Subject: [PW!] Stomp to the Beat Date: 18 Mar 2002 23:59:43 -0800 From: bandraptor@yahoo.com (Bandraptor) Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Blizzard is walking around the streets of Goldenrod City, Sting the Tentacool perched atop her head, as is the style of the time; when she passes an old-style Japanese house, which happens to have a garden in which a Mankey and a Sunkern are currently fighting. Not bothering to wonder what an old-style Japanese house is doing smack dab in the middle of an urban city block, Blizzard focusses in on the combatants, "<This looks interesting.>" Sting replies, "<No it doesn't.>" Blizzard counters perfectly, "<Yes it does. And as I am the one who is doing the walking, and therefore the one inevitably responsible for selecting our destination, I decree that we put aside our plans for the day, and observe this skirmish.>" She waltzes into the yard, and sits down about five inches away from where the Pokémon are dueling. "Uh, excuse me? Excuse me?" A twenty-something male, presumably one of the Pokémon's trainers calls out, absolutely astounded by the Persian's nerve, for walking uninvited onto private property, and her stupidity, for getting so close to the thrashing monsters, "Hey! Don't you know you're trespassing?" "<No I'm not.>" Blizzard explains. "<Now go get me something to drink. As well as some food, and a room for the night.>" "Okay." The man drops what he's doing, and walks into the house. "Whew!" The other trainer, a boy of about eight, turns to the visitors with an exhausted but amiable expression, "What a battle! I don't know, though. My Sunkern is strong, but I don't think it's gonna be able to beat Master T's Dragonite in the big tournament today!" Sting rolls his eyes, "<No> tent, <Sherlock.>" "<Oh, don't be so sure, Sting.>" Blizzard says knowingly, "<Anything is possible...if you believe! Remember the time when I battled Whitney?>" "<Yeah. You got> tent<ing> COOL<ed.>" "<True, but after the match I ate one of her Blisseys. So everything worked out in the end.>" She smiles uncontrollably at the memory, "<Mmmm, 46 kilos of softboiled bliss...>" The boy throws his arms around Blizzard's neck, "Thank you, Blizzard! Thank you for believing in me! You're my best friend! By the way, my name is Sonny." "<Heh...>" Blizzard blinks, "<Sting did you hear that? He's my best friend! Guess I won't be needing YOU anymore.>" Sting appears hurt, "<Hey, I have feelings, you know.>" "Purr. <I have evolved a proposition. We should make a point of attending today's tournament so that we can cheer my new friend on. No, wait. We should win the tournament ourselves, and humiliate him. What do you say?>" "Sorry, Blizzard, but you can't enter this tournament!" Sonny shakes his head, "Today's tournament is for trained Pokémon only!" "<Drat.>" Blizzard sulks, "<How can I possibly acquire a domesticated Pokémon on such short notice?>" Stomp, stomp, stomp. Heavy footsteps shake the wooden framework of the building as a large, green, lacertilian tromps past the yard. He turns his head to look at the assembled trio, which is staring right back at him, and grumbles, "Graan?" "<Avalanche!>" Blizzard exclaims, rushing to the Tyranitar's side, "<Avalanche, will you fight for me in today's tournament?>" Avalanche considers this, "<I've never fought, and I hate your guts, so yes.>" *insert commercial bumpers here* It's a tournament! Lots of NPCs have arrived at the Goldenrod Community College football stadium in time to see the competitors as they walk out onto the field. There's a shorts boy with a Swinub, a shorts boy with a Slugma, a Tracey lookalike with a Caterpie, Sunkern, Avalanche...all in all, the contenders are pretty evenly matched. A wizened old man steps out into the middle of the field, and raises his arms up high. "Welcome all to the Goldenrod City Spring Fancy Cup! This is a competition for aspiring Pokémon who are yearning to show their stuff! Let's have a good, clean fight!" Avalanche is slated for the first battle. His opponent is the Swinub. From a booth at the top of the stadium, the show's announcer reports in, "Well it looks like newcomer Avalanche is in for a tough fight! Will this stony-faced contender be able to withstand the force of its opponent's Water and Ground techniques?" Swinub gives a piggish little snort of derision, or maybe it's just a piggish little snort, and charges towards Avalanche with its fiercest Take Down attack! Avalanche Stomps on Swinub, and breaks its back. The crowd explodes into applause, as the announcer screams, "WOW! An upset victory by Avalanche the Tyranitar!" "<You did it!