From: NewHaights... Man of Mystery <newhaights@aol.comanyte> Subject: [PW!] [LEAGUE] [ROUND 4] [FINALLY] Time To Rock and Roll Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 10:29 AM The lights came on in the pressbox. "Hello, battle fans, and welcome, finally, to the end of round 4 of the 1999 Pokemon League Games. I'm Pat Winterall..." "...and I'm Joan Midden. At 3-0, one would think that Andrew O'Reilly is a shoe-in for being a front-runner for the finals. But with three opponents having below .500 records, one can only wonder if the quality of the wins is based upon the quality of the opponents. Andrew's been riding easy street since he's entered the games, and despite his record, he isn't garnering much respect from other combatants like the other current 3-0s Mike and Adam, or even some 2-1 opponents. Basially, Andrew's edge has been the fact that he's been able to abuse stupid trainer mistakes throughout the Games, but if he comes across a trainer who doesn't make any, Andrew might not be so lucky. While his opponent this round is similar to the ones before, it's been less trainer flaws and more just weak Pokemon and bad luck for Calvin. And with the finals coming up, Andrew doesn't want to enter with a loss ... for that's something that could put someone in a mindset that can cost them a vital match." "Calvin, with one of the worst records in the Games, has a hill to climb today in the battle against 3-0 Andrew, but it might not be as steep as it seems. If he can avoid making flaws, he might have a prayer. He's definately not making the finals, but it would be nice to go home off a win, feeling good about yourself. His Pokemon, underpowered compared to several other combatants, are a liability, however, and it'll either take many mistakes on Andrew's part, or much creativity on Calvin's in order to get him the win. Simply put, this is less a fight about the Pokemon then to see who is the better trainer." Pat interrupted the Middenlogue. "And the combatants are about to enter the stadium." Up in the stands sat Mara and Mr. and Mrs. O'Reilly. "So," Mrs. O'Reilly said, "That new Pokédex of his, it's the newest thing?" "Yeah," said Mara. "It's got a satellite hookup to the most recent information, up-to-the-second 3-dimensional maps for Pokémon Island, encyclopedia and historical timeline..." "Hey! There's Andrew!" Mr. O'Reilly pointed near the Green entrance. As they made their entrance, the crowd erupted in applause -- moreso for Andrew than Calvin. Upon their entrance, you could tell Andrew was a _lot_ less nervous about this match than Calvin was, and with good reason -- like Midden said, he was 3-0. If he remembered correctly, few others had that record in the bracket. "Pleasantries aside, Joan," Pat said, "this is still an important match for both. Calvin needs every win he can get, while a perfect 4-0 record would put Andrew in an excellent position going into the 5th round." The referee walked to the center sideline. "Red trainer, are you ready?" Calvin nodded. "Green trainer, are you ready?" Andrew gave a thumbs up. "Then let the match begin!" "Poliwrath, go!" "Snicker, I choose you!" "Pika...pikaCHU!" Snicker Growled -- or rather, yelled -- at the Poliwrath. It backed off, surprised, then quickly ran back for a Doubleslap. Snicker got knocked back, but still looked ok. Snicker approached Poliwrath carefully. Suddenly, he launched into a Quick Attack. The punches were each weak, true, but Poliwrath was forced to back away as they reached its "face." "Poliwrath, Water Gun!" Poliwrath pointed straight at Snicker. Suddenly, small but powerful blasts -- the Water Gun -- came out of the center of its spiral. Each one hit Snicker, and while they did keep Snicker from doing much of anything, they only left him wet. "Snicker, Thunderwave!" "Pika!" Snicker charged up a Thundershock and sent it to Poliwrath, immediately paralyzing him. "Now! THUNDERSHOCK!" "Pi....kaaaAAA...--" Snicker stopped; he heard someone. He looked over, and sure enough, someone, front row, sideline, was completely oblivious to the fight. "So, did you see that fight the other day?" "Yeah, that Sketch is amazing." "Pika..." Snicker let off a Thunderbolt to the couple. <<Heh, that'll teach *them* to forget there's a battle here. Now, where was I?>> But then, he heard _another_ person talking about Sketch... "You should have seen that Take Down against the Kabutops..." And another... "And that Hyper Beam? Too bad for Sketch that the other one was gone by then..." And *another...* "And when it used Metronome? I almost thought she won it with that Explosion." True, the majority of people were just watching the fight, cheering on the combatants. But for some reason, Snicker could only hear the Sketch-aholics in the audience. "And the merchandise, did you see the merchandise? -- " " -- and this hat, check it out. "I Saw Sketch." Nice, huh? -- " " -- and then Sketch -- " <<What about -->> "Sketch --" <<No, but -->> "Sketch --" <<But -->> "...Sketch..." That one sounded familiar. He looked over to Andrew. "...this one's for you." That was just too much. <<Well...>> Snicker said, with a hint of jealousy in his voice, <<if Sketch can get *this* much fame from one little battle, lets see what they think of this!