The Experiment (Rated PG-13/R)

[Gentleman Skeleton]

Azreal and his mom were browsing the stores when they came to a hair salon. Azreal's mom dragged him in and talked to the woman up front. Another woman came and grabbed Azreal and placed him into a chair.

"Mom," Azreal said. "What's going on?"

"Trust me Azreal," She replied. "It's for your own good." Azreal's mother sat in a chair beside him with another woman beside her.
**********************************
Meanwhile, back on the island, Azrocco was growing impatient.

"Examiner," Azrocco said. "Azura's not here for her round, I say you disqualify her. She's holding us back."

"You're right," The judge replied. "I hereby decree the contestant Azura Willow be disqualified on the ground of absence for her round."

"Heh, one less coward to worry about." Nick didn't know why, but he was offended by what Azrocco just said. "Well, since nothing else of interest is going on, I'm heading out for a little while." As Azrocco was about to leave, Nick stood in the way of the exit. "What? You have something to prove? You're just as bad as she is. You abandoned your only oppertunity for greatness like you abandon your friends on a regular basis. If you want a fight, look no farther."
*****************************
Meanwhile, back in Saffron, Azreal was done at the salon. He hadn't cut his hair in two and a half years, and his shorter hair felt much better. For some reason, the stylist also dyed it silver, which Azreal didn't seem to mind too much.

"Why did you just bring me there?" Azreal asked.

"Well, you're an aspiring coordinator, aren't you?" She replied. "Don't lie, I've seen your Ribbon cases. One for almost every region, all of them have at least four ribbons in there. I thought that would help."

"Alright, where do you want to go next?" Just then, Azreal's phone rang. "Hello? Serenity, hey...He's doing what? Oh my god that's pretty funny. Well, I need to go, don't worry about him, he just loves attention so keep him out of his ball. He'll usually rest on your head and eventually travel down to your arms when he's tired. And Serenity, try to keep him away from women other than you and Azura. He loves the attention he gets, and he'll do anything cute to get it. Even if that means wandering away and acting cute to strange girls. Yeah, just keep that in mind. Yeah, love you too, bye." Azreal's mom looked at him strangely. "It was Serenity, Jirachi just 'performed' a magic show for a group of teenage girls. I swear that little guy is worse than an old friend of mine."

 

[flygonrulz]

OOC: DM, most 9of my characters are coordinators anyway so I'm gong to carry on that tradition. It'll be a good cometitive streak for the final match, too!

BIC:As soon as Serenity put down her phone she burst into fits of laughter. Azura looked at her strangley.

"Azreal-cut-hair...silver!" She laughed.

"Translated aaaas?" Azura asked.

"Okay, I've known Azreal for 2 years and in all that time the only thing he's done with his hair is wash it...slightly. Now he has had his hair cut short and died silver." Serenity explained. A few seconds passed and then the two almost fell off their chairs in a fit of the giggles. People stared at them but they didn't care.

They were currently at a cafe that was entirely white. The 10,000 was stll in Serenity's bag, untouched. Jirachi stood up and ran up to a swarm of girls.

"Oh, dear." Serenity said. she got up and ran after him. The girls were cooing him and the crys of "Aw, he's so cute!" were almost deafining. Serenity went over to him and picked him up.

"Big sister!" He cried out, smiling. Serenity sweatdropped.

"How can something so cute be so troublesome?" She asked. Azura pointed at Kar and carla who were up at the bar begging for croissonts. "...Point taken."

 

[Gentleman Skeleton]

As Serenity and Azura sat in the cafe, someone flipped the TV on. On it was a contest from Saffron City. After several rounds, a familiar face walked onto the stage. It wasn't Azreal, but instead his mother. Jirachi escaped from Serenity's arms to point it out.

"Big sister!" Jirachi shouted. "It's mommy!"

"We have a special treat for you all today contest fans," The announcer said. "An old champion has returned! For all you young people out there, it's Rebecca Willow of Faraway Island, she won the Kanto Grand Festival twenty years ago. Now she has returned, and I for one hope to see her again in the near future."

