A new season for Cyclamens

Was Charizard really determined to make her believe that everything was okay? Not like he'd just been rejected by his peers, mostly because of his trainer... But what was I thinking in the end? she collapsed on the table.

"Chari?"

"You can put the sugar in. Just don't empty two bags like last time..."

"Charicha!" he gestured that she could trust him.

Anyway, the reptile was very good at hiding his frustration: barely a pout after his glide and he was back in the kitchen smiling at her. But there were signs, like the fact that she'd had to quickly replace the salt with sugar before he ruined the cake. The kind of mistake the dragon would never have made in his normal state... Well, okay, that wasn't the best example.

"Cha?"

Serena leaned over. Hidden under the table, two small charmanders were staring at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity. The young girl held out her hand, but that only caused the reptiles to recoil, only to see them flee for good and join the Count, who was waiting at the kitchen entrance, shoulders perfectly square and hands clasped behind his back.

She'd thought she had a gift for winning the sympathy of those reptiles, but it turned out it only worked with hers. On the other hand, her Charmander had never rubbed against her leg the way the little pokemons was currently doing with Orium, licking her face when she held him...

"Why haven't you ever done that?"

Ash spilled the salt - he'd figured two spoonfuls of sugar were better than one while Serena was distracted - and stifled a yelp. Did she want to know why he'd never stuck his tongue in her face? Well, for the record, she'd never asked him to do that as a human, and he didn't see why that should change!

"Zar! Charichar, Rizard!"

And he went back to the stove to end the discussion, drawing a half-amused, half-surprised smile from the count. At the same time, it wasn't every day you saw a Charizard cooking, and it might even be a world first and exclusive.

Orium set the pokéemon down again, his manner more that of a butler than a count, and perhaps that was a good thing, considering the aristocracy of Kalos: Lord Chabboneau's lies, Count Pitrou's attack, and worst of all, Princess Allie, from whom they had escaped only thanks to Clemont's courageous sacrifice (not exactly consensual).

"May I ask your help in serving the meal to these little ones?"

The young girl nodded and followed the old man into the castle's former reception hall, where the bowls and a host of young reptiles were lined up, muzzles raised and squealing with hunger.

"There'll be plenty for everyone," she reassured them.

"Does this bring back memories?" Orium laughed.

"Not so much," she admitted. "For one thing, he didn't like kibble."

"And he didn't throw himself at the food?"

"He's a lot like them in that way," she laughed.

One of the charmanders took a step back, staring anxiously at the stranger. He was wary of her, whereas his Charmander had trusted her almost immediately, as if he'd known her all his life. Unless it was because she was the only one he could hold on to after being separated from his family.

"By the way, about what you asked me," Orium said suddenly.

"Did you find it?" she asked, her eyes shining.

"Well..." he coughed. "There are indeed a few breeders who have reported the disappearance of their charmanders. However," he insisted before the girl could ask for clarification, "that doesn't necessarily mean it's yours."

"But if there's the slightest chance..."

"There will be more than one chance, and that's the problem," Orium sighed. "Some breeders aren't very... professional, let's say. That's why I'd rather check out these famous disappearances before sending you on a wild goose chase.

Serena nodded tentatively, though she couldn't hide her impatience.

"Are you really okay with this?" asked Orium. "I mean, from what little I've seen, I can't imagine you separating from him."

Serena grimaced. The dragoness approaching her pokemon was returning to her memory too quickly for her liking.

"I want to give him a choice," she explained. "Even though deep down I hope he stays with me, it's something he has to decide for himself."

The count scratched his graying curls before glancing toward the kitchen.

"Strangely enough, I have a pretty good idea what he'll decide. After all, his family is somewhere..."

"No."

Orium raised an eyebrow at the girl's cold answer. Noticing this, she hastened to add:

"I care for him very much, very much indeed," she waved her hands in front of her. "But I also know that he should have spent more time with his parents, learning from them, and then maybe we would have met and he would have decided to follow me. I'm a human, Mr. Orium, I raised him as a human, and maybe that's why he's so different from the others, why he has so much trouble when he comes face to face with them. I can't be his family. I can't be without risking alienating him from who he really is. And I know that one day he'll realize what he's lost, regret it, and... What would I tell him then? That it's okay if he doesn't belong to his family anymore because I am his family, his one true family? I can't do that to him, I don't want to do that to him."

The count had placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, his stiff manner suddenly more supple.

"I'll get back to you as soon as I have more information, I promise. In the meantime, enjoy your time with him. Things will come when they come, even if..."

