From: "Rob" <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Subject: [PW!] An Evening At Verdanturf Penitentiary Date: Saturday, May 01, 2004 11:39 PM "This Leppa Juice tastes like piss," mutters a pink-haired, blue-eyed Aqua Grunt after taking a sip from a cup of yellow liquid in Verdanturf Penitentiary's Cafeteria. She glares at the two Magma Grunts sitting at a nearby table, wondering if one of them somehow tainted her drink at some point. "My Grepa Juice isn't exactly fine wine, either," remarks the brown-haired, green-eyed Aqua Grunt sitting across from the pink-haired woman. The purple juice she's been choking down with her stale dinner is the most watered-down, putrid beverage she's ever tasted in her entire life. Even the refreshments she drank during her time in the Verdanturf Asylum were tastier than the sorry excuse for juice in the cup she's clenching with her right hand. "You have exactly one minute to finish your meals," broadcasts the prison guard who's blocking the Cafeteria's exit with the help of a Mightyena and a Machamp wearing a police hat, "After that, you will have ten minutes to visit with your Pokemon, then it's back to your cells." Mariana, the pink-haired woman, narrows her eyes at the prison guard and grunts, "They better be treating my Corphish well..." "I hope my Roselia hasn't abandoned me for all I've done," muses Elsa, the brown-haired girl, rather absentmindedly. "What are you talking about, Wanda?" Mariana asks, turning her attention back to the girl sitting across from her. After shoveling the last bit of her poor-tasting meal into her mouth, she says, "Your little Poison Type acts more like an Aqua Pokemon than that Mudkip you got from Professor Birch... Leave it to that doddering fool to raise weak Pokemon who'd rather play with their opponents than fight them." "I'll teach that Mudkip to become a good Aqua Pokemon, just you wait and see," Elsa remarks, even though she didn't realize she had a Mudkip until Mariana just mentioned one. She doesn't remember the past month of her life, including the part where she got a Mudkip from Professor Birch. Although she'd like to ask Mariana a multitude of questions about her new Pokemon, she doesn't want Mariana to know about her memory loss and she figures she'll get to see the Mudkip for herself soon enough. When a bell rings inside the Cafeteria, all the prisoners currently in the Cafeteria are instructed to stand up and follow the prison guards to the Pokemon Holding Area. Elsa, Mariana, and a bunch of other prisoners who were recently arrested in the Rusturf Tunnel are led to a row of cubicles. Elsa takes a seat at one of the cubicles and stares at the shatter-proof glass wall in front of her. After about a minute of waiting, a muzzled and leashed blue Mudkip leaps into view, pressing his paws against the glass. "Mip, mip, mip," the Mudkip yelps, his happy yips muffled by the muzzle on his maw. Elsa puts her hands on the glass where the Mudkip's paws are and says, "Hi, little Mudkip. I'm glad you remember me..." Under her breath, she murmurs, "...because I sure don't remember you." Staring at the loyal Water Pokemon, Elsa tries to remember what happened the day she visited Professor Birch's Lab... *** Flashback *** "I want a Torchic, Professor Birch!" Elsa exclaims, extremely happy that she's finally about to get the Starter Pokemon she's been longing for since before she was ten years old - the Pokemon she's been denied for over eight years. She clasps her hands in anticipation, "This Torchic is going to make my day... no, forget my day - this Torchic is going to make my entire year!" "I'm sorry, miss, but I just gave Narya, my last Torchic, away to a young man she seemed fond of," Professor Birch tells the brown-haired girl standing before him, "You must understand, a cruise ship full of Pokemon Trainers recently docked in Littleroot Pier and most of them wanted to get a Torchic from me. Torchic are very popular! Even middle-aged men are raising them these days. But don't worry, there are plenty of Treecko and Mudkip for you to choose from." "I don't WANT a Treecko or a Mudkip," Elsa states, her look of anticipation quickly being replaced with a look of anger, "I want a Torchic." "Like I said, I don't have any more Torchic," reiterates Professor Birch, "I just ran out. It'll be a few weeks before I get an new shipment of Torchic Eggs from..." "I want a Torchic NOW," clarifies Elsa, "I've been waiting more than eight years for a Torchic. I'm not going to wait any longer. Give me my Torchic NOW." Professor Birch frowns and points out, "I can't give you a Torchic I don't have, miss." "You're lying," Elsa accuses, her blood boiling at the injustice of not being given all the options that most starting Trainers in Hoenn usually have, "You must have a Torchic. You just don't want me to have one. You don't think I can handle a Torchic. I can and will train a Torchic - GIVE ME MY TORCHIC NOW!" Elsa's expression shifts to one of pure rage, her judgment clouded by her anger. She grabs the large Professor by his lab coat and balls her hand into a fist. *** End of Flashback *** Elsa shakes her head, scared of what she might have done to Professor Birch that day. She tries to remember what happened after she grabbed the Professor, but her memory blanks out at that exact point. She can't remember anything that happened between that moment and when she woke up in Verdanturf's Penitentiary. Seeing Elsa's worried expression, her Mudkip nuzzles his head up against the glass, trying to comfort her. It's at that moment that a guard sets a glass container housing Elsa's poisonous Roselia on the table where Elsa's Mudkip is standing. "Roselia!" Elsa exclaims, trying to force her recent memories into the back of her mind. She's now very glad that she told Roselia about her multiple personalities in the Oldale Town Pokemon Center, "Oh, Roselia, I'm so sorry I've dragged you into all this." The trapped Roselia waves her red rose in dismissal and points out, "Roselia sel roselia sel roselia." After the conversation in Oldale Town, Roselia knew the risks she ran by tagging along with Elsa, but she wanted to make sure her friend didn't get into too much trouble so she tagged along anyway. "I'm so glad you stayed by my side!" Elsa leans in close to the glass and whispers, so that none of the Aqua Grunts in the cubicles surrounding hers hear her, "I need you to fill me in on what happened in the past month whenever we get out of here..." Roselia takes a step back in surprise when Elsa asks this of her and exclaims, "Selia!" After having dealt with Elsa's Wanda personality for a month, Roselia's glad to see that the Elsa personality she's most fond of is back in control of Elsa's body. "All right, that's enough," yells one of the prison guards keeping watch on the Team Aqua and Team Magma Grunts, "Back to your cells!" "Stay strong, Roselia. Be good, Mudkip." After saying farewell to her first Pokemon and the Mudkip she somehow got from Professor Birch, Elsa is led back to the cell she shares with Mariana. After the guard slams the door to their cell shut, Elsa asks her partner, "How was Corphish, Mari?" "He tried to smash the glass with his bound claws, the loyal bastard," Mariana smirks and shakes her head, "So they took him away before the ten minutes were up. Has jail time hardened that Mudkip of yours?" "Nope, he's still a softie," Elsa comments, pretending that she's familiar with the Mudkip's past antics as Mariana claims the only cot in the jail cell. "Hey! Where am I gonna sleep, Mari?" "That's not my concern, Wanda," Mariana says, pulling a pillow off the floor and covering herself with the sheets she tore away from Elsa earlier, "This cot's too small for the two of us to sleep on without getting overly friendly. I suggest you use the floor." "You're such a good friend," Elsa remarks sarcastically before pulling the torn sheets away from Mariana and using them to make a little bed for herself on the floor. -Elsa