I would have updated about a week sooner, but I wanted to wait until the episode "Mismagius: Escape from a Nightmare!" aired in Japan so I could make sure it was accurate! And then I was waiting for the screenshots... Then it turned out that there wasn't really that much Mismagius in the episode anyways… Especially for what I was really looking for! What a waste of a week, huh…?
Well, here it is!
Read and review,
Raven's secret-keeper- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A Work of Magic
Chapter 1: A Dream and a Nightmare
The next day, Mismagius hovered among the branches, watching as a couple of young Murkrow bickered over a sparkling gold circle. One finally grabbed it in his beak, leaving the other to try and pry it away. Her expression was one of obvious boredom. Then a few leaves crackled and the birds looked towards the source of the noise before they flew off.
The ghost blinked, then looked around. She spotted the reason for their surprise almost immediately – two humans were walking through the forest, a man and a boy.
Glad to finally have something to do, she made herself invisible and swooped down for a closer look.
The man was staring a large piece of paper. Mismagius hovered over his shoulder and looked at it more closely. There were lines and patches of colors with black dots speckled all over it with small words right next to them.
She flew in front of the man, her motions easily stealthy, and studied his face.
Much to her enjoyment, he looked confused and a little frustrated.
"Uh, Dad?" the younger one asked, and Mismagius looked his way. "Where are we?"
"We're in the Eterna Forest," the man told him confidently. "We should be fine if just keep heading…" He referred to the paper, then pulled out a circular object with a spinning needle and letters around the outside. "Just… this… way!" He pointed with his finger.
Mismagius smiled – if he thought this was going to be easy, he was in for a rude awakening. Making sure to keep them in her sights, she floated high above the trees and searched for the two birds she had seen earlier.
She found one of them – the one that didn't get the ring – on a branch, and she called out to him, making sure he could see her. The high sound caught his attention immediately, and she motioned for him to follow.
The mischievious glint in her eyes definitely got his attention, and he followed her on wing through the sky.
The ghost stopped, and he landed in one of the branches. She nodded her head towards the two humans, and he found them almost instantly. He nodded silently, both of their expression telling each other that this as going to be fun!
Mismagius took a split second to become invisible once more, then the Murkrow dive-bombed towards the people, squawking at the top of his voice and startling both of them, then he grabbed at one of the shiny metal objects jangling at the man's belt.
"Hey – what - !?" He began desperately trying to wave the Murkrow away.
"Dad?!"
Mismagius appeared in front of the kid, and he yelped. Enjoying his amazement and surprise, she opened her mouth and chanted a short but sweet spell, the first thing any Mismagius knows - the chant of misfortune.
"Ty, we'd better - Hey!" Murkrow finally managed to click something away from the collection of objects around the man's belt and fluttered up to the tree. "Give that back!" he yelled.
The bird only put it in his feet and cried back mockingly, "Murkrow, Murkrow!"
"He's laughing at me!" the man moaned.
Mismagius, seeing her chance, used the long tendril-like pieces in her front like arms and grabbed the paper out of the man's hands.
"What the - ?"
She became invisible before he had a chance to see her and watched his amazed face as he followed it around as it glided through the air seemingly unaided. "Hey!"
She dropped the paper and watched as he struggled to grab it out of the air.
"Dad, maybe we'd better go!" the boy begged.
The man finally managed to grab the paper and nodded with a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, we'd better get out of here."
They started off in the direction they were heading before at a run.
Once they were out of sight, Mismagius allowed herself to become visible, since the amusement was over. A satisfied smile spread across her face as she watched them go. Then she realized that she just did it again – fueled the humans' superstitions.
The Murkrow looked up from the object he stole. He tilted his head and made a small note of questioning – she looked like she wasn't enjoying this entertaining trick anymore.
She didn't hear the noise of concern and floated off towards the treetops once more.
The Murkrow blinked after her, then went back to admiring his glittering reward.
