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Raven's secret-keeper
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A Work of Magic
Chapter 2: Beginning
Jess woke up around sunset, and after a good stretch, she gently rustled Misdreavus awake.
The tiny sound of her yawn was enough to cause Mismagius to lazily lift one eyelid halfway.
"Hey guys," Jess greeted, and Murkrow rustled his feathers at her voice and lifted his head before blinking sleepily.
Jess had to look around at the two ghosts to reassure herself that it wasn't just a dream. "I still can't believe it… I have one Misdreavus, and another, and she's already evolved into a Mismagius – I just killed three birds with one stone!!!"
Murkrow gave her a darkly disapproving look.
Jess saw her mistake immediately. "Sorry, Murkrow, heh… Alright… Let's see what you two newbies can do."
Murkrow stretched his wings, feet, and tail, then began grooming, and Misdreavus extended her free-form body a bit before she began hovering a couple of feet off the ground, looking up at her trainer.
Mismagius just closed her eye and shifted a bit, not too happy about being woken up, and Jess last sentence didn't help.
Jess just shrugged at her - she had heard that wild Misdreavus were hard to train, and this Mismagius was still a little young - of course she'd be hard to deal with. "So, are you ready to train?" she asked the smaller ghost.
She blinked and looked at her curiously, then her eyes brightened and she rose up to Jess's eye-level with an eager noise.
"Okay then! Murkrow, will you help us find out her strength?"
The bird fit in one more quick stretch of his wings and fluttered onto Jess's outstretched arm.
"Brace yourself, Misdreavus!" she joked.
The little ghost suddenly looked nervous, and Mismagius looked up warily and alert.
"Don't worry! I won't let him hurt you! I just want to find out how powerful you are. So get ready, but don't be too uneasy, okay? Try your best and you'll do fine."
Misdreavus tilted her head.
"Alright, come on. Murkrow, go!"
The bird lifted off her arm and landed across from Misdreavus on the other side of the clearing.
"Let's try a Faint Attack, but go easy on her!"
He nodded with an understanding "Mur!" and moved around so swiftly there seemed to be many different transparent copies of him, then Misdreavus barely had time to yelp before he charged at her.
Though he was careful to not slam into her with all his force like he normally would, she still let out a squeal of pain and whimpered as she descended to about a foot above the ground.
"I said take it easy!" the trainer scolded as she ran to help the weakened ghost.
"Mur Murkrow!" he cawed back defensively and indignant.
"Then why is she so hurt...?" She sighed. "I'm sorry, Misdreavus, I didn't know it would be so hard on you… Hang in there, I have something that'll help..." She gave her one last sympathetic glance before going to her bag and pulling out a small bottle of soda pop and taking it over to her. "Here, drink this." She put it up to her tiny mouth and made sure she drank it all. "There. Better?"
The Pokémon nodded.
"Good. Well... Let's see how strong you are - No, Murkrow, I'm going with Pidgeotto on this one. She's weak against Dark Pokémon, and strong against Normal-type, so she should have an advantage... Pidgeotto, go!" She pulled out a Pokéball off her waist and tossed it into the air. It split open and a bright, red ray of light shot out. It materialized into the brown and white bird known as Pidgeotto at the other side of the clearing, and the two Pokémon turned to face each other.
"Misdreavus, let's see if you can pull off Perish Song."
The ghost looked over at her trainer, a confused expression on her face.
"Okay, that one doesn't come until later, that's fine… Let's try Psybeam!"
Misdreavus tilted her head and blinked, looking even more puzzled.
"Okay, you don't know it… Shadow Ball?" she asked hopefully.
Misdreavus blinked a couple more times.
"Confuse ray? Astonish?" she pleaded desperately.
The hovering creature shook her large head.
Jess blinked. Then she pulled out her Pokédex. "What level are you at?" she muttered, ignoring the entry on Misdreavus – she knew it all hands down. She seemed too old to not know Astonish, one of the simplest and first attacks a Misdreavus could learn – it came around at level 17… Then she nearly fell over when it told her skill level. "Level 8?!" she asked incredulously.
The Misdreavus looked sheepish and embarrassed. She muttered a few high notes timidly, and Murkrow replied with a note of sympathy, then translated for the trainer – she had said her owner never spent much time with her.
"How long did she have you?"
She replied, and Jess yelped, "A few years?! What kind of trainer was your owner?!" She sighed in amazement. "Well, I'll train you better than that. I promise."
