Oh well...Here's the longest chapter so far, Chapter 6...

Chapter 6: The Magician

“Ah, nothing beats being able to sleep in my own bed,” Shadow said as he stretched himself. The Pokemon Center in Cherrygrove fortunately had a room with two bunks, enough for four people. Shadow had taken one bunk, while the girls had taken another.

Kris’ bed, naturally, looked like a place where a couple of Grizzly bears had slept...while in heat. However, Tochi was gone. The sound of water splashing into the tub coming from the bathroom confirmed her location.

Shadow stood up and kricked his neck before waking up the other joints in his body. He then slipped on is hat, “I wonder what we’re going to do for breakfast?”



*BAM!*



“I got you now, you little...pika...chu...” Kris mumbled from the top bunk. He arm had moved itself rather quickly towards Shadow’s head, so forcefully that Shadow had been knocked clean to the ground. She soon returned to her snoreful routine.

“Orgg...” Shadow said, “That hurt...” He rubbed the back of his head while he still lay on the floor, “Already something like this so early in the...huh?” Shadow peered under the bed where Tochi had slept, and noticed something large in the shadows underneath, “Larvitar, is that you?” Shadow said, putting his hand on the object. However, once he rolled it out, it became obvious that what he had pulled out was not Larvitar.

“Whatcha got there, Shadow?” Larvitar said, peering down from the top bunk.

“An egg,” Shadow said, picking the egg up, “A BIG egg.” Indeed, the egg was about 2 feet long with a 1 foot diameter.



* * * * *



“Welcome to our Pokemon Center!” Nurse Joy said with a voice so cheerful it was disgusting in the morning, “Can I help you?”

“Yeah,” Shadow said, still in his t-shirt and underwear, “I found this in my room,” he held up the egg.

“Oh my...” Nurse Joy said, “It must have come from that Dodrio who spent the night here before you came.”

“Huh?” Shadow said, “Wait a sec. I thought pokemon eggs were a new thing.”

“Not when it comes to bird pokemon,” Nurse Joy replied, “People have known that Bird pokemon lay eggs for hundreds on years,” She then took teh egg from Shadow, “Let’s give it a look, shall we?” Nurse Joy placed it on a table. First, she tapped it with her finger, then held it under a bright light, then went over it thoroughly with a stethascope, “Now that’s odd...” Nurse Joy said.

“What’s odd?” Shadow asked in a voice that made him sound like he didn’t care. In reality, he didn’t...maybe the fact that he was also focused on an old magazine...

“This is the strangest Dodrio egg I’ve ever seen...” Nurse Joy said, giving the egg a stroke, “But, it’s not fertilized. It won’t make a baby.” She passed the egg back to Shadow, “I guess we can call in breakfast.” she smiled, “Would you happen to know how to cook?”

“A little...” Shadow said, taking the egg in his hands.



* * * * *



Kris sniffed the air from her bed. It seemed she had smelled something rather enticing, for she climbed out of her bed, and followed the scent in her half-asleep state, slowly walking out of the room. As she shut the door behind her, Tochi opened the door of the bathroom. Steam poured out as Tochi entered the room, fully clothed in her usual yellow attire, her towel strung over her shoulder.

“Hm...” Tochi said, sniffing the air, “That smell...It smells like...”



* * * * *



“...FRIED EGG!” Kris squealed, suddenly popping out of her sleep.

“Now don’t eat it all,” Shadow said as he placed the large platter of scrambled eggs on the table in the front of the Pokemon Center, “We need to leave some for Tochi and Nurse Joy.”

“I’m impressed,” Nurse Joy said as her Chansey followed her in, holding a stack of plates in its hands, “Those eggs smell absolutely DIVINE!”

“Come on!” Kris said, “Let’s not let them get cold!”

“But Tochi’s not here,” Shadow said.

“She’ll come in later,” Kris said, grabbing the stack of plates from Chansey, “Now, let’s chow down!”

