Chapter 10

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."