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Message-ID: <31791asstr$996865804@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Nikolai Mirovich" <nikolai@nergal.org>
Subject: {ASSM} Cerulean Dreams (10-12/20) (Pokemon Fanfiction, Ff, Rom, Solo, Lt.Bond)
Date: Fri,  3 Aug 2001 15:10:04 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
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<1st attachment, "CD 10-12.txt" begin>


Cerulean Dreams (Chapters 10-12)

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 X

Once the crowd had calmed down, and all the contestants had been 
accounted for except for James, the festival coordinator finally 
returned to the stage. He took his time crossing it, the stress of 
the interruption showing upon the old man's face despite his 
attempts to hide it as he adjusted the microphone to his height. 

"Is this on?" he inquired after a moment, pleased by the way his 
voice echoed through the area, "Okay, now I know that all you 
youngin's are all hyper over the excitement we just had, and you 
all want to gossip about it, so the judges have decided to speed 
things along a little."

He waited a few moments for his words to sink in, and to make sure 
that he had everyone's attention. "Now then," he continued after 
clearing his throat, and pulling out a small card containing the 
names of the winners, "Our third place winner is; Caitlin Storm of 
Viridian City."

One section of the crowd immediately applauded louder than all 
rest, throwing in a few cheers just for good measure as a rather 
hyperactive trainer bounced up and down before grabbing her meowth 
and tossing the poor thing into the air several times in her 
elation.  

"We must have missed that one," commented Misty, noticing that the 
meowth seemed to be enjoying the treatment. Or simply didn't care.

"That'll teach us to be late," Miranda teased, squeezing Misty's 
hand a little tighter as the old man read off the second name.

"Good luck," replied Misty, immediately turning her head back to 
face Miranda, carefully watching her expression as the name was 
read aloud.

"The second place winner," the festival coordinator told the 
audience, "is Josh Thompson of Neon Town."

Not far away from where they stood, Miranda could see the tall, 
thin man who'd gone before her politely smile and wave to the 
people who glanced at him, but otherwise remain silent.

"Our second and third place winners will both receive free passes 
to the park for the remainder of the Festival," continued the old 
man, obviously anxious to leave the stage and sit down somewhere, 
"But first, our first place contestant, and winner of dinner for 
two at 'Ces Batards De L'autre Cote De La Rue' is..." He paused 
for a moment, chuckling as he pretended to shuffle through the 
three cards he held concealed in his hands.

"I have faith in you," whispered Misty with a smile, watching as 
Miranda stared intently at the figure on stage, barely breathing, 
and suddenly sweating despite the cool breeze that passed over 
her.

"Miranda Lilcamp of Lavender Town!" the old man called out, 
grinning broadly as she joined the applause spread throughout the 
crowd, "Now then, would Ms. Lilcamp please come up to accept her 
prize?"

"That's your cue," giggled Misty, having to give Miranda a small 
push to get her legs working again.

"Thanks," laughed Miranda, pushing down the nervousness she didn't 
think she should be feeling, "I owe it all to you."

Misty smiled happily, applauding as loudly as she could as Miranda 
walked towards the stage on legs that felt as thought they were 
made of straw. Yay, Miranda!" she called, causing the rattata on 
her lover's shoulder to turn around and grin mischievously, "Way 
to show 'em how it's done!"

The festival coordinator smiled and held out his hand to Miranda 
as she walked back up the stairs and over to the mike once again. 
"Congratulations," he told her, his voice echoing via the 
microphone as he took Miranda's hand and shook it before the 
moment could really sink in, "how about a few words while we find 
you those passes?"

Miranda smiled, hoping she didn't look as silly as her elation 
made her feel. "No problem," she told him before taking her place 
at the mike and scanning the crowd for Misty. 

"Okay," she said at last, catching sight of the smiling water-
trainer as Nezumi stared out at the sea of people before him in 
amazement, "I really don't know what you want to me to say, but I 
think just a general 'thanks' is most appropriate. It was fun, and 
I intend to make the most of my prize. Thanks..." 

Miranda stepped back from the microphone as the spectators 
applauded and the old man returned with a peculiar gleam in his 
eye and an envelope. "Here you are," he said simply holding it out 
to her and glancing at the sea of people, "enjoy your prize, Ms. 
Lilcamp."

Miranda nodded, and was about to thank him again when Nezumi let 
out a sudden quiet hiss. "Nezumi?" she inquired quietly, accepting 
the envelope and glancing in puzzlement at her rattata, "What is 
it, dearest?"

The rattata's eyes gleamed with suspicion as he watched the old 
man motioned for the crowd to cheer louder. "Ra ra, 'zumi," the 
rodent muttered under his breath, his snout close to his trainer's 
ear as he spoke.

"I see," replied Miranda, her feelings of elation being pushed 
aside by the suspicious doubt her pokemon had placed in her mind, 
"Let's go while can."

The courier gave the old man a wide birth as he turned to face 
her, still grinning broadly and applauding heartily. 
"Congratulations!" he called after her as Miranda headed down the 
stairs, "You deserve it, Miss! Way to go!"

"Looks like you were right!" laughed Misty, bounding out of 
nowhere and flinging her arms around Miranda, "You did win!"

"Um, yeah," chuckled Miranda dryly, smiling as best she could as 
she met Misty's happy gaze, "Mind if I talk to you for a second?"

Misty gave her a suspicious look, searching for any sign of 
elation in Miranda's eyes and finding only thoughtful worry. 
"Okay..." she agreed reluctantly, letting Miranda take her hand 
and lead her away from the stage and the main mass of the crowd...

***

"It's Nezumi," explained Miranda once they'd found a park bench 
and had sat down.

"Oh?" inquired Misty, holing out a finger and scratching the 
rattata under the chin affectionately, causing Nezumi to relax to 
the point where he nearly lost his footing.

"He sensed something about the festival coordinator," explained 
Miranda as she opened the envelope she'd won, "Something he didn't 
like."

"That's not good," agreed Misty, half a smile remaining on her 
face as Nezumi tilted his head way back and stood helpless upon 
his haunches, letting her finger gently scratch the nape of this 
neck as the rattata exaggerated his approval, "He usually likes 
everybody."

"If you can see past the sarcastic, often off-colour remarks he 
makes about them," the rattata's trainer agreed, smiling lovingly 
despite her mock disapproval as she tilted her head to one side in 
order to brush her cheek against Nezumi's soft, purplish fur.

Misty laughed as the rattata made a happy noise and flung his 
forepaws about Miranda's neck. "Nez, ra rattata," he assured, 
closing his eyes and smiling contentedly.

"Although something must have really freaked him out if he's being 
that affectionate without being sarcastic," commented Misty, 
starting to catch on to Nezumi's voice inflections, and just a 
little bit of the rodent pokemon's words, "Did he say what is was 
precisely?"

Miranda shook her head as she extracted Nezumi from her neck and 
out him in her lap before shuffling closer to Misty. "He's not 
sure," she explained, putting an arm around her beloved as she 
examined the two tickets in her other hand, "there was just 
something very... 'Unnatural' about him."

"Any ideas?" inquired Misty, leaning her head on Miranda's 
shoulder and smiling to herself as Nezumi made himself comfortable 
in the small crevasse where their legs touched. 

"Yes," admitted Miranda, glancing down at Nezumi and smiling as 
the rattata made it perfectly clear to any passers by that the two 
humans were 'his', "But I don't like my suspicions. Remember what 
Kathy said about dittos?"

Misty shuddered at the thought, not even wanting to contemplate 
what the scientist must have done to synthesize their metamorphic 
abilities. "Unfortunately," she admitted.

Miranda nodded. "What was her accomplice's name, again?" she 
inquired rhetorically, "Oh yes. Victor. Strange that someone like 
him would be so close to someone like her."

"You mean because he's so attractive?" inquired Misty, with a 
smirk.

"Yeah, I suppose I'm just being superficial," the woman agreed 
thoughtfully, "but it does make me wonder why, if she can change 
her face, she doesn't wear a more pleasant one."

"Bones," replied Misty thoughtfully, "A while back I- 'We'; met 
this girl who specialized in training dittos. They're just globs 
of pinkish goo in their true form, and even when they transform 
they're really only imitating solidity. Maybe Kathy's actual 
facial structure makes it so she can't improve her looks, just 
change them."

