Robert trots around the virtual room in his red and white loafers, taking in
the sights around him.  The room is big and black, with a high, vaulted
ceiling.  The floor and the walls are vaguely marked with a sparkling blue
grid that lights up intermittently, but the grid lines are thin and widely
spaced; and when they fade out, the room seems to have no boundaries at all.
With every step he takes out onto the dark, black floor, Robert half feels
like he's going to plummet into oblivion.  Resolving not to look at the
ground, he continues to move forward, searching for the Pokemon Breeder who
he's planning to trade with.

"Um."  It suddenly occurs to Robert that he has no idea who he's looking
for.  He's never seen Zafiro in person, and since everybody in the Union
Room is using an avatar, he can't even limit his search based on gender.
Reasoning his way through the dilemma, Robert decides that Zafiro must be
one of the few people in the room who isn't actively trading or battling
with anybody else.

The Leaf Green avatar walks past a brown haired youth in a Fiery Red cap and
vest who's battling a black haired trainer wearing a Gold cap with goggles
perched atop the brim.  Next, she passes a Blue shirted boy with spiky
orange hair and purple cargo pants who's exchanging Trainer Cards with a
Sapphire-eyed girl clad in a bandana and bicycle shorts.  Not too far from
them, she notices as a long haired boy with shiny Silver jeans and a long
t-shirt secretively passing a piece of paper with the words reading "Map to
Secret Base" on it to a Yellow clad Trainer who's wearing a big sombrero.

Finally, Robert catches sight of one avatar character who is not involved in
any form of interaction.  This particular avatar looks very intimidating
with his yellow eyes, blue trench coat, and black leather pants.  Almost
afraid to talk to him, but knowing how silly he'll look if he still has his
Charizard when he emerges from the Union Room, Robert approaches the
solitary Trainer with a tentative smile.  "Um, Zafiro, is that you?"

"Hey, Robert!"  A cheerful voice rings from behind him.  Robert turns around
to see a white haired boy who's wearing a black bandana, Ruby red shirt,
black pants, and hiking boots.  The boy grins, "It's me, Zafiro!"  Heh,
you're a lot cuter in person."

Relieved that he doesn't have to talk to the mean looking avatar, but a
little unnerved by Zafiro's comment, Robert tugs at his skirt self
consciously.  "They were all out of male avatars.  I'm using the 'Leaf'
model."

Zafiro nods.  "I'm using the 'Ruby' model.  I was going to go for the
'Sapphire' model, what with my name and all, but it turns out that
'Sapphire' is a girl.  Not that there's anything wrong with role-playing,
but I'm not really into it...anyway, if you ask me, some of these avatars
are really bizarre.  That skirt of yours is really kinky.  And what's with
the fedora?"

Robert allows himself a laugh.  "Your avatar is pretty strange, too.  I
mean, look at your outfit!  Who dresses that way in real life?"

Zafiro looks down at his brightly colored sweatshirt, cargo pants, and
hiking boots.  He heaves a great sigh of shame, "Actually, this is pretty
much how I look in real life."

Robert frowns, "Oh."  There is a moment of awkward silence.

"So, shall we get to trading?"  Zafiro suggests.  He reaches for his belt,
and when he does, a holographic display appears in the air in front of him.
The display, which is rectangular and two dimensional,  hovers between the
two avatars like a glowing computer screen, and it is possible for both of
them to view its contents.  At the very top of the screen there is a long
orange box, and inside that box, in thin white letters, is the name
'ZAFIRO'.  Below that, there are six smaller, blue boxes, arranged in rows
of two.  The first box shows an image of a Torchic, her level, and gender.
The second and third boxes display Houndours, one male and one female.  Both
of the Houndours have small, envelope shaped icons attached to them,
indicating that they're carrying Mail.  The fourth through sixth boxes are
empty.

Zafiro taps the box containing the female Houndour with his finger, then
taps the screen again when a prompt asks if he'd like to view her
statistical data.  Three bright bars of light immediately appear in front of
him, and they begin to scan a three-dimensional area directly to the right
of Zafiro's feet.  Once the area is prepared, the Union Room's software
begins to generate a holographic representation of Zafiro's female Houndour,
based on the information it's reading from her Pokeball.  The entire process
takes less than a minute, and when it is complete, the digitized Houndour
standing beside Zafiro looks as real as can be, save for a slight
holographic glow, which suggests she might be synthetic.

