Midsummer Dreams
By Trish.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, William Shakespeare or Puck. His characterisation is completely my own creation. I do own Calliope, Florian and the storyline.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of my grandmother who passed away on the 14th August, 2001. Thank you for everything you have done for me. And thank you for encouraging us to use our imaginations for ordinary things. Thank you for teaching us that the imagination is a powerful tool - and the magic and wonder it can create when put into words. I'll never forget you.
Chapter Eleven: Perchance to Dream….
Callie pushed a strand of wavy chestnut hair behind her ears as she waited with Puck and Flory in the Grass Field. Ash and James were on their way with all the known 'victims' of any on-going spells that the two had cast. They had been given a list compiled from Callie's interrogation of her relatives yesterday.
She straightened the outfit she was wearing, a blue crop top over white capri pants. The two boys were dressed in shorts and t-shirts. The trio looked like any other human beings…except for the large, translucent wings that grew from their backs.
Soon a largish crowd came toward them and they could see Ash and James leading in the front. Callie sighed and glared at her brother. "Here we go again, fixing up your mistakes."
Puck gave a sheepish and endearing grin in reply, which caused his sister's shoulders to slump in defeat. She continued on, this time with a smile. "And why is it that I can't stay mad at you for very long? Nobody can - Mom or Dad, Lord Oberon or Queen Titania. How do you do it?"
Her brother shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just a lovable klutz?"
Callie smirked. "The klutz part is right."
The crowd of humans came to a halt a few feet in front of them. The Pokémon Master released a Muk from a pokéball before he and James walked over to the trio of sprites. "Everyone's here," James stated cheerfully.
Flory looked over the assembled crowd and then at Ash. "Shouldn't you and all those baby Pokémon be standing over there too? I did cast that spell that made you adopt them all."
The dark-haired Master laughed and shook his head. "No. Because those babies are staying with me no matter what. They've become part of the family."
"Pichu!" came a tiny but indignant voice from one of the pockets on his jacket.
Ash grinned and looked down at the pocket. "You're part of the family too, Poppy," he soothed.
"Who's Poppy?" Puck asked.
In answer, two black-tipped yellow ears rose from the pocket, and the little fur ball regarded them with two big brown eyes. "Pichu" she chirped in greeting.
"This is Poppy," Ash introduced. "One of Pikachu's babies, and the only one who has made a habit of sneaking into my jacket pockets all the time."
Pikachu started to scold her daughter from her position on Ash's shoulders, but Poppy just smiled impishly.
"A Pichu in a Pocket," James added.
"That's right," Ash said. "Now I have, quite literally, a Pocket Monster."
James groaned. "Bad joke."
"Sorry."
Callie stepped forward to face the crowd and began the incantation. "Spirits of the Earth and of the Sun. Grant me this wish - that all the spells cast here shall now be undone." She waved her hand and the group became surrounded by a whirlwind of sparkles for a few minutes. When it had disappeared, Ash and James saw that Rudy was now back to his human form, and the rest of the people were all shaking their heads and blinking. The quintet approached them.
Daisy blinked and looked down at her business suit. "Like, what am I doing in this outfit? This is like totally unfashionable."
Ash smiled. "So Daisy, what's a good reason for choosing Water Pokémon over any other element?"
The eldest Sensational Sister shrugged. "Because they're like, cute?"
"She's back to normal," James whispered to his boss, as Gary wandered over to join them.
Their attention then turned to the young woman standing next to her, Misty. "Hey, Mist," Ash greeted his girlfriend with a kiss. He stepped back a bit and eyed her up and down critically. "Looking rather scrawny today, Misty."
Misty frowned. "What did you just call me?" she asked in a low voice.
Ash smirked. "Scrawny."
"Real scrawny," James added happily.
"A stick," Gary chipped in.
The red-head whipped out her mallet ready to pound the living daylights out of them when she noticed they were not cowering in fear as usual - but instead grinning like Cheshire Cats.
"Uh, uh, uh" Ash said with a wave of his finger. "Remember your solemn promise?"
Misty lowered her mallet in confusion. "What promise?" she asked puzzled.
"You promised to never use your mallet against us or excessive physical violence."
"And Meowth has it all on tape!" the scratch cat purred happily by the Pokémon Master's feet.