"Makes sense, I suppose," agreed Miranda with a shrug, glancing 
down at the now snoozing Nezumi, "It's not a big limitation, but 
it means that there's only so many faces she can wear, right?"

"At least two others that we know of," added Misty, breaking her 
reverie and looking up at Miranda until the courier turned to face 
her.

"Yes, the one she wore at the Sylph Co installation, and the one 
she showed up with today," Miranda paused for a moment, turning to 
look into Misty's eyes, searching for the moral support she knew 
she'd find, "But I suppose that Kathy was right. If she'd had that 
ability the day she went after Selece and Undine, my father would 
probably still be alive."

"No," said Misty sadly, "I think she was right. Kathy probably 
would have wanted no witnesses irregardless of her face changing 
power. Or worse, she might simply have impersonated your parent's 
voices and lured the dragons out into a trap. I've seen that trick 
before."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," said Miranda sadly, staring at 
the ground at her feet.

"I, I'm sorry..." whispered Misty, searching Miranda's eyes for 
the tears that didn't seem to want to come.

"No, it's alright," assured Miranda, forcing a weak smile to her 
lips, "You've given me the strength to move on. And now that I 
know she's here in this city somewhere, there's finally some hope 
that'll I'll catch up to her. But most importantly, my love, 
you've shown me two very important things."

"And what are they?" inquired Misty, her heart feeling as though 
it were lodged in her throat, as a mix of uncertain emotions 
fought for supremacy within her.

Miranda's smile returned, and her gray eyes filled with love as 
she spoke. "You've shown me how easy it is to fall in love a 
second time," she explained, giving Misty a playfully teasing kiss 
upon her nose, "And you've shown me something far more important 
than just revenge. No one else has ever done that."

"You've been in love before?" inquired Misty, inwardly chastising 
herself for the sudden surge of jealously she felt.

Miranda nodded, smiling sadly. "Yes," she admitted guiltily, "Long 
before I even knew you existed, "That's one reason why it bothered 
me to see poorly Ash treated you. I sorta know what it's like..."

Misty's eyes went wide for a moment as the revelation sank in. 
"How long were you together?" she inquired nervously, not 
completely certain if she really wanted know, but willing to talk 
about anything that would take Miranda's mind off Kathy. 

"Five, five months," answered Miranda hesitantly, suddenly looking 
away sadly, "Misty, I..."

"Yes?"

"I promise not to leave you like that," said Miranda rather 
quickly, turning back to meet her beloved's discerning gaze once 
more, "And that poem I wrote, just for you. It was more than a 
promise; it's an oath. You're the only I'll be with so long as 
we're together."

Misty reached up, careful not to disturb Nezumi, and put both arms 
around Miranda. "Your previous lover," she inquired softly, 
without malice, only concerned love, "Was unfaithful?"

Miranda nodded. "I really should have confided in you sooner," she 
responded, guiltily, "But it's something I've put far behind me. 
It was only yesterday when your sister tried to seduce me that it 
all came back to me. I- I don't think I've ever felt that 
horrible. Even though I didn't do anything, I felt... I felt just 
like I had done something. Is this making any sense whatsoever?"

Misty's smile was reassuring, as she gave Miranda a small kiss. 
"Yes," she agreed with a little nod, "And I don't want you to 
worry about it. I have no more right to be jealous of this person 
that I've never even met, than you have to be Ash, right?"

Miranda found it nearly impossible not to smile, and Misty 
chuckled at the woman's attempt not to. "You're right," she 
agreed, smiling broadly as she glanced at Misty overtop of her 
glasses, "I bow to your superior logic, M'Lady."

"So we're even, then?" laughed Misty, giving Miranda an impulsive 
kiss.

"Mmm, mostly..." responded Miranda, glancing around 
conspiratorially, "But I think this is where a horde of ex lovers 
are supposed to come streaming out the woodwork."

"And if they do?" inquired Misty in a mock tone of suspicion.

"Then I'll banish every last one from my site!" assured Miranda, 
announcing it as though it were a proclamation.

"Good!" laughed Misty, kissing her lover again, "But one question. 
How many people have you been with?"

Miranda's mirth suddenly vanished once more as her stomach started 
becoming used to the emotional roller coaster the day was 
becoming. "In total? Three," she admitted solemnly, somehow 
finding the strength to not break eye contact, "But the second one 
was more like therapy." 

"Oooh, a rebound relationship," teased Misty, desperately hiding 
her sudden feeling of insecurity.

"Kinda," agreed Miranda, feeling both embarrassed and guilty, "But 
it was more like someone not being able to stand seeing me having 
such a difficult time. I don't regret that 'relationship' and 
perhaps because of it, I know that I'll never regret this one."

Misty nodded, and Miranda could see that she was thinking hard 
about something. "Well, you're the first person I've ever 'been' 
with," she admitted, "But now I can't help wonder if you might 
compare me to the others..."

"Oh, I do!" laughed Miranda with a mischievous grin, catching 
Misty off guard, "And they were terrible lovers compared to you!"

It took a moment for Misty's brain to shift tracks as Miranda 
found both her hands and kissed them both. "But I can think of 
about ten or so someone's you were with long before you found me," 
she teased, smiling as Misty's eyes went wide with sudden 
befuddlement.

"T-Ten?!" Misty stammered as the laughing courier took hold of her 
index finger.

"Yup!" agreed Miranda, waggling the captured digit, "Here's one 
now!"

"Oh-!" exclaimed Misty, not having time to be embarrassed before 
Miranda grabbed her next finger.

"And here's another!" exclaimed Miranda mirthfully, giving the 
finger a playful tug before moving on, "And another! And another! 
And another-!"

"Hey!" laughed Misty, laughing uncontrollably as Miranda tugged at 
her fingers and proclaimed them to be another of her secret 
lovers, "You're embarrassing me!"

"Then fight back," laughed Miranda, grabbing Misty's thumb, "Oh! I 
didn't know he was you're type, Misty!"

"You-!" the trainer laughed yanking back her hand before darting 
them forward, finding Miranda's ribs almost instantly.

"No-!" shrieked Miranda, laughing and hardly caring how silly she 
sounded, as Misty's fingers ruthlessly tickled her sides, "Hey, no 
fair!"

"Oooh!" teased Misty as Nezumi managed to extricate himself and 
promptly hid underneath the bench where it was reasonably safe, "I 
didn't know you were ticklish!"

"I'm not!" laughed Miranda, not even trying to make the lie sound 
convincing as she was forced onto her back into a near fetal 
position by Misty's tickling tactic.

"Yeah, and I hate ice-cream!" countered Misty, leaning over 
Miranda and stopping short of kissing her, yet not letting up, 
"You know, if you kiss me, I'll stop."

Miranda managed to open one eye, and desperately tried to bring 
her lips together. "You-!" she gasped, laughing as she struggled 
to even raise her head enough, "You're so mean!"

"Come on," teased Misty, smiling broadly as her fingers wriggled 
their way down Miranda's sides, "You can do it!"

"Um, would you two like to be alone...?" came a familiar half 
concerned, half amused voice, breaking Misty's concentration, and 
giving Miranda a moment to breath.

"Uncle Frank!" Miranda exclaimed theatrically from her awkward 
position, her arms and legs out at odd, uncomfortable angles as 
she turned her head to face the Pokeforce Officer, "It's not what 
you think!"

"Oh Miranda!" the cop replied with equal melodrama, throwing the 
back of his and against his forehead, "What will I tell the 
children?!"

"That you're both completely crazy?" offered Misty with an amused 
smile as she rested her head on Miranda's chest as her lover 
caught her breath.

"Guilty as charged!" laughed Frank as his growlithe peeked out 
from behind him, "But I just thought you both might like to know 
that Jenny's fine, and the perp's awake if you'd like to talk to 
him."

"You, you'd let me?" inquired Miranda, her tone suddenly serious, 
here teary ears going wide with astonished endearment. 

"Hey, how can I say no to my favorite niece?" inquired Frank 
stepping aside as Nezumi crept out of hiding and ran over to Bow.

"I'm your only niece!" laughed Miranda pushing herself and Misty 
up to a more dignified position as the two pokemon got 
reacquainted.

"And even then," she continued secretively, "That's conditional."

