From: "Bandraptor" <bandraptor@yahoo.com> Subject: [PW!] [SST] Contesting a Capture Date: Thursday, January 29, 2004 6:52 AM Blizzard, a snowy-white Persian, is splayed out across what is undoubtedly the most comfortable seat in Nori's cabin onboard the S.S. Tidal--the bed. Not only is the puma-sized Classy Cat currently occupying the entire mattress, but she has also appropriated every pillow in the room, to ensure her own comfort. A catty smile is apparent on the Persian's face as she partakes in her midmorning nap, and to further emphasize her contentment, the ivory feline is purring loudly. Every so often, Blizzard stretches her limbs, straining towards the edges of the bed. After doing this, she unfailing releases a long sigh, ever so pleased with her current living arrangements. The remainder of Nori's Pokemon are crowded together in the portion of the room that is not occupied by the bed. Anubis the Houndour, Set the Natu, Magby the Delibird, and Smasher's Larvitar, Big Time, are sitting on the uncomfortably hard wooden floor--the first three are in plain sight, while the fourth is hiding behind a dresser, where he thinks nobody can see him. Rubix the Blastoise is standing in a corner, with his shell against the wall, unable to move at all, for fear of stepping on the smaller Pokemon. All five Pokemon are looking rather stiff and crabby, having slept very poorly during their first night aboard the cruise ship--thanks mostly to the cramped sleeping conditions--and they are eyeing the Persian with no small amount of resentment. Rubix clears his throat, and asks, "So, Blizzard. How's that bed?" "<Befitting of its occupant.>" The Persian meows. As she speaks, she begins to give herself a tongue bath, not because she needs one, but because she doesn't think the Blastoise deserves her full attention. "<Take from this a lesson, cryptodiran troglodyte: had you offered the Pokemon Brotherhood more acceptable accommodations during our past visits, perhaps we would still be frequenting your abode. As things stand, I am afraid we will have to bypass your apartment in favor of this cruise ship, come our next affair.>" Rubix snaps, "Who invited you into my apartment in the first place?!?" "Would you two be quiet? I'm trying to read..." Nori is sitting on the only other piece of furniture in the room, a small armchair that's crammed between the bed and the dresser. She's sitting in the chair sideways, with her back propped against the chest of drawers, her legs dangling over the arm of the chair, and her feet resting on the bed frame. She is currently wearing a bikini, which she put on earlier in the morning, with the intention of taking her Delibird to visit the ship's pool; but she's been putting off going out on deck for the past hour, as the bathing suit is of the sleeveless variety, and Nori is self-conscious about the scar on her shoulder. At the present, she is stalling for time by reading through the S.S. Tidal's informational brochure, which contains numerous factoids about the ship, as well as an event schedule for the weekend. Nori looks away from the brochure long enough to admonish her Blastoise, "Rubix, first of all, Blizzard is valuable because of her coat, and if she gets stressed out, she might start losing fur. We have to make sure that she's as comfortable as possible, and that means that she gets to eat extra servings of food, and sleep on the bed. Secondly, she isn't going to be with us for very long. As soon as we arrive in Hoenn, I'm going to send her to Giovanni. I hear that the Pokemon Centers' trading machines have been upgraded, so now it's possible to transfer Pokemon to people in different countries--" Rubix cuts her off. "You know, you're not very consistent. I'm all for selling Blizzard into slavery, but that's because I want her to suffer. You, on the other hand, claim to believe that Pokemon Training is immoral, and if that's the case, you shouldn't be helping the leader of Team Rocket." Nori heaves an exaggerated sigh, and puts the brochure down, knowing that this conversation might last a while. "We've been through this already--the ends justify the means. My main interest is finding a way to abolish Pokemon slavery, but doing that isn't as simple as bullying Trainers into releasing their current Pokemon. I need to find a way to prevent wild Pokemon from being captured." Nori explains, "Team Rocket started the Movedex project because Giovanni wanted to unlock the secrets of what he called 'devastation moves'--horrifically powerful attacks designed to kill their targets. His plan was to teach the devastation moves to every Pokemon controlled by Team Rocket, then use them to destroy all opposition--but I think the devastation moves could be put to better use by Pokemon in the wild. If wild Pokemon possessed the devastation moves, they'd have a dependable line of defense against the Trainers who seek to capture them." "Your point?" "My point is, Giovanni's funding this mission, and until I've completed my work on Movedex, I'll do what it takes to keep him happy. If he wants Blizzard, I'll give him Blizzard." Nori thinks for a moment before adding, "Even if he wasn't funding the Movedex project, I'd still be loyal to Giovanni. I owe him everything I have. He took me in when nobody else would." She trains her eyes on the ground, "If I didn't screw up so often, he probably wouldn't treat me so badly." "Your point being that you're an enabler." Rubix summarizes. "I take it you're going to spend the rest of the day moping?" Nori gives the matter some serious consideration. Finally, she makes up her mind, and pulls a shirt on over her bikini top. "Nah. I promised Magby I'd take her swimming." She motions to the brochure, "Also, I want to get over to the main deck before 2:00 pm. According to the event schedule, Captain Stern is going to be hosting a series of Hoenn-style Pokemon Contests this afternoon, and I'd like to enter Anubis in the Tough Contest." Rubix casts a glance at Nori's Houndour, who is not only unusually cute and fluffy for a member of his species, but is also extremely lazy, and has a friendly expression permanently plastered on his face--even now, when he's somewhat cranky. "I think