1 The Secret of the Silver Scizor

2

3 Chapter 1- The Talent Show

"It's so hot!" a girl with blond hair groaned. She stumbled miserably through the streets of the bustling city, wiping sweat from her brow.

The crowds of people made the heat of the summer even worse. The girl, whose name was Kris, wished bitterly that the day of the show could have been scheduled on a cooler day. But that could not be helped.

Kris stopped at a cafe and got some ice cream. She sat at a table to cool off and consulted her map (the Map Card on her Pokegear was useful, but did not cover the more outer regions of the Johto area). "Let's see, I go right from Eldergreen Avenue until I see the Pokemon Center, then the show should be put up somewhere on-"

Someone suddenly pushed by, making her drop her ice cream cone. Kris moaned as the chocolate ice cream landed straight onto her map. She hurried to get some napkins, but not before taking a quick glance at the man.

Or was it a man? It was hard to tell. He wore a large heavy coat that covered nearly every part of his body. The coat sparkled with a metallic shine, unlike any kind of material ever used on a coat. The coat was strapped tightly around the intruder's thin waist with a leather belt. Kris thought it was strange that anyone would wear such a coat in this hot weather.

She stared at the awkward figure, who moved to the back wall of the cafe. He then grabbed a flier on the counter. Kris knew what flier it was. It advertised a Pokemon Talent Show, which was going to take place in the city that day. Kris had heard of it and entered, and now she was supposed to be heading there right at that moment.

Kris remembered this and quickly tried to clear up her map of the big city.

Ten minutes later, the map was still damp and stained, but somewhat legible. Kris tossed away the pile of napkins and looked at her Pokegear's watch. She gasped. Only thirty more minutes until the Talent Show was to begin!

Kris grabbed her map and backpack and dashed out the door of the cafe. She did not notice that the strange figure was gone.

The area around the Pokemon Center was crowded and busy. Pokemon fans of all kinds attended the annual Crimson City Pokemon Talent Show to see what new, creative shows the Pokemon and their Trainers could come up with. It was worth putting up with the heat.

When Kris arrived, she could see why. The stage was beautiful, not to mention huge! It was built strong and stable, so that not even the wildest Pokemon could make it wobble. Banners and flags decorated the stage from roof to floor, all made of fireproof material. You could never know what would happen.

Kris checked her watch again. It had taken her twenty minutes to arrive, so the show would begin in ten minutes. Plenty of time to get ready.

She followed a sign to a small lot, where the Pokemon could practice before the show. This place was crowded too, and from the look of things, this wasn't a show to miss. Kris found an area in the corner of the lot that was empty, and claimed it as her practice area.

"All right everyone, time for rehearsal!" Kriss took out all six of her Pokeballs and unleashed each of her Pokemon.

Charred, her male Charmeleon; Lola, her Smoochum; Polly, her female Politoad; Daisy, her female Bellossom; Doremi, her female Jigglypuff; Free, her female pink Butterfree.

"Free free!" Free cried out, twirling in the air. She looked especially pretty as she sparkled, for Free was one of those extremely rare Shiny Pokemon.

Daisy twirled a little too, sending a few petals around, then finished with a fancy bow. Kris laughed.

Doremi tried to gain Kris's attention by puffing herself up to a bigger size, making her Polkadot Bow stretch.

Lola pranced about, excited, with Polly. Ever since Kris had hatched Lola, Polly began taking on a mother-like role to the Baby Pokemon, and they were close.

Charred made his 'Cool' pose, flashing his Black Glasses in the sun. Being a Fire type, and not a Dark type, Charred never really needed those Glasses, but he liked them anyway.

Kris had quite a job trying to organize her six Pokemon, and it took at least three minutes before they were able to practice at all. They were only getting started when a loud voice on an intercom interrupted them.

"ATTENTION! THE CRIMSON CITY POKEMON TALENT SHOW WILL BEGIN SHORTLY. ALL TRAINERS AND THEIR POKEMON PERFORMING IN THE SHOW ARE TO COME TO THE STAGE IMMEDIATLY. THAT IS ALL."

