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Episode 10: S.S. Spirited Away!

"Oh man, that was exhausting." I stopped to catch my breath as a boy strolled past on his bicycle. "Wish I had one of them. Oh well." I walked slowly out the underground path's doorway and was greeted by an elderly man.

"Stop! You must turn back!" He held up his hand in front of me.

"What? No way! It took me way too long to get through that place." I spoke.

"You must! That curled golden hair, those deep blue eyes you have. You must turn back now before it's too late!"

"Wait, what's this have to do with my hair?" I stared at him in confusion. "What's up mister?"

"The city is haunted by a pair of spirits. They trick young women of your hair and eye color into going with them. The women that follow them are spirited away and never seen again." The old man shivered in fear.

"Oh give me a break geezer. I thought this was actually something serious!" I stomped past him angrily. "Spirits. What a bunch of bologna!"

"You must not fall for their trickery! Watch out for the f…" By now I was out of earshot for the old man's voice to carry.

"Spirits. Pish posh." I said as I walked briskly to the city. "I can't wait to get on the S.S. Anne here though. It should be just ahead." As I continued walking a thick fog engulfed me. I couldn't see anything around me, but I could hear the ocean waves, so I followed the sound. As I got closer, I saw the light from a boat. A cloaked figure stood by the dock. As I approached him, he spoke.

"Do you have your ticket miss?" The figure lifted the ropes to the dock before I could hand it to him. "Go on in then."

"Wait, are you sure this is the S.S. Anne?" I asked. "I thought it was a cruise liner, this just looks like a large sailboat. And shouldn't there be more people?"

The figure pointed to writing on the boat, which read S.S. Anne on the side. "As to your question of the people, I suppose they wouldn't come, on account of the fog."

"Oh." I walked onto the boat suspiciously. I sat on a bench in the back, as the cloaked man went up to the controls in the front. "Are you sure you can drive this thing in this thick of fog?" I asked.

"Most certainly." There was something strange about his voice. It was like I wasn't hearing the words and processing them, but that the words simply came to my mind, as if they'd been placed there. I dismissed the thought thinking I was going crazy, especially when I watched the fog quickly rise as we took sail on the water.

"Wow, the fog lifted!" I observed.

"Yes, how fortunate for us." The voice answered.

The rest of the trip was quiet as I looked out onto the water, seeing the sights. After what felt like an hour, I saw a beautiful castle perched on a nearby island come into view. "How beautiful."

"Yes, we will be arriving there shortly." The figure spoke.

"What? But I didn't think the S.S. Anne made any stops." I said. He didn't reply as he moored the boat at the edge of the island. I carefully stood up and crossed over to the land. It was cold, and the fog returned in a less brutal form. The figure motioned me to follow him into the castle, so I followed if only to get out of the cold. As he opened the castle doors, I stared at the gnarled and twisted trees outside. "Somebody needs to work on their landscaping." I laughed. But the figure simply stepped inside the large foyer of the castle. As I walked in, the doors mysteriously closed behind me. The figure motioned for me to go in an adjacent room, which was exactly the opposite of the dark dreary foyer. It was decorated in pink lace and had soft yellow lighting. There was a beautiful pink dress hanging in the room.

"You may place your things here. The master will see you in one hour." The cloaked figure lifted its hood to reveal a Lucario. He closed the door abruptly.

"Hey wait!" I jumped up and pulled at the door handle, but it was locked. "Oh that's just great." I fell to my knees and looked for any other way out of the room. There was none. "I feel like I'm in the Beauty and the Beast story." I imagined walking out to an ugly primeape man. I spent a long time trying to pick the lock, and even longer trying to open my pokeballs, but for some odd reason, they stayed shut. I sat in the middle of the room sulking, until finally temptation got a hold of me as I tried on the frilly dress. It was a perfect fit. There was a tiara sitting on the vanity. I picked it up and placed it on my head. Just as I was admiring myself in the mirror, the door thrust open. Lucario stood in the doorway.

"Good. You are ready." Lucario used his telepathy to speak this to me.

"Oh no you don't, I'm getting out of here!" I reached for my bag, but before I could grab it, Lucario held his palm to me and encased me in a strange glowing sphere.

