Twisted Paths, Forgotten Pasts
Chapter 3
On the mainland, a young man sat in his hotel room, brooding over recent occurrences. He had been the first he knew of to regain his memory, and it pained him to see his beloved Akira. She didn't even recognize him, let alone remember the love they originally shared.
/Hey, don't worry. She'll remember, eventually. / His dratini was curled in his lap, sleeping peacefully, but had overheard his father's restless thoughts.
"I know, I know... But how can I wait? I'm sure you long for your Arika, don't you?"
/Rika.../ The dratini sighed. /I see you're point.../
"And then that man, the one she was eating with in the cafe... If he dares to fall in love with her-"
/I believe he already is, but when 'Kira remembers her love for you, she will push him away, and come back to you. For now, however, the two of you are enemies, separated by your parents./
He laughed bitterly, petting the dratini on the head. "This all reminds me of some sappy romance novel..."
/Hmmm, yes./ the little dragon replied absentmindedly, purring softly under his fathers gentle caress. /You used to read those when you were younger, right? I remember you telling me that once.../
"Yes, I did, but only a few, and I found them better suited for fire fuel than reading material."
/So you say./ The dratini grinned as he looked at his father, stretching his snake-like body. /I wish I would evolve soon, this body is so limited, plus when I am done evolving, I can finally shape-shift and be the son you knew so well./
"I'm content with you as you are. You get into less trouble this way. Now, come on, I believe you are hungry, aren't you?"
/Mmmm, food.../
He laughed again, and placed the pokemon on his neck. They left the hotel room to find a restaurant somewhere in the small seaside town. That morning, they had arrived and had spent the entire day resting. If only his life could be so peaceful all the time...
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"Janyin! Reika! Where are you two?" A young female voice called out from her window. The two eevees had disappeared again, probably out snooping to find out where their next destination was.
"I believe they're discussing matters behind our backs again."
She spun around, glaring at the speaker, her 'twin brother' Jizo. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
He responded with a calm smile, regarding her with his emerald green eyes, much like her own. "Rezia, you should be used to that by now. After all, we are twins, in a way."
Sighing, she walked over to her brother, hugging him tightly. "I'm just worried that one of us, or Janyin or Reika, might get killed. We've all grown up together... And now with all this finally starting, I'm a little jumpy."
"We still have much more growing to do..." He smoothed back his sister's raven hair and then kissed her on the cheek. "We're even younger than the other four."
She giggled and teased her brother's own black hair. "I wonder what's going on over at the island. Those four should be clashing anytime soon." A sly smile crept onto her face. "They really hate each other, don't they?"
"They learnt it from our father's sisters. Those two used to be so close, now they are worst enemies..."
"And our father's caught up in the middle, as we are." She slipped out of her brother's arms and looked back out the window. "Here come the rhyming eevees! Though they don't really rhyme, they just talk together. I wonder where they were?"
"Who knows? But they'll tell us if we ask. Come on." He grabbed her hand and dragged her outside. "What have you been up to?" He addressed the eevees.
The two eevees grinned back at the other twins. "We found out that-"
"the father of all dragons-"
"is here on the mainland."
"And that we may be needed-"
"On the island so-"
"We snooped around and-"
"found a boat that should be-"
"able to take us."
"To top it off-"
"Chiata and Chisa's reason for-"
"going to the island is to-"
"kill the master and the guardian."
"We must interfere and-"
"save his life."
There was little difference between the two eevees except that the male was slightly bigger than the female, and that the female had a scar on her tiny snout. They spoke as one, and Jizo and Rezia believed they had a psychic connection with each other, despite the fact that eevees were supposedly Normal type pokemon.
"Well, that's news, but why should we interfere with Chiata and Chisa's plans? Jizo asked.
Janyin and Reika sighed as one and answered him, Janyin first as usual. "Because by killing him-"
"they upset the balance-"
"of things in this 'game'."
"It's very complicated though,-"
"so lets leave it at that."
Rezia laughed, picking up Janyin, her personal partner. "Jizo, you should have learnt a long time ago not to question them. When did they ever give us straight answers? Lets just go find that boat, okay?"
Rolling his eyes, Jizo picked up Reika, and walked side by side with his sister to the docks.
They made an interesting sight, the two twins, with their emerald eyes and ebony hair. The girl was considerably shorter than the boy by at least half a foot, and with much longer hair than his spiky crop. They were slightly similar in facial features however, and that day, both wore a dark green top and blue jeans. And then there was the fact that each carried an eevee... Identical they were not, but they were just about as identical as fraternal twins could be.
