Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 8

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 33: Give me Mystery

It was October thirty-one and Saffron City was filled with lights, Jack-o-lanterns, pumpkins and various Halloween decorations. Ghastly, Haunter and Gengar predominated as the pokemon featured in the decorations. The sun had set less than an hour ago and the streets were already flooded with people in costumes. Parents took their small children out to collect candy and older kids went together in groups.

Delia wasn't sure how she got herself into that situation, but Gary's mother could be very insistent when she wanted to be. Gary's parents had been invited to a Halloween costume party at a friend's house in Saffron City. They insisted that Delia went as well and took Ash along so that he and Gary may go trick-o-treating together. That was how Delia ended up volunteering to take the boys out to collect candy so that Mr. and Mrs. Oak could stay at the party.

She took in the sweet scent of the cheerful night, made sure her tail was where it should be, adjusted her ears and confirmed that the red jewel on her forehead was still there. Then she took the hands of the two five year old boys to lead them across the street and towards the near by park. Delia had heard there was some kind of city sponsored Halloween event there. "It looks like most of the trick-o-treating is going on at the other side of the park."

"I'll get the most candy!" Gary confidently declared. He was dressed as a Squirtle, matching his parents' costumes. His mother was a Warturtle and his father a Blastoise.

"No, I'll get the most candy!" Ash, who was dressed as a Charmander, immediately responded to the challenge. Ash and Gary had been rivals for as long as they could remember.

The two boys pouted at each other as invisible sparks of determination flew. They looked forward, towards the other side of the park where the lights were the brightest, laughter echoed and music was heard. They tried to shove each other aside, shoulder with shoulder as they glared. Then they started marching more hastily with each step, until they started running.

"Wait up you two!" Delia ran after the boys, she should have known they would run off the second she let them go. She dashed after them, her long curly tail wagging as she ran. Unlike the boys' full costumes, Delia's costume was a relatively simple accessory costume with a cream colored knee length fuzzy dress complete with a tail sewn in place. She had paw shaped boots, a bell collar, a pair of Persian ears, a red ruby on her forehead and feline makeup with a painted nose and whiskers. Her brown hair had grown longer, flowing down her back and framing her face, covering her human ears.

Before they reached the other side of the park, Ash and Gary spotted an older lady sitting by herself in a lonely bench next to a lamppost. She had a closed book on her lap, using it as a solid surface to write a letter with red ink on a floral stationary. The woman didn't appear to be carrying candy, but the boys had nothing to lose by asking her for some. Maybe they could get ahead in the race if it turned out she had some candy hidden somewhere. "Trick or treat!" Ash and Gary called out in unison, holding out their smiley faced pokeball shaped baskets towards the lady on the bench.

As Delia caught up to the boys, she took a quick glance at the letter in red ink. She saw the words 'Miyamoto' and 'Mew' within the context of the letter, but despite her curiosity, she made herself look away. It was rude to read someone's private letter and she didn't want to set a bad example.

The older woman reached into her purse and took out a couple of chocolate bars. She gave one to each of the boys, who smiled and chorused, "thank you!" The night was only starting and they had already obtained one of the better treats on their first attempt.

"Here's one for you young lady," the woman handed Delia a chocolate bar, grinning widely, "I know someone who would really like your costume." The scene brought memories to the woman's mind, though she had not been in costume herself when she put her three year old brat boy in a Charmander costume. It was done mostly for her own amusement many years ago.

Delia froze as she accepted the chocolate. Giovanni had once told her he was born in Saffron City, Madame Boss previously conducted her business in the eastern side of Kanto with a base in Saffron City. Delia didn't think of that when she agreed to attend the party but all the pieces were falling into place. The older lady in front of her happened to look a lot like Madame Boss, Delia finally noticed. She never expected to run into her. Having seen Madame only once before for a few minutes, Delia didn't recognize her immediately. "Thank you," Delia managed to say, pushing out the words to sound as natural as possible, "have a happy Halloween!" Then she rushed away with the two boys who were eager to get to the Halloween party on the other side of the park.

Relatively far from Madame Boss, Delia stood in line with Ash and Gary so the boys could receive their share of candy from the Saffron City mayor. She finally dared to look back across the park and saw the faint silhouette of the enigmatic Madame Boss. It looked like Madame had gone back to her writing.

Delia evened her breaths and willed the rhythm of her heart to settle down. Even if Madame knew who Delia was, she was not going to call Giovanni and he would not go to Saffron looking for her even if Madame called him. A small part of Delia couldn't help it but to wonder if he would like the costume, but she told that part to be quiet and kicked it to the back of her mind.

"Mom, how come you're squishing the chocolate that lady gave you?" Ash brought his mother's attention back to reality with his curious and concerned question. It was a terrible waste of perfectly good chocolate.

"Oops, I was distracted," she examined the chocolate she had squeezed in her hand, at least the wrapping didn't break, "it's still good, here, you can have it," she added the chocolate to Ash's smiling pokeball basket, which clearly made the little boy very happy. Ash gave Gary a victorious look and Gary pouted, but remained determined to win in the end. There was no way Ash would beat him, even with his mother's help. A Squirtle should be able to beat a Charmander in a pokemon battle, so the same should apply to Halloween.

The encounter with Madame Boss on that Halloween night in Saffron City, reminded Delia of the air of mystery the older woman carried. Then the thought of mystery along with the mystifying atmosphere of Halloween and all the legends that the holiday carried, reminded her of a vivid dream she had years ago. Delia wondered if it was more of an out of body experience than an illusion. Even if apparently no more than a few minutes truly passed during the experience, it felt like hours went by. She had disregarded it as her imagination becoming over active due to too much wine and Giovanni didn't remember the events at all.

It happened soon after the first time Delia met Madame Boss at Team Rocket's victory party after things settled down at the Viridian Gym. Back then, Delia and Giovanni were still happily together. Madame had sent her son an unusual gift; it was a glass orb with an odd glowing color changing light within it. It was mounted on a polished but aged metal base and the inscription on the base read 'anima: verus mysterium' which was an ancient language for 'soul: true mystery.'

