Subject: [PW!] The Best Things In Life Shouldn't Come Free Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2002 16:33:36 -0800 From: "LordLocke" <locke@napanet.net> Organization: Newsfeeds.com http://www.newsfeeds.com 80,000+ UNCENSORED Newsgroups. Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon (author's note: Heya. I'm back, and at New's request, I'm coming back into the PW! as well. So you know who to blame for this. It's been awhile, so my writing might have a bit of rust on it. Please bear with it. As for my timing, it's half-coincidance, but I had a killer idea for a comback story, and well... timing is everything. As for the WG, Gads' one from a few month ago should still be valid- if needed, I'll repost, though. And I promise, this time, I'll stick around longer then a week, with a reliable NG server now...) "A city? Out here?" Stepping out of the bordering forests, a lanky young man of around eighteen years brushed a few pine needles off the shoulders of his green vest, which bore an insignia of a closed fist. His hair, as white as the snow which decorated the ground, was slightly unkempt from unknown months of travel. Upon his shoulder sat a Mankey, who opened one eye from his perch to take in the sight. In front of them sat a sign. A sign which told what lied ahead for the pair. A sign which gave the location they were about to enter a name. A sign which said... "Welcome to... Mahogany Town? Aw man..." ... that Gads Trisan has come full circle. -The Best Things In Life Shouldn't Come Free- "Key?" Monk-chan opened both eyes at that. "Looks like we're back where we started, M-C." Indeed, seven months prior, Gads Trisan had stumbled upon a lead pointing towards Karate Joe, former master of the Fighting Dojo, and one of the key figures of Gads' current quest: the restructuring of Saffron City's currently-deprived haven for all things fighting. "We've must have walked half of Johto, following at least a dozen different leads. Figures it'd turn out to be nothing more then a goose chase." "Man-man." Monk-chan shrugged and hopped off Gads' shoulder, the snow on the road being lighter then the snow in the forest. Stretching out a little, he looked up at his trainer "Key?" "What now indeed." Looking around, Gads spotted an increasingly-familar Pokemon center and motioned towards it. "You might just want to get out and warm yourself up, but I know that a couple of the others need a good rest. Gnawer carried that last battle, and A-Bomb's still weak from the LAST time he blew himself up. Come on." With that, Gads began walking over towards the center, his footprints quickly being covered by the falling snow. "Key! Man key key..." Monk-chan grudgingly followed. However, as the pair arrived, out from the Pokecenter stepped a trainer, somewhere in the middle of his teen years, with a goodly amount of camping gear... and a Aipom with a blackbelt around it's waist walking next to him. Gads blinked. An Aipom? Well, they were KINDA like Mankeys... kinda. But why anybody would train one in the fighting arts instead of a Mankey was beyond him. "Hey, you got a trained Aipom, eh?" The Camper nodded. "Sure do. He's been my buddy for most of my life. We've trained day and night to become the best!" The little handy monkey grinned in approval. "Key..." Monk-chan's eyes narrowed as he sized up the Aipom. Gads looked over to Monk-chan, then grinned. "Well, I've been training Monk-chan for most of my life, too. You up for a match, trainer to trainer?" Gads offered, meaning one thing by 'trainer'... "Well, ok! You're on!" ...which the Camper mistook for a more general term. "One on one?" "Sure. Ok, Monk-chan, you wanted some action- here's your chance." Monk-chan nodded and got into a ready stance. Putting his hand on his chin. Gads eyed the opposing monkey-like Pokemon. 'He doesn't seem like much of a fighter, but who knows: he's got a belt, so he has to be somewhat-skilled...' The camper scooted his Aipom forward. "Come on, Dexti, you can do this!" The little monkey got into a crouched position. "Let's get this battle started! Dexti, Sand-Att..." "Monk-chan, Karate CHOP!" "KEY!" The mankey lunged forward before the smaller primate could even kick up so much as a grain of soft soil, chopping him solidly in the head. For a moment, the Aipom stood strong... but only a moment. Dexti fell over, eyes swirling. "DEXTI!" The camper rushed over to his fallen Pokemon, a potion in hand. As he did that, Gads sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Geez... I'd have thought a fully-trained black belt Pokemon would have taken more then a single chop." "Man... man... key, key... KEY KEY KEY!" Slowly, Monk-chan went from snickering, to chuckling, to full-blown laugher. That was a TRAINED Aipom? He felt sorry for anyone with an untrained one. "What?" The trainer turned from his Pokemon for a moment to look at Gads, a puzzled expression across his face. "Well, I saw that black belt there, and thought that your Aipom would be a little better trained in the martial arts." Gads pointed at the offending object around the monkey's waist. "You mean this belt?" The camper gestured to the belt. "I just got it earlier today from some boy in the forest. He