Blue's Moving Castle
Welcome back everyone! Okay, I don't own Pokémon or Howl's Moving Castle, so let's move onto the summary before the fanfic!
Summary: Leaf and Vesper, her Eevee, set out from their hat shop to the bakery to visit their sisters when they are stopped by some soldiers. A man and his Flareon assist them before escorting them for a bit, Muks and Grimers following them. Sorry that they got the two girls "involved", the man and his Flareon help Leaf and Vesper escape by letting them walk through the air. After dropping them off at the bakery, the man and Flareon disappear, Yellow, Leaf's sister, coming to question her about what just happened. After a heart-to-heart with their sisters, Leaf and Vesper head back to the shop, unaware that they are being followed. After locking up shop, a woman and her Purugly enter the shop, dismissing Leaf and Vesper. Angered, they tell the two to leave, making them smirk, revealing that the woman is the Witch of the Waste with her Pokémon. They then cast a spell of Leaf and Vesper, turning the girl into a human-Leafeon mix and Vesper evolving into an Umbreon against her will. The two, in tears and fear, then race to their room, hoping it is all a dream. Let's see what happens next!
Chapter 2: Start of a Journey
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Leaf had woken at the break of dawn and sat on her bed as the sunlight poured into her room. Her ears soaked in the sunlight and she felt energy flowing through her body, her body now functioning with photosynthesis. Vesper sat on her lap, content to lay there as Leaf stroked her pelt. They were still the same and they just sat there in silence, thinking about what they could do.
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In the street in front of the hat shop, a car pulled up and a woman exited. She had Yellow's golden hair and glossy brown eyes. A lovely Vaporeon stood beside her, radiant in its blue glory.
Inside the hat shop, the girls were gossiping happily as they worked when the door opened.
"Looks who's back~" the woman cried happily, wearing a hat decorated with Honchkrow feathers and miniature fake Pidgeys.
"You're back!"
"Welcome back Mrs. Verde!
"Oh wow! Look at you!"
"What do you think?" the woman asked, twirling about. "This is all the range in Kingsbury."
"It's beautiful," the girl with brown braids said perkily.
"I know! I'm sure our customers will love it! Leaf!" she called, heading for Leaf's work room, only to find it empty. "Leaf?"
"I'm afraid your daughter hasn't come down stairs at all, ma'am."
"That's strange, I hope she's okay." Mrs. Verde said, heading for the courtyard, the Vaporeon in tow.
And Vesper? The Vaporeon called back to the room.
She hasn't come down either, Ripple, a Mareep said.
Oh my poor firstborn, I hope she's not ill.
After a few moments, Mrs. Verde and Ripple had reached Leaf's door.
"Leaf?" Her mother called, knocking on it. She tried to open it, the door rattling slightly. "Leaf!"
Vesper, darling, are you okay?
"Mother don't come in!" Leaf called out in a hoarse voice. "I've caught a terrible cold and I think I gave it to Vesper. I don't want you to get sick too."
"Oh, honey, is there anything I can do?" her mother called.
"No, just go on ahead. I'll be better in a few days," Leaf called through the closed door, a blanket wrapped around herself.
Vesper, can I get you something?
No Mother, I just want to sleep, Vesper called out in the same hoarse voice. It wasn't a complete lie. Since evolving, she had spent much of the night awake and she felt really tired.
"Okay Leaf, just get better okay?"
Feel better Vesper.
After waiting a bit, Leaf rose up from her bed, shedding her blanket, Vesper leaping up too. They went to the small mirror Leaf had on her tiny vanity set. Leaf peaked in and looked at her reflection, as did Vesper.
"You know, it isn't as bad as I thought," she said with a smile, stroking her brown and green ears.
"Me either," Vesper said, looking at her black and yellow fur.
"At least I'm not full Pokémon, not that there's anything wrong with that," Leaf added, worried she had insulted Vesper.
"None taken."
A burst of laughter echoed from the work room, reminding the pair of everything else.
"But we can't stay here, not looking like this," Leaf said sadly. Vesper nodded.