"I-! Ah-!" stammered Frank, clutching his heart and looking hurt, 
"You'd stop calling me 'Uncle'? Miri, how could you?!"

"You know I wouldn't do that," assured Miranda glancing down at 
Nezumi who seemed rather annoyed about having wipe growlithe 
slobber off himself, "You're my favorite uncle first, and my 
favorite friend of the family second. But if you'd just have 
married Aunt Laurna..."

"Okay!" exclaimed Frank, clapping his hands together loudly, "Who 
wants to go down to the station and interrogate criminals?!"

"Someone's avoiding the subject," chuckled Misty under her breath 
and trying not to be too embarrassed about getting caught in such 
an awkward position.

"Long story," assured Miranda with a smile as Bow began running 
around Frank's feet excitedly at her trainer's use of the word 
'Go', "Ask me later..."


Chapter XI

As they entered the small, poorly lit cellblock, the three human's 
and their pokemon could hear James' quiet muttering echoing off 
the gray painted stone walls. But, as they approached, their 
footsteps echoed as well, causing the prisoner to halt his quiet 
sobbing as he realized that he wasn't alone.

"There he is," commented Frank, idly motioning to the third of the 
six cell lock-up, causing James to stand up and come to see who 
his visitors were.

"I won't tell you anything!" the Rocket promised, holding one of 
the iron bars as he clenched his other fist, shaking it in defiant 
melodrama, "You won't get anything out of me! I am not a number!"

"Not even in exchange for leniency?" inquired Miranda, stepping 
forward and giving him a dark look as Frank muttered something 
about, "Be quiet #6.".

"Never," replied James defiantly, folding his arms and turning 
away, "I won't betray my friends."

"Some friends," chuckled Frank, soliciting a chuckle from his 
growlithe.

"You'll see!" announced James turning back to the group and 
rattling the bars of his cell again, "Jessie and Meowth will get 
me out of here; just you wait!"

Both Miranda and Nezumi shook their heads in dismay as the Rocket 
began laughing in what was supposed to be a sinister manner. "Ra. 
Rattata, nez," commented Nezumi, leaning back on his haunches and 
shaking his little head dismissively.

"What?!" demanded James, glaring at the rattata with sudden 
irritation, "What did that little rat-fink say about me?!"

Miranda folded her arms across her chest and smirked. "Only that 
you really have to work on your maniacal laughter," she commented, 
not bothering to hide her contempt for the organization the man 
belonged to, or the evil they represented, "He said he's heard 
better villain laughs out of slowpokes."

James glared angrily at Nezumi for a moment before stepping back 
and taking a deep breath. "I'll show you!" he exclaimed before 
filling the room with his off-key, rather unconvincing laughter.

"Has he always been this way?" inquired Frank as Bow did her best 
to cover her ears and let out a long whine.

Misty nodded. "From day one, I'm afraid," she explained in dismay, 
"I'm not even sure why he bothers."

"Why do I bother?!" demanded James, breaking off his laughter to 
glare at the girl angrily, "How dare you insult me like that! I 
have a perfectly good villain laugh!"

"I've heard better," replied Miranda skeptically as the others 
nodded in agreement.

James gave them an imploring look for a moment before finally 
giving up. "Oh, you're right," the man muttered, sliding his hands 
down the iron bars as he sank to his knees, "I'm just no good at 
this..."

"Hm. Then perhaps we can make a deal," said Miranda thoughtfully.

"Oh?" responded everyone in the room, their collective surprise 
nearly taking on a palatable quality.

Miranda nodded carefully, and took out a black and gray pokeball. 
"Yes," she answered, choosing her words carefully as the ball 
expanded from it's storage size to active status, "If your willing 
to give us some information Kathy Forester."

James cringed visibly, his eyes betraying a sudden fear. "Her?" he 
asked weakly, a touch of hysterical laughter entering his voice, 
"Why would you want to know anything about her?"

"Because it was HER pokemon that busted up MY car!" growled Frank, 
soliciting a bark of agreement from Bow, and causing James to fall 
backwards before crawling back across the floor to escape their 
sudden animosity.

"That too," agreed Miranda, "But my reasons are my own. That 
machoke was Tashiro, registered to Dr. Katherine J. Forester of 
Team Rocket. Just tell me where I can find her, and her partner, 
and I'll have my gast- Err, haunter teach you to laugh properly."

James's eyes went wide with disbelief as a meek grin crossed his 
face. "Really...?" he inquired sheepishly.

Miranda nodded, glancing at Misty. "Can we trust him to keep up 
his end of the bargain?" she inquired.

"No way," she responded, shaking her head and glaring at the 
prisoner, "I've never seen him keep a promise in his life!"

"That's not very fair," pouted James, looking imploringly up at 
Frank, "Shouldn't you arrest her for slander, Officer? Listen to 
what that little twerp's saying about me!"

"I really don't think so," chuckled Frank, smiling in amusement as 
Misty quickly grabbed Miranda's arms from behind, holding her back 
from doing anything rash.

"Twerp?!" the courier demanded, her anger flaring at the insult, 
"How dare you?! You wanna be bishonin!"

"Now that's just mean," replied Frank with a smile, trying not to 
enjoy the banter too much.

"Yeah!" agreed James, nearly on the verge of tears, "I'll have you 
know that I went to the very best evil bishonin school in all the 
land! The fact that I flunked out not withstanding..."

"Irregardless," replied Misty, relaxing her grip as Miranda calmed 
down a notch, "I think it's better that you tell us what we want 
to know first."

"And why should I trust you?" inquired James, jumping to his feet 
and glancing suspiciously at his old adversary.

"Um, because we're the good guys?" offered Frank.

"Oh, well that's true," sighed James, contemplating the floor at 
his feet, "Very well them, she's going to be a the of 'Ces Batards 
De L'autre Cote De La Rue'."

"That fancy-shmancy restaurant that's opening?" inquired Frank, 
glancing at Miranda who nodded.

"Yes," she agreed, glancing over her shoulder at the bemused 
Pokeforce Officer, "The prize for winning that poetry contest we 
were in was dinner for two opening night."

"That's right," added James sadly, his head bowed, "a free dinner 
for two at the fanciest, classiest, most overpriced restaurant 
this side of Saffron City. I was going to go there with Jessie... 
We haven't eaten properly in weeks! It's just so unfair, Officer. 
I could have been a contender!" 

"Yeah, whatever, but it's still no excuse to steal some poor guy's 
pikachu," replied Frank sternly, almost behaving like a real cop 
for once.

Misty cringed a little at the mention of the 'poor guy' and his 
pikachu, but managed to keep her voice level as Miranda held up 
Wraith's peculiarly coloured pokeball. 

"You can trust us," promised Miranda with a smirk, "It's my 
pokemon I'd be afraid of."

James turned pale and fell backwards onto the floor once again as 
the pokeball split down the middle and the dark image of a haunter 
shimmered into existence just above it. "Oh no..." he stammered, 
fear creeping down his spine and clawing at his heart, "Not 
again..."

Wraith, however, didn't seem interested in the incarcerated man; 
instead he turned to his trainer with a proud smile, and held his 
hands before him. "Haunt!" he exclaimed happily, spinning his 
disembodied palms in the air for Miranda to inspect.

"They're lovely," replied Miranda sweetly, taking one of her 
haunter's hands in her own and turning him around slowly so that 
Wraith faced James, "But right now I need you to do me one more 
little, tiny favor."

"Haunt?" inquired Wraith, one of his eyes moving around to the 
back, independent of the laws that governed corporeal beings and 
stared at Miranda curiously.

"Teach this man to laugh manically," his trainer instructed, 
making the haunter burst out laughing.

"No, no!" chuckled, not noticing as Misty took a few steps back, 
Bow let out a low whine, and Frank kept his eye on her ghostly 
pokemon, "Not like that, like you do when you REALLY want to scare 
someone!"

"Haun, wra!" agreed Wraith, nodding as best he could as his eye 
swiveled the rest of the way around and he began to float towards 
James with an evil grin.

"What-? What does it want!?" demanded James, cowering against the 
far wall, shivering at the thought of getting to close to Wraith.

