From: Rob (robfrompw@yahoo.com) Subject: [PW!] A Berry Special Blender Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-12-03 01:03:55 PST Nurse Marcia reclines on a rather comfortable blue couch in the lobby of the Slateport City Pokemon Center, her hands behind her back and her feet up on the cushions, as she watches the international television broadcast of the Silver Conference being held in Johto. The television in this Pokemon Center isn't as large as the one in the Violet City Pokemon Center, but Marcia doesn't mind much. Many angry Trainers are mulling around about the Center, demanding to see a nurse, but they don't approach Marcia since she's wearing a plain white shirt and light blue jeans instead of the usual white uniform nurses usually wear. "Heh. Oh, Dee, you think your Transformation abilities are so amazing," Marcia comments to the image on the television screen of the purple-haired girl who has just walked out onto the field in Silver Town's Silver Stadium, "Always bragging about how 'exact' your disguises are, but anyone who knows Aerie will be able to tell you're not her." "Marcia!" Nurse Joy calls out to the relaxing blue-haired woman who is supposed to be helping her. However, the moment she steps out of the back room, she's surrounded by Pokemon Trainers issuing complaints. "Where the heck's my Corphish, lady?" A short brown-haired boy asks in frustration, "I've gotten better, she should be better too!" "Let me see my Gulpin!" A 200 pound woman with short red hair demands, "He gets cranky when he's not fed the right snacks." "How much longer do we have to wait, Nurse Joy?" A black-haired man in a business suit inquires, "I have a presentation due tomorrow and I won't be able to make my diagrams without my Smeargle's help. Do you expect me to learn how to use my computer's presentation software overnight?!" Marcia's eyebrows lower, annoyed by the ambient noise, especially since her hearing is so good that she can make out what is being said. She picks up the remote control on the arm of the couch and turns up the TV's volume, hoping to drown out the complaining Pokemon Trainers. Marcia smiles when the voice of the announcer on TV is louder than the complaints. She hears him say, "Reviewing her previous performance, Aerie might as well toss in a magikarp for all the chance she has." Ten seconds later, Marcia shakes her head when she sees the Pokemon that 'Aerie' has selected. She thinks out loud, "Where in the world did Dee find a Magikarp THAT big? And more curiously, how in the world did he justify catching it with a Pokeball? I'll have to ask him later." At that moment, Nurse Joy finally arrives next to Marcia, having gotten past the angry Trainers. She picks up the remote control and turns off the television, "Nurse Marcia! Just what do you think you're doing?" "What do YOU think YOU'RE doing?" She sits up on the couch and attempts, unsuccessfully, to snatch the remote back, "I was watching that!" Nurse Joy puts her hands on her hips, "How dare you watch TV when there are a bunch of infirm Pokemon in the back of the Center and a mob of angry Trainers demanding to take home their sick Pokemon in the front?" "You wanted me to take a passive approach to treating those Pokemon and that's just what I'm doing. I finished sedating all the Pokemon that needed sedation fifteen minutes ago. Now I'm on a break. Can't a woman watch her ex-stalker turned co-worker pretend to be the daughter he created in a laboratory in order to find his missing child in peace?!" "The Pokemon may be sedated, but their Trainers sure aren't. They've all been released from the hospital today and are demanding to take home their Pokemon, who need to spend more time here." Nurse Joy sighs, "Since only one Pokemon was ready to be released today, a woman's Zangoose, we have over a dozen angry Trainers that need to be dealt..." Marcia interrupts, asking, "What did you just say?" "That's right, there's more than a DOZEN angry Trai-" "Not that." Marcia holds up her hand, "The part about the Zangoose." "The only Pokemon that was ready to be released to his Trainer today was a woman's Zangoose." Nurse Joy clarifies, "The last time his medication wore off, he didn't try to attack me or any of the other Pokemon. I performed a routine check-up and he seemed to be completely healthy. I'm guessing he got sick earlier than the other Pokemon and..." "Is a Zangoose a white Pokemon with red marks and black claws?" "Yes, that's what Zangoose looks like, but I don't see what..." "That's what I thought. Don't you remember?" Nurse Marcia stands up and places her hands on Nurse Joy's shoulders, "I gave Zangoose that Bitter Berry you brought me the day I arrived here. It seems it actually did have the intended