Chapter 2

Misty woke up in an unfamiliar bed, with an odd pressure against her chest. She opened her eyes and couldn't help but smile as she saw Nezumi staring back at her with a smile on his face.

"Hello, you," she said, reaching her hand from under the covers to pet him.

"Hey! You're up," commented Miranda, coming from the other room already fully clothed, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but you fell asleep and you were starting to turn the colour of a krabby."

Misty smiled. "That's okay," she relied, stretching out on the large bed, "I've never felt quite so refreshed and relaxed!"

Miranda shrugged. "This place does that to you," she explained, "Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I brought you back to my room and gave you something to wear. It would have been difficult to explain why I was carrying an unconscious naked person up to my room!"

Misty laughed a little self-consciously, sitting up before swinging her legs off the side of the bed as Nezumi bounced away. "So, what time is it anyway?" she asked yawing and stretching again, causing her hotel bathrobe to fall open a bit in the front.

"A little after three," answered Miranda, a little distracted, and handed Misty her clothing.

"Wow," her guest commented, "I feel like I slept for a week! I'm definitely coming back here."

"I always do," replied Miranda with a shrug, "And if you're still willing to accept my invitation, I'll more than likely back this way again."

Misty paused in the midst of pulling her denim shorts up under her bathrobe. "Yeah," she answered after a moment's thought, "I really need to get away. Who knows, maybe I'll even challenge the League like you suggested!"

"If that'd make you happy, I'd have no problem with it," commented Miranda, affixing her poke balls to her belt, "But right now I was thinking about getting some food, and seeing about getting you a new bike."

Misty clapped her hands together loudly, her eyes going wide as she shuffled over to Miranda. "Really?!" she exclaimed with a wide grin.

Miranda chuckled, and ruffled Misty's shortish hair. "I never make a promise I don't intend to keep," she assured the girl.

"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Misty, throwing her arms around Miranda enthusiastically, not caring that her robe had fallen open completely.

Miranda gulped down her nervous feeling and returned the embrace. "It's nothing really," she assured her in a soft, compassionate tone, "It'll be nice to have another human around for once."

"But, don't you get to go home at all?" asked Misty looking up into the depths of her clear gray eyes, concern creeping into her voice.

Miranda shrugged. "Not very often," she explained, looking a little distant, "Usually I just stop by once or twice a year. Too many bad memories."

"I guess I have an idea of how you feel," replied Misty, leaning her head on Miranda's shoulder and giving her a reassuring hug.

"Well, it's not as though no one cares about me there," Miranda continued, tilting her head so that her lips brushed against Misty's silky feeling hair as she spoke, "It's just that it hurts be there. And to see Mom."

"Why? What's wrong with your Mother?" Misty asked, her words full of concern.

Miranda took a deep breath. "One of the pokemon the thieves used," she began, tears already falling from her eyes to dampen Misty's orange-ish hair once again, "It was just a machop... It hit her so hard that she's been paralyzed ever since."

"I-I'm so sorry," replied Misty, holding Miranda tighter, hardly minding the falling tears.

"If only I'd had Wraith back then," the woman muttered, shaking her head regretfully, "Even a strong machop is no match for even the weakest gastly. As I've said before, it's part of my life's work to find these people, and when I do, I'll show them as little mercy as they showed my family."

"Um, Miranda," Misty asked tactfully, a sudden idea coming to mind, "These thieves didn't have a talking meowth with them, did they?"

Miranda paused, her dark reverie broken. "Meowths can't talk, dear," she told the girl, "It's taken me a few years to get my pokemon to the point they're at now. Of course I only try in my spare time."

Misty let out a long sigh of relief. "That's good," she breathed, relief flooding her, "I was worried I might know these people."

"Your associate Ash steals pokemon?!" inquired Miranda, a startled expression crossing her pale features.

"No! No! No!" laughed Misty, "But we've met a trio of pokemon thieves. They keep pestering Ash about his Pikachu."

"Why not try Viridian Forest?" offered Miranda, pulling back a little and looking down at Misty curiously.

"Oh? Why- Why's that?" she inquired with an involuntary shudder, "The place is just full of bugs!"

