From: Cat-Gonk <gjani@iinet.net.au> Subject: [PW!] [LEAGUE] Size Does Matter (though this is a small post) Date: Monday, December 06, 1999 8:40 PM The crowd roared as the double doors from both the Green and Red corners swung open, releasing the two trainers into the ring. "And for our next matchup," boomed the announcer "Red Trainer Kirsty of Hellion will square off against Green Lass of Celadon! This Grass Field match might shape up to be a beauty contest, or another of the tense battles we've seen today in the Pokemon League Games!" Both trainers minced into the ring, waving at the crowd and posing for the odd photograph. The Lass Clan traditionally used "cute" Pokemon like Clefairy or Pidgey, Kirsty appeard to have this match in the bag. But they both seemed to be matched in terms of intelligence, both probably under the impression that Bug attacks are strong against Psychic. Taking up their positions, both trainers glared at each other from their respective sides of the ring. "Who will they choose?" continued the announcer. "This is a tense mome...." Just to stop the annoying commentary, Kirsty chose one Pokemon from her belt at random and threw it into the ring. Thankfully, she'd drawn Onix. "Rock-types should have the advantage against the normal and flying-types commonly used by the Lass Clan, Kirsty might ha...." A muffled scream came from the arena speakers, an unseen hand silencing the announcer with a Clefairy Doll. The crowd roared in approval. They'd payed for Pokemon fights, not for a constant stream of gibberish. "Go! Meowth!" On the Red side of the arena, a massive Rock-Snake reared back, and roared to the heavens. On the other, a small kitten scratched its ears. The match wasn't going to last much longer. "Meow!" Meowth was on its paws, and purred at the giant Pokemon in on the other side of the ring. It was met with a fearsome bellow. "Meow!" "Blaaaaaaaaaargh!" "MEOW!" "BLAAAAAARGH!" The sounds of disapproval filled the stadium. This wasn't a Pokemon battle, this was a staring match. Both Pokemon were only inches away form each other, and hissing furiously. "Onix! Slam attack!" As if he had been preparing for this all along, Onix simply let its head fall to the ground. No sound came out after it. The referee hoisted his red flag, and a light under Lass' name faded to black. "<ack> But wait, Meowth appears to still be hanging on!" Somehow, the commentator had extricated the Clefairy Doll from his mouth. Meowth hung from Onix's jaw, its nails somehow embedded in Onix's rock-hard body. Swinging his head from side to side, Onix threw the Meowth into the crowd. Already trained by two generations of Williams', he didn't need another order. Though Meowth landed on its feet, it was out of the arena. "One down, Kirsty need two more. With her Onix out in the field, Kirsty appears to have this all wrapped u...." The commentary ceased abruptly as the Clefairy Doll was re-inserted. "Go! Nidoran!" A light blue Nidoran Female materialised in the centre of the battlefield, its round and spotted appearance reminding the audience of a soccer ball ready to be kicked. Somehow, a small, tiny Nidoran stood a chance against Onix. Though no-one knew just how it attacked with its legs, its Double Kick was lethal to rock-types even with Onix' massive defensive power in place. Wary of its pint-sized foe, Onix drew back. "Rock Slide now!" "No-one's ever seen a four-legged Pokemon use Double Kick before," said a member of the audience. "We should get one now." A shallow fissure opened up the the ground before Onix, and massive boulders rose up from the earth's crust. The six giant projectiles carried Nidoran well out of the stadium and into the grandstand, crushing it against the audience. Though the stadium held fast, built to withstand much more powerful attacks, Nidoran was crushed into the walls. "Guess not," said the spectator. Another light faded from under the Lass' picture. It appeared that size did matter, Kirsty had only made two orders and already she was two-up on her equally-clueless foe. "Clefairy, I'm counting on you to win so I can be a Pokemon Master! Go!" With the typical dream of a Lass Clan member in her head, LAss sent out her last Pokemon, a Clefairy. The