From: Dryad48 <dryad48@aol.commoner> Subject: [PW!] Spring Takes On Winter Date: Saturday, October 02, 1999 12:14 AM "Open the casket," Icy told the men. "You guys better be right." *Yeah,* they glared at Exeggcute. The casket opened and Derrick was unconsious. "Gaaah! He's still dead." everyone turned to Exeggcute. "Wait." Sara checked Derrick's pulse. "What is it?" Sara paused, then got up to her feet and turned around. "Derrick is alive." "WHAT?" Icy, the men, and Derrick's pokemon jumped to their feet. "Apparantly, he has fainted from oxygen defficiency." *Derrick, Goddish is on your side,* Butterfree whispered. "There has to be a better explanation than a miracle." Icy said. "IT WAS a miracle." Joy was shaken by Derrick's revival. "He was stone DEAD in the pokemon center!" "I think we should do some extra research on Derrick's disease," Sara suggested. The others nodded and picked up the casket. "Let's bring him back to the pokemon center." The other pokemon followed meekly while Paras climbed into the coffin. *We. . . . thought we lost you for good.* He knew Derrick couldn't hear him though. Putting his claw next to Derrick's face, Paras's eyes started getting watery. *How could such a miracle occur? When all reasons are battered to the ground? When all doubts have made a bound?* [PW!] Spring Takes On Winter by Dryad48 Starring: Derrick, Icy, and Sara Co-Starring: ????? A Special Guest ????? Guest Appearances: Nicky, Derrick's Parents, Joy Derrick woke up sweating in a bed aside Joy. "I feel sick, what's wrong with me?" He stared at Joy, who stared back making no reply. "Deja vu," Joy thought sullenly to herself. "My head hurts, where are Neo and Rigel?" "Who are they? Your friends?" " .. .. . . . . . ." "Derrick? .....Derrick? . . . . OMIGOD!" "Wha, I'm here, I just feel a little drowsy." Joy, sighed, whiping off her sweat and continued reading through a pamphlet. Derrick read the title. "Viridian Viruses, why are you reading that?" "A HA!" She pointed her finger on a spot in the sydromes section. Derrick is confused; he gets even more confused when Joy runs out of the room screaming, "I GOT IT I GOT IT!" -=Icy's Bug Gym=- "So, that's how I beat the Elite Four," Nicky explained. "Wow!" The little children's eyes widened. "Can we be as good as you when we grow up?" "It depends. You have to care for your pokemon greatly, and treat them with respect and dignity." They nodded. "Oh, and don't forget to respect your opponents too; if you don't, you'd fail as a respected trainer." The children nodded again, in unison. Derrick's pokemon were watching from a distance. *That guy reminds me of Derrick,* Weepinbell said. Joy runs into the room. "I found out why Derrick came back to life!" All the pokemon got up and ran into her. "Meeeeeh!" Icy rushed out of his room, as well as Sara. "What is it?" *WHAT IS IT WHAT IS IT?* They were hysterical. "Derrick DOES have the wild Beedrill disease, but I misread the information." *What? What?* Venonat jumped up and down. "Will you let me finish?" *No!* Venonat swiped the paper and looked at it with the other pokemon. *Oh yeah, I can't read. Heh.. heh..* "Grrrr!" Joy snatched the pamphlet back and bashed Venonat over the head with it. "Anyway, I thought it said the disease stops all body functions in a few days, but what it REALLY said was... oh, that's weird. It says that all body functions will shut down FOR a few days." "I don't understand," Sara rubbed her head. "He's supposed to die for a few days, then come back to life like nothing ever happened?" "Apparantly, yes." "O_o" "And it'll happen over and over again. We can't cure him because the Queen Bee whom he got it from is dead. We need the queen's blood to make a serum." *. . . . . . . .* All pokemon were shocked. Could the fate of Derrick actually be worse than death itself? *When the last leaf falls, when it hits the ground and shatters, it cannot replenish itself.* *Shut up,* Paras mumbled and turned away. *Shut up.