Foreword: Think of this as the Valentine's Day special of Warp Series. I've decided to update the story every Monday, but Valentine's Day occurs on a Friday between today and next week. Therefore, rather than getting one episode done by Wednesday and doing a quick episode for Friday, I'm just having an episode done and up for the public to read for Friday.
Sorry. Babbling. ^_^;
Anywho, on with the show!
***
Episode 04--
Love in Full Bloom
...
There she was again. A girl in white stood, framed by the sunset beyond a lake, with her back to him. She was so small. So delicate. What was she doing there?
He reached out to her.
His voice came so nervously. "Miss?"
She looked back at him for a moment with a glance that told him she was expecting him. Her eyes were so bright they startled him.
"I know why you're here," she said with a soft, wind-chime voice, "and your answers will come in good time."
"In good time...?"
He tried to stop her to ask more, but suddenly, everything went hazy.
~~~
Slowly, Bill woke up and found himself on a train ride to Goldenrod City. There was no one next to him, and because night had fallen, most of the other passengers were still asleep. He, on the other hand, was now wide awake and watching the nighttime scenery go past.
He briefly remembered the call he had received from his mother, reminding him that he had promised to go back to Goldenrod for one occasion to each season -- a winter visit on Christmas, a spring visit on his younger sister's birthday, an autumn visit for Thanksgiving, and what would occur the next day, his older sister's birthday in the beginning of August. He couldn't break a promise to his family, and silently, he prayed that he wouldn't have to shift and disappear for a few days, leaving his family to worry.
Ziggy appeared and sat beside him in the empty seat. Bill looked over, saw her, and looked around at the sleeping passengers with wide, startled eyes before speaking.
"Ziggy? What are you doing here?" he hissed. "Please don't say I have to shift!"
"You don't," Ziggy replied. "I just want to tag along."
"No offense, but I would rather not have momentos from the office following me around on my vacation," Bill said lightly.
She narrowed her eyes at him angrilly.
The train came to a stop at the Goldenrod Station. People slowly woke up and began gathering their things. Bill stared directly at Ziggy and mouthed "go home" to her.
"Oh, you're no fun!" Ziggy snapped. "Ciao!"
She disappeared, much to Bill's relief.
He picked up his backpack and headed off the train.
~~~
He reached a familiar street and looked around. It seemed like not one building had been added or demolished. Everything seemed as if time had frozen while he was gone. He sighed in nostalgia.
'Goldenrod City,' he thought. 'For such a major city, it's surprising this old neighborhood hadn't changed...'
He walked by familiar storefronts and into a residential area where cute, little apartment buildings and houses lined the streets and began giving each other more and more green space as he went on. Finally, he stopped at a modest, two-story house surrounded with green. The porch lamp was still on, despite how late it was. He smiled.
'Home...'
He approached the door and rang the doorbell next to it. Inside, he could hear a Growlithe barking and scampering to the door. A few moments later, the door swung open, revealing a girl with bright, hazel eyes, straight, chin-length red hair, and a long t-shirt covering her thin body.
"Hello, miss!" He greeted with a cheerful tone. "What would a young girl such as yourself be doing awake at hours like this?"
"I'm not young," the girl replied in her sharp, American voice. "I'm only four years younger than you are."
"Judith? Who is it?" a female voice asked from another room.
"Just an ax murderer who wants to kill us all, Mom," she replied.
The mother sighed. "Quit joking around and let your brother inside."
The girl rolled her eyes and stepped aside. "Hi, Bill."
"Good evening, Jude," he replied as he stepped inside, putting a hand on her head and messing up her hair as he passed by.
Jude growled and tried to straighten her hair as the Growlithe came bounding over. It stopped and sniffed at Bill (just as he bent down to take off his shoes) before jumping on him and trying to lick his face.
"Hello, Milo!" Bill greeted happily as he stroked the puppy on its head.
A woman in a blue nightgown walked over and closed the front door. Her perfect face was framed with short, red curls, and her hazel eyes gleamed with contentment. At seeing this woman, Bill abruptly stood.
"Mother..." He smiled.
The woman threw her arms around him.
"All that time without writing!" she gasped. "You always worry me, William..."
"I'm sorry, Mom," he muttered to her, loosely returning her embrace.
Jude rolled her eyes at the warm scene as Milo cocked his head. Finally, Mrs. McKenzie released her son.
"So where might Penny be?" Bill inquired.
"In her room, catching up on her beauty sleep," Jude replied. "Don't go in there. She's got a facial mask on, and it's enough to scare a Gengar."
"Be nice about your sister, Judith," the mother scolded.
Jude leaned over to whisper to Bill, "And I think we both know where Dad is."
Jude rolled her eyes as Bill sighed.
"Does she know?" Bill inquired as their mother returned to her bedroom.
Jude cocked her head. "Does who know what?"
"Does Mom know that Dad..." His voice trailed off.
"She's not oblivious to the obvious, Bill," Jude answered coldly. "EVERYONE knows that Dad has a gambling problem. He just doesn't stay away from that Goldenrod Game Corner, and things haven't changed since you left. Mom had even thought about asking you to come back to help us support the family. Her dancing school's*1* not going to support the four of us all the time."
"I'm afraid I can't stay, though. My presence will just worsen Dad's gambling addiction," Bill said. "He still has that grudge against me, and he'll relieve that anger by gambling."
"That's why he's not here right now," Jude agreed.
Bill picked up his backpack. "I'm off to unpack and get some rest. I assume you'll be going to sleep as well. After all, a young lady like yourself needs all the sleep she can get so she can grow."
Jude scowled at him as he reached over and mused her hair again before turning a corner behind him and walking down a hallway beyond this.
"It doesn't matter that you're my flesh and blood," Jude snapped, "because sooner or later, I'm going to make you need a transplant of both!"
He poked his head back into the main hall, smiled mischieviously, and wagged his left index finger at her. "Ah ah ah, young lady! It's not polite to threaten your elders..."
"I'm ONLY four years younger than you are!" Jude insisted.
Bill began walking down the hall again. "Which makes me your elder!"
Jude growled.
~~~
With a night of peaceful rest behind him, Bill found himself walking down the familiar streets of Goldenrod City with a list in hand for his mother. It wasn't a usual grocery list; it was instead a list of certain flowers and plants.
Though the school Mrs. McKenzie ran was primarily a dancing school for ballet, jazz, and tap as well as traditional Japanese folk dance, it also had classes for several other activities, including both Western flower arranging and Ikebana.*2* Every week, she would place an order for flowers and greenery to use in these classes at the Goldenrod Flower Shop.
However, this week, she had her hands full with both teaching her own class of Japanese dancers as well as going home to plan Penny's party. Eagerly, her son promised to place the order for her. He didn't mind doing it only because Zoe would no doubt be there.
'Zoe...' He blushed and looked up at the blue sky above the buildings, smiling with contentment as he pictured her.
Zoe*3* was the daughter of the owner of the flower shop, Mr. Rosenblum. In Bill's eyes, she was the strawberry-blonde, sapphire-eyed gift from Heaven...
...That he wouldn't have a chance with even if Hell froze over. It seemed as if her smile alone can attract every guy in Goldenrod City, so what use is it to take a number just to go out on a date with her? After all, there WERE better-looking guys, guys who were more popular or more athletic... Zoe wouldn't be interested in a computer geek.
He sighed sadly as he realized that he reached the shop. Plants sat in pots outside of the brick building as well as just inside the windows, above which a sign announcing the store's name was attached to the outside wall.
He took a deep breath, straightened up, and walked inside.
Inside, more plants were scattered around the room in pots along with shelves of cards, candy, and stuffed animals. Along the left wall, there was a row of glass doors, behind which were freezers where various flowers were kept in bouquets wrapped with plastic wrap and stored in plastic containers. The left wall held shelves of boxes, and within each box, a single Leaf Stone or Sun Stone sat, nestled in wax paper.
If this store was famous for anything at all, it was for these boxes. You couldn't get one cheaper or easier in all of Johto. These Leaf Stones were cheaper than the ones sold on the sixth floor of the Goldenrod Department Store, and the Sun Stones were easier to get than competing for ones in the Bug Catching Contest (though bragging rights never came with the neat boxes on the higher shelves). These shelves attracted all the business Mr. Rosenblum and his fathers, grandfathers, and generally everyone who ever owned the store ever wanted. In fact, for as many summer days as Bill had seen, there had always been at least four trainers an hour, buying two or three of these little boxes.
But this summer afternoon, Bill was alone in the shop.
He walked straight ahead to the counter, spotted a bell, and rang it. A plump woman with faded, red hair and worried violet eyes rushed out of a door behind the counter (the one leading to a greenhouse). As soon as she saw Bill, her eyes lit up with glee.
"Oh! May I help you?" she asked.
"Good morning, Mrs. Rosenblum," he greeted. "You may not remember me, but I'm Flora McKenzie's son, Bill. She wanted me to bring you this week's order."
He handed her the list across the counter. She nodded.
"I see!" Mrs. Rosenblum exclaimed. "Another order for the school! Oh, it's nice to have business again! Let me just write this up and give you the receipt to take back to Flora..."
The middle-aged woman began typing on the store computer. Bill didn't mind waiting, however, because at that moment, a young woman about his age with long, strawberry hair in a braid down her back and to her elbows, carrying a squirt bottle came out to water the plants. Zoe.
