Chapter 13

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="14800640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <B>Dark Reflection (Beginning):  </B><A HREF="dr_pro.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Prologue"><U>Prologue</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 1"><U>Chapter 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 2"><U>Chapter 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 3"><U>Chapter 3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 4"><U>Chapter 4</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 5"><U>Chapter 5</U></A></div> <div> <B>A Master in the Making:  </B><A HREF="mim18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 18"><U>Chapter 18</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 19"><U>Chapter 19</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 20"><U>Chapter 20</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 21"><U>Chapter 21</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 22"><U>Chapter 22</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 23"><U>Chapter 23</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 24"><U>Chapter 24</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id734.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 25"><U>Chapter 25</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 26"><U>Chapter 26</U></A></div> <div> <B>Dark Reflection:  </B><A HREF="dr6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 6"><U>Chapter 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 7"><U>Chapter 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 8"><U>Chapter 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 9"><U>Chapter 9</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 10"><U>Chapter 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 11"><U>Chapter 11</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 12"><U>Chapter 12</U></A>   |   <B>Chapter 13</B>   |   <A HREF="dr14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 14"><U>Chapter 14</U></A></div> <div> <B>Dark Reflection (Finale):</B>  <A HREF="dr15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 15"><U>Chapter 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 16"><U>Chapter 16</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr_epi.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Epilogue"><U>Epilogue</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#000066" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/oldnews.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Old News</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/zrfic/" TARGET="_top" 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    The Mew had been sleeping, but the moment Destiny put her down, she opened one eye.  "Are we there yet?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Depends on your definition of where 'there' is," Destiny replied.</div> <bR> <div>     "I meant there, wherever we were going." Sani said, sitting up and rubbing the side of her head.  "Ooo, I think I'll just lie back down here before my head cracks in half."</div> <bR> <div>     "That bad, huh?"</div> <bR> <div>     Sani winced, "Yeah, it is.  I'll tell you what.  I'm just going to stay here and die, and you can go on without me.  How does that sound?"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny rolled her eyes, "Go back to sleep, Sani.  You'll feel better in a little while."  Destiny took the single pokéball from her belt, "Here, I'll even have Star sing you a nice lullaby."</div> <bR> <div>     The Clefairy was happy to comply, singing a wonderfully soothing song that quickly sent Sani to sleep.  Star turned around to ask Destiny if she did a good job, and found that Destiny and the Pidgey were both fast asleep as well.  {I guess they were tired,} she said to herself.  She was about to let herself back into her pokéball when she heard someone giggling nearby.  {Hey, who's there?} she asked.  She waited for a few moments, but no one answered her.  Wondering if she was just hearing things, Star returned to her pokéball.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Destiny awoke in the middle of a field, all weariness instantly vanishing as she realized that she was nowhere near where she had been before she had fallen asleep.  "Hey, what in the world?"  She looked around, wondering what had happened and where she was.  Neither Sani nor the Pidgey were anywhere in sight, so Destiny immediately started calling for them.  After a few minutes of shouting, though, she decided that they must not be within hearing range.  Star's pokéball was still on her belt, though, so she still had her Clefairy friend.</div> <bR> <div>     She thought she heard someone laughing behind her, but when she turned, she found no one there.  "I must be going crazy," she said to herself.  "All these dangerous adventures have finally made my mind snap...  I'm even talking to myself now!"</div> <bR> <div>     "No, not exactly..." Destiny spun around once more and found no one.  </div> <bR> <div>     Then, a moment later, she recognized the voice. "Oh, no, not you two again."