Charmed
Disclaimer: We own none of the characters in this story.
Writer's Note: This story was written by a team effort of me, Tazkol, VulpixTrainer, and Ri2. See how many references to other stories in the Chronicles you can find!
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We join our heroes once more on the road to adventure!
"I think we're lost," Dawn said.
"No we're not!" Ash said stubbornly, causing the Pikachu on his shoulder and everyone else in their group to roll their eyes in exasperation.
Misty huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Of course we are, we've been by this spot a gazillion times. Doesn't it look familiar to you?"
"No!" Ash said firmly, not bothering to look around.
Misty's eye twitched. "Not even the tree we deliberately marked to make sure we'd know that we'd come this way before?"
Ash's resolve slipped. "Um, uh…" He tried not to look at the marked tree. "Somebody else probably marked it. We can't be the only people who've come this way before!"
"Really?" said Tracey, frowning at the marking on the tree. "How odd, then, that they'd make the exact same marking I did. Namely, a wood carving of Professor Oak in profile! Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you think?" He glared at Ash.
Ash's eyes shifted back and forth nervously. "Um, Yeah... Weird, huh? Eheheheh." The others glared at him. He grinned weakly and looked down. "Yeah. I'll shut up now."
"Ash might be right, actually," Brock commented, low to the ground and examining impressions in the dirt. "Look at all these footprints. It looks as if a huge group of people came through here not too long ago! Maybe if we follow them, we can find a way out of this forest and get back on track to the next town."
"Um, Brock, I think those are our footprints," May said.
"Yeah, the ones we made by walking across this same path in circles half a dozen times," Dawn added.
"Oh," Brock said, slumping. Pikachu giggled on Ash's shoulder.
Max sighed and crossed his arms. "This would never have happened if a certain somebody hadn't sat on my Pokénav."
"Pi Pikachu," Pikachu agreed, glancing at May and cursing her and that huge fanny pack she insisted on wearing.
"It was an accident!" May protested. "How was I supposed to know you put it there?! You should have left it somewhere safer!"
"And you should have looked before you sat to make sure there wasn't anything easily crushable for you to sit on!" Max shot back. The two siblings began to squabble, and Ash and Misty soon began bickering as well about some incredibly trivial matter, leaving Brock, Tracey, and Dawn to sigh and wonder what had made them think it would be a bright idea for all of them to go traveling together on this new journey.
- - -
It had seemed like a good idea at the time. After Ash had (not unexpectedly, sad to say) lost the Sinnoh League, he had returned to Pallet Town to mope a bit. Dawn, having lost the Sinnoh Grand Festival, decided to come with him to see what the Pokémon Contests in Kanto were like.
Ash's spirits had been raised when Professor Oak told Ash of another new region he could go to, and he had gotten the brilliant idea (amazingly) of calling up his other friends and asking them if they'd like to come with him, some sort of 'all-star' journey.
Though nobody knew what the hell he was talking about, they decided it wouldn't be such a bad idea to travel together once more and get reacquainted with one another, since it had been a long time for many of them since they had last gone on a real journey together. Everyone found a good reason to come along. Dawn came because she found the Kanto contests less exciting than she had hoped and wanted to see if the ones in the new region would be any better.
May, who had (not unexpectedly) lost in the Johto Grand Festival decided to come for essentially the same reason. Tracey came because he would get to sketch all sorts of cool new Pokémon, and also because Professor Oak had decided it was about time his assistant got back out in the field again instead of hanging around the lab all day.
Max, who had only a few months ago become a real Pokémon trainer, decided to rejoin the group to get more experience and also keep an eye on his sister. Brock had come because he knew somebody needed to feed all those mouths, and also because he was hoping he might find the most elusive specimen of all in the new land: a woman who would actually fall in love with him.
And as for Misty... Well, it was clear to everyone, or soon became clear, why she was really coming, although she said it was just to get away from her sisters for a while and let them gain experience running the gym for a change. It didn't take long for those only passingly familiar with Misty, namely May, Max, and Dawn, to realize she was deeply in love with Ash, and the cap-wearing trainer was totally oblivious to her affections, although due to his somewhat increased maturity there were some signs he might return the feelings. but neither Ash and Misty seemed to be aware of those signs, sad to say. It was all rather frustrating, and had helped the romantic May and Dawn better bond with Tracey, who claimed that he'd been trying to get the two to pair up for ages with no success.
If the thickening sexual tension between Ash and Misty weren't bad enough, Team Rocket had (not unexpectedly) followed them to the new region, and, as usual, had written a new motto to celebrate the occasion. And to top it all off, now they were totally lost. Could the day get any worse?
Of course it did. It started to rain.
"Great, just our luck," Dawn muttered.
"Hey... I didn't notice THAT before!" Max said, pointing out something to the side.
A large square brick cube-shaped building, featureless on all sides save for the front, was in front of them. It had a striped green awning over the door and a glass window. Beside the plain green door was the display window, oddly dark and hard to see through with weird mystical signs and colorful pixie cut-outs hanging from the inside, with a banner proudly proclaiming 'SALE, ALL CHARM ITEMS 50% OFF'. "Magic Shop of Wonders" was written over the awning in big red letters.
"Well, it's probably dry in there, so let's go!", Ash said merrily.
"It doesn't seem the least bit odd to you that we never noticed this place before now?" Tracey asked skeptically. "Don't you think it could be a Team Rocket trap? This seems like the sort of scam they'd pull."
"Who cares, it's probably nice and dry in there!" Brock said, running for the door.
"Plus, you know we'll just beat them up and send them blasting off anyway," Dawn pointed out.
"And aside from that, I really don't want to get wet!" May yelled, running for the door.
"Me either!" Max yelled, chasing after his sister.
Misty glanced at Tracey, who shrugged and ran after the others, yelling something about not wanting his drawing supplies to get wet. She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath about annoying hydrophobic traveling companions, then followed the others into the store at her own pace. She wasn't afraid of a little rain, seeing as how she was a Water-type trainer. A Bell rung as she opened the door and went inside.
She joined the rest of the group in looking around in amazement at the shop's interior once she was inside. It seemed MUCH larger indoors than it had from outside. It was two stories tall, with a balcony on the second floor overlooking the middle of the shop. The center of the shop was a beautiful traditional Japanese rock garden, lit by a skylight, even though there had been no visible skylight from the outside.
Scattered around both floors of the shop were tables and display cases, as well as racks with costumes on them. Such things included a pair of his and hers' matching Charizard costumes, bottled water labeled "Squirtle Water", a set of what closely resembled the Shells of a small Blastoise family (two parents and a Squirtle child), various crystals and statues, necklaces, and other charms and knickknacks.
"Wow!" said Ash.
"Neat!" said Max.
"It's an architectural impossibility!" said a stunned Tracey.
"It looks just like my dad's attic!" said Brock.
"Hello? May I help you?" A voice said from right beside the trainers.
"GAH!" The trainers all jumped, for they had not heard anyone sneaking up on them.
