From: William Rendfeld (warendfeld@aol.com) Subject: [PW!] Challenges Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-11-11 17:39:59 PST Challenges Route 29, a small gap of forested land between New Bark Town and Cherrygrove City. After two days' time, Alexandria Masters was nearing the end of this, the first small leg of her journey. "Just think, Surtur," Alex noted happily to her companion, a Combusken roughly half her size, "in less than a few hours we'll be back in civilization. Hot showers, good food, comfortable beds..." She blissfully sighed, then noted, "I can't wait." (Alexandria, you spend far too much time looking for comfort,) Surtur noted. (You know as well as I that a major competition is being held within the next few weeks. If you were truly serious about this, you would be trying to reach that rather than wasting your time here.) Alex sighed, then asked, "Surtur, think for a moment. The Silver Conference is in less than a month. One of the requirements for it is to have at least six badges. I don't even have one, and there's no chance that I'd be able to win six in less than four weeks." (Would you compete if there were no badge requirements?) Surtur posed. "Maybe," Alex admitted. "But even I'm not that much of a risk-taker." Suddenly, a twig snapped. Alex stopped, her senses suddenly on full alert. (Alexandria?) Surtur asked. (Is something wrong?) "Someone's near," Alex said, her senses focused on the area around her. She quickly moved her left hand to her sword's sheath, getting ready to unsheathe her sword. Alex's thoughts were interrupted as a voice replied, "Don't waste your time." Alex quickly turned around. Behind her, she found a young man of about nineteen years with short brown hair, light brown eyes, and a scar down his left cheek. With a sigh of relief, she said, "Don't do that, you scared me half to death." "You think I care?" the teen asked, walking past her. "What's that supposed to mean?" Alex asked. "People such as yourself, who act on impulse, will only be trampled by those of us who know how to bury their emotions," the teen replied. "You won't last a month out here, you'll crack in your first battle." In both anger and in a feeling of needing to defend her honor, Alex replied, "Care to put your money where your mouth is?" The teen turned to her, but barely looked at her and asked, "You challenge me to a battle?" "You better believe it," Alex replied. "Each of your Pokémon versus each of mine." With a callous smile, the teen replied, "It'll only take one of my Pokémon to defeat you." He turned towards Alex, barely looking at her the entire time, and replied, "You gave the challenge. I will select my first Pokémon." He pulled one Poké Ball from his belt, then tossed it. The ball opened to reveal a Houndour, the small Dark-type barking viciously. Alex smiled, then noted, "A Houndour, not a bad start." She pulled a Poké Ball from her own belt, tossed it, and called, "Go, Daraxis!" From the Poké Ball emerged a Squirtle. The small turtle-like Pokémon readied himself, then gave a cry of "Squirtle!" "Nicknames," the teen noted. "How childish. Houndour, Bite attack." "Daraxis, Bubble at point-blank range," Alex commanded. The Houndour rushed towards its target, then jumped into the air. As it began to fall down towards Daraxis, the small Squirtle released a small group of bubbles into the air. The attack did some damage, but hardly enough to defeat the Houndour as it landed on Daraxis, biting into the Water Pokémon's shell. Both Daraxis and Alex cringed at the blow's impact as the Houndour leapt from its target, then landed a small distance away. Daraxis staggered a bit, then fell to the ground. Alex gained a troubled look to her face, then held her Poké Ball aloft and cried, "Daraxis, return!" As the small turtle returned to its ball, Alex turned to Surtur and said, "You're up." (This will not take long, I assure you,) Surtur replied, stepping forward and taking a stance. "Fried chicken," the teen remarked before ordering, "Houndour, Ember." "Surtur, Rock Smash!" Alex cried out. As the Houndour spat a small bit of flame from its mouth, Surtur leapt from the ground, the flames barely touching the soles of his feet. The lithe Combusken then twirled slightly in the air, and then came thundering down on its opponent's side. The Houndour soon found itself knocked side first into the ground, the soil literally split beneath it. Despite that powerful attack, the Houndour remained conscious. "Houndour, return," the teen said, holding the dog Pokémon's ball aloft. The canine was soon returned to its proper place while its trainer plucked another ball from his belt. "Mightyena, finish the job." In Houndour's place came a much larger, much fiercer looking canine, its