From: William Rendfeld (warendfeld@aol.com) Subject: [PW!][SC] Tying Up Loose Ends Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2003-12-08 16:50:41 PST [NS: This was originally going to be part of the 'Preparations for Round Two' thread, but luneric beat me to it. Ah well.] Tying Up Loose Ends After receiving Dee's thanks for her admittedly meager efforts in locating Aerie, Alexandria Masters and her free-roaming Pokémon made their way back to the Pokémon Center and had an early dinner, raising the spirits of the defeated team somewhat. As they finished, Alex recalled the well-fed Daraxis the Wartortle and Nadyra the Bayleef, then in the company of Surtur the Combusken and ShadowWarrior the Murkrow (who happily remained upon his perch on Alex's shoulder) made her way towards her room, taking a brief second to make note of the posted match-ups for the next round. "Well, looks like Robert's carrying on," ShadowWarrior pointed out. "<And he is facing the trainer who defeated us,>" Surtur noted. "I wish him the best of luck," Alex said. Surtur looked to her, and asked, "<Alexandria, remind me, you also wished Ben luck in his next match, am I correct?>" "Yep, that I did," Alex replied. "Nothing wrong with wishing luck to both sides. I just have to be careful about who I cheer for." "Well, whoever does win, there's at least going to be an impressive match," ShadowWarrior added. "So, we going to hit the sack or what?" "You'd better believe it," Alex replied as the three headed towards their own room. - When Alex arrived at her door, however, she felt something within: a familiar presence. Both her Pokémon soon noticed, and ShadowWarrior asked, "Something wrong, Alex?" With a smile, Alex replied, "Nope. Something right." She then opened the door and asked, "Now how did you get in here?" Awaiting her in the room, seated in a comfortable chair, was a young woman of eighteen years with long red hair and light blue eyes, clad in a T-shirt, baggy shorts, tennis shoes, various guards for use in extreme sports. "You wouldn't believe how easily distracted the Nurse Joy here is," the woman answered with a smile. She rose to her feet and stretched out her arms, happily saying, "Alex." "Cass," Alex answered, responding in turn as ShadowWarrior fluttered off her shoulder and she embraced the woman before her. The Murkrow landed next to Surtur and asked in surprise, "Who's the girl?" "<She is Cassandra Gale, Alexandria's elder half-sister,>" Surtur explained. "Half-sister?" ShadowWarrior asked, seeking clarification. "<Cassandra's father died when she was an infant,>" Surtur explained. "<She and Alexandria are related by their mother.>" "Ah," ShadowWarrior said in understanding. Alex and Cass ended their embrace, and Alex asked, "What are you doing here?" "I came to see my little sister compete," Cass replied. "Though it looks like I got here a little late. How bad were you beaten?" "Pretty badly, as most of my team could tell you," Alex answered. "Still, it wasn't all bad." Putting an arm around her little sister, Cass said, "C'mon, tell me all about it." After sitting down, Alex quickly imparted to her sister all the details of her journey so far, beginning with her brief stop in Pallet Town and ending with her loss in the first round (ShadowWarrior chipped in a bit for a few details). She only omitted the details concerning Dee and Aerie, not thinking that Cass needed to know about them. "So the guy took you down with an Aggron and a Salamance," Cass summarized. "He must've been training those guys for a while." "For a while at least," Alex noted. "Still, I don't regret joining in the tournament. Besides, given a little time, I'll get a rematch with Ben assuming we cross paths again." "Big assumption," Cass added. "So, was he cute?" "Excuse me?" Alex replied. "It's a simple question," Cass replied, engaging in girl talk. "Was he cute?" Taken slightly aback, Alex could barely think on the issue. "I don't know...I guess, kinda. I couldn't really determine much about him based on looks." "Well, I'll see for myself come tomorrow," Cass replied. Alex looked to her and asked, "Tomorrow?" "Sure," Cass answered. "You don't think I blasted over here on a Dragonite just to say 'hi' and swap stories on boys, do you?" Snapping her fingers, she quickly said, "Speaking of, Mom asked me to drop a few things off." Cass quickly grabbed a suitcase near her side, and handed it over to Alex. She quickly opened it as Cass explained, "She figured with winter coming and