From: otaku (animeotaku@mindspring.com) Subject: [PW!] New Hopes and New Foes Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000/04/24 Shadow yawned deeply as he opened his eyes to the morning sun. Standing up, he stretched and rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on his day’s plan. Still groggy, he opened the double doors of Pewter Gym and walked inside. Brock sat stationed at a table with a laptop, grinning. “Excuse me, Gym Leader Brock.” Shadow waited a second, and frowned. Coughing loudly, he finally got the spiky haired mans attention. “Another challenger, eh? Very well, this will be a one on one Pokemon Battle.” Brock halfheartedly flipped a switch, which raised the walls, revealing two large pieces of rocky land. Shadow causally stepped back, raising a Pokeball from his belt. “You must get defeated quite often Brock. You don’t seem to care whether I beat you or not.” Brock just sighed and raised one of his Pokeballs in the air. “Buddy…I’ve been beaten by everything from a Magikarp to a Weedle. Let’s just say I’m not expecting to come out on top.” Brock tossed the Pokeball out onto the field casually. “Zubat!” “A Zubat, huh? Interesting choice. Go, Abra!” The small brown Pokemon appeared on the field, snoring quietly. Brock smiled, then began whooping in joy. “A sleeping Abra! Thank you Goddish! Something I can finally beat! Ok Zubat, use your Confuse Ray!” Zubat flew high into the air, emitting a large blue beam from its body. The beam shot directly at Abra, who didn’t budge an inch, still sleeping. /~Wait for it…wait for it…now Abra!~\ Shadow showed no emotion on the outside, but decided to play this battle telepathically. Abra teleported at the last possible second, the Confuse Ray missing him only by a hairline. He appeared behind Zubat, floating in mid air. /~Now use your Mega Punch.~\ Shadow smiled smugly. This battle was already over. Abra grabbed Zubat by the head with one claw, winding up his other hand in a clenched fist. Brock gasped when he realized what had happened, and panicked. “Zubat…uh…um…use Bite, quick!” The attack came a second to late. Zubat’s razor sharp fangs collided with Abra’s fist, cracking them on contact. The bat fell to the ground in pain, but wasn’t finished off yet. Flying upward, Zubat screeched in Abra’s face, causing him cover his ears in pain and teleport back to the ground. “Good work Zubat. Now, use your Wing Attack!” Zubat raised itself as high as it could, then dive-bombed, wings stiffened. Abra managed to stagger to his feet, but the Wing Attack came too soon. Zubat knocked Abra down again, flying high to strike. Before Shadow could order Abra to attack, Zubat slammed into him, sending Abra spinning. Brock laughed triumphantly. “Zubat, finish that weak little thing off with another Wing Attack!” Shadow growled as Abra barely managed to stand. /~Abra, don’t try to dodge. When Zubat hits you, simply do a duel Mega Punch to its wings.~\ Abra nodded, and raised both arms defensively, then shot them both forward just as Zubat collided with him. The punches knocked Zubat back against a large boulder behind it, which it hit with a sickening thud. Brock lowered his head in defeat. “Very well…you’ve won.” He recalled the fainted Zubat into its Pokeball, and tossed Shadow a Boulder Badge as well as the Bide TM. Shadow motioned for Abra to leave as he walked out. The small psychic Pokemon bowed, and psychically recalled himself into the Pokeball. Once outside, Shadow gave a faint smile, placing the Boulder Badge in place in his small silver case. “One down…seven to go.” Snapping it shut, Shadow began walking up the path to Mt. Moon. As he walked, Shadow removed a small map from his pocket and began muttering to himself. “Lets see…the next Gym is in Cerulean City, famous for its water Pokemon. Maybe I can find some electric Pokemon before then…” He stopped in mid step, as a knife came whizzing at his head. Gasping, Shadow whipped his head to the side as the knife nicked him in the ear, small drops of blood dripping to the ground. “Ok, who threw that?” Turning around, Shadow couldn’t