"He just wants to communicate with you directly," Miranda 
explained as though it were nothing, "When you feel his mind touch 
yours, just let it in. Don't worry, though, he's not a true 
psychic, so human minds are still pretty alien to him. Your 
thoughts will still be your own. Wraith's just going to talk in 
your mind for bit."

From her shoulder, Nezumi chuckled at the comment, before catching 
James's eye and giving his own sinister grin. "Raaaaa!" the 
rattata exclaimed, doing his best ghost impression as he stood on 
his hind legs and reached his forepaws into the air dramatically.

"Nooo!" shrieked James, his back pressed against the far wall as 
he felt something dark press against his mind. Somewhere, beyond 
his actual range of hearing, the Rocket could hear a quiet voice 
whispering over and over again.

"Just don't fight it," ordered Miranda sternly as Wraith passed 
through the bars of the cell as though they weren't even there, 
"he won't hurt you. You're not the one responsible for what 
happened to my family."

One of Wraith's eyes swiveled around to look at his trainer again. 
There was a curious sympathy in the single, strange looking eye, 
and Miranda could only smile lovingly back. 

'Before you, I had no one to chase away my nightmares,' thought 
Miranda in response to the gentle touch she felt against her mind, 
'Thank you, dearest.'

The haunter pursed his lips for a moment, almost blushing as both 
eyes turned to focus on James. "Haunter!" he ordered in a loud 
voice, an ethereal wind suddenly stirring up all around him, and 
blowing the human up against the wall even harder.

"Alright! Alright!" pleaded James, fighting against the wind only 
he could feel, covering his ears against its sinister howl that 
only he could hear, and shutting his eyes against horrible images 
that only he could see, "I'll let you in, just make it stop!"

"Stop?" inquired Frank, blinking loudly and trying to figure out 
what the borderline hysterical man was babbling about.

"Illusions," explained Misty with a shudder as she crept back up 
behind Miranda and peeked around at the scene, "Wraith's illusions 
must be stronger since he evolved."

"Indeed!" replied Miranda, her tone that of a proud mother, 
"Wraith is certainly extraordinary."

"Ra," commented Nezumi indignantly, causing Miranda to laugh and 
reach up to scratch the top of his head with her index finger 
affectionately.

"But you're still my favorite," she promised, making the rattata 
smile happily as he leaned against her neck and gave a contented 
sigh.

"Grow? inquired Bow a hint of jealousy in her voice as she glanced 
up at Frank, 

The cop sighed and leaned down to scratch his growlithe's ears. 
"You really are a pain, you know that!" he told her, trying not to 
laugh as she licked his face. 

"Gee," commented Misty, deciding not to watch what the haunter was 
doing, "Makes you wonder who the trainer is."

Miranda laughed in agreement, reaching behind her to take Misty's 
hand. "We all have our own ways of doing things, love," she 
replied with a reassuring smile, glancing over at James as he 
tried to laugh once more.

"I know," responded Misty reluctantly, slipping her fingers 
through Miranda's as she stepped closer to the growlithe, "I'm 
just not sure that I'm totally comfortable being so close to 
Wraith in such a confined space right now."

Miranda nodded keeping half an eye on Wraith as he covered his 
eyes and rotated his body from side to side in lieu of being able 
to shake his head in dismay.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to," the courier 
offered, feeling deeply guilty for making Misty feel 
uncomfortable.

"No, no," her beloved assured, kneeling before the growlithe and 
holding out her hands, "It's okay. Hi there, Bow. Feeling ignored, 
are ya?"

Miranda nodded and turned her attention back to Wraith and James, 
concentrating on the task at hand. "See the problem?" she 
inquired, and Wraith nodded in agreement.

"L-look," stammered James, "maybe this isn't such a great idea."

"Just relax," commented Miranda in an annoyed tone, "and just 
listen to what Wraith has to say. I'll be right here to keep him 
from doing anything... Rash."

Wraith turned back to James chuckling. 'Don't you feel it, human?' 
he inquired directly into the man's mind, 'the urge to laugh? To 
shake loose the cobwebs in your mind and soul? The need to fill 
the world with your thunderous laughter!?"

James desperately wanted to take a step back as the ghost hovered 
closer, but the cold stone wall bared his path. "I-! I-!" he 
stammered, feeling what could best be defined as Wraith's hot 
breath upon his face, yet he wasn't entirely certain as to how 
that was even possible, "I do! I really do! Just leave me alone!"

Wraith grinned malevolently before letting loose with a deep, 
thunderous laughter so maniacally sinister that it even made 
Miranda jump about a foot in the air and clutch her heart.

Behind her the courier heard Misty scream and Frank curse as Bow 
started barking and Nezumi fell off her shoulder, grabbing hold of 
her ponytail just in time.

"Wraith!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily as she tried to slow 
her pulse. 

"Haunt...?" replied Wraith meekly, turning around and floating 
over to his trainer with his hands together in front of his face 
in a gesture of meekness.

"Ap-Apologize to Misty!" was the only thing she could think of to 
say as the ghost hovered a little lower and looked up at her, his 
eyes going wide in an attempt to look cute.

"It- it's okay," stammered Misty as Miranda turned to face her, 
"I- I think he could probably use that as a new technique!"

"Yeah!" agreed Frank, laughing as the primal fear exited his mind, 
"That was great! It was like the ghost version of the 'Roar' 
technique!"

"Lithe," muttered Bow in reluctant agreement, glaring up at the 
ghost with little flames dancing along her bared teeth.

"Wra?" inquired Wraith peeking around Miranda as his disembodied 
hand phased through his trainer's torso and took gentle hold of 
Nezumi.

"Absolutely!" assured Frank, petting Bow to try to calm her down, 
"Ms. Lilcamp, you do have quite the ghost. Just try to tone him 
down a little."

Miranda nodded as Wraith deposited Nezumi back on her shoulder. 
"Are you both okay, though?" she asked, glancing at Misty and the 
rattata.

"I'll be fine," responded Misty, taking a deep breath as Miranda 
walked over and took hold of her shoulders, "I'm just not used to 
him yet."

"I guess it's a Lav'Brat thing," Miranda commented as Misty stood 
up and hugged her, "I'm sorry, though. I really hate scaring you."

"It's fine, it's fine," repeated Misty, looking up at Miranda 
before reaching up to pet Nezumi, "And you're okay too, right?"

The rattata grinned sarcastically and nodded before turning to 
Wraith and shaking a small claw at him. In response, the haunter 
looked even more downcast, yet smiled just enough for Nezumi to 
notice.

"Alright then," said Miranda with a wary sigh, "Let's get back at 
it. Wraith, wake up James and try again."

The haunter chuckled, as he turned to the unconscious human. 
'Wow!" he thought with grim satisfaction, coupled with amazement, 
"Did I do that?! Dang, I'm good!'

James suddenly felt insatiably hungry, more so than he had in 
days. With an unhappy grumble, he stretched out and rubbed his 
eyes. "Another day, another lost pikachu he muttered, opening his 
eyes to the sight of Wraith hovering before him with one of his 
strange dark hands missing, "Ah! Oh no! It's a nightmare!"

'No actually,' chuckled Wraith in his mind, suddenly drawing his 
missing hand out of James forehead, 'Those are much more tasty!'

With a look of disgusted horror, the man curled into the fetal 
position at the sight of what Wraith held in his hand. "Ah! Put it 
back! Put it back!" he cried as the haunter held what appeared to 
his brain.

The ghost merely chucked, poking at the gray matter with his free 
hand, and giggling as James stopped feeling hungry, and started 
feeling positively euphoric. "No!" the human pleaded giddily, "Not 
there!"

"Wraith, knock it off," ordered Miranda, not having to see the 
illusion to know what her ghost was up to.

Wraith gave a pouty look and tossed the chimerical brain over his 
shoulder, causing it to shatter into small fragments of coloured 
light. 'Now then,' he instructed, pulling out his real hand, and 
ceasing his literal 'playing with James's brain', 'Listen up. For 
a really good maniacal laugh, you have to start with proper 
breathing. No, no, hold your stomach in, the vibrations come from 
your chest, not your gut. But that's where you have to feel it. 
Yes, that's it! Now, push it out in long waves..."

James nodded, concentrating on his breathing for several moments, 
and almost hyperventilating in the process. "Like this?" he 
inquired, holding his stomach in as he went through the motions.

