From: Karnivax <karnivax@my-deja.com> Subject: [PW!] [LEAGUE] Down the Drain Date: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 6:12 AM I thought I was going to go up against NPC Mike for this round instead of Lorelei, but I found a way to work with it... --DOWN THE DRAIN-- Part 1 by Karnivax "How do you feel?" "What are you doing here? The flying cactuses are going to get you...aren't you worried?" Espio incoherently responded as he lay flat on the lobby floor. His large size was an advantage for him in this case; were he still a Charmeleon, he would have died several minutes ago from the deadly and hallucinogenic Nidoqueen venom that was coursing through his system. "Wait...of course you aren't....you're doing that thing where you turn silver and melt again..." "Here, drink this." Kyle handed the white Charizard a small plastic bottle. "When I'm famous, I'll remember your generosity, kind frog-boy," the delirious Espio queried, as he inhaled the bottle's contents. "It tastes like burning..." "It's Antidote," Kyle told him. "The Pokémart was picked clean of Full Heals and Full Restores...this was all I could get for you." "Didn't you get any fries?" Espio tossed the empty bottle aside. "In any event, I'm passing out now. Catch you later..." With that, Espio fell asleep. Kyle beamed Espio into his Pokéball and headed over to the main desk to find out who he would be facing in round four. After Kyle checked in, the symbol of the only field remaining for him - the Water Field - shone on the quartet of monitors that stood behind the main desk with her scythes crossed and her talons tapping impatiently on the lobby floor. The opponent roulette stopped on a familiar picture. "I remember her!" Kyle noted. "That's Lorelei, one of the Elite Four..." "To the Water Field!" Jessica said mock-valiantly. She pointed one scythe skyward. One Batman-style segue later, a very nervous Kyle was standing atop the red trainer pillar on the Water Field, and a very confident Jessica was standing next to the pillar. "I believe it was Samuel Coleridge who wrote 'Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink,'" came the announcer's cheesy intro. "Hello, sports fans, and welcome to the fourth round of the Pokémon League Games! The first combatant has already arrived on the Water Field...give it up for our red trainer, the as-of-yet undefeated Kyle Richter, of Cinnabar Island!" The crowd cheered quite significantly this time as Kyle was once again introduced. Then Lorelei, who was wearing elliptical glasses and a black dress that came down to her knees, entered the field from the opposite side and stepped on to the green pillar. Most of the crowd cheered madly, but there were a few people booing as well...no doubt trainers that Lorelei had defeated. "The green trainer here today will be the also-undefeated Lorelei, who really needs no introduction," the announcer noted. "Her team of ice Pokémon has worked wonders for her thus far...but she may have to make some substitutions if she hopes to bring the versatile Kyle down." "I defeated you once; I can do it again," Kyle boasted. Lorelei, who would have normally made a snide retort, was oddly silent. The ubiquitous bald-headed referee emerged from a side entrance and took his usual sideline position. This time the audience joined in as the ref shouted out his usual fist-pumping intro: "Let's get it on!" It took several seconds for Kyle to form the words, and several seconds more to expel them from his mouth: "Jessica, I choose you!" Before Kyle was even able to finish that sentence, the adrenaline- loaded Scyther leapt to one of the Water Field's buoyant platforms and took a fighting stance. Lorelei tossed down a Pokéball without saying a word. Both Kyle and Jessica sweatdropped as a hideous long-haired humanoid Pokémon materialized in front of Jessica. "Jynx...jynx..." the effeminate Pokémon greeted, in its best attempt at a sultry voice. Jessica stuck her tongue out. "Augh...Jynx are even uglier in person!" Without even waiting for an order from its trainer, Jynx jumped to Jessica's platform, caught the Scyther in a tight bear-hug, then puckered up for a Lovely Kiss attack. "This is *not* 'Ally McBeal!'" With all her might, Jessica pushed Jynx's face apart from her own with her scythes, then kicked out of Jynx's grasp. As Jynx recoiled, Jessica lunged, Slashed the portly humanoid across the face, then roundhouse-kicked her in the chest. Kyle was about to shout out an order, but he had no idea which techniques Jessica knew. "Um...Swords Dance?" he suggested feebly. Jessica nodded, then showed off her breakdancing skills while Jynx stood wiping blood off of her face. "Jynx, jynx!" Jynx slid toward Jessica and tried to hit her with a one-two Ice Punch combination. Jessica easily sidestepped the slow punches, then nailed Jynx with a left uppercut Slash that sent the humanoid sailing into the water. Kyle's jaw dropped as he realized that he should have had more faith in Jessica from the start. "Now, Wing Attack!" Kyle tried. As Jynx splashed about in the water, Jessica