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Message-ID: <31805asstr$996883802@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Nikolai Mirovich" <nikolai@nergal.org>
Subject: {ASSM} Cerulean Dreams (8-9/20) (Pokemon Fanfiction, Ff, Rom, Solo, Lt.Bond)
Date: Fri,  3 Aug 2001 20:10:02 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
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<1st attachment, "CD 8-9.txt" begin>


Cerulean Dreams

By 

Nikolai Mirovich


Author's Note: This is the second story in my series of Pokemon 
based fanfics. It continues the plot from "The Courier", but for 
the record, I'm not completely happy with it. But that happens; 
all I can do is make the third story even better! Anyway, there's 
many people I'd like to thank, but mentioning their names could 
get me killed, so I won't. Oh! And I'm preparing an FAQ for this 
series which should be at my ASSTR page 
("http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Nikolai_Mirovich") some time soon, 
so hopefully this ride will be less confusing to some of you.

Legal Stuff: If for some reason legal reasons keep you from 
reading this story (Ie: Your age is too young in your country to 
be reading such filth), I'm obligated to tell you to go away. Not 
that I think that'll stop you. And certainly not that I care who 
reads my stories, so long as somebody does! So, with out anymore 
of my ranting, on with the show!


Chapter VIII

After Professor Myria's somewhat energetic discussion on water 
pokemon, and a few rather breath-taking performances, Misty and 
Miranda hurriedly made their way the relatively short distance to 
the poetry contest area.

A surprisingly large crowd had assembled around the little wooden 
stage, and despite arriving a bit late; Miranda had no problem 
adding her name to the list of eight other contestants. The 
broadly grinning, elderly man at the sign up booth was more than 
happy to add her in at the last minute however. The two then made 
their way through the crowd, and found a relatively open area near 
the stage in which to stand and watch the competition. 

"Nervous?" whispered Misty as the first contestant, finished his 
poem and left the stage to thunderous applause.

"A bit," admitted Miranda, digging out her scarred poetry book, 
"But I don't mind not winning. It's your opinion that matters, not 
a panel of judges."

Misty smiled, clinging to Miranda's arm again and resting her head 
on the courier's shoulder. "Thanks," she said, her face becoming 
flushed, "And it'll be nice to finally hear this mysterious poem 
of yours."

"Well, let's just say I almost thought about entering another 
one," Miranda replied, taking her turn at blushing, "But that one 
was a bit too personal."

"Oooh! Sounds scandalous!" teased Misty, glancing up at Miranda 
with a mischievous smile, "You'd better not keep that one a secret 
much longer."

"Oh, I won't," she promised at the second contestant began to read 
aloud..."

***

Miranda felt Misty's hand tighten up one own as the applause died 
and the contest spokesman came back on stage and thanked the 
previous contestant. "Alright, our next contestant hails from 
Lavender Town," announced the old man from the signup booth, who 
turned out to be the festival coordinator, reading off the small 
cue card he held in his hand, "Her name is Miranda, and her poem 
is entitled, 'Shattered Temptations'. M'Lady?"

The courier looked up at the man and met his all to knowing smile. 
"I'm here!" she called from the crowd, causing him to nod and make 
way for her.

"Good luck," offered Misty as Miranda turned to face her.

"So long as I spend tonight with you, a loss here means nothing," 
assured Miranda, catching a glimpse of something familiar out of 
the corner of her eye, "But I promise to do my best."

"You'd better-!" chuckled Misty, caught momentarily off balance as 
Miranda placed a hand upon the small of her back and leaned her 
lover back a bit, before kissing her with all the passion she 
could muster.

"Have I ever broken a promise to you?" inquired Miranda, pulling 
away slowly, and leaving Misty breathless as a few people in the 
crowd made 'awww...' noises.

"Never," whispered Misty, gasping for breath as her eyes mirrored 
her lover's passion, "Show them how it's done, Miri dear."

Miranda smiled uncontrollably as she backed reluctantly away. 
"We'll talk," she promised, turning towards the stage and 
sprinting off as the on lookers applauded.

"Glad to see you have all the time in the world," chuckled the 
festival coordinator mirthfully on stage, making Miranda blush as 
she met his all too firm handshake and glanced at Misty, "I just 
wanted the extra luck."

The man chuckled, shaking his head in amused dismay as he left the 
stage, and Miranda glanced to the left as she stepped up to the 
mike. Sure enough, the courier caught a second glimpse of the 
figure she'd caught out of the corner of her eye earlier. 

Standing a short distance away from the stage and off to one side 
was the sullen, bitter looking figure of Ash. The trainer caught 
Miranda's gaze and his dark eyes narrowed. 'So you were watching 
us,' thought Miranda smugly, 'Good.'

"Hello, Cerulean City," said the woman with her patented 'dealing 
with the public' smile as she adjusted the microphone stand to her 
height, "Today I'd like to read you something I wrote over dinner 
last night. Which I suppose is ironic considering the first prize 
today."

Several people in the crowd chuckled as Miranda opened the nearly 
tome sized black book she carried and opened it to the half way 
mark. 'Actually,' she mused, adjusting her glasses for effect, 'I 
memorized it, and haven't had time to write it down in here. But 
there's no reason to tell you all that...'

"Anyway," said Miranda, taking a deep breath to dispel the 
nervousness she felt well up inside her, "it's a little something 
I whipped up the other day. I hope you like it..."

As she read, Miranda tilted her head down, simulating actually 
having to read from the book, but all the while, her eyes peered 
over her glasses at Misty, who stood quietly in the crowd staring 
back. A small smile creeping across her face as Miranda read...

"These temptations mean less than nothing to me, when I think of 
how your heart 
   would break,
The finest of treasures laid out before me, all turn to dust when 
I imagine your 
   tears,
For of all the gifts that I have been offered, your kisses are the 
only ones 
   that I dream of,
And with every moment of false passion that I reject, I hope to 
alleviate 
   another of your fears..."

For a second, Miranda glanced out at the rest of the onlookers, 
trying to gauge their reactions. Most seemed fairly intent on 
listening, but a few had seemed distracted by something, and were 
muttering irately...

"My loyalty to you is unquestionable; as sure as the sun rises 
every morning,
You are all that matters, and you shall find me in your arms every 
night,
No one else shall I allow to compromise my virtue, no other is 
afforded that 
   privilege,
And only your wish to be rid of me, shall ever banish this one 
from your   
   sight..."

Miranda's eyes panned back towards Misty, nearly choking on her 
words as she caught sight of something that made her scowl a 
little. Not far from the front of the stage, and far too close to 
Misty for Miranda's comfort stood Ash. He was silent, at least, 
but it was obvious that he'd butted through the crowd to get so 
close to the stage. Fortunately, though, he seemed content to 
glare up at her contemptuously...

