Psychedelic
A Three Part Adventure by RBW
Part one: Attack of the psycho Sian
After their encounter with a Tikikiki, Ash, Misty, and Brock headed to a nearby town for some rest. It was a remarkably small town, with hardly any houses; what few houses there were seemed to hold lodging for many different families, or some people lived in the stores they ran. The streets seemed deserted. However, in this tiny, desolate town, two shiny buildings stood side by side. They were owned by the same person, and an unusual person it was. She was sixteen, yet she had very soft, gray hair (She said she preferred to think of it as 'silver') that hung just below shoulder level, and her dress seemed to be made of leaves. It looked a little like a Bellossom's body. But it was larger than any Bellossom would ever be.
"Hello, children. May I help you?" She asked. Her voice was the syrupy sort of voice you find in people who tend to baby anyone under eighteen, which didn't make any sense because she was just sixteen herself.
"Is this the inn?" Ash asked, pointing to the first shiny building.
"Well, it isn't the only inn, if that's what you mean, but it's the only inn worth staying in. Staying inn, get it?" She chuckled musically.
Ash decided he didn't like this person.
"What's the place next door?" Misty asked next.
"Just a little place where I sell trinkets, and stuff. Or you could have a look 'round the back, that's where-" The woman stopped and made a lip-zipping motion.
Intrigued, the gang walked around the back of the inn, where they found a midnight-blue tent of soft velvet. Golden, shiny lettering spelled out, "Have your heart's desire come true."
Ash tingled with curiosity. So did Brock.
But Misty wasn't impressed. "Yeah, right," She said. "Anybody could write that on a mystical-looking tent, but that doesn't mean it's true,"
"Yeah," Ash said, "But what if it is?"
"Oh, come on!" Misty continued. "What if your heart's desire is to be famous? How would they make that come true without taking several years?" Glaring at the boys, who weren't listening, she added, "Or what if your dream is to, say, be the best Pokémon trainer in the world? Or what if you want girls to love you at first sight? How would someone do those things? Huh?"
Ash sighed. "I guess you're right,"
"Well?" Brock said. "What's there to lose by trying?"
"Fine, waste your day if you want," Misty said. "I'm going to look at that trinket store,"
"Okay, I'll meet you later!" Brock said, walking casually into the tent.
Misty sighed. "Well, come on, Ash. No point standing there,"
Ash gave one last look at the tent and slowly moved to join Misty.
As soon as Brock entered the tent, all casualness vanished. It just wasn't the kind of place you could be casual in. The midnight velvet walls seemed non-existent, almost as though he had fallen into a black hole. Toward the back, sitting on a navy-blue pedestal that blended into the wall too well, was a giant cat. It reminded Brock of a Persian, although it wasn't much like a Persian except in size and shape. Its face was slightly triangular, with the majority of it brown instead of cream like its body. Its legs and tail tapered slightly toward the end, and the tail and the bottom half of the legs were brown. If Brock had lived on earth, he might have said it looked like a giant Siamese. Another difference between the two cat Pokémon was that the Sian was bigger by an order of magnitude. On its forehead was a perfectly round moonstone, each silver thread glowing as it wound its way through the deep blue gem.
It spoke.
"What is your desire?" It didn't really speak but "thought out loud".
Before Brock could answer it replied, "I see. Love is one of the most powerful emotions on earth. And you expect me to control it? Good. Because I can. You desire that anyone- more specifically, ideal persons of the opposite sex- who looks in you- excuse me, at you would, in a way, not suddenly avert their eyes. You wish them to look in- look- for a while, at the least,"
Brock slowly nodded.
"And you wish that they will enjoy what they see,"
"Yes," Brock said a little too enthusiastically.
"And that they will feel the need to smile, make adjustments, try to please what they see,"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Brock said, feeling excited. He wasn't acting like himself at all.
"Even if who they're trying to please is really themselves?"
Brock stopped jumping and the smile faded. "What-"
But the large cat didn't let him get any further. She blasted him with cool light from her moonstone, increasing the power until Brock was invisible. Then it winked out all at once.
Where Brock had been standing was a medium, simply framed mirror.
Huh? What? What happened? Where am I? Why can't I move? What was the Sian talking about?
Laurel entered the room through a nearly invisible door covered by a blue curtain.