"Alright, it's time!" She shouted as she kissed the Pokeball in her hand. "Go, Yukimenoko!" The ball released a strange looking ghost Pokemon. It looked like a young woman covered in snow. "Yukimenoko, Icy Wind!" The ghost shot frigid air from her body. "Now, Eerie Wind!" The ghost now shot a chilling wind at the ice now covering the arena. The ice shattered, sending tiny crystals into the air. "Now let's finish the job, Ice Beam!" The ghost shot an Ice Beam into the air. The crystals hovered around it, forming a sparkling halo around the beam. The crowd went wild as the judges gave the event 10s across the board. The announcer grabbed a card and gasped.

"Now we have another special treat for you," The announcer said. Serenity and Azura were still awestruck with Rebecca's performance. "It's...Rebecca's son, let's give a warm welcome to Azreal Willow of Faraway Island!" Serenity and Azura went nuts as Azreal walked onto the stage. So did the girls in the table behind them. Serenity sweatdropped as she saw they had on shirts that said I <3 Azreal on them.

"Alright, it's time!" Azreal yelled as they crowd cheered him on. "Let's go, Lucario!" Serenity sweatdropped again, after all, Azreal was using her Pokemon. "Lucario, fire some Pulse Bombs into the air!" Lucario obeyed, firing several blue orbs into the air. "Now, Iron Tail them!" Lucario's tail glowed as it slammed into the Pulse Bombs, each of which exploded in a flash of blue light, forming a ring of energy. "Now, let's finish it, Luster Cannon!" Lucario charged a grey ball of energy in it's hands, then fired it up into the ring. The blue ring sent lightning bolts into the grey ball, until the Luster Cannon exploded, sending particles into the air. Lucario landed on the ground, through the blue ring as it fell to the ground and fizzled out. The crowd was silent until the judges made their verdict. Just like his mother, he recieved 10's across the board. Serenity's sweatdrop grew bigger, since Azreal used her Pokemon better than she did.

 

[flygonrulz]

OOC: HEY!!!

BIC: "My god," Serenity said. She looked down at her shoes. "He uses them better than i do..." Azura rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, technically, Lucario isn't actually your pokemon. it's your dad's. And besides, Jirachi probably listens to you more than anyone!" Serenity smiled.

"Okay, I'm gonna call Azreal to congratulate him on his grand performance," She picked up Jirachi and went to a quiet part of the cafe where Azreal's screaming fangirls didn't inhabit. She dialed a number. "Azreal!" She said, grinning when he picked up. "Great performance, we saw it on TV! It's contest moves, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, glad you liked it." Azreal replied.

"I did! I've heard about contests and...oh, I hope you don't mind...there's one here that's just been set up. i don't know much about them but I'm sure Kari and Carla could do a great job...you're not mad that I want to do the same thing...are you?" She asked.

"Not at all, it's fine."

"Thanks, Azreal! Oh, and I love your new hair!" She giggled. "...Um, I think there's sopmething you need to know...you have fangirls already. How on earth do they know about you this early? They are practically falling head over heels with you...oh dear..." Serenity was broken off by a heard of fangirls looking staright at her. they had heard the conversation.

"RUN FOR IT, SERENITY!!!" Azura yelled.

"Gotta go, Azreal, rabid fangirl aleart!!!" she said, putting her phone into her pocket and running for her life.

 

[Gentleman Skeleton]

As the video feed was cut, Azreal thought to himself, The fangirls have struck again. I'll have to tell her a little later.

Meanwhile, back in Johto, the fangirls settled back down after the commercial break. Round one was set as Azreal vs a young girl from Crimson City. Azreal beat her pretty badly with his Salamence. Azreal's mother won as well with her Perap. So the final match was set.

"Alright, shall we begin?" Rebecca asked. "Let's go, Buuburn!" The Pokeball released the Magmar evolution. It shot out a massive flame from it's body.

"Okay, it's time Blissey!" Azreal threw Blissey's ball. "Blisey, let's start with a Sing." Blissey started to Sing, which sent Buuburn to sleep. Rebecca lost a fairly large ammount of points. "Blissey, Dream Eater!" Blissey began to glow blue, and eventually, so did Buuburn, Rebecca's points were slowly going down.

"Buuburn, Sleep Talk!" Buuburn stood back up, still sleeping and used Fire Punch.

