From: William Rendfeld (warendfeld@aol.com) Subject: Re: [PW!][SC] Match 6: Something Very Fishy Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-12-03 18:28:23 PST [NS: Forgive me for expanding a bit...] Following her defeat in the Second Match, Alex had quickly made her way to the Pokémon Center to heal her Pokémon. En route, she had heard the cheers of the crowds within the stadium as the third match got underway. By the time it was half over, she stepped into the Pokémon Center and had the three Poké Balls containing her team in hand. "Let me guess, quick upset?" the Nurse Joy at the desk asked as Alex took her familiar place. "Not as quick as you'd think," Alex answered. "Think you can give them a pick-me-up?" "Not a problem," Joy replied, taking the three Poké Balls in her hands and taking them to a machine in the back whilst humming a tune Alex couldn't identify. Alex quickly took a seat and waited, but found herself distracted from her own thoughts as two more people entered the Pokémon Center; the young shepherdess Alex had noticed earlier who was participating in the third round, and a young boy, presumably her brother. With a concerned look from her brother, the girl cried, clearly enough for Alex to not help but notice. "C'mon, Sarah, it's not that bad," the boy noted with a slight Southern accent. Sarah continued crying, albeit with some attempts at drying her eyes, and sat down in a chair directly opposite Alex's. Her crook, which she had managed to keep in hand despite her tears, fell to the ground with a thud. Alex couldn't help but notice what was happening. She quickly thought over her options, and came to a quick decision. She rose from her seat and softly walked over to the sobbing shepherdess, taking a handkerchief from an inner jacket pocket as she did so. "Here," Alex said softly, holding out the handkerchief and gaining Sarah's attention. "I can't stand to see someone cry when I can do something about it. Here, dry your eyes." Sarah, still a bit bleary-eyed, nervously took the handkerchief and politely said, "Th-thank you." As Sarah blew into it, Alex took a seat next to her and asked, "Let me guess, you had a rough first match too, right?" Sarah nervously sobbed, "Uh-huh." "It was kinda bad," Sarah's little brother admitted. "That guy Sarah fought, Bo Masamune, had these really tough Pokémon with him. The three he had beat Sarah's team like they were nothin'." "A-and then..." Sarah sobbed slightly, "there was the b-boastin'." "Boasting?" Alex asked. With an understanding nod, she said, "I can understand the tears then. Losing is bad enough, but being reminded of it like that is even worse." "Th-this is the last time," Sarah sobbed. "I'm not gonna go through somethin' like that again." "Sarah!" her little brother exclaimed. "Uncle Bob was right, Teddy," Sarah added, her tears starting to subside. "Th-this is too much." "But you can't just quit!" Teddy pleaded. "He's right," Alex replied. With both Sarah and Teddy looking at her, Alex added, "Just because you've lost today doesn't mean you'll lose tomorrow. Besides, victory brings little more than temporary award. There's a lot more to gain from a defeat than a victory." "Like what?" Sarah asked. "In my case, it's to not go up against an Aggron and a Salamance with just a Combusken, a Wartortle, and a Bayleef," Alex explained. "You'll have to decide for yourself what your lesson is. Still, one loss is not reason enough to just give up. I know that from experience." Adjusting herself in the seat a bit, she said, "What you do is your own decision, and your choice to make. But consider your choices before you make them, and don't be too willing to give up. That never accomplishes anything, trust me. Whatever choice you make, however, I hope it works out." After taking a short breath, she asked, "Feel better?" Drying the last of her tears from her eyes, Sarah nodded a little, then said, "Thanks." "It wasn't a problem," Alex replied with a smile. "And don't worry about the guy who beat you. I'm betting he'll apologize soon enough, should he get the chance." Standing upright, she asked, "So, you planning on staying for the rest of the tournament?" Sarah shook her head and said, "No, I'll be going back home soon." "That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Alex replied. "A little spiritual healing never hurts, and home is the best place for it." The conversation was interrupted as Joy called out, "Excuse me, Miss Masters? Your Pokémon have recovered." "Just a minute," Alex called back. She quickly returned her gaze to Sarah and said, "If you head back out on the road, I hope we meet again. You sound like a wonderful person, Sarah." "Thank you," Sarah replied, a little stunned. "Miss...?" "Please, call me Alex," Alex replied with a kind smile. She quickly moved to the counter, retrieved her team, then headed for the door. Before she exited, however, she turned back to Sarah and Teddy and said, "You two take care now, okay?" "We will," Sarah replied with a nod, surprised a bit by Alex's kindness. Alex replied with her own nod and a "Good luck" in farewell, then exited the Center as the crowds roared over the end of the fifth round. She quickly opened her three Poké Balls, bringing her team back into consciousness. "Hey guys. How do you feel?" "<We've all had better days, I suppose,>" Surtur replied, with Daraxis and Nadyra nodding in reply. "<However, we will survive. How are you feeling about all of this?>" "Better now, thanks," Alex replied. "War," Daraxis asked, "tortle wartortle war, war tortle?" With a slight bit of puzzlement from Alex, Surtur quickly translated, "<Daraxis wishes to know whether we shall be staying or not.