</div> <bR> <div>     "You hear that, Fright?  She's not happy to see us!"  The two ghost pokémon, Spook and Fight wavered into sight, looking unhappy.  Spook the Haunter shook his head.  "Do you think this means she won't play with us?"</div> <bR> <div>     Fright grinned, "Nah, she'll play with us.  She doesn't have her friend whatever-she-is to Psychic us!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Her friend was a Muse!  Don't you remember?"</div> <bR> <div>     The Misdreavus shook her head, "No, I wasn't paying attention.  But if you say she was a Muse, I guess she was."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny rolled her eyes, wondering how she was going to get away from the two crazy ghosts this time.  "That's Mew, not Muse.  Sani's a Mew."</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, whatever," Spook told her.  "We don't really care anyway.  She's not here, so she can't stop you from playing with us!"  The Haunter winked at Fright, "We've got lots of good games, don't we?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah!" the Misdreavus agreed.  "Lots and lots and lots of games!"</div> <bR> <div>     Spook turned back to Destiny, "See?  Lots of games!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Uh, Spook?" Fright asked.  "What games did we have, anyway?  I forget..."</div> <bR> <div>     "Hmm, so do I...  I guess we'll just have to play hide and seek, and think up some more while we play!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny interrupted, "Hey, I don't want to play right now.  I'm in the middle of an important mission!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Did you hear that?" Fright asked her companion.  "She doesn't have time to play with us!  We'll have to help her make some time!  And we need to think up some more good games too!  We can't have her being bored while she's with us!  Nope, that wouldn't be good at all."</div> <bR> <div>     Spook considered that for a moment, "Well, we'll keep her from being bored, and after she plays with us for a while, she'll forget about not having time to play!"</div> <bR> <div>    "Come on, you two," Destiny tried to reason with the ghosts.  "I really do need to get back to my friends.  I might be able to play with you in a while, but--"</div> <bR> <div>     "Hide and seek!" Spook interrupted her.  "That's what we'll play first.  Me and Fright will hide, and you'll try to find us!  Okay?"  Without waiting for Destiny to say anything, the Haunter continued, "Come on, Fright.  Let's hide!"</div> <bR> <div>     The ghosts shot away in two different directions, leaving Destiny alone in the field again.  Shaking her head, she walked off to look for Sani.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Sani woke up as something started poking her.  "Ack, stop it!  I'm awake already!"  She opened her eyes to find their Pidgey guide standing beside her, "What is it?  What do you want?"</div> <bR> <div>     {Your friend is gone!} the bird explained.  {We fell asleep when her Clefairy sang for you, but when I woke up, you and I were alone!}</div> <bR> <div>     "Huh?"  Sani sat up, and looked around, "Well, I guess you're right, but we probably don't have to worry too much.  She probably went to get us something to eat or something."</div> <bR> <div>     {Don't you think she would have at least woken one of us up or something before she left?  Those bad people were trying to find us.  Maybe they took her away!}</div> <bR> <div>     "No," Sani dismissed that idea.  "They want me just as much as her -- probably more, actually.  If the Rockets had come here, they'd have taken me too."  Jumping to her feet, Sani looked around for any signs or notes that Destiny might have left, but she found nothing.  "I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to look for her."  Sani hopped into the air, testing her psychic powers to see if she had regained enough mental strength to fly.  She wobbled a bit, but stayed in the air.  Smiling, she set herself down again.  "Looks like I'll be able to help you look, too!"</div> <bR> <div>     {Good,} the Pidgey said, {we'll find her quicker if both of us look.  I'll look north and west, and you can look east and south!}  </div> <bR> <div>     The bird started to take off but Sani stopped him, "Wait, uh... Pidgey...  Hey, that's kinda funny.  I just realized that in all the rush and all, I never got to ask you what your name was!"</div> <bR> <div>     {That's ok.  I didn't get to tell Destiny my name either.  I'm called Snow.}</div> <bR> <div>     Sani blinked, "Snow?  That's kind of a strange name for a Pidgey...  How'd you get a name like that?"</div> <bR> <div>     Snow shook his head, {It's a long story, and we don't have time for it.  We need to go find your friend right now.}</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, I guess you're right.  Well, in case Destiny didn't tell you, I'm Sani.  Anyway, as I was going to say, I think we should stick together while we're searching.  If we go flying off in two different directions, we might never find each other again.  