XXXVI: Make A Wish I

"It's time to begin the first test." Not Meowth said. He, the Supreme Titan, and Not Qwilfish floated in Eternity, along with Celebi, Dialga, and Arceus. "Angela needs to be stripped of all that she knows." Celebi laughed.

"This is my favorite test. I so rarely get to do anything except make sure Dialga doesn't—"

"Dialga smash puny time stream!" Dialga shouted.

"Destroy all of time. Thank you Dialga for reminding me that you can be omnipotent and a moron at the same time."

Alright, I'll try and explain the relation between Dialga and Celebi as best I can my dear listener. Truth be told, I barely understand it, and I was omnipotent once! Dialga was originally created to be the watcher of all time, the guardian that made sure time was left unaltered. Originally though, he was also created to be the guardian of all space, not just time. So, Dialga and Palkia were originally created as one legendary, but it was decided that power over space and time was to much for one pokemon, so they were split in two. Except, they also split their brain.

So Mew created two legendary who both literally had half a brain.

While no one worried about humans trying to take the powers of Palkia, because who the hell wants power of space, they worried someone might want to control Dialga. They needed a back up time guardian, one who wouldn't be distracted by shiny objects, and thus was born Celebi.

"I don't think this test is fair." Not Qwilfish whispered to Not Meowth, "It's sent at least one of our charges insane after it was over."

"That's because she experienced her own death" Not Meowth replied, "We're not going to do that anymore. I hope anyway."

"The three of us will monitor Angela's actions" The Supreme Titan said, "And make sure her personality is suppressed throughout the test."

"We will monitor the time stream" Acreus said, "But if it is in anyway altered, I shall personally hold you responsible."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Ilex forest is dark, really dark. It's a miserable, dark, depressing forest full of thick trees and poison type pokemon. The ground is overrun with roots, and you have to be careful not to trip over them since you can't see the damn things. The air is thick, and full of pollen that made my eyes burn. In all, it's a miserable hell hole that smells like shit.

Why the hell would you put a shrine to Celebi here?

"I just don't get it." I told Michael.

"It's simple" Michael said, "They wanted to put a shrine to Celebi in a place where all people could come an pay homage. Except, the people who put up the shrine were all really stupid, so they put it in this forest. Okay, that may not be true, but I'm going to pretend it is."

"Good enough for me." I mumbled. We had finally entered Ilex forest, on the way to Goldenrod City, the largest city on Earth. God I wish we were there. The sun was high in the sky, but it couldn't penetrate the thick canopy of the forest.

"Angela," Anna said from my shoulder, "Where are we? I can only see outlines."

"Meh, it means we fight in the dark." Saya said, "A new challenge!" Only she would think that. As we turned a corner, something green drew our attention.

"What's the glow?" I asked.

"It's shiny! Let me get my paint!" I heard Desiree say. Me and Michael moved closer to the glowing green energy.

"I think this is the Celebi shrine." Michael said. I felt along the face of it, coming to a handle.

"Really?" I asked, pulling it open, "Well then, what's—"

A blast of green energy struck me in the chest. For a moment, everything was lit up, but all I could see was green.

I was flying…

…floating…

…falling.

"Owe!" I dusted my skirt off, pushing myself back up.

"Amelia, are you alright?" I looked over at the speaker. In front of me was a color girl, in a dirty burgundy and black laced blouse-skirt, but lacking the awful straight-fronted corset. If only I could have been so lucky.

"I'm alright Nessa." I said. "It's this blasted corset, I can barely breathe in this, and it's making walking impossible, I swear it's clamping my quim." Nessa blushed at this.

"Ratti?" I looked down at my Raticate, smiling.

"It's alright Oliver." I said, rubbing the back of his head, "It's alright. Just bruised. Nessa, can you help me get this thing off?" Nessa came over and helped me remove the damned corset, and my dress. Underneath it were male clothes, something frowned upon for women to wear, but no longer illegal.

I removed the long cotton shirt, and Nessa helped me secure the corset over my bosom. I may have hated the blasted thing, but it could be used to flatten my chest over short periods of time.

After we had the corset secured, I pulled my shirt back on, put on my fathers riding gloves, and picked up my mask. The mask was made from a sackcloth with crude eyes cut out, and a mouth stitched on. It would hide my face, and mask my voice.

"Why do you do this?" Nessa asked. "You seemed determined to go to hell across lots. Your father says he thinks your only goal in life is to exflunicate him."

"Nessa, in five years it'll be a new century, the twentieth century." I said. "For as long as I remember, women have been less. Coloreds have been less, foreigners have been less, less then white native men. Do you want the next century to be like this?"

"…No."

"Then I gotta do this Nessa." I said, "When it's the right time, I'll show them who I am. There is rumor that a league of pokemon battles might be started soon in Kanto, but like here they're not going to let women in. That's what I want to change, that's why I do this Nessa." I pulled my mask on. "Farewell Nessa." I picked up the three pokeballs, the size of grapefruits. Each was red and white, with a button on the top of the white top half. "Come on Oliver."