Ash stared at the Pokémon. "You do?"
"Yup."
"Well, I hope that you don't have it anywhere on you, Meowth," James spoke up as he eyed a seething red-head.
"Nope. It's in a safe place where she can't get to it."
"Where's that?" Ash questioned.
"Ya know how I gave ya that tape to put into one of da secret safes?"
"Oh." The dark-haired trainer grinned. "I'd hug you, Meowth but I think we'd better start running."
"I agree," James piped up as he, Ash, Gary, Pikachu and Meowth started edging away.
"She's back to normal. You happy Ash?" Gary asked with a grin.
"I am. But at least we have the perfect blackmail weapon," Ash hollered as the quintet took off, pursued by a furious Misty.
Daisy shook her blond head as she watched the group tear around the Grass Field, laughing and taunting her youngest sister, and giving every indication that they were enjoying every single minute of it. "Now that is freaky," she remarked to no one in particular, "I've never seen a bunch of guys, like so happy at the prospect of being totally clobbered by Misty."
Brock smiled at the antics of his friends but he had a more important matter to take care of. He turned to the Kumquat Gym leader standing beside him. "So Luana, are we still getting married?" he asked lightly.
The older woman blinked and laughed merrily. "You're a very nice young man, but I don't think so. I'm looking for someone who's more around my age."
Phew, Brock thought silently. Now he was free to pursue the lovely Daisy Waterflower, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny or Veronica…..
****************
An hour later, Erin was sitting in the park, aimlessly doodling on her notepad when a hesitant voice interrupted her. "Hi there."
She looked up to see Callie standing a foot away. "Hi," she replied with a small smile. "Have a seat."
The Fae sat down next to her on the bench and Erina noticed that she had assumed full human form, with no sign of her wings anywhere. Callie noticed her staring and grinned. "It's better if I don't have them while I'm here. Then people won't stare at me like I'm some creature from outer space." She paused for a minute. "I'm sorry for the other night."
Erina shrugged. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault that Flory didn't tell me the truth." She paused before she blurted out the question that had been on her mind ever since she had found out that Flory was a Fae. "Tell me, is there any possible way that we can stay together? Any way at all?"
Callie furrowed her brows as she thought for a moment. Finally she spoke up. "There is a way…but you're going to have to think long and hard about it. There must be no doubt whatsoever in your mind when you agree to make this decision. And I'll have to speak to Queen Titania and Lord Oberon about it."
Erin listened attentively as the Fae described the details of what she would have to do.
*********************
Elsewhere on the Plateau, Florian was sitting at the lookout gazing at the peaceful green valley below, his thoughts in turmoil. In a few days he would have to go back home with Callie and Puck to the Fae World where he came from.
As a result of Puck's constant pranks he had often been whisked off to other worlds, and he had had no problems with the fact that one day he would have to leave. But this time was different. This time he had fallen in love.
He had never thought it possible that he'd fall for a mortal girl. But he had - hard and fast. And he didn't want to leave her.
He had no choice but to leave……
'Pipikachu!' He was interrupted by a small pudgy fur ball leaping onto his lap. He looked down to see a Pikachu which grinned and gave a peace sign. He looked up to see the Pokémon Grand Master walking towards him and gave a small wave.
Ash sat down next to him, "Great view out here isn't it?"
Flory nodded. "It is. A great place to think too." He glanced at the man next to him. "How come you weren't freaked to find out that we were Faes?"
"I had the 'pleasure' of making your cousins' acquaintances two years ago," Ash explained.
"Oh. Tell me something ," the Fae asked. "You've probably had to make some major decisions in your life. What do you do when your head says one thing and your heart says another?"
The Pokémon Master grinned rather ruefully. "I don't know whether I'm the best person to ask about that. Because if you asked my friends - they would say that I don't even think before making a major decision. Especially when it comes to life-threatening situations. I usually just rush in regardless of the consequences….I suppose you could say that I follow my heart not my head. Admittedly not always the wisest thing to do."
Ash patted Flory on the shoulder. "Pikachu and I'll leave you alone now. But I'll give you this one piece of advice by this writer which has always helped me."
"And that is…"
Ash stood up and Pikachu scrambled up to her accustomed perch on his shoulder. "It's from the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Act 1, Scene 3. 'This above all. To thine own self be true," he quoted with a smile before wandering off.