Why is she looking at me?
"Only one this time? I sent three of them to you."
"Only one showed up. Take him away before the other two come in here."
Take me away?
"Nice mirror. Do you think five dollars is too much?"
"Sounds fair to me."
What nice mirror? Five dollars?
"This is one weird store," Misty said. It really was a trinket shop; there was only one of each item, and nothing seemed to be related to each other. A ship in a bottle was next to Mr. Alf's shaving cream which was next to a way-out-of-season Christmas ornament which was next to two stuffed partridges mounted on some petrified tree bark which was next to a size 8 shirt which was next to a Pokedex that survived a civil war which was next to a red velvet box that held a-
"So cute!" Misty shouted, picking up the little red box. It was a necklace with a pendant of an aqua velvet-y bear with a tiny diamond necklace. The tomboy took the silver chain and placed it around her neck- just to see how it would look.
The woman who ran the store came out of a back room. "Here, sweetie, see how you look!" She said, holding up a medium, simply framed mirror. "I just got this mirror in stock!"
The irony! Misty! Help!
"Oh, I love this necklace!" Misty said, not caring that it didn't go with her outfit or personality. "How much?"
What! Misty, loving a necklace?
"Nine dollars. Very cheap," Laurel put the mirror on a shelf between the partridges and the Pokedex.
Help!
"Wow, what a bargain!" Misty said, getting out her wallet.
"Of course I'm cheap. She got me for free!" The voice seemed to be coming from the little bear-shaped charm.
Misty almost dropped her change. She looked down at her necklace in amazement.
The gray-haired woman looked up from her cash register. "What?"
The bear instantly froze up. Misty took the hint.
"Nothing, it's just that- this is such a beautiful necklace!"
"I know, honey, I know,"
Standing outside the door, Misty looked down at the charm again. "What do you mean she got you for free? And how come you can talk?"
Ash walked out the door. "Who are you talking to?"
"Me, of course," The necklace said. "Did you think she was talking to the window?"
"It talks?" Ash said, his eyes bugging out.
"Yes, I talk. I talked as a human; why wouldn't I talk as a necklace? Granted," She added, "Most of the other people in that accursed store don't talk, so…"
"Other people?"
The little velvet bear sighed. "Maybe I'd better start at the beginning,"
(Flashback)
Several people milled about the busy town. There was lots of work to be done: their town wasn't very large but that didn't mean it ran itself. Open air markets were everywhere; people browsed the wares, making purchases and banging into people with their arms full of packages. Stores lined many streets but many others had houses, and in each house children and wives bustled about, doing housework.
Then the White Sheet appeared. Nobody knew what it was, and nobody knew what it was doing there. It covered the abandoned lot like a ghost of foreboding. But when it was finally revealed-
"Step right up, good people! Come get your heart's desire fulfilled! We can do anything! Be your desire love, money, fame, we can do it, believe it or not!"
People began disappearing, but everyone assumed they'd wished for things like a condo in a modern city or something and thought nothing of it. But one day a boy told his mother he'd wish he would stop growing and stay stuck at size eight for a while so she wouldn't have to keep buying him new clothes. He never returned. So that accursed tent became a place for the desperate, as well as a major tourist attraction, especially as the inns ran out of business due to lack of workers and closed down or became filthy places people avoided.
There was a man I was in love with, but he loved my empty-headed sister because she was so beautiful. When he proposed to her, I became enraged. I stormed out of my house, stomped into the tent, and demanded that pampered puss make me beautiful.
And, I guess, I am.
(End Flashback)
"Freaky," Ash said.
"Yeah, imagine if someone wished-" Misty's hand flew up to her mouth.
"Oh my gosh- Brock!"
They raced for the tent but Ash got there first, with Pikachu hot on his heels. He flung the curtain inside and rushed in but came to a sudden halt as he realized Brock wasn't there.
Staring at the enormous puss as though it might attack, Ash slowly drew out his Pokedex out of his pocket and pointed it at the creature.
"Sian- a psychic Pokémon- Meowths only evolve into a Sian when their evolution takes place under a blue moon. Sians have extremely powerful magic that can transform other Pokémon- or even humans,"
"Little late to say that, huh Pokedex?"
The Sian looked up from where she had been resting. "Hello. And what do you wish?"
