From: Rob (robfrompw@yahoo.com) Subject: [PW!] Dragonair Express Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-11-07 02:55:13 PST "Having learned from my new friend Barbara the techniques of an wise Ice Pokemon Master and having trained my Swinub diligently for weeks in the mountains surrounding Blackthorn City, I feel that I'm finally ready to face you, Clair!" The black-haired man wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and blue jeans points a finger at the tall blue-haired woman standing across from him in the Arena within the Blackthorn City Gym. "We'll just see about that. It'll be a 3-on-3 battle, no time limit. Are you ready... Robert, was it?" Clair withdraws a Pokeball from her dress. "Yes, it was and still is!" Robert plucks a Pokeball off his belt, "I'm ready. If I win this battle, I'd like to ask you a favor." Clair throws her Pokeball and a menacing Dragonair materializes in the Arena, uncoiling himself to stand 14 feet tall. "And if you lose?" Robert's mouth drops open as he gawks up at the fearsome Dragon his tiny Swinub's about to battle, "...if I lose, I'll ask you the favor anyway! Go, Swinub! Start out with Powder Snow!" Robert hurls his Pokeball into the Arena and a small Swinub appears, sniffing the air with her snout. Clair commands, "Dragonair, Dragonbreath!" "That seems redundant," Robert comments as he watches his Swinub send a flurry of Snow towards the opponent she just located using her snout, "You should just tell your Dragonair to use 'Breath'." The Dragonair takes a deep breath and spews a powerful flaming Dragonbreath attack from her maw which paralyzes Robert's Swinub on contact. "Well, drat." Clair grins, "Dragonair, finish her off with Surf!" One huge wave of water later, Robert's part-Ground Pig Pokemon has fainted. Robert recalls his Swinub and says, "You must be quite a Trainer to make it past my Pig. No matter - I have two Pokemon left. Go, Hitmonchan!" Robert plucks another Pokeball from his belt and drops it in the Arena, "Ice Punch! Try to freeze that Dragonair in his tracks!" The barefoot Hitmonchan that just appeared nods to her Trainer and raises one fist. "Dragonair, Slam the Hitmonchan," Clair yawns and casually looks down at her nails, not too worried about her current opponent, "Hmm, I should get a manicure when I visit Violet City for the conference." "Chaaaan!" Robert's Hitmonchan swings her cold fist at the Dragonair looming before her, but one swoop of the Dragonair's tail Slams the Hitmonchan onto the floor before she can attack. Clair smirks, "Dragonair, finish her off with Surf!" One huge wave of water later, Robert's Fighting Pokemon has fainted. "Well, double drat." Robert sighs as he recalls his fainted Hitmonchan and places her Pokeball on his belt, "I may be down 0-2, but I still have an ace up my sleeve... or on my belt, as the case is." Robert pulls yet another Pokeball off his belt and once again throws it into the Arena, saying, "I choose you, Seadra!" The Seadra that emerges hops on her tail, not feeling comfortable on the hard floor of the Gym's Arena. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to send out a Water Pokemon?" Clair shakes her head, "We could've battled in the Pool Arena." "Oh, you have a Pool Arena too, Clair? Cool! I didn't know that. I have a Pool Arena in my Diversity Gym!" After a moment of awkward silence, Robert says, "...anyway, back to the battle. You see, I know that Dragon Pokemon are weak against Dragon attacks in addition to Ice attacks and my Seadra knows Twister! Having undoubtedly surprised you with my knowledge of Dragon weaknesses, I now command: Seadra, use Twister!" Clair orders, "Dragonair, Thunderwave!" "Sea-doooooooo!" Robert's Seadra blows a small tornado out of her mouth, which sends Clair's Dragonair spinning. Despite the spinning, the Dragonair manages to send blue electrical sparks towards Robert's Water Pokemon, instantly paralyzing her, forcing her to tip over since she can no longer balance on her tail, "Doo doo." "My sentiments exactly, Seadra," Robert admits dejectedly, "But wait! This battle's not over yet. Seadra, try to use Twister again!" "Use Slam, Dragonair." Now having almost completely lost interest in the one-sided battle, Clair takes out a mirror and starts combing her hair with her fingers, "While I'm at the salon, I should get my hair done too." Right after the Dragonair Slams the immobile Seadra with his tail, inflicting a critical hit, Clair examines her teeth then nonchalantly decrees, "Dragonair, finish her off with Surf." One huge wave of water later, Robert's Water Pokemon has fainted. Clair puts away her mirror, "Well, that's that. Now, what favor did you want to ask me, Robert?" "I... I..." Robert is stunned at how quickly Clair has defeated three of his Pokemon using just one of hers, but he shakes it off and tries to keep cool. He motions to his fainted Seadra and explains, "I'd like my Seadra to evolve into a Kingdra before I enter the Silver Conference next month. I used to own a Dragon Scale, but I lost it during the Whirl Cup, and I was thinking... Well, since you're a Dragon Pokemon Trainer, do you happen to have a Dragon Scale I could have?" "I sure do." Clair reaches into her pocket and withdraws a Dragon Scale, "I find many of them on my trips to the Dragon Holy Land, also known as the Dragon's Den. Dragons shed their scales quite often. I collect the prettier scales for fun. How about this - instead of a TM, I can give you one of my Dragon Scales as a prize for defeating me if you ever do." "What? IF I ever do?! Oh, I will defeat you." Robert narrows his eyes in determination, "How long do I have to wait before