From: "Steffan Alun" <sha3@aber.ac.uk> Subject: [PW!] The Final Straw Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 10:41 AM Moonlight illuminated the plethora of gangs and crowds of people who populated the wild Friday night in one of the rowdier areas of Saffron City. Some people were heading home, but most had barely begun their night out. Hoards of teenagers, many already drunk, walked confidently through the streets, heading for various clubs and parties. Few people noticed the small creature that was running along the pavement, avoiding legs and side-stepping out of the way of high-heels. The creature, a Smoochum, was silently thankful for the buzz of energy in the streets tonight, but she knew it wouldn't last. She needed to find Mike, her trainer's father, as soon as possible. She'd expected this to be easy, considering he was constantly followed by a Loudred who loved to make his voice heard, but Loudred was uncharacteristically silent tonight, it seemed. Suddenly, a nearby group of people started screaming and shrieking. Smoochum prepared to unleash an Ice attack, but was relieved to find that the group was now laughing. One of their number had brought a Horsea out with them, which had apparently used a Water Gun to soak the rest. Smoochum couldn't afford to waste time now. She dodged into an alley, but still there were people in her way. She heard an unpleasant laugh. She looked up to see three or four heavily-built men, one of whom was pointing at her. "Ahahahaha, look at that, boys!" he laughed. "A Smoochum, look!" "Oh, I dare you to kick it!" challenged one of his friends. "Really hard, too, so that it goes flying." "Yeah, that'd be fucking funny," said another. The first grinned maliciously at Smoochum. She cowered, hoping she wouldn't be too badly hurt by the impact. The man jogged over towards her, gave her a look of sarcastic pity, and drew back his foot. "Do it! Do it!" encouraged his friends. "Yeah, kick the bitch!" He swung his foot forwards, and it collided with Smoochum, causing her to fly out of the alley and into the middle of the road. As she'd been kicked, however, Smoochum had exhaled suddenly, and the man's leg was now encrusted with ice. His friends snorted with laughter. The man regarded Smoochum, who was now some distance away, with pure wrath. He bent down and picked up an empty bottle of lemonade and threw it at her. Looking around for heavier litter, he spotted some old, broken bricks near a drain. He picked them up and started throwing them at Smoochum. Smoochum put up her arms to protect her head, and tried to remain silent as the bricks bounced off her body. She didn't want to irritate the stranger further. PokéWars!: Mike Smith "The Final Straw" Steffan Alun "LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD!" whispered Loudred. "You know," said Mike. "When you whisper, your voice really should be all but inaudiable." "LOUD LOUD LOUD!" mentioned Loudred in an undertone. "You certainly need some practice." "Growl!" shouted Growlithe suddenly. He bounded away from Mike into the middle of the road. There was a terrible mess there; it was around four o' clock in the morning, and the debris of a wild summer night covered the area, having not yet been cleared away. Mike rushed after Growlithe, assuming he'd found something trivial, but was shocked to find Smoochum there. She was in a bad state. Mike saw that she'd blocked several cuts and wounds with crusts of ice, and her breathing patterns were erratic. "Oh, no," he breathed. "Oh, Smoochum, I'm so sorry. I didn't even realise you were gone! What happened to you?" Smoochum's eyelids opened a little, but fell shut again immediately. "I'll take you to a Pokémon Centre as soon-" He stopped. He couldn't go to a Pokémon Centre! He wanted to stay in Saffron as long as possible, and that meant he had to avoid being seen. He tried to avoid examining too closely the damage Smoochum had received. "Grrrrowl." "I know, I know," whispered Mike. "I can't believe this happened." He considered his options. If he took her to a Centre, he'd have to leave the city. So what? He'd have to leave eventually anyway. And what would he do when he'd been to EVERY city? Start exploring the sea? Find an island somewhere? No. He couldn't keep running away, hoping for the situation to take care of itself. Seeing his daughter's Smoochum like this... It reminded him that he had to get out of legal trouble for Shelley's sake. He needed to earn enough money to pay for her operation. "That does it," said Mike. "I have to spend money to make money. I'll hire myself a private detective!" "Growl!" "LOUD LOUD LOUD!" "Shut up, Loudred." TBC?