Flory returned his gaze to the scenery. He decided that he was going to go home…..
****************
Later that evening…
"Gary nervously straightened his bow tie before knocking on the hotel door. It opened to reveal Jenn all ready to go, dressed in an off the shoulder, full length gown of deep purple. A delicate shawl of the same colour was draped around her arms. She looked absolutely gorgeous.
"Hi," she said with a warm smile which sent his heart into palpitations. "Ready to go to the dance?"
"Sure," Gary managed to blurt out. At times like this, he found it hard to believe that this lovely young woman was his date. Actually she was more than just his date - more like his girlfriend. But as of yet he hadn't officially told her his feelings or asked her to be his girlfriend. He hadn't even kissed her yet. But the chestnut-haired Trainer was going to change all that…tonight.
"Where's Trish?" he began to say, looking behind her for the whereabouts of her room mate.
Jenn smiled. "She left about twenty minutes ago. Chuchino rang her at the last minute asking if she could do an Egg Patrol before the dance tonight."
"Bet that didn't make her too happy."
"Oh, she only grumbled for a bit, then rang up Drake to tell him to come by earlier so that he can help kick some Egg butt." Jenn giggled. "So they're out both out there stalking Eggs in their formal clothes. I told her as she left that she was literally 'dressed to kill'.
Gary grinned at the mental image. He had asked Trish before for information on what Jenn liked and she had told him with a smile that if he did anything to hurt Jenn - she would happily beat him up.
A mild breeze blew as the couple walked along in the twilight, when Jenn broke the silence. "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," Gary said with a wink as he led her to the foot of a tall white tower that stood on the Plateau. He fished a key from his pocket and opened the door and bade her enter.
"Why are we going up here?" she asked as they began to walk up the long spiral stairs.
"It gives a great view of the Plateau and the surrounding countryside," he informed her. "Only the Grand Master, the Elite Four, the Heads of the Indigo, Orange and Johto Leagues, and Pokémon Masters have access to this tower."
"Oh."
Minutes later, they stepped out onto the viewing platform. The sun was setting and the sky was various hues of dusky pink.
"The reason why we're here," Gary stated, "is because you told me how much you love that scene from Titanic."
Jenn's eyes widened.
"So….I know this is no boat, but this is the best I can do for you up here on the Plateau," the chestnut-haired young man finished with a smile.
Jenn hesitated a moment before she walked up to the railing and put her feet gingerly on the lowest bar and stepped up. Gary's arms then wrapped around her waist from behind and held her tightly to him. She took a nervous breath and closed her eyes then slowly raised her arms out to the side.
She felt the wind blowing through her hair and it did feel like she was flying. But she was mostly aware of only one thing, the feeling of Gary's strong arms holding her. It felt good. It felt so right.
"Had enough 'flying'?" she heard him whisper in her ear which sent a little shiver down her spine. She nodded.
He stepped backwards as she got down but did not release his hold on her. A faint blush crept into her cheeks as her gaze locked with his, their faces inches from each other. Gary then pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Jenn responded by kissing back and wrapping her arms around his neck, the kiss only ending when both felt the need for oxygen.
Gary started to speak but Jenn silenced him with another kiss. This kiss started off soft and went deeper. A few minutes later they were startled to hear a familiar voice call up to them.
"Hey Jenn! Gary!"
They broke apart to see Trish and Drake looking at them from the ground with big grins on their faces. "Are you two coming to the dance or should I tell them you're otherwise occupied?"
"No we're coming," Jenn called back down to them. "I got my flying scene from Titanic!"
"Really?"
"Really."
Jenn and Gary turned to go when Trish's voice floated cheerily up to them. "At least it wasn't the car scene!"
"Oh, Shut up."
******************
The bamboo torches were burning brightly as Puck and Arrow walked in the large open courtyard of the Function Centre. The loudspeakers mounted on the walls carried the sounds of the dance currently in full swing. All in all, Arrow reflected, it had been a wonderful day. Puck had literally, taken her to the moon and back, just like in the song by one of her favourite bands, Savage Garden.
As if on cue, she heard the DJ over the loudspeaker announce that the next song to be played was by that very same band. Puck grinned and drew Arrow to him.