>" Blizzard throws herself at Avalanche, and embraces him tightly. "Ran!" Avalanche says proudly. Meanwhile, Sonny battles someone. He wins. I think. I wasn't watching. Next battle! Avalanche VS Slugma! "Slugma may be small," the announcer explains, "but it's *burning* with determination! Avalanche had a good showing in its last battle, but will even the mighty lizard king be able to withstand the force of this go-getting gastropod?" Slugma fumes, and flames, and spews a horizontal pillar of flames at Avalanche's chest! Avalanche Stomps on Slugma, and breaks its back. The crowd erupts. Sonny battles, too. "It's the third round of the competition, and we're only three matches away from crowning this tournament's champion!" The announcer assumes a more somber tone, "But for the trainers who've made it this far, these are going to be the toughest matches yet!" Case in point, Avalanche is fighting Caterpie! It appears to be a very high level Caterpie, too, almost ready to evolve into a Metapod from the looks of things. Tracey's lookalike proves himself to be just as smart and studly as the real deal, as he strikes a winning pose, and yells, "Caterpie, Tackle attack!" Caterpie bellows in exuberance ("priiii"), and charges towards Avalanche at full speed! After about three minutes, Avalanche gets tired of waiting, so he considerately walks over to Caterpie's end of the field, and steps on its back. The crowd cheers insanely. The elderly MC turns to Blizzard, "It's amazing! You haven't uttered a single word, yet your Tyranitar knows exactly what to do in battle! By any chance, are you half Espeon?" Blizzard's response is interrupted when somebody in the stands calls out, "Hey! Isn't there supposed to be a Dragonite in this story?" Which leads right into the next battle: Sonny VS Master T, a professional Pokemon trainer who looks strikingly like Will from the Elite 4. Sunkern and Dragonite hover at opposite ends of the field, staring daggers at each other. Neither one of them is going to let its trainer lose! After what seems like an eternity, the flag falls, and, the battle starts--Sunkern whips its little leaf arms about, sending spiny-edged pieces of foliage flying at the Dragonite! Dragonite dodges, and hurtles towards Sunkern with a full speed Fly attack. "Oh, no!" Sonny despairs, "There's no way Sunkern can dodge in time!" Just as the Dragonite is closing the gap, Sunkern realizes that someone's talking about it, and with the enemy mere inches away, it sneezes! Dragonite keels over, sobbing in pain, and longing for the days when members of its species were still a match for Pikachu, Nidoran, and other unevolved Pokémon. Dragonite's trainer recalls it, sorrowfully, "Gee, my Dragonite was defeated by a G/S Pokémon. Those G/S Pokémon are really strong! Maybe I should start raising some G/S Pokémon! Maybe we all should!" SD Imakuni materializes in the stands to remind viewers that Pokémon Crystal and NEO Destiny boosters are currently available in stores at a low, low price. "Woah!" Sonny shouts, "We did it! We beat Master T! And now we have a shot at winning the championship!" Indeed, it is time for the final bought of the tournament. The competitors are Sunkern and Avalanche! The individual members of the audience lean over in their seats, and focus in on the arena, barely daring to breath as the two titans take their places on the field below. The old man who runs the tournament takes up a mic once again, "Today we have witnessed the rise and fall of many great trainers, trainers who gave it their all, and poured their hearts into their matches for better or for worse. It all comes down to this. Sonny! Blizzard! Are you ready? Then, let the battle begin!" Avalanche Stomps on Sunkern, and breaks its back. The crowd goes nuts. Never before has an unknown trainer walked in on one of their sacred competitions, and defeated not one, but all of their hometown heroes with one move! This is surely cause for celebration. Sonny approaches Blizzard to shake her paw, "Wow, when I confided in you, and told you how there was going to be this tournament, and how I was afraid of losing, I never DREAMED that you'd enter the tournament and end up being the one who caused me to lose. Kinda paradoxical, isn't it? Well, it doesn't matter that you crushed my dreams of becoming a famous Pokémon trainer. I'm just glad we're friends!" "I didn't mind losing, either." Master T. puts his hand on Sonny's shoulder, "It's not like there's any shame in losing to a kid. I mean, even if you HAVE spent the past ten years of your life training Pokémon, and you don't have any other skills, and your opponent was using a Sunkern that he caught in the National Park three days ago...why, that's no reason to end it ALL..." His left eye's twitching, and he's grinning in a very unnatural fashion. "Congratulations, Blizzard!" The MC announces, "You've won the tournament! Here's 6,000,000 pokebucks that you can use to pay off your debt at the Game Corner! Oh, and a Metal Coat for evolving the Scyther that you're going to meet in a couple of weeks." "Persian," Blizzard closes her eyes contentedly, "<Currency, adornments, and a complete absence of belligerence on the part of my associates. This is an agreeable turn of events.>" "Cool," Sting remarks, "<'Guess someone got tired of writing about down-on-their-luck> tents." TBC? --Beth