From: Cat-Gonk (catgonk@azureheights.com) Subject: [PW!] Everloving. Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-02-08 17:44:47 PST "...blue air, horizon, water-flow bone to my bone I grasp the world. But what you are I do not know." - Gwen Harwood, taken from "Carnal Knowledge I" ------ Leon Charlesson opened the door to the apartment, letting the newlywed couple inside to what he was planning to become their new home. The second of five luxury apartments in the Clampion Towers, it was worth a fortune, with a clear view of the ocean and Cycling Road, as well as being larger than most houses and fully furnished with the best items that money could buy. "It's quite a place, isn't it?" the man said to his wife, who held onto his arm as they examined the interior. Though they were investigatiing the house they kept stealing glances at each other even as Leon discussed issues as monotonous as the electrical system and the location of fire exits, their loving tenderness still fresh and sweet. After examining all of the rooms, the couple sat down on the couch facing the balcony to watch the open ocean, hands joined together as they watched the mid-day sun gisten off the rippling ocean surface. The two of them made such a perfect couple, even their appearances complemented each other. The way they moved together, the way they looked at each other, where had Leon felt this before? He struggled to think back to his past, but he could not, not infront of the couple or anyone else. "Mr Charlesson, I think you've got yourself a deal." Leon shook the man's hand, and that of his wife. "We'll be around in a couple of days to deliver the money, I trust you'll send the paperwork soon." "I'll do it right away. Thankyou both for coming." His voice had changed, but it was doubtful that the man or the woman would have picked it up due to their primatry interest being each other. Following them down in the elevator Leon waved goodbye to them as they drove off in their car. ------ [PW!] Everloving. - By Cat-Gonk ------ It was twenty whole years ago. Two decades, he thought to himself. She was the very essence of beauty. She was Diana, Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, deity of the moon. Her guns sliced through all those who would oppose her, who would fail to recognise her sheer grace and elegance, those lesser beings who knew not of her divine prescence even as their very lifeblood seeped from the wounds covering their body (See: Through The Never). So very long ago... Even as he drew his Pokemon and ordered them to strike he stood transfixed at her image, her shape and form, her wondrousness. Though she ran from him that day, he knew it would not be the last time he saw her. Shrike of course knew nothing, her unstable evolution had stolen most of her memory as well as most of her powers of reason. She had become little more than the Pokemon she resembled, and as much as it hurt Leon to do so he could not help but to be drawn to this new feeling, this complete and total infatuation, this burning desire manifest in human form. As for his son, the Moluvians were taking care of him, adjusting his genetic code to make sure he was concieved at least partially human and not in the same twisted, corrupt form as his mother. Though five months old in the womb, he would not have to be released into the world until his father was ready for him. ------ Night Shade rested on a hilltop, Kadabra and Charmeleon asleep. Kadabra had already Recovered to full health, but Charmeleon would need more than the Berries Night Shade had foraged for him and the few Super Potions she had left in her backpack. The moon hung overhead, casting its dull light across the fields. It had to be him. That man, the man she had been searching for since they first met. She felt something different about him than other people, he had a prescence, a divine aura, as if he were a supreme being. She was drawn to him, was this what the humans (Night Shade had always thought herself to be of a higher species) called "love"? Love was regarded as one of the greatest forces on the planet, was she now on the cusp of ultimate power? Her infatuation with Leon was equalled by her thoughts of becoming an unstoppable warrior, driven by a divine force, bringing death to all who would oppose her. She had to have him. He had no doubt brought her here for his own reasons, but she would make him love her, if she hadn't already. Night Shade was no stranger to her own feminine charms, had this man fallen for her as she had for him? Tonight. While the world slept, she would see him. Rousing her Pokemon, they Teleported to the foot of the Clampion Towers, and she set about scaling the walls while her Pokemon stood guard in the shadows. Upon reaching Leon's top-floor apartment, she was suprised to find him on the balcony staring out into the ocean, and he was equally stunned by her. Even in the pale