pink Pokemon bounded into the ring, its nauseatingly-sweet voice accompanying it. "Onix! Finish this off with Fissure!" Not knowing that one-hit moves never worked on faster Pokemon, Kirsty gave her next order. Clefairy stood in the centre of the arena, a cute smile on its face, and swung its fingers from side to side. "Please Clefairy, get something strong!" begged the Lass. "Not Explosion like last time!" Clefairy dissolved into a pink blob with a smiling face on the top. It had used Acid Armour, which wasn't a bad choice considering that Kirsty wasn't smart enough to know what a special attack was, let alone which one of her Pokemon knew them. Before Onix had time to attack, two blob-like hands oozed up from the Clefairy's "body" and began to sway left and right. Stormclouds gathered over the arena, though the rest of the skies remained clear and bright. Rain fell, and solidified rapidly into Ice. Somehow, Goddish had answered the Lass' prayers and sent down a Blizzard from the heavens. As each shard of ice struck Onix' rocky skin, its body cracked and tore open as its rocky body froze solid. Its hide was split in numourous places, the roar of pain from the rock-ground Pokemon filling the stadium. Kirsty called it back, and made another random choice from her Pokebelt. "Go! Gyarados!" Not realising that stormclouds brought thunder, Kirsty released her water-dragon Pokemon. The skies had already cleared now that the attack had finished, Clefairy's puddle had expanded a buit from the melting ice. "Gyarados! Bite attack!" "One last Metronome! Come on! I know you can do it!" Clefairy's pseudo-fingers swung again as Gyarados rushed forwards, gaping maw ready to recieve its opponent. The Clefairy's pace quickened, almost as if it was trying to use two Metronomes at the same time. Its flat, puddle-shaped body began to glow white and shimmer, as if it were about to... "Gyarados! Get back!" Clefairy exploded into a shower of flames and pinnk liquid. The initial shockwave threw Gyarados to the grass, but as the numourous droplets of Clefairy rained down upon the battlefield, Gyarados knew the battle was his. Normally, Explosion only fainted the Pokemon, but in this case, the liquid nature of something using Acid Armour had not proven to be compatible with a self-destruct move. "And the battle goes to Kirsty!" yelled the announcer, before a loud thump echoed through the speakers. A figure clad in strange armour made a hasty exit from the commentator's box, closing the door behind him. The referee walked up to Kirsty. "Red trainer, match!" He raised the Red flag. "You got lucky, kid." As Lass wept and wailed into the grass, Kirsty posed for her ever-growing number of fans. However, it seemed that this would be her only victory in a string of losses, it was fortunate that she'd fought an opponent almost as dumb as she was. TBC... -- Cat-Gonk®: Novaa Valias Starr. ---------------------------- Do you believe in Goddish? Email: catgonk@hotmail.com Send to gjani@iinet.net.au and burn AIM Screenames: CatGonk, Simyn Gonk, CatGonkNoMiko, Sailor Gonk, ATR CatGonk, Doc Oddish The Kitty Litter Box. http://catgonk.cjb.net/ The AGNP WebRing (currently hibernating). http://www.geocities.com/agnpring/ Azure Heights Pokemon Laboratory. http://www.geocities.com/~korelano Yoda Communications. http://yoda.pagehub.com The AGNP Pokezine. http://members.xoom.com/pokezine Spaceman's Pokecentre. http://iinet.net.au/~finebear Over 4500 posts to alt.games.nintendo.pokemon, and counting. Around 10 posts to Project Metronome. And only a meagre... Props and a basket of fruit 3 Picking on µ points 1 Out-Of-Sig-Experience Point 8 Listen, you Points 1 Spy Point 3 Bubbles 'n Cum points 6 Bum Bum Poopy points ...to show for it. -=|[Unknown AGNPer]|=- Distributor of Munt Coupons. Get them while they're hot! Quote of the week. "And not even a Ground attack? Or Rock? Or Ice? Or Electric? Gee, are you even TRYING to take advantage of Nidoqueen's huge move list? " - Dratini85, on a TMless lineup. "Speed is unimportant." - Killer Q, on why Dugtrio is worthless. "The only problem with AOL and WebTV being easy enough for any idiot to use, is that that's exactly who uses them." - CyberHawk Z, ain't it the truth.