As nighttime came, we reach the crest of a hill. At the top we sighed in relief at the blaze of city lights below us.
"There's the town!" Iris said. "We'll be at the port soon!"
"Finally! My feet are killing me!" I said.
"There should be a Pokémon Center located in that town. How about we stay there?" Cilan said.
"I'm right with you, Cilan!" Ash said. Pikachu and Axew chattered in agreement.
Something caught our attention above. We looked up as a shooting star zoomed through the sky.
"A shooting star! Wow!" Iris said. She and Axew clasped their hands together and bowed their heads. "This is the perfect time to wish for something..."
"Hey, Iris, look at that!" Ash said.
"Not now, Ash! I need to repeat my wish three times!" Iris said. Her face paled as she realized the shooting star was now zigzagging through the sky, getting closer and closer. "It's coming this way!"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!"
The bright, oval-shaped light dove toward us, and we ran out of the way. It zipped past the hill and over the town. Sparks and fire burst from the light, causing it to tumble around in the air.
"I don't think that was a shooting star." Cilan said as we stood up.
"What gave it away: the sporadic traveling pattern or the flames shooting from it?" I said, brushing the dirt off my dress.
"Let's check it out!" Ash said.
"Are you nuts? Haven't you ever seen a horror movie? Rule #1: you never go towards the mysterious glowing object!"
"But what if it's something really cool?" Iris said. She tugged on my arm. "Come on, let's go!"
As my friends dragged me down the path, I looked back on the glowing town that we were running away from. I sighed. So close.
We maneuvered through the forest and came to a large, open field. Pieces of metal were strewn across the dirt.
"What's that?" Ash said.
"They look like parts for something." Iris said.
"Possibly for a machine." Cilan said, cupping his chin in his hand. I silently prayed he wouldn't spring into "DETECTIVE TIME".
Ash noticed something gleaming in the dirt, and when he walked over and picked it up, it was revealed as a large, golden charm.
"Whoa..." Ash said.
"Must've come from that thing." Iris said.
"Looks like an Amulet Coin to me!" Cilan said.
"Amulet Coin?" Ash said.
"An Amulet Coin is said to bring good luck to whoever possesses one."
"Really? Awesome!"
"You're not going to take into account that you found it among a giant pile of machine parts after we just witnessed a strange... UFO thing?" I said. "Doesn't any of this set your paranoid levels on high?"
"Who cares? I got an Amulet Coin!"
I sighed and shook my head.
We entered the Pokémon Center and checked into our rooms. I sighed in relief as I flopped down on a bed and kicked my shoes off.
"Thank goodness! My feet have been screaming for miles now!" I said, rubbing one of my feet.
"Yeah, I'm beat!" Iris said.
"I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep." Cilan said. He leaned his head against the back of the couch. "We'll all be back on the boat tomorrow."
Ash stretched and laid down on the bed next to mine. "I haven't slept in a bed in so long!" Ash sat up and took the Amulet Coin out of his pocket. He placed it on the bedside table.
"Shouldn't you turn that in to the Pokémon Center or Officer Jenny?" I said. "Maybe somebody lost it and they're looking for it."
"Maybe I should..." Ash said. "...Tomorrow! But for now, goodnight!"
Ash fell back into the pillows and fell asleep, his back turned to me. I glared at his back and shook my head.
What a kid.
I awoke to strange, blinking sounds in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I froze when I saw the shadows of three blinking lights: red, green, and yellow. The shadows blinked slowly and steadily. The lights suddenly intensified, as if another set had appeared. My muscles tensed cautiously, and, very slowly, I reached over and nudged Zorua awake.
"Mm... what-" Zorua said.
"Shh." I said, and I pointed to the blinking shadows.
Zorua looked over, and after studying them, she looked back at me, her eyes filled with a scowl.
"What is that?" she said.
"I don't know... But if it broke into our room, something tells me it's not going to be very friendly." I said.
The shadows were getting closer.
"Quick, hide under the bed!" Zorua said.