As they swayed to the music, she ran her fingers through his thick dark hair as he sang the words softly in her ear.
I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish , I'll be your fantasy….
She smiled and thought to herself how true those words were.
I'll be your hope, I'll be your love. Be everything that you need….
From the moment she sat on him by accident, Arrow had known Puck was something special. Though she had been shocked at first to discover his true identity, she had soon got over it. Strange things always happened to her, so falling in love with a Fae was just one of them.
Puck raised his head and gazed straight into her eyes, I'll love you more with every breath."
"Truly, madly, deeply," she finished for him before bringing her lips to his in a deep kiss.
*****************
The next morning Callie was waiting in the forest clearing at the appointed time. Right on the dot, two orbs of light appeared before her and grew brighter until she could no longer see.
When the light cleared, Queen Titania and Lord Oberon were standing there in their regal splendour. Titania suddenly gave Oberon a hefty shove which toppled him over the nearest boulder.
Oberon struggled to a sitting position. "Now what was that for!" he snapped.
Titania brushed her long dark locks back and sniffed haughtily. "That was for being a moron before."
"Well stop shoving me and I'll stop being a moron!"
"You can't order me around, Obie," she taunted.
"Obie," Oberon muttered. "You know I hate that nickname." A wicked glint came into his eyes. "Two can play at that game, you know.…..Tit."
"Don't call me that!"
"Ahem." The two looked up to see Callie standing there. "We have some people to see," she reminded them.
"Sooorry."
En route they were joined by Callie's and Puck's parents as well as Flory's, and they were mainly along to see the world that their sons had spent the past two weeks in.
When they arrived at the meeting room, they were greeted by Puck, Flory and all their friends. The two monarchs took their seats at the front of the room. "Let this meeting begin," Oberon stated.
**************
Flory shuffled his feet as he waited patiently for Puck to finish his speech. Before him were Lord Oberon and Queen Titania, and on either side stood Callie with her and Puck's parents and Flory's family. Behind him were the various human friends he and Puck had made over the last two weeks. Flory was only half-listening. He was about to make one of the hardest decisions in his life, and he hoped that he would have the courage to go through with it.
Puck had apologised for all the mischief he had caused, and that he was the one most to blame as it was his spell that dragged his cousin into it. He was prepared for any punishment that his King and Queen saw fit. Finally it was Flory's turn. He glanced back and caught Erina's eye. His girlfriend looked as though she was about to say something, but he raised his hand to say that she should wait.
"I too want to apologise for all the problems I caused," he began. "And I can't tell you how grateful I am that you humans are so willing to forgive. But that is not the main thing I want to tell you…." He drew a deep breath. "I've decided to stay here with Erina. I want to become mortal."
There was dead silence as everyone gaped in shock at his announcement. Then Erina detached herself from her friends and ran towards him, flinging her arms around him. He swung her around once happily.
Lord Oberon was the first to recover. "Are you serious, Flory? You do know what the consequences of your decision are? And what about your parents?"
Flory smiled. "I am serious. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make and I've thought long and hard about it. But every time I arrive at the same conclusion - that staying here and becoming human is the right thing for me. I love my family more than life itself. But…" and he glanced down at the teary brunette by his side. "I feel the same way about Riny. I only hope that you will understand."
To be continued…..
Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay but a number of things cropped up. First of all FF.Net has been crashing a lot and secondly as I said, my grandmother passed away rather suddenly. Now she was the only grandparent I had left, and I spent the last two years of her life helping to look after her. So it was a shock and I was deeply affected by it - and did not feel like writing at all. Thanks to all my friends out there for supporting me (you know who you all are…) especially Jenn and Mia.
Next chapter is the last in this series. Read and review peoples. If you don't like it why on earth did you bother reading it? Flamers fed to the Tassie Devils as usual….
P.S Just to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families of the horrendous events of Sept 11th in New York City. All Australians have all been shocked and horrified by the events. Nobody deserves that - every single one of those people was someone's spouse, partner, sibling, friend and neighbour. We must take steps to ensure that the world is a better place for future generations, to not let terrorists win. We can start by teaching our children that we are all one people, all part of the human race. We must teach them not to hate on the basis of race or religion. Admittedly a small step but a step in the right direction.
