Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might (PG-13)

[Andyman]

Started this way back on May 13th, 2008. I kind of hate the title, in retrospect. But before I post any episodes, here's the history of this thing:

Since this has been going for over a year and a half, there are already 134 episodes, which will all be posted within the next few days. When you're commenting on this, please say which episode you're talking about, since there are so many. You don't have to read them all within a week, just go at whatever pace you want. I will keep writing, though, so try and do a few a day. These episodes are typically 4 to 8 pages in MSWord - the earlier ones are shorter and weaker, as this has been instrumental in my growth as a writer with this epic's continually-evolving plot.

This is a fanfic styled like the Pokemon anime, only is more PG-13. The plot is a lot more complicated and the characters are much deeper. The protagonist isn't a complete tool like Ash. It's set in an overworld I designed myself:
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p219/andymancan1/Poketto/overworld-4.jpg

That took a long time and a lot of effort to make. I'm not very artistic - writing is my specialty.

A couple notes:
-Crossroad City has the Department Store, Game Corner, and Coliseum; Caperna Town has the day-care.
Gym #1 is ground-types. Gym #2 is fighting-types. Gym #3 is water-types. Gym #4 is flying-types. Gym #5 is dark-types. Gym #6 is bug-types. Gym #7 is fire-types. Gym #8 is dragon-types.

There will probably be around 200 to 225 episodes in total, though I'm unsure at this point. No idea when this will finish since school has severely hindered my time as of late, but I want to keep going with this, trying to do an episode a week. I'm very proud of everything here - it's helped me tremendously as a writer.

When I first started this, I wanted my initial readers to create vague character prompts so they'd feel as if they'd have a part of the story. Plus, it helps to already have an idea of who your people are before you write an epic. I thought it would be ideal to do it that way - I'm perfectly capable of creating my own characters now (and have in later episodes), but this was beneficial to both me and my initial audience (who really doesn't read this anymore for various reasons which I won't get into).

All of the things are basic. Pokemon obtained later is what their final team is, though most of them will obtain additional Pokemon. Things that can evolve differently are listed as a specific evolution. Keep in mind not everything is going to evolve. A * denotes that the person signing up did not wish for that specific Pokemon to evolve; non-evolving Pokemon is not limited to the ones with asterisks.

The date after their age is their birthday. Some characters were changed a little bit so I could write them easier. Some of them also change outfits for various reasons.

This first one is mine, based on my favorite Survivor contestant (don't ask, and she's a bit younger here... see the sig for more):
Name: Amanda
Age: 20 (08/03)
Gender: Female
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Green
Default outfit: Celadon green shirt, black pants, brown / beige baseball cap (often)
Three words to describe character: Sweet, determined, beautiful
Starting Pokemon: Chikorita
Pokemon obtained later: Starly, Abra, Mudkip, Eevee (Jolteon), Torchic
Role: Main character, trainer


Name: kintsugi
Age: 16 (10/26)
Gender: Female
Hair color: Pure Black
Eye color: Hazel
Default outfit: Blue Jeans, Blue T-shirt, light gray hat (pretty much all the time)
Three words to describe character: Smart, Kind, lol, Pretty...
Starting Pokemon: Charmander (SHINY)
Pokemon obtained later: Taillow, Pikachu*,Trapinch, Eevee (Vaporeon), Bagon
Role: protagonist, trainer


Name: Chaz
Age: 20 (06/02)
Gender: Male
Hair color: dark Blue
Eye color: Sky blue
Default outfit: blue pants, grey t-shirt, grey jacket with hoodie, blue Baseball cap (Worn when needed)
Three words to describe character: Comical, Joyful, Determined
Starting Pokemon: Riolu, Piplup
Pokemon obtained later: Ralts (Kirlia, Gallade), Yanma, Eevee (Glaceon), Magby, Tropius
Role: protagonist, coordinator


Name: Ricky
Age: 43 (09/07)
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Dark brown
Eye Color: green
Default Outfit: black muscle shirt with blue coat, really dark blue formal pants, black dress hat (worn when needed).
Three Words to Describe Character: Cunning, Admirable, Philosophical
Starting Pokemon: Milktank, Poochyena, nidoran girl
Pokemon Obtained Later: Bagon, Cyndaquil (Quilava*), Heracross
Role: bad guy


Name: Marissa
Age: 17 (3/27)
Gender: female
Hair Color: Dark brown hair (short) with dark red highlights
Eye Color: green
Default Outfit: lavender colored T-shirt, blue capri pants (with some purple on them), aquamarine blue colored hat (worn when needed).
Three Words to Describe Character: Ambitious, persevering, tactical
Starting Pokemon: Nidoran boy, Sneasel, Cubone
Pokemon Obtained Later: Growlithe, Totodile, Snover
Role: bad guy, coordinator
NOTE: She's Ricky's daughter.


Name: Dan
Age: 19 (10/14)
Gender: Male
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Default outfit: Blue polo shirt, dark green jacket, and jeans. Wears glasses.
Three words to describe character: Smart, persuasive, athletic
Starting Pokemon: Charmander
Pokemon obtained later: Shinx, Seadra, Absol, Dratini, Scyther
Role: Rival


Name: Wayne
Age: 27 (11/24)
Gender: Male
Hair color: Jet black
Eye color: Brown
Default outfit: White shirt, brown coat, blue jeans, a brown hat like those PIs in the games (wears all the time)
Three words to describe character: Stoic, Caring, Resolute
Starting Pokemon: Mightyena, Grovyle*, Buizel, Electrike, Drifblim, Sudowoodo
Role: G-man / Police (This project initiated before I met Looker, who Wayne fills the role of)


Name: T.J.
Age: 22 (8/21)
Gender: Male
Hair color: Black
Skin color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Default outfit: White shirt, orange blazer, blue jeans
Three words to describe character: Relaxed, strategic, tough
Starting Pokemon: Milotic, Ninetales, Roselia
Pokemon obtained later: Eevee (Umbreon), Skarmory
Role: Contest rival

There are more characters than that, obviously, but those are the sign-ups. Every single character in this is going to have some role in the plot, though some are minor.

I do not own the rights to the Pokemon franchise or any characters within it. Any original characters' resemblance to copyrighted material is purely coincidental. Any characters' resemblance to the girl of my dreams is intentional.

And that's about all I have to say in this post... after this, I'm going to start posting episodes. Keep in mind I haven't fixed some typos pointed out to me, and since I'm human, I'm bound to make them. Don't dwell on those too much - I've done what I can to fix the big stuff, like that whole date mess-up.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE ONE: “The Beginning”

It is said that at the dawn of time, the father of all Pokémon, Arceus was born. As God created the world in seven days, his creation of Arceus led to a separate dimension being created, parallel to that of our own. This is the world of Pokémon.

[You all know the rest of this passage.]

APRIL 19, 2007 7:30 AM
SMALL TOWN, MANALON

The sounds of John Cougar Mellencamp music blared on the radio. The young woman in the bed stirred.
“How… fitting,” she said. “I was born in a small town, I think… but it’s time to leave this place.”
Amanda got up out of bed. It was finally the day for her to leave to go on a journey… a journey to find an answer. Something had happened to her so long ago… something she’ll never forget…

?????? ??????
?????? ??????

“She’s only five! What the hell are you doing?” a woman’s voice yelled.
“I’m doing what I need to do, now shut up!” a man said angrily.
Little Amanda backed into a corner, scared. It was her parents arguing… over her. They were going through a divorce, and apparently her father had enough.
There was a blow. Amanda’s mom hit the floor, unconscious. Her father came over to her, and grabbed her. “Let’s go,” he said, more calmly. Amanda reluctantly agreed, shivering.
He took her out to his pickup truck in the pouring rain. He opened the door, and a Weedle was there. He tossed it out as far as he could, and forced Amanda in the car.
The drive was long. Amanda said nothing. She didn’t know what was going on.
The torrential rain was pouring on the windshield. The old, rickety pickup couldn’t take a Pidgey flying into it.
Something happened. It was too hard to see what it was, but the pickup went out of control. It went flying off the road and down a hill, and then hit a fencepost. Amanda’s dad hit the windshield, starting to bleed. Amanda, being small, survived the impact.
“Daddy…” she said, unable to keep awake… she fell asleep, as water began to pound through the windshield.

It had been fifteen years since that day… Amanda, trying to find help, had been rescued by some zany professor who was doing field work the next morning. She had grown up in a place called Small Town ever since, in the professor’s house. This guy had never been married, and was not a very capable father. Amanda had learned to fend for herself ever since, and she knew it was time for her to find out what happened to her parents. She didn’t even know if they were still alive. She didn’t even remember their names or if she had any siblings. All she’d known for a home was living with Professor Maple.
Amanda did not know if she was really born in Small Town or not, so she wasn’t sure how exactly John Cougar Mellencamp lyrics would make sense for her. She shut the radio off, and went to take a shower. She got dressed into the outfit she had picked out for her journey, a celadon-colored shirt that said “Made in Celadon City” on the tag, some black athletic pants, and her tennis shoes. She was sure to pack a hat and a change of clothes on top of all of her other provisions. She had a pot, a one-person tent, a toothbrush, a Nalgene bottle, an automatic lighter, some aspirin, and some food, though she was perfectly able to fend for herself. She loved to camp and knew everything she needed. She had everything she’d need for a journey.
She went downstairs to find the professor mixing two test tubes, only to have the contents blow up in his face. “Damn,” he scoffed. “I need to find the perfect counter for Stunky smell!” He then saw Amanda and took his goggles off. “Oh, Amanda!” he said as he went over to her.
“Don’t give me a hug if you’re coated with something like that,” she said.
“Oh, oh, right!” the professor replied, removing his lab coat. He then gave her a hug. “So you’re going on your journey.”
“Yep, going to see if I can find out what happened to my parents. I know I’m ready to do this!”
“Right, right,” the professor said. “By the way, a friend of mine sent me something for you, someone to keep you company, ya, ya.”
“My own Pokémon, I take it,” she replied.
“Oh yes, two, actually, but you can, you know, only have, uh, one. I have a Chikorita and a, uh, I think it was a Charmander. Which would you like?” he said, pulling two pictures out of his pocket.
Amanda didn’t hesitate. “Chikorita, I’ve never really liked most fire-types and you do know my favorite color is green…”
“I would have thought so, Dan can have the Charmander, then,” the professor replied.
“Dan’s coming with me? This is news.”
Dan was a local boy that was nearly a year younger than Amanda. In a town as small as Small Town was, anyone whose age was close to yours was probably your friend. Dan was somewhat of a nerd, he got straight As in school and also was passionate about baseball. Amanda also thought he had a crush on her. She had no loving feelings for him, though, even though he was a charmer. She always had thought of him as desperate for a girlfriend. Since she was considered by many to be the most attractive person in the town, she had a lot of boys after her. But every one of them was more about themselves than her. She could never find a lasting relationship.
“Dan isn’t coming with you!” the professor said. “He’s merely eager to get away from this place. He’s leaving tomorrow.” He took out a Poke Ball from a cabinet and gave it to Amanda. “Your Chikorita. It’s female.”
Amanda pressed the ball and Chikorita came out.
“Chcko!” it said, looking at her.
“You’re cute,” Amanda said.
Chikorita smiled, then started bouncing. “Chiko! Chikori!”
Amanda picked Chikorita up. “We’re going to be a great team!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita nodded.
KNOCK, KNOCK!
“Hey, pops!” a guy said. It was Dan. His glasses were unusually bright, contrasting his black hair quite ridiculously, or so Amanda thought. “I’m here for my Pokémon! Oh, hey Amanda! You got one too?”
“You bet,” Amanda replied.
“Oh, oh, yes, yes,” Professor Maple said, scrambling in the drawer. “Here you go, it’s a Charmander.”
“A lizard? That’s awesome! Thanks, pops!”
“You’re, uh, welcome! And stop calling me pops!”
“Sorry, pops,” Dan said. “Hey, Amanda, care to battle? You and your Chikorita versus me and my Charmander, let’s get it on!”
“Oh, fine,” Amanda said. “You ready, Chiky? Our first battle!”
“Stop the sweet talk,” Dan said, sending Charmander out. Chikorita jumped out of Amanda’s arms.
“NOT IN THE LAB! TAKE THIS OUTSIDE!” Professor Maple yelled.
“Oh, right, pops,” Dan said.
“He challenged me…” Amanda said.
Two minutes later, Amanda and Dan were outside, and Chikorita and Charmander were going at it.
I have to play technical here… Amanda thought.
“Flamethrower!” Dan yelled. Charmander looked back at him, confused.
“Chikorita, use Razor Leaf!” Amanda called, and Chikorita launched leaves from the larger leaf on her head, hitting Charmander. “Now Tackle it!” Chikorita made a beeline for Charmander, knocking it back.
“Uh… oh, EMBER! USE EMBER!” Dan yelled. The little orange lizard sent flames out of its mouth.
“Chikorita, dodge it and then Tackle again!” Chikorita jumped away from the Ember, which hit the ground, then tackled Charmander backward. “Finish it with another Tackle!” Amanda called. Chikorita knocked the slipping Charmander skyward, sending it right into Dan, pushing him down.
“Oops, sorry!” Amanda said, running over to Dan. “I did not intend for that to happen at all.”
“It’s okay,” Dan said, grabbing Charmander and getting up. “You win.” He returned Charmander to its Poke Ball. “Good match.”
“Same to you. We can probably battle again someday…”
“Sure,” Dan said. “I’m sure I’ll run into you on my travels. We can battle every time and maybe I can win!”
“We’ll see.”
“Anyway, I have to get packed. I see you already have a big backpack ready to go… you’re leaving today?”
“Yep, very soon as a matter of fact.”
“Have a safe trip, I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for you!”
“I’ll look for you, too. See ya!” Amanda said. Dan ran off towards his house.
“Congratulations on winning your first battle, Amanda,” Professor Maple said, coming out of the lab. “So, um, you’re leaving?”
“It’s probably best that I leave now, otherwise I might not be able to get to Mica Town by tonight.”
“Oh, right,” he said. “Can I have another hug?”
“Sure,” Amanda said, giving the professor a hug.
“Be sure to come back and visit someday. I’ll probably have something useful for you.”
“Sounds good. Bye, professor!”
“Be seeing you!”
Amanda went off in the same direction Dan had. She’d already said her goodbyes to most of the town, so there was really no need to go visit anyone. All that was on her mind was finding out what had happened to her parents…

Professor Maple went back into the lab. “Now I’m all alone again, this bites!” he said, kicking his desk. “My gorgeous adopted daughter is leaving me… at least she has her cell phone!”
Lips of An Angel started playing mid-way through the song all of a sudden. It was Amanda’s ringtone. “Or… not,” the professor said. He grabbed the phone and started running out side. “AMANDA!!!!!”
He was able to catch her. “You forgot this,” he said, handing her the cell phone.
“Alright, fine, I’ll take it,” she said. “I think I left the recharger back at the lab, though.”
“Oh, oh, right,” the professor said. He ran back and came back five minutes later with the recharger. “Here you go.”
“I could have done that, you know,” she said with a smile.
“Oh, oh, right. Anyway, have a nice trip! Can I have another hug?”
“Alright,” Amanda said, giving him a third hug. “At least you’re not wearing that dirty lab coat…”
“Right,” the professor said.
“Now I had better go,” she said. She walked off into the distance as the professor watched. She turned around to wave goodbye, ready to start a journey she would not soon forget…

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 2: “The Road through Mica”

“You have one new message,” Amanda read on her cell phone. She then sighed, and called her voicemail.
”Heya Amanda, it’s Dan! Wanna come by my place before you head out of town? I got something for ya.”
CLICK!
“I guess I don’t have a choice,” Amanda murmured to herself. Amanda went to Dan’s house, which was on her way anyway, and knocked on the door.
Dan opened. “Oh, hey Amanda! Come on in!” he cheered, leading Amanda to the kitchen. Dan’s house was a small, one-story place. He lived with his mother and his little sister, his father had passed away five years before in an accident of some sort. He was the only one home now. “Mom’s off taking Sis to school,” he said.
On the kitchen table, there was some sort of gadget. It looked like some sort of cell phone. “This is a PokeNav,” Dan said. “I got this cool new Poketch from my mom, so I don’t need this thing anymore. The PokeNav can do half the things a Poketch can, so it’s still useful.” He handed it to Amanda. “It looks like a phone but it doesn’t have phone capabilities. It’s the cheaper model. There’s a world map in there, you can check the data on trainers you’ve met if they have a PokeNav or Poketch, you can even see what Pokémon you’ve battled recently. It’s not a full PokeDex but it has radar, though the Poketch’s range is better. It’s easy to use, I know you’ll like it.”
“This sounds useful. Thanks, Dan!” Amanda smiled.
“Also, here are three Poke Balls for you. These may come in handy, since we don’t have a Poke Mart here.”
“Thanks again!” Amanda exclaimed, accepting them.
“Anytime,” Dan replied. He looked anxious for something.
“You’re not getting a kiss for that, don’t even try.”
Dan sobbed. “Some other time?”
“No. Now I must go.” Amanda turned around and left, leaving Dan feeling sad. She’d always played hard-to-get with him, as she didn’t feel that he was her type. She’d always wanted a guy that understood her, not one that just wanted to boost his image by marrying the hottest girl in town.
Amanda went to the edge of town and looked back. “Hard to believe I am finally leaving this place… I’ll miss it, but I’ll be back someday.” She turned around and went into the woods ahead.
The woods here had never been thick, nor did they contain any threatening Pokémon. Amanda loved camping here, she even had a firepit along the way. In ten minutes, she got there, still untouched.
“I’m going to find a lot of new camping spots on this journey, it’s going to be awesome,” she said. She reached for Chikorita’s Poke Ball at her belt, and let her out.
“Chiko!” Chikorita said. She then started looking around.
“This is my favorite camping spot,” Amanda said. “I’m here a lot, but… I’m going to miss this place…” Amanda shed a tear, and Chikorita jumped into her arms.
“Chiko Chiko Chikori!” Chikorita said, trying to cheer Amanda up. Amanda smiled. “We’re going to make a good team.”
A sound came from a nearby bush.
“What was that?” Amanda asked.
A Wurmple came out. It was looking for food. It didn’t notice Amanda or Chikorita.
“Remain quiet,” Amanda whispered to Chikorita. Chikorita nodded.
The Wurmple went over to the firepit and started rummaging around.
“Chiko?” Chikorita said.”
“What is it?” Amanda whispered.
Chikorita pointed its leaf in the direction of the trail, 50 yards from where the campsite was. The woods wasn’t particularly thick, but Amanda couldn’t see anything.
Out of nowhere a Starly came barreling into the campsite and took a peck at the Wurmple.
Chikorita jumped out of Amanda’s arms. “CHIKO!” it yelled, challenging Starly.
“I take it this Chikorita doesn’t like to see nature run its course… let’s do this!” Amanda declared.
Starly abandoned the Wurmple, who slowly dragged its way toward the bush. Starly then aimed for a Quick Attack into Chikorita.
“Dodge it, then use Razor Leaf!” Amanda called. Chikorita jumped above Starly, then turned around and shot leaves at Starly. Surprisingly, one of them hit it in the winglet, causing it to dive. “Tackle!”
“Chiii….ko!” Chikorita rammed into the Starly as it was about to hit the ground, sending it back into a tree.
“I have Dan to thank for this, Poke Ball, go!” Amanda yelled, throwing a Poke Ball at Starly. Starly entered the capsule.
It shook once.
It shook twice.
It shook thrice.
Then it was still.
“Chiko!” Chikorita smiled.
“Yay, I caught a Starly!” Amanda exclaimed, picking up the Poke Ball.
The Wurmple was still dragging itself towards the bush. Amanda went over to it, and held out another Poke Ball. “This is for the best,” she said, pressing it on the Wurmple. This one didn’t even shake, Wurmple just went in.
“These two should come in handy later,” Amanda said, affixing both of her new captures to her belt. “This magnetic belt was a good buy.”
“Chiko!” Chikorita said. Amanda gave her a pet on the head.
“I don’t have any treats for you, maybe we should go to the Mica Town Poke Mart so I can buy some?”
“Chiko!” Chikorita nodded.
Amanda and Chikorita then continued running towards Mica Town, which wasn’t that far away. It was only a half hour or so from the campsite. Amanda had been there a few times before, mostly to buy some supplies. Mica Town was larger than Small Town, it had a Poke Mart, a Pokémon Center, and a couple of shops. Its population was about 1000 or so. It wasn’t particularly large, but it was a nice place. It was named Mica town for the old mica mine to the mountains to the east, but the mine had been closed for a long time. It had presumably collapsed a few years back, and access was forbidden.
Amanda recalled Chikorita and went into the Pokémon Center. A red-headed young lady that was about Amanda’s age was behind the desk, wearing a nurse’s cap. A Blissey, also wearing a nurse’s cap, was right by her side. Amanda knew her name: Nurse Joy.
“Hello there,” Nurse Joy said. “I’ve never seen you before, you starting out on a quest or something?
“Hey,” Amanda replied. “Indeed I am. I caught this Starly and Wurmple in the woods, they’re both injured. Think you can look into them?”
“That’s what I’m here for!” Nurse Joy said with pep. Amanda handed over her plain Poke Balls to Nurse Joy. “These Poke Balls are awfully plain. Perhaps you should hit the Poke Mart for some I.D. stickers?”
“They have those now?”
“Yeah, you can customize them on a computer and everything!” Nurse Joy said. “It’s really neat, you should check it out.” She smiled, and then gave the two Poke Balls to her Blissey.
Amanda went off to the Poke Mart, which was just across the street from the Pokémon Center. Nobody really drove cars in smaller towns like this, as Manalon was mostly a walking country. There were no highways or anything, but Amanda had heard that some of the larger cities had automobiles.
Amanda went into the Poke Mart. She didn’t have that much money to spend (only $100), and had heard that she could win money from battles if both trainers made a wager. She knew she’d have to be careful with what she bought.
She went over to the sticker machine first, and printed out a 25 sticker sheet with a red heart on a blue background. The letter “A” was embedded in the middle of the heart in a cursive script. The price for the sheet was only $3 (100 Poke = $1).
Amanda picked up 10 more Poke Balls at $2 each, four Super Potions on discount at $5 a pop, an Antidote worth $1, and a flashlight for $4. She found a free box of 100 Pokémon treats, as they were over-stocked, and purchased a medium-sized bag of Poke Chow – the largest that would fit in her backpack – for $5. The total bill was $53, over half of what she had to spend.
Ten minutes later, Starly and Wurmple were back in full health. Amanda picked them up from the Pokémon Center, then reached into her wallet for $2 to tip Nurse Joy.
“I don’t need the money,” Joy said. “I do this to help trainers in need. But thanks for the thought!” Joy smiled. Blissey bounced a bit. “Do you need a room for the night? Or are you leaving town today?”
“I’m just passing through,” Amanda said, looking at the clock. “It’s only 2:00, I can probably make it a ways before sunset. Plus, I love to camp.”
“Alright,” Joy said. “Every Pokémon Center has rooms available for very affordable prices. It’s only $10 a night for trainers, so it’s a bargain! If you ever need a room, feel free to ask your local Nurse Joy!”
“Thanks for the tip,” Amanda said. “If I want to get anywhere by sunset, I’d better get going.” She opened up the PokeNav. “Is it best to go to Lakeside or to Peridew?”
“Peridew,” Joy said. “The river bridge south of Lakeside is down, and the current there is strong. I would advise for you to go through Peridew Forest, though not at night. It’s a very thick forest with lots of Pokémon, and the nocturnal ones are supposed to be dangerous.”
“Okay, thanks for the advice. Guess I’m off to Peridew Forest, then,” Amanda replied. “I’ll see you the next time I come by here, don’t know when that’ll be.”
“Say hi to my cousin in Peridew City when you get there!”
“Will do, bye-bye!”
Amanda left the Pokémon Center, and continued to the end of town. She didn’t know anyone here, and felt that this town was really just a place to pass through.
“Hold it, hottie,” a gruff male voice said as Amanda was walking.
“Me?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah, you. Get over here,” the man said. He was underneath a tree, sitting on a lawn chair. A wide-brimmed straw hat covered his face completely, Amanda had no idea who she was dealing with.
“Who are you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know? I like to keep my identity a mystery to those passin’ by, you know how it’s like.”
“What do you want with me?”
“I’m a Pokémon dealer,” the man said. “I have some good Pokémon with me, but you’ll have to give me one of yours to see them.”
“Are you a dealer or a swindler?” Amanda replied. “I need to see what you have before I give you one of my Pokémon. How am I supposed to trust you?”
“Eh, you’re a sharp one, missy, you read me like a book. For a hottie, you’re good.” His voice was getting a little creepier.
“Just who are you?”
“I suppose I can tell you… if you can beat me in a battle!”
“You’re on!” Amanda said, reaching for Chikorita’s Poke Ball.
The man sent out a Poke Ball of his own. Out came a Sandslash.
“Chikorita, let’s go!” Amanda called. Chikorita appeared, ready for action.
“Chiko!”
“Sandslash, use Rollout!” the man called.
Sandslash curled up into a ball and rolled right for Chikorita.
“Dodge it, then use Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
“Poison Sting!” the man called.
Chikorita dodged to the left, but Sandslash did a 180 quickly as Chikorita started launching Razor Leaf. Sandslash then sent out poison spikes from its spiked back, meeting the leaves in the air, sending both falling into the ground. Sandslash then charged at Chikorita, who took initiative to jump out of the way.
“Good work, you know your stuff!” Amanda called. “Razor Leaf, then Tackle!”
Chikorita whacked Sandslash with a quick Razor Leaf before the man had time to tell it what to do, then Chikorita tackled it on its side.
“One more Razor Leaf!”
“Sandslash, let out a Hyper Beam!”
“Cancel that and get on top of it!” Amanda called. Chikorita gave a battle cry, then jumped on top of Sandslash who sent a Hyper Beam whizzing by Amanda’s right side, missing her by two feet. Sandslash, dizzy from using Rollout, collapsed, and Chikorita laid on top of it.
“Damn it,” the man said. “You’re REALLY sharp for a hottie.”
“I do what I can,” Amanda said, smiling.
“You can take this,” the man said. He took out a Poke Ball out of his pocket. “This Pokémon is for you, you’ll probably handle it better than anyone I know.”
“Uh, thanks,” Amanda replied. She glanced at the Poke Ball, then looked up. The mystery man and his Sandslash were gone.
“Chiko?” Chikorita came over to Amanda, looking confused. Amanda pressed the center of the Poke Ball. A purple and brown Pokémon came out. Apparently it had its eyes closed. She recognized it as an Abra.
“Chiko Chiko!” Chikorita went over to Abra, trying to talk to it. Abra said nothing. Then Abra disappeared.
Abra reappeared over by the tree. Then it disappeared. Soon it was teleporting itself all over the place. “Come back here, you!” Amanda called.
“CHIKO!” Chikorita yelled. Abra reappeared next to Chikorita.
“Now I see why that guy wanted to get rid of this thing…” Amanda said. “It has a mind of its own.” She recalled Abra to its Poke Ball, curious as to how it would behave in a battle. She proceeded out of town, gave Chikorita a Poke Treat, and went towards Peridew Forest.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 3: “A Night in the Woods”