He watched her as she hummed a little tune and sprayed a few potted violets. She realized she was being watched and turned abruptly around to see him. He blushed and looked away, noticing out of the corner of his eye the small smile she gave him before turning back to the plants.
"You're the first customer we've had in awhile," Mrs. Rosenblum commented as she finished up.
Bill barely noticed this. He barely even noticed when Mrs. Rosenblum gave him the receipt and told him that his mother wouldn't have to pay until the delivery arrived. It didn't even register to him that he had begun walking out the door, nearly tripping over countless shelf bases and pots before finally reaching the outdoors.
Zoe watched him, giggled, and turned back to watering the plants.
"He's cute and brainy, but he's incredibly weird," she muttered.
~~~
Bill wandered around Goldenrod, not really heading home (because you never get anywhere in Goldenrod unless you're focused on getting there) but not really aimless either. He was happily drifting in his mind, remembering the image of the modern Zoe.
She had changed from the first time they had met, years ago when they were both ten. Bill had made a similar errand for his mother and spotted Zoe playing with a teddy bear she was supposed to keep on the shelf (the tenth of ten she was supposed to put in stock, actually). She gave him this childish smile that made him think she were immature, and yet, for some reason, from that moment on, he loved her. But everytime he saw her from then on, he just couldn't bring himself to ask her on a date, let alone keep himself like acting like a klutzy goofball every single time she's within ten feet of him.
He found himself at a dead-end. Before him was a chainlink fence beyond which was the other end of the alley.
'How did I end up here?' he thought, slowly snapping out of it.
"You know, for a human, you certainly have MAJOR issues."
"Ziggy!?" Bill jumped and turned around, finding the hologram standing behind him with her hands on her hips.
"So, didja miss me?" she asked cheerfully.
"Ziggy, didn't I tell you to stay at home?" Bill countered with an annoyed tone.
"Yeah? Well, this time, I've got a good reason for being here," Ziggy told him. "I came to tell you that you've got work to do."
"Work?" Bill stepped back in horror. "Ziggy! N-No! I can't!" He shut his eyes tightly, trying to keep whatever left him during his shifts in his body. "Not here! Not now!"
"Too late."
Bill opened his eyes at the sound of Ziggy's voice and found both he and her standing in the middle of a greenhouse, surrounded by potted plants. He gasped with shock and looked down at his hands.
His hands weren't there, having been replaced with greenish-blue stubs. He looked down at his legs and found them to be surrounded with a strange skirt made of leaves. His arms traveled to his head and found two flowers coming from the round top.
{Bellossom?}
"Yep!" Ziggy nodded. "And not just ANY Bellossom! See, if you were LISTENING to what Mrs. Rosenblum had to say, she said that you were the first customer she and her husband have had in awhile. And awhile being half a year!"
{I don't remember her saying anything about customers...}
"That's because you were busy trying to get a good look at Zoe's butt at that time to focus on what's important," Ziggy snapped. "Honestly, I don't see what makes her pretty..."
{Um... Ziggy? The briefing?}
"Right. Anyways, their business is going through the floor, but without the shop, they've got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Somehow, Bellossom will be their lucky charm sometime in the near future, so you've got to help Bellossom help the Rosenblums. Got it? Good. And keep your head out of the clouds!"
Bill rolled his eyes.
"Ciao!"
With a small wave, Ziggy disappeared. As soon as she did, Bill took a deep breath.
{Okay, Bill, focus. To get this shift over with quickly, you MUST stay grounded at all times...}
"Bellossom!" Zoe called.
Upon hearing her voice, he seized up and drifted into a dream-like state as Zoe walked in to look for him. He didn't move, standing in a daze.
Hiding among the plants, Ziggy sighed and slapped her forehead. "He is SO hopeless..."
"There you are!" Zoe picked Bill up and hugged him before walking out of the greenhouse.
Ziggy followed, passing through the wall and calling out to her creator, "Hey, Romeo! Don't forget your mission!"
He didn't respond. Ziggy took one look at his goofy face and growled. She followed Zoe as Zoe put him on the counter briefly. Ziggy snapped her fingers in front of Bill's face.
"Hey, Cassanova! Snap out of it!" she hissed.
He mumbled something, but she couldn't tell what.
"Hey! Bill! Come back to Earth and start your mission!"
Still nothing.
She tested him. "You're a jackass who doesn't know the first thing about Pokémon OR computers!"
Still nothing.
"Well, if you don't respond to that, you're either dead, in a coma, or too out there to know WHAT'S going on on this planet!" Ziggy snapped.
Still no response from the other.
"Oh fine! Stay stuck in Bellossom's body!" She stepped backwards and sneered. "I don't even get it. She's not pretty, but he's even dreaming about her! But you know what? I don't care! I'm outta here! Ciao!"
With that, she disappeared.
~~~
Lokov stood in the darkened office, staring at the intercom, waiting for a message from his secretary. All day, there was silence between them, save for a "Good morning, sir" from her. It made Lokov restless.
He paced, still waiting for her voice, eyes glued to the device on his desk like a leopard's would be to his prey.
Finally, there was a crackling, followed by her voice. "Agents Bonnie and Clyde are here to see you, sir."
With one quick movement, he reached over to press a button which allowed him to reply. "Good! Send them in!"
The female agent with the pink pigtails and wine-colored eyes stepped in first, leading her partner, a young man with long, black hair reaching his elbows and irresistable blue eyes.
"Boss Lokov, Dr. Crocus sent us to inform you that Project Antiwarp is almost ready," Bonnie told him in her thick, Southern accent. "He wishes that you come to inspect it right away."
"Excellent," Lokov replied. "Lead me to him."
The agents bowed and lead him out of the darkened office, through the brighter-lit secretary's office, and to a dimly lit hallway. They continued down this hall, past countless doors, and to a single, steel door marked "Lab" at its end. Clyde pushed this door open, leading the group of three onto a platform in a gigantic room.
Chaos was everywhere, just the way Team Rocket loved it. Wires, machines, scientists, all everywhere and anywhere. The three stood on this platform overlooking the lot as one woman in a labcoat with her fire hair in a tight bun on her head and her squinting, mahogany eyes behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
She reached out to shake Lokov's hand as she greeted him. "Boss Lokov, it's an honor to have you come down here to--"
"Project Antiwarp," Lokov interrupted. "Tell me about it, Crocus."
Dr. Crocus gave him a flustered look before beginning. "Well, sir, it's 98% ready. Follow me, and I'll show you what we have so far."
She turned and walked down a flight of metal stairs to reach the cement ground. Lokov dismissed Bonnie and Clyde and followed. He'd been waiting a week and a half for this*4*, and he was quite eager to see what Team Rocket's best and brightest legion of scientists finished so far.
Dr. Crocus and Lokov wove through the bustle of scientists and tangle of wires before reaching an almost replica of the Time Capsule Beta. Crocus finally turned to Lokov and spoke again.
"Sir, we've replicated most of the blueprints and programming the disc had provided for us," Crocus informed him. "By tomorrow, we'll be able to do a test run exactly how McKenzie explained it, producing our own shifter for our own needs. However, there is one thing you should know."
"What?" Lokov snapped.
"We need more information," Crocus told him. "Little is known about shifting itself, hense why we're reluctant to put an agent, let alone yourself, through. And we must also find out more about this Zigurat Alpha. According to McKenzie, Zigurat Alpha is a useful source of information on shifting and a great help to him during a shift. Perhaps we can do with something similar."
Lokov narrowed his eyes at her in thought. "Hmm... I believe this will require a little visit to our little researching friend..."
~~~
Zoe became worried about her Bellossom. It just seemed out there in the past few hours, but she couldn't figure out why. It was usually rather energetic, but now, all it did was stare off into space.
She had no idea that inside, a new mind was constantly floating off into space.
With a sigh, she left it in her room and went back downstairs to the store.
For a few minutes, Bellossom still stared off into space before finally, it shook its head vigorously.
{What's wrong with me?} Bill rubbed his head. {Why can't I focus when I think about...}
He drifted off again. {...Zoe...}
This time, he shook his head and smacked himself.
{Get a grip on yourself, Bill!}
He sighed and calmed before a look of pure determination crossed his face. He hopped off of the bed he was placed on, made his way over to the closed, bedroom door, and stared up at the doorknob.
{If I want to get out of here quickly, I'm going to have to focus on this mission!}
He jumped up, grabbed the knob, and twisted it until the door opened with a click. He placed one foot*5* on the doorframe and pushed off, pulling the door open. He let go and dropped to the floor before darting out of the room.
In the next few minutes, he found himself in the shop, eavesdropping on a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Rosenblum.
"I don't know what to do!" Mr. Rosenblum sobbed. "Those peddlers keep lowering their prices and attracting all of our business! We won't be able to live on just the money we get off of prom and wedding season!"
"But you know they're fake! Why won't you tell the trainers that?" Mrs. Rosenblum asked.
"They only want cheap evolution stones!" her husband replied. "They won't listen! And when they don't work, they don't blame the stones! They blame themselves or their Pokémon! It's horrible, April!"
"But what about the police? Wouldn't they have something to say about this?" Mrs. Rosenblum inquired.
"Officer Jenny claimed she would take care of it," Mr. Rosenblum answered, "but the peddlers keep selling in different parts of the city! She can't catch them!"
Zoe came up from behind him. "How did you get out here?"
