The Trio had ended up camping with Naomi, as she'd had a good place already. Within moments her Ninetails had produced a warm fire of which Brock had cooked over, grinning as Naomi complimented him on her cooking. She confessed that although she could cook, she preferred it in a kitchen.

The following morning Ash had awakened to see a misty morning, and sighed, scratching his head. Oh great… They always managed to get lost somehow in fog! Looking around he realized that he counted only three sleeping bags, and wondered--Where was Naomi? He quickly scrambled out of his own sleeping bag, upsetting Pikachu. He whispered an apology, seeing that the other two weren't up yet. Using Pikachu to help guide him he cautiously moved towards a vague dark shape, smiling to himself as he saw Naomi--guitar on her back an' all. He sat beside her, noting with surprise that she seemed to be--meditating? "Naomi?" He asked uncertainly, watching as she only murmured, "Yeah?"

"What're you doing?" She opened her eyes, blinking a few times before looking at him in surprise. Ninetails seemed to mirror her owner's look, making him feel like Ash. "I'm meditating--what does it look like I'm doing? My Pokemon are doing it as well. It helps them concentrate, and it helps Gyarados stay calm for much longer. They saw me doing it one day, and they just sort of adopted it, I guess." She looked around at her Pokemon, smiling lovingly. It was clear that she loved her Pokemon deeply--she'd make a good breeder, wouldn't she…

She stretched her legs out in front of her, and Ash noticed that the other Pokemon seemed to end whenever she did. She stretched for a few moments before flopping back in the grass with a smile and a sigh. She opened her eyes to glance at Ash, absently stroking Ninetails, who was lying next to her. "So, Ash. When are we gonna battle? I can't wait to see the look on your face when you lose." She smirked as Ash glared at her, and made a face. "NO WAY! You are NOT gonna win against me!" They both glared at each other, Naomi's Pokemon surrounding her as she took a defensive stance. "All right, Ash. I challenge you--now."

Misty and Brock, who'd both been awoken by the yell from Ash, both noted that there was something particularly feral about her grin. It was then that they noticed she seemed to have two fangs, making her looks all the more like a Pokemon. Ash nodded and backed away. "I choose you--Pikachu!" Pikachu leapt off his shoulder, as Naomi simply smirked. "There's no way you can win, Ash. Even with Pikachu." At her words Ninetails delicately stepped forwards, gazing unwaveringly at the electric rodent.

"Pikachu! Give it a thunderbolt!" Came the words of the hyper young male. "Ninetails--dodge it, girl!" She seemed to emphasize on the word girl, silently telling Ash that she did not appreciate him calling her precious kitsune Pokemon an it. Ninetails easily dodged the thundershocks and thunderbolts, before finally attacking with a fire spin.

But before Ninetails could do much else besides stop the attack her trainer had placed a hand on her head warningly, and was frowning at Ash. Thoroughly confused, Ash asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"There's something wrong with Pikachu." the girl replied, eyes flickering form the black-haired-boy to the Pokemon, who seemed to have frozen, twitching slightly. "Pikachu--can you tell Ninetails what's wrong?" Her own Pikachu, nicknamed Pika, ran up to the larger Pikachu and began rapidly speaking to it. Looking over it's shoulder, Pika called out to Ninetails.

In an instant there was a shimmering in the air next to Naomi, and a young--very good-looking--female stood next to her, frowning. "WHAT THE--!" Shouted all three trainers, but Naomi ignored them for now.

"What's wrong with Pikachu, Nin?" She asked the female, who looked around them vaguely for a moment before to the slightly shorter girl. "I'm not sure. Pika says that something smells off about him--She thinks he might have eaten a bad apple or something. Either that or he's a Ditto that's under faint strain from being a Pikachu for so long." The female, shrugged, tilting her head slightly as she considered the Pokemon. "I forgot how small you all look in this form." She seemed a bit absent-minded at the moment, chuckling as Naomi's Pokemon protested. "Relax, I know, I know."

"Stop showing off, Nin. Pikachu isn't a Ditto, Kadabra can see that--he would've told me if it was."

Finally taking pity on the three dumbfounded trainers, she sighed, and explained, "Nin--Ninetails--can create an illusion of a female; what she'd look like in human form. Since she can't yet speak to me by mind, she's learned that she can converse easily like this." Glancing at the long, golden-haired beauty beside her she made a face. "Although you shouldn't say you forgot; you often do this." She retorted. Nin huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest, tossing her hair--it was suddenly visible that the edges of her hairs looked as though they'd been dipped in coloring, as they greatly resembled the coloring of Ninetails' nine tails. "Oh come on. I can show off some times, can't I?" She pouted, laughing along with Naomi. "Aye, I suppose."

Without another word Nin shimmered and was gone, leaving a very pleased-looking Ninetails alone with Naomi. "Do you have any super potions?" she asked, digging into her backpack. As the three trainers shook their heads she sighed, and threw something--scratch that, two something's--at Ash. "There. A super potion and a Full Heal. Since I don't know what's wrong with him." She shrugged, watching as Ash caught them mid-air and quickly bent down, taking his beloved Pokemon in his arms, carefully spritzing some on him. "Thanks. If it works, I owe you." Ash smiled as he looked up at Naomi, who simply shrugged, watching the Pikachu.

"Hey--Naomi? May I ask you a question?" Brock asked after a moment's hesitation. Naomi blinked and looked up, before pointing out, "You just did. You may, however, ask another."

Blinking, Brock let that go before asking, "How did your Pokemon know to step forwards, and know what to do--without you saying a word?" He seemed rather puzzled, and noticed vaguely that pink blushes definitely suited the brunette. "Erm.. Well… you know how Sabrina has a telepathic connection with her Pokemon? I'm… sorta like that. Although it's nothing so developed as she has it. I cannot really do much besides basic telekinesis, although all my Pokemon understand me. I've taught them to understand body language as well--but actually, I've drilled it into them that they fight only certain types of opponents unless I tell them differently." She shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable as the trainers stared at her.

"I wondered why my Pokemon didn't want to fight you." Misty finally spoke, staring with awe. Naomi grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Me being able to speak to Pokemon clearly makes them nervous and confused sometimes--although I did manage to tell them that I wasn't trying to scare them." She reminded the gym leader, who nodded slowly. "Good point… Huh…"

She shook her head before laughing. "And here I though that you just had some secret with Pokemon! No wonder you have such good control!" The taller girl grinned and nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose in thought. Finally she simply gestured to her poke balls and held out a hand, each of her Pokemon returning. "Thanks. If you intend to be around me, you better get used to that… and don't start thinking that just because I'm a bit physic that I wouldn't be good without it--even before I knew I had it, I was good with Pokemon." She hastily added.

Within the next half-hour a fire was crackling merrily once again, and they were all slurping up the noodles from a soup Brock had made--along with other ingredients, of course.

"Brock, I swear, I'm going to marry you for your cooking." She declared, grinning at the suddenly blushing breeder. "REALLY!" He shouted, jumping up and staring at her. Looking slightly taken aback, she shook her head, stating simply, "No."

As Brock fell back on the log, a dejected look on his face, she grinned suddenly.

"But I might consider it."

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Hey everyone! SOOOO sorry I haven't updated in so long!… But I promised you that I'd get it up by tonight, and I like keeping my promises--so here it is! Sorry it isn't my best, and if she seems a tad Mary Sue in here--so sorry; she isn't! But I've been distracted, so not only does my writing suck, but my characters are either good or bad. TTTT