Subject: [PW!] Together Until Death, Part 1 Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 18:36:24 GMT From: "J WILLEMIN" <pwillemin@home.com> Organization: Excite@Home - The Leader in Broadband http://home.com/faster Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon (OOC: It's about time I made my exit from the PokéWars!, I think...I've got bigger fish to fry, yeeesss...) In a back room of Saint John's Cathedral on one of the Seafoam Islands, Kyle Richter sluggishly secured the cufflinks on his tuxedo jacket as he awaited the beginning of his own wedding. As he then proceeded to adjust his cummerbund, he wondered if it was a prudent decision on his part not to have even one Pokéball on his person. He was not oblivious to the fact that Kanto weddings had an unpleasant tendency to be crashed. But every time he looked at his Pokéball belt which was hanging from the chair near him, he could think only of Espio. _Of all the days to schedule a wedding,_ he sighed internally. Meanwhile, in another back room across the building from Kyle's, Jessica was effectively concealing her Pokéball belt underneath her wedding dress by wrapping the belt tightly around her right thigh. Her outlook was generally much more optimistic than Kyle's, but just this once she was going to be the paranoid one, especially with all of the enemies she and Kyle had made over the years. The Larufas, Panopticon, Starke Industries, Team Rocket...any of a number of foes could be watching. Moments later, a well-dressed Professor Richter knocked on the door to Kyle's room to let him know that he had five minutes. Kyle reluctantly shuffled out of the room. Moments later Kyle arrived in the cathedral narthex, where everyone else who was to take part in the opening procession was gathered. The lead scientist in the Seafoam Labs, a short and rather rotund man Kyle knew as Doctor Fuji, was the best man. The Doctor walked up and put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "Heh!" the Doctor chuckled. "When I see you last time, you were little! How grown you are now!" "Uh, hi, Doctor," Kyle responded. "Your English has gotten a lot better..." "Much thanks!" the Doctor said with a huge grin. "So how your Aerodactyl doing? I bet he real grown now too!" "He's grown all right, and he's got a healthy appetite," Kyle replied, thinking back to when Grendel devoured the villainous Vincenzo Larufa. It seemed like months ago...when it fact, for him, it was earlier today. "Heh!" the Doctor laughed again. "Good to hear." He paused. "So, ah...who the lucky woman?" "Her name's Jessica Sullivan," Kyle answered. "She's the sweetest, most -" "Jessica Sullivan?" the Doctor interrupted. "Daughter of Ingrid Sullivan?" Kyle sweatdropped. The Sullivans did not have much of a celebrity status outside of Cerulean City, so it was surprising that the Doctor knew of her. "Yeah...that's the one." "Ooooohhh...she a pretty one! An older woman, too! Am I right? Eh? Eh?" He gave Kyle a few playful hits with one elbow. "Well, best of happiness to you!" He waved and then went back to talking with a few of the other scientists present. "So...you're marrying Jessica Sullivan," came a female voice from behind Kyle. "You could have done so much better..." Kyle whirled around. "...Cori? What are you doing here?" Cori, an attractive redhead in her mid-twenties wearing Pokéball earrings, brushed aside her curling bangs. "Your dad offered me a bridesmaid position," she said. "I felt I should see how my old battle partner was doing." She paused. "I remember all the battles we had...like that one time your Scyther defeated my Miltank. I've since stopped using Rollout...it misses too often...but I digress." She paused for a much longer duration this time before blurting out, "I thought we had something, Kyle! Why did you drop out of Pokémon Tech?" "Because there's too much stuff about Pokémon that you just can't get from a textbook." Kyle nervously scratched the back of his head. "And...well...to be honest...you scare me." Cori's face turned redder than her hair. "Hmph!" She pointed to herself. "Take a good long look, Kyle! Beauty...intellect...this is what you threw away!" Then she stormed off. Kyle just shrugged and took a quick look into the cathedral's sprawling nave, where the rest of his relatives and friends of the family were sitting. He noticed that they were sitting on both sides of the cathedral as opposed to just the groom's side, no