From: Cat-Gonk (catgonk@azureheights.com) Subject: [PW!] Lion Rampant Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-07-29 04:14:49 PST "Give it a Thunderbolt! Come on, just hit the thing once!" A blur of grey and white traced a perfect spiral through the air, weaving deftly around the bolt of bright lightning that struck clean through the empty space where the incoherent shape had been moments earlier. "Keep out of its way and keep firing! You're the only thing I've got left!" The Electabuzz somersaulted backwards, releasing a storm of electricity at the peak of its jump. The bright, sparkling charges seemed to fill the arena, but the blur of motion continued to twist and turn its way towards its opponent. ------ [PW!] Lion Rampant - By Cat-Gonk. ------ "Get back! Keep your guard up, let it get close to you and then you can't miss! Throw your back against the boulder to your left, and let rip!" Following its trainer's orders, the Electabuzz sprinted for the assumed safety of the boulder, and fired a third blast of electricity with the exact same effect. Its opponent was closing in, all that seemed to be visible of it were traces of grey fluff and the odd downy feather drifting through the air behind it. "Now! Give it everything you've got!" Lighting arcing between thwo two electrodes on the top of it head, Electabuzz summoned up its entire reserve of internal energy for one final Thunder attack. Raising its fists as it powered up, rainclouds drew over the Stadium, lending their power to the assault by transferring their own stored charge to Electabuzz via giant shafts of lightning. Forked lighting crackled through the stadium in a single instant of destruction, the bolt impacting into one of the Stadium's white petal-like walls leaving a dark black scorch mark. Electabuzz, tired from the ordeal, surveyed the battlefield as the clouds it had called upon departed for their previous locations. Its trainer had been momentarily stunned by the tremendous release of energy, and had only just managed to draw back his hands from his eyes that ahd yet to completely regain their sight.. "Look out! It's behind you!" Something wrapped one grey wing around the Electabuzz's head, and pulled it sharply in the opposite direction to the object being pressed hard against the other side of its neck. A resounding crack filled the stadium, not as loud as the previous bolt of lightning but all the more audible to its trainer. Letting its opponent fall to the ground and releasing its concentraion, the barely-recogniseable form coalesced into that of Cygnet the Farfetch'd, one grey wing twirling a now slightly-bent leek, the body of its opponent laying motionless at its talons. The referee raised the red flag in his right hand. "Electabuzz is unable to battle. I declare Mr Charlesson the winner of this battle. Due to your Pokemon League ranking, and the nature of your loss, you must thereby forfeit the sum of 2000 Poke to Mr Charlesson." The Electabuzz's trainer raced over to its fallen Pokemon, and held it in its hands. A barely visible tear ran down the side of the trainer's face, his emotions sorely tested by seeing his prized Pokemon gunned down in one hit by an opponent it couldn't even scratch. "You'd better get that thing to a Pokecentre fast, its neck might be broken." Cygnet fluttered its wings to give the Electabuzz's trainer some space as he returned it to its Pokeball. It took to the air, landing on the padded blue shoulder of its trainer, Felix Charlesson, his greatcoat billowing slightly in the heavy wind. Adjusting his glasses and brushing an errant strand of hair from his forehead, Felix reached into his trouser pocket to withdraw a small leather wallet. "I'll take the money now, thanks." ------ Sitting in the grandstand of the Orchid Colusseum, Felix unzipped his backpack and withdrew an envelope, opened, with a wax emblem of a trophy holding down the flap on one side. Another battle was progressing, this time a Pidgeot brazenly ducked and weaved around the giant boulders of rock being hurled at it by a Tyranitar. The skies were clear, fluffy white clouds matching the flawless white curved panels of the Stadium walls. As the weather was fine the petal-like walls of the Stadium were open, giving the construction the appearance of a giant flower from far away, hence its name. Reaching into the envelope, Felix withdrew a piece of folded white parchment-like paper, and opened it up infront of him. ------ Dear Mr Charlesson. I wholehartedly extend my congratulations to you. You are ranked amongst the top 50 trainers on Kanto for your age and experience bracket, and being a part of this elite group, you have been invited to join the Johto League, the major League run on the microstate of Johto. The standings were cleared last week due to the closing of the Pokemon League Games, so you will not need to do much catching up (though a trainer of your calibre wouldn't be worried anyway). The League is not invitation-only, but as you have been invited due to your standing you have been granted certain privilages. Inside you will find both the documentation needed to register, as well as two tickets for the Celadon-Goldenrod Magnet Train and many other vouchers you may find useful during your stay in Johto. Once again I congratulate you on this achievement, and I will greet your personally as you step off the Magnet Train in Goldenrod - Prof. W.H. Jarrah. Ecruteak City Research Facility. ------ Kirsty was dead, as far as he knew, "Night Shade" hadn't been sighted for at least five years. Tick was Goddish-knows where, Samuraichu was training in the Seafoam Islands in the hope of learning Surf in order to finally beat Brock, Raven and James had both been confirmed dead, his old travelling group had gone their separate ways and Dustin had disappeared off the face of the map. All that was left for him in Kanto was in Hellion Town, and that was only a few days walk from New Bark Town anyway. Besides, he'd never fought any of the Johto Pokemon before, only read about them. Up until a few years ago they were quarantined from Kanto while the scientists went about making sure that the current ecological balance wouldn't be altered by them being introduced. Previously only Pokemon capable of crossing the Silver Mountains could have crossed. "Pika pi chu?" Munty crawled its way over to Felix, having done socialising with a trio of Pokemon waiting for their next battle. After five years without its back legs Munty had learned to crawl rather well, though it couldn't move anywhere near like it used to. With a squeal of relaxation, Munty lay in Felix's lap and read the letter Felix held infront of him, thinking how nice it would be if it could understand the words. Looking down from the letter, Felix took one hand away from the paper and