After a while, with Leaf packing up her bag, a magic one her father had given her to store as many things as she needed, she and Vesper stepped out of her bed room stealthily. Leaf had placed a hat on over her ears, at first, but it had been too uncomfortable. She had then put in some holes for them to poke through. They added a nice look in her hat. Green hair, as well as blonde, wasn't too standout-ish so she let that fall down still, her tail tucked in under her dress. She could only hope she and Vesper weren't spotted.
"Here we go," she whispered to Vesper who nodded.
Leaf tiptoed through the halls silently, Vesper at her side. Soon, Leaf was in the kitchen, plucking out a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a few apples and slipping them in her bag, along with a few bottle of water. She and Vesper then headed out the side door, careful not to make a ruckus.
Outside, Leaf headed down the empty little alley, with snippets of conversations from the street reaching her enhanced ears.
"Hey look at this!"
"Says that their Prince has gone missing and they're blaming us."
"You're kidding right?"
"No look, it says there's going to be a war."
"Not another!"
"Yeah, let's hope the Prince turns up soon."
"The Prince missing?" Vesper asked Leaf, worried.
"Not war, not so soon again," the human said in a hushed voice.
Indeed, the girl knew about war and what it brought. It had been war that had taken away her father from her, along with Vesper's father, a Glaceon, too.
The two sighed before continuing onwards. They had other problems to deal with.
In the market, Leaf had stopped a small cart, drawn by Stantler and full of hay, from leaving.
"Sure there's some room for you and the Umbreon in the back," the kind farmer told her, his Stoutlad sitting beside him, "But where are you headed?"
"Just a little ways farther than where you're going," Leaf replied.
And so, that's how the pair left the city, watching it grow farther from their spot in the cart.
"You're crazy miss!" a youth shouted at her as Leaf and Vesper headed into the Waste later. "There's nothing but witches and wizards out there!"
"Thanks for the tip! I'll keep that in mind!" she called back, her Dark-type following her feet.
An hour's journey away from the small farm, Leaf and Vesper had stopped for lunch. Leaf was able to eat a bit through photosynthesis, but not enough. She chewed on her bread and cheese, staring back the way they had come while Vesper munched on an apple slice.
"It's no good," Leaf noted.
"I can still see the town," Vesper agreed.
"Yeah, here I was hoping being a Pokémon made you more energetic…But then, I'm not a real Pokémon huh?"
"Still you'd think being a Grass-type gave you lots of energy," Vesper said.
A loud rustling noise could be heard and Leaf looked up, her eyes widened with surprise. A Cacturne was stuck to a tree, his needle covered back stuck onto the trunk of the tree while he attempted to pull himself free. A Houndoom was trapped inside a mess of brambles, snarling as he tried to fight his way out.
"Oh dear!" Leaf cried, heading towards the pair. "Are you both okay?"
The Cacturne looked up from his position as he tried to move away. His yellow eyes widened when he saw a girl with cream and green hair hurrying towards him. The Houndoom shot him a look as Vesper landed in front of him
"How on earth did you two get stuck?" Leaf asked the Cacturne, who shrugged slightly, still surprised by her appearance.
"Do you need a hand?" she asked him. He nodded earnestly. "Okay…Let me go find a branch, okay? Vesper, try to untangle the Houndoom okay?"
The Pokémon nodded and began to nip at the vines that kept the other Pokémon trapped while Leaf rushed over to a bush and grasped a long branch. She pulled it out with some difficulty before returning to the Cacturne's side.
"Okay, this might hurt a bit," she cautioned as she wedged the stick between the Cacturne's back and the tree. She began to apply force onto the branch. Slowly, the Cacturne was being pushed away from the tree trunk, until finally he was shoved away and Leaf's branch broke. He tumbled to the ground while Leaf stumbled back a bit, clutching her shattered stick.
"You okay?" she asked him. He rubbed his head and nodded before he stood back up. Vesper had managed to untangle the Houndoom and she went back to Leaf's side while the Fire-Dark type walked to the Cacturne. The two looked at their rescuers and gave a quick bow.
"No need to thank us, just glad you're okay," Leaf said with a smile.
"Yeah, hope you guys have a good day," Vesper agreed.
