Subject: [PW!] [WC] Fighting First Thing In The Morning Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 14:44:25 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Robert, his black hair a complete mess and his dark brown eyes half-closed, walks like a zombie out of the Scarlet City Pokemon Center at 8 AM in the morning, the early morning sunshine making the young man who just awoke squint. If his skin were somewhat darker and his fashion sense somewhat worse, he could be confused for Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. Having gotten dressed in his half-awake stupor, he's wearing his favorite black shirt backwards, with the shirt's zipper on his back and the shirt's tag popping out just below his chin. His blue jeans are on the right way, though one end of his Pokeball belt is sticking out. He's wearing his black sneakers, but he forgot to put socks on. He stumbles through the city's main street, somewhat bothered by the cheerful early morning chirping of Pidgey on this fifth day of the Whirl Cup Competition. He groans ever so slightly as he ambles through the street, on his way to battle Chuck on Red Rock Isle's southern beach. He's oblivious to all his surroundings on his way to the beach, including the few people on the street's sidewalks who are glancing or staring at the sleep-deprived man. He daydreams about his upcoming meeting with his girlfriend throughout his short trek and doesn't even realize he's reached the beach until he's knee-deep in water. "What're you doin', sport?!" A loud, gravely voice shatters Robert's daydream, forcing the Diversity Gym Leader's eyes to open up slightly. Robert snorts and says the first thing that comes to his mind, "Uhm... Getting my feet wet?" He shakes his head and walks out of the sea, onto the beach. His wet black sneakers make squishing noises as he walks on the rocky red sand below him. His attention drawn by the squishing sounds, he looks down as he walks. Robert almost crashes into Chuck when the Cianwood Gym Leader grabs both his arms with his large tan hands, stopping him in his tracks. Robert tries to keep walking despite that he's not going anywhere until the muscular man grabbing onto him shakes him vigorously, stirring his consciousness. "Huh, what?" Robert looks up at Chuck and smiles, his eyelids only half open still, "Oh, hi, Chuck. What're you doing here?" "I'm here for the official Gym battle ya asked for!" Chuck releases his grip on Robert's arms and the black-haired young man stumbles back a bit before regaining his footing. "Now wake up, focus your energy, and prepare to fight, fight, fight!" "Meowth, that's right!" Robert exclaims, then he laughs at himself for about ten seconds straight before saying, "Huh? What? I'm not a Meowth..." He blinks and glances around the area, confused. He sees that he's on a sandy beach and that there's a muscular, middle-aged man with dark brown hair that forms a mustache on his face standing a few feet in front of him. The man is only wearing white pants. He also notices out of the corner of his eye a brown-haired young man wearing a Karate uniform and holding two flags of different colors - one is blue and the other is red. Chuck, the middle-aged man, gestures over to the nearby young flag-bearer and says, "C'mon, Robert - if Jimmy here could get up early to referee, then you can too!" "But I'm not a referee..." Robert protests, his eyes starting to close again due to his sleepiness, "I'm here to battle you! ...right?" "Right! Remember, we're having a two on two Pokemon battle. Hmm, maybe if I start, it'll get you worked up." Chuck pulls a shrunken Pokeball out of one of his pockets, enlarges it, and chucks it out onto the sand. A white beam of light shoots out and a Poliwrath materializes. Chuck puts one of his hands on his Pokemon's shoulder, "Mornin', Poliwrath! Sorry, but you're not gonna get a chance to compete in the Whirl Cup this year. The student representing the Gym got eliminated before the round where she needed three Pokemon. I should've lent ya to her for Round Two, but her Slowpoke really impressed me when he beat Timmy's Machamp and I thought she'd be able to control one of her own Pokemon better than you." "Poli..." Poliwrath pats Chuck twice with one of his large fists, "Wrath poli." "I'm glad you're not sad." Chuck smiles, "Now, get ready to battle!" He then looks