Chapter 8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"These temptations mean less than nothing to me, when I think of how your heart

would break, The finest of treasures laid out before me, all turn to dust when I imagine your

tears, For of all the gifts that I have been offered, your kisses are the only ones

that I dream of, And with every moment of false passion that I reject, I hope to alleviate

another of your fears..."

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

"My loyalty to you is unquestionable; as sure as the sun rises every morning, You are all that matters, and you shall find me in your arms every night, No one else shall I allow to compromise my virtue, no other is afforded that

privilege, And only your wish to be rid of me, shall ever banish this one from your

sight..."

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

"So please worry not my dear, for your happiness is all my all consuming need, You are the only one that I could ever want, my heart's greatest desire, No mere mortal could ever tear me away, especially those whose beauty is but an

empty shell, For only your undying love, could ever hope to quench this all- consuming fire..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The light in my universe seems to vanish every time you slip through my

fingers, The sun, the moon, the stars, what purpose do these serve without you in my

life? Why can't you just see that it's better this way? With you on my side, there'd be an end to this daily strife..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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