"you want me to go through the portal?" Kid asked.

"yes, you'll be able to get back through as long as the madness you contracted from Noah and Toc hasn't become active. If you have an active madness infection, even if your thoughts are still working, the portal will block you. You have to warn them that a bunch of Kisshins are about to come through. We have Sid and Azusa camped out under the shrine for backup, but we have to keep our movements covert or they'll just run off into the desert again. The casualty rate for the Chupacabra gang is estimated in the thousands and it will /just/ get worse if we don't take them all out /now./" Shinigami-sama growled. "Kid, I'm counting on your sense of diplomacy. I've contacted Iris' clan leader. She should be coming with reinforcements."

Kid nodded. "I'll do my best father." He'd have to use Beelzebub, but he should be able to get there by nightfall.

"One more thing. There's a tribe of ghost pokemon that guards the shrine. They will recognize you as a grim reaper by the lines of sanzu. However, you may have to earn their respect to get them to follow you. You did not, after all, raise or train them. I did. They call themselves the Soul Walkers. I have given them the authority to act as that world's shinigami. If you tell them the Kisshins are going to come through the portal, they will move into action immediately, with or without you depends on you earning their respect."

Kid nodded. "I'll do my best."

"The Leaders are Matthias, Mathilda, Willow, and Nightstalker." Kid nodded and turned to go.

Iris woke up in someone's infirmary somewhere, feeling completely recovered. "okay, something is wrong here. I was beaten to hell and now I feel perfectly... AXEW!" Iris jumped up.

"My you're perceptive." Stein turned from his chair, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. "Your Axew swallowed a kisshin's egg soul. It poisoned him temporarily but he'll be alright in a few days."

Excadrill and Emolga had flopped on the medical bed Dawn had been in, sleeping soundly.

"Where am I?"

"Death Weapon Meister Academy in Death City. I've been keeping watch on you while you slept. Dawn's already up and about though I'd say mentally she's pretty vulnerable right now."

"Where is she?"

"eeeh, she said something about showing Maka and Soul how to make Poffins. School's been out for about an hour now."

"So this is a school?" Iris walked over to the window and looked out over the city. "Oh woooooooowww! Emolga! Excadrill come see this!"

Emolga and Excadrill floated to the window. "Our boss says you came here from another world."

Iris stared up at the laughing sun. "Really? so... wait how do we get home?"

"The portal, the problem is that a gang of monsters called Kisshins is currently attempting to occupy it. Its too dangerous to go through now."

Iris nodded. "Who are they?"

"Kisshins? Well they were once humans, but they killed humans and consumed their souls. The act of doing so turned them into monsters."

Iris shuddered. "I'm from a place where 'monster' typically means a friendly forest creature. Not a man eating..."

"... soul eating." Stein corrected.

"Formerly human creature." Iris sighed, walking over to Axew and stroking his head.

"There's something else you need to know. Your soul morphed while you were asleep. Yours and Dawn's both."

"is she okay?" Iris asked worriedly. "I saw the sun, I was worried about how she'd do. I know its crazy, but I thought that if the sun had a face we were either dead or in some crazy alternate universe." Iris seemed completely unfazed by Stein saying her soul had morphed while she was sleeping.

Stein smiled a small, knowing smile. He'd been right, Dawn was the shyer of the two. Iris was having no trouble at all adapting to her surroundings. She was resilient, and resourceful. "Dawn is barely hanging on, but I put her with one of my students, and she should improve greatly with her around. Though she had it far worse than you."

"How come?"

"Dawn transformed into a Shinigami, a God of Death. Shinigami are guardians of the cycle of rebirth. So Dawn found herself tuned to the souls of the people around her. She's having trouble figuring out how to block them out. Add in that her body has changed, lower normal body temperature, high resistance to poisons, pain and injury, increased strength and endurance, and she's not doing so well."

Iris nodded. "is there someplace I can train? Or someone I can train with? Excadrill, Emolga and I need to get stronger so we can beat the kisshins at the portal!"

"Iiiiii think I can find someone." Stein chuckled. He moved to a nearby mirror and entered a number. "Hey Blackstar. Iris is up and awake, you up for some training?"

"I am the man who will surpass GOD!" Blackstar tossed aside his game controller and gulped down the cookie he'd been munching. "I am ALWAYS up for some training!"

"Great, meet Iris at the practice park and be ready for some training." Stein turned to Iris. "i'm going to give you a special lesson, since Shinigami-sama wants me to keep an eye on you and Dawn. Somewhere in the castle is a park, trees, grass, a little slice of green in the Nevada Desert. Find it instinctively."

Iris is a nature Shamen, she should be able to find it instinctively. She should be able to hone in on it. Stein thought. He turned on his soul perception and used it to follow Iris as she moved through the school.

Iris closed her eyes. /Just like Lady Tiamat taught me. Find the green, feel it in my heart./ Then she took off with Excadrill and Emolga, running through the empty halls. "Ha! I found it!" Iris exclaimed as she found the park. "Thats odd, that Blackstar person should be here shouldn't he? Maybe he's..."

"Assasin's rule number one, blend into the darkness and erase your breath." Blackstar's voice echoed through the park as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Please let this not be like Team Rocket's motto." Iris sweat dropped.

"Assasin's rule number two, transpositional thinking..." Blackstar had learned how to throw his voice, and he was using this to hide in one of the trees above Iris' head. "... know your target."

Iris realized she could tell where Blackstar was standing, and smirked as suddenly, when Blackstar got to assasin's rule number three, she came up behind him. "Hiiiiiiiiii." Iris said cheerfully. "Remember me? The girl you're supposed to be training? You're late!"

"I am not, I was waiting for you up here the whole time."

"Whatever, Excadrill, Emolga and I have training to do. Come down and join us instead of breaking Assasin's rule number one simply by saying /anything./"

"um..." Iris glared at Blackstar as he flushed furiously.

Iris put her hands on her hips in a no nonsense way. "Assassin's rule number FOUR, the instant you speak, you give yourself away. A good assassin denies they are an assassin. Therefore by stating you are an assassin, you are NOT an assassin." Iris snickered, poking Blackstar on the nose before she jumped down. "C'mon Excadrill! I want you to throw focus blasts, iron claws and drill runs at random for me and emolga to dodge or deflect! Ready emolga?"

"Emo emo!"

Iris turned to Blackstar. "you gonna join in or just stand there with your mouth open." Blackstar's jaw dropped.

"Uuuuuh, SURE! Hey Tsubaki, looks like we're gonna get a work out!"

"excaaaaaaaaaaa DRIIIIIIILLL!" Excadrill started with a drill run.