It was a bit of a relief for her to see that her words actually seemed to matter to the little ghost.
Mismagius, who had been watching this whole battle business quizzically, couldn't help noticing her friend's embarrassment and stretched her flowing body a bit. She moved her neck until the crick was gone, and – muttering a curse on all humans under her breath, why did power matter, and then brainwashing the Pokémon – she glided to Misdrevaus's side. She spoke to her in two short, reassuring notes, telling her it didn't matter in a tender tone.
Even Jess knew basically what she said. "Doesn't make that much of a difference to me," she said, and both ghosts looked up at her – Misdreavus listening and a little comforted, and Mismagius looking at her with narrow eyes and a disapproving frown.
"You know, you're still the cutest thing I've ever seen," she told the smaller one with a smile.
Misdreavus smiled back and blushed shyly.
"Murkrow!"
Jess laughed. "You're still cute, don't worry!"
"Pidgo-pidgo?"
Jess looked at the other bird. "You're my pretty bird. I'll bet any Pokémon breeder would love to use you – your feathers are so beautiful!" Then she turned to Mismagius. "And you – You're just plain awesome."
The ghost looked taken aback and surprised.
"What, you've never heard a compliment before?"
She bowed her head, a different expression on her face.
"You – Ohhhhh…" She suddenly remembered that few people saw all Pokémon the same way she did. "Oh, no, I - don't worry… I don't think you're creepy."
Mismagius looked up, her expression wondering if she really meant it. "I swear," her new owner promised, and she let herself nod and allowed a bit of relief to show on her face. She was still wary of this human, but she couldn't help feeling grateful for the sense of belonging… and she did heal Misdreavus…
Jess smiled – it wasn't hard to tell that Mismagius was letting up a bit. "So, what about you?"
Mismagius tilted her head.
Jess held up her Pokédex and waited for it to tell her the level – 17.
She looked at Mismagius, inspecting her for a minute, and shrugged. "Okay, sure."
Mismagius looked half offended, half startled and confused.
Jess noticed immediately. "No, no - ! It's a good thing! Your level looks about right for your age in the wild – well, at least what age you seem to be… You're not too young, are you?"
The ghost shook her head hesitantly.
"I'm not doing too well with this whole trainer thing, am I…"
Mismagius shook her head.
She sighed. "Well, at least I know what I'm doing… as far as your - "
Mismagius suddenly looked offended, then disappeared, became invisible, and Jess stopped herself. "Okay, that came out wrong – Mismagius… Where are - ?"
The ghost glided to behind Jess, then she let out a loud cry – Jess jumped and yelped.
Misdreavus laughed, then smiled mischievously, and she made herself invisible as well.
Jess groaned and turned around. "So much for being trained, huh?" she muttered, a smile slipping onto her face. The impish nature of these two had always been one of the reasons she loved them so much.
Misdreavus's voice sounded in front of Jess – she must have moved next to Mismagius – and she began mumbling to the companion.
"Guys?" Jess asked softly once she was quiet again. She began looking around, eyes raking the trees for any sign of the two mischief-makers. The silence enveloping the forest was all too telling.
It was quiet for at least five slow minutes. Murkrow tilted his head, and Jess turned to look up at him. "You heard what they said, didn't you? Any chance you'd be willing to tell me?"
Just as he opened his beak, two loud, piercing sounds shattered the silence like glass.
Murkrow nearly fell off his perch in surprise, and Jess recoiled from the pitch of the shriek. "Turn it down please!" she yelled, her voice tight from trying to endure the sound. "Please?!"
Murkrow made a few incoherent sounds, then he began cawing desperately for them to shut up.
After a few more minutes of enjoying their torture, Mismagius closed her mouth and Misdreavus followed suite.
Jess blinked and let her hands down from her ears. The silence seemed almost as loud and sharp as the noises, and the ringing in her ears didn't help. "Wow," she finally managed to say. "Never heard that one before… Heh... Nice Screech, Misdreavus."
The two ghosts allowed themselves to become visible again, and Mismagius looked at the smaller ghost, and they nodded to each other. Then Mismagius floated over to Murkrow and spoke to him in a few short notes of her unusual voice, nodding once towards Jess before going on. Murkrow shook his head. She muttered a note of questioning, and he responded quietly. The ghost made a noise of discontentment, then closed her eyes and whispered to him. He seemed startled, then she looked at him and he nodded with a soft caw of understanding.
Mismagius nodded and moved back to Misdreavus, who was watching her with a bit of confusion.