"Well, see you both," Leaf said waving before she and Vesper headed away, intent on traveling far away from the city, leaving the two Pokémon behind them still surprised by what had just taken place. The Cacturne gave a sigh as he watched the girl disappear over a hill his companion giving a howl.
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A while later, Leaf and Vesper were still walking, despite the cold winds and the chilling rain that had begun to fall. Leaf winced.
"I have no idea being a Grass-type made you susceptible to sudden changes in the weather," she muttered to Vesper.
"Even to me, it's still cold," the Dark-type rumbled to her Trainer.
Suddenly, the rain stopped, or at least, it stopped landing on Leaf and Vesper. Leaf glanced up to see an umbrella above her head, held by a green stump-like hand. It was the Cacturne and the Houndoom again.
"Oh thank you," Leaf said to the Grass-Dark type, who smiled and began to walk with her. "It's just what we needed. How did you ever end up on that tree in the first place?"
The Cacturne shrugged and gestured o his mouth.
"Oh, you're a mute, aren't you?"
A nod from the Cacturne, with a wave at the Houndoom who walked with Vesper.
"Oh both of you, I'm so sorry. But, do you two know any places where we could rest until the rains over?"
The Cacturne frowned for a moment, then smiled and nodded. He passed the umbrella to Leaf before he and the Houndoom ran off. Leaf watched them for a moment before continuing to climb.
"That's nice of them," Vesper said to Leaf.
"Yes…Hold on a sec…" Leaf said tilting her head upwards in surprise. A low drone cold be heard and through the clouds came a battleship. "War's closer than we'd have thought," she whispered as it disappeared again. Leaf sighed and picked up the pace.
"Wait…Smell that? Someone's got a fire going," Vesper said sniffing the wet air.
"Let's go then," Leaf said walking forward.
A loud creaking sound could be heard and Leaf and Vesper froze. In fount of them, moving up a small hill, a large, moving mechanical wonder appeared in front of them Leaf's eyes widened while Vesper's jaw dropped. The Cacturne and Houndoom raced up to them, smiling happily. The Cacturne grabbed Leaf's hand and led her forward, towards the hulking building.
"You're joking right? I said we needed a placed to stay. I didn't mean Blue's Castle," Leaf said in shock.
Above them, the castle paused and released a belched of smoke. The mechanical mouth of the building let out a groan.
"And they call this a castle," Leaf said, watching it in wonder.
"More like a dump," Vesper agreed.
The building started to move, with the small group right under it.
"Yikes!" Leaf said, she and the Cacturne moving out of the way or a metal limb. He grasped Leaf's hand and pointed at the belly of the machine building. There was a small stone balcony of sorts, with a railing and a door.
"Is that the entrance?" Leaf asked the Cacturne who nodded. "Thank you!" she said to him as she and Vesper gave chase to the building. Leaf made a grab at the railing as Vesper landed on it. "Hold still! Are you going to let me in or not?" Leaf questioned when the building gave a lurch and swept under her feet. Her green hat was torn loose and flew away her green ears waving in the wind. "Oh no! My hat!" Leaf cried as it blew away, her long hair flowing in the wind.
The Cacturne ran off, chasing the hat before he caught it. He spun around and raced back, reaching his arm out to Leaf.
"Oh! Thank you," she said taking it in her hands.
The Cacturne smiled before becoming shocked. He gestured to her ears.
"Oh…Right, I'm a Pokémon human hybrid," Leaf said. "But how I got this way would take a while." Leaf stood up and waved to the Cacturne, Vesper waving a paw at the Houndoom. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you both! Thank you again for all your help! Good bye Cacturne!"
"Goodbye Houndoom!" Vesper shouted.
The Cacturne waved while the Houndoom let out a howl. Both girls turned to the door and opened it, stepping inside into the warmth of a blazing fire.
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All done folks! That's the end of this chapter! Two chapter in a night, not too bad. I'm glad that people are going to be reading this, thanks to long time readers for checking this fanfic out.
Wondering who the Cacturne is? Don't worry that will be addressed soon enough. Just keep reading to find out about what's going to happen to Leaf and Vesper.