From: Karnivax <karnivax@my-deja.com> Subject: [PW!] [LEAGUE] Proving Grounds (ATTN: Time Lady) Date: Thursday, January 27, 2000 3:35 PM This is just kind of an intro so as not to leave Time Lady hanging... ^^; --PROVING GROUNDS-- by Karnivax After getting his Pokémon fully healed at the Pokécenter within the nearby headquarters of the Elite Four, Kyle sprinted back to Indigo Stadium to find out who his opponent would be for the fifth round. He stated his name to the receptionist at the stadium's main desk, and the receptionist keyed the name into her computer. "It seems your opponent for this round has already been decided," the receptionist noted. "You'll be up against Sarah Jane Eckert. In this round and in all subsequent rounds, you will be allowed to use up to six Pokémon." Kyle sat down in the crowded main lobby and tried to get his mind off of Jessica. A diversion came when the kimono-clad Jeanette Fischer arrived in the lobby and sat down next to Kyle. At the sight of Jeanette, Kyle had to wonder where his Nidoking, Daggoth, had run off to. The answer came several minutes later, when Daggoth marched into the lobby with his Nidoqueen mate by his side. Both Pokémon looked quite proud of themselves. The normally talkative Daggoth was oddly silent. Kyle cradled his head in his hands as he sat. "Are you and Nidoqueen quite done bumpin' uglies?" he monotonously asked Daggoth. "Daggoth is under no obligation to tell you anything, drone!" the Nidoking boomed. The satisfied expression on Daggoth's face had answered Kyle's question well enough, however. Jeanette stood up and held out a Pokéball. "All right, Nidoqueen, you've had enough fun this week," she said. "Return." A red beam shot out from the Pokéball. Nidoqueen defiantly sidestepped the beam. "Nidooo!" she cried. She had finally found love, and she was not about to give it up. She hugged Daggoth tightly. Jeanette sweatdropped. She tried to recall Nidoqueen a second time, but this time Nidoqueen hid behind Daggoth to get away. "It would seem that she's lost the will to fight..." Jeanette noted. She sighed. "She won't be much good to me like this." Hesitatingly, Jeanette handed the Pokéball to Kyle. Then Jeanette pulled a pen and a slip of paper seemingly out of nowhere. She wrote something down, handed the paper to Kyle, then added, "I suppose you'd best take care of her...but remember that our deal is still on." On the slip of paper was Jeanette's phone number. She turned and headed into the stadium to start her next battle. Kyle scratched his head. Everything had just happened so fast that he was still trying to catch up. Nidoqueen approached Kyle with some trepidation. The first thing Kyle did upon recognizing that yet another new Pokémon had been thrust upon him was dig through his memory for the name of the only major female character in the same game from whence the name "Daggoth" had come. "Kerrigan!" Kyle said, snapping his fingers. The next thing he did was wonder about whether or not "Kerrigan" would really fit on his team. He looked down at the unusually small Nidoqueen, and he was forced to wonder how Kerrigan could...interact...with a Nidoking that had almost three times her body mass. "Well, I can't keep you and Daggoth too close together...you guys will probably bury me in offspring." "That is the plan, drone," Daggoth snarled. "Maybe Jessica will..." Kyle cut himself off. "Eh, I can figure this out later. Kerrigan, return." Kerrigan the Nidoqueen obligingly pressed the button on her own Pokéball and was recalled. After that, Kyle opened up his backpack to put Kerrigan's Pokéball inside. Cathode the Pikachu, sleeping inside the backpack, perked up when he heard the zipper unzip. The tiny Pikachu wanted fresh air. But as Kyle explained, in spite of the fact that the electric mouse had saved Jessica's life, he did not want to risk someone mistaking Cathode for a member of his team. Kyle put Kerrigan's Pokéball inside the backpack, sat down, and waited to be called for his next match. Daggoth just paced back and forth and muttered to himself for several minutes before Kyle became annoyed with the incessant muttering and recalled the delusional Nidoking. Kyle spent the waiting time by going through his team and making some final adjustments. When the call finally came about an hour later over the P.A. system, Kyle tossed down the six Pokéballs he had attached to his belt. "All right, final team check," he noted. Ares, Daggoth, Espio, Grendel, Leviathan, and Thanatos materialized before him. Kyle approached the Aerodactyl first. "Grendel, I know it's been weeks since you've seen daylight, but you're going out first in this next battle. I promise." He petted the stone avian on the head. Grendel, who had virtually no concept of time, licked Kyle's face. Next Kyle walked over to Ares. The massive Machamp lowered his sunglasses, raised the People's Eyebrow, and crossed all of his arms. "Ma champ, champ, ma champ!" he arrogantly exclaimed. Noticing Kyle's blank stare, Ares walked over to Leviathan, swiped the Dragonite's language translator, and bellowed, "Ares's next opponent is gettin' a free stay at the Smackdown Hotel! Ya can't miss it! It's on the corner of Jabroni Drive and People's Machamp Boulevard!" Going for as many catch phrases as possible, Ares continued, "They'll also be receivin' a complimentary dinner at the Roo...dy...Poo, Candy-Ass Café, if ya smell-la-la-la-la what Ares is cookin'! Ares is gonna serve 'em up an Ares-burger with some extra-special Ares sauce!" Kyle bereaved Ares of the translator and returned it to Leviathan. Ares muttered a few expletives in Poké-ese. Next Kyle approached Daggoth. "Ummm...a bunch of soldiers...from rival Broods...have challenged you to...uh...a challenge," Kyle said, trying to speak the Nidoking's language. "What?!" Daggoth boomed. "Daggoth, King of the Nido Brood, shall vanquish all challengers! Doom to all who would threaten the hive!!!" _Good, that's out of the way,_ Kyle thought. He walked over to Leviathan. "Jessica's not herself right now, and Seaclamp is still in Cinnabar intensive care," Kyle nervously told the towering Dragonite. "I hope you can live with temporarily fighting for the person who saved your scaly hide in the first place." Leviathan blew icy mist from his nares. "I swear to Goddish, I have to do everything around here," he snorted through his translator. Kyle approached Thanatos next. The black Gengar was playing the Foo Fighters' "I'll Stick Around" on his ephemeral guitar. Kyle figured that the song was portent of Thanatos's loyalty and finally walked over to Espio. "I'm not ready for this," the self-deprecating white Charizard whimpered. "I...I can't do it. After seeing what happened to Jessica...it's clear to me that I'm totally out of my league now. I just know I'm going to screw up..." "Well, Espio, you should be happy to know that I'm saving you for last," Kyle pointed out. "You may not have to fight in this round at all." He paused. "And even if I do have to send you out, you should be ready to lay a whompin' on someone by then, judging by the rate at which your personality shifts." Espio's head drooped. "Thanks for that vote of confidence." With that, Kyle recalled all of his Pokémon and headed into the arena. I hope that serves as a handy-dandy reference guide... --K * A * R * N * I * V * A * X-- "Let me give you some serious political inside advice. One single word. Puppies. Worth the points." --George Bush Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.