From: RobfromVoid <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Subject: [PW!] They Grow Up So Fast Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2000 4:24 PM Chimes ring and fake gunshots are heard as Minax enters Saffron City's local gun shop, a place she often goes to restock on ammo or replace guns if they are broken. Team Rocket's weaponry doesn't really satisfy her killer instinct, since that artillery is mainly used for the facilitation of stealing Pokemon, not killing them. On this particular day, however, Minax is not interested in replacing her gun or buying more ammunition. Today she wants to keep a promise by buying a silencer for her pistol. The promise Minax wants to keep is the one she made to Omelette, the baby Chansey who is currently peeking out of the sack on her belt, desperate for air. Originally, Minax's promise was to stop killing Pokemon until Omelette was old enough to be in a Pokeball, but somewhere in Minax's twisted mind, this promise was rephrased as "to not be the cause of Omelette's suffering." Minax herself finds her own reasoning difficult to understand, but it is what led her to the conclusion that buying a silencer will allow her to kill Pokemon without Omelette having to cry over the loud gunshots that currently expel from her gun. Minax frowns slightly when she reaches the teller at the gun store upon noticing that it isn't her usual supplier, the one who gives her guns without questions asked or background checks involved. Minax addresses the new clerk behind the glass window, a cheery blonde woman who looks completely out of place in a store full of deadly weapons, "Hi. Is Bradley still working here?" "Oh my, no!" The woman shrieks and her eyes widen at the mention of that name, "We found out, thanks to my psychic friend, that he was giving all sorts of mean nasty people lots and lots of big bad guns! Can you believe that? Oh, he's been sent down the river and locked up in jail, too! Can you believe that? He must've been giving all sorts of big fat thugs guns right under the noses of the local Officer Jennys! Can you believe that? Let's put that bad bad man behind us. So, can I help you?" "No. You can't." Minax suddenly realizes that sounding too disappointed about Bradley's dismissal might make her a suspect, despite her non-criminal appearance. Minax feigns a face of sadness, "I trusted Bradley when he said that those guns he was going to locate for me weren't illegal, but he was lying. I was coming here today to pick them up, and what do I find? He was lying all along! I'll be satisfied with my legal pistol which I always carry at my side. Good-bye..." Minax exits the store, cradling the gun strapped in her holster, sniffing the whole way. The clerk is fooled, an easy feat considering the clerk. Once Minax is outside, she stops sniffing and kicks a stray rock on the ground, "Damn psychics. No wonder Shard hates them. Now what am I going to do to restock on weaponry?" "Seeee!" Omelette pops out of Minax's black sack, which is becoming more confining as she grows older and fatter, knocking out some of the items inside along with her body. The baby Chansey rolls into a ball before hitting the ground, and she bounces a few times before unrolling. Once unrolled, Omelette rubs her dizzy spinning eyes. Some of the items that fall out of Minax's bag alongside Omelette include a business card and a few coins left over from Minax's Mount Moon mission. "Look what you did." Minax narrows her eyes at Omelette the Chansey, who seems to be stretching to recover from cramps caused by lack of space inside her master's sack. More worried about losing the belongings that dropped out of her sack than the Pokemon that dropped out, Minax crouches down and grabs the business card off the sidewalk first. The card reads: "Dr. Henry, Pokemon Control, Silph Co. Building - Room 904, Saffron City." Minax shoves the card back inside her large bag of goodies, "I believe I will pay that mad scientist another visit. He had plenty of weapons in his secret lab of his." Minax gathers all the coins that fell out of her sack, then listens as Omelette groans from back pains, "Chaaaan! Seeee! ChaAaAaAn!!!" Minax sighs at the pink Pokemon that is stretching on the ground, "I knew this time would come, Omelette. You're too big to be comfortable in my sack, but you're still too small for a Pokeball. Fortunately, I prepared for this. The one good thing about my Team Rocket training is that I'm always prepared for trouble." Minax snaps a Pokeball off her belt and extends it towards the ground. It pops open, and the red energy released forms into a flying Zubat, Minax's first and favorite Pokemon. Zubat's initial reaction is to lick its lips and bare its fangs, since Minax usually only releases him when there is a Pokemon carcass to be disposed of, but Zubat's senses don't detect any fresh flesh, so he seems confused, "ZuUuUuUu? Bat!" "No, Zubat, there is nothing to eat. Today, at least." Minax shakes her head. Zubat detects the motion of his master's head and looks down sadly. Minax shakes her head again, "Don't get me wrong, Zubat, the only reason why you weren't invited out the last time I killed a Pokemon was because it was a poisonous one. I'm pretty sure you don't like eating Poison, even though you are a Poisonous Pokemon yourself. Anyway, there's a much more important reason why I called you out." "Zubat?" The blue bat Pokemon quickly asks, eager to please Minax, still flapping his wings rapidly to stay aloft, "Zubat! Bat!" Minax nods at Zubat's willingness to assist her, "Your mission is to baby-sit Omelette until she is old enough to fend for herself." "Zu Bat!" Zubat nods, and upon remembering Omelette's stature, flies down closer to the ground. He circles around Minax's legs, pauses, and flies back up to Minax's eye level, confused features appearing again in his eye-less countenance, "Zuuubat?" "Did you already forget what Omelette looks like?" Minax pauses to think about this statement, and it soon dawns on her that Zubat would know what Omelette *looks* like, due to the cavernous creature's lack of eyeballs, "Can't you at least *feel* her presence using your bat sonar? She's right down..." Minax glances downward to find nothing on the Saffron City sidewalk other than a piece of used bubble gum stuck to the floor. Minax grabs Zubat's dangling legs and pulls him close in order to command, "Find her. Now!" Zubat finds Minax's pulling of his legs unusual and unnecessary, but he soars up high to search for Omelette anyhow. He senses motion across the street and guides his master to a dark Saffron alleyway... "Watch out!" Minax shouts upon seeing Omelette wandering too close to a Pokemon that the Chansey considers a new friend but is in actuality a voracious alley Meowth. Minax draws her silver pistol out of its holster and aims at the Meowth, who is standing on a trash can, ready to pounce at Omelette. Minax is about to pull the trigger, when she comes to the realization that seeing the Meowth die will make Omelette suffer. Minax says, "Zubat, I ordered you to baby-sit Omelette, and that includes protecting her from danger - such as approaching hungry wild Pokemon and walking across high beams for no reason." "Bat!" Zubat agrees, and flaps his wings faster... "Chan?" Omelette asks, smiling at the alley Meowth... "MEOWTH!" The Meowth pounces at Omelette, claws bared... "Zubat, Bite!" Minax orders, knowing that Zubat knows what to do, but not taking any chances. The following series of events occur seconds apart. Omelette becomes aware that the alley Meowth is not her friend, something she wouldn't have known if Minax had just shot the cat before it attacked. Zubat's fangs dig deep into the alley Meowth's throat. The Meowth feels blood being drained from its neck before it is slung into a nearby garbage can. Minax breathes a sigh of relief. Omelette's worried expression turns into a happy one when she sees that her savior remained unharmed. She claps her little hands for Zubat, and the weak applause is amplified in the blue bat's large and sensitive ears. "Never wander off like that again." Minax literally puts her foot down in front of Omelette. The six foot tall woman is quite an imposing sight for the not-yet-2-foot tall Chansey from the Pokemon's new viewpoint - outside of the sack, both feet on the ground. Minax looks at her Zubat and genuinely smiles, "You're a great baby-sitter, Zubat." Despite the fact that Minax rarely smiles, Zubat immediately recognizes the motion on his master's face, and smiles himself, glad to be of service. -Minax