From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net) Subject: [PW!][SC][R2M1] And That's A Rap! Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-12-10 23:58:04 PST "Welcome, pokemon fans, to the start of the second round of the Silver Conference! In just a few moments, the first match will begin!" Even though it was already 10 AM, the stadium was only slightly over half full. Many people, it seemed, had come for the side events and parties, some of which had gone on all night long. Even the trainer entering the red corner yawned and rubbed her eyes as she stepped towards her trainer's box, surrounded by all six of her pokemon. "Okay, maybe we *were* up a bit too late. But I think we got the patterns down." Keeping her eyes closed so her mind would not be too rudely transitioned into full wakefulness, Aerie relied on the multi-way telepathic conversation to feed her sight from her friends, stopping when their eyes saw her step in the middle of the box. While doing this and carrying on a purely telepathic conversation might normally have been no problem, at the moment, caffeine would have been needed to give her the necessary wakefulness. Having not yet imbibed any that morning, she let her voice voice her responses. "I did it so you wouldn't be hurt too much when we fight, okay?" She frowned, backed up a step, and hugged the tauros and ninetails with one arm each. "I am *not* pampering you. I just...look, I want to win as much as you do. But...well...yes, it is a bit different for Scyther, Magnemite, Electrode, and Heracross. Oh, don't be like that, Kitsu. You either, Keaton. Come on, have a little faith in me. We'll win, no problem." The trainer in the green corner had also brought along a friend, but P-Master J's conversation was completely audible. "So, Bam...*Barbara*, 'bout last night..." "Don't worry. I still respect you." Barbara smiled. "..." He lowered his shades for a moment, looking at her over their tops. "Dayum, woman! All we did was talk!" Giving him a wink, she continued, "I'm glad we can be friends again. I wish...I wish we could have made up sooner." "Yeah, well, th' flowers don' bloom 'til springtime, nowhudimsayin?" J slid his shades back on, and peered out over the field. "But I'm glad too, sista'." A *bing* from the scoreboard precluded further conversation. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" announced the announcer. "The field has been chosen. Going first will be the red trainer, Aerie. Given the very profitable, er, delicious, er, circumstances regarding her magikarp and yesterday's performance, she has been allowed to completely reregister her pokemon. And if you look close, she's brought her entire team out. What surprises does she have in store for us today?" Shaking her head a bit and slowly opening her eyes, Aerie judged the pattern of rocks in the emerging rock field. "Magnemite, let's *yawn* start off with a little hide 'n' seek." P-Master J grinned. "She mus' be whack, usin' her 'lectric pokemon on this field." Barbara squinted. "She's half asleep." "That so? Steelix, let's wake her up!" As the part-steel types took the field, a rapidash carrying a heavily armored figure, with the red and green flags of a referee, strode out from behind one of the rocks, looking almost like a steel-type referee to complement the pokemon. "The laws for this match forbid the receipt of outside assistance," he intoned, looking directly at Aerie. In the stands above Aerie, Alex winked at the cowboy-looking man next to her. "Gee, wonder what they could be talking about?" "Not what you're thinking," Dee assured her. "I still haven't been able to figure out how Aerie's blocking me, but that judge's motives do not seem entirely sincere. Besides, I'd rather let Aerie lose honestly than cheat for her like that, when there's so little at stake." "Why does it matter what's at stake?" "If you were in my position, and at risk was not the title and some winnings but, say, the lives of your entire family...*then* might you cheat?" "Oh." Down on the field, as soon as the referee uttered, "Engage," Steelix launched an Earthquake at Magneton, who winked out of existance and reappeared directly above the metal snake, bouncing off its head before returning to ground level. "Yo, dat's just not cool, man!" J shifted his weight, letting him point at the opposing pokemon. "Iron Tail that junk pile, yo!" Blink out. Reappear above. Bounce off. It was a rather dry and dusty version of "Lather, Rinse, Repeat." "Okay, if dat's how we be playing it, Iron Tail when it comes out above you!" Blink out. Reappear across the field. Watch as Steelix's Iron Tail smacks Steelix in the head, and Steelix's eyes form swirls. "K.O. verified," declared the judge, raising a red flag. "Judge point awarded." "Fuschia! Steelix, return!" Grimacing, J released his Machamp right next to him, whispered something to his pokemon, then exchanged a quick but intricate handshake. Aerie streched. "Come ON, I was hoping this would wake me up, not put me back to sleep. Magnemite, if you would please?" The cluster of magnets obediently teleported into position for another drop, only for Machamp to strike the ground, causing a fissure at its feet, then leap away - leaving Magnemite to fall all the way through the artificial floor. When it rose again, it was under the power of a psychic-purple aura, which seemed to be all that kept it from falling to pieces. "K.O. verified. Judge point awarded." Aerie wondered for a moment if it had been the best idea to leave the group's pokeballs with Kitsu's and Keaton's equipment, locked in their room at the center, but soon dismissed the thought until after the fight. One silent nod and Scyther went in, trailing and leading doubles that charged the fighting pokemon. "No persp', 'Champ. 