"Blissey, Counter!" Blissey was glowing blue. She took the damage, but threw it back double. Both Azreal and Rebecca both lost massive ammounts of points.

Meanwhile, back in Johto, the fangirls were talking amongst themselves when Jirachi landed in front of them. The started to stare at him, but as he was about to perform something cute to gain attention, he grew tired and yawned. The girls cooed at it, which made Jirachi happy. But he soon fell asleep. The ribbon at his sides wrapped around him, forming a cocoon. The girls still cooed and one even picked it up and held it like a baby. A few moments later, Serenity noticed Jirachi was gone. She looked behind to see what he was up to. She went to the table with the rabid fangirls, where they returned it to her.

"Man," One of the girls said. "Azreal never said he had a girlfriend on TV."

"Hate to say it," Another replied. "He never said he was single either. I saw this one coming from a mile away."

 

[flygonrulz]

Serenity groaned. "They're talking about me. i can feel it." she said, taking a sip of her milkshake. she had never tried one before but she liked them so much now that this was her fourth.

"Relax, they're probably just discussing why they didn't get there first." Azura replied.

"Well, I know that reason: they didn't lug hus uncontious body from the beach when he was washed up there."

"that how you two met?" Azura asked, curiously.

"Yeah...he pushed me onto a rock after I tried to give him CPR. I'm pretty sure I've still got the scar, too."

 

[Gentleman Skeleton]

"Alright Blissey," Azreal said. "It's time to finish this. Use Seismic Toss!" Blissey grabbed Buuburn, jumped high up ito the air, and slammed it down onto the ground. Rebecca's points dropped to zero and Azreal was declared the winner. "That was pretty fun mom, way to go." Azreal recieved his fifth Kanto ribbon, and admittance into the Grand Festival. As a swarm of fangirls started to chase after Azreal, he managed to escape into the coordinator's lounge. "Sorry ladies, I'm taken!" He shouted.

Meanwhile, deep in the woods at Grim Manor, Grim had finally regrown his bottom half after it was blasted off by Azeria. However, he came across a new issue, he was growing old rather quickly. From all the centuries of absorbing the powers of the Envoys, now that the chain was broken and the powers passed on to a new trio which made them impossible to find, Grim's body was finally starting to shut down.

"It's time I found a new host," Grim said, struggling to get out of bed. "And I have the perfect host in mind." Since the fiasco weeks prior, Grim had only two AZ-13 left in his service, Azander and Azandra. "You two must find for me this girl." He handed them a photo of Azura, they looked at him with confusion.

"Why do you want her?" Azander asked.

"Yeah," Azandra added. "She won't make the best host for you."

"I know," Grim started coughing. "But she can sniff out an artifact that can help me find the perfect host. It's called the Heaven's Flute."

"Heaven's Flute?" Azander asked.

"Yes, a magic flute that opens a doorway to another world. This world contains the one whom created this world. A mythic Pokemon called, Arseus. And when she finds the Heaven's Flute for me, then she will also be able to point out the spot to play it to travel to the realm of Arseus."

 

[flygonrulz]

Serenity smiled. Azreal had won his match and now Azura and her were going to go shopping. With over 9,000 dollers in her bag, less because of the cafe but not much, they had more than enough to get some new clothes and christmas gifts.

As they walked through the large city to the mall, Serenity stared in awe at all the buildings.

"I've never been to a place this big before, Azura...it's kinda scary...it's all concrete...no grass, trees or anything at all!" She said.

"Well, this is Goldenrod. But they're two routes north and south of here that have things like that. Oh, we'rre here, Serenity! The mall awaits!" Azura replied. They stood in front of the tallest building there: the Goldenrod department store.

"Wow..." Serenity said as they stepped inside.

 

[Gentleman Skeleton]

"See, Azreal?" His mom asked. "Wasn't that fun?"

"I do have to admit that," He replied. "And now I have enough ribbons to enter the Grand Festi-" Azreal collapsed on the street. He awoke a little later in the Saffron Gym. "What happened? All of a sudden, I couldn't move."

"There's a solar eclipse coming," Sabrina replied. "The power of Light is directed by the cosmos. Comets, planetary allignments, even solar eclipses can throw your powers off or make them stronger. Be careful Azreal, your future is cloudy to me. Even I can't see what dangers are in store for you."