"Before you go!" Nessa called out, "Take this." She handed me a small glass vial. "It's a potion, but I added a few things to it, should make it more potent."

"Thanks Nessa." I said. I moved out of the trees, back to the streets of the city. I could smell sea breeze in the air, the docks, where the battles would be taking place.

Pokemon battles were a weekly event in my city, by the docks and between white men. Anyone who wanted to battle could enter with 3 pokemon, any 3 of the 65 known species of pokemon. Bets were made on the battles, but that's not why I did it. I did it to prove a point, and because it was so damn fun.

When I arrived, their was a smaller crowd then usual, but you'd have never guessed it from the noise. Men in a circle yelling, waving money, shouting at the pokemon and in general being clods. I maneuvered through them, to get a better look at the battle currently in progress.

Two men, one in slacks and one in suspenders, yelling at there two pokemon. The one had a Wartortle, shooting water at the other, a Sandslash. Oliver pressed closer against me.

"Don't start a-quivering, now's not the time to turn tail. We're going to beat the tar outta one of them." Oliver looked up at me.

"Ratta!" I smiled. Oliver was one of my three pokemon, and my personal favorite. The other two were Jesse, a Fearow, and Marcus, a Beedrill. I'd only had the other two a year, but Oliver I had caught when I was six, with a pokeball I found on the street. He was my strongest, I knew he could take anything.

The Sandslash was knocked out by a torrent of water from the Wartortle. The man in the slacks dropped his head in shame, and picked up a single pokeball off the ground.

"Alright, now which one of you queer pukes thinks you can beat my Wartortle. One hundred to who ever thinks they can beat me." Did I need anymore invitation.

"I'll challenge you." I said, moving through the crowd and keeping my voice low. The man in the overalls looked at me and laughed.

"You in the mask? You think you can take me? You're Raticate is a pansy, he can't beat me."

"Oliver is as savage as a meat axe." I said, "He can take anything you attempt."

"Please, he's nothing." The man said, "Besides, why should I challenge you, you're dressed like a fool. You could be a nigger under that mask."

"If I beat you, it wont matter if I'm a colored, now will it?" I asked. "Now start!"

"Alright, you've brought this on you." The man said. "Wartortle, water-gun."

"Dodge Oliver." I commanded. Oliver leapt back, letting the water strike against the cement, He then zoomed into the Wartortle, tackling him and knocking him down. Wartortle fired again, hitting Oliver under the chin and knocking him back a bit.

Oliver quick attacked, hitting the Wartortle on it's softer underside. He attempted to bite into the shell using Hyper Fang, but Wartortle blew itself back with a Bubble.

"Tail whip." As Wartortle began to tail whip, Oliver slammed into it with a tackle. Frankly, no one should use Tail Whip, but that's just my humble opinion.

"End this battle." I said, "Use Super Fang." Oliver bit down, harder, this time cracking the shell. Wartortle shrieked, and passed out, giving the battle to me.

I won another two battles before heading back to Nessa. She helped me get redressed, complaining that she wasn't allowed to observe the battles. Coloreds aren't allowed on the docks unfortunately, due to the Black Codes. I then headed back to fathers shop.

My father was a lot less strict then most fathers would be to their daughters, but he still believed in the Codes. This meant that I had to be careful when I gave him an excuse that explained what I was doing instead of battling with pokemon. Still, it was worth it.

I walked into my fathers clock repair shop, through the back door. I looked around carefully, making sure my father was not waiting. Since his shop was our house, I had entered through the kitchen. I went to the pantry, where I again stored the three pokeballs and my costume, behind a bushel of apples. I then headed into my fathers workshop.

"I am back from the library father." I said, waking up behind him. He was at a desk, tinkering with a pocket watch.

"I sometime think I shouldn't have taught you how to read." He said, smirking, "If I hadn't, you'd have to spend more time with me."

"I spend plenty of time with you father." I said, "If I spent more, you would soon grow sick of me."

"Amelia, I could never grow sick of you." Father said, spinning around to see me.

"What are you working on?" I asked, looking over his shoulder. "Oh wonderful, is this?"

"Yes, it is Daniel's pocket watch." Father said, "He has brought it now eleven times, but he doesn't care about it. Daniel still wants to court you."

"He can court a Growlithe." I said, "He's a Mary." Daniel was Daniel Grey, son of Morgan Grey, one of the richest land owners in the region. Daniel was a little pug of a man, with small greedy eyes, and shockingly white hair. His skin always looked slick with grease, and his voice was like nails on my ears. For some reason though, he was infatuated with me, desperately wanting me as his wife. Sam Hill would skate to work before I would be his wife.

"Yes, I suppose he would." Father said.

Dinner was meat, vegetables, water, and freshly baked rolls from Patricks Bakery across the street. Father and I ate in the light of our new oil lamp.

"I hope to eventually be able to install filament bulbs." Father said to me, barely looking up from his meal, "To expensive right now."

"Maybe someday." I mumbled.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Father asked. I nodded. "Again? Amelia, you need to spend more time at home and less time out. People will get the wrong idea seeing you out without a man, or God forbid, with a Negro."

