- Chapter 7: Mystical Consultation -
Alakazam had a simple little dojo of sorts relatively close to Nerima, but not quite inside the confines and surprisingly deep in the cityscape. "So this guy is an expert on magic stuff?" Ukyo asked as the chef met them just outside of the place. The chef gave a curious glance towards the rest of the group. Genma and Ranma were still slightly green from lunch, while Ryoga was being carried by Betty as he recovered from the food. The Pignite had been allowed to eat her own travel food because she had just met Akane and obviously had not hidden anything.
"Technically Psychic stuff, but that is close enough for what I need. The only reason I'm here is to see if it can help with our project," Akane agreed, although the three Jusenkyo cursed present were all eager for a possible cure, despite the food poisoning. The Muk half expected the Amazons to show up too. "The guy is another pokemon somehow, so he should have a better idea about that kind of stuff."
"Its a possible Cure, tomboy," Ranma complained about her disinterest. "Ya should know how far we'd go for one of those by this point." He made a point of standing a bit straighter, then groaned and leaned forward again.
"I seem to recall your hair being darker in color the last time you and your father were here," an old voice cut off the discussion, and a pokemon that matched Ranma's earlier description emerged from the structure. Alakazam clearly noticed how Akane's idiot fiance had decided to go already splashed just in case three Jusenkyo cursed was tempting fate.
"Ah, master Alakazam, I trust you understand-" Genma started, the older marital artist at the lead of their group.
"That you would always be a thief and charlatan? Yes, Genma Saotome, I did in fact understand that when you arrived here with the intent to scam a scammer to endear the idea of theft to your child," Alakazam bluntly cut him off. "To be honest I took pity on you and young Ranma the last time, and I will credit you on your ability to scam a pawn shop. Those spoons were basically worthless, and I still have not determined how you managed to get so much for them." The pokemon blinked. "Oh my, three of you seem to have a very nasty curse upon you. Come in quickly."
They quickly filed into a large relatively empty room that had a calm feeling to it. Akane cringed a bit at moving as a Muk over some pillows and soft rugs they were led past. She wasn't sure if icing would be any better, and it was only after they were all settled that she remembered that human would have been a third option that had no risk of ruining fabric.
"Is the curse truly that terrible?" Betty the Pignite asked with concern as Alakazam moved to quickly look over Ryoga, Ranma, and Genma.
"The one they have in common would be terrible," the Psychic pokemon said slowly. "Although it seems my initial assessment was thrown off a bit by just how cursed these three are." He tapped Ryoga's head. "This one has a family curse that runs very deep, the thief has clearly been careless with a great many things, and the thief's child has some odd ones likely for the same reason."
"We wanna fix the transformation curses," Ranma complained. "Everything else can wait until those are gone."
"Transformation curse?" Alakazam questioned with some shock. "I see one transformation 'blessing' on the Pignite, a very strong yet distorted wish on the Muk, and some transformation capabilities on the three of you who are heavily cursed, but none of the transformations themselves appear related to a genuine curse."
"The wish worked out fine," Akane complained with a deliberate shift to Alcremie. "These three fell into cursed springs at Jusenkyo. Tragic tales of various things that drown in them and then anyone else who falls in turns into what drowned there. Cold water makes them into the cursed form, warm water turns them back."
"Let me see. You, Ranma Saotome, come closer," the Psychic requested, and the redhead approached cautiously. Alakazam spent a moment waving his hands around Ranma. "Ah, that explains some things. It is not a transformation curse, it is a drowning curse that has been mixed with a transformation enchantment. The kind of curse that attracts water to you and you to water, and from the remnants it seems it should have been strong enough to make it hard for you to even be able to swim. It actually explains why you've survived so long with what I first sensed, that one should have been strong enough to make living on an island, even one this size, quite fatal. Instead the spell has had most of its energy consumed to add the transformation, and can barely manage to keep you soaked most of the time."
Everyone was quiet for a long moment after that news. Akane thought about just how often she had seen the various Jusenkyo cursed people get splashed, soaked, or submerged since she met Ranma. It was common enough to make the idea of them also not being able to swim rather worrying. "If it was that bad, how does the transformation use that much energy?" she asked carefully.
"It is a very strong enchantment, a permanent addition of a new form to an individual with a pair of triggers. Similar in nature to what has happened with your wish granted forms," Alakazam explained. "I suspect some evil mage was trying to develop a 'perfect' drowning curse. Make a series of pools with drowning curses mixed with transformation, find the creature that drowns the fastest, and then use that as the basis for the final spell. The form reversal was likely intended to never occur, and only added to reduce the already massive cost. With how dark such a curse is, it is likely the fool died to one of these pools long before they found a good result."
"P-permanent?" the Jusenkyo cursed shouted after he finished.
