From: Mobius101 <mobius101@aol.compactpika> Subject: [PW!] Road to Terracotta Town Date: Monday, May 31, 1999 3:36 AM > Tiki dashes off after Maria and the perterved meowth. "Hey wait up >what ever is happening with Dreadite I'm going to find out too. I've >got a feeling that this is going to have something to do with me and >I'm going to find out what. By the way do you think you could keep >your firearms to yourself and stop shooting at me." > Maria ignores him completly and just keeps walking towards the >hospital. Tiki follows in close pursuit and stays silent not wanting >to upset the lady with the large gun and the angry cat. > "Where did you last see him?" Maria demanded, walking through the hospital lobby so fast it was difficult for Tiki to keep up with her. "The roof! He was on the roof with his Pidgey..." Suddenly there was a door in his face as Maria ran up into the hospital stairwell. He was going too fast to stop and slammed into it. He stumbled and fell back, rubbing his sore nose. "Hey!" Maria wasn't even aware that he was following her anymore. She had set her sights on the top of the stairwell, and kept going. As they climbed higher, Slasher made sure not to look down. "Meooowww!" In a matter of minutes, Maria burst onto the roof. There was a wind roaring through, which threw her hair and trenchcoat out as she stepped out. Pushing her black hair back, she looked around for Dreadite, but found no one there. The only evidence that something had occurred there was a scattering of feathers being tossed about by the wind. Reaching out, she snatched a handful from the air. Some of them were small and brown.....typical Pidgey feathers. The others.....large and white. Unlike any that could be found on any bird or Pokemon in the area. Frowning, she opened her fingers and let the wind whisk them away. Gasping for breath, Tiki fell out onto the roof. "Wait...wait up!" "He's gone." Tiki looked around. "Yeah. Mewtwo must have given him orders." Clenching and unclenching her fist, Maria swore silently. If Dreadite did have some sort of connection with Mewtwo, then perhaps he could be useful in defeating Mew.....but now he was gone. There was no telling where he was now, and she felt too weak to go on some sort of Dreadite hunt... "Are we going to go after him?" Tiki asked. Maria reached into her pocket. "If you know what's good for you, you won't get involved in the business of Rockets." She pulled out a tiny, shiny pellet. "But if you're so eager to help, then do me a favor. Should you happen to find Dreadite, or if you're unfortunate enough to have him find you, tell him Maria Rocket wishes to speak to him." She flicked the pellet to the ground. "But I-" Was all Tiki could manage before starting to cough uncontrollably. Thick smoke had spewed from the broken pellet, blanketing the entire rooftop. Peering teary-eyed through the smoke, he could just make out a large winged shape soaring away to the west. *** Slasher looked down at Maria. After ordering Charcoal to simply 'fly away', she'd fallen into a deep sleep. This left him arguing with the Charizard over her wellbeing, which Slasher couldn't quite understand. Charcoal was a fire type, not a psychic type, and he'd explained that as it was such, there was no way of telling whether Maria was in some sort of distress. After all, she appeared as she always did. And was just asleep at the moment. But Charcoal wouldn't let up. He *insisted* that something was really unnerving him. Something about Maria. "Meowth..." Slasher just grumbled. He didn't like Charcoal saying things like that. To suggest that he couldn't tell when she was in trouble, and having no way knowing when or how to help....he didn't want to know he was helpless in that way. He wanted Charcoal to shut up and stop pretending to be psychic..... How dare he try to mess with his head like that, the jerk. Slasher was glad Maria didn't have any real psychic Pokemon...they'd probably drive him nuts. *** As far as she could see, there was grass. Green waves floating and swaying back and forth in harmony with the world. High above, azure skies held puffy white clouds drifting lazily. Then in her field of vision were two equally blue eyes.... "PUFF!" "Fluffy!" She squealed, hugging the soft pink Pokemon to her as she sat up in the grass. "Fluffy's silly!" "Jiggly! Jigglypuff!" The happy little Pokemon giggled. Then she was there looking down at herself and the Jigglypuff. The little girl didn't seem to notice at all. But the Jigglypuff looked over at her. "Puff! Jigglypuff! Puff, come home! Please don't abandon forever! Jiggly!" Maria blinked. For the first time she truely realized she was looking and listening to a Jigglypuff. She'd been aware of it all this time, but she hadn't *really* seen it until then. Her eyes widened in fear and she stepped back. "Go away!" She screamed as the sky above suddenly turned dark and the clouds grew large and black. "Stop making me remember!" "......." She could feel the sadness coming from the Pokemon. Then the clouds appeared to drop right out of the sky and engulfed her. The sound of an engine...tires screeching to a halt. The man.......and flash of light.....Jigglypuff! Fluffy...NOOOO!!! The screaming, the screaming........ "MAKE IT GO AWAY!!!!" "Why? Why? Come back.....ripped apart....what has become of you?" Feeling ill, she was crushed by the voice. Everything became a dizzying collection of confused images. *** She awoke in a sweat, with an image of two bright blue eyes burning in her mind. Then she took a deep breath. "Charcoal......go towards Pewter City. We.....We're going home." Charcoal looked back with a troubled frown. "Charr...." He paused for a moment, wondering if she was serious. She was. With a sharp flap of his wings, they sped off in another direction. Slasher clung to his horns tightly at the sudden turn, and set his almond eyes on his trainer uncertainly. Maria just sat on Charcoal's back, her head bowed and eyes closed as the wind tore at her. *** A few hours later, the Charizard and his two passengers touched down atop a cliff overlooking the far northern edge of Pewter City. It was a magnificent view, and Slasher stared over Maria's shoulder. Maria gave the view the glance of one who had seen it far too many times before to care. She slid off Charcoal's back and turned away to the north. Ahead was a rocky path littered with fields. "Charr...." Smoke billowed out from between Charcoal's fangs. He was worn out from the long hard flight. Maria rubbed his orange leathery hide and recalled him into his Pokeball for a well deserved rest. Tucking her hand into her pocket, she exchanged it for another one. With the click of a button, James appeared before her in a flash of red energy. "Psy...duck?" He tilted his head up at her with his usual misleading vacant look. Maria nodded. "Time for a little hike." "Psy yie yiiie...." "You need the exercise. Now let's go....." Taking the lead with a false air of strength, she wondered what she was doing there. A sign on the side of the trail read: 'Route 26 to Terracotta Town.' That sent a shock through her system. Surely no good could come of this.....but she'd come to the end of her rope. TBC! ~Maria R "Psy yie yie..." ----- Tha webber: http://hamstergirl.cjb.net/ ----- "Taking Pokemon straight from your pockets, With the power of the stars, it's Maria Rocket!" -My corny PW! motto ^.^; --- Rocketshippers Unite! ---- TEOTWAWKI