When Charlene the charmeleon nearly drowned trying to rescue Todd the eevee, all of her friends gathered, remembering their past with her and fearful that she would be gone. Charlene learned a little more about her past and about what happened the fateful day she - as the human Charlie - encountered a mew in the human world and took a gem known as the Prism of Hope. It is time to now tell the story of what happened when she woke up, and the source of her incredible power.

"Guys! I'm okay! Honest!" Charlene cried out, being embraced on all sides by her friends Todd the eevee, Chelsey the squirtle, and Alexander the lucario. Upon seeing her awaken, they bounded to her side, and now they cleared away fearful of breaking her tenuous battle with unconsciousness.

Only Todd remained, clinging and... to everyone's surprise... crying and wailing his apologies. "This is all my fault, Charlene! I'm so sorry! I should have been-" Charlene placed a claw-finger on Todd's lips, shushing him. Todd whimpered though, and didn't shy away.

"What DID happen here, anyway?" Chelsey asked, puzzled. "Todd and..."

"Bastion," Todd explained. "The beedrill's name is Bastion."

"..Bastion carried you from the far side of the beach back home, but what were you doing there in the first place?"

Todd looked at the floor. "It was all my fault. We heard Bastion's cry for help, see... we ran up the cliffs and tried to rescue him, when more of those earthquakes started up again. We were near the edge of the cliff, and I-"

"-And I slipped and fell off of the cliff," Charlene interrupted. "I was down there for awhile trying to swim my way out, but I got stuck. Todd ran to the far side, trying to find out how to save me. I barely managed to pull myself back to the shallows, and that's where Todd found both Bastion and myself."

Chelsey's face grew in deep concern. "Charlene! You are a FIRE TYPE POKEMON now! I know you meant well, but you need to be so much more careful around water!"

Charlene nodded. She stole a glance at Todd that only he noticed. "You're right. But... everyone is entitled to a mistake. And at any rate, I'll be okay. Only..."

"Only what?" a lilting, kind voice from the entrance of the room asked. They turned and saw the chansey that had been treating Charlene. "Clear away, you lot. She's not going to get better if you exhaust her again." With that, they did back up and made room for her, with even Todd backing away, yet not removing her eyes from Charlene. For one of the first times in his life, he was stunned beyond words.

"Only... I don't understand. Shouldn't my tail flame have extinguished underwater? Like... completely?" She pointed at her now hotly-glowing tail.

The chansey looked at Charlene curiously. "You should know better than that. Chars like you have a tail flame that is a reflection of your life energy. Simply submerging it isn't going to kill you. How could a charmeleon ever survive battling a water type if it did?"

Charlene blushed, her face turning a slightly darker red.

"It should be noted, though," the chansey continued, examining her tail, "Your tail very nearly WAS out. You are very lucky to not have drowned in that water, Charlene. And I don't know how it's sparked back so brightly in such a short time, but you still need your rest nonetheless. Do you understand me?" And she peered across the room, marking each Pokemon in turn to show that it wasn't just Charlene she was talking to.

Charlene's friends nodded. "Can we stay for awhile?" Alexander asked, surprising everyone again. "We've just... We've been worried."

The chansey eyed him critically. Then looking at Charlene, she nodded. "A few minutes more. But the slightest hint that her tail fire is diminishing and I am kicking ALL of you out. Understand?"

They all nodded and the chansey excused herself.

The room was quiet for awhile. Todd never liked silences, but he just wasn't able to break this one. It loomed over everything. To everyone's stunned amazement, Alexander spoke up again. "I was thinking about a lot of things, Charlene... And... Well, I know that we can't, but..."

Charlene smiled. "I'm just as confused about it as you are. But..." she held out a hand, beckoning him. "I'm not going to regret my decision. I am who I am and I'm allowed to feel the way I feel. No one can tell me otherwise."

Before Todd or Chelsey could say anything, Charlene pulled Alexander down and kissed him gently. And he kissed her back.

"You..." Chelsey began, but that proved fruitless.

