Midsummer Dreams8

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or Puck or William Shakespeare. I do own the storyline plus various other characters. Also the title was taken from one of my favourite songs, "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Erina-chan for her birthday. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Riny. Happy Birthday to you! ^_^

Chapter 8: Dreamed You Into Life

Tracey stifled a yawn as he followed Karlie into the Cyndaquil Café. They threaded their way towards a large table with six people. As they drew near, he could see that the group consisted of girls and women he had met at yesterday's party.

"Hey, Karlie! Tracey!" Rachel hailed the duo. "You're just in time. We're about to order breakfast."

They sat down and scanned the menu. Tracey decided on the cereal. Meal options were rather limited when you only had one free hand. The orders were taken and as the waitress left, the conversation started up once again.

Tracey yawned once again. "Did you sleep well last night?" He turned to see Vickie looking at him.

"Not really," he replied. That was an understatement. Tracey hardly slept at all. Trying to sleep and get comfortable whilst being handcuffed to another person is not the easiest thing in the world. When one person moves, the other does too, whether they like it or not.

The most sensible option was to sleep on his side, facing Chuchino's back, with his handcuffed arm draped over her body. Tracey had dismissed this, for fear it could be regarded as improper. He, was after all, at least ten years older than her - and if anyone who wasn't in the know, saw them like this…..Well, he didn't even want to think about it.

So he had stayed flat on his back, but sleep would not come. He was much too worried for that. Worried about what position he'd find himself in the morning, worried that Chuchino might take it the wrong way. Tracey had had no idea of what to do in a situation like this. There wasn't a book on 'The Proper Etiquette When Sleeping Handcuffed To Another Person.'

Reflecting on last night, Tracey wondered how his two male friends would have handled being in the same situation. Ash, he felt pretty sure, would have freaked out a little bit, before falling asleep. Brock, on the other hand…..

Tracey quickly dismissed from his mind what Brock would have done. Suffice to say that it would have ended with a well-aimed mallet. He was brought back to reality by the sounds of an argument that was taking place on the other side of the table.

"No, I won't do it!" This came from Trish who sat with her arms folded in front of her. On either side, Arrow and Erina were trying their best 'puppy dog eyes' on their older friend.

"Me neither," Jenn added. Tracey turned to his left to see Chuchino and Rachel applying the same look to her.

"But you promised!" Arrow whined.

"Yes, we promised your parents that you'd go to one dance and that's all!" Trish retorted.

"What's going on?" Tracey interrupted.

"We're trying to persuade Trish and Jenn to agree to let us attend all the dances this week," Arrow explained.

"And it says here in the Convention guide that anyone under the age of eighteen, must have an adult there who's willing to act as a chaperone." Erina added. "But these two are being stubborn."

"No we're not," Jenn protested.

"Please? It'll be fun!" Arrow begged.

"No way. And nothing is going to make us change our minds," Trish stated in a firm voice.

"That's right," Jenn chimed in.

"Nothing?" Arrow echoed sadly.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Not even for a chocolate?"

"No."

"How about a box of chocolates?"

"No." But Tracey noticed that both young women hesitated before answering.

Erina had an evil grin on her face as she waved a box of chocolates under Trish's nose. "Not even for a box of your favourite Duc D'o Belgian Truffles?"

The dark-haired girl's eyes widened. "Riny, that's playing dirty!" she protested feebly.

Jenn noticed that her best friend's resolve had started to waver. "Stand firm, Trish!" she shouted but then trailed off when Rachel waved a bag of Dove Promise chocolates in front of her face.

"Well?" Erina coaxed, still waving the chocolates about in her friend's face.

"We promise to be good!" Arrow piped up.

Trish closed her eyes, took a deep breath and replied. "Oh, all right then."

"You win," Jenn gave in as well.

"Yay!" The younger girls celebrated.

"I thought you two said that absolutely nothing would make you change your minds," Tracey teased.

"So we exaggerated a little," Trish conceded as she popped a chocolate in her mouth. "Almost nothing, then."

"We don't always give in so easily, " Jenn added as she scoffed one of hers. "But we couldn't say no to a freebie like this!"

"Are you going to be there at each of the dances, Vickie?" Arrow asked.

The woman smiled. "Of, course. I have to go along to keep an eye on those two!" Tracey saw that she indicated the two older ones eating chocolate.

"Why?" Tracey was confused. Trish and Jenn looked like they could look after themselves pretty well.

Vickie chuckled. "They may be twenty-six and twenty-five years old respectively but those two often get into as much mischief as any teenager can."

"Like what?"

" You know what happened at the Chateau Plateau the other day?"

"Yes."

" Well, Trish got into a pillow fight with Drake, and Jenn had a competition with Gary to see who could jump up and down the longest on the beds."