Misdreavus blinked at the darkening trees. The sun had almost set… An entire day had gone by, and not one other life form had crossed her path. Or maybe they did, she just slept through it… Marie had never trained her to be diurnal, so she was still as nocturnal as ever.
She began aimlessly wandering through the trees, weaving her way in and out of the branches. It was so quiet that she was more careful than usual to not bump into anything.
She whimpered miserably to herself. One minute part of a Pokémon team, surrounded by familiar voices and friendly faces, the next she's lost, all alone in a strange forest engulfed in an all-too-eerie silence with absolutely no companions… She couldn't help comparing it to the monster movies that her ex-owner's father used to watch…
Something rustled the dark branches overhead, and she yelped, her voice coming out even more of a screech than it usually did. She instinctively moved away from the tree as fast as she could – she was sure to put a good distance between herself and the looming shape before looking back. It was gone, but that only made her more uneasy.
Misdreavus whimpered again, then she glanced around anxiously. For the first time since she had found herself in this place, she began feeling fears pressing in on her. She was alone – that meant there was nobody to protect her if a hostile Pokémon, or even another scared creature, attacked her. She knew that she wasn't very powerful, and if a battle broke out she would be defeated easily – and the thought of not being able to be taken to a Pokécenter brought on a shudder. Laying on the forest floor, hurt and helpless, unable to get away from anything…
The small ghost couldn't stand it anymore – she succumbed to the instinct she had been trying to suppress and let out a loud, shrill scream.
She had thought that if she was quiet, nothing would find her, but now she had no reason to hope she wouldn't be found.
She couldn't help wondering if it really was true… Maybe the humans had reason to think she meant bad luck… But then again, it was only fun… If she really wanted to bring misfortune, oh the devastation that would cause… She shuddered at the images of what could happen if she did use those chants. All she ever used were innocent play, like losing a game or misplacing something, never anything that powerful –
Then a piercing screech-like noise broke through the Mismagius's thoughts. She immediately recognized it as the call of her unevolved form.
A strange joy erupted inside her, and she opened her mouth to call back – until she wondered what she could call back. Nothing that came out of her mouth was ever just a noise - she knew older Mismagius could manage it, but she was far too inexperienced with this new power. What effect would she use, which incantation wouldn't leave the sender with some negative feeling…?
And then she remembered the one she had been practicing – there was always the lucky chant.
She opened her mouth and called back, forming the sounds to the chant she thought would bring the sender of the call what she wanted – a friend. It was obvious in the tone of the screech that it was a lonely female Misdreavus looking for something to keep her company.
She was getting a bit bored with being on her own as well, she realized, maybe that's why she toyed with the humans after the way she thought about it yesterday. It would be nice to have a friend around, especially one of her own species – well, close enough.
She was a bit confused by herself... She had always been content with the lonely impish life of a Mismagius, at least, she was until that day when she had stolen the items from that man... Since then it seemed like her entire existence had been altered. She was anything but content, and her mind was working in ways that were too different for her comfort.
She shook her head and told herself to focus on her calls - one wrong syllable and everything that was going great now could fall apart.
After a bit more calling out, Misdreavus finally heard a response. She had never heard anything like it, but it still seemed like a friendly species. Excitement flooded into her when she realized that she wasn't going to be alone anymore – even though she was born in these trees, she had been raised in the company of others, and she felt a little nervous out here alone.
She let out another note, telling the other where she was.
The respondent's notes were coming closer, and soon they stopped altogether. She summed up where the cries had come from, then followed the semi-instinctual feelings she had about which way it was.
She raced ahead in the trees, then let out a screech of excitement as she saw the source of the replies. She had never seen another creature like the newcomer, except once in a book her owner's father had gotten, but nothing was as glorious as meeting another in real life.
Mismagius smiled. Misdreavus smiled back and let out an eager noise of welcome. Mismagius simply nodded her greeting.
