Subject: [PW!] [WC] [FINAL] ...And We Mean *Whirl* Cup! Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:55:07 GMT From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net> Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon It was another bright, shiny day, not a cloud in sight, as Becky stepped out onto the platform. At Travis's request, the two of them had reviewed tapes of Aerie's prior matches, but the only consistent strategy Aerie had seemed to use was to let her Goldeen eat. Becky knew just how to counter that, but that still left two pokemon unaccounted for - and one unknown. When asked, Oldman seemed to be hiding something, saying, "The only pokemon of mine she has are Squirtle and Goldeen," while also saying she had not rented anything. The only way Becky saw that making sense was if she had stolen them, but why would anyone steal pokemon just to use them in this competition anyway, and wouldn't that just disqualify her? #No, actually, he gave them to me.# Becky blinked, then looked around. She saw no sign of Aerie, reasoning that even though Aerie was a shapeshifter, surely she would be appearing as herself. #Where are you?# #Here. So, ready to start the match yet?# #Ready when you are. Come on, let's start so I can defeat you quickly.# #You mean lose quickly.# Even though the conversation was mental, Becky could almost hear Aerie's smirk. #Just because I saved your hide doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you.# #Yeah, sure. Five minutes, tops.# #Heh. Maybe it'll take you five minutes to grab your pokeballs!# #What?# A bolt of lightning soared from the blue, slamming down in the exact center of the arena. Few were surprised that it had delivered Aerie, though Aerie's sudden chucking of an Ice Beam at both trainer entrances - teleporting in place to turn around as if in some cheap animation - was a bit more surprising. Becky ducked, but the beam had been aimed to miss her anyway; instead, it sealed off the entrances with a quarter meter thick ice. Looking through the ice, Becky was relieved to see that it had stopped well short of Travis, who had thought to watch the match from behind her. Shrugging apologetically, he headed for the stands, just as a wave of water almost knocked Becky from her platform. Returning her attention to the arena, Becky saw the entire artificial lake swirl in a gigantic Whirlpool, cracking off the tops of the six remaining platforms one by one, finishing with the trainers' platforms. Becky smiled, finally seeing Aerie on the opposite platform. "If that's how you want it, fine by me!" The referee, kicking to stay afloat, had been about to chastise Aerie for her entrance, but knew he had no grounds to do so if the other trainer agreed. He raised two dripping flags. "This will be a three on three battle!" Aerie hmphed. "More like five one on ones. Unless you're up for a *real* three on three." She smiled. "All at once? You're on!" Becky smiled back. "Anything else you'd like to throw in?" Aerie blinked. "You...*like* this?" "Of course I like a challenge!" "So much for throwing you off." Squirtle and Goldeen surfaced in front of Aerie, riding the current to maintain position. "Ready!" "I only see two." "My third's hiding in plain sight. Choose your three and let's go!" "Alright! Moses, Waverider, Tendril, I choose you!" Three balls opened, three pokemon materialized, and three names were cried out in unison. "Begin!" The referee lowered his flags, tucked them in his belt, and added his arms to his efforts to stay afloat. 0:00 "Waverider, freeze Goldeen! Moses, calm the water! Tendril, find her third pokemon!" Aerie shook her head. "You don't even trust your pokemon to know what to do? Tch." Brushing in Becky's direction as she had in Rudy's, she added, "Get 'em!" Becky smiled. This part of Aerie's strategy, at least, she knew from her own training. "That's not going to work on me!" "What's not?" "You think I'll make a mistake if I'm angry!" Aerie blinked. "You will?" It was probably the waves, but Becky wound up on her face just then. 0:20 The whirling water made navigation difficult, but Moses' job was the fastest. Riding the crest of the water along the sides of the arena, he aimed a Fissure straight down the center. That was enough to disrupt the Whirlpool, but turned the orderly whirling into chaotic waves as currents and eddies crashed all over the arena. The sound of the surf drowned out the audience and announcer, and all Becky could hear was the battle. Waverider was thrown into Goldeen, who eagerly latched onto her head. Goldeen's eyes bugged out, shortly before ice erupted from its mouth and rear end, quickly arcing back to cover the entire fish. Waverider pulled her head out, satisfied with the results of her extremely short range Ice Beam. Meanwhile, Moses had aimed the Fissure to stop Squirtle in its tracks for a moment. Squirtle abruptly found himself shooting through the air towards Moses, as Moses skidded along the arena wall to slow his own momentum. When they caught up, Moses leapt off, landing on Squirtle and trying to use Submission on its head to pull it out of its shell. 