From: Worry (Nuh@uh.dummy) Subject: Re: [PW!] Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-07-26 17:13:37 PST In article <9jpith$110ie$1@ID-60790.news.dfncis.de>, "Insanellama" <insanellama316@yahoo.com> wrote: >"I could have sworn I heard something fly by, and something not a word, >'ven' or something like that." > >TBC? > >(It's cool, I appreciate it, I just made up those two guys for that one >story, but I'm glad you used 'em, it's a unique idea. >Your turn now) > >-Insanellama >Aim: Insanelama "OK Venonat, go upwind and use sleep powder." Jason ordered his bug type. "Make sure the Rapidash and Houndour get a full dose. i don't want to have to hurt them in order to talk to Insanellama. he's of no use to us if he is crippled with grief over the loss of his pokemon." As the pokemon quietly rushed to do as it was ordered, Jason yawned and thought about the best way to approach the injured trainer. Venonat had tapped on the glass balcony door of the hotel after only three hours of Jason sleeping, and he was still tired. but there was work to do, and the luxury of sleep would just have to wait. Jason was also bothered by a painful headache. Venonat didn't know psychic yet, so had to communicate with Jason through Confusion, the only psychic move it knew. While it did get the job done, Venonat wasn't a psychic type, so wasn't subtle enough with the move to communicate without it causing Jason great pain. "What's the play." A soft feminine voice whispered next to his ear. The voice belonged to his new partner, Lisa. She had been waiting at his car when he and Venonat had come down from the hotel room. Jason had been surprised, he had thought it would be at least a day before his employer would replace the late Lee. And in a way, Jason wished it had taken a day. The girl was young. Eighteen at most. Jason worried that her inexperience would trip him up. But so far, the girl had proven remarkably mature. On the ride over to Insanellama's bolt hole, she had asked pertinent questions and covered what their employer had told her of the situation. She, at least, wouldn't make the same assumptions that had cost poor idiot Lee his life. "Well, this guy is tough." Jason answered the girl's question. "He removed bullets from his own back and had his own pokemon fire the wounds. He is also quick, and dangerous. He is armed, and unless his pokemon and he can communicate, he thinks we are here to kill him. So we will use Venonat's sleep powder attack to knock his pokemon out. He is most likely already out cold due to his injuries. So once his pokemon are asleep, we move in and wake him. You will provide cover, make sure his pokemon don't wake prematurely, and make sure he doesn't kill me before I have the chance to make the boss's offer to him." "I take it we don't want him or his pokemon to suffer permanent damage." Lisa stated. "So if either he or his beasties wake up, I am to shoot only as a last resort and then only flesh wounds." 'You take it correctly." Jason replied pleased that she had a firm grasp on the situation. "I don't believe he is going to put up that great a fight. he has been through much already." Just then, Jason noticed a greenish mist floating on the breeze. Venonat had gotten into position and had released his attack. "Get ready!" Jason whispered pulling a handgun from his shoulder holster." As the greenish mist dissipated on the night breeze, Jason crept silently up to the alcove Insanellama had secured himself in. It was a decent location, easily defended. Peering carefully around the corner, Jason saw both Insanellama's Rapidash and Houndour sleeping. The fire horse was standing, sleeping in the nature of equines. His fiery mane and tail lit up the alcove, casting flickering shadows. Beyond the sleeping pokemon, Jason could make out a sleeping bag. Motioning for Lisa to hold her position, Jason crept silently into the alcove. Being careful not to wake the sleeping guard beasts, he knelt beside the sleeping bag and prepared himself to wake the occupant. So intense was his concentration on the bag, he didn't notice a dark shadow disengage from the darker shadows cast by the fire of the Rapidash's flames. Insanellama' dark clothing had served him well. Keeping his head tilted down so that his black cowboy hat covered any reflection of light from his skin, the other man hadn't noticed him standing at all. Having had the benefit of knowing that the man would be showing up, it was an easy matter to avoid the Venonat's Sleep Powder. Now the element of surprise gave him the edge. Jason started as he felt the cold, unmistakable feel of a gun barrel placed to his head, but he didn't make the mistake of going into action. "Ahhh, the tables turn." Insanellama stated smugly. "Of course, I don't have to tell you what will happen if you move. I don't know if you could survive MY test of YOUR reflexes "I figured you would show up here after Cujo found out that a Venonat followed us." Insanellama continued his