It was a very old relic that could open the door for the image of a person's soul to visit a world of mystery, but the door would not open for anyone and the image may vary in time. The second Delia read the inscription there had been a bright light and when the glow faded, everything had changed.

xoxox xox xoxox

The surrounding area was full of grass, flowers, plants and trees. It didn't have enough trees to call it a forest, but a forest could be seen in the distance, along with mountains, lakes, rivers and very diverse sceneries. There was a little hut near by with a path full of puddles leading to it. It appeared to had rained recently, though it had already stopped and the sun was shining. The hut was made of wood, branches and twigs tied together with vines, giving it a simple rustic yet cute look. It was akin to a picture in a children's story book.

Delia and Giovanni were very confused, a mere few seconds ago they were in their room at the Viridian Gym. "What is that?" Giovanni pointed at the pokemon in surprise. She was pink with big light blue eyes. He had never seen a creature like that before; he wanted to catch that pokemon.

"Charmander?" Delia curiously looked at the Charmander standing before her, "Giovanni?"

His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide in surprise. "Delia? You're a, a... what are you?"

"You're a Charmander!" Delia exclaimed, then added, "I mean for real this time!" She examined her pink paws and touched her little triangular ears. "I'm not sure what I am," she looked at her reflection in a puddle of water on the path. The image reminded her of one of Professor Oak's sketches from his theories about Mew. "I'm a Mew!"

"The legendary?!" Giovanni didn't know what in the world was going on, but it couldn't be so bad if the legendary Mew was involved. He had never seen a pokemon like that before.

"Daddy, mommy, what's going on?" The little voice belonged to Meowth, who appeared to be puzzled as well. Both of the humans turned pokemon looked at the little Meowth. Despite their changed appearances, he recognized them, probably by scent or instinct. "How come you turned into pokemon? Did you get tired of being humans? I think it's really cool," the small Meowth smiled, he was not alarmed by the situation as the other two were.

"We're pokemon and we're in an unknown place," it all began to sink in for Delia, this had to be related to that light from the glass orb. "Anima: verus mysterium, must be some kind of magic words to turn us into pokemon and teleport us away!"

"I knew you had a big imagination, but that's going too far. Clearly this is some kind of prank from my annoying mother," though he could not explain how she would accomplish such an elaborate trick. "That's not the point," Giovanni paused, his expression was in deep thought, then finally he asked the question that puzzled him so much, "why are you legendary and I'm just a Charmander?"

"Um..." Delia shrugged, she didn't have a real answer so she took a guess, "maybe it's because I call you Charmander all the time?" She thought about the magic words and what they meant. She wasn't too fluent in translating, but she had learned the basics from Professor Oak and those were pretty common words. "Soul: true mystery, maybe Charmander is the pokemon of your soul. I think it fits all things considered. You're stubborn and have a fiery temper, but you can be cunning and strong."

"And you're a legend?" Giovanni didn't remember ever calling Delia Mew. Maybe she was just a rare kind of person; he knew she was unique.

"Maybe?" Delia gave up on overanalyzing things, perhaps pokemon were carefree by nature and it was getting to her.

"I can't take care of things around Team Rocket like this. I can't believe I'm a Charmander, not even a Charmeleon, but a Charmander. I should have been a Charizard or another Mew or something," Giovanni pouted, though his worries seemed to mysteriously fade little by little. "This place is doing something to us, or being in this form is affecting us," he noticed.

"I thought so too, I guess we're adapting to the nature of pokemon. You shouldn't complain about being a Charmander, you look really cute like this. Besides, you don't like pink and if you were a Mew, you would probably be pink," Delia pointed out as she embraced her carefree nature. Professor Oak only had some black and white sketches of what Mew possibly looked like based on ancient stone carvings. He might be surprised if he found out the legendary was pink.

"Alright you have a point, but we still need to do something," Giovanni had no clue of where to start. Everything was strange, but he knew they had to do something fast or they might start thinking too much like pokemon.

"I know what we could do!" Meowth suddenly exclaimed cheerfully and got their hopes up for a fleeting moment, "let's play!"

Giovanni couldn't believe that for a second he actually expected Meowth to miraculously come up with a solution to their odd dilemma. "I really don't think playing will turn us back into humans." He looked at Delia, the legendary Mew, and got an idea. "Delia you're a Mew, use your legendary power to change me back!"

"I'll try," Delia was puzzled as to how her legendary power, if she had any, could possibly be used. "Turn human!" She pointed at Giovanni, picturing his human image in her head. She willed him to change back with her mind, but nothing happened. "I think my move-set is empty."

"I can use the fury swipes!" Little Meowth chirped contently.

"That's very good sweetie," Delia petted Meowth on the head encouragingly, while Giovanni wondered if they would ever be human again.

"Maybe if you train you'll unlock whatever legendary power you have," Giovanni theorized, then the question surfaced of what he could do. He looked away at the empty space down the path, took a deep breath and blew, but nothing except air came out of his mouth. "I can't breathe fire?" He tried again to no avail then looked over his shoulder at the flame burning on his tail. If he hit something with it, that should work as an attack. But he wasn't used to having a tail so he wasn't sure how to make it work. He reached for his tail moving a little to grab it until he was spinning in oddly amusing motions that culminated when he grabbed his tail. He paused from his task of examining the flame curiously as the terrible realization hit him, "did I just chase my tail?"

Delia was rolling with laughter, though Meowth found the action to be normal and soon started spinning in circles chasing his cute curly tail. "Yes you did!" Delia's tail was longer and did not require a lot of chasing to be caught, "it's a little too easy for me."

"Never mind, let's not stay here chasing our tails. Maybe there's someone in that hut over there," Giovanni started walking towards the hut with Delia following after him. Meowth spun in a couple more circles and caught his tail, before following his parents towards the little hut.

They curiously knocked on the door and a Pikachu with light yellow fur and pink cheeks opened it. "Hello, I've never seen you around here before, are you new?"

A pokemon, they should have expected that; maybe there were no humans in that place. "Yes, new," to say the least, Giovanni felt very odd talking to a Pokemon, though perhaps she had been a human too, "are you a human?"

