Subject: [PW!] Turning Red in The Greenhouse Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:47:23 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon "Enjoyin' your tannin' session, Sunkern?" Sarah the shepherdess smiles at her award-winning seed Pokemon, who feels right at home in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center's greenhouse. When the Sunkern nods her head, which just so happens to be her entire body, Sarah says, "Me too! After such a long day of Pokemon Trainin' outside Mount Mortar yesterday, it's nice to be able to rest my feet for a while." Sarah is sitting on the dirt-covered floor of the greenhouse, her legs outstretched, and she's resting her back against the trunk of a Berry Tree. Barbie, her Flaaffy, is sleeping curled up on top of her lap and her Sunkern is soaking in a fountain in the center of the greenhouse, Absorbing the rays of the sun pouring in from the glass ceiling above. Sarah feels so comfortable that she's about to close her eyes, something she very rarely does in public... when all of a sudden she hears, "There he is!" Immediately hearing the footsteps of people approaching the greenhouse, Sarah instinctively tenses up. The blonde teenager brings her outstretched legs up to her body so it will be easier to stand up and run away if necessary, even though this action wakes up Barbie, who freaks out and yells, "Aaaaaaaa!" The scream scares Sarah's Sunkern, who leaps out of the fountain and bounces into a battle pose. Sarah's hazel eyes dart nervously around the greenhouse she thought she was alone in. "We've been looking all over the Pokemon Center for you, Bob!" Amber says, but then she notices that Bob is asleep on the branch he's lying on. The half-Sneasel girl uses one of her claws to wipe some sweat off her brow. Amber tells Jason Bard, the young man walking into the greenhouse next to her who's holding her other claw in his hand, "I guess I REALLY wasn't hallucinating when I saw Bob use a Grass Pokemon move - only a person with Grass Pokemon traits would be able to fall asleep in such a humid environment!" Jason replies, "Yeah, I haven't felt this much heat since the last time a stage light was pointed at me!" Sarah recognizes both of the people entering the greenhouse from the past times she's interacted with them - one time in the Ilex Forest and yesterday at the National Park. Something's different this time, though - Sarah's eyes focus in on that Jason is holding hands with Amber and one of her hands covers her mouth. In a hushed voice, she says, "They're..." Her eyes gaze longingly at the handsome young musician who she helped nurse back to health in the Ilex Forest and she lets out a sigh. Even though the sigh was much lower in volume than Barbie's yell moments ago, Amber and Jason are much closer now, so the noise catches their attention. "Sarah!" The human male and the half-Sneasel girl call out in unison when they spot the shepherdess sitting by the Berry Tree - they approach their acquaintance, but don't get too close knowing that she's extremely jittery when crowded. Jason says, "You sure ran off pretty quickly after winning your award." Amber adds, "Yeah, you missed quite a second race! But you also missed an attack by Team Rocket, so I guess it was for the best you headed off to train your Pokemon when you did." "H-h-h..." Suddenly realizing that her eyes haven't moved from where Jason's hand and Amber's claw are linked, she becomes self-conscious, her face turns red, and her eyes begin to stare downwards. She hugs her legs and lets her long blonde hair cover her face as she says, "...h-h-hi, y-y-you t-two... s-sorry... t-to he-hear ab-about the... the Team... Team Rocket... attack..." She waits for them to speak, but since they're unsure of what to say that won't make the shepherdess nervous, they both stay quiet, but this makes Sarah even more nervous than if they had spoken. She tries to break the silence, "S-so, y-you're... l-lookin' for Bob?" Amber nods, then realizes that Sarah isn't looking at her head and replies, "Yep... well, actually, we just found him! He's asleep on top of that plant over there... we have some questions to ask him." Jason adds, "Yeah, it seems he's not just the ordinary mild-mannered son of a Breeder we thought he was." "D-don't..." Sarah's about to scold Jason for swearing, but since she's unsure whether "son of a Breeder" is a derogatory term or not, she just changes the subject, saying, "Oh, I d-didn't know... know that h-he was... in h-here. I-I'll j-just l-let y'all... g-go t-talk with him... in p-private. I'll... j-just... g-go have l-lunch... now... N-nice seein' y'all, bye!" Sarah gets up and shepherds both her Flaaffy and her Sunkern out of the greenhouse, towards the Pokemon Center's Cafeteria. -Sarah