From: RobfromVoid <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Subject: [PW!] Has Luthor Met His Match? Date: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 4:18 PM Luthor the Slowpoke has been slowly wandering through the winding corridors of Mount Moon for a while, trying to find an exit. He is used to the darkness, but is still bothered by the screeches of Zubat which echo throughout the cave. Whenever a Zubat comes too close, he simply uses his Confusion attack, which down the weak Poison creatures in one blast. Doing this has boosted his ego tremendously, and he feels that he can destroy anything in his way... That attitude is about to change. When Luthor sees a certain Pokemon in the distance, he recognizes the creature from his comic books, shudders, and stops in his tracks. Luthor hides behind a nearby boulder and uses telekinesis to snap one of the Pokeballs off his belt, "Come, Dr. Octopus." The Pokeball falls to the floor and a light brown Tentacool is released! The Tentacool usually is angry at Luthor, and this time isn't any different, "<What the> COOL <do you want NOW?!>" Luthor peeks around the boulder he is hiding behind, "I require some assistance enslaving a Pokemon that I fear may be stronger than myself. I believe that I have met my match. Since I know you're a scientist, I'm sure that..." Dr. Octopus flails his tentacles, "<I ain't no> Cooltent Tentacool, <you> Tent! <I don't even know what a> Tentacool <IS! Besides, why don't you get your> Tent <to do it? You two are so close, you might as well be> Cooltent <her!>" Luthor doesn't fully understand, since he isn't fluent in Tentacoolese, "My what? What are you talking about?" Dr. Octopus points one tentacle at the Pokeball on Luthor's belt that contains Poison Ivy, then crosses two tentacles, turning away from his self-appointed master, "<Like I said, you two might as well be getting it on! I find it> cool." "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to put Poison Ivy in such grave danger." Luthor uses his telekinetic powers to turn Dr. Octopus around, so that the Tentacool is facing him again, "Your opponent is called Parasite. He is one of Superman's worst enemies, mainly because he can absorb Superman's powers and use them against him. Not only does Parasite's attack lower your energy, it increases his. What's worse is that when Parasite absorbs your essence, he also absorbs your thoughts, reading your mind..." Dr. Octopus yawns, one brown tentacle curling in front of his mouth, "<Boring. Where is this> tent <, anyway?>" Luthor raises one light blue paw, reaches over the side of the rock he is hiding behind, and points at the Pokemon he believes is Parasite. The Coke-stained Tentacool oozes away from Luthor's hiding place, into the Pokemon's line of sight, showing that he's not afraid of any Pokemon. When Dr. Octopus sees the foe, he stares for a second, wonders how he can be anyone's worst enemy, then cracks up, laughing so loudly that it awakens Zubat who live in the deep recesses of Mount Moon! The loud laughter scares the jittery Paras that was being laughed at! The small crab with the mushrooms on his back skitters towards the closest hiding place, which just happens to be the boulder where Luthor is hiding, "Paras?" "Subdue him immediately, Dr. Octopus! Luthor, out." Since Luthor's mind is quicker than his body, Luthor stares at the Paras for five seconds before his muscles finally react and he runs away from the Paras as quickly as possible! Dr. Octopus grins. He figures that if he can defeat this Pokemon, Luthor will fear him for being able to crush the villain he finds to be so difficult to defeat, and will then release him from his prison, the accursed Pokeball, out of pure fear. The Tentacool tries to spit Acid... he finally manages to spit out a dark brown liquid at the Paras' mushrooms... but it just happens to be Diet Coke! "COOOL!!!" The angry way Dr. Octopus shouts this negates any positive connotation. The Paras opens up his mouth and lets the Diet Coke drip into it. Finding the drink to be too flat for his tastes, he spits it out. Construing the action of feeding him a bad tasting beverage as an attack, the Paras deals out an attack of his own! He raises up his tiny claw and Scratches Dr. Octopus, cutting up the red jelly-like substance on the Tentacool's head! Since Dr. Octopus is so very weak, being only at a skill level of eight, even the most pathetic attack coming from one of the most pathetic Pokemon hurts him. Paras' Scratch is such an attack, and Dr. Octopus faints from it. Seeing his opponent down, Paras smiles and hops about happily! He has actually won a battle... The Paras feels a little weird. The mushrooms on his back start to tingle, something they haven't done since they day he was born... Luthor, who is observing from a distance, concentrates on moving a Pokeball with his mind so that he can catch the Paras while the creature distracted from winning against the Tentacool. This was Luthor's plan all along - he knew Dr. Octopus stood no chance against the manifestation of a villain who can defeat Superman. The Pokeball lifts up off the ground, and very gradually floats over towards where the Paras is standing, still dazed from having won... The wild Paras closes his eyes and heaves. It feels like something is lodged in his mushrooms, and he has to get it out. The scene looks like a pregnant mother trying to give birth to her children. Since the Paras' eyes are closed, he doesn't see that Luthor's Pokeball hovers closer and closer to him. When the Pokeball is right next to him, he finally makes the final push, and a large cloud of Stun Spores fly into the area, knocking away Luthor's Pokeball, "Paaarrrraaas!" Luthor is surprised, "I didn't know that was one of Parasite's powers. Amazing. Now I absolutely *must* get him to join my army." Some of the smaller Stun Spores the Paras ejected find their way into Luthor's nostrils. The Slowpoke tries to move closer to the Pokeball, to get a better mental grip on it, but is paralyzed and cannot move, "Even more amazing." Though Luthor can't move, the curious Paras skitters up to the Pokeball on the floor all by himself to get a closer look. Feeling much braver after defeating Dr. Octopus, the Paras isn't afraid of the foreign object, and even decides to poke it to get a better idea of what it is made of. Fortunately for Luthor, the Crab Pokemon's claw just happens to hit the Pokeball right on the button which snaps it open. Since the Paras is the closest Pokemon, he gets converted into energy and is sucked inside! The Pokeball wobbles about as the Paras tries to escape, but he isn't strong enough to do so. Ding! Luthor sniffs out a laugh, which also happens to expel the Stun Spores in his nose, "Curiosity caught the Parasite." Luthor walks up to his fainted Tentacool and recalls him. He then continues onward to his newest catch. He stares at the Pokeball, wondering how the one he considers to be his match was caught so easily... then he remembers that Alice and Alysia caught him just as easily as he caught Parasite, "I just hope the comic books didn't exaggerate your abilities..." -Luthor