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Author's Note: "The following takes place at some point after the final episode of the Journeys anime. A lot of the interactions with Ash are based on previous choices made in other adventures. If the shadows of the past are altered, then this chapter will change accordingly. It was because of the opening segment that this took way too long to finally draft up. I wanted to do something that would allow the main characters to grow, so currently, this is what I have." ~Unknown Tale
Ash and Chihiro[]
Sources, the most powerful energy in the universe. They hold the power to make the impossible suddenly become possible, but can also be used to create and destroy. Care-A-Lot in itself holds the Ancient Source of Caring, and is a beacon of Hope for worlds far beyond the one we see. The Care Bears have it under special protection, as it's also something special for them, as it acts as a gateway between worlds itself. As work began on a New Source to make travel between Earth and Care-A-Lot easier, Friend Bear and Secret Bear find themselves on a new mission, mainly a young schoolboy named Chihiro Fujisaki as well as Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum, two strangers who are about to get to know each other a lot better.
Ash and Chihiro were walking on opposite sides of the road in a park within Silver Town. As the two were not really giving much thought about today, they didn't pay much attention, outside of Ash's Pikachu taking in the sights of the place. However, when a shadow loomed above both humans, they both stopped in their tracks to look up, noticing a strange cloud carrying two bears, which crashed straight into a tree.
Both bears shook themselves off as one whispered to the other, "You think the Cloud Mobile screwed up our flight pattern, Friend Bear?"
"No, Secret Bear," the other replied. "You clearly were in front of me while I was driving."
Pikachu tugged Ash's jacket for a moment to get his attention, as if to say, "That bear just talked like another friend we know."
"That's, strange..." Ash said slowly approaching the other two bears. "Who are you two?"
"Hi!" said Friend Bear. "I'm Friend Bear, and this is Secret Bear. We're Care Bears."
Pikachu asked what brought the two down from the sky.
"We came in search of one Chihiro Fujisaki by name," Friend Bear answered understanding Pokémon speech rather fluently. "Everyone needs a friend in times like this."
You see, this version of Chihiro still underwent the shock of his own timeline, a situation known as The Tragedy where his entire city fell under the effects of Despair, courtesy of Junko Enoshima. Undergoing therapy of the heart and travelling on his own, had him come to terms a bit with his own path, even though there was still some lingering will.
"Okay, how do you know my name, and why me of all people?" asked Chihiro to Friend Bear before opening the bear's mouth. "Thirdly, HOW THE HECK ARE YOU ABLE TO TALK NORMALLY??"
"We -ow a lot o- -ings a-out you," Friend Bear said mouth left open by a studious Chihiro. The technician eventually let go of Friend Bear. "We know you're the best programmer in the world as well as wanting to be able to let go of your Weakness Complex." Chihiro went flush hearing this as he was still undergoing the therapy needed to let that go. "As for Ash, he wants to be the ultimate Pokémon Master, so he's always out journeying to places like this."
"Golly," Ash said. "How'd you figure that all out? Are you guardian angels or something?" Ash tried to scan the two bears with his Pokedex, only for it to give no data entry on them.
"Just consider us friends," Friend Bear replied. "We're supposed to know each other's Hopes and Dreams, and don't worry, Chihiro, your secret is safe with us... and I guess Ash as well... Oops..."
Chihiro folded his arms a bit annoyed. "I'll tell you what I know about people I care for... They always let you down. So I'd rather have no friends."
"You're just going to brush off two potential acquaintances just like that?" Ash asked. "This could be the start you need, Chihiro."
"You best not lecture me, Ash, for I know much about your adventures too. I'd rather not be friends with someone with a history of not controlling their emotions and believing they're always in the right. A friend of mine is still recovering from the trauma..."
"That's in the past, Chihiro," said Ash sweating a bit, "please don't trouble yourself over one mistake." Chihiro rolled his eyes and walked away, Ash watched him walk away for a moment before adding, "This isn't the first time I got told off like that. Still, I can feel that you're hurting on the inside... Please... Let me know what's wrong."
"That, could've gone a lot better," whispered Secret Bear.
"Nevertheless, we won't give up until we know Chihiro's alright," Friend Bear replied before following after Chihiro.
