Chapter 9: The Trap Placed by Unofficial Dating

After only four days of practicing their songs and rehearsing in case they should actually need to be tossed into the musical, Eric and Roxie were almost at their wits' ends. The actor that held the part that Eric was understudying, on their second day on the ship, feel violently ill, rendering him completely able to fulfil his part. Eric spent the rest of that day in a singing frenzy. The part he was filling in for was simple, there were few lines and only one song, but the focus was on him for the entire song. If enough stress wasn't dumped on him then, he had just enough when he discovered that his part involved a Pokemon partner… and he had no training at all with any of the other actor's Pokemon. The act would be in one day, so he would have to teach either the Delta Electabuzz or Blaze all of the complicated steps and twists of the dance that came packaged with the song. With the Electabuzz, he knew he would have someone joyful and amusing to the crowd, but Blaze was a tad more serious and able to learn. As he sat on a bench next to Roxie, he continually flipped over his options in his mind without finding a clear solution.

Roxie, meanwhile, was troubled by a completely different dilemma. On the first two days, Eric and Roxie had been 'unofficially' dating, unofficially because neither of them wanted to admit that they were in a relationship. They did all sorts of couple things that most respectable people would not have done otherwise, such as taking goofy pictures in a photo-booth or just sitting somewhere and whispering 'sweet nothings' into each other's ear. Out of the corner of her eyes, though, Roxie could always see that annoying blond fair-haired girl that had stared at Eric upon their night of arrival. On top of her passionate desire to slam this bimbo's face in, she had to settle Eric down whenever he was getting to nervous about his performance. It wasn't hard at all to reassure him after she heard his singing voice, it was clear and soothing, but his confidence in his ability and his phobia of public speaking were another story.

The stage director, Martha, dragged both of them out of their problems with her demanding voice. She had short, lime green hair, and there was rarely a moment when anyone could find her wearing one of her gray pantsuits. "I said break for dinner, I don't want to have my back-up Henrietta and Anthony worn out tomorrow," she ordered as she pushed them off on their merry way. Seeing as they were 'unofficially' dating' Eric and Roxie walked hand-in-hand down to the kitchen of one of the fancier restaurants on board the ship.

There they met the most masterful of master chefs, Sidmound the Scizor. Although the glare from this Pokemon's natural metal coating was enough to blind someone in full daylight, this Scizor looked more closely related to its pre-evolutionary form than any other Scizor. He had the same shape as any other, maybe the slightest bit taller, but he looked lime green in every place where he should have been red and dark, forest green in every place that was supposed to be marked black. After slightly adjusting his humorous little chef hat, the large metal bug grabbed two trays, one with a lemon fish fillet and another with a steaming bowl of soup upon it. With a smile upon his face, he handed the plated to Roxie and Eric while saying, "Sciz Scizor or or Sciz," and pointed to some seats away from all the hustle and bustle of the rest of the kitchen.

After giving their thanks, Roxie and Eric sat down in the seats that the kind Scizor had pointed out to them. Roxie ate the fish, and noticed that it had the distinct flavor of Feebas. Although it was in no way good-looking, the fish Pokemon sure did make for a tasty treat. Eric quietly sipped the soup; he could taste small bits of cucber and Bellsprout leaves mixed into the delicious concoction. With in a half in hour, both of them were finished; so they headed back to the theater.

At about half the way there, Roxie asked, "Do you know which one's coming to the show with you yet?" She knew the choice was bothering him, but she had not asked earlier for fear of throwing him off balance. Not the situation was dire, though. A Pokemon partner needed to be chosen right away so that the next day the Pokemon could learn the steps to the dance. Besides, she thought she might be able to lend a hand.

Eric sighed before replying, "I was thinking about taking either the Delta Electabuzz or Blaze onto stage with me. The only problem is that Electabuzz seems to lax, but Blaze seems too business like to at least look like he's having fun up on stage. I didn't even consider S: 001, it's not even right in the heart yet."

Roxie shook her head as she said, "Don't forget what Wes told us, we have to get used t sharing the Pokemon. Florina seems to obey you well enough, and she's not all business like Blaze. Why don't you teach her; she's a fast learner?" After a second of digging into her pocket, Roxie produced Florina's Pokeball and tossed it over to Eric.

