Vacation? Dragonfly, the Slayers, and a Whole Lot of Mischief!


"That last adventure was exhausting!" Lina declared. "Let's go grab some lunch at that restaurant!"

"Right behind you!" Amelia cried.

"All right, I'm starved!" Gourry exclaimed, and the three took off for the small building across the street.

Zelgadis sighed and followed patiently behind.

The group entered the restaurant and Lina immediately ordered the largest meal on the menu. When the food came, Gourry lunged for the largest chunk of meat. All he got was a punch in the stomach from Lina and had to settle for a smaller piece.

Amelia looked up from her own meal to find Zelgadis simply staring at his plate.

"Aren't you hungry, Mr. Zelgadis?" she queried. "This soup is pretty good!"

"Oh, I'm just tired, that's all," Zelgadis muttered, and turned to stare out the window. A worried look crossed Amelia's face.


"Okay, where should we head next?" Lina studied the two paths in front of her. "If memory serves," she began, "the right one should lead to - yahhh! Look out!" A huge tree came crashing down on top of the party, and they scrambled to get out of the way.

"What was that?" Gourry asked when the dust cleared.

"I don't know," Zelgadis replied, "but whatever did it was either very clumsy or very mad."

"Oh, we're not going to have to fight another monster, are we?" Amelia whined.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Amelia," Lina scolded. "Besides, if it was a monster it probably would've attacked with magic instead of knocking a tree down on top of us." Suddenly, she paused and glanced around at the trees to either side of the path. A ball of magic began to form in her hand.

"Lina, what's - " Gourry began, but before he could finish, Lina shouted, "Flare Arrow!" and launched the spell at one of the trees. It hit the plant hard, and a figure fell backwards out of its branches.

The four ran over to the base of the tree to see who had been spying on them. Lina reached down and lifted the offender up by the collar of his outfit.

"Okay, spill! What were you doing up in that tree?" she demanded of the young brown-haired boy.

"Don't be so harsh; he's only a kid," Zelgadis advised.

"Only a kid? I'm fourteen!" The boy twisted himself out of Lina's grasp and, even more amazingly, landed with both feet on the ground.

"Wow, he's agile," Amelia observed.

"Hm. Now was it you who knocked that tree down?" Lina questioned. The boy gulped.

"Well, yeah, but it was an accident ..." he gulped again and a sweat drop formed on his head. "I always mess up when it comes to spells."

"Uh huh, just don't try it again," Lina ordered. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Call me Dragonfly," the boy said. "What's yours?" Lina introduced herself and her companions, then asked, "Why are you called Dragonfly, anyway?" At this, Dragonfly immediately perked up.

"Because of this!" he declared, and pulled off his cloak to reveal a silver device strapped to his back, attached to which was a set of metal insect-like wings. The other four gave a disbelieving blink, but before they could react, Dragonfly cut in. "I'm often considered a freak, so I keep it hidden most of the time, but I didn't think you'd be too prejudiced."

Zelgadis sighed.

"And don't tell me, you like to show off, too," Lina said.

"Well, er, that's one way of putting it ..."

"Hey, can you really fly with those?" Gourry asked.

"Of course!" Dragonfly leapt into the air, and his wings started beating like an insect's - so fast that they became a blur. He hovered over the group, a smug look on his face.

"That's really neat, Mr. Dragonfly!" Amelia squealed.

"Yeah, yeah," Lina cut in. "Now let's get going. Nice meeting you, but we've got business of our own. Come on, Gourry." The four began to walk off, leaving Dragonfly behind. A strange look crossed the boy's face as he watched them leave. Suddenly, he landed, donned his cloak, and sprinted after them.

"Hey, wait!" Dragonfly called. "You're travelers, right? Adventurers? Fighting monsters and evil sorcerers and stuff all the time?"

Lina stopped, turned, and gave Dragonfly a slightly annoyed look. "Yeah," she confirmed. "So?"

"So aren't you tired of it?"

"What?" Lina's expression quickly changed to that of surprise. She hadn't been expecting this. "Um, well, I guess it can get a little boring ... what's your point?"

Dragonfly crossed his arms and smiled. "I can get you a vacation!" he declared. "Away from all this!"

"We can't do that," Zelgadis pointed out. "We don't have any time to waste."

"You don't need to have time on your hands," Dragonfly said. "I'm talking about a trip to another dimension - set so that it only takes a second of time here in your dimension."

"Another dimension?" Amelia exclaimed. "Is that even possible, Miss Lina?"

"Uh - I think so," Lina said, "but going to one would require high level magic ... and you said you couldn't handle spells very well!" Dragonfly gulped yet again and another sweat drop formed.

"Ah, well, i-it's not really magic - it's just an ability that I have," he stammered. Then he pulled himself together and pointed at Lina. "It's also something that I'll bet you couldn't do if you tried!"

Lina began to retort, but stopped and blinked at Dragonfly's hand. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "You have six fingers!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I told you I was a freak."

"Okay, whatever, now back to this dimension thing. Let's see you do it."

"If you insist ..." Dragonfly sighed. He snapped his fingers, disappeared, and reappeared a second later holding something. Lina blinked, unimpressed.

"What's that?" Zelgadis asked, indicating the item Dragonfly was holding.

"It's a pokéball," Dragonfly explained (not too helpfully), and held it up for them to see.

It was a sphere about four inches across, with a thick black line running around it. The top half was red, and the bottom half white. A white button was positioned in the front of the ball, right on the black line.

"Yeah," Lina said. "And what does it do?"

"Oh, nothing much ... just this: pokéball, go!" Dragonfly threw the ball down onto the ground. It bounced once, and snapped open. A red light spilled out, then condensed and solidified into what appeared to be a very large hornet. Amelia jumped and zipped behind Lina.

"I hate bees!" she whined, her voice trembling. "They sting! And that one's huge! Look at its stingers! Eeeeeeeeeeee ..."

"Don't worry, Beedrill won't hurt you," Dragonfly assured her. "It's under my command."

"So ... that ball is like some kind of summoning spell?" Lina asked.

"I've never seen a summoning spell work quite like that," observed Zelgadis. "Maybe we should consider his offer."

"Yeah, I think going to another dimension would be fun!" Gourry put in. Lina glared at him.

"This is rather unusual," she began, "but why summon a hornet?"

"Well, in its dimension, nobody fights battles themselves. They use creatures like this to battle. These creatures - called pokémon - can be captured and stored with the pokéballs. Their owners then train them so they can fight better." Dragonfly patted Beedrill on its head. The insect seemed somewhat disoriented - it wobbled slightly as it hovered in the air.

"Okay ... but still, what can even a hornet this big do?"