voice growing more cocky. "And Cujo also tells me that you killed your partner, so you have no back up right now." "That's not exactly true." A girl's voice said from behind him as for the second time in the same night a gun pressed into his temple. "Now slowly give me your gun, and this meeting wont have to turn out as badly as the first did." Insanellama cursed himself silently as he flipped the gun up to hold it by the barrel. he had been so intent on the man, he hadn't seen any sign of this girl creeping up. As her hand reached out to grasp the gun he held, he spun around grabbing at the gun that had been at his temple. He missed. The girl had been expecting his move and avoided it easily. Slowed by his injuries, Insanellama wasn't fast enough. Suddenly his own gun was at his throat while her gun had lowered to cover his crotch. She really had him dead to rights, and Insanellama froze in acknowledgment of that fact. His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Now that the dramatic part of the evening is over with," Jason said sardonicaly getting to his feet. "Could we have the conversation that I came here to have with you?" Finding an old five gallon bucket, Jason flipped it over, pulled Insanellama's sleeping bag over it and indicated that Insanellama should have a seat. having no choice, Insanellama did as he was bid. For the moment, he would have to play their game. The girl had his gun, but he had another. He just couldn't reach it with the two sets of eyes on him. And the man knew he had another gun as well, having seen him pull both earlier in the evening. "Ok, you have me." Insanellama said angrily. "What is it that you want!" "First things first." Jason replied walking over to Lisa and taking Insanellama's gun from her. "Nice balance." Jason said admiring the shooter as he walked back to where Insanellama sat. Flipping the gun around, Jason offered it to Insanellama saying "Holster it. there is no need for it now. Lisa, holster yours as well." The young girl looked hesitant, but slipped her gun into a holster at her back without hesitating. 'Score another for her.' Jason thought to himself. Insanellama eyes narrowed as he wondered what this man was playing at. he holstered his weapon as well, curious now. "I've a few more things that belong to you as well," Jason stated kneeling beside the injured man. Pulling out a hunting knife, Jason offered it hilt first saying "You left this at the scene earlier." Insanellama took the knife and considered slashing the man and throwing it at the female Lisa. He knew neither could defend the action, even if he was still weak from his earlier wounds. But even as hard headed and obstinate as Insanellama could be, he knew that this wasn't the time for violence. besides, he was more curious than ever as to what prompted all that had happened up until now. "And finally this," Jason went on reaching up under his coat to pull out a box that he had worn strapped to his side. As he offered the box to Insanellama he added, "I had meant this to be further incentive for excepting an offer, but now I give it as apology for my former partners...overzealousness...earlier. They are yours, and you keep them whether excepting the offer or not." Insanellama opened the box to reveal two antique pistols. he resisted the urge to give a cry of joy upon seeing them. he had thought them lost forever, having had to hock them weeks ago in order to raise money to live on. "It's good to see these, but it hardly makes up for being shot." Insanellama stated after a moment as he closed the case. "I know." Jason replied with a small bow of his head. "but hopefully the offer I am here to make will help lessen that blow." "All right." Insanellama said in return. "It is obvious you two aren't cops as you pretended to be earlier. So what is this offer you keep talking about, how illegal is it, and is Giovanni behind this?" At the mention of the infamous name, Cujo growled low in his throat. Both pokemon had awakened to the intense situation as Lisa had made her move on Insanellama, but neither had an opportunity to attack. Darkhorse had oriented on the girl, ready to skewer the lass with his horn while Cujo had focused on the man, already seeing the tooth marks he would leave behind tearing his throat out. Cujo also kept a wary eye out for the Venonat that hadn't yet shown itself. Jason sighed deeply then said. "Ok, here it is. Team Rocket is involved, but they did not hire us. Our employer, who must rename nameless for the nonce, has hired us to recover an item stolen by Team Rocket. This item is being held at a Rocket base near Pallet town. But the location is guarded by an old ruins discovered south of the Pokemopolis dig. the base itself is located at the base of a mountain and is heavily defended from frontal assault by team Rocket Elite. The only way to approach the base undetected is through the ruins." "So why not assemble a team and go through the ruins to assault the base