From: Anonymous <anakin0327@aol.com> Subject: [PW!] When You've Got A Headache THIS BIG..... Date: Thursday, August 19, 1999 11:47 PM When we left off, Mac just lost his best friend, his Magnemite, and his Performa laptop, of all things! Although he got a Porygon out of the whole thing, he got a new enemy as well: Team Rocket. Now, we find our friend in Celadon City, preparing for a journey... ------------ Packing was easy. After all, Mac barely owned anything. Everything he held dear was blown to kingdom come in record-breaking time. Now he had a Porygon and a sense of purpose. Luckily for him, both fit easily in his jeans pockets, the former in a floppy disk and the latter, um, metaphorically so. Because, uh, a sense of purpose isn't a physical object, like a Porygon is... wait, Porygon is just programming code... where was I? Oh yeah, Mac. Anyway, one day he grew tired of getting the short end of the straw, and instead of hiding out, like he usually did, he decided to take action. And since Team Rocket had delivered the most recent blow, he knew his target: Rocket Game Corner. It certainly was logical enough. After all, except for those in comas, everyone knew that Giovanni was the undisputed owner of the casino. And through his recent experiences, Mac had gained a bit more knowledge of the ruthless "businessmen" that represented Team Rocket. So why not? After leaving his secluded hideout, Mac set out for the Corner. Unfortunately, because of the sheer size of Celadon City, it would be several hours before he ever got there. --- An hour or so later, Mac saw an electronics store across the street. In the window, there was a large display showing off the latest laptop. And, to Mac's astonishment, it came cheap. Unusually cheap. "Too bad I'm strapped for cash," he mumbled. "Of course, I'm always strapped for cash." Still, he was currently without a computer, and he wasn't a specialist of anything else... "I'm not a thief. How could I go about getting that thing?" Suddenly, the double-density disk containing Porygon literally leapt out of Mac's pocket. It then burst into pieces, with Porygon jumping from the pile of plastic. "Porygon? What are you doing?" The Pokémon gestured towards the computer in the display case, then towards itself. "What are you saying?" Once again, the Porygon gestured at the laptop, then itself. To bring the point home, it repeated the action two more times. "Excuse me? I don't play Charades..." Finally it could take no more. <<Okay, then I'm gonna spell it out for you, kid - I Will Steal The Computer For You!!! Stupid carbon-based freaks...>> "You can talk?" Mac was confused. "I thought Pokémon could only say their names." <<Yeah, well what do you call the gibberish you humans call english that I'm being forced to bark out?>> "Uh, english." <<Oh yeah... Hey, shut up! Anyway, let me swipe that laptop for you!>> "Hey, no skin off my back. Personally, I'd like to see your methods." <<Sure, kid. Just watch a pro...>> With a flash, Porygon converted itself into energy and flew into a nearby telephone wire. A moment later, the phone inside the store began to ring. Once the clerk picked up the phone, he began to convulse rapidly, and soon passed out. In a panic, Mac ran across the street and burst through the door. As he neared the victim, Porygon slid through the holes of the receiver and re-materialized. <<So? What do you think? Pretty slick, huh?>> "Slick?!? You just turned an innocent store clerk into a AA battery!! Didn't you realize that your little stunt could've killed him?" <<The thought crossed my mind... Of course, I deleted it from memory shortly afterward.>> It then turned its head towards the laptop in the display. <<What are you waiting for?>> "I'm... well I... my head hurts..." <<Well, you'd better take an Advil soon, 'cause Officer Jenny's on the way.>> "Wait, how did the police find out?" <<Before his "nap," the clerk hit the alarm. I would suggest swiping the computer and running.>> Too shocked to say anything, Mac ran to the display and grabbed the laptop. "Okay, now what?" <<C'mon, out the back door. I'll handle the cops.>> --- Once outside, Mac turned back towards the store. In the distance, the wailing of sirens were steadily increasing. "What's taking that Porygon so long? If he doesn't get things done soon-" Mac's threat was cut off by a deafening explosion, followed by a shock wave that threw him back a few meters. The electronics store was completely engulfed by the fireball, and what wasn't vaporized was burned to the ground. Now the sounds of a fire engine could be heard. His new laptop began to make a loud beeping sound. When he opened it, he saw that he had mail. Mac double-clicked on the mail, and Porygon spewed from the disk slot on the side. <<Wahoo!!! That was so much fun! Hey, nice computer. Whoever got that for you must be some great Porygon...>> "I think my headache's getting worse," said Mac. ------------ TBC (looks like he's got more problems than he thought) -Anonymous (you know, the guy who wrote all the poems) All praise Oddish, the Absorbing Ace, the Sultan of Solarbeam, the Great Grassy One, the Prince of Petal Dance!