From: Bandraptor (bandraptor@yahoo.com) Subject: [PW!] Raiders of the Arcanine Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-11-05 20:18:40 PST Nori Mizuke is standing near the outskirts of the ever-frigid Mahogany Town, a short distance away from the unassuming spice shop that serves as a front for the local Rocket base. She is staring towards the snow capped building in a hesitant manner, as if she knows that she has to go inside, but is reluctant to actually do so. She glances down at her Houndour, Anubis--who is seated beside her, with a Natu perched atop his head--then looks back at the store again, and mutters under her breath, "Stupid Grey..." * * * Eight months ago... * * * A fifteen-year-old Nori is walking along the tiled pathway that leads out of the Mahogany Town Rocket Base. She's just finished reporting her initial Movedex findings to Giovanni, and she is anxious to get back outside and on with her travels, particularly since the underground corridors that wind through the hideout make her feel extremely claustrophobic. She's halfway to the exit, when she hears footsteps echoing in the tunnel behind her. A voice rises above this noise, "Nori! Hey, wait up!" Nori stops walking, and turns to see who it is. The figure quickly catches up to her, then leans over to catch his breath. Nori addresses him, "Hi, Grey. Was there something you needed?" Grey straightens up. "Wow," he utters in disbelief, "Giovanni gives you one lousy promotion, and it goes right to your head. Can't you stop by my office to say 'hello' anymore? Or are such pleasantries beneath the station of an Executive like yourself?" "Sorry..." Nori just shrugs, since she doesn't have an excuse. Grey sighs with mock sadness. "When you were a grunt, you used to report to me all the time. Am I going to have to demote you in order to get you to visit with me again?" "You can't demote me." Nori points out, "We're both the same rank." "True," Grey says, "but I'm the leader of the Pokemon Genome Project, and since your Movedex project falls under that umbrella, that makes me your boss. Now, come with me, I have something I want to show you." "You'd better not be giving me more work," Nori gripes, as she follows him back into the heart of the underground compound. "So, how've you been?" Grey tries to make conversation as they walk, "How's Movedex coming?" "Okay." Nori says, "I was up at Mt. Silver this past week, double checking the data for Faint Attack and Fire Spin. It wasn't too bad. I have some friends who live up that way, so I slept over at their place." Grey asks, "Who do you know that lives at Mt. Silver?" Nori quickens her pace. "Never mind." Grey ruminates, "This is the second time you've been up there, too. I think I know what's going on here." He winks coyly, "Tell me the truth. You're dating Ash Ketchum, aren't you!" Nori shrieks, "I am not!" "Oh, my poor heart!" Grey moans, "Beguiled again by a treacherous female!" "Cut it out!" Nori shoves him. "You're such a jerk!" "All right, calm down. We're here." Grey announces, as he approaches the door to his office. He instructs Nori carefully, "Wait outside, and close your eyes. I'll be right back." Nori exhales deeply in annoyance, but does as she is told, and closes her eyes while Grey walks into his office. A minute later, she hears the door opening again, and something warm and fuzzy is placed in her arms! The furry bundle squirms around a bit, causing her to jump! Nori opens her eyes, and looks down to see a tiny Houndour puppy snuggled against her chest. "Oh. Raksha littered?" "Yup!" Grey leans back against the wall, beside Nori, clearly quite pleased with the surprise that he concocted. "She gave birth about a month and a half ago, but I like to keep the puppies until they're around level six. What do you think?" Nori shifts the puppy over to her left arm, so she can better examine his enormous paws. "Were you able to get Extreme Speed to carry over? I know that's what you were shooting for." "No." Grey sounds disappointed. "He didn't get Flame Wheel or Teleport, either. The only Egg Move that he was born knowing was Bite, and that's something he would've learned through level-up anyway. However, his stats are fairly good, and he seems to have the 'Flash Fire' ability, which is pretty desirable." "Well, breeding is an inexact science." Nori consoles, and passes the puppy back to him. Grey folds his arms across his ribcage, refusing to accept the Houndour. "Haha...you don't get it, do you?" He raises an eyebrow, "Nori, I'm