Subject: [PW] A storm in Celadon.... Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 11:00:10 GMT From: Shimarisu <shimarisu@my-deja.com> Organization: Deja.com - Share what you know. Learn what you don't. Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon If you want to reply to me as email - send messages to rachel.r@scotland.com Well, I decided to let my story tally with other peoples', after considering that a storm would make it even more depressing (I'm not sure why I went for depressing, I hope it's not too miserable for people to enjoy). So there is now a storm in Celadon. My first attempt to be interactive. ;) Oh, and if anyone wants to interact, LMK! If I can't have my partner yet I'm going to have to be finding other things to do. ;) Anyway, story now follows.... The heat of the day gave way to a stormy night, as the humidity of the air condensed into water droplets that fell from the heavens. More rain clouds had blown up from the east, where the land quickly became the ocean; towns on the coastline always bore the brunt of a storm. It would have been worse in Lavender Town. Every now and then the moon made its way through the maze of clouds, appearing as a perfectly round mirror, hung in the heavens. It shone through the rain, and the light was scattered like silver dust, which convened in pools of pure mercury as it hit the ground. In the momentary misty glow a figure could be made out, picking its way through the undergrowth around the outskirts of the city. Murasaki had been glad of the free shower. Her clothes felt like sheets of cold plastic pulled against her skin, and her long purple hair was heavy round her head as the water ran through it, creating more discomfort as it ran in rivers down her face and neck and into the collar of her already sodden uniform. She could taste salt in the water, and that would mean she wasn't clean - not yet. But the shower would certainly make her more presentable. In their houses, the citizens of Celadon shuddered as a momentous bolt of lightning lit up the sky, followed immediately after by a deafening crack of thunder. Nobody could possibly go out in this weather.... Murasaki made her way down to the river that she had passed earlier that day. It was her intention to wash some of the scraps of food that she had spent the afternoon harvesting from dustbins. There hardly seemed any point in washing it now, it was soaked already. But Murasaki always stuck to her original plans. It was time to feed her companions, even though it was surely not up to her to do so. This was a weakness that she was trying to get over - she didn't want them to die as a result of having no food, but if they weren't going to catch their own then technically it was down to their failure as living creatures. Nevertheless, after Murasaki had reached the edge of the river and rinsed the food she'd brought, she stooped over and released one of the pokemon onto the muddy bank. The Ivysaur looked happy to be free again. Murasaki smiled - she was not sure why - and proffered an apple core. The pokemon regarded its human protector, the woman it had been taught at the outset to view as its mistress. It took in the sodden form that stooped over it, clad in the black uniform with the distinctive red R - that by now was plastered against her skin; outlining the bones that showed through so much now that they couldn't be mistaken anymore for folds of fabric. The Ivysaur meandered back to its Pokeball, and pushed the button with its snout. And disappeared in a flash of light. Murasaki was annoyed. It was not the Ivysaur's place to give up its food for her. Foolish creature, didn't it know that in the game of survival it was not wise to give in to compassion? However, this would mean that there would be all the more left for her second and last companion. She was sure that her gatherings formed only a meagre meal for such a creature, but nevertheless it was better than nothing. So she threw the final pokeball some distance - it would not do to be flattened at a time like this. The vapour that swept from the Pokeball as it hit the ground grew and grew, until finally it formed the figure of a gigantic Snorlax. A Snorlax that slept on and on, the sleep of a hundred years it seemed. Murasaki sighed as it pathetically sunk inch by inch into the mud. She caught the Pokeball as it returned to her hand, and promptly recalled the huge beast. She was saddened by this new failure. All the time she had hungered as she collected the scraps to feed her party. She had been tempted to eat, and the food had rested in her hands, in her possession all the time. She had let it go as a sacrifice, but now here she was, alone again with these leftovers she had collected. It was too much. So Murasaki gave in to the temptation, the craving that had manifested as a weakness in her mind. It was possible to eat apple cores, after all; they didn't taste too bad, the seeds and pith got stuck between your teeth but other than that - well. You had to eat, if you didn't eat you'd starve. And if Murasaki didn't eat, then there was a good chance she wouldn't last the night. She was sure, in that adamant way of hers, that she wasn't going to die - not yet. But she might go into a faint, with nobody around to wake her. And then one of the wild pokemon would probably eat her. That's how it went - survival of the fittest. But Murasaki was not weak. She ate the apple cores. And the discarded rice cakes that somebody had left whole - obviously the taste had disagreed with them. After that came the potato fries, which were cold, soggy and unpleasant. The gravy that had once covered them now ran in rivulets down her arms, but she didn't care, not even now. This was her first meal in 4 days, and she had almost forgotten how to taste it. Even if she had remembered, she would not have noticed how repulsive it was. The moon shone down, in its place as lord of the heavens, the master of the night. It outlined the gaunt figure of the young woman as she finished her meal, then collected the pokeballs from where she had placed them on the ground. And it seemed as though the heavens had shown mercy, for the rain stopped and the clouds stayed dormant, allowing some light to guide Murasaki as she made her way back onto the streets of Celadon. She would find some rest there, maybe under the awnings of the department store or in the entranceway to the arcade. Tomorrow would be a hard day, for she was to meet up with her partner whom she had to persuade to follow a separate path from her just as soon as they met. Murasaki could have seen through the blackest of night, but she was grateful for the rest that the light had granted her eyes. And lacking their usual alertness, they lost their emerald iridescence and grew dull. Finally, worn out, she collapsed in a shop doorway. And the blackness crept around her as she gave in to sleep. TBC.... Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.