#1: Vanessa Vacation
#2: Vanessa Vacation Versus Voldemort
This story is set during the Tracey period, after the Orange League, but before the Johto Journeys. Don't ask me what a Venomoth is doing in Viridian Forest . . . I invented the name "pokeyen" for the Pokémon units of currency. In the game, these units are identified only by that sign that looks like ¥ only with a P instead of the Y. Here, that symbol is written *P*.
Summer was coming to the valley in the vicinity of Vancouver, and Vanessa Vacation had a perplexing problem on her hands. She did not know where she wanted to go on vacation!
In the past, she had always taken trips to places that began with "V," like Virginia, Venice, Verona, and Venezuela. Now that she'd seen all those places, there weren't any good "V" places left to go to!
One June day dawned with this dilemma dulling Vanessa's drive to do anything. She spent the morning mulling over it, hanging around the house. In the afternoon, she went for a walk in the woods, hoping it would help.
It was a nice day for it; the sunlight sparkled, but it wasn't too hot. Vanessa traipsed along the trail, trying not to think too much about her troubles.
Suddenly, she stopped. She'd seen a strange something in the shrubbery. She stared, and out came a bizarre, big-eyed, ball-shaped, fuzzy purple bug.
"Ooooh!" said Vanessa. "Hey there, little fella . . ."
The creature came closer, and began to gesture off to one side. Clearly, it was communicating: "Come with me."
"What is it?" said Vanessa. The thing didn't answer; it just started to scurry away.
Vanessa followed it, wondering, What in the world is going on? In fact, what in the world is that thing?
The thing led Vanessa to a hole in a hillside. It chittered and went in.
The hole was actually the entrance to a tunnel. The further along the tunnel they went, the darker it got. Some way in, Vanessa shouted, "Stop!"
The bug moved back towards her. By now, she could barely see it.
"Maybe you can see where you're going," she said, "but -"
She stopped. Her crescent-moon charm was glowing!
More than two months ago, when Vanessa had been shopping with her mother in Diagon Alley, she had found a silver necklace with a crescent-moon pendant. She'd worn it every day since, and she'd suspected it of storing some secret strength. So it did!
The white light from the charm looked a lot like moonlight. It illuminated the tunnel thoroughly, within a few feet.
"Never mind," Vanessa said to the bug. "Go on."
On and on they went. Soon, Vanessa saw the sun shining at the end of the tunnel. Gratefully, she got out of the gray tunnel to find the bug waiting at the exit, giving her a chance to look at the view.
She was standing high on a hillside, overlooking - a village in a valley! Could this be one of those parallel-world places? But no - this village was smaller than hers. Also, everything seemed somehow different from the way it was at home. She couldn't put her finger on it, though.
The bug, and Vanessa, continued down the hill. They stopped in the town, on a street, outside a house, in front of three kids. They too looked a little different.
"Well, hello, Venonat," said one of them, a boy with dark-green hair and a headband. "Who's this you've brought back?"
"I-I'm Vanessa Vacation," she stammered. "What's going on? Where are we?"
"We're in Pallet Town," answered the other boy, whose hair was black. "This is my house."
"Oh. What is that bug thing?"
"You mean you don't know about Pokémon?"
"No."
"Wow, where are you from?"
"Venton. It's a village in a valley in the vicinity of Vancouver."
"Huh . . . never heard of it. How did you get here?"
"I was walking in the woods, and I saw that bug thing, and it wanted me to come with it, so I followed it through a tunnel that ended up on that hill. So why was I wanted here?"
"Well," said the green-haired guy, "that bug thing, Venonat, sensed something and wanted to go see what it was. So I let it go, and it brought you back. Maybe it thinks you would make a good Pokémon trainer."
"Wow, really, me?" said Vanessa. "Venonat is a Pokémon, right?"
"Yes, and I'm its trainer. I take care of it like you would a pet, but I also train it to use attacks, and sometimes I send it into battle. Your job as a Pokémon trainer is to capture, raise and train a team of strong fighters who will both befriend and defend you."
"Hmmm . . . this may be the solution I was searching for! Are there any areas around here whose names start with V?"