ran it along Munty's back. "Do you know where Johto is, Munty?" "Chu?" "Can you see those mountains over there?" Felix picked it up by the scruff of its neck, or what little neck a Pikachu has, and held it towards the direction of the Silver Mountains. "Over those mountains is a whole new place, with Pokemon neither of us have seen before, and a whole new group of people to battle." "Ka chu." Felix sat Munty on his lap, facing him. "Would you like to go there? See new Pokemon, and meet new people?" "Pika. Kachu pi pi pika pi?" "You and me both. But, I mean, there isn't anyone here I'd really miss. My father's always on the move anyway, I think he's over there himself, actually, and all our friends have gone away." "Pika pi pi kapikapi ka chu?" "They're just, eh, they're not people I'd really call friends. I mean, even though we go out, buy each other drinks, talk about shit and do stuff, they're not my friends. And they're not yours, either. They won't back you up at the end of the day, remember when we got into that scrap with the Dragonair Boys last year?" "Pi." "When the smoke cleared, it was only me in there, Cygnet had to take on about seven L50s on his own while the rest of you went for the trainers. Thanks again for that effort, by the way." "Chaaa." Munty pretended to be fighting, falling over once he realised that boxing required the use of its front legs, the only thing holding it upright. Though its wounds had healed, and the bandages that once covered its lower body had been removed, the hemispherical bumps that were once its lower limbs were not capable of providing stability. Felix picked it up, and sat it upright. "Pi chu." ------ The viewscren of the vidphone displayed a man's face, still young, but displying signs of an intelligence far beyond its years. Behind him hovered a Porygon, its sharp angled body drifting to appear behind either shoulder to get a better view of what was happening on the other side. "I've managed to narrow down the elements that cause a Chansey to evolve to around thirty factors. It would appear that, aside from a high level of mental well-being, a Chansey also needs to have been taught Softboiled. Your Chansey has neither, which might be why it hasn't evolved yet." "Mental well-being?" "Your Chansey is borderline psychotic, Felix. Too many years of fighting in hand-to-hand and not healing other Pokemon has taken its toll on its mental condition. Wild Chansey, what little of them there are, normally run from battles or fight only to protect themselves, which is why Blissey are extremely rare anywhere, wild or trained. The wild ones don't get the levels in, and the trained ones aren't stable." "The fact that your Chansey's been using Bide for the past eight years hasn't helped much either. I get the impression that it's sado-masochistic to a degree, relishing the pain that comes from taking hits and also enjoying the, explosive, manner in which Bide seems to work. If I were you, I'd check the thing into a Pokecentre for a few months, get it doing what it was made to do, and then once it evolves you could try fighting with it again." "Righto." "Then again, you mightn't want it to evolve, as far as I can tell the only major gain is in non-physical techniques and Bide only seems to run off the level of damage inflicted. Blissey are naturally hardier, but it mightn't be worth losing what could amount to a large portion Chansey's fighting prowess. Think about it, if you want, there are a couple of tame Blissey floating around on Johto, not least of all in Violet City's Pokecentre. I hear you got that scholarship entry to their League, contratulations, by the way." "Thanks, Mr Martin. I'm probably going to leave at the end of the week after I get my stuff together. I'll let you know how things go." "It's been good to talk again. Best of luck in the Johto League." ------ These days the Six Star Circus had become more of a trainer's den than anything else. Leon had been out on League business for the past week, leaving Wallace in charge. The burly Mr Mime was refereeing a match when Felix emerged from Leon's office into the grandstand, full of trainers socialising and sharing the latest gossip that had made its way into the trainer's circuit. Each of the Six Star's rings was occupied, be it with a battle or a training session. A banner hung from the steel supports holding the roof and lighting gear up, a stylised Entei holding a sword and shield as it lunged into battle, flames licking the lion-dog's body and its mane majectically billowing out behind it. During a recent trip to the Orange Islands Leon had unearthed the banner from his ancestral family home, and it now hung in the Six Star's Arena. It seemed strange to Felix that a circus had been turned into a place of battle, but wasn't that what they were originally intended for? The armour-clad Gladiators of old had been replaced with beasts of greater destructive capability, both were slaves to their profession, both fought for the enjoyment of others, however few fought to the death. <Beep.> It was Vektor, morphed into a trolley with Felix's backpack, greatcoat, luggage and and Pokeballs inside. Taking one last look at the Circus, Felix nodded to the Porygon, and made his way to the door. Somewhere, a chant rose up. It slowly grew in loudness and tempo, beginning with just a handful of trainers and eventually filling the stadium. Battles stopped, so that the trainers and Pokemon could join in. The crowd screamed his name. With each step of his feet, what seemed like every living being in all of Hellion clapped their hands, and roared the name of their chosen champion. Felix. One word, but the only word audible even outside the Six Star Circus' walls, and the only word in his mind as he watched the Silver Mountains roll past from inside the sleek cabin of the Magnet Train. The events of the past few minutes would remain in his memory forever, and were all he could think of as the Magnet Train sped its way towards the spires of Goldenrod City. When he was about to walk through the glass double-doors, and out of the Six Star Circus, Felix had taken a moment to look out into the assembled crowd both inside and outside. These people had complete faith in him and his abilities. Half of them weren't even trainers, but people there to lend their support to a fellow human being in need of re-assurance and hope. Felix fingered the letter in his coat pocket, wondering whether or not he should have left Hellion behind, but its people had put their faith in him, and he was not about to disappoint. Before he had opened the passenger door to the jet-black Bently waiting for him in the carpark, he smiled to the crowd, and waved his goodbye. There was one more trainer in Johto, one among thousands, but one that was going to make his mark.