I can challenge you again? PLEASE don't say 'one month'." "Oh, I don't care. Why, you can challenge me again right now if you want to..." Clair raises an index finger in warning, "BUT, I notice that you only have four Johto League Badges pinned to your shift. I suggest you defeat all the other Johto Gym Leaders so that you and your Pokemon can gain experience before you challenge me again. You haven't even beaten the first Gym Leader, Violet City's Falkner! Would you like me to give you a ride to Violet City so you may challenge him? I'm on my way there myself for a Gym Leader Conference being held in the Sprout Tower." "That would be great!" The frown that formed the moment Robert's Seadra fainted instantly vanishes and is replaced with a big grin, "I was planning to wander through a dark, scary cave full of feral, possibly rabid, Pokemon to get to Violet City, but if you can give me a ride there, that would be great! When would we leave?" Clair hops onto her Dragonair's back and asks, "How's right now?" "Right now's just fine. But is it safe to be riding on your Dragonair?" Robert cautiously approaches the Dragon Pokemon, "He's just battled three of my toughest Pokemon! Doesn't he need to rest?" Clair shrugs, "Not really. He didn't take much damage at all." "I see." Robert's frown returns as he climbs onto the Dragonair's back and holds on tight. Clair commands her obedient beast to soar out of the Gym, fly over the mountains surrounding Blackthorn City, and land in front of the Violet City Pokemon Center, mere minutes after leaving the Gym. "We're here! I'll be in the local salon, getting ready for the conference. I suggest you go into the Pokemon Center to have your fainted Pokemon healed." Clair and Robert both hop off the Dragonair, Clair promptly recalls her Pokemon, and the two humans go their separate ways. No one is behind the front desk of the Violet City Pokemon Center when Robert enters the building. He places the three Pokeballs belonging to his three injured Pokemon on the desk and slams his hand on a bell. A Blissey waddles out from the back room and up to the front desk to greet the Trainer seeking service. She waves at him, gestures that he will be served in a moment, and waddles back to where she came from. Once she's out of sight, Robert remarks, "What a weird-looking Chansey." "She's a Blissey," a female in the back room shouts, having heard Robert's comment to himself, "And I'll be with you in a moment!" "Wow." Robert is impressed. He whispers to himself, "The Nurse Joy in this Pokemon Center has excellent hearing." "I'm not a Joy, thank goodness," the female calls out, "But yes, I do." Scared to even think, worried that the mysterious woman's hearing might allow him to hear his thoughts, Robert stands still at the front desk for an entire minute before a nurse, who also has blue hair similar to Clair's and dark brown eyes, steps out from the back room with a suitcase in her hand. The nurse hefts her suitcase onto the front desk and offers one of her manicured hands to Robert, who shakes it as she introduces herself, "Hello, my name's Nurse Marcia. Please excuse the delay. I just found out that my services are urgently needed in Hoenn and I'm packing my belongings to take the next ferry from Olivine City to Slateport City." "Hi, I'm Robert, pleased to meet you." Robert motions to the Pokeballs on the desk, "I just need someone to heal my three fainted Pokemon." "Oh sure, no problem." Nurse Marcia turns around and yells at the top of her lungs, "DEE! DEE, GET IN HERE!" "What is it, my love?" What looks like a man wearing a leather jacket and hat appears next to Nurse Marcia, seemingly out of nowhere, "Have you decided that you would like me to accompany you to Hoenn after all? You know you could use some help." "No. And stop calling me that." Nurse Marcia says, "I need you to heal this guy's three Pokemon while I pack the rest of my things. And furthermore, I don't need you to help me heal seasick Pokemon in Slateport City - I need you to find Aerie while I'm gone and let her know that we're not fighting anymore and that we love her and... you know the rest, we've rehearsed it enough times. Now snap to it." Dee sighs, "If I find Aerie soon and let her know all that, then can I go find you in Hoenn? I can't stand to be apart from you for too long." "Yeah, sure. It's a standard formula for trips to Hoenn, really." Marcia observes, "I say bye to Nurse Joy, then I'll meet a woman who acts almost exactly like her the moment I get to Hoenn, and I say bye to you but I'll meet up with you shortly after I get there, once you finish some errands here. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if once you and I are in Hoenn, we meet a new person who will join us in our adventures and..." "Uhhh..." Robert interrupts Marcia's observation, "Not to be rude, but can one of you heal my Pokemon? I want to go explore the city." Nurse Marcia narrows her eyes at Dee, "You shouldn't make Trainers wait for service like this. It's rude." She flips open her suitcase, starts grabbing belongings she keeps behind the front desk, and stuffs them in her suitcase, completely ignoring Robert. Dee takes Robert's three Pokeballs and drops them in the healing station located behind the desk. After the machine whirrs and beeps for three seconds, he grabs the Pokeballs and places them on the desk, "There." "...thank... you?" Used to service with a friendly, albeit superficial smile from various Nurse Joys in Kanto and Johto, Robert's a bit disoriented, but he takes his Pokeballs and leaves the Pokemon Center anyhow, eager to explore the city and find out where Falkner's Gym is. -Robert