From: "William Rendfeld" <warendfeld@aol.com> Subject: [PW!][SST] Preparing for the Search Date: Sunday, February 08, 2004 9:21 PM Preparing for the Search Loud music, joyous crowds, happy people; the exact kind of thing that you hope to find on a cruise ship, especially with many happy and excited people enjoying themselves for the night. On the Main Deck of the SS Tidal, Cassandra Gale happily took in a breath of air, and exhaled happily. "This is what I live for," she replied happily. "The night life." "Control yourself, Cass," her younger half-sibling, Alexandria Masters, chided her. "We're here for more than just a simple party on deck." The two girls sat waiting at a small table on the edge of the party, the rest of their 'group' having yet to arrive. With them sat another member of their little party; Aerie, who had remained silent since Alex's earlier talk with her mother. Noticing the look of despair on her young friend's face, Alex gently wrapped a jacketed arm around the younger girl and asked, "Still bummed about earlier, huh?" "Can you blame me?" Aerie asked in reply. "I'm glad that you wanted to help me out, Alex, but..." "But the scars your mom has run deep," Alex replied. "And they aren't entirely from your dad. She had a rough life growing up. But maybe what I said to her will get her thinking more about you than about her." "You really think so?" Aerie asked. "I hope so," Alex replied. "But until then, and afterwards, I'll be here for you. Just because your mom didn't have friends she could trust doesn't mean you can't." Aerie smiled, then hugged the older girl and replied, "Thanks Alex." "It's no problem," Alex replied, holding the younger girl close. "And she isn't the only one who's going to gonna be there for you," another voice replied. Aerie and Alex both looked up to find a very familiar wereNinetales standing nearby, wearing an elegant white gown which, quite frankly, looked very good on her. A familiar minoTaurus stood nearby, a small smirk on his face. "Kitsu!" Aerie cried out, rushing to the girl before them. Kitsu knelt down and held Aerie in her arms, glad to see the younger girl despite what had happened earlier in the day. "Good to see you're back in high spirits," she noted with a smile as the two ended their embrace. "What am I, chopped liver?" Keaton asked with a sarcastic snort. "I'm glad to see you too," Aerie replied with a grin. "Did Alex ask you both here?" "Yeah," Keaton replied. "Though I don't think we really are needed. It's not like you couldn't've filled us in later." "I prefer to take care of things as quickly as possible," Alex explained. "It's a family thing." "Nothing wrong with that," Derek Fisher said as he arrived, Chan the Medicham in tow. "Have I missed anything?" "Nope," Alex replied. "We're still waiting for Ben and Tsunade, that's all." The wait didn't last long as 'Tsunade', rather, Nori, arrived with Rubix the Blastoise in tow and Big Time the Larvitar held protectively in her arms. "Evening," was her simple greeting. "You look beat," Cass replied. "Rough time after lunch and shopping?" "Not like she hasn't caused herself enough trouble," Rubix grumbled. Big Time, meanwhile, darted his gaze between the various people around him. He didn't recognize many of them, save for the tall redheaded girl who had been with Nori when she had retrieved him. Despite his natural impulse to try and leave, Big Time remained resolute; he didn't want to let Smasher down, after all. The final member of the party arrived shortly afterwards as Ben limped over to them, the pain from his leg still with him. Mawile walked slowly at his side, half afraid that he would be forcibly taken from his trainer again shortly. "Sorry I took so long," Ben said with a slight groan. "The medics wanted to make sure there wasn't any lasting damage." "Ile mawile," Mawile noted softly, a sorrowful expression on his face. Ben glanced down at the small Pokémon with the large jaw and replied, "Hey, it's not your fault, Mawile. You didn't mean to hurt me, I know." "Probably misses his old perch, too," Alex noted. A thought quickly coming to her, she dove into her nearby backpack and pulled out an old leather belt. "May I?" "Go ahead," Ben replied, wondering just what his girlfriend was planning. Alex quickly tied one end of the belt through one of Ben's belt loops, leaving it dangling at his side. She turned to Mawile and said, "There. This way, you won't hurt him." Mawile looked at the leather belt tentatively, then took hold with his large jaw. With a thumbs up, Mawile