Chapter 11 Part2
Jessica looked her daughter in her puffed up, red eyes.
"Ah think that's enough crying for now. Sugar, we need tah fight this with some of y'all mothers old tricks." Mysterious stopped sobbing for a moment and listened to her mother. "Before this night is done, ah think y'all have a betrothed." Mysterious stopped crying and gave a whoop of delight.
"You think so? He-he'll want me?" Mysterious saw her mother's eyes and the mischeivious gleam.
"Ah know so. Now child, what shall y'all wear tah the festival?" Mysterious smiled and began the preparations to enslave a young man's heart.
Ash's quarters
"You've got to be kidding me! I'll look like a peacock in that thing!" Ash groaned as Tracey held up a blue and white outfit. There were too many ruffles around the neck and in the hip area.
"It's the latest fashion!" Insisted Tracey. Tracey held the outfit up to Ash's neck. "Besides it suits you." Ash sighed.
"It suits you if you're a peacock but, I'm not one. I will decide what to wear. Out!" Ash ordered. Tracey gave a bit of a pout and obeyed.
"Another piece of advice when meeting the princess." Tracey said on his way out the door. "Try not to drool when you see her next. We have enough water out on the beach already."
"Thanks a lot! I'm not going to go gaga like some guys. So little faith." Ash retorted. Tracey snickered outside the door.
'Oh, from what you told me, she will have you drooling. Don't mess this one up princess, he's a keeper. I think we'll do well under him.' Tracey began to hum a tune as soon as he was out of earshot from the room. It was an old melody, Poppy and the pin, a tune about a couple marrying and growing old. 'If we're lucky, he'll be a challenging prince renounced by a kingdom and king of ours within a month!'
"It's alright to come out now Mew." Ash sighed now that he was alone. Ash flopped down on the feather bed and closed his eyes.
"Finally! That pokeball was getting to me! So, which festival is it?" Ash opened one eye to look at Mew.
"How should I know? I just got here." Ash mumbled. "I never thought I would have to wear anything like this ever. This is worse than the time I was asked to pretend that I was a Mr. Mime."
"I'll say." Interrupted Pikachu. "They all look like something Brock would wear to a blind date." Ash laughed at Pikachu's disgust at the wardrobe.
"That's another problem, what am I going to wear that I won't look totally ridiculous in?" Ash held up a red shirt with white ruffles. "Eyyuck! I don't know if this is girls clothes or not there's so many ruffles."
"Ash I think we may have a problem." Mew said in a serious tone. Ash dropped the shirt on the bed.
"Something wrong Mew." Ash asked. Mew was floating about three feet above the bed and then floated over to the mountain of discarded cloths on the bed. Mew didn't respond until she was finished rifling through the cloths.
"By the look of these cloths, yes. Ash, in this world people are more dishonest then normal." Ash was stopped cold.
"People here are untrustworthy? Should've told me that a bit sooner Mew. I don't see how that ties in with the cloths." Ash grumbled. Mew picked out a ruffled black shirt and white pants.
"The cloths are just the first indication Ash. Your actions yesterday probably got you into trouble tonight." Mew giggled. Pikachu pulled off a green shirt off of its face and asked Mew a question that Ash was about to ask.
"Why would he be in trouble tonight? All he did was save Princess Mysterious." Mew gave Pikachu a wink.
"That's the problem. When Ash saved Mysterious, he showed his true nature and kindness in this world is almost as rare as pokemon are. The princess was undoubtedly impressed with Ash's actions and might decide to take it another step and in this world that means marriage vows." Ash fell over in fear.
"W-What!!!!!!!" Ash roared. "That can't be true! I'm only twelve! I can't marry her!" Ash gasped in a hurry. Mew held up a hand …er paw for his silence.
"I didn't say you would be married, what I said was marriage vows." Ash had a total look of confusion cross his face. "Um.. You would be betrothed." Ash's panic returned.
"That's almost as bad! That means that one day I would have to marry her!" Ash squeaked in a high voice. "Mew!"
"Alright! I should warn you though, even if you don't want to, she will." Ash let a small noise escape the back of his throat.
"How can you be sure of that?" Ash asked hoping to be wrong.
"Simple; you got rid of her attackers, brought her home and didn't try to steal her pokemon egg. In this world, that's like letting a Rocket member have a million dollars and asking them to deposit in the nearest bank for you. You're too good an offer to pass up on." Ash sat on the bed for a moment and thought about it.
"I see your point. Question is what do I do about it?" Ash asked aloud. "Do I have any options open to me?" Mew copied Ash's thinking position in mid air and sighed.
"The only options open to you are to go along with it and agree to marry her-" Ash quivered at that option. "-or you could disappear before anything happens." Ash didn't like that option either.
"What if I could string her along? You know, talk my way out any such topics tonight and run off tomorrow." Mew sadly shook her head with a no.
"Afraid it won't work. Unless something short of a miracle happens tonight, you may find yourself on the end of a promise stick." Mew said sadly. "So do you want to disappear before the party or what?" Ash sighed and picked up Pikachu.
"I did promise to check on Rapidash. Maybe we can make our escape then." Ash decided that he would leave a note apologizing about his abrupt departure. Ash wrote out the note and left it on the bed. Ash peeked out the hall to see two guards at his doorway.
'Not this again!' Ash thought as he surveyed the two brutes. 'It's just like at the hospital. I'm becoming a regular Houdini! I can probably go out the window but we're up a little ways so….' Ash had an idea to make a rope out of bed sheets and escape out the window. Mew kyboshed the idea.
"It's too dangerous! What if you slip?! I won't be responsible for your death!" Ash scratched his head.
"I can get Bulbasaur to lower me down to the ground. How's that for an escape plan?" Mew sighed and looked at his master.
'Young and brave. Most would say foolish and stubborn but, I say that those are traits of a true hero.' Mew thought peacefully.
"I say we go for it." Ash gave Mew a wink.
