Chapter 2: Let the Ohfun Start
Ash was with Ritsuko and Celecia, Cynthia was with Louie and a tank that meowed like a cat, Pikachu and Piplup were with Airi and Melissa, Dawn was with Jeanie and Celcia tagged along with Merrill, all vying to escape the Elven forest. Brock and that other man? Out. Strange occurrences were factors in these meetings. Somehow, the characters from their worlds united, although away from each other. As they journeyed their way through the forest, Airi began to feel something off. Was it her? The creatures? "Are you sure this is the way out of these woods?" she questioned. Melissa stopped and turned to the actress, a wonder that her directions were being criticized.
"Deep inside the Elven Forest is the village they reside in," she informed. "The elves over there are not simple to fool and can become hostile in the wink of an eye. It would be best if we distance ourselves from there and avoid conflict." Airi was starting to understand Melissa's concern...but not the way Melissa would question.
"I hope Junpei didn't wind up there. If so, I would worry more about the elves than him." That heightened Melissa's concern.
"How so?" Pikachu and Piplup were curious with what Airi had to offer.
"Junpei, Ri-chan and I were in a world where elves lived alongside humans in an effort to return to our home world. When our elven companion, Celcia, failed to return us home, a portion of spell fragments were scattered all across the land, forcing us to unclothe every female elf to gather each fragment. Afterward, Celcia was trying the spell when something had gone awry. I believed that Junpei broke Celcia's concentration which possibly caused us to be transported over to here." So she became worried due to the exploits back in the world she and her friends came from. It made Melissa want to double back and protect the elves. Pikachu thought Ash could be there and be blamed for allowing Junpei to strip the ladies of what little garb they're clothed.
("I can't imagine Ash being killed by a misunderstanding,") it squeaked in some fear. Piplup saw its friend's concern, hoping that worst doesn't occur. Same with Airi.
"No, I know that elves can develop immediate friendships with young children." Some promise.
"If anything, Miss Airi," Melissa started an offer. "My champion will see that any human is cleared from wrongful misconduct that may be indicted." Not much of a choice, Airi decided to go with Melissa's promise.
"I'll hold you to your word." They continued onward. Meanwhile, Ash, Ritsuko and Celecia had gone ahead, hopefully getting to the end of the forest.
"We should be out of this forest soon," Celecia spoke. Ritsuko was happy to be out of the forest but Ash continued to look back at the path they traversed. He was worried about his friends that were still in there. Ritsuko playfully slapped Ash back to reality on the head.
"Cheer up!" she chirped. "I'm sure Celecia's friends are helping ours out." True, but Ash wasn't too comfortable with a simple promise.
"I know that," he muttered. "I'm just wondering why Cyrus would go to all these lengths, hiring Pokémon Hunter J to capture the Lake Trio, taking the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs, using the Red Chain to capture Dialga and Palkia..." A lot had occurred with Ash that he seemed in mental frustration. Celecia seemed rather sympathetic of the young man.
"It would seem as though you were trying to prevent a lot before you wound up coming here," she studied. Ash fluffed a nod. Then there was more rustling, forcing all three to stop. Was it friends? Would friends be hideous creatures? Ash and the girls were surrounded by... "Ogres!" Celecia started to panic. Well, when facing something with a giant club like that, less a group, it would be best to have a fresh pair of pants nearby...or in Ritsuko's case, a black 9-mm Beretta handgun. The ogres lunged at the trio just as Ritsuko whipped the handgun from her back, holstered under the linen of her skirt. BANG! BANG! BANG! Ritsuko squeezed three times, capping two in the head and one in the chest. All three wounds were fatal as each hit the ground and remained stiff. More ogres raced forward. This was Ash's time to shine as he clutched three Pokéballs.