"Yes, there's Viridian City and Vermillion City."
"And is there someplace I can stay there?"
"Of course."
"That's great! I've found my vacation spot!"
"What?"
"You see, I was searching for somewhere that started with V to go on vacation, and I couldn't come up with any, but now I'll go to Viridian and Vermillion Cities!"
"Why only V places?"
"That's just my thing that I do. I gotta go. I'll need to pack, tell people where I'm going - but this is all so new to me - can I meet you guys here, tomorrow, at ten?"
"Sure. See you later, Vanessa!"
"See you later . . ."
"Tracey," said the green-haired guy.
"And I'm Ash Ketchum," said the other boy.
"My name is Misty," said the girl, a ravishing redhead.
"Great. Bye!"
Smiling with satisfaction, Vanessa skipped along the way she'd come. She found her way back to the tunnel, and then to her house, easily enough. As soon as she got home, she started a packing list. This was going to be so cool!
*******
The next morning, Vanessa was walking along the forest path, carrying a single, stuffed, sienna suitcase. Her Pokémon vacation was about to begin.
She found the tunnel and started walking along it. Again, just when it got too dark for Vanessa to find her way, her crescent-moon charm lit up.
"All right," Vanessa asked aloud, "what's up with that?"
Amazingly, the light from the charm began to form words:
"Hello, Vanessa. My name is Unitria. I am a Unity Charm - actually, I'm the only one. I am an aid to trans-world travelers such as yourself. My purpose is to allow you to use abilities from one world in any other. Do you have your wand with you?"
"No," said Vanessa.
"Go get it," instructed Unitria. "You may find it useful. The path ahead of you is very varied, that much I can tell you."
"So you're saying that the place where there are Pokémon is a hidden world, like the wizarding world?"
"Yes. You see why it's worth having your wand with you?"
"Yes. I'll go get it." She turned and went.
*******
"Hey, I'm here!"
Vanessa hurried up to Ash and his friends. "Sorry I'm late; I had to run back for something."
"That's all right," said Ash. "So, you're staying in Viridian City?"
"Yes, for the first week. Then I'll spend the second week in Vermillion City."
"Cool. Do you want to start training Pokémon?"
"Yes, as soon as I check into my hotel . . ."
"Okay."
They traveled to Viridian City without incident. In about an hour, Vanessa was at the front desk of the Hatfield Hotel.
"A week?" said the clerk. "That'll be *P*57,500."
"What?" Vanessa was holding a handful of Canadian cash.
Ash realized what was going on. Thinking quickly, the told the clerk, "Uh, she's a foreigner - hold on a minute -"
He pulled Vanessa aside and explained, "The money we use around here is in units called pokeyen. What are those?"
"They're Canadian dollars."
"Oh, dear. Well . . . what can we do . . . ?"
"I know," wrote Unitria in light-letters.
"What's that?!" exclaimed Ash.
"Oh, hello," Unitria wrote, "my name is Unitria. Don't be frightened; I'm here to help Vanessa out. Now, Vanessa, just touch your money to me, and I'll exchange it for you . . ."
"Okay . . ." Vanessa did so. When the money touched, it changed instantly. She had plenty to pay for the room.
*******
A little while later, Ash, Misty, Tracey and Vanessa were outside the Viridian City PokeMart. Vanessa had set her suitcase in her hotel room, and had just bought some basic supplies, including Pokeballs and a violet vinyl purse that was perfect for carrying them.
"Now, Vanessa," siad Ash, "Viridian Forest isn't far from here. It's a great place to catch Pokémon. Since you didn't get a starter Pokémon, we'll help you catch your first one."
"Starter Pokémon?"
"Yes. Most people who live here and decide to become Pokémon trainers start young, and are given starter Pokémon. When I turned ten, I went to Professor Oak and got a Pokémon -"
"Pika!"
"That's right, Pikachu. I also got a Pokedex, and a license to - oh, no!"
"What?"
"You don't have a Pokémon trainer's license! You can't start without one! We gotta go call him . . ." He hurried Vanessa over to the nearest phone and dialed Professor Oak's number.
"Hello, Ash," said the Professor. "How have you been."