The smaller ghost was a little surprised by the stranger's unusual silence – all the others she had ever known tended to be loud and expressive. But this one seemed quieter, more contained… she liked that. And she could tell that she was a lot like herself – it was one of the many instincts any Pokémon possesses – and the way her body billowed even though there was no wind was definite proof that this one would be so much easier to get along with than any other she had ever met – she had to be a ghost-type, too.
Mismagius carefully approached the other.
Misdreavus let out a noise of friendly greeting, and Mismagius took it as a sign that there was no need to be so cautious. The Misdreavus was obviously friendly, and they were nowhere near any caves that would be the cause of territorial behavior.
Mismagius let out a short note, and the other hovering creature blinked at her smooth voice – something about that sound was spellbinding and definitely unique. She made a soft noise in her own voice, expressing her curiosity and relief.
Mismagius nodded, glad to be good luck to something. Finally feeling comfortable around this stranger, she looked her up and down. She was young and her bright, alert eyes made it obvious that she was good-natured and definitely friendly.
The little ghost moved behind Mismagius, who was watching her inquisitively, and she put her two front tendril-like strands around Mismagius's hat with a playful screech.
Mismagius smiled at her antics and reached the two longest pieces of fabric in her front and wrapped them around Misdreavus's barely-existent neck just above her pearl necklace.
Misdreavus closed her eyes and laughed three notes. She couldn't help feeling more comfortable around this Pokémon than she had ever felt. All her life, her shriek-like cry had startled other Pokémon, and she had even frightened a couple of others off.
Mismagius was just as joyous. This was the first creature that didn't back away, scared or otherwise afraid of bad luck, and she was the first living thing to ever act friendly to her.
They unfurled each other in unison. Mismagius tilted her head, then gestured for the other to follow her, and they started off in the forest side by side, both content and excited.
It wasn't long before they came to a clearing. Mismagius looked up at the sky, and Misdreavus followed her gaze. Her eyes widened in fascination – the moon was clearly visible in the center of the unobscured sky and every single star was twinkling away. She let out a small noise of wonder – she had never seen the moon so clearly or the stars so bright.
They looked at each other and smiled. Misdreavus murmured a note of thanks to her for sharing this amazing place, and the other nodded.
Misdreavus glanced at the moon again, then she moved closer to Mismagius and snuggled herself closer with a small noise. Her friend smiled tenderly and repositioned herself comfortably. This was truly an amazing night.
Then Mismagius's head shot up, and she began scanning the trees' branches.
Her sudden anxiety made Misdreavus nervous, and she couldn't help glancing around herself. She couldn't find anything and let out a soft note of questioning.
Mismagius simply glanced at her and continued to look around, seeming more tense every moment.
Then she heard a rustle in the branches, and both ghosts' heads shot up.
Dark shapes were moving everywhere in the trees overhead, and they had barely noticed it before they jumped off the branches and shot towards the pair.
Both yelped and tried to evade the attacks, but the shadows came on them from all sides, and they had nowhere else to go.
Their being trapped only made Misdreavus nervous and the fact that their call was the same one that had startled her yesterday didn't help and she froze up, too afraid to do anything, but Mismagius took in a deep breath and let loose a Psywave attack on the feathery aggressors.
The birds were hit by the attack, though it wasn't very powerful, and Mismagius turned to protect her smaller companion, attacking the birds on all sides.
Misdreavus watched Mismagius's determined defense fearfully, but after a few moments it became soothing and reassuring, and she joined in. She took in a breath and let out a piercing Shriek.
Mismagius turned to her, a bit surprised by the little ghost's sudden change of heart, and Misdreavus beamed proudly – she had never actually battled before. The larger ghost smiled and nodded approvingly, then they turned back to their enemies –
A large bird dove at Misdreavus before they had a chance to do anything more.
Mismagius used another attack on it, sending it back a couple of feet. She tried to hit the others, but they seemed to have learned from the fact that a few of their companions had been hit by it and dodged the energies easily. A few even managed to get close enough to strike her with their own attacks.