Miranda smiled. "I can handle the bugs," she assured, "But every time I'm biked through there, I've spotted at least one or two pikachu.

"You're joking," replied Misty with a bemused grin.

Miranda shook her head, tossing her dark hair about. "Not a word of a lie," she stated, "Although it's possible that they're looking for an experienced pikachu. But I've never understood pokemon thieves. You can't just steal someone's pokemon and expect it to obey you!"

"I know," responded Misty, shaking her head in dismay, "But at least these thieves are allot less competent than the ones you had a run in with. Although I'd have to say that they're more persistent. Say, they didn't have some stupid speech to recite when they first showed up did they?"

Miranda shook her head. "No, but I was so young I'd hardly remember."

"Oh, oh well," said Misty, trying to change the subject, "But what do you say we get going?"

"Good idea," agreed Miranda with a thoughtful smile, taking a step back and adjusting Misty's white bathrobe to protect her modesty, "But I think you should finish putting your clothes on first, eh?"

Misty glanced down and gave a surprised look that made Miranda laugh. "Ooops!" she exclaimed, "Sorry! I suppose I was just getting a little to comfortable around you."

"It's okay," said Miranda with a dismissive shrug, "You're not exactly the sort to crack mirrors and curdle milk."

"If you keep complimenting me," warned Misty with a slight blush, "I'm going to get an ego as enormous as Ash's stupidity!"

"Well, just don't get all conceited on me," warned Miranda with a sly smile.

"Never!" assured Misty, turning around before dropping the protective garment to the floor and pulling on her shirt.

Behind her Miranda sighed inwardly, watching the girl's muscles shift just beneath the skin as she moved. 'I would never grow wary of you the way others have, ' the woman thought loud enough for a sleeping abra to hear.

"Ready?" asked Misty, her voice full of its usual enthusiasm and life, as she turned to face her friend.

"Our motto is 'Any time anywhere'!" assured Miranda with a smile, and once she'd called Nezumi to his customary place upon her shoulder, the trio left the unspoken tension of the room behind...

By seven o'clock, Miranda and Misty satiated their hungers for both food and shopping, with Miranda's still smoking credit card as evidence. Their backpacks were heavy with new clothes, and trinkets they'd seen found in Vermillion City's various seaside shops. Not to mention the new bicycle Misty was now proudly riding down the winding streets, laughing joyfully the entire way.

"Whoa! Hey, Misty!" called Miranda, skidding her dark blue mountain bike to a halt, "Check it out."

"What-?" she inquired, pulling up beside her friend and looking to the right. "Oh my-! Is that what I think it is?"

Miranda nodded. "The Vermillion Gym," she said, speaking the words almost solemnly and glancing back at Misty meaningfully, "You said you might want to challenge the league one day."

"I know," replied Misty, taking a deep breath and glancing at the sky, "But it's getting a bit late, and I really only have water pokemon with me. It'd be kind of a one sided fight, don't ya think?"

"I'd let you borrow Nezumi," Miranda offered with a smile, and the little rattata gave a silly grin as he uttered words of encouragement.

Misty blushed and held out her hand to the pokemon. "It's a very tempting offer," she admitted as Nezumi hopped from Miranda's shoulder to Misty's hand, "But if I have Nezumi's support..."

"Nezzz!" the rattata exclaimed excitedly, soliciting a surprised look from Misty, and a laugh from his trainer.

"He's been practicing," Miranda explained as Nezumi ran up Misty's arm to her shoulder where he leaned against her ear and made happy noises.

"And he certainly seems to like me," Misty commented, carefully petting the little rodent.

"Like trainer like pokemon," Miranda said under her breath, and then to Misty, "Oh, you should know, in the process of training him, I've given Nezumi's techniques some unusual names. It tends to throw off opponents."

Misty nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, let's hear them," she said, smiling as nezumi showed off.

"Only if you're going in," teased Miranda, pushing her glasses farther up her nose, making them shimmer.

"With out a doubt!" laughed Misty, giving her most determined pose.

"Very well," explained Miranda, "They are as follows..."