"So please worry not my dear, for your happiness is all my all 
consuming need,
You are the only one that I could ever want, my heart's greatest 
desire,
No mere mortal could ever tear me away, especially those whose 
beauty is but an 
   empty shell,
For only your undying love, could ever hope to quench this all-
consuming fire..."

Miranda took a deep breath as the last syllable fell past her 
lips, closing her eyes for a moment to compose herself and focus. 
"That's it," she quietly told the crowd, most of whom cheered 
enthusiastically.

"Thank you Miss!" called the festival coordinator, clapping as he 
walked back over to Miranda with his stack of cards.

"No problem," said Miranda with a bit of a smile, covering the 
mike as she spoke to the man, "It just comes naturally to me."

The man nodded, smiling as he always did, showing off his 
perfectly straight white teeth. "Well, then you should have no 
problem out doing our next contestant," he replied with a bit of a 
laugh, turning his attention to the crowd, knowing Miranda could 
dismiss herself.

"Well, that was fun," commented Miranda as Misty leaped into her 
arms the instant the woman had both feet upon the ground.

"It was wonderful," said Misty, happy tears forming in her eyes as 
she hugged Miranda.

"Just like you," assured the courier, leaning down to kiss Misty 
and missing the next poet's name and point of origin.

"I keep telling you," warned Misty in an amused tone, "I'm going 
to get a huge ego if you keep that up."

"No, not to worry," replied Miranda with a smile, moving out of 
the way to let a tall, scruffy looking man with dark glasses and 
bluish hair make his way nervously up the stairs, "I'll be sure to 
compliment you in moderation."

"Good," responded Misty with a quick kiss before looking to one 
side to check out the competition, "'cause I wouldn't want to wind 
up like my sisters."

"Sensational?" chuckled Miranda, moving to one side and taking 
Misty's hand so they could both watch and listen.

Misty gave her a sideways glance and tried not to laugh. "That's 
worthy of Nezumi," she whispered before glancing at the stage and 
biting off a curse.

"What's wrong?" inquired Miranda, eying the contestant 
suspiciously, but not really seeing anything peculiar about him. 
His clothes seemed rather worn, and he hadn't shaved in several 
days, but the traveler seemed normal enough. 

"I'm positive I know him," responded Misty, giving Miranda's hand 
a warning squeeze that put the woman on the defensive.

The festival coordinator stepped aside as the rather haggard 
looking fellow staggered up to the mike. "Howdy, y'all," he 
addressed the crowd as Miranda put her book away and gave her arm 
a gentle shake, causing a mirconized pokeball to fall into her 
hand, "You'll have to forgive my appearance, but it's been a long 
walk from Celadon."

"He must have signed up just in time," Miranda commented, glancing 
at Misty's worried expression as the man spoke.

Meanwhile, the crowd gave a sympathetic murmur as he reached into 
his dusty gray trench coat and pulled out a rolled up piece of 
paper. "This one's kinda old," he told them, pulling his pants up 
a little higher, wishing that the rope that served as a belt was a 
bit tighter, "But it has meaning. Especially to my closest 
friends."

Again the sympathetic crowd gave an "awww...", but as Miranda 
glanced around to find Ash again, this time she noticed he wasn't 
paying attention to the poet on stage. The bitter trainer was 
talking to his pikachu and the pokemon didn't seem too happy about 
the conversation.

"It's simply called 'I need you'," continued the man on stage, his 
thick hickish accent wavering a little as he spoke and unrolled 
the paper, "I 'ope that some of ya all can get somethin' from 
it..."

"The light in my universe seems to vanish every time you slip 
through my 
   fingers,
The sun, the moon, the stars, what purpose do these serve without 
you in my 
   life?
Why can't you just see that it's better this way?
With you on my side, there'd be an end to this daily strife..."

The mysterious man read the words slowly, his voice quiet for the 
moment, but rising in tone as he poured his heart out into it. The 
crowd could see his pain, even through the dark glasses, in the 
way his voice quavered and his expression became even more 
haggard, causing several people shake their heads in wonder at the 
tortured soul's deep sadness...

"It seems as though not a day passes that our two sides do not 
clash,
Every week that passes only seems to bring more pain,
Wedging this rift between us ever wider until I can barely heard 
your voice,
And this longing just to hold you, is driving me nearly insane..."

There were tears in his eyes now, and the man wiped them away as 
he read, not bothering to move his shades out of the way. But as 
he came closer to the end, the stranger reached inside his coat 
with his free hand, clutching something as he eyed someone in the 
crowd...

"So next time we meet upon the field of battle,
Please listen to these words that I say to you,
So that never again shall I have to beg, grovel and plead,
For some little twerp to hand over that pikachu..!"

With that, the man tore his loose fitting garments from his body, 
revealing his light gray uniform with a large red "R" stenciled 
across the chest, and leapt off the stage in the direction of Ash 
and Pikachu.

"I knew it," replied Misty sullenly under her breath, shaking her 
head in dismay as James dove into the crowd, only to have them run 
back in time to have him fall flat on his face.

"Oh, it's only him again," responded Miranda with a vague sense of 
disappointment, glancing at the purple and white pokeball in her 
hand and suddenly wondering why she'd bothered, only to have a 
sudden thought strike her like a ton of bricks. 

"Pathetic!" laughed Ash a short distance away, "Pikachu! Thunder-
shock!"

"Dreck!" cursed Miranda, hearing Misty's quick intake of breath.

"It's alright," assured Misty, keeping her voice level as James 
screamed and someone blew a loud whistle, "I'm fine."

"Good," said Miranda sincerely, letting go of Misty's hand and 
grabbing up her book, a sudden inner turmoil brewing behind her 
eyes.

"What's wrong?" inquired Misty, trying to keep from looking in 
Ash's direction.

"Last time we saw him, he was helping Kathy get away," replied 
Miranda after taking a deep breath and centering herself, "So now 
I'd like to ask him a few questions. Assuming that's okay with 
you...?"

Misty nodded and reached up to run her hand down Miranda's cheek. 
"I understand," she said, not bothering to compete with the sudden 
noise of the crowd, "Come on; there won't be much left of him in a 
moment. And James is too pathetic a villain to give Ash the 
satisfaction of electrocuting him to death."

Miranda smiled in spite of herself. "Oh, and I'm sorry," she 
replied as they pushed their way through a wall of gawkers.

"What for?" shouted Misty, following in Miranda's wake.

"For not telling you 'he' was here."