effect. Zangoose's confusion was cured!" Nurse Joy looks skeptical, "Marcia, I really doubt a little green Berry is the reason that Zangoose recovered before the other Pokemon." "But the fact remains that the Zangoose DID recover before the other Pokemon," Marcia points out, "I think we should try feeding Bitter Berries to all the other sick Pokemon. The more bitter, the better. What's the most bitter Berry in Hoenn?" "I... I don't know," admits Nurse Joy, "I'd have to consult with the Berry Master. He and his wife grow potent Berries on their farm." "Okay, you do that." Nurse Marcia demands, grabbing the remote control from Joy's hand now that she's lowered her guard, "Go tell the Berry Master to send us the most Bitter Berry he has on his farm as soon as possible. I just hope has a Pokemon that can Teleport it here right away. The sooner we get these annoying Trainers to shut up the better." Still skeptical, but low on ideas, Nurse Joy walks off to make a call. Nurse Marcia once again leans back on the couch, props her feet up to a comfortable position, and turns the television back on. She sets down the remote and looks up at the screen to see that Dee's match has ended and he's about to recall the bloated white monster he released earlier: Adrian Tymes wrote: > Resolving once again to find out what had earned the > announcer's enmity, 'Aerie' raised her mint-condition > ultra ball to recapture the magikarp - then spun 180 > degrees, unused ball still in hand, just in time to > catch a glint from the darkness. Someone was clearly > there, but whoever it was, was hiding perfectly from > the ditto's senses. "Hello?" > > "How dare you," came a growled whisper. > > 'Aerie' narrowed her eyes, trying to peer into the > unusually dark shadows. "Excuse me?" > > "Doppler. You would steal your own daughter's > identity, just because you could no longer deal with > your own? And then ruin her image by becoming a > wannabe superhero, going against everything you once > wanted your daughter to stand for? In the name of > Aerie, I WILL PUNISH YOU!" > > The speech had its intended effect. Dee stood there, > unbelieving, as a Hyper Beam blasted the ditto > presently-girl into the sky above the arena, closely > followed by a half-ditto girl flying under her own > power. The Silver Stadium's camera pans upwards to capture the action, but when a violent battle breaks out between Dee and Aerie, the image on the TV screen is replaced by a "Technical Difficulties" message showing a picture of a smiling Sunflora, her leaf-arms in the middle of a shrug. Marcia once again shakes her head in disdain, "Tsk, tsk. Aerie has such a temper. She obviously gets that from her dear ol' dad." "Nurse Marcia!" "WHAT?!" Marcia cries out, frustrated that she can't watch TV in peace, "This had better be good news." "It is!" Nurse Joy says, arriving at the couch Marcia's reclining on, "I just contacted Hoenn's Berry Master on a video-phone. He told me the most bitter Berry he grows is called a Durin Berry. He also told me that one should be arriving at the Pokemon Center very soon." Marcia asks, "How soon?" Nurse Joy is about to answer the question when a Xatu appears inside the Pokemon Center holding a huge spiky green Berry in his wings. "It turns out the Berry Master did have a Teleporting Pokemon." Nurse Joy smiles, "He caught a Xatu in Hoenn's Safari Zone for just such emergencies." "Wonderful." Nurse Marcia stands up, walks over to the Xatu, and grabs the Durin Berry he brought to the Pokemon Center. It's so big that she has to carry it with both her hands. "Do you have some kind of blender or something in the kitchen? We need to make some Bitter Berry shakes." "I have something even better than a blender - I have a BERRY BLENDER!" Nurse Joy explains, "This might sound kinda weird, but I just LOVE eating Pokeblocks, especially sweet ones. I used to have to walk all the way to the Slateport Contest House whenever I wanted to make some Pokeblocks for myself, so I decided to have a Berry Blender installed in the Pokemon Center's kitchen." "Okay then. Show me the way," says Nurse Marcia, then she follows Nurse Joy into the kitchen of the Pokemon Center, where the pink-haired nurse motions towards a giant cube-shaped device in a corner of the room. "That's a pretty big blender." She tosses the Durin Berry into a large hole on to top of the Berry Blender, then after a quick examination of the device, she turns to Nurse Joy and asks, "Where's the 'on' switch?" "There is no 'on' switch!" After removing a small pink Pecha Berry from one of the refrigerators in the kitchen, Nurse Joy explains, "The makers of the most popular brand of Berry Blender in the Hoenn region reasoned that the most important ingredient when making Pokeblocks for