"Let me out of here! Why are you doing this?" I pounded on the sphere's walls.

"For my master." Lucario replied as he pulled the sphere with his paws and pushed it though the doors to a dining room. There was a feast littering the table and as I was held high above a chair, the sphere dissipated and I toppled onto it. The door to this room again, was locked, so I sat impatiently in one of the chairs.

"All right!" I yelled out. "Primeape Man! Come on out and lets get this over with!"

The door creaked as I heard the footsteps come in. I turned to see him enter the room and close the door gently with his staff.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting princess. I, Sir Aaron, do give you my deepest apologies." The handsome man took his seat across from me at the table. He was dressed in a dark blue suit that brought out his dark eyes and hair. The cape and hat he sported made him look like a hero out of a fairy tale. " I do hope you enjoy the feast I've had prepared for us." He served me a plate of delectable looking food with the utmost manners.

"Well, actually I am starving." I said, as I dug into the plate of food. Sir Aaron looked somewhat surprised as he watched me gorge on the feast. "What's wrong?" I said while still chewing.

Sir Aaron simply let out a charming laugh. "Nothing my dear princess, I'm just happy you can finally relax around me." He slowly began eating from his plate, taking his time.

After dessert I leaned back in the chair. "That was pretty good." I said. "I must say it's nice to get treated like royalty."

"What ever do you mean princess? Are you not always treated as such?"

I didn't say anything as I realized this guy must really think I'm a princess.

"Because if not," He continued. "You should, and I would ensure a beautiful princess like you is treated as such everyday."

I blushed. Profusely.

"Princess," Sir Aaron rose from his chair. "Would you honor me with a dance tonight?"

"Uh…" I thought for a moment. "Could you give me a minute? To umm… digest."

"Oh. Very well." Sir Aaron nodded. "You may take some time to, as you put it, digest. But meet me later in the garden." He walked over to me, took my hand and gently kissed it. "I'll be waiting for you princess." He walked out the door calmly.

"Now. I've got to find that Lucario and have a word with him." The doors were unlocked again, so I rushed down the foyer. "Lucario! C'mon on out! I know you're here." There was no response. "Fine, I'm leaving!" I reached for the main gate handles.

"You can not leave." His voice called out. I turned to see him behind me, arms crossed.

"Why? Why can I not leave? What is it exactly that you want me to do?" I asked.

"You need to stay here with my master. Keep him happy." Lucario turned toward a photo sitting on a nearby table.

I walked over to the photo and picked it up. It was a photo of Sir Aaron and the Princess, whom I had to admit, did look a lot like me. "This is the real princess isn't it? And you are the spirits left lurking this castle. Stealing away girls to replace her. Why Lucario?" I questioned.

"You don't understand! My master loved the princess! But he never got the chance to tell her before he passed on. He still longs to tell her how he felt, so we're stuck here, looking for a dead maiden. I have to bring the girls like you! His spirit will never rest unless I do so." Lucario looked down, unhappily.

"Let me help you." I put a hand on his shoulder. It felt odd, thin, like it wasn't there at all, but it still seemed to calm him. "Let me help you and your master." I walked toward the garden without a second thought. I crossed the pathway with beautiful roses on either side, the fog was non-existent in this area, and the temperature had changed as well. It was now a pleasantly warm night as Sir Aaron gazed at me from across the courtyard.

"Princess, you came. Let us dance, right here under the stars." He took my hand and whirled me across the garden. We danced slowly, hand in hand before I spoke.

"Sir Aaron, there's something I have to tell you." I said, closing my eyes and enjoying the moment.

"No my dear princess, there is something I must tell you. Something I've longed to tell you all my life, but could not bring myself to until this day." He stopped the dance and gazed into my eyes. Slowly wrapping his arms around me, that felt so warm and safe. "My beautiful princess, I love you." He began leaning in slowly with his eyes closed, and I suddenly felt unable to resist what was coming. I leaned forward, thinking. Maybe I could stay here, maybe I could stay here with Sir Aaron…

"No!" I pushed him. I shoved out of his arms. That kiss would have sealed my fate and kept me there for the rest of my days. Sir Aaron simply stared at me with a hurt look on his face. "No Sir Aaron! I'm not the princess! The princess you loved is long gone. She is some here out there waiting for you. She's not here in this castle anymore!" Sir Aaron looked surprised, and then a smile crossed his face, as he looked toward the stars. "Yes! She's out there, that's where you'll find her." As I said this, I noticed everything around me, the castle, the roses, and the courtyard disappearing. Even the dress I was wearing was changing back to my normal attire. Lucario walked over to his master and stood beside him. A sad smile crossed both their faces.

