To Be All I Can Be Part 6 By: EmeraldDragon Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. (surprised aren't ya) Zefire, Artico, Articolt, and Articorn belong to Topaz. Janelle sat on the bed in the hotel room with a fancy gold paper bag in her hand. The awards ceremony had been very political and boring. In fact Phil had had to wake her when they called her name. "Come on, come on, open it!" Phil said next to her. With a slit tremble to her she opened the bag and looked in. She frowned. "What is it, what is it?" Janelle reached in and withdrew four ultra balls. "Just four ultra balls, That's It!" Janelle wailed. "Maybe there is something in side." Phil said with a lilt of hope. Janelle picked a ball at random and through it to the floor. The ball popped open releasing a crystal on a cord. Janelle retrieved the crystal from the floor. She lifted the tag attached to eyelevel to read it. POKECRYSTAL: THIS CRYSTAL ALLOWS THE WEARER TO EASILY UNDERSTAND POKEMON SPEECH. Next Janelle examined the crystal. It was perfectly clear, but sparkled with every color imaginable. She slipped the cord around her neck. "Well it's pretty if nothing else." She said. "Yes it is Dear." A proper, cooing voice agreed. "Who said that?" Janelle inquired looking around the room at they're pokemon. "I did Dear." "Articuno??!" "Of course Dear." "This thing is great!" Janelle exclaimed to Phil. "I wonder what's in the others." Janelle picked another ball and tossed it to the floor. Out popped a ticket. After retrieving it from the floor Janelle studied it. "What is it for?" Phil said trying to see over her shoulder. "I'm not sure. Have a look." She handed him the ticket. He studied it for a moment then gasped. "What is it?" "Janelle this is a ticket for Pokemon Island!" "Pokemon Island? What is that?" "Pokemon Island is an island that is home to tons of rare and strong pokemon. Only a few trainers get to go there every few years. Even your dad's never been." "These prizes just keep getting better!" Janelle tossed the last two balls down excitedly. From one came two pieces of paper; from the other came a deep green egg. Janelle picked up the egg while Phil examined the papers. She began to search her pockets for her pokedex. "Here." A squeaky Raichu said from the floor as he handed her the pokedex. "Thank you Raichu." She said and rewarded him with a scratch behind the ear. "Hey Janelle, these are registrations for the Johto league!" "Wow, This is absolutely wonderful! Pokedex information." Janelle commanded to the machine she had pointed at the egg. "Beep: No information found. This egg is not ready to hatch. Beep" Janelle frowned at the pokedex. Suddenly the screen flashed an image of Prof. Tracy. "Hello, Janelle I have some…umm…news for you." "What's wrong? Is one of my pokemon hurt?" Janelle's voice grew frantic. "No, no, quit the opposite your Ponyta has evolved." "That's great. I thought something was wrong." Relief flooded her chest. "Most trainers want to evolve their pokemon themselves." "I would have preferred that but worst things could happen. So what did happen?" "Well, she just kept getting into fights…and winning." "She? Are you sure?" "Positive. All Ponyta, Rapidash, and Zefire are female. While all Artico, Articolt, Articorn are male." "Oh. Hey Professor, I won a ticket to Pokemon Island and I was wondering if I could have all my pokemon with me?" "Hmmm…well…considering you will probably be the only trainer on the island I guess." "Thanks Professor. I'll call when I get there." "Bye Janelle." The screen winked out. ****************************************************** The plank creaked under foot as they boarded the boat that would take Janelle to Pokemon Island and Phil to Johto. They handed their tickets to the man at the top who was directing passengers to their cabins. He pointed them to the top level and to the right. They walked in silence to there separate cabins. Janelle stepped into her cabin. It was small to say the least. It was furnished with a twin size bed, a bedside size table, one chair, and a TV on a stand. A porthole window was all that decorated the walls. Despite the light furnishings there was only room for one of her pokemon to come out at a time, and then only the small ones. This left her with the company of Raichu, Bulbasaur, or Dratini. The first two quickly got seasick and refused to come out until they had landed. Janelle put all her pokeballs, excluding the Master ball, on the table. She had sent the egg to Prof. Oak for incubation, study, and a promise of return just before hatching. Janelle flopped on to the bed and flipped on the TV, only to see a story about herself winning the tournament. She sighed. She hated her name. Why did she have to be a Ketchem? No one would even notice her if it wasn't for her name. She would just be another trainer. Another trainer. The words sounded so good in her head, but how could she become someone she's not. She pulled her pokedex out of her backpack. "Pokedex. How many trainers are currently listed as actively training?" "Beep: 3102 Beep" The small number didn't surprise her. Most trainers gave up early, before they got their first badge. "How many trainers are questing to be league champions?" "Beep: 2275 Beep" "I guess my name is in there somewhere right." "Beep: No, you have not made an official entry yet. Beep" "What do I have to do? "Beep: Fill in your name, age, birthday, and what you want to accomplish. Beep" Janelle looked way from the pokedex and out the porthole. The sky had gone dark hours ago. From her position she could see the moon and stars. Moon Anstars. Moon Stars. Moon Star. "Moon Star." It sounded so pretty. "Pokedex contact my family." The pokedex paused then began to ring. After three rings her mother picked up the call. "Hi sweety, how is everything?" "It's good mom. I was wondering what it would take to have my name changed." "Name changed? Why on earth would you want to do that?" "So I can do my training without being followed around by reporters, and being a rival of every person I meet." "Well…first you would need a new look, then send us that cap; I'll get you a Johto or Orange League one to replace it; finally your father and I would need to cover your tracks. Are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes I am." "What name are you going to use?" "Moon Star" "That's a beautiful name Janelle, um… I mean Moon." "Thanks mom." "You welcome sweety. Now I need to tell your father and any other important people. I love you and good luck." Janelle closed her pokedex. First things first, she needed a new look. She left her cabin and went to the small row of shops on board the ship. She bought hair dye, curling shampoo, new jeans, new shoes (which she needed anyway), and variety of new shirts. On her way back to her cabin she stopped by Phil's cabin. "I need your help, don't ask questions, just come to my cabin." Phil obliged without complaint. Once inside Janelle explained her plan. "I'm going to curl and dye my hair, change my name, and just change in general." "Why?" "To through everyone off my trail. I'm sick of my life being public knowledge" "Okay. What do you want me to do?" ********************************************************* In the sky a Pidgeot soared towered a tiny cruise ship in the middle of the open sea. It held a metallic emerald green backpack in its talons. The large bird swooped and landed on the uppermost deck of the ship and tapped on the door numbered 412. An eleven-year-old girl with wavy lavender hair and green eyes answered the door. She wore a sea-green shirt and blue jeans, a red ribbon held her hair in a ponytail. "Thank you Pidgeot." She said softly. She exchanged a worn red pokemon league backpack and a red pokemon league cap, for the backpack carried by the Pidgeot had. "Your welcome Moon." The bird replied before flying away into the night. Moon watched until the bird became only a speck in the sky before shutting the door to the cabin. The bird seemed to take 'Janelle' with it as it soared away. "Transformation complete." She smiled to Phil. "You really do look different." He smiled then frowned "I guess this means we can't travel around Johto together." "I guess not. You're known as my traveling companion and changing everything about myself is pointless if I'm found out." Moon replied as she fixed her new orange Orange League cap around her ponytail. "I hope we see each other again in Johto." He said as he started to leave. "Phil wait." She walk to him and kissed him on the cheek. "You're my best friend. I know we'll meet again. And take this." She handed him the master ball. "I'll be in one place for a long time and it will probably be safer with you away." He smiled, returned her kiss, took the master ball, and left. Moon crawled into her bed with dratini at her feet. Tomorrow Officer Jenny's boat would meet up with the cruise ship and take her, Moon Star, to Pokemon Island. ***************************************************** Moon stepped into patrol boat and made herself comfortable. She heard a whistle and looked up to see Phil waving good buy. She waved back as the boat took her away from her best friend and her old life. She turned to face the wind as the boat picked up speed. She could feel Phil still watching her and it made her heart ach. She missed him already. Officer Jenny must have been told about her change of identity, because all the Jennys and Joys know what she looked like not to mention the fact that they had announced her prize to the world. The boat slowed as they came to the only dock on the island. Officer Jenny jumped out and tied the boat to the dock. Once the boat was secure Moon stepped out. On the dock were three buildings; a police station, a pokecenter, and a small shop that apparently sold pokemon related items. "Well Moon, this is it." Officer Jenny said happily, "These are the only man made structures on the island. If you need any thing just come here." "Thanks" Moon said as she headed towards the depths of the island. "One more thing." Moon stopped and looked back at her. "Your father sent you a care package and asked that you check in with Joy or myself every few days." Officer Jenny said and handed her a brown package the size of a large jewelry box. "Thanks again." Moon said before stepping off the dock and on to the dirt path. The trees closed around her and blocked her view of the dock. She could hear allsorts of birds in the trees but couldn't see them. 'Well first things first, I need to set up camp, and to do that I need to find a flat clear area.' She thought. The path that she was walking suddenly came to an abrupt end. She examined the woods surrounding her. There was no clear path in any direction. After several minutes of looking around she stepped through the trees in an aimless direction. She walked for an hour before coming to a small gap it the trees. It had soft, smooth grass and she could hear a brook nearby. She took off her backpack and the tent attached. With a bit of effort she managed to get it up (if you want to call it that). She frowned at her results. Phil had always been the one to set up the tents. She crawled inside the tent and unrolled her sleeping bag. With all that done she pulled out her pokedex. "Contact Prof. Tracy." The pokedex complied by ringing. "Hello?" Prof. Tracy answered. "Hi Professor. I'm on the island." "That great catch any new pokemon yet?" "Uuhhh…Actually I haven't even seen one yet." "That's Ok, those pokemon aren't used to people so they are bound to be a little shy. I suppose you want your pokemon now huh?" "Yes actually I would." There was a flash of light and her 10 other pokeballs appeared next to her. "Thanks again Prof. Bye." "Bye." Moon closed her Pokedex. Next she turned to the care package. It was a small box raped in plain brown paper. A label on the out side read: To Moon Love Dad. She ripped off the paper and lifted the lid of the box. Inside was a camera, a handful of ultra balls and three master balls. Master balls were in higher numbers since her dad's time but still no more then rare. She put the balls away in her pack, scooped up her pokeballs containing pokemon, and went out side. She released all 16 of her pokemon into the clearing. "Lets Go!" "I'll take you all at once!" "This battle is mine!" They said as they came out ready for a battle and finding none looked to her for their next move. "We have a week vacation here so everyone relax and tomorrow we'll see if we can catch some new pokemon." All her pokemon looked at each other for a moment then one of the Eevees playfully tackled Vulpix. The two pokemon went tumbling around the clearing with all the joy of their youth. This out burst sent the other pokemon into playing. The three Eevees and Vulpix wrestled; Arcanine, Magmar, and Rapidash chatted lightly; Lapras, Shellder, Dratini, and Squirtle argued who was the fastest swimmer; Sandslash and Raichu had a mock battle; Bulbasaur and Charmander played tag; the only one not interacting with the others was Articuno. "Articuno what's wrong?" "Were are your other birds dear?" "Well to tell you the truth You are my only bird." "Oh." "Is that a problem?" "No…umm…I just wanted some of my own kind to talk to." "Lapras is an ice type, you can talk to her." "Dear, Lapras doesn't know how to fly." "I think I understand. Tomorrow I'll be sure to catch a bird. Ok?" "Alright Dear." Satisfied Moon turned her attention to her four arguing water pokemon. "By opening and closing shell I am the fastest." Shellder announced. "My flippers make me the best swimmer." Lapras scoffed. "My streamline shell makes me the fastest." Squirtle informed them highly. "If your streamline then I'm non-existent." Dratini laughed. "This is going nowhere, so let me get my swimsuit on and we'll go have a race." Moon intervened. Her pokemon nodded in response. ************************************************************ "Ok guys, here's the rules. I'll swim out a bit, when everyone is ready Articuno will say go, you swim all the way to me turn around and go back. First one to touch Bulbasaur's vine wins. Ok?" "Ok!" they agreed. Moon dove into the water and swam a good 100 yards out and waved that she was ready. "Ready…Set…" Articuno set them up, "Gyarados!!!!" "Huh?" Moon spun around as the enormous sea monster rose from the water. She felt chills as its eyes focused on her in a hungry stare. Afraid to run and afraid to stay all Moon could do was stare in horror as it opened its mouth and prepared to eat her. The monster lurched at her, suddenly, out of nowhere, an Ice Beam hit it square in the face. Gyarados roared in rage as Articuno swooped past. She made a banking turn and came in for another attack. Articuno dove in a Sky Attack. To Moon's shock and horror Gyarados snatched Articuno out of the air, shook her violently, and through her to the beaches' edge, were she lay still. "Moon grab on!" Lapras said beside her. Moon complied. "No you don't that's my lunch." Gyarados screamed. "Wrong! She's our friend!" Lapras said and shot an Ice Beam in Gyarados' face. "How dare you!!" Gyarados screamed and dove between the pair the beach. "Now I will eat you both!" Gyarados leered at them. Suddenly fire engulfed Gyarados from behind. It roared and spun on its attacker. From here Moon could see here pokemon on the beach giving their best threats at her attacker. Arcanine, magmar, and vulpix shot flames from their mouths; Bulbasaur reached for Gyarados with her vines; Sandslash showed his spikes and claws; Raichu was giving his best Thunder; The eevees kicked up sand; and her water pokemon shot Water Guns. A sudden wind rushed by and she saw Gyarados watching it move. Confused she looked again. The wind banked and came at the monster again, but it wasn't wind it was a pokemon. Fire shot from the wind and hit Gyarados again. The water dragon was visually weakening. This time when the wind banked Moon could see the form within, it was Rapidash. She legs were pumping so fast she was running on the water. Rapidash came in again and used another Flamethrower. With that a pokeball flow through the air, hit Gyarados, and absorbed it in red energy. Vines shot through the air and wrapped around the pokeball. Thicker and thicker, preventing Gyarados' escape. Moon saw Rapidash return to the shore and collapse in exhaustion. Lapras swam her to shallower water. Bulbasaur withdrew his vines and handed her the pokeball. She returned Articuno, Rapidash, and Lapras to there pokeballs and ran for the pokecenter with her other pokemon hot on her heels. *************************************************** After a thorough exam of all her pokemon Nurse Joy released her to go back to camp. They stepped into the cool night air. Still in her swimsuit Moon shivered. Rapidash and Arcanine stepped closer to keep her warm. All her pokemon were out except her new Gyarados, she would see what his problem is in the morning. Even in the dim light they managed to find the clearing. She returned all her large pokemon except Rapidash, who insisted on staying out to protect her against wild pokemon, to there pokeballs. Her small pokemon were allowed to sleep in the tent with her. Moon and her small pokemon crawled inside her tent and curled up in her sleeping bag for the night. **************************************************** It was late when Moon rose to the sound of shuffling of hooves. She opened her tent flap to see not only her Rapidash but also a beautiful winged Articorn. She retrieved her pokedex from within the tent and pointed it at him. "Beep: Articorn: The final evolution of the Artico series. Unlike Ponyta, Rapidash, and Zefire; Artico, Articolt, and Articorn, are ice types instead of fire types. Beep" Moon slipped back into the tent and reemerged with her new camera. She snapped a picture as the fire and ice flames of their manes intertwined. At the sound of the camera both horses looked at her. "No I won't let you capture me!" He said in a panicked voice. "I won't catch you, I promise. I just want some pictures of you." Moon said reassuringly. Articorn shot Rapidash a suspicious look. She only gave him a reassuring look. "You promise you won't capture me?" "I promise." Moon said crawling out of her tent for a better view. After a little more convincing Articorn let moon take some pictures of him. With her pictures taken Moon returned to her tent and let the pair go back to what they were doing. ********************************************************* Rapidash was having a breakfast of grass when Moon woke the next morning. She walked over and stroked her shoulder. She lifted her head and nuzzled Moon's cheek. "Did you have a good time with your friend last night?" Moon asked as she headed to collect firewood. "You could say that." Rapidash replied helping her with the wood. "I wish I could have captured him though. I would love a pokemon like that." "I'd say you have a go chance of that." "Why do you say that? Could you light the fire?" "Call it a hunch." Rapidash said then light the fire with a Flamethrower. "What ever you say. Thanks." Moon said as she began to release her pokemon except Gyarados. After feeding all her pokemon and herself, she ordered her pokemon to get ready for her to release Gyarados, incase he still insisted on eating her. When everyone was ready she tossed Gyarados' pokeball to the ground. There was a flash of white light as Gyarados came roaring out. He looked around at the other pokemon and their trainer. "Were am I?" "You are at my camp. "Why did you bring me here?" "I captured you." "You what? How dare you!" "I am willing to let bygones be bygones if you are." "My meals can't order me around." He growled. "I am not your meal. I am your new trainer." "I'll eat you and your pokemon for breakfast!" "I don't think you will." "What?!" "If you were going to do that you would have already done it, but you just keep talking about it." He only looked away in response. "I have plenty of food if you're hungry." "I don't want your sympathy." "It isn't sympathy, it's friendship." "And you think they will forgive me." He indicated to her other pokemon. "What do you say guys?" she said turning to them. Her pokemon whispered to each other for a moment. Finally Vulpix spoke up. "If Moon can forgive you so can we." Gyarados smiled (sorta) and accepted some food. With all that settled Moon unfolded a map of the island. The map showed hills, valleys, ponds, thickets, grassy meadows, a river, a cave, and a volcano. The diversity didn't surprise her; it was a large island and a preserve, so it needed places for many types of pokemon. She put a tiny X on their campsite. "So were are we going to start?" An Eevee asked, looking at the map from her lap. "I don't know. Were do you think we should start?" The Eevee examined the map for a moment, then closed his eyes and placed his paw in a random spot. "There." He said opening his eyes. He lifted her paw to reveal the volcano. "Ok. The volcano it is." ********************************************************** Atop Arcanine, Moon entered a cave on the out side of the volcano. Two of the eevees, Bulbasaur, Dratini, Lapras, Gyarados, Shellder, Sandslash, and Articuno had chosen to stay at camp because of type disadvantages or lack of land/mountain mobility. Charmander ambled up ahead his little tail swinging back and forth. The Eevee that had helped earlier and Vulpix trotted along side her. Her other pokemon lagged out side the entrance to the cave. Once everyone had caught up, they moved into the cave. After a short corridor of darkness, light by Rapidash and Charmander's flame, the cave opened into a path surrounded by pools of lava. Moon felt herself break into a sweat. Vulpix ran and dove into one of the pools. "Come on Eevee lets swim!" she called excitedly from the pool. "I can't." Eevee replied sadly. "Why not? Can't you swim?" Vulpix teased. "Yes, I can swim." Eevee said indignantly. "I'm just not a fire type. The lava will burn me." "Oh…can't you become a fire type?" "Vulpix," Moon said gently, "It isn't that easy. To be come a fire type he needs a firestone. Without it he will ether become a psychic or dark type." "Well, can you get a fire stone?" "Not unless I find one. Element stones are very expensive to buy. On top of that you are going to need one too." "Oh…" Vulpix said coming back to the edge of the pool. Moon slide down from Arcanine's back and scooped up the depressed vulpix. "It's ok, I'll do my best to get you both evolved with firestones." Vulpix looked at her happily. She placed her back on the ground and began to walk towards the opposite end of the path with Vulpix and Eevee at her side, and other pokemon in tow. Shortly the smell of something burning caught her nostrils. She looked down to see the bottoms of her shoes beginning to melt. Quickly she climbed on Rapidash's back. They were about to move on again when a soft voice called from a nearby ridge. "Who's out there?" Moon looked up to see a small black and tan shrew like creature the size of a small pikachu. Quarter size fire red spots dotted it's back. The rodent stared at her with a curious look that she was sure she shared. Moon pulled her pokedex from her pocket and pointed it at the creature. "Beep: Cindaquil: This rare fire pokemon is often used as a starter in the Johto region. Beep" "Cindaquil huh? Ok Vulpix go use confuse ray." Vulpix nodded and scurried up the hill to the ridge. She faced the bewildered fire type, opened her mouth and shot black ball of light out. The ball struck it full in the face sending it spinning. After reorienting itself, the Cindaquil shot a puff of smoke from its mouth that hid it from view. "Don't let it get away. Vulpix Bite." Vulpix leapt into the smoke. The sounds of squeals, snarls, growls, and screeches came from behind the smoke screen. The sounds subsided as the smoke dissipated. When the smoke finally cleared vulpix stood with the fainted Cindaquil in her mouth. "Vulpix bring it here." Vulpix complied. Once they were at her side, Moon struck the fainted pokemon with a great ball. The ball only shook once before pinging closed. Moon attached the pokeball to her belt; she'd go to the pokecenter with everything she caught when she was done. They continued along the path for another two hours. All the pokemon they came across were ether out of range, to timid to stick around, or she already had. Just when she was ready to head back, a strange sparkle caught her eye. She looked again and saw a wall that appeared to be made of sparkling rocks. She directed Rapidash to the wall. Forgetting her shoes, she slide from the fire-horse's back and stepped up to the wall. To her surprise the wall was cool. She taped the rock to see if it was hollow on the other side. It wasn't. As a last hope she pulled out her pokedex and pointed it at the stones. "Pokedex identify." "Beep: Firestone. Beep." "Firestone! This is great! Rapidash kick." Rapidash turned and gave the wall a kick with her powerful hind legs. Four pieces of stone broke away from the rest and clattered to the ground. Moon retrieved them. She looked at Vulpix and Eevee. "So do you two want to evolve?" Without hesitation Eevee walked to the wall and touched it with his nose. White light engulfed his body, his tail got longer and bushier, the collar of fur around his neck connected and thickened, a tuft of fur grow from the top of his head, and he gained a few inches in height. When the light cleared the Eevee had been replaced with an elegant Flareon. It's job done the piece of stone Flareon had touched turned to sand and fell away to revile a fresh stone underneath. "How do I look?" He asked "Great! The prettiest Flareon I've ever seen. Vulpix how about you?" A little more timid Vulpix stepped to the wall and touched it with her nose. As before white light covered her body. Her six short tails split in to nine long beautiful ones, the curls atop her head straitened, a collar of thick fur formed around her neck, and her legs grow long a slender as she grew a foot and a half in height. The light cleared to reveal a tan colored Ninetales with brown-orange tipped tails, ears, and paws. Ninetales examined herself thoroughly. She trotted around on her new legs, and tried her new and more powerful fire attacks. "Well?" Moon asked "I like it!" Ninetales said joyfully. The two newly evolved friends went romping through pools of lava. Moon watched them play. She shook her head; they were both so young, so full of energy. Since she had adopted them it was possible they had been taken from their mothers too soon. Suddenly she remembered that she was holding an arm full of stones. She quickly put them in her bag and gave her arms a rest. She climbed back on Rapidash and lead her pokemon back to camp. ********************************************************** With her pokemon back in camp, Moon rode Rapidash to the pokecenter. Out side she dismounted and lead Rapidash in. "Hi Nurse Joy, I caught a new pokemon I need you to check out." "Ok. Let me see." She took Cindaquil's pokeball from her and released the tiny pokemon onto the exam table. "Where am I?" "Your in the pokecenter little one." Nurse Joy cooed. "Say AAHHH" "AAHHH." "Good. Now I'll take your temperature." She said and put a thermometer in her mouth "uuhgga aaggeu." "No talking." "Is she ok?" Nurse Joy retrieved the thermometer from Cindaquil's mouth. "She is perfectly healthy." Joy said in her usual happy tone. "She just needs to get to know you. Shall I check your Rapidash?" "She hasn't done any battling but it couldn't hurt." Nurse joy turned her attention to Rapidash while moon talked to Cindaquil. "How are you Cindaquil?" "I'm fine. You?" "Good. Do you want to play with some of my other pokemon?" "Sure. When?" "When we get back to camp." "Moon." Nurse Joy called "Yes Nurse Joy?" "Your Rapidash is fine, but I want you to go next door and get her this special food." "Why? Does she have a vitamin deficiency?" "No, she is just going to need some extra nutrients these next few days." "Next few days?" "Yes, and don't pokeball her. Have another pokemon watch and protect her at all times; preferably one that is well trained and won't attack a pokemon in a weakened state. Also bring her here when she is ready." "Ready? Ready for what??" "Don't you know?" "Know What?" "Your Rapidash is pregnant." "PREGNANT!!!" Moon felt light headed. "How? When?" "Well… you see Moon two pokemon like each other…" "I know how How! But when?" "Probably in the last two days." "Two days!" "Yes. Pokemon have a very short gestation. Has she been in contact with a Articolt or Articorn lately?" "Well there was a wild one in camp last night…" "There is your when." "Rapidash why didn't you tell me?" She asked in a slightly higher voice then she had intended. "I just wanted to be sure myself first." She replied sheepishly with her head hung low. "Are you mad at me?" "No I'm not mad; just surprised that's all. Come on guys lets get your food and go back to camp." "One more thing." "Yes Nurse Joy?" "She is going to start eating a lot so just give her the recommended allotment of food on the bag, then let her graze the rest of the time." "Thanks Nurse Joy." After buying the food and a new pair of shoes Cindaquil, Rapidash, and Moon walked back to camp. The campfire glowed against her face. Most of her pokemon played happily at the edge of the light. Rapidash was doing what Joy had predicted; she was eating…well, like a horse. Arcanine sat next to her trainer watching the fire. "Arcanine." "Yes, Moon?" "For the next couple of days I need you too keep an eye on Rapidash, and tell me if she starts acting strange." Arcanine looked at Rapidash. "She's eating a lot." "Arcanine, Rapidash is pregnant." "That's wonderful! Someday I want growlithes of my own." "Let me get through this one first." ************************************************************* Moon sat with Flareon in her lap and the island map in front of her. The other two eevees sat next to her with hopes of finding more evolution stones to evolve them. "Ok guys were to today?" "Let' s go to the beach." One piped up, "I'm going to be a Vaporeon!" "I could use some more water types. The beach it is." ************************************************************* With the exception of her ground and fire types Moon and her pokemon walked along the sun baked beach. The sand got between the toes of her bare feet. Her swimsuit stuck to her sweaty skin in the heat. Eevee had organized all the pokemon walking on the beach in a Water stone hunt. Her water types swam and played in the refreshing water. The heat of the day beat steadily down on the group. The heat finally got to Moon and she dove into the water for a swim. She had just begun to cool off when Dratini swam up to her. "Moon, I found a pokemon!" "Take me there." She commanded and took hold of Dratini's middle. Dratini dashed through the water in the direction he had come from. He took her to a small underwater a cove. Hidden within Moon saw a ten point, purple starfish. A jewel lined in gold decorated its stomach. Moon didn't need her pokedex to know this pokemon; it was a Starmie, her mother breed them as a side business. 'Mom would love a wild born and raised Starmie, if I catch it I bet I could trade it to her for something great.' "Ok Dratini use Body Slam to paralyze it." With a nod Dratini raced towards Starmie at full tilt. The two connected with a thud. Realizing it was under attack Starmie jumped up (if you want to call it that) and went spinning for the open ocean. "Dratini don't let it escape. Use Slam!" Dratini shot after Starmie, over took it, and slammed it back in the direction it had come. Starmie retaliated with a rapid spin that sent Dratini sprawling, while it got further out towards the sea. After a quick reorientation Dratini repeated his attack, only to be knocked a side again. The two pokemon repeated this dance several times. Just when Moon was going to give up and recall Dratini something began to happen. Dratini's body became covered in a bright white light, his body elongated, his wing like ears grew larger and more elegant, a small horn grew on his forehead, and jewels formed at his throat and tail. When the light cleared Dratini had become a Dragonair. With new zealous and strength Dragonair chased down Starmie and slammed it as hard as he could. Starmie went flying out of the water and onto the beach. Moon caught hold of Dragonair as he shot for the shore. Once in shallow water Moon ran the rest of the way to the shore. Starmie lay still with its jewel blinking slowly and faintly. She quickly tapped it with a great ball. The ball twitched once…twice…thrice and ping. Moon put the ball in the waterproof pack at her waist. For the next hour nothing particularly interesting happened. Moon swam with her different pokemon. Squirtle chased and attacked schools of Magikarp, goldeen, and seaking. Eevee's stone hunting party had given up the search for a cool dip in the water. The rest of the day lazed by with no other pokemon appearances. Moon was about to pack it up and head back to camp when Lapras' playful call caught her attention. "A Ball!!" Moon looked up expecting a pokeball, instead she saw Lapras reaching for a tennis size, blue ball floating on top of the water. She watched in surprise as the ball Lapras lifted from the water was attached to the tail of a chubby blue pokemon. "Lapras Icy Wind." Moon commanded still in surprise. Lapras breathed a frosty wind over the pokemon in her mouth, freezing it instantly. Moon waded over a tapped the pokemon with a pokeball; the ball didn't even shack. ************************************************************ When Moon and her pokemon returned to the campsite they found it to be completely bare. No grass on the ground. No leaves on the bushed or low growing tree branches. Nothing. The only thing untouched was the tent and firewood. Arcanine lay with her head on her paws watching Rapidash systematically inhaled every bit of greenery in reach. Rapidash on the other hand was moving around the edge of the clearing, head down, mouth munching on everything she could get her teeth on. "Oh My God!" Moon's mouth hung open for a moment. Rapidash was massive. Her once slender, muscular stomach bulged with new life. "What am I going to do with you?" Moon asked no one in particular. She moved across the clearing to her fire-horse. "I guess I'll take you to see Nurse Joy." Rapidash glanced up at her without raising her head. "I don't know what else to do. Everyone stay here and stay out of trouble." "Can I come with you? Incase you need protection." Arcanine said as she jumped up. "Ok Arcanine, you can come." Moon confirmed as she began to lead Rapidash, still eating, towards the pokecenter. *********************************************************** Moon pushed open the pokecenter door. Arcanine slid in ahead of her and bounded, tail wagging, up to Nurse Joy, who happily greeted her. Moon opened the second door to let Rapidash and her stomach in. "Is she ready?" Nurse Joy asked turning from Arcanine. "I have no idea, but I do know that she has eaten every piece of greenery in the campsite. If I hadn't comeback when I did she might have knocked my tent down to get at the grass underneath." "Well she is probably almost ready then. Lets have a look." She approached Rapidash, stethoscope at the ready. She listened to Rapidash's stomach. A confused look came across her face; she lifted the stethoscope, and listened in another spot. She repeated this several times before finally standing. "Well?" Moon inquired. Nurse Joy had a far off look on her face. "Your Rapidash is going to have twins." She said as if she didn't believe it her self. "That's great!" Moon exclaimed, "Isn't it?" "Moon, very few Rapidash, none to my knowledge, has ever delivered twins with out help." "So can you help her?" Moon voice grew concerned as she stroked the fire-horse reassuringly. "Yes but it is tricky process. You may need to stay over night here." "Arcanine, go back to camp and tell everyone that I will be awhile. They can come and wait with me or stay in camp." Arcanine nodded, ran out the door, and was gone. Moon returned her attention to Nurse Joy. "Now what?" "I'll take it from here. All you have to do is wait." "I was afraid you would say that." Moon moaned as she slumped into an over stuffed chair. "I'll be alright." Rapidash promised before allowing herself to be lead into the back room. All Moon could do we watch them disappear. Moon had only sat for only 5 minutes when Arcanine returned with a herd of pokemon and a mouth full of pokeballs. She dropped them to the ground releasing Moon's pokemon that were not as land mobile. ****************************************************** The time seemed to crawl by. It had been two hours time since Rapidash had disappeared through the double doors to the back. Moon had checked the clock on the wall more times then she could count. Her pokemon had tried to ease her anxiety with play and attention, but it only served to momentarily distract her. 15 more minutes passed before the doors slowly creaked open and Nurse Joy emerged. "Moon would you like to see them?" Moon and she pokemon started for the door. "Your pokemon need to stay here." Her pokemon slumped to the floor were they stopped. Moon followed Nurse Joy down a white washed corridor to a room that had been converted into a stall. She looked in at her beloved horse and her two nursing young, a Ponyta and an Artico. Moon slid into the room. Rapidash looked up. Her stomach still had a little of a pooch to it but other then that she was back to normal. "What do you think Moon?" Rapidash asked "Rapidash, they are beautiful." Moon said. She gently extended her hand and stroked Artico. The pony-sized baby gave a surprised jump at the unexpected touch. He looked at her, cocked his head one way then the other. Satisfied with what he had seen he returned to nursing. Moon moved around to the Ponyta. She was much more shy and trotted away when Moon tried to pet her. After a little reassurance from Rapidash, Ponyta finally let herself be petted. "When can I take them with me?" Moon asked. "When ever they are ready." "You ready Rapidash?" "Very. Children, this is Moon. She will be our owner and trainer. The safest way for us to travel is inside pokeballs. When she puts you in one just relax and let it do its job." "Ready?" "Ready." "Who wants to go first?" Not to any ones surprise Artico stepped up. Moon tapped his back with the ball. He turned to energy and disappeared into the ball. As Rapidash had instructed he didn't fight, and the ball pinged instantly. "Ready Ponyta?" Ponyta looked to her mother for reassurance then let Moon tap her with the ball. Unlike her brother her ball shook violently several times before pinging closed. "She doesn't like me mush does she?" Moon asked Ponyta's pokeball. "It's not that." Rapidash said, "She is just shy and less quick to give her trust then her brother." Moon smiled at her faithful horse. EmeraldDragon's Note: It was my original idea to have this part end with Moon leaving Pokemon Island, but I got a little carried away; as in a lot. Any way when my word counter told me that I had reached the 7,000 mark I decided to just start a new part. If ya like it, if ya don't, if you just want to try out your e-mail, click on my name and tell me what ya think.