"Don't worry! We'll get out of this alright. Mew return!" Mew was sucked back into the pokeball that Ash had enlarged and was placed back on his belt. Pikachu jumped from the bed and landed on Ash's back. "Come on Pikachu. We're-" Ash didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Greetings Trainer." Ash turned to the voice at the door. "It is good to finally meet you in person." Ash gasped in horror. It was Gary's alternate but that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that the voice was familiar.
"We've met haven't we?" Ash growled. Pikachu saw his trainer tense and copied him.
"Get lost!" Pikachu growled.
"Now, that's no way to treat an old friend is it?" Ash made a fist with his right hand.
"You're no friend of mine." Krofost laughed and walked into the room.
"Whatever. I'm not here for the festival you know." Ash was prepared to run, hit or do both if necessary; he wasn't too fond of this guy.
"Then what are you here for?" Ash asked with a growl. The answer hit him like a ton of bricks.
"You of course. If I were still in my altered state, I would have tried to kill you or at the very least take control of your mind- " That was enough for Ash.
"Pikachu-"
"-But I'm not. So I've decided to join you on your quest to unite people and pokemon together." Ash stopped the order in mid sentence.
"-thun-Pardon?" Ash asked disbelieving. Krofost laughed at Ash's confusion. "Wait a minute! You're the one that threatened my friends and me. Now you want to help me? What's going on? This has got to be some type of trick."
"If you listened, I said altered state. Your real mission is not to only lead by example, but to take the first steps to unite this land. You see, everything here is controlled by a group called the council." Ash stood blankly staring at Krofost. "You may want to sit down peacemaker or you might find yourself sitting down anyway."
"Huh? Peacemaker?" Ash asked dumbly. Krofost sighed.
'I think I'm going to have my work cut out for me. This kid isn't getting this.' Ash sat on the bed and looked at Krofost skeptically. Ash motioned for him to sit in a chair opposite to him.
"Start at the beginning." Ash ordered. Krofost found himself compelled to obey.
'So it starts already.' Thought Krofost as he sat down. 'My but he's a strong one.'
"Chosen one, this land is not ruled by the monarchs like it should be. There is a council that rules the entire world by controlling the monarch. They call themselves council because they are a select few people that decide everything. Pokemon are their tools to command because they control the egg selection. If a pokemon is selected to go to a monarch from the council, they alter the pokemon to listen to one voice and one voice other than the monarch." Ash looked at him skeptically.
"So where do you fit in this?" Ash asked. Krofost adverted his eyes for the first time in a long time in shame.
"I found out about this as a young child and wished to stop it. Needless to say, I was stopped." Ash felt a pang of sympathy for this Krofost. "I was a hero before they stopped me. A prince that defied the council, back then I was called Garnick, not Krofost. I had a wonderful companion Eevee. I learned of the egg selection the hard way." Ash could have cried for this Gary alternate. Krofost stopped talking.
"What happened?" Ash asked eagerly. Krofost shook himself off and sighed.
"I was changed into Krofost. I did unspeakable things under their control. You know the alternate version of me do you not?" Ash nodded. "Well the council decided to alter his personality using me because they thought him the chosen one. They still do but they could only change him a little at a time. It would not last forever though. I was too strong for their sorcerers to control and the rising power of the chosen one helped immensely." That got Ash's attention.
"My power released you? How?" Ash asked out of curiosity. Gary's alternate laughed.
"You really are from another world aren't you? There is a prophesy about the chosen one that is taught to our children before they can even walk.
He will have passed the trails of psychic power,
The titans and tower.
To reach the goals of the pokemon master,
He will have to go through a disaster.
His life in danger all the way,
But to no avail, will he always stay,
The ultimate trainer of all in the world.
The plan is now unfurled.
Another world he will come from,
To save our world say some."
and then the words came out of Ash's mouth without thinking. It was something that had never had happened to Ash before and he was weirded out by it. It made him a bit disoriented.
"With the resistance of the castles by his side,
He will have no reason to hide.
The frost will be first and then summer begins
Victory is only in the eyes of those who wins.
Chosen one will he be,
Chosen to set both worlds free.
One will be saved and another will be late,
But that is the chosen ones fate." Ash finished for Krofost.
"What?" Krofost asked in amazement as soon as Ash was done. "So you know the prophecy? A similarity between worlds! This is something new!" Krofost said in wonder.
"I've never heard about it in my world, it just popped out." Ash said as soon as the dizzy spell passed. Krofost arched an eyebrow.
'Interesting, he doesn't truly control the power. It controls him.' Pikachu suddenly alerted ash.
"Ash! There's someone coming down the hall!" Ash groaned. This meant that it was time for the party and that he had missed his chance to escape. Krofost noticed his behaviour and was curious.
"I can't understand him." Krofost said. Ash replied with a questioning look. "I can't understand Pikachu's words. I'm a sorcerer as well as a prince, I should be able to understand your pokemon." Ash scratched the back of his neck.
"I don't know why. I think it's a affect of my bond with my pokemon." Krofost sighed. It was going to be more difficult than he thought to win this boy over.
"I think it's time for the party to begin. I think this would be the best time to announce your presence to the world." Krofost said simply. Ash sat up to look Krofost in the eye when he saw a silver cloth cover his face. Ash felt a bit funny as he fully sat up and saw that he had new cloths.
"What?" Ash asked Krofost. Krofost put the silver cloth back in his pocket.
"Think of it as a token of good faith. I am to be your servant from now on." Ash blinked in surprise.
"Uh-thanks Krofost but, I really don't need a servant." Krofost was in shock at the trainer's words. "I would like a friend though. Even though you might have been on the other side for a while, you might be the closest person that understands my situation." Krofost smiled.
'I should've know. Very well then, see how long our friendship lasts. You will be here a long time.' Krofost looked at the chosen one. The silver and white garb suited him; Silver gloves, boots, belt and cape. White pants that hung loosely and a shirt that showed off his young inexperienced build. They would have to do something about that.
"Before we do anything big, I think it best that we train you in the ways of this world. You're about to become the popular guy. Also don't call me Krofost, I am not Krofost anymore, I am Garnick once more." Ash smiled and held out a hand.
