Pokemon School Chapter 9 - Hypnotism For The Sake of Love

The school bell rung, telling the whole student body that they were now dismissed from school. Rika was waiting for Dash in front of the school gate with her Eevee on her head. She heard someone calling out to her so she looked around to see who it was. A little girl with silver hair came running to her with a Scyther following behind. "Rena!" Rika exclaimed, waving at her, "Have you seen Dash around?"

"Huh?" Rena asked, "No... I haven't..."

"Where could he be?" Rika asked, putting one finger on her lower lip, "Maybe he's still celebrating with his friends... I should go look for him... Wanna come, Rena?"

"O-Okay!" Rena flushed a little as she grabbed Rika's hand. Rika then dragged the little girl back into the school as Eve and Blade returned into their Pokeballs.

Little did they knew, someone was watching them from afar - a certain person with shaggy black hair and green eyes.

Rika and Rena began calling out Dash's name as they walked through out the school corridors, but no answer came. "This is harder than I thought..." Rika groaned, "Maybe we should split up?"

"B-But I'm afraid being alone..." Rena shuttered, "I know Blade's with me... but I prefer someone 'human'..."

"Then I'll go with ya!" Aisha volunteered, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"A-Aisha?" Rika shuttered, "W-What are you doing here? How did you get in here?"

"I followed you two from behind, duh!" Aisha replied, "I saw you two coming in here so I decided to come along! I bet you two are looking for Dash, am I right?" Aisha chuckled as she watched Rena and Rika flushing at the same time. "I knew it! You two naughty little girls... Chasing Dash at the same time... THAT IS SO CUTE!" Aisha suddenly threw herself at the two girls, hugging them both into submissions.

"L-Let us go this instant!" Rika cried, irritated.

"I can't... breathe..." Rena muttered, finally convincing Aisha to loosen her grip, "Thank you.. FOR ALMOST KILLING ME!" Rena suddenly transformed into her wild alter ego, much to Rika's and Aisha's suprise. "Listen up, you two sissies! I'm not letting you interfere with Dash and me again! Just because he didn't like me before doesn't mean that he can't like me now! Dash, I'm coming for you!" And with that, Rena left teh two girls to search for her beloved brown-haired trainer.

"I better go with her just in case," Aisha suggested, as she chased after Rena, "You go and keep looking for Dash, y'hear?" And with that, Aisha left the scene.

'Great...' Rika thought, 'Looks like Rena still likes Dash... Wait a minute... Why does Aisha always appear when Dash is around or somewhere nearby? Don't tell me that she... N-No way! She couldn't...'

"Hello, Rika..." a voice muttered from behind her, "Nice seeing you here..."

"Eeek!" Rika squeeled, feeling scared until she realized who it really was, "Z-Zayl? What are you doing here? I thought I saw you went out of the front gate... Are you here to--" Zayl quickly pocketed out a weird-looking grape and threw it into Rika's mouth. "W-What did you just... do..." As Rika swallowed the bean, her mind began to spin and her sight was a bit blurry.

"That is called the 'Hypnotism Grape'," Zayl explained as Rika fell on her knees, "Whoever eats it will fall under the command of the first peron to talk to him or her. Now, Rika... You will forget all about Dash from today onwards... Understand?"

"W-What... are... you..." Rika's eyes finally zoned out into a trance. She stood up and said, "Zayl? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?"

"Tell me," Zayl said, "Do you know anyone by the name of 'Dash Aileron'? He's a brown-haired kid with a Furret."

"'Dash Aileron'?" Rika asked, "Who in the world is that?"

"It worked, Master Zayl!" Zayl's Shuppet cried out from its Pokeball, "She completely forgot about that kid!"

"Excellent..." Zayl muttered, "Now Rika, you better hurry back home. You're going to be late for dinner."

"Y-You're right!" she squeeled, "See ya, Zayl! I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that, Rika made her way downstairs and through the front gate and waving at Zayl for the last time.

Zayl smirked when Aisha and Rena came back along with Dash. "Rika!" Aisha called out, "Look who we found! Its Dash!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Dash said, "I didn't mean to... Huh? Rika's not here at all... Hey, Zayl! Have you seen her anywhere?" Zayl did not answer and slowly made his way down the stairs. "What is with that kid?"