"Staraptor, Buizel, Monferno," he called upon. "I choose you!" He threw all three balls which opened up and let out three creatures. One was an orange-red monkey with a flame on its tail. The second was an orange weasel with a flotation ring around the neck. The last was a giant black bird with a wicked hairstyle...or feather-style? The ogres didn't care who they were. They charged in. Ritsuko was ready with her gun, just in case. "Buizel, Sonic Boom!" The weasel swung its tail pretty swift and hard, creating a blade of air, smashing into the ogres. They fell but slowly and sure rose back to their feet. "Monferno, use Dig!" The monkey dove and burrowed its way under the surface. The ogres resumed their charge, forgetting the monkey's underground surprise. Monferno rose out and bashed the ogres into the sky, knocked out. Here came more. "Staraptor, Aerial Ace!" The bird flipped in the air before striking a beeline charge through the ogres. Whatever Ash had up his arsenal, it was working. It made Celecia astonished.
'Ash wields a confidence that I've seen before with Louie,' she pondered. 'Could he be Louie in his world that can remain composed like he was? Remain in focus despite overwhelming odds?' More ogres came to the defense of the fallen members. Ritsuko gritted before she reached for something.
"I hope he's here as well," she prepped as she pulled out...cat food? You're facing a horde of ogres and you resort to cat food? She opened the tiny tin can. The tank, with Louie and Cynthia, scented the cat food. Being a cat spirit, cat food was always something to enjoy. It wildly meowed as Cynthia poked her head from inside the tank.
"You smell something good?" she asked. It happily roared in confirmation. Louie, who sat on top of the tank, was astounded with the communication between her and the spirit.
"How are you able to understand something that just meows?" he questioned. Her answer had to be good.
"I've lived with many creatures to understand them. In the meantime, someone has food laid out for this cat." You can bet Louie was stumped and with another question of his own.
"How do you feed a cat spirit when it's encased in a steel chariot like this?" Yeah, someone help him with that.
"We'll find out when he takes us to it's owner. Hang on!" Louie jumped on top of the tank while Cynthia stayed inside. That's when the tank rolled out...going faster than what a tank should go. "Slow down!" Poor Louie should have jumped inside. He's riding the turret's barrel. Hopefully, he hangs on for the whole ride. The tank's rolling began to rattle the earth, even getting Ritsuko's attention. She found the tank...and was ecstatic. Celecia and Ash turned and saw the tank too. They were not so hyped about the discovery of it.
"Is that a military tank barreling towards us?" Ash hiccuped. Ritsuko knew.
"Mike!" she cheered. Mike! She pronounced it as Me-Kay, not like mic. Louie turned and found Celecia..and the ogres. He knew she was in trouble and leaped onto the cannon, riding it like a surfboard. Hearing the brakes, Louie realized that the tank, Mike, was stopping so he braced a leap. Mike stopped but Louie flew just as one was coming at Celecia. Louie cocked his arm back. He can't afford to miss and risk serious injury.
"Not so fast, ugly!" he roared out. "Louie Punch!" He fired his arm forward. KABOOM! The punch made contact and...wow! The punch spun the ogre's head and spun it multiple times around, literally. That had to kill the ogre but that wasn't all. That shot shot the ogre into the others, knocking and scattering them like bowling pins. Strike! Ash and Ritsuko were impressed with that explosion of power and momentum.
"That...was awesome," he shuttered. When Louie turned to the other ogres, those fiends turned tail. They didn't want any part of Louie. Celecia was impressed that Louie came to their rescue.
"Louie!" she cried as she leaped into his arms. "Thank you!" Mike rolled over to meet up with Ritsuko and meowed.
"That was awesome, Mike," Ritsuko praised. Mike meowed, proud of his work of rescuing her and her new friends. That's when the hatch opened, Cynthia popping out. Ritsuko was shocked. Someone rode inside the tank.
"Well, that was a twist I didn't see coming," she sneered. "A military tank with Mike as it's name?" Ash was happy to see Cynthia.
"Cynthia, you're okay!" he proudly greeted. Cynthia leaped down from Mike and confronted Ash, passing a still stunned Ritsuko.
"Grandma wouldn't want me to go at this age, would she?" That told Ash that this was only the start. Ritsuko gawked at how casual Ash and Cynthia were. Not so much Louie.