Pikachu tilted her head in puzzlement at the odd and obvious question. "I'm a Pikachu; there are no humans around here."

"We're humans!" Giovanni wasn't sure if anyone would believe him.

"Or we were," Delia corrected.

"Really?" The Pikachu paused, then decided she would believe them. "I once heard a story about a boy who turned into a Squirtle. He's not here anymore; he went back to his world before I moved to this area. Maybe someone in town knows more about it; I'll show you around." The Pikachu looked back inside the hut and called out, "Charmeleon, Eevee, wake up, there are pokemon here who say they used to be human like in the story we heard!" She exited the little hut, then looked back once more with small sparks flying from her pink cheeks as she yelled, "hurry up, this is no time for a nap!" She had a temper, but she soon smiled again and casually adjusted the pink bandanna with yellow stars she had around her neck.

A sleepy looking Charmeleon and Eevee exited the hut and lined up in front of it next to Pikachu. "All present and accounted for ma'am," the Charmeleon announced, though he sounded more teasing than serious as he saluted.

Giovanni had to stop himself from glaring, why did he have to run into a higher evolved pokemon of his same species? The Charmeleon looked strong and it bothered him, especially because he couldn't even breathe fire. Albeit it seemed the Pikachu was the leader of their little group, so perhaps she was the strongest.

The six of them made their way into the neighboring pokemon town among further introductions, curious questions and conversation. It was revealed that only the Charmander and Mew, who were called Giovanni and Delia, had once been human, while Meowth had always been a Meowth. The two younger pokemon of their group, Meowth and Eevee became instant friends.

It was not common to have a name unless there were more than one of the same kind living in the same neighborhood. But for the most part, descriptions characteristics and context were usually enough to identify who one was speaking of. Although from a human's perspective it would be much easier to have a name; humans liked naming things. Even if Pikachu, Charmeleon and Eevee had no names of their own, they had named their group Team Chiray, which meant 'ray of energy'.

The little town, located a short walk away from the hut, was buzzing with activity. Pokemon walked around the central plaza, going from one stall to another, exchanging berries and other things. Visiting such a place where pokemon had formed their own civilization without the interference of humans would be a researcher's dream. It was a nice little town that made the two humans turned pokemon relax a little more and begin to feel less hasty to return to their own world.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 34: Give me Perseverance

There was a lovely little valley next to the tiny pokemon town, with soft green grass and a few sunflowers scattered here and there. Eevee and Meowth were running around playing in that cute little valley and Giovanni, a Charmander, was running around for a different reason. He had his arms outstretched, as he positioned himself under the moving shadow of the Mew above. "Are you sure you need me to do this?"

Delia paused her chant of "don't let me go, don't let me go," directed at her flight instructor, a Butterfree, and looked down against the teacher's earlier advice. "Yes, I'll feel a lot better if I know you'll be there to catch me when I fall." When, not if, because Delia had a sinking feeling that Butterfree would let her go the second she lowered her guard. Then she would plummet to the ground as if she were a heavy rock pokemon, unlike the soft pink psychic type she was. Soft and breakable, she couldn't help it but to think about that, she didn't feel legendary and powerful at all.

Giovanni continued following the shadow of the Mew above. Shortly after they had entered the town, the Pikachu and the Charmeleon led them to a little pond, off to meet with a strange water pokemon. The town was filled with many kinds of pokemon, some familiar and others rare. What Giovanni wouldn't give to have some pokeballs, though he certainly wouldn't want to accidentally capture himself while handling them. Plus it would feel odd for a pokemon to catch another pokemon.

The pokemon living in the little pond was called Wishcash and he told Delia and Giovanni an interesting tale. The story was about a boy who became a Squirtle and prevented a terrible disaster from befalling their world. According to Wishcash, if they were summoned there for a special purpose, they would return to their world when that purpose had been fulfilled. If not, they should just relax and enjoy their visit. Neither Giovanni nor Delia could think of a reason why they should be in that mysterious world of pokemon and they didn't know where to start searching for it.

"Why don't you train?" Pikachu had suggested. Charmeleon gave the guests a weary smile, as if he had guessed what she would say. "When in doubt, have a battle and you'll feel better," Pikachu elaborated.

"A battle..." that was when Giovanni began to form a theory. Pokemon were power, they existed for the sake of battling, though Delia would differ and say they were friends. That aside, the fact remained that neither he nor Delia knew how to use any kind of pokemon powers, if they even had any. Perhaps that was their purpose, to master the power of pokemon by experiencing it.

Giovanni had thought the only way to wield such a power was by capturing strong pokemon. He unlike others in the past, had no intentions of becoming the sword when he could more effectively be the wielder. But this was different, he had already become a pokemon, not some mutant being product of bad science, he was a seemingly normal Charmander.

"Is that really such a good idea?" Delia noticed that Giovanni had the same analytical look he had when he was plotting something. She hadn't seen him that focused in a while, as if trying to find a way to stretch his limited resources to achieve the impossible. She didn't think it was such a good idea to jump into a fight, though a part of her also wanted to know what it felt like to battle from a pokemon's perspective. It was too bad their other pokemon were left behind inside their pokeballs when whatever mysterious power took them to that world.

"It's a friendly battle, what do you have to lose?" Pikachu encouraged.

"Training first," Giovanni decided, he really didn't want to make a fool of himself because he couldn't even breathe fire. He had a feeling that must be the most mortifying dilemma for a fire pokemon.

"We could go to the dojo!" Pikachu's excitement grew.

"Um... I..." Delia shyly looked at her feet, embarrassed to ask, a Mew should already know how to do this if Professor Oak's theories were correct. Her voice was quiet, but it was enough to cause everyone to look at her, waiting for her to finish, "can I learn to fly?"

Pikachu opened her mouth then closed it again, took on a thoughtful expression and finally replied, "you don't have wings." She too had dreamt of soaring and was happy when a larger pokemon gave her a ride. Charmeleon had thought of evolving into Charizard for her, but Pikachu was opposed to the idea. It would just make the two of them more different, as if they already weren't a very odd couple. In the end, Charmeleon decided he would try to stay as he was.