"As far as being a new form your spirit will always recognize," the Psychic quickly reassured them all. "You have the enchantment to change based on water contact between two forms, but in theory that can be broken to leave you in just one of the two. I personally would not recommend that, as some magics may cause you to get stuck in the other form just as unchangeably without that, but I do know it is possible."
"How about changing what changes them?" Akane asked as the three of them all looked rather depressed at that news. "I'm looking for some advice on a Deal that would let someone change too, so knowing about that is even something I was going to ask anyway."
"I can possibly break the drowning curse, that alone would make using water to change a much more willful act," Alakazam pointed out. "It is a fairly usable trigger condition. Much easier than working out a willful change, and more accessible than a trigger that uses a rarer material or another method that might be difficult while changed in some ways."
"Huh, that does affect things," Akane considered with what she had been going over with Ukyo. "Although I'm sure it isn't that bad to learn to just control the change."
"I mean, it isn't like Akane is having that much trouble with it, right?" Ukyo asked, sounding a bit concerned.
"I'm sure Akane is doing just fine," Ryoga declared, and that earned him a suspicious glare as Akane was aware that she was having some issues.
"I'd rather not have Akane's issues with the change," Ranma complained, and only her thoughts on the subject just before saved him from more retribution. "Okay, how hard is just breaking the drowning part?" Her fiance didn't sound too happy about that little of a result.
"Hard enough to require a bit of work, but I should be able to offer the option before the year is out," Alakazam answered and Akane could see some faint hope in the eyes of the three Jusenkyo cursed martial artists. "It is an old curse, but I have dealt with worse."
"So, does that mean you actually found a cure? Because I wasn't expecting that," Ukyo said carefully while the cursed all gathered to discuss quietly. "Now I'm a bit worried about the reason I'm here."
"We are working on a possible Deal to make her able to become like an Alcremie but made of okonomiyaki batter," Akane explained. "I'm trying to get a fair one she would like."
"Was your wish from something truly powerful, like a ten-thousand-year-jewel, or the even rarer Jirachi gifted wish?" Alakazam questioned slowly. "I do not doubt your own senses, Fairy types can generally tell what Deals they can make, but that would be a very potent deal."
"I wished to be better at baking, and it was probably a Jirachi," she confirmed. "We've narrowed down some of the specifics, and I've been trying to tip things as much as I know how." The other pokemon stared at her critically for a long moment. "It seems sort of like a natural deal to make?"
"You were a terrible cook," Alakazam said, but it sounded like he was being considerate despite the words. "I cannot state how bad you would have to be to twist a Jirachi wish far enough to get a Muk form out of that wish. Congratulations on breaking from quite a difficult fate with that wish, you likely will always have the power and desire to grant such forms to others as a result. If those forms are gifts or curses will of course be up to you, as will be the limitations." The pokemon looked seriously at Ukyo. "If you can argue with her for one, I suggest a trial of a more limited deal. Temporary, with the ability to say 'no' and back out. The cost upon you will be greater, but it can be desirable to avoid a form the you of now would have regretted."
"I've heard what the cost is for permanent, I'd rather hear about options for how to control the change," Ukyo replied, while Akane considered that option. It would be notably more costly, to the point where getting the specific outcome Ukyo was after might take some of the worse costs. "I guess my question is how the different ways of changing would influence the quality. I want to be able to make good okonomiyaki, and to improve myself as well."
"Does anyone else have another easier problem to cover?" Alakazam questioned with a sigh. "I fear I will need to hear this in depth given that goal."
"I am here to see if you are aware of any options to gain a human form that are better than the ones I already know of," Betty declared and then went into detail about an even longer list of options than she had mentioned before. Akane listened mostly to hear what kinds of things existed for that, but most of their group simply looked around Alakazam's dojo or discussed how not getting splashed randomly would affect Jusenkyo curses.
"I see. So to be clear, the effect of the mystical medicine was desirable, but you cannot easily keep a stock of it and the side effect of not taking it properly is too much?" Alakazam managed to cut in after a while.
"That's right. It cleanly makes me feel human again, but it can be hard making sure everywhere I end up has someone who can make me more," the Pignite confirmed. "Can something be done to make it last longer, or perhaps you can teach me to make it myself?"
"I do not trust myself to make it properly, so no to the second. The first is also only as helpful as your ability to continue to find more, and making the recipe more complex is no benefit there," Alakazam somberly clarified. "However... Chef, Wish-Fairy, would you happen to have an option you are considering that could be shared? A balance of humand-to-pokemon and pokemon-to-human could reduce the cost, as long as the price is something that can be paid by both."