"That's alright," assured Misty catching a glimpse of two 
Pokeforce Officers that broke through at the opposite end of the 
circular clearing that had formed.

"Thanks," said Miranda, smiling as she caught Misty's eye for a 
moment before cringing at Officer Jenny's gravelly sounding voice 
reminiscent of someone grinding their teeth in their sleep.

"Hold on!" the woman shouted over the all the noise, "You there, 
leave him alone or I'll have you and your pokemon brought in for 
assault!" 
 
"But he tried to steal my-!" began Ash as Pikachu flopped down, 
exhausted from the exertion.

"Quiet, you!" ordered Jenny, before glancing down at James with a 
sympathetic look, "Are you alright, sir?"

James looked up at the woman as a cunning smile crossed his lips. 
"I will be in a moment, Officer," he chuckled, staggering to his 
feet and raising his fist dramatically.

"Wow," laughed Ash as James's smile began to fade, "Looks like 
you've been thunder-shocked so often, you're immune!"

"What? Where are they?" demanded James, glancing around 
helplessly, "Meowth? Jessie?"

"What seems to be the problem here?" inquired the second cop, 
walking up behind Jenny, followed by a growlithe. 

"It's him, actually," called the festival coordinator from the 
stage, pointing a shaking hand at James, "he tried to steal that 
poor guy's pikachu!"

"I see," the cop pondered, rubbing his stubbly chin thoughtfully 
as his growlithe tossed her rather lacy looking fur out of her 
eyes and began sniffing at James.

"But this one still used a pokemon to assault and unarmed human, 
Frank," added Jenny, grabbing Ash by arm and making him cry out in 
protest as she tried to cuff him.

James meanwhile, turned in a slow circle, a helpless look of 
complete hopelessness crossing his face. "Jessie?" he pleaded to 
the crowd, "Meowth? Any one...?"

"Looks to me like the pikachu acted on instinct," replied Officer 
Frank, catching James off guard as he grabbed his wrists and 
yanked them painfully behind his back, "I say let the other one go 
with a warning."

"I don't know..." muttered Jenny, shaking her head as Ash tried to 
look innocent.

"They were supposed to back me up..." muttered James sadly, 
looking up in time to see Misty and Miranda approaching. As he met 
Miranda's gaze, the man turned pale and spun around, falling to 
his knees and pleading, "It was me! It was all me! Please Mr. 
Pokeforce Officer, toss me in jail and throw away the key! Just 
keep me away from- From her!"

"Say what?" inquired Frank, turning back to James as his growlithe 
let out a low growl and sparks danced across her pearly white 
fangs.

"Uncle Frank?" inquired Miranda, her tense stance relaxing as the 
anger she'd been prepared to unleash all but vanishing as she 
looked at the Pokeforce officer in amazement.

Officer Frank forgot about James for a moment, accidentally 
kicking the poor man in the side as he ran towards her. "I don't 
believe it!" he laughed as he ran into the courier's arms, "Little 
Miri, so far from home!"

"Oh, ha, ha!" countered Miranda, laughing joyfully as Frank lifted 
her off the ground and spun his niece around before letting her 
go, "You knew I'd be a member of the Courier Crew since I was 
little girl! But I didn't know about you..."

Officer Frank gave a sarcastic grin that would make Nezumi envious 
and took a step back, dramatically motioning to his badge. "Would 
you believe they let ME carry a gun? Heck, I even get my own car! 
Pretty cool, eh?" he laughed before spotting Misty for the first 
time, "Oh hello! Friend of yours, kid?"

"Kid?" inquired Miranda with mock severity, staring at her uncle 
over her glasses as Jenny shook her head and walked over to the 
frightened looking James.

"Hi, I'm Misty," said the trainer, holding out her hand with her 
warmest smile, only to withdraw it as a warning growl filled her 
ears, "Oh, sorry."

The three glanced down at the growlithe at Frank's feet. "Don't 
worry," the cop assured Misty, crouching down to scratch the dog 
behind the ears, "Bow's just in 'on duty' mode. She actually loves 
people."

"Really?" inquired Misty, leaning forward with her hands on her 
knees, and turning her head to one side as she glanced at the 
growlithe, "Are you actually friendly behind all that growling?"

"She's a friend," said Frank, glancing at Miranda who gave a quick 
nod, "You can relax, Bow."

The growlithe looked at Frank for a moment, but seemed satisfied 
and began sniffing at the air between herself and Misty a somewhat 
cautiously.

"So, who died and made you the law here?" teased Miranda, turning 
her attention back to Frank, her eyes gleaming with the man's 
infectious amusement.

Her uncle chuckled as his fingers brushed back his bushing brown 
hair, revealing his graying roots. "Keeps me out of trouble, I 
guess," he told her without looking up.

"And why didn't you stay in Lavender town?" she continued somewhat 
accusingly, "If you wanted to be a cop, you could have at least 
come home!"

Frank's smile faded as his growlithe gave in to Misty's charm and 
let herself be petted. "It's a long story, Miranda," he replied in 
a serious tone that his niece never knew he had, "I, I just didn't 
want Bob to feel threatened or anything. That and your not the 
only one who wants to avenge your father's death you know... That 
and things were getting a bit weird with your aunt."

Miranda gave him a serious look, pushing down the feelings his 
words sparked and nodding sagely. "I see," she said simply, 
folding her arms as she spoke, knowing the Officer was full of it, 
"Well, this probably isn't the time for this. And to answer you're 
question, Uncle, this is Misty..."

Frank's smile made a small showing as his niece turned away, 
looking a little embarrassed. "Now who's hiding something?" he 
teased, glancing down at Bow and shaking his head in wary 
amusement. "That's it," he warned Misty, "You've just made a 
friend for life. You're doomed! Doomed I tell you! Dooooomed!"

Misty glanced up, laughing as she crouched down to scratch Bow 
behind the left ear. "Why's that?" she inquired as Bow went slack 
jawed for a moment.

Frank chuckled and caught the growlithe's contented gaze. "For 
some reason," he explained, "Bow can't quite reach that spot. So 
just be careful or someone will make you a Pokeforce officer!"

"Oh?" inquired Miranda, happy for a change in topic, "Is that how 
it happened?"

Frank shook his head in dismay. "Well, not really," he admitted, 
"But she's what clinched it for me. Isn't that right?"

The pyrotechnic canine glanced up at her trainer and showed a 
mouthful of teeth in an approximation of a smile, making the trio 
of human's laugh. "So," said Frank, crouching down as Bow walked 
lazily over to him and sat down on his feet possessively, "What 
brings you both to Cerulean?"

"The festival," replied Misty with a shrug.