Kris jumped with both joy and excitement. She snapped her fingers. All her Pokemon lined up behind her in the order that they were captured: Doremi, Free, Daisy, Polly, Lola, and Charred. Then she headed for the stage, and her Pokemon followed behind her, marching proudly. Surrounding people laughed and cheered at them as they went.

Kris was confident that their performance would go smoothly. They had trained for many weeks, and knew the show by heart. Hopefully, though, nothing bad would happen until it was their turn. You could never know what would happen.

Kris and her Pokemon watched the Talent Show from backstage. So far there had been some really neat performances. There was a boy and his Mr. Mime, who had a comedy; the boy told the jokes and his Mr. Mime acted them out.

There was also a cute one with many Baby Pokemon, including Togepi, Elekid, Magby, Igglybuff, Cleffa, and Pichu, all doing a dance. However, that didn't last long as the babies soon lost interest dancing and began playing games with each other. Lola giggled and tried to join them, but Kris held her back. She didn't want Lola to be mixing with such badly trained Pokemon.

Then there was a magic show with a Kadabra. Nobody was really pleased by that one, for anybody who knew anything about Pokemon knew that it wasn't magic; Kadabra was just using its psychic powers.

Now it was almost Kris and her Pokemon's turn, so Kris began handing out the Pokemikes.

The Pokemike was a new invention from Silph Co., but it wasn't yet released. Kris was lucky enough to have won a contest, in which she was able to win the first ever FullPack, containing three Pokemikes. The Pokemikes were used to translate a Pokemon's words into recognizable languages so humans could understand them. This was a great breakthrough in Pokemon technology, as now Pokemon Researchers might be able to unveil many more secrets of the Pokemon world. But there were still a few problems involved.

Those problems didn't really matter to Kris, for she didn't want them to be able to talk with her Pokemon. They already communicated just fine without using some machine. No, the devices were for a more practical, enjoyable reason. Doremi, Lola, and Polly used them. Free and Daisy played a different role. As for Charred, he was using something else.

Nervously, they waited the final few minutes while the other Trainer's performance drew to an end. Finally, it was time.

The Trainer and her two Dittos exited the stage, wishing Kris's group luck on the way. They all took a deep breath, and headed onto the stage.

The audience clapped politely as the next show began. The stage was dark with all the lights turned off. This added to the darkness of the night, as it had become quite late after all the other performances.

Suddenly, there was a light put on, spotlighting two Pokemon. An adorable little Bellossom began dancing, creating a rhythmic melody by chanting "Bella! Bella! Bellossom!" over and over again. Overhead, a dazzling pink Butterfree danced along. The audience was even more delighted when the Bellossom began using its Petal Dance move and the Butterfree its Sweet Scent. The smell of fresh flowers flooded the stage, adding on to the mesmerizing dance.

Then the music began; faint at first, then louder as four lovely voices began to sing. The stage was completely lit up, and the people could see who was singing. A Jigglypuff wearing a Polkadot Bow, a Smoochum, and a Politoad were using three strange microphones. A Charmeleon wearing Black Glasses stood in the background, wielding an electric guitar. And singing right next to the three main Pokemon with an ordinary microphone was a teenage girl. The song was lively and had a good beat. Some of the younger children of the crowd began singing along.



"Some people

all they're good at is

being some one else.

But me, it's different

'cause I just be myself.



Those people,

they don't want to think

that they are nothing new.

Then why do they imitate?

I don't get it, how 'bout you?



I am who I am!

So I mind as well be me.

I can't change myself you know,

'cause me's who I will be!"

The singers took a break as the Charmeleon began a long guitar solo. The audience was fascinated. Such talent! Such energy! The Charmeleon grinned broadly, his ego rising higher and higher.

While Charred did his part, Kris gazed at the crowd before her. They were all concentrating on Charred at the moment. Except for one person. Kris realized that it was the strange person wearing the coat! He sat in the back row, not really paying attention to the stage. No, the person seemed to be looking about at the people in the audience.

Before she could wonder who the stranger was looking for, Kris realized it was her part again. She and her Pokemon gave the show a great ending and bowed, backed up with loud applause. Their performance was a great success, and Kris couldn't be prouder. But still, the strange, coated figure was still on her mind. And she grew more curious still when, as they left the stage, she saw that the figure had disappeared from his seat.