"Friends?" Ash asked.
"Friends!" Confirmed Garnick.
"Can we stop in on Rapidash before we go to the party? I promised to check in on my pokemon to let it know that everything's fine." Garnick nodded.
Ball room.
"This had better be good!" Growled Ruby of the fire kingdom. "I had to cancel an appointment with my father for this!"
"I bet it's about Mysterious's choice for a husband." Laughed Danny of the Orange sea kingdom. "I knew she would see things my way."
"Yeah right! She'll be mine before she's yours." Growled Nick of the new grass kingdom. The group of boys that were squabbling over the princess Mysterious was getting on the nerves of Pewter prince Flint Brock the third. He was listening to the conversation and was sitting on a windowsill staring out into the night.
'I should've stayed at home.' He thought bitterly. 'It's just going to be another one of those eat your heart out suitor bashes she gives. Father must be really desperate to get me out more.'
"Helloooo" Purred a seductive voice. Brock recognized the voice that belonged to Rose of the Poison grass kingdom. He sighed, another night of putting up with her.
"What do you want Rose?" He asked tiredly. Rose flipped her pink hair over her shoulder. Brock watched as her red dress swayed to an unheard beat as she approached him.
"You, what else would a girl want?" She cooed. Brock sighed. He was not in the mood for politics tonight. "I heard from a reliable source that the princess had a promise stick with her tonight. Do you want to take the oath with me?" Rose asked as she slipped her arms around his neck. Brock unglued her arms gently and shook his head.
"You don't give up do you? Sorry Rose, you know I'm not interested." Brock said soothingly. Rose pouted.
"You'll see things my way one day. I'll wait for only so long you know." Rose said before she left. Brock looked back out into the night to see darkness.
'I can't commit. Ever since I lost my pokemon, I can't feel happy and I probably won't ever again. What the?' Brock saw a pokemon being lead out of the stables. 'Whose pokemon is that?!'
"Hey guys! Check this out!" Brock called to his younger group of friends.
"What's up Flint?" Asked Ruby. Brock hated that name and preferred to be called Brock. He ignored it just this once and pointed to the courtyard. Gasps were heard from around the room as more people were invited to the window. The pokemon was magnificent! It was a horse-fire type pokemon that looked very well taken care of.
"Whoah! Check that out!" exclaimed Danny. "It looks like a Ponyta only.."
"Different." Finished Brock for Danny. The servant was unnoticed by the group and they watched as the fire pokemon was lead to the other side of the courtyard.
"I'm not interested in the horse," Said a familiar voice. Brock turned to see the younger sister of Ruby; Ember. "I like the rider better." The group looked and saw a teen walking over to the horse. Dressed in sliver and white garb he was undoubtedly a prince. The shock to the group was that there was another pokemon perched on his shoulder.
"What's that?" Asked Nick. Brock had seen something close to that before the rebel's war had died out. The King called Turner was of the new electric kingdom had something called a Riachu. It was a powerful pokemon that evolved from a element stone. Brock remembered the name of it's un-evolved form.
"It's a Pikachu! I've never seen one but that's what it is!" Exclaimed Brock. Then the trumpets blared signaling the arrival of the princess Mysterious.
Courtyard
"I'm back. Miss me?" Ash called out to Rapidash. The fire type pokemon noticed the voice of its master and trotted over to Ash without the help of the servant. Ash waved his arm to dismiss the boy.
"I thought I was going to have to break the doors down on that barn to get you to come out." Rapidash snorted. "You want to leave now?" Ash shook his head.
"Not yet. How'd they treat you?" Ash asked. Rapidash nudged Ash for a rubbing on his face.
"They didn't spoil me like you do. I think that I prefer your rubs then theirs." Ash laughed and scratched Rapidash's ears.
"I think we have lost our audience." Garnick interrupted. Ash looked over at him as if he was strange and Garnick motioned to the windows. Ash looked up to see a few faces gaping at the sight in the courtyard.
"I'm really not used to this yet." Ash mumbled. Ash gave Rapidash a few oats to eat that Garnick gave to him. "Stay out of trouble. I'll be back in the morning."
"So we are invited to the party I take it." Garnick said. Ash sighed and walked over to the barn to put Rapidash back into his stable.
"I'm invited. I don't know about you though." Ash said as he combed Rapidash with a brush. Garnick laughed.
"I'm a renowned sorcerer, I can get into anyplace. Besides I'm your servant remember? A prince like you needs a manservant of some kind." Garnick explained.
"One problem with that. They won't believe me because you didn't come into town with me. They might be suspicious of you." Ash said simply. Garnick stopped for a moment.
"Your right about that. I suppose we could tell them all the truth. Then I wouldn't have to hide my identity. Mysterious would be thinking twice about that promise stick and you would be an instant hero. I think it would be best if we introduced the world to our chosen one." Garnick said in a smooth tone.
"I don't like the idea of me being a hero." Ash said as they made their way over to the courtyard again. "I mean, I understand that I'm special but, I don't think I'm better than anyone else." Garnick looked to the doorway to the party and stopped Ash.
"That's exactly why we need you. You never give a second thought about someone being you r lesser. You respect that they tried their best against you and encourage them when they don't succeed. People usually give up here because they feel too ashamed to go on." Garnick smiled and patted Ash's back. "Now lets drop peoples jaws shall we?" Ash laughed and they entered the room.
'You have a kind heart and that is rare. We will do well under you.' Garnick thought as he followed Ash into the party. The party stopped as soon as they entered. 'Interesting, he hold command of attention rather easily.'
"Is that the guy?" Asked an unknown voice.
"Yeah! He has two pokemon." Answered another voice.
"I heard he's the one that saved Mysterious." Said another voice.
"No kidding! No wonder she looks this way tonight." Laughed another voice from the crowd.
"Wonder who the other guy is." Said another voice. Ash ignored the questions around him and looked for a familiar face. There were people he had never met before on his adventures and some he could sworn he had.