"It cuts off a lot of options that were more specific to Ukyo, but we might be able to get more power out of some of them," Akane said as the idea took her. A balance, one that would also have a good way to shift back and forth by implication, would greatly improve the options. "For instance, the friends one I mentioned near the start would have enough to also give you better instincts about your new form," she specified to Ukyo.
"Wait, you weren't already including that kind of knowledge?" Alakazam frantically cut off Ukyo's reply. "For a change to the kind of pokemon that learns Acid Armor by default? I suggest always including those with that sort of change."
"So Shampoo almost ended up a blob of fruit goo that didn't know how to move," Ukyo sighed dramatically. "You know what, if Betty is up for it I'd say we should just go with the friends one. It seems simple enough, and as long as we make sure it does what I want that should be fine."
"I am willing to make new friends," Betty agreed easily.
"Explain anyway," Alakazam slowly requested, clearly unhappy with Akane's attempts so far to be safe with the Deal.
"So, the Deal we have arrived at is as follows," Akane started the Deal-making process. "You will each agree to be friends with me, and in exchange Ukyo Kuonji will gain the ability to become a pokemon made of okonomiyaki batter who can improve herself at will with all needed instincts, and Betty the Pignite will gain the ability to become a human at will as if she was using the mystical medicine."
The wording was selected based on both Akane's intent for the words, and what her two possible new friends thought the words meant, with a little influence from Alakazam to put the results on a stable track. Just about the only thing that hadn't been picked over was the cost, as it was the simplest thing they could all easily agree on, and the goal wasn't really to pay her so much as to give them what they wanted.
They even went with one where Akane could feel that the Offer to both of them would be enough if one backed out, although it would be annoying and tiring for Akane if one of them did that. That also gave an opening on timing for the agreement, they could agree or not for the rest of the day, even with hours between if one of them wanted to wait to see if the other's worked properly first.
"I agree," Betty said immediately, because if anyone was prepared to try something like this it was the pokemon who knew over a dozen ways that had not worked yet. Ukyo had even outright stated that she wasn't going to try until after Betty had worked out if it worked out.
The Pignite immediately began to grow and shift so rapidly that it was hard to follow the details of the change. After a transformation that could be missed with a blink of an eye Betty was human. The result was a stocky and tall foreign girl with notable muscle mass, dark black hair, and a set of well made training clothes. Akane blinked at how for once she had met a female martial artist who made her look feminine by comparison.
"Yes! Oh this is exactly what I was after," Betty declared, and then was a Pignite in the time it took for Akane to blink. Another blink to try and make sure she saw that right had the other girl human again, and then Akane was clutched tightly in an embrace that likely was ruining Betty's outfit. "Thank you, my friend, this is perfect!"
"Well, looks like so far so good," Ranma commented from where everyone else was watching, and Ukyo seemed happy to see that someone else had said it. The one downside to delay of an answer was that Ukyo needed to actually answer before she could talk around Akane about anything else. "I'd almost ask if we could-"
"Not right now," Alakazam cut him off as Betty set her down. The Psychic did not elaborate, which was good because that would be a bit too much commentary on her Deals in this somewhat delicate time for such things.
Ukyo Kuonji had been entertained by this latest little project. Akane Tendo wasn't too bad of a person, and it seemed that becoming a part time slime had finally driven into the girl's head that you needed to actually work on stuff seriously to get better at it. For once she thought that Akane's group looking food poisoned was deliberate instead of a stupid accident. The promise of getting another edge for her restaurant was well worth trying to be friends with her rival.
A bit more time spent with the other girl would also let her learn about the new form much more quickly, and if Ranma did turn out to prefer slime girls for some strange reason it would keep her in the running. Being friendly might be an edge there too. All in all it seemed like it would only be upside for just a bit more social effort to deal with the maybe mellowed anger issues of the youngest Tendo.
"Alright, I'll agree," Ukyo said after a moment more of Betty's investigation of the change. The fact that it worked for the foreign girl was the last thing she had wanted to check.
The chef then saw her body turn the yellow-tan color she associated with middle quality batter, and then she slumped down into a large pool of slightly lumpy goo. It was much stranger than she had expected to be, and she had definitely underestimated how much 'kane had needed to do differently from just the initial feeling of being entirely made of a single mostly-fluid substance.
"Uh, oh darn it, it is based on what I've been eating?" Ukyo questioned as she opened a pair of eyes and a large mouth, and extended a pair of arms that were more well defined than 'kane's as a Muk, but not as delicate as those of the other slime's Alcremie form. She was actually really cruddy batter at the moment, with lots of things that a human would be fine eating, but were not the proper thing for good okonomiyaki. "This is going to take a while to fix," she commented aloud, and then felt the Deal connecting her to her fellow slime. "Wow, that was a really strong Deal, 'kane." She didn't think she could even attempt one like what her friend had just pulled off. Challenges for anyone who criticized her restaurant would likely be her limit there.
