Great overseer of the Universe, forgive me... three lives were in my
hands, and I have failed to perform my duty. Ash, Misty, and Brock have
passed on to the next world. They are in your hands now, which are far
more capable than mine. At my sister's advice, I am writing down my
supplication before taking my own life in retribution for the pain that
I have caused. Perhaps, as she says, the writing will change my mood...
To be fair to myself, it was the three of them who asked me to guide
them to Triesha's palace. I would never have made the offer myself, nor
would I have accepted had the situation not been so desperate....
POKEMON: The Portal - Chapter 6
I knew there would be trouble as soon as I heard the knock on the
door, shortly after the most recent rainfall. When I opened the door, a
strange sight greeted me. Outsiders - three of them, as if one would not
have been enough of a novelty - had come to pay a call. Apparently, I
was also a strange sight for the three of them, judging by their
reactions.
It was the one with the strange yellow mouse on his shoulder, which
I later would learn was called Pikachu, who first regained his
composure. "Are you... Solstice?" he asked me, obviously expecting me to
deny it. Most naive young men refuse to believe that an attractive young
maiden can be a powerful magician.
I tossed my hair and nodded in response to his question. "That's me.
What did you need?"
The tall, squinty one spoke next. "My name is Brock, this is Ash,
" - he motioned to the man with the Pikachu - "and this is Misty," he
finished, indicated the red-haired woman. "We were told you might be
able to show us the way to Triesha's palace."
My first thought was that this was some kind of sick joke. "Who are
you people? What do you really want from me?"
"We told you," answered Ash. "We need to get to Triesha's palace as
quickly as possible to save Dominic."
My heart sank. "Dominic? What's he doing there? What have you done
to him?" I felt the tears coming to my eyes, but fortunately Misty
intervened on my behalf.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," she said. "I think we should start
at the beginning and explain everything carefully." The others nodded,
and between the three of them they managed to tell a coherent story
about how they'd come from a world without magic, and Dominic had
sacrificed himself to Triesha in order to buy one of them a chance to
escape.
By the end of the story, I was furious. Fire flew from my
fingertips - in controlled bursts, of course. "I'll kill that witch!" I
shouted. "I'll tear her eyes out of her head and make her eat them!"
"Calm down, Solstice!" warned my sister, startling me. It's
ordinarily impossible for anyone to sneak up on me, because I can feel
their aura long before they get close; but Equinox has no aura, or at
least it blends into the rest of nature so well that I can't detect it.
Still, she was right - I had once again let my temper get the better of
me. It's hard to control such things when you have only extreme
emotions, and nothing in the middle.
"Wow! You're twins!" exclaimed Ash, as if he'd never seen a pair of
twins before.
"I bet the two of you must have a lot in common," said Misty.
"Actually, we look almost exactly the same, but that's where the
similarities end," I explained. "As you know, my name is Solstice, and
my personality and emotions are very unbalanced. My moods and my magic
represent the extremes of each scale and nothing in the middle. My
sister Equinox, on the other hand, is completely balanced."
"So in reality, you're almost exact opposites of each other!" said
Brock.
"Not quite," said Equinox. "She's practically the opposite of
herself. I'm somewhere in the middle. It's hard to explain, but you'll
get the hang of it after hanging around her for a while."
"And who says they're going to hang around me for a while?" I
retorted. "I haven't offered to escort them to the Tower yet."
"You know you will," she responded, calmly as always. "You've had
your eye on Dominic ever since his previous girlfriend was cursed. You'd
never pass up the chance to rescue him and make him fall in love with
you."
I was mortified. "How could you?" I shrieked, pushing my way past
Equinox and running to the far end of the hovel to hide my burning face
from the travelers.
"Don't worry," said Equinox, as one of the three tried to move
toward me, presumably to comfort me. "She's embarrassed, and when my
sister feels an emotion, she feels it completely. I just needed an
example to show you how her emotions work." She turned to address me.
"I'm sorry, sister. Please forgive me. Perhaps this was a harsh
example."
