From: Rob (robfrompw@yahoo.com) Subject: [PW!] [SC] Preparing For The Final Round Over Dinner Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-12-24 05:59:58 PST Robert is sitting across from Ben, the Trainer he beat in the Second Round, at a table in the Cafeteria of Silver Town's Pokemon Center. Two concerns prevent him from fully enjoying the meal he's been eating for the past few minutes. He's worried that Aerie might be angry enough to hurt him for defeating her earlier and he's not sure which of his Pokemon to take into the Final Round. He knows how powerful the extreme techniques Smasher's Pokemon perform are and he's not sure he can rely entirely on his expertise of Pokemon Types to defeat him. "I'm definitely bringing in Gengar. He's my first Pokemon and should take part in this." "If you want to take my Camerupt, the offer still stands," Ben says, sliding a small riceball into the jaw of the Mawile attached to his leg, "Madcow's not just a Fire Pokemon - he's also part Ground. He could probably take out Smasher's Arcanine." "That may be so..." Robert lifts his fork up and pulls the piece of steak on the tip of it into his mouth. As he chews the food, he continues, "But I only want to take Pokemon I trained myself into the match. If I win, I want it to be entirely because of my skill as a Trainer. I don't want to bring in any ringers." Ben asks, "So how are you planning on defeating the Arcanine?" "Given their performances in today's match, I'm keeping Slowbro as my team's Water Pokemon and sending Seadra home. Slowbro should be able to take on the Arcanine. If not, Gengar can tackle just about any of Smasher's Pokemon... except that Starmie, but I don't think it'll be in any condition to fight after what that Salamence did to it. He was even more violent than my Charizard! Someone should make an Anger Management course for out of control dragon Pokemon." "You just have to know how to raise them right," Ben explains, "Even the most vicious Dragon Pokemon can be controlled by an experienced Dragon Tamer. I specialize in Steel Pokemon, so I wouldn't try to train an out of control Pokemon like Charizard. I'm just fortunate that my Aeros is such a friendly Salamence. Anyway... who are you going to replace Seadra with? And considering Vileplume's performance, are you going to replace her too?" "I'm going to replace Seadra with my Raichu - she hasn't battled ever since I found out she was pregnant, so she probably has a lot of pent up electricity to let out. Vileplume was just unfortunate in my last two matches. In my match against you, I didn't realize your Swampert had Ice Beam when I sent her out. In my match against Aerie, she was taken out with an Explosion before she could do anything. She's really a powerful Pokemon and she deserves a chance to show her true strength, so I'm leaving her in for the Final Round. I'm also bringing my Piloswine, considering how well she performed in today's match against Aerie." Ben counts with his fingers as he says, "So far that's Gengar, Slowbro, Raichu, Vileplume, and Piloswine... That leaves one slot open. Who are you replacing your Charizard with?" "I don't know." Robert lists, "I can choose Golem, Hitmonchan, Farfetch'd, Murkrow, or Cubone." As Ben considers the possibilities, he remembers there's one Pokemon Robert left out, "Hey, what about that Pineco you showed me the other day?" "Pineco's a Bug Pokemon. I don't get along with Bug Pokemon," Robert shudders just thinking about his large Pineco, "More importantly, he's too fat to perform most of his attacks effectively. And he doesn't have enough experience, mainly because he only recently started performing attacks." "So how are you going to choose which Pokemon to take?" "I don't know," Robert repeats. He scoops up some mashed potatoes with his left hand and when he looks downwards, he sees the purple Pokegear on his wrist and says, "I know! I'll bring whichever Pokemon my girlfriend thinks I should bring! She's helped me make decisions like this before and she's usually right. I caught Vileplume when she was just a little Oddish because she told me Grass Pokemon were good against Water Pokemon and I won my first Badge ever thanks to her good advice! Then, when I was finishing my first Pokemon Journey, her advice helped me earn my last Kanto Badge! She'll know who I should bring with me!" Hearing Robert talk about his girlfriend, Ben wonders when Alex will go out with him on the date she promised him. Robert pushes the button on his Pokegear that calls his girlfriend. When her face appears on the device's small screen, Robert beams, "Hi, Rilli! I won, I won! I won my Semi-Final match! I'm going to the Final Round and I need your help!" "Congratulations!" Rilli smiles, happy for her boyfriend, "What can I help you with?" "I've decided I want to take Gengar, Slowbro, Raichu, Vileplume, and Piloswine with me into the Final Round... but that's it." Robert explains his situation, "I'm certainly not taking Charizard with me, seeing as how he tried to kill me the last time I let him out, but I don't know who to replace him with. Which of my Pokemon do you think I should take? I'll take any Pokemon you want me to since I trust your judgment." "Take Pineco." Silence. "Hello?" "AHH-HAHAHA!" Robert laughs, "Oh, that's a good one, Rilli. You got me there! Now, really, which of my Pokemon should I take? I've pretty much narrowed it down to either Hitmonchan or Golem, but I'm not sure which..." "I'm not kidding," says Rilli, "You should take Pineco." "What?" Robert furrows his brow, "Pineco? Seriously? Pineco?! Why should I take Pineco?!" Rilli replies, "I started training him the very same day you sent him to me and a Spearow sneezed on him, giving him Pokerus. He quickly recovered from the virus, but he's been gaining more experience from battles ever since. In the short amount of time he's spent with me, he's already learned two new attacks - Rapid Spin and Bide. If he wins just one match in the Final Round, he'll probably evolve into a Forretress and then you'll have a Steel Type on your side!" "And how exactly is he going to win one match?" Robert shakes his head, "The only attack he performs well knocks him out!" "Actually, you wouldn't know this since he just learned the attack, but Pineco loves performing Rapid Spin." Rilli informs Robert, "Since he's so big, when he throws his weight onto his opponents by spinning into them, he usually knocks them over. That could come in handy in your match." "Rapid Spin, eh? I'm surprised Pineco can do anything rapidly..." Robert strokes his goatee, "But then again, if Slowbro can use Swift, Pineco can use Rapid Spin. I'm going to trust you on this, Rilli. If nothing else, when things are looking bad, I can throw Pineco like a grenade the way I did during my match against Falkner." "Thanks. You won't regret it... I hope." Having answered Robert's questions, Rilli asks one of her own, "Who are you going to be facing in the Final Round?" Robert answers, "Smasher." "Wow. He's tough." Rilli says, "I should know - I've seen him training his Pokemon first hand at the Diversity Gym. Watch out for his Pikachu." "Thanks for the warning - I will. Well, I need to finish my dinner now." Robert kisses the image of his girlfriend's face on the screen of the Pokegear, "I'll call you from one of the computers in the lobby later to exchange Pokemon. Bye-bye for now, my dear!" After Rilli says good-bye and hangs up the connection, Robert's Pokegear automatically switches over to Clock Mode. Robert eats a spoonful of mashed potatoes and tells Ben, "It seems I'll be taking Pineco to tomorrow's Final Round. Say, you're the Steel Pokemon expert. If Pineco does evolve, what can a Forretress do? Does it have any strengths or weaknesses that Pineco doesn't? I may know much about various Pokemon Types, but Steel Types are pretty new to me." -Robert