"You are..." Todd tried, but that too was a useless attempt.

"I don't know HOW I feel," said Charlene. "But... I mean... I'm a girl NOW, right? So, there's no crime in finding out..."

"But you might not always STAY a-" Chelsey began.

"You think I don't know that?" Charlene answered back, but quietly enough to remain unheard outside of her circle of friends. "I don't know what made me kiss you that night after we trained together, Alexander. It was completely out of nowhere. But I'm tired of regretting the past. I'm tired of apologizing for who I am. And if you want to... time will tell how far this goes, while I'm this way."

Alexander nodded and smiled, taking her hand. That was answer enough for everyone.

"Okay, everyone. Charlene needs her rest. You can go to the waiting room, but you can't stay here," the chansey said, re-entering the room.

The three of them began to follow her out, when Alexander stopped. "Can I... have a moment more? I need to ask her about something. It's incredibly important."

The chansey looked back at him. Then she sighed and waved a go-ahead gesture before leaving, followed by Todd and Chelsey.

Alone in the room together, Charlene and Alexander just watched each other for awhile. "Alexander, did I go too far...?" Charlene finally asked.

Alexander shook his head. The bearest trace of a smile traced his blue-furred face. Then it immediately cleared. "Charlene... this has nothing to do with... us. This is something really important, though."

Charlene nodded and waited.

"I'm a lucario now. And as you're well aware, I can sense auras. I could since the very first day we arrived." Alexander sighed and sat down beside her. "Well... it goes without saying that I checked your aura when I came in here, to see if you were..." he gulped and paused a moment... "...still alive."

Charlene nodded again, expecting this. She placed her clawed hand on his shoulder and he continued. "I guess it goes without saying your aura was diminished to an extremely small flicker inside of you. I was terrified that it could go out at any moment. But then I saw something else. Something I couldn't tell anyone else. There was... ANOTHER aura inside of you."

Charlene almost bolted straight up. "Another aura?"

Alexander shushed her. "Yes. And looking back, seeing you now... I should have known it was always there... at least since we've been here. It's just that I couldn't see it because your own aura overshadows it so thoroughly. This was a very soft feeling one... a gentle pink colored hue. It almost seemed to rekindle you as your aura became brighter. A few minutes later, your normal aura sparked back into life, your flame reignited, and you opened your eyes. But it's still there, Charlene. I know for a fact it is."

Charlene held a hand to her chest. "That... doesn't..." Then she remembered something. The first night... Then later before she evolved... And then again just before she woke up. She heard a strange voice speaking to her from inside. That had to be the other aura waiting within her. But... what did it mean?

"Take my hand, Charlene. I want to try something." Charlene looked confused, but placed her hand on his grey-furred paw. Alexander closed his eyes and his dreads seemed to levitate. Suddenly before Charlene's eyes, Alexander began to glow a brilliant blue color. She looked to his side and through the walls, she could make out the shapes of her friends as well as the chansey, all showing different colors behind the walls. Then realizing what Alexander expected of her, she looked down at herself. First she saw only a blazingly bright red-orange color. But then... as she strained to look, she saw an occasional flicker of a pinkish color, darting around inside of her.

Then Alexander removed his paw and it was gone. Charlene shook her head a moment. "Is that how you ALWAYS see things?"

Alexander shrugged. "Maybe not quite so brightly. I guess I stopped noticing after a few days."

Charlene didn't think she would EVER get used to something like THAT.

"Charlene, I haven't told anyone about this. but I thought you would want to know. I don't know what it means, but I know that we'll always be by your side, no matter what." And with that, Alexander leaned down and kissed Charlene one more time, the two of them blushing deeply.

"A... hem." Chansey said from the doorway, startling them. "Time for you to rest, Charlene."

Alexander and Charlene exchanged embarrassed glances before he excused himself from the room with the chansey by his side.

Charlene looked down at her chest, as if expecting to see the aura again. She didn't of course, but now her mind was overwhelmed by questions. She laid there and wondered what this was all about. Why her and her friends were here in the Pokemon world. Here in Juniper Village. And somehow in the midst of all of those questions, she drifted off to sleep.

