"What're we going to do?" Ron asked, starting to panic.
"Maybe there's a town nearby. WE can figure out where we are there and how we can get back to Hogwarts," Hermione replied. She led the group up a nearby hill. From there, they could see that they were in a large meadow that seemed to stretch on and on. In the distance, they could see what looked like a forest. There were no cities in sight.
Suddenly, there was a squeak behind them. Turning, they saw a purple rat-like creature growling at them. Before they could do anything, it attacked. The quartet grabbed for their wands, but they weren't there!
"Where'd our wands go?" Harry exclaimed.
"They probably fell out when we were transported here," Hermione called as they ran back downhill.
Out of nowhere, they heard a voice yell, "Duck!" They obeyed, and something whirred past their heads. Harry turned just enough to see the creature chasing them get hit by a little ball. With a red light, the creature was sucked into it and lay motionless on the ground.
"Are you alright?" the voice asked. They turned to see two girls jogging towards them.
One of them was tall and had curly, shoulder-length, sky blue hair and green eyes. She wore the said hair in a high ponytail, and her clothes composed of a tank- toppish black shirt and faded blue jeans. A backpack hung loosely from her right shoulder. The other girl was slightly shorter and had waist- length, brown hair with purple streaks, and the same color eyes as the other girl. She wore an open blue and silver t- shirt under which was a black tank top. Her pants were flared and silver. A camera hung from her neck, and she also carried a backpack.
The blue- haired girl walked over and calmly picked up the red- and- white ball. She brushed her hair out of her face and clipped the ball to her belt.
"Hello," she said, "My name is Yukiko Souto."
"I'm Aliko Souto," said the other girl, "Yukiko is my elder sister. Um, who are you?"
"Er... I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, waiting for the usual awed reaction. It didn't come.
"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said.
"Ron Weasley." said Ron gruffly.
"G- G- Ginny Weasley," Ginny stuttered, who had gone slightly pale.
"The girl named Yukiko smiled slightly and bowed, "Pleasure to meet you, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. Are you from around here? You seem to be around my sister's age, but you have no Pokemon..."
"We have no clue where we are," explained Hermione, "We go to Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A book transported us here."
"Really?" Aliko said excitedly, "Well, we've never heard of this 'Hogwarts,' but you're welcome to travel to the next town with us."
"Exactly where are we?" Harry asked, still a little surprised that he didn't get the usual reaction when he had introduced himself.
"Right now, we're on the Johto continent," Yukiko replied, "There are three continents: Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. Hoenn was just recently discovered by the other two continents. My sister and I are from Hoenn and are making our way through all of the Pokemon leagues."
"And what are Poe- kee- mahn leagues?" Ron asked.
"It's pronounced Poe- kay- mahn," Aliko said, "Pokemon leagues are tournaments held to see who has the most well- trained Pokemon. After preliminary-"
"Hey, how about we get moving?" Yukiko said. Looking at the four newcomers from over her shoulder, she smiled indifferently and said, "Our camp is just a little way from here. Once we get back, you can ask all you want about Pokemon, and you can also borrow some of our Pokemon until you get your own team." Without waiting for a reply, she started in the direction she had appeared from.
"Er- I suppose we'd better follow her," Harry said to his friends. They all nodded in mutual agreement, and they followed dutifully.
Meanwhile, Aliko seemed to have taken an avid interest in Harry.
"Hey! Where are you guys from? I mean, I know you're going to Pigpimples or whatever it is-"
"Hogwarts," Harry corrected her.
"Yes- that- but I mean, where do you live? And how did you get here by a book?! And why do you have that scar?"
Harry was distinctly reminded of a bushy- haired girl peeking into a train compartment containing a curious boy and a gangly boy. He cast a glance at Hermione, who was taking in their surroundings with intensely cynical eyes.
"Er- well, I live in Surrey, and I don't know how we got here by a book, and I got this scar when a powerful wizard tried to kill me."
Aliko stared for a moment, and then said, "A wizard... and Swinezits is a school of witchcraft and wizardry..."
"Hogwarts," Harry corrected again.
"Yeah... you people use magic?"
"Er... yes..."
Her nose stuck up in the air, "There's no such thing. I've never seen any."
"Yeah, well, I'd never heard of Pokemon before this," Harry said hotly, "That doesn't mean it's not real." Then, at her hurt look, he added hastily, "Sorry- it's just-"
"No- I'm the one who should be apologizing," she said, blushing.
