What is your wish?
They could hear the gentle voice of a woman, but they could not see her.
My lady, give them but a moment to gather their bearings. They appear as though they do not understand what is happening.
This time the voice was kind and male.
What's going on? Luca asked as her mind wrapped around the situation, she thought about the orb that was trapped between the two of them. Are you Vi and Anu?
That we are. Both of the voices said in unison. Just like that all four of them were standing across from each other in what looked like an ancient throne room gilded in precious metals and stone. There were no walls, only pillars supporting the roof, and a floor. It was open air leading to a spectacular view of a desert oasis. Luke and Luca across from Queen Vi and Vizier Anu. The costumes our two had on were put to shame in the presence of the real deal. Despite the difference in clothing quality, Vi and Luca were very close in appearance. Anu and Luke however, not as much. The Vizier was in black knee high boots, baggy blue pants, gold silk top, with black bracers. A large mask, similar to the one Luke had on earlier, over his face.
They really do look like us. Vi laughed gently.
You are both much taller than we are though. Luca laughed. She then realized that it didn't hurt to do so.
We cannot have you both injured. Anu stated as he walked up to Luke. Placing his hand on the Lucario's shoulder, he took his mask off so he could look the one across from him in his eyes. Anu felt something in the look Luke had on his face upon the removal of his mask. It looked like disappointment.
Why? All of this? Why us? Luke asked, thinking back to everything that had happened in their lives. Everything that had led up to this point.
We are here to give people strength. Anu started. Our power was only meant for good. Throughout history, however, this orb has been abused for things that are not. It's not a Wish Orb, they just find ways to manipulate it to act as such. Most people wish for power, we are power. All they are doing is taking from us and using it for their own selfish gain. Not everything that has been recorded throughout time is accurate. That does not mean that we do not have the ability to achieve one's asked desire. If it is possible, then it will be done.
The two of you are so close, like Anu and myself. She said with a fleeting smile. Sadly we must get back to the matter at hand. Even though it appears that you two are standing in our once great kingdom, you are not. You are still in danger. So I ask again, what is your wish?
Luke and Luca looked at each other before they looked back at the Queen and Vizier. Luke was the one who spoke up. We wish that Giovanni never found the orb in the first place.
Anu shook his head. Your mouth does not speak what is in your heart my friend. Our power only works if the heart is spoken. Anu then held his hand up in the air. With a flick of his wrist he called forth the notes that Luke had written. They unfolded in mid air for all to read.
Let's go home
Luca read it over and over as a tear escaped down her cheek. Oh Luke... were you hoping to send those back with us?
He looked down sheepishly. Yes, yes I was. He was surprised when she placed her hand underneath his chin, lifting his head up to meet her eyes. I love you so much. She embraced her best friend and he wrapped his arms around her in return. He then looked over her shoulder to find Anu looking into his eyes. He blinked slowly as he turned his eyes away from the gaze of the man.
Anu looked over at Vi to find her looking back at him. He then looked back at the two before them. Sadly it matters not. We cannot affect time. That is a force that none should recon with. Think of your friends and the bonds they have made. The roads they have taken because of what has transpired. Once enemies that have now turned over a new leaf because they wished to keep balance in the world. They chose to follow you into battle. Taking that honor away from them would be wrong.
I didn't think of it that way. Luca stated as she turned back to the Queen and Vizier. Then can we get them all out of there and to safety? How do we protect them in the future from those that will try to get revenge for what we stopped from happening here today?
And you Luke? Vi asked the now quiet one. What is it that you would like? In the deepest part of your heart, what do you wish for?
I just want to be with Luca forever. I now know I cannot gain any extra time with her by going back, if even a little bit. I need to be with her. He let out a sigh, but said nothing more.
Once again Vi and Anu exchanged glances. Then Vi spoke up. We do not have time for hesitation. I must know your heart.