doubt to hide the fact that none of Jessica's relatives were present. There was a tap on Kyle's shoulder. Kyle turned around and saw Jeanette Fischer. Eschewing Western-style clothing, Jeanette had come wearing an ornate kimono. "Hello, Kyle," she said sweetly. "Hi, Jeanette," responded Kyle. "What brings you here?" "Your father invited me," Jeanette answered. "I thought I'd tell you that that Nidoran baby was a godsend. She's a Nidoqueen now...she helped me get to the second-to-last round of the Pokémon League Games last year! A little more training, and Nidoqueen and I will go all the way!" "Not if I show up," Kyle replied with the best grin he could muster given his current combination of anxiety and depression. "We'll see!" said Jeanette in a challenging tone. She went back to chat with her cherry-blossom-toting attendants, who were also present. Professor Richter then informed Kyle that it was time to begin the ceremony. So the Professor, Doctor Fuji, Kyle, and a few other groomsmen marched to their places at the altar. Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" started to play, signifying the beginning of the procession. Everyone in the audience stood up as various members of Kyle's extended family were acting as members of Jessica's. Kyle looked on with bemusement as little cousins he was scarcely aware he had were acting as the flower girl and ring bearer. The bridesmaids, Cori and Jeanette among them, ultimately took their places; Cori turned her nose up as she passed Kyle. Finally Jessica, wearing a strapless wedding gown, came down the aisle. She was escorted by Kyle's uncle Craig, who looked inordinately pleased. Uncle Craig stood in front of his designated seat in the front row next to his wife while Jessica took her spot right next to Kyle. Eventually the music stopped, and the minister, a wrinkled, gray-haired man with bifocal glasses, said, "Heavenly Father, I ask Your blessing on this time and these people, in Jesus's Name. Amen." There was a brief silence, then he added, "You may be seated." The audience sat down again. "We are gathered here today to unite Kyle Joseph Richter and Jessica Anne Sullivan in holy matrimony," the minister went on. "Who gives this woman in marriage to this man?" There was silence. Uncle Craig's wife slapped his arm. "Oh, uh, I do!" said Uncle Craig finally. The sweatdrop on Jessica's head was visible even through her veil. Smiling benignly, the minister continued. "Marriage was originated by God. Our thinking on the subject has its basis in the divine revelation we call the Bible. Marriage was the first institution given for the welfare of humanity. In the garden of Eden, before the tempter had touched the world, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He made a helpmeet suitable for him and established marriage..." Kyle fought the urges to nod off while the minister discussed the Bible further. He passed the time by thinking back on all the Pokémon battles he had had with Cori at Pokémon Tech. Jessica practically had to drag Kyle along when the minister commanded, "If it is your intention to take each other as husband and wife, please unite your hands and step forward." Following this, the minister launched into a lengthy barrage of readings from the Scriptures. Kyle zoned out completely. Jessica gave him an ever-so-subtle nudge when the minister commenced questioning: "After hearing the admonition of Scripture, do you, Kyle, now take this woman, whose hand you hold, to be your wife, and do you solemnly promise, before God and these witnesses, that you will love and honor Jessica according to the instructions of God's Word, and that forsaking all others for her alone, you will be faithful to her, so long as you both shall live?" "I do," replied Kyle. The minister asked Jessica a slight variation on the previous question, but Jessica's answer sounded hesitant. "I...do." Kyle wondered if perhaps she was having second thoughts just now. He looked over at her and saw that she was turning a little bit pale. Her eyes were pointing upward as if she were internally asking herself if this was the right decision. "If there is anyone who knows any reason why these two should not be wed," the minister continued, "let him speak now or forever hold his peace." "I do!!!" bellowed a voice from the rafters overhead. And it suddenly occurred to Kyle then what had made Jessica freeze up. CRASH!!! Panopticon the cyber-saur fell from