“Welcome to the Maiden’s Peak Summer Festival!” a banner over Aoife’s head announced.  Before the group was a spacious fairground, normally empty, but not today.  Today it was filled to capacity with crowds, rides, and booths.  There was a stage in the middle of the fairground, a band taking their places onstage, getting ready to play.
 “Coooool!” Aoife squealed.  “I love carnivals.  This is gonna be great!”
 Sora immediately grabbed Aoife and Ferio’s hands.  “Come on, let’s go on one of those roller coasters!  This one looks exciting…”
 “Um, how about we stick together first,” Aidan suggested.  “We might get lost.”
 “Okay,” Sora agreed.  “And just in case someone does get lost, we should arrange for somewhere to meet.”
“The entrance would be the obvious choice,” Petra reasoned.  “So what should we do first?”
 Ferio was already starting to walk toward the booths.  “I want to try out one of these,” she said, stopping in front of a booth with bottles arranged along the back.
 “You want a try?” the booth operator offered.  “75 yen for three balls.  How about it, young lady?”
 “Well, why not?”  Ferio handed the operator 75 yen and in exchange he handed her three tennis balls.  Ferio stared at the bottles in concentration, then wound up and threw as hard and fast as she could.  It looked effortless on her part, but in just the one throw all three bottles clattered to the ground.
 The booth operator just stared.  “Wow.  That’s the quickest anyone’s ever done that.”
 Ferio smiled.  “Is there a prize?”
 “Certainly is,” the operator said, handing Ferio a huge stuffed Bulbasaur.
 “Wow, Ferio, that was really good,” Aidan said.  “I mean, you must have set a new world record there!”  Suddenly Aidan got an idea.  In a flash he was up at the booth, waving 75 yen in the operator’s face.  “I’d like a try, please!”  He turned back to Ferio and winked.  “I’m gonna win you something, Ferio.”
 Ferio rolled her eyes.  “Please, don’t bother.  I already have this tacky thing.”  She looked around the fairground.  “I’m going to go find a Pokemon center.  I should put this in my Item PC.”
 “Hey, that gives me an idea too!”  Sora took 75 yen out of her wallet and handed it to the booth operator.  “May I have a few tries too?”  She winked and jerked her head over at Aidan.  “I want to win him something.”
 “Good luck,” the booth operator wished her, handing her the three balls.
 Aidan wasn’t having much luck himself.  He had already thrown his three and hadn’t even come close to the bottles.  “Another try, please?” he asked, producing 75 more yen.
 “Heh, I’m gonna get rich if these kids keep trying to win each other something,” the greedy operator thought.
 Petra and Aoife had tired of this and were sitting in the seats in front of the stage, waiting for the band to start.  “This carnival is gonna be great!” Petra was saying.  “I bet there are _masses_ of cute girls here just waiting for me to find them!”
 “Sure, Petra, whatever,” Aoife said, knowing that Petra said this about every event they visited.  “Hey, someone’s coming on stage,” Aoife said.  “It’s…uh oh.”  She stopped because the performers that were coming on stage were young female dancers.  The band that was setting up earlier was just their accompaniment.
 Petra had already noticed this and was getting up out of her seat, trying to find a seat closer to the stage.  “Oh, wow!  See, Aoife, I told you there would be girls!  I gotta get a better seat.”
 “Wait up a minute, Petra!” Aoife stumbled through the rows of seats to catch up to her friend.
 Petra had gotten two front-row seats.  “Here, Aif, I saved this seat for you.”
 “Joy to the world,” Aoife muttered, sinking down into her seat.  The dancers took their places and started their routine, and Petra was already out of her seat and hanging on to the edge of the stage to get a better look.
 “Hey, wait a sec…”  As Aoife watched the dancers, she saw a familiar face.  Behind the kerchief that all the dancers wore, this one had long wavy red hair, and brown eyes accentuated with makeup.  She was younger than the other dancers too, and shorter.  “Omigod, it’s Fawn!”
 She shook Petra’s shoulders, trying to get her to pay attention.  “Petra, look at that girl in the front up there, the redhead.  Does she look familiar?”
 “Well, come to think of it, she is younger than the others,” Petra observed.  “But yeah, she does look familiar a little.”
 “That’s because that’s FAWN!” Aoife said.
 “Fawn?” Petra repeated.  “Your rival Fawn?”
 “No, another Fawn,” Aoife deadpanned.  “And those guys in the band, those are those guys that are always following her around!”  She jumped out of her seat and marched over to the stage door.  “I’m going to have a word with her after she’s finished performing…”
 “Have it your way,” Petra said, still watching the other girls.
 Once the dancers left the stage, Aoife was waiting there to confront Fawn.  When Fawn saw Aoife she stopped short.  “Aoife?”
 “That’s right,” Aoife said.  “What are you doing dancing up there?”
 Fawn shrugged.  “I’m taking a break from training for a while since I’m so far ahead.  Besides, I’ve always wanted to dance, so when they were holding auditions for the Maidens of the Peak—that’s the name of the dance troupe—I decided to go for it.”
 “And your little henchmen?” Aoife demanded.  “What are they doing in the band?”
 “They auditioned, of course,” Fawn said.  “How else did you think they got this gig?”
 “Because their girlfriend is in the dance troupe,” Aoife muttered.  “Well, congratulations,” she said, not really meaning it.  “I better go find Petra now, ‘cause who knows what she might do if she’s not supervised.”
 