1:45 Tendril, tired of searching the water in vain, leapt onto what had been the central platform, still charred a bit from Aerie's electrical entrance. It had only managed to scan part of the arena before feeling claws in its privates. As it would not find out until seeing a tape of the battle later, it had managed to accidentally slap an extra lump of white, painted to match the coral, that Aerie had left on the platform. Trent's Kabuto had taken none too kindly to being hit, especially when Tendril then sat on it. One Rock Smash later, Tendril flew straight up, fainted from the pain before it hit the top of its flight, and recalled before it could hit the platform again. Moses, meanwhile, found that gripping the skull was perhaps not the best move when confronted by repeated Skull Bashes. Arena walls, platforms, even Waverider's shell and the frozen Goldeen; anything solid became a target to bash Moses against. One wave threw Becky's platform up near the top of the arena's transparent barrier, where Becky quickly dismounted to a more stable, if thinner, perch. The same wave raced back across the arena and threw Squirtle and Moses near the top on the opposite side, where Squirtle kicked off the barrier, arcing back down towards Kabuto's platform. Kabuto dodged to the side to let Moses land. Becky did not have to hear Moses' cry to know he could not have taken that blow and stay conscious, and recalled him. 3:02 Becky knew the match was going poorly. Kabuto clamping down on Waverider's tail to nail her to the platform, then Squirtle using Water Gun like a hydrojet to ram the platform into other platforms and the walls - though, curiously, not Goldeen this time - just confirmed that she was going to lose. She sighed, downcast, and readied Waverider's ball to return her. #!!!# No. She, Becky Thornbird, Wanted to win. She Wanted it with all her heart. "Waverider!" she called, knowing even as she said it there was no way her lapras could hear her over the still raging tides. She hopped down, landing on Aerie's platform, noticing her opponent seemed a bit out of it. Shrugging, she knelt and paddled, pushing their platform towards the action, eventually getting close enough to call out, "Waverider, use Ice Beam to flip the platform!" 3:51 Just before they hit the wall again, Waverider fired a short Ice Beam at the water in front of them. Sure enough, the platform flipped up and out of the water, leaving everything that was not anchored to it - namely, Squirtle - to fly into the wall. That distraction out of the way, Waverider twisted itself to pick up Kabuto in its mouth, pulled it from the platform, aimed high stands, and ejected it with another Ice Beam. Kabuto, amply surrounded by ice, easily cleared the barrier and landed in the stands, where a black sandslash quickly picked it up and took it away. Squirtle and Waverider stared each other down, until Becky called out, "Waverider, surf it!" 4:34 Squirtle easily ducked the incoming wave of water, but lost sight of its opponent in the process. A large shadow and sudden weight on its back soon confirmed the lapras's location, though Squirtle found little purchase to do anything about it as the wave came back. It almost thought it could hear surfing music as Waverider rode it towards the wall, but it knew it could take another impact. What it did not count on was Waverider suddenly changing course ever so slightly, sending it into and through the ice on Becky's entrance, out of the arena. 4:59 The wild waves quickly splashed through this new drain, soon leaving the arena as calm as ever, even if its platforms now floated hither and yon. Only Aerie, Becky, Waverider, and the frozen Goldeen remained. All this time, the announcer had been yelling to try, and fail, to be heard over the noise, giving himself laryngitis in the process. With the referee nowhere to be seen - actually in the stands, washed out by another high wave - his hoarse whisper seemed like a stunned call of, "Becky...wins..." It was enough to set the audience cheering madly. Becky caught Aerie before she could topple off the platform. "Hey, you okay?" "Huh? Oh, I'm fine." Aerie could tell Becky was not buying it. "Great match. I guess you won." "Not bad yourself, but you really should work with your pokemon more." The half-ditto smiled. "Ah, not really my style. I prefer fighting my own fights." "I can tell." Becky used her supporting arm to bring Aerie in close, so she could look her in the eye. "This wasn't your only battle, was it?" "Nuh-uh. I'm not about to let *them* take control if I can help it." "Them who?" "..." Aerie blinked. "It is a battle you may fight too, soon. Be careful, my opponent. There is someone else in your mind. Make sure your thoughts are your own." Before Becky could ask what that meant, Aerie squirmed out of her grip, leapt over to the still frozen fish, lifted it and herself out of the water, and air-surfed out of the arena. Becky almost did not notice Waverider pick her up, plop her on her back, and go for a gentle victory lap as the crowd chanted, "BECK-Y! BECK-Y! BECK-Y!" TBC?