Screensaver Problems Part 8
PDM: *runs in* I think he's gaining on me! *runs out*

M: *floats in* While PDM is running for his wretched life, I'll summarize. Last chapter, Chris and Brock, while walking with Ash to get him a tux, met Suzie and Duplica, two girls. Naturally, they gave in to their hormones and asked them out to the ball. The girls accepted, then went to talk to Misty while the boys went back to their room. Then they all went out to dinner, where Duplica and Chris had a "nice" talk. The next day, the girls went shopping while the boys went to see where the Ultra Ball was going to be. There, they met Professor Oak and found that he was in charge of the Ultra Ball. Then they went and fought some trainers on Nugget Bridge, and finally went back to their room and waited for the girls to come back from shopping, and are still waiting.

PDM: *runs in from same direction and slams into Mew* Ow! Oops...

M: Okay, now you're gonna get it!

PDM: Can't we work this out?

M: NO!

PDM: What if I give you a Poketreat? *holds up a small cracker in the air*

M: OKAY! GIMME THE TREAT! ALL IS FORGIVEN! GIMME GIMME GIMME!

PDM: Fine. *tosses cracker to Mew See? Best way to a Pokemon's heart is through its stomach.

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So we waited and waited and waited until it was 8:00 and we were all near to fainting from the hunger.

Finally, the girls walked in.

"That was great! We should shop together more often!"

"Yeah, Misty... uh-oh." Duplica said, noticing us on the floor.

"We've... been... waiting... for... you... to... eat... dinner..." Ash moaned.

"You guys didn't have to do that!" Duplica said.

"Let's go somewhere and fast, or we won't have dates for tomorrow!" Suzie said.

The other girls nodded and dragged us out the door to blessed food.

After we had eaten enough to revive ourselves, we started talking about what we had done that day.

"Did you guys buy the whole store or what?" Brock asked.

"BAM!" Suzie floored him with a mallet of her own.

"I didn't know all girls had mallets!" I said.

"Yep. They're standard female issue." Misty said.

"So did you guys get good outfits for tomorrow?" I asked carefully, not wanting to suffer Brock's fate.

"Yeah, actually, we did!" Duplica said.

"Great!"

"So what did you guys do while we were shopping?" Misty asked.

I had to answer that question due to two reasons:

  1. Brock was currently flat on the floor.
  2. Ash was tongue-tied whenever Misty said anything.

"Well, first we went to the Ultra Ball site, and you'll never guess who we saw there!"

"Who, Chris?" Duplica asked.

"Professor Oak! Apparently, he's in charge of the ball planning."

"Cool!"

"Then we all went out to train at the Nugget Bridge and I took a bunch of photos, which I've dropped off. Then we came back here and waited for you."

"Did anyone win a Nugget?" Suzie wanted to know.

"Ash did." Brock said, punctuated with a groan as he pushed himself off the floor.

"Congratulations, Ash!" Misty said.

"Uhh... thanks." Ash said, turning a color roughly resembling a ripe tomato.

"Hmm..." Duplica said to me. "He's really sweet on her, huh?"

"Obviously."

"This should be interesting."

When we finished dinner, we went back to the hotel, bid each other good night, and all went to bed. But Brock, Ash, and I did not go to sleep for a while. We stayed up discussing what to do about the ball tomorrow.

"When should we go?" Brock asked.

"Duh. The ball starts at 5:00, so we should get ready at 4:00, get the girls at 4:30 and be there at 5:00!" I replied.

"But how do we get the girls?" Ash asked.

"Ash, we walk up, knock on their door, wait for them to answer, then ask 'Are you ready to go?' "

"He's clueless, Chris."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are. Now be quiet and let Brock ask his question."

"Do you think we should bring our Pokemon?"

"Absolutely. We have to."

"Okay, then."

"I have another question, Chris."

"Yes, Ash?"

"How do you dance?"

I looked at Brock. "Ash, you don't know how to dance at all?"

"No."

"Waltz? Conga? Disco? Anything?"

Ash just shook his head.

"We have a long night ahead of us. You teach him, Brock."

"Why me?"

"Because of two reasons: I want to get some sleep, and I have a Kadabra who can give you a splitting headache until you're 50."

"Good point. Good night, Chris."

As I slid into my sleeping bag, I could still hear Brock saying "Now step like this: 1, 2, 1, 2."

"Like this?"

"OWWW!!! I think you broke my foot!"

I chuckled as I drifted off to sleep. The next morning, both Brock and Ash had dark rings under their eyes but looked happy.

"Did he learn?" I asked sleepily.

"He can rival the best now." Brock said.

"Want to see?" Ash asked.

"Uh, I'll pass." I said hurriedly. "We need to make sure we have everything for tonight."

"Tux?"

"Check."