Wishcash was confined to his little pond and the memory of how he got there became more distant by the day. But he still remembered being helped over by other pokemon so that he could be closer to the town. It was a mission he requested of one of the local rescue teams. Even if he couldn't go around the town with the same ease as those who had paws, he always got all the information about everything that was going on. Pokemon often visited Wishcash to share the latest news and listen to what others had shared before. He floated at the edge of the crystalline pond for a moment, contemplating what words he should say. Finally, Wishcash leapt out, surprising everyone.

Even Meowth and Eevee who had been playing at the pond's edge, oblivious to the conversation, stopped to stare. Wishcash crawled forward, hopping a little, with water sprinkling the grass and dripping off his scales. He smiled, sometimes actions could say in a few seconds what a thousand words could not. If a water pokemon that was primarily a swimmer could manage to get around on land; why not a psychic in the sky?

Pikachu understood and nodded, "I have a friend who can teach you."

That was how Delia ended up getting flying lessons from a Butterfree. It was difficult, but she kept focusing on flying until her psychic powers began to respond a little. She was able to unsteadily float, while Giovanni followed her shadow in the valley below.

Delia was beginning to get the hang of flying, feeling the soft breeze and the warm sun. When she allowed her guard to lower against her better judgment, Butterfree took the opportunity to slip out of Delia's grasp and fly away. "No, don't let me go!" Delia flailed in mid air, waiving her arms, legs and tail wildly as she unwillingly turned upside-down.

"You're doing great!" Butterfree encouraged as she rubbed the soreness off her short paws, Delia had a strong grip.

"I don't want to fall!" Delia continued flailing, her fear growing as she spun around randomly. "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!" She closed her eyes tightly as she chanted in a shaky voice, hoping she could turn herself right side up and stay in the air. However, happy thoughts alone were not enough to stop her from falling. There was no shiny Clefairy to throw magical dust at her and make her fly like in the fairy tale from when she was a little girl. Delia stopped her midair spins and plummeted to the ground below.

"No!" With a high pitched alarmed shriek, Butterfree dived to rescue her student, but she had gone too far away to give Delia room to spin and get used to her flying abilities. She was not going to reach her on time.

"I got you!" Giovanni tried to position himself to catch Delia, but the sun was in his eyes. Plus from an angle, Delia wasn't falling exactly where her shadow was casted.

Pikachu and Charmeleon, had been watching from the sidelines, while Meowth and Eevee, played. They all joined the mad dash to catch the falling Mew. In their urgent panic, they bumped into each other, tripping on each other's tails and paws, ending up in a pile. Giovanni struggled to break free, rushing out to catch Delia. She fell towards him and he reached out to her. But the second their paws touched, they were both gone.

The ground was far below, much further than it had been during the flight lessons. The pile of multicolored dots on the green valley broke apart and scattered confused. Delia had accidentally teleported Giovanni and herself to the skies above.

"Delia you have to fly!" Giovanni wasn't sure how they got up there, but they were falling fast.

"I can't!" Delia hugged him in midair, closing her eyes and wishing for a miracle.

"Yes, you can!" Giovanni tried to encourage her, "you're a Mew, you're a legend. I know you can do it; you've always surprised me before and come out on top of hard situations. You can do it now too!"

The feeling of invincibility she had experienced before returned to Delia and she was weightless surrounded by a glowing bubble with Giovanni inside it as well. The bubble slowly faded away as they got closer to the ground, landing gently. Pikachu, Charmeleon, Butterfree, Eevee and Meowth gathered around them clapping and cheering.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Delia's flying feat, she rested, while Charmeleon gave Giovanni a few pointers about battle. Giovanni was a great strategist and kept up with Charmeleon in the theory, even proving to be more resourceful than the higher evolved pokemon. "You may be a Charmander, but you're as cunning as a Charizard!" Charmeleon complimented, assuming that Giovanni had plenty of battle experience despite his level of evolution.

Charmeleon was about to ask for a spar when the group was interrupted by a pokemon that looked quite odd to Delia and Giovanni. They had seen that pokemon in town before; he looked like a cross between an angry Growlithe and a Clefairy. The pokemon's body was pink with blue spots. His face carried a constant scowl, albeit he sounded cheerful, his voice not matching his expression at all. The pokemon, Snubbull, looked feminine, but was a male, though males were rare among his kind. "Everyone!" He called out cheerfully, "we heard you were training so we organized a little tournament. You'll come, right?"

"You bet!" Pikachu cheered, jumping with excitement.

"I think this is supposed to be for our guests," Charmeleon pointed out, albeit Pikachu was too happy to hear him.

"We'll take the challenge!" Giovanni proudly announced as if it was a battle between gangs, never mind that he had not even been able to breathe fire yet. Despite his disadvantages, he was sure he could make up for it with skill and experience. It wouldn't be the first time he played the part of a pokemon; he had battled Graveler that way in the past.

xoxox xox xoxox

The grassy fields just outside of the little town were soon filled with pokemon of all kinds. The tournament's participants were instructed to take a leaf or petal from a little handmade basket; there were two of each kind. Snubbull called everyone's attention to the center of the valley around which the pokemon had formed a circle, "the tournament is ready to begin! Everyone who is going to participate should have a leaf or petal. I will randomly select someone from the participants and the pokemon with a matching leaf or petal will be the opponent. The one who loses the battle will be eliminated until only half of the participants are left. We'll choose opponents for the next part of the tournament the same way. The first one to battle will be... one of our guests!"

"Me?" Delia looked left and right automatically, though it was pretty clear Snubbull was pointing at her. She would have to battle eventually and this would be good training, but what were her chances of winning?

She looked at Giovanni, who appeared to be confident, "you can win!"

A few words of encouragement was all it took to make Delia become full of determination, "I'll do my best!"

The pokemon, spectators and competitors watched as Delia handed Snubbull the yellow petal she had taken from the basket. Her opponent would be Bulbasaur. The two combatants stood at the center of the field, with Snubbull standing in the sidelines as the referee. "Ready? Battle!"