"Damn straight it was!" I shouted, my embarrassment giving way to
anger once again. This was, of course, because I couldn't feel the truth
of her apology in her aura. When I turned, I saw the expression of
sorrow on her face and instantly forgave her.
"Are you sure it's safe to travel with her, Ash?" asked Brock. "I
feel like I'm standing next to a walking time bomb that could explode at
the slightest provocation."
"It'll be fine," Equinox assured them. "Just remember that they're
only emotions, and it doesn't take much to change her mood. If she gets
in a bad mood, tell her a joke or tickle her in the right spot and
she'll perk up in no time!" Both Ash and Brock blushed deeply.
"Would you like to come along too, Equinox?" Ash asked hopefully.
"My magic wouldn't be much help, I'm afraid. Despite Solstice's
split personality, her magic is far more useful for your purposes and
would be wasted trying to protect me. Besides, someone has to stay here
and defend the village."
"She's right," I put in. "I'm going to rescue Dominic, and that's
all I have to say about it. The three of you can come along for support
if you want."
"Hey!" shouted Ash. "We're asking you to guide us, not take over the
mission!"
I placed my hands on my hips. "You'll never make it to the Tower
without me. I'm the only one who will be able to spot the magical traps.
In other words, you'll be doing what I say from now on. That makes me
the leader of this mission."
"I wouldn't argue with her if I were you," advised Equinox. "Right
now she's pretty bold, and that's good for traveling on the paths. But
if you manage to bend her will, she'll be meek enough to be putty in
your hands, and at that point, you might as well not bring her along at
all."
"Got that? I'm in charge," I announced triumphantly. "Now let's get
going before I change my mind and go the whole way alone."
"Pika pikachu," muttered the yellow mouse darkly.
"It's okay, Pikachu," said Ash. "Solstice knows this world a lot
better than we do, so we'll let her lead."
Pikachu turned its head and refused to look at me. I didn't care. I
simply pushed my way past them and started off towards the Tower. I
didn't have to look back to know that the three outsiders were following
me, but keeping their distance. They were probably scared to death of
me. The thought made me laugh out loud, both for its ludicrousness and
its validity. They fell back several more yards as a result.
I was feeling malicious at that moment, which of course spelled
disaster for the early part of the journey. The three outsiders
whispered among themselves for the early part of the journey, no doubt
discussing me. At first, I considered blasting them with a fire spell
and proceeding on my own, but decided that it would be more fun to let
them live for the time being. However, my loneliness quickly overwhelmed
my anger, and I decided to try to become involved in the conversation.
"It's not much farther to the enchanted path," I said, trying to
make my voice as gentle as possible.
"Enchanted path?" asked Ash.
"The sorceress' palace can only be reached by way of a path filled
with dangerous traps. She excels at elemental magic and illusion, a
deadly combination. Her traps are so well disguised that even she
sometimes has trouble spotting them. The fact that she even left her
Tower at all surprises me. You must have something that she wants badly
enough to risk her own life for it."
"My Pokebelt," said Ash. For the first time, I noticed that all
three of the strangers were wearing belts with loops containing tiny red
and white orbs.
Misty shook her head. "I can't think of anyone other than Team
Rocket who'd be stupid enough to risk their lives for a Pokebelt."
"But we have the only Pokemon in this dimension," Brock pointed out.
"That makes them very valuable. From what I've heard, the ability to
summon creatures in this dimension is akin to being a Pokemon Master in
ours. She probably thinks our Pokebelts are magical artifacts that let
us summon familiars with no effort at all."
"What are they, if they're not magical?" I asked idly.
"Pokemon are like other animals," explained Brock, "but you can
capture them in these Pokeballs. Our belts just hold the Pokeballs with
up to six of the Pokemon that we've caught."
"Brock and I were Gym Leaders for a while," continued Misty, "so we
kept only a few Pokemon of a certain type, and trained them to be as
powerful as they could be. Ash is a Pokemon Master, so he's got Pokemon
of all types."