"PIKA!" Pikachu yelled, accidentally electrifying his friends due to all of them being wet from the rain outside. He laughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
They mysterious voice chuckled. "Oh my, I must apologize my friends, I did not mean to cause you any alarm." Somehow, the group doubted this. They got up, brushed themselves off, and turned to see an old Asian-looking man in golden robes with a Ninetails-motif standing innocently next to a table nearby, although they were certain he had not been there a second ago. He wore a peaked cap on his head and had a Fu Manchu-style moustache, with his hair braided in a long queue going down his back. He bowed respectfully to them. Tracey got the weird feeling that he had seen this man in a movie somewhere. "My name is Mr. Kyube, and I am the proprietor of this shop. Welcome to my store. May I inquire as to the names of my newest customers?"
"Um, actually, we just came in to get out of the rain," Ash said quickly. "We didn't plan on buying anything."
Mr. Kyube raised an eyebrow. "You don't say?" He looked out the window, and the others turned to see what caught his eye. They grimaced when they saw that what had started out as a simple rainstorm had quickly turned into a torrential downpour. "Well, it doesn't look as if the rain will be letting up anytime soon. There's no harm in poking about, is there? You never know," he added, grinning and showing oddly pointed canines. "You just might find something you've always been looking for, without even knowing it. That is the nature of this place."
"Does anyone else feel like we've just walked into a horror movie?" May whispered weakly to the others.
"No," said Max.
"Yes," Tracey said anxiously. "The kind where the group splits up to look around and gets horribly killed one by one by the horrors lurking in the strange, no doubt haunted building!"
"Oh come on, that never happens in real life," Brock said dismissively. "I think."
"So, since it seems like we'll be getting to know each other fairly well over the next few hours…what were your names again?" Mr. Kyube asked politely.
Although they were somewhat uneasy and doubtful about this, Ash went first. (Naturally.) "I'm Ash from Pallet Town!"
"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu chimed in.
"I'm Brock, former Gym leader of the Pewter Gym," Brock said.
"And I'm Misty, current Gym leader of the Cerulean Gym. I'm on vacation," Misty explained. "Sort of."
"I'm May, and this is my brother Max," May said next.
"Our dad's the Gym leader of Petalburg Gym!" Max said proudly.
"I'm Tracey, from the Orange Islands. I'm an aspiring Pokémon watcher, and I love to draw pictures and study under great scientists like Professor Oak," Tracey said. "Do you mind if I sketch a picture of you?"
"Yes," said Mr. Kyube.
"And I'm Dawn from Twinleaf Town. I'm new to the group," Dawn explained.
Mr. Kyube nodded. "It is a pleasure to meet you all, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Misty, May, Max, Tracey, and Dawn. (Phew, I said that all in one breath!) I hope you will not find your wait here to be too strenuous. Please, look around; you may have full access to my shop and its wares while you are here. I specialize in selling trinkets with a certain…shall we say, magical property? No one has ever left my store unsatisfied. Perhaps you will find something while you are here that will make the long wait for the storm to end bearable? Something that will, perhaps, grant your heart's desire?"
"Magic? Really? Awesome!" said an awestruck Max.
"Ooh! Ooh! Do you have anything that can make me irresistible to women?!" Brock asked hopefully, getting a little too far into Mr. Kyube's personal space.
"And something that can help me win gym battles?!" Ash asked, crowding next to Brock, and further decreasing the shopkeeper's personal space.
"And any enchanted art supplies that will allow me to truly capture the essence of whatever I draw, so that I can create truly great masterpieces?!" Tracey demanded, pushing his way towards Mr. Kyube beside Ash and Brock.
"Or something to help me win Pokémon Contests?!" May asked desperately, shoving in between Ash and Brock. Max rolled his eyes.
"Me too!" Dawn added, elbowing in beside her. Misty sighed and shook her head, though secretly she wanted to know if there was something here that would grant her heart's desire…not very likely.
Mr. Kyube sweat dropped and backed away, feeling rather crowded. "Ah, perhaps. There are many things in my shop, and each possesses its own unique quality. Perhaps one of them will grant you what you desire…but you must find them for yourselves, I'm afraid. Such is the way of things."
This was not exactly what they wanted to hear, but since they had nothing better to do, the group went their separate ways, trying to see if there was anything in the shop that would give them satisfaction. Brock perused aisles full of bottled concoctions, searching for a love potion. Ash examined helmets and swords and strange pieces of armor, wondering whether donning any of them would make him a greater trainer. He also examined weird-looking Pokéballs, some of which were empty and could be used to capture any variety of Pokémon…and others with 'used' Pokémon in them, some with warning labels saying they were far too dangerous to ever be purchased. Misty had found a fascinating book about mystical creatures of the ocean and had sat down to page through it near a beautiful crystalline sculpture of a dolphin-like Pokémon she had never heard of before rising out of the sea in mid-leap. Max was also looking through the stacks of books, fascinated by the possibility of learning real magic from them. May examined many dresses and ribbons and other beautiful accoutrements, wondering if they would allow her to win more contests. Tracey was examining the art supplies, shelves full of strange-looking pads of paper, paint pots and canvases, and mysterious pencils coming in various different colors and made from a variety of different kinds of charcoal, each of which supposedly possessed a different magical property. There were also a number of magnificent paintings and drawings on display that he could not help but stare at for several minutes at a time. And Dawn…
Dawn had found herself looking at a table covered in many charms, the kind you might hang from a keychain or a wrist or around your neck, in all shapes and sizes. A placard informed her that all charms were fifty percent off at the moment, as part of a sale. "Do any of these catch your fancy?" Mr. Kyube asked from behind Dawn, causing her to scream and jump in the air.
"Will you stop doing that?!" she asked him angrily, once she had settled down and realized it was just the creepy shopkeeper.
"No," said Mr. Kyube. "I see you have noticed our fine selection of charms."
"What do they do?" Dawn asked, looking back at the table.
"Each embodies a specific principle or quality. Wearing that charm endows a person with that quality. Take, for instance, this fine piece here." Mr. Kyube picked up a charm in the shape of a yellow and white fox tail that looked as if it was almost on fire, dangling from a necklace. "This one is very special, and holds the power of love. There is an interesting story behind this charm. It's one of a pair, you see." He reached onto the table and picked up a second, identical fox tail. "It is said that if two lovers freely exchange these charms, the gods will smile on their union and grant them many years of happiness together." He grinned at Dawn. "Is there, perhaps, a certain someone who you wouldn't mind giving one of these to? Or, perhaps, receiving it from?"
Dawn shook her head. "No, there's nobody. However…" She paused, getting a strange idea. "There are two people in our group who could use them."
"Oh?" asked Mr. Kyube, raising an eyebrow.
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. You know Ash and Misty? Well, they-"
"Are madly in love with each other but too dense to admit it?" Mr. Kyube said.
Dawn blinked. "Hey, yeah! How'd you guess?"
"Pretty obvious, I've seen it before a million times," he said with a shrug.
"Oh. Well, anyway, maybe if they exchanged these they'd finally get together. But they'd never think of buying those charms on their own. Unless…" A cunning grin grew on her face.