Bulbasaur wasted no time, starting things off with a ranged attack: razor leaf. Delia tried to dodge the leaves, but they were too fast and she didn't know what to do to summon that bubble of energy around her she had formed before. Most of the leaves reached her, creating shallow cuts that made her rethink everything about pokemon battles. Yet somehow, she felt herself healing, as if her new small body was far stronger than her human form could ever be.

Delia focused on flying, floating slowly several feet above the ground. She could hear some of the audience chanting "vine whip, vine whip!" She didn't know if they were trying to give Bulbasaur advice or warn her, but she knew what was coming. She wasn't fast at flying yet; she still needed more practice and couldn't avoid the vine whip.

Bulbasaur's vines wrapped around Delia, making it impossible to move her arms. She struggled to break free, but it didn't work so she focused on flying and began to lift the surprised Bulbasaur off the ground. Her tail was free so she lifted it and brought it down in a powerful iron tail. The end of her tail collided harshly with Bulbasaur's head, making the vine whips go limp as the grass pokemon was knocked out.

The crowd cheered and clapped as Snubbull announced Delia to be the first round's winner. For a few minutes she was surrounded by a sea of pokemon congratulating her. Then the beginning of the second round was announced and everyone returned to the sidelines. There was a total of sixteen participants in the tournament, so there were eight rounds in the first part.

There would be a small break between the rounds and Snubbull knew everyone was curious to see the newcomers' battle. His strategy to keep the audience interested was to have their guests' matches at the beginning and end of each part of the tournament. Delia had come out victorious in the first round, moving on to the next part of the tournament along with Charmeleon, Pikachu and Butterfree, the same she had been training with before. They were joined in the victorious circle by Tentacruel, Golem and Blastoise.

It was the eight round and Giovanni's turn to battle against a grass pokemon which was not common in Kanto. The referee had called him Shiftry. It was lucky that he randomly picked the same leaf as a grass type; this match was as good as won. At least that was what Giovanni thought until Snubbull announced the start of the match. Shiftry blew a strong whirlwind with his leaf fans, followed by a storm of razor leaf. Battling as a Charmander was harder than it looked, Giovanni was so small and light he was almost blown away. The razor leaf attack collided with him continuously alternating with whirlwind as he sunk his small claws on the ground and approached his opponent with difficulty.

He could hear Delia telling him to use flame thrower, but nothing came out when he tried to summon the flames. "Hit him with your tail, you can do it!" Delia cheered.

If Giovanni could use the flame on his tail to attack, then his type advantage would help him win. The problem was that Shiftry's wind was so strong, his flame was almost out. Even so, there was no way he would let himself lose, especially not against a grass type. He couldn't breathe fire, but his little claws would just have to be enough. Full of unbreakable determination he moved forward against the wind. Shiftry attempted to back away, throwing a multitude of razor leaves at Giovanni, who dashed forward in spite of that and attacked. He scratched Shiftry until the grass pokemon fell unconscious.

The crowd cheered, once again invading the designated battle arena to congratulate the winner. Minutes later, the excitement calmed down and the spectators dissipated, going off to buy some berries from the Kecleon brothers. By then Shiftry had woken up, though he was still a little light headed. "I lost... You are a fire type, but I thought I had more experience, you didn't need to go easy on me."

"Easy?" Giovanni had slashed away with his little claws as hard as he could. He won the match, but if it came out as going easy he didn't feel so victorious. He wondered if all Charmander felt like that when they started battling and couldn't breathe fire.

Shiftry laughed, "relax, I'm not angry about it, just make sure you keep winning."

xoxox xox xoxox

After the break, the second part of the tournament began and Charmeleon was about to face Golem. The participants were not allowed to see what leaf or petal everyone else drew until they picked one out of the basket themselves. But after that was done, there was no need for secrecy anymore. Thus Delia knew she was set to go against Tentacruel while Giovanni's unfortunate fate was to battle Blastoise.

While Charmeleon and Golem were battling, the tournament was interrupted when the ground began to shake. It was as if a stampede was heading their way, though in truth the ones running in their direction were only four pokemon. One of them was large enough to make the earth tremble in her mad dash.

"Coming through!" Gengar called out as he rushed past Charmeleon and Golem, interrupting their match, followed by Medicham and Ekans.

The cause for all the shaking hurried after them, the pokemon looked like an Onix but she was made of crystal instead of stone. Giovanni stared in disbelief, the surprises never ceased in that world of rare pokemon. Onix was furious, her long body shining in the sunlight like giant diamonds as she attacked random pokemon all around.

"Onix must be stopped!" Blastoise declared and shot a powerful hydro pomp at Onix, which surprisingly had no effect. Tentacruel joined in with more water attacks, but the result was the same.

Onix wildly thrashed about, several pokemon from the tournament audience had been knocked out and would get hurt if they stayed there. "Don't hurt them!" Delia wasn't sure how it happened, but the next thing she knew the world was a whirl of colors for a split second before rearranging itself into a new image. She had teleported again, she was flying and all the other pokemon were flying with her. She wasn't physically touching any of them, but she felt as if she was protecting them in a tight embrace as they floated inside her giant protective bubble.

Only Giovanni and Onix were left on the ground below. Onix was still in a rampage and Giovanni was confused over the sudden disappearance of everyone besides Onix and himself. "Delia?"

'We're up here!' Giovanni heard Delia's voice in his mind. 'I don't know what's going on, but I think I'm getting the hang of my psychic powers. I had to protect all those defenseless pokemon and when I focused on that, this is what happened.'

Giovanni narrowly avoided being crushed by the crystal Onix, 'why did you leave me down here?' He focused on the thoughts, hoping Delia's telepathy would get the message.

It worked as Delia replied, 'because you're not a defenseless pokemon. Sorry, I guess my subconscious can't classify you as helpless even if you kind of are right now. But don't worry, I'll help, I think my powers have awakened now.' Delia focused on Onix, she was heavy and angry. The fact that she wouldn't stay still made it difficult to hold her in place, but Delia managed to do it. 'I got her, try to talk some sense into her. Give her an inspirational speech or something. You're Team Rocket's leader; you're good at stuff like this.'

