The world of pokémon

For those who are in an uproar about Dust not using her keyblade, well… things will change soon enough. But not in this chapter! Also, if you're good boys and girls and review then MSkitty and I might whip up something special about Derek and 'the bad man'. We will do this when we have 30 total reviews; now on to the chapter.

David's POV

I was getting seriously worried about Dust. Her aura was losing its vibrancy, as if she had lost the will to live. I wonder what has driven her to this. What had driven her to this much self-hatred and self-disgust? Well, we were headed to Scissor Street and maybe the fashion will help cheer Dust up.

"Is there any place in particular you'd like to visit Brock?" Ash asked, but he got no reply. Misty then mentioned that Scissor Street was also known as Breeder's Lane.

"So what's the game plan?" Pikablue asked, but before I could answer Misty and Dust spotted a poster of some poor, dressed up pokémon. An ekans and a koffing to be precise and they were just as much of an eye sore as the last time I had passed through Scissor Street. But Misty and Dust thought it was cute, so for her sake I grinned and bared it.

[Isn't this a Rocket trap?] Lucario asked as Misty dragged Ash along. Dust would have probably tried to drag me if she didn't know it was pointless. So she settled for dragging Brock.

[This is indeed a Rocket trap; although it would be just as effective as an eye destroyer. That is one ugly poster.] I remarked and we followed the others. So we walked up to the entrance of 'salon Rockét'. The others thought this sounded familiar, but beyond that it didn't raise any alarms; just then a woman with a riachu and dodrio, who had gotten makeovers, walked by. Pikablue shuttered at the sight of them and I didn't need to be psychic to tell that the pokémon were nothing short of horrified at their new looks.

"I think I'll get in line." Misty said and Dust looked like she was considering joining her.

"Please no! For the love you have for us pokémon, don't make us go in there!" Midnight begged, but thankfully Brock spotted the place he'd been looking for. It was Suzie's place and it was nothing fancy, but it was better that way. Brock was so nervous that he couldn't bring himself to open the door.

"What are you so nervous about?" Ash asked as we entered and then he rushed in before the door could close. And there she was; just as I remembered her. She was giving a chansey a massage and the pink pokémon couldn't have been more relaxed. When she was finished chansey began to dance around. Then a real… colorful dresser walked in. At first I couldn't tell if the customer was male or female, but the voice gave it away. Chansey and the customer left and then she turned to Ash. Ash said we were just browsing, Brock tried to object, and Misty with Dust walked over both of them and cooed over the vulpix. Ash got out his pokedex and Dexter told him about vulpix. Misty then made the mistake of picking up vulpix.

"Aren't you the cutest thing?" Was all Misty got out before vulpix used flamethrower on her. Vulpix then returned to her nap. "Very cute…" And then she collapsed

"Thanks for testing the waters Misty." Dust remarked with a small smirk. Dexter chirped again.

"Vulpix use powerful flame attacks."

"Duh!" Ash exclaimed and then Brock began to babble. Finally he chocked out that he wanted to become Suzie's student. The others were shocked, but as always lucario, Pikablue, and I were aware of the situation.

"I don't have the time to teach, breeding takes up all my time." Suzie said

"What makes her such a great breeder?" Ash asked and then Brock gave Ash an earful of Suzie's accomplishments. Misty then asked if vulpix had won anything. Thankfully Ash derailed Brock's new triad. We then all sat down for some snacks and drinks.

"Your pikachu have a beautiful shiny coat." Suzie remarked, looking at pikachu. Of course pikablue was outraged that he was being left out.

"Pikablue, there's no need for that." I remarked as pikablue went on a rant about all the things he had been through and how it wasn't his fault if his fur got scuffed up because of it.

"You can understand him?" Suzie asked and then I explained that I am a pokemorph and thus able to understand the rants of my pesky pikachu. Suzie then remarked on pikablue's bright, shiny eyes. That quieted him down and then she told us how she had started out with an interest in pokémon nutrition. Vulpix then joined us and pikachu offered her some of Brock's pokéfood.

"This is great!" She exclaimed and Suzie told us that vulpix had never eaten anything she hadn't prepared herself before. But now vulpix was chowing down on Brock's pokéfood like there was no tomorrow. Brock stood up straight and tried to bow low, but banged his head on the table.

