“So where will we go first?” Aoife asked Petra, who was studying the map.
 “Hmm…” Petra mused.  “Mount Moon isn’t too far from here, at least I don’t think it is.  Right down this road.”  She pointed off down a road that led to the east.  “Route 3.”
 As Petra was putting the map away, thunder was heard from the sky and rain began falling down.  “Chaaa!” Chu-Chu shrieked, hiding under Aoife’s shirt.
 “Or maybe not,” Petra said.  “Maybe we better go to the Pokemon Center until this clears up.”
 “Or somewhere indoors, at least,” Aoife said.  The two humans and the Pikachu ran for the Pokemon Center, but it was crowded.  Apparently many other trainers had gotten the same idea they had.
 “Shoot,” Aoife muttered.  “It’ll take us hours to get to the front of the line to get a room here.  Maybe we better not.”
 “Oh, okay,” Petra replied reluctantly.  “While we’re stuck here in Pewter City, how about we go to the museum?”
 “Oh yeah, I’ve been there before,” Aoife said.  “The Pokemon Museum, right?”
 “That’s right,” Petra affirmed.  “There’s a new exhibit there now.  They have Omanyte fossils!”
 “Cool,” Aoife said.  “Sure, let’s go.”  They ran through the rain again from the Pokemon Center, down the streets of Pewter City, and through the doors of the Pokemon museum.
 “3 dollars admission fee each,” the woman at the front desk requested.
 Aoife paid the woman three dollars, then nudged Petra, who was staring at the woman and blushing, to do the same.  “Come on, sometime this year, Petra.”
 “Heh heh…uh, what did you say?” Petra momentarily snapped out of her trance.  “Oh yeah, uh, three dollars.”  She fumbled in her pocket for a moment, then handed the woman three dollars.  Aoife, embarrassed, grabbed her wrist and dragged her off.
 “That cashier was really beautiful, wasn’t she?” Petra mumbled.
 “Uh…yeah,” Aoife said.  “Come on, let’s go look at the exhibits now.”
 Petra, now having regained her composure, looked at the museum brochure.  “The one with the fossils of prehistoric Pokemon is upstairs, and there are some other exhibits down here.”
 Aoife was looking at an exhibit about Pokemon genetic engineering that had a picture of Mewtwo on it.  “Cool, Mewtwo,” Aoife said, looking in awe at the super-Pokemon.  “If I had Mewtwo, I could easily become Pokemon Master before Fawn!”
 “Who’s Fawn?” Petra asked.  “Is she cute?  It is a she, right?”
 Aoife looked at her strangely.  “What’s the story with your obsession with girls?”
 Petra shrugged.  “Don’t know.  I just like them, that’s all.  I’m a lesbian…you’re not a homophobe, are you?”
 “No,” Aoife said.  “Being prejudiced against lesbians is old-fashioned.”
 “Glad to hear that,” Petra said, smiling.  “I think we’ll get along fine.  So who’s Fawn?”
 “My rival,” Aoife said.  “Her great-grandfather is Professor Oak, and apparently that makes her think she has the right to act like a snob all the time.  She says she has better Pokemon than I do, and she has a Raichu!  It’s not fair!”
 “She says?” Petra repeated.  “She might say she has all these great Pokemon, but she could be exaggerating or showing off.  Besides, Raichu are hard to tame.  If she’s a beginner, she probably isn’t at a high enough level to handle one.”
 “Level?” Aoife asked.
 “Yeah.  Pokemon have levels, and their levels determine when they’ll evolve or learn new attacks.  But their trainer’s levels go by how many badges they have.  You have one, so you’re at Boulder Level, the first level.  If your Pokemon is a higher level than you are, you can’t control it.  Most Raichu are at least Rainbow Level, and Fawn can’t be at Boulder Level yet because she hasn’t beaten me.”
 “What’s the next level?” Aoife said.
 “Cascade,” Petra replied.  “If you get a Cascade Badge from the Cerulean City gym you’re qualified for that level.”
 “Huh,” Aoife said.  “Cool, a Kabuto fossil,” she said, looking at a dome-shaped fossil under a glass case.  She took out her Pokedex.  “I wonder if Dexter can read the data of a Pokemon fossil?”
 “Worth a try,” Petra said.
 Aoife pointed her Pokedex at the fossil, and it said, “A Kabuto fossil.  No data is available on this Pokemon.”
 “Crud,” she muttered.  “Guess not.  Darn.  Having an extinct Pokemon on my Pokedex would have really shown up Fawn.”