'This isn't as easy as aggressive negotiations,' Giovanni mused, and Delia probably heard it. It occurred to him that if she mastered her ability to read minds enough to easily summon it at will, taking over the world would be simple. Then he remembered that returning to Team Rocket should mean being human again. He had almost forgotten he was human, he felt as if he had always been a pokemon. The thought of forgetting what he really was unnerved him, While Delia's psychic powers continued holding Onix in place, Giovanni had to allow himself a moment to picture Delia and himself as humans.

He made the blurry image in his mind clear little by little, adding in details from his memories. The picture wasn't quite finished when Delia interrupted, 'what are you doing thinking of something like that at a time like this? Please stop picturing me as a human with Mew ears and a tail and focus on calming Onix! I promise I'll wear them for you when we go home, just don't get distracted.' Her pink face was blushing bright red. It made her wonder how she was going to deal with being able to read Giovanni's thoughts if she kept the ability after the rush of adrenaline wore off.

'That's not it!' Giovanni mentally replied, putting as much of a defensive tone as one could put into an unspoken thought. He focused on the problem at hand, not that there was much he could say to calm Onix when he didn't even know what her problem was. "Why are you attacking us?"

"Shut up you weak little pokemon, you would never understand!" Onix yelled angrily, but there was also pain in her voice.

"I'm not weak!" Weak, what else could a Charmander that didn't breathe fire be called? Determined to prove to everyone that he was strong, Giovanni took a deep breath and concentrated. Finally, he let out a massive explosion of fire in a powerful blast burn attack.

Onix cried in pain. The strong blast of fire, combined with the fatigue of fighting against Delia's psychic hold were enough to knock her out.

Delia landed gently and set down all the other pokemon, who cheered. Amidst the happiness and relief, it was decided that there would be a party to honor their heroes. Most of the pokemon went off to make preparations.

"What about the tournament?" Delia whispered to Giovanni, it would feel odd to communicate telepathically too much.

"It was cancelled, I think," Giovanni whispered back. He should have been relived not to have to face Blastoise in battle, but he was disappointed. Regardless of the odds, he wanted to try; he didn't run away from a challenge.

Blastoise approached looking quite impressed. "Well done! It seems the tournament was cancelled in favor of a celebration. I wasn't sure about battling a Charmander, but your attack was super effective where mine failed, so I know you would have been a worthy opponent. Giovanni was it? It's unusual to have a name unless it's a team name, but I see why you would be remembered. And you are called Delia, right? What you did with your psychic powers was amazing!" Perhaps the reason why everyone let the tournament go so easily in favor of a celebration was because they had a good guess of who would win, so they might as well skip to the party.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 35: Give me Holidays

After Blastoise and the others left, Giovanni, Delia, Meowth, Pikachu, Charmeleon and Eevee were the only ones left in the valley with the unconscious crystal Onix. Meowth and Eevee were playing tag, chasing each other around Onix, while Charmeleon tried to get them away from her in case she suddenly woke up in a bad mood.

"Is she going to be okay?" Delia asked with genuine concern.

Giovanni curiously approached, if only he had a pokeball, "I wish I could catch her."

The crystal Onix suddenly opened her eyes causing Giovanni to jump back in surprise. Charmeleon picked up Eevee and Meowth, rushing back to the group. Pikachu looked ready to stubbornly hold her ground and Delia hoped for a peaceful resolution.

Onix stared right at Giovanni, her eyes shining with joy, "do you really mean that? Oh how sweet, no pokemon has ever declared his love for me before. I was really upset about the mean things Gengar and his friends said, but I feel much better now. You're not my type, but thanks for the compliment. Sorry about being such a drama queen before. I should be going home now, good bye," Onix left with a big smile on her face.

The crystal Onix disappeared in the distance, leaving the group in open mouthed perplexity with her reaction. Pikachu finally snapped out of it and shot a deadly glare at Giovanni with sparks flying from her pink cheeks. "What was that all about? Isn't Delia your mate?"

Giovanni was shocked with the situation, he wasn't expecting the Onix to wake up and think he was flirting. "That's not it! I didn't mean it like that. I was talking as a human, as a pokemon trainer!"

Both Giovanni and Pikachu demanded in unison, "Delia, say something!"

The sheer strangeness of the situation finally got to Delia and with a big grin she voiced, "something," and burst into a fit of laughter.

"I can't believe you're so calm!" Pikachu pouted, glared and stomped her feet as the electricity around her continued building up.

"Now Pikachu, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Charmeleon tried to talk some sense into his mate, who as a result turned her anger towards him.

"If it were me I would GGRRR!" Pikachu grabbed Charmeleon's neck and shook him, giving him an electric shock on contact.

"It's okay, I know everything is a misunderstanding. Let's just forget about it!" Delia urged, hoping that Pikachu would release Charmeleon before he fainted, though it seemed he was used to her temper.

"Alright, if you say so," Pikachu let Charmeleon go and took a deep breath to calm herself. "We should see what we can do to help get things ready for the party."

That night, there was a celebration in the little pokemon town with music, games and food. It went on late into the night until everyone was exhausted and they fell asleep under the stars.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia's memories were faint; she didn't remember what happened during the party beyond small glimpses. She didn't remember if that was the last day she spent in that world while time stood still in her own. When she came to, Delia immediately recognized her surroundings; she was in the Viridian City gym with Giovanni. She remembered floating in endless swirls of colors; it had to be a dream.

Among the colors she saw a strange pokemon that looked like a green haired lady in a white ball gown. The feminine pokemon did something and Delia felt as if she was being carried away. "Do not resist, I will guide you home," the pokemon's voice was soothing. Delia closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was at the Viridian Gym as a human.

She looked at Giovanni and at the strange glass orb, "did something happen just now?"

"You spaced out, are you okay?" Giovanni found it odd; he had never seen Delia with such a blank look before.

"I'm fine, it's nothing, I was just thinking," was it all a dream, or a hallucination? Giovanni didn't seem to remember anything and even for Delia that world inhabited only by pokemon felt like a distant dream.