"My job," added Miranda, glancing at the pokeball she'd forgotten 
to put away.

"My family," finished Misty as Miranda set the pokeball down at 
Bow's feet.

"Ah, I see," commented Frank, pondering for a moment, "Oh yeah, I 
suppose they should meet, eh."

Bow looked up at Frank curiously. "Growlithe?" she inquired before 
sniffing at the pokeball and yelping loudly as it activated.

"Bow, meet Umi-," began Frank, suddenly startled as a rattata 
appeared, "Okay, maybe not..."

Miranda chuckled as Nezumi yawned, looked around warily and then 
yelped as he spotted the relatively huge ball of red and white fur 
that stood over him. "Ratta!" he exclaimed, scampering behind 
Miranda's legs, and making Bow bark excitedly.

"Don't eat him," warned Frank, "I'm sure Miranda'd be upset!"

"Better believe it," the woman chuckled as her pokemon stood on 
his hind legs and began talking almost too quickly for her to 
understand, chastising the growlithe for scaring him, "But Nezumi 
likes anything that has a problem with felines."

Frank chuckled. "I thought he'd be your dratini," he explained, 
"Still have that?"

Miranda nodded seriously and was about to reply further when a 
flurry of shouted words came across Frank's radio, followed by a 
horrific grinding, tearing sound and a dozen or so people 
screaming in the distance.

"Frank! Frank I need back up!" screamed Jenny's voice over the 
sounds of panic, and James's pleas of "Help me! He's gonna kill 
me! Help!"

The assembled group glanced up in time to see a flat, mostly 
square object fly up into the air and come crashing down into a 
screaming mob of tourists. "My car!" exclaimed Frank, bolting off 
into he direction of the brewing carnage, immediately followed by 
his angrily barking growlithe.

"What's that all about?" inquired Misty, standing on her toes to 
get a better look, but between the distance, the people in the 
away and the festival exhibits, it was hard to make out.

"There's only one way to find out," replied Miranda, reaching into 
her coat and pulling out a black and gray pokeball. "Go check it 
out, Wraith!" the woman ordered, tossing the ball high in the air, 
where it split open in its customary fashion issuing forth the 
gastly.

"Ga?" inquired Wraith, surprised to be so high up.

"I need you to run recon," Miranda explained, looking up at the 
ghost as Misty stepped behind her, "And keep a link, okay? I want 
to 'see' what's happening."

Wraith nodded, and after glancing in the direction of the 
screaming with an excited twinkle in his eye, swiveled to face his 
trainer. "Gasss..." he whispered, his eyes glowing for a moment 
before Miranda staggered back a bit and the pokemon flew off like 
a dark comet.

"You okay?" inquired Misty, helping Miranda to stand as the 
courier regained her balance.

"Yeah, I- I'll be fine," assured Miranda, sitting down on the 
grass and holding her head as both Misty and Nezumi gave her a 
concerned look, "He's just traveling so fast, and- OW! Wraith! 
Don't do that!"

Misty took a step back, and glanced at Nezumi. The rattata glanced 
over his should at her and chuckled before hopping onto Miranda's 
knee and looking bored. "What... What are you doing?" the girl 
inquired, sitting down cross-legged in front of Miranda, her look 
of concern deepening.

"Psychic link," replied Miranda, holding her temples and squeezing 
her eyes tightly closed, "A ghost's psi powers aren't as good as a 
true psychic's, but they'll do in a pinch... What the-?! Oh no! 
Not HIM!"

"What?! What is it?!" demanded Misty, grabbing Miranda's shoulders 
and shaking her, "Miranda, what's wrong? You're scaring me!"

The woman shook her head as she slowly opened her eyes and spoke a 
single word. "Tashiro..."


Chapter IX
 
Wraith didn't bother to turn invisible as he flew through the air, 
diving low now and again and phasing through people to harmlessly 
frighten them. 'She never said don't have any fun along the way,' 
the little ghost chuckled as the scene of the destruction neared, 
'Ah! Here we go!'

Wraith stopped his forward momentum entirely as he reached the 
parking lot, soliciting an angry retort from the other end of the 
'link'. "Sorry, Miranda!" he called out half-sincerely, but 
couldn't help laughing as several gawkers screamed and ran at the 
sound of "swallow your soul! Swallow your soul!" a few feet above 
their heads in pokespeak. 

But the ghost stopped laughing when he looked up and saw what was 
causing the mayhem. A large, obscenely muscular bipedal reptile 
with a strange, helmet-ish device upon his head was tearing a 
wheel off an old beat-up looking pokeforce car, and was following 
up the motion by tossing it at a pair of humans who the onlookers 
seemed reluctant to go near. 

"Hey!" the gastly chastised, reaching out with his mind and 
grabbing the wheal telekinetically, "Play fair, muscle head!"

"AHHH! A ghost!" exclaimed one of the humans, and with a sideways 
glance, Wraith noticed that one of the machoke's victims was 
already unconscious. Her aura said she'd need medical attention 
soon.

"Bite me!" the machoke growled in a voice that spoke volumes about 
his tiny reptilian brain and reached into the engine block before 
tearing away at the transmission.

Wraith took a moment, and turned to face the man he had 
frightened. "Swallow your soul! Swallow your soul!" he laughed, 
making the man scream and pass out.

'WRAITH!!!' shouted Miranda loudly in his mind.

'Sorry, ma'am,' he send back with a chuckle, 'couldn't resist!'

'Wraith,' sent Miranda again, this time her voice seemed panicked, 
'Get out of there! That's Tashiro! Kathy's machoke!'

'Look Boss Lady, I'm already dead. I think that I can handle ONE 
little fighting-type,' Wraith chuckled back, amused by the fact 
that the wall of muscle he was supposed to be afraid of was 
ignoring him, 'I mean seriously, what can that overgrown lizard 
do? Kill me?!'

'I'll be there soon,' was all Miranda said, and Wraith felt his 
mind empty once more, except for the tenuous connection they still 
maintained.

"Oh man! She's gonna be sooo proud of me," chuckled the little 
ghost, focusing his attention on the machoke as the monster tore 
the car's transmission free, and hefted it easily over his head.

"Oooh, this is gonna be too funny!" commented Wraith, his eyes 
glowing as he focused his mind, and prepared to bring forth a 
psychic blast his opponent wouldn't soon forget.

As Tashiro strode purposely towards the unconscious bodies of 
Jenny and James, Wraith let loose the focused beam of mana, 
targeting the machoke's walnut sized brain. But as the wave 
rippled out, the device upon Tashiro's head activated. Small red 
lights swirled around the base of the helmet, and the little 
antenna atop it hummed as the psychic energy was harmlessly 
dispersed into the surrounding area.

