From: Roberto Perez-Vila
Subject: [PW!] Not Exactly First Class
Date: Tuesday, August 24, 1999 3:29 PM
Marvin stares at Serayna for what seems like the longest time. She
doesn't move, still in awe from the illusion performed on her. Who
wouldn't be in awe after having their legs removed and new legs
attached, if only for a moment? By now, Xerox has cleaned up the stage
and prepared the caravan for travel into another city. The purple Ditto
is now waiting inside the caravan with her sister. No one is left in the
park other than the stunned Serayna, and Marvin continues to wait for a
response from the girl with the wavy red hair and icy green eyes.
A pink haired blue-eyed teenage girl leaps out of the caravan door
wearing a short and tight red dress made of material that looks like
leather. She wraps her bare legs around Marvin's waist and ties her arms
around Marvin's neck, trying to hold on to the magician. She whispers
into his ear, "C'mon Marvy-man, wass like takin ya sooo long? Lessgo!"
"I'm just politely waiting for this girl to let me know if she's going
to Lt. Surge, or if she wants to tag along with us for a while..."
Marvin calmly explains, his voice raised so that Serayna gets the hint.
She doesn't.
Famifax, the pink haired girl who is in reality a pink haired Ditto,
rolls her eyes, "You think she cute an want her in more tricks? Hey, I
totally cute if I try! Way way way more cute than her! Fersure! No
contest!" Famifax sticks out her tongue in Serayna's direction, yet the
youth fails to react in any way or form. Famifax insists, "Lessssgo,
Marvy-maaaan!!!"
Marvin shrugs, knocking Famifax off of him, "Okay, fine. Since you're so
determined that we go somewhere else, you're going to be the one driving
the caravan this time! Get it over to the docks!"
"Kay, whatever, aslongas we goooo!" Famifax cartwheels to the front of
the caravan and transforms into a Rapidash!
Marvin takes Serayna's hand and kisses it, "Thanks for being my
assistant, but I must hurry to Maiden's Peak before the Summer Festival
is over! I'm sure that festival will draw many people, and where there's
people, there's Marvin the Magnificent! Farewell!" Marvin disappears
into a cloud of blue smoke and the rainbow-colored caravan drives off.
Inside the caravan, Bozo, the Mr. Mime, pulls on Marvin's pant leg. He
then taps his wrist where a watch would be, points at Marvin, then
shrugs. The strange clown-like Pokemon doesn't seem too pleased with the
delay.
"I'm sorry you had to wait..." Marvin throws himself onto his favorite
green bean bag chair, checking it to make sure it isn't actually a
Ditto, "But now we're going to Maiden's Peak! Maybe you'll like it there
and you'll want to stay?"
Bozo places his hand on his chin, as if he's in deep contemplation, then
goes off to practice his miming act in the corner.
From another corner of the caravan, comes the intelligent voice of a
Ditto, "My, master, you sure did spend a great deal of time with your
audience after the illusion. I had enough time to read 2 novels, 11
poems, and a newspaper. Granted, one of the novels was a measly 180
pages, but you are usually less talkative, such as myself."
"*You're* not talkative, Xerox?" Marvin asks with a chuckle, changing
the subject.
Xerox, the purple Ditto, hops off of the only bed in the caravan and
oozes over towards her master, "When I am speaking, I do tend to go off
on tangents, but I try to refrain from speaking unless spoken to, with
some exceptions. I'm simply curious as to what you could've chatted
about, thus I ask you, and yet you avoid the issue like a crafty
politician."
"That all depends on what your definition of... crafty is." Marvin nods
sagely, not offering further comments.
Xerox oozes away from Marvin, slightly annoyed by his unwillingness to
answer the simple question.
The caravan comes to a halt quicker than on other trips, since the
distance from Vermilion City Streets to Vermilion City Docks is about a
Pinball playing field apart. Marvin hops outside and approaches a ticket
booth where a sailor man is selling tickets for the next ship leaving
Vermilion. "Hey, Popeye, how much to get to Maiden's Peak?"
"How'd ya know my name?" The squinted eye man scratches his head.
Marvin points at the I. D. card on the man's shirt that reads 'Popeye:
The Sailor Man.'
Popeye, the sailor man, looks down, "Oh, thas right! They make me wear
this. Thought you was a stalker fer a moment there. Oh, and in case ya
are, I *don't* live in that garbage can over there." He looks over his
shoulder and worriedly eyes a nearby garbage can that has a heater
connected to it, then faces Marvin, "Don't make me take out me spinach!"
Marvin furrows his brow in confusion, and then repeats, "How much to get
to Maiden's Peak? I need to take my entire caravan there." Marvin
motions over to his multi-colored caravan. The Rapidash at the front of
the caravan unlatches herself to the bar and gallops inside. Popeye
doesn't seem to mind this strange occurrence.
"Depends on how much ya willing ta pay." Popeye explains, "You can ride
on the S. S. Anne the third ...er it it fifth? Maybe fourth? I ferget
how many Annes've gone down, m'self! Or if that's too expensive, there's
the Pokeman O' War, the Bargain Barge, or the bottom o' the line - L'il
Stinker, a measly 5 coins. What'll it be?"
"Li'l Stinker, please." Marvin quickly hands over the cash and receives
a ticket. "When does it leave?"
"Right now!" A big burly sailor with a heavy red beard and a patch on
one eye pats Marvin on the back with his one good hand. "I'll just use
my fav'rite crane, Big Bertha, t' move that big ol' trailer park inta
the hull!" The sailor lumbers over to some controls and begins to fidget
with the giant crane, moving it closer and closer to Marvin's caravan.
"Please be careful..." Marvin pleads, runs to his caravan, and leaps in
one second before the crane attaches itself. The interior of the caravan
starts to rumble. Famifax transforms into a Kadabra and holds her
costume racks in place with her temporary intense psychic power. Xerox,
having mild psychic power naturally, doesn't need to transform, and
simply keeps her books from toppling over, not concerned for anything
else. Bozo makes a Barrier around himself, and places his hands on the
invisible psychic wall, like any true mime. A few blades fall from the
part of the caravan where the box illusions are placed. After five
minutes, the caravan stops rumbling with a loud *THUD!*
Marvin starts to run around and tidy up the place, "Yeah! We're on our
way to Maiden's Peak!"
"Just one inquiry, master." Xerox notices the smell of dead fish, "What
is the name of the vessel we are traveling on?"
Marvin shrugs, placing the blades scattered on the floor next to their
corresponding boxes, "L'il Stinker, why?"
Xerox sighs, realizing that Marvin has yet again bought the service of
the cheapest boat available, "It smells like it."
-Marvin