'Exactly!' cackled Wraith, rubbing his hands together with glee 
before looking down at them proudly, 'Oh, I don't know what I did 
without these! Now then, let's try it with the laughter.'

James nodded, taking on a huge grin as he threw his head back and 
did his best to emulated Wraith's truly supernatural laughing 
ability.

'No, no, no! You're doing it all wrong!' hissed Wraith in 
irritation and reached his hand into James's chest, 'Here, I'll 
show you..."

"What-? What are you doing?!" exclaimed James, panicking as usual.

'Look, you bag of bones,' he replied irritably as he stared 
directly into the man's eyes, and almost into his very soul, 'If 
we're going to work together, you're going to firstly, have to co-
operate, and secondly, NEVER ask my that question. You probably 
don't want to know.'

James nodded, trying to hold back his tears as Wraith looked to 
one side and began nibbling his tongue thoughtfully. 'Oh! Here we 
go,' he replied gritting his ethereal teeth as James felt 
something odd within his chest, 'Now, just trust me, and follow 
the feeling with your laugher. Now, as you do this, imagine your 
greatest moment of triumph! The columniation of all your dreams! 
See in your mind, all your goals achieved!'

The man sighed heavily, abandoning all hope, but thankful that 
this ghost wasn't as bad as the others who'd used him as a chew 
toy over the years. 

After taking a deep breath, James slowly let his laughter build, 
all the while imagining a glass cage held firmly in his hands. 
Within it, was Pikachu. The lightning rodent looked up at him 
imploringly and with a happy grin, he opened the cage. With that, 
Pikachu leapt into his arms, making happy sounds as Meowth 
translated that he wanted James to be his new trainer. That he 
wanted nothing to do with the twerp who had forced him to hurt the 
one human he truly respected. Beneath him, James envisioned Ash 
screaming and yelling in betrayal, desperately ordering Pikachu to 
thunder-shock the three Rockets, but the pokemon would have 
nothing to do with it.

'Now,' whispered Wraith, 'Feel the laughter. BE the laughter... 
Push it up, one wave at a time. You're not just filling the air 
with sonic vibrations; you're telling the world that you, and you 
alone have done what no one has ever succeeded in doing before! 
You're the best, you're number one! Tell not just this world, but 
also the entire universe! Let your laughter ring through all the 
dimensions your mind can fathom and beyond!!!'

James closed his eyes, filtering out all other distractions; the 
quiet murmur of the other human's, the oppressive cold of the 
concrete floor beneath him, the terrible rash his fire-proof, yet 
not non-carcinogenic Team Rocket uniform was giving him... 
Instead, he focused his mind on the image of finally being able to 
tell Augustus Giovanni that he'd finally captured Pikachu. That 
he'd finally proven to himself, to his boss, and most importantly 
to Jessie, that he was indeed, a true villain!

The laughter started out as more of a quiet giggle, centered deep 
in his throat. The man could feel the odd tingling sensation 
slowly rising as he began, and he followed the feeling with his 
laughter as it rose through his throat. Louder and louder the 
crescendo of maniacal laughter became, rising and falling in waves 
as it exited his mouth and filled the room with it's echoing, 
satisfying quality, filling James with an as yet unfelt euphoria. 

'That's it! That's it!' exclaimed Wraith excitedly, clapping his 
hands together, but only really succeeding in making odd, muffled 
squishing sounds, 'You see?! I knew you could do it, human! Way to 
go!'

As the last notes fell from his lips, James leaned forward to 
catch his breath. He then pulled in his legs and hugged them 
against his chest as he wallowed in the feeling of deep 
satisfaction that filled his very being. "Amazing..." he muttered, 
shaking his head in disbelief, "I never knew I had in me!"

"Rattata!" agreed Nezumi calling out loudly and causing James to 
look up at the onlookers.

"Well I'm impressed," commented Misty with a look of honest 
astonishment as she politely applauded.

"Thank you!" exclaimed James, leaping to his feet and bowing 
deeply, "Thank you all!"

"This is so twisted," laughed Miranda, putting an arm around Misty 
and giving her half a hug as tears of joy filled the villain's 
eyes, "But I think I like it!"

"Yup," commented Frank, shaking his head and trying not to laugh, 
"This almost makes getting my car busted up worth it. Almost..."

Chapter XII

The North side park was annoyingly crowded as the three walked the 
short distance across the soft grass to one of the few free picnic 
tables. All around them, the voices of tourist and native 
Ceruleans echoed in their ears as children ran about and wind blew 
the tops of the abundant shade giving trees far above their heads.

"This place was a real forest when I was growing up," commented 
Misty sadly as she set down her tray, "It's scary sometimes how 
things change when you leave and come back after such a long 
time."

Frank nodded as he sat down across from Miranda as she sat beside 
Misty. "Yeah, but I guess you have that problem every year," he 
agreed, glancing at Miranda.

"Not really," said the woman with a shrug, filling her teacup as 
Nezumi grabbed several fries off Frank's tray and disappeared 
under the table, "But then, not much changes in Lavender from year 
to year. Mom still wants me to spend more time at home, a few more 
morons think they can just walk into the tower and capture ghosts, 
and Aunt Laurna wonders why you left her at the alter."

Frank nearly choked on his hamburger, causing Misty to smile and 
try not to laugh. "Hey, I said I'd talk about that later," he 
replied nervously, pounding his chest to make sure he didn't 
choke.

"It is later," persisted Miranda with a knowing smile as she 
picked up her father's handleless cup and took a sip of her tea.

Frank sighed heavily and nodded. "Look, I really have no excuse," 
he replied, staring down at his food and linking his fingers in 
front of him before glancing up at Miranda apologetically, "As I 
said, things just got weird between us. Too routine, I suppose. I 
dunno, I just had this image in my mind of turning into one of 
those boring middle-aged men with almost no hair, and my pants 
pulled up to my neck. And I don't even want to think about what 
our kids would turn out like! Especially with all those ghosts she 
has. Also, Laurna's just too... Too..."

"Nice?" offered Miranda, her tone serious but compassionate.

Her uncle nodded, glancing up at her before speaking. "Yeah, I 
just didn't want to change her," he explained, "Here was this 
wonderful woman who was everything I could ever want, and then 
there was me, her complete opposite. Where as she has that shy, 
mysterious quality to her, I'm Mr. Extrovert. Where she's 
successful, well-liked and smart, I always react without thinking, 
I wasn't able to hold down a real job until I joined the 
Pokeforce, and half the people in Lavender thought I was crazy! 
Where Laurna's all sweet and innocent, I'm... Um, uh..."

"A pervert?" offered Misty with a grin, causing Frank to laugh. 
"That's it!" he admitted, his usual mirth returning immediately, 
"I guess I just couldn't stand the thought of 'corrupting' her, 
you know?"

"Wow," chuckled Miranda sympathetically as she reached across the 
table and gave her Uncle's hands a reassuring squeeze, "As much as 
you try to deny it, you are a gentleman."

"What?!" exclaimed Frank, sitting up straight and looking around 
nervously, causing his companions to laugh, "Who told you...?!"

***

Beneath the picnic table, Nezumi leapt off the bench seat and 
grinned up at Bow as she stared expectantly up at her trainer. 
"Yo, pyro-puppy!" he called holding out a French fry, "Ya hungry?"

Bow glanced at the rattata and gave him an alarmed look. "Y-yes," 
she stammered, taking a step back, "But..."

"What?" asked Nezumi, taking a bite from the other fry, "They're 
good."

Bow glanced up at Frank in time to see him reach under the table 
with several small bits of what used to be a French fry in his 
hand. "There!" the growlithe explained, happily wagging her fuzzy 
tail, "That's the way to serve food."

"What? All cut up into reeeeeeally tiny pieces?" commented Nezumi 
quizzically, taking a bite of the second potato stick and chewing 
loudly, "Man, you're one spoiled growlithe!"  

"Gee," replied Bow, chewing her food with the utmost of dignity 
and grace, "Next you'll be saying I shouldn't ask for help and 
just jump onto the couch on my own! What? Were you raised in 
barn?!"

***

"So," asked Frank as the three finished their food, "Do you think 
they'll be at the restaurant's opening tonight?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," responded Miranda with a shrug, "I doubt 
that that James guy lied about that. Kathy did have her pokemon 
try to kill him after all."