"I'm not a Pokemon Master," said Ash. "I wanted to be, but I failed.
I'm all washed up."
My stomach began to hurt, and I collapsed to the ground clutching
it. The others gathered around me. "Are you okay?" asked Misty. "Is this
one of the enchanted traps?"
"No," I moaned, as the pain began to fade. "What Ash just said was a
lie."
"No it wasn't," he insisted. I groaned in pain.
"Ash, you're hurting her!" yelled Brock.
"How?" asked Ash. "I just said -"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Misty and Brock simultaneously shouted.
"It has to do with the aura," I explained, once my stomach had
settled down a bit. "When you say something that isn't true, even
without intending to, your aura clashes with the rest of the world.
Powerful magic users like me can feel that juxtaposition in our guts,
and it hurts. It may be that you're deceiving yourself, and that what
you think is the truth is really a lie."
"You mean you have a stomachache, and that makes me a Pokemon
Master?" asked Ash.
I couldn't help chuckling. "Sort of. You probably are a Pokemon
Master, but you belittle your own accomplishments so much that you
believe yourself to be a failure."
"I gave up after my rival beat me at the Pokemon League Tournament.
I guess I just never wanted to battle again once I'd lost the most
important tournament of my life."
"I know how that feels," I said. "When Dominic announced his
engagement to Gwynne, I wanted to die. Equinox managed to talk me out of
it, but I couldn't look at either of them for weeks without feeling
depressed. When I think about what happened to her..."
"Don't get depressed," Brock urged me. "These things happen. At
least you were there to comfort Dominic afterwards, right? As long as
you're there for him, everything will work out."
"I know," I replied, forcing my sorrow to retreat. A movement by the
side of the path caught my eye. "There! Death vines!"
"That doesn't sound very pleasant," said Misty as they all looked in
the direction I was pointing. The vines obliged by reaching slowly
toward us, revealing their true nature.
"Oh, they're nothing to be scared of when I'm around," I assured
her, blasting the air in front of us with a fire spell. The vines shrank
back, afraid of the deadly flames.
"Why are they called death vines?" asked Ash.
"The curse of the death vine is too horrible to imagine," I
responded. "Three days of hellish torment, the like of which no human
should be forced to experience, followed by a few hours of sanity in
which to deliberate on one's fate and search for a cure, but it is rare
that one can be found in time. After that, the victim lapses into
unconsciousness followed quickly by death."
Brock seemed to sense my changing mood and quickly rescued me from
melancholy. "I expect we must be getting close to Triesha if there are
death vines here."
"The death vines mark the path. Once we've entered the enchanted
path, I'll have to be careful how I use my magic. Any direct application
will surely be countered."
"You mean you can't use your magic?" cried Ash. "How will we get
through the traps then?"
"I can use my magic," I clarified, "but only in indirect ways.
There's a powerful counterspell looming over the entire path, but if I
use spells that can't be reflected back at us, we should be fine." With
that, I stepped into the counterspelled region, and the travelers
followed me. As soon as we were on the magic path, the death vines
reached toward us again. They cut off our escape to the rear first
before boxing us in and shrinking the circle of vines toward us.
"They're attacking us again now that I can't use my flame magic!" I
shouted.
"Vulpix, use your Flamethrower quick!" commanded Brock. The small
six-tailed fox, which I hadn't noticed before, breathed a stream of fire
at the vines. The flames instantly charred the plants, turning them to
ash before my eyes. The death vines were quick to react, pulling back
into the jungle through which the path had been built.
"That was impressive," I said. "Is that one of your Pokemon?"
"Yep," said Brock. "Vulpix is my only Fire type. I think it's a good
idea for Vulpix to stay out of her Pokeball, at least while we're on
this path."
"Vulpix!" agreed Vulpix.
I noticed at this point that Misty was also being accompanied by a
starfish with a jewel in its center. "Are you keeping this Pokemon out
of its Pokeball as well?" I asked her.