moonlight they were transfixed by each other, and as Leon offered Night Shade his hand and they embraced with a backdrop of stars behind them they both knew that there was no turning back now, that this was forever, that their love was as real as the moon that reflected off their skin. Leon awoke alone, a single rose on the bed next to him. ------ Night Shade, its fruit full of poison when ripe, its foliage toxic. Night Shade, Belladonna, the poison eating into Leon's mind, occupying his every thought, twisting his mind apart. He didn't eat for weeks, he failed to attend all-important meetings and conferences, he was a man obscessed with love. He had to see her again. The next time they met, he would be ready. Night Shade was a wanted criminal, so Leon used this to his advantage. Using his position in the community, he equipped Hellion's Jenny family with an arsenal of powerful yet non-lethal weapons, choke grenades, web pistols, magazines of plastic bullets and electroshock weapons, as well as the most carefully-trained Parasect he could find. The next time Night Shade struck could very well have been her last, as the moment she stepped into the Pokecentre she was hit from all sides by a cloud of noxious Spore. The first shot from a beanbag-round hit her square in the face, the shock combined with the sleep-inducing mushroom spores mercifully knocking her into unconsciousness before the barrage of attacks that followed after slammed into her body. ------ She awoke to find herself in a well-furnished room on a four-post bed, clothed in a silk nightgown with her usual outfit cleaned and hung up on a screen in the corner. Her belt still retained her machine pistols, but the Pokeball clips were empty. As she picked herself up off the bed, she didn't feel hurt at all save for one or two bruises that still had yet to heal. "Where am I?" she thought to herself, changing out of the nightgown and into her usual attire, a purple crop-top and shorts. Leaving the nightgown draped over the screen, she strapped her belt back onto her waist, drew both her pistols and cautiously opened the door to the room. This was Arena, Leon's underground shelter and training facility. Night Shade walked out into the corridor, photographs of past battles hanging from the walls. One particular image caught her eye, a burly Mr Mime ten feet in the air, ready to Body Slam a paralysed Chansey, struggling to move its unresponsive, rigid limbs as her killing blow descended from above. The Mr Mime looked familiar, few trainers raised their Pokemon to such huge power levels, was it the same Pokemon that rendered her pistols useless in her first hiest at the Hellion Pokecentre? Examing the photo, she saw a man standing in the trainer's box, an evil grin across his face as his opponent's hopes and dreams of victory were to be shattered by the bulk of a 120-kilogram Mr Mime named Wallace. Hearing footsteps, she turned to face Leon Charlesson, Pokemon Master He was unarmed, and his Pokebelt was empty. She felt her knees buckle, and her arms go limp as she was approached by what she had been searching for her whole life. They had seen passing glimpses of each other before, in day and in shadow, but never like this. Leon walked towards her, transfixed by her beauty as if in a Haze, and extended his arm to her. "Come. I've prepared dinner." And Night Shade followed. And followed she did, for what could have been an eternity. ------ "It was so very long ago", thought Leon. He stared up at his bedroom ceiling and leant to his left, hoping to feel her next to him again or at least find the rose she was fond of leaving when she was forced to disappear. Now Night Shade had returned, his contacts in Team Rocket had spoken of a what was dismissed as a bizarre prank call and the brutal killing of two field agents and their Pokemon, shot full of holes and their minds torn apart by psionic energy. Kirsty Williams' Haunter possession at the Rosetta University, which was then assisted by a high-level Charizard made it seem all the more likely that his love had returned, and was searching for him. How she could have chosen a Hellion girl by chance, especially one who Leon knew, was a stroke of luck he would never have expected. Yes, Night Shade would be back, and soon. "She had to die, I'll never forget her." ------ [PW!] Everloving. - By Cat-Gonk OOC: Yes, I know it doesn't explain the events leading up to Night Shade's death, I'll get around to that much, much later in her storyline. "Through the Never" is the companion post to this, though I think there were some other Night Shade history posts. I'm going to be getting a complete Night Shade story archive together soon (Kruton: There were a lot of posts that your Archive wasn't here for), with pics and everything ^_^. Yeah, I can't draw worth shit, but I've already got one drawn and it's not too bad...even though Night Shade's got "sausage-limbs" in it.