"Fine," said Ash. "This is my new friend Vanessa. She's staying in the area for a while, and she wants to get a Pokémon trainer's license."
"All right. Can you come over today at two-thirty?"
"Sure. See you then!"
*******
At two-thirty that afternoon, Ash, Misty, Tracey and Vanessa were in Professor Oak's lab.
"So, Vanessa," said Professor Oak, "why do you want to be a Pokémon trainer?"
"Well," said Vanessa, "yesterday, I was walking in the woods near Venton, my hometown, a village in a valley in the vicinity of Vancouver. Ash says he hasn't heard of it; have you?"
"No, I haven't."
"Oh. Well, I was walking, and all of a sudden, there was this Venonat. It wanted me to follow it, so I did, and it led me to its trainer, Tracey. He told me Venonat might have brought me because it thought I would make a good Pokémon trainer myself."
"How interesting!" Professor Oak sat down at his computer. "Now, to get you a license I'll need your name, including your middle initial if you have one . . ."
"Vanessa L. Vacation."
"And your age?"
"Thirty-two."
"Okay, please come over here and get your picture taken . . ."
In a few more minutes, Vanessa had her license and was on her way to Viridian Forest.
*******
Viridian Forest was a vibrant, cool, beautiful place with plenty of paths. The group stopped to talk near the entrance.
"Catching Pokémon is something all trainers have to do," said Ash, "especially when they're starting out. What you do is, when you find a wild Pokémon, you make one of your Pokémon battle it until it's weak enough to catch with a Pokeball. It's not pretty, but that's how you put a team together. We're going to catch your first one for you; just follow us and try to keep quiet."
They entered. Vanessa was excited and exhilarated. She was going to get a Pokémon of her own!
They wandered for a while, and Vanessa began to wonder where all the Pokémon were. Suddenly, she saw something streak across the sky and settle in a tree. She attracted Ash's attention to it.
"That's a Venomoth," he whispered. "Want it?"
"Yes," Vanessa whispered back.
"No problem." He pulled out one of his Pokéballs. "Go, Bulbasaur! Grab that Venonat with Vine Whip!"
Viciously, Bulbasaur bound Venomoth with its vines. Surprised, Venomoth started to struggle. Uh-oh!
"I'll help," said Misty. "Go, Staryu! Water Gun attack!"
The jet of water knocked Venomoth to the ground, but Bulbasaur refused to relent and release its hold. Venomoth found that it couldn't fly because the water weighed it down.
Misty gave Ash a knowing look. Ash understood; he smiled and nodded. "Pikachu, finish it with a Thunderbolt!"
It was like a lightning storm had lit up the forest. Electricity from the extremely cute yellow Pokémon surged through Venonat and sapped some more of its strength.
"Quick, Vanessa!" said Ash. "Throw one of your Pokeballs!"
"Me?" said Vanessa. "But you said -"
"That's all right, it's going to be your Pokémon. Go ahead!"
Bulbasaur let go. Vanessa's Pokeball hit its mark, opened, dematerialized its target, and enclosed the energy. The ball sat moving for a moment, then was still.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Ash. "I caught a Venomoth!"
"For me," Vanessa clarified.
"Right. Now, you'll need to let Venomoth have a couple of hours' rest to recover from the battle, but after that, you can take it out and start training it!"
"Cool! This is fun!"
*******
"I spoke too soon."
They were back in the city, in a workout room in the newly rebuilt Viridian City Gym. Vanessa had been trying for thirty or more minutes to teach Venomoth its Tackle attack, but it wouldn't accept her authority.
"It must know that you weren't the one who weakened it," reasoned Ash. "So it figures, Why should I care about this coward who can't even catch her own Pokémon? You'll have to do something to earn its respect."
"Like what?" said Vanessa.
"Mind if I help?" wrote Unitria.
"No. What can I do?"
"You can hang me around Venomoth's neck . . . such as it is. I'll take it from there."
Vanessa did, and Unitria started feeding pictures into Venomoth's mind, like a movie projector. The pictures pointed out Vanessa's bravery in the battle at Hogwarts. Then they showed that Venomoth was Vanessa's very first Pokémon, so she couldn't have caught it herself. When Unitria was finished, it wrote, "Now take me off. Venomoth should listen now."