* "I..... think for his own good, Derrick should stay with people he knows, so the next time he sleeps, it won't be his last." Joy turned around, as did everyone else. Derrick stood by the doors, head down. staring into space, heart broken, tears frozen. "I'm so sorry, Derrick. You could lead a normal life if you stayed here. All of us would appreciate it. Please?" Joy asked. He said nothing. "Derrick, I know of your uncanny love for grass and bug pokemon, perhaps we could train together in this gym?" Icy asked. "I'd really be honored if you stayed." He stood motionless. "You need sometime to think it over. Perhaps you should turn in the night here?" Sara pointed to a comfy room, which was Icy's. Icy slightly twitched. The pokemon walked up to Derrick and hugged him affectionately. He stared at an ant crawl by. The ant struggled along the cracks, holding a sugar speck in it's arms. It tried so desperately to get to the other end and simply followed the path given to it. Gloom unnoticingly stepped on it. "I. . . . .need to make a phone call." Icy pointed to a video phone outside, under a sheltering porch. Ever so slowly, Derrick turned around and treaded to the door. He hesitated to pick up the phone, then when he did, he watched the leaves fall. *Beep, please hang up and try again.* Derrick stood for a while, listening to the beeping noise the phone made, staying still as a tree on a brisk, windless morning. He hung up the phone finally, and picked it back up. He admired the drifting clouds, the clouds which had nowhere to go, and definitely had nothing to go for. *Beep, please hang up and try again.* Derrick hung up, then dialed. *How may I help you?* The operator asked. *Um, hello?* "Please. . . . direct me to Mr. and Mrs. Tamarack in Celadon City." *Please wait.* *Hello?* "Mom?" *Derrick! We missed you so! Did you know Erika took us in as long as we work in her gym. Everything is looking up these days.* ". . . . .yeah. . . ." *Where are you?* "Viridian Forest." *So. . . . how are things going?* ". . . . . . . . . . " Derrick turned away as a tear shedded it's way through his emotionless face. He could lose everything in a heartbeat now, and everything that had been stolen from his grasp could never be discovered in the 'Lost and Found.' *Derrick? Hello?* ". . . . Things are just fine here. . . . . I'm doing fine." Would things go any better if he brought forward the painfull truth on them, a truth that could weigh them down? The truth would be too heavy to hold onto their brittle shoulders at this time, at anytime. This truth would be so heavy, it should be hidden in the back closet. *We're glad to hear it! Maybe you could use Pinsir? We trained him really hard now, and he'd be an excellent addition to your team.* "No, thanks. You hold on to him." *Ok, well, we have to go back to work now. Call back soon!* Pinsir and Derrick's father show up in the backround holding their fingers in a "peace" sign. *Click.* "I'll call back soon." Derrick hung up and looked at the ground. There was an ant crawling with a piece of food in it's arms. It struggled with as much energy and integrity as the one inside, but it didn't follow the path given to it. It didn't depend on the other ants to get home safely. Instead, it crawled around the path and taking it's chances, it made it home safely. Derrick stared at the empty ground, then walked back inside. "Icy!" "Hm?" "I am NOT staying!" "Wha?" All the pokemon were surprised. "And I challenge you to a pokemon match!" "I did first, dumbass!" "Huh?" Derrick turned to see a brown haired girl about his height. She was wearing the most popular clothing brands for teens. "Lynne?" "Do I know you?" She eyed him. "Derrick, is that you?" He nodded. "Really, you've changed a lot, but you still suck eh?" ". . . ." "How many badges?" "Um, five." "HA, I HAVE ALL EIGHT OFFICIAL BADGES YOU DUPE!" Icy sighed, he did not have any urge to battle this bitch. "Plus," she showed two unofficial badges. "Heh." "Well, I'm not that interested in badges or becoming the best anyway." "That's nice." Lynne turned to Icy. "Comeone wimp, I can take you on with my eyes closed." "You shouldn't be too overconfident." "Yeah, yeah." Lynne gave Icy the finger. Paras and the others crawled to Derrick. *Who is she?* they all asked except Paras and Weepinbell. "My lifelong rival......" -=Big Flashback In Pokemon Tech=- "Paras, Stun Spore!" Paras shot out it's spores at Rhyhorn, who was too slow to evade. "Rhyhorn! Noo!" The junior trainer hugged his Rhyhorn. "That was a long tough match, right Paras?" *Paras,* it nodded. "Derrick? We have a letter for you from your parents." "What is it?" He tore it open. "Dear Derrick, please come back to Celadon as soon as possible, we have a surprise for you. A surprise?" Derrick showed the note to his teacher, who excused him from further training. *Paras?