Disclaimer: Fân-fíc-tion - 1.) Fiction written by fans

A/N: OKAY! I feel so stupid! This is being re-posted because I have Richie in later chappies but I completely forgot he had been kidnapped! DON'T HURT ME PLEASE! I'm so sorry! But they find him in this chapter. I'm not going to ask you to reread it but if you wanna find out how Richie comes back, READ! And please review.

~(Kasagi Onaso)~

It WaS

* Gone and Games of Truth or Dare*

They went out to a local restaurant for breakfast and stayed there for a while, food forgotten and half-eaten as they chatted amongst themselves.

"Jeez, it's almost one," said Misty, glancing the Ditto watch on Duplica's wrist. Duplica looked down, trying to read the watch upside-down, and gasped.

"You're right!"

"Time for lunch," said Gary, taking a slow bite of syrup-soaked pancake. "Maybe we should stay here and just--?"

"Leave," said Misty, shooting him an amused look. "We've got hero sandwiches at the Gym. We've been gone almost three hours." Brock's eyebrows shot up.

"That's a long time to be having breakfast."

"Let's go," Misty said, climbing on the bus. "Gary, maybe we should let Brock drive…?"

"No way!" he exclaimed, pushing himself into the seat. "I've totally got this whole truck--"

"--bus--"

"--thing down," he finished, sending Ash a look. Ash rolled his eyes and Brock chuckled. Misty and Duplica took seats nearer to the front as Gary smiled reassuringly.

"Oh," said Ash, staring cynically at him. "So that's what you call it. Ya know, I distinctly remember hitting a trash can on the way here--?" Gary waved his hand.

"It was sitting in the middle of the road…?"

"Curb," coughed Brock and Duplica laughed.

"So that's what that bump was," said Misty, smiling widely. "Golly gee, Gary! Maybe you should consider bus-driving little kids to and from school when you get older." Gary scowled as the others laughed.

"Very funny," he said, shifting the gear into reverse and backing out of the parking lot. "Ha…ha." Shifting it into drive, his laid his foot flat on the gas and they sped off.

* * * * * * *

Misty squinted out the window as they approached the Gym. Knowing her sisters, they would probably think something bad had happened to them or something.

She smiled faintly in spite of herself.

She grabbed Duplica's arm out of reflex as they went over a huge bump and Gary smiled back at them, sheepishly.

"Sorry," he said, winking. Misty almost smiled back when she saw an approaching car.

"CAR!" she yelled and Gary looked forward just in time to swerve sharply and avoid hitting the red car.

"Dammit," he cursed. "People can't drive these days."

"Obviously," she heard Brock mutter in the seat ahead of her and she and Duplica shared amused looks.

"We're here," called Gary cheerily, opening the doors. "Last stop; Cerulean Gym!"

"We better get off before he decides to take us to lunch," whispered Duplica. Giggling, Misty filed out and onto the dirt, looking ahead at the Gym and waiting for the others to get off.

When something at the front of the Gym caught her eye.

She ran forward, towards the ajar door and looked inside.

"Misty?"

"Shh," she hissed, putting a finger gently to her lips. She crept through the door and into the dark house. "Daisy?" she called, heart pounding. "Lily?" She poked her head into the arena. "Violet? You guys?"

"What's up?"

"They're gone," Misty said dully, sinking to the ground. "I can't believe it. Looks like they took the Professor too." Duplica gasped. "Why weren't we here?" she whispered. "Why?"

"Come on, Misty," said Duplica, forcing a happy voice. "It wasn't your fault."

"It was someone's," she whispered and Duplica fell silent beside her. "We've got to get them back," she said, voice shaking and suddenly standing. "We've got to."

"Hold on, Misty," said Brock gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the girl tremble underneath his hand and he smiled. "We should wait a while--"

"We CAN'T wait," Misty said angrily, whipping out from under Brock's hand, red ponytail lashing out violently. "They'll have another Leader down by then," she said, more to herself than to the people around her.