Misty nodded. "I think Staryu will be able to help us too."
A wall of fire rose before us, not burning the trees, but I knew
that to humans it would be lethal. "I think I can come up with an
indirect spell to put out the fire," I said, "but it will take time."
"No thanks," said Misty. "Staryu, Hydro Pump!" Staryu responded with
a huge stream of water that quickly doused the flames. I whistled
appreciatively, and Misty beamed. "Good job, Staryu," she said, patting
the Pokemon on its - head?
I shrugged and continued ahead of the group, leading the way to the
Tower and keeping my eyes peeled for traps. I must have had a lapse of
attention, however, because shortly past the flames the ground gave way
beneath my weight and I felt myself falling into the soft earth. Within
seconds, three pairs of hands were pulling on my arms, trying to haul me
back onto solid ground. But the land itself was fighting their pull,
trying to drag more of my body into itself, as if it were alive... and
starving. I screamed.
"It's not working!" groaned Ash as he struggled to free me from the
earth's grip. "I can't pull her up!"
"Keep trying!" urged Misty.
"It's a magical trap!" I shouted, chanting a spell to dispel the
illusion. The seemingly solid ground revealed itself to be a writhing,
churning soup of dirt as far along the path as we could see. Everyone
else stepped back involuntarily in surprise, and I sank several inches
more before they could overcome their immediate fears and continue the
rescue effort. The sand closed around my chest and began to squeeze the
air out of my lungs. Short of breath, I panicked, kicking at my prison
in a futile attempt to extricate myself.
"Hold still!" commanded Ash. "You'll only sink faster if you
struggle!"
"I can't!" I managed to say. "I'm too scared!"
"Pika pikapi!" advised Pikachu.
"Good idea!" responded Ash. "Brock, maybe your Pokemon can help us.
They're all pretty strong, right?"
"I don't think any amount of strength is going to work here," said
Brock. "What we need is intelligence. Graveler, come out!" As Brock's
hands let go of mine, the sand pulled me down once again, and my head
went under. I held my breath as long as I could, but I knew that I would
drown within seconds.
The sand trap abruptly released its grip, and I found myself
dangling from Ash and Misty's arms above a deep chasm. It took me a few
seconds to realize that the viscous liquid had drained into the chasm as
it opened, liberating me in the process. I cast a levitation spell,
reducing my weight enough for Ash to pull me to safety. "How did you do
that?" I asked.
"I had Graveler use its Earthquake attack," explained Brock. "I knew
there was no way we could pull you out of the sand, so I just removed
the sand from around you."
I gave Brock a big hug. "Your quick thinking saved my life. Thank
you."
Brock blushed. "I'm just glad you got out of there alive."
"Look!" cried Misty. "The chasm is closing up!" As the crack sealed
itself, the quicksand expanded to fill the pit once again. "We've got to
find some way past it or we'll never get to Triesha's palace."
"Why don't we just walk around?" suggested Ash, walking toward the
edge of the path. I leaped forward and pulled him to safety as a wall of
razor-sharp spikes rose from the ground, splitting the air where he had
been standing seconds before. "I suppose that idea's out."
"We'll have to fly over," said Brock. "Ash, do you think Charizard
will be willing to carry us?"
"I don't know," said Ash. "It usually obeys me, but it might object
to carrying a stranger." He threw one of his Pokeballs. "Charizard, I
choose you!"
"Why does he say that?" I asked Misty.
Misty shrugged. "It's a tradition, I guess. When you call out a
Pokemon, you call it out by name."
A huge red dragon burst forth from the tiny ball. I backed away in
terror. "It's all right, Solstice," Ash assured me. "Charizard won't
hurt you, right Charizard?" The dragon looked at me and nodded. "See?
Solstice is a friend. But we need you to fly us all across this sand.
Can you do that?"
"Char," agreed the dragon, lowering itself to the ground so that we
could all climb on. Once we had secured ourselves to Charizard's back
and the other Pokemon had been recalled (with the exception of Pikachu,
who rode in her usual perch on Ash's shoulder), Charizard leapt up into
the air and flew along the path, over the roiling sand below. But
something unnerved me about the idea of flying over the pit...