"To have Brock back,"
The Sian's syrupy smile vanished and her eyes became thunderclouds. "Who's Brock?"
"He just came in a second ago,"
The giant cat sat in silence for a while. Then she said, "I cannot grant your wish. Let's see, you desire to be a Pokémon trainer…"
"Why not?"
"Because I never grant wishes that contradict a previous wish. You want to-"
"Brock didn't wish to be transformed!"
"Au contraire, he specifically told me he wished to be changed. You wish to be changed. Everyone who comes here wish to be changed.
"But not in that way!"
The Sian was getting annoyed. This irritating human wasn't falling under the spell the way others did. And somehow her trick had gotten out? Impossible!
Unless these were the 'other two'…
"You wish be the best Pokémon trainer in the world? You wish to be what people think of when they think of training Pokémon? Is that what you'd like to be?"
Ash turned white.
But Pikachu jumped up with his tail forming a thundershock. He took aim at this Siamese that was threatening his master and-
-stopped, in midair, just like that. The yellow Pokémon was reminded of the time he fought a Kadabra.
"Why do you react so?" The Sian said, her voice sounding miserable. "I only want to help you, and you treat me so badly! Now you must suffer for it," Magic swirled around the moonstone as she took aim at the electric Pokémon she had in her possession.
Ash jumped forward, pulling into a barrel roll as he wrapped himself protectively around Pikachu.
"Ash!" Misty cried, rushing through the flap.
Oh, great, two people know my secret, Sian thought. Not that they'll be people for long.
"Ash! We have to get out of here!" In blind rage, Misty leaped at the glowing moonstone and smacked her hand over it.
The Sian roared and tried to wrench her head away from Misty's hand. The tomboy tried to hold on as the enormous creature thrashed about under her.
Ash ran for the door and stopped. He stretched out his hand into the center of the room.
"Grab my hand, Misty!" Ash shouted. Misty removed one hand from the gemstone and Ash pulled her out of the tent. Then he half-dragged Misty through the streets as he ran in whatever direction it took to get away from that cursed place.
The two exhausted friends took a few more steps and collapsed next to an abandoned warehouse. Neither of them knew the way back to the inn, or the way out of the town.
After a minute the necklace asked, "So what are you going to do now? Leave town?"
Ash took a second to catch his breath and said "No, we have to go back… for Brock…"
"What about Brock? You're friend could be anything in that store!"
Misty had been thinking. "Ash, remember the mirror the woman showed us? She was bringing it out of a back room. I got a glimpse of the room for a minute, and it looked midnight blue. And the room didn't close with a door; it closed with a velvet curtain. And she said she'd just gotten the mirror."
"What could Brock wish for that that cat could twist around to mean turning into a mirror?" Ash asked.
"I don't know. But pretty girls do like to look at themselves in a mirror," Misty shrugged.
"Maybe," The blue bear said. "But even so, how do you intend to turn him back?"
Ash bit his lip. "Could another psychic Pokémon undo the spell?"
"You'd need a very powerful psychic Pokémon to change Brock back. Fat chance you'll find one," The velvet bear sighed. "Most of the advanced Pokémon trainers were transformed or cleared out of town when those scheming partners arrived. And their Pokémon vanished with them. And the Sian even grants the wishes of Pokémon- you saw that woman's dress? That was a Bellossom who wished for a longer skirt."
"Isn't there anything we could do?" Ash half-pleaded.
The tiny bear looked thoughtful. "There is the Akku Amulet," She said. "But that's just a legend."
"In my experience, legends sometimes are truer than fact," Ash said. "Tell us about it."
"In a valley between two mountains, not too far from here, there is a little green hill separated by rivers into five layers. The fifth layer is said to have the Akku Amulet. But there is no way across the rivers except through toll bridges. And the toll people aren't fair at all. The price increases as you move in, and the first one asks no less than a hundred dollars per person."
Misty sighed. "Out of luck there, I guess."
"Face it." The charm sighed. "Your friend and I will remain as we are."
"Not unless we get together a lot of cash," Ash said.
"Yeah, right," Misty said. "Who could we find in the cursed town that has a lot of cash?"
Funny you should mention that.
A lone Pokémon walked up to the tent, reading the golden print with great interest.