hackles raised like a demonic hound set loose from the Inferno. Both Alex and Surtur stepped back in surprise, literally intimidated by the beast before them. "Howl," the teen commanded. With that one word, the Mightyena raised its head skyward and howled into the afternoon air like a wolf. "Surtur, quickly, Rock Smash," Alex commanded. Surtur once more leapt into the air, then came smashing down upon the Mightyena. The larger canine Pokémon, however, barely flinched from the attack. Surtur bounced off, and landed a small distance away. "Tackle." "Surtur, Ember!" Alex quickly called. Surtur's entire body seemed to flare a bright red, and then he fired off a blast of flame towards his opponent. Despite his powered-up attack, however, the Mightyena continued, knocking Surtur off his feet with its attack and sending the small Fire type into a nearby tree. "Surtur!" Alex cried out in alarm, rushing towards her fallen Pokémon. As she held the fallen Combusken in her arms, Surtur opened his eyes and groaned, (Alex, I am sorry...) before fainting. As Alex closed her eyes and realized the finality of her position, the teen said, "Send out your next Pokémon, now." Alex turned to her opponent, her face hardened, and replied, "No. I won't. You win." "Accepting defeat," the teen noted, recalling his Mightyena. "Another sign of weakness." "Knowing when to fight and when to run is the difference between living and dying," Alex said in her defense. "I prefer survival to victory." "Only the strong survive," the teen noted. "The weak fall and whither like bad berries, not worth the time of man, Pokémon, or God." The teen turned and began to walk away before Alex interrupted him and said, "Masters. My name is Alexandria Masters, and I will not be referred to as weak." The teen stopped, and replied, "My name is Jason Cassidy. I will refer to anyone whom I defeat as weak. That will never change." As Cassidy walked off, Alex narrowed her eyes and replied, "We'll see, Jason Cassidy. We will see. Nothing lasts forever." - After returning Surtur to his own Poké Ball and running into Cherrygrove City, Alex quickly reached the Pokémon Center. She stopped for a few seconds to recover her breath, then entered. She made a quick walk up to the front desk, where a Nurse Joy was waiting. "Don't even bother saying it," Nurse Joy said. "I'll take them right now." Taking the Poké Balls containing Surtur and Daraxis from her belt, Alex handed them to the nurse and asked, "Let me guess, I'm not the first one who's come in with badly hurt Pokémon." "The third one in an hour," Nurse Joy replied. "The other trainers were talking about a powerful trainer with Dark type Pokémon between here and New Bark Town. They said he had a large dog-like Pokémon that weakened theirs just by looking at them." "A Mightyena," Alex clarified. "At about Level 24, based on its strength. Between the Pokémon and the trainer, it felt like overkill on all of us." She looked directly at the nurse and pleaded, "Just tell me they'll be okay." "They'll be fine by morning," Nurse Joy replied. "If you want to be nearby, we still have some rooms available." With a relieved sigh, Alex replied, "Please." - Alex slumped into an easy chair in her temporary lodgings within the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center. Her backpack lay on the nearby floor, and her jacket hung on a nearby coat rack. She looked down at her feet, and sighed. "Why do I get myself into these messes?" she asked herself at last. She then looked around, half expecting an answer out of habit. With a sigh, she realized, "I miss having Surtur around." She then took the last Poké Ball on her belt and opened it. Within a few short seconds, Nadyra the Chikorita materialized at her feet. "Chika!" the little Grass type said in greeting. Noticing something was wrong, she cocked her head to one side and asked, "Chika?" "Surtur's in bad shape, Nadyra, he won't be with us for a while," Alex explained. With an exasperated sigh, she added, "And it's all my fault." She brought her legs up and curled herself into a fetal position, then said, "If it wasn't for me being so Spoink-headed, Surtur and Daraxis wouldn't be hurt right now." As tears began to well in Alex's eyes, Nadyra jumped up onto the easy chair's armrest, and curled her leaf outwards to wipe the tears from Alex's face. Alex noticed, and looked at her newest Pokémon in surprise. With a smile, she then said, "Thank you." "Chikori," Nadyra replied with a smile. - There may or may not be another installment tomorrow, depending on a few things. William Rendfeld Creator of Echowarrior, the Pokémon Resistance, and Alex Masters 178,000 Excellent Author Points 1 'I knew odd pokefacts that confused a bread crumb' point. 20 Y2Tech Points