Now desperately throwing random attacks out at them, she turned after each blast, desperately trying to keep up with them and trying to avoid letting Misdreavus get hurt all at the same time.
The smaller ghost tried to dodge the blows from their beaks as they continued the ambush, but she wasn't anywhere near fast enough to evade the powerful blows. Time after time, their hits landed exactly as they aimed and without fail, no matter how hard Misdreavus tried to move away. She let out a frantic cry of panic and frustration, and calling out to Mismagius for help.
The ghost turned her back on the birds to look at her friend, her mind racing for a solution. Misdreavus was terrified, and she couldn't hold them off for much longer – there had to be some way to escape these -
The split second was all they needed to catch her off-guard and land all the attacks they could on her back.
She let out a startled note and turned back to them.
Misdreavus let out yet another noise of desperation as they maintained the onslaught as violently as ever, and Mismagius called back shortly, telling her to hang in there, then she fired another Psywave.
Misdreavus tried an Astonish attack – it didn't have too much of an effect on them, and it wasn't strong enough to make them flinch. Then she squealed loudly as an intense pain shot through her – one of them had hit her on the back with more force than the other strikes combined.
Mismagius turned immediately to her, and the pain in her voice and the sheer volume was enough to force her to realize that there was no way they could possibly win over more than three dozen of these birds… They had to get away…
But when she tried fighting her way through the flock, she was only hurt more than ever.
There was only one way they could get through this – the birds had to leave them alone.
But how…?
It didn't take long for her to think of an answer.
She opened her mouth and began casting a hallucination on the birds' minds. They would soon be seeing a lot of hungry, hunting Persian and Purugly jumping out from the trees – cat creatures, what bird would be stupid enough to await their claws?
As she chanted in the sounds of their growling, the birds looked towards the trees. One suddenly let out a horrified cry and flew away. The others followed its gaze and "saw" what had caused his alarm, and soon they were gone.
Misdreavus whimpered weakly, then she surrendered to the pain and heaviness in her body. She let herself fall out of the air and land on the ground.
Mismagius glided to her side. She was hurt, there was no way to ignore it. She muttered a quiet apology, her soft voice dripping with regret and desperation for her friend's pain. Her mind was reaching for ways to sooth her, what could she do…?
She opened her mouth and began chanting what she hoped to be a healing charm.
Jess looked up into the starry night sky.
"So another day flies by, huh?" she asked her Murkrow as she stroked the soft feathers under his beak. He closed his eyes pleasurably and made a soft gurgle noise in his throat.
"Yeah, you like that, don'cha?" she crooned affectionately.
Then a faint and distant high-pitched noise startled both of them, and Murkrow nearly fell off of Jess's arm as she stood up too swiftly.
"Sorry, Murkrow – What was – Wait… There's no way - !" A smile fought its way onto her face as she realized what the sound would be, then a bit of desperation and concern arose in her mind as she reran the sound in her head and realized that the tone the noise had sounded desperate, maybe even hurt.
"Murkrow," she said, now looking at the bird with excitement in her gaze, "can you go and see what it was?"
He nodded his head and cried, "Murkrow!" before taking off and flying through the trees.
Jess waited anxiously, her anticipation rising every moment she waited for him to come back with news of what he saw.
Finally, after what felt like hours, she heard his wings flapping down and he landed on her shoulder.
"What was it? Was it a Misdreavus?" she asked swiftly. There was absolutely no way to mistake that sound.
The bird nodded with an affirming noise. "Murkrow, Mur!"
"There was more?!" she asked. "Another Misdreavus, or - ?"
"Mur, Murkrow," he responded.
Jess's eyes lit up. "Something else?! Show me!" she begged, and he nodded and took off once more, landing in a tree and calling out for her to follow him. She did it without hesitation, running with all her strength.
Finally Murkrow lighted on a branch, and Jess looked into the clearing.