"I guess Rockets just play for keeps," commented Frank, glancing 
down as his watch chimed. "Hm, looks like Jen's going to be 
alright," he chuckled, switching back from the pager setting to 
chronometer.

"Is it a threat or a love letter?" teased Miranda, grinning slyly 
as her uncle looked distressed for a moment.

"With her? Both!" he laughed, dropping his hands on the table 
before getting to his feet, and glancing at his lunch companions, 
"Anyway, I'd best get down there and see how she is, otherwise 
I'll never hear the end of it... Bow! Let's go, girl!"

"Have fun," his niece chuckled as Bow ran out from under the table 
and ran around his feet excitedly, "Oh, and thanks for the help."

"Twern't nothin' ma'am," Frank replied with a wide grin in his 
best cowboy accent before glancing at Misty, "Nice meeting you, 
eh. It's good to see Miri happy." 

"Just doing my job," Misty laughed, unable to keep a straight face 
as she tried to make it seem like a huge chore.

"Oh, and before I forget," said Frank, turning back to them with a 
wide grin as Bow ran around him barking at him to hurry up, "I'll 
be at the restaurant tonight."

"Really?" replied Miranda with sudden amused suspicion.

"Yup!" agreed Frank with a nod as he stood a little taller, "Jenny 
and myself received invites seein' as we're this city's most 
prominent officers."

"Meaning you begged, cajoled, and promised to be good until she 
agreed to take you as her date," corrected his niece, smiling as 
she saw in his eyes that she was right.

Frank laughed a bit and glanced down at the growlithe. "Come on!" 
he teased before waving good-bye and heading off again, "Get your 
fur on! Okay, see you there!"

"So," chuckled Miranda, reaching under the table and picking up 
Nezumi as she watched her almost Uncle tease Bow by pretending to 
get ready to run, "Think we should dress up for this thing? 'Ces 
Batards De L'autre Cote De La Rue' sounds pretty classy to me. 
'Course, I may be assuming that just because the owner seems to be 
a bit of a snoot."

Misty looked thoughtful for a moment, glancing over her shoulder 
as Miranda laughed when Bow kicked in her 'agility' technique and 
ran off so fast she missed it, leaving Frank to laugh and call out 
"Fooled you!" 

"I suppose," she said a bit sullenly, "But I'm afraid everything 
nice in my closet once belonged to one of my sisters or other. But 
I suppose I could undo some of the stitching in one a bit to 
account for your height-"

"That's not what I meant, dear," assured Miranda, reaching over 
and taking Misty's hand in her own, "I meant that perhaps we 
should go and pick out something new for us to wear. You've had 
enough 'hand-me-downs'. It's time you had something new."

Misty met Miranda's suddenly serious gaze with a look of both 
amazed disbelief and admiration. "I- I don't want to drive you 
into debt or anything," she stammered, feeling too polite to 
simply accept the offer, "I mean, you're already paying my way 
wherever we go as is..."

Miranda shrugged. "It's nothing," she assured with a dismissive 
wave of her free hand, "Besides, it's been a few months since I 
really made my card smoke."

Misty laughed a little as Miranda stood up and extracted herself 
for the picnic table. "Oh, and for the record," added the courier, 
"I don't think you're 'free loading' or anything. Every day you 
give me something money can't buy."

"Oh?"

"Your love..."

***

The sign above the door of the little coffee/seamstress shop on 
Clearwater Lane read simply, "Irene's Textile and Coffee Shop". 
But the little signs in the window proclaiming, "Pants hemmed 
before you can blink!" and "Wedding dresses while you wait!" 
didn't tell the whole story.

The proprietor was a friendly looking woman who looked to be in 
her late thirties, but her friendly blue eyes, which hid behind 
bifocals spoke of a wisdom at least twice that. She wore a 
comfortable looking dress whose colour matched her eyes almost 
perfectly, with a kind of sleeveless vest over it made of a 
courser material. The vest seemed to be something of the 
seamstress's version of a tool belt, having dozens of small 
pockets that overflowed with buttons and thread, while pins and 
needles of various sizes and shapes poked out of it at odd angles.

With a friendly smile and a few kind words, the woman, whose name 
actually turned out to be Irene, brought Misty and Miranda to of 
the free tables and brought them a pot of Earl Gray tea before 
they'd barely had time to open their mouths.

"I'm just a little busy right now," Irene explained in a motherly 
tone before scurrying off into the back room so quickly that 
neither saw her even move.

"She must hate to be bored, I guess," commented Miranda, glancing 
around at the little shop's collection of what appeared to be 
homemade art and craft projects. 

"My mother was like that," agreed Misty, noting the plushy seel 
that rested atop a shelf lined with mostly books on sewing and 
several dozen cans of imported coffee grounds, "But she just liked 
to travel. She wasn't really all that creative."

"Just couldn't sit still?" inquired Miranda semi-rhetorically, 
deciding it would was probably better to use the teacups they'd 
been brought rather than spend an hour digging into the bottom of 
her backpack for her own and reached for the teapot.

Misty nodded, glancing at the thin beaded curtain that separated 
the back room from the main area as the powerful motor of an 
industrial sewing machine filled their ears with its rapid 
thudding sound. "Just like me, I guess," she agreed once the noise 
had ceased, replaced by a few muffled words as Irene spoke a few 
unkind words to the machine through a mouth full of needles.

"Well, I'm quite glad you got that trait," commented Miranda as 
Irene stepped out of the back room followed by a somewhat 
bewildered looking young woman clutching a flat rectangular box 
protectively, "It'd have to take a desk job if you hated 
traveling."

Misty nodded, not quite hearing as Irene printed the customer off 
an invoice and handed it to her, causing the woman to stammer in 
appreciative disbelief. "But-! But-!" she finally managed to say, 
"The place over on the other side of town said my wedding dress 
would cost me two thousand, five hundred credits, and you're only 
charging me two hundred and ten!"

"Well, if it wasn't for her need to travel, I'd probably still be 
living at home," continued Misty a little sadly as Irene chuckled 
heartily and accepted the woman's card. "But at least some good 
came of it," she added rather hastily, smiling up at Miranda's 
suddenly sullen expression, "I wouldn't have met you otherwise."

"Actually," corrected Miranda, thinking back, as Irene hurried 
over to their table, "We'd have met sooner. Although I'm not sure 
we'd be sitting here right now."

Misty's comment was cut short by the proprietor's sudden 
appearance. "So! What'll it be, ladies?" she inquired cheerily, 
"Just hear for a bite to eat, or do you need something hemmed? I 
noticed your jeans need mending, miss."

Miranda gave a bit of a startled look, surprised that the woman 
had noticed the holes that were forever forming at the knees of 
her jeans. "Um, actually we were looking into getting something to 
wear over to that new restaurant tonight."

Irene quickly stifled a negative comment but her disapproval was 
subtly evident. "I see," she said, thoughtfully rubbing her chin 
for a moment, "Well, I have a book over by the counter if you'd 
like to take a look. Just remember, that you can change the 
colours, and fabric to your liking. As well as mixing and matching 
if you don't find exactly what you're looking for."

"I take it you don't like that place too much," commented Misty as 
the woman lead them over to the counter and took out a huge tome. 
Its outer cover was made from ancient leather carved with arcane 
looking runes and had long ago started fraying at the edges. As it 
hit the counter, the book that would have Merlin's grimiore look 
like a paperback sent a cloud of dust into the air. 

A moment later, and Irene had unlocked the impressive looking 
latch with a huge black skeleton key before prying open the volume 
to reveal hundreds of thousands of pages. Many had been taken from 
pattern books and fashion magazines, most of which had gone out of 
print years before Misty or Miranda had been born. Others though 
were high quality black and white photographs of people in various 
outfits. The fact that most of the people portrayed bore a 
resemblance to Irene made them infer that she's used her family to 
model her creations.

Irene shrugged as she flipped past a few hundred pages and turned 
the tome to face them. "Well, let's just say that I don't think 
Chef Troy is totally on the level," said the woman confidentially, 
"And I don't trust any restaurant that won't let me see their 
kitchen."

"Are you a food critic in your spare time?" inquired Miranda with 
a smile, meaning it in jest as Misty flipped through the tome's 
pages in amazement.

