From: Maria Rocket <mobius101@aol.compactpika> Subject: [PW!] Back to Saffron Date: Wednesday, November 10, 1999 11:33 AM >"Purr..." Slit-eyes persian stared down wide-eyed Meowth. Even though >some might not recognize a pokemon after it evolved, Slasher definitely >knew himself on sight. There was something odd about him, but Slasher >could not quite place it. > >"Now, Maria: you've got a ruby box somewhere on your person, that you >stole from Sabrina's gym. The fact that you have it is causing Sabrina >great troubles. That's why I'm here." 'Maria' put forth a hand. "If I >may see it, please?" Aerie stood ready to restrain Maria if she freaked >out and ran...and hoped that Seth could keep up his act without going >for a probably ruinous reunion with someone who was not yet his mother. "I really *am* losing my mind..." Maria tried to take a slow step back, but couldn't move past the Persian around her legs. Slasher hissed down at him in fright. Maria blinked over at her Meowth. "But....you see this too?" Aerie folded and opened her hand twice. "Just hand over the box, and we'll leave you alone." "The box?" Maria glanced from Aerie's hand, then back up to her face. Locking onto her identical brown eyes, her face twisted from an expression of disbelief to one of extreme anger. "YOU!" Aerie tilted her head, taken aback for a moment. "I thought you damned floating rats were supposed to leave me alone! I don't know how you found me, but you aren't getting anything except a hole in the head!" Faster than Aerie could react, Maria drew something from inside her coat. In the next instant, there was the barrel of a large Wigglytuff Launcher aimed at her head. Maria pulled on the trigger. "WIGGLLYYY!!!" "NO!" SLAM! Maria tumbled backwards as Seth sprung up and threw himself onto the Launcher. As she fell back onto her elbows, the projectile exploded in a loud "TUFF!" and ashy smoke. Coughing, Seth wobbled from his feet from where he had been clinging tightly to the Launcher barrel. "A-Aerie..?" He wheezed. The smoke cleared to reveal a dazed Wigglytuff turning around and around on one pink foot. Just beyond was the pink goo remains of a Wigglytuff explosion. Seth pawed at the Wigglytuff. ".....?" WigglyAerie giggled. "Don't do that, I might pop on your claws!" "Aerie!" Seth squealed happily, hugging the pink pokemon. "I-I....oh gawd, I'm hugging a Wigglytuff, but I don't care!" #I was afraid....# "Me too." Seth blinked in surprise. "Cover your ears, Seth!" Aerie jumped forward through the smoke a few times. Maria was preoccupied coughing, and didn't see the Wigglytuff approach. "Wigglllyy!" Aerie puffed up as large as she could. Then she began to sing. "Oh no....!" Maria tried covering her ears when she saw the big blue eyes light up. "You can't....leave.....alone....." Her eyes were growing heavy. "Leave.....baby...." She slowly slipped down on her side in the grass. Both her and her pokemon were fast asleep. "Tuff!" Aerie transformed back into her default form. Once she was certain Maria really was asleep, she headed back towards Seth. The Persian had fallen asleep with a big smile on his face. Aerie kneeled and shook him firmly with a grin. "Hey, nap time is over." "Sian..." Seth pawed at his ear twice and turned over. Then he began to snore, which Aerie found funny, since she'd never heard Slasher snore before. She sighed with smile and threw her hands into the air. "What a sleepyhead. Looks like I'll have to handle this myself." After giving him a pat, she walked back to Maria. Searching for the ruby box, Aerie went through her trenchcoat pockets one by one. And boy, were there a lot of pockets. "Now I know where the term 'pocket monsters' came from," Aerie muttered, going through yet another layered pocket. "Seth used to tell me she could fit everything and the kitchen sink in this coat, but I always thought he was joking around..." A minute later, she put her hand around something small and square-shaped. When she drew it out, she found it was a small latched box that shone and sparkled ruby red. "Finally." "Ditto?" "Who?" Aerie looked over to see two bright and beady eyes watching her from inside Maria's coat. The little baby Ditto was frightened. "Dit?" "Da....Doppler?" Aerie blinked in surprise. "So this is where you got to!" She reached in to pull him out, but he just zipped away into a pocket. "Ditto Ditto!" "Hmm..." Aerie sighed and lay Slasher the Meowth across Maria before standing up. She looked up to find Seth standing there. She jumped slightly in surprise before remembering it was Slasher. "So you finally decided to join us, eh?" "Sian..." Slasher shrugged and looked down at Aerie's capture. "Purr....sure this is a good idea?" Aerie shook her head. "If you have another solution, feel free to let me know." "If Sabrina harms her...." "....I don't want to think about that right now." Aerie closed her eyes and headed back towards Seth. Slasher just looked back down. When Seth would only respond lazily, Aerie ended up dragging him back to the others. "I guess he'll wake up soon enough," she snickered. "Okay..." She took a good look around. "As much as I'd like to, I suppose we can't stall any longer." With a nervous look, she teleported the group out in a flash of blue light. When they reappeared, she found they were inside the Saffron gym, not outside like she had intended. She did a surprised take. Then she noticed that Maria and Slasher had disappeared. "Hey....what's going on?" Though it was rather dark in the room, she could see Sabrina's shape hovering eerily near the ceiling. Aerie held out the ruby box, which gave its own light in the darkness. "We have the box-" It disappeared from her hand even as she spoke. Aerie stepped back. "So are you going to change Seth and Slasher back?" Sabrina disappeared. "HEY!" Aerie yelled, but there was no response. She turned to look at Seth and Slasher. The Persian had woken up, and was now wobbling on his feet again. "Seth, are you okay?" "I think....you really hit hard with that beautiful voice of yours you know..." Aerie blinked. And slowly turned towards the blue-haired boy who was speaking as he rubbed at his eyes. "SETH!" Her arms and eyes open wide, she leapt upon her unsuspecting lover. "OOF!" "You're back, you're back!" Aerie giggled and kissed him wildly. Gaining his bearings, Seth hugged her tightly. "Thank Goddish, I can hold you with my own arms again..." He blinked. "But....where's Mom? And what happened with Sabrina?" Aerie drew away soberly. "I'm not sure...." "Sian...." They looked over to where Slasher was scratching at the wall. A small distortion of light and shadow flickered above. As it strobed, it grew increasingly larger, a sickening MissingNo. 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