"Is something troubling you?" Brock asked me. "You look a little...
upset."
"No," I replied. "I'm just thinking. So far the traps have involved
fire and earth, two of the four prime elements. If I remember correctly,
Triesha is an elemental sorceress, so the path will probably feature
traps that involve all four elements. We haven't yet encountered the
obstacle of air..."
Ash nodded. "Charizard, slow down as much as you can. There may be
danger ahead." Charizard splayed its wings to brake, and my apprehension
decreased with my speed. Riding a dragon had to have been one of the
most exhilarating activities of my entire life, and I simply couldn't
concentrate on the danger while having so much fun.
Suddenly, Charizard crumpled as if it had hit a wall, nearly
throwing us all off. It tapped at the air in front of itself with a
claw, not understanding what had happened. "Is everyone okay?" asked Ash
once we'd all recovered from the sudden jolt.
"We're all still here," said Brock. "But I don't think we can fly
any farther."
"We can't land," noted Misty, peering down at the ground. "We're
still over the quicksand."
"Maybe this wall only covers the path," I suggested. "Let's see if
we can find a way around." I chanted the spell to banish the illusion,
but our view didn't change.
"I still can't see the wall," said Ash.
"There's nothing to see," I replied. "It's a wall of air."
Ash nodded. "Charizard, back up a bit and use your Flamethrower."
Charizard flew to a safe distance and blasted the air with a powerful
jet of flame. The flames struck the wall of air and bounced off for a
short distance before dissipating. Charizard aimed the jet in all
directions, but the wall stretched as far as the flame jet reached in
all directions.
"What about going under?" wondered Misty. "There must be a way to
get past on the ground."
"But we can't walk under the wall," Ash pointed out as Charizard
breathed its fire at the place where the path met the wall. Sure enough,
the flames passed under the wall unhindered. The wall extended downwards
only to the treetops.
"We can't walk under the wall," continued Misty, "but we might be
able to fly under it and land once we reach solid ground."
"Charizard's wings are too big," said Ash. "But I think I know who
can help us. Pidgeot, I choose you!" He held out another Pokeball, and a
giant pigeon emerged. "Pidgeot, we need you to fly us under the wall of
air."
"Pidgeot!" replied the bird, raising its wing in a clumsy salute
while the other wing kept it aloft.
"I'll go first with Solstice," offered Brock. "If any plants try to
attack us once we're on the ground, Vulpix will be able to handle them."
"Good idea, Brock," said Ash. Brock carefully climbed over to the
back of the smaller bird, then helped me make my own way over. It was
harder than it looked, since both Pokemon were moving despite their
attempts to remain as still as possible, but I made it safely.
"See you on the ground," said Brock. Pidgeot flew us down under the
wall and deposited us safely beyond the quicksand, then returned to pick
up Ash and Misty. I watched as Ash managed to make it onto Pidgeot's
back safely and reached back to assist Misty. However, her foot slipped
and she fell through Ash's fingers, tumbling toward the ground below. I
raised my hands and chanted a levitation spell, but the distance between
Misty and myself was working against me. I managed to slow her fall a
bit, but there was no way I could prevent her from inevitably completing
her descent.
Fortunately, Ash was as quick to react as I was. With a shout of
"Pidgeot, let's go!" he spurred his Pokemon into a downward dive, hoping
to catch Misty before she could fall into the deadly trap below.
Charizard followed with a mighty flap of its wings, shooting downwards
far faster than Pidgeot could. It shot a jet of flame at the bird,
forcing Ash to veer off course.
"What are they doing?" I asked, not letting the levitation spell
waver.
"Charizard's probably jealous that Ash wanted to use Pidgeot for the
rescue," answered Brock. "Ash and Charizard usually get along pretty
well, but they still have their differences."
