>     "Flight 207 to Nerima from Saffron City, now arriving at Gate 
>17."
>     Her head resting in her hands, Emiri looked up through 
>half-slitted eyes at the steady stream of people trickling out of 
>the gate.  She stifled a yawn and glanced at the clock.  12:30.  
>*Musashi told me this plane would get in at 11:00.  I've been here 
>an hour and a half!*  She scraped her boot idly against the carpet, 
>disgusted with the realization she'd been tricked again.  *I shoulda 
>just asked Kojiro...*
>     "Pika," chirped the little Pikachu sitting at her feet, as if 
>in reply to her unspoken thoughts.
>     Emiri glanced around the Nerima airport, trying to guess which 
>one of the multitude of strangers was Giovanni's son.  It being her 
>first time this far from home, she would be grateful for the company 
>of this Eric, whoever he was.  She picked up her rucksack and pulled 
>out a crumpled sheet of paper on which was scrawled, in his familiar 
>sprawling handwriting, a letter from her brother back at 
>Headquarters.  This inspired a small pang of homesickness.  She 
>comforted herself with the thought that in Nerima she didn't have to 
>put up with Musashi's hazing.
>     A young man all in black caught her eye suddenly.  She stuffed 
>the letter back into her rucksack and stood up for a better look.  
>The stranger was tall, dark, and handsome, with a cool, collected 
>expression accented with a smile just bordering on imperious, and 
>dressed in a black Team Rocket uniform exactly the opposite colors 
>of Emiri.  He had a commanding, foreboding presence that Emiri 
>recognized from her glimpses of the Boss.  There was no 
>question--this had to be his son.
>     She approached him with a certain degree of timidity. (wow, is 
>that legal?) "You must be Eric."  *Well, considering you're the only 
>one in a TR uniform around here, I'd think that would be a clue.*  
>"I'm Emiri Fushigi..." She trailed off, not wanting for some reason 
>to say "I'm your partner," not sure if she even wanted to be his 
>partner.
>     Eric's dark eyes swept over her, inspecting her.  It was easy 
>to see she and Mondo were twins--she looked disturbingly like her 
>brother, with her brown hair and big blue-green eyes, except for the 
>fact that she wore glasses and was perhaps a shade taller.  "So 
>you're Mondo's sister."
>     "Yes." Emiri cringed under the inevitable label.  Teamed with 
>Musashi and Kojiro, she had a fairly high position in Team Rocket, 
>but her brother was technically--or at least thought of as by 
>higher-ranking members--no better than a kitchen scullion.  After 
>all, he didn't try to capture rare Pokémon.  He just made food or 
>repaired equipment for the Rockets who did.
>     Emiri tried cheerfully to change the subject. "Uh...welcome to 
>Nerima!"
>     Eric nodded absently and looked around.  "So, this is Nerima.  
>Nice place.  We should be able to stir up a lot of trouble here.
>     "Yes, especially with that big tournament coming up," Emiri 
>agreed. "First prize is a Chansey."
>     "Really?" Emiri thought she saw him smile a little. "Excellent 
>timing."
>     Emiri nodded and suddenly remembered her Pikachu.  She looked 
>down at it, hiding self-consciously behind her leg and peering up at 
>Eric.  She took a Pokéball out of her rucksack.
>     "Hmmm," mused Eric as he watched Emiri call the Pokémon back.  
>"A Pikachu.  A potentially powerful Pokémon." He looked back up at 
>Emiri with a big smile.  "Try saying that five times fast."
>     "A potentially powerful Pokémon, a potentially powerful 
>Pokémon, a Pokéful powermon pika...oh never mind."
>     "If you can add that Chansey to your collection, you'll be on 
>your way to becoming a very powerful trainer."
>     "Yeah, but that's not the only reason I want it..."
>     "Err...what's the other reason?"
>     Emiri sweat-dropped. "Cause it's just so darn *cute!*"
>     Eric coughed.  "Well, Nerima is known for its fighters.  You're 
>going to have to work hard to get it." He turned from her and began 
>walking away from the gate.
>     Emiri stared thoughtfully at her single Pokéball as she 
>followed him to the baggage claim.  *Nerima is known for its 
>fighters, he says.  I wonder how much of a chance I have with just 
>one Pikachu.*
>     Eric picked up a large duffel bag from the conveyor belt.  He 
>set it down on a nearby bench and rummaged around in it, surfacing 
>with five Pokéballs, three red and two blue.  He picked up one of 
>the red ones and threw it. "Machoke, you can come out."
>     "Machoke?"
>     The Pokéball emitted a stream of light that solidified into 
>the hulking frame of a Machoke.
>     Emiri blinked. "Oh."
>     "Yes, this is Machoke," Eric explained.  "He's my oldest and 
>most powerful Pokémon, not to mention my best friend.  We trained in 
>China together."
>     Emiri looked at Machoke curiously, but still with a certain 
>degree of caution.  Working for Team Rocket, she'd never seen a 
>fighting Pokémon that wasn't about to clobber her, Musashi, and 
>Kojiro.  Machoke looked back at Emiri with its large red eyes and 
>said insightfully, "Ma-choke."
>     "Machoke," said Eric to the Pokémon, "this is Emiri, my new 
>partner." Emiri smiled somewhat shyly and nodded her head once in 
>greeting.
>     Eric shouldered his duffel bag. "Well, let's get going.  I want 
>to see this tournament."
>     "Furinkan's quite a while from here," Emiri put in as she 
>followed Eric and Machoke out of the airport.  "How exactly are we 
>going to get there?"
>     Eric smiled. "My father arranged for transportation."  As if on 
>cue a black car pulled up in front of them, driven by a Rocket 
>henchman in a black uniform.  Eric opened one of the doors and 
>gestured for Emiri to get in. "After you."
>     Emiri was impressed.  *I guess it never hurts to have 
>connections.* She climbed into the car, followed by Eric and the 
>ever-present Machoke, and the Rockets sped off toward Furinkan.