Subject: [PW!] To Send Or Not To Send (Attn: Karnivax) Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 04:03:00 -0400 From: Roberto Perez-Vila <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Minax's rear end makes contact with the pavement on the floor of one of her favorite Saffron City alleyways. The air in the area is so full of smog that it rejuvenates her. She crosses her legs, which are tightly covered by her blue jeans, and notices how dirty her black leather boots are. She shrugs, lays her head back against a wall, and stares at her Zubat, which is flapping around above her, "Do you suppose that Spikes kid will love his Psyduck from now on?" The unintelligent Zubat screeches an incoherent reply and perches on Minax's mud ridden boots. He burrows his head into his wing, trying to clean himself, careful not to sink his fangs into himself. Minax smiles slightly as she stares at her Zubat lovingly, the Pokemon she's always cared about... Ever since the day she first caught him when she was ten. "If only every kid loved their Pokemon like I love my Zubat..." Minax places her hands behind her head since the wall of the building that she's leaning on is starting to bother her. "If only I had a parent that loved me like I..." She closes her eyes, and shakes her head, quickly removing that idea from her head. "If being forced to take care of that Psyduck isn't enough torture for the kid..." Minax's hand, the purple nail polish on the fingernails breaking up and fading, reaches into the black sack on her belt. She pulls out a Pokeball and holds it in front of her face with one hand, "He'll be crying like a baby when he realizes a I stole his 'precious' Arbok." Minax shrinks the Pokeball and rolls it around in the palm of her hand, "To send or not to send, that is the question... For though Team Rocket hasn't received many new Pokemon from me in a while, I could use a giant poisonous cobra... Yes..." Minax's Zubat finishes cleaning himself off and flies onto Minax's shoulder. "Then again, it would be more pleasurable to keep the Arbok and kill it later." Minax pulls her Communicator out of her sack and opens it up, "But Headquarters could sure use another Pokemon from me..." Unexpectedly, the Communicator goes off while Minax holds it in her hand. She tosses the shrunken Pokeball belonging to the stolen Arbok back into her sack and dedicates both hands to operate the machine. A nameless Rocket's picture appears on the screen. Apparently, Giovanni is too busy to scold her this time. The Rocket on the screen speaks in an angry tone, "Cawlin' awl Rawkets ova' 'ere! We needs the backup in this Ivory place...ATRs to the left o' me... AT..." The Communicator shuts as Minax contemplates what a chore it is to be a Team Rocket member. "...and still, they're the only real family I've ever known. So shouldn't I pay them back by sending them the stolen Arbok?" Once again, Minax's Zubat lets out a random screech which doesn't indicate a real response. Unfortunately, this screech catches the attention of strangers nearby. Minax and her Zubat can both hear the footsteps of a human being and a heavy Pokemon. The tall red-haired woman jumps up to her feet and her Zubat leaps off her shoulder and circles above her head. They wait. "Well, 'ello, 'ello, 'ello!" An all too eager voice with a thick Australian accent calls out as a man who is even taller than Minax enters the alleyway from the side. He has buzz cut black hair and facial hair which might be considered a beard. The clothes he wears and muscles he has indicates immediately to Minax that he's trying to be a tough guy. Next to the man arrives a relatively small Golem with a translator discreetly attached somewhere on him. Somehow, the Pokemon seems more intelligent than most. Minax is already certain that the Golem, which is known to withstand dynamite, won't be killed with only one bullet. She narrows her eyes at the stranger, "Who are you?" The Australian man stands in an imposing position, "To bereave the wealthy of their worth..." The Golem at his side adds in, "To subjugate the entire Earth..." "To trample upon all who stand in our path!", continues the Australian voice. "To spare no insubordinates from our wrath!", the Golem speaks in a tone that displays his superior intelligence. The strong man standing before Minax finally reveals his name, "David!" His Pokemon follows, "Goliath!" "Team Rocket...faster than the eye can see!" David readies his Magnum in one hand. "Stand your ground or cower and flee!" Goliath smirks, certain that this woman is the one David has been looking for. Minax doesn't blink as she stares up at the man before him. "Team Rocket, huh?" She feels uneasy in her stomach for a moment, and her decision is easier to make, "It looks like I'll be keeping that Arbok. What do you want, sleaze?" "Are ya talkin' to me?" David smiles, pointing his empty gun at Minax as menacingly as possible, "'Cause I don't answer to the name o' sleaze. I'm David Bradley, and I mean to get you to quit Team Rocket, even if it means I gotta shoot! Would be a shame to shoot such a pretty face, so I suggest ya get with th' quittin' right now, miss!" Apparently this 'David Bradley' fellow doesn't know as much about Minax as he'd like to believe he does. Though the man's gun is pointed at her, Minax secretly removes her silver pistol from its holster, "You suggest? I suggest you get the hell away from me before *I* shoot *your* face." She takes this moment to show David her pistol, "Still, I don't think that's much of a threat, since in your case, it would be an improvement." "What a brute." Goliath comments from his place next to David, "Shall I deal with her myself, or will Rampage be doing the honors this time?" David notices that Minax is pointing her pistol at his belt... or is it his crotch? Either way, reaching for a Pokeball wouldn't be the wisest course of action at this moment, and even David knows that, "Eh, you 'andle 'er, mate!" "As you wish." The Golem raises up his limbs and slams them into the ground, causing a miniature Earthquake between the two buildings in the Saffron City alleyway, in an attempt to knock down his opponent. Minax doesn't fall. She holds on to her Zubat while the Earthquake nearly makes the buildings to either side of David, Goliath, and Minax tumble over. When the Earthquake attack ends, Minax releases her hold on her Zubat and grabs the second Pokeball on her belt, "Okay, Poliwhirl, let's try to defeat this overgrown pebble!" When she extends the ball forward, red light is shot out. The energy forms into a Poliwhirl, who looks ready for battle. "What in th' bloody 'ell?" David looks slightly puzzled, "Don't ya just got one Pokemon? Th' Zubat?" "Apparently not." Minax smiles sadistically, knowing that Poliwhirl has no chance against David's Golem. While still keeping her pistol where David can feel threatened by it, she orders her Poliwhirl, "Hypnosis, now." The swirl on Poliwhirl's belly starts to spin in such a manner that even the all powerful Goliath falls asleep. "Well, I'll be damned." "That's right, ya'll be damned by the..." David is interrupted by Minax's eerily calm, yet loud, tone of voice, "I'm quite sure that you somehow like the way you've inflated all your chest muscles, David. You wouldn't want me to deflate them, now would you?" Minax's gun's aim shifts from David's belt to his chest, directly in the center of the space within the 'R.' "So, what's it going to be, muscles?" -Minax