The two girls in question coloured slightly as their younger companions looked at them with wide eyes.

"You didn't tell me anything about this!" Arrow squealed as she grabbed Trish's arm.

"You didn't ask!" The older girl said.

"I want to know everything about it," Arrow demanded.

"Me, too," chorused Chuchino, Erina and Rachel.

"There's nothing much to tell," Jenn grumbled. "I wanted to do something fun. It was either that or watch cartoons on the TV."

"We'll tell you later," Trish said as their breakfast orders were placed in front of them.

Everybody ate in silence for a while, then Rachel spoke up. "So what is everybody doing today?"

"I think we all need to do some shopping," Vickie decided.

"That's right," Trish agreed. "If we're going to attend all the dances, we'll need to hire some more gowns." She began listing off the things they needed to do. "Shoes, jewellery, makeup, hair appointments….."

"Okay," Karlie grinned. "Let's do some shopping!"

Tracey nearly choked on his spoonful of cereal. The dreaded "s" word had been brought up. The girls were going to go shopping - and he was going to be dragged along with them, literally. What was worse, they were looking for evening dresses which meant that they would not stop until they found the perfect gown. Tracey sighed inwardly. This promised to be a very long day.

***************

Later that morning, Ash, Misty, Gary, Brock and James were walking towards the Stadium when they saw a small group leave the Cyndaquil Café. Misty thought she spied a familiar male face among all the females. "Isn't that Tracey over there?" she pointed out.

Ash peered in the direction she indicated. "So, it is," he murmured. "Hey Trace!" he hollered as he ran up to the group, his friends following on his heels.

The Pokémon Watcher waved to his friends. "Hi, guys," he greeted.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Ash asked with some concern.

"Not really," Tracey answered which brought a sly chuckle from Brock.

"That's because he…..YEEEEOWWWWWWW!" The Pewter City Gym Leader yelped as Ash and Gary simultaneously stomped on his feet, one on each side.

"Oops. Sorry about that, Brock-o," the Grand Master said coolly. "But I didn't see your foot there."

"Neither did I," Gary smiled.

"So, Tracey, where are you off to?" Misty asked.

Tracey looked a little embarrassed as he answered. "The girls are going shopping, and I…um..kinda have to go with them." At the mention of the "s" word, Ash, Brock and Gary sent him pitying looks with the same message. You poor thing.

Misty's face lit up. "What are you girls shopping for?"

"Evening dresses for the dances," Karlie answered.

"Do you mind if I come along?" Misty enquired. "I need to find some dresses as well."

"Sure."

"Can I come too?" James begged. "I want to try on some dresses!"

The girls looked at each other. "Uh, I suppose so," Karlie said slowly. "The more the merrier!"

James grinned and turned to his boss. "Is that okay with you?"

Ash frowned. "James - you are not wearing dresses to the League dances."

"I know, I know. But it's not fair that Jessie gets to wear all the great clothes," James pouted. "I look just as good as she does in a little black dress! Please, can I go along?"

"I don't know…."

"I'll be good!" James pleaded. "I haven't been able to try on dresses for ages!"

"Go then," Ash sighed.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" his personal assistant squealed as he joined the group, who then walked off.

"Ever wondered what it would be like to have a normal personal assistant?" Gary spoke up.

"I have," Ash replied. "But then again, I couldn't imagine not having James around. He's become like the goofy older brother I never had. Same with Brock here."

"I am not goofy," Brock protested.

"Oh, yeah?" Ash grinned. "Nurse Joy."

Brock immediately went into 'pretty girl mode'. "She's the woman of my dreams," he gushed.

"I rest my case."

***************

Jessie stood in the doorway of Starmiebucks, scanning the faces of the crowd. She had promised to meet Bill here, along with his student. The red-head had been surprised at the news. Jessie knew that Bill was a full-time writer - was he a teacher as well?

She spotted him at a table near the rear of the establishment. With him was a young brunette who she assumed was his student. As Jessie neared the table, Bill looked up and smiled. "Jess, it's good to see you," he greeted. I'd like you to meet Veronica, or Mystery Squeezit as she is known by her penname. Veronica, this is my good friend, Jessie."

The young woman shook her hand warmly. "Pleased to meet you. I hope to become a professional writer one day, and Bill has agreed to give me some advice."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too ," Jessie said as she took a seat next to Bill.

"We were just discussing how people are taking classical literature and modernising them."

"And I suggested that perhaps it was time that some of Shakespeare's works were revised," Bill said.

"By revised, do you mean staged in a modern setting?" Jessie asked. "It's already been done."

"No. I mean the whole play to be totally rewritten and updated. Antony and Cleopatra could be Tony and Cleo; Julius Caesar could be Jules C. The language would be simplified. For example, the whole soliloquy from Hamlet would be shortened to "Should I kill myself or not? Or should I pretend to be mad so that I can expose who knocked off my dad?" Another example, could be the line "Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Lend me your ears." How about we rewrite it as 'Yo, everybody! Listen to me!'"