We both dropped to the ground and rolled underneath the bed. The lights had moved to my bed, and I could see the blinking shadows right next to us. Zorua whimpered, and I clutched her tightly to my chest. I stroked her fur reassuringly.
"Just be calm." I said through telepathy.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the shadows had disappeared. Zorua and I both sighed in relief. As I rolled towards the end of the bed, the lights suddenly appeared on that side. Zorua and I both gasped, and I clamped my hands over our mouths. The red, green, and yellow lights blinked steadily, a third of the pace of my racing heart. A line of sweat formed on my forehead, and I'm sure if Zorua was in her human form, she'd be sweating buckets. The lights withdrew from the side of the bed, and after a few more moments, the door closed. Zorua and I waited a few more minutes, just to make sure the coast was clear, before we rolled out from underneath the bed.
"What was that?!" Zorua said.
"I don't know... But something really weird is going on." I said. I cupped my chin in my hands. "First the weird, floating light in the sky, then Ash found the Amulet Coin among all those scraps of metal, and now a mysterious being broke into our room?"
"You're leading to something."
"Of course I am. It's obviously all connected. We need to figure it out."
"Right behind you!"
I walked over to the door and paused. If whatever came in here was still in the building, I couldn't risk going out this way. I turned around and saw the window.
"This way." I said, creeping past my sleeping friends. As I crept past Ash's bed, I stole a glance at his bedside table; the Amulet Coin was still there. I opened the window. "Come on."
Zorua took a running start and leaped out of the window. She turned bright magenta and morphed into a Pidove. I positioned myself on the sill and gently closed the window. My eyes caught on to a tree branch, but it was several feet away. I slowly rose into a crouch and, after a few pumps to gain momentum, launched myself towards the branch. My hands snagged it, and I dangled in the air. I let go and landed crouched on a tree branch below me. I jumped off and landed on the ground. Pidove-Zorua transformed back into herself, and we ran into the streets of the town.
~TPPOV~
The blinds of the window were thrown open, changing Ash's closed vision from black to red. He grabbed his hat and sprang out of bed, stretching until his back popped several satisfying times.
"Man, I had such a good night's sleep!" Ash said.
"What a beautiful day!" Cilan said, facing towards the window with his back to Ash.
Ash slid his hat on. "Yeah."
"Morning, Ash!" Iris said from the couch.
"Morning, Iris." Ash said as he walked past her. I wonder where Rylee is. Maybe she took a morning stroll or something.
The hair on Ash's neck rose as he froze in his steps. Did he look at Iris correctly? He turned and looked back at her, and realizing what he really saw, jumped back and cried out.
"What's the matter? Is something wrong with my face?" Iris said, standing up. There indeed was something wrong with her face; it wasn't there! It had been replaced by another, freakier one, with brown skin, green, mask-like eyes, and strange, black lines on its forehead. Axew popped out of Iris's hair, sporting the same face.
"You bet there's something wrong!" Ash cried, jumping back in the direction of Cilan.
"Why are you so upset, Ash?" Cilan said. He turned around and cried out, seeing that the connoisseur had the same freaky mask. "Did you eat something that doesn't agree with you?"
Ash stared at Cilan, flabbergasted. "Hey, cut it out!" he cried. Iris and Cilan grunted in confusion. "Take those off! Those masks look really stupid! Enough already!"
Ash lunged at Cilan and tried to pry the mask off, but it wouldn't budge.
"Hey, that hurts!" Cilan cried, pushing Ash away. "That's my face you're pulling on, you know!"
"Huh?" Ash said. "That's not a mask?!"
"What are you talking about? If anyone's wearing a mask, it's you!"
"What?!"
"Right. Only little kids wear masks." Iris said.
Ash turned around and saw Pikachu. He lifted his head, revealing the same mask!
"Pikachu!" Ash said. He gripped the sides of the mask and tried to pull it off. "Not you, too! I want you to take that off right now! Come on, I want you back to the way you were!"
Pikachu vigorously shook his head, and the mask had disappeared.
