From: "William Rendfeld" <warendfeld@aol.com> Subject: [PW!] Of Sevipers and Snagems Date: Monday, July 12, 2004 1:54 PM Of Sevipers and Snagems "*YAWN* How long have we been out here?" "A few hours." "You'd think finding a snake would be easier." "You remember what he said about the hovercycle; a Seviper and a Black Flute, and he'd give it a new paint job with the once-over. The flute won't be a problem; we just need to run around in a lot of grass. And Sevipers show up around here like weeds." "You've been here before?" "You haven't? Now stop complaining and keep your eye open. Repainting that thing was your idea." Sai Meilan sighed. "And a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." "I'm glad we agree for once," Jason Cassidy replied as he and his ghostly associate made their way through the tall grasses of Route 114. "Now, how to lure out a snake…" "Food, perhaps?" Meilan replied. "Snakes eat rats, birds, and smaller, meatier animals," Jason replied. "Usually live ones. I doubt it will be lured out of hiding by a simple Berry." Almost as soon as those words exited Jason's mouth, a Seviper slithered past his feet towards a nearby Persim Berry tree. With practiced ease, the Seviper took a swipe at a single berry, cutting it from the tree without damaging the tree itself and catching it in her mouth. A contented smile on her face, the Seviper slithered up the tree and prepared to go for another berry. Meilan narrowed her one eye at her associate and said, "Rats and birds, eh?" "Obviously some have their own tastes," Jason replied. "And why are you complaining about this? That's my job." "Call it impatience," Meilan replied. "I feel like I haven't done anything in weeks." Jason growled loudly, then stepped forward, a Poké Ball in hand. "Mightyena, go!" His large, shaggy Mightyena appeared, and immediately saw his 'target'. He bounded towards the tree and barked loudly. The Seviper couldn't help but notice the large, aggressive dog beneath her. She looked down from her perch and asked, "<Something wrong?>" "<Fight me, coward!>" was Mightyena's reply. The Seviper blinked, then asked, "<Why?>" "<Just do it, snake!>" Mightyena barked back. Seviper considered this for a moment, then said, "<You have issues.>" Mightyena growled in turn, then simply rammed the tree. "<Hey, what the...?>" *WHAM* "<Whoa, stop, hold it...!>" *WHAM* "<You're gonna break the...!>" *WHAM* *SNAP* *CRASH* As Mightyena growled at the downed tree, a dazed Seviper slowly slithered from the poor wreck, distracted from her environment by the overall pain she was feeling. She didn't even notice as a single Great Ball connected and sucked her within, and didn't put up a fight. "Isn't that a tad excessive?" Meilan asked as she plucked a single berry from the quickly-decomposing tree. "It got the job done," Jason replied as he picked up the Great Ball. "Now, let's see about that flute." As Jason recalled Mightyena and walked off, Meilan planted the last berry in the ground, and silently hoped that the tree would be restored. - "Okay, how does this work again?" Jason asked the glass-blower. Amidst several coughs, the glass-blower replied, "You run around in the grasses around here, and kick up soot. The soot ends up in the sack, and after you get a certain amount, you bring it back here and I use it to make glass items." "And how many steps does it take to get enough soot for a Black Flute?" Jason asked. "A thousand," the glass-blower replied. "And only in tall grasses around here and Mt. Chimney." Jason sighed. "Great." - Around the area of Route 113, several massive soot clouds began to form around the Glass Workshop as Jason ran about, kicking up dust and soot with few problems. He only stopped every couple minutes to catch his breath, a process that wasn't helped by the high amount of dust and soot in the air. "You know, you could save yourself some hassle by walking rather than running," Meilan noted. "*cough* This is the way I work, alright?" Jason replied. He coughed again, then asked, "And just why aren't you coughing?" "I'm a ghost," Meilan replied. "We don't have lungs." "Then how are you talking to me?" Jason replied. Meilan thought over that for a moment, only to reply, "I've never considered that, actually." Jason growled slightly before asking, "So, how are we doing on soot?" Meilan instantly produced an abacus and quickly tallied things up. "You've taken six hundred twenty steps. That leaves three hundred eighty." Noticing Jason's incredulous glance, she asked, "What?" "Where did that come from?" Jason replied. "My abacus?" Meilan asked. "It's my only possession from the old days; I keep it with me as a reminder." "Of people who are long dead and gone?" Jason asked as he began walking around instead of running. "Of what I had, and will have again one day," Meilan replied. "I've spent a thousand years separated from my loved ones, my people, my culture...things have changed in the world since then. I intend to one day enjoy the world I've watched being born, and not just stand around in it. But I doubt you'd really have thoughts on the matter either way." Jason chose not to dignify that with a response. - Several hundred steps later and a trip back to the glass-blower's shop later, Jason and Meilan began heading back into