A similar grin formed on Mr. Kyube's face. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking…that you might be able to play a little game of matchmaking with those two and trick them into exchanging those charms so that they may finally admit their feelings…"
"Something like that, yeah," Dawn said, still grinning.
Mr. Kyube laughed. "Hohoho, I approve! You are a very clever young woman!" He pressed the fox tail charms into her hands. "Here, take these. If you will buy both of these charms and promise to use them to bring those foolish youths together at long last, then you may have this charm for free!" He picked up another charm from the table.
"What's that one do?" Dawn asked.
"This is a lucky Boundary foot," Mr. Kyube explained, indicating the small brown rabbit foot hanging from a chain small enough to go around the wrist. "The wearer of this charm will have incredibly good fortune…and, if the wearer is a lovely young woman like yourself, extraordinary beauty as well." Dawn flushed at this. "So? Do you promise to purchase those charms and use them to bring love into this world?"
Dawn nodded eagerly. "Definitely!"
Mr. Kyube held out a hand. "That'll be fifteen Pokéyen, please." Dawn paid the man, and was happy to receive the lucky Bunneary foot as well. She quickly ran off to find Ash and Misty and begin her plot to bring them together at long last.
Misty was easy to find, she was still reading her book on mythical water creatures. "Hey, Misty, I have something for you," Dawn whispered, causing the red-headed girl to look up from her book.
"What is it?" Misty asked.
Dawn handed her the tail charm. "I saw Ash eyeing this earlier. It's a love charm, the kind of thing you would wear to increase his chances of happiness with someone he cares about. However, I could tell right away it's not the sort of thing he'd ever buy on his own, even if he did want it. But…if he got it as a present from someone he really cares for…" She beamed as Misty looked very interested. "He might really appreciate it."
Misty blushed. "D-do you really th-think so?" she asked, surprising herself by how much she was stuttering and turning red.
"Well, sure," Dawn said with a wink. "It is a love charm, after all. He wouldn't want it unless there was a certain someone he had his eye on…someone he's known for a very long time, and finally wants to tell her how he really feels about her."
"And…and you think that's me?" Misty asked feverishly, daring to hope this might be the case.
"Well, who else could it be? I'm not interested, and May's…well, May," Dawn said. She closed the hand Misty was holding the charm in. "Give it to him later. Like, tonight say. Trust me when I say he'll love it, and you'll both be the happier for it."
"I…" Misty flushed and looked at her feet. "G-gee, thanks Dawn. I'm…this is…"
"No need to thank me," Dawn said, smiling brightly as she patted her friend on the shoulder. "Just one girl passing advice to another. We ladies have to stick together, right? Especially in this outfit, even if there are as many of us as there are of them now!"
Misty rolled her eyes. "Definitely!" They both laughed, and then began discussing other things, female things, the sort of things this author knows little about and so must gloss over by skipping to the next scene.
While Dawn and Misty were talking about deep, intimate things, May, Max, Tracey and Brock were still wandering around the store and had by pure chance found the charm table at the same time. "Hey, what're these?" Max asked, looking at all the charms.
"These look like charms," Brock noted.
"They look pretty neat," commented Tracey.
"And they're half-price! What a bargain!" May gushed eagerly.
"Would you like to purchase any, then?" Mr. Kyube asked from behind them, causing them to scream and jump in the air.
"Why do you keep doing that!?" Brock yelled when his heart stopped beating a mile a minute.
"Yeah, it's scary as heck!" agreed Tracey, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Force of habit. I see you have noticed my selection of charms. Do any of them take your fancy?" asked Mr. Kyube.
"Do they do anything?" Max asked wonderingly, looking at the charms.
"Each embodies a specific principle or quality. Wearing that charm endows a person with that quality," the old man explained.
"Are there any that'll make women fall in love with me?" Brock asked hopefully.
"Wellll…" Easily hiding the sly grin he would have made in private, Mr. Kyube picked up a keychain charm in the shape of a silvery crescent and handed it to Brock. "This one will make you irresistible to women."
"Ooh, finally!" Brock cried joyfully.
"Are—are there any that I might benefit from?" May asked timidly.
"Hmm." Mr. Kyube looked her up and down. "You look as if you could use more strength, and self-confidence. This one should do the trick." He picked up a bracelet charm in the shape of a small bell. "This one gives you the strength to press forward, and the confidence to go on unafraid even if you know you are facing certain death." He tapped the bell with a finger, causing it to ring. It sounded oddly loud and dull for such a small thing.
"Oh! Neat…I think…" May said uncertainly as she took the charm.
"What about me? Are there any I might like?!" Max asked eagerly.
"Well…" Mr. Kyube picked up a charm in the form of a small ball with lots of sparkles and reflective surfaces and stared at it for a moment. "…I've completely forgotten what this one symbolizes, other than it being something special. But it's shiny, so I suppose that's good for something."
"Cool!" Max said enthusiastically as the old man gave him the charm.
"Can any of the ones here make me a better artist?" Tracey asked in curiosity.
"Yes, but you already possess great talent. No, that is not the quality you are in great need of." Mr. Kyube picked up a small charm that looked like a sharp sickle blade, hanging from a small chain that could be attached to a backpack loop. "Here, this one increases…well…how do I put this in a way kids your age would understand? Ah, yes, it will make you 'cool'."
"Oh, I definitely could use one of those!" Tracey said ecstatically as he took the charm, careful not to cut himself on the sickle's sharp edge.
"I take it you would all like these charms, then? Good, that'll be fifty Pokéyen. Each."
They looked at him in horror. "I thought there was a sale going on!" cried an alarmed May.
"There is. Normally those'd be one hundred each. Very rare and expensive. Two hundred Pokéyen, please, that's fifty times four in case you didn't know." He extended a hand. Brock was about to protest, but hesitated when he saw the pleading looks on his companions' faces and remembered the crescent would make him irresistible to women. So he sighed, gave in, and pulled out his wallet, counting out the necessary bills. Mr. Kyube cackled inwardly, if his customers were stupid enough not to haggle or argue harder against his prices, then they deserved to be milked for all they were worth.
Meanwhile, Ash was currently posing in front of a mirror on the second floor, trying on an outfit he had found which caught his eye. "Do you think this Egyptian pharaoh costume looks good on me?" he asked Pikachu, who was sitting on a nearby trunk. Pikachu shrugged and made a 'mesh' sound.
"Hey, Ash, there you are," Dawn said, walking over. "I've been looking all over for you-"
"Dawn, does this Egyptian pharaoh costume look good on me?" Ash asked her.
"No," she said automatically, much to his disappointment. "Here, this is for you," she said, handing him the second tail charm. "Misty had her eye on it earlier. I think she'd like it a lot if you gave it to her later today. Like, say, tonight."
Ash blinked and looked down at the charm in his hand. "She'd like getting this? A lot?"
"A lot a lot," Dawn stressed.
"Okay, thanks Dawn, I'll give it to her later," Ash said, pocketing the charm. "Are you sure I don't look good in this?"
"Maybe if you had fur. Or something," Dawn commented, not sure why she had just said that. "Well, I'm going to go look around some more. See you later, Ash."
