From: Miki no Miko (Jeneration_X13@hotmail.NOSPAM.com) Subject: [PW!] Into The Sunset Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000-12-03 06:08:11 PST "Yo! Kat! Get up already! We've gotta haul ass if we're gonna get to Pallet Town today! At this rate, we won't get to New Bark in Johto for another week!" Kat and Mari were on the road to Johto, albeit moving very slowly since Kat had been very lazy recently. "Do I have to get up?" Kat mumbled, rolling over in her sleeping bag and sitting up, picking the leaves out of her hair. Mari leaned against a tree and rolled her eyes. "We're all ready to go," Mari said, gesturing to Kat's Pokemon gathered around her feet. "Why aren't you?" She stuck her tongue out at Kat and extended a hand to help her up. Mari handed her some clothes. "Hurry up, already, or I'm going to have Chuchu shock you awake." An hour later, after packing up camp and Kat persuading all of her Pokemon to get into Pokeballs for once, they were finally on the road. The trip was relatively uneventful. By the time the sun had begun to set, they were in Pallet. The first thing noticeable was the overload of people in the small town. "Excuse me!" Kat called, stopping one of the Officer Jennys on the sidewalk. "What's with all the people?" "Oh, one of the volcanoes on Cinnabar erupted," the officer responded. "Utter chaos down there, all the people are trying to evacuate to Seafoam and Fuschia at once, but it was easier for the people on the north coast to come here." She looked up as another Jenny called her from down the street. "Oops, I have to go. It's getting late, you kids should go inside somewhere," she said, running off. Kat looked down at the ground, a tear running down her face. Mari put an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?" She asked. "This is never going to end, is it?" Kat said softly. "Shit, Mari.. My parents are gone, now my hometown is probably completely destroyed.. Now I really -don't- belong anywhere." Mari hugged her tightly and whispered, "Don't worry about it, K.. Wherever we go, I'll make sure you belong." Kat looked up. "Really?" Mari nodded and wiped Kat's face with her jacket sleeve. "Now come on. We should get to the Pokemon Center. It's getting dark." Kat shook her head. "Let's just keep traveling, okay? Maybe we can get to Johto by morning.. Maybe going to a new place will help me forget about all the shit in my past." "Works for me," Mari said. "Let's ride, though.. Ponyta hasn't gotten any exercise recently, and she needs it." She opened up the Pokeball containing her Ponyta and patted the Pokemon's forehead. "Hey girl.. You mind helping us out?" Ponyta actually seemed to shake her head "no" at that and the girls laughed. Mari climbed up onto the Pokemon's back and helped Kat up behind her. And they rode off into the sunset. TBC in *dun dun dun* the future timeline. -- Jen