Gardevoir sealed away Giovanni's memories, sensing that it was best if he did not remember that secret world. The graceful pokemon didn't feel any alarm sensing Delia's aura, so she allowed her to keep a few faint dream-like memories.

xoxox xox xoxox

That time on October thirty-one when Delia saw Madame Boss went without incident. Delia kept expecting something to happen as a consequence of their coincidental meeting. Then November ended and nothing happened, so she decided to forget about it.

The cold of December had settled into Pallet Town with Christmas a mere three days away. Everyone expected the winter to be long that year. It had snowed on the previous night and the streets and yards were covered by the cold white carpet of winter. A chilly breeze blew and Delia wondered if she should pack up the outside tables on her little restaurant for the winter. Surely no one would want to sit outside in the cold and they would be exposed to the elements if she left them out. Maybe she could borrow some pokemon from Professor Oak to help move them the next day.

There was hardly any light left outside as the evening began to give way to the night, but the sun wasn't completely gone yet. The Pallet House, the only restaurant in Pallet Town, was closed for business; no one ever came that late anyway. Rush hour was in the morning when almost everyone in town gathered at the restaurant to have some of Delia's coffee, pancakes, muffins or toast. They talked about what they had done the previous day and what they planned to do that day. It was a small town and the little restaurant had become its unofficial social center. Midday was also busy, but most people had dinner in their own homes, though sometimes they complimented their meals with one of Delia's dishes to go.

Ash was in the living room, standing in front of the TV occasionally mimicking the posture and movements of the trainers on the screen. They were broadcasting a rerun of the latest Indigo League championship. Ash never got tired of watching it, cheering for his favorite pokemon and pretending he was the trainer. He called out to the pokemon on TV as if they could hear him.

In a corner of the living room a medium sized Christmas tree with lush green leaves stood beautifully. It was decorated with a variety of pokemon shaped ornaments, many of which were Electrode and Voltorb. It had a Staryu on top with the jewel on its center blinking on and off at a steady rhythm, along with the multicolored lights all over the tree.

Ash cheered as the speedy Jolteon on TV defeated an Arcanine. One day he would be a pokemon trainer and his pokemon would be even more amazing. Delia smiled watching her five year old son so excited about the pokemon battle, despite having watched it so many times. He probably had each move of every round memorized.

Delia heard the sound of an approaching car, a rarity in Pallet Town. Looking out the window, she saw a black limousine parked next to the leafless tree in front of her house. For a split second her heart skipped a beat and she pictured a happy Christmas reunion. She thought she had stopped imagining such things but she couldn't help it but to wish for a miracle. Even if deep down she knew Giovanni wasn't coming and perhaps it was best that way.

The driver got out of the limousine, his black suit devoid of a red R. He hurried to open the door, extending his hand and bowing as if escorting a queen. A woman's hand came out of the limousine; her nails were long and crimson. She elegantly exited the vehicle, her long hair cascading in dark waves down her back, contrasting with her red coat. Her makeup was perfect and not a single hair was out of place or even gray. Madame Boss looked somehow younger than the last time Delia saw her, probably an effect of aesthetic science.

Madame walked with the elegance of a queen. She left the driver behind to wait as she made her way towards one of the outdoor tables of the little restaurant attached to a tiny house. She sat down, not bothered by the chilly breeze and waited regal and silent. Madame was certain that her presence was known and could not be ignored for long.

Delia didn't know what to do; she couldn't leave Madame Boss outside waiting. Plus she really wanted to know why Madame was there. What if she asked about Ash? Delia glanced at the TV, it was showing the award ceremony of the Indigo League. What if Ash curiously wondered out to see who the late customer was after the show was over? What if Madame said too much?

Delia took a deep breath, threw on her cream colored coat and turned the outdoor lights on before heading outside. The illumination of the light bulb in the wall-less roof over the outdoor tables was dim. But combined with the scarce snow flakes that had began to fall in the background, the scene looked like it came from a postcard. It didn't match the tense atmosphere. At least it was tense for Delia; Madame on the other hand looked rather amused.

Delia approached the table were Madame sat, calm and majestic. She sat down opposite to the older woman and waited for her to speak. "Aren't you going to say anything?" Madame's amusement didn't waver.

"Does Giovanni know you're here?" Delia finally gave in and asked. She immediately mentally scolded herself for asking about him so soon and so directly. Her puzzlement and curiosity had been obvious, accompanied by a hint of hope.

Madame shook her head, "brat boy is busy. I haven't spoken to him in years, but I hear he's doing alright. I must say, I was surprised to see you last October. Were those boys your children?"

"No, they were a friend's children. I was just taking them to get candy," Delia's reply was only half true, but she tried to sound natural. Anyone else might have believed her, but Madame was better informed.

"Are you sure? My sources tell me you have a son. Let me guess, the Charmander, right?" Madame reached into her coat pocket and pulled out an old picture.

At first glance Delia almost thought the picture was of Ash, but it couldn't have been him. The little boy in the image was dressed as a Charmander, but he was holding a classic pumpkin shaped basket. He smiled happily at the camera with a glow of mischief in his eyes. "Is this Giovanni?"

"At the age of three," Madame confirmed, entertained by Delia's expression of amazement. "He was cute, wasn't he? You can keep that picture if you want."

Delia was tempted to refuse, but she could not. Even if Madame tried to take the picture from her hand, Delia knew she wouldn't be able to let it go. "Thank you, but I'm sure this isn't the reason why you came here." The tension had subsided considerably, but Delia still felt uncertain.

Madame went to the point; there was no use in continuing with the small talk, "since I haven't been communicating with brat boy, I didn't know what was happening in his life. When I saw you in Saffron City last October with those boys, I knew something interesting must have happened. To be honest I didn't expect your relationship to last, so seeing you so far away from Viridian City on your own was not surprising. It was that boy dressed as a Charmander that caught my attention. He reminded me too much of my little brat boy, that look in his eyes. I bet he'll be quite temperamental and cunning, unless you manage to keep his Roketto genes under control. Good luck with that," Madame laughed.