Jess could tell she was discontent, though she had always known entertainment had been one of the things that would make either of the two ghosts smile –
Murkrow fluttered down to her shoulder. "Mur, Murkrow Murkrow," he told her.
"I know she's upset! But why - ?"
"Mur, Murkrow."
"Really? I didn't mean to make her feel like I own her… I wasn't even talking about controlling her."
Misdreavus tilted her head, then turned back to her friend and uttered a small noise of questioning.
The larger ghost just turned away.
"Hey, Mismagius," Jess called out to her, "I wasn't trying to say that I knew how I was going to control you. I mean it. Being an owner isn't about "owning" Pokémon, brainwashing them, forcing them to do your bidding… It's about being friends and getting stronger together, not forcing your Pokémon to push themselves past the limit and practically kill themselves just to be better than the other ones."
Mismagius lifted her chin and uttered a few notes to them, her tone making it obvious she was unmoved. Then she began moving soundlessly through the trees, away from the clearing.
Misdreavus cried out desperately and tries to explain that humans weren't the cruel monsters she seemed to think they were, but Mismagius simply called back with a single note and became invisible.
The smaller ghost tried to call back, but her voice died in her throat in the hopelessness of the sound.
Jess watched Misdreavus, her heart breaking at the little creature's disappointment and desolation. She hovered in the air for a while, her entire body seeming to droop with her loss as she watched the trees where Mismagius had been just a moment ago. She turned after what felt like hours, and Jess opened her mouth, then realized that she couldn't think of anything to say and closed her mouth.
"Murkrow," the black bird said, his tone even but faintly undertoned with mockery.
"Oh, shut up!" Jess called without giving him the satisfaction of turning to him. Then she sighed. Misdreavus's eyes were just so heartbroken, she couldn't hold her anger together no matter how much he rubbed in her face. The way she just stared at the ground… "Ohhh, come here," she said gently, running up to her and throwing her arms around her neck and bringing her down against her body.
The ghost whimpered softly.
Jess sighed. "So, what exactly did she say before she stormed off like that?" she asked the bird, still refusing to look at him.
"Mur… Murkrow, Murkrow krow…"
"What?! Why would she think I was trying to manipulate her?!"
He shrugged his wings. "Murkrow, krow krow," he told her.
Jess turned to him, involuntarily shaking Misdreavus. "Sorry," she apologized swiftly at her small noise of surprise, then said to Murkrow, "So, she's never going to give humans a chance?"
"Murkrow murkow."
"It is not all my fault!"
Jess could have sworn that he was smiling as he teased her further. "Mukrow, Murkrow, Murkrow!"
"Stop it! I'm not the one who – "
"Muuuurkrow!"
"I am not the one who – "
"Murkrow."
"No I'm not!!!!"
He flew down onto her shoulder, then whispered his name into her ear – his tone as mocking as ever.
"Oh, you – !"
Jess took her arm from Misdreavus to reach out for him, but he flew away and landed right where he was before. He called at her tauntingly again.
Jess growled. "You're lucky you can fly, or I'd come up there and - !"
"Misdreavus!"
Both the arguers turned to the little ghost. She looked at them sadly, then muttered a few more notes much more quietly.
Jess sighed again. "Yeah, you're right... Sorry, Murkrow..."
"Murkrow Murkrow," he replied, sounding anything but remorseful.
Jess shot a glare over her shoulder. "You see why I get so mad at this bird?" she asked the Misdreavus. "I apologize, and all he does is tell me it's still my fault… I'm not the one who turned her against humans… am I…?"
The ghost shook her head.
Jess sighed, extremely relieved. "Nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks… I'm really not?"
Misdreavus shook her head again, this time with a couple of noises.
Jess nodded, then wrapped her arms around the ghost again. "I didn't know she would take it that personally... I know how close you two were… I've never seen a Mismagius staying with another hurt Pokémon before, she must have been something really special..."
Misdreavus nodded, then turned her head away. Jess brought her closer to her body, and Misdreavus willingly snuggled even closer.
"You're going to miss her a lot, aren't you…"
She nodded again.
Jess didn't have the heart to ask how long she had known her or even if she thought she would return. Instead, she just whispered, "I hope she comes back…"
Misdreavus closed her eyes tightly. Jess somehow knew that if she could cry, her tears would be like a flashflood.
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Yeah, I know that Misdreavus's attacks wouldn't affect Pidgeotto, but Jess doesn't know that, she only knows about ghosts.
-Raven's secret-keeper