see anyone. Without warning, another knife came flying at him from above. Shadow frowned, grabbing it by the hilt as it stopped a mere three inches from his throat. Looking up, he saw a woman garbed in a white dress staring down at him. “Well well...nice reflexes.” Shadow growled, tossing the knife to the ground. “Who are you?” “Oh, no one in particular. You may call me Blade.” She leapt down from the tree, black hair contrasting with her white dress. She was a shapely woman, with enough curves to send any pubescent boy into shock. “I have been looking for you for a long time, Shadow Walker. And now that I’ve found you, I must say, this has been a disappointment. Your skills are not what they should be.” “I don’t have time for your infantile games, girl. Get out of my way unless you want to get hurt.” Shadow roughly shoved her aside, ignoring her as she flipped him the finger. “This isn’t over until I say so! Magmar, go!” She tossed out a Pokeball, and a large red duck appeared, its body aglow with fire. Shadow flipped his Pokedex open and pointed it at Magmar. “Magmar: The fire duck Pokemon. This Pokemon can usually be found in Volcanoes, and is indigenous to the Cinnabar Island area. It carries a bad temper and should not be provoked.” The Pokedex chimed out the information in its usual halting voice. “I see. Well then Blade, I was never one to turn down a challenge. I choose you, Scyther!” Scyther appeared, ready for battle. However, Blade just laughed and recalled the Magmar. “There would be no point to fighting you if you plan to use a Scyther. I will take my leave for now, but be aware of one thing Shadow Walker; One day, we will engage in battle.” She bowed in respect, or mock respect, Shadow couldn’t tell, and leapt into the trees, gone within an instant. Furrowing his brow, Shadow recalled his equally confused Scyther back into the Pokeball, and continued walking towards Mt. Moon. He had not gone far however, when he heard a weak buzzing coming from the grass. “Beeeedrriiiiill.” Walking over, Shadow saw a large Beedrill, larger then most. It had to be at least four feet tall, if not more. The Beedrill had large gashes all over its body, one wing was missing, and numerous burn marks scorched its yellow and black body. Shadow grimaced at the green pus that oozed out its numerous wounds. He couldn’t leave this creature out in the open for predators. Pulling a Pokeball off his belt, he tapped it on the back, and it was sucked in. However, it appeared again, growling. “Beedrill!” It tried to jab Shadow with one of its drills, to no avail. The bug barely had strength to stay conscience, much less fight. Shadow tapped it with the Pokeball again, and this time, the Beedrill stayed. Releasing Abra from his Pokeball, Shadow quickly explained the Beedrill’s plight and the need to teleport directly to Cerulean City. /~Shadow, I am afraid I cannot teleport that distance all at once.~\ /~You must Abra! Please try~\ Shadow shouted telepathically. He couldn’t let this Beedrill die. He just couldn’t. Abra gritted his teeth, and suddenly began to glow. His tail grew longer, his body larger, and a moustache appeared on his face. “Kadabra!” /~All right Kadabra! Your power must have gone up now!~\ /~I can feel it Shadow. Now hang on.~\ Kadabra closed his eyes and held up a spoon, and in a flash of light, disappeared from the outskirts of Pewter and reappeared in front of the Cerulean City Pokemon Center. Wasting no time, Shadow thanked Kadabra and recalled him. Rushing inside, Shadow tossed the Pokeball containing the Beedrill to Nurse Joy. She gasped and fumbled a bit, but regained her composure and calmly placed the Pokeball on a conveyor belt. Turning to Shadow, she shook her head in sadness. “These are serious wounds. I’ll do what I can, but this doesn’t look good. Please understand that it may not survive.” Shadow nodded. “Do what you can.” He took a seat on the couch nearby, cracking his knuckles anxiously. Just outside, a pair of unseen eyes watched him. “Just you wait, Shadow Walker. Our fun is only beginning.” TBC -AnimeOtaku, TR Ninja on AIM