replied, "Maw!" "Welcome," Alex replied. "Now then, since we're all here, why don't we get started?" The eight humanoids gathered around the table and took their seats, the free-roaming Pokémon each taking up positions as best they could. Chan, Rubix and Surtur chose to stand, while ShadowWarrior remained upon Alex's shoulder and Big Time in Nori's arms. "Well, we all know why we're here," Alex replied. "The search for Smasher." "Blasted by a Hyper Beam at the end of the Silver Conference," Aerie summarized, her face becoming slightly downcast. "Hopefully somewhere in Hoenn." "Somewhere where only a few of us have actually been," Kitsu noted. "So, what do we know?" "One, that Smasher landed somewhere in Hoenn," Alex replied, counting the facts off on one hand. "Two, that for all we know at this point, he's alive, and we have no reason to think otherwise." Big Time's attention was grabbed by that last sentence; they actually *were* going to look for Smasher. But how could they find him? What they said at this point was fairly vague. "So how can we find him?" Keaton asked. "Granted, he's not that hard to miss, but that doesn't mean we can't miss him." "That's why we're pretty much left to finding him the old fashioned way," Alex replied, reaching into her bag and pulling out a large map. She laid the map out on a table and pointed out with her finger, "By tomorrow morning, the Tidal should dock at Littleroot Port. From there, it's a half-hour's walk to Littleroot Town proper and Professor Birch's lab. He knows me and Cass, and there's at least a small chance that he'll be able to give us some information." "No problem so far," Derek noted. "I've been meaning to talk to him about Torch anyway." Surtur thought this a wise idea; he thought the idea of an alcoholic Blaziken was belittling to the entire breed. Still, he had no right to make a fuss out of it. "And from there, what?" Nori asked. "The standard issue Trainer's route," Alex replied. "If I know Smasher, he won't pass up a challenge like the Hoenn League. Besides, Nurse Joys tend to run a fairly tight communications network between themselves, and he kinda stands out; chances are good that at least one Joy will have seen him." "Or at least that Arcanine of his," Kitsu noted. "Considering how much of a Don Juan that pup acts like, I wouldn't be surprised if every Joy has heard of him." "So we travel from town to town on a blind search," Aerie noted glumly. "Not totally blind," Alex reminded her. "I've identified Smasher's particular vibe; I can spot him easy, especially after your dad's tutoring." "Any places in particular that we may want to keep a particular eye on with him?" Kitsu asked. Alex pointed to a large volcano towards the northwest section of the map. "Mt. Chimney is the first that springs to mind. It's an active volcano, usually spews ash down upon Fallarbor Town and the surrounding area. Not very dangerous, but I doubt that Smasher would pass up an opportunity to take a look, being the thrill-seeker that he is." "Larvitar," Big Time said in agreement. Alex moved her hand towards a second region on the map; a small island with a tall mountain upon it. "The second place is Mt. Pyre. It's kind of like Hoenn's answer to the Soul House in Lavender Town, only far larger. There are plenty of spirits wandering about, so if Smasher ever wanted to practice his Channeler skills, that'd be the first place he'd go." "Assuming he finds out about it," Aerie noted. "Still, it's an idea," Alex replied. "Anything else I should be aware of?" "Smasher wouldn't pass up a comic book or Animé convention," Kitsu said. "Any place that may have those on occasion?" "There are convention centers at both Slateport and Lilycove," Alex replied. "He may or may not show up, but it wouldn't hurt to check them out, should we come across one." "Not like we'd need costumes," Keaton said with a chuckle. Alex brought the map up and neatly folded it before placing it back in her bag. She returned her attention to those gathered and said, "I suggest we start heading towards Littleroot town as soon as possible. If anyone has anything they want to say or suggest, or if they want to back out, now's the time to say it." TBC? [NS: I kinda doubt that anyone wants to back out, but I wanted to leave the option open. Also, if anyone wants to join in, it wouldn't be too hard to eavesdrop...] William Rendfeld Creator of Echowarrior, the Pokémon Resistance, and Alex Masters 178,000 Excellent Author Points 1 'I knew odd pokefacts that confused a bread crumb' point. 20 Y2Tech Points