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Two hours later
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It had been a long boat ride to the island, and the two pairs of twins were thankful for the time that they had time to discuss their plan: They would meet up with Jay and Jyp, hunt out the Guardian, then stay near him at all times. However, they were going to have to avoid being seen by Chisa and Chiata which thankfully, being a four member pair, would not be too hard, so long as they split up.
When they reached the island, they headed straight for the gym. Entering, they were greeted with the sight of Jay sweeping the gym floor one last time while Jyp drew his attention to spots he'd missed.
"Jay, nice to see-"
"you again. But-"
"we need to get-"
"to work. Chisa and Chiata are-"
"going to kill the master-"
"and the guardian."
Jizo picked up Reika, petting her small head gently. "We know you don't like working with us 'kids', so we're not going to force ourselves on you. We just want you to know that you should keep whoever the master and the guardian is nearby, and pray that he comes in terms with his heritage soon, or that you're around when Chiata and Chisa strike. We'll be trailing him too, of course, but we can make no promises." He glanced at his sister briefly, "Come on Rezia, our work here is done."
She picked up Janyin, and followed her brother towards the door, turning back once to look at Jay, and smiling slightly at him, before leaving the gym. "Don't you think that was a bit uncalled for? We should have worked with him."
Jizo snorted. "He doesn't like us very much you know. Especially as we are younger. He thinks we're still children."
"We're twenty-one!" She protested.
"I know, but he's not far from thirty, twenty-seven or so. Not too big an age difference really, but to him, that's a lot. His mental image of us will always be the little kids we once were..."
Janyin sighed, looking up at Rezia. "Your brother is right, it's better for us to work without Jay."
"You spoke on your own!" She hugged the eevee tightly and then kissed him on his forehead. "I knew you could do it, you're just too stubborn to speak without your sister."
The other eevee giggled, looking at the girl fondly. Of the two twins, she was the brightest in terms of personality, and Reika loved the young woman's ability to be so optimistic, and so caring... But she also admired Jizo, her partner's, sense of duty. Her brother, Janyin, was the brains of the team, and she was the leader, despite her small size. Altogether, they all made perfect team, which was why they were on the neutral side of this 'war'. You can't have a perfect team on a fighting side, that unbalanced things.
"Reika? Earth to Reika?"
The little eevee snapped out of her thinking trance. "Huh, what?"
"What do you think about it?"
"About what Jizo?"
He sighed, taking a deep breath. "About splitting up and going on our own."
"Bad idea. We work in pairs if not all together." She replied in a tone that suggested she thought that was a very silly question. Split up? Unimaginable!
"Okay, so Rezia and Janyin, we'll see you guys... later." Jizo put Reika down and hugged his sister, careful not to squash Janyin between them. Then he picked up his partner, and walked off.
"Janyin, this is going to be a long day... I don't think Chiata and Chisa are stupid enough to attack in the day, so I guess we should just spend our time looking for the guy, right?" Rezia asked her eevee partner.
"Right. The best thing to do is check all the hotels. He's most likely staying in one, and it should not be too hard to find out if a pokemon master is staying there. They will not be suspicious either, and will most likely assume that we just want his autograph."
She nodded. "There's one over there. 'The Mighty Magikarp', weird name, huh?"
"Agreed."
And so the pairs were separated, and on their quest to find out where the new 'Guardian and the Master' was.
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It was late, and Jizo was beginning to wonder how much longer he could stay awake. Sleep was creeping up on him, an unseen enemy that preyed on pokemon and human alike regardless of their age, size or gender. It was a terrible foe, and to win a battle against it, and keep hold of your victory was an ongoing struggle, one you eventually would loose.
Their plan was simple. They would sneak Ash off the island and take him to their place, where Jay would meet them with the Mother of All Dragons, and take him with them. Where they were planning on going after that though, he didn't know...
Jizo had to admit he had been surprised that Jay was willing to work with them. Usually, he would tell them they were too young, and should stay out of matters. Maybe his sister was right... Maybe he no longer thought of them as the 'Pesky twins from the team that can't make up it's mind'.