"I'm not worthy." He groaned and then we began to talk about Team Rocket's place. They were tacky, an eye sore, and all around awful. But still, people seemed to like the flashy bit of it, even if their pokémon didn't. Misty then got a mental image of pikachu and pikablue in dresses.

"WE ARE GUYS DANG IT!" Pikablue cried in outrage. I guess some of my psychic energy is rubbing off on pikablue… or he just knows Misty that well. Misty and Ash then got into a fight over weather the outside was important. They both knew the inside was important, but Ash said the outside wasn't that important and Misty said it was. Personally, I think Ash is right. Dust just sat there, looking in her drink. Normally she'd be right in the middle of the fight. Things are bad.

"Shouldn't you be stopping them?" Suzie asked.

"That's like trying to stop the tide." Brock answered and then Ash gave Misty the idea of sending psyduck to Rocket's salon. And so the battle lines were drawn, Ash would stay here at Suzie's salon and have Suzie work on pikachu while Misty would take psyduck and go to Team Rocket' salon. Whoever came back cuter would be the winner.

[Let the battle begin!] Lucario exclaimed.

DUST POV:

Well the new clothes were an obvious Team Rocket plot, and I didn't just know that because I've seen this episode before back home. It took me a few minutes to realize this but once I did, it was obvious, I didn't bother pointing it out to Misty when she left, I thought she'd figure it out.

"Hey, why didn't you go with Misty? Weren't you interested in those clothes?" David asked, as Suzie started massaging the electric sacs on Pikachu's cheeks.

"No way," I screwed up my face. "I was just remembering this episode, it took a few minutes, that's all,"

"Oooooh, thank goodness," David sighed relieved. I rolled my eyes, crossed my arms, and turned back to the presentation that Suzie was showing Ash how to do.

After a few minutes of watching, Midnight started sniffing the air and that's when something ran into my leg, Misty's Psyduck. He and David had a short conversation. "What's happening?" I asked.

"Misty's in trouble, team rocket," David told our group. We all ran towards the salon we knew Misty had went to and burst into the room. A small smile crossed my face when I saw Misty's new look. "Dummies," Misty muttered. Ash demanded that they let her go but they refused unless they had Pikachu.

"Don't they ever think of anything else?" I asked, getting annoyed. They followed us everywhere!

"No. And they probably never will," David agreed.

I sent out Midnight, Ash sent out Pikachu, Brock sent Geodude while David went to untie Misty. Midnight used tackle on ekans and then Geodude used seismic toss while Koffing used sludge, getting it into the pokémon's eyes. I winched, imagine having that fluid in your eyes.

Team Rocket tried to attack but Vulpix stepped into the ring and used a powerful fire spin attack. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they wailed as they disappeared into the sky like always.

"Do they always have to say that?" I grumbled. I'd be doing more screaming than trying to say something if they happened to me all the time.

Sometime later, we all stood after the battle in front of Suzie holding Vulpix, Misty had refused to remove the face paint. "Thanks to all of you," Suzie thanked us. "I believe in what I'm doing again. You helped my regain confidence in my beliefs." Suzie turned to Brock. "Brock, I was very impressed with the way you handled your pokémon in a crises like that. I have a lot more to learn about breeding pokémon, even if I do have a championship. I'm still a student, not a teacher. Looks like you and I both have journeys ahead of us. I'd be grateful if you took care of vulpix for me. You're the first person other than me that vulpix has been friendly with. Right now, I believe that you could do a better job raising vulpix then I could,"

"Thanks, I don't know what to say," Brock said, clearly stunned that the woman would give him such a gift. I gave a small but proud smile; it only grew when I caught another look at Misty. Someone should really tell her to take it off.

I looked at the sun as we continued onto our adventure, we left our new friend waving goodbye and I put on a smile so the others wouldn't worry about me. I didn't want to become a burden any more than I already was. Despite David's efforts, I've seen the way he's been looking at me recently. How could I not? With all the glances he keeps giving me, as if I'm a fragile doll who'll break with a single touch… but maybe, that's exactly what I am. Though the sun was warm, it felt as though an icy shadow had fallen over my heart. Is this normal? Or is something really and truly wrong? I'm going to have to ask David. Sometime.