giving him to you! He's yours!" Nori frowns. "I can't take him." "Sure you can." Grey explains, "It's only fair, since you donated your Arcanine to the breeding pool. Besides, I know how much you like Dark Pokemon. You're always admiring my Houndoom..." Nori hangs her head. "I can't take him, because I'm not a very good trainer. I wouldn't be able to raise him properly, because I don't feel empathy for my Pokemon." Grey rolls his eyes. "The only Pokemon that you own is your Dodrio, and frankly, anyone capable of empathizing with that killing machine, would need to be institutionalized." He gestures to the puppy, "You need a traveling companion who isn't a complete psychopath. Go on, take him. It'll be good for you." "No." Nori forces the Houndour into Grey's arms. "Look. Lately, I've been thinking, and I'm not sure that Pokemon Training is the right thing to do..." Grey's voice loses its mirth. "You'd better not let Giovanni hear you saying that." "I know..." Nori falters. "It's just, I guess it's okay to train a Pokemon like Cerberus, a Pokemon that would be dangerous if it was left untamed. But is it really the place of humans to decide the fates of all wild creatures?" "Pokemon aren't wild creatures." Grey says flatly. "We've had a hand in their development for far too long. If it weren't for human fanciers, half of the breeds wouldn't even exist." "Maybe..." This really isn't what Nori wanted to hear. "Still, I don't think I should accept that Houndour." "Eh, suit yourself." Grey shrugs, "If you don't want him, I'll just sell him to a biomat." "What?" Nori snatches the Houndour away from Grey in horror. "You're sick! I'm taking this puppy as far away from you as possible!" She turns on her heels, and stomps off down the hallway. Grey waits until she's a good ways down the corridor before calling after her, "Nori, you're so gullible. Don't you have any faith in humanity? If you hadn't taken that Houndour, I would've kept him for myself." Grey ducks into his office, and locks the door, before Nori can start an argument. * * * Back in the present, Nori scowls, still upset with Grey for tricking her. "Stupid Grey..." She says glumly, "You're such a pain to deal with. When I tell you that I've taken up training again, you're gonna rub it in my face." She glances down at Anubis, who cocks his head to one side in curiosity. "Still...I've committed to participating in the Silver Conference, and I really need my Arcanine." She steels herself, and starts walking in the direction of the spice shop. The door to the shop opens with a tinkling of little bells; then Nori and her Pokemon are assaulted by a blast of warm air, followed by the scents of the many herbs and medicines that are displayed on the store's shelves. An elderly woman greets the trio from behind the counter. "Greetings, travelers." She purrs, "Come in, come in; come in out of the cold, and rest for a while. Let me fetch you a nice, hot cup of tea." "And what kind of tea would that be? Mugwort? Absinthe?" Nori isn't able to come off quite as forcefully as she would like, because the heat of the room is making her extremely drowsy. "I know for a fact that you add Parasect spore to all of your tea bags. You're trying to put me to sleep so you can steal my Pokemon." The "old lady" groans in a deep, and decidedly male voice. "You're a Rocket..." "You're a genius." Nori retorts. "Open the trap door, I need to get into the base." The crossdressed Team Rocket grunt nods, "Sure. Just give me the password." "Don't give me that 'password' crap. You already know that I'm a Rocket, just open the door." "Sorry." The grunt responds, all of his smarminess clearly apparent through his disguise, "Nobody gets in without a password." "Oh, fine." Nori thinks. "Is it 'Slowpoke Tail'?" "No." "Raticate Tail?" "No." "Tauros Tail?" "No." Nori gets impatient. "Set, Psychic." "Heh, you're not even close--" The Grunt manages to blurt out, before getting KO'ed by Nori's Natu. Nori reaches over the counter, and presses the button that opens the trap door. "Come on guys," she calls to her Pokemon, walking over to the hole that's materialized between two of the tatami floor mats. A short climb down a ladder leaves the trio in an underground tunnel that is bathed in a blue light. Since she is sweaty from being in the sauna-like spice shop, Nori removes her jacket, and wraps it around her waist. Although this makes her more comfortable, she feels vulnerable with her arms exposed, and she self-consciously pulls her shirt sleeve down over