---

"So, Alexander told you."

It was the soft voice Charlene had heard before. She stood alone in the misty dreamcape, searching to see if she could locate the voice. She sighed as her efforts turned up no success.

"I know you want to know who I am and learn about the Hope Prism, but I can't tell you."

"Why?" Charlene asked. "Why are you inside of me? Why am I a Pokemon now? I don't understand ANY of it!"

There was a pause. "You feel guilty over the Hope Prism. Your memories have been returning to you. Something is finding them and slowly unlocking them in the wrong order, hoping to break your spirit."

Charlene said nothing.

"Take heart, Charlene. You were chosen for a reason. When all else fails, believe in yourself. Because I've always believed in you. That's why you hold the power to..."

The dream faded. Somehow Charlene wasn't surprised.

---

What DID surprise her was that it was barely dawn when she looked to her side and saw that a tiny pokemon had been shaking her. It was Cubone!

"Cubone! Long time no see! What are you doing here?" Charlene asked.

"Charlene... Raticate told me to find you. He said something terrible is about to happen. He said that he remembered it from the dark times. I don't know what he means by that, but I came right over to get you."

Charlene looked carefully at Cubone. While Raticate had been brainwashed, he tricked Cubone into being his lackey and electrocuting Chelsey. Charlene had used her disproportionately powerful Ember attack to do him in. Charlene had trained as a charmeleon many times after that night, and she learned more and more that the force behind her fire attacks were consistently off the charts. Yet...

Yet, her fire abilities seemed much more potent that day. It was more than just an adrenaline rush, too. It felt like something was pushing out of her. When she saw Chelsey in pain, it felt like something inside of her snapped. And then she had evolved, becoming the newer, more aggressive, brave, daring Charlene. A charmeleon.

What was it inside of her? What was the source of that soft, pink aura? Who was behind that voice?

Before she could introspect further, she shook herself and glared at Cubone. "Cubone, I want you to think very carefully, okay? Do you know what color Raticate's eyes were?" She couldn't rule out that Raticate could be mind controlled again.

"He's his normal self," Cubone said, understanding what she meant. "Purple eyes. He even showed me to prove it. But he said that you need to go to the Fire Pits because otherwise it'll come looking for you."

"What will?" Charlene asked, shifting to a sitting position, her body feeling a bit stiff.

"IT will." Cubone shrugged. "Raticate doesn't know either. He said it hurts his head trying to remember. He just said it's looking for you and will stop at nothing to find you."

Charlene stood up fully. She felt a little shaky still, but her tail flame billowing bright and hot and she felt more or less okay. Hungry, but okay. "Well, I was heading home anyway, so I might as well. Let's get going."

She tiptoed out of her room with Cubone following close behind. Her friends were all asleep in the waiting room. Charlene quietly brushed past all of them. If she was going to put herself in danger, she didn't want her friends to be in danger on her account, too.

She had just reached the door when she heard a voice behind them. "A... HEM." It was Todd. He, Chelsey, and Alexander were all awake.

"We're going too," Chelsey said. "You two weren't exactly quiet in there. And we're not going to let you do something foolish on your own."

"Chelsey... I don't know what's waiting for me. I don't want you to be at risk of..."

"Are you forgetting something? I'm a WATER TYPE Pokemon now. If that something is hiding in that volcano you call home, it's obviously going to be weak against me."

That was a lot to assume, but Charlene didn't want to argue. "Then, Alexander, you should DEFINITELY stay behind. As a Steel type, you-"

"I've trained harder than any of you. I'm going." Alexander said.

Charlene raised a finger with a look at Todd, but Todd simply glared at her. Sighing, she said. "Okay... We'll all go."

---

When they arrived back at Charlene's home, things were eerily quiet. Alexander wiped his brow and Charlene looked at him with concern, but he shot her a quelling glance.