"Goodness, no!" laughed Irene, reaching under the counter and 
pulling out a plastic bottle full of water and taking a sip, "But 
I've done my time in my fair share of restaurants, and if they 
don't meet my standards, I won't eat there."

"Hey, you aren't..." began Misty, glancing up at the woman with an 
amazed looked, causing Irene's grin to broaden as she nodded. 

"Yes, that was me," she agreed with a chuckle.

"Am I missing something?" inquired Miranda, glancing at the dress 
Misty was indicating.

"Irene had the most famous restaurant in Neon Town closed down for 
health violations several years ago," explained Misty with a touch 
of awe.

"That was a long time ago, miss, but never underestimate the power 
of a mom," added Irene, shaking her head in amusement, "So, is 
this the one you'd like?"

Misty glanced over at Miranda questioningly. "Can you afford it?" 
she asked quietly, trying to keep her voice down, but Miranda 
could see the excitement in her eyes.

"Easily," the woman agreed, unable to keep from smiling as Misty 
gripped the counter, nearly unable to contain herself at the 
prospect, "Oh, and I guess I'll take this one. In the dark blue if 
you have it."

Irene nodded as she sipped her bottled water. "Not a problem," she 
assured, motioning for them to follow, "Any ideas about material? 
I have everything from burlap to mareep wool!"

"Burlap?!" they both exclaimed at once.

"Just kidding!" laughed Irene as they entered her inner sanctum, 
"Now one of you just stand on the stool so I can get your 
measurements..."

***

It seemed to take no time at all for the industrious woman to 
acquire their dress sizes, have them both agree on fabric, and 
user them out of the comforting clutter of her sewing room.

"This won't take long," assured Irene, insisting that they sit on 
the comfortable looking sofa at the far end of the room and 
putting their tea on the low table before them before hurrying off 
again.

Before they could even get comfortable, however, the woman hurried 
out of the back again with a large platter and set it down on the 
table before them. "Don't let Chef Troy fool you with his so 
called 'International Cuisine'," warned Irene a touch smugly as 
her guests stared down in awe at the variety of pastries, cookies, 
and various healthier delicacies she'd put before them, "This is 
real international food."

Miranda nodded, picking up a square of something that seemed to be 
layers of a sweet dark substance separated by baked dough. "This 
is Icelandic, isn't it?" she inquired, taking a bite and 
immediately feeling her arteries harden as she tasted more sugar 
than she usually had in a year.

Irene nodded. "I hope you like it," she said expectantly, her tone 
suddenly filled with worry.

"I'm sure we will," assured Misty, trying to contain her joy at 
the unaccustomed hospitality, "But I don't think we can eat it 
all!"

"Hey," chuckled Irene, making her way back to her personal domain, 
"No one leaves my shop hungry. But if you need too, I don't mind 
the smaller pokemon helping you out if you have any. Just make 
sure they don't make a mess."

"Thanks!" called Miranda as the woman disappeared before she could 
react, and pulled out two poke balls.

"Time to spoil them, I guess," she said with a wary sigh as Misty 
tried one of the half circle shaped doughy things near the center 
and made approving noises at the apple/cinnamon flavor, "Umi! 
Nezumi! Lunch break!"

The two pokemon materialized on the floor, but only Umi was 
visible, rearing up like the serpent she was to look at Miranda 
questioningly for a moment before eying the food. As her strangely 
glowing eyes shifted from purple to bright gold, Nezumi climbed up 
her neck and leaned forward as he sat atop the dratini's head.

"Nez, ra?" he inquired, glancing up at his trainer as she sat back 
with a handful of different things on a small plate.

"Fang Fa- Err, I mean Wraith, doesn't eat, dear," the woman 
reminded, "Well, 'food' anyway... Besides, he's scared enough 
people for one week."

"Tatta," replied Nezumi with a shrug, before diving off Umi's head 
and grabbing pieces of three different kinds of cheese, one in 
each front paw, and one in his mouth.

"His nickname for Wraith is as colourful as his for yours, I take 
it?" laughed Misty as Nezumi made a compete pig of himself while 
Umi daintily sampled a piece of one of the offensive smelling, but 
pleasingly sliced kielbasa.

"'Fang Face'," agreed Miranda, quickly chewing and swallowing a 
piece of something she was certain wasn't in the plant or animal 
kingdoms when it was alive, but still tasted wonderful, "Umi's 
'Draco Babe'."

"I hate to think what he calls my pokemon."

Nezumi glanced up and chuckled as he snatched away the cracker Umi 
was reaching for, grinning and tossing it back at her when she 
glared at him with fiercely swirling red eyes. 

"'The Overgrown Magikarp', 'Shady' and 'Fish-Face'."

"Fish-Face?!" exclaimed Misty angrily, leaning down and glaring at 
the rattata.

"Nez!?" he replied, spitting out a mouthful of gouda as he stood 
on his hind legs and gave her a look of 'What's you're point?'.

"Gee, I can't wait 'till you get to know the other three," 
grumbled Misty, leaning back and glowering at Nezumi in mock anger 
as Miranda laughed.

"He knows you too well," she chuckled, taking a sip of the cooling 
tea, "He'd be running for his pokeball if he thought you were 
really mad at him."

"Am I really that easy to read?" the trainer inquired, reaching 
out and scratching Nezumi on the head and making him smile 
contentedly as Umi gave him a jealous look.

"Animals are always more in sync with emotions than we are," 
explained Irene, appearing beside the table as if by magic, "Now, 
if I could just borrow you both for a half a second, I have to get 
you to try these on so I can make the final adjustments."

"Already?!" inquired Miranda, astounded as she glanced at her 
watch, "Wow..."

Irene shrugged and headed back into her workshop. "Ah! It's easy," 
she replied, her voice suddenly muffled by the curtain, "I used to 
just make myself new clothes before going to work in the morning 
if I couldn't find anything that I felt like wearing that day. Now 
come on, this won't take long."

True to her word, the dress fitting was over almost before it 
began. One moment Miranda was standing atop the stool, feeling a 
little awkward and surprised at herself for even suggesting the 
idea in the first place, and the next she was sliding back into 
her normal clothes while Irene slid pins through the fabric of 
Misty's brightly coloured dress faster than she could follow, but 
still getting the fit just right.

"All done!" the woman announced, helping Misty get out of the 
garment without getting stabbed a dozen times, "Just give me a few 
minutes."

Miranda blinked, shaking her head in amazement at the speed and 
efficiency at which the woman worked. "Makes me feel out of breath 
just watching her," she whispered to Misty as they left the room, 
causing the girl to chuckle.

"But she does a good job, apparently," agreed Misty, smiling as 
they found the two pokemon in a semi-conscious state lying on the 
table.

Nezumi was lying on his back, holding his bloated stomach, glanced 
up at the humans as they entered. He smiled and tried to squeak 
out a reply, but belched loudly instead, waking Umi from her 
slumber.

"Had enough?" inquired Miranda, giving Umi's eye ridges a gentle 
scratch before sitting down trying to find something the two 
hadn't devoured completely, "Gee, you'd think I never feed you 
guys!"

"Um, I know I don't want to know this," said Misty, sitting down 
and looking questioningly at the nearly empty platter, "But 
earlier you said 'Wraith doesn't eat. Food anyway.' Um, do I even 
want to know what he does eat?"

Miranda chuckled, leaning in close to Misty so that her lips 
nearly touched her lover's hear. "Dreams," she whispered quietly, 
her voice sounding mysterious, "Especially bad ones..." She then 
leaned back, letting her voice trail off as Misty turned to face 
her. 

"Is that why you have him?" she asked, her tone sounding 
concerned.

The woman shrugged. "Not really," she explained, "But it's one of 
the reasons I kept him. After he stopped being a royal pain in the 
butt, I found that he could take care of a little problem that I 
was having. Chronic nightmares."

"I used to have those," sympathized Misty, taking her lover's hand 
and giving is a squeeze, "I suppose we have something else in 
common then."

Miranda nodded slowly. "Were they about your parents?" she asked 
carefully.

"Yes and no," her lover replied, leaning against Miranda and 
closing her eyes as she held her, "Mostly it was just me. All 
alone in a leaky boat during a storm, calling out to them. They 
never heard me, and I never found them, but the dreams stopped 
once I'd left home."