'That guy looks like Richie. And I could have sworn I battled that one over there before. I wish I was on my world." Ash sighed. This was going to be a long night. Then a movement caught Ash's eye. The royal colour of purple moved in his direction, it was the queen.
"Ah am so happy that yah decided tah join us tonight. Ah never quite caught yah name last time we met." Ash smiled.
"My name is Ash, your highness." Ash replied.
"Ah see another new face. Who would ya'll be?" Ash saw that she was addressing Garnick. Garnick had a mischievous look on his face that momentarily scared Ash.
'What are you going to do now?' Ash thought uncomfortably as Garnick cleared his voice.
"Perhaps you have heard of me. I am Lord Garnick from the War of the Rebels. I am also known in my altered form as King Krofost of Fortress Field." The gasp in the room was instantiations and surprising. It was nothing compared to the gasp that echoed after Garnick finished his introduction. "And I am in the service of the chosen one, the Ultimate Trainer Ash Ketchum."
"Im-impossible!" Yelled someone from the audience listening.
"Are y'all trying tah tell us now that the Ultimate Trainer is somewhere in this world?" Gasped the Queen. Garnick smiled and motioned with his head toward Ash.
'I should've known. Thanks Garnick!' Ash could only gat more and more uncomfortable under the gaze of everyone in the room.
"Ah don't believe it! Are y'all tell'n the truth? Is he the Chosen One?" The queen asked Garnick. In response, Garnick laughed.
"You don't believe me? Ash, I think a little proof is in order." Ash moaned. This meant trouble. "I think in order to prove that you're the Ultimate trainer, I think the councils Taker is in order." Taker?
"Prove it!" Chanted the people in the room.
"Yes! Prove it!" Voiced one above the rest. Ash looked and saw the princess walking towards him. Ash would have sat down on account of her beauty but the look on her face was one that made her look extremely unattractive; she was angry. Ash met her angry gaze like he would Misty's sometimes.
"What would you have me do?" Ash asked coolly. Mysterious motioned and one of the servants went running. While that happened, Ash gave Garnick a look that said what did you get me into? While they were waiting for the Taker a buzz started among the people there.
"You sent for me Princess?" Asked a man in a black hood that covered his features. Ash could see that he was someone of importance because of the jewelry on his fingers.
"I want you to take this Prince's pokemon for a minute." Ash sighed. If he didn't know better he would have thought that it was Misty he was talking to.
"For what purpose? I must know how strong to weave my voice." Said the faceless voice. Ash wasn't liking the talk of weave; it was too closely related to magic.
"Just to get that pokemon from his shoulder to come to you. Show us that and I will see what I can do about that raise you want so badly.
"It will be done!" Said the man eagerly. Ash felt Pikachu tense on his shoulder.
'Mew! What do I do? Is he going to come and grab Pikachu off of my shoulder or what?' Ash sent telepathically to Mew. A telepathic response was sent in a laugh.
'He plans on using his voice to get Pikachu to come to him. It won't work on account of two reasons. One, your pokemon aren't from this world so they couldn't cast the spell on them at birth. Two, you're the Ultimate Trainer; your pokemon will only obey you unless instructed to do so by you.'
'That's a relief.' Ash could almost feel something in the air hovering over him as the man began to glow. Ash was physically relaxed to everyone's surprise. The man removed his hood to reveal his eyes glowing a green colour, other than that, he was a bald, faceless man.
"Come here!" Pikachu looked at Ash and Ash looked at Pikachu. They both began to laugh hard, much to the amazement of the man and the audience. Garnick smiled at the surprise of the people around him.
"Wait a minute!" Roared a voice in the crowd. Ash stopped laughing with Pikachu when he recognized the roar. It was the deep throaty voice of Brock. Ash turned into the crowd to see a squinting person stepping forward.
"Something wrong?" Ash asked. Brock stopped in front of Ash and pointed at Garnick.
"You're the sorcerer Garnick? Am I right?" Garnick nodded. "Is it possible for you to be interfering with the Takers magic." Garnick shook his head.
"Nope, I can't interfere with a Takers magic. Try using the magic on another pokemon if you don't believe me." Garnick challenged. Brock or rather Brocks alternate motioned to the queen and she nodded.
"Slowking dear. Come here for a moment." Ash saw the slow, lumbering pokemon make his way into the room. The Taker began to glow again.
"Come here." Ash saw the pokemon go ridged and alter course to the Taker.
"Slowking!" Yelled the Queen. As if oblivious to her calls, Slowking went to the Taker and sat down by his feet.
"I will try again. I might have not used enough power." The man began to glow brighter and then his eyes began to glow a red colour instead of green. "Come here!" He almost shouted. Pikachu yawned and began to play with Ash's cloak; smoothing it out and bunching it up under him.
"Can this guy be anymore boring?" Pikachu said. Ash laughed as the rest of the court was silent. "Can I get some sleep? I'm pretty tired."
"Don't go to sleep yet, Pikachu. I think you might offend someone who's trying to get you to come to him." Pikachu yawned again and stared at the man.
"I would if he had some ketchup on him." Pikachu said dreamily. Ash shook his head as soon as Pikachu shut his eyes.
"I said COME HERE!" yelled the man again. Pikachu opened one eye and stuck out his tongue in a rasp. Ash and the entire court were in an uproar of laughing.
"Pikachu, that's not polite." Ash scolded in a mock tone. Pikachu closed his eye and fell asleep for real this time. The man was in a trance as if he had been paralyzed. Ash turned to Garnick and smiled. "That good enough for you?"
"I think you might have overdone it a bit. I think you hurt his pride." Garnick laughed. Ash turned to see that the entire room was cleared out. There was himself, Garnick, Princess Mysterious, Prince Brock, and the Taker still in the room.
"Something I said?" Ash asked. Mysterious sat down abruptly on her throne and Brock did the same on a chair.
"More like something you did." Replied Garnick.
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything related to pokemon. Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak. This is a pokemon fanfic created by my mind only.
