From: Ghostyhead (cussingsnake@tesco.net) Subject: [PW!] - Girl, Infuriated Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000/06/23 Grr... Trying...to...think...of...title... (It's semi-late and I'm watching Lexx - AGAIN...) PW! - Girl, Infuriated Raine bounded down the Centre's stairs, praying to any available gods that she wouldn't slip on the wet concrete. As she cleared the final step, she executed a neat (and unintentional) sideways skid into the nearby phone booth. Panting from the sudden effort, Raine fumbled for change in her pockets, then lifted the receiver and stabbed wildly at the keypad. "Hello, Celadon City Superstore, ask about our five-finger discount." began the man displayed on the videophone's screen as it burst into life. A couple of years older than Raine, he had a thin face and straggly hair hung down from beneath his battered woolly hat. "Raine? Where the hell have you been? The boss is going nuts!" the figure began, before noticing Raine's sooty and wet clothing and the look on her face. "Let me guess.", he began. "Ghosty's having activities?" "Yeah", Raine replied, a sweatdrop threatening to form. "Look, I need a couple of things from the store. I swear, Cooper, this is the last time I' ll ask you." "It better be," said the eponymous Cooper offhandedly. "I doubt my nerves - or the city - can take much more of the Ghost. What d'you need?" About ten minutes passed before Meche's focusing was interrupted by her trainer's return, Cooper in tow. "Wak?" she asked curiously as the bedraggled young man tipped out the contents of his backpack on the floor. The sounds of battle were, to Raine's surprise, still coming from somewhere in the building. "Let's see." began Raine, sifting through the junk. "Ah, here we go. Antique sword, check." Meche looked concerned. "Marowak? Wak?" "You'll see" answered Raine cryptically. Meche made a 'hmph' noise and began to prod the long, rusted blade with her club. "Hey, bonehead!" exclaimed Cooper, rubbing Meche on the head. Meche didn't particularly like Raine's co-worker on a good day, and brushed him off with a cautionary wave of her club. Getting the message all to clearly, Cooper backed away and perched himself on a stable-looking part of Nurse Joy's ex-desk. "Meche, take a look at this," said Raine, holding a small metal box branded with the 'Silph Co' logo. The Marowak wandered over, interested. "Maro?" she asked, recognising the item. "I thought you might like it," said Raine with a smile. "I got Cooper to. um. borrow it from work. Might help you do a little damage." Meche, her irritation as good as forgotten, picked up the TM and threw it from hand to hand a couple of times. Holding it at arm's length, she flicked the switch on its side, and felt a slight shudder as the machine imprinted the necessary knowledge directly into her brain. While not a huge fan of fighting in general, Meche definitely knew how to appreciate the occasional new ability, and this one felt particularly powerful. She turned to her human companions with a grin. "Wak! Maro!" "And finally." said Raine, still trying to sort through the various bits of paper and assorted garbage on the floor, "we have. a copy of the Girls of Celadon Gym Calendar.?" Cooper darted across and snatched the calendar from her hands, clutching it protectively. "Let's try that again, okay?" said Raine. "Maro." agreed Meche, shaking her head in the embarrassed Cooper's direction. As Raine carefully extracted the final item from Cooper's pile of junk, he turned to leave. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" she asked. "Aren't you going to help?" "I think at least one of us had better be manning the counter," he replied. "And, since the boss said you're fired, that should probably be me." Raine's face fell as Cooper slunk out of the Centre's front door and away into the downpour. Meche patted her on the knee, not quite sure whether Raine was going to laugh or cry. "Come on," said Meche's trainer, picking up the sword, Spaceghost's Pokéball and the roll of duct tape Cooper had provided. "At least today can't get much worse." "Wak", came the heartfelt agreement from Meche, just as a somewhat scuffed Nurse Joy rounded the corner from where Chansey and Spaceghost had been fighting. "That thing's your problem now!", she called, running through the doors and into the rain, clutching her Chansey's Pokéball. "Hmph. I guess it's up to us, then," said Raine thoughtfully. "here's what we do." Spaceghost was bored. Since Nurse Joy and her pink punchbag