"I think it sounds better the way it was originally written," Veronica ventured.

****************

Tracey was bored stiff. The girls had found a boutique which offered a special package for Convention visitors. You could hire four to five gowns for an affordable price. They had been in there for at least half an hour and still some of the girls were rushing in and out of the cubicles trying on different dresses.

The fact that he was handcuffed to Karlie had presented a rather interesting problem at first. How was Karlie going to try on dresses whilst still handcuffed to the Pokémon Watcher? The easiest solution would have been for Chuchino to simply unlock the handcuffs - but she point blank refused to do that. Despite assurances that he would not run away at the first opportunity, Karlie declared that she had invested too much time, effort and money into this 'Get Tracey scheme' to let him go. So he stayed handcuffed.

There was no way that he could stay outside the change cubicle, so he would have to go inside with her. The solution on how to prevent him from seeing things he shouldn't was presented when Trish walked up to him and yanked his bandanna down over his eyes.

So that was how he found himself sitting blindfolded in a cubicle, listening to the rustle of different fabrics and the comments of James and the girls. Even though he couldn't see a thing, he still felt extremely embarrassed at what he overheard. Comments like; "Does this dress make my butt look big?"; "This side split comes up pretty high, you can't see my underwear can you?" and "That dress is a bit too low cut, don't you think?"

Tracey nearly died with embarrassment at hearing the last question. What he found even more distressing was the image that came into his mind at that very moment. Curse you , Brock, his mind screamed. Now I'm thinking like you!

*****************

Meanwhile, Brock was completely unaware that Tracey was trying to utter a curse on him. As far as the Pewter City Gym Leader was concerned, he was already cursed with bad luck. After taking his leave from Ash and Gary, he had run into Luana. He had managed to extricate himself from her vice-like grip and then sped off. But Luana took that to mean he wanted to play games, and so pursued him. He was currently hiding behind a large pole outside the Stadium, in the hope that she would lose track of him. Ten minutes later, he peeked out to see if the coast was clear when……

"BROCKY BABY!"

He fled. Again. I wish I could use 'Agility'…….

*****************

Gary stood with Ash, Pikachu and Meowth to the side of the small stage. He watched as technicians erected a large screen on the stage behind his grandfather who was sorting through some notes at the microphone. "Hey, guys," a voice came from behind them. They turned to see Danny and Drake from the Orange Crew standing there. "Mind if we joined you?" Drake asked.

"Of course not," Ash grinned.

"What's your grandfather speaking on today?" Danny asked.

Gary shrugged. "I have no idea," he admitted, then turned to his best friend. "Do you?"

Ash thought for a minute. "Yeah, I do. It's called "Back Then" and it's a slide show featuring childhood photos of some of the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and so on. It was an idea of the Professor's and Agatha's."

Gary did not like the sound of that one little bit. "I don't suppose you know exactly whose photos are going to be shown?"

His best friend shook his head. "No I don't. But knowing my Mom, there's guaranteed to be some of me in there."

Ten minutes into the speech, Gary allowed himself to relax. So far, so good - there had been none of his photos shown. There had been some of Ash's, just as his friend predicted. Maybe, just maybe, Gary thought to himself, I can get through the day without somebody I know, embarrassing me.

But it was not to be. The next picture flashed on the screen and Gary froze in horror. There, on the screen was a picture of a child dressed as Bo Peep for a school play. Brown eyes peeked out from under a pink bonnet and brown ringlets fanned out around the base. The child was wearing an old fashioned pink dress with a hooped skirt that was adorned with dainty frills and bows.

"What a pretty little girl," the Professor commented then peered at his notes. He blinked then looked again. "Oh my," he murmured. "Believe it or not, that 'girl' is my grandson, Gary - aged seven."

There were various gasps and murmurs of disbelief and amazement from the crowd. Gary went beet red and elbowed Ash in the ribs. "Did you put Gramps up to this?" he hissed.

Ash glared at him as he rubbed his ribs. "No I did not!" he shot back

"I don't remember anything about this photo," the aging researcher admitted. "But I know somebody who probably does." He turned to the side where the young men were standing. "Ash, could you come up here please?"

The Pokémon Master stumbled onto the stage as a result of Gary trying to hold him back while Drake, Danny, Meowth and Pikachu pushed him forward.

The Professor smiled at his former student. "Can you tell us the story behind this picture?"