Luke looked the woman right in the eyes. Why was I made this way? He glanced over to Luca, then back to Vi. My parents were not able to speak as I do. They had the basic ability to use some aura and to feel and share emotions, like other Lucario. But I'm not like them. Not only do I speak like humans, he paused for a moment before he could muster up the courage to continue, I love a human.
Luca looked over at him in surprise. What are you saying?
He didn't stop to look at her. He couldn't, not till he was finished. I want a life with her... a real life. Without being called a freak, disgusting, abomination, or anything else like that. What I feel for her, it is not natural as we are now. I cannot explain how this happened, but it happened. I'm not ashamed of it, nor do I want to wish it away. I do not want to hide it either. I... He couldn't say any more. He felt like he had already said too much.
Luca stepped in front of him so she could look into his eyes. Luke, do you really mean it?
Yes, every word of it. This time he didn't look away. Instead he wrapped a paw around her waist and pulled her close. I will be with you in any way I can be. Even if it is not in the way I wish.
I want that too. She said as the tears streaked down her face. I love you so much. You are my best friend, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you in every way possible. She placed her hand on the side of his face. She then rubbed his nose with her nose.
We now know what is in your hearts. Anu said as he and Vi walked over to them. Please turn towards us.
They did as asked, unknowing what was going on. When they saw The Queen and Vizier hold their hands up, palms out, instinctively they did the same.
Vi spoke this time. We will give you everything that we have. All of our power. Do good things with it, send it out to those that are in need. When it's your time to go we only ask that you release everything you have left so that our, your, legacy will continue. There is a reason why you were chosen. A reason why you were born the way you were, and why the AnuVique was ingrained in your hearts.
I'm so confused. Luca said as she watched the two across from them look at each other one last time.
I love you VI, and I will till the end of time. He said with a soft and caring smile.
I love you so Anu, you are my world. Now we will help them build their world. They then both stepped forward, Vi pressing her palms against Luca's, and Anu against Luke's. Look only into my eyes Luca, and do as I do.
Luke, I request that you do the same. Anu instructed. You must follow this rule till we are gone.
Wait... what do you mean gone? Luke asked with concern.
Do not fear for us. We have never been apart, and that will never change. Anu said with a smile. Look only at me, do as I do. Do not waver, do not stop.
Luca and Luke nodded in agreement. With no other words, their hands pressed against the others, they looked into the eyes of their counterparts.
Vi and Anu appeared to be shrinking in height. Only till they appeared to be matched with the two they were connected to. They then moved their inner hands and held the hand of the one next to them. Vi now holding Anu's hand while palmed to Luca, Luke holding Luca's hand while palmed to Anu, creating a circle. Luca didn't turn away from Vi's gaze, although she had a desire to, for Luke's paw felt different now. It must have been her imagination. She vowed not to turn away, she did exactly as instructed. Vi's likeness to her became more and more till they looked exactly the same. All while Vi's aura flowed into her through their connection.
Luke stood there, locked eye to eye with Anu while the flow of aura moved from Anu into him. Anu's appearance began to look a little younger as it shifted to that of a young man with shoulder length black hair versus what was down to his waist not more than a minute before.
Live well, both of you. Vi said in Luca's voice.
Luke's voice came out of Anu next. You must go and help your friends now. We will meet again, in the afterlife. Till then. He and Vi nodded their heads together in a bow and raised them, both smiling.
Just like that their images turned into a glittering dust like a mirror that shattered into a million pieces.
Luke woke up at the bottom of the tall hill the mansion sat on. He bolted upright and looked around frantically for Luca, thankfully finding her only a few yards from him. He ran over to her and knelt down. "Luca! Luca please wake up!" He went to shake her gently and noticed first that the orb was no longer under the fabric she had used to tie it to herself. The other thing he noticed was that he was shaking her with not his paws, but with human hands.
"Luke?" She rubbed her eyes with her hands. "I think I'm losing it. It sounded like I heard your voice with my ears, not my mind." When her eyes cleared she saw a young man kneeling beside her. For some reason she felt a calmness and an inability to freak out. She looked him in the eyes and knew that before her was her best friend. "What's going on? Is that really you?"