>> Snicker charged up for a tremendous Thundershock...he let it go...but in his haste, and poor planning, and clouded emotions, it missed completely. It bounced off the rocks, past Poliwrath again, and straight...for Snicker. "Piiii...ka..." He fell back, the Thundershock taking him out completely. "Pikachu is unable to fight! Point to the red trainer!" "Snicker...damn...return. Yűgi, go! Vinewhip!" "Saur!" Yűgi extended his vines and whipped Poliwrath back and forth for a while, which managed to get him shaken up a bit. Poliwrath came back with a vicious Doubleslap, but Yűgi managed to shake it off. "Yűgi, Leech Seed!" "Bulba!" Yűgi launched the seed, which flew through the air and landed right in the center of Poliwrath's spiral. It started leeching, draining Poliwrath as it restored Yűgi. "Poliwrath! Hypnosis!" Poliwrath bounded toward Yűgi, teased him, and then...started doing cartwheels? "Well, I'll never..." Winterall interjected. "The most interesting execution of Hypnosis I've seen in years." Poliwrath kept its gymnastic attack going, and interesting as it was, it put Yűgi right to sleep within seconds. Yűgi! Ged up! For goddish's sake, GET UP!" But no amount of yelling could wake Yűgi up. All Andrew could do is wait and watch as Poliwrath smacked his poor Pokémon around, and hope the hypnosis wore off before too long. A minute later, Yűgi did indeed wake up. Pissed from the hypnosis, he didn't need to wait for an order. "BulbaSAUR!" He Vinewhipped the poor Poliwrath until it was a bloody pulp...or at least, he would have, if he could do that in this continuity. "The Poliwrath is unable to fight! Point goes to Green!" "Don't let me down..." Calvin whispered to his second Pokémon. "I choose you...CHARIZARD!" "ChaaaAAAAAARRRRR!" The Charizard burst out of the ball...and immediately let out a huge burst of fire straight at Yűgi...who was fainted immediately. The crowd was practically speechless. Andrew could only stare and let out an occasional "Uh...yeah." And all Pat and Joan could say is "Wow...what a flamethrower..." After a while, the referee walked over to the Green platform. "Mr. O'Reilly, Bulbasaur is unable to fight, and that point went to Calvin, but if you don't make a move soon, you will be forced to forfeit." Still in shock, Andrew only said, "Uh...oh, yeah. Uh, David, go. Doubleteam." "Kada!" In a flash, 5 Kadabras appeared. Charizard had no idea which to hit, so he simply swatted his tail at all of them. The real David jumped out of the way, as the other 4 disappeared. In midair, David released a wave of psychic energy -- his Confusion. "CHAAR!" Charizard reeled back from the attack. When he recovered, he saw Kadabra on his tail, jumping up and down and taunting him. He let out a flamethrower... ...and torched his tail. "CHAaaAAAR!" The Charizard ran around madly in pain (definitely a sight to see) as if his tail...well, as if his tail were _moreso_ on fire. "David, 'Dizzypunch!'" A confused gasp arose from the audience. "Dizzy Punch?" Midden said. "But Kadabras don't learn Dizzy Punch...do they?" David waited for the right moment, then jumped up on to Charizard as it ran by, ran up to its snout and started to box away, following up with another wave of psychic energy. Charizard reeled back, and fainted, crushing all the rocks under him. The general sentiment was, "Oh. THAT Dizzy Punch." "Charizard is out of the match! Point to Green!" "Wow, Pat!" Joan exclaimed. "It's all on the line, both trainers are down to the final Pokemon, and a bad move here could cost a trainer the match. Calvin, the trainer in question, needs to chose something to fight that Kadabra. What he'll choose is the question!" "Well, as far as Calvin has demonstrated," Pat guessed, "he has a Dewgong in the ranks, so that would be his best choice." Meanwhile, Calvin thought to himself. 'Do I really need to win this? I mean, I don't have a Cloyster's chance in hell of going on to the finals, and I don't want to take a win away from this guy. Anyway, that first loss couldn't have been his fault...I think I'll give him the win.' "Hobbes, go!" He released the ball, and a Persian popped out. "Hobbes?" Pat wondered. "But that Persian will never stand a chance!" Indeed, Hobbes was more of a friend or pet to Calvin than a bodyguard, and hadn't won a battle in years. Just what Calvin was planning. "Hobbes, Payday!" Hobbes took out his koban (from Meowth-stage) and threw it at David. David simply teleported out of the way, and the coin hit a rock, splitting into a pile of money. "Hobbes, Bite!" Hobbes slinked across the field, ready to pounce. "Purrr....purrr..." At just the right moment... "SIAN!" Hobbes let out his battle cry, jumped... "David, TELEPORT!" ...and crashed into a boulder. "...Sian...purr..." *whump* The referee counted...one...two...three... "Persian is out of the match. The win goes to Green trainer Andrew O'Reilly!" Andrew just stood there, motionless. He was behind from the beginning...he was up against two twice-evolved Pokémon, and had quite a time finishing them off...he lost Yűgi in less than a second...and now, he wins to a little Persian...'What happened here? I won, and I'm not happy...I got a break, but I'm still disappointed...' All he could manage is a meager thumbs up to the crowd and a small 'thank you' to Calvin... Andrew 4-0 The End of the preliminaries TBC... -- NewHaights: Pokemaniac for hire "She can violate my rights if..." "It's a Joy-ful ... world." "Maybe it's a...cow-terpie!" "We need the motto! Our fans have come to expect it!" The Super Poke-Mart: http://members.aol.com/newhaights/index.htm