Subject: [PW!] One-Way Trip to Cianwood Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 12:56:39 -0800 From: "Chet Weaver Roasting On an Open Fire, Jack Frost Nipping At Your Toes..." <nichirasu@hotmail.com> Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon "You can set down right about here," Harper Ciel said as Air Raid the anthropomorphic Skarmory carried her, were-Ninetales Kitsu and minoTauros Keaton over Cianwood City. It was late at night now, and few people were out to see them land in front of a beachside residence. Not that there was much light to see them clearly. Any onlookers would probably just think they were three or four people riding a normal Skarmory. When they landed, Harper hopped off and jogged up to the house with Air Raid following. "Wait out here," she said as she opened the door. "I'll just check to make sure no one is here already." Air Raid waited outside for her, no more bothered by Kitsu and Keaton's combined weight and encumbrance than if they were merely a couple bags of groceries. He watched as various inside lights turned on as Harper called out to the hypothetical residents. A while later, she came back to the door and let them inside. "The master bedroom's just down the hall," Harper explained with a yawn. "Just put them on the bed." "You seem to be tired," Air Raid pointed out as he walked to the bedroom. "Well, traveling all night will do that to you," Harper replied. She plopped down on the couch in the living room. Air Raid gently placed his cargo on the bed and joined Harper. "You should rest," Air Raid suggested. "No kidding," Harper replied. "I will wait until you recover your energies." "No, that's alright. I was coming this way anyway, and this is a bit of a dead end as far as the Johto League is concerned so I'd have to cover this ground again." "I see. Shall I take my leave, then?" "If you want. Are you always this polite?" "As a knight, it is my duty to uphold the virtues of chivalry, m'lady." "Very well," Harper said, faking a royal accent. With a princess-like gesture, she added, "You may leave." Air Raid bowed respectfully before walking out the door. He spread his wings and once again took flight. Getting up and stretching, Harper pondered changing into a pair of pajamas before going to bed. Then again, Kitsu and Keaton would figure out that she helped capture them if they woke up and found her sleeping comfortably. Enraging fire types is not even on the short list of healthy hobbies for Ice Pokemon trainers. Harper walked into the master bedroom. Sure enough, Kitsu and Keaton were sound asleep on the king-sized bed. She walked up to Keaton and ran her fingers through his hair. "Don't take this the wrong way, lover boy," she whispered with a little giggle. "I care about you and all, but I just want to make sure the two of you don't mess up my summer house." With that, she climbed over Keaton and curled up between him and his sister. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- Consciousness slowly but surely seeped into Kitsu's mind. Not totally registering her environment, not that she wanted to, she rolled over and shifted the position of her arms. One hand landed on a decidedly feminine body part and, after figuring out it wasn't hers, moved up to an adjacent shoulder. "Aerie," Kitsu moaned, shaking the young woman next to her. Evidently, the differences between reality and dreams weren't quite so clear yet. "Wake up. You have get out of my room before father catches you again." "Wha... huh?" Harper was now waking up in response to Kitsu shaking her. Grogily, she rolled over to face Kitsu and took her hand off her. "What's going on? Stop shaking me." Kitsu moaned slightly again as she attempted to open her eyes. "Oh, it's just you," Kitsu said, drifting back to sleep. "Nevermind." Kitsu's eyes snapped back open in a sort of double-take when she realized who she was sleeping next to. Having confirmed that Harper was, in fact, laying next to her, Kitsu yelped and jumped back. She fell off the bed and landed on her back. Harper might've responded the same way if Keaton wasn't behind her. "Wha... what?" Kitsu said, quickly glancing about the room. "Where are we? Last I remember, we were leaving the country club..." "Karaoke