Chapter Two



Bjorn and Ursula had slipped up to the former's dormitory - which had a handy fire escape directly below it - immediately after tea and had spent what felt like hours crouching in one of the wardrobes, preparing to run away. They knew they weren't supposed to be in the dormitories until the retiring bell rang at eight o'clock, but they wanted to be ready to escape as soon as possible.

It was risky, all the same. If Mrs Mather chose that night to do a bed check, they would be in serious trouble for breaking bounds on top of having to face the OCIB at noon the following day.

Ursula looked at the Poke Balls containing Espeon and Vulpix, wondering if she would ever be able to really go on a Pokemon journey. Glancing at Bjorn, who repeatedly looked from his Poke Balls to his watch and back again, she could tell he was feeling the same way - the question of Pokemon journeys had never entered their minds before, until they decided to use it as cover while they tried to dodge the OCIB.

Presently. Bjorn turned to look at Ursula. "Quarter-to-eight," he whispered. "We'd better move."

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Hardly daring to breathe and painfully aware of the drumroll her heart was producing, Ursula pushed open the fire escape door and crept onto the metal balcony. But she hardly had time to breathe the warm early autumn night before a loud wailing pierced the air and caused her to instinctively clap her hands over her ears. Bjorn, joining her, groaned.

"The security alarm," he said, speaking as loud as he dared above the noise of the alarm. "I forgot - it's always armed unless we have to evacuate for some reason."

Ursula shot him an angry look. "Don't just stand there - we've got to get out of here before someone comes!"

Sure enough, just as Bjorn and Ursula reached the bottom of the fire ecape, Mrs Mather came rushing out of her private quarters to see what the commotion was.

"Bjorn and Ursula Olsson!" she yelled, placing her hands squarely on her hips. "What in Johto's name are you two doing? The bell will be going in ten minutes."

A moment of tension followed. Bjorn and Ursula knew full well that, if they did as Mrs Mather said and went back inside, they would have lost their only chance of escaping from the OCIB. And, from what he had overheard outside Mrs Mather's office, Bjorn knew the future would be bleak for both of them if they fell into the hands of such an organisation. He hated doing what he was about to do to the only mother he and Ursula had ever known, but there appeared to be no choice.

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"Dewgong - go!" he called, throwing a Poke Ball and releasing the Dewgong he had raised from a Seel. Dewgong emerged in a flash of light and clapped his flippers.

"Degong gong gong," he called.

"Quick, Dewgong!" Bjorn told him, instinctively adopting the classic pose for a battling Pokemon trainer. "Ice Beam Attack!"

In response, Dewgong sent a beam of ice directly towards Mrs Mather - it solidified on contact, trapping every part of her except her head in a block of ice. Smiling with satisfaction that they had avoided capture for the time being, Bjorn recalled Dewgong and turned to go. Ursula, however, hung back.

"Wh - what about . . . ?" she asked uncertainly, staring at the frozen Mrs Mather.

Bjorn grabbed her by the hand. "She'll be all right - the ice'll soon thaw when the sun rises. Now, let's go!"

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They had been wandering the back streets of Violet City for what felt like forever, both ready to drop from exhaustion but driven onwards by an overwhelming desire to avoid those who wanted to harm them because of what they were.

Neither Bjorn nor Ursula knew who had found out they were the products of an illegal experiment which involved blending human and Ursaring DNA - nor did they know who had informed on them to the OCIB. But they did know that the best way to stay safe was to put as much distance as possible between themselves and their enemies. And, to do that, they had to get out of town by noon the next day - for that was the time Mrs Mather would be forced to hand them over to be tested for signs of Pokemon DNA.

But, even though they knew they were in danger, they could not keep moving indefinitely. Already, Ursula had developed a stitch in her side and her feet were so sore that she could feel every cobble through the soles of her sandals. Presently, in a narrow alleyway between two rundown streets, she gave in to fatigue.

"I - can't - go - on!" she gasped, sinking to her knees. "Bjorn - save - yourself!"

But Bjorn shook his head. "No, Sula," he told her. "We stick together in this. You're right though - we'd better rest or we won't be in any state to keep out of trouble."

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Ignoring the CONDEMNED notice placed in a prominent position, they took shelter in the entry of a disused warehouse. The battered sign outside told them it had once been used by a company called Davison Electrics, which had gone bust some time before and closed all its branches in Johto. An old newspaper revealed just how long the place had lain empty.

"13 August 2069," Ursula read aloud as she picked up the yellowing newspaper. "That's over two years ago."

"Look - never mind that," Bjorn said as he struggled to clear away a pile of litter. "We've got to decide who gets stuck doing the first shift."

"First shift?"

"On guard duty - unless you want to get us into even more trouble than we're in already." But, even as he spoke, Bjorn knew he would be the one who had to sit up and keep watch for signs of trouble - already, Ursula had slumped to the ground and her head was beginning to loll on her shoulders.

Heaving a sigh, he sat down near a Dumpster and released his Phanpy from his Poke Ball. If nothing else, having one of his Pokemon on guard with him would make it less likely that anyone could blindside him, but it was hard not to wish that all this was unnecessary. Had they still been at Greenview . . . no, he had to stop thinking of that place if they were to survive.

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It was a clear autumn night - 2.00am according to the luminous figures on Bjorn's digital watch - and camping out would have been fun if they hadn't been on the run and were doing it somewhere other than a dark alley. As it was, every shadow seemed to be beckoning him, drawing him into its enveloping clutches. He tried everything he could think of to keep his mind off the invisible foes - humming snatches from various tunes, mentally listing all the famous Pokemon trainers he could think of - but nothing worked. Nothing seemed to be able to quell his sense of dread.

Phanpy seemed to sense that something was troubling his trainer, for he nudged him with his trunk and gave a concerned "Phanpy?".

Bjorn sighed and looked back to where Ursula was sleeping, her mind devoid of trouble for the time being. "I dunno," he said, staring down at the ground. "It's just . . . we didn't ask to be part Ursaring, did we? And now someone wants to . . ."

"Phanpyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Bjorn leapt up when he heard Phanpy give an alarm call and, without thinking of what the consequences could be, took off after the figure that was retreating down the next alley.

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"Stop!" Bjorn shouted to the figure, a youth dressed in jeans and a black combat jacket. He was probably just a graffiti tagger, one of many which haunted a place like this, but Bjorn was so keyed up by the need to avoid danger that he was unable to take any chances.

The youth turned at the sound of the younger boy's voice. "Hey," he said in a tone that sounded like he was geniunely concerned. Bjorn, however, kept his guard up and one hand on the pocket in his jeans which held Yanma and Dewgong's Poke Balls; Phanpy was still out and had, hopefully, gone straight to Ursula. "What's a kid like you doing out at this hour?" the stranger went on. "Do your parents know where you are?"

"I - I don't have parents," Bjorn said, knowing this probably wasn't true but thinking it might save too many awkward explanations. "It's just me and my sister."

"So you're orphans, are you?"

Bjorn nodded and began to tell the youth everything he could about himself and Ursula, leaving out the most important detail and stating the false names Ursula had come up with while they were planning to run away. When he had finished speaking, the stranger nodded his head decisively.

"On a Pokemon journey, eh?" he said. "Funny thing is, so am I. I was looking to get to Goldenrod tonight - only I missed the last train. Maybe we could travel together . . . um, what did you say your name was again?"

"John Davies," Bjorn said, letting his guard down a little further now that the stranger hadn't mentioned being an OCIB agent but still not daring to reveal his true identity.

The youth shook Bjorn's hand. "Matthew Bates," he said. "Now, let's get to the train station - the early morning service starts at five."

"First things first," Bjorn told him. "We've got to get my sister and my Phanpy . . ."

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In the pale light of the early morning, Bjorn and Ursula could see Matthew clearly. He looked maybe seventeen or eighteen with black hair tied back in a pony-tail and dark-brown eyes. On the whole, he seemed harmless enough as he sat with them in the almost deserted cafe at Violet City Station - at this hour, the only other customer was an old man in a battered brown coat who sat sipping a cup of tea by the window. But Ursula - who had barely recovered from being woken by a total stranger - was slightly suspicious; why, she had hissed at Bjorn while Matthew was briefly out of earshot, would he want to help two kids he had barely met?

"First train to Goldenrod's due at five-thirty," Matthew remarked as he studied a timetable over the early breakfast he had purchased for himself and the children. "It'll take us a couple of hours to get there and, when we do, we'll head for the Gym to meet Natasha."

"Is that the Goldenrod Gym Leader?" asked Ursula.

Matthew nodded. "Since the beginning of last year," he told her.

From this point, Ursula began to lose the feeling of fear and uncertainty of what lay ahead for herself and Bjorn; Matthew seemed pleasent enough and it would be fun to battle a Gym Leader even if it was only to give them a reason for travelling. But she still wondered deep down how Matthew would react to them if he found out the truth.