The Houndour puppy has fluffy fur, big paws, and friendly eyes.  Her left
ear is standing straight up in the air, while her right ear is flopped over
on the side of her head.  Her belly is round and chubby, and it shakes
vigorously with every wag of her stubby, wiggly tail.  When the fuzzy baby
Houndour catches sight of Robert, she lets out a happy little yip and runs
right at him!  She jumps in his arms, and starts licking his face, leaving
his avatar's cheek damp with holographic saliva.

"Wow," Robert exclaims, "This Houndour is even more adorable than the
Houndour Dan Ando showed me back in Saffron!  Is there anything that I need
to know about her?"

"Hmm..." Zafiro considers.  "Well, she's three months old, and she's at
level 6.  Right now, she knows Ember, Leer, and Bite.  The envelope that I
attached to her contains all of her pedigree information--you should send
the Transfer of Ownership forms into the Pokemon Kennel Club as soon as
possible.  I'm giving you Full Registration, so you'll be able to breed her,
show her, and change her name if you want to."

"Okay," Robert nods, understanding most of this.

"Her fur is really fluffy right now, and that's normal for a Houndour of her
age.  Her overcoat should start to come in pretty soon, and it'll be a bit
denser.  The cartilage in her ears should start firming up when she's about
four months old, so you should tape her ears up if you want to make sure
that they grow perfectly straight.  The local Nurse Joy will probably do
that for you if you ask her to.  The ears will probably stand up on their
own, but taping never hurts--but whatever you do, DON'T CROP THEM.  If you
crop them, her horns won't form properly when she evolves.  Same goes for
the tail, don't mess with the tail.  If you start noticing any
irregularities in the bone plates around her ankles, get her to a doctor
right away.  Oh, and keep her on a diet of Arcan-iams, the generic stuff is
crap."

"All right," Robert agrees hesitantly, beginning to feel a bit lost.

Zafiro continues, "Houndours can be an aggressive breed--I'm not saying
they're dangerous, but you need to practice domination exercises with them
from the time they're very young.  Rolling them onto their backs is good for
a start, cuffing their jaws works...have you ever read 'The Art of Raising a
Pokemon' by the Monks of New Bark?"

Robert boggles, "I've never even *heard* of them."

"Oh, well, you'll want to get a copy.  That'll help."  Zafiro advises.
"Socialize her early, especially to Bugs and Grass-types.  Get her used to
grooming now, she's gonna hate it, but the last thing you'll want is a
Houndoom who won't let you trim her toenails.  Brush her teeth, too.  I know
those puppy teeth are sharp, but you need to get her used to the toothbrush
now, before she learns Crunch.  Try to brush her once a day, use a slicker
brush for the undercoat and a hound glove for the top coat.  Oh!  And
remember to keep her shots up to date.  She still needs a rabies
vaccination, and another 3-in-1.  Try to get her some Heart Guard while
you're at it.  And dewormer, just to be on the safe side."

Robert's eyes are beginning to glaze over in a mix of boredom and confusion.

Zafiro keeps right on talking.  "Crate Training's a good idea.  I kenneled
her before I came to Hoenn, so she should pick up on the Crate Training
pretty easily.  The Monks' book will give you a lot of information about
that.  She hasn't been on a leash at all, but she should learn to accept it.
And...um...she's gonna start teething in earnest pretty soon, so be sure to
stock up on chew toys.  I recommend the Raikong brand.  They're supposed to
have legendary endurance."  The white haired avatar shrugs, and wraps up his
speech, "Just have fun with her.  Can you give me any advice for handling
your Charizard?"

Robert snaps out of his trance.  "Yeah.  Don't let him kill you."

Robert shifts the baby Houndour into one arm, and reaches for his belt with
his free hand.  As he does, a second holographic panel pops up immediately
next to Zafiro's.  Robert runs his hand over the boxes that display
simplified representations of his Slowbro, Gengar, Raichu, Piloswine, and
Hitmonchan, before finally arriving at the lower right hand corner of the
screen, where he sees the angry, bouncing icon that represents his
Charizard.  He hesitates for a second, mulling over the fact that Charizard
was one of his first Pokemon, and thinking about all they've been through
together.  Deciding that it's in his Pokemon's best interest to pair him
with a Trainer who can train him effectively, Robert taps on the touch
screen to select the box, and taps it again to initiate the trade.

Zafiro taps on his own display to back out of the status screen.  The
virtual Houndour in Robert's arms disappears in a blink of light.  As Zafiro
selects the option to confirm the trade, both of the floating touch screens
turn black, and an advisory flashes across them, instructing the Trainers
not to move while the trade is in progress, since they might accidentally
collide with the trading machines in the real world, or otherwise disrupt
the connection.