The Carnival Came to Town[]
Sources- wait why am I doing the Intro again? Oh yeah! This is the part where I introduce another hero! Silly me. So, as it turned out in Silver Town, a carnival was going on in the other side of town. A young adult fox was wandering through the place, you may know him by the name of Tod, but his full name, is Tod Vulpes, the leader of the DeltaForce. It seemed he was out on his own for the day, still thinking he was home in Angel City. While he was enjoying the festivities, he couldn't help but notice a Care Bear heading over to an actor's trailer. Tod waved to the bear to see if he'd get a reaction.
"Tod?" asked the bear before running over to him for a moment.
"I see you know my name," the fox replied. "What's kickin'?"
"Sorry for skipping the introduction. I'm Tenderheart, leader of the Care Bears, and it looks like you're not in the right place."
"What are you talking about? Is this not Angel City?"
"I'm afraid you're on the other side of Care-A-Lot. Welcome to Silver Town."
"That can't be right..."
"A dimensional rip must've opened up and you accidentally wandered through it. This tends to happen when the Caring Meter dips slightly. I came to investigate what might be the cause of it, and I narrowed it down to here."
Tod scratched his head for a moment. "But this is supposed to be a place of fun, right? I'm having tons of that on my own."
"It's not you, I guarantee it," Tenderheart said, then the two looked at the trailer once more. A man from Joe's Antiques dropped off a trunk as a magician's helper exited a trailer for 'The Great Fettuccini: The World's Most Amazing Magician.' This boy went by the name of Nicholas. He was about to lift the trunk into the trailer only to find it too heavy to lift on his own. Before he could ask for help, the truck drove off leaving Nick in the dust. Tenderheart couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"It's him, isn't it?" asked Tod.
"Yeah... Nicholas... I had my eye on him for days, and today's finally a proper day I can head out to help him out..." Tenderheart explained.
Nicholas continued to struggle with the chest, which was when Tod made his move. To say the boy was confused was an understatement, however the fox carefully used a "Spell of Strength" to lift the other end of the trunk. Nicholas was quite surprised a fox could understand magic that well, but dashed the idea thinking it was Fettuccini performing a trick to help him out.
The reality of the situation was that the magician himself was practicing a Card Tower trick for the upcoming show. As Nicholas stepped inside, Fettuccini was a bit annoyed that his trick was being thrown off. "Close the door, wouldja?" he said. "You're letting the breeze in!"
Nicholas turned to close the door, only for all the weight of the chest to push him further into the trailer. "Nick!" said Tod wanting to go after him. Both Tod and Fettuccini recoiled seeing Nicholas falter and shake the trailer, though the magician was more annoyed at multiple implications from the crash that went down.
"Hey, he didn't mean it..." Tod started.
"He never means it, you sly fox," Fettuccini replied. "I bought that trunk thinking there would be some junk in there I could use for my magic act. Now half of it's broken! Oh... What am I going to do with him? Every time I give him a simple thing to do it's always "BOOM!" this and "CRASH!" that!"
"If it makes you feel any better, sir," said Tod, "I could try a spell of mending on anything that got destroyed. I'm sure he'll apologize once he comes to."
"Whatever, I don't need an apology... Just tell him to salvage anything that can still be used for my magic act. I have a show to put on." Tenderheart quickly hid under the desk still out of sight of the magician. "Perhaps one day, I can teach him how to make an audience love him. Right now he's next to hopeless."
"So you do see potential in him," Tod replied as Nicholas lit a candle to search the room. He could tell the boy was depressed as he set a wrapped object onto the desk protected by a seal.
"I wish," said Nicholas, but he paused to rephrase what he was about to say. "I'd give ANYTHING to find a way to get people to like me."
The cloth fell after the seal melted away. From the seal, a book was revealed. "Anything?" the book asked, which made Tod and Nicholas look at the book a bit startled. "You did say... anything?"
Nicholas gasped as Tod looked at the book. "Golly! A talking book," he said. "That's something I don't see every day..."
"Nicholas... Tod..." said the book.
"Who are you?" asked Nicholas. "How do you know our names?"
