Author's Note: Oh my, what's this? Yet another Palletshipping fic for the wonderful fandom? How simply splendid! A while back I came across a cute piece of fanart which sparked inspiration and quickly evolved into a fic. Since I promised you guys a fluffy, multi-chaptered Shishi fic, I thought 'why not?' That and my muse just wouldn't rest until I began writing this :D

By the way, if you haven't seen the episode 'Hocus Pokémon' you might be a little lost at times. Not hugely, but in case you don't plan on watching the episode, here's the nutshell version: Ash and co. meet Lily, a pokémon magician, and help her gather ingredients for a spell. Later on, she casts the spell on Ash to allow him to read Pikachu's mind. However, it backfires a little and transforms him into a Pikachu until the next episode. It's great fun!

Disclaimer: Had Pokémon ever been mine, this would be an episode. Or a mini movie. But it's not, so this is the next best thing.

Anima Feminasm

xxx

Breaking the silence that had settled in for the past hour, Lily yawned, her lips forming an imperfect 'o'. In unison with the sound, she stretched her body out, unfolding it from the initially comfortable, curled up position she'd chosen when settling herself on her favourite arm chair. Her joints popped as her limbs extended, leaving behind a blissful sensation as she slumped back against the plump cushions propped up behind her.

A quick glance at the unneccesarily large clock hanging above the fireplace told her that approximately three hours had passed since she'd arrived in the library, and a look out the window informed her that her grandfather would be returning home in no less than twenty minutes. Just enough time for her finish her current chapter.

She picked the book up from it's resting place beside her, propping it open on her stomach, holding it up with her knees while her fingers interwined within her hair, forming a makeshift head rest. Her lilac eyes lazily scanned the page, though her mind was intent, drinking up every word and storing the knowledge for another time, should such an opportunity arise.

Her current book of choice was different from her usual reading material, the charms much more complex and time consuming to create than the relatively basic spells she was used to casting. But still, she could see no harm in studying as much as she could, getting a head start for when her grandfather saw her fit to 'graduate' from a magician to apprentice witch, then eventually sorcress. It was a long way off before that would ever happen, she knew that for sure, but the excitement of learning what she would one day be able to do made her feel all giddy inside, like a kid at an all-you-can-eat ice cream bar.

"'Krow!"

The unexpected caw jolted Lily of out her daze, the book tumbling out of her lap at her sudden, jerky movement. She looked around for the source of the noise, her eyes quickly locating a small mass of black feathers circling above her, repeatedly chanting it's name.

"'Krow! Murkrow, murk!" The darkness pokémon continued to caw, it's flight pattern suggesting it was enthusiastic about something.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked, holding out her arm for Murkrow to land on. "Did you find something?" She frowned slightly, wondering what on earth her pokémon could be so het up about.

"No," came a voice from behind her, making her jump. "He found someone."

Instantly on her feet, Lily spun round, the polished wood flooring making the maneuver easy. Her lilac eyes widened upon seeing the old man standing there. "Grandfather!" She exclaimed, wasting no time in running over to him, then throwing her arms around his middle. "I'm so happy to see you again, it's been so long! How have you been?"

The old man chuckled, returning his granddaughter's hug. "I've been fine, my young crow," he said, patting her head of corral pink hair. "The winds were strong tonight; I had trouble believing I would be back on time."

"I'm just glad you're here," Lily responded, breaking the hug to beam up at him. "And like I said the last time: the earlier, the better."

With a bout of curiosity, the old man raised one grey eyebrow. "Perhaps if I had been early, then that would have been most appropriate," he said. "Young crow, have you checked the time recently?"

Lily tilted her head to the side, confusion showing in her features. "But you are early," she insisted. "I thought you weren't going to be here for another - " She cut off in mid-sentence as she laid eyes upon the clock, which presented her with the fact that just over half an hour had passed since she'd last checked.

"Reading again?" Her grandfather determined, chuckling once again. "Oh, if only your mother had showed such an interest in her own studies." He swerved around Lily, and over to where she had previously been nose deep within a book. "May I ask what has grasped your interest this time, Lily?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Lily piped, skipping forward to pick up the discarded book on the floor. She brushed some of the gathered dust from it's pages before presenting it to her grandfather. "It's all about theories of pokémon evolution," she explained. "Mostly about item-based evolution, such as how Murkrow needs a Dusk Stone to do so. But the stone itself isn't the source of it's power, it's just a vessel for it. The true essence lies inside, and the creation of them isn't known .. "

As Lily continued her explanation, the old man only nodded here and there, giving no verbal reply. Though when she eventually drew to an end, he took the book from her, examining its cover. "Ah, yes," he mused, "I had an interest in this one when I was your age. A fine read." He promptly handed the book back to her, then turned his gaze towards the variety of shelves it had been selected from.

