Subject: [PW!] Resistance Isn't Always Futile Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 05:40:47 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon "Another night lost in the woods..." Sarah comments as she sits down on the bed of leaves she's placed in the center of the clearing, "Y'know, each night, bein' out here gets less scary. Maybe I'm finally growin' up, now that I'm sixteen." Barbie the Mareep lies down behind Sarah, ready to be her pillow for the fourth night in a row, "Mareep ree reep." Sarah smiles at her beloved Pokemon, "I think you're growin' up too. You've been zappin' all the wild Pokemon who've attacked us without runnin' away a single time! Winnin' that fight against Bob's Bouncer the other day must've really pepped you up." "Maaaaaa..." Barbie yawns, closing her eyes, but keeping both of her ears wide open to listen for any strange noises. Sarah pets her Mareep's fluffy fleece, "Oh, Barbie, I sure hope tomorrow'll be the lucky day that we find out where we are!" Eye, the I-shaped shiny Unown who's hiding behind a nearby tree, overhears this comment. Eye couldn't agree more. Eye wishes that Eye knew where Eye was, but Eye has no idea. Eye's been following Sarah for a long time now, and Eye's seen that Sarah has indeed been maturing. Eye's also noticed that Sarah doesn't make fun of her Pokemon or people she encounters, that she has a good heart, and that she would make a good friend, so Eye decides that Eye should approach her to become part of her team. Eye's always wanted a friend or two, but all the Unown Eye was locked away with were cruel to Eye, especially... You, a shiny U-shaped Unown, is suddenly eye to eye with Eye. You is also lost, unable to find the girl You's been stalking. "U!" Eye shouts, surprised to see Eye's arch-nemesis. Barbie's eyes dart open when she hears Eye's shout. The Mareep hops onto all four legs and sparks arc from her fleece, "Ree!" Sarah scoots away from her Mareep so she won't get shocked like she did in the Ilex Forest, "What's happenin', Barbie?" "Unown!" The response is not issued by Barbie, but by a pained I-shaped Unown that soars into the clearing due to being hit by a powerful Dark-Type Hidden Power. Eye floats up to Sarah and wheezes, "Unown nown... No nown unown..." Sarah gazes into Eye's eye with her two hazel eyes and feels like he knows her better than she knows herself, "Who're you?" A voice speaks into Sarah's mind, #That is Eye, the next of our comrades who will join the Collective.# "Wh-what's goin' on?" Sarah asks, not very familiar with telepathy and almost as weirded out by it as her Mareep, who's eyes are darting back and forth nervously. When Eye floats up close to Sarah's bosom, she hugs Eye and looks around the clearing to see who spoke. A group of five shiny Unown float into the clearing in a group - from left to right, Sarah sees a B-shaped one, a C-shaped one, a D-shaped one, an F-shaped one, and a G-shaped one. She looks down at Eye, "Are these your friends?" Eye's eye looks worried and Eye trembles as Eye replies, "No." #Eye must join us to Increase our power.# The five shiny Unown float closer towards Sarah, all of their eyes on Eye. Sarah gulps and calls out to Barbie, "Barbie, use Thundershock on that group of Pokemon!" "Reeeep!" Barbie's fleece fluffs up and she releases a large blue Thundershock attack, but a translucent psychic bubble pops up over the five Unown and it sends the attack flying back towards Barbie, who gets knocked unconscious. The D-shaped Unown floats forward and Sarah hears its voice in her head, #Eye, I Direct you to join us. Alone you are feeble. Your task is to Increase the Collective's power. With you on our side, we will find our comrades multiple times faster and we will be unstoppable. It is your task to help us carry out the ultimate mission. You have no other purpose in your life.# Sarah's jaw drops - she knows where she's heard this rhetoric before. When Eye struggles to break free from her hug to follow the D-shaped Unown's Direction, she holds on to Eye tight, "Wait a minute, Eye, you can't let these Pokemon boss you around. My ma bossed me around for so many years, tellin' me that my only job was to take care of my family's farm. If I obeyed my ma and never left home to do what I wanted to, I wouldn't have met any friends and wouldn't have matured like I have." "No?" Eye stops struggling to break free, listening to Sarah instead of Eye's Director. Sarah shakes her head, then declares, "Don't let anybody tell you what your 'task' is, Eye - that's your decision to make." A tear forms in Eye's eye - Eye has been absorbing information from people and Pokemon throughout the ages, before Eye was sealed away with Eye's comrades and after the seal was broken, but this is the best advice Eye has gotten in a long time. "And that goes for the rest of you, too." Sarah points her finger at the B-shaped Unown and moves it towards the right until she's pointing at the G-shaped Unown, "You should all do what you wanna do, not what someone else 'directs' you to do." #Do you think that all Unown are as incredibly stupid as Eye is?# The D-shaped Unown's voice rings out in Sarah's mind, #Both Bee and Gee know that their tasks of Bearing and Giving their powers to us are meaningless apart from the Collec-# The psychic voice is abruptly cut off when the B-shaped Unown and the G-shaped Unown float away from the group that has the D-shaped Unown at its center. Both shiny Unown circle Sarah twice, then fly out of the clearing in different directions. "NOOOO!" The D-shaped Unown shouts, having lost the ability to use telepathy now that Bee and Gee are not assisting it. It looks to its left and right and is relieved to see that the C-shaped Unown and the F-shaped Unown are still at its side. Sarah addresses the two Unown flanking Dee, the D-shaped Unown, "Don't be afraid to leave, if that's what ya'll wanna do." You, the U-shaped Unown and Eye's arch-nemesis, floats into the clearing and glares at Sarah with one eye, "No Unown nown no nown NO!" You has seen Sarah before, back in Azalea Town when You saw her confront the biker girl You's been following, but based on what You saw then, You didn't expect her to stand up to the mini-Collective Dee was Directing. That's why You didn't interfere. You can't believe that Dee could allow Bee and Gee to flee. You floats in front of Dee's comrades, belittles Dee, then tells them about the mean green-haired human girl You's found who You believes will help them carry out their mission. Eff, the F-shaped Unown, doesn't even have to think before siding with You since You hates Eye just like Eff does while Dee just wanted Eye to join them. Eff floats off, followed by You, and then Sea, the C-shaped Unown, Chases after them. Sarah watches as the three letter-shaped Pokemon zip past her and she sweatdrops, "I sure hope those three don't bump into a certain comrade of theirs." She then faces Dee, who's sulking off into the forest, "See, that's what you get for bein' so bossy and tellin' everyone what to do. That's no way to make friends." She then turns her attention to the I-shaped Unown in her arms and asks, "So, what DO you wanna do? Would you like to go home with me? You can meet my little brother and we-" "No." Eye cuts Sarah off. Although joining Sarah was what Eye wanted to do moments ago, after hearing Sarah's speech, Eye is motivated to locate all of Eye's comrades and repeat Sarah's message to them. Eye knows that many of them want to be free, which is why so many of them scattered the moment they were released, but Eye also knows that there are Unown like Dee and You who will brainwash their comrades and take away their individuality in order to carry out what they call the ultimate mission. Tears well up in Eye's eye as Eye says good-bye to Sarah, "Unown no nown nown unown nown." That said, Eye heads off. Sarah smiles, happy that she had the courage to speak up tonight. She crawls over to Barbie, who's still asleep, and rests her head on her fleece. She pulls her hibernating baby Teddiursa out of her satchel, hugs him close, and closes her eyes. -Sarah