From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net) Subject: [PW!] SinisTime Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000-09-08 21:21:25 PST Time is a relative thing. Your parents' time is not the same as your time, which is turn is not the same as your childrens' time. Let's not even get into your cousins' time. In some realities, objective time is an unceasing arrow, carrying all on its never ending path, even if inhabitants might perceive time very differently depending on their subjective experiences. In others, time is a spilt quiver of arrows, haphazardly pushing and pulling atoms between yesterday and tomorrow such that the concept of "now" has no meaning, though it is often difficult in such realities for life to evolve enough consciousness to be aware of this fact. And then there's realities like the PokeWorld... ****** Doppler waved his hand in front of the gym leader's face. It felt like weeks had passed since he made his offer, though a clock on the wall insisted that only two hours had passed...which was still more than enough to worry. The room was not flooded only because Doppler shut off the water when the pool filled. He backflipped, spinning into a porygon, and scanned the human. No heartbeat could be detected, though Robert was still clearly alive. It was as if... Further thoughts paused when a shapely female walked in. "Hello? Robert?" Doppler shrugged, and turned to face the newcomer. "Over here." The girl ambled over. "Thanks..." She took one look at him, and sighed. "Not again." "Do you know what is happening, madam?" "Yeah. He's my..." She blushed. "Well, I know him a lot. He keeps spacing out like this, and having flashes of amnesia. It's getting frustrating, but I'm going to help him overcome it...whatever's going on." Rilli hefted Robert with one hand. "At least he's light when he's like this." "The stasis field blocks the gluons, thus effectively resulting in sharply reduced mass." "What?" "My apologies." Doppler transformed into a duplicate Rilli. "My form sometimes affects my speech, if I let it." Rilli backed away a couple steps. 'Rilli' glanced at herself. "Sorry again. Bad habit of my brother's." Another flash, and an occupantless gray cloak floated above the ground. "You're...you're..." Rilli frowned. "I know you from somewhere." "I am Doppler, of the Pokemon Resistance. I was meeting with your friend when he siezed up. It appears that time has, in layman's terms, 'gone wacky' around him. I doubt his condition will be fatal in the short term; it might even retard his aging process. But it is still not a desirable condition. You will need the advice of an expert in these matters. I have been informed that Professor Oak knows some who have dealt with temporal mishaps; he would be my first suggestion for aid in this matter. He should at least know someone who can help, if he can not help directly." Rilli nodded. "Thanks." "In return...a gym without its leader can not open, but this gym is set to open soon, am I right?" Rilli nodded again. "Why do you not take your boyfriend...your love for him is obvious...to get help? He's useless to this place as is. While you do so, I shall arrange for the gym to get started, to earn a reputation that he can slip into on his return." "What kind of...reputation?" "This is the Diversity Gym, is it not? All kinds of pokemon shall train and battle here, including ones who neither need nor want a trainer. Novice trainers will probably drool at the chance to fight six-on-one in official battles...until they lose, that is." Rilli tried to picture it in her mind, but the tone in Doppler's voice... "I don't know. I'm not sure he'd want a reputation as a tough gym." Doppler's eyes glowed. "Gyms that hand out badges for simple tricks get little respect. Take Brock: he knows his function and takes pride in it, yet he had to start his own restaurant chain to fund his gym, with so few trainers losing to him even the first time." It sounded persuasive, but something tugged at the back of Rilli's mind. "Your eyes...you're trying to hypnotize me, aren't you?" "Of course not. Do you sense waves of psychic energy coming off of me? You don't have to be one of Sabrina's crew; even an untrained mind would be able to feel my full power." And, indeed, she felt no attack. "O...ok. Sorry I accused you." "It does not concern me. Many of those who know me for what I am are scared when I address them, even though there is no reason to be. It is an instinctive response to power such as mine, as well such a survival instinct should be. But I mean you no harm. If I did, you would no longer exist...and are you not still alive?" "I...guess..." His proposal seemed ok, but an instinct screamed out the presence of funny business, if not in his current actions than in his plan, which would at least need monitoring. Almost as soon as the scream happened, another part of her mind screamed back that she should trust Doppler and just worry about curing Robert. For his part, Doppler smiled with a mouth that was not there. Imitating this woman's inner voice inside her own mind was tricky, but doable. And having his contribution provoke her suspicions only made the natural part of her mind, the one that would remain once she was removed from his presence, reinforce its counter-opinion of trusting him. TBC?