did nothing. "Do you *know* Wing Attack?" "I do," Jessica responded. "But I'm not going to attack a Pokémon that can't defend itself." Jessica pointed to Jynx, who was such an inept swimmer that she could not even dog-paddle back over to the platform. Lorelei looked as if she were about to finally say something, but she did not. After half a minute of flailing about wildly, the worn- out Jynx sunk. "Jynx is unable to fight!" the referee boomed. He raised the red flag. One of the green lights on the scoreboard went out. An embittered Lorelei withdrew Jynx, then immediately sent out a second Pokémon. Her second Pokémon was the biggest Lapras that Jessica had ever seen. "Laaap. Prasss," the blue creature said melodiously. --DOWN THE DRAIN-- Part 2 by Karnivax Without a word, Lorelei pointed at Jessica, and the hefty Lapras bounced into action. Jessica backflipped out of the way as Lapras went to flatten her with a Body Slam. Flaunting her vast speed advantage, Jessica rapidly Slashed the plesiosaur twice across the muzzle, then landed a spin-kick that caused Lapras's head to snap back. "Double Team!" Kyle shouted. Jessica the Scyther slid to one side as Lapras rifled off an Ice Beam, and suddenly two additional Jessicas appeared. Lapras sweatdropped. "Now, Wing Attack!" As Jessica prepared for the Wing Attack, Lapras feebly spat out an Ice Beam that passed right through one of the Scyther. "Uh-oh! It's triple trouble for Lapras!" came the announcer's ever-cheesy commentary. All at once, the three Scyther pointed their wings at Lapras. And all at once, three volleys of razor-sharp wing-scales were launched right at the plesiosaur. Two of the volleys were mere illusions, of course...but the third was very real. The wing-scales tore through Lapras's saurian skin like glass. The plesiosaur let out a shrill cry as she backed off a bit. "Praaasss!" Lapras then bounded into the water and started Surfing around and around the platform at full speed. As Lapras Surfed, she unleashed Ice Beam after Ice Beam upon the trio of Jessicas. Jessica dodged by repeatedly jumping to the other platform and then jumping back. This evasion game continued until Lapras was out of ice. The three Scyther became one again. Jessica clumsily took flight and sliced away at the floating Lapras with a string of five straight Slash attacks. Lapras's soft body blunted the combination significantly, but not enough to keep the plesiosaur from bleeding profusely. Undaunted, Lapras clapped her front flippers together and kicked up a violent water wave that knocked Jessica out of the air and back on to one of the platforms. "Wing Attack again!" Kyle called out. Jessica stood up, but recognizing that Lapras was already in pretty bad shape, the Scyther hesitated to attack any further. Realizing that she was being granted a bit of a reprieve from further pain, the plesiosaur capsized on purpose as her way of admitting defeat. "Laaap...prasss..." she burbled. "Lapras is unable to fight!" the referee pointed out. Another green light went out. "Kyle's Scyther is really running the show!" the commentator remarked. "Will Lorelei be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?" Lorelei's face was red with rage, but still she remained quiet. She recalled Lapras and tossed down her third and final Pokéball. The audience let out a collective gasp as Lorelei's third Pokémon materialized. "This must be some sort of mistake...Lorelei has sent out a Magmar!" the commentator announced. "What is she thinking?" "Mag! Mar!" As he stood atop the platform closest to Lorelei, Magmar threw several practice punches before pounding his fists togther and pointing at Jessica menacingly. "Mag!" "Double Team again!" Kyle ordered. Before Kyle even reached the word "again," Magmar had lunged over to Jessica's platform and was wasting no time in pounding the curvaceous Scyther's scaly face with a series of Mega Punches. As Jessica fell on her abdomen from the assault, she did not even have a second to get up before Magmar hammer-punched her on top of the head and tailwhipped her into the water. "Mag mar!" A wide burn-mark was left across Jessica's thorax where Magmar's tail-flame hit. "Uh...Slash!" Kyle tried. Jessica flew out of the water and went to dive-bomb Magmar. The second Jessica reached her apex, however, Magmar incinerated her wings with a Flamethrower attack and then struck her falling form in the midriff with a Mega Punch that slammed her hard into the red pillar. The force almost knocked Kyle off. The scorched and now-apterous Jessica vomited up blood before falling into the water once again. Magmar obligingly pulled Jessica out of the water, only to toss her straight up into the air seconds later and blast her with another Flamethrower attack. Jessica had no hope of winning at that point. She fell flat on the platform and fought just to stay conscious. "Scyther is unable to fight!" the referee noted. At last, one of the red lights on the scoreboard went out. Kyle started to panic as he realized he did not have a Pokéball to beam Jessica into. "Mag!" Magmar was