“Starly, use Peck!”
“Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!”
Starly zoomed in to give the butterfly Pokémon a Peck, hitting it in the wing as it released sleep-inducing spores.
“Blow it back at Butterfree!” Amanda called.
Starly whipped up some wind to drive off the Sleep Powder, sending it back in Butterfree’s direction. Butterfree zoomed upward to avoid it, the powder went towards its teenaged trainer, Jake, who had thrown the white glove toward Amanda so he could show off his precious.
Jake yelled, “Butterfree, get that away from me! Whirlwind!” Butterfree whipped up a whirlwind around Jake, taking him for a ride.
“Starly, Quick Attack!” Amanda called. Starly zoomed right into the distracted Butterfree, sending it flying right into its own Whirlwind. Jake, who had been picked up by the wind, fell flat on his stomach, Butterfree landed on top of him.
Jake grunted, then moaned. “You win. Butterfree, return,” he reluctantly called. “How the heck did you do that? I’ve never seen a rookie trainer command a Pokémon they just caught today with such talent.”
“I guess I’m a natural,” Amanda said. “You put up a great fight.”
“Thanks,” Jake replied. “I’m traveling around this place, maybe we can meet again sometime.”
“That would be lovely,” Amanda replied. “We can see how you and Butterfree accomplish your goals.”
“Awesome,” Jake said. “Anyway, I have to go meet that nutty professor over in Small Town, I want to learn some stuff.”
“I’ve lived with that guy for 15 years, good luck getting anything useful out of him,” Amanda replied. “He found me when I was just a little girl… I don’t remember everything too well, though.”
“I may have to ask him about that, but I’d better get going if I want to make it before sundown. It’s like 45 minutes from Mica Town, right?”
“Yep,” Amanda replied. “And Mica is about 45 minutes from here. It’s 4:30 right now, you have a bit over two hours to make it. Good luck with your journey!”
“Thank you,” Jake said. Amanda watched as he ran off towards Mica Town, hoping that he could deal with the professor. She then continued on, hoping to find a good place to camp outside of the thick part of the forest. She knew it was dangerous to camp in a place where you can’t see the moon, since nocturnal Pokémon would be on the prowl. They often disrupt campsites, too.
Amanda reached a part of the woods that seemed a little thicker and noticed a clearing not far to her left. She went over and discovered a firepit. Someone had been camping there before. She checked the time on her cell phone, it said 6:12. She had a half hour or so to set up camp before it got dark. She noticed a spot on the ground perfect for a tent, so she pitched her solo tent there.
“Going on this alone is going to be so boring…” she said. She placed her sleeping bag in the tent, then let out her Pokémon.
Chikorita looked around, curious as to what was going on. Starly tried to attack Wurmple until Chikorita hit it with her leaf, and Abra just started teleporting around everywhere.
“Calm down, guys. We’re just camping,” Amanda said. “Think you could help me get firewood?”
Chikorita bounced and nodded, Wurmple got excited. Starly seemed ok with it. Abra just kept teleporting around.
“What am I going to do with you…?” Amanda asked about Abra. She recalled it to its Poke Ball. “You three get firewood,” she instructed. “I’m going to clean out this firepit.” Amanda put on gloves, as Chikorita, Starly, and Wurmple went to get firewood. Moments later, Starly came back with a stick in its mouth. Chikorita and Wurmple came back with some good-sized logs later, which were wrapped with Wurmple’s String Shot. Amanda managed to finish cleaning the unusable ashes out of there, then went to help pick up firewood.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” a voice screamed from the woods. It sounded like a younger girl.
Amanda looked in that direction, then turned to her Pokémon. “Let’s go!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita nodded, ready for action. Starly came back and flew behind her. Wurmple struggled to keep up.
“You, return,” Amanda said, recalling Wurmple. She then went towards the scream.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” three was another scream from the same voice. Amanda went towards it, noticing that it was a very deep, dark part of the woods. It was 6:43. The sun was setting. The woods was getting dark.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” a third scream came. Amanda ran towards it to see a girl of about 16 backed up against a gigantic tree by a Pinsir and an Ariados. She was wearing some jeans that showed a little wear, a blue T-shirt, and her jet-black hair was pulled through a light gray baseball cap. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” she yelled.
Amanda thought for a moment. The girl hadn’t noticed her yet, and the bugs had her cornered. A Poke Ball was lying on the ground in front of the scene, it was presumably the girl’s. Amanda picked it up and threw it. A Charmander came out, but something seemed different about it. It was a lighter orange than normal.
“Starly, Quick Attack that Pinsir! Chikorita, tackle the Ariados. And Charmander… help your trainer out,” Amanda called.
“Huh?” the girl said. Starly rammed the Pinsir into the tree right next to the girl; Chikorita sent Ariads off in the other direction. The off-colored Charmander used Ember to singe the Pinsir, making it run off at top speed. Charmander then went over to the girl.
“Char Char Charmander!” it said.
The girl pet it on the head, “Thank you.” She then looked up at Amanda with a smile on her face. “I suppose I owe you my life. Thank you very much,” the girl said, bowing.
“You’re welcome,” Amanda replied. “My name is Amanda, what’s yours?”
“kintsugi.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
“Now, it’s getting dark. For all we know there could be more bugs in here waiting to jump us,” Amanda said. “I set up camp about 10 minutes down the road, it’s best that you join me there for the night.” The two of them began walking in the direction Amanda came from. Charmander, Chikorita, and Starly followed.
“I’m traveling alone,” kintsugi said. “I’m only 16. I don’t think I’m ready to tackle an adventure like this all by myself… and by the looks of it, you’re all by yourself, too. Think we can team up and tackle some gyms together?”
“You’re saying… you’re on a journey to win at all the gyms?”
“Yeah… isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“No, not really… I’m looking for my parents, and find out what happened to them,” Amanda said.
“Well, you should try and beat the gym challenge while you do!” kintsugi said excitedly.
“That’s probably a good idea, I can test the might of my team,” Amanda said.
“Sounds good.”
“By the way, your Charmander seems… different.”
“It is,” kintsugi said. “It’s a rare color, my dad caught it for me when I wanted to go take on the gyms.”
“How’d he get it?”
“I have no idea, that man can do the strangest things… it’s like he wanted me to leave so he gave me a Pokémon and told me to get out.”
“I wish I knew my father…” Amanda said. “All I remember is him trying to run off with me when he and my mom were settling a divorce argument.”
“Dads can be losers.”
“So where are you from? I’ve lived in Small Town for 15 years, but I don’t remember where I came from before that. I think it was a relatively big city.”
“Mica,” kintsugi replied. “I just left this morning.”
“I left Small Town this morning, too. Ah, here we are,” Amanda said. They entered the campsite. The tent was untouched, as was the little firewood they had.
“This tent is too small for both of us…” kintsugi said.
“I know, did you bring your own?” Amanda asked.
“No. All I have are my clothes, a little money, and a few things in this backpack. You know, essentials.”
“To me, a tent is essential,” Amanda replied. “I have a cooking pot and a few other provisions in here, too. Though not much food right now, wonder if there are any berries here… Starly, think you could search for something edible?”
Starly flew off. Amanda put some logs on the firepit, then kintsugi told Charmander to use Ember to start it up.
“So where am I supposed to sleep?” kintsugi asked.
“You can sleep out on the ground. I can give you my sleeping bag for tonight,” Amanda replied. “I’ll sleep in the tent with my bedsheet, you get the sleeping bag. Sound fair?”
“Sure!”
“And when we get to Peridew City, we can buy you your own sleeping bag, and probably a tent that can hold the both of us.”
“Awesome!”
Starly flew back with a tree branch in its mouth. On the branch were four Pecha berries.
“Awesome, good job, Starly!” Amanda said, flinging it a Poke Treat. She then recalled it to its Poke Ball, and Amanda and kintsugi each took two berries. Amanda gave Chikorita and Charmander some food as well.
“So… you just started traveling today… how many Pokémon do you have?” kintsugi asked.
“Four,” Amanda said. “Chikorita, Starly, Wurmple, and Abra. The Abra’s pesky and won’t listen to me, though. I got it from some strange guy in Mica Town after I beat his Sandslash.”
“Wait… you beat my dad’s Sandslash? Wait… you met my dad?????”
Amanda choked briefly on her Pecha, then swallowed the contents. “That was your dad? I had no idea.”
“He’s the best trainer in town, though I have no idea how he gets all of the Pokémon he does.”
“He swindles trainers,” Amanda said. “He tried to get a Pokémon off of me in a trade, but I refused. He wouldn’t even show me what he had until I gave him something.”
“That… that… urgh. I HATE MY FATHER!” kintsugi said. “For all I know, he swindled this Charmander off of someone, too.”
“Char?” Charmander asked, then shook its head. It then went over to hug kintsugi.
“Apparently not,” Amanda said. “Plus, who in their right mind would give up an off-colored – I think it’s called ‘shiny’ – Charmander?”
“You have a point,” kintsugi replied.
The two of them finished eating their Pecha berries. Amanda recalled Chikorita and kintsugi returned Charmander, then they set up sleeping arrangements. Amanda tended to the fire, then checked the time on her cell phone. “It’s only 7:45,” she said. “Too early to sleep. Want to have a practice battle?”
“Sure!” kintsugi exclaimed.
Charmander stood on one end. On the other was Abra. Abra, for once, was staying put.
“Okay, Abra. You and I obviously need some time to, you know… get to know each other,” Amanda said.
Abra stood still.
“You ready, Amanda?” kintsugi called.
“As ready as I’ll ever be! Abra… use Hidden Power!” Amanda declared.
“Charmander, Ember!” kintsugi called.
Abra sat there. Then, a pulse emitted from it. It was ice-blue with darker blue edges.
“Ice, huh? Awesome!” Amanda said. “Though, against a Charmander…”
Charmander’s Ember attack hit Abra as a ball of ice hit Charmander. Abra then started teleporting.
“I could make use of this…” Amanda said to herself.
“Charmander, wait for it to come near you, then whack it with Metal Claw!” kintsugi called.
“Don’t go near it!” Amanda called. “Find a good spot and use Hidden Power!”
Abra went up into a tree branch, then released Hidden Power.
“Charmander, use Ember to burn it!” kintsugi yelled.
The Ember hit the Hidden Power ball as it came close to Charmander. Since it was a weaker fire attack, it simply melted the ice, turning it into water. It doused Charmander. Fortunately, it didn’t hit its tail.
Having a Pokémon with only one attack isn’t exactly helpful… Amanda thought to herself.
“That’s enough,” kintsugi called. Abra kept teleporting around. “At least that thing will listen to your attack commands… but it’s wild.”
“I guess I have to train it some more,” Amanda said. “That was a good battle.”
“Yeah, it was,” kintsugi said. “And now I know not to burn an ice attack, at least with Charmander as it is now.”
“It’s not the best idea,” Amanda replied. “The battle scene is tricky. I’m lucky to have a professor for a foster father, I was able to learn a lot of stuff when I was bored.”
“That’s cool, let’s hope you can teach me!” kintsugi exclaimed. “I can learn a lot watching you.”
“Maybe, but I’m new with Pokémon. I just got my Chikorita from the professor this morning. Yet we have already bonded… it seems that she sees something in me.”
“Bonding is important, caring for your Pokémon matters a lot, too.”
“I caught the Wurmple when it was brutally beaten and took it to the Pokémon Center. I think it wants to be with me because I rescued it…”
“That’s cute,” kintsugi said. “Anyway, I’m getting tired.”
“Yeah, it’s been a long day. I think it’s time we hit the sack.”
“Good idea.”
They both recalled their Pokémon, though Amanda took some time to get Abra down from teleporting in trees. They went over to the campsite to find the fire waning. Amanda went into the tent, and kintsugi crawled into the sleeping bag. It was time for them to sleep.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 4: “Cockfight”

APRIL 20, 2007
OUTSIDE PERIDEW FOREST, MANALON

Surprisingly, the night went well. No bugs came to disturb them and scare the heck out of kintsugi.
Dawn came. Not long after, Amanda got out of her tent, having managed to sleep very well for not having a sleeping bag. She yawned and stretched her arms. kintsugi was still sound asleep.
Amanda decided not to wake kintsugi. She got dressed, put her nightgown in her backpack, and went off into the woods to look for some food. She would wake kintsugi up when she returned.
“Chikorita,” Amanda said, releasing Chikorita. “Let’s go find some food, but keep quiet.”
“Chiko,” Chikorita nodded. She then rose her leaf. “Chiko!” Chikorita then ran off, using its leaf to get Amanda to follow her.
“Chikorita are handy to have in forests,” Amanda said, smiling to herself. She then followed Chikorita, who led her to a Watmel plant.
“Chiko!” Chikorita said, bouncing.
“These are Watmel berries… aren’t they supposed to be rare?”
“Chiko?” Chikorita asked, turning her head.
“Didn’t expect you to know,” Amanda replied, taking one of the large Watmel berries. “I think I’ll take two,” she said, picking another. Amanda and Chikorita went back to camp. kintsugi was stirring.
“Good morning,” Amanda said. “Chikorita and I found some Watmel berries.”
kintsugi yawned and stretched her arms, saying nothing until she saw Amanda. “Oh, hey!”
Amanda split open the first Watmel berry, then let out Starly, Wurmple, and Abra. kintsugi let out Charmander, then got dressed. She shared it with all of them, then split open the second for herself and kintsugi to share.
“This is yummy!” Amanda exclaimed. kintsugi and the Pokémon seemed to be enjoying themselves, too.
After they finished eating and recalled their Pokémon, Amanda and kintsugi broke camp. Amanda packed her stuff in her bag. She grabbed her hat out of her backpack and put it on. “Better safe than sorry,” she told kintsugi.
They went into the thicker part of the woods. The trail heading north was relatively clear, the southern area seemed denser. They turned north, heading towards Peridew City. Amanda returned the PokeNav to her pocket.
“We’ll be there in an hour or two if all goes well. Depends on what we run into,” Amanda replied.
“Sounds good to me!” kintsugi exclaimed.
They continued on the trail, only to stop when they heard bird calls.
“There’s a lot of them…” kintsugi said.
“Probably, and if we crash the party, they’ll be after us,” Amanda said.
“You’re right,” kintsugi said. “Do you know what Pokémon’s call that is?”
“Possibly Taillow,” Amanda replied. “And from the sounds of it, there’s a flock of them.” She whipped out her PokeNav. “This is bad… it looks like that’s the best way out of the forest. And if we go another way, we would probably need a machete or something.”
“Great,” kintsugi replied, sarcastically. “Now what are we going to do? There’s no way we can take on a whole flock of Taillow with what we have.”
“Taillow can be very aggressive, but they usually rely on a leader,” Amanda declared. “If we can take out their leader, then they’ll have to retreat to reorganize. That would give us our chance to get out of here.”
“I can’t take on a Swellow with my Charmander,” kintsugi said. “We’d have to triple-team it or something, and if we do that the Taillow will probably go all-out against us.”
“The leader isn’t always a Swellow. If it is, we may be screwed. But we have to bank on it.”
“We need a plan. You should use Starly, it would probably be our best bet.”
“Probably. Abra’s too unreliable, the Ice Hidden Power would be effective, but I’m not banking on getting that off. Starly it is, and if Starly goes down, then you’ll take it on with Charmander, sound good?”
“Me?”
“Yep, and here’s a Poke Ball, just in case,” Amanda said, handing kintsugi a Poke Ball from her bag.
“Wait… this is really for me?” kintsugi asked. Amanda nodded. kintsugi cheered.
“Quiet, or… uh-oh…”
The Taillow had apparently heard kintsugi cheer.
“So much for our sneak attack plan…” Amanda said, grabbing the brim of her hat and pushing it up a little. “Let’s do this, Starly!”
Starly came out. The Taillow came closer. They stopped in a wall formation in front of Starly. One Taillow came forward.
“TAILLOW!” it yelled.
“Starly!” Starly replied.
“Taillow!”
Starly turned to Amanda and nodded, then went to face Taillow. All of the other Taillow took positions in the trees surrounding the trail.
“So it’s a one-on-one you want?” Amanda asked. “Then you’ve got it! Starly, Quick Attack!”
Starly dashed towards Taillow, who flew up, then Quick Attacked Starly in the back. Taillow then gave Starly a Peck.
“Starly, give it a peck of your own!” Amanda called.
Starly and Taillow began to peck each other. They were going at it.
“I did not want a cockfight…” Amanda said to herself. “Starly, tackle it!”
WHAM!
Starly whacked Taillow head on. Taillow got pushed back. It looked angry. Its friends were busy chatting in the trees.
Taillow then made a full-body charge at Starly, knocking Starly far back into a tree. Starly was down and out.
“kintsugi, go!” Amanda yelled, running over to Starly. She pulled a potion out of her bag to use.
“Uhhhh…” kintsugi said, reaching for her Poke Ball. “Is it my turn?”
The Taillow looked at her with an intimidating stare. It looked like the Taillow was saying “BRING IT!”
“Okay, Charmander, let’s do this!” kintsugi called, sending Charmander out.
Taillow then made a charge for Charmander.
“Ember!” kintsugi called. Charmander sent some embers at the Taillow, who flew upward to avoid them. It took a loop, then went back to charge.
kintsugi thought for a moment and then it came to her. “Wait until it’s near you, then hit it with Metal Claw!”
Taillow went in for a tackle as Charmander’s arm started glowing. Just as Taillow was about to hit Charmander, Metal Claw whacked it in the beak, sending it sliding across the ground. Taillow looked beat.
kintsugi reached for the Poke Ball that Amanda had given her. “Let’s hope this works… Poke Ball, go!” She threw the ball at the Taillow. The other Taillow in the tree started panicking frantically.
The ball shook once.
The ball shook twice.
The ball shook thrice.
The ball stopped shaking.
“Yay, I caught a Taillow!” kintsugi exclaimed.
“Char char!” Charmander was also happy.
Amanda recalled Starly and put the rest of her potion in the bag.
The Taillow in the trees were furious.
“Uh-oh,” Amanda said. “kintsugi, we need to get the heck out of here, NOW!” Amanda put her backpack on and started running through the woods, grabbing kintsugi who was just standing there. kintsugi recalled Charmander as Amanda dragged her.
“LET ME RUN!” Amanda released kintsugi, who fell on the ground, but got up quickly.
The Taillow brigade had grouped together and were attacking in a dive bomb formation, going faster than the girls. It appeared there was no escape.
“ELECTRODE!”
BOOM!
The Taillow scattered. A blown-out Electrode lay in the middle of the path. It was returned to its Poke Ball, and a figure came out of the woods.
It was a man of about 30 or so. He had big biceps and abs. His skin was a bit tanned, a bit darker than Amanda’s, his hair was a really light brown. He wore a green camouflage vest and blue jeans.
“That was a close one, eh, ladies?” the guy asked. His voice was deep and controlled, but he talked relatively quietly.
“Thank you!” Amanda exclaimed, affectionately. “I’m Amanda!”
“Thanks!” kintsugi said. “I’m kintsugi.”
The guy didn’t say anything. He let out a chuckle, then turned his back. “You’re welcome, ladies,” he said, acting as if he didn’t care.
“Uh… who exactly are you?” kintsugi asked.
“That’s for me to know,” he said. “See ya some other time, ladies.” He then disappeared into the woods.
“Who the heck was that?” kintsugi asked.
“You’re looking at me like I know,” Amanda replied. “I’ve never seen that guy before. He saved our lives…” she shook her head. “We’ll probably see him again.”
“Yeah, probably,” kintsugi said. The two of them began walking out of the woods. They went at a relatively fast pace, to avoid being attacked by a crazy Taillow. The flock of Taillow was without a leader, since kintsugi had it in a Poke Ball at her belt.
They made it out of the woods in 45 minutes without seeing anyone else or any Taillow. They ignored most of the bugs in there, leaving them in their natural habitat.
The outside of the woods was relatively open. It wasn’t lined with trees, it was an open plain. No Pokémon were in sight, the only thing that was visible was a building in Peridew City off in the distance. It was a relatively tall building, and nothing else in the town really came close to it.
Amanda and kintsugi followed the path to the city. The place didn’t seem very welcoming when they got there, it seemed like a place where everyone did their own thing and minded their own business. Amanda whipped open her PokeNav for a map of the town. “There’s a Poke Mart on the east side of town,” she said. “Let’s go there.”
“Okay!” kintsugi said.
Amanda put the PokeNav away, and the two of them traveled to the Poke Mart. Nobody in this city seemed relatively kind. Nobody stopped to help obvious travelers. Everyone seemed focused on themselves.
They made it to the Poke Mart around noon. Behind the counter was an older lady with a cigarette in her mouth. She had an ugly hairdo leftover from the 1980s.
“I thought they didn’t allow smoking in these public places,” Amanda said.
“Get your s**t and get outta here,” the lady said.
“Geez, show some respect to your customers.”
Amanda found a sleeping bag and a two-person tent for $50. She had earned $20 from Jake when she beat his Butterfree. Money well-spent.
“I’ll keep this old tent, too, just in case,” Amanda told kintsugi. “But we can room in here now!”
“Yay!” kintsugi said.
They picked up a couple potions and went to the counter. The lady there was frustrated with her job, scanned the items, and said “That’ll be $44.”
Amanda, knowing that this was less than it was worth, didn’t say anything. The lady was too distracted with hating her job to even notice. Amanda paid the lady, then left with kintsugi.
When they were a reasonable distance away from the store, kintsugi asked “So that bill was lower than it was supposed to be, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because she greeted us like we were garbage,” Amanda said. “I’d tell a better businessperson about their error, but she got what she deserved.
They put the sleeping bag in kintsugi’s backpack and the tent in Amanda’s.
“So… is there anything in this town?” kintsugi asked.
“Probably a Pokémon Center, we can go there later and spend the night,” Amanda replied. “I really don’t know if there’s anything else to do here.”
“Hey, mister!” kintsugi went over to some random guy passing by. He just ignored her and went on his way.
“These people are jerks,” Amanda said. “I’m not sure if I want to stay in this city.”
“Me neither.”
They walked around town. Nobody bothered to speak to them.
Amanda opened up the PokeNav. “I see the Pokémon Center on the northwest side of town… there’s also a Mr. Cutter over there. What is a random guy doing in a PokeNav?”
“I’d be glad to answer that, for I am Mr. Cutter,” a man said. He was relatively plump and wore an orange-and-yellow ice cream suit with matching pants. His head was shaven and he had a black moustache. Amanda did not want to comment on his appearance. “Come.”
Ten minutes later, they were at his business. It was a log cabin motif with a plywood floor. Stairs bent up to a balcony, where other rooms were. Mr. Cutter took a seat behind a large mahogany desk.
“I run a lumber company,” Mr. Cutter said. “I can teach Pokémon how to cut things. Such as small trees or vines. I can make one a living machete.”
“Think you could teach my Chikorita?” Amanda asked.
“That would be $5,” Mr. Cutter said.
Amanda gladly paid, then handed Chikorita’s Poke Ball over. He released her, then took her in the back. Amanda and kintsugi took seats in the lobby.
Ten minutes later, Mr. Cutter came out with Chikorita. Chikorita was smiling. “CHIKO!” Chikorita said, jumping on Amanda’s lap.
“Your Chikorita is a fast learner,” Mr. Cutter said.
“Thank you!” Amanda exclaimed.
Mr. Cutter hit a button and a stick came up.
“Practice,” he said.
“Okay,” Amanda said. “Chikorita… use Cut!”
Chikorita went for the stick and sliced it horizontally through the middle, then sliced the rest in half vertically.
“Woah,” kintsugi said.
“That was awesome! Good job Chikorita,” Amanda said.
“Now, you two are traveling, right?” Mr. Cutter ask. “I’m sure this will come in handy. Now go.”
“Uh, okay. Thanks again!” Amanda said.
They left and went up around the block to go up a hill to the Pokémon Center.
“That guy was… nicer, at least,” kintsugi said.
“He seemed a bit… edgy at the end,” Amanda replied. “At least he taught us a skill.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I’m beat. Let’s head to the Pokémon Center.”
They walked up the hill to the Pokémon Center.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 5: “JoyBot”

This Pokémon Center wasn’t much different than the last one. The layout was altered to fit with the hill it was built on, and the lobby was a bit smaller, but it still had the same feel to it.
The Nurse Joy there, who Amanda recalled was the cousin of the one in Mica, came out from a door, holding an empty box. Amanda thought Joy’s movements were a little stiff.
“Hello, welcome,” Joy said in a voice that sounded a little awkward, or so Amanda though. Joy placed the box on the desk and went behind it. “Do your Pokémon need treatment?”
“This Taillow I caught could use an examination, its beak may be injured from the Metal Claw it took,” kintsugi said.
“Okay. Place it in the box,” Joy said. kintsugi complied.
“You could probably take a look at my Starly, Wurmple and Abra, too,” Amanda said, placing them in the box with kintsugi’s Taillow.
“Thank you,” Joy said. She took the box and went in the back exam room.
Amanda stared at the door when kintsugi took a seat in the lobby.
“What is it?” kintsugi asked.
“Nothing,” Amanda replied.
“Come on, tell me!”
“Did that Nurse Joy give you strange vibes?”
“Uh, no, not really, why?”
“Something just seems… off about her. I’m going to go take a peek in there…”
Amanda went up to the door of the exam room and looked through a window. Joy was polishing off the Poke Balls, and hadn’t even let it out. Amanda noticed a Poke Ball transporter in the back, which Joy turned on.
“…the heck is this about?” Amanda said to herself. “kintsugi, get over here, we’re going in!”
BAM! Amanda kicked the door down, kintsugi ran over to follow.
“Wha-?” kintsugi asked.
“Hold it right there, you crook!” Amanda demanded. Joy turned around.
“Oh, me? Oh, sorry,” Joy said, turning off the transporter.
“Don’t ‘Oh, sorry,” me!” Amanda yelled. “Chikorita, let’s do this!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita said, coming out of her Poke Ball.
“If you want to play that way, then by all means…” Joy said. Her eyes glowed with bright red light.
“This is bad,” kintsugi said.
“Chikorita, Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
Chikorita launched leaves at Joy, they did nothing.
Joy’s eyes started firing lasers. Amanda made a dive to grab Chikorita and rammed against a shelving unit on the wall with medical supplies in, sending a few flasks to the ground beside her.
“Just… who… what are you?” kintsugi asked.
“MWAHAHAHAHA! I AM JOYBOT. I WILL DESTROY YOU,” Joy said in a robotic voice. Her eyes charged up again. Amanda made a mad dash to grab the box, but Joy grabbed it first.
“Chiko!” Chikorita took the initiative to jump forward.
“Use Cut on that box!” Amanda called.
“Chiko!” Chikorita sliced the box apart, and the four Poke Balls dropped out. One of them burst open, and Wurmple came out. Wurmple looked hyper.
JoyBot launched lasers toward Elyisa, who jumped back to avoid them.
“Wurmple, String Shot on Nurse Joy’s legs!”
“NO YOU DON’T!” JoyBot said.
“Wurmple!” Wurmple called, using String Shot to wrap JoyBot’s legs together. JoyBot collapsed onto the transporter, hitting a button to turn it on. Amanda gathered the four Poke Balls and recalled Wurmple, then dashed outside. kintsugi and Chikorita followed.
“What the heck was that about?” kintsugi asked.
“I have no idea, but we have to get to the bottom of this,” Amanda replied. She opened up one Poke Ball to find her Starly, then another to find kintsugi’s Taillow. “This one is yours, take it.”
“Thanks…”
“We need some stickers to tell our stuff apart, but this isn’t the place I want to buy them in… this town is… full of losers.”
“And evil robots.”
Amanda recalled Chikorita and Starly, kintsugi recalled Taillow.
“So aren’t we going to tell the police?” kintsugi asked.
“Chances are they’ll think we’re lying, and JoyBot will act normal around them. We’d be the ones in trouble.”
“You have a point,” kintsugi replied. “So we have to deal with the problem?”
“Yes,” Amanda said. “We’re going to have to go back in there to beat this robot, but chances are we’re going to need some sort of elaborate trap to catch it.”
BAM!
An angry JoyBot burst out of the Pokémon Center door. “YOU SHALL DIE!”
“Uh-oh, run!” Amanda demanded.
Amanda and kintsugi took to the side of the Pokémon Center, and noticed a back entrance on the far end.
“Let’s go in there!” Amanda said. She tried the door, but it was locked. “No matter, Chikorita…” she let Chikorita out. “Could you cut this door down?”
“Chiko!” Chikorita sliced the door apart, then Amanda body-slammed it down to get in. JoyBot followed along the side, moving as if she was on wheels.
They were in some storage room, filled with crates.
“What the heck is this place?” Amanda asked. kintsugi broke open one of the crate to find it filled with Poke Balls. She grabbed one and it popped open with confetti.
“These are… fake Poke Balls,” she said.
“I MUST DESTROY YOU!” JoyBot said, entering the door, her eyes red for a laser charge.
“I think it’s time to put on some chase music…” Amanda said.
“We don’t have time for that, let’s go!” kintsugi said. Amanda, kintsugi, and Chikorita all made for the other side door, only to find it locked as well. JoyBot was approaching, her eyes red hot from lasers.
“MWAHAHAHA! I HAVE YOU NOW!” JoyBot said.
kintsugi looked like she was about to pee her pants. Amanda remained calm. JoyBot fired her laser, Amanda rolled out of the way and the laser blew a hole in the door. Amanda got up and reached through the hole to the knob on the other side and released the door, then pushed it open with her body.
“Let’s go!” Amanda exclaimed.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!” JoyBot yelled, her eyes red with fury. Amanda helped kintsugi get up, then recalled Chikorita. They ran down the hall.

Meanwhile, a man with a briefcase entered the lobby.

Amanda and kintsugi dashed to the end of the hall and found an elevator. Amanda hit the button and it opened right up as JoyBot came into the hall. She pressed the “2F” button and then “CLOSE DOOR.” The elevator went up, and JoyBot was left to hang outside the elevator, unsure of whether they went up or down. JoyBot pressed the button, when the empty elevator returned she went in and pressed “B1” and went down.

“I think… we’re good for now,” Amanda said, panting.
“Yeah,” kintsugi was also panting.
“So, we need a plan to catch that monster,” Amanda declared. “I have no idea how we can set something up on the fly like this, with that robot wrecking havoc all over the place.”
“We need bait,” kintsugi replied. “You and Abra?”
“That’ll probably be the best bet,” Amanda replied. “If we’re in a tight spot we can teleport. You and Charmander can take her out.”
“How do you suggest I do that? JoyBot moves really fast and an Ember attack may not do much.”
“It’s worth a try.”
“We are running out of options… let’s go.”
DING! The elevator came up.
“Uh, let’s mobilize, you hide in that room!” Amanda said. kintsugi went into the bunk room immediately on the left side and let out Charmander, Amanda let out Abra. The elevator doors opened.
“I MUST DELETE!” JoyBot said.
“Catch me if you can!” Amanda said, grabbing Abra in her arms and running like a madwoman down the hall.
JoyBot charged up her laser eyes, then went after Amanda in her robotic wheel-for-feet motion. She fired a laser off before Amanda hit the end of the hall, Amanda dodged to the right and the laser broke apart the window and went outside.
Officer Jenny, who was patrolling, saw it. “Uh, what was that?” she asked. She then took her motorbike and went towards the Pokémon Center.
Back in the Center, JoyBot fired another laser to block off the stairs. Amanda had no choice but to go out the window or face JoyBot’s wrath. Amanda chose to let Abra out of her arms and…
“Abra, Hidden Power!” she called. Abra let out an ice particle, only to do no damage to JoyBot. JoyBot then swatted Abra against the pile of rubble, hurting it, then charged for a laser. When it was about to fire, Amanda made a dive into the rubble to grab Abra, then gave JoyBot a kick in the foot, causing her to topple and the laser to fire into the ceiling. She then jumped out the window, Abra in arms, and said, “Teleport us to the storage room in the back.”
Abra looked at her, relaxed.
POOF!
They teleported into the back room. Abra looked content. Amanda pet it on the head. “Good job,” she said.
Abra blushed.