And if we run into the Rockets, we'll have better chances of escape if we're together."</div> <bR> <div>     {Yeah, I guess you're probably right,} Snow agreed.  {Well, lead on, Sani!}</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Destiny had been walking around in circles for half an hour without finding any trace of her two companions.  She didn't even bother to look for Spook and Fright, hoping she could get away while they were hiding.  Unfortunately, she didn't have enough luck for that to happen.</div> <bR> <div>     "You're bad at looking!" Spook declared, startling her as he popped out from behind a tree.  "You never even came close to where me and Fright were hiding!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Let's play a different game" Fright suggested, appearing out of thin air.  "We can play treasure hunt!  You and me can each make a treasure map, and then we have to follow the maps to find the treasure!"</div> <bR> <div>     "You just do that," Destiny told them, hoping that they'd go off on their own now.  "I'm going to go find Sani."</div> <bR> <div>     "No!" Fright exclaimed.  "You're going to play with us!  We're going to give you our maps and then you have to get the treasure!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I most certainly am not!" Destiny told the ghosts.  "I'm not going to drop everything to go look for some made-up treasure!  You two are just going to have to amuse yourselves!"  At that, Destiny turned them and marched off.  She hadn't gotten very far when she felt a tug on her backpack.  "Give it up.  I'm not going to play your games, and that's final!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Now you'll play!"  Destiny turned to find Spook holding her two Orbs and giggling madly.  "Me and Fright will hide these!  Then I know you'll play treasure hunt and help us find them!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny reached back and found that her pack's zipper was wide open.  "Hey, give those back!" she demanded, diving at the Haunter.  He just floated up out of reach, where Fright joined him a moment later.</div> <bR> <div>     "Oh, yes!" the Misdreavus said.  "This is perfect for treasure hunt!  I'll hide one, and you can hide the other!"  Before Destiny could yell at them again, the two ghosts had shot away, each bearing one of the precious spheres.</div> <bR> <div>     Realizing that now she would be forced to play the ghost's game, Destiny leaned against a tree to wait for their return.  It took longer than she expected, but when they came back, she could see why.  Each had a sheet of paper with pictures and directions scribbled all over it in crayon.  Fright and Spook handed their two "maps" to Destiny.  "Here you go," Fright said.  "You should look for mine first, because it's closer!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny examined the map, which seemed to be a crude drawing of the forest, with a big black X marking the spot that the Orb supposedly was.  "Where'd you get the crayons for this, anyway?" Destiny asked as she tried to make sense of the drawing.</div> <bR> <div>     "In a town, where else?" Spook told her, pointing to the sheet of paper.  "See?  It says that we're here at this one blue tree.  Hey, why's it blue, anyway?"</div> <bR> <div>     "You had the green crayon, silly!" Fright told him.</div> <bR> <div>     "Oh, yeah.  Well, according to the writing, we need to go west for a while, then cross the rope bridge and swim across the ring-shaped pond to the island in the middle!</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny stared at the paper.  "Where does it say that?"</div> <bR> <div>     Both ghosts pointed at the same spot on the paper, a mess of scribbles that made absolutely no sense to Destiny.  "Right there!" they both told her in unison.</div> <bR> <div>     "Uh, yeah, of course.  I should have known..."</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Sani and Snow landed in a tall pine tree.  "I just don't get it," Sani said.  "We've covered everywhere around here!  She can't possibly have gone any farther by herself!"</div> <bR> <div>     Snow nodded, {Yeah, I know.  I'm getting more and more certain that she didn't go anywhere on her own.  Someone took her, and we're going to have to find her and rescue her.}</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah...  Look, I'm going to stay here.  I want you to fly back to the Forest Temple and see if the Rockets are still around.  If they are, see if they've got Destiny captured somewhere.  Just don't get too close.  Pidgeys are common enough that they won't waste their time trying to chase you down, but there might be one or two Rockets that will take the trouble to capture you if you're close enough for them to nab."</div> <bR> <div>     {Hey, don't worry, I'll stay as far from them as I can!} the Pidgey agreed.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     The walk through the forest wasn't that bad, but when Destiny came to the bridge Spook had mentioned, she felt sick.  It was an old rope bridge hanging across a wide gap.  