"Well, it's starting to make some sense," he sneered. "I could be wrong but I think I see it as the master and the apprentice." Celecia wondered if Louie knew something that she didn't and now this news.
"Seems as though you're not the only apprentice at work," she teased. That made Louie scratch his head in embarrassment. That's when Ritsuko stepped up.
"Excuse me, Miss Cynthia," she politely spoke up. "But have you seen anyone else? Maybe a dark skin with muscles or an elf in a lavender robe?" At least she was descriptive. Cynthia shook her head. Nope, she didn't see anyone else. Ash had a plan and turned to his bird.
"Staraptor, search the forest for anyone still trapped," he ordered. Staraptor agreed and flapped to the sky. Louie had to question Ash's option to go to the air.
"Are you sure your bird can find the rest?" he wondered. He doubted Ash's method of locating the others. Ash stood confident that their friends were going to be found.
"24 out of 25 times, my flying Pokémon come through." People would gloat with the nine out of ten but Ash rose the bar a bit. Staraptor had the bird's eye view of the forest, no pun intended. That's when it spotted Dawn and Jeanie and fluttered down. The caws alerted the girls, Jeanie reaching back for a sword. Dawn knew that it was Ash's bird.
"Wait, Jeanie!" she snapped a quick yelp. Staraptor landed a yard where Dawn approached. "Staraptor, if you're here, then Ash is here too?" Staraptor cawed a yes. Dawn sighed in relief. Jeanie studied where the bird came from.
"That Staraptor, whatever that is, came from the outer edge of the forest," she surveyed. "Either we're close by or that bird is fast in the air." To Dawn, the latter sounded like the others weren't too far off. Same with the last guy who had to be named Junpei. He was crawling back to the ladies.
"Wait up!" he groaned as his bruised face and body struggled to catch up to the women. "You can't just leave me behind like that. You and me...rematch!" He's challenging Jeanie after he lost to her?
"There's no rest for you, is there predator?" She's not letting up the fact that she caught Junpei's approach on an unconscious Dawn.
"I told you, I'm not a rapist!"...And yet Junpei was left for a defensive tussle.
"Really? Those big muscles and you didn't want to hurt the kid? You could've fooled me." Dawn was oblivious to the danger Jeanie seemed to bail her out of.
"Wait a second," Dawn jumped. "Is this true, sir? You wanted to check on my health?" It was a bleak piece of hope for Junpei and he didn't want to lose it.
"That's exactly what I was doing!" he roared. "Look, maybe the fact that my actions to collect spell fragments to return to Japan was a bit extreme but I did it to return my comrades home. I know there was curry waiting back home for me!" Curry? Where did that shoot from? It still didn't settle for Jeanie.
"Then why is it that I smell fabric destruction in your soul, that will to strip anyone within the mile radius?" she pondered. It would seem that Jeanie scented through Junpei's claims. Before he could answer...
"Wait for me..." sounded...Brock? Wasn't he suppose to be with Merrill and Celcia? Dawn was a bit stunned with Brock showing up.
"So, you're here, too, Brock?" Dawn gulped. "What happened to you?" Brock shuttered a laugh, embarrassed with his act on Celcia...and the breakup by the frog who stood a foot behind. Jeanie came over and picked the scrawny youngster up and onto his feet.
"Walk straight, Brock," she ordered. On his legs again, Brock regained his composure. Jeanie slapped him in the back to get him moving, but nearly launched him into Dawn. That's when a rustling in the bushes rattled everyone's attention. Out popped Melissa and Airi, as well as Pikachu and...
"Piplup!" Dawn cheered to her delight. She dashed over and plucked the penguin from Melissa's hands. She embraced Piplup in a tight hug. It might have been Jeanie's words about her almost being raped. "Thank you for returning Piplup to me." Melissa was a bit bashful with the praise.
"Think nothing of it," she shyly accepted. That's when Airi spotted Junpei, not getting help from Jeanie like she helped lift Brock.