you'd better rethink that plan." "Hmm...maybe a Cute Contest would be a better fit?" Nori leans over to pet Anubis, and when she does, her eyes fall on the Natu who's seated beside him. "Set, how about you? Would you like to compete in one of the Pokemon Contests?" "Naah." Set shakes his head, since the prospect doesn't interest him. "Deri! Delibird!" Magby cries enthusiastically, because she definitely wants to compete in a Pokemon Contest! She doesn't know what participating in a Pokemon Contest entails, but if she doesn't grab this chance, she may never have another opportunity to enter one. Magby wants to experience as much as she possibly can before she returns to her home on the Ice Path, so she is eager to try anything new. "Tu?" Set snaps out of his apathetic state when he hears Magby's proposal. He promptly hits her with a Psychic attack, enraged that she's trying to monopolize his Trainer's attention! That done, he begins to chirp very loudly, "Natu! Natu!" "What? Now you want to compete?" Nori looks at the Natu skeptically. "Well, okay. I'll register all three of you." Nori quickly considers her remaining teammates, trying to decide if there are any other Pokemon that she can register, "Rubix, I'm guessing you don't want to enter, Big Time's hiding behind the dresser, Cerberus and that Gardevoir are too violent to be released in public, and Blizzard might get injured in the competition, so I think I'd better leave her here, where it's safe." Nori recalls the Persian into her Pokeball, then removes the excess balls from her belt, and places them on top of the dresser, not wanting any of them to trigger accidentally while she's at the pool. She wraps the Pokebelt loosely around her waist, and starts towards the door, "Rubix, are you going to watch us compete?" Rubix follows her outside, "I suppose I'm expected to." Exactly one minute after Nori and her collection of Pokemon have disappeared down the hallway, a pair of sticky, wet tentacles wrap themselves around her door knob. While the door to Nori's cabin does require a key, Sting the Tentacool is not concerned about this security measure, for he has had quite a bit of practice at breaking and entering. He swiftly melts through the lock with his Acid attack, then kicks the door open, and scuttles inside. Sting darts nervously around the room, anxious to locate Blizzard before the human who captured her returns. "Coolta!" Sting curses when he sees that there are no fewer than three Pokeballs on the dresser, "<Which one is hers?!>" "Grrraaan." Avalanche the Tyranitar pokes his head into the room. "<Can you check?>" Sting experimentally taps the nearest Pokeball with his tentacle, causing it to pop open. A ghostly green Gardevoir appears in the air in front of him. The inexplicably violent Psychic-type fixes the Tentacool with a deadly glare, and hisses, "It would seem that you chose the wrong Pokeball. Sadly, you won't live to learn from your mistake." Sting wastes no time in pressing the recall button on the Gardevoir's Pokeball. Unnerved by the threat, and thinking it might be indicative of what Nori will do to him if she catches him in her room, he hastily plucks the remaining Pokeballs from the shelf, and hurries out of the cabin. Sting is nearly to the end of the hallway, before Avalanche notices that his accomplice is fleeing, and slowly begins to follow suit. * * * By 1:30, a large number of Trainers have gathered on the main deck of the S.S. Tidal. Some have come specifically with the intention of participating in the Pokemon Games, but since the main deck happens to be a thoroughfare, many of the onlookers are simply people who stopped to watch the proceedings, after noticing the commotion while on their way to other sections of the ship. In preparation for the Beauty Contest, the pool on the main deck has been closed off to swimmers; and a number of card tables and jigsaw puzzles have been brought up from the ship's game room, in preparation for the Smart Contest. A padded, blue floor mat has been spread on the deck to the left of the pool, and a muscular Hariyama is using his enormous hands to lay down the barbells that will be used during the Tough Contest, sometimes hefting two or three of them onto the mat at a time. While Nori is distancing herself from the Hariyama, due to her intense fear of Fighting-types, she still takes note of the size of the barbells. She sweatdrops, and admits to her Blastoise, "It's a good thing I didn't enter Anubis in the Tough Contest. I don't think he'd have much chance of winning, unless he spontaneously evolved into something with opposable thumbs." A loud burst of static resounds through a set of newly erected speakers, calling the crowd's attention over to a makeshift judge's table, which has been set up behind the pool. Captain Stern, a black-haired man with thick glasses, who currently has a gold judge's badge pinned to his white lab coat, taps his index finger against the top of his microphone once again, before addressing the crowd. "Good afternoon! I am Captain Stern, your cruise director!" He launches into his scripted speech, "On behalf of the ship's crew, I hope you all enjoyed your first night aboard the S.S. Tidal. We have a number of events planned for you today, and we'll be kicking things off with a series of Pokemon Games. Before we start, let's have a round of applause for our ship's Pokemon Coordinators, who helped to organize today's games!" Captain Stern emphatically gestures to the two people who are sitting beside him at the judge's table. The Coordinators smile, and wave at the crowd, accepting the applause. "Now," Captain Stern continues, "I would like to remind our contestants that today's games are not official Pokemon Contests, and therefore, we will not be awarding any ribbons. However, we'll be giving out some lovely prizes to our winners, and our Coordinators will be distributing Contest Passes, valid for entry to Verdanturf's Normal Rank Contest Hall, to anyone who would like one. With that said," Stern glances at his watch, "it is now 1:45, and we will be accepting entries until 2:00! If you are interested in participating, please pick up an entry form at the judge's table!" TBC? --Beth