Subject: Re: [PW!] Sometimes it's not crazy to talk to yourself Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002 20:43:27 GMT From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net> Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Continue wrote: > With the Natu back in it's pokeball Drake asked "So, where's the first stop?" > > "We're going to adjust the level of obviousness here," Dee says "We aren't going to be so obvious as > to teleport in plain view, but not so subtle as to check into a room or go into a bath house. A > simple non-dead end alley should be enough of a departure from either kind of expected behavior to > throw off anyone who might be pursuing us." He then started walking down the street and the others > fell in step to either side. > > "So, did you spot any sign of them while I was taking care of business?" Drake inquired. > > Coming to an alley, Dee peered down it to find that it dead-ended. He continued to walk down the > street "Maybe. It's difficult to tell without doing something that would give us away. It was either > a bunch of people having some euphoric, sleep-deprived fun..." > > "Or intensive combat training." Mimic finished the observation. Dee looked down another alley and > found it open for several streets. He proceeded down it and Drake and Mimic followed. > > The Growlithe's owner tossed the ball past the dog pokemon as had been done many times before. This > time it got caught by one of the Alakazam's spoons as it flew by and was sent hurtling down the street > in the direction that the human-looking Dittos and Dragonite had gone. With tongue hanging out and > tail wagging, the fire dog happily went on a full-speed chase. The dog pokemon had nearly caught the > ball when the sphere hit a sewer grate and bounced into the alley that Dee had entered. The fire dog > scrabbled across the pavement to change his direction and ran into the alley, finally catching the > ball with its mouth after getting past a dumpster. The Growlithe's tail stopped wagging as it looked > up to see the rest of the alley, now devoid of any other non-microscopic life. The dog flickered as > it started to stand up on its hind legs, a human replacing it once it was fully bipedial. A single > sentence of thought formed in its head. "They made the exchange and now they're gone." It knew that > someone else had relayed that thought. *flicker* Drake had seen bland, institutional rooms before. This one looked much the same: once-white plaster walls now grey and cracked from dust and disuse, double doors leading from the room that had probably not been opened in years, and not much else. The only feature was four large letters on the far wall: "KKKK". *flicker* Drake had seen bland, institutional rooms before. This one looked much the same: once-white plaster walls now grey and cracked from dust and disuse, double doors leading from the room that had probably not been opened in years, and not much else. The only feature was four large letters on the far wall: "JKKK". *flicker* Drake had seen bland, institutional rooms before. This one looked much the same: once-white plaster walls now grey and cracked from dust and disuse, double doors leading from the room that had probably been left open for years, and not much else. The only feature was four large letters on the far wall: "JJKK". *flicker* Drake had seen bland, institutional rooms before. This one looked much the same: once-white plaster walls now grey and cracked from dust and disuse, double doors leading from the room that had probably not been opened in years, and not much else. The only feature was four large letters on the far wall: "JJJK". *flicker* "I take it we're now in Johto," Drake mused as he took in the "JJJJ" on the wall. "Somewhere between Cherrygrove and Mt. Silver," Dee replied. "I've never bothered to see what's actually outside these rooms myself, but so long as we're doing the unexpected anyway..." He shrugged, and gestured towards the doors. Drake walked over, grabbed a handle and pulled, surprised at the lack of rust-given resistance. "Say, was it just me, or were the doors at the halfway point open?" "Mimic was wondering about that too." Dee blinked. Drake paused in the doorway, looking back with an amused expression. "What? Don't tell me you didn't see it." "I *was* busy concentrating on the next destination." Dee frowned. "That would be...hmm...somewhere a bit west of Azure Heights or Indigo Plateau. Maybe someone debarked there, or maybe some explorer found the room?" He shrugged. "I doubt it matters." The group spent a short, contemplative near-silence, hearing only the echoes of their footsteps down the hall as they approached the heavy metal door at its end. Light seemed to come from the walls themselves, leaving only very faint shadows in many directions... "Industrial lighting," Dee replied as he caught Drake's quizzical glance at the walls. "Self-contained, expected to run for centuries without anyone touching 'em. I hated buying Silph product, but these at least had nothing to do with our struggle. You don't see 'em on the shelves anymore, at least under Silph's brand, because we recruited that whole division away before we blew up their factory to get at the lab underneath." Before Drake could reply, Mimic opened the door at the end, putting his weight into it when it failed to open quickly. The reason why soon became apparent: beyond was untamed forest, and dirt had built up in front of the door. A few pokemon, startled when the long-inert metal slab began moving, could be seen running for cover, but other than that outside was as silent as inside. "So," Dee queried, "where to now?" TBC?