not satisfied with the ref's call. The fire- duck lifted Jessica up by the neck and hammered her thorax with another Mega Punch. Blood spewed from Jessica's mouth upon impact. "He's going to fucking *kill* her!!!" Kyle shouted, wondering if he could have possibly leapt on to the field to rescue the human-turned- mantis. Magmar would have been more than happy to continue destroying Jessica, but suddenly Lorelei signaled to him. Magmar put Jessica down for the time being, turned toward Kyle, and took a deep breath. Kyle had no idea what to expect, but Jessica seemed to. In spite of the unimaginable pain that was tearing her apart, Jessica summoned every bit of strength remaining within her and stood up. Then everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. First Magmar expectorated a lumbering and huge Fire Blast that was aimed directly up at Kyle. Then, mere milliseconds later, Jessica, empowered by the urgency of the situation, long-jumped off of the platform and triangle- jumped off of Kyle's pillar. The triangle-jump gave Jessica just enough altitude to put herself in between the Fire Blast and Kyle. Kyle was too stunned to notice the burning-hot explosion that happened then. All Kyle knew when he regained cognizance seconds later was that he caught Jessica as she crashed into him on top of the trainer pillar, and she was dying in his arms. Sweat pouring down his face, Kyle lifted the charred Jessica up and leapt off of the red pillar. He nearly broke his back just to land on his feet, but he did not care. He sprinted at full speed for the Pokécenter. Cathode, who was being violently jostled around inside Kyle's backpack, was cushioned well by the clothing the backpack contained. "This...this is unbelievable..." the commentator stammered. "I...I don't fully understand...what just happened..." He motioned to the television crew nearby. "What the hell are you waiting for?! Go to commercial, you idiots!!!" A whole squad of Officer Jennys charged out on to the field as Lorelei recalled Magmar, jumped down from the green pillar, and ran for the exit. "Stop!" one Jenny commanded. "You're under arrest for attempted...assisted murder!" Lorelei did not listen. Just as it looked like the swift Lorelei was widening the gap between her and the police, the lead Jenny tossed down a Pokéball, and out came a mighty Arcanine. The lightning-quick Arcanine rammed into Lorelei's back and knocked the retreating trainer down. Much to the shock of everyone in the audience, Lorelei started to change shape. The Arcanine took a few steps back and watched in surprise as "Lorelei" revealed herself to be a simple pink Ditto carrying three Pokéballs. As the police closed in, the pink shapeshifter frantically scanned the audience for a Pokémon to Transform into, and eventually found one of the ones it was looking for. The Ditto dropped two of its Pokéballs, then quickly morphed into a Kadabra and Teleported out of sight. Suddenly, a door opened on the far side of the stadium, and the real Lorelei fell out. Her ankles were tied together, her wrists were tied behind her back, and her mouth was taped shut. As the officers untied Lorelei and removed the tape, the Elite Four member shrieked that a Ditto had attacked her in the locker room and stolen two of her Pokémon. One of the Jennys showed Lorelei the pair of Pokéballs that the Ditto had dropped, and Lorelei confirmed that they were hers. Eventually the referee decided how to call this match. "Kyle was the first to leave his pillar during the match," the ref explained. "That's automatic disqualification. And since two Pokémon owned by Lorelei were active in the match, she *will* be considered as having participated. The match goes to Lorelei!" At that moment, Kyle burst through the Pokécenter door and pushed past the trainers that were stacked up in the waiting room. Panting, Kyle set Jessica down on top of the front desk and hit the bell several times. Eventually an exhausted Chansey rushed out to answer the call. Kyle was about to explain, but he did not get the chance. "Chan seeeeey!!!" Recognizing that for the second time at this year's Games a life-and-death situation was at hand, Chansey placed Jessica atop a gurney and then headed straight for the E.R. Kyle fell to his knees. "Jessica...hang on..." So as not to surprise you later, I'd like to inform the few people who have the patience to read my stories now that I'm leaving the PW! as soon as the Pokémon League Games end. As if the Vorge Debacle weren't enough, the fact that I've been slowly bogarting the ideas of other writers (namely Roberto and Shard) of late is a definite indicator that I've spent all of my best material. This leave is NOT permanent, though, so don't go planning to kill off my characters. The second that the G/S Pokémon get incorporated into the Wars (assuming that that happens within the next year), I shall return. --K * A * R * N * I * V * A * X-- "Our wretched society is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road." --Voltaire Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.