Subject: [PW!] [WC] [R1] A Match Fit For A Kingdra Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 07:15:42 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Blizzard the white Persian and her small posse return to the Whirl Cup Coliseum's eastern preparation area. Blizzard, proud that she won her match against Marina even though she didn't technically do anything other than throw her Tentacool companion into the Coliseum's pool, walks up to a guard and demands, "Purrrsian purr persian pur! Persian!" The Whirl Cup Guard doesn't understand a word the Pokemon says, but he leads her and her crew to a very nice front row seat in the Scarlet City Coliseum, which just so happens to be what Blizzard demanded of him. Now Robert, his Slowbro, Hokori, and one Whirl Cup Guard are the only ones left in the preparation area. "Ready to fight now, Hokori?" The remaining Guard asks the humanoid who has Sandslash characteristics. Hokori looks down at the puddles of water the Persian, Tentacool, and Tyranitar left on the floor when they walked through the area and he shakes his head, "I... I don't want to battle... I don't like water. I was traumatized when I was a child by someone who forced me to jump into pools so that I'd be strong against Water Pokemon. I thought maybe if I faced my fear, it'd go away, but I changed my mind the moment I saw just how wet people get on the platform. Maybe if I could buy some scuba gear to use, I'd be okay, but I'm not going out like this." "Hmm... How's about this?" The Whirl Cup Guard put his hand on Hokori's shoulder, "We'll move your match with Lily to the end of the second day of competition. You can buy scuba gear and come back to battle her, or if you decide to not battle, you can tell Nurse Joy at the Registration Desk in the Scarlet City Pokemon Center and she'll find someone else to battle Lily." "All right, that sounds good." Hokori smiles at the Guard, "Thank you." Seeing that the other Guard has returned from taking Blizzard and her group to their seats, Hokori approaches him and asks the Guard to escort him to one of the highest seats at the Coliseum, where he's guaranteed to not get wet no matter how powerful the Water Pokemon battling in the Arena are. The Guard is happy to comply. The only Whirl Cup Guard left in the area speaks into his cufflink, saying, "We have a code 421B on our hands... What? No, that's a code 431B. Code 421B is that a human who has characteristics of a Water Pokemon that's weak to water signed up for the Whirl Cup but lost his nerve when he saw how much water was splashed around in the Arena. We're moving on to Plan 23C... What? No, that's Plan 9F! Have you READ the Whirl Cup Handbook?! Plan 23C's that match three of day one has become match nine of day two with a backup contestant on deck." Robert and his Slowbro haven't noticed anything that has happened in the area ever since Blizzard's match started. The black-haired Diversity Gym Leader is sitting with his eyes closed on the floor next to his Slowbro, meditating in preparation for his upcoming battle. Robert's Slowbro is just staring blankly out into the distance with his mouth wide open, oblivious to all his surroundings. The Whirl Cup announcer's voice is heard throughout the entire Coliseum, "Today's last match will be between Robert, the Gym Leader of... wait a minute, this can't be right... Lavender Town? Since when does Lavender Town have a Gym? ...since six years ago? It's not on the Kanto League website... Unofficial Gym? That's not... STILL ON THE AIR AGAIN?! Sorry for the interruption, folks! Today's final battle will be between Robert of the Diversity Gym in Lavender Town and Scarlet City's very own Christopher." Both Robert and his Slowbro take a few seconds to snap out of their respective trances. Robert pulls Slowbro into his Pokeball, stands up, and walks out onto the stone platform. The crowd cheers and Robert's about to wave to the people, surprised that his Gym has made him this popular, especially since nobody else he's encountered in Johto thus far has heard of it, but he decides against it when a large portion of the crowd starts chanting in unison, "Chris-to-pher! Chris-to-pher! Chris-to-pher!" Robert looks across the Arena to see his opponent, a man about his age who also has black hair but wears different clothing. Christopher wears a green hat on his head, glasses on his face, an orange shirt, blue and yellow jacket, black pants, and sneakers. He's carrying a Super Rod with a Pokeball on the end of it in his hand. He proudly holds up his trademark fishing pole high and the crowd goes wild! He swings the Rod and the line shoots out into the colossal pool before him, releasing his most powerful Pokemon - a rather large Kingdra. "WHOA!" Robert's eyes go