Meanwhile, kintsugi was stationed in the room. She noticed a bag in the corner with an air hole in the top. She went over to it and untied it at the top, only to find an unconscious Nurse Joy inside.
“What the…?” she asked herself. She slapped Joy’s cheek. “Wake up!”
Joy began to stir. “Mother, what time is it?” she said groggily.
“I’m not your mother,” kintsugi replied. “But you were in a bag up here.”
“Uhh….” Joy mumbled. She had probably been there for a couple days, deprived of food and water..
“Char!” Charmander said.
“Think you could wake her?” kintsugi asked.
“Char!” Charmander nodded. Charmander used Scratch to rip the rest of the bag apart. The sudden motion startled Joy.
“Huh what?” she asked. She then looked at kintsugi. “Who are you? Where am I?”
“I’m kintsugi. You’re in the upstairs of your Pokémon Center,” kintsugi replied. “You were stuffed in a bag and your position was taken by a laser-shooting robot.”
“Is this some sort of joke?” Joy asked.
“’fraid not.”
“Where is the robot now?”
“No idea, my friend was going to lure it in here to get a good dose of Ember.”
“DELETE!” JoyBot yelled, running down to the elevator at the end. She hit the button and waited for the elevator to come up. When it opened, Amanda was ready to greet her.
“I’m afraid it’s the end of the road for you,” Amanda said.
“Wurmple!”
“Abra!”
Wurmple gave JoyBot a String Shot to the face, then Abra launched a Hidden Power on top of it. Amanda ran into the bedroom where kintsugi was.
“Oh, hey, you must be the real Nurse Joy!” Amanda exclaimed.
“Mhmm,” Joy nodded.
“I’m Amanda but we can save this for later, kintsugi, get ready!”
kintsugi nodded. JoyBot lasered off the String Shot from her face, then turned around to enter the room.
“Ember!” kintsugi called.
“CHAR!” Charmander shot JoyBot with an Ember, starting her nurse’s gown on fire.
“DELETE HELLO WELCOME DO YOUR POKÉMON NEED TREATMENT HELLO WELCOME LASER EYES!” JoyBot went out of control, and short-circuited as the flames hit its fire-proof metallic body.
“And that’s that,” Amanda said cutely.
Minutes later, they were in the lobby. What was left of JoyBot was in a heap on the floor. Officer Jenny arrived.
“So what was this about?” Jenny asked.
“Someone set this robotic version of Nurse Joy loose in this place, and was smuggling Pokémon out for their personal greed,” Amanda said.
“We found a bunch of fake Poke Balls in the back,” kintsugi said. Amanda produced one from her pocket and released the confetti.
“The question is… who is behind this?” the real Joy said. “Who would go as far as to bonk me in the head and lock me in a closet?”
“I think I know,” Amanda said. She then noticed a curtain in the corner of the lobby, directly to the right of the exit. “And I would bet that person is right behind this curtain.”
She ripped open the curtain. No person. Instead there was a plastic explosive with a timer of less than a minute left on it.
“Uh… EVERYBODY OUT!” Amanda yelled.
The four girls ran out, Jenny hopped on her bike and headed for the hills. The other three ran as fast as they could, taking their backpacks with them. They made it to the bottom of the hill, when…
KABOOM!
“My Pokémon Center!” Joy screamed, tears in her eyes.
“Who would want to blow up the Pokémon Center?” Jenny asked.
“Follow me,” Amanda said, leading them to Mr. Cutter’s house. Amanda kicked open the door, only to find Mr. Cutter frantically trying to get a remote control to work.
“Hold it right there, buddy!” Jenny exclaimed.
Cutter set down the remote control and ran like a speeding bullet out the back door.
“Taillow!” kintsugi called.
“Starly!” Amanda called.
Both birds appeared.
“Quick Attack!” they both called.
Both birds zoomed at Cutter, and knocked him down on his stomach. Jenny came over and cuffed him. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Cutter.”
Cutter growled. “How’d you, *cough*, know it was me?”
“It was simple,” Amanda said. “You forced us out of here after you taught Chikorita your technique. It all came to a matter of why.”
“Wait… what?” kintsugi asked.
“You seemed to be the only guy in this town that talked to us. You were keeping up this charade to promote your lumber company.”
Cutter growled.
“And what advantage would you have if you blew up the Pokémon Center? A business attraction, that’s what. The news would come interview you, the nearest neighbor, about what happened. During that interview, you would be a self-promoting businessman, hoping to get a spike in your clientele,” Amanda explained.
Cutter growled again. “How’d you figure all of that out?”
“Simple. You’re the only one that we met that would have any sort of motive, it hit me when I was escaping from JoyBot.”
“Well-put,” kintsugi said.
“You’re really unforgivable,” Joy said. Jenny was helping the cuffed Cutter to his feet.
Cutter growled. “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”
Jenny hauled him off to jail. “Thank you,” she said to Amanda. “You’re free to stay at the police station tonight, since the Pokémon Center will be out of commission for a while. By the way, what was your name?”
“Amanda,” Amanda replied.
“I’m kintsugi,” kintsugi said.
“Well, thank you both. I have to go book this guy. Joy, we can see if a temporary center can be set up here.”
“Okay,” Joy replied. “I’ll meet you at the station!”
“So are we going to get out of here?” kintsugi asked.
“I can show you to the station, follow me!”
And so, Nurse Joy led Amanda and kintsugi to the police station, as Jenny took the criminal on her bike.
“What a day,” Amanda said.
“You have that right,” kintsugi replied.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 6: “Trouble and More Trouble”

“OKAY, I’ll give you one more chance, buddy! Who are you working for?” Officer Jenny yelled.
“I have told you many times, I own my own company, and I am my own boss,” Cutter, who was tied to a chair, replied with an arrogant smirk on his face.
SLAP!
Officer Jenny slapped him across the face.
What a way to come into the police station… Amanda said.
“Officer Jenny, what on earth are you doing?” Nurse Joy asked.
“This criminal is being a smartass,” Jenny replied.
Cutter smirked.
“You need to stop being such a wise guy!” Jenny yelled in his face.
“You need to stop being such a b***h,” Cutter replied.
SMACK!
Jenny slapped him across the face. “You are not making this interrogation easy on me!” Jenny exclaimed. “Now who are you working for?”
“I told you. I work for myself,” Cutter replied.
“You know what I’m talking about. Your robot was smuggling Pokémon out of the center! That’s what that trainer who was here yesterday was complaining about!”
Cutter just smirked.
“Officer Jenny?” Amanda asked, going over near Jenny. “Allow me.”
“Young lady, I appreciate the offer but I’m the cop here!”
“I think you’re scaring him.”
Jenny grabbed her whistle and put it in her mouth.
“Hold it,” Joy said. “Let Amanda try. I think you’re being too abrasive here.”
Jenny dropped her whistle. “Fine,” she said.
“Okay, Mr. Cutter,” Amanda said, turning to him. “I am aware of what you have done. We know that you weren’t the only person involved.”
Cutter just sat there, turning his neck to look out the window.
Amanda turned her hat backwards. “I take it you’re not in the mood to talk to me?” she asked in her sweet voice.
Cutter scoffed.
“The sooner you blab, the sooner we can let you out of that chair. Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life tied to a chair?”
Cutter started mumbling.
Amanda knew this was the time to strike. She moved closer to him, and then tickled his chin with her finger. Cutter turned towards her and started looking very afraid, then began to sweat.
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk!” he blurted out. “You were right, I was involved with some guy who wanted to smuggle some Pokémon out of the Center so he could sell them for profit. It was him that suggested the JoyBot!”
“That’s a start,” Amanda said in a sexual tone. “Who exactly is this guy?”
“I dare not speak his name, if I told you, he’d probably have my head.”
“And if you don’t tell me, then I’ll have your head.”
Cutter stopped and his jaw dropped open. He was in the ultimate Catch-22. “Fine,” he said. “The guy is a former underworld crime boss. He’s been power-hungry for nearly 20 years, the cops can never seem to get him He and his daughter have been seen all over the place, trying to figure something out. He wouldn’t tell me what.”
“His name?” Amanda asked.
“I know him as Ricky,” Cutter replied.
“Ricky, huh?” Amanda asked, thinking if she’d ever heard it before.
“The guy is a maniac,” he said. “Rumor has it that he killed his wife. It’s also rumored that his family is-”
CRASH! ZWWWPFT!
The window fell apart. A dart entered Cutter’s neck. He jerked back.
“What the-?” Jenny asked.
VRROOOM!
A motorcycle appeared outside the police station. A forty-something man and a girl about kintsugi’s age came off the bike. The man had on a black muscle shirt with a blue coat like someone from Team Aqua would wear. He also wore navy blue dress pants and sunglasses. Both of them had dark brown hair and green eyes, her hair has some fire-red highlights. She wore a lavender colored T-shirt and blue capris with purple pockets. Both had nasty grins on their faces.
“So you wanna mess with me?” the girl said.
“Prepare to meet the end of being free!” the man said, waving a gun.
“You take that out of here!” Jenny yelled. “Growlithe, let’s go!”
A small, tiger-like dog appeared.
“Ha! You think you can mess with us?” the girl sneered. “Well you aren’t going to beat me! Let’s go, Cubone!”
A brown Pokémon wearing a skull on its head appeared. It carried a bone in its hand, and it didn’t look particularly threatening.
“Poochyena, join the party. Do your old man proud!” the man said.
Another dog-like Pokémon appeared. This one was gray with a brown face. This one looked more intimidating.
“You call two against one fair?” Amanda called. “I call bogus, Abra let’s go!”
Abra appeared.
“Game on!” the girl said.
Nurse Joy took the liberty to take Cutter, still in the chair, out of the room, and motioned kintsugi to come with. “This is not going to end well for anyone who gets in the way! Let’s get out of here!”
kintsugi nodded and helped move the chair into the back room.
“Growlithe, use Ember!” Jenny called.
“Poochyena, Bite!” the man called.
“Abra, Hidden Power!” Amanda yelled.
“Cubone, Bone Club!” the girl called.
The chaos continued on for several minutes. The front desk was horribly damaged, the glass door had shattered, and all four Pokémon were worn out.
“Whose idea was it to have a Pokémon battle in the police station anyway?” the girl asked.
“Yours,” the man said.
“Shut up, dad!” the girl replied.
“Marissa, it was yours!”
“You pulled the trigger on that poison dart gun!”
“Growlithe, Smokescreen!” Jenny called.
Growlithe filled the room with a thick gray smoke. Officer Jenny grabbed her handcuffs and went inside it for a tackle. She fell on the ground.
VRROOOOM! The motorcycle went off. After the smoke cleared, Poochyena and Cubone were nowhere to be seen.
“Damn it,” Jenny scoffed.
“They got away,” Amanda commented. “I take it that guy was Ricky.”
Jenny coughed from the smoke. “Yeah, he was. He’s been on our most wanted list for 16 years. That bratty daughter of his has been with him for the past two. Yet they always seem to elude capture. They’re two of the craftiest criminals in Manalon.”
“I can tell,” Amanda replied. “He thought of JoyBot, who knows what this guy can dream up?”
“And he’s ruthless,” Jenny replied. Joy and kintsugi came out of the back room. “You saw he stunned Cutter when Cutter was blabbing.”
“Stunned?” kintsugi said. “More like killed. He didn’t have a pulse.”
Jenny was shocked. Amanda kept calm.
“Honestly, that was to be expected,” Amanda said. “Cutter was about to tell us everything he knew. So Ricky had to stop him.”
“Stupid clichés,” kintsugi said.
Jenny went over to what was left of her desk. “Inconsiderate criminals,” she mumbled to herself.
“First the Pokémon Center, now this,” Joy said. “Is this town cursed or something?”
“We were never really welcomed,” Amanda replied. “Everyone seemed to hate travelers like us.”
“Don’t get me started on that,” Jenny said. “I’ve had more arrests in this town than any of my cousins and sisters and family in any other town. The crime rate here is so high that I can’t keep up with all of it.”
“That’s awful,” kintsugi said.
As Jenny and Joy picked up random papers that had scattered all over, a guy that was about Amanda’s age came in. He had slick blackish-blue hair with bright, sky-blue eyes. He wore a gray hoodie and blue jeans.
“Uh, hello… am I late?” he asked. His voice was sort of deep and sort of raspy. He seemed like the type to be oblivious to a lot of things and see humor in everything.
“Who’re you?” kintsugi asked.
“You can call me Chaz!” he said, winking his right eye and giving a thumbs-up.
“I’m kintsugi.”
“I’m Amanda,” Amanda replied. “And yeah, you missed the bad guys here by like five minutes.”
“Dang it, I was hoping to help whoop their butts,” Chaz said. “They’ve been chasing after me ever since they learned I had this thing.” He pulled a green slab out of his backpack.
“What the heck is that?” kintsugi asked.
“I dunno, but there’s some sort of carving on it,” Chaz said. “I found it at the contest hall in Hearthome City over in Sinnoh.”
“Contest hall?” Amanda asked. “Like those on TV?”
“You bet,” Chaz replied. “I’m a coordinator. Just started out over in Sinnoh, but I came here ‘cause the Sinnoh circuit is in the off-season. You know that when there are no contests you can’t participate in any.”
Amanda thought about rolling her eyes, but couldn’t bring herself to. Chaz replaced the thing in his bag.
“So, uh, the bad guys, yeah, they were here?”
“Yeah. They caused this mess,” Amanda said. Abra then teleported on her head. Chaz started laughing. “Come here, you!” Amanda grabbed Abra. Abra teleported back onto her head.
kintsugi started giggling. Joy couldn’t help but laugh.
“You two work together?” kintsugi asked, trying to contain her giggling.
“I saved Abra from a JoyBot laser,” Amanda replied. “Of course we’re friends.”
“JoyBot?” Chaz asked.
Amanda and kintsugi told him what happened to the Pokémon Center.
“Oh man, that’s just awful,” Chaz replied. “Why would they do that?”
“Profit,” Amanda replied.
“Oh, Amanda, you’re hot, you know,” Chaz said.
kintsugi interjected. “Way to change the subject!”
“Oh, sorry,” Chaz said, ogling Amanda. Amanda just ignored him. “So, uh, do you guys know your way around or are you traveling or what?”
“We’re traveling,” Amanda replied.
“Can I come with you guys? I hate being alone, and I’d like the company of a hot girl,” Chaz replied, ogling Amanda still.
“If you keep looking at me like an obsessed moron, then the answer’s no,” Amanda replied.
Chaz tilted his head down. “Oh man, that was mean.”
“But if you decide to lighten up and be friends, then you certainly can.”
Chaz perked up. “All right!”
Jenny and Joy finished picking up the papers.
“Uh, hey ladies!” Chaz said. He was obviously not a charmer. “You can call me Chaz!” He did the same wink + thumps-up gesture.
“Do you have to do that every time?” kintsugi asked.
“Yeah, it’s like, my signature pose!” Chaz replied enthusiastically.
Amanda groaned. She knew traveling with this guy was going to be a drag, and that she’d need to whip him into shape if he was going to stick around.
“Chaz,” Amanda said. “Just so you know, I don’t want you to be so oblivious to everything. Act your age, and you’re welcome to come along.”
Chaz murmured, “Uhhhhhh okay!”
Amanda sighed. This was going to be a long trip, unless she could give Chaz a life lesson. That would be no easy task.
They spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the police station, and were allowed to sleep in the lobby. The next day, they’d make their way to Sandman Town, where Amanda and kintsugi would each try to earn their first badge.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 7: “Enter Sandman”

April 21, 2007 2:26 AM
PERIDEW CITY POLICE STATION

The phone was ringing. A groggy Officer Jenny stirred. “Why the hell am I the only cop in this horrible town?” she said to herself. She picked up the phone. “Hello, who is it?”
The voice on the other end was that of a young girl. “HELP ME!” she screamed.
“Where are you? What’s going on?” Jenny asked, sounding like a zombie.
“JUST HELP ME!” the girl screamed.
“How can I help you if I don’t know where you are?”
“Cops know everything!”
“I’m only human.”
Click! The girl hung up.
“I hate prank calls at 2:30 in the morning,” Jenny said, then went back to her bed, which pulled out of her desk. “I need to hire someone to help me…”

“You idiot!” Ricky yelled.
“I’m tired, okay?” Marissa snapped back.
“Now we’re not going to capture Amanda!”
“Why are you after her, anyway?”
“She threw us up the stream earlier,” Ricky replied. “Don’t you want her on our side?”
“What kind of answer is that? She doesn’t seem to be the type to go bad.”
Ricky remained quiet.
“Aren’t you going to tell me?” Marissa asked. “I know there was a reason why you put that microphone in the police station!”
“It’s really late, we should both get our sleep,” Ricky replied, laying down in the bed in the hotel room.
Marissa stared at him for a minute, then put her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, eager to find out what her father was up to.

Morning came. The police station had been very cold the prior night due to the window being smashed, but fortunately almost everyone had managed to sleep well. Jenny was relatively groggy from the phone call in the middle of the night, Amanda was as calm as always, kintsugi was chipper, Joy was a little sleepy-headed, and Chaz wasn’t there.
“Where the heck did Chaz go off to?” kintsugi asked, putting her hat on.
“No clue,” Amanda replied. She wasn’t wearing the hat today.
“You two go look for him, I’m going to sleep some more,” Jenny said, yawning.
“What about the contractor for the new Pokémon Center?” Joy asked.
“Uh,” Jenny didn’t want to say anything.
“I think it’s best we leave those two to discuss that,” Amanda whispered to kintsugi. The two left the station to go look for Chaz.
“Where do you think he is?” kintsugi asked. “Training?”
“Most likely. I’m thinking by the Pokémon Center,” Amanda replied. “That’s where I’d go, since the people here are all jerks, it’s best to get out of their way. The Pokémon Center is on the northwestern edge of town, away from almost everything.”
Amanda was right. Chaz was there, having his Piplup and Riolu battle each other.
“Piplup, use Water Gun on the ground! Riolu, use Force Palm on the water!” Chaz called.
The penguin, Piplup, launched a Water Gun under itself and catapulted into the air. The other Pokémon, which looked like a dog with a robber’s mask on, used its fist on the spot where the water met the ground. A mirage of water and sand appeared in the air. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
Chaz saw the girls watching. “Why hello, ladies,” he said.
“That was impressive!” kintsugi said.
“Thank you, thank you very much,” Chaz said, trying to impersonate Elvis. “I’m going to enter the two-Pokémon contest in Gallia City in a few weeks, assuming we get there on time.”
“That’s cool,” Amanda replied. “Maybe I can give that a try.”
“Contests are not like normal battles,” Chaz explained. “They’re like bricks are to wood.”
“That made no sense.”
“They’re very different,” Chaz said, scratching his head. “Your goal is to KO the other Pokémon using style, not aggression. You want to impress the judges with various combinations. This is my first two-Pokémon contest, so I have to make sure to train like crazy for it.”
“Most are only one Pokémon?” kintsugi asked.
“Yeah, Gallia’s the only one that does two. I’ve heard that the Gallia Gym leader is one of the judges for it, and I’ve heard she’s a witch,” Chaz said.
“So Gallia isn’t a good first contest, you think?”
“Any works, really,” Chaz replied. “Come back, guys!”
Piplup and Riolu came back to Chaz. “Good job, boys!” he said, giving each a Pokémon treat.
“Where did you get those?” Amanda asked. “I’ve never seen treats like those.”
“I made them. I cook in my spare time,” he said. “I’ve come up with a lot of recipes, I could cook if I had a pot.”
“I have a pot. I also have an unused tent that I might give to you.”
“That would be awesome. My last tent got swamped by a storm.”
“This one has weathered a lot of things,” Amanda replied. “It’s kind of old, but you can use it.”
“Alright,” Chaz said, recalling his Pokémon. “So are we gonna go to Sandman Town or what?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Amanda replied.
“Hold it!” a voice called. They turned around to see Nurse Joy running up the hill. “Whew, I caught you guys.”
“What is it?” Amanda asked.
Joy reached into her pocket and pulled out a small stone. “This,” she said, holding it out.
“Is this some kind of joke?” kintsugi asked.
“Look at the engraving on it. This must be a key,” Joy replied. “I have no idea what it is, but we found it in the police station. The bad guys must have dropped it.”
Amanda looked at it. It didn’t look like anything special to her.
Chaz took a look. “This style looks familiar,” he said. He pulled the green slab out of his bag.
“What exactly is that thing supposed to be?” kintsugi asked.
“I have no idea, it may have something to do with a legend or something. This keystone may be related,” Chaz replied. “We can take that.”
Joy nodded and handed the stone to Chaz. He put it in the side pocket of his bag and was about to replace the green slab, but Joy interrupted him. “About that slab…” she said. “I think it does have something to do with a legend. Let me see that.”
Chaz handed her the slab. Joy looked at the writing.
[Author's note: For some odd reason, it's not letting me post Hiragana without cutting off the rest of the episode... what the hell?]
“When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate. That’s what it says,” Joy said.
“The… creation of the universe?” Amanda asked. “You’re saying this plate has something to do with… Arceus?”
“Probably so,” Joy replied. “Arceus is God’s Pokémon, after all. They created the universe… or so it is believed.” She held the Plate against her, then looked into the sky.
Amanda, Elyisa, and Chaz all looked up, too. Wondering… what could be out there?

Ten minutes later, after saying their goodbyes to Nurse Joy and learning that the old Pokémon Center was going to be demolished the next day to make way for the new one, the trio went westward to Sandman Town.
The route there was only supposed to take 30 minutes. But a trainer was in the way.
“You are going to battle me, right now!” the young guy said. He looked like he was 10 years old and thought very highly of himself. “Which one of you losers is going to lose to me?”
“I will,” Amanda said, grabbing a Poke Ball from her belt.
“Okay! You will lose, go Zigzagoon!” The twerp let the raccoon Pokémon out. It looked weak.
“Goon!” it called.
Amanda just smiled. “Starly,” she called, releasing Starly out of its Poke Ball.
“Starly!” it called.
“Zigzagoon, Headbutt!” the twerp called.
“Dodge it,” Amanda called. “Then Quick Attack.”
Zigzagoon made a head-first dive into Starly, who flew up right before impact, then swooped down on Zigzagoon to hurt it badly. Zigzagoon looked badly beaten from one attack. Then Starly charged its wing and whacked Zigzagoon again.
“Starly just learned Wing Attack!” kintsugi exclaimed.
Amanda smiled and watched as Zigzagoon fell on its belly and didn’t get up.
“Uh,” the twerp said. “You were supposed to lose.” He recalled Zigzagoon.
“You’re not in charge of this world, are you?” Amanda asked. “Battles are for fun, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it matters if you have fun or not.”
The twerp didn’t seem to understand it. He ran towards Peridew, crying like a baby. “I LOST!!! I’M A FAILURE!!!!”
“That guy was pathetic,” Chaz commented.
“Don’t call names,” Amanda replied. “He needs more practice, that’s all.”
Chaz said nothing.
The three of them continued on their way to Sandman Town and made it there in 20 more minutes without disruptions. This place seemed to have a relaxing atmosphere. There was a bazaar right near the entrance, a large hotel with an outdoor waterpark, and a lot of tourists. This was a resort town.
They stopped at a stand that sold Watmel berries. The man behind it, a buff man in his 30s, was happy to do business.
“Could you tell us where the gym is?” Amanda asked.
“The gym’s over on the beach,” the man replied. “It’s probably closed since the gym leader loves to go surfing with his Sandslash when there’s nobody to challenge him.”
“Okay, thank you,” Amanda replied, giving the man money for four Watmel berries.
They bought a few other food items, and Chaz got a hand-crafted quilt for sleeping. The people in this town were far friendlier than those in Peridew. They all seemed to enjoy seeing different people visit their shops and were happy to give information to travelers.
After finishing shopping and stowing everything in their backpacks, they made their way to the beach. There was a building in the middle rear of the beach. A snack stand was off of one end, a giant Poke Ball was painted in the middle. That had to be the gym. A “CLOSED” sign was on the door.
“It’s just like that guy said,” kintsugi said. “Gym’s closed.”
Amanda looked out to the beach. On the water, there was a man with a Sandslash on a surfboard. The wave behind him was relatively large. If Sandslash fell in, it would probably not go well.
The man managed to sail onto the beach with ease. Sandslash got off.
“Good job, dude,” the man said to Sandslash. This guy was about 23, his skin was relatively tanned and he wore nothing but a blue bathing suit. His hair was brown and went over his ears.
“SLASH!” Sandslash replied.
The man noticed Amanda looking at him.
“Woah, dude, check out that babe,” he said to Sandslash.
“SLASH!” Sandslash replied, looking over to Amanda.
“Yo, dudes, get over here!” he waved to Amanda, kintsugi, and Chaz.
The three of them went over, feeling a little awkward.
“Hey dudes, I’m Charley, the gym leader and surfing champion of Sandman Town,” he said. “Who are you, dudes?”
“Amanda,” Amanda replied.
“I’m kintsugi,” kintsugi said.
“The name’s Chaz,” Chaz said, doing his usual thumbs-up gesture.
“Do any of you dudes surf?” Charley asked.
“It’s been a while, but I’ve done it before,” Amanda replied.
“Woah, dude, you surf? Yowza!” Charley exclaimed.
“Good luck wooing me. It won’t work.”
Charley sobbed. “How about a surfing contest? You against me. If I win, you go out with me. If you win, then you don’t go out with me.”
“Shut up,” Amanda replied. “What kind of a deal is that?”
“She has a point,” kintsugi said.
“SLASH!” Sandslash said, cutting a line in midair.
“Okay, okay, dude, tell you what. You’re after the Beach Badge, aren’t ya, dude?” Charley asked.
“Stop calling me dude,” Amanda replied. “And yes, I am. As is kintsugi.”
“Okay, dudet. You and me, surfing contest. If I win, you go out with me. If you win, you’ll get an advantage in a match with me.”
“Don’t be surprised when I kick your ass,” Amanda replied. “Last one standing wins, that’s how it works, right?”
“You got it, dudet.”
“And don’t call me dudet, either. Call me Amanda.”
“Sorry, du – uh, Amanda.”
Five minutes later, Amanda was in her blue-and-white bikini and ready to surf. Charley was on his board in the water, waiting for the wave. kintsugi, Chaz, and Sandslash were all watching from the shore.
The wave came. Amanda and Charley got up on their boards. Amanda managed to maintain her balance, though she was a bit wobbly. Charley looked like he was having fun and getting arrogant. Amanda decided to let him.
Amanda maintained her composure as she cruised along the wave. Charley was celebrating as he cruised along his. It was like he wasn’t even paying attention. Charley moved up higher along the wave without realizing it, and his board flipped over, sending him flying into the water. Amanda cruised right by him. She waved and smiled. Charley looked stunned.
Two minutes later, Amanda and Charley were on the beach.
“Uh, wow, dude, uh, I mean Amanda, you sure showed me,” Charley said.
“That was my intent all along,” Amanda replied. “I don’t need an advantage in a match against you. I can beat you fair and square.” She flicked her damp hair behind her and smiled at him.
Charley got on his knees on the sand. Sandslash went over to him.
“SLASH!” it said, looking eager to battle.
“You up for a battle right now?” Charley asked Amanda.
“It’s on!” Amanda said.
Amanda and Charley, both still in their swimsuits, took positions at different ends of an undetermined battlefield on the beach. They looked at each other, both eager to be victorious.
My first gym battle… let’s do this. Amanda thought to herself.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 8: “Brawls on the Beach”

