From: Maria Rocket <mobius101@aol.compactpika> Subject: [PW!] Poke-Ball Date: Sunday, September 12, 1999 8:10 AM Nearly submerged in pink bubbles, Maria lay back flipping through a brochure. The Pokemon Palace was the name of the target, known for giving Pokemon parties almost comparable to the annual event aboard the SS Anne. Except the attendance at the Palace was far greater since it didn't have a reputation for disaster. Not yet, anyway. Maria smirked at the thought. She closed the brochure and dropped it over the side of the bathtub. The Pokemon Palace was only a few blocks from the hotel of the Cerulean Rocket Station where she was staying, so it wouldn't take long to get there. She watched the steam and soap bubbles float and swirl around her. Then she closed her eyes and let herself sink completely into the warm water. In the warm silence she wondered if James would be there. But no, she'd looked him up after returning to the Rocket station, and he wasn't in town. Her mind wandered to the other one....but she didn't dare to think much on it. She determined to stop thinking like a silly schoolgirl and concentrate on all the Pokemon she meant to steal. After about a minute or so, she resurfaced, her waist length black hair soaked and clinging to her. Out of the water she could now hear a loud knocking on the bathroom door. She pushed the wet hair away from her face, and looked over with surprised brown eyes. "Who's there!?" "Hey, my room doesn't have any toilet paper left! Can I borrow some of yours?" Maria glared at the door. "Shard, GET OUT!" "But I *really* hafta go!" "Use the public ones in the lobby!!!" "Maria, I-" "SHARD, GET OUT NOW!!" "But-!" "SLASHER! JAMES!" Maria yelled at the top of her lungs. A moment later she could hear a loud commotions outside, often punctuated with 'Psy!', 'Meowth!', and the odd profanity. Then unexpectedly she heard a loud shriek of 'WIGGLYYY!!!' followed by a resounding explosion outside the room. Soon after, she heard the door slam shut, and there was silence once again. With a satisfied sigh, Maria sunk back into her bath once more. *** When Maria finally emerged from her bath with a fuzzy towel wrapped around her, she found Slasher sitting on the bed prodding at an obliviously happy Wigglytuff with one claw. James was sitting on the floor and staring at the blank television screen. "Okay, who let out the Wigglytuff?" "Psy." "MEOWTH!" Slasher hissed at James. "Very clever," Maria giggled and set about drying herself off. "Psy yie yie..." James shook his head and ignored Slasher's taunts. Maria looked up as Slasher started rolling the Wigglytuff around the bed. She grimaced and gave an involuntary shudder. "But find that thing's Pokeball before you accidently pop it." "Owth..." "Huh?" "Psy yie duck Psyduck Psy." Maria stared for a moment. Then she looked up to the closet. In a few quick steps she cleared the room and flung the door open. Peering into the dark abyss of the closet, she saw five pairs of huge glowing eyes stare back at her. She recoiled in fear. "Why did you let them *all* out!?" "Mee...owth?" Slasher rolled onto his back and did his back to look disgustingly cute. "Oh no you don't! Get in there and get them out!" Maria pointed firmly towards the closet. "Meow." Slasher lashed his tail around and darted into the closet. After some clattering, all five Wigglytuff scattered out of the closet and ran around the room in a confused way. Slasher followed, merrily rolling along six Pokeballs. After returning all the Wigglytuff to their Pokeballs and reloading them into the Wigglytuff Launcher, she set about looking for something to wear to the ball. She opened the closet again and searched the racks. The Rocket stations often supplied all kinds of different outfits for any disguises agents might need. Eventually Maria settled on a form-fitting red dress and slipped into it. "So, what do you think?" She turned to her two Pokemon. "Meowth," Slasher yawned, cleaning his whiskers. "What do you mean I've got a 'tummy!?'" Maria cried. "I'll have you know this fits me perfectly!" "Meow...." "Hmph." Maria turned to James. "So, what do *you* think?" "Psy...." James hesitated. "Duck, psy...." Then 'accidently' nudged his foot at his Pokeball, and was sucked in. Maria sighed. "Fine, fine...." She returned to the closet. When she came out again, she was now wearing a loose and flowing, silky blue dress. She looked down at it skeptically. "I guess this will just have to do." She smiled and tucked her Rocketcard in a hidden pocket on the dress waistline. Then she disappeared into the bathroom. Slasher heard a blowdryer hum to life and frowned at the noise. Soon after, Maria emerged still combing through her hair. This always seemed to take so long.... Slasher curled up and took a nap. When he woke up again some time later, he found her back in the closet. She had found a matching dark blue purse and somehow managed to fit all of her belongings into it very neatly. After slipping the purse over her shoulder, she took a brush to Slasher's fur. The Meowth rolled away and flattened his ears, but he could not escape Maria's determined brushings. When he was groomed to her satisfaction, she shone his gold coin and set him down on the floor. "Come on Slasher, time to go." "Meowth!" *** Click clack click clack. The tired desk attendant looked up. Dark blue dress shoes on the silver tiles. He blinked and looked up to see a small girl with long black hair and wearing a blue dress approach. When she reached him, a Meowth suddenly jumped out from behind her and landed on the desk. "Meowth!" "You must be here for the Pokemon Trainers' Ball, right?" He gave her smile and pointed off to the side. "The entrance to the convention hall is in the next room. Just show your pass to the doorman and he'll let you in." "Pass?" "Yes. You do have a pass, right?" Maria smiled weakly. "Of course I do." With a nervous flip of her hair, she left for the next room. Slasher was right on her heels. Around the corner she came to a large room leading to an equally large set of doors. Over the top was a banner for the Pokemon Ball. Then she noticed the doorman standing there. He smiled and bowed. "Welcome, miss. Pass, please?" "Oh! Sure....just let me find it." Maria opened her purse and searched through it. When she found what she was looking for, she turned away slightly and seemed to whisper into the purse. Then she turned back to the doorman with a grin. "I have my pass right HERE!" She pulled an expanded Pokeball from her purse and threw it to the floor. The doorman startled at the sudden flash of light. "Ekkkaannnssss!!" Maria sneered down at the doorman, who was now in the iron coils of the emerald scaled Ekans. "Jade, dispose of him, please." "EKK!" As the hungry Jade followed orders, Maria looked across the room wondering when Minax and Shard would arrive. They had agreed to arrive separately to avoid any possible suspicion, but she knew they should be right behind her. Looking back, she found Slasher staring at Jade with awe filled saucer eyes. The green snake Pokemon now had a large doorman sized lump in her coils. Maria recalled the sleepy looking snake into her Pokeball. "So much for passes. C'mon Slasher, try not to get stepped on in here." "Meowth! Meow Meowth!" Maria tucked the Pokeball into her purse and closed it up again. She reached down and stroked Slasher's ears. "Good kitty. You know what to do..." Opening the doors, Maria looked in. It was a huge floor room, and reminded her somewhat of the large main hall of the SS Anne, but smaller than that had been. There were many small tables in the room, and what appeared to be food tables and a small bar in the corner. In the midst of the tables, there were a few Pokemon battles going on, though there were platforms for that in the back. Her eyes turned towards the center of the room where already people were gathering as music began to play. She entered the crowd and dissolved into the trainers and Pokemon. "Okay Slasher, keep your eyes open." TBC? ~Maria R "Psy yie yie..." ----- Webber: http://purplestudio.webjump.com ----- "Taking Pokemon straight from your pockets, With the power of the stars, it's Maria Rocket!" -My corny PW! motto ^.^; --- Rocketshipper Forever! --- TEOTWAWKI