over at Robert to see if the young man is ready for the Gym match yet, only to see that he's on the ground, forming a pillow out of sand. Chuck frowns and shouts, "Robert, if you don't get up and send out a Pokemon right now, I'm gonna leave to go do some trainin' with my Machoke and you'll have to battle me some other day!" "That sounds like a really..." Robert starts in a quiet voice as he fluffs up his sand pillow before realizing what Chuck has just said. He immediately hops up onto his feet and pulls a small Pokeball off his belt. Being that he's only half-awake, after enlarging the Pokeball he fumbles it onto the sand right below him. A fat pink Slowbro emerges from within the Pokeball in a flash of white light and lands right on top of Robert! After a few seconds of staring out at nothing in particular, the Slowbro turns his head from left to right, looking for his Trainer, "Slow...? Slowbro, slow slowbro?" "...please... move..." Robert grunts, trying to push his bloated Slow Pokemon off his body. When Slowbro realizes that his Trainer's voice came from below his body and feels hands pushing on him, he climbs off Robert. Fortunately, after almost being crushed by his own Slowbro, Robert's much more awake now. He sits up, rubbing his hurting chest. For the first time since Chuck sent out his Pokemon minutes ago, Robert notices that the Gym Leader's selected a Poliwrath. "I knew you were going to send out a Fighting Type Pokemon, Chuck! That's why I selected Slowbro, my Psychic Pokemon. Slowbro, Confusion!" Chuck smirks, "Actually, I figured you'd send out your Slowbro, and that's why I sent out Poliwrath. Poliwrath, Hypnosis!" Being that he's much faster than Slowbro, Poliwrath's swirl starts spinning before Slowbro even realizes he's supposed to be attacking the Fighting Pokemon. When Slowbro's eyes start glazing over, he lies down on the beach and rests his head on the sand pillow Robert formed before drifting off to sleep. "As long as your Slowbro's asleep, he can't use his Psychic attacks!" Chuck grins, proud of his strategy, "Now, Poliwrath, use Mind Reader!" "Oh great, I just woke up from my daze and now Slowbro's asleep!" Robert reaches into the black laptop case strapped over his shoulder and pulls out the Pokeflute that Mr. Fuji gave him years ago. He puts it in his mouth and plays a somewhat off-key version of "Jingle Bells". The dozing Pokemon snorts and suddenly wakes up while Chuck's Poliwrath places his fists on the sides of his heads as he uses Mind Reader on Robert's Pokemon. Robert now repeats his earlier command, "Slowbro, Confusion!" "I could have Poliwrath use Hypnosis again..." Chuck considers his options, thinking that he's speaking "quietly" to himself, though because of his gruff voice, the other two people on the beach at the time can hear him, "But that would be a waste of Mind Reader. Now that Poliwrath can't miss, I might as well get a hit in." He calls out, "Poliwrath, Dynamic Punch!" Once again, the fast Poliwrath snaps into action before Slowbro realizes that Robert's issued a command. He winds up one of his fists as he steps up to the dopey pink Pokemon then unleashes a very powerful Dynamic Punch that knocks Slowbro down! When Slowbro sluggishly stands back up to perform Confusion, he's confused. Being that Slowbro is used to being confused about plenty of things, Slowbro's able to overcome the confusion produced by the Dynamic Punch and manages to attack Poliwrath! The Confusion waves that shoot out of Slowbro's eyes not only weaken Poliwrath, but they confuse him as well. Robert calls out, "Use Confusion again, Slowbro!" Chuck shouts, "Another Dynamic Punch, Poliwrath!" Both Water Pokemon punch themselves in their faces. Poliwrath then proceeds to lock arms with Slowbro and square dance around him as he stands still. As Chuck's Poliwrath dances around him, Slowbro claps his paws in rhythm and sings a rather slow version of the song "Farfetch'd in the Straw" in Slowbro language. Robert sweatdrops at the performance, "Uhm, I think both our Pokemon are confused, Chuck." "Yeah, I noticed." Chuck shakes his head in shame at his usually serious Pokemon's square dancing, "Poliwrath, overcome the Confusion and use Dynamic Punch!" "Slowbro, you overcome your confusion too! Well, at least the confusion you're currently in." Robert tells his Slowbro, "Then once you're not