From: "STEFFAN HEDD ALUN" <sha3@aber.ac.uk> Subject: [PW!] Slateport Calling Date: Friday, April 23, 2004 2:17 PM Slateport city. Busy day, as usual. As most people make their way to the market, two strangers to the city exit the harbour. "Aaahh," breathed the short, stocky man known as Diego. "Smell that wonderful sea air!" "You mean the sea air we've been smelling for the last month?" asked his tall, thin partner Lauren sarcastically. "Well, it's nice to smell it away from the ship," muttered Diego grumpily. "For the last time, we didn't have a choice," snapped Lauren. "That security guard had the whole ship covered. We're lucky to be off so soon." Indeed, the notorious smugglers had made their escape to pilfer and steal another day. This freedom had come at a cost, however, as they were dressed as an upper-class couple, wearing clothing they'd snatched from some random luggage. Diego, height impared, was forced to don women's clothing. He wasn't as unhappy about this situation as one might have thought. "Right!" exclaimed Lauren, who wore the trousers in more ways than one. "We need a phone. That's your job, "darling"." "The Centre, then," said Diego, heading off for the nearby Pokémon Centre. PokéWars!: Lauren and Diego Slateport Calling Steffan Alun It wasn't very busy inside. The villains made their way over to the phone. Lauren dialled. "Let me do the talking," said Lauren. This was not particularly necessary, as Diego was unable to reach the receiver. "Talk," snapped a voice at the other end of the line. "Lauren speaking," said Lauren. "On behalf of...myself and Diego." "Lauren and Diego. Right." There was a rustling of papers. "Ah, yes, got your mission reports right here. You took a bunch of Pokémon to sell in Hoenn, right?" "That's right," replied Lauren. "The number of PokéBalls you actually took with you seems to be quite messily written, though. How many was it? Twelve or thirteen?" "Itwereabou'oneIfink," muttered Lauren in her mumbliest voice. "I'm sorry?" "Abou'oneIfink." "ONE?!" "Abou'tha'yeh." "You went all the way to Hoenn to sell a single PokéBall? How much did you get for it?" Lauren's eyes widened in panic. She hadn't managed to sell the PokéBall. In fact, it had been stolen on the ship. "Not'adtimetersellityet," she mumbled. "Oh. I see." There was a long silence during which Lauren thought she could hear other people talking to each other. Eventually, someone returned. "Ok, we've sorted it out," came the voice again. "It's becoming unprofitable to pay for your ships, even at the reduced rate of the recent SS Tidal crossing, so you're to hold the fort in Hoenn for a while." "What the-" "Snag some rare foreign Pokémon for us. We'll trade them to Kanto via trading machines instead of bringing you two back as well." "But what about-" "Oh, and watch out for Team Magma and Team Aqua. There's some gang warfare between the two, I believe, but I trust your levels of expertise extend to playing them off each other, right?" "Of course." Lauren laughed. Her and Diego's skills had always been in disguising and acting. Before she realised what she was doing, she'd already worked out seven ways to trick the foreign teams. "I'll expect you to contact back with results by the end of the week. We're done." He hung up. "Excuse me!" snapped a voice behind them. Lauren and Diego slowly spun around to see Nurse Joy looking aggrivated. "Don't you two have Pokémon to attend to? Or are you just freeloading to take advantage of our phone services?" Diego needed a lie. The expert that he was, he said, "Our friends have taken our Pokémon to the contest. We're just here to check up on medicinal supplies and such." "Then you'd be better off in the market," huffed Nurse Joy, walking back to her counter. "Good one," commended Lauren in an undertone. "How'd you know there was a contest on?" Diego indicated the right-hand wall, which was plastered in dozens of huge posters advertising the event and various pictures from past contests. Lauren's jaw dropped open. "Diego! That's it!" She approached the wall. She looked at a picture of someone holding up a golden cup, a Swablu at her side. "We need foreign Pokémon, right?" "So we'll steal the competitors' monsters!" finished Diego. "NO, you fool. We'll ask them for hints on catching wild Pokémon." "Oh. Right." TBC?