Eric looked the ball over as if it was a diamond and he was inspecting it for flaws. He was actually baffled about why he himself had not thought of that at all. With a nod and a smile he accepted the Pokeball and slipped it into his jacket pocket. "You know what… I think I'm really gonna be able to do this," he said, the smile still clinging to his face.

Roxie had hardly any time to notice though, she saw that horrible blond girl, just standing there among all the hustle and bustle of the other people onboard the showboat, staring at them. "I'm sure you will," she said with her normal angelic smile back to him. "Uh… I need to go grab something, go on ahead to the theater without me," she said. As Eric shrugged and trudged on, Roxie approached the girl. Unfortunately, a very large man with a bucket of Torchic wings blocked her view once, and she lost track. When she finally found the place where she thought she saw the hussy. In the girl's place was a cute little Bulbasuar with a dark spot shaped like a star on its forehead. With an exasperated stomp on the ground, she asked the little Grass Pokemon, "Did you see a really stupid-looking girl around here?"

The Bulbasuar merely shook its head and said, "Blu…dit…Bulba," with some obvious strain. A chirp like call ran though the air, the sound of a trainer whistling to its Pokemon. The Bulbasuar quickly took off with one final, estimating look at Roxie. Profoundly confused, Roxie walked back to meet up with Eric and practice her lines.

After a night of twirling around canes and practicing singing, the Furret and its co-trainer were exhausted. Roxie returned Florina to her ball and with great care escorted Eric to the room that they were staying in onboard the ship. It took Eric no less then five minutes to get comfortable in his bed and slip into a deep sleep. Roxie however stayed up late into the night trying to figure out how to solve her problems with that stupid girl. Her body caught up with her in the wee hours of the morning, though, and forced her into slumber.

The next day was just intense practice for Eric and Florina, while Roxie just watched from one of the seats that the audience would have normally occupied. She was quite content, she was able to help Eric out immensely and she hadn't seen head or tail of the wicked witch that was stalking them for the entire day.

It was four o' clock, just one hour from show time, when Roxie saw the girl walk into the theater. This time the girl did not disappear, she just gave Roxie a nasty sneer and waved at her. After checking to make sure Eric wasn't looking, Roxie growled and ran up to the girl. The girl quickly ran out the door, only making Roxie's desire to chase he heighten.

The wild goose chase took many twists and turns, it even lead into Sidmound's kitchen. When Roxie thought she finally had the girl after she hesitantly slowed down before turning a corner, but what she found when she turned that corner was herself face-to-face with another Coloron. It a white suit that was wrapped on just a little too tightly around its body. This one was different though, it was most definitely a girl, and she had… blonde hair coming out of the back her mask! No wonder, thought Roxie, the other guys must still have come on this ship, noticed me, and pointed their stupid friend out to me. She wasn't stalking us because of Eric… she wanted to get one of us alone to take us out. Gah, I fell right into the trap!

"Humph, you're so predictable. All you need is a little tease to drag you out here. Now you're little knight in shining armor isn't here to save you, and I'll kick your sorry little butt," said, the girl who was presumably Whiteon. She tossed out one Pokeball, and out of it appeared a glob of sticky-looking purple goo with a face, a Ditto. The next Pokemon that appeared was so round that it barely looked like it had limbs, it was a Jigglypuff.

Plus… That Bulbasuar, it must have been that Ditto that she has, thought Roxie. What Roxie really thought was odd was that her Shadow Visor did not go off for either of these Pokemon… That was until she realized that the visor was no longer on her head. With a grumble she pulled the visor out of her pockets and strapped it back on to see that both Pokemon had purple auras that indicated a closed heart around them. "Pfft, more like I'll plow through you before you can even touch me," said Roxie as she pulled Pokeball from her pocket. However, she knew well enough that this was going to be a tough battle.

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Side Notes:
-I know I'm concentrating a bit heavily on Roxie... but don't worry, Eric will get a solo too eventually.
-Be ready for my own made-up Shadow Move(s?) next chapter. .