Her heart nearly stopped when she saw both of the Pokémon she desperately wanted. She didn't even bother with her Pokédex – there was no mistaking the creatures of her dreams. Still, she couldn't believe it. Both of them, together, one right next to the other -
Then she stopped herself and her ecstatic thoughts. That's a Mismagius, right…? What if it was just casting an illusion…?
No, she thought, that didn't sound like a chant, it was definitely a "screech-like cry..." That was definitely a Misdreavus – I've never heard any other Pokémon make a sound like that!
She looked at the two ghosts again in amazement, then she gasped softly when she realized that one of them, the Misdreavus, was lying on the ground. Her eyes widened as she realized exactly how hurt it looked.
The Mismagius suddenly turned and looked at Jess for hardly a moment before she floated up to her and opened her mouth –
Knowing the extent of a Mismagius's powers, Jess studdered swiftly and a bit nervously, "I-I want to help!"
Mismagius gave her a confident look that told her they had it all under control.
Jess looked around her flowing body and blinked at the Misdreavus. "But… It looks so hurt though…Please, just let me try something. I won't hurt it, I promise."
Mismagius looked unconvinced, she had seen what humans tended to do to Pokémon, but before she could do anything, Jess darted to the fallen Misdreavus and Murkrow flew in her way as she tried to head his owner off. He began explaining Jess's unusual Pokémon-related habits as his owner kneeled by the little creature and dug through her bag.
Finally finding the berry she was looking for, she picked up the Misdreavus tenderly. A strange feeling spread through her; she knew she was actually accomplishing her dreams, everything was taking shape – she pushed that thought aside and focused on the injured Pokémon in her arms. "Here," she said gently, holding the berry up to her mouth. "Eat this. It'll make you feel better."
Misdreavus looked up at her with her eyes only part open and blinked, then she made a small noise.
"Ohhh…" Her heart melted at the weak sound. "Here, please eat it," she begged gently.
The little ghost's eyes opened again, and she finally bit into it.
Jess watched in fascination and concern as she chewed the tiny bite and swallowed it before taking another. It was wondrous and confusing – Misdreavus had followed her advice so easily, weren't Pokémon supposed to be distrusting of humans in their first encounter…? Especially ghosts – they're so untamed most of the time… and this was a Misdreavus, too, known for their mischief and the fact that they're so unruly at first… so why was this one just letting her handle her like a Plusle or an Evee…? Was it because she knew she was only helping…?
With each bite, the ghost's condition improved just a little bit. Once Misdreavus finished, Jess held her up for a closer look and smiled contentedly. Her red-and-yellow eyes were open and alert, and she wasn't as tense and weak as she had been a few moments ago. Not to mention she smiled and let out a joyous noise of thanks.
Jess laughed. "You're welcome!"
Mismagius looked around Murkrow before hovering over to where Jess was letting Misdreavus into the air.
Misdreavus looked at Mismagius and spoke a couple of notes in her high voice, and Mismagius didn't look very joyful or convinced. Misdreavus blinked at her, then she let out another note, sounding curious and questioning.
"Murkrow!" Jess's Pokémon called, and the larger of the two ghosts looked at him and tilted her head. "Mur, Murkrow, Murkrow!"
The smaller ghost smiled and made a sound of agreement with a slight nod.
Jess blinked, a bit confused – she was still trying to figure out what they were saying. All she could decide on was that Murkrow's comment had been reassurance.
The two others looked at Mismagius, and she bowed her head.
"Is anything wrong?" Jess asked, a bit of concern trickling into her voice.
"Murkrow!"
Mismagius lifted her head and tilted it again.
Misdreavus let out a noise that sounded confident.
Murkrow turned to his owner. "Mur, Murkrow," he explained.
Jess's expression lit up – if Misdreavus had been with a human before, than she was probably at least a little trained.
"Murkrow, Krow," he added.
"You're kidding! She would?!" Her excitement was building every moment, and now that he said Misdreavus would be willing to come with her, everything just felt so impossibly perfect.