Within seconds, Kris had served out some portions of the large pile of eggs. Once everyone had sat down, they picked up their forks. However, Tochi was still nowhere to be seen.

Nurse Joy stuck her fork into some of her egg, which was putting out an absolutely seductive scent. She took a bite of the egg that was lightly sprinkled with a red spice. Her eyes went wide, “WOW!” She said, “I mean, this is incredible!” Shadow didn’t appear at all flattered as he munched on his portion.

“Yeah, I know!” Kris said after scarfing down her portion in a single bite, “Shadow’s cooking ROCKS!”

“CHAN-sey!” Chansey agreed.

“Shadow,” Nurse Joy said, “How in the world did you get this good?” Shadow didn’t respond.

“Ah, his mom’s just a good a cook,” Larvitar said as she consumed the meal, “It’s purely hereditary.”

“Really?” Nurse Joy said, “But, this is professional-grade stuff!” She turned to Shadow, “I’m jealous. I mean, I’ve NEVER been able to cook this well.”

“Don’t be.” Shadow replied as Kris devoured her third plate. However, there was still a pretty good amount of egg left. It was at this point that Tochi stepped out of the room.

“What’s all the commotion about?” Tochi asked, looking at everyone as they enjoyed Shadow’s cooking.

“Want some?” Kris said, bits of egg lining her mouth.

“No thanks,” Tochi said.

“Are you nuts?” Nurse Joy said as if Tochi was turning down a million dollars, “You should at least TRY some!”

“I don’t eat eggs,” Tochi said.

“Huh?” Shadow asked, “Allergic to ‘em, or something?”

“No, I just don’t like ‘em.” Tochi replied simply, without a hint of defense in her voice.

“Your loss!” Kris chimed, scarfing down Tochi’s portion. Shadow and Kris’s other pokemon ate their egg quietly on the floor, licking their plates clean.



* * * * *



“It’s mine!”

“No, it’s MINE!”

Kris and Nurse Joy both had their forks jabbed into the last little bit of egg and were playing almost a tug-or-war with it as it slid across the plate. Everyone else, human and pokemon, had finished eating and were packing up to leave.

“Come on, Kris,” Shadow said, “You’ve had enough.”

“I know, we’ve got to catch that guy...” Tochi said lazily. The tone she had said this made her sound like she had awoken five minutes ago.

Suddenly, like a bad cartoon, the egg snapped off of the forks and went flying through the air.

“NOOOO!!” The girls yelled, and began chasing after it. And, also like a bad cartoon, Tochi, in a state of unawareness, yawned just in time to intercept the incoming egg.(Whew...that was a lot of commas...)

“Mgh?” Tochi said once she noticed the egg in her mouth. She swollowed the egg hard.

“NO!” Nurse Joy yelled, “Cough it up NOW!” She yelled, grabbing Tochi by the shoulders and shaking her violently.



* * * * *



“Mmmmm...” Kris said, exhaling, “It even feels good while it digests...” The group was now making their way through Cherrygrove to get to the route that took them North to Violet City. Cherrygrove was a typical suburb, with spacious properties, and a large marketplace where the Pokemon Center was situated. It was at this point that our heroes (If you want to call them that) were passing through the main Marketplace, where the most activity the town saw took place.

“I’m surprised you’re not sick from how much you ate,” Tochi replied, “You ate at least half of the egg.”

“I know,” Kris said as if it wasn’t anyting special, “Well, you had some, too, right?” She edged closer to Tochi, “Well? How was it?”

“Okay, it wasn’t half bad,” Tochi said, “But, I STILL don’t like eating egg.”

“Huh...” Kris said, “Why?”

“Could you stop asking questions, for once?” Tochi asked.

“You ask a lot of questions, too, ya know,” Kris said.

“All right, all right...” Tochi said before a slightly frustrated sigh, “Man,” She said to herself, “That girl’s more observant than her personality says...” She stopped at a fruit stand and began looking at the fresh fruit which were in season.