the ceiling and smashed the minister's podium to splinters as he landed. He quickly turned towards the horrified minister and said, "You can sssit thisss one out. I'll take it from here..." With a cry of panic, the minister ran for the exit as quickly as his arthritic legs would carry him, and the equally panicked audience, along with most of the groomsmen and bridesmaids, started to flee as well. "Get to safety!" Kyle commanded Jessica as he jumped in between her and Panopticon. "I'll deal with this!" Jessica, however, was paralyzed. In her attempts to keep calm and to avoid a Scyther transformation now, she failed to acknowledge Kyle's demand. "Oh, how noble," Panopticon remarked. "How exactly were you planning on dealing with me, boy? You have no Pokémon." Panopticon swished his tail from side to side gleefully...and wrapped around it was Kyle's Pokéball belt. "You know, Kyle, you ssshould never let your Pokémon out of your sssight...not even at a beautiful wedding like thisss." Something clicked in Jessica's frantically working brain. _Pokémon...I have Pokémon!_ She knelt down and reached underneath her dress to get to her belt. "You're forgetting something, monster!" came Jeanette's voice. "*I* have Pokémon!" Panopticon turned to his right and saw Jeanette receiving a Pokéball from one of her attendants. "And so do I," added Cori. Her earrings turned out to be real Pokéballs as she detached and enlarged them. "Well...I wasss hoping thisss wouldn't be too easssy," chuckled Panopticon. "Pleassse, do your worssst!" "Pimple, I choose you!" yelled Cori. From one of her Pokéballs came a Poliwrath. The bipedal amphibian flexed its muscles a few times and fired several practice jabs. "Go, Nidoqueen!" Jeanette shouted as she released a Nidoqueen who was a good bit bulkier and taller than Kerrigan. Panopticon took a pair of Pokéballs off of his electromagnetic holder and threw them down. "Regulusss! Ssserpentor! Assssume combat mode!" Even Jeanette, who had hardly flinched at the sight of Panopticon, looked decidedly intimidated by the gigantic Steelix that now confronted her Nidoqueen. But her Nidoqueen's situation did not seem so bleak when compared to that of Cori's Poliwrath, who now had to deal with a Starmie. "Now that ssshould keep your would-be sssaviorsss occupied a while," Panopticon snarled. "Back to the matter at hand...Kyle, it'sss time to die!" Now, Kyle was expecting that Panopticon had some elaborate plans for killing him off. He imagined being slowly lowered into a pit of boiling acid, or maybe being tied to the tracks of the Magnet Train. But Panopticon had nothing so complex in mind. With one lightning-quick attack, Panopticon stabbed Kyle in the chest with his wrist-blades...a wound not intended to kill Kyle immediately, but one to ensure he would suffer for a while. "Hahaha...thisss moment alone makesss all the time and money I ssspent preparing thisss trap for you two worth it!" A dry laugh escaped Panopticon's maw as Kyle, with an astonished look on his voice, stumbled and fell beside Jessica just as she was ready to release one of her Pokémon. "Kyle!!!" Jessica shrieked. As blood rushed from his chest, Kyle looked weakly up at Jessica and choked, "Don't...go...into...shock..." Jessica immediately stood up and tried to drag Kyle out of harm's way, but she simply did not have enough upper body strength to get very far. She wracked her brain trying to think of a Pokémon she had that was strong enough to carry Kyle and fast enough to get him to a hospital post haste, but none seemed to fit. In despair, she collapsed and rested Kyle's head in her lap before breaking into tears. "Don't cry..." Kyle gasped. "What's important...is that...Panop gets...what's coming to him..." "You're delirious!" sobbed Jessica. "*You're* what's important!" "I've...I've never been...more sane...in my life..." Kyle insisted. "There's nothing...you can do...for me..." "There is...there must be!" Jessica cried. "I...I just need to think...!" "Well, I'm sssatisssfied," Panopticon cut in. "Regulusss, use Psssychic! Ssserpentor, Earthquake!" "Pimple, Mind Reader!" Cori ordered. "Nidoqueen, Flamethrower!" yelled Jeanette. "Heyah!" Speedy Regulus was the first to strike. Its central core glowed brightly for a moment before launching a mighty star-shaped psychic blast at Pimple. The fighting-type took the blast head-on and was knocked back into a wall. "Niiido!" Next went Jeanette's Nidoqueen. She