"I think so... I still feel like me. But I don't look like me." He looked down at his body.
"I don't know, I still think you look like you." She said with a small laugh. "You still have your eyes and your voice." She looked at the four short spiky ponytails on the back of his head where his tendrils used to be. "Your hair looks really nice." She couldn't help the blush that crept up her face. Not like that was a new thing to happen to her around him.
"Did they...? Am I really human now?" He asked, still in disbelief.
They didn't have much time to process what was happening as they were interrupted by the sounds of vehicles coming towards them. They both looked up to find the troupe's vans and truck being chased by a handful of Rockets and Afterburners giving chase in jeeps and motorcycles. One of them being Grave on Luca's bike.
"That jerk stole my bike!? Are you kidding me!? Nobody drives that thing except for me!" She said as she stood up and began running towards the road they were coming down.
"Right beside you!" Luke shouted as he grabbed her by the hand, running alongside her. "Do you think we still can?" He asked with a grin.
She held her hand out, conjuring an aura sphere in it. "Why yes, I believe we can!" She said as she watched him pull a sphere of his own into his free hand. "There's nothing we can't do!"
They both smiled as they charged the convoy chasing after their friends.
"Hey guys?" Jessie called out as Brock drove like a Golbat out of you know where. "Isn't that Ranger Hart?" She asked as she sucked her breath in with each bump they hit in the road.
Ash looked out of the window in the back seat. "That's her alright, but I don't recognize the guy she's running with."
"I think that's that best friend of hers, Luke." Meowth called out as he too looked through the back window.
"Are you sure? Looks like a human to me." James replied.
"I knows a Pokemon when I sees one."
"They did have that Wish Orb with them..." Ami said as she looked at James. "I mean..." She shrugged as the others in the backseat looked at each other in disbelief.
Meowth crossed his arms. "Whatever. They look like their batteries are overcharged. I wouldn't want to be the guys behinds us right now. Just say'n."
"Pika pi pika..." Pikachu added.
"Youse got that right." Meowth said as he high pawed the Pokemon next to him.
They kept driving as they saw Luke and Luca run between them and the ones who were chasing them. All of a sudden the jeeps and motorcycles stopped moving like they had been frozen in place.
"What are they doing?" Ash asked in confusion.
His question was soon answered when two placed their aura filled outer hands together, and upon pulling them apart widened the sphere. Larger and larger it grew till it enveloped all of the vehicles . It didn't stop there, as it kept going till it covered the road to the hill, up the hill, and over the entire mansion.
"Stop driving Brock!" Jessie stated, worried. "I'm sure they know what they're doing, but I don't think we should leave them behind."
"Right!" He replied as he pulled over.
Ami stuck her arm out the back window and waved for the other van and box truck to keep going. They would catch up soon enough. Jessie, Brock, Ash, James, Meowth, and Pikachu all jumped out of the van. Ami stayed in the van due to her injured leg. She had hurt it even more with what she had done back in the mansion. She did, however, stick her upper body through the left open van door in order to get a better look.
Ash, being the youngest and the quickest, reached them first as the light from the massive aura sphere began to die down. He saw all of the members of Rocket and the Afterburners passed out in the vehicles and on the ground. Then he watched, as though it was in slow motion, Luca and who he assumed was Luke falling to the ground, exhausted. The others caught up to him shortly while he was trying to wake the two up. "Hey guys, you okay? What just happened?"
"So tired..." Luke mumbled as he began to come to.
Luca sat up slowly as Jessie arrived next and knelt down next to her. "We need to get out of here before they see us." She spoke gently.
"Why? What did you guys do?" She asked the Ranger. "What the heck was all that about?"
Luke stood up and offered his hand to Luca. When she took it, he pulled her to her feet. "We cannot change the past. However they did not say that we couldn't change what they remembered from it."
Brock tipped his head in query. "So you guys erased their memories?"
