Chapter 5
Possession
Shirakiku opened her eyes for the first time in over five hundred years. She blinked slowly, and then sat up to take in her surroundings. She was in a wide stone room, very dark and plain. Around her were people dressed all in black. They did nothing, just stood there, staring at her. And then she inspected her own body. It seemed small, somehow, and she was clothed in the strangest garments.
"Good, you've awakened." A man said.
She looked defiantly at him.
"Who are you?" Shirakiku asked.
She grabbed her throat, surprised at how small and young her voice sounded.
"Oh, please forgive my rudeness." The man apologized. "My name is Giovanni. I am the one who gave you that body. In return, I would like you to serve my . . . organization. It would be a great honor for us if you would, and you will be richly rewarded."
Shirakiku smirked. She had already been murdered once, and she was not going to make the same mistake.
"I thank you for your kindness, sir," she said sarcastically, "but I must decline your offer. I serve no one."
"I'm very sorry to hear you say that." Giovanni smiled. "But I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement."
"And why should I make 'agreements' with you, when I could easily summon a demon to rescue me?"
Giovanni held up the orb, and Shirakiku gasped in horror at the sight of it. He walked over to her, and held it just inches in front of her face.
"Ah, so you recognize it." He said, smiling at his victory. "So then you must know that if your body touches it, your soul will return to it and you will be imprisoned again. And who knows how many centuries it will take for someone to find it again?"
Shirakiku was angry and afraid, but she regained her wits quickly.
"You are truly wicked." She said mockingly. "All right, I'll play your little game. However, know that I will not give in so easily. You had better watch your back."
Giovanni laughed heartily as though it were a joke.
"You are quite spirited! I only hope you put that spirit into your work. But for now, you should rest. Come, I will lead you to your room."
Giovanni led Shirakiku down a long hall until they came to a room. He opened the door to reveal a lavishly furnished room. The carpet was deep blue, and the walls a lighter shade of blue. An oak canopy bed sat against the far wall, draped all in white. Next to it sat a small white table with an ornately decorated porcelain lamp. There was an oak dresser with a three-fold mirror, and covered with perfumes, lotions, and other toiletries. Beside it was a plush red stool. Finally, there was an oak chest of drawers on the right side of the room.
"I hope your quarters are to your liking." Giovanni said. "Oh, and I almost forgot, I believe this is yours."
He took Haunter's Pokeball from his coat pocket and handed it to Shirakiku.
"You should be grateful to this Pokemon." Said Giovanni. "It was because of it that I was able to revive you."
Then he shut the door, locking Shirakiku in her beautiful prison. She waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps before releasing Haunter. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she had accepted his concession.
"What have I come to?" Shirakiku said bitterly.
Haunter gazed sadly at his once powerful master. It pained it to see her stripped of her pride and freedom. Shirakiku walked over to the dresser and studied her new body in the mirrors.
"And if he expects me to serve him, the least he could have done is find me a more suitable body.
Puny girl . . ."
Haunter felt ashamed that it had brought its master to this lowly state, and it began to cry in sorrow.
Shirakiku softened as she spoke to it. "Do not fret, old friend. You have done well. This was necessary for my resurrection. And rest assured, I will have my revenge. That man takes me lightly, but I will not bend to his will so easily. He does not know with whom he is dealing."
Then she turned back to the mirror.
"Now I should find more suitable clothes." She said, obviously disgusted at Misty's choice of garments.
Ash sat stunned, shocked by what he had just seen. Misty was no longer Misty, his friend, but Shirakiku, a sorceress from an age long gone. He could not bring himself to believe that Misty was gone. He would not. There had to be some way to reverse the spell. But what could he do? Ash knew nothing of magic, nor did he know anyone who did. He had arrived too late to see what Giovanni had done, so even if he had known magic, he could not have reversed it.
"What's wrong with Miss Misty? Why was she acting so strange?" Vivi asked. Ash had almost forgotten that anyone else was there.