"There you are. You had me completely freaked out!" Ash said, hugging Pikachu tightly. "I was so worried about you!"
"Ash..." Iris and Cilan said. They lunged at him, and Ash cried out and took off down the hall. He sprinted to the front desk.
"Nurse Joy! It's an emergency!" Ash said.
"What's wrong? You seem all flustered..." Nurse Joy said. She and Audino turned around, sporting the same mask.
Ash screamed and ran out of the Pokémon Center.
"Officer Jenny, help me!" Ash cried, stumbling over to the police officer. "Everyone's faces have gotten so weird!"
"Weird?" Officer Jenny turned around, and... You can guess what Ash saw. "How weird?"
With another scream, Ash ran throughout the streets of town. Everyone wore the strange mask. Ash dove into an alley and peeked out, watching all the freaky-looking people carry on.
"I've seen that face before..." Ash said. He pulled out his Pokédex and searched through it.
Beheeyem, the Cerebral Pokémon. Beheeyem can use its psychic powers to control its opponent's minds and memories.
"But why would everyone turn into Beheeyem?" Ash said.
"Hey, you! Twerp!" a voice called. Ash looked forward and gasped when he saw Jessie and James poking out from a manhole.
"You didn't turn into Beheeyem either?" James said.
"Team Rocket!" Ash cried, and a few pedestrians paused to look over.
"SHH!" Jessie and James hissed. They grabbed Ash and pulled him into the sewers, all of them landing hard on the ground.
"All right, did you guys do all of this?"
"Not on your twerpish life!" Jessie said.
"We came here on a Meowth-finding mission, and when we woke up, the whole town had acquired Beheeyem faces!" James said.
"You're not lying?" Ash said.
"We'll save lying for when we need it." Jessie said. She and James reached out their hands to Ash. "A truce?"
Ash hesitated before he shook their hands.
After carefully lifting the manhole cover off, Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, and James poked their heads out of the sewers and glanced around. Everyone around them had Beheeyem faces.
Pikachu perked his ears up. Knowing that Rylee was the only one who could understand what he was saying, he nudged Ash's ear and pointed forward at a large group of people gathered together.
"Hey, there's something going on." Ash said.
"So it seems." Jessie said.
"Town meeting?" James said.
"Fellow citizens! Thank you for gathering this morning!" Nurse Joy called above the crowd. Audino and Officer Jenny were beside her.
"So, please, join me in welcoming Dr. Beheeyem." Officer Jenny said.
The audience clapped as a Beheeyem floated towards the stage. Ash gasped quietly when he saw Cilan and Iris in the crowd. He scanned the crowd many times, as well as everywhere else, but he still couldn't find Rylee in their midst.
Where in the world could she have gone?
Audino held up a poster, and Beheeyem began to speak, however none of the non-possessed people could understand him. He moved to the side and pointed to what was on the poster: a golden coin. However, it just looked like a yellow blob to Ash, Jessie, and James.
"Wonder what Beheeyem told those people to find." Ash said.
"Can you see what's on that diagram?" Jessie said, leaning forward.
"Negative, it's too far away." James said.
They all tried to lean closer to get a better look, but they lost their balance and fell to the ground. Pikachu cried out as he fell off Ash's head and fell.
The crowd turned.
"It's Ash and Team Rocket." Cilan said.
"Dr. Beheeyem, they were eavesdropping on us!" Iris cried, pointing an accusing finger at the group. Axew chattered angrily.
Beheeyem roared, pointing its flashing hand towards the group.
"Dr. Beheeyem has ordered us to capture those eavesdroppers!" Officer Jenny said.
"As you wish." the group all said simultaneously, sending a frightened chill down Ash's back.
The crowd surged.
"This looks bad!" Ash said.
"What should we do?!" James said, turning to Jessie.
"What we always do: RUN!" Jessie cried, yanking the two boys back into the sewers. A few people fell into the manhole and landed in a groaning pile at the bottom. Ash and the others ran down the tunnel.