Jessica looked her daughter in her puffed up, red eyes.
"Ah think that's enough crying for now. Sugar, we need tah fight this with some of y'all mothers old tricks." Mysterious stopped sobbing for a moment and listened to her mother. "Before this night is done, ah think y'all have a betrothed." Mysterious stopped crying and gave a whoop of delight.
"You think so? He-he'll want me?" Mysterious saw her mother's eyes and the mischeivious gleam.
"Ah know so. Now child, what shall y'all wear tah the festival?" Mysterious smiled and began the preparations to enslave a young man's heart.
Ash's quarters
"You've got to be kidding me! I'll look like a peacock in that thing!" Ash groaned as Tracey held up a blue and white outfit. There were too many ruffles around the neck and in the hip area.
"It's the latest fashion!" Insisted Tracey. Tracey held the outfit up to Ash's neck. "Besides it suits you." Ash sighed.
"It suits you if you're a peacock but, I'm not one. I will decide what to wear. Out!" Ash ordered. Tracey gave a bit of a pout and obeyed.
"Another piece of advice when meeting the princess." Tracey said on his way out the door. "Try not to drool when you see her next. We have enough water out on the beach already."
"Thanks a lot! I'm not going to go gaga like some guys. So little faith." Ash retorted. Tracey snickered outside the door.
'Oh, from what you told me, she will have you drooling. Don't mess this one up princess, he's a keeper. I think we'll do well under him.' Tracey began to hum a tune as soon as he was out of earshot from the room. It was an old melody, Poppy and the pin, a tune about a couple marrying and growing old. 'If we're lucky, he'll be a challenging prince renounced by a kingdom and king of ours within a month!'
"It's alright to come out now Mew." Ash sighed now that he was alone. Ash flopped down on the feather bed and closed his eyes.
"Finally! That pokeball was getting to me! So, which festival is it?" Ash opened one eye to look at Mew.
"How should I know? I just got here." Ash mumbled. "I never thought I would have to wear anything like this ever. This is worse than the time I was asked to pretend that I was a Mr. Mime."
"I'll say." Interrupted Pikachu. "They all look like something Brock would wear to a blind date." Ash laughed at Pikachu's disgust at the wardrobe.
"That's another problem, what am I going to wear that I won't look totally ridiculous in?" Ash held up a red shirt with white ruffles. "Eyyuck! I don't know if this is girls clothes or not there's so many ruffles."
"Ash I think we may have a problem." Mew said in a serious tone. Ash dropped the shirt on the bed.
"Something wrong Mew." Ash asked. Mew was floating about three feet above the bed and then floated over to the mountain of discarded cloths on the bed. Mew didn't respond until she was finished rifling through the cloths.
"By the look of these cloths, yes. Ash, in this world people are more dishonest then normal." Ash was stopped cold.
"People here are untrustworthy? Should've told me that a bit sooner Mew. I don't see how that ties in with the cloths." Ash grumbled. Mew picked out a ruffled black shirt and white pants.
"The cloths are just the first indication Ash. Your actions yesterday probably got you into trouble tonight." Mew giggled. Pikachu pulled off a green shirt off of its face and asked Mew a question that Ash was about to ask.
"Why would he be in trouble tonight? All he did was save Princess Mysterious." Mew gave Pikachu a wink.
"That's the problem. When Ash saved Mysterious, he showed his true nature and kindness in this world is almost as rare as pokemon are. The princess was undoubtedly impressed with Ash's actions and might decide to take it another step and in this world that means marriage vows." Ash fell over in fear.
"W-What!!!!!!!" Ash roared. "That can't be true! I'm only twelve! I can't marry her!" Ash gasped in a hurry. Mew held up a hand …er paw for his silence.
"I didn't say you would be married, what I said was marriage vows." Ash had a total look of confusion cross his face. "Um.. You would be betrothed." Ash's panic returned.
"That's almost as bad! That means that one day I would have to marry her!" Ash squeaked in a high voice. "Mew!"
"Alright! I should warn you though, even if you don't want to, she will." Ash let a small noise escape the back of his throat.
"How can you be sure of that?" Ash asked hoping to be wrong.
"Simple; you got rid of her attackers, brought her home and didn't try to steal her pokemon egg. In this world, that's like letting a Rocket member have a million dollars and asking them to deposit in the nearest bank for you. You're too good an offer to pass up on." Ash sat on the bed for a moment and thought about it.
"I see your point. Question is what do I do about it?" Ash asked aloud. "Do I have any options open to me?" Mew copied Ash's thinking position in mid air and sighed.
"The only options open to you are to go along with it and agree to marry her-" Ash quivered at that option. "-or you could disappear before anything happens." Ash didn't like that option either.
"What if I could string her along? You know, talk my way out any such topics tonight and run off tomorrow." Mew sadly shook her head with a no.
"Afraid it won't work. Unless something short of a miracle happens tonight, you may find yourself on the end of a promise stick." Mew said sadly. "So do you want to disappear before the party or what?" Ash sighed and picked up Pikachu.
"I did promise to check on Rapidash. Maybe we can make our escape then." Ash decided that he would leave a note apologizing about his abrupt departure. Ash wrote out the note and left it on the bed. Ash peeked out the hall to see two guards at his doorway.
'Not this again!' Ash thought as he surveyed the two brutes. 'It's just like at the hospital. I'm becoming a regular Houdini! I can probably go out the window but we're up a little ways so….' Ash had an idea to make a rope out of bed sheets and escape out the window. Mew kyboshed the idea.
"It's too dangerous! What if you slip?! I won't be responsible for your death!" Ash scratched his head.
"I can get Bulbasaur to lower me down to the ground. How's that for an escape plan?" Mew sighed and looked at his master.
'Young and brave. Most would say foolish and stubborn but, I say that those are traits of a true hero.' Mew thought peacefully.
"I say we go for it." Ash gave Mew a wink.