confused, use Confusion to confuse Poliwrath if he's not confused... or even if he is confused, except you can't confuse him more, so you'll just hurt him with Confusion without confusing him! ...uhm, I'm confused - what did I just say?" Robert reaches up to scratch his head but ends up poking his eye, "OUCH! I just hurt myself in the confusion!" Unlike Robert, Poliwrath doesn't hurt himself in his confusion this time. The Fighting Pokemon winds up his right fist as he steps up to Slowbro. But this time, since he hadn't used Mind Reader before, his Dynamic Punch misses and he ends up hitting the sand pillow Robert made, pulverizing it into particles of sand. Slowbro glances down at the Poliwrath and manages to overcomes his present confused state too - the Psychic Pokemon's Confusion attack hits Poliwrath, who faints on the sand. Jimmy points his blue flag at Robert and announces, "Poliwrath is unable to battle. Robert's Slowbro wins the match." "Poliwrath, return!" Chuck calls Poliwrath back into his Pokeball and tears stream down the tough guy's face as he says, "I'm so proud of you, Poliwrath! You fought your best for me! You deserve this rest." Once he finishes shedding tears of joy, Chuck produces another Pokeball from his Pokeball and chucks it onto the sand. A tall Machoke emerges from this one. The Machoke cheers, "Maaaa! Choke!" He runs over to his Trainer and hugs him, happy to be selected to battle. Chuck says, "Machoke, I'm happy to see ya too, but it's time to Focus your Energy! You gotta face a Slowbro and one other Pokemon." "Or maybe just Slowbro..." Robert hopes Slowbro can defeat Machoke all by himself, since Slowbro is his only Psychic Pokemon and Robert doesn't currently remember which other Types of Pokemon are effective against Fighting Pokemon, "Confusion!" As Chuck's Machoke concentrates while using Focus Energy, Robert's Slowbro uses Confusion for a third time on the beach, this time aiming the attack at the Machoke. Machoke grimaces but remains standing and sane of mind after being hit by the attack. Seeing that his Fighting Pokemon has focused his energy, Chuck orders, "Machoke, give Slowbro a Cross Chop attack!" "Hmm, that sounds like a Fighting attack..." Robert wonders what he should tell his Slowbro to do next, "Slowbro should be able to survive it. Slowbro, Machoke seems to be able to withstand your Confusion - get in the water and use Surf!" "Maaa choke!" Chuck's Machoke crosses his muscular red-marked arms over his chest and leaps over to where Slowbro's standing. He then unfolds his arms in a thrusting motion directed towards Slowbro! The attack is a critical hit that sends Slowbro flying towards the sea! The moment Slowbro splashes into the water, Robert's order reaches his brain. The hurt Slowbro swims deeper into the sea then submerges and a tidal wave rises up. Slowbro Surfs on the crest of the wave as it approaches the beach... Robert, Chuck, Jimmy, and Chuck's Machoke all brace themselves moments before the tsunami crashes onto all of them, soaking them all and especially drenching Slowbro's intended target - a now weakened Machoke, "Maaamaaa! Choke ma choke!" "That's enough!" Chuck shouts, slicking back his wet dark brown hair, "Machoke, Submission!" "Uh oh..." Robert notices the anger in Machoke's eyes as he stomps over to the Slowbro who drenched him, "Slowbro, Swift!" The blue Shellder biting Slowbro's tail manages to launch Swift stars at Chuck's Machoke, hurting him a little but mainly annoying him even further, moments before the Fighting Pokemon grabs the tail. The Fighting Pokemon then clamps his legs around Slowbro's neck and proceeds do do cartwheels while holding the Slowbro close to his body. "Machoke, choke!" Once he realizes what's going on, Slowbro enjoys the ride for about two seconds before the Machoke throws him up into the air! "Slowwwww..." Slowbro soars in a parabolic curve towards Robert then ends up crashing into the sand right in front of him! Robert covers his face with one arm to shield his eyes from the cloud of sand kicked up by Slowbro's landing, then when he removes his arm from over his face, he sees that Slowbro is now unconscious. Jimmy points a red flag at Chuck and states, "Slowbro is unable to battle. Chuck's Machoke wins the match." Robert returns Slowbro to his Pokeball, latches it back onto his belt, and contemplates which