"Excadrill, remember when we first fought? You did drill run and I did THIS!" Iris kicked Excadrill up in the air and he came back down with metal claw attack. "woooot!" Iris grinned as she rolled out of the way, clearly happy to be moving around.

Blackstar was a joy to practice with. Iris wasn't very strong, but she had a lot of staying power and a lot of energy. Blackstar meanwhile, was /enjoying/ having someone with just as much energy as him to practice with. So what if Iris didn't have the brawn to do much damage. She was fast, she was spry, and she was DETERMINED.

By the end of it Blackstar, Tsubaki and Iris were flopped on the ground laughing and breathless with Excadrill and Emolga. "That was amazing Excadrill!" Iris hugged Excadrill tightly. "Oooooooh, I feel so much better now that I've gotten out and about. I can never think indoors the way I can in the forest." Iris beamed at Blackstar. "thank you. I'm sure Excadrill and Emolga are happy to have worked off the stress."

"emo." Emolga had planted herself in Tsubaki's lap. "emoooolga, emo emo..." The flying squirrel was curled up snug as a bug being petted.

Iris chuckled. "Emolga sure took to you." Iris told Tsubaki.

"Ah well..." Tsubaki chuckled. "A lot of people sure take to me."

"Tsubaki's really kind hearted and loyal." Blackstar praised. "She's the only weapon I ever want as a partner."

"Thats so weird though, I've never heard of people transforming into weapons. I've heard of some weird stuff too, like the ghosts of lavender tower and pads that teleport you from place to place when you step on them but... people turning into weapons is a new one."

"So... is it true what Shinigami-sama says, that you're a Nature Shaman?"

"huh wha huh now? I've never heard of that. In my village "nature shaman" was a title for someone who specialized in herbal medicine."

"Herbal medicine?"

"uhuh. I'm really good with herbs. I make all the medicines for my friends pokemon."

"What are your friends like?"

"Well, there's Ash, he's /such/ a kid even though he's eighteen. And Cilan is... well he's eccentric." Iris chuckled. "He's a pokemon conisseur, but he knows so much about so many different things. And when you get into a topic he's crazy about, he goes on and on so booorrriingly. He doesn't believe me when I say I can sense rain coming. And he doesn't believe in ghosts and spirits. Oh I'm sure you could convince him Souls exist. After all, I'll bet pokemon battles wouldn't exist if people and pokemon didn't have souls. And almost any gym leader you ask about the existance of them would say something about the bond between people and pokemon being proof that they exist!"

Blackstar nodded. "Oh souls exist. Weapons and Meisters have to collect the souls of Kisshins, the demons that you fought? They're Kisshins. They form when humans eat the souls of other humans."

"Really? So if we fight some of these Kisshins I might be able to see what a soul looks like?" Iris asked.

Blackstar rolled his eyes. "only if you have soul perception. People who have that? They can see the souls of their opponents."

"Wow." Iris looked up at the sky, at the setting sun that seemed to be getting sleepy. "Thats so amazing... so what's a nature shaman mean here anyway?"

"um... it means someone who's got an unusual magical empathy with nature." Blackstar explained. "Nature Shamans and witches both use magic. But Nature Shamans are allowed under Shibusen's rules. Witches well... we hunt them."

"Whyever for?"

"With very few exceptions, Witches are evil. There are two that are under our protection and some in our prison but for the most part they do bad things."

"What's the exception?"

"young witches that haven't gone through puberty. And regenerative witches. For example, you regenerated after you were injured. Azusa-sensei thought you were a regenerative witch until Shinigami-sama pointed out your soul was the wrong color for a witch."

"So thats how you tell witches?"

"yep, witches have purple souls. Nature shamans have nature colored souls."

"You mean like green or brown or blue?"

"Yeah." Blackstar sighed. "I can't see them, but Maka and Ox have described Soul colors for me."

"Hey Blackstar?"

"Hmm?"

"I think the reason why people eat souls is because they don't have pokemon to help them be happy." Iris said sleepily. She looked about to doze off.

Blackstar blinked. It seemed such a silly statement. Yet the fun he'd had with Iris' pokemon made him think that maybe there was something to it. Then he laughed. "Hey Iris, if you're getting tired we should get you some dinner. Why don't you stay with me and Tsubaki tonight?"

"Uh sure. Let me tell Professor Stein I'm going with you." Iris got up, calling Emolga and Excadrill back.

"aaaaaaaand, that is how you make a poffin." Dawn said proudly as she tipped the tray of poffins over onto the cooling rack. "Whatcha think?" Dawn asked Maka and Soul proudly.

Maka and Soul each took a poffin. "Mmmmm, apple and banana! But its so... so..."

"Its perfectly uniform. Almost like a muffin." Soul chewed the whole thing up like a kisshin's egg and swallowed noisily. "Delicious!"

"uhuh." Dawn beamed. "My mom taught me how to make them. But I had to tailor my recipe for my pokemon. Even though I don't know all the fruits you have on your world, I can taste them and figure out what ones my pokemon would like. For example insect pokemon tend to like sweet foods, so bananas and honey would be good for them, but they probably wouldn't like an apple because apples are tart. Likewise water and ice pokemon tend to prefer dry foods a little more than other types. So I know to feed piplup something that tastes dry. Of course, pokemon prefer fresh fruits and vegetables as much as they can."

"No meat?" Maka head tilted.

"Nope, in all the time i've been training pokemon, I've never seen one eat meat. Oh sure, if there's a predator/prey thing going on I've seen them stare at a prey-ish pokemon and drool but pokemon are sentient. They don't like to eat each other because the thing they're eating is a sentient being. Even if there's differences in body type, they're technically all one people."

"I suppose if I were a pokemon I'd consider eating another pokemon cannibalism." Maka hmmmed. "They're really yummy, lets see how the pokemon like them." She handed one to each of Dawn's pokemon.

Quilava didn't like it. But Piplup, Buneary and Pachirisu did. Togekiss spat out the poffin, then hopped up onto the table and simply started eating the fruits and vegetables out of the bowl.

Dawn blushed. "eeeh, looks like Togekiss isn't having any of it. She was raised by a princess, so I'm not surprised when she acts picky about her food." Dawn divided the poffins up into a plate for her pokemon, a bag for Iris' pokemon, and a bag for later. Then she put some of the fruit left on a plate along with some of the poffins for /now/ and turned to Soul. "Soul can you give these to Mamoswine?"

"Sure." he took the plate down and found Mamoswine outside the apartment, turned to stare in roughly the direction of the portal. Only... it was a little to the right, staring at a butte beyond the city. "Hey Mamoswine, I have some food for you."