He stepped back from the girl and crossed his arms behind his back, suddenly looking years younger.

"Did you see what was in his eyes?"

Serena didn't really understand the question. Charizard had Charizard's eyes... at least when she wasn't thinking of a certain trainer.

"It's sweetness, Mademoiselle," he cheered her up with a small smile.

The girl swallowed before stammering:

"I'm not the only one... Your charizards are also..."

"They respect and appreciate me, some are even grateful. But you are different... And I think you should appreciate that."

"It's not mine..."

"I wonder what he did to you to make you want to part with him so badly," he joked in a falsely sorry voice.

Just then, the reptile arrived proudly with the still burning casserole in his hands, eager for the young girl to taste his latest creation.

"Cha-Char!" he exclaimed as he came face to face with the girl.

He lifted the lid confidently before noticing Orium's frightened expression and Serena's resigned one.

"Chari?"

"I understand better," the count said in horror.

And it took Serena a long time to explain that, no, her pokemon had no murderous plans for her.

Poor Ash next to her, he'd failed again to cook something decent. Just as he was still unable to sew, clean without knocking over a table, or dance without stumbling every other beat. In fact, every time he tried to do something to help Serena, it was as if... He turned to the girl who was scraping the charred bottom of the bowl. The pokeball, Ash. What if that was really the case, what if that object had really affected him when deep down he was still him.

"I think we'll wait until tomorrow and try again," she sighed.

Would he be better then? Probably not, and maybe he should stop stubbornly trying to do something that didn't work despite his best efforts. Was he really just looking for his efforts to pay off? Was that what he really wanted? The real, from a fake Pokemon, a fake him, that was the problem.

"Still haven't decided to tell her who you really want as a partner?" sneered Minun as he came out of the kitchen.

Ash blushed, then checked that his trainer hadn't heard, or rather understood - hearing wasn't that much of a problem.

"We're not even sure if that's really the case," he grumbled quietly.

"So... it's not an outright rejection?" Minun chuckled.

I love her too much for that! he heard himself shout despite the two paws he had just put in front of his muzzle to muffle it, and it wasn't only his voice he wanted to muffle right now.

"I'm tired," he sighed.

The waves ebbed and flowed, following the breath of the sea, carving ridges and hollows that, as the sun set, reminded the shapeshifter of the sand dunes. The vast desert where he'd thought she'd never hear from him again, never... Her? A wave crashed against the cliff, unable to break through the rock, forced to retreat.

It wasn't May. I traveled with May, I crossed the desert with May, but it wasn't her, it wasn't her this time... This time? What do you mean, this time? He who had crossed Hoenn's sandy plains only once.

The cliff shook, his face burned, and Ash had the terrifying feeling of being sucked into the void, as if the waves had finally reached him (Come, come, come!).

"I'm not used to seeing you deep in thought."

It was the gentle, amused tone of a close friend, which Edivo had become after all the searching for his body, not to mention the invaluable help he'd given in fending off the Rocket Trio. Yes, Ash had been busy, much too busy for... Serena?

His gaze was drawn back to the waves and the raging foam they spewed. They were in the same area, and yet Ash had no idea what she was up to; he hadn't even seen one of her contests on TV... The false pokemon shook his head, he didn't need to see her to know everything was okay, he trusted her.

The scales on his cheek flared like a boiling slap. Stunned, unable to understand why he was thinking of her now, so long after he'd chosen to join Oldale Town, to pursue his true form.

"Der?" he murmured.

Edivo crouched down and placed a comforting hand on the monster's head.

"I know it's been a long time, but you must not lose hope. Especially when I may finally have the solution."

The archaeologist's dusty lips formed a tired but very real smile.

"Ma..."

"Yes."

The satin slept in the palm of his hand, its lovely golden hue cradled by the dying glow of a late day. Carefully, Edivo unfolded its edges, revealing the tiny grayish stone within.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you... But it will be over soon, with this, soon, finally..."

The sun's rays shone on the surface, reflecting off it before embracing the fake pokemon. Ash didn't move, the waves continued to roar, but all he could hear was the crackling of his own ears as the scales fell from his face. He was human again, he was Ash again, and on the horizon, Pikachu was waiting for him, beckoning him to join him, to run towards his dream. He could no longer hear the waves. The trainer cried, tears of joy, tears...