* It asked as they walked out of the gates. "We are finally going home." It was the begining of Spring. The flowers buds had allready shown. The most unusual of the flowers was preparing to bloom with unique, natural beauty. It was trying to show how great it really was compared to the others, the others whom had already bloomed pretty petals with an innocent scent. "Wait!" Derrick turned around to see Lynne. "Where do you think you're going, you didn't graduate. She showed the diploma, then stuck her tongue out. "We never battled, how about now?" "Um." "Chicken? Bwaaaak bwak bwak." "No." Paras stood in front of him. "How about it? Your Paras versus my Paras?" She opened her pokeball to reveal hers, it was vicious looking with sharper claws and red eyes. "Let's go!" -=We'll Be Back After These Messages=- RAZARKID: please go here www.pokeplace.net Male Gloom: She's perfect Female Gloom: He's gorgeous Male Gloom: She wants me Female Gloom: He likes to be touched Male Gloom: She Female Gloom: He Male Gloom: She's mine Female Gloom: He's mine --EmporioGloomArmani-- "It's the Grand Re-Opening of Icy's Unofficial Bug Gym." "Look for it in Viridian Forest." "Win against Icy and get the unofficial Forest Badge." "So come on down!" ::Girls are huddling around a Pikachu:: ::Jinx shows up:: ::Girls huddle around Jinx:: ::Jinx smiles and holds up Mentos:: "Mentos, the freshmaker!" ::Destroyed buildings appear:: "ATR needs your help more than ever." "Call 1-800 ATR-LIFE" "Donate money we so desperately need." ::Close-up on the cute pitiful girl in ragged clothing:: "Or, call 1-800 ATR-JOIN" "Learn how you can become a member yourself" ::Raven, James, Saber, Sirius, and Gohan are shown:: (Need to advertise something in a slot? E-mail me) -=Now Back To Our Show=- "Derrick, you're back!" Erika had opened her door to the Celadon Gym to recongize an apprentice. "So, what did you learn at pokemon tech?" "Nothing much....." Erika looked down to Paras. "Hey, wha? How did Paras get that scar on his left eye." "It was an accident, that's all you need to know...." Derrick turned away feeling very ashamed of himself. "Can I come in?" "Sure, we have some visitors too!" Derrick looked around the room not recognizing anyone. He turned to the person on the end. "Lynne?" "YOU again? What kinda loser can be Erika's pupil anyway?" Erika looked at the two. "You guys know each other?" "Hate to admit it, but, yes." She stuck her tongue out. "Grrrrrrr." -=Reality=- "Three pokemon each," Icy stated. "I can beat em all with my first." " . . Right. ." Icy managed to not shout out any vulgarities. "I call out Scyther!" "Ok, then. Ready to fight, come in sight! Icy calls Buttercup!" *Eeee Eeee.* "Heh, this should be easy," Lynne smiled. Buttercup used his Confusion attack right away, knocking Scyther back. "Wha? Oh yeah, Icy is psychic. I hate damn psychics. Scyther, Double Team now!" Immediately, Scyther started speeding around the arena, trying to confuse Buttercup. However, Buttercup was too smart with his massive amount of experience. *Eeeee!* He closed his eyes, flew higher in the air, and Psybeamed the whole vacinity! *Scytheerrrrrrrr!!!!!* It got knocked away, again, and fainted. "YEAH, go Icy!" Sara cheered on. Derrick remained still, just praying she wouldn't win. "What? Impossible!" "Nothing is impossible." "Grrrr." Lynne took out another ball. "Then I call out Exeggutor!" "Sleep Powder," Icy said while keeping his poker face activated. "Hypnosis." Buttercup didn't turn away in time, and fell asleep while Exeggutor blew the powders into the air. "HA!" Icy grasped his pokeball. "Buttercup, return." He took out another pokeball. "Ready to fight, come in sight! Icy calls Flutter!" "What a corny motto." Lynne stared at Flutter for a second before realizing it was.... "Another Butterfree?" "You have a problem with that?" "Yeah, they suck." Flutter attempted to tackle Exeggutor, but got knocked away with it's stomp. "See what I mean?" "Aughhhh! Flutter, return. I guess I have to send out....." Icy sent out the third pokemon in desperation without even saying his motto. He did not want to surrender the Forest Badge to a girl like that. The pokeball hit the ground, then bounced up with the red light appearing in the form of... "What!? That is a psychic pokemon, you are a bug trainer." *Sorry, but it's well within the rules.