 “Don’t worry about Fawn,” Petra said.  “Work at your own pace.  Comparison isn’t good.  I learned that the hard way.”
 “That’s what Professor Oak said too,” Aoife said.  “Maybe—what was that?”
 “What?” Petra asked.
 “I heard some noises upstairs, like crashing or something,” Aoife said, running toward the staircase.  “Let’s check it out.”
 Upstairs, they found some things scattered across the floor, namely an Omastar fossil, some broken glass from the skylight, and Bonnie, Clyde, and Sundance.
 “Not them again,” Aoife moaned.
 “Who are they?” Petra wondered.
 “Prepare for trouble!” Bonnie shouted, jumping up.
 “Bonnie…I don’t want to do this right now…” Clyde whined.
 Bonnie kicked him.  “Come on, get up.  It’s your line.”
 “And make it double,” Clyde muttered, still on the floor.
 “To rule the world with greatest—get UP, Clyde!”
 “Okay, fine.”  Clyde gave in, and stood up.  “Stalking around at the midnight hour.”
 “To denounce the greatness of evil and sin!” Bonnie said proudly, while Clyde was removing a shard of glass from the sole of his shoe.  “Clyde?”
 “With our Pokemon we’re sure to win,” Clyde put in quickly, hoping Bonnie wouldn’t kick him again.
 “Bonnie!”
 “Clyde!”
 “Team Rocket, flying in the night!”
 “Surrender now or you’ll lose the fight!”
 “Vulpix!” Sundance said.
 “Oh, it’s Team Rocket,” Petra realized.  “I’ve heard of you.”
 “What do you want?” Aoife asked.  “And why am I bothering to ask, because whatever it is, you’re not going to get it.”
 “Uh, nothing, we’ll be going now,” Clyde said, edging towards the staircase.
 “Chicken,” Bonnie muttered.  “We want some fossils, and that’s what we’re going to get.”
 “Nope, sorry, incorrect answer,” Aoife said.  “Get them, Chu-Chu.”
 “Ka!” Chu-Chu said, bounding towards them. 
 “Double team!” Aoife commanded her Pokemon.  Before everyone’s eyes, Chu-Chu seemed to multiply into ten different Pokemon.  And although Aoife could tell which one was the real Chu-Chu, Team Rocket couldn’t.
 “Okay, try that one, Sundance,” Clyde said, pointing to one of the Pikachu.
 “Vul!”  Sundance flamed one of the Chu-Chus, but it wasn’t the real one.
 “That one?” Clyde guessed.  Sundance attacked the one Clyde was referring to, but that one disappeared too.
 “Now try that one!” Bonnie said, pointing to another one of the Chu-Chus.  “Or that one!  Or…”
 “This is rather amusing,” Petra smirked. 
 “But they’re running out of Chu-Chus,” Aoife said.  “They keep disappearing.  Eventually they’re going to get the right one.”
 “Okay, I’ll contribute,” Petra said, throwing a Pokeball.  “Go, Mina!”
 “Who’s Mina?” Aoife asked, and her question was answered when Petra’s female Mr. Mime came out of the ball.  “Oh, that’s your Mr. Mime’s name?”
 “Psywave,” Petra said. 
 “Mr. Mime!” Mina said, psychically pushing Team Rocket out the emergency exit.  The door opened, setting off an alarm, and Team Rocket fell down the fire escape.
 “I almost feel sorry hurting that Vulpix,” Petra said, a little regret showing in her eyes as she watched Sundance tumble down the stairs with its owner.  “My dad has a Vulpix.  Mom gave it to him.  It’s his favorite of his Pokemon.”  She shook her head.  “What am I talking about.  I miss them already and we’re still in Pewter City.”
 Aoife watched Petra, not knowing what to say, as sirens were heard outside.  The police had come.
 “Good, someone’s here to get those creeps,” Aoife said.  “They’ll get what they deserve.”
 “The police are here?”  Petra scrambled to the fire escape.  “Yes!  I get to see Officer Fiona again!”  She ran down the fire escape.
 “Petra!” Aoife ran after her.  By the time she got down the fire escape, she found Petra chatting up one of the officers, an attractive female with blonde hair riding a motorcycle.
 “So, Officer Fiona, what are you doing tonight?” Petra asked.  “Want to come to dinner with me?”
 “I’d rather not, thanks,” Fiona replied. 
 Aoife and Chu-Chu sweatdropped.  “Another girl, huh?” Aoife said. 
“Kachu,” Chu-Chu said.
 “Come on, you two, you’re coming to the station with me,” Officer Fiona said, grabbing Bonnie by the arm.