Bill froze, barely noticing that he was being picked up by Zoe. He had drifted off again.
Zoe had listened to her father speaking earlier, and so she hugged her Bellossom tightly to her chest (and I'm sure you can imagine how Bill felt about that) like a child with a teddy bear and approached her parents.
"Mamma, Papa, I'm going to find those peddlers for us," Zoe announced. "I'm going to stop them from selling those fake stones! No trainer should have a faulty evolution, and we don't deserve what these peddlers have done to our business!"
Before her parents could stop her, Zoe stormed out of the shop with her Bellossom in her arms.
~~~
Zoe, still carrying Bill, had combed the city, looking for the peddlers her father had described so many times that week. A girl with long, blonde hair in a long pigtail, a boy with spiked, aqua hair, and a Murkrow with an orange scarf around its neck. How hard could it be to find them?
Finally, she spotted aqua spikes pushing through a sea of heads across the street. Zoe ran across and grabbed the young man by one of his cloak-clad arms.
"Hey, you!" she yelled. "Have you been peddling fake evolution stones!?"
The aqua-haired boy turned around. A blonde in a matching, gray cloak with a Murkrow on her shoulder paused.
"I can assure you that these stones are every ounce real, kiddo," the boy replied.
"That's not what my dad tells me," Zoe snapped. "My dad owns the flower shop on the other side of town, and we sell REAL evolution stones. He can tell the difference between real stones and the fake crap you've been feeding trainers, even without all the complaints from the poor people you've sold stones to!"
The girl smirked. "You're nosy, kid. Why don't you keep that troublesome snout in your own business?"
"Stones ARE my buisness," Zoe retorted. "Now get out of town before I have to call the cops and get you in trouble!"
"Trouble? That's what we do, girlie, so prepare for trouble," the girl told her.
"And while you're at it, make it double," the boy added, wrenching his arm out of her hands.
"You're about to witness a new revolution!"
"We're the best thing since Pokémon evolution!"
"We're masters of mayhem, illusion, and disguise!"
"Heeding this warning is an idea of the wise!"
The girl took off her cloak to reveal a standard, black Rocket uniform. "Jackylin!"
The boy did the same to show his uniform. "Hyde!"
"Team Rocket! Our success is clear!"
"Give up now; you can't win here!"
The Murkrow squawked. "That's right!"
Zoe dropped Bill and pointed at Team Rocket.
"Go get them, Bellossom!" she ordered.
He was still dazed and, for a long moment, just stood there. The Rockets began cracking up.
"It won't listen to her!" Jackylin managed to choke out.
Hyde smirked. "Then this will be easy!"
Hyde threw a net over Bill. The Bellossom didn't struggle, nor was he aware of what was happening for that matter. Not even as Team Rocket took him away.
"No! They're taking my Bellossom away!" Zoe screamed.
The Rockets disappeared into a listless crowd. The other citizens seemed deaf and blind to what was happening.
And so did the shifter.
~~~
When Bill snapped out of it, he found himself in a furniture-less apartment room, trapped in a cage which sat on a crate. Hyde sat on another crate by a window, drinking a liquid from an unknown, gold soda can. Jackylin sat on a crate across the window from him, facing Bill and leaning against the wall. Murkrow stood under the window, facing the cage as well.
"So, what are we gonna do with the Bellossom?" Hyde finally inquired his partner.
Jackylin gave her partner a strange look. "We're going to chop it up, put it in a pie, and sell the pie to school children." Her voice lost all sarcasm. "What do you think we're gonna do with it, moron!?"
"Replace Murkrow?"
"Don't dis my Murkrow," Jackylin snapped as she reached down to stroke the bird's head. "But no, Hyde. We're gonna give it to Master Giovanni. He's going to give us a raise. We will take the money we've made selling fake stones in this hell city, plus the raise, and go off to be happy. Okay!?"
"Okay! I've got it!" Hyde rolled his eyes before finishing his drink and putting the can in the crate.
"Why do you do that?" Jackylin inquired.
"Five cents to every recycled can," Hyde muttered.
Jackylin rolled her eyes before closing them. "Get some sleep. Tonight, we're going to hop a train to Saffron City and make our way over to Viridian to give that walking flower garden to the boss."
Hyde nodded, turned to lean against the wall like Jackylin had, and closed his eyes. Bill waited for a few more moments, when he was sure all three Rockets were asleep, before speaking.
{Ziggy? Ziggy, can you hear me?}
"I wish I couldn't, but okay."
Ziggy appeared next to the cage. She smirked and knelt down as Bill gave her a frantic look.
"Well, well. Daydreaming all through the mission has finally come back to haunt you, huh?" she sneered.
{Ziggy, you MUST help me!} Bill half-begged.
Ziggy crossed her arms and blinked, imitating Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. "Oh, yes, Master! I'll do anything you want because I'm an all-powerful goddess who can do things like that!"
{Ziggy, this is no time for sarcasm!} Bill hissed. {Bellossom is about to be taken to the leader of the Rockets, and if I'm stuck in here, well, let's just say I'm in deep trouble!}
"Yeah? Well, I don't see how I can help you here. I'm a hologram, remember? I can't really help you with solids..."
{Just tell me if there's anything that Bellossom can do!}
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Ziggy shrugged. "Bellossom still has a Gloom moveset, including moves like... um... Acid?"
Bill's face lit up. {Acid! That's perfect!}
Bill turned, concentrated, and spat a black liquid onto the bars of the cage. He waited, watching as the acid ate away at the metal, creating a hole just big enough for him to climb through. He passed through the hole and stumbled onto the floor on the other side, smacking the wooden surface with a thump. He was alarmed by Murkrow's sharp cry, awakening the other Rockets, causing the two of them to shout sharp curses at their feathered teammate.
{Ziggy! Give me another move!} Bill ordered.
Ziggy paused in thought for a moment before replying, "Sleep Powder!"
{Perfect!}
Bill darted around the crate and sprayed a fine, blue dust on the Rockets. Within minutes, they were back asleep again.
Bill darted toward the door, taking one last look at Ziggy.
{Ziggy, I thank you so much that if you weren't a hologram, I would have kissed you to make it up to you.}
He used Acid on the door to create a hole wide enough to slip through. He darted through this and made his way to the ground floor to exit the building and find his way back to Zoe and the police.
Ziggy remained in the room and blushed.
"Too bad I AM a hologram..."
~~~
Bill slowly woke up the next day, hoping that the day before had been a whole dream. Unfortunately, once again, he found himself in Bellossom's body.
He sat up, trying to remember what had happened the night before. Fuzzy images of escaping the clutches of Team Rocket and making his way back to Zoe's arms floated into his mind, but once again, blanks were drawn after that.
He mentally kicked himself for zoning out again.
And yet...
{Ziggy!}
Ziggy appeared with an irritated glance. "You haven't gone back to your own body yet? My god, how much do you like this girl!?"
{Ziggy, get serious. Why haven't I shifted back yet!?}
"Hmm..." She brought an index finger to her mouth for a moment to think. "Maybe it's because..." She bent down to slap him. "YOU DIDN'T COMPLETE YOUR MISSION YET!"
Bill was startled by her reaction.
"You've spent so much time dreaming about Zoe, you can't even focus on what's IMPORTANT!" Ziggy snapped. "You've got to save the Rosenblums from financial disaster somehow, and you're too busy wandering off to Dream Land! You're running out of time, so if you want to get back to your human body some time soon, start concentrating! If you don't, then... well, I hope you like being a Bellossom!"
There was a long period of silence.
{Ziggy,} Bill began.
Ziggy turned away from him. "Even I'm not that out there. Ciao."
She gave him a small wave and disappeared. His eyes widened.
{Ziggy! Wait!}
She didn't return.
{Oh boy...}
One of Bill's stubs drifted up to the spot Ziggy had struck. He closed his eyes.
{She's right, though...}
With an expression of determination, he walked out of Zoe's bedroom (where he had been).
Outside the window, Ziggy looked in before turning around and leaning against the wall to the left of the glass. She sighed.
"Zoe doesn't deserve him," she muttered to herself. "She doesn't get Bill the way I do. No one does."
She sighed and looked up to the sky.
"I just wish he'd take the time to understand me that way..."
~~~
Bill finally found out what Bellossom did at the flower shop. Advertising. With Zoe watching somewhere behind him, he stood outside the shop and continuously performed Petal Dances. The petals would occassionally catch the eyes of passing flower lovers who would stop to buy a pot or two for their gardens, and even once a bride-to-be stopped due to the petals and walked in to order flowers for her wedding. What Ziggy had said about Bellossom being the Rosenblum's financial lucky charm finally made sense.
And, like using other Pokémon powers, this was rather relaxing...
Because he was busy dancing, he didn't see Jackylin and Hyde hiding in the crowd which had gathered. They glanced at each other, plotting revenge on the dancing flower. With a smirk, they nodded to each other and parted ways, Jackylin weaving through the left side of the crowd; Hyde taking the right.
Bill finished his current dance and bowed. It wasn't out of obligation; he just found the reason why Bellossom became confused after Petal Dance and needed a chance to stop and settle his stomach for awhile.*6*
A smoke bomb went off. Bill looked up sharply (and wished he hadn't for a moment) and dropped off of the table he stood on, trying to avoid the smoke. Without much warning, he was kicked under the table by a pair of boots. He remained still and under, listening to the chaos around him as well as two specific voices.