"Dangers?"

"I can't see what's ahead in your's or your sister's futures. It's strange, this has never happened before. I'm afraid for you, after all, you have a girlfriend now, I would hate to see something happen to you that would cause her pain."

"Sabrina, do you...still have feelings for me even three years later?"

"Let me just say, what happened three years ago was a mistake. We were just friends then and that's how it is today."

"What happened three years ago?" Azreal's mom asked.

"I had just escaped Lab 16, which was where I had been held for eleven years. I came to Saffron thinking I could get a job and vanish until I had enough money to hire a private investigator to find you guys and Azura. Then Sabrina showed up, gave me a home and a job. I confused feelings of gratitude for affection. Eventually, I got as far as to kiss her. To this day, I don't think she saw it coming. She told me it wasn't my fate, and told me to fly to the east and I would find somewhere I truly belonged. I did as I was told and flew away and eventually collapsed at sea. Woke up a week later with a young girl giving me mouth to mouth. I accidently threw her backward into a rock. That's how I met Serenity for the first time. And it was because of that I was almost exiled."

 

[flygonrulz]

*Flashback*

Serenity was walking down the beach with Kari and carla, then Eevee, and Flamence, then a Combusken. She then saw a figue in the sand about 300 yards away from her. She walked up to it, thinking it was someone from the island sunbathing. When she came closer, however, she could see it was a tall person with black hair that she had never seen before. She ran over to him. He didn't seem toi be breathing.

"Dad!" She yelled. "I found another dead guy on the beach!!!" There was no response from the huts nearby so she had to do it by herself. She knelt down as a last check to see if he was alive...she had a pulse! her face lit up in relief. The pulses were very faint but they were still there.

She dragged him a little bit into the beach and sat down beside him.

"...My god...I'm going to have to give mouth to mouth, aren't I?" She asked her pokemon. They all nodded and she blushed and groaned. "Why me?" She asked herself. She bent down and placed her mouth to his, breathing fresh air into his lungs. After a while of this he began to move a little. She moved back a little and smiled as he opened his eyes. "Finaly, a response!" She laughed. What she didn't expect to happen was he pushed her a few feet away and into a rock. She let out a cry of pain and looked back to see him uncontious. She sighed and went over to him and began to haul him away from the beach.

"...How can one person be so ungrateful?"

 

[Razor Shiftry]

After the battle with other-Jack, Jack felt his state-of-the-art watch beep and he looked at it and saw the screen light up to show Azreal winning a pokemon contest in Saffron city. Jack pondered for a moment, and seeing as though nothing was keeping him on faraway island he drew out a nest ball and release his Skarmory, Sky. The beautifully elegant bird pokemon gave out a cry of joy from being out but then looked back down kindly on her trainer. Jack then drew out another pokeball and returned his most trusted pokemon Psy back into it. Breeze came fluttering up, innocent as away and Jack gave out a rare smile at his flying pokemon.

“ Fancy a little trip guys?” Sky gave out a cry of approval but Breeze shook her head. Jack looked at her and then understood as Breeze was tired and wanted a rest, so Jack returned her to his pokeball.

“So I guess its just me and you then eh?” said Jack as he scratched the metallic skin of the bird pokemon. Sky gave out a cry of satisfaction and lowered her sharp bladed wings, to which Jack skilfully climbed on, settling himself on his usual spot above the wing blades. Seeing that all was good, Sky tuckered down and that launched her into the air, her aerodynamic body easily slicing though the air.

“To my hometown Sky! Saffron City!”

 

[Gentleman Skeleton]

Azreal woke up once again to find his strength had returned. Sabrina and his mother had fallen asleep. As Azreal walked over to pull the covers over Sabrina, she grabbed his arm. She sent him a vision she had of the near future. He saw an alter in a chapel, the Regis giving their power to three stones in pillars, the eclipse, and a new creature emerging. Then he saw a blonde version of himself standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" Azreal asked.

All in due time, Prophet of Ho-oh.

"What is this place?"

When the Oracle of the moonlight enters the realms of the sun, the power of the three elements into one shalt defend the lands from the infinite nightmare.

"Three elements? Oracle of Moonlight?"