Fallarbor Town towards the auto shop where they'd left their recent 'acquisition'. Within a few minutes, they entered the shop. "All right, old man, I have your Seviper and your Black Flute," Jason replied as he tossed the Great Ball and the Black Flute onto the man's table. "I want that hovercycle primed and painted now; full black with a flame deco." The burly auto specialist turned around in his chair to look at Jason, and slowly took hold of both items. "Well done, young man. You've fulfilled your end of the bargain quite well. Unfortunately...I won't be fulfilling mine." "You won't?!" Meilan screeched. "We had an arrangement!" "Do you honestly expect me to care?" the beefy man replied as he gingerly stroked his pointy moustache. "There's an old proverb, kid; there's no honor among thieves." "Thieves?" Jason asked. "Rockets?" The beefy man chuckled. "That old washed-up bunch of hacks? Sorry, we're a little better off. We're smarter, for one thing." As a nearby door opened and several goons entered the room, one of them wearing a strange device that fit over his entire left arm, the beefy man explained, "For example, setting up operations in Hoenn, where everyone's so concerned with Aqua and Magma that they forget about any other lawbreakers." As he and his goons readied Poké Balls, he declared, "Hand over your Pokémon, now." Jason's face quickly bore a smug grin. "Sorry, no deals." He quickly chucked out two Poké Balls before prepping another pair, sending out Mightyena and Houndoom to deal with any oncoming threats. The goons responded in turn by unleashing several Pokémon themselves. The two Dark-type canines soon found themselves surrounded by a pair of Barboach, a Zubat, a Slugma, and a Hitmontop. "Houndoom, Mightyena, Bite all you can!" Jason called as he sent out Tyranitar and Umbreon to back them up. "Tyranitar, Crunch! Umbreon, Pursuit!" Jason's four Pokémon quickly attacked, and did some damage, only to find themselves hit hard. Both Barboaches unleashed Earthquake attacks, seriously weakening Houndoom and Tyranitar as well as several of their associates. Zubat and Hitmontop blitzed Tyranitar with their attacks, hitting it with Leech Life and Rolling Kick respectively. Slugma hadn't done anything as it had been knocked unconscious by the first Earthquake. The Slugma was recalled as the thug wearing the strange device took hold of an Ultra Ball with his left hand. As he prepared to chuck the ball, however, Meilan struck hard, swiping at the air and sending a discus of energy towards him. The thug was blown back as Meilan barked, "Jason, recall Tyranitar!" Jason growled, then did as asked. "Keep up the attacks!" Mightyena quickly bit one of the Barboaches hard while Houndoom Roared loudly, forcing the second Barboach back into its Poké Ball. They were quickly met by a Surf attack, however, that knocked Houndoom unconscious and left Mightyena with damage. Umbreon had managed to avoid the attack through pure dumb luck, and Jason quickly replenished his ranks by sending out Absol. "Take them down!" As Mightyena defeated the Barboach before it with a final Bite and Umbreon held off the flying Zubat, Absol's eyes flashed as a psychedelic glow covered his fur. Their attacks were quickly countered by a Giga Drain and Mega Kick from both Zubat and Hitmontop that finished off Mightyena. Jason quickly recalled Mightyena as Absol Slashed at Zubat and Umbreon used Moonlight. Meanwhile, the grunt from earlier began to get back to his feet, the Ultra Ball still clutched firmly in his hand. As the second Barboach returned to the field, Hitmontop and Zubat divided their attention between their targets, attacking Absol with a Wing Attack and Umbreon with a Rolling Kick. Absol countered with a Slash attack that finally knocked out Zubat while Umbreon used Faint Attack against the weakened Barboach. It was about then that the far wall began to buckle. Some minor cracks appeared to form first, followed by the wall beginning to look like an impact crater, before it shattered and crumbled. "Absol!" the Pokémon called in explanation. "Absol ab sol ab absol!" "A wise idea," Meilan replied. "Retreat!" Jason growled, but recalled Absol and rushed to the hovercycle. The grunt, meanwhile, got to his feet and chucked the Poké Ball at the free floating Meilan. "Breon!" As Meilan looked in surprise, Umbreon leapt into the path of the free-flying Ultra Ball. Unexpectedly, the ball opened and sucked the small Dark-type within. Realizing that nothing could be done at that point, Meilan quickly grabbed hold of the hovercycle's sidecar and cried, "Go!" With a small glance towards the still-bobbing Ultra Ball, Jason revved up the engine and tore off out of the garage, going through the door and tearing away. The Ultra Ball stopped bobbing and issued a dull 'ding'. The Umbreon had been captured. The 'auto specialist' smiled, touched his moustache, and said, "Excellent." TBC! [NS: My apologies for not having something more substantial. This was a bit of a rush job, but it may just end up being an interesting little plot. Comments? Thoughts? Spears to throw at my head?] William Rendfeld Creator of Echowarrior and Alex Masters 178,000 Excellent Author Points 1 'I knew odd pokefacts that confused a bread crumb' point. 20 Y2Tech Points