your journey and all that you wouldn't be home for Christmas, so she packed up a few things you might need; clothes, items for your team, that sort of stuff." Alex pulled a turtleneck sweater whose color matched that of her T-shirt and said, "I'll definitely be needing this little guy." "There's one other thing in there, too," Cass replied as Alex fished out a Poké Ball. "Something Mom was able to work out with a friend over in Mossdeep City." "An early Christmas gift," Alex said with a smile. "What is it?" "Go ahead and find out," Cass encouraged. With a slight smirk, Alex opened the Poké Ball and released the Pokémon inside. Within seconds, a long, silvery-gray Pokémon took form. Its head rested at the end of a torpedo-like body ending in claw-like protrusions, a single, blinking red eye giving any indication of intelligence. With a clear, gentle-sounding telepathic voice, the Pokémon said, #Ah, restored once more.# Recognizing the mental voice, Alex smiled and said, "I don't believe it." "A Beldum," Cass clarified as the Pokémon hovered around Alex, intently scanning her with its one eye. "Mom noticed the similarity in the voice too, and figured you'd enjoy having this guy along." #So you are to be my new master,# the Beldum noted telepathically. "I wouldn't phrase it that way," Alex noted, a little nervous considering one of her recent acquaintances once fought against such things. "I'd prefer that you think of me as a friend, or at least an ally." #A partner then,# the Beldum concluded, #one with some mental abilities.# Alex's eyes widened before the Beldum assured her, #Do not worry, should you have any secrets, I will not divulge them.# "Here we go again," ShadowWarrior noted. Cass gave a short glance to the small Murkrow, then back to Alex and asked, "So, they know?" "Yeah," Alex replied. "I didn't have the heart to keep it from them." "Does anyone else know...about your heritage?" Cass asked. "No, not that I'm fully aware," Alex replied, confident of that much. With a sorrowful look on her face, Cass admitted, "I'm sorry about all this, Alex." "It's not your fault, Cass," Alex replied. "It can't really be helped, after all." The Beldum, in confusion, asked, #What do you mean?# "<So far as her genetic code is concerned, Alexandria is not human,>" Surtur explained, knowing that the Beldum would understand. "<Her father was born with a small fraction of his genetic code inherited from an alien race known as Extaxians. Alexandria was somehow altered shortly after birth to have complete Extaxian DNA rather than the small sliver with which she was born. It is unknown how that came about. It is thanks to that change that Alexandria possesses her telepathic abilities.>" "And very little, save control and an avoidance of caffeine, keep me from inadvertently scanning someone," Alex replied. "Besides that, there are plenty of people here who can apparently block my abilities. Other psychics, anyone with a degree of training in anything remotely paranormal, or even someone in the proper armor." Turning to Cass, she noted, "Speaking of, I've picked up a few vibes from people here, ones that are immune to my abilities." "Such as?" Cass asked. "That Trent guy, for one," Alex replied. "Also Barbara, another trainer who lost in the first round, plus Adam Samson and Aerie, two of the competitors that made it to the second round." "Any ideas why?" Cass asked. "A few," Alex replied. "I'll try to confirm them later on in the tournament, on my own." Turning her thoughts aside for the moment, she looked to her new Beldum and said, "For now, however, I've got a new Pokémon to get acquainted with, and to name." #You wish to bestow upon me a name?# the Beldum asked. "Yes, and I have the perfect one in mind," Alex replied. Cass smiled to Surtur; she did not need her alien half-sister's telepathic abilities to know what the name would be. "Your name shall be..." Alex said, adding a pause for dramatic emphasis: "Grospoliner." TBC? [NS: Easy on the guns, gents, I cleared it with Rob first. Besides, Alex doesn't have nearly as much psychic firepower as my older characters outside of the PW! She's a telepath, just that. She can sense people, she can read their minds (if she ever wanted or needed to), but she can't blast them with psychic energy. All the details will be firmed out in the next update of her WG. BTW; if anyone still at the Silver Conference is interested in interaction, I'm more than game.] 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