"Um . . . uh . . ." Ash stalled.
How could he explain something so difficult to a small child? Especially when he barely understood it himself.
Luckily for Ash, Max knew just what to say.
"It's a spell, Vivi." He said. "These witches have put an evil spell on Misty. That's why she's acting that way."
"But why would they wanna put a spell on her?"
"She's a princess, right? Witches always cast spells on princesses. Like in Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty."
"Oh, that makes sense." Vivi agreed.
But the others were kind of lost.
"What's this about Misty being a princess?" May asked.
"Can't tell you." Vivi said. "It's a secret."
May looked at Max for some sort of explanation.
"Like Vivi said, it's a secret." He said, crossing his arms and nodding cockily.
"Come on guys," Brock cut in, "we need to get out of here before Team Rocket finds us."
"But what about Misty? We have to help her!" Ash cried. "And Team Rocket took Pikachu and all the other Pokemon! We can't leave without them!"
"We'll come back for them, I promise. But first we need to figure out how to get them back. We won't be helping anyone if we get caught again."
Ash wanted to argue, but he knew Brock was right. If he really wanted to save Misty, he had to be patient. Even though it broke his heart to leave, he had to do it for her sake. So everyone marched back up the stairs leading to the hideout, and headed for the local Pokemon Center.
Misty awoke to find herself in a strange place. For a moment, she could not remember where she was or what had happened to her. Then it came back to her. Team Rocket, Giovanni, Shirakiku. But now the stone room was empty.
"Where is everyone?" Misty wondered. "And why am I still here?"
Suddenly, it occurred to her that she was floating. She screamed and closed her eyes, waiting for the fall, but it never came. She opened her eyes again, and strangely, she was still hanging in the air. Then Misty noticed that she could see through her hands. She raised them to her face and stared at them in disbelief.
"What is going on here!" She yelled. "Am I . . . ? I can't be . . . dead? Can I?"
She still had so much to do in life, so many people who needed her. She still had not mastered water Pokemon or taken over the gym. Misty thought of her Pokemon and wondered what would happen to them. She thought of her sisters and her friends. What would they do when they realized she was gone? Misty especially wondered how Ash would feel, if he would miss her. Ash, she still had not told him . . . She would never see him again. It was hard enough not seeing him while she was staying at the gym, and the thought of eternal separation overwhelmed her with grief. No, she could not be dead yet. But that was the only thing that really made sense. The last thing Misty remembered was falling asleep under Haunter's hypnosis, and she could only guess what had happened after that. But it was not something she wanted to think about. So Misty, dazed and confused, floated toward the exit. She did not have any real reason, but she did not know what else to do. And she needed something to keep her mind off of the horrible possibility of death. Everything felt very surreal, like a dream. Misty half-expected herself to wake up in her bed back in Cerulean. But of course, she did not. So she continued floating aimlessly, out of the room and into the halls. Misty thought she could hear a voice coming from one of the rooms, so she followed it. But it was a dead end.
"Oh wait, I'm a ghost." She realized. "I should be able to go through walls."
And so she could. Misty found herself in a beautifully decorated room, but she was too shocked to notice any of it. She had come face to face with the last person she expected to see: herself.
"Jesse, are you sure we should be doing this?" James asked timidly.
Jesse did not take her ear from the door. "Don't worry!" She said. "We can't let Butch and Cassidy get ahead of us!"
"Yes, but isn't this sort of betraying the boss?"
"Of course not! I don't trust that . . . ghost, or whatever it is. We're just making sure that she's not planning anything sneaky."
"But what if that creepy girl finds out? Who knows what she'll do to us?" James whined, shivering.
"What can she do to us locked in there?" Meowth reassured him.
"But what if . . . what if the boss finds out!"
"Would you two be quiet!" Jesse said in a loud whisper. " I can't hear what she's saying!"
She leaned into the door again and strained to hear.