her left bicep, which is marked by a rather nasty scar. "Grey's office is down this way," she says, pointing towards the end of the corridor. "Set, there are Voltorbs scattered all over this base, so stay close, and try not to touch anything." Set is extremely offended by the insinuation that one of Voltifer's minions could mar his divine personage, but since Nori can't understand him, she doesn't respond to his protestations. She weaves swiftly through one hallway after another, and arrives at the door to Grey's office in short time--but once she's there, hesitation sets in again. She stands in front of the closed door with her knuckles raised for several seconds, then finally decides against knocking, and just throws the door open. "Yo, Grey! I need to borrow Gurion for a couple of weeks, so--" The brawny, masked man who's seated at Grey's desk looks over the top of his newspaper to see who's entered the room. His eyes widen a bit when he catches sight of Nori. "YOU!" "YOU!" Nori finishes at exactly the same time. She blinks a couple of times to make sure that her eyes haven't deceived her, then cries out in bewilderment, "ALLAN? What are *you* doing here? Why are you in Grey's office?" She scowls, thinking back to the last time that she and Allan worked together, the time when Allan announced his plans to ditch Team Rocket, and start his own, rival team. "Shouldn't you be fired?" "Shouldn't you be dead?" Allan ripostes. "No." Nori says petulantly, "Why would I be?" Allan grins, "Because Giovanni said he'd throttle you if you ever showed your face around here again." Nori frets, "Giovanni's mad at me?" Allan casually refolds his newspaper. "Considering that you botched the execution of the Bomb Ball Bashers *and* led that turncoat Minax right into our base, you're getting off easy." "Yeah, well, I..." Nori stops midway into her crafted explanation. "Hey, wait a minute. You're the one who was in charge when the Bomb Ball Bashers revolted. You commandeered my mission! And you're the one who let Minax into the base! You let her *stay* in the base, even after I told you about how she sent that Murasaki guy to kill me! You gave her complete access to every room! I had to skip town, and hole up at Mt. Silver for two months, because I was afraid that she was going to murder me in my sleep..." "Okay, maybe that was my call," Allan admits. "Thing is, you weren't here when Giovanni asked about the incident; so Billy, Kid, and I just blamed everything on you." Nori facefaults. "GAH!" "We figured it was a victimless crime, since it didn't affect any of us." Allan intertwines his fingers thoughtfully, "The Basher debacle wasn't a *complete* disaster, though. We didn't get promoted, but we met the requirements for the bounty, so we all got a hefty bonus. Of course, you weren't around, so Billy, Kid, and I just divvied up your share." "You son of a Ralts!" Nori throws her arms up in exasperation, "Why am I even talking to you? Where's Grey?" "That's on a need to know basis," Allan taunts, "and you don't need to know." "Yes, I do." Nori says firmly, "He has my Arcanine, and I need it. Where is he?" "I already told you, that's classifi--" Allan realizes how stupid he's being. "Why am I protecting Grey? I don't care if he loses his cover. I'm filling in for him while he's away, and if he dies, I'll get to keep this cushy gig." The masked Rocket gets a dreamy look in his eye as visions of power fill his mind. "Nori, he's in Hoenn. He's using an assumed name, and he's wearing a cheap wig." "He's in Hoenn?!?" Nori freaks out. "Grey took my Arcanine, and he ran to ANOTHER COUNTRY?!?" "I can see that this is going to be a rather nasty custody battle." Allan slyly unholsters his revolver, "Would you like to borrow my gun?" Nori glares at Allan. "I'm not going to do your dirty work for you. If you want Grey's job so badly, you can kill him yourself." Allan shrugs, "Well, you can't blame me for trying." Nori storms out of the Mahogany Town Rocket Base for the second time in eight months. "I can't believe this. It's only a few weeks before the Silver Conference begins, and my Arcanine is missing. Now, I'll need to find a replacement..." She glances over her shoulder at the spice shop, as if the building itself somehow bears responsibility for her current dilemma. "Stupid Grey!" She seethes bitterly, "Even when you're not around, you still manage to make my life difficult!" TBC? --Beth Pokemon o ubatte kanemouke! Pokemon o tsukatte kanemouke! Subete no Pokemon wa Roketto Dan no tame ni!