Subject: [PW!] [WC] Sitting With The Cool Gym Leaders Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 06:23:38 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon During the brief intercession right after match eight of day two, Robert approaches the concession stand to buy a snack, being that he's still hungry after not having eaten dinner the day before, despite that he's eaten a different snack during each match held on day two thus far. Robert ate popcorn in the morning while watching a slimy blue Pokemon trounce an Octillery similar to the one Marvin has, gobbled down a bag of peanuts throughout a match where a Magikarp won against a water rabbit Pokemon, scarfed down some cracker jacks as he watched a huge blue reptilian Pokemon defeat a Seaking with the flick of a claw, and gnawed on twizzlers while a small blue fish Pokemon managed to beat Daisy's Seaking in a stunning upset victory similar to the one his Vileplume had against the Gym Leader's Seaking when she was still an Oddish. Robert then consumed a box of crunchy chocolate pieces, careful not to choke on them as he watched a Vaporeon almost choke when his head ended up stuck in a Goldeen's mouth. Afterwards, he enjoyed a hot dog as he watched an Eskimo lady's little Kabuto latch onto a blowfish Pokemon, refusing to release his grasp until the blowfish's middle-aged trainer had to recall the Pokemon. Robert nibbled on a few nachos during a short match where a trainer's tiny blue Pokemon sang her to sleep, then had a slice of pizza while a Tentacruel defeated a Gyarados. "What kind of snack do you offer which I haven't eaten yet?" Robert asks the vendor behind the concession stand. The vendor looks at each item in the inventory hidden under his booth before pulling out a giant pretzel and a small soda, "After this, you'll have eaten them all." "Cool!" Robert whips out his Indigo Credit Card and asks, "Does that mean I get a Mew, or at least a little certificate stating that I've eaten them all?" "What?" The vendor blinks twice before saying, "No." He swipes Robert's card and gives him two receipts. "Aww..." Robert signs his name on one of the two receipts with a pen tied to the stand. He grabs the other receipt, his credit card, his giant pretzel, and his soda drink, then he heads back to the special front row area of the Scarlet City Coliseum designated for spectators who are Gym Leaders. He doesn't even have to show his identification to the Whirl Cup Guard standing outside the entrance to the section since he's walked in and out so often to get food. Robert walks past the muscular shirtless man who's sitting with a bunch of children wearing gis, wondering why there's so many Gym Leaders who specialize in Fighting Pokemon in Johto and why most of them are children. He walks past where Jasmine is sitting by herself, still a bit bothered that she sent out her gigantic Steelix against his little Horsea when he battled her for a Mineral Badge and lost upon arriving in Johto. He also walks past Misty and Rudy, who are catching up after not having seen each other for quite a few years. "Hi, ladies! Is this seat taken?" Before anyone can object, Robert takes a front row seat next to Violet, the blue-haired Cerulean City Water Flower, who's sitting next to Daisy, the orange-haired and eldest one of the four Cerulean Gym Sensational Sisters. "Like, no..." Violet crosses her legs and scoots in her chair away from the black-haired Diversity Gym Leader, who's started stuffing his face with a giant pretzel, "But that still doesn't mean we like, want you to - eww, gross! Cover your mouth when you chew!" Robert closes his mouth and, still chewing, says, "Mph morry..." "You're doin' it again!" Violet turns her face away in disgust. Daisy leans forward in her seat and peers past her younger sister to see who's sat down next to Violet, "You totally look familiar..." Robert gulps down the pretzel pieces in his mouth, "Wow - you mean to tell me that after what's soon to be eight years, you still remember the day I walked into your Gym and won a Cascade Badge from you? I've displayed it proudly on every shirt I've worn out in public ever since then... Well, actually, when Sabrina switched my mind with my girlfriend's, I put on her shirt, but since it was my mind in her body, I think it still counts as being a shirt *I* wore since I was her at the time, but then again, you could argue..." "No, that's not it..." Daisy interrupts, then she eyes roll around as she scans her memory before saying, "Oh yeah, you're like that guy who's Slowbro beat up a Kingdra yesterday." "I'm not just LIKE that guy..." Robert proudly proclaims, "I AM that guy." Daisy lowers her eyelids, "Well, duh. You totally don't