Tears. Nausea plagued him, part of it from the boat and the other... Serena slept against his shoulder, having long since abandoned the idea of taking him to the cabins. Ash clutched the girl's hand like an anchor, something to hold him as he looked out of the porthole into the limbo of night and saw the cliffs. The mask broken, back to himself, joy, he had felt so much joy... And there the dream ended.

One of the most famous places in Hoenn was Meteor Falls, with its bone-white craters and the agonizing rattle of its waterfalls. Without going so far as to call it a tourist destination, it was still one of the top ten places to visit if you were a trainer, especially since it held some pokemon rarities.

Now you can see why so few people visited the shores here, and why the ruins of Atellanes were almost unvisited by the uninitiated, so much so that the only protection they enjoyed was a long, colorful ribbon.

"Looks like it's not a good day for visits," Ash remarked.

Serena had waited until the return trip, after the dragon's motion sickness had set in, to inform him that they were heading for the ancient city. The shapeshifter didn't like that very much, especially since he had found out that Brendan was on board as well.

"How much longer are you going to pout?"

"Char!"

"I know, I know, but if I'd told you we'd see him again, we'd never have left Elsevier."

"Ri-Zar!"

"See," Serena sighed. "I know you two had your differences, and I'll make sure he doesn't bother you. You know what, you don't even have to follow us, there must be a cafeteria or something where you can wait for us while we check out the exhibit."

"Zard," the reptile choked.

"Huh?"

"Charicha, rizar."

"I'm having a little trouble keeping up with you..."

It was simple: seeing Brendan again was terrible enough without having to leave Serena alone with him.

"Never," he growled.

"Well, I hope he was calmer with your friend than he was with me," Brendan teased.

The girl winced. They'd have to meet to find out, and a little bird told her she'd have to wait a long time to find out.

"Was he unbearable?" the boy guessed.

"A bit at first," she admitted, remembering all the trouble she'd had talking to Delia.

"Only at first?" exclaimed Brendan, falsely surprised. "You mean he stopped short of burning the videophone?"

"Why did he..."

Serena's cheeks flushed. It was hard enough with Brendan, but how would Charizard and his all-consuming jealousy react if someone mentioned his adoptive mother to the boy she...

"I haven't been able to contact him directly," she corrected. "And I think he'll be out of touch for a while anyway."

"Oh... nothing serious?"

Serena waved her hands in reassurance and explained:

"He's on vacation, that's all."

"He could still give you some news."

"I think he's too busy capturing new pokemons. And right now, they're the ones who always win when it comes to occupying his mind."

"So the baptism of fire is postponed." Brendan said with an apologetic smile.

Serena looked at her dragon before shaking her head. Ash always knew how to win over pokemons, so she hoped the same would be true for the winged reptile.

"At least I can tell myself he's okay."

"But you'd want to talk to him directly."

The girl rubbed her arm, was it that obvious?

"His mother said he was fine, and I trust her, but... I'd like to hear it from him."

Ash swallowed. He knew she was worried about him, especially after all the efforts she'd made to contact him had failed, making him feel even worse. The problem was, if his mother's words weren't enough to calm her down, he didn't know what else to do. Rah! He was in the best position to know that everything was fine - as fine as it could be when you were a human turned into a big fire lizard - and he couldn't even tell her!

"Here we go again," Serena sighed, watching her dragon stomp around for no reason. "Sometimes I wish I could read his thoughts."

"Just to know what got into him the last time?" teased Brendan.

Ash glared at the trainer as he stepped over the tape.

"You promised me you wouldn't make remarks like that," the coordinator reminded him.

"I was just saying there's no way he didn't do it on purpose," the boy laughed.

Smoke rose from his nostrils. How could Brendan think that he had knowingly sabotaged the performance? It was just that he wasn't very good at dancing... Well, it was true that he'd never been very bright when it came to doing something for Serena, but at least, unlike Brendan, he avoided getting her into trouble. Yes, yes, Serena could frown as if this was the dumbest thing she'd ever guessed out of her dragon head, but he wasn't the one who'd just attracted these two tanned gentlemen.

"We've come to see the exhibition," the confident boy exclaimed.

"It opens in a week," replied one of the guards with crossed arms.

"Oh... A little visit in prime time, then?"

Serena rubbed her eyes in exhaustion as the fire reptile giggled beside her.

"This is a research facility. Tourism is next week," the second man continued.

"But my friend has her competition coming up," he pleaded. "And she's already so late that..."

"Thanks for reminding me, Brendan," the coordinator sighed.

"Don't spoil my effect," he whispered.

"What effect?"