"Don't worry! We'll get out of this alright. Mew return!" Mew was sucked back into the pokeball that Ash had enlarged and was placed back on his belt. Pikachu jumped from the bed and landed on Ash's back. "Come on Pikachu. We're-" Ash didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Greetings Trainer." Ash turned to the voice at the door. "It is good to finally meet you in person." Ash gasped in horror. It was Gary's alternate but that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that the voice was familiar.
"We've met haven't we?" Ash growled. Pikachu saw his trainer tense and copied him.
"Get lost!" Pikachu growled.
"Now, that's no way to treat an old friend is it?" Ash made a fist with his right hand.
"You're no friend of mine." Krofost laughed and walked into the room.
"Whatever. I'm not here for the festival you know." Ash was prepared to run, hit or do both if necessary; he wasn't too fond of this guy.
"Then what are you here for?" Ash asked with a growl. The answer hit him like a ton of bricks.
"You of course. If I were still in my altered state, I would have tried to kill you or at the very least take control of your mind- " That was enough for Ash.
"Pikachu-"
"-But I'm not. So I've decided to join you on your quest to unite people and pokemon together." Ash stopped the order in mid sentence.
"-thun-Pardon?" Ash asked disbelieving. Krofost laughed at Ash's confusion. "Wait a minute! You're the one that threatened my friends and me. Now you want to help me? What's going on? This has got to be some type of trick."
"If you listened, I said altered state. Your real mission is not to only lead by example, but to take the first steps to unite this land. You see, everything here is controlled by a group called the council." Ash stood blankly staring at Krofost. "You may want to sit down peacemaker or you might find yourself sitting down anyway."
"Huh? Peacemaker?" Ash asked dumbly. Krofost sighed.
'I think I'm going to have my work cut out for me. This kid isn't getting this.' Ash sat on the bed and looked at Krofost skeptically. Ash motioned for him to sit in a chair opposite to him.
"Start at the beginning." Ash ordered. Krofost found himself compelled to obey.
'So it starts already.' Thought Krofost as he sat down. 'My but he's a strong one.'
"Chosen one, this land is not ruled by the monarchs like it should be. There is a council that rules the entire world by controlling the monarch. They call themselves council because they are a select few people that decide everything. Pokemon are their tools to command because they control the egg selection. If a pokemon is selected to go to a monarch from the council, they alter the pokemon to listen to one voice and one voice other than the monarch." Ash looked at him skeptically.
"So where do you fit in this?" Ash asked. Krofost adverted his eyes for the first time in a long time in shame.
"I found out about this as a young child and wished to stop it. Needless to say, I was stopped." Ash felt a pang of sympathy for this Krofost. "I was a hero before they stopped me. A prince that defied the council, back then I was called Garnick, not Krofost. I had a wonderful companion Eevee. I learned of the egg selection the hard way." Ash could have cried for this Gary alternate. Krofost stopped talking.
"What happened?" Ash asked eagerly. Krofost shook himself off and sighed.
"I was changed into Krofost. I did unspeakable things under their control. You know the alternate version of me do you not?" Ash nodded. "Well the council decided to alter his personality using me because they thought him the chosen one. They still do but they could only change him a little at a time. It would not last forever though. I was too strong for their sorcerers to control and the rising power of the chosen one helped immensely." That got Ash's attention.
"My power released you? How?" Ash asked out of curiosity. Gary's alternate laughed.
"You really are from another world aren't you? There is a prophesy about the chosen one that is taught to our children before they can even walk.
He will have passed the trails of psychic power,
The titans and tower.
To reach the goals of the pokemon master,
He will have to go through a disaster.
His life in danger all the way,
But to no avail, will he always stay,
The ultimate trainer of all in the world.
The plan is now unfurled.
Another world he will come from,
To save our world say some."
and then the words came out of Ash's mouth without thinking. It was something that had never had happened to Ash before and he was weirded out by it. It made him a bit disoriented.
"With the resistance of the castles by his side,
He will have no reason to hide.
The frost will be first and then summer begins
Victory is only in the eyes of those who wins.
Chosen one will he be,
Chosen to set both worlds free.
One will be saved and another will be late,
But that is the chosen ones fate." Ash finished for Krofost.
"What?" Krofost asked in amazement as soon as Ash was done. "So you know the prophecy? A similarity between worlds! This is something new!" Krofost said in wonder.
"I've never heard about it in my world, it just popped out." Ash said as soon as the dizzy spell passed. Krofost arched an eyebrow.
'Interesting, he doesn't truly control the power. It controls him.' Pikachu suddenly alerted ash.
"Ash! There's someone coming down the hall!" Ash groaned. This meant that it was time for the party and that he had missed his chance to escape. Krofost noticed his behaviour and was curious.
"I can't understand him." Krofost said. Ash replied with a questioning look. "I can't understand Pikachu's words. I'm a sorcerer as well as a prince, I should be able to understand your pokemon." Ash scratched the back of his neck.
"I don't know why. I think it's a affect of my bond with my pokemon." Krofost sighed. It was going to be more difficult than he thought to win this boy over.
"I think it's time for the party to begin. I think this would be the best time to announce your presence to the world." Krofost said simply. Ash sat up to look Krofost in the eye when he saw a silver cloth cover his face. Ash felt a bit funny as he fully sat up and saw that he had new cloths.
"What?" Ash asked Krofost. Krofost put the silver cloth back in his pocket.
"Think of it as a token of good faith. I am to be your servant from now on." Ash blinked in surprise.
"Uh-thanks Krofost but, I really don't need a servant." Krofost was in shock at the trainer's words. "I would like a friend though. Even though you might have been on the other side for a while, you might be the closest person that understands my situation." Krofost smiled.
'I should've know. Very well then, see how long our friendship lasts. You will be here a long time.' Krofost looked at the chosen one. The silver and white garb suited him; Silver gloves, boots, belt and cape. White pants that hung loosely and a shirt that showed off his young inexperienced build. They would have to do something about that.
"Before we do anything big, I think it best that we train you in the ways of this world. You're about to become the popular guy. Also don't call me Krofost, I am not Krofost anymore, I am Garnick once more." Ash smiled and held out a hand.