Amanda clutched her three Poke Balls in her hand. She and Charley had each pre-chosen three Pokémon for their battle, so neither had any idea what the other was going to come up.
I’m battling in my bikini… Amanda thought. This is a first…
“So, uh, why aren’t we battling at the gym?” kintsugi asked out loud.
“Uh, dude, this whole beach is my domain, it’s not like it matters,” Charley replied. An official Pokémon League judge, a man of about 30 with brown hair, came running, ready to judge the match.
“Uh, I don’t know your name, miss,” he said to Amanda.
“Amanda,” she replied with a grin on her face.
“Alright. By entering this match, you automatically register for the Manalon League. Do you understand?”
“Of course.”
“Then let us begin the match!” the judge exclaimed, raising his hands into the air.
“Numel, you’re on, dude!” Charley called.
“Let’s do this, Starly!” Amanda called.
“Starly!” Starly cried, ready to face the small camel Pokémon.
“Okay, Numel, use Ember, dude!” Charley bellowed.
“Dodge it, then Quick Attack!” Amanda commanded.
“Oh no you don’t, dude,” Charley said. “Halt Ember.”
Numel didn’t do anything. Starly decided to ram Numel with a Quick Attack and charged at full-speed.
“Dodge – uh-oh, dude,” Charley said as Numel was unable to dodge the Quick Attack. Numel took a bruise. A fire began to burn in its eyes.
“Ember, dude!” Charley called.
“Dodge!” Amanda called.
Numel launched Ember at Starly. Starly dodged it upwards but an ember hit its down feathers. Starly lost control of itself and went into a dive straight for Numel.
“Wing Attack!” Amanda called.
WHACK!
Starly gained control of itself and whacked Numel in the face with its wing. Numel, completely caught off-guard, was sent back, leaving imprints in the sand with its feet. Numel looked angry.
“Starly, Quick Attack, now!”
“Numel, dude, use Magnitude!”
Starly sped towards Numel as Numel put its feet into the sand to cause a tremor. Starly flew over the ground and rammed into Numel, sending it flying backwards. The tremor, weakened by the cushy sand ground, had failed to do anything.
“Next time don’t use a ground-based attack against a bird!” Amanda taunted to Charley. “Starly, finish it with Wing Attack!”
Starly flew over to the flying Numel and whacked it with its wing, sending it to the ground with a THUD!
Numel wasn’t able to get up.
“Numel is unable to battle! Amanda is up 3-2!” the judge called, raising his right hand, pointing to Amanda’s side.
Amanda smiled. “Good job, Starly!” she called.
Starly went over and landed on her bare shoulder. It gave her a light peck on the cheek. Amanda took it as Starly’s way of saying “Thank you.”
“Don’t you get too comfortable, du – uh, Amanda!” Charley called. “Pupitar, let’s go!”
A gray rock with eyes appeared. It appeared to be a shell of some sort.
“I don’t think it’s wise for you to battle this thing, Starly,” Amanda said. “Return.” Starly disappeared off of her shoulder and went into its Poke Ball. “Now for round two! Chikorita, you’re up!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita said, facing the silent Pupitar.
“Chikorita versus Pupitar! Begin!” the judge called.
“Pupitar, use Toxic!” Charley called.
“Uh-oh, Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
Pupitar began to emit poison. Chikorita launched leaves at it, but they only slightly dented Pupitar. It didn’t move, as it didn’t feel it.
“This is bad,” Amanda said to herself.
“TAR!” Pupitar screamed as it launched a gigantic poisonous blob at Chikorita. Chikorita wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and it was drenched with the poison. Its health looked like it was declining.
Think, Amanda, think… Amanda thought to herself. There has to be some way…
“CHIKO!” Chikorita yelled. Then it began to glow with a white-greenish light. The light lasted for several seconds, then disappeared. When it did, Chikorita looked chipper and ready for battle.
“Chiky here just learned Synthesis,” Chaz said.
“Awesome!” Amanda said, determined to take Pupitar down. “Chikorita, Razor Leaf again!”
“Hah, dude, that didn’t work last time!” Charley taunted. “Pupitar, Harden!”
“Just you watch!”
Chikorita launched leaves at Pupitar.
“Now, use Poisonpowder on the leaves!” Amanda called.
Chikorita’s leaf emitted poisonous particles and scattered them among the leaves. One of the leaves hit Pupitar in the eye, causing it to be poisoned.
“Pupitar, Shed Skin, dude!” Charley called.
Pupitar began to release its outermost shell.
“Tackle!” Amanda called.
As soon as Pupiatar’s outmost layer was removed, Chikorita tackled it with a forceful charge. Chikorita’s head began to hurt, but Pupitar was shaken from the blow.
“Dark Pulse, dude!” Charley called.
Pupitar emitted a wave of darkness from itself, consuming Chikorita. Chikorita was beginning to look faint.
“One more Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
“Chiko!” Chikorita launched leaves at the Pupitar, which had let down its defenses to use Dark Pulse. Another direct hit in the eye caused the pulse to stop, but Chikorita was done. She fell down on the ground, out for the count.
“Chikorita is unable to battle!” the judge said, waving his left arm towards Charley’s side. “The score is even!”
“You fought like a warrior…” Amanda said. “Now return.” Chikorita went back in its Poke Ball. “Don’t think this is over, dude.”
“Ha, that’s the attitude I like to hear, dude – I mean Amanda!” Charley said, still desperate to get a date with her.
Amanda knew Pupitar was weakened, and after it was done she knew she still had Sandslash to deal with. Starly probably couldn’t handle Pupitar, so she had no other choice. “Abra, you’re up!” she called, releasing Abra. It’s a risk, that thing knows Dark Pulse. But my odds are better…
“Hah,” Charley said. “Dark Pulse!”
“Teleport like crazy,” Amanda said. “Then use Hidden Power!”
Pupitar emitted another Dark Pulse, but Abra randomly teleported all over the arena, confusing Pupitar. Abra then teleported atop Amanda’s head and launched an icy Hidden Power to the frantically searching Pupitar. Amanda couldn’t help but laugh.
It hit.
Pupitar was hurt. “Another Hidden Power!” Amanda called, trying not to move. Abra leapt off her head and launched another Hidden Power to batter Pupitar. Pupitar collapsed over, dizzy from searching and stunned by the ice. It was down and out.
“Pupitar is down and out!” the judge called. “Amanda is ahead 2-1!”
Abra teleported back atop Amanda’s head. It was having fun.
“You’re the first trainer to get past Pupitar in quite a while, dude, I mean Amanda,” Charley said. “But here comes Sandslash!”
Sandslash jumped into the arena. “SLASH!” it said, ready for battle.
“You up for more, Abra?” Amanda asked.
“Abra!” it was ready. It teleported into the arena, ready to face Sandslash. Amanda adjusted her bikini strap, which was beginning to fall off.
“Hidden Power!”
“Slash, dude!” Charley called.
Abra launched icy Hidden Power at Sandslash, who just cut through them and made it to Abra.
“Telepo-“ Amanda began, but Abra was ahead of her. Abra teleported behind Sandslash. “Hidden Power!”
Abra blasted a Hidden Power and hit Sandslash in the back. Sandslash felt it. Sandslash turned around and was angry.
“Sandstorm!” Charley called.
Sandslash began twirling in a cyclone, causing sand to fly everywhere in the arena.
“Teleport around where you can!” Amanda yelled to Abra. “Use Hidden Power when you sense its presence!”
Abra stayed put in its spot in the Sandstorm. Sandslash started navigating it to find Abra. Abra sensed it with its mind before Sandslash could see it.
Hidden Power went off, and Sandslash got a surprise hit.
Two minutes later, the Sandstorm cleared. Abra was on top of a collapsed Sandslash.
“Uhh… what, dude?” Charley was baffled. “Sandslash… lost already?”
“Sandslash is unable to continue, Amanda wins 2-0!” the judge exclaimed.
Abra teleported back on top of Amanda’s head. Amanda laughed. “Good job, Abra!”
Charley came over and pulled a badge out of his pocket. It was designed like a palm tree. “Take it, dude, it’s yours. The Beach Badge.”
“Awesome,” Amanda said.
“Abra!” Abra was excited.
Sandslash got up and sent over to Charley. “You tried hard, dude,” Charley said, comforting Sandslash. He then went up to face kintsugi and Chaz. “Now, which of you dudes was it that wanted a battle with me?”
“ME!” kintsugi said, excited.
“Okay, dude, let’s do this. I have another Pokémon rarin’ to go!”
“I only have two,” kintsugi said. “So can this be a two-on-two battle?”
“Sure thing, dude. The league rules specify two per side as a minimum.”
kintsugi went over to the space where Amanda was, and Amanda and Abra went over to Amanda’s bag.
“I’d better get dressed,” Amanda said, laughing. She sat down and began to put her pants on over her now-dry swimsuit.
kintsugi was nervous for her first gym battle. Amanda could tell based on her shaking legs.
“Charmander, you’re on!” kintsugi said, sending out her shiny Charmander.
“Okay, Claydol, you’re up, dude!” Charley called.
A really weird thing with several eyes appeared. Amanda had never been able to determine what it looked like, it was that odd. She pulled her shirt over her head and flung her hair out, then grabbed her hat and put it on forwards.
“Okay, dude, use Ancientpower!” Charley called.
kintsugi was unprepared on what to do. “Use Metal Claw!” was the first thing out of her mouth.
Claydol brought rocks out of the ground. Charmander cut the first one apart with Metal Claw. It was too slow to take the next one, so it just ducked. The third one hit it in the side, sending it flying a few feet.
“kintsugi is really nervous,” Chaz commented. “I don’t think she can win this.”
“She’s a rookie, she’ll do her best… but that may not be enough,” Amanda replied.
kintsugi continued to struggle, as Charmander got nailed with a Psybeam before it launched an ineffective Ember at Claydol. Charmander couldn’t measure up to a type it was weak against.
“Charmander, use Metal Claw!”
“Claydol, use Sandstorm, dude!” Charley bellowed.
Claydol created a Sandstorm. Charmander couldn’t navigate it the way Abra could, nor could it sense an approaching Sandslash.
KABOOM!
The sandstorm blew up. When the smoke and dust cleared, Charmander and Claydol were both out for the count. Claydol had used Selfdestruct, taking itself with Charmander.
“Yo, dude,” Charley called. “I usually don’t give such a courtesy to someone.”
“Return,” kintsugi called, pulling her hat lower over her face. Charmander went back in its Poke Ball, Claydol soon did the same.
“Taillow, go!” kintsugi called.
Sandslash got up and re-entered the arena. “SLASH!” it said.
kintsugi’s nerves were getting the best of her. She’d never been in a gym battle before, and she thought she was prepared…
“Dude, Slash!” Charley called.
“Dodge it!” kintsugi called. Taillow didn’t listen. Taillow had a mind of its own. It was using Peck and it got a Slash in the wing and fell in one hit.
The judge called Taillow unable to battle and Charley the winner, much to kintsugi’s dismay. Amanda went over to kintsugi, but kintsugi just ran towards the beach, crying.
“I… I lost… I’m a freaking failure… I lost…” kintsugi said.
“Now, now,” Amanda said, patting kintsugi on the back. “You have to remember… you learn more from your losses than you do your wins.”
“I’m a failure, okay?” kintsugi said, full of tears.
“You weren’t ready. You need to train.”
“What can training do? I’ll fail again!”
Chaz and Charley looked at each other and nodded. They were going to leave the girls alone for now. They went towards the snack shack to get some munchies.
“I can help you!” Amanda said, encouragingly. “You probably will need another Pokémon. I only won because of Abra being able to sense that Sandslash.”
“That and your Chikorita did that poison Razor Leaf thing. How do I come up with things like that?” kintsugi asked, her tears were starting to wane.
“Things like that come to you. With time, you can get better. I’ve watched many battles on TV and those trainers that come up with more original maneuvers usually come on top. That catches your opponent off-guard.”
“I never thought of that…” kintsugi said.
“Look, it’s getting somewhat late,” Amanda said, checking the time on her cell phone. It was 3:47. “We can train tomorrow. Right now, we should focus on resting up. Sound good?”
“Sounds great!” kintsugi replied.
The two of them went to join the guys at the snack shack. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 9: “To Train Them is My Test”


APRIL 22, 2007 6:58 AM
SANDMAN TOWN GYM, MANALON

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Amanda said.
kintsugi jolted awake. “What did you have to do that for? When the heck is it?”
“7 AM,” Amanda replied. “A good training session starts early in the morning.”
“Can I at least get breakfast?”
“Here’s a cereal bar,” Amanda said, handing kintsugi a Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal bar. “We don’t have time to stall, and Chaz is going to bring pizza around noon for lunch. I want you to train like you’ve never trained before.”
kintsugi yawned, then opened the cereal bar. “Give me a few minutes,” she said. She took a bite of her cereal bar, and Amanda left the room.
“She reacted reasonably well,” Amanda said.
“Good,” Chaz replied. “And she’s up for the pizza?”
“Yeah, just get pepperoni, if she wants cheese she can just pick it off.”
Amanda and Chaz had discussed what kintsugi needed to do the night before at the gym, where they were staying. Charley had been kind enough to let them not bother with checking into a hotel, since the town lacked a good-sized Pokémon Center. Amanda had healed her team there the night before, and there appeared to only be three rooms.
kintsugi got dressed and finished her cereal bar, then came out of the room. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Good, let’s head to route 11!” Amanda replied.
They left the gym and went along the beach, going to the westerly route. This route was a shaven-grass plain that overlooked the beach, as it was built on a 10-foot cliff that had overlooked the beach. The cliffs weren’t very long, on the other side there was a great spot for training. A small creek led into the bay, there were a few relatively flat rocks which a small Pokémon could stand on. There were a few trees present, but the area seemed somewhat different than the beach it was near.
“This is the spot,” Amanda declared.
“So, uh, what are we going to do?” kintsugi asked.
“A battle, over that creek.”
“Uh…”
“It’s called practice. The creek won’t be dangerous to your Charmander’s tail, since it can be active in water for about a minute.”
kintsugi didn’t say anything.
“Wurmple, let’s go,” Amanda said, sending Wurmple to one of the rocks in the creek. “We’ll start with something your Charmander should have no problem with.”
“You’re going to let my Charmander attack your Wurmple?”
“Not without a fight. Let’s do this!” Amanda took her position at one end of the creek. kintsugi took the one on the other side, by the other large rock in the middle.
“Okay, Charmander, let’s go!” she called, sending Charmander to the rock.
“We will see how well Charmander does when it’s stuck in one spot,” Amanda said. “This is like it would be if it were trapped in a Sandstorm, only with better visibility. It’s a good way for it to learn.”
“Okay, Ember!” kintsugi called.
“String Shot off another rock!” Amanda called.
Wurmple shot a string at another rock in the creek, Charmander’s Ember hit the rock Wurmple had been standing on. This rock was barely big enough for Wurmple to grip to, but it managed. The rock was too far for Charmander to whack with a Metal Claw, so kintsugi ordered an Ember.
“String Shot again!” Amanda called.
Wurmple tried to do an inverse String Shot to go back to the first rock but was hit by the blow of the Ember before it could get it off. Wurmple fell in the creek and started being carried away slowly. It couldn’t swim, and its feet weren’t long enough to touch the ground of the creek. The creek lead to a cliff waterfall that led into the ocean, and Wurmple would be dead if it hit the water.
“Taillow, let’s go!” kintsugi called. Taillow appeared. “Rescue that Wurmple!”
“That’s what I like to see!” Amanda replied, holding Starly’s Poke Ball to do the same thing. “Thinking on the spot!”
Taillow dashed towards Wurmple, apparently desperate for breakfast. Wurmple hit the waterfall, Taillow swooped down and grabbed Wurmple in its claws.
All of a sudden, Wurmple started glowing. Taillow flew the glowing Wurmple up to the ground and struggled to maintain it; it dropped the oval-shaped Pokémon on the ground.
“Uh, what’s that?” kintsugi asked.
“You evolved into Silcoon!” Amanda screamed joyfully, then ran over to it. The Pokémon was pure white with two eyes. Its skin was silky, and it shone. Amanda pet it on the top.
“Silcoon,” it said calmly. Its voice was a lot less hyper than Wurmple’s.
“Are you ready to battle?”
“Silcoon,” it said, shooting a String Shot to the rock. It stood its ground.
“Charmander, use Ember!” kintsugi called.
“Harden!” Amanda replied. “Then String Shot!”
Silcoon hardened, turning rock-hard. It then String Shotted to the same rock it had before, only this time couldn’t stand on it. It relaxed in the water and let the stream carry it away. The embers hit the rock again.
“String Shot again!” Amanda called, Silcoon shot to the first rock. “kintsugi, you have to try and read your opponent’s moves. That’s the key to victory.”
“Uh, okay,” kintsugi replied. Amanda could see that she began to focus. “Ember!” kintsugi called.
“Silcoon, you know what to do!”
Silcoon shot to the same rock for a third time, only to have Charmander blast it. Silcoon got burned and fell in the creek again, and started floating down.
“String Shot!”
“Oh no, you don’t!” kintsugi taunted. “Ember!”
Silcoon gave a String Shot to the rock, only to be greeted by flames. It was super-effective.
“That’s enough,” Amanda said. “Silcoon, return.” She recalled Silcoon.
“Aww, just as I was getting warmed up,” kintsugi replied.
“That was very good. Good job!” Amanda smiled, then grabbed her cell phone to check the time. 8:23.
“Uh, thanks,” kintsugi replied. “Are we done?”
“Good lord no. You have only started. But you’ve started well.”
“What if Charley switches Pokémon mid-battle, what do I do?”
“He doesn’t. He’s the gym leader. He can’t.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Now you do. Shall we continue?”
“Okay.”
The next phase of training was for Taillow. Taillow needed to work better with kintsugi in order to win. It would be facing Starly in another mid-air brawl, but not in a cockfight. The two exchanged Quick Attacks and Wing Attacks for some time, until both couldn’t fight any longer. Taillow had managed to avoid some of Starly’s tactical attack switches and a barrel roll Quick Attack and had put up quite a fight of its own. However, it wouldn’t always obey kintsugi.
Amanda recalled Starly, kintsugi gave Taillow a treat for trying as hard as it did. Taillow was happy.
“Taillow!” it said with glee, then began to flap its wings. It looked like it was ready for more.
“You want to fight some more?” kintsugi asked.
“Taillow!” Taillow nodded.
“It will be fighting Abra, then,” Amanda said, returning her cell phone to her pocket. It was already 9:02.
Abra’s mobility caused a problem for Taillow. Taillow found it hard to maneuver against a foe that would randomly teleport, even on top of Amanda’s head (it even found her ponytail as a comfortable rest for its tail, she wasn’t wearing her hat either). Its ice-based Hidden Power caused Taillow issues when it hit, but Taillow usually managed to avoid it. After 20 minutes of insanity, Taillow was beat.
“Want to take a break?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah, I think I need it,” kintsugi said. Her Taillow was behaving better, the treat probably had convinced it to. kintsugi gave it another treat, then let it rest in its Poke Ball.
Amanda and kintsugi went over near the cliff to overlook the ocean. They sat down and were silent for a few minutes, just taking time to relax.
“You sure owned Charley yesterday,” kintsugi broke the silence. “That was impressive, how you handled the Sandstorm and all.”
“Thanks!” Amanda replied. “I do my best.”
“I feel as if I’m learning from a gym leader.”
“Haha, I’m kind of new at this too. I mean, I had a Pokémon once before, but it was a long time ago.”
“Explain.”
“The professor gave me a Torchic when I turned 8,” Amanda started. “I loved it, it loved me. We played together all the time, it even liked to sleep in bed with me. It was so cuddly. It was even great in battle, I had some fun with the local kids and I won 90% of the time.” She smiled. “This brings back great memories… I wish I still had it.”
“What happened?”
“It was like nine months after I’d received Torchic,” Amanda continued. “Like mid-May of 1995 I think it was. Horrible day, one of the worst of my life. The professor and I were camping in Peridew Forest, my first time there. He was doing some field work and I was there to help. When Torchic and I were gathering firewood, we were ambushed by some Poochyena looking for food. Apparently they were after an Oran berry on one of the twigs I picked up. Poochyena are aggressive and don’t like to mess around. Torchic was about to battle them, but it was four on one. The Poochyena bit Torchic, then started chasing it. I dived after but I was only 8, I couldn’t do anything. The professor wasn’t there to stop them. I ran back to him crying, and we searched frantically for Torchic for two hours but we never found it.” Amanda paused to wipe a tear from her eyes. “I haven’t seen it since…”
“That’s… sad…” kintsugi replied, wiping a tear from her eyes.
“I doubt I’ll ever see it again. It could be anywhere by now. For all I know some trainer could have caught it. If that’s the case, I hope they treat it right.”
“Yeah… with us going all over the world, you never know what can happen. If you see it again…”
“Nothing will stop me from getting it back. Nothing.”
“You’re determined, you’re a woman on a mission.”
“Yep, that’s me!” Amanda wiped the last tear from her eye. You know, I may be able to see it again… you never know. She thought to herself. “Anyway, you want to continue with the training? It’s been like 15 minutes already.” She checked her cell phone. It was 9:44.
The next phase of training was more or less helping Charmander practice hitting with Metal Claw. This wasn’t done in the creek, it was on the ground. Charmander faced Starly and always seemed to swing too soon, causing Starly to dive up and attack again.
“Work on sensing it… when it’s close, hit it for maximum damage,” Amanda said. “And don’t worry, Starly, I have plenty of potions and treats for you for being a trooper.
Starly landed on Amanda’s shoulder and pecked her ear lightly. She took a treat out of a baggie and fed it to Starly. Starly was happy, then it went back out.
On the next try, Charmander got hit by Quick Attack. It had waited too long.
“Come on, Charmander,” kintsugi said. “Focus!”
“Char…” Charmander was preparing itself.
Starly regrouped for another Quick Attack.
“Barrel roll mode!” Amanda called. Starly began to spin. It barreled towards Charmander, whose arm was charging.
WHACK!
Charmander had timed it perfectly, whacking Starly back. Starly was completely phased and it was unable to battle any longer. Amanda went and used a Super Potion on it, then recalled it to its Poke Ball.
“That was really good,” Amanda told kintsugi. “If you can take out Numel or Sandslash with that tomorrow, it will catch Charley off guard.”
“Awesome,” kintsugi replied.
“You’re making progress. You still only have two Pokémon, though, which could be a problem. You can’t do anything to that Pupitar unless you use Metal Claw, and even that’s a stretch.”
“I probably need a third Pokémon… but where do I get one?”
“You have to look.”
Just as Amanda said that, a Pokémon was seen in the creek. It was a Poliwag, a tadpole with a swirl on it. It jumped up on the rock Charmander had been standing on earlier.
“I want that!” kintsugi said. Poliwag looked a bit frightened. “Go, Taillow!” Taillow re-emerged from its Poke Ball.
“I’ll leave this to you, good luck,” Amanda said, ready to watch.
“Taillow, use Quick Attack!”
Taillow aimed at Poliwag.
“Barrel roll!” kintsugi called, taking initiative from Amanda and Starly. Taillow began to spin.
The Poliwag used Water Gun, but Taillow was spinning and it went head-first. It took the Poliwag off the rock, sending it crashing into the ground on the other side of the creek. Amanda smiled. kintsugi was learning.
“Wing it!” kintsugi called.
Taillow slapped the Poliwag with its wing, causing even more damage. kintsugi ran over to the creek and grabbed an empty Poke Ball.
“Poke Ball, go!” she called, throwing the ball at Poliwag. Poliwag went inside.
The ball shook once.
The ball shook twice.
Poliwag broke out, and the ball burst.
“Dang it,” kintsugi said.
Poliwag bounced back up and used Water Gun, knocking Taillow back.
“Regroup and Wing Attack!” kintsugi called.
Taillow doubled back, swooped around and slashed Poliwag with its wing. Poliwag had no counter. It dodged back then started using Hypnosis.
“Uh-oh, go up!” kintsugi called. Taillow complied, letting the Hypnosis fade into the air. “Dive bomb Quick Attack, now!”
Taillow stopped in midair, then turned around and began to dive at a fast speed. It hit Poliwag with a fearsome blow. Poliwag crashed into the pine tree behind it, kintsugi produced another Poke Ball and threw it.
Poliwag went inside.
The ball shook once.
The ball shook twice.
The ball shook thrice.
The ball stopped moving.
“I caught a Poliwag!” kintsugi exclaimed, jumping the creek over the rock to go get her capture. She held it up and affixed the Poke Ball to her belt.
“Good job!” Amanda commented. “Now you have something that has a type advantage against Charley!”
kintsugi smiled. “I just hope we can get this Poliwag trained today.”
“Oh, we will,” Amanda replied. She checked the time, it was 10:25. “We have a lot of time left, want to get started on that?”
“Sure!” kintsugi said, releasing Poliwag.
“Poli?” it looked confused. It saw Taillow. It then used Water Gun, thinking it was still in the battle.
“Stop it,” kintsugi commanded. She held out a Poke Treat in front of Poliwag. “Go on, eat it.”
Poliwag took a nibble. “Poli!” it said, then ate the rest of it.
“So we’re going to be traveling together now, how does that sound?”
“Poli!” Poliwag was happy and bouncing its feet, alternating left and right.
“To battle?” kintsugi asked.
“To battle,” Amanda nodded.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 10: “To Master then is My Quest”

“Poliwag, Hypnosis!” kintsugi called.
“Chikorita, dodge and use Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
They had been working on Poliwag for 10 minutes, trying to get it accustomed to kintsugi’s aggressive battle style. Amanda, being a more tactical opponent, was able to keep Chikorita from taking multiple hits.
Chikorita jumped out of the way and used Razor Leaf on Poliwag.
“Water Gun!” kintsugi yelled. Poliwag shot the leaves with Water Gun before they could reach it, but it was too weak to reach Chikorita 10 feet away.
“We’re going to need to work on the distance of that,” Amanda commented. “A long-ranged Water Gun could more easily take Charley down.”
“How do you suppose we do that?”
“Practice makes perfect.”
“Duh.”
They continued practice with working on Poliwag’s Water Gun. Chikorita would launch a leaf a certain distance from Poliwag, starting at 5 feet, and Poliwag would hit it with a Water Gun. Poliwag missed the first few, as it was unaccustomed to hitting moving targets.
“It seems to me that this Poliwag is pretty young,” Amanda said. “It doesn’t seem to have the experience… this could take a while.”
They spent 30 minutes working on Poliwag’s Water Gun. It managed to progress to 8 feet relatively easily but struggled hitting anything after that. Its Water Gun was relatively weak and would not cause much damage.
“I just thought of something,” Amanda said all of a sudden.
“Huh, what?” kintsugi asked.
“That Sandslash can surf. What if… it’s water-proofed?”
“Woah, wait, what?”
“If Sandslash can use a surfboard… chances are it falls into the water every once in a while. Rough waves can do that.”
“Uh…”
“I can guarantee that Charley will use Sandslash, and if it’s immune to water, you’re going to have to find a different way to beat it.” Amanda took her cell phone out of her pocket. 11:09 AM. Chaz would be coming with the pizza around noon.
Amanda’s cell phone started ringing all of a sudden, playing Lips of an Angel mid-song like normal. It was Dan. “Hold on,” she said to kintsugi, then answered her phone. “Hello, Amanda here.”
“Heya Amanda, it’s Dan,” Dan said. “Where are you?”
“Route 11, helping my friend train for a gym battle in Sandman Town. Where are you?”
“I’m in Peridew Forest, doing a little training with the Pokémon I just caught.”
“Good luck,” Amanda replied. “I’m hoping my friend here can win her gym battle by tomorrow, maybe we can have a battle after?”
“Sure,” Dan said. “I would love that. Maybe meet me at the Peridew Pokémon Center tomorrow afternoon around 3ish?”
“What’s left of it, sure.”
“Huh?”
“The Center is a pile of rubble. They’re tearing the ruins down as we speak, most likely. Someone blew the place up, so they don’t have a choice.”
“Woah, what the-?”
“I’ll have to explain later. I have to help my friend train some more. See ya at 3 tomorrow.”
“Okay, see you in Peridew.”
CLICK!
“Who was that?” kintsugi asked.
“Friend of mine from Small Town,” Amanda replied. “He has a crush on me, and he just started training, so he could see the world.”
“Oh,” kintsugi mumbled. “So I’m probably going to meet him?”
“Yes. Though I won’t be dating him or anything, he’s not my type. When we were little I think he had a Zigzagoon. Around the same time I had Torchic. I remember beating him a lot.”
kintsugi giggled. “You strive to be the best,” she said.
Amanda looked down. “I miss my Torchic… it’s like the only fire-type Pokemon I’ve ever liked.”
“We’ve been through this.” kintsugi pat Amanda on the back. “But let’s get back on training, okay?”
“Sure.”
They resumed working on Poliwag’s Water Gun distance for 10 minutes or so. After that, Poliwag was beat.
“I think it’s time for a break for Poliwag,” Amanda suggested. “Maybe we can train Charmander or Taillow some more?”
“I think I’m ready,” kintsugi said.
“I don’t. You may appear stronger now, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready. You need to prepare completely in order to win this one. Charley is a gym leader, they’re all tough trainers.”
“Point made. Poliwag, return.” Poliwag went into its Poke Ball to rest. “Taillow, you’re up!” kintsugi called. Taillow appeared.
“Should we work on its low-ground gliding?” Amanda asked.
“Huh?”
“Gliding along the ground, like to avoid ranged attacks, and maybe working on going straight up to dodge an oncoming Pupitar.”
They worked on Taillow’s techniques for a half-hour or so. Then Chaz showed up with two boxes marked “PELIPPER’s PIZZA.”
“Hey gals,” Chaz said. “I got some warm and toasty pizzas here.”
“Chaz!” Amanda gave him a high-five to his open hand. Chaz set down the pizza boxes, both contained large 8-slice pepperoni pizzas. He also had some napkins with him.
“Are you sure we can eat all of that?” kintsugi asked. “I’ll only have two slices.”
“I’ll eat three,” Amanda said.
“Your Pokémon?” Chaz asked. He released Piplup and Riolu.
“Hmmm, good idea!” Amanda said.
Soon Chikorita, Starly, Abra, Silcoon, Charmander, and Poliwag had joined the party. Taillow came over.
“Everyone gets a slice,” Chaz said to the Pokémon. “Hey, Wurmple evolved! You caught a Poliwag! Awesome!”
Each Pokémon got one slice. Amanda ate three, kintsugi two, leaving Chaz with two. He had no regrets, he’d eaten a bigger breakfast than either of the girls. Amanda was explaining how Wurmple had evolved, and then kintsugi told the story about Poliwag.
“Nice, nice,” Chaz said. “You gals sure know what you’re doing.” He winked at Amanda, then took his last bite of pizza.
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Try all you want, you won’t get me.”
“Re-jected!” kintsugi teased.
“Shut up,” Chaz snapped at her, his mouth full of pizza crust.
They recalled their Pokémon and picked up their mess, then headed back to the gym, where Amanda and kintsugi would have a practice battle. If Amanda deemed kintsugi worthy, she could challenge Charley.
They quickly set up in the gym. The floor was sandy, but less so than the beach outside. Charley took the judges’ position, he had given the official judge the day off.
“Go, Poliwag!” kintsugi called, releasing Poliwag out of its ball.
“Let’s do this, Starly!” Amanda sent out Starly.
“Okay dudes, you can begin!” Charley stated.
“Starly, Quick Attack!” Amanda called, and Starly rammed towards Poliwag.
kintsugi fumbled a bit but gathered her composure. “Hypnosis!” she commanded.
Poliwag used Hypnosis on the speeding Starly approaching it, leading Starly to crash into the ground, out cold. It was going so fast that it ran into Poliwag at quarter-speed, causing little to no damage. Starly was sleeping like a baby.
“Return!” Amanda called. “Go, Chikorita!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita appeared.
“Remember that only one of my Pokémon can be asleep at a time,” Amanda told kintsugi. “So you can’t use Hypnosis.”
“Why did you switch? Charley can’t in a league match.”
“Is this a league match?” Amanda asked. “In a regular battle, be prepared to adapt. Just like in a gym battle – the situation can change at any time.”
“You have a point. Poliwag, Doubleslap!” kintsugi called.
Poliwag went over and started hitting Chikorita with its tail.
“Duck back, then Tackle!” Amanda called.
Chikorita ducked behind making Poliwag’s next hit miss, sending its tail to the ground. She then tackled it and knocked it back.
“Water Gun!” kintsugi called. Poliwag shot out a jet of water, more powerful than it could handle a few hours earlier, and soaked Chikorita. Yet it did almost nothing.
“Water doesn’t do much to grass-types,” Amanda said. “But the opposite is, well, the opposite! Chikorita, Razor Leaf!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita launched leaves at Poliwag.
“Water Gun to knock them down!” kintsugi called.
“Keep firing!” Amanda yelled.
Chikorita launched several leaves in succession, making them go in different directions. Poliwag couldn’t keep up with squirting them, and got hit by two at once.
“Now Tackle!” Amanda called. Chikorita went for a full-body tackle, knocking Poliwag backward.
“Poliwag, return!” kintsugi called. “Let’s do this, Taillow!”
Taillow took Poliwag’s place. “Taillow!” it taunted.
“Wing Attack!”
Taillow went for a swoop at Chikorita.
“Dodge, then Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
“Watch its movements!” kintsugi told Taillow.
Chikorita prepared to dodge right, but Taillow rolled with her and hit her side.
“That was nice!” Amanda said. “Chikorita, return.”
Chikorita went back in its Poke Ball.
“I think that’s enough,” Amanda said as she went over to kintsugi. “You’re ready.”
“That was a good match, dudes,” Charley commented as he went over to them. “Oh, sorry Amanda…” his cheeks were red.
“You’re not going to get a date with me. Stop trying.”
“Can I at least get your number so we can be friends?” Charley asked.
“Fine,” Amanda said, giving him her number. “Don’t call me more than twice a week, otherwise that will really make me angry.”
“Okay, du – I mean Amanda,” Charley replied. “kintsugi, you want to battle now?”
“Sure!” kintsugi got excited.
“I’ll judge,” Amanda said, going over to the judge’s position. Chaz took a spot on the bleachers on the opposite side of Amanda, Charley went to where Amanda had been standing during the previous battle. kintsugi and Taillow looked ready for action.
“This will be a three-on-three match between Charley, the gym leader, and kintsugi, the challenger. The challenger may switch their Pokémon whenever they wish, the gym leader may not. Let the match begin!” Amanda exclaimed enthusiastically, sounding as professional as possible.
“Okay, dude, don’t think I’ll go easy on you. Let’s do this, Pupitar!” Charley called. Pupitar came out.
“Taillow, this fight isn’t for you,” kintsugi said, recalling the bird on her shoulder to its Poke Ball. “This is a fight for Poliwag!”
“Poli!” Poliwag appeared.
“I know we haven’t had that long together, but we can do this!”
“Poli!”
“Poliwag versus Pupitar. Let’s do this!” Amanda shouted. The Pokémon were about 15 feet from each other, the regulation arena was 30 by 12 feet.
“Pupitar, use Harden, dude!” Charley called.
“Water Gun!” kintsugi called.
Pupitar hardened its shell as Poliwag ran forward and shot water at it. The water appeared to shake right off, but some of it went inside the shell.
“Okay, use Hypnosis!” kintsugi called.
“Pupitar, dude, use Thrash!” Charley shouted.
Pupitar began moving frantically, trying to crash into Poliwag.
“Dodge, then Water Gun!” kintsugi called.
Pupitar fell on the ground, Poliwag stepped out of the way then squirted it with a full-blast Water Gun. Pupitar, being dazed from impact, took a solid hit.
“Now, Hypnosis!” kintsugi told Poliwag, pointing at Pupitar. Poliwag put the shaken Pupitar to sleep. “Finish it with Water Gun!” Poliwag squirted Pupitar one more time, sending it skidding across the ground face-first in the sand. After it was over, a muddy trench was in the middle of the battlefield, with Pupitar not moving a muscle.
Amanda watched and counted to 10 in her head. When she got to 9, Pupitar turned over, completely phased. “Pupitar is unable to battle, Poliwag is the victor!”
“Wow, dude,” Charley said. “That was some nice stuff. But you’re not done with me yet! Let’s do this, Claydol!”
The bizarre eye thing appeared.
“Poliwag versus Claydol, let the match begin!” Amanda called.
“Claydol use Hyper Beam!” Charley called.
Claydol charged up a powerful beam. kintsugi looked sort of scared. “Okay Poliwag, wait until it launches, then run under Claydol,” she told it.
“Poli,” it nodded. Claydol charged its Hyper Beam and then a wide-ranged attack engulfed the arena. Poliwag ran towards Claydol’s underside, but it was to no avail. Claydol managed to tilt downward to make the beam whack Poliwag, putting it inside the inferno. After the attack was over, Poliwag was fried.
“Poliwag is unable to battle,” Amanda called. “Claydol wins this one.” She motioned to Charley’s side of the arena.
“You don’t mess with a Hyper Beam, dude,” Charley said out loud.
“I’m not stupid,” kintsugi replied. “Poliwag, return. You did great.” Poliwag went back in its Poke Ball. kintsugi looked at the floating Claydol. It looked steady. “Okay, Taillow, let’s go!”
Taillow appeared, ready for a battle.
“Taillow versus Claydol, let’s go!” Amanda called.
“Claydol, dude, use Sandstorm!” Charley yelled.
“Get above it, then blow it away!” kintsugi demanded.
Taillow flew to the top of the building, towards the roof’s support structure. Claydol filled the arena with a Sandstorm. Taillow started flapping its wings. Charley couldn’t see where Taillow was. “Claydol, Psybeam!” he called.
Claydol fired a Psybeam towards where Taillow was, missing it by five feet and hitting one of the overhead lights. The light blew apart and came flying down to the arena, crashing on kintsugi’s side five feet in front of her.
“Aaah!” kintsugi squeaked, jumping back suddenly. “You just ruined one of your lights!” She shouted over to Charley. “No matter, Taillow get in there and whack it with a Quick Attack!”
Taillow went at full speed into the messy Sandstorm, going fast enough to create a clear stream through it. It found Claydol easily and rammed into it. The Sandstorm began to clear up.
“Now, Wing Attack!” Taillow called.
“Oh no you don’t, dude!” Charley called. “Claydol, Selfdestruct!”
BOOM!
Taillow hit Claydol with its wing just as it exploded. The remaining dust from the Sandstorm scattered, making it impossible to see for several seconds.
After it cleared, Taillow was leaning over Claydol, both were done for.
“Claydol and Taillow are unable to battle!” Amanda called. “So, uh, this round is a draw. I don’t know the official lingo for this job…”
kintsugi and Charley recalled their Pokémon. The final round would be Charmander versus Sandslash. Both were called to the field.
Amanda knew this, and knew that kintsugi may not be able to take on Sandslash with just Charmander. But she still had faith in her apprentice.
“Charmander versus Sandslash! Let the final round begin!” Amanda declared.
“Sandslash, dude, Rapid Spin!”
“SLASH!” it said, curling up and spinning towards Charmander.
“Charge up your Metal Claw and whack it when it gets near you!” kintsugi called.
Sandslash moved at Charmander, only to be greeted with a Metal Claw that sent it soaring across the field. It landed in the trench Pupitar had created earlier.
“Sandslash, dude, use Sandstorm to hide yourself!” Charley called. Sandslash spun out a Sandstorm from its spot as it dislodged itself. The Sandstorm covered the whole field.
“Charmander…” kintsugi called. “Focus, close your eyes. When you feel it near you, use Metal Claw!”
“Char,” Charmander said to itself. It closed its eyes and focused. It felt movement to its front, and slashed with Metal Claw.
It hit Sandslash in the face.
kintsugi sensed what happened. “Use Ember!” she called.
Charmander shot an Ember attack immediately forward, burning through the sand and hitting Sandslash, who was still recovering from the hit it took to the face.
“Finish it!” kintsugi called. “Another Metal Claw!”
“Sandslash, what’s going on in there, dude?” Charley asked. “I told you to Slash it! Why is she attacking, dude?”
It was too late, Charmander whacked Sandslash with another Metal Claw. The Sandstorm began to clear, and as it did, Amanda could see Sandslash was face-down in the sand, unable to move. It had a huge bruise on its head, presumably from that last Metal Claw.
“Sandslash is unable to battle!” Amanda declared, pointing to kintsugi’s side. “The winner of the match – and a shiny Beach Badge – is kintsugi!”
“Yay!” kintsugi cheered. She ran over to Charmander as Charley recalled Sandslash.
“You did good, dude,” Charley said to his Poke Ball.
“Char char!” Charmander was celebrating with kintsugi.
“I hate to crash your party,” Charley said. “But this is yours.” He held out his hand, which held a Beach Badge identical to Amanda’s. “I also have something else… badge cases for you and Amanda.”
“Yay, I got a Beach Badge!” kintsugi said, grabbing it and showing it off. Charley gave her a pink badge case, then went over to Amanda.
“Thanks for judging,” he said. “And, uh, thanks for your phone number.” Charley blushed. He then handed her a green badge case with her name engraved on it the center of the lid, which was a much lighter green hue.
Amanda blushed. “You shouldn’t have…” she said. This guy is really desperate… she thought to herself.
“I know you won’t go out with me, but think of this as a gift.”
“That’s cool with me. I think we can be good friends.” Amanda smiled. Maybe Charley wasn’t a creepy stalker after all.
As kintsugi and Charmander celebrated – apparently Chaz had gone over to congratulate her – Amanda looked on. She’d be facing Dan again tomorrow, and had no idea what he had up his sleeve. She and Charley went over to give kintsugi their congratulations, and prepared for another night staying at the gym.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 11: “Peridew Peril!”