"Maaaamooooo..." Mamoswine turned down to look at the plate, then look up, and around. "Mamoswine..." He bristled and growled, moving in a stance that Soul instantly recognized as a defensive one.

He heard a soft "che che" noise. "Mamoswine are you okay?"

"Mamoooooo..." Mamoswine began to cross the alley where he found a trio of mice on the ground.

The three Mizunes weren't recognizable to Soul as anything threatening, after all it was impossible for a human to see through the transformation. Mamoswine was a pokemon, who could tell something wasn't right about the three rodents in front of him. "Its just a bunch of mice Mamoswine. Dawn worked hard to make this for you so that you wouldn't go hungry."

"Mamoooo..." Mamoswine shoved Soul back with his shoulder and then powered up an ice shard attack.

"HEY!" Soul yelled, barely keeping the plate from tipping over.

"SWIINEEE!" Mamoswine swallowed an ice shard, sprouting spines of ice from his back. "Mamoswine!" he raised his foot to try and stomp the shape shifted Mizunes to death or drive them away.

"Che che che!" The mice scuttled up onto the nearest dumpster, they wriggled their whiskers and teased the mammoth pokemon with a cheeky. "Che che che che che..." And then they were gone, diving into a mouse hole in the wall of the building.

"What the hell was that for?" Soul demanded, angrily rubbing his sore butt. "I came out here to feed you."

"Mamoooo." Mamoswine carefully pulled Soul back towards the building and nuzzled him in apology. Then it turned its attention to the plate of food. Soul chuckled, peeling a banana from the top of the pile and offering it to the pokemon.

A large, wuffling nose descended onto his hand, snorting frigid moisture laden air onto his skin. A large slimy mammoth mouth descended on his hand, the edges of his teeth scraping Soul's skin as the pokemon took the offered fruit. "cooooooooooooool..." Soul breathed.

"Mamooooooooo!"

"You're the coolest non human I've ever met Mamoswine!" Soul grinned stupidly, stroking the massive head.

"Mamo mamoswine mamo!"

"But seriously, scaring mice?"

"Mamooooo." The pokemon's demeanor changed from happy to serious in an instant. "Mamoswine, mamo, mamoswine? Mamo mamo."

"Wish I could understand you."

"Mamoswiiiinneee." Mamoswine sniffed the plate of fruit and poffin.

Soul laughed, holding out another poffin. Mamoswine wuffled his hand and sucked it right up into his mouth.

Dawn looked out the window, watching Soul feed the pokemon. "Mamoswine seems to really like Soul."

"Yeah, and I've never seen him take that much interest in an animal. By the way, calling Mamoswine 'the coolest non human i've ever met' is an enormous compliment."

The Mizunes watched Soul feeding Mamoswine from the shadows, transmitting the image back to Medusa. Mamoswine kept looking back in their direction and growling, planting himself squarely between the Mizune witches and Soul and acting /extremely/ protective of the scythe.

Medusa was fascinated, the mammoth clearly knew that they were there. But a witch should be safely concealed when in animal form. So what was this creature? A familiar? Did they have a witch as an ally besides Kim?

"Password?"

"Blessed be." Tiamat replied. Behind her Fantina, Elesa, Clay, and Flannery. Elesa was wearing Zebstrika themed witch's garbe from head to toe. Flannery was wearing flame patterned witch's garb, and Fantina's garb was themed around Mismagius. Their hats were pulled low, and Clay felt out of place with this many magic users. But he had a certain amount of loyalty to Elesa.

Gardenia opened the door to her home. "Madam Tiamat." She bowed politely.

"Get your Garb, we have a rescue mission preparing to ride." Tiamat said as Gardenia stared at the hundreds of pokemon that were standing in the streets, including several legendaries. "One of my Kin has been pulled into the rift. Lord Eibon is long dead, and demons plan to take his tomb."

"I'll get my go bag." Gardenia hurried inside, calling her pokemon to her. She came out a few moments later dressed in a rich green Garb with roserade colored ruffles around the wrists a pointed brim pulled low, and a gracedia flower in the hat band.

"We aren't far from the place now." Tiamat growled. "Let us go retrieve my many times grand daughter." She turned to the psychic pokemon that had gathered. "Thank you so much for getting us here so fast. You may turn back if you wish."

Some of them simply disappeared, but most of them remained. "Let us go." And suddenly the thousands of pokemon that had gathered, and the gathered gym leaders, disappeared.

Sid smuggled Kid to and through the rift. Kid then moved slowly through the shrine in the other world with Liz and Patti.

"I HAVE TO GO GET HER! GARY LET ME GO!" Kid hid, and he watched a black haired teen and a brown haired twenty something pass them. "The inscription says that world is ruled by a God of Fear and a God of Death! I'm not letting Dawn and Iris FACE that alone! I was responsible for them! I promised Johanna I wouldn't let anything happen to DAWN!"

"WHAT GOOD are you going to do? Let grampa handle it!"

"Okido-hakase is just that! A professor! What's he gonna do, lecture them to death?"

"My grandfather is far better suited to combat than YOU."

"ASH!" A brown haired girl with a red and green bandana called out. "You are not going through there without the rest of us. If we're going to a whole other world, then we're going TOGETHER." She yelled.

Suddenly Kid felt himself pulled backwards and a diver's knife held to his throat. "You know sneaking up on people is rude right?" A girl's voice asked.

"Marill! Mar!" Misty smirked. "Never try to evade a Marill, their sense of hearing can hear a cockroach piss in total darkness." A large, mouse like pokemon, blue all over with some kind of bulb on his tail giggled at Kid. The girl removed the knife before Liz and Patti could act and pushed Kid into the middle of the circle of pokemon trainers. "Look who I found skulking around." Kid got a better look at her now, a tall woman in her late teens or early twenties with shoulder length red hair pulled all to one side.

"Misty... did you... USE that diver's knife?"

"Only as a threat, its more of a tool than anything else. I'd never dream of hurting someone with it." Misty blushed.

"Who are you? And why were you spying on us?"

"My name is Death the Kid, me and my pistols Liz and Patti came through the Rift on instruction from my Father, Lord Death..."

Ash /stared./ Pikachu squealed. "Pikachu! Pika pika!" Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and ran over to Kid, rubbing a sparking cheek to Kid's leg.

"Marill mar!" The Marill latched onto Kid's right leg and Pikachu onto his left. "Piiiiiiiiiika, pika pika."

"Marill, Pikachu behave yourse..."

"HOW CUTE!" Patti changed back into a person, causing all those gathered to stare at her. She scooped up Pikachu and hugged him, stroking the pokemon's head and scratching him behind the ears.

"Piiiika?" Pikachu blinked.