At first, Misty thought she was looking into a mirror, but the clothes were totally unfamiliar. The girl wore a yukata, red, and covered with white and yellow flowers. Still, there was no mistaking it. Misty was looking at herself. Or at least her body.
"Who are you!" She demanded. "What are you doing with my body!"
But the girl apparently could not hear her. Then she remembered what Giovanni had said about the sorceress, Shirakiku, and how he was going to resurrect her.
"That is better." The girl said to herself. "Now, we must figure out a way to get back my orb."
Suddenly, Misty realized there was someone else in the room: the Haunter who had cast hypnosis on her. It floated near the person in Misty's body, but stared strait at Misty herself. It laughed mockingly at her and stuck out its tongue.
"Why you . . . !" Misty fumed.
But the girl was speaking again, and Haunter turned to listen.
"As long as that man has it, he has complete control over me. I could easily escape this room, but I would still be his prisoner. The trouble is getting the orb back without him knowing. When I find it, I will be free to exact my revenge."
"What is she talking about?" Misty found herself wondering. "She's not going to help Team Rocket?"
"But I don't have time to be thinking about that, I have to get back inside my body!"
Taking the most obvious path, Misty flew toward herself in hope of reentering her body by force. But she was jolted back with a flash like a bolt of lightning.
"What was that?" Misty said as she tried to shake off the shock of the force field.
But Shirakiku seemed fine. In fact, she had not even noticed.
Misty was trying to think of ways to reclaim her body when slowly, she noticed something strange It seemed like her vision was getting a little hazy. She rubbed her eyes, but when she did this, she saw that her hands had become paler and more translucent than before. Misty had been worried before, but now she was starting to get really scared. Before, she had thought that there was plenty of time, but now she was not so sure. She did not know what was happening to herself, but she did not want to find out. She had to get her body back as soon as possible. Her situation had just become urgent.
"Did you hear that!" Jesse asked.
"That witch is gonna try to get revenge on the boss!" James responded.
"What're we gonna do!" Meowth wailed.
"Only one thing to do, we have to tell the boss." Jesse said.
"But Jesse, you know he won't believe us." James argued.
"And then he'll know we was spyin' on her!"
"Do you have any better suggestions? We have to do something. It's our duty as members of Team Rocket!"
So Team Rocket made their way into their boss's office, even though they knew they would be harshly reprimanded. They found him sitting in his red chair behind his desk, stroking his favorite Pokemon, Persian.
"Boss!" Jesse yelled as she rushed into the room. "That witch is going to escape!"
"She wants to get revenge on you for taking her prisoner!" James added.
"I know." Giovanni replied calmly. He did not even turn his chair around to face them. "Shirakiku made sure that I was aware of her intentions."
"So what're you gonna do about it?" Meowth asked impatiently.
"Nothing." Giovanni finally turned around and unlocked on of the drawers in his desk, and pulled out the empty orb. "As long as I have this, I am in complete control."
"She mentioned that," Jesse said, "She said she had to take it back to get away."
"Correct. But she knows that if she tries to steal it back, I will break it, and then she will never be able to enter another body. Her connection to this world will be gone."
James was still not sure. "But if you break it, you won't have any more power over her, right? Doesn't she know that?"
He cringed, expecting Giovanni to yell at him for questioning his plan, but he did not. In fact, he seemed to be in a rather good mood.
"I'm sure she does, but she won't risk it. Trust me. Besides, that is not all this little globe can do."
Suddenly, the phone on Giovanni's desk rang, and he answered it.
"Yes . . . I see . . . no, I will be there in a moment."
Then he hung up.
"It seems our prisoners have escaped." He said. "It isn't that important, but it would be better to find them if they're still here, and I need to supervise the search. If you'll excuse me."
Giovanni stood up and locked the orb back it in the drawer, and then strode out of the room, Persian at his side.
"Was that really the boss?" Meowth said when the door closed.