bar," Harper corrected. "Yeah, what'd I say?" Kitsu asked. "Nevermind. What happened?" "I don't know," Harper lied. "That's all I remember, too. Maybe we should wake up Keaton and get out of here." "Good idea," Kitus agreed, jumping back on the bed and helping Harper shake Keaton. "No..." Keaton moaned, refusing to regain conscious. In a Scottish accent, he continued, "Mum, I'm too old to be breast-fed." At this point Kitsu and Harper stopped in shock. "I don't care if it is good for you," Keaton continued. "The other boys are making fun of me... No, mum, no... I told you, I'm too old... DAMMIT, I'M EIGHTEEN AND I'LL DRINK WHATEVER I WANT!!!" Keaton's sudden outburst and accompanying thrashing threw Harper and Kitsu off the bed. "That was more information than I needed," Kitsu said with disgust. "Does he usually have that accent?" Harper asked. "He wasn't using it yesterday." "I don't think so," Kitsu replied. "I mean, this is the first I remember hearing it." "Okay... How do we wake him up?" "I think I have an idea." Kitsu stood up and drew her sword. Upon hearing the sound of steel sliding against sheath, Keaton sprang out of bed and drew his own sword. He looked around in confusion for a bit. "What happened?" Keaton asked, his normal accent returned. "What's going on?" "Well, your instincts are a sharp as ever," Kitsu said, resheathing her sword. "I think we've been kidnapped. Someone must've knocked us out and dragged us here." "But who?" "I don't know. A lot of people have been trying to stop us lately, for whatever reasons. And whoever it is," Kitsu suddenly grabbed Harper by the collar and pinned her against the wall, "I bet SHE knows something about it!" "What are you talking about!?" Harper exclaimed. "You know what I'm talking about!" Kitsu insisted. "You've been trying to keep us distracted practically since we've entered Eckruteak! You're working for someone, I know it! Who wants to keep us this way!? WHO!?" "I..." was all Harper could get out before Keaton grabbed Kitsu from behind and put her in a sleeper hold. "Dammit, Keaton, let go of me!" Kitsu demanded. "Kitsu, you haven't been yourself lately," Keaton said calmly. "Something's gotten into you, and I think I know what it is." Keaton reached into Kitsu's robe and pulled out a PokeBall. He let Kitsu drop to the ground and opened the PokeBall. Sparkles showered from it as a shiny, A-shaped Unown emerged. Keaton grabbed the Unown as soon as it took coherant form and punched it in the eye. The Unown went limp as it passed out. "What... what was that all about?" Kitsu asked. "These Unown were controlling Aerie," Keaton explained, putting the Unown back in its PokeBall and tossing it back to Kitsu. "I figured this one might've been doing the same to you, so I knocked it out." "Good move," Kitsu said as she got back to her feet. "Now let's get out of here. And *you*..." Kitsu grabbed Harper again and moved her ahead of her. "... Just because I'm not so Angry doesn't mean I'm not suspicious of you anymore. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Now march." With a bit of a shove, the three of them left the house and walked down the street. "This looks like Cianwood City," Harper said. "It's on an island off the coast of Johto." "So now there's a body of water separating us from that gypsy," Kitsu said. "Great." "Now what?" Keaton asked. "Well, we could always ride the ferry back to the mainland," Harper suggested. "If you have the cash." "We don't have any money," Kitsu said. "Do you?" "Sorry," Harper said. "But there is a Fighting Gym, and I could use another Gym Badge." "Well, let's go then." Once they got to the gym, they found it was closed. A note on the door explained that the Gym Leader and his apprentices had left for the Whirl Cup at the Whirl Islands. "Well, that's a bummer," Keaton said. "The Whirl Cup just ended," Harper said. "They should be back pretty soon." To be continued...? -- Chet "Tech" Weaver's Revised Basic Sig Desperado Coyote! http://desperadocoyote.keenspace.com "No ride is complete without a clown in an electric chair." -- My brother "That depends on what you mean. If by 'ready' you mean 'superior to you in each and every way,' then, yes, I am." -- Vegito, DragonBall Z ("Meet Vegito")