"Kay. Bye." Ash went back to looking at himself in the mirror.
"Well, that was easy," Dawn muttered to herself as she walked away. Pikachu scratched his head in confusion, wondering what had just happened.
- - -
It wasn't long after that that the storm outside finally stopped, almost as abruptly as it had began, and just as abruptly as Mr. Kyube announced it was closing time. "But it's only three-thirty in the afternoon!" Brock protested.
"Yes, but I have to get home to the missus early. Today is a big holiday back where I come from," Mr. Kyube explained.
"Really? Which one?" asked May.
"And where exactly do you come from?" Max added. "Maybe I've heard of it."
"I highly doubt that. If there is anything you wish to purchase before you leave, do it now, and then I really am afraid you must go," Mr. Kyube said.
In the end they bought a few things. Ash decided to get the pharaoh costume after all, as well as a couple of weird-looking Pokéballs which supposedly could be used to catch Pokémon of a more mythic bend such as ghosts and dragons with greater accuracy, as well as a toy sword for Pikachu, who seemed fascinated by it. Misty got the book of mythical sea creatures she had been looking at earlier and a small crystal pendant in the form of a coiled Milotic. May got a number of ribbons and batons with spells and charms written on them that were supposed to ensure she put on a better show during contests, as well as a bandana that supposedly belonged to a legendary coordinator and still retained a bit of her spirit and skill. Brock got quite a few love potions, enchanted perfume bottles, and a copy of the Kama Sutra. Tracey purchased several pencils made from enchanted charcoal and a number of sketch pads made from especially fine paper made from the bark of ancient magical trees in another land. Max didn't get anything, because at that point they had used up most of their money on the other items they had purchased, and everything he wanted was way too expensive, much to his disappointment. Dawn didn't get anything at all, nor did she need to, for she suddenly felt as if she had everything she needed. All that passed between her and Mr. Kyube as the group left the shop was a conspiratorial wink, and then they were gone.
They were all carrying the charms they had purchased or been given, naturally.
Once they were gone, Mr. Kyube chuckled and shed his human disguise, allowing his many tails to spread out behind him. He had set the wheels of fate in motion, now all he needed to do was sit back and watch the events that were to follow unfold. His superiors would be pleased with him, as would his wife. Great happiness would soon be attained to his customers, and the Wandering Magic Shop Corporation would have succeeded once again in bringing joy to the chaotic multiverse. And that meant he'd receive a big bonus! More than enough to build the new addition to the house he and the missus had been planning for a while…
With thoughts of happiness, romance, architecture, and fat paychecks filling his mind, the man who had called himself Mr. Kyube cast the spell that would transport his little shop of wonders to wherever it was next needed. His shop vanished from the forest, almost as if it had never been there in the first place, and perhaps that was indeed the case….
And Ash and his companions soon found their way out of the woods, blissfully unaware of the true nature of the shop they had just left or the far greater plan they had just become a part of.
While the rain had stopped, and they had found their way out of the forest, the group was still some distance from the nearest town by the time night fell. They were forced to set up camp in an open grassy meadow, featureless save for a small hill in the center with a withered old tree standing on the top. After spending most of the evening eagerly looking over their new magical purchases and purchases and discussing all the many neat things they'd do with them. All except Max, who talked enviously about all the things he wished he had gotten, and Dawn, who hadn't gotten anything at all and was fine with it.
Eventually, they got tired and headed off to bed, setting up separate tents for each of them. Only three trainers remained up: Ash, Misty, and Dawn.
Dawn had cleverly managed to take each unknowing lovebird aside at separate times during the day, and she had easily been able to convince the two of them to give the charms that she had purchased to each other that night, when everyone else had gone to bed. Naturally, neither trainer was aware of the fact that they were each receiving a gift, and simply thought they were giving something nice to nice to a friend. A very, very good friend.
Dawn pretended to go to sleep but secretly stayed awake in her sleeping bag, waiting for the sounds of motion outside her tent, the sign that Ash and Misty were each leaving their tents to meet up at the hill, beneath the tree, which she had loudly pointed out over dinner to make sure they would both go there when everyone else was asleep.
Eventually, she heard the sound of one tent flap unzipping, followed by the sound of someone quietly setting out through the grass towards the hill. A few minutes later, she heard another tent flap zip, followed by someone rather loudly setting out through the grass, despite his clumsy attempts at being stealthy.
She giggled in amusement at this, waited a bit, then unzipped the entrance to her own tent and stepped outside. Crouching low to the ground, she very quietly headed towards the hill, where she could clearly see Ash and Misty seated beneath the withered tree, silhouetted by the full moon in the sky. Its bright light was rather inconvenient, since it lit up the meadow and left very few shadows for Dawn to conceal herself in, but Ash and Misty were too busy being awkwardly silent and not looking at each other to notice her approaching.
Dawn crept to the base of the hill and waited in silence, listening hard for Ash and Misty to say anything. She had to wait an irritatingly long time, though, and she nearly fell asleep before Ash finally spoke up and said, "So....Misty..."
"Yeah, what is it Ash?" Misty asked to the two words that escaped Ash's lips. "Is there something you want to say?" Misty was also nervously twirling the small gold tail pendant in her hand behind her back, out of Ash's sight but not Dawn's. She knew one of them would have to break the silence filling the air, as big as the full moon that was shining down on them.
"Ash... I got something for you." She moved her hand in front of her, but stopped for a moment, hesitant, before opening her fingers to reveal the small gold pendant in her hand. "I want you have this."
Ash only blinked and stared at the small charm in surprise, for in his coat pocket, clutched by his own hand, was an exactly identical tail pendant. He shook himself out of his puzzlement, than said, "I... I heard that you might like this..." He pulled out his hand from his pocket and opened it to reveal the pendant Dawn had given him.
Misty blinked in confusion, surprised that he happened to have a pendant exactly the same as the one she had. Normally she might have found that rather suspicious, but in the current romantic setting, her teenage body raging with hormones, uncertainties, and her feelings for Ash, she was too amazed and touched by Ash's seemingly thoughtful gesture to think much of it. Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight. "It's beautiful... let's exchange them now okay?" She seemed to have gotten some courage back and she didn't want to lose it now.
Ash nodded. "Okay." It didn't even occur to him to wonder why Misty might have a pendant exactly like his own, sadly. He just accepted it as 'one of those things'. They quickly pressed the pendants into each other's free hand and froze, feeling as if a powerful current was running through their bodies from the contact of their bare skin.
Dawn watched from her hiding spot, rubbing her foot, which had fallen asleep, hoping that the two lovesick idiots would kiss already. She got her wish, though not quite the way she had wanted, as Misty suddenly leaned forward and kissed Ash on the cheek, causing the Pokémon Trainer's jaw to drop, making him look rather like a Magikarp. He could only blink at the suddenness of it, feeling warmth spread across his check and face in a blush. Misty was looking away, blushing as well, amazed at what she had just done. She had imagined kissing Ash many times before but that night... she found that she finally found the courage to carry through on her desires.