"Where's that stupid weed!?" Jackylin hissed.
"How should I know!?" Hyde snapped. "The smoke from your stupid smokebomb is blinding me!"
"Well, would you prefer waltzing up here in clear view to steal someone's Pokémon?" Jackylin inquired defensively.
"Shut up, and help me find it!" Hyde commanded.
The smoke finally cleared. Most of the crowd had left the area in fright and due to allergic reactions. All that was left were the two cloaked figures and Zoe, who was trying to locate her Bellossom.
"Bellossom!" she called, looking among the plants.
Bill heard her and began drifting off. Suddenly, a warmth spread from where Ziggy slapped him as a reminder of his mission, and he mentally anchored himself again.
"Bellossom!" Zoe called again, though Bill didn't respond only to avoid attracting attention to himself.
"Bellossom!"
Bill turned around to see the Murkrow behind him. It opened its beak again and repeated. Jackylin looked under the table, smiled, and grabbed Bill by the neck, pulling him from his hiding place and holding him in the air. He struggled, but she held tighter.
"Look at what Murkrow found!" she announced gleefully.
"Murkrow!" the bird announced as it hopped onto the table top.
"Thanks!" Zoe smiled as she reached for Bill.
Jackylin pulled away with a devious smirk. She held Bill close in her arms.
"Finders keepers," she said to Zoe.
"But he's mine!" Zoe growled, reaching for him again. "Let him go!"
Jackylin backed away again. "Finders keepers."
In a quick move, Bill sprayed Sleep Powder upward into Jackylin's face and managed to break free. Hyde and Murkrow dove at him but received another faceful of Sleep Powder. He landed gracefully beside his fallen foes and turned around to see the face of his fair lady. She was surprised, but obviously overjoyed.
"You never battled like that before," Zoe commented before picking him up and hugging him. "Thank you!"
{Anything to please you, m'lady,} Bill said with a scarlet face, intending on imitating a knight in shining armor.
"Zoe, sweetie, I've called the police, and they'll be over soon to pick up these hooligans," Mrs. Rosenblum informed her daughter as she leaned out of the opened shop door. "Be a dear and make sure they don't wake up until then."
"Of course, Mamma!" Zoe replied. "Bellossom will help me!"
Bill grinned. He could think of no moment which made him happier. (Well, at least romantically.)
~~~
He stayed in Bellossom until Officer Jenny hauled the Rockets away. After which, he returned to his own body and made his way back to his home, offering no explanation to his family on his sudden, short disappearance other than he had become lost. Jude, however, didn't buy it.
"You have to be an idiot to get lost in Goldenrod for two days," she said to him.
"Oh, leave him alone," Penny argued. "He hasn't been here in a long time, and you know Bill." She leaned in to whisper to her little sister. "He'd get lost in a cardboard box if he didn't have a map."
"I heard that," he sneered.
And at the end of the week, he found himself on the train ride home, but not, of course, before he gathered up a bit of courage to approach Zoe. He thought at first he was going to screw up or even faint, but all went well, concidering.
"Zoe, I was wondering if you would... If you would do me the honor of... you know, getting together sometime and..." He took a deep breath as his face reddened. "Zoe, would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?"
As Bill kicked himself mentally for being so quick and blunt, Zoe paused and giggled.
"Oh, I wish I could," she replied, "but unfortunately, you're a few weeks too late. I already have a boyfriend..."
If Bill were a slightly weaker person, he would have been on the ground, twitching at this point.
"But you're a nice guy, so I hope we can still be friends," Zoe told him gently as she patted him on the shoulder.
And so, Bill sat at the window of the train, drowning in sorrow. Everyone else in the same car, once again, were asleep. Ziggy took the opportunity to appear and cheer Bill up.
"Hey, Cassanova!" she greeted. "I saw what happened with Zoe, and I just have to say, 'Don't worry about her! There's other fish in the fishbowl!'"
Bill sighed. He wasn't in the mood for this.
"Sea, Ziggy," he corrected her. "The saying is, 'There's plenty of other fish in the sea.'"
"Whatever!" Ziggy shrugged. "My point is, you shouldn't go around, feeling sorry for yourself over this one girl! I mean, she's not the only female of the species, right? So what's one little female when you've still got many of other chances with other little females?"
He sighed again. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Ziggy."
"By the way, other than zoning out every five seconds, this shift wasn't too bad," Ziggy commented. "You're still a rookie at this, but hey, someone has to be."
For the first time throughout the conversation, Bill looked at Ziggy and smiled. "Thanks, Ziggy. I'll take that as a compliment."
There was a long period of silence. Bill's gaze turned back toward the window.
"Bill, I just have one last question," Ziggy stated.
"Hmm?" Bill's gaze went from the window to Ziggy's emerald eyes.
"The way that you think about Zoe..." Ziggy paused for emphasis and to think about how to phrase her question.
"What?" Bill cocked his head.
"Would you..." Ziggy pursed her lips for a moment and looked at her lap before going on. "Would you ever think about me the same way?"
There was a silence between the two that felt like hours, though it was at most two minutes.
Ziggy looked back into Bill's deep, brown eyes. He was obviously caught off guard by her.
"Well?" she inquired.
Bill gave her a short smile and looked away again, out the window and at the nighttime scene. "I'll see you at home, Ziggy."
Ziggy looked shocked and hurt. "But you didn't answer--"
"I will someday, Ziggy," Bill cut her off lightly, "but not today."
Ziggy's expression softened. She nodded and disappeared, leaving Bill to think about her question.
'I can't just say no to her,' he thought, 'but saying yes isn't entirely the truth. I mean, she IS an artificial lifeform. I can't love something that isn't real, can I?'
He thought about why she asked it. Immediately, he felt sorry for her for a vague reason.
~~~
It was in the later part of the night when he finally reached home. Gratefully, he pushed opened the door and made his way through the darkness. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed him.
"Hey! Who's there!? What's going on!?"
The lights came on as he tried to shake off the hands. He found himself surrounded by a circle of Rocket uniforms. Two Rocket agents, Butch and Cassidy, held his arms behind his back.
"What do you want from me?" Bill hissed, still struggling against the Rockets.
Bonnie stepped out of the circle and grabbed Bill's chin, lifting it so that his eyes stared into hers.
"We just want a li'l info, sugar," she told him. "Be a gentleman and tell a lady what she wants, m'kay?"
"I won't tell you anything," Bill replied, wrenching himself away from Bonnie and partially out of the Rockets' grips. "I refuse to help Team Rocket."
Bonnie sneered at him, but he looked away.
"Oh really? Surely you'd help an old friend then..."
Bill's eyes widened upon hearing the familiar voice. He looked up to see the circle break and part for a single man to walk through. Dressed in a similar suit to Giovanni's, long black hair in a ponytail, violet eyes flashing with a cold glance. This Rocket's name was Nathan Lokov, but Bill knew him by another.
"Loki..."*7*
Loki grinned. "I was wondering when we would meet again, Bill."
"Loki, how could you?" Bill managed to whisper.
~~~
To be continued.
***
End episode 4*8*
---
Footnotes:
*1*: In the Crystal version, a trainer named Pokémaniac Brent sometimes calls you up (after you get his number, of course) and gives you little-known facts about Bill. One of them is that his mother was once a kimono girl. What does this have to do with that dancing school? Well, remember that dance theatre in Ecruteak City? The one with the five kimono girls with Eevee evolutions? I got the idea from that. ^_^
*2*: According to the book 315 Children's Questions and Answers (by Lesley Scott and Brenda Apsley), Ikebana is a form of Japanese flower arranging in which few flowers are actually used among a few twigs and low greenery for a graceful appearance. Each arrangement has a different meaning. This really doesn't have to do with much to the meaning of the story, but it's one of those things that's nice to know, no?
*3*: No, no. Zoe's not named after Zoey, Alia's observer. I told you awhile back, Ziggy's going to be the closest reference I make to Quantum Leap. That is, close enough not to be unoriginal or in a situation where I get my butt kicked by the REAL Leap fans due to a mockery of the show... O_o;
*4*: It's been a week and a half between episodes three and four, in case you haven't noticed. Literally, too. ^_^;
*5*: Ever wonder what's under Bellossom's grass skirt? Well, next time you get high, ponder over that until you come up with an answer and give me a yell, 'kay? =)
*6*: Unless I'm mistaken, Gloom, Vileplume, and Bellossom produce Petal Dance in the anime by spinning. Though he isn't Bellossom physically, I'd think Bill would get a bit dizzy from that because he's not used to doing it, wouldn't you say so? Okay, so why would a smart guy like him do it anyways? Well, wouldn't you for the girl/guy you liked?
*7*: Loki is a Norse trickster god. This makes for pretty damn good foreshadowing, in my opinion. ^_^;
*8*: Yes, I realize that not only is this one of the episodes which has a weaker plot, but it's also the one where Mai-chan tends to drift off from "making any sense whatsoever". Yes, the family thing was to develop backgrounds for two characters -- Bill and Jude. And yes, Jude WILL appear later, and if she doesn't end up in an episode for this "season," expect her next "season." And yes, I'm mentally kicking myself for taking Bill out of character, for the weak plot, and for general amusement. (It's really fun, kicking yourself. You should try it too.) On the other hand, though I tend to ramble, this DID turn out to be a longer episode, seventeen pages of story alone, rather than twelve or thirteen, making up for that measly eleven of last week. Yay! ^_^ *long pause* Er, Mai-chan apologizes for the cliff hanger. She will work on episode five and get it up soon. ^_^;
Sorry. Babbling. ^_^;
Anywho, on with the show!