"Beedrill, use your Twin Needle attack on that tree!" Dragonfly commanded. Beedrill leapt higher into the air and charged the indicated tree, holding its two foreleg stingers out in front of it. It hit the tree with a powerful one-two slash. The tree stood still for a moment, then fell, its trunk severed.

"Impressive," remarked Zelgadis. Amelia just whimpered.

"Ah, well, bug is super effective against grass anyway," Dragonfly said. "So, are you coming with me to the world of Pokémon, or what?"

Lina considered a moment, then said, "Okay, we'll go along with this. I just want to make it perfectly clear that I'm not going to tolerate disappointment!"

"Believe me, you won't have to!" Dragonfly confirmed. "It's a large group, though. I'll have to open a portal." He snapped his fingers and a section of air rippled, then cracked and revealed a rather forbidding street. "Lavender Town. That's not bad. Beedrill, return!" The large bug dissolved back into its pokéball. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on through!"

"This promises to be an interesting experience," a new voice remarked as the group stepped through the portal. Nobody noticed either the comment or the figure that leapt down from a nearby tree and followed them.


"This place is spooky!" Amelia whined.

"Yeah, couldn't we have gone somewhere more - ah - nice?" said Gourry.

"I took you here because it's mostly deserted," Dragonfly explained. "We'd look really suspicious if we went somewhere more active. Now, while we're in this world, each of you will have to choose a pokémon to use. I have several of them here - oh, drat!"

"What is it?" Zelgadis asked.

"I'm missing one of my pokéballs - I must have dropped it somewhere. Darn! And it was a Gengar, too!"

"A Gengar?" queried Lina.

"A ghost-type pokémon. That's the kind you'll find here."

Amelia whimpered some more.

"I'll just have to use what's left. Here's a list of the pokémon I have - minus the Gengar, of course."

Lina took the list and looked down it. It included the name and type of the pokémon as well as a picture.

"Hey! That one looks like a dragon!"

Dragonfly looked over at the pokémon she was pointing to.

"That's a Charizard. It's fire/flying type, not dragon. It does look like one, though."

"Fire and flying?" Lina considered. "What can it do?"

"Um ... Slash, Rage, Flamethrower, Fire Spin - "

"I'll take it!"

Dragonfly handed her a pokéball.

"You choose now." He handed the list to Gourry.

"Uhhh ... gee, I dunno," Gourry said, looking down the list. "Can I pick randomly or something?"

"Fine with me," Dragonfly replied. "They're not in order anyway."

"Okay." Gourry closed his eyes, paused a minute, and pointed at the list. "That one!"

"Which one?" Dragonfly looked at the list and whistled. "Fool's luck! That's a Zapdos, the most powerful I have! Electric/flying type, one of the three legendary birds. Here you go."

"Cool!" Gourry exclaimed as he took his pokéball.

"Your turn," Dragonfly said to Amelia. She looked down the list for a moment, and then her eyes lit up.

"Oh, look at that one! It's so CUTE!! I have to have it! What is it, Mr. Dragonfly?"

Dragonfly glanced over, and his face fell. "A Jigglypuff?"

"Oooo, even its name is cute!"

"Well, if you insist - here."

"Yay! I'm going to let it out right now!" Amelia threw her pokéball, and this time the red light became a small round creature with large, luminous eyes. True to its name, its white body looked soft and cuddly. "Jiggly?" it asked in a sickeningly cute voice.

Amelia gave a squeal of delight and began to elaborate on just how cute it was. The Jigglypuff seemed quite pleased by this.

By this point, Zelgadis had an extremely disgusted look on his face.

"Hey, are you gonna choose or what?" Dragonfly handed Zelgadis the list. "I think even you're going to need one. You might have to fight some ghost-types."

"Oh - yes, thank you." Zelgadis took the list and calmly studied it. His eye inevitably fell on a pokémon that looked like a large brown lizard stuck in a rock with only its head, arms and legs showing. "What's this one?"

Dragonfly looked at the picture, coughed, gulped, and said, "That is a Golem."

"A Golem?" Zelgadis, taken slightly by surprise, blinked.

"Not in the way you'd think of it - heh heh. It's a rock/ground type pokémon."

"Hey, Zel, you should take that one," Lina said. "Face it, it's you."

"Well ... " Zelgadis began.

"Come on, Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia squealed. "Really, it's perfect!"

"Oh, all right," Zelgadis agreed, not being in the mood to argue with both of them.

Dragonfly gave Zelgadis his pokéball and pointed down the path. "Pokémon Tower isn't that far from here - it's only a little ways down the road," he said. "We'll go there, and you can explore inside if you want. I'll stay outside because I've got to look for Gengar." He paused a second, then said, "Oh, I won't be needing this anymore," and pulled his cloak off again.

This time, what met the others' eyes was a pair of real insect wings.

"Hey, now your wings are real!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Oh - I should have explained that to you," Dragonfly replied. "When you travel to another dimension, your form changes depending on what dimension you go to. In this realm, I'm a bug type elemental, so my wings become organic."

"But we didn't change," Lina observed. "And what's an elemental?"

"Well, you probably can't use your spells now," Dragonfly told them. "As for elementals, they're people born with a connection to a certain pokémon type - but they're almost extinct now, and have only begun to resurface since Thundra and Ember, two elemental sisters, got blown in from the past."

"What do you mean we can't use our spells?!?!?" Lina yelled. "What are we supposed to do in a fight, then? Run away like cowards!?"

"I told you, people fight with pokémon! Just throw your pokéball and say 'Charizard, go!' Then tell it to attack the opponent pokémon with one of its moves."

Lina paused, blinked, then sighed and grumbled, "Oh, okay, but I still don't feel right without my spells."

"So, are we going to go to that tower place now?" Gourry asked.

"Yeah, follow me!" The five started off down the path, unaware of the figure that now approached the spot where they had been.

The figure, in turn, was unaware of the other three figures hiding behind a nearby boulder.

"He he he he he he! Look at that guy!" the smallest of the figures exclaimed. "And I thought you two dressed funny!"

"Shut up, you inconsiderate feline!" another of the figures commanded. "You're going to blow our cover!"

"Yeah, and if we want to succeed this time, we're going to have to be extra careful!" added the last figure.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get the jump on him!"

Suddenly, there was a click, and light came pouring from behind the boulder. The figure on the path turned, and the light revealed his identity - Xelloss!

But before he could react, the two figures now standing on top of the boulder began to speak.

"Prepare for trouble!" the first began.

"And make it double!" continued the second.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Now the figures raised their heads, so that their faces could be made out.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

The last member of the trio, a seal-point cat pokémon, leapt in front of the other two.

"Meowth! That's right!" he finished.

"Bravo, bravo," Xelloss exclaimed, clapping. "That was very well done."

