From: Bandraptor (bandraptor@yahoo.com) Subject: [PW!] Cheap Beer and Oldale Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-11-05 23:48:40 PST "So, anyway, like I was saying, you use the GO-GOGGLES to pass through sandy areas, HM 02 teaches Pokemon to FLY, an ITEMFINDER is good for picking up SHARDS, and you use can enter the Department Store in Lilycove by walking through the front door!" A white-haired teenager named Brendan is explaining everything that he knows about Pokemon training to an older, slightly bored young man named Sapphire. The two are walking south through Oldale Town, and are on their way to Little Root, where Brendan's father, Professor Birch, has his lab. "Let's see...what else should I tell you? Oh! If you ever battle the Elite Four, this is what you need to do: You...Sapphire? Sapphire?" Brendan glances all around, but his traveling companion is nowhere to be seen. "Heh heh..." Sapphire laughs to himself, as he watches Brendan through the cracked-open door of the pub that he's escaped to; a ramshackle place called 'The Rusty Beldum', "...That goody two shoes will never look for me in here." Sapphire relaxes considerably as he closes the door. He looks around the room, and grins winningly at a pair of young women who are seated at the far end of the bar. Moving slickly, aware that the girls are watching, he slides onto a barstool, and holds up his Trainer ID for the server to see. "Barkeep, beer me!" The bartender squints at his card. "You're underage." "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap." Sapphire bangs his head against the counter, having totally forgotten that his current persona is eighteen, not twenty-three. He glances over at the two women, who are now pointing at him and laughing, "Crap, crap, crap..." "I'll get you a soda..." The bartender sweatdrops, and walks away. Sapphire picks up a dish full of peanuts, then slinks away from the bar, and sits down at a beat-up booth, out of sight of the two girls. He removes one red and white Pokeball from the pouch on his pants leg, and presses the release button to summon the monster within. "Okay, Filly. Dig in." He points to the peanut dish. "Since you're a lousy worker, I'm going to pay you in peanuts. If you shape up a bit, I may consider buying you Pokechow." Filly the Torchic materializes on the tabletop, initially squinting in pain, because of the injuries she sustained in her battle with Brendan's Mudkip. She quickly perks up, however, hops over to the bowl of food, and begins to gorge herself with the nuts. After a few beakfuls, she turns her head towards Sapphire, and chirps her name in gratitude! Sapphire narrows his eyes in contempt. "You're easy to please, because you have low expectations of yourself. A true Pokemon would rather starve than reduce himself to scavenging." He turns his back on her. "You make me sick." "Torchy?" Filly contemplates this last remark, trying to figure out what it is that she's done to displease her trainer. She decides that he is probably upset with her for hogging all of the food, so she claps the last peanut between her two wings, and holds it up as a peace offering! Sapphire ignores her, and walks over to the bar to retrieve his bottle of Moltres Dew. When he returns, he flops down on the vinyl cushion, with his feet resting on the seat across from him, and his left arm draped over the back of his chair. He sips his drink deeply, desperately wishing that it contained alcohol. "Torchic!" Filly looks at the bottle, its label emblazoned with a picture of a flying Moltres, and begins pointing excitedly. "Torchic! Chi!" "What?" Sapphire looks at the Torchic. "You want some of my soda? NO WAY. You're hyper enough as it is. I don't want to see what you're like on caffeine and sugar." "Torchi!" Filly stretches her wings, and leans forward on the tips of her toes, mimicking the pose of the Moltres on the bottle. Sapphire scrutinizes the bottle, then stares at Filly, trying to make the connection. "Filly...are you, by any chance, the pre-evolved form of a Moltres?" He supposes that it could be true, since Torchics appear to be birds of prey, and nobody's ever seen a Moltres nymph. "Torchy!" Filly flaps her wings rapidly, and edges up on her toes, trying to explain that she wants to fly high like the bird in the picture, nothing more, and nothing less. She tries to lean forward a bit farther, but she loses her balance, and falls over! She lands on her face with a heavy smack. Sapphire cups his cheek in his hand, and rests his elbow on the table. "You're far too clumsy to be the pre-evolved form of a Legendary Pokemon, even a crappy one like Moltres." He levels his free hand with the Torchic's body, and flicks her off the table like a speck of dirt. "Filly, you shouldn't give your trainer false hope. It just isn't nice." TBC? ((OOC: Adrian, I'm not exactly sure where Mimic and Raffy are right now. Depending on how you want to pace things, you could either have them meet up with Sapphire at the Rusty Beldum, or I could move Sapphire in their direction.)) --Beth Pokemon o ubatte kanemouke! Pokemon o tsukatte kanemouke! Subete no Pokemon wa Roketto Dan no tame ni!