- Hidden Journey -
.:.4.:.
Intimate Strangers
What's logical
What the hell
Who cares."
-- I'm a Slave 4 U -- by Britney Sppears
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I watched Gary be the concerned boyfriend as he rushed to my...Vulpix's side, and help her up. Boy, I am cute!"Are you...okay?" He asked, frowning as if trying to see if I was me or not.
It was most shocking to see my mouth open and hear my voice rudely snap, "Of course, you imbecile!"
Brock rushed over too, scooping me into his arms. I almost melted! Brock has nice arms! Then he said, "I'm sorry, Cirrus. Did Vulpix bite you? She's been really tense lately."
It was like living that episode of Xena, where Xena unvoluntarily switched places with her enemy Callisto. Cuz when it came to talking about herself, Vulpix was all about good promos.
"Oh no!" Vulpix gushed, "Your Vulpix is just so sweet and cute and well behaved," She tripped over thin air, falling into Gary once more, who held her up. "I just got dizzy." She stepped away from Gary, feet spread wide for balance. "How do people stand with no tails?"
"What?!" Brock gasped. I took that to be my cue, and I squirmed to be put down. (It worked for my friend Kari's cat, so why not me?) Brock put me down without question, and I stretched to get a feel for my borrowed body. It was no prob to be back on four paws; Never thought I would be doing this again, but whatever.
I looked up, waaaaay up, to see Gary looking waaaaaay down at me, his eyebrows raised. I winked at him and he relaxed. It was our 'secret' code to let him know I was okay.
Suddenly, the train's p.a. system crackled to life, announcing that trains on Platforms 2, 7, and 12 would be departing in five minutes.
"That's us," Brock said, shaking Gary's hand. "I hope you'll be okay till I get back from Blackthorne."
"I think I'll have my hands full!" Gary smiled.
He didn't look down at me at all, and I felt my stomach twist in knots of nervousness.
"Boy, why didn't anyone tell me how...straggly this hair is?" Vulpix was examining a handfull of long blond strands. My heart caught in my throat...She wouldn't!!
Vulpix took Gary by the crook of his arm, leading him away. "Gary, what about stopping off at the salon on the way home?"
"NOOOO!!!" I yipped after her, about to run after them, when I heard the dreaded, "VULPIX, RETURN!"
Red light engulfed me and the last I saw was Vulpix leaning close to Gary as the crowd closed around them.
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Being in a Pokeball was not a piece of cake, not mentally, and certainly not physically. I suppose I was in a definate non-corpreal state, but I really didn't want to think about what would happen if I were suddenly in a total corpreal state. I set about thinking about the things I'd have to do in the very near future. Saving Brock's life so that Ash won't go nuts and let the world get destroyed by evil, corporate takeovers.All in a day's work for me. A hidden day's work, but work none-the-less. I wonder if I could put this on my resume. Saved world as a fire fox pokemon...naah, probably wouldn't be taken the right way. So here I am, floating around as a ball of red energy, in a shrunken sphere that is somewhere on Brock's person.
Riiight. I hope things will get better.
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Brock stared out the window, watching the people boarding the train. It looked as if there had been some sort of delay in the boarding process. He hoped things would be underway soon."Excuse me," A deep throated voice broke into his thoughts. Brock turned to it with a smile, and quickly tried to hide the sudden grimace as he looked at the woman. He tried not to stare, but she could be easily mistaken for a Snorlax. A dim-witted boy, who looked all of 10, stood by her side, fussing with a McSnackie's bag. "Y..yes?" He managed to choke out.
"We're your seat partners," She said snottily, thrusting her tickets in his face, "Charles prefers the window seat."
"Mommy, mommy, mommy," The boy whined, grabbing onto the hem of her muu-muu with chubby arms, "I toldja my name is Skeeto!! I wanna be called SKEETO!!!"
Brock blinked. These people are very disturbing.
"Well!" The woman looked at Brock haughtily, mistaking his shocked delay for mental slowness, "Can you understand me?" Each word was pronounced carefully. "Can you understand the words that are coming from my mouth?"
The corner of Brock's mouth twitched, "Yes, I understand. I just haven't been feeling well. Allergies, you know."
"Yes," Sniffle, "Well then. You shall be letting us pass through, now." Brock's gaze flew between the twelve inches between his seat and the back of the seat in front of him and back to the woman's wide girth. He got up, quickly, and scooted out into the aisle, his backpack in his hands.