“What are you doing?” Shadow asked impatiently, “We need to get going.”

“I didn’t have breakfast, if you recall,” Tochi said, pulling a little money she had recieved from Hanako out of her pocket. An exchange was made, and soon Tochi was munching on some fresh, ripe, succulent Mangos.

Soon, the group came across a group of people who seemd to be crowded around something, like a small show that was going on.

“I wonder what’s going on in there?” Kris asked, scratching her head.

“I wonder that sometimes, too.” Shadow said.

Tochi giggled at the dry comment as she chewed on her breakfast.

“Very funny...” Kris said sarcastically, “Seriously, I’d like to know what’s going on.”

“It’s probably some phoney doing the ‘Where’s the Mobster’ trick,” Shadow replied, “Let’s just keep going.” Shadow continued walking, Tochi following behind. However, Kris didn’t move. Shadow sighed and turned around, “All right, fine...”

Soon, Kris was sitting on Shadow’s shoulders, her legs on either side of his head, so that she could see above the crowd. She put protected her eyes from the sun by placing her hand on her forehead like a small visor over them, “It looks like some guy doing the shell trick...but with cards...it looks like he’s gotten a lot of money...”

“Geez...” Shadow said, “Get off for a second, would you?”

“Nah-uh!” Kris teased, putting her arms around Shadow’s chin, while resting her’s on top of his head. It looked like she was copping a free ride.

Shadow sighed and began making his way through the tall crowd.

“Okay, who’s next?” The magician asked, “You there, giving the girl a ride, how about you?”

“Whatever...” Shadow said, putting down five dollars.

“Shadow?” Tochi said, “What are you doing? I thought you weren’t a sucker for these.”

“Ooh,” The magician said, “A fiver. Okay.” He took out three cards, all bent down the middle lengthwise. They were three aces: an ace of hearts, an ace of diamonds, and an ace of spades, “Okay, black is the mobster. Now, you see...” he took the cards and switched them around like you would a shell game, where you try to find the shell with the nut in it. He rapidly shuffled them back and forth, then stopped. He picked up one of the cards. It was the Ace of spades, “You see, here’s the mobster. Now I’m going to do it again.” He then shuffled the cards around again, but did it with incredible speed. Shadow seemed calm as he watched the cards, and didn’t ven move his head as the cards whirled around, “Okay,” The magician said, stopping, “Where’s the mobster?”

“Hmmmmm...” Shadow put his hand on his chin, “If there’s one thing I know about the mobster...it’s that is has a way of vanishing into the crowd...” he puts his hands on two of the cards, the two on the sides. He flipped them up, to reveal the ace of hearts and the ace of Diamonds.

“Oh man...” Someone in the crowd said, “He’s got it...” The magician began to become nervous.

“But, before you know it,” Shadow said, putting his hand on the middle card. Upon flipping it up, however, he revealed a second ace of diamonds. The crowd gasped. Shadow then smacked the magician on his wrist. However, as the con man rubbed his stinging hand, everyone saw that Shadow as holding a card in his hand, “Before you know it, he’s gone.” Shadow flipped up the card to reveal the Ace of Spades.

“You mean this was all rigged?” A man in the crowd said, “What a jip!”

“I was fast enough to see you switch cards. An excellent sleight of hand, but not fast enough.” Shadow said, stacking the four cards together.

The magician growled, “Dammit...” he then looked around at the crowd, who glared at him for having conned them so easily. Suddenly, he pulled out a pokeball and slammed it onto the ground. Out popped a little gray pig-like creature which bounced up and down on it’s spring-like tail. a large, yelloy pearl rested between its ears, “Anyone takes a step closer and I’ll have spoink send you into a coma!” He then turned to Shadow, “And as for you...”

“Now wait a second, pal...” Larvitar said, walking in through everyone’s legs, “Doncha know that you have to fight before you can do something to anyone?” She then stopped in front of Shadow and struck a battle pose.

“Ooooo,” a spectator said, “A pokemon battle.”