"What-?!" hissed Wraith in aggravation as the machoke turned and 
smiled toothily.

"So, da little ghostie thinks he can harm Tashiro?" the pokemon 
chuckled, stomping heavily, leaving dents in the pavement as he 
went as the machoke reoriented on Wraith, "Ha. Ha. Tashiro merely 
laughs at your pathetic powers!"

Wraith merely laughed as the machoke tossed the transmission at 
him, letting the device pass right through him and crash noisily 
into a hotdog cart. "You can't even talk in complete sentences," 
taunted Wraith, not noticing as Tashiro brought his now free hands 
together and began to focus his chi, "And now you expect to hurt 
me by demolishing a car? Oh, that's rich-!"

The gastly was caught off guard as Tashiro opened his palms, and a 
blast of kinetic energy fired forth, catching him between the 
eyes, and punching a fist sized hole through the center of his 
ethereal mass.

"Wow!" exclaimed Wraith in astonishment as he filled in the hole, 
"That actually hurt a teeny tiny bit! NOT!"

"Almost as much as this will!" promised Tashiro, running forward 
with one of his fists crackling with electricity.

"Oooh, ya!" chuckled Wraith with a humor he suddenly didn't feel, 
"This is bad!" 

The little ghost willed himself invisible, and easily slipped 
under the machoke's thunder punch before spinning in place and 
throwing another psychic blast his way. Once again, however, the 
energy was absorbed by Tashiro's helmet, and dissipated.

The machoke paused as his fist connected with nothing, and scanned 
the area for a moment. "Running will not save you," the monstrous 
pokemon promised, tapping a button on the side of his helmet, 
"Hiding will not save you..." a pair of dark spectacles came down 
to cover his eyes as he spoke, "Nothing can save you!"

With that, Tashiro oriented on Wraith's exact position and 
uppercutted the ghost with a second fist, wreathed in flames. 
'Miri!' Wraith sent in mental panic as he spun end over end, up 
into the air and totally out of control as he tried desperately 
just to keep his ephemera from leaking away, 'Where are you! I 
need back up!'

But no response came. As Wraith righted himself several hundred 
feet off the ground, he tested the invisible mind link and found 
nothing. The device Tashiro wore not only blocked his psychic 
attacks, but had shut down his less offensive abilities as well.

"Allllrightyyyy then!" muttered Wraith, licking his lips as dark 
purple energy crackled cross the surface of his body, "Nightshade 
it is!"

The ghost took a second to target the device upon his opponent's 
head, giving Tashiro the time he needed to tear the engine fan out 
and pull it back as if to throw it at James like a discus, before 
letting the beam of visible purple hued light fly.

Once again the machoke was distracted, as the attack passed 
through the helmet, and enveloped his body. "Uhh," the pokemon 
muttered, dropping the fan and clutching his stomach with both 
hands, "Tashiro is not feeling so good..."

"That's the idea, lizard lips!" taunted Wraith, flying down 
towards his opponent, spiraling as he fired off several more 
blasts of ghostly purple unlight."

Tashiro gritted his teeth as he went down on one knee, the 
repeated ghost attacks making his stomach turn with the negative 
charge his body was building up. "Tashiro feel sick," he muttered, 
opening his now glowing red eyes so suddenly that the crowd of 
onlookers turned back on itself as people began running for their 
lives, "But it is good that I have strong stomach!"

The machoke rose slowly to his feet and turned to face the 
oncoming spirit with a loud roar of defiance. But the laughing 
ghost simply kept coming; firing repeatedly bursts into the 
pokemon's chest once he determined that the soulless mechanism 
upon his opponent's head was immune.

"This one's for Selece!" he laughed, hardly paying attention as 
both of Tashiro's fists lit up with suddenly focused chi. One was 
on fire, the other seemed surrounded by icy winds, "And this one's 
for Undine, and this one's for Vivian, and this one's for-! Ahh-!"

Tashiro growled incomprehensibly as he hammered both fists into 
Wraith's sides, the elemental effects making up for the lack of 
actually physical contact. In response, the ghost's body became a 
featureless black ooze that splattered across Tashiro's face, 
blinding him as his fists came together painfully.

"Argh!" the machoke cried, staggering back as he clawed at the 
sticky black goo that clung stubbornly to his face, "Get off, bad 
ghostie!"

"Ha! Not until you stop calling me that!" replied Wraith, oozing 
part of his body towards the device on the machoke's head as he 
clung tenaciously to his face.

"Foolish ghostie!" growled Tashiro, dropping to his knees and 
flinging his head forward.

"What are you-?!" began Wraith, only to feel the front bumper of 
the police car pass through him, and impact painfully with 
Tashiro's snout.

"Wow!" the ghost laughed, as Tashiro howled in pain, "They really 
don't make you fighting-types like they used to!"

"I show you!" the lizard shouted, his voice muffled by the ghost 
on his face, and leapt to his feet, just as a confused canine 
voice spoke up.

"What the-?!" she exclaimed, "Ah! Monster!"

"Monster?" inquired Wraith, forming eyes in the approximate 
location of Tashiro's just in time to see a fluffy growlithe expel 
a gout of flame aimed at Tashiro's head, "Oh dreck!"

Wraith phased completely, and let himself pass through Tashiro's 
body just as the flames washed over the machoke. He then did his 
best to reconstitute himself and flew in to get a closer look at 
the firedog.

"Criminals!" the growlithe exclaimed, spotting Wraith and firing 
another jet of flame at him, "Destroying my human's toy! Bad 
criminals! Eat my righteous burning wrath!"

"No thanks, lady!" called Wraith, arching around Tashiro's body, 
using the muscle bound pokemon as a shield, "I've had enough pain 
for one day!"

"Which one of you?!" demanded the growlithe, her eyes burning with 
anger, "Which one did this?!" She motioned to the trashed 
Pokeforce car with her snout, but never broke eye contact with 
Tashiro.

"It was him!" exclaimed both Tashiro and Wraith at the same time, 
causing the growlithe to howl with rage.

"Then I'm taking you both in!" she promised; leaping at Tashiro, 
ready to bite into him.

"No, don't lady!" warned Wraith, coming around to the front in 
time to see the machoke back hand the poor growlithe, "Told ya..."

Tashiro ignored Wraith for the moment, his simple mind finding it 
difficult to focus on too many things at once. "It fun to crush 
little puppies!" he chuckled, pulling back an ice-punch readied 
fist as the growlithe hit the ground a few feet away and tried to 
get her bearings.