* Hocus pulled his eyelids down and stuck his tongue out. "Is that true?" Lynne glared suspiciously. "It sure is." Sara runs by, shoving Rule #408 of the pokemon guide in Lynnes face. "Ptooiiee, fine then, but he won't be of much help." *Stop acting like a bitch!* Paras shouted out on accident, then covering his mouth with a slight grin on his face. *Bitch?* Venonat was confused. *What does that mean?* *Nothing important! Shhhh!* Exeggcute scolded. *Oh really?* Venonat smiled, then jumped up and down shouting. *Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!* Icy, Sara, and Lynne had no idea what they were doing and Derrick just pressed his hand against his forehead in frustration. Finally, Paras, Butterfree, and Gloom pinned down Venonat and shut his mouth with Psyduct Tape. Derrick gobbled down his headache medicine. Hocus is psybeaming over and over like a machine gun, while Exeggcutor is dodging most beams and stating to lose energy. "Teleport!" Exeggutor suddenly dissapears and Hocus is confused, until something reappears behind his back, shooting out a Solar Beam. With lighting fast reactions, Icy telepathically informs Hocus to Teleport away. "Just in time!" Icy grinned. Hocus redirected the Solar Beam to Exeggutor who teleports in front of Hocus to stomp him flat, however, Hocus teleports once again farther back. *Ahahahaha!* he mocked Exeggutor who got so frustrated, he teleported to Hocus again. "Wait!" Lynne screeched, but it was too late. By the time he reappeared in front of Hocus, Exeggutor was hit by the wandering Solar Beam. It shivered for a while, then finally fell to the ground. "rmrnemrnemr. . . . . .!!!" *Cat got your tongue?* "I'm not through yet, I call . . . . . out of a pokeball popped..... *AEEEEEEROOOOOOO!* Icy jumped to his feet, and nodded to Hocus who was still confident. "You can do it!." *AEEERRiiittoooo!* The giant pokemon tramsformed into Ditto. "No, you ninny!" Lynne glared her cold, dark eyes at Ditto. *Ahahahahaha!* Hocus was rolling on the floor laughing. Suddenly, they got serious. Ditto transformed into Hocus and they both walked up to each other. gazing in the eyes, they both attempted to Hypnotize each other. They just stood still for hours and hours. Icy was cheering on one side, Lynne was cheering on the other. Sara was on her sixth bag of popcorn. As for Derrick, he is currently trying to get Venonat to.... "SHUTUP!" All the pokemon tackled him and tied him up. "Fine I'll tell you what it is." Derrick whispered it in Venonat's ear. *Big deal,* he grumbled. Suddenly, both Ditto and Hocus fell to the ground, fully asleep. "RETURN!" Both pokemon got sent back into their pokeballs. "I guess it's a tie," Sara smiled, relieved that Icy didn't lose. "It can't be a tie!" Lynne and Icy were sweating. Sara looked in the rule book, gave a not so reassured sigh, then slammed it shut. "No, you now will choose one more pokemon at the same time and the winner will be decided upon it, like a sudden death round." Grasping their pokemon, Icy and Lynne sent out the one which would decide everything, the one which would separate the strong from the weak. "Ready to fight, come in sight! Icy calls Cyber!" He threw his pokeball high into the air. Almost in unison, Lynne tossed hers high too. The two balls clashed together, bouncing back, then hitting the ground to reveal... *Porygon!* *Parasssect* "Parasect?!" Derrick woke up from his drift to see the same pokemon he had seen years ago. Lynne smiled wryly. "That's right, I have Parasect and you still have a Paras, what kind of pathetic trainer are you?" Paras backed up and felt the scar upon his eye bringing back pain, both physical and emotional. *Sticks and stone may break our bones, but words can break our hearts.