"As I was ABOUT to say before Patti interrupted me." Kid said as Liz changed back into a person as well. "my father sent me to assure you that Dawn and Iris are being taken care of. Last I checked Dawn was spending the night at one of my classmates homes and Iris was practicing with another of my classmates. They are safe, but there's something else you need to know."

It took about 2 hours for Kid to get through a complete explanation of what was going on. "In two days a group of DEMONS are going to come through that portal and kill everything they can find. You should move your camp so that its not in their line of fire and prepare to fight." Kid concluded. "Surely your world has some kind of military?"

"um... we have the pokemon rangers..." Ash suggested dumbly. "... and the officer jennies, we've never really needed a military."

Kid fell over. "WHAT? What about Shinigami to protect your world's souls?"

"Our scientists can't even produce proof that Souls exist." Cilan pointed out. "How did yours do it by the way?"

"We haven't /had/ to. We've had people who could see souls since time immemorial!" Kid was very close to hyperventilating. He fell on the ground like he did when his neurosis got out of control and beat it with his fists. "Thats it, we're doomed, we're all gonna die. They don't even have a military to protect themselves. OOOOOOOOOOOOH father father father, how could you set me an impossible task?"

"Not impossible." Ash beamed. He closed his eyes and concentrated. /Azelf?/ ash reached out with his mind for a connection he'd felt upon his arrival in Sinnoh for the reunion.

"Azelf!" Ash opened his eyes and Azelf was there.

"Hey Azelf, there's a buncha demons on their way here through a rift in space, can you get the other legendary pokemon to help us fight them off? Maybe some willing wild pokemon too?"

"Azelf azzzzelf!" Azelf disappeared.

"That was AMAZING! How did you make it appear like that?"

"ah well." Ash blushed. "I have a special understanding with Azelf." Ash said with a huge grin. "But it doesn't always work for some reason."

"Azelf... that is the being of will power yes?" Kid blinked. He activated soul perception, and quickly realized that Ash and the man named Brock both had souls glowing blue and yellow respectively. He blinked.

"Sure is! I saw him at Lake Valor just before the Wallace Cup! Dawn and Brock both saw Mesprit and Uxie!" Ash grinned hugely.

"There's something else... Dawn, when she was in the infirmary she started to glow pink, and then she transformed into a Shinigami." Kid said quietly. "she said she was dreaming about Mesprit when it happened."

"That could be trouble." Professor Rowan was sitting on a log drinking tea. "There's a lot about the world and pokemon we don't understand, but I believe that a scientist should be concerned /most/ with what we can't explain. Historically Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie have collectively represented the souls of human kind, each one represents a facet of the Soul. Emotion, will, and wisdom. These three disciplines of the mind are /key/ to having a balanced mind and spirit."

Professor Oak sipped his tea. "I agree, the involvement of Ash, Dawn and Brock with Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie is not over. Nor was it just Team Galactic that concerned those three. Perhaps it would behoove us to speak to this Lord Death to see what he knows about the Three Beings."

"Now you're getting it!" A voice came out of the darkness. A familiar figure came out of the darkness, followed by a familiar Zebstrika.

"ELESA!" Ash cried in shock.

"We have an alternate campsite set up. Reinforcements too." She turned to Kid. "you, boy, Shinigami sent you yes? Go back and tell him Tiamat has summoned reinforcements."

"i'm not going to listen to a witch." Kid said coldly.

Elesa was wearing a Zebstrika patterned witch's garb, a long skirt, half sleeved tunic, and leather vest all patterned after her favorite pokemon.

"If you aren't going to listen to a witch, then listen to a Gym leader." Tiamat stepped forwards, wearing Hydreigon patterned garb. "We aren't like the witches on your world. We remember what our kin are like. A new generation has taken root in this world, and we are not going to stand for what our ancestors on your world did. Your /father/ walked by my side when my body was young and HE was a CHILD. I sit, and I remember. Listen WELL Kid."

"Your world is a quarantine zone. Thats why the sun laughs, its a fake. The One, Arceus, and the other Legendary Pokemon created your world as a SEAL zone for the Madness. This is what your father, Eibon and Asura discovered here, that their ANCESTORS came from this world. They imbued their power into Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf. Their purpose is to preserve the spiritual abilities of this world and the sanctity of the souls within it."

"Are you saying..." Ash's hands clenched his cup in a white knuckle grip, "That Brock and I are going to transform just like Dawn did?"

"Yes Ash." Tiamat said grimly.

Elesa sighed. "I recognized it in you from the moment I saw you. A clock ticking towards a powerful spiritual awakening and a Soul blessed by the light of the divine.

"I CANT ACCEPT THAT!" Ash yelled.

"What part, that at some point you are going to change or the part about Azelf having an alterior motive?" Tiamat asked with a quirk of her brow.

"Everyone who is BORN a human has the RIGHT to be human! They should be able to choose whether or not to hand that humanity OVER!" Ash roared. He glared at Kid. "This is all YOUR fault. You SUCK." He slammed his cup down on the ground, spilling the tea all over and stormed away.

"ASH WAIT!" Gary ran after Ash.

Kid sipped his tea unconcerned. "you don't seem to care." Misty said acidly.

"Because frankly I agree with him. When Dawn changed, her reaction to meeting me, I felt like dirt." Kid said quietly. "I exist to guard the Souls of Humans. I don't think its a calling that you can be forced into. I think its a calling you take voluntarily. Why should I raise protest with an opinion I agree with? Every Kisshin soul we are going up against chose to leave the human path. Frankly, if I found someone forcing humans from the Path, I'd kill them myself, slowly, painfully, and brutally." Kid said cooly. "How is it right that Ash, Dawn and Brock get forced to become Shinigami? If we caught someone injecting human souls into people with the intent of making a Kisshin, Shibusen would most certainly execute them."

"Except that they were /born/ with Shinigami Lineage in them." Tiamat said quietly. "Do you really think this is a matter of a human becoming a shinigami simply on the whim of Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie? It is Ash's birthright, Brock's and Dawn's too. Across this world, there could be as many as 300 shinigami, maybe more, who's gifts are hidden. Their human genes /repressed/ the Shinigami ones."

"Whatever, I still feel uncomfortable." Kid looked up at Brock. "What's your point of view on this?"

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Brock quoted. "My mother told me that before she died. Its a principle i've followed my life long. All the things I've changed, its because I had the wisdom to know that I could. This isn't the end. I think its the beginning." Brock said quietly.

Kid nodded, he stood. "Where are you going?" Lenora asked.

"to make sure Ash is alright." Kid replied.