"Get them!" the crowd cried, and more people landed into the pile.
Jessie and James lifted up another manhole cover and peeked out.
"Let's hide over there." James said.
Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, and James jumped out and hurried into one of the alleys.
"We should remain undetected while we're here." James said. Ash, Jessie, James, and Pikachu had hidden inside one of the warehouses.
"I can't figure out why all of those people would turn into Beheeyem." Ash said.
"Perhaps their ultimate goal is to convert the whole planet into a Beheeyem." James said.
"Wait! As in taking over the world?! Come on, that's our job!" Jessie said.
"You're not doing a very good job at that, are you?" a voice said. A hand snagged Ash's shoulder.
Ash screamed and flailed his arms around. A hand pushed him against the pile of boxes while another clamped over his mouth.
"Be quiet, Ash! Do you want to give away our hiding spot?!" a voice hissed, belonging to a face that filled Ash with relief.
"Rylee!" Ash mumbled through her hand. He pulled it off, grabbed her face, and pulled at her cheeks. "You're not a Beheeyem!"
"No, I'm not." Rylee said, prying Ash's hands off. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one who wasn't turned into one."
"But where were you?"
"Last night at the Pokémon Center, a Beheeyem broke into our room." Zorua said. "We knew something was up, so we've been investigating."
"But how were you able to remain undetected by all those Beheeyem people?" James said.
Rylee snapped her fingers and held out her hand as Zorua glowed magenta. She grabbed the light and held it up to her face. The light faded, revealing a Beheeyem face.
"By hiding in plain sight." Rylee said. She tossed the Beheeyem face to the side, and it transformed back into Zorua. "During that rally, I saw you guys blow your cover. However, I was able to find out what they were talking about, and why everyone has turned into Beheeyem."
"Then, tell us!" Jessie said.
"That meteor we all thought we saw last night was actually a Beheeyem flying saucer!" a rough voice said.
"That voice! Could it be?!" James said.
Meowth stepped out from behind Rylee and placed his paws on his hips.
"It's Meowth! Untouched by weirdness!" Jessie said.
"And untouched by Beheeyem-ness!" James said.
"Wait, so you know about this, too?" Ash said. "But how?"
"Because I was in that giant hunk of glowing metal!" Meowth said. "I was out searching for valuable stuff when a bunch of Beheeyem captured me! I was taken inside their ship, and they started messing with me big time! They tried to knock the charm right off of my noodle!"
"But... why?" Jessie said.
"Ash has a good idea." Rylee said. She turned to Ash. "Show everyone the Amulet Coin you found last night."
Ash gulped and pulled out the Amulet Coin. Rylee took it from him and held it up next to Meowth's charm.
"A perfect match!" James said.
"That rally that happened earlier was because they were looking for that coin. They took Meowth because they thought that charm was their coin." Rylee said. She whirled around and threw the coin at Ash. "I told you to turn that stupid thing in! Now look where it's got us!"
"How was I supposed to know everyone would get possessed if I didn't?!" Ash cried. "But that doesn't answer why we didn't get turned into Beheeyem.
"I figured Rylee and I didn't because we escaped before they could transform us." Zorua said. "However... I'm at a loss with you guys."
"What are we supposed to do now?"
"We have to find that flying saucer." Rylee said. "We can return this coin to the Beheeyem and everything will go back to normal."
"Uh-uh! No way, sister!" Meowth cried, taking a step back. "I'd rather not lose my head!"
"But Meowth, the flying saucer could be the key to solving our problems!" James said.
"Hate to break it to you, but that saucer and the town are crawling with Beheeyem and their servants! We won't take two steps without being caught!"
"There's gotta be another way..." Ash said.
"Wait a minute... what's in that box over there?" Pikachu said.
Rylee and Ash walked over to the box and opened it. Meowth jumped inside.
"Well, I'll be a talking Pokémon!" Meowth cried inside the box. He reappeared, holding a cluster of Beheeyem masks. "We'll use these to disguise ourselves among the walking dead!"
"Awesome!" Ash said.
