Subject: [PW!] Phoenix Date: 06 Dec 2001 08:56:49 GMT From: marp327@cs.commodity (Mario) Organization: CompuServe (http://www.compuserve.com/) Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon [note: just gotta say it's great doing PokeWars again! And if whoever's running this needs help keeping it afloat, e-mail me, i'd be more than glad to help in whatever little way i can. Enuff of that, on with the story!] Mark felt as if he had been sleeping for years, simply drifting through a sightless, soundless dream. Well, if it really had been years and years, what's wrong with five more minutes?… "Oddish odd!" "Mmmm… not now Mom… just five more minutes…" "Ooooooo…" The splashing of icy cold water in his face quickly brought the young trainer back to the realm of the conscious. "Oddish! What was that for?" The bulbous little Pokémon simply smirked. "Odd!" As Mark regained his bearings, he recalled that he had camped out in the Saffron City Pokémon center overnight. He would have tried to recall more, but a loud rumbling sound coming from his stomach diverted his attention. "Well, let's deal with the here and now, eh Oddish? I'm starved!" ~ After stuffing their faces at the local cafeteria, Mark and his Poké-companion decided to take a little walk through the town before beginning their daily training regiment. As they rounded a corner, a strange sight caught Mark's eye. "I don't remember there ever being a train station in Saffron! How very…" "Odd?" Mark laughed to himself at the little Pokémon's unintentional joke, then decided to go check it out. After a moment, he found one of the conductors walking by. "Excuse me, but when did they put this train in here?" The conductor gave Mark one of those weird looks that are impossible to describe in text form without messing it up, but rest assured, it was one of those weird looks. "Have you been asleep or something? That train's been there for over a year now!" "Really? I guess I hadn't noticed it before… what's it for?" "Well, it's the fastest way to get to the Johto region…" Now Mark had the weird look. "Joe… toe?" The older man raised his eyebrow, then dismissed the comment. "You're a real comedian, kid…" he muttered as he walked off. Mark stood in the middle of the road, with a look of extreme confusion on his face. He looked down at Oddish, and asked him, "Joetoe?" but he too seemed to be at a loss. Mark spoke the word aloud several times, but to no avail. In desperation, he rummaged through his backpack until he found his trusty PokéDex. He held the device close to his mouth, then spoke into it: "Joetoe?" A small map popped up on the Dex's viewscreen, followed by an automated message: "This continent is divided into two regions; to the east lies Kanto, and to the west lies Johto. In recent years, Professor Oak's original theory of 150 Pokémon has been rebuked. In fact, nearly 100 more individual species of Pokémon have been classified, as well as two new elemental types, and most of these new discoveries reside exclusively in the Johto region. Also, Johto contains its own eight gyms and badges, separate from Kanto's. These new badges are accepted in the Pokémon League in addition to the original." He snapped the little device shut and pocketed it. "Joetoe, huh? How could we have not known about something like that?" He interrupted before his Oddish could reply. "Well, now that we do, we're gonna have to go check it out. There are probably Pokémon with unimaginable power in this place! And the gyms! This'll be great, and we'll probably have lots of fun too! Let's go Oddish!" Mark scooped Oddish into his arms, then made a run straight for the Magnet Train. Just before he could get onboard, however, a very tall, creepy-looking man stepped in his way. "And where exactly are you going?" "I'm going to this Joetoe place I've heard so much about! Step aside, Lurch!" "I'm sorry, sir, but no one gets onboard without a Train Pass." Mark tried out his sad puppy face routine. "But… couldn't you make an exception?" "No exceptions, sir." "This is because of the Lurch thing, isn't it?" The man nodded as he pushed Mark away from the loading platform. The dejected trainer mumbled to no one in particular, "Now how am I gonna get to this Joetoe place?" "All aboard!" yelled the conductor, "Next stop, Goldenrod City!" As the passengers were busy loading themselves onto the train, Mark and Oddish snuck to the back of the train. When no one was looking, they quietly slipped into the baggage area. Just as Mark was asking his compadre, "I wonder how far away this Joetoe place is, anyway…", the train blasted at near supersonic speeds. The two were thrown to the very back of the car, and were pinned down. But before this could cause any serious damage, the train skidded to a halt, and they flew up to the front of the car. Although dizzy, Mark was able to regain control of his motor functions long enough to sneak off the train. When they were safely out of sight, he collapsed on the ground. "Well here's to the start of a grand adventure," he muttered before he fell unconscious. ~~~ [There we have it! Mark has continued his Pokémon journey after a long hiatus. What will become of him in this strange new world he has been thrown in to? Stay tuned next time for "Joetoe Journies"! It's sure to be loads of fun!] ==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==- Man I've missed this PokeWars! stuff!