“Fine,” The magician said, “I’ll play your way. I’ll prove I have a little integrity...”

“More integrity than a lying cheat who’s conned nearly everyone here?” Shadow said. The excited crowd swelled into a larger ring to give the two room to fight.

“Shut up!” The man yelled, “Ragnar the magician doesn’t take kindly to such insults! Spoink, Psybeam!” Spoink oinked in reply and let loose a spiraling beam of pure thought right at Larvitar.

“Ha!” Larvitar said, “You think I haven’t dealt with THAT attack before?” Larvitar jumped into the air, evading the shot. However, it failed to look up.



*SPOINK!*



With a crash, Larvitar was on the ground, Spoink bouncncing on top of it. It had used Bounce right after using Psybeam and had landed a hit.

“Shadow!” Tochi yelled from the sidelines, “Spoinks are really frail! Use a physical attack against it!”

“That’s what I’m TRYING to do!” Shadow replied, “Larvitar, Headbutt!” As Spoink began coming back down for another bouce, Larvitar shot into the air to meet it. The two collided in mid-air. However, Larvitar’s superior weight and force sent Spoink flying into the air.

“BWWIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiii......” Spoink squealed as it was sent clean onto one of the cloth roofs of a fruit stand. It bounced off of that and landed on the ground, its eyes as curly as its tail.

The crowd cheered at Shadow’s victory. However, Shadow didn’t soak in the adulation.

“Damn you, Shadow,” Ragnar said, “I should curse you for this!” He then paused, “But wait...” he smirked, “You already have a curse on you, don’t you?”

“Uh...” Shadow said, starting to get a little worried.

“And you have it sealed, don’t you?” Ragnar said, confident now that the tables were turning.

“H...how could you know about that?!” Shadow yelled, grabbing the charm on his necklace.

“Oh, I’m not just your run-of-the-mill magician,” Ragnar replied, “I can tell that the curse on you is a doozy...”
Shadow began to shiver slighty.

“Huh?” Tochi said.

“Shadow?” Kris said, “What’s he talking about?” She looked down from where she was still attached.

“It’s nothing, Kris,” Shadow said, prying Kris off of him, “This guy is just trying to scare--”



*Slice...*



Before everyone’s eyes, the chain around Shadow’s neck was severed by a flying object. Whatever it was, it flew back to Ragnar. When Ragnar caught it, it was revealed to be a king of diamonds...made of metal and really sharp. The male-symboled charm around Shadow’s neck fell to the ground and shattered on the concrete.

“Damn!” Shadow yelled. At this he bolted through the crowd and, almost faster than the eye could follow, rushed out of sight.

“Shadow...?” Tochi said.
“Hmph...” Ragnar said, shuffling his cards, “Go to him. I think you’ll find he’s had a bit of a...change...”

Tochi, Larvitar, and Kris took off in the direction that Shadow had escaped.



* * * * *



“I could have SWORN he’d gone this way!” Tochi said as she looked around. They had reached the back alley’s of Cherrygrove and had lost Shadow. However, they were still desperate to find him.

“Ack!” The sound of falling metal trash cans was heard in one of the alleys, along with a few screeching cats and the sound of someone screaming as they tripped in the streets. This thoroughly shocked Kris and Tochi.

“Shadow?!” Kris yelled as she ran in the direction of the clamor.

“Kris, wait!” Tochi yelled, “That might not be h...”

Out from the alley, a small, black cat stepped out, wearing Shadow’s baseball cap.

“No...” Kris said, her eyes growing watery, “NOOOO!!!” She grabbed the cat and squeezed it, tears flowing like rivers from her eyes, “He’s turned into a kitty!!!”

“Gimme that, furball...” an annoyed voice said from the darkness. A hand reached out and took the hat from the cats head. Kris turned in the direction the hat had gone, and dropped the cat, which ran away, meowing.

“Shadow?” Kris said, “Is that...YOU?!”


Ooooo. The suspense is killing you, isn't it?