After a very long pause, during which the two Trainers just stand still
staring at eachother, the screens finally light up blue again.  Robert's
Charizard now occupies the third box on Zafiro's screen, while Zafiro's
Houndour is now sandwiched between Robert's Piloswine and Hitmonchan.

Robert grins, feeling more confident about the trade now that it's taken
place.  He waves at the Charizard icon on Zafiro's screen, "Good bye,
Charizard!  I hope you'll have a nice life with your new Trainer!"  To the
Ruby avatar he says, "Thank you for the Houndour, Zafiro.  You have my
e-mail address, so please keep me updated about Charizard's progress."

"Sure," Zafiro readily agrees.  He has no intention of ever contacting
Robert again.

Robert looks around the room, not sure if there's anything else he should do
before leaving.  "So...do you want to play some mini-games?"

Zafiro shakes his head.  "Nah, I'm good."

"In that case, I'm going to go show Rilli my new Houndour."  The Leaf avatar
raises her hands to her head, and Zafiro suspects that Robert must be
removing his VR helmet in the real world.  "Thanks again!"  The avatar
shouts before blinking out of existence.

As 'Zafiro' waves goodbye, the holographic monitor displaying the Houndour
also fades from sight.  Inside the Petalburg City Union Room, Grey grimaces.
"It's a good thing I didn't attempt to put Gurion and Raksha's Reson Balls
in the trading machine.  If they got a glimpse of the airhead their daughter
was going to, they would've brained me to keep me from trading with him."
Grey lifts his hands to his head, starting to remove his own helmet.

"Hey, you!"

Grey pauses.  The Ruby avatar glances around the Union Room.  The
mean looking, yellow-eyed boy is running toward him.

"Yeah, you."  The avatar screeches to a halt in front of him.  Oddly, the
trench coat tails stop moving before the rest of him does.  "Did you just
give that kid a Houndour?"

The Ruby avatar narrows his eyes, annoyed by the newcomer's directness.
"Hi.  I don't believe we've met."

"Do you have another one?"  The yellow-eyed boy demands.

"I might."  Grey allows.  "What's the matter, aren't there any Houndooms in
the comic book reject country that you come from?"

"Yeah," the boy complains, "but Realgam Tower's hours away, and until then
I'm stuck with the sh.t Fire-type I snagged from Rosso.  I need a better
one; will you trade me?"

The Ruby avatar raises an eyebrow.  "So, I should trade my perfectly bred,
rare-in-Hoenn Houndour for your 'sh.t Fire-type'."

"I don't care what kind of Houndour it is, I just want a different Fire-type
that isn't a Slugma.  Look, I'll even throw in an equip item to sweeten the
deal."  The boy offers, clearly in a hurry to complete the trade.  "What do
you want, a Petaya Berry or a Scope Lens?"

"A Macho Brace."

"What?"

Grey repeats himself, "Throw in a Macho Brace, and I'll do the trade."

"Heh, your call."  The trench coat-clad avatar calls up a display screen,
and scrolls through his Items pouch until he finds the object in question: a
nasty looking collar made up of interlocking links of metal, with large
prongs that point inward, towards the neck area.  "I've never seen the point
of these things.  Where I come from, we try to limit EV-Training as much as
possible..."  Using the touch screen, he drags the item onto one of his
Pokeball icons, and drops it.  A pop-up message informs both him and Grey
that the item has been equipped.

Grey initiates the trade from his end, not really caring what kind of
Pokemon he receives, as long as he gets his equip item.  A moment later,
when the transfer is complete, he clicks the "Take" button on the Pokemon's
status page, detaching the Macho Brace, and sending it to his own Items
pouch.

The yellow-eyed boy grins.  "Awright, it's Houndouring time!  I'm off to
challenge the noobs at the Phenac Colosseum!  Hey, thanks for the trade.
When I become the savior of the planet and everybody loves me, I'll mention
you in my memoirs or something.  C-ya!"  The avatar reaches for his helmet,
and flickers out of sight.

Grey rolls his eyes.  "What a little prick.  Everyone's a legend in their
own mind, I guess."  He shrugs, and starts to take off his own VR helmet.
"Well, I'd better get back to the real world.  I have to start training my
LEET Charizard, so I can conquer the Maquas and save Team Rocket from
certain destruction!"  The Ruby avatar punches the air enthusiastically, and
fades out of existence.

TBC?

--Beth