FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: Alrighty next installment, finally! Cici finally gets started on her journey. She's met by a curious individual when she reaches Viridian, but is he more than a simple trainer? Also, some innocent, yet embarrassing questions from her new Pokemon.. Just read.:P

Mirages & Bitmaps

Chapter 3:

Cici rolled over, the sound of the alarm clock blaring in her ear as she opened her eyes. She felt muzzy headed, trying to clear her thoughts and thinking back to last night.

After her father had dug her bike out of the rubble later yesterday morning, she'd spent half the day repairing and cleaning it, her father helping here and there, and taking time to make her lunch. They'd spent that last day together, just enjoying each others company, wondering what tomorrow would bring. Later that night, she'd spent time examining Porygon a bit more. When she let it out of it's pokeball, it appeared to be sleeping... no, sleep-mode, so she linked it to her computer and checked it's stats, something that could never truly be gauged on a normal pokemon.

There were even options that, with the proper tweaking, would allow Porygon to understand human speech perfectly. She'd stayed up most of the night, doing just that, so that when she went into battle with her new pokemon, she'd be sure it could understand her commands.

Cici yawned and sat up, stretching a bit, before getting out of bed. Dressed in only her night gown, she looked at herself in the mirror. She was cute, yes, but hardly beautiful in her own eyes. An average body type, not skinny, but not heavy either, more muscular and solid than anything. She turned sideways and glanced into the mirror, trying to arch her back and push her chest out. Her body was still developing, her breasts the very last thing to grow, it seemed. She sighed and sagged, biting her lip. 'Contacts were good at home, but ain't gonna do me too good on th' road,' she thought, shaking her head. 'Guess the glasses go back on.' She grabbed the case by the bed, and opened it up, a set of large, round rimmed glasses being set on her nose. She looked every inch the geek girl she always made herself out to be, but for once, she didn't feel depressed by it.

'Who cares what anyone thinks? Ah got a pokemon and ah'm gonna show everyone what ah can do!' She grinned at the thought and set about getting dressed, the smell of breakfast wafting through her slightly cracked door.

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"Mornin' kiddo. Hey, you're wearing the glasses again," Mr. Monroe said as Cici arrived downstairs for breakfast. "Hey daddy. Yea, figgered if ah lost a contact on th' road, it'd be a bit more difficult to see, so, ah'll keep 'em fer emergencies." She said as she settled in at the table, her backpack and pokeball placed in a chair as well. "Wow, you sure laid out a spread! All this fer me?" she asked, licking her lips.

"Yup. I figured since you're heading off today, you'd get a good home cooked meal. Your mother would've... wanted it that way."

His voice cracked for a moment, shaking his head as he turned back to the stove. Cici looked concerned, noting the distress in his voice. "Daddy? Hey.." She got up and hugged him tightly. "Y' think she'd be be upset that ah'm leavin'...?" She asked, looking up at her father.

"No, sweetheart. I think she'd be damned proud of you. I know I am." He smiled and kissed her forehead, before ruffling her hair again. "Now eat. You have a long way to go, and I want you to have enough energy when you get out there. Your mother would be cross with me if I didn't feed you right, y' know." he grinned, winking an eye. Cici nodded and returned to her spot at the table, wolfing down her food.

Half an hour later, Cici was on the porch with her bike, her father parting some last minute advice. "Remember, if it gets too dangerous, just come home. I'll be here waiting."

"No worries daddy. Ah'll keep in touch by phone or mail, an' y' can always head over t' Professor Oak's for an update on me." She grinned and hopped on the bike, adjusting her pack and setting off with a smile on her face. 'Look out world, here ah come!' She thought to herself, her father calling out his farewells behind her in the distance.

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Three hours later, Cici sat at a small pinic rest area, taking a break and drinking a bottle of water, her bike propped up nearby against a table. She looked around; the place was practically dead. She shrugged and decided to let Porygon out of it's ball for a bit. Computer or not, it would probably like the fresh air. "Come on out, Porygon!"

A burst light spraing forth as the ball opened, Porygon emerging and hovering there. "Well, now t' see if those tweaks ah did worked or screwed it up. Porygon, c'mere!" She said, waving a hand at it, then taking a swig of water. Porygon turned and faced it's trainer, it's eyes sharp and much more attentive since the last time she saw it. "Affirmative," it said in a soft, feminine voice, startling Cici enough to spit her water and drop the bottle. "You *cough* you spoke!" she exclaimed, staring wide eyed at the hovering Pokemon.

"Affirmative," came it's response, Porygon blinking it's eyes and regarding it's master curiously. "Awaiting command."