your Pokemon is love! Since automation removes that ingredient from the process, their Berry Blenders require people to churn their Berries by hand. Up to four people can work together on a single Berry Blender, each one adding their own Berries and their own love to the Pokeblocks." "That is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard in my life." "I think it's sweet, just like this Pecha Berry." Nurse Joy tosses the pink Berry into the hole on the Berry Blender, grabs one of the four cranks on the machine, and says, "Let's BERRY BLENDER!" After groaning, Nurse Marcia takes her place across from Nurse Joy and grabs another one of the Berry Blender's cranks. The moment Nurse Joy starts turning her crank, Marcia starts turning hers. The Berry Blender's speed-o-meter turns on, but Marcia doesn't pay much attention to it as she turns the crank as fast as she can. As the Berries inside the machine are blended, Marcia wonders, "Why'd you throw that pink Berry in there? Is it bitter too?" "Shhhhh!" Nurse Joy protests in a whisper, "Not while I'm blending." After a few minutes, Nurse Joy stops operating the Berry Blender and Marcia follows suit and commences to rub her own wrists. Nurse Joy now explains, "It's a tradition that each Berry Blender should put in his or her favorite Berry into the machine. Also, I don't think most of the sick Pokemon would enjoy eating something so absolutely bitter as pure Durin Berry Pokeblocks." She reaches into the Berry Blender and withdraws an eight-inch green Pokeblock. "Oooh, it's big!" "Eh, I've seen bigger." "When have you seen a Pokeblock that's bigger than this one?" "I'm not talking about Pokeblocks." Nurse Marcia admits, "I don't even know what a Pokeblock is. This is the first one I've ever seen." "Oh, a Pokeblock is food that's supposed to be for Pokemon..." Nurse Joy explains, then editorializes, "But it's okay for people to eat them too. It's not like there's anything wrong with that." She places the green Pokeblock on one of the counters in the large kitchen, grabs a nearby knife, and starts slicing the bitter treat into small pieces. Once Nurse Joy is done, Nurse Marcia grabs about half of the small green Pokeblocks with one hand, allowing Nurse Joy to take the others. After they leave the kitchen and re-enter the back room of the Pokemon Center where all the sick Pokemon are, Nurse Marcia says, "You take the Pokemon on the left and I'll take the ones on the right." The two nurses carefully administer the bitter green Pokeblocks, making sure the sedated Pokemon don't choke on them. They use their hands to help the lethargic Pokemon chew their food or mash the Pokeblocks if necessary. After all the Pokemon have been fed, Marcia goes back to watching the Silver Conference on television while Nurse Joy tries to keep the frustrated Trainers in the Center entertained. Two hours later, when the sedation administered to Pokemon in the Slateport City Pokemon Center wears off, the Pokemon feel much better than they did that morning. They're no longer irritable and don't feel like attacking one another. Each time Omelette the Blissey confirms a Pokemon's health by performing a routine check-up, Nurse Joy happily returns the healthy Pokemon to his or her Trainer. Nurse Marcia watches the reunions from her place on the couch and comments to herself, "Now that I know it works..." She plucks a Pokeball off her belt and releases an orange Trapinch into the lobby. The Trapinch immediately lunges at Marcia to eat her face, but she grabs his small body in mid-lunge with one hand and chucks a green Pokeblock she had saved into his mouth. The Trapinch doesn't even chew the bitter snack before swallowing it then he continues trying, unsuccessfully, to devour Marcia. She ignores his cries of "Trrrrraaaah!" and "Piiiinch!" while she watches a commentary on Round One of the Silver Conference. By the end of the commentary, Marcia's Trapinch has tired himself out by snarling ferociously for so long and is now hanging limp in Marcia's grasp, occasionally snapping at her, but for the most part quiet. She pats his lowered head with her free hand, "That's a good boy, Trapinch," then pulls her hand back before her Trapinch is able to bite it off. Marcia tells him, "I'm guessing you did that because you're ornery and not because you're confused." Pretty sure that the treatment was a success, she recalls Trapinch into his Pokeball and puts it on her belt. Once all the now healthy Pokemon have been returned to their Trainers, Nurse Joy walks over to Nurse Marcia and says, "You ARE a miracle worker, Nurse Marcia. I'm sorry I doubted your abilities." "It's okay." Nurse Marcia waves her hand in dismissal then admits, "For a moment there, even I thought I was crazy." -Marcia