The extremely butch woman at the door greeted them with an amused grin. "Hey, were all just about to have dinner!" she said in a voice almost too deep to be female as she stared down at the two humans and one rattata, "What's the big idea?"

"I've come to challenge your gym leader!" pronounced Misty, stomping her foot on the cement floor and holding out her fist dramatically. Nezumi on her shoulder did his best to copy the action, but only wound up looking silly, "I've come for a Thunder Badge!"

The woman laughed out loud, holding her stomach with both hands, a look of disbelieving amusement in her dark eyes. "You?!" she demanded with an amused callousness, "One scrawny little girl wants to challenge OUR gym! HA!"

Misty scowled, having had enough of this gym's quirkiness the last time she'd been in town. "Look, if you aren't willing to live up to your responsibilities as the Vermillion Gym, I'll just-!"

"Now hold on, little lady!" the woman laughed, the amused grin never leaving her face, "The Lieutenant is out of town this week, so all that I'm saying is that I think you should just come back again some other time."

"Then I'll challenge his second!" growled Misty, knowing better than to appear weak before these people.

The woman's expression became less amused and more satisfied, if not a little smug. "That's the spirit, young lady," she replied a little more levelly, "The League rules allow for that. I was just testing your resolve. Anyway, I'm Surge's second, Sergeant Hamilton and if you still want a match, then follow me!"

Misty drew back with a satisfied grin on her face. "No problem," she assured, following the woman with confidence as Miranda trailed behind.

The arena was as Misty remembered it, Spartan in its décor, but meeting all of the Indigo League's stringent conditions, nonetheless. She glanced around the huge hall and couldn't help shivering against the cool air caused by the central air-conditioning.

"Afraid?" the woman asked, bemused.

"No way!" assured Misty, glancing back at Miranda who smiled encouragingly.

"So, who's the little friend you brought this time?" the large woman inquired a little too condescendingly.

"I am Miranda Lilcamp, Courier Crew," Miranda announced proudly.

"You here for a challenge too, little girl?" the woman called out across the field as she took her place, "Or did someone order pizza!?"

"Only if you can't keep that smart mouth of yours shut!" called Miranda from Misty's end of the field.

The muscular woman turned to face them, her short-cropped hair somehow catching the air-conditioned breeze. "Well, maybe if when I'm finished kicking this little twerps butt I'll have you for dessert!" she laughed, pulling out her poke ball.

Both Miranda and Misty scowled. "You're on, steroid breath!" challenged Miranda, letting her jacket fall from her shoulders and clutching a poke ball tensely.

"One at a time!" the sergeant laughed back, turning her attention to Misty, "Okay, little girl! This is a one on one battle. Two pokemon enter, one leaves! Well, conscious, anyways."

Misty glowed for a moment. "Stop calling me that!" she demanded, "Nezumi! Kick her butt!"

"Rattata!!!" exclaimed Nezumi, jumping off Misty's shoulder and landing on his hind legs before her, trying to look threatening.

"That's it?!" their challenger exclaimed in disbelief, Hamilton's eyes growing wide, "That little rattata is going to kick my Shockers butt?! HA! Don't make me laugh! Shocker! GO!"

The gym leader's second tossed her pokeball into the arena zealously, a second later it opened to reveal a rather frighteningly muscular Raichu. "Hm. Another Raichu," commented Misty nonchalantly, doing her best to look unimpressed, "You guys aren't very original. Oh well! Nezumi! Burrow!"

"Rattata!" exclaimed the little pokemon, diving into the floor and tearing his way through the concrete like it was sand before disappearing out of site.

"That's it?!" the butch woman laughed, "he hides his head in the sand?!"

Both Sergeant Hamilton and her pokemon both laughed at Nezumi's expense but Misty put her hands on her hips and smiled confidently. "You'll see!" she assured them, just as Nezumi burst out of the ground behind the raichu, "Nezumi! Lock jaw attack!"

"Nez!" the rattata exclaimed triumphantly, not giving the other pokemon time to react before latching on to the back of his neck and gnawing away.