***
Episode 04--
Love in Full Bloom
...
There she was again. A girl in white stood, framed by the sunset beyond a lake, with her back to him. She was so small. So delicate. What was she doing there?
He reached out to her.
His voice came so nervously. "Miss?"
She looked back at him for a moment with a glance that told him she was expecting him. Her eyes were so bright they startled him.
"I know why you're here," she said with a soft, wind-chime voice, "and your answers will come in good time."
"In good time...?"
He tried to stop her to ask more, but suddenly, everything went hazy.
~~~
Slowly, Bill woke up and found himself on a train ride to Goldenrod City. There was no one next to him, and because night had fallen, most of the other passengers were still asleep. He, on the other hand, was now wide awake and watching the nighttime scenery go past.
He briefly remembered the call he had received from his mother, reminding him that he had promised to go back to Goldenrod for one occasion to each season -- a winter visit on Christmas, a spring visit on his younger sister's birthday, an autumn visit for Thanksgiving, and what would occur the next day, his older sister's birthday in the beginning of August. He couldn't break a promise to his family, and silently, he prayed that he wouldn't have to shift and disappear for a few days, leaving his family to worry.
Ziggy appeared and sat beside him in the empty seat. Bill looked over, saw her, and looked around at the sleeping passengers with wide, startled eyes before speaking.
"Ziggy? What are you doing here?" he hissed. "Please don't say I have to shift!"
"You don't," Ziggy replied. "I just want to tag along."
"No offense, but I would rather not have momentos from the office following me around on my vacation," Bill said lightly.
She narrowed her eyes at him angrilly.
The train came to a stop at the Goldenrod Station. People slowly woke up and began gathering their things. Bill stared directly at Ziggy and mouthed "go home" to her.
"Oh, you're no fun!" Ziggy snapped. "Ciao!"
She disappeared, much to Bill's relief.
He picked up his backpack and headed off the train.
~~~
He reached a familiar street and looked around. It seemed like not one building had been added or demolished. Everything seemed as if time had frozen while he was gone. He sighed in nostalgia.
'Goldenrod City,' he thought. 'For such a major city, it's surprising this old neighborhood hadn't changed...'
He walked by familiar storefronts and into a residential area where cute, little apartment buildings and houses lined the streets and began giving each other more and more green space as he went on. Finally, he stopped at a modest, two-story house surrounded with green. The porch lamp was still on, despite how late it was. He smiled.
'Home...'
He approached the door and rang the doorbell next to it. Inside, he could hear a Growlithe barking and scampering to the door. A few moments later, the door swung open, revealing a girl with bright, hazel eyes, straight, chin-length red hair, and a long t-shirt covering her thin body.
"Hello, miss!" He greeted with a cheerful tone. "What would a young girl such as yourself be doing awake at hours like this?"
"I'm not young," the girl replied in her sharp, American voice. "I'm only four years younger than you are."
"Judith? Who is it?" a female voice asked from another room.
"Just an ax murderer who wants to kill us all, Mom," she replied.
The mother sighed. "Quit joking around and let your brother inside."
The girl rolled her eyes and stepped aside. "Hi, Bill."
"Good evening, Jude," he replied as he stepped inside, putting a hand on her head and messing up her hair as he passed by.
Jude growled and tried to straighten her hair as the Growlithe came bounding over. It stopped and sniffed at Bill (just as he bent down to take off his shoes) before jumping on him and trying to lick his face.
"Hello, Milo!" Bill greeted happily as he stroked the puppy on its head.
A woman in a blue nightgown walked over and closed the front door. Her perfect face was framed with short, red curls, and her hazel eyes gleamed with contentment. At seeing this woman, Bill abruptly stood.
"Mother..." He smiled.
The woman threw her arms around him.
"All that time without writing!" she gasped. "You always worry me, William..."
"I'm sorry, Mom," he muttered to her, loosely returning her embrace.
Jude rolled her eyes at the warm scene as Milo cocked his head. Finally, Mrs. McKenzie released her son.
"So where might Penny be?" Bill inquired.
"In her room, catching up on her beauty sleep," Jude replied. "Don't go in there. She's got a facial mask on, and it's enough to scare a Gengar."
"Be nice about your sister, Judith," the mother scolded.
Jude leaned over to whisper to Bill, "And I think we both know where Dad is."
Jude rolled her eyes as Bill sighed.
"Does she know?" Bill inquired as their mother returned to her bedroom.
Jude cocked her head. "Does who know what?"
"Does Mom know that Dad..." His voice trailed off.
"She's not oblivious to the obvious, Bill," Jude answered coldly. "EVERYONE knows that Dad has a gambling problem. He just doesn't stay away from that Goldenrod Game Corner, and things haven't changed since you left. Mom had even thought about asking you to come back to help us support the family. Her dancing school's*1* not going to support the four of us all the time."
"I'm afraid I can't stay, though. My presence will just worsen Dad's gambling addiction," Bill said. "He still has that grudge against me, and he'll relieve that anger by gambling."
"That's why he's not here right now," Jude agreed.
Bill picked up his backpack. "I'm off to unpack and get some rest. I assume you'll be going to sleep as well. After all, a young lady like yourself needs all the sleep she can get so she can grow."
Jude scowled at him as he reached over and mused her hair again before turning a corner behind him and walking down a hallway beyond this.
"It doesn't matter that you're my flesh and blood," Jude snapped, "because sooner or later, I'm going to make you need a transplant of both!"
He poked his head back into the main hall, smiled mischieviously, and wagged his left index finger at her. "Ah ah ah, young lady! It's not polite to threaten your elders..."
"I'm ONLY four years younger than you are!" Jude insisted.
Bill began walking down the hall again. "Which makes me your elder!"
Jude growled.
~~~
With a night of peaceful rest behind him, Bill found himself walking down the familiar streets of Goldenrod City with a list in hand for his mother. It wasn't a usual grocery list; it was instead a list of certain flowers and plants.
Though the school Mrs. McKenzie ran was primarily a dancing school for ballet, jazz, and tap as well as traditional Japanese folk dance, it also had classes for several other activities, including both Western flower arranging and Ikebana.*2* Every week, she would place an order for flowers and greenery to use in these classes at the Goldenrod Flower Shop.
However, this week, she had her hands full with both teaching her own class of Japanese dancers as well as going home to plan Penny's party. Eagerly, her son promised to place the order for her. He didn't mind doing it only because Zoe would no doubt be there.
'Zoe...' He blushed and looked up at the blue sky above the buildings, smiling with contentment as he pictured her.
Zoe*3* was the daughter of the owner of the flower shop, Mr. Rosenblum. In Bill's eyes, she was the strawberry-blonde, sapphire-eyed gift from Heaven...
...That he wouldn't have a chance with even if Hell froze over. It seemed as if her smile alone can attract every guy in Goldenrod City, so what use is it to take a number just to go out on a date with her? After all, there WERE better-looking guys, guys who were more popular or more athletic... Zoe wouldn't be interested in a computer geek.
He sighed sadly as he realized that he reached the shop. Plants sat in pots outside of the brick building as well as just inside the windows, above which a sign announcing the store's name was attached to the outside wall.
He took a deep breath, straightened up, and walked inside.
Inside, more plants were scattered around the room in pots along with shelves of cards, candy, and stuffed animals. Along the left wall, there was a row of glass doors, behind which were freezers where various flowers were kept in bouquets wrapped with plastic wrap and stored in plastic containers. The left wall held shelves of boxes, and within each box, a single Leaf Stone or Sun Stone sat, nestled in wax paper.
If this store was famous for anything at all, it was for these boxes. You couldn't get one cheaper or easier in all of Johto. These Leaf Stones were cheaper than the ones sold on the sixth floor of the Goldenrod Department Store, and the Sun Stones were easier to get than competing for ones in the Bug Catching Contest (though bragging rights never came with the neat boxes on the higher shelves). These shelves attracted all the business Mr. Rosenblum and his fathers, grandfathers, and generally everyone who ever owned the store ever wanted. In fact, for as many summer days as Bill had seen, there had always been at least four trainers an hour, buying two or three of these little boxes.
But this summer afternoon, Bill was alone in the shop.
He walked straight ahead to the counter, spotted a bell, and rang it. A plump woman with faded, red hair and worried violet eyes rushed out of a door behind the counter (the one leading to a greenhouse). As soon as she saw Bill, her eyes lit up with glee.
"Oh! May I help you?" she asked.
"Good morning, Mrs. Rosenblum," he greeted. "You may not remember me, but I'm Flora McKenzie's son, Bill. She wanted me to bring you this week's order."
He handed her the list across the counter. She nodded.
"I see!" Mrs. Rosenblum exclaimed. "Another order for the school! Oh, it's nice to have business again! Let me just write this up and give you the receipt to take back to Flora..."
The middle-aged woman began typing on the store computer. Bill didn't mind waiting, however, because at that moment, a young woman about his age with long, strawberry hair in a braid down her back and to her elbows, carrying a squirt bottle came out to water the plants. Zoe.
He watched her as she hummed a little tune and sprayed a few potted violets. She realized she was being watched and turned abruptly around to see him. He blushed and looked away, noticing out of the corner of his eye the small smile she gave him before turning back to the plants.