"Er..sure. When we were in primary school together, our class had to put on a play for the whole school. Our teacher decided on the nursery rhyme 'Little Bo Peep'. To cut a long story short, one of the girls was chosen to play Bo Peep - but Gary wanted to be the star, and insisted that he'd make a much better Bo Peep than she ever could. So he turned up the next day in one of his sister's dresses and a brown wig and put on a very convincing performance as a girl. So the teacher ended up giving him the lead role. I was one of the sheep."

Gary wanted to shrivel up and die. This was so humiliating! He refused to look at anybody, for fear of seeing the broad grins that he just knew would be there.

The next picture was just as bad. It showed Gary standing there in his swimmers holding a vine.

"Now that was not long after we had watched Tarzan on video," Ash continued. "We were six at the time and Gary announced that he was going to be the next Tarzan. So a group of us boys went out into the woods in the Professor's Research Reserve, and found a tall tree with some vines hanging off it. Gary climbed up to the highest branch, grabbed a strong vine, jumped off ….and slammed into the nearest tree. Luckily he wasn't hurt, only a bit stunned. Someone in the group, I can't remember exactly who, said at the time that Gary was more like 'George of the Jungle' than Tarzan. So for a while there, he was known as 'Gary of the Jungle.'"

By now, Gary was trying his hardest to ignore the chuckles of the two Orange League Gym Leaders behind him, and the two Pokémon beside him. Meowth and Pikachu had collapsed on the floor with laughter, rolling around and clutching their sides. Just wait until I get my hands on whoever put those photos in there!

**************

Erina sat outside the Stadium, basking in the afternoon sun. It had been a good day so far, she had found everything she needed for the dance tomorrow night, and now she had some free time in which to work on her new romance novel which she hoped one day to get published. The brunette started to write but then lost herself in thinking about the upcoming dances.

She was getting really excited about attending them. She would get to wear a beautiful dress, have her hair and makeup done, and dance with some cute guys. Erina wondered if she would see her secret admirer there. If so, what would he look like? Would he be tall, dark and handsome? Would she be swept off her feet?

Riny shook her head. She sounded like the heroine out of one of the romance novels she was so fond of. Riny was the first to admit that she was a hopeless romantic, and that showed in her stories she wrote for the Internet. Almost every single one of them was a romance.

"Excuse me."

She looked up to see a young man around her age standing before her, dressed in a light blue shirt and black shorts. He had short dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He's cute, she thought.

"Do you mind if I sit down?"

"No, not at all," she said, trying not to sound too eager. He's really cute. Such a nice voice too.

"Thank you," he sat down then looked at her with a smile. "Your name's Erina, am I right?"

"That's right," she confirmed, slightly taken aback. How did he know her name?

"My name's Florian. But my family and friends call me Flory," he introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too. But how did you know my name?"

He reddened a bit but then answered. "Um, well you see…I've sort of been watching you from a distance since the Convention began." That's almost the full truth, he thought.

Riny was about to yell at him for being a stalker when another thought occurred to her. "Were you the one responsible for leaving a rose on my pillow?"

"Yes."

Erina couldn't believe her luck. This cute guy was her secret admirer! "So how did you manage to get it into my room?"

Flory nearly choked. What should he say? "Uh, well I have…an Abra…and it...um teleported ..the rose into your room," he stuttered, hoping desperately that she wouldn't press him any further.

She smiled at him. "That was really sweet of you."

Flory nearly melted.

******************

Meanwhile, at the Cyndaquil Café Arrow was busy chatting with a young man that she had just sat down with. Make that sat down on. She was trying to get used to these new shoes for tomorrow night by walking around in them. But a busy café is not the best place to practise, so when someone passed her, she lost her balance and sat down on this boy's lap.

Thoroughly embarrassed, she had introduced herself with a sheepish smile and assured him that she was not always this klutzy. He just smiled broadly, then told her that he was rather prone to being a klutz himself. His name was Puck.

******************

It was early evening when Erina returned to her room. She flopped on the bed happily. She and Flory had talked for ages, and it seemed like they had lots in common. He then walked her back to her hotel room, and in a perfect finish to a perfect day, he had asked if he would be seeing her at the dance tomorrow night.

Flory was funny, sweet and considerate. In fact he seemed to be everything that Riny had dreamed of in a secret admirer. A line from a song flashed into her mind which described the situation perfectly. 'I think I dreamed you into life.'

To be continued……

Author's Note: As I said before, this chapter was posted for Riny's birthday. May all your dreams come true…. ^_^ . Just a note about the chocolates - those Belgian truffles are the BEST! They are so creamy inside and just melt in your mouth….wish I had a box right now. As for the Shakespeare thing - I admit I am a bit of a purist. If I'm going to see a Shakespearean play, I want to see it done traditionally.

R & R peeps - flamers get fed to my Tassie Devils. Next chapter, the first of the dances at Indigo Plateau begin!

Pokémon 3 just opened here in Australia yesterday. Looking forward to seeing it next week.