"Look out!" called Wraith, zooming between Tashiro and the 
growlithe, catching the frozen fist in the side, and solidifying 
to keep block it's forward momentum, "Now-! Run!"

"Wow," commented the growlithe, shaking her fur back into place 
"Maybe you're not a bad ghost."

"Just get out of here, lady!" ordered Wraith, gritting his teeth 
and closing his eyes as he put all his energy into nightshading 
Tashiro's still painfully icy fist, "I don't know how much longer 
I can keep this up!"

"Not, 'Lady'," corrected the Growlithe, adjusting her stance as 
she focused on Tashiro's free arm, "Bow! My name is Bow!"

With that, Bow leapt into the air and sank her fangs into 
Tashiro's opposite wrist, filling her mouth with all the flames 
she could conjure. "Ah! Bad doggie! Bad ghostie!" shouted Tashiro, 
spinning around as quickly as he could, hoping to dislodge his 
attackers, "No fair, you gang up!"

"Hang on Bow!" called Wraith, feeling himself slipping as the 
machoke's rotation picked up speed, "Help's on its way!"

"Mrrf! Aggff!" replied Bow, unable to speak properly with a mouth 
full of machoke and her own scorching flames.

'Just... One... Chance..." thought Wraith, looking up at the psi-
dampening helmet Tashiro wore, 'If only... If only I had... 
HANDS!' 

With that, the little ghost's spherical body glowed with a 
brilliant white light, all but blinding the remaining spectators, 
who cheered as they realized what was happening.

"Huh?" managed Bow as she glanced over at the ghost, half startled 
as he began to grow to more than twice his former size.

"What he-?!" began Tashiro, his slow mind finally catching on as 
real worry entered it for the first time.

At the end of his left arm, Wraith's body expanded and reshaped 
itself as the white light faded into nothingness. "Yesss!" hissed 
Wraith, staring delightedly at the two black blurs that hovered 
before his face, "Just what the doctor ordered!"

Tashiro's eyes went wide with horror as a pair of disembodied 
hands flew towards him, followed by the echoing laughter of a 
newly evolved haunter. "No!" he shouted in denial as one of the 
four-fingered hands reached under his chin and unbuckled the 
safety strap, as its partner flicked the helmet off his head 
rather nonchalantly.

"Back up!" exclaimed Wraith, vaguely hearing familiar voices 
shouting behind him, "They're here!"

Wraith glanced over at Bow as he dislodged himself from Tashiro's 
fist, thankful to be away from the painful cold and stopping 
himself a few feet away, not bothering to listen to the laws of 
physics that insisted he go flying.

"Bow?" he inquired, his good humor returning, only to see the 
growlithe's grip finally give way, and her go flying through the 
air in the manner Wraith would have had he been mortal.

"Noooo!" shouted Wraith, his eyes glowing a burning red as he 
reached out with his mind, and snatched the flying firedog out of 
the air with telekinesis. The ghost then turned his attention to 
Tashiro, a malevolent grin crossing his face as he set the 
disoriented growlithe down on the ground. 

"That..." he growled angrily as the machoke stopped spinning and 
clutched his face in an attempt to steady himself, "Was a 
MISTAKE!!!"

Tashiro barely had time to give the suddenly larger ghost a 
puzzled look before the wave of dark mana struck him. The 
machoke's eyes went wide, and he struggled for breath as his brain 
suffered a small aneurysm before toppling over and leaving machoke 
shaped crater in the pavement...

***

Miranda was the first to force herself through the wall of 
assembled onlookers, and gasped as the growlithe flew towards her 
only to be caught in mid air by Wraith's psychic grasp.

"Wraith, dear...?" the woman stammered, feeling her anxiety over 
the severed connection between them abate as she spotted what was 
now her haunter, "You evolved!"

The ghost seemed not to notice his trainer, however. His 
concentration was focused solely on the stunned Tashiro, and 
Wraith's eyes were glowing brightly as he readied an attack.

"What's he doing?" inquired Misty, breaking through the crowd just 
behind Frank as Bow was set carefully down on the ground.

"I renamed it 'mana bolt'," explained Miranda, folding her arms 
and watching her ghostly pokemon's actions intently, "But most 
people just call it 'psi-beam'." 

Misty gasped as Tashiro's expression became pained, and he toppled 
over with a loud thud that shattered the pavement. "Ouch!" she 
commented as Bow waddled over to Frank.

"Groooow..." the little growlithe whined, staggering from side to 
side as her trainer crouched down to pick her up.

"It's okay," he told her, just before noticing his car, "You did 
well, girl- What the-?! My car!!!"

"Not so fast, Detective," chuckled a smug voice, stopping Frank 
dead in his tracks as he saw two figures daring to stand upon the 
roof of what was left of his car, "Tashiro! Return!"

"Who-?" began Frank, shielding his eyes from the sun as he heard 
his niece curse just behind him.

"Kathy," the courier hissed, recognizing the voice immediately, 
even though her features seemed unfamiliar, glowering as the older 
woman hopped to the ground and chuckled quietly in dark amusement.
 
"So glad that you remember me," the scientist replied with a cruel 
smile, "Even with this little disguise I cooked up recently."

"The pleasure is all yours," muttered Miranda, reaching to her 
side and gripping the hilt of her bokken, as Kathy's skin seemed 
to flow across the surface of her face like water.
 
"You know," she said casually, an evil smirk crossing her face as 
her features altered and became more familiar, "If I'd had this 
power a decade or so ago, I wouldn't have needed to kill your 
father. Not that I wouldn't have or anything..."

"You'll pay for that!" growled Frank, forgetting about his car for 
a moment, and awkwardly reaching for his gun.

"Get in line, Uncle!" said Miranda, drawing her wooden sword as 
she took a half step backward, spinning the weapon over her wrist 
before aiming it at Kathy.

"What are you?!" growled Frank, his pistol held at arms length as 
he crouched, holding his growlithe the awkwardly, but 
protectively, "Cause it sure as the Tower ain't human anymore!"

Kathy gave a chuckling sigh, and spread her arms as the figure 
that had appeared beside her leapt the ground, revealing itself to 
be a female alakazam. "Oh, this?" the woman inquired, pointing to 
her face, "A simple enough trick. It's amazing what you can 
accomplish if you're willing to sacrifice a few hundred dittos in 
the name of science." 

"Don't you mean murder?" corrected Misty running to Miranda's side 
with a pokeball in hand as the woman raised her sword to eye 
level, its 'sharp' end pointed up, its business end facing her 
opponent's eye level.

