Subject: [PW] O-T-H Spells Victory Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 15:05:00 -0800 From: "International Superstorm \(Chet Weaver\)" <nichirasu@hotmail.com> Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Yolei, Lynkeru, her fairy Indi, and Psyduck stared at doors leading inside the Cianwood gym. Lynkeru could tell where repairs have been done to the walls from Trent Retwin's attempts to break in about a month ago. "Suppose that guy's still at the Pokémon Center?" Lynkeru asked. "There's no point in going into an important battle at less than one-hundred percent." "Normally, I would," Yolei said. "But we're as good as when we left the Whirl Islands. Besides, I feel oddly Reassured that we'll come out on top." Lynkeru thought she heard an odd amount of stress being put on the word "Reassure" as she watched Yolei enter the gym. The young Gerudo dismissed the thought and followed her in. [PW!] Yolei & Lynkeru "O-T-H Spells Victory" by Chet "Tech" Weaver Yolei and Lynkeru watched Chuck, his students, and their Pokémon train. Yolei looked on in awe, having never seen humans train themselves to fight before. This was nothing new to Lynkeru. She watched until one of the pictures on the wall caught her attention. "Hey, Yolei," Lynkeru said, motioning towards the photo. "The kid in that picture looks like the gym leader." Yolei looked at the picture and said, "Oh, yeah, huh. Those are probably his Pokémon in the picture, too. Poliwag and Machop." Looking back at the students, Yolei noticed the Machamp sparring with the Gym Leader. Most likely it evolved from the Machop in the photo. Yolei bit her lower lip. That Machop sure has grown. Yolei suddenly heard Lynkeru giggle. "What's so funny?" Yolei asked. "You've got that look on your face," Lynkeru noted. "You're ogling one of those karate boys, aren't you?" "What!?" Yolei exclaimed. "Me? No, no. I'm practically spoken for." "Yeah, you are," Lynkeru insisted. "Which one is it? The tall one?" "No," Yolei denied. "I'm not." "The short one?" "No, I'm trying to say." "The fuzzy one?" "That's a Pokémon." "What? Oh." "Hey there," Chuck said, startling Yolei and Lynkeru. "Sorry to keep you waiting. We're ready for your match now. Hey, nice swords." "Thank you," Lynkeru said. "Use them much?" "On occasion." 'This gym badge is so mine,' Yolei thought. With Psyduck on her side, she could rip through this gym easily. Although, there was something Telling her that Psyduck didn't even stand a chance by himself. She had Observed Machamp training with his master and Psyduck's power in the Whirl Cup competition. While powerful, Psyduck didn't have the benefit of being trained as long as her other Pokémon, like Tallyhawk the Pidgey or Mera the Quilava. Psyduck may be strong, but it won't win the match on its own. "Oh, and I hope you don't plan on using that Psyduck," Chuck said. "I've seen it in action, and I know how to deal with Psychics." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "This match will be an official gym battle," said the referee. A trainer from the gym was chosen for the task. "Both trainers will use two Pokémon each. While the challenger may switch Pokémon at anytime, the gym leader may not. Trainers ready? Begin!" "For my first Pokémon, I'll use Poliwrath!" Chuck declared. He tossed out the PokéBall, releasing the tadpole Pokémon within. "This one's a no-brainer!" Yolei said. She reached for one of her PokéBalls. She wanted to start with Psyduck, but Chuck was obviously expecting it. She had to open with something Chuck hadn't seen. "Go, BladeRunner!" "Maaareep!" BladeRunner bleated as she appeared. "BladeRunner, Thunderbolt!" Yolei commanded. "Dodge it, Poliwrath!" Chuck ordered. Electricity surged through BladeRunner's fleece, leading to her tail and out the bulb at the end. Poliwrath side-stepped the attack, avoiding it completely. "Poliwrath's pretty fast," Lynkeru commented. "That was just luck," Yolei said. "BladeRunner, use Thunderbolt with a counter-clockwise sweep!" "Poliwrath, jump and dodge to your left!" Chuck commanded. The Poliwrath leaped to avoid the attack in the opposite direction it was going. "Now it's time to go on the offensive!" Chuck declared. "Poliwrath, Double Slap attack!" Poliwrath leapt onto BladeRunner and slapped the electric sheep silly. Yolei had Observed the past few exchanges and came up with a plan of attack. For a moment, she felt like she was being Helped by a outside force Telling her what to do, but something Reassured her that it was all good. "BladeRunner, use ThunderWave!" "Leap