APRIL 23, 2007 8:12 AM
SANDMAN TOWN GYM, MANALON

Amanda and Chaz brought out the waffles and bacon from the snack shack’s kitchen. They had been cooking for nearly an hour, working to feed themselves, kintsugi, and Charley.
kintsugi, still excited after her battle the day prior, was looking at her shiny Beach Badge in her case as they came out. She closed the case and turned her stool, as Amanda placed a plate with a large Belgian waffle with a thin maple syrup glaze and whipped cream and strawberries and three strips of crispy-looking bacon at her place, silverware at the side. Chaz placed three strips of bacon and a similar waffle, covered with chocolate chips instead of strawberries, in front of Charley. Amanda and Chaz re-entered the kitchen, then brought their own breakfasts out and sat down at the other two. Amanda’s looked a lot like Charley’s, Chaz’ had blueberries.
“These were fun to make,” Amanda commented.
“Only because you threw that lump of batter at me!” Chaz snapped.
“Hey, can’t a girl have fun?” Amanda laughed, taking a bite of her waffle with her fork.
Chaz had nothing to say, he just ate.
“So, uh, dudes, you’re heading back to Peridew today, right?” Charley asked.
“Yeah,” Amanda replied. “I’m meeting a friend there for a battle.”
“Cool, cool. I’m gonna miss seeing ya around here.”
“I’ll be back sometime, when we’re passing through.”
“Cool, dude, I mean Amanda.”
“Get it right!” Amanda laughed. She took another bite of her waffle.

They finished breakfast in 30 minutes, as it was slowed down by conversation about the battle the day before and who Dan was. They cleaned up, then went onto the beach for some relaxing. The sun wasn’t out, and it looked like it could rain later. It wasn’t now, so laying on a towel on the beach was still comfortable.
Charley ogled as Amanda stripped down to her bikini. Amanda noticed, then glared at him, Charley put his head down, feeling rejected.
The sun came out from behind a cloud for about 30 minutes, allowing Amanda to tan for a bit. She was the only one that cared about it; Charley was naturally tan from living on the beach.
When the sun went behind the cloud, thunder could be heard in the distance. They immediately went back inside the gym, and Amanda redressed, wearing her hat.
“Rain, rain, go away, come again another day,” kintsugi said.
“I hate rain,” Charley replied. “I can’t surf, which sucks, dude.”
“It’s possible,” Amanda suggested. “But not encouraged – when it’s raining the waves are too rough anyway.”
Sure enough, it started raining in 20 minutes. It was relatively heavy, and there was thunder. It was not a good idea to go outside.
“This is not the ideal weather to go to Peridew in,” Chaz replied. “I mean, unless we were chasing a Linoone that made off with my backpack.”
“Shut up,” kintsugi snapped.
“Geez, you have a problem or something? Chill.”
Amanda thought Chaz always seemed at ease, even if he was told to can it. There was something strange about him, that was for certain. It was like he was hiding something from her…
The rain dragged on until noon. They passed the time by playing poker and having a couple of practice battles. Nothing too serious, just to pass the time.
Shortly after noon, the rain began to recede. The thunder had mostly passed, and the remaining rain was a light drizzle.
“This may be a good time to get over to Peridew,” Amanda told Chaz and kintsugi.
“Most likely,” Chaz said. “If we move eastward, it will travel with us. If anything bad is behind us, we’ll be in Peridew before it hits.”
“Okay,” kintsugi replied.
“You dudes heading out?” Charley asked.
“Yep,” Amanda replied. “If we’re ever in town, we’ll stop by. Maybe we can have a rematch.”
“Oh yeah, dude, I mean Amanda,” he replied. “I’ve only been gym leader for a year so I don’t have the experience that the lady in Peninsula City does.”
“So, I guess this is goodbye for now.”
“I’ll call you tonight!”
“Wait a couple days so you don’t annoy me.” Amanda laughed.
“Uh, k,” Charley replied nervously.
She gave him a hug goodbye as he blushed. Charley shook Chaz’ hand, and gave kintsugi a high five.
“Good luck to you dudes on your travels,” Charley said.
“SLASH!” Sandslash came over. As Amanda, kintsugi, and Chaz walked off into the distance, Charley and Sandslash waved goodbye. A glimmer of sunshine came through the middle of a cloud; Amanda turned to wave back, kintsugi and Chaz soon followed. After the gym was out of sight, they went through town on their journey to Peridew.

The route to Peridew was uneventful, they moved with the drizzle and were hardly affected by it. They made it to the Pokémon Center site in Peridew just after 1 PM. There was a huge mound of rubble on either side of the lot, with a mud pit in the middle, presumably made from the rainstorm. There wasn’t a construction worker in site, most likely because of the rain made it difficult to work. A bulldozer sat on the far end of the site, there was nothing in its blade.
“Let me call Dan,” Amanda said. She took out her cell phone and rang him up. Apparently Dan was staying at the police station like they had. He came over in 10 minutes, the rain had picked up a tad.
“Heya, Amanda!” Dan said as he ran and waved.
“Hey Dan!” she called, waving back.
When Dan reached them, he asked “So who are these two?”
“I’m kintsugi, you could think of me as Amanda’s apprentice,” kintsugi said, giggling.
“You can call me Chaz!” Chaz exclaimed, giving his thumbs-up / wink gesture. “I’m a coordinator, we’re going to Gallia City for the contest next week. These two will have a gym battle there, too!”
“Cool, cool,” Dan replied. “Did you two get the Beach Badge from Sandman Town yet?”
“Sure have,” Amanda replied, producing her badge case and showing it to Dan. “I had a heck of a match. I managed to win it in a Sandstorm.”
“That’s awesome!” Dan said.
“I took two tries, but I also won in a Sandstorm,” kintsugi replied, producing her case.
Amanda closed her case, and Dan saw her name on it. “Okay, who gave you that?” he asked.
“The gym leader. He had a little thing for me,” Amanda replied.
“Who wouldn’t? You’re sexy and you’re sweet!” Dan exclaimed, blushing.
“Do not start with me. You know what I’m like.”
“Yeah, you’re also hard to get.”
“About that battle?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Three on three, since I only have three Pokémon.”
“I have four, so that’s fine with me,” Amanda replied.
“I’ll judge,” Chaz said.
“We’ll have the battle in the mud pit over there, how does that sound?” Dan asked Amanda.
“Sounds good to me,” Amanda replied.
They took positions on either side, using the limited room behind the rubble piles to get on either side of the lot.
“This is a three-on-three match between Dan and Amanda. Either trainer may substitute Pokémon whenever they wish, and no time-outs. Let the match begin!”
“Let’s go, Abra!” Amanda called.
“Shinx!” Dan called.
A little electric dog appeared opposite Abra, its short feet making it unable to move in the mud. Abra floated atop the mud using a mind technique.
“That’s a nice Abra,” Dan replied.
“Thank you,” Amanda replied. “Don’t be afraid to be nice when it kicks your butt. Abra, use Hidden Power!”
“Shinx, Spark!”
Abra launched a Hidden Power at Shinx and it hit spot-on. Shinx tried to move through the mud but it was too deep for its feet. It was unable to use Spark on Abra.
“This mud is deeper than I thought,” Dan replied.
Abra teleported atop a rubble pile.
“Hidden Power again!” Amanda called.
The cycle repeated itself. Abra moved from one rubble pile to the other, then to Amanda’s head, launching Hidden Power attacks.
“Shinx, return!” Dan called after it had been battered for the fourth time. “That mud is deep.”
“Why do you think I used Abra first?” Amanda shot back.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dan replied. “You’re not going down so easily, let’s do this, Pidgey!” A bird appeared. It was a Pidgey, come on. The Pidgey clucked as Pidgey do.
“Abra, I think you need a break, return!” Amanda called. “Starly, you’re on!”
Starly appeared, ready for a fight. “Starly!” it called.
“Pidgey, Gust!” Dan called.
“Ride it, then Wing Attack!”
Pidgey’s Gust caused a tornado, causing a little mud to rise up from the ground and revolve around Starly. Starly tried to ride it to the top, but it couldn’t fight it.
“Heh, I thought you were better than that,” Dan taunted.
“Watch!” Amanda shot back.
BOOM!
The Gust tornado began to glow, and in the middle of it a larger bird could be seen emerging. The bird rode it to the top, then came out and whacked Pidgey smack down its center with a Wing Attack, causing it to fall into the mud.
The bird went back to its side of the arena, letting Amanda get a better look at it.
“All right, you evolved into Staravia!” Amanda exclaimed. Pidgey, stunned by the blast, was motionless in the mud.
“Staravia!” it called. Its voice was more mature than Starly’s, and was soft and calming. It sounded like it would have a beautiful song.
“Uh, woah,” Dan commented. “That was… that was cool.”
“Pidgey is unable to battle, this round goes to Amanda and Staravia!” Chaz called.
kintsugi was ecstatic. “I want one of my Pokémon to evolve already!” she exclaimed. “Why does it always have to happen to Amanda?”
“Because she’s fought more?” Chaz asked. “And her Pokémon evolve earlier?”
“Uh, yeah, you’re right.’
“Pidgey, return,” Dan called, having a grin on his face. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah, about to turn the tables here. Charmander, you’re on!”
Dan’s normal-colored Charmander appeared.
“Woah, he has a Charmander, too!” kintsugi commented.
As Charmander appeared, the rain began to get more intense.
“This is bad,” Dan replied. “Am I cursed or something?”
“Let the match commence!” Chaz called.
“Charmander, Ember!”
“Staravia, go up then use Wing Attack!”
Charmander, who was unable to move much in the mud and had to protect its tail from the rain, shot Ember, only to have Staravia dodge up and whack it in the head.
CRASH!
A crashing sound could be heard from nearby.
“YOU IDIOT!” a male’s voice screamed.
“Uh,” kintsugi commented. “What was that?” She went over to look down and saw that the house owned by the late Mr. Cutter was on fire. It was on fire. In the rain.
“Uh, guys, I hate to break it to you, but we have a problem,” she said as she went back to the battle.
Amanda recalled Starly, Dan recalled Charmander, and they overlooked the blaze, which had picked up. A motorcycle with two people vroomed off into the distance, turning north at the road from the house, nearly brushing up against the home there. Amanda got a glimpse of the girl riding on the back of it.
It was Marissa, all right.
“Those buffoons,” Amanda commented. “Come on, we have a fire to stop!”
“I’ll call 911,” Dan said. He grabbed his phone and ran with the rest of them to the fire.
“What’s that smell?” Chaz commented as they got nearer. “Smells like oil, someone must have dropped a lantern.”
The wooden building was nearly engulfed in flames, spreading to the vegetation nearby. Dan was on the phone with Officer Jenny, who said she’d try and get the fire truck out there as soon as possible.
“Piplup, let’s do this!” Chaz called.
“Let’s go, Poliwag!” kintsugi threw Poliwag’s Poke Ball.
They both called “Water Gun, try and stop the fire!” and both of their Pokémon started shooting out water. The rain began to recede, just at a time when it was bad.
The two little Pokémon weren’t enough, the fire started spreading among the vegetation nearby.
“Get out of the way!” Amanda yelled, seeing the trail of oil that the motorcycle had spilled. Everyone moved away, just as a spark from the fire flew onto the oil and ignited it.
“Woah, hot and smart,” Chaz commented, winking at Amanda.
“Now isn’t the time for that crap,” she replied. The oil trail quickly spread down the road until it hit the house, starting it on fire as well.
“Damn it,” Dan commented. “How are we going to stop this fire with only two Water Pokémon?”
Sirens came. The fire truck was on its way. It arrived in 4 minutes. The truck was a red pickup truck with sirens attached to it.
A big, gruff guy in a fire suit came out and saw the damage. He grabbed six Poke Balls. “Okay guys let’s do this!”
Six Pokémon came out. One was a Wailord, which took up the entire stretch leading south of Cutter’s house. He also released a Quagsire, a Masquerain, a Blastoise, an Empoleon, and a Swampert.
The Pokémon all immediately went to work. Wailord’s Water Spout managed to prevent the fire from moving past Cutter’s house, the other five were trying to stop the other house. But the fire was beginning to spread among the neighborhood, and it was difficult to keep up.
“You guys can let them do their thing, that’s what they trained to do,” the fireman told the gang.
“What if… they can’t?” kintsugi asked.
“These guys never failed me,” the fireman replied.
The fire was put out at Cutter’s house by Wailord’s spout, but it couldn’t move since it was so large and on land. The fireman recalled it, then went to work with the other guys. The mobile Masquerain kept using Water Sport to combat the fire, but it wasn’t being helpful. People came out of one house screaming, apparently they weren’t at work or school.
“How the heck do I stop this thing????” the fireman was frantic.
“Use your head,” a mystery voice called. “I’ll be welcome to help.”
A man in his later 20s who was dressed in a film-noir style PI outfit came out of seemingly nowhere. He held out a Poke Ball and a Buizel appeared. The man nodded, then Buizel went off. It used Aqua Jet to cut off the fire’s path.
He then held out another Poke Ball. A Sudowoodo appeared. He nodded, then Sudowoodo went to join the action. This Sudowoodo used Wood Hammer to stop the fire from spreading.
“The fireman who forgets to contain the fire is the one which the fire contains,” the man said, not showing any emotion. He looked up to reveal that he was wearing sunglasses. “The name’s Wayne, if any of you are curious.”
Buizel and Sudowoodo showed the fireman’s Pokémon how to do it. The neighborhood which was ablaze was contained soon enough, and they managed to Water Gun the fire down into oblivion. Buizel and Sudowoodo obediently returned to their master, and he recalled them.
“You’re not a man of many words, are you?” Amanda asked.
“No,” Wayne replied. He then held out a business card. “Should a lady like you ever need a rescue, give Wayne a call.” Amanda accepted it, then looked up. The guy had disappeared.
“Who… the hell… was that?” kintsugi asked.
“You’re asking me?” Chaz replied. “I’ve never seen that guy before.”
“Says right here he’s a G-man,” Amanda said, looking at the card. “Aren’t those the guys that fight crime or something?”
“I think so,” Dan replied.
“I have no idea,” the fireman replied. “But me and my Pokémon need to get back to the station. We gots more training to do.” He recalled his team and hopped in his truck, then drove off.
“So, uh, Dan, where were we?” Amanda asked.
“Oh yeah,” Dan replied. “It’s on!”
They set up the battle back at the Pokémon Center site. Staravia versus Charmander, Amanda was up 3-2.
“Wing Attack!” Amanda called.
“Ember!” Dan called.
The mud had slightly dried due to the sparser rain for the previous half-hour, allowing Charmander to move a little more freely. Staravia still managed to dodge the Ember and whack Charmander with its wing.
“Metal Claw, quick!” Dan demanded.
Charmander hit Staravia with a Metal Claw, then Staravia pecked it on the head.
“Retreat!” Amanda called to Staravia. “Then Quick Attack.”
Staravia looped back, then rammed into Charmander with a Quick Attack before it could launch another Ember.
“Charmander is unable to battle!” Chaz called.
All Dan had left was Shinx. He was against Staravia, Abra, and Chikorita.
“Amanda… I must admit, you haven’t lost a thing over all these years,” Dan commented. “I honorably admit defeat; there is no way for me to come back. You win.”
“Really? I thought it was more like you to fight until the end,” Amanda replied.
“I don’t want to push my newly-caught Shinx too far,” Dan replied. “I guess I need more training.”
“Okay, that’s cool.” Amanda thought to herself… This guy has changed… he never gave up before, what’s causing him to give up now?
“Anyway, I’m going to head over to Sandman Town,” Dan replied. “I want to get there before it gets dark.”
“That’s a good idea,” Amanda replied. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. Tell Charley I said hi when you get to the gym.”
“Will do, see ya!” Dan said.
Dan walked off on the trail, waving goodbye. Amanda, Chaz, and kintsugi did so until he was out of sight.
“Now what?” kintsugi asked.
Amanda brushed her ponytail, pulled through her hat, against her shoulder. “We head north, to Gallia. That’s the direction that the bad guys went.”
“Okay!” kintsugi called. They headed north, ready for whatever adventure waited for them.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 12: “The Power of Pika”

As they traveled north towards the Tabana Mountains and Gallia City, Amanda, kintsugi, and Chaz had stopped for the day. It was only 5 PM, and they still had a ways to go. But they were all exhausted, and decided it was wise to break camp early.
They set up near a riverbed. They pitched the two tents, Amanda giving her spare to Chaz. Amanda set up rocks for a fire pit as kintsugi and Chaz went off to get firewood.
“So, uh, this contest,” kintsugi asked Chaz. “How exactly does it work?”
“There are two stages,” Chaz replied. “The first stage is the appeal stage. This is where you show off what your Pokémon can do. As the Gallia contest is a two-Pokémon contest, you will use both of them on stage. You have to integrate their moves nicely and originally, to impress the judges. The judges are the local Nurse Joy, the contest chairman, and the owner of the facility. However, in Gallia, the gym leader is a fourth judge. I’ve heard she’s a menace.”
“And what exactly should you do?”
“Combo attacks, merging things together, just to make them rad or gorgeous or something,” Chaz replied, picking up a stick. “The top eight according to the judges will move on to the next stage, the battle stage. You are paired up against someone else based on your seed – the points in the prior round – and whoever wins moves on. The other is out. Win three battles, you’re the champ.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“It is. Two-Pokémon contests are even more insane, since you have to pick two that will work well together and pull off dazzling displays. It’s about beauty and image in these battles. You have to impress the judges, if your Pokémon messes up or gets hit it loses points. Whoever loses their points first is out, or if the battle goes on for more than 2 minutes the winner is the one with more points. The judges can end the battle if either side’s Pokémon falls. In a double contest, both Pokémon have to go down.”
“I see.” kintsugi picked up a stick. She got up and saw a Pikachu eating an Oran Berry off in the distance. Her eyes grew big. “I want, be back later!”
“Uh, what?” Chaz asked, watching kintsugi go over to the Pikachu.
“Pika?!?” it said, curious about the blue-clad girl running towards it. It saw the look in her eyes, dropped the Oran Berry, and ran.
“Oh do you don’t, you little yellow rat!” kintsugi called. She chased after it as Chaz looked on.
“Uh… guess the squeaky wheel is chasing the grease,” Chaz said to himself. He then resumed looking for firewood.
kintsugi ran into a wooded area, looking for the Pikachu. She began to pant. “Dang, this thing is fast,” she commented to herself. She looked up and scanned the perimeter. She sensed that the Pikachu was near. She grabbed a Poke Ball from her belt. “Charmander, help me out!” she called.
“Char!” Charmander appeared, ready for action.
“Tell me,” kintsugi began. “Do you smell a Pikachu anywhere near here?”
Charmander sniffed, then shook its head.
“Hmmmm…” kintsugi looked around. She saw a little black thing popping out of a bush on the base of a tree. “Charmander, use Metal Claw on that bush!”
“CHAR!” Charmander cried as he sent a Metal Claw at the bush, hitting nothing. Pikachu was running away, kintsugi and Charmander followed after, but Charmander was slowing her down.
“Return!” she called. Charmander went back in its Poke Ball. kintsugi followed Pikachu to the riverbed. It was downstream from camp, but kintsugi wasn’t sure how far. She’d been busy chasing Pikachu.

Chaz returned to camp with firewood. Amanda was ready.
“Where’s kintsugi?” Amanda asked.
“She saw some Pikachu and ran off after it,” Chaz replied, dropping the firewood onto the firepit.
“We don’t have Charmander, thankfully I brought a lighter,” Amanda reached into her backpack, and grabbed it. She clicked it and lit the fire. “We’ll probably need more wood. You tend the fire, I’ll go get more.” Amanda went downstream along the riverside to look for wood as Chaz took a seat on the ground to tend the fire.

“Okay, where are you?” kintsugi asked herself. She went upstream. No sign of the Pikachu. She went into the forest, but she heard a motion on the tree. “Taillow, let’s go!” she called. Taillow appeared. “Attack the thing in the tree!”
“Taillow!” Taillow called, attacking the branch with a Quick Attack. A Pokémon fell down from it. It wasn’t Pikachu. It was a Volbeat. It was angry.
“Uh, Taillow, Wing Attack!” kintsugi called.
Taillow whacked Volbeat off the tree before it could use Tail Glow. kintsugi ignored it and moved into the woods, hunting for the Pikachu.

Amanda continued down the river, gathering firewood as she went along. She looked into a bush, and saw a yellow-and-brown tail poking out of it.
“A Pikachu?” she asked herself.
“Pi?” it said. It turned around and went out of the bush, then stared at Amanda. “Pi pika!” it said cheerfully.
Amanda thought to herself. What on earth is a wild Pokémon coming up to me for? “Hello there,” she said.
“Pi pika!” Pikachu replied. Then it started making a funny face like a monster.
“You’re running from a monster?” Amanda asked.
“Pika!” Pikachu nodded.
Amanda was speechless.

