From: Goola2u <goola2u@aol.comREMOVE> Subject: [PW!] Sneakers in the War Machine Date: Monday, May 03, 1999 5:18 PM Sneakers, after a rather unpleasant encounter with an Aracnine, made his way to the new wing of the Vermillion City gym. He'd heard that L. Surge, the "Lighning American," had added this for more advanced challengers, who already had four or more badges. Fitting those criteria himself, Sneakers decided to check it out. Besides, it was about time he got the Thunder Badge. But he'd heard weird rumors about this new wing of the gym. Everything from Surge being a cyborg to this new wing being bug-type. Sneakers doubted these, but had to check it out himself. --- As soon as Sneakers walked in, he knew it wasn't a bug-type gym. Giant gears whirred around him, and wires snaked all over. Light bulbs were placed not only on the ceiling, but on the walls, and even the floor. Circuitry and motherboards were all over the place, and a conveyor belt was on the far side of the room. On that conveyor belt, a huge military man slid out, then jumping to one of the gears across a seemingly bottomless pit, and finally to the catwalk Sneakers was on. Scratch the cyborg rumor, thought sneakers, no matter how weird this place is. "Hey, cat, you lost?" laughed Surge. "My War Machine isn't exactly a place for strays." Sneakers bristled and hissed. "I heard rumors about how crazy this place was, but you've surpassed them all," he snarled. "Oh, so you came AFTER you heard the rumors?" grinned Surge cruelly. "Curiousity killed the cat, you know." "What I know," said Sneakers, "is that I want a Thunder Badge." He showed the four other badges on his colar to Suge to let him know he meant business. "Alright, then," said Surge, grabbing onto a cargo hook, which took him to his platform on the other side of the room, backdropped by a trio of pistons. "Four on four, hairball! Electabuzz, GO!" "Bludgeon, GO!" responded Sneakers, sending out the unusually-colored Cubone. "Bone Club!" ordered Sneakers. "Thunder Punch!" shouted Surge. The battle was embarassingly short. Surge's Electabuzz barely survived the None Club, and was quickly returned. Bludgeon, too, was returned, so that he didn't have time to destroy anything. "Alright, then, Jolteon, GO!" shouted Sneakers, projcting the evil-looking, Chihuahua-like Eeveelution onto a nearby gear. "I choose... ME!" shouted Sneakers, jumping on to the gear, tossing coins. Bad move, realized Sneakers too late. The pay day attack barely scratched the Jolteon, whose Thundershock passed right through the coins. "They conduct..." gasped Sneakers as the Thundershock hit him, almost paralyzing him. Sneakers had better luck with his scratch, however, cutting across the Jolteon's face. "Take THAT!" cheered Sneakers. "EEEEEEOOOOOOOOON!" screeched the Jolteon in pain. Sneakers was so caught up in himself that he didn't see the Jolteon launch itself at him, allowing the prickly beast to get in a critcal hit, even with its Tackle attack. Sneakers felt the impact. "MMRRRRRRRRROWTH!" he caterwauled, instinctively using his Fury Swipes. Fortunately, those were all the Meowth needed to bring down the Jolteon. "You got a lot of guts, cat," sneered Surge, calling back his Jolteon. "Let's see what the look like as violin strings. Porygon, GO!" Sneakers lept back, and desperately wracked his brain for a good Pokemon to use. "Sengir, GO!" he shouted in inspiration. The Zubat swooped down at the Porygon, biting it hard, and breaking one of its links. An error message popped up in front of Surge's face, enraging him. "Psybeam!" he ordered. The beam hit the pitch-black Zubat hard. "Zuuuuu..." it groaned. "PO-RY-GON" droned the crystaline bird as it strutted over to the fallen bat. Sneakers smiled. "Good work, Sengir. Now, CONFUSE RAY!" Sengir wend crazy with the rays, lanching them not only at the Porygon, but all over the place. As his world spun, Sneakers caughed up a hairball into the abyss below, then realized that he was in an official gym. Fortunately, Surge was too busy giving the soda machine his name, rank, and serial number to notice. He only got back into the match when his Porgyon blundered off the side of the gear, after going between said gear an its neighbor, which would have crushed and corporeal pokemon, and wasn't too healthy for the virtual warrior either. It went back into the pokeball just before vanishing from sight. Sneakers hit a few gears with the Pokeball's beame befor sucessfully calling back Sengir. Surge gritted his teeth. "Electrode, go! Self Destruct!" he shouted in anger. Sneakers just BARELY sent out Sparky in time. "Pi?" Spark asked, before being hit with the blast, whick also knocked Sneakers back onto anoher gear. As Surge laughed and started singing "Another One Bites the Dust," Sneakers wobbled to his feet. "I'm still standing, SIR! Where's mt badge, SIR?" Sneakers laughed, adding a somewhat mocking salute. Surge tossed a small, bolt-shaped badge (Yes, I know it's not really shaped this way.) to Sneakers. "You've won. Good job," he saluted. Sneakers saluted back, seriously this time, before leaving the gym. Shard Fields, who hopes no one objects to this new wing of the gym.