"Tie?"

"Check."

"Pokemon?"

"Check."

"Clean underwear?"

"Huh?"

"Hey, you never know!"

So we went on like that all day, trying to keep busy and not go insane thinking about the ball until that dreaded hour came...

4:00.

When I heard the clocks in the town chiming, I looked up from where I had been playing games on my computer. "Guys, it's 4. Time to get ready."

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu were playing with some Pokemon cards while Kadabra napped.

"Fine, Chris." Brock said. Ash just moaned.

We managed to pull out our tuxedos and put them on with a minimum of curses and ripped seams. Brock put a little more gel into his hair to keep it sticking up while I combed my hair a little and put it into my usual hairstyle. Then we argued with Ash for a few minutes about getting him to lose the hat. We eventually managed to get him to take it off and comb his hair down a little, but we almost despaired when it just stuck back up again. Then I figured Misty might like it that way, so we just had him leave his hair the way it was without the hat. When we finally got all ready, it was 4:25.

"I can't do this!" Ash screamed.

"Of course you can! It's only Misty!" Brock said.

Ash screamed again and grabbed onto the wall.

"Big help, Brock." I said.

Five minutes later, we had gotten him untangled and calmed down. We escorted him to the door and waited a little further down the hall to make sure he didn't bolt. Under our watchful eyes, he knocked on the door and, perspiring violently, waited for his date to answer the door. When he heard footsteps a few moments later, every muscle in his body locked up with fear. But when she opened the door, he found himself melting in the presence of such sheer beauty. She was dressed in a long light blue dress that went down to an inch from the floor. She had her orange hair down, revealing its true length as it brushed her shoulders. She was holding a small blue purse in one hand. She had also put on an aquamarine necklace to finish off the vision of beauty.

Under the eyes of his goddess, Ash almost lost his nerve. But he rallied and stuttered, "A-are you re-ready to go, Misty?"

"Yes, I am, Ash." she said, stepping out the door and slipping her hand into his while she closed the door behind her. Togepi and her other pokemon were at a daycare center for the night. As they walked down the hall, both looking increasingly shy, we gave Ash a thumbs-up before heading for the girls' room next to Misty's.

I knocked on the door and waited. "Suzie, will you get that? I'm not quite ready yet!" we heard Duplica call.

"Sure, Duplica." Suzie said faintly. Then she opened the door and Brock almost fainted. She was a goddess in green. She had a green dress on with a slightly lower neckline, high heels, a small amount of makeup, and a green jeweled hair clip in her hair, which, instead of being in its usual bun, was let down to past her shoulders.

"Hi, guys. Duplica will be ready in a second, Chris. Brock, shall we go?"

"Sure, Suzie!" Brock said while gallantly offering her his arm. She put her arm through his and they walked toward the elevator together.

Shaking my head at Brock's luck, I waited for Duplica.

A few moments later, Duplica herself came to the door. I almost did a Brock-imitated girl-mode drool when I saw her. She had combed out her hair from its usual two long pigtails and had put it into one ponytail down her back. She was also clad in a lavender dress that went down to the floor, complemented by a clip in her hair in the shape of a Ditto. She didn't have anything in the way of jewelry, but when I looked at her then, I figured she really didn't need it.

"Are you ready, Chris? Hello?" Duplica asked, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh! Sorry, but I was just admiring your outfit. Guess your shopping yesterday really paid off."

"Thank you! Should we go?"

"Uh, yeah." I said, doing the same move Brock had and offering her my arm. She took it, and we walked off to the Ultra Ball. We were both a little taller than the others, so we caught up to them in a few minutes with our longer stride. That, and the fact that neither of us wanted to go into the ball without friends of the same gender.

When we caught up to them, Ash and Misty were still holding hands, but Ash seemed to be over his daze slightly and was chatting with Misty while Brock was still looking like the happiest boy on earth with Suzie on his arm.

"Hi, guys!" I called as we caught up.

"Hello!" Misty called.

"So what do you think the ball's going to be like?" Suzie asked.

"We don't know." Brock mumbled.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and find out, won't we?" I said.

We arrived at the building to find that it had been completely redecorated for the Ultra Ball.

"Are you ready to go in, Ash?" Misty asked.

"Yeah." Ash said, getting back some of his old shyness.

They walked in and we all followed. But as we went in, the shadows in a nearby alley stirred. A woman dressed all in black whispered, "Operation Vocal is a go." into a walkie-talkie and melted back into the shadows.

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PDM: Ooh, a bit of mystery! Just who is this mysterious woman, and what is Operation Vocal! Keep reading to find out!

M: Give me another Poketreat or I'll tell all!

PDM: *groans and tosses another cracker to Mew* Sometimes I think having a rare psychic pokemon is more trouble than its worth.