"We didn't come here for you to applaud us!" Jessie snapped.

"Yeah, we're here to take your pokémon!" explained Meowth.

"We are good though, aren't we?" James said. Jessie glared at him, then spun around and gave him a punishing slap.

"That's not the point, you idiot!" she growled.

"Well," Xelloss began, "if you're looking for pokémon, I'm afraid I only have one," he held up the pokéball that Dragonfly had dropped. "and it isn't even mine."

"That doesn't matter! What is it? Lemme see!" Meowth leapt up to snatch the ball from Xelloss's hand, but only succeeded in getting a whack on the head from his staff. "Me-ooooowwwwww!"

"We're not going to play this game any longer!" Jessie insisted. "Arbok, attack!" A large purple cobra materialized out of her pokéball. "Char - bokbok!" it hissed.

"Weezing, go!" James's pokémon was one of the stranger ones - in order to picture it, you must first know what its previous form, Koffing, looks like, since Weezing is two Koffings fused together. Koffing looks like a purple planet (except for the fact that it's only a couple feet across) with huge volcanoes that spew poisonous gas. There is a skull-and-crossbones symbol below its fanged mouth and rather vacant-looking eyes.

"Oh, my, a battle," Xelloss remarked. "This should be entertaining." He causally tossed his pokéball.

"Gengar!" declared the squat and spiky dark purple pokémon that emerged.

"Arbok, trap it with your Wrap attack!" Jessie commanded.

"Chabok!" The serpent launched itself at the ghost, which simply stood there as Arbok passed through its gaseous form and landed hard in the dirt behind it.

"Huh?" A look of surprise crossed Jessie's face.

"You won't get anywhere with that; normal attacks will pass right through a ghost," Xelloss explained. "It's common sense, really."

"Oh yeah? How about this? Weezing, Explosion attack now!" Weezing sped forward at James's command, paused in front of Gengar, and - exploded.

"Reflect," Xelloss calmly commanded a split second before the shockwave reached them.

Team Rocket realized what that would do half a split second before it actually happened. Then they were flying out of sight from the force of the explosion, shouting their trademark exiting line: "Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnn ..." Xelloss smiled.

"Oh, yes, that was fun indeed," he said. "I am going to enjoy this vacation."

"Gen-gen-gen-gen-gen-gar-ar-ar-arrrr!" the ghost laughed.


Meanwhile, the other five had arrived at Pokémon Tower. Amelia took one look at the dark building and began to shiver.

"T-that looks r-r-really scary!" she quavered.

"Yeah!" Gourry seconded. "Do we really have to go inside?"

"I'm not going to force you to," Dragonfly said. "I just thought it might intrigue you. Not much is known about the ghost pokémon, after all."

"I'll go in!" Lina decided. "I'm not afraid of some old tower! Is anyone with me?"

Zelgadis glanced at the trembling Gourry and Amelia, sighed, and somewhat reluctantly said, "I'll go with you."

"Good!" Lina declared. "Then come on Zel, let's get going!"

Zelgadis, wondering what this would lead to, followed Lina through the front doors of the tower.


The doors closed behind them, throwing them into a seemingly impenetrable darkness.

"If we're going to explore, we're going to need some light," Lina observed. She held up her hand and began to concentrate, but after a second a confused look crossed her face. Then she got mad and started yelling for the magic to work.

"We can't use our spells, remember?" came Zelgadis's voice through the blackness.

"Oh ... yeah, I forgot. In that case - Charizard, go!"

An instant later a small area was lit by the flame burning on the red lizard's tail.

"Ha! I knew I chose the right pokémon! Charizard, can you light up this room with a flash of light?"

Lina, of course, had no idea that Flash was a documented move created solely for this purpose. Oh, well, the worlds work in mysterious ways.

"Charrrr!" A controlled stream of fire rolled forth from Charizard's throat. The room became illuminated with a flickering light that somehow remained after the fire dissipated - but that's just the effect of the Flash technique.

"Okay, great! Charizard, return! Now we can start looking around!"

The rooms of the tower showed every sign of being completely deserted. There were cobwebs in the corners and moths in the closets. A thick layer of dust covered every available surface.

In one room, a gigantic chandelier had somehow fallen from the ceiling and now lay on the floor.

"Hmmm - I wonder how that happened?" Lina mused. It was at this point that the ghosts decided to show up.

"Gastly!" the first exclaimed, appearing directly in front of Lina.

"Yow!" Lina jumped back and stared at the floating apparition. "What is that thing?"

"Gas - gastly," it stated. It was basically a black sphere with slightly evil-looking eyes that somehow extended beyond the perimeter of the face and a fanged mouth. A translucent purple gas surrounded it.

"Gastly. That must be its name," Zelgadis observed.

"Yeah, well it certainly looks ghastly."

"Gast?" A surprised look crossed the pokémon's face. Then its features twisted into an utterly impossible and ridiculous expression, which I'm not even going to try to describe.

"Huh?" Lina's expression was one of confusion.

"Gen - gaaaaaaaaarrrrrr!" A Gengar dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of the Gastly, pushing it to the floor. The two ghosts jumped back up and laughed.

"What are they trying to do?" Lina asked, looking more confused than ever.

"It would appear," Zelgadis began as the two pokémon started making faces and playing ridiculous pranks on each other, "that they are trying to make us laugh."

"Huh. Well, in that case, it sure isn't working."

The ghosts gave a start of surprise and stared at Lina. "For one thing," she continued, "their act is far too weird to be funny, so all it is is confusing. And for another - " Suddenly she paused, and glanced behind her. "Say, Zel, do you hear something?"


What Lina heard was the faint notes of Jigglypuff's song drifting in from outside, and the reason for that was this: When Dragonfly left Gourry and Amelia to look for his Gengar, Amelia's Jigglypuff decided to show off, as follows:

"I gotta go look for Gengar. You two will be fine here alone, right?"

"Oh, sure!" Gourry replied. "We'll be fine, won't we, Amelia?"

"I guess so," Amelia agreed, glancing unsteadily at the tower.

"Okay, great! See ya later!" Dragonfly flew off down the path, leaving Gourry, Amelia, and Jigglypuff.

"What do we do now?" Gourry wondered.

"Wait for someone to return, I guess," Amelia said.

"Yeah, but that's boring."

"Jiggly!"

Amelia looked down at her puffy companion.

"What is it Jigglypuff?" she asked.

"Jig-jigglypuff!" The small round pokémon jumped on top of a rock, picked up a stick, and held it in front of itself like a microphone. "Jiggly - puff!"

"Hey, cool! Your pokémon wants to fight!" Gourry exclaimed, thinking that Jigglypuff meant for the stick to be a sword.