A sound from the door drew his attention, and he whipped around to check that no one was there. He and Reika had 'tricked' Ash into letting them share his hotel room with him. He had made up a wild tale about all his things being stolen and having nowhere else to go. Thankfully, the slightly older man had a large heart. Now, he and Reika were on the couch in the tiny living room of the suite guarding Ash till the others got back from the docks. Again, Jizo was amazed that Jay trusted him enough to guard Ash's life against Chisa and Chiata. Those two females were dangerous representations of their gender... They had lead hard lives, and meant to make others pay for it. Plus, they were especially jealous of their rivals for having lead 'happy' lives.
Reika jumped off Jizo's lap and walked up to the door. Her eyes narrowed as she delicately sniffed the air, then turned back to Jizo, beckoning him to come forward. He picked her up and closed his eyes, following her unspoken directions. She relaxed, chanting softly in a language now long forgotten to those of this world.
She went silent as her partner set her down, and picked up the sword that now lay at his feet. The eevee closed her eyes once again, and steeled herself. Chisa was bigger and stronger than her, not to mention a fire pokemon, while she was only a normal. And then Chisa had the advantage of having more actual combat experience...
Well, it was time to prove that brains did count in a fight, not just brawn. But that wasn't to say that Chisa was stupid, far from it. The fox pokemon was cunning and sly, but Reika was prepared to fight if necessary.
The two stepped back, and the door opened slowly, revealing Chiata, with Chisa at her feet. Chiata was dressed in a black skin-tight outfit, and was holding a sharp knife in her hand, As soon as she saw Jizo and Reika, her eyes widened in shock, but it lasted only a few moments however, and she narrowed her eyes with distaste. "They left a mere boy to guard the 'Guardian and the Master'? How could they be that idiotic? Jizo, you know you're not match for me."
"Be quiet and leave, or fight me if you must, but you are not taking the life of the man in this room!"
"Then we fight." Chiata drew her sword, a thin, wicked looking thing that had probably already tasted the blood of many before.
"So be it..." Jizo replied, lunging with his sword, even though he knew she would easily step aside. He was not out to kill her, merely to distract her.
As predicted, she stepped aside, and twirled around, about to skewer him, but he had known she would do that, and blocked her sword with his own, the two blades clashing noisily.
"Is that the best you can do, brat?" She asked him, her eyes dancing with malice as she blocked and parried and lunged.
"We only just started, don't push your luck, you old crone." Jizo replied, narrowly avoiding his throat being slit.
"CRONE?" She exclaimed, slightly hurt by that. She wasn't even thirty! And she fought with more vigor now, fueled by anger.
Reika watched the battle between the two for a brief moment, then lunged her tiny self at Chisa, surprising the Vulpix and knocking her down. Chisa scrambled to her feet immediately and used ember on Reika, who merely skipped out of the way. Reika then rushed at the fox again, but this time, Chisa was able to sidestep the eevee and cause her to skid infront of the wall, narrowly avoiding crashing into it.
"Enough with this foolish stereotypical fighting Chisa. We both know our true strengths. Jina sheis!" She yelled, a ball of energy formed infront of her eyes then flew at the Vulpix who just barely avoided it.
"Don't you know anything else you pathetic excuse for an eevee? Fera lan!" Dozens of tiny fireballs lunged themselves at the Eevee, who did her best to duck them, but got hit by several.
"You...you...you old bitch! Daena Zan!!!" The eevee yelled, trembling with fury. There was something about that Vulpix that just annoyed her to no end. Ten medium sized energy balls lunged themselves full speed at the Vulpix moving to the directions of Reika's mind.
The Vulpix howled as one hit her square in the chest, and she cast several more fireballs at the eevee. They fought hard, using every trick they had learnt over the years, exhausting themselves, but determined to win.
Amidst all that, they had entirely forgotten they were in a hotel, or that Ash was sleeping not too far from them. He awoke upon hearing the noise, and had sleepily wandered into the room they were in, his eyes widening at the sight that met his eyes.
Although he was shocked, he could not shake off the feeling that this was all very familiar to him, that he had seen all of this before, but why? How? Where? When?
Suddenly his mind went black, and memory upon memory entered his head, as if he were viewing someone else's life, except that life had been compressed into mere split-seconds. Scene upon scene flashed in his mind, people he had never seen before, places he had never been too... The world they were in seemed so different from the one he lived in now. The language they spoke was different, yet he somehow understood. Then, that life passed, and another came to play in his mind, and then another. Life, after life, after life, memory after memory, all being imprinted into his mind.
It stopped as suddenly as it had started, and it took Ash a few seconds for his mind to re-adjust, to separate each life from the other, to make some sense out of his head.