"No one is here," Todd said, entering the volcano and looking around. That was a very strange bit of news. Because usually the Fire Pits were absolutely bustling with Fire-type Pokemon, even if they'd be asleep at this hour for the most part.

Most conspicuous in his absence was Blaziken, the leader and protector of the Fire Pits. He had taken to Charlene early on after being impressed by her unheard-of control over her inner fire. And to her surprise, he seemed the least put off by her change in personality once she evolved. He taught her a lot of about self-defense and about the town. While she had never seen him fight, she had no doubt that he would be an incredible opponent.

But Blaziken wasn't the only one missing. Cyndaquil, Slugma... Even Glowtail, a young charmander that looked up to her from the day she arrived. Everyone was gone.

Charlene stepped in. "Hello? Everyone?" she called out, knowing better. Sure enough nothing answered her but a slight echo. She turned to her friends. "Alexander, can you..."

Alexander seemed really uncomfortable at the moment. Inside, something turned over in Charlene. Not only were they incompatible as Pokemon, but as a Steel type, he would naturally be uncomfortable anyplace she would want to live.

Respecting his wishes, she continued. "Can you sense anyone besides us?"

Alexander nodded. "They're down below us." So, he had REASON to be uncomfortable besides the temperature.

"BELOW us!?" Todd cried. Chelsey seemed equally alarmed.

Everyone seemed at a loss for what to do. Something inside of Charlene turned over again and she knew that she had to take charge or innocent Pokemon would get hurt. "A passage further in must have opened up. It's probably the formation of another Mystery Dungeon. Let's search the place and find our way down. Cubone, this place is too dangerous for you. Head back to Raticate and tell them what's happened, okay?"

Cubone nodded and ran off. The little Pokemon was always so innocent and naive. It made him such an easy target for the mind-controlled Raticate to manipulate him before he regained himself. And even then Cubone stayed by his side, wanting to be Raticate's friend. He was loyal to a fault. Still and all, Charlene knew lying wasn't something Cubone was capable of, and he would have told her if Raticate had been under mind control again.

The four friends explored the heated room. There was no sign of any struggle. No signs of anything at all. Finally Todd cried from the back "THIS WAY!"

Sure enough, a large tunnel had formed, going further into the Fire Pits. Recently fallen debris cluttered the entrance. Seeing no choice, they continued in.

"I guess this all makes sense now," Chelsey said as they walked through a long, dark tunnel, illuminated only by Charlene's tail and the occasional vein of magma.

Charlene looked at her, questioningly. She could see that Todd and Alexander were equally curious.

"Don't you understand?" she asked. "Those earthquakes we've been experiencing for the past few days! They must have cleared away those rocks blocking the tunnel, and the Pokemon here must have been curious to see where it lead.

Charlene thought to herself. It made sense to a point, only... "If that's all it was, why did every last one of them enter this tunnel? Wouldn't the weaker Pokemon stay behind so they could be kept safe?"

They were all silent. None of them knew.

After what seemed an interminable amount of time and the temperature raising to the point where even Charlene was feeling uncomfortable, a bright orange light shown from the end. They had reached the end of the tunnel. It opened into a massive underground area that was positively SATURATED with magma. Even the walkable areas were incredibly hot.

Charlene looked at her friends. Alexander was indeed suffering. Yet to her surprise, Todd was the one who seemed to be affeced the most. He was panting near to the point of hyperventilating and could hardly stand. Even being a Squirtle, Chelsey looked almost as stricken. Charlene felt weak, but capable of going on. "Look, you guys... Why don't you..."

"NO." Todd gasped out, and Alexander and Chelsey looked equally determined. No matter what, they were going to face this together.

So... they fully entered the clearing. Much to everyone's surprise, the Fire Pit Pokemon were all there. They weren't being restrained, nor did they appear to be held captive in any way.

"Guys...?" Charlene asked warily, taking a step toward them. To her surprise and dismay, Blaziken took up a fighting stance. Charlene backed up, stunned. "Blaziken, what are you..."

