"Raticate - go!"

"Espeon - I choose you!"

In the arena at Goldenrod Gym, a match was about to get underway, with Natasha, the Gym Leader, facing Ursula and her Espeon. It was a scene often witnessed in Pokemon Gyms, an up-and-coming young trainer testing the mettle of her Pokemon again those belonging to the Gym Leader, but Ursula knew there was more a stake than the chance to win a badge.

She glanced to where Matthew and Bjorn were watching from the sidelines, then back to Natasha. The fifteen-year-old Gym Leader had short blonde hair and was dressed in black trousers and a red t-shirt which, judging by the volcano motif, had been bought from a souvenier shop on Cinnabar Island. Around her neck, she wore a gold Starmie-shaped pendant and, like Whitney, Eloise, Marion and all the previous Goldenrod Gym Leaders, her hobby was Normal Type Pokemon. Natasha was always ready for a battle so, when three trainers showed up, all intent on challenging her, she had called for three one-on-one fights. Matthew, helped by his Hitmonchan, had easily defeated Natasha's Persian and it was now Ursula's turn.

"If only she knew the truth . . ." Ursula thought, wishing for the umpteenth time that she and Bjorn didn't have to perform this charade. But having Gym Badges was the only way they could give credibility to their cover story about being on a Pokemon journey.

------------------------

Ursula let her mind wander a little too far and, the next thing she knew, Raticate was charging at Espeon in a Tackle Attack, his sharp teeth bared in preparation. Thinking fast, she quickly came up with what she hoped would be an effective counterstrike.

"Espeon - Double Team!" she called, watching as two exact clones of Espeon appeared in the arena. Of course, there weren't really two extra Espeon - Double Team just created the illusion that there was more than one of any Pokemon which used it and, as such, was a popular stalling tactic. Ursula hoped the apparent presence of three Espeon would confuse Raticate, making him unsure which one he should go for. While he was trying to decide, Ursula hoped she would be able to launch Espeon's next Attack.

But Natasha was prepared for such a move. "Dig, Raticate!" she ordered. And Raticate began to burrow into the Gym's floor - Pokemon League regulations required all Pokemon arenas, including those in Gyms, to maintain a dirt floor without floorboards unless the Type of Pokemon usually used dictated otherwise. The official reason was to provide a relatively soft landing for any Flying Pokemon that got knocked out, but it was handy for performing the Dig Attack as well.

"Can Espeon handle a Dig Attack?" Matthew wondered out loud.

"Sure," Bjorn told him. "Urs . . . Janine knows what she's doing." He would have to be careful, he reminded himself, not to let either of their real names slip again. If anyone realised who Bjorn and Ursula were, there was every risk that they would be turned over to the OCIB faster than they could say "Pokemon".

-----------------------

Out on the battle field, Raticate had burst out of the ground, directly in front of Espeon, knocking her sprawling. Before the purple Psychic Type Pokemon could react, Natasha quickly made her next move.

"Raticate - Hyper Fang!" she ordered.

"Espeon - Swift Attack!" Ursula countered.

Both Pokemon launched their Attacks simultaneously. Raticate charged at Espeon, his fangs bared, as she sent a barrage of stars in his direction. Slowly, Raticate, unable to dodge the stars Espeon was bombarding him with, began to falter under the pressure . . .

"Now, Espeon!" Ursula called, sensing that victory was only moments away. "Use your Psybeam!"

"Espeon!" Espeon cried as she tensed her muscles and sent a powerful beam of psychic energy towards Raticate, catching him full on the flank. Unable to withstand the onslaught, he went careering into Natasha's legs and lay still.

"Cate . . . " was all he could gasp before his eyes closed and he passed out, exhausted by the effects of Espeon's Psybeam and the effort he had expended in battling her.

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"Raticate - return!" Natasha ordered, pointing Raticate's Poke Ball at him. As Raticate disappeared in a flash of light, Natasha reached into her pocket and produced the prize for defeating the Goldenrod Gym Leader - a Plain Badge. But, when she held it out for Ursula to take, the latter's conscience got the better of her.

"I - I can't accept this," Ursula said, closing Natasha's fingers around the Badge and shaking her head as she spoke.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked. "You beat me, didn't you?"

Ursula nodded reluctantly. "But I'm not really on a Pokemon journey," she said, her voice barely audible. "And - and my name's not Janine Davies - it's Ursula Olsson."

An awkward silence followed, a silence which was finally broken by Natasha. "Funny - there was an Ursula Olsson reported missing from a children's home over in Violet City," she said. "It's been in all the papers; apparently, she ran away with her brother after his Dewgong Icebeamed the matron . . ."

Ursula gasped - if the press knew about herself and Bjorn, sooner or later, someone from the OCIB would track them down. If they were to survive, they would have to confide in someone and hope that person proved to be an ally.

"There's a bit more to it than that," she stated as she prepared to tell Natasha everything.

---------------------------

When Ursula had finished speaking, Natasha looked at her solemnly. "If what you say is true and you and Bjorn are part-Ursaring," she said, "it means you'll never be able to lead normal lives until the OCIB is shut down. They see human/Pokemon hybrids as - as a pollution of the gene pool."

"And that's why they want to find us," Bjorn added grimly. "But what can a bunch of kids do against an organisation like that?"

In reply, Natasha led Bjorn and Ursula - Matthew said he was going to continue his Pokemon journey alone and had been sworn to secrecy about meeting the Chimera Children - into her private quarters, a small, simply furnished apartment at the back of the Gym. In the kitchenette, she leaned against the worktop and explained what they must do in order to avoid detection. "You must stay here at all times and never, ever, go out," she told them. "And, if I'm battling in the arena, you must both keep still and quiet - it won't be easy, but you must try to stay hidden."

Both Chimera Children nodded as one; they knew hiding from the OCIB would not be easy, but they had no choice if they were to stand any hope of surviving. Had they not run away from Greenview, Mrs Mather would have had no choice but to hand them over - and they knew what would have happened to them after that . . .

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After nearly three months confined to the rooms behind Natasha's Gym, Bjorn and Ursula began to feel the strain of living at close quarters and never seeing another human being except Natasha. Sometimes, trainers on Pokemon journeys would come to challenge Natasha - and they would be left alone in her private quarters, able to hear each battle clearly since Natasha always muted the tv if it happened to be on and wishing they could battle their own Pokemon. Although neither of them was a fully licensed trainer, both children knew that a Pokemon's battle skills would grow rusty without constant practice, practice which their Pokemon could not be given.

It was Natasha who provided the solution - they could practise after dark, when trainers were less likely to be a problem. It was better than not being able to train their Pokemon at all, Bjorn reflected as he pitted his Phanpy against Ursula's Vulpix one night in mid December, but he would have prefered to be back at Greenview. With Christmas just days away, Mrs Mather would be overseeing the festivities and she always arranged special treats for those with no living relatives. Two years earlier, there had been a fancy dress contest for Pokemon and Ursula's Eevee (now an Espeon) had won first prize with a tiny clown's outfit.

This year, they were fugitives - and a report on the evening news just two days before Christmas brought the fact home all too clearly.

"There is still no trace of the missing twelve-year-olds Bjorn and Ursula Olsson, who disappeared from a Violet City children's home in September," announced the newcaster's voice as pictures of both children, taken from Greenview's records, flashed onto the screen. "The last reported sighting was a Goldenrod City Train Station, where a CCTV camera picked up this footage . . ." The scene cut to one showing the security camera film of Bjorn and Ursula leaving the station with Matthew.

"Police are keen to trace the youth seen with them and urge him to come forward so that he may be eliminated from enquiries," the newscaster went on.

Bjorn grabbed the remote and switched to his favourite music channel. He knew that, if Matthew came forward, he would have to reveal what he knew - and that could mean disaster for both of them. Bjorn shuddered as he thought of what might happen to himself and Ursula if the OCIB ever managed to trace them.

Ursula crossed to the window and looked wistfully out. In the street below, a brass band was playing carols, the jaunty sound of "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" clearly audible even through the closed window. Someone was selling holly and Goldenrod City's Christmas lights sparkled in the early evening, a reminder for the young Chimera of more innocent times, of times before she knew her true origins and had no need to fear those who might deny her the right to life purely on the grounds that her existence was "against nature".

"Merry Christmas," she sighed, wishing fervently that she could have those days back again.