Subject: [PW!] The Preciousss Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:56:18 GMT From: Rob <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Ah, the sight of two teenagers taking a romantic stroll on the beach. This sight is visible to the passengers of each ferry pulling in towards Cianwood City. Some of the passengers of one such ferry smile when they see a blonde teenage girl wearing clothing that reveals quite a bit of her body, a halter top and a miniskirt, holding hands with a purple-haired teenage boy, wearing a simple red shirt and blue jeans. Even though the expressions on their faces are difficult to see at a distance, the teens are both clearly happy with their state in life. After about two minutes of seeing the two young people stand on the beach motionless, a man on the ship wonders if they're mannequins - an art display set up to welcome tourists to the peninsula. Or could it be that what he saw on the news the other day was actually true? Was the entire city of Cianwood literally frozen in time? He assumed it was a hoax aimed at getting more tourists to go to the rarely visited area of Johto, which tends to only welcome people looking for medicine for their Pokemon or themselves and Trainers seeking to earn a Storm Badge. The man is skeptical... until the ferry comes to an abrupt halt, as if it has crashed into something, even though no obstacles are visible to anyone on board. The ferry's captain announces over a loud speaker, "This is your captain speaking. I have received a report from Officer Jenny at Blue Point Isle. Cianwood City is off-limit to tourists due to... temporal difficulties? That means the difficulties are temporary, I guess. We will be taking a detour to Blue Point Isle." The ferry turns around and sails away from Cianwood, towards its new destination. Below the sea where the ferry abruptly stopped, a bloated oversized white Goldeen is ramming her head against nothing in particular, trying to break through an invisible barrier. She's been wanting to eat the two motionless teens since the moment she spotted them standing on the shore two weeks ago. She's been returning each day since then, hoping the barrier will be removed, but has found no such luck. She's discovered that no matter the angle she tries to approach the island, it's impossible to reach, as if the entire land mass is encased in a transparent impenetrable bubble. She gives up once more, but as she swims away from Cianwood, she vows once again to return to devour the delicious duet. Interestingly enough, mere moments after the white Goldeen gives up, the two teenagers begin to stir, continuing a conversation as if they had never been frozen. The girl pulls her hand away from the boy, an offended look replacing the happy look on her face as she says, "I don't know who you think you are, Mister Travis Backwater, but if you want to make-out with me, you'll have to properly court me." "What?" Travis asks, appalled at the girl's insinuation but trying to keep his cool as he's prone to do, "I didn't ask you to make-out with me, Belle. All I said was I know CPR, so you don't have to be afraid to go for a swim with me." "A swim... right... so that's what kids are callin' it these days." Belle crosses her arms and turns away from Travis, to see that the sun is setting in the west, "...uh, Travis, wasn't it around noon when we left the Gym?" Travis answers, "Yeah. So?" "...look, the sun's settin'." Belle points at the sun, "I know evenin' comes quick around these parts, but it's never come this quick. I think somethin' weird is goin' on..." Just then, a strange creature that's almost completely naked leaps out of the ocean, landing directly in-between Travis and Belle. Though he's only about three feet tall, his hair is gray and thinning. An insane smile is plastered on his face. His knees are bent and he's crouching in a very unusual way. The only thing he's wearing on his thin, frail body is red Shorts. His crazy eyes dart back and forth between Travis and Belle and he hisses, "The preciousss... where issss the precioussss Unownses? We wantsss the preciousss..." As he talks, Belle backs away, horrified by the anorexic child, and Travis simply raises an eyebrow and calmly asks, "Who are you?" "We ares the future ruler of the world!" The Shorts Kid scowls at Travis and he hisses, "When all the world is mades of Sssshortses, we wills rule. We have claims sssix comradesss, but wantsss the preciousss to ssssurvive and become strongersss! Two Sssshortses Kidsss for us to live in are better than one! We cames a month ago and frozes the city - we sssearched and sssearched, but didn't find the preciousss, so we guesses it'sss in a Pokeball. Now we're back to tries again! Do you haves the preciousss?! GIVE US THE PRECIOUSSS!" The Shorts Kid leaps onto Travis and tries to reach into his pockets as Travis struggles to break free from the Shorts Kid, who's unnaturally strong for his size. Belle panics and throws the first Pokeball she pulls out of her skirt's pocket, her Fast Ball. Belle's Cyndaquil emerges in a flash of white light, glad to be free but immediately not sure he wants to be free when he sees the monster-like human attacking Travis. He shudders and asks, "Quil, cyndaquil quil cyndaquil?" "Look, I don't know what you're sayin', Cyndaquil!" Belle shouts, "Just spit fire or somethin' to get that thing to leave my guy alone!" Blazer the Cyndaquil, afraid of retaliation but loyal to his Trainer, reluctantly turns around and fires an Ember attack out of his back, onto the Shorts Kid wrapped around Travis. The attack is intensified by the Charcoal jacket Blazer's wearing as it makes its way towards the Shorts Kid. The attack only mildly scorches the Kid's back, but it sets the Shorts Kid's red Shorts on fire! The demented child immediately hops off Travis and runs on all fours to the ocean to cool off, screaming, "We're not liarsss - you sssshouldn't have ssset our Ssshortses on firesss!" In that moment, Belle grabs Travis' hand and races to the Pokemon Center with him, Blazer in hot pursuit. But before the three can arrive at the Pokemon Center, the Shorts Kid leaps in front of them, blocking their path. However, this time the Shorts Kid has a serene look on his face, despite that smoke is still billowing from his Shorts. He smiles, bows, and politely apologizes, "We are very sssorry for our passst behaviorses! We got carried aways. If you please, help us findsss the preciousss... It'sss an Unown ssshaped like what you calls a Double-Yous. If you helps us find the preciousss, we promises we'll not turn peoples into Sssshortses!" He suddenly scowls and grumbles, "...and if you don't, then we're gonna..." A frightened look washes over the angry look immediately, "No! No! We're not gonna care! We finds the preciousss ourssselvesss, yesss, but help would be ssspelendid..." A scared look is also present on Belle's face as she turns to Travis, squeezes his hand, and whispers, "...what do you think we should do?" -Belle