From: Susan the Jedi Hamster <dragon0313@aol.commies> Subject: [PW!]A ride and a new friend Date: Thursday, November 18, 1999 5:17 PM Narrator: We come upon our hero at the Cinabar Island Pokécenter. She's ....HELLLLLLLP! Thump thump thump. "Owwie"(Sound of narator falling out of the rafters where he was hiding.) Mandy was bored. Extremely bored. Bored to the point of forgetting another way to describe bored. A day had passed and she'd still had no offers of help. She'd have to be a little more assertive. "Come on guys," she said to her pokémon as she lept from her bunk, "We're outta here." Rather adorably Ember and Amaranth yawned and stretched. They followed her outside. Mandy took some pokéfood from her pack and gave it to them. "Dish!" (Look!) piped Amaranth.Mandy turned around to see the inept rocket boy behind her, looking a bit scorched. This time he wasn't wearing a rocket uniform. Mandy waved. He waved back, to her great surprise. "Hi," said the boy, giving Ember a look of respect. "Hi," Mandy replied. "No uniform? No motto? What gives?" The boy sweatdropped."When that little ponyta beat me and Flipper the boss kicked me out," he then eyed her hopefully, "I wanted to appoligize to you.I can give you a ride to the mainland if you want." Mandy lit up. "That's great! Thanks! By the way, what's your name?" "I'm Ron. And you are...?" "Miranda. Mandy." Mandy smiled. It looked like she wouldn't have any more rocket trouble for a while. ------------------ Scene switch: dock north of Cinnabar ----------------- Mandy tapped a Pokéball against Ember, who as it seems had learned the attack she was named for. She was showing off by throwing embers in the water, scaring swimmers away. As Ember became absorbed in the ball Ron let Flipper out into the water. "Lap! Lap!" "You'll get your swim now."Ron turned to Mandy. "Hop on. Set Amaranth down first." Mandy followed his instructions and soon found herself hugging a soft neck. She settled herself into a comfortable position, picked up Amaranth and jumped slightly as Ron plopped down behind her. Flipper started swimming, scattering the swimmers who looked about to issue challenges. "So, how old are you? Why'd you join Team Rocket?" Mandy was full of questions. "I'm fifteen. I'm from Fushia, but I was bored there so I became a Rocket. I took five more years of school than normal." "Yeah, that can get boring. I took four extra." "Lapras, ras ras lapras!" Ron nodded. "I see them, Flipper." "What's up?" "Oh, Flipper just sees some water pokemon." Mandy looked down into the water. She saw a few goldeens swimming quietly, a few Magikarps mixed in with them. Mandy watched for a few seconds as a Horsea hooks onto a bit of coral and nibbles at it. "I want to catch some. Do you have a rod?" Ron didn't, so Mandy took some twine from her pack and wrapped it around a bar of Pokéfood. She lowered it carefully into the water and attracted the attention of a Magikarp. It was pretty easy to then scoop the little fish up onto Flipper's back. "Hi little guy." "Kaaaaaaaaaarrp." Mandy took the twine off the bar and let it eat the whole thing. "Do you want to join my team? I think you'll make a formidable Gyarados when you grow up." "Maaagi." That seemed close enough to "Okay" in Mandy's mind, and the fact that it didn't flinch at seeing a Pokéball helped greatly. "Great. What should I call you? Hmmm. How about Splash?" That seemed to work, Mandy had to wipe water from her face. "That's not bad. You'll do well with some training. I'll let you swim beside us, since you won't have time to swim for a while." ----------- A bit later, when they are at the Pallet Coast. ---------- "I can't believe you wanted a Magikarp," Ron said, vaulting off Flipper. Mandy ignored him. She pointed to the Center. "Thanks for the ride. You can stay there until you decide where to go. I'm spending the night there, then going to North." Mandy let Ember loose from her ball and put Splash in his. "Goodnight." Mandy picked up Amaranth and hiked off in the direction of the center. Ron ran behind her. "Wait!" Narrator: It seems that Mandy's made a new friend, and I've got internal bleeding. Geeze, why cant you writers leave us narrators alone? I mean OucH! Hey! No! Get off me! Get 'em off me! (sound of author being attacked by a hoard of Rattatas. -Susan the Jedi Hamster Official WDTSF Spontaneous Vocalization Specialist; Director of Unexpected Screaming. Contact me where I actually read the mail, Dinsdale@rinkworks.com.