"Thanks so much." Vanessa put the necklace back on over her head. "Will you try it again now, Venomoth?"
"Veno." It took off and performed a timid Tackle attack on a punching bag.
"That's a terrific start!" said Vanessa. "This must be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
*******
In the next nine days, Vanessa's skills as a Pokémon trainer grew greatly. She caught a Voltorb, a Vulpix, and even a Vileplume! She didn't have any more problems with her Pokémon's attitudes, and she battled other trainers once or twice a day. She only won some of the time, but she made a modest amount of money doing it.
That Wednesday, the four friends were going out to celebrate. They had chosen to chow in a cafe, then chill out at the cinema. They were walking to get there, and they passed a big, black building. Suddenly, a sorrowful scream sounded somewhere inside!
"What was that?!" exclaimed Ash. He went into the building, followed closely by his comrades.
They found nothing on the first floor, but the sound came again, from above them. They scaled several stairways, ending up in an enormous enclosure full of caged Pokémon. At the rear of the room were a ventilated vault, a pile of Pokeballs, and three figures.
"Look at all these Pokémon! We've won this time!" one of the figures said.
"Yes, this is our big break," said the other. "All we have to do now is put all these Pokémon in these Pokeballs and pack them off to the boss. He'll like us again!"
"Yeah," said the third figure, a Pokémon Vanessa didn't recognize. "I can hardly wait!"
Vanessa's amazed gasp at hearing a Pokémon talk attracted the attention of the trio. They turned to look.
"It's Team Rocket!" exclaimed Ash.
"Who?" said Vanessa.
"A couple of clumsy crooks," answered Ash. "Get ready for a battle."
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"Oh, no, not that old thing," groaned Ash.
"To unite all peoples within our nation!
To denounce the evils of truth and love!
To extend our reach to the stars above!
Jessie!
James!
Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!
Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"You stole these Pokémon, didn't you?" accused Misty.
"Yes, so what?" answered Jessie.
"Well, we won't let you!" said Vanessa, hoping she was right.
"Who's this?" asked James.
"Vanessa Vacation. I'm visiting Vermillion City."
"Oh. Okay, enough talk. Weezing, Smokescreen attack!"
Vanessa thought quickly when she saw what this attack did. "Whirlwind the smoke away, Venomoth!"
In a moment, they could see again. The smoke had wafted out a window. Suddenly stricken with an idea, Misty whispered instructions to her companions. Vanessa's response was, "But I don't have any Water-types!"
"How about having your Venomoth help out with that Tackle it's been practicing?" Misty suggested.
"All right. Virtue will be victorious!"
"Now!"
Out came the six Water Pokémon the four had between them: Squirtle, Marril, Staryu, Horsea, Goldeen, and Psyduck. The trainers said together: "Tackle attack" and "Water Gun attack! Wash them out the window!"
They did, Goldeen adding its Horn attack for good measure, and Venomoth performing a perfect Tackle. Team Rocket flew out the window and through the air, yelling, "We're blasting off again!" before they disappeared in the distance.
"That was great!" grinned Vanessa.
"Wait," said Ash, "there's more to do. We have to get all these Pokémon back to their owners."
"I can unlock the cages - oh, but -"
She had intended to unlock them with her wand, which was also in her purse, but she couldn't use it in front of these people - they didn't know about magic! What could she do?
"But what?" Ash asked.
"But I'm not really supposed to do it in front of people, so will you please promise not to tell anyone how I did it?"
"All right."
Vanessa pulled her wand from her purse, touched it to a lock, and said, "Alohomora!"
The lock fell open. Vanessa opened the door, letting out a very grateful Gloom.
She repeated the charm on all the cages. When all the Pokémon were freed, Ash announced, "If you know where to find your trainers, go find them. Otherwise, stay here and we'll help you find them."
Pikachu repeated this in its own language, so the Pokémon would listen better.
The room cleared out; only a dozen or so Pokémon remained. At that moment, the four trainers heard the sounds of scratching and something going "Eeeeeeee! Eeeeeeee!" It was coming from the ventilated vault in the back!