have to repeat yourself to make a point. Besides, I just said that." Robert shakes his head, "No, you said I was LIKE that guy..." Daisy nods, "Yeah, you are like, that guy. What's your name, anyway?" "I'm Robert, the Diversity Gym Leader!" Daisy once again scans her memory banks, but this time she's unable to find what she's looking for. "Like, Violet, have you ever heard of a place called Diver City?" "No, sis - he's probably lying about being a Gym Leader." Violet looks back at Robert just in time to see him take a huge bite of his pretzel and she immediately faces away from him again, bothered by Robert's eating habits, "He probably just snuck in here to get a peek at us because we're like, sooo totally beautiful and sooo totally famous. Totally!" His mouth full of food, Robert starts to explain, "Mo! Mre Mimers-" Noticing that even Daisy is cringing, he finishes eating the pretzel piece in his mouth before continuing, "The Diversity Gym's in Lavender Town, and I just wanted to sit with the cool Gym Leaders to watch the final match of the day instead of with all the little immature Gym Leaders wearing Karate uniforms back there." "Like, those aren't Gym Leaders." Daisy points back at the shirtless man sitting towards the back of the Gym Leader section as Robert turns his head to see who she's pointing at, "That's Chuck, the Cianwood City Gym Leader. The kids are his students." "Oh, really?" Robert smiles, "Then maybe I'll be going home for Christmas with three Johto League Badges pinned on my shirt instead of two." Suddenly, the Whirl Cup announcer is heard throughout the entire Coliseum: Clayton wrote: > "There's still one last match today, the one postponed from > yesterday between Ho ... What do you mean he's not able to > battle? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? What do > you mean "You left a message in my voice mail?" ? Why I > ought to ... STILL ON THE AIR?" The announcer regained his > composure. "All right, we have yet another change in the > roster. This final match will be between Lily of the > Cerulean Gym and Bob, from Goldenrod City." Violet turns her attention to Arena below, but when she sees Robert scarfing down his giant pretzel in her peripheral vision, she frowns then fumes, "Look, Robert, there's plenty of cool Gym Leaders here - like, go sit somewhere else, I wanna root for my sister without puking!" Robert's mouth hangs open and a little pretzel crumb falls out, making Violet sick. He looks over to Daisy with a sad Growlithe expression on his face, "...but... but I wanted to sit with you two to watch the match! I never got to sit with the cool kids during lunch in high school, and I thought that maybe now that I was a Gym Leader, I could..." "Sorry, Robert." Daisy gestures over to where Rudy and Misty are chatting with each other, both oblivious to the match that's about to start. Robert sighs and gets up out of his seat. As he approaches the row where Misty and Rudy are sitting, Violet gets comfortable in her seat and shouts, "Go, Lily! You can do it!" right after her younger pink-haired sister walks out onto the stone platform on one side of the Arena. Robert hears Misty ask Rudy as he approaches, "So, what Pokemon are you going to use in Round Two, other than your Starmie?" "Normally I only carry around one Pokemon of each Type for the Type Challenge back at the Trovita Gym..." Rudy starts, pulling out a Pokeball before continuing, "But after I saw how amazing your Corsola was in yesterday's match, I rented one to use in Round Two. I'm sure it doesn't compare to yours - after all, you've trained it as only a Water Pokemon Champion could!" Robert steps up to where Misty and Rudy are talking and asks, "Is someone sitting here?" Misty blushes, "Well, I don't know about Water Pokemon Champion... Water Pokemon Master, maybe, but Champion? I won't really be a Water Pokemon Champion until I'm declared Water Pokemon Alpha Omega, which is why I'm here for the Whirl Cup." "Is someone sitting here?" Robert asks again, eager to sit down and watch the match between Lily and Bob Raiser that's just begun. "We might have to face each other in the next round..." Rudy tells Misty, grabbing her hand, "I won't go easy on you, but I'm sure that even if I try my best, you'll still win. After all, I train all kinds of Pokemon but you SPECIALIZE in Water Pokemon..." "Ahem - is someone..." Robert is about to ask his question a third time, but seeing Misty's eyes get all misty and Rudy's eyes glaze over, he shakes his head and heads to a higher row, where Jasmine's sitting. He looks at her and asks, "Is someone sitting here?" "Hmm?" Jasmine looks up at Robert and smiles, "No, feel free to sit here!" She pats the seat