"Thank you," Sir Aaron said to me. "For showing me the right way. I'm afraid our time together will end, but I want you to have this." He handed me an odd colored pokemon egg. "Just like my search for the princess, it will take a lot of time and love, but when it hatches, you will know I've finally found peace."

Lucario, Sir Aaron, and everything around me faded away. As it did, a rush of wind, like a cyclone, blew me back, and I hit something hard. Before I knew it, the world went black.

x-x-x

As I awoke, I rubbed my sore head tenderly. I looked back to see I was leaning against an old beat up pick-up truck that must have knocked me out. It was the only thing besides me on the tiny island. I would have called it all a dream, but I still held the pokemon egg in my arms. I crawled over to my bag, that was laying nearby. The other egg and all my pokeballs were still packed neatly inside. I looked around but couldn't see any way of getting off the island. I leaned back against the truck and sighed. But as I stared into the horizon, a spec came into view. As the spec came closer I could tell it was a boat. I stood, holding my bag across my arm, and my new egg in the other. "Hey! Help!"

x-x-x

Kyle looked out to the ocean from the front deck. He closed his eyes taking in the smell of the sea, and blocking out the captain's constant bantering of gratitude for helping him get over his seasickness.

"I tell you young man! If you hadn't came to rub my back then, I don't know what I would have done." The captain sneered. "You know it felt reaaal good."

"Whatever old man, just hurry and get us back to Vermillion." Kyle leaned against the railing until a small island came into view. "Hmm… How'd a pick-up get out there? Looks like an old S-10." He paused, and squinted his eyes. "What the… how did she get out there?"

"What's that son? I couldn't hear ya!" The captain asked.

"My friend's out there! Stuck on that island!" Kyle called out. And he wondered why he had said friend. Were they friends now?

"You have a friend eh!" The captain snickered. "Younger or older?"

"Uh… younger?"

"Oh boy! I'll pull over right now! Lemme just drop anchor here and…" The boat pulled to a sudden stop, causing Kyle to lose balance and grab for the rail. He heard lots of people downstairs screaming and plates breaking.

"Now you get that friend of yours and bring em' on board so I can meet em!" The captain smiled.

Kyle walked over to the rescue items and began untying the supplies.

x-x-x

I watched as the boat pulled to an abrupt stop beside me. Then I saw who was coming to my rescue. Kyle smiled as he leaned over the railing.

"How'd you manage to get way out here?" He asked.

"It's a long story! You think you can help me get off this island?"

"Maybe, let me see what I can do!" He reached behind and tossed out the dinkiest life ring into the water.

"What? You've got me be kidding me! Surely you've got something better than that!" I cried.

"Nope sorry, that's it!" He called out.

I adjusted the life ring around my waist and slowly got pulled into the water. "Agh! Cold Cold Cold!" Finally I was pulled up and over onto the boats deck, soaking wet.

Kyle laughed. "You might want to watch your step."

"What?" I looked down to see a magikarp latched onto my foot. "Gah! Stupid magikarp!" I shook my foot and flung the thing across the ocean. Kyle laughed only harder. "Hey wait," I looked around the corner. "Kyle! There's three life boats over there!"

Kyle turned and looked. "Oops." He put his hand behind his head sheepishly. "Guess I missed that."

"Missed that! You mean you drug me through the ocean for nothi…"

"Oh hello there! Care to rub my back for me?" The captain came running from the front deck. He saw me and his face soured. "Aw, I thought your friend was a boy." He sulked back to the control room and started the boat up again.

We watched as the captain walked away. Finally I broke the silence. "Umm, so… What's up with him?"

Kyle looked over at me. "He's very weird. Try not to talk to him."