"You're the first customer we've had in awhile," Mrs. Rosenblum commented as she finished up.
Bill barely noticed this. He barely even noticed when Mrs. Rosenblum gave him the receipt and told him that his mother wouldn't have to pay until the delivery arrived. It didn't even register to him that he had begun walking out the door, nearly tripping over countless shelf bases and pots before finally reaching the outdoors.
Zoe watched him, giggled, and turned back to watering the plants.
"He's cute and brainy, but he's incredibly weird," she muttered.
~~~
Bill wandered around Goldenrod, not really heading home (because you never get anywhere in Goldenrod unless you're focused on getting there) but not really aimless either. He was happily drifting in his mind, remembering the image of the modern Zoe.
She had changed from the first time they had met, years ago when they were both ten. Bill had made a similar errand for his mother and spotted Zoe playing with a teddy bear she was supposed to keep on the shelf (the tenth of ten she was supposed to put in stock, actually). She gave him this childish smile that made him think she were immature, and yet, for some reason, from that moment on, he loved her. But everytime he saw her from then on, he just couldn't bring himself to ask her on a date, let alone keep himself like acting like a klutzy goofball every single time she's within ten feet of him.
He found himself at a dead-end. Before him was a chainlink fence beyond which was the other end of the alley.
'How did I end up here?' he thought, slowly snapping out of it.
"You know, for a human, you certainly have MAJOR issues."
"Ziggy!?" Bill jumped and turned around, finding the hologram standing behind him with her hands on her hips.
"So, didja miss me?" she asked cheerfully.
"Ziggy, didn't I tell you to stay at home?" Bill countered with an annoyed tone.
"Yeah? Well, this time, I've got a good reason for being here," Ziggy told him. "I came to tell you that you've got work to do."
"Work?" Bill stepped back in horror. "Ziggy! N-No! I can't!" He shut his eyes tightly, trying to keep whatever left him during his shifts in his body. "Not here! Not now!"
"Too late."
Bill opened his eyes at the sound of Ziggy's voice and found both he and her standing in the middle of a greenhouse, surrounded by potted plants. He gasped with shock and looked down at his hands.
His hands weren't there, having been replaced with greenish-blue stubs. He looked down at his legs and found them to be surrounded with a strange skirt made of leaves. His arms traveled to his head and found two flowers coming from the round top.
{Bellossom?}
"Yep!" Ziggy nodded. "And not just ANY Bellossom! See, if you were LISTENING to what Mrs. Rosenblum had to say, she said that you were the first customer she and her husband have had in awhile. And awhile being half a year!"
{I don't remember her saying anything about customers...}
"That's because you were busy trying to get a good look at Zoe's butt at that time to focus on what's important," Ziggy snapped. "Honestly, I don't see what makes her pretty..."
{Um... Ziggy? The briefing?}
"Right. Anyways, their business is going through the floor, but without the shop, they've got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Somehow, Bellossom will be their lucky charm sometime in the near future, so you've got to help Bellossom help the Rosenblums. Got it? Good. And keep your head out of the clouds!"
Bill rolled his eyes.
"Ciao!"
With a small wave, Ziggy disappeared. As soon as she did, Bill took a deep breath.
{Okay, Bill, focus. To get this shift over with quickly, you MUST stay grounded at all times...}
"Bellossom!" Zoe called.
Upon hearing her voice, he seized up and drifted into a dream-like state as Zoe walked in to look for him. He didn't move, standing in a daze.
Hiding among the plants, Ziggy sighed and slapped her forehead. "He is SO hopeless..."
"There you are!" Zoe picked Bill up and hugged him before walking out of the greenhouse.
Ziggy followed, passing through the wall and calling out to her creator, "Hey, Romeo! Don't forget your mission!"
He didn't respond. Ziggy took one look at his goofy face and growled. She followed Zoe as Zoe put him on the counter briefly. Ziggy snapped her fingers in front of Bill's face.
"Hey, Cassanova! Snap out of it!" she hissed.
He mumbled something, but she couldn't tell what.
"Hey! Bill! Come back to Earth and start your mission!"
Still nothing.
She tested him. "You're a jackass who doesn't know the first thing about Pokémon OR computers!"
Still nothing.
"Well, if you don't respond to that, you're either dead, in a coma, or too out there to know WHAT'S going on on this planet!" Ziggy snapped.
Still no response from the other.
"Oh fine! Stay stuck in Bellossom's body!" She stepped backwards and sneered. "I don't even get it. She's not pretty, but he's even dreaming about her! But you know what? I don't care! I'm outta here! Ciao!"
With that, she disappeared.
~~~
Lokov stood in the darkened office, staring at the intercom, waiting for a message from his secretary. All day, there was silence between them, save for a "Good morning, sir" from her. It made Lokov restless.
He paced, still waiting for her voice, eyes glued to the device on his desk like a leopard's would be to his prey.
Finally, there was a crackling, followed by her voice. "Agents Bonnie and Clyde are here to see you, sir."
With one quick movement, he reached over to press a button which allowed him to reply. "Good! Send them in!"
The female agent with the pink pigtails and wine-colored eyes stepped in first, leading her partner, a young man with long, black hair reaching his elbows and irresistable blue eyes.
"Boss Lokov, Dr. Crocus sent us to inform you that Project Antiwarp is almost ready," Bonnie told him in her thick, Southern accent. "He wishes that you come to inspect it right away."
"Excellent," Lokov replied. "Lead me to him."
The agents bowed and lead him out of the darkened office, through the brighter-lit secretary's office, and to a dimly lit hallway. They continued down this hall, past countless doors, and to a single, steel door marked "Lab" at its end. Clyde pushed this door open, leading the group of three onto a platform in a gigantic room.
Chaos was everywhere, just the way Team Rocket loved it. Wires, machines, scientists, all everywhere and anywhere. The three stood on this platform overlooking the lot as one woman in a labcoat with her fire hair in a tight bun on her head and her squinting, mahogany eyes behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
She reached out to shake Lokov's hand as she greeted him. "Boss Lokov, it's an honor to have you come down here to--"
"Project Antiwarp," Lokov interrupted. "Tell me about it, Crocus."
Dr. Crocus gave him a flustered look before beginning. "Well, sir, it's 98% ready. Follow me, and I'll show you what we have so far."
She turned and walked down a flight of metal stairs to reach the cement ground. Lokov dismissed Bonnie and Clyde and followed. He'd been waiting a week and a half for this*4*, and he was quite eager to see what Team Rocket's best and brightest legion of scientists finished so far.
Dr. Crocus and Lokov wove through the bustle of scientists and tangle of wires before reaching an almost replica of the Time Capsule Beta. Crocus finally turned to Lokov and spoke again.
"Sir, we've replicated most of the blueprints and programming the disc had provided for us," Crocus informed him. "By tomorrow, we'll be able to do a test run exactly how McKenzie explained it, producing our own shifter for our own needs. However, there is one thing you should know."
"What?" Lokov snapped.
"We need more information," Crocus told him. "Little is known about shifting itself, hense why we're reluctant to put an agent, let alone yourself, through. And we must also find out more about this Zigurat Alpha. According to McKenzie, Zigurat Alpha is a useful source of information on shifting and a great help to him during a shift. Perhaps we can do with something similar."
Lokov narrowed his eyes at her in thought. "Hmm... I believe this will require a little visit to our little researching friend..."
~~~
Zoe became worried about her Bellossom. It just seemed out there in the past few hours, but she couldn't figure out why. It was usually rather energetic, but now, all it did was stare off into space.
She had no idea that inside, a new mind was constantly floating off into space.
With a sigh, she left it in her room and went back downstairs to the store.
For a few minutes, Bellossom still stared off into space before finally, it shook its head vigorously.
{What's wrong with me?} Bill rubbed his head. {Why can't I focus when I think about...}
He drifted off again. {...Zoe...}
This time, he shook his head and smacked himself.
{Get a grip on yourself, Bill!}
He sighed and calmed before a look of pure determination crossed his face. He hopped off of the bed he was placed on, made his way over to the closed, bedroom door, and stared up at the doorknob.
{If I want to get out of here quickly, I'm going to have to focus on this mission!}
He jumped up, grabbed the knob, and twisted it until the door opened with a click. He placed one foot*5* on the doorframe and pushed off, pulling the door open. He let go and dropped to the floor before darting out of the room.
In the next few minutes, he found himself in the shop, eavesdropping on a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Rosenblum.
"I don't know what to do!" Mr. Rosenblum sobbed. "Those peddlers keep lowering their prices and attracting all of our business! We won't be able to live on just the money we get off of prom and wedding season!"
"But you know they're fake! Why won't you tell the trainers that?" Mrs. Rosenblum asked.
"They only want cheap evolution stones!" her husband replied. "They won't listen! And when they don't work, they don't blame the stones! They blame themselves or their Pokémon! It's horrible, April!"
"But what about the police? Wouldn't they have something to say about this?" Mrs. Rosenblum inquired.
"Officer Jenny claimed she would take care of it," Mr. Rosenblum answered, "but the peddlers keep selling in different parts of the city! She can't catch them!"
Zoe came up from behind him. "How did you get out here?"
Bill froze, barely noticing that he was being picked up by Zoe. He had drifted off again.
Zoe had listened to her father speaking earlier, and so she hugged her Bellossom tightly to her chest (and I'm sure you can imagine how Bill felt about that) like a child with a teddy bear and approached her parents.
"Mamma, Papa, I'm going to find those peddlers for us," Zoe announced. "I'm going to stop them from selling those fake stones! No trainer should have a faulty evolution, and we don't deserve what these peddlers have done to our business!"
Before her parents could stop her, Zoe stormed out of the shop with her Bellossom in her arms.
~~~
Zoe, still carrying Bill, had combed the city, looking for the peddlers her father had described so many times that week. A girl with long, blonde hair in a long pigtail, a boy with spiked, aqua hair, and a Murkrow with an orange scarf around its neck. How hard could it be to find them?
Finally, she spotted aqua spikes pushing through a sea of heads across the street. Zoe ran across and grabbed the young man by one of his cloak-clad arms.
"Hey, you!" she yelled. "Have you been peddling fake evolution stones!?"
The aqua-haired boy turned around. A blonde in a matching, gray cloak with a Murkrow on her shoulder paused.
"I can assure you that these stones are every ounce real, kiddo," the boy replied.
"That's not what my dad tells me," Zoe snapped. "My dad owns the flower shop on the other side of town, and we sell REAL evolution stones. He can tell the difference between real stones and the fake crap you've been feeding trainers, even without all the complaints from the poor people you've sold stones to!"
The girl smirked. "You're nosy, kid. Why don't you keep that troublesome snout in your own business?"
"Stones ARE my buisness," Zoe retorted. "Now get out of town before I have to call the cops and get you in trouble!"
"Trouble? That's what we do, girlie, so prepare for trouble," the girl told her.
"And while you're at it, make it double," the boy added, wrenching his arm out of her hands.
"You're about to witness a new revolution!"
"We're the best thing since Pokémon evolution!"
"We're masters of mayhem, illusion, and disguise!"
"Heeding this warning is an idea of the wise!"
The girl took off her cloak to reveal a standard, black Rocket uniform. "Jackylin!"
The boy did the same to show his uniform. "Hyde!"
"Team Rocket! Our success is clear!"
"Give up now; you can't win here!"
The Murkrow squawked. "That's right!"
Zoe dropped Bill and pointed at Team Rocket.
"Go get them, Bellossom!" she ordered.
He was still dazed and, for a long moment, just stood there. The Rockets began cracking up.
"It won't listen to her!" Jackylin managed to choke out.
Hyde smirked. "Then this will be easy!"
Hyde threw a net over Bill. The Bellossom didn't struggle, nor was he aware of what was happening for that matter. Not even as Team Rocket took him away.
"No! They're taking my Bellossom away!" Zoe screamed.
The Rockets disappeared into a listless crowd. The other citizens seemed deaf and blind to what was happening.
And so did the shifter.
~~~
When Bill snapped out of it, he found himself in a furniture-less apartment room, trapped in a cage which sat on a crate. Hyde sat on another crate by a window, drinking a liquid from an unknown, gold soda can. Jackylin sat on a crate across the window from him, facing Bill and leaning against the wall. Murkrow stood under the window, facing the cage as well.
"So, what are we gonna do with the Bellossom?" Hyde finally inquired his partner.
Jackylin gave her partner a strange look. "We're going to chop it up, put it in a pie, and sell the pie to school children." Her voice lost all sarcasm. "What do you think we're gonna do with it, moron!?"
"Replace Murkrow?"
"Don't dis my Murkrow," Jackylin snapped as she reached down to stroke the bird's head. "But no, Hyde. We're gonna give it to Master Giovanni. He's going to give us a raise. We will take the money we've made selling fake stones in this hell city, plus the raise, and go off to be happy. Okay!?"
"Okay! I've got it!" Hyde rolled his eyes before finishing his drink and putting the can in the crate.
"Why do you do that?" Jackylin inquired.
"Five cents to every recycled can," Hyde muttered.
Jackylin rolled her eyes before closing them. "Get some sleep. Tonight, we're going to hop a train to Saffron City and make our way over to Viridian to give that walking flower garden to the boss."
Hyde nodded, turned to lean against the wall like Jackylin had, and closed his eyes. Bill waited for a few more moments, when he was sure all three Rockets were asleep, before speaking.
{Ziggy? Ziggy, can you hear me?}
"I wish I couldn't, but okay."
Ziggy appeared next to the cage. She smirked and knelt down as Bill gave her a frantic look.
"Well, well. Daydreaming all through the mission has finally come back to haunt you, huh?" she sneered.
{Ziggy, you MUST help me!} Bill half-begged.
Ziggy crossed her arms and blinked, imitating Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. "Oh, yes, Master! I'll do anything you want because I'm an all-powerful goddess who can do things like that!"
{Ziggy, this is no time for sarcasm!} Bill hissed. {Bellossom is about to be taken to the leader of the Rockets, and if I'm stuck in here, well, let's just say I'm in deep trouble!}
"Yeah? Well, I don't see how I can help you here. I'm a hologram, remember? I can't really help you with solids..."
{Just tell me if there's anything that Bellossom can do!}
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Ziggy shrugged. "Bellossom still has a Gloom moveset, including moves like... um... Acid?"
Bill's face lit up. {Acid! That's perfect!}
Bill turned, concentrated, and spat a black liquid onto the bars of the cage. He waited, watching as the acid ate away at the metal, creating a hole just big enough for him to climb through. He passed through the hole and stumbled onto the floor on the other side, smacking the wooden surface with a thump. He was alarmed by Murkrow's sharp cry, awakening the other Rockets, causing the two of them to shout sharp curses at their feathered teammate.
{Ziggy! Give me another move!} Bill ordered.
Ziggy paused in thought for a moment before replying, "Sleep Powder!"
{Perfect!}
Bill darted around the crate and sprayed a fine, blue dust on the Rockets. Within minutes, they were back asleep again.
Bill darted toward the door, taking one last look at Ziggy.
{Ziggy, I thank you so much that if you weren't a hologram, I would have kissed you to make it up to you.}
He used Acid on the door to create a hole wide enough to slip through. He darted through this and made his way to the ground floor to exit the building and find his way back to Zoe and the police.
Ziggy remained in the room and blushed.
"Too bad I AM a hologram..."
~~~
Bill slowly woke up the next day, hoping that the day before had been a whole dream. Unfortunately, once again, he found himself in Bellossom's body.
He sat up, trying to remember what had happened the night before. Fuzzy images of escaping the clutches of Team Rocket and making his way back to Zoe's arms floated into his mind, but once again, blanks were drawn after that.
He mentally kicked himself for zoning out again.
And yet...
{Ziggy!}
Ziggy appeared with an irritated glance. "You haven't gone back to your own body yet? My god, how much do you like this girl!?"
{Ziggy, get serious. Why haven't I shifted back yet!?}
"Hmm..." She brought an index finger to her mouth for a moment to think. "Maybe it's because..." She bent down to slap him. "YOU DIDN'T COMPLETE YOUR MISSION YET!"
Bill was startled by her reaction.
"You've spent so much time dreaming about Zoe, you can't even focus on what's IMPORTANT!" Ziggy snapped. "You've got to save the Rosenblums from financial disaster somehow, and you're too busy wandering off to Dream Land! You're running out of time, so if you want to get back to your human body some time soon, start concentrating! If you don't, then... well, I hope you like being a Bellossom!"
There was a long period of silence.
{Ziggy,} Bill began.
Ziggy turned away from him. "Even I'm not that out there. Ciao."
She gave him a small wave and disappeared. His eyes widened.
{Ziggy! Wait!}
She didn't return.
{Oh boy...}
One of Bill's stubs drifted up to the spot Ziggy had struck. He closed his eyes.
{She's right, though...}
With an expression of determination, he walked out of Zoe's bedroom (where he had been).
Outside the window, Ziggy looked in before turning around and leaning against the wall to the left of the glass. She sighed.
"Zoe doesn't deserve him," she muttered to herself. "She doesn't get Bill the way I do. No one does."
She sighed and looked up to the sky.
"I just wish he'd take the time to understand me that way..."
~~~
Bill finally found out what Bellossom did at the flower shop. Advertising. With Zoe watching somewhere behind him, he stood outside the shop and continuously performed Petal Dances. The petals would occassionally catch the eyes of passing flower lovers who would stop to buy a pot or two for their gardens, and even once a bride-to-be stopped due to the petals and walked in to order flowers for her wedding. What Ziggy had said about Bellossom being the Rosenblum's financial lucky charm finally made sense.
And, like using other Pokémon powers, this was rather relaxing...
Because he was busy dancing, he didn't see Jackylin and Hyde hiding in the crowd which had gathered. They glanced at each other, plotting revenge on the dancing flower. With a smirk, they nodded to each other and parted ways, Jackylin weaving through the left side of the crowd; Hyde taking the right.
Bill finished his current dance and bowed. It wasn't out of obligation; he just found the reason why Bellossom became confused after Petal Dance and needed a chance to stop and settle his stomach for awhile.*6*
A smoke bomb went off. Bill looked up sharply (and wished he hadn't for a moment) and dropped off of the table he stood on, trying to avoid the smoke. Without much warning, he was kicked under the table by a pair of boots. He remained still and under, listening to the chaos around him as well as two specific voices.
"Where's that stupid weed!?" Jackylin hissed.
"How should I know!?" Hyde snapped. "The smoke from your stupid smokebomb is blinding me!"
"Well, would you prefer waltzing up here in clear view to steal someone's Pokémon?" Jackylin inquired defensively.
"Shut up, and help me find it!" Hyde commanded.
The smoke finally cleared. Most of the crowd had left the area in fright and due to allergic reactions. All that was left were the two cloaked figures and Zoe, who was trying to locate her Bellossom.
"Bellossom!" she called, looking among the plants.
Bill heard her and began drifting off. Suddenly, a warmth spread from where Ziggy slapped him as a reminder of his mission, and he mentally anchored himself again.
"Bellossom!" Zoe called again, though Bill didn't respond only to avoid attracting attention to himself.
"Bellossom!"
Bill turned around to see the Murkrow behind him. It opened its beak again and repeated. Jackylin looked under the table, smiled, and grabbed Bill by the neck, pulling him from his hiding place and holding him in the air. He struggled, but she held tighter.
"Look at what Murkrow found!" she announced gleefully.
"Murkrow!" the bird announced as it hopped onto the table top.
"Thanks!" Zoe smiled as she reached for Bill.
Jackylin pulled away with a devious smirk. She held Bill close in her arms.
"Finders keepers," she said to Zoe.
"But he's mine!" Zoe growled, reaching for him again. "Let him go!"
Jackylin backed away again. "Finders keepers."
In a quick move, Bill sprayed Sleep Powder upward into Jackylin's face and managed to break free. Hyde and Murkrow dove at him but received another faceful of Sleep Powder. He landed gracefully beside his fallen foes and turned around to see the face of his fair lady. She was surprised, but obviously overjoyed.
"You never battled like that before," Zoe commented before picking him up and hugging him. "Thank you!"
{Anything to please you, m'lady,} Bill said with a scarlet face, intending on imitating a knight in shining armor.
"Zoe, sweetie, I've called the police, and they'll be over soon to pick up these hooligans," Mrs. Rosenblum informed her daughter as she leaned out of the opened shop door. "Be a dear and make sure they don't wake up until then."
"Of course, Mamma!" Zoe replied. "Bellossom will help me!"
Bill grinned. He could think of no moment which made him happier. (Well, at least romantically.)
~~~
He stayed in Bellossom until Officer Jenny hauled the Rockets away. After which, he returned to his own body and made his way back to his home, offering no explanation to his family on his sudden, short disappearance other than he had become lost. Jude, however, didn't buy it.
"You have to be an idiot to get lost in Goldenrod for two days," she said to him.
"Oh, leave him alone," Penny argued. "He hasn't been here in a long time, and you know Bill." She leaned in to whisper to her little sister. "He'd get lost in a cardboard box if he didn't have a map."
"I heard that," he sneered.
And at the end of the week, he found himself on the train ride home, but not, of course, before he gathered up a bit of courage to approach Zoe. He thought at first he was going to screw up or even faint, but all went well, concidering.
"Zoe, I was wondering if you would... If you would do me the honor of... you know, getting together sometime and..." He took a deep breath as his face reddened. "Zoe, would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?"
As Bill kicked himself mentally for being so quick and blunt, Zoe paused and giggled.
"Oh, I wish I could," she replied, "but unfortunately, you're a few weeks too late. I already have a boyfriend..."
If Bill were a slightly weaker person, he would have been on the ground, twitching at this point.
"But you're a nice guy, so I hope we can still be friends," Zoe told him gently as she patted him on the shoulder.
And so, Bill sat at the window of the train, drowning in sorrow. Everyone else in the same car, once again, were asleep. Ziggy took the opportunity to appear and cheer Bill up.
"Hey, Cassanova!" she greeted. "I saw what happened with Zoe, and I just have to say, 'Don't worry about her! There's other fish in the fishbowl!'"
Bill sighed. He wasn't in the mood for this.
"Sea, Ziggy," he corrected her. "The saying is, 'There's plenty of other fish in the sea.'"
"Whatever!" Ziggy shrugged. "My point is, you shouldn't go around, feeling sorry for yourself over this one girl! I mean, she's not the only female of the species, right? So what's one little female when you've still got many of other chances with other little females?"
He sighed again. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Ziggy."
"By the way, other than zoning out every five seconds, this shift wasn't too bad," Ziggy commented. "You're still a rookie at this, but hey, someone has to be."
For the first time throughout the conversation, Bill looked at Ziggy and smiled. "Thanks, Ziggy. I'll take that as a compliment."
There was a long period of silence. Bill's gaze turned back toward the window.
"Bill, I just have one last question," Ziggy stated.
"Hmm?" Bill's gaze went from the window to Ziggy's emerald eyes.
"The way that you think about Zoe..." Ziggy paused for emphasis and to think about how to phrase her question.
"What?" Bill cocked his head.
"Would you..." Ziggy pursed her lips for a moment and looked at her lap before going on. "Would you ever think about me the same way?"
There was a silence between the two that felt like hours, though it was at most two minutes.
Ziggy looked back into Bill's deep, brown eyes. He was obviously caught off guard by her.
"Well?" she inquired.
Bill gave her a short smile and looked away again, out the window and at the nighttime scene. "I'll see you at home, Ziggy."
Ziggy looked shocked and hurt. "But you didn't answer--"
"I will someday, Ziggy," Bill cut her off lightly, "but not today."
Ziggy's expression softened. She nodded and disappeared, leaving Bill to think about her question.
'I can't just say no to her,' he thought, 'but saying yes isn't entirely the truth. I mean, she IS an artificial lifeform. I can't love something that isn't real, can I?'
He thought about why she asked it. Immediately, he felt sorry for her for a vague reason.
~~~
It was in the later part of the night when he finally reached home. Gratefully, he pushed opened the door and made his way through the darkness. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed him.
"Hey! Who's there!? What's going on!?"
The lights came on as he tried to shake off the hands. He found himself surrounded by a circle of Rocket uniforms. Two Rocket agents, Butch and Cassidy, held his arms behind his back.
"What do you want from me?" Bill hissed, still struggling against the Rockets.
Bonnie stepped out of the circle and grabbed Bill's chin, lifting it so that his eyes stared into hers.
"We just want a li'l info, sugar," she told him. "Be a gentleman and tell a lady what she wants, m'kay?"
"I won't tell you anything," Bill replied, wrenching himself away from Bonnie and partially out of the Rockets' grips. "I refuse to help Team Rocket."
Bonnie sneered at him, but he looked away.
"Oh really? Surely you'd help an old friend then..."
Bill's eyes widened upon hearing the familiar voice. He looked up to see the circle break and part for a single man to walk through. Dressed in a similar suit to Giovanni's, long black hair in a ponytail, violet eyes flashing with a cold glance. This Rocket's name was Nathan Lokov, but Bill knew him by another.
"Loki..."*7*
Loki grinned. "I was wondering when we would meet again, Bill."
"Loki, how could you?" Bill managed to whisper.
~~~
To be continued.
***
End episode 4*8*
---
Footnotes:
*1*: In the Crystal version, a trainer named Pokémaniac Brent sometimes calls you up (after you get his number, of course) and gives you little-known facts about Bill. One of them is that his mother was once a kimono girl. What does this have to do with that dancing school? Well, remember that dance theatre in Ecruteak City? The one with the five kimono girls with Eevee evolutions? I got the idea from that. ^_^
*2*: According to the book 315 Children's Questions and Answers (by Lesley Scott and Brenda Apsley), Ikebana is a form of Japanese flower arranging in which few flowers are actually used among a few twigs and low greenery for a graceful appearance. Each arrangement has a different meaning. This really doesn't have to do with much to the meaning of the story, but it's one of those things that's nice to know, no?
*3*: No, no. Zoe's not named after Zoey, Alia's observer. I told you awhile back, Ziggy's going to be the closest reference I make to Quantum Leap. That is, close enough not to be unoriginal or in a situation where I get my butt kicked by the REAL Leap fans due to a mockery of the show... O_o;
*4*: It's been a week and a half between episodes three and four, in case you haven't noticed. Literally, too. ^_^;
*5*: Ever wonder what's under Bellossom's grass skirt? Well, next time you get high, ponder over that until you come up with an answer and give me a yell, 'kay? =)
*6*: Unless I'm mistaken, Gloom, Vileplume, and Bellossom produce Petal Dance in the anime by spinning. Though he isn't Bellossom physically, I'd think Bill would get a bit dizzy from that because he's not used to doing it, wouldn't you say so? Okay, so why would a smart guy like him do it anyways? Well, wouldn't you for the girl/guy you liked?
*7*: Loki is a Norse trickster god. This makes for pretty damn good foreshadowing, in my opinion. ^_^;
*8*: Yes, I realize that not only is this one of the episodes which has a weaker plot, but it's also the one where Mai-chan tends to drift off from "making any sense whatsoever". Yes, the family thing was to develop backgrounds for two characters -- Bill and Jude. And yes, Jude WILL appear later, and if she doesn't end up in an episode for this "season," expect her next "season." And yes, I'm mentally kicking myself for taking Bill out of character, for the weak plot, and for general amusement. (It's really fun, kicking yourself. You should try it too.) On the other hand, though I tend to ramble, this DID turn out to be a longer episode, seventeen pages of story alone, rather than twelve or thirteen, making up for that measly eleven of last week. Yay! ^_^ *long pause* Er, Mai-chan apologizes for the cliff hanger. She will work on episode five and get it up soon. ^_^;