'Quake and you'll hit 'em all!" J's plan might have suceeded, had the doubles not all Safeguarded. "That trick only works once in a row. Do it again, 'Champ!" Double after double vanished, leaving none on the field. "Whaaa?" J's pokemon was just as confused as its master...until one of the boulders split in two from a Fury Cutter, top half sliding towards the Machamp, who easily jumped backwards and looked for the enemy. Another split boulder almost got it from the left, then from the right, but these were easily avoided by another backwards leap- "WATCH OUT FOR DA HOLE!" -into the fissure left by its earlier Fissure. "K.O. verified. Judge point awarded." "Motherfuschia! DRAGONITE, ICE 'EM!" "Scyther, return!" Upon Aerie's call, the bug pokemon somersaulted back to her box, barely outpacing the dragon pokemon's freezing beam. Pointing to Dragonite, Aerie called out, "Flashbang!" Electrode leapt forward just enough to be inside the arena, glowing brightly. The P-Master was one of the few not affected, thanks to his shades. "Ooh, nice bling-bling. Sh-DRAGONITE, JUMP, NOW!" His call came too late, his pokemon processing it just as Electrode rolled up to Dragonite and detonated. "Double K.O. verified. One judge point awarded to each." P-Master J hung his head, recalled Dragonite with one hand, and summoned his last pokemon with his other. "It's all up to you, Parasect. Make me proud." Kitsu pawed the line of Aerie's trainer box, wondering how many seconds it would take her to "Heracross, go!" whawhaWHAAAAT?!? She turned an accusing glare towards Aerie. Who tried, and failed, not to flinch. "Heracross and Scyther can take down one bug pokemon. No, I'm not-HEY! Kitsu...please, don't be mad, okay?" She backed towards Keaton, only to feel the heat of his annoyed snort, and the heat of his gaze, on her back. "Err...well, there's nothing I can do *now*, is there? No, I didn't plan it that way...well, maybe a lit-err...no, I didn't mean it like that at all!" "K.O. verified. Judge point awarded." "There, see?" Aerie reassured. "Heracross had no problem..." She blinked, looking out across the field. "...getting defeated in no time flat. Okaaay...Scyther, you're up again, I guess." "WHOOOOOOO! Parasect, you are the PLANT!" J ranted. "Do it again!" Parasect obediently repeated the Heracross-defeating attack, leaping up and Slashing right where Heracross's sensitive horn had linked to the face. Scyther, having a much smaller face, merely ducked, letting Parasect's momentum carry it over the arena's edge. "Ring out verified. Judge point and match awarded." "See?" Aerie smiled. "I told you they could do it! Now let's get 'em back to the center." She turned and left, the four of them carrying the three fainted pokemon. "Aww, dang." P-Master J slumped as Barbara put an arm around him. "An' I almost had it in th' bag!" "Hey, at least you're in the top eight. I think your opponent had the right idea. Let's heal your pokemon." "Awright." He recalled Parasect and checked his pokeballs. "Hey, I forgot to get my 'Champ back. He's still down there." "Here, I'll get him." Barbara took the empty ball from J, leaned into the hole in the ground, let her instincts guide her hand to recall the fighting pokemon from the darkness below, and handed the ball back. *FWEEEEEET* went the judge's whistle, as his mount galloped towards the pair. "Assistance received. For violating the law, I sentence you to prison!" He brandished a red card. "Say wha'?" J blinked. "Yo, man, that be totally whack! If I wanna let my homies get my pokes back for me, that's our bizness!" Barbara stepped in front of her friend. "Leave us alone. Or if you do have a problem, take it up with me. I will not let you have him." The rapidash sped towards them, its rider apparently unmoved and ready to strike...when a psychic-red aura ignited around the card, yanking it out of the judge's hand and into an arc, eventually onto the judge's chest. Judge and mount vanished in a flash. J's eyes were wider than his shades. "Girl...did you do that?" "I don't *think* I did..." Barbara blinked. "I mean, I saw it in my mind just before it happened, but..." Up in the stands, Alex observed Dee being rather pleased. "Okay, Mr. Smiling Man. When are you going to tell them you did it?" "Why? She, like all humans and most pokemon, has psychic potential. Sometimes, one must simply believe in oneself to develop one's abilities further. Even if it takes a lie, or a simple omission of truth, to stoke that belief." TBC?