"She probably went back home!" Rena exclaimed, "Now we'll have all the time to be together! Right, Dash?" Rena then noticed the concerned look on Dash's face and grumbled. "Why don't you go back to her house? She'd probably be there already the time you get there... Just go."

"Great idea!" Dash said, "I'll see you two later, okay! Why don't we meet at the park later?" And with that, Dash made his way down the stairs, leaving both Aisha and Rena alone.

"Its not like Rika to leave without saying goodbye to Dash..." Rena mused, "Something's fishy going on here... My instinct tells me so... I just felt an unusual aura earlier..."

"Its probably just your imagination!" Aisha said, patting Rena on the head, "But still... That IS not like Rika to just leave like that..."

Dash had just reached Rika's house and was now ringing the door bell, panting at the same time. Rika's grandfather, Professor Oak, answered the door. "Why! Good afternoon, Dash!" he greeted, "What brings you here?"

"Is Rika here?" Dash asked, "I need to apologize to her for making her wait just now..."

"I see..." Professor Oak said, "Let me get her then." And with that, Professor Oak climbed up the stairs and called out Rika from her room. "Rika! Get down here! Someone's hear to see you!"

"Coming!" Rika replied, Dash relieved that Rika was really there. Rika walked down the stairs and went towards the door, facing the brown-haired boy. "Can I help you?"

"Rika..." Dash muttered, "I'm sorry that I was late just now! I understand if you're angry at me, but--" Dash looked up and noticed the confused look on Rika's face. "Rika?"

"I'm sorry," Rika said, "But... who are you? How do you know my name?"

"What are you talking about?" Dash asked, "Its me! Dash!"

"I don't think I know anyone by that name..." Rika replied, "Sorry... You must have the wrong house." And with that, Rika closed the door and was completely oblivious to Dash calling out to her.

'How come she couldn't remember who I am?' Dash thought, 'Did I make her THAT mad?'

Rika was leaning against the door as Dash left. She placed her hand on her chest and had a sad look on her face. 'What's wrong with me?' she thought, 'Why do I feel so sad when I sent that boy away? I don't even know him...'

Dash gloomed as he remembered what Rika had said to him. Don't know him? She practically always goes to school with him! All this ran through his mind. He then saw Aisha and Rena running over to him. "Hey, Dash!" Aisha called out to him, "We were just heading towards the park like you told us to! Where're you going? That's not the way to the park!"

"Dash?" Rena, who had just gone back to her normal quiet self, called, "Is something wrong?" Rena and Aisha began to notice the gazed look on Dash's face. "What's wrong? Where's Rika?"

"She..." Dash muttered, "... deosn't remember me."

"Huh?"

Dash, Rena and Aisha were sitting together on a bench in the park. Rena sat in the middle while the other two sat on the sides. Dash was looking down on the floor, his depressed look still there. "You mean she didn't know who you were?" Rena asked, "Maybe she's just in a bad mood..."

"That's the weird thing..." Dash said, "She didn't seem mad nor did she seemed like she was lying about it... It was as if she actually forgot everything about me..."

"Furret..." Pip muttered, climbing up onto Dash's lap.

"Maybe it has something to do with that Zayl..." Aisha mused, "That guy loves anything that has something to do with spirits or black magic... He's my classmate so I should know this. He's very knowledgable when it comes to Dark-Type Pokemon... I wonder if that's the reason the school gave him a Shuppet as his starting Pokemon..."

"Zayl did that?" Dash asked, "How?"

"I don't know!" Aisha shrugged, "He must've cast a spell on her or something..."

"Maybe I know how he did it," Rena suddenly spoke up, "When I turned into my 'other self', I saw Zayl putting something into Rika's mouth... I can't tell what it actually was, but it really looked more like a grape to me..."

"A grape?" Aisha asked, "I got it! He used a 'Hypnotism Grape' on her! That must be it!"

"A what?" Dash asked, raising one of his eyebrows, "What in Latios is that?"

"Its a weird fruit that can only be grown by black magic... Whoever eats it will fall under the command of the first person they talk to... Rika must be in Zayl's spell now..."

"How do you know this kind of stuff?" Rena asked with curiousity.

"That good-for-nothing kid..." Dash muttered to himself, clutching his fists together, "Why would he want to do that to someone like Rika? What's his intention of doing so?"

"Probably has something to do with his crush on her?"

"Huh?"

