From: Time Lady <sailrgal@my-deja.com> Subject: [PW!][League] Pre-battle.... Decision time..... Date: Friday, February 25, 2000 8:12 AM Sarah Jane woke up from an uneasy sleep. As nervous as she had been about fighting Jon, she was even more nervous about her next match.... semi-finals.... She put on her glasses and looked around the hotel room. Julia and Christy were still asleep. Shields was also sleeping, while the Nidorans had apparently put aside their differences for the night and curled up together. Pteryx was pressed against her adoptive mother for warmth while her head was tucked under her wing. Carefully Sarah Jane picked up the baby Aerodactyl while trying not to awaken it. Sarah Jane gently tapped Shields. The Mr. Mime's eyes flew open. He looked at his trainer, then nodded, understanding her silent command. He took Pteryx from Sarah Jane and set her down on the bed. Then Sarah Jane dressed, picked up her five remaining Pokeballs (OOC: Remember, SJ's grandparents have Cuddles and Spunky's Pokeballs). Silently Sarah Jane slipped out of the hotel and made her way into the moonlit night. She found herself at the same location where she had practiced before, then opened some of Pokeballs. Asterik, Hato-kun, and Sybil looked at their trainer, wondering what was up. The Pidgey fluffed his wings in confusion. This had been the first time he had been called by his trainer. "We have a tough battle ahead of us," she said. "Tougher than what we've faced before. I'm going to need your help.... but you need to train.... to become as strong as you can in as short a level of time." Sybil stared at Sarah Jane. This had been the first time the Doduo had been called in a long time. "I've made some mistakes in my training," admitted Sarah Jane. "I placed my reliance on particular Pokemon too much. I began to realize this when Bombadier was murdered." Sybil shook her tiny wings as she remembered the Fearow that had taken her place in Sarah Jane's line-up. "It hit even harder after Nipper was injured. I need to have at least two of each type of Pokemon, to keep my opponents guessing and to always have a backup. And right now, we're going to begin intensive training." As Sarah Jane watched her pokemon battle wild Pokemon, she realized that both the Doduo and the Pidgey had been practicing with her grandmother as part of the program to train potential trainers. After an hour of hard battling, as well as several potions, Sybil evolved into a Dodrio, while Hato-kun had evolved to Pidgeotto. It would take a while longer.... time that Sarah Jane didn't have, for Hato-kun to reach the levels he needed to evolve into a Pidgeot. "Good job," said Sarah Jane as she recalled the two birds into their pokeballs. Asterik waited, then wondered why he wasn't called back as well. Sarah Jane knelt down, then fumbled with her backpack until she retrieved a clothwrapped shape. "I received this as a gift before I left Rosetta the first time," she explained to the Staryu as she unwrapped the bundle. "I wasn't sure if and when I'd ever need to use it. I pulled it out of storage before we came here." On the cloth lay a Water Stone, shimmering in the moonlight. She lay the cloth and stone down on the grass in front of Asterik. "I'm going to leave the choice up to you," said Sarah Jane. "As a Starmie, your abilities will be increased. However, I believe evolution is a choice to be made by the pokemon. Hato-kun and Sybil chose to allow their own evolutions. I'm giving you the choice of allowing yours. If you choose to remain as a Staryu, I'll understand. The stone will always be here for when you're ready." The staryu's gem glittered in the dim light as the sun began to rise. Asterik appeared to be pondering his choices. Sarah Jane held her breath. After a few moments she sighed, then reached for the waterstone and began to re-wrap it. Suddenly Asterik jumped forward.... The sun had risen by the time Sarah Jane returned to the hotel from the Pokemon Center. Exhausted, she flopped down onto her bed. The others were still asleep. She had accomplished quite a bit..... Now to see who her opponent was.... -- (o)_(o) || Time Lady, sailrgal@swbell.net _(^*^)_ || sailrgal@hotmail.com, sailrgal@my-deja.com (__ __) || Visit the Mystic Manor Homepage /_/\_\ || http://members.tripod.com/~MysticManor Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.