He was not just Ash, Pokemon Master. He was the Guardian of the Mother of All Dragons, and her Children. His ancestor was the result of an affair between the mother of the lightning types and the father of the normal types. A young boy whom Akira's mother had taken in as an unwanted child and raised along with Akira, creating a strong bond between them. That man had sworn to protect her till his death, and he had died, hundreds of years ago. Now, it was Ash's turn to protect Akira, to protect 'The Mother of All Dragons'. He had the memories of that man's child, and several others, all the way up to his own memories, his own life.
"Pikachu..." The Pikachu now stood before Ash. The little electric mouse was confused as he too had gone through a similar ordeal as Ash, but slightly different. In a strange way, he and Ash were distantly related, but not closely enough to really consider. What had happened to Pikachu was much more simple than what had happened to Ash. It was almost as if a guidebook as to who Ash was, and what he was to Ash, had been downloaded into his head.
The young man picked up the Pikachu, looking into his eyes, searching for an answer. Had this just happened? Was he really what his mind was telling him he was? But he didn't need an answer. He knew it had, no matter how hard he wanted to deny it...
A startled cry from Jizo as Chiata broke through the protective barrier he had erected and cut his shoulder brought Ash back to the current events. He looked at Chiata with narrowed eyes, and a lightning bolt suddenly hit her. She turned to face him with hatred on her eyes, but realized that he had learned who he was, and about his powers... She picked up Chisa, who was in the middle of casting another fireball at Reika, and ran out of the hotel room, glaring at Jizo over her shoulder.
Reika watched them go, the ran over to Jizo who was kneeling on the floor. The wound in his shoulder was deep, and blood was flowing freely from it, like thick, red water from a tap. "Jizo! Hold on..." Reika commanded him to lie down, and then she put her paws on his bloody left shoulder, concentrating deeply. "Heal." She whispered softly, and a green glow emanated from her paws, engulfing the wound and stopping the bleeding. Right before Ash's eyes, the wound closed, but did not heal completely. "We must leave, now, and head to the docks." She took her paws off Jizo's shoulder, and commanded him to sleep. "Save your questions for later Ash, he needs his sister, now."
Pikachu, now on Ash's shoulder as usual, looked down at Jizo and Reika, then at Ash. He opened his mouth to speak, then suddenly froze, almost as if in shock. After a brief moment, he opened his mouth again and spoke, somewhat haltingly. "A- Ash... We should p-pack. Pika?!"
Ash's mouth dropped open in amazement, and he looked fondly at the pikachu sitting on his shoulder. "Pikachu! You talked?"
Reika frowned, and walked over to Ash. "Save the questions for later Ash. Please hurry up and pack."
Ash obeyed the eevee immediately. She had that take-charge kind of personality, one he had learnt not to mess with from Misty... It took him surprisingly little time to pack, as he had not brought much. "How are we going to take Jizo?"
"I'll wake him up, but you'll have to help him walk."
He nodded, and Reika woke Jizo up. The young man stood, and looked around, seemingly confused. Ash supported him and helped him out of the hotel. As they walked towards the dock, Ash looked back at the quite town, and then back at the eevee. "How come everyone is still asleep? You were very noisy."
"Chisa and Chiata most likely had cast a sound barrier on the room so they would not be heard killing you."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Jizo groaned suddenly. "Are we almost there yet?" He asked quietly. "My shoulder hurts..."
"It should hurt Ji, that was a bad cut. And yes, we're almost there."
They were about halfway to the docks when they met Jay and Jyp who were on their way to the hotel. They looked tired, and Jay's normally bright green eyes were a little dull, and his black hair was messy. He frowned when he saw Jizo's wounded shoulder, but seemed relieved to find Ash alive.
"We found a boat, and we snuck 'Kira and 'Rika out of their home. They slept the whole time. I'll have a bit of explaining to do tomorrow morning it seems." Jay looked back over his shoulder. "Come on, we don't want to be seen. I don't want anyone asking any questions as to why their gym leader is leaving in the middle of the night..." He looked at Ash and then at his wounded 'rival'. "Here, I'll carry Jizo, I don't think he's all that heavy." Ash nodded, and Jay picked up the younger man with relative ease.
Their trip to the docks was silent, and un-eventful. The boat they had rented was a nice largish sized one, and there was plenty of room for everyone to find somewhere to sleep, except for Jay, who was stuck with the duty of being both the captain and the crew.
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