"If you two are done flirting," came a voice between and slightly behind them, making them jump, "We're here." They turned to see Yukiko watching them innocently, a hint of cold amusement glittered in her eyes. It reminded Harry of Malfoy's arrogance. As he wondered distantly how she had managed to get behind them without them noticing, she walked between the two and motioned Aliko to walk ahead, giving her sister a kind, sisterly smile. The smile faded as she turned to Harry.
"Don't even think about getting near my sister," she growled menacingly, "or I'll have my Mightyena use Crunch on you." With one last glare, she prowled off, soon catching up to her sister.
Harry had no clue what a Mightyena was, but what he could tell from 'Crunch', it would be best to heed Yukiko's warning.
As the three walked on, Harry realized they were in the distant forest they had seen earlier, and heading towards a clearing. In the center, large boulders surrounded a fire roaring merrily. A couple of logs were placed around the fire- it seemed this clearing was a common resting place. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were already taking off their robes, revealing Muggle clothes underneath, and picking comfortable spots around the campfire. Harry stood next to Hermione as he unbuttoned his own robes, keeping a wary eye on Yukiko, who was gathering various pots, pans, and ingredients together.
"I hope you don't mind a simple meal," she said over her shoulder, "I'm running out of food. Tomorrow we will be going to Goldenrod City, so I can get some groceries after Aliko and I get our next badges. Oh, and here," she turned and threw the ball from earlier at Harry, "I believe this Ratatta is yours. It was aiming for you before I threw that Pokeball."
"Hey, sis, how about we let our Pokemon out?" Aliko said, running her hands across her belt.
"Great idea!" Yukiko replied, instinctly selecting two balls. Throwing them in the air, she cried, "Come on out guys!" Soon, a Mightyena, an Absol, a Seviper, a Kadabra, a Manectric, and a Torkoal were gathered around her feet, chattering happily. Harry noticed that she ignored one of her balls, and wondered why she didn't release the creature in that one. The quartet watched in amazement as Aliko did the same thing and released a Charizard, a Fyore, a Miokoha, a Celebi, and as she attempted to free the last one, her face took on a frightened look.
"Yeslie isn't coming out!" she cried.
Yukiko immediately went to her sister's side, "I suspect this Pokeball has been tampered with," she said coolly, casting a suspicious eye at Harry, who was still watching the released Pokemon in wonder and curiosity.
"What can we do?" Aliko said frantically.
"I'm not sure," Yukiko replied, trying to remain calm as her sister grew more and more frantic.
"May I see it?" Hermione asked timidly.
"Sure," Yukiko said, tossing the red- and- white ball. Hermione just caught it. She scrutinized the sphere curiously.
Harry's eye was on Aliko, who was biting her lip in vexation at Hermione. She was slightly flushed, resulting in a light pink blush across her cheeks. Her green eyes were filled with a lovely sparkle.
Everything else seemed hazy; then Aliko's eyes turned to glance back at him. A strange feeling settled deep inside his chest, but before he could ponder what it was, Yukiko's icily sharp voice shattered his vision.
"Yo, Scar Head, you still in our world, or back in yours?"
Harry inwardly scowled. He didn't appreciate Yukiko's new nickname for him, "Er, I'm here, of course."
"This- eh- Pokeball- has had a locking spell placed on it," Hermione announced, "A wizard or witch's spell."
"Impossible," Aliko said stoutly.
"If I had my wand, I'd probably be able to undo the spell," Hermione continued, ignoring Aliko's comment.
"Wands?" Yukiko asked lsyly.
"Yes... Sticks of wood that are magic- magic sticks."
"These magic sticks?" Yukiko held out four familiar pieces of wood.
"Our wands!" Ron exclaimed, striding forward to take his and Ginny's. Aliko handed Harry his, and for a brief moment, their hands touched. A slight tingle ran through Harry.
"Alohomora!" Hermione cried. The Pokeball beeped in rapid succession, then fell silent. Hermione gave it back to Aliko, "Try it now."
Aliko again held out the ball and pressed the little button in the middle. It emitted another series of beeps, but nothing happened. Aliko's face took on a mask of panic, and she began pressing the button more frantically.
"Aliko!" Yukiko jogged up behind her, wrapping her arms around her sister's. Yukiko glared at the other four, as if daring them to say anything. She muttered, "Let's try tomorrow morning, okay? Maybe it takes awhile for whatever Hermione did to it to take effect." She gently took the ball from Aliko's hands and placed it back on her belt. It was only then that Harry noticed that there were numbers inside each of the grooves that held the Pokeballs. The one that held this 'Yeslie', as Aliko had called it, was in the first groove.