Then she realized Mismagius's behavior. "What about you?" she asked the larger ghost. "Would you be willing - ?" She stopped herself, realizing her expression. "What's wrong? I won't force you."
"Murkrow, krow, krow," he told the skeptic.
Mismagius seemed to be thinking, and Murkrow added another couple of words.
"So, what do you say?" Jess asked, grateful for Murkrow's support – she finally figured out that he was trying to convince her to come.
Misdreavus made a questioning sound, and all looked towards the purple Pokémon.
She looked between Jess and Murkrow, her eyes inspecting them, then she turned to the Misdreavus and spoke three short notes.
Jess's heart leapt in amazed joy and enthrallment at the eerie, magical quality of her voice, but before she could let her mind settle on the fact, Misdreavus turned to Murkrow and asked it something – it seemed to be important, both ghosts were watching him intensely, but he answered with ease – a relief to Jess. The tone he replied in made it obvious that it was a "no," though Jess wasn't sure what he said no to…
Mismagius blinked, then nodded.
"Murkrow!" the bird called happily, and Jess leapt into the air with an enthusiastic "Yes!" Then she nearly ran over to the ghosts and wrapped one arm around each of their necks. Mismagius seemed surprised, but Misdreavus squealed an excited sound. "Welcome to the team!" Jess cried triumphantly. Murkrow flew onto her head to complete the moment, and Jess laughed for all she was worth.
"I'll never put you two in a Pokéball!" she told the two newest members. "Don't worry, Murkrow, you can stay out and stand watch over them," she added, not wanting to single out her other companion. "I know how much you guys don't like it there," she mused.
Murkrow nodded and pulled on her ponytail.
Jess laughed, then sighed triumphantly. She looked to her right as Misdreavus snuggled closer to her body with a quiet noise of comfort.
Mismagius watched her younger companion, then looked up at the night sky.
Jess followed her gaze. "It's absolutely amazing here," she said softly. "Every single one of the stars is visible, and the moon is so bright but the trees are still so dark... Not to mention I found three of the best Pokémon in the world here!"
Misdreavus yawned, and Jess's heart melted away. "You're so cute," she muttered as the small creature shifted into a more comfortable position.
Mismagius watched Jess's face as she gazed lovingly at her friend. It was obvious she really did care and wasn't just catching Pokémon to win contests or battles... and Misdreavus had so willingly accepted Murkrow's offer to come home with this person… Maybe it wouldn't be so bad living with a trainer… Well, if things started to get out of hand, she could always find a way out…
Jess sighed contentedly, then looked up at the sky again. "The sun's rising," she muttered, just now realizing exactly how tired she really was. All this excitement was exhausting! "Time for bed." She unwound her arm from Misdreavus's pink-tipped hair and pulled her sleeping bag off of her backpack, then took her arm other off of Mismagius's neck and put the blankets on the leafy ground.
Misdreavus watched sleepily from her place in the air, and Jess looked up at her once she had her pillow out of her bag and was all ready to sleep. The ghost's eyes lit up when Jess gestured that she could come down here with her – Marie had never asked the little ghost to sleep next to her, it was always the others – and she eagerly glided down and nestled herself against her new trainer's side. Jess readily wrapped her arm around the one Pokémon she had always dreamt of, and then she looked up at Mismagius. "You okay up there?" she muttered, and Misdreavus looked up as well.
The ghost blinked hesitantly, then moved closer to the ground and settled on Misdreavus's other side.
Jess smiled, then watched as Murkrow flew onto a cozy branch and stepped close to the tree's trunk before putting his head beneath his wing to sleep.
She lowered her head to the pillow and closed her eyes before whispering, "Goodnight everyone."
Dreams come true isn't the only point to this story - that's how it started, but I couldn't let this story go, I just kept writing for it... With the summary, it seems like this is all there is... But no! I have plenty more coming up; a new sort of problem - half typical and half not, and lots of Poké-action coming up once I get past the second mini-story!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Review please - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-Raven's secret-keeper