Pokemon he should send out next. Suddenly, he remembers when Mithril-rama's Clefable defeated his former rival's Machoke with one Sky Attack induced by a Metronome. That's when Robert realizes that Flying attacks must be effective against Fighting Pokemon, "You Machoke's very strong, Chuck - but he's no match for my awesome Flying Pokemon." Robert grabs the first Pokeball on his belt... ...when, without prompting, the Great Ball on his belt's third slot pops open, releasing a small jet black Murkrow onto the sandy beach. The short Pokemon takes a bow upon emerging, placing one wing over his chest, before flying up a few feet. "...MURKROW!" Robert screams at the sight of his low-level Dark Pokemon, "I didn't ask you to come out of your Great Ball!" "Murkrow murk... Murk murkrow murk!" Murkrow explains that he is the only awesome Flying Pokemon on Robert's team in Murkrow language, which Robert doesn't understand. He then proceeds to belittle Farfetch'd, "Murk murk murkrow row murkrow!" "Well, you're still a Flying Type, and Slowbro did weaken Machoke..." Robert nervously suggests, "Maybe you can still win." "I doubt it!" Chuck shakes one index finger at Robert, "Dark Pokemon are weak against Fighting Pokemon. I don't want to kill the poor little bird, so... Machoke, just use Karate Chop to defeat that Murkrow!" Robert tells his barely-Trained Flying Pokemon to use the only Flying attack he knows, "Murkrow, Peck!" "Maachoke!" In one swift motion, Chuck's Machoke Karate Chops Robert's Murkrow, weakening the low-level Pokemon considerably! The Murkrow doesn't faint, however, and he's now annoyed that he's been swatted at as if he were a Bug Pokemon. The angry Dark Pokemon uses his last bit of strength to Peck the Machoke's hand hard, latching onto it with his beak. The Machoke starts running around in circles in pain from the Peck, shaking his hand, until he falls to his knees from the critical hit. As he reaches over with his other hand to extract Robert's Murkrow from the hand the Dark Pokemon won't release, the Machoke groans, "Choke..." before falling face first into the sand. Robert blinks twice before coming to terms with what just happened, "Whoa, it looks like Machoke just choked under the pressure." Jimmy can't believe that Chuck's Machoke has been finished off by a tiny Dark Pokemon, so he stares at the Fighting Pokemon, waiting for his Master's Pokemon to stand up. However, after ten seconds straight of staring at the fainted Machoke, Jimmy points his blue flag at Robert and declares, "Machoke is unable to battle. The match goes to Murkrow. The winner is Robert!" Chuck runs over to his Machoke and lifts his head up. The Machoke coughs out some sand before saying, "Maaa... machoke choke machoke." Chuck pats his Pokemon on his back and says, "Don't be embarrassed, Machoke! It was my fault we didn't win, not yours. If I had told you to you use Submission instead of Karate Chop, you would've won the match. I made the mistake of underestimating my opponent based on the size of his Pokemon." Chuck walks up to Robert, pulling a small bronze Badge shaped like a fist out of his pocket, "I'm sorry I underestimated your Murkrow, Robert. Take this Storm Badge - you deserve it!" Robert gladly accepts the Storm Badge then says, "WOO HOO! I got a Storm Badge! Thank you for letting me battle you today, Chuck!" He reaches down to pin his new Storm Badge onto his shirt, only to notice that his ten other Badges are missing, "Huh? Where did my Badges go?! Did someone steal my Badges?!" Chuck smirks, "Your shirt's on backwards, sport." "Oh! Whoops... eh, heh heh." Robert pulls his arms into his black shirt, spins it around, then puts his arms back through its sleeves. Once his shirt's on the right way, he fastens the Storm Badge onto his shirt right below where the Fog Badge is pinned. "Thanks again, Chuck! C'mon, Murkrow, you can ride on my shoulder today!" Robert's proud Murkrow flies over to his Trainer's right shoulder and perches on it. As Robert heads back to the Pokemon Center, Murkrow wonders what kind of mischief he can cause today without Robert noticing, now that he's free from his Great Ball. Thinking of all the possibilities, the Murkrow cackles, "Krow, krow, krow..." Robert, unaware of his Pokemon's mischievous nature, smiles at the Pokemon, thinking the bird's just happy about his recent victory. -Robert