Ash placed the charm around his neck and smiled as Misty did the same. He couldn't help but think that the moonlight made their charms shine with some inner fire, one that paled compared to Misty's radiant smile. He smiled as well, but suddenly felt unusually warm, much to his surprise. He couldn't understand why, it was a cool evening and...
He felt a pain at the base of his spine, but it was only a moment of discomfort. He blinked when he saw Misty's face scrunch up in pain as well, but it was gone a second later. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening, but what was it?
Dawn, still in her hiding spot, was barely able to keep in her cry of shock as she saw a tail emerging from both Ash and Misty's rears, passing through their pants as if they weren't there. The tails were red and curly, and before Dawn's eyes they each split into more and more tails until suddenly the red rusty color faded to a golden cream color, the tail tips the only part retaining their original color. The tails stopped multiplying when there were nine of them, and Dawn couldn't help but think of old pictures of a certain Pokémon associated with curses and magic, the vulpine Ninetales.
Ash looked at Misty as he took her hand, not noticing that his hand was growing a cream color, fur sprouting from it as it turned into a paw. He shoes also became misshapen as his feet turned into paws. He did not notice any of it, for he was unable to take his eyes off Misty.
Misty took Ash's hand as her own hands and feet along with her body became covered in creamy golden fur. It was only when she noticed minute changes in Ash's face that the spell seemed to waver; she could see fur creeping up his neck as his chin and nose grew longer into more of a muzzle. Ash, oblivious to what was happening to him, blinked and bowed his head a little, embarrassed, but his embarrassment turned to shock as Misty's face began to change as well. The fur grew up the sides of her face, attacking her red hair as it grew longer, but more of a creamy color, stretching down to her waist. The fur melted her ears and on two new ears like those of a fox grew from the top of her head.
Misty looked at Ash as the fur on his chin spread up and around his elongating mouth and nose, both of which grew out to become a vulpine muzzle. Both of them noticed at the same time that their vision took on a reddish tint as their eyes turned red and the last traces of pink skin became covered in the creamy golden fur of a Ninetales.
Dawn's jaw dropped as she watched Ash and Misty turn into what looked like humanoid Ninetales. She was just as surprised by this as they were. "A-Ash?!" Misty, now completely looking like a humanoid (and very beautiful and shapely) Ninetales cried in terror, wrapping her arms around herself, finding some small measure of relief when she found that she was still clothed in her pajamas, even if they didn't completely fit her anymore. "Wh-what's happening to me?!"
"I d-don't know!" Ash yelled, looking himself over in astonishment and disbelief. "The same thing happened to me too! What's going on?!"
Oh crap, this is all my fault! Dawn realized, face growing pale. They started changing soon after they put on those charms I got from Mr. Kyube! But why would they? She gasped. He said those charms were magic, and would bring love and happiness beneath the full moon, and there's one out right now! Did. Did he give those to me to trick me into matchmaking Ash and Misty so they'd be turned into some kind of mutant Ninetales?! Why the heck would he do something like that?! She felt hurt, and confused, and betrayed. The old shopkeeper, or wizard, had clearly manipulated her, and that didn't make her feel very good about herself.
That feeling didn't last for much longer, as a great thunderclap sounded, snapping her out of her self-pity. She looked up in astonishment, as did the frightened Ash and Misty, as a brilliant golden light appeared in the sky above them, shining its radiance down on the meadow and turning night into day. They watched, dumbfounded, as everything the light touched shone and seemed to transform, as if becoming less a part of the mundane regular world and more like some ethereal land of the spirits. The green grass carpeting the meadow turned a bright amber hue, flowers of many magnificent colors blossoming from the ground and filling the area with light glowing from their luminescent petals. The sky turned reddish, the stars and moon becoming brighter and seeming, oddly, closer than they should have been. The withered tree on the hill all three of them were sitting on glowed brightly and suddenly sprouted its age and warped wood peeling away to reveal a beautiful cherry blossom tree, bright pink leaves and flowers swaying in the breeze and making a sound like wind chimes.
The golden light continued to shine from overhead, and the trio gasped as suddenly the shimmering rainbow-hued form of the phoenix Ho-Oh and the enormous emerald serpentine dragon Rayquaza appeared, soaring high above the clearing and circling the light. However, by gasping, Dawn revealed herself, for Ash and Misty's new ears were sensitive enough to hear her sharp intake of breath. "Huh? Dawn? What're you doing here?" asked a startled Ash.
Dawn sweat dropped and slowly crawled over to them. "Um. I had to go to the bathroom, and came over when I saw something weird happening to you guys, and then this happened?"
"Oh, okay. Hey, thanks for that charm, by the way, Misty liked it, just like you said she would!" Ash said foolishly, not realizing the consequences of his actions or noticing Dawn turning paler and making gestures for him to shut up.
Misty blinked. "What? But. she said YOU'D like that charm she gave me to give to you." She stopped. Her eyes narrowed as she put two and two together. "Hey... Wait a minute." She snarled, her eyes lighting up with flame. Literally, since she was now a Ninetales. "Did you set us up?! Did you have something to do with this?!"
Dawn laughed nervously while Ash blinked in confusion. "Um... Maybe a little?" She stopped laughing, her face going deadpan. "I'm dead, aren't I?" Misty's howl of fury confirmed this.
The strange transformation of the clearing did not go unnoticed by the rest of their friends. One by one, the tents on the ground unzipped, and the rest of the group poked their heads out to see what was going on. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped when they saw the otherworld they found themselves in, and the dragon and phoenix flying above them.
"Holy Miltank! This is incredible!" cried Tracey, quickly whipping out his new drawing tools and sketchpad to capture the scene.
"This has to be a dream!" Brock said. "Hey, wait .if it's a dream, then where're Nurse Joy and Office Jenny?"
May squealed in fright and retreated back into her tent, curling up into a ball and whimpering, "This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening."
"This is AWESOME!" Max yelled, face beaming eagerly.
"Pika pika." That's the last time I eat ketchup with an expiration date older than I am, Pikachu said, shaking his head in amazement.
"Misty, why are you strangling Dawn?" asked a confused Ash.
"BECAUSE THIS LITTLE BITCH TRICKED US INTO GIVING EACH OTHER THOSE CHARMS, WHICH CLEARLY ARE BEHIND OUR SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION!" Misty screamed as she throttled Dawn.
Ash blinked. "Oh." He debated whether he should pull Misty off Dawn or help her strangle the girl.
"I... had... no... idea... I... swear!" Dawn gasped, face turning blue.
"Stop!" a voice cried out, a voice of pure beauty and light which resonated in their minds and instantly compelled Misty to stop strangling Dawn. "Dawn Hikari has done nothing wrong. She was merely an instrument of Fate, and if anything should be rewarded, not punished, for her actions."
"I do?" Dawn rasped, rubbing her throat.
"She does?" asked Ash.
"Who are you?!" yelled Misty.
"What the heck is going on?" wondered Tracey, pausing in his sketches.
"Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, where are you?!" Brock screamed, checking inside his sleeping bag, under a rock, and down May's shirt, causing her to scream and slap him. "Ow! Sorry." He gasped. "Oh no, if there aren't any pretty women fawning over me, then this isn't a dream. it's a NIGHTMARE!"
The golden light contracted on itself and suddenly shot down from the sky towards the hill and the cherry blossom tree, stopping abruptly at eye level and startling the trio standing beneath its branches. Rayquaza and Ho-Oh stopped their circling and both gazed down at the hill from on high, causing the three humans (or one human and two mutant things) to feel rather uneasy. The light dimmed and faded away, revealing a small form that was unbelievably beautiful in its simplicity and soft curves, a pink kitten-like Pokémon with a long tail weaving through the air behind it and big blue eyes as deep as the heavens. "I am Mew, goddess of love and life and embodiment of pure light!" the kitten announced, in reply to Misty's earlier question.
"Oh wow, it's Mew!" Max cried. "Again. Didn't we see it a while ago? In a crystalline tree? I think there was a Lucario there too. and Ash pulled off some weird Aura thing?"
"Amazing!" said Tracey, quickly drawing the divine figure. "Won't the Professor be thrilled when he hears about this!"
May, who had poked her head out of her tent upon hearing Mew's voice, wondered, "Would it be blasphemous to try and catch Mew and put her in Pokémon Contests?"
"Yes," Max said flatly.
"Mew, what's going on? What are you doing here, and why have we been turned into Ninetales things?" Ash asked the deity.
"And why can't I kill Dawn?" asked Misty.
"And what was that about being an instrument of Fate?" asked a confused Dawn.
"It has been written in the stars that the union of Ash and Misty would balance the cosmos and bring great prosperity to our world," Mew explained. "However, at the rate these two were moving at, they'd be together by the time the entire universe had died of old age. TWICE. So, we decided to give this young couple-"
"We're NOT A COUPLE!" Ash and Misty, blushing furiously, yelled.
"Yes you are," Mew corrected gently. "Anyway, we decided to give you a little push in the right direction by placing Mr. Kyube's shop in your place in hopes that you would stumble upon one of the many love spells or charms therein. Unfortunately, you didn't, however, young Dawn was able to do it for you, finding a pair of charms which would seal your union and bind your love forever."
"By turning us into Ninetales?" asked a confused Misty.
"Yes. It wasn't part of the cosmic balance, but it's still a nifty side effect," Mew explained. She turned to Dawn, who started trembling and wondered if she should be kneeling. "Dawn, my beloved daughter-"
"Wait, she's not your daughter," protested Ash.
Mew frowned at him, causing him to swallow. "I'm the Progenitor of all life, everything is my child. Anyway, Dawn, none of this could have happened without you. My child, we are eternally grateful for your part in bringing this union together at long last."
"Wait, you're thanking me for lying and manipulating people?" asked Dawn.
"Yes," said Mew.
"Oh, okay."
"And to thank you for allowing this miracle to take place, you shall receive an equivalent reward," Mew continued." She looked at Ash and Misty. "The magic of the charms you gave them, which they exchanged with each other, have transformed them into Ninetales. As a result, they will be blessed with a thousand years of life together and much happiness."
"Wait, you mean I have to spend the next thousand years with him/her?!" Ash and Misty cried at once, looking at each other.
"Yes," said Mew. "May, the Bunneary-foot charm you purchased has similar transformational powers, but they are dormant. To reward you for fulfilling destiny, I shall awaken those powers so that you may reap their full benefits."
"Wait, you mean I won't be human anymore?!" Dawn cried in alarm. "N-no way! Thanks but no thanks, I don't want to be turned into a frea-- Um... Something else!" she amended quickly, not wanting to hurt Ash or Misty's feelings. "I'm happy the way I am!"
"You'll become luckier, more mature, and much more beautiful," Mew told her.
Dawn paused. "Oh. Okay then. Um, will this hurt?"
"No. It will just take a few moments. And it all starts with... This!" Mew darted forward and tapped the Bunneary-foot charm dangling around Dawn's neck. "There."
Dawn blinked and looked down at the charm in confusion. "Huh? I don't feel any-" She gasped as she felt a strange tingling sensation fill her body. She looked down at her hands just in time to see brown hairs spring up from her skin, thickening and turning into a furry coat which covered her upper body. She knew it was growing elsewhere, she could feel her new fur chafing slightly at her pajama top. Feeling a tingling on her face, she reached up with her new furry hands and touched her facial features, feeling them change and shift slightly beneath her fingers, becoming a little less human and a bit more rabbit-like. Brown fur sprouted from her face, her nose shrunk a little and became a little pink dot, and her eyebrows turned into two dots of creamy fur over her eyes. Her ears shrunk into the sides of her head and a pair of long brown bunny ears with pink insides and big creamy tufts at the tips sprouted from the top of her head, growing right through her long blue hair, which was growing longer, down to her waist.
That wasn't all that was growing, she could feel more fur covering her legs, and looked down to see that her feet were becoming longer and cream-colored, her five toes fusing into three. She was relieved that she had left her tent barefoot; otherwise she would have lost a good pair of shoes to this growth. She assumed her legs were now cream as well, since her Bunneary's were, though she wasn't exactly planning on taking off her pants to check, especially not with Brock watching.
Her fear of being ogled increased as suddenly her clothing got smaller and tighter about her, pressing against her furry skin uncomfortably. It took her only a moment to realize that her clothing hadn't shrunk, she'd just grown, her body becoming a little taller and more mature, pretty much bypassing the awkward years of puberty so that her figure would be more like a teenager's just a bit earlier than scheduled. Her too-small pajamas did rather little to hide her new curves and chest. She prayed that her pajamas didn't get stretched too much before she could get changed or find new clothes that fit her, she wasn't exactly fond of the possibility of being nude in front of her other friends... And Brock.
"Whoa," said Max.
"She's... a bunny girl?" said a confused May.
"Just like the kind in magazines! Err, the ones I don't read, I mean, I only know about them because Brock has a ton," Tracey said quickly.
"I knew it! This is a dream! It has sexy bunny girls!" Brock said, drooling eagerly.
"Not bad," Misty complimented. "Looking good, girl!"
"How do you feel?" asked Mew.
"Um, all right, considering that my body just matured a few years and I'm not completely human anymore." Dawn said slowly. "Could you do something about my clothes though? They don't exactly fit. And I don't mean leaving me naked either, I may be covered in fur but I'm not ready for that sort of thing!" she added quickly.
"No trouble at all," Mew said with a chuckle, expanding the molecules of Dawn's pajamas and causing them to enlarge just enough so that they fit her new form. Dawn sighed in relief, and Brock and Tracey grunted in disappointment. "I've also taken the liberty of adjusting your other clothes so they'll fit your better. You'll need to do a little modification on any new ones you buy, though. At least you won't need to spend money on shoes anymore, not with feet like those!"
"Thank you, Mew!" Dawn said gratefully.
"Think nothing of it," Mew said cheerfully. "Now, if you'll excuse me, since our business here is finished I must be on my way-"
"Hey, wait!" Mew blinked, and the other three turned around to see the rest of their party running up the hill. "Do us, too!" said Tracey.
