From: Bandraptor (bandraptor@aol.com) Subject: [PW!] You Have to Get Up Pretty Early in the Morning to Pull a Fast One On a Ball Bomb Basher Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2001-07-12 04:14:35 PST Nori's eyes obediently snap open, in response to a monotone voice that is crying "Poppo! Poppo! Poppo!" over and over again. This voice is shortly replaced with another, which drones, "Kamex! Lord Kamex!" as a particularly pointless episode of Dragonair Z plays on the TV in her room at the Violet City Pokémon Center. Nori pulls a pillow over her head to drown out the noise, inadvertently crushing Set, who is nesting in her hair. "What time is it?" Set doesn't respond, because he's busy suffocating, and Anubis doesn't respond, because he's sound asleep on the bed, next to her. Nori throws down the pillow, and turns to look at the alarm clock on the bedstand. She isn't at all pleased with her findings, and closes her eyes once again. "Forget it. I'm not doing this. Bounty or not, I'm just too tired." Set hops down from her head, and onto the bedspread. "<Perhaps thy decision to view late-night television was not made in the soundest of judgment.>" Nori doesn't understand her Natu's quip, so she doesn't get mad. She follows his line of sight to the blaring television, and mumbles in a sort of groggy disbelief, "I stayed up to watch 'Xanatu'? What was I *thinking*?" "Tuu..." Set boggles. "I mean, I *own* the DVD..." Nori shakes her head, then covers it with the comforter, "I'm so tired. All I wanna do is be lazy." "<Wanna go Greco-Roman style?>" Set throws back his head, laughing at the lame musical reference that only he can comprehend. "HAHAHAHAHA!" He rolls off the bed, and bounces across the floor. "Hou," Anubis crankily opens his eyes halfway, and Leers at what he perceives to be an inordinately noisy Friend Ball. Nori expresses her Houndour's thought less obliquely, "How can anybody be so energetic this early in the morning?" Almost immediately after saying this, she realizes why. "...How could I forget? Psychics are strongest in the Morning Sun. Well, don't get too comfortable with this schedule. Anubis and I are usually nocturnal. Actually, I take that back. Anubis is dinner-al. He's awake whenever there's food." Nori looks at the clock again, and sighs. "But as long as you know the secret to waking up in the morning, you might as well clue me in." "Natooo!" Pleased that Nori has requested his counsel on something, Set hops over to the window, and pulls back the curtains, causing bright sunlight to pour into the room. Nori blinks a few times, then squints in response to the sudden illumination, but remains mostly unimpressed, "I'm exhausted. I'm absolutely exhausted." Set takes her hand in his beak, and leads her into the bathroom. He directs her towards the shower, and politely turns his back while she bathes. A few minutes later, she comes stumbling out, complaining bitterly, "I'm WET. I'm WET. I'm exhausted, and I'm wet." "NAAATU!" Annoyed by Nori's total lack of cooperation, Set hoists himself into the air, and begins to repeatedly jump up and down on her head. Nori shakes him from her hair, "I'm in PAIN! And I'm WET! And I'm still exhausted!" She blinks, "...And I'm hysterical. You know, maybe I'll just have some coffee." * * * Twenty minutes later, Nori, Anubis, and Set are in the lobby of the Pokémon Center, waiting for Andy and Enimuram to arrive. Set is fiddling with the Gameboy Advance that some poor sap foolishly left on top of the TV. Anubis is splayed out on the floor, chomping on a cinnamon bun from the complementary breakfast cart. Nori is pacing around the room. She's more antsy than usual, because she's filled with caffeine and nervous energy--she wants to find a wild Pokémon that she can really wail on, but is afraid that if she leaves the Pokémon Center to search, she might miss the Bashers. "Maybe they're already gone," she worries. "I shouldn't have told Brotlov where they were staying. He probably ambushed them while I was asleep...that double crossing Janus! Crap! He's gonna take the bounty all for himself!" Set dismisses this notion with a shake of his head. "Naaa..." "Eh, I guess you're right. That probably couldn't have happened. For that to happen, we'd have to assume he didn't get arrested for sneaking into a Pokémon Center after hours, and waltzing around the hallways in full Rocket uniform..." Set shrugs unconcernedly, and goes back to playing his game. Since he doesn't have any thumbs, playing requires quite a bit of hopping around and telekinetic crush. In spite of his efforts, he's still losing by a very large margin. After a short time observing him, Nori deduces the problem, "Stupid bird. You're supposed to guide your Pichus *away* from the NyasuNyasus." "Natu, natoooo!" Set giggles as he leads another group of Tiny Mice to their doom. "Enimuram, would you cut it out? What's your big hurry? Quit rushing me! We haven't even had breakfast yet!" Nori, Set, and Anubis perk up, as a testy but familiar voice emanates from the hallway beyond the Nurse's Station. "How many times do I have to explain this?" An even testier voice responds, "That girl is obviously trouble, and it should be plain to *anyone* that you'd have to be absolutely *crazy* to travel with her..." Enimuram pushes Andy out of the corridor, and into the lobby. "...but that's exactly what you agreed to do. And now our only way out of this mess is to check out before she wakes up..." Nori puts her hands on her hips, and scowls, "You should've been here earlier." Enimuram can't discern from the context whether Nori is responding to what he said, or just making a general comment. He doesn't really care, either, because either way, his plans are shot. With burgeoning irritation he mutters, "Well, we're all here now, so let's get going--the sooner we reach Olivine, the better." He marches out the door, then feeling compelled to provide plot details, calls back over his shoulder. "Nori, you know the way, right?" "Yeah, I checked a map this morning." Nori shrugs. "Apparently, there are two ways of getting to Ecruteak. The first is a direct route, which takes about a day. The second takes 49 weeks, and winds through thirty different towns..." Enimuram taps his foot impatiently, "The choice should be obvious." "Indeed." Nori agrees, "The longer route passes through Wobbuffet Village, and the Psy Pokémon Town. I've been meaning to teach those ESPer loving misfits a thing or two for a long time now--" "The shorter route! Take the shorter route!" Enimuram throws up his hands in frustration. "We're in a bit of a hurry," Andy adds, "We need to get to Olivine ASAP, so we can ask Jasmine to help us defeat--" Enimuram takes him by the ear and hisses, "How many times do we have to go through this? Don't tell her anything about our plans!" "What difference does it make?" Andy whispers back, "If she's planning to do something malicious, she'll do it whether she knows about our plans or not--and it's not like we've been keeping the details of BBB a secret, anyway. We're openly recruiting...remember that sign we posted in Saffron?" Enimuram raises an eyebrow, "You mean the one I told you not to post?" "Yeah, that's the one." Enimuram sighs, and proceeds to mumble about the incompetence that surrounds him on every side. TBC? (Andy? Are you alive? Dead? I just need closure...) -Beth, of the ever changing sig.