Kid followed Ash's wavelength until he came to a forest thicket. He was about to say something in greeting when he heard a moan. Kid ducked into the bushes and crept closer, and his nose gushed blood. His eyes widened. His face flushed.

Gary had Ash pinned against a tree, both of them sans boxers and pants, kissing each other furiously. Ash had tears rolling down his cheeks. "Its going to be okay Ash. I love you no matter what happens." Gary said in a low, lusty voice.

There was a thud as the both of them fell to the forest floor. "I want you... please... fill me... comfort me."

"CHU!" Pikachu's iron tail came down on Kid's head. Kid yelped, Pikachu and Umbreon grabbed him by the shoulders of his jacket and pulled him away.

Too late though, a small tent was sticking up out of Kid's pants. Pikachu glared at him. "Pika pika..."

"Look, I just came to apologize."

"Pika chuuuuuuuuu." Pikachu shocked Kid with a thundershock.

"OW! What was that for!"

"Pikachu, Pika pika."

"Pikachu is trying to say that its not your fault." Misty said coldly. "He and Umbreon stand guard to make sure Ash and Gary disturbed." She sighed. "How is it YOUR fault? This was gonna happen whether you came here or not."

"I just... I know its not, but I feel like it is." Kid replied. "The way Dawn looked at me, the fear in her eyes, it wasn't at me. It was... that I represented what had happened to her."

"And you'll represent stability when this is through." Misty pointed out. "Think of it this way, Ash, Brock and Dawn are gonna have to learn how to handle their new abilities right? They're going to need some cultural context to learn from! What would happen to them if there was no Death the Kid or Shinigami-sama to learn how to be a Shinigami from?"

"I guess you're right."

"Give Ash his space, he'll surprise you by the time this is done. Now help us clean up the camp. Cilan is mad because we're trying to make him pack up without polishing his silver. He's not in a good mood and to add to that he and Brock started drinking. By the time we get to the new camp they'll be smashed out of their minds and Brock will start mistaking Cilan for a girl. And for him, thats when the trouble starts."

"Thats stupid, how could someone get so drunk they think a man is a girl?" Kid asked as he got up, he was trying to think of asymmetrical things to make his hard on go away. It was working, very slowly.

"The last time Brock got drunk off his ass, he slept with James. He had a 3 year relationship with the man that went down in FLAMES." Misty sweatdropped. "And getting him around women of any age above 18 and below 65 is a serious mistake."

"Sounds like Maka's father." Kid muttered.

"So... you had a tent in your jeans. You like men?" Misty smirked.

"I don't know." Kid replied.

"Oh well, thats okay. But if you turn out to be gay there's a lot of hearts you're gonna break." Misty teased. "You're pretty cute, especially those lines in your hair, how'd you dye them in like that?"

"They're natural, I try to dye them out but it won't work." Kid said sourly. "And they aren't CUTE. They're hideously asymmetrical."

"They aren't just cute they're adorable!" Misty squealed.

Kid blushed furiously as they reentered the campsite.

"Hey Kid, that guy sounds like you crying over symmetry." Patti pointed to Cilan and laughed.

"NUUUUUUUUUUU! I can't leave without polishing my silver service!" Cilan wailed. "It must be IMMACULATE for the next meal!"

"You can cook without your stupid silver!" Max was pulling on Cilan's silver serving dome, which Cilan had the other end of. "Brock cooked for us all the time, he cleaned the pots but he never POLISHED them!"

Cilan wailed. "Brock isn't a high class CHEF! I INSIST ON POLISHING MY SILVER DOME! I'M A HORRIBLE CHEF IF ALL MY INGREDIENTS ARENT PERFECT AND MY DISHES IMMACULATE!"

Patti was rolling on the ground laughing at Cilan. "Cilan sounds like Kid with the toilet paper!"

Which prompted an "OH NOOOOOOOOO! I HAVE TO GO BACK AND MAKE SURE I REMEMBERED TO FOLD THE TOILET PAPER INTO A TRIANGLE!" Kid yelled, turning to run for the portal.

Liz and Patti tackled Kid and Patti shoved a roll of toilet paper into his hand. "KIDDO MATTE MATTE!" Liz cried. "Here." Patti grinned. "We anticipated this, so we brought all the toilet paper currently in the manor's bathrooms wiiiiith us!"

Kid shrieked. "YOU DID WHAT?"

"This way you don't have to go back to the Manor to check the toilet paper."

Kid stared at Liz with his eyes watering. "YOU GUYS ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST!" He sobbed.

"What's wrong with him?" Cilan asked, forgetting about his serving dome.

"OCD. SEVERE OCD." Liz growled. "He's literally run all the way home from EGYPT to make sure the pictures were aligned. We figured since a bunch of Kisshins are guarding the portal that this is the best way to get his OCD to settle down."

"We should get you a Mincinno." Elesa sweatdropped. Tiamat chuckled.

Ash came back then, covered in sweat, reeking of sex. "Hey guys, sorry about earlier. I was in shock and not feeling so hot."

"Its okay. You sure gave Kid a show." Misty snickered. "he enjoyed it too judging from the tent in his pants."

"THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Kid yelled from where he was busy checking the rolls of toilet paper from his house.

Ash blinked. "You /saw/ that?"

Misty smirked. "Me thinks you doth protest too much Death the Kid."

That night, Quilava walked out to Mamoswine to check on him. "Mamoswine, Mamo..." Mamoswine sighed. He was staring in the direction the Mizune sisters had gone. /There were mice here that had something wrong with them./

"Qui?" /Like what?/

"Mamoswine mamo..." /They felt evil./

"Lavaaaaaaa." /Thats stupid, how can mice be evil./

"Swiiiinneeeeee." /They radiated dark energy./

Both pokemon heard a hiss. An enormous black and yellow cobra slithered out of the alleyway. It was easily twenty feet long, and it was fast. Its hood was up, this creature was here to /kill./

"MAMOSWIIIIIIIIIIINE!" Mamoswine yelled. It turned, kicking a trash can at the snake. It hit the snake in the face, sending it flying backwards. It hissed.

Lights turned on in Soul and Maka's apartment.

"QUIIIIIIII LAVAAAA!" Quilava roared, using flame wheel to drive into the snake. The snake hissed, and leapt for Mamoswine's unprotected back.

Only for its fangs to sink into spines of ice. Quilava jumped on the snake's head, impaling it through the skull on the ice spines. Mamoswine roared, yelling angrily and thrashing around trying to get the snake off.

Soul, Maka and Dawn came running out. "Mamoswine what's wrong!"

"Quiiiiiiiii..." Quilava pulled the snake off of Mamoswine's back, pulling it back towards Maka and Soul.