Delia remained silent and listened as Madame continued, "to put it simply I became curious and did some research. My sources told me that brat boy had no heir. No one knew anything about him having any children at all. It made everything even more interesting and I continued doing research. I heard you came to Pallet Town around six years ago, which means that if you were pregnant then, the child would be about five and a half by now." She caught the flicker of uncertainty in Delia's face. Madame's expression became similar to Giovanni's cocky grin when he knew he would inevitably win a battle, though her eyes were carefree and relaxed instead of focused and plotting. "That is, assuming he counts halves," she laughed again, her voice ringing clear with amusement and no perceivable malice. "Brat boy would always correct me if I said he was five, grumbling that he was five and a half."

"Was it just curiosity?" Delia inquired, it might seem strange to investigate and not really use the information. Yet Madame appeared to be the type of person to go out of her way just to satisfy a whim.

"You're not confirming or denying anything anymore?" Madame leaned back on the chair and folded her hands on the table, long fingers intertwined. "I suppose there's no use in denying the truth, is there?" Her breath was visible past her crimson lipstick. The temperature had continued to drop as the sun disappeared. "I have no intentions of interfering. Maybe if brat boy would listen to me I would tell him, but if he wants to pretend I don't exist, all I can do is return the favor."

Delia let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding until she saw it. She finally noticed just how cold it had become. "Do you want to come inside?"

"That won't be necessary, I'm leaving soon. I simply wanted to satisfy my curiosity that's all," Delia wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed at Madame's words. All she knew was that the older woman had read her face like a book.

Delia didn't want Ash to be involved with the Roketto family and their dangerous activities. However, Madame was supposedly retired, even if Delia doubted she had retired completely. Besides, regardless of what they had done, what they were doing and what they were planning to do, Giovanni was still Ash's father and Madame was still his grandmother. Delia would not take the first step to go back to Giovanni, but if he returned to her, she knew she wouldn't be able to turn him down.

"I almost forgot," Madame's voice woke Delia from her thoughts before she could resolve her inner conflict. "My spy, I mean, my friend who happens to be a high ranked member of Team Rocket, is out on an important mission overseas. She doesn't know when she will return. Since she won't be there to make snowgasboard for her daughter, she called and asked me to send something in her stead for Christmas."

Delia wasn't even sure what kind of mission it could be, but listened to Madame. She paid close attention to the part about a spy, noticing the contradiction from when Madame mentioned ignoring Giovanni. Nevertheless, Delia was determined not to interfere. She wouldn't run to call Giovanni and reveal the situation immediately as she would have done when she still lived with him. If Madame wanted to annoy Giovanni, she would have to leave her and Ash out of it.

"I never did like the taste of those supermarket gingerbread cookies," Madame continued, casual and relaxed. "I heard you're a good cook, are you a good baker too?"

Delia wanted to ask about the spy, but she remained silent, she wasn't getting involved so she didn't need to know. She wondered if it was the same person mentioned on the suspicious letter Madame had been writing in the park last October, Miyamoto. "I baked some cookies earlier this afternoon, you can have them." Delia got up and started walking towards the door. She stopped and looked back at Madame. It didn't look like she had any intentions of following Delia inside even if she was invited.

The rebroadcast of the Indigo League award ceremony had ended and Ash went to see what his mother was doing in the kitchen. "Can I have a cookie?" Ash gave her his sweetest smile, "please?"

"Just one, these are for a customer," Delia managed to sound natural as she handed Ash a gingerbread Jinx. She finished filling the shiny golden cardboard box adorned with pictures of red and green pokeballs with cookies. She had baked plenty of cookies, so she packed two identical boxes full of gingerbread pokemon. Leaving Ash standing in the kitchen with a now headless Jinx cookie, Delia headed out to give Madame the boxes.

Madame sat unfazed by the cold, perfectly still like a painting. Delia gave her both boxes full of cookies, "for your friend's daughter and for you."

"Very nice, and how much do these lovely boxes of cookies sell for?" Madame inquired with the same calm and amusement she had throughout the entire conversation.

"They're gifts, you don't need to pay me, please take them," Delia insisted. She had began to calm down a little, though the overall situation still made her thoughts race.

"How generous," Madame took a small Rapidash Christmas tree decoration from her red coat's pocket and handed it to Delia. "It's a little old, but brat boy used to like it when he was small. He wanted to catch a pokemon like that and no one could convince him it didn't exist." The Rapidash ornament, unlike the real pokemon, had feathery wings. "I should really be on my way now," Madame picked up the boxes and walked a few steps. Her driver rushed over to meet her, carrying the boxes for her.

Delia held the little Rapidash as a precious treasure. She also had the Charmander picture hidden in her pocket. She would save it and maybe one day show it to Ash, when he was ready. "Thank you," Madame looked back for a moment, sensing the sincerity in Delia's voice. The younger woman smiled, "merry Christmas."

xoxox xox xoxox

After Madame was gone, Delia went back inside and found Ash sitting at the foot of the Christmas tree in the living room. He was enchanted by the blinking lights. "Where should we put this one?" She gave him the winged Rapidash and Ash's face brightened.

"Let's put it up there," he pointed to a branch at the very top of the tree near the Staryu at the peak. Delia picked up her son so he could reach the branch and put the little Rapidash on it. He was small for a five year old and he wouldn't catch up to Gary in height until they were nine. "I'm going to catch a Rapidash with wings, just like that one," Ash proudly declared and Delia couldn't help it but to smile.

Outside, the light snowflakes had turned to big portions of snow falling from the skies. The temperature had continued to drop, but somehow, the small house felt a little warmer.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. In the games, regardless of what starter pokemon you choose, the rival picks the one with the type advantage. That's why Ash was a Charmander and Gary a Squirtle, plus Gary has a Blastoise in the anime. The scene where little Ash and Gary start glaring then running is a reference to the start of Pikachu and Raichu's race in Pikachu's Vacation. Miyamoto is Jessie's mother. I realize that some pokemon are supposed to be genderless, but I'm bending the rules and saying all the pokemon in this story have a gender. The part about pokemon being carefree is based on the episode where Ash is transformed into a Pikachu. I'm using some creative license on some of the attacks, but nothing bigger than the representations seen in the anime.