"Hey Jessie, James! Come look at this!" The Meowth cried.
"What is it?" Jessie asked.
"Have your heart's desire come true?" Dollar symbols took over James' eyes.
"We could ask for a million dollars!" Meowth exclaimed.
"A billion!" James added.
"A bottomless sack of money!" Jessie shouted. "Come on, what are we waiting for?"
Oh, great, thought the Sian. Idiots who need to wear the first letter of their name on their shirts to remember what it is. No, wait- their names both started with J; she could tell that with her minimal mind reading skills. Maybe they didn't know their alphabet. And they wanted, what, money? Great. Maybe she could turn them all into coins. But that wouldn't be unlimited money. And besides, they wanted to have unlimited money, not be unlimited money. She always granted wishes to the letter. So that ruled out turning them into bottomless sacks of cash, and besides, the whole purpose of the exercise was to change them into objects and re-sell them, and you couldn't sell a bag of cash. Finally, exasperated and out of ideas, she blasted the Meowth with moonstone light, turning him into a bag of endless cash, mentally shoved the bag into the two human's hands, and mentally shoved them out the door, screaming after them, "No refunds!"
No refunds? Help! We didn't wish for this!
Jessie and James looked at the bag of gold that used to be Meowth. "I guess we got what we wished for," Jessie shrugged.
I didn't! What about me?
"Yeah," James said, "Let's go and-"
A policeman walked in front of them. Earlier in the day these two hooligans and their Pokémon caused trouble over their lack of cash. "Where did you get that money?" He asked.
James dumbly pointed to the midnight blue tent. "The Pokémon in there gave it to us."
The policeman laughed. "Yeah, right. No one ever comes out of that place alive. Now who did you steal this money from?"
Ash could think of nothing to do except go back and buy the mirror that used to be Brock. So he and Misty followed the bear's directions and ended up at the same place the policeman was questioning Team Rocket.
"Hey, look. That's a lot of money," Ash said, pointing to the bottomless bag of dollars. "Should we fight them for it?"
"I don't know." The blue charm said.
"Where on earth did they get that money?" Misty wondered aloud.
"Maybe Meowth suddenly learned Pay Day? Where is Meowth, anyway?"
Misty's necklace jerked. "Would they want money?"
"Sure. Everyone does." Misty shrugged.
"But is it their heart's desire?"
Recognition dawned in Ash's eyes. He thought fast and stepped between the policeman and his enemies. "Excuse me sir, I think there's been a mistake."
"Mistake? Mistake about what?"
"About these two. They didn't steal the money. We… uh, gave it to them."
Gave it to us, my foot.
The policeman looked skeptical. "Where did you get it then?"
"I got it… uh…"
Misty walked up. "From Professor Oak. We, uh, helped him with some important research and he gave… us… this… money?"
"I thought Professor Oak gave out Pokémon as rewards."
I am a Pokémon!
"Well, he, uh, didn't have any on hand except ones we already had." Ash knew this was sounding ridiculous, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.
The policeman shrugged and walked away.
"Okay, why did you do that?" Jessie asked.
"Look," Ash said, "We were a party of four-" (Ash counted Pokémon as part of the party) "-and now we're a party of three. You were a party of three but now you're a party of two. May I assume we met similar mishaps?"
Yes!
"Obviously I'm good for nothing," The bear hanging around Misty's neck said.
"It talks?" James poked the necklace.
"Back off, buster," She clamped her velvet jaws over James' finger.
James screamed.
"Oh, come on! I don't even have teeth anymore! Wimp!" The bear shouted.
"Well, anyway," Misty said, "We found out about this amulet that reverses the effect of the Sian's power,"
"Sian?"
"The big cat-like creature. The only problem is you have to cross a lot of toll bridges to get to it,"
WOO-HOO!
"So?" Jessie said.
"So if you help us with your money we can go and get the amulet and bring Meowth back."
Yes! Yes! Do it! Do it!
Jessie and James looked at the bag of gold.
"Who said we want to turn him back?" James asked, raking his fingers through the coins.
WHAT!
The drawstring mouth of the bag pulled itself into a tightly shut knot. James screamed again.
That'll teach you!
"Want me to tell the officer there's been a misunderstanding?" Ash asked.
The two adults shook their heads.
"Then let's go already."