***
 
 After the dancers had left, Petra figured there was nothing else worth watching so she wandered off.  When she arrived at the booth they had first visited, she was amused to see that Aidan was still there (Sora must have given up).  
 “Any luck yet, Aid?” Petra asked, coming up behind him.
 “Would I still be here if I’d won?” Aidan responded.
 “Guess not.  How much have you spent so far?”
 “I lost track when I hit the 1000 yen mark.”
 “1000 yen?  When was that?”
 “Half an hour ago.”
 “Oh.”  Petra turned away from the booth and looked out across the bay.  Her eyes fell upon a peak, where she saw a beautiful maiden with a flower in her long lavender hair, looking across the waters.
 “Wow,” Petra said.  “Hey, Aidan, check this out.”
 “Not now, I’m busy.”
 “Aidan, you can come back and do this tomorrow.”  Petra pulled him away from the booth to show him the maiden.  “Look.”
 Aidan looked up at the peak and saw the same sight Petra had.  “Wow, she’s cute.”
 “Cute?” Petra repeated.  “Hello, this is the most beautiful woman I’ve seen since…well, since we met Ferio.”  She grabbed Aidan’s hand and dragged him off.  “Come on, let’s go meet this girl!  Besides, she’s on a peak.  She can’t run away from us.”
 