"No, it doesn't! It's going to perform for us!" Amelia turned to Jigglypuff and smiled. "We'd love to see you perform, Jigglypuff! Go ahead and do your best!"

Jigglypuff smiled, cleared its throat, and began to sing.

"Jiiiig-o-ly puuuuuffffff, jigg-o-ly puff. Jig-jigg-o-ly, jigg-o-ly puu-u-u-uff ..."

Gourry blinked twice, and began to look tired. He gave a huge yawn.

"Hey Amelia, are you feeling tired, too? Amelia? ..."

Amelia had already fallen asleep. Within a few moments, Gourry was snoring as well.

Jigglypuff stopped singing and looked at the sleeping humans. Its song had had the usual effect on them. The pokémon smiled, hopped down from its perch, and went to sleep beside Amelia.

A few stray notes drifted into the tower.


The ghosts heard the song too. They glanced at each other, then began laughing again.

"I wonder what that music was," Lina said.

"Me too."

"Gengar!"

"Huh?"

Lina and Zelgadis turned to look back at the ghostly pokémon. As they did so, Gengar clapped, held its hands in front of its face, and started emitting hypnosis rays.

Caught by the rays of Gengar's Hypnosis attack, Lina and Zelgadis began to feel sleepy. Their eyelids drooped, and after a moment they slumped to the floor, sound asleep.

Gastly grinned at the already grinning Gengar. Gengar laughed and jumped over to the two sleepers. Time to have some fun, it thought.

The ghost placed one hand on Lina's forehead, and the other on Zelgadis's. Then it floated upwards - pulling the two out of their bodies and into a ghostlike state of being.

The technical term for this process is paraphasing. To describe the phenomenon in more detail, it is when the mind (or soul, or whatever you care to call it) is separated from the body while the body is still alive. It is only temporary, but a prolonged experience can result in difficulty returning to the body. If the body dies while the mind is still paraphased, then it is no longer paraphasing and the mind is then a complete ghost. Now, back to the story.

Lina and Zelgadis were quite shocked to find themselves hovering over their own bodies.

"Hey! What the -" Lina exclaimed.

"What happened?" Zelgadis asked.

Gengar laughed. It pointed to them, and then to itself.

"It's saying that it made us like it!" Lina deduced.

"You mean we've been separated from our bodies?"

"Apparently. Look, ghost, if this is your idea of a joke, we want no part in it!"

Gengar just laughed again. Then it grabbed Lina by the arm and flew up through the roof. Gastly disappeared upwards as well.

"Hey, wait!" Zelgadis called, and followed them up.

They emerged above the tower, with an excellent view of Lavender Town. A strong wind whipped across the roof, but in their current condition it couldn't knock them off.

"Hey ... this is pretty cool!" Lina observed. She glanced in the other direction to see Gourry and Amelia sleeping outside the tower. A mischievous look crossed her face. "There are the others. I bet they won't be able to see us!"

"You're not thinking of going down there and scaring them, are you?" Zelgadis asked.

"Of course! What's the point of vacation if you can't have fun, after all?" Lina and the ghosts laughed and leapt down off the tower roof. Zelgadis sighed and followed.

"Hey, wake up!" Lina yelled at Gourry. He woke with a start and glanced nervously about.

"Amelia, wake up!" He poked her shoulder.

Amelia sat up and yawned. "What is it?" she asked.

"I thought I heard something."

"You did?" She blinked, and began to look worried. "W-what if it's those ghosts Mr. Dragonfly was talking about?"

"I don't know. Hey, do you think there really are any ghosts?"

"I'll give you an answer to that question!" Lina said. She floated behind Gourry, grabbed him under the arms, and lifted him into the air.

"Hey!" Gourry exclaimed as he felt himself being lifted up. Lina chuckled and rose higher. "Whoa - lemme down! I do believe in ghosts! I do believe in ghosts!" He flailed about, but to no avail.

"You want down? You got it!" Lina let go.

"Yaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" Gourry landed with a crash.

Amelia snapped out of her scared trance and leapt on top of a nearby boulder. "That was mean!" she yelled into the air. "Even ghosts should have a sense of justice and righteousness! Dropping innocent people from great heights is unjust and cruel!"

Oh, brother, not another "justice" speech, Lina thought. Then she got an idea.

Lina zipped back down to the ground and picked up Amelia.

"If you want to give us another speech from a high perch, go high enough so we can't hear you!" she said, flying to the top of the tower and dumping the annoying little justice freak on the roof.

"That's just as bad!" Amelia cried from her new perch. "Let me down right now! I'm n-not afraid of you ghosts! Are you still there?"

Zelgadis couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Amelia, how are you going to get down?" Gourry called.

"I don't know, think of something!"

That was the wrong thing to ask of someone with Gourry's mental capacity. Fortunately, he got some help.

"Jiggly!"

"Huh?" Gourry looked down at the small round pokémon by his leg. It was holding a pokéball. "Hey, that's my pokéball!"

"Jiggly! Jigglypuff!" Jigglypuff held the ball up to him. He took it.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

For a second Lina wished she were back in her body so she could whack him over the head and explain it.

"Gourry, isn't your pokémon a bird?" Amelia yelled down at him.

"Yeah, so?"

"So use it to fly up and get me down!"

"Huh? Oh, I get it! Okay, pokéball, go!"

The pokémon that emerged was a large yellow bird with a long beak and stiff feathers. Its appearance conveyed the sense of electricity very well indeed.

"Zapdos, fly up and get Amelia!"

"Zap!" The bird rose into the air with two powerful strokes of its wings, almost blowing Gourry off his feet. It soared to the top of the tower, where Amelia hesitantly mounted it.

"Doooooossssss!!" Zapdos took a nosedive for the ground, scaring Amelia half to death. It braked just before impact and landed softly.

Watching this, Lina laughed. "That was fun! Too bad the whole vacation can't be like this," she said. The ghosts, who had been hiding invisibly the whole time, laughed.

"Gen gar gar!" Gengar exclaimed, grabbing Lina again and flying up to the tower wall. Gastly and Zelgadis followed them.

They flew through a wall and into a room filled to the brim with toys. There were all kinds, in all shapes and sizes, from beach balls to swing sets, and even a merry-go-round.

"Wow," Lina remarked, unable to think of anything else to say.

Gastly and Gengar leapt into the room and began playing with the toys, laughing and hiding and hitting each other over the head with blocks.

"Gas-gastly," Gastly remarked, and Gengar jumped over and pulled Lina and Zelgadis further into the room.

"Hey, watch it!" Lina snapped.

"It appears that they want us to play with them," Zelgadis observed.

"Play with them?" Lina blinked. The ghosts nodded. "Oh, well, we're going to be here a while anyways, and I'm sure Gourry and Amelia would love to once they're introduced, so sure, we can play with you!"

