he resisted, he couldn't fight the forces. He grabbed the stone pillar while he was being dragged but the force was so strong that he couldn't keep holding for long. He watched with horror stricken face as his legs, or whatever was left of it, turning into a bluish gas as he was being sucked into the lamp. His only consolation was watching Agatha turning into a stone.

"And I will make sure no one finds you!" Agatha screamed as Gary was totally sucked into the lamp. She hurled it in air, making sure that it was buried in deep ruins of Solaceon Town while she totally turned into stone.

Present time, in the palace

The man saw that Meowth had fallen asleep a long time ago. He shook his head and read to himself,"Till now, the magical lamp is buried in deep ruins of Solaceon. Whoever tried to achieve it met inhumane end. The legend says that Agatha was the strongest mage in history. The one who defeated her would gain her magic powers. The Genie of the lamp defeated Agatha and is the strongest being in the whole world. Whoever becomes the Master of The Lamp will become the Master of The Whole World."

The man closed the book and laughed,"Master of The Whole World! I will become the Master of The Whole World!"

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And that's a wrap! I had so much fun writing this chapter! Well I still haven't decided who is going to play the role of Zafar so if you have any preferences, do tell me!

And whatcha think? Gary as a Genie? Isn't he going to be the coolest Genie? Although the theme is similar to Aladdin, hopefully the plot is interesting to keep you all hooked up! And I might mess up sometimes because its been a longtime since I watched either Aladdin or Pokemon. I don't even remember if Sinnoh has a desert! Can anyone please fill in the information? I will be grateful!

So, what do you think is going to happen? How will Ash meet Gary? Can Ash woo Dawn before she is married off to a prince? Stay tuned?

~ DarkestLightOfHope