Cici was flabbergasted. She'd heard of a few pokemon that had been able to talk, like parrots or even using telepathy, but this was new. "How... how're you able t' talk?" She asked, leaning toward Porygon curiously. The pokemon seemed to ponder for a moment before responding, "Several system files were changed and/or altered last night at 3:37am Kanto time. Would you like to reset system audio output to default or save current settings?"

"Knew ah shouldn't a been programmin' half asleep again," She mumbled, rubbing her head. "Save current settin's, please."

"Please name scheme." Porygon said again, that soft, feminine voice flowing from.. somewhere on the pokemon.

Cici smacked her forehead. 'This is ridiculous!' she thought. "Name the scheme? Yer makin' it sound like ah'm savin' settin's on a com... puter." She paused.

'Setting's on a computer? Of course!' Cici cleared her throat and spoke,"Um.. save scheme as 'speech enabled', please."

Poryon chimed and replied, "Settings scheme saved. Awaiting command."

"Sweeeeet." Cici chuckled, rubbing her hands together. "Let's see what other goodies you got on ya." She said, pulling out her PDA and linking up to Porygon, once more scanning through it's systems. "Hmm. Ah can see stats and some system files, but no moves. Where are they?"

"Access to move set and protected system files is denied to anonymous users. Administrator and/or Owner is allowed to view move set and protected files." Porygon spoke once more, blinking it's eyes. "Well, ah'm yer trainer! How do ah get access?" Cici asked, rubbing her head.

"Pokedex required for Identification," It.. no, SHE spoke once more, Cici already starting to think of Porygon as a female by this point. "Oh, well.. um... lemme see.." She pulled out her Pokedex, and opened the wireless connection, which Porygon found almost immediately, connecting and downloading Cici's information. "Registration complete. Trainer ID confirmed: Ceila Monroe. Welcome." A new window opened on the PDA, showing several folders that weren't available before, including all available attacks. "Wow. Let's have a peek at yer move set then." She scanned through, tapping the folder open and gawking. "Well, says here yer a level 18. Y' got some decent moves, but everything else is off limits fer now. Guess yer systems can't hack th' higher stuff yet." She rubbed her chin, hrming. "Well, let's see what we can do. Now that ah know what yer capable of, we can try battlin'. Sound like fun?"

"Affirmative," Porygon said, bobbing up and down in the air. Cici giggled; she had to admit, for such a stiff pokemon, it still managed to show enthusiasm. "Heh. Okay, back in yer ball then. Ah'll figger out what ah changed in yer system files later this evenin'," she said, returning Porygon to it's ball in a beam of red light. "Now t' find me a trainer t' fight..."

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A few hours (and several battles) later, Cici found herself on the outskirts of Viridian City. She stood and admired the view; the city had grown quite a bit in the last few years, with shops that nearly rivaled Celadon for variety. Cici grinned and began pedalling, soon hitting the city limits. "Wow... this place is big," She said, looking at all the tall buildings. She pushed her bike along the sidewalk, passing folks waiting for the bus, or simply on their own errands. A good deal of people had their own pokemon, which delighted Cici to no end. 'Perfect place t' start askin' fer challengers,' she thought to herself, adjusting her glasses and pausing at a crosswalk. "Now, lemme see. Where's th' Pokemon Center? Ah was told it used t' be at th' city limits to th' south.."

"They closed that center down a few years ago and rebuilt it further into the city," A male voice said from behind her. Standing a full head taller was a red headed, spiky haired boy. Cici blinked, looking him over. Tall, handsome, he was the kind of guy a girl dreamed about. She took a breath, blinking and stammering,"Um... oh. Well, do you, um.. know where it is?"

"Sure. I can lead you there. I'm heading there myself." He said, giving her a nod and moving on, Cici grabbing her bike and following after to catch up. "M' name's Cici by th' way. You?"

"Victor. Nice to meet you, Cici." He looked her over, raising an eyebrow. "Been training long?" he asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Not too long," she said, chuckling nervously. 'A day ain't really somethin' t' brag about,' she thought, looking away. "So, you come 'round here often?"

Victor shrugged. "My third trip through Viridian, honestly. I just love this town," He said, grinning. "The place has gotten bigger in the last few years. Used to be just another small town until all the business started popping up," he said, waving a hand to the many shops along the street.

"Wow. Ah've never been here before, but ah'd heard so much. But this don't even begin t' describe it," Cici said, once more staring up at the tall buildings. Soon though, the Pokemon center came into view, a large, domed building with the huge 'P' on the front. "There we are. How long do you think you'll be in town?" Victor asked as they walked up the path to the doors.

