Subject: [PW!] [WC] Day One, Round One, Match One: Roxie vs. Misty Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 19:41:33 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon The first thing Belle notices about the training area of the Scarlet City Coliseum she's been ushered to is that there's a pool in the middle of it so that people who own Water Pokemon who can't move around on land, such as Goldeen, are able to train their Pokemon before their match starts. Not sure what a Lanturn looks like and whether it is amphibious or not, Belle pulls out the Great Ball in her possession and releases the Pokemon within it into the pool, just in case. Belle's happy she was cautious for once when a large blue-and-yellow fish with a bulb sticking out of his head materializes in the water. "Oh yeah, I was the first to register and now I'm the first to battle!" Roxie, Belle's green-haired leather-clad rival claps her hands once then does a little dance as the seven other Trainers gathered in the preparation area - Robert, Marvin, Belle, Mamoru, Hokori, Becky, and Blizzard the Persian - are getting ready to train their Pokemon for their upcoming matches. Roxie murmurs under her breath, "The sooner I beat all these losers, the sooner I'm $10,000 richer and the sooner Shaft gets a Mystic Water pendant just like the one Aquarius has." The only ones gathered in the area who hear Roxie's comment are Blizzard the Persian, who has very keen hearing but is too busy fantasizing about eating Jigglypuff ala mode to care what Roxie said, and Belle, who narrows her eyes at the arrogant biker and says, "I really think you should use the little time you have before your match begins to train your Pokemon instead of dancin' around like an idiot." "Well, YOU need to train, but I've been training Shaft since day one of my Pokemon Journey." Roxie waves her hand in dismissal, "He'll be able to take down whatever lame Pokemon the runtiest Leader of the second Gym in Kanto throws at me. Now if you'll excuse me, I wasn't finished with my victory dance." Roxie continues to sway her body around as if she has just made a touchdown. Belle, who's satisfied with her Slowpoke since he defeated a Machamp not too long ago, turns her full attention to the Lanturn she received from Timmy. This is the first time he's been released since he was traded to her, and he's quite confused, wondering why his Trainer has shrunk in size, why his Trainer's blonde hair now reaches half-way down his back, and why his Trainer's voice has become so squeaky. Belle tries to remember what Timmy told her yesterday about the attacks the Lanturn knows. Before Belle can ask her Lanturn to demonstrate any of the attacks he knows, Becky, a teenager wearing a karate gi similar to the one Belle's currently wearing approaches her and says, "I thought I recognized you back at the Pokemon Center. I just couldn't believe you'd be in a gi and sitting around a bunch of guys until I got a closer look just now. Sarah, right?" "My name's Belle, but I've been called Sarah before." Belle turns to face the black-haired girl who's a few years younger than her, "Why is it so unbelievable that I'm in a gi? I'm just as good as any of those guys and after Master Chuck teaches me some more moves, I'll be able to beat them all - in both Pokemon battles and hand-to-hand combat." Becky is surprised - not only is Belle not stuttering like the last time she saw her, she's also being much more assertive, "Well, it's just that... you seemed so shy before and... Oh, I see what this is about." Belle glances over at the Lanturn floating in the pool, who's still trying to figure out why his Trainer look so different, then says, "What's 'this about'? Hurry up and tell me, I gotta train this Lanturn." "You think that if you become more like me, Travis will like you." Becky grins and shakes her head, "I'm flattered you want to be more like me, but trust me, that plan's not going to work. He considers me..." Belle interrupts, "I don't even know who Travis is and I wouldn't change myself for any guy." She then lets out an exasperated sigh, "Look, to be honest with you, I've forgotten a lot of my past, so if I went to high school with you or whatever, I'm sorry I don't remember you. Now, if you'll excuse me." Belle shouts out at the Lanturn in the pool, "Show me your Spark!" Right after Lanturn demonstrates the attack by shooting a Spark of electricity up towards the roof, a voice is heard announcing, "Welcome to the first of six exciting days of battles here here at the Whirl Cup. The first match in Round One, Roxie vs. Misty, is starting now. Trainers, to your platforms!" "It's go time, Shaft!" Roxie pulls a Pokeball out of her black leather jacket and walks out onto a stone platform on one end of the giant pool in the center of the Coliseum. Misty, the red-haired Cerulean Gym Leader, steps out onto the stone platform on the other end. The crowd cheers for a good minute. Roxie, eager to win the match, decides to release her Pokemon first. She tosses her Pokeball into the water and her Quagsire's head pops up out of the water. Shaft the Quagsire yawns, "Quaaaag!" After an image of a Quagsire appears next to the image of Roxie's face on the four Big Screen TVs set