"He'll be fine," Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City assured Maya and Misty after she came out of the examination room, where she had treated the injured Charmeleon's wounds. "Just a few scratches and bruises. Let him stay here in the Pokémon Center, and he'll be just fine in the morning."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Maya said with relief. "I'm relieved to hear that."
'And the same goes for a certain major turned Pikachu who has a crush on him,' she thought with a smile.
Just after Nurse Joy had left the examination room, a yellow blur had run through the door. And now Misato was perched on the edge of the bed, waiting for Kaji to wake up.
She didn't have to wait long. The Fire Pokémon's eyes slowly opened. "Chaarrr..." 'Uuuh, what hit me?' He coughed a few times. "Char! Charmeleon!" 'Dang, what's wrong with my voice?'
"Pikachu!" 'Hey, you finally awake? Took you long enough!'
Kaji looked around and saw a tiny, yellow-furred critter sitting on the edge of his bed. At first, he thought he was dreaming. Then he recognized the voice. 'Misato?'
"Pika! Pikachu!" 'Yup it's me!' she grinned. 'I admit, I wouldn't have recognized you either if I didn't know it was you.'
"Charmeleon! Char!" 'But what... what do you mean? Why are you like this? Where are we? What happened?'
Pikachu gestured to a mirror hanging at the wall. #Maybe you should look for yourself...'
Kaji looked into the mirror... and saw a bipedal lizard with blazing red scales and sharp claws. 'WHAT?? That... that's me? But how...?'
Misato shrugged. 'Well, we don't know how we got here either, but you are not the only one who got transformed. I've become a small, electricity-generating mouse-hamster, and Ritsuko, well, she won't ever have trouble with her hair again...'
'Ritsuko's here, too?' Kaji wondered. He wanted to stand up.
'No, no, not yet, mister!' Misato said sternly as she pushed the bigger Charmeleon back to his bed. 'The nurse said you need some rest. And yes, Ritsuko's here as well, as is Maya.' She giggled, which sounded weird in her Pikachu voice. 'She was the one who caught you.'
'What do you mean, caught me?' Kaji asked in confusion. 'Start making sense, Misato!'
'Don't rush me, I'm getting to it. Look, we're now in a place where little monsters like we have become are a common sight, and young boys and girls like to catch them, and train them, so they can use them in battles.'
'What? That's barbaric!'
'No, not really... as far as I can say, most of these 'Pokémon' love to battle each other, and when a Pokémon Trainer manages to best them in a fair combat, by using his own Pokémon, they normally don't mind if they are getting captured. I mean, I should never have such feelings, but now that I am Maya's Pokémon, I would never think of abandoning her.'
'Wait a minute... does that mean Maya's still human? And yet she treats us as her pets?'
'Not just pets, Kaji!' Misato impatiently sighed. 'As members of her team, and as her friends. To be honest, fighting in Pokémon battles is so much fun, I don't really mind that Maya gives me commands.'
'Well, I must admit, I did feel a certain rush when fighting off these pig-monkeys...' Kaji muttered. 'But there were just too many...'
'So you DO remember something?' Misato curiously asked.
Kaji nodded. 'Yeah, it's starting to come back... I was wondering where I was, and I didn't really notice that I've changed. I tried to find anybody, but I only stumbled into those dangerous monkeys. I tried to scare them off, but they attacked me relentlessly. And then- somehow - I was able to chase them off. I... I only remember how my throat started to burn, and then everything got hot. I also recall dragging my pitiful self to this town... and that's all!'
'And before you came here?' Misato asked. 'What happened then? Are the others worried about us? Was there another Angel attack?'
Kaji shook his head. 'I... can't quite remember... the last thing I recall is... staring right at a handgun... and then, nothing!'
'That doesn't sound too encouraging...' Misato murmured. She then grinned. 'But, hey, at least we got each other!'
'Oh, am I glad...' Kaji grumbled as the little Pikachu hugged him. But then, he realized something:
During all this time he had talked with Misato, they both were practically naked!
A wide grin appeared on his reptilian muzzle.
"So let me get this straight..." Asuka said as she followed Link through the ample halls of the temple. "By putting your sword into that pedestal, you have activated a magical door... and this door brought us back in time? To a time when this temple wasn't a ruin? And you say you have done this before?"
Link shrugged. "Well, I guess that's why they call it the Temple of Time. Don't look so surprised, better than anyone else, you should know that our world Hyrule is filled with mysteries."
"I'm not certain if I know anything at all..." Asuka muttered, but quietly enough that he didn't hear her.
Link looked into the mirror shard. "And you say that the shard we are looking for has been brought here?"
"Absolutely!" Midna nodded. "It couldn't have entered the time gate by itself, so someone must have found it... and that someone must have known how to activate the gate without the Master Sword."
"I didn't know that was possible," Link said. "But I guess it's no use, we have to track that guy down. Good thing that I already collected all of the temple's keys the last time I was here."
"But make sure to hold onto your mirror shards, you hear me?" Midna scolded him. "Not everyone is as generous as that imp, when he gave us the shard back after we beat him in his silly little game."
"You call him generous?" Link grumbled. "Don't make me laugh..."
Asuka looked around. "Well, this temple certainly looks impressive... but deserted, too. Oh well, at least that means nobody will bother us..."
A sudden noise made them both reach for their weapons.
"Looks like you spoke too soon!" Link grimaced. "We've got company..."
And when the four dog-sized spiders appeared out of nowhere and leapt at them, he skillfully slashed his sword through the air and killed one of them. Asuka managed to stab another one with her rapier. As with the bow, she had no trouble handling it.