Zelgadis almost fell over in shock. "You mean you're actually agreeing to?" he sputtered.

"Well, it can't hurt,"

"Gah!" Now he did fall over.

"Hey, ghosts, we'd like to try all these neat toys, but I think we'd enjoy it more if we were back in our bodies. Do you mind leading us back there?" Lina inquired.

The ghosts didn't mind. They re-entered the room with the chandelier, but found more than they'd expected to see. A new figure sauntered in as they came down through the ceiling.

"Xelloss?" Lina exclaimed. "How did he get here?"

"He must have followed us through the portal," said Zelgadis. "I didn't even know he was nearby."

"This is certainly an unusual sight," Xelloss remarked on seeing Lina and Zelgadis's limp bodies. "I wonder how it could have happened?"

"He won't notice us until we're in our bodies. Come on, let's go!" Lina grabbed Zelgadis and pulled him down towards the sleeping forms. They sank back into their bodies.

"Well, well, look who's up," Xelloss said as Lina and Zelgadis sat up.

"Xelloss, what are you doing here?" Lina demanded, jumping to her feet. Zelgadis stood up behind her.

"Why, the same thing you're doing, of course: having vacation. I couldn't help but overhear the conversation you were having with your new friend, and I decided to see what this other dimension was like." Xelloss smiled and held up a finger. "And I must admit, the inability to use spells in this world provides an interesting challenge, don't you agree?"

Lina blinked, and then a smile spread across her face.

"Wait a second, since we can't use spells here, and since nobody fights battles themselves, that means that without any pokémon, you're virtually helpless!"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't say that," Xelloss countered. "You see, I found this." He held up the pokéball.

"Where did you get that?" Zelgadis queried.

"I believe Mr. Dragonfly dropped it on his way here."

"Oh, that's right, the Gengar!" Lina exclaimed.

"So you know what it is."

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, we've met one ourselves. It's right over th- huh?" she turned around and scanned the room. "Hey ... where'd they go?"

The ghosts had disappeared.

"Oh, well, I'm sure they'll return," Xelloss said.

"Yeah," Lina began, "but in the meantime ..." she turned back around and pointed at Xelloss. "I challenge you to a pokémon battle!"

"Huh?" Xelloss started in surprise.

"That's right, a battle! I want to see if you're as good at this as you are with magic - and besides, it's the first chance I've gotten to battle something all day."

"Lina, are you sure?" Zelgadis asked.

"Of course I'm sure! What have I got to lose, after all?"

"If you insist, Miss Lina, then let's get on with the battle," said Xelloss.

"All right, Charizard, showtime!" The large red lizard materialized in front of Lina. It flared its wings and shot a small stream of fire from its mouth.

"Hmmm ... an apt choice for you. Gengar, go." Gengar struck an imposing stance as it appeared.

"Let the battle begin!" Lina cried. "Charizard, Flamethrower now!"

Charizard roared, and a wave of flame surged from its mouth at Gengar. The ghost pokémon dodged nimbly out of the way.

"Gengar, use your Night Shade attack."

"Gen-gar!" It let loose a series of ethereal waves that engulfed Charizard and began to weaken it. The large fire pokémon quavered, and screeched in pain under the attack.

"Oh no! Charizard, quick, break free and trap it with Fire Spin!"

"Chhhhhhh ... AAAAARRRRRR!!!" With a tremendous effort, Charizard broke through the Night Shade and shot a stream of fire at the momentarily stunned Gengar. The stream rose and flowed around the ghost in a spiral, trapping it.

Xelloss lowered his gaze to meet Lina in the eye.

"Hypnosis," he commanded, still calm.

Gengar began emitting waves again, except this time they were the sedative waves of the Hypnosis attack. Charizard faltered, trying to keep its eyes open. It was a futile struggle however, and soon the large lizard fell to the floor with a thump. The stream of fire died away.

"What? No! ... How - how could this happen?" Lina sputtered.

"Well, it appears that I have won," Xelloss commented. "Are you satisfied now, Miss Lina?"


Amelia and Gourry heard the sounds of the battle from their station outside of the tower.

"Wow, it sounds like it's a tough battle!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Don't worry!" Amelia reassured him. "With their true hearts and just cause, they will surely triumph over those evil denizens of the tower!"

"Don't you think we should go in there and help them?"

"Right! We will smite the dark ghosts with the hammer of justice!"

"Hold it!"

"Huh?" Gourry and Amelia turned as Dragonfly appeared from behind the tower.

"They're doing just fine in there," he told them. "You don't need to intervene."

"Oh ... are you sure?" Gourry asked.

"I'm sure - you can sit down and relax."

"Have you been watching them, Mr. Dragonfly?" Amelia queried. "But I thought you went to look for your pokémon."

"Yeah, and I found it," Dragonfly explained. "I just have to wait for a chance to get it back. Later!" He leapt up and disappeared into an open window of the tower.

"I wonder what he meant by that," remarked Gourry.


"Charizard, return!" Lina retrieved her defeated pokémon and shot the smiling Xelloss an angry look. "You won that round, but next time I'll be victorious, mark my word!" she snarled.

"Oh, yes, I'm quite looking forward to the next match," Xelloss remarked. "You put up quite a fight. It was an invigorating battle."

"Invigorating it may have been, but are you ready for another one?" Zelgadis asked, stepping forwards.

"What? Zel?" Lina exclaimed. "You're gonna battle?"

"Yes," Zelgadis confirmed. "I want to try my hand at this, and now," he continued, directing the conversation at Xelloss, "your Gengar is weakened from the last fight. I believe I have a chance."

"Very well, then," Xelloss agreed. "If you insist."

Zelgadis smiled. Holding his pokéball, he pulled back, then forcefully flung the sphere to the ground, calling, "Golem, prepare for battle!"

The megaton pokémon materialized and glared at its opponent. Xelloss's smile broadened slightly.

"Golem? I do say, that is quite a fitting choice!" he laughed. "Tell me, did you choose it yourself?"

Zelgadis began to get angry. "That's none of your business!" he growled. "Golem, Rock Throw attack!"

Golem leapt into the air and attempted to land on top of Gengar. The ghost dashed out of the way, and the only thing Golem damaged was the floor.

"Confuse Ray, Gengar."

"Gar!" Gengar began readying a beam of energy. Zelgadis saw this and reacted.

"Defense Curl!" he commanded. Golem pulled its head, arms, and legs into its bedrock shell, so that it was protected from attack. Just then, Gengar blasted it with the Confuse Ray. The beam hit the hard shell - and broke. Golem stood up unaffected.

"What?" Xelloss exclaimed.

"Now's our chance! Earthquake!"