Charles, er, Skeeto, scuffled his way in, and pounced on the seat Brock vacated, immediately putting sticky, grimey fingers all over the window. The darling boy then proceeded to make faces at the people waiting on the platform outside.
Brock heard a chuckle, and looked to his left to see....a complete vision of loveliness!! A girl that seemed around his age, with teal colored hair and warm chocolate-brown eyes, held a delicate hand to her mouth, to hide her mirth. He almost went into "Pretty Girl Mode," and introduce himself, but a sudden blow to his stomach knocked him over and drove the air from his lungs.
He saw stars as someone helped him up, and resisting the urge to puke his guts out, Brock placed his arm around slender shoulders. The stars faded from his sight and were replaced by the pretty girl in the seat behind him...lots of the same pretty girl.
"Are you okay?" The melodious voice asked.
Brock merely groaned in reply. A sudden popping noise had him looking down to see Vulpix staring up at him, confusion in her eyes. A shadow fell over the fire fox, barely giving her time to leap out of harms way, before a heavy foot came down on something just behind her. Vulpix eeped as she landed on the lap of a passenger across the aisle, but her pokeball wasn't as lucky. Brock cried out, "Stooop!!" but it was too late.
The hefty woman's foot stomped down on the closed pokeball, and the cracking sound was clearly audible in the confines of the train car. The woman merely shuffled her way in the row and squeezed her way into the seat. Then she placed a heavy duffle bag onto her lap, opened it, and proceeded to take out a full course meal.
"No wonder she knocked you down," The whispering feminine voice startled Brock. He'd almost forgotten the girl was there! "I bet she has enough food to feed an army of Snorlaxes."
He looked over to see the girl staring up at him, laughter in her eyes. "...Huh?"
The laughter turned to concern, "Oh, are you okay? Why don't you sit with me?" She gestured to the three empty seats, "I have plenty of room, all three seats are mine." A wicked look came over her. "I book passage with empty seats around me, just in case cute guys like you get hurt!"
...Just in case? Brock let himself be led to the window seat and he sat down, wincing at the pain in his side. Vulpix made herself comfortable in the middle seat, and gazed up at Brock with worry in her brown gaze. Forcing his expression into a cheerfull one, Brock smiled down at the fire fox, "Don't worry, Vulpix! I'm gonna be okay."
Vulpix cocked her head and snorted. "Vul!"
Brock was about to retort when a hand holding a sparking pokeball came into view. He looked up and nearly melted into a puddle at the absolute vision of lovliness that filled his gaze.
"I'm sorry about the pokeball," The girl looked at it doubtfully, "I think you should head to a Pokecenter first thing when we get to Goldenrod."
We?
"I'd put it in a bag or something, so the electricity won't hurt you." She turned away, flagging down a steward, "Can I have something to put this in?"
She sat down in the aisle seat, and Brock noticed she wore the fingerless gloves like Ash used to wear, but hers were black and blue. They were now officially two of his favorite colors. He watched as she turned the pokeball over with the palms of her hands, and he could swear he saw the sparking lessen.
"What's this?" She pointed to the etched insignia of the Pewter City Gym on the release button, "Did you get this in Pewter?"
"Sort of," He said, coughing. Damn, how could one blow to the gut leave him so winded? "See, I'm actually..."
"...You're Brock, Pewter City Gym Leader, right?"
"You aren't psychic, are you?" Brock shuddered at the memory of Sabrina and her 'dolls.'
The girl giggled, "No! But I am an avid reader of Gym Leader Monthly." She smiled, "I thought it was you at first, but I didn't want to disturb you. I'm sure you've got girls falling all over you!"
Brock regarded himself lucky that he hadn't been eating or drinking anything, because he would've choked for sure. _____________________________________________________________________________________ I laughed inside. Brock had finally found a female to talk to, and it looked like she enjoyed talking to him. The train flew on magnetically, the barest hum of activity from its engines was easily ignored. I was so happy for Brock! They chatted on and on, I had been moved to the window seat, while they gabbed about training and battling tips and stratedgies. -->
A.N.:
Yay! Brock's getting a girl!! Bout time!!
Okay, I admit, I do like Brit-Brit's Slave song. It's got such a FREAKY backbeat to it. And yes, today's title is from the episode entitled Intimate Strangers from Xena: Warrior Princess. DISCLAIMER!! I OWN NOTHING OF XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS OR ELSE I'D BE RICH AND NOT WRITING FANFICS. Phew that was long.
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER:
What is Vulpix going to do to Cirrus' look? Will Cirrus do something to Vulpix's look? Will I ever get a new look? All this and MUCH more, coming up next!