Dress-Ups and Party-Crashers

Dark appeared in the banquet hall in her dress that suited her perfectly. Something lightly hit her shoulder and she spun around.

"Yo." It was Kaumi, dressed sharp and more handsome than ever. "You seen Cass?"

"I haven�t run into her�" Dark scanned the room again.

"Are you entering the best dressed contest? I am."

"No, I don�t really want to do that. It�s not like me."

Kaumi nodded to the front of the room. "Then I gotta go, it starts soon. Watch for me!" He rubbed his hand across her cheek and was gone. Dark wandered to the rows of seats by the runway in the front of the room. She sat in the second row and waited.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have the pleasure of bringing you the best dressed Banquet contest for the SS Lapras!" Dark noticed that the man wore on his shirt a small emblem that looked somehow familiar. He was dressed in the uniform of the ship�s crew, but embedded on his left breast pocket were two small letters with wings blooming from behind them. Dark couldn�t make it out. "Our first category is: Best dressed couples!"

Dark waited in irritation for that one to end. The last of the seven couples looked familiar�they wore matching gray and white outfits. She kept her eye on them. They didn�t win, however; the winners got to announce the other categories.

The pretty-boy winner stood and announced: "Best dressed men!" He called out their names, and Kaumi was the third out of seven. "Kaumi Subarashi!" He looked even more stunning on stage than before. Apparently, they announced both categories before giving the winners. The young woman who had won as well began to speak.

"Best dressed women!" This Dark watched. No one particularly struck her until the last three. "Missy Asagi!" A woman walked on to the stage; she appeared to be in her early twenties. Her light saffron hair and baby blue eyes did something to her; instead of making her look like the typical picture of a blonde-with-blue-eyes, she looked very intellectual.

"Cass Silvers!" Dark didn�t believe it when she saw it, and from Kaumi�s expression, he didn�t either. A gorgeous young woman stepped lightly onto the runway in her black sandals. Her long brown hair was down all the way and her black dress showed her figure with the two pink moons crossed at the bottom. Pink heart-shaped earrings hung by her cheeks and her face looked like a delicate light bulb, glowing beautifully but the observer feeling that they had to be careful with it. Her beauty was so extraordinary that it might break.

"Roxy Miako!" The final contestant appeared to be equally beautiful and smirked briefly at Cass. She had fiery red hair that hung down and set off her orange dress into a blaze. She could have been the very element of fire. Her face shone dully in the light, and pink eyes seemed to burst with flame. Everyone was appalled by the final two women.

The pretty-boy announcer spoke again now. "The two winners from these categories will be able to have the ceremonial first dance, then we will proceed to the dance/banquet feast."

His partner cleared her throat and spoke gently, "The winner of best dressed man goes to, by vote of our hidden judges�Kaumi Subarashi!" Dark and others applauded as he went forward. He looked a little disappointed about the dancing part, however. "And the winner for the woman�s best dressed�" Dark saw Roxy glance anxiously and angrily at Cass and Missy. "Cass Silvers!" The hall erupted into cheering, but Kaumi and Cass looked slightly- what�s the word- repulsed by seeing that they had to dance together. Sure, they were friends, but they knew each other just as friends, and that was all.

Dark caught Cass�s gaze, and the unfamiliar beauty smiled and her eyebrows raised. She whispered something to the man who had been the original announcer, and they seemed to argue for a moment before reaching a conclusion.

"A-alright�yes. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, Miss Slivers graciously accepts the award from the judges, however, I understand that there is a person that Mister Subarashi would like to dance with." Kaumi�s face went pink. Dark knew what was coming and wanted to duck or vanish from the boat and escape the public scene. Kaumi saw her silent refusal and interpreted it the wrong way. He glanced at Cass, and in the flurry of motions and glances, Cass spoke once more to the man. "Er�yeah, alright! It has now come to my attention that these two know each other and Miss Silvers is forfeiting her dance spotlight. So, the second place woman gets to have the dance. Miss Miako�?"

Roxy looked more than happy to walk down to the open dance floor with Kaumi. So they danced the �traditional� first dance. The girl seemed to want something, and after the dance, she nailed it to Kaumi.

"You seem really sweet." His face went pink again. "I�m sorry, really, that your choice girl turned you down." She was clever, and even more so than Kaumi thought. She smiled innocently and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Is there something you want?"

"Well�Oh, nothing."

"You can say."

"Oh, alright. There�s these stones, you see, and I�m just looking for one�" By saying �only one�, she could get it out of him.

"Oh! The Primeape Stone?"

Her eyes twinkled menacingly. "Yes! You know where it is?"

His face went blank. "Actually, I kinda forgot where Cass said�" Roxy fell over anime-like. She stood straight, brushed herself off, then proceeded to walk away.

Dark was swept past by Missy, who saw Roxy the same instant she did. There was sparking electricity between the two, and something have to give. That something did.

"Missy Asagi!"

"Roxy Miako!"

"Prepare for your worst nightmare in the shadows!"

"Ready yourself for the awakening of dreams!"

Roxy fumed. "Shadows! Reveal yourselves!" A large part of the crowd hurried forward, now in Shadow Gang uniforms. Dark stepped out of the way and watched in nervous silence. She even spotted Myuka and Kain, who had in fact, been in the couple contest. Once again, they had failed in trying to steal the show.

Missy scowled, but straitened up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Carmen stood there. "Now Missy. I know you have inner conflict with this girl. Let us make this quick. Dreamers! Unveil!" The squad of Team Dream was behind their leader in a flash. Dark knew now the symbol on the announcer�s shirt matched the one on those uniforms, and the letters had been T and D. Carmen stepped to Roxy. "Now child, who are you?"

"I�m no child! Maybe younger than you. You know I�m Roxy!"

"Where�s the true Shadow Gang leader?"

"I came on his behalf as one of the top-raking officials!"

Carmen only smiled. With a quick flick of her wrist, her pokemon vaporized before her. It was odd looking, something Dark had never seen before. "Espeon!"

Roxy wheeled back her arm and let go. "Electabuzz!" There stood two pokemon. The first looked like Vaporen, but didn�t. The second was the buff electric type. Carmen didn�t seem to want to battle at all. "Espeon? Where did you get that?!"

Carmen began to lecture. "This pokemon was one of the few developed by Team Dream. We worked with Eevee and it�s evolutions as well as several psychic pokemon. This was our result."

Too anxious to hold back, Dark would�ve bombarded questions if Cass hadn�t first. "You�re Carmen Vax! I want to know�about Lake Kefka."

The whole Shadow Gang grew silent. "Lake Kefka�A Shadow base was once built there, but pokemon became wild and ran away. They began to attack, and little by little, new pokemon were appearing. My team created some of them. Ruins of our old hidden base are there. We also took pokemon from Johto to inhabit the area. It was the perfect plan to crush Team Rocket."

This new information stunned Dark. But what Roxy did next was even more stunning. With the order for attack coming from her lips, the whole of the Shadows on the boat lunged forward with their pokeballs. It was a sure disaster.