"I am a spirit, Nicholas... Your friend... and I know many things, including where that fox is from..."
"Boy, not three minutes into helping him, and already two people know my name when I'm not from around here," Tod said.
"I know how Nicholas can earn more friends, more than you could ever hope to achieve, Tod... through the power of magic."
"Magic, eh...? I'm pretty well versed in that myself, not to toot my own horn."
"But are you acquainted, with the kind of magic, I can do?" the spirit asked exuding a strange aura. Nicholas seemed interested while Tod understood immediately this was nothing but trouble. "All you have to do, is undo the lock..."
Tod's head hurt for a moment upon seeing a key materialize in the lock. He wasn't sure as to why, but it kept him from preventing Nicholas from unlocking the book... and that's exactly what Nicholas did. Almost immediately, both boy and fox were flung to the back wall as the book opened with a green energy. With that, a yellow face appeared from the book.
"Nicky, is everything okay in there?" asked Fettuccini as he stood up from his desk.
Nicholas on the other hand walked up to the spirit and the book. He easily understood the runes in the book. With a simple incantation, the door to the room shut and locked itself, despite not having a lock. "Holy cow! Did I do that?"
"You can do a lot more," said the spirit.
Fettuccini began to knock on the door, still wanting to make sure Nicholas was okay.
"Keep reading, Nicholas," the spirit continued. "This time, the right page."
"Ishka bibble," Nicholas read. The banging on the door stopped and the door unlocked itself. Tod opened the door to see that Fettuccini was put to sleep standing up.
"No way!" the fox said. "That's a sleeping spell! I've been trying to figure that out on Simba for weeks! ... He, has a bit of insomnia at night..."
"Not to worry, fuzzy boy," said the spirit. "He will only be in a deep sleep long enough for Nicholas to take over the magic act. This is his chance to show he's a greater magician than him."
"But, I'm still a complete novice," replied Nicholas. "I can't just be thrown to the wolves like that."
"Oh~ but they love him for his magic. They'll love~ you for yours~ I'll help you..."
Tod was a bit weirded out by this, when Tenderheart finally interjected as he finally shouted, "STOP!! This isn't the way to make friends!"
"Who are you?" asked Nicholas.
"That would be Tenderheart," answered Tod. "He's a Care Bear, and apparently a well acquainted friend of mine."
"And I'm your friend too," added Tenderheart.
"Where were you when he needed you?" inquired the spirit.
"What matters is, I'm here now, and Nicholas needs me the most."
Nicholas and the spirit were not buying this, between Nick literally wondering if he is having a fever dream and the spirit's impatience, the spirit turned green and let out a shockwave sending Tenderheart into a cage on a shelf, quickly locking the cage in the process.
"What was that for?" asked Tod.
"The Care Bears and I have a bit of a... history with each other," the spirit explained. "I want to help those with magic, while this foolish bear wants to solve all the world's problems through Caring and... K-K-Kindness..."
"Magic still isn't the answer to Nicholas's problems," said Tenderheart. "His feelings can help him find the true answer."
"Ugh... preachy, preachy... Don't listen to him... There are dozens of children out there, waiting to see your magic."
Nicholas smiled and put on a hat and cape. "They'll love me just like they love The Great Fettuccini! I know all his tricks... Besides, I'm not doing anything wrong, Tod..." Nicholas took the book and walked out of the trailer as Tod watched.
Tod was unsure for a moment before looking at Tenderheart. "Does she actually care for him, Tendy?"
"Please don't use that nickname..." replied Tenderheart. "He isn't going to succeed in his act, for the spirit doesn't care about him... But I do!"
"Then, what do you say we team up to help him out?" Tod offered, dislocating the lock on the cage.
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Evil Spirits, Ancient Sources, Evil characters who will do anything to get what they want. I swung it all, bro!" Tod extended a paw to Tenderheart.
Tenderheart shook his paw before scooping up the key Nicholas left behind. "Come on. We can still make it before disaster strikes, Tod!" With that, Tenderheart ran off to the performance tent.
"Right behind you, buddy!" Tod followed quickly, tapping his Magic Band in order to summon his DeltaForce equipment, just in case things go sour.
[To Be Continued]