From: NMVdS <nmvds@aol.computers> Subject: [PW!] Gil Bates versus Steve Fugues: Round II Date: Monday, May 24, 1999 7:00 PM It was an ordinary day for the scientists in Pewter City. Wait, scratch that. They were, in fact, scientists. And they were in Pewter City. And it was during the day. But it was not an "ordinary" day. Because today would be the day that Gil Bates and his Rocket lackey would break in. "To rid the world of opposition, to assume a leadership position," Gil Bates's henchman, Gordon Murray began to state. "To make the world do as I tell 'em," Gil continued, "and have them buy all that I sell them." "Gordon." "Bates." "The course of action which you chose..." "Doesn't matter, for you will lose." ************* "That'll be $100 for the two of you," the man behind the counter informed. "Here you go," Steve Fugues said as he began to enter into the museum. "I thought you were broke?" Karen asked. "In terms in what it costs for a year's tuition at Pokemon Tech, I am," Steve told her. "A decent education costs an arm and a leg now and days. Otherwise ... while I'm not rich, I should have enough to hold us over for a while." "Kabutops fossil," said a tour guide." These creatures reside in mystery, and little of their past is known." "My, my, who does that remind you of?" Karen smirked. "That's not funny," Steve said. Not funny but true. Ever since he was attacked by an Alakazam, he had trouble remembering his past. "Steve, what do you think this Kabutops was thinking before it died?" Karen asked. "Probably, 'gee, I hope that scientists don't take my bones a hundred years from now and hang them up in a museum,'" Steve replied. "Seriously," Karen persisted. "I am serious," Steve pointed out. "It's an interesting decision. When you die, would you see it a glorious to be one of the few representatives to prove the existence of your species? Or would you see it as disrespectful to the dead?" "And here we have the Aerodactly, which scientists speculate to be a combination of rock and flying type Pokemon," the tour guide continued. "Wow, imagine being heavy from the rock aspect and yet being able to by agile enough to fly at the same time," said Steve, "it must have been the Muhammad Ali of it's time. Float like a flying type, sting like a rock." "Hmmmmm..." Karen mumbled to herself. Steve had an interesting mindset that she never saw before. One in constant need to make a joke. Perhaps it was an act of arrogance and an attempt to show off. Or perhaps it was the opposite. Perhaps it was lot self-esteem and an attempt to gain attention. *********** "Team Rocket has taken recent interest in the realm of science," Gil explained. "As you may or may not know, they have also traditionally had a strong interest in the realm of Pokemon. Put the two together and you have something special." "So what do you want?" one of the scientists asked. "What I want is world domination," Gil replied, "nothing less, nothing more." "I think that what my colleague is trying to ask," another scientist began, "is why are you here?" "I heard you were experimenting with technology involving genetics," Gil began. "I would like to know where the equipment is stored." *********** "These are moonstones," said the tour guide, "extremely rare. The closest thing on Earth to the real stones is this artificial sand which is made in Minnesota. And even that's worth more than it's weight in gold." "Big deal," said Steve, "I know place that's full of these moon stones and you can take as many as you can carry." "And where would this be?" asked the tour guide. "The moon," Steve responded. "Hmmmmmm...." the tour guide mumbled. Finally, the two of them left. "I can't believe that there's nothing else here!" Steve said. "With $100, I could've gotten half a Pokeball. Or maybe half bottle of water. Or .0001 bicycles." Karen laughed, though she was starting to be unsure whether Steve's constant joke cracking was cute or annoying. ************* "Are you crazy?!?" the first scientist replied. He calmed down once the lackey aimed a gun at his head. "We don't store that kind of equipment here!" "It's all on Cinnabar Island!" the second scientist added. "A pity," Gil lamented. "Well, I don't need the equipment for a while, I only stopped by because I heard this lab was on my way." "On your way to what?" asked the first scientist. "The path of world domination," Gil replied. "So are we just going to leave?" asked Gordon. "Not empty handed," Gil replied and grabbed a piece of amber along the way. "Wait!" a third scientist yelled. "Why do you want that?" "I don't 'want' it," Gil said, "I'm only taking it because YOU do." ************* As they walked passed the museum, Steve noticed something funny. A man he could see through the window through a fence. "Hey, that guy looks a little familiar..." he noted. Karen turned her head. Which was soon full of shock. "Know the guy?" Steve asked. "YOU once did..." she responded. "What's his name?" Steve asked. "Gil Bates," she grumbled. "THAT'S Gil?" Steve began, "we have to stop him somehow!" He ran around the fence looking for an opening, and noticed that the only was in was blocked by a bush. "Crap, we can't get in!" Steve thought. "That's what you think," Karen began, "Diglet, go!" "Diglet!" screamed the tiny Pokemon. "Diglet, dig a hole so we can go under the fence!" The Diglet obeyed. In less than a minute, a path was created. "Let's go!" Karen screamed. "Are you sure you want to mess up that outfit of yours?" Steve joked. Karen just glared at him. "I'm going..." *********** "So, where are we going next?" asked Gordon. "That's for me to know and you to find out," Gil replied. "Why, hello Gil," shouted a man from the background. "Steven Fugues, I'm so glad to see you!" Gil responded. "Why did you do it, Gil?" Steve asked. "Why did you attack me?" "You don't remember?" Gil responded. "No." "Let's just keep it that way," Gil smiled as he walked off. "I'm to busy becoming a world leader." "The world will never accept you as a leader, Gil," Steve yelled. "The world is full of chaos," Gil began, "a chaos which evokes fear. A fear that causes desperation. A desperation which causes them to side along with anything that could protect them. That is the reason why people agree to live in oppressive and horrific governments which deny their rights and fill themselves of contradiction. This system of rule often considered the government was deemed the monstrous Leviathan in the Hobbesian social contract. Indeed, the more monstrous the government, the better it can do it's job." "Someone will stop you." "Oh? Gil asked. "What do you plan on doing about it? Your new Pokemon collection couldn't possibly compete with mine. Not in a million years." "Perhaps you're right," Steve grumbled, "but maybe I don't need Pokemon to fight..." Karen looked on in horror as Steve gritted his teeth together and aimed for Gil. As Gil realized he probably wouldn't do well in hand to hand combat, gestured to his lackey to take care of things. There was something about Steve no one realized. He was a fighter. By simply applying his impressive thinking abilities on physical attacks, he was able to instantaneously think of the best possible maneuvers and dodges. "Enough!" Gil shouted. "Dratini, go!" "Drat-tini!" the Pokemon said as it appeared. "Dratini, ice beam," Gil began, "on her..." The Dratini obeyed and Karen was encased in a thin sheet of ice. "You know what you have to do," Gil laughed as he and Gordon prepared their exit. Steve reached for a Pokeball. "Abra, take us to the nearest Pokemon Center!" Within seconds, the were teleported. ************* "Hi, I'm nurse Joy!" said the lady at the Pokemon Center. "Nurse, my friend got frozen by a Dratini," Steve began, "she needs medical attention now!" "We don't treat humans here," Nurse Joy told him. "You do now," he replied. He looked into her eyes and realized she really was the only person he had in the world. A sense of loneliness engulfed him and he was unsure of what to do. Perhaps it was this sense of loneliness that drove him to seek Pokemon in the first place. But a Pokemon couldn't talk to you. Except for those rare cases where it could. "We'll see what we can do," Nurse Joy told him. To reply, remove "puters" from the e-mail address.