over it and use Double Slap, Poliwrath!" Poliwrath leapt over the wave of electricity and flew towards BladeRunner. "Wait for it." Yolei said under her breath. Time seemed to slow down for her as she waited for the right moment. At some point, Poliwrath will be at its most vulnerable, and that is the time to strike. Poliwrath neared BladeRunner and drew back its arm. It was almost atop the Mareep and poised to strike. "Now!" Yolei called out. "Thunderbolt attack!" BladeRunner fired off the electric attack at full force. Electricity crackled over the tadpole as it crashed against the floor. Poliwrath attempted to stand, but the effects of the attack brought it down to one knee. "What!? Paralyzed!?" Chuck exclaimed. "BladeRunner, Headbutt!" BladeRunner slammed her head into the spiral on Poliwrath's chest, knocking him down. *** "But don't you already have a flying Pokémon?" Lynkeru asked as they left the gym. "Yeah, but the Fly technique will allow us to fly directly to any town," Yolei explained. They stepped out into the street. "Even a little bird like Tallyhawk will be able to take us great distances." "Cool, so we can.?" Lynkeru started. The blare of a truck's horns interrupted their conversation. The last thing they saw was the word "Mack" on the grill plate. *** "Poliwrath is unable to continue battling," the referee said. "Mareep is the winner." Yolei blinked and shook her head. She wasn't sure what just happened. It was as if she just had a memory, except what she remembered never happened. Now she felt a little dizzy. Chuck was almost through psyching up his Machamp for the battle. It was time for Yolei to focus on the present again. "BladeRunner, return," Yolei ordered. The Mareep was sucked back into her PokéBall and Yolei readied another. "Alright! Get going, Machamp!" Chuck ordered. "Machaaaaamp!" Machamp cheered as it bounded onto the field. "Let's go, Angel," Yolei said. The emergence of the shiny Gastly showered sparkles all over. "Psychic attack." Before Chuck could even utter a command, the Psychic attack slammed against Machamp and knocked it out in one hit. "Machamp is unable to battle," the referee announced. "Gastly is the winner!" "Hey, no fair!" one of the students shouted. "Yeah, she cheated!" another jeered. "Everyone knows that Fighting attacks are useless against Ghost-types!" a third said. "Gast. ly?" Angel said, shocked. It didn't like being disliked. "Enough!" Chuck called out. He walked over to Yolei as he continued. "There's no shame in losing to a superior strategy, even if the match was short. Here, you deserve this." Chuck pressed the Spirit Badge into Yolei's hand. "Thanks, Chuck," Yolei said. "I almost feel bad for knocking out your Machamp so quickly." "Ah, don't be," Chuck said. "All it means is that I need to train my Machamp a bit harder, work out some of the weaknesses. We can't expect every battle to be as impressive as on TV." "Yeah, you're right," Yolei said. Yolei recalled Angel and left the gym with a sense of pride, but the vision she had during the match troubled her. Was that something that was going to happen? What even caused it? "So, are we headed for the ferry?" Lynkeru asked. "I don't know," Yolei said. "If Trent's here, and he's after us, then he might. Wait!" Yolei grabbed the back of Lynkeru's collar to prevent her from stepping out into the street. She looked down the street very carefully. "What's going on?" Lynkeru asked. "I. I don't know," Yolei said as they took off across the street. "It's just. I don't know what happened. It's like. I saw something." "Down the street?" "No, during my match." "Now you've lost me." "During my match, I began to feel like I could predict what would happen next. I would think of a move Poliwrath might do, and then it would do it. I thought it was just luck, but then I had this vision when BladeRunner defeated Poliwrath. We walked out of the gym, into the street, and got hit by a truck." "Creepy." "You're telling me." "But it didn't happen, though, so maybe it wasn't a vision." "But I was so focused during the match," Yolei said as they stepped around a woman over-burdened with groceries. "My mind wouldn't've wandered so." The woman they passed yelped as she tripped over the Psyduck following them. She was able to avoid a nasty tumble, but her groceries spilled out all over. "Oh, I'm sorry," Yolei said as she and Lynkeru knelt down to help her out. "We should've been paying more attention to our Psyduck." "No, no, it's my fault for carrying so many groceries at once," the woman said. "The car