From: "MechaGojira - (Witty Phrase)" <jorgenospam@rocketpunch.net> Subject: [PW!] "PokéWhat?" Dan Sets Off Date: Thursday, January 08, 2004 1:29 AM "Noin, ein, noin." Red clouds form beneath a black sky, summoning fierce crimson lightning and rain, and ultimately fading into a vast nothing. It's a crazy recurring dream. Dan Ando, asleep within the security of his olive-green bedsheet, fumbles around awkwardly, before he rolls off his bed into a pile of his clothing. Just as he starts to become comfortable in this spot, his is awakened to a puppy's barking. It's a Houndour. "Zoffy, do you know what time it is?" "(6 o'clock)" "...do you know what time I fell asleep last night?" "(2 o'clock)" "Do you know how many hours that means I've slept?" "(4 hours, Dan.)" "I sleep eight. Good night." With that said, Dan's head disappears into his blanket. The hungry Houndour walks to the kitchen, determined to have breakfast. Clumsy, clumsy Houndour... rustle...rustle.... ....KPFHSHHHKCLANKCLINKKPFFDING... ...clink Dan rises from his zombie-like state, irritated. "Hm. Zoffy." He scratches his gravity defying, black-brown hair and considers some coffee. ==== PokéWars! "PokéWhat?" Dan Sets Off MechaGojira ==== "I'm going the office today, Zoff. Boss wants to see me about something." Dan sets a bowl of food for Zoffy, while sharing his itinerary for the day. "And don't answer the phone, if someone calls, they probably wont understand you. ...If someone calls." Zoffy rolls his eyes. "Bye. When Apollo wakes up, let him know where I'm at." **** Dan locks his bike onto a rusty old rack in front of a grungy apartment building. He walks into the alley beside it and steps into a door. Without delay, the elevator doors open. Inside is a beautiful girl, about Dan's age. Shoulder length black hair, fair skin, green eyes framed with black rimmed glasses, gorgeous lips. Stunning, red lips. He notices her eyebrow piercing, "She's a wild one," he thinks to himself. She looks into Dan's eyes, and he into hers. He closes his eyes. "Whatcha smilin' about?" Dan takes a second look, and sees no one beside to him or behind him, but sees Gena in front of him, walking in through the elevator door with back issues of the Celadon Xpoze in her hands. It's her. Shoulder length black hair, fair skin, green eyes framed with black rimmed glasses, gorgeous lips. Stunning, red lips. He notices her eyebrow piercing, "Huh, she's *pretty*," he thinks to himself. She looks into Dan's eyes, and he looks at the floor. Awkward silence ensues for a few moments. Dan grins, "I take the pictures. Eheh." "So I've seen. I think that's pretty cool." Dan sways back and forth as the elevator approaches the third sub-basement. "This is our floor." "Uh, yeah. Yeah, it is." "I'll see you." "I'm sure of it. Seeya, Dan." she says, smiling. Dan blushes. The Celadon Xpoze is a small publication. They print 2500 copies of their small, pamphlet-esque newspaper each week, and they are passed out for free on city street corners, gas stations, supermarkets, restaurants, and similar locations. Dan approaches an open door in the middle of an unpainted, brick colored hallway. A 30-something year old with thinning black hair, a thick beard and thick, red-rimmed glasses greets him, as does Gena, who is discussing something of importance with him. "Sit down, Dan," Tem says, "this will be of interest to you." "So like, some psycho in Cerulean is all like, 'All the Pokemon are being taken via intergalactic spaceship by aliens.', or something, and I kindly tell him that we're not interested in publishing news of that nature. So, a while later, Chip tells me he has something. On the boards, he read, all sorts of water Pokemon have been vanishing in Cerulean. I'm assuming the creep who called in first is misreporting the circumstances, but if they're really vanishing like this... I tell Chip it's probably something like those Rockets, you know... those Team Rockets?" "Hear that, Dan? Vanishing Pokemon." "Sounds pretty bad. I know I wouldn't want one of mine to be missing in the morning." "I want you to cover this story as it develops... what could be going on, the ongoing investigations, owner reactions, et cetera. You're not a detective, but I know you can dig deep and get us some facts. Find out if this is some kind of hoax or prank or anything like that... or if it's something more vile than that. Ohhhh, and if we get this before the Tribune..." "Oh.. of course, sir, I'd be more than happy to do it and I'm even getting into Pokemon training myself, so..." "Good to hear, kid! I'm sure you'll have the time to get started on the story and do your little bit of training in the mean time. And hey, and this'll be your first story outside of Celadon!" "Heh.. Yeah, first time." "Best of luck, Dan." "Thank you, sir. I'll be going now, I guess." Gena winks at Dan, "You get 'em, Dan." He blushes and mutters something incoherent. Later that evening, Dan prepares for his trip to Cerulean. He packs his black backpack with enough changes of clothes to last him a few days. He packs a portable computer, a small voice recorder, a few notepads, and a few other gadgets and gizmos. Most importantly, he takes some newly purchased Pokéballs, and slips them into the side pocket. Putting the pack aside, Dan lays on his old, worn couch, and tells Zoffy and his Elekid, Apollo, what they'll be doing the next few days. He explains the basics of Pokemon training, and how they'll be doing that while covering the mysterious disappearances, and how it might mean that they'll have some new friends, and grow stronger with them. They like the idea. With that out of the way, Dan retires for the night. "Noin, ein, noin." Red clouds form beneath a black sky, summoning fierce crimson lightning and rain, and ultimately fading into a vast nothing. It's a crazy recurring dream. Dan awakens early the next morning. He checks his pack to ensure that he has everything he'll need for the next day or two, and sets off for with Zoffy and Apollo. They'll be taking Route 7 to Saffron. "I... I think I heard something in those bushes. What do I do next?" he thinks. TBC. -- MechaGojira #28 http://www.rocketpunch.net jorge[at]rocketpunch[dot]net