Maka took one look at the yellow and black cobra and paled. "Are you sure its dead Quilava?"

"Laaaavaaaaaa."

"Come to think of it, Mamoswine was acting really weird earlier. Do you think he sensed the cobra coming?"

"There's one way to tell." Dawn pulled out her pokedex. "Mamoswine, what happened earlier when Soul was feeding you?"

"swiiiiineee, mamoswine mamooooo, maaaaaa swine mamoswine mamooooooooooo!" Mamoswine snorted steam from his nostrils and bristled angrily.

"Pokedex translation unit activated. Translation. There were mice in the alley that felt strange. They radiated darkness. And that snake felt wrong. Soul couldn't feel it?"

"No... I couldn't..."

"Mamoswine swine mamoswinnneeeee."

"I was trying to warn you." The pokedex translated. "But you didn't LISTEN to me when I told you they COULD be spying on us!"

"Jeezus sorry." Soul grunted.

"Looks like Medusa's been watching our apartment." Maka growled.

"Medusa?" The pokemon turned to look up at Soul and Maka.

"She's an evil witch, she already took one of our friends away." Maka growled. "We're gonna rescue Chrona though! YOU MARK MY WORDS!" She declared. The look in Maka's eyes made Dawn back up.

"Okaaaay, remind me never to put you and Ash in the same room."

"hahahahahaha." Maka rolled her eyes and laughed nervously. "Who's Ash anyway? One of your friends?"

"Yep." Dawn blushed. "Ash is kinda... he's kinda like you actually. Really headstrong and stubborn. Only he's not as smart as you are."

Maka laughed. Soul smirked. "Thats my Meister, top of her class."

"Really?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, what is that thing anyway?"

"Its a pokedex, its an electronic encyclopedia that tells me information about a pokemon. It acts as an ID and it even keeps track of the pokemon I've captured or met on my journey."

Medusa was scrying the situation, Eruka and Free peering over her shoulders. "Pokemon hmmm? That explains how they outsmarted the familiar."

"Reeb..."

"What does?" Free asked.

"Well to put it frankly, Familiars are rather stupid. They're created to perform one or two simple tasks in combat according to the witch's specifications." Eruka explained. "I love Tadpole Jackson, but he's not very smart."

"There's only so much that can be done with a regular familiar. So the instant you find an entity thats smarter than they are, you're beaten." Medusa said coldly. "I'm not going to risk sending Chrona on such an errand just yet."

"You're going to try and take one of those pokemon?"

"No, I'm going to see whether they're worthy test subjects, and find out where I can get one of my own." Medusa replied. "If Shibusen has found something smarter than a familiar, then there's no point in using familiars anymore is there? So I'm going to scare that child Dawn into telling me where to get one of my own. And if that doesn't work I'll just stalk her until I find out what I want to know."

Which is what Lord Death explained to Soul when he asked why Mamoswine and Quilava were able to catch Medusa's snake so fast. "Well... to put it bluntly, familiars are rather stupid. Thats how you know its the actual familiar you caught and not Medusa herself. Medusa in a shapeshifted form would have acted far more intelligently than simply jumping on Mamoswine like that. Even though attacking the unprotected back of a slow opponent is a good strategy, Mamoswine wasn't the only pokemon there. Quilava was far faster. So why would Medusa take such a risk?"

"She wouldn't." Soul facefaulted.

"Exactly. Sorry Soul, you may be a Deathscythe but you've got a lot to learn."

"Dawn, starting tomorrow you and Iris are going to be training with class crescent moon in combat class. Be prepared to work hard. I don't want Medusa getting you."

"no... being got by a witch is bad." Dawn sweatdropped.

Brock had gotten drunk off his ass alright, and made eyes to a drunk off his ass Cilan. The result was the kind of release Brock hadn't gotten since Jessie had broken up him and James. Two dedicated cooks, each fanatical about their pokemon had resulted in... well... lets just say it was like a gay porno and leave it at that.

But Brock was sleeping. "Uxie... you've come to get me haven't you?" Brock asked.

"yes... I'm sorry Brock. Your world needs you, and what I'm about to do can't be taken back." The pokemon said quietly. "Believe me, you don't know it yet, but your sacrifice will save a lot of people and pokemon from death. For this, I thank you."

"WHY?" Ash demanded of Azelf.

"It is necessary. I chose you for your courage Ash. Don't you have the courage to save people?"

"I don't need to give up my humanity to save people OR pokemon!"

"You're about to step into a world that is INFINATELY more dangerous than your own! Do you even know what you're running into?" Demanded Azelf. "Your sacrifice could save your entire world from certain death!"

"What about Pikachu? What about my best friend? What about Gary? Kid said shinigami live for CENTURIES!" Ash started to cry. "I don't want to live without my friends! Life without Pikachu ISNT WORTH IT! And what about Gary? I'll stay young while he grows old and dies!"

"He said he loved you no matter what, don't you love him?" Azelf asked.

"What's that mean?"

"Nothing lasts forever Ash. Gary and Pikachu are precious because someday they'll be gone! You should love them while you HAVE them! Do you know what its like for me? I watch all my friends grow old and die! I've been around since the beginning of this world! I EXIST to protect it! How DARE you pretend that your life is more important! Don't you get it? Those Kisshins eggs coming through could infect this world with a Dark energy called MADNESS. Madness is DEADLY to pokemon! And it makes humans go insane! It could kill EVERYONE you THINK you can use to defend yourself! Those things could kill Pikachu! They could make GARY go stark raving insane! Don't you get it? THEY ARE GOING TO KILL YOUR POKEMON AND DRIVE YOUR FRIENDS INSANE! ARE YOU GONNA STAND FOR THAT?" Azelf yelled.

Ash stood there, bangs hanging over his face. "Everyone could die?"

"If the kisshin escape and get into your world for more than a month then YES." Azelf sighed. "Thats what I've been trying to tell you this whole time. What do you want? For Gary and Pikachu to live a long happy life with you or to die horribly years before their proper time on this planet is up?"

Ash looked up at Azelf, the irises of his eyes turning from black to gold. "I choose, I choose not to die, I choose to fight!" Ash yelled. "I CHOOSE TO PROTECT!" He shouted as he sat up in bed.

Ash's wavelength ripped through the new campsite. Spirit energy coming off of him in torrents. He screamed in pain and agony. At least Dawn had been unconscious when she changed. Ash screamed in pain.

Kid ran over, minus his shirt. Gary and Pikachu clung to Ash, the energy coming off of Ash was pouring into Gary. Gary's Umbreon latched onto Gary's hair with its teeth, trying to stay put as Ash's soul wavelength blew the tent away. Soul energy coursed through Umbreon, Gary and Pikachu.

