From: Dree Elle1 <dreeelle1@aol.com> Subject: [PW!] A friendly squabble... Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 4:18 PM ((Another post, another day. As always, opinions are appreciated and yes I know Aislynn's little motto is corny...I'll try to think something better up. Christy, I'm still workin' on your picture. Sorry its takin' so long. Anyway, on with the fic)) ~Karma Rocket~ "So where're you from?" Maki asked as he caught a ramen noodle on the end of his chopsticks and pushed it into his mouth. They had stopped for lunch after healing Aislynn's pokemon at the local pokemon center and walking a short distance away from Brock's gym. "Celadon." she answered around a mouthful of the riceball she was eating. Knave was seated on her shoulder, noisily slurping down a bowl of soup. "Really? I'm from Pallet." he told her. "Started training last month." "Those're kind of advanced pokemon for a beginner." she pointed out. "Well its not like I caught'em all or anything. I've had Scribbles ever since I was a baby, my grandpa sent me a kabuto for my sixth birthday because I was really into dinosaurs and stuff and he evolved fighting pidgeys and stuff in the fields behind the house. The only one I really caught was Jessie...guess she escaped from a pokemon shelter or something." "I caught all of mine except Lilly and Knave." Aislynn explained. "I guess this sorta disproves everyone's theory of not being able to catch pokemon with no eyes." "Yeah. Can't let stuff like that bug ya." Maki agreed. "So where do we go from here?" she asked, changing the subject. "Cerulean City, I guess." he replied. "Know how to get there?" she inquired, finishing the rice ball. "Yeah I think I have a map I drew in my notebook before I left." he said thoughtfully, turning to his backpack and rummaging around in it until he withdrew a slightly tattered black notebook. "Here we go." he muttered, flipping through the pages. Knave fluttered over beside him to investigate and alighted on Maki's shoulder when he stopped at a page. "Lovely Phoenix with hair of fire And eyes like glistening ice Why won't you go out with me? C'mon, I'll pay any price!!!" Knave finished reading the poem and broke off into gales of laughter. "That most pathetic poem I ever heard!" he exclaimed, toppling off of Maki's shoulder and rolling in the dust with laughter. "Aww crap! I grabbed my brother's notebook by accident!" he groaned. "These are all of Hiro's sappy notes to Jessie!" "Heh heh....he must be the guy she's been threatening to kill if she gets one more letter from him." Aislynn snickered. "Yeah prob--hey wait a minute, how would you know that?" Maki asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Aislynn instantly fell silent, realizing her mistake. "Well, I haven't told you everything about me yet..." she managed at last. "You're blind, you have a talking clefairy, you just beat the pants off of Brock. Unless you're gonna tell me that your bellsprout sings opera, I don't think there's much else you can tell me that'd surprise me." he said calmly. "I sure hope so because most people would hate me for this..." she sighed, getting to her feet and throwing off her jacket, displaying her white Team Rocket shirt. Rockets come in all shapes and sizes, Keep an eye on your pokemon, we're full of surprises! Forever shrouded in the black of night, My name's Aislynn! Prepare to fight! As she finished her motto, Aislynn struck as best of a pose as she was able, remembering that Team Rocket was best reknowned for their dramatics. "That best you can do?" Knave inquired. "You stole last line from Jessie and James' motto." "Gimme a break...I thought this thing up spur of the moment." she grumbled. "Team Rocket??" Maki cried, leaping to his feet. "But---but---" "I know it looks bad..." Aislynn began. "What were you planning on doing? Dragging me out here in the middle of nowhere and then stealing my pokemon?? I thought we were friends!" Maki yelled, a tone of hurt in his voice. "We are! I wasn't going to---" "How can I even believe what you say anymore?" Maki interrupted. "I'll bet you aren't even blind! Well if you want my pokemon, I'm not gonna give'em up without a fight!" "Maki wait..." "Scribbles, Smirk, Jessie, Mooch, mass attack!" he commanded, hurling a handful of pokeballs at her. Aislynn's ears were battered by the various pokemon's cries as they emerged from their confinement, ready for battle. Why wasn't Maki listening to her? She felt her blood begin to boil. "Fine! Zanthrax, Dinky, Lilly, Spirit, Knave, get'em!" she cried, retrieving and hurling the pokeballs down one by one, her pokemon