"As if all the biddy's out there really care who I'm seen with." I mumbled.

"Amelia, I've seen you associating with that colored girl" Father said, "That girl who helps Mr. Clearey." Mr. Clearey was the town pharmacist, who dispensed potions to heal pokemon. "As far as coloreds go, she isn't that terrible, but it's still best not to be seen with her."

"Who cares if I associate with Nessa?" I asked.

"It's not the way things are Amelia!" Father said, voice raising. "I wish you were more like other girls sometimes. They don't hang out with Negro's."

"They also don't have a thought in their head." I said, "They're nits, who don't know how to read, who don't have an opinion, who think pokemon battles are a mans sport."

"They are a mans sport." Father said, "Nice girls shouldn't be thinking about things like that. They should consider finding a husband, and raising a family."

"They should live their lives according to the Codes" I said, "Which will drain them of their souls, and turn them into brainless shells."

"The Codes do no such thing." Father said, "They provide order to our lives, they remind everyone where their place is. Your place is in the home Amelia, and you need to remember it."

"I'll never marry." I whispered, before going back to eating.

The Codes, Lord how I loathe the Codes.

It was night now, and I was in my room above the shop. I had an oil lamp on my vanity, and was looking at myself in the mirror. Not really looking though, thinking about the Codes and the way of things.

The Codes were laws that had been in effect for…well longer then I know. For at least two hundred years, maybe longer. They were designed to remind people of their place, though it's odd. Their were no Codes for white men.

The Women Codes were the only ones that effected me, but I hated them so much. The Women Codes made it illegal for women to have a job. It was illegal for a woman to own property, or hold a government position. It was illegal for woman to own Pokemon. That last one had made me decide the codes had to die, and I had to fight them.

I had designed the costume using fabric scraps and pieces of a sack. With the corset, and Nessa's help, I could flatten my breasts and disguise the fact I was a woman. Many people actually battled in costume, so no one questioned me wearing one. Nessa helped me with this for…well I don't really know. I know she wanted the Colored Codes removed, but she never really did anything about it.

"It doesn't matter." I mumbled, "I'll fight them, until I die…"

I paused. For a second, I saw something in the mirror, and it wasn't me. Or not the me I knew. The girl in the mirror was my height, and had black hair like me. She was heavier then I was, and was not dressed in a night gown. Rather, she was in denim jeans, and a black shirt with writing on it. I blinked, and suddenly my reflection was back.

"I-I think I need sleep." I mumbled.

"Fifteen New Species of Pokemon Announced." I read. It was the next morning, Father and I had just finished breakfast. The morning papers headline had sparked my interest. "That brings the total up to what, eighty now?"

"Eighty." Father laughed softly, "I don't think I'll be able to remember all eighty, that's just to many."

"It says they're considering splitting Earth-Type into two types, Rock and Ground. Those are just stupid, we'd have twelve types then." I said, as I took our dishes to the basin to be washed. From Father's workshop we could hear a bell ring, someone had just entered.

"I'll get it." Father said, though I wish he hadn't. Almost immediately he came back, and I knew why. "Daniel is here for his watch Amelia." Father sighed, "He wont leave until you give him the time of day." I sighed.

"Better to get it over with soon then later." I said, walking past Father and into the workshop, where Daniel waited.

"Hello Angela" A bald man, no boy, in a suite, smiling, "Donny missed you Angela, he knew he'd find you again."

"I-I…who are you?"

"You know who I am Amelia." Daniel said. I blinked rapidly, verifying it was Daniel who I saw. "Now, I believe you have something that belongs to me?" I went over to Father's desk, and grabbed Daniel's watch. He smiled as I handed it to him, grabbing it with his greasy fingers.

"Your father does great work." Daniel said. "You know, you and I should do something together."

"I would rather spend the night with the devil." I said. "We will never be together Daniel."

"Why not?" Daniel asked. "My family is important you know. We own most of the region, we help support Free Silver. I'd pay you your weight in silver."

"Then I would beat you with it." I said, "Good-bye Daniel." I left the store, back into the kitchen, "Sorry about that Father, Daniel is still a creep."

"What are these?" Father asked. I looked, and my blood ran cold. My costume, and my pokeballs, all three of them. "Why are these in our house?"

"Why-why do you have those?" I asked.

"The apples smelled rotten." Father said, "I went to investigate, and imagine my surprise when I found these behind them. What are you doing with pokeballs Amelia?"

"They're mine." I said, deciding just to tell him. "I've been training pokemon for the last three years." Fathers face turned bright red, I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"You have been training pokemon? The Codes strictly forbid women training pokemon!"

"The Codes can piss off!" I shouted. "The codes are everything wrong with life Father. Who cares if I train pokemon?"

"It is not the way of things." Father seethed.

"Then the way of things need to piss off also." I snapped. Father slapped me, hard across my left cheek. I could feel tears well up in my eyes, but I did not cry.

"Get out of here Amelia. Right now, I need to be alone." Father said.

"Fine." I grabbed my pokeballs and costume, "But I'm taking my pokemon. Good-bye Father."

AN: Angela/Amelia is living in about 1895.