broke down, so I had to go to the market on foot. Maybe if that flabby husband of mine was a mechanic instead of a gym leader, I'd be home by now." "You're Chuck's wife?" Yolei asked. "You bet," Chuck's wife said. "Why? Are you having trouble getting a match or something?" "Actually, we've already fought him," Yolei replied. "I was just surprised. You don't look nearly as old as your husband." "Oh, go on," Chuck's wife said. "Maybe we should help you carry your groceries," Lynkeru offered. "Thank you very much," Chuck's wife accepted. "I don't know how I was going to get home in time to cook anything with this load." Yolei, Lynkeru and Psyduck each picked up a bag or two and followed Chuck's wife back to the gym. They went in through the back entrance and into the kitchen. "I don't know how I could possibly thank you," Chuck's wife said. "Oh, wait. I know. Where did I put it?" She rummaged through the kitchen a bit before leaving for another room. A moment later, she came in with a small device. "This is HM02," she explained, handing the device to Yolei. "It will teach your Pokémon Fly." "Thank you Mrs. Chuck's wife," Yolei said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- "But don't you already have a flying Pokémon?" Lynkeru asked as they left the gym. "Yeah, but the Fly technique will allow us to fly directly to any town," Yolei explained. They stepped out into the street. "Even a little bird like Tallyhawk will be able to take us great distances." "Cool, so we can.?" Lynkeru started. "NO!" Yolei suddenly cried out. She tackled Lynkeru, shoving both of them out of the on-coming lane just in time to avoid being flattened by semi. A car screeched to a halt in front of them and started honking. The two of them quickly got out of the street and were joined by Psyduck. "That was too close," Lynkeru said. "It was exactly like my vision," Yolei said, mystified. "The exact same conversation." "Except the truck didn't hit us," Lynkeru pointed out. "What's happening to me, Lynkeru?" Yolei asked. "What's going on?" "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were psychic." "I can't be psychic. If I were, I'd've shown psychic potential long ago." "Maybe you're a late bloomer." "Or maybe." Yolei reached into her backpack and pulled out the Shorts Kid's PokéBelt. Two of the balls glowed faintly. "Each of the Shiny Unown has a special power relating to their shape," Yolei explained. For instance, Why Yields objects, Pea Performs, and Dbu Doubles things. The Unown we got from the Shorts Kid have the abilities Tell, Help, Observe, Reassure, and Search. Tea Tells me Eau's Observations, and Ach Helps me analyze the data so I can choose the best course of action." "How did you figure that out?" Lynkeru asked. "Tea told me." "Natch. So you can predict moves in battle, but how could you know about the truck?" "I can only speculate. I could be that the intensity of a match could send this O-T-H system into overdrive as my adrenaline rises. As I take in more and more data, I begin to see a much larger picture, allowing me to see possible futures." "Can you do lottery numbers?" "I doubt it. The uncertainty principle says that I can't possibly take in all data necessary to predict the exact future. There will always be a margin of error. The things I see might not even come to pass at all." "So the OTH System isn't infallible. Even with the Unown, you could still possibly lose every match you enter." "Pretty much, yeah." "It's not like your omniscient or can be prepared for everything." "Yep. In fact, my preparations could actually ensure what I see. I may never know, because I can't see everything." "Cool." "Uh, huh." "Yep." "Right-o." "Quite." Yolei and Lynkeru stood around awkwardly for a moment. "How 'bout we get out of here?" Yolei offered. She got out HM02 and Tallyhawk' s PokéBall. "Excellent," Lynkeru accepted. "Where to?" "We went through Olivine on the way to the Whirl Islands so fast, I didn't get a chance to challenge the gym leader," Yolei explained as she connect the HM to the PokéBall and switched it on. "Plus, I think I saw a restaurant there I wanted to try." "All right, let's go," Lynkeru replied. The teaching process done, Yolei released Tallyhawk and said, "Tallyhawk, Fly us to Olivine City!" "So how is this going to -WAAAGH!!" Lynkeru said as Tallyhawk whisked them away in a powerful whirlwind. To be continued.? -- Chet "Tech" Weaver AIM: PanGatomon MSN/E-mail: Nichirasu@hotmail.com Yahoo! Messenger: tech_weaver ICQ: 122744531 Webcomic: http://desperadocoyote.keenspace.com