Chapter 12: Lunar Sickness
The citizens of Veridian, Pewter, and Ceruliean cities were staring straight up, as Ryo-oki, in spaceship form, hovered overhead on its way to Mt. Moon. The 'Key' team were enjoying a little lunch break, as Ash peered down from the window, not only looking for the mountain, but a place to land. However, Al stopped eating after only a few bites. Sasami and Koga noticed Al's plate barely touched, but thought that he might be tasting a new recipe that Delia provided. Al's vision was blured a little as his eyes were a tad weighty. "Al," Sasami softly called. "You okay?" He looked over at her with a ailing expression, but said that he was fine.
"I guess I'm not that hungry," he moaned.
"You sure? You look rather pale." Al rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to focus.
"I'll manage." Then, Ash found an opening near a mouth of a cave in the mountain.
"Guys, I found a spot," he called out. Asuka and Kari ran over to see the spot, when Ash pointed it out. Later, Ryo-oki launched a beam to the opening, as the team desended from the beam. After they landed, Asuka saw the opening.
"Well, it looks like that's where we go to find the moon stone," she gleed.
"Well, let's not waste anytime getting there," Junpei acknowledged. As they started walking, Al's was slowing down a bit, causing Asuka and Rin to look back at him.
"Elric, you sure you're okay?" Rin questioned. A few more steps he took, before collapsing to the ground, but Asuka caught him. "Elric!"
"Al, c'mon," Asuka ordered. Everyone else turned to see Al, practically unconcious, and ran to him. Asuka felt his forehead. "He's burning up." Sasami ran over, and tried to wake Al.
"Come on, Al," she cried. Ash pulled a damp cloth from his bag and placed it on the blonde's forehead.
"He's got a fever," he said. "I'll get some water from the stream. You guys see about trying to get Al comfortable."
"I'm coming with you," Koga offered. Ash and Koga walked off to a stream nearby, when Al started to open his eyes.
"Al," Sasami started. "Don't move around."
"You're sick," Kari pointed out.
"Yeah, but, we need to go to that moon stone," Al groaned. That's when a small pink fluff with black tip ears and tiny limbs appeared, catching everyone's attention.
"I think that's a Cleffa," Sasami wondered. Then, she remembered that Ash had always packed some emergency first aid supplies, in case that there wasn't a Pokemon Center close by. Sasami dug into his bag and pulled out a kit case, as Al fell back to sleep. As she opened the case, Cleffa did everything to keep the cloth on Al's forehead until it dried. Cleffa handed the cloth to Kari, who wanted to hand it to Asuka. Instead, the pilot grabbed Ash's spare canteen and soaked the cloth in cold water. After ringing it out, Kari, with help from Gatomon and Cleffa, placed the cloth back on Al's head. That's when Sasami returned with a spray-like dispenser with a tangerine-colored liquid inside. "Can you get Al's mouth opened?" Asuka tilted Al's head back, jarring his mouth open a little. Sasami stuck the dispenser into Al and sprayed the canister until it emptied. Asuka tilted his head back into position. Rin and Junpei started to head to the cave.
"Where are you two going?" Kari questioned with a hint of anger.
"Rin and I are going to find that moon stone," Junpei answered. "Hey, we're all anxious to get to that planet, but with his condition, all we can do is look."
("If your going to find the moon stone, let me come,") Pikachu requested. Kilala tapped on Pikachu's shoulder and meowed to join as well. ("Kilala, you stay and keep an eye on the girls.") The cat demon frowned and sighed. ("Don't worry, we'll be back.")
"Well, if you're going, count me in," Asuka bellowed. "You don't mind watching over Al, do you?"
"I'll stay with him," Sasami muttered. "Kari, why don't you help Ash and Koga with the water?"
"What about you?" Kari asked in concern.
"I'll be fine. Besides, Gatomon, Ryo-oki, Cleffa and Kilala are here." When Kari nodded, she pursued Ash and Koga. Those two found a stream not too far away where Ash filled a few bottles with the water. Koga was showing some concern for Al.
"Poor kid," he moaned. "I've never seen a child that sick before. Then again, I've never seen Kagome sick, either."
"Not surprising," Ash monotoned, also showing concern, with surprise. "Considering his soul was sealed in a suit of armor for about six years. Probably never thought about being ill himself after his mother died after she got sick."
"I don't know what your talking about." Kari made it to the two as Ash was ready to tell Koga what Al told him in Resembool.
"Both Al and his older brother, Edward, were gifted with knowledge of alchemy since they knew how to walk. When Ed was 9 and Al was 8, their mother was struck with a disease and died within the week. They studied under a pro of alchemy named Izumi, and after two years, they returned to try to ressurect their mother, using a forbidden alchemy called 'Human Transmutation.' When it happened, Ed lost his left leg while Al was being killed from the inside out. Ed sacrificed his right arm to bring Al's soul back and sealed it in a suit of armor. They always followed 'the equivelient exchange' rule, except for that night. Five years later, according to their time, I arrived for the start of our journey, where I ran into him. When we got to Aoi Academy, a student, by the name of Kazuki Shikimori, used a rare magic spell, defying the laws, and resurrected Al's body to the state he was when he tried to bring back his mom." Then, he sheepishly giggled. "Of course, I still remember Kuriko burying my head between those 'mountains' of hers, and nearly suffocated."
