From: locke@napanet.net (locke@napanet.net) Subject: [PW!] Out of Time Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-02-07 21:42:00 PST (OOC: Well, I'm back again. Kinda. I'm gonna be light posting, but the five week or so break thanks to all kinds of hell is over. Back to work. For anyone looking for the events leading to the start of this thread, look for the last LordLocke PW! thread, Rememberance.) At the Saffron Gym... "So, you want a match?" Mara simply nodded, clutching Swirly's Pokeball. Sabrina, although as neutral as always, almost seemed to smile at that. "Very well. Four on four, no time limit. If you win, you get a Marshbadge. If you lose..." Mara interrupted before Sabrina could finish. "Yeah, yeah. I'm not gonna lose!" "We shall see." A fair distance away, on the streets of Saffron... "Damn... gotta... hurry..." Gads continued on his sprint towards the Saffron Gym from his dad's house, cursing about how it was across town from not only the Dojo, but the Saffron Gym. He was in such a rush, he had actually recalled Monk- chan before bolting. Although the Mankey would definately be angry later, Gads' didn't have the time to worry if his companion and strongest Pokemon was falling behind. 'Stupid Mom. She shoulda known that giving Mara a water stone for Swirly would result in something like this. Now she's gone to challenge Sabrina, and if he loses... I gotta hurry!' Trampling over a discarded newspaper, Gads continued on his way. However, if he had actually looked, he might have seen two headlines that would have been of particular interest. One was "Dark Types discovered Immune to Psychics." This headline might have saved Gads a lot of misery in up-and-coming times. The other headline, if read correctly, sounds almost like a warning. And in Gads particular case, probably should be heeded like one, for a whole multitude of reasons. "Schpielbunk Sci-Fi Thriller Moves Shooting Location to Saffron." Back at the Saffron Gym... "Very nice. I didn't expect your Polywrath to be able to take down Mr. Mime in two shots..." Mara smirked. "You shouldn't have underestimated me!" Sabrina's seeming-smile returned. "Who's underestimating who?" Back on the streets... Gads saw some obsticles up ahead. Normally, he'd have gone around, particularly conserning what it was, but at the moment, Gads wasn't seeing it as anything but the fastest way from point A to point B. Gads jumped up into the air to begin his path... 'JUMP! Lessie... security barrier, stage light, stage light, Prop, Background, stage hand, stage light, overrated director, camera, star's trailor, star (why does he look familar? Oh well, no time!), donut truck, security barrier, LAND!' Gads jumped off the last object in the chain of obsticles, landed on his feet, and went on dashing down the street towards his final destination, his last actions already fleeing his mind. Saffron Gym... "Most impressive. My Hypno seemed no match for that Polywrath either." "Good job Swirly." The Polywhirl gave a thumbs-up to Mara. "Are we going to celebrate, or continue?" "Oh by all means, let's keep going." The Streets... 'Almost there. All that's left is... RUSH HOUR!' Gads marveled at the sea of people in front of him, all headding for the Magnetic Train. At that moment, Gads mentally cursed the entire continent of Johto for simply existing. 'All right, no biggie, just keep pushing, and eventually, I'll get through.' As Gads began to weave through the sea of people, he hoped that it wouldn't slow him down too much. Saffron Gym... "Well, that makes three Pokemon down, Mara. But it seems that your Polywrath is a bit winded after the workout Kadabra gave it. I'd reccommend switching." "Ha! You're just afraid Swirly's gonna make it a clean sweep." 'Although, he does look a little tired. But I only need one more...' "No more games, then. ALAKAZAM, I choose you!" The psychic Pokemon appeared in a flash. Arms and legs crossed, Alakazam was in deep meditation, seemingly oblivious to the fact it was in battle. 'Piece of cake, it isn't even awake!' "Swirly, BODY SLAM!" The Polywrath. shaking off the weariness, started a high-speed body tackle towards the psychic Pokemon. Then, Sabrina ushered an unspoken command. The Alakazam opened it's eyes, and put one hand in front of itself, just in time to intercept the Polywrath with a Reflect Barrier. The Polywrath rebounded off the barried and fell several feet backwards. "NO! Get up Swirly!" The Polywrath began to get up, then began to fall again. It was visably sweating as it stopped itself and rose to it's feet. "This isn't even a fight anymore. Alakazam, Psychic." The Alakazam, without even twitching, mentally attacked the Polywrath. The Water Pokemon, for a moment, attempted to resist, but only a moment. A million voices cried out within it's mind, and it collapsed to the ground, knocked out. Mara turned pale. "Swirly?" Sabrina simply continued. "Next?" As Mara recalled Swirly, the situation finally sunk in. 'All I had was Swirly. MaChop's not in nearly good enough shape to try this, and Chedder and Swiss are just Rattata...' "Next?" Mara looked up, and swallowed. Enterance of the Saffron Gym... 'Finally! Now, to get there before it's too late!' Gads rushed through the doors... and right into one of the gym members, knocking him to the floor. "Hey, watch where you're... YOU!" Gads glared at the grounded gym member. "Not now Questor. We can play another time. The gym member in question suddenly sprung up in Gads' way. "Well, I think differently. I mean, you knock me down, and you don't even apologize? How rude. Now, what do you say?" "Out of my WAY!" "Now now... if that's your attitude, then you're going nowhere." Questor stood, arms crossed, right into Gads' way. "Fine, SORRY!" "Sorry..." Questor wasn't satisfied. "Sorry Questor." "Sorry Questor..." Questor still didn't budge. Gads glared, then swallowed. "Sorry Questor... greatest psychic ever." Questor stepped aside. "That's better." Gads didn't even respond as he ran past. In a dead run, he headded for the gym's arena, bursting through the double-doors. "WAI-" Mara turned to face Gads. "Sorry, bro." In the arena, Alakazam was still in a meditating pose, hovering over the fallen MaChop. "Sorry, but that's four. It seems I've won." Although Sabrina practically deadpanned it, one could imagine the smirk. "And so, per the pre-fight agreement, you are mine." With that, Mara and MaChop dissapeared. "STOP! I-I..." "You next, Gads?" Gads gulped. "You lose, you renoucne the Dojo and become my student." Gads simply gaped. "Wha- wha... I mean, I- I- I-... I'm *gulp* ready for... whatever you got." Sabrina tilted her head. "Actually, it's probably best if this waited until tomorrow. Gives you a chance to prepare, and allows me to heal my other Pokemon. Fair exchange. Be here tomorrow at this time, or I'm taking back my offer to win back Mara." With that, Sabrina rose a single hand, and Gads found himself in elsewhere. "Sto-" Gads looked around, catching his berrings. 'I'm at... the Dojo.' Then, Gads remembered the challenge. 'Tomorrow. I need to be ready by tomorrow. I'll get ready by tomorrow. I'll be there tomorrow. I'll FIGHT TOMORROW!' Suddenly, a voice filled Gads' mind. 'And tomorrow, you will be mine.' Gads suddenly didn't feel nearly as confident anymore. 'I hope Andrew gets here soon. I could really use his help on this one.'