"Friends?" Ash asked.
"Friends!" Confirmed Garnick.
"Can we stop in on Rapidash before we go to the party? I promised to check in on my pokemon to let it know that everything's fine." Garnick nodded.
Ball room.
"This had better be good!" Growled Ruby of the fire kingdom. "I had to cancel an appointment with my father for this!"
"I bet it's about Mysterious's choice for a husband." Laughed Danny of the Orange sea kingdom. "I knew she would see things my way."
"Yeah right! She'll be mine before she's yours." Growled Nick of the new grass kingdom. The group of boys that were squabbling over the princess Mysterious was getting on the nerves of Pewter prince Flint Brock the third. He was listening to the conversation and was sitting on a windowsill staring out into the night.
'I should've stayed at home.' He thought bitterly. 'It's just going to be another one of those eat your heart out suitor bashes she gives. Father must be really desperate to get me out more.'
"Helloooo" Purred a seductive voice. Brock recognized the voice that belonged to Rose of the Poison grass kingdom. He sighed, another night of putting up with her.
"What do you want Rose?" He asked tiredly. Rose flipped her pink hair over her shoulder. Brock watched as her red dress swayed to an unheard beat as she approached him.
"You, what else would a girl want?" She cooed. Brock sighed. He was not in the mood for politics tonight. "I heard from a reliable source that the princess had a promise stick with her tonight. Do you want to take the oath with me?" Rose asked as she slipped her arms around his neck. Brock unglued her arms gently and shook his head.
"You don't give up do you? Sorry Rose, you know I'm not interested." Brock said soothingly. Rose pouted.
"You'll see things my way one day. I'll wait for only so long you know." Rose said before she left. Brock looked back out into the night to see darkness.
'I can't commit. Ever since I lost my pokemon, I can't feel happy and I probably won't ever again. What the?' Brock saw a pokemon being lead out of the stables. 'Whose pokemon is that?!'
"Hey guys! Check this out!" Brock called to his younger group of friends.
"What's up Flint?" Asked Ruby. Brock hated that name and preferred to be called Brock. He ignored it just this once and pointed to the courtyard. Gasps were heard from around the room as more people were invited to the window. The pokemon was magnificent! It was a horse-fire type pokemon that looked very well taken care of.
"Whoah! Check that out!" exclaimed Danny. "It looks like a Ponyta only.."
"Different." Finished Brock for Danny. The servant was unnoticed by the group and they watched as the fire pokemon was lead to the other side of the courtyard.
"I'm not interested in the horse," Said a familiar voice. Brock turned to see the younger sister of Ruby; Ember. "I like the rider better." The group looked and saw a teen walking over to the horse. Dressed in sliver and white garb he was undoubtedly a prince. The shock to the group was that there was another pokemon perched on his shoulder.
"What's that?" Asked Nick. Brock had seen something close to that before the rebel's war had died out. The King called Turner was of the new electric kingdom had something called a Riachu. It was a powerful pokemon that evolved from a element stone. Brock remembered the name of it's un-evolved form.
"It's a Pikachu! I've never seen one but that's what it is!" Exclaimed Brock. Then the trumpets blared signaling the arrival of the princess Mysterious.
Courtyard
"I'm back. Miss me?" Ash called out to Rapidash. The fire type pokemon noticed the voice of its master and trotted over to Ash without the help of the servant. Ash waved his arm to dismiss the boy.
"I thought I was going to have to break the doors down on that barn to get you to come out." Rapidash snorted. "You want to leave now?" Ash shook his head.
"Not yet. How'd they treat you?" Ash asked. Rapidash nudged Ash for a rubbing on his face.
"They didn't spoil me like you do. I think that I prefer your rubs then theirs." Ash laughed and scratched Rapidash's ears.
"I think we have lost our audience." Garnick interrupted. Ash looked over at him as if he was strange and Garnick motioned to the windows. Ash looked up to see a few faces gaping at the sight in the courtyard.
"I'm really not used to this yet." Ash mumbled. Ash gave Rapidash a few oats to eat that Garnick gave to him. "Stay out of trouble. I'll be back in the morning."
"So we are invited to the party I take it." Garnick said. Ash sighed and walked over to the barn to put Rapidash back into his stable.
"I'm invited. I don't know about you though." Ash said as he combed Rapidash with a brush. Garnick laughed.
"I'm a renowned sorcerer, I can get into anyplace. Besides I'm your servant remember? A prince like you needs a manservant of some kind." Garnick explained.
"One problem with that. They won't believe me because you didn't come into town with me. They might be suspicious of you." Ash said simply. Garnick stopped for a moment.
"Your right about that. I suppose we could tell them all the truth. Then I wouldn't have to hide my identity. Mysterious would be thinking twice about that promise stick and you would be an instant hero. I think it would be best if we introduced the world to our chosen one." Garnick said in a smooth tone.
"I don't like the idea of me being a hero." Ash said as they made their way over to the courtyard again. "I mean, I understand that I'm special but, I don't think I'm better than anyone else." Garnick looked to the doorway to the party and stopped Ash.
"That's exactly why we need you. You never give a second thought about someone being you r lesser. You respect that they tried their best against you and encourage them when they don't succeed. People usually give up here because they feel too ashamed to go on." Garnick smiled and patted Ash's back. "Now lets drop peoples jaws shall we?" Ash laughed and they entered the room.
'You have a kind heart and that is rare. We will do well under you.' Garnick thought as he followed Ash into the party. The party stopped as soon as they entered. 'Interesting, he hold command of attention rather easily.'
"Is that the guy?" Asked an unknown voice.
"Yeah! He has two pokemon." Answered another voice.
"I heard he's the one that saved Mysterious." Said another voice.
"No kidding! No wonder she looks this way tonight." Laughed another voice from the crowd.
"Wonder who the other guy is." Said another voice. Ash ignored the questions around him and looked for a familiar face. There were people he had never met before on his adventures and some he could sworn he had.