"I'm surprised you still love the water so much," Miranda 
commented quietly, feeling saddened that there was yet another 
down point in Misty's life she wasn't there to help fix.

"Oh, it wasn't the water I was afraid of," she corrected, "It 
wasn't even the storm really. It was just the feeling of isolation 
and being trapped. Knowing that I couldn't just go out and search 
for them made me feel so helpless. And I hate that feeling. Not 
being in control of my own destiny, not being able to make my own 
choices without being told what do to three people who can't even 
make proper decisions in their own selfish lives."

"I can't imagine what that's like," confessed Miranda, holding 
Misty closer, "But whatever you decide to do in the future, I'll 
support you."

"I know, Miri," whispered Misty, looking up at Miranda and smiling 
happily, "That's one reason I love you."

Misty kissed her gently and couldn't help but chuckle as she slid 
back into a normal sitting position. "It's okay," she called, 
blushing as she spoke, "You can come in now!"

Irene moved the blue and white beaded curtain aside and entered 
the room wielding two long dresses at arms length. "Okay, I think 
I have these the way you wanted them," the woman explained without 
missing a beat, pretending to have heard nothing as she held 
Miranda's dress a little higher to keep it from dragging, "But 
I'll want you to try them on before you go. I won't even charge 
you extra for the alterations."

"Wow, thanks," they both replied at once.

"Yes, now just go in the back and try them on," the woman 
explained as a man in a suit entered, displaying a terrible rip in 
his jacket.

The two obeyed, and were soon helping in each other into the 
nearly completed garments, surrounded on all sides by racks of 
clothing, bolts of fabric, and an enormous sewing machine that 
both appeared to rely on vacuum tubes and steam power to operate 
and looked about a hundred years older than its owner.

"You know," commented Miranda, covering up her sudden feeling of 
nervousness with a chuckle, "I haven't dressed this femininely 
since before I caught Wraith."

"Oh? How long ago was that?" inquired Misty, zipping up the back 
of Miranda's rather simple dark purple, long sleeved dress.

Miranda exhaled loudly, pushing her bangs out of her eyes for a 
moment as she thought about it. "Oh, going on three years ago now- 
No, wait! Four I think."

"You're such a bad mother!" Misty teased, shaking out the hem of 
the dress so that it'd stop clinging to Miranda's legs before 
untying Miranda's hair to give the full effect, "Can't even recall 
your children's birthdays!"

Miranda looked over her shoulder and gave her a questioning look 
around the smile she tried to hide. "Nezumi is in March, and Umi's 
in June. Same as me," she replied, her dark locks falling to one 
side and obscuring her face slightly, "Wraith, though, doesn't 
recall when he was... 'Created' so we just have his 'un-birthday 
on Halloween."

"I take it all back then," assured Misty mirthfully before 
becoming somewhat serious in her tone, "Now turn around so I can 
see you."

Miranda nodded, the strange self-conscious feeling returning as 
she let her arms fall at her sides and spun around, sending the 
hem of her dress in a bit of a spiral. 

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Misty, clapping her hands together joyfully 
as the thing shoulder straps of her own sleeveless garment slid 
down her shoulders a bit, "Except that you look like you just 
swallowed a poliwag."

Miranda looked away and shook her head slowly. "Sorry, I was just 
thinking about what my Uncle's going to say when he sees me," she 
explained, a bit lost in her own thoughts for a moment before 
snickering and replying, "'Miranda! I never knew you were a girl 
under there!' Or some such nonsense."

Misty smirked, folding her arms across her chest and stepping 
close before tilting her head to one side and giving Miranda a 
slight kiss on the cheek. "Well, tell him he has to become 'real' 
family before he can make fun of you," she said sternly as her 
lover met her gaze and smiled, "Or I'll see how HE likes wearing a 
dress!"

"The Tower hath no wraith like Misty scorned," the woman laughed 
as Irene pushed the curtain aside.

"Everybody decent?" she inquired politely before hanging the 
jacket on a ceiling beam and practically ran over to Misty where 
she promptly tugged at the dress in various spots, sliding more 
pins through the fabric until it fit just right.

"Hm, sorry it doesn't quite fit in the front," the woman muttered, 
before scurrying over to Miranda with a mouth full of pins, "Now 
as for you..."

Miranda held her arms out to her sides, feeling a little 
embarrassed as the seamstress poked, prodded, and tugged at the 
comfortable fitting, but not 'right feeling' dress like a para-
zoologist with a new species of pokemon. 

"Well now," the woman muttered, walking around and around Miranda 
with a discerning look that slowly became a smile, "I've certainly 
done it this time, now haven't I? Feel okay, deary?"

The courier nodded, glancing at her denim jeans and t-shirt with a 
hint of longing. "Just fine," she assured her, but Irene stood up 
behind her and nodded knowingly.

"I thought you were the 'tomboy' here, miss," she commented, 
leaning to one side and catching Misty's eye.

"Not completely," the trainer laughed, glancing down at her own 
dress whose colour matched her eyes, "I guess my sisters ARE good 
for something after all then... Creepy."

Irene chuckled, adjusting Miranda's hair a bit and stepping back. 
"Yes, almost perfect. Hm, these ARE the undergarments you plan on 
wearing with this dress, right? Okay good," said the seamstress, 
working so swiftly it was hard to keep track of her, "So tell me, 
if you don't mind me asking. Is this your first time out 
together?"

Miranda smiled, finding the flushing of Misty's cheeks endearing. 
"Well, it'll be the first time we've really gone anywhere nice, or 
done anything this special," she explained, finding Irene easy to 
talk to.

"Well," the seamstress warned them both sternly, her voice 
lowering to a whisper as she glanced over her shoulder, "Just 
don't let that hack Troy try any of those scummy chef tricks on 
you."

"Oh, like what?" inquired Misty as Miranda slipped back out of the 
dress.

Irene met Misty's gaze and looked a bit nervous as she spoke. "I 
really shouldn't say anything with one of 'Ces Batards De L'autre 
Cote De La Rue's' waiters out front," she explained as the two 
leaned in closer to hear, "But I've seen it all. Watering down 
drinks, serving crappy cuts of meat and telling customers it's 
fillet minyon, and serving overpriced wine are just the tip of the 
iceberg! Not that I'm not saying he's going to do any of these 
things, but I've heard some bad things about him in the culinary 
community. He gives his whole family a bad name, that one."

"Thanks for the warning," Miranda replied, stepping between Irene 
and Misty to recover her normal clothing.

"Oh, and be a dear and help your friend out of her dress would 
you?" asked Irene, "I have to attend to my other customer. I won't 
be a moment!"

Before they could respond, Irene had disappeared again. Vanishing 
like a ghost before her friendly voice filtered through the 
curtain as she laughed at whatever joke the waiter told her.

"Think he knows anything?" asked Miranda in a hushed tone as she 
carefully pulled the dress down off Misty's shoulders to where it 
collected near the floor and her friend could step out of it.

"If he does, I doubt that he'd tell us anything," Misty replied, 
not totally convinced, "He's either hired help, or he's a Rocket. 
Presumably one that Kathy isn't trying to kill."

Miranda chuckled at the thought as she picked up Misty's dress and 
hung it on a hanger next to her own. "Well, while I know I may be 
running the risk of forming a clich'," she said thoughtfully, 
looking to see if either Irene or the waiter were going to come in 
at any moment, "but I could send Wraith to check the place out 
after hours. Although for all we know, this Troy guy's involvement 
with Kathy is just on a professional level. Villains need to eat 
too!"

"Possibly," Misty agreed, "But what about the umbreon?" 

Miranda nodded. "That's why I'm sending Nezumi too," she 
explained, "They're both stealthy in their own ways, and together 
they can handle quite a bit if things go wrong. Now we just have 
to hope that they all have a big red 'R' above the ovens or on the 
cooking utensils all have 'Property of Team Rocket' engraved on 
them."

"You don't sound totally convinced," commented Misty, shuffling 
back into her normal clothes.

Miranda shrugged, pulling the curtain aside in time to see Irene 
returning with the ripped jacket. "Not completely, but maybe if 
we're all there in the same place, something will happen."

"With Frank and Officer Jenny there?" commented Misty under her 
breath, "Not likely..."



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




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