"Golem!!" The rock-like pokémon leapt up, then slammed all of its weight into the floor. The whole place began to shudder and quake. Pieces of the ceiling tumbled down. Lina tripped and nearly fell, but managed to catch herself.

"Hold on, Zel, don't bring the whole place down," she said, but her voice was lost in the rumble.

"Gen! Gar! Gengengengengengen - ooff!!" Gengar was stumbling about, trying to avoid the falling chunks of plaster, but with little success. It somehow seemed to be taking extra damage from the attack, and when the quake was over and the dust cleared, it lay stunned on the floor.

"What? Impossible! How could Gengar be defeated by an attack like that?" Xelloss exclaimed.

"Simple: You don't know your pokémon," a familiar voice responded.

"Dragonfly!" Lina exclaimed as the boy leapt from his perch in a high window.

"You forgot that Gengar is poison type as well as ghost type," Dragonfly continued, "and poison is weak against ground type attacks like Earthquake, so Zel's Golem here was able to defeat it with no problem." He turned to Lina. "I can't say the same for your Charizard. Unfortunately, you both rely on offensive attacks, so there was no way you could defeat a strategically handled pokémon like Gengar."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of it that way," Lina replied. "And were you watching us during the whole battle?"

"Most of it. I arrived shortly after your friend here," he pointed at Xelloss, "while in pursuit of my pokémon. And speaking of which ..." he turned and fixed Xelloss with a determined glare. "I'd like to have Gengar back now, if you don't mind."

"I would be happy to consent," Xelloss replied, "but I'm afraid that Gengar has taken to me." In agreement with this, the recovering Gengar leapt to Xelloss's side and gave a definitive grunt of consent. "If you want it back, I imagine you'll have to wait until the vacation is over."

One of Dragonfly's more unhealthy tendencies is to take an instant dislike to people like Xelloss. This inevitably leads to his challenging them, and there is no incident of this in my memory where he has won. He never seems to learn - but hey, that's not my problem.

"Well, I'm not gonna wait!" Dragonfly insisted. "Nobody invited you anyways - and I see no reason to welcome an uninvited guest. Now hand Gengar over or battle me!"

"Uh, Dragonfly, I don't think that's a good idea ..." Lina cautioned, but the warning went unheeded.

Xelloss glared right back at Dragonfly, who suddenly wished he hadn't challenged him.

"Very well. Gengar, Recover." The ghost healed itself, the bruises on its body disappearing. Lina wondered how a ghost could get bruised in the first place, but decided that it was determined by some unknown rule of that world.

No turning back now, Dragonfly thought. He reached down and took a pokéball from his belt. His eyes scanned the room and locked onto a certain area. I hope this works, he prayed.

"Scyther, I choose you!" Dragonfly flung his pokéball, which deposited a large mantis-like pokémon with razor-sharp blades on its forelegs.

"Scyther!" it hissed, brandishing the blades and buzzing the four wings on its back.

"That wasn't a very good choice," Xelloss observed. "Surely you know that Scyther's only offensive attacks are normal type, rendering it helpless against a ghost."

"That's true," Dragonfly confirmed, casting a suspicious look at him, "but I'll bet I can still defeat you if I handle this correctly. Scyther, confuse it with Double Team!"

"I wonder how Xelloss knows so much," Zelgadis mused as Scyther began zipping almost invisibly about the room, using its agility to create the illusion that there was more than one of itself.

"Don't look at me," Lina replied. "I thought none of us had ever been here before."

"Gengar, flood the room with Night Shade."

"Aaaggghh, look out!" Lina and Zelgadis dodged behind an upturned table to avoid the energy waves. Scyther stopped in its tracks, and screeched as the attack hit home.

"Unnhhhhh ..." Dragonfly was struggling with the effects of the technique as well. "Fly up, Scyther," he gasped. The insect consented, and hovered above them.

"Ah, now finish it with a spinning tackle," Xelloss commanded.

"Gen - gaaaaaarrrrrr!" The ghost charged at Scyther, then curled up and came spinning at the hovering bug. Its spikes gleamed in what little light filtered in through the windows.

"Hold steady, hold steady ..." Dragonfly instructed as Gengar came nearer and nearer. "Now! Confusion Slash!"

At the last instant Scyther sprang out of the way, and swiped through Gengar with its blades. Startled by the flashing scythes, the ghost faltered and slammed into some invisible barrier. It slumped to the floor, dazed, but quickly recovered.

"Ack! That didn't work?" Dragonfly exclaimed. "But it hit the dimensional barrier! It should've been stunned for weeks!"

"What? You used dimensional manipulation to try to take it out?" Lina demanded. "That's cheating! Of course it didn't work!"

"Unless you have no chance of winning otherwise, you shouldn't cheat like that," Zelgadis seconded. "And if it's only a friendly match, you shouldn't cheat at all."

"Oh, yes, it's very dishonorable to cheat," Xelloss agreed. Zelgadis cast him a you-should-talk look. "So why don't we start the battle over - I'll even let you choose a different pokémon if you wish."

"Oh, never mind, it's not worth the trouble," Dragonfly decided. "You can have Gengar for the vacation."

Xelloss smiled.


After explaining their new companion to Gourry and Amelia, introducing the two to the ghosts (a concept that made Amelia quake with fear until she actually met them and decided they were cute), and sending Dragonfly into town to get a week's worth of food for Lina and Gourry's dinner, the rest of the vacation went smoothly.

Okay, almost smoothly.

Everyone was wondering how Xelloss seemed to know so much about pokémon, but whenever they asked him about it, he just smiled, held up a finger, and predictably replied, "That is a secret."

Furthermore, everybody seemed to be having a good time in the ghosts' playroom - except Zelgadis. He refused to participate in any of the games. Oh, sure, the others talked him into it once or twice, but after one of the merry-go-round horses broke under his weight and Xelloss made a humorous remark on it, he just sulked in the corner, grumbling to himself.

On the third day after this event, Dragonfly came over and sat down next to him.

"Cheer up, Zel, it could be worse," he said.

"Yeah? How?"

Dragonfly paused. He shifted into a more comfortable position, and gave Zelgadis a knowing look.

"Let me tell you my story," he decided. "I am a phase-hopper. That is, one born with the ability to travel across dimensions. My kind are few and far between. As a matter of fact, I've never met another true phase-hopper. There are your regular mega-powerful wizards and sorcerers who can do it to some degree, but not many with the natural talent. See, you must be born with Omnian Rubies within you."

"Omnian Rubies?" Zelgadis asked.

"Yes. They are gems imbued with the matrix of the dimensional interface. Used correctly, you can phase-jump with them. Sometimes they're used to enchant jewelry, and that can lead to chaos." Dragonfly smiled. "But phase-hoppers are born with them as their eyes, and therefore can see and utilize the dimensional interface. That's how you can always tell a phase-hopper from a normal human - by the red glint in their differently-colored eyes and their uncanny perceptiveness."