"Shocker!" the woman exclaimed, apprehension creeping into her voice, " Ground zero thunder shock, NOW!"

The Raichu drove the end of his spiked tail into the ground and gritted his teeth, focusing all his power on generating an electrical field around himself. Nezumi, however, was too quick, leaping backwards with a tuft of reddish fur in his mouth just as Shocker's body seemed to explode in a shower of sparks.

"Not bad," the soldier commented, "For a newbie! Shocker! Turn and fire!"

The buff raichu swiveled with surprising agility and faced Nezumi. Both pokemon snarled at each other for a moment, sizing each other up before Shocker's trainer called out, "NOW!"

"Raiiiii! Chuuu!!!" the electrical pokemon exclaimed, taking in a deep breath as static electricity formed all around him, and he prepared to let it loose on his smaller opponent.

"Nezumi!" called out Misty determinedly, "Bubble blast! Now!"

"Ratta!" responded Nezumi, taking a quick inhalation before sending a stream of swirling bubbles from his maw like some kind of strange dragon's breath-weapon, straight into the raichu's open mouth.

Shocker's beady eyes went wide as the bubbles filled his lungs. "Rai!" he choked out, clutching his throat as the electrical field he was generating gave out and he collapsed to the floor.

"Shocker!" his trainer exclaimed, running to his side, "Are you all right?!"

The large pokemon, who was left lying on his back and nearly coughing up a lung, looked up at his trainer imploringly, only to smile happily as she returned him to his pokeball.

"Very well," growled the raichu's trainer, "you've earned your badge."

Misty grinned and leaped into the air exclaiming her joy for all to hear, which almost seemed as music to Miranda's ears as Nezumi ran back to her looking proud.

"That's two for you now," she told him, chuckling as the rattata ran circles around both her and Misty.

"Two?" the girl inquired, expressing an immediate mood change from ecstatic to curious.

Miranda nodded. "Nezumi won me a boulder badge," she explained with a shrug, "This makes two he's won. Silly geodude..."

Misty nodded, noticing that their opponent was ready to go again. "I think you're up, Miranda," she commented, quickly stepping off the field.

The woman nodded and held her pokeball before her. "Are you ready to loose twice in one day?" she inquired.

At the other end of the field Hamilton let out a harsh bark of laughter that was as to Misty's as sandpaper is to silk. "Bring it on, little miss!" she challenged in her gym's traditionally condescending manner.

Miranda nodded and the pokeball in her hand opened, sending a puff of white smoke into the immediate area. From within the smoke a pair of sinister eyes glowed red, glowering at all who dared meet them.

"Gaaaaaasty!" Wraith hissed melodramatically, making the opposing trainer laugh.

"Is that it?" she taunted, tossing a second pokeball into the arena.

Miranda gave a slight smirk as she saw the voltorb come out. "Too easy!" she chided, "Wraith, dear? Would you be so kind as to hypnotize the silly voltorb?"

The floating gastly grinned evil as the smoke cleared, the whites of his eyes suddenly swirling with strange colours like florange and octarine. In response, the opposing voltorb's eyes took on a glazed look as the same colours swirled within them.

"Zapper!" ordered the voltorb's trainer, "Snap out of it!"

The floating orb tilted to one side, its tongue lolling out as it slowly spun in place and Wraith laughed.

"Now, soldier!" its trainer commanded, the voltorb somehow regaining some of its former equilibrium before flying straight for Wraith at top speed, "Zapper! Tackle attack!"

The ethereal pokemon's grin widened, his fangs gleaming as he grew to twice his normal size, and swallowed the incoming voltorb. There was a gasp from its trainer, causing Wraith to let out an involuntary chuckle as he tweaked the part of Zapper's brain he still had his psychic finger on.

"Now Wraith!" called Miranda, unable to keep the amusement from her voice, "Nightmare attack!"

"Zapper!" Sergeant Hamilton exclaimed in sudden fright, "What are you doing?!"

"Volt! ORB!!!" came the eerier ethereal voice of Zapper from within the wispy confines of Wraith's body as charged particles filled the air and the gastly seemed to be holding his breath.