"Yuck!" she shouted. "What are these things?"
"Gohma's spawn," Link grumbled. "They must still infest the temple, even after their queen's death... but they're actually quite harmless." He shoved one of the remaining spiders back with his shield and killed it. "See? No problem at all!"
Asuka pulled her weapon out of the last spider's carcass and grimaced when she saw the green blood dripping down the blade. "Oh great, and here I thought we would just go on a relaxing trip through Hyrule..."
"A hero's job is never done!" Link smirked as he sheathed his sword. "Are you coming?"
"Okay, but I hope for your sake that we find a few of these sparkly rupees in there!" Asuka griped.
Midna giggled. She loved it when pampered princesses had to face the harsh world outside of her castle... but at the same time, it reminded her of the first time she was forced to do the same... and it hadn't been a pleasant experience.
"That's it?" Asuka sighed. "We searched through the whole temple while we could have easily entered the huge door in the first room?"
"Well, obviously," Link replied. "The boss room is the only place we haven't looked yet. Whoever took the shard... he, she or it must be in there." And he gestured at the huge door in front of them.
Asuka blinked. "Boss... room?"
"Yeah, this is where I fought the spider queen, Armogohma," Link nodded. "But since she's dead, there won't be anything left we have to be afraid of."
"Except that stranger we know nothing about," Midna reminded him.
"Well, true," Link shrugged. "But it's simple: If we can convince him to give us the shard, everything's fine. If he attacks us, well, then we just have to fight back."
"Oh joy..." Asuka sighed. "Another fight..."
"Hey, you wanted to come along, so don't complain!" Link told her. "Okay, you ready? Here we go!" And he opened the huge door leading to the temple's 'boss room'.
At first glance, the whole room was empty, except for the towering statues that were still standing in the corners of the room. But then Link saw someone... a cloaked individual who was standing at the other side of the room, with his back towards them. He seemed to look at something on the wall.
"Hey!" Link shouted, to catch the stranger's attention.
The man turned around, and now Link could see the impressive, two-handed sword that was strapped to his belt. He ran his hand through his unruly, blue hair and looked at Link and Asuka in surprise. "How could you come here?" he wondered. "This temple is off limits for anyone who can't open the gate of time."
"We have our key right here," Link grinned as he patted the hilt of his sword. "And what about you? How were you able to open the gate?"
"Ah, I see!" the stranger nodded. "So this is the fabled Master Sword of Hyrule. To be honest, I don't know much about this place and the gate, but I was told that only someone who is wielding a sacred sword can open the gateway. And I have my blade, Ragnell!" He gestured towards his own enormous blade. "But tell me, who are you, strangers?"
"I am Link from Ordon!" the green-clad swordsman replied. "And this is Zelda, crown princess of Hyrule!"
The blue-haired man seemed surprised. He knelt in front of Asuka and said: "I didn't know, my lady! Please, allow me to introduce myself: I am Ike, General of the army of Crimea! At your service!"
Asuka blinked. Then she blushed. Here was a man who was even more handsome and charming than Kaji... and he treated her like a princess! This was a young girl's dream come true...
"Um, Crimea?" she managed to utter.
"I heard a few tales about it..." Link spoke up. "It's supposed to be an old kingdom, to the far west of Hyrule... Rusl told me tales of long ago, when Hyrule and Crimea still had contact with each other..."
"You haven't heard of it before, Your Highness?" Ike asked in surprise. "Well, I must admit, I have come a long way just to come here... and I would have never thought it possible that there exists a door that leads back through time. But from the ancient legends, this is the temple where the race of the Oocca have hidden ancient artifacts."
"Such as the Dominion Rod?" Link asked. He reached into his backpack and showed Ike the scepter-like rod.
"Yes, indeed!" Ike nodded with surprise. "Only that this is not the artifact I am looking for..." He looked down at the floor. "There is supposed to be something else in here... something I need to save Elincia's life..."
"Who's Elincia?" Asuka wondered.
"The princess of Crimea," Ike explained. "She is being held prisoner by my archenemy... the Black Knight." He sighed. "I thought I defeated him for good, but he is back... and he wants me to bring one of the ancient treasures of Hyrule... the Ocarina of Time!"
"The... Ocarina of Time?" Link wondered.
"I'm afraid I have to interrupt this interesting conversation, but I believe you might be interested to hear that something's coming at you," Midna spoke up. "Something not very friendly!"
"Where did that voice come from?" Ike asked in surprise.
"That's just an old friend of mine," Link explained as he drew his blade. "But I wonder whatever she could mean... after I killed Armogohma, there is no creature left inside the temple."
"You told me the same thing when we stumbled over these spiders," Asuka complained.
Ike raised his sword, Ragnell. "I can hear something..." he whispered. "Something crawling along the walls..."
"Let me illuminate this room a bit," Asuka said as she took an arrow out of her quiver. She recalled how the magical energies that were now flowing through her body wanted to spread to the tip of her arrows when she used them... and this time, she just allowed it.
She shot the Light Arrow up at the ceiling of the room, illuminating every dark corner of it. And then they could see it: A huge, moth-like creature that was clinging to the ceiling. Its wings were colored blood red, and a poisonous fluid was dripping down from its deadly pincers. It erratically moved around its huge feelers while observing its prey down below.
"Look out!" Link shouted. "Here it comes!"
The enormous moth monster Mothula felt nothing but never ending hunger when it came swooping down on the three humans.
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(Posted Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:21)
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