It looked like it had been there forever, and some of the ropes had already snapped, leaving the bridge hanging unsteadily at a strange angle.  "You've got to be kidding!" Destiny complained.  "There's no way I'm going to be able to get across that!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, we could always carry her," Spook suggested.</div> <bR> <div>     Fright made a face, "That spoils half the fun!  We're already going to have to carry her up to where your map starts, and I don't wanna have to do it more than once!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Okay, then," Spook told Destiny.  "You're just going to have to figure out how to go across the bridge by yourself."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny opened her backpack and pulled out her rope.  "Well, will you at least go across and tie this to one of the trees on the other side?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Uh...  We can't do that," Fright told her.</div> <bR> <div>     "Why not?" Destiny growled.</div> <bR> <div>     "Because we can't tie a knot!" Spook explained.  "Nope, you'd end up falling to your death if we tried to tie your rope, and then the game would be over..."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, too bad for you.  Well, I'll just have to do something else."  Destiny took the pokéball from her belt, "Star, come on out!  Let's see if we can think up a plan!"</div> <bR> <div>     Star came out of her pokéball, and immediately noticed the ghosts.  The Clefairy shouted at them accusingly, but they just grinned.  "Hey, I remember her!  She's spunky!" Spook declared.  "I liked how she beat that big mean rock-bird after he hit us!"  Star stopped shouting, and just stared at the Haunter in confusion, wondering why he was complimenting her after all the insults she had been flinging at him.</div> <bR> <div>     "Star, do you think you can get across that bridge and tie this rope to a tree on the other end?" Destiny asked, handing the Clefairy one end of the rope.  Star look at the bridge, then crept over to the edge of the gap and looked down.  Glancing back at Destiny, she replied that yes, she could probably do it, but she really didn't want to have to try.</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, you kinda have to, because these two jokers took both our Orbs and hid one of them over there on the other side."  Star glared at the two ghosts upon hearing that, then picked up the rope and took a cautious step onto the gently-swaying bridge.  Fortunately, Clefairies tended to be fairly light, so Star was able to get across the gap with few problems.  She almost fell down once, as a rotting board snapped, but she managed to pull herself back up.  "Good job, Star!" Destiny called, as the Clefairy reached the other side and tied the rope to the tree nearest to the edge.  Destiny tried to tie the end she was holding to another tree, but the rope was a little too short, so she ended up tying it to one of the old wooden bridge supports.</div> <bR> <div>     "Ok, Star.  I'm going to come across now.  You just wait for me over there."  Destiny grabbed her rope, and carefully made her way across the rope bridge.  After only a few steps, the boards snapped underneath her, leaving her hanging from her rope above the chasm.  Trying not to think of what would happen if she accidentally slipped, Destiny managed to pull herself back onto the bridge.  As she continued her crossing, boards continued to creak and snap underneath her.  "You know, I'm going to find some way to get back at you for this!" She called back to the two ghosts, who were watching her with fascination.</div> <bR> <div>     Suddenly, there was another snapping sound, and Destiny clutched the rope tightly, expecting the wood to be breaking out from under her again.  This time, however, one of the bridge's main support ropes gave way, and the whole bridge tilted onto its side.  Destiny grabbed at the remaining support rope, but it gave way as she tried to pull herself nearer to it.  The remains of the bridge arced down and smacked into the wall on the ghost's side.  Star shouted in alarm as Destiny was left dangling by one arm from her own rope.</div> <bR> <div>     Gritting her teeth, Destiny grabbed the rope with her other hand and slowly began working her way across again.  She was still a short distance from the edge of the opposite ledge when the wooden support beam that her rope was connected to snapped under her weight.  Destiny plummeted down, barely having time to brace herself before she smacked into the wall, nearly loosing her grip on the rope.  Star peeked over the edge and called down to her.  "I'm okay, I think." Destiny managed to step on a small rock jutting out from the chasm's wall, allowing her to take some of the weight off of her hands.  "I'll be up in just a moment."</div> <bR> <div>     After taking a couple deep breaths to calm herself down, Destiny began to pull herself up to the top of the ledge.  When she reached the top, she collapsed.  Looking up at Star, Destiny shook her head, "I never <I>ever</I> want to do that again!"