From: "Bandraptor" <bandraptor@yahoo.com> Subject: [PW!] Bricking Up is Hard to Do Date: Friday, June 04, 2004 1:16 AM The beaches of Johto are particularly beautiful during the weeks leading into the beginning of summer, and today is no exception. The sand is clean and dry, the ocean calm and blue. The noontime sun is blazing high in the sky, cutting through the clouds, and reflecting its light off the crystalline surface of the water. It is in this setting that three figures are sitting, eyes closed, frozen in serene poses of meditation. The first is an egg-shaped Togepi. His legs being too short to fold underneath his body, the baby bird Pokemon is sitting on his rump, rather than in a traditional kneeling position. The Hitmontop who's over to his right has very long limbs, and therefore she has no trouble sitting on the backs of her legs. Since she is in a much deeper state of meditation than the Togepi, she isn't bothered when a sudden gust of wind picks up, tugging at the ends of her shirt sleeves and causing the PokeGear that's hanging from her neck to swing back and forth like a pendulum. A red and yellow Magby is seated to the right of the Hitmontop, and he seems to be having the most trouble with the meditative exercise. Although the sand beneath him is soft, his thighs are beginning to ache, and his knees are feeling strained from having to support his body weight for so long. Not wanting to get scolded for breaking seiza early, the Magby screws up his face in concentration, and tries very hard to keep from squirming. "..." The Togepi opens one eye, then the other, and gazes shiftily around. It's been a long time since either of his companions have spoken, and a quick glance to his side tells him that neither of them have moved in the slightest since they first sat down on the Red Rock Isle beach, oh so long ago. The Togepi bites his lip in thought, exposing one of his sharp little fangs in the process. In the months since Cappie the Hitmontop captured him, one thing has been constant--he hasn't been able to get away with *anything*. The accursed Fighting-type hasn't taken her eyes off him, even for a minute. Every time he's come up with a plan to stir up trouble, Cappie has been right there, ready to stop him. Now, however, his foe is incapacitated. At long last, this could be his opportunity to escape. Getting to his feet, the Togepi stands on his tiptoes and waves one of his stubby arms in front of Cappie's face. When this yields no response, he grins in delight, and begins to quietly sneak away... Two arms promptly scoop him up into the air, and Togep the Togepi feels himself being placed on a soft surface. Cappie, more attentive than she'd appeared, leans her face into his field of vision, "Togepy, why don't you sit in my lap for a while?" She suggests, calling her student by his affectionate nickname even though she's scolding him. "I know you're getting bored, but you can't go wandering off by yourself. There are lots of really tough Pokemon on this island, and I don't want you to get hurt." Cappie hugs the helpless baby protectively. "Once you learn martial arts, you'll be able to defend yourself from the mean Pokemon who want to harm you, but right now I want you to stick close to me. Okay?" Togepy chirps cutely, "Toge, togeprrriiii!" Loosely translated, this means, "Rot in hell, bitch." "Good." Cappie says, not understanding the Toge Talk, but assuming that Togepy must be agreeing with her, since she's used to seeing students follow their teachers' commands. She closes her eyes again, and resumes meditation. A few more moments pass in silence, save for the sound of the surf crashing against the beach. When Cappie again opens her mouth, she speaks quietly, so as not to jar her students out of their meditative trances. "I've been thinking. Lately, we've been spending a lot of time working on our upper body techniques. Particularly, Gar, I think you've made a lot of progress with your Karate Chop attack. It might be time for you to start practicing some kicking techniques." "Mag?" Even though Gar the Magby knows Cappie hasn't given him permission to break from his meditative pose, he still jumps to his feet in excitement. "Teacher, mag be mag gam Magby? Rolling Kick?" "Hmm, I haven't decided yet," Cappie admits, having not given much thought to the specific move she plans on teaching Gar. "Maybe Mega Kick. Yeah, that might work." "Bee!" Gar cheers. He's familiar with the English word "Mega," and he thinks that any move with that term in its name has to be really strong. "Well, we'll figure it out later," Cappie declares, "but first, I want to gauge the power of your Karate Chop. Let's see, how should I do this? If we were back home, I would just have you spar with one of the Machops or Tyrogues for a while. But we aren't back home. It's too bad I don't have any students who are more your size, Gar. Then you could have a proper sparring partner." Gar sighs, "Mag." "Oh, I know!" Cappie exclaims, "I'll have you Karate Chop a brick. If you can break it in half with a single chop, I'll know that you've mastered the technique. That just leaves us with one task to handle." Gar tilts his head to one side. "Mag?" The Hitmontop's eyes snap open. "Gar, we must find you a brick." * * * Inside the Red Rock Isle Pokemon Mart, a female clerk is staring across the counter at her current customer. The pink haired Hitmontop is staring back at her, her hands on her hips and her tail swishing angrily as she demands, "What do you mean, 'you don't sell bricks'?" "I mean we don't sell them," the clerk explains, slowly growing annoyed. "None of the stores in Johto sell bricks." Cappie points to a marker board hanging on the wall behind the counter. "But right up there on the 'trade list' it says that you pay top dollar for Brick Pieces. You must have some to sell." "We *buy* Brick Pieces," the clerk replies, "but we don't sell them. We did for a while, until we figured out that it wasn't profitable. Now we just ship the Brick Pieces we buy over to our sister store in Hoenn, where they're painted and sold as furniture." Cappie frowns. "Hoenn?" "Yeah." The clerk nods. "If you want bricks, Hoenn's the place to go. They have Red Bricks, Blue Bricks, Yellow Bricks, Brick Chairs, even Brick Desks." Cappie slaps her hand on the counter. "Okay, then, we're going to Hoenn!" Gar and Togepy both cheer. Togepy's 'cheer' is actually less than encouraging, but nobody seems to notice. "By the way, where is Hoenn?" The clerk lowers one eyebrow skeptically. "It's to the North. The *far* North. It's another country, you see." "No problem," Cappie waves dismissively. "We can get passports." "You'll have to take a ferry back to Olivine, then ride the S. S. Fastship to Hoenn, and the S.S. Tidal to Slateport," the clerk continues. "No problem," Cappie shrugs, "we can get money." "From there, it's about a two week trip to Fortree City, where most of the furniture is manufactured." "Well, it's not like we were doing anything else," Cappie reasons. "So, when's the next ferry leaving for Olivine?" The clerk points out the window. "It's leaving now." Cappie's eyes widen. "Woah, convenient! Come on, Gar, we have to hurry!" She scoops her Togepi up in her arms, and runs to the door. As an afterthought, she pauses at the door to the shop, jogging in place, and calls back to the clerk, "Thank you so much for your advice! Good bye now!" She races down the beach towards the pier, her enormous feet kicking up big clouds of sand as she runs. TBC? [NS: Oh my god, it's a Cappie post! Hell just froze over. Do you hear that, Andrusi?!? HELL JUST FROZE OVER. Now you have to start writing for Cyclonus again.] --Beth