 “We are most certainly not,” Bonnie wrenched away from Officer Fiona’s grasp.  “Come on, Clyde.”  Bonnie dragged Clyde off to their getaway car, a blue pickup truck with a red R on the hood.  They jumped inside and sped off.  “Later, suckers!”
 “Hey!” Clyde called, sticking his head out the window.  “Look what we got!”  He held up an Omanyte fossil and laughed, then pulled back inside the truck.
 “I’ll catch them!” Fiona said, speeding off after them.
 “I’ll help, okay?”  Petra was on the back of the motorcycle, clinging on for dear life.
 “You…what?”  Fiona noticed Petra.  “What are you doing here?”
 “I came along to help,” Petra grinned.
 “You’re not helping!” Fiona shouted.  “Having a second passenger is making me lose my sense of balance!”
 The motorcycle skidded around, and Fiona lost control of it.  They were both flung off, but Fiona managed to land on a soft patch of grass while Petra went sailing into a tree.  She landed on a branch next to a Weedle, who was crawling along eating leaves.
 “Weedle wee,” it said, sticking its stinger into Petra’s leg. 
 “OUCH!” Petra yelled, jumping up and falling out of the tree into a bush.  She poked her head out of the bush wearily, then glanced at the license plate on Fiona’s motorcycle.  “00-PW-4615,” she said.  “I gotta remember that…”
 Fiona stood up, then walked over to Petra and slapped her.  “You idiot, what were you trying to do?” she snapped.  “I would have gotten those crooks if you hadn’t come along, you stupid dyke.”
 That last word did not go over very well with Petra, and she stood and glared at Fiona, looking rather intimidating.  “Okay, Officer, I understand I did something wrong.  And I apologize.  But calling me by that hateful, puritanical word was totally uncalled for.”  She punctuated that sentence with a slap to Officer Fiona’s face, much harder than the blow Fiona had dealt to her.  “And I think I am justified in doing that.”
 One of Fiona’s fellow officers had been watching, and he decided to step in.  “Hey, dude, you should have some manners.  Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to hit a girl?”
 “I am a girl,” Petra replied, striding over to him.  “What are you trying to say, that girls aren’t tough enough to fight?  You do know I could sue her for police brutality, right?”
 “Um…” the man stuttered, embarrassed at being talked to that way by a teenager.  “Uh, Fiona, let’s go now okay?”
 Fiona, recovering from the shock of being slapped, just nodded and got back on her motorcycle and the police left.  Petra felt proud of herself until she noticed Aoife and Chu-Chu watching.  “God, I’ve set a bad example for her, haven’t I?” she thought.  “I should be ashamed…”
 Aoife walked over to her, and, seeming to read Petra’s thoughts, said, “I thought it was brave of you to stand up to an officer like that.  And I think what you did wasn’t so bad, considering what she did to you.”
 “I set a bad example…” Petra began.  Aoife shook her head.
 “No, you didn’t.  She deserved it.  You only stood up for yourself and defended yourself, how could that be wrong?”
 “You have a point there,” Petra said, smiling a little.  “It’s stopped raining.  Let’s go.  Mount Moon is just ahead, and from there it’s a long long way to Cerulean City…”
 “And a long way back home!” Aoife giggled.  “Yeah, let’s go.”
 As they walked off, Petra thought, “She’s really mature for being only 11.  She’ll make a great Pokemon Master one of these days…”
 

Author's Notes
How did you like episode 5?  I liked it a lot, and it had a good moral (the moral being that gays are people too).  I didn't plan on writing the bit with Petra and Officer Fiona at the end, the idea just sorta came to me as a way to develop Petra's character more.  This is a good character-development ep. for her.  Also, a little note about Fiona's license plate: it's done in the Irish-British license plate pattern.  The first two numbers are the year (2000 in this case), the two letters stand for the county or city, and then there are 4 or 5 other numbers.  In the case of the two letters, the PW was for Pewter.  PT could be Pallet Town, VD could be Viridian, CR could be Cerulean, CD for Celadon, S for Saffron, VM for Vermillion, LV for Lavender, FU for Fuchsia, CT for Chartreuse, AZ for Azure, and CI for Cinnabar Island.  Oh, and when Petra said it's a long way to Cerulean City and Aoife said it's a long way back home...that was a play on the song "It's a Long Long way to Tipperary".  Sorry, I just thought it would be funny.  Hey, maybe I should make it into a running joke.  And there were no breaks in this story to stick in a Who's That Pokemon, so it's gonna be Vulpix.
 
Pics:
Officer Fiona

back