"Yeah, we want you to activate the magic in our charms!" said Brock. "Then I can be irresistible to women!"
"And I can be stronger and more confident!" said May.
"And I can be. Um. Whatever it is this thing is supposed to do," Max said, looking skeptically at his sparkly ball charm.
"Um, I'm not sure that's such a good-" Ash started.
"Okay, no problem," Mew said, waving her hand and setting the magic to work.
Max's charm glittered and shimmered as it started to grow. It lifted right out of Max's hands and began to spin, becoming so bright all the other kids had to back away. For some reason, though, Max wasn't bothered by the bright light.
Moved by a voice he couldn't actually hear, Max reached up to the shimmering ball and found himself gently lifted and placed inside of it. He felt strangely relaxed as the light began to shift to many colors. Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed his clothes simply faded away in the light.
His skin took on a deep pink tone and his feet began to lengthen. His ears perked up into triangles, and his nose pressed out into a soft simple muzzle. A long tail with an oval bulb at the end grew out behind him. This event seemed to stir him from his dazed slumber and he looked around at the world around him like a newborn kitten that had opened his eyes for the first time. His eyes widened in childish innocence as cosmic knowledge flooded his mind. He flitted out, knowing instinctively how to fly, and spun around the older mew before landing and using Transform to turn into a Mew-ish-looking Max. Max looked up at the Mew and giggled, "Thank you, that was fun." Sure he knew almost everything, but the greatest thing he had learned was how to have fun. With a sudden jump, he touched Tracy's charm and giggled as he moved back to watch the show.
Tracy only looked on with wonder as his charm began to glow a pale transparent green color. He was shocked but unable to move as the light slowly spread out and around him. Ash was horrified. "Max, what did you do?" He sounded scared and terrified as he watched another one of his friends be turned into another Pokémon/human hybrid.
Tracey stared ahead in a daze, his mind in a fog. He could feel an armor-like substance form over his skin, turning him a dark green color as the outer exoskeleton hardened. His shirt changed to a green vest as his jeans also changed to fit the exoskeleton. He looked like he was gaining muscles, though if they were real or not was yet to be seen. He suddenly heard a buzzing noise behind him as bug wings grew from his back. He looked down at his arms and hands and screamed when he saw that they were gone, all that were left were scythes. He waved his his arms around in fright but stopped when he saw his hands appear again and the blades become somewhat akin to arm blades.
"Whoa." was all Tracey said. "I look cool." He looked down at his vest, which was a lighter green, with a patch that reminded him of a martial arts group. "I think I need to talk to my Scyther about this now."
Brock looked at Max. "So, you are controlling this? Or is the other Mew doing this?"
Both Mews giggled before launching small balls of blue energy at Brock's charm. "Both," they said at the same time, their voice sounding like a small silver flute.
The Charm turned upwards and somehow grew to a large size, affixing itself to Brock's chest and ripping away his shirt. Brock was speechless as brown fur started to spread out all over his body. Even the charm started to become soft and fuzzy, though its color remained a soft cream. Brock's hands became paws. While Brock didn't notice it, too concerned by how he was changing, the remainder of his clothes slipped off as he shrank down to the size of a small child. Brock's eyes forced themselves open, revealing small adorable brown eyes as his face pulled out into a cute muzzle. His ears moved to the top of his head as they grew rounder, and his hands and feet soon became paws. In seconds, sitting there confused in a pile of human clothing was an adorable Teddiursa.
Dawn blinked at the small cute Teddiursa. Right away she made an "AWWWW!" cry before running over and scooping him up in a hug. "You are so cute, you know that?" Ash and Misty both looked at each other. Their faces said the same thing. They wouldn't want to be hugged like a stuffed animal.
"Dawn." Max said, a giggle escaping from his mouth. "He needs to breathe, you know."
"OH! Sorry!" Dawn said letting her grip slacken a bit.
"Me next!" May said holding up her bell. Mew floated over to her.
"Before I start the magic you must understand, this charm holds great strength but also great beauty, only not in a way a human would understand. Also once this is activated there is no going back," Mew said solemnly. With a nod from May Mew gave the bell a light tap. It rang like the clear crystal bells atop the towers of Ecruteak city. The chime became perpetually louder, changing from a glass bell to a larger steel bell, and kept modulating until it sounded like a loud cowbell. May's hair turned black. Her ears receded as her bandana seemed to stretch out and two round black ears flopped out from under it. Pink fur began to spread across her face, highlighting her eyes as her nose bulged into a short bovine muzzle with a small black nose in the center. Two thin lines of black fur shot down her forehead, creating a pink triangle on her scalp.
Two stubs appeared under her bandana, the fabric tearing to reveal small spiky horns. The black fur spread down her neck and around her face before covering her back. The pink fur covered her front down to her feet. Both her feet and arms became covered in glove-like black fur. Her tailbone tingled as a long tail pink tail with a round pink sphere at the end snaked out the back of her shorts. May felt the bottom of her blouse become uncomfortable. She unbuttoned the lower portion to reveal a white ring around her stomach area and four developing udders. The white portion bulged out a tiny bit as milk began developing inside of it. Luckily lady Mew had learned from what happened with Dawn and May's blouse began to grow along with her chest, bypassing puberty to give her the figure of a pleasantly plump young woman. The bracelet grew to become a neck strap and the bell grew to become a small gold bell. The neck strap lifted itself off the ground and lightly tied itself around her neck. This hadn't been part of the spell, lady Mew just liked the way it looked. The girl looked down at her changed form in horror. "A cowgirl?" she whispered weakly.
"A creature with the strength to go on even when facing certain death. Miltank go on from day to day as if nothing was wrong, even when thousands of them are eventually going to become food for other creature, be it a common predator, a legendary dragon or even humans. Miltank posses the strength to give life and to sustain more life. They carry on no matter how bad things look, that is their strength and now it is yours," Mew giggled as she flicked her tail in her direction. "Just don't try to make too much milk until you have your first child."
"But what guy would want someone like me?" May asked despondently.
"Oh! Don't worry about that, hehe, the spell has what we call a double effect, it changes the person with the charm as well as the person that they are destined to be with, just look for a Tauros boy walking around," Mew said while chasing her tail in midair.
Meanwhile, in a distant gym...
"That's one step closer to the League Marshtomp, although they kinda stopped putting up a fight in the middle there. That was weird, huh? Uh, Marshtomp, why are you staring at me like that" Brendan Birch asked before he felt something hit his back, but he felt each of the hits from more than one place. Looking behind him he saw three white Tauros tails swaying from his rear.
Back with our heroes…
"Did someone just scream?" Dawn asked, rubbing her new bunny ears. The others sweatdropped. Dawn thought for a minute then looked at Mew "Does that effect go for my soulmate as well?"
"Doesn't need to, I know who you're destined for and he's already a werelucario" Mew said.
"Wait, werelucarios exist?" Ash asked in surprise.
Mew was about to answer when there was a sudden explosion. A Carnevine-shaped balloon appeared out of nowhere.
