From: TheRunt <therunt411@aol.com> Subject: [PW!][Repost] Dusty road to Fuchsia Date: Thursday, June 24, 1999 9:23 PM (This is, more or less, a compilation repost of the "The dusty road to Fuchsia" thread. For your convenience, a summary of this episode appears at the bottom.) We rejoin our hero's as dusk begins to fall and Fuschia City begins to shine over the next hill. "Finally," sighs Sarah Jane - as do Cuddles and Spunky. Suddenly, a female's voice is heard nearby. "Open, damn you!" commands the irate voice. "The Pokémon is getting away! Stupid Pokéball!" "Oh no," Sarah Jane groans, "not her..." "Who?" asks Runt. "Candy," Sarah Jane returns in a dismayed voice, "the richest girl in Rosetta -- She doesn't need to catch her Pokémon. Her parents will buy her whatever she wants. They'd even hire someone to train her Pokémon for her, if she wanted." "So what's she doing out here?" inquires Christy. "Someone said it looked better if a Pokémon master trained their own Pokémon," answers Sarah Jane. "Besides, she has to win her badges herself." "With her money, she could go to one of those elite Pokémon training schools," comments Damian. "She tried. The studying was too much of a strain on her brain," Sarah Jane retorts acidly. "Not one of your best friends, huh?" says Jon. "Not likely. Last year, when most of the kids in my class started their Pokémon journeys, my parents wouldn't let me because I had a broken arm, which is why I first started this year. Candy decided to rub it in. She made me miserable before she left." "Well, if she's been at this over a year and is first at Fuchsia, and you've been at it 6 months, I'd say you were the superior trainer," says Damian. Sarah Jane smiles a little at the compliment "Thanks." "Stop..." whines Candy as a Raticate, followed by a Clefairy, runs out of the bushes. Spunky growls. The startled Clefairy turns, giving the Raticate an opportunity to escape. Candy appears in hot pursuit, holding an oversized Pokéball in her hands. "Ooooo ... if this stupid Pokéball hadn't failed..." growls the older looking redhead. Sarah Jane grimaces at the sight of her nemesis. Sensing their master's irritation, Cuddles and Spunky growl at the stranger. "Oh!" exclaims Candy, startled. She then notices the Nidorans were on leashes, with Sarah Jane at the end. "Oh, fancy running into you here. I was wondering when you would catch up." "Nice to see you too," replies Sarah Jane flatly. The others watch uncomfortably at the exchange between the two. "That would have been my 10th Pokémon, if this stupid Pokéball wouldn't have failed on me," Candy laments. Sarah Jane tries not to laugh. "I found it in the forest this morning, and since I had run out of Pokéballs, I figured I'd use it. You were always good at tinkering with things." Sarah Jane looks at the unusually large pokéball, something about it intrigued her. Shrugging, she accepts the ball. Her eyes go wide and her senses run wild. "Tell you what -- I don't have time to work with this right now, all I have are Great Balls. How about I trade you one for this and, when I get a chance, I'll 'tinker' with it." "A Great Ball?" Candy's eyes glaze over as she tries to calculate the cost difference between a Great Ball and a regular Pokéball - particularly one she got for free. "I suppose...you're not going to want the Great Ball back, are you?" "No, that's fine." Sarah Jane pulls out a Great Ball and hands it to Candy. "Well, it's getting late and I must dash. The chauffeur is waiting in the motorhome for me. Come Poopsie," she says to her Clefairy. "Ta-ta!" "She didn't really catch the Clefairy, did she?" Runt inquires. "Her father hired someone to catch it for her as her first Pokémon," Sarah Jane replies. "So what was the deal? I thought you didn't want anything to do with her," remarks Christy. "And yet you gave her a Great Ball for this Pokéball." "It's not a Pokéball," says Sarah Jane, grinning evilly. "A Voltorb?" asks Damian. Sarah Jane nods. "From what I can tell, it's a wild one - it must've gotten into a fight and put to sleep." "It must be a sound sleeper, not to wake up when she threw it," comments Jon. "She must really be clueless, not to know a Voltorb from a Pokéball," adds Christy. "I don't have any electric Pokémon," begins Sarah Jane, "which is why I figured it was worth trading a Great Ball." Sarah Jane takes a Pokéball out of her pack and captures the sleeping Voltorb. "Candy's right about one thing," says Jon, "it's getting late. We better hurry if we want to be able to stay at the Pokémon Center for the night." As night falls the five break into a jog, and once again head for Fuchsia. The group comes tumbling into the Pokémon Center, which has a light purple decor. Jon wanders over to another group of trainers while everyone else goes about their business -- feeding and healing their Pokémon, checking their Pokédex, etc. After a while, Jon returns to the group with a couple new friends. "Felix..." begins Jon, "this is Sarah Jane, Damian, Christy, and Runt. We've been traveling together on our Pokémon journey." The group uneasily, but politely, nods. "Actually, I believe I already met Felix," Runt comments. "Didn't we fight a Giant Koffing in Pallet a while back?" "So..." says Damian after a few moments of silence. "- A giant Koffing in Pallet? Kewl. Too bad I missed that!" interrupts Dustin. "That's ONE thing I've never seen." Getting hungry, he pulls a box of 'Chicken in a Biskit' crackers out of his backpack. "Anyone hungry?" "Uhh, that's okay - but thanks anyway," Sarah Jane politely replies. She takes out her Aerodactyl book and begins to read. "La la la la la," sings Kirsty as she bounces around the Pokécenter, ricocheting off the walls and ceiling in her Oddish-leaf induced stupor. "Runt?" says Kirsty upon catching sight of a familiar face. "Good to see you. How'd you meet these people?" "Couple chance encounters in Celadon..." he replies Damian once again tries to say something. "Uh, I don't know about anybody else, but after digging in the canyon I need to get cleaned up." He runs his index finger across his forehead for emphasis. A streak of mostly clear skin is left behind, but his finger is now clearly brown. Some of the group nod in agreement. "Mmm..Very good idea!" Christy pipes up hastily. Dust showers from her hair as she peels off her tan cap. "Any ideas on what everybody is doing after that?" inquires Felix. "There's always the gym..." Jon suggests. "The Safari Zone has lots of rare and interesting Pokémon," Christy quickly adds. "A friend of mine gave me two Pokémon from there, but there are so many different ones in there that we could spend hours there just watching them." "And even longer trying to catch any of them." Damian mutters. "What was that?" Dustin asks. Damian puts on a fake smile and waved a hand "Nothing, nevermind." "We could always try getting a little food and discuss it while we eat." interjects Sarah Jane. "Food good," says Kirsty, the smoke slowly wearing away. "Where to?" "Let's get cleaned up before we start worrying about food, Okay?" Runt swipes at his shirt, adding more dirty particles to the collection at their feet. The brown hued group sets off for the locker rooms, leaving Felix and company to nibble patiently on chicken flavored crackers. The group of 5 quickly wash themselves up and change. Everyone reemerges a little while later. Sarah Jane began to yawn. Unable to resist, Jon does the same, followed by Christy, Runt, and Damian. "Oy... maybe we oughta get some sleep..." Jon says drowsily. The others nodded, traipsing off to the sleeping rooms. <To Be Continued...> Summary: After an encounter with Sarah Jane's nemesis, the group makes it to the Fuchsia City Pokémon Center. There they meet up with Felix and Crew. Then they wash up and go to sleep. _______________________________________________________________ "Slow and steady wins the race."