</div> <bR> <div>     "That was good!  Yes it was!"  Fright exclaimed, flying across the gap.  "Come on, you can't stop now!  You're halfway there already!"  Both Destiny and Star just glared at the Misdreavus.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     "Well?" Sani asked as Snow returned.  "Did you find her?"</div> <bR> <div>     The Pidgey shook his head, {Nope, no one's there anymore.  I guess the Rockets decided that they didn't want to stick around.}</div> <bR> <div>     "I doubt she's with the Rockets anyway.  I just don't see why they would only take her and not me too."</div> <bR> <div>     {Well, she might have been in a cave or something, and we couldn't see her from the air because of that,} Snow suggested.  {I don't know of any caves around here, though.}</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, I guess that means we're just going to have to look some more.  Come on, let's try again..."</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Spook pointed at something up ahead, giggling with excitement, "There it is!  The ring-shaped pond!"  The Haunter grabbed Destiny's wrist and scooped up Star, pulling both of them along with him as he raced towards the water.  He stopped just before he reached the pond, and pointed to the small island in the middle.  "There!  Go over there and get the treasure!"</div> <bR> <div>     "All right, all right," Destiny pulled free of his grip.  "Consider it already done."  Destiny started to wade through the still water, hoping as she crossed that the hunt for her other Orb would be easier, and not include any more bridge crossing.  She had just stepped onto the island in the middle, when a blast of water flung her back into the pond.  She jumped up, wondering what had happened, and found herself facing half a dozen Croconaw.  "Uh, hi, guys," she said, waving nervously at the pokémon.  The Croconaw just stared at her, not making a sound.  She started to walk toward them, "It's okay, I didn't come here to capture you or anything.  I just need to find something."  As she neared the island, one of the Croconaw shot a warning stream of water past her.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny frowned, "Hey, come on, stop that!"  She waded over and stepped onto the island.  Looking over at the six pokémon blocking her way, she tried to spot her Orb.  Not seeing it, she started to walk along the edge of the island, but one of the Croconaw quickly jumped in front of her and snapped at her, driving her back.  "Okay, fine, I won't go over there." she assured it, walking back to the other five Croconaw, who were now murmuring to each other.  Destiny started toward the center of the island, hoping that they would let her pass, but the Croconaw blocked her way and growled at her.</div> <bR> <div>     "Look, you," Destiny complained.  "I've had enough trouble for one day without all of you bothering me.  Now get out of my way, and let me find my Orb!"  At that, the six Croconaw each blasted her with a stream of water, tossing her into a big patch of mud.  Coughing out some water that had managed to force its way into her mouth, she climbed back to her feet, looking like some kind of swamp monster with all the mud that now covered her.  Looking back at the island, she suddenly spotted her Orb, as well as the reason that the Croconaw weren't letting her on the island.  "Aw, no..."  She spun around and shouted at Spook and Fright, who had floated up behind her to watch.  "You just had to hide my Orb in a Croconaw's nest, didn't you!"</div> <bR> <div>     Both ghosts laughed hysterically.  "Go on!" Fright told her.  "Go get your treasure!"</div> <bR> <div>     "You know what?" Destiny growled.  "I hate you two..."  Glancing at Star, who had swam across the pond to her when she saw the Croconaw attack, Destiny nodded back at the island.  "Look, Star, I'll see if I can distract them while you grab that Orb, okay?"  The Clefairy nodded uncertainly.  Destiny didn't blame her.  "Well, let's see if I can keep their interest, huh?"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny stormed back to the Croconaw and yelled at them.  "You know what you are?  You're all bullies, and I'm not going to let you intimidate me!"  Shoving two of the surprised pokémon aside, Destiny walked past them.  She hadn't gotten very far before all six Croconaw grabbed onto her and picked her up.  They carried her back to the edge of the island and tossed her into the water again.  As she stood, one of them came forward and poked her, telling her something.</div> <bR> <div>     He was probably giving her a firm but relatively gentle warning to go away and leave them alone, but Destiny knew she had to keep him distracted, so she couldn't allow herself to be beaten so easily.  Still, she was amazed that the Croconaw hadn't just savagely attacked her by now, considering how irritating she must seem to them.  "Well, I don't want to stay here," Destiny told the Croconaw in front of her.  "I want to go onto that island and get a little glass ball that's over there!"  The pokémon just lunged at her and snapped his teeth together, right in front of her face.  "Uh, I guess that would be a no."</div> <bR> <div>     "Clefairy!"  Destiny glanced back at the island and found Star running from a little Totodile.  The Clefairy was holding the Orb, but all the Croconaws noticed the commotion.  They ran towards the edge of the pond nearest Star, who had now reached the water and was swimming as fast as possible to the other end of the pond.  The Totodile caught up to her and bit her tail, making her yelp and drop the Orb.  </div> <bR> <div>     Destiny sloshed toward her and gave the Totodile a smack on the head, "Hey, get off my pokémon!"  The Totodile released Star and ran back to the Croconaws, bawling.  The six Croconaws glared at Destiny and Star.  "Uh...  We'll just be going now, okay?"  Destiny said, plucking her Orb out of the shallow water and picking up Star.  Three of the Croconaws must have decided that having her leave wasn't enough, because they raced toward them, snapping and growling.  Spinning around, Destiny splashed to the edge of the pond and ran for her life.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     {I really don't think we're getting anywhere, Sani,} Snow told the Mew.  {We've been searching for hours now, and we still haven't found her.}</div> <bR> <div>     Sani nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean.  It just doesn't seem possible that she could have gone any farther..."  The Mew was quiet for a moment.  "You know, I keep feeling like I'm missing an obvious solution, but it keeps slipping my mind."  Suddenly, she realized what she had been trying to remember.  "That's it!  Destiny has that phone on her!  We'll just slip into town, call her up, and ask her where she is!"</div> <bR> <div>     {I hope that works.}</div> <bR> <div>     "Oh, it will, trust me."  Sani pointed southeast, "Was Peridot Town back that way?"</div> <bR> <div>     {Yeah, I think so.  Are you really going to go into town?  Are you sure that's a good idea?}</div> <bR> <div>     "Hey, it's the best one I've got at the moment.  We'll just have to make do!"</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     "Here we are!" Spook announced, as he and Fright deposited Destiny at the bottom of a narrow canyon.  "This is where you start looking for the second treasure!  Yep, right here!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny sighed, handing the Haunter the second map and hoping that this treasure hunt would go better than the last one.  "Okay, tell me what the instructions say."</div> <bR> <div>     "You need to walk that way," Spook told her, pointing down the canyon.  "Come on, let's go before it starts to get dark out!"  He shot down the canyon, with Fright following close behind him.  Destiny plodded along, refusing to waste her energy trying to keep up with the two pokémon.  She quickly lost sight of them, but she kept walking, certain that she'd run into them before too long.</div> <bR> <div>     She was right.  Both ghosts suddenly appeared in front of her.  "That's it, we're here!" Fright announced.  "Yeah, this is it!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Really?  That's all?"  Destiny smiled, "Well, where's my Orb, then?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Up there," Spook told her nonchalantly, pointing up the high canyon wall to a small cave.  "All you have to do is climb up and get it."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny gulped as she considered the task before her.  "Uh, can't Fright get it?  I mean, I'm sure she wants to have some fun finding your treasure too!" she suggested, hoping that the Misdreavus might be convinced to help her out.</div> <bR> <div>     Fright shook her head, "Nah, you can do it.  I'm having fun just watching!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Figures..."  Taking a deep breath, Destiny began to climb up the rock wall.  By the time she managed to reach a small ledge on the wall, her fingers were sore, and her knees hurt from a time she had slipped and almost fell.  Sitting down on the ledge for a moment, Destiny looked down at the two ghosts and immediately wished she hadn't.  Muttering about how she was going to get revenge on her fellow gamers, Destiny started to climb once again.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Sani pulled Snow into the first phone booth she saw, and quickly dialed Destiny's number.  Nothing happened.  "Hey, what's wrong with this stupid thing?" Sani grumbled.</div> <bR> <div>     {Well, maybe you need to put something in that slot there,} Snow suggested, pointing at a rectangular hole on the phone.</div> <bR> <div>     "Aw, yeah, I forgot.  You need money to operate something like this.  Humans just can't do anything for free..."  Sani stared at the phone for a moment, then grinned.  "Good thing I know Pay Day, huh?"  She tossed a glowing disk in the air and caught it as it solidified into a coin with a picture of a Mew on it.  "Freshly minted at Sani National Bank," she joked, pushing the coin into the slot and dialing the number again.  "Let's see if it works this time."