From: RobfromVoid <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Subject: [PW!] Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot? Date: Saturday, January 01, 2000 2:15 AM Minax stretches out in her favorite Saffron City alley way, then lies down on her back and stares up at the starry night sky. From here she can see the giant Pokeball attached to the roof of the Silph Co. building. It is the same Pokeball that usually has a large green banner under it which subliminally transmits the message "Gotta Catch 'em All" to the many people who look at it. Minax ponders the message, and realizes that Silph is a clever advertiser: people need Pokeballs to catch Pokemon - Silph's Pokeballs. Pokemon trainers need at least 146 Pokeballs to catch all the catchable Pokemon, and considering that most Pokeballs are rigged to break open, trainers need to buy over 200, even possibly over 300, Pokeballs in order to "Catch 'em All". The cash used to buy those Pokeballs goes straight to the advertiser who tells kids to "Catch 'em All" - Silph Co. But earlier that night, Silph Co. was involved in a much greater scheme than Pokeball sales - the New Year's celebration, which was hyped up considerably by Silph themselves. People came together in the Saffron to watch the giant Pokeball drop to ring in the New Year. Minax wasn't there to see that giant Pokeball which came down a few hours ago. She had other Pokeballs in mind. Her role in the crowd was to steal as many Pokemon as she could in the name of Team Rocket. Minax isn't exactly poetic about the new year, and as she lies there, pondering the New Year, she sighs expresses her feelings to the sleepy baby Chansey next to her, even though that Chansey can't possibly understand, "Another year, another quota to meet." "See, see?" Omelette hops onto Minax's chest and finds a warm and comfortable place to lie down in. The baby Chansey rolls herself into a ball on the warmest place on Minax's chest, then falls sound asleep on her surrogate mother's bosom. Minax looks straight ahead at the baby Pokemon warming up against her chest and is reminded of her Poliwhirl for some reason... the one that died in this very alley at the hands of Team Rocket's David Bradley. Minax scoops Omelette out of her cleavage, afraid that the baby might suffocate, and instead shoves her into the sack on her belt, leaving it slightly ajar. After she puts Omelette into the sack that acts as the Chansey's Pokeball, Minax pulls her Communicator out of that same sack and flips the device open, "Speaking of quotas, let's see how many Pokemon I've killed in the past year..." Minax pushes some buttons and a Pokedex-like list shows up, with skulls instead of Pokeballs next to the Pokemon that she's murdered. Minax clears her throat and recites: "Electrode, Diglett, Nidoran, Mankey; Venusaur, Rattata, Fearow, Pidgey; Kill 'em, kill 'em, gotta kill 'em all... Pokemon!" Minax chuckles at her rendition of the stupid rap song, and skips a few in the list, "Blastoise, Poliwhirl, Oddish, Drowzee; Raichu, Nidoqueen, Bellsp..." Minax pauses and narrows her eyes and the screen where the skull is missing, "I haven't killed a Bellsprout yet? I'd better start the new year off right." Minax snaps the third Pokeball off her belt and drops it on the floor. A cowardly Bellsprout emerges and looks up at her master, "Bell?" "You know, Bellsprout, I really don't know what attracted me to you in the first place..." Minax drops her Communicator and runs her finger across her Bellsprout's full lips and the plant Pokemon sweatdrops. Minax places her dark brown eyes close to her black dots that act as eyes, "I thought you were intelligent for not trusting me like your Oddish friend did, but I've noticed that you're just a sniveling coward..." Minax shoves her finger into the Bellsprout's mouth, and pulls the Pokemon's face closer to her own, "Do you know who you remind me of?" The Bellsprout tries to back away, but Minax's finger has her hooked like a Magikarp on an Old Rod. Bellsprotu asks, "Mellmrout?" Minax shakes her head and snarls, "Mother..." "Mell!" Bellsprout smiles when she hears that name. She understands the word mother, and knows that it is a really good thing. She has memories of her own mother, a Weepinbell, and her father, a Victreebel that once belonged to a Pokemon Trainer. Her father would always tell her to find herself a good trainer, but Bellsprout was too afraid - until Minax scared her into being caught. And so far, it really was a pretty good life. She got plenty of rest inside her Pokeball, "Mrout! Mrout!" "I don't love my mother. I don't even like her. I hate her. Hate her with a passion for what she was and what she almost made me." Minax declares, reaching for her knife as a confused look comes across the Bellsprout's face - the Pokemon wonders how could any creature in the world could put the word 'mother' with the word 'hate' and not include the word 'not' or at least the contraction 'n't'. "Do you know why you remind me of my mother? No, it's not because you're a dirty whore." "Mrout? Mell mrout?!" The Bellsprout tries to run away again, noticing Minax's tone of voice shifting to cynical - the tone that her master used when she put a bullet though Oddish, Bellsprout's best friend in the world before Minax killed him. Minax pulls her finger out of the Bellsprout's mouth and pushes her against a wall, "Run. Run away just like my mother ran away on Marcie whenever it was in her best interest. Run away just like I did when Poliwhirl was in trouble, something I actually regretted since it was what my mother would have done to me. Sure, Poliwhirl was just a Pokemon, not a little girl, but I should've killed that bastard myself. I shouldn't have given that Rhydon the pleasure. Run now, Bellsprout, or I will kill you." "Bellsprout?" Bellsprout's mind can't figure out what to do - her master is telling her to run away, but she makes running away sound like something bad. The Pokemon decides that the best course of action would be to stay, since it must just all be a test. Bellsprout figures that running away would make Minax angry enough to kill her, whereas staying would show that she does have some courage. She steps up to Minax and places her leafy arm on the hand that holds the knife, "Sprout." Minax narrows her eyes at Bellsprout and growls, "I killed the Oddish who was willing to give his life for yours, and how do you honor his memory? By be-friending his killer? You have no honor." Minax raises up her long skinning knife in a dramatic pause, "I did make one New Year's Resolution: I plan to start keeping my promises. Starting now." Minax swings her long knife, slicing Bellsprout at her thin neck. The plant's yellow head drops to the floor and rolls away into the gutter. Her paper thin body falls limp to the floor and the leaves quickly wither. Minax watches as the water flowing through the gutter carries the Bellsprout's head away, "Good-bye, mother." Minax grabs her Communicator and types something in, then a small skull appears next to Bellsprout's name. Minax smiles, "Now all I have to do is kill a Starmie to finish that part of the song." Minax reaches into her sack, and breathes a sigh of relief when she feels that Omelette is still sleeping. She reaches around the rolled up pink ball of cuteness to find a shrunken Pokeball that contains a Pidgey. The Flying Pokemon was stolen from Ben Cajava, and Minax decided to give it a try since a Pidgey works for Dreadite, but she hadn't used the Pokemon yet. She attaches the Pidgey's Pokeball to her belt where Bellsprout's once hung. She takes Bellsprout's empty one from its location next to the dead Bellsprout's body, which now ejects nectar from the place where Minax sliced off the head. Minax chuckles, "Now that's what I call neck-tar." She shrinks the Pokeball and puts it back in her sack along with her Communicator. Once all her belongings, including her knife, are back where they belong, Minax sneaks away from Saffron City, into the darkness. -Minax