"What happened to him?" James asked. "I guess he must be happy because he thinks that witch is going to help him take over the world . . ."
"Who cares? This is our chance!" Jesse stated.
"Chance for what?" Meowth wanted to know.
"To steal that orb, of course!"
"But Jesse, we can't steal from the boss!" James objected.
"It's for his own good. He trusts that Shira-what's-her-name way too much. We need to do something about her, and that orb is the key."
"But the boss said he has it under control!" James said.
"He only thinks he does." Jesse remarked. "But that witch knows what he can do, and she didn't sound scared to me. She's got something up her sleeve."
"I dunno, Jesse." Meowth said, but he did not get any farther.
"I said we have to do it, now get going! Unlock that drawer, Meowth!" Jessie yelled, shoving Meowth's face at the drawer.
Meowth sighed in defeat but did as he was told and unlocked the drawer with its claw.
Jesse snatched the orb from its place.
"Perfect!" Jesse exclaimed. "Now let's get out of here before the boss gets back!"
They ran hastily out of the room, pausing for breath only when they were far away from Giovnani's office. James groaned in despair.
"The boss is going to kill us when he finds out what we've done!" He said.
"Don't worry, he's not going to find out." Said Jesse.
"How'd'ya' know that, Jesse?" Meowth asked.
"Easy. All we have to do is blame it on someone else. And I know exactly who."
"Have you found anything yet, Max?" Ash asked impatiently.
The eight-year-old looked up from the computer screen to answer. "Not yet," he said, "but I'm working on it."
Ash sighed and continued pacing the floor. The group was using the Pokecenter's PC to research what they were dealing with, but so far, they had found nothing.
"What's taking so long!" Ash demanded of Max.
"Hey, I'm doing my best!" Max defended himself.
"Ash, calm down. We're bound to come up with something sooner or later." Said Brock, who was seated in a chair nearby.
"But we might not have that much time! What if we're already too late!" Ash ranted.
"Ash, yelling about it isn't helping anything." May said calmly. "It's just making everything worse."
"I know, but . . . I'm just really worried about Misty. I feel like we should be doing something instead of just sitting here!"
"Ash, stop yelling at Max!" Vivi suddenly perked up. "He's really trying hard!"
Max kept his gaze focused on the computer screen, but he could not help but blush.
"Misty will be ok." Vivi said assuredly. "She wouldn't want you to worry. She believes in you, so you should believe in her too!"
"Misty said that? That she believes in me?" Ash asked, taken aback by Vivi's statement.
"Yep, and I do too!"
"Thanks, Vivi." Ash said, revitalized. "What are we waiting for, let's get back to work!"
As Ash said this, the doors of the Pokecenter slid open.
"Team Rocket!" Everyone yelled simultaneously.
"Calm down, we've already got your Pokemon." Jesse said cooly.
"Then what are you here for!" Ash retorted.
"We need your help with something."
"Why should we help you!" May asked.
"Because you'll also be helping your twerpy little friend."
"What are you getting at!" Ash questioned.
"What is this, an interrogation?" James asked. "Look, that witch is plotting against Team Rocket, but the boss won't do anything about it."
"So it's up to us to stop her." Meowth finished.
"Fine, but we have no idea how to do that." Brock reminded them.
"Oh, we don't, do we?" Jesse said slyly, holding up the orb.
"You know how to get Shirakiku out of Misty's body!" Ash demanded. "How! Tell us right now!"
"Well, we're not really sure of the specifics," James admitted, "we just know that it has something to do with this orb thing."
Ash and his friends all face-faulted.
"But wait, why do you need our help?" Max thought out loud.
"Simple, we don't want the boss to know this is our doing." Jesse said.
"Typical." Ash shrugged. "But if it'll help Misty, we're in, right guys?"
"Right!" The others agreed.
"All right, let's go!" Ash exclaimed.
"Hold on, Ash." Brock chuckled. "We still need to think of a plan."
And so they began work on one immediately.