said it'd make my Aipom use fighting moves better, and since Dexti knows Rock Smash..." "Someone just GAVE it to you?" Gads was listining intently. The camper nodded. "Yeah. He just said 'I'm Wesley of Wednesday. Merry Christmas!" and handed this belt to me, saying it'd make fighting-type attacks stronger." Gads' eyes became slits as he took the information in. "Where can I find this... Wesley of Wednesday?" The camper pointed towards a set of gates some distance away from the pair. "Near the lake up north." "Thank you. Sorry about the misunderstanding. If I were you, I'd take that belt off Dexti unless you want someone else to make the same mistake I did." With that, Gads began to head off in the direction the camper gestured. When he was finished laughing, Monk-chan scurried off after him. "I will." The camper began to untie the belt on the unconcious Pokemon. ***At the Lake*** "And Merry Christmas!" A youth of around thirteen waved as another happy trainer went off on her way, a new black belt adorning the waist of her Pikachu. Looking through his bag, Wesley counted the number of belts he had left to give away for the day. "Looks like I'll be able to go home shortly. It's always nice doing a favor for the community." "Some favor." "Who's there?" Wesley turned around to see an overwhelmingly cold-looking man with a Mankey tail staring back at him as he walked into the clearing by the Lake or Rage. "Are you Wesley of Wednesday?" Gads cooly asked the younger boy. "Yes I am. Are you looking for a black belt? I still have a few in my sack." Wesley began to reach into his pack for another belt. "No thanks, I already have my own." Gads gestured to the belt around his waist. Wesley raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "Um, you know, you're supposed to put those on your POKEMON..." "Oh no, not this one. This one's mine." Gads began to smirk a little, but without any of his usual warmth. Instead, he looked a little... menacing. Wesley shrugged. "Well, I suppose I'm not the only one giving them away." "True. However, you're probably the only one without the right to." Gads' smirk suddently turned into a serious frown. "WHAT! What do you mean I have no right?" Wesley bristled at the comment. Gads' expression remained even. "I ment exactly that- you have no right to give out those belts. The very fact that you just HAND them to anyone who walks by is reason enough for me to say that." Wesley glated at the older trainer. "Oh? And how did you get yours, praytell?" "Would you like to see what I did to earn it?" Gads, without turning his head, eyed a moderately-sized rock off to one side. "Sure. What did you do, win some kind of contest?" "Oh no. I earned it when I was thirteen, ten years after I began my training. As for my final test, I... did... THIS!" And with a cry, Gads lunged at the rock, punching it as hard as he could. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, cracks began to appear in the rock, which grew and reached further out. Then, after a moment, the whole rock crumbled to pebbles. "Wha... wha..." Wesley was stunned. "THIS Black Belt," Gads placed his hands on the front of his belt, "was earned for years of training and dedication." Then, he pointed to the belt in Wesley's hand. "THAT belt is nothing but a cheap substitution for real training and skill." Wesley was speachless. Seeing that, Gads continued. "You've been giving out so many gifts. Well, I have a Christmas gift for you." "Yo... you do?" Wesley was almost afraid to ask what it was. "Yep. I figure that as soon as I'm out of the area, you'll go right back to handing them out, so I'm instead going to make sure that you become WORTHY of handing out those belts." Gads began to grin. "Yo... you are? How?" Gads' grin turned sinister. "Be here next week, and I'll let you know how. However, as for now, let's give you a little more appreciation for physical training by taking a quick dip in the lake." With that, Gads grabbed Wesley by his shoulders and tossed him into the Lake of Rage. "WAAAAAA!" *SPLASH!* "Welcome to the Trisan School of Hard Knocks, kid. By the time I'm done with you, you'll at least know what it means to be a martial artist." Gads watched the surface of the lake. "Well, that or dead. But let's go for the more-favorable outcome, shall we?" Gads waited for a few moments, during which Wesley failed to surface. "Monk-chan?" The Mankey ran over to Gads' side. "Key?" "Would you please fetch him out of the lake. It wouldn't do for him to fail to make it until next week." Gads' grin grew even wider. "I have too much in store for him to take the easy way out." "Man..." Monk-chan grumbled to himself as he walked towards the lake. That boy had better not be a waste of time if he was going to have to get into the cold, cold lake for it. As Monk-chan dragged a wheezing Wesley out of the pond, Gads tossed the bedragled boy a blanket and turned to face back towards Mahogany Town. "See you next week. You might want to keep warm until then." And with that, Gads and Monk-chan headded back towards the town to wait until the following Wednesday. -frum your friendly, neighborhood LORDLOCKE -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----