up in the Coliseum, the announcer exclaims, "Roxie has chosen a Quagsire, a half-Ground half-Water Pokemon, for this match! Was it wise to send out a half-Ground Pokemon in this, a Water Pokemon Tournament? Only time will tell!" Belle, who's stopped training Lanturn for a moment to watch the match, remarks, "No, it wasn't wise. But Roxie's not wise." "In that case, Misty calls Corsola!" Misty releases her small pink Pokemon, who's still as energetic as she was nine years ago when she competed in the Whirl Cup Competition. She hops up and down excitedly saying, "Corsola! Corsola! Corsola!" Once the image of a Corsola appears next to Misty's face on all the Big Screens, the announcer comments, "Oooh, Misty has sent out her half-Rock type Corsola, even though Rock Types are weak against Ground Type Pokemon. Misty must be very confident of her Corsola's abilities!" "I sure am." Misty points at Roxie's Quagsire and shouts, "Corsola, use Spike Cannon!" Roxie rolls her eyes and states, "Shaft, Earthquake." Shaft tries to create an Earthquake while swimming in the water, but he only creates ripples on the water's surface, "Quaag?" As he swims over to one of the white platforms floating in the water, Misty's Corsola swims underneath him and uses her Spike Cannon, launching him out of the pool, into the air! Shaft the Quagsire lands face first one one of the white platforms and starts pulling out a few spikes that got lodged in his swollen, throbbing tail. Belle shouts over to Roxie from her place in the preparation area, "If you'd practiced in the pool over here before goin' over there like I told you to, you would've found out Earthquake's not as effective in the water!" Roxie shouts back, "QUIET, YOU!" She doubts Shaft's Earthquake attack will have any effect if he uses it on the platform, so she calls out, "Shaft, dive into the water and Slam that Corsola onto a platform!" Misty resorts to the favorite strategy of one of her former traveling companions, "Corsola, Tackle!" Shaft the Quagsire dives into the giant pool. The Coliseum's Big Screen TVs cut to the underwater cameras, which show Misty's Corsola Tackling Roxie's Quagsire. However, the Quagsire isn't too hurt by the attack, and he quickly retaliates by using his big fat tail to Slam the Corsola so hard that she soars out of the water! Misty's Corsola lands on the same platform Shaft landed on moment ago and moans, "Cooooorsolaaaa..." "Shaft, jump on the platform and use Earthquake!" Roxie shouts out her command the second Corsola hits the platform, aware that Corsola know how to Recover and wanting Shaft to attack before Misty gets a chance to tell her Corsola to do so. However, Misty uses a different strategy altogether, "Quickly, use your Mirror Coat, Corsola!" Misty's Corsola glows white seconds before Shaft the Quagsire hops on the white platform. The Earthquake Shaft produces hurts the Corsola sharing the platform with him, bringing her to the brink of fainting, but her Mirror Coat reflects the powerful force of the Quagsire's attack back onto him with double the force. Shaft rubs his slimy head with one fin, "Quaaaag..." "Corsola has reflected Quagsire's attack back onto him!" The announcer proclaims, "This match could go either way, folks!" Misty smirks and shouts, "Corsola, Recover!" Roxie, figuring that if the Corsola can survive an Earthquake attack after being Slammed, it will be able to endure one after using Recover, decides to tell Shaft to try a different attack - one the Pokemon learned from his dad, "Shaft, Body Slam!" Misty's Corsola uses her Recover technique, and once healthy again, she manages to gleefully hop up only once before being Body Slammed by the Quagsire next to her. The attack sends her flying and she lands back in the water with a splash! "Corsola..." Misty scans the surface of the water with her eyes, afraid that if the Body Slam was a critical hit, her Corsola will emerge from the water fainted, "Corsola, if you can hear me, use Bubblebeam!" Roxie, confident that her powerful Quagsire's Body Slam has defeated Misty's Corsola as it has defeated many a Pokemon in the past, just waits for the pink Pokemon to surface without telling Shaft what to do next. She's surprised when she sees a Bubblebeam shoot out of the water and hit her Pokemon's face! Shaft the Quagsire is blasted for five seconds with a barrage of bubbles before toppling over, face-first, onto the white platform below him. His tail sticks up straight for a second, then he faints and it goes limp. "Quagsire has been defeated." The referee standing on the sidelines announces, "The match goes to Misty!" Misty jumps up in celebration and exclaims, "We did it, Corsola!" She makes a victory sign with her fingers and says, "We're moving on to Round Two!" As the announcer recaps the match, Roxie murmurs some obscenities as she recalls her fainted Quagsire. She kicks the ground in frustration while heading back to the preparation area behind her, where Belle is waiting for her with her arms crossed. "I told you so." Belle gloats. She then follows her own advice, heading over to the preparation area's small pool to train the Lanturn she's considering using in her upcoming match, who still hasn't figured out that she's not Timmy. -Belle