"By the pricking of my thumbs…" a female voice said
"Something evil this way comes!" said an almost feminine male voice.
"Falling from the stars," a woman said as she stood on the edge of the balloon basket, somehow defying gravity in spite of her normal clumsiness and oversized long red hair.
"Covering the land," said aman also standing on the edge of the basket, trying to look macho with a rose in his hand. (Little did he know that a certain superhero was currently looking for him.) His pose did little to hide his wimpiness, though.
"And controlling your mind!" said a Meowth as he appearing, somehow floating in midair. Little did he know gravity was not going to take this abuse, and so he was sent plummeting to the earth below.
"Destroying all that is ordered and neat!" the woman said, changing her pose.
"Spreading despair like sauce on your meat!" the man said, also changing his pose.
"We will cut down all who stand before us like wheat!" the woman said, facing her partner with her hand unwittingly out in a Nazi salute.
"And when everything's over, only we will truly be l33t!" the man said, doing the same thing.
"Jessie!" the scarily ugly redhead said.
"James!" the girly sad excuse for a guy said.
"Meowth…my head hurts…" Meowth moaned, his face still implanted in the ground.
"Here to stay no matter how many seasons there are…" Jessie said.
"TEAM ROCKET! We'll never leave! EVER!" the trio shouted in unison.
"Mime mime mime mime," Mime Jr. said after a silence that usually was filled Wobbuffet's intro. When the trio looked around for the blob they found him leaping off the edge of the basket after snapping his poke ball in half and flipping Jessie the bird. He had had enough of feeling pain for these losers and attacking Mew was just too much. His mother was right, he should have stayed home and raised a family!
Jessie looked at James in confusion. He shrugged. They turned to the heroes and did a double take. "Wait, what happened to the twerps?" James asked in puzzlement.
"It took you that long to notice?" Dawn said as the group sweatdropped.
"Should we even give them time to say their crazy plan?" Max asked, seeing that Brock had released Happiny and the two were currently having a game of tag…if you could call Brock running for his life to avoid the spine-snapping crush of one of Happiny's hugs 'tag'.
"Pipikapi" Pikachu said. (This won't take long pikapi!) Pikachu said, charging up his electrical sacks only for Ash to stop him.
"No Pikachu, let us try this!" Ash said as he opened his mouth and concentrated. A small ball of energy began to form in front of his mouth. Misty did likewise while Dawn's paw began to glow with freezing energy. Max charged up an Aura Sphere on the tip of his tail while Brock, getting bored of running and wanting to help with the fun, hit the balloon with a Confusion attack. The four other morphs let loose their beams right after that. Team Rocket screamed, finding the insulated coating they lined their balloon with unable to stand the combined power of the attacks. It exploded, flinging them into the air.
"That had to be our shortest fight yet!" James said.
"We really need a new agent," Meowth said.
"We're blasting off agaaaaaaain!" the group shouted as they went flying into the distance, save for one blob Pokémon who waddled happily away.
Mew smiled as she watched the Wobbuffet vanish into the horizon. He had let his loyalty to take precedence over loyalty to his trainer. She turned to the heroes, a smile on her face.
"Well, I must go now, and Max will have to come with me for a while to learn his new powers, as well as Mew customs and other things" Mew said. Nobody caught the strange glint in her eye at the last part. "But he'll be back soon. Anybody need anything else? No? Good, Arceus blessing on you my children," she said, not giving anyone the chance to protest or say farewells as she and Max disappeared in a flash of light.
After a moment, Ash turned to Misty. "So, where do we go from here?" he asked, still not sure what to make of what had just happened.
"Welllll…" Misty said, walking slowly up to Ash while stroking one of her nine tails. "They say Ninetales live for a thousand years." She was face to face with him now. He started sweating and turning red. "So now you can pay me back for my bike!" she said before grabbing his ear and towing him towards her tent.
Ash groaned as he was dragged along. "This is going to be an interesting thousand years…" he said as he disappeared into Misty's tent.
Dawn looked to May. The cowgirl just shrugged as they made their way back to their tents, Dawn grabbing a sleeping Brock and Happiny on the way. It had been a very long night.
Epilogue
It was, as Ash had predicted, a very interesting thousand years. Before their wedding, Misty had found out they where going to be expecting kits. This moved the wedding date up significantly. Misty's sisters became jealous of her new looks, especially when people stopped talking about the spectacular Cerulean sisters plus one and just commented on the gorgeous Misty Ketchum and her three plain sisters.
The League ruled in favor of allowing pokemorphs to train Pokémon, so Ash continued his training and was awarded the title of Master two years later after beating Paul in an international championship match in front of nearly the whole world with a score of 6-0. The final match had been won by Ash's Infernape, formerly Paul's Chimchar, against Paul's Torterra.
To everyone's surprise, Pikachu lived several times longer then a normal Pikachu should have. Many people said this might be due to his constant exposure to the natural magic that flowed through Ash and Misty. He currently lives with Ash and Misty, him and his three equally long-lived mates, a Lopunny and a pair of Plusle and Minun twins.
Ash became a scholar after becoming a Master, spending long periods studying in an insatiable thirst for knowledge which lead to him discovering a book on manipulating Aura. It also led to finding a family genealogy that he found traced back all the way to Sir Aaron, the Wave-Guiding Hero.
Misty continued on as a gym leader. She has also appeared in a few different movies and has been used as a model for a superheroine character.
Sliphco eventually came up with technology advanced enough to allow manipulation of cells to make a human Pokémon-like, but currently they had not found a way to make the Ninetales gene workable.
Dawn went on to continue coordinating and made it all the way to the Grand Festival where she faced May for the title. The match ended in a draw, and led to Dawn meeting Mark, a boy who had been bitten by a Lucario at a young age and became a werelucario. The two have been steady since.
May also continued coordinating, though she tends to focus more on strategy then looks these days. Not long after the events that transformed her into a Miltank, she met up with Brendan Birch, a boy who had mysteriously become a Minotauros.
Max returned not long after Mew had taken him away. He was accompanied by a Kirilia who turned out had been the Ralts he had met years ago. The two continued to travel together as Max aspired to earn a Gym Leader's title.
Brock became a spokesbear for children's toys. He spent a lot more time with Happiny and also all the women he wanted, he was just too young to enjoy it. As the years went by, he and Happiny became close. Recently they evolved together, and who knows? There may be a new Happiny running around in the near future.
Jessie and James continued to chase after Ash and Pikachu until they made the horrible mistake of grabbing Ash by the tails. Bloodcurdling screams could be heard for miles, after which they were never seen again…
Wobbuffet returned to his ancestral homeland, found a lovely female Wobbuffet, and raised lots of Wynaut children.
Tracey went on to become an aspiring artist as well as a skillful martial artist. With his scyther as a personal trainer, he went on to become the world most reknown martial artist.
Mr. Kyube and his shop have been seen several times since then. Not a single customer was unhappy with their purchases.
Fin! End of the line! This is it! Stop reading now! Really this is the end! There is no more! Go outside! Ride your bike! Walk your Poochyena! Just stop reading!