"Twerp wisdom!" Jessie and James said.
~RYLEE~
We peeked out of the alleyway and at the possessed pedestrians. Everyone had Beheeyem masks on, while I was using Zorua (which, to me, looked a little more realistic).
"Are you ready?" Ash said.
We nodded and entered the street. Ash and I walked side by side with Team Rocket behind us. Ash provided a little too much confidence in his step, and I rolled my eyes.
"Ease up, Ash. These people still know how to walk." I said. Ash blushed sheepishly through his mask and started walking regularly.
"Are you sure this'll work?" James said.
"Not with that attitude. Just act natural."
As we walked, we passed by a lady with an umbrella. One of the umbrella spokes snagged Ash's mask, causing it to slide down and expose his upper face.
"Ash!" Pikachu hissed.
A couple of pedestrians hovered uncomfortably close to Ash. He grabbed his face in surprise and quickly put the mask back on right. A group of people surrounded us. As they lunged, we dove into the alleyway.
"I told you these masks would bust us!" Jessie cried.
"It's all your fault, twerp!" James said.
"Stop complaining and put that energy into running!" I said.
"We've gotta get to the harbor!" Meowth said.
"I hope you're right, Meowth! Are you sure there are flying saucers around here?" Ash said.
"You bet, and this ship is sitting on top of it!" Meowth said as we climb onto one of the ship's docks, belonging to a massive ship.
"That vessel's huge!" James said. "How is that even possible?!"
We climbed onto the ship and looked over the railing. Underneath, we saw the faint, glowing silhouette of the flying saucer.
"How do we get inside?" I said.
Meowth led us inside the ship to a glowing hole in the middle of the floor.
"This is what connects the boat to the flying saucer." Meowth said.
"We've got to get them to turn everyone back to normal." Ash said.
I heard Jessie and James mumbling to each other, but I chose to ignore it. It was probably a ridiculous scheme that would backfire in the next five minutes. We jumped through the hole and into the flying saucer. A Beheeyem passed through the halls, and we grabbed it and tied it up.
"No funny business!" Jessie said.
"Keep your wits about you, and you'll be fine." James said. Beheeyem nodded.
"Now, take us to your leaders!" Ash said.
"It's a Pokémon, Ash, not an alien." I said, rolling my eyes. I shot Beheeyem an apologetic glance.
The Beheeyem took us to the core of the flying saucer, but there was no one there. We threw off our masks, mine turning back into Zorua.
"Show yourselves!" Jessie called.
"We know you're here!" James said.
"Over here." I heard Meowth said.
We turned around and saw Meowth floating midst four Beheeyem. The one we had captured flew away.
"What do you think you're doing, letting yourself be captured?!" Jessie said.
"Not my choice..." Meowth said.
"Beheeyem, please, turn everyone back to normal." I said. "You're only here so you could find that coin, right?"
The Beheeyem conversed with each other quietly.
"Amazing! Our first human that we have understood!" one of them said.
"True, but what about the others? They speak, but all we hear is noise." the other said.
"If you explain yourselves, I can help to translate." I said.
"We have a better idea..." One of the Beheeyem held up its hand in front of Meowth, and it began to glow.
"Oh, no... Not another light show!" Meowth said. His eyes turned red. "Greetings. We are Beheeyem. We are using this Pokémon in order to communicate with you."
"All right then, tell us what you want." Ash said.
"And it better not include taking over the world!" Jessie said.
"We have no interest in taking over the world. Last night, our ship had a major malfunction ad our ship exploded, causing the most important component of our ship to eject from intense force of the blast. We were forced to make a crash landing in the ocean." Meowth said. "We hypnotized every person and Pokémon in this town so they would help us to locate this most important component. As a result, the hypnotized people and Pokémon are convinced that they themselves are Beheeyem, like we are. However, for some unknown reason, a small group of people and Pokémon were totally immune to our hypnotization, and to that group, the hypnotized people and Pokémon curiously have the appearance of being Beheeyem."