</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Destiny jerked in surprise as her phone rang, almost loosing her grip on the wall.  Quickly hopping back down onto the ledge she had just been standing on, she pulled her vidphone out of her backpack.  She activated it and was overjoyed to see her friend appear on the screen.  "Sani!  Am I happy to see you!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Where are you, Dest?" the Mew asked anxiously.  "We've been looking everywhere for you!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny looked around, "Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I think I'm in the mountains near Ruby City.  I'm pretty sure I saw Mount Ruby as they were carrying me here."</div> <bR> <div>     "Who took you?  Are you okay?  We'll try to get to you as fast as we can!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shook her head, "Don't worry that much.  I think I'll be fine until you get here.  It's just those two ghosts from the abandoned mines.  They somehow got the idea that I really wanted to play with them and they weren't going to be satisfied with a quick game of tag.  They took our Orbs and hid them so I'd have to find them.  I'm almost to the second one now, but it's at the top of this wall here.  I'd rather not have to make the climb if you can get here fast and get it for me!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Consider it done!" Sani told her.  "We'll be right there!"</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Sani grinned as she hung up the phone.  "Well, that seemed to work pretty good."  She opened up the phone booth door and found three people staring wide-eyed at her.  "Hey, what's wrong with all of you?  Haven't you ever seen someone on the phone before?"  At that, Sani and Snow shot up into the sky again, leaving the stunned people behind.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     "Hey, why'd you stop?" Fright asked, hovering up to Destiny's ledge.  "It's gonna be night soon, and you won't be able to see to climb!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I thought ghosts liked night," Destiny said.</div> <bR> <div>     "We like night," the Misdreavus agreed.  "We know humans can't see right when it's dark, though.  Nope, you can't.  Too bad for you, 'cause night is fun!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, I'll get climbing again in a moment," Destiny assured Fright.  "I just got tired and needed to take a break."  She dug around in her pack until she found a smashed snack cake.  "I'm getting hungry too."  To emphasize the point, she opened the cake's wrapper and took a big bite.  She ended up with vanilla icing all over her hands because of the condition the cake was in, but she didn't let that stop her.  She didn't want Spook and Fright to realize that she was stalling for time.</div> <bR> <div>     After finishing off her cake, she ate Sani's.  "These are really good," she told Spook, as the Haunter floated up to join them.  "I could eat these all the time."  Destiny started taking smaller bites to make the cake last longer.  The whole time she ate, the ghosts watched her with interest.  She finished off Sani's cake, but the Mew still hadn't arrived, so she grabbed a bag of chips and started eating them too.  They were almost all broken into tiny bits that she had to pour into her hand to eat, but that just meant that it took more time to eat them.  She took out a juice box as well, and opened it.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny kept eating until she couldn't eat any more, ending up demolishing almost all their food supplies.  "Mmm, that was good," she said, although she actually felt a little sick from eating so much.</div> <bR> <div>     "Do you always eat that much?" Fright asked, still staring at her in fascination.</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, though sometimes I eat even more," Destiny lied.  "I just wanted to save some food for tomorrow."</div> <bR> <div>     "You didn't leave much," Spook observed.  "You're not going to have much to eat later."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shrugged, "We'll get more."  To her relief, she spotted a glowing purple sphere flying towards them.  A moment later, Sani and her Pidgey companion landed beside them.</div> <bR> <div>     "Oh, no!  Not you!" Fright complained.  "Our game isn't over yet!"</div> <bR> <div>     "It is now," Destiny told the ghost, as Sani flew up to the cave and retrieved their Orb.</div> <bR> <div>     The Misdreavus looked miserable, "But you didn't finish the game right!  You were supposed to climb up and get it!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, whatever," Sani said, picking up Destiny in a psychic grip and carrying her off the ledge and into the air.</div> <bR> <div>     "Maybe some other time!" Destiny called back, as she was whisked away.  "Like never!"</div> <bR> <div>     The two ghosts found themselves left alone.  They floated there in silence for a moment, then Spook turned to his companion.  "Well, Fright, what do we do now?"</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>