* Though these insults came from such a trainer, they still made Derrick's pokemon feel downer than before. They felt lower than the grass. They felt lower than the dirt. They felt lower than what lies at the bottom, lower than everything. "Let's get this on. Cyber, Tri Attack!" Cyber split into three different pokemon who were the same. They started surrounding Parasect, ready to leap forward. Just before, however, Parasect shot out it's Spore attack rendering the fake Cybers helpless. "Yeah! You can't fool Parasect with these cheap tricks!" the fake Cybers did dissapear, but the real one still stood, unaffected by these stenches. *Psybeam,* Icy said telepathically. Obeying, a psybeam was shot out, but Parasect dug under just in the nick of time. "Wha?" Cyber was very confused, no opponent was in sight, in fact, the non-anticipation of the attack was enormous. Sara was sitting by Derrick, shivering with a bag of popcorn in her hands. Weepinbell tapped her and..... "Gahhhhhh!" Salt and butter now drenched Derrick and his pokemon, not to mention Sara. Cyber started hovering over the ground, scanning the area nervously, but ready for an attack at the same time. Icy caught sight of a pebble that moved aside under Cyber. "Look out!" It was too late, Parasect had brought it's heavy claw, along with the rest of it's body, out of the ground and into Cyber. He was flung into the other side of the room now. "Recover!" "I don't think so..." Parasect surprising got there fast and grabbed a hold of Cyber. "Mega Drain!" As Cyber gained energy, Parasect was stealing it. Cyber was feeling drowsy and started to glow, soon, it wasn't hurt by the draining. "Good thinking by using Conversion!" "Grrr...." Cyber backed up and Sharpened, then prepared to tackle. At the same time, Parasect was preparing his claw. "Tackle!" "Slash!" The two pokemon charged angrily at each other and . . . . . . . No one could bare to look and turned their heads away. After the noise, they looked back to see Cyber and Parasect standing in front of each other. "Huh?" Cyber fell over in it's side. "WOOOO! I WIN!" Icy handed the Forest Badge miserably to her. He was sure that no other gym leader respected her either. "Seeya loser, I have to pay a visit to an A.J." The crowd watched Lynne leave, and when the door shut behind her, everyone cheered. "Now Derrick," Icy picked up his injured Porygon, "you said you wanted to battle me as well." ". . . .Yeah." -=One Day Later=- Derrick awoke in a bed. *We failed, to win you the Forest Badge,* the pokemon looked down to the sheets as they spoke softly. *We failed to make you as good as Lynne...* He could vaguely recall the events which ended with him falling into his 'death sleep' and missing out on his pokemon battle. "It's not your fault, it's mine." *But...* "I failed to keep myself up when it mattered the most, I...." He looked at the shimmering eyes of his pokemon. " . . .I'm . . .so sorry." Joy walked in the room. "Oh, you're awake." She handed him the pokeball. "Beedrill has fully recovered, you can leave this place now, if you wish to." Before she left, she turned around. "You do know that you died again, right?" "Derrick nodded slowly." After biding fairwell to Icy, Sara, and the others, Derrick finally left the Bug Gym, which would bring back memories, containing both joy and pain. He was facing his fears and trying to be the same as usual, even if he knew deep in his heart it was impossible. Maybe the flowers of a new begining would grow back, or maybe they would die in this barren soil, this soil which was fed no water, no care. "Spring takes on Winter all the time," Derrick said to himself. His pokemon walked by his side. Exeggcute spoke up. *And no matter how hard Winter fights it, no matter how much terror and power it brings, Spring has managed to find itself here for us all . . . . .* To Be Continued Today's Story Included Music From: Eagle Eye Cherry "Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone, Save tonight. . ." Wyclef Jean "I'll be gone 'til November, I'll be gone 'til November. You tell by girl I'll be gone 'til November. I'll be gone 'til November, I'll be gone 'til November. . ." _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~Dryad48: Weekly Quote: "When you look at a city, it's like reading the hopes, aspirations, and pride of everyone who built it." "Hide people from bad things, and you've made them weaker." -Me