"You will not continue to harm the Pokemon under my charge, HUMANS." That final word strayed from his mouth as a deep insult.

In spite of the heat of the volcano, the four friends were struck cold for a moment. Blaziken continued. "You tricked us into caring about you. Into taking you in. Training you. But all the time you have been the one who stole the Prism of Hope, haven't you?"

Charlene couldn't speak. She couldn't come up with anything to say for even a moment. Her friends looked to one another questioningly before tracing Blaziken's grim stare to their charmeleon friend.

"DO NOT EVEN TRY TO LIE." A deep, booming voice roared. From the magma a massive pokemon emerged. "I HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF YOU, THE ONE THEY CALL CHARLENE. YOU STOLE THE PRISM OF HOPE IN YOUR WORLD. YOU CHANGED INTO A POKEMON SO YOU COULD DESTROY THIS ONE. IT HAS ALL BEEN TOLD TO ME."

All of the fight in Charlene seemed to drain from her. Is that... Why I took the Prism?

Suddenly another voice answered back. "When all else fails, believe in yourself..."

"Charlene, what is he talking about...?" Chelsey asked, touching Charlene's arm.

This was it. She had to come out with it. She looked full on at the massive Pokemon. He appeared to be almost robotic even though he was clearly a flesh-and-blood Pokemon. His form showed nothing but power and his eyes contained nothing but fury. "It's true," she said finally. "When I was a human boy in the human world, I found a mew lying in the streets in the middle of a rainstorm. Later on, I had the Prism of Hope. I don't know why I had it, but I did take it."

Her friends gasped and the huge beast of a Pokemon roared, raising his spiked claws in the air.

"I'M NOT FINISHED." Charlene said loudly. To her surprise, the room quieted again. "I don't remember why I took the Prism of Hope. It's been erased from my memory. But I know that I'M NO THIEF. I never was and I never will be. I've never hungered for destruction or pain. I don't know why I'm here. I don't know what made me a Pokemon or even why my friends are here beside me, but this place... this wonderful village... It's my home while I AM a Pokemon. I'd never want to destroy it. Surely you have to understand."

Her formerly human friends nodded confidently, completely unshaken in their trust of her. Even her Fire Pit friends seemed reflective and quiet. All seemed well, until...

"ENOUGH! I KNOW THAT WITH YOUR ARRIVAL, DESTRUCTION WILL FOLLOW! I WILL SAVE THE POKEMON OF THE FIRE PITS BEFORE THAT CAN HAPPEN! FOR I AM GROUDON, THE DEFENDER OF THIS LAND. AND I WILL DESTROY YOU TO PROTECT MY WORLD!!!"

With that the entire land burst into light and the Fire Pit Pokemon disappeared, leaving Charlene and company in the face of this monster. The light didn't abate. It was Groudon's ability. When engaged in battle with this beast, fire moves would become even more powerful in an artificial sunlight.

There was no choice. Charlene had to fight back, no matter how impossible the odds. And to her delight, her friends unflinchingly assumed a battle stance beside her.

"We don't know anything about a Hope Prism..." Chelsey began.

"...But we do know our friend!" Todd continued.

"And we'll follow her to the ends of this or any other world!" Alexander finished.

Groudon was unimpressed. "IF THAT IS YOUR DESIRE, YOU SHALL BURN ALONG WITH HER."

The battle with Groudon had begun.

***********************************

Part 2 will be coming soon. As mentioned at the start, this is my way of tying Page 59 of The Pokemorph Stories to the new introduction in Mystery Dungeon - Tale of a Pokemon. I was going to tell this story in a comic, but it would just take too long. And besides I'm already working on the Todd comic. (The Todd comic I've been doing takes place at a different point in time. And YES I KNOW MY TIMELINE IS HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF.)

Anyway, I wanted to have SOME sort of artwork to go along with it and to be there for more casual observers and I have to say I'm very proud of how this one turned out! I went with a much softer, layered effect and I really liked how the transitions of lighting and shading worked. So... yeah! Hope you like it!