When the Oracle of Moonlight enter the realms of the Sun, I believe you call it, an eclipse. And the three elements are Stone, Metal, and Ice. The Oracle of Moonlight is someone close to you. She is also the map to the Heaven's Flute, as you are the key to it's realm.

"Heaven's Flute?"

The mystic flute that grants entry in the realm of Arseus. Protect the map, Azreal. The map and the flute are useless without the key.

 

[flygonrulz]

Serenity smiled. It was around 11 in the morning and the contest was in an hour. Azura was getting something to eat but Serenity had gotten up earlier and eaten. They were going back that afternoon to Faraway island and they had stayed at a fancy hotel that night. They still had over 7000 dollers left but they had both agreed that they should keep it just in case they wanted to go somewhere else.

Serenity strode up the phone, attracting the eyes of most of the males in the contest hall due to her new clothes purchused yesterday. She was in a blue skirt that reached to about the middle of her thighs, a green vest shirt and black ankle boots. Also, her hair was down for once, flittering down to her waist with a pink flower tucked behind her ears.

She dailed the number to the Saffron gym.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Serenity for ya." Sabrina said. However, she didn't hold the phone. It then began ringing. Azreal sweatdropped and picked it up.

"Hey Azreal!" Serenity beamed. "I'll be coming home this afternoon just to let you know...uhh...can I speak with your mom?" Serenity asked. Azreal looked a little weirded out but passed the phone over to his mother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few minuites later and Azreal's mother called out to him.

"Azreal, come downstairs!" she said. Azreal did as he was told and his mother led him over to the TV. She switched it on gor them both to see Serenity running onto the stage of a contest hall, her golden hair rushing behind her. Emma smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serenity's heart was beating fast in her chest. She took a deep breath as her nam was called and ran into the stage with a huge grin on her face.

"And here's number 220! Serenity Featherthrow!" The announcer cried out. Serenity could feel muttering in the cowd but shook it off.

"Come on out, Kari!" She yelled happily. Kari lept out with a sumersault and landed on the ground with a tempting grin. "Okay, Kari use Swift!" Serenity yelled. Kari used the attack of golden stars. "Now use a Secret power!" Secret power turned into Bullet seed, striking the stars and making them explode into a glittering light. "Okay now use a sand attack while spinning around!" Kari did as was told and the sand fused with the golden sparkles.

The people cheered and the judges gave their scores.

...She got a 28.6 in total. It was pretty good for her first try. She smiled and waved at the crowd and went back through the tunnel.

 

[flygonrulz]

*XDDDDD (Dies of laughter)*

Serenity ran over to Azura.

"Oh, Azura!" She smiled, patting her friend on the back. "C'mon, ladies room, stat."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serenity and Azura walked out of the ladies room a little later with Azura wearing blue jeans that Serenity had sprinted over to the mall and bought. Serenity had switched shoes with Azura to avoid any other mishaps.

"I may not know about shoes," She said. "But I definatly think you should stick to flats!" She laughed. "...My match doesn't start for another hour and a half so how 'bout some lunch?" Azura nodded. Serenity released Jirachi from its ball, due to not wanting it to be trouble in the bathroom, and it jumped into her arms. "We're going for lunch, are you in, Jirachi?"

"Yes! I'm hungry!" it chirped. Serenity smiled and hugged it.

 

[Gentleman Skeleton]

Azreal grabbed his phone and dialed Serenity's number. "Hey, it's me. Yeah, I was watching that, you did great. So, who are you using for the battle portion. Personally, I'd use Lucario, I have it right here if you want it as well as Twister and Flamence. If you need any of them, gve me a call and I'll send them out. You saw who? Fangirls of me? Oh, I never told you, did I? I've been at this game for a long time. A looong time, maybe as long as a year. It's no doubt I've gathered fans. Why didn't I tell you? Well, you never asked. I've got craploads of ribbons now, and I can even enter the Kanto Grand Festival now. How's Azura holding up? That's too bad, is she at least enjoying herself? That's great! Speaking of which, can you put her on for me?" Serenity left the video sceen as Azura walked over into it. "Hey, how are you doing? That's good. Look, I have something I need to tell you, Do not tell anyonew about what I am about to tell you. It has to do with us. Again let me stress that what I am about to tell you cannot be repeated at any time to anyone."