'Is he askin' me out?' "Dunno. Ah got some business nearby outside of town, but after, ah should be free," She said, blushing a bit.

"Good. When you get back, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see you again,"he said, a small grin on his face.

"Really?" Cici asked, practically beaming.

Victor nodded,"Of course. I'd love to have a battle with you, if that's okay."

'DAMMIT!'

"Oh, a..a battle! Of course, sugar. Ah'd be glad t' oblige," She said, rubbing her head and chuckling sheepishly. 'Figures...'

Cici followed Victor inside, dropping off one pokeball while he dropped off 5. "Starting a new team?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, mah pokemon's pretty strong, so ah hadn't bothered expandin' th' group yet," She said, which was partly true; she also hadn't purchased any pokeballs yet. "Well, I'd recommend expanding your group then," Victor said, as he turned to leave. "If you plan on taking on the trainers around here, you'll definitely want the back up. So, tomorrow afternoon, we battle?" He asked, looking Cici in the eyes.

Cici nodded, smiling,"Definitely, sugar," She said, nodding as he turned and strolled out the door, her eyes following him all the way especially his lower back and that tight, firm-

"Miss?" The nurse behind the counter spoke, snapping Cici from her day dreaming. "Oh, um.. sorry, what'd you say?"

"I said, would you care to reserve a room for the night? It's free for pokemon trainers with ID."

Cici nodded and pulled out her pokedex, showing it to the nurse,"Sure thing. Would it be okay if ah went back out? Ah need t' pick up a few things from th' store before it gets too late.."

The nurse nodded,"Of course. Here's your room number and key." She handed the key over to Cici, the girl taking it and nodding. "Thanks a lot, Nurse.."

"Pride. Nurse Pride," she said, smiling. Cici looked confused. "Heeey.. ah thought th' Joy family ran th' Pokemon Centers."

Nurse Pride nodded,"They did until recently. The Joys now pretty much own them all, and decided to hire on extra staff. And since the Pride family pretty much shares the same tradition of having look-a-like relatives, and about as extensive knowledge of pokemon as the Joys, we were picked. So don't freak out if you come across another Pride at another Pokemon Center," She said winking. Cici looked her over, raising an eyebrow. Nurse Pride stood at about 5'1", maybe a smidgen taller, but she couldn't be sure. Her hair was green and apparently long, and styled into a bun on the back of her head. A set of small half rimmed glasses were perched on her nose, giving hr a much more mature look, even though she couldn't have more than mid 20's at the most.

Cici nodded,"Well, ah'm certainly glad they got such good help then," She said, grinning. "Ah'll be back in a couple hours. Thanks, Nurse Pride!" She said as she headed back out the door, hefting her back onto her back and following the sidewalk back to the stores she'd passed eariler.

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Later that evening, Cici sat in her room at the Pokemon Center, Porygon settled on the bed quietly. She poured over the new Poketch she'd picked up and grinned. Now that she had another piece of Poke gear to study, she'd be one step closer to completing her upcoming project. "Porygon," Cici said, stirring the pokemon from it's quiet position,"Do me a favor, and scan mah Pokenav. Look fer a folder marked 'Mirage'. See whatcha can make outta th' info in there."

"Accessing," Porygon replied, the pokemon's eyes slowly changing color from red to green, showing the progress of the download. "Connection to Pokenav established. Scanning now."

Cici crossed her fingers, waiting while Porygon ran the information through her systems. Finally, Porygon spoke, "Information assimilation complete."

"Good. Now, can you make out where Dr. Yung's lab was from the information available?" She asked, leaning in closer to Porygon, fairly on edge. "Affirmative. Target: Dr. Yung's Lab is approximately 14.7 miles northeast of Viridian City."

"Almost fifteen miles. Should be able t' make that easily in a few hours and get back in time fer mah battle wit' that cutey, Victor," She said, grinning and squirming. "Well, better get a good night sleep. Head on into sleep mode, Porygon."

"Affirmative." Came Porygon's response. Cici settled under the covers and was just closing her eyes to sleep, when Porygon piped up again, "Mistress?"

Cici raised an eyebrow. 'Mistress? That's new.' "Yes Porygon?"

"What does 'anally penetrated' mean?"

Cici's eyes snapped back open. "Wh-what the heck are you talkin' about? Where'd THAT question come from?" she asked, sitting up and glancing at her pokemon.

"From one of the text files downloaded from the Pokenav." Came Porygon's answer.

Cici balked. "It's... well, ah mean, you... it's when... nggh. Ah'll... explain t'morrow. For now, just.. go to sleep, Porygon, okay?" She said, laying back down and turning the light out, thankful that the darkness hid her furious blush.

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