"AZELF!" Azelf swept in, Ash's pokemon that had been left at Oak's lab and those he'd left or released elsewhere floating above the scene. I have chosen you, the brightest of divine lights. Azelf's telepathy flowed through the scene.

Kid struggled against the energy pouring out of Ash. "Its almost as strong as father's wavelength! What is this?"

Ash Ketchum, of Pallet town, by the power of my divine light! We the legendary pokemon have chosen you to be this world's Death. By your love for your friends, I name Gary Oak as your scythe, and Pikachu as your guardian! Live, and love well! All pokemon, REJOICE! Our world at last has its Grim Reaper!

Gary started to glow brilliantly. Ash fell over, so did Gary. Both unconscious. The lines of Sanzu had appeared on Ash's head. When his eyes fluttered open, they shone, glowing a brilliant gold in the night. The stripes on Pikachu's head rearranged into completed Sanzu lines, reflecting the pokemon's level.

"Why's Pikachu's lines complete?" Patti asked.

Oak sighed. "Probably because of Pikachu's level." He pulled a blanket over Ash and Gary. "Starraptor, can you go find the tent that just got blown away?"

"Starraptor!" The pokemon flew off. The others present, the legendaries in particular, bowed in front of Ash. A couple of them muttered what were clearly blessings.

A familiar purple and white figure strode out of the group of legendaries raised to assist in defense. I remember, I thought it was the pokemon that turned him back from stone. Mewtwo frowned. I am sorry Ash, it had to be done. Our world needs someone to be its Death. Upon your shoulders stands hope for our world. Mewtwo sighed, he turned, flying towards the mountains. I am going to find the soul walkers. I hope to return by the battle's end.

"he's not the only one turned tonight." Lenora said quietly. "I just went to check on Brock and Cilan, Brock's hair has changed color, the lines are appearing more slowly on him, but I'd make book on them being done by morning."

Gardenia smiled as she recited the old ritual, a candle flame of green appearing to light her face. A green glow suffused her body. "The choosing of a Death is a sign that Dark times are ahead. In the beginning the First Death was chosen by the legendary pokemon. He was an ordinary human, but they filled him with their energy, the energy of life and death. The First Death did not want to do his work alone, so the Legendary pokemon chose others to be his companions. Some were given the title of Priestess and Witch, others the title of Wild Knight Immortal. Some were chosen to be the first Scythes. Others the title of Soul Healer or Demon Driver for the Wavelength they held or Nature Shamen for their connection to the land. Such gifts were given them by the Legendary Pokemon in trust that they would be used wisely and well."

Fantina's thick, rich french accent came next. A bright blue candle lighting her face and a pale blue glow filling her. "For thousands of years, we lived in peace. The spiritual guardians chosen by the First Death flourished, and as the First Death grew old. His kind walked among humans, their divinity marking them as a boon of prosperity. Each city, each town, each village considered their Shinigami a treasured member of their society. But one day, the Darkness came. One of our treasured guardians abused his power, and instead of protecting the people, he slaughtered and consumed the souls of his village. People and pokemon were slaughtered, their souls consumed, fueling the darkness within him. When the First Kisshin, known also as the Great Betrayer, the Life Stealer, The Fear Bringer, when he rose, darkness and destruction followed."

Kid bowed his head, and now he understood why Father had put Tiamat in charge of this place. The story they were telling, it was a priceless piece of their history as a people. To learn the origin of his /people./ Of the weapons, of the witches, of everything!

Elesa lit her face with a yellow candle, a beautiful golden glow lit her slender frame. "The First Death raised his Scythe in protest to the Great Betrayer, and all darkness swept in, taking away his life. But when the Great Betrayer attempted to consume the First Death's Soul, Arceus the One appeared, and destroyed him. But nothing could give The First Death back to us. Arceus knew the light of his Soul had been great, and that even destroyed, the Darkness created by the Great Betrayer would still ravage his world. Men and women were becoming sick from it, and the Pokemon had hidden in the rocks and caves to wait out the storm. As the world descended into madness, many places were ruined or abandoned, places like Dragonspiral Tower, to this day, we can see the wreckage, and the mysteries. So much of our world's history lost except to only a small few."

Liz and Patti bowed their heads, hats to their chests. Through this ceremony Ash and Gary slept. The pokemon professors bowed their heads, the others present as well.

Flannery lit her final candle, a red one, and her body glowed bright red. "So Arceus called to the two and the three. Together they molded the soul of the First Death into a new world. Though he would never return to the reincarnation que, never be reborn, he sacrificed himself to protect the cycle, a proper and fitting end for the first Shinigami. Arceus created the world of the Magic Weapons, and the Legendary pokemon bestowed their gifts upon this other world. Those infected with the madness were sent there, as well as a decent representation of those to whom they had given their gifts. The weapons became the caretakers of the humans. A small clan of Shinigami departed for the new world."

Tiamat spoke next, a black and white candle in her hand as her body became lit with pure white light. "The Legendary Pokemon then turned to the humans, who mourned, and the pokemon who comforted them, and the Elder Lines, the original clans of shinigami. The Shinigamis heads bowed in mourning, and in shame. They felt as if they had failed."

"then one of them made a request. 'Take my power, put it to sleep, use it to HEAL the land and the people!" She begged. "I do not care about my own power. The Betrayer took my beloved. I do not wish to live anymore as a Shinigami." And another spoke. "My mother was one of those taken away to the Other World. I was fighting for her! I will not fight anymore! My soul is not in it." And many among them agreed. Out of respect for their sacrifice and their service, the Legendary pokemon did not take their powers completely. Rather, they sealed them. These shinigami and their descendants appeared as ordinary human beings, they lived and died mortal. The Legendary pokemon blessed them with good and happy lives with their pokemon. They waited for the day when someone would step up, and sacrifice themselves willingly in the way that the First Death had, not out of a desire for power nor out of some fatalistic belief that their lives were not their own. It was only out of the will to protect that a new Shinigami of this world could be named the New Death."

"The earth and the souls of people and pokemon in it, have acknowledged the birth of a new Death, who has given himself to us out of love and the urge to protect those precious things." Tiamat motioned each of the witches she had brought with her knelt beside Ash.

Gardenia touched Ash's forehead gently. A pulse of green energy coursed through him. "I offer you the blessings of the earth. May you, your kin and the Kin of Your Soul, prosper and multiply. May your families know peace, and your children full bellies and safety. I, Gardenia, watchtower of the Earth, by the gift entrusted to me by the Voice of the Forest offer my Gratitude to you for your sacrifice." She placed the Gracadia flower from her hat upon Ash's chest. "Be blessed, be prosperous, be sound of body."