"Supper's almost ready." Yukiko's cold voice brought him back to this world for the second time that day. She was very protective of her sister, he deduced, especially the way she glared at him from time to time.
Aliko cast a backward glance at Harry as Yukiko led her away. "Come on," she mouthed at him. Harry nodded and followed.
Harry accepted a bowl from Aliko and took a tentative mouthful of the hot soup. "Mmm!" Hermione said from beside him, exactly mimicking his thoughts. "This is delicious!"
"It's my specialty," Yukiko replied proudly.
"She's a really good cook," Aliko told Harry.
"I can tell," he said, trying a smile on Yukiko. She stared coldly at him, then turned her gaze to her soup.
"So what exactly do you do at your school, um...." Aliko looked searchingly at Harry.
"Hogwarts," Harry supplied.
"Yes," Yukiko purred in that icy voice. Harry was decidedly getting the distinct impression that she would never trust him, "What do you do at this Hogwarts?" She smirked mockingly at him.
"Um.." Ginny piped up, "We learn spells at Hogwarts."
"Do you go to any other schools after Hogwarts?" Aliko asked.
"Not that we know of," Hermione said, "Of course, we'll most likely go to a school to be trained in our selected careers, but Hogwarts would be our main schooling."
"Hn." Yukiko walked back toward the giant pot for seconds.
After the meal, the four watched as Yukiko and Aliko went about cleaning up after their supper. Yukiko poured the leftover food into the fire as Aliko gathered the dirty dishes and utensils together.
"Hey," Harry jumped when he heard Aliko whispered into his ear, "Will you come help me wash dishes? There's a stream close by..."
"Um... Sure." He glanced at Yukiko, who was talking to Ginny and Hermione, and followed Aliko into the woods.
She led him to a rushing stream and knelt at the side, leaning forward slightly to dip one of the plates she carried in the water. Harry noticed, with a slight tingle as he gazed at her, that when she bent over, balanced perfectly on the balls of her feet, her long hair swung to frame her face with a lovely contrast. She looked up at him and said with a grin, "Well? I didn't bring you here to stare at me."
Harry felt his cheeks grow warm. "Er... sorry." He bent down as she did but found it was quite hard to balance well enough to wash the dishes. He dipped a plate in, scrubbed it with a rag, then set it next to him. On his third plate, when he leaned forward, before he knew it, he'd fallen face-first into the stream.
He surfaced, sputtering. Aliko said, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Hey, help me out, will you?"
When she extended her hand, he pulled it - and her - into the stream.
Aliko came back up spluttering and trying to stay afloat- the stream was much deeper than she thought. She looked over her shoulder to see Harry grinning at her. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.
Harry's grin disappeared at the question, "Hermione, Ron, and I always do that kind of stuff. Don't you do stuff like that with Yukiko?"
"No... We do other things." Aliko crawled onto the bank and sat shivering, watching him as he followed suit.
"Er.. I'm sorry, then." He blushed slightly, refusing to meet her gaze.
Aliko smiled slightly, "That's alright, Harry. You just startled me, that's all." She leaned over to give him a one armed hug.
That tingling feeling was rising from Harry's stomach again. "Er..."
Suddenly, an all too familiar voice cut through the silence, "You guys really are progressing with the dishes, aren't you?"
Harry groaned inwardly, then slowly turned to face the sarcastic face of Yukiko.
"Oh, hi Yukiko," Aliko said innocently.
"Why. Are. You. Wet." The sentence was cold and deliberate.
"I--" Harry began.
"Oh, I fell in," Aliko said airily. "Then Harry tried to help me out, and I was just thanking him for getting all wet trying to help."
Yukiko fixed a cold stare onto Harry, then said, "Well, hurry up with the dishes." With that, she turned and left them.
After a slight silence, Aliko picked up another plate and silently began to wash it. "Sorry about that," she said. "I guess you can definitely tell she's pretty protective of me..."
"I noticed," Harry said dryly, which in turn made Aliko laugh. He liked her laugh. It wasn't high-pitched and girlish, like the younger girls back at school. She seemed to have a sort of low, solemn chuckle; it made her seem a little older than she actually was.
As he pondered this, Aliko made a face at him, "What are you looking at?"
"Oh, nothing." Recovering, he bent to help her. Aliko smiled at him before returning her attention to her dish.