"Whatever. It's not like hundreds of thousands of rattata don't 
die in medical research every year or anything," said Kathy with 
an offhanded shrug, having no patience of semantics, "besides, at 
least now I can change myself and get into a new position at Sylph 
Co. Hopefully without sleeping with Balthaza'ar Iago again... 
Yeesh!" 

"You..." growled Miranda, her body tensing as she poised herself 
to strike, "You can change your face as many times as you like. 
But you will always have my father's blood upon your hands!"

With an incoherent cry, Miranda charged her nemesis, swinging her 
bokken down and up in a wide arc. In response to the attack, the 
alakazam crossed her spoons before her, and with a shout of 
"Al'zam!" followed by a loud -POP!- the two teleported, vanishing 
just as Miranda's sword sliced through the air Kathy had occupied, 
rebounding off the bumper of Frank's car.

"Nooo!" the courier exclaimed, almost loosing her footing as her 
sword rebounded and she staggered backwards, "Not again..."

"Miranda!" shouted both Frank and Misty as the courier slumped to 
the ground and both her friends ran to her side.

"I don't believe this..." she muttered, not really hearing the 
sudden footsteps race towards her, and barely feeling the hands 
that touched her shoulders sympathetically as her sword clattered 
to the ground.

"Miri," whispered Misty, crying as she saw the look of defeat in 
Miranda's eyes.

Frank opened his mouth to speak, but glanced at Misty and 
understood. "Come on," he told Bow, "Let's issue some crowd 
control. If you're up for it, that is."

Bow slipped from his arms and glanced at Miranda concernedly 
before nodding and running excitedly towards the crowd of people 
who seemed to believe it was safe to draw closer.

"Alright, people!" called Frank, waving his arms authoritatively 
as Bow barked at them, "Show's over. There's a park full of fun 
things to do that beat standing around gawking! Let's go! Oops-!"

With those two simply words, Bow's attention locked on Frank. Her 
eyes going wide with glee as she was filled with a sudden rush of 
joy and excitement. But as she glanced at the car, the growlithe's 
tail fell and her ears went back. Bow then glared at the crowed 
with all the menace she could muster and growled with all the 
supernatural intimation a pokemon could muster. Everything about 
the firedog's stance seeming to scream, "How dare you take away my 
chance to go for a ride in the car!?"

Frank merely smiled and nodded. "Yup, yup..." he sighed, shaking 
his head in amusement, "That's why I love her..."

***

Nezumi finally managed to scurry between the last few humans that 
threatened to unwittingly step on him, and stood panting at the 
edge of the crowd. "Just my luck," he muttered, standing on his 
hind legs and holding his stomach as he surveyed the carnage, 
"Missed it!"

"Hey! Nezzy!" exclaimed a familiar, yet somehow different sounding 
voice, causing the rattata to do a double take, and almost run for 
his life as the dark shape of a haunter materialized before him, 
"Where've ya been pal?"

"Wraith!?" the exhausted pokemon inquired, taking a step back from 
the haunter, sniffing the air between them, "Hey! It is you, ain't 
it?"

"Hey," chuckled Wraith, waving a finger warningly, "That's 'Fang 
Face' to you! Although I guess you can't call me that anymore..."

Nezumi smiled, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Hey," he said 
reassuringly, "You'll always been 'Fang Face' to me!"

Wraith clapped his hands together, ethereal tears forming in his 
eyes. "Really?" he inquired with joyful sadness.

"Really," assured Nezumi, "Now give us a hug, bro!"

"Ah, thanks!" exclaimed Wraith, grabbing Nezumi up and holding the 
rattata against himself affectionately, "That means a lot to me!"

"Is this a warm moment?" inquired Bow as she walked over to the 
two pokemon with a look of complete befuddlement, "Or should I be 
disturbed?" 

"Hey! It's the pyro-puppy!" exclaimed Nezumi, hopping down and 
smiling broadly up at the growlithe, "Have you met Fang- Err, 
Wraith yet?"

"Yeah," replied Bow shyly, "We met. He's pretty tough for a 
ghost..."

Wraith smiled and chuckled secretively. "Well ya know," he said 
shyly, "I used to be a growlithe... Back in my breathing days."

"Hey!" exclaimed Nezumi, turning towards the ghost with a look of 
betrayal, "I thought you said you was a rat!"

"Um, guys," interrupted Bow, "I hate to bother you, but your 
trainer looks really unhappy about something... Which reminds me! 
The car! Oh my goodness, the car...!"

***

"Shh, it's okay," whispered Misty, her arms around Miranda as they 
knelt in the parking lot, Miranda's head upon her friend's 
shoulder.

"I wish it was," responded Miranda, holding onto Misty as though 
she were drowning, "But I had her. She was right there, and I... I 
just feel like I let my parents down today."

"Hey," said Misty, taking the courier's chin and tilting her head 
up, "You tried your best. Heck, your pokemon not only beat the tar 
out of Tashiro, but he evolved! Look."

Miranda glanced over her shoulder and smiled in spite of herself. 
Nezumi and Wraith were walking/hovering over to her. Both pokemon 
seemed concerned, but Wraith had a certain smug satisfaction 
lurking behind his dark eyes.

"They don't think you let anyone down," continued Misty, trying 
not to look at the haunter too much, "They love you, and so do I. 
We don't think this is a failure, we think this is a victory."

Miranda nodded, smiling motherly at her pokemon who immediately 
started yammering excitedly at her. "Whoa! Hold on," she told 
them, suddenly focusing in on Wraith, "What's this about Jenny and 
James?"

The haunter turned and pointed to the two incapacitated bodies, 
currently lying prone between two parked cars. "Oh, man," 
commented Miranda, turning to her uncle and calling out as loudly 
as she could, "Uncle Frank! Over there!"

Frank turned to his niece, following her outstretched arm and 
immediately running over to the downed officer. "Oh man!" he 
muttered, pulling out his radio, "That poke' beaned her with my 
carburetor!"

"Is there anything we can do?" inquired Misty, looking concernedly 
at her hometown's Officer Jenny. 

Frank shook his head as he finally got a hold of dispatch. "No, 
you guys just head on back to the festival for now," he explained 
warily, trying to sound like an actual cop, "The fun's over, but 
I'd like to see you both again once I get this mess cleaned up."

"Gotcha," replied Miranda, sliding her hand over Misty's and 
leading her away from the parking lot.

"Do you think they'll make it?" asked Misty, glancing over her 
shoulder to where Officer Frank was shouting into his radio, and 
only James's feet could be seen sticking out between two parked 
cars. 

Miranda nodded as she gave a few of the lingering gawkers a dirty 
look. "I believe so," she assured, pausing to let Nezumi clamber 
up her leg to find her jacket pocket, "Jenny's are a lot tougher 
than they look, and I think that James guy just fainted."