“Where are you, you little electric rat?” kintsugi wandered through the forest, Taillow on her shoulder, looking for Pikachu. She found her way to the riverbank and proceeded upstream. She saw Amanda gathering wood, and a Pikachu was there.
“Pika?” Pikachu turned around. “PIKA!” it screamed, then jumped behind Amanda.
Amanda looked up at kintsugi, then turned around to look at Pikachu, then back to kintsugi, who stood her ground.
“THERE YOU ARE!” kintsugi called.
“What the-?” Amanda was in the middle of a crossfire. She turned to Pikachu. “Uh, that’s my friend… she’s not scary…”
As Amanda said that, kintsugi came storming forward. Pikachu began to sweat, still hiding behind Amanda.
“What’s Pikachu doing with you?” kintsugi snapped.
“What’s gotten into you?” Amanda replied.
“I want that Pikachu. Give it to me.”
“Pikachu appears to want to be with me. You’ve given it quite a scare.”
“I’m the one trying to catch it!”
“Don’t be so aggressive.”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Do you think it’ll listen to you if you scared it away?”
“I have a gym badge, it should listen to me.”
“Badges don’t mean anything to Pokémon. They’re only for getting into the league. I have a badge, too.”
“It’s taking kindly to you!”
“Because I didn’t threaten or attack it!”
“Taillow, give Pikachu a Quick Attack!”
“Oh no, you don’t!” Amanda shot back. She grabbed a Poke Ball from her belt. “Silcoon, you’re on!”
“Pika!” Pikachu was cheering for Amanda.
“Taillow, Peck Silcoon!”
“String Shot its beak shut!”
Taillow went in for a Peck, only to have its beak shut.
“Slam it!” Amanda yelled.
Silcoon slammed Taillow into the ground, causing massive damage. Taillow was out for the count.
“Return!” kintsugi called. “What the heck is wrong with you? I’m the one trying to catch a Pikachu here!”
“I could ask you the same question. You don’t scare a Pokémon when you’re trying to catch it, that’s just rude,” Amanda replied.
“If you wanna-” kintsugi began, but stopped when she grabbed a Poke Ball. She stopped to think. “You know… you’re right. What the heck have I been thinking?”
“Good,” Amanda replied. “Now you don’t seem so… desperate.”
“Pika?” Pikachu peeked out behind Amanda’s leg.
“I let my desire for a Pikachu overtake me…” kintsugi said, starting to cry. “I always want to be kind, yet…”
“Pika,” Pikachu came over to her. He poked her as she knelt on the ground. “Pikachu?” it asked.
“There it is!” a young, female voice shot out of the voice.
“PIKA!” Pikachu looked afraid again all of a sudden.
A bazooka net gun shot out at Pikachu.
“Oh no, you don’t!” kintsugi cried, laying in front of Pikachu, getting caught in the net instead.
“Dammit, why did a twerp like you have to get in the way?” Marissa came out of the bush. “This stupid rat stole our dinner!”
“And I’m about to make you my dinner,” Amanda taunted. “Let’s go Silcoon!”
“You want a fight? You’ve got one!” Marissa sneered. “Sneasel, you’re on!”
“SNEASEL!” a black Pokémon with red quills on its back appeared. Amanda knew that Sneasel were formidable opponents in battle, and her Silcoon probably couldn’t take it without help.
Pikachu started tearing on the net. Apparently, it had mistaken kintsugi for Marissa, since kintsugi had been chasing after it.
“Silcoon, use String Shot to tie its claws together!” Amanda called.
“I don’t think so!” Marissa shot. “Ice Punch!”
As Silcoon tried to spin the fists together, Sneasel whacked it with its Ice Punch, sending Silcoon reeling.
“Return!” Amanda called. “Staravia, you’re on!”
“Staravia!” it called as it came out.
“Heh, you don’t have nothin’ against me!” Marissa sneered. “Ice Punch!”
“Dodge, then Wing Attack!” Amanda called.
Sneasel’s Ice Punch barely missed Staravia, allowing it to whack Sneasel with its wing.
“Again!” Marissa called.
THWAP!
Staravia was hit. It was hurting, too.
Pikachu was able to loosen the net. kintsugi managed to get her hand out from under it to rip it off, she then stared at Marissa.
“Pika?” Pikachu asked, determined.
kintsugi nodded.
“CHUUUU!!” Pikachu poured out a Thundershock to zap Sneasel and Marissa with one attack.
“AAAAAAAAH!” Marissa screamed. “THIS ISN’T FAIR!!!!”
“Don’t mess with the power of Pika,” kintsugi slammed.
“Normally I wouldn’t allow it,” Amanda shot at Marissa. “But since you were the one scaring that Pikachu, I’m happy to let it take the battle from here.” She recalled Staravia, then watched Marissa get shocked some more. Pikachu stopped.
“You brats are annoying me!” Marissa looked both ways. She only had one option remaining – run into the woods to find her father for backup.
“Well, glad that’s over,” Amanda said, picking up the firewood she had gathered.
“Yeah… I thought you were going to lose, but Pikachu here wanted to get some revenge. I think it mistook me for Marissa.”
“Probably,” Amanda replied.
“Pika!” Pikachu said, excited.
kintsugi squatted down and patted Pikachu on the head. “Say, you want to come with us?” she asked.
“PIKA!” Pikachu raised its arms in the air, then went to hug kintsugi’s leg.
“Aww, it really likes you,” Amanda commented.
They went back to the campsite to find Chaz tending the fire, having nothing else to do.
“What too you so long?” Chaz asked. “Oh, you caught a Pikachu, kintsugi! Cool!”
“And we had a run-in with Marissa,” Amanda replied. “You know, that annoying girl that’s always causing trouble.”
“Say no more,” Chaz replied. “I already met those two, they tried to take the Plate off of me in Peridew Forest.”
“They must be after us,” kintsugi replied. “She ran back to get her dad…”

“Did you get that rat?” Ricky asked Marissa.
“One of those twerps did,” Marissa replied. “Apparently, it has taken a liking to her.”
“Which one?”
“The black-haired girl with the hat.”
“Hrmmmm…” Ricky stared off. “We will leave them be.”
“Why? I want to cook that rat for taking our berry stash!”
“Honestly, you overreact. We can find more berries.”
“Okay, tell me. Why is it that you don’t want to bug them?”
“You will find out with time.”
“But we need to get that Plate. And they probably have the key…”
“You dropped the key? Just like you dropped that lantern?”
“Uh…”
“When was this?”
“When we had the battle at the police station.”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?”
“Uh… I was afraid of this?” Marissa became nervous.
“You idiot!” Ricky slapped her across the face. “We will try tomorrow. Do not harm them. We have to find a way to get it back without playing dirty.”
“Uh, okay,” Marissa just stared at her father. He was usually more ruthless… but something weird was happening to him, and she didn’t know what.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

Looking back, I realize that some of these can definitely be rewritten...

EPISODE 13 “The Meadow”

One hour later, there was still no sign of Ricky or Marissa.
“Are those two going to leave us alone?” kintsugi asked.
“They might be waiting for a sneak attack while we’re sleeping,” Amanda replied.
“Probably,” Chaz added. “It’s easy to catch your prey off guard at night.”
“We need someone or one of our Pokémon to stand watch,” Amanda said.
Awkward silence.
“We’ll need more than one of our Pokémon to keep watch,” kintsugi said. “They have at least three, probably more. And that Sneasel…”
“You have a point,” Amanda replied. “But we need something that could wake the rest of us up quickly so we can ready our stations. And that Sneasel can’t do anything on its own, you saw how it ran after Marissa when she fled.”
“Yeah.”
“We could move our camp up farther upstream. Based on the direction Marissa ran… I’d say they’re not too far from us.”
“That takes work. It’s like 7:00.”
“The sun is setting, it’s not late enough to have to stay put.”
“We have a lot to carry.”
“If we stay here… will you take the first guard shift, kintsugi?”
“Until when?”
“The first shift is from 10 until 1.”
“Okay, that’s good with me.”
“I’ll do the second,” Chaz said. “I don’t need much sleep anyway. I’m tough as a rock, though I do fall asleep easily.”
“I’ll look out from 4 until 7, then,” Amanda concluded.
They opened a S’mores kit and started roasting marshmallows and telling stories. kintsugi almost cried when Amanda told them about what her father did.
“Why the heck would your dad take you and run?” kintsugi asked.
“I have no idea. I don’t remember my childhood too well up until that day. I don’t even know if I have a brother or sister.”
Chaz took a bite of his S’more, then chewed it down. He said nothing.
“Chaz?” kintsugi asked. “Do you have anything to say?”
“No,” Chaz replied. “Is this why you’re traveling the world?”
“Yes,” Amanda replied. “I want answers. And I got Chikorita to keep me company. Then I sort of got into trainer mode. Haven’t had a Pokémon in 12 years or so.”
She told the short version about Torchic.
“Is that why you’re so good?” Chaz asked.
“That and I studied a lot in the lab. Plus, most of the trainers I’ve seen have been rookies, too. Or they didn’t study as hard as I did,” Amanda explained.
“You’re going to do well, I just know it,” kintsugi said. “And I hope we can find some answers about your parents…”
They finished eating their S’mores. Then Chaz had a story to tell.
“I used to have a Milotic,” he explained. “But… I had to give it away.”
“Why?” kintsugi interjected.
“Let him finish!” Amanda said.
“I was forced to… someone got a hold of my secret… and they were blackmailing me…” Chaz was nervous.
“Do you have any idea who?”
“No,” Chaz replied. “But it started right after I got the Meadow Plate. This is what caused me to leave Sinnoh… to get away from this person.”
“That… that’s awful,” Amanda commented.
“He made me give him his Milotic. Or her. I could never tell, they were using a voice scrambler. I never caught their face, either. They were very intricate with their work. But I’m guessing they wanted the Meadow Plate.”
“Maybe they lost it and wanted it back,” kintsugi said. “And they were too afraid to reveal their identity to you.”
“Could very well be,” Amanda replied. “But if they wanted to get it back, why’d they resort to blackmail?”
“I have no clue myself,” Chaz said, staring at the river. “It could have been Ricky and Marissa for all I know.”
“How did you meet those two goons anyway?” kintsugi asked.
“It was in Peridew Woods. They ambushed me with Cubone’s Bonemerang.”
“What were they up to?”
“I have no idea. Their motive may have been robbery. They overtook me, but my Riolu took care of the Cubone. Riolu and I ran and took refuge in the woods, letting them go by me. By the time I went to report the crime, you gals were at the police station.”
“How would they know about the Plate?” Amanda asked.
Chaz was silent all of a sudden.
kintsugi didn’t say anything, either.
“You know…” Chaz began. “You’re onto something.”
“This means that they probably blackmailed you,” Amanda replied. “Chances are that if they wanted to keep the plate a secret, it would just be the two of them. They would want as few people involved as possible.”
“What kind of motive would they have? You don’t think…”kintsugi said.
“I do,” Amanda replied. “They want to summon Arceus. I have no idea why. It could be for power. It could be for wealth. Or for something else.”
“Woah…” kintsugi was speechless.
“There’s that Arceus Island to the south of the Manalon continent,” Amanda began. “Arceus is there. But those two are looking for a way to summon it.”
“Then what was the JoyBot scheme about?”
“Possibly to get rid of Mr. Cutter. You saw that they were the ones that started his house on fire, right?”
“This Cutter was probably hiding something,” Chaz said. “Something that they wanted. So they killed him, right?”
Amanda nodded. “I find it hard to believe. But this is the most plausible theory. They’re searching this world for a way to revive Arceus. They may even have more of those Plates with them.”
“There were rumored to be several in Sinnoh. They probably went there for the Plates. The question is… what is their motive?”
“I’m clueless,” Amanda replied. “I’m guessing power.”
“Seems likely,” kintsugi replied. “Ricky is ruthless. I’m surprised he hasn’t attacked us yet. He wants that Plate.”
“I’ve had enough of this…” Chaz said. “This is making my head hurt, it’s that complicated. We will figure it out in the morning.”
And so, as the others slept, kintsugi stayed watch for the first three hours, seeing nothing. Chaz’ shift had no results, Amanda’s was useless as well.

APRIL 24th, 2007 7:07 AM
ROUTE 5, MANALON

Chaz and kintsugi woke up. They packed up their things, and moved along.
“They didn’t attack us at all last night,” Amanda stated. “I find that rather surprising. Maybe this whole Arceus thing isn’t the case…”
“I’m starting to think that, as well,” Chaz replied. “They’ve had a lot of chances. Why haven’t they taken them?”
“They might want to do a good job and ensure victory,” kintsugi commented. “I doubt that’s the case… they seem like the type to want it back.”
“Yeah,” Amanda replied. “I don’t get it. If they’re after Arceus… then why aren’t they trying to get this Plate? Maybe it wasn’t them who blackmailed Chaz.”
Chaz set his bag down on the ground and pulled out the Plate. “Looks fine to me.” He replaced it in his bag. He was about to close it up, when…
“RATICATE!” a Raticate came out of nowhere and grabbed Chaz’ bag.
“S**t, come back here you!” Chaz called, running after it. Amanda and kintsugi followed.
“It’s got the Plate!” Amanda called. Raticate led them to a huge meadow, where all kinds of grass and bug Pokémon roamed. There were flowers everywhere, and the grass shone with luster. A Roselia was dancing on top of a Vileplume. Two Beedrills were mating. And Raticate, running off with Chaz’ bag.
“Give that back!” Chaz yelled, proceeding into the meadow.
Amanda grabbed a Poke Ball. “Staravia!” she called.
Staravia came out. “Staravia!” it cried.
“Get Chaz’ bag back!” she called.
Staravia zoomed over to Raticate and began to pry on the bag in a battle. Chaz caught up to them, then pulled back on Raticate, loosening its grip. He managed to pry it loose. The Raticate fled.
“Whew,” Chaz sighed. He then looked through his bag. Only one thing was missing. The Meadow Plate. “CRAP!” he called.
Amanda ran over and recalled Staravia. “What now?” kintsugi straggled behind her.
“The Meadow Plate fell out!” Chaz cried.
“Are you looking for THIS?” Marissa sneered.
“Uh-oh,” kintsugi said.
“You twerps had better say ‘You’re welcome’ to me and my dad!” Marissa called.
Ricky came over to join her. “We have it now! Hahahaha!”
“We’ll battle you for it!” Chaz yelled.
“Finders keepers, losers weepers!” Marissa snarled.
“Fine,” Ricky called. “A battle it is. You two versus us two!”
“Daddy?” Marissa asked.
“Don’t ask. Let’s do this, Miltank!” He released Miltank, the cow Pokémon.
“Alrighty then,” Marissa placed the Meadow Plate behind her, then grabbed a Poke Ball. “Sneasel, show us your stuff!” Sneasel appeared.
“Riolu, you’re up!” Chaz called, sending out Riolu.
“Let’s do this, Silcoon!” Amanda released Silcoon to the field. Silcoon’s String Shot can help us take these two down… I hope.
“Miltank, use Rollout!” Ricky called.
Pokémon all over the meadow scurried, scared of the violence that was about to occur. Miltank curled into a ball and rolled right towards Riolu.
“Riolu, Focus Punch!” Chaz called. Riolu began to focus on Miltank, when it was near Riolu used its fist to send it flying.
“Silcoon, String Shot!” Amanda called.
Silcoon used its String Shot to latch onto Miltank.
“Slam it into Sneasel!” Amanda yelled.
“Sneasel, Ice Punch Silcoon!” Marissa called.
Sneasel ran over as Silcoon began to roll Miltank in. Sneasel’s Ice Punch connected, hurting Silcoon, but Miltank landed on top of them and dust scattered.
“Uh…” Marissa was speechless.
A white light burst out from the pile of Pokémon.
“What the-?” Ricky asked. Miltank got up, off of Sneasel. Sneasel was out like a light, Silcoon wasn’t there.
Beautifly was.
“Awesome!” Amanda yelled excitedly. “You evolved into Beautifly!”
“Beautifly!” it cried.
“Sneasel, return!” Marissa called. “You’re not taking me down that easily! Let’s do this, Nidoran!”
A small purple Pokémon with a horn on its head appeared. It was a male Nidoran.
“Two Pokémon apiece, huh?” Chaz called. “That’s fine by me. Riolu, use Quick Attack on Nidoran!”
“Riolu!” it called as it rammed into Nidoran, who tried to use its horn as leverage.
“Keep that up, boy, and you’ll be sorry!” Marissa sneered. “Nidoran, use Horn Attack!” Nidoran rammed its horn into Riolu.
“Beautifly, use Absorb on Miltank, now!” Amanda called.
Beautifly aimed a surprise Absorb at Miltank.
Amanda thought for a minute. To get the Meadow Plate back, she’d have to think outside of the box.
“Rollout!” Ricky called. Miltank went into roll mode.
“Beautifly, use String Shot on Miltank!” Amanda yelled. Beautifly latched on to Miltank. “Now Gust!”
Beautifly, while still latched on, used Gust on Miltank. The force shot Beautifly back, bringing Miltank with it. It shot a fair distance, whizzing behind Amanda and Chaz. Beautifly hit the ground, and Miltank landed on top of it. Both of them were out like babies.
“Good work!” Amanda called. “You just took something twice your size down!” she smiled, then recalled it. Ricky recalled Miltank.
“Let’s go, Nidoran!” he called. His Nidoran was teal with a short, meaningless horn. It was female.
Marissa’s Nidoran was busy fending off Riolu. Amanda, knowing that Chikorita would do no good against a poison-type foe, sent out Abra. Abra promptly teleported onto her hatless head.
“Hidden Power!”
As the female Nidoran went over to help its mate, Abra launched a Hidden Power to stun it. Riolu used Force Palm to send the male Nidoran back.
“Nidoran, use Poison Sting!” Ricky called. His Nidoran went over to Riolu and stung it, causing damage. Riolu was getting double-teamed.
“Teleport and Hidden Power!” Amanda called. Abra teleported off her head, then went over to between Ricky and Marissa. It shot a Hidden Power at Marissa’s Nidoran, rendering it senseless.
“Damn it!” Marissa cursed. She recalled it, then reached for another Poke Ball.
“Cool it,” Ricky said to her. “If you send out another, then that means it’s 6-on-6. They’d swamp us.”
Marissa scoffed, then set the Poke Ball down. By then, Ricky’s Nidoran was out, too, since Abra and Riolu had double-teamed it.
“You did good there,” Ricky called over. He picked up the Meadow Plate. “You can have this back.” He set it on the ground, then threw a Smoke Bomb on the ground. When the smoke cleared, he and Marissa were gone.
kintsugi ran over to Amanda and Chaz as Chaz picked up the Plate. “What the heck?” kintsugi asked them. “Why did they-?”
“I have no idea,” Amanda replied. “There’s something strange about Ricky… he’s like bi-polar or something.”
“Something seems amiss here,” Chaz said, placing the Meadow Plate in his backpack. “They had the Plate, yet they wanted a battle. It’s like… I don’t know.”
“I don’t, either. Why would someone wanting power do that? He doesn’t want power, we can rule that out… but…”
“His motive…” kintsugi began. “What is it?”
The three of them stared at each other for a while, pondering the thought. The Pokémon of the meadow had calmed down, and they felt it was best to not disturb them any farther. They continued on their way north to Gallia City.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 14: “A Rock that’s a Hard Place”

As they moved on, one thing never got off of their minds: Who the hell was Ricky, and what the hell was he up to?
“Honestly, I have no idea,” Amanda commented. “Why would he let us have a chance to get that Plate back?”
“There’s a possibility that he’s not really evil,” Chaz replied.
“How do you explain him murdering Mr. Cutter like that?”
“You told me Cutter was about to blab. Ricky wanted him to shut his piehole.”
“But why did it have to be poison?” kintsugi asked.
“I think I know,” Amanda explained. “If Cutter woke up, I would have seduced him again. And there’s no way he’d have broken Cutter out of there, since Cutter was blabbing.”
“Exactly what I think,” Chaz replied. “Ricky had no choice.”
“Then… why hasn’t he killed us?” kintsugi asked. “Because he only kills when he has to?”
“Probably,” Amanda replied. “But he let us get away with the Meadow Plate. That is harder to explain.”
“Marissa seemed bent on getting it from us. Ricky seemed more admirable. He seems to be an honest man,” Chaz explained. “Which is confusing to me. This is the guy we think wants to summon Arceus.”
“I’m really confused. I have a feeling that Marissa is clueless about what his true motives are, too. If he’s even kept her in the dark, then he probably hasn’t told anyone. Which brings us back to Mr. Cutter. What did he know?”
“Wasn’t he mentioning Ricky’s family?” kintsugi asked.
“Yeah, and how he probably killed his own wife,” Amanda replied. “I have no idea what Cutter knew, but there’s no point in thinking about it since he’s dead. And Ricky has underworld connections. Cutter said he was a crime boss.”
“I doubt that’s true,” Chaz replied. “Ricky probably lied to Cutter to intimidate him into cooperating.”
“You have a point.”
“I’d never even heard of the guy until we met him,” kintsugi said. “And I watch the news all the time.”
“Jenny said, though, that he’d been on the most wanted list for 16 years.”
“That may have been since he killed his wife,” Chaz replied. “The police may know something. Perhaps we should get information from the station in Gallia City? The police keep an online database in Sinnoh, they probably do here, too.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Amanda replied.
They moved onward and reached the Tabana Mountain cave in a half hour. The area was relatively rocky and the cave looked dangerous, but fortunately, someone had installed torches to line a path. The route was easily visible.
“This doesn’t look so bad,” kintsugi said.
“Be careful,” Amanda suggested. “It could still be dangerous. Watch your step and look out for any Zubats, they love it in places like this.”
They entered the cave. The path was well-lit by the torches on the wall, though certain portions seemed relatively dark. They pressed onward, watching their steps as they went on.
Then Amanda heard a Zubat.
“Shhhh,” she whispered to the others. “We don’t want to startle them.”
“Okay,” kintsugi replied. She was looking around for the Zubat, when she accidentally tripped on a rock. “OW!” she screamed.
“Crap,” Amanda got worried.
The number of Zubats grew larger as they began to flock around the gang.
“STARAVIA!” Amanda called. Staravia appeared. “Whip these guys out of here!” Staravia used its wings to push the Zubats away, but there were just too many of them. Staravia was overwhelmed by leeching Zubats, forcing Amanda to recall it.
“We can’t fight this many of them!” Amanda yelled. “Let’s get out of here!”
The three of them ran towards the cave entrance, only to have more Zubats block their way.
“Crap!” kintsugi called. “We’re trapped!”
“ELECTRODE!”
BOOM!
The Zubat near the entrance fled all over the place, and a stalactite dropped from the ceiling and crashed into the ground.
The man from Peridew Woods stood in the entrance. He recalled his burnt-out Electrode. “You have to stop getting close calls, eh, ladies?”
More Zubats flocked in, the man motioned for the three of them to move out of the cave. They all ran right out.
“Who are you?” Chaz asked.
“That’s for me to know, bub,” the man replied. He wore the same camouflage vest.
“You saved us AGAIN!” kintsugi was grateful. “Can I give you a hug?”
“No.” The man turned around. “See you some other time, ladies. And bub.” The man then walked away in the direction he came, not saying another word.
“What is his problem?” kintsugi asked.
“I have no idea,” Amanda replied.
“You two know him?” Chaz asked.
“Not really,” Amanda replied. “But he and his Electrode saved us from an angry flock of Taillow in Peridew Woods.”
“So he likes to blow things up to solve his problems?” Chaz asked.
“Our problems,” Amanda replied. “He seems to want to help us when we can’t help ourselves.”
“And he always shows up at the right time. Something’s suspicious about that guy,” kintsugi added.
“Anyway, we need to find a way through that cave.”
“Zubat hate light, right? I can use Charmander’s tail!”
“That works,” Amanda replied.
“That may not be enough,” Chaz said. “But it’s worth a shot.”
“Charmander, let’s go!” kintsugi called.
“Char char!” Charmander was excited.
Charmander led them into the cave. The Zubat had quieted down a bit, and Amanda, kintsugi, Chaz, and Charmander were all as quiet as possible. They snuck halfway through the cave, and saw the exit at the end.
“Don’t think we’re home free yet,” Amanda whispered.
They made it towards the exit. But Charmander stopped. A big, metal hunk was blocking the way.
“What the heck is this?” kintsugi asked, kicking it.
“That was a bad move,” Amanda said, starting to shake.
Steelix woke up.
“Uh-oh,” kintsugi stared into the rising metal snake’s eyes and angry mouth. Steelix was angry. Its tail started to glow.
“Get out of the way!” Amanda yelled. kintsugi dodged to the right – the only way she could go – as Amanda and Chaz moved back. Charmander rolled with kintsugi. The Iron Tail impacted on the ground, hitting nobody.
“Charmander, Ember!” kintsugi called.
“Char char!” Charmander shot Ember at Steelix, and hit it directly under the head.
Steelix, now angrier from being hit, lunged at Charmander and kintsugi for a Crunch.
“Metal Claw!” kintsugi called. Charmander’s Metal Claw whacked Steelix in the mouth just as it opened it, sending it reeling. Steelix hit the ceiling and its tail slid off the path and down to the lower ground.
“Run for it!” Amanda told Chaz. She and Chaz sped towards the exit. “kintsugi, get the hell away from that thing!” she yelled back into the cave.
kintsugi stared, recalled Charmander, and ran while she had the chance. They made it out. Angry Steelix hit its head on the cavern ceiling again, causing it to regain control. It turned around and barreled out of the cave.
“It’s after us!” Amanda exclaimed, reaching for a Poke Ball. “Beautifly, use String Shot!”
Beautifly appeared, then used String Shot to wrap Steelix’s head in a cocoon. It then flew towards Amanda and the others, who were running.
Steelix began to shake its head and gnaw at the string, trying to cut it loose.
“Is there a place to hide near here?” kintsugi yelled as they ran around a bend to the left, the rocky trail was the only way they had to proceed.
They kept running and found a small nook in the rock formation along the side. “In here, hurry!” Amanda called. Amanda crawled in. kintsugi, Chaz, and Beautifly all came in quickly behind her.
Steelix cut the string loose, then charged on, going by the nook entirely. It stopped a fair distance away from the nook and looked around. It was confused. After seeing no sign of anyone, it turned around and slowly made its way back to the cave. When it was out of sight, Amanda recalled Beautifly and they crawled out of the nook.
“That was a close one,” kintsugi said, panting.
“Sure was,” Chaz replied. “Wild Steelix are monstrous, fortunately you don’t see them often.”
“A reminder for next time,” Amanda told kintsugi. “Don’t kick anything that looks like it could be a Pokémon.”
“Okay,” kintsugi replied. “Taught me a lesson there.”
“Good,” Amanda replied. She surveyed the land. The road piked north, leading towards Gallia City. The sun was bright. The land was relatively barren, there was no grass for a mile or so, or so said her PokeNav. She replaced her PokeNav in her pocket, then grabbed her hat out of her backpack and put it on.
“So how far is Gallia?” kintsugi asked.
“Probably an hour or so,” Amanda replied. “If everything goes well.”
“Knowing us… something is bound to happen.”
They proceeded onward. After walking a mile in 25 minutes, they entered a more grassy area. A man was under the only large tree in the area. kintsugi went over to him.
“Hello, mister!” she said perkily.
The man said nothing. He wore a straw hat low over his face, so nobody got a good look at him.
“Uh, mister?” kintsugi was worried.
The man said nothing.
“Earth to mister!”
“Go away,” he said. “I’m relaxing.”
“Sheesh,” kintsugi wasn’t happy with his cold reaction.
“Leave him alone, and let’s go!” Chaz called.
kintsugi rejoined Amanda and Chaz, and they proceeded onward. Amanda checked the time on her cell phone. It was 1:04 PM.
“We should set up for lunch,” Amanda suggested.
“Good idea.”
They set up a picnic blanket on a flat part of land a little ways down the road. They sent out all of their Pokémon so they could have lunch as well. Chaz had brought plenty of homemade Poke Chow. They didn’t have much food, so they just ate the remaining Watmel Berries from the Sandman bazaar, plus some cookies that they had bought. There was little discussion, they were too focused on eating lunch, as were the Pokémon. They packed up their bags and moved on.
“Have you two had any other ideas about Ricky?” Amanda asked.
“No,” kintsugi replied.
“We need more information about the man,” Chaz replied. “And that’s for when we get to Gallia City. We can get information from the police.”
“I’m starting to feel that… the answer is something really complex,” Amanda said. “I don’t know what, but my gut is telling me something. And I trust my gut…”
Amanda pulled the bill of her hat lower over her face. She didn’t want to think about it much more. The answer would come to her eventually.
They moved onward to Gallia City, ready for a new adventure.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 15: “The Psycho”