wide, "That's the biggest Seadra I've ever seen! Isn't it illegal to enter Pokemon who're on steroids?" "Christopher has chosen a Kingdra..." The announcer declares, "And based on the surprised look on Robert's face, it appears he's not sure how to counter against the half-Dragon Pokemon!" "Kingdra?" Robert squints his eyes at the half-Dragon Pokemon then remembers something a Girafarig Trainer told him in the Ecruteak Pokemon Center last year, "OH YEAH! So THAT'S what Seadra's evolution looks like! I can't wait until my Horsea looks like that." Christopher pushes up his glasses and calls out to Robert from across the pool, "Enough dramatic monologue already - send out a Pokemon!" "Hey, hold your evolved Horsea..." Robert calls back, stroking his goatee with a sly grin on his face, "Now that the announcer just gave away your super secret strategy I know exactly which Pokemon to send out." "What super secret strategy?" Christopher raises an eyebrow, "All the announcer said was that I sent out my Kingdra." Robert points at Christopher, "Don't play dumb with me! I heard the announcer say that your Pokemon's a half-Dragon type. And you were hoping to trick me into thinking he was just a Water type, by making him look so much like a Seadra. Very clever, I must admit, but..." "WHAT?!" Christopher can't believe that Robert STILL hasn't sent out a Water Pokemon, "First of all, it's common knowledge that Kingdra are half-Dragon Pokemon. Secondly, all Kingdra look more or less like mine. Thirdly, stop stalling! CHOOSE YOUR POKEMON!" "Alright! You don't have to be so rude about it!" Robert throws the Pokeball he's holding into the pool, "Slowbro, I choose you!" A fat pink Slowbro floats up to the surface of the water. As the announcer tells the crowd that Robert's selected a Slowbro, the blue Shellder attached to the pink Pokemon's tail turns the Slowbro so he faces out of the water, not wanting his bloated host to drown. Robert smiles when he sees his most powerful Water Pokemon stare out blankly into the sky with a smile on his dopey face, "Now, Christopher - behold one of Slowbro's most powerful attacks. It's the latest move he learned and it boosts his attack power through the roof! Slowbro, use Amnesia!" Everyone in the Arena remains silent. After five seconds, Robert's Slowbro blinks twice and asks, "Slow? Slowbro slow?" "Take THAT!" Robert strokes his chin and states, "Your move, Christopher." Christopher asks, "Uhm, you're new in Johto, aren't you, Robert?" "I've been in Johto for about a year, except I went back to Kanto for about three months after arriving here last November. Why do you ask?" "Here in Johto, Amnesia only raises your Pokemon's Special Defense." Robert boggles at this information, "HUH?!" "Yeah, and to be precise, Amnesia doesn't raise your Pokemon's Attack Power anywhere in the world, not even Kanto. In Kanto, the move raises both a Pokemon's Special Attack Power and Special Defense Power, but it has no effect on the Pokemon's regular Attack Power. Pokemon Researchers are unsure of why this is so, but it is. Not that it'll matter in this match..." Christopher shrugs and calls out to his Pokemon, "Kingdra, create a Twister!" "A Twister? A TWISTER?!" Robert cries out to his Pokemon, "Slowbro, use Confusion!" "Drrrrra!" Christopher's Kingdra dives underwater. The half-Dragon Pokemon starts circling rapidly around the center of the pool, like Sissy's Seadra did earlier that day, and a whirlpool starts forming. Robert's Slowbro is slowly pulled towards the whirlpool, but the pink Pokemon doesn't even realize he's moving until he's circling around a few feet above the pool, caught in the Twister that has emerged from the surface of the water. That's when he decides to release his Confusion attack straight downwards, since that just happens to be the direction he's facing at the time, and it ends up colliding with Christopher's Kingdra, disorienting him and cutting the Twister attack short. When Slowbro falls back into the water, he floats up to the surface and smiles, relieved that the attack is over, "Ahhh, Slowbro slow..." "Hmm, it seems the Slowbro's more of a threat than I thought..." Christopher adjusts his glasses, "Kingdra, release a Smokescreen!" "Your Kingdra's not the only Pokemon who can use the water in the pool to his advantage..." Robert calls out, "Slowbro, Surf!" Christopher's Kingdra, much faster than Robert's Slowbro, attempts to spit out a Smokescreen before the fact that Robert's issued a command registers in Robert's mind - but he forgets to open his mouth when he spits the Smokescreen, being that he's confused after being hit by Slowbro's Confusion attack, and he ends up inflating himself up. When Christopher's bloated Kingdra floats up to the surface of the pool, Christopher