"So that is what you are, then," Zelgadis concluded. "I don't see what that has to do with me."

"Nothing. I haven't gotten to that part yet."

"Oh."

"Now to continue: My home phase is an insignificant world tucked away in the depths of memory. There are few that know of it besides its inhabitants. I set out on a life of adventure, aspiring to become a hero and be known across the realms." The boy sighed in memory. "Unfortunately, all I'm known for are my mistakes. I have several unhealthy tendencies, one of which seems to be an eternal curse of Murphy's Law."

"What's that?"

"'Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.' That's it. I always mess up, and I can't help it. Half the time it's not my fault - but that's what I'm remembered for anyways. One of those mistakes left me with my wing device attached permanently to my back. At least I have one friend in my home-realm who understands me - but one just isn't enough these days."

"Your story sounds much like mine," Zelgadis sighed. "It all began when I wanted to be strong ..."

Zelgadis found himself telling Dragonfly the whole story. How Rezo had made him what he was. It flowed out of him like water bursting from a dam. This was what he'd needed all along, he realized. Someone he could tell the story to in full, and who would sympathize and be able to relate it to his or her own experiences. He finished the story, and it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Y'know," Dragonfly said after contemplating the tale for a minute. "In one world I've visited, the chimera represents that which is elusive and just out of reach." His gaze met Zelgadis's. "I find that what is elusive is often unintentionally stumbled upon far too easily."


"Well, I'm glad Zel's cheered up, but we really should be getting back to our own dimension soon," Lina remarked a couple days later.

"Do we have to, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked. "But I really like it here! Can't we stay a little longer?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to maintain the dimensional stretch that slows time in your realm much longer," Dragonfly said. "Besides, there's always the chance that Team Rocket or somebody could show up, and then word would get out that we were here. That could cause a lot of trouble, which getting out of is far from easy for me."

"Team Rocket? Oh, no, I don't think you'll have to worry about them," Xelloss assured him. "I blasted them off the first day here."

"You WHAT?" Dragonfly exclaimed. "And you just happen to mention this NOW? Oh, man, I really am busted!"

"Who are these 'Team Rocket' guys?" Gourry queried.

"They're an organization of bad guys - bandits, if you will - who steal pokémon and try to take over the world. Fortunately, most of their employees are idiots who wouldn't know a good idea if it hit them over the head with a log."

"Good. Maybe no one will believe them," Lina said.

"Let's hope so," Dragonfly muttered. "But we should leave as soon as possible in order to avoid any mishaps. I say we go tomorrow. That way you can still have some time to enjoy the vacation a little longer before leaving."

"All right, then," Lina agreed. "Tomorrow it is."


That night, Lina dreamed. She was riding on Charizard, flying through the air of the Pokémon world. Suddenly, a giant golden bird dropped out of a cloud in front of her. There wasn't any time to stop or change direction! They were about to crash - and then her dream disappeared.

"What?" she exclaimed, glancing at the utter blackness she found herself in. "What happened? Whoa!" She felt herself being pulled upwards. Wind whipped in her face, and she braced herself and closed her eyes against it.

The movement stopped. Lina cautiously opened her eyes, not quite sure what she would find.

She found herself floating above her own body, with a grinning Gengar floating beside her.

"Oh, not again!" she cried. "Why does this stuff always happen to me?"

"Now, now, you shouldn't be so negative," a voice remarked. Lina scanned the room for its source, but found nothing. "I find Gengar's Dream Eater ability rather useful."

Xelloss materialized next to Lina, also paraphased.

"You! What are you doing this for?" Lina demanded. "I was trying to get a good night's sleep before we head back home!"

"Ah, that is a secret," Xelloss replied. "But I would like to show you something, if you would follow me, Miss Lina."

Xelloss floated off, and Lina was pulled along in spite of her wishes. Gengar followed in the rear.

"Now where are we going?" Lina asked as they flew across the Pokémon world unseen. "All you've done since we arrived here is cause mischief, and I, for one, don't want to be pulled into any more of that."

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about," Xelloss assured her, not too reassuringly. "We're just going to pay some people from this realm a visit, that's all."

"So in other words, you're causing mischief elsewhere and dragging me into it," Lina muttered.

"Well, you could put it that way, I suppose ..."

Lina sighed.

A few minutes later, they flew through the wall of a Pokémon Center and into one of its guest bedrooms. A young boy with spiky black hair was asleep in the bed, and his pokémon, a small yellow mouse-like creature, was curled up next to him. His backpack lay on the floor, and his official Pokémon League hat hung on the bedpost.

Any pokémaniac would instantly have recognized Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu. Then again, Lina is no pokémaniac.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"He's a young pokémon trainer with lots of spirit," Xelloss replied. "I found that with Gengar's help, I could enter his dreams, so I've been monitoring him for most of the vacation."

"But why?" Lina knew what answer she was going to get, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"That is a secret."

She was right.

"Well then, if you're going to insist on doing this, let's get it over with," she sighed. "I'd like to get back to sleep as soon as possible."

"All right then, here we go," Xelloss said, and suddenly Lina felt a rush of movement as her paraphased form shrank and moved forwards at the same time. The world whirled around her, and the boy's head was getting closer and closer. Then she saw Xelloss dive through his eyelids, and she was pulled through as well.

The world behind the eyelids wasn't at all what Lina had expected. They were standing in a row of bleachers, amongst a crowd of people who for some reason took no notice of them. Below them in the stadium stood a tall, dark figure - and the boy whose dream they had entered. They were facing each other, and it looked as if the boy had already gone through several battles.

Xelloss sat down and started munching on a bag of popcorn that appeared out of nowhere.

"Sit down and enjoy the show," he advised the gawking Lina. "We're a tiny bit late, but there should still be some entertaining battles up ahead."

Lina sat next to Xelloss and a bag of popcorn appeared for her too. She popped a piece in her mouth, and her eyes lit up.

"This is good!" she exclaimed, and started scarfing down the popcorn as fast as she could - in other words, at about the speed of light.

"Ah - Miss Lina, I really think you should pace yourself," Xelloss cautioned, sweatdropping. "You can't get sick from eating that, but it is an infinite quantity - and besides, the battle is about to begin."

"Huh?" Lina stopped stuffing her face and glanced down at the battle arena. The boy struck a determined stance and pointed at the dark figure.

"You may have beaten me so far, but I promise, I'll win this battle if it's the last thing I do!" he declared. The figure laughed.

"And how do you imagine you're going to do that?" it asked in a deep, imposing voice. The boy shot it a determined glare.