"Wow. That's quite an explanation." I said. "Thing is, I know I was immune to it because of the powers I possess. Zorua wasn't either because I warned her, and we were able to escape before any hypnotization was done to us."
"Indeed, Pokémon Guardian." Meowth said, and a chill rushed down my spine. Could Pokémon detect who I was just by a glance?
"Well, if that small group is us, why didn't it have any effect?!" Jessie said.
"I'm afraid idiots are hard to hypnotize."
I gasped and covered my mouth, but still, I couldn't help but bust up laughing. Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, and James stared at Meowth and the Beheeyem with blank stares.
"IDIOTS?!" they all cried.
The Beheeyem cowered behind Meowth.
"One second! What we were attempting to convey to all of you is that gifted people are hard to hypnotize." Meowth said, but I still couldn't stop laughing.
"I see..." Jessie said. "So you're implying we're geniuses."
"Mm-hm... Whatever you say."
"I like these guys." I giggled.
Ash untied the captive Beheeyem. "So, what does this important part of the saucer look like?"
One of the Beheeyem presented a diagram of the golden coin.
"We have that! That is, Ash has it." I said, smacking Ash's arm to cue him in.
"Yeah, I found it last night." Ash said, pulling out the Amulet Coin and handing it to the Beheeyem. They cheered and inserted the coin into a slot, but nothing happened.
"The object you found last night is an Amulet Coin, and although it does appear similar to what we're looking for, it's completely different." Meowth said.
"Huh... I could've sworn this played out differently in my head..." I said.
"It's really that important, huh?" Jessie said.
"It's our ship's only energy source. Once we find it, we'll be able to go back home." Meowth said.
Jessie retreated back and huddled with James. Their secretive whispering annoyed me.
"Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work." I said, crossing my arms. Jessie and James glared at me. I watched James pull out another Amulet Coin, and the Beheeyem went crazy.
"That's it!" Meowth said.
"Let's go!" Jessie cried, grabbing Meowth. He slipped out of her grip and face-planted, which snapped him out of the mind control.
"Where are you going?!" Ash cried as we chased them outside. Team Rocket had retreated into a submarine. "You've gotta give that back to the Beheeyem so they'll change everyone back to normal!"
"Puh-lease! This is one of a kind!" James said. "We'd be crazy to give this to them!"
"Hey, don't you remember? We made a deal!"
"Consider this a deal-breaker." Jessie said, closing the submarine hatch.
"Then you lied!"
"And you're surprised?" I said.
Ash sent Pikachu after them, and he shot Thunderbolt at their submarine. It exploded, sending Team Rocket blasting into the sky. I reached out and caught the Amulet Coin as it fell.
"Here," I said, handing it to the Beheeyem, "this belongs to you."
The Beheeyem cheered over their returned power source.
"Now, would you please turn everyone back to normal? No offense, but seeing your faces on my friends really creeps me out."
"Of course! Thank you for helping us!" the Beheeyem cried.
Ash and I stood on the docks as the flying saucer burst from the water.
"Thank you again, Pokémon Guardian and friend!" the Beheeyem called.
"You're welcome! Have a safe trip!" Ash called as he and I waved.
The flying saucer took off into the sunset sky.
"Hey, Ash! Rylee!" a voice called.
"There you guys are!" another voice said.
Ash and I turned around and saw Iris and Cilan running towards us.
"What are you two doing out here?" Iris said.
"When we couldn't find you at the Pokémon Center, we got worried." Cilan said.
"Your faces are back to normal!" Ash said. "You guys look awesome!"
"Um... what? Back to normal?" Iris said.
"What a strange thing to say!" Cilan chuckled.
"You mean you guys don't remember anything that happened today?" I said. "Your faces looked like Beheeyem!"
Axew emerged from Iris's hair with a Beheeyem mask on. Ash screamed and stumbled back, losing his footing on the edge of the dock. I rushed over and caught his hand, yanking him back to land before he could fall in. Axew took off the mask, and Iris, Cilan, and I laughed. Soon, Ash joined in.