sweatdrops, "Oh no, not again..." He still remembers the Whirl Cup match where a Totodile clamped onto his Kingdra's mouth and his Kingdra's Hydro Pump backfired, inflating his Kingdra to the point that the half-Dragon Pokemon looked like he was about to explode... Soon enough, Kingdra realizes the poisonous gas within him is hurting him, so he spits it out into the sky and deflates... just in time to be hit by a tsunami created by Slowbro! The slow pink Pokemon, who's Surfing on the wave, crashes into the Kingdra, hurting him further! "Slowbro's Surf was a critical hit!" The announcer shouts, surprised at the power of the dopey Pokemon's attack, "Will Kingdra survive this devastating attack?!" "Of course he will." Christopher rolls his eyes at the announcer's question, "Kingdra's doubly strong against Water Type attacks. I just hope that Surf knocked some sense back into him. Hmm, attempting another Smokescreen might be risky... Kingdra, use Hydro Pump!" "Doubly strong, eh?" Robert nods his head, "Thanks for giving away your other secret strategy, Christopher! Slowbro, use Confusion again!" Christopher's Kingdra, who's floating right next to Robert's Slowbro, narrows his eyes and ejects an extremely powerful burst of water out of his snout, which sends Robert's Slowbro skidding across the surface of the water until he collides with one of the Coliseum's walls and sinks into the pool. The moment Slowbro's goofy head peeks out of the water, his eyes glow blue and he inflicts another Confusion attack on the Kingdra across the pool. Although the half-Dragon Pokemon is weakened by the attack, this time he doesn't get confused. "Drra..." Noticing that Robert's Slowbro looks even dopier than usual, Christopher reasons that the Pokemon's about to faint and says, "Kingdra, finish Slowbro off with another Twister!" "Finish him off?!" Robert shakes his head, "Oh, no you don't!" Christopher's eyelids lower before he says, "What're you gonna do? Have Slowbro Amnesia Kingdra into submission? My Kingdra's twice as fast as your Slowbro and he'll attack first regardless of what attack you tell your Pokemon to use." "Slowbro's still got one more trick up his Shellder..." Robert points at the Kingdra heading towards the center of the pool to create a Twister, "Slowbro, use Swift!" The Shellder on Slowbro's tail snaps into action and Swiftly shoots tiny little stars at Christopher's Kingdra! The barrage of speeding stars knocks Kingdra out of the water! After crashing onto one of the white platforms floating in the pool, the Kingdra flops around on the platform, trying to get back into the water to perform his Twister attack, but lacking limbs, he finds this task difficult to accomplish... Christopher gives his struggling Pokemon advice, "Kingdra, hit Slowbro with a Hydro Pump - the force will knock you off the platform." Robert, who's surprised that the Kingdra still hasn't fainted, calls out to his Pokemon, "Slowbro, use Swift again!" Slowbro's Shellder launches Swift stars in the Kingdra's direction again while Slowbro simply enjoys the sparkling display with his eyes wide open. The little stars hurt Kingdra, but they also knock him off the white platform as Kingdra readies himself to use Hyrdro Pump. When Christopher's Kingdra finally does spit out a Hydro Pump, it dissolves in the water around him, missing Robert's Slowbro entirely! The announcer comments, "Ooo, that's the danger of using Hydro Pump - it's a very powerful attack, but it's also very inaccurate!" Robert growls under his breath when Kingdra's head emerges out of the pool, "WHY... WON'T... YOU... FAINT?! Slowbro, one more Swift!" Christopher cries out, "Kingdra, now that you're back in the water, use Twister!" Just as Kingdra's about to dive underwater, dozens of Swift stars issued by Slowbro's Shellder crash into his face! He blinks twice when the attack is over and he sinks into the water... only to bob up a second later, his eyes closed. The referee waits a moment to see if Christopher's Kingdra will awaken, but when the half-Dragon Pokemon topples over onto the surface of the water, he announces, "Kingdra is unable to battle! This match goes to Robert, the Diversity Gym Leader!" "WOO HOO!" Robert hops up and down on his platform happily, only to slip on a puddle and fall into the pool. After a few seconds, his Slowbro Surfs over to him and lifts him up out of the water. Some members of the crowd cheer, but a majority of them boo because they wanted the home town Trainer to win. Afraid the people in the audience are going to start throwing things at him, Robert takes the booing as his cue to climb back onto the stone platform he was battling on, recall his Slowbro, and run out of the Coliseum towards the Scarlet City Pokemon Center. -Robert