"Charizard, stop it!" shouted Ash as Pidgeot swooped and dived,
trying to avoid Charizard's attacks while still making downward
progress. "Return!" A red beam shot out of Ash's hand, presumably the
same recall beam I'd seen when the others had recalled their Pokemon.
Charizard easily dodged the beam, diving down to intercept Pidgeot's
flight path. Another stream of fire shot upwards, straight into the path
of Pidgeot, which was moving far too fast to dodge.
"Ash!" screamed Misty, who was barely half a mile above the ground
now and falling fast. Pidgeot emerged from the flames looking badly
burned but still alive, but Ash was no longer on the bird's back.
"All right, Ash!" shouted Brock. I looked up toward the now wildly
bucking Charizard and realized that Ash was on its back, hanging on for
dear life. It was like a rodeo, except that instead of a horse or bull,
Ash was riding a dragon, and death was a certainty if he fell off.
"Don't worry," said Brock, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"He's done this sort of thing before."
"If you want to save Misty, then do it!" shouted Ash, but Charizard
turned its head to breathe fire at Ash instead. Ash dodged to the side,
but Charizard's tail lashed out at him, and he fell through the air for
several horrifying seconds before landing safely on Pidgeot's back.
"Pikachu, Thundershock!" he shouted. Pikachu, who had managed somehow to
remain perched on Ash's shoulder through the entire ride, unleashed a
powerful blast of electricity at the dragon, catching it off guard. Ash
quickly aimed his Pokeball at the weakened Charizard and managed to
recall it.
"Ash, help me!" shouted Misty, attracting my attention back to her.
She was now only a few feet from the hungry mass of dirt below. I poured
my entire aura into the levitation spell and felt my body growing weak
from the strain, but the effort was beginning to drive my own feet into
the ground. The counterspell was taking effect, reflecting the power of
the spell back at me.
Ash and Pidgeot streaked through the sky once again; this time,
nothing stood between them and Misty. Ash leaned over Pidgeot's flank
and stretched his arms out to grab Misty's hands and pull her up to
safety. Time seemed to slow down to a standstill as both Ash and the
sand fought to be the first to get its grip on Misty...
Ash's hands closed firmly around Misty's, and his legs squeezed hard
around Pidgeot's body. That grip proved to be the only thing that saved
his life, as he was jerked backwards nearly off of his perch. Misty
looked down to find herself ankle-deep in the sucking mass. Ash and
Pidgeot strained to pull her out, but couldn't gain an inch against the
magical trap. As Pidgeot's strength began to wane, Misty settled deeper
into her fate.
"Pidgeot's weakening from the burn," announced Brock. "Graveler, use
your Earthquake attack again!" he ordered, throwing the Pokeball that
contained the Graveler. I hadn't had the chance to see the boulder-like
Pokemon before, but admiring its powerful appearance was far from my
mind at the time. Its huge arms pounded the ground, opening a crack that
extended its way toward the struggling pair. The quicksand began to pour
down into the crack as it widened, but the crack quickly sealed itself
long before the sand that held Misty could drain away. Brock held out
his Pokeball to recall Graveler, but gasped as he looked at me instead.
"Solstice, you're sinking too!"
I looked down and realized that he was half-right. The effort of
casting the levitation spell on an unmoving target, combined with the
effect of the counterspell, had driven me knee-deep into the ground.
Sadly, I broke my concentration and climbed out of the trenches that my
feet had dug. "There's nothing we can do to save her," I said sadly.
Helplessly, I broke down and cried into Brock's shoulder, as Misty,
already waist deep in the sludge pit that would forever mark her grave,
began to shed her own final tears.
-----------------------------------------------------
Welcome to "Whose Line is it Anyway?" where we make things up as we go
along, whether they make sense or badger.
JOHNNY BRAVO: *sigh* The only woman I ever really loved... and she's
gone. I wonder if I'll ever get over - Hey! Nuggets!
JACKIE CHAN: Oh, sorry. I broke your spy camera! (pause) SPY CAMERA?!
My webpage: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp