Awakening 33 (Pokemon)

Awakening

Chapter 33: Beauty

Ashimi, Dorme, Jonathan and Volt were finally well rested after the Rocket League. They had watched the video of the winter zone maze they slept through, had more snow food and got ready to continue their training... Right after the holidays. The group stepped out to the Viridian Forest, which was just as green as always.

"I remember there used to be snow here when I was little," Ashimi looked up at the foliage that thickly covered the skies in green. Her Pikachu, whom she called Lightning, as there were a few chus in her family, was riding on her shoulder, having grown too big to be a comfortable hat.

"It used to," Jonathan recalled, but the mutant trees pass chemicals to the trees above them and they keep things warm, Kanto is a tropical area now, except in the mountains up north, it still snows naturally there every now and then."

"It's almost Christmas," Dorme reminded. "After the holidays, the Indigo League will be right around the corner in the spring."

"I need to go shopping," Volt grimaced. "My brother will probably send a bunch of expensive and possibly lethal trinkets to our relatives as if he were shopping for himself with no thought what so ever for what use they could have for that stuff. At least I can beat him in sending thoughtful gifts... Even if I'm kind of bad at picking stuff."

"Don't worry about that, now you have us to help you shop, we can all shop together!" Dorme cheered.

Volt wasn't sure if he should be thankful for the help or plotting his escape. Jonathan tried to remain unnoticed, but he knew they would drag him along too.

"Let's do our Christmas shopping online this year," Ashimi suggested, surprising everyone.

Dorme gasped and protested. "What about the thrill of going from store to store in a Christmas present treasure hunt?"

"We won't have time for it if we're going to accomplish the mission to make it snow!" Ashimi declared. "Even if Kanto is a tropical environment now, we can still make it snow, that's what artificial climate control is for. I'll ask grandpa if we can borrow some machines and have a white Christmas this year!" Before her friends had the opportunity to point out the flaws in her plan, Ashimi had ran off back inside.

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A few minutes later at Giovanni's office, the Rocket boss found himself shaking his head and trying to reason with his granddaughter. "No snow, it'll ruin the crops being farmed east of Viridian and that's become Kanto's primary supply of fruits and vegetables."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Ashimi tried to sound convincing.

"If you want to cause a famine in Kanto, wait until you're the boss, then you can terrorize the world however you want." It was hard to say if Giovanni was being sarcastic or not.

"I won't make it snow in the farms," Ashimi changed tactics, "only in the Viridian Forest!"

"The forest is too warm, the snow will turn to rain," Giovanni reasoned. "If you want snow, just go to one of the climate control rooms."

"But it's not the same," Ashimi pouted. "I know, how about I borrow one of the big climate control machines in the poles? They have two in each pole anyway and they only need one to work. That has to make things cold enough!"

"Absolutely not," Giovanni spoke so harshly it made Ashimi fall silent and step back. "You will not touch those machines, young lady. It's too risky if the primary pole freezing mechanism fails and there's no backup. Do you know how fast the polar caps will melt and how much land will be flooded?"

"But what if we had a ship and-" Ashimi was interrupted.

"We are not going to fill a server with two of each pokemon, put it on a ship and digitalize ourselves into it like in that movie Noah's Matrix or whatever it's called. The earth's atmosphere is too warm, so the sea level wouldn't go down for centuries," Giovanni explained. "We'd be stuck living on the ship for the rest of our lives. Plus human digitalization hasn't been achieved," though not for lack of trying. "You can cause mass extinction by flooding when you're the boss, but I just don't have the energy left to deal with another mass panic and near apocalypse."

"Queen," Ashimi quietly corrected, reminding him of her wish to turn Team Rocket into a prosperous kingdom. "And I don't want to destroy my own kingdom."

"Then I suggest you don't let the poles melt," Giovanni voiced with finality.

Ashimi sighed and quieted for a moment, then cheered up as an idea came to her. "We should have a Christmas party in the north pole! We won't touch the climate control, I promise! We'll just build harmless snow men a reasonable distance away!"

Giovanni knew that getting Ashimi to give up on something was like getting Ash to give up on something: near impossible. "I suppose that's alright. I'll grant you and your friends access to the north pole, but do not mess with the climate control. The fact that Team Rocket keeps the poles from melting and causing massive floods all over the world is part of the reason why the world is so compliant and I don't want that getting ruined," Giovanni emphasized. Never mind that it was because of Team Rocket, their mutant rain forests, and rearranging of tropical territories that the polar melting had become an immediate critical issue rather than something to worry about in the next five hundred years. But hey, if you could replace it, breaking it wasn't such a big deal after all.

"I thought it was because of the radioactive laser satellites," Ashimi voiced.

"That too, but people have been worked up about the poles melting since your parents were small children, so they've had time to imagine all sorts of possible scenarios. When it became an immediate issue, people were convinced the world was going to end and that every bit of land would be covered in water. The latter would have been fairly accurate. You were only a toddler at the time and probably had no idea what was going on. You were cranky about not being allowed to play outside until the great flood threat was over," Giovanni recalled.

"Wow, that must have been... Interesting," Ashimi laughed.

Giovanni smiled, "and very chaotic, but ultimately, I decided it wasn't my style after all. I prefer to actually have a world to rule over."

"I promise to behave and not bring forth the apocalypse," Ashimi smiled sweetly.

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Ashimi exited her grandfather's office to the hallway where her friends were waiting. "We can't make it snow in Kanto without causing a famine and we can't borrow the poles' machinery to focus the snow in  the warm Viridian Forest without risking massive floods all over the world and mass extinction for various species. So instead we're just going to visit the north pole."

"Sounds good, I've heard that no one is allowed near the poles with the exception of Team Rocket." Volt thought it might be an interesting experience.

"And Team Flop, but don't call them that," Jonathan commented.

"What's Team Flop?" Ashimi inquired.

"It stands for Flood Prevention, but there's supposed to be a story behind the nickname," Jonathan replied.

"I heard about that!" Dorme exclaimed. "Team Flop is actually Team Magma, or what was left of it at the time when people panicked over the poles melting and flooding the world or something, mom told me a story about it. People worry over everything, the boss clearly has things under control. Anyway, Team Aqua loved the idea of flooding the world, so they reemerged, turned from harmless cult to water terrorists, and tried to sabotage Team Rockets' efforts at the poles. Team Magma reassemble as well and joined Team Rocket, offering to dedicate themselves to guarding the poles to ensure they don't melt and flood the world. They were supposed to be the Flood Prevention Squadron, but were nicknamed Team Flop because the reemergence of Team Magma was a flop and they needed to join Team Rocket to actually do anything."

"That means we have a mission!" Ashimi declared with great determination. "I imagine that the Flop, I mean, Flood Prevention Squadron of today are new members and maybe descendants of the Team Magma of the past. Even if people from back then are still a part of it, it's not fair for any of them to carry that stigma. Team Magma and Aqua might have been the enemies in the past, but they're all gone now, we're all Rockets and our team shouldn't be divided like that. The Flood Prevention Squad is doing an important job and they should be treated with dignity as members of the Rocket Kingdom!" Ashimi marched off full of determination. "To the north pole!"

"There she goes..." Jonathan watched quietly.

"This holiday season is going to be very busy, but if anything it will be interesting," Volt breathe.

"Ashimi, can we make a stop on our way to the north pole?" Dorme hurried to catch up with the red head and started whispering to her. The boys didn't know what that was about, but they didn't like it.

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While Kyurem shaped jet broke the sound barrier, Ashimi was focusing hard. She had recovered her energy and was concentrating her aura on Zero's data crystal. Dorme had a mischievous grin plastered on her face while Jonathan and Volt were stuffing their faces with gummy Teddyursa to ease their nerves.

'Do you want him back?' A mysterious echoing voice spoke in Ashimi's mind.

Ashimi looked up, but it was evident that no one else could hear it. She attributed it to a sensitive aura due to her cracked earrings, but she wasn't sure what she was sensing up there. The jet was piloted by a Pyrogon-Z that commanded the autopilot programs and Ashimi didn't think she was sensing the poke-pilot. The only other occupants of the jet were her friends and the pokemon, but the voice was unfamiliar and somewhat alarming. Even so, Ashimi couldn't help it but to answer, 'of course I want him back!'

'Then I will give him your energy.' Though the voiced frightened her, Ashimi sensed that it wasn't lying. It really was trying to establish a connection between their auras. 'You will have to keep a continuous flow of energy to him. Are you willing to do that?'

'Yes,' Ashimi replied in her mind. 'I'll stay by Zero's side and give him all the energy he needs. Please, bring him back!'

Jonathan paused in his gummy Teddyursa devouring session and looked at Ashimi. Rather than focused, she looked lost. "Ashy?" There was no reply, "Ashy?"

The crescent moon shaped data crystal Ashimi held pulsated with her energy. Jonathan fell silent, Volt dropped the gummy he had just picked up in frozen shock and Dorme stared wide eyed.

First there was only a silhouette, then it was filled up with rough polygons that slowly became more well defined. Finally, the ghostly figure took on a familiar shape and turned more vivid until peculiar pupil-less blue to black gradient eyes opened. "Ashimi?"

Ashimi felt a dizziness rush to her head. Her fear for the creature in her mind dissipated as if lulled by a sweet venom. "Zero..." She whispered. A ripple of energy passed through her, the voice was giving her strength, yet at the same time consuming her defenses. 'Who are you?' She thought.

'I am a legend,' the voice ambiguously replied.

'A legend,' Ashimi hugged Zero and let the comfort of his return wash over her. She assumed the voice belonged to a legendary pokemon, maybe an old friend of her father, or maybe a new legendary that she would be the first human to make contact with. She felt the presence retreat into the depths of her aura and no longer felt herself able to communicate with it. She let it be for now, she was very grateful to have Zero back and could think of little else.

"Ashimi... Your energy..." Zero noticed it, his data was as scrambled as ever, but the aura that flowed into him projected it as it should be.

"I'll keep you safe, I'll give you all the energy you need," Ashimi smiled. "Just stick with me and you'll be fine."

xoxox xox xoxox

When the jet landed, Jonathan and Volt tried to calm the foreboding feeling that overtook them, but they simply couldn't. They were very happy to see Zero again, but the landing reminded them of the stop Dorme wanted to make.

"Here we are, Floaroma Town!" Dorme happily announced. She held one of Zero's hands and Ashimi held the other.

"Let's go to the pokemon center to get Nidoran sent over," Ashimi smiled.

The group made their way to the pokemon center, cheerfully sharing stories with Zero. Soon Nidoran joined them and jumped on Zero's shoulder. Dorme busied herself with some forms and handed them to Joy, who cheerfully reminded her to be on time.

The group headed into one of the center's guest rooms where Dorme started digging through her bag. "We'll have to leave through the window so Joy doesn't suspect anything. There's not much time to prepare, so let's get to it!" She pulled out four kimonos. "It's too bad you're too young to be in the contest Zero, you'd make such a cute little girl. Oh well, with the four of us lovely young ladies competing, we have to win!"

Jonathan and Volt exchanged panicked looks. "Lovely ladies?" They backed away until they were against the wall.

"Oh the fun times I'd be missing," Zero laughed.

'I think you're just as awesome as a boy or girl, aniki,' Nidoran complimented.

"Honestly, I rather not find out about the latter," Zero laughed.

"C'mon guys, you gotta help me!" Dorme pleaded, she batted her eyelashes and put on her cutest pouty look. "I really need to win this contest, but it's not just about beauty, it's but about putting on a pretty show with the pokemon. My pokemon are trained to be tough fighters and beautiful as they all are, I don't know how smooth the transition from warriors to show pokemon will go. This way one of us had to win!" Dorme insisted as if her very life depended on it. "And since entering the contest was my idea, no matter who wins, I get the prize!"

"But why do we have to dress up as girls?" Volt whined. "Guys can enter pokemon contests too!"

"Like I said, it's a mix between beauty contest and pokemon contest. The beauty contest part is for girls only," Dorme explained. "Relax, no one's going to test your DNA or anything, looking like a girl is enough."

"No," the boys complained.

"Ashimi!" Dorme whined.

"Sorry guys, I promised Dorme I would help, so as grandpa would say, do it or else." The phrase was indeed spoken by Giovanni in many past occasions, but never for an event like that.

Jonathan and Volt exchanged looks of fear, then of determination. Finally they nodded and challenged, "or else what?"

Ashimi wasn't sure what to say. "Well, I hate to pull rank and abuse my Rocket connections..."

"What are you talking about? You're the future boss, so get to bossing them around!" Dorme exclaimed in exasperation, though it was clear that Ashimi didn't really want to do that. The blond girl let out a frustrated breath, "fine, I'll do it myself. Do what I say or I'll blackmail you!"

"With what?" Jonathan challenged.

"Yeah, you got nothing on us, soldier!" Volt confidently added.

"Yes I do, remember the incident that led to being knocked out with a frying pan?" Dorme reminded Volt. "Nurse Joy totally got the wrong idea and thought you were trying to make out with me. I'll tell your father you're a pervert, have Joy as my witness and he'll ground you until next century, you horribly undisciplined and disrespectful soldier!"

"You can't!" Volt begged. "None of that is even true. You were trying to kill me and I was trying to stop you, it was a matter of survival. Passion had nothing to do with it, it was all simple and innocent survival of the purest kind!"

"And I'll tell your brother too," Dorme cruelly added.

Volt grimaced and sighed, "alright, you win. I'll wear the kimono and pretend to be a girl, but only this one time. After this, we're even and you have to promise me you won't blackmail me again."

"Sure I promise," Dorme grinned and crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Since you have no blackmail on me, I will not be participating in any of this," Jonathan declared.

Dorme thought for a while. "Ratattas, he's right, I've got nothing."

"Why not just think of it as a Rocket mission?" Ashimi suggested. "Your parents are masters of disguise and they used those skills all the time when they were trying to steal dad's Pikachu. It's the same basic concept except you're trying to win a prize instead of stealing a pokemon."

"Not the same thing," Jonathan pouted.

"Close enough?" Ashimi tried.

"Candy bribery?" Zero suggested.

"Not even that will work," Jonathan refused.

"I thought of something!" Dorme exclaimed with a mischievous grin. "I'll tell your grandparents that you miss Alice and talk them into sending her over!"

"No!" Jonathan exclaimed in desperation before he could even think about feigning indifference. He let out a resigned breath, "you win..."

"It feels good to be a winner," Dorme smiled in satisfaction.

"So what's the big prize?" Zero curiously inquired.

"A Vulpix," Dorme spoke as if she had already won. "Not just any Vulpix, I'm talking about the daughter of Suzy's famous beauty queen Ninetales. Suzy is a famous pokemon stylist and everyone knows her gorgeous Ninetales, the softness of her fur rivals even Johnny's beautiful hair! Suzy has said that Ninetales' daughter wants to see the world, so she's looking for a traveling trainer for her. Because Vulpix is shy around boys, she's looking for a girl who understands beauty and proves it by winning the contest. Such a sweet pokemon can only be amazingly beautiful, like her mother. I must have her in my team! Now that you understand my reasons, let's get ready!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Two hours later Dorme, Ashimi, Volt and Jonathan were all wearing kimonos. Zero was wearing a technology inspired yukata with dark colors and bright ones and zeros in random patterns. He also had a Porygon-Z hat with a black and green palette switch, because the girls really wanted to see him wearing a cute outfit. He was thankful he still got to dress as a boy.

Volt had a platinum wig that Dorme insisted brought out his teal eyes, which were accentuated with silver makeup. Metallic colors dominated the intricate electrical patterns on his kimono and the loose fabric and thick waist bow tried to hide his decidedly male physique.

Jonathan's kimono followed the same design, with pink tonalities and a cherry blossom theme. "Why can't I wear a wig too? What if I'm recognized?" He cringed at the sound of his own words coming out in a feminine voice that was not his own, due to the voice modifying choker around his neck.

"Short hair can look good on girls too and there's no way I'm covering up your pretty hair. The pink bow does a fine job of balancing the look so you don't look too tomboyish. Don't worry, the light pink makeup really softens up your face, no one will suspect you're anything but a beautiful girl." Dorme adjusted her mistletoe hairpin for what felt like the  millionth time, but Johnny once again failed to notice it's presence and significance. She lifted the skirt of her soft green kimono slightly and sped up her walk to the meadow near the town, where the contest would take place. The mistletoe adorning the fabric stood out with its darker grew leaves and bright red berries that matched her lipstick.

Ashimi was just glad Dorme didn't insist on high heals and instead thought the traditional sandals usually worn with kimonos would be a better match for their outfits. Ashimi touched her hairpin just to make sure it was still there. It was a beautifully carved diamond snowflake worth a small fortune, she had received it as a gift from her grandfather last Christmas and didn't want to lose it. It was not really the monetary value of the jewelry that she cared about, but the memories attached to it, as that year Giovanni took a little extra time off for the holidays, probably at Delia's insistence, and was there for the personal festivities more that he had been in previous years. Ashimi's kimono fit with the snowflake theme with white and silver on pale blue, making her red-orange hair stand out.

The five of them made it to the meadow were the contestants and audience had gathered. The place was filled with murmurs that had a worried tone of uncertainty to them. "Your attention please!" Suzy went up on a small stage in the center of the meadow. The voices around her quieted as all eyes focused on the elegant beautician and the stunning Ninetales that stood next to her. "I deeply apologize for the delay. We have not been able to find Vulpix, she seems to have a case of stage fright. It is vital that Vulpix is here to witness the contest and choose her own trainer, so until we find her, please be patient."

The murmurs in the crowd started up again, louder than before. Dorme gave her friends a determined look. "Now's our chance to score some bonus points with Vulpix, we have to find her! Zero, can you sense where Vulpix is?"

"No, sorry, my pokedex functions have been offline since I came back," Zero sadly replied.

"It's okay, chibi, we're just happy to have you back," Dorme consoled. The five decided to split up  to cover more ground through the meadow, except Zero, who went with Ashimi, to make the continual energy transfer between them easier.

Unknown to them, Mont Blanc, alias Summer, was in the crowd that gathered to watch the contest. He saw Dorme and Ashimi but didn't recognize the other two lovely ladies in their company. This was his chance to score some bonus points with Dorme by finding Vulpix before anyone else did and putting in a good word for her with the pokemon.

xoxox xox xoxox

While searching in the wooded areas around the meadow, Mont Blanc saw a lovely Vulpix. "Hello there," he smiled at the creature and tried to call her over, but she ran away. "Wait, come back!" 'That's right,' he recalled. 'I heard Vulpix is shy around males, both human and pokemon. That's why Suzy was looking for a female trainer for her in the first place.' He set his hover skate board on the ground, or rather floating a few inches above it, and jumped on top to give pursuit. The Vulpix turned out to be not only beautiful, but also rare. Her fur was a golden color that was not unheard of, but quite unusual among her kind.

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Not too far away, Jonathan caught a hint of movement from the corner of his eyes and went over to investigate. He found a Vulpix that was the regular red color that was common among her kind. Her fur was a frizzy mess and her mane and tail refused to retain the smooth curls Vulpix usually had. She certainly didn't look like a princess of beauty, but Jonathan tried to approach her anyway, maybe she was just having a bad fur day. "Here girl, it's okay, I won't hurt you." The Vulpix cautiously approached and allowed Jonathan to pick her up. She seemed to be alright, albeit slightly confused. She sniffed him curiously, then jumped out of his arms and ran away. "Vulpix!"

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A short distance away, Dorme was searching through some bushes when she spotted a beautiful golden Vulpix. A shabby looking red Vulpix emerged from the bushes next to the golden one and quickly ran off further ahead. Seemingly concerned about why the disheveled member of her species was in such a hurry, the golden Vulpix ran away as well before Dorme could get to her.

Jonathan arrived on the scene and saw Dorme. "I saw a Vulpix and even managed to pick her up, but she took a sniff at me and ran away. I knew this cherry blossom perfume was a bad idea," he grumbled.

"I saw her too but she ran off," Dorme mistakenly assumed Jonathan was talking about the golden Vulpix. "The cherry blossom perfume is fine, in fact, Vulpix probably wouldn't have let you pick her up without it. She must have somehow perceived your own natural scent beyond the perfume when she got a closer sniff and figured out you're a guy. She's shy around boys, remember?"

"She can tell I'm a guy? That kind of makes me feel better," Jonathan admitted.

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In another area nearby Mont Blanc found the golden Vulpix. The clever fox pokemon kicked a rock at the hover board, making it tilt suddenly as it shifted to pass above it. Mont Blanc was caught off guard, lost his balance and fell. "I can't believe a pro skater would be knocked down by such a simple trick." He got up to find that the mischievous fire pokemon was laughing at him. "You think that's funny? Watch this!" He jumped back on the board and used the surrounding trees as if he was in a skate park. He jumped, flipped and spun in the air, landing perfectly.

Vulpix was amused and clapped her paws together, giggling contently. She approached Mont Blanc, jumped into his arms and licked his face. "Ha ha, I guess you're not so shy after all. Let's get you back to your trainer. When the contest ends and she asks you who you want to go with, make sure you pick Dorme, this is her picture." He showed the pokemon and image on his cellphone. "Don't forget to let her know I put in a good word for her." The golden Vulpix had no idea what he was talking about, but he was amusing, so she didn't mind.

xoxox xox xoxox

Mont Blanc hurried back to the middle of the meadow. Suzy was trying her best to entertain the crowd while her assistants searched for Vulpix. The area was filled with awe and clapping at the talented and beautiful Ninetales.

"I found her!" Mont Blanc loudly announced as he made his way through the crowd towards the front near the stage.

"Oh my, that's a very beautiful and rare Vulpix!" Suzy exclaimed. "But she's not my Vulpix."

"She's not?" Mont Blanc was taken completely by surprise.

"That's a wild Vulpix." An old lady in the crowd who had come to see her granddaughter participate in the contest spoke up. "No one knows how she got to this area, but many have tried to catch her and failed. It looks like she's taken quite a liking to you, young man."

"Sounds like you made a new friend," Suzy smiled. "Thanks for trying to find my Vulpix. Since this golden one doesn't have a trainer, why don't you keep her? Like the lady said, she seems to like you."

"I guess I will," Mont Blanc decided. He offered a pokeball into which the golden Vulpix was willingly caught.

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Meanwhile, Dorme and Jonathan had caught up with Volt, Zero and Ashimi, who walked over to them with a shabby looking Vulpix in her arms. The Vulpix seemed uneasy about Zero and Lightning, then her discomfort increased when she saw Jonathan. "We found her, " Ashimi passed the pokemon to Dorme. "She really is shy around boys."

"This isn't her," Dorme held the pokemon anyway and tried to comfort her. "Suzy's Vulpix is golden, she's even more beautiful than I imagined. I saw her, but she ran off."

"Is this a wild Vulpix then?" Zero concluded.

Dorme shrugged, "must be. But look at the poor dear, she could certainly use a trainer to groom her. I can't stand to see this creature suffer like this. It's alright sweetie, I know it sounds unbelievable with how my hair looks now, but I actually have a bit of a frizz problem myself. Like yours, my hair tries to be curly, but doesn't quite make it. Maybe a lightly wavy look is right for you too. I know how to prepare a lot of homemade hair products, not even the salon exclusive lines can compete. It's the stuff I use on my own hair, so I can guarantee it works!" The Vulpix looked doubtful, yet at the same time, a little hopeful. "I'm going to take care of this Vulpix, you can go back to the stage in the meadow and see if the contest is ready to start. Let me know how it goes."

"What?" Volt exclaimed, making Vulpix squeal and bury her face in Dorme's arms.

"Don't scare her!" Dorme scolded. "It's okay, sweetheart, they won't hurt you. These guys are totally harmless wimps, I got them blackmailed good!"

"Hey!" Volt and Jonathan protested.

"What? I'm reassuring her," Dorme defended.

"You could just tell her we're nice guys," Volt grumbled.

"Yeah," Jonathan agreed.

"I know!" Ashimi exclaimed as an idea came to her. "Zero, show Vulpix that boys are not scary."

"How do I do that?" Zero asked.

"Just be your adorable self!" Ashimi smiled.

Dorme gave Vulpix to Zero with a reassurance. "It's okay, there's no such thing as cooties, and if there was, cute little Zero wouldn't have any." Vulpix seemed to calm down a bit, though she was still shy because of the insecurities her uncooperative, fur, mane and tail had given her.

Mont Blanc suddenly arrived looking for Dorme. "My sweet Dorme, I have an early Christmas gift for you." He saw her hair pin and grinned widely. "But first things first, I must honor the long standing Christmas tradition of the mistletoe!" Dorme removed her hairpin and held it over a nearby thorny bush. "That was mean," Mont Blanc frowned, but quickly recovered. "I happen to find a beautiful ultra rare golden Vulpix. I thought she was Suzy's, but it turns out she was wild, so I caught her and I have her right here in this pokeball. I'm willing to share her with you, if you're willing to share your heart!"

"That golden one was wild? Just how many wild Vulpix are there around here?" Dorme wondered in surprise, then her expression shifted to seriousness and she emphasized, "the answer is no."

"I've heard there have been some pokemon that are unusual to this area being spotted near the Fuego Ironworks ruins, but no one really knows how and why they got there," Ashimi voiced. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone from Team Rocket came to investigate.

"I guess that explains why there were two wild Vulpix running around. Speaking of which," Dorme picked up the shabby Vulpix Zero was holding for her. "I already have my own Vulpix."

"That's your Vulpix?" Mont Blanc stared. "But she's... I thought you'd be pickier than that..." He called the golden Vulpix out of her pokeball. "Just look at them, no competition!"

Vulpix whimpered and hid her face while Dorme raged. "Don't you dare insult my pokemon. Your Vulpix is very beautiful, but so is mine! Besides, if she choose you as her trainer, you should be honored and train her yourself. Now apologize to the Vulpixes and leave!"

Mont Blanc was shocked by the speech and could only stumble over a "sorry," before scurrying away, somewhat ashamed.

"That was... unexpected," Volt admitted. "I mean after making such a fuss about hair and beauty."

"Just because a person cares a lot about beauty, doesn't mean they have to be vain," Dorme lectured. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my promise to you, Volt. Things have just been busy lately, but I'll give you a full hair treatment soon. Just let me take care of Vulpix first. You can be a gentleman and let the lady go first, okay?"

"Take your time." Volt was hoping it was a long time, long enough for her to forget about his hair.

"You guys should head back to the contest. I'm going to shop for berries in town and get started on some homemade hair products for Vulpix. We can meet up at the pokemon center later." Dorme petted Vulpix's tangled mane, or tried to, but her fingers wouldn't pass smoothly through the mess of knots and frizz.

"About that, I assume you're dropping out of the contest because you already have a Vulpix," Dorme nodded and Jonathan continued. "Then why do we have to enter?"

"Because I don't want all my work making you beautiful to go to waste. Don't forget," she pointed at Jonathan, "you're Lala," then she pointed at Volt, "and you're Lulu. Now get out there and do your best!" Dorme cheered. "Ashimi, Zero, you two keep an eye on them and make sure they really try!"

"No problem," Ashimi chirped.

"You can count on us," Zero agreed. Jonathan and Volt could only exchange distressed looks.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, at the pokemon center guest room, Dorme had fixed Vulpix fur, mane and tail quite nicely with her berry based hair treatments. Vulpix's mane and tail didn't curl like they did for most members of her species, but it now had a soft wavy style that gave her a unique and sophisticated look.

Dorme was just applying the finishing touches with a brush when Volt and Zero arrived, followed by a pouty looking Ashimi and Jonathan. "Look, isn't she gorgeous now?"

Vulpix seemed to be quite happy and no longer extremely shy around boys. She was still a little shy, but not enough to run away or hide her face in shame. Everyone complimented Vulpix, which clearly made her very happy.

"How was the contest?" Dorme asked conversationally while she held up various hairpins and ribbons, trying to decide which would look best on Vulpix. "And what's with all the pouting and frowning? It couldn't have been that bad!"

"They couldn't find the missing Vulpix," Volt removed the voice modifying choker and continued in his own voice. "So they went ahead with the contest and gave away a cash prize instead." He grinned at Jonathan, "miss Lala won. Suzy was quite impressed with her pretty hair and asked if she would consider growing it long then making it into a wig when she got tired of it. Suzy said she would love to have such pretty hair to show in her hair care talks and even asked what the secret was. But pretty miss Lala was shy and said it was just natural. She captivated the audience with her timid cuteness," Volt teased.

"Shut up," Jonathan grumbled. "I only won because Nya's random silliness is so cute." He removed the choker and tossed it aside. "I'm just glad Mont Blanc didn't stick around long enough to figure out who we are."

Dorme laughed, "I told you your hair is special." She tied a cyan ribbon around Vulpix's tail and clipped a matching star shaped hairpin on her mane. "What's up with Ashimi?"

"She's mad because she lost," Zero patted her arm in consolation.

Ashimi slid to sit down on the floor and hugged Zero like a plush toy on her lap. "Correction, I'm mad because I lost to a boy. How could a boy be a prettier girl than me? Shouldn't I be a prettier girl, given the fact that I'm actually a girl?"

That made Dorme laugh even more. Her amusement was interrupted by a knock on the door to their pokemon center guest room. The group quieted and Volt hastily put the wig he had just removed back on.

Ashimi stood and opened the door to find Suzy and Ninetales. "Please excuse us, we're here to find Vulpix." She recognized the contestants. "Ashimi, Lala, Lulu, I apologized for changing the prize of the contest at the last minute. I knew Vulpix couldn't have gone far and that Ninetales could find her daughter if she tried, but I wanted Vulpix to return on her own. She was initially okay with the plan, but then started having second thoughts and I didn't want to force her to go with a new trainer. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, we understand," Ashimi replied, to which Volt and Jonathan could only nod quietly so as to not reveal their true voices. "That means that Vulpix wasn't wild after all..."

"I can't keep her?" Dorme stood aside and Vulpix was finally revealed to Suzy's line of sight.

The beautician gasped in awe, "Vulpix?" The small red fox made her way over to them and exchanged a few words with her mother let her trainer pet her, then walked back to Dorme. "I don't know how you did it, but you groomed Vulpix a lot better than I could. I tried every hair product I could get my hands on and the most exclusive brands, but nothing worked."

"It's my own hair homemade formula of hair treatments," Dorme proudly declared. "It's all natural made with berries." She couldn't believe such a famous stylist was impressed with her work.

"Looks like Vulpix found a new trainer after all. I've never seen her so happy and confident," Suzy smiled. "That's it, I'm done relying on the brands the market has to offer. I'm going to study how berries work on hair and come up with my own brand of hair products! Please take this, and some for your friends too, as a token of my thanks for helping Vulpix and for the inspiration." Suzy pulled out five golden cards that she handed to Dorme.

Dorme nearly fainted with glee. "Year long passes to Suzy's exclusive spa! It's a dream come true!"

After a short conversation, during which Volt and Jonathan remained very quiet, they exchanged their goodbyes. Suzy stopped at the door, as if something was bothering her and she couldn't leave until she fixed it. "Your wig..." She straightened Volt's wig. "You know, there are cute outfits for boys too..." Then the beautician left along with her Ninetales.

Volt's jaw dropped and his face turned red, "she knew..."

"Relax," Dorme reassured, "she only knows you're a guy, she doesn't know who you are."

"I hope not," Volt grimaced.

"What about me?" Jonathan pouted.

Ashimi mimicked the expression, "I guess you're pretty enough to be a girl, and an even prettier girl than me."

Volt grinned, "at least people know I'm a man."

"At least pokemon know I'm a man," Jonathan countered.

Dorme and Zero just laughed until Ashimi joined them and soon they were all drawn in. "Let's go out and have a big dinner tonight, my treat," Jonathan invited. "But first let me change out of this ridiculous disguise."

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Daala made her way out of Floaroma Town. She recognized Ashimi, though was she pretty sure Ashimi didn't recognize her. She looked quite different with her curly black hair straightened and dyed a pale lavender. No one in the contest knew who she was. She didn't win, but she wasn't feeling particularly disappointed about it. There was something peculiar about the winner though. She could have sworn she saw the short haired girl somewhere before, but couldn't quite place where or when. She was pretty sure the tall one with the platinum hair, or wig, was a guy, but didn't think she knew him.

Daala released her newly traded Braviary, climbing on his back and instructing the bird with a few directions. Exeggutor had been Janebelle's pokemon, he had a new trainer and a new life now, away from the hardships of the life she chose to continue living. It was time to let go of the past and start anew, seeking to accomplish her goals her own way, without Tornado.

To be Continued

The Kyurem shaped jet is a reference to the Blue Eyes White Dragon jet Seto has in Yugioh. Suzy's Ninetales is the same one who traveled with Brock for a while as a Vulpix in the anime. Lala and Lulu are names some of the Slayers characters commonly use when in need of false identities. After so many chapters full of battles, it was nice to have a more relaxed chapter. XD Next: Chapter 34: Risk