"Char Chari?" said the fake pokemon.

"There's no need to overdo it," his trainer scolded.

"Chaaar," he accused the boy, pointing at him.

The guards exchanged brief glances, not only at the argument unfolding before their eyes, but also at the Charizard trainer.

"That's her, isn't it?" one of the men whispered to his colleague.

"The coordinator whose contests Edivo watches... Yep, no doubt."

Their boss was undoubtedly an undisputed fan of the young coordinator, just look at the way he guessed which contest she was most likely to appear in, and how he gave up digging when the Pikachu he'd brought back from Kanto called him because the competition was starting.

"Excuse me," the man continued in a gentle tone. "Could you please wait a little while and we'll see if you can get a dispensation from the Chief of Digging."

"Ah! I knew you would understand."

Serena wasn't quite as cheerful as her comrade. She didn't mind Brendan being persuasive, even annoying, but the guards had given in far too quickly. And it was all the more suspicious when the professor, the most important person on this site and whose last concern should be the tourists, came to greet them, with a smile on his face.

"Serena, Serena, Serena!" exclaimed Edivo. "I'm so happy to finally meet you."

"Oh, uh... Thank you," she swallowed uncomfortably at the attention. "But are you sure it was me you wanted to see?"

"Get used to it," the trainer chuckled, "you're a real show star now."

A show star with only two ribbons and nowhere near the level of Lisia or May. Unless it was the sketch of her last performance that had made her popularity soar. Either way, at least they could visit the famous city with Edivo himself as their guide.

"And on your right you can admire... Left!" he grabbed the trainers by the shoulders. "Look at this magnificent... Crosswalk!"

"Ah yes, very nice crosswalk," Brendan confirmed. "And the masks?"

"And Charizard?" worried Serena.

The shapeshifter had suddenly disappeared, although in truth he hadn't gone far. All Serena had to do was turn around to see him, which was harder than she expected when Edivo pushed her forward so she could better see the alignment of the four pebbles, and especially not the fake pokemon looking for a hiding place with his Pikachu in his arms.

"The genius of this construction will be revealed in rainy weather, when it becomes an excellent ford."

"Yes, but Charizard..."

"Chari!" cried the reptile.

Serena was reassured for half a second, just long enough to see her dragon get his feet caught in the first gap of the crossing and smash his head against the third stone ledge.

"Great construction, I told you," Edivo rejoiced through clenched teeth.

He crouched down beside the pokemon, opening its eyes to examine its pupils before placing his hand to its nostrils and checking his watch.

"More fear than harm," the professor observed.

"C-Char?" exclaimed the reptile, his skull buzzing terribly.

"But we'd better keep him under observation for a few hours so his pupils can regain their symmetry."

"What?" the young girl choked.

"Come on, Serena, the pupil asymmetry will go away on its own, you just have to wait a little."

Wait, wasn't it supposed to be super serious? Humans or Pokemons wouldn't do that: "What if I constricted my right pupil more than my left today, too trendy!"

"But... but... do you even know anything about pokemon?" she turned to the archaeologist.

"I did my first aid training," he replied with a hint of indignation.

"In what year?"

"Oh, you know, that sort of thing doesn't change in thirty years... or is it forty? Anyway, I'll take care of him. You, enjoy the visit."

"Yes, sir!" nodded Brendan. What about the masks?

"Turn right at the third intersection. Turn left when you pass the pot house and you're there."

"I hope we get some p-"

"No, Brendan."

The boy smiled slightly before grabbing the girl's arm and forcing her to follow him.

"But Charizard..."

"Is a big boy. He can go to the infirmary without his mommy."

Serena grumbled, but finally agreed to follow him, wary of any further remarks Brendan might make that would embarrass her far more than the warm-up lines.

"Pi?" brought the pokemon out of hiding once she was sure her friend from Kalos was gone. "Pikapi, Pikachu?"

"Yeah, he's fine, he's just... Uh... Ash? Ash, open your eyes! Don't tell me it was a lucid interval, especially not a lucid interval!"

Lucid. Crosswalk. Open your eyes.

The ruin had returned to its former form, the beautiful Atellanes aglow with life, the murmur of conversation slipping from the foyers and drowning in the alleys. Ash lifted his head, a thin pink barrier shielding him from the downpour, the raindrops pooling there, coalescing before snaking toward the street that had become a torrent.

"Hear that?"

It sat like a mirage on the high stones of the passage, its delicate fur trembling with every vibration of the veil that surrounded it, the waves trembling at its feet.