Lily watched as her grandfather's eyes skimmed over various titles, seemingly looking for one in particular. It wasn't an unusual occurance, and Lily waited patiently, her own eyes fixated on her grandfather's face as he searched, until finally;

"Here we are," he said, swiftly pulling his chosen book from the shelf, so surprisingly fast that Lily felt as though she barely had time to blink before the book was presented to her. "I think you would find this one adequite to your tastes."

Without questioning it, Lily eagerly took the book and examined the title. It was written in an unfamiliar language, one she did not recognise. With a slight frown, she looked up at her grandfather, who seemed to have been expecting it.

"Don't fret over it," he assured. "The original language differs from the one you are familiar with, but this is a translated copy; it is according to tradition that the two covers remain identical."

Lily's eyes lit up in realisation. "Oh! Yes, I understand," she piped, before immediately flipping open the book, her awaiting gaze falling upon full pages of neatly written text, lilac eyes growing larger with each line of ink they drank in. "But .. this is very advanced," she proclaimed, unable to remove her stare, frozen in place by a non existent Ice Beam.

"I am aware of that," was the simple reply.

Still, her gaze did not waver from the page. "So .. what does this mean?" She asked slowly, daring herself to hope.

"You've been progressing at a steady pace for a long while now," the elder explained. "As such, I feel it's only natural you find some new material to expand your skills."

Instantly, Lily's head snapped up, lilac eyes blinking in unconcealed shock. "Do you .. do you really mean it?"

The old man smiled warmly. "In a word: yes."

It was barely a second later when he found himself caught up in a one armed hug, the leather bound book wedged firmly underneath Lily's free one.

"Oh, grandfather, thank you so much!" She almost squealed, but too elated to give it notice. "You won't regret it, I promise! I'll keep studying really hard, and - "

"Lily," her grandfather's voice was commanding, yet affectionate. The teenager's ramblings of thanks immediately came to a halt, and she peaked up at him through her pink fringe. "I ask only one thing of you," he went on, now he had her attention, "as always, you are not to exploit your gift. Magic is a complex and delicate essence; it is unwise to knowingly abuse it."

A rare undertone of seriousness in her eyes, Lily stood up straight and gave a short nod. "I promise," she said, fully intending to keep her word. She recieved a genuine smile in response.

"I don't doubt it," the old man said. "Though it is nice to hear it each time."

xxx

It was well past midnight, several hours having come and gone since she'd retired to her bed, yet Lily was wide awake, practically bouncing with excitement and energy, as though she'd downed a gallon of coffee just five minutes prior.

Though it didn't take long to guess why she was really awake, and exactly what was combating the sleep from her being. The adrenaline similar to that a young child would feel upon their first successful capture of a pokémon was racing through her veins. Her lilac eyes drank in every word they fell upon, carefully memorising each instruction as she lit up the page with a flash light, her duvet draped over her in the typical fashion. Sure, it was cliché and childish for her to do so, but at night, it had always been her favourite way to read in.

Lily had managed to resist losing herself in her new book for quite some time, wanting to spend the rest of the evening with her grandfather's company; since it was rare for him to be able to stay in one place even just for one night, the hours they did spend together was practically sacred.

As always, the evening had passed in their typical fashion; they'd traded stories, had dinner, then spent the first hour of nightfall collecting Dusk Stone fragments and grinding them up for a charm to enhance the abilities of dark type pokémon upon evolution. During the entire time, Lily had spoken nearly non-stop, pausing only to draw breath, or to let her grandfather insert an opinion of his own. It had been far too long since his last visit; Lily had really missed him.

The same as always, Lily had made a promise to herself to get an early night's sleep so she could wake up at dawn to help out with the morning preparations. But yet again, the temptation of a book crammed full of spells and potions galore proved far too tempting to resist for much longer. Thus, this was how Lily wound up in her current situation.

"'Krow," came a quiet caw to her right.

Lily paused, drawing her attention from her book, then yanked the covers down to greet the presence. Though it was dark, and her eyes were blinking of their own accord to adjust, she could just about see the outline of her Murkrow, who silently glided through the window, and across the room to settle down on his perch beside Lily's bed.

The young witch smiled at him, reaching out a hand to stroke the midnight blue feathers on his head, and recieving a content caw in response.

"Are you feeling better now?" She inquired, knowing how Murkrow liked to stretch his wings in the cool night air, often disappearing for a few hours at a time.

"Murkrow, murk!" Was the response, along with a hint of a poorly concealed smile. Her eyes had adjusted just before it flickered on her pokémon, and her lips curled into a teasing smirk. She also knew exactly what Murkrow got up to on his midnight flights.

