From: Bandraptor (bandraptor@yahoo.com) Subject: Re: [PW!] Treeborn Musings Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-12-29 00:09:45 PST Clayton wrote: > Inside the Pkemon Center, Raffy was still sleeping. In fact, when the local Nurse Joy > tried to rouse the Girafarig, he threatened to attack her, thinking that it was Bob that > was trying to wake him up. Everyone left him alone after that. > > Mimic was who knows where, cause mass bodily harm to some grunts. > > And Grey, under his guise of Sapphire, to the breeder's knowledge only has a > Torchick ... whatever that was. > > Again, a crowd of people started to form, this time drawing people from as far > away as the Mauville Gym, where Wattson was reading a letter sent out by the > twin leaders of Mossdeep informing him of recent events. While unaware that > the people mentioned in said leteter were in Mauville, he did don a jacket to go > out and continuing looking for the lost pokemon. Back at the scene of the incident, Sapphire stares at Bob with a clueless expression on his face. "Poison Arrow? Is that a type of Pokemon attack?" The owner of the crossbow, a woman dressed in a gray miniskirt, red boots, red gloves, and a red cowl, scowls, as she aims her weapon at Sapphire's head. "Shut up, and put your hands in the air." She shoots a glance towards her partner, "Hurry and bind these jokers. We need to get them back to our base, so Maxie can interrogate them." "Hey!" A man wearing a black and white striped shirt, blue pants, and a bandanna protests, "You may be able to boss your Team Magma lackeys around, but you're working with *me* now--and *I'm* in charge! *You* can tie the prisoners up--and after we get them back to the base in Lilycove, we'll turn them over to Archie!" The Team Magma member narrows her eyes, not wanting to waste time arguing, especially since a crowd is gathering around them. "You know, our bases are right on top of each other. Why don't we capture the spies now, and discuss ownership when we're safely back in Lilycove?" She keeps her loaded crossbow in a firing position as she speaks, partly to keep Sapphire from running away, and partly to keep the growing number of onlookers from moving closer. Sapphire slowly raises his hands until they're level with his shoulders, indicating that he has no intention of fighting. He cautiously addresses the Magma member, "Please don't shoot. I'm willing to go quietly." While Sapphire succeeds in conveying a defeated attitude, he is actually quite enthusiastic about the prospect of being kidnapped by the gangsters who he collectively refers to as 'Maquas'. He wants to uncover the locations of the bases that they've set up in the town of Lilycove, and he really wants to meet with the Maxie and Archie characters, because whoever they are, they sound important. The Team Magma member jabs her crossbow at Sapphire's face, bringing the arrow to within an inch of his eyes. She grins sadistically when this action elicits a wince. "Damn straight you'll come quietly. If you so much as think about running, I'll--" She stops speaking abruptly, a frown spreading across her face. "Hey." She snaps at the Team Aqua grunt who's helping her, "You've been doing this 'evil organization bent on destruction' thing for a while, haven't you?" The Aqua grunt nods, "Yeah." "Then you've seen your share of insurgents..." "Yeah." The Magma grunt continues, "And have you ever, *ever* encountered a Trainer who was willing to surrender when you asked them to?" The Aqua grunt glowers wordlessly, beginning to see her point. "I think he has something up his sleeve," the Magma grunt concludes, shoving her weapon even closer to Sapphire's skin. "Up his sleeve, eh?" The Aqua grunt removes a Pokeball from his belt, and questions his partner, "Do prisoners need arms to speak?" "No, but they do need arms to escape." The crossbow wielding Magma grunt steps away from Sapphire, as the Pokeball is hurled into the air. "Sharpedo, go!" The bandana-clad gangster bellows, "Crunch attack!" A large, tailless, blue shark with tattered fins, and scar like markings across its snout, materializes on the ground in front of Sapphire. Totally unconcerned by the lack of water in the immediate vicinity, the Pokemon balances on its single pectoral fin, rears back for momentum, and shoots towards the blue-haired Trainer like a fleshy missile. The Sharpedo opens its jaws wide, planning to bite Sapphire's hands off with its sharp fangs. But such plans do not reach fruition. Two tiny probes embed themselves in the roof of the Sharpedo's open mouth, and an instant later, the Water Pokemon is blown backwards by a blast of electricity. It collapses on its side at its master's feet, shuddering involuntarily due to the random nerve impulses that are arcing through its body. "Damn it!" The Aqua Grunt recalls his paralyzed Pokemon, and glances around, "Where the hell did that attack come from?" "There's your culprit." The Team Magma member points her crossbow down at an unassuming looking baby Electrike. "Stupid mutt!" One swift kick to the ribcage sends the puppy Pokemon skidding across the ground. The Aqua Grunt spits spitefully into the grass. "That'll teach you to mess with Team Aqua." "Are you done?" His partner jerks on his shoulder, directing his attention back towards their hostages. The young woman curses silently when she sees that Sapphire not only still has both of his hands, but is now holding a folded pocket knife in one of them. She narrows her eyes in contempt. "And just what do you think you're going to do with that, little man?" "Nothing, apparently," Sapphire says through clenched teeth. The Electrike's diversion bought him enough time to retract the probes that were fired from his taser, but not enough time to charge a second shot. He holds the weapon out in front of him all the