From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net) Subject: Re: [PW!] Sub Plot Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-11-11 23:04:09 PST Bandraptor wrote: > "Ocean would be best, but Mimic no sure return to Lilycove good idea > right now. Magma goons probably regroup since Mimic destroy > submarine. See Mimic-sub, maybe think is real thing, and try to > reclaim. No good for Bob if Magmas set off booby traps before > Sapphire can get map of base." Mimic glances over his shoulder at > Sapphire, then shifts his eyes back towards the road. "White gadget > on Sapphire's belt is PokeNav, right? Please check map for location > of nearest beach." > > Sapphire does just that. "It looks like we're approaching a town > called Petalburg. Er...there's a beach just west of there." > > Raffy's stomach growls loudly. #Petal burger? Sounds tasty.# Keeping his eyes on the path in front of them - especially as he speeds up to get to the next town, leaving a trail of ice behind - Mimic queries, "Raffy hungry?" #No, I'm just learning a new acid move.# "Mimic sorry Raffy no get sustinence in bar. Mimic no get much either. Given quality of food, Sapphire maybe did Oldale fourth favor burn down bar." Despite hanging on tightly, Sapphire had more than enough attention to hear Mimic's side of the conversation. "I thought you disapproved." "Mimic does, but make best of situation once has happened. Even while with Team Rocket, Mimic managed do some good." "We're not all bad, you know," Sapphire retorted, a slight edge to his voice. "Of course not. Team Rocket slavers. Slaves no good to slavers if dead or otherwise unable work. Mimic sure pain, anguish Team Rocket cause nowhere near central to cause, if only because Team Rocket no yet find way get profit from robbed trainers' tears or broken hearts. If find way everyone voluntarily surrender best friends into Team Rocket servitude, Mimic sure Team Rocket use it, save expense of present capture methods. Are plently slightly worse things in world." "..." "Just making conversation. Anyway, Mimic think see berry tree up ahead. Hang on." The striped furry streak slides to a halt just short of a small tree with three giant orange berries visible through the foliage. Sapphire dismounts, flexing his fingers after discovering he had been holding on a little more tightly than he thought. He finishes that thought about the time the two pokemon finish their first berry each, having wolfed them down in two bites apiece. "Leave that third one. I've got some pokemon too, and-" "No you don't, young whippersnapper," an old geezer admonishes. "Don't you know the rules?" Blinking at the sudden appearance of what appears to be a gardener in the deep wilderness, Sapphire removes his hand from near his crystal pokeballs. "Umm...no, no I don't. I just got my first pokemon today, and..." "Oh! And you've already caught those two? Impressive, young man, but there's something ye need t' know about these here berry trees." "And that is...?" "Here, watch." The ancient one taps the tree with an equally ancient rake, knocking the last berry down. Almost immediately, the tree withers and shrinks back into the ground. "How...?" "Wha...?" #That was fast.# "Whoever takes the last berry, it's their duty to plant an' water the berry into a new tree. Leave more for the next person." "Duty?" Sapphire looks at the man, part of his mind yelling something unusual about him but the rest of his mind only barely hearing it. "Enforced by who?" "Well...it's just yer duty. An' if you don't do it, yer a bad person! Heh, I've been tendin' this tree for the past hun'erd years, just waiting for someone else to come along an' relieve me of my duty. And now you have!" "Umm...but *you* took the last berry." "Huh? Oh, why, guess I did. Heh, gives me an' excuse to stick aroun' some more, I guess." The gardener walks up to the fallen berry, quickly buries it, then holds his hands above it until a miniature storm cloud appears and drenches it. Before long, the berry has visibly sprouted. "Mimic think maybe time leave, again?" Sapphire mounts Mimic again, shortly followed by the girafarig. "Thanks for the information, and the berries." "It's my duty. Have a long journey, and don't forget what I told you! You might want to raise some berries of your own some day." The man waves to the trio, shrinks, and fades into the sprout. Once on the road again, the transport pokemon offers, "Mimic think maybe that ghost of grass type pokemon." #Yeah, like breeder boy's going to be if we don't...# Raffy notices Sapphire looking back at him and almost winces. "Are you sure this pokemon can't talk, Mimic? I could have sworn I just heard a voice coming from him." "Raffy voicebox only say 'girafarig'. Right, Raffy?" "Gira, fa rig." Raffy puts on his dumbest smile, hoping to delay Sapphire's suspicions. In some alternate universe, Sapphire would deduce the truth right then and there. In another, Marvin would accidentally discover and trigger Team Aqua's nuclear winter program in a few seconds, rendering this issue moot, along with most other issues for everyone in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear devices. In this universe, however, Mimic responded to the sudden need for a diversion and leapt over the nearest cliff towards the ocean below - right over a spot that had been sited for a nuclear device, but where none had actually been installed before the program was shut down. If Sapphire had been holding on tight before, that was but a shadow of his vice-like grip now. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?" "Mimic figure best no show up in town as sub. Water here probably deep enough...so long as miss rocks, and level out before momentum cause Mimic hit bottom." And then the man and the girafarig were on top of a replice Team Magma minisub, hurtling towards the water at a velocity increasing at about 9.8 meters per second per second. TBC?