The Yanma began using Sonicboom to blow Riolu backwards.
“Quick Attack!” Chaz called. Riolu moved forward at lightning speed through the Sonicboom and whacked Yanma.
“Riolu, use Force Palm!” Chaz called.
Riolu went in and whacked the wild Yanma with its fist, sending it into the ground. Chaz grabbed an empty Poke Ball and chucked it at the Yanma.
It shook once.
It shook twice.
It shook thrice.
It stopped moving.
“Well, that’s that!” Chaz exclaimed, picking up his new capture. The Yanma had ambushed the group as they made their way forward, desperate for food. Chaz had wound up battling it, seeking a third Pokémon.
Chaz looked at Yanma’s Poke Ball. “Not sure if this guy will be too useful in contests,” he said. “I may have to work something out.”
“I’m not an expert on contests,” Amanda replied. “So I wouldn’t know.”
“Still, that battle was awesome!” kintsugi exclaimed. “You sure know what you’re doing!”
“Thanks,” Chaz replied, affixing Yanma’s Poke Ball to his belt. He looked forward.
“HUZZAH!” a man in a strange voice said. “That was superb, simply superb!” a middle-aged man dressed like a lunatic came out and started clapping. He wore white gloves, a partially torn shirt with red and black stripes that looked like a mess, tattered, muddy black pants, and a strange red-and-black sombrero with strings coming down the side. He seemed unusually happy.
“Someone needs to call the fashion police,” Amanda commented.
“No kidding,” kintsugi replied.
“I do not care what you beauties think, I am simply marvelous,” the man said. “But, sir, your battle technique is superb, you handled that Yanma very well.”
“Who the hell are you?” Chaz asked.
“Oh, me?” the man replied. “Huzzah, it is very rude of me to not properly introduce myself when I come out of nowhere like this. I am very sorry. I refer to myself as The Psycho. Because I am crazy like that.”
Amanda did not want to know where this guy came from. Yeah, he’s psycho alright… she kept to herself.
“I’m kintsugi!” kintsugi cut in.
“Oh, sorry. I’m Amanda,” Amanda said, trying to shake the thought of how disturbing this guy seemed.
“You can call me Chaz!” Chaz gave his thumbs-up gesture.
“Nice, very nice,” The Psycho replied. “I was wondering, you know that Yanma which you have just obtained? Well, I have been chasing it since last night. I have desired to own it for myself, since its wings are so wonderfully wonderful and it just screams to be mine! MINE MINE MINE!”
Chaz paused. “You want to trade for the Yanma I just caught?”
“Yes, oh yes!” The Psycho plucked three Poke Balls from his belt. “I have some Pokémon for which to be traded. I have been all over this world, you know. I have a variety. I have a Luvdisc from near the League Palace. I have a male Ralts from Menton Woods. And I have a Delibird from the Icy Path. Do any of those sound appealing to you?”
“The only one of those three that sounds cool is that Ralts,” Chaz replied. “And I’ve never even tried using Yanma in battle. How do I know I don’t want it?”
“Because you said you weren’t sure if it’d be useful in the contest!”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“Well –”
“The Luvdisc and Delibird would be useless in contests. Are you trying to con me out of this Yanma?”
“Oh, good lord no! The Psycho never cons anyone! He is crazy, yes, but he is fair to all, and to all is fair!”
“You’re nuts,” kintsugi told him.
“Thank you, young lady,” The Psycho replied, taking it as a compliment.
Yeah, he’s nuts… Amanda kept to herself, watching him bow towards kintsugi, even though she had insulted him.
“so i herd u liek mudkipz,” The Psycho taunted to the group.
“I do,” Amanda replied.
“Oh, you do, missy?”
“Do not call me that.”
“The Psycho calls women whatever he wishes.”
“Then The Psycho gets beaten in battle,” Amanda reached for a Poke Ball. “One on one, you versus me. If I win, you shut up and give Chaz the Ralts. If you win, then I will catch you a Yanma of your own. Sound like a plan?”
“The Psycho never backs down from a challenge!” he grabbed a Poke Ball of his own, then sent out his weapon.
It was an Ursaring.
“Bears don’t scare me,” Amanda replied, opening the Poke Ball in her hand. Abra came out.
“Let us do this!” The Psycho called.
“Let’s. Abra, Hidden Power!”
“Ursaring, Slash!”
Abra launched a Hidden Power, pelting the Ursaring in the stomach as it charged for a Slash, then it Teleported behind Ursaring, causing it to miss its Slash.
“Hidden Power again!” Abra launched Hidden Power to hit Ursaring in the back. “Teleport around and repeat!”
Abra teleported onto Amanda’s head and launched another Hidden Power. She smiled – she always loved her Abra’s playfulness. Ursaring kept taking hits, as it couldn’t keep up with Abra.
“Use Rest!” The Psycho called.
“Keep it up!” Amanda called. Abra kept teleporting randomly – twice more onto Amanda’s head, once causing the bill of her hat to go low over her eyes. After Abra had moved on to the opposite side of the battlefield, Amanda turned her hat backwards.
The sleeping Ursaring kept on taking hits.
“Snore!” The Psycho called. Ursaring Snored, but it went nowhere near Abra. After taking two more Hidden Power hits, Ursaring woke up. It was visibly angry.
Abra teleported again and whacked Ursaring with another Hidden Power.
“Sweet Scent!” The Psycho called. Ursaring let out a honey smell to entice Abra, who was on Amanda’s head again. Abra blasted Ursaring in the mouth with a Hidden Power as it let out the honey scent, causing damage. Realizing that it was slowing down due to Ursaring’s attack, Abra teleported away from Amanda. It didn’t want to put her in danger. It moved to the middle of the arena, waiting for Ursaring.
“Just wait…” Amanda said.
“Slash!” The Psycho called. Ursaring moved in for a Slash.
“Teleport and Hidden Power now!” Amanda called. Ursaring’s Slash went through the air, Abra was directly behind it. Abra launched a Hidden Power, knocking Ursaring in the back. Ursaring felt it and was in pain.
“Finish it!” Amanda exclaimed. “Hidden Power again!” Abra complied, sending Ursaring falling to the ground. “Looks like that’s all,” Amanda said as she glared at The Psycho.
“The Psycho never loses to a woman! Ursaring, get up!” He demanded. Ursaring was out like a light. “Damn it!”
“Let’s see… you owe Chaz a Ralts.”
“No! Never!”
“A deal is a deal,” Amanda replied.
“We never shook on it, so hah!”
“You do not want to know what I can do to you if you don’t comply.”
Intimidated, the Psycho removed his hat and placed it against his stomach. He recalled Ursaring. “I will be seeing you,” he said as he bowed.
“Hold it!” Chaz interrupted, cutting The Psycho off before he could flee. “I do not like your attitude, and you’re not going to walk off like a sore loser. Give me the Ralts like you promised.”
“Uh…” The Psycho realized that he was surrounded. He had no choice.
“Send out that Ralts. Now.”
The Psycho released the Ralts.
“It’s legit,” Amanda said. “The plates on its head indicate it’s a male.”
The Ralts looked around. It was confused.
“And it’s just a little guy,” Amanda continued. “Have you been neglecting it?”
The Psycho was unable to answer.
“You were, weren’t you?” kintsugi teased.
“Uh… yes,” he looked depressed. “It’s not powerful enough.”
“That’s what training is for!” kintsugi shot back. “Anything can be powerful, you just have to put your heart into it! If you have one, that is.”
The Psycho looked crushed.
“I’ll take it,” Chaz said. The Psycho handed him Ralts’ Poke Ball. “Thank you.”
“Now, uh, if you’ll be excusing me,” The Psycho said. He then ran like a speeding bullet off towards Tabana Mountain.
“I was going to give him this Yanma, guess he didn’t want it,” Chaz said.
“That guy has a lot of problems,” Amanda commented. “No wonder he calls himself psycho.”
kintsugi giggled. “Yeah… I do not want to see him again.”
“Let’s hope he has a run-in with that monster Steelix,” Chaz replied. “That’ll hopefully help him learn a lesson the hard way.”
“Yeah… he needs to wake up and think that the world doesn’t revolve around him. He’s not going to get anywhere by running away from defeat, either,” Amanda explained.
“You’re right. You have to accept losses. You learn from them,” kintsugi added.
“Exactly,” Amanda replied. “Though I haven’t lost a battle yet, I know that time will come. You have to accept it with maturity. Of course, if the winner doesn’t act mature, then it’s a lot harder.”
“I hate that,” Chaz replied. “There was this one young girl in the Hearthome contest that was all like ‘NAH-NAH YOU LOST’ when she won. Fortunately, I beat her and gloated in her face. She started crying.”
“She got what she deserved,” kintsugi replied. “Let’s hope she doesn’t do that anymore – she needed to know what it felt like to have that happen to her.”
“That’s why I did it,” Chaz said. “I wanted her to stop. Her mother realized that and thanked me for it afterwards.”
“Wow,” kintsugi was surprised.
“I was surprised myself,” Chaz said.
Amanda checked the time on her cell phone. 5:40 P.M. “This took a while. We should only be 20 minutes or so from Gallia City.”
“Then let’s go!” Chaz replied.
They pressed onward towards Gallia City for 10 more minutes.
“You know,” kintsugi said to Chaz all of a sudden. “I wonder how good Ralts and Yanma are in battle.”
“We do have time before sundown,” Amanda said. “You two want to have a quick practice battle?”
“Sure!” kintsugi exclaimed.
“I don’t see why not,” Chaz replied.
Soon, Amanda had taken a judge’s position, and Poliwag and Ralts were on either side of the arena.
“Let’s begin!” Amanda called.
“Poliwag, Water Gun!” kintsugi called.
“Confusion!” Chaz called.
Poliwag’s Water Gun went into Ralts, who took it full-blast.
“Uh,” kintsugi was confused.
“Time-out!” Chaz called. He reached into his pocket, unwrapped a Poke Treat, and put it out towards Ralts, who just stared. “Ralts, this is for you.”
“Ralts?” Ralts was confused.
“You’re with me now. You’re not going to be with that psycho guy anymore.”
Ralts grabbed the treat and put it in its mouth. “Ralts!” it was happy. It then nodded.
“Okay, I think we’re ready!” Chaz called.
“Water Gun!” kintsugi called.
“Confusion!” Chaz replied.
Ralts glowed with purple light, reflecting the water off of it and back at Poliwag, who was blasted back by the hit, though it absorbed the water.
“That was a nice hit,” kintsugi complimented. “But I’m going to take you down. Doubleslap!”
“Confusion,” Chaz replied. Poliwag went in for Doubleslap, only to have Ralts take control of Poliwag’s mind and make it Doubleslap itself.
“Ralts is… cool,” kintsugi commented.
“Its Confusion can be used in different ways,” Amanda replied. “If my Abra evolves, it will have even stronger Psychic powers.”
“Woah.”
kintsugi was distracted by the thought as her Poliwag was being mind-controlled. It had taken considerable damage, so she recalled it.
“I think that’s enough for now,” kintsugi said. “Let’s try out Yanma.”
“Alright,” Chaz replied. He recalled Ralts and sent out Yanma.
“Taillow!” kintsugi called. Taillow appeared.
“Aerial battle, anyone?” Chaz replied. “Let’s do this! Yanma, Sonicboom!”
“Taillow, Wing Attack!”
Yanma began throwing a Sonicboom with its wings as Taillow moved in to slice with its own. Taillow avoided the booms and whacked Yanma. Yanma quickly recovered.
“What other attacks do you know…?” Chaz asked himself.
Yanma took initiative and charged up a beam, then blasted it at Taillow, catching it off guard as it regrouped.
“That was a Signal Beam. Impressive,” Amanda commented.
“I didn’t know Yanma could do that,” kintsugi replied. “But Taillow is taking you down. Give it a Peck!”
Taillow swooped in to Peck Yanma.
“Sonicboom!” Chaz called.
Yanma’s wings caused a Sonicboom, sending Taillow barreling into the ground.
“Looks like Taillow’s out for the count,” Amanda judged.
“You have some powerful new recruits,” kintsugi said, recalling Taillow. “Think you’ll use either in your contest?”
“Probably Ralts,” Chaz replied. “Confusion can help. A lot.”
kintsugi nodded. Amanda came over to them.
“That Yanma knows Signal Beam,” Amanda began. “I’ve never seen that before.”
“Guess I have a rare recruit that could come in handy later,” Chaz replied.
“Haha, yeah,” Amanda laughed. “Anyway, we should probably press on. It’s probably half a mile from here, hard to see the city beyond the trees.”
“Good plan,” Chaz replied.
They pushed onward to Gallia City, where Amanda and kintsugi would compete with the gym leader for their second badge, and Chaz would enter his first Manalon contest, which was only a few days away.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 16: “In the Middle of the Night”

The truck came closer to her. kintsugi’s life flashed before her eyes… herself as a little girl, herself sneaking out of her house at night as a teenager just to be with a boy, all of her memories… and it was coming to an end. The truck’s headlights blinded her. It was over. One last memory flashed before her… what had happened earlier that day…

“Welcome to Gallia City,” Amanda read off of the sign.
A long road led into town, on either side were metal buildings, up to 10 stories high, grassy parks, and a couple of small shops, including a Poke Mart. They stocked up on the supplies they needed, then went to find the police station to find information on Ricky and Marissa.
The police station was on the other side of a park on the west side of the road. The three of them went inside. A policeman was behind the desk.
“Hello, officer,” Chaz said. “I was wondering if I could look at a file of a criminal that has been pursuing my friends and I. Could I?”
“Absolutely not,” the policeman mumbled.
“And why?”
“Because that’s police data, you civilians have no right to look at it.”
“Please?” Amanda cut in.
“No. Now stop wasting my time or I’ll arrest you all.”
They left the station.
“What a grouch,” kintsugi commented. Across the park and a road was the Pokémon Center. Farther down the road was a town square, and a large coliseum was on the far side of it.
“That’s the contest hall,” Chaz explained. “We’ll be there eventually.”
Amanda pulled out her Poke Nav. The gym was behind the Pokémon Center, on one of the back roads.
They went into the Pokémon Center. A girl that was about Amanda’s age was talking to Nurse Joy. Her shaggy black hair was tied up in a ponytail. She wore a skin-tight red power bra and blue pants down to her kneecaps. She looked sort of angry.
“So when the hell is my Medicham going to be cured?” the girl shouted.
“The more you bother me, Mikalah, the longer it will take,” Joy replied calmly.
“You’re supposed to be a miracle worker! Work your miracle already!” Mikalah was pissed.
“You know nothing about modern medicine. This takes time, the injury that Medicham sustained –”
“I don’t give a s**t about this, I want my Medicham back!”
“It’s going to have to spend the night here,” Joy was still calm, even though Mikalah was in her face about it.
“No it’s not! Work your miracle!”
A Chansey came out of the operating room and went over behind the desk where Nurse Joy was at. It gave Joy a needle, then shook its body. “Chansey…” it said.
“What the hell is the meaning of this?” Mikalah exploded.
“Your Medicham won’t let us give it this shot,” Joy replied.
“Why the hell do you need to give it a ****ing shot?”
“To knock it out.”
“I’m going to knock YOU out!”
“If you do that, then I won’t get around to Medicham for a while.”
“Look, lady. I want my Medicham, and I want it now!”
“Get out of my face and I can get to it quicker.”
Joy had successfully shut Mikalah up for a minute.
“I’m going to go get my Lucario and beat up your Chansey,” Mikalah sneered.
“Don’t be surprised when Officer Jenny is here when you get back,” Joy replied, smiling.
“Argh, I was just KIDDING!” Mikalah stormed out of the Center, stomping her feet. She walked right by Amanda, Chaz, and kintsugi, and was out of sight quickly.
“I apologize for you having to see that,” Joy said to them. “Feel free to take a room upstairs if you need one.”
“Who was that?” kintsugi asked.
“Mikalah, the gym leader here,” Joy replied. “I’m surprised she still has her job, because she treats her Pokémon like garbage and they end up here. Every time they do it’s the same thing, she wants me to rush. She yells, she curses… she’s not a very nice person. She’s never had a boyfriend, and for good reason.”
“I’ll say,” Amanda commented. “And I am not looking forward to battling her.”
“She’s really rude with giving out badges, too. Be careful.”
The three of them took a room upstairs, the second one on the balcony above the lobby. They went in and set their things up in five minutes.
“So, we have some things to talk about,” Chaz explained. “We need that information on Ricky, and we have a crazy gym leader on our hands.”
“How do you propose getting the information from the police?” Elyisa asked.
“We’re going to break into the station for it.”
“No way, absolutely not,” Amanda replied. “I am not going to break the law for some information, we could always try asking in another city.”
“They’re not going to comply,” Chaz said. “We need that information so we can find out who this guy is.”
“And we’re going to commit a crime to do that? That’s just wrong.”
“If there was any other way, I’d be all for it.”
“He’s probably right,” kintsugi said.
“I’m still not doing anything, and neither are you two. This information isn’t too important – it’s just a record.”
Chaz paused for a moment. “Well, if you’re not going to be with us, then I guess there’s no choice.”
“Good,” Amanda replied. “I have to pee, I’ll be right back.” She left the room, then headed down the hall to the bathroom on the side of the building, in a place that you couldn’t see from the lobby.
“So, kintsugi. The two of us are going for that file, right?” Chaz asked.
“I don’t see why not, and if Amanda’s going to get cranky about it, then we’ll leave her be.”
“I’ll wake you at 1 AM. Pretend you’re tired and go to bed early.”
“Sounds good.”
Amanda came out of the latrine 3 minutes later, and overlooked into the lobby to see Nurse Joy leave the operating room. Joy looked stressed, probably from dealing with Mikalah and her Medicham problem. Amanda re-entered the room.
“We’re hungry,” Chaz said. “We’re going to go find a place to eat. Sound good?”
“That’d be great,” Amanda replied.
The three of them found a local pizza joint for dinner. Amanda was clueless as to what the other two were planning.
The chef was an Italian man who knew everything about pizza – he let each of them build a custom dish. Amanda ordered a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and plenty of sauce. kintsugi ordered a thin crust pizza with pepperoni, tomato globs, and little cheese. Chaz ordered a meat lovers’ with stuffed crust. They each ate their entire individual-sized pizza, and Chaz paid the inexpensive $18 bill – adding a $4 tip.
They returned to the Pokémon Center.
“I’m really tired…” kintsugi moaned.
Amanda checked her cell phone clock. “It’s only 8:30!”
“I know, but it was a long day…” kintsugi climbed up to the top bunk and fell on the bed, not even bothering to remove her hat.
“She’s right… but I’m not really that tired,” Amanda replied.
“You’re not as hyper,” Chaz said. “You burn less energy.”
“By the way, thanks for dinner. That was lovely.”
“No problem.”
Chaz and Amanda left the Center for an hour to play with their Pokémon in the park across the road. There weren’t many cars in this town, assumedly most people just walked. The city wasn’t too large or anything. Amanda did not notice Chaz studying the police station carefully, getting ready to pounce.
They returned to the center around 9:45, and both went to bed.

APRIL 25th, 2007, 1:04 AM
Gallia City Pokémon Center, Bedroom #2, Manalon

“Hey, wake up!” Chaz poked kintsugi’s leg.
kintsugi yawned. “What is-?”
“Shhhh,” Chaz whispered. “We don’t want to wake Amanda, if she catches us, it’s game over for us.”
kintsugi put her hat, which had fallen off and was hanging from the side of the bunk bed, back on. Chaz climbed down the ladder, kintsugi followed. They grabbed their Poke Balls and snuck out of the room.
The lobby was empty. Nurse Joy was in bed.
“Remind me why I’m doing this again,” kintsugi said.
“So we can find out who this Ricky guy is,” Chaz replied.
“Why did I agree to this…?” kintsugi asked herself.
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind.”
They snuck out across the park, and Chaz instructed kintsugi to hide behind the slide with him.
“Okay, there’s a camera on the right side. You see it?” Chaz asked.
“Yeah, I see a red dot,” kintsugi replied.
“Have your Taillow rip the cord that’s attaching it to the wall. Then have it run into the door of the station, to get the desk sergeant’s attention. Riolu will knock him out.” He grabbed a Poke Ball and sent Riolu out.
kintsugi nodded, then released Taillow. Taillow attacked the camera from behind, using its beak to rip the cord.
The guard in the station screamed “Huh?”
Taillow rammed into the door, then fell down.
“Stupid bird,” he went over to check it out, only to get whacked with a Force Palm. The inside camera detected nothing.
Taillow got up and waited for Chaz and kintsugi to catch up.
“I’m pretty sure there’s a camera inside, too,” Chaz said. “We’re going to need a different strategy here.”
“Pikachu can shock it,” kintsugi said.
“Good idea.”
kintsugi recalled Taillow and sent out Pikachu. Pikachu’s Thundershock fried the second camera, causing it to overload and one of the screens behind the desk to go blank. The third one, which displayed the back entrance, was the only one still online.
Chaz took a seat at the desk and rolled over to the computer.
“Let’s see here…” there was no active session.
“What should I do?” kintsugi asked.
“Keep watch.”
Chaz looked at the screen and opened Firefox. The police website was the default homepage, so he didn’t need to find the site.
“Let’s see here… I’m going to need to get in there somehow…” he said to himself. He downloaded Greasemonkey, then wrote a Java Script to display passwords of people that recently logged on. To his surprise, it worked. He had hacked a password using Greasemonkey.
“That’s what they get for using outdated technology,” he said to himself. He was into the site.
“Whatcha got?” kintsugi asked.
Chaz searched the files for Ricky’s. His real last name wasn’t known, but it was listed as “Martinez” with quotes.
“Apparently, this guy keeps a lot of things secret,” Chaz explained. “Let’s see… the police have solid forensic evidence that he murdered his wife, and have been hunting him for a trial.”
“It also looks like he may have had a second kid with her, but nothing is known about that,” kintsugi read. “Marissa has a sibling that she may not know about?”
“Likely.” Chaz continued reading. “Lots of theft and burglary charges here. There’s nothing about him being a crime boss.”
“So he’s full of crap,” kintsugi replied. “He lied to intimidate Cutter. But the family thing Cutter mentioned… could it have been that his family was larger than expected?”
“Perhaps,” Chaz replied. “Or whoever is left of them is against him and they resent him. Time will probably tell us.”
“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” the desk sergeant that had been whacked with Force Palm earlier had stirred and noticed Chaz and kintsugi at the computer.
“Pikachu, Thundershock!” kintsugi called.
“Oh, no you don’t, you lowlife!” the desk sergeant called.
“PIKA!” Pikachu fried the guy as he whacked the alarm on the side of the building.
“This is bad,” Chaz said. “Let’s get out of here!”
kintsugi recalled Pikachu, then ran out the back door. Chaz went out the front, trying to trick the cops.
kintsugi was in a back alley. There was a warehouse on the other side of the police station, though the apparent exit was to her left.
A pickup truck came charging at the alley. Apparently, it was an off-duty police officer who had been awoken by the alarm. kintsugi ran the other way as fast as she could, only to run into a dead end. The truck was approaching her at a fast speed. Its headlights were bright..
kintsugi recalled the time when she learned to walk… she recalled her 7th birthday party, one of the best days of her life… she recalled her sneaking out of her house three years prior to meet a boy, who neglected to show up… she recalled the events of earlier that day… her life was flashing before her eyes. This was the end.
KABOOM!
The truck blew up all of a sudden, right in front of her. The man driving it had failed to get out alive. As the remaining parts burned, Chaz threw a Poke Ball a foot into the air and caught it. Yanma flew down from above.
“Nothing like a good old Sonicboom,” Chaz joked.
kintsugi ran over to him and tackled him with a hug. The security camera, which had pointed in the direction the truck had come from, fell off the wall, hit the ground, and broke into three pieces. “Thanks for saving my life!”
Chaz, nearly unable to breathe as she had pinned him to the ground, managed to get out “You’re very welcome. Now, let’s get out of here.”
Chaz recalled Yanma and they ran away from the scene. The police went to investigate the back alley.
“What the hell was this all about?” Officer Jenny asked the desk sergeant.
“I dunno,” he replied. Pikachu’s Thundershock had done a job to his memory, he couldn’t recall seeing anyone.
“Apparently, someone took out all three of our cameras. Also, that truck exploded in the back alley. And you, the only officer on duty, don’t remember anything?”
“Sorry, mom.”
“I’m not your mom.”
“Well I remember nothing.”
“Then you’re fired.”
“Okay.” He left.
“That was surprisingly easier than I expected.” Jenny went back to investigating the scene.
“They didn’t take anything, but they logged into the database,” an officer checking the computer said. “He used this monkey thing to get past the firewall.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “We’ve needed to upgrade the security online anyway. I guess this is just a lesson for us.”

Chaz and kintsugi eventually made their way back to the Pokémon Center.
“Chiko!” Chikorita was waiting for them.
“Uh-oh,” kintsugi said.
Amanda woke up. Of course, she wasn’t really sleeping.
“Thanks for waking me up earlier,” she said. “Now, where were you two?”
“We went out to the park,” Chaz replied. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“For what? To break into the station?”
“Yes,” kintsugi confessed, pointing to Chaz. “It was his idea.”
“I thought so. Thanks for making this quick,” Amanda was calm.
“Uh, you’re welcome,” kintsugi replied.
“What are you going to do to us?” Chaz asked.
“Nothing,” Amanda replied. “I will let you live with your guilt for the rest of your lives. I hope you’re happy.”
Chaz and kintsugi had nothing to say to that. They all went back to bed, ready to face the crazy bitch Mikalah the following day.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 17: “Gall”

APRIL 25th, 2007, 7:00 AM
Gallia City Pokémon Center, Bedroom #2, Manalon

Joy opened up the Pokémon Center. Mikalah, dressed in a blue power bra, black shorts, and black baseball cap, was waiting outside.
“Give me my Medicham, woman!” Mikalah demanded, yelling at the top of her lungs.
“Your Medicham’s surgery went well,” Joy replied. “After we got it knocked out we managed to fix the problem.”
“Don’t spew your medical mumbo-jumbo at me, lady!”
Joy said nothing and went towards the operating room.
“Don’t turn your back on me!” Mikalah yelled.
“Do you wish for me to get your Medicham or not?” Joy replied, calm as ever.
Mikalah stuck her tongue out angrily at Joy. “You should have had it ready for when I got here!”
Joy ignored her and went into the operating room, then recalled Medicham. She left the room with the Poke Ball in her hand. “You shouldn’t be too demanding. Your Medicham needs rest. I suggest that it doesn’t battle today.”
“Whatever,” Mikalah scoffed. Joy handed her the Poke Ball. Mikalah ran out without even thanking Joy.

The trio in bedroom #2 stirred. Awoken by Mikalah’s rampaging personality and excessive yelling, they each decided that it was best to get up. As Amanda and kintsugi dressed, Chaz sat in his pajamas at the desk, looking at the wall.
“What is it?” Amanda asked, putting on her jeans.
“I killed a man last night,” Chaz replied.
“What?”
“He was probably drunk. He was charging right for kintsugi in an alley, completely oblivious to what was going on around him. When I had Yanma aim for the tires to stop him, I hit the gas can instead and he blew up with his truck. I…”
Amanda put on her shirt, then went over to Chaz and patted him on the back. “If you hadn’t have done that, kintsugi would probably be dead now.”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one drinking!” kintsugi screamed back. “And you’re my hero.”
Chaz blushed.
Love is in the air… Amanda thought to herself. She put her hair in a ponytail as she observed kintsugi staring Chaz down. Chaz got up from his seat and began dressing. Amanda put her hat on. Deciding to leave the other two to have a little alone time, she went into the lobby to talk to Nurse Joy.
“Sorry about that,” Joy said.
“No problem,” Amanda replied. “I guess it’s just in that Mikalah’s nature to be overly demanding. I’m hoping to teach her a lesson today.”
“Good luck. By the way, I never caught your name.”
“Amanda. The two with me are Chaz and kintsugi.”
“Okay, nice to meet you,” Joy smiled. She looked tired, probably from the stress-inducing pain named Mikalah.

Meanwhile, in bedroom #2, kintsugi asked Chaz a question that made him wiggle.
“Have you ever been on a date before?”
“Uh,” Chaz stumbled. “Not with someone four years younger than me.”
kintsugi moaned. “Come on! I like you!”
Chaz blushed. “Fine. One date. Tomorrow night.”
“Deal!” kintsugi exclaimed.
“Today is Wednesday. The contest is Saturday. We have plenty of time.”

The two of them went outside. kintsugi went to use the bathroom, Chaz went down to join Amanda.
“kintsugi asked me out,” he said, turning his neck to look out the door.
Amanda said nothing initially. “You saved her life last night,” she replied after taking 30 seconds. “She’s probably in love with you.”
“Yeah, but… HER? She seems like the kind of girl that’s best kept as a friend to me. But we’re going out tomorrow night.”
“That’s great news,” Amanda replied. “At least give her a chance.”
“Yeah, it’s best if I did.”
After kintsugi came down to join them, they said goodbye to Nurse Joy and went to the gym. The gym was behind the Pokémon Center. The building was built of wood like an old-fashioned dojo. It looked rather flimsy and unkempt. The sign that said “GALLIA CITY POKÉMON GYM” had partially fallen off, the Poke Ball logo above it had a huge hole in its side, like a Skarmory had clipped it with its wing, and the brown exterior paint was peeling. Mikalah did not even bother making the place look official.
They entered. Nobody was in the lobby.
“Where is that brat?” Amanda asked. They looked around. The building was only one story, and it didn’t appear to be very large.
“Hello?” kintsugi yelled. No response. They went into the arena. The arena looked like a tornado had come through it. Rocks along the arena had been cut apart and there were holes in the ground. Each wall was a different shade of light blue, and some of the lights were missing. A few of the ones that were turned on flickered on and off, and two of them had dead light bulbs.
“How does this lazy bum still have a job?” Chaz asked out loud.
They went across the arena and into the back room. No sign of anyone. They tried another door, went into a kitchenette with appliances from the 1980s and cabinets with missing doors. There were some sounds coming from a door on the other side of the room.
Amanda opened the door. It was Mikalah’s bedroom. Mikalah was at the computer, rocking from side to side, with huge headphones placed atop her head. She was blasting some awful hip-hop song at maximum volume, so loud that a passerby could hear it through her headphones. Mikalah stopped rocking and turned around.
“Who the f**k is it? What the hell do you want?” she sneered as she set her headphones around her neck.
“I’d like a battle,” Amanda replied.
“No thanks,” Mikalah said, putting her headphones back on. She began rocking again, then pulled up a new IM on AIM and started IMing with someone.
“Excuse me?” kintsugi shot back. “You’re a GYM LEADER. It’s YOUR JOB!”
Mikalah didn’t hear her, she was too occupied with listening to her “music.”
Chaz went over to Mikalah and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Don’t make me use my fist, buddy!” Mikalah snapped.
Chaz said nothing. He pressed the power button on the computer and shut it off.
“What the f**k did you do that for?” Mikalah was angry. She prepared a fist and threw a punch, which Chaz dodged.
“You’re a gym leader,” Chaz said calmly. “Act like one.”
Chaz walked back to kintsugi and Amanda. kintsugi was giggling.
“You’ve messed with the wrong Mikalah, punk! I am going to whoop your ass so hard that you won’t be feeling it in the morning!” Mikalah yelled.
“I’m not here for a battle,” Chaz replied. “These two are.”
“I can take you both on at once and bring on the pain!” Mikalah sneered. “I’ll use four Pokémon. You twerps each get two. Sound good to your soon-to-be-beaten butts?”
“My butt doesn’t talk,” Amanda replied. “But my battling does!”
In five minutes, they were on either side of the messy arena.
“Let’s kick their butts! Hariyama, Machoke, let’s rumble!” Mikalah called, sending out her two muscular Pokémon.
“Taillow!” kintsugi called. Taillow appeared.
“Chikorita!” Amanda sent out Chikorita.
“Where is the judge?” Chaz asked.
“He quit last week,” Mikalah replied.
“Gee, I wonder why…” kintsugi mouthed.
“I will judge, then,” Chaz said, taking the judge’s position.
“This official gym match between the gym leader Mikalah and challengers Amanda and kintsugi will now begin!”
“Machoke, Hariyama, Focus Punch, both of you, NOW!” Mikalah yelled.
“Taillow, use Wing Attack on Machoke!” kintsugi called.
“Chikorita, Razor Leaf on Hariyama!”
Taillow sped into Machoke, clipping its arm with a wing; Chikorita shot leaves at Hariyama. Both of them lost their focus and were unable to launch a punch.
“Damn it, you losers are worthless! PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH!” Mikalah yelled. Machoke moved over towards Chikorita, only to trip and fall on a rock in the way.
“Chikorita, get on top of a rock and shoot it with Razor Leaf!” Amanda called.
“Chiko!” Chikorita hopped on a rock, then shot leaves at the fallen Machoke.
“Hariyama, block it with Force Palm!” Mikalah called. Hariyama went over to help Machoke, but tripped on the same hole and landed on top of Machoke, hitting Machoke in the back of the head with its fist. The leaves hit Hariyama on the back of its head, causing it to scratch.
“Taillow, use Wing Attack on those two!” kintsugi called.
“Nah, Hariyama, return!” Mikalah called.
“You’re the gym leader!” Chaz cut in. “You can’t do that!”
“Rules are for weenies,” Mikalah sneered.
“But if you don’t follow them, then you lose by default.”
“Fine. Hariyama –”
“No,” Chaz replied. “You have surrendered use of your Hariyama for this battle. Think about it next time.”
“Shut up, I do what I want!”
“If you send out Hariyama, I will declare them the victors.”
Mikalah stopped. “Fine. Medicham, take its place!”
Medicham appeared. It looked worn.
kintsugi whispered to Amanda, “I thought Medicham was the one that needed surgery… she’s using it now?”
Amanda shrugged. “Mikalah isn’t too bright,” she whispered back. “We can take her easily.”
“Taillow, Wing Attack on Medicham!” kintsugi yelled.
“Medicham, Thunderpunch!” Mikalah called.
Taillow rammed into Medicham, who was struggling to charge a punch. Machoke still was face-flat in the dirt.
“Get the f**k up, you stupid Machoke!” Mikalah yelled. Machoke tried to get up.
Amanda yelled “Razor Leaf!” Chikorita launched more leaves, hitting Machoke’s arm. Machoke fell back into the dirt.
“Taillow, again!” kintsugi called. Taillow rammed into Medicham, catching it off guard. Medicham collapsed.
“Medicham is down and out!” Chaz called.
“Damn it,” Mikalah scoffed, recalling Medicham. “Lucario, finish these losers!”
A big, black-and-blue Pokémon with an aura around it appeared. It looked like a much larger Riolu – and that’s what it was.
“This one’s going to be tough,” Amanda said to kintsugi.
“Taillow, whack Machoke in the back of the head!” kintsugi called.
“Taillow!” Taillow nailed Machoke. Machoke wasn’t moving at all.
“Machoke is out of the battle!” Chaz called, raising his hand towards Amanda and kintsugi.
“Why can’t you stupid Pokémon fight?” Mikalah scoffed, recalling Machoke. She reached for another Poke Ball.
“No you don’t,” Chaz cut in. “Lucario’s your fourth and final.”
“Shut up, this is my gym! I make the rules here!”
“You mean you break the rules here,” Chaz shot back. “You were the one that made the challenge, live with it!”
Chikorita and Taillow were attacking Lucario as Mikalah tried to pick a fight with Chaz. Mikalah realized this and got her head back in the game.
“Lucario, Aura Sphere!” she yelled.
Lucario charged up a blue ball.
“Chikorita, Razor Leaf on the sphere!” Amanda called.
“Chiko!” Chikorita launched leaves into the Aura Sphere. The Sphere absorbed them, then began to disappear. One of the leaves had hit Lucario’s wrist, and it had visibly showed its pain.
“Don’t let that phase you, moron!” Mikalah called. Lucario turned to her, then gave her a Force Palm to the stomach, sending her backwards.
“Uh, what was that?” Amanda asked.
“I think it’s sick of the way she’s treating it…” kintsugi replied. Lucario bowed towards Amanda and kintsugi, then turned to face Mikalah.
“Lucario expresses no desire to continue,” Chaz called. “This victory goes to Amanda and kintsugi.”
“Unbelievable!” Mikalah sneered. “You twerps beat me, the princess of Gallia City? You’re not getting a badge!”
“Mikalah, you’re the gym leader. You lost. It’s your job…” Chaz began.
“Quiet, you! I’m the leader here, and I’m boss!”
Lucario slapped her across the face.
“Return, meanie,” Mikalah snapped, recalling Lucario.
“Has it ever occurred to you that your Pokémon hate you for a reason?” Amanda asked Mikalah.
“My Pokémon love me,” Mikalah replied.
“One of them just slapped you. How can you say that?” kintsugi shot back.
Mikalah crossed her arms and made a snotty face. “If you’re going to be that way, I’ll cut you two a deal. Get me a boyfriend, and I’ll give you your badges.”
Amanda and kintsugi turned to each other, both with disgusted and shocked looks on their faces.
What the hell is her problem? Amanda thought to herself. kintsugi appeared to be having similar thoughts.
“You know, if you’d just grow up, maybe guys would like you,” Amanda said.
“Well I’m a person, too!” Mikalah snapped. “I can just date this guy right here!” She went over to Chaz.
“Back off, b***h, he’s mine!” kintsugi screamed, then lunged for Mikalah, only to have Chaz stop her.
“This is not a good idea, kintsugi,” Chaz told her.
Amanda began to think. It’s not a good idea to steal the badges off of this madwoman… but having to change that attitude? I’ll pass. But I can play along until she gives me a badge. I don’t want to deal with this princess for very long. “Tell you what,” Amanda approached Mikalah. “I’ll help.”
“Good,” Mikalah said snobbily. “So what are we going to do?”
“First of all, you need a makeover,” Amanda replied. “You’re going to need a new haircut, a new wardrobe, and probably some makeup.”
“I like who I am. I’m not changing that.” Mikalah was grouchy.
“We can work something out. It will be needed if you want a boyfriend. You also need to clean up this mess, especially if you want to win gym battles. Your Machoke was too big to navigate around those holes.”
“WHY ME?” Mikalah shouted.
“Mikalah. You know darn well why. Guys run from you because you’re over-demanding, lazy, and rude.”
“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?” Mikalah started running over to smack Amanda, but Chikorita tackled Mikalah before she got to Amanda.
“Chiko!” Chikorita shot at Mikalah.
Amanda gave Chikorita a pat on the head, then held out a Poke Treat. “She earned that,” Amanda commented.
“Chiko!” Chikorita said happily as it ate the Poke Treat.
Mikalah got up off the ground. “You are going to pay for that, sister!”
“No, I’m not,” Amanda replied. “If I do pay for it, then you’re not getting a boyfriend. Because the whole world will know what you do when you lose.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“I’m trying to help you! You’re not going to get a boyfriend with an attitude like that!”
“Hrmph,” Mikalah replied.
“You’re too hardheaded. With the state you’re in, you’re nowhere close to having a guy want to be with you.”
Mikalah, for once, had no reply. kintsugi took the opportunity to recall Taillow, then run. She thought that Mikalah was about to blow up.
“Do you acknowledge that I’m right?” Amanda asked.
“You probably are,” Mikalah said. Her voice was much calmer. She removed her hat and held it in front of her stomach with both hands. “What the hell have I become?” All of a sudden, Mikalah started crying.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 18: “The Dating Game”

