They had been running for what seemed like hours; like hunted animals, all they were aware of was their immediate danger.

But, deep down, Bjorn and Ursula knew the enormity of what had happened back at the circus. Ursula had given them away - even if the OCIB hadn't been onto them, her ability to fire Hyperbeams would have betrayed the fact that she carried Pokemon DNA. Crouching in an alleyway between two tenament buildings, they watched anxiously as three OCIB agents scouted the area in search of the two Chimeras they had been ordered to find and bring back to their organisation's headquarters.

"What do we do now?" Bjorn asked Natasha, struggling not to raise his voice above a whisper.

"Only one thing we can do," Natasha replied, well aware of the consequences of being caught abetting illegal hybrids. At the very least, she could be called before the Johto League Disciplinary Council and have her status as Gym Leader revoked. "We'll have to leave town. My Uncle Richard lives in Pasque Village - it's a sleepy little place."

Both Bjorn and Ursula could see the sense in this - if Pasque Village was as out-of-the-way as Natasha hinted, they were less likely to be bothered by OCIB agents. The only problem was getting there since, as Ursula pointed out, al the train and bus stations were probably on alert by now.

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Luckily, Natasha had the solution. "There's a bus out to Pasque Village at midnight," she said. "We'll just have to stow away in the luggage compartment - not exactly first class, I know. But, with that lot . . ." She meant, of course, the OCIB " . . . around, there's no way we'll be able to buy tickets."

"That's all very well," Bjorn retorted, looking to where the OCIB agents were continuing their stakeout. "But we can't move while they're around. . ."

Unless . . . It was Ursula who made the decision. Wasting no time, she pulled out her Vulpix's Poke Ball and threw it.

"Vulpix - stop those men!" she ordered. "Use your Flamethrower Attack!"

"Vulpix!" Vulpix arched her back, her eyes glowing as she powered up ready to unleash a hot stream of fire. The effect was instantaneous as the agents, suddenly finding themselves literally in the line of fire, were forced to run for cover in the wake of Vulpix's hot flames. As they fled, their voices could be heard in the February night.

"Wait till I catch whoever set that Vulpix on us!" muttered one of them.

"You sure it has a trainer?" asked another. "For all we know, that was just a wild Vulpix defending its patch."

"Well, I for one am getting out of here - there's been no sign of those hybrid kids."

"They're gone," Bjorn said, sighing with relief as the agents vacated the scene.

"They'll be back," Natasha whispered as she beckoned Bjorn and Ursula to follow her. "Quickly, now."

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The trio reached the bus terminus without incident, arriving to find the midnight bus to Pasque Village just starting to load up with passengers. The driver was loading people's bags into the cavernous space below the seating area - at this hour, there weren't many people travelling, so it didn't look as though space would be a problem. However, timing was critical; they had to get into the luggage compartment while the driver wasn't looking and before he slammed it shut.

To Bjorn and Ursula, the waiting round by the far side of the bus, seemed to go on forever. But, finally, Natasha came from where she had been standing with the legitimate passengers - on the pretext of asking when the next bus from Blackthorn City was due - to give them a quick thumbs up signal.

"The driver's helping someone - we must go now," she whispered.

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

Ursula was the first to enter the luggage compartment. Crawling into the dark recesses where she was less likely to be spotted, she crouched down behind a large suitcase. Moments later, a boy's voice calling her name in a whisper told her that Bjorn had also succeeded.

She crawled closer to him and they gripped each other's hands in an attempt to assure themselves that, whatever happened, they would come through this together. "You OK, Sula?" Bjorn asked, staring into his sister's face which was just distinguishable in the gloomy light of their refuge.

"Sure," Ursula whispered back. "I just hope we manage to pull this off . . . Where's Natasha?"

"Here," Natasha replied as she quickly crawled into the luggage compartment. They did not have time to take stock of their situation before the compartment door was slammed shut, plunging them into darkness. All they could do now was hope that, when they finally reached Pasque Village, they would be able to get off the bus and head for Natasha's Uncle Richard's house without being spotted. There was a lot more at stake than being caught travelling without tickets.

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How long they endured the journey was something they never knew. By moving some of the luggage around, they managed to give themselves minimal stretching space, but the noise and vibration of the engine made getting a good night's sleep easy said than done. It was also frustrating not knowing exactly where they were - with no windows to see out of, it was impossible to judge their precise location.

Occasionally, they heard cars and all-night trucks swishing past - but they would have no way of knowing when they were in Pasque Village until the compartment was opened for unloading. When that happened, they would have only moments to get out without being spotted and contact Uncle Richard.

"I wish I knew where we were," Ursula sighed as she leaned against a large black canvas suitcase.

"Judging by the direction we're travelling and the fact it's been about an hour, we should be passing Olivine City by now," Natasha said from the corner where she crouched.

"How can you tell? All I know is that we've been here for what seems like years."

"Because I've been this way before to visit Uncle Richard. You take my word for it - we're on the Olivine City road. In fact, if I could, I'd show you the City lights - they're not as spectacular as Goldenrod's, but you can't miss seeing them."

As she spoke, Natasha wondered how she had managed to get caught up in all this and whether her life - and those of both Chimera Children - would ever be the same again.

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

Ursula had just fallen into a restless sleep when she was woken by someone hauling her up by the back of her tracksuit top.

"Aha! Stowaways!"

It was the driver, who was holding onto Ursula with one hand and shining a flashlight into the luggage compartment with the other, trying to detect who else might be in there. "You two!" he barked, spotting Bjorn and Natasha. "Get out of there!"

Reluctantly, Bjorn and Natasha crawled out into the night air - a clocktower chowed 2.15 a.m and the fact there were relatively few buildings suggested that this was Pasque Village. The driver looked at the three young stowaways with contempt; he had had his fill of kids trying to travel without tickets and he wasn't about to let these three get away with it.

"Right - I'll just show you what fare-dodging leads to . . ."

He reached into his pocket for his mobile phone, intending to use it to call the police. Bjorn and Ursula exchanged glances, fearing that, even if they weren't handed over to the OCIB right away, they soon would be . . .

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

What happened next took them all by surprise - a sudden and violent earth tremor knocked them off their feet and caused the confused passengers to stream off the bus in a panic. Forgetting Natasha and the Chimera Children for the moment, the driver went to calm everybody down.

"Nothing to worry about - this area's just prone to occasional tremors. So, if you disembark in an orderly fashion . . ."

While the driver's attention was elsewhere, Bjorn, Ursula and Natasha made their escape. As they fled, both Chimera Children realised the implications of the night's events - not only had one of them (neither was sure which) just used Earthquake, Ursula had earlier demonstrated that she could use Hyperbeam. And, if they could use those Attacks, there was every reason to believe that they potentially had the ability to use the full range of Ursaring Attacks.

Reaching a phone kiosk, they elected to call Natasha's Uncle Richard in spite of the early hour. Ursula had some loose change in her pocket along with Espeon and Vulpix's Poke Balls so she used that, dialling the number as Natasha whispered th digits in her ear.

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

"Now who could be calling at this hour?" They heard a man's voice grumbling before the phonecam activated and a dark-haired man in his late forties appeared on the screen in his dressing gown. This was evidently Uncle Richard, although his niece, with her fair hair and blue eyes, clearly didn't take after him.

"Richard Gregg?" asked Ursula, pausing as she slowly realised that the man was staring at her strangely, almost as though he knew her.

"Are you . . . Ursula?"

"Yeah," Ursula said, wondering how it was that he knew her name when she had never seen him before in her life.

"And is Bjorn with you?" was the man's next question, put as casually as possible but betraying a keen personal interest in both children.

Ursula nodded, too astonished to speak. At this point, Richard Gregg heaved a sigh of relief at the thought that his Chimera Children had reached him safely.

"Thank goodness for that - I've been hoping to see you again for years."