The second she spotted the old woman, Misty dug out her wallet.
        "Hold on a second, Ash." she whispered to her youngest friend as they walked. "Let's see if this lady up here wants to sell us anything."
        Ash squinted at the figure, waiting patiently at the side of the road, as they approached her. "What for?" he hissed back. "Do you know her or something?"
        "Of course not! I'd just like to help her out, that's all."
        Brock smiled. "That's actually pretty nice of you, Misty."
        "Ka." Pikachu agreed, perched atop its master's head.
        Ash scoffed. "Yeah, why can't you be more like this all the time?"
        Misty growled. "You watch it, Ash-"
        "Excuse me."
        The soft, kind voice gently smothered Misty's threat. "Pardon me." the woman smiled. She didn't look very old, Misty realized, now that they were closer to her. She looked a little tired, and she was a small woman, but she still possessed an attractive face and a healthy-looking body. "I was just wondering-"
        "Of course! We'd love to buy something!" Ash blurted, grinning falsely.
        "Very smooth." Misty muttered.
        The woman looked a little confused. "Oh, I don't have anything to sell." she corrected the boy politely.
        The ten-year-old turned to his female companion and scowled. "Nice call, Misty." he mouthed angrily.
        Misty blinked, bewildered. "But I could have sworn. . ."
        "Huh?" Ash looked curiously at his friend, waiting for her to finish.
        Misty blushed faintly, feeling a little stupid. "I just had a feeling. . . that you had something for us."
        The woman smiled warmly. "But I do." she spoke softly.
        Brock blinked. "But you just said-"
        "Oh, not to sell." The woman chuckled pleasantly. "As a gift."
        She reached into a deep pocket on the front of her long, brown dress and brought out four glittering amulets, hanging on leather thongs. Misty caught her breath at the sight of the four pendants. They weren't extraordinary, but there was something about them that took her breath away.
        "These are for you." the woman explained, her words barely heard by the four spell-bound travelers. "Please, take them."
        Ash reached out for one immediately, awed. The woman, however, withdrew the amulets quickly, breaking the spell.
        "Hey. . ." Ash began angrily.
        The woman stopped him with a sharp shake of her head. "You have to pick wisely." she scolded gently. "Choose from your heart." She held the pendants out again.
        Misty looked closer at the four stones. They were circular, but flat, as if they had been worn down by centuries of erosion. All four were different colors: blue, green, red, and a soft purple. They shone dully, but they were beautiful nonetheless.
        The girl peered closer at the blue amulet. What had at first appeared to be a smooth surface suddenly revealed itself to have intricate, delicate, almost invisible carvings all over its face. Misty squinted her eyes and looked harder.
        The indistinct designs slowly worked themselves out, forming into a complicated, but nevertheless obvious, shape.
        "It's a Squirtle!" she breathed, reaching out to touch the surface of the amulet.
        "A Squirtle? Wow, let me have it!" Ash cried, interrupting her sense of awe. "I've got a Squirtle!"
        "Tough luck, Ash Ketchum!" Misty cried, grabbing the pendant before her friend could. "It's a water Pokémon, and water is my specialty!" She glanced at the other pendants. "Besides, there's a Bulbasaur right there." She pointed to the green one, dangling from the woman's fist.
        Ash whirled around to examine the green amulet. "You're right!" he crowed after a minute of sorting out the design. "How could you tell?"
        The girl shrugged. "Dunno." she replied casually, though she herself marveled at how she had deciphered the picture so quickly.
        Ash whipped the amulet out of the woman's hand. "Well, it's mine now!" he cried. "Cool!"
        Brock was leaning forward, inspecting the red amulet carefully. Finally he sat back, satisfied. "That's what I thought." he said quietly, more to himself than anybody else. "It's a Vulpix." He looked up at the woman. "It's perfect." he murmured.
        "It's yours." she murmured back.
        He took ahold of the pendant and pulled it away from the woman's grasp. "Thank you."
        "Oh, yeah. Thanks!" Ash cried hurriedly, remembering his manners.
        Misty smiled shyly. "Thank you." she told the woman.
        The woman smiled back. "But wait." She held out the purple amulet. "You've forgotten one."
        Misty strained to decode the carvings but to no avail. "Oh, it doesn't matter." She waved it aside. "There's nobody to take it anyway."
        The woman chuckled again. "It seems to me that you're forgetting an important member of your group."
        "Chu!" Pikachu added reproachfully.
        Ash grinned. "Okay, Pikachu, you can have the fourth amulet." He took the pendant from the woman, who gave it willingly, and fastened it around his Pokemon's neck. "Looks great, Pikachu!" he laughed.
        "Pika!" the mouse smiled, fingering the stone happily.
        The woman patted the Pokémon on its head. "You four get going now." she said kindly.
        "Okay! Thanks again!" Ash cried over his shoulder as he continued down the road, examining his new pendant proudly.
        Brock waved good-bye. "Thank you." He ran to catch up with Ash.
        Misty hesitated. "Listen, I don't want to just take these. . ." she said slowly. Digging in her wallet, she fished out a twenty dollar bill. Her last twenty. "Please take it." she said, pressing it firmly in the woman's hand.
        The woman smiled. "Oh, I can't." she said, offering it back.
        Misty ignored the woman's efforts to give back the money and walked away slowly. "I wouldn't have it any other way." she called back. "Thank you!"
        The woman waved fondly.
        Turning back to the road, Misty reached into her pocket for her amulet to find a piece of balled up paper that hadn't been there before. Pulling it out, she uncrumpled it --
        to find a twenty dollar bill.
        "Hey. . ." she muttered. She turned back to the woman.
        The woman was gone.
        Misty stood silently for a moment. Then she smiled and pocketed the money. Rubbing the blue stone between her fingers, she followed after her two friends.

Hey, here's a treat! Come read the new and improved chapter one!