Mikalah dropped to her knees. kintsugi turned around.
“She’s… crying?” kintsugi asked to herself. She went over to Mikalah.
Mikalah’s tears drowned out her speech for a minute. “I… what have I…?” Mikalah’s tears receded. “I’ve become a monster… haven’t I?”
“Your Lucario can vouch for that,” Amanda replied. “It attacked you.”
“I…” Mikalah took a deep breath. “I… my parents…”
“What about your parents?” kintsugi asked.
“They were killed… by the police… 10 years ago…”
“What?” Chaz asked.
“They were mistaken for two criminals working with Team Rocket, and the police gunned them down. The officers who did it were suspended for a week… that’s it. That is probably what lit the flame inside of me… and… damn it… I’ve alienated this entire town, haven’t I?”
“Probably,” Amanda replied. “But you can change. I know it.”
“I don’t… know…” Mikalah’s tears had stopped. “I… I can’t… help myself sometimes… and I let that overtake me…”
“Know what… we should just get this show on the road,” Amanda said. “We can help you. First of all… you’re going to need a makeover.”
“There’s an abandoned salon a few blocks down,” Mikalah said, putting her hat back on. “We could go there.”
“That’s probably not the place that’d have the stuff, but it would probably have a sink. kintsugi, Chaz, you two go check that place out and clean it up so I have a chair to do Mikalah’s hair. We can work on her clothes after.”
Mikalah pointed them in the right direction, and then went with Amanda to a place that sold cosmetics.
“Your hair is filthy, and I’m not so sure if black suits you,” Amanda said.
“You mean I might have to dye it?” Mikalah replied. “I DON’T WANT TO!”
“What’s more important – your hair, or a boyfriend?”
“A boyfriend,” Mikalah moped.
“You have nice blue eyes… is black your natural color?”
“I think so. I’ve hardly washed my hair in the past year…”
“Then this is going to be harder than I thought.”
Amanda purchased some hair dye, a golden blonde color. She also got a small bottle of heavy-duty shampoo, a new pair of shears, some chapstick and some face ointment to counter blemishes. She made Mikalah pay half.
They made their way to the salon. It was pretty clean. Chaz and kintsugi were nowhere to be seen. Then the screen in the back of the building fell over, to reveal kintsugi and Chaz’ backsides.
“What were you two talking about?” Amanda asked.
“None of your business!” kintsugi shot back.
Mikalah sat in the chair and removed her hat. Amanda turned her hat backwards, then went to work. After about two hours, Mikalah looked like a completely different person. Her hair was just above her shoulders and a golden blonde. It complemented her eyes nicely. Her face had been touched up with makeup, and she actually looked beautiful instead of scruffy.
“Now guys will think you’re hot,” Amanda joked.
“I… I actually like this…” Mikalah sounded surprised. “I can get used to this.”
Mikalah reached for her hat and put it back on, then looked in the mirror. “The hat doesn’t do the same thing it did before.”
“Hats are a good thing,” Amanda replied. “I’m still wearing mine.”
“And it looks good on you. Mine… doesn’t go as well with my new hairdo.”
“It’s all in the color.”
“The chocolate brown and beige in yours compliments your hair nicely. If I had a lighter blonde, black may be better.” Mikalah removed the hat. “I have to get some new hats along with the rest of my wardrobe. Let’s go shopping!”
“This time… you pay,” Amanda said.
“Fine.”
Chaz and kintsugi stayed behind at the salon to have some “alone time.” Rather, kintsugi wouldn’t let Chaz leave.
Mikalah led Amanda to an outfitter place on the other side of town, near the west entrance. “This is where I get my current garb,” Mikalah explained.
They went inside. Most of the place was lined with sporting gear. The guy behind the counter – a 19-year-old kid – didn’t recognize Mikalah at first. He then rubbed his eyes. “Mikalah… is that you?”
“Sure is, Frederick,” Mikalah replied.
“You’re… hot…” he said nervously.
Mikalah said nothing. Amanda whispered “Thank you” in her ear.
“Uh, thanks,” Mikalah said.
“You seem… strange,” Frederick replied.
Mikalah put on her snotty face. Amanda pinched her back.
“Look, I’m trying to help her here,” Amanda cut in. “I gave her the makeover and am trying to help her get over her attitude problem.”
“That’s cool. I still don’t want to date her, but…”
“You don’t want to date me? You jerk!” Mikalah screamed.
Lucario let itself out of its Poke Ball, then slapped her across the face. Apparently, it knew what Amanda was up to. It then returned itself to its Poke Ball without a word.
“My Lucario hates me,” Mikalah said.
“Your Lucario is trying to help us out here,” Amanda replied. “Anytime you do something stupid, it’ll slap you. That way you’ll stop doing stupid things.”
“Argh… all right,” Mikalah replied. She reached into her pocket. “I believe I owe you this, at least.” Two shiny badges that looked like a Machoke’s bicep were in Mikalah’s hand. “One for you. One for your friend, kintsugi.”
“Thanks!” Amanda replied, taking both badges and putting them in her pocket.
They began to shop. There was little that caught Amanda’s eye.
“I really don’t see anything desirable. We want more casual clothes, not workout stuff. You’re welcome to wear that when you’re exercising.”
“Okay,” Mikalah replied. She found a plain brown baseball cap and put it on. “Do you think this hat works for me?”
“Looks a lot better than the black one,” Amanda replied.
Mikalah bought the hat. They then went over to another store and bought plenty of casual clothes for Mikalah. There was a wide variety of T-shirts, jackets, blouses, and tanktops. Mikalah also got six pairs of jeans, three pairs of khakis, and some athletic pants. She already had plenty of shorts, but Amanda had encouraged her to “expand her horizons.”

Back at the salon, kintsugi made a move. “You know, it’s about lunchtime. Think we could do that date now?” She asked Chaz.
“You’re paying, right?” Chaz asked.
“I asked you, so duh!”
“Fine.”
kintsugi and Chaz went out to look for a restaurant. They found a burger joint down near the town entrance where they came in. They were seated. After being served their drinks, Chaz ordered a pizza burger with fries. kintsugi ordered a Swiss cheeseburger.
“I’m thinking of entering that contest,” kintsugi told Chaz. “I’m a noob at that stuff, but I think I can manage. All we have to do is make the judges pee their pants, right/”
Chaz grinned. “Basically. You have to impress them. There are four judges – the chairman, the president, Nurse Joy, and Mikalah.”
“At least Mikalah isn’t a monster now.” kintsugi giggled.
Chaz smiled. “You know… I don’t seem to smile that much, but… getting to know you better…”
“Yeah?”
“Um…”
“You like me?”
“Basically, yes. But this is just casual right now.”
kintsugi giggled. “I knew I would have fun with you.”
Chaz gave more details about how contests work, and kintsugi soaked it in. When the food arrived, they munched it down in 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, Amanda and Mikalah dropped off the clothes at the gym.
“I’m hungry,” Amanda replied. “I could go for some burgers.”
“I know just the place,” Mikalah replied. They went to the same burger joint where Chaz and kintsugi were.
“Hey, look who dropped in!” kintsugi said excitedly as Amanda and Mikalah walked in.
“Fancy seeing you two here… dating already?” Amanda teased.
“Yup,” kintsugi replied, nodding her head.
Amanda and Mikalah joined them at the table, and ordered drinks and burgers. They had a discussion about what had happened that day. 10 minutes later, Amanda and Mikalah’s food arrived. It took them another 10 minutes to eat.
As they walked out, the manager, a man in his early 20s, recognized Mikalah. “Mikalah… is that… you?” he asked.
“You’d better believe it,” she replied.
“What the hell caused you to go blonde? I don’t like it on you.”
“Well I do,” Mikalah replied. She made a snooty face and walked out. Amanda followed and pinched her in the back.
“Do not make that face,” Amanda said.
They left the building. Ricky and Marissa were in front of the building across the street.
“Quick, hide!” Chaz motioned to some garbage cans. All four of them darted behind the cans and they tried to listen in.
“They’re probably here,” Marissa said. “I still don’t get why you let them get away like you do…”
“Hey, I’m not the only one feeling the side effects from that Steelix, am I?” Ricky replied, trying to change the subject.
“Don’t do that to me. Tell me, straight up.”
“It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” Ricky said.
Marissa rolled her eyes. “I have a worthless excuse for a father.”
Ricky slapped Marissa. “Do not say that in my presence.”
“Sorry.”
“What an unloving father…” Mikalah commented. “Was I like that?”
“Sort of,” kintsugi whispered back.
“Know what… I’m going to take on these thugs!” Mikalah stated, standing up. Amanda and Chaz tried to drag her down by pulling on her shorts, but it was no use. Mikalah ran over to Ricky and punched him in the nose.
“You deserve that for being a loser,” she sneered at him.
“And who do you think you are?” Ricky asked, grabbing his nose.
“You’re just a b***h,” Marissa sneered.
“This is coming from the mouthy twerp that insulted her own father to his face,” Mikalah shot at Marissa.
“And you’re the one that walks up to people and punches them when they say something retarded.”
Amanda tapped on kintsugi’s back and pointed to the police station. Chaz saw it Ricky and Marissa. They made it far enough away to speak.
“I am not getting involved in a b***h fight,” Amanda said.
“No kidding,” kintsugi replied. Chaz nodded.

“Well you’re the dumb blonde that thinks she’s a princess!” Marissa sneered.
“You’re the princess here, sister!” Mikalah shot back.
“NO YOU!”
“NO U”
“NO U”
“NO U”
“NO U”
“NO U”
Marissa slapped Mikalah. Mikalah slapped her back. They continued slapping each other.
“Girls… stop it,” Ricky demanded. Both of them ignored him. He reached into his pocket. “Guess there’s no choice,” he said to himself.

“I don’t do b***h fights,” Officer Jenny said. “That’s for them to settle.”
“Knowing the two that are fighting,” Amanda began. “It can’t end well.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. Please leave.”
They left the station.
“I guess there’s no choice…” Amanda said. They went back to where Marissa and Mikalah were fighting. Nobody was there.
“What the heck happened?” kintsugi asked.
“To the gym!” Amanda declared.
They went back to the gym and searched the place. Nothing had been touched, and nobody was there.
“Where is Mikalah?” kintsugi asked out loud.
“I have no idea,” Chaz replied. “And she’s the only one that works at this gym, since she scared everyone else off by being obnoxious.”
“This can’t be good…” Amanda said to herself.
The three of them stared at each other, all thinking the same thought. Mikalah had been kidnapped by Ricky and Marissa. Or worse, Mikalah was dead. After all of that work trying to help her… it had to end like this. There were no excuses. Amanda put her hat back on forwards and pulled the bill over her face, beginning to cry.
“What happened…? Mikalah… she can’t be…”
“Back to the station,” Chaz suggested.
“Just go!” Amanda replied. Amanda sat in a corner in the dank kitchen, letting her tears run down. kintsugi and Chaz returned to the police station.
“What is it now?” Officer Jenny asked.
“The gym leader Mikalah is missing!” kintsugi said, worried. “Oh, and her hair is blonde now, just so you know.”
“Is this a joke? She’s probably just out somewhere.”
“It’s not,” Chaz cut in. “She was last seen with Ricky Martinez.”
Officer Jenny had several conflicting thoughts at once.
“So wait… YOU were the one that attacked this place last night? Sir, you’re under arrest!”
“I appreciate that, but there’s a pressing matter we have to get down to. All I was after last night was the data on this guy. You see, I’m trying to capture him myself. And he’s probably off somewhere killing an innocent gym leader.”
Officer Jenny was speechless. “Fine. If you can find Mikalah and capture Ricky Martinez, I will let you off the hook.”
“Good, that is all I wanted,” Chaz replied. “Let’s go, kintsugi.”
The two of them left the station. kintsugi was hyper.
“You’re good at this!” kintsugi exclaimed.
“Don’t mention it,” Chaz replied. “When I’m determined, I will never give in. Ever. We are going to track this bastard down and put him out of commission. Does that sound like a plan?”
“Sure does. Let’s go get Amanda.”
They returned to the gym, ready to face an opponent so ruthless, so mysterious… so unpredictable.

 

[Andyman]

Re: Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might

EPISODE 19: “Let the Games Begin!”

When they returned to the gym, Amanda had gotten over herself.
“Now how are we going to get those badges?” kintsugi asked, worried about Mikalah.
“Oh, I forgot,” Amanda reached into her pocket. “This one’s for you.”
kintsugi stared at the badge that Amanda placed in the palm of her hand.
“She gave me two when we were shopping,” Amanda said. “I put mine in my case earlier.”
kintsugi put her badge in her case, then they went to the gym’s lobby.
“So what are we going to do?” Amanda asked.
“Well, the cops know that I broke in to the station last night,” Chaz said. “Jenny offered me a deal. I have to find Mikalah and capture Ricky to get off the hook.”
“Not going to happen,” Amanda replied. “Ricky is a trickster. He’ll find a way out of anything. What we need is a plan for him to escape from us… and fall into a police trap.”
“That’s… brilliant,” kintsugi replied.
“Beautiful and smart, I like that in a girl,” Chaz commented.
“Shut up,” kintsugi snapped.
“I didn’t say you were stupid or ugly, did I?”
kintsugi had nothing to say to that.
“The problem with this is that Jenny probably doesn’t trust me,” Chaz said.
“She’s going to have to if she wants to bring Ricky in,” Amanda replied.
“You have a point.”
The three of them went to the police station.
“I’m going to need your help,” Chaz said to Jenny.
Jenny said nothing.
“We know this guy is slippery. And we’re going to turn that against him.”
“You have my attention,” Jenny replied.
“We’re going to put him in a situation that he can’t escape easily. He will pull it off somehow, and wind up in an even stickier situation – and you’re going to nab him.”
“When do you suggest we do this?”
“During the contest. I have a feeling that his brat daughter is going to enter. Me and my friends here will all enter as well. We’re hoping that one of us faces her in a match. We’re going to use her as bait.”
“Hmmmm…” Jenny closed her eyes. “You’re saying that one of you is going to beat her, then you’ll move in and…?”
“Make her cry for papa. He will come on stage and we’ll surround him. He’ll make his way out the back way, where you will be waiting for him.”
“That sounds like a plan.”

The contest was on Saturday. They had nearly three whole days to spend training for it. They went to the park in front of the police station. Chaz helped Amanda and kintsugi create routines, while still working on his own with Ralts and Piplup.
kintsugi’s Pikachu was a tough prospect, but it would need to pull off Thundershock at the right time to help. Poliwag was doing just fine with its water maneuvering.
Amanda’s Pokémon were less compatible with contest moves. Beautifly and Abra weren’t the greatest pairing, especially since Abra teleported around like crazy.
“This isn’t going to work,” Amanda told Chaz.
“You’re probably right. Think Chikorita or Staravia could team with Beautifly?” Chaz asked.
“I have an idea,” Amanda replied, recalling Abra, who was on top of her head. “Staravia!”
Staravia appeared.
“Let’s create some wind,” Amanda said. “Beautifly, you too!”
Staravia and Beautifly blew whirlwinds at each other to create a storm.
“That’s a start,” Chaz commented. “I like this. Maybe you…”
Amanda didn’t let him finish. “Beautifly, Silver Wind!”
Beautifly blew a Silver Wind into the mix, scattering silvery particles everywhere as the wind blew them around.
“Woah,” Chaz was astonished. “That was… nice.” He gave Amanda a thumbs-up.
“Thanks!” Amanda smiled.
The three of them kept practicing until dinner time. Chaz ordered some pizza from the local PELIPPER’s PIZZA, and it came after 45 minutes.
“Busy night tonight,” the delivery girl told Chaz. She was in her mid-20s, probably, and had the usual PELIPPER’s uniform, based off of the Pokémon itself. Chaz paid her and she drove off to another location before Chaz could comment.
They ate the pizzas with their Pokémon. Chaz had ordered three, since they had 12 Pokémon between them. Charmander had two slices and tried to go for a third, but Chikorita didn’t let it, giving it a face saying “Learn to share.”
Amanda, Chaz, and kintsugi split one pizza. Riolu and Charmander were the only Pokémon to have more than one slice, so there were two left. Charmander got its third slice after all.
Thursday and Friday went very similarly, with the three of them training for Saturday’s event. On Thursday morning, they all signed up at the contest hall. Amanda and kintsugi also bought dress clothes for the event, since it was highly recommended to not wear street clothes on stage.
They spent several hours looking for Mikalah, but were unable to find her. On Friday evening, the three of them were sitting in bedroom #2 in the Pokémon Center.
“Where is Mikalah?” kintsugi asked.
“I fear for the worst,” Amanda replied. “She may have left town with those two goons, or she’s dead.”
“I have a bad feeling that it’s the latter,” Chaz replied. “That’s likely the case. She hasn’t given anyone any contact.”
“I never got her cell phone number,” Amanda said. “So she probably wouldn’t be able to contact me.”
Chaz picked up the phone in the room and called the police station to say that he hasn’t seen anything of Mikalah. The desk sergeant on the other end said that they’d had no reports of her being seen anywhere in town, and that she was a confirmed missing person. The cops had been unable to locate her.
“Damn,” Chaz said, hanging up the phone. “They haven’t heard anything, either.”
Amanda shed a tear. “I could have saved her…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Chaz replied. “If you’d have been involved in that, you may have been killed, too.”
Amanda paused. “If all three of us were with Mikalah, we could have easily outpowered those two.”
“You’re right…” kintsugi replied. “Why did we run?”
“We were foolish. We didn’t think anything like this would happen.”

Meanwhile, the Pokémon Center doors opened. A black man in his early 20s came over to Nurse Joy. He wore an orange blazer atop a white shirt and blue jeans.
“Got a room?” he asked in a deep voice.
“Yes, there is one available,” Joy replied. “Is it just you?”
“Yes, m’am,” he replied.
“I can give you the solo room at the end of the hall, then. It’s upstairs, right next to the restroom.”
“Thank you, m’am,” he replied, going upstairs.
The door of bedroom #2 closed.
“That guy feels suspicious,” kintsugi said.
“I doubt it,” Chaz replied. “Chances are he’s going to be participating in the contest tomorrow.”
“He looks like he means business,” Amanda commented. “And that he’s been doing stuff like this for a while.”
“Most participants have,” Chaz replied. “It’s not easy to enter the circuit without recognition. If you’re related to someone well-known, though, you could get some exposure early on.”
“That’s interesting…” Amanda replied.
They went to bed before 10:00, so they could be well-rested for the next day.

APRIL 28th, 2007
Gallia City, Manalon

Dawn came. The contest started at 11:00 sharp, and would last all weekend long.
Around 9:00 – the check-in time – they walked up to the contest hall.
“This is it,” Chaz commented, dressed in his dress shirt and black pants.
Amanda had her hair in a fancy bun and was wearing a lovely light green dress and two emerald-and-gold earrings that had only cost $40 at a sale. kintsugi wore a red dress and had her hair down with pearl earrings on both ears.
“You’re both looking beautiful, by the way,” Chaz complimented.
kintsugi giggled and blushed. Amanda just smiled.
They entered the lobby. There were people and Pokémon of all kinds. The black guy from the night before, dressed in the same outfit, was talking to the lady at the counter.
“It’s not late to sign up, is it?”
“You made it just in time,” the lady replied.
“Good. Put me down as T.J.” He handed her his ID, and she swiped it. She edited his info to say “T.J.” and handed his card back to him. T.J. thanked the woman, then turned around. His eyes lit up when he saw Amanda.
“Don’t even start with me,” Amanda said. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Aw, man,” T.J. replied. “I take it you entering?”
“You bet. I’m Amanda by the way.”
“I’m Terrance, but please call me T.J.” He went over to her.
“Nice to meet you, I’m kintsugi,” kintsugi interrupted. “This is Chaz.”
T.J. nodded. “Nice to meet all of you, too.”
The lady at the desk cut into all conversation. “ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS” she blared into a megaphone. “Please form a line here to check in. Once you’re checked in, you will go in the back room.” She pointed over to the far left side of the building. “Then we can start letting the crowd in.”
After the scuffle and two hours of waiting, drawing numbers for position, and socializing with various people for two minutes at a time, it was showtime. There was no sign of Marissa, as she was probably hiding so she wouldn’t be spotted.
The unlucky person who drew the first number was T.J. Nurse Joy and the two contest guys were there, a fourth podium was there, but empty.
The emcee, a 30-year-old blonde-haired supermodel type, began shouting into the microphone, “Hello and welcome to the Gallia City double Pokémon contest! My name is Angela, and I’m your emcee for this event!”
The crowd cheered.
“Before we do, we have a little problem with the judges’ bench. One of our judges has apparently been kidnapped, and is unable to be with us today. But, while the police search frantically, let the games begin! Our first contestant hails from Johto!” Angela blared. “His name is T.J.!”
The other contestants watched from the LCD flat-screen HDTV in the back room. T.J. sent out his Pokémon – a Ninetales and a Milotic. The two of them moved around splendidly, causing steam with a Water Pulse / Flamethrower collision, then having Ninetales use Fire Spin in the middle of the mess. Milotic entered the middle of it and used Hydro Pump around it, increasing the steam level. Then both Pokémon used Safeguard to create mystical auras, causing the steam to sparkle.
“Remarkable!” the shorter of the contest goons commented.
“That’s really cool!” Joy said.
T.J. scored a 9.2 overall.
The next four people went, none of whom scored that high.
kintsugi was next up. Incredibly nervous, she trembled her way on stage after Angela summoned her.
“Poliwag, Pikachu, let’s go!” she called.
The two Pokémon appeared and looked at her, seeing her nervous.
“Pika?” Pikachu asked, tilting its head.
“Let’s… LET’S DO THIS!” kintsugi called. “Poliwag, use Water Gun, Pikachu, Thundershock the water!”
Poliwag shot out a Water Gun like a cannon, and Pikachu fried it.
“Now, Pikachu, hop on the water!” kintsugi called.
Poliwag kept pouring out water as Pikachu stepped on it. Pikachu rode the stream of water to the other side of the stage.
“Now, jump, turn around, and fry the water!” kintsugi demanded, shaking her fists.
Pikachu obeyed. It fried the water as Poliwag stopped pumping, creating a hectic electrical mess.
“Amazing!” Joy commented.
“This is cool,” the larger-built contest official remarked.
After it was all over, kintsugi scored an 8.3.
kintsugi went backstage and rubbed against the next contestant by accident. It was a girl wearing sunglasses, a blue dress with a matching blue beret.
“Watch it, b***h,” the girl sneered.
“Shut up, Marissa,” kintsugi replied.
The other girl was stunned. “You weren’t supposed to know it was me!”
“Your disguise couldn’t fool a baby,” kintsugi said as she walked away.
Marissa was furious.
“Hurry it up!” the guy behind Marissa demanded.
Marissa took the stage and put on a show with Cubone’s Bonemerang and Sneasel’s Ice Punch. Nurse Joy wasn’t particularly impressed, but the two contest execs were. Marissa scored an 8.3 – the same as kintsugi.
The guy afterward messed everything up and scored a 2.5. His Rapidash went berserk and knocked out his Golduck. He moped off the stage, thinking he was a failure.
Chaz was up next. He was pumped. He sent out Piplup and Ralts, ready for action. Piplup kept using Water Gun, and Ralts bended the water into various shapes. He had spent a lot of time training Ralts to do it, and Ralts nailed the first five shapes. On the sixth, it messed up, and the water hit it on the side, and it fell over.
“Uh-oh,” Chaz said to himself.
Ralts started glowing.
“Oh my!” Angela commented. “I think it’s evolving!”
Angela was correct. Ralts evolved into Kirlia.
“And would you look at that, folks! Ralts evolved into Kirlia!”
Chaz knew this was his chance. Piplup launched another Water Gun, and Kirlia bent it into the shape of a rocket ship. It then entered the shift and used its mind to blast itself off into the ceiling. It then disembarked and the rocket blew into a wet and wild fireworks, and Kirlia levitated itself down to the ground and landed on its feet, then struck a “success!” pose.
“That was incredible!” the short guy in the middle said.
“I haven’t seen anything like that in years,” the other man said.
“Chaz, you rock!” Joy replied.
Chaz got a 9.5, and was guaranteed to be in the next round.
The remaining performances went smoothly, though some of them hadn’t practiced enough. Amanda was called out to close the opening round, all set to go.
She grabbed her two Poke Balls and sent out Beautifly and Staravia.
“Whirlwind frenzy!” she called.
A couple of guys sitting in the front row were ogling her the entire time, paying no attention to her Pokémon. Staravia and Beautifly whipped wind at each other, then came the punch.
“Silver Wind!” Amanda called. Beautifly launched Silver Wind into the mix. “Now, Staravia, get in the middle of it and do a cyclone barrel roll!”
Staravia entered the center of the mix as Beautifly whipped up some more Whirlwind, Staravia spun around in circles, creating a cyclone.
“Silver Wind again!” Amanda pointed at Beautifly as it used Silver Wind to make the cyclone shimmer.
Nurse Joy’s eyes grew big, as she was blown away. “Amanda, that’s amazing!”
“I’ve never seen this before,” the larger-built contest guy stated firmly.
“Truly remarkable!”
Amanda’s score was a perfect 10. They were all very impressed with what she had done. The audience applauded more wildly than they had for everyone else – they were all left in awe.
“You have a natural talent for this,” Chaz commented to Amanda when she returned to the back room.
“It is time for the top 8 to be revealed!” Angela called.
Eight pictures appeared on the screen. Amanda, Chaz, kintsugi, T.J., and Marissa were all among them.
“And now to randomly pair everyone up!”
T.J., Amanda, and Marissa all got paired up against people they didn’t know. The other match caught everyone by surprise.
Chaz vs. kintsugi.
The two of them stared each other down.
“A duel between lovers…” kintsugi mouthed to herself.
“This’ll be fun…” Chaz said to himself.
They sized each other up, ready to face each other.