emerging. "Cheater! You're using more pokemon than me!" Maki growled. "You cheated first!" she countered. "Mass attacks aren't authorized by the pokemon league!" Maki had nothing to say to this. "Zanthrax, use your wrap attack on that vaporeon! Dinky, water gun his koffing! Lilly, use your poison powder on the golbat! Spirit and Knave, you get that tangela!" "Koffing!" Smirk grinned, swooping down at the tiny squirtle. Dinky threw his head back, summoning his inner strength and then, with a grunt, he showered the poisonous purple creature with a spray of water. Smirk recoiled as the water dripped from him in cold rivers. "Koff!" it barked, spewing a jet of bileous black fluid at its challenger. Dinky cried out as the sludge attack smacked wetly into his face, burning his eyes. "Squirrr! Squirrr!" Dinky wailed pitifully, falling onto his backside and rubbing wildly at his eyes. "Good job, Smirk! That's one down..." Maki announced. Meanwhile, Maki's other pokemon weren't quite having as much luck. Knave and Spirit had succeeded not only in knocking Scribbles over, but were now in the process of grabbing handfuls of vines enveloping the pokemon and tying them in various knots. "See Spirit? That how you make a granny knot!" Knave grinned, ignoring the tangela's angry squeals. "Spear row-ow-ow!" the bird chuckled around a mouthful of vines. "Lets try square knot now!" the clefairy laughed gleefully, grabbing up another couple of vines. Nearby, Mooch hovered over Lilly, its mouth gaping open. "Sprrrout!" Lilly squeaked defiantly as the golbat lunged forward, scooping the bellsprout into its large mouth. Lilly chose that moment to let loose a large cloud of poisonous powder, making Mooch gag and spit the pokemon out. The golbat groaned and alighted clumsily on the ground, its stomach beginning to churn and leap. "Golbaaat." it grunted, fighting the urge to be sick. That left Zanthrax who seemed to properly have Jessie under control, having wrapped itself tightly around the Vaporeon's body, rendering her helpless. "Porr..." she growled, obviously infuriated by this indignation. "No!" Maki cried out angrily, seeing all of his pokemon subdued with the exception of Smirk who hovered at his side with concern. "It over!" Knave taunted. "Call off your brat pack or else we see what Scribbles look like under all these vines!" he threatened, holding one up to Spirit's beak as the spearow opened its mouth, poised to cut the vine. "Stop!! Okay fine...you win." Maki groaned, recalling his pokemon one by one. "Now will you listen?" Aislynn asked irately. Maki glared at her in reply. "As I was TRYING to say before you acted like a jackass, I don't want to steal your pokemon." "Yeah whatever." he grumbled. "Look, why don't you just take them and stop leading me on? I know you lied to me about being my friend so just quit while you're ahead." "I didn't lie to you about anything!" she said through gritted teeth, reaching a level beyond frustration as she finished recalling her pokemon. "I don't want your pokemon and I SURE don't want your criticism!" Maki looked a bit confused. "I thought all rockets stole pokemon..." he began. "We do. But we're not total barbarians." she snapped. "And we don't steal from friends...but you wouldn't let me finish." "Well why are you out earning badges?" Maki asked. "Rockets aren't supposed to compete for badges...they just take pokemon and work for Giovanni!" "Not all of us." she answered simply. "Geez, where do you get your Rocket knowledge anyway?" "Well I thought that....nevermind." Maki sighed, not wanting to argue anymore. "Maki, do you want me to go away? Because I can get along fine on my own. I have Knave to guide me and you obviously don't seem too comfortable with me being a Rocket." she asked. When he didn't respond, she quietly knelt to find her jacket. With Knave's assistance, she picked it up and slung it over one shoulder. "I'll see ya then..." she sighed. "No." he breathed. She stopped and waited. "No you don't have to go. You're right...I overreacted." Aislynn inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as she heard his footsteps approach and a hand clamp on her shoulder. "Friends?" "Yeah, friends." she smiled. "Guess we'd better get going, huh?" "Yeah. I've got a bet going with Hiro that I'll make it to Cerulean City by Sunday." he smirked, rubbing the back of his neck. "If I win, he's gotta give me that bulbasaur he caught right before I left." "Heh heh, okay." Aislynn chuckled. "Well, guess we'd better be off then." And saying so, she, Knave, and her newfound companion, Maki all set off in search of Cerulean City. TBC...