From: "STEFFAN HEDD ALUN" <sha3@aber.ac.uk> Subject: [PW!] Meet Team Magma Date: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 3:18 PM Few people paid attention to the wreckage of New Mauville any more. Its destruction was old news. The few who'd cared were no longer bothered. This was fortunate for the small Team Magma group who now based their operations inside. The privacy more than compensated for the discomfort. At least, this was what Victor insisted whenever his inferiors questioned his decision. Victor was incredibly tall and lean, and unlike most Magmas, opted to discard his traditional blood-red uniform in favour of a dark maroon suit and black bowler hat. "Where are the others now?" asked Victor, talking to Blaithe. Blaithe, a fairly introverted but nonetheless ruthless man, sat crosslegged on the floor, his skintight uniform fitting his lean body perfectly. "They've both gone to check out Slateport," replied Blaithe. He shifted back towards the shadows, where he looked around warily. "Idiots," muttered Victor. "They'd better be keeping a low profile." PokéWars!: Vixxen Folds and Karl Weiser "Meet Team Magma" Amber Foxwing and Steffan Alun Meanwhile, in the marketplace, a boy with white hair named Karl was feeling edgy. He'd spotted that his recent companion, Vixxen, a girl who was part-Raichu, had lost her portable television. He was deathly afraid of how she'd react to realising this. "Isn't it COOL?" Vixxen squealed, brandishing whatever plastic treasure she had found. Karl gulped as he realized that she still had no idea of the theft. "See? It's called a cupie doll!" She read the label, oblivious to the look she was getting from Karl. "And it's ADORABLE!" She commenced babbling about the doll. "And its all little and cute and sweet and adorable and I----whoa.....wait a sec...." She glanced around her, confused at first. She thrust the hand holding the cupie doll into her pocket as she started stammering, "it's not here...its' gone!" the man behind the stand yelled, "HEY get that out of your pocket! You gonna pay for it?!" She promptly ignored this, as she groped through her cloak, her stammers getting more and more hurried as panic rose in her voice. She whirled around to Karl and looked at him, her eyes wide with fear for her possession. "KARL!! MY TEEVEE IS GONE!!" She dropped the cupie doll to the ground and suddenly her eyes matched the flames on her shirt. "Don't worry," said Karl, who sounded pretty worried himself. "We'll get it back. Just don't-" "MY FRIENDS WERE IN THAT TEEVEE!!" she wailed, grabbing Karl by the shirtcollar and sparking ominously. Remembering Vixxen's curious bond with her television, Karl decided to be a bit more helpful. "Don't worry," he said softly, releasing Nomak, his Farfetch'd. "Nomak here'll be able to track down the thief, and we'll...I dunno, teach him a lesson...or something. Um." "Good idea!" she said, suddenly releasing him and thumping her fist on her outstretched hand. "I have an expert in espionage, right here!" She withdrew a pokeball. "Dementichu, get your pale white butt out here!" "Humans," came the quiet hiss as the creature materialized. The vegge-vampiric albino pikachu swirled its cape around itself and blinked as it adjusted itself to the sunlight. Suddenly catching a glimpse at Vixxen behind it, the creature gave a toothy, vampiric grin. "Chu-chan, how fares your day?" "My teevee was stolen," Vixxen whimpered to the white rodent, who looked back at her blankly. "Teevee! All of my friends are in that! It's my favourite possession!" He shook his head. "Chu-chan I do not understand." "TELEVISION," Vixxen shouted, dragging the thing up by the cape. "Whatever it is is upsetting Chu-chan!" the thing declared, patting her hand. "I shall help you recover this...teevee." He turned to Karl. "You...human. What are you? Why is your hair white?" He peered at him suspiciously. "WHAT am I? I'm a trainer, and my hair is hardly an issue here. I'm trying to help Vixxen get her television back, and we'd be doing so much quicker if you'd start cooperating." Dementichu sent a quick jolt of electricity into Karl's hand, paralysing it, and causing Vixxen to drop him. "How dare you accuse me in such a manner, human? Chu-chan's interests are equally my own." He turned away from Karl. "Besides which, I cooperate with none of YOUR kind." Nomak slowly approached the strange, cloaked Pokémon, and gently prodded him with his leek. Dementichu's nostrils flared briefly and it whirled around, sinking its fangs into Nomak's leek. It began sucking noisily as the color from the leek started to fade. "Far! FAR!" screeched Nomak, feeling the need to repeat his detailed rant. He pulled his leek away with force, pulling Dementichu's face along with it. He removed the leek from Dementichu's fangs, and examined for damage. As an afterthought, he hit it over Dementichu's head. "YOU INSOLANT CREATURE!" shrieked Dementichu, clasping his needle-like claws over his new injury. "This shall flourish into a bruise, I'm most certain, you filthy foul bird!" He began storing electricity and -- strangely enough -- it sparked green instead of yellow or blue. "Take this, you rodent!" He shot his attack at Nomak. "We'd better split up," said Vixxen, as Nomak started attacking Dementichu in a flurry of leek swipes, receiving much more damage from Dementichu's electricity in return. "We'll cover more ground that way. Besides, it doesn't seem these two are likely to get on very well." Karl stared at her in horrified silence. Being alone suddenly seemed a lot scarier. It's a dangerous time, he thought, when Vixxen's company seems preferable to no company. TBC? -- Steffan Alun http://iceduck.pkmn.co.uk/ - my site http://www.pkmn.co.uk/ - want Pokeyman? http://iceduck.pkmn.co.uk/mcw/ - Milk Cap Wars!