"Not really. There would be too many holes." Luca explained. "They would be wondering what they've done with their time over the years. Or find something that would have information on it and they would then catch on. Luckily it does seem though that the only baddies that knew about the orb were there tonight. It was indeed a tight lidded project. According to their memories, only the computers here had any relevant information on them, and we kind of just fried those."
"Since we could not erase their memories, we changed them. They will wake up remembering that they had hired a different, imaginary, group for tonight. That they had stolen the orb and found a way to destroy it." Luke added. "We also changed my and Luca's names and appearances in their memories so they will not come looking for us either." He looked around before speaking again. "However Maxie and Danni will remember everything as they are no longer within reach. I do not believe that will be an issue though.
"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked as he pointed to Luke, while sitting on Ash's shoulder like always.
"Yeah I'm curious too Pikachu." Ash said as he looked to the now human. "What happened?"
"This?" Luke looked down at himself. Of course it was a large shock for the others to see him like this. He himself was still in shock over it. "They gave me a form where I can express my true feelings for Luca without us being ostracized by the public."
"I wouldn't mind being a Pokemon, mind you, however with Rocket and the other groups out there... We are less likely to be caught as humans." She looked over to Luke. It was different to not have to look downward to see him eye to eye. "I don't think we will have to be in this form a hundred percent of the time though." It was just a theory, but one she hoped was true.
"Wait, you said that orb was no longer an orb." James scratched his head.
"Youse dense." Meowth shook his head. "They's the orb ya goof. How's else ya gonna explain him being human? Plus all that extra aura's they just used?"
"Huh," James thought quickly, "you got a point." He shook his head to clear it. "We should hightail it out of here while the gettin's good."
"I'm not leaving without my bike." Luca stated as she walked over to former Ranger Marco Graves, laying there on his side with her bike beside him. She let out a deep sigh. "May we never meet again... Shadow Grave." She said as she picked up her bike. Thankfully the helmets were still strapped to it, as he didn't feel the need to take the time to put one on before jumping on it in pursuit of the Troupe. Luke took over walking the motorcycle towards the van while Luca held her hand out. She placed an aura sphere around the man's head. This needed done separately, as her time with him was over the course of years, and the majority of it wasn't about the orb. This plan wasn't perfect. They knew that. There was always going to be this shadow lurking over them, this threat of somebody remembering who they are. Too many years of their lives were entangled with these guys. The kidnapping of Luke and death of her father were just two examples right there.
"Are you ok?" Jessie asked as she placed her hand on her friend's shoulder while she watched the light fade away.
"No." She said honestly. She then looked over at Luke's back while he pushed away with her bike. The others walked along with him, still asking questions. "But I will be." She then turned and took the woman's hand. "Let's go!" She said with a grin as she walked off with Jessie beside her.
~
The group had reached the others that had left the mansion, as well as the ones in the truck that had gone ahead to the meetup place in the case they were needed for backup.
They had traveled as far as they could, swapping drivers overnight, to get as far away from the fiasco the day before.
They were now sitting out around a campfire while they cooked breakfast before they would take turns sleeping. Luke and Luca about to be the first and longest to sleep as they were the only drivers for her bike. Luca looked down at the ground, an odd expression on her face. "You guys know something weird about what had happened back there?"
They all looked at her. "What's that?" Ash bit the bait and asked.
"We couldn't sense the tainted psychic Pokemon that had been taken. We tried to find them to pull them out of there, but we weren't able to do that." She said as she shook her head.
"OH!" Ami's body sat up straighter than an arrow as she exclaimed. "We were so busy running that I didn't get a chance to tell you!"
"Tell us what Ami?" Luke asked, confused as to what had the woman all worked up.
"James?" She looked over to him.
"Yes?" His heart skipped a beat simply with her saying his name.
"Could you go and grab the big bag for me out of the van?" She said with a sweet smile.
"Of course!" He said as he jumped up and ran to the van. He returned in less than two minutes, holding a tied up curtain.