"Sounds like this Kuriko girl had a crush on you," Koga laughed. "Before trying to crush your head." Ash sighed.
"This is why over-developed women are a turn-off." Then, the boys heard Kari giggle and turned around. "Hey, Kari."
"How long have you been with us?"
"Since hearing about Al's story," Kari replied. "I had no idea he had gone through so much. Where was his dad the whole time?"
"He didn't have a clue," Ash said. "By the way, how is he?"
"Resting. Sasami gave him some medicine that was in your kit case."
"Hold on. That wouldn't be the peach-colored medicine you gave him, would it?"
"No. Orange, I believe." Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Was it the right one?"
"If it was the peach-colored, it would make Al more ill. Did you try using the Salveo weed yet? I know there's a few stocks in my small pouch."
"Salveo weed?" Koga questioned.
"It's a weed that basically cures paralysis and some other ailiments. Misty gave me and Tracy some after we fell into the flowertop of a Vileplume." Kari nodded before heading back with a couple of the filled bottles. Meanwhile, Asuka, Rin, Junpei and Pikachu were searching inside the caves of Mt. Moon. Rin and Asuka were talking about funny stories they had before they united.
"I tell you, there is no understanding women," Junpei grunted.
("I wouldn't be so sure,") Pikachu mocked. Then, they located a large rock in a room in the cave. ("The moon stone.")
"So, that's the moon stone." The girls halted their conversation to look at the moon stone.
"Well, ready to see if it works?" Asuka sneered.
"We musn't," Rin muttered. "Not without the others." Then, two sets of pink, fairy-like creatures started to pop out when they heard noises.
("Clefairy,") Pikachu noticed. ("Clefable.") The others stared in awe at the sight. Back outside, Sasami was pouring a bowl of stew with green seaweed. She looked at Al as Kari was watching by the pot.
"I don't know why, but for some reason..." Sasami muttered, before she drank some of the stew, but didn't swallow. Instead, she gave the salveo stew vie mouth-to-mouth, making Kari feel her lips, still remembering the feeling when she found her key in New York. When Sasami parted her lips from Al's, he slowly woke up as Ash and Koga returned.
"Sasami," Al weakly spoke.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little better, but why did you-" Sasami placed a finger on Al's lips.
"Rest a bit." An hour later, she placed her hand on his forehead. It wasn't as hot as before, but it caused Al to wake up. "Hey, big guy. Your fever had gone down." Al slowly sat up and looked around to see everyone, even Asuka, Rin, Junpei, and Pikachu exiting the cave.
"So, did you find it?" Koga wondered.
"You bet," Asuka replied with a grin.
"How is Elric?" Rin asked. She looked at Al, and saw that he was getting to his feet.
"I'll be fine," Al said. Then, he peered over to Sasami. "However, Sasami, why did you...why did you..." That's when he saw Sasami blush.
"Oh, uh...well, because I thought it was only way to get you to have that salveo stew that healed your illness," she lied. Kari patted her on the shoulder.
"Oh, come on," Kari joked. "You've got feelings for him." She and Al chuckled, causing Sasami to blush more. Koga wasleft lost in the moment.
"Did I miss something?" he questioned.
"Well, now that everyone is okay, let's get going inside," Ash grinned. A few moments later, the team made it to the moon stone, where the Cleffas, Clefairys, and Clefables were dancing around the stone. The gang decided to hang back, and watched the dance until the dance was done.
"I bet they do this dance to pray for good luck," Rin said.
"That would be our good luck, right?" Asuka joked. When they got done with their dance, the Pokemon cleared a path for the team, who walked up after they pulled out their keys. Then, all the keys started to glow, as well as the moon stone.
"All right guys," Ash started. "This is our ride to the world where the main event."
"Keep your hands and feet in the correct position, as the ride will rip any limb that is badly placed, causing bodily harm," Asuka joked. All eight rose the keys to the stone. Then, a flash of light brightened the room. When the light dimmed, the team found theirselves on a desolate land, where many planets orbited the place. Everyone was in awe as they were unaware that eight people in cloaks approached the team.
"Ah, you must be Queen Pandora's chosens, are you not?" the cloaked man in front asked, causing Ash to look at him.
"Queen Pandora?" he repeated. "Wait a minute, where are we?"
TO BE CONTINUED...(Sorry that it was short.)
Ash and co. find theirselves on a mysterious planet where these eight will tell them about the planet that the prophecy had mentioned, with a few surprises. What is going on now and what is the planet's name?