***
 
 “She’s lucky, actually,” Aoife thought, walking through the fairgrounds in search of Petra.  “She has three…well, they’re basically her boyfriends, I guess.  Her fan club.  And she’s actually a really good dancer.  That dance troupe looked very professional up there.  I guess I’m just jealous of her, and how she seems to be just like me, except better in every way.”
 Aoife was headed for the entrance to the fairgrounds, and when she looked up she saw Sora and Ferio already there.
 “Hey, Aif,” Sora called to her.  “Whatcha doing?”
 “Looking for Petra,” Aoife replied.
 “You mean Petra’s out in the fairgrounds alone, unsupervised?” Ferio asked.  “That’s not good.  Who knows what she’ll do?”
 “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Aoife said.  “Come to think of it, where do you think Aidan is?”
 “Probably still at that booth,” Ferio laughed.  “Pitiful.”
 “Well, I’m going to go look for him,” Sora announced.  “You guys coming?”
 “Sure,” Aoife and Ferio agreed.  The three of them found the booth, but found no Aidan or Petra.
 “Excuse me,” Sora walked up to the booth and addressed the operator.
 “You back for another try?” the operator asked.  “I thought you’d given up.”
 “Not exactly,” said Sora.  “Um, you know that guy that was here earlier?”
 “Oh yeah, the one you wanted to win something for.”
 Sora blushed.  “Yeah, that one.  And there was a girl with short purple hair that might have been with him…have you seen either of them?”
 “Yeah, I seen ‘em.”  The operator lit up a cigarette and Sora, Aoife, and Ferio coughed.  “They said something about going up to a peak to meet a girl.  Probably went to Maiden’s Peak.”
 “Maiden’s Peak?” Aoife repeated.  “Where exactly is the peak?”
 “On the waterfront.  Can’t miss it,” the operator said.  “It’s this big rock with a statue of some chick on it.”
 Ferio bristled at his use of the word “chick”.  “Did they say anything else?”
 “Just that they were goin’ up there to meet this chick.  I didn’t hear nothin’ else.  Now, are ya gonna play or what?”
 “No thanks.”  Ferio turned away from the booth and started marching towards the exit.
 “But Ferio,” Aoife complained, “if we leave the fairgrounds we’ll have to pay another entrance fee!”
 “Or not,” Ferio corrected.  “We bought a three-day ticket, remember?  We’re even staying in the Pokemon Center in the fairgrounds.”
 “Oh, that’s right,” Aoife said.  They were walking along the beach, and Aoife was keeping her eyes peeled for the peak.  “Is that it?” she asked, pointing to a pinnacle rising from the sea.
 “Probably,” Sora said.  “And it looks like there’s someone standing on it.  That could be the statue he talked about.”
 “Let’s go!”  Ferio took off running towards the peak, with Sora and Aoife trying to keep up.  Their feet sank into the sand on the beach every time they took a step, but the thick sand didn’t seem to affect Ferio.  She arrived at the peak, which was separated from the main part of the cliff by a gap in the rock.  A railing barred anyone from falling off the cliffs, and it was this railing that Petra and Aidan were leaning on…along with Clyde, with an irate and yelling Bonnie a few feet away.
 “Oh, great,” Ferio muttered.
 “Are they there?” Sora asked, as she and Aoife arrived at the cliff.
 “Oh, great,” Aoife echoed Ferio’s sentiments.  “Team Rocket are here too.”
 Ferio pointed to Bonnie and Clyde.  “You know those guys?”
 “We certainly do,” Aoife said.  “And very well at that.  Too well, maybe.”
 “CLYDE!” Bonnie yelled at her partner-in-crime.  “Are you deaf?  I said let’s go back to the fair so we can steal some more Pokemon!  Clyde?”
 “No, you go ahead,” Clyde said.  “I want to stay here with Aphrodite.”
 “Aphrodite?” Aoife repeated, approaching Team Rocket cautiously.
 “That’s what he named the statue.”  Bonnie rolled her eyes.  “And now he’s got those two calling her that too.”
 “Yoo-hoo, Aphrodite!” Petra called to the statue.  “Want to go out with me?  Please?”
 “That’s the most beautiful statue I’ve ever seen!” Aidan said.
 “Well, at least he’s not fawning all over me like he usually does,” Ferio said.  “That’s a blessing.”
 “Hey, wait!”  Bonnie noticed who had spoken to her for the first time.  “It’s the brats!  Clyde, let’s do the motto.  Clyde?”
 “Maybe,” Clyde said noncommittally.
 “Okay, fine, I’ll do it by myself.”  Bonnie cleared her throat and started to do their motto.  “Prepare for trouble!”
 “And make it double,” Clyde said, while still gazing at “Aphrodite”.
 Bonnie sweatdropped.  “Er, to rule the world with greatest power?”
 “Stalking around at the midnight hour,” Clyde jumped in just in time, somehow managing to be on time with the motto even though he was still focused on the statue.
 “To denounce the greatness of evil and sin!”
 “With our Pokemon, we’re sure to win!”
 “Bonnie!”
 “Clyde and Aphrodite!”
 “Team Rocket, flying in the night!”
 “Surrender now or you’ll lose the fight!”
 Ferio applauded.  “Bravo.  So you’re from Team Rocket, are you?”
 “Yeah,” Aoife said.  “We’ve had to deal with them before.”
 “I don’t suppose you’ve heard about Team Rocket’s little Silph Co. invasion being foiled?” Sora asked.
 “We have, in fact,” Bonnie grumbled.  “Wait…don’t tell me that was you?”
 “Of course it was!” Aoife said.  “Who else would be talented enough to pull that off?”
 “Might I remind you, Aoife,” Ferio interrupted dryly, “that _we_ pulled it off, not you.  The whole time _we_ were busting Team Rocket’s operation, _you_ were sitting in a cell in the prisoner’s bay.”
 “Never mind that,” Sora said, “what about Aidan and Petra?”
 “Forget about us,” Petra said.  “I want to stay out here a little longer.”  Aoife looked doubtful.  “Don’t worry!  I’ll be back at the Pokemon Center by lights out.”
 “If you say so,” Aoife said.  “Okay, guys, I guess they want to stay here, so let’s go back to the fair.”
 