from behind?" Insanellama asked. "Why go through the trouble of recruiting me?" "We tried that." Jason replied. "twenty-two men descended into the ruins. We had two Haunter and an Onix reconoiter the ruins and they found an exit that is concealed right behind the Rocket base. We went down through the ruins prepared to attack and retrieve the item. "I am the only one that made it out alive." Jason stated flatly. He went on to explain. "the ruins are booby trapped. Deadly traps that claimed the lives of twenty-one men. We now think that the ruins are some sort of tomb created to house the remains of a royal king or family associated with Pokemopolis. Only someone with superb reflexes could hope to survive the trip through the ruins." "So whats the big deal?" Insanellama asked. "Now that you have been down there and sprung all the traps, just assemble a new team and try again. I still ask the question 'why do you need me?'" "Because the traps themselves get reset. I had to fight them in both directions. There are Ghastly, Haunter and Gengar throughout that apparently reset the traps as soon as they are sprung, as well as becoming a few traps in an of themselves. to make matters worse, there seems to be some kind of field in place there that make psychic pokemon's attacks completely useless. This field may well be the origin of the Dark type pokemon. the Onix we had with us did manage to faint a Gengar with an earthquake attack, but as soon as it did, it was set upon by several others and couldn't defeat them all." "So you want me to play the part of Indiana Jones and help you recover the holy grail from the temple of doom." Insanellama stated sarcastically. "But I am no archaeologist. What makes you think I can help you to defeat these traps, and what have you got to offer that would make me want to tt/ Once more, 'why me?'" "We need you because of your particular set of stats. i know where all the traps are on the path we will need to follow. it's just that we need someone with your speed and reflexes to get through them. You have two pokemon that will help out as well, Cujo who is strong versus the ghosts and will help out of a particular trap, just as my Murkrow helped me. Darkhorse whose speed will help avoid another trap, just as my own Rapidash saved me. "And after we have navigated the ruins themselves, I need someone with me who shares an outlook on death that most other trainers don't share. Someone that can help me defeat any members of team Rocket who seek to stand in our way as we retrieve the "Holy Grail" as you put it. Our goal is to get in and get out without being seen. Stealth is the order of the day. But if we are discovered, we may end up shooting our way out. "Lastly," Jason said finishing up. "As to what would make you want to help, why money is the answer there. Make no mistake, you will be risking your life if you choose to help out. Risk your life and face the possibility of having to kill some bad guys as well. my employer would not ask this without being willing to compensate you handsomely. 50,000 is waiting to be deposited in a bank of your choice just for excepting the offer. Another 50,000 upon completion of the job. that plus free reign once the job is complete and the stolen item is returned to explore the ruins and keep any riches you can find there. We estimate that to the point where the ruins exit at the back of Team Rockets base is only roughly half of the ruins. In that half, I saw a lot of antique things that could be sold to museums for nice profits. there is no telling what could be found deeper down. As Jason finished his narrative, he stood up. Regarding Insanellama one last moment, he said, "I am staying at the Lugia Inn. Room 409. If you decide to accept this offer, meet me there. I will be there for the next day only. I have all the plans of the ruins and the blueprints of the Rocket base including the alarm system there. This offer means that you would not have to hock your beautiful weapons again for some time to come. If I haven't heard from you by tomorrow night, i will assume you have decided not to take us up on the offer and begin my search anew for a person to help me out with this quest. We have followed your progress for over a month now, and feel confident that you can do this task. i hope to hear from you." With that, Jason left the alcove with Lisa in tow. Pausing at the mouth of the alcove, he pulled out a pokeball and pointed it at something out of Insanellama's sight. the red beam claimed a pokemon and Jason put the pokeball away. Turning to face Insanellama one last time, Jason added. "If you do decide to help me out, you will have enough time to recover from your injuries. The object isn't going anywhere, and we will need several days to plan. But, as I said, if I haven't heard from you by tomorrow night, I will have to begin my search for a partner in this right away." Jason then turned and walked away, leaving Insanellama to consider the offer. TBC?