Meanwhile, in Goldenrod, Azander and Azandra were watching the two girls from a safe distance.

"Target sighted, sister," Azander said. "Shall we drop the hammer?"

"Not yet," Azandra replied. "Azreal's telling her about everything. She'll know she's the map, and she'll know we're coming for her, we'll just have to infiltrate the contest." The two enter the contes hall and show a registration pass.

"I'm sorry, the first round is under way," The recetionist said. "I can't allow any more entries." Azandra handed the receptionist a sheet of paper. "Then again, I think I can still squeeze you in." Azandra entered the main hall.

"And now we have our last entry, from Viridian City, please welcome, Cassandra." The crowd cheered as Azandra chose her Pokemon and made her appeal. The judges gave it a perfect thirty.

"And now," Azandra said to herself. "The hunt begins. Azander, I'm in position to distract Azreal's girlfriend, while she faces me, get Azura, the key WILL be ours."

 

[flygonrulz]

The warning bell for the first contest started and a rather startled Azura handed the phone back to Serenity.

"My match's next..." She said. "Well, of cource I'm nervous, stupid!" She said. "Nah...I'm going to stick with old favorites, otherwise known as our main annoynace."

"Carla?" Azreal asked with a smile.

"You know it! Wish me luck! See ya!" Serenity said, cutting the connection to her phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serenity gleefully took the stage and looked over at her opponent...to realise it was Azandra.

"Azandra?! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Battling you. Now shut up and lets start the damned thing." She said, throwing a pokeball and releasing a Sealeo that had a menaing aura to it. Serenity frowned but gleefully called out Carla.

"Begin!"

"Carla lets start with a tackle!" Serenity exclaimed. Sealeo and azandra were prepared though.

"Repel it with a Hydro pump!!! NOW!!!" She bellowed.

"Carla, send the water back with Confusion!" Serenity yelled. Carla nodded and sent a psychic blast that was stronger than the water attack, blowing it backwards and into Seleo. Azandra lost points.

"Okay, now follow up with swift into tackle! Go!" Serenity laughed playfully. She was enjoying this. Sealeo, struggling to get up from the confusion/hydro pump got hut byt the stars and got knocked backwards. Then, when it was being hurdled backwards, carla hammered into it, making the speed increase and also making Azandra loose more points.

"Sealeo, water gun that wall and use tackle on that trashy, annoying pink cat!" Azandra yelled. As Sealeo came back at carla, Serenity got enraged.

"Okay, maybe carla is annoying and pink but never ever call her trashy!!! Carla, dodge!!!" Carla smirked and stepped out of the way of the flying water pokemon. It was sent hurdling into the wall and when it came back it was fainted.

"~And I've never seen a Sealeo fly!~" Carla sung. Serenity cheered and went over to her.

Azandra didn't seem too bothered but instead spoke into a walkie talkie.

"Step one is complete. Go get out little map before goldie gets back." She grinned.

 

[Razor Shiftry]

Saffron city. Something’s never change I thought as sky and I landed in front of the pokemon centre on Sky’s back. I leapt nimbly off Sky and returned my metallic bird pokemon in to her pokeball and began walking around my old home-city, feeling warmth and familiarities wash of me. My feet walked on their own accord though the paved streets until I came up to the gym and, to my surprise, saw Azreal come out of the saffron gym talking to someone on his phone. I leaned against the wall and waited for him to finish while fished about in the pockets of my cloak. Eventually I found them. My contest ribbons. I wasn’t the best in the world. In fact, I had stolen two of them but that didn’t matter, I would still see him in the grand festival.

I saw Azreal finish his phone call and begin walking and I followed him a little way. I couldn’t help but notice his hair was cut and dyed silver. I snorted loudly. No way was I going to do that to my hair. Not in a million years. It was then that I realised I was following Azreal outside the city towards Cerulean city. I stopped with surprise as Azreal turned around and walked towards me and stopped about 10 feet away standing casually and looked at me with a relaxed gaze that made me nervous.

‘What are you doing following me?’ he asked simply.

I paused, my mind debating what to say, what to do. I could only think of one.

‘fancy a double battle?’ I asked as I drew out the pokeballs of Blade and Claw, my two best pokemon that worked together…