From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net> Subject: [PW!] Back to villainy... Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 10:17 PM Pidgeots were chirping, the sun was shining, and everything in sight was at peace with the world. Down the forest path came two beings, a human and a Ditto - although the Ditto's form was suggestive of Dreadite. Their gentle laughter filled the air, and the broken bodies of their enemies lay behind them, as Doppler and Minax affirmed their love for each other. The scene froze and shifted, this time showing Doppler holding off a horde of Rockets while Minax slowly took Giovanni's head from his still-living (and still-trying-to-scream), obviously enjoying the act. The scene froze and shifted again... #Why? WHY do these visions interrupt me?# Doppler snapped out of his daydream, and surveyed the forest from his first vision. Some footsteps could be heard in the distance, along with an off-key rendition of Jigglypuff's song, but the area was otherwise dead silent. Most of the native pokemon, obeying an innate danger sense that many wild creatures shared, had temporarily abandoned the area after Doppler set up his stakeout...which suited Doppler just fine. #Ever since I met *her*...these visions...maybe I just need a break. Some simple work, not a grand scheme. But still, what kind of human *IS* she, to plant such dreams in my head. My own senses might possibly be affected, but none of my colleagues could detect a psychic attack, so these must be residual effects...which I *WILL* purge in time...although acting on them wouldn't be so bad...NO! What am I thinking? Hold off; the target's here.# Down Route 1 a girl skipped, oblivious to the danger around her. No pokeballs were on her person, nor were any pokemon at her side. Her mother had fallen deathly ill, and while the requisite medicine was readily available at any pokemart, this presented two problems. One: there were no pokemarts in her home of Pallet. Two: between herself and her mother, they only had enough money to buy one dose of medicine; not a single coin was left over for transport. The girl had heard it was dangerous to travel from city to city without a pokemon to protect you, but she had no choice. Besides, she figured she could just run away from any wild pokemon, and trainers only attacked so they could battle their pokemon, so no trainer would attack *her*, right? [Anyone who can't see where I'm going with this, raise your hand. ^_-] "Eek!" "Abra, I choose YOU!" "What? B-but...I don't have any pokemon!" "No pokemon, huh? Then I guess I win by default." "WHAT?!?" She sized up her attacker. A boy, probably a year or two older than her, wearing clothing similar to what she had seen in photos of the legendary trainer Ash Ketchum...but clearly not him, if nothing else due to the blond, uncapped hair. "If you can't fight, you lose. That's the rules." The girl shrugged. "Ok, I lose. 'Scuse me." "Where do you think you're going?" "On my way." Not-Ash grabbed her shoulder. "Not until you give me half your money." "Huh?" "You know the League rules. Lose a battle, give the victor half your money." "But we didn't fight a battle!" Suddenly, a Machop leapt into the scene, slapping not-Ash's hand away. "MACHOP!" "So, you *do* have a pokemon, after all." "What? Uh-uh. I've never seen this pokemon in my life!" "Oh, really? Then why did it defend you? Abra, Confusion!" One distorted reality later, the Machop was staggering around, failing at shadows. Eventually it bonked itself on the head, knocking itself out. "There. Now we've fought. Hand over your money." "That wasn't *us*! That was you and some wild pokemon!" "Yeah, right. Hand over your money or I'll call the cops." "The police enforce the law!" "The League *IS* the law. Or didn't you know that? OFFICER! HEY, I NEED A POLICE OFFICER OVER HERE!" Within a minute, a police officer emerged from the bushes. Just as not-Ash reminded one of Ash, this officer reminded one of the many Jennys, save primarily for the crewcut pink hair. "What seems to be the problem?" "This girl lost a pokemon battle to me, and won't hand over her money." "We DIDN'T fight! He jumped out of nowhere and grabbed me, so this wild Machop tried to get him to back off." Not-Jenny rested chin in hand. "Hmm. We've run into this situation before. Any pokemon that defends you, if it doesn't already have a trainer, legally counts as your pokemon for the duration of the battle." "WHAT? But...but...hey! Is that just League rules? I'm not a League trainer." "*Everyone* is covered by League rules. Unless you're a Rocket or something." Not-Jenny leaned into the girl's face, forcing her to take a step back. "You don't want to know what we do to young girls who try to live outside the League." "..." The girl was, by now, thoroughly petrified. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way." Not-Jenny picked up the girl by her ankles, stood up, turned her upside down, and shook her until all her possessions fell out of her pockets. Not-Ash watched with obvious interest, focusing his gaze on her hip pockets...or something in that region. Once nothing more fell from her, he dashed forward, counted the coins, collected exactly half, shot the girl a lecherous girl, and took off, Abra in tow. Not-Jenny dropped her on her head. "I'll let you off with a warning. Don't try to break the law again." The officer picked up the Machop and walked away, finishing with, "I'll take this into town; I don't trust scofflaws to take care of pokemon." The girl sat, dazed, then sniffed. Then a tear ran down her cheek. She was not fazed so much by the encounter, but her mother...she knew of no way to save her now. Well out of sight, but not quite out of range of the girl's bawling, not-Ash waited for not-Jenny. "Well?" Not-Jenny smiled. "Good job. Return to base. Give half the money to the treasurer; he'll feed it into our bank accounts. Keep the other half as a bonus for a job well done." Meanwhile, the Abra was all over the Machop. "Mac? Mac! Speak to me, please, Mac! Oooh, I hope I didn't hurt you too bad..." Mac awoke from his fake faint. "Nahh, you didn't hurt me, Abby." He hugged the Abra. "You shouldn't go so gentle on me, my love. It might not be believable next time..." Not-Jenny tsked. "Mac's right, you know. But take it to a room. *Back* *home*, please, in case that girl gives chase?" Abby nodded. In a flash of blue, Abby, Mac, and not-Ash were gone. Finally alone again, not-Jenny evaluated the situation. This scheme had worked well. It was fortunate no real police had been nearby, for the view he claimed, while technically true according to an obscure interpretation of certain statues, would have been violated in spirit by most members of the police force who made it through ethics training. Not that that girl would ever trust said members again, leaving her ripe for recruitment. Once her mother died, who would notice an orphan dissapear? Abby, Mac, and the boy were scheduled for a suicide mission - elimination of a potentially dangerous asset, as their love of each other exceeded their obedience of their superiors - before the girl would be recruited, so there was no chance of her learning the truth. Hearing footsteps nearby, and not wanting to find out if they were the girl's or someone else's, not-Jenny faded into the woods. While meditating in the form of a leaf, he pondered visions of Minax... TBC? [Though probably not directly...] [BTW, lest there be any doubt: the only character in this post with a WG is Doppler.]