next to hers, "My apprentice, Jenina, usually joins me at Whirl Cup Competitions, but this year, I finally felt she was ready to take over my Gym in my absence, so she stayed there." "Thanks." Robert sits down next to Jasmine, who doesn't remember him since it's been a year since their match. He does remembers her, though, and he's not too fond of the Gym Leader who sends out her Steelix to battle small Pokemon. Robert just watches the match from his place next to her, the usually talkative young man only speaking to Jasmine when she makes comments about the match. --- After Bob's match against Lily is over, Robert's still sitting next to Jasmine, who's having a full-blown conversation with the barely talking Diversity Gym Leader. He watches as Misty and Rudy walk past him, the red-haired Cerulean Gym Sister nervously remarking, "Oh, that goofy Psyduck. Lily's been training him for years and she STILL hasn't been able to knock some sense into him. I'm glad my Psyduck's not like that!" He watches as Daisy and Violet both slowly walk out of the Gym Leader section to meet up with Lily at the Coliseum's entrance, bummed out that Misty is the only Sensational Sister who made it past Round One. He even watches Chuck and his students head out of the Gym Leader section. "It's not MY fault my Steelix is so big. It's just good genes!" Jasmine sits with her legs spread out now that she's comfortable with Robert, "If the people challenging me for a Badge can't handle the sheer length of my Pokemon, that's their problem, not mine. Okay, so maybe they're used to battling Gym Leaders who's Pokemon are like this tiny..." She holds her thumb and index finger about an inch apart from each other, "But there's nothing in the Johto League Rule book that says Pokemon over 30 feet in length are against the rules! I mean, it's not like I use wax to lubricate the Steelix - all the Trainers who battle me face the raw power of my Pokemon. I don't use artificial enhancements." Robert shifts around uncomfortably in his seat, now aware of why no other Gym Leaders wanted to sit next to Jasmine, "I see..." "I mean, am I right, or am I right?" Jasmine punches Robert in the arm. Robert winces and grabs his arm, "OW! You're right!" He glances down at his Pokegear, "Well, would you look at the time... I've gotta go see who I'm facing in the next match! Buh-bye!" He stands up and races out of the Coliseum, towards the Scarlet City Pokemon Center. After a twenty minute jog, Robert arrives at the Pokemon Center, which is full of Pokemon Trainers, and he looks up at the giant monitor above Nurse Joy's desk to see the matchups for Round Two. The screen shows the following, with a headshot of each person or Pokemon above each name: [ Misty ] vs. [ Yolei ] [ Bob * ] vs. [ Becky * ] [ Rudy ] vs. [ Brome ] [ Jutta ] vs. [ Cappie * ] [ Trent * |> ] vs. [ Belle ] [ Robert ] vs. [ Travis ] [ Karen * ] vs. [ Aerie ] [ Persian * ] vs. [ Mamoru ] "Travis?!" Robert sweatdrops when he matches the name of the Trainer he's been randomly selected to battle in Round Two with a face, "How can Slowbro or Horsea defeat a Tentacruel who's able to defeat a Gyarados?!" Just then, Belle, the only female among Chuck's students, steps up to Nurse Joy. She's been waiting in line since she arrived at the Pokemon Center to say, "Yeah, hi. Why does the person I was matched up with have a little yellow star next to his name?" "Each trainer who hasn't registered a second Pokemon has a star next to his or her name." Nurse Joy elaborates, "Round Two and Round Three both consist of two-on-two Pokemon matches and these trainers have to register a second Pokemon for their matches by tomorrow morning." "Oh. And why does he have a little red flag next to the little yellow star?" Nurse Joy glances up at the screen above her and bites her lower lip before explaining, "That means he's been thrown in the Whirl Cup's little jail for disturbing the peace. Trent will still be able to battle, but he won't be allowed into any of the Coliseum's preparation areas, to protect the poor elderly lady he attacked as well as other Whirl Cup contestants." "He attacked an old lady?" Belle narrows her eyes, especially bothered by men who attack women, "In that case, I'll be happy to eliminate him from the competition." Robert paces around the room in circles with his hands behind his back, wondering what to do to defeat Travis' Tentacruel in tomorrow's match. When most of the other Trainers in the Pokemon Center's lobby, including Belle, pile into the Center's Cafeteria to have dinner, Robert sits down on one of the couches set up in the lobby, holding his belly, which is starting to ache after eating so much junk food at the Coliseum. -Robert