"Oh! I guess there's one more," said Vanessa. She went to the vault and said one last time, "Alohomora!"
The door opened to reveal a small, brown, soft thing. It took one look at Vanessa and leaped onto her shoulder.
"What is this thing?" Vanessa wanted to know.
Ash held out his Pokedex for her:
"Eevee. This cute, lovable, Normal-type Pokémon can be evolved into any one of three forms: Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon. The evolutions are performed using the Fire Stone, Thunder Stone, or Water Stone."
"So Vaporeon is another V Pokémon and a Water-type!" concluded Vanessa. "It would make a perfect part of my team!" She asked the Eevee: "Do you have a trainer?"
It sadly shook its head.
"Can I be your trainer?"
"Eevee!" It smiled and nodded once.
"Terrific! Thank you so much!" She set the Eevee on the floor and began to command Venomoth: "Go-"
"Vanessa, wait!" said Ash. "When a Pokémon chooses to be on your team, you don't have to battle it before capturing it. Just throw it one of your empty Pokeballs, and it'll get in."
"Okay . . ." She took out an empty Pokeball. "Welcome to the team, Eevee!"
When she threw the ball, it opened and Eevee got right in. Vanessa picked the ball up, put it in her purse, and said, "Okay, cool. Now we can help the rest of these Pokémon . . ."
*******
The next day, Vanessa and her friends went to Celadon City and bought a Water Stone. It was the most expensive thing they'd ever had to buy; they each pitched in many of their pokeyen. They decided to do the deed outside by a pond, so Vaporeon could start swimming as soon as possible.
Vanessa let her Eevee out of its ball. "Ready to evolve, Eevee?"
"Eevee! Eevee!" It seemed enthusiastic enough.
"Okay . . ." Vanessa pressed the stone to the top of Eevee's head.
Strangely, the stone stuck there. It glowed blue, and Eevee started evolving. First, it turned into white light. It was like a slowed-down reversal of what happened to a Pokémon when it came out of its Pokeball. Next, the light changed from Eevee's shape to a shape that was similar, but larger and with different extremities. Finally, the light faded and there stood a Vaporeon.
"That is the coolest-looking Pokémon I've ever seen," said Vanessa in awe.
Vaporeon's slick, teal body, back fin, and fish tail made it perfectly suited to the water. It had almond-shaped black eyes, finlike ears, and a pale, webbed ruff around its neck. It jumped into the pond, swam around it a few times, then got back out. It shook itself dry and went to Vanessa, who hugged it and took out its Pokeball. It shook its head.
"You want to walk?" said Vanessa. "Okay."
The party left the pond, very happy.
*******
Vaporeon was only in a few battles before Vanessa had to go home on Saturday. She left her hotel early Saturday morning and arrived in Pallet Town at half-past noon. Mrs. Ketchum made them a marvelous lunch. Afterwards, Ash asked Vanessa, "Can you show us where that tunnel is?"
"Sure," said Vanessa, "but I wouldn't recommend that you use it very much, if at all. You'd be just as out-of-place over there as I am here, maybe more."
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that. All right."
They hiked up the hill to the tunnel's entrance, taking turns carrying Vanessa's suitcase. When they got there, Vanessa said, "Here we are. Well, it's been a fantastic vacation. I got five little friends out of the deal, who I'm going to keep, in secrecy, of course."
"Why?" exclaimed Ash. "Your world could use the knowledge!"
"I don't think you want your world flooded by crazed Pokémon neophytes. So I'm not telling . . . and don't forget to keep our little secret."
"Don't worry, we won't."
"Good. Group hug!"
They did this, and Vanessa said, "Thanks for everything. Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" called the other three.
Vanessa disappeared into the tunnel. At the appropriate time,
Unitria lit up to show her the way, smiling to itself.
Disclaimer: All things Pokémon belong to Nintendo, Creatures,
GameFreak et al. Vanessa's wand and the "Alohomora" charm belong
to J. K. Rowling. Vanessa and Unitria belong to me. No money
is being made from this; I write because it's fun. :-) Oh,
and look for the next Vanessa story in Crossovers (it may be a while coming,
because I have another big project going on right now).