"I hope you're right," her beloved replied uncertainly, ducking as 
Wraith zoomed past, over their heads before turning to face the 
humans with an hopeful look.

Miranda used her free hand to grab his pokeball and return Wraith 
before turning to face Misty. "You really care about people, don't 
you?" the woman asked, rhetorically as her arms slid around 
Misty's torso.

Misty nodded sadly, leaning against Miranda with her head on her 
shoulder. "It just bothers me to see people get hurt that badly," 
she explained somewhat distantly, "Sure, I'm a trainer, I know 
that getting your pokemon and occasionally yourself knocked around 
is par for the course, but..."

Miranda brought up her hand and gently ran her fingers through 
Misty's hair affectionately as she spoke. "But this was 
different," she surmised.

"Yes," said Misty quietly with a nod, "I don't know if it's just 
that I've never really seen someone that badly hurt before, or if 
it's just because of who did that to her. I dunno, maybe that's 
it. Maybe I'm just picking up on your sorrow. I guess I just don't 
like the thought of you getting hurt again."

Miranda smiled, resting her cheek against Misty's hair and 
breathing in her scent, holding her lover ever closer in as if in 
an attempt to assure herself that Misty was real. "Careful," she 
whispered softly in a teasing tone, "I might get the idea into my 
head that you love me or something."

Misty found a smile crossing her lips of its accord. "Yeah," she 
agreed, sighing contentedly, "I should be careful about that. I 
wouldn't want there to be any harsh misunderstandings."

"But seriously," continued Miranda, after trying unsuccessfully 
not to chuckle, "I think I like you're compassionate side. I've 
known for quite a while that you hated to see pokemon abused, but 
I didn't realize how much it applied to humans."

Misty pulled her head back, forcing Miranda to meet her gaze. "But 
I think that it helped me fall in love with you," she explained, 
her hands coming together and resting against the small of 
Miranda's back, "You shared your pain with a complete stranger. 
You weren't afraid to be completely vulnerable, and it was such a 
nice change from certain people's constant macho posturings. It 
was a pleasant change to see someone so strong not being afraid to 
show weakness..."

Miranda closed her eyes, smiling with a touch of embarrassment as 
Misty spoke. "Strange how that worked out," the courier mused, 
opening her eyes just enough to see her love echoed in Misty's, 
"We both fell in love with someone who's both strong and weak at 
the same time. But I really don't see compassion as a weakness, my 
dear. It's just another reason to love you."

Misty leaned her forehead against Miranda's shoulder to hide her 
embarrassed smile and took a deep breath to push her sudden rush 
of emotion down to a manageable level. "And to be honest," she 
added, struggling to find just the right words, "Sometimes it's 
nice to be able to be able comfort you. Maybe I'm being selfish, 
but it makes me feel wanted and needed-"

"No," interrupted Miranda, barely noticing the passers by any 
longer, "It's not selfish, at least not in a bad way. And you are 
needed, and wanted. More than I can say just now. Maybe in a 
hundred years I'll have composed enough words to express my 
feelings for you in full, but yes, Misty, I do need you. I do want 
you, and I do love you. And there's no one else in the world that 
I want to have comfort me. Don't worry, and don't feel guilty. It 
shall always be your shoulder that my tears fall upon." 

Misty sighed heavily, leaning against Miranda as the words 
filtered through her mind. The woman's love for her still 
astounding the small doubtful part of Misty that refused to 
believe that anyone could truly care for her that much. 'This 
woman,' she thought wistfully, 'Is she compensation for all I've 
gone through? Or am I hers? No matter...'

"Then I hope you don't succeed, Miri, my love," responded Misty, 
lifting her head and placing a soft kiss upon Miranda's surprised 
lips, "Because if you don't find all the words you need in a 
hundred years, it means that you'll need another hundred to find 
them. And that gives me an extra century in which to love you."

Miranda stood quietly for a moment; simply staring down at Misty, 
marveling at the fact that such a perfect creature could exist, 
that she could find herself so in sync with another human being. 
'Is is for real? Is this more than just a cruel joke?' she 
questioned the Universe as she gazed lovingly at Misty, suddenly 
feeling happy tears forming in her eyes. 

"Are you just a dream?" the courier inquired at last, her voice so 
quiet that Misty could barely hear it over the noise of the 
festival, "Are you going to suddenly vanish one day, leaving me to 
find myself sitting sullenly, sipping bitter tea in a hotel 
restaurant in Vermillion City?" 

"Only if it means that I'm going to spend the rest of my life in a 
hollow loveless, and completely meaningless relationship," her 
beloved responded, brushing away Miranda's tears as she spoke, 
"Unable to break away from a man who would find more pleasure in 
victory in a pokemon battle, than he ever would in my arms."

"Then, if Fate is so cruel, my love," finished Miranda shakily, 
"and this is all just a dream we're both having, then let us never 
ever awaken."

"I agree," Misty replied, tilting her head as she pressed her lips 
against Miranda's for a moment, "Let us sleep forever, let's make 
this dream carry on for all eternity."

Miranda tilted her head obligingly, feeling Misty's lips slide 
across her own as the girl spoke. "I promise," she breathed, 
giving her lover a few soft teasing kisses before following them 
up with a more passionate one.

All too soon, however, Miranda heard a strangely 
uncharacteristically polite voice in her ear. "Ratta," warned 
Nezumi quietly, causing Miranda to reluctantly pull away and 
glance at Nezumi on her shoulder.

"Where?" she inquired softly, really only hearing the sound of 
Misty's breath as she panted in an exhaustion that was purely 
emotional.

Nezumi stood on his haunches and motioned with his nose to where 
several festival officials were rounding up the stray poetry 
contest contestants. "I guess that means us," commented Miranda, 
turning back to Misty.

The trainer nodded in agreement, finally managing to breath 
normally as a few stray thoughts lingered in her mind. "Something 
wrong?" inquired Miranda, running her fingers gently down Misty's 
cheek, "You look a bit flushed."

"Um, ask me later, okay?" responded Misty, hoping her words didn't 
sound like too much of a plea as she tried to cover her 
embarrassment.

"Count on it," chuckled Miranda, a small knowing smile crossing 
her lips as she took Misty's hand and turned towards one of the on 
coming officials. "I'm over here!" she called out to the man in a 
shirt that proclaimed 'Cerulean End Of Summer Fest' on one side 
and 'STAFF' on the back before glancing at Misty again, "Shall 
we...?"



Copywrite
Nikolai Mirovich (Nikolai@Nergal.Org)
"http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Nikolai_Mirovich"
June 9, 2001






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