"So, the incident back in the Elven world wasn't enough of your shenanigans, Junpei?" she mocked. Melissa studied the still straining backside of Brock versus the still down Junpei. Already, she glared at Jeanie.
"Why is that man allowed to stand and the other one kept to the grass?" she argued. Jeanie remained unwavering.
"I caught that man holding this girl's hat, suspecting that he was going to rape her," she explained by pointing to Junpei. Now, for Brock. "That came crawling in agony like he was paralyzed. He still looks a bit shaky." Wonder why?
"Croagunk's Poison Jab does that to Brock whenever he tries to have a girlfriend," Dawn continued. "I wonder who he was trying his luck on this time?" Was no one aware of Celcia? Brock offered his confession.
"A blond in lavender," he weakly muttered. That sounded like Celcia. Dawn realized that it wasn't someone she knew.
"Can't be Cynthia. She's blond, but in black."
"It's not Celecia," Jeanie denied another entry. "She and Melissa are blonds, but Celecia's in blue and that's Melissa there." Airi didn't need a couple of seconds to think.
"It's Miss Celcia," she answered. Everyone turned to Airi, who happened to know Brock's description. Junpei rose to his feet and patted Brock on the back.
"Dude, you've got some guts asking the senior elf to be your girlfriend," he sneered. "Tell you what, once she gets us back to Japan, I'll try to find you and get you two together." Someone was optimistic about a pairing such as that. Airi...not so much.
"You know how virtually impossible it is, right?" Ouch...turned down on that fact. "I know the situation better than you realize. We're all from different worlds somehow linked together in an awkward conundrum." As much as Dawn wanted to listen to Airi's word, there were more pressing matters to attend.
"Can we save the discussion until we get back with the rest?" she suggested a reunion. "I bet Pikachu's dying to get back to Ash's side." Pikachu nodded to Dawn's request. That got Melissa to gaze at the Pikachu that rode on her shoulder.
"That's what you are?" she gulped. "A Pikachu?"
("That's what I am,") Pikachu replied. Melissa smiled, feeling better and less confused.
"Dawn's right," Brock agreed. "It's better if we regroup with the rest." No one argued the decision. Brock acknowledged the silence. "Okay. Staraptor, lead us back to Ash." Staraptor began to fly back where it came, the group following. Before too long, the groups were together, thanking one another for clear heads and happy endings. Wait a minute...this is only the beginning. That's when Ritsuko realized that someone's missing from the bands. Celcia and Merrill.
"Did anyone come across Miss Celcia?" she wondered. Brock did but that wasn't going to matter.
"Hey!" Merrill shouted. Everyone turned to see Celcia and Merrill making it to the festivities. It was a good moment for all...except for Junpei. WHAM! Celcia thwacked Jjunpei with a hook to the cheek. Man, Junpei's getting no love. First, he gets a KO from Jeanie, accused of attempted rape, forced to crawl back to the rest and now this. That's when elves met.
"So, you must be Celcia," Celecia guessed. Both elves seemed to understand each other and smiled.
"And you must be Celecia," Celcia returned. Seeing both elves, everyone awed at how much they looked alike.
"Are you sure there's nothing between those two?" Ash wondered. "I want to believe they're sisters." Airi would agree.
"Well, at least we'll know there's one elf to turn to in case we head inside the forest again," she reminded. Everyone would say similar items but now was the moment. Merrill and Dawn turned to a village surrounded by a wall circling it.
"So, that's Ohfun," Dawn guessed. That would be the place. Louie stood forward, ready to head to their next location.
"Well, everyone," he spoke up. "Let's head into town." Leading, Louie guided the huge cast. Ash, Dawn, Brock, Pikachu, Piplup, Junpei, Ritsuko, Airi, Celcia, Mike, Melissa, Merrill and Jeanie with Louie were about to embark on a big adventure...AW, WHO ARE WE KIDDING? It's gonna be a mess of misadventures with one question in mind: How were they going to get home?
TO BE CONTINUED... (I might go into a bit of hiding with all the publicity on Facebook, YouTube and other sites. Being an Internet Sensation is exhausting.)