same, hoping that it might magically protect him. The grunts begin to advance, but they've only taken their first step forward, when a massive bolt of blue lightning tears across the field, throwing them to the ground! Sapphire looks down at his taser in surprise, wondering if his prayers were answered. All presumptions of culpability are extinguished, however, when a Flamethrower technique erupts from behind him, hitting the gangsters, and rendering them unconscious. A Growlithe, and a large, blue and yellow Pokemon that Sapphire can't identify, trot into view. The Growlithe stops in front of the two criminals, watching them closely, to make sure that they don't get up. The second Pokemon continues past the fallen pair, walking over to the injured Electrike, and nuzzling it gently with its snout. "Are you all right?" Sapphire nearly jumps, when he hears the voice of Officer Jenny speaking over his shoulder. Calming himself down, telling himself that there's no way the policewoman could know of his true identity, and that she probably isn't planning to arrest him, Sapphire turns to face her. "I'm fine, but my friend is hurt!" Jenny gets a glimpse of Bob, who's lying on the ground, with an arrow lodged in his shoulder. "Oh, no..." she speaks into her radio, "This is Jenny! We're going to need an ambulance at the junction of 111th and 118th Route, stat!" A plump, middle aged man with a bushy, white beard strides past Jenny, and crouches down in front of the Electrike. He speaks to the blue and yellow Pokemon, "Don't worry, Manectric. This little one's got more spunk than you know. He'll be okay." He scoops up the little green Pokemon in his arms, and starts back towards Jenny. "Blasted hooligans," he says of the fallen gang members, "how dare they bill themselves as environmental activists, when they treat Pokemon so shoddily?" "They may be activists, but it doesn't surprise me that they attacked your Electrike," Jenny explains as she kneels in front of Bob, doing what she can for him while she waits for the ambulance to arrive. "From what I've read about the organizations in my police reports, Team Magma is mainly interested in the well-being of Fire-type Pokemon, while Team Aqua only cares about Water-types. Neither group has any particular fondness for electric-types. It's elemental, my dear Wattson." The wail of a siren grows steadily louder, as a white ambulance approaches. The vehicle stops a few feet away from where Jenny is situated, and a team of three Chanseys piles out of the back, working together to lift Bob onto a stretcher. Wattson shifts the baby Electrike over to one arm, and claps his free hand on Sapphire's shoulder, trying to reassure the Trainer, who, he assumes, is worried about his friend. "Everything's going to be all right. Nurse Joy's a pro at finding poison antidotes, and once we have you two back at the Pokemon Center, we'll be sure to station guards around the building, 24-7. Those criminals won't be bothering you again, not while you're in my town, anyway." The old man chuckles, "Of course, I can't blame them for coming after you, considering the mess you made of their bases. That was some stellar work, kiddo." He winks at Sapphire, then addresses Officer Jenny, who is in the process of handcuffing the two grunts, "Do you think you can wrangle a couple of Ludicolo to guard the Pokemon Center? Those should provide a suitable defense against our terrorist friends." "Wait a minute," Sapphire frowns, "you know about what happened at New Mauville?" Wattson laughs again. "Oh, those young punks think they're so crafty, setting up psychic dampeners around their bases, to block each others' attempts at spying. Unfortunately for Team Magma and Team Aqua, barriers of those sorts can be easily traced by a good Psychic--and little Tate and Liza of Mossdeep happen to be two of the best. When they noticed that a new set of dampeners had been erected practically under my nose, in New Mauville, why, they told me about it right away. And when those dampeners went offline, a few days ago, they wrote to tell me about that too. Now, Tate and Liza weren't able to tell me why those dampeners went offline, but bases don't destroy themselves, and I think it's safe to assume that those grunts were after you for a reason. Am I right?" "Wow." It's the only word that Sapphire is currently capable of saying. He wasn't expecting a random old man to possess powers of deduction, let alone know so much about the actions of Team Magma and Team Aqua. "Wahaha!" Wattson is amused by Sapphire's surprised reaction. "Tell me, young'un, where are you from?" "Um, originally? The Orange Islands, but my family lives in Littleroot now..." Wattson cuts him off. "Orange Islands, eh? Well, you'll find that Hoenn Gym Leaders are a bit more proactive than most. Unlike those layabouts in Kanto and Johto, we don't allow evil organizations to develop unencumbered, then hope for some kid to come along and save us all! No siree. We've been monitoring Team Magma and Team Aqua for quite some time now." "Oh..." Sapphire nods, beginning to understand, "So, you knew those um, bad guys were going to come after us, and you and Jenny decided to help us out!" Wattson's ample belly jiggles as he booms, "Ha, ha, ha...no. I was out looking for my lost Electrike, and I asked Jenny if her Growlithe could help me track its scent! It was pure, dumb luck that we found you two." "Oh." Wattson wraps his arm around Sapphire's shoulder, and begins to steer him towards the Pokemon Center. "Jenny and I are going to want to question you about the incident at New Mauville, but we can do that later. I think you've had enough excitement for one day. C'mon, kiddo, let's get you inside. I'm sure you want to see how your friend is doing, and the Pokemon Center is the safest place for you right now." TBC... --Beth