'That guy looks like Richie. And I could have sworn I battled that one over there before. I wish I was on my world." Ash sighed. This was going to be a long night. Then a movement caught Ash's eye. The royal colour of purple moved in his direction, it was the queen.
"Ah am so happy that yah decided tah join us tonight. Ah never quite caught yah name last time we met." Ash smiled.
"My name is Ash, your highness." Ash replied.
"Ah see another new face. Who would ya'll be?" Ash saw that she was addressing Garnick. Garnick had a mischievous look on his face that momentarily scared Ash.
'What are you going to do now?' Ash thought uncomfortably as Garnick cleared his voice.
"Perhaps you have heard of me. I am Lord Garnick from the War of the Rebels. I am also known in my altered form as King Krofost of Fortress Field." The gasp in the room was instantiations and surprising. It was nothing compared to the gasp that echoed after Garnick finished his introduction. "And I am in the service of the chosen one, the Ultimate Trainer Ash Ketchum."
"Im-impossible!" Yelled someone from the audience listening.
"Are y'all trying tah tell us now that the Ultimate Trainer is somewhere in this world?" Gasped the Queen. Garnick smiled and motioned with his head toward Ash.
'I should've known. Thanks Garnick!' Ash could only gat more and more uncomfortable under the gaze of everyone in the room.
"Ah don't believe it! Are y'all tell'n the truth? Is he the Chosen One?" The queen asked Garnick. In response, Garnick laughed.
"You don't believe me? Ash, I think a little proof is in order." Ash moaned. This meant trouble. "I think in order to prove that you're the Ultimate trainer, I think the councils Taker is in order." Taker?
"Prove it!" Chanted the people in the room.
"Yes! Prove it!" Voiced one above the rest. Ash looked and saw the princess walking towards him. Ash would have sat down on account of her beauty but the look on her face was one that made her look extremely unattractive; she was angry. Ash met her angry gaze like he would Misty's sometimes.
"What would you have me do?" Ash asked coolly. Mysterious motioned and one of the servants went running. While that happened, Ash gave Garnick a look that said what did you get me into? While they were waiting for the Taker a buzz started among the people there.
"You sent for me Princess?" Asked a man in a black hood that covered his features. Ash could see that he was someone of importance because of the jewelry on his fingers.
"I want you to take this Prince's pokemon for a minute." Ash sighed. If he didn't know better he would have thought that it was Misty he was talking to.
"For what purpose? I must know how strong to weave my voice." Said the faceless voice. Ash wasn't liking the talk of weave; it was too closely related to magic.
"Just to get that pokemon from his shoulder to come to you. Show us that and I will see what I can do about that raise you want so badly.
"It will be done!" Said the man eagerly. Ash felt Pikachu tense on his shoulder.
'Mew! What do I do? Is he going to come and grab Pikachu off of my shoulder or what?' Ash sent telepathically to Mew. A telepathic response was sent in a laugh.
'He plans on using his voice to get Pikachu to come to him. It won't work on account of two reasons. One, your pokemon aren't from this world so they couldn't cast the spell on them at birth. Two, you're the Ultimate Trainer; your pokemon will only obey you unless instructed to do so by you.'
'That's a relief.' Ash could almost feel something in the air hovering over him as the man began to glow. Ash was physically relaxed to everyone's surprise. The man removed his hood to reveal his eyes glowing a green colour, other than that, he was a bald, faceless man.
"Come here!" Pikachu looked at Ash and Ash looked at Pikachu. They both began to laugh hard, much to the amazement of the man and the audience. Garnick smiled at the surprise of the people around him.
"Wait a minute!" Roared a voice in the crowd. Ash stopped laughing with Pikachu when he recognized the roar. It was the deep throaty voice of Brock. Ash turned into the crowd to see a squinting person stepping forward.
"Something wrong?" Ash asked. Brock stopped in front of Ash and pointed at Garnick.
"You're the sorcerer Garnick? Am I right?" Garnick nodded. "Is it possible for you to be interfering with the Takers magic." Garnick shook his head.
"Nope, I can't interfere with a Takers magic. Try using the magic on another pokemon if you don't believe me." Garnick challenged. Brock or rather Brocks alternate motioned to the queen and she nodded.
"Slowking dear. Come here for a moment." Ash saw the slow, lumbering pokemon make his way into the room. The Taker began to glow again.
"Come here." Ash saw the pokemon go ridged and alter course to the Taker.
"Slowking!" Yelled the Queen. As if oblivious to her calls, Slowking went to the Taker and sat down by his feet.
"I will try again. I might have not used enough power." The man began to glow brighter and then his eyes began to glow a red colour instead of green. "Come here!" He almost shouted. Pikachu yawned and began to play with Ash's cloak; smoothing it out and bunching it up under him.
"Can this guy be anymore boring?" Pikachu said. Ash laughed as the rest of the court was silent. "Can I get some sleep? I'm pretty tired."
"Don't go to sleep yet, Pikachu. I think you might offend someone who's trying to get you to come to him." Pikachu yawned again and stared at the man.
"I would if he had some ketchup on him." Pikachu said dreamily. Ash shook his head as soon as Pikachu shut his eyes.
"I said COME HERE!" yelled the man again. Pikachu opened one eye and stuck out his tongue in a rasp. Ash and the entire court were in an uproar of laughing.
"Pikachu, that's not polite." Ash scolded in a mock tone. Pikachu closed his eye and fell asleep for real this time. The man was in a trance as if he had been paralyzed. Ash turned to Garnick and smiled. "That good enough for you?"
"I think you might have overdone it a bit. I think you hurt his pride." Garnick laughed. Ash turned to see that the entire room was cleared out. There was himself, Garnick, Princess Mysterious, Prince Brock, and the Taker still in the room.
"Something I said?" Ash asked. Mysterious sat down abruptly on her throne and Brock did the same on a chair.
"More like something you did." Replied Garnick.
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything related to pokemon. Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak. This is a pokemon fanfic created by my mind only.