"For the last battle, I choose you, Pikachu!" he called.

"Pika pi!" The yellow mouse with the jagged tail that had been asleep by the boy's side in the real world stepped up to battle. Electricity crackled around it as it braced itself to attack.

The figure chuckled to itself. Lifting a hand, it snapped its fingers. A rumble filled the stadium, and then a boulder came flying out of a tunnel from behind the dark figure. It spun in the air for a moment, then pulled its head, arms, and legs out of its bedrock shell and plunged downwards. The Golem's punch shook the stadium, the ground cracking and fracturing from the impact. Then it split wide open, and though Golem leapt out of the way, Pikachu found itself tumbling into the depths of the earth.

"Oh! PIKACHU!" the boy cried, reaching futilely for his falling pokémon. The figure just stood there, laughing evilly.

"PIIIIIIIIIKAAAAAAAAA!! ..." Pikachu called as it fell into the fissure.

Lina gaped at the scene, rage building inside her. How could someone be that cruel? She had met people like that before - she shuddered at the memories. But the poor boy, trying his best to do what he's been training for and dreaming of, only to have this mysterious person blow him away and drop his steadfast friend and partner into that pit, probably never to return? There was no way to slice this as anything but a nightmare, and an unnecessarily cruel one at that.

"Gengar, freeze frame!" Xelloss commanded, and everything froze. Everything except Lina, Xelloss, and the boy, that is.

Ash finally noticed the two outsiders, and he stood up to greet them as they floated down from the bleachers.

"Oh, it's you again," he said to Xelloss. "Thanks for stopping that."

"It was nothing, really," Xelloss replied as he floated a relieved Pikachu out of the crevice and into Ash's arms.

"Pikachu! I'm so glad you're okay!" Ash exclaimed. He looked up at Lina. "Who're you?"

Xelloss cut in before Lina could respond.

"This is an accomplice of mine, Miss Lina Inverse," he explained. "And Miss Lina, this is Ash Ketchum, pokémon trainer."

"Charmed," Lina grumbled. "Look, I'm only along for the ride, so let's set things right and get outta here, okay?"

"Well, if you insist," Xelloss agreed. He tapped the red gem on the top of his staff, and the scenery became a lush forest thick with trees.

"Oh, Viridian Forest!" Ash remarked, instantly recognizing it. "This is where I caught my first pokémon!" He set Pikachu down, and a sudden memory brought a look of nostalgia to his face. "But Butterfree is gone now. I sure miss it ..."

"Now that your dream has a happier angle, I'm afraid Miss Lina and I must be going," Xelloss pointed out.

"Okay, see you!" Ash called, and the forest faded out of sight.


"You could've stopped that nightmare at any point, couldn't you!" Lina demanded as they flew back to Pokémon Tower. "Why, I ask you, did you have to let him go through that? He's only a kid!"

"Now now, if I went around stopping people's nightmares they'd never learn anything, would they?" Xelloss replied. "I stopped it after it had run its necessary course and delivered the message." The mysterious priest smiled. "And delivering him to Viridian Forest afterwards was a perfect setup - it will be easier for him to cope with, but it still won't ruin the nightmare."

"WHAT? It's still a nightmare?" Lina shot the smiling Xelloss an angry glare. "Just what is going to happen to him?"

"That is a secret ... oh, dear me, I'm afraid I've said too much," Xelloss finished as he caught one of Lina's if-you-don't-tell-me-now-I'll-strangle-you looks. "Very well - he will relive a difficult experience he had in Viridian forest where he learned never to give up. Are you satisfied now?"

Lina sighed and reluctantly nodded, knowing she wouldn't be able to get anything more out of him. Pokémon Tower appeared on the rolling horizon as they approached their destination.


"That was a rather intriguing getaway," Dragonfly remarked after he had taken them back to their own dimension the next morning. "But something tells me that if I go on another outing with you guys it'll get a little more invigorating! There are worse worlds than Pokémon out there, after all."

"I've no doubt about that," Zelgadis agreed.

"Say Dragster," Lina said. "Is there a way we could call you again if we need help or something? I've got a feeling that this encounter will add up to more than a vacation in the end."

"Yeah, well, you're probably right about that," Dragonfly replied. "Every realm I visit adds to my list of odd adventures sooner or later. You can contact me any time by using this summon spell." He pulled several worn sheets of paper out of his cloak pocket and handed them to Lina. "It summons a giant bug - of a random kind. Just tell it to deliver your message to me. They're my personal servants and they haven't failed me yet."

"G-giant bugs?" Amelia shuddered at the thought. "I've had too many giant bugs already! Can you make sure they're cute ones, Mr. Dragonfly?"

"I can't promise you anything," the phase-hopper responded. "You could get anything from a slug to a butterfly. It all depends on who's free at the time."

Lina's face had gone pale at the mention of a giant slug. She quickly corrected that before anyone noticed.

"But bugs are free," Gourry pointed out in his usual stupid way. "I mean," he continued, seeing the confused looks he was getting, "you don't have to pay for them or anything, do you?"

Everybody else fell over in unison, shaking the ground with the impact.

"No, you idiot!" Lina growled, leaping back up and whacking her dim-witted companion over the head. "He means like which one can do the task at the moment! Now is that clear enough or do I have to put it in even simpler terms?"

"Ahhhh - no, I get it! I get it!" Gourry hurriedly confirmed before he acquired another painful lump.

"Poor Mr. Gourry!" Amelia exclaimed. "Miss Lina's beat him up so many times, it's a wonder he's still alive!"

"What about our pokémon?" Zelgadis inquired, ignoring the other three.

"I'll keep them for you until we have reason to use them again," Dragonfly decided. "Which we no doubt will ..." he added under his breath.

"All right, then ... say, where did Xelloss disappear to?"

"Who knows ..." the boy shrugged, then took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and seemed to shake something off of his mind. "Well, see you; it was a great visit," he called, turning and walking slowly into the distance.

"Until we meet again, friend," Zelgadis replied. "Until we meet again."

Some distance down the road, Dragonfly vanished, much like the mysterious mirage that fades away as one draws ever nearer.


Author's Notes

Thus ends my first attempt at a true fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it! My favoring of Xelloss, Zelgadis, and Lina might have stood out a little - but hey, they're my favorite characters. Dragonfly is a character I created entirely by myself, and so's the "phase-hopper" idea. If you'd like to suggest something in the sequel (which I'm already working on - it's a sequel to Final Fantasy 7 that centers on a Slayers cross-phase) or use my ideas and/or characters, or just plain comment on this fanfic, please e-mail me at thundra1@aceplanet.net Thanx! ^_^

- Thundra1, total pokémaniac, anime freak, and expert cross-phaser. ^_^


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