took a deep breath and spewed forth a powerful flame from her mouth. Serpentor let out a thunderous roar as the fire melted and warped his steel armor. "Poli wrath..." Third was Pimple the Poliwrath, after picking himself up. Clutching the top of his head, he simply stared at Regulus for a few seconds. Then a flash of light came from his eyes. And by powers not fully understood, Pimple knew exactly where to aim his next attack. "HAGANNNRRR!!!" The last attack came from the lumbering Serpentor. He smashed his anvil-like head on the ground, creating a strong seismic wave. The wave upended Jeanette's Nidoqueen, causing her to land straight on her head before flopping over on to her back. The next wave of attacks began. Cori immediately shouted at Pimple to use Fissure. But the bulky Poliwrath was too slow for Regulus, who knew to use Psychic again. Pimple was about to pound the ground with one fist when a second star-shaped blast, bigger than the first, slammed into him and took him out of the battle. "No!" cried Cori. "Nidoqueen, Earthquake!" Jeanette shouted. With a stomp of her scaly foot, Jeanette's Nidoqueen unleashed a seismic wave about as big as Serpentor's. The wave caused the top-heavy serpent to fall flat, and the force of his gigantic steel head hitting the floor caused the whole cathedral to bounce. "Ssserpentor, Iron Tail," commanded Panopticon. Serpentor slowly picked himself up and gave Jeanette's Nidoqueen a heavy slap with the end of his spiked tail. Nidoqueen flew halfway across the building and crashed into a stone column. Jeanette cringed. Meanwhile, Jessica was still paralyzed from the tangled mishmash of thoughts swimming around in her head. "Forget me!" Kyle coughed. "Cori and Jeanette...need help..." Jessica paid no attention. "Damn it, what I really need is a Pokémon that can heal others. What I need is a Blissey...or a Miltank..." At that moment, Cori withdrew Pimple and threw down her other Pokéball. "Go, Korova!" she shouted as a bulbous Miltank appeared to combat Regulus. Jessica's eyes lit up. "Wait!" she suddenly yelled at Cori. "Bring that Miltank over here! I'll deal with the Starmie!" She then said softly to Kyle, "Just hang in there...get Miltank to give you some of its milk...they say it can work miracles!" Jessica quickly called up a Pokéball from cyber-storage. "All right little one, it's time for you to prove yourself...Lotus, I choose you!" Jessica tossed down a Pokéball in front of Regulus. From the ball came a tiny Chikorita. "Chikaaa!" it cried, twirling the single leaf on top of its head. "Heyahahaha!!!" Regulus laughed as it saw its new challenger. Regulus's lower appendages bent in half, forming knees on which the Starmie fell. "Heyahaha...!" The Starmie clutched its core with its upper appendages, suggesting that its intense laughter was actually painful. "Come now, Regulusss, give Missss Sssullivan a little credit," Panopticon chuckled. "Ssshe'sss only a Pokémon herssself..." "What's that supposed to mean?!" Jessica demanded. Panopticon's smile grew wider. "Oh, that'sss right...no one told you...!" He paused to laugh some more. "Told me...what?" "You were jussst one of Diedrich Ssstarke'sss failed ssscience experimentsss! You were born a Ssscyther with a few human genes for enhanced brainpower...much like the piece of genetic garbage you copulated with! You aren't a human who can become a Pokémon...you're quite the opposssite, in fact!" Jessica's face suddenly turned bright red. "...You lying pile of -" "Jussst asssk Kyle! I'm sssure he'll tell you everything, now that hisss time'sss running ssshort..." Jessica let out a sigh and turned to Kyle. "...It's true, isn't it..." Kyle looked at Jessica but said nothing. Jessica's face quickly reddened again as she faced Panopticon again. "Well, so what?! Human or Pokémon, it makes no difference..." Her gloves suddenly ripped apart and her Pokéball belt fell to the floor as her forearms turned into Scyther blades. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to Kyle...and me...and...and everyone else you've hurt...!" Her whole wedding dress came apart as she went through her whole Scyther transformation almost instantaneously. Cori and Jeanette observed this spectacle with a sort of horrified fascination. "This wedding just keeps getting more and more screwed up," Cori remarked. "Ah, Missss Sssullivan revealsss her true form at lassst!" Panopticon laughed as he dodged an attempted Slash from Jessica the Scyther. In the blink of an eye, Panopticon tossed down another Pokéball, causing a gleaming Magneton to appear. "Trifecta, calm young Jessssica down with Thunder Wave..." "Not so fast!" Jeanette shouted. "Nidoqueen, nail that Magneton with your Earthquake!" Nidoqueen picked herself up and charged at Trifecta to get within attacking range. "Belay that lassst order, Trifecta! Hit Nidoqueen with Hidden Power instead!" "Mag ne ton..." A series of glowing orbs circled Trifecta for a moment before shooting out in different directions. One of the orbs struck the already weakened Nidoqueen and stopped her dead in her tracks. The rotund blue Pokémon went limp and collapsed. "...What...?" Jeanette gasped as she withdrew the unconscious Nidoqueen. "Iccce Power. I made sure that my Magneton would be able to do sssomething about itsss primary weaknessss," noted Panopticon as he gave the attacking Jessica a hard kick in the thorax. "That'sss ssstrategy, my friendsss, a rather underrated assspect of Pokémon battle..." "Well, here's another underrated aspect of Pokémon battle," Jeanette said as she realized that Nidoqueen had been her only hope, "retreat!" Her attendants in tow, Jeanette ran for the exit with a shout of "Kyle, I'll return with help...I promise!" "No you won't, you coward..." Panopticon snarled as Jeanette disappeared from view. Suddenly the cyber-saur looked over and noticed that Cori's Miltank was bottle-feeding Kyle some of its milk. "What?! Regulusss, don't jussst lie there, you imbecccile! Ssstop that Miltank!" Regulus, who had been pounding its tendrils on the floor, suddenly got over its laughing fit and stood up. It started hovering a few feet above the floor and spinning like a throwing star. "Scy, scy ther..." gasped Jessica, trying to get her breath back. Lotus the Chikorita heard her words and started to gather power for a Solarbeam. But Lotus was forced to stop as Regulus flew right at her. "Chiiikaaa!" She jumped to one side, allowing Regulus to hit his intended target...Korova's milk bottle. The plastic bottle flew out of the cow's surprisingly dexterous hooves and landed well out of reach. The Starmie then landed on the floor and gave Korova a Psychic blast at point-blank range, knocking the bovine back. Just to show off its speed, Regulus whirled around and gave the slow Chikorita a strong Psychic shot as well. "Scy! Scy ther scy! Scy ther!" Jessica commanded. Lotus shook off the Psychic attack and got ready for a Body Slam attack instead. "Korova, Return!" Cori ordered. The quick Miltank stood up, pawed the ground, and charged at Regulus. Regulus looked back at forth at the two Pokémon that were coming its way. At the last second, it flew up into the air again, and Korova and Lotus ended up slamming into each other at full speed. Lotus was sent rolling, stopping only when she crashed into the stairs up to the altar. Korova was relatively unhurt by the collision, but she did seem dazed. The pained Chikorita slowly stood up on four wobbly legs. Her face clenched in anger, Lotus started to glow with a bright light. _Is that the Solarbeam,_ Jessica wondered, _or...could she be...evol -_ Suddenly, Lotus's eyes glazed over, and she fell on her side. The glowing quickly faded. _...argh._ "That further narrowsss the playing field," Panopticon said. "Regulusss, finisssh the Miltank off with Sssurf..." "Korova, Body Slam!" Cori ordered. But again, the Starmie was too quick for Cori's Pokémon. A swirling column of water burst up from the ground and came crashing down on top of the stunned Miltank. As the water subsided, Kyle was blowing bloody bubbles...and Korova was out cold. "Damn it!" Cori cried. She withdrew Korova and decided that she was going to have to finish feeding Kyle herself. "Now there'sss no one left to sssave you, Jessssica," commented Panopticon as Regulus, Serpentor, and Trifecta started to surround the blue Scyther. "I think it'sss about time we finissshed thisss..." To Be Continued... --------------------------------- K * A * R * N * I * V * A * X Talman shark: http://www.side7.com/art/jamemcdo Talman shark: S7 has more on it Karnivax: *reads description of Zelgadis* Karnivax: James. Karnivax: Zelgadis can't be "half-human, half-demon, and half-golem." Talman shark: ^^; KouryuuGreenwind: *LOL* James took math in public school. XD Iatro cat: *LOL* Talman shark: Math is my weakest subject...along with English, Science, and Art History.