>" With a smile, Alex answered, "Of course we're staying. I didn't come all this way to just up and not see who wins. Besides, I've got a friend to root for." "Bayyyy..." Nadyra noted, shaking her head in little surprise. "<How you can tolerate him, I have no idea,>" Surtur admitted. "Robert isn't that bad," Alex said. Her thoughts, however, were quickly distracted by something nearby; a powerful odor. "Ooo, who opened the can of Rot?" "<I haven't a clue,>" Surtur noted before putting two claw-like fingers to the small air holes on his beak. Daraxis covered his own nose with his hands, while Nadyra countered the stench by putting out a sweeter smell all her own to mask it. After a couple minutes of the four breathing through their mouths, they heard a massive amount of cheering from the stadium, followed by a massive burst of directed light coming from the stadium itself. "What the devil...?" Alex asked in shock. "Alex!" ShadowWarrior the Murkrow called from above. "I don't think we need to worry about Aerie, she's blasting her dad out of the stadium!" With a sigh, Alex admitted, "I didn't expect this," before recalling Daraxis and Nadyra and crying out, "Lead the way!" Meanwhile... (Reposted from Adrian Tymes's story) Aerie's Pursuit impacted Dee just as he let off a Sky Attack to slow her down. Her Outrage burned the air around them more than it did Dee, who countered with a Water Pump - only for her to launch Thunder back up the steam of water. Shaken but undeterred, he chilled his attack into a Blizzard, which was promptly melted by a Fire Blast. Blinded by the steam, Dee tossed out a Night Shade in the hopes it would seek his daughter out, but she dodged and backtracked to grab him for a Seismic Toss, landing just outside the stadium. Dee let himself be driven into the ground, pushing Aerie away just before contact so the resulting Magnitude would hit her. Quickly reforming so his head was above ground, he launched himself at her, fusing his legs into an Iron Tail - but again it was a trap; the moment he landed, the faux ground folded up around him with a *Crunch*. Flipping free of that, he glowed in preparation for a Solar Beam, sidestepped a Megaphone, and fired into Aerie's incoming Hyper Beam. The girl's beam won out, but not before Dee had time to ready a Mirror Coat; the resulting explosion threw both combatants back the length of the stadium. "So you can fight." Dee, by now back in his normal form, was on one knee, breathing hard. "But that's not-" "STUFF IT!" Aerie's form was her own, but her pose mirrored her father's. "I want to know what in SILPH you think you were doing!" Dee winced. Not since the Pokémon Resistance had he heard that company's name used as a swear word. "Trying to find you." "Yeah? Well, you found me." "Marcia and I missed you." "Then why isn't *Minax* here too?!?" "Because neither she nor Doppler truly exist, any more." Aerie locked eyes with Dee. "Did you just say my father is dead?" "No. I said the ditto who once was, has changed." "Ha ha. Very funny." "Not like that." Dee lowered his eyes. "Your mother and I...we've learned. From the world, and from each other. Violence...power...the ways we once followed. We've found better paths now. We have discovered our errors and seek to make up for them." "You gave up," she snorted. "Ye-whaa?" "You. Gave. Up." The fire seemed to build in her eyes with each word. "That which you once held most dear, you've turned your back on. Poké Balls remain in use. Pokémon slavery still exists, just the same today as it always did. And you're not doing a thing about it!" "..." Dee closed his eyes. "You're right. And I make no apology for that. My world has changed. My path has turned." "Then why don't you change it back?" "Because I can not." "What's done can be undone. So the Resistance turned on you. Form another one! Or go back to your city destroying days. Your own power can't be used against you." "Ironic that you would say that. How did I end this fight?" "You..." Aerie looked away, frowning. "Okay, you got me there. But you only paused it." "Did I indeed? Why should it resume? What are you fighting for?" "I..." She looked at Dee. "To beat some sense into you!" "Do you honestly think that will work? I once spilled more blood in a day than you have yet let in all your years. Even if you were to defeat me, what lesson could you impart?" "..." "Besides, is it even your fight? I make my judgements on my lifetime of experience, most of which I have shared with you. Your recent actions lie elsewhere. You are perfectly content to let this issue lie, so long as you get to spend time with...Kitsu?" Aerie's eyes opened wide. She knew exactly how De - *Doppler*, she forced herself to think - invaded minds, and had come up with the perfect defense against his style. There was no way he should have been able to even detect her psychically, to say nothing of reading her thoughts. "I might even venture to say that what I desire from Marcia is far less, ah, *physical*, than what you desire from him." "Her." "-her." Aerie blinked. Dee's reaction had been almost, but not quite fast enough. "You didn't just read that. Where did you hear about her?" "Does it matter? What I want to know is, am I already or about to be a grandfather?" The girl was starting to blush. "Could we, um, not talk about this in public, please? You're embarrassing me!" Dee stood up, and was by his daughter's side one burst of Extreme Speed later, an arm around her shoulders. "Is that not a father's duty?" "Daaaaaad!" She mock-resisted, but soon let herself fall into his embrace. ShadowWarrior then landed, perching upon a telephone booth, as Alex and Surtur arrived to see father and daughter reunite. With a smile, Alex noted, "I was hoping something good would happen today. TBC? William Rendfeld Creator of Echowarrior, the Pokémon Resistance, and Alex Masters 178,000 Excellent Author Points 1 'I knew odd pokefacts that confused a bread crumb' point. 20 Y2Tech Points