From: Marco262 (marco262@yahoo.computer) Subject: [PW!] More and better challenges Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000-09-30 15:55:20 PST Maiden?s Peak was a bustling, busy mess. People rushing all over the place. The sun was about halfway up in the sky, and cruise ships floated in the docking bay, like giant metal icebergs bumping against each other on the rolling crests. There were a few booths lining a road along the rocky ridge that made up the southern coast of Maiden?s Peak. The festival had died down quite a bit, and only a dozen or so people could be seen walking the streets at any time. They would dodge in and out of the shaded overhangs of strip malls and apartments on the landside of the coastal street, laughing at each other?s tacky vacation wear and enjoying delicious, exotic foods or bland, cheap substitutes of hot dogs and burritos. The Spearow hovered above the concrete and metal mess. He was hungry and irritable. All those humans and their creations took away valuable worm and bug land. He would often go hungry, unable to find anything substantial and, if times were really rough, he would be forced to eat garbage. He looked at the trash strewn along the ground and suddenly wheeled in excitement. Food! And with no human guarding it either. He slowed his wing beat and rode the gentle thermal coming off the black asphalt, scanning the booth for any movement whatsoever. He satisfied himself that there was no one in the booth. The famished, feathered fiend pulled back his short wings and shot towards the scrumptious, waiting meal. Wait, what?s that? Human! Pull up! Pull up! How did he miss seeing the human? Watch out for the tarp! Narrowly missing the fabric roof of the booth, the Spearow glared at the human on top of it that had snuck up on him. The Spearow landed beside to human. He had narrowly missed being attacked by humans before, but none on top of a booth like this one. He cocked his head to one side to get a better look. The human wasn?t moving, but it was alive. It lay sprawled on its stomach on the tarp, with its featherless fore limbs stretched in front of it. Ridiculous not to have feathers, and the poor excuse for black feathers on the human?s head only made it that much more ludicrous. A black cloth covered the human?s back and encircled the forelimbs. He pecked at the clenched end of one of the forelimbs, hoping it was hiding something even vaguely edible. Simeon opened his eyes to a sight he could?ve done without. He was still floating upright in the vast nothingness, and Mewtwo floated in front of him. Mewtwo smiled another of those rare and sinister smiles. ~Good, you?re awake. I think you should be pulling your own weight now.~ Immediately, Simeon couldn?t breathe. He struggled wildly to start his heart again and move his diaphram in and out. In and out. In and out. He felt he could easily keep himself alive again. The Mewtwo spoke again. ~I?ve been waiting for this day. I think it?s time you took your first steps yet again.~ Mewtwo reached forward with one hand towards Simeon?s face. Simeon screamed as a searing pain swept through his eyes and ears, then faded away like someone slowly turning down the volume on a radio. With his sight quickly diminishing, he shot out a hand to grab back his precious senses. Suddenly, he could see! And hear! And feel! He was starving. A smell caught his attention and he swung his head sharply to his right! French fries! Hot french fries! He pushed off from the tarp and flapped for altitude, but something was holding him down by his leg. A panic swept through him. He remembered the human, and it had caught him! He pounded his wings desperately, trying to get away, but the human still wouldn?t let go. He stopped moving, as the slow realization came over him. Wings? He didn?t have wings. He looked down his beak, surprised that he had one. His short, unkempt wings were attached to an equally scruffy body. His legs were dry and scaly, and ended in 3 short talons. A hand was attached to his left leg. Simeon froze when he realized whose hand it was. The jade ring on it confirmed his fears. He saw body, unconscious, grasping the leg of whatever animal he was inhabiting now. Then the body started to move. His body got up into a lotus position on the tarp, and dead pupilless stared at him. And it laughed. ~Congratulations, you?ve made your first steps.~ Simeon squawked in anger. He tried to form words, but beak wouldn?t move like lips, and his shriveled tongue was useless. Mewtwo watched him from within Simeon?s body. ~Don?t bother trying to talk, I know what you?ll say.~ Simeon shut up and listened. ~The second phase is complete, Simeon. You loved your pokémon so much! Now, you will be completely dependant on them! You were able to get back your sight and hearing before. Now, you cannot sense a thing at all. Don?t think I haven?t given you someway to survive though. Any living creature you come in contact with, you can borrow its mind. You will see what it sees, hear what it hears, and know what it knows. As long as it lets you that is. I?ve given you this Spearow as a sort of goodbye gift. Put it to good use.~ With that, Simeon?s body slumped forward onto the tarp. Simeon looked through the Spearow?s eyes dumbfounded. In ten seconds, he felt his grasp on the Spearow?s mind beginning to weaken. The hand had let go of his leg in the process of falling! His vision began to fade and his hearing picked up a slight ringing. He stuck out a Spearow foot and touched it again to his body?s hand. His vision immediately came back and his hearing cleared. And the french fries caught his attention once again. His body wasn?t hungry, but the Spearow was. He could feel the Spearow?s mind next to his, and it wanted those french fries. Oh yes, it really wanted those french fries. His consciousness was divided between two bodies, the Spearow?s more than his. He moved his body, like one would move a remote control. He moved his left arm, and he watched it reach into his pocket, pick out a pokéball, and touch it to the Spearow?s head. He was blind again. Of all the senses he lacked, he missed his sight the most. Hoping desperately that his Spearow hadn?t gotten loose and only able to guess whether the pokéball was still in his hand, he tapped the ball on the back of his right hand. He felt his consciousness stretch, out of his mind and into the Spearow?s. The Spearow was still hungry, but it?s loyalty to Simeon after being in a pokéball was unmistakeable. Simeon smiled, knowing that he wouldn?t have to worry about loosing control and the Spearow flying away. He perched the Spearow on his hand and made his way slowly down the side of the booth. It wasn?t easy, for he couldn?t feel where his hands were, and his feet were completely blocked from view by his upper body. Eventually, he fell off the booth and landed on a duffel bag. Getting up, he saw a note attached to the bag. His name was written in large letters at the top, so he wouldn?t miss it. It said simply, ?Thought you might need these. Mewtwo.? Simeon opened the duffel bag, and was almost blinded by a bright flash. When it subsided, the Spearow was perched on the bare skin of his shoulder. The black leather trench coat he wore pulled up into flaps that covered his sleeves, and when undone, exposed his bare flesh. After examining himself, he found he also had on black jeans and a black muscle shirt. The shirt sagged off his emaciated body, a result of being a living corpse. The thought intrigued Simeon. Not angered or contented, just intrigued. And this intrigued him more. Wasn?t he supposed to feel something? Anger at Mewtwo?s betrayal? Happiness for his senses? But he felt nothing. Except for the Spearow?s hunger. And he knew he had to do something about that. He walked over to a restaurant across the street, wondering how hard it would be to cope if you couldn?t feel what you were doing. (OOC: I'll be putting up his new WG soon.)