From: Jose L. Solano (jsolano199@aol.comlink) Subject: [PW!] The Plot Thickens Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-07-12 22:44:22 PST Been a while, huh? Unless you truly care about what happens to these characters, don't read this. Hmm. There goes my audience. Pokewars- Jake Retwin/Katherine Jennings "The Plot Thickens" Jose L. Solano Jake sat at his kitchen table, the still nameless Wooper walking around on the table itself. It was quite a peaceful evening. "Dammit, mom, do you always have to decorate everything with angels?!" "Watch your langugage!" Yes, quite peaceful. It had been quite a hectic week; he had negotiated with the Johto League to accept Nicholas, despite being five years below the age requirement, helped Nicholas and his mother settle into the guest room, and of course deal with Wooper's antics. The league accepted Nicholas under the condition that he travel with a guardian, Katherine insisted on redecorating the guest room, and of course, Wooper was Wooper. "It's late, Nicky. You better get to bed. We'll discuss this in the morning." "Alright... g'night, mom." Katherine walked into the kitchen a few minutes later and grabbed an apple. Wooper jumped off the table and ran off. "Hey! Wooper, where are you going?" "Woop." "Ok. Don't make too much noise." Jake took a sip of his tea. Katherine sat down next to him. "Does he question everything you do?" Jake asked. "Pretty much. I don't blame him for thinking on his own, but he could be more polite." "I'll bet he takes after his father," Jake said, sipping some more tea. Katherine fell silent. "What's wrong?" "No... nothing," Katherine said, looking rather nervous. Jake knew there was something on her mind. "It's about his father, isn't it?" "Yes," Katherine said with a sigh. "He's just like him. His acts like him, he talks like him, he... hey, how's the Wooper?" "Er... he's just fine," Jake said, agreeing with her sudden change of subject. "I've been thinking about giving him to Nicholas." "You don't have to, he has his Golbat." "Well, I was checking the Golbat yesterday. He's on his way out. He won't last much longer." "I see..." Meanwhile, in the guest room, Nick was busy playing Tetris on his Game Boy. Riley walked in with a bag of chips. "Okay, here's your food. Will that be all, master?" "No, get me some soup. I just got a craving for it all the sudden." "Yes, master." As Riley walked out, Katherine walked in. "Why did he just call you master?" "No reason." Meanwhile, Riley walked into the kitchen and took a pot from the cabinet and filled it with water. "Riley, what are you doing?" Jake asked. "Soup." "Since when do you eat soup?" "Its... alright, this isn't worth it. Jake, I broke the Pokéball transporter, and Nick saw me. He threatened to tell you if I didn't become his slave!" "This sounds like a bad Nickelodeon cartoon. It's been broken for a month, Riley." "It... AAAAAAARRGRGRHHHH!!" "I'll talk with him later," Katherine said. "But as I was saying, he really needs to get started on this journey. If he doesn't have something to keep him busy, I'm afraid he'll end up like his father." "One of us would have to go with him," Jake said. "It's what the league agreed to." "Well... I can't go." "Why not?" "I just have... business to take care of. If you can do this, Jake, I can look after the lab for you." "I dunno... it's a huge responsibility." Jake took another sip of his tea. "I mean, I don't know him as well as you do." "But think of it this way, you'll get to bond. He needs someone to look up to, and it's obvious that that person isn't me. You're the closest thing he'll probably ever have to a real father." "Riley could probably stay behind, to assist you. You know, show you how things get done around here." "So you'll go?' "Why not? They tell me I need to get out more often. Nick can take Wooper as his first Pokémon. I'll see about getting him a Pokédex." "Thank you so much, Jake. You've been a big help." Next: With annoying plot development out of the way, we can get to some decent stuff.