***
 
 “I wonder when they’ll be back?” Aoife worried, her face pressed against the window of the Pokemon Center, looking for Ferio and Sora, who had gone out to check on Petra and Aidan half an hour before.
 “Young lady,” a soft female voice said behind Aoife.  Aoife turned and saw a Nurse Faith with a cloth in hand.  “I’d appreciate if you didn’t touch the window.  You’ll get smudges on it.”
 “Sorry,” Aoife said, sitting down.  Faith wiped down the windows, then came to sit beside her.
 “You waiting for someone?” Faith asked.
 Aoife nodded.  “Yeah.  A couple of my friends were looking at the Maiden’s Peak statue the last time we saw them, and then Ferio and Sora went out to check on them.”  She looked out the window.  “I hope they come back soon.”
 “The Maiden’s Peak statue?” Faith said.  “Oh, yes, I’ve heard of the legend of that statue.  It is said that a young woman waited there while her love sailed out to sea.  He never returned, and she waited there so long she turned to stone.  Now her ghost still resides there, and once a year, at the time of the Maiden’s Peak Summer Festival, the ghost lures young men there.”
 “And the occasional girl-crazy young woman,” Aoife muttered.  “But that’s really interesting.  Do you think that’s what could have happened?”
 “I’m sure of it,” Faith said.  “This same thing happened last year.  We believe it might be the work of a ghost Pokemon.”
 Aoife gulped.  “A ghost Pokemon.  Great.”
 “Aoife!” Sora burst through the doors of the Pokemon Center and grabbed Aoife by the hand.  “Come quickly!  There’s a Gengar out on the peak!”
 “A Gengar?” Aoife asked.
 “I knew it!” Faith said triumphantly.  “May I come too?”
 “Uh, sure!” Sora agreed.  “Ferio’s keeping it busy until we get there, but fighting against ghost type is a huge mismatch, so we don’t know how long she’ll last.”
 They arrived at the peak to see Aidan, Petra, and Clyde floating above the statue, and a Gengar standing on the head of the statue.  Bonnie had a hold on one of Clyde’s feet, trying (but not succeeding) to pull him back down.
 “Clyde, get down from there!” she yelled.  “Clyde—whoa!”  Clyde’s boot came loose, sending Bonnie flying backwards.
 “Go, Mankey!” Ferio was yelling.  “Use Double Kick!”
 Mankey jumped up and did a flying kick at Gengar, but it went straight through Gengar’s gaseous body.
 “You fool!” Gengar said.  “Don’t you know that fighting Pokemon have no effect on me?”
 “It talks?” Aoife, Sora, and Faith asked.
 “I’ll help, Ferio!” Aoife joined in the battle, throwing one of her Pokeballs.  “Go, Pele!”
 The Gengar turned into a fire extinguisher.  “Puny little thing!”
 “Peleeee!” Pele screeched, hiding behind a boulder.  Aoife returned it and sent out Shellder and Weepinbell, both at the same time.
 “If we play by the rules, we’ll never finish this battle,” she decided.
 Gengar produced a fork.  “Oh, oysters!  I love those!”
 “Shellder!” Shellder squealed, withdrawing inside its shell again.
 “As for you…” Gengar turned to Weepinbell and took out a pair of clippers.  “Time to do a little pruning!”
 “Weep weep!” Weepinbell yelled, bouncing away from Gengar.
 “Shellder, Weepinbell, return!” Aoife said, returning both her Pokemon.  “If only we could use Aidan’s ghost Pokemon…” she looked up at the floating Aidan.  “But he’s under a spell.”
 “I think we’ll just have to wait,” Faith said.  “By morning the ghost will have gone away.  Usually it only haunts for one night, leaving the next day.”
 “Good,” Aoife said, relieved.  “Wait out the storm.  And in the morning, everything will be back to normal again.”
 
 
Author's Notes
Sorry that battle with the Gengar was so lame, but it was just...unbeatable, you know?  Aidan was the only one who could have saved them, and he was...out of commission at the moment.  I know it's not really like them to just leave their friends there, but they'll come back for them in the next episode (Bonnie will come back for Clyde too).  I thought the fair scenes were cute, that was probably the best part.
 
back