"Fairy/Normal typed, possibly Fairy/Grass. I think maybe even a natural type shifter," Alakazam specified as he moved over to check to make sure it had worked out safely. "Result is the food nature of Alcremie with the physical aspects of Muk, but I cannot tell if that is a side effect of your own forms or the natural state of a batter based pokemon," Alakazam said to 'kane before he suddenly froze. "You were not-friends before," he slowly and unhappily said, with it clear that he meant that they were considerably less than friends.
"Well no," Ukyo admitted as the new slime moved around a bit with a thoughtful look while she considered how to pull off wider ranges of movement. "I can't really say why, 'kane is nice enough, and it isn't like Ranma is that big of a contest to keep us apart." She honestly wasn't sure why it was that big of a deal anymore. They would still be friends whoever got together with him, assuming that they couldn't work out some other way to resolve the issue.
"Um, wait, what?" Ranchan asked with a yelp.
"Oh, I guess we didn't think about that," 'kane said uneasily. "I mean, there should have been time?" the other Fairy type considered.
Ukyo went over the wording again. "I was thinking that too, but we didn't really word it like that," she admitted. "Betty, what did you think about the timing of the friendship?" The addition of another agreement might have shifted that part without the two of them realizing it.
"You both were not already friends? I had thought you were 'paying' for this by using it as a gift for a friend," the currently human foreign girl said as if it wasn't a problem. It didn't feel like one to Ukyo, but she also was enough of a Fairy to realize how much of that was the Deal.
"What, no, that wouldn't have been anywhere near enough. I was only able to add you because you're friends with Ryoga, and right now I want him miserable," 'kane replied sharply. "For something like this I either needed 'enemies to allies' or something just as strong."
The room was silent for a moment before Ukyo groaned. "Do you think, Akane, that it might have needed to be faster too to pull off 'enemies to allies'?" she asked the other pokemon with a friendly complaint.
"Well, at least you can still be mad at me?" Akane suggested, and slumped down from Alcremie to Muk. "I don't suppose there is a fix for this?"
"I'm going to assume you only asked that because you stopped being Fairy typed," Ukyo sighed, and then rose to solidify back into a human shape. "And now I can't really tell how much is the deal anymore." The chef frowned. "Or what exactly I should be eating to fix my body for better batter."
"You should be alright with eating as a human now, it appears that your base form was a result of what it had to start with," Alakazam specified unhappily. "The mental change on the other hand was something I had hoped to help you avoid." He sighed dramatically. "How serious is the issue with the very cursed child?"
"Have ya ever had ta deal with multiple fiances?" Ranma complained bluntly, and Akane could see he was upset with how this had done something unexpected to one of their friends.
"I am currently hidden in a world I thought totally free of pokemon, under a spell that should hide me from even Legendary pokemon, living in a city that is constant annoyance to sit in as a Psychic of my skill, all because I have no way out of a three fiance nightmare," Alakazam specified dry as a desert. "There is a young Mew my father promised me to in a grand agreement before I was born, a sly and skillful Celebi who was once my childhood friend before things got too serious due to my father's poor choices, and a strong Lugia dedicated to a code of honor that I stumbled into by chance and my father's greed. When they fight, cities suffer."
"Right, so what if magic suddenly made your Mew and Celebi friends out of nowhere?" Ranma asked with closed eyes as the rest of them tried to not think about how worryingly close that situation was to his.
"That is why I am hiding here, their little time travel plan..." Alakazam trailed off as he seemed to realize how quickly Ranma had been able to be specific about his answer. "The hermit plan works in the short term, but you end up with larger problems in the long term. I would not recommend it to someone else with the same problem, especially while two of the three are physically present and able to hear that it is an option."
"I'm suddenly less sure about advice given by some other world's Ranma," Akane complained. "Dare I even ask what terrible curses are on you, Alakazam?"
"I am an expert at breaking curses," the Psychic answered, the implication that he had practical reason to learn how clear.
"Well, that makes me feel quite a bit better about this almost-cure," Genma said happily, as if there had not been any complications to reach this moment. Akane would bet he had used the distraction to grab something vaguely valuable.
"I do not like this new context about why he reminded me of my own father. I will contact the rest of you when I have a curse breaker method ready. Please leave," Alakazam requested.
[Author's Note]
A bit faster, but this is more of a part 2 to the other update than an independent chapter. Not sure yet if there will be a third update on this one before I head back to Typechange, will have to see if that one flows better before I have another chapter of content for this. I went back and forth about the Ukyo viewpoint, but in the end it felt needed. Not 100% sure about Alakazam's last bit of reveal here, but I like the idea to explain why he wasn't noticed by Jirachi.