Energy, soft and green, rolled from Gardenia's body. Kid heard May gasp somewhere behind him and to the right. This was not the dark magic that Kid had known from his training as a Meister. Patti giggled at his left. And at his right Liz smiled a small serene smile. It felt /beautiful./ It was a wonderful, cool tingling sensation and suddenly Kid smelled the clean scent of fresh earth and forest leaves and fragrant herbs. Kid inhaled deeply, the woody scent given off by Gardenia's magic soothed and calmed him.

Fantina stepped forwards next, touching Ash's forehead with blue energy that his body absorbed easily. Fantina smiled and said in her thick french accent. "I offer you the blessings of the waters. May you, your Kin, and the Kin of Your Soul be loved, cared for and care in return, and be stable of heart. May your anger never take a life, may your sorrow never consume you, may your tears be in honor of the lost, never be in despair. May calm be reflected to the world like the moon off of water. May your intuition ever be heard. I Fantina, Watch tower of the Waters, by the gift entrusted to me by the North Wind and the beast of the oceans, the song of the seas and the inexorable grind of glaciers from the mountain tops, offer my condolences and comfort in the face of your sacrifice."

Blue energy coursed through the area, and Misty took a sharp inhale through her nose. Kid could smell ocean air, could hear the singing of whales, the grinding of glaciers and the trickle of melt water. Coolness pulsed through his wavelength, and with it a sense of utter calm and decorum.

Next came Elesa, she too offered her magic, and Kid heard the boom of thunder, saw flashes of lightning in his mind, smelled the ionized air of a thunderstorm and felt the wind whip through his mind. "I offer you the blessings of the air. May you and your Kin and the Kin of Your Soul be clever in mind, swift in food and wing. May your thoughts fly like a Pidgeot, sure of wing, sound of reasoning, and unshakable of joy. May inspiration hit you with the immediacy of a thunderbolt. May the boom that follows it scatter those faint of heart before you. May you and yours be blessed always with soundness of mind. I, Elesa, Watchtower of Air, by the gift entrusted to me by the birds who live in the sky, the lightning who guards ideals, and the god of the winds that sweep the world, offer my insight and my spontaneity in the face of your sacrifice."

And Flannery after, Kid felt the heat of a fire, and a desire kindling inside of him, fighting spirit, the smell of fragrant smoke and the screaming of a phoenix born again from the flames. Kid felt himself getting dizzy and a NEED rising in him. A need not strictly lust, but also consisting of a desire to experience life, to experience excitement. "I offer you the blessings of flame. May you, your Kin, and the Kin of Your Soul be blessed with courage, passion, desire, valor, and the blindness of circumstance and mercy of sword that is Justice. May your inner fire never quench, your curiousity never diminish, your will to fight never die. May your soul never be extinguished, and live eternally in the warmth and light. May you, and those around you, be inspired always with courage and wholeness of soul. I, Flannery, Watchtower of the Flames, by the gift entrusted to me by the Flames of Truth, Love, Inspiration, of the fires inside the earth, and of the grinding of the continents, offer my encouragement, my passion, and my loyalty in the face of your sacrifice."

And finally Tiamat came forwards, body glowing white. "I, Tiamat, by the power entrusted to me by the creator, by the creatures of forest, rock, water, sky and plain, by the Goddess, and by the Treasured Sacrifice of the First Death, will unto you and trust in your hands, the title and blessings of this world's Death. May your scythe never take an innocent. May your life be fruitful rather than long, your soul robust rather than powerful. Carry with you always the Blessings of the Watchtowers, the Four Witches who guard the Truth and the Ideal carried within nature. I, Tiamat, Elder of Dragon Village, Priestess and Witch, bless you in the name of all pokemon."

Clay came forwards next, carrying a black candle and glowing with golden light. "I, Clay, by the power entrusted to me by the people, by the lands of Kanto and its brother Johto, by the Wild natures of Hoen, and Sinnoh, and the ruins of ancient Unova, have come on behalf of the people, to bless the new Death. May he honor and treasure their lives always. May he never betray their trust, and answer to no Darkness, only to his Honor and the Order of Natural Law."

"We welcome thee, Ash Ketchum, new chosen Death, be you always a protector and always fight in the name of trust, courage, and love." They turned. "Death the Kid, son of Lord Death, please step forwards."

Kid hesitated, then came forwards. "We are calling upon you to take up the role of Teacher for this new Shinigami. You are his spiritual protector and teacher, and you are to guide him on the proper path for a Grim Reaper. Do you accept this task?"

Kid blushed furiously, hesitating before he nodded. "yes. I do." Teaching another Grim reaper was a big responsibility. But Kid realized that he had to. Who else was going to teach this new Shinigami how to use his power? There was no one save him and his father. His father couldn't travel. Which meant that if Ash returned home, he'd need a tutor who could move around with him.

"Then the christening of our world's new Death is complete. Please guide him upon the proper path, but always keep his heart in mind when you teach. The best teachers learn from their pupils." Tiamat smirked. "Alright, shows over people, back to bed."

"I don't understand." Kid said as Gardenia stretched and headed back to her sleeping bag.

The gym leader sighed. "On our world we have a blessing ceremony when a new Death is chosen, like a baby's christening I suppose. The three beings of the soul chose the new Death from among the elder lines by seeking someone who will sacrifice themselves as a shinigami not out of resignation of the inevitable /or/ a desire for power, but out of a desire to protect. They appear to the candidates for the next Death and attempt to elicit a protective response from the person, to get them to decide to take up the scythe out of a desire to protect their loved ones and their world. Few people understand that, and so out of the hundreds of hidden Shinigami who do not know of their blood rite, usually only one is chosen to hold the title of "Death." I've seen Ash, he is possessed of a singular drive and passion that will serve him well. A purity and determination that has swayed many to follow him simply by his example." Gardenia said quietly. "He has saved our world, or parts of it, many times in the past, he is a hero. I find his rise to Shinigami to be an inevitability. His rise to his world's Death a foregone conclusion." Gardenia yawned. "I need to get some sleep. I have some serious training to do tomorrow and you have to give him and Gary Meister and Weapon 101. It may be better to sneak them back to Shibusen so you can send your father a report. It takes some seriously advanced communication to speak /through/ the rift. Shibusen likely has the equipment but we don't."

Kid nodded. "Then in the morning, I'll take him and Gary and anyone who wants to go with him to Shibusen. His pokemon will have to go into their balls. The Chupacabra Gang is gathering an army, and they /always/ have guards on duty at the shrine to prevent people going in or out."