From: Dryad <dryad48@aol.commoner> Subject: [PW!][League] Silent Cheers Date: Saturday, December 04, 1999 1:17 AM "Talk some sense into them.." Derrick weakly commanded Butterfree. Exeggcute had no longer refused to be miserable. There was no more strength in their hearts to withstand the earth's cold, dry dirt slashing upon their faces. *Okay...* Butterfree wasn't so sure of herself. She slowly fluttered towards Exeggcute and tried reasoning with them. However, the more she spoke, the more they would turn away. They had taken a vow of silence only a few days ago, for there was too much misery throughout Pewter city to be held on the shoulders of one person. That person, Derrick. Perhaps the venom of Beedrill had never ceased. Perhaps it had hiden deep in the shadows, only to jump any unsuspecting prey who crept too close. Whatever was causing everything from the disappearances, to the rebellion, Derrick was trying hard to keep his head up to see the clouds, instead of watching the tiny pebbles roll by his feet with the autumn winds. But now, it was winter. Maybe things were just being stalled. "We have some important things to do..." Derrick mumbled. "Come..." Butterfree sighed and returned into her pokeball. Derrick looked to Exeggcute, who all stared blankly into the corner. "Do want to talk about this?" Their expressions remained the same, and they ignored Derrick. He just stood there behind them, waiting for a reply. The room remained soundless and nothing more or less quiet for many moments. Derrick scratched the back of his head. He stood, cross-armed, waiting for any blurt or word. Finally, the silence was broken as Derrick sighed to himself. "We'll talk about this later... maybe when you guys will respect us.." He took out a pokeball and placed it on the bed next to the corner they stood in. Derrick slowly started out the door and then down the stairs. "Weeks have gone by since Beedrill and Venonat have gone missing, these weeks seem like decades, and people say that I'll find them both soon, but only I know of Beedrill's fate. It was not a dream which lead me there. If I disgruntle myself even more, I guess I'd just be wasting time." Derrick walked along the lonely paths which had children prancing home from their school. "I can't wait to be old enough to be a pokemon master!" One boy who wore a pokemon league hat said this as he danced around. "Just a few more weeks until my birthday!" "Yeah!" the other one shouted. "I choose Squirtle!" "Naw, Bulbasaur all the way!" The boys made impressions of pokemon and picked up a dark, round rock pretending it was a pokeball. Derrick kept his head up and continued walking. The rock hit the back of his head. "Yes! I caught a strange person thingy!" He continued walking, trying not to be bothered by their pranks. 'They know nothing about real pokemon training,' Derrick convinced himself. Still, he tried to keep himself in a good mode. He had stared straight into the face of death and perhaps even had a light conversation with it. At that time, he had realized how much he should stop wasting his time worrying and spend more time enjoying life. After all, there is any chance of dying the next day, or being too miserable to go on. It was too hard to pretend to be happy, but sometimes, the shell wouldn't crack. As he passed the television stores, Derrick noticed the screen showed a familiar place, but more importantly, a familiar face. It looked like a competition going on in the pokemon league and who else would be there but poor Lynne. She was poor in his eyes and a real snob, but she thought of herself as any other over confident trainer would, being the winner. He could not keep his interests from seeing whether or not she would defeat her opponent. So, he walked up to the glass wall in front and watched. The faint shouting of the crowds could be heard in the backround. The bottom billboard on the screen said they both had one pokemon left the name of the other trainer was A.J. This guy seemed to be very popular with the crowds. Lynne recalled her Magmar and A.J. recalled his Rhydon. At the same time, they threw another ball into the arena from their stands. On Lynne's side came a Scyther and on A.J.'s, a Dugtrio. The man on the side rose the flag and Scyther immediately charged at Dugtrio. Dugtrio quickly went underground though. Scyther seemed to not need to obey Lynne, it must have been in this predicament before. Scyther flew high into the air and waiteed from above. Eventually, Dugtrio peeked above ground to see what was going on. No sooner did it do this, that Scyther landed back on the ground and charged left and right at Dugtrio, landing every hit. "Earthquake!" A.J. shouted in desperation. Dugtrio nodded and went underground when it had it's chance. This time, before Scyther went up, the ground started rumbling. It was soft at first, but then it came on harder and harder. Scyther lost balance and tumbled to the ground, where Dugtrio slammed into him from below. "Scyther!" Lynne screamed. "Use slash!" As Scyther fell back down to Dugtrio, it held out it's arm and swung it across Dugtrio's face. Scyther slowed down, then as it's feet landed on the field, Dugtrio fell over. A man in a uniform ran up to Dugtrio and raised a flag. The cheering crowd grew silent. Lynne had won against one of the more famous trainers. The audience came to see a good fight, and saw one, but they wanted A.J. to win. There was still an applauding, and Lynne's self absorbment hid it all away. "Thank you!" she smiled to her 'fans'. She may have, or not known that no one cheered for her that day, and may never see or speak the truth. "No one wants her to win..." Derrick spoke to himself as he viewed the old television set from the opposite side of the glass. He walked on. Now, Derrick felt a bit happy for himself that no one in the audience wants Lynne to win, but he still felt sorry for her. It wasn't that she wasn't cheered for, it was that she thinks she is. To Be Continued _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~Dryad48: Weekly Quote: "Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit." - Frank Borman "Hide people from bad things, and you've made them weaker." -Me