From: Alyssa <thefews@primenet.com> Subject: [PW!] Legend of Ekans? Date: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 9:37 PM OOC: Uh, forgive the subject line... I recently discovered the old Legend of Zelda cartoon. And, heh, sorry 'bout my absence ^^ ----- Crystal had decided that it was high time to take Firecrest to a Pokemon Center. Calling Zippo back, she rummaged through the pack she had strapped to Firecrest and pulled out a hooded robe, replacing her trenchcoat with it. Then she called Firecrest into his ball and headed for the Pokemon Center. ::What the heck, I can even get a new Pokemon while I'm at it...:: It was crowded, she noticed, but most people seemed to just be hanging out and socializing. She checked how many Pokeballs everyone had as she made her way to the counter, and silently cursed herself. She didn't want to steal any Pokemon right now, but was getting impatient with her. As little as she liked this job, she somehow doubted it would be easy for a huge anthro Persian to get another job. Coming up to the counter, she placed Firecrest's Pokeball on the smooth wood. "Heal my Charizard, please," she requested in her breathy, slightly raspy voice. "He broke his wing in a bad landing." Nurse Joy took the Pokeball and looked up curiously at the hooded figure. "What's wrong with your voice?" she asked. "Uh... I just have a weird voice." "And what's with the robe?" Joy asked, putting the Pokeball on the healing table. "Bad hair day. Now please, no more questions?" Crystal begged. Nurse Joy smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry about prying. It's just that you don't quite seem to follow the norm." "Yeah, yeah." Crystal waited impatiently for the machine to finish with Firecrest's wing. By virtue of a psychic sweep, she had already picked out the Pokemon she wanted - one for herself, and one for Giovanni. She figured he'd like the powerful Dugtrio she'd found - she couldn't figure out exact levels, but she sensed he was pretty strong. And there was an Ekans she wanted for herself - she'd always wanted to raise an Arbok. At least, ever since her big argument with Jessie over whether or not she could train an Arbok to be strong and loyal... The Persian woman thought her heart would leap out of her chest as the recovery chime sounded. She accepted the ball from Nurse Joy and, ignoring the crowd, called him out. "How's the old wing, Firecrest?" she asked, ignoring the startled murmurs around her. "Char!" Firecrest said happily, flexing the once-injured wing. Then, he sensed Crystal's urgency-anxiety and blinked. "Zard?" ((Just go outside... I'll be with you in a moment.)) Firecrest nodded and headed towards the doors. The crowd gave the fire dragon a wide berth, and two people even held the doors open for him. Firecrest grinned at them before squatting down to wait patiently outside the Center. Crystal gave a nod of thanks to Nurse Joy, and slipped towards the back of the Center, sneaking into a bathroom. There, she removed the hooded robe and, with a quick touch of her mind, teleported it outside. She then took a deep breath and tossed a smoke-pellet outside the bathroom. It burst, sending smoke all over. She then teleported herself, in all her Persian glory, eight feet above the ground, sitting on air. A flick of her mind blew the smoke away. It was almost pathetically easy for her, but it made for an impressive entrance. She let the crowd stare for a while before speaking, her voice trumpeting through the Center. "Prepare for trouble and make it double! To protect the world from devastation, steal all Pokemon within my nation! Trainers and breeders can tremble in fear--" She let herself float down to the floor, landing gracefully on her feet. "Crystal Majutsushi is here." "It's Team Rocket!" one person in the crowd yelled. "No duh. What was your first hint?" Crystal snapped. She reached out her hand to the young trainer. A Pokeball on his belt became encased in a blue aura, and floated to her hand. The Rocket almost frowned, noticing the complete lack of protest from the Ekans inside, but shrugged it off and took the Dugtrio from another trainer, suppressing a wince as the ground-type screamed bloody murder at her from within the ball. Without another word, she teleported out of the Center and hopped onto Firecrest's back. "Okay, Firecrest, let's go or they'll lynch me!" ----- Crystal sat in a field outside Pallet, Firecrest seated next to her. The Dugtrio was long since sent to Giovanni, and he had been pleased, but Crystal couldn't chase away the nagging guilt. She called out her new Ekans to see if she couldn't forget. The purple snake sat there placidly, blinking its big yellow eyes. "Um," Crystal said after staring at the Ekans for a long time. "Why didn't you complain when I stole you?" "Ekans ekans ekans. Ekkans ekans." (I didn't like my trainer. He was annoying.) "Oh. So, you have a name?" "Ekk." (No.) "Ooh. Okay... you're a girl, right?" At the snake's nod, Crystal pondered. "Well... I'm drawing blanks, except... how do you like the name Zelda?" Firecrest groaned. "Charizard chaaar..." (You play too many video games...) The Ekans tilted her head from side to side, and then nodded. "Kans!" Crystal smiled warmly. "Well, then, welcome to the team, Zelda! This is Firecrest..." She gestured to Firecrest, and then called out her other two Pokemon. "And these are Whirlpool and Zippo." "Poliwhirrl." "Zu! Bat! Zubat!" Zelda grinned, which looked surprisingly scary on an Ekans. "Ekansss!" Crystal leaned back, allowing Zelda to get to know the rest of the team. She couldn't help but smile. Maybe, just maybe, this was worth the guilt. -- Lyssie Obssessive fan of Raichu, Mew, and James-sama "There really must be a society against cruelty to James." -- Maria (I agree! Only YOU can save James from Jessie's paper fans of death!) "I admit, I set him on fire once with my magic paper fan." -- Corynn "If you took a Mega Kick to the most sensitive part of your body, how eager would you be to jump up and run after a Pokemon?" -- James, from an IM roleplaying session "Yes, ma'am, I know everything but the answers." -- Peppermint Patty "Pretty mother, so graceful in the water. Too bad I have to kill you." -- Tentacruel, from one of my fanfics "Fungus Terpsichoreus Kawaiius!" -- Me "For some reason, I seem to be losing my liqui-ibrium!" -- James (well, how would YOU spell it?)