had run away, he had nobody left to play with. He considered another Explosion, but he was getting a little tired after his morning's activities. Even Spaceghost' s somewhat overactive metabolism had its limits, and he had just about reached them. He drifted slowly to the floor, ready to curl up for a nap, when a familiar sound echoed through the devastated room. "Hey! Ghosty!" Once again, the little Haunter deftly avoided the Pokéball's recall beam and sped away. Raine grinned and bounded after him, shooting beams wildly from the Pokéball. Spaceghost laughed as he shot through the passageway, entirely failing to notice the way Raine was leading him towards the main lobby area with the ball's beams. The small, dark shape skidded into the centre of the Centre's lobby. Turning and getting ready for a huge Mega Drain, he was disappointed to see that Raine was no longer following him. "Haunt." he murmured, looking for somewhere where he could have a rest. Turning, the small ghost's eyes suddenly lit up as he noticed what was resting on top of Nurse Joy's broken desk. "Haunt. Haunthaunt haunter!", exclaimed the Pokémon with glee as he lifted the antique sword. Images of what he'd do with the sword were already flashing through the Haunter's slightly unhinged mind. Raine, unsurprisingly, featured heavily. "Meche! NOW!" yelled Raine. Meche didn't need to be told twice (in fact, she didn't need to be told at all, but she had decided to respect the whole Pokémon-trainer dynamic for once), and vaulted up from under the desk. Caught from both sides, Spaceghost dithered for a moment in the middle of the room, clutching his new sword. A moment was all Meche needed as she unleashed her brand-new Blizzard attack, sending streamers of freezing air whirling around the hapless ghost. Raine looked on, initially impressed by her Marowak's new attack, but increasingly worried by the way the ice was spreading around the room and, ominously, towards her. "Meche! Stop!" yelled Raine, diving through the freezing vapours towards the out-of-control Marowak. "Maroooowaaaaaaak!" yelled Meche, trying to make the blizzard end. Just as Raine was beginning to turn blue, the little Pokémon managed to end her attack, leaving her and Raine standing behind the frozen desk. In fact, the Pokémon Centre's entire lobby was beginning to resemble an igloo. Recovering a little, Raine and Meche both suddenly focused on the small dark shape in an ice block in the middle of the room. "He kind of looks pathetic now." said Raine. "Wak.", agreed Meche, carefully making her way over to the deep-frozen ghost. "On three, okay?" said Raine, reaching yet again for Spaceghost's Pokéball. "Maro." "One." "Two." "NOW!" "WAK!" Both trainer and Pokémon leapt as Raine fired the recall beam, landing heavily on top of the frantically-shaking ball. Meche pinned the Pokéball down with her club while Raine covered it in so much duct-tape that it had no chance of opening anytime soon. Satisfied that Spaceghost was incarcerated once more, the two picked their way across the ice, tape-covered ball in hand, and perched themselves on the Pokémon Centre's steps. The sun was finally coming out from behind the clouds as Raine and Meche sat, wordless, with Spaceghost's sealed-up Pokéball resting between them. Raine took in the whole scene. The devastated street, the wrecked cars. The occasional creak and crunch from the Pokémon Centre behind them reminded both that Spaceghost had done more damage this time than ever before. "You know, we're going to have a lot to explain," said Raine thoughtfully. "Marowak. Wak, maro. Marowak.", answered Meche, looking gloomy. In the distance, police cars were finally approaching. Meche thought she could see Nurse Joy and her two Chansey returning to assess the damage. Even a couple of TV vans were approaching. As Raine had said, a lot of explaining. In the distance, a Fearow soared, its wings cutting long, lazy sweeps through the air. Meche looked around at her trainer, only to be greeted by an empty space. "Maro?" She noticed that Spaceghost's ball was gone too. A flushing sound from inside the wrecked Centre drew Meche's attention. A minute or so later, Raine walked nonchalantly out of the front doors and sat down next to Meche again. "Maro?" "I warned him." "MARO?" Meche thought about it for a moment. It might give them a little peace and quiet, she reasoned. Maybe it was for the best. And, in a sewer somewhere, deep under Celadon City, a dark shape drifted through the tunnels. (again, to be continued)