"Wait..." Luca asked, confused. "That looks like one of the window dressings from the mansion." Before she could say anything more, James untied the makeshift bag. Pokeballs came pouring out of it.
"I kinda took these from the Rockets that were up on the east and west mezzanine." She said with a grin. "Of course I ended up with backup in the nick of time right there at the end." She kept the grin as she looked over at James. Still in costume, he came to her aid once Luke and Luca went out the window. She admired him for knowing that she would want him to follow through with the mission before coming to help her. What had really amazed her was how well he was able to fight wearing her skirt and boots.
"Oh yes, and she's pretty good with a makeshift blow dart gun." James laughed as he picked his drink up, taking a swig. He thought back to the closeness of the hairpin to his face when she had shot it, well... it had reminded him of the time they had been out to sea and...
"I wouldn't expect anything less from Archie's little sister!" One of the troupe members called out of nowhere.
"Just announce it to the world why don't ya?" Ami rolled her eyes annoyed.
James choked on his drink, a coughing fit soon followed. He hadn't put two and two together!
Meowth jumped up on the man's shoulder and patted his back with his paw. "Youse telling me that youse didn't recognize her?" He asked as he kept up the patting till his friend was alright. "If I knews you were that blind, I would have mentioned it." No he wouldn't have. His buddy had found this woman attractive many years ago and didn't recognize her outside of her Aqua clothes. This whole time Meowth had known, and stood by saying nothing so he could watch his friend squirm.
They had said her full name was Larami. How was he supposed to know they meant that Larami? "So was that you?" He coughed again. "On the submarine at Monsu Island?"
Jessie placed her hand to her chin in thought. "I remember that. Going after Kyogre." She thought out loud. "Archie thought it had been Magma that had made the move, not us. However you saw us there and almost shot James' nose off with a blow dart. Why didn't you sell us out?"
"Cause I thought he was cute." She said it simply, trying to be nonchalant, even though her stomach was doing flips. "I didn't want to be in the life, you know? So I ran away and decided to perform on the streets around the Johto Region. After that, well I ran into others that had deserted their teams. Look around you, all of us in the troupe sucked at our jobs. None of us wanted to be evil. We normally don't advertise who we are because we've never been seen or joined by anybody in Rocket before. Giovanni scares all of us. I mean he scares the heck out of me and I'm freaking Larami Bay" She looked up at James before she turned her eyes away. "I also didn't want you to know who I was in case you didn't want to see me again."
"Did you know about all this?" Luca asked Luke quizzically.
"Yes, I did. However one's past is not for another to share, I know you understand." He said with a smile. She gave him one in return.
James had been able to get his coughing under control. "I would never do that Ami..." He said looking down at the ground. "Who am I to call you out for leaving when we did the same thing?"
"I know who you are James." She said with a smile. She had already overheard Jessie and Brock talking earlier about their plans to go back to Pewter City soon. Hopefully this offer would be enough to keep him around. "I'm hoping that you and Meowth are willing to become the first Team Rocket deserters to join the Johto Jesters." She said with a wide sweeping arc of her arms.
"Youse asking us to join youse guys?" Meowth asked with excitement.
"Yes! If you're willing to, that is?" She asked, nervously as she looked over at James.
He didn't know why, but he looked over to Ash and Pikachu. They had invited them to come along first. He saw the teen give him the most adult face he had ever seen the twerp make in all of his years of knowing him. He then saw him mouth the words 'you would be insane to pass this up, why are you even thinking'. He tried not to laugh at the sometimes underestimated teen. He then stepped in front of Ami, extending his hand to her. "We accept." He saw the woman grin as she took his hand in her own and yanked him towards her face. He didn't expect her to kiss him like she did. It left him weak in the knees and he fell to the ground gently.
Everybody sat around and laughed at the sight.
Luke bent over and picked up one of the Pokeballs that Ami had taken from the mansion. He turned and looked at Luca. "Shall we?" He asked in reference to if she was ready to start purifying the psychic Pokemon that were trapped inside.
"Always." She said in return.