"Zayl has a crush on Rika. I ever looked through one of his books and I saw a lot of pictures of Rika..."

"This is ridiculous!" Dash exclaimed, "He shouldn't have gone this far just because he likes her! And why in the world did he make her forget about me? I saw him going to the school's gym earlier! I'm heading there to have a word with him!" And with that, Dash and Pip ran out of the park as they headed towards the school.

Rena and Aisha just looked at eachother with concerned looks.

"Zayl!" Dash shouted, sliding the gym door open, "Where are you? I need to talk to you! I know what you did to Rika! You made her eat that 'grape thing' and made her forget about me!"

"Truly you are an amazing boy..." a voice said from withing the darkness of the gym, "I congratulate you of finding out that it was me, but I must inform you that I have no cure for her."

Zayl appeared in front of Dash with his Shuppet, Voodo, on his head. "What do you mean...?" Dash asked, "Are you saying that she'll never remember me?"

"That's about it."

"You creep!" Dash exclaimed angrily, glaring at the boy in front of him, "I'm gonna teach you a lesson right here, right now! You and I, Pokemon battle! Your Shuppet against my Furret!"

"I see," Zayl said calmly, "Then go forth, my Voodo!" The Shuppet flew towards Pip as it went into battle stance.

"ATTACK!" Dash and Zayl shouted in unison, commanding both of their Pokemon.

Meanwhile, Rika was walking towards the school with her Eevee walking beside her. She did not know why she came there but she had a feeling that someone was calling her name somewhere in the school. "What am I doing here?" Rika asked, "Why do I feel an urge to return here? Its like... I'm being pulled by a magnetic force..." Rika walked pass through the school gate with her Eevee behind her.

She heard something coming from inside the school gym so she decided to check it out. She took a peek through a gap on the entrance and saw two Pokemon battling eachother. It was Zayl's Shuppet against a strangely familiar Furret. She spotted the Furret's trainer, a boy with brown hair. Before the brown-haired boy could command his Pokemon, Rika walked in automatically and caught his attention. "Rika..." Dash muttered.

"You..." Rika muttered, moving closer to the brown-haired boy, "Who are you and yet, somehow I have feeling I knew you... for a very long time..."

"What?" Zayl shuttered, "She's beginning to remember him? That's impossible!"

"Rika!" Dash called out, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Its me! Dash! Can you remember anything about me?"

"D-Dash...?" Rika muttered, "Why... My head... It hurts..."

"I order you to stop thinking about him right this instant!" Zayl shouted angrily, "Are you listening to me?"

"Rika..." Dash muttered, looking eye to eye with Rika, "Its me, remember?"

"AH!" Rika squeeled, falling down to her knees. Dash's hands were still placed on her shoulders as she looked up to see him. "Huh? Dash?" Rika muttered, still feeling a bit woozy, "What am I doing here? I remembered looking for you after school and then--" Rika's eyes widened in suprise as Dash gave her a big hug, her face flushed furiously. "D-Dash! What do you think you're doing?"

"You're back to normal!" Dash exclaimed happily, tightening his grip, "You remembered about me!"

"W-What are you talking about?" Rika shuttered, trying to move away from Dash, "Stop hugging me lke this! What if someone sees you?" Rika then heard a laughter coming from behind her.

"So this is what you two were doing!" Aisha said teasingly, "You two naughty lovebirds you!"

"A-Aisha!" Rika and Dash flustered, Dash finally letting go of Rika, "This is not what you think! Eh?" They then realized that Zayl was no longer around the gym. He vanished into thin air.

"I wonder where Zayl went off to?" Rika asked, "What exactly happened to me anyway?"

"Nothing..." Dash replied, "Nothing happened to you."

"Huh? I don't get it..." Rika put on a confused look on her face as Dash walked out of the gym with Aisha behind him. "Hey! Wait up! Don't leave me here alone!"

Zayl and Voodo watched Dash, Rika and Aisha walking out of the gym and meeting Rena Kyotsuke at the gate. Zayl and his Pokemon were hiding above a tree. "Is it really okay for you to let her go like that?" Voodo asked, "Aren't you disappointed?"

"I am," Zayl replied, "But she made her choice... She prefers Dash than me... I think its best for me to just leave them alone... Let's go back home, Voodo."

"Yes, master..." And with that, Zayl and his Voodo teleported away.