From: John Willemin (vze27q9e@mail.verizon.net) Subject: [PW!] Up to Speed Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-07-10 11:16:09 PST (OOC: This has nothing to do with anything, but did any of you see "A.I.?" I gotta say, considering how much I'm enjoying the whole huge online game that's been going on, I really wanted to like this movie. But it was awful! I've never been so let down by a movie in all my life. What the hell was that last half-hour doing there? But for all the movie's problems, I liked those cameos by Chris Rock and Robin Williams, and I thought Jude Law (Gigolo Joe) was very good in that movie...good enough for a Best Supporting Actor award, I believe. Anyway...) With a blinding flash of light, Kyle and Jessica rematerialized inside Bill's cylindrical time machine. Kyle was inclined to look through the time machine's small window to make sure no one was outside to witness them in their nudity, but Jessica just lightly pushed him aside and swung the door open. They were inside Bill's lighthouse now, but Bill was nowhere to be found. On a nearby table sat Kyle and Jessica's clothing, Pokédexes, and Pokéballs, along with a rather lengthy typed note. Kyle started to get redressed immediately, but Jessica was more interested in reading the note. "'To Kyle and Jessica,'" Jessica read out loud. "'I made it a point to record the day of your return in my computer so I'd remember to leave your stuff lying here. Your Pokémon have been doing just fine these past five years; several of them learned some great new attacks. (But I wouldn't enter the Pokémon League Games with them, Kyle. For all intents and purposes, you're dead. ^_^)'" Jessica stopped for a moment to inform Kyle that Bill had typed a smiley face at the end of that parenthetical. "'Your Pokédexes, which I've kept fully upgraded, will list the changes. And on that note, Kyle, you should know that your Pokédex was laughably out-of-date. How you made it so far with such an ancient version of the device is beyond me.'" After Kyle put his belt on, he sat down in a swiveling chair and activated his Pokédex. Right away it provided a list of all of his Pokémon, showing the changes that had been made over the last five years. Jessica went on: "'It took a while, but I successfully auctioned off all of the Pokémon you told me to. Most of them I had to sell cheaply, particularly the poisonous ones. But I got top dollar for the talking Jigglypuff and Porygon! The money's in your jeans pocket, Kyle.'" Kyle quickly checked, and indeed, a large wad of money was there. "'On another note, Doctor Eckert has been keeping me posted on the rehabilitation of the Pokémon you left with him. Pain Dance the Hitmonlee and Leviathan the Dragonite have made spectacular progress, he says. But Daggoth the Nidoking may be beyond help.'" "And Espio?" said Kyle. "'And as for Espio the Charizard,'" the note continued, "'well, I think you'd better talk to Doctor Eckert.'" Jessica paused. "What could that mean?" she wondered. "Can't be anything good," Kyle said as he buried his face in his hands, partly to express his frustration at this problem with Espio and partly to stop himself from staring at Jessica's breasts. The note came to an end: "'Anyway, you can see that I'm not home right now. I'm in Goldenrod City with some of my relatives. Drop by if you're in Johto and need anything. Ciao. Bill.'" Jessica started to put the note back on the table when she heard a wooden creak above her. All of a sudden, she snatched up her clothing and dived behind the time machine to hide. Kyle sat where he was and wondered why Jessica had just now turned shy. The creaking continued, and a scratchy voice demanded, "Who are you and what are you doing in this house? Don't make me bust you up!" Kyle looked up, and an elderly man with thick glasses was uneasily coming down the lighthouse's spiral staircase and swinging a cane over his head menacingly. "Um, sir? Did Bill inform you that time-travelers would be arriving here today?" Kyle attempted. The old man lowered his cane. "Are you Kyle?" "That's me." "Oh! Sorry if I startled you." He finished descending the stairs. "Same to that naked girl behind the time machine." Jessica's face turned as red as a beet. "I'm Bill's grandfather! Bill put me in charge of lighthouse-sitting while he's away in Johto." He paused in reflection. "He's told me a good deal about the strange Pokémon he's seen there. Why, he mentioned one with six tails..." "Oh, that's Vulpix," Kyle said. "We have those in Kanto. Jessica, show him Nova!" Jessica did not budge from her hiding place. She merely called up Nova's Pokéball from cyber-storage, and tossed the ball to Kyle. Kyle opened the ball, and Nova the Vulpix appeared before Bill's grandfather with a cry of "Vulll!" A wide grin crossed the old man's face. "Yes, yes, that's the one! I've always wanted to see one in person." He reached into the left pocket of his rather baggy pants and pulled out a gleaming red stone. "Thank you! Here, I want you to have this!" He handed the stone to Kyle, who looked at it strangely. "Uh...thank you, sir," Kyle said. "Hey, Jessica, you just got a shiny red rock." "Wow, and I didn't even have to participate in a soup-eating contest with a scantily-clad cavegirl!" Jessica remarked as Kyle withdrew Nova. "It's a Fire Stone!" Bill's grandfather explained. "They're abundant where I come from. I heard tell it'll evolve that Vulpix of yours, when the time is right." Kyle looked at the stone again, and vaguely remembered having used one to evolve Fenris from Growlithe to Arcanine. He lightly tossed Nova's Pokéball and the Fire Stone to Jessica. "Well, I'm going to head back upstairs," Bill's grandfather said. "Matlock is almost on. You take care now, you two." "Bye," Kyle said as the man hobbled back upstairs. "All right, Jessica, get your clothes on. We've got to get back to Rosetta Town." (OOC: Updated WGs to come...) -------------------------------------- K * A * R * N * I * V * A * X Vaarok, mecha artist, on one of my drawings: "I don't particularly like that style of anime, but the chick is great. The dragon, on the other hand, looks unthreatening, alien, and stupid. There's no snout, no impression of anything other than starving apathy. The dragon has no menace." Me: "Sounds like my dragons and your mecha have a lot in common... =P"