"Hear what?" muttered Ash.

The pokemon pressed its paws to its ears, exhaling slowly as it continued to stare into the current. The shapeshifter mimicked it, muffling the roar of the waves until all he could hear was the pounding of his eardrums.

Tchac, tchac, tchac.

Ash stumbled on, checking left and right to make sure nothing was coming from behind the deluge: a shadow, a golden eye, a hiss, anything that would scream at him to get out of the way. He waited several minutes, his throat dry and his heart pounding, knowing full well how unfounded his fear was.

It wasn't the wind in the trees, or the sound of raindrops, or the scratching of cracking rocks. It was a manufactured sound, one Ash was familiar with, but it couldn't be here, not when the candles cast the shadows of Atellanes' inhabitants, Atellanes' living inhabitants. Ash put his hands back to his ears and heard it again:

Tchactchactchac.

The wheels of a locomotive. They pounded on the rails, threatening to tear apart anything that stuck out.

"It is coming. Every day, louder and louder, it's coming," the pokemon at his side whispered.

The pink creature's shoulders trembled. Terrified, terrified, yet it forbade itself to move, clinging to the stone bars until the machine mowed it down.

End of the line. Everybody out.

"You're going to say it, aren't you?" the pokemon muttered. "You'll say you're sorry, that I should never have done this, that it's better for everything to go back to the way it was, and forget about it, cut it out, make it go away. Because that's what mistakes are supposed to do: disappear."

The pokemon floated in front of him, its face close to his, its big, childlike eyes clouded with tears.

"You're going to say it, Anastis, aren't you?"

Wake up.

His hand slipped on the sodden rock and Ash fell backwards, saw the edges of the dewy barrier receding, again they receded, again the houses, again the people, again the screams, again the ruin. He covered his ears.

Tchac, tchac, tchac...

It was over. The locomotive had passed, it had passed because... The three tiny fingers of that embryonic hand grazed his face, grabbed the edge, and caused him a terrible jolt of pain.

Wake up!

And he looked at him and told him that they were the tracks, that they had become the rails, that's why they couldn't reach them anymore, that's why...

"Never again will they be able to."

"Ash!"

The shapeshifter opened a groggy eye to the blue sky and flayed facades. Edivo and Pikachu crouched beside him, breathing a sigh of relief as he regained his senses.

"Always need a Thunderbolt to wake you up, you," the mouse sighed.

Ash sat up slowly, a hand on his temple, the colors of his dream already washed away beyond his power to save.

"Serena?" he asked, his mouth pasty.

Edivo turned to the electric pokemon, which easily mimicked the young girl. The effort of the ears to imitate the hat was appreciated.

"Ah, yes, Serena. Don't worry, your friend is distracting her."

Friend? What friend? It was just Brendan and... Oh, no, no, no, no! Don't tell him that Brendan left with Serena. That he was alone with Serena!

"Chaaaaaar!" he shouted.

Edivo grabbed the reptile's tail to stop him before he ran after the trainers.

"What are you doing here? We finally have a chance to talk and you..."

"Chari! Charichar, zard!"

"Don't tell me..."

The yellow pokemon wiggled his ears, unable to understand his trainer's agitation.

"Are you jealous?" the researcher shouted.

The fake pokemon's jaw dropped. He stammered out a few incomprehensible excuses that confused the yellow pokemon even more, while Edivo stifled a giggle.

"Come on, we can talk better in my tent."

"Char?"

"About your transformation... And more if affinity," he added with a wink.

Ash's blood ran cold, swelling the scales with blood in a fraction of a second, the excess heat escaping as steam.

"Pi..." the mouse squeaked.

Pikachu's ears perked up and tangled above his head, paws resting on his red cheeks as a pink line bariolated his snout.

"It's not..." stammered Ash.

- Piiii KA?

Author notes: We're really starting to get into the mini-arc. I think readers of the old version will notice that I stole a theme that wasn't supposed to happen until much later in Cycle 3, and I think it's still legitimate for Ash to start thinking about it much earlier.

I think you'll notice a lot of changes in the next few chapters, especially the part about the Merazon Tunnel (which I originally thought of deleting, but ended up replacing to make it, I hope, a little more exciting). I hope you enjoy this rewrite of the mini-arc, even though it's not a very ambitious part despite all the time it took to get it done ^^'.

And once again, I want to thank all the readers who keep reading this fic! It's super motivating when you're writing to know that there are some people out there waiting for the next part of your story ^^