"Did you see her again?" Lily asked, surpressing the urge to giggle as the dark type puffed his feathers up in a flustered fashion. And for that matter, could Murkrow blush?

"'Krow! Murkrow, krow, Mukrow, murk row!" The darkness pokémon hastily protested, flapping his small wings for added effect. But instead of looking intimidating, he just looked adorable.

Lily just laughed at her partner's blatant denial, but didn't have the heart to tease him any further. Besides, she had something more important to tell him about. But, perhaps just a little more ..

"Well, that's just too bad, I guess," she replied with a nonchalant shrug, inwardly smirking. "After all, a certain spell I read about said that I could find about if the two of you were meant to be." She sighed dramatically, even pouting her lips. "Oh well, I suppose there's nothing I can do abou - "

"Murkrow!" Came the screeching protest, Murkrow now flapping his wings frantically, the sound alone being enough to cut her off.

Lily returned her gaze to him, her lips curling into a playful smile. "What's the matter?" She asked, her innocent tone as convincing as she could manage. "Are you hungry?"

The darkness pokémon scowled. "Murkrow, murk!" He continued to screech, now bordering on desperation. "Murkrow!"

Finally, Lily burst out into a fit of giggles. It was cruel to tease him so, but it was just so easy! Still, she granted him mercy, tapping her shoulder once she'd gained control of her laughter. Murkrow graceously accepted the unspoken invitation, settling himself quite comfortably on his trainer's shoulder.

"Okay, speaking seriously now, you must see what I found," Lily said, pulling her knees up to prop the book open against her thighs. She flipped through several pages, and soon found the one she had been reading earlier. "Look!" She said, tilting the book towards Murkrow, who leaned forward to examine the page. "To put it simply, it's a spell that allows any pokémon to find their true love."

If Murkrow had eyebrows, they would have shot up and out of existence. His red eyes widened comically, shifting from the book to instead stare at Lily, who continue to smile.

"I knew you'd react that way," she teased, but let the topic slide. "My point is, if we cast this spell on you, then we could find out who your true love is," she summarised, "and whether or not your girlfriend is whom you're truly meant to be with."

"Murkrow?" The darkness pokémon questioned, looking hopeful, but skeptical.

Lily reached up to smooth his feathers. "Don't worry; even if the spell doesn't work, it doesn't mean you two can't stay together," she reassured. "I think it sort of works as confirmation, and whether or not the two of you are compatible."

Murkrow hesitated for a moment, then beamed and nodded. "'Krow!" He confirmed, very nearly flapping his wings in excitement, but managing to refrain himself from whipping his feathers against Lily's face.

"Great!" She cheered, her eyes swiftly turning back to the instructions. "Now, the spell doesn't take very long to cast, and there aren't that many ingredients, but they won't be easy to come by." She frowned a little, tapping her chin in thought. "Some of them we have in our storage cabinets, but some of the others .. a red rose petal kissed by a Luvdisc, a hair from the tail of a Buneary, an egg blessed by a Chansey; perhaps a Nurse Joy can help us out there .. "

Murkrow eyed his trainer, her frown becoming more potent as she read on, memorising the list. "'Krow?"

Lily looked up, lilac eyes meeting crimson, and a smile gradually graced her lips. "You're right, Murkrow," she said. "If we can collect a scale from a sleeping Salamence, then this should be easier than catching a Magikarp." With that, she slammed the book close, while tickling Murkrow under his beak. "And we'll begin bright and early tomorrow morning!"

"Murkrow .. murk," the dark type said, indicating to the clock on the wall. A quick glance told Lily that there was no way she would be arising 'bright and early'.

"Oh," was her response, followed by a shrug. "Well, we still have time to spend with grandfather, so maybe next week."

"'Krow," Murkrow confirmed his agreement on the more sensible choice, while Lily placed the leather bound book on her bedside table, then slid down the head board and under the covers, letting out a yawn.

"I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly tired," she said, her eyes already falling close. "Remind me to start packing at some point tomorrow," were her last words before her tiredness overcame her, easily drifting away into sleep.

"'Krow," the darkness pokémon cawed, with a subtle roll of his crimson eyes. He hopped over to his perch, settling down and releasing a tired sigh. If Lily was serious about leaving in a few days time, then it would be best for him to get all the rest he could. When the young witch set her mind on something, there was literally nothing that would make her stray from that path.

After all, that Salamence may have been asleep when they entered the cave, but it was definitely awake when they left. Murkrow still had the bald spot to prove it.

xxx

Author's Note: When editing this, I was so nervous! Can't explain why, though .. did I over-indulge on the magic element? Oh well. Next chapter shall be up in a couple of days, just as soon as I get it finished. It'll be back to Ash and the pokémon world in general. Chaos shall ensue! :D

Also, what d'you think? Could you please review and let me know? :)