"We don't even know where they are," Ash pointed out quietly. Misty's shoulders sagged as she realized he was right.

"And the only evidence we have is that little scrap of cloth you have, Mist." Duplica immediately clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

"What scrap of cloth?" demanded Brock.

"N-nothing," said Misty, shooting Duplica a venomous look.

"It could help us find Rich, Oak and your sisters," said Ash gently and she winced. How she hated that voice.

"It's just…this little…" she said, voice trailing off as she produced the cloth.

"We think it's part of a Rocket uniform," said Duplica, toying with a strand of turquoise hair.

"So it IS the Rockets," mumbled Gary, snorting amusedly. "Shouldn't be THAT hard to find. Actually, Gramps got in a bit 'o trouble with some Rockets a while back. Me 'n Ash had to go straighten them out."

"But that was over a year ago," said Ash, sighing. "I doubt they would keep the same HQ after something like that."

"Killjoy," mumbled Gary but his eyes showed that he agreed.

"Well it's worth a try, right?" said Misty, turning to face them.

"Are you completely dodgy?" said Duplica, raising an eyebrow. "What happens if we're wrong?"

"What happens if we're right? If we're wrong, we won't have lost too much. It's a stab in the dark. You gotta take chances some time. Why not now?"

"This isn't some game of Clue," said Brock. "It's not like we get clues by rolling dice and picking cards."

"It's total chance if you get the right cards and total chance if you get the wrong cards," said Misty with a shrug. "Sometimes you get both. Life's a game of Clue, as far as I'm concerned. So let's roll the dice and see what happens, eh?"

"Okay," said Gary. "But I get to be Professor Plum!" There was a chorus of groans and then laughter.

"Where do we start?" asked Misty, herding the group into the kitchen. Ash tapped his chin.

"It was in Viridian Forest last time," said Gary quietly and Misty shuddered. Bugs. Eh. Great. "Way-y-y in Viridian Forest. I guess that's 'cause Giovanni's Gym's there."

"Must be," said Brock, twiddling with the fringe on the table cover. "Why else would the HQ be stationed there?"

"Who knows," said Duplica. "How're we going to get to Viridian on such a short notice?"

"We take the bus!" cheered Gary, ramming a fist into the air.

"Shoot," groaned Duplica. "I guess there's even more packing to do then."

"Not really," said Misty. "All I've unpacked are my toothbrush, pajamas and a pair of clothes."

"Then let's load the stuff and get going," said Ash crossly, walking into the next room. "We don't have a whole lotta time."

Soon, the back seats of the bus were packed with bursting luggage and Gary swung into his place at the driver's seat. Misty sat near the back, resting a pillow bellow the window and lying down.

"Here we go! If we leave now," said Gary, looking into the review mirror to check the road. "We should get there tonight at approximately nine." Misty raised her eyebrows as Duplica mimicked her position on the opposite seat.

"Gosh, Gary! When did YOU learn how to add?" She heard Brock snort.

"Nice one, Misty," said Gary sarcastically, smiling. "Everyone ready for a lo-o-o-ong trip?" Misty nodded to no one and whipped out the romance novel she'd been reading.

"Put the book down and let's do something interesting," said Duplica with a sly smile.

"Like?" queried Misty, looking at her questionably over the top of her thick book.

"How about a game of truth or dare?"

"Are you blinking mad?" she hissed, the book dropping, forgotten, at her side. "There's no way I'm playing truth or dare with him."

"Aw, come on," prodded Duplica but knew how stubborn her friend was. "Fine!" she sang. "But don't come crying to me when you feel left out when you see how much FUN we're having!"

"Reading is fun," she mumbled and stuck her nose obstinately in the book. A roar of laughter pealed from the seats ahead and she fought to keep her focus on the size-twelve print before her describing a thrillingly exciting part in the novel.

"Gee," she heard Duplica say unnecessarily loud. "I wish Misty was up here." Misty sighed and made herself read the book. "I have a really good dare for her, wink-wink!"

"Shut up, Duplica!" she called.

"Come on! It has your name on it!"

"What is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you unless you come up here!" Suspense. UGH! She growled and roughly bent the corner down on her page. Pulling down her shorts, which had crept up in her wild attempts to stay planted, she made her way to the front and sat moodily across from Duplica.

"Gee, I thought you said you'd rather read," Duplica said innocently. "Now lean over and I'll give you your dare."

"Just tell me and I'm gone," said Misty curtly, crossing her arms and Duplica reclined.

"Sorry! Once I tell you, you gotta do it!"

"Then never mind," said Misty but Duplica grabbed her wrist, pulling her next to Duplica in the seat.

"I dare you to give Ash a lap dance!" she declared, whispering it in her ear. Misty jerked away, blushing furiously from embarrassment and fury. Duplica giggled hopelessly beside her and Misty stood, beet red.

"NO WAY!" she yelled, placing her hands on her hips. "There is no way in hell I'm doing that!"

"What? What is it?" asked Gary from the front.

"I dared her to hmphh!" Misty cut her off by slapping her hand on her mouth.

"Don't you DARE tell," she said, still flushed terribly. "Please?"

"Aw come on," said Duplica, nudging her in the hip.

"No!" wailed Misty and Duplica broke into a fresh peal of laughter.

"Tell me!" said Gary and Brock and Ash murmured with agreement. Misty narrowed her eyes at her hysterical friend.

"I…dared…her…," she stared, gasping for breath. "TogiveAshalapdance!" she said quickly and triumphantly before Misty could clap a hand over her mouth.

"Give who WHAT lapance?" said Brock, obviously confused.

"I think she said dance…" said Ash, leaning forward. "Come on, Duplica!" He glanced coldly up at Misty who glared back. Duplica shook her head.

"I told you. Too bad you couldn't understand it!" she said and Misty deflated like a balloon, sinking in the seat beside Duplica.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"I wouldn't tell if you told me not to," said Duplica. "But it would have been funny," she said with a smile. Misty flushed pink at the thought of her doing such a thing to him.

"It would not have been funny," she whispered and slapped Duplica's headphones on. Suddenly, heavy thumps racked the car. "What the…"

"Pull over!" yelled Duplica, standing. Brock pulled the car over so quickly Misty almost fell out of her seat. "There's something in the trunk," she said, shaking.

"This is a school bus," said Gary, obviously confused.

"Listen." A muffled voice now joined the rapid thumping and she quickly followed the others as they filed off the bus.

"Look!" said Ash, pointing to the side of the bus. A finger poked out from the yellow side.

Someone was strapped to the bottom of the bus.

"Oh, my God! It's a dead person!" shrieked Duplica.

"It's not! You guys! It's Richie!" cried Brock.

"Richie?" said all three in unison. They looked confused for a moment then rushed to Brock's side in amazement. Brock pulled out a Swiss Army knife and cut Richie loose from the bottom of the bus. He fell to the ground in a heap.

"God," he muttered, rubbing his bottom.

"What were you doing up there? We thought you had gotten kidnapped!" exclaimed Duplica. He winced up at her, obviously trying to smile.

"No. I went downstairs in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep at all. I saw the Rockets in your pool room and before I could say anything, they lugged me out here and tied me to the bottom of the bus. They thought I would fall off and get run over on the way over here."

"Jeez," whispered Misty, headphones resting around her neck.

"But man I'm starving," groaned Richie. "Anybody got some Micky D's?"

So now that Richie was back with them, they headed back to the car. Misty sat beside Duplica, happy in the presence of Richie again. The boy's talking lulled her to sleep, as did her music.

But the events from before stuck with her until she drifted off to sleep.

OMG. Okay, so it was VERY BRIEF. If you want me to rewrite it, I will, but I don't have time right now. SCHOOL! WAH! It's not full of description but I had to get Richie in the picture somehow. Jeez. Anyway, please REVIEW!

~ Kasagi Onaso