From: Shard Fields or Megasomething <goola2u@aol.compostheap> Subject: Re: [PW!] [NC] Progress takes away... Date: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 6:59 AM >"Look, we've been reading cookbooks for hours. This is stupid." >Dreadite threw down the bag of sage in disgust. Shard dove to catch it, >barely making it as Dreadite out of the isle in the library. > >"Hey, wait up!" Shard yelled, dashing after him. The librarian grabbed >Shard by the collar, and glared. "Young man, there is no running or >yelling in the library." > >"Hey, lemme go.. I gotta catch up!" Shard kicked free, and ran after >Dreadite. "Dread, wait!" > >"No way. You're staying in this city to find what to put the sage on. I >have something else to do," Dreadite said, stepping out onto a terrace. >He looked down onto Celadon park, watching the people play around the >fountain. He left from the terrace onto the lawn, and walked towards the >fountain. "Don't get into too much trouble. I'll meet you back at the >Game Corner." > >Shard sighed, and walked back into the library. He turned to see >Dreadite vanish into the fountain. Shard boggled. "What the..." > Suddenly, Shard realized that he didn’t give a flying Muk how Dreadite disappeared. They had been accumulating more and more sage lately; first a jar, then a bag that some stranger gave to them. When he told the stranger that they didn’t have time, what else did the stranger give him but a jar of thyme? These must mean something... Ah well, Shard would figure it out later. Right now, he was sure there were more important things to do. He put the herbs back into his inventory and went back into the library. Shard looked through cookbooks, trying to rind a good recipe for sage to pilfer, when he saw that, for some reason, there was a Squirtle watching him. He threw a pester ball at it to shoo it away, but the pesky little reptile caught it and threw it back. Shard, annoyed, ran after it. He passed an number of pokemon before losing sight of the Squirtle somewhere in the computer guides. Turning to a nearby Caterpie, Shard shook his head. "Weirder and weirder. Excuse me little guy, you happen to see someone come this way?" The Caterpie shrugged, spouted some gibberish, and pulled one of the various strings it had placed. Shard had assumed that the Caterpie was, for some reason, building a web, but, looking into the tunnel that had inexplicably been revealed, Shard knew that a much larger web, so to speak, was being spun. "Caterpie is number ten... Roman numeral for 10 is X... X marks the spot! Of course!" Shard was extremely please with what he had blundered over, and momentarily had forgotten that this was a library. "Be quiet, and step away from the tunnel! There is to be no adventuring in the library, young man!" scolded the librarian. "Go see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, lady," Shard quipped, before stepping into the tunnel, closing the entrance behind him. The Librarian just sat back down and muttered something about "one of those days." Once inside, Shard saw only darkness. Fortunately, he found a light bulb that had been discarded near the entrance. An electric pokemon, like Shockwave... Shard stopped himself in mid-thought. A place like this would scare the timid Pikachu witless. In fact, Shard wasn’t feeling terribly bold at the moment either. His eyes adjusted, and he could see why. Ekans. Tons of them. "I hate Ekanses... Er... Ekansi... Um... WHATEVER!" whimpered Shard. He made a point to move along very quickly through the flooded tomb, and the snakes were too busy munching on Rattatas to really care. After what seemed to be an eternity, stretching on like a serpent, and every bit as discomforting, Shard finally came upon what looked to be an elaborate burial room. Crops of sage grew in a garden, and light came from a mysterious source. Shard soon found that source, another small triangle... "Triforce..." Shard wasted no time in taking it. As soon as he did, however, all went black. Ghost pokemon of all three species swirled around Shard menacingly, and plants Shard had not noticed came to life, revealing themselves to be Exeggutors. None of their heads were happy. Shard ran like Misreebell had broken loose, the Arboks snapping at his heels, the telekinetically thrown objects, and the myriad other dangers behind him speeding him along. He managed to get to the entrance room, now well lit, and found himself, amid myriad treasures, looking into the eyes of a familiar foe, as the whole place quaked. "Sabrina? What are you doing here?" "To tell the truth, Shard," laughed Sabrina, "I don’t know, nor do I care. All I know is that your end is now." "Like hell it is," said Shard, grabbing whatever he could in a mad dash to escape. He managed to get out just before the mouth of the tomb collapsed. He could have sworn he saw Sabrina just... evaporate. "Young man, no ancient runes in the library! And what are you doing with that crate of sage? What part of no food and drink don’t you understand? Machamp, throw him out!" "Oh, Muk," was all Shard had time to say before he and his treasures were thrown though the door. Something green and snoring broke his fall. "If you’re not Famifax," threatened Silly Putty, waking up, "you die." Shard tried to run, then to kick, but a Victreebell’s vines had already constricted his limbs, and were hoisting him towards the shape-shifter’s gaping mouth. "Please, I beg of you..." "Meet you end with dignity," laughed Silly Putty. "I despise whiners." A jar fell out of Shard’s back pocket just as he was devoured, and the Ditto, coughing and spitting, returned to his natural state, spitting Shard out in the process. "Blech! Too much sage, and the flavor of anything goes to Misreebell in the Master Ball. Sorry about that, I’m always a bit cranky when I wake up." With that